It hadn't taken me long after I had gotten home to decide that homework was pretty pointless and instead focused on getting something to eat and collapsing on my bed to enjoy the rest of my Sunday. As I had expected dad had called to say he would be late and not to wait up, which worked perfectly fine for my plans. I made sure to make a note and stick it on the door asking him to not come in as I had a test tomorrow. An innocent enough lie, and it wasn't like he was aware enough of any part of my life to pick out a lie on it.
Odds were he would probably collapse as soon as he stepped in the door, things had been chaotic enough that he had probably been worked to the bone.
I knew that I should feel a bit bad about that, but at the same time I had more pressing things to worry about. There was no doubt that the Undersiders would be able to pick up the not so hidden message that I had put into my speech in front of the cameras. Which meant all I had to worry about was actually convincing a group of criminals that acting on the side of all that was good and just would be a career move that would make sense for them.
My time with Stetson and removed a lot of my assumptions about the world, most villains weren't looking to take over the world but instead trying to carve out some small space for themselves when life gave very few craps about the odd ones out. Of course just because life might have given them the rough end of it I wasn't going to go easy on them if it turned out they were as bad as any other gang in the city, but I also wanted to give them an honest chance.
The person I might have become if Stetson hadn't pulled me out of the locker that day could have still been trying to do what I was now, but it was equally as likely I would have torn my school down by its foundations out of rage depending on what kind of ability I received.
Even now I still had daydreams about just destroying the entire school, there were enough dolls to pull something like that off within the Dollhouse itself and I would never need to look twice at it. But that wasn't the person that my mom had raised, and I wouldn't ever be able to look at the important people in my life again if I went down that road.
Before my thoughts could get any darker a plastic card appeared over me and fell on my stomach. It was black with golden numbers written on it, my cape name staring back at me. Not long after a note appeared as well, though it took a moment to read. I knew it was from my teacher as I had seen few others with handwriting that was as archaic and beautiful as his.
I hope this card finds you well Taylor, I understand that today was stressful and if I didn't believe it for your own good I would have happily eased you into the world you are soon to enter. As a way of apology, accept this card, it is linked to an account by an individual who can keep the books matched to whatever you happen to need. The upper limit of your credit will never be an issue, and should you need something more akin to hard currency simply seek it within the Dollhouse itself. Remember what you've learned under me and you will be fine, my expectations for you are high and I know you will not disappoint.
P.s.- I have given you access to all but the dolls contained within the Magenta Box, but be wary of any tool that you feel you might not be able to control. The Dollhouse is a powerful tool for good, but even the best intentions can lead to unforeseen consequences.
Your Friend,
S.A.
I looked down at the plastic card for a moment and tried to absorb the fact that my teacher had essentially written me a blank check to do whatever I wanted with. Of course I would still have to be smart about this, while I could probably make any purchase I wanted in person there would probably be some limit of what I could get without raising any eyebrows. But if I was careful then I could probably manage to provide for a good sized team. Maybe even more if someone with experience with money or how to set up something like a full organization.
Odds were that I would never have the full support of more established hero groups, though I had floated the idea of possibly asking for membership with the Guild once I was established. The level of freedom they tended to offer their members suited me more than something akin to the PRT, but at the same time I needed to be able to clean up and hold Brockton before I could think of expanding.
This was the city that I had been raised in, and if I had to constantly worry about someone killing my dad every time I had to leave to deal with something I would never be able to meet the ideals that my teacher probably expected of me. For now the Undersiders would be a strong start, I could offer money and protection and in turn all I would need from them was the ability to gather information and maybe help me set up an arena for a fight. They had managed to distract Lung for me but the only reason they had been forced to was my overconfidence and refusal to fall back enough to take a blood pill.
That wouldn't happen again.
"Okay first thing first," I closed my eyes and drew in a relaxing breath.
"Dollhouse, Inventory Select."
Command from authorized user accepted.
"Open Search, I need a doll that focuses on intimidation but isn't going to mess with people's minds or emotions directly."
A few moments passed as the Dollhouse parsed the more complicated request, but I had confidence in getting at least a few. While I didn't know how smart the system that ran the Dollhouse was, it hadn't yet encountered an issue with any other query that I had provided.
