Hopebringer

Plenty of people get dragged into situations they really don't want to be in by ROBs, but very few get chosen by ROB's for more than basic amusement. I was unlucky enough to be one of them. Now I'm in Worm with a mission to save the world. Unfortunately, raw power isn't what works around here.

And we're back. Before we begin, I would like to say that writing Nero is a complete pain in the arse and I really wish I'd gone with Altera instead. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Colin Wallis, also known as the Protectorate hero Armsmaster, stared at the screen of his computer, rubbing his beard in thought. It wasn't an unusual pose for the Tinker, what was unusual was that, instead of some incomprehensible schematic, he was instead staring at an email, one that interested him greatly.

Dear Armsmaster,

I am aware that I haven't been active for long, but this is something that cannot wait. I would have contacted you sooner, but I wanted to at least create some kind of impression on you before I approached you.

Despite my relatively short time in the public eye, I have been active for a lot longer, maintaining a cover to let me build up my tech. During that time, I have been working on a design for a weapon I believe may be able to defeat and possibly destroy an Endbringer. Unfortunately, I cannot finish it alone. With that in mind, I would like to request the aid of you and Kid Win as your talents, along with those of Dragon and Leet, could well be just what I need.

I am aware that you may be less than comfortable working with a villain, no matter how minor, but I ask you to consider it under the Endbringer truce. There are far more important things at stake than trying to arrest a B list villain after all.

If you are willing to assist, please respond as soon as possible so I can make preparations.

Regards,

Ruler.

"So, what do you think?" asked Dragon, who had received a similar email from the independent Tinker.

Colin was silent for a moment as he tapped his fingers on the desk in thought.

"I think that this is something we need to consider," he said, "I'm...not entirely comfortable with a weapon designed to fight Endbringers being outside the Proctorates control, such a thing will be horrifically dangerous, but Ruler has proven to be heroically minded and very good at what she does. I feel that she would fit in well with the Protectorate."

"I agree," said Dragon, "However, I also don't think she'd join of her own free will. That said, I agree. The Endbringers are killing us by increments and we NEED something to turn the tide or civilization will collapse within the next decade."

Armsmaster scowled.

"Agreed," he said.

He frowned as he scanned the message again.

"I wonder why she wants us to bring Kid Win along as well?" he mused.

"Well, hes a rather talented Tinker, even without knowing his specialty," said Dragon, "I've seen some of his half finished stuff and theres a lot of potential there. I can't see any harm in letting him take part if he wants to, who knows, it might even help him figure out his speculty."

Armsmaster nodded absently.

"I suppose not," he said.

"I'm more surprised you're not surprised about Leets inclusion," said Dragon.

"Despite his reputation, Leet is actually a very good Tinker," said Armsmaster, "Despite his inability to build more than one thing and his creations tendency to explode, I have examined some of his tech we managed to retrieve and found it to be well put together and surprisingly easy to understand. I am unsure of why he is so limited, but I do know that, if he so desired, he could be a much greater threat."

He stood and grabbed his helmet.

"Alright, I'll go bring this up with the Director. I doubt she'll say no considering the plan, but I'd rather not go behind her back."

"Alright, I'll keep working and see if I can figure out where we're going wrong," said Dragon, "Good luck."

Armsmaster just nodded as he left the room.

The sound of fists on flesh filled the room as I once again found myself flat on my back. It was now one o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday and Chiron had spent the entire day since six pounding Pankration into my head. Literally. Between his long experience training Heroes, my naturally tough body and my Sacred Gears ability to let me heal myself quickly, the old Centaur wasn't pulling any punches. Mainly because I told him not to, a decision I was now sorely regretting.

"Alright, that will do for today," said Chiron, looking and sounding just as unruffled as ever, the bastard.

I just let out a groan of pain. I might heal quickly, but spending seven hours straight getting the crap beaten out of you certainly sticks.

I heaved myself to my feet and staggered over to the side of the room where a towel and bottle of water was waiting for me. I wrapped the former around my shoulders and drained the latter.

"Go and take a bath to recover," said Archer as he finished his own water, "I understand that Ruler wants us to go shopping in a short while."

"Yeah, we need to get you some stuff before you can get started," I said, "Alright, I'll see you shortly."

