Current Energy: 14
Current Training: Monster Hunter (8/10)
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
You wake up, surprisingly, to your Master conscious, fully awake, and not immediately fleeing her bed to do soul push ups or some other ridiculously taxing activity. Speaking of which, you should really try and emulate someone who can tell if that's actually safe, because you feel like a torn ligament and a torn soul might problems with entirely different orders of magnitude.
"Um. Master?" You ask Taylor, who is mostly just staring at nothing in particular on the bed next to you.
"Mm?" She grunts at you, not bothering to actually move.
"Shouldn't you be training?" You ask her curiously.
"Oh, so now I should be training?" Taylor snarks at you, lifting herself up onto her elbows and stretching casually.
"Well- I mean no but-" You splutter at her, quickly scrambling away.
"I thought I'd take a day off. I don't feel like going to school." Taylor says, her voice neither too strained nor particularly relaxed. You are immediately reminded about why the two of you are still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.
"Don't the PRT owe you? Can't you just ask them to arrest her or something?" You ask petulantly.
"They don't owe me - that's why they pay me." She answers with a snort.
"Not very well..." You grumble in response, before perking up.
"Actually, we should go talk to the Director. Someone phoned trying to get you to bring someone back to life, but they definitely weren't supposed to know you could do that." You quickly explain.
"Water is wet, the sky is blue, and the PRT couldn't juggle a single ball if there was a string tying it to their hands." Taylor mutters in annoyance before rolling over onto her back and swishing her hand in the air lackadaisically.
"I'll call Dad and tell him I'm not feeling well. We can visit the PRT later. For now, tell me more about those Grimm things." She asks.
"Um, well I told you about the more common ones, Beowulf, Ursa, Boarbatusk..." You trail off in thought. You have a limited knowledge of the Grimm. That limitation is mostly 'where to hit them' and 'how'. The actual explanations of their tendencies and names were fairly limited for you. It might seem like fighting a Monster was fairly simple - apply violence until done - but there was a particular trick to beings like Grimm that wasn't present in most other living things. For one thing, they didn't feel pain. Or at least, they didn't respond to pain. A Beowolf would be perfectly content letting you stick a sword through it's eye if it thought the momentum of it's charge would allow it to hit you regardless. Warding attacks like light slashes or surface wounds didn't mean anything to them - they didn't bleed in the first place. So every attack had to be deep. Every attack had to be an overwhelmingly crippling or killing blow. You had to be ready to contend with the resistance of the monsters abhorrent body as your weapon passed through it, you had to know when to dodge instead of counter attack, you had to know... well you had to know how to be a Huntsman.
"There are-" You begin once you arrange your thoughts on the topic, only to be stopped when Taylor sits up and coughs loudly over you. You glance at her, and then, when she doesn't say anything, return to speaking.
"There are-" You begin but are cut off again by another fake cough. You raise an eyebrow at her, the patented Hebert response to such situations - one you're glad your current Emulation can manage.
"This isn't the learning position." Taylor points out to you.
"The... learning... position." You strain to say, squinting at her.
"Mhm." She says, and then without preamble, uses her vastly superior strength to lever you down into her lap.
"...And this helps you learn somehow?" You ask her skeptically, and also, while blushing neon red.
"Well it makes me feel better. You know stress reduces the benefits of education by-" Taylor starts lecturing you half seriously while smirking down at you. The fact that she's joking aside, you can tell that messing with you actually does make her feel better.
"There are several ways to fight the Grimm." You say, speaking over her, because if you don't, you won't accomplish anything this morning.
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay
"What is it now Hebert?" The Director states sourly as Taylor appears in her office, having opted to just phone ahead and then teleport there rather than go through the waiting room. A fact that you are certain the Director does not appreciate.
"Why does there have to be something wrong every time I visit you? Maybe I just want to see how you're doing?" Your Master states nonchalantly as she drops into the chair across from the Director with nearly zero tension.
"Because as much as I hate it, problems are my job Hebert. No one talks to me unless they have one, and I don't have the time to make small talk with anyone because of that. So either spit it out or go away. And stop leaning back like that, you'll break the chair." She says icily as your Master splays out over the seat without a care.
