Current Energy: 4
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
Winslow High School, Brockton Bay
School. Again.
Yay.
The school day is, how to put it - miserable. It's not that anything bad happens. But it's not like anything good happens either. Honestly, the simplest way to describe it is to say that nothing much happened at all.
Mostly.
You admit that you felt a certain sort of... damn what's the word. Pity. You feel pity for the blond kid that your Master decided to ignore.
It wasn't just that your Master nearly made him cry. It was... more than that you guess. Having already ascertained your Master's social wellbeing - in so far as 'everyone is too afraid to make fun of her' can be called 'doing well' - you choose this second day of school to play walkabout. More often than you would like, however, you come across Greg.
The first time would have been easy to ignore. He was in gym class, so it wasn't like there was a shortage of stupid kids running around. But you wondered why, at a certain point, it seemed like the only thing the team opposed to him was doing was 'accidentally' hitting him with the ball, or bumping into him.
For the you who's core was built around a hatred for this kind of behaviour it made your chest hurt a little. But well, you quickly dismissed the feeling. Spending time on anyone but Taylor was taboo for you after all.
But. It just. Kept. Happening.
No matter where he went, no matter what he did, that Greg kid was always, mostly, alone. Even the times when he was around other people were pitiful. Never letting him speak for more than a second. Making unreasonable demands of him. Blithely insulting him with a smile, like it was okay because they were 'friends'.
You didn't have to see the cramped look on the kid's face to get it. This Greg kid, he was just like Taylor had been.
And you just couldn't stomach that for some reason.
'Oi, Master. That guy, Greg. Can you be a little lenient with him?' You send to her, just as she makes it to the one class that she shares with him.
'Why?' Taylor asks, clearly suppressing her annoyance in the face of the concern you are, for the first time, showing for someone beside her.
'Ah, you know. I was following him around all day and now I kinda wanna kill all your classmates?' You reply uncertainly, not sure how to explain this sensation your feeling.
Outrage? Disgust? Discomfort? Some combination of all three? Humans need better ways to convey information than this.
'If it's just listening then I guess...' Taylor finely answers you hesitantly.
With obvious trepidation she picks her way across the classroom to where Greg is, sitting by himself, and then seats herself next to him.
"...Sorry I was rude yesterday." She opens after a moment, noting with a certain level of dark amusement the way half the class shifts to new seats around her as she takes a seat.
"That's cool! I was being retarded anyway. There's no way I know more about Capes than you." Greg admits in a self-deprecating way, scooting his chair slightly away from your Master.
You sort of want to appear and yell at him for wasting this opportunity you have so graciously given him but pause when the girl herself tilts her head to look at the chair itself.
There is a dark liquid dripping from the seat, staining the boy's pants that he is studiously refusing to acknowledge, though he does begin to pinker slightly under her gaze.
"Greg you-" Taylor begins in a subdued voice but stops when a new voice enters their conversation.
"Hey, Taylor. We noticed the freak bugging you yesterday so-" A pasty looking brown haired girl says with faux confidence, sneering at Greg as she does so.
"Shutup." Your Master says succinctly. She doesn't release her Aura, but for just the briefest of seconds - not enough that anyone else would notice, you're sure - her eyes glow a thin blue. In the blink of an eye, all the ambient chatter stops. Everyone turns in your Master's direction. Or rather, everyone who was surreptitiously paying attention to her begins to openly stare.
"Come on, it's no big deal. He's just some retard. My uncle said-" The girl tries to continue, her sneer faltering.
"Empire right? Did he tell you to look out for me? You know, you people used to call me a heeb. Am I suddenly less Jewish now that there might be repercussions for it?" Taylor asks rhetorically, exhaling and straightening her back.