I tossed my bottle into a nearby bin and headed off to the baths.

I let out a groan of relief as I lowered myself into the steaming waters. Saber being Saber had requested (read ordered) me to make her a Roman bath, so I'd asked Ruler if she had anything handy. As it happened, she did and it was a perfect example of Tinkertech bullshit. The baths themselves resembled a cross between a, well, Roman bath and an Onsen, with Tinkertech heaters and water purifiers that heated the water to the perfect temperature for bathing and somehow imbued them with healing properties that sped up the bodies natural healing, both physical and mental. Quite how she managed that I have no idea, but Saber and Assassin both loved the baths and Archer, short time that he had been here, also expressed his admiration for them.

I didn't react to the sound of the door opening, nor bare feet on the tiles, or even much more than a soft sigh as a body slipped into the water. I opened my eyes, half expecting it to be Archer, but was instead met with the sight of a very naked Saber lounging in the water across from me without even a hint of shame. My reaction was...not subtle.

"HOLY SHI…!"

My oath was cut off as my hand slipped and dunked me under the water. I came up spluttering, blushing and trying to both glare at Saber and keep my eyes off her bountiful busum. It didn't work.

"Is something wrong Preator?" asked Saber with a rather smug smirk.

I took a deep breath, studiously ignoring the fact my nose was now full of blood (something which I wasn't entirely sure where had come from) and did my best to fix Saber with a glare. It was about as effective as shooting Behemoth with a water pistol.

"Saber, why are you in here?" I growled, "There is a perfectly good bath on the other side of that wall for you ladies."

"True, but I fail to see what that has to do with anything," she said.

I stared at her for a moment, then sighed.

"You know, the fact I can't think of an argument for that worries me," I said, "So, I assume that you want something?"

Saber sniffed haunterly and thrust her chest out. I twitched ever so slightly as I tried to keep my eyes on hers.

"No, I simply wished to grace you with my presence," she said.

I eyed her for a moment, before sighing.

"Alright fine, I can't really do much about it anyway," I grumbled, letting my head drop back again.

There was a moments silence, before Saber spoke up again.

"Praetor, why haven't you gone after Coil yet?" she asked.

I looked back at my Saber with a raised eyebrow, inviting her to continue.

"I don't believe for a moment that you think we'd lose if we attacked," she said, "Assassin has obtained more than enough information on his forces inside the base and gathered plenty of evidence that could be used to allow the authorities to act, and yet you do nothing. Why?"

I sighed.

"Its not the actual attack thats the problem, its the aftermath," I said, "Your right, taking down Coils base would be easy at this point, hell, we could just flood it with Jacks mist and leave them to choke on the London Smog, and Coil would be easy to pick off now we have an Archer. The problem comes with the aftermath."

I scowled and lent forwards, resting my elbows on my knees.

"Coil is the sort of enemy you cannot go after half cocked," I said, "Even if he loses, hes more than paranoid enough to have countless contingencies and petty enough to make them all lethal. We know hes wired his base up with enough C4 to blow half of downtown into orbit and some of the people Jack has...spoken to have mentioned that he has some nasty chemical and biological weapons down there, including Tinker-made versions. Plus, I know for a fact that he has the identities of at least the E88 Capes and I highly doubt thats all he has. If they are released, the result would be nothing short of all out war. Combined with that, hes sure to have all sorts of blackmail for all sorts of people in positions of power, has infiltrated the PRT, police, the mayor's office and the gangs so that he always knows whats going on in the city and his power means that he'd have as many chances as he wants to screw us over, even if we manage to force him into an untenable situation. We can't even have Ruler hack into his files since we have no idea if he has backups that aren't connected to a network and some of his failsafes won't be anyway."

I sighed and sat back again.

"In short, he has all the advantages and we have very few," I finished, "Just about the only thing we know he doesn't have is his Endbringer in a box since the Travelers are confirmed to not being in the city and I could deal with her easily enough with my Sacred Gear. Perhaps I'm being overly paranoid, but I don't want to risk it."

"What about the Tattletale girl?" asked Saber, "Couldn't she help?"

I nodded.

