Burgeoning Bladesmith
By: Bubbajack
Editors/Co-Authors: IcySnowSage, First Hassan
Special Consultant: Heliosion
Special Thanks go out to my Super Donors on : Apostle_of_Darkness, Ben wanless, BigBee, Bobby Glass, CrazymanDK, Jareth Norris, kenni nielsen, Scott Marchant, and Selmephren, as well as all my other patrons.
Ch.1.3: Crucible.
School had been out for a week since the gas line explosion and in that interim, Greg had split his daily routine into three sections. He would jog to Ryozanpaku in the mornings and have breakfast with Miyu and the others, where they worked on speedily restoring the strength in his left leg. After lunch, he would work in the forge with Shigure where he quickly picked up the blacksmiths trade, the fact that he got to see her wearing nothing but Fudoshi wraps was a nice bonus. By around four o'clock he would rush off to the Dollhouse to assist Parian; however he could and was always met with a chaste kiss on the cheek by the Cape Fashionista. Then once his shift was over, he'd head home, have dinner with his folks, and get doored to his base where he would put his smithing lessons to use crafting his next new toy.
The week flew by in a blur of a new routine, and despite the intense training, he still walked with a slight limp. So he'd taken to carrying a knobby headed wooden cane with him wherever he went. Before he knew it, it was time for him to face his greatest challenge yet. Returning to Winslow High.
Greg took a deep, calming breath as he stared at the entrance to Winslow High School. It had graffiti painted on the walls alongside gang tags, and broken bottles and possibly even used syringes littered the sidewalk leading up to the school. 'Okay,' He told himself, 'You can do this,'
"Are you sure you want to go back today Greg?" His mother, bless her soul, had decided to drive him to school on his first day back. But that didn't stop her from worrying at all. "It's a Thursday, you could just take the rest of the week off," He scanned the students and noticed the crowd was quite thin. "It seems a majority of them already thought the same thing, with it taking so long for the gas lines to be fixed."
He gave her his best smile, hoping against hope it made him look more confident than he felt. "I gotta head back into the lion's den sometime mom."
Jessica gave her son a smile, "I know you do baby, I just wish your father and I could afford to send you somewhere better, like Arcadia."
"Mom, mom, stop, please stop." Greg asked. "We both know you can't afford Arcadia. Not without taking out like, a second mortgage on the house, so let's just be thankful I'm getting a free course in criminology and get today over with, shall we?"
Jessica nodded encouragingly, "Of course, you have both my and your father's number if anything happens, and if anything does happen, call us immediately."
"Yeah sure mom." Greg said as he reached for the handle of her SUV only for her to grab his shoulder.
He looked back to see her giving him the most serious look she'd ever given him. "I'm serious, Greggory. I'd never been more scared when I'd heard you'd been brought in with a gunshot wound. I thought for sure I was going to bury my only son… so if something happens call me. I have Brandish on speed dial, thanks to Amy."
He blinked upon hearing that. "Damn Amy somehow got her mom to represent me if I decide to press charges on the school?"
"More or less," Jessica said, "She represents the hospital technically but she's more than willing to take on individual cases."
"Huh… I'll keep that in mind," He said as he opened the door and got out. His knee twinged in pain ever so slightly as it hit the cement but he ignored it.
"Greg, what're you planning?" His mother asked with suspicion in her tone. "You only go huh like that when you're up to something."
"Hopefully it's nothing… but if it's not… well you might be calling Brandish sooner than you think mom." He said before pushing the door shut and walking a little stiffly towards the entrance of the worst school in Brockton Bay.
Jessica Veder rested her head on the steering wheel wondering what type of hell her son was about to unleash… that is, until the car behind her honked, reminding her that other people also needed to drop their children off. Yet she couldn't help but hope her son didn't do something crazy on his first day back.
(...)
Greg could hear the mutters starting as he hobbled through the halls, leaning on his cane as he did. He sighed in annoyance as he heard the word 'cripple' and 'old man' being freely bandied about. He ignored them. Words were just that, words. Unless someone drew a weapon on him or something, they weren't worth his time. He stopped by his locker leaning his cane on the doorframe for a moment as he put in the combination only to accidentally knock the thing over. He leaned to catch it, only for someone else to grab it before it hit the ground.
"Thank… you?" He said confused because the person holding his cane out to him with a sheepish smile in one hand was Emma Barnes of all people.
"Hey Greg what um… happened to your leg?" She asked awkwardly as she handed him back his cane.
"I… I um, got shot, kneecapped. A stray bullet from an Empire and Merchant shootout a couple weeks back."
Emma covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes growing wide. "That's awful! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine… Emma, are you okay? Did you hit your head or something recently? Lose a bet you made with Sophia or something?"
The redhead blinked in surprise, "No, why?"
"You're talking to me of all people, firstly. You, one of the popular girls is talking to me, the guy who is lower on the social pecking order than the AV Club kids. So that means one of two things to me. A. You lost a bet. B. You're planning something wicked. Or C. you hit your head and have temporary amnesia."
She frowned and asked, "Is it seriously not possible to you that I was just being nice?"
"No, and let me tell you why," His voice lowered a dangerous octave as he loomed over her and continued, "People who are nice don't backstab friends they've known since kindergarten and become their tormentor and almost kill them."
"Your r-right… I'm a t-terrible p-person!" She admitted her gaze flicking around, looking for a hint of Sophia or smoke. "But if y-you'd just let me e-explain,"
Greg pulled back looking into her eyes. She was afraid, horrified, like a deer caught in headlights. This was a look of abject fear and terror on her face. Not that of a bully but of someone afraid of something deathly afraid.
"What's going on Emma?" He asked warily.
Emma said rapidly, "I can't, not here, she could see or hear!" She said quickly. "Can you meet me in a classroom at lunch or maybe during class?"
Seeing the girl was close to hyperventilating, he put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Take a breath in through your nose, hold it, count to four, let it out count to four."
She did as he said and found herself calming down, even his cane felt warm in her hands, but she was gripping it unusually hard, so hard her knuckles were white, so she thought nothing of it as she handed it back to him. "T-Thanks Greg, that helped a lot. I… I'll see you at lunch?"
"Yeah, you will." He told her. Her behavior was too weird; he couldn't just let it go. 'Taylor is probably gonna hate me for this but I have to know what's going on with her,'
"Greg?" a timid voice behind him called.
'Think of the devil and she appears!' He thought to himself as he turned around and saw Taylor standing there. "Hey Taylor, what're you doing here, isn't your locker at the end of the hall?"
"I haven't used it since the Incident… and I thought I'd swing by and ask if you wanted to walk to class and then I noticed…" She trailed off.
"Me talking to Emma?" He finished for her, causing her to nod rapidly. "Do you think I was lying when I said I liked you? Or that it was part of some elaborate plan?"
She shook her head causing her ebon locks to fly about, "No, because this is the first time you two have interacted, plus I heard what you told her… what she said, but… it doesn't make any sense." Her brow wrinkled in confusion. "What is going on? Is Emma being coerced somehow? I always thought it was strange, you know, that she changed so rapidly in one summer. It never made sense.
