Note: I don't own anything
Chapter 2.1: Costume
A day has passed since my little talk with Taylor, and I still couldn't get over it. She was a fucking monster. When she tried using her powers for the first time she easily summoned several times more energy than I could, and I had no doubt that this was just the tip of the iceberg. While it wasn't bad enough that I wouldn't be able to move or breathe, If I were to fight her now... I didn't want to even think about it. Some Fullbrings are capable of ignoring the difference in power between the user and the opponent, their abilities irresistible, absolute. But, I doubt that either of my Fullbrings are capable of that. If her durability, strength and speed are directly proportional to the amount of her energy then I would have no chance to fight or escape without some overpowered ability. It's not that I wanted to fight her, but it's just one of those things that any person with any significant amount of power thinks about at least once or twice.
There were several reasons why I decided to play nice when I planned that talk. One of them is my contract, my deal with... whatever It was. I confirmed that Taylor was alive a night before we talked, yet I wasn't taken back to my world. There were several possibilities that could explain this. First, It lied to me. Second, there was some kind of misunderstanding when we made the deal. Third, I somehow failed my part of the deal. Fourth, the deal was called off for some reason. Fifth, for some reason it is impossible to extract me from this world or world cluster back to my world. Sixth, I haven't fulfilled my part of the deal yet. Seventh, I have to "save Taylor Hebert" until either of us dies, or we both die. Or it could be some combination of everything listed before. Either way, I was fucked and had to keep Taylor in my line of sight, so to speak, which obviously would be easier if she didn't want to murderise me or surrender me to the authorities.
Another reason is that I need allies, and Taylor Hebert would be a powerful ally, even if she had only her original power. Whatever power she got this time, it couldn't be weak, not with the amount of energy that she could bring out so casually. And even if she had no other power besides that energy, it would still be more than enough to be one of the top dogs in the city. What concerned me is how twisted her energy was, not unlike that of a Hollow. I could only hope that she wouldn't become hungry for souls. In the near future, I'll have to start artificial Hollowfication experiments.
The third reason why I tried to be nice is to convince Taylor to rid Brockton Bay of Stalker. The last thing this city needed is for that crazy bitch to kill another Cape, and the last thing that I needed is to get killed by one of her arrows. Whoever gave her tranquiliser arrows and thought that it made her less lethal was a fucking moron with the attention span of a goldfish. If Taylor did as I asked then PRT will have no choice but to transfer her out. And if she didn't, then I will have to improvise. I could just leak Sophia's ID to someone dumb like the Merchants, or I could steal her or Emma's phone and make her school activities public knowledge. It doesn't really matter, it was the end for Shadow Stalker no matter what. Helping Taylor get her revenge was just a nice bonus in this case. Hopefully not telling her about the Rules would play to my advantage here and not bite me in the ass later.
I was standing a few steps away from the small crowd of children and their parents, waiting for Parian to finish her show. Watching her power at work was fascinating, especially because one day I probably would be able to do something similar. Finally, after about five more minutes of waiting, the show was over and the crowd was dissipating. Parian packed her things and moved towards one of the nearby shops. An old man was standing near the entrance, a pretty thick envelope in his hands. One of Parian's dolls looked very similar to the shop's mascot, so it was pretty obvious why she performed in Downtown this evening instead of one of her usual spots. This was Empire territory, and either she was unaware of the recent spike in their activity, or she was that desperate for money. Parian started moving away, and a group of skinheads on the other side of the street moved as well. I noticed them staring at the crowd before I even got here. Parian moved towards one of the darker alleys and I followed her, keeping a distance of about two meters between us. As we walked a few meters into the alley, we stopped almost at the same time. She noticed that I was following her.
"Don't turn around. Four skinheads are on their way here. Take a step forward and stay still if you want to avoid confrontation with them."
It was only when I finished speaking that I realised that what I just said sounded like a threat. She did exactly as I told her to and stepped on my air platform. I extended it towards myself and stepped on it as well, making both of us stick to it so that we wouldn't fall off. I started lifting us upwards.
*gasp*
"Close your eyes if you're afraid of heights."
Less than fifteen seconds later we landed on the roof, the doll Cape releasing a sigh. I pulled my mask out of the backpack that I bought a few days ago and put it on as the screams of frustration could be heard from the alley. Parian jerked to turn in the direction of the sound but stopped.
