For those who asked about where I got my numbers for the static growth I gave you the other day, I got it from observation. And no, the human race doesn't have a level cap.
Think about it. When did the human members of the Z-fighters stop growing stronger?
Was it when they reached Frieza's level, over the course of four to five years? Was it when they were even stronger than that, to the point that they could stand toe to toe with Cell?
Or was it when they lost interest in getting strong enough to keep up with the Saiyans and quit training as hard?
Tien was able to blas Semi Perfect Cell into the ground with his Tribeam, and the creature wasn't able to do anything about it until he stopped. Sure, it didn't kill him and it nearly killed Tien to do it, but Cell was already several times what Frieza had been, at that point, and Tien, a human(with a third eye, admittedly), was able to incapacitate him for several minutes.
Human growth only stops when they stop training. Several times, Saiyans have plateaued until they had the ever loving crap beaten out of them again.
Chapter Eleven: Plans and Meetings
After exiting the building, Taylor and Danny immediately split away from Tattletale.
"I have to go check in with the Protectorate," the warrior said, "I've been out of contact for over twenty four hours. I'm probably going to be hit with Master/Stranger protocol, so yeah. Gonna be out of contact for a while," she turned a mild frown on Lisa, "You know, this changes nothing, right? Soon as we're done with this, I'm gonna take you in."
Lisa's grin was downright predatory, "You're going to try."
Instead of being annoyed by it, Taylor just grinned right back at her. The two gripped each other's hands, turning a simple handshake into a display of strength and dominance for a second. The ground cracked, wind kicked up, electricity in red and purple arched over their hands, small bits of rock and debris were being levitated into the air.
"Girls," Danny cut in, "Flirt with one another later. We have things to do at the moment."
Taylor blushed a fetching shade of red, while Tattletale just lifted an eyebrow at her response, then grinned like a fox.
"Yeah, let's move on. I would hope that the two of you wouldn't tell anyone in the protectorate about this? After all, no need for me to destroy them when they try to appropriate it for their own use."
Both of the Heberts nodded to her. Danny placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder then, and the girl teleported the two of them away.
"Right, now, time to find out how completely bullshit Tinkers are," Lisa mumbled to herself. She put her fingers to her forehead and was gone in the next half second.
-9001-
A few hours later, both father and daughter were indeed detained, in completely separate cells, undergoing a full blackout for forty eight hours.
At least, that was the usual protocol.
Only three hours in, Taylor was contacted by Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon. Their faces were projected onto the wall to her left, even if her senses told her that they were upstairs. And her improved power told her even more than that, what with being able to see their passengers.
"Saiyan," Alexandria lead, as usual, "What happened yesterday? Why did you disappear?"
"Tattletale kicked my ass, six ways to sunday," she said with a shrug, "Lost my mind for a little bit in the middle of it. Tried to commit suicide. She found a way to become geometrically more powerful in only a very short time," she looked at each one of them in turn, "I used it myself. That's why I appear different. My dad used it too. Triggered during the course of it."
"So, it's dangerous, this technique?"
"No," Taylor shook her head, "Not in and of itself. I asked him if he wanted to trigger, he said yes, I simulated an environment where he was suffering mentally and physically, and he triggered."
"What power does he have?" Eidolon asked.
"Striker/Thinker," the girl said immediately, "He has the ability to see sixty seconds into the future of anyone he touches with his right hand and sixty hours into their past if he touches them with his left. He is never wrong about what he sees, and we assume that is the reason he can only see one minute into the future, but so far into the past."
"Hmm," the man in green intoned, rubbing his glowing chin with a hand, "Why did Tattletale allow you to use this training? What does she gain from it?"
"I told her about Scion. About the real Scion. The monster-god that wants to kill us all. Her power filled in the blanks," she shrugged again, "She felt that it was enough of a threat to team up, temporarily. At this point, I'm pretty sure she's running scenarios to help me kill the fucker."
"Right," Legend said, frowning now, "Is this line secure?" Alexandria nodded, "How did you find out about Scion?"
"My ability, of course," Taylor grinned, "I used my Chi sense on him, saw everything about him in this world, then followed the tail of energy he has to his real body in several other worlds. It, well, it did what I told Doctor Yamada. I think I triggered again, and then I understood exactly what he wanted, why he was really here."
"Yes," Alexandria said, "About that. We have known about him for years. We have been trying to find ways to defeat him, but nothing has come about so far. We haven't been able to kill the Endbringers. Not until you came along, that is," she gave the girl a very pointed look, "What are the chances you could defeat him?"
"Well, that comes in two parts," she said, "His golden body? One hundred percent. Wouldn't even break a sweat. His real body? I dunno. It's not just about raw strength. He has a nearly endless pool of abilities to pull from, none of them Manton limited, and it makes his threat rating vary, drastically, from one moment to the next. I can bet that he would have unholy regeneration, on top of all that. And who knows if he has anything annoying, like Dynakinesis, or energy proof barriers. Right now, I wouldn't risk it.
