Mama Snek in BB

by StreamingViking

Friend-Insert Ft. Passive Soul as a co-writer: There are many snakes in Brockton Bay, but this one is here to help and do good. A story where my friend is a Case53 as an Expy of FGO's Gorgon

1. Snake in the Bay

Something was wrong.

She could feel it.

Or rather, she could feel cold hard ground instead of her bed.

Did the rickety old fuck finally break?

She opened her eyes and immediately knew she was right about something being wrong.

Because that was the sky.

"What the fuck." She said more than asked and noted her voice sounded weird as she rubbed her throat- and then recoiled as she felt something hard and rough instead of her hands.

She looked at said hand in shock, only to see not her hand, or at least not the hand she knew. It was a dark, dark blue, but only to the wrist, where it turned to aquamarine scales up to about her elbows, with long, matching aquamarine clawed nails from the tips of each finger.

"What the fuck." She repeated, this time in a mixture of amazement and confusion as she sat up from the ground, sitting with her legs crossed instinctually, only to look at said legs when that didn't feel right, either. Her legs, too, were covered in aquamarine scales, from the ankle to halfway up the thigh, while her feet were the same dark blue with weird aquamarine claws for nails.

"Wait. Scales?" She asked, looking over the rest of her body for more changes. "Oh man, I've got honkers." She said in surprise at her distinctly more 'traditionally' feminine and slightly slimmer figure, currently clad only in plain underwear- though she did question where the bra came from, her mother would have loved to know-

She looked around in confusion as she once again registered she was not in her room, but from looking around, what seemed to be an alleyway. A trashy alleyway that smelled horrible, occupied by garbage bags, and what looked to be a collapsed hobo home, plus the standard fire escapes. All in all, it looked like a standard alley one would find in any city with these kinds of presumably apartment buildings.

But there was one problem with that.

She didn't live in the city.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, shit oh I've been isekai'd haven't I?" She said, as she tried to quell the incoming panic attack and took stock of her situation, looking around- oh hey, she had really long hair the same color as her hands now, that was cool.

"Sss," The sound of a snake hiss was heard as she inspected it further.

"Ahh nonono not a snake!" She said as she quickly jumped to her feet and away from where she'd been sitting, which was when she saw the massive snake body thicker than herself (so that fucker was huge) that she immediately flinched and shielded herself from with her arms. "Why'd it have to be snakes!?"

As she stood there, waiting for the giga-snake to put her out of her misery… nothing happened.

She hazarded a glance to look at it again and noticed she was only able to see the tail end. As she traced it with her eyes, it seemed to lead directly behind her-

She immediately jumped forward and away from the snake at her back, turning around- only to feel an odd pulling sensation in her tailbone as she tripped and fell over the snake. She braced for impact…

Which never came.

Instead, she felt a strange sensation in her tailbone again.

"...Oh, don't tell me…" She said slowly as she turned to look behind herself- and, yup, it wasn't a snake, it was attached to her. "...Why am I snek?"

"Sss," Came the hissing sound again.

"...Lemme guess." She said slowly, closing her eyes and taking a calming breath. "That's also me?" She said as she opened her eyes- to see a massive snake face right in front of her. "AH!" She recoiled again, this time ending up leaning backward on her tail again as the snake's head tilted in confusion.

"Sss?"

She stared at it for a moment as she took in its coloration. Black, with a singular red eye almost tattooed on it, and a red color to its mouth, but the further down the head she traced it, the more blue it became, a familiar shade of navy blue that led directly back to her own head.

Her eyes widened in realization as it clicked.

"Oh my god, I've become a Medusa?!" She said in shock as it finally registered what she had become.

"Ma'am, are you okay? I heard shouting?" A young female voice asked.

"Noooo?" She whined pleadingly, unsure as to what the genuine fuck was going on as she turned towards the source of the voice. "I don't know what's happening?"

And in the entrance of the alley behind her, she saw a young girl with short blonde hair in a very green outfit, consisting of armored boots, some kind of green and black armored breastplate sort of thing resembling a stunt bike outfit over a white and green dress with matching green vambraces and black fingerless gloves, her eyes hidden by a green visor that immediately put to mind a two-eyed scouter.

"Oh, those are big." Was the only words the girl said as she looked at her with an open mouth of shock and surprise.

"Hey Vista, don't run ahead of us," Said a boy's voice, and from around the corner came another costume-clad kid, this one in a much more high-tech looking outfit, looking like an iron man knockoff with a bit of an Imperium flavor to his suit, with a glowy red symbol on his chest with what looked like a stylized 'KW' on it, with a red visor and exposed lower face- maybe that was the fashion here? "Okay, didn't expect this to happen today," He said as he pressed his fingers against the side of his visor. "Consol, we have encountered a Case53 Downtown, the street is Washington 18th. Over."

There was a short pause before he spoke again while she just kinda stared in confusion at them.

"The Case53 is non-hostile and just looks confused, Over," The boy said into his presumed earpiece.

She decided to wave a little to the… child cops? Sidekicks? And try to smile nervously. "Uh, hi? You sound like you know what's going on, what's going on?"

"Ma'am, you're going to be okay; we're to help you," The girl, the boy in red had called her Vista, started to approach her carefully. "Do you know where you are?"

"No?" She answered. "The last thing I remember, I was…" She felt her face slacken as she realized she didn't know. "I was… what was I…."

"You're in Brockton Bay," Vista answered. "And what you're experiencing is normal for people like you, can't remember and not knowing where they are."

"What do you mean 'people like me?'" She asked, fear and confusion and a bit of...offense? For some reason? At the term.

"Ssss." The hair snakes hissed, causing Vista to recoil.

"Sorry, sorry, I don't- I don't know what's with these-" She said, physically holding the hair snakes back with her arms. Snakes, plural, did they multiply? There'd only been the one a moment ago.

"It's fine," Vista replied, but she didn't come any closer. "And I'm referring to Parahumans who wake up without memories and have more permanent monstrous features."

"Parahuman?" She repeated, confused.

"People with superpowers, like myself, I am Vista, a member of the ENE Wards here in Brockton Bay," Vista replied, introducing himself.

"And I am Kid Win; also a Ward," The Iron Man looking boy introduced himself. "Don't worry, Ma'am, a Protectorate Hero, and a PRT van is on their way to escort you to a safer place."

"I- I don't know what those are?" She said. "But I'm… I'm…" She felt a horrible, dreadful sinking feeling as she realized something very, very important. "I don't know my name."

"That is normal, so do you have something we can call you in the meantime?" Kid Win asked.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh…" She did some quick word association in her head. "Medusa? I guess? I don't think I want that to be my permanent name, but I guess it'll work for now?"

"It does," Kid Win replied.

"So… you kids are superheroes?" 'Medusa' asked curiously after a moment of awkward silence. "Like, on a team?" She was really hoping she was in a DC world if that was the case. Or maybe Marvel. Just not some independent superhero world made by like one person; those tended to get really gritty and dark.

Or Youngblood.

That would be much, much worse.

The kids didn't seem to be suffering from Youngblood Disease, though, so she was probably safe from that particular grisly end.

"Superheroes in training," Kid Win replied.

"So you guys are… sidekicks?"

"Kinda but not really, we're not apprenticing to any hero more like, we're support, to the adult heroes," Vista said as she looked up at Medusa, and the now snakefied woman realized she was kinda towering over the two kids, more so than she usually would. So she was a bit taller than before, all of this… no, she was just being raised by her tail an extra foot, she noted upon realizing her feet weren't touching the ground.

"Oh. Cool. Is that like… fun? Like do you enjoy it?" Medusa asked, both genuinely curious and wanting to know literally anything about what was going on right now. Were they conscripted? Joined of their own free will?

"Yeah, it's great, though the adults can be a little bit too helicoptery in my opinion," Vista said, which just sounded like standard young teen talk.

"And it is much safer than being a vigilante as that usually either results in getting pressed into a gang or even killed as you usually have no support," Kid Win said. "The Protectorate Hero that is about to arrive can explain stuff to you a lot better than I can."

"When are they arriving?" Vista asked.

"Should be now; we aren't very far from PRT HQ," Kid Win answered, and as he said that, Medusa saw at the end of the alley where Kid Win was standing a black van backed up into it.

"Uh, is that yours?" Medusa asked, pointing at it, leery of being kidnapped (or the kids being kidnapped, really).

"It is," Kid Win said as the back opened up and out stepped a woman clad in combat fatigues with that digital camo, wearing an American flag bandana-no, wearing a flag as a bandana around the lower half of her face. And in her hand was a grenade launcher which gave off a green glow.

Immediately Medusa put her hands in the air upon seeing the weapon. "Please don't shoot me; I don't know what's going on."

