Verity felt her hair flare outward like a cobra's hood for a moment, instinctually, in response to the biggest threat she'd ever faced- which she pushed down along with the wave of please god no as she focused on the reminder that this was a real human being, a real human child/teenager (she couldn't tell at the moment), and she. Was. Not. Going. To. Freak. Out. In. Public.
"Really? Parian mentioned you before, but she didn't say you were this adorable." Verity said, focusing on ignoring her instincts so hard at the moment and instead relying on the information being fed to her by her senses and the words of her gf.
"I sure hope so," Nui replied. "And yeah Nee-san does have a habit of underplaying. She didn't say you were this beautiful."
"Hahahahaha, I'm not, that's why." Verity said, remembering exactly what happened to things Nui thought were cute. "Anyway, you probably shouldn't be down here Nui-chan," She used the honorific because 1. Weeb 2. It was 'cute' and therefore might make Nui happy and thus 3. Might make her go away. "Like I said before, it's kind of dangerous when you're not only not wearing proper protective gear, but wearing something as cute but easily snaggable as your outfit, you wouldn't want to ruin it, right?"
She gave a quick pout at the first part of Verity's sentence, it going away as she answered. "Yeah that would be pretty bad, but you don't have to worry about me Miss Medusa, I am very tough."
Verity was pretty sure the ringing in her ears at the moment was her own internal screaming at the potential implications of that last word. "Y-yeah, but, if you get snagged, it could ruin your dress, and your clothes probably aren't as tough as you right?"
"...No they aren't…" She said, "Not allowed to use daddy's special thread, well it was nice to meet you Miss Medusa, see you on Friday," Nui stated as she spun around and strouted away while humming.
Verity watched her leave intently, her words echoing in her head.
'Daddy's special thread'.
As soon as Nui was out of sight, Verity turned to the sea, and began to walk towards it.
She walked to the edge of the dock, and without hesitation, walked off, as she took a long walk off a short pier.
She felt herself hiss as she hit the salt water, but continued as she sunk to the bottom of the floor, eyes open and able to see underwater much better than she had ever been able to in the past.
It was muddy, but she could still see.
And she continued walking along the floor of the ocean.
Soon enough, she began to see fish, smaller ones. She was never big on fish, so she didn't know what they were, but they were there.
And they were all giving her a massive berth.
Except one particularly dumb fish which dared to swim towards her, and the moment it was within range, Bravo shot out and bit it into pieces, Verity not even registering its presence.
And she continued.
She walked.
And she walked.
And she walked.
And then her communicator rang.
And it rang.
And it rang.
And then it stopped.
And a moment later, she stopped.
She took the deep breath she had been holding.
Bunched it up within her lungs.
And she screamed.
It was a scream unlike any other in her life.
It was a scream of frustration, sure. But it was a scream of revelation.
A scream of contemplation.
She was not just 'in another reality'.
She was in another reality, as a clear expy of a fictional character.
Another reality with aspects of a fictional universe she knew of, her mind having cleared enough to realize that.
Meaning.
Meaning.
Meaning.
She was probably in some shitty crossover fanfic.
Verity wasn't real.
That had been an objective fact from the moment she had taken on that name- after all, she had chosen it, and her decisions didn't matter.
And know, she knew she didn't, either.
She didn't matter.
She probably didn't even have free will.
Someone, out there, some being higher than her current existence, maybe even the real version of herself, who still knew who her own name, was controlling her actions, her thoughts and words.
Even her introspection as she screamed…
Was this all…
Fake?
None of this was real.
Nothing was real.
She should just continue walking out to sea, until the nightmare ended, screaming to prove it, to ruin whatever story was being told.
Because nothing was real.
Nothing was-
"I love you Verity." A seamstress said with full sincerity.
"Thank you for saving me!" Many people said.
"Why do you care about me?" A girl having been confronted with her worst aspects asked.
"You're going to help me?" A young girl asked.
"Thank you for saving my daughter." A man that had lost his heart stated.
"Mom." A crying child spoke in sorrow.
