Current Energy: 14
Curren Training: Inner Peace (5/10) Cost 5 to Complete. You can all thank Kejmur for this Omake Bonus!
Saturday, January 15th, 2011
Oathbound Headquarters, Brockton Bay
You and Taylor hurriedly rush towards your new base of operations, having hurriedly sent the address to Muscles.
What you find when you arrive is... something.
"I'm tellin' ya. Junkyard is a look. Who's the tinker here huh?" Trainwreck is explaining to Danny. The pair of them are standing in front of the Garage, where Trainwreck has apparently found the time to drag several damaged cars in from somewhere and has proceeded to rip them into their component parts, which are separated into several far from neat piles outside. The damaged roll-up door from your earlier visit has already been clearly replaced with partially rusted chrome, that has been beaten into shape and riveted together in several places to create a sort of bulkhead. You'll give it this, it looks sturdy, and judging by the counterweight holding up that you can see just inside the entrance, probably extremely heavy but...
It looks like it's been rusting and neglected for generations, instead of like brand new Tinkertech that has just been added to the building.
"And I'm telling you that if the neighbours here start complaining about your... style... lowering property values then we could be fined!" Danny tries to shout at the abrasive tinker, who is clearly creating a second bulkhead to replace the other door. Mostly by beating the metal into shape with his fists.
You have no idea why any of this counts as Tinkertech, but you're just going to accept that powers can be weird sometimes and leave it at that.
"Danny boy, you bought a busted garage in the docks. I raise the property values just by farting here." Trainwreck says, not bothering to stop what he's doing.
"Hey Dad. Trainwreck." Taylor greets the pair as she approaches cautiously, walking over to the finished bulkhead to examine it.
"Taylor tell your teammate that he can't cover the building in this kind of hideous garbage!" Danny huffs, turning towards your Master.
"Yeah Boss, tell me all about how I shouldn't be worried about gettin' shot in my sleep by Nazi's." Trainwreck drawls.
"It's not... that bad?" Taylor offers sheepishly towards her father.
"Taylor it looks somehow worse than when we bought it. I'm not even sure it counts as Tinkertech." Danny says exasperatedly.
"Hey, my signature look is hard to pull off. If you'd have let me nip down to the Ship Graveyard to steel some plating off the freighters we'd really be cooking with gas." Trainwreck counters.
"How strong is this one?" Taylor asks curiously.
"Eh, not as tough as me but ain't nothing weaker than a rocket gonna punch through it. I'm gonna do all the doors first, otherwise, this place is gonna get shot up the second you announce it to anyone."
"It seems fair Dad," Taylor says to the man, who throws his arms up in defeat and turns to continue staring balefully at the noise that Trainwreck is making.
"Is this a bad time?" A voice asks politely from behind the pair.
"No!" "Yes!" Danny and Taylor say at once, then turn to stare irately at each other.
"So..." Muscles says as he approaches, going from a firm jog to a careful walk as he stops next to you.
"Just ignore it. They do this." You say, materializing next to him and looking him over. He's definitely seen better days. The sweatshirt and pants he's been using look like they haven't been washed in a few days, and have several stains that look like they came from the floor of an alley on them.
"Is that so. Are there any beds in there?" Muscles asks in a neutral tone, eyeing the building.
"Nah. Just got it. Doing some-" You pause to glance at Trainwreck, "-renovations."
"That's fine. I have a sleeping bag." Muscles replies easily, shrugging his shoulders to emphasize the stuffed backpack he's wearing and lifting the duffel bag in his right hand.
"Anyway!" Taylor says, turning away from the silent argument she was having with her Father.
"Dad this is Muscles. He's joining up and will be staying here with Trainwreck." She explains quickly.
"Muscles this is my Dad."
"Aspirant." Muscles says, leaning forward and proffering his free hand to shake with Danny who obliges slowly.
"Sorry?" Danny says quizzically while giving the man the kind of up and down examination he'd probably give to any adult man he expects to be spending time around his teenage daughter.
"I've decided to go by Aspirant. 'To Aspire'. I thought my powers just made me strong and hard to hurt, but Emmy showed me that with the correct knowledge, I could be much more powerful than a mere Brute. So... Aspirant." He says with another shrug. Taylor smiles widely at this, and you can feel a strong sense of contentment coming from her as he acknowledges you.