You suspect that your Master might be deliberately trying to piss the Director off. You also suspect that she might be doing so explicitly because of a certain red head who is almost certainly somewhere on the premises. The fact that you have been in this room more frequently that nearly any other Parahuman in the city may also have something to do with it.
"Fine, fine. Honestly, I have no idea why you're so ornery with me all the time. I'm pretty sure all I've done is improve your quality of life over all." Taylor points out, causing the Director to narrow her eyes at her.
"Hebert." She says once more, her tone turning glacial.
"You've got a leak or something. Someone phoned me yesterday looking for my 'services', which I assume should be impossible." You're Master states, finally deciding to be serious for a moment. At this the Director seems actually taken aback for a second, before returning to her usual displeased scowl.
"I see. I'll have Armsmaster and Dragon look into it. Shouldn't you be in school right now?" She asks pointedly, obviously wanting to hurry the conversation along.
"I took the day off. Do you have a cell I can leave Night in yet?" Taylor responds. You blink. You had actually forgotten about Night. You're pretty sure your Master did too. In fact, you suspect that your Master remembered the dangerous criminal's predicament purely as an excuse to spend more time bothering the Director. You think she might even be slightly enjoying the interaction which is all kinds of weird. If you didn't know any better you'd almost say she liked the woman, which is just ridiculous given their history.
"...Yes. The cells have been refurbished for Brutes. I assume you remember how to get to the Prison." Piggot asks, a touch less frigidly. You suppose it makes sense. The woman is nothing if not serious about her job, and leaving Night unaccounted for is somewhat of a loose end, even if only tangentially.
"Yup. Want me to swing by later to pick up Miss Militia and Vista?" Your Master continues, not bothering to get up or even pretend she intends on leaving just yet. The Director stares at her for several seconds, with an expression you could politely describe as 'non plussed' and then sighs, withdrawing two pills from within her desk and then downing them with the help of a glass of water that had been sitting on it the entire time.
"Are you okay?" Taylor asks, instantly switching over from nonchalantly aggravating to worried in a split second.
"It's Aspirin. I'm taking it for my migraine. My Taylor Hebert shaped migraine." The Director explains bluntly, rubbing at her temple before continuing.
"To answer your question. No, don't bother. A PRT issue van will be sent with them to ensure they have an appropriate means of egress should they need it." The Director states. Your Master, apparently having had her fun, nods to that, and then stands up.
"Well Director, I would say it's been nice but, you know." She says with a shrug, cleaving open another hole in reality.
"Likewise." The Director growls - although you can't help but notice her mild scowl twitch slightly upward as you step through the Gap after your Master.
Your Master has been contemplating her sword for the last five minutes. You aren't sure why, although you can guess. Uber and Leet - who are in two cells that very pointedly don't have a view of one another - are watching her with interest, Uber with a mostly mild curiosity, and Leet while occasionally saying something to himself and then visibly cackling about it. You wouldn't know what specifically he's saying, since the cells are apparently sound proof when properly activated, given the wavy blue energy field making up one wall of the thing.
"Master?" You ask curiously.
"Hang on a second, I'm trying something." She states, waving you off with one hand without turning around. A few more seconds pass, and then your Master steps forward into one of the cells, with her sword raised over head. You assume for a second that she is going to make a Gap - the motion has become familiar to you in the last few days - but instead, her right pinky finger lifts into the air on the hilt of her sword, and then drops with the finality of guillotine, accompanied by your Masters whispered "Skadoosh."
A few things happen. For one, her sword turns a brilliant gold that illuminates the entire prison block. For another, she swings it outward opening a hole to... somewhere... You are seeing it, but you aren't really comprehending it. The best you can manage is to interpret the other side of that golden portal as an ever changing kaleidoscope of shapes and textures, that all rotate together in complete harmony with one another into an almost mesmerizing whole.
Then your Master reaches through the golden portal and pulls Night out by the back of her neck like she might lift up a particularly adorable kitten, after which, the portal closes.