…
…
…
She turned around.
And began to walk.
And then she walked faster.
And faster.
And faster.
Until she was running, nigh-on sprinting back to shore.
So what if it was a story?
So what if everything was fake?
So what if nothing mattered?
Verity… would make it matter.
Because there were people who needed Verity.
Because there were people who loved Verity.
Because there were still people who needed help, no matter who she was.
And she couldn't just turn her back on that.
In under a minute, she was running up the shore, jumping out of the water, and then landing with a spray of sand, tumbling to her feet and taking a deep gasp of air.
It felt real.
And that was the important part.
Her communicator rang again.
Verity pressed the button. "This is Medusa, what's the situation?"
"Hey Big V, didn't have your actual number so I had to call on this," Came the voice of Vista.
"Oh hey Vista, what's up?" Verity asked, trying to make herself not sound out of breath.
"So you know how you got me that pen recorder yesterday?" She asked, sounding very hopeful.
"Yeah?" Verity asked back. "I'm guessing you recorded something?"
"I did, dumb and dumbber blew a gasket at each other when I got home and I got most of it, and it was very juicy stuff." Missy said.
Verity felt a smile spread across her face at that. "Nice. I'll give that a listen later, do you want to come over to my place for dinner so we can do that and get you a nice home cooked Mendax Meal?"
"...That would be very nice."
"Great! You'll be able to meet Parry, it'll be nice."
"The Platypus?" Missy asked in awe.
"...Kehaehahahaha, I mean, if you want, I think she could probably make a plushie, I was talking about Parian, my bad." Verity said, voice high and giddy with mirth at the misunderstanding.
Verity could hear the silent disappointment. "Well it will be nice to properly meet her then."
"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be glad to meet you too!" Verity said as she began to walk back towards the Harbor, as it was now going to once again be known. "Oh yeah for the dinner, do you have any food allergies? And/or foods you can't eat because of whatever reason?"
"I don't, and… well I can't stand raw vegetables."
"Oh you don't have to worry about that, the only vegetables served raw and not part of a salad in my house are carrots and celery and those usually come with ranch, but noted, won't have anything like that tonight." Verity said.
"That sounds great."
"Great! So see you at… uh, let's say… 5:30-6:00 ish or do you need me to pick you up?" Verity asked, gauging the time off the sun since she was still rather wet and didn't want to ruin her phone.
"I can come on my own."
"Awesome! So see ya then, Little V~!" Verity said happily.
"Yeah see you Biggest V," Missy said back as she ended the call.
Verity sighed after a moment, a smile on her face. "People need me." She said to herself as she continued towards the Harbor, repeating it to herself internally.
"Ah Medusa where did you go, and why are you wet?" One of the female Dock Workers asked after she returned.
"Oh I just needed to clear my head, so I went for a quick swim, ended up losing track of the shore." Verity said.
She just raised an eyebrow at that. "If you say so."
"And I do." Verity said with a grin as she walked past and headed back to where she'd been working and getting back to it, humming a tune as she did.
"So how is your side project going?" Sabah asked Verity a bit after she had returned home, quickly washed up, and changed.
"Pretty good, we've cleaned out the Harbor pretty well, I think we have a week or so before it'll be operational again, and then after that we'll be switching to the volunteer work for cleaning up the surrounding area." Verity said happily. "How are the dresses going?"
"They are going well, will be able to be put on tomorrow so that I can make small adjustments to them," She answered.
"Nice!" Verity said as she went over to Sabah at the kitchen table, her girlfriend working on some sort of papers, as she leaned down and gave her a peck on the check. "So whatcha doin?"
"Filling out the last of my taxes," She answered. "And what did I do to deserve that one?"
"Existing~." Verity said as she went over the oven. "Hey, do you care if we have a guest over tonight for dinner? I'll be making it tonight obviously, it's Monday so it's my night."
"Of course not, who is it?" Sabah asked.
"Vista, who I will probably be actually adopting soon." Verity said as she began to look through her cabinets and fridge to see what she had and what she could make with it.