It bares saying but, this week of training, it hasn't been for nothing. Your Master was once fairly average looking. Skinny. Ill proportioned. A bit extra around the stomach. But - and you don't know if it's because you've had her struggling under inhuman pressure since meeting her, or if it's just a side effect of your ability to give her your Emulation's powers - that scrawny girl, she doesn't really exist anymore now. The other students hadn't noticed - couldn't really - because of the natural posture and quietness of the bullied girl called Taylor Hebert, but right now, that possessed a body that was quickly approaching that of a greek heroes. Firm shoulders. Strong legs.
This Master of yours, with only physical strength alone, she was already, without doubt, someone who had the bearing of a Hero.
The thing is, you aren't sure if even she realizes it.
"You know if even one of you had stretched a hand out to me back then, this would be a lot harder. But since I can't respect you any less than I already do, I'll only say it once." Your Master declares suddenly and brazenly.
"Bullying, Trafficking, Gangs. None of these are going to be allowed in my school anymore. Got it?"
'Master, it's leaking, just a bit.' You point out to your Master at the climax of her speech, indicating the flecks of blue energy beginning to drift around her as she speaks.
"A-anyway. You were saying something, Greg?" Taylor says quickly, all the intensity draining out of her as her posture returns to normal and she turns to regard the boy next to her.
"Uh..." He says, gulping, turning to look past Taylor at the girl who was insulting him, and then back to Taylor.
"I- I mean yeah! New Capes always do the Docks right? But isn't that stupid when everyone knows that's where you look for new Capes?" He blurts out, then proceeds to explain his thoughts on the matter. Taylor doesn't seem that interested, aside from a mortified moment when she realizes she's never been on a patrol, but it doesn't really matter, because at the very least - she's smiling.
Neither teen acknowledges the other girl as she stiffly walks away.
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
Ship Graveyard, Brockton Bay
That evening, while contemplating your remaining energy reserves, you make a decision. It's a hard decision, even though you don't know why it feels so difficult. Logically it just makes sense. But the longer you stay 'Zaraki Kenpachi' the more you feel like you wouldn't mind continuing on, just like this.
Unfortunately, your configuration is already set. There's no changing it now. So the only thing left to do, is act.
"Hey, Master. Can you hear me out?" You say pensively, again, very out of character for y- this Emulation.
Your Master - who is presently frowning at the extremely old computer the Hebert family keeps around, doesn't miss a beat. In fact, you would like it if she would maybe act a bit more solemn about this. It's a big moment for you after all. Instead though, she just gets up and pulls her dagger shaped Zanpakuto from... somewhere. Seriously, where the hell is she keeping the thing?
"It's Taylor, Emmy. Just Taylor." She harumphs, filling a water bottle at the kitchen sink and then walking out into the backyard like nothing.
"No- I mean wait. Ma- Taylor I'm serious!" You call after her, scrambling up and then following her out into the yard.
"Uhuh. What is it today, avoid one hundred decapitating strikes and you'll give me the power to fart rainbows?" She quips at you. Where is this version of your Master at school dammit?! When did she learn how to make jokes like that huh? Who taught her that!?
"No I-..." You pause, thinking.
"After this, I won't have anything to train you in anymore." You say instead, immediately catching your Master's interest in a way that would be impossible to ignore for her.
"O...kay..." She says, gesturing for you to continue while staring at you with a newfound intensity.
"It's just... there might be some collateral damage, so if we could do it somewhere with a lot of open space?" You question, relying on your Master for that important detail.
"There's the docks again?" She offers. You consider the size of that space, the one you fought Lung in. Then shift your head in a so-so gesture.
"I think I've got the walk on air thing down I guess? We could go out over the bay?" She asks, apparently considering the problem.
That, you think, could work.
So it is that you, your Master, and annoyingly, her Father drive out to an area of beach that has clearly seen better days. This isn't the exact same spot you fought Lung. In fact, it's probably not anywhere near that place. But really, all you need is access to the Bay and the Ship Graveyard beneath it.
Once the pair of you step out onto the dirty and trash filled beach area, you glance at your Master's side profile, and smile.
"Keep up." You order her, leaping high into the air and creating a foothold to allow yourself to yet higher.