"Nice! Stick with me and you'll be called Master Buddha Fist in no time! Wait no! Better! Godhand! No wait, to pretentious, uh-" You start pumping one fist and immediately jumping in to begin brainstorming other names.
"A-anyway. Over there is Trainwreck. He's our Tinker." Taylor says proudly, puffing her chest out ever so slightly when she says 'Our Tinker'. You guess that with Trainwreck and Aspirant here she finally feels like a team leader. Or at least, part of a team.
"Yo. Don't touch any of my shit." The belligerent Tinker says, turning to regard Aspirant and then returning to his 'Tinkering'.
"Noted," Aspirant says without missing a beat.
"Are you sure you'll be okay alone with him? He's a bit..." Danny says, trailing off worriedly.
"Is he dangerous?" Aspirant asks curiously, eyeing the larger Tinker as though sizing him up.
"Fuck yeah. Just not to you. Doors over there. Don't go through the Garage, haven't finished the gate yet. Might fall on you." Trainwreck answers belligerently.
Aspirant nods his head once, then nods towards your Master and her Father before turning towards you.
"If possible, I would like to continue training with you." He says before awkwardly attempting a disciples bow.
He fails at it miserably, and it mostly just looks awkward, but you accept the gesture for what it is and return your own bow.
"Sure. I'll bring Taylor out tomorrow." You say, while happily envisioning a mountain top temple where your Master trains an army of Parahumans in Kung Fu.
"I feel like I should get some say in this?" Taylor offers jokingly. You eye her to ascertain that she is, in fact, joking, then quip back.
"Yeah but Taylor. Kung Fu."
Kung Fu, you feel, is always the correct answer.
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
Oathbound Headquarters, Brockton Bay
The next day, you rouse your Master from her sleep once more, having allowed her to sleep in, and the pair of you make your way back towards the headquarters with Danny in tow. You feel bad for dragging the guy around like this when he probably has things to be doing, but the news has said that the Empire Eighty-Eight has stepped their actions up since the capture of Skidmark and 'Mush'. Large swathes of the city that once counted as 'Merchant' and 'ABB' territory are suffering from sporadic gang violence, and it's speculated that it's only a matter of time before the E88 begins the true push to consolidate what's left of the city.
Your Master seemed conflicted on the subject. She obviously wants to go out to fight - this situation is largely her fault after all - but fear for her Father is obviously holding her back.
Breakfast was a quiet affair as a result of that, with Taylor obviously not willing to run out on her Father, and her Father trying to hide his obviously relief that she wouldn't be running into a Gang War while he was an obvious target.
When you all eventually pulled up outside the Headquarters, several things became immediately evident. First among them, that Trainwreck probably didn't sleep last night. Second among them, that in the absence of the controlling factor that was 'Danny' he obviously did end up going to the Ship Graveyard for some materials.
You can tell because he apparently decided to cover every wall and all the doors in some degree of armoured plating.
"We're going to get fined, I can just tell." Danny says darkly.
"I think it looks... effective?" Taylor tries.
"How do we get inside? Does it match fire safety rules for this type of building?" Danny counters, and for the first time you notice that none of the doors have handles anymore.
'I got it.' You offer to your Master, ghosting through one of the walls and into the Garage where you find Trainwreck. At first you assumed he was waiting for you, because he appears to be standing in a corner of the unlit room unmoving, but upon closer inspection, you realize that he appears to be asleep. In his armour. Just... standing there.
Shaking off the creepiness of it, you turn to examine the inner door of the Garage, and find what appears to be a simple lever built into the wall with enough length to comfortably within the Tinkers enlarged hands. Shrugging, you grasp and pull the lever, only to be met with the most horrendous grinding noise you have ever heard in your life.
"Why!?" Danny yells while covering his ears. Taylor winces along with him, but doesn't cover her ears, instead walking into the Garage to examine it. Not much has actually changed inside, which you think you might actually be thankful for, and so it is largely Barren.
"I think it's cool!" You say once the sound has finished and the door has finished opening, allowing light to stream into the building.
"It's like, a siren you know? We're on the case!" You laugh.
