Ray
Ettin and I had been training on and off for several weeks now. I honestly felt like I was fighting Bull at first, but Ettin was made all the more dangerous by his bat. Bull had always relied on his near indestructible body to act as a shield and a weapon. Ettin did the same thing, but that damned bat of his added range, and it was a nightmare to fight off.
I did feel like I was making some progress, but I never had a doubt that in a real fight the most I could do was run away, or play distraction. Ettin was FAR stronger than I am, but I could outspeed him, and I was more flexible. I had the feeling that he spent his time training the be stronger, but I had spent time doing gymnastics and parkour. It came in handy when I was running away, but when I tried to fight him it was near useless. I needed to train more, and I knew that better than ever.
Ettin had given me a workout plan, and I followed it to a T. Miss Daniels, I mean Sally, had been so supportive of me, and I knew she had experience raising heroes. I never got personal, but it was obvious after living with her for weeks. She always asked how training had gone, was always on board with my extra work, and the FOOD was always amazing. My metabolism was bad enough back home, but now that I had really kicked up the training I was almost always starving. Sally never missed a beat, always saying how she loved a man with a good appetite.
Friday seemed to be a normal( well, normal is subjective in the hero world ) day of training with Ettin. We had plans to go out to a rock quarry and do some sparring, along with some weight training. Titan had told me when I first started that the gym was a decent way to build muscle, but it left out all the non major muscle groups, and the stabilizing muscles that were worked in actual labor. I had never been a gym rat, so this was not a great blow to me. He had taken me to a junk yard that was local, and that I could easily run to with my enhanced speed. There he had put me through Ettin's workout plan, using cars, axles, and other junk instead of the machines in a gym. I had to admit, the plan seemed to be working. I was getting stronger, and my speed and reflexes were growing from the sparring and parkour I did in my downtime and with Ettin.
Sorry, I got off track there. Friday was looking to be a normal training day, but when Ettin showed up I could tell from the glint in his eye there was some thing special in store. He never looked quite that happy without something up his sleeve.
"Come along Ray. We got a little field trip to take today." He said it with such palpable glee I was a bit worried.
"Should I update my last will and testament ?" I asked with as little snark as I could manage.
"Only if you plan on acting like an idiot, and I don't expect that from a sharp guy like you."
"How comforting." I still managed to keep most of the snark out of my voice, but not as much as I would have liked.
"Today we're going to take advantage of the fact that, outside of high level DVA officials, you don't exist. You're coming on patrol with me." He still had that glint in his eyes, but at least now I knew why.
"I thought I wasn't allowed to be involved in hero work without my license ?" I said it mostly out of formality, since this much time out of the life had made me slightly stir crazy.
"Oh, you're not coming to do hero work, you're coming to watch a semi-famous hero, since you're such a super fan. Publicly I am off line, and this is just a PR move. You were the lucky winner of a private online raffle, that won you a day with your favorite hero. I have to say, I am flattered that you voted so many times, just for a day with little old me. Sorry to disappoint you, but I prefer the ladies in my off hours, if you know what I mean." Ettin spoke with such mirth that I knew he had been planning on this little speel for some time now.
"Now now Ettin, you know I wouldn't hurt Penny like that. Not to mention that Claire would have my testicles tacked to a wall if I ever hurt her best friend. But if we ever break up, I'll keep you in mind." I winked as I said that last part, just to add some spice. Upon mention of Claire though Ettin flinched a little bit.
"That is one little girl you would not want to piss off. I hear she has some skills, and she seems like the type to have a vengeful streak. Best to leave any extracurriculars off the table, if you catch my meaning." Ettin started to turn away towards the door at that, and I followed him.
We soon came onto Mr. Transport, standing in the foyer, and with a nod we were back in Brewster, and Mr. Transport was gone, off without a word. I wondered what that man did in his day job , but I knew better than to ask questions that would not only deny me answers, but possibly piss off the very people who were protecting me.
Ettin started walking down a semi-metropolitan street, bat in hand, waving occasionally, and generally making a show of things. He seemed to be playing up the fact that we were supposed to be seen, and I did my best to play the awestruck fanboy, following close behind, with a stupid look on my face. Whenever Ettin made some small talk around civilians I just gave one or two word answers, and generally tried to play up the "I spent way to much time trying to get this, and now I am finally here, and I don't know what to do" angle.
