Current Energy: 7
Current Training: Boundary Manipulation (5/10) you can all thank AcidSilver for the Omake Bonus
Sunday, January 23rd, 2011
Oathbound Headquarters, Brockton Bay
Today, apparently, is the day that your Master finally takes her first steps as a true leader.
How do you know this? Simple.
She decided to wake everyone in the base up at 6 am for Training.
She said it just like that too. 'Training'. You could hear the capital T at the beginning of the word, and the sharp glint in your Master's eyes as she rousted you from atop her only got more fearsome when she woke Aspirant and Trainwreck. You notice that she doesn't bother to wake Danny up. Of your previous emulations, one felt disdain for the man, and one felt respect. This current emulation felt nearly nothing at all towards him, save for a vague sense of importance towards your Master. Still, you can't help but feel a spike of resentment as he continues to snore away in his office, even while the tiny sleeping bag you share with your Master begins to slowly lose its warmth.
"Hey Boss, I love yah, and I know you learned to suplex god or whatever from a Panda - but I'm a Tinker. I don't need any of this crap." Trainwreck complains even as your Master pokes and prods him until he is in something approximating a martial arts stance.
"To be fair, I have Superstrength and I'm only barely scratching the surface of what I can achieve." Aspirant counters, having returned to his long limbed, lightly armoured form in order to run through a number of Kata that you... absolutely don't recognize anymore. You tried. You really did. But information doesn't carry between your Emulations very well. Although some personality traits do, which is probably the only reason you find being awoken at such an hour to watch other people practice Kung Fu tolerable.
"Yeah, but you got like, muscles and shit. I'm basically made of pudding under this thing." Trainwreck complains again, tapping his metal chest and eliciting a tsking sound of annoyance from your Master as she pushes his arms back into position.
"...Pudding..." Aspirant muses aloud, his eyes unfocusing for a second as though he has just obtained enlightenment. Then the lunatic blurs forward in a blinding flurry of blows with his two elongated limbs, his body shifting in size as he moves. It's hard to see properly but at a glance it kind of looks like he's shifting all of his mass forward and into his fists whenever he strikes, then moving it back on the return, allowing momentum to move him about. When his legs kick outward, spikes of ivory jut briefly from beneath his armour, only to retract before you can fully see them. He begins to morph and change so fast that by the time his rushing attack has taken him to the far wall, he looks more like a shoggoth than a person - a disjointed combination of limbs, teeth, fangs and claws that is nearly impossible to keep track of.
You stare blankly at the boy. Now, not for nothing, but Shards usually come with built-in instruction manuals. Mostly because giving a host the ability to survive at any temperature isn't worth much if they avoid that temperature out of habit. Survival instincts and all that. From what you've seen, most Parahumans are content with those instructions. It's the rare - call it, upper ten percent of them, that ever go beyond that, and truly innovate in any appreciable way.
Usually, that innovation comes as a result of 'not wanting to die'. Pretty much all Shard methodology is based around it. Off the top of your head, the number of hosts who can innovate so rapidly and to such a degree without the threat of death hanging over them is... nearly non-existent.
"The fuck?" Trainwreck blurts out, roughly - but crudely - voicing your own thoughts.
"He reached a new level of enlightenment. That's normal. Put your arms back or so help me Trainwreck." Your Master explains, slapping Trainwrecks hands roughly back into place.
'That's normal'. No, it absolutely is not, and if it is, then what the hell has your species been doing this whole time?
"I keep telling you there ain't a point!" Trainwreck answers in frustration. Your Master peers at him for a second, and her 'I'm thinking' face settles into place for a second before she returns to what you guess you'll be calling 'Training Taylor' from now on.
"Tell you what Wreck. Try what I showed you on me, and if you aren't noticeably better then I'll let you go back to sleep." She says after a second, backing away from the metal man and taking a neutral stance a bit away from him.
"Boss, I ain't gonna hit-" He opens with a snort but your Master speaks over him.
"Quit being a bitch and hit me Wreck." She says in exasperation. Every head in the room turns towards her, with Aspirant going so far as to return to a mostly human form so that his gaping will be obvious. Your Master shrugs at the attention, blushing slightly.
"Well, he is." She defends petulantly.
"Eh, fuck it. One sec." Trainwreck says, fishing around in his armour for a second and then withdrawing a small bill that he throws towards Jamie.
"...Okay seriously, no more gambling on me." Taylor says in annoyance.
"Let's not ask for any miracles here Boss." Trainwreck snickers at her before lazily falling into a (poor) version of the stance your Master showed him. Then, he charges, sprinting at her using the strange footwork your Master showed him only minutes earlier.
Now, it's worth noting that - according to your Master anyway - everyone has a 'perfect' style that brings out the most in them. A way of fighting, of attacking and defending, that is perfect for them in every way. For most people, that method of combat is entirely original, with only the slightest basis in a pre-established style. For others, slight tweaks to pre-existing fighting styles are all they need to shine.
