Current Training: Half Devil Race Change (15/20) - (17/20)

Current Energy: 14

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Hebert Household, Brockton Bay

"Okay, so explain it to me again. But… slower." Danny says from across the kitchen table, where he has summarily forgotten to eat the majority of his pancakes - which Mem and Mun lovingly crafted.

They aren't particularly good, but given your current Emulation's constitution, you could probably eat glass without any significant concerns, so you aren't worried. Everyone else seems to be resolving the issue with an abundance of maple syrup - the good kind that comes in a glass bottle - but you're pretty sure the taste of the food isn't what's stopped your Master's father from eating.

"Okay so, you know about the school in an alternate dimension that I was technically in charge of, and whose principal is a voice in my head?" Taylor explains happily, either not noticing or not caring about the pinched looks of distress.

"…yes." Danny says stone-faced.

Again, you are reasonably certain that the words your Master just spoke would sound like the delusions of a paranoid schizophrenic in any other context, but since they are just the truth for your Master - that isn't what is throwing everyone else at the table off.

Jess and Katherine shoot each other knowing looks before turning to watch Danny's reaction, Jess with worry and Katherine with amusement.

"Well, I want to make my own school for teaching people how to be heroes." Taylor explains, as though a fifteen year old owning a school of any kind was a reasonable situation.

Which it wasn't.

"I follow all of that, honey. But why does this have so many guns sticking out of it?" Danny finally asks, gesturing to the three dimensional magical projection of the ferry as Taylor wants it to eventually look that has been hovering in the center of the table since this conversation began.

"Well, you know that school in-" Taylor begins but is cut off.

"In an alternate dimension, yes honey, we get it - you're weird and you think it's funny to mess with people by forcing them to acknowledge that." Danny says incisively, and your Master takes on an expression as though she had just taken a bite directly out of a sour lemon.

"…Well, it got destroyed by monsters and insurgents." She says in a whiny tone, before adding "…and I'm not that weird."

"Why are there guns on the bottom?" Danny presses.

"…to shoot things that are under it?" Taylor half asks, her face going neutral.

"…It's a boat, Taylor. What do you expect to be under it that - is this to scale? - that requires a gun that big. It's going to be dragging along the bottom of the bay, as it is. If it even floats."

"Oh I was… kind of thinking it would… fly?" Taylor says, gesturing with one hand, so that the projection of the ship hovers upward and a faux landscape appears beneath it.

Mem and Mun casually move their plates to the side to avoid the sudden change in the table's topography.

"How exactly did you plan on affording this? How were you planning on getting permission for it? Who would even teach there!" Jess finally cuts in, her tone sharp and cold as it always is when she is in secretary mode.

"…I mean, don't I have tons of money? I don't even really need to pay for materials if I just turn dirt into whatever we need. Plus, half of it will be magic - no costs incurred!" Taylor starts, before hurriedly elaborating as Jess becomes visibly more annoyed.

"I asked three questions Taylor." Jess points out acerbically.

"It's true, she did. I think I can answer one with a question of my own though." Katherine says with a slowly spreading smile on her face.

"Please don't-" Jess says, her expression going pale.

"What's pay like for teachers at rock'em-sock'em super school? I happen to be a personal friend of Mouse Protector, you see. I even have pictures with her." Katherine says with glee.

"Point to the cool mom." You say idly, having been leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, watching this entire event unfold.

"Boom! That puts me ahead by one point, blondie!" Katherine cheers.

"There's points? No one told me there were points! When did we start doing this? Who awards the-" Jess snaps, turning to eye you like she plans on hunting you for sport.

"Emmy, don't encourage them." Taylor says with a sigh.

"I think you're both great. I don't really see a reason why-" Danny begins, obviously not understanding the context of the conversation somehow.

""Shut up, Danny."" The two adult women say at once.

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Winslow Highschool, Brockton Bay

"Alright! I think I'm getting the hang of this sword fighting thing!" Greg cheers as he shifts out of the way of your half-speed swing with your blade, and then whips his mass produced (courtesy of your Master) long sword around to stab at you.

You could dodge. Greg is actually very fast, and very strong using his purloined copy of your previous emulation's body - but he's not nearly as skilled. Ironically, Aisha is a much better swordswoman than Greg is, likely because she was forced to learn the skill as a normal human. Greg, on the other hand, was already accustomed to having a statistical advantage over many of his foes, and so technique often fell to the wayside where instinct could easily fill the gap.

So you let the blade slide between your ribs and out your back, ignoring the stinging pain of being impaled, and taking on a thinking pose with one hand on your chin even as the boy stumbles back in horror.

"Holy shit–Oh-oh man I'm sorry, I thought-I-I'll call Taylor!" He babbles in distress, turning towards the door down from the roof.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I've been stabbed a lot, I just thought this was the best way to get a feel for your technique. Heh. Get it. Feel?" You say, wiggling your torso with the sword still sticking out of you and blood dripping to the floor of the rooftop in rivulets and streams.

"You're… you're not, like… hurt?" Greg asks slowly, edging back towards you with his eyes on the gore and a glint in his eyes you don't like.