We did our rounds quickly, but not trying to jostle the other pedestrians. We had stayed away from downtown, so it was busy, but not too crowded. Lots of mid-level office building, shops, and sometimes a road that led down to a row of houses that were no doubt very pricey.
Occasionally I got a hint of the super-powered lives that intertwined with the mundane here, though not nearly as strongly as I had in LA. I saw a woman with wings flying above us, satchel around her shoulders, and what looked like a courier uniform on. I caught sight of a man leaking light off his skin, walking into a boutique clothing shop. Another man who seemed to be carrying a crate that was far too heavy for his frame walked from a truck into the back of a store, never tripping up, or even seeming weighed down by his load.
It was a weird reminder of home, but it was also so different, somehow more mundane and orderly that it made me miss LA, just a bit. That feeling left when I remembered the things, and people, I had been lucky enough to leave behind. This world may not have the magic of home( literally and figuratively), but it had Penny and Claire, and for me, that was more than enough.
As we got into a lower class area, and people thinned out Ettin cut out the bullshit small talk, and started giving me the rundown. He pointed out the people who seemed to be malformed, or just the slightest bit inhuman. There was a man with a tail, poking from a hole in his blue jeans, another who was covered in fur, and a woman who seemed to float up and down, bobbing without cause or meaning. I knew from mine and Claire's research that these were likely powereds, and while a cure was on the way, these people still had to live out their lives until it was ready.
I knew that some hated these people, and I knew that some pitied them. I also knew that Ettin used to be one of them, so I kept my mouth shut about any pity I may have felt. I had lived with people pitying me for my station in life long enough to know that pity, no matter how well meant, was shit to those who received it. The only real help was action.
We kept walking, into progressively worse off neighborhoods. I did not really fear for myself, due to my own power, and to the fact that I was in the company of a powerful protector.
Of course it was likely that level of apathy that let my attention slip away from my environment. Ever since Penny had made my powers my senses had been getting stronger. It started off small, just no longer needing my glasses, hearing was a bit better, all that. Over the years my senses had grown continuously, slowly getting better and better. They usually acted as a sort of early warning system, but only if I bothered to pay attention. I had not bothered to keep them on alert, since this was supposed to be nothing more than a simple walk. That had been a mistake.
Three men jumped from a blind alley, right as Ettin and I passed by. Immediately Ettin yelled "Ray, get covered, and stay out of my way!"
I, of course, did that. I had not intention of going to jail, not when Ettin had proven to me time and again he could take care of himself, far better than even I could.
I leaped over the heads of the three poor saps that thought to attack my friend, and clasped a rather rickety fire escape hanging off a rundown apartment building. I flipped over and onto it, staying where I could watch the show, but far enough away that Ettin would hopefully not chew me out later on.
The three surrounded him, and in seconds the street had cleared of the few people that had been sitting on porches, and walking the sidewalks. People here were not nearly as jaded as they were back home, and they cleared out when something was about to go down.
They started growling, and almost at once one man leaped onto Ettin's shoulders, one grabbed his legs, and the one in front of him took a swing at his gut. These three were obviously not the smartest of the bunch. I knew from personal experience that when you had a strength fighter on your hands you wanted to stay mobile, and more importantly, out of his or her reach. Why this was the best strategy became evident in short order.
As soon as the one who had jumped onto his shoulders had clasped onto Ettin he turned to what seemed to be rock, gray and rough. While I was sure that this shift had added a lot of weight to the criminal, Ettin didn't even seem to notice the difference. The one who had stayed standing made his punch, and it glanced off Ettin's chest.
Even from my perch above I could easily hear Ettin growl at that.
"Big mistake, motherfuckers. I'll only give you the pain free option once. Lay down, and you get to stay in one piece. Otherwise I get to have a bit of fun." I could hear that he was deadly serious about that threat, but the criminals seemed to have missed the memo.
The one who had thrown the VERY ineffective punch just laughed at Ettin's ultimatum.
"You fucking heroes always think you're so high and mighty, gracing our little neighborhood with your glory. This should teach a baby like you to stick to the city, and stay off our terf!"
