Current Energy: 10
Current Training: Onmyodo (7/10)
Friday, January 21st, 2011
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay
It was fairly easy to clean Fog up after the fact. However he perceived the world when in his Breaker state, it was obviously severely disrupted by the air around him no longer being a gas. Enough so that he was already in his human form and trying to get his bearings before she even made it to her target. It was basically childs play to detour past him in order to punch him in the head.
Should she avoid bludgeoning peoples skulls to knock them out? Probably. The chance of permanent damage or side effects was honestly pretty high on that front. However, given that she was both exceptionally tired and irate, Taylor felt she could be forgiven for her roughness.
Once she was done, healing Purity, she stood, albeit shakily. She felt... weak. Like she had expended some phantom aspect of herself that she couldn't easily replenish the way she could everything else. Her back burned. Her shoulder ached. She couldn't see straight - partially because her glasses had been fractured during the melee. Still, she stood, blinking away a slight bout of dizziness as she did so. There were other Empire in the building. She had to... had to...
"Hey are you okay?" Aspirant asked her, leaping upward and pulling himself onto the second level next to her just in time to steady her with a large hand on her shoulder.
"Y-yeah. Just a bit dizzy. Gimme a second." She said doggedly, still trying to blink away her dizziness
"Maybe we should stop?" Aspirant suggested, not removing his hand from her shoulder. Taylor twitched her head towards him, affronted, and had to hold down a wave of nausea at the sudden movement.
"No." She said adamantly.
"Taylor, you can barely - okay fine. So we run upstairs. Do you know how long the average person stays knocked out for?" Aspirant sighed, changing tactics and slowly withdrawing his hand.
"What does it-" Taylor began hotly but Aspirant spoke over her.
"Three minutes. At max. So what do we do when all of these guys wake up and no one is here to put them back down?" He prodded her.
"The PRT held them before this." Taylor said petulantly.
"Look in the cells. Half of them were being kept sedated. How else were they going to keep Purity down here?" Aspirant said, gesturing to a nearby cell that - in addition to the standard toilet and bed arrangement, looked as though it had a discarded IV drip fallen over inside of it.
"Can't we just... hook them back up?" Taylor said, less angrily this time. She had to admit that she wasn't really in a state to be roaming around looking for a fight. She just didn't want that to be true.
"Taylor I don't know anything about this stuff. I'm more likely to plug the wrong vein and kill someone. Unless you know what to do?" He asked, and where someone else might have meant it in a mocking or accusatory tone, Aspirant seemed genuinely curious to know. Which was... fair. She did have a tendency to pick up whole fields of expertise from Emmy.
Medicine just wasn't one of them.
"...No." She admitted finally.
"Well, there you go." He said sagely. She wished he wouldn't sound so damn reasonable all the time. Aspirant rarely spoke up, but when he did it was usually to point out when someone was being foolish. Or to add details to a statement that were otherwise missing. Otherwise, he tended to sort of fade into the background. She would call him dependable, but it was more than that. It was almost like he had nothing better to do but lookout for opportunities to step in and be useful.
"Fine. Can you drag them all together? We can lock Othala and Victor up normally, then just keep an eye on the rest of them." She begrudgingly agreed.
And then, she settled in to wait.
It was one of the most excruciating hours of her life.
Friday, January 21st, 2011
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay
You reform in the middle of a meeting room. To your great surprise, it almost looks as though the people present - most of the Protectorate and Wards, and a few members of New Wave - were waiting for you. Carefully, you pan the room, twirling once in the air above the table to take in your entire surroundings.
Lady Photon is present, as is Brandish. Victoria is conspicuously absent, but you suppose she isn't well suited for meetings like this anyway. Arsmaster is at the head of the large table, along with Piggot, and the rest of the Protectorate - Velocity, Triumph, Battery, and Assault. The Wards are next, many of them darting awkward looks to the opposite end of the table, where your Master and her team - her entire team, including Trainwreck - are. When you are done your examination, you float gracefully over to your Master, and drift into your customary lazing position just behind her.
"If we could begin?" Piggot asks irately.
"Now that everyone is here." Your Master fires back, equally cross sounding.
'Did I miss something?' You ask curiously. You know your Master and Piggot don't really get along, but you had somewhat assumed that they would maintain more civility when surrounded by other people.
'Hess was here. Along with her new friend.' Your Master answers you, a mixture of tiredness and anger wafting off of her.
"Earlier today the Empire assaulted our Headquarters here, using what remained of their Cape forces and an assortment of Tinkertech weaponry that had apparently been smuggled into the city from somewhere. Thankfully, due to the presence of Nexus' independent team and-" Piggot paused, darting a glance at Taylor, who scowled at her in return. The Director had the grace to look mildly uncomfortable at the gesture, but none the less forged onward.
