Pick Your Poison
The Pathfinder
[Wednesday, December 8, 2010]
"Are you sure you don't want to go home?" Hannah asked of her, for possibly the tenth time, getting Missy Biron to sigh at her well-meaning superior's needling.
"I'm sure. There's nothing to really go home to anyway." Missy grumbled from the passenger seat of Hannah's civilian vehicle, a normal plain white sedan that barely got any use. So little use in fact, that it still had that unpleasant factory-fresh new car smell. "Can't I go on patrol though? All this inaction since we dealt with Silbón is getting to me."
"Director Piggot's orders once she awoke were very clear Vista. We're in a holding pattern to recover. You should be taking every opportunity to relax that you can, which is why I'm so confused you called me to take you to the PRT instead of just going home." Hannah needled again, and Missy groaned.
"You know what my home life is like. I'd get no rest there." Missy's statement was not exaggerated. "I won't get much at the Wards HQ, but I'll be more relaxed with my friends."
"Well, only Lily and Weld are on base right now, but that's because they don't know more people in town yet." Hannah stated, getting Missy to cheer up a bit.
Lily was a nice girl, fun too. Compared to Sophia she's a saint, but then that would be cruel to Sophia. Ever since Winslow got sabotaged with that Surge stuff and she's been getting therapy like the rest of them, she's calmed down a good bit. She's still mean, but at least it's moderated compared to before. That said, Lily was a good friend already, but Missy felt an odd sort of wistfulness from the older girl, and she couldn't help feeling grossed out at how Lily ogles Sophia. Nothing against her tastes, but Missy hoped the girl wouldn't get too close to the brute.
As for Weld, he was such a nice guy. Also, his body, meow. Sure, he wasn't Dean, but Weld was a calm and collected person, mature for his assumed age of under 18. And he was a literal living metal sculpture of male perfection. Me. Yow. Missy felt a bit embarrassed, but she just turned 13 in November, and all sorts of awkward teenager things were happening to her. Such as fawning over guys because they were attractive outwardly as well as in personality.
"Missy? Are you alright?" At Hannah's questioning, Missy snapped out of her daydreaming and felt a little flushed at realizing she was daydreaming about someone other than Dean.
"Uh, yeah! I'm fine! Just wondering when we'll all be like Sophia." Big. Strong. Curvy. Missy felt so jealous when Sophia showed up looking like she stole the puberty fairy's magic dust. At least it really was magic dust, dust Missy was very hopeful to get her hands on.
"I'd rather we never do, but the chain of command has given the okay and we're already getting ready to use the captured Surge. But even so you won't be getting any young lady." Hannah declared as she opened her door since they'd arrived in the PRT's underground parking garage, and Missy gawked at the patriotic heroine in shock before she quickly jumped out as well.
"What do you mean?! Sophia's already a buff olympic weightlifter! Why can't we get a boost too?!" Missy was looking forward to it! She wanted it so bad! She'd been looking up her medical records and how people develop, and she was crushed to realize that at her tender age of 13, of barely reaching 5 feet, that she might never get any taller! She could be stuck a munchkin with no boobs! How could she get Dean's attention then?!
"Missy. Sophia was a victim of a biological attack. She didn't have a choice. We're not going to do the same as Dealer and expose underage children to what is essentially a gene mod." Hannah declared severely, but Missy wasn't having it.
"I don't wanna be tiny forever! Even if it's just a small bit, let me have some so I can get at least a foot taller!" Missy pleaded, but Hannah just crossed her arms under her already fairly generous bust, which irritated Missy more. Why should she get bigger boobs?! She already had a chest and body to be proud of!
"No Missy. This was decided by Colin and the Director, as well as more or less decided for us anyway by the Youth Guard. Just don't worry about things like this Missy. You'll grow up, you're still young." Hannah's words were true, somewhat, but they didn't hold the same value that they did a couple years ago.
"Not that young!" Missy knew she wouldn't be able to sway Hannah, this had rapidly devolved into an old argument that she never won before, and wasn't about to now. In a fit, she used her power to shrink the distance between her and the garage elevator, crossed the distance in a single step, entered her passcode, and stepped into the tinkertech elevator before Hannah could protest beyond a couple words Missy couldn't hear. "Stupid adults. Making decisions for us as usual." Making decisions for her as usual.
