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 to say here, other than enjoy!

Chapter 8

I have to say, dealing with the aftermath of a Cape battle is a lot less fun than actually fighting it, especially when its Armsmaster your dealing with. It didn't help that my opinions on the Miniaturization Tinker were...mixed to say the least. My past self was of the opinion that he wasn't a bad man, just not good with people and rather more full of himself than he probably should be, but that did little to change the fact that, when you were actually talking to him, he came across as more than a little condescending. On the up side, he didn't seem too interested in pushing the Wards, so that was nice. I could have done without the way he seemed to be gripping his Halberd just a little to tightly though. Fortunately, he didn't stay long and headed over to talk to Greg, who was stood off to the side watching the PRT Troopers load the Merchants into transports.

Speaking of which, Greg was another kettle of fish I had no idea what to make of. Mouse Protector turning out to be my Aunt was one thing, she wasn't really a part of the original story after all, except in the most peripheral and...unpleasant of ways, but Greg...he never Triggered in Canon, which meant that something must have changed for him. And seeing as the only thing that could possibly have changed things was me, that meant I was potentially responsible for his Trigger. That wasn't a thought I liked, nor was it one I was willing to leave be if I could help it. I didn't like Greg, but that didn't mean I could leave him out to dry with a clean conscience, not when his only crime was cowardice.

I looked over at the new Tinker and frowned. He looked...different and I don't just mean the obvious. The old Greg slouched with a slightly bowed head, indicative of his lack of real confidence and he was always moving, either shifting from foot to foot or playing with his fingers or something like that. This Greg stood, not tall, but straight and actually seemed to be meeting Armsmasters eyes through his helmet. Not only that, but his speech was more...measured I suppose would be the best way to put it. He didn't sound like he was about to pass out or start stumberling over his words. Apparently being a Cape agreed with him.

A flicker of movement behind Greg drew my attention to the small gyronoid still stood behind him, now clinging to Penny's hand as she watched the PRT Troopers with apparent interest. Then again, it could be something other than his powers.

I shook my head and put that thought aside for now as Kid Win and Vista approached me, the latter with a rather annoyed look on her face.

"That was reckless," said Vista.

I shrugged.

"I did say that I wouldn't hold back if something like this happened," I said, "There is a reason why I don't want to join the Wards you know."

Vista sighed and slumped slightly.

"Yeah, I get it," she said, "Still, the brass usually has a good reason to tell us to back off."

"I know," I said, "But...I can't stand back when someones in need. To many people did that to me for me to do so to someone else."

Vista flinched.

"Ah, got it," she said.

There was a moment of awkward silence, before Kid Win clapped his hands.

"Alright girls, thats enough moping," he said, "Come on, we've still got a patrol to finish."

I glanced over at where Greg was finishing talking to Armsmaster and frowned.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna stick around for a bit," I said, "I want to talk to the Professor for a bit."

The two Wards glanced at each other.

"You sure?" asked Kid Win.

I nodded.

"Yeah, sorry."

Kid Win shrugged.

"Its no problem," he said, "See ya around Ddraig."

"You to," I said, "And I'm sorry if I made trouble for you."

Vista snorted.

"Nah, your not a Ward, so we don't have any authority over you," she said, "I kinda wish we could keep going though. This has been fun and there aren't enough girl Heros in Brockton…"

I smiled.

"We can do this again some other time," I said, "Hopefully without all the excitement."

THe smaller girl grinned and nodded.

"Sure, that sounds fun!" she said.

"Come on Vista, we've got to finish our patrol," said Kid Win.

"Got it," said the blonde, "See ya Ddraig!"

"Bye."

The green clad Ward bent space over her knee and the two Wards vanished. I took a deep breath and turned back to where Greg and his creations were stood, watching as the PRT vans and Armsmaster vanished around the corner.

I sighed and walked over. Greg turned as I stopped a short distance away and, for an awkward moment, we both looked at each other. Then, he sighed.

"I suppose we should head inside," he said, "I doubt you want to have this talk out here where anyone can hear it."

"Not really," I said.

Greg nodded and indicated for me to follow him. I did so, following the Tinker and the two gyronoids into the warehouse and into the back where a hidden door stood partly open with a gleaming Protocol droid stood just inside looking worried. I actually stopped and took a second look at the sight of the Star Wars robot, then shot a look at Greg, who looked vaguely amused under his goggles.

"I have no idea either," he said in answer to my unasked question, "I gave it a try to see if I could do it and, well…"

He gestured at the droid as it came bustling out of the hidden lab.

"Oh, Professor, are you alright?" asked the droid, "I'm so relieved that all that awful fighting is finally over! Are you alright young miss?"

