Long story short; Work Stress+Confidence Being Shot+Nervousness For the Next Arc+Lethargicness+Interest in Other Projects=No Motivation. But we're back now. You can't imagine the will it took to get off my back and keep moving. Or maybe you can.
Hopefully back to regular updates.
Don't own Worm-probably for the better. Or Ben Ten-which sucks because I have some ideas that would've made the show great, but we all know this by now.
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.
The golden rays of the morning sunrise stretched through the openings of the blinds, steadily gliding across the royal blue carpet, traveling up the ivory sheets, until it finally reached his face, the light gently poking at his eyelids.
Dark brown eyes opened slowly, wary of the shift from pitch dark to the bright sunrise. A quiet breath escaped his mouth. He'd been up for an hour already, but still tried to get as much rest as possible.
It was a near restless night. His nerves, like coiled springs, sat bunched up in his stomach, causing him to toss and turn in every way while his mind was a whirlwind of indecisive thoughts and worries. Were the right people in place? Was there enough backup? Had they done enough planning? Did the teams understand the proper circumstances to shift to plan B? It was maddening, and all the fuss had done nothing to help him get his much needed rest. He only got to sleep after forcing himself to lay as still as possible until he eventually passed out. Truthfully, he felt like he barely got any of sleep at all. Troubling, but it didn't matter now; it was time to get up.
With refined practice, he untangled himself from the blankets and slid out of bed-feeling a slight pang to see that the other side was already empty-before quietly making his way to the bathroom and stepping into the shower.
The bathroom quickly filled with steam as the hot water ran down his body. He sighed softly as he leaned his forehead against the cold tile, the dichotomy of the temperatures calming his turbulent mind finally allowing him to slow down and focus.
It's been a while since he's felt this wound up for a mission. He was reminded of the early days, when Capes were beginning to emerge and these dangerous situations were full of complete uncertainty. Sure, they had power, training, and equipment, but everything was just so new. They hadn't even begun to distinguish themselves and their cape identities yet. It was all just a lot of guesswork-that, and a lot of luck he figured.
And yet, despite finally reaching their true potential after years of practice and leadership, he missed those confused and excitable times.
'Rebecca and David laughed a lot more back then.'He remembered with a quiet chuckle. He did too. But that was before everything became...difficult.
His smile melted into a melancholic frown.
Too much was riding on this. Not just for all the innocents caught in the crossfire, the brave people who stood in the face of disaster, or even for the sake of justice against a complete monster.
They had to win. After weeks of cold analytical indifference and casual disregard for all the suffering-suffering he allowed-they needed, HE needed to step in. They were Heroes-they had to see this through.
If for nothing else, then just to show they hadn't completely lost their way.
Brockton Bay
Friday, April 16th, 2011
12:14 PM EST
Protectorate HQ, The Rig, Training Vault 1
(5 days until Official Assault on Chimera)
Red splotches colored his cheeks as an aura of heat emanated from his body.
Fat sweat droplets raced down his forehead as he huffed large breaths of air. After wiping off the sweat from his brow, he swallowed to quench his dry throat.
"Again,"He commanded.
The members of Team A-a collection of a dozen flying blasters from New York, Chicago and Boston-repositioned themselves to their starting spots, some floating besides or just above him. He glanced to his right and gave a nod to Mirage-a short haired woman in a green and pink costume. She nodded back and turned her attention to the center of the large training room.
One second, the floor was clear, the next, a completely identical copy of Chimera shimmered into existence-grinning his horrific shark-like smile. The hologram let out a demented chuckle before charging towards them.
"Maneuver 3!"He commanded.
Besides him, six blasters fired their multi-colored beams while the rest blitzed the projection, positioning themselves all around the air and unloading their powers upon the false Chimera. The projection zig-zagged across the floor, barely dodging around the various lasers, leaving black scorch marks across the floor, before leaping forward with its crystal arm forming into a large spike to impale him. The capes beside him flew away while he stayed put, waiting at the last second before dodging the stab and flying behind the hologram before shooting it point blank with a light blue laser. Where the projection once stood, a giant block of ice sat, tiny wisps of cold smoke drifting from its surface.
