A Bad Choice
When I filled out a CYOA out of boredom, I never expected a ROB to take that as an invitation and drop me in it. Oh god, I really should have picked something that made me harder to kill! To make matters worse, I wasn't just dropped in, oh no, now I have the god damn Nazi's chasing me for my powers!
And we're back. Nothing to say here, other than enjoy!
Chapter 4
With my costume now secured and an in with someone I was very interested in recruiting in the future, I left Parian's shop in my civies and went to get some of the other things I had to do that day done. Unfortunately, they weren't quite as interesting as getting my hero costume made.
Apparently, Theo attended Arcadia and, while they had signed off on a few weeks leave since, you know, amnesia, they still needed to know how much it would affect me and if I'd need help to get back to where I needed to be. That meant a rather large list of online tests I had to do. I'd been told that there was no rush, so long as I got them done before I went back to school, but I wanted to get them out of the way.
Plus, Kayden had asked me to keep an eye on Aster.
I spent the day working through the worksheets and test, while entertaining Aster with origami puppet shows. Fortunately, while I didn't consciously have the memories of Theo learning this stuff, the knowledge was still there, locked behind Occlumency barriers which, combined with my own smarts being brought out by said Occlumency, made completing the worksheets a synch. I didn't submit them immediately though, instead I'd do so gradually over the next couple of weeks. Fortunately, there was enough in there that it kept me busy until Kayden got back from work, so I wasn't to bored.
"I'm home!" called Kayden as she entered the apartment.
"Hey Kayden," I called back as I put the kettle on, "Want something to drink?"
"Coffee," said Kayden.
I nodded and got to making the drink and a tea for me as my step-mother happily greeted a giggling Aster, who was happily playing with a paper doll I'd made for her while a few paper butterflies fluttered around her. Once she was done with that, Kayden joined me in the kitchen area and accepted the cup I handed her.
"So, did you have a good day?" she asked.
I shrugged.
"I guess so," I said, "I got all the tests done. Apparently, my knowledge is just buried and it just took a solid smack to bring it out. I haven't got any memories back though."
And I doubted I ever would either. I was trying not to think about the fact I'd basically killed a 15 year old with my arrival.
"So, how did it go with Parian this morning?" asked Kayden after a moment, apparently wanting to get off the topic of amnesia.
I grinned.
"Great, I got what I wanted," I said.
Kayden raised an eyebrow.
"Well, lets see it then," she said.
I rolled my eyes, but put my cup down and headed for my room. A few minutes later, I was back in full costume. Kayden looked me over with an impressed look on her face.
"She does good work," she said.
"I'll say she does," I said, "This took her two hours to make."
Kayden hummed thoughtfully.
"Maybe I ought to see if she could do something for me," she mused, "It'd be nice to have something else that doesn't immediately link me to the Empire. Plus, I really ought to go and make my split official now that bastard Max can't do anything to connect me with Purity."
"I'll Ward the hell out of the apartment as well," I said, "I'm pretty sure the Fidelius will keep Aster safe, but its better to be safe than sorry."
Kayden nodded.
"Thats a good idea," she said, "Your…'spell' might keep everyone from knowing I'm Purity, but I wouldn't put it past Max to try something against you or just kidnapping Aster."
I nodded.
"I can't do as much as I'd like since its not a house, but...hmm...actually, I might have a better idea," I said.
Kayden blinked as I put my cup down and hurried back to my room. I barely noticed her following me as I opened my Trunk and stepped inside, smirking slightly at the shocked gasp when she saw the expanded interior.
"Where...how is this possible?" she asked weakly.
"Its actually pretty easy if you know how," I said as I dug through the large number of assets I had access to, "Apparently, the being responsible for me getting warped, wiped and empowered felt guilty enough that they provided me this and a heck of a lot more."
"Wait, a CAPE made this!?" spluttered Kayden.
"Nope."
I could almost see the expressions poor Kayden was pulling at the moment, but I was a lot more interested in the deed I'd finally managed to unearth. It was for a house in one of the upper scale neighbourhoods, one that, according to the deed, was Warded to hell and back, with the only ones missing being the Fidelius and other cloaking charms since it was located in a Mundane neighbourhood. I could fix that easy enough, but I probably wouldn't bother. Mainly because said Neighbourhood (which was called Rowena Drive because subtly is dead when it comes to this shit) also happened to be where New Wave and the current chief of Police, along with his Daughter and Son-in-law, who I was pretty sure were Assault and Battery, lived. Even Max Anders wasn't dumb enough to try and kidnap someone from there.
I grinned as I turned to face a rather pale Kayden, who looked like she was trying desperately not to think to hard about something.
"So, how do you feel about trading up?" I asked, handing her the sheaf of papers that contained all the information on Ravenclaw House.
Yeah, the ROB has been reading to much Harry Potter.
