Verity turned off the pen as the playback stopped.

"That has not been edited in any way has it?" Armsmaster asked in what was probably the most serious and grim tone Verity had heard him use yet.

She shook her head. "This pen only records and plays back. No editing, no uploading, just an analog sound recorder."

"I see, and you provided this for Vista?" He asked for confirmation.

"Yes, after a minor revelation involving cop dramas and wires." Verity said, which was entirely true, as in her head the connection was made to those after TT suggested a recorder.

"I see," The man said with a tone of shame in his voice, and Verity could tell the man was probably thinking himself an idiot for not thinking of the same. "Thank you."

"How could I not?" Verity said. "Like I keep saying, I'm here to help."

"I know," Armsmaster responded. "But Vista's homelife has been a personal failing of us, of mine since we became aware of it. But this should show both the Youth Guard and the CPS that she is not living in a safe and healthy environment."

Vertiy allowed herself a smile at that. "That's exactly what I was hoping to hear." She paused as she actually fully processed his words. "Wait, sorry, I can infer, but what is the Youth Guard exactly?"

"Was it not in your files?" Armsmaster asked.

"It… may have been?" Verity asked back, unsure. "I think my memory issues are well known at this point, right?"

"Yes and they can not be helped, though I would recommend taking notes, notes are always good," Armsmaser said. "Though to refresh your memories, the Youth Guard is a non-profit organisation that is meant to ensure that the PRT and Protectorate is upholding the Wards Charter."

"Ah, so the PTA of the PRT." Verity said with a sagely nod of understanding.

"That is correct, it was originally formed by concerned parents, but after a successful lawsuit it became a proper organization," Armsmaster finished explaining.

"Makes sense, I think if the government was allowed to just conscript minors just for going through a traumatic event that would just be child soldiers and then I would probably be working to tear this whole system down." Verity said with a slight laugh, being completely sincere.

"Same," The man flatly responded.

Verity mentally checked off her 'yeah he's cool' box on her mental checklist as she smiled. "So, is there anything you wanna talk about bossman?"

"Well I was wondering why you were out in the bay yesterday?" Armsmaster asked.

"Went for a long walk off a short pier." Verity said with a shrug. "Wanted to see the ocean. Test my limits."

"I see and did you discover something?" He asked.

"For one, I can hold my breath for an absurd amount of time." Verity said. "Two…" She briefly considered being forthcoming with this, sticking to her name or not.

"And two?" Armsmaster asked.

"...That I'm probably never going home." Verity said solemnly, which was true, but not what she was actually considering telling him.

"I see," The man simply responded.

"Yeah…" Verity said as her mind drifted to the people whose names and faces she'd likely never remember, the people responsible for making her the person she was.

"But even so, I believe that you can make this place your new home," The tinker spoke slowly, trying to find the right word each time.

Verity smiled at him at that, touched at the clear attempt to comfort her, understanding his struggle in saying it. "Thanks, Colin." She said softly.

The man took off his helmet and gave a smile back. "It is nothing, Verity, you are my subordinate and so my responsibility."

"Happy to have you in that role, honestly." Verity said. "You're definitely the most reasonable person I've met the entire time I've been here, Hannah being a close second."

The man actually chuckled at that. "Most would say I am a very unreasonable man, so thank you."

"You know, speaking of reasonability, I don't think I've ever seen you not in costume." Verity realized aloud. "Are you one of those uh… what did Hannah call it… Nocturnal Capes?"

"No, I am not a Noctis Cape, I am just very efficient, and I have to be constantly working on my stuff to keep up," Colin said. "For despite me not liking it, I am getting older."

"...Colin, when was the last time you slept for at least 6 hours?" Verity asked, suddenly worried. "Consecutively?"

"About six years ago," The man answered honestly.

"That kills people, Colin!"

"I have a drug-."

"That kills people, Colin!"

"-That instantly puts me into rem and deep sleep allowing for a full rest in three hours," The man said. "And it has not been a detriment to me."

"There is an entire Doctor Who two-parter focused around why that's a horrible idea."

"Huh, must have been an Old Who Episode," The man commented.