Search results: Cloth Doctor, Tremble, Sad Son, Bandit Rocker, Amalgam Beast, and fifty others within search parameters.
"Open description for Cloth Doctor," while the rest of the choices would merit a look, the Dollhouse always suggested its top choice first. The only reason I hadn't used Karate Man against Hookwolf was that while I knew he would probably perform well he had been the one Stetson had used to help get me into shape and it had felt wrong.
Cloth Doctor- Nonlethal Takedown Doll
While intimidating in size and appearance this doll focuses entirely on defeating enemies without direct harm. Anything it has touched can cause 'strings' to appear anywhere on their form that require a massive amount of force in order to break. Maximum targets for this ability are fifty, after which each new target will remove the first target from the list.
"Okay, that should work," I stood up and pocketed the card. The sun was already starting to get low which meant it was time to get on my uniform and try and negotiate with a group of villains in order to turn them into heroes.
It took little time to change into my costume at the Dollhouse and leave behind more movies for Riley. Part of me wanted to hand them over myself but I had already cut things a bit too close with my nap and didn't want to be late. So for the second time I found myself back where I had battled Lung, seeing that most of the scars from our battle had already been patched up. The area where my teacher had fought Oni Lee was probably less well off, but given the bomb happy teleporter I couldn't exactly blame him.
I didn't have to wait for long, with my enhanced brain came a certain sixth sense when I was being watched. It wasn't perfect but the Trio hadn't managed to sneak up on me for quite some time, even if I had used the advantages of my power to dodge them most of the time. With a simple turn I swung my hand in a 'follow me' motion to the general area and walked toward one of the buildings that had been condemned recently. I had found a few Merchants trying to use the place as a quick meeting spot to push drugs and had cleared it out. Given that the building was probably going to sit empty for quite some time no one had noticed the broken lock. Which made it convenient for an out of the way meeting place.
"Dollhouse, Inventory Select, Select Cloth Doctor, Blood Brain Connection."
Confirmed.
The Doll appeared before me, it was made entirely of some kind of gray fabric that was covered by an outfit designed entirely of what appeared to be feathers. Its face had a long beak and two cut out holes for eyes which gave it a creepy quality. It must have been about nine or ten feet, its back bent slightly and hands rubbing together as it observed the door.
For a moment nothing happened, but soon a massive wave of darkness entered into the building and swallowed me, removing my sight and hearing. The darkness itself felt like liquid, not really impossible to move through but making the air around me feel thick and uncomfortable. However, despite the seeming attack I remained still, if they decided to attack I would order the Cloth Doctor to fill the room with strings and bind every inch of the building. Or simply select another of the catalog I was more familiar with and fight my way out.
But within moments the darkness disappeared and a small lantern illuminated the ruined building, leaving four familiar figures in front of me. Tattletale, Hellhound, Regent, and Grue. The four members of the Undersiders and ironically the first people outside of Stetson that I had ever worked with. And two very mean looking dogs, but I figured that if Hellhound was coming to this meeting it wouldn't be alone.
"You know it might have helped to be a bit more subtle don't you think?" Tattletale glanced toward the Cloth Doctor and let out a small hum containing some emotion that I couldn't quite track down. "So what does that make now, five or six?"
"More," I felt no reason to lie about my capabilities, after all even if I were to try and describe the full stock of the Dollhouse it was a bit difficult to wrap your head around if you weren't literally connected to it. "Thank you for coming, I know I didn't provide much information but it means a lot to me."
"Considering you saved our asses from Lung it wasn't like we had much choice, none of us like owing someone that big of a favor," Grue stepped forward, apparently taking charge of our interaction. Tattletale kept looking at the Cloth Doctor with that same odd expression, Regent looked a bit on edge but was trying to hide it, and Hellhound…
Well honestly I had no idea, the girl's body language gave absolutely no hint to what she was feeling at the moment.
"You don't owe me anything, he was going to hurt people and I stopped him." I felt no need to add more to that, so instead decided to cut to the chase. "I want to hire all four of you on a long term, I'll double any price you would normally receive from jobs and match amenities and anything else that is needed."
The four looked at each other, a silent discussion going on before Tattletale chimed in. "That's a lot of money to throw on the table."
