I am Thou, Thou art I Chapter 3 (original chapter Chapter 122)
The Day of Joker's Persona Awakening
Coil's Underground Base, Brockton Bay
Thomas Calvert, the Parahuman Villain known as Coil, as well as a PRT Strike Team Captain, sat and contemplated this latest happening in Brockton Bay. Shadow Stalker, the violent thug that she was, had apparently gone even further off the reservation than he had anticipated and made someone Trigger due to the former vigilante framing her for assault.
The ratings that the Wards had given the newly codenamed 'Joker' had been refined by Emily Piggot and the handy little trip he'd set into the PRT ENE's systems had copied and forwarded them to his base's computer. A public Trigger was problematic, but the utility of this particular Parahuman would be immensely useful if he could convince or coerce Taylor Hebert to work for him.
The Undersiders needed some heavy muscle aside from Rachel Lindt's dogs, after all.
Deciding that reconnoitering the situation was needed, he leaned back in his chair and split the timeline…
…only for a small girl in Timeline B to appear out of nowhere and smash him over the head with a collapsible baton with inhuman strength shouting, "No interfering with the Inmate now, Criminal!"
And just like that, he was forced to abandon that timeline owing to a cracked skull, a broken neck and several cracked vertebrae.
Sitting up straight, Timeline A Coil, or rather the only Coil left, swore loudly. Just what the hell was that?! That…pipsqueak of a girl had appeared from seemingly nowhere to cause crippling injuries to him! He pulled out a pistol and looked around for any trace of her in his office, but there was no sign of anyone other than himself.
Puzzled, and more than slightly angry, Coil returned to his seat to think on this occurrence. He was used to losing. His ability to endlessly split and choose timelines meant that he was well aware that sometimes a timeline ended up with him receiving an unpleasant surprise, forcing him to abandon it, but this was the first time he'd had to close one almost as soon as he'd split the timelines!
'I'll try again. If lightning strikes twice, I'll simply delay until tomorrow.' He reasoned. Leaning back, he reached out for his power…
Timeline C
"You really don't learn fast, do you Criminal?" Caroline sneered as she once again dealt some corporal punishment worthy of being brought up in a session of Congress to one Thomas Calvert.
Original Timeline
Now having a rare Thinker Headache, Coil snorted in disgust. He would find out who was messing with him and take appropriate actions to neutralize them. In the meantime, there were still a couple of things he could do…
Picking up his phone, he hit the speed dial and waited for it to be picked up.
"Boss?" a girl's voice answered and Coil grinned beneath his mask.
"Tattletale. I need you to dig into the newest Trigger of the Bay…one Taylor Anne Hebert."
The Next Day
Taylor's Hideout
Waking up was a pain after I'd stressed myself so much yesterday. Not to mention the fact that I had been dragged to the Velvet Room once again.
A smile crossed my face as I reached for the new sensation that was different from Velvet. While my Persona felt like a sword, ready to strike at my command, my Mom's Persona felt like I was being warmed by the fireside. Apt, considering that she was Hestia.
"Velvet?" I said softly. My Persona appeared behind me as I stood.
"Contractor." She nodded.
"I'm curious…are you…?" I hesitated. "Have you and the other Persona ever been real people?"
No matter how I thought about it, it was strange that something that was basically a part of my heart made manifest was so human. Could they be copies of other people?
"That…now that is a good question, my contractor." Velvet replied slowly. She thought for a moment. "Speaking for myself…yes. I was born on a world that its people called the World of Destruction. I had an older sister and a younger brother. I laughed, loved, cried, hated, raged, despaired and hoped. I remember it all clearly. And yet…the being known as 'Velvet Crowe' is immortal, and furthermore is acting as a living seal on an immensely powerful spiritual being so he does not, to use your terms, Master the entire population of the World of Destruction into emotionless golems. Therefore, I must be either a copy of the original Velvet Crowe, or else an extension of Velvet Crowe's mind acting through this vessel of a Persona."
"Wow…" I breathed. "But…how?"
"You and I are more alike than I am comfortable with admitting." Velvet said frankly. "It could be that Igor used that similarity to somehow make you…resonate with the Velvet Crowe that I appear to be and it imprinted on your heart. I do not especially mind; an eternity dreaming is far more boring than one might imagine."
"I'm not complaining either." I smiled before I slumped down. "I just wish I knew what to do about being framed by that bitch Sophia."