"...No, it was Nu-Who, it was… either Smith or Capaldi, I think, I know Clara was a companion in it…" Verity said, racking her memory for details. She remembered the idea was a corporation accidentally creating sand monsters from pods that reduced the need for sleep? Or something to that effect, she tended to get information about a lot of the things from before arrival mixed up in her head, and could easily see any of the Doctors she grew up with in the role.

"Peter Capaldi?" Armsmaster asked.

"Yeah, Peter Capaldi, the Twelfth Doctor."

"Verity."

"Colin?" Verity asked back, confused.

"Matt Smith has just been the Doctor for a year, and the companions are the Ponds."

"Wait, what?" Verity asked in confusion. "Wait, nono, Matt's not been the Doctor for years now, the current one's Thirteen, it's Jodie- Jodie- Jodie- Whitaker! Jodie Whitaker, she's the Doctor, right?"

"Verity what year is it?" Armsmaster asked.

"2021?" Verity said, before her eyes widened as the calendar within plain sight clearly declared the year as 2011. "...What?"

"I guess that confirms the fact you are indeed from an entirely different universe," Colin said as he typed a memo.

"But but but but but but but but," Verity began to stutter as her mind got caught in a loop. " kne-kne-kne-knew it was a few years but 10? Decade? Decade?!"

"Verity," Colin said with a hard tone.

"Aeiouaeiouaeiouaeoiuaeoiuiouaeoiaou, I, I, I, I," Verity could feel her brain malfunctioning. Maybe she couldn't recover from brain damage?

"Miss Mendax I would recommend heavy and steady breathing, in and out," Came Dragon's voice from the computer.

" I, this this this this, it it it it it it…" Verity continued to stutter out as she realized she definitely didn't fully recover from the previous day's oceanic outing.. "I'm, I'm, I'm, fine fine fine fine, not, not not not a panic panic attack, just ver-verbal mal-malfunction." She said nervously; this hadn't happened since she was in middle school, so the fact it was happening now was a bit worrying. "Hap-hap-hap-happens when brain gets too much."

"That is good to hear, I would still recommend just breathing and not talking for a bit," The other Tinker said.

Verity nodded and tried to do just that. "Ssssorry." She said anyway.

"There is nothing to apologize for Verity," Colin said. "We all have our mental quirks."

"I I…mhm," Verity grumbled as she forced herself to focus on saying each individual word. "Sssspeech therapy in middle school, didn't think this was still an issue."

"Sometimes problems you thought you solved have a nasty habit of coming back to bite you," Dragon said in a voice that spoke from experience.

"Un, yeah." Verity agreed, while trying to bury her embarrassment at the fact that that had just happened while she'd been talking with her boss. "Uh, C-Colin, c-can you just forget that ever happened?"

"I do not know which event you are currently speaking off," He said monotonically but Verity could tell it was played up more than usual.

"O-K, good, uh, can we go back to the whole 'I'm apparently from a decade in the future' thing?" Verity said a bit slower than normal as she thought out each word.

"That is not unsurprising," Dragon said. "While Earth Aleph matches our timeline 1:1 chronologically, it's foolish to assume that every universe does so."

"Yes, and Verity's previous statements about her now confirmed alternate timeline adds to that," Colin said.

"Wh-what statements?" Verity asked, still reeling.

"You not knowing what Parahumans and the PRT were," He answered.

"Ah." Verity said. "...Yeah, if my Earth has Parahumans, they're either significantly rarer or there's like… a masquerade of a hidden super-society or something, because the thing I can recall that would be called 'similar' in that sense would probably be the kaiju problem but otherwise I don't think so."

"What?" Colin and Dragon asked at the same time.

"Y-you know, th-the kaiju problem? The giant monsters coming through the rift that we have to fight with giant robots?"

Colin put on his helmet. "Please repeat your statement."

"The kaiju coming through the Pacific Rim that have to be fought by giant robots piloted by multiple pilots simultaneously to fight them."

"...That statement is a lie," Colin said. "I assume a joke is being made."