"Yes, but I'm not sure how trustworthy she is," I said, "Lisa is...somewhat of a polarizing character. Shes good at what she does, but shes also impulsive, mouthy and not entirely as smart as she thinks she is. That said, I don't think that we can do much more without her help and I'm fairly sure she won't screw us over so long as we're after Coil. Enemy of my enemy and all that."

"I see," said Saber, looking thoughtful, "I understand your reluctance to advance now. Coil is indeed a dangerous foe."

"On the up side, I really don't think its possible to get his hands on Dinah any more," I said with a smirk, "If he did, Jack would rip him to pieces."

The little Servant had become extremely close to the other girl in a remarkably short time all things considered and I had no doubt that if anyone did try and hurt the young Precog (although I wasn't sure if she'd Triggered yet or not since I haven't actually met her), they'd find themselves on the bad side of an extremely angry Jack the Ripper.

I glanced at the clock and let out a huff.

"Well, this has been fun, but I've got to get out and get dressed," I said as I got to my feet, "See you later Saber."

"Goodbye Praetor," she said, "I hope we can fight together soon."

I paused and glanced back at her. "Yeah, I think I'd like that," I said.

She grinned and relaxed back in the water.

"Well, that was...interesting," I said as Chiron and I left the shop with a large number of bags and a good number of young sales girls staring after us, or more specifically Chiron.

"Indeed, it was nice of those young ladies to help," said the hidden Centaur.

I turned and fixed him with a look.

"Nice, sure, thats all it was," I said.

Chiron chuckled softly as we headed to the food court where we'd arranged to meet with Jack and Valerie, who were doing their own shopping.

"I am not unaware of the effect I have on the fairer sex Adrien," he said, "However, it would be inappropriate and unfair to act on it."

"Well, I don't think I can argue with that," I said.

Chiron chuckled.

"Indeed," he said.

"By the way, are you sure you want to go through with your idea?" I asked, "You know that it won't be like your used to."

Chiron smiled.

"Yes, I am sure," he said, "I know that it will be different, but its in my nature. Besides, it'll put me in a position to possibly help some of the Heroes who desperately need it."

I huffed. I had honestly expected that response, but I had to ask.

"I'm still rather surprised Ruler managed to pull it off," I said, "Tinkers really are bullshit..."

Whatever Chiron was going to say as abruptly cut off by a thump and a cry of shock. We turned to see a small crowd quickly gathering around a girl who had apparently just collapsed and was now being hovered over by her blonde companions. Literally.

"Aw crap, thats Panacea, isn't it?" I muttered.

"It appears so Master," said Archer, already moving to help.

"Fabulous," I grumbled as I followed the ancient teacher, "Oh well, I can at least use this as an opportunity to offer some help…"

I ignored the crowd of gawkers as Chiron knelt down beside the clearly rather ill healer if her flushed face and shallow breathing was anything to go by. I frowned and opened my spiritual senses. Within moments, I had my answer and nearly facepalmed. Apparently, Amy wasn't completely immune to pathogens, she just had a very efficient immune system and the ability to destroy said pathogens before they infected her. However, long term sleep deprivation and stress levels that would be nasty to an adult, never mind a teenager, meant that her immune system had taken a massive hit and her powers apparently weren't perfect and had allowed something through.

I decided to leave that to Chiron and instead pulled a notebook and pen out of the bag I was holding and scribbled down a note.

"Long term exhaustion, chronic stress and a nasty case of the flu," said Chiron, "I dare say her power will take case of the latter soon enough, but I suggest you get her home and put her to bed."

"Um, who are you?" asked Victoria, looking somewhere between worried about her sister and rather confused.

"I'm a teacher," said Chiron, "Now get your sister home, put her to bed and make sure she gets a week of good nights sleep before she goes into the hospital again or shes more likely to end up IN hospital than helping out at one."

Victoria still looked a little confused, but nodded, scooped up her sister and zipped through the crowd, conveniently brushing past me as she went. As she did, I slipped the note into her pocket and used my Sacred Gear to zap the disease but keep Amy asleep. She'd be able unconscious until tomorrow morning and wake up feeling great. I'd have got rid of her addition to her sisters aura, but that would require more than the few seconds of contact I had. I'd fix it at a later date.