"I cannot offer any advice on that from my own experiences." My Persona shrugged. "Unless 'kill the bitch' is what you want to hear; that's how I dealt with my own problem. Anyway, I have news for you."
"Good news?" I asked warily.
"Indeed. I have gained a new ability." Velvet smiled grimly. "In addition to [Eiha] and [Blade Dance], I now possess a passive ability called [Will Against Reason I]. It reinforces our connection and reduces the negative effects of having me as your active Persona."
"Negative effects?"
"While I can Absorb Curse element attacks, Shadow, Death and Dark, and Resist Physical Impacts at Close Quarters, I am vulnerable to the Bless element, including Light and Holy, as well as ranged attacks." The raven-haired woman explained. "The passive effect of [Will Against Reason I] reduces that though. Say that being vulnerable to Bless doubles the damage you receive. The new skill reduced that to being multiplied by one and a half instead."
"Wow. That isn't good though." I frowned. "Leaving aside New Wave, who are almost all able to use light of some description, there's Purity of the Empire 88. From what I've gathered, she's the second most powerful Blaster in America, just behind Legend of the Triumvirate. She can apparently reduce streets into rubble in a flash."
"It is good then that you have Hestia now." Velvet said with a smirk. "Unlike me, she is not weak against Bless…to Ice and Water, perhaps, but not to Bless. She also possesses the ability to Reflect any Fire attack back at the one who sent it at you. She also possesses healing abilities, which will prove useful for you in the long run."
"Well…that's good." Nodding, I yawned before slapping a hand to my face as a fact surfaced that I had forgotten. "Damn. I got all caught up in fighting with the Wards yesterday and I dropped my shopping. Now I have to go out again so I can eat."
"If you do, there's a high probability of you getting attacked again." Velvet warned me. "They know your disguise by this point."
"Hopefully they're too busy investigating Sophia to bother with me." I said grimly. "I haven't a choice, Velvet. I have literally no food left in this place. If I'm quick, careful and wear different clothes to yesterday, I should be able to buy what I need and get back before I'm noticed."
"Very well. Should you be assailed, simply will yourself into your form as Joker and summon either Hestia or myself." My Persona nodded. "Your enemies shall be cut down as you will it."
In a flare of blue fire, she vanished, leaving me to my thoughts. She had a point about how going out was somewhat foolish, but I had to eat. I still had some bottled water left, but food was the important thing here.
Crossing my fingers in hope of avoiding another altercation like yesterday, I started getting ready.
Later
Pelham Residence
"Shadow Stalker escaped?" Sarah Pelham, otherwise known as Lady Photon and nicknamed 'Photon Mom' by PHO, blinked at her guest. Miss Militia sighed.
"Yes, unfortunately." She said. "Armsmaster is certain that she had outside help; only someone else could have removed the shock bracelet that was keeping her from using her powers."
Sarah shook her head in bemusement. To be told that a Protectorate Ward was likely responsible for framing an innocent person for something she had likely done herself was one thing, but to discover that not only had someone affected her breakout, but that Stalker had somehow committed her crime while under close scrutiny as a Probationary Ward Member.
Then there was the little fact that the presumptive framed person here, Taylor Hebert, had almost certainly been bullied by Shadow Stalker for her entire highschool career. If Carol caught wind of this…
"How could she have gotten away with it?" she asked. "Didn't she have a Handler keeping an eye on her?"
"Yes…one that played down anything she did." Miss Militia replied tiredly. "We certainly gave instructions to Principal Blackwell to go easy on her, but she took that instruction too far and actively colluded with Stalker's Handler to keep her at Winslow. The reasons, from what we've gathered from the Handler, were a combination of the funds given to schools hosting a Ward, the safety net of having a Ward on premises in case of a gang riot and the attraction Winslow would gain from Stalker's Track skills."
"Still…to allow someone to be all but tortured for an entire year, just for that…it's too cold." Sarah said heatedly.
"Which is why Director Piggot is having the book thrown at anybody that had anything to do with this mess." The Kurdish-American woman said grimly. "Every teacher and staff member who may have had any knowledge about Taylor's situation is currently being arrested. Every student, especially Stalker's two friends, are getting interviewed as we speak. All proper charges will be filed, with every 't' crossed and every 'i' dotted. The only pair of flies in the ointment…"
"…are Shadow Stalker and Taylor Hebert being at large." Sarah nodded. She could see why; Director Piggot hated Parahumans who abused their powers, so Shadow Stalker's actions would be mashing her berserk button. As for Taylor, she had knowledge of the identity of a Ward and had still attacked Wards and resisted arrest. "What about their families?"