"Yes, I was going to make a Godzilla joke but my brain's a little scramble right now and I genuinely thought for a second that it was a thing back home." Verity said sincerely. Whenever she got frazzled, it made it harder to separate her memories, and she'd already been planning on making a joke like she'd said. "Being completely frank here, there are no supernatural or beyond-human-baseline elements that exist on my earth, that I'm aware of, period. Like, we have definitive proof of some UFO's and some exoplanets, but the UFO's are just unidentified and the exoplanets we have not confirmed life yet, but we have found a semi-literal hell planet in my universe."

"That statement is entirely true," Colin said as he removed his helmet again.

"Semi-literal?" Dragon asked.

"Matches the description of the popular consensus of the Christian Hell, with a toxic atmosphere, raining fire and rocks constantly, massive eruptions on the minute, demons, massive pits of sulphur, all that stuff." Verity said, trying to say it with a straight face but failing.

"Wait what was that one part?" Dragon asked.

"She is just joking again," Colin said.

"Just testing to see if you could see me or just hear me, Dragon~." Verity said.

"I've only got audio right now," She responded.

"Anyway, should I start saying things about potential future issues or not because of differences in the timeline?"

"There is no need, the only things that could match would be entertainment, real world events would probably not happen, and considering the emergence of Endbringers events that happened in yours probably didn't happen here," Colin stated.

"...Yeah, I guess most of the stuff I could warn about is man-made that wouldn't exist here, cause you guys might even have different tectonic plate alignmnets with all the bullsquank going on so I couldn't warn about like earthquakes even if I knew about them, huh…" Verity realized aloud.

"No you could not," Colin stated.

"Well this conversation's been… enlightening." Verity said after a moment. "I'm gonna go home and like… cuddle my gf to destress."

"You do that, I will make sure this gets into proper hands," Colin said as he held up the pen.

"Yeah, maybe make copies, I'm guessing between the two of you that one of you records everything you hear, right?" Verity asked, wanting to confirm that for herself.

"Yes." Was the unambiguous answer from both of them.

"Alright, good, now that's in capable hands, unless there's something either of you need from me, I'm gonna go." Verity's voice cracked on the last word. "Dammit." She cursed under her breath.

"See you tomorrow, Verity," Colin said.

"See ya bossman." Verity said as she left, trying to kill the very potent cocktail of emotions threatening her stability at the moment.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, calm, Sabah be calm," Sabah said to herself as she walked besides Verity, the two of them only being a few minutes away from Forsberg Gallery.

"You got this babe, you got this." Verity said soothingly as she had been for the last 5 hours, giving Sabah's hand a slight comforting squeeze (she'd thankfully figured out the point where it was safe to do that, which was nice), trying hard to not think about her own nervousness in wake of Sabah's. "Everything's gonna be fine."

"I know, I know, but my nerves, I didn't think it would hit this hard but it is… do I have nerves like this?" She asked as she smacked her puppet fingers together. "Or at least normal nerves?"

"Aeiouuuwe can't know unless we have someone check, which would mean you'd have to be fine with them knowing about, you know." Verity said.

"I am not, I am holding back on the reveal for the time being," Sabah replied.

"We'll work things out so you can do it safely." Verity promised.

"Thank you… okay, focus and keep calm Sabah," Sabah said. "So how is the dress?" She asked for the tenth time.

"A little more, uh, visible cleavage than I'm necessarily normally comfortable with, but it uh, it works, it works so well." Verity said sincerely. Somehow, running around topless was less embarrassing to her, mostly because that was in the middle of saving people so if anyone saw it didn't even register until after the fact since she had still had to keep going, while this was when people would be looking at her specifically to look at her and what she was wearing.

And therefore, at the booba.

"I am glad," Sabah responded. "Really hope Sensei is going to like them as well."

Verity still had a slight increase in heart rate everytime 'sensei' was mentioned, but she had by now managed to calm her nerves by forcing herself to get used to the idea over the last few days, and had taken up a few of her old speech exercises to make sure she wouldn't embarrass herself or worse, Sabah. "She will, she will. She'll see the love and care put into every stitch."

"Well, I will get to know soon enough," Sabah said as they rounded the corner and saw the entrance to the Gallery.

Which had people arriving in limos and being received by guards, and the constant blitzing of press cameras.

Verity took in a deep breath, and put on her most confident airs. "You ready?" She asked, voice a touch more sultry than normal.

