Outsider Chronicles: Empress of Escalation

Isekai. A Genre I love to bits and one of the few that I would quite happily jump into with both feet. However, I don't care what kind of god killing powers I get out of it, finding myself as Taylor Hebert following a close encounter with the back of a locker is NOT what I had in mind!

And we're back. Nothing really to say here, so lets get started. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

The next day was more of the same and I found myself greatly enjoying myself. While it was still way too early to really make any conclusions about the school or my classmates, I could already tell it was going to be leagues, no, worlds better than Winslow. Not that that was hard, but still. I sat with Buffy again for most of the lessons we shared and with Vicky and her friends for lunch, which once again involved getting dragged bodily over by the irrepressible blonde. This time, I noticed that Dean kept shooting slightly odd looks at me, but dismissed them. It likely wasn't anything important.

Eventually the day came to an end and Buffy and I headed to the front of the school to wait for the Dallon sisters. I glanced at my new friend and frowned slightly when I saw she was looking nervous again.

"Whats up?" I asked.

Buffy jumped and glanced at me.

"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked a little to quickly.

"You look like your about to jump out of a plane without a parachute your so tense," I said, "We're just going shopping. I know Vicky seems like the type to go...overboard, but it won't be that bad."

Buffy eyed me for a moment, then sighed.

"Its not that," she said, "Its just...its personal…"

I nodded.

"Alright, I won't pry," I said, "Just...try to relax a little OK? Nothings going to happen and if it does, we'll be with Collateral Damage Barbie. We'll be fine."

Buffy snorted and gave a slightly weak smile.

"Thanks Taylor," she said.

I returned the smile and turned to the two girls approaching from the school.

"Sorry for the wait," said Vicky, who was floating a few inches off the ground, "Shall we go?"

There was a general round of agreement and we headed for the bus stop.

One of the best things that came out of the whole sorry affair with the Locker, other than the powers and seeing the Bitches Three getting the kicking they deserved, was the rather impressive settlement Winslow gave Dad and me. I have a feeling that Mr Barnes was at least partly responsible since the man was NOT pleased with the Winslow administration. I didn't know the details, but I had overheard him talking to Dad and from the sound of things, Winslow doing nothing to curb the Trio's bullying had done nothing to help Emma's issues and had indeed exacerbated them. Combine an angry Lawyer with the fact that the school administration likely did NOT want to deal with a lawsuit from us while also having to deal with everything else that was going on and the settlement they offered had a LOT of zeros. The influx of money meant that a lot of the issues we'd been suffering from suddenly went away and meant that I could actually go shopping with my friends without risking breaking the bank.

Unfortunately, it also meant that Vicky had no reason to hold back.

By the time she was done, I had what amounted to an entirely new wardrobe of stylish, yet still comfortable clothes to replace the drab gray hoodies and jeans that had been my wardrobe for the past couple of years. To be fair, I didn't really like it considering that the current contents of my wardrobe was designed to act as camouflage in an attempt to make myself less of a target, while simultaneously hiding any stains and bruises, but that didn't mean that my feet hurt any less! At least I'd talked Vicky out of convincing me to buy any heels.

"Urgg, shes a damned demon!" I groaned as I let my head drop down onto the table.

Following our invasion of the mall, Vicky decided that we all needed to refuel and thus, dragged us to the boardwalk to a rather nice little cafe she apparently knew called Crosswalk that was owned by a slightly ill looking man of indeterminate age who stood behind the counter.

"Oh come on, shes not that bad," said Buffy, who was wearing a slightly strange expression.

I lifted my head and fixed her with a glare.

"YOU'RE not the one she somehow talked into buying all this crap," I growled, indicating to the large number of bags around my feet.

"You did say that you needed a new wardrobe," said Buffy.

"I didn't mean all at once!" I groaned.

"Are you still complaining about that?" asked Vicky as she and Amy walked up with some trays of cups and plates of cake.

"Some of us don't have superstrength," I growled, "This lot is going to be a nightmare to get home."

"That'll teach you to ask Vicky for help with shopping," said Amy with a smirk as she sat down across from me, "Her proclivities are well known after all."

"I don't exactly spend a lot of time on PHO," I grumbled, "Oh never mind, I'm sure I'll get plenty of use out of this stuff, so I can't complain."