"So, now thats done, shall we go find the ladies?" asked Chiron as he got to his feet.

I nodded and followed the Centaur in the direction of the food court. Again.

"Huh...thats interesting."

Thomas Wood, more commonly known as Tom to his friends and Uber to everyone else, paused in his workout to glance over at his best friend/partner in crime, Benjamin Smith, AKA, Ben, AKA, Leet.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"Not...really," said Leet, "I just got an email from that new heroic Tinker Ruler asking me to help out with an anti-Endbringer project along with Armsmaster, Dragon and Kid Win."

Tom nearly choked on his water.

"Seriously?!" he spluttered.

"Seriously," said Ben, looking rather thoughtful.

Tom stared at his long time best friend for a moment.

"Your thinking of doing it," he said.

"The Endbringers are killing us by increments," said the Tinker, "You've seen the projections and confirmed them. If something doesn't change, civilization will collapse within a decade or two. I have ideas that could help, but, well, you know what my creations are like."

He glanced over at his workbench, which had a rather large number of scorch marks on the surface.

"I think if I work with other Tinkers, I could create things that are a lot more reliable," he continued, "And even if I turn out to be useless...well, at least I tried."

"What if its a trap?" asked Tom.

Ben immediately shook his head.

"No, Ruler said that the meeting would be under the Endbringer truce and theres no way that anyone would risk breaking that," he said, "Especially not for small timers like us."

The two men shared a grin. Despite their reputation, which they had very carefully cultivated, they were both well aware of how dangerous they could be. Both of their powers had the potential to make them as dangerous, if not more so, than just about anyone in the Bay. After all, Uber could learn anything in an instant, from cooking and martial arts, to bomb building, nuclear physics and bioweapons development and Leet could build anything. True, he could only build something once, but you really only needed to build a nuclear bomb once to wipe a city of the map. Or develop a killer, flesh eating virus. Anything meant ANYTHING, including biotinkering, something both men kept very quiet.

In short, Uber and Leet were a LOT more dangerous than they let on, even with the tendency of Leets creations to explode, and took great pains to hide that fact from the rest of the world. Better to be thought of as incompetent than S-ranked threats on par with Nilbog.

"You think the others will go for it?" asked Tom.

"I think so," said Ben, "Dragon definitely will and I think that Armsmaster will want to, but the final decision will be down to Piggot. That said, I think she'll let them. A way to beat the Endbringers is way too important to pass up."

"Agreed," said Tom, "But I want to be there to."

"That goes without saying," said Ben as he turned back to his computer and started typing.

Lisa resisted the urge to roll her eyes as her power popped up with the fact that the man she'd idly glanced at as he walked past was cheating on his girlfriend. For some reason, her power had been acting...strangely for the last couple of days. She was used to it giving her random information, but now it seemed almost like it was trying extra hard to put her off anyone she found even vaguely attractive, to the point of digging up some extremely random information that ranged from their interests in BDSM to the fact they hadn't washed their hands after going to the bathroom. It was...odd and a little worrying, but it hadn't done more than annoy her, so she wasn't going to panic yet.

She settled back in her seat and resumed people watching, scanning the crowd and occasionally smirking when her power prodded her with something amusing. As she did, she spotted a young, blonde woman with a younger girl emerging from a store. Out of idle interest, she pointed her power at them, only to get absolutely nothing.

She barely had a moment to react to the unexpected result before her power kicked in again.

Servant of the Assassin Class, Legendary Serial Killer, Jack the Ripper.

Parameters:
Strength: C

Endurance:C

Agility:A

Mana: C

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: C

Class Skills: Presence Concealment, A+

Personal Skills: Murderer of the Misty Knight, A

Mental Pollution, C

Information Erasure, B

Surgical Procedure, E

Noble Phantasm: Maria the Ripper, D-B

The Mist, C

"What the fuck?!" she yelped, drawing a glare from a young mother with a baby in a stroller.

She ignored the glare as she tried to figure out where in the hell that information had come from and what it actually meant. As far as she could tell, it was a random series of ranks and names which didn't mean anything to her, but must have some kind of meaning.

Now extremely curious, she turned her attention to the woman, only to nearly swallow her tongue in shock at the result.