"I am," Paraian stated as they crossed the street once it was clear, where they were quickly noticed by the press.

"It's Medusa."

"Who is that with her?"

"Is that Parian?"

"That is Parian."

"Are they together?"

"Probably just here as friends."

That one set something off inside Verity's head, as she decided to make it abundantly clear at some point tonight that they were together.

"Invitation," Said the guard, a man dressed in a completely white suit, otherwise looking like a very stereotypical security guy.

"Here," Parian said as she pulled it out of her purse, the guard took it and looked it over for a few seconds.

"Have a nice night Lady Parian, Lady Medusa," The guard said as he stepped to the side to allow passing.

With a nod towards him, they did so, Verity not having said a word until they entered, as Parian had advised on 'catwalk etiquette'.

And speaking of the Catwalk, there was one inside which very much looked like an addition for this event.

"Wow you look amazing Medusa," Came the voice of Assault a few seconds after they had entered the main venue hall which was filled with people dressed in expensive suits and dresses, looking more like the Met then 'just' a ball.

This was really a 'high society' event.

Though that call out made most of them quiet as all the attention was turned towards them.

"Thanks, you look the same as always." Verity said.

"Oof, here I thought you would have noticed the polish," The Kinetic Manipulator said, actually looking a bit more shiny than usual.

"Sorry, everything is shiny right now to me." Verity said. "Also, camera spots."

"Yeah this the fanciest thing I've ever been to, but thankfully I can avoid looking and walking like a penguin, and yeah the press is going nuts, I knew Revocs was a big thing, but it is certainly something to experience, or I have just gotten used to my own fame, well anyway have a nice evening you two," Assault said rapidly and left as quickly as he arrived.

Immediately, Verity's attention shifted to Sabah, who still had her game face on. "Is she walking around?" She asked, taking advantage of how Verity stood head and shoulders over the vast majority of the guests.

"No, not visible at the moment." Verity said. "Probably waiting for a dramatic entrance."

"Yeah if she is not around and mingling she hasn't done her entrance yet, which means everyone hasn't arrived yet," Parian said. "Well lets go around for the moment, yes?"

"Yes, let's." Verity said, arm in arm with her girlfriend.

And with that the two of them went into the crowd, eyes still on them for a bit, but soon after, once it was clear they weren't doing anything particularly spectacular beyond existing, the people more-or-less returned to what they had been doing.

"Well that was certainly attention grabbing, Biggest V," Said the voice of Vicky as the blond girl came up to them, seemingly wearing a fancier version of her costume.

"...We literally just walked in, I don't… believe we did anything on purpose, right babe?" Verity asked.

"No, we didn't," Parian responded.

"Well anyways you both look great," Vicky said.

"Thanks! You too." Verity said with a smile. "I'm wearing a Parian Original." She said, absolutely shilling for her grill.

Which resulted in her putting her face in her hands.

"Hahaha," Vicky laughed. "Well my family's over that way, so if you finally want to meet the rest of New Wave you can."

"That sounds fun, babe you okay with that?" Verity asked her gf, whom she was trying to make clear was such.

"Sure," Parian responded. "It would be nice to get to actually know them, only really interacted with Glory Girl."

"Yeah, I am the only one that is really… active at the moment, the rest are too busy with life," Vicky said with an aside glance that spoke of… something, though Verity wasn't sure what as it passed. "Then just follow me."

And so they did.

It was a bit difficult with the amount of people and her extra length but after a minute they found the rest of New Wave.

"Where did you- hello there, Medusa correct?" A stern blond haired woman said, who was wearing a white cocktail dress with orange highlights.

"Yes, hello I'm Medusa, and this is the ever excellent, forever fashionable, and all around perfect Parian." Verity introduced the two of them with a partial curtsy followed by presenting her girlfriend.

"Yes, that is me," Parian responded with a slight voice crack of embarrassment.

"A pleasure to finally be meeting the New Wave." Verity said, beginning to slip into some old habits as she spoke, the atmosphere reminding her of some of the more upscale parties she'd been to in the past- though this was the first time she was at one wearing a dress like this. "I've heard so many good things about you all."