He frowned as he floated down to the floor staring at the large jagged ice piece.
'Not good enough.'He thought with a clenched fist.
Mirage, a member from The Guild whom Narwhal personally recommended, was a Master/Stranger who was able to create identical illusions of people and animals. The more she observed a target, the more she was able to perfectly copy the subjects movements; almost to the point where they acted exactly like the original. After feeding her all the footage the Protectorate ENE had captured from their encounters-from Armsmaster and PRT Trooper Cams-she was able to create the illusion of Chimera that the multiple Capes they had gathered were using to practice against their adversary.
That wasn't to say that the projections were perfect in their imitations: Mirage's power could only work on what she had observed. She could imitate fighting styles and personality easily, but with cases like Chimera who seemingly pulled different abilities out in every encounter, there was no telling if they were working on a reliable model. That in and of itself was a risk, but it was better than nothing-at the very least they could work around what they already knew.
But what they knew was frustrating. The illusion was proving just as elusive and crafty as the real one-they'd been at this for almost an hour, and of the fourty or so attempts they had run, with multiple plans and maneuvers in between, only about half of those had ended in a favorable way. Not a victory, but at least something they could use to stagger or slow down their enemy while another Team could go in for a more punishing attack. Hmm, but maybe they didn't have to settle for just being a set-up. Two strong hits was better than just one. Maybe they should rearrange the groups.
He needed to test something. Turning back to the others he called,"Again!"
He stepped out of the bathroom, steam wafting from his shoulders while he dried himself off with a towel-his mind going over the assembly of capes and troopers that he had compiled from Guild and Protectorate personnel in the brief time he had to prepare.
Teams A & B-Blasters separated into two teams to act as the long range artillery-mostly fighting from a distance peppering Chimera with copious amounts of firepower.
Team C & D-the ground teams consisting of Brutes, Shakers and Strikers to act as shock troopers, taking the fight right to Chimera with strength and numbers.
Team E & F-the support/defensive teams with a few field medics and a couple capes to transport and protect injured personnel for quick healing or removal from the battlefield.
'All in all; a total of 45 Capes.'He thought as he hung up his towel.
The squads were pretty well rounded-especially after hours spent switching around people to give them the best synergy among powers. Days of practice have led the teams to becoming fairly formidable units on their own, and the joint practice sessions have improved their overall cohesion. He was proud of how well they had done.
And that was just with the cape squads.
PRT troopers and National Guard-outfitted with tinkertech weapons and defenses, generously gifted from Dragon-underwent drills and practice rounds with their new hardware and would be led by different captains to help collaborate with the rest of the Heroes when need be. If everything goes well then the soldiers wouldn't even need to step in, but it was better to be safe than sorry, especially with Chimera involved.
He opened his closet, pulling out and slipping into his black nanoweave undersuit before pulling out his blue and white costume. He ran his fingers over the various lightning patterns across the front, not for the first time feeling the weight of what it meant to wear this outfit-the legacy he had built around it. When people saw him in this, they felt safe, they felt brave and inspired. The people of this nation, and even across the world, put their faith in this costume.
His enemies however-the criminals and monsters-saw these colors and felt fear. For them, this suit was a warning, a reminder that if they should ever step out of line, then he'd be there to bring them down.
Chimera acted as if this warning didn't apply to him. He'd soon learn how wrong he was.
Taking out his gloves, boots, and mask, he closed the closet door.
Brockton Bay
Sunday, April 18th, 2011
10:05 AM EST
PRT Building, Meeting Room 12
(3 days until Official Assault on Chimera)
Meeting room twelve was rarely used in the PRT building of Brockton. It was the largest meeting room by far; able to comfortably fit and seat up to twenty people with room to spare, but it was hardly ever used since there was never a need to summon so many personnel into one room for much of anything. Even the worst emergencies they had previously faced had only ever been addressed in smaller rooms.
