dr doc

by thejarl7166

dr doc

7. Queen Coordinator

Queen Coordinator

Elevator Pitch: Taylor triggers with the tinker ability to make Pokemon. Things sort of take off from there. This Taylor will seem a little different from canon Taylor because she triggered at a different point.

Starters

1.1

3:00

The number was a yellow-green colour, rigidly crafted. The lights were such that the numbers didn't flow like written script, instead making it obvious that they were digital.

2:59

The countdown had started at seventy-two hours and things had been faster then, with me having to do more. The right sequence of code altered for the right formation, certain functions altered and others activated so the right frequency of radiation would be generated by the microwave. I'd had to keep things on track, jot down notes on the amount of time a trip to school would take and if it would be better taking the bus or running.

But things were less so now. Everything was set and all I could do was wait.

I hated it, watching the numbers slowly blink down, the sudden doubt I felt that I might have done something wrong. Things were better at school: Emma, Sophia and Madison had eased on their bullying, probably gotten bored, which meant I could successfully have a schedule. But there had been those who hadn't gotten the message, and now and again I had to deal with a book that was hidden that forced me to miss the bus.

I had to wonder if my creation wouldn't be viable because of the fifteen minutes when the energy of the radiation had been too high. I'd tested it as best I could with the limited processing power. But I couldn't help but fear that I'd missed something.

"It's going to alright, Taylor," I muttered to myself, taking deep breaths and trying to push myself into a state of calm. It didn't work too well.

2:09

I pulled back and looked at my first tinker contraption: A microwave that had been stripped and then remade. I'd left the box that meant the electromagnetic waves wouldn't get out, but the wiring was exposed, stretching over to a bulky computer on another table. It too was exposed for the most part, the tower with odd bits that I'd added to make the computer run faster.

Looking at all of it now, I wasn't entirely sure what I'd done. I wasn't entirely sure how the microwave was doing what it was doing, how I'd fixed and souped-up my computer or how all of this would come together towards my greater goal.

But I knew it would happen, I trusted my past self and the moments of genius that she'd had.

1:35

When my power had taken hold, the components had come into my head. The right sort of information, an abstract image of what I would get and how to put it all together. But breaking it down? That was entirely different, much harder thing to do.

Maybe that's why I hadn't focused on it, instead focusing on completing the first job my power had wanted of me and not thinking about anything else.

1:00

The hum was louder, the violet light almost more vivid, but that was likely all in my head. The bird was still asleep, rotating as the plate it sat on rotated. It had been a lucky find, having been attacked by the neighbourhood cat and left for dead. It had given me my genetic material without me having to go hunting. Because that would have been time consuming.

The process had healed the bird's injuries, but then I was fundamentally altering it. If I understood it right, and I was sure that I did, then it would be stronger and sturdier than the average bird; it would be able to fly faster and be more durable.

The real question, though, would be if that actually happened.

0:10

My heart almost stopped as I watched the numbers, slowly blinking down.

0:09

It would be soon. When it stopped, then I would have completed my first project. One step in my path as a parahuman.

0:03

0:02

0:01

0:00

Three beeps sounded but I'd already moved, wrenching the door open. My bird, my…Pidgey, quickly got up, hoping to his feet and looking around. Part of the alterations I'd done had been to his brain chemistry, instilling a sense of loyalty to me.

"Hey there, little guy," I said. Pidgey continued to look at me, jumping a few times, his head bending from side to side. He jumped and flapped his wings before landing again.

"How about you hop on out of there," I said, extending a hand. He jumped, landing on the extended finger. He felt heavier now, which was at least a point in my favour. As part of the durability, his musculature would be different, denser but still not enough that he was too heavy to fly.

I stood, moving through the basement until I found a perch. Pidgey hopped on over, ruffling his feathers before he stilled, looking at me.

"Okay," I said, a large grin on my face. "Okay. So you're okay now. Can you lift your left wing? I want to see the degree of healing."

He did, lifting his left wing quite proudly. It was a little disconcerting that he knew the difference between left and right, but I pushed that back. It must have been something I'd done while digging through what made him him, when I'd been adding extra to him.

I looked, running my hand over the feather in his chest, feeling for the claw marks but they weren't there.

The healing worked, at least on a superficial level. I moved on over to another table, grabbed my notepad and wrote this down. I made note questioning the amount of damage that I might be able to heal, also jotting down if this might work on humans.

That, though, was a long-term goal.

Right now I needed to see to the other alterations.