Roy nodded, still seemingly unbothered by the rock man on his back. "Well, I did warn you boys."
With that he seemed to transform from a man into a warrior. I knew he held back while we were sparring, but I never knew how much until now. He grabbed the arm wrapped around his neck, and just broke it off. Like it was a dead twig on a tree. The man it belonged to yoweled in pain, and dropped onto the dummy that had tried to keep Ettin's legs held. While Ettin may not be effected by the weight of the rock transformation, the man below him certainly was. He cried out as rock dude fell from Ettin, and onto his back. With one smooth movement he swung the (still made of rock ) arm at the man who had punched him in the gut, aiming to break or dislocate his arm. He hit, and the rock arm shattered on impact, not making a noticeable impact on the criminal he hit.
"Well now, aren't you just a tough one." Ettin stepped over the disabled criminals below him, and quickly grabbed the arm he had just hit, squeezing hard enough that I could easily hear the bones snapping under his hand.
"Being tough just means I have to hold back a little less, ya know. It really don't do much but annoy me. That ain't good for someone in your position." As he spoke the criminal in his grasp screamed in pain, and Ettin sent a kick into his knee, hard enough that it bent back in the wrong direction.
The man screamed again, and I nearly felt bad. But I had no place to complain. These men were criminals, and had attacked a hero in the streets, with no care for the damage or hurt their fight may cause. This was not the type of area a long, drawn out battle could take place. Here people could be hurt or even killed if a fight got too violent. Ettin had done his job, and as hard as it was to watch I had to be satisfied that he had done it to the best of his ability, making the civilians a priority over men who had put them in danger.
With all three men in no shape to fight Ettin put his finger to his ear, and spoke into an earpiece I hadn't noticed him wearing.
"Dispatch, I got an ambush at the corner of maple and 17th, three attackers, all subdued. No casualties, seem like three strong men types, one that turns himself to rock. Could ya send over a crew to get them taken in?" Roy spoke like he hadn't just taken on a surprise attack by three guys, but I suppose that was what the hero life did to you.
I could barely overhear the words that came back from the earpiece, since it was likely designed to minimize the amount of sound leakage. Nevertheless I could just make it out.
"Understood Ettin. Response and cleanup teams are two and a half minutes out. Do you need backup or containment ?"
"Nah, these three know to stay down." Roy projected that far louder than needed, as a reminder to the three crooks on the ground, all still groaning in pain.
"Understood."
I jumped off my perch, and landed in what I hope was a graceful manner.
"Well, I suppose that is one way to keep a field trip interesting." I grinned at Ettin, and gave him my best innocent expression.
"Ray, you make understatement an art."
Penny
I finally came back into my own head, just in time to hear the last of my maniacal laugh. Of course, my first impression had to be the crazy mad scientist look.
I turned over too look at Will, and to apologize for the crazy I had just spilled all over his lab, er, house.
"Sorry about that, my power goes a bit overboard on the mad scientist thing some days. I hope the mess isn't to bad this time." I gave my apology to a shell shocked Will.
"I must admit, that was impressive. You're power must add some dexterity and strength. I have never seen anyone move like that, and I have seen quite a lot in my career. Now, what did you make? "Will spoke with respect, which was a nice reminder of how fun my power was to work with.
"My dad theorized that the physical enhancements come and go along with my power, since when I work in my normal state I only have base human dexterity. As for what I built, that I don't really know . My power is strong, and can build most anything, but a side effect is that I loose a lot of the specifics on how my toys work. I kinda have to coax it out with an idea, and it goes with that, but sometimes in really odd ways. One time I wanted an air conditioner for the lab, but my power made a cannon that shot cooled air. It worked like what I asked for, but it also acted as a weapon." At this point in my career I had gotten pretty used to explained how my power worked, and also gotten used to the standard reactions.
Will did not give one of those standard reactions.
"Fascinating. I wonder if any other physical effects come about from the use of your power. Have you ever demonstrated any signs of super-strength or enhanced durability?" He was genuinely curious, and that was a nice change. Most people just got freaked out, or went down the "OMG so KoOl" road.
