Stand Proud Chapter 4 (Original chapter Chapter 119)

The Next Day

Taylor's Room, Hebert Residence

Eying the old stereo that I'd found in the basement, I raised an eyebrow at its current state. When I'd found it, it had been literally been a massive wreck, with the cassette player's door missing, one of the speakers broken and the knob for the radio section completely broken off, not to mention all the little scratches in the plastic and dings and dents in the metal. Now it was sitting at the bottom of my bed, literally better than new.

Armsmaster's power, when run through the mutation twist that Khepri used with those powers, was what I called [Repair and Restructure Optimization]. It basically repaired anything mechanical or electronic that Khepri touched and at the same time restructured it to be the most efficient at the tasks that I wanted it to be. Better yet, I got a sense of what, if anything, I needed to add to the machine in order to make it better.

I could confirm that it worked with both electronic devices and purely mechanical ones thanks to the fact that I had fixed a broken wind-up alarm clock just by putting some copper next to it. Well…at least I could save us some money when it came to repairs? What Dad didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Although I had waited until this morning to try Armsmaster's power, I had tried Stormtiger's power last night and discovered that it allowed Khepri to fire wind bullets of various sizes from her hands; a Blaster power, in other words. While Stormtiger himself was a general aerokinetic, his own preferences had definitely tended towards using his powers in close combat most of the time, from what is said on PHO, so this was a very useful differentiation to the original.

I sighed and leaned back on my chair. Yesterday had been…a thing, to put it mildly. I had gotten my costume, kicked the ass of an arrogant Nazi, and gotten my hands on a couple of fairly useful powers to boot. On the good side, I had very firmly debuted as an indie hero. On the bad side, the Empire 88 was likely going to be gunning for me because I had taken down one of their Capes, very publically.

"Troubled by the thug that you defeated yesterday, Taylor?" Khepri asked knowingly.

"A bit." I admitted softly to her. Dad was still pottering about downstairs, so I couldn't be loud or anything. "What surprises me is how…unaffected by the fight I am; it's the consequences of the fight that are worrying me, but fighting Stormtiger? Beating him as badly as I did…I feel nothing but satisfaction."

"As I told you before, Stand Users tend towards the violent end of the scales in regards to what type of people they are." My Stand said softly. "Some are outright evil people, the sort that makes your Slaughterhouse Nine look sane and stable by comparison. You are not violent by inclination, but you are willing to do what must be done in order to face and defeat your foes. By activating me as your Stand, you have essentially distanced yourself emotionally from what happens in a battle. Injury to yourself, injury to the enemy…possibly even near-death experiences in all likelihood, are things which you are able to see with something approaching analytical detachment. A very useful alteration you your way of thinking, in my opinion."

I was a bit disturbed that the way I thought had been altered by gaining my power, but…I couldn't help reasoning that going through The Locker as I had would have changed anyone, and being emotionally and mentally inured to what happened in a fight seemed to be a reasonably minor alteration that was too useful to complain about.

"So have you decided where we should patrol?" Khepri asked, changing the subject.

"I was thinking for a first patrol that the Broadwalk would be a good place." I offered. "It's a relatively low-crime area, which is why the Wards patrol it so often; no way for any of the Protectorate's little scouts to get hurt."

"If it's already patrolled, then why do we need to patrol it?" Khepri asked curiously.

"Two reasons." I said briskly. "One, because only the most public areas are patrolled by the Wards, and two, because the Wards only ever patrol during the day. If we patrol at night, we can avoid them and be more likely to come across any troublemakers."

"Hm. Goodly reasons." My Stand nodded. "I think that shall make an excellent first patrol area, just to get your feet wet and become used to the idea. Once you have accustomed yourself to patrolling, somewhere a bit more dangerous will be an idea."

"Probably the Docks area." I mused. "That's an area of…if not contention then friction, would probably be a better term for it. An area of friction between the ABB and Empire. You find all sorts down there, except for the area that the Dockworker's Union 'controls' for lack of a better term."

"Why would these criminals allow a legitimate organisation to contest them?" Khepri asked in puzzlement. I had asked the same thing, and had been surprised at what Dad had told me.