The basement had been largely cleaned up, much of the clutter either having been sold or thrown away, but there was a stack that I hadn't gotten to yet. I walked on over to the pile, finding a board and bringing it forward.

"Your beak is supposed to be stronger," I said. "Can you peck this for me? Until you break through?"

Pidgey flapped his wings and came forward, his head rearing back and then striking the board in my hands. There was much more force than I expected, enough that the jolt surprised me and I lost my grip on the thing. There was a crash and not a moment later,

"Taylor!" Dad said, the door opening and him stepping a little through. I was to down and to the side, his vantage meant he couldn't see me or my machinery. "Are you okay? I heard a crash."

"Yeah, I'm fine, Dad," I said, picking up the board and inspecting it. In one hit, Pidgey had managed to peck a small way through.

"Then finish up and come up," he said. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Yeah, coming Dad," I said. "You want to come up and meet my Dad?"

Pidgey tilted his head and I couldn't help but read a bored expression on him. I hummed, not entirely liking that because it meant he had personality.

"Pidgey?" said Dad. "But he's a sparrow."

"So?" A spoonful, chewing and then swallowing before I went on. "You remember Marcus from middle school?"

"Distantly," said Dad.

"I remember he had this beautiful dog with a fluffy, white coat," I said. "Do you know what he call her?" Dad shook his head. "Spot."

"I don't think a middle schooler is the person you should be taking naming cues from," said Dad. "I'm sure if Marcus had another pet at this age he'd name it something more sensible."

"Maybe," I said, focusing on my food again. Marcus was someone I hadn't seen since the last day of middle school. The two of us hadn't been friends, not even really acquaintances, more colleagues though that sounded more professional than people you went to school with.

I'd had Emma then, had Mom and I'd had more of Dad in a way.

I didn't like the direction of my thoughts, didn't like that it seemed to be reminding me of another loss. Things were different now because I had at least one friend who wouldn't leave me.

Pidgey was eating seeds I'd asked Dad to buy for him while he'd been cooking. It was an adorable sight, made more adorable by the intense focus Pidgey directed towards his meal.

"Serious fellow, isn't he?"

"Yeah," I said. "I think it's something in his code, a strange mix that gave rise to segments of human knowledge and behaviour. He knows left from right."

"This is amazing," said Dad. He looked from Pidgey to me. He smiled. "You're amazing."

I couldn't keep the grin from my face, so instead I looked down to hide my blush.

"So what now?" Dad asked.

"Another animal," I said. "I'll see if it works for other animals, slowly scaling up the size of the animals I work on. At some point we'll have to set up the pet shop idea to start earning money. I think my creations would be better if I had higher grade material."

This was the wrong thing to say. I knew the direction Dad would take. We'd had similar conversations before.

"We could have you join the Wards," he said, slow and measured. I let out a sigh. "I'm sorry to keep repeating this, but, it's not exactly safe out there for capes."

"But I'm not a cape, Dad. I'm more of a rogue than anything," I said. "It's not like my ability makes me a fighter. I can't make something like Armsmaster's armour or Dragon's dragons."

"We know that," Dad said. "But other people don't. What if they find out about your powers? What if the Empire start knocking on our door because they want to use you?" He let out a breath. "I didn't want this to be the way I convinced you, I didn't want it to be the fear, but I've been researching it and tinkers are something of a commodity."

I stopped eating, imagining life in the Wards and not liking it. At first it seemed appealing, hanging out with other parahumans my age. But for a long time I'd just been human, hanging out with other humans and that had sucked in the end. Emma changing over night and turning on me. Doing my best to start making friends and failing, other times succeeding only for the carpet to be pulled out from under. Amanda telling me that she didn't like the radiation that I let off when it came to Emma, Sophia and Madison, that she was sorry but she couldn't be my friend any more.

But worse than that, Jessica.

It wouldn't be the same people now, but things tended to move within a certain direction and I could see it happening here. Not fitting in and being alone in a crowd. Only this time it would be worse because my only reprieve would be tainted.

My power would be tainted.

"Can I have some time?" I said. "To think about it?"

Because right now, even knowing about the danger, I didn't think I had it in me to say yes.

Dad nodded and silence hung around us, conversation stopping. Dad was the first to retire and pretty soon Pidgey stopped eating, jumping onto my shoulder and giving me a pat on the shoulder with his wing. I couldn't help but smile at that.

I started doing the dishes. Think.