"Not that I know of. I still have to use tools, and I remember getting some small burns and injuries while working, but nothing too serious. I have to say, you're taking this quite well."
"I have been around long enough to see a lot of odd things. A power induced trance is odd, but it does not really break my top 20 . "He walked over to the bench I was working off of, and picked up my new toy. It looked like I had attached it to my protective suit, so it was likely a modification or upgrade. Oddly it seemed to have fallen into the clockwork half of my power.
I looked over his shoulder, trying to get my power to shoot me a hint of what I had built. It looked like a set of football shoulder pads, but that was not really an indicator of what it did.
"Let me put it on real quick. I think it may connect to the virtual interface built into the helmet screen." I grabbed the suit, now quite a bit heavier, and started putting it on. I loved this thing, and my power seemed to like inventing upgrades for it. It had even made Brenda for me, which was another favorite of mine.
Brenda was an AI that controlled my suits systems, and could act as a targeting and defense system when I was occupied. Somehow she could talk with Vera, and they worked as a coordinated defense, with the suits long range weapons firing around Vera, who worked both short and long range, plus electronic distraction and jamming. All in all they seemed to get along well, which was good, since my power had made them both powerful, and two fighting AIs would be a big pain to deal with.
I finished slipping my suit on, Will watching in fascination as the shoulder pads parted to let me in, and then they closed right back up. Once I got inside I woke Brenda up, and started going through my systems list. I still had no clue why my power write all my instructions in Russian, but I had gotten to a passable state reading the language.
"I found it!" I bellowed out to Will. "It says Uh, shocky thing. Great. I think I read that right. Do you have a good place to test this? I don't want to do any "shocky thing" inside of you apartment."
"What do you mean reading that right ? And yes, I have a good place I use to test my own inventions sometimes. We can get there quickly via car."
"My power sometimes writes instructions, but she only writes in Russian. I think she just does it as a prank, but I have gotten to a passable level of Russian. I just don t want to stake your equipment on my understanding of the language. Let's hit your testing site. I think I have a good substitute for the car though..." I tried to keep my excitement out of my voice, but I failed entirely. I just have WAY to much fun testing out my new toys. My superpower is sooo cool.
Penny
We flew along on my light bike, Will clutching onto my suit. He was holding up surprisingly well. Maybe not so surprising, since I was pretty much positive he was a hero.
We got to the location, Brenda guiding the bike along, leaving me to just hold on, and enjoy the ride.
The location in question was relatively close, but still secluded. It seemed to be nothing more than an empty field, but the holes and pock marks proved that someone had been using it. Will jumped off the bike, and headed towards the area with the most damage.
"Come over here, I think this will amuse you!"
I ran over, excited to see what new toy he was going to bring out. He pulled out what looked like a cars keyfob, but covered in duck tape, and obviously with extra parts shoved inside. He pushed a button twice, and suddenly targets popped out of the ground, and began to move. Some were slow, like the person walking their dog, and some moved faster than I could sprint. They were all made of what looked like card board, and moved over the ground using some means that I couldn't puzzle out.
"This is my practice range, where I train and test new weapons and designs. Unlike your power I have to do quite a bit of testing and modification to my devices to get them to the level I need. This is where that happens, and I believe it will meet your needs as well." He spoke with a familiar pride, something that seemed to span dimensions. Mad scientists would always be proud of their toys
"Crimminey ! "I gave up on hiding my excitement. This was just to cool! "This place is amazing! And I don't have to worry about someone getting hurt if I misguess what a new toy does!"
I activated the new option on Brenda's menu, and I felt two pops on my shoulders. Swiveling my head awkwardly in the suit I saw what looked like turrets, though admittedly made of spinning gears, and OH Crud! Was that Aether!? I looked harder, and I was almost certain it was. Back on Jupiter colonies I was exposed to a new energy, called Aether, but I had never gotten around to figuring it out. It seemed my power had decided it was time to get on that.
"Brenda, activate targeting systems. I want to give this baby a go!" I was nearly giddy. OK, I was totally giddy. I had a new toy, and my power had gotten a new fascination! This was SO much better than the bomb phase a few years back.