Trainwreck apparently benefited from a modified practical version of what your Master says is 'Pro Wrestling'. Now, your Emulation? It's old. Ancient really. And so, when the word 'Wrestling' is used, you are brought to mind of places like Ancient Greece, and the Coliseum.
This is why, when Trainwreck crashes into your Master with his shoulder, using his forearm to catch her at the waist and flip her upside down, and then uses both hands to functionally throw her at the ground while he tramples over her, you are two things.
Surprised, because what the actual hell was that?
And angry, because what the actual hell was that?
"...Ow." Your Master groans, rolling over blinking up at the ceiling.
"Christ Boss, why the fuck didn't you block?" Trainwreck says, gobsmacked as he grinds to a halt and turns around worriedly.
"Because I still have mass Wreck. I'm lighter than you. That's a fact of life. Without leverage, it would be literally impossible for me to stop you. You weigh more than me - so even if I could stop your attack I'd just be pushed backward." She explains with another groan, rising and dusting herself off, seemingly only slightly injured by the attack.
"Still!" Trainwreck yells.
"That's why I told you how to move your feet. You're like a Train. Just keeping moving forward and grappling anything that gets in your way. You shouldn't be fighting anything heavier than you anyway, and it's not like we planned on you getting into a fistfight with an Endbringer." Taylor continues to explain as you glide around to make sure she's really okay, shooting Trainwreck a withering glare as you do so.
"...What was that attack called exactly? It... sort of looked like Ox Style..." Aspirant calls out hesitantly, scrunching his eyebrows together in thought.
"Huh? Oh. Kung Fu. Right. I modified a Jackknife Powerbomb. Saw it on TV once." Taylor says cheekily.
You make a strangled choking noise that is halfway between laughter and a scream.
You aren't sure which one you would prefer it to be.
"It wasn't that bad." Your Master complains as you continue to huff and turn away from her. It has been a few hours since she decided that letting her Teammates treat her like a crash test dummy was the best way to make a point. You weren't exactly pleased with the concept, which is why now that your Master has requested some of her own training, you are being somewhat petty.
"You allowed that two-ton ignoramus to Jackboot-" You start.
"Jackknife." Your Master corrects you.
"Jackknife whatever it was, you." You say with a mild glare. "And I am most displeased by it."
Your Master raises an eyebrow at you, and you sniff lightly, turning away again.
"Can I make it up to you?" Your Master finally says with a put upon sigh. You consider the offer.
For all of half a second.
"I want a bed. A big one that you, I, and Mini-Taylor can fit it." You say haughtily.
"...You hate Nemesis." Taylor says, squinting at you.
"Yes, she is a two-bit copy of yours truly, and I don't think there's room in your life for two sentient energy beings. But she is very cute when she isn't speaking." You explain. You doubted the distaste would last. You're sure your next Emulation will positively lovely the little gremlin. You're mutable like that.
"Uhuh... sure. Whenever I can afford any of that I'll get right on it." Your Master says in amusement.
"Hmm. Fine. What do you want to learn now?" You ask, even though you already know. Your Master immediately jumps on the statement, her eyes sparkling like a child with a new toy.
"Portals please." She says immediately. If she had a tail it would be wagging behind her. You can't even tell if she cares about the power or just enjoys training.
Probably both.
"Hah... fine. Imagine an atom." You say, holding your forefinger and thumb together to indicate an impossibly small object. Your Master nods along expectantly at you.
"Now imagine another atom. Both atoms are touching. Now, you can continue training when you can conceive of the space between those atoms." You say with a slightly sadistic smile. Your Master blinks at you, then raises a finger in protest.
"You just said the atoms are touching. There is no space between them." She posits.
"And yet, you're wrong. Hup hup. Get to it. The space between spaces isn't so easy to describe as you think it is now is it?" You say with a yawn, drifting up and towards your Master's sleeping bag.
"Where are you going?" She asks you, walking behind you.
"To lay down while you contemplate the fundamental composition of the universe dear." You explain airily.
"...of course you are," Taylor says with a sigh, although you notice that she does dutifully unfocus her eyes and start trying to conceive of what you are trying to explain to her. You don't make 'Portals'. You make 'Gaps'. They are fundamentally different things. A Portal is the bridging of two physical locations. A Gap, is the hidden space between all things. A sort of un-realm, full of negative space.
And until your Master can comprehend that, she won't be making much progress on her new power.
Now, if you are very lucky, this will keep her occupied until her meeting at the PRT later today. You really are looking forward to the dumbfounded look on the Director's face. Assuming she doesn't just have a heart attack and die on the spot.
Although if you act fast enough as her soul escapes her body...
A/N: Just a short one today folks. The meat of the matter will be either tomorrow or the day after - since I tend to skip updating on Fridays, and my work schedule is getting flipped again more or less at random, so I'm going to be adjusting to new sleeping hours and be very tired for all of next week.
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Dragon Warrior applies to all fighting styles. Po just came from a Kung Fu world so everything was Kung Fu to him. Taylor has daytime television and all the absurd, made up, bullshit fighting styles that brings, which Po has demonstrated the Dragon Warrior can use regardless of how made up they are.