Dad was worried that I'd be poached. If that wasn't on the cards, then he'd likely stop trying to get me to join the Wards. I'd have to work, then, leverage my power so that I was strong enough that Dad wouldn't be afraid.

And that meant starting on another pet.

"Listen, Pidgey," I said. When I was up in my room after the dishes were done. "Do you think you could go out there? Make sure that you aren't seen? Get me another small animal. Don't hurt one, but one's that's hurt and can't run from you."

Pidgey nodded then jumped off my shoulder, taking to the sky and keeping to the shadows.

Last edited: Mar 19, 2019

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Dec 9, 2017

#2

Starters

1.2

"A mouse?" I said and I was slightly disappointed. Another relatively good day at school, largely ignored even by Emma. Though it had felt longer, the whole day seeming to move at a minute per second.

But I was here now, and it was to this.

Pidgey chirped at that, an irate tone to him as he ruffled his feathers, puffing himself up and scowling at me.

The little guy was breathing in short breath, laying on his side and one eyes looking at me, glimmering with fear. Even so he didn't move, couldn't move because he was likely in pain. As gently as I could I walked over to a clear solution in a large jug, taking some of the liquid with a syringe and feeding it to the mouse.

It drank without much trouble, but then Pidgey hadn't offered me any trouble when I'd gotten him close to the solution. I'd made it so that it smelled sweet. Enough animals responded to sweet things that I wouldn't have trouble having them drink the solution.

A drop and within a second the mouse fell asleep.

I put him in the microwave, pressed defrost button an orange light blinked on as the door was closed. My computer booted up, auto functions coming alive to display a split screen: On one side I could see as the mouse's genetic makeup was converted into code while the other side was left blank.

It took fifteen minutes before the entire thing was done and I sat in my chair, breathing slowly and then starting.

Offense, I thought and this was the direction that my ability started from. Sections of the code were just copy and pasted to the other side, others deleted wholesale and written anew. I let myself get lost in it all, letting my ability run its course while reminding it that I wanted something that I could use to fight if it was needed, something that would be able to defend me while still being compact.

I didn't want to be discovered after all.

It took me three hours before I had the coding complete and I pressed enter. The timer on the microwave started counting down. It would be six hours before my next pet was complete.

"Dedenne," I said, the words almost breathless.

He was no longer a mouse, more hamster than anything. His fur was a reddish-orange colour, a white spot in his tummy; he had large brown coloured ears; a tail that was a similar colour, stretching too long and being too thin; and orange cheeks with antennae-like whiskers sprouting from them.

He jumped forward without my having bid him too, running up my arm and stopping on my shoulder, his long tail wrapping around my neck in the facsimile of a hug. He squeaked into my ear, the sound long, incessant and excited.

"Guess you're happy to be all better, huh?" I said.

Dedenne gave another squeak, bobbing up and down in agreement.

"Are you hungry?" I said. "I'm about to have breakfast with Dad and Pidgey. Want to come too?"

He bobbed again. Pidgey, on his perch, gave a minor shake of his head as he watched Dedenne's display. A day with Pidgey and it still weirded me out when he showed some of his more human characteristics.

He jumped off his perch, spreading his wings and with a flap, took off for the kitchen. Dedenne and I took our time, shutting off the computer and microwave and pulling out the plugs. I still wasn't close to making money yet, especially if being able to protect myself was still something I wanted to do. Which meant I couldn't increase our electric bill too much.

"Dad, Dedenne," I said. "Dedenne, this is my Dad. Your Grandpa."

Dedenne jumped off, landing and sliding a little before he rushed forward towards Dad and started run his nose in his hand. Dad, having momentarily froze, eased, letting out a breath and moving his hand to run it over Dedenne's back.

The little guy surely like it with how much his tail flicked.

"You made another one?" he said.

"Yeah. I had Pidgey scout," I said, smiling at the bird. He'd settled near the window where a bowl with his seeds and some water sat. He gave me a glance at the mention of his name before returning to his food. "He brought Dedenne back yesterday. Had him in the oven through the night."

"Oh," said Dad. I could see that he wanted to say something but he held himself back. "Made bacon," he said instead. "You eat bacon, right Dedenne?"

Dedenne squeaked, his front paws taking the bacon bits that Dad had torn for him. He ate a few while I started chowing down on cereal, then took a gulp of water. When he was done he moved too fast, clearing the table and then leaping for a counter near the wall. Before I could even think to stop him, his long tail flicked out, sticking into the electrical socket.