"To start with the lowest hanging fruit, the Merchants have all the planning ability and competency of my old pair of shoes." I said dryly. "They are so jacked up on whatever poisonous witch's brew they've concocted that week that they lack any kind of planning ability beyond 'go smash!' and that kind of thought, and the Dockworkers are more than willing to smash them into unconsciousness themselves; lifting and carrying heavy crates is good for building up muscles. As for their Capes, Skidmark, Squealer and Mush are generally needed to protect their main areas, or go drive off Empire and ABB Capes who raid their territory, so they don't bother with the Dockworkers."

"That makes sense." My Stand agreed.

"Moving up, we have the Azn Bad Boyz, the ABB. The reason for them not giving a damn about the Dockworkers is simple: Lung, their leader, doesn't care about them." I shrugged. "Lung is probably one of the strongest, if not THE strongest Cape in Brockton Bay. He managed to match an Endbringer one-on-one and he defeated the entire Protectorate single-handedly when he first arrived in the Bay. He is a picture of a lazy dragon, because he is absolutely certain that there is absolutely nothing that can harm him in the Bay. If something makes him mad though, he burns down a street. Or rampages through the territory of the gang responsible. Nothing the other two gangs and the Protectorate have can so much as inconvenience him if he ramps up far enough."

"Yes…I recall a memory of yours reading an article about Lung." Khepri said slowly. "Strange…I should know all this, yet it's all…fuzzy."

"Huh…maybe it's because you've been separated from me for a while?" I suggested.

"Possibly." Khepri shrugged uncertainly. "Anyway. So, the ABB are lazy because of their leader."

"Yeah, they do stuff in their own territory and occasionally raid the other gangs' territory, but any actual expansion comes directly from Lung's orders, from what Dad says." I answered and lay back on my bed. "That leaves the Empire 88. Thing about the Nazis is that their leader, Kaiser, has a silver tongue; he keeps spouting all-too-reasonable lines and tries to make himself and his gang look better than the Protectorate. Given how the Protectorate is so badly outnumbered compared to the gangs, even with the Wards and PRT backing them up, that isn't actually as hard as it sounds. As Kaiser wants to look reasonable, he can't very well send a bunch of skinheads down to the Docks to attack a completely legitimate and legal organisation. Instead, he does what the other two gangs do and poaches members for his shell corporations and legitimate fronts. Even five years ago, the Dockworkers Association had twice the numbers they do now."

"That all makes sense…but I think there was another, was there not?" Khepri asked.

"The other reason, aside from the ones I've mentioned is that the part of the Docks held by the Dockworkers Association…isn't worth the fight the gangs would have to go through to get it." I admitted sourly. "The Dockworkers are too good at roughhousing to beat with regular gang members, arming the gang members with guns would just make the Dockworkers break open their own armory, and sending in Capes would be overkill, plus the fact that aside from a handful, most Capes will still go down if shot, so there's always a chance of the attacking gang losing a Cape, which would not be worth the Docks."

As much as I disliked the cold calculus that dictated this situation, it had left the Dockworkers safe…for the moment. Once their numbers dropped low enough though, one or other of the gangs would move in and take their territory without much in the way that Dad and the others could contend with.

No. I would NOT permit that to happen. Brockton Bay had been dying for over twenty years now, if not longer, and it was because of the gangs that it was happening, helped along by bloody Leviathan. If the gangs thought that they could keep getting away with their usual shit now that I had powers, they had another thing coming.

As if feeling my determination, Khepri's armor glowed with a luminescent golden light. "Then we shall make it hard for them to go after the Docks, Taylor." She said firmly.

A smile crossed my face. "That we will, Khepri. That we will."

Same Time

Director's Office, PRT ENE Building

Emily Piggot was used to Parahumans and the odd way that their powers worked, even if she disliked them because of a certain incident in her past. Still, as she watched the video of Stormtiger being beaten to within an inch of his life, she was most perturbed.

"She isn't even moving." She remarked in disbelief.

Indeed, in the video, Khepri had her arms crossed and actually managed to look bored as her enemy was beaten into a pulp. That…was disconcerting.

"I have analyzed a dozen other videos that Dragon managed to find on the 'net of this fight, allowing me to get an almost three-hundred-and-sixty-degree picture of the fight." Armsmaster said. "From the evidence seen…there is absolutely nothing there attacking Stormtiger. No visible displacements of air, no kicked up dust on the ground…nothing."