"We're keeping an eye on them, but it's deemed unlikely that either will go near them." Militia answered. "In Stalker's case, she cares enough about them to not involve them in her troubles, if only barely, and in Taylor's case, she has a history of keeping her troubles to herself; her father had no clue that she was being bullied before the Locker Incident."
Seeing there was still a troubled look on what she could see of the other woman's face, Sarah pressed her and the Protectorate Cape eventually gave in.
"Something that Taylor Hebert had, according to her father, was a diary detailing everything that Shadow Stalker and her flunkies put her through since September at least." She explained. "It isn't in the Hebert home, so she must have taken it with her when she fled. If she goes to newspapers with it and Shadow Stalker's identity…"
"That would be against…the Unwritten Rules, which she likely doesn't know about." Sarah paled. "Oh dear. This could end badly."
"Yes." Miss Militia nodded emphatically. "Unfortunately, I think, and Dragon agrees with me, that her ability to trust authority figures is somewhere between infinitesimally minute and nonexistent due to the last year or so. So if a member of the Protectorate, people she'll see as having allowed Stalker to do as she pleases, tells her about the rules, she'll likely think we're just trying to cover for Stalker."
"Probably." Sarah agreed. "I'll let the rest of New Wave know. Should you really have told me all of this?"
"The Director is very…close-minded about all of this." Miss Militia said carefully. "That and her own, well earned, dislike of Parahumans may or may not be influencing her thought processes regarding this incident. New Wave is likely the only group to be able to reach out to Taylor…to Joker and not be dismissed out of hand. I am simply being practical, and it is better to plead forgiveness than to ask permission."
Later, With the Rest of New Wave
"..And that's the situation." Sarah concluded. Looking around the room she saw quite understandable looks of anger and disbelief on everyone's faces. Even Amy, who had known some of this beforehand, was taken aback.
"I knew Shadow Stalker was a bitch, but I didn't think she was that much of one." Vicky shook her head in anger.
"Language, Victoria." Carol said automatically. "And they really think someone let Stalker out of confinement?"
"No, just out of her shock bracelet." Sarah shook her head. "With her power unfettered, she was more than able to escape by herself. That isn't the issue though. Any one of us can easily defeat Shadow Stalker and bring her in if we come across her. The main issue is Joker."
"Why? Sounds like all we have to do is tell her that we know what Stalker did." Vicky pointed out.
"Because she is well aware that she is guilty of resisting arrest and attacking Wards with a Parahuman power." Carol informed her daughter crisply. "Not only that, she likely has little to no ability to trust the authorities after what she's been through. Even in the best case scenario, she'll be conscripted into the Wards. Worst case, she'll be sent to juvenile detention and then given the choice between joining the Protectorate or being monitored 24/7 when she turns 18."
"That sucks." Crystal, Laserdream, said with a frown. "She was only defending herself. AND she was even attacked first, twice, by Shadow Stalker. Not to mention everything that happened to her since she started highschool."
"Carol, couldn't you build a case for the defense given what you know?" Neil, Manpower, asked.
"Even with what I have, I could build a fairly solid case for diminished responsibility or even the 'Fresh Trigger' clause applying." Carol confirmed. "It wouldn't be an open and shut case, but given that yesterday is the first time that she had apparently used her powers and the obvious provocation and threat from her tormentor, I could probably at least make it unpleasant for the PRT to go through with prosecuting her. I could possibly even force the PRT to negotiate a very good deal for her. Unless she comes in and fills in the blanks, and possibly giving in that 'bully diary' of hers, I can't be certain."
"So we bring her in." Glory Girl shrugged. "She's new and very unused to her powers. I don't think it would be that difficult."
"Not as easy as it sounds, Vicky." Eric, Shielder, told her. "First we have to find her. If nothing else, she's proven to be good at hiding. Wherever she's been lying low, nobody's spotted her aside from when she's left it. The police spotted her once and Stalker spotted her twice. All three were at different places, presumably away from where she's been hiding, and it was pure luck that she was spotted and recognised in all three instances. She really knows how to blend into the background."