"Ded—" I started, the words getting stuck in my throat and the image of him already dead flashing through my mind. But when I looked, he was fine, indeed he seemed more than fine because he looked happy to have his tail in the electrical socket.

"What in heaven's name?" Dad muttered.

"I don't know," I said and I stood. "At least yet. I think. Can you give me a sec?"

"Sure," said Dad, still looking at Dedenne.

I glanced at my watch, at least fifteen minutes before the bus arrived. I set an alarm to sound in ten minutes. Maybe it would be enough time to see if this would be true. I booted up the computer and flicked through it until I found a copy of the changes I'd made. I looked at them, focusing and willing my ability to activate, for it to give tell me the why behind it all.

My power acquiesced.

Looking at the lines of code I got a general image of how they related. Which section dictated wing growth, mass, musculature and the material that made up the feathers; I glanced and I could see what dictated the colour and length of the frill that looked like eyes brows on Pidgey's head and other such details.

But there were oddities too when I compared the changes I'd made versus the original scanned copy. Pidgey's eyes were better, even though I didn't consciously remember making the alterations; if I focused, I knew the changes I'd made and how they'd warped his DNA so he could see further.

I changed and pulled up Dedenne, looking at the code until I found the alterations. It was an odd bit of code, harder to wrap my head around: Dedenne's tail had properties within it that sucked in electricity and moved to store it in his cheeks. Moving from this to similar bits of code I saw alterations in his brain that meant he could speak through electricity.

Before I could get lost in it all, I quickly grabbed my notepad and jotted down: Dedenne has electric sacks in her cheeks. Combat purpose?

Was there something more?

I wanted to keep looking at all of it, but there was school to go to, something that would teach me considerably less than I could get with my power.

Last edited: Mar 19, 2019

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Starters

1.3

What did the code say?

Pidgey's musculature meant that he could push himself far faster than a bird usually would, but this sort of action quickly burned through his internal store of energy. Which was the reason I'd brought a whole lot of food with me.

"Okay, Pidgey," I said. We were alone as far as Pidgey was aware and he'd taken the time to search the area. I had a few hours before I could catch the bus back into the city. "I need you to fly up until I tell you to stop and the swoop as fast as you can. I wanted to get a measure of your maximum speed."

Pidgey took off, flying until I raised a hand to tell him to stop. He swooped and it was quick. I lost sight of him between one second and the other, only seeing him again because I knew the direction he'd flown in.

It wasn't teleportation. But between his speed and the fact that he was sturdy, that could have combat applications.

"Come," I said and he did, landed on an outstretched finger. "I think it's time we started training the both of you and any future…creations that I make. Basic combat abilities just in case what Dad's afraid of comes true."

I frowned, looking at both of them and not liking how small and adorable they were. It didn't matter with Pidgey so much, his genetic code meant he would grow and get stronger, while the same sort of code wasn't present in Dedenne's code.

He was a little stronger that a normal mouse, a little faster, but it wasn't enough that I could use his body to deck someone.

"Pidgey, I'm thinking four attacks on your side. Tackle: You just slam into someone. Quick Attack: You use your burst of speed to slam into someone. Peck: Pecking at them. Don't hurt their eyes, just enough that they regret it. Scratch: You use your claws."

I frown, trying to frame this. I would be in a combat situation and though Pidgey and Dedenne seemed to have human attributes, they still largely had animal behaviour. I didn't trust that they would be able to learn and think of new strategies.

I would be the one leading them, which meant I'd have to work out ways of directing them. But I was getting ahead of myself.

First figuring out the basics.

"Dedenne," I said and he perked up from the blanket I'd placed on the ground. "You'll be working on your electric sacks. They're like muscles, meaning they'll get stronger the more you use them. So I want you to discharge electricity until you run out, then take some from the battery. Redo this until you're tired."

He squeaked in affirmation and electricity sparked over his antennae before it shot off, hitting wildly into the ground.

"Um…okay," I said. "Maybe a little too enthusiastic. Can you practice over there? And also work on your aim?"

Dedenne rushed off. Pidgey followed after him, starting his own training over the tree that Dedenne was practising under. I sat down and pulled out my notebook, jotting down my thoughts for possible future threats.

I would be the target, which meant even with my pets on the attack and defending me, I would need to be able to defend myself. I was a decent runner, having started after Sophia had gotten a bunch of boys to chase me for her favour. But in the world of parahumans that just didn't cut it.

