Stand Proud Chapter 3 (Original chapter Chapter 119)
Private Meeting Room, Empire 88 HQ
"So Parian once again turned down our generous offer?" Kaiser asked in an almost indolent tone. The metal-clad leader of the Empire 88 sat on a chair that was at the perfect balance between a throne and a chair, looking regal without being uncomfortable.
"Yes, Kaiser." Othala nodded. "She even had a good idea that you would choose either Stormtiger or Hookwolf to send to 'negotiate' with her next. And still, she refused."
"Hmm…what to do?" The leader of the Nazi group mused. He wasn't actually all that invested in bringing Parian into the fold. The publicity coup that bringing a well-known Rogue Cape such as her into the Empire was mitigated by her steadfast pacifism and the fact that there was no actual confirmation of her ethnicity as she wore a costume that covered every inch of her skin.
On the other hand, it would not look good to simply allow a mere clothier to rebuff the Empire 88 and their generosity without being suitably chastised for her temerity. It might give bottom-feeders such as Skidmark ideas above both his station and his intellect.
"I believe that Stormtiger will be the appropriate level of force for this mission." Kaiser judged at last. "Parian's cloth golems would be utterly useless against his wind blades, so Hookwolf would be quite literal overkill in this instance. She shall have a week of grace before he is sent…let her stew in her own worries and fears before then."
The Next Day
With Taylor, Hebert Residence
Holy shit.
That was all I could think as the ball of pinkish-brown bio matter floated in front of me. I had figured that since it was Panacea, the world-renowned healer, that I was gonna get a healing power or regeneration or something like that…instead, Khepri's mutation of Panacea's power gave me goddamned ranged biokinesis!
Anything that wasn't human and was organic was something that Khepri could manipulate, and she could do almost anything with it, within reason. I was also able to sense anything biological within Khepri's radius of power. It acted kind of like radar, but just for living creatures. I was already considering how best to use Panacea's power to make my armor. Insect chitin was one possibility, and it wasn't as though anyone would miss a bunch of bugs, while another inspiration was possibly limpet teeth, as I think I heard somewhere that limpet teeth were freakishly strong.
I wasn't exactly sure if I could even do that last part but hey, it was worth a try. I'd experiment later.
Having Khepri let go of Panacea's power after disposing of the biomaterial, I sat down on the kitchen chair and stared into space, my mind turning over the realization that Panacea was outright lying about what her power could and couldn't do. Given the attitude of people due to Bonesaw and Nilbog, just to name the two most infamous Biotinkers in the world, it wasn't much of a leap to guess why.
What puzzled me was her lying about whether or not she could use her power on the brain; I had felt the brains of cats and dogs walking by and I could have reached out and altered them easily…oh. That was why. Brains were immensely complex, far more so than almost any other part of the body. Making even the smallest change to their makeup could have horrific consequences if the slightest mistake was made. No wonder she refused to let people know she could affect the brain.
Deciding that it was something to keep in mind if I ever felt the temptation myself, I moved on to test Othala's power. As with Rune's power, it changed into one that could only affect me. If PHO was close to right about what powers she could gift, then she had regeneration, invulnerability, flight, super-speed, augmented strength and some kind of pyrokinesis.
I had only three that I could tell. One was indeed regeneration, but it was very, very quick, so much so I called it high-speed regeneration. Another was self-time acceleration, allowing me to 'speed up' my own time and thus look like I was moving at superspeed, which also made everything slow down to my point of view. The last was the opposite of pyrokinesis, cryokinesis, the ability to create and control ice.
While, according to PHO, Othala was limited to bestowing one power at a time for as little as thirty seconds to two minutes, I could have all three on the go for ten, easily, although if I focused on one at a time, that time was up until Khepri's own time limit expired.
Parian's power was surprisingly similar to the original. I could manipulate any cloth within my range, albeit with less finesse and dexterity than I'd seen Parian use, and if Khepri touched fabric with her right arm, any damage would be reversed, along with any dirt, blood, stains or whatever vanishing off of it as well. It was pretty cool. So long as I mastered it to earn it permanently, I wouldn't have to worry about replacing the costume that Parian was gonna make me unless it was totally destroyed.
"I must say that this world has so many varied types of powers." Khepri mused. "On the Earth where Stands originated, each Stand had one, perhaps two, abilities, meaning the user of the Stand had to work hard at being tricky with their powers. Here, it is like a small collection of powers bundled together, other than with a few exceptions such as that 'Clockblocker' fellow."