"I won't, Miss," The woman said as two men clad in tactical gear followed her out, and Medusa saw the grenade launcher transform into a trench knife. "Just had to take precaution, my name is Miss Militia, member of the ENE Protectorate, and you have chosen Medusa at the moment, correct?"

"Uh, I guess?" Medusa confirmed as she carefully lowered her hands. "Uh. What… what now?"

"Just go into the van, and I will answer any question you might have as we drive to the Rig," Miss Militia said in as friendly a voice as possible. "Kid Win and Vista, your patrol is over; head back to PRT HQ."

"Yes, Miss Militia," They responded.

"O-K." Medusa said slowly as she walked (well, obviously it was more of a half-walk, half slither, she couldn't exactly lift her tail and walk, this thing seemed to be pretty heavy) towards the van and got in, slowly and carefully and strangling the one antsy hair snake that kept hissing at the armored and armed people, looking a lot like what she'd seen on tv of 'paddywagons' or whatever, just an empty box with a bench on each side.

As she went to sit down, Medusa realized there was a problem. "...How do I… sit…?" she asked aloud, unable to do so the way her brain was telling her to thanks to her tail.

"Just… see if you can sit in between with your tail like you did before," Miss Militia said.

"Okay," Medusa said as she did just that, coiling her tail instinctively into a pile- a lot like what normal snakes did, really- and then sat back on it with her legs crossed. "...This is weird. Is this- this is weird, right?" She asked as she got situated.

"Well, at least it makes sitting easy," Miss Militia joked.

Medusa snorted and nodded at that because she was right. "Uh, but I meant the… this?" She said, motioning to herself. "The red kid said I was a… Case 53? This happens enough you have a code for it?"

"Yes, we officially come upon a new one every month here in the USA," Miss Militia answered.

"Okay, so I'm in the US?" Medusa asked. "And that stands for the United States of America, right?"

"Yes, you're on the East Coast, Boston is down south, and Portland is up North," Miss Militia answered. "You seem to have some intact memories still."

"Uh? Kind of?" Medusa said. "I can't… I don't remember my name… or my family's names… but I have a little sister and a little brother, I know that much. I was… in college, at… state college? I think?" She pointed at her hand. "It was this color."

"Well, that is definitely more than most Case53 remember; most have almost complete retrograde amnesia with only language skill really remaining," Miss Militia said.

"That's… weird," Medusa said. "There's… there's definitely holes, now that I'm thinking about it, but… I think… I already had memory problems? So maybe that just got worse?"

"Well, if you didn't have the mark on your forehead, I would say you were just a normal Trigger that just had a previous issue exasperated, but you have the same mark that denotes you as a Case53 as all the others," Miss Militia said.

"Mark?" Medusa asked curiously. "What mark? I didn't see a mark anywhere."

"It's on your forehead," Miss Militia said as she took out a makeup mirror from her pocket and handed it to Medusa.

As such, she finally got a good look at her face. It… looked about, right? Something about it looked off, but she couldn't quite place it. Maybe it was the slit yellow snake eyes?

Oh, no, it was probably the giant 'C' on her forehead.

"...what kind of party did I go to…" Medusa said in confusion, deciding to joke about her situation a bit to help distract herself from the ever-mounting panic.

"Well, if my college experience is anything to go by..." Miss Militia said as she joined in on it.

"You went to college?" Medusa asked, genuinely surprised by what appeared to be a military superhero (supersoldier? Oh god was this the local Captain America?) saying that.

"Is that surprising?" She asked.

"Uhhhhh…" Medusa stalled. "Kind of? You look like your my age. And like, the military from my school were a solid decade older than me."

"I am thirty-eight," Miss Militia answered.

"...And I am really bad at telling people's ages," Medusa stated as she lowered her face to hide her shame. "To blatantly change the topic, what's the 'PRT'?"

"The PRT is the Parahuman Response Team and is the government bureau that handles all Parahuman activity in the United States alongside the Protectorate, the government-funded Superhero Team," Miss Militia answered.

"Oh. So your professional heroes?" Medusa asked, hoping for a moment this was just Heroaca's America or something.

"We could be classified as that," She answered.

"...Do you have dental?"

Both Miss Militia and the up-to-that-point silent PRT Agent that was with them chuckled at that. "Yes, and before you ask, it is better than the FBI's and the CIA's."

"And what's the process like for joining?" Medusa paused. "Actually, wait, do I have to do that? Like, are there normal people like me?"

"There are a few civilian Case53, but most either join the Protectorate or the Wards, and those that are neither join villain gangs or are killed on the streets by them if they don't join," Miss Militia said. "Joining the Protectorate is probably the easiest and safest thing to do as we can give you a legal identity and a steady income."

"I, uh… huh. When you phrase it like that, it's not really like I have a choice, do I?"

"There is always a choice; we can't force you to join unless you have committed crimes, and that is your sentence," Miss Militia answered.

"Okay," Medusa said. "...Why did you become a hero then?"

"I am not at liberty to go into details, but I do it to serve the country that saved me," She replied.

"Ah, okay," Medusa said, clearly having been about to step on a landmine, so to speak.

"Do you have any other questions at the moment? We will arrive on the Rig in five minutes," Miss Militia said.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Medusa drew out, stalling. "I don't… think so? I think you've explained everything I want to know… or at least can think to ask. I don't… maybe explain some important stuff I didn't ask about? I'm kind of blue screening really hard right now."

"Well, people started to gain powers in 1982 and onwards after the first Parahuman, Scion appeared and was the first superhero," Miss Militia told her.

"Oh," Medusa said. "For reference, what year is the year of today?"

"It's currently March 20, 2011," Miss Militia answered.

"Okay…" Medusa said, brow furrowing. Something about that didn't sound right, but something else was pressing on her mind. "Whose Scion?"

"As said before, he is the first Parahuman to ever appear publicly and is also known as the Golden Man," Miss Militia answered.

"So he's Superman?" Medusa asked.

"That he basically is," Miss Militia answered with a mirth-filled tone of voice.

"Is there a Batman?" Medusa asked, because obviously if there was a Superman, there had to be a Batman, right?

"There are a lot of heroes that can fit that Archetype of hero that he is," Miss Militia answered. "Though we have to end our QA for now, for we have arrived."

And Medusa felt the van come to a stop.

The doors opened, and Medusa followed Miss Militia and the PRT Agent and saw that she was not looking at a building like she had expected to or an underground parking lot like she had kinda expected but rather the sea as she could see the coastline in the distance.

"Where's the…." Medusa stopped as she realized she could see the coastline in the distance as she looked around and realized she was on what looked to be a remodeled oil rig. "...Oh, it's the Rig, I understand now."

"Yep, it's an old oil rig that got converted to our base and also serves as a temporary prison for captured villains to make escape as hard as possible," Miss Militia said. "Now, just follow me to a room, Medusa, and we'll get your situation fully sorted out."

"Okay," Medusa said, deciding to be as cooperative as possible, the unsaid threat of this being a prison hanging overhead.

Xxx

The Case53, now known as Medusa at this moment, sat within a rather spartan looking barracks type room as she waited for Miss Militia to return for her and take her to the meeting with the leader of the Protectorate ENE and the Director of the PRT ENE that was currently being set up.

Though thankfully, when Medusa had arrived. She had been provided appropriately sized clothing and a sizable bag of snacks.

At the moment, she was testing if her hair snakes- which seemed to form and unform randomly- could eat. So far, it seemed like the answer was no; they were just for biting.

Which was confusing because she hadn't turned anyone to stone… But then again, she'd been avoiding eye contact nearly the entire time just out of nervousness.

In truth, she had no idea if she could even do that or if she was just snakey. Though even what that meant, she wasn't sure. She was definitely endothermic, her hands were still as warm as ever, but something just felt off about her body. She wasn't entirely sure what, but even beyond the obvious of the snake-like tail and the hair snakes, something was just off. Not… bad, necessarily, just different. It was like-

"Ssss." A hair snake hissed as it bumped itself into her head.

"What? Do you need something?" She asked thoughts derailed.

"Ssss." It hissed, poking at the bag of chips in her hands that she had crushed into exploded crumbs.

"Oh. Thanks." She said as she did her best to clean up as she continued to wait and continued to think.

Though she couldn't remember what she'd been thinking of before, so she instead began to think of a name.

She couldn't remember her name, like at all. She could remember her family had had some kind of pun to their last name, and she remembered her own first name was often gotten wrong despite being supremely simple, with people having a tendency to call her anything but her name for a reason she literally couldn't comprehend.

She could remember everything about it except the actual names.

Not herself, not her brother, not her sister, not her mother, not her father, not her cousins, not her grandparents, not her-

"Oww!" She whined as the hair snake bit into her arm ever so lightly as she batted it away. "What is wrong with you?"