"Okay… oh right you mentioned that before didn't you?"
"I did?...Yeah I did." Verity said to herself. "So… yeah she's gonna be here tonight, are you cool de-masking with her or not yet?"
"I am, and speaking of that… that was actually something I was planning on doing on Friday," Sabah stated.
"What was what on Friday?" Verity asked, having not followed what she meant.
"Unmasking… in general."
"Are…" Verity turned around to look at Sabah at that, putting her full attention on her girlfriend. "Are you saying you're gonna...? Like, publicly?"
"Yes, that was always my plan," Sabah said. "And I figured Friday would be the perfect time to do it. Though now I have three reasons to do it instead of just one."
"What's reason 2 and 3?" Verity asked, having only known of reason 1 so far.
"The second involves the first a bit, but it is something that Sensei suggested and I am agreeing with, the third is well… you."
"...Okay, I'm not following, can, can you explain?" Verity asked, her brain still a little fried from the… she may have given herself brain damage from having been under water for about seven minutes, 2 of which were spent screaming. So even if the literal brain damage (which may or may not exist) had healed, she was not firing on all cylinders at the moment.
"Like I said, the third reason I am doing it now is because of you," Sabah stated again.
"Elaborate?" Verity asked, not able to see how her going public would… "Oh, you mean, you mean so we can just do stuff on our own out in public?"
"Yeah when we go out it can only be Medusa and Parian or Verity and Parian, it can not be Verity and Sabah if I keep it."
"I mean we technically can, we could go out with you as you, but I completely understand what you're saying, and… if you think you're, ready for that?"
"I am, and if we did that thing people would instantly know that I am Parian," Sabah responded.
"Yeah that's what I was saying, but… if you really want to, then… I'm going to support you all the way." Verity said, putting a hand on Sabah's, holding it in her own a moment later. "I… if you, if you do do that though, you're… what are you going to do about your family?"
"...I… That is what the unwritten rules are supposed to be for," Sabah answered now sounding a bit unsure.
Verity sighed. "And how did you end up living with me again?"
"By Bakuda literally blowing up the rules," She responded.
"Exactly." Verity said. "Which… I'm not saying 'don't do it', I'm saying… I haven't even met your family, but I don't think they'd be… safe, necessarily, as is. I… I know, I know this is a big thing, but… I don't… want… you to experience… losing… your family, too." She said slowly, painfully, as it sank in that, with her earlier revelations, she was likely never going home.
"But you're also my family, and I want to spend as much time with you," Sabah said.
"And I want to spend time with you, too." Verity said softly. "But I… all I'm saying is, let's maybe make sure they have some amount of protection first, is all. Because I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts the 88 is not going to give a shit about the rules."
She took a deep breath in realization at that. "I almost forgot about the Nazis for a second there."
"Yeah." Verity said. "If you… if you feel comfortable, with us getting some protection for them, like some mundane protection, maybe… maybe even Faultline's Crew if you would feel better with some powered protection for them?"
"Maybe… I don't know, I think I am going to put it off for now," Sabah stated. "Going to need to think about it more."
"If you feel safer that way then yeah." Verity said. "But uh… what was the reason with Sensei?"
"Some of it involved my first point in making a statement regarding racial assumptions and stuff like, that she said if I did it would make a deal we're working on will be much easier to do," She answered.
"Now is that a fashion deal, or…?" Verity asked.
"Kinda more like a business one, as thanks to your efforts with the Boat Graveyard she decided that she would set up a REVOCS Distribution Center here in BB, and she asked if I wanted to finally make my Dollhouse Store a reality, by supplementing it with High Quality REVOCS Clothing."
"Okay, so here's the thing about what you just said." Verity said as she sat down at the table, still holding Sabah's hand. "I talked to Nui today."
"Oh you met with Nui today? How was she?" Sabah asked.
"She seemed fine, a little reckless for sneaking out to where I was working while her mama was talking business, and wearing lolita and no safety gear on an active worksite, but otherwise, as long as the eyepatch was a preexisting or fashion thing, she seemed fine. Cute, even."