"It's kind of a broken power, being able to stop the time of someone you touch." I shrugged. "Time related powers are kinda rare. The only other time user that I can recall was Grey Boy of the Slaughterhouse Nine. He could lock people in time-loop bubbles…there are still hundreds of people who are trapped like that across the country."
"Abominable." Khepri shook her helmeted head. "Should we acquire an appropriate power, we should do something about them. Even death would be preferable to a perpetually recurring hell like that."
Part of me was a bit shocked by that, but for the most part, I agreed. Gray Boy had been such a twisted little bastard. Good thing the Fairy Queen Glaistig Uaine killed him before she was locked away in the Birdcage.
"I'd prefer to get them out rather than give them mercy, but I take your point." I said aloud. "OK…I'd better get my schoolwork done for today, then I can research what I'll use for the armor portions of my costume. Good thing Parian gave me the measurements for what size they would each need to be."
"Don't forget you were planning on having a jog today." Khepri reminded me.
"Right after my schoolwork." I assured her. "It'll help stretch my muscles after sitting down for a while."
The walk yesterday to the Dollhouse and back had shown me that, while I wasn't absolutely at 100%, I was still more than fit enough to start jogging. It would probably leave me feeling hellishly sore at first, but nothing worth doing is ever easy.
Dad was being very supportive of me, which was nice. He was still working long hours, but he wasn't running away from staying in the same house as me anymore. It would take some time for us to grow close again, after the last two years of secret keeping, but it would happen. What made me feel kinda guilty was the fact that I was still keeping a secret…the fact I had powers now.
Despite what he might think if he did (or rather, when he) discovered the fact that I have powers, it was for his own good. Why? Because he'd try to sign me up for the Wards. If he did that, I'd have to tell him no and explain why. He'd then try to do something about it, probably like trying to sue the PRT, and then the PRT would go into full cover-their-ass mode, which would make things very, very messy.
No, for the moment, ignorance was bliss for Dad. And yes, my paranoia and mistrust for the PRT and Protectorate (and authority figures in general) was indeed firing on all cylinders.
As I sat down and worked my way through my coursework for my GED, a part of my mind wondered what, exactly, I should do in regards to Parian and the situation she had with the Empire. She was almost certainly going to be attacked at some point inside of the next month; the Empire 88 did not accept refusal with anything approaching good grace, and I quite liked her.
Granted, I had quite a bit of polite disbelief that all she wanted to use her powers for was to make money and entertain the people on the Broadwalk with her shows, but then, you couldn't very well apply my own morals and desires into everyone. And her point about her powers not exactly being suitable for combat were somewhat relevant but last night, I had casually written an A4 sheet of paper listing the possible uses of her power in combat that did not involve the use of cloth golems. Hopefully that would make her think again, but I doubted it. Someone who is willing to face the consequences of saying 'no' to the Empire despite knowing the consequences beforehand is not likely to let a simple sheet of paper listing possible combat applications of her power sway her in any way.
Anyway, the point was that, my opinions about what she could be using her powers for aside, I found her refreshingly blunt, honest and with a dry sense of humour. She was also professional, intelligent, nice and quite undeserving of having the Nazi bastards stomp on her because she had the guts to stick to her guns.
"Argh." I said mildly, thumping my head on the table.
"Trouble, Taylor?" Khepri asked in amusement.
"No…just facedesking in realization that I'm going to be protecting Parian from the Empire, because I'm too damn nice." I answered, slightly muffled by the wood of the table.
"Having morals, standards and compassion is nothing to be ashamed of, Taylor." Khepri said reassuringly. "We simply have to fight smart…something which that I am certain that you can do."
Touched by my Stand's vote of confidence in me, I sighed and sat back up. "Thanks, Khepri. Now, let's get this work done."
Six Days Later
Dollhouse, Broadwalk, Brockton Bay
"And these are made of chalk?" Parian asked in surprise as she held a bracer of my armor up. It was a plain white color and included armor for the fingers, an uncommon thing.
"Yeah, surprised me too." I shrugged. "It took like a dozen tries to make it, but once I figured out how to do it, the rest came through fairly easily."
"So I can see." Parian eyed the selection of armor pieces I'd brought in a rucksack. "Well, I won't ask for the specifics on how you made them, but why white?"
"Default colour of chalk." I shrugged. "Figured I could just paint over them with gold paint later."
"Good thing I bought some in advance." The clothier Cape said matter-of-factly. "As for attaching them to the costume, I have some very good sealant. Once it's used to attach two things together, you'd have to destroy one of them to separate them without the right solvent. It's waterproof, nonflammable, nontoxic, and doesn't smell. You should go put the costume on so I can do that properly."
