Little Birds of Brockton Bay
I don't drink, so when I woke up in an alleyway with a pounding head and no idea where I was, I was understandably very confused. Then, a teenage superhero landed on my head while trying to escape from an oversized rage dragon and I figured out I'd been ROBed. I wasn't expecting to start a flock of little birds though...
And we're back! Nothing to say here, so lets get started! Enjoy!
Chapter 8
The last few days had been hell for Madison Clements. What should have been a normal day at school had gone downhill rapidly when Taylor had shown just how good she was, leading to her being suspended, grounded and unable to look herself in the mirror after her Parents had sat her down and forced her to go over everything she had done to Taylor. Looking at it from the outside, without the lense of Emma and Sophia egging her one, it quickly became obvious that what she thought was just harmless fun, was exactly the same thing that she'd gone through in Middle School.
Being the smallest in the class, on top of needing large glasses and braces, meant that there were plenty of targets for the mean girls to target. They weren't anywhere near as bad as Sophia and Emma were towards Taylor, but it was still unpleasant. The idea that she'd done the same thing to another girl was...an extremely unpleasant one to say the least. The only upside to it all was that she wasn't being charged with anything, unlike Sophia (who was getting the book thrown at her thanks to being a complete psycho) and Emma (who had been ordered to receive psychiatric help), but the only reason for that was because she had rolled over on her 'friends' and told the authorities everything and the fact that her contribution to the...the bullying campaign had been petty pranks. Definitely unpleasant for Taylor, but nothing that the authorities were willing to waste time over when they had a Ward going off the reservation to deal with.
Under normal circumstances, the idea that she had been 'friends' with a Cape, especially one of the Wards, would have made Madisons day, but the fact that Sophia had tried to kill Taylor kinda soured that. Plus, she wasn't so naive as to believe that Sophia genuinely thought of her as more than a hanger on. Actually, now that she thought about it, it wasn't completely impossible that every one of her 'friends' were only friends with her to get an in with Emma and Sophia.
She snorted. Of course they were, they were social climbers, no different from the girls who'd mocked her in middle school. Chances were, once she got back to school, she'd be in Taylors shoes, at the bottom of the heap. She could deal with that, she'd done it before after all.
She groaned into her pillow and turned over. For a moment, she stared up at the ceiling, then held up a hand and watched as glowing water appeared out of thin air and swirled around her fingers. The one good thing about the whole debacle was that she now had the ability to at least try and earn forgiveness. She wasn't dumb enough to believe that Taylor would ever look at her as more than one of the girls who had made her life hell for her entire high school career up till this point, but she might eventually be able to look herself in the mirror. If not...well, at least she'd do some good.
Have you ever been in a situation so confusing that you just have no idea how to react? Well, I can safely say that it does an excellent job of getting rid of fight or flight instincts. Still, I'd like to see anyone else who knows anything about Sekirei react in any other way to finding themselves sitting at a table with Miya and Karasuba calmly drinking tea. Then again, I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, different worlds and all that. If Karasuba met her Ashikabi before she and Miya fell out, its likely that they never ended up coming to blows because of it.
On the other hand, she was still a member of the Discipline Squad and I'd done my research on them. Being one of the most effective anti-S-class groups out there meant that they were kinda famous, especially Yume (because horny teenage boys) and Karasuba, who was known for being extremely sadistic when she got her hands on some of the targets they hunted. She was the one who spared Jack Slashs life because, without the Nine and with non-Parahuman based superhumans running around, he wasn't that much of a threat. She did however take of his dominant hand. Then his left leg the next time he popped up. And an ear and an eye after that. By this point, the 'terrifying' Jack Slash was missing both legs, an arm, a good chunk of his internal organs, an eye and his manhood and was only alive thanks to some impressive Tinkertech work from Mannequin before he was killed. She'd also been the one to kill Heartbreaker, although that one was unplanned because the idiot decided he wanted her and tried to use his powers to seduce her, only to discover that Winged Sekirei are basically immune to Masters. What she had done to him had been deemed not safe for work and I decided that I wasn't curious enough to risk losing my lunch.
And now here I was, sitting at the same table with a woman who could easily take my head off, who's Daughter was my Sekirei and who had her sword within easy reach. I had no doubt that both Taylor and Miya would take great exception to her taking my head off (if only because she didn't want to have to get the blood out of the carpet in the latters case), but that didn't exactly make me feel any better.
"So, how did you two meet?" asked Karasuba.
I coughed.
"Taylor landed on my head after getting into a disagreement with Lung," I said.