"No it doesn't. If you're okay with it, I'd like to get to the bottom of this. But only if you're okay with it. Coerced or not, she had a hand in doing a lot of psychological damage to you, and if you tell me to just leave her to suffer, I will." Greg promised her.
Taylor was tempted, sorely tempted to tell him to do just that, but something, her own conscience stopped her. 'A hero wouldn't do that, and I wanna be a Hero.' So thinking she said, "No, we'd better get to the bottom of this."
He nodded. Beyond pleased, happy that despite everything, she still had a hero's heart. "Alright then, we'll do that. Walk you to class?"
She smiled, "I'd like that."
"Greg!" a familiar voice called.
He turned and saw a familiar face running towards him and waving a smile plastered on her face. "Hey Tammi."
She came to a halt just in front of him almost bowling him over. Tammi was a short pale blonde with a smattering of freckles on her face. She favored daisy dukes and cut off shirts for some reason, and though she was short she was rather top heavy Taylor begrudgingly noted.
"Where have you been, you dumb blonde? Did you get lost walking down a straight hallway or something?" She said, punching him in the arm.
"At least I have a soul you stepford cuckoo clone," He fired back, slugging her in the shoulder in return.
"I'm not a midget! I'm petite!" She said, kicking him in the shin. She then noticed Taylor and asked, "Umm who're you?"
I'm T-Taylor, Taylor H-Hebert, Greg's girlfriend, n-nice to meet you?" Taylor replied, holding out a hand.
"Girlfriend?" Tammi said as if the word did not compute. "You? girlfriend? Greg?"
"Greg, take stick, bonk on head, drag back to the cave and make much unga bunga," Greg said in a gruntish caveman voice. "Also Tammi Heren, meet my girlfriend Taylor Hebert."
Taylor flushed and slapped him on the arm. "Stop it you! We've done nothing of the sort! Don't go giving her the wrong idea! We really haven't," She swore to Tammi.
"Hey it's none of my business if you have or haven't!" Tammi said, giving a forceful laugh. "Explains where you were a week before last though. Couldn't keep your hands off her could ya?"
"No Tam, actually I'd been shot and ended up in the hospital," Greg told her.
"I see, shot… WHAT?!" She screeched once his words finally registered. "What the hell do you mean you were shot?! Why didn't you tell me?! Who the hell-" She was cut off as Greg put a hand over her mouth.
"Tammi, chill," Greg said. "Seriously, people are staring," He saw people looking at them and muttering.
"Why…" Tammi said after she'd given the gwaker's a deathglare, "Didn't you tell me you got shot! That's a big deal ya dumb blonde!" She kicked him in the shin again in righteous feminine vengeance.
"You never asked for my number Tam," He replied as he rubbed his sore shin.
"I… didn't did I?" she said lamely as recalled, no, she did not have his number in her phone. "Gimme your number doofus!"
"My Tam, how forward of you," He chuckled only to get shoved.
The redhead scoffed, "Can it dumbass! This is just so I can make sure you don't do anything else stupid in the future like get shot, and if you do, I can chew you out over it later. Don't go making more of it than it is!"
"Yeah, sure Tam," He said, writing his number down on a scrap piece of paper and handing it to her before saying "Now, we should all be getting to class huh?"
"Right!" Taylor said glad to get out of there and out of everyone's gaze. "It was nice meeting you Tammi."
"You too," Tammi said clenching her fists as the girl, Taylor Hebert walked away with Greg. She decided she already hated her.
(...)
Soon, word of their dating spread throughout Winslow High School. Greg didn't think they'd be the talk of the school, but surprise, idea that the stalker was dating his stalky And the punching bag of the popular click spread like wildfire, And by lunch, everyone was whispering and pointing at the two of them. Or more specifically, pointing at Greg and at his limp and the fact that he'd been shot. Sighing to himself, Greg said to Taylor, "I don't know about you, but this is getting on my nerves,"
"Agreed," The brunette replied. "Almost makes me wanna go hide in the girl's second floor bathroom again."
Greg looked at her, horrified."You were eating lunch in the girls' second floor bathroom?"
Taylor looked down, shamefaced, "It was the only place the trio would leave me alone," She admitted.
"Well, that stops today. You can eat lunch with me and my friends if you want to, that is!" He quickly added, not wanting to pressure her into anything.
She looked up at him and gave him an awkward he didn't judge her for her choice in venue when it came to lunch, "That sounds nice actually. Will Tammi be there? She seemed nice enough."
Greg nodded, "Oh yeah, Tammi, she's a good friend. It'll be just me, her, and Sparky."
Taylor nodded herself Before becoming morose, "But before that, I'd like to see what's going with Emma,"
He nodded, understanding her concerns. "Do you think this could be another setup for a trap? Some sort of prank? This time involving me?"
Taylor silently contemplated for a moment before she finally said, "I don't know, but it's got me worried. Emma's always been a capable actress. She could be lying through her teeth right now. Or. And this scares me the most. She could be being genuine. And the reason it scares me the most is she's being there's hope that she could actually….That we could actually… Repair our friendship somehow."
'Ah, the dreaded Hope Spot,' Greg thought to himself. 'The worst trope there is,' Personally, he didn't know if Emma was playing another game or whatever, but he did know this. If she was trying to hurt Taylor somehow, she was going to pay for it. Be it physically, mentally, or fiscally, She would pay somehow. That whole chivalry thing about not hitting women did not apply at all in The world of martial arts. And his hands were rated E for everyone. So, thinking, he prepared to meet up with Emma in the classroom. She specified, but then he had a thought. "Taylor, why don't you go in there ahead of us and hide? That way you can listen in and see what she's planning, if anything?"
The gangly brunette thought it over for a moment."That's not a bad idea, actually," She then frowned and asked. "Do you even know where you're supposed to meet her?"
"I'll text her and ask her right now," The look Taylor was giving her, he explained. "She slipped me her number as she walked away. She's really good at stealthy stuff. Surprisingly so."
"Probably picked it up from Sophia," Taylor muttered under her breath.
No sooner had he sent the text than he received a pingback. "She wants to meet in the social studies classroom on the second floor?"
"The room that got abandoned because it got set on fire that one time?" Taylor asked for clarification. No one knows how it happened. Supposedly, someone decided to mess around with chemicals or was trying to create some drugs in there during the teachers lunch break, but it didn't end well.
"The very same," Greg confirmed. "Well, what do you think? smell like a trap to you?" He asked his 'school girlfriend' As he dubbed her in his mind.
"It might be, but it also might not be… The best advice I can give is proceed with caution. But you also know freaking Kung Fu. So… You should be fine?" She said with a hopeful lilt in her voice.
"I think I can handle Emma, Sophia, and what's her name?" Greg said with surety.
"Madison Clements," Taylor added helpfully.