Missy shimmied her backpack as she adjusted her purple sweater sleeves in the warmer atmosphere of the elevator, and fluffed her green skirt before it opened into the pristine plain white hall leading to the Tower. The Wards HQ was fairly ironically named since the so-called Tower was barely a few floors higher than the rest of the PRT building, which itself wasn't that tall despite being in Downtown. Something about it being a defunct BBPD building before being repurposed and refurbished for the PRT. With the Rig defunct, it was currently quite crowded.
Missy's musings on the irony of her workplace aside, she approached the door and put her eyes to the retinal scanner. After a few chirps it beeped in approval and the seamless wall capping the 'end' of the hall interleaved open to reveal-WHO IS THAT?! "Guys! Why didn't you turn on the visitor warning?!" Missy screeched, her voice cracking in her panic as she spun around and fished in her skirt pocket for her emergency domino mask.
"Sorry Vista! It was really sudden and we didn't get much warning. We also didn't hear anything about anyone else coming today." Lily, currently Flechette in her skintight, deep purple costume with a visor, quiver, and narrow platinum-white armor panels that flared out at the upper edges and tapered at the bottom, kinda like an arrow.
"Yes, we're sorry Vista. I'm sorry for the oversight." Weld apologized earnestly, getting Missy to promptly feel a little warm from his somewhat resonating voice. His metal body made his speech a little tinny or resonating depending on what metal he's using for his larynx at the time, and this time it was like he was speaking through a brass tuba somehow. That and the glimpse she caught before whirling around was he was just wearing his usual sleeveless jersey, basketball shorts, and his plastic headphones. Mm, those arms of adonis….
"I-it's fine! He was looking the other way anyhow, so he didn't see anything." Vista admitted as she put the lightly adhesive domino mask over her eyes, and turned around to get a good look at the visitor. He was about her age she guessed. About her height actually. Which, again, didn't give her confidence since he definitely was still growing. He was wearing a visitor's domino mask, which meant he was probably a cape, and his clothes were a bit...colorful.
"Um...hi! I'm, uh, Hourglass! Nice to meet you!" The admittedly scrawny tan brown-haired brown-eyed boy greeted as he tugged nervously on the hem of his red, purple, and green patterned sweater, shifting his feet and showing that his sneakers were a little worn out and oversized with how they visibly hung on his ankles. Also he was wearing sweatpants. Don't get her wrong, Missy had nothing against sweatpants, but when they were dyed green and blue she had a bit of an issue with them. Was he colorblind?
"Nice to meet you too Hourglass. You here to join the Wards?" Vista asked as she entered the common room and dumped her backpack on one of the recliners.
"Um, I hope? My parents don't really trust the government, especially since we lived in what was Empire territory for a long time." At Hourglass's comment, Missy withheld a wince. He clearly wasn't from a 'white' family considering his lightly tanned skin, so it must've been really hard on his family to have lived in Nazi turf.
"Sorry to hear that. So what do you do?" Vista shifted focus as she sat on the couch, which seemed to at least encourage the boy to sit in a recliner facing her while Lily and Weld joined her, even if Weld did sink rather deeply into the reinforced furniture.
"I, uh, steal time." Hourglass nervously informed, getting Missy to blink in surprise. "I, um, from what those doctors downstairs said, I'm a Grab-Bag cape."
"So...how does that come together?" Vista asked curiously, and Lily leaned over towards her as Hourglass suddenly seemed very sad.
"He triggered when he and his family were about to be killed by Reaver. Clockblocker and...Velocity were nearby." Lily whispered, getting Missy's eyes to widen and feel a sharp pang of sadness herself. That meant Hourglass was the one who killed Reaver in the reports of a 'fresh trigger' killing the Teeth parahuman, just minutes before Robin ran to support Lily's group upon them recognizing a new villain threat and was killed by Coco which Lily was forced to see.
This meant that Hourglass had 'pinged' off of Reaver, Dennis and Robin. It wasn't common knowledge, but it was evidenced that Grab-Bag capes get an assortment of powers related to the powers of nearby parahumans or group Triggers. Reaver's power was some sort of Shaker/Breaker effect that weakened things around him and strengthened himself. That combined with Clockblocker's Striker-based time power and the late Velocity's personal sort of time-acceleration/spacial-distorting Breaker effect and whatever spin on it Hourglass's power decided to add, he was potentially really powerful.
"So did you do power testing then?" Vista asked in curiosity, trying not to dwell on the fact that this boy her age had killed someone during his Trigger Event to protect his family, or that in some twisted way, he was possibly some sort of spiritual successor to Velocity depending on his powers.