"'Keep up', 'Dodge','Dodge better'. You are a terrible Teacher." Taylor calls after you as she shakily ascends after you, settling in the air in the center of the Bay with a jittery look on her face, as though to say 'Does it have to be this high?'.
"O-kay." You say, exhaling once and plastering your fearless grin on.
"This time it's gonna be reaaaal simple Master. For five minutes, don't die." You say.
Then you flare your power as far as it will go. You wish you could go further. Could do more. You wish you had taken the time to show your Master the true extent of that seed of power you had planted in her. But your energy reserves... they're just shy of the real deal.
So you resolve yourself to teach it to your Master as best you can. The swordsmanship that earned you your name.
You leap at her with all the fury of an angry boar, drawing and slashing with your sword so swiftly that she nearly doesn't block in time. You force yourself not to hold back, and with just barely a second to spare, your Master spins in the air to intercept your blade with her own.
"That's a fail." You say, as they make contact, and she is sent careening through the air far enough that she nearly becomes a spec in the distance.
'Emmy, what the hell is-' She tries to ask you but you can't stop. This is your swan song after all. You can't go letting her break your flow.
Energy: -1
Your power flares again, and towards that tiny spec that is your Master in the distance - you release it in a golden wave crested by a demonic skull. You hold your metaphysical breath. Will she dodge it? She should but-
Suddenly you lose track of her, your Master, who's location you always know. Then she is right in front of you, swinging her blade at your throat and baring her teeth at you, like a big cat pouncing on its prey. You evade, stepping backwards to avoid the pitiful range of her dagger, and are surprised when she once more appears before you. It's not the Flash Step. Not... really. If you had to describe it, it's more like, in the blink of an eye, she's using all her strength and power to accelerate. If you had to guess you'd bet your Master can't even really see while she's in motion. It's novel.
It's not enough.
"Faster! Stronger!" You cry out, stepping forward instead of backward to avoid the next blow, placing yourself inside her reach slamming her in the gut with your hilt. Taylor makes a choking noise as all the air leaves her lungs, and you laugh happily as lean over her, kicking her down and into one of the many wrecks in the graveyard with enough force that she bounces off of it and back into the air several meters before recovering.
"Come on! This is the last time you know? Do you wanna do this again tomorrow? Huh!?" You yell at her, patiently awaiting her return.
Taylor stares balefully up at you for a moment, then stops to concentrate for a second, allowing that dagger of hers to stretch into a shape better suited for a real fight. You guess she had forgotten why she kept it that way in the first place. It was because it was convenient to hide. Just that, and nothing more. But what you're teaching her, it isn't how to wield a dagger. It's how to wield a sword.
With another explosion of force, she arrives once more before you, her lips pressed together in a thin line. You can feel your energy draining as she acclimates to the technique.
"Better!" You declare, swiping at her horizontally and being pleasantly surprised when she flicks your sword upward, pushing it over her head and leaving you open. Her sword flashes out, causing a huge gash in your chest that begins to bleed immediately.
"Sh- Emmy are you-" She pauses, stopping in her follow up to attempt to check on you.
You don't let the mistake go unpunished, bringing your sword down on her shoulder and grazing her shoulder before she manages to leap backward, clutching tightly at the relatively minor wound.
"Emmy seriously, that looks really bad!" She continues, not mentioning her own wound.
"You don't get it Master! This is it! The end of this Emulation! Tomorrow I won't be me anymore! I'll be a different Emmy! Different memories! Different skills! A different M.E!" You bellow back, firing another charged blast of power at her.
Energy: -1
To your surprise, a blue light meets it. Just slightly though. A weak pulse of blue energy, one that is quickly consumed in your own ferocious attack and erased. Taylor - apparently having though that would work - takes the blast head-on, and is once again sent flying into the distance.
You don't give her the chance to initiate this time, instead bending your legs and chasing after her.