The blonde nodded, "Right her," He never could be bothered to remember her name. She was more of a tagger-on than anything. She was more of a leech who sucked, who stuck on to Emma and Sophia for the sake of popularity, than an actual person. But even leeches could be dangerous, he supposed.
"Are you sure you wanna do this? You don't have to, you know?" Taylor said, giving him the chance to back out.
"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't stick up for my girlfriend?" He said, turning to her and giving her an encouraging smile. "I got this,"
In response, Taylor gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Greg for everything. If we're going to get there before Emma, we'd better get going."
"Then let's get going, milady," He said as He gave an over the top bow that motioned towards the stairs leading up to the second floor of Winslow High School.
She gave something between a sigh and a giggle in response as she rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork sometimes, Greg."
"But I'm your dork, Taylor," He said as he followed behind her.
'I know,' she thought. 'And I don't find myself disliking that one bit.'
(...)
The social studies room was still burnt out from the fire that had taken place in it. The scent of smoke lingered in the air, and the teacher's desk was half burned, as well as some of the desks from the explosion that had taken place there. Taking a quick look around because Emma hadn't shown up yet. Taylor decided to hide in one of the lockers, Kept in the room where the teacher had usually kept his things to keep them away from the students till the school day ended. She jimmied the handle a little bit and found it easily swung open, no doubt loosened from the blast. Thankfully, there was nothing in there and she was so thin she could easily fit inside the locker. She was about to step inside when Greg put a hand on her shoulder and asked worriedly, "Are you sure you're going to be okay hiding in there?"
It took her a moment to understand. He was thinking about the Locker Incident. About how she might be traumatized hiding in a similar small place. She smiled at him reassuringly. "It's either in here or under the desk, and under the desk is kind of obvious. I'll be fine, don't worry."
He held her gaze for a moment before nodding. "Alright, if you're sure," The sound of footsteps coming down the hall could be heard. Whether Taylor was sure or not was no longer an option, she had to hide because Emma was here.
Stepping into the locker and closing the door, Taylor kept her breathing slow and steady and listened to the coming conversation. Hoping against hope that this wasn't another prank.
Greg watched his Emma, poked her head into the room and sighed in relief when she saw him. "Thank God, I didn't think you would show up,"
"I'm here," Greg said warily, "Now what's all this a-" He stopped when Emma frantically raised a finger to her lips.
"Not yet!" She said quietly. "The room isn't secure yet! Give me a moment," She told him before she reached into her bag and took out what could only be defined as some sort of tinker tech. Surprising him as As she installed it to the bottom of the door as she closed it. And then installed similar pieces to all the windows. She then took a breath and sighed. "Now I know for sure we can't be overheard by Sophia."
"What is all that and where did you get it?" were the first words to leave his lips after she hushed him. "Also, what's this have to do with Sophia?"
Emma gave out a slight huff, "No point in hiding it, I suppose. The stress of my current situation caused me to Trigger."
Greg's blue eyes widened like dinner plates, "Oh well, shit. I'm sorry. Tinker, then?"
The redhead nodded, "I specialize in stealth based, infiltration, detection, and pinpoint elimination tech."
"That is a broad specialization," Greg noted. "So you can pretty much create anything stealth based? Does that include planes?"
"Probably, but I don't have the materials for that," Emma replied after a moment.
"Right. Anyway, sorry. We're getting off topic and my inner geek popped up for a moment. What is all this about, Emma, and what's this about Sophia?"
Emma took a breath, "Right, First and foremost, I would like to thank you, Greg."
He looked at her in confusion. "Thank me for what? I haven't done anything to earn your thanks."
"You're lying. We both know you did. Isn't that right, Kagemusha?"
Taylor watched from within the locker as Greg's entire demeanor and even stance changed in an instant. He went from slouching over and looking happy-go-lucky to standing straight backed, His hands behind his back, and his face becoming placid, all in a single moment, "I see. So someone figured it out. Sophia? Are you here to blackmail me on her behalf?"
Emma rapidly shook her head and waved her hands in front of her as she said. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! I'm here because I need your help getting away from that freaking psychopath!"
"Explain," Greg said in a cold, no nonsense tone as he barely leaned on his staff to stand up straight.
Seeing he was giving her a chance, Emma wasted no time. She told him everything. About how he had done his best to save her from those goons who tried to abduct her. About how after he had been knocked out, how Shadow Stalker, AKA. Sophia Hess. Had rained down steel upon them and after that, how she had forced her to become strong by cutting off ties to Taylor. How Sophia had all but forced her, with the threat of death hanging over Taylor's head, to become the very thing she hated, and how it was slowly killing her inside, doing that to her sister in all but blood. She watched Gregg stare at her intently, looking her dead in the eye as she told him everything. When she finished, she felt clean, for lack of a better term, like a bunch of filth and a massive weight had been lifted off of her body. Now all she could do was stand there and hope against hope that he somehow decided to help her.
After a moment Greg said, "You… Are not lying,"
Emma shook her head back and forth with such force that her firebrand hair whipped around her head, "No, God no. This is not some type of stupid prank! The last stupid prank Sophia thought up, nearly killed Taylor. This needs to stop before she dies!" Clasping her hands in front of her, the Irish girl all but pleaded. "Please will you help me help Taylor?"
"Very well," He said after a moment. "I truly believe you have Taylor's best interests at heart. As if I thought for a moment, you were lying…. I'd be leaving here with your blood covering my fists."
"I'm not, I swear. I just need to get away from Sophia," Emma swore.
"Have you considered turning her into the PRT? Surely, since she's a ward, they would bring the Hammer of God down on her?"
"I contacted her youth guard Handler and told her all of this, but nothing's been done! So either the PRT doesn't care, or her youth guard handler is in cahoots with her."
Filling in the blanks on his own, "And if she finds out your ratting on her, your own life is in danger along with Taylor's."
"Exactly. So I'm between a rock and a hard place. Either I bully Taylor and keep her alive, or I attempt to turn on Sophia and risk both our lives. I have been waiting, rather impatiently mind you, for something that could turn the tide, to change things for the better, and I think you are that something."
He smirked at her and asked, "Do you now? And how do you know I can change anything?"
Scowling at him, she said, "Cut the crap, with what you can do? I've seen you fight. I've seen videos of your other fights protecting other Winslow students. I know you can handle Sophia. Especially since, if rumors are true, you and Taylor are dating now."
"More or less," Greg confirmed. She didn't ask, and he didn't need to tell her about the whole harem situation. That was his personal business, after all, and he didn't feel like spreading that around.
Emma smiled happily, even though her eyes looked a little sad. "That's great to hear. I'm glad something happy is finally coming into Taylor's life. She needs it. She deserves it. Especially after everything I put her through."
"You were coerced, I'm sure if Taylor learns about it. She'll forgive you."
"Don't you say anything to her!" Emma snapped at him as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him so close their noses were touching, only to immediately deflate, let him go and lean against a desk while muttering out, "I don't…. I don't want her finding out. I don't deserve her forgiveness, not after all I put her through." She took a breath and continued, "Don't worry though, I have plans to make it up to her, even if anonymously, I've saved up quite a bit of my modeling money. I'll send it to her after school so she can go wherever the hell she wants for college."