Without a word I pulled out the black card that Stetson had sent my way and held it up for her to see. "I can afford it." before I could explain any further she let out a whistle in response.
"Oh yeah, you certainly can," she turned toward Grue and nodded. "That card is essentially an unlimited line of credit. If our current boss has 'fuck off' level of money she has 'no you fuck off times a thousand' levels."
That seemed to throw Grue off for a moment, but he quickly regained his bearings. "There are other circumstances involved in our current contract,"
"If possible I'll match those as well. But first let me explain what I want to hire you to do. I don't need an answer tonight but I want us to all be on the same page," I took a small breath before looking at them. "I need a group that can help me figure out where I need to go and how best to go about helping others. You've all seen what I can do both with Lung and at the Dock's earlier today. And none of those were close to my limit."
Stetson had described the Dollhouse as a storehouse that contained infinite possibilities. A Doll for every situation, power enough to shake the foundations of the world, and to protect everyone the user wanted to.
"But I still can't do everything I want on my own, and I don't trust most people to actually want to help me just because what I'm doing is good. If you help me then I will make sure that each of you is taken care of." That was essentially the extent of the pitch, there was nothing else I could offer them in words that would actually ensure their alliance.
There was nothing said for a moment before Grue spoke again. "Give us a minute to talk." he motioned for the group to follow him to one side of the room without waiting for a confirmation, the group huddling together to speak in quiet voices.
I did my best not to eavesdrop, keeping a respectable distance and simply rocking back and forth on my feet. Part of me wanted to go over every word in my head, to think if there was some other way I could have pitched everything in order to come across as more convincing. But I knew that I wasn't exactly the type to ooze charisma, all I could do was give an offer and set up reasons why they might want to work with me.
Eventually the group moved back toward me with Grue stepping forward. "The offer is good, but there is a small problem." The gravity behind those words led me to believe that it was unlikely to be anything easy.
"And what would that be?" I figured the money wasn't going to be an issue given that Tattletale had been able to confirm that I could probably afford to keep them comfortable until I could figure out an alternate source of payment that didn't involve dipping into my teacher's bank account.
"Our current boss is offering us more than just money for our services, and if we are going to cut and run on them we need proof that you are able to take care of any issues that might come up without him." Grue turned toward Regent who gave a small nod. "You said that you could provide protection if someone came after us, and if you really intend to kick up shit we need proof that you can actually do that."
"Name a villain," I could see where this was going, and it was a fair enough bargain. All the money in the world wouldn't matter if they thought I was going to fold at the first big threat. Eventually I intended to start going after the big issues in the world, and if they thought I was selling them anything less than the truth of my abilities they would probably cut and run. "I'll bring them in within a month regardless of who you pick."
Grue gave a nod to that before speaking. "Heartbreaker."
That caught me off guard for a moment, but it was a fair enough ask all things considered. I had proven I could take on strong enemies in a head to head fight, but someone like Heartbreaker was a threat that existed outside of just mere strength. He had made a career of corrupting others to do his dirty work and probably slid under the classification for S-rank by virtue of keeping to himself.
Of course given that my brain had been replaced by a highly advanced substitute when Stetson had saved my life, taking over my mind would be nigh-impossible. Of course that only fell under the umbrella of direct mind control, I wasn't sure what would happen if I dealt with a Master who could control my body, but that was what my Doll's were for. So long as my brain was active I could order them to fight.
However there was an issue that had nothing to do with fighting Heartbreaker. "I'm fine with that, but from what I know he has managed to stay ahead of almost every hero who's gone looking for him." Considering he worked in the same area as the Guild and had managed to avoid being taken down even when his entire cult had kidnapped an actress, I didn't like my odds of tracking him down.
Of course there were probably Doll's that would make the job easier, but keeping them active was another issue entirely. Even just having a single Doll not using its ability could get exhausting after enough time had passed, any ability that would let me track a single person in an area I had never visited and was most likely hidden enough to avoid authorities would leave me at a disadvantage.
One that any number of villains might take advantage of.
"That's where I come in," Tattletale stepped forward with a grin on her face, giving a playful bow. "Between your money and my…resources, finding Heartbreaker wouldn't be an issue. Though I would expect payment as a consultant, let's say double the price."