"So I wanna go the way I want! I want a fight! I want a strong Master! I want to go wild!" You declare, unleashing a flurry of blows on your Master that she only barely manages to parry with one hand, her teeth grit in pain the entire time.
"Thats! Why! I keep telling you!" She yells back at you, raising a trembling hand to grasp her sword in two hands for the first time, and swinging at you with it all her might.
"Stop calling me Master!" She yells after you as her attack lands, scouring another deep cut across your front.
"Hah... hah... are we done now?" She asks you, clearly frustrated with you.
"Come on Master~ you can make me stop anytime you know. But well, if I got a choice, I gotta say- no." You croon, raising your hand to fire your third blast.
"Seriously!" Your Master complains, gathering her power around herself and schooling it into a perfectly serene and calm pool around her. The complete opposite of the raging storm your aura presents as. For a second, the whisps behind her form that spider, and an empty hourglass presents itself to you.
'Outta time huh?' You think wistfully.
Then your hand drops, and you can feel yourself begin to fray at the edges where your energy isn't enough to maintain the cohesion of your form.
Energy: -1
"Haha, it was a good one Master but with this-" You chuckle, but then stop when something peculiar happens. Your Master, she doesn't even try to dodge. Instead, she flicks her sword forward in a motion you are certain you never learned or taught her.
And then her own aura fires. Unlock yours, it is condensed. Unlike that kid with the orange hair, the one who this Emulation fought so long ago, it is more uniform, more solid. As if to say 'Only attacking matters', that energy, it pierces straight through your own attack, the amount of power condensed in that single strike, there is no other way to describe it.
It was marvellous. Ah, she's gone and done it now, that Master of yours. There's no way you can't respond to this. Even if it'll hurt. Even if it's just for a second, you want to show her. Show her the heights.
"Aha! Ahahaha!" You laugh, then stop to cough and glance at the bleeding hole where one of your arms once was.
"Really, you Humans. Taking what we give you and being so interesting with it!" You laugh happily, momentarily forgetting that you phrased that in a way you absolutely should not have.
"Emmy I don't want to do this anymore." Taylor says wearily and in a small voice as she approaches you.
"Just... one last thing. Your sword, you know, it's basically magic right? You gotta be super~ nice to it, and it'll let you do something cool all right?" You chortle, then cough again.
With your one good hand, you raise your sword aloft, then whisper;
"Drink, Nozarashi." Your sword changes. It isn't the simple size changing that Taylor has seemingly mastered. This is the most important thing for a Soul Reaper. A thing you neglected for so long that it makes you feel stupid now. A friend that was standing right next to you, but that you couldn't see.
Energy: Error
It's just too bad you won't get to use it anymore. Times up.
You fuzz at the edges. Then your form begins to blur. The mighty war cleaver you had just summoned, it is the first to vanish, disintegrating into whatever the stuff you use to Emulate things is. Taylor is staring at you with a conflicted expression, like she wants to say something, but knows it's pointless. Like she wants to cry but knows you wouldn't approve. It's that kind of face after all.
Then you get hit by a minibus or something and disperse back into your Spirit Form to avoid dying once your Emulations supernatural durability leaves you.
"Vicky!?" Taylor cries out.
"Hah! I knew that guy was evil! High five!" The blond croons, sticking her hand in the air and smiling at the deeply confused Taylor.
"No- that- you-" Taylor splutters, apparently too confused to be mad.
"Yeah, we saw the light show from my place. I figured it had to be that Line Drive guy. He wasn't actually a projection, right? Probably a Master." Glory Girl mutters under her breath.
"We were just sparring!" Taylor finally yells, pointing rudely at the other girl. Glory Girl looks at Taylor, then down, to where all of your blasts have been systematically tearing apart that Ship Graveyard thing Danny never wants to shut up about. Then back up to your Master.
"...Do you wanna talk about it?" She asks eventually.
"Yes!!!" Taylor screams back.
Heh. The kids are all right. Time to shuffle in a new 'You' you guess.