"A pleasure as well, and I have as well you've put in great effort in the short time you've been active," The woman responded. "Now my name is Carol Dallon, this is my husband Mark," Carol motioned to the man beside her who just gave Verity a small wave. "You have of course met my daughters Amy and Vicky already."

"Starting to wish I hadn't," Came the comment from Amy, eliciting a hurt look from Verity.

"Amy!"

"Sorry," The healer said in a not sorry voice.

"Well I am Sarah Pelham, the official leader of New Wave," Sarah introduced herself. "This is my husband Neil, and my two children Crystal and Eric."

"Hello," The blond haired girl with a red hairband said.

"I like your style," Eric complimented.

"Thanks, it's a Parian Original!" Verity said with an award-winning smile. "And again, it's nice to finally meet all of you."

"Glad to meet you as well," Sarah said. "How has the unmasked cape life been treating you?"

"It's… a bit difficult to do things as a private citizen sometimes, but I've been… adjusting to it." Verity said, carefully choosing her words, as it was genuinely a bit aggravating how she had to constantly jump through hoops to do things as a person instead of as a hero, but it hadn't really come up enough that it was that much of an issue; it just felt like she was on the clock all the time when she was out in public.

"Yes it was a bit hard for us as well at the start, but after a few months people just stop caring, though I will acknowledge you have… features that make you stand out more than the common person," Carol stated.

"I'm told that's usually the case with 53's." Verity said, Charlie pointing to her tail behind her as she did.

"I think it's the huge bo-" Eric's words were cut off by his mother placing a hand over his mouth.

"Eric, be nice and respectful," Sarah stated.

"It's fine, he's… not the first person to make that observation." Verity said, shooting a glance towards Vicky. "Certainly won't be the last. Just gonna have to learn to live with it, honestly… and the back problems."

"You won't have those," Amy commented.

"That's good at least." Verity said, already having been joking. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you all-"

She was about to give an excuse to leave when the light suddenly began to dim and the entire venue went quiet like a grave, causing Verity to shift her attention to the catwalk as the curtains were pulled back.

A singular click of heel echoed through the entire place and the music changed as multicolored lights shone from the back stage.

The music damn-near made Verity's heart stop outright, but thankfully she didn't react outwardly.

And a second later Ragyo Kiryuin walked out.

For a moment, Verity was mesmerized, especially as one aspect of her appearance stood out-

The rainbow in her hair.

For a moment, Verity worried this would turn bad.

And then a moment later, the lighting shifted, and she let out an ever so slight sigh of relief as she realized it was just the lights causing the iridescent look with her silvery-white hair.

"Hello everyone," She spoke, her voice matching Verity's memories, the music ending as she reached the end of the catwalk. "And welcome to this little Charity Gala of mine, to help the people of Brockton Bay clean up the damage the ABB and other criminal elements have caused."

She paused for a moment as her eyes scanned the crowd, and Verity saw them land on her for a few seconds.

And eye contact was made.

Eyes that probed deeply into her soul, Verity almost able to feel the woman undressing her with a glance, breaking her down to her component pieces just on visual input alone.

Verity felt her heartbeat accelerate as something primal inside her had a realization.

This was a dangerous woman, life fibers or no.

"And that was my original plan, but that changed thanks to the effort of a certain Hero among our guests, and I saw that Brockton Bay would be an ideal place to start the proper expansion of Revocs into America. I will start building the HQ of our USA branch here as well as a new distribution center for our ware as this city has been neglected as part of this country's commercial infrastructure and distribution of goods." Ragyo spoke, grabbing the attention of all.

"Yes this will result in an influx of new Blue Collar work thanks to the cleaning of the docks, all this will be done in collaboration with Brockton Bay's Dockworkers Union," Ragyo finished her announcement resulting in almost everyone present clapping in joy.

"Thank you, thank you, now let us move onto one of our two main events, first, the showcase of our newest custom lines," Ragyo said as she turned around and walked back down the catwalk and disappeared backstage the curtain closing for a moment as new music came on and as Verity listened closer she could tell that this was not recorded music but live, the distinct lack of static and the vibrato of actual instruments being a familiar sound to her ears.

And a few seconds after that thought the curtain opened up again and out came a girl that Verity did not recognize wearing some much more casual but still stylish clothing.