There was a quiet crack and I cringed slightly as Karasuba slowly put down her teacup, which now had a large crack in it.
"I see," she said neutrally.
"I'm fine Mom," said Taylor, "Honestly, Lung came out of the fight worse."
"And that is the only reason why he still has his head," said Karasuba bluntly.
I shivered. Loving Mother or not, Karasuba was still a woman not to be underestimated and it was rather apparent that she was as protective of her Ashikabi and Daughter as any other Sekirei would be.
Silence fell as Karasuba drained her tea, before reaching under the table and throwing something at me. I caught it instinctively and saw it was my training sword.
"On your feet kid," said Karasuba as she stood and retrieved another wooden sword.
"Mom…"
"I want to make sure hes strong enough to look after himself," said Karasuba, "A Sekirei's weakest point its their Ashikabi and I don't want something to happen to you because he wasn't strong enough."
"Its fine Taylor, I don't mind," I said, "Besides, this could be fun."
Karasuba raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Oh, it'll be fun alright," she said and sauntered out of the room.
I shuddered and followed, inwardly wondering just where the confidence to say something that dumb had come from. I followed Karasuba out to the back of the house with Taylor following us, muttering something under her breath and glaring at her Mothers back. Karasuba came to a stop in the middle of the yard and turned to face me.
"Defend yourself," she said and vanished.
It was only thanks to the reflexes pounded into me by Miya that I managed to avoid a strike that would have likely knocked me unconscious. I spun around, my sword lashing out, but Karasuba was already gone. I gritted my teeth as I shifted into a defensive stance and pushed my senses the the max, ducking under another strike from Karasuba as I did. I wasn't dumb enough to think that I could actually beat the Number 4 Sekirei, even with my full gear and unsealing my sword, but I did want to land at least one hit on her. That would be enough to prove that I could take most anything the world threw at me. Unfortunately, that wasn't likely to happen considering I couldn't react anywhere near quickly enough to do more than dodge by a hair and I'm pretty sure that that was only because Karasuba was holding back. I was running on nothing but reflexes and that simply wasn't enough. I needed something else to balance the playing field…
[Sense Danger gained]
Without thinking, I twisted, my wooden sword clacking against Karasuba's as she aimed another strike at my back. The Black Sekirei raised an eyebrow.
"Huh, thats interesting," she said, "You just got faster."
Then she vanished again, but I somehow knew that she was beside me, her sword aimed at my ribs. I twisted, letting the sword pass me as my own weapon arched out, aimed at her temple. Before it could get close though, her free hand blurred and she caught the wooden blade without any apparent effort.
"Not bad," she said, "But can you keep up?"
And with that, she blurred, throwing so many attacks at me so quickly it looked like there were hundreds of swords shooting directly at me. Despite that, I could still react and respond, deflecting those that needed and twisting around the rest. It wasn't perfect, I wasn't anywhere close to being as fast as her, but the few strikes I received were in places that, had she been using a real sword, would have caused minor injuries that wouldn't have inconvenienced me that much.
Despite myself, as I dodged and deflected more strikes, I found myself starting to grin. I wasn't sure how, but I was holding my own against one of the most infamous Sekirei in two worlds (three if you count my original). I doubted I could beat her if she was actually trying to kill me, but maybe I could…
My thoughts were cut of as Karasuba's smirk widened and her sword arm blurred again. This time, the speed was much, much greater than anything it had been till now and the tip of the wooden weapon slammed into my sternum with enough force to send me flying back. I slid to a stop, gasping for breath as my ribs throbbed.
"Fuck, you were holding back," I groaned.
"Of course I was," said Karasuba, "I didn't want to kill my Daughters Ashikabi after all."
She shifted her sword to her right hand and swung it at a nearby boulder that showed scars from past attacks. There was a loud crash and a huge crater appeared in the rocks side, throwing up a cloud of dust. I gulped. Note to self, don't do anything to upset Taylor. Ever. Her Dads scary enough, I do NOT want her Mother coming after me with blood in her eye.
"Are you OK Lucas?" asked Taylor as she helped me sit up, alternating between glaring at her Mother and checking me over worriedly.
"I'm fine, just winded and a little bruised," I said, "So, did I pass?"
Karasuba smirked and nodded.
"You did," she said, "Your more than capable of taking on most opponents you'll come up against, even without your powers. That said, I expect the two of you to be responsible. I dare say that Danny's already said this, but I really don't fancy being a Grandmother any time soon."