"Yourrr welcome!" chirped Vicky, looking smug.

I scowled and took a big chunk out of the exquisite Victoria Sponge I'd ordered.

Half an hour, a cup of tea and a large bit of cake later and my feet were hurting a lot less and I was genuinely enjoying myself. Not to say I wasn't enjoying myself earlier, but Vicky was a real Demon when it came to shopping. I think I already mentioned that…

Anyway, with our stomachs now full of amazing cake and a mental note of the cafes location for another time, the four of us headed out to wander around the Boardwalk for a bit longer and possibly catch one of Parians shows. Well, that was the plan anyway. Instead, things got...strange.

We were just rounding a corner that lead from the Boardwalk itself to where the show was due to start when Buffy ran straight into someone coming the other way, sending both to the floor in a heap. Buffy quickly scrambled to her feet and stumbled back as the rest of us stopped and stared at the girl still laying on the ground.

She looked about the same age as Buffy and I with short, curly ginger hair tied back with a pink bow, bright green eyes, light skin and freckles and was wearing an old-fashioned blouse with short grey feminine overalls as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings.

"Salutations!" she chirped.

I stared.

"Um, hello?" I said.

"Are you...OK?" asked Vicky, looking as confused as I was.

"Oh, I'm wonderful, thank you for asking!" said the girl.

There was a moments silence as we all tried to absorb the extremely odd sight of the smiling girl still laying flat on her back in the street while I tried to figure out how in the fuck this was happening. I mean, Coco and Velvet were one thing, they acted like normal teenagers, but this was...strange.

"Do you...want to get up?" asked Vicky.

There was a pause while the gir...fuck it, while Penny genuinely seemed to think it over.

"Yes!" she said eventually and flipped to her feet.

The movement was so sudden that we all took a step back.

"My name is Penny," she said, still smiling, "Its a pleasure to meet you."

That was getting a little creepy to be honest.

"Um, hi Penny, I'm Taylor," I said, mainly because I couldn't think of anything else to say.

This was WEIRD!

"I'm Buffy," said Buffy, looking about as confused as I felt.

"Amy," said Amy.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" asked Vicky, before getting an elbow in the side from her sister, "Oh, I'm Vicky."

"Its a pleasure to meet you!" chirped Penny.

"You...already said that," said Buffy.

There was a pause.

"So I did!"

"Annnyway, sorry for running into you," said Buffy, "We should...go."

We all turned to go, mainly to get away and try to figure out what in the fuck just happened, while I briefly toyed with the idea of seeing if she'd react like RWBY Penny if I finished the scene. And yes, I had noticed that the exchange was a lot like the one in RWBY when the team met Penny. After a moment, I mentally shrugged.

"See you friend," I said with a wave.

"She was...weird," said Vicky as we made our way down the street, "You should have checked her Ames."

"I can't exactly go around scanning everyone I meet," said Amy, "Besides, some people are just...weirrrr…!"

She trailed off as she turned around and found Penny stood directly in front of us again. Welp, definitely not normal.

"What did you call me?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think you heard me!" said Vicky, looking rather perturbed.

And for good reason. Parahumans came in all shapes, sizes and mentalities and this girl was pinging so many warning signs its rather surprising that she wasn't already in a fighting stance.

"No, not you," said Penny, brushing past the Blonde Brute and stopping directly in front of me, "You!"

"Um, me?" I squeaked, leaning back as Penny lent even closer.

"You called me friend!" she said, "Am I really your friend?"

"Errr…"

I looked over her shoulder at my friends, who were all shaking their heads violently. OK, now I really wanted to see how they'd react. Besides, having Penny around could be...interesting? Sure, lets go with that.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" I said.

Sadly, they didn't faceplant Anime style, but there was a lot of facepalming.

"Sensational!" said Penny as she hopped back, looking like she'd just won the lottery, "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

"Are you...sure about this?" asked Buffy as she sidled up to me, "She doesn't exactly seem...stable."

"Eh, who cares?" I asked, "Everyones a bit strange, who cares if she shows it more than most? Besides, she seems like she could use a friend."

Vicky glanced between the two of us and a still babbling Penny and shrugged.

"Eh, what the hell?" she said, "More friends are always better."

Behind her, Amy sighed and rolled her eyes as Vicky grinned and turned to Penny.