"A common habit for someone who's been bullied." Carol nodded. "They dress down, withdraw into themselves and try not to stand out in an effort to catch the attention of their bully. It does work, sometimes. Evidently she carried that over to outside of school as well, to the point that she's just that good at concealing herself without powers."
"Eh, what a pain." Vicky grumbled. "Ames, you know what she looks like right?"
"Yes." Amy nodded. "She's…pretty ordinary to look at. She has nice hair though. And she was definitely not a Parahuman when I checked her."
"Regardless of when she Triggered or what to do after she is in custody, we need to find her first." Sarah said firmly. "Vicky, you are on patrol more than the rest of us, so you are the most likely to find her. Everyone pay attention here though; try and talk her down, but capture her if you can't. She's been dealt a bad hand and needs help, but she also needs to be held accountable for her actions."
There were nods from around the room. New Wave was all about accountability when it came to Capes. What Shadow Stalker had done was beyond bad and, despite the fact that the former vigilante would be punished when she was caught, the Protectorate was likely going to get her entire list of crimes suppressed to save face. Taylor was a victim, but she had still done things worthy of being called crimes the previous day.
"Meeting adjourned." Sarah said later after working out a schedule with the others. Being the unofficial leader of the team was tough.
"Tough time, dear?" Neil asked once the rest of the family either left or were elsewhere in the house.
"It's just…I don't like how this happened." The flying Blaster said with a sigh. "Militia let me look at her file, one that Dragon compiled. Her mother died two years ago, she was bullied for most of the time after that, she was trapped in a locker full of filth for over an hour, she was falsely accused of stabbing someone and now she's going to be seen as a villain until she's caught. She's had a bad time of it, bad even for Brockton Bay. I just feel bad that she's having such a hard time of it. She hasn't done anything to deserve any of this."
Neil hugged his wife comfortingly. "I know. I know. Hopefully Carol can do something for her. This kind of injustice always gets her blood boiling."
Sarah giggled tiredly. "True. Very true."
A Few Days Later
Coil's Base
For reasons he failed to understand, Coil found he was now able to use his power. Quite why that brat had attacked him on the night of Taylor Hebert's awakening was beyond him if she wasn't going to keep doing it, but perhaps the eyepatch-wearing girl had simply wanted him to leave young Miss Hebert alone that night?
Dismissing the only person to have laid hands on him outside of close combat training classes, he returned to the report that Tattletale had written for him. Taylor Hebert was a moral person, it would seem. She would be irksome if not brought to heel properly. Fortunately, he could have her father captured relatively easily. At least once the PRT team watching his movements was removed.
He smiled beneath his mask. Emily Piggot still held on a hope to forcibly recruit Taylor Hebert/Joker for the Wards, but Coil had a few issues with that, so he would be breaking that line of thought rather firmly. Have the girl disappear, take her to a lesser base of his for imprisonment, threaten to have her father killed if she didn't cooperate and presto, one new villain, ready to be integrated into the Undersiders.
It had taken both his mercenaries and Tattletale the better part of the last few days to comb carefully through the city and narrow down the possible locations where Taylor Hebert could be hiding. She had been seen in three distinctly separate places by the police and the Wards, all of which were in the more prosperous areas of Brockton Bay and away from the Docks area, which made it the most likely area, especially considering her father's job.
Finally, one of his mercs, who would be receiving a nice little bonus to his paycheck this month as a result, had spotted her entering the back garden of an old, abandoned house on the border between the Empire and ABB territories in the Docks area.
Pulling his mercenaries back, he had debated with himself as to which of his assets he should use to capture Taylor…or rather, capture Joker. The Undersiders were a good choice, save for the fact that they lacked the appropriate fighting power to deal with someone who had taken down Shadow Stalker, Aegis and Kid Win within minutes of one another.
The Travelers, the new group he had persuaded into his employ were all very strong Capes. Trickster, Sundancer, Genesis, Ballistic and the being/beast codenamed Echidna all had excellent powers and the only troublesome element, Perdition, had been dealt with by his associate Accord in Boston. Unfortunately, Echidna couldn't be used as her mind had been screwed over by Ziz, and Sundancer was quite firm about not using her powers on humans. The other three were more willing to do as he asked.
Sadly, that left…his mercenaries. All fairly morally flexible, all highly trained and competent and all equipped with high-tech laser rifles bought from Pyrotechnical of Toybox and the best body armor and other equipment on the market…the black market, that is. It was probably a foregone conclusion that he would use them, but he had toyed with the idea of using the two Cape groups for the sheer curiosity value of seeing how Joker would do against less morally restrained Parahumans.