"Where the fuck did she go?"
"Search the area! She's probably somewhere nearby! I'll call the others!"
"Fuck!"
There was a loud bang, followed by a stream of curses. One of the eggheads probably kicked a dumpster or something. Half a minute later I looked down into the alley where only one thug remained, looking at his phone. I could probably take him out in one {Mercy} shot without anyone noticing, but that would just make them think that Parian fought back. It would only create extra problems for her and everyone else when the tensions were so high. Why none of them thought to use the fire escape and check the roof I didn't know.
"You can turn around now."
Parian turned her head first, then the rest of her body. She was short, at least two heads shorter than me. Her height and her costume really made her look like a large doll. Most people thought that she looked cute in that costume, but I thought that she looked creepy.
"W-who are you?" - she asked, suspiciously.
"I'm a new Cape, duh. Haven't picked a name yet. More importantly, what the fuck were you thinking? Didn't you get the memo that Empire is pissed off and looking for a fight?"
"I, uh, promised to perform near that shop more than a week ago and couldn't refuse." - her voice was a bit shaky. Maybe it was because of flying, or because she thought that I threatened her not even a minute ago. I didn't know.
"Alright, whatever, just try not to commit suicide via a neo-nazi next time. I came here to talk business if you're interested. You make costumes, right?"
"I don't do Cape costumes if that's what you're after."
"Then I want to order a Halloween costume for my twin brother, who's totally a just regular civilian."
"Oh, ha-ha, very funny." - she said in a flat voice.
"Hey, it's not like I'm asking for a freebie here. I'm willing to pay ten grand in cash for the design, the costume and a few other things." - I said as I opened my backpack and walked closer to her to give show her the contents. She silently looked at the money inside for about half a minute, took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.
"Look, I'm grateful that you helped me out and I could really use some extra money, but my answer is still no. I don't want to be involved with other capes in any way." - she said as she turned around and started walking away. My hands were shaking and I wanted to break something, to say something hurtful, to provoke her. A few seconds later I calmed down a bit and thought about my options. I could try to tempt her with some other things, but I didn't really have much to offer besides more money or a vague favour that wasn't worth much right now anyway. I could provoke her, but I was just some random Cape that she doesn't know, so even if I was capable of deconstructing her life to make her face the truths I wanted her to see, which I was not, not only would it be disregarded completely as the words of a spiteful stranger, it would only make everything worse, maybe even make us enemies. Just letting her go also wasn't really an option. Empire's men were still down there, maybe even actually looking for her, not to mention that if I let her go then the only impression I will leave in her mind is that of a stranger who helped her once. Parian already reached the edge of the roof. I zipped up the backpack.
"Empire could still be looking for you, you know?" - I said, stopping Parian, then realised that what I said sounded like a threat again.
"It's fine, they won't attack me in the middle of the street." - she replied, trying to sound like she was certain of it.
"A week ago they turned a street into a small warzone. I could help you out, fly us wherever you're heading."
She didn't reply immediately, but she wasn't walking away either, which was a good sign.
"Okay, but it changes nothing, I won't make you a costume." - she finally replied.
"Whatever. Just take a step forward and we'll be off."
As Parian stepped onto my air platform I considered getting us really high up so that we wouldn't be seen by the thugs or regular civilians from the ground, but it was cold, and up there it would be even colder, so I decided to fly us close to the roofs instead. I totally didn't consider taking petty revenge on the stubborn doll Cape for rejecting my offer by using her possible fears of flying and heights against her. Extending the platform, I stepped on it and we were off.
I was sitting on the couch, my black avian mask held in my hands, facing me. About fifteen minutes ago I dropped Parian off somewhere near the Brockton Bay College. I didn't know for sure if she actually lived or worked there, only that she was a student at that college. I could've tracked her to wherever she was going, but it wouldn't be of much use anyway. As we said our goodbyes I gave her my contact information, in case she needed some help or reconsidered my offer and asked her to not tell anyone about me yet. I also may or may not have dropped the backpack from the sky right in front of her. Overall, today was a total failure.
'Just do it already. If it fails, it fails. I know that you don't want to ruin this mask's potential, but you probably won't need it later, and you could always replace it. You have several other items you're currently bonding with anyway."