"Don't worry 3PO, we're fine," said Greg as the walking piece of nerd fangasm turned his fussing on Penny.

"3PO?" I asked, "Really?"

"Wouldn't you if you could?" asked Greg.

I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it again. I couldn't deny that, in his situation, I probably would. Probably not from Star Wars, but there were still plenty of other robots I'd recreate given half the chance.

I decided not to answer, although the grin on Gregs face made me think he'd guessed at my response, and followed the Tinker and his creations down into the lab, looking around with interest as I did. It was a fairly large space, lined with shelves of tools and supplies, as well as a number of large monitors that showed a number of different screens. One wall was dominated by a massive computer system with a number of screens, each showing something different that ranged from simple scrolling code like something from the Matrix, to blueprints to something that looked rather like a teenage girl armed with an oversized axe, to an online lobby for some kind of space sim. Oh, and PHO. Can't forget about that.

The middle of the room was taken up by a number of workbenches, including one that had something that looked suspiciously like a body covered with a sheet laying on it. The others had more projects, such as a large double headed axe and what appeared to be a massive sword that was bigger than me and looked far too large for any Human to wield.

I turned my attention back to Greg as he dropped into the large, comfortable looking chair at the computer with a sigh. For a moment, he sat still, head resting back on the backrest, then lent forwards and removed his goggles.

"You know, I always wanted to be a Cape," he said, turning the goggles over in his hands.

"I think most people feel that way at one point or another in their lives," I said as I removed my own mask and rubbed the bridge of my nose, "I used to play at being Alexandria with...with an old friend."

"I was always Hero," said Greg, "Or Eidolon."

He snorted.

"My Uncle often said that you don't need a Cape or powers to be a Hero, just to offer help to people who need it.I always thought I knew what that. I thought that, if the opportunity came, I would take it. Instead I...I stood back and watched while those bitches tortured you!"

He looked up and I was genuinely surprised to see tears in his eyes. This clearly meant more to him than I thought.

"I'm sorry Taylor, I truly am," he said, "I should have done something sooner."

I sighed.

"Greg, I don't blame you for any of it," I said, "Yes, I'm not entirely happy that you left me out to dry, but its not like we were childhood friends or anything. We'd known each other for all of two weeks when the bitches started. Plus, I'm not entirely sure that you speaking up could have done anything to help. For whatever reason, Blackwell had decided that Sophia and her goons could do no wrong, so all it would have done is painted a target on your back."

Greg sniffed and shook his head.

"Maybe so, but I still should have done something," he said, "You don't need to know someone to help them after all. Fuck, even if I did nothing else, I should have at least let you out of...there or come forwards as a witness in the aftermath. Instead, I didn't even think of it until you told me where to stick it!"

He slammed a fist into his desk and winced.

"Ow."

I sighed again.

"Yes, you should have," I said as I pushed off the wall I was leaning against and walked over to Greg, "But like I said, I don't really blame you. You weren't the only one after all. At least you made an effort to apologize. I bet most of the assholes from that hellhole wouldn't look at me twice if we passed in the street."

Greg snorted.

"For all the good it'll do," he muttered, "How can one apology make up for...OW!"

He looked up at me in shock, hand moving up to where I'd just whacked him over the head.

"Thats enough self flagellation Greg," I said, "You did wrong, yes, but you've apologized and I've forgiven you. Now lets put the past behind us and move on."

Greg stared up at me, wide eyed.

"But…"

He quickly shut up as I raised an armoured fist in warning.

"Good, now, if you really want to feel like you've earned my forgiveness, I could use a Tinker on call."

Greg blinked.

"You mean team up?" he asked.

I shrugged.

"Eh, maybe not officially, but making friends willing to offer backup can't be a bad idea, right?" I asked, holding out my hand, "Friends?"

Greg stared at me for a moment, then smiled a little weakly. He rubbed at his eyes and nodded.

"Sure, why not?" he said, taking the offered hand, "Friends."

"YAY, GROUP HUG!"

Before I could react, Penny and Poppi decided to stick their oar in by way of jumping on us and dragging all four into a tight hug.

Once the childish robot girls had got it out of their systems, I made my excuses and turned to leave. At the door, I paused as a thought occurred to me. I hesitated for a moment, not sure if I should reveal it since it could reveal that I knew things I really shouldn't. Then I decided that I didn't want to start my new friendship off by placing said new friend at risk.

"Greg, a word of warning," I said, "Your speculty is impressive, but it also puts a target on your back. There are a lot of people who won't take to kindly to your creations, most notably the Dragonslayers."

I fixed him with a serious look.

"Make sure your ready."

Greg looked surprised, but nodded.

"I am aware of that," he said, "Don't worry, I've got defences set up and I have another droid in development whose intended for combat."