"And yet, we needed to call Panacea in to heal Stormtiger." Piggot said with a frown. "What were his injuries again, Miss Militia?"

"Nothing too serious, just concerning." The bandana-masked woman replied. "According to the report left by Panacea, Stormtiger's face, upper spine collarbone and the upper portion of his ribcage had numerous micro-fractures, he also had a broken nose, his muscles were torn and battered, he had bruised testicles and he had -still has- a moderate concussion. She healed all but the concussion and some of the minor bruising and muscle damage and prescribed a specific type of meal to replace the stores of biomass that she used."

"So then…what the devil is Khepri's power?" Emily asked as she paused the video when it focused on a close up of Khepri's mask. "Opinions?"

"Stormtiger wasn't able to sense the attack with his aerokinesis, so some sort of power negation coupled with aerokinesis of her own?" Miss Militia suggested.

"I have examined Stormtiger's mask once we were able to get him to replace it with a copy I made for him." Armsmaster shook his head. "His mask is made of steel and the strength and concentration of air that is needed to pummel and distort a steel mask, even one as thin as Stormtiger's is, would be enough to pulverize the bones of his skull, not merely cause micro-fractures. From what Parian said in her statement, Khepri broke his nose before Stormtiger and Khepri left her shop. Besides, aerokinesis is visible on the video, and there's no sign of it on Khepri's part."

"So then…what?" the Director asked with a sigh. She hated it when Armsmaster went on a lecture. Oh sure, it was informative, but his monotone voice and refusal to dumb-down his terminology for those not a Tinker made it more than slightly irksome.

"I believe…that Khepri is in command of a projection, one that is both invisible and insubstantial." The Tinker said slowly.

Both Miss Militia and Director Piggot blinked at that.

"I'm sorry…what?" Emily said at last, clearly skeptical.

The video of Khepri on her screen shrank and went to the side, while an image of Stormtiger's mask appeared to take up the remaining space. The mask, if it could even be called that anymore, was bent, battered and broken in several places. Clearly, it had seen better days.

"As I mentioned before, I examined Stormtiger's mask." Armsmaster said gruffly. "One thing that struck me was that the dents embedded into the mask were reminiscent of fists, so I asked Dragon to make a model of the kind of fist that would have left the sort of dent that the last blow to the mask is. Observe."

On the screen, a wireframe model of a right fist was built up over one particular dent on the right cheek of the mask, before it was covered in armor. It looked nothing like any kind of fist that the two women had seen, and they said so.

"True, but compare the model to a simulated copy of Khepri's own fist." Armsmaster said.

As he talked, a second image of a right hand curled into a fist appeared. Although obviously smaller, it was an almost exact match for the fist-shaped model to its side.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Emily asked with narrowed eyes.

"Khepri is likely the only person who can see her projection, and she likely supplied Parian with a sketch of her projection to copy her appearance for her costume." Armsmaster nodded. "I have also done some research on the name she has taken."

"Oh?" Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Khepri is an Ancient Egyptian God who represents the rising sun. He also represents creation and the renewal or possibly rebirth of life." The Tinker said. "Unfortunately, Khepri was a fairly minor god that was said to be an aspect of the Sun God Ra, much like Atum and Montu, so there isn't much known about him. Based on what there is known about Khepri the deity, however, some assumptions can be made about what she intends."

"Renewal and rebirth…could she mean…of Brockton Bay, perhaps?" Miss Militia mused.

"A single Parahuman cannot accomplish that." Piggot said firmly.

"Regardless of what can or cannot be done, what she intends could be what Miss Militia suggested." Armsmaster said bluntly. "She came out and said when she introduced herself to Stormtiger that she's a new Independent Hero, and I think she grandstanded like that for a reason…to draw the attention of the Empire onto her rather than Parian."

"You…you actually think that she deliberately antagonized the Empire to protect Parian?" Emily said in disbelief. "Why?"

"Gratitude for making her costume, a strong sense of justice, an inability to see someone about to be attacked in front of her…" the Tinker listed. "Regardless of the reason, I believe that her plan may have worked; the Empire's unpowered members have been sighted on a lot of security cameras today, over 70% more than normal. In all likelihood, Stormtiger will be broken out of whatever prison he is sent to by Kaiser, if he isn't freed from the prison convoy taking him there."