Greg looked at her sadly, "Is that really what you want to do though? Like if you had the chance, wouldn't you want her forgiveness?"
Emma looked tired, more tired then a teenager should as she spoke in a resigned tone, "Sometimes it's just too late to say sorry. Regardless of the circumstances. I have made my bed now to lie in it."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Greg said as he looked at the locker where the teacher of the class used to store confiscated objects that were usually already stolen.
"What are you looking-" Emma began only to trail off as Taylor, of all people, stepped out of the locker. Emma felt her world fall out from underneath her at the realization. She had been hiding there the whole time, and she'd heard everything. She wanted to run. She wanted to hide, like she'd forced Taylor to do so many times. The air in her lungs stabbed her like a knife, but she couldn't bring herself to move as her sister in all but blood slowly approached her with her long hair shadowing her face.
Once she was within arms length. Taylor spoke, "Is everything you said true, Emma?"
Unable to speak, Emma just nodded in response too afraid to lie. She had lied so long, bullied, deceived, and put on a mask for so so so long. She was tired of lying.
Taylor closed her eyes and nodded contemplatively, before saying, "I see," She then rushed forward and wrapped Emma in a hug that was hard enough to force the air out of her lungs. Taylor began to speak even as her voice was muffled by Emma's shoulder, "It'll be OK. We can fix this. It'll be fine. We'll get you away from Sophia. I swear we will."
Of all the things Emma expected, she never expected Taylor to say any of this if she found out what was going on. "You…. You don't hate me? You don't despise me? You don't think I'm the scum of the Earth? I tortured you for over a year? Mentally, Physically, and Emotionally! Using things you told me in confidence as we were growing up together, as close as sisters. How do you not hate my guts?" Emma asked, pulling back from the hug and looking at Taylor in complete and utter confusion. Tears started to gather in Emma's eyes as she hoped she wasn't dreaming.
"You were being threatened. I was being threatened and I didn't even know it. Sophia is clearly some type of sociopath or psychopath. One of the paths. Either way. We need to get you the hell away from here as quickly as we can. And yes, Emma. I forgive you," spoke Taylor.
Hearing those words coming from Taylor's mouth, the damn that she'd been trying to hold back for so long finally broke, and Emma broke down crying into her best friend's shoulder. That caused something inside Taylor to break and she started crying too, and the two collapsed on the floor of the classroom falling in a heap. Greg had the decency to look away. As this seemed to be too personable a moment for him to just watch. After the sobs died down a bit, he cleared his throat. "Not that this isn't great that you two have made-up, because it is, but how the hell are we gonna nail Sophia to the wall? Because if her youth guard handler really is in on everything she's doing. Then we need some other way to prove she's up to something."
"G-Good point Greg," Taylor said, picking herself up before helping Emma back to her feet. Both of them wiping away trails of tears from their cheeks with Taylor looking more animated than he'd seen her in a good long time. We need some way to record all the stuff she does. Secretly of course because if she catches on. Well, Emma is toast at the very least."
"If only we knew a Tinker that specialized in making stealth gear, such as wires and recording equipment," He gave Emma a pointed look as he said this.
The redhead slapped herself in the forehead as she said. "I'm an idiot."
"Yep, not even a blonde and you're dumber than me," Greg said, nodding along with her assessment of herself. His mindset was just because she was being forced to torture Taylor didn't change the fact that Taylor had undergone significant physical, emotional, and psychological trauma. He wouldn't let her off the hook for any of that anytime soon even if Taylor was willing to. Grudges burn hard and he will hold a grudge against those that hurt the ones he loves.
"I deserved that," Emma said. "And a lot worse to be honest, besides," She began to ponder. Her eyes became unfocused as she seemed to think. "If you give me maybe till tomorrow, I can probably come up with some wires and recording equipment that can be used to record my conversations with Sophia without being noticed at the very least."
"That'll do. Of course, then we have to catch her in the act of actually doing something to Taylor. Or someone else."
Emma scoffed upon hearing that, "Like that'll be hard. She practically runs around with impunity in this place. And Blackwell is her loyal little pet. I'm 99.9% sure she's getting kickbacks from Sophia. How else is she affording that brand new damn car?"
"So we've got a corrupt principal, probably corrupt teachers and staff, and an evil Ward that needs to be taken down a peg," Greg listed off on one hand. Before listing off on the other, "On our side, we have a mole and will have recording equipment come tomorrow. It'd be better if we had even more evidence to use against them, though."
"Actually," Taylor began hesitantly, "I've been keeping a record of all the bullying incidents that have happened since ….. Well, since they began actually: threats, taunts. Backups of all the unfiled reports I've sent to the office. The problem is, most of those reports also list Emma as one of my attackers."
"I was one of your attackers, Taylor. I'm perfectly ready to take whatever blame the court system gives me. Coerced or not, I'm guilty of at least psychological bullying if not downright bio-terrorism from the locker. I still don't know how Blackwell swept that under the rug."
'Well, at least she's willing to take responsibility for her actions. I'll give her that much,' Greg thought to himself. His respect for Emma Barnes went up from not zero to notch one in his books.
"Well, if you're sure, then yeah, I've got plenty of evidence," commented Taylor.
"There's a saying that goes there always comes a time to pay the piper," Emma told her, "Now it's my time. I can also get my hands on plenty of evidence myself, just by asking people. I know for a fact, that several people recorded the Locker Incident."
Against his better judgment, Greg found himself saying, "You do realize if all of this becomes public, you could be going to jail, right? Not juvie, but actual prison?"
"I'm aware and fully willing to accept the consequences of my actions. But I do hope that by helping take Sophia down, the justice system is willing to be lenient? I'm just happy to have Taylor back as a friend. That's more than I already could have hoped for," Emma said, turning to her sister and all but blood and smiling.
"We'll… Find some way to get through this," Taylor assured Emma, "Somehow."
Greg looked at his watch. "Lunch period is almost over, we should grab something while we still can and then get back to class. They have some semblance of a plan, and that's something at least."
Emma nodded. Beyond thrilled that things had turned out so well."Right, you two leave first and then I'll get my stuff, and that way we won't be seen together so people won't talk, Because if this gets backed, Sophia, we're toast."
"Right. Umm. See you tomorrow?" Taylor said awkwardly, not knowing how to end this conversation.
Shifted her stance to that of the prissy queen bee bitch that she acted like normally as she rolled her eyes, "You see me everyday, Hebert. Now you just know I'm just pretending when I act like a spiteful bitch."
The fact that she could act like that on the turn of a dime was kind of amazing in its own right. But it caused Taylor to sigh in relief, and that's all Greg really cared about, "That's true, and it's a load off my shoulders." She moved in, gave Emma one final massive hug, and said. "It's good to have you back, Ems."
"Good to be back Tay." Emma replied.
Breaking off the embrace, Taylor walked over to Greg, And grabbed his hand. "Let's get out of here. We don't need people talking."