He was right, the bond between me and the mask was slightly stronger than my bond with the gun was. I already figured that using the item for a few days made its soul start to slowly bond with me, and the process was happening faster if I actually liked the item. I also figured that releasing minuscule amounts of my energy around the item made it's soul slowly absorb it, which made the development of the bond even faster. Maybe it was all of that, as well as my experiences while wearing the mask that developed the bond so much. I really didn't want to waste it here on something as insignificant as a costume, but Faultline's crew was already in town, and I needed to make the right impression if I were to meet them soon.
I started carefully injecting my energy into the mask's soul, stretching it out like a balloon. I was more careful this time than when I was doing this with the gun because I actually liked this mask and didn't want to waste it completely by breaking it. When its soul was stretched out close to what I felt like was the limit, I stopped and examined the artificially enhanced bond, then I pulled. There was a small explosion, and it was much stronger than the one from a week ago. While it didn't hurt my hand, it was probably a good thing that I didn't wear the mask as I manifested its soul.
The mask in my hand changed its colour from black to a dark shade of grey. The simple round eyeholes from before now had something in them. It felt like glass covered with thin fabric to the touch and looked like black lenses on the outside, while from inside the mask it looked like there was nothing covering the eyeholes at all. The right side of the mask was smooth just like before, but on the left side, there was now a pattern that looked like rising black fire, or tentacles, something like that.
I placed the mask on my face, and immediately something dark grey, the same color as the mask covered my body and clothes. When it was over, I looked down at myself. My body was covered with a skin-tight dark grey bodysuit, and while it felt really comfortable, I still didn't really like the look. It looked like I was naked underneath it, even though I did wear some clothes before dawning the mask and could still feel their souls. The left side of the suit had the same black fire or tentacle pattern as the mask, only it was going sideways from left to right. Before I decided to find Parian I actually made a few rough sketches in the note pad. I wanted to go for a hooded crow or pied crow look with my suit. A black undersuit and a black-and-white or grey-and-white short robe with a hood. As someone who wouldn't want to fight at close range, I considered baggy clothes with lots of pockets to be more practical. Alas, instead of what I wanted I got this thing.
I pulled at the soul of my new Fullbring, demanding a demonstration of its power. The bodysuit shifted, bulged, and I could see how it now repeated the pattern of the clothes that were supposed to be underneath it. I remembered how it felt and tried to make it look like some other things. Pants, gloves, shirts, T-shirts, bowties and ties, boots, it could look like anything as long as it didn't extend too much from the body. Capes or cloaks were impossible to make, even the very short ones, same applied to the ties if they weren't attached, but hoods and slightly baggy robes were possible. I tried using it to make weapons, such as spiked knuckles or clawed fingertips, but it didn't work out that well. The spikes were there, but they were small and soft, impossible to use as weapons. This ability didn't seem very useful to me.
'I don't think we should continue testing it at home.'
"Right. I guess I was just too excited. I doubt that it has some destructive ability, but let's move away just in case"
I went outside through the window and immediately noticed that I wasn't feeling cold, at all. I could still feel the wind, but not it's temperature. Thinking about where I should go to test the new Fullbring, I regretted not having {Invaders Must Die} or something similar in my arsenal. It would've made a lot of things so much easier. The park near the Captain's Hill where I spent my first night in Brockton Bay was out, as well as the Boat Graveyard. It would be too much of a bother to go to either of those places for something like this. Instead, I decided to just find some abandoned warehouse or building in the Docks area because it would take less than five minutes to get there.
It took me about ten minutes to get to the Docks and find an abandoned warehouse, and it could've probably taken less time if I didn't forget to grab my phone. There was nothing of use inside, only small piles of garbage here and there. There was barely any light coming from the dirty windows near the ceiling, yet I could see everything just fine. I didn't notice it immediately when I got outside, but here it was obvious, my fullbring provided me with something similar to a night vision. It didn't make the darkness and shadows disappear, it just made them less, made it easy to see things. I could even see which item had which color. This would definitely be at least somewhat useful.