Piggot growled slightly at the reminder that Capes, or even prominent unpowered gang members, rarely stayed in custody for long. Oh, how she would dearly love to just be able to Birdcage the lot of them.

"So, leaving Khepri's motivations and intents aside for the moment, what is your assessment of her powers?" she asked.

"Master 5, at least, with that projection of hers holding sub-ratings in Brute, Mover and Stranger." The Tinker listed. "That flight power that she demonstrated is Mover 3 as well, although if she has an invisible projection that is a humanoid-insect as the armor Khepri wears suggests, it is possible that the armor on the back is protecting wings, allowing the projection to fly and thus carry Khepri herself."

"Perhaps give her ratings of about 2 in the other categories until we know for certain what she can and cannot do." Miss Militia suggested.

"No, we'll stick with what we know she can do." Piggot shook her head. "OK, so we now have a Threat Assessment for her…good. Notify all Protectorate and Wards members that all attempts are to be made to open a friendly dialogue with Khepri and attempt to convince her to join the Protectorate or the Wards depending on her age. Emphasize the threat of the Empire, the lifespan of the average Independent Hero, the benefits of joining the Protectorate…the works."

"Will do." The Kurdish-American woman nodded. "Do you think she'll agree though?"

"After going to the trouble of having Parian create a costume for her…I doubt it." Armsmaster shook his head. "Just looking at the quality of the suit she's wearing, let alone the armor portions, it's obvious that she's most likely invested quite a bit of capital into this. That means that unless she's shown the limits of an Independent Hero herself, her pride isn't likely to let her turn to us for help or membership."

Piggot raised her eyebrows again at that. Coming from Armsmaster, it was surprisingly…insightful. "Yes…I agree." She nodded slowly. "Well, she'll learn. The Empire is not going to take Stormtiger's defeat lying down."

"I only hope we can help her before Kaiser sends Hookwolf after her." Miss Militia said worriedly.

That Night

The Broadwalk, Brockton Bay

Floating above the Broadwalk thanks to Khepri, I eyed the dimly-lit streets uncertainly. There seemed to be no one about, but I was sure that something was going on. There was something in the air that was putting me on edge.

"Something is afoot." Khepri voiced my opinion.

"Yeah…let's start our patrol at the Dollhouse." I said, frowning underneath my helmet. I did not like the way the Broadwalk felt tonight…it was full of tension and some kind of malice.

As we flew over the main street of the Broadwalk, I started to spot several skinheads walking in the same direction we were flying in. This did not bode well. Parian lived in an apartment just above the Dollhouse, so if they were going to do what I thought they were going to do…!

"We have to move faster!" I hissed and then squeaked as Khepri grabbed me out of the air and sped up using her wings. In no time we were outside the Dollhouse and, just as I had dreaded, there was a veritable crowd of Nazi skinheads there. No sign of any of the Capes, but it was just a matter of time before they came, with a crowd this large.

I growled when I saw several skinheads readying bottles with rags stuffed in them. Molotov cocktails, the sons of bitches. Oh no you don't!

Silently, I ordered Khepri to use Stormtiger's power and to fire several dozen air bullets at the skinheads holding the bottles. One thing I had experimented with the previous night regarding the new Blaster power I possessed had been regarding the properties of the bullets that Khepri could fire. I could not only determine their size, but their velocity and whether they were piercing or blunt, as well as if they could, as Stormtiger sometimes did, detonated on impact.

For these rounds, I set them to be the size of a pebble, move as fast as a regular bullet, be piercing and to explode once they hit the ground.

Once I gave the go-ahead, Khepri raised her golden arm, as well as the arm that looked to be created from the wind itself, and unleashed a storm of bullets from her hands, each aimed at the bottles held by the skinheads. In less than an instant, over two-dozen bottles had been smashed to smithereens and their contents spilled all over the street and the skinheads around them. Some of the glass shards had ricocheted off into other people's arms and legs, yet I honestly didn't care.

Ignoring the confused and angry shouting, I flew over the mob, still concealed by Khepri's invisibility power, to land in front of the newly-repaired door of the Dollhouse before dismissing the invisibility.