"So it's really finished?" I asked, having a hard time tamping down on my excitement…and not being all that successful if the amusement in Parian's voice as she replied in confirmation and shooed me into the changing room while she set about attaching some padding to the inside of my helmet.
My costume came in two parts, four if you counted the shoes and currently separated armor. The first two parts were the bodysuit and the shoes…OK, more like boots. The bodysuit was black and skintight, or very almost, and the boots stopped just an inch or so beneath my knees.
Once I'd pulled it on, I headed out to see that Parian had finished putting padding and a strap on my helmet and she was now using several of her cloth golems (a clown, a mime and…a jester?) to paint various parts of my armor with golden paint, as well as painting my helmet herself.
"You have some fine control there." I noted as I sat down on a chair.
"Anything over half a pound is too much for my powers." Parian shrugged. "If I try, my control falls apart. My golems let me bypass that limitation though by 'filling' them with my power. It was an accidental discovery, but one that has proven quite useful a couple of times someone's tried to rob my store."
"Someone was actually stupid enough to try and rob the shop of a Cape?" I asked in disbelief. "Darwin Award winner, right there."
"Some people think that because I want to stay out of the fighting, I'm a pacifist." The clothier said quietly. "I'm not. I can and will fight to protect myself and my property and even any innocent bystanders, but I refuse to be drawn into the Hero/Villain Cape scene. I just want my shop and to be left alone…why can't people understand that?"
"I think that comes under 'if you aren't with us, you're against us' Parian, stupid as it is." I said with a sigh. "I respect your decision, but look at Brockton Bay; it's one bad week away from an all-out gang war. The Empire has the most Capes, the ABB have Lung and the Merchants have the only Villain Tinker who isn't L33t. Put that up against the Protectorate and the Wards and there aren't enough of them to do more than barely protect the rich sections of the city. I…just want to make my home safer. But the gangs and the Protectorate? They see Capes as resources; if they can get you on board, it would be a coup for their publicity, whoever managed it."
"That's…" the clothier Cape looked at me, surprise radiating out from her body language. "That actually makes a lot of sense. Shit."
"If you need help, give me a holler." I shrugged. "I already owe you for the costume and everything. I'll need to get a cellphone though."
"I…that would be kind of you to do that." Parian said with a slow nod. "Anyway, let's get this costume of yours fully assembled."
It took little while for the wet paint to dry, then Parian used a stencil to spray on the symbol that Khepri had on her chestplate onto my new chestplate, in the same light blue colour. She'd also found some nice lenses for my mask that looked blue on the outside, but on the inside let me see out clearly.
"Where the heck did you get this stuff?" I asked as I pulled my helmet on. I'd tied my hair into a ponytail to help ease it on without my hair getting in the way.
"It's actually pretty common. I keep some of the primary colors just in case of this sort of situation." The clothier shrugged as she helped secure my helmet and tuck the end of the strap into the little holder on the other strap.
Then she started using her sealant to secure my armor to my bodysuit, bracers first, then greaves onto the boots, chestplate and back plate, groin and waist armor, shoulder pads and finally the remaining armor onto the legs and arm.
"How do I look?" I asked her as she stepped back and gave me a once over.
"Very intimidating." She admitted. "You'll stand out like a lightbulb at night though."
"I can handle that." I said confidently. With Shadow Stalker's altered power at my command, going invisible to avoid people's sight was easy.
It was at that point that, with an almighty kick, the door to the Dollhouse was smashed off its hinges and a man stood framed in its place. He was bare-chested and wore loose pants and a blue-white tiger mask. Stormtiger of the Empire 88, one of Hookwolf's top enforcers.
I cursed to myself as I stepped to the side to shield Parian. I hadn't noticed that Khepri had gained a new power because I was so focused on chatting with Parian. It was at times like this that her being unable to see the marks of power on her own armor was really inconvenient.
"Parian…you have refused the generous offers of Kaiser for too long." The man rumbled dangerously as wind rippled around his arms. "Now you have only two choices: comply or suffer."
"I am not joining the Empire!" Parian shouted as she stepped around me to glare at Stormtiger through her mask.
"Suffer it is." He smirked as he strode forwards to deal out the promised punishment.
"Hmm, let me see here…How about 'no'?" I said tightly before sending Khepri in to punch Stormtiger in the face. Her fist hit him with a wet, meaty thud and the Empire Cape staggered back a couple of feet.
"Gah! What the…that isn't a golem!?" he growled. "Whoever you are, I'll let that one go, but if you don't want to get on the bad side of the Empire, stand aside!"