"...I'll be in the office trying to get the wiring working," Danny says bluntly, walking past you with a tiny toolkit in hand, and clearly choosing not to address your statement. You nod at him as he passes, then turn towards Trainwreck, who the noise has somehow failed to awaken.
"So what's the plan?" Your Master asks you, leaning against one wall.
"Aspirant is probably still asleep if that sound didn't wake him up. Training?" You offer.
"...Fine." Your Master says, eyeing Trainwreck herself now.
"Don't worry, nothing personal today. Actually!" You say deviously, jogging back out to the car to grab the snacks you made for today and returning with the container open and presented to your Master.
"Celery snack?" You put forth, waggling the container under your Master's nose. She quirks a brow at you, but reaches towards the container regardless with an exasperated sigh.
Which is when you jerk the container slightly out of her reach. Grinning, you wait patiently for your Master to shift forward to grab at the food you are offering her, the move it to the side as she does so. This time, she shifts forward to follow the movement, one hand reaching out to grasp your arm at the elbow to prevent you from continuing to mess with her.
You, of course, retaliate by pivoting on one foot and hip checking your Master four feet backwards with a firm shake of your rump.
She stares at you. You stare back. You reach into the container to take a celery snack out. Your Master moves, practically teleporting in front of you as you step into her attack and allow the force of her forward motion to dissipate on your stomach. She accepts the counter, putting one foot behind her to disperse the force of the shove into the floor and then leaps upward, lifting one knee to land in your shoulder and pinning you to the wall long enough for her to snatch a snack out of the container before landing.
"Are we done?" She asks you irately, sticking the snack in her mouth and biting it in half savagely.
"Yes! Ohohohoh man! The thing with your knees was so cool! My legs are too short for that kind of stuff!" You croon at her, jumping forward to envelop her in a huge hug. She dangles with her feet just off the floor, still chewing her snack, and raises an eyebrow at you, before blinking once.
"Wait. How did I do that?" Taylor says in confusion.
"Kung Fu Baby!" You yell proudly.
"You never taught me Kung Fu!" She counters, jabbing you in the stomach as you put her down.
"Yes, I did! The Dragon Warrior is all about Kung Fu!" You counter happily.
"That doesn't even-" She begins irately but you cut her off.
"The Kung Fu was in your heart all along!" You crow. Taylor stares at you. Then starts to chuckle. Then laugh uproariously, snorting happily the whole time.
"You-you're so lame!" She cackles, leaning over to put her hands on her knees.
"You love it." You say, buffing out your non-existent fingernails on your non-existent shirt proudly.
"Yeah, yeah I do," Taylor answers, coming over to hug you.
You spend the rest of the early morning play fighting with Taylor. The fact that she seems able to fight without automatically attempting to murder her target seems infinitely satisfying to her, and she exercises that ability to it's fullest while sparring with you.
At about noon, Aspirant walks into the garage and comes to a halt next to you.
"Hey." He says simply, apparently not knowing what else to say.
"Morning. Er. Afternoon, I guess." Taylor offers.
"My man! Are you ready to do some Kung Fu!?" You shout at him, causing him to step slightly away from you.
"...yes?" He responds.
"Awesome. After lunch though. Have a seat, I made enough for everyone!" You say, marching out to the car once more. Behind you, you can faintly hear Trainwreck finally waking up, complaining about how loud it is.
You return with Dumplings. But not just any Dumplings. Oh no, you managed to convince Danny to pick up the ingredients to make Dumplings the way they should be made. Perfect, fluffy, delicious, dumplings.
You have to stop thinking about it when you realize you have stopped halfway back to the garage and are about to open the container they are in yourself.
"Alright, get a load of these." You say as you come back, plopping down to sit cross legged on the floor with Aspirant and your Master.
"Hm. What's in them?" Aspirant asks curiously.
"Secret Recipe. Why? You have allergies or something?" You ask suspiciously.
"No, but I was thinking that since I can control my own biology, I can start incorporating things that human bodies usually eject. I can't naturally produce it, but if I force my body to add carbon to my bones I can eventually get them diamond hard. Things like that." He explains politely, withdrawing a fist-sized dumpling and taking a bite out of it.