"Now," she put her fingers to her forehead and she was gone before the foam sprayers in the ceiling could even aim at her. She reappeared in front of the Triumvirate, sitting in the air, one leg crossed over the other. "We need to talk about what I can see about your powers."
The three had started, at first, and Legend had nearly blasted her with one of his bendy lasers, but they settled back down relatively quickly.
"What about them?" the other woman in the room asked.
"Why are they artificial, for one?" her eyes were glowing again, "I can see where they are based, right in your brains. They don't look anything like other Passengers."
"You can see them?" Eidolon was rather shocked, "You can even tell that they are different from others? What about Case Fifty Three's? Have you seen one of them, yet?"
"Haven't had the pleasure, so I couldn't tell ya, but you aren't even the only ones here to have artificial powers. Battery has 'em too. So, what's going on?" Taylor crossed her arms.
The three looked at each other and Eidolon shook his head. The three of them subtly prepared for a fight.
"We can't tell you," Legend told the girl, "It's not something we're comfortable with telling anyone. Let alone a girl that could be Mastered, yet can completely ignore protocol, like right now, if she so chooses."
"Eh, whatever," Saiyan let it drop, "Not like it really matters."
The Triumvirate almost fell over at that. Really? She wasn't even going to accuse them of shady dealing? Nothing?
"Next," she pointed at Eidolon, "Why are you making the Endbringers attack?"
"What."
"What?"
"What?!"
Legend and Alexandria turned to Eidolon, who had nearly barked out the last 'what'. He looked livid.
"Yeah, you," she wiggled her finger at him, "made the Endbringers. I can see it now, with my ability. I can even copy it, kinda," she focused her energy, and three small balls of matter came into existence. One was floating around her, the other two were on her shoulders. After a few moments, they all grew bodies that were a fraction of a fraction of the size of the real Endbringers, but looked exactly like Leviathan, Behemoth, and the Simurgh. "Seriously, what the fuck, dude?"
"You are making them attack?!" Legend turned an accusing glare on his compatriot.
"What? No! I-"
"No," Taylor interrupted him, frowning now, "He isn't. That's just freakin' weird. You're doing it subconsciously. It's like you need an enemy to fight, or something," she grimaced then, "And you're waking up more of them, without even meaning to… I could nullify that for you, if you want."
"Really?" Alexandria asked, keeping her eyes on the Fun Sized Endbringers. So far, the little monsters hadn't done anything aside from looking around the room, but it was disturbing seeing the little monsters.
"Yeah. Easy as pie. Just use a little Chi to fry that ability without even touching his other one," she put a hand to her chin while the mini Ziz started playing with her hair, "Honestly, I could probably do with some practice first. Got any capes you want to be normal people?"
"No!" Legend said vehemently, "We don't condone Human expe-"
"Kaiser, Ashbeast, Nilbog, and Heartbreaker," Alexandria said with a hint of challenge, "Can you do it from a distance?"
"I can do it from here."
"Can you do it without killing them?"
"World wouldn't be worse off if I couldn't, but yeah, the only change will be the absence of their abilities, I'm pretty sure," the girl ran a hand through her hair, "That's why I need the practice. The other option is that I just kill the Endbringers as they show up, letting lives and collateral damages rack up with each attack and each new monster your power creates with, or without, your consent," she was looking at Eidolon again.
For a few moments, silence.
"You will complete the protocol. Then you will see if you can't nullify powers without hurting the person that has them. Start with Nilbog. Not many would be sad if he were to die of a mysterious cause," Alexandria ordered.
Saiyan nodded, putting finger to her head, "Gotcha, see ya later." She teleported away, then, leaving behind the mini Endbringers.
The three abominations stared at the three heroes. Unlike the originals, Taylor had allowed hers to be able to emote. This allowed the triumvirate to see that the three little creatures obviously were nervous, maybe even afraid.
Legend reached out to touch one, Simurgh. The mini Ziz observed the finger with some trepidation before reaching out with her wing tip and pressing it against his finger.
In that moment, it was almost as if the world colorized for the two of them, hero and monster. Pinks, light yellows, bubbles of pure joy.
Seeing the obvious benign actions of Ziz, Alexandria and Eidolon turned to the other two.
Mini Behemoth and Mini Leviathan looked away from their sister having a moment with Legend at the remaining two heroes. Mini Behemoth roared(hissed) at Alexandria and zapped the end of the finger approaching him with about two thousand volts. The woman hardly felt it, but it was still annoying and she glared at the creature.
At the same time, Mini Leviathan began shooting a squirt gun worth of water at Eidolon.