Servant of the Ruler Class, King of Tinkers, Hero

Parameters:

Strength: E

Endurance: D

Agility: A

Mana: E

Luck: A

NP: A

Skills: True Name Discernment: B

Territory Creation: A

Item Construction: EX

Presence concealment: E

Noble Phantasm: Workshop of the Tinker: A++

Raiment of a Hero: A

Mark of a Hero: C

Golden Heroes Sting: EX

Both Servants tied to Sephiroth Graal

Master of Assassin and Ruler: Adrian Tepes.

Lisa sat there, completely stunned by what her power had just told her, for the first time in her Parahuman life unable to fully absorb what her power had figured out. She had no idea what the parameters meant or what 'Noble Phantasms' were, but she sure as hell knew what the names meant. Somehow, two dead individuals were walking around, one of whom was a hero and the other one of the most infamous murderers to ever live. Just how was she supposed to take that? Even in a world where blonde cheerleaders could bench press cement mixers, the idea of someone having that kind of power was...impossible. Right?

She pulled out her phone and did a quick search, pulling up a picture of Hero, which her power helpful informed her was indeed the blonde woman who was now buying Jack the Ripper an ice cream.

She frowned as she went back over the detales her power had given her. She wasn't sure who this…'Adrian Tepes' was, but it seemed like she'd need to look him up. If nothing else, it was clear that he was after Coil considering that she'd already concluded that Jack the Ripper was the one responsible for the rash of murders of the slippery bastards men (a conclusion that now made a lot more sense), something she was eager to assist with, but now she really wanted to know just who had the ability to...what? Summon back the dead? Create some kind of stupidly accurate simulation? She wasn't sure, but her nature pretty much demanded that she found out.

Adrian Tepes, true identity of Alucard.

Lisa's eyebrows shot up at the reveal. Well that was...interesting. What were the chances that the young man her power seemed oddly fixated on was also the person who seemed like the most likely chance she had of getting out from under Coils thumb? It seemed more than a little convenient, but her power was sure and if Lisa couldn't trust her own power, what could she trust?

Still, she wasn't about to just jump in and hope. She was going to make damn sure that Adrian Tepes wasn't one of Coils plants and that mean she had a long night ahead of her. She groaned at the thought of the upcoming Thinker Headache, drained the last of her coffee and headed for the door. It was going to be a Looooong day.

Welp, time to leave it off here, mainly because I really want to get this up.

Now, before anyone jumps down my throat over Lisa's power being able to see the parameters of Servants its pointed at, there is a reason for it and it has to do with some details that will come out eventually. However, if anyone wants to take a stab at guessing what that is, I'll give you a clue. Three titans and two are down.

Someone pointed out that Adrian and Saber haven't really had much screen time together and the main reason for that is that Saber is a PAIN IN THE ARSE TO WRITE! Seriously, every time I start writing her, she ends up coming across as much more demure than Nero has any right to be! The original version of the bath scene had her admitting to feeling left out, which is about as far from Nero as could be! I really wish I'd chosen a different Saber, but if wishes were fishes and all that. I suppose I could go back and rewrite it, but...eh, not worth the effort. I'll manage.

Alright, so I feel like I probably should just pick one and stick with it, but I find myself once again unsure as to who I should use as a Caster. The choices are Medea Lily and Tamamo. On one hand, a practically blank slate with healing powers and on the other we have fluffy ears and tail and some potentially amusing scenes when Lung/the ABB realize that one of the most powerful and nasty demons from Japanese folklore and/or a fragment of Amaterasu. Plus, it'd be fun to do her and Nero's interactions. Preferences and reasons please and I'll make my decision soon. Casters next on the list to Summon after all.

I really hope that my rationalisation for why he hasn't gone after Coil makes sense. He might be being a tad to paranoid, but there is a genuine risk that he could bring down the whole city if Adrian acts rashly, so its better to make sure you have all the information. He'll be dealing with him soon enough.

I don't think that Amy being completely immune to pathogens and toxins is canon, its not in the wiki anyway, but if it is….eh, I've got Hero as a woman and Jack the Ripper worrying Coil. Canon can take a hike where needed.

Anyway, that'll do, don't forget to leave a review and all that jazz.