"OK Brenda, lets do the guy with the machete, and the woman holding the pistol. Shoot for the legs please." I found it was easier to let Brenda handle the first few rounds of testing, and then I could take what I learned there, and use it myself.
Will stood to my side, watching me with the same fascination I had when my dad worked.
Brenda was not one to disappoint. Make nasty comments on my heads up display, yes, but she never failed when it came to weapons. The turrets began to vibrate slightly, and suddenly there was a brief flash, and two tiny blue disks of light shot out in different directions, and a leg exploded off each target I had requested.
"OH YEAH!" I yelled, with maybe just a touch to much glee in my voice.
"Very impressive I have to ask, who is Brenda?" Will sounded impressed, and I could not be happier. He was the only other mad scientist I had met so far, and I wanted to be sure to make a name for myself.
"Brenda is my suits AI. She can handle my targeting systems, and has a defense mode, but those take up a lot of processing power, so I like to handle my own fights. I just had her give the cannons a go since she seems to be able to interface with my inventions, even when I don't really get know what they do. Now that I know what these babies can do, and have an idea of their power I can shoot them myself, and only rely on Brenda if I'm occupied with another task."
Will looked shocked. I had driven here on a bike made of solid light, and nothing. Mention Brenda, and he looks shocked?
"What? I know I blew their legs off, but it's just cardboard."
"What!? No, just, AI is not possible. Or, it wasn't . No one has ever created an AI successfully! How did you do it? How can you prove that it is AI, and not just a program? What does the AI's personality have to do with performance, and can it interfere in battle? I need to look at this Brenda !"
From there on the day kinda devolved into Brenda making fun of things, and Will having a heart attack.
Claire
Nick had delivered on his end of the deal. He had Will working with Penny, Ettin helping train Ray, and Alice was working with me. I still kept up with him, but he had a life. Several, actually. It was almost impressive. I only had to keep up with two lives, but he had three going at any given time, plus other characters to pick up when needed. I had to admit, when it came to the social aspect of our work he had me beat. I have skills, don't misunderstand, but that man put me to shame. Thankfully I was a MUCH better burglar than him, so I at least got to hold that over his head.
We had fun times, and I learned a lot. I had depended on my power when it came to the human aspect of sneak work, but he helped me learn that there are other ways. Alice was less than thrilled, to say the least. That was a stare off for the ages. I had heard stories about Legionnaire winning a battle by staying awake through a 30 hour staring contest, but I never thought I would be able to see a live reenactment of the event.
I suppose not all would consider seeing how many business cards for a popular strip club you could plant in old white ladies purses would be a fun outing, but for us sneaks it is the height of good time living. The trip where we convinced people to sign a petition for the most endangered species of pigeon in New York was a good opportunity to learn some social manipulation skills, and helping Nick on his political campaign( doing opposition research, of course) was always a good time. I had kept up with my workouts( Nick promised that there was no way to be TOO in shape for the HCP) and I made sure that Penny got out of the house to exercise with me, even though her power was mostly mental. I had gotten a lot of good information off Nick, so there was no way my best friend was going to go down to the first round of cuts due to not getting enough exercise.
Ray on the other hand was getting a good workout on the daily. I was so happy to see that boy finally be in a good relationship with an adult other than Penny or our parents. I knew he had been through a lot, more than even Penny understood. He never knew, but I worked a bit behind the scenes, slowing down his parents, and helping Brian get him emancipated. I didn't want to over step my bounds, but I also wasn't willing to see one of my friends hurt by his own family.
Now that we all had our training going full blast there was only one more big thing on my agenda. Any professional, hero or villain, knew that one of the most important things to have was a place to lay low. The IM had been bunking at our friends houses and apartments, but that was just not sustainable. These were people that had lives and families, and we couldn't just take over their space. I needed to find us a hide out. Thankfully Nick was a person with some, creative real estate connections, let us say. I brought it up to him over an afternoon of opposition research, which amounted to spying on some low level politician while he cheated on his poor wife.
"You really want a lair?" Nick said with a mix of amusement and possibly surprise in his voice.
"Come on Nick. You know that the three of us can't keep living with other people, and Penny needs a space for her work. Ray needs a place to train and workout, and I could use a good place to set up a network command center."