I turned toward Grue for a moment, considering he was the leader and I didn't want to step on any toes. "Is that okay with you?"
Grue gave a simple shrug. "I couldn't stop her if I wanted to."
Hellhound stepped forward as well, looking back to the crew. "Even if the rest don't join, I'm in."
That seemed to catch the rest of her crew by surprise, and honestly I couldn't say that I wasn't also a bit thrown off. All I really knew about the girl who was only ever seen with her giant dogs was that she didn't talk much and was probably the most dangerous member of the crew.
"Can I ask why?" I forced any confusion out of my voice, but it was a close enough thing.
"Because you're strong, and you are paying better money," the girl paused for a moment before also stating in a quieter voice. "You took down Hookwolf, no more dog fights."
While I couldn't see Grue's face, Tattletale and Regent seemed to understand her explanation well enough, and if they weren't going to argue I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. But that did leave me with one overriding question, what the hell was I supposed to do now?
While I would happily take anyone who would follow my half assed plan of 'gather together people to back me up' I had hoped for a package deal on this. Somehow the idea of bringing a group together seemed less terrifying than trying to manage a single person. I might be able to take advantage of her sudden declaration and force them all to agree early, I would still take down Heartbreaker but I could do so while setting things up for them here and now.
But the idea irked me slightly, I had already made a promise and going back on it just because some new information came to light would set a bad precedent for how I might handle situations like this in the future.
"Okay Hellhound-"
"Bitch." the girl practically growled.
"Excuse me?" my voice might have risen a few octaves in surprise, I didn't think just saying her cape name would cause that kind of reaction.
"Her name is Bitch, only the PRT calls her Hellhound. More PG." Tattletale helpfully added.
"It's also a better descrip-" Regent began to joke only for Grue to punch him in the ribs, causing the regal villain to cut off halfway.
"Okay, Bitch," I tried to stop myself from wincing when I said the name, having only used that word to describe the Trio it felt wrong to call someone I would be having work to help me in the future. But it would probably be just as wrong to force her to go by another name that she didn't agree with. "Your first job is going to be watching out for the rest of your group, I'll set you up with your first payment now and we'll work on getting you a new place once I convince the rest."
She gave a grunt but nodded her head to show that she understood. The others seemed to calm a bit at that, Grue even giving a small incline of his head to show some level of appreciation.
"Well since that's all sorted out," Tattletale moved over to my side of the room and turned to the others. "I'll be going with our future boss to iron out the whole 'track down the worlds most powerful rapist' thing, sound good on your end?" she turned to me.
"That should be fine," I could bring her to the Dollhouse and provide her with some computer equipment and the like, I didn't know where the Dollhouse was actually located but Stetson had set up a computer for me so that between lessons I could focus on any schoolwork or research I wanted to do on my own time.
Grue let out a breath and turned to Tattletale. "If you don't show up in three days we'll…do something I guess," he turned to me before speaking next. "Try not to break her, the dumbass is still part of our team."
"Right," I stepped over to Tattletale and put a hand on her shoulder. "Dollhouse, reverse summon plus one."
And like that the two of us were gone, instead appearing in the wide open foyer of the Dollhouse.
Classification of subject?
"Guest, access to facilities and limited summoning to Brockton Bay."
"Understood, welcome new guests, if you require any services just speak aloud and a Mass Production Doll will be along to help you."
"So you have a house that teleports you, and it also talks," she sounded a bit put off, a feeling I could understand given that this was her first time within the Dollhouse. I had pretty much the same reaction the first time, or rather the second. The first time I was technically hanging on the edge of braindeath. "Well trading up is always nice I guess."
The sound of small feet hitting the floor rang out as one of the doors leading to the foyer opened, revealing Riley in a set of pajamas with a smile on her face. "Hey Taylor I got the movies, thank you so…" she paused and noticed that I had a guest, surprise quickly flying over her face.
"Oh shit," Tattletale muttered to herself. "Oh fuck."
Right, I had forgotten for a moment that we had one of the Slaughterhouse 9 still living here and mentally recovering from her time with Jack Slash and his merry band of murderers.
"I promise there is a perfectly good explanation for this."
And if I could think of it fast enough, I might not burn the first chance at making a group to help me with saving the world.