"Yeah! It was fun! I ran around, they tried shooting me with paintballs and water guns, I went through an obstacle course-." Whoa. Floodgates open! Missy was having a bit of trouble understanding Hourglass now that she touched a subject he was excited about. Also his speech was interspersed with weird words or even words in a language she couldn't place. "-So it turns out I'm really, really fast! I mean, I can't tell when I'm making everything so slow around me, but-."
"Whoa, whoa! Slow down! I barely even got half of that. Could you explain your powers more slowly?" Was he actually speeding himself up already? Was that why she couldn't understand him?
"Oh, uh, sorry. Um...basically, I slow everything around me for ten feet down, and I get faster in, um, verse? Inverse? Uh, I get faster as everything gets slower, and the faster I am, the harder I hit." Hourglass tried to explain, and Vista had to gawk a bit. That was basically the exact opposite of how Velocity's power had worked. The faster Velocity went, the less he could affect the world around him, but with Reaver's power combined with Clock's power mixed in and whatever his main power is, it seemed his powers synergized!
"You have no idea how rare you are Hourglass." Lily commented in a tone approaching a bit of awe. "Most Grab-Bags just have a bunch of weak powers that don't really have much or anything to do with each other. But all your powers work together?"
"Uh, yeah. I can use each power separately, but when I combine them, I get a huge rush! Like drinking an energy drink!" Hourglass gushed as he bounced in his chair. His excitement was interrupted when the visitor alarm sounded. "Uh, what's that?"
"That's the visitor alarm. It lets us know we're having a visitor who doesn't know us personally and gives us a minute to mask up." Weld informed and then added a chuckle which sent tingles down Missy's spine. "Not that I can or need to, it's a courtesy to us either way." With that explained, the door soon opened and revealed a very greasy looking man of incredible height and bulk, but his gut told his size and muscles weren't due to Surge. His brown eyes were severe and his slick black hair clashed with his casual T-shirt and jeans, and Miss Militia looked as if she was restraining striking him from behind she was so visibly furious.
"Take that thing off your face Lolea, you're part of their little club now." The rough and mean-looking man declared with all the derision and dislike as if he'd been talking to an ugly stray dog rather than who Missy assumed was his son. "You lot take care of my boy or I'll break you." The man growled at Miss Militia, who merely nodded, and he turned to storm out with all the elegance of a raging bull. Despite the incredibly off-putting display though, Lolea as he was revealed, cheered as if he'd been told it was Christmas already and peeled off his mask.
"I'm Lolea Marks! I'm so happy to be working with you!" Lolea declared, hopping out of his seat and reaching a hand out to Missy, who hesitated from bemusement before she took off her mask and smiled back just as excitedly. He may not be a girl, but at least he was her age.
"Missy Biron! If you move fast and mess with time, you and I are gonna be an epic team!" Missy could see it now. Her manipulating the battlefield and Lolea using his power to quickly shut down all resistance with their synergy making everyone else helpless! It'll be even better than when she did training with Robin, as much as it hurt to admit such.
"So what was that about?" Lily asked of Militia, who had entered the common room and seemed to be calming down.
"That...man is perhaps the most backwards, misogynistic, and demanding person I've had the utter displeasure to talk to. Lolea, you can stay here as long as you want." Militia declared insistently, and Lolea seemed even happier. What sort of environment was Lolea subjected to?!
"So he's disowned me? Yes! This is the best day ever!" Lolea's remark disturbed Missy incredibly. Didn't he Trigger to protect his family? Why would his father disown him after he saved their lives?!
"Not so much disowned as he's decided to hand custody over to the State." Militia weakly tried to soften the matter before she lowered her mask. "Well then Lolea, I'm Hannah. Welcome to the family." Lolea cheered again before rushing and hugging Hannah, who looked disturbed but accepting as she hugged him back, all while Missy couldn't process this.
"Wait, what is going on here?! Lolea, Hannah, just...what?!" Missy couldn't comprehend someone being HAPPY their family just fell apart-why is Hannah hugging her? Why is she hyperventilating? Can't breathe. CAN'T BREATHE! OH GOD WHY-?!