"A generous offer…but I decline. Here's my counteroffer: how about you run away and leave Parian alone and I won't kick your ass into the ocean?" I suggested lightly. As I spoke, I ran through all of the abilities that I had access to and planned my attack on him. I couldn't fight him here; Parian's business would be destroyed. Outside was better, because hopefully the people of Brockton Bay wouldn't suffer from bystander syndrome and know to run like hell at the first scent of a Cape fight.
"Bitch!" Stormtiger roared and charged at me. Khepri interposed herself and kicked him in the balls. That…hadn't been what I'd wanted her to do, but it was effective as the man had let out a strangled cry, like a mouse that had been stepped on, before collapsing to the ground in the fetal position.
Khepri picked him up by the belt on his trousers, dragged him to the door and threw him out, with me quickly following them both.
"T-…Khepri!" Parian said in shock.
"I'll deal with him, Parian." I said from the doorway. "Thanks for the costume."
With that I stepped down out of the Dollhouse and confronted Stormtiger, who was staggering to his feet, one hand still clamped over his family jewels.
"You…!" he seethed at me. "Who are you?!"
"The name's Khepri, newly minted Indie Hero." I shrugged and crossed my arms across my chest. "You need no introduction, Stormtiger. I hope you have the cash to pay for a new door for Parian."
"A new…! Bitch, you had better hope that I kill you by accident, otherwise I'll drag your beaten and bloody carcass in front of Kaiser and make you beg to join the Empire!" he shouted.
As he ranted, I watched people take the hint that shit was about to hit the fan and started running away. Good. Fewer problems to deal with.
Silently, I ordered Khepri to use Skidmark's forcefield power on herself, and then set it to accelerate.
"Yeah…this coming from someone who hasn't even touched me once." I said scornfully.
"I don't know what the fuck your power is or why I can't sense it attacking me in the wind, but I'll just have to shred you to pieces before you can use it on me!" Stormtiger snarled.
"Try it if you can, little man." I said haughtily…then sent Khepri in. She sped in faster than I had seen her move and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks at the Empire Cape, rocking him from side to side and almost lifting him off the ground with every few blows.
Audible only to me was her saying something rather…odd…
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha-!"
What the heck? Something to ask her about later…
With one final punch, Khepri sent Stormtiger flying back, rolling and skidding across the concrete ground. Blood seeped from his mask and the bruises across his body were going to be glorious in the morning.
"Holy shit." Parian said, making me jump. I hadn't realised that she had left the Dollhouse. "You beat him…you beat Stormtiger like he was nothing."
"Beginner's luck." I answered. "He wasn't expecting a fight from anyone but you and he was confident he could beat you…and those wind blades of his would have shredded your cloth golems like tissue paper. With the sneak attacks my particular powerset allows me, that overconfidence of his let me win. Anyway, do you have anything I could use to tie him up until the Protectorate gets here?"
Silently, the clothier Cape fetched some denim strips that she weaved into a fairly good rope, allowing me to hogtie the bleary and semiconscious Nazi Cape. I also noticed that several people had come back and were now taking pictures on their phones. Looks like PHO's going to have pictures of me soon.
"Should I stay and give a statement or…?" I asked Parian.
"I can handle it." The Rogue sighed. "I'm used to dealing with the local Protectorate and if the First Responder's Armsmaster you'll get pissed off at him. He has a bad habit of coming off as a total dick."
"Really?" I said in mild surprise.
"Very little in the way of social grace or ability." Parian said dryly. "The first time I met him I was tempted to have my golems punch him because he asked if I was choosing to be a Rogue because I 'lacked the gumption to fight' or something like that."
"Ouch. Yeah, that's pretty bad." I winced, and then cocked my head to one side at hearing a motorbike approaching. "And on that note, I'm out of here."
Floating into air thanks to Khepri's mutated version of Rune's power, I sped off, with my Stand flying next to me using her insect wings. We flew until we were out of sight, and then Khepri used Shadow Stalker's invisibility power on me, rendering me invisible, then we turned and headed for home.
With Parian
Watching the golden-armored Cape speed out of sight, the clothier Cape let out a shaky breath at exactly how lucky she had been today. If Taylor…if Khepri hadn't been there, Stormtiger would have beaten the shit out of her and probably revealed her decidedly-not white skin and he then would have decided to finish the job, probably.
Her initial plan upon donning the mask of Parian had been to unmask after a few months…god, she had been so stupid. The Empire 88 had tolerated her for this long because they'd thought she was white, while the ABB and Merchants didn't give a damn. Had they known she was middle-eastern, the Empire would have firebombed her place inside of the first month, she could admit it now, thanks to this latest scare.
So, the whole 'unmasking' plan was something firmly on the backburner now, probably never to be moved forward…not until and unless the Empire became a nonfactor, anyway.