I nodded.

"Just don't forget you can call if you need help," I said, then sighed and smiled, "Anyway, I gotta go. See ya around Greg."

I left the building, jumped up onto the nearest roof and zipped off in the direction of home.

My route took me through the docks, mainly because it was quicker than going all the way around and because the rooftops in the Docks made a much better workout and lacked the risk of annoying the building's occupants the occupied parts of the city had.

"That was a very mature thing to do," said Ddraig suddenly.

"What was?" I asked.

"That talk you had with the lad," said the Dragon, "I admit, I was expecting you to hold a grudge."

I sighed.

"A part of me wanted to," I admitted, "But that wouldn't have been fair. Greg never got involved like some people, he was just afraid to speak up for me. Hell, I've done the same."

I thought back, more than a little bitterly, of the times when I'd seen some of the Bitches Three's vapid 'friends' picking on some of the other girls and ignored it, just glad that it wasn't me for once. It wasn't something I was proud of, but it happened.

"Hmm."

I was about to ask what he was humming about, but before I could, I was forced to put on the brakes as a massive, lizard-like monster leapt over the edge of the roof. I skidded to a stop and jumped back out of range as two more scrambled onto the roof. At the sight of me, the dog-monsters froze, as did the Capes who were riding two of them.

"Well shit," said Regent after a moments silence, "We just had to run into a Hero after making such a clean getaway...OW!"

I stared at the thieves for a moment, then sighed and turned away.

"I really don't feel like dealing with you four right now," I said, "Frankly, your not worth my time."

"Huh, well, I wasn't expecting that," said Regent after a moments silence, "Kinda feel a little insulted now…"

I stopped and turned, a magic circle sparking wiith lightning appearing over my hand.

"I can fry you if you really want me to," I growled.

"No, we're fine," said Tattletale quickly, elbowing her teammate in the gut again before he could say something stupid, "Um, we'll be going now."

She frantically waved to Bitch, who was glaring at me, who grunted and growled something to her dogs. The massive beasts turned and jumped away, leaving me to dismiss my spell and continue on my way.

"Taylor…"

"There were too many of them and its not like those idiots are actually that dangerous," I said, "I have better things to do than pick a fight with thieves who only target villains at this point in time."

"True enough, but thats not what I was going to say," said Ddraig.

"Whats up then?" I asked.

"You seem...agitated is all," said the Dragon, "More so than I'd expect."

I frowned as I vaulted over an aircon unit.

"Agitated? I'm perfectly calm," I said.

I could practically feel the Dragons frown as I sped up.

"Taylor, I can feel your anger…"

"I'm not angry!" I snapped, "Why would I be angry?"

"Taylor…"

"No, I haven't got any reason to be angry," I said, rolling over whatever Ddraig was going to say as I continued to speed up, "The Undersiders are just a bunch of thieves, they don't have anything to do with me."

"Taylor…"

"Nothing but rent-a-thugs, not anything to…"

"TAYLOR!"

I jumped, coming to a stop as the shout drew me out of the rant I'd been building to. I stood still for a moment, breathing hard as I struggled to get my rolling emotions under control.

"Sorry Ddraig, I didn't mean to shout," I said, "Its just...I feel like I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm not sure why," said Ddraig as I started moving again, "You did alright against the Merchants."

I snorted.

"Please, those idiots are small fry," I said, "Trainwreck's strong, but hes slow and not that bright. No, its the rest of the Villains that are the problem, not to mention some of the real big bads."

"You have time Taylor," said Ddraig, "All things take time, getting strong is no different. Trust me, your advancing at a tremendous rate."

"Yes, but what if its not enough?" I asked, "What if this whole thing leads to Lung going on the rampage?"

"Then we'll help where we can," said Ddraig.

I scowled.

"I guess, but still…"

I trailed off as I vaulted over a small gap.

"Hang on, couldn't I sacrifice my…"

"NO, absolutely not!" shouted Ddraig, nearly making me lose my balance in surprise.

In all the time I'd known him (which admittedly wasn't that long), I'd never heard Ddraig shout like that. I stopped and looked down at the Boosted Gear in surprise.

"Why not?" I asked, "Its a good way to…"

"No Taylor, its not," said Ddraig, cutting me off again, "Sacrificing your body to me is an absolute last resort after all other options are exhausted and even then, I likely wouldn't do it."

"Why not? You did it for Issei."

"Yes, because Issei was a Devil," said Ddraig, "Look Taylor, the Human mind isn't meant to deal with unexpected changes to the body. Hell, its barely able to deal with the changes everyone goes through at puberty. Body dysmorphia can cause horrific mental issues in those afflicted with it, so just imagine what having a body part thats not even Human would do. Devils don't have that issue due to their shapeshifting abilities, so there was far less risk for Issei."