I wouldn't need to just run. I would also need to be able to dodge in case it was someone like Purity or Lung after me, able to shoot beams of light or fireballs. I'd also need to be able to dodge, something that would need to be true for my pets.

I'd need to sort out a schedule for practising their abilities, putting in dodging practise there too. I'd have to devise of a way that they be able to give me dodging practice too. Maybe have Pidgey try and hit me with his Quick Attack? Or maybe with just a normal attack because the Quick Attack was too fast.

I'd also need to figure out a way to deal with control a lot of them. The microwave was a limiter, which meant the biggest creature I could modify was a dog in the midpoint between small and medium-sized.

Maybe I could get something more vicious?

A snake?

I could imagine if it had a combination of Quick Attack and increased muscle for binding. But there was the problem that it's venom just killed and I didn't want something like that on my conscience, even if the people who would be after me would be bad.

Maybe a rat, then? They were creepy and vicious things, their teeth, even without alteration, being able to chew through steel or something like that. With my alteration, I could make them stronger, able to inflict a heavy amount of damage without the risk of killing…well, there was still bacterial infection, but that be more on their own idiocy than me.

When I got home in the evening. I had Pidgey go out rat hunting and it didn't take too long before we found a rat that was paralysed in its lower body. This time, as I was writing the code, I paid more attention to the attributes that I was putting in place.

I made sure to make its musculature more robust than Pidgey's and made the legs have more power in them for the quick attack. I made its front teeth longer and harder for better chewing. I tried seeing if I could add electric sacks like Dedenne, but looking over the code I had the strong sense that it wouldn't pan out. I erased that bit and left it as it was.

Maybe there were themes I was missing, certain restrictions to the type of modifications, but I didn't have a large enough sample size to figure it out. I would test things out tomorrow when I was going through another bout of alterations.

I set six alarms through the night and early morning so that I would be there to make changes to the frequencies to ensure viability. Then I retired for the night.

"This doesn't have anything to do with the Wards thing, does it?" Dad said, the words measured. I looked up from petting Rattata: She had purple fur, a long tail that curled and long teeth that looked almost like metal with the right light.

"Hmm?"

"You're doing more?" he said. "Which isn't a bad thing. But with the Pidgey you took your time. Planned it out. Now it seems like you're rushing things."

I shrugged. "Maybe?" I said, shrugging again. "I don't know Dad." I took a breath. I could tell him what I was afraid, that I didn't want my powers and my pets connected to that, but would he understand?

"It's just. I don't think I could do it," I said. "Put myself in danger. Put them in danger like that. If I'm a Ward, then they'll expect me to actually work, right? Do heroic stuff. But that will put me and these guys in danger."

"But I'm sure something can be worked out," said Dad. "We can talk to them, at least. Ask questions, get them to address your concerns." He shrugged. "You never know. You might be blowing this out of proportion."

I sighed. I'd thought before that it might be a bad idea to tell Dad about my powers. I'd thought he would try to control them, even though I hadn't really had a basis in this, but it had seemed like a rational fear then. Maybe the same was true here.

"Okay," I said. "We can talk to them."

Dad smiled. It made me feel happy to see him smile, to see his fear alleviated, even though another part of me dreaded the future.

"We have to move faster," I said to Pidgey, Dedenne and Rattata. "We'll take one more creature. I want the three of you to find a spot without people and train. You two," I said to Pidgey and Dedenne, "know your exercises. Rattata, yours are Tackle, Quick Attack, Scratch and Bite."

I explained what each entailed and she nodded that she understood.

"You'll take breaks if you feel tired, eat when you need to and don't over work yourself. I'll skip school and start working on the new guy. Hopefully you can all train together by evening. Tomorrow we'll train the whole day and by evening we'll find a crime to stop," I said.

"At best we can expect to have to go to the PHQ on Saturday. That gives us today and tomorrow to prepare, to show Dad that we can take care of ourselves. Pidge, I'll need a squirrel in about an hour."

Pidgey nodded and then flew out of the window, swooping low before taking to the sky. Hopefully this would work. Hopefully Dad would see that I didn't need to be in the Wards.

Last edited: Mar 19, 2019

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Dec 10, 2017

#27

Spoiler: AN

Starters

1.4

10-14: Prowler

But it had led me astray.

I wasn't supposed to be in the situation. I hadn't been planning for it. I'd made sure that the possibility was as minimal as it could be while taking precautions. I wanted to prove to Dad that my pets could protect me, but I wasn't stupid enough to go after capes first. I'd been set on stopping petty crimes.