"Ssss." It hissed belligerently.

"Ugh. Whatever." She groaned as she continued thinking on a name. "Fuck… I don't wanna lie about my name, but I literally can't even tell the truth about it if I wanted to…."

She thought in silence for a moment before once again groaning in frustration.

"Sorry that it took a bit, but the Director and Armsmaster are ready to talk to you now," Miss Militia said as she opened the door.

"Oh, it's fine; gave me time to think," Medusa said. "I'm assuming I follow you, right?"

"Yes, it's just a short walk to the meeting room; Armsmaster will be in person, while Director Piggot will be over a conference call," Miss Militia said, and Medusa started to follow her out of the room.

And the two of them walked to the meeting room in relative silence until they arrived at their destination.

"I am here with her," Miss Militia said as she opened the double doors, and the two of them entered. And inside was as Miss Militia had said the person she presumed to be Armsmaster. Who straight up looked like a Power Ranger (not the classic kind, he looked like he came out of the reboot movie, but still), and beside him was a screen which showed the live feed of a rather heavy set woman that gave her a lot of Amanda Waller vibes.

But white.

"H-hello." Medusa greeted the obvious Blue Ranger and hardass leader.

"Take a seat, Miss Medusa, if that is the name you still wish to be referred to," Armsmaster spoke.

"I'm thinking of going with Verity, actually." She said as she pulled out a chair, noted it had arms, and then sighed as she sat back on her tail instead, lowering herself to be level with them, which was surprisingly comfortable. "And if I go into this hero biz, Medusa would be my name for that."

"Very well, I will note your first name as Verity," Armsmaster responded, and after that, the Director began to talk.

"Now Verity, I am Emily Piggot, Director of PRT ENE here in Brockton Bay," The blond woman spoke as she continued to stare at Verity hard. "Now I want you to tell us what you're able to remember before waking up in the place where the Wards Vista and Kid Win found you."

"Uhh, you want me to tell you everything?" Verity asked. "Cause… I remember a lot, but nothing that would lead to…" she motioned to herself. "This."

"So it would be easier to ask, what do you not remember now that you have been able to think alone for a bit?" Armsmaster asked.

"Uh, yeah, probably," Verity said. "So, to preface this, I've always had memory problems for as long as I can remember… no pun intended. But, I know for a fact that before this, I knew my name, which I don't anymore, and that of my family." She started. "I can remember their faces, memories about them and myself, but not names for some reason. And… I know my birthday, but I can't remember what year I was born in. Definitely before the turn of the century, and my siblings were born after, but beyond that… nothing."

"Do you remember your exact age? And what is the last precise thing you do remember?" Director Piggot asked.

"Uh, I'm 21; I remember drinking on that birthday but didn't get one since then," Verity said as she thought. "And… the last thing I remember is… I was… driving somewhere? I think… with my friends? So I was still back home in PA, just hanging out with friends, and then…" She trailed off, eyes unfocused as she tried to think. "Static."

"Director, her words match up with what she said before, so I agree with Miss Militia that if it wasn't for that mark, I would not classify her as a Case53 but a person with a traumatic Trigger Event due to a possible car crash, but with that mark and appearing three states away from her previous location, and seemingly constant monstrous form..." Armsmaster said.

"I agree, so that means we commence normal protocols regarding Case53s," Director Piggot responded.

"Nnnormal protocols?" Verity repeated nervously.

"Nothing to be concerned about, just setting up a new legal identity, and if you desire to become a Protectorate Hero, as you are a legal adult by all appearances, we can not make you a ward of the state and force you to be a hero," Director Piggot explained a clear tone of voice.

"Oh, okay," Verity said, relieved. "I heard you guys have good dental, so probably. Probably wouldn't find much luck finding a different job looking like this, would I?"

"Yes, most Capes are rather discriminated against in working fields, Case53s even more so, the only group in Brockton Bay that is not a criminal gang is Faultline's Crew as she has a few others employed, but they are Mercenaries so their work would probably run foul of any sound morals you have," Armsmaster said.

"Okay," Verity said, not really sure how to respond to that. "Can I, like, uh, wait a week to officially become one, so I can figure out what I can actually do first? And also get used to moving like this?"

"Of course, we do not present new Parahumans as Protectorate Capes the second they come to us, it takes two weeks at minimum as you need to go through power testing and talk with PR before you can do any patrols or public appearances," Director Piggot said, sounding almost offended at the notion they had no bureaucracy and protocols they had to follow for people like Verity.

"Okay, cool." Verity said, very much so still processing everything going on and really still stuck on the 'even worse memory loss' thing as she attempted to roll with the (what felt like a near-constant barrage of) punches. "Is there anything else you needed from me?"

"No, we just needed your confirmation if you wished to join or not, and clarifications on your memory problem," Armsmaster said.

"Yes, I will send in the notice for you now, Verity… What do you wish your last name to be?" Piggot asked.

"Uhhhhhh…" Verity thought for a moment, again doing word associations to come up with something good. "Mendax. Verity Mendax."

"Truth storyteller?" Armsmaster asked.

"Uhh, yeah?" Verity said with a shrug. "I took some Latin in school, I chose Verity, Mendax seems like a good combo? Maybe?"

"It is poetic," Miss Militia commented from behind her.

"Thanks."

"Again that is all for now, you can spend the rest of day in your new room, tomorrow you will be given a tour of the Rig, and meet the other Protectorate heroes, the day after the scientists we get for power testing should have arrived," Armsmaster spoke, and Verity could tell that the man tried to be as concise as possible with his words.

"Sooo, I can leave?"

"Yes," Piggot said though as she did, Verity heard the sound of a door opening on her end and another man speaking. "Yes, I am available now; I will talk to you all at a later point," Her screen went dark, but her mic was not off yet, and so she heard her say. "Freaking Neo-Nazis ruining my evening."

"She always forgets to turn the mic off first," Miss Militia said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, did she say neo-nazis?" Verity asked, mental mood flipping.

"Yes, one of the criminal gangs operating in the city is a rather stubborn group of white supremacists called Empire Eighty-eight or E88 for short," Armsmaster answered with a slight grimace enhanced by that impressive yet neatly trimmed beard of his.

"...So, I'm no longer conflicted about becoming a hero if it means punching nazis," Verity said.

"Yes, that is always a cathartic thing to do," The blue Power Ranger replied. "Miss Militia can tell you more about the city's crime problem as she has still another hour until she has to patrol again."

"Yeah, I can do that, follow me back to your room Verity," Miss Militia said.

"Okay."

And that they returned to the barracks she had been given for now. "Now, this place is just temporary; we will see about you getting either a small house or an apartment for you."

"Oh, okay, that's nice," Verity said absently. "Probably somewhere stable; I think I gained some weight."

"...Now Armsmaster did say that I should give you the rundown, but I think we should just save that for tomorrow as you're looking dead tired and still confused, so I'll go and get you some proper food from the Cafeteria, anything specific you want me to see if they have?" Miss Militia asked.

"Uh, pizza?" Verity said. "Or rice. Or potatoes. Or scrapple, you guys probably don't have that one, but it's worth a shot."

"I think we have pizza; assault likes that a lot," She replied as she left Verity to think for herself again.

"..." Verity waited for the door to close before sighing and leaning back, lying parallel to the ground and holding herself up on her tail, letting her limbs hang as she faced the ceiling. "...What the fuck am I tied up? In now?"

Xxx

She awoke feeling warm and confused. She didn't want to move, but it felt like morning.

"Ssss."

"Ah!" She yelped as she heard a snake hissing in her ear- and as she felt resistance from her own tail, everything snapped back into place.

"...Oh my god, that actually happened?" Verity asked herself. "This is actually happening?" She pinched herself on the arm- "Ow!" Not only did she feel the pain from that, she had completely forgotten she had claws now and had a slowly bleeding cut on her arm now. "...At least my blood's red."

"Are you up, Verity?" Verity heard the voice of Miss Militia on the other side of the door.

Verity quickly looked at the clock to see if that was reasonable or not- 7:30 a.m. Not bad, but a bit earlier than she would have liked, considering. "Uh, kinduv, gimme a moment." She said slurrily, the sleep still ahold of her as she quickly got up and put on some of the clothes they'd given her, a nice plain t-shirt that was somehow big on her (a novelty, for sure) and a dark blue skirt that genuinely fit which was nice.

A moment of frantic scrambling later, she opened the door. "Sorry about the delay; I'm already a natural heavy sleeper."

"Well, you are a snake, so it is to be expected," She responded with a bit of humor. "Now we will be going down to the Cafeteria to greet the others and get you up to speed on Brockton Bay."