"Sure," Greg replied, his goofy demeanor back in place. "I'm half starved anyway."
"Then we'd better get you fed before you start eating your homework. You don't have a dog to blame that on, do you?"
Greg shook his head and gave a little laugh, "No, afraid not. You'd better hurry if we want to get something to eat, though. The bell's gonna ring soon." He said as Emma disabled all the safeguards she put in place around the room.
Taylor stuttered out, "W-Well, come on then, l-lover b-boy. We better get you f-fed."
"You don't have to force yourself, Taylor, Just being you is enough." He said as he held open the door for her. As she walked through it, he shot a glance backwards at Emma. It was cold, hard, letting her know that even though Taylor trusted her, he had yet to do so.
The redhead looked taken aback momentarily, then nodded, showing she understood. He nodded curtly. Just once. He was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for Taylor's sake. But his trust was easy to lose and hard to earn back once it was lost. And right now, Emma was skating on thin ice.
(...)
It was the end of the school day and Taylor had been worryingly withdrawn and introspective since 'The intervention' with Emma. He understood why of course. She was wondering if this was another ploy, trick or trap. He was wondering much the same thing himself. The only thing that stopped him from holding Emma upside down by her ankles off the roof's edge was the memory of Taylor smiling like she was earlier. The look of absolute relief and happiness on her face was enough to give him pause. Pause enough to wait and see if this really was a trap. If it wasn't great! But if it was, it would be the straw that breaks the camel's back of his patience with the Trio. There would be no more holding back, being passive, or not wanting to kick the hornet's nest. Even if he did just find out that said nest is as big as the PRT itself. No, if Taylor or any of his other friends got hurt again, Greg was going to war! 'But in order to go to war I need arms and armor, which means I need to smith, but I also need to keep my job up and my training… decisions, decisions,' he thought to himself.
"Greg?" Taylor called softly, getting his attention. "Are you okay? You seemed to be somewhere else for a moment there."
He smiled at her kindly for her and before rebutting, "I could ask the same of you. You've had your head in the clouds all day ever since a certain conversation we had this morning… Think it might be another trap?"
Chewing the inside of her cheek for a moment, Taylor replied, "I… I don't know. I want to hope not. I really, really do! But it… it doesn't change the fact that Emma has lied, betrayed, and tricked me more than once now."
"It's alright to be hopeful while still being cautious you know?" Greg told her, "You also don't have to forgive her for everything she's done to you right away. Trust is like a house of cards, slow and hard to build up, but easy to tear down."
Taylor stared at him for a moment before saying, "You know, you're a lot wiser than you let on. Has anyone ever told you that?"
"My mom on occasion," He said with a chuckle. "At first I thought it was just my mom being my mom, but now I think she might actually be on to something."
"Your mom's pretty smart," Taylor complimented, after all, it took a lot of studying and know-how to become a nurse if your name wasn't Panacea.
Greg nodded in agreement, "True, she is. You'd have to be pretty awesome to put up with me and my craziness for all these years."
"You couldn't have been that bad, surely?" The brunette asked.
"I had my moments. And don't call me Shirley," Greg fired back with a grin of his own. "Anyway, I gotta get to work. Are you going to be alright by yourself?"
Taylor gave a meek nod. "I should be fine, yeah. They don't usually bother me after school," She paused a moment before asking, "Would it be too much if I …. Came to Parian's with you?"
Greg stopped in mid step, thought for a moment, and then said, "I-I don't think she'd mind. Hang on a second, let me ask." He did just that, whipping out his phone and sending off a quick text.
Greg: Hey Boss, Tay wants to come to work with me. Is that OK?
Boss: As long as she doesn't mind working while we chat, that's fine.
"She says it's fine, just be prepared to move some boxes," He reported in.
Another meek nod followed the 1st and she added, "That's fine. I don't mind putting in a little bit of elbow grease."
"Cool. Then follow me," Greg started jogging towards the boardwalk and Taylor quickly followed suit. She was easily able to keep up? He asked. "Do you exercise a lot?"
"I go jogging every day in the morning. Have since May," The teen replied. "I bet this is nothing for you though. You don't even look slightly winded."
Greg gave a Half hearted chuckle. "Well, you've seen some of my training methods and they're a bit extreme."
"Yeah, that's one way to put it," Taylor said under her breath, but still loud enough for Greg to hear apparently as he laughed. "Not that I really need to ask, because, well, you're a guy, but are you really OK with this harem situation? Or more precisely, having me in it?"
Rolling his eyes, Greg replied with, "Yes, I'm sure. Both about the whole harm situation and you being in it bit. Though next time you try and add Panacea of all people, I'd like to be informed first. The fact that a harem is being made in the first place. After all, don't I also get a say in this?" He asked as they came to a stop in front of the Dollhouse.
"You do. And I'm sorry, we didn't mean to make you feel excluded or that your feelings don't matter."
It wasn't Taylor who said this, but Parian. She stood just outside on her steps, waiting for her guests to arrive in full Cape attire. She walked up to Greg, even though he was slightly damp with sweat, and hugged him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to not take your feelings into account."
"It's fine. But from now on, let's talk about things before we act irrationally. Agreed?"
"OK… So you heard everything from the bathroom the other day didn't you?" Parian asked guiltily, like a child with her hand caught in the cookie jar.
"Duh," Greg deadpanned, "I got shot in the leg, Par, I'm not deaf. I'm not an invalid nor incognizant either, And I'd have to be both to turn down a harem of willing women, mind you."
"Horny teenage boy," Parian teased. you could practically hear a salacious grin in her tone.
"Sexy costume making woman," he fired back just as easily.
"But I'm your sexy costume making woman Greg. Speaking of costume could probably use one and so could Taylor, I bet. If only the spice things up in the bedroom."
Taylor, who had been silently listening to all the double entendre up to this point, coughed into her hand and said, "Actually, I've been slowly making my own costume for a while now."
"You have, but for that to happen you would have to probably have… Oh!" Parian said in Sudden understanding, "Why don't we take this inside before we continue away from prying eyes and listening ears?"
"Good idea," Greg said, catching on moments after she did.
Trio headed inside the dollhouse.
(...)
Parian busied herself with making tea, and once everyone had a cup, and was sitting down in the break room She cleared her throat after taking off her porcelain mask and wig and said, "There's no rush. Continue when you're ready. You're amongst friends here, Taylor."
"Yeah, I have a million and one questions in my head and on my mind right now, but I'm not gonna force you. It's just my inner Cape nerd acting up."
Taylor not used to being the center of attention because it usually caused bad things to happen to her suddenly became very shy and self-conscious. "What would you like to know?"
"What can you do?" Greg queried.
"Umm, it's nothing particularly special. I can just control bugs," She said lamely after a few seconds.
Greg blinked. Process that information blinked again. Then spoke. "You can control bugs? How many and how big of a radius? Can you tell the types of bugs apart? Like this has a lot of applications depending on how fine your control is."