The gasps and shouts of 'Cape!' made me roll my eyes. Seriously, Brockton Bay had one of the largest groups of Capes in the country; you'd think they'd be over their surprise by now!

"Seriously, you people are so predictable that it's almost sad." I said dramatically as I crossed my arms pointedly. "It figures that you'd go after Parian's store in some kind of petty revenge plot. I have to say, you people suck."

There were glowers being flung towards me at that. Touchy.

"Bitch! Just because you took out Stormtiger doesn't mean you can fight us all!" one skinhead (although he actually had some hair) snarled at me, he pulled a handgun from his trousers and pointed it at me.

"Why do you people keep your guns in your trousers?" I couldn't help asking. "Aren't you worried about the gun accidentally going off and shooting you in the junk?"

That made some people wince and even a few worriedly shift their guns away from their family jewels.

"You think you're so fuckin' smart, don't ya?" the apparent ringleader growled at me.

"Compared to you? Yes, yes I am." I answered. Khepri was floating between me and the idiot, with me looking out of her eyes to see the guy, so even if he pulled the trigger…

BANG!

Khepri didn't even flinch as bullet bounced off her armor without even leaving a scratch. Everyone stared between the leader's smoking gun and a completely unharmed me.

"What…what the fuck?" the leader said in disbelief.

"Naughty, naughty." I said, smirking to myself. "Bad boys who play with dangerous toys get punished."

With that, I had Khepri launch my version of sandbag bullets, which were large and (fairly) slow air bullets that exploded on impact, at the man, knocking the gun from his hand and him on his ass before I retargeted Khepri at the rest of the Empire thugs before they could react more than shouting in alarm. Wind bullets pummeled them over and over until first one, then another and then all of the skinheads turned tail and fled. Even the leader fled, leaving behind puddles of spirits and numerous handguns on the street.

"Jeez. These people…" I shook my head in mock-exasperation. "Now they add littering to the list of crimes they've committed. How shameful."

Eying Khepri's left arm, I smiled as the swirling green circle that represented Stormtiger's power turn into a snarling tiger's face, indicating that I had mastered it already. This had been a good night so far, and I'd only been patrolling for just over half an hour!

"Taylor, be wary!" Khepri hissed. "I can sense trouble approaching!"

Checking her arm again, I felt slightly faint as I noticed that the silver circle representing Hookwolf's power had just been restored to full from its halfway point. That meant that he was inside of twenty meters of me!

"Little bitch…!" a growling voice said as the man himself strode around the corner. Bare-chested, wearing a steel mask shaped roughly like a wolf's head and with Nazi iconography tattooed on his body, the chief enforcer of the Empire 88 glared at me hatefully. "You're gonna pay for what you just did, as well as for what you did to Stormtiger."

Silently, I ordered Khepri to bestow all three parts of the borrowed power of Othala onto me as I answered Hookwolf calmly.

"Given how well Stormtiger and that gang of idiots performed, I'm not going to hold my breath, Hookwolf."

With a snarling howl, Hookwolf changed into his infamously most well-known form, a metallic wolf covered in blades and wickedly sharp hooks.

Once Khepri touched me and gave me the three powers it granted me, I called on Hookwolf's own power.

"Einherjar!"

And that's where it ends for the moment…^_^

OK, so…some people have (rightfully) pointed out that some Stands do not act to protect their Users, which is 100% correct. Non-human natural and unnatural Stands, such as Joseph Joestar's [Hermit Purple] (being a bunch of vines) and Hol Horse's [Emperor] (a fancy little revolver), are unable to act in the defence of their Users, which can also apply to Phenomenon-type Stands such as Boingo's Stand [Tohth] (a book). Another example would be like the Living Stand [Anubis] (A jackal-headed natural-humanoid type), who actively goes out of its way to harm its wielder.

But, in general, most Stands can and do protect their Users if they are able to; Jōtarō Kūjō's little demonstration with the police revolver and Star Platinum is proof enough of that. The only exceptions would be if the Stand is in the middle of doing something that the User has ordered them to do, if the User is caught off guard and can't see an attack coming or if their User orders them not to protect them for whatever reason.

As before, here's a little rundown on Taylor's new powers.

Armsmaster: [Repair and Restructure Optimization] – Striker/Shaker 2

Stormtiger: [Wind Barrage] – Blaster 4