He nodded while looking through a camera lens into a hotel room. We were perched atop the roof of another hotel, with an ideal vantage point for staring into the top floor rooms.
"I agree that Penny needs a good workshop, but you three don't have to get your own places yet. Once you start the HCP there will be dorms for you all, and summer accommodations will be easy enough to come up with." He continued to stare through the lens, never taking his eyes off his target.
"It's not just about having a place to sleep, it's about us having a home again. Ray is doing really well with Sally, but the rest of us are more adjusted to living alone, and part of that is having our own space. We need a home base, a safe place to hide, and our lairs have always been that place." I kept my voice to a reasonable level, which was not easy considering the winds atop the buildings roof.
"I get it. I can do some looking for a place to pick up on the cheap. Penny will most likely have to bankroll the place though, since the stipend I pay you won't be near enough to buy a piece of land outright." He continued to speak while spying, snapping a photo of something I couldn't see without my own equipment.
"I know, and I'm fine with that. Penny has always been our leader, and I trust her with my life, much less something as trivial as the title to our base."
"Ok then. I'll send some possible places for you to look over, and then send to Penny for farther investigation."
"Thanks Nick. I know you don't take favors lightly." I kept my voice neutral, but I knew that there would likely be a price to pay for the work I was asking of him.
"You're right. I don't. But I have just the idea for how you can re-pay me..."
Penny
Will had been having a nerdgasm over my babies. I still hadn't shown him all my toys, but the ones he had gotten to see had caused quite the stir. I loved getting to show off a bit, and this scratched that itch beautifully. Brenda was still a favorite of his, and she was growing to like him too. Not as much as Ray and Claire, but she had stopped insulting his hair on a regular basis, so it was getting better. The teleport rings were something else he had lost it over. I was so proud! Crimminey, getting to impress another mad scientist was a wonderful feeling.
I loved my job too! I had known back in my villain days that I could make good money working for a legitimate company, or on my own, but this was a new deal for me. I never even felt bad, since I was still getting to help people! I hated not being on the streets, patrolling, and stopping criminals, but this was a nice substitute for that. I had been saving my contract money, since Will had insisted on continuing to house me. I was flattered, but I knew I needed to get my own place soon.
That made Claire's call about a potential base all the more exciting. I was thrilled just thinking about getting my own lab again, and making myself some cool new tools. I hated not having all my old toys, but the best part of being a mad scientist was building new ones.
Claire had picked up Ray from Sally's house, and shown up on Will's front door grasping the hand of a women in a dark suit. Come to think of it, the outfit looked strangely familiar. It dawned on me that Transport was often wearing that same style and color of suit. I wondered if there was a connection, or if they both just happened looked good in black. I knew that Ray looked delectable in black, so it was possible that it was just a common color choice. But I also knew better than to act like an amateur and start asking personal questions like that.
We all got into a car that Claire had somehow procured, and started heading out of main town Brewster. The trip was longer than I expected, but most of that was because Claire had started obeying traffic laws for no apparent reason. I suppose it was an improvement over the way she usually drove. Her teacher had been Lucifar, so she had an excuse.
Ray and I held hands in the back seat, making up for some of the time spent away. We still saw each other weekly, at least, but it was a far cry from when we nearly lived together in the lair back home. I missed those times, but I knew that this was just another season for us to make it through. Our relationship had made it through space travel, mind control, homicidal toasters, and even a psychic bunny invasion. We could make it through a few weeks of long distance living.
Once we got to the location Claire had apparently been aiming for I was slightly amused. I knew bases were usually hidden, but this was extreme. We all stood in a field, dirt road the only apparent way in or out, next to a natural gorge that had somehow lost the river that created it. There wasn't another person in sight, much less an obvious entrance to our new base.
"Come on guys! It's down here!" Claire had affected her usual off work persona of a "basic white girl", complete with a Starbucks obsession.
She skipped along, making good use of her above average strength and agility.
"May I assist my dark lady?" Ray asked, causing me to flash back to our old days together.
"Of course, my adorable minion. Take me down to the pit!" I grinned as my boyfriend lifted me with no effort at all, and jumped down after Claire,directly into the gorge.