"Her favorite kind of clothing, and it's an old injury," Sabah responded with a slight tone of sadness.
"Yeah so, sheeeee snuck out and talked to me a bit, and she mentioned 'daddy's special threads'." Verity said calmly, still on the zen of her realization earlier.
"Ah you're talking about Mr. Kiryuin's Tinker stuff?" Sabah said. "Though don't tell anybody I've mentioned that."
"So is he quantifiably a Tinker that makes that stuff himself?" Veriy asked, trying to figure out how exactly the-things-that-were-definitely-not-Life-Fibers-hopefully-maybe fit into the grand scheme of things here.
"Oh yeah, it's like the one thing he has been working on for years, like I don't know his speciality is, but I think it's just… clothing, maybe I don't know."
"Okay, I'm just trying to figure things out here." Verity said, no small amount of relief filling her, though she still kept the possibility that was just a cover story in the back of her mind.
"Ah, trying to figure out how it is different from what you know about them," Sabah stated. "Well if we go by comic book logic would you call it cosmic coincidence?"
"...Sure, we could go with that." Verity said, not wanting to properly breach the topic of her earlier revelations in that regard. "So I'm trying to see if the 'special thread' is the creation of a Tinker and not… you know, parasitic mind control aliens."
"Yeah that last part would be bad… so let's get started on dinner shall we?" Sabah said completely changing the topic.
"Yeah, lets… ooh, wait, do you think maybe the REVOCS corp would be able to provide security for your family, because like, you know?"
"Maybe."
"Alright, now let's focus on making dinner… wait, no, you finish your taxes first, those are really important!"
"Hey Biggest V," Missy said as she entered her home.
"Little V! Come on in, come on in." Verity said as she ushered the Littlest V (so far…) in and closed the door behind her. "Dinner's almost ready, just gonna ask ya to wash up before we eat, and I already drew the curtains so you should be good to demask when you feel comfortable."
"I am good now," Missy answered as she held up a small bag that probably contained her casual clothes. "And wow this place looks homely."
"Well… yeah, it's my home?" Verity asked, a bit confused by the comment. "I mean like, are, are you saying it's too small, or?"
"No, I am saying it looks like people actually live here," Missy answered.
"Oh! Oh yeah, I hate minimalism and that rich people aesthetic." Verity said as she led Missy into the living room (which was to say, about five feet from the door), decorated with Hero Merch, a bit more than before, now joined by a picture of Sabah and Verity in costume in the back of the house posing dramatically and 'heroically'.
Especially as of late with Sabah frantically designing their outfits for the Gala, the room looked particularly cluttered.
"Wow, that is a lot of cloth," Missy said as she looked around.
"Well hello there Vista," Parian said from the kitchen.
"Hey Parian," Vista said back. "So where was the bathroom?" Missy asked.
"Oh, right, sorry, back this way, I'm a little discombobulated right now." Verity said, pointing her to the door near the front door.
"Thanks," The young girl replied as she went into the bathroom.
"Man she is adorable," Parian spoke, and as she moved her doll body clanked a bit.
"Yeaup." Verity agreed. "Also, babe, do you need to like, oil your joints now or whatever? You sound kind of squeaky."
"...I don't actually know," She answered as she stared at her porcelain-like body. "Maybe."
"Well, we can test that out later if you want, I know I'd love if I could have my joints oiled…" Verity muttered. She hadn't really had as much issues with creaky joints since becoming herself, but the memories of creaky bones lingered strongly.
Her thumbs were still double jointed, but really she was pretty sure most of her body was double jointed or whatever the equivalent of that was considering her already pretty-good flexibility had increased tremendously.
"You can oil me up any day of the week," Parian said jokingly.
"...That sounds like a sexual thing when you say it like that, don't say that when there's kids in the house." Verity said, not denying she would. "Anyway, just to make sure again, you're cool with demasking? Cause like you especially don't have to to eat dinner."
"I am, I can trust Vista, really any of the Wards, and it would be the height of rudeness if she did and I didn't," She replied.