I'd been successful in making another pet. Pachirisu was a squirrel, white and pretty. She had a blue strip running over her back, all the way through her large bushy tail, her ears, short and sharp things, were the same shade of blue, and she finished it off by having yellow cheeks.

Quickly after I'd made her, we'd gone into training, centering it around fighting an unpowered person.

First the weapon: Rattata was our fastest and she'd go after the weapon, serving the dual purpose of a distraction. If it was the latter case, then Pidgey would be the next to act, using Scratch to disarm our opponent. Pachirisu would be our closer, a close ranged Thunder Bolt to stun our opponent.

I'd hammered it in as much as I could, with scratches on my arms and bruises on my legs to prove it. The memories from a few hours past were still vivid: Trying to run out of the way but Rattata being too fast; Pidgey's claws mistakenly grazing me as he tried to take my weapon—a knobby stick; and Pachirisu closing it off by decking me with another tackle.

I was sure, if I were to find a normal person, that I'd have beaten them without even having to give personal orders.

But it was just my luck that I had to face this.

She was on the tall side, dressed in a red and gold costume that reminded me of a court jester. A moment ago she'd been stepping out of a jewellery store, but she'd spotted me—more my fault than anything. When I'd noticed she was a cape my breath had hitched loud enough that she'd heard.

I hadn't been prepared to fight a cape. I hadn't trained them to fight a cape. I hadn't even really researched the capes in Brockton Bay for how they fought and the tactics I might use against them. This would be a fight I lost.

"Is this going to be a thing?" she said.

I swallowed, pulling out a burner I'd fixed up and calling nine-one-one. I heard the phone starting to speak, the voice too tiny, and I didn't have the strength to say anything. I realised I was too scared, that my heart was hammering against my chest and the reason I kept swallowing because I was having dry mouth.

I was sure she wasn't new. If she was, then it was likely that I might have heard something about her, that her costume might look vaguely familiar. This meant she had experience that I didn't. If we fought, she would beat me, maybe even kill me.

"I'm going to guess that it is," she said. "That maybe you're a master or stranger. Or that you power works like Lung. That you need to build up."

She took a step forward and extended an arm.

"I'm going to have to knock you out," she said. "Make sure that I managed to get on out of here with my loot."

My heart almost stopped at the words. Certainly my body stopped, becoming stock still beside autonomous functions, and even they were disturbed. I wanted to say that I was a non-threat, that I hadn't been planning to fight her, but I couldn't. Instead I was crouched behind a dumpster, dressed in enough of a 'costume' that her fears would have enough ground that she'd hit me, that she'd know I was a cape and unmask me and forcibly recruit me.

In her extended hand appeared a colourful sledgehammer as she took another step forward. The distance between us getting smaller by that step.

At once there was motion: I caught the sight of Rattata moving from the shadows, as small as a fist and darting forward. The cape caught sight of her and the sledgehammer disappeared as she pulled her arm back, appearing as the arm was brought forward.

I heard the thump and saw as Rattata was sent flying back, slamming into the ground and landing in a roll.

The spell around me broke and I stumbled up and out from behind the dumpster, running forward towards Rattata. The fear was of a different sort, now, not that of my life, but of hers. That she might die because I was stupid and scared, that I'd have one less friend when they were already in short supply.

Something hit the ground in front of me before I could reach her and I kicked it in my run, stumbling forward and automatically bringing up my hands trying not to faceplant. Elbows slammed into the ground and my head smashed against my arms; my knees hit the ground and it hurt, this pain spurring the throbs of the day's training.

"Fuck, you're just a kid," the woman said. I didn't pay attention to her, looking towards Rattata. She was still alive, but she was lying on the ground, breathing hard and doing her best to get up. She was hurt, but even so, as she caught my eye, I could see her determination.

She wanted to protect me.

"Pidge," I said, the words angry. "Quick to Peck."

I glanced towards the woman and saw as she took a step back, a set of knives appearing in both her hands. She didn't have time to do anything with them because our training came to play: Pidgey descended and slammed into her left hand, raking it with his claws before he swooped up and started attacking the woman.

"Pachi, Quick to Bolt. Low," I said.

I pushed up, running towards Rattata, doing my best to keep watching the woman. She still had a knife in her right hand and she was trying to hit Pidgey who was pecking at her face when he could. The knife disappeared and there was a lighter instead, then there was a plume of fire and Pidgey flew back and up, feathers singed; the woman threw her knife but her aim was too wide as she was forced to jump, curling and then landing over Pachirisu.

