Current Energy: 2
Current Training:
Magic Resistance (7/10)
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
City Center, Canberra
You would think that an attack that leaves a crater in the middle of the city would draw more attention. Especially accompanied by the sudden cessation of the Simurgh's omnipresent scream.
Apparently - not so much.
It takes over twenty minutes for the first people to arrive. You assume many of them are still frantically digging their allies out from beneath rubble, mourning the dead, or otherwise are just... unsure the fight is over.
After all, the Simurgh didn't fly away. It would be very obvious to everyone in the city if she had. But she hadn't - because most of her lower body and several of her broken wings now lay splayed out at the bottom of the aforementioned crater.
"I'm fucking keeping this!" Trainwreck calls up to you from the bottom of the crater, where he has pull the exploded remains out a wrist and the ivory hand attached to it out of the rubble below.
Your team had all had a variety of reactions to your apparent success.
Parian had just... sat down. She'd been sitting against the same wall the entire time, and though her breathing had finally calmed down, it's clear that she is having something of a panic attack. It makes sense. She didn't originally come here to fight. Well, she did, but she probably wasn't expecting to be quite so in the thick of things.
Trainwreck had predictably found a cellphone somewhere and started posing with the corpse. You aren't actually sure why, but he seems to be enjoying himself, so your Master hasn't had the heart to make him stop. Out of all those present, Trainwreck seems the most... you want to say disconnected from the significance of current events. As a Case 53, he has no basis to truly understand the horror of the Endbringers. You yourself only really grasp it as a side effect of Ozma during your last emulation. To Trainwreck, the Endbringers are just a problem no one had solved yet because your team hadn't tried yet.
In other words, as far as Trainwreck was concerned, they had been to one fight and won one fight.
A perfect record.
Your Master was... subdued. She was happy that all her friends were alive. She was happy that she had won. But she seemed just a tad distressed over something only somewhat related that you can't... quite grasp. You would ask her directly but you feel like now might not be the time for it.
Greg was... staring into space. He was uninjured - because quite frankly if Bolverk Gram could hurt the person who cast it then it would be a terrible weapon - but seemed to have completely disassociated from things. Occasionally he shot meek glances towards you - still wearing your face mind you since his mask was nowhere to be found - but quickly returned to staring at nothing, either afraid to approach you or simply unsure if he wanted to.
Oliver had climbed into the pit and pissed on the corpse. There wasn't much more to say on the topic than that. Presently, he was helping take pictures of Trainwreck who was... presently holding the broken hand of the creature in a rude gesture.
Aspirant is... well he's meditating. Just sort of... sitting amidst the destruction contemplating the art of the creepy unholy murder ball, you suppose.
The first person to arrive on the scene, presumably after seeing to her own teammates, was naturally Alexandria.
"Where-" She starts as she lands, only to catch sight of Trainwreck posing in the crater.
"Get away from that! You have no idea what could happen!" She orders coldly the minute she finishes processing what he is doing. Trainwreck predictably responds by pointing Simurghs middle finger at her.
"Ding dong the bitch is dead!" He starts singing at her - badly. You aren't sure Alexandria actually has to breathe - there aren't exactly a ton of expose's on the limitations of the Triumvirate - but you can literally hear the sudden intake of breath through her nostrils.
"Nexus. Control your team. Endbringer flesh is a regulated substance only legally manageable by the PRT. Your friend is currently committing a felony." She says calmly.
Whatever your Master was thinking about before, being suddenly addressed by Alexandria seems to snap her out of it, because she blinks once, glances down at Trainwreck, then back to Alexandria, before blushing cutely.
"Trainwreck come on, you're embarrassing me!" She hisses down at him.
"But-" He tries to complain, but your Master turns the Hebert patented look of parental disapproval on him.
"...fine..." He mutters, throwing the hand to one side.
"Still," Taylor says, her voice transitioning to a business like tone. "It occurs to me that there are substantial - in fact, literally impossible to fulfill bounties on Endbringers. I would consider it a favour if my Tinker could have some of the corpse for research. In lieu of funds I'm sure the United States doesn't actually have."
Alexandria pivots in the air to stare at your Master like she had forgotten the girl was even there, opens her mouth to say something, and is cut off when your Master continues.
"Also I believe there was something about a date? Honestly, I like to think of myself as a fair woman, so really anything you can do in trade against that debt is fine by me," Your Master adds slyly. Behind Alexandria's back, where he has landed after jumping out of the crater with Olly on his back, Trainwreck shoots your Master a thumbs up - that she ignores.
"...The Protectorate will send a liaison to negotiate the details of the transfer at a later date." Alexandria replies through clearly grit teeth.
The woman looks like her entire body is tense in a way that would be distinctly unhealthy if she wasn't explicitly indestructible. Again, you feel sort of bad for her.
"We only wish to be fairly compensated for our achievements. Speaking of which. G-Man!" You call to Greg, who startles and turns towards you, then freezes when he sees Alexandria.
"Where is the rest of your team? Are they...?" You ask him as he carefully approaches.
"Tats got caught in the Master thing. Grue's got her stuffed in a locked room so she doesn't try and fist fight an Endbringer." He answers slowly, watching Alexandria the entire time.
You can tell - instantly - that she doesn't like Greg, although you are certain it is because of the actions of his clones, which you feel are unfair to hold personally against him. Thankfully, she appears to be professional enough not to air that particular grievance here.
"What about Regent?" Your Master asks.