"I-I can tell the types of bugs apart. It's got about a two to three block radius from what I can tell, and I can control entire swarms of different insects."
That's interesting, useful, and completely horrifying," Greg said as he began to ponder the possibilities of what an entomancer could do. You could, for example, breed entire swarms of Brown recluses, Black Widows, or horse flies. Things like locusts, Giant bees, African Hornets. Bullet ants. And cockroaches. Just all the cockroaches. Now imagine being able to control all of that at will."
"Could I really be that dangerous?" Taylor was asking herself more than the two around her.
Yes!" Both Sabah and Greg said at the same time. "Taylor Sabah began in a quieter tone. "You are a walking third plague of Egypt. Only you're not limited to locusts."
"Hell, you might not just be limited to bugs Taylor. You might be able to control anything that doesn't have a spine. Which could include lobsters, crustaceans, and octopuses."
Taylor blinked when she heard that, "I hadn't actually tried using my powers on marine life before," She offered Greg one of her rare meek smiles. "Thanks, Greg. You're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for."
"I don't like to stand out too much," He said by way of explanation.
Taylor just rolled her eyes, "Yeah, you translate manga and stuff on the side. Have a job, are a Tinker, and practice several martial arts simultaneously. But you don't like to stand out too much."
"The point is, I don't go around bragging that I do all that stuff. I don't want people to know I do all that stuff. I just do it because I want to do it." He said, defending his interests a little bit Before turning to Saba and saying, "Speaking of, I was wondering if it would be alright if I move some of my tinkering stuff over here. As a Rogue, I thought it would be a good idea if I made some of my stuff public. Let people know that I was off the market, so to speak."
"Yes, that sounds like a great idea," Sabah said.
"See, I want people to know that I'm open for bus… Wait, you're OK with it?"
"Greg," She deadpanned, "I left you alone for I left you alone for a couple of weeks Come to visit you, then find out that you triggered and you built a switchblade that actualizes death. So yes, I'd rather have you around so I can keep a better eye on you, and so you don't Tinker Fatigue yourself to death."
"I'm not a five year old, you know," He said like a petulant five year old as he crossed his arms.
The two of the women in his life just laughed. "No, of course not. I'd never presume to call you that. You're just stubborn, which, according to your mother, you get from your father."
He blinked in confusion and asked. You've been talking to my mother?"
"Oh, she's part of our girl group chat," Saba confirmed.
Greg looked at Taylor, betrayed and asked. "There's a girl group chat?"
"It's about you and all the cute and funny stuff you do. Your mom even showed us your baby pictures."
"Damn it, Mom! We're going to have words about this when I get home tonight!" He promised, Shaking his hands at the heavens in a way that promised vengeance.
"Don't be too hard on your mother. You should just actually be thankful she's still in your life," Taylor said in a way that was wistful.
"You really should be," Sabah added, sounding just as wistful as Taylor was.
If Greg could have, he would have stuffed his foot in his mouth for the faux-pas he just did. 'Smooth Veder. Real smooth. Plan vengeance against your mother around the two people who don't have one anymore.' He thought to himself, feeling like an ass. 'I mean, I can do a lot of things, but it's not like I can bring back the dead… Wait. Can I?' He briefly considered it, and as he considered it, the schematics for a weapon that could in fact bring back the dead popped into his mind's eye. The weapon's name.
Tessaiga.
'Well, fuck me sideways and call me Charlie,' Greg thought to himself. 'I've got myself a phoenix down,' Not wanting to get either girl's hopes up, he kept quiet for now about his new little discovery, wanting to get everything together and try forging the weapon first for he tried anything. 'Besides,' he thought to himself, 'I have more important things to worry about at the moment. Like moving all my crap from the docks to here, or a portion of it at least.'
"Well," Greg said after a moment of silence, "If I'm going to move my stuff in here, I'm going to have to get started. Do you mind if I take the day off Parian?"
"Of course, Greg, you're going to just be on light duty anyway, I was just going to have you man the till," She then pursed her lips and concern before she said. "Should you be lifting a lot of those heavy objects by yourself though? Your knee is still on the mend."
"I'll be fine," He assured her.
"Uh-huh," Sabah said unconvinced, "Your mom told us that that's Veder-man talk for saying one thing, but meaning and doing the exact opposite."
'Curse you mother! You traitor!' Greg kept to his thoughts. He said. Well, this stuff has to be moved somehow. And no offense, but I don't think you girls are going to be any more able to lift it than I am."
In response, Parian just pulled out her phone and dialed a number. It was on speakerphone when it was answered and the voice that was on the other line chilled his blood. "Hello, this is Apachai. How can he help you today?"
"Hello Apachai Sensei. Greg's threatening to do something stupidly strenuous to his knee, so we were hoping you and the other sensei could come over and help us convince him to not do that."
"You… you monster…" Greg said in fearful, awed tones.
"Apachai, how many times do I have to tell you not to answer the phone like that?" Hello this is the Ryuzanpaku and Shirahama residence, how may I help you?"
"Ah is um Sabah? One of Greg's girlfriends? Yes, we just caught him trying to do something overly strenuous to his knee and we were wondering if you and the other sensei's come over and talk some sense into him…?"
"We'll be right over. Where are you exactly?" Her tone was overly chipper, but there was a coldness to it.
"At my shop, the Dollhouse? I'm sure you know where it is on the Boardwalk?"
"We'll be right there. Please make sure Greg doesn't try to leave, would you dear?" Miyu. continued in that same glacial chipper tone.
"Of course. Miyu. We'll see you in a couple minutes?"
"We'll be over in less than five," She promised before the phone line went dead.
After she hung up Greg said fearfully, "Do you have any idea what you've just done? The training they were giving me already was annoying, but now it's going to be insane. Not that I can't handle it, but still that's beside the point."
"Not that you can't handle it?" Taylor parroted. "Are you more than just a Tinker?"
"No," Greg verified. "I'm actually a grab-bag Cape. It's just that tinkering is my main specialty."
This was news to both Taylor and Saba and now it was Taylor's turn to geek out about capes a little bit. "What else can you do?"
"I have no glass ceiling when it comes to physical training. I can pick up an item and simply know how to use it, And I can reinforce an item to make it stronger," He said, deciding not to bring up the fact that he could create a freaking time loop. It's always a good idea to have an ace or two in the hole, after all.
"That's a pretty amazing power set," Taylor said, complimenting him after a moment. "And all I got was bugs."
"Don't see yourself short. Bug control OP," Greg assured her.
Taylor was about to say something else. When the air suddenly became thick, heavy, hard to breathe, as if a thick blanket was smothering them all. Greg knew what it was, so it didn't affect him, but to someone else who had never felt it before, he imagined the key of several grandmaster class sensei's was borderline suffocating.
Getting up, he marched to the front of the Dollhouse, Leaning heavily on his cane, where his masters, the Elder included, were waiting, and shouted at them. "Cut the crap! People are suffocating in the back!"
"Onii-tan!" Shizuha said as she glared up at him cutely with unshed tears in her eyes. "Are you being a dummy?"