"Fair." Verity said with a shrug.
"And I am done," Missy said as she returned to the living room dressed in normal clothing. "Hey Parian the name is Missy."
"Hello Missy," Parian said as she returned to her normal form. "My name is Sabah. I am pleased to meet you, I hope you like Pizza Casserole."
"I've never had that before," Missy answered. "But it sounds awesome."
"If you like pizza and pasta then it absolutely is." Verity confirmed, since it was her mom's recipe.
"That I do," Missy replied. "So do we eat first and then you can hear that stuff?"
"Is that what you wanna do?" Verity asked. "Cause like, I think it… Sabs did you take it out yet?"
"I was about to," She answered.
"Oh shi-" Verity said, quickly going over and opening the oven, taking the glass tray out with her bare hands before carefully setting it on the stovetop to cool. "...Okay, it only got a little crispy on the edges, that's the good kind of burned, okay, okay." She said mostly to herself, as while Verity quite enjoyed burnt food she knew most people did not.
"Yeah I would like to eat first, don't wanna ruin the meal," Missy answered.
"That's fine, we just need to give this a few minutes to cool first." Verity said as she turned off the oven and turned on the hood over it to air it out before focusing on her guest as she opened the fridge. "So in the meanwhile, what do you want to drink Missy? We've got milk, water, iced tea, root beer, ginger ale, and sprite." She said, still inwardly rejoicing at having found her preferred brand of fruity iced tea already existed here and thus had ended up buying an entire assortment of the tall cans, grabbing a 'Sno-Berry' one for herself awhile.
"Iced tea please," She answered as she took a seat at the table.
"Green Tea, Georgia Peach, Lemonade Tea, Sweet Lemon, Sno-Berry, or Razzleberry?" Verity asked, reading off the assortment of flavors she had.
"Lemonade Tea," Missy responded.
"Got it, Sabs, do you want anything from the fridge while it's open?"
"Sprite for me today," Her girl answered.
"Got it." Verity said, Charlie being used to hold the three at once without risking dropping any as she closed the fridge and brought the drinks over.
"That's a big can," Missy said simply as she stared at it.
"Oh yeah sorry do want a cup?" Verity asked, having forgotten the abnormally large cans weren't 'the perfect size' for normal people.
"Nope," Missy answered as she popped it open and took a swig from the can, which she had to use both hands for.
"Izzit good?" Verity asked, since she wanted to share the glory of Peace Tea.
"I am going to start buying this brand myself now," Was her response.
"No you're not." Verity shut down immediately.
"Huh?"
"I buy 'em in bulk, the house is always going to be fully stocked with the stuff, you won't need to buy any for yourself." Verity explained. "...Also, I have to order them, they aren't really sold locally yet, but I'm looking to do a brand deal with Monster so they actually hit the shelves nearby… and maybe provide some for free."
"Sellout," Was the response from both.
"Hey, I have my needs, and one of them is fruity tea, alright?" Verity said jokingly-defensively.
"That sounds like an addiction," Missy said.
"No, I can go a few months to a year without it, it's just my preferred drink." Verity explained. "Now cheese, on the other hand, that may be an addiction for me, but we're spiraling off topic wildly right now aren't we?"
"We are, we're supposed to be eating now," Sabah said.
"Right, Pizza Pasta time." Verity said as she cut and plated a nice hearty section of the casserole for each and then set them down in front of each. "Voila. Pizza Casserole."
"That smells good," Missy stated.
"It should taste just as good." Verity said as she sat down. "Now mangia mangia, eat eat." She said like her grandmother would.
"So when did you become Italian?" Missy asked.
"Birth." Verity said flatly.
"...Oh."
"I'm also Polish, Pennsylvania Duetch, Native American, German Jewish, Welsh technically, some stuff we're not sure about because my one grandma's mom didn't know her parents, uh… Heinz 57 basically, I'm probably a little bit of everything." Verity said.
"Wow so you're everything the 88 hates distilled into one person," Missy said. "Nice."