"Oh, okay, how many of them are you?" Verity said before replaying what she just said. "Sorry, that happens sometimes; how many of you are there?" She asked again, this time clearly and slowly enunciating the question.

"There are currently seven Protectorate ENE heroes, including myself," Miss Militia answered.

"And what's 'ENE' mean? East North East?" Verity asked.

"Correct," She answered as they walked down the hallways, passing by personal and PRT Troopers.

"So is there, like, a Protectorate for every single city?"

"Cities above a certain population threshold, most others just have singular Vigilantes work with either local police or PRT," She answered.

"PRT?" Verity's mind couldn't help but think the acronym was for 'pormone replacement therapy.'

"As mentioned yesterday, it is the Parahuman Response Team, the government organization meant to deal with Parahuman affairs," Miss Militia answered.

"Oh, sorry, I… wasn't really taking in much information yesterday." Verity apologized. "Lot more focused now. Is that just US or international?"

"Just US at the moment, we just got a single branch set up in Canada; it's still a new organization. Less than two decades old," She answered.

"Oh. So all the super stuff is new?" Verity asked. She certainly didn't remember any of this from before.

"Yes, it started in 1982, with the appearance of Scion, who we presume to be the first," Miss Militia answered.

"Presume?" Verity asked. "Wouldn't it be obvious if people had superpowers?"

"He was the first one that appeared publicly; we don't know if others had powers around the same time, but it was soon after he appeared that Parahumans became very visible to the public eye," Miss Militia answered.

"Oh, okay," Verity said, accepting that pretty easily. "So about your team. Are you the leader?"

"No Armsmaster is the leader with me as second in command," She answered.

"And who else is team?"

"You will meet them now?" Miss Militia said as they entered the Cafeteria, which was on the smaller side of things. "And Verity, since we're going to be working together, let me introduce myself; my name is Hannah Washington." Miss Militia said as she removed her flag bandana.

"Hi, I'm…." She had gone to re-introduce herself on instinct, only to flounder with her own name for a moment. "Verity, I'm Verity now. It's nice to be working with you, Hannah."

"I hope it will now let's go and meet the others," She said, graciously ignoring Verity's short-circuiting, as she pointed at a table where five other people were sitting in more casual clothes than Hannah, who was still in her costume, so Verity assumed she had just been on an early morning patrol.

"Hello." She greeted awkwardly as they approached.

"Wow, when you said she was big, Hannah, I didn't think you meant it in both ways," The ginger-haired man among them commented, which resulted in him getting an elbow from the dark-haired woman sitting beside him.

"Don't have your first impression be sexual harassment, Ethan," The woman said. "I apologize for my husband's behavior, I'm Laura Hunt, Cape name Battery, and this blithering idiot is Assault."

"Assault and Battery, nice." Verity couldn't help but point out.

"Yeah, I thought so too, which is why I chose it when I joined," Ethan said. "... I'd say take a seat, but I don't think they can accommodate you."

"Don't worry about it; I've got something figured out," Verity said as she removed the chair from the end of the table and took a seat on her tail there, bringing it in so she wouldn't trip anyone. "So, I'm Verity. Verity Mendax. I think my hero name's gonna be Medusa. It's a pleasure to be working with you all."

"Good to meet you, Verity; the name is Robin Swoyer, Cape name Velocity," Said the brown-haired man with a rather strong build on the other side of the table. His face had a few scars, and his eyes a rather piercing blue. If Verity had to make a comparison to anything, it would be that he looked like a person who would be on the cover of a gritty shooter.

"And I am Shawn Burry, Cape name Dauntless, I hope we can get along well," Shawn introduced himself; he was a long blond-haired guy who had it tied up in a ponytail, with a face that was on the handsome side of things.

"And I am Rory Christner, my Cape name is Triumph, and I just graduated from the Wards," The obviously youngest member of the group introduced himself. His light brown hair was rather curly, and it looked like he still had some baby fat on his cheeks.

"So Verity, what do you have your coffee with?" Ethan asked.

"Oh, I don't drink coffee," Verity said before pausing. "Also, it might have weird effects now that I'm part snake. Not sure, to be honest."

"Is it like dogs and chocolate?" Robin asked as he drank his own coffee. "If so, what about tea? Shawn could share some of his."

"...You know, to be fair, I have literally no idea if it does, I just…" She shrugged. "I'unno. What kind of tea?"

"It's just some simple Earl Grey," Shawn answered as he pushed his thermos over.

Verity sniffed it curiously. "Eh… I'll just stick to water for now."

"Here," Hannah said as she placed a bottle in front of her as she sat down with a plate of food. "And just go over and pick the stuff you want."

"Oh, okay, thank you," Verity said, going over and doing just that, grabbing a tray and feeling a mighty hunger as she eyed up the eggs, piling high a plate full of them and another of bacon and sausage and toast- well, more like an entire loaf of bread, before heading back to the table, where the others were still eating and conversating, setting down her tray of food (which as she did, she realized was enough food to probably feed her for three whole days, before this) and reclaiming her position at the table and digging in.

"Hot damn," She heard Rory say as everyone's attention was turned to Verity, and they watched as she ate with enormous haste as large amounts of food vanished quickly.

Verity swallowed the bacon she'd been chewing as she noticed their eyes on her, about half of the food now gone. "Uh. In my defense, I feel like I haven't eaten in days?"

"You probably haven't," Hannah said. "So now that we have eaten a bit, how about we inform our new team member about the information that she is missing?"

"Oh yeah, this is going to be fun," Ethan said.

"Uhhh, sure, go ahead," Verity said before taking a sip of water.

"So we start with the hero side of things," Shawn said. "We're the Protectorate, and then there is our junior division, the Wards."

"You know they don't like it, then you call them that," Rory responded.

"There are currently six members; you met two of them yesterday," Shawn said.

"Yeah, the green one and the red one, they seem like good kids," Verity confirmed, having completely forgotten their hero names.

"Yeah, Vista and Kid Win are good kids, with Vista being the youngest member of the Wards," Laura said.

"Who are the others, if you don't mind me asking?" Verity asked.

"We don't; you have to learn eventually and probably meet them for when you do Guardian Patrols with them when that time comes," Hannah said.

"The current team leader is Aegis, with his second in command being Clockblocker, my favorite member," Ethan said with a smile. "The others are Gallant and Shadow Stalker."

"You forgot that the Wards are getting a new member soon," Hannah said.

"Yeah, that Browbeat kid, his debut is the beginning of April, right?" Robin asked.

"Correct," Hannah said.

"Cool. And all of them are like Vista and Kid Win? Or are there problem children?" Verity asked, keen on helping the kids if they needed it.

"The only one that is a problem child as it were is Shadow Stalker as she is on probation," Hannah said.

"And has a tendency to try and not follow patrol routes," Ethan said.

"Maybe I can help with her; I'm good with kids." Verity offered, eager to be useful in her new situation. "Probation means she's being forced to be a Ward, right? Or did she do something as a Ward that led to it?"

"It was either be a Ward or go to Juvenile Detention for excessive force," Robin said. "And you're welcome to try, both Laura and Hannah have tried to help her, but she has denied such things as every opportunity."

"Any way you can talk with Director Piggot about that later, for now, we should move onto the other groups in the city," Hannah said. "Active Capes can be generally separated into three different groups, Heroes, Villains, and Rogues. Rogues being Parahumans who try to use their powers to earn a profit despite how hard it can be. The only one Brockton Bay who fits that description is Parian; she uses her powers to make clothes and do stage performances for kids down at the Boardwalk."

"Though being a Rogue can be dangerous as there is a high chance a gang will try and force you to join them," Rory said. "Now besides the Protectorate and Wards, there is only one other hero group in BB, that is New Wave."

"New Wave?" Verity repeated. "Like the music genre?"

"No, they are a non-government affiliated group composed out of two families that tried to make a change in Cape culture in Cape responsibility and accountability by having their secret identities be known to the public," Laura said with a sad sigh.

"Sadly, it lasted barely a week since as soon as they did that, a skinhead snuck into their home and killed a member of their team by slitting her throat," Hannah said, her lips down in a frown.

"Oh god," Verity said, not having been expecting that. "I guess that's why everyone has secret identities, huh?"

"It's part of what is known as the unwritten rules and what keeps MAD from happening, as we're basically outnumbered out four to one," Ethan said.

"Four to one? That doesn't sound right, is that accurate?" Verity asked, genuinely surprised there were that many villains out there. "There's really that many villains?"

"Yeah," Ethan said. "It's due to how people gain powers in the first place."

"You heard it mentioned by Armsmaster and me yesterday; it is called a Trigger Event, and it happens when people are at their lowest in their life, and they experience a traumatic event. Which most of the time, they don't get the help they need, and so… they… yeah," Hannah said. "Case53s like you can be said to be lucky in that regard, you do not remember it happening."