"Isn't that dangerous? I mean, if you do that won't you get heavier too?" Taylor asks curiously.
"Not a problem for me. I... actually have two powers. Sort of." He explains hesitantly.
"Well, lay it on me. Conquering Buddha style isn't gonna make itself." You chatter expectantly.
"...I'm still not calling it that. But... I have a sort of telekinetic field that holds me together. I think some of my biokinesis is just making micro-adjustments to myself with telekinesis. Separately they're both kind of mediocre, but together I can fake being really strong. Also..." He continues before trailing off.
"What?" Taylor asks worriedly.
"I- don't really look like this." He explains taking a deep breath.
"Well yeah, no one looks like this." Taylor points out, wrinkling her nose at the man.
"I'm sixteen." He says bluntly. Your Master goes silent, staring at the - and you can't stress this enough - adult looking man she's sitting next to. You can faintly hear Trainwreck laughing in the background while continuing to hammer away at some scrap metal with his fists.
"But you're huge!" Taylor finally shouts at him.
"Hah!" Trainwreck cackles from across the garage, causing her to blush.
"...Well, the only thing I know how to do with my powers right now is make my muscles bigger so..." Aspirant says with some embarrassment.
"So... you don't... normally look like this?" Taylor asks. In response, Aspirant merely nods - and then appears to deflate before you like a balloon, until he is just a regular-sized looking teenager with a slightly athletic build. Lowering the hood of his sweats, he smiles sheepishly at the two of you.
"Jamie. Nice to meet you again, I guess." He offers.
"...huh." Taylor grunts, staring at him unashamedly.
"Ohohohoh I have such a good idea for this! Look, forget the huge muscles, you gotta specialize!" You say excitedly.
"I... have? Into strength." He says in confusion, idly taking another bite of his dumpling.
"No man! Listen, you can change your body, right? So instead of just bulking up and prayin' get inspired! Mantis Shrimp punch so hard they make tiny sonic booms! Rhinos have skin tough enough to stop arrows! You can do all of that!" You explain, thinking of all the other Martial Artists and their specialties that your Emulation has seen over time.
"Sounds a bit like Crawler though." He points out to your confusion.
"Who now?" You ask, turning to your Master.
"Um. He's a... Changer? I think? Anything that hurts him he heals from and becomes immune to. He's with the Slaughterhouse Nine." Your Master explains. You continue to stare at her.
"The Slaughterhouse Nine are a group of roving psychopaths who tend to murder a bunch of people and then run away before they can get caught," Jamie adds helpfully.
"Oh. Well, that guy sounds like a jerk." You say with a shrug.
"Uhuh..." Jamie says uncomfortably.
A few more minutes pass in silence while everyone chews, after which you clap your hands together loudly.
"All right! Time for Kung Fu!" You say, standing up and running out to the front of the building. Spotting some grass, you quickly tear several hunks of the stuff out of the ground and then return to the garage.
"Okay Master, this one's easy." You explain, dumping the pile of grass at her feet and pulling a single blade from within it.
"Sword." You state, waiting patiently for your Master to withdraw the Zanpakuto that she seems to be able to pull from nowhere. When she does, you put the blade of grass on the tip of her sword and carefully step back.
"Okay, now try and do a full kata without letting the grass fall off your sword." You explain.
Taylor stares at you. Jamie stares at you. Trainwreck leans away from whatever it is he's doing to stare at you.
"...Is that even possible?" She asks you incredulously.
"Totally!" You exclaim, grabbing your now empty lunch container and placing a blade of grass on top of it. Then you run through a blinding fast combination of punches and kicks with the container in hand, ending by presenting the container - with the blade of grass still atop it - to both Jamie and your Master.
"...I want that." Jamie mumbles under his breath.
"Sorry, it'd take too long to teach you. You'll have to wait till Master has the time to show you." You say apologetically.
"But! Come over here. Let's start building you!" You say with a critical eye as Taylor begins to haphazardly swing her blade around, almost immediately failing as the blade of grass falls to the ground.
"...Don't you mean my style?" Jamie asks you blankly.
"Nah. First off, hard points of contact." You say, pointing at his knuckles, knees and elbows.
Oh yeah, you are gonna turn this kid into a monster.