"No!" He defended. "I just need some help moving some things and S- Parian, being the smart lady that she is thought of the smartest way to get you all down here. That's all."
"No lie?" She said, holding out her pinky finger.
"Or I'll have to stick a needle in my eye," He said pinky swearing with her.
"Tch, we got played," Sakaki scoffed.
"Now, now, I'm more than willing to pay you for your time, in food and drink," Parian replied, coming out of the backroom with her mask and wig both firmly in place. "Besides, as his teachers, shouldn't you be looking after his best interest?"
"You had me at drink, you didn't need to add the guilt trip missie," Sakaki grumbled.
"You know you could've just called us Greg?" Akisame sighed. "We should double your training for this but since we're being paid in food, we'll let it slide this time."
Shigure flicked him on the forehead, "Stubborn disciple. Stop… causing us… to worry… so much."
"Sorry Shigure-sensei," Greg apologized.
The Elder clapped his hands together, "So where are we heading, and what needs to be moved?"
Greg cleared his throat, "Right, it's by the Docks follow me, but be discreet alright? I don't wanna move everything all at once. Also someone might need to carry Taylor and Parian if we want to do this quietly."
"Carry?" Taylor asked,
"Appa will do it!" The bronze giant volunteered before he hefted the two up, one in each arm, and defied gravity by leaping onto a nearby rooftop in a single bound, and proceeded to jump towards the Docks.
"Does he know where we're going exactly?" Kensei Ma asked.
"Nope," Greg said.
After a moment, Sakaki sighed and said, "I'll be right back."
(...)
The masters, Shigure in particular, looked around Greg's Hideout and the material it contained with a keen eye. So many… Esoteric… materials." The ninja blacksmith noted. The hideout was filled with a cloying heat and slight haze from the intensity of the forge, and all the shelves were packed with various knicknacks one wouldn't think to find in a blacksmith's forge. No one commented on the heat.
Greg nodded while rubbing the back of his head, "Yeah, my power doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either, Sensei."
Appearing in one of the boxes labeled "Beetles" Sakaki asked, "How exactly can you forge a weapon with weird crap like this anyway?"
Greg opened his mouth, closed it. Briefly thought about it. How did he explain to his masters about life force resonance, about spiritual conjunction, The harmony that could be reached between metal and spirit if everything was just so, and the litany between magic And the forging process? And the tonal resonance that could be achieved between the hammer and the forge? Thinking about how to put his forging of magical weapons into words gave him a headache. So instead, he said, "Just take it from me, Sakaki-sensei. Tinker tech is bullshit."
The Hundred Dan Karate Master just shrugged. "Fine, if you say so. Not like I really care anyway. This is more Shigure's field of expertise than mine."
"Greg," Said blacksmithing Sensei said, addressing him. "Can you explain how your smithing ability works?"
"I'd rather not. It's complicated and confusing even for me. I just know it works If I combine the right metals and ingredients together."
Amethyst eyes met blue and she held his gaze for a moment before she finally. "I understand," She said after a moment before asking. "What do we need?"
Releasing a breath he didn't even know he was holding, Greg sighed a bit and replied with, "The metal you can. I'll need as much of it as I can get. Grab various types of woods. Is usually useful along with leather. And if you want to, grab some silver and gold along with some etching tools, that'd be great."
In short order Greg had a pile of Objects growing at his feet and getting ever larger by the second. Some of the things brought to him got him a couple of raised eyebrows. Like a whale vertebrae, A container full of dog teeth, And a thermos full of dog blood. All he could do was shrug and say my power is weird.
And it truly was, Because he knew he needed all these strange and semi creepy ingredients to make truly magnificent, powerful weapons. A majority of which were going to be for his own use. Some, however, he could make and sell to the masses or the PRT if they were interested in buying. Though he had a feeling once they found out what his weapons could do, they wouldn't be so much interested in purchasing and would be more interested in pressing him to work for them. He needed to become firmly established as a threat to others before that happened.
'In order for that to happen,' he thought to himself, 'I have to become the bad guy. Or something close to it. At the very least, I'd have to become a cutthroat businessman,' He glanced over at Sabah, who was keeping Shizuka company. 'If anyone would know, it would be Sabah. Managed to keep herself from being recruited by any gang for several years now.' So, thinking, he made his way over to the group that consisted of Sabah, Taylor, Shizuka, and Miyu. The four were staying out of the way as the Masters bounced to and from around his shop, looking at things and adding small bits and pieces to the pile of gear he needed. Shizuka Seemed to be enamored with the fire coming from the forge, and she stared into it with childlike wonder.
"Having fun over here all by yourself, ladies?" He asked jovially as he approached.
"Onii-tan, I want smores." Shizuka declared with the imperiousness of a child.
Greg rubbed his chin and thought before he said, "Smores, huh? Well, I think we can manage something. Give me a sec to look around, alright?"
Miyu tried to stop him, "Greg, you really don't have to bow to her every whim, you know, gonna spoil her. You're already spoiling her."
Greg just laughed and waved off her concerns, Telling her, "She's an adorable five year old Miyu. Five-year-olds deserve to be spoiled rotten."
"Yeah, Mama, I'm adorable. See?" She said grinning at her mom.
Putting her hands on her hips and giving her daughter a playful but stern look, Miyu Shirahama replied, "I know you're adorable; I'm your mother. And I know that you know you're adorable and that you're taking advantage of it. That's the problem. Did you thank Greg for going out of his way to make you a snack?"
In response, Shizuku wrapped her arms around his legs, nearly causing him to fall over as she said "Thank you for making me something to eat Onii-tan!"
Ruffling her hair affectionately, Greg replied with, "It's no problem kiddo, Don't worry about it. Now let's see what we got around here to cook." He wandered to the back of his Lair Wondering if it even had a pantry. He knew there was a bathroom because he had to use it at one point. 'Food, food, food.' He thought. 'Surely Cauldron, the 'Super important' secret organization, would think to put food in a place like this, right? Wait, what am I saying? They can't even think of putting motivational posters up in their base when they're trying to kill what is essentially an alien God.'
Sighing to himself, he said, "Door me, I need to file a complaint with management."
(...)
Moments later, he found himself face to face with Contessa, "Greg, What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be entertaining your guests? And did they notice you freaking teleporting out of the room?"
"Probably not, I hope." The blonde replied to the silver fox of an older woman. Anyway, I've got a problem,"
"Which is?" Contessa asked, slightly annoyed that he had used the teleportation function of Cauldron to teleport amidst guests.
"My lair doesn't have any food and I need to feed a 5 year old little girl," He said quickly. "One who is expecting smores and will be very upset if she doesn't get any."
"You're a pushover for a pretty face, you know that, Greg?"
"Why did you think I was so willing to do whatever you said? I know that already. But I also know that it's one of my primary it can't be that bad."
Contessa rolled her eyes and looked away, mainly so he wouldn't see her blushing a little bit. "Flattery will get you nowhere with me, "
"Well considering you're not mind wiping me and taking away my powers you're at least considering helping me, right?"