"Oh, it hurts like hell. But you get used to it." You say with a shrug, pulling the sword free of your internals, flipping it so that you are holding it by the blade, and then holding the pommel out towards Greg in one smooth motion.

"...so I know you told me not to use my power on you, but-" Greg asks curiously, eyeballing your chest, where there is already no evidence of a wound, besides the blood you already shed.

"Oh, by all means. If you can regenerate, then I can actually try to kill you while we train." You say pleasantly.

You don't actually want Greg to do that, given you have no idea what the combination of Sigurd's heart and your current body will result in without your moderating influence on the upgrades, but it's definitely easier to just tell Greg you'll half kill him over and over again than to explain all that.

"On second thought. I'm good." He says quickly, taking a step away from you and raising his hands into the air in surrender.

"Thought so." You say with a smile.

Then you return to your training.

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

The Ferry, Brockton Bay

"Watcha think, Wreck?" Taylor asks the massive Tinker as he shoulders his way past a pile of empty crates in order to get a better look at the innards of the Ferry's machinery.

"Looks like shit - but working with shit is kinda my whole gig, so I ain't worried. You gonna come in with the magic crap before or after I start working? I noticed my stuff don't break down so fast if you magic it up after the fact." He says, brazenly sticking his entire hand through a wall panel and tearing it away to reveal the wiring beneath.

"Probably a little of both. Enchanted materials, some cleansing rituals and stuff, then all the hardcore space-warping stuff afterward." Taylor says, walking up the dimly lit hall in the belly of the boat and poking her head into several side rooms as she passes.

"Uh-huh. Get some of the normal workers in here to do a quick sweep and refurbish job on the place before I get started. No use wasting time, and beautification ain't in my wheelhouse." Trainwreck agrees, before turning to eye your Master with a thoughtful expression.

"So." He says, crossing his arms across his chest with a metallic scratching noise.

Taylor instantly goes on alert, even though his tone is still joking when she responds.

"Are you breaking up with me?" She asks.

"Don't be a brat. I drink with your Dad and I see all your stepmoms on a daily basis. Now, if you wanna put a good word in for me there…" He trails off leadingly.

"Gross. So gross." Taylor says, miming vomiting and relaxing slightly.

"Really though, what's up?" She asks eventually.

"Well, I was wondering about how you were gonna handle pretty boy's situation with little miss psycho." Wreck says slowly. Taylor immediately brightens at this - as she always does whenever a chance to discuss novel forms of magic comes up.

"OH, that's easy. I've got an emotion regulation power that I think I can transcribe into a tag. Should be a short jump from there to a more permanent device, like a ring or a choker or something. See, since magic is all about-" She starts to explain at a rapid clip, but gets cut off.

"Yeah, yeah. You're Taylor Hebert, you can do whatever you want, you're magic, and you don't gotta explain shit. I get it. I meant - are we actually keeping her?" Trainwreck elaborates.

Taylor pauses at that, looking somewhat unsure of herself.

"I can't exactly tell Olly who he can-"

"You're doing it on purpose now. On the team, boss. The team. I know you two got bad blood, and I ain't exactly a saint, so I'm not gonna tell you to let it go or any of that shit - but if she's staying, you gotta get with it and start incorporating her. Training, costumes, a name. I'm getting kinda tired of tiptoeing around her, cus I ain't sure if she and Olly are gonna be here in a month."

Taylor takes on a confused expression.

"Why wouldn't Olly be here in a month?" She asks with some mild distress.

"Well, you see Boss, when one teenager wants to sleep with another teenager really bad-"

"Gross! God I get it!" Taylor yells, waving her hands wildly in front of the Tinker, as though to say 'please stop'.

"Just saying. What're we doing? You got this whole fancy school thing set, and a totally untrained girl to test shit on. I'd say keep her, but like I said - I don't think you should have to, either." He says with a shrug.

"I'll… think about it." Taylor responds slowly.

She had already planned to help the girl with her power incontinence issues - that was a given. But actually working with her? Long term even?

You Master didn't quite hate Madison, but she'd be lying if she said she liked her. The roil of indecision and uncertainty she is feeling flows back up her bond with you like a tidal wave.

And then Trainwreck undercuts the entire distressing feedback loop by changing the subject.

"So… what's the plan for opening day?" He asks, making to lean against a flimsy wall and then thinking better of it given his bulk.

"Opening- what?" Taylor asks, blinking in confusion.

"The mall boss. The one we live in? You signed off on opening it a few days ago, right? What's the plan? We getting the whole team together with bowties on for the ribbon cutting? Handing out miracle cures as party favors? You got a date?" Trainwreck explains slowly, as though to a child.

Taylor, for her part, just glares at you.

After all, it's your fault that she wasn't entirely aware of all the paperwork she had signed.

"Hey, you think the brats would wanna come?" You say, ignoring her scathing glare.

"Hey… you're pretty much impossible to kill, right?" Taylor asks, her tone suddenly saccharine sweet.

"I wouldn't say impossible…" You say slowly, taking a step away from her, only to have her follow quickly after. You dart a look to Trainwreck who just points behind you - at the wall of shadowed eyes that blocks your escape route.

Ah well. At least you're warmed up from training Greg.