Kayden slowly took the papers and started reading through them. It didn't take long for her eyes to bulge in utter shock.
"How the fuck did you get something like this!?" she spluttered.
"A very very sorry omnipotent entity," I said, "I've got more assets than I know what to do with and thats not even mentioning the frankly absurd amount of money I have access to. I even have stocks in Medhall."
Kayden whimpered and collapsed into the nearest chair.
"This...I don't even know how to take this," she said weakly.
"Just accept it and move on," I said, "Trust me, you'll feel better than thinking about it to hard. At best, you'll give yourself a headache and at best, an existential crisis."
Kayden grimoused and nodded.
"That...I can agree with," she said, "I think I'm just going to file all this under 'power bullshit' and leave it at that."
"Probably wise," I said, "So, moving?"
Kayden hesitated.
"Let me think about it," she said, "I'm...not against it, but its still not something I want to rush into."
I nodded.
"Perfectly understandable," I said, "While you do that, I'm going to see if I can find some crimes to stop."
Kayden nodded absently as I turned on my heel and vanished with a pop. No need to allow anyone to figure out where I lived after all, even if the Fidelius would make it impossible to actually figure out my identity. I reappeared in an alley near Medhall and immediately disillusioned myself and took off, flying into the darkening sky.
It didn't take me long to find trouble. Trouble in this case was a group of skinheads stalking a young black girl who looked younger than I was. Well, that aint gonna fly! A quick flip in mid air had be angled downwards as I dispelled the Cloaking spell and slammed into the ground, using a mix of Earthbending and Airbending to keep the impact from snapping my legs and to knock the skinheads off their feet with a wave of rock and a blast of wind. The sound of the impact made the girl jump and spin around, taking in the scene in an instant before taking of just as quickly. Smart girl.
"What the fuck?!" yelped one of the skinheads.
"Sorry, did I interrupt you?" I asked.
"The fuck are you nigger lover?" sneered one of the goons.
I raised an eyebrow and looked down at myself. I know that Nazi's arent exactly renowned for their intelligence, but surely they knew better than to mouth of to unknown Capes?
"New Cape," I said, "I was looking for trouble and I guess I found it."
I grinned and spread my arms.
"Well, wanna try me?"
The skinheads glanced at each other, before pulling out a variety of weapons and charging. I sighed. I thought they'd be smarter than that. I shifted my stance slightly and tapped my heel against the ground. In response, a small pillar of stone shot out of the ground under the one goon with a gun, knocking him off balance as he tried to line up a shot. My costume was bulletproof, but that didn't mean I wanted to be shot. Then, I spun, my arms shifting into the elegant movements of my Waterbending form as muddy water from nearby puddles came to life and lashed out like whips, tripping two of the skinheads, before a second change of form sent a third crashing into a dumpster with a blast of wind.
"Well, that was easy," I said.
Of course, that was when the last one tried to stick a knife in my back. I responded by stomping and sending her flying with a pillar of rock shooting up underneath her feet. She came down in the dumpster with a loud crash.
"Nice try," I said as I started gathering them all together, ignoring the curses and threats directed my way.
"Kaisers gonna fuck you up!" screamed the apparent leader as I tired them up with an Incarcerous.
I paused.
"You know, I'd almost like to see him try," I said, "If only so I can show him what a real metal controller can do."
I grabbed the dumpster and flexed my power, causing the entire thing to be compressed to the size of a fist. Then, I unraveled it into a long cable and wrapped the goons in that as well, welding the ends together with a short blast of fire. Then, I took the cable that wasn't wrapped around them and slung it over a nearby handy fire escape and used it to hoist them off the ground, leaving them hanging there for the cops. Speaking of which, I pulled out my Cape phone and dialled 911.
"Hello police, whats your emergency?" came a rather bored sounding voice.
"Hello, this is Avatar, a new Cape," I said smoothly, rolling my eyes as there was the sound of something falling over in the background, "I just stopped a group of E88 thugs accosting a young girl. Their currently hanging around waiting for you."
"I...see," said the responder, "Where are you located?"
I quickly rattled off the location.
"Alright, a cruiser is on the way," said the responder, "Can you stick around?"
"Sure," I said, "Goodbye."
I hung up the phone and tilted my head.
"I know your there," I called.
There was a clatter and a muffled gasp, before the girl I'd saved emerged from the mouth of a nearby alley, looking a little sheepish. She looked about 14, but was already well into beautiful territory and would likely be a complete knockout in a couple of years. She had a streak of purple in her choppy hair and was wearing ripped shorts, fishnets and a top that looked about two sizes to small. I blinked in surprise. I...think I just saved Imp without realizing it. That's...interesting.
Aisha glanced between me and the slowly twirling Nazi's, who were attempting to shout and curse me out, but weren't able to thanks to the Silencing Charm I'd hit them with.