Still dazed from whatever it is you just saw, your Master lets go of Night, allowing her to fall to the floor bonelessly. Once her face touches the hard concrete floor of the prison cell she jerks slightly, pulling away from it - but only to roll over onto her back. The woman looks like she has seen better days. Her once moderately form fitting costume is torn in several places that look like the result of the woman herself manually doing so, as opposed to battle damage.
"Hey. You alive?" Your Master asks curiously.
"...Yes." The woman answers, not bothering to get up, but lifting a hand to stare at it with absolutely no expression on her face.
"Cool. You're under arrest and all that stuff. Don't try to get out okay?" Your Master says cheerfully. Thinking on it, a threat like Night - someone who could have absolutely destroyed your Master when she first triggered - is barely even worth thinking about anymore. All she really brought to the table was brute force and speed - both things that your Master has in such overwhelming abundance as to make exercising them trivial.
"I... understand." The woman replies, allowing her hand to fall to the ground. At this, she smiles slightly, and continues to stare at the ceiling, tears slowly falling down her face. You get the distinct impression she wasn't really responding to your Master when she spoke either.
Your Master obviously notices this, but chooses not to comment, clearly not feeling over sympathetic to the one time Nazi Assassin.
"Come on, let's go see what Wreck and Aspirant are up to today." Taylor says as she walks out of the cell, a blue force field appearing behind her as she exits.
The woman who remains behind in the cell makes no move to rise from her position on the floor as it does so.
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
The Heap, Brockton Bay
"Yo boss!" Trainwreck calls out to you as you appear in his - admittedly drastically expanded - garage.
"Hey. How's... whatever this is, coming." Taylor asks curiously as she eyes the bulky suit taking form in the center of the area. Much like Trainwrecks normal attire, it appears to be fairly slapdash, but as you look closely at it you find that a certain amount of care has obviously gone into every weld in the thing. It has a certain uniformity that takes Trainwrecks usual junkyard ascetic up a notch into merely 'tarnished' looking.
"Not to fucking bad. When this baby is done I'll be able to go all night long," The man purrs at his machine in a tone of voice you find distinctly uncomfortable.
"Wreck, it's a suit, not a woman." Taylor points out, seemingly ignoring the innuendo.
"Don't listen to her baby. You're gonna love it when I'm inside you, I promise." He croons again, running one of his hands along the machines side with a loud metal on metal scraping noise.
"Eww." Taylor says,wrinkling her nose and stepping away from the man.
"Listen boss, I love ya like a weird cousin or some shit, but you gotta let me have this. Some men are into cars. Some are into guns. I build power suits." He states blandly, gesturing around himself at the half dozen partially made suits of varying qualities and uses.
"Still, eww." Taylor repeats, sticking her tongue out at him. "Where's Jamie?" She asks after a quick look around.
"Eh, out front doing Tai Chi classes or something." Trainwreck answers dismissively.
"...or something?" Taylor mutters to herself, turning to check what the large Tinker is talking about.
Which, it turns out, is almost exactly what Trainwreck described.
"You need to keep your knees bent slightly Eun Aa, if you lock them like that then someone is going to hit you and they'll break." Aspirant is point out, leaning forward in a form that looks distinctly more humanoid than his normal combat forms and prodding the asian woman he is speaking too slightly behind one knee, causing it to bend. As he does so, nearly two dozen more women of varying ethnicity's are miming the movements of the first woman, following along through some basic stances of Kung Fu that you just barely recognize from your time as Po, and also, possibly, spending a bit too much time staring at Yang.
Possibly.
"Do you need some help?" Taylor asks curiously as she draws up next to the boy, eyeing the profusion of people nearby, whom all straighten and start working harder as she approaches.
"No need. Master Po once told me that teaching can be a learning experience of it's own. He wasn't wrong." Aspirant admits, shrugging but not turning to look directly at your Master. Likely because he remembers the slightly awkward conversation they had the last time they spoke directly.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Sooooo..." Taylor answers, before stretching the 'so' out teasingly and gesturing at the small army of women nearby.
"What's all this then?" She asks curiously.
"Ah... that..." Aspirant says, tension leaving his shoulders when Taylor doesn't immediately begin to badger him about going back to school or his family. He looks around at the open courtyard to the side of the three outbuildings nearby, one of which is already thoroughly draped in cloth banners loudly proclaiming it to be Parian's new boutique.