Picking up the in-base phone he pressed a button and placed it to his ear. When it picked up, he spoke without waiting for the man on the other end to speak. "Mr. Pitter, please inform Squads Delta and Epsilon to gear up and standby. I have a mission for them."
Later that Day
Taylor's Hideout
"This is ridiculous." I said decisively, staring at the weapon in my hand. "Utterly, truly ridiculous."
"You seem perplexed, Contractor." Velvet said with a small smirk on her face from her position above me.
"Well duh." I said sarcastically. "I mean, it isn't as if everyone can fire real bullets from a god-be-damned BB gun!"
It was something Igor had told me the previous night; I could turn plastic replicas into an actual weapon in my hands. Not only that, the better the craftsmanship of the replica and the more realistic the gun was to the real deal, the more powerful the bullets I fired from it was.
I had decided to test it out with a dinky little thing that vaguely looked like a snub-nosed six-shooter and cost about ten dollars. It still put a hole in the door I aimed it at. And while they did have to have pellets loaded to work, I didn't need any more ammo than their actual counterparts required.
Having tested it with a fairly cheap one, I had scrounged together what cash I had, gone out and bought one that looked superficially like an actual handgun. It still wasn't at the level I instinctively felt would be the real thing, but it would do for now.
This kind of power was unreal. Making what was fake real…it was some kind of reality warping or something. I still had a hard time believing that technically, I wasn't a Parahuman.
Velvet looked up sharply. "Contractor, prepare for battle." She said with narrowed eyes. "At least a dozen men are approaching this house from both the front and the back."
"Up and out then." I said steadily. I had known that it was only a matter of time before I was discovered, so I had planned a way out that didn't involve using either entrance of the house. Running up the stairs, I grabbed my backpack, full of my clothes and BB pellets, from the room I had lived in for the past two and a bit weeks and leapt up the distance to the open attic hatch. Lucky me that once I awoke my Persona
Closing the hatch door behind me, I heard several sounds that sounded similar to lasers in sci-fi shows and I could guess that either the local PRT wasn't playing by the rulebook anymore, or someone else was after me. I don't know which option unnerved me more.
Reaching into open air, I pulled and my mask appeared. Placing it over my face, it made the rest of my clothes warp into my costume. Now I was Joker, it was time to get the heck out of Dodge. No way was I gonna let whoever the hell was trying to catch me get his hands on me.
"Where is she?!"
"Search the place from top to bottom! Remember, she's a Cape!"
Yup, time to leave.
Stepping lightly, I smirked as I saw the ace in my hand ahead of me… a hole in the wall leading to the next house over. I hadn't spent almost a month here without making plans for if I were discovered. Especially since I'd acquired my powers.
"Someone check the attic! She could be skulking up there!"
Bolting at that, I made it through the hole and pushed a dresser I'd found there over to cover the opening. I then propped a wooden pole against it to up the difficulty of opening it.
Satisfied, I started running again. I was going to have to find somewhere else to hide, but if I got away, that would be doable.
A hole in the back of a house's roof several homes over was my way out and I leapt out of it before running across the rooftops before leaping to another building. I still couldn't believe how light my body felt. It was like this wasn't my body anymore.
Leapfrogging from house to house, I skidded to a halt when a familiar figure to most people in Brockton Bay dropped in front of me and I had to suppress a groan as the miniskirt-clad figure of Glory Girl of New Wave dropped in front of me lightly.
"So you're Joker, huh?" she said with a smirk.
"That's what they call me…the wild card in the deck." I answered. "Look, I'd love to stand around and talk, but a bunch of guys with laser weapons are hunting me at the moment. See ya."
I leapt over her and continued to run. The last thing I needed was to have a fight with New Wave not long after fighting the Protectorate! I was making good time, but Glory Girl was evidently faster than me, as she zipped in front of me again! Persistent…!
"Yeah, no." the girl known as Alexandria Junior said. "You are gonna listen to-!"
That was all I heard before something hot and painful struck me on my right shoulder blade.
And that's another wrap. ^_^
Someone asked how the levels of the Persona affect Taylor. They increase her base stats much like they do in Persona games, meaning that changing Persona based on the needs of her situation is a vital tactic for Taylor. She also acquires their strengths and weaknesses as well, which is also something to be aware of.