She turned around in time to see Armsmaster pull up on his shining motorbike and smoothly dismount from it, unlimbering one of his halberds from the special holster he had on the back in a practiced motion. For all that he had the social grace of an elephant, he was a lot more graceful when it came to moving his body.
"Parian." He greeted her gruffly as he marched on over to her.
"Armsmaster." She replied steadily. "You were rather quick. It can't have been more than five minutes since Stormtiger kicked my door in."
"I was just heading out on patrol when the call came in." the Tinker replied, looking down at the badly beaten Nazi at Parian's feet. "Stormtiger. Well, well. Who was responsible for defeating him?"
"A client of mine who had just finished putting their costume on to try it out." Parian replied. By now, there will be pictures and videos on PHO about it."
"Undoubtedly." Armsmaster sighed. "Who was your client?"
"Her Cape Name is Khepri and she's female. That is all the information I'm giving you." The Rogue said waspishly, haven taken the opportunity to hide Taylor's clothes and backpack while she was fighting.
"I see…powers?" the Tinker asked as he knelt down and slapped some cuffs onto Stormtiger's wrists, as well as injecting a tranquilizer into him.
"The only one I've seen her using is the flight power she used to fly out of here." Parian said truthfully. If what Taylor said was true, her projection was constantly manifested around her, not requiring her to actively invoke it.
"Hm. Some sort of close combat powers by the looks of Stormtiger's wounds." Armsmaster mused as a squad of PRT troopers arrived and took custody of the drugged-up Cape. "An Alexandria package, perhaps."
"There might be videos online." Parian sighed. "Can you take my statement now so I can get someone in to fix my shop's door and close shop of the day?"
Nodding, Armsmaster led her over to inside her shop where he took a recording of her statement, asking pertinent questions, but always angling to try to find out more details about Khepri. Parian had expected this though, so she was careful not to say anything more than she already had.
"Thank you for your cooperation." The Tinker said gruffly. "Parian, I would be remiss not to point out that the Empire is not going to let this go; they'll keep trying until you bow to them."
"I will not join them and I will not permit them to bully me." Parian said firmly before eying Armsmaster. "Nor will I be scared into joining anyone else."
"Your stubbornness means nothing to the Empire; they will see you with them or see you not a threat to them." Armsmaster pressed firmly.
"I'm already not a threat to them. I am a Rogue, not a hero or a villain." Parian snapped back.
"If you aren't with them, you're against them, to their way of thinking." The Tinker stated, unknowingly echoing Khepri's own opinion of the Empire's stance against her. "They cannot permit someone to defy them, although it is likely that they will be sidetracked by Khepri. She not only defied them, but beat down one of their own. Kaiser isn't going to take that lying down."
"He can cry me a river." Parians said unsympathetically. "Stormtiger was going to beat and possibly torture me just because I have principles."
"Very well." Armsmaster relented with ill grace. "If you see Khepri again, tell her what I've told you; it's too dangerous to be a lone Cape, especially in Brockton Bay. The Protectorate and the Wards are always open to her, so long as she remains a hero."
With that, he turned and left.
Sighing, Parian turned and eyed the ruin of her shop's front door. Stormtiger hadn't pulled any punches with it and it was broken and splintered in several places; a total write-off, in other words. She'd have to pay for a brand new one, along with repairs to the doorframe as well. Just lovely.
'All things considered, a new door and doorframe is cheap compared to my life.' The Rogue decided. 'And Khepri's just earned herself another discount on her costume. It's hers for free.'
Parian valued her life rather highly, and Khepri had saved it. Again, the costume was cheap compared to Parian's own life. She would still charge the golden-armored Cape full price for any repairs though; business was business, after all.
OK, so here's chapter 3. I decided that calling a Cape after their Stand was pretty much the go-to rule here. I could change it to one of the alternate spellings like Khepera, Kheper, Khepra or Chepri, but I went with the most commonly used name.
I wonder what old Armsy will make of the video of Stormtiger getting punched into midair multiple times by seemingly nothing…? Hehehe…
Just so you know, Khepri's copy of Panacea's power lacks a lot of the intuitive understanding of biology that Panacea possesses, so Taylor had to study like hell to understand how to make armor of sufficient density.
As before, here's a list of newly used powers, their ratings and their new names.
Panacea: [Bio-Twister] – Shaker 6, Thinker 3
Othala: [Gift of Khepri] – Trump 7 (Trump Type: 7&2)
Parian: [Clothes Make the Woman] – Shaker 5
Unused Powers: Stormtiger, Armsmaster.