I pulled at the mask's soul and demanded another demonstration of its power. For half a second I felt like I was falling, then this feeling stopped, as well as feelings of touch and balance. I didn't have a body anymore, I at least it felt like I didn't, but I could still see and hear just fine. I could also turn around and move, although I had to rely on my power to do that and I could feel that any movement slowly consumed my energy. Looking down, all I could see is a big purple spot on the floor instead of my body, or maybe it was my body right now. Overall, it was very similar to my experience as a soul, only this time I could see, I could hear and I could move. I tried moving faster, and the energy consumption started to increase rapidly, so I stopped. This could become a major setback in battle, especially if I could be hurt in this form. I cancelled the ability and it felt like I was pushed from under the water, my body reforming in about half a second, which felt a bit disorienting. I could move when my body was reforming, so at least I wasn't completely defenceless, but I doubted that I could attack while it happened.
I wondered if this ability was hindered by the light, so I activated the ability once again and moved into the illuminated area of the warehouse. When I reached it, I noticed that while staying still in the light was not a problem, the energy cost of moving around has doubled. It wasn't a big deal as long as I moved at a snail's pace, but moving any faster for a long time would be impossible, and I didn't want to know what would happen if I was drained of my energy while in this state. I also noticed that while I was in the light the spot on the floor that showed my current position changed its color from purple to black.
Demanding another demonstration, I could feel the suit guiding me towards one of the garbage piles, making me grab a rusty metal pipe. I moved back into the light, and the suit made me drive this pipe into the floor. Then, the same ability from before activated, but this time the spot beneath me latched onto the metal pipe and became it's second shadow. At first, I didn't understand what was the purpose of this ability, but a little bit of thinking was enough to come up with a fitting hypothesis. The spot changed color from purple to black when I moved from the shadows into an illuminated area, and now the spot latched onto a physical object and turned into its second shadow. There was only one explanation I could think of, the black spot that my body... collapsed into could be seen by others when it was in the illuminated areas, like a shadow, so this ability allowed me to latch onto physical objects and mimic their shadows to hide, maybe even decrease the cost of moving around as long as the object I latched onto was moving. What I couldn't explain is why this ability only mimicked the original shadow instead of overlapping with it. I really doubted that this ability actually needed the original shadow as a point of reference to work.
I deactivated the ability and demanded another demonstration. The suit, along with the mask turned into something like black smoke or mist and disappeared into my shadow. I felt like I was thrown into the freezer. It was so cold that my legs hurt from just standing on the warehouse floor. I could still feel the connection, same as I could with gun Fullbring, and I pulled at it to bring the mask and suit back out. The black smoke came out of my shadow and wrapped around me, stopping the cold from affecting me once again This was a convenient ability, but so far it didn't seem very useful. Sure, now I wouldn't need to carry my mask around, but it was barely an inconvenience. There were very few situations where this ability could be useful.
I demanded another demonstration, but there was no response, this was it. Overall, I wasn't very pleased with the result. I didn't like the dark grey and black color scheme, it made me look like a villain, and the asymmetrical design really irritated me. The suit didn't seem to have some level of protection from environmental hazards and was very comfortable to wear and move around in, but at the end, all it seemed to have is one actually useful ability and a bunch of smaller quality-of-life powers. The bond between me and the mask was slightly stronger than my bond with the gun was before I artificially reinforced it, so obviously I expected more, way more than that. I knew that I was being greedy, but I still felt a great sense of regret. I could only wonder about how much more powerful this Fullbring could've become if I didn't rush it.
Before I left, I tried a few other things. I tried activating the costume's main ability midair, and it didn't work. I needed to be in contact with a surface for it to work. I tried punching a wall, and my hand left a noticeable imprint on the warehouse wall. The pain was there, but it wasn't as intense as it should've been. Then I tried jumping and running around. Moving around was slightly easier than usual, and I wasn't even channelling the energy through my body. It was as if the costume was doing a part of all the work. It was useful, definitely, but it wasn't much. When I was finally done with the testing, I changed the costume's look from the embarrassing skintight BDSM enthusiast outfit into something more official-looking for my future meeting with Faultline. I changed the top part into a shirt and gloves, and the bottom part into some simple trousers and shoes, nothing too fancy. When I was done and relatively satisfied with the look, I exited the warehouse and started flying back home. Dealing with Faultline would require at least some planning.
Author's Note:
So, that's 2.1. Could've been much shorter and very different if Parian agreed, but I rolled a 5 on my D20.