But of course, that all changed the night Chimera attacked The Bay. And with the immediate state of emergency, the room had seen a lot more use with everything that needed to be spoken about and overseen. Especially now that they had officially begun to plan their counterattack.
Within room twelve, the sounds of whispered words and pencil scratching stood out within the large room. On one side of the long table sat PRT and National Guard captains and consultants with their noses buried in mountains of reports and individual notes. On the other side, the leaders of the cape squads-each in costume-who were quietly exchanging information and passing along ideas for possible offensive and defensive maneuvers that they could later try out in their training sessions.
All the noise quieted immediately as everyone stood up on their feet when Legend, Director Piggot and Commander Styles walked in. The Director came around to sit at the head of the table, Commander Styles sitting to her right and Legend remaining standing on her left.
"At ease everyone."The Director commanded. Everyone sat back down, giving their attention to the three leaders at the head of the table.
"Progress report Captain Michales."She said, turning her head to the PRT captain on her right.
PRT Captain Michales-a gruff man in black fatigues with a neatly trimmed white beard-shuffled his papers before he stood up from his chair and addressed his superior.
"Mam,"He acknowledged,"Joint training between PRT personnel and the National Guard has been going well; they've adapted well to standard PRT strategies and practices, and they're adjusting well enough to the Tinkertech hardware."
"Adjusting as well as can be expected."Commander Styles interjected,"There was a minor incident when someone was learning how to use the Confoam sprayer. Thankfully nobody got hurt."
"Containment foam's quite different from what your men are used to. With the Tinkertech rifles it's a just different variation of point and shoot."Piggot commented,"It takes a bit more time to handle the sprayers-time we don't have. We'll leave the Confoam to my Troopers."
"It works better that way,"Michales said,"With the way we've split up the munitions, we had to conjoin our people. At least every squad will have one Trooper handling a confoam sprayer and at least four Tinkertech rifles."
"If everything goes as planned, they won't have to use them. But better to have extra firepower then not. Speaking of, Armsmaster,"Legend said turning to the tinker,"You said you were working on something that'd give you a major advantage in the fight. How's the progress?"
"Sir,"The Blue and Silver hero said as he stood up,"With Dragon's help, my nanothorn project is nearing its completion. While originally, I intended to use it alongside my combat prediction software, I had to divert my attention to finishing the blade first."
"If I recall your notes correctly, you said it'd be a good anti-brute weapon. Do you think it'll be enough against Chimera?"Legend asked.
"I've no reason to believe otherwise."Armsmaster assured,"Testing against samples of the green crystals-which have shown to have similar properties as diamond-have been highly successful. If anything, being able to deal with one of his main weapons will go a long way."
"That's good."Legend complimented,"Let me know when it's finished, we'll collaborate on a way to get you as close to Chimera as possible."
"Sir."Armsmater nodded before sitting back down.
"On that note,"Legend continued while looking over everyone,"Let's go over the official plan once more."
"If I may, sir,"One PRT official raising his hand said. Legend noticed the Director's face become slightly pinched-but he decided to ignore it.
"Go ahead Mr…?"
"Calvert sir, Thomas Calvert."He advised while standing from his seat."I'd like to offer a few suggestions in terms of the overall perimeter and Trooper placement for when the fighting begins."
"Do you see a problem with the order?"
"No problems sir,"He denied with a leisurely smile,"Just a few ideas on how to improve efficiency."
By the time he was all suited up, it was eight o clock. And after a quick breakfast, he was out the door and flying over to the New York Protectorate HQ for a brief meeting with Prism-having decided to have her fill in for him while he was away.
They kept it as short as possible, going over only the bare essentials-watching for any rising activity from The Teeth, tailing any shady dealings from The Elite, going over The Wards patrols etc-before he was satisfied. When it was over, it was nine thirty. He said his goodbyes, taking their good luck wishes with a confident smile, and made his way over to Brockton Bay in less than a minute and discreetly at the PRT building.
He was greeted by Director Piggot and a pair of troopers on the roof; she offered him a short greeting before she escorted him inside to where he would rendezvous with his Team.