"Breathe Missy! Breathe! Calm down!" Hannah urged fiercely as she squeezed the young girl tightly while Missy clutched onto her, choking back sobs. She's not a little girl. She's not a baby! She tried pushing Hannah away, but couldn't with her weak little arms. Her power couldn't help her get distance due to the Manton limit on her power. "Shh, it's okay Missy. We're all here." Hannah gently soothed as she rocked Missy back and forth, and she couldn't help it, crying quietly as she tried not to focus on what set her off, trying to get her mind off of it.
"What's wrong? Did I do something?" Lolea worriedly asked, but Missy was too busy burying her face in Hannah's comforting bosom. Something her own mother never really did for her.
"No. It's nothing you did. Lily, Weld, go give Lolea the full tour." Hannah ordered, and the two older teens guided Lolea away. Once alone, and Missy had managed to calm down enough, Hannah released her. "Are you feeling any better?"
"No! How can he be happy! How is he so overjoyed about something that made me…." Missy shuddered, trying not to think about it. Unicorns. Kittens. Puppies. That Tiny Simurgh Friendbringer that wants to be everyone's friend meme even. Whatever to distract.
"Missy. Lolea's family is a very strict Romani family from Europe. They may have immigrated here in his grandfather's time, but Romanis are rigid to their beliefs and culture. That includes their religion, and we all know how cruel die-hard Christians are to Parahumans." Hannah's explanation helped ease Missy's anxiety. "To be honest, I'm surprised his father even cared once his son became what amounts in their household to be a 'demon' to arrange proper care with us rather than throw him to the wolves. And threaten us on top of it."
"Shame there can't be more accepting Christians like the group New Haven down south." Missy muttered. She hated religion, it just made things worse for a lot of people. Die-hard Christians and Catholics declare Parahumans to be agents of the devil, fanatics declare they're agents of heaven or venerate Scion as a god. Both extremes just caused more suffering, and the less said about The Fallen the better. Then there's the rare ones like New Haven who have managed to carve out a place for themselves in temperance and acceptance. They were the exception.
"Indeed. Will you be fine with Lolea?" Hannah asked gently, and Missy nodded her head. If he was happy to get away from a stifling environment, then she wasn't going to let it get to her. Besides, he was fun. "Good. I hope you'll be able to make him feel welcome."
"I'd be able to do it better if I was taller than him." Missy bitterly stated, and Hannah sighed as she rubbed her forehead.
"It's out of my hands even if I wanted to change their minds Missy. If Dealer is somehow still around when you're older, or we have safe stores of his Surge then, you could still use it." Hannah insisted, and Missy weakly sighed in defeat.
"Fine. I'll stay your PR-friendly little dwarf." Missy grumbled, getting Hannah to sigh again, and then she went to go find Lolea and likely keep orienting him to his new environment. Missy meanwhile went to the couch and slumped into it. She was planning to watch something on TV when her PRT phone buzzed. She checked it and saw it was an announcement about the team utilizing the captured Surge, but saying only the Protectorate was to have access. Great. As if she needed to be reminded. Probably the only reason they're hearing about it this way is because she made a stink of it to Hannah.
She turned off her PRT phone, only to get a buzz from her personal phone. Checking it, she got a text from Sophia of all people. Huh? She has the same opinion as her? The text was basically her claiming this was unfair to the team, that she shouldn't be the only one to benefit. Huh. Missy didn't take Sophia for a team player, but again that was unfair to her since she was trying to improve.
Then she got another text. This one addressed to her personally since it started with 'Hey Munchkin' which irritated Missy, but it was still better than the former titles of Brat or Runt she used to have. Also Sophia used it affectionately, so she could forgive it.
As she read down, her eyes widened, her palms got a bit sweaty and her heart sped up. Sophia still had access to Surge?! How?! Well, she does go to Winslow, maybe she has some of the tainted water bottled or something? Was that why she was still getting more buff after the school was cleaned? Missy frantically texted back, and got a response that yes, Sophia bottled some of the water once she realized why she was bulking up so fast, that she had cases of it but wasn't getting any bigger now, so she figured the team could benefit on the sly.
Missy couldn't have pleaded for some faster, promising favors, anything to get tall, to get big, which Sophia agreed to. Missy looked down at her petite, childish body. A body she always felt was wrong for her. She was the most mature person here, her body should match! When Sophia agreed and said it would have to be gradual, to hide it as being a natural growth spurt, she agreed. Missy giggled, kicking her feet. Soon she'd be able to look Dean in the eye easier. Especially since he and Vicky had gotten more intimate when she went full amazon princess. Hopefully she'd get even taller, and bustier! Missy giggled at the thought, daydreaming.