"That...was awesome!" she exclaimed.
I couldn't help but smile at her exuberance.
"It was nothing," I said, "Beating up Nazi's should be considered a public service."
I idly slapped the ankle of one of the goons, setting the whole thing spinning. Aisha snickered as the skinheads visibly started shouting louder.
"How are you keeping them quiet?" she asked.
I smiled and summoned a visible ball of wind in my hand.
"Sound is just vibrations through the air," I fibbed, "I created a bubble around them that stops sound from getting out."
I didn't want my Magical abilities getting out just yet. Aisha shot a shrewd look my way and I had to remind myself that she was SMART. I wouldn't put it past her to figure out I was telling porkys, but she didn't call me out on it.
"So, your new?" she asked.
"First fight," I said, "As a Cape at least."
Aisha grinned.
"Guess I should be honoured then," she said.
I grinned.
"Sure, the first of many fair maidens who owe me, the Great Avatar, their lives!" I said, putting a hand to my chest and striking a heroic pose.
Aisha snorted and cracked up at my antics.
Half an hour later, the cops had picked up the goons and got the details of what happened from me (Aisha had left shortly before the cops had arrived). I was only too happy to fill them in, although they seemed surprised at how polite and helpful I was. Guess their used to people like Armsmaster, most of the criminal Capes or new Triggers still scared of their own shadow and driven into conflict by their Shards. Whatever the case, I intended to try and maintain a cordial relationship with the cops, even if a good chunk of them were likely on the take, and that meant being polite and helpful wherever I could be.
Once I was done with the cops, I took off again, this time picking a random direction and drifting along, enjoying the feeling of being able to fly under my own power. It was...interesting. Before coming here, I had been uncomfortable with heights, but now I knew that there was nothing to fear. I had about a dozen ways to prevent a fall from hurting me.
Of course, the idle moment was also perfect for giving me time to think, something I hadn't had chance to really do since I arrived. I'd been going full tilt, basically on autopilot the entire time, working through what I 'knew' had to be done. Getting Kaiser to back off, sorting out a costume, going on patrol, all of those things were done because they needed to be done, not to mention the fact that it kept my mind active so I didn't think to hard about my current situation. Now I could and I was regretting it as everything sank in and my mind finally caught up.
I was in WORM, a world that made fucking MADOKA look fuzzy by comparison! Not only that, but I already had the E88 pissed at me, the ABB would be very soon and the S9 would be sniffing around in the future. And that wasn't even considering the fact I'd essensually killed someone when I arrived. I wasn't entirely sure what happened to the original Theo, but he was gone and wasn't coming back.
I staggered in the air as all of that and more suddenly hit me, my Occlumency only taking the edge of the emotions. I could easily lock them all down, but doing so would turn me into an icy statue, unable to feel properly and overuse could easily result in sociopathic tendencies. Kinda like Taylor and her emotional dumping into her swarm actually.
I barely managed to land on a nearby rooftop before I lost my hold on the Flight Spell and crashed, although I still ended up rolling across the rough surface of the roof, coming to rest under an air conditioning unit where I curled up and let the emotions flow. Probably not the best place to do it, but I wasn't about to try Apparition in my current condition. I...honestly don't feel like going into what happened under that cold metal box, only that it was easily the lowest point in my life. The knowledge that I was in a world that could and likely would chew me up and spit me out, that I would likely never see my family again, that I'd basically killed an innocent kid...it all crashed over me with the force of one of Leviathans waves and provided the perfect situation for a Trigger Event. You know, if I wasn't already empowered.
Eventually though, the panic attack receded, leaving me curled up and shaking, barely aware of my surroundings as I rolled over and emptied my stomach. It was only when someone yelped that I realized I wasn't alone.
"Oh, quit flailing Vicky, its just some sick," said a voice from beside me, "I'll clean it up in a sec. Hand me that jug and a glass, would you?"
I spat a couple of times, trying to clean the taste of vomit out of my mouth, before a glass was pushed into my hand. Without thinking, I drained it, washing my mouth out and spitting it in the other direction of the voice. With that done, I woke up properly and looked up, blinking away tears.
I was still on the roof I'd landed on earlier, although I was no longer alone. Sat cross legged beside me was a girl with frizzy brown hair pulled back in a bun wearing red and white robes that wouldn't look out of place in a Final Fantasy game. Floating in the background with a look that was an odd cross between disgust and worry was a statuesque blonde in a white dress, an over the shoulder cape and a tiara. I had to stifle a laugh. Most people in my situation met Glory Girl and Panacea on the job. I met them at my lowest point. Just my luck.
"Are you alright?" asked Panacea.
I sighed and let my head rest against the cool metal behind me, already feeling my Occlumency helping to stabilize my emotions.