"MOM!" squeaked Taylor as both of our faces burnt.
Karasuba just burst out laughing.
The next day after lunch saw me laying back on my bed, deep in thought. Something had happened during my fight with Karasuba, something that I'm pretty sure wasn't possible. I hadn't really had time to think about it until now, but now that I was, I couldn't figure out what in the hell had happened. I know for a fact that I hadn't had a Second Trigger since I fail to see how a spider sense ripoff had anything to do with Enchantments and I hadn't accidentally created a new item out of the clothing I was wearing that wasn't Enchanted. Despite that, there was no doubt in my mind that I'd somehow developed a brand new power, something that should be impossible. Worm powers were set, they couldn't grow without a Second Trigger, only be improved by practice and the user becoming better at using them.
So the question was, where the hell did the extra ability come from? Was it possible that I wasn't a Parahuman? No, that wasn't likely, Amy would have picked up on a lack of Corona Pollentia and Gemma when she was healing me at the bank if that was the case. No, it was something else, something that almost seemed to be on the tip of my tongue, but…
"Lucas, are you busy?"
Miya's voice from the door made me sit up.
"No, whats up?" I asked.
"I need someone to go get some things from the store," she said, "Do you mind?"
"Not at all," I said, "Let me grab my coat."
I quickly did just that and met Miya by the door where she handed me a list, a shopping bag and a few notes before shooing me out the door. I made my way in the direction of the nearest supermarket, scanning the list as I did. It wouldn't take long to get all this and I could use the distraction. I was starting to get a headache trying to figure out where the new power had come from.
"Lets see, got the chicken, green beans and radish, just need...chocolate," I muttered as I made my way through the store.
I made my way over to the confectionery aisle near the front of the store and promptly walked into someone coming the other way. My hand snapped out and caught the girl before she could fall.
"Sorry about that," I said as I set her back on her feet, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm…" the girl cut herself up as she looked up at me and her eyes went wide.
I wasn't much better as I immediately recognized Amy Dallon. What were the chances that I'd meet her here? That said, it was more surprising that she seemed to recognize me, despite the fact I hadn't touched her skin. Plus, she'd know better than to react to another Cape since that was a good way of pissing people of, world's strongest Healer or not.
"Y-you...no, thats not possible," she muttered.
"Whats not possible?" I asked.
"I...its nothing," she said, "You just...looked familiar."
I frowned. She was lying, I could tell. I opened my mouth to question her further, but before I could, my new danger sense pinged. My head snapped around, just in time to see a rather ragged looking Chinese man with a tear stained face and shaved head stumble into the parking lot. It took less than a second for me to figure out what that meant and, without a second thought, I grabbed Amy and yanked her behind a shelf, charging it with as much energy as I could to give it Immutability and summoned my costume, activating the shield belt for good measure. An instant later, a monstrous explosion erupted from outside, completely destroying the front of the shop. Even with three levels of defence, the sheer force behind the blast was still enough to nearly burst my eardrums and I was forced to hunch my head down the contents of the shelf rained down on me.
After what felt like an eternity, the ground finally stopped shaking as the shockwaves from the blast dissipated. I took a deep breath as I slowly uncurled and deactivated my belt.
"Are you OK?" I asked the girl in my arms.
Amy nodded slowly as she stared up at me with wide eyes. I ignored the Healer for now as I got to my feet and looked around.
As you can probably imagine from one of Bakuda's bombs, even a traditional one, the devastation was immense. The entire store was decimated, with the only shelf standing being the one I'd Enchanted and a few that were protected somewhat by said protected shelf. The rest had been sent flying or were shattered. The front of the building was simply gone, leaving a gaping hole that looked out onto a parking lot that was now nothing more than a huge crater and some cracked asphalt. Fortunately, the front of the shop had managed to prevent most of the blast from getting inside, so other than the shelves being tossed around and any glass shattered, there wasn't that much damage. However, that didn't mean that there were a large number of injured people.
I glanced back outside and winced. Unfortunately, anyone who was outside was likely dead, as vaporized in the blast, proven by the blast shadows on the floor and few remaining walls, or pulped by the shockwave. I scowled under my mask. Bakuda will pay for this.
I quickly shook off that thought for now though and turned back to Amy, who still looked rather shocked.
"You...you were at the Bank," she said, "Vergil right?"
"Thats right," I said.
"How did you…"
"I have a danger sense," I said, "Look, we can talk later, but for now we need to help the people who need it. Can you walk?"
Amy blinked and shook her head, before smacking her cheeks.