Once down in the stone chasm I saw the signs of a security system that had been long ago destroyed. I would just have to make a new one, if we decided to buy the place. We headed along a surprisingly easy path, until we got to a large flat stone that I assumed was the door.
"Claire, did your contact give you a way INTO the base, or just the location?" I asked, knowing that my friend was smart enough to have thought much farther ahead than that.
"But of course!"She giggled out.
She pulled out a garage door opener, or something that had the same look as one. She clicked the big button once, and the door flew up with no hesitation.
"Impressive!" Ray growled. Well, maybe he didn't growl, but I liked it he growled, so I kinda inserted that tone of voice into a lot of conversations.
"Let's get going love birds!" Claire skipped forward, with not a care in the world. At least not on the surface. I knew my team, and I knew my friends. She was always thinking, always planning. She just knew how to make people underestimate her.
Ray and I followed, hand in hand, savoring the time we had together until we had to separate again.
NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO
Hero name- Impact.
Civilian name- Ariel baker.
Meeting- HCP admission meeting.
Time- 2:17 AM.
Meeting Attendees-
Dean- Ariel Baker
Control Professor- Samantha Jones
Focus professor- Esme Stone
Close Combat Professor- Carl Fletcher
Weapons professor- Sonya Cole
Ranged combat professor- Ramon Simmonds
Subtlety professor- Sean Pendleton
"Could we really not have waited to do this until after we had a few hours of sleep?" Sean complained.
"Sean, you know very well that we are already behind on these, and the explosion in the SIM storage unit did nothing to help our time table."Ariel Baker, the new dean of the Lander HCP, and the hero known as Impact, stood at the head of a table full clearly tired professors. The explosion had been unfortunate, but these things did happen when testing new types of equipment. And it was far better for an accident to happen to a group of highly trained professors, rather than the students.
"I know Ariel, but I can still bitch about it. That is my only useful skill, to be honest."
"Sean, shut up already." The normally stoic Ramon was wearing thin. Even after years as a hero, the prospect of not sleeping for 40 hours straight put him in a bad mood. Add to that the fact that this process had not gotten easy for the new professor, and his annoyance was slipping through.
Esme cut in, acting as the de facto adult in any given situation. "Both of you be quite. The faster we get this done the faster we all sleep. What do you have for us Dean?"
Ariel motioned to a huge stack of folders, and Esme easily sent one section to each professor.
"These are the students that have made it through all the selection processes so far. Tonight we need to deal with the final admissions, so they can be sent to the freshmen we accept. Everyone grab the top folder, and let's dive into it."
This method was slightly different from Deans Blaine's, but Ariel was a fan of trying new things.
"Damn. I forgot Overgrowth had family. This is an easy acceptance from me." Carl Fletcher looked around the table as the others scanned the file. One by one they all nodded.
"I agree. This level of power, along with the training she has already received makes her a great candidate. The only thing we need to look into is the psychological aspects of being the niece of an HCP. Dr. Moran will likely be needed to make sure that she stays healthy mentally. That is a lot of expectation for a young girl. "The new control professor, Samantha, chimed in.
The table all nodded, easily making their decision.
The whole table then grabbed the next file off their stacks, and the process began anew.
The final three files were labeled differently.
"These three are a special case in the admissions department." Ariel said to her weary professors. "I would ask that you all read the briefing on the front page, and then we shall discuss their admission."
The professors did as ordered, and Ariel watched as they all went on a silent face journey though the file. She knew how they felt. Even in the hero world these cases were weird.
Sean spoke first. "What the fuck. I almost hope this is a joke."
The others turned to her, all with similar looks on their faces.
"I assure you it is not at all a joke. This is very real, and these are students that will be accepted into an HCP this year. The DVA will see to that. We are the first choice, since we have a history of test cases. Beyond that these three have more than enough power to make it into our normal freshman class. If you would take a moment and look at the rest of the three files contents I think you will agree with my assessment." Ariel kept her voice professional and calm, not giving away the fact that she too was surprised and almost disturbed by the concept of other worlds.
"The first one would likely fall into my department, with a psychic based power." Esme was the first to speak, the others still making their way through the files.
"Normally, yes. But if you look under her skill assessment you can see that she will most likely fall into the subtlety category. She comes highly recommended from some one in that field, and that's after only a few months on this earth."