"I also don't remember my own real name," Verity said flatly. "Which, speaking from my previous experience with memory problems, is an ongoing trauma that can lead to more memory issues. So… kind of."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way; you have many other problems right now you obviously need help with," Hannah said.

"Which is why all Protectorate and Ward members have access to a Psychiatrist if they want to," Rory said.

"They are all good, but if one named Yamada is on the schedule, definitely have an hour with her," Robin said.

"Yeah, she is like a god among them," Ethan commented.

"I'll keep an eye out for that then, but… definitely not right now," Verity said. "Anyway, the way you guys were talking before… what's the local villain scene like? Hopefully more theft-y than murder-y?"

"Much more on the murder side," Ethan said.

"Dammit." Verity immediately cursed under her breath.

"Yeah, there is only one group that could be called thieves, and those are the Undersiders, which are just a bunch of teens thinking they are hot shit," Ethan said, which resulted in another smack from his wife.

"Language, there are four big gangs as it were in the city at this moment, and the biggest one is Empire Eighty-Eight," Laura said.

"The most acceptable of targets," Robin said.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me of a very important point; what's the view on lethality for us?" Verity asked. "Cause I'm gonna be actively avoiding killing anyone not part of that group whenever possible, obviously, but like, I'm pretty sure I have super strength."

"And you will get training to control it," Hannah said. "But it's best avoided at all costs as we have an image to maintain. The only people that we're allowed to kill are people with Kill Orders on them."

"And does the 88 have that?" Verity asked.

"No, the only one that is close to having one approved is Hookwolf," Laura answered.

"With a name like that, I think I can guess why?"

"Yes, he is the one with the highest kill count among them. To get one, you either need to be classified as an S-rank threat or have a kill count above fifty, and he is at forty," Hannah answered. "Now back to the outnumbering thing, we say that because the E88 have fifteen Capes in their organization and can get more as they are sponsored by the Gesellschaft."

"The whosawhat?" Verity asked, able to figure it was another nazi group through context clues but still wanting to know.

"Their parent Neo-Nazi organization located in Europe," Ethan answered. "Now the next gang is the Azn Bad Boys or ABB for short."

"With a name like that… biker gang?" Verity guessed.

"No human trafficking and prostitution," Robin said. "It would be so much better if they were a biker gang."

"What the fuck." Verity said under her breath at that. "Are, are all villains just genuinely horrible people? There aren't any, like, disenfranchised folk we could maybe help turn to the side of good? It's just all murderers?"

"As said, only Undersiders fit that description they do theft, but mostly from the other gangs, stole money from one of Lung's casinos," Shawn said. "Lung being the leader of the ABB and the only thing that makes it work as it is made up of various Asian ethnicities. He only has one other cape subordinate, but he and Oni Lee are enough to match us and the E88 through sheer overwhelming power."

"Well, hopefully, I can be the tipping point then," Verity said. "Still not sure at all about what I can do, but y'know, here's hopin'."

"Yeah, I don't think so, Lung's power allows him to escalate to match the opponent he is fighting by turning into an actual fire-breathing dragon, and Oni Lee is a teleporter that leaves temporary copies behind with all his equipment. So in the span of six seconds, he can throw twenty grenades at you without even using the original one," Robin said.

"Never mind," Verity said. "Unless I actually do have the ability to turn people to stone, I don't think I'm gonna be very useful against that."

"That would be pretty neat," Ethan commented. "Next up is the Archer's Bridge Merchants, or Merchants for short. They are the most normal criminals as they just move around the seedy area of town and sell drugs. They have three Capes, Skidmark, who makes force fields that push stuff in one direction, Mush, who turns into a trash giant by picking up literal trash. And Squealer their Tinker, she makes vehicles, but she is so high all the time that her things are basically no threat at all and generally just looks like something from Mad Max."

"Tinker?" Verity asked. Why did that term seem vaguely familiar?

"One of the clarifications of various powers, a Tinker is someone who got the power to make super science happen; we have two in the form of Kid Win and Armsmaster," Robin answered.

"And I'm immediately disappointed I don't have that kind of power," Verity said, internally cursing her luck at not getting the obvious best-fit superpower of SCIENCE!

"Yeah, it is one of those powers that are typically associated with the words 'bullshit,' but the downside is that Tinker Tech as it called is not really replicable by normal science as it is so advanced stuff, only the Tinker himself or another one can mostly understand what they are making and even then, some can't," Rory explained.

"And you're making me more disappointed in my situation," Verity said.

"Sorry, anyway, the last big Villain here in BB is Coil, but he is a relative enigma and small scale, using normal soldiers armed with Tinker Tech to do his stuff," Rory apologized and explained. "And there is also Faultline's Crew, but they aren't really just mercenaries."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm just joking." Verity lied. "But are those all the major players in town?"

"They are," Hannah said. "You'll get a portfolio on other villains and threats delivered to your room later."

"Neato," Verity said before finishing off her breakfast. "So, what can you all do, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Again, Verity, this is stuff you need to know now that you're working with us, so no need to sound apologetic about asking," Hannah said.

"Oh, okay, sorry." Verity apologized. "So what's the powers? I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess Laura has lightning powers?"

"A little bit of electromagnetic powers, I can only give a light stun and manipulate metals, but my main power allows me to charge up kinetic energy standing still and then allowing me to move at fast speeds and hit harder. Like a Battery," Laura answered.

"Ohhh. So in that case… Imma guess… Ethan punches people?" Verity guessed.

"Kinetic energy manipulator," He replied. "Which does allow me to hit and kick really hard."

"Oh, okay, can everyone just go around the table and say their power, so I stop making a fool of myself?" Verity asked, feeling her face heating up.

"My power allows me to control a blur of energy I can transform into any weapon that I can hold in my hands, though not things that are mostly Tinkertech," Hannah said.

"I can alter the way physics relates to myself, which allows me to move at high speed without getting affected by friction or needing to breathe, but the faster I go, the weaker I get strength-wise," Robin said.

"My power allows me to imbue objects with powers, making them permanently stronger a little bit at the time," Shawn explained.

"And I am a grab-bag, I have a bit of super-strength and a mild healing factor, but my main power allows me to manipulate the sound I produce," Rory finished.

"That seems like a nice combination of abilities," Verity said. "But uh, Shawn, does that only work when you use them, or can anyone?"

"Only works with myself; whatever energy I produce to make them requires it to function; I would have loved if it worked like that," Shawn replied.

"Oh, okay, that's still pretty cool though, I'm guessing that means you have a lot of versatility over time?"

"Yeah, if I manage to live long enough, they say I could reach the level of the Triumvirate," Shawn said with no small amount of pride.

"Triumvirate?" Verity repeated, the Big Three immediately put in her mind.

"The three biggest superheroes and the founders of the Protectorate, and the three that remain of the original team," Ethan explained.

"What happened to the original team?" Verity asked, eager to learn literally anything and everything about this universe.

"Dead." Was the reply.

"Oof."

"Yeah, the loss of Hero still hits hard," Laura said. "Now, the other three are Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon."

"With Eidolon being the second strongest Cape in existence," Ethan said.

"With a name like that, does Eidolon have, like, ghost powers or something?" Verity guessed, since usually names related to powers in some way in superhero stuff.

"If he wanted to," Rory said.

"Yeah, Eidolon has all the powers," Ethan added.

"To be specific, he can have three powers active at the same time and able to change them out as needed," Hannah explained.

"Ohhh, that makes why he's the second strongest…." Verity said. "Assuming the Scion's the first? Someone mentioned him yesterday."

"Yes."

"What does he do? I know he's like Superman, but if… oh is he like Silver Age Superman? Infinity+1 type of guy?" Verity guessed.

"Not that powerful," Ethan said. "He has flight, invulnerability, super-strength, immunity to pre-cogs, and he can fire a beam that can do a wide variety of things. But what makes him the number is that he never basically stops, ever since he appeared in 1982, he has been an active superhero non-stop and has never been seen to take a rest."

"Oh, that sounds…." Verity trailed off. "Is- is he human?"

"...Nobody really knows, there has only been one 'interview' with him ever, and in that he only gave his name, and…" Hannah said, but she stopped speaking, looking she was thinking over what to say next.

"He is kinda stupid," Ethan said, which resulted in him getting another elbow from Laura. "It's the truth puppy, his sense of priority is kinda skewed."

"Still," Laura said.

"You said his name's Scion, right? Like, offspring?" Verity said. "Because that almost sounds like he's a kid who only knows how to play at superheroics."

"Don't know," Hannah answered. "The current theory by the Think-tanks is that he is just severely autistic to explain his behavior."