"Hey!" the man yelled. He'd be damned if the two male creatures didn't start laughing.
Alexandria harrumph'd and turned away, "Let's get out of here."
"Right," Eidolon nodded, "You coming, Legend?"
"Huh," he looked over at his teammates and compatriots, "Oh, yeah, sure," her turned back to Mini Ziz with a smile, "See you later." The little abomination waved, floating back to hover between her brothers.
-9001-
In a secret lair( a garage), far, far away(Boston), the world's greatest Tinker worked on his next project to change the Earth for the betterment of all mankind(to make himself rich as all hell).
"Come on, baby," the man pleaded, rubbing his hands together as he watched the plant he had designed with his own genius(compliments of his Passenger), "Papa needs a new WIFI provider."
The green stem and bulb were no larger than a rose, but it moved this way and that, seeming to sniff at the air. Very deliberately, Blasto, for that's who it was, breathed outwards. The plant's bulb snapped in his direction, then opened, showing a vibrant shade of yellow.
In the center of the blooming flower, instead of the usual pollen producers and receptacles, was a Starburst candy, slightly misshapen, and lacking the wrapper. It was yellow, just like the petals of the mutant flower.
Blasto reached in and took the candy and cut it in two. On he set aside, the other he put under a microscope.
"Yes," he mumbled, "Good texture, the organic flavoring is holding up. The fructose is a little slow to saturate, but it's worth it for quality assurance, I suppose. Now, what about-YES!" He jumped to his feet, crowing for his success. He quickly reached over to the other half of the candy, popping it in his mouth.
Immediately he was able to enjoy the gush of flavor, lemon, just like he had hoped. He wasn't even seeing any halucinations this time.
"I'm gonna be rich!" He yelled into his lair.
"You're weird."
The full grown man screamed like a little girl, cringing away from the voice that he hadn't expected.
The well muscled girl in the cat suit looked completely unimpressed with this display.
"I am so glad I'm not hiring you to be a fighter," she said, crossing her arms under her chest.
"Wh-what do you want?" he stuttered, pulling the plant that had produced the candy closer to himself, "If this is about those stupid 'Cease and Desist' letters the USDA keeps sending me, you can tell them I've stopped using halucinagenic plants for bases."
"Yeah, not here about that. I have a commision," Tattletale told him.
"Well, I really don't have the time," the man said, putting the plant down, but keeping it close, "As you can see, I've just had a breakthrough and I was planning to celebrate with family and friends-"
"I'm willing to fund your research," she grinned, "For ten years."
"But my parents are dead and I never really had friends, so what the hell? What can I do for you?" His smile was fake and his hand was covered in dirt as he held it out to her.
"I need you to make me a sensu beanstalk," she told him, shaking the hand regardless, "For the first ten years, the entire time I fund you, you can't release it to the public, though. After that, you can do whatever you want with it. No doubt if you release it, it will make you far richer than…" she looked around his lab, picking up clues and making logical jumps, "Than the creation of a healthy, tasty alternative to candy ever will."
"Uh-huh?" the man grunted, "And what is a sensu bean?"
"Here," she said, pulling some data packets out of her jacket, "This has exactly what I'm looking to have created. Can you do it?"
"Lessee, lessee," he mumbled, flipping through the pages as he moved to his throne. No parentheses this time. He really had a throne, made out of a tree he designed to grow that way when he first thought about being a villain.
"Instantaneous regeneration, energy infusion, tasty," he continued flipping through the pages, "I can do it. I could even do it here, but it will take time."
"You've got ten years," the girl shrugged, "Bonus if you can get it done in two weeks, though."
"What kind of bonus?" the man asked, looking up at her from the notes she had given him.
She smirked, "I'll think of something," her tone became downright sultry, "Just for you."
The man gulped and crossed his legs over one another, "O-okay. Two weeks it is."
"Good boy," she then teleported away, leaving him to his own devices.
"I am never washing this hand again," the man said wistfully, staring at the hand that he had used to greet the babe in purple that had just promised to give him money for ten years if he made her magic beans.
When she appeared in her own lair, Lisa glared down at the hand, "I am going to have to wash this hand three times a day for a week."
-9001-
There is a picture out there called the Friendbringer. It's a picture of Taylor surrounded by chibi Endbringers. It did nothing to inspire anything in this chapter. Really. Totally. You should go check it out. It frickin adorable.
And seeing as the picture is inspired by the fanfic, 'With Friends Like These', I suppose I should say that, no, they will not actually be making another appearance in this fic. Just consider it an homage to something way to funny to pass up giving some proper attention.
Power Levels!
Mini Ziz- 200
Mini Leviathan- 225
Mini Behemoth- 300
Lisa- 9,413,444
Taylor- 11,251,662