Sean switched folders, obviously interested in the subject at hand." Damn. That is impressive. I don't know of another power quite like that one. And her skills are spoken highly of."
Carl spoke next. "I agree with Sean on this. That could be very useful both in battle and in the subtlety field. If she proves to be as skilled as these assessments claim."
"Is no one going to bring up the girl who somehow broke the AI barrier, and created dozens of other inventions that cannot be explained by even our best tech supers?" Sonya said in her usual uninterested tone.
"We're going to cover them all, Sonya, but yes, she is very impressive. She also has combat experience, which is even more impressive for tech supers."
Carl spoke again, this time in a more worried voice. "It says that these three were active heroes on their earth from age 13. I worry that they may be too violent for the HCP, or they may have some trauma lingering from that. This life is hard for fully trained adults. I can't imagine what it would be like for children being shoved into that."
"I agree with Carl on both points." Esme said.
"Those are valid concerns, and we will be able to have them thoroughly vetted before letting them fight other students. The issue is that these WILL be students in the HCP come next year. The DVA has made that clear to me. I propose that we look at them as the strong candidates they are, and try and work with their past, rather than let them go to a different school."
"She may be right on that count." Ramon spoke, voice still with a bit of edge, despite the full pot of coffee he had consumed during the meeting. "These are strong kids, and they have training coming into the program, something that most students lack. We can either take them on, and train them to the best of our abilities, or we can let them go to a different school. I say we take them on."
"Why not both". Esme said. "We could vet them pre-admission, and judge them on that. If they cannot keep their powers in control, or if they get too violent, then we have basis for blocking their admission. If they perform well then we get three excellent candidates."
Ariel looked around the room, checking the faces of the other professors. One stuck out, the ever sarcastic Sean Pendleton.
"Sean, do you have something to get off your chest?"
"Yes. Your drinking has affected me in the following ways..."
Groans flew from the other professors, and Sean grinned.
"I am concerned about the tech super, Penny. She seems to have a set of control issues all her own. The files mention some of her creations, but no one has mentioned the fact that she seems to border the powered/super line. How can we make sure she is dependable if she is not sure exactly what she is creating?" Sean did not speak with any distaste towards powereds, for many reasons, not the least of which was having a powered sister and formerly powered niece.
Ariel nodded from the head of the table, showing more patience than any human or super should be able to manage in the face of Sean Pendleton.
"I had the same concern, and the way her supervisor explained it was that she has the ability to coax out her superpower, which then does the actual building. He suspects it is a transformation ability of some sort, but we have not gotten the evidence to back that. She can shut down any idea or tool she deems too dangerous, and has a measure of control over what her power decides to create. I think she has the control to be admitted, and then from there her control will only grow with proper training. "
Sean nodded. "Good enough for me. I may not be a tech based super, but I know a good deal about what they can do. She is impressive, honestly beyond what I have seen anywhere else. She also seems to be able to put her tools and weapons to excellent use. I look forward to training her."
"Then we are agreed. We will test the students for admission, and decide after the on their status." Ariel looked relieved as she made her announcement, and she was happy to finally get some sleep, a sentiment that was clearly echoed around the room.
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Authors note
Hello all. I figured I should go over a few things before we go any farther in the story. First of all is that I love to mess with canon. There are some things I really just want to change, so I do. In this story I am going to change relatively few things. I don't want to reveal them all here, but there are a few changes.
This is a crossover story, but FF.N does not have the option for the superpowereds world. There is some very good SP fanfic on the SP website, I recommend you check it out if you like original story.
For those of you who are not familiar with the SP world, it is pretty amazing. Drew Hayes is the author of the series, and two spinoffs, all of which are great. The basis of the world is that there are two groups of superpowered people, supers and powereds. The supers have control, while the powereds are not able to harness their powers. Over the course of the original series a cure was found for powereds, and it lets them become supers. This story is based about a year after the end of book four of the SP series, and it follows the IM crew through learning about this new world. We get to meet up with the Melbrook crew, and meet some new peeps along the way.
Please let me know if you spot a typo, punctuation mistake, or if you just hate me and everything I have ever written.