He sighed.

"I transformed a total of four of my Human wielders in the past. Two commited suicide, one ended up a catatonic wreck and hte last went completely insane and torched half a kingdom with the Jugganaut Drive. I will not allow that to happen again if I can help it."

"I...see," I said, slightly taken aback by the seriousness in Ddraigs tone, "Um, sorry for asking.

Ddraig sighed again.

"Its fine, you needed to know," he said, "Just remember, there are no shortcuts to power. You need to work for it. You'll get there, trust me. You might only be Human, but for the wielder of a Longinus, that doesn't matter. You have the potential to destroy God and I'm going to make damn sure you reach it. Nothing else can be expected of the Red Dragon Empress!"

Despite myself, I couldn't help the fuzzy feeling that flooded through my body at the proclamation. Even with Dad being back, my Aunt being...Mouse Protector and the new memories taking the edge off, it had been a very long time since anyone had had my back. To know that Ddraig would be there for me, no matter what, meant more to me than any amount of power.

"Thanks Ddraig," I said.

"You are quite welcome Taylor," said the great Dragon, "Now, let us return home. Your Father will want to hear about your fight with the Merchants."

I nodded and jumped across the roof, moving faster than before as I was eager to get home.

Coil hummed thoughtfully as he finished reading the report on Ddraig he'd lifted from the PRT servers and sat back in his chair. The new girl was...interesting and her power made her a rather tempting target to attempt to add to his forces. Trumps like her were rare and valuable, even if her powers couldn't be passed on and appeared relatively weak compared to some.

After a moments thought, he dismissed the idea. While getting her to work for him would be a major scoop, her connection to Mouse Protector made it inadvisable to force the issue. While some people dismissed the Hammy Heroine as a joke, any Villain worth their salt knew that she was a lot more dangerous than she appeared on the surface. There had been a case where a rather dim witted small timer had accidentally put one of her past protegees in the hospital and her retaliation was the sort of thing that was only whispered about in Villain circles.

In short, pissing off a smart, strong, skilled woman with the ability to teleport to anything she touched by kidnapping someone she was clearly close to was not something Coil intended to do, even in a throwaway timeline.

That said, he wasn't stupid enough to just let someone like Ddraig run around without some kind of supervision and, who knows, maybe his Tattletale could pull through and get her to join up of her own volition.

He reached for his phone and selected the familiar number. Two seconds later, the call was picked up.

"Sup boss?"

"I have a job for you, Tattletale," said Coil.

Lisa Wilborne slowly put down her phone on her dresser, a thoughtful look on her face as she tapped her finger on the wooden top. It wasn't all that surprising that Coil would ask her to keep an eye on Ddraig and gather information on her after the scuffle with the Merchants, but it also presented a bit of a problem for her.

She wasn't sure why, but their encounter with Ddraig on that roof had her on edge. For some reason, when she had seen them, the red clad Cape had got very angry. She wasn't sure what it had been about, but her power indicated that it had something to do with the Undersiders and, perhaps most worryingly, she knew who they were under the manks. How that was possible, Lisa didn't know, but she was sure that doing anything to annoy the girl would end badly for her. Her power conquered and she started making plans to avoid actually doing what Coil ordered her to do while still doing enough to keep her boss from getting annoyed with her.

This was gonna suck.

And you know what? I'll end it here. Its been way too long anyway and I'm starting to run out of ideas that don't need a timeskip. So, onwards to the quips.

I really hope that Taylors reasoning with Greg made sense to everyone. I dare say I'll get some people blasting me for it, but its actually quite important. Why? You'll see.

Incidentally, there are a couple of clues to some of Gregs future creations in the chapter. See if you can guess them.

Short interaction with the Undersiders and is it just me or does Taylor seem...off? It should cus thats what I was going for. Again, reasoning coming in the future.

I've had a lot of people say that she should sacrifice part of her body to Ddraig, which I had no intention of doing for a number of reasons. Now I have an in-universe reason not to do it. I'm no expert of course, but I'm pretty sure that body dysmorphia is pretty nasty all around and it could only get worse when the body in question isn't even Human.

I originally planned for Taylor to have a run in with someone pretty tough to take her down a peg or two after that fight with the Merchants, but I decided that the mood whiplash would be to great. Plus, Taylor is well aware of her limits.

Coil not deciding to do anything stupid for once. Mostly. Hes an issue that will be dealt with later.

I don't intend for Taylor and Lisa to become friends for a good while in this story, mainly because Taylor has some issues to work out before that can be a thing. Don't worry though, Tats will get her dear friend to halp in the future.

And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!