"Yeah, I'm OK," I said, "Its just...a lot of stuff hit me at once."
Both girls grimoused.
"Trigger Event?" asked Vicky.
Well, no one ever claimed that she was tactful.
"Yeah, pretty much," I said with a tight smile.
Victoria winced.
"Sorry," she muttered.
Panacea shot her sister a reproachful look.
"So, I assume that your new?" she asked.
I nodded.
"Yep, first day on the job," I said with an idle wave.
I winced as the wave pulled on the previously unnoticed injuries from my fall. My costume had protected me from getting cut up, but I was still bruised, especially where my shoulder and back had slammed into the aircon unit.
"Do you need me to heal you?" asked Panacea.
I shook my head.
"No need, I've got it," I said as I reached out to the jug still in her hand.
A twitch of my fingers had the water flowing out of it and into my hand. The liquid began to glow faintly as I pressed my hand against my shoulder and immediately felt it go to work, soothing and fixing my damaged muscles. I relaxed as the glowing water washed away the tension and pain I hadn't even noticed until that moment. It didn't take long to fix the damage and I, rather reluctantly, pulled the water away and returned it to the bottle. It was only then that I realized the Dallon sisters were gaping at me.
"What?"
"You can heal?" asked Panacea.
I blinked and nodded.
"Not to the level that you can, but yes," I said.
Actually, that wasn't entirely true. Combining my Magical abilities, potions and Bending meant that I could probably outdo Panacea considering that there were potions that could fix all but the most extensive of brain damage without compromising the patent like Panacea's power could do. However, I wasn't going to advertise that just yet because it would paint an even larger target on my back and I didn't have the skill to make those potions myself yet. Still, even with my Bending, I could fix a lot, even if I couldn't regenerate body parts. Considering all that, it made me wonder just how hard Jet got hit when he died in the cartoon for Katara to not be able to heal him.
"Is that why you came here?" asked Panacea, "To volunteer help?"
I blinked.
"What are you…"
I paused as the sound of sirens reached my ears and looked over the edge of the roof. In the car park below me, an ambulance had just pulled up in front of the doors of the building and was now disgorging paramedics and a gurney. I'd landed on the roof of the hospital without realizing it.
"I...well, thats unexpected," I muttered, "Actually, I was planning on getting more of a reputation before I started offering my assistance here. You know, to stop people from panicking as a new Cape entered the emergency ward."
Amy snorted.
"Yeah, thats probably a good idea," she said, "Still, we could use the help…"
I shrugged.
"I'll be busy over the next couple of days, but I'll probably come by sometime next week," I said, "If you need me before then, give me a call."
I handed both sisters a card with my number on it.
"Heroes need to stick together and, while I am new, I'm also powerful and happy to help."
Both girls looked surprised, but nodded. I smiled and got to my feet.
"Hey wait, you haven't told us your name!" called Vicky before I could take of.
I paused.
"Huh...I keep doing that for some reason," I said, "I should probably work on that…"
I shook my head and bowed slightly.
"My names Avatar," I said, "I look forwards to working with you both."
"...wow, that was lame," said Glory Girl.
I just burst out laughing as I vanished with a pop.
I appeared across town in mid air and immediately activated my flight spell, angling towards Rowena Drive. I was pretty sure that Kayden would take me up on the offer to move into the house there, so I might as well go take a look around the property. I Disillusioned myself as I reached the gated community and drifted down, not really wanting to draw too much attention from the locals, especially considering at least two families were Capes themselves. I landed outside Ravenclaw house and used a Switching Spell to swap my costume for my Civies that were tucked away in one of my pouches. Then, with a quick check to make sure no one was watching, I dropped the charm and took a proper look at the house.
It wasn't massive, but it was a lot nicer than most of the houses in the suburbs of the city. It was certainly large enough for a family of four to live comfortably, which meant it was probably a little to large for our tiny family, but that was fine. I had a number of actual mansions and a goddamn castle, so this was a much better choice.
Considering that the house was supposed to be empty, the garden was in surprisingly good shape and the exterior was clean, with what looked like freshly painted doors and window frames. Odd. I shrugged it off and stepped up to the front door, pulling the key out of my pocket as I went. I unlocked the door and stepped inside...and was immediately met by two loud cracks.
...I regret nothing.
I hope I did a good job of Theos breakdown. I can do emotional scenes, but they tend to be of a fluffy variety and in the third person. First person is a lot more difficult.
Is it a bit convenient for him to meet both Aisha and the Dallon sisters in one go? Possibly, but what the hell, you can blame the ROB if you want.
On a completely different note, do you guys think that Waterbending healing could be used to fix things like depression and Master affects? According to the Wiki, it can be used cure mental distress and tampering, so maybe? Let me know what you think.
Anyway, this is done, so I'm gonna sign out. Don't forget to leave a review!