"Pull it together Amy," she muttered, before getting to her feet, "Yes, thank you for saving me."
I smiled and nodded.
"Not a problem Panacea," I said, tipping my hat, "Come on, lets get started."
Panacea nodded and immediately headed to the closest injured person while I moved away to start seeing if I could find anyone trapped in the rubble. I could probably create something that would heal, but I was a relative unknown and I didn't fancy wasting time when I could be helping people.
It took 15 minutes for emergency services to arrive, during which time there had been another seven blasts from various points in the city. I'd managed to save a total of ten people who had been buried and helped another 15 who had been trapped by falling shelves. Once I was done with that, I'd moved onto helping those I could with first aid while Panacea had fixed those who desperately needed it.
"Nice work kid," said one of the paramedics as he and his colleagues quickly moved between the injured civilians, checking them over for anything that Panacea hadn't been able to heal.
There were a few people who had banged their heads and she couldn't do much for shock unfortunately.
"Whats going on?" I asked.
The paramedic scowled.
"We're not sure who, but someone's been setting off bombs all over the city," he said, "Fortunately, most have been fairly vanilla, if powerful, but there are a few that have been...odd."
"Tinker work?"
"Most likely."
I scowled as I looked around.
"What should I do?" I asked.
"Anything you can," said the Paramedic, "Panacea is heading to the hospital, but the best you can do is help where you can. Unless you can heal?"
I hesitated.
"I...I can create items that can help," I said, "But I only debuted today, so I didn't want to start using my power on people…"
"Kid, I don't care if you debuted thirty seconds ago," said the Paramedic, "If you can help, go do it!"
I took a deep breath and nodded.
"Alright, I planned to offer my creations to the hospitals anyway," I said, "Thanks Mr…"
"Clements, now go help people hero," said the Paramedic, before turning to his colleagues and shouting some orders.
I ignored him as I ran over to the van where Panacea was climbing into the back.
"Hold up, I'm coming too!" I shouted.
"Need something kid?" asked the driver.
"My power lets me create items with powers of their own," I said bluntly, "I can create some things that will help the injured recover quicker and possibly keep those in critical condition alive long enough for Panacea to heal them."
The man frowned.
"I went through power testing earlier today," I said before he could say anything, "My powers have been cleared and confirmed that they don't have any negative effects. Right now, we need every bit of help we can get."
The driver scowled.
"Damn, I really hate that your right," he growled, "Alright, get in."
I nodded and hopped in the back beside Panacea., who looked rather pale and had her eyes closed. A moment later, the doors shut and the van took off in the direction of the hospital as I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to both Miya and Taylor to let them know what had happened and where I was going. It wouldn't do for them to worry unduly after all.
Ten minutes later, we pulled up outside Brockton General and Panacea went pelting into the building to get started while I was stopped by an elderly looking doctor who looked oddly familiar.
"Your Vergil, correct?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Thats right," I said, "I can…"
"I know, the PRT sent me your file," he said, "Can you create something that can heal?"
I nodded.
"Yes, not as well as Panacea, but it'll keep people alive."
The doctor nodded.
"Alright, what do you need?"
"Some jugs of water and boxes of bandages," I said.
The doctor nodded again and shouted at a nearby ordily to get them. A few minutes later, the man returned and I set to work.
"The jugs will give any water put in them healing properties," I said as I worked, "Drinking it or placing it directly on the injury will help the body speed up its healing. The bandages will do the same."
It didn't take me long to finish the Enchantments and when I was done, I was drafted into helping the doctors where I could. My first aid training wasn't exactly training so much as using my teaching Enchantments to help me pick up helpful tricks from internet videos, but there were so many injured coming in that the Chief pretty much told me to help where I could while the actually trained people dealt with the really bad cases.
The next few hours...weren't pleasant. I won't go into detail, but I quickly became glad that I wasn't squeamish. Between the horrific burns, flowing blood and other bodily fluids, it made me very, very glad that I never became a doctor back home. Even with my mask filtering out most of the smells, it was still bad enough to force me to stop and puke a couple of times.
Fortunately, it seemed that Bakuda had been relatively light on the exotic bombs...or everyone caught in them didn't need a hospital. Not sure what was worse. Whatever the case, the entire debacle did little to dispel the rising rage I felt towards the Bomb Tinker. Every screaming child, every covered body in the halls, every teenager sitting unresponsive with burnt stumps where their limbs should be made me more and more determined to make Bakuda the first person to experience being hit by my unsealed sword.