Part of the automatic function to my ability. I hadn't been paying enough attention and my power had given me code to give her white fur and a blue line to run across her back. From the moment that she'd hit the light, the woman would have seen her.

She skidded to a stop and faced the woman, her much larger yellow cheeks arcing with electricity.

It seemed easier to think when I was angry, easier to consider things. I took Rattata up and shoved her in my hoodie, still running to hide in an alley. I was the one giving them commands, it was the natural leap that if she took me down then they wouldn't be so effective.

Even so, I needed to be able to see. So I peeked.

"Pidge, Quick," I said. He swooped and the woman threw her knives, stepping back and steadily towards me. "Pachi, Bolt at range."

A line of electricity ran through the air, forking a little as the woman tried to sidestep. It hit and I heard her yelp, stumble and then fall as Pidgey slam into her shoulder. The woman quickly recovered, hand going forward to find purchase, her legs going up as she spun and one of them kicking Pidgey as he made to fly away.

The kick wasn't the best, but Pidgey had been burnt by her fire attack. That would only exacerbate the pain.

A knife appeared in the woman's hand, but Pachi was looking towards Pidgey than paying attention.

"Pachi, dodge," I said, but it was too late for a complete dodge. A knife flew true, slicing at Pachirisu's leg. In that move she'd taken out Pachirisu's quick attack.

"Fall back," I said. "To me," and I started running. I caught Pidgey flying overhead between the buildings, most likely giving me the way forward. I glanced back to see if the woman was following and she wasn't, but Pachi was, she was slower than she usually was, but then she was hurt, trying to not put too much weight on her left leg.

"Jump on my back," I said when Pachi was close enough. She did and I heard the pained sound she made at the action. My heart wrenched. I hadn't been prepared enough and yet I'd been confident that I could protect myself.

Pidgey turned and I turned into a street, following. He'd be leading me away from people, away from the woman, making sure that I could get time to take of the stupid mask that's I'd just grabbed out of the discount store. For that matter, why hadn't I just pulled it off?

I was too panicked and not thinking clearly.

I started grabbing for the mask when I caught sight of a form in the air. Pidgey circled around the form, not attacking but waiting, most likely catching his breath. My first thought was villain, and if it was a villain then it was Purity. I wouldn't be able come out of this one alive.

My stomach sunk before the image of the person became clearer. My legs gave out at that, relief flooding through me. Kid Win was hanging in the sky and if I listened, I could hear Armsmaster's motorcycle roaring as it came closer.

"Hey," said Kid Win. Closer now that I could see his armour, see how the mechanisms fit together. See his hover board and the sort of tech it was using to fly. "Are you Taylor Hebert by any chance?"

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Dec 11, 2017

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"Super…" I couldn't finish the words, my heart was still pounding hard against my chest, my head throbbing now. I could feel each heartbeat, but worse, I could feel that nestled against my stomach, Rattata was still breathing hard. "Villain."

Kid Win tapped twice at his ear, though he didn't float up. He lowered, jumped off his board and placed it against his back; it stuck against his armour, magnets, likely electromagnets.

"Armsmaster," he said. "Possible villain in the area, and I think I found her. She matches the details given without me seeing her face. She has the animals…Yes, sir. Are you okay?" he asked me. "Are you hurt?"

"No," I said. My body throbbed but that didn't worry me. I'd fallen and been scratched up a little during training but it was nothing to Rattata, Pachirisu and Pidgey's injuries. "I need to get home," I said, my voice slightly panicked.

As I came up, my hands went to my stomach, holding Rattata's form against me. If I got her back, then I could sedate her and fix the damage before she died. My heart twisted and my stomach dropped at that, at the notion that she could die and it would all be my fault, that I'd been so stupid.

It wouldn't be the first time, a sardonic thought flitted through my mind. An image of Mom appeared just after the thought, a niggling thought I'd had when her death had been fresher growing more weight.

I shoved it aside before it could consume me, instead prioritising: The most important thing now would be getting home and to the microwave, fixing up Rattata. But again, that was something that was just ahead, right now Pachirisu had been cut, she would be bleeding. I would need a bandage.

"You need to calm down," said Kid Win, stirring me from my thoughts. I'd momentarily forgotten that he was here, too focused on my pets and not enough on my surroundings. "Armsmaster will…" he stopped as the motorcycle rounded a corner, coming into our alley.