"I... dunno. When people started acting weird back at camp he said he was coming and I haven't heard from him since. There was no Regent down but..." He trails off, indicating the unreliable nature of the communicators towards the end of the fighting.
"What was that attack you used to finish her off? I could see it from the fallback position." Alexandria asks, turning away from Greg, presumably because she just doesn't register him as important which... normally he isn't. A flicker of annoyance passes over your Master's face before it smooths out and she gestures at you.
"Emmy did it - I wasn't there. I was busy." She says flatly. Alexandria - begrudgingly - turns to you and away from Taylor and Greg, the latter of which sags appreciably the second her attention is away from him.
"My sword has an... alternate setting... that causes large amounts of damage to its target. I can't actually take full credit for the kill though," You begin to explain, choosing your words carefully so as not to strain Alexandria's patience with terminology not of this world. As you continue to explain, however, Greg perks up and quickly begins to frantically wave at you, crossing his arms in an x pattern in front of himself.
"...Trainwreck, actually deserves full credit for that. His power allowed me to reach her at a time of vulnerability," you finish carefully.
"Yeah so. I don't fancy places. You good for like, a Dennys or some shit? Unless you don't eat. I dunno how your fucking powers work." Trainwreck chimes in, waggling his eyebrows at her.
Alexandria's eye twitches momentarily, so fast you almost don't notice it, but then turns back to your Master.
"Return to the second fallback position for Master/Stranger screening, then we'll have Strider take you home." She orders, then rockets into the air before anyone can respond.
"...She knows I can just take us all home right now right?" Taylor muses aloud.
"I believe it was a warning to ensure we were sent by Strider - so they could keep track of us before our evaluation." Aspirant notes, standing and joining the group.
"Gr-.. G-man. Why don't you want Alexandria to know you were the one who-" You begin to ask but Greg cuts you off.
"Because it's fucking scary man! I was just- like there was the Master, and Tats was all- and like you guys were there so- and it's not even my sword so-" He stammers.
"It could be." You note, peering at him.
He freezes.
"Huh?" He blurts out dumbly. In response, you slam Gram into the concrete at your feet and gesture at it.
"I can feel it now. Gram, much like the blade you know of as Excalibur, is a sword of choosing. To its wielder, it brings inevitable glory. And inevitable death. Would you like to see if you have been chosen?" You say slyly.
In truth, you are as surprised by this as anyone else. After the battle, you had been extremely confused by the events that had brought you here. By all standards of measurement, no one should be able to wield Gram save yourself. Even setting aside the metaphysical reasons for such a blade to be inaccessible to others, there is the simple fact that it's not real. The Gram you wield is a fake. It's comprised of a bunch of things your Shard Side mind has cobbled together to behave in the way the weapon is supposed to.
Or it was.
Something else has... grasped... the weapon as far as you can tell. It still phases with you, but when this emulation passes, you doubt Gram will.
On the one hand, the effect is fascinating.
On the other.
What the hell?
Greg - clearly confused by your statement, slowly inches forward his hand hovering over the sword in indecision. However, just as he appears to muster his courage to try -
"Greg fucking Veder." A voice says at a perfectly normal volume that nonetheless manages to sound as though it were a scream.
Greg immediately freezes, slowly moving away from the weapon with an uncomfortable glance, before putting on a radiant smile.
"Tattletale! Check it out! I'm hot!" He says with your face, to his blonde compatriot.
Who promptly stomps up to him, ignoring your entire team, to slap him clear across the face. It... obviously doesn't hurt him since - again - it's your face, but the point stands.
"What the fuck, you idiot! You locked me in a closet, said you were going to keep fighting, and ran off!" She yells at him, shifting to jabbing him in the chest with one finger over actively attacking him when it proves to hurt her more than him.
"I mean I think a janitor's closet is big enough to qualify as a 'room' so-" Greg defends.
"Greg!" She shrieks at him, her hands moving to make choking motions at him before stopping as she comes to her senses and realizes there are other people here.
"...Nexus." She greets your Master lamely, obviously trying to find something mean to say - just because.
"Thanks for looking after him for us," Grue says, coming up next to Tattletale, who he was obviously trying not to get too close to.
Taylor shrugs at the man in biker leathers, gesturing at her surroundings.
"Endbringer truce." She says succinctly.
"Still, thanks," He repeats.
Several minutes later, as both groups pack up to leave - still missing Regent - Tattletale pauses to stare at the Simurgh's corpse to mutter in confusion.
"One of the wings is missing."
A/N: Okay, now the nightmare is over. I just wanna thank everyone for sticking with me so long, and hope we have a great time going forward into the next emulation vote which is looking like it's going to be soonish.
Some new info - we have a TVTROPES PAGE AND I CAN NOW DIE HAPPY.
Please for the love of god, check it out, and help fill it in. This kind of stuff really helps keep me motivated. That's right, I said it - you can bribe me for more updates with participation. Truly, I am a cruel monster. I'll make an info post with this as well right after this.
Secondly, while I still have basically 0 intention of bringing crossover characters from other verses to earth bet, we've reached an okay point for some experimentation. I'm particularly interested in doing an arc here or there where Taylor planeswalks to another, so if your interested in that kind of thing (though not as a main aspect of the story so much as a breather adventure) then make sure to let me know.
Now then, hurry up and vote, so I can go back to the Update Mines to dig up the next one!
EDIT: I've been asked to make clear that you don't need to vote to talk to Aisha. That's on rails, so to speak. It'll happen regardless.