"So I guess she is saving the Doll House announcement for later," Parian said.

"Oh good, that's still happening?" Verity asked, having thought it was conditional on Parian going public.

"Yes, we just have to go through a few more legal hoops," She answered.

"Oh, okay. That's… that's good, right?"

"It is," She answered. "So shall we go and get some snacks? Dinner isn't for another hour or so."

"Snacks? Don't you mean horse divorce?" Verity joked, using one of her own personal faux pas word mess ups as comedy.

"Hmm," Parian tried to choke her laughter, but it was still a bit loud.

Verity smiled as she saw some of the tension bleed off Parian, and then when she noticed some of the odd looks she simply looked at them with a slight challenge in her eyes, and they simply focused back on the catwalk.

"Lady Parian, Lady Medusa," Said a male voice behind the two of them.

"Yes?" Verity asked as she turned to look down at the latest person trying to get her attention-

Techboy.

Inumuta.

The hair and glasses, combined with the… black Gokuu Uniform, interesting, made her immediately remember the otherwise least-memorable member of the Elite Four.

"Lady Kiryuin is requesting your presence in the VIP Lounge," He stated as he pushed up his glasses.

"Ah Inumuta, sure lead the way," Parian answered with a smile as she greeted whom to her was probably a dear friend.

The blue-haired boy nodded his head as he turned around and the two of them followed right behind him.

And a few minutes later they were inside one of the Gallery's smaller rooms that probably functioned as an office as it lacked the art work or fancier decorations many of the other rooms had.

And inside of it sitting in an immaculate chair was Ragyo Kiryuin and at her sides sat Satsuki and Ryuko, with Nui sitting on a mat in front of her. And behind her was the rest of the Elite Four with Ira Gamagori towering over all of them.

And the second she entered, Verity watched as he literally, visibly, got taller such that he was now bigger than her.

Internally, she was screaming. For many reasons.

Externally, she was smiling (a bit nervously) as they entered, mouth sealed shut so she wouldn't say anything… anything.

With Inumuta joining the others as the door closed behind them.

"Sabah my dear, it's been forever," Ragyo said with an un-Ragyo smile as she stood up and in less than a second pulled her into a massive bear hug.

"We talked on the phone yesterday," Her cleavage muffled voice said.

"Oh but that isn't the same as talking to you in person, and my you have changed…" Ragyo said as she pulled Sabah out of her breasts and put a hand on the doll woman's chin. "That woman should be burning in hell for making you Trigger, but the Birdcage is a good secondary option." Ragyo said as she returned to her chair just as quickly as she had left it.

"And it is also good to finally meet you Verity Mendax," Ragyo stated as she locked eyes with her again.

"Ahem, yes, it's nice to finally meet you as well, I've heard a lot about you." Verity said as she tried to calm her heart rate so it wouldn't become noticeable.

"Good things I hope," Ragyo responded with a sly smile. "I've certainly heard good things about you from Sabah."

"Yeah, Sabah-nee has been gushing about you constantly," Ryuko said with a teasing smile.

"Ryuko, you shouldn't be telling such private things," Satsuki reprimanded her sister.

"It's fine Satsuki," Sabah stated.

"Y-yeah, I've only heard good things about you all from Sabah." Verity said, now starting to feel a tad flustered at Ragyo's continued attention, the older woman practically oozing with a sort of charisma and grace and… well, inherent sexuality, that Verity could never dream to match, and it was… rather overwhelming to her.

"Good to hear," Ragyo stated as she shifted her eyes from Verity to Sabah, Verity feeling her blood pressure start to abate. "Well you've certainly got my blessing my dear."

Aaaand skyrocket again.

That elicited a squawk from Sabah and a squeak from Verity which caused everyone else but Ragyo to laugh.

"Yeah they are perfect," Nui stated. "Can I design the wedding dresses?"

Verity was certain she lost consciousness for a fraction of a second as she put a hand to her chest to try and physically calm her heart and prevent it from beating out of her chest.

Hopefully not literally.

"Hahahaha," Swordboy -no, Verity reminded herself, his name was Sanageyama- laughed. "If you continue to say stuff like that little Nui, I am sure they both die from embarrassment before that ever happens."