"-and Predator's intervention, we were able to stave them off with minimal loss of life. This meeting is so that all of the Heroes left in the city can get on the same page with how we are going to proceed." The fat woman explained, looking again to Taylor as she spoke.
'I feel like I am missing some byplay.' You prod hopefully.
'Predator's what they're calling Hess now. Shadow Stalker is licensed by the Protectorate. Apparently the name change means they can't directly charge her with anything she did to me. She's a 'rogue' with an outstanding warrant. To the public anyway. She promised me they would bring her in but...' Taylor fumes at you.
'You don't believe her.' You put forth.
'No. No I don't. She thinks just because she's not including Hess at the 'Heroes' table that I'll let it go.' Taylor continues balefully.
You consider things for a moment. Then ask;
'What exactly did they do? I can't imagine they would get this much leeway if they weren't particularly helpful.' You ask curiously.
'Killed Kaiser and the twins.' Your Master answers you through grit teeth.
'...How exactly.' You ask, more than a little curious.
'I don't know. 'Predator's' partner did something to Kaiser that made him spaz out and start turning the street out front into Vlad the Impaler's wet dream, then the Twins started to shrink and landed on some of the spikes. It... I didn't see it happening, but they had to block the street while they went to retrieve the bodies.'
'Shouldn't they have arrested them then? I'm given to understand murder is frowned upon...' You point out.
'The Empire got a retroactive Kill Order the second they invaded the building. Piggot says there was nothing she could do about it.'
'You don't believe that either.' You note sanguinely.
On the one hand, it's probably for the best you weren't present for any of that. You would have probably tried to kill the girl. On the other hand. You missed a perfect opportunity to kill the girl. A pity.
"With this, the number of Heroes in the city drastically outnumbers the villains. Current unaccounted for are Squealer, Whirlygig, Coil, Cricket, Alabaster, and the Undersiders. I'm asking that once this crisis is over, we maintain closer contact, at least until things in the city settle down. We have a precedent for this." Piggot states grimly, though you note a certain fiery determination in her that wasn't previously present in the tired and cranky woman.
"The Boston Games." Brandish agrees readily, face equally grim.
"Hey, how about you explain, you know, for the kids in the back." Trainwreck says jokingly, waving a hand in the air like an excited child. Piggot looks at him distastefully before looking to Armsmaster to explain.
"There was a point in time when the Boston PRT made an effort to purge all villains from the city. They're much better manned there, and so it seemed like the natural thing to do. Unfortunately, nature abhors a vacuum. Villains from all over the country quickly began to sweep into the city in an attempt to take over the now vacant criminal underbelly." He explains, and you notice a distinct sense of bitterness as he describes the situation in Boston.
"It was a massacre. Hundreds dead, villainous capes fighting through the streets non-stop for days. We got called in to help with some of it and well. The Butcher has been in Boston for a few years now, and that was probably the best case scenario." Brandish adds, with a slightly haunted look.
"So... it was all useless? We're just going to have a bunch of new villains replace the old ones?" Taylor says bitterly, her lips pressing into a thin line.
"They will try. I'm confident that with those present we can stave many of them off. Brockton Bay isn't nearly so desirable a location as it once was." Piggot states firmly.
"I'm sure that has nothing to do with your continued position as the Director of the PRT here." Taylor snarks back.
"Miss Hebert, you may not like me, but I assure you, anyone they replace me with would be worse. Now, you can work with me like an adult, or go home." The Director responds bluntly.
Your Master looks like she might be about to respond with something pithy anyway, but then clamps her mouth shut. You can practically hear her teeth grinding together. Brandish and Lady Photon seem mildly confused by the sudden and obvious aggression, but the Protectorate and the Wards merely shuffle about awkwardly, doing their best not to look at your Master.
You assume this means theyve been briefed on her dubious relationship with there one time teammate. Good. You hope they all feel horrendous. Someone has to.
The rest of the meeting is spent divvying up sections of the city for patrol by each group, and setting up lines of communication so everyone can stay informed of any new developments. If you had to guess, the Director sees an opportunity and doesnt want to let it go. Possibly enough that she might consider your offer. Who knows.
By simple process of elimination, your Master is relegated to patrolling much of the more abandoned sections of town, being the only person with a base of operations actually near them. You can feel her annoyance at that fact as she realizes every hero in the city lives on the nice side of town, only venturing into the docks in search of transients to bludgeon.
But she holds her tongue.
Nearly an hour later, two things happen. One, an Officer dutifully informs your Master that Parian is looking for her. And two, a fairly large number of reporters have gathered at the front of the building.
Your Master, being a wise woman, chooses not to brave the army of reporters just yet, though you do pointedly remind her that she couldnt ask for a better press conference.