"As he kinda flew around half-naked for the first decade and a half," Ethan said. "Wore just a sheet, like one would a toga."

"Mhm… I would love to have a conversation with him; it's honestly pretty cool; the top hero is autistic too." Verity said several things now making more sense. But also still leaning towards the Superman comparison internally.

"Yeah, he and Legend made a lot of social issues get more acknowledgment," Rory said. "...Damn, breakfast is over now. Time to get to work."

"Oh, sorry, was I holding you guys up?" Verity apologized.

"No, you weren't," Laura said.

"Oh, okay, that's good… Uh, what do I do now?"

"I escort you back to your room; it should be a bit more comfortable for you now; tomorrow is going to be power testing," Hannah said.

"Okay."

At that, they left the cafeteria and returned to the Verity's barracks that had undergone a bit of a change. The bed was larger, there was now a desk with a laptop, and in the corner, a tv with a remote, and on the desk was also a stack of binders.

"So they did manage to get things in here in time," Hannah said.

"This is all for me?" Verity asked, surprised as she looked over her new accommodations, particularly the binders' spines- Protocols, Threats; it seemed like most of the info she would need.

"It is," Hannah replied. "Now there is lunch between one and three pm, and dinner between 7 and nine, if you need more, there are baked goods and fruit you can take here, now that you know the route to the cafeteria. And be sure to read the map of the Rig, so you don't get lost."

"Okay, so I'm just supposed to chill for today?" Verity asked.

"And read up, but you have two weeks to get that done, so don't speed through it all, be thorough," Hannah replied.

"Yes, ma'am," Verity said with a short salute.

"Then I will talk to you later, Verity," Hannah said as she began to leave. But stopped in the door and turned her head around. "And if you need to call for personnel, just use the comms; there is a manual in there."

And she exited the door frame and closed it behind her leaving Verity alone once again for now.

"...What to do now…" She said to herself, looking between the binders, the laptop (which looked heavy-duty enough to probably be fine to use despite her claws), the bed, and the door.

"Ssss." One of her snakes hissed, bringing her attention to the laptop. "Okay, guess we're surfing the web then." She said as she 'sat' in front of the desk and opened it up.

It was a normal laptop, but thicker, and it seemed to be fine with her claws (though typing was weird to get used to) as she tried looking for some of the sites she frequented, just to see if they were still there.

Unfortunately, it looked like Spacebattles didn't exist here, which was a shame; that was where she read most of her entertainment lately.

Fanfiction dot net existed, but after about 3 seconds of looking at it, she realized she didn't really want to read fanfiction anyway as she decided to, instead, look into some things she was curious about.

Namely, the divergence of history.

She started with the obvious one, looking over World War II on Wikipedia, which seemed to be the same, and most of the checkmarks after that up until 1982 when Scion showed up. So that seemed to be the point of divergence.

Apparently, the Cold War ended early because Scion destroyed some test nukes, so that was honestly probably a good thing. Though the USSR still fell, but that was probably inevitable anyway.

Most of Africa was a big mess due to Parahuman Warlords taking over many of the former colonies. With only Egypt and South Africa being any kind of stable.

But then she found another big thing that radically changed this world from what she knew.

The Endbringers.

Actual freaking Kaijus that routinely devastated countries and annihilated cities. The first one was Behemoth, a Dynakinetic that turned every area it appeared into a radioactive wasteland and had a killing aura that seemingly extended from thirty feet of him that, as the name said, killed everything within it. He appeared in 1992 and was still active to this day.

The second was Leviathan, who appeared in 1996 and was a powerful hydrokinetic that summoned tsunamis and drowned cities, and had even sunk land masses like Kyushu in Japan and Newfoundland in Canada.

And the third one was known as Simurgh or Ziz to fit with the biblical names. And it was the only one that there existed pictures of since when she wasn't active, she hung out in earth's stratosphere. Where she was visible to observation, unlike the other two, Leviathan hung out at the bottom of the ocean somewhere and was said to sink passing ships, but that was just a rumor. While Behemoth was said to hang out in the crust somewhere.

And the general consensus was that she was the most dangerous of the three as she was a telepath that subtly mindfucked people into being her puppets. They were known as Simurgh/Ziz bombs. It said to be done with a scream, and she was also apparently a powerful telekinetic and a Tinker as well. And pretty much if she wasn't driven off quickly enough, her mental fuckery would become permanent, and so they had to quarantine the place to prevent the mind fucked people from escaping.

No one seemed to really know for sure what they were or where they came from. The main theory was they were absurdly powerful Capes (the general term for the empowered, as she had learned) who just lost their shit.

"Okay, that's enough history for now," Verity said. "How about we figure out what the fuck's going on with all this snake business…."

And so, she began another wiki crawl, this time about snakes and what they did, to try and figure out what she might be able to do.

Verity was unsure if she was venomous, especially considering how strong her tail seemed to be, but she did have a snake-like tongue, and her sense of smell was insane- it hadn't even registered before, but now that she was thinking about it, that alleyway she woke up in smelled horrible, and she didn't smell much better.

She was immediately sidetracked from her research to go fix that, using the map she was given to find the baths.

Thankfully, there was no one else there, considering it was like 3 in the afternoon (she wasn't all that hungry despite missing lunch, maybe she had snake-level digestion?), so she was able to get a shower and get clean, as well as getting a better look at herself, which was how she also found she was quite a bit more flexible than before, especially at the spine.

She discovered in that process that her scales were not only symmetrical in their placement across her body but almost even, with no random splotches of scales anywhere (even the scales on her neck were almost perfectly distributed). It was less like a random mutation like she'd been thinking but more like she'd been designed this way, which was a scary thought.

After the few minutes of this, she realized that her stretch marks had disappeared, which was what made it click after feeling her forehead as to what looked wrong about her face before- the acne was gone, replaced by that weird 'C.'

"Okay, not complaining but… why would…." She muttered to herself before deciding now wasn't a good time to think about it.

About 40 minutes later, once she was certain she was clean (and had, admittedly, just stood there under the hot water for a 'bit'), she got done and checked one of the mirrors to confirm what she had guessed- yup, no acne on the face, no hidden stretch marks on the back (more scales back there around they tail, interestingly enough, she hadn't felt those before), it was… almost as disconcerting as the snake thing, really. Not exactly bad, but off-putting.

She shook her head and, after drying off and getting dressed, headed back to her room.

Or tried to, anyway.

Verity immediately got lost.

Deciding to make the best of this, she proceeded to wander and explore.

And the place was relatively clean all around, with the base consisting of a lot of verticality to it, and one wouldn't be mistaken to call it a castle with all the spires and arches Verity could see when she looked through the windows.

And passing by her as she walked were the people that maintained the place and PRT Officers who guarded the place and probably did other things.

All in all, the place actually seemed very cozy to live in.

"Hey, if it isn't the Big Snek, how has your day been so far?" Asked the voice of Ethan from behind her and Verity turned around and saw that the man was in costume, a red bodysuit with some obvious armored padding and a matching red visor.

"Oh, it's been pretty good, mostly been learning some stuff about history," Verity said, deciding to go with this small talk.

"That is good to hear learning is tight, so I assume you have questions?" Ethan asked. "I've got a few minutes."

"Uh, to be honest, my brain has been in a near-constant state of crashing and rebooting, I did have questions, but I immediately forgot them as soon as you asked," Verity admitted sheepishly. "Oh, wait, no, I know, do you like doing this? Being a hero and stuff?"

"Yeah, I do, especially with my wife, much better than being a villain," He answered.

"...Are you saying that from experience?" Verity asked, confused by his phrasing.

"Maybe," He answered back.

"O-K, uh…" There was an awkward silence for a moment before Verity decided to bite the bullet. "Which is the barracks?"

"Haha, you got lost, didn't you?" He asked. "Just follow me."

"Okay," Verity said, starting to feel like a lost puppy with how much she kept being led around everywhere, but to some degree, it made sense; she was trying to figure out the layout of everything still.

And within three minutes, the two of them were outside of her room. "It takes a little bit to get used to, but you will learn how to navigate this place."

"Thank you; honestly, I barely know my left from my right right now," Verity said only half-jokingly.

"Yeah, that makes sense; you've been thrust into an entirely new situation; I can't even imagine what is going through your head," Ethan said with a tone of sadness.

"Mostly dial-up noises and screaming."

"That sounds like the standard response," Ethan said. "Anyway, Verity, I'll see you some other time; my puppy is waiting for me," The kinetic hero said as he left, going down the hallway and disappearing around the corner.

"See ya," Verity said before entering her room, which was exactly as she left it.

Looking at the new bed, she only had to think for about 5 seconds before she decided on what to do and curled up in it and immediately fell asleep, distracted and lulled into unconsciousness by the warmth and comfort.