Finally, the last of the people injured by Bakuda's bombs were in a decent enough condition that they weren't likely to snuff it, allowing me to drop into a chair with a groan of pain.
"I swear, I am never doing this again," I muttered.
"Yes, this isn't a job for the faint hearted," said the head doctor as he walked up and handed me a glass of faintly glowing water, "Still, you did well and I appreciate the help."
"Its a Heroes job to help people, whether that means kicking ass or helping put others back together," I said as I downed the glass, ignoring the brief flair of greenish blue light as the healing liquid did its job and washed away some of my fatigue.
"Perhaps, but you still deserve thanks," said the doctor, "Many people here would have died if you hadn't been here."
I winced and looked away. Despite my creations, a lot of people had died from their injuries and that stung.
"Don't feel bad about not being able to save everyone," said the doctor, "I and my staff are good and Panacea is a godsend, but even so, people still die. Thats simply a fact of life."
"Even so, its not right," I growled as I watched some orderlies wheel a heart wrenchingly small body bag out, "People shouldnt have to live in fear of some random crazy developing powers and going on the rampage…"
"Perhaps not, but such is the world we live in," he said, "Now, I suggest you go home and get some sleep."
I sighed and nodded.
"I think I will," I said, getting to my feet.
"Oh, before you do, do you mind taking Miss Dallon home?" asked the doctor, "Normally, we'd call her sister, but shes busy helping deal with the aftermath of the bombs."
"Alright, do you know where she is?" I asked.
"I believe she was taking a rest in the staffroom," said the doctor, "Down the hall and to the left."
I nodded and said goodbye, before heading of in the indicated direction. It didn't take long to locate the door and I stepped inside. It wasn't really much to look at, just a sitting area with a few vending machines, a kitchen area, a small TV and a couple of doors that led into the men and womens changing areas and showers. I sighed softly when I saw Amy curled up on the sofa, fast asleep, still in her costume she apparently kept at the hospital.
The young healer looked dreadful, her hair in disarray, her face drawn and pale and dark circles around her eyes. I have no idea if her powers sapped her stamina or not, but she certainly didn't look that bad earlier. Or maybe she had, I didn't exactly get chance to get a good look at her before everything went to shit.
"God, she needs some help," I sighed as I padded up to her and gently shook her shoulder, "Hey Amy, wake up."
The Biokinetic stired and moaned, her eyes flickering open.
"Murr, go 'way Lucas," she moaned.
I froze. How did she…? I quickly shook that question off. I could ask her how she knew my name later, for now, she needed to get some rest in a proper bed and food in her.
"Come on Amy, its time to go home," I said, shaking her again.
Amy groaned again and seemed to wake up properly, sitting up and stretching with a yawn.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"About 6 o'clock," I said, "Dr…"
I frowned as I realized I hadn't got the name off the Chief of Medicine.
"The boss asked me to take you home," I said instead, "Are you ready?"
Amy flinched and looked away.
"I guess," she muttered.
I frowned.
"Whats up?" I asked, "Did something happen?"
Amy squirmed for a moment, before she sighed, her shoulders slumping.
"I kinda had a falling out with Carol and Vicky," she said, not meeting my eyes.
"Ah, I see," I said, although exactly how she could have a falling out with Glory Girl when she was getting whammed by her Aura I don't know, "Want to talk about it?"
"Not really," said Amy.
She sighed.
"Look, I appreciate you offering, but I think it'd be best if I make my own way home," she said, "Things are tense enough at home right now without showing up with an unknown boy."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
Amy nodded and moved to get up. However, the moment she tried, her legs gave way and she would have cracked her head on the table if I hadn't caught her.
"Ah, crap, not again," she muttered.
"Are you OK?" I asked.
"I...not really," she said, looking down with red cheeks, "I can't feel my legs. I...think I'm going to have to take you up on that offer of a lift."
I sighed and put her back on the sofa, before turning around and crouching down.
"Alright, hop on," I said.
I could practically feel the blush on Amy's face as she climbed onto my back and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Thanks for this," she muttered as I stood and shifted her weight.
"No problem," I said, "You'll have to give me some directions though."
Amy nodded against my back as I moved over to the window and slid it open.
"Wait, what are you doing?" asked Amy.
I glanced back at her and grinned.
"This is faster than catching the bus or a cap," I said.
"Wait, you can fly to?"
My grin widened.
"Nope."
Amy blinked, right before I jumped out the window. Gravity quickly shifted itself for a moment so I landed on the wall, before I pushed off it and shot across the street, briefly landing on top of a telephone pole as I did, Amy's yelp of shock ringing in my ears as I landed lightly on the gravel roof.