"Is everyone ready?"He asked as he walked alongside her, the troopers marching just behind them.
"Yes, the ground teams and the soldiers are getting into place as we speak. Per your instructions Team B went ahead to keep an eye on Chimera and make sure he doesn't move. So far, nothing out of the ordinary."The Director supplied.
"Good. Team A is waiting for me in Room 12 right?"
"Yes. Though I can tell they're getting restless, they're eager to get this over with."
"Aren't we all."He said,"After everything that's happened, all the prep and practice, we can't afford to let this end any other way than with his capture."
"Just his capture?"Piggot said with a raised brow in his direction,"I'm still surprised that he hasn't been issued a kill order. You wouldn't happen to know why would you?"
He had a feeling he did, and he really didn't like it. This wreaked of Cauldron influence.
"I'm as confused as you are,"He lied easily,"I'm guessing that the Chief Director wants to question him about his origins. Capes as strong as him don't just pop out of nowhere-even if he was a recent trigger he seems unusually adept at using his powers."
"I've a few questions I've wanted answered as well."She admitted,"If all goes well, we'll have our answers about him by the end of the week, then we can kill him or throw him in the Birdcage for all I care."
Crass, but agreeable. The continued on in relative silence before he asked,"How're your Wards doing?"
She was quiet for a moment as she gathered her thoughts for a proper response,"I won't pretend that this whole endeavor hasn't put them through their paces. They're tired, frustrated. From what I've heard and seen, they feel helpless. Understandably so, but still, they're just children. Under no circumstances would they have ever been allowed to participate in any fighting."
"Of course,"He agreed.
"Even still,"She sighed,"A part of me worries if I'll still have a Ward's team by the end of this." He had to blink at the admission.
"It's that bad?"He asked in astonishment.
"You haven't been here for the worst of it."She said,"I can see them losing the will to keep going as they are. People can only contend with themselves with helplessness for so long, and that goes double for teenagers."
She was right, he hadn't been here for the worst of it, but he did catch a glimmer of what she meant.
Brockton Bay
Tuesday, April 20th, 2011
5:54 PM EST
Protectorate HQ
(1 day until Official Assault on Chimera)
He heard them well before he saw them.
He was walking away from Armsmaster's lab after seeing the results of his and Dragon's work on the nanothorn project-of which he was quite impressed-when he heard raised and angry voices coming from one of the stairwells. Investigation showed the two Wards Aegis and Shadow Stalker-both in costume, sans their masks-in a heated argument.
"-ing bullshit, we should be out there fighting that bastard!"
"And do what, go and get ourselves killed? Get over yourself Sophia! You couldn't do anything to him anyways!"
"At least I'm the only one with the guts to fight, meanwhile you just sit around with the rest of these fucking pansies with your thumb up your ass!"
"Congradulations you're stupid and fucking suicidal, if you wanna go die then do it and leave the rest of us out of it!"
"Fucking coward! You're just as useless as Clock is now that his little girlfriend's almost dead."
The look that came onto the boy's face was an equal mix of shock, despair and rage, and judging from the way his hands curled into tight fists, he was finished trying to use words to hurt her. And she looked just as ready.
"Hey."He called out, his voice level and echoing in the stairwell.
Both Wards turned to him, the violent rage on their faces flickering into astonishment.
"I think you both need to calm down before you do something you'll regret later."He said, locking eyes with both of them.
Shadow Stalker-Sophia he remembered-was the first one to snap out of it, her face hardening before she turned and stormed away, purposefully knocking her shoulder into Aegis on her way. The boy looked ready to reach out and grab her, just barely restraining himself, probably because he was still standing here.
It was quiet for a few tense seconds before Aegis let out a long drawn out sigh before floating down to sit on the steps, his head hanging low. He joined him, keeping a comfortable distance between him and the young hero. He didn't say anything, instead he'd let the Ward be the one to speak if he wanted to. He didn't have to wait long.
"Is she right?"Aegis asked exhaustedly,"Am I useless? Do I even deserve to call myself a Ward, let alone a hero?"