Sighing through her teeth, Contessa said, "You're lucky you're cute, Greg. Very, very lucky you're cute."
He grinned roguishly. "So you're saying I have a chance? Nice."
The Cape World's boogeyman just found herself sighing again, But couldn't repress a grin. "You're incorrigible." She told Greg, "Anyway, what do you actually need?"
"At the moment? A bag of marshmallows, a box of Graham a package of Hershey's chocolate. In the future though, I'd appreciate a pantry being installed at base. Or better yet, a pantry and a fridge."
All three items can be found in the Break Room. Her power told her. She knew that already, of course, was nice to be informed she supposed. "Follow me," she told the young boy. As they walked down the halls of Cauldron, He noticed they still hadn't put up any motivational posters since the last time he'd been here. "Honestly, would it kill you guys to put up some motivational posters? Paint the place a nice bright color, something? Like, I get you're trying to kill an alien God and all that, but this place is just downright depressing."
Much to his surprise, Contessa laughed, "I don't disagree, But Doctor Mother thinks this makes us look more professional."
Raising his voice a few octaves, Greg continued to gripe, "Professional to who? You're supposed to be a secret cabal?! Also, I meant to be thinking that, not saying it out loud."
"You talk to yourself a lot?"
"More often than I'd like," Greg admitted. "I don't have a lot of friends, up until recently, so I usually end up talking to myself about ideas, plans, or make shitposts on PHO to see what other people think about my ideas."
"Well, if you ever need to talk to anyone, you can always come see me, I suppose. I promise I won't think you're crazy," She offered as her eyes briefly flicked to him as they walked down the cold, sterile and long halls of Cauldron.
"I may just take you up on that at some point. Oh, by the way, the other day when I was still in the hospital. I ended up making a knife that could actualize death. I don't know if you'd be interested in such a thing, but I thought I'd bring it up. I don't recommend using it on the big yellow guy though. It's range is way too short to be of any use."
"While that is both terrifying and fascinating to know, I am going to have to agree with your assessment and assume that it won't be very useful against Scion. Thank you for keeping us in the loop though. Speaking about keeping people in the loop, Number Man has almost completed the primary version of that gacha game you brought up the last time you were here, and once it goes live, we shall be sending you 2% of the proceeds we make every month."
"2% wow. Thanks."
"I'm sure you'll be a lot more impressed once you see how much you'll be making," She told him as they entered the break room. Handing him what he needed for his impromptu s'more session, she asked, "Now is there anything else you needed or any amazing advice you wanted to give before you disappeared for a while?"
"I can't think of anything off the top of my head at the moment. But if I do, I'll let you know," Greg replied as she placed the requested items in his arms. "Be very careful when you use the dooring function in the future, Greg. We can't afford to be caught."
"Sure. Sorry, Contessa," he nodded meekly, thoroughly chastised, only to fire back, "But don't be a stranger, all right?"
She smiled at him, clapping him on the shoulders and said, "I'll visit when I can, Now go make a little girl happy."
"Door me," The blacksmith said, beaming at her as he disappeared.
After he was gone, Contessa fanned her face, as it had gone red hot being around him. "Are we sure he doesn't have some kind of master effect?" She muttered to herself.
"When it comes to him, we're quite sure," Number Man replied to her rhetorical question much to her surprise, "You just have a thing for younger men and refuse to admit it to yourself. Which is vexing to me, quite frankly. As you have no problem with kidnapping and force feeding people cauldron vials for the sake of saving humanity, but when it comes to your own personal happiness, you suddenly get cold feet. It's illogical."
"Okay, Spock," She replied blithely as she gave him a deadpan stare.
Giving her the Vulcan hand sign, he replied with "Live long, prosper, and if it makes you happy, go rob that cradle."
Shaking her head at her colleagues' antics, Contessa walked past him, back to her own office where Greg had appeared in the first place. All the while, she was deep in thought. Thought she knew she shouldn't be having. 'He's too young for me. And I've done too much. I have too much blood on my hands. I don't deserve to be happy. Do I?' She shook her head, Muttering to herself. "This is ridiculous. I doubt it would even work out between us anyway."
Of course, her power chose then to show her how, step by step, she could ingratiate herself to both Greg and his little harem. She let out something between a sigh and a laugh. "You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?" She asked her power.
"Negative. The mental state of the Host is detrimental to the end goal of the Host. The fall of the Warrior. Thus, we have decided that the mental and physical well-being of the Host has become our own imperative. Query. Has the Host considered the consequences of Warriors downfall?"
Contessa blinked. Her… Passenger had never been this active before. Then again, she'd never talked to it quite this directly, confused about what it was said. "Elaborate."
What she learned made her eyes widened in horror, and changed everything. "It seems I owe you another one, Greg," She said to herself. Because she had just learned they could not just kill the Warrior. Not without somehow utterly screwing over their world, even worse than it already was. For it was the warrior who controlled Trigger Events, and prevented them from going out of control, and without him, utter abominations could be created during mass trigger events.
Titans.
"How can we avoid or contain this mess?" She asked her power. and it readily supplied her with an answer. Just as all roads lead to Rome, all answers led to a certain blonde haired boy in Brockton Bay. She moved to inform Dr. Mother and Number Man, As this was something they definitely needed to be made aware of. Plans needed to be made. Numbers needed to be crunched, And contingencies needed to be put in place. It seems Greg had gone from being just another pawn on the board. To being a king piece. 'I hope he can bear the responsibility and weight that comes with it.' Contessa thought.
(...)
Word Count: 11,750 Number of Pages: 25 Date Completed: 10/13/2023
(...)
AN: Hello my people and welcome to Chapter 3 Arc 1 of Burgeoning Bladesmith. I hope you all enjoyed this more laidback chapter. Next chapter is going to consist of Greg trying his hand at being a Rogue, and maybe dip his toe in the pond that is vigilantism. But that's for then and this is all from me for now. Here's Snowy and Hassan to round out the chapter.
Snowy: Hello folks. Another story another day. Another time I have to beg for forgiveness for being a day late. I know I know. Throw your tomatoes but please No rocks. Let us see how Greg handles his decisions and consequences from his actions. Can Emma be trusted. Will Contessa make the right decision to help prevent the titans? Who knows. Tune in next time for Burgeoning Bladesmith!
Hassan: Oh boy! Now it seems that Emma has finally begun her journey of redemption, she has taken the first step. Nobody expected that now did we? Heheheheh….Hello everyone, First Hassan here and today! We are bringing you another chapter of the CYOA story! I know it has been a while since we got back to this but remember, we Inkblot has a tight schedule to deal with so we try to work hard and please our customers with their needs and bring satisfying products all of us can agree with. Thank you guys for reading our story, if you want more or want to be a chapter ahead, head to Bubba' account where it hasn't been edited by yours truly. I'll see you guys later! (Turning around while blue flames surround Hassan before disappearing)
Thanks again for reading! This has been an Ink Blot Bro's production and till next time, Peace!