"You OK?" I asked.
"Warn me next time!" snapped Amy.
I chuckled lowly and nodded, before taking off across the rooftops.
Despite the speed and initial surprise, Amy quickly found herself relaxing against Vergils surprisingly comfortable back. Despite the horrific day and the fact she really wasn't looking forwards to getting home and dealing with the fallout of the fight she'd had with her sister and 'Mother', being around the black clad Cape was surprisingly relaxing. Especially when you consider that she'd known him for less than a day.
Normally, trusting someone that quickly, especially a known Cape, would set of her Master/Stranger alarms, but for some reason, she didn't get that feeling. Plus, he had saved her life twice, first at the Bank and then from the bomb that had started the entire mess, even putting his identity at risk to do so considering he wasn't in costume at the time, although she wasn't entirely sure how he'd switched to it so quickly. Something to ask him at a later date she supposed.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" said Vergil, drawing from her thoughts.
"Hmm?"
"How did you know my name?"
Amy pushed herself up and gave the back of the other Capes head a strange look.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You called me Lucas back at the hospital," said Vergil, "How did you know that was my real name?"
Amy opened her mouth to respond, but stopped and frowned. Strange as it was, she DID know the other teens name.
"I...think I learnt it in a dream," she said with a frown, "But how is that…"
She trailed off as Lucas suddenly came to a stop.
"Is...something wrong?" she asked.
"A dream?" he asked.
"Yeassss," said Amy slowly, "I know it sounds weird, but I'm pretty sure I met you in a dream."
She snorted.
"Well, a nightmare really. You actually saved me from the monster…"
She yelped as Lucas suddenly dropped her, although her legs had fortunately recovered enough that she didn't end up on her ass.
"Hey, what was that for?!" she demanded.
Lucas ignored her as he started pacing, pulling down his mask as he did, revealing a very familiar face that, now she had chance to get a good look at him, she realized was the same as the boy in her dream. She frowned as Lucas started muttering under his breath, running his hands through his hair and looking rather distressed.
"Lucas, whats...WHOA!"
She went to stop Lucas, only to find that her legs weren't quite as recovered as she had thought and she lost her balance. Before she could faceplant the roof, a pair of arms wrapped around her and she found herself resting against Vergil's chest, staring up into his gray eyes. At the same time, her heartbeat sped up and she felt an intense heat flood her body, unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Her thoughts fogged as her breath sped up and she found herself focusing on Lucas' lips.
"Aww crap," muttered Lucas, right before Amys resistance crumbled and she pulled his head down to kiss him.
The moment her lips came into contact with Lucas', Amy's entire body lit up like a christmas tree. She broke away from Lucas and arched her back as a huge rush of energy surged through her, washing away the aches and pains that came from a long day at the hospital and the lingering headache and nausea that had been plaguing her since the Bank, before gathering between her shoulder blades and bursting out, forming a massive pair of leaf green wings.
Across town, a tired Taylor, fresh back home from helping her Parents sort out the chaos at the Docks from the bomb that had gone off at the DWA facility, suddenly jolted upright as she felt her Sekirei symbol burn.
"Something wrong Taylor?" asked her dad.
Taylor frowned and narrowed her eyes.
"For some reason, I feel like a rival just appeared," she said.
Karasuba blinked, then a look of realization crossed her face and she burst out laughing.
And done. Well, that was...interesting. To be honest, Amy's Winging was being a right pain in the arse. I wanted to do it in this chapter, but every time I tried, something got in the way. Oh well, its done now. Onto the quips!
I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with Madison, but shes now tentatively down as Lucas' last Sekirei. I might change my mind later though.
Oh my, just what does this new power mean for Lucas? Its times like this I wish FFN supported different colours… to be clear, anything in square brackets isn't actually audible to anyone...yet. Incidentally, if anyone can guess just what I plan for this, I'll be genuinely surprised...or maybe not. Either way, I have a lot planned that will likely be quite surprising and earn me some backlash.
If your wondering why Amy forgot that she recognized Lucas back at the shop, she's been caught up in a bomb blast and spent hours trying to keep what seemed like half the city from dying, I think she can be forgiven for forgetting.
Incidentally, I utterly suck at figuring out timeframes for events. This was originally all on the same day as the Bank, but that...wouldn't really have worked.
And with that, I'm done. I honestly don't have very much to say here and I really need to go to bed, so I'll sign off. Don't forget to leave a review!