He thought about the question before carefully choosing his words.
"I know it doesn't feel like it now,"He began,"But you being here is a great help. I looked over the reports and saw how much work you and the other Wards put in over the past few weeks, and you should all be proud of what you've been doing. You've done The Wards program proud-I promise that not everyone would've been able to handle things as well as you all have."
Aegis-Carlos he thinks his name was-didn't react to his words.
"What if it's not enough?"He eventually said,"What if you give it your all, do everything in your power to try and make things better, and it's not enough to make a difference? You try to push through, but it just doesn't matter in the end. All you did was for nothing, and all you've proved is that you're just not good enough."
Something inside his chest squeezed-his words hitting too close for comfort.
He swallowed before answering him,"That all depends on what you consider to be enough. Some heroes want to save as many people as possible, others want to bring down as many villains as they can."He looked down at his gloves, remembering how often these same hands had been soaked in blood and ash from a violent fight, while also lifting and carrying an injured civilian to safety.
"It's a strange balance,"He quietly admitted,"Always on a scale between help and hurt. What you want as a hero is only something you can decide. You have to ask yourself; what's more important to you, helping the innocent or defeating the guilty?"
It was quiet again. He turned his head to the boy.
He saw Carlos swallow, his breathing hitching and his trembling fists settling on his knees. The Ward finally turned to look at him, his jaw clenched and his eyes shining with frustrated and repressed tears.
"I don't know."He whispered painfully.
He felt a fire stoke itself in his chest as a quiet rage began to course through him.
The look on that boy's face-so lost and angry-he'd seen that look on many a Protectorate Hero, usually after losing a friend or more prominently so, after a particularly bad Endbringer fight. This was the first time he'd ever seen that look on a Ward. Despair like that, helplessness like that…it should never belong to a child. And it was all because of that monster.
Chimera. It all came back to Chimera.
Suddenly, his willful blind eye was made all the worse, the human cost kept adding up.
'Never again.'He thought determinedly,'This all ends today.'
He arrived at room 12 a minute later, saying his thanks to the Director and with a promise to commence the operation in a few minutes, he headed inside. As he entered, he saw the rest of Team A already there and ready in their armors and suits. Once they saw him, they all stood at attention-their faces grizzled and grim, ready for his orders.
"This is it, it's now or never."He said,"If anyone has anything to say, do it now. Once this starts, we don't stop until we bring Chimera to his knees. Any questions?"
The silence was all the answer he needed. With a nod he put his hand to his earpiece.
"Everyone, this is Legend, we're set to commence in five minutes. Prepare yourselves. This ends today."
Brockton Bay
Wednesday, April 21st, 2011
10:00 AM EST
Downtown Area
(Day of Official Assault on Chimera)
High above the city, hidden amongst the clouds, Legend floated with Teams A and B forming a wide ring around the perimeter. Legend's eyes zeroed in on the target-like he'd been for the past few days, he was still sitting on the crown of crystal spikes on Lung's corpse, staring off into the distance, waiting. His eyes narrowed in determination.
"All cape squad captains; sound off!"He said into his ear piece.
"This is Dragon of Team B, ready and waiting."
"Bastion of Team C, ready when you are."
"Armsmaster of Team D in position."
"Ten Cents of Team E, ready to commence."
"Ursa Aurora of Team F, ready to nail the bastard."
The order was repeated for the Soldiers and PRT troopers, each captain giving their affirmative that they were ready and awaiting orders.
He took a deep breath in and released it slowly, hardening his heart and looking down at Chimera with a look of professional intensity. He slowly raised his hands-a burning white glow shining from his gloves as he built up a charge, the power in his palms swelling until they were swallowed by two large orbs of light.
"This is Legend of Team A."He announced,his hands sizzling with barely restrained energy."Engaging!"
He let go of his control and fired.
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X
This…this is gonna be an experience.
Sorry again this took so long, we all gotta get off our backs eventually.
I'll try to get back to a somewhat consistent upload schedule. But I won't make any serious promises.
Anyway, stay safe and have a good night.