Xxx

"It's good to see that you're punctual, Verity," Armsmaster said as she and Hannah entered a room within the Rig where power testing was supposed to take place. She could see that the room was filled with various equipment that would assumedly help with that.

And sitting behind a desk were three men in lab coats that presumably were here to help with that and record the findings.

"Yeah, I hate being late," Verity said as she looked around at the equipment and then to the scientists who felt like they were positioned like judges. "So, how does this work?"

"We're going to put you through various tests to determine what kinds of powers you may possess, simple stuff like weight lifting, striking power, durability, and see if you anything more exotic," Armsmaster explained. "And thankfully, we managed to also request some of Panacea's time to get you a health inspection and see how your biology differs from a normal human's."

"I'm assuming Panacea's a cape?" Verity asked since the only other ones in the room were Armsmaster and Hannah.

"Yes, she is a member of New Wave who we recruit the services of, from time to time as she is one of the best healers there is, she and her sister should arrive soon," Armsmaster said, and as he did the door behind them opened up.

"Sorry, we're late Mom was being a helicopter," A female voice said, and Verity turned around to see two teenage girls, a blond with a tiara and a supergirl-Esque dress but all white and gold, and the other a brunette wearing a white body encompassing cloak with red crosses all over, including a sash around her neck. "Wow, I never thought I would ever feel breast envy."

"Vicky, please," The girl in the robes said in an admonishing tone.

"Sorry, Ames, just a bit shocked; you're definitely the prettiest Case53 I have seen so far. The name is Victoria Dallon, Glory Girl in costume," Victoria introduced herself and, despite being young, or perhaps because of it, Verity thought she was much, much more prettier than her, how could she be compared to-

"Vicky down with the Aura," The other girl said, and suddenly, Victoria looked like a much more normal girl to her, the feeling of awe and admiration vanishing.

"What the fuck." Verity said, holding her head in confusion and a bit of pain, her snakes rising behind her and a few actually hissing.

"Sorry, but a part of my power is an aura that makes people either in awe of me or fear, and it gets hard to control when I am excited," Victoria explained and apologized. "So anyway, this is my sister Amy."

"It-it's fine, you're young, just- just don't do that again, please," Verity said, shushing her hair snakes away. "I'm Verity, by the way; thank you both for coming down to help."

"It's nothing; it's my job," Amy said. "So just a look over to see if anything is wrong or different?"

"Yes, we have to make sure that we know what her anatomy is and what we need to know if she ever needs surgery," Armsmaster stated.

"Okay," Amy replied. "So to do this, I need your permission to touch you. My power allows me to see the body and how it works and so can heal everything that is wrong except the brain; it's kind of a black box to me."

"Uh, yeah, sure, go ahead," Verity said, keeping on her seemingly persistent hair snake (maybe she should name it?) as she held out her other hand. "I'd rather know than not."

Amy took the hand, and Verity saw her face light up, her eyes going wide in fascination, and she continued to hold Verity's scaly hand. "Wow." Which made sense to Verity; her anatomy must have been weird.

"Is something wrong with her Panacea?" One of the scientists asked, and Verity could see that he was holding a clipboard.

"No, quite the opposite, she is as healthy as she can be, even more than most," Amy said, her voice filled with fascination like it was the first time she had seen something beyond an ordinary human.

"Really?" Verity asked.

"Yes, your immune system is basically perfect; I can see you got a minor virus in your body two days ago," Amy said. "And your white blood cells basically tore it to shreds to make a comparison like a predator does to its prey. And from what I can see, your muscles and bones are very dense; it would take a lot of pressure to break them and even cut your skin and scales. And you have a very fast healing factor, for if you got injured how fast it is, I can't precisely tell; minor cuts would heal in less than a second."

"Oh, really?" Verity asked as she took her free hand and scratched a quick, shallow cut into the arm being held, only to watch in fascination as it closed almost immediately before her eyes. "Woah-kay, that's pretty neat."

"Yeah, at least a Brute 4 going by that alone, and thanks for doing now. I have a better view of what it does… and well," Amy said, seemingly not knowing what to say next.

"Is her healing dangerous to herself?" Armsmaster asked.

"Not quite the opposite, it's perfect, ehh, congrats, you're eternally young and biologically immortal, you're not going to age anymore," Amy said.

"Eh-to-wh-who-wha? Im-immortal?!" Verity asked, having very much so not been expecting that. "Seriously?"

"Well, you can still be killed if one were to cut your head off, though I think if somebody reattached it quick enough, it would heal back on," Amy said.

"Damn, you're going to be the envy of all the female Capes alongside Alexandria, Verity," Victoria said.

Verity herself did not respond as she was still trying to process the implications of apparently being immortal.

"Is there any differences with her internal organs?" Scientist 2 asked.

"Well, for the most part, they are like normal humans but snakified," Amy replied. "Like her jaw can unhinge, her stomach is able to quickly digest food and store it in reserves."

"Ah, so that is why they are so big," Victoria joked.

"You know, if it weren't for the fact you're a teenager, I'd ask why your so horny, but you're a teenager, so it makes sense," Verity responded, before focusing back on Amy.

"Oof below the belt, I just appreciate beauty," Victoria replied. "So Ames, what other snake stuff does she have going on?"

"Well, besides the nerves that allow her to manipulate her tail, she has two sets of venom glands; one is normal paralytic venom, nothing instantly lethal, and the second one I can't quite read," Amy replied.

As she said it, Verity was suddenly made keenly aware of her sharper than normal canines and the strange sensation of finding out she could actually choose which venom to use, somehow. Which made little sense, but she wasn't complaining.

"Can you give some description?" Armsmaster asked.

"Well, it's... The best comparison I can make is that it is some kind of CRISPR formula," Amy said.

"Crisper is… gene editing, right?" Verity asked, supremely confused. "What would that even mean?"

"Well… that is… alarming," Armsmaster said. "That should be best left out of the report."

"Yes, let's harvest a bit and analyze it to see if it is dangerous; we wouldn't want to give the Director a heart attack," Scientist 3 said.

"So, Ames, what is with snake hair?" Victoria asked, changing subjects quickly. "I know it fits the whole Medusa thing she has going on, but how?"

"Yeah, I've actually been wondering the same thing because it feels like it's just hair to me unless they're snake-mode," Verity said.

"Well, it's not really hair," Amy said. "No, that is wrong. It's partly made out of hair, but also crystalized nerves, which is how they are controlled, that means they are directly tied to your brain in some way I can't see."

"Well, no hair cuts for me then," Verity said.

"Well, you won't need one; you're hair won't grow any longer, and it wouldn't really hurt if it did get cut like there are signals sent to it, but not really sent back," Amy said.

"That is… weird." Verity pointed out the obvious as she realized that was why her snakes seemed to form whenever she felt threatened; they were probably acting on her subconscious. Or something. She wasn't a brain doctor.

"Yeah, Case53 biology is weird, like there is that one Ward in Boston who is living metal," Victoria said.

"Yes, Weld is an exemplary Ward. Hopefully, you can meet him one day," Armsmaster said. "Now, Panacea, anything else you can tell us about her, or is that it?"

"Well, her eyes do have snake eyelids in addition to her normal ones, and well, if the theme stays on rails, I wouldn't recommend opening while you're looking at any one of us," Amy said. "And well… there is one more thing…" Verity could see that Amy's face was now going slightly red.

"What is something wrong?" Verity asked, not liking how she wasn't answering. Maybe overuse of her power increased the girl's body temperature?

"Ah, I was saving it for last as it is kinda embarrassing," Amy said.

"Panacea, we need to know, as a full profile is necessary for her health," Armsmaster stated, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Well, you basically have two wombs," Amy said, her voice cracking slightly as Verity's brain completely crashed.

"..Wow, that is weird," Victoria said, her face now red as well alongside Miss Militia's.

"...I'm sorry, what?" Verity asked. "Two what?"

"Two wombs," Amy repeated.

"...I'm assuming that's because I have some extra organs for the tail parts?" Verity asked, barely comprehending this.

"No, it's right beside your normal one, which is functioning properly, the other one is not connected to your lady parts, but your throat and have a few unfertilized egg eggs in there," Amy explained as she let go of her hand.

"..." Verity held her hands together in front of her face as if she was praying and took a deep, deep breath before letting it out. "So ignoring I have a thrussy, apparently, if that's everything, can we maybe test the powers please?"

"Yeah, I am done," Amy said.

"Yes, that seems like a good idea to remove those images from our heads," Armsmaster said. "I did not need to hear that today." The man said in a low voice, but Verity was able to hear him. "Thank you for your assistance Panacea, you may go now; your payment will be sent to your account."

"Thank you," Verity repeated. "It was unsettling but necessary information, so thank you."