"I was patrolling the neighborhood nearby a few days ago, when one of these women asked me if I could teach them any self defense techniques." He explains slowly, gesturing at the horde of - clearly eavesdropping - women. "When they saw me teaching her in the yard here, more came, which drew more attention, which... well..." He trails off.
"So what, you adopted to whole neighborhood?" Taylor asks wryly.
"I can ask them to leave the premises if-" Aspirant begins tensely, obviously not pleased by the prospect but not willing to pick a fight over it either.
"No it's fine. Do you want one of these?" Taylor asks, cutting him off and gesturing to one of the two empty buildings nearby.
"I- yes. Please." He says quickly, bowing slightly to your Master. It's really weird how well Aspirant took to all the Kung Fu philosophy and etiquette. You don't hate it, but it's definitely not normal behaviour. Most Parahuman's would probably have just taken the most pertinent bits and moved on. Not completely immersed themselves in the lifestyle.
"Cool. Also. If you've been going on patrol, why the hell haven't you been inviting me?" She asks, flicking the top of Aspirants head so he'll stop bowing.
"Because I assumed you were leaving it to Trainwreck and I?" He says in confusion.
"Why would you think that?" Taylor asks incredulously.
"Well, the PRT denoted this area as our responsibility, and you seemed busy... Trainwreck and I lack other things to occupy ourselves, and so I assumed..." Aspirant trails off, blinking dumbly at your Master.
"I- you- fine. I'll get you some supplies later okay? I want you to have a way to get away in an emergency." She says with a frown.
"Um. Excuse me?" A new voice cuts in just as your Master seems set to go on a tirade about safety not dissimilar to a mother chastising a child. It is distinctly masculine, and as you turn, you find it belongs to someone who you would describe as 'disturbingly handsome'. And you don't mean that as hyperbole. The blonde haired boy looks a bit older than your Master - in his late teens if you had to guess - and his facial structure appears to be subtly shifting to be more appealing looking the longer you stare at him. He is wearing a pair of worn jeans, a sweater that seems to be barely capable of containing his musculature, and is demurely looking at your Master like a lost puppy.
Basically, a male underwear model just walked up to you and you aren't best pleased by it.
"...Yea-oh. Wow. I mean, hi?" She starts, then blurts out when she actually turns to look at him.
"Hi. I- are you still recruiting?" The boy asks, his face apparently settling into a solidly unmoving state as your Master stares at him, blushing slightly.
"Yyyyyyessssss." Your Master says, stretching each letter out as though unsure of how exactly to respond. Then she shakes her head once, and her face is all business.
"Powers?" She asks, gesturing for him to follow her as she trudges away from the group and back towards the castle.
"Um, very very minor shapeshifting, and improved skill acquisition." The guy reels off, obviously slightly ashamed of the admittedly diminutive list of abilities.
"How improved is 'improved'?" Taylor asks curiously.
"I can pretty much Master anything if I get a week or two to spend on it." He replies eagerly, apparently happy to talk himself up.
"And you keep them? They don't go away afterward?" She presses.
"Yup! I know a bunch of Martial Arts, I can drive really well, I picked up some medical training..." The boy says than peters off as he reaches the bit about the medical training. You can see why. People don't learn to sew wounds together unless they need to, usually.
"You don't have to keep explaining, I was just curious." Taylor says quickly, then continues; "So, combat or non combat?" She asks.
"...Combat?" The guy hazards.
"Hm. Do you have a place to go?" She continues, leading him into the castle.
"Not... really... a friend of mine recently died and I was staying with him so..." He responds hesitantly again.
"We'll get you set up with a room and you can read over the contract." Taylor says warmly. She's obviously considered how she would do all this since the last time with Spitfire.
"Contract?" The guy says, twitching slightly.
"Yeah. Cape name only, don't worry about getting outed. Not that it looks like it matters if your face is always changing." She says with a shrug, before turning and sticking a hand out towards the guy.
"Nice to have you aboard...?" She says, trailing off expectantly.
"Oliver. I uh, don't have a cape name yet." He answers easily, shaking it back.