"Ohhh yeah, oh yeah, yeah." Verity agreed.
"And our relationship probably would further incense them," Sabah added.
"Oh god yeah, interracial gay couple, the second we become public at least one of their heads may literally explode in sheer racist rage."
"And that doesn't even take into account the major fucking up of their Capes," Missy said. "Though they did manage to get Rune when she arrived at the Juvenile Detention Center for Capes."
"Ok one, language." Verity said. "And two… what happened at the Juvie Center?"
"The remaining 88 Capes went for her as the rest were basically a lost cause as they didn't have man power to do that busts anymore with you having taken out both the twins, and Hookwolf. The only powerhouses left are Kaiser and Krieg, would count Purity but she hasn't really hung out with them for the past two years, and Night and Fog are in Boston though they might bring them back now along with other Gesellshaft Capes," Missy explained.
"Gesundheit."
Both girls chuckled at that as they ate.
"Anyway, that sounds bad, how have I not heard of this yet?"
"That had happened like ten minutes before I left, Armsmaster is probably making a report right now and will be sending it to you in the morning," Missy said.
"Oh. Okay." Verity said, accepting that but not liking it, especially as she learned (re-learned?) one of the Nazi Capes had been young enough to end up in Juvie instead of jail, meaning she had to have been young and probably raised in that bullshit. "That sucks." She understated simply.
"Yeah it does, but Alabaster, Hookball, the Twins, Baka Statue, and also Bad Canary are now in the Birdcage," Missy said, though as Missy said the name Bad Canary Sabah cringed a bit.
"'Bad' Canary?" Verity asked, the name sounding… vaguely familiar.
"She was a Rogue Singer that got rather popular last year, her power enhanced her singing but afterward made people suggestible to orders by her," Sabah explained.
"...Oh no." Verity said, vaguely remembering something about that and easily able to put two and two together. "Did she tell someone to screw themself or something and didn't realize?"
"Her ex-boyfriend," Missy answered.
Verity did a full body cringe at the image that popped into her head at that. "On the one hand, I feel bad, on the other hand I feel really bad for that guy… let's cease this conversation while we're eating."
"Yeah," Sabah said as she took another bite.
After that, the conversation lulled into duller topics and actually eating, Missy getting a second hearty serving of Pizza Casserole but denying a third, before eventually they finished up and moved to the living room, Vista bringing her still half full can of tea with her and putting it on the coffee table, Sabah taking her gear and heading downstairs to continue working on the dress and not interfere with the conversation about to happen.
"Alright, so." Verity said after she got over the surprise of Missy deciding to sit next to her on the couch. "You said you got something?"
"I did," Missy answered as she took out the pen.
"Are you okay to play it?" Verity asked, not daring to touch the pen herself, still not trusting herself with delicate tools even now.
" I am, it's not something I am not used to hearing," Missy replied as it played back the singular audio file that was on it.
And it was…
Well Missy had not been wrong in saying that it could probably ruin dinner for other people.
For what she heard being said between the two that called themselves Missy's parents was some of the most toxic shit she had ever heard, and the way they spoke she could easily see how they had not just left each other already. The two were simply too proud to admit defeat and so constantly tried to one up each other until one of them broke and one could get all the money for they did not know how to let go of materialistic goods.
And all of it was spoken in hearing distance of a small girl that had to hear it on a constant basis.
"...Missy can you put down the pen real quick?" Verity asked slowly.
"Okay," She answered as she put it down on the coffee table.
Immediately, Verity gently pulled her into a hug.
Which Missy leaned into.
"We're going… we're going to make sure you won't have to go back to them ever again, alright?" Verity said softly, as always channeling her rage towards kindness. "That's a promise."
"You already promised that," Missy said through a few choked sobs.
"Then let's say it's more than a promise." Verity said. "It's the truth."
"I believe you."
Xxx
A/N: If you like this or any other of my stories, you can donate to my Sub scribe Star . Adult (slash) StreamingViking and read commissioned stories and chapters before they are released here. Along with voting for which stories will be updated next via Polls.