"Well, enough with the fun," Ragyo said. "Sabah my dear, we're going through with the new plan for the Doll House? Yes?"

"We are," Sabah replied with a nod.

"Good just wanted to make sure, and Verity my dear," Ragyo said as her piercing red eyes returned to Verity.

Verity gulped quietly. "Yes?"

"As I said out on the Catwalk it was only thanks to your actions in cleaning up that horrid Boat Graveyard that made me realise how important this City could be for my company, so thank you for opening my eyes to those possibilities," Ragyo said in a genuine voice of thanks.

"...You may not have heard, but," Medusa said as she pushed some of the confidence of her other role into her words, not needing to force her sincerity in the slightest. "I'm here to help."

"Yes those are the words a Hero should live by," Ragyo said with a chuckle as she stood back up her daughters following her action this time. "Well there is about twenty or so minutes until dinner happens so I have to go out there and mingle with those vultures, well at least I can get them to empty their wallets for a good cause."

Verity nodded as most of her preconceived worries were alleviated and replaced with more relevant, realistic ones based on this interaction, like how to handle her girlfriend's crazy 'extended family' or how to not make a fool of herself. "Noble."

"Yeah, that is what you're good at," Sabah said.

"That I am, now, boys and girls let us go out," Ragyo said as they left the VIP Lounge and went back out into the main venue and it did not take long for them to be approached.

"Mrs. Kiryuin I am glad to see that you finally decided to join the rest of us," A rather handsome blond haired and blue eyed man said as he approached the group alongside a boy that looked to be the same age as Taylor.

"Had to finish some private matters first, and you are?" Ragyo asked with the kind of total honesty that came only complete confidence, and the dismissive lack of recognition that clearly established the pecking order of this conversation before it had even begun.

At this point, Verity almost wanted to ask her for tips on how to domineer a room just by existing the way she seemed to do as naturally as breathing.

"Max Anders, and this is my son Theo," The man responded.

"Ah the CEO of Medhall," Ragyo said in realization.

"Yes, I was hoping the two of us could work together in revitalising the city," The man said.

"My, so forthcoming."

"Yes, I know you like those who do not dance around pretty words, my beloved city has been poisoned by various criminal elements, and while our Heroes such as Medusa here do their best they cannot help with the fundamental social issues that enable their actions, only we can do that," Max spoke, and as he did Verity's respect for the man increased intensely.

"Yes you're correct about that, we will have to discuss such a partnership in a more formal setting," Ragyo said as her eyes looked around. "Though I am curious as to where your wife is?"

"She is watching our daughter, she doesn't trust nannies to take proper care of her despite my arguments, but that is a relationship between husband and wife you have to make compromises," The man said but Verity noticed the son, Theo, roll his eyes at that.

"Yes that is true, now if you want a proper meeting you have to send a request to my office, or… Houmaru," Ragyo spoke and in an instant an African woman appeared by Ragyo's side, making Verity double take, as she had not been there previously according to any of her prodigious senses.

And Verity also saw the side of Max's lip twitch slightly at her appearance, forming a small sneer that vanished as quickly as it had arrived.

"Yes my lady," She spoke in a formal voice.

"Please set up a meeting with Mr. Anders at our earliest convenience," She spoke.

"Of course," Houmaru responded as she pulled out a tablet from her bag as the rest of the group moved on leaving the three behind.

Much like the rest of the event, Ragyo had gone all out on the dinner, in Verity's opinion.

She tried all kinds of food she'd never tried before -an experience she always relished- now with the flashy shine and presentation of high society making the tasty food taste even better.

At the moment, she was sitting with the Kiryuins along with Sabah, or rather Parian was sitting with the Kiryuins and she just happened to be sitting with Parian, and was currently engaged in conversation with Ryuko now that there was a lull in flow of food as dessert was being prepared- no doubt something absurd like a burning Alaska if it took time to prepare at such an event.

"So you've got eye lasers?" The teenage girl asked.

"Yeah, well they're less lasers and more beams since they don't move at the speed of light unfortunately, but yeah." Verity said, having slipped back into her more comfortable 'I am talking on your level' voice she used most of the time at some point in the conversation.

"That is awesome," Ryuko said in amazement.