Its deep thrum started to decrease until the motorcycle was near silent. He stopped near us, getting off and walking towards us. He was tall. Enough so that I became conscious of how short I was against him. Enough that my mind, wanting a semblance of normality, noted that I was a bit taller than Kid Win.

"You said a villain?" said Armsmaster. I gave a short nod. "Do you know their name?"

I shook my head. "A woman wearing a court jester costume," I said. "I need to get home. I need to—"

"I need you to breathe," said Armsmaster, his voice calm. "Slowly and evenly." He moved back to his motorcycle, kneeled and pressed a button on the thing's centre mass. A compartment opened out and he pulled out a little box and a slightly larger box.

"Orange juice," he said. The smaller box. "Drink." I took it. He opened the larger box and pulled out a roll of bandages. "Does it bite?" he said. He was looking at Pachirisu who was at my shoulder.

I glance at her and her white coat was red with blood.

"She," I said, the words on the hollow side, "and no. But she's…hurt."

Armsmaster nodded. "I'm not a vet," he said. "But there are enough commonalities between mammals that I can make a guess. That falls to the wayside with powers, but is it safe to assume she could die if she looses too much blood?"

I nodded. "But she's not the only one," I said. I reached inside my costume and pulled out Rattata. He squirmed under my grasp, mewling a little. "I can heal her, but I need to get home first."

"That might be dangerous," he said. "Or it might not. I need to establish something first. Were you kidnapped and you escaped or did you try your hand at going out alone?"

"I was…I wanted…" It felt stupid in retrospect, that I'd just gone out, that I hadn't thought of much of a plan beyond just taking down a criminal. I had a phone, but I hadn't even used it all that much.

For that matter…

I looked down and the burner was still in my hand. I put in against my ear and there was no sound. Had they hung up?

"I noticed the call," said Kid Win. "Activated a signal jammer so that we wouldn't be listened on. Especially since I needed to verify you by name."

"Oh," I said. I nodded again, then shook my head. The sooner that this was over, the sooner I'd get to heal Rattata. Pachirisu was whimpering a little as Armsmaster bandaged her leg.

"Okay," I said, taking a breath. "I wanted to stop a crime," I said. "I wanted to show Dad that I could protect myself. It wasn't supposed to be a cape. It was supposed to be just a normal person, working my way up to a cape if it was needed. I figured it all out before coming out, planning it: Disarm, disorientate and then stun. Working too quickly for them to get a footing."

Armsmaster nodded, his attention entirely on Pachirisu even as he listened. That made me feel better, that he was focusing on her, focusing on making her better. I looked up, checking the Pidgey was okay and he'd found a perch, looking down at us.

On the alert.

His quick attack was much faster if he used gravity to his advantage. It made sense that he always give himself higher ground in case he needed to attack.

"First thing you have to learn about a combat situation," said Armsmaster. "Nothing goes as planned. That makes things easier in some respects and harder in others. You can't go back home right now, especially with us. There are already PRT troopers there, questioning your Dad. The story as of right now is that there's a stranger and they were trying to steal information from your Dad.

"But if we were there, especially bringing you, people might start to really ask questions, investigate, and that might lead to you not having a civilian identity. It's better if you were to go to the PHQ. We'll contact your father to bring your equipment so you can beginning healing the rest of your…animals."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," I said. "Just…please. Quickly?"

Armsmaster nodded, stepping back from his work on Pachirisu.

"We should be going then," he said.

888

Armsmaster's motorcycle didn't make a sound as we moved, weaving through nearly empty streets and never once being stopped by traffic lights. But I hadn't been focused on that, instead worried about my pets.

Pachi had seemed better; Rattata was still panting, mewling at times; and Pidgey was flying overhead even though being burned must have hurt. It was further to the PHQ than my house, especially since we had to drive over the ocean, but I didn't question it.

I'd made a mistake. I hadn't thought things through. But from the way Armsmaster had spoken, his line of thought, his confidence, he'd sounded as though it was all routine. And there was comfort to be taken in routine. It meant that things had settled, optimised as far as they could be and then learned enough that they were near autonomous.

He likely knew better.

We arrived at the base, Armsmaster and Kid Win having to say some passwords and phrases that I didn't listen to before we were let through. Kid Win was the one that lead me towards a large waiting room with impersonal chairs. He didn't speak, which I appreciated, I wanted to be alone in my thoughts right now.

I'