"Um. Hi." Taylor mutters awkwardly as she enters the little room Parian is waiting for her in. Ironically, it is the same room Sabah stayed in during her time with the PRT. The girl is dressed in her usual assortment of frills and bobbles, reminding you that you still need to commission an appropriate hat, and is carrying a bundle under one arm that she nervously jostled back and forth as she waits.
"H..Hi." Parian says back. The two girls stare awkwardly at eachother for several seconds, neither apparently sure what to say, when you decide to break the silence.
"You don't even change your voice or anything." You must, appearing and drifting around the fashionista cape in a lazy arc as you inspect her.
"Wha- I- you knew?!" Parian shrieks. Your Master looks confused.
"Of course I knew! You are a terrible liar!" You say, affronted.
"Uh...?" Your Master offers, her tone edging towards annoyance in the face of the day shes been having.
'Sabah is Parian dear.' You explain with some amusement.
"She's-!" Your Master yelps then covers her own mouth, obviously not wanting to out the girl.
The two girls return to staring at eachother again, this time much more embarrassed. You wonder how the girl will handle this.
"I finished your Costume!" Parian blurts out eventually, thrusting the package under her arm forward.
Ah. Ignoring it happened then.
"Really?!" Your Master blurts out in excitement, unconsciously moving much faster than a normal person possibly could in her sudden shift forward to swipe the package away.
"Can I change into it now or...?" She asks anxiously, hugging the bundle close to her chest.
"I might need to make some adjustments, so I insist." Parian answers, apparently all business now.
"Right. So I'll just.. change now..." Your Master says slowly, edging around Parian to walk further into the room.
You catch Parians eye and glance towards the door, causing the older girl to roll her eyes and walk out impassively.
You suppose someone who regularly measures mostly naked people wouldnt be overly prudish or distressed would she? Unfortunately for her, your Master has body image issues (for some reason).
Several minutes later, and your Master is twisting and turning in a feeble attempt to look at herself without a mirror.
"Ehem." You faux cough, smiling as your Master realizes that she could just look at herself through your eyes, which she promptly does.
The costume is exquisite. The majority of it made out of a thick but breathable material you can't quite place. The torso is slightly form fitting, and buttons closer to her right shoulder, and lacks much of anything you could reasonably describe as sleeves. The cloth continues downward, becoming a much more traditional bodysuit, that is adorned by two belts looped around your Masters waist and hanging to either side of her hips in an x shape. The belts themselves are covered in large pouches, each capable of holding an object as big as your fist. The soles of the feet have obviously been layered with something not unlike the sole of a shoe, allowing your Master to tread ground unbothered, and the entire thing is a shimmering black with swirls of gold almost hidden in the cloudlike pattern that runs across the entire thing. A pair of matching gloves, not dissimilar to motorcycle gloves rests on each of your Masters hands, bearing an hourglass symbol in gold on their backs.
And the crowning portion of the entire thing, the Cape. It's quite obviously a replica of Zaraki Kenpachi's Haori, resized to fit your Master. It is pinned to the costume by her breastbone, and flutters slightly behind her as she moves, the sleeves and obvious coat like appearance of the thing somehow adding to the look of the thing instead of detracting from it.
You are quite suddenly and strongly reminded of the adhoc costume your Master threw together weeks ago, shortly before her first real outing with her powers.
"Does it look okay?" She asks you nervously, obviously worried about your opinion even though she can see perfectly well that it fits her amazingly.
"Your beautiful. Just one more thing." You say pleasantly, pulling the red ribbon that holds your hat tight to your head out and using it to tie her hair up in a loose pony tail behind her.
"There. Now it's perfect." You tease. Your Master - despite the trying day she's been having, blushes at the praise.
"Well? What do you think?" Parian asks quickly once she is allowed back into the room.
"I love it!" Taylor says immediately, quickly darting across the room to hug the other girl. Then she freezes.
"I... I haven't paid you for it yet though." She says carefully, lowering the older girl to her feet.
"Yes, well. I decided that my Team Leader couldn't keep fighting crime in sweatpants." Parian says primly.
"Assuming you'll still have me?" She adds after a second, nervously.
The fact that the windows did not shatter in the face of the noise your Master made was truly a testament to modern engineering.
You are drifting along peacefully behind your Master and the rest of her team - including now, Parian - as they stealthily exit through the Garage access of the PRT building.
And by stealthily, you mean, directly into a wall of men and women with cameras.
"Nexus, is it true you killed Purity?!"
"Nexus, do you plan on joining the Protectorate?!"
"Aspirant, are you a case 53?!"
"Is Parian going to be joining you!?"
"Nexus, what exactly are your powers!?"
"Are you single!?"
"Is your-"
The tirade goes on, clearly taking your Master by surprise. Honestly, even you are slightly taken aback. You checked the front of the building for people. Not the back. You have to wonder how they knew to find you all here.
Hesitantly, your Master looks at you over her shoulder, panic writ clear on her face.