"And they're really useful for all kinds of things, too. Turning bad guys like Hookwolf to stone, temporarily as it turns out so I can use them more freely, melting steel, going fishing, all kinds of things."

"Wouldn't that just turn the fish to stone, or can you eat stone like an actual Gorgon?" Ryuko asked.

"No, my teeth aren't hard enough, nor can I digest it, but I was kind of referring to a Barracuda as it were."

"Ah, man fuck that bitch."

"Ryuko language please," Came Satsuki's voice from across the table.

"What? You know it's true."

"Yes, but save that for private, not here," Satsuki replied. "Now Miss Mendax I have to say your month-long career has certainly been an eventful one."

"Ohhh yeah, for sure." Verity agreed. "I've now crossed off 'punch nazi's', 'fight a dragon', 'get a steady girlfriend', and 'climb a giant' from my bucket list because of it."

"How are three of them on that list?" Ryuko asked.

"I'm literally a Gorgon, my bucket list got severely updated a month ago." Verity said truthfully, not mentioning all 4 of those had already been on her list.

"Damn I have to update mine then," Ryuko said.

"I think my list might literally be on a different level, I have 'punch out or stone Behemoth' near the top-tier of mine." Verity said, unsure if Ryuko was a Parahuman and trying to dissuade her from doing anything stupid in general.

And also, just speaking that into existence for the first time, when she knew there were eyes on her.

Set those expectations now.

"That is a different level," The Japanese girl said.

"Yeah, so anyway, what do you do Ryuko? School?" Verity said, moving the conversation along.

"Yeah, I am about to start College classes," She answered with a clear tone of clearly not wanting to do so.

"Mhm. And whaddya wanna do?" Verity asked, dropping the more formal tone she'd been using most of the night.

"Kick ass and take names fulltime, but no I have to get a degree first," She said with a pout.

"Are you a Para?" Verity asked, slightly concerned, as kicking ass was not a viable career path if not.

"Yeah," Was the blunt answer.

"Mhm." Verity replied just as bluntly. "Speaking as someone who is a professional -as you said- ass kicker and name taker, and someone who effectively had no choice but to be one, it's a really good idea to have a backup and to just… generally experience the world before getting into this full time, if ever, I know that we have the Wards here who are all younger than you by definition, but they… it has definitely had an impact, that means their path is almost set in stone to be full-on full time heroes. So, not to project, but assuming it's your mom saying you need a degree, I think she has a point."

"Tsch," Was all Ryuko replied with.

"Plus like, I know I would love to say I earned the degree I'd been working on before this happened, so like… you're rich, you can probably just pick whatever non-kicking field interests you the most, have a blast at college, and then either within a year or by the time you graduate, you'll know if its worth it or not."

"Why do all the adults have to talk sense…" Ryuko muttered.

"Because most of them know better," Satsuki stated as she put down her tea cup. "And good words Miss Mendax."

"Yes, quite the talk my daughter needed, and speaking of talks we have to move onto the evening's next event," Ragyo stated as she stood up with glass in hand and rang it, all the attention in the room immediately turning to her with just that single noise of silver on glass, as she began to say the auction for unique Revocs clothing would start soon.

Though as she did Verity heard… something loud?

Like the most heavy duty-

Verity's thoughts were cut off as the left wall exploded in brick and mortar, moving to shield the people near her with her hair and body, ignoring the pain as her mind immediately set on the most explosive person in town as she focused on the now-missing wall.

Rather, she saw a massive hole had been made in the wall and through the smoke she could see…

Was that a tank?

"NOW LISTEN UP YOU FUCKING HIGH SOCIETY PENGUINS! I DO NOT GIVE A FUCKING RATS BITCH ASS ABOUT YOUR DOGODDERING BULLSHIT! THE ABB IS DOWN AND THE FUCKING NAZIS ARE NEUTURED SO ITS TIME TO SHOW ALL YOUR BITCH FACES THAT THIS IS MERCHANT TOWN NOW! SO SPEAKS SKIDMARK!" And Verity saw an African-American man with a mic in hand wearing what could be called a blue Luchadore mask and a blue cape.

And by his side were a few other masked individuals.

"AND HIS SKIDDY SIX!"

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.