"You're welcome; it was definitely more interesting than usual," Amy replied.

"I hope to fight alongside you after your debut Verity," Victoria said as the two of them left through the same door, they entered through.

"Now then, let us commence normal power testing," Scientist one said as he wiped his forehead.

"I recommend weight lifting first," Armsmaster said.

"Okay," Verity said, eager to focus on literally anything but the unsettling information she'd just received.

She was led over to a corner that had a machine that was able to simulate weight via pressure. It showed that she was capable of lifting 4.5 tons over her head and was able to deadlift 25 tons. Her tail was capable of doing almost the same. Then they tested her grip strength with her hands having a grip strength of about 5 tons which made sense. But the grip strength of her tail was immensely higher, with it reaching about 10 tons of pressure which was absolutely fucking insane.

Up next had been punching strength, and well, she had basically almost done a Vegeta with the punching machine as her fist had gone through the machine. But it did manage to read a PSI of about 120K, but it was probably much much higher, but they didn't have a machine that could accurately measure her at the moment.

And there was no real need to test durability because of equal and opposite reaction. As Verity's physical abilities were ingrained in her transformed body and not really due to exotic effects.

After that, her speed had been measured, which was a bit lower than she had expected, given the expectations she'd been building up over the course of the testing, as she had a running speed of 80km/h, which was still twice as fast as Usain Bolt. But she was able to maintain that speed for much longer than a human Olympic sprinter would be able to.

After that had been jumping, which was around four stories, and with her tail boosting her, she would be able to go higher, but the ceiling wasn't high enough to do that.

"Well, physical testing is over, and I must say you've performed beyond expectations," Armsmaster said. "We'll try for exotic stuff in a few minutes; need the test subjects to arrive first. But before that, did you manage to go over the power classification system we use?"

"A little bit?" Verity answered. "I was more focused on the protocol stuff, so I wouldn't mess anything up, but I did read the entry on Tinkers." There was a tinge of jealousy in her voice as she said the word, though much less than the previous day now that she was seeing what she could do.

"Logical," The man replied. "Now, Tinkers is one of the twelve categories of power as designated by the PRT. Tinker's like myself make advanced technology within a specialization; mine is miniaturization and efficiency. The others are Mover, Shaker, Brute, Breaker, Master, Blaster, Thinker, Striker, Changer, Trump, and Stranger."

"That's a lot," Verita said. "I'm guessing I'm a Brute?"

"Yes, Brutes are those with enhanced strength or durability with regeneration falling under that umbrella; now many capes have multiple ratings as their powers enable them to create the effect of another. And there is also the threat rating which goes from 1 to 10, it's not a measure of power really but what the response from the PRT warrants."

"Oh. What would my threat level be? I'm guessing… 5?" Verity guessed since she was definitely superhuman but nowhere near Superman levels, so if the scale only went to ten, then the local one was probably at that.

"As a member of the Protectorate, it would be 5, but as a villain it gets bumped up as you would deliberately seek to do harm, so as a villain, you would either be classified as a Brute 7 or 8, with a sub-Mover rating of 4 which is what bumps up your Brute rating. As threat levels are determined by how much of a threat a Parahuman is against a team of Protectorate Heroes, PRT Agents, and how much damage an individual is capable of causing within a ten-minute span," Armsmaster explained.

"Oh, threat to public safety, I gotcha," Verity said with a nod. "I'm guessing you have to deal with all 12 of those a lot, huh?"

"Tinker is the least one here in Brockton Bay, as the only villainous Tinker is Squealer of the Merchants," Armsmaster said.

"Armsmaster, the test subjects for theorized Blaster, and partially confirmed Striker power are here," Scientist 3 said.

"Bring them in," Armsmaster said, and Verity saw two pigs in cages were brought in.

"Uh. Do I… do I have to bite those?" Verity asked, a little uncomfortable with the idea of having to bite a living thing, before replaying what the scientist said in her head. "Also, hold on, blaster?"

"Yes, eyes that turn people to stone would be classified if Panacea's theory holds true about your eyes," Scientist 1 said.

"And yes, you have to bite, and afterward, we send both of your venoms for further analysis," Armsmaster said.

"Ugh, okay, you're lucky I'm not Jewish," Verity said as she approached the first caged pig. "I'm sorry about this…" She said before, with a speed that surprised Verity most of all, she shot forward and bit down onto its neck through the bars, her jaw distended, as Verity felt her venom inject into the pig, which was squealing in pain as Verity pulled back and massaged her jaw as it went back and she pulled away from the pig and looked to Armsmaster and Hannah. "That was weird."

"And it seems to be working," Armsmaster said as the squealing stopped and Verity looked back at the pig and saw that it had fallen over to the side but was still looking very much alive as it was still breathing, but laboriously, and she could see its eyes move in sheer panic.

And now Verity was just feeling bad.

"Moving on," Verity said to try and distract herself. "What's this about my eyes? I have stoning power?"

"Possibly," Hannah said. "Panacea said you had a second pair of eyelids similar to a snake's, and that is what is keeping it back."

"Oh… oh right, she said before the… euagh." Verity shuddered as she remembered and immediately turned her attention on the other pig. She was probably imagining it, but it looked rather nervous. "How do I…" Verity focused intently on the pig, trying to open the second pair of eyelids.

And then her vision went darker as her vision was filled with dark energy for a brief second before she closed it again. And she saw that the cage the pig had been in had been mostly turned to slag while the pig itself was a new garden statue.

"Well, that is a lot more extreme than I had expected," Armsmaster said, sounding genuinely shocked by the eye beams she had fired.

"How do you think I feel?" Verity said before her shock gave way to giddiness at finally having the superpower she'd wanted her entire life, one way or the other. "Nevermind, is it covered in stone or made out of stone now? Like, did I just kill it or? And why did- why did it melt the metal? Shouldn't it have just turned it to stone or just ignored it or something? And-"

"We don't know yet, it will have to be analyzed, and we do not know, but it didn't bypass the Manton-Limit; it had two entirely different effects on living and non-living material." Scientist 2 stated as he went over and poked the pig with a pen. "Sounds like it's fully made out of stone."

"Perhaps it breaks down non-living matter so that it can reach and affect the living individual?" Scientist 3 suggested.

"That is a likely theory," Armsmaster said. "Now Verity, I want you to hit it again and see if it undoes it; if not, it shall only be used against people with Kill Orders even if the pig is still alive."

"Oh yeah, that's a good idea, okay, lememe just-" Bwoom.

When her vision cleared (she had to blink a few times to adjust to the light again), she saw it was still stone. "Aww, I really didn't want that to be lethal."

"Well, we'll take it back with us to see if there is some other way to break the effect if the pig shows to be still alive," Scientist 1 said. "Now we just need samples of your venoms, and we will be done for today."

"Oh, okay, how's that gonna work? You got vials or something?" Verity asked.

"Yes, we have vials prepared; we foresaw it as a possibility when we got your file," Scientist 3 said as he walked over with a cooling case that had the vials. "You shall have to do it yourself, safety precautions and all that."

"Oh yeah, that's understandable…." Verity said, and a few minutes of awkwardly holding the vial and pressing against her upper lip later, they had sufficient samples of both venoms, somehow able to feel she was now running low on both. "Can you see how long these are viable then? I was thinking of using the paralytic for other stuff, so I don't have to bite people."

"Yeah, if you bit a person, it is not the venom I would worry about," Hannah said.

Verity recalled how quickly she had been able to actually bite the pig. "Yeah, probably, which is just one more reason to want to figure out another way to use it. I'm thinking nail polish."

"You're going to have to run that by PR, but if you get permission, I will make a good solution for you," Armsmaster said.

"Aww, thanks! That's really nice of you." Verity said with a smile.

"Just doing my job, as the leader of the Protectorate ENE, it is my job to make sure my teammates have all the equipment they need," The Tinker responded. "And Verity, now that we will be working together, my name is Collin Wallis."

"Happy to be here, Boss," Verity said, still smiling.

"Glad to have you as well, Verity, with you we might be able to put an end to the bigger Villains," Collin said. "Now that is all for today, you can return to your room."

"Oh, uh, before I do, who would I talk to about a costume?" Verity asked.

"You're going to have a talk with Glenn Chambers on Wednesday; he is the leader of the PRT's PR Department, we have our own team for interviews and normal costume things, but they are inexperienced with Case53s as Glenn pretty much takes every job involving you as he sees it as a personal challenge," Hannah said.

"Oh, okay," Verity said. She was hoping that wasn't her new catchphrase as she realized how much she was saying it. "In that case, Imma go vibe until lunch; see y'all then maybe."

"I will not join; I will be my workshop," Collin answered.

"I see you there, Verity," Hannah answered as well.

"See ya."