Wade98: … yeah, that sounds like a way smarter idea. Like, I don't know anything about JoJo, but I could've made do with a Persona system. That's a really good idea. Maybe you or I could use it in another fic, or smth.

Taylor Hebert

I'm going to die.

Lung had just made his way onto the rooftop (because of course a dragon can fly) and has now rendered my control over bugs completely worthless (because of course a dragon can set himself on fire).

Then the Dragon of Kyushu seemed to look up oh COME ON. I worked really hard to sting his eyes out!

Wait, what was he looking at-

"STAND DOWN!" a loud, heavily autotuned voice roared out.

I turn and feel my jaw hit the floor.

Behind me, painted in flaming red and regal gold, was a robot, who was hovering in mid-air like its creator had never heard of Sir Issac Newton.

Its face was surprisingly humanoid, showing a mouth and two eyes, but no nose. It also was levelling a cannon the size of my body at Lung.

Lung growled.

"I won't ask a second time."

Lung roared and charged.

"KILL…YOU…"

The robot fired.

It was an energy blast made of blue light, and Lung took it head-on. Which was a mistake. The force of the blast knocked him back hard enough that he went backwards.

He seemed to pause after getting hit as if processing the fact that he had actually been stopped.

I was processing that fact too. It took me targeting weak spots with highly venomous bugs, bugs that will kill or severely harm any average human in seconds, and the automaton just stopped him with a single hit!

The robot fired again, and this time the blast was even brighter, and faster.

The robot was holding back?!

Lung didn't have time to dodge.

The scaly cape soared off of the building landing on the large street below.

The robot quickly shifted his cannon into an arm, gently landing on the building.

He looked towards me. I gulped.

… he was a hero, right? He did shoot Lung and offered to resolve this peacefully.

"You okay, kid?"

Yeah, definitely a hero.

The most I can manage is a nod.

Then the breakdown happens.

"I… I… nearly…"

A flash of light, and a boy that appears to be about my age, if not a little older appears. His features were well hidden by a large digital mask, and he was wearing a hoodie with a stylized logo written in… Chinese?

He puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Okay, listen to me."

I nod, shakily. I start to focus on his face. The only visible part is his mouth, while the rest of his face is covered by a digital mask. His eyes, which are straight white lines, become circles of the same colour.

"You're safe now, okay? I'm here. Lung's not."

Yeah.

This guy, saved my life right? He's controlling the mech, I mean his hoodie shares the same colour scheme as the giant robot, which that thing was pretty cool once I realized it wasn't about to shoot me and-

The guy takes his hand off my shoulder and chuckles.

"You mumble a lot, you know?"

…maybe Lung should've killed me if only to save me from this embarrassment.

Welp, better safe than dead, right?

Safe… oh no. Lung.

"Lung! He was going to kill kids!" I start to panic.

The guy grumbles under his breath, muttering about the undersides of something.

A BOOM rings out.

"What was-"

NO. I need to calm down.

I shift my panic into the swarm and feel my face go blank.

The guy has the audacity to laugh.

"Relax. Remember the giant robot?"

I nod, tentatively.

"Lung was trying to get back up. I… am in the process of convincing him that it's a bad idea."

I peer over the edge.

Oh. That's why he had laughed.

On the street below, the robot was mercilessly beating Lung into the dirt.

I noted a few draconic appendages scattered around the area, as the mech picked up Lung by the head and slammed him into the ground, before firing a blast of energy point-blank at Lung.

Wait, isn't his blast an explosive-

The robot is sent sprawling back away from the Dragon of Kyushu by his own shot. Luckily, Lung doesn't seem to be getting up anytime soon.

At the same time, the boy lets out a strangled cry.

He drops to his knees, and I rush back over to help him up.

"Oh no! Are you okay? Do you need medical attention? Ca-"

He gives a pained smile.

"Yeah, I'm… well I'm not good, but that was kinda my own fault."

… I feel like I'm missing something very obvious.

I voice my thoughts to the guy who saved me.

"Oh, I am the robot."

What?

"... Powers can do that?"

He shrugs. "Mine do."

"I can change between robot and human form at will, and robot form has a few special features. One of which is a hard-light projection that can be projected up to a hundred meters from my robot form."

He gestures to his own body.

"What you're seeing right now isn't my real body. It's the hologram projection."

He nods at me. "What do you do?"

I pause. Was… was he going to mock my powers?

His mask goes from circles to an exclamation point, before returning to circles and adding a sweatdrop.

"Not that you have to tell me or anything! Like, it has something to do with bugs, but that's all I know!"

I mean, he told me his powers.

"I control bugs in a 3-block range."

He pauses. Then he slowly turns to look at me.

"Range?" he says with a hint of… something. I don't recognize the tone.

"There's no cap to how many bugs you can control, is there?"

I shake my head.

He lets out a low whistle. "Fuck, that's a scary power."

That's a compliment, right?

Then I feel my legs collapse. Exhaustion set over my limbs, and I could barely move.

Holy fuck. I just fought Lung. And won.

Okay, yeah, I wasn't alone, but not dying against somebody who fought an ENDBRINGER to a standstill is a win for me.

The guy…

"Hey. Uh… do you have a name?" I ask as he tried to pull me to my feet.

"I-" he paused. "I haven't had time to think of one. How about you?"

"I, uh, haven't thought of one either."

"... Call me Sunrise. You need a place to sit?"

Oh good, calling him "this guy" was getting a little tiring. Also:

"Yes please."

Then the giant robot walked up to us and dropped to a knee.

"Are you okay with my sitting on you?" I inquire. It seemed kinda rude to do so.

Sunrise snorted. "Kinky, but take me out for a date first, okay?"

As I spluttered, the hero holding me up said something… strange

"Although, one could say I was built to be sit in."

…in?

The robot had shifted, folded, and transformed, from a 20-foot-tall robot to…

I'm not a car expert, nor am I a car enjoyer, but I can see the beauty, and smell the money of the vehicle that Trailblazer had transformed into.

The front of the car was red, which faded into a rosy gold as you approached the rear end of the vehicle, making it appear that it was the embodiment of the sunset or… sunrise.

Not bad.

Below the front of the hood, a slight overhang showed a black grid, that was painted to show the number "23". Above the number, a simple horizontal oval spelt out the word "BUGATTI".

Sunrise opens the door, without even touching his car (wait he was the car, right? So he opens his door… I think.) and helps me into a seat. Black leather, with alternating red and gold stitches made up the majority of the car's interior.

I close the door because it's getting a little chilly.

"So!" a familiar disembodied voice says.

I yelp. The voice then starts chuckling.

"Sorry for the scare. My hologram is checking on Lung right now. He's unconscious, but I'm not sure how long it'll last. Have you called the PRT yet?"

I wince. "I don't have a phone."

"... that's a pretty big no, especially for independent capes like us, right? We gotta be able to call the BBPD or PRT to arrest criminals."

"... it's personal, okay?"

"... got it."

Thank god he dropped the topic.

"Speaking of PRT, calling them no-"

I got worried when Sunrise stopped talking.

"Armsmaster is here," he states.

AN: Pretty sure I butchered Taylor's personality, but hey. It's fanfic, not a work of art.

Other notes: The car is based on the Bugatti Chiron Supersport. Say that five times fast. I was looking at overpriced vehicles, and I liked its design the best. So yay. Taylor has a cool car now. Sort of.