Taylor Hebert stared at the pile of textbooks she would no longer need. Thanks to her new friend, she would never again have to suffer any more cruelty and injustice at Winslow High. She would never have to see Sophia or Madison ever again. Maybe she could even put Emma behind her. In the blink of an eye, her life had changed. She was going to Arcadia.
Not only was she changing schools, she was going to be in the Wards. She was going to be a hero. And it was all thanks to Haru. After she decided on her cape name, Taylor would do something nice for Haru, as thanks.
She lazily ordered a roach to skitter over her desk.
Emily Piggot sipped a cup of coffee at her desk.
The boy was dangerous, mentally unstable, and uncontrollable. And even more frightening was that he held to his word and joined the Wards. She knew that the Wards wasn't the right place for the boy. Even if Zetsu wasn't a case 53, the boy was likely more powerful than Eidolon. It wasn't far to think he might even be something like Scion, just an unexplainable human shaped being.
He had read her memories and healed her old wounds. And then he had willingly come into the Wards as he said he would. She would never have told him to join the Wards if she had known what he was capable of beforehand. Now, the boy was a security risk and his motives and connections were unfathomable.
What scared her the most was that she felt that she could trust him. She wanted to kill him for all the paperwork he had caused her the last couple days but Emily felt hopeful that Zetsu would be a good thing for the city in the end. Hopefully she'd be able to convince her superiors to give him a chance.
Arcadia was bright and clean and fascinating. Haru wandered the halls, looking for her first class. Instead of her traditional Chinese silk clothes, she was wearing a white hoodie and a pleated skirt. This was the first time since her first life that she had attended an American high school and she was glad to be rid of Japanese history classes.
She entered a classroom and asked, "Is this freshman English?"
The middle aged man behind the desk in the corner answered, "Yes. Another new student? You can sit in the back with the other transfer student until we change the arranged seating again."
Haru took a seat in the back row next to a scrawny teenage girl wearing a plain t-shirt.
"Is that what you look like under your coat?" Taylor whispered as Haru sat down.
"Huh? I'm wearing a sweatshirt," Haru answered.
"I mean, is than an illusion or...?"
The redhaired girl moved away from the teen. "I don't understand what you're talking about. If you're talking about my chest, yes, it's real," she answered, slightly offended. It wasn't her fault that she was well-endowed. Or rather, it wasn't her fault that chakra tended to make for 'health' ninja.
"Sorry, I must have mistaken you for someone else," Taylor said, noticing that the girl's eyes were a matching brown and that the girl's voice was different from the boy that had saved her.
"That's okay. At this one high school near Tokyo, there was a girl who looked a lot like me too. We ended up becoming really good friends. We used to spar all the time before and after school. She was really strong. And her brother was a really strong martial artist too. Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Haru Ikari. Yoroshiku," she said with a tiny bow in her seat. She then extended her hand to the girl next to her.
Taylor decided to play along and shook Haru's hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"Are you ready for your power evaluation, Zetsu?" Piggot asked over the testing area loudspeaker.
"I told you that while my real body is at school, I will only be at half strength. I will proceed as long as you understand that these test results will be inaccurate," Zetsu answered mechanically.
"Understood. We'll start with some basic combat parameters. Please destroy the target in whatever way you like," Piggot said as a circular target rose about 50 meters from Zetsu. Next to her in the observation deck was Armsmaster who was equipped with a different Halberd than the day before. His helmet computer was running multiple analysis programs as he observed the new Ward.
"Well, as long as I'm showing off..." Zetsu muttered to himself. In a split second, he withdrew a trio of kunai from the storage seal and flung them simultaneously into the center of the target, shattering the small plastic disc.
Armsmaster triple checked his HUD before telling Director Piggot, "The projectiles reached a top speed of over two hundred miles per hour. That's parahuman territory."
Piggot announced, "That was good, Zetsu. Please destroy this next target using a different method than the first one." She pressed a button on the console and another target appeared from the floor nearby the ruins of the first target.
Zetsu gathered a ball of swirling fire in his right hand and threw it into the disc, immolating and tearing apart the plastic at the same time.
"Again, please choose a different method for this next target."
Zetsu closed the distance in an instant with a body flicker technique and smashed the back of his hand into the target.
For the next target, he sliced the plastic to ribbons with razor thin chakra threads. The next one he blew apart with a ki blast. Then he stopped the testing to announce, "My other attack is too destructive for this room and the power required would cause this instance of myself to cease."
Piggot and Armsmaster then had the boy smash force sensors, react to foam projectiles, and defend against laser blasts with his forcefield. Eventually Piggot spoke solemnly and with a tinge of fear, "Stranger 10. Striker 2. Shaker 3. Blaster 7. Brute 7. Mover 5."
"Are you kidding? That would put him on the level of Eidolon," Armsmaster said in disbelief.
The director pushed the intercom button to ask the boy, "Zetsu, do you think there are any more powers that should be noted for your handler's sake?"
"If you noted the telekinesis then the only other major thing would be the ability to sense life. Every morning I attune myself to the life energies of nature which lets me know the position and general status of all complex life nearby."
Piggot groaned and rested her face against her palm. "That's a thinker rating, isn't it?"
Armsmaster was equally as exasperated. "I'm fine with just not mentioning it. He's already got enough numbers as is."
Zetsu continued, "I can ordinarily order crows to do my bidding but they are a bit dumber than the crows I'm used to. I'm also adept at making storage seals that allow me to store practically anything indefinitely."
Armsmaster's eye twinkled in interest. "You have unlimited storage capacity in that coat of yours?"
Zetsu shrugged. "Let's say yes for simplicity sake."
Emily Piggot groaned once again and wondered how much coffee she would need to finish all the paperwork to cover up everything that had happened here today. Not to mention all the revisions to SOP that Zetsu's abilities required. Passwords and electronic cameras were useless if Zetsu's target was convinced they were hearing the correct password and seeing nothing of interest on electronic monitors. It was probably for the best that Zetsu was at 'half strength'. Eidolon wouldn't have a chance otherwise.