"So Penny, what do you do for fun?" she asked.

Penny blinked and looked thoughtful.

"Well…" she started, right before a rather large explosion cut her off.

We all turned, just in time to see what appeared to be the love child of a big rig and a bulldozer come crashing screeching around the corner with Armsmaster on his bike in hot pursuit.

"Oh great, did Squealer get high and decide to go joyriding again?" asked Vicky as the bystanders did the smart thing and booked it, "I'll be right back."

"What? No, Vicky WAIT!" shouted Amy, but the blonde Brute had already taken off, flying towards the Squealermobile at a decent clip.

A moment later, the front of the Tinker vehicle opened up and a large cannon barrel folded out.

"FUCK YOU GLORY HOLE!" yelled Squealer as she leaned out of her 'cars' window and fired.

I'm not exactly sure what it fired, but whatever it is hit Vicky full on and knocked her for six. She stumbled in the air and dropped, hitting the ground hard. It was clear that whatever Squealer had hit her with had done something to her inner ears if the way she was swaying as she pushed herself up was any indication. It was also clear that she wouldn't be able to recover before Squealer hit her.

"Shit!" I hissed as I lifted my hands and prepared to cast a spell to get her out of there.

It would out me for sure, but I'll be damned before I let my friend get hurt right in front of me!

However, before I could even start the spell, Penny was already moving. Between one breath and the next she was between Vicky and the Squealermobile.

What happened next was rather predictable

CRUNCH!

Everything froze as the Squealermobile slammed into Penny's outstretched hands and stopped cold, its momentum apparently transferring through Penny and into the pavement, digging her feet into the ground and cracking it deeply. Other than that, the ginger haired robot (I assume) was barely even phased.

"What the fu…" started Squealer, but was cut off as Penny jumped onto the hood of her vehicle and punched straight through the windscreen.

There was a short scuffle, before Penny got a hold of Squealer and dragged her through the hole by the collar.

"That was reckless," said Penny, completely ignoring the flailing from the Tinker in her grip, "You nearly hurt my friend. Then I wouldn't have been happy."

"FUCK YOU!" screamed Squealer and punched Penny across the face.

Penny barely reacted to the blow as Squealer went white and yodaled in agony as she grabbed her clearly broken hand.

"Still don't think its not worth being her friend?" I asked a gaping Buffy as we watched Penny punch Squealer out and jump down off the Tinker vehicle with the now thankfully silent Tinker in tow.

"I...guess not," said Buffy, "But...why did she do that? She just outed herself without a second thought!"

I glanced at her with a slight frown. That reaction was a little more intense than I would have expected.

"I guess some things are just worth more than a mask," I said after a moment's pause.

"I...guess your right," said Buffy.

"But we can think about this later," I said, "Come on, lets go make sure Vicky's OK."

Buffy nodded and we jogged over to where the Dallon sisters were stood, Amy having dashed to Vicky's side almost as soon as she'd shook off the shock of seeing Penny stop Squealers truck. The blonde looked slightly unsteady, but otherwise seemed unharmed.

"That was reckless Vicky!" said Amy, "You know how dangerous Squealer can be. Those vehicles of hers always have hidden tricks."

"I know, I know," said Vicky, "Damn that hurt. My ears are still ringing…"

She shook her head and looked around, taking in the shattered pavement and the crumpled front of Squealers truck.

"Penny did that?" she asked, "Damn, shes tough…"

I glanced at the red-head as she dropped Squealer in a heap next to the Tinker vehicle and trotted over, a slightly worried look on her face.

"Piece of advice, do not piss her off," I muttered.

"Yeah, I got that," said Vicky, looking slightly uncomfortable.

I honestly can't blame her. While Brutes were pretty common, Brutes on the same level of raw physical strength as Glory Girl generally weren't. Hell, I'm not entirely sure that Vicky could have actually stopped the van like that considering how her powers actually worked.

"Are you OK Vicky?" asked Penny as she approached.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Vicky as she pushed off Amy, "Just...a little dizzy."

Penny breathed a literal sigh of relief and smiled.

"Thats a relief," she said.

Before anything else could be said, a throat was cleared behind us. We turned and I noticed Buffy tense slightly as we saw a rather stiff looking Armsmaster stood there with his halberd out and planted beside him in a pose that I'm 100% certain was entirely rehearsed. A part of me really wanted to squeal at being this close to my former favourite hero, but the rest of me was to busy thinking about how much of a dick the man was in the original timeline. Was it fair to judge him based on actions not yet taken? Possibly not, but in my defence, he was the one basically responsible for my original selfs decent into villainy and he attempted to get me killed at least once.

I shook my head and shoved that thought aside. I wasn't that person and never would be if I had anything to say about it. Skitter would never happen, not as long as I was the Red Dragon.

"Your name is Penny, correct?" asked Armsmaster, his beard looking remarkably tense.

"Thats right!" chirped Penny, "Nice to meet you Armsmaster! I'm a big fan!"

Armsmaster's beard twitched slightly.

"Yes, well, might I ask why you stepped in like that?" he said, sounding just a tiny bit less tense.

"Well, Squealer could have hurt someone," said Penny, "She would have hurt Vicky. I couldn't let something like that happen if I could avoid it."

There was a moments silence.

"I see," said Armsmaster, "But you are aware of the danger this places you in? You just outed yourself as a Parahuman in public. Surely your aware of the danger that places you and your family in?"

Penny tilted her head on one side innocently.

"Parahuman?" she asked, "I'm not a Parahuman. I'm a perfectly normal girl. Hic!"

She jumped slightly and covered her mouth with a slight blush while everyone else in the area fixed her with an incredulous look.

"I...see," said Armsmaster again, now looking very confused, "Be that as it may…"

Whatever Armsmaster was going to say was abruptly cut off by a rather upbeat ringtone playing from Penny's pocket. The girl paled slightly as she pulled out her phone and looked at the screen.

"Oh no, its the Professor!" she yelped as she awnsered it, "Um, h-hello Professor, I…"

She winced slightly as whoever was on the other end apparently started to yell at her. A few moments later, she seemed to wilt slightly and nodded.

"Alright, I'll be back shortly," she said and hung up, "Sorry, but I need to go…"

Armsmaster narrowed his eyes.

"If you need help, the Protectorate can…"

Pennys eyes widened at the implication and she shook her head quickly.

"Oh, nonono, its nothing like that!" she said, "Honestly, the Professor is really nice to me and my sisters! Its just...I wasn't really supposed to be doing any hero work yet, so hes a bit annoyed."

She smiled.

"Don't worry though Mr Armsmaster," she said, "If anything does come from this, I'm combat ready!"

She snapped a salute, then crouched and jumped straight up, cracking the pavement again and somehow managing to land on the roof of the nearest building. With another jump, she vanished entirely. There was a moments silence as everyone stared after the strange girl.

"Well, that was...odd," said Amy eventually.

"I...really think you should have checked her over Ames," said Vicky, "She...wasn't normal."

"Nice though," I said, "We really need more heroes like her."

Armsmasters beard tightened again as he turned back to us.

"I need to get statements from you girls if you don't mind," he said, "If you would follow me."

We all glanced at each other, before doing what we were told, Vicky now apparently fully recovered. As we did, I glanced back in the direction Penny had gone. I had to wonder if I'd see her again. Probably considering she outright said she was going to be a Hero. The more interesting questions were who built her and what did she mean by sisters?

Right, so I know this chapters a bit short, but I'm going to leave it here. I originally planned for it to end here anyway, but I ended up scrapping the original opening since it involved Skidmark getting arrested and Squealers rampage being his breakout, but that seems a bit much. I think even the PRT could keep hold of someone for more than a day after all.

So yeah, more hints that Buffy's hiding something, as if anyones not figured out what shes got hidden away in her family tree.

I'm terrible at including everything I'm supposed to. I meant to mention the windfall of cash from Winslow earlier but forgot. Oh well, better late than never.

Why hello there Penny, fancy seeing you here! I planned from the start to include that scene which, yes, is taken from her introduction in RWBY. I thought it was rather funny. Bet Squealer didn't.

Hmm, I wonder who the Professor could be? As if you can't guess. And no, I will not be changing my mind, no matter how much people dislike him.

And with that, I'm signing off. Next time will have more action and, possibly, the start of the first proper arc wherein Saint and his friends show up and get creamed by ditzy AI's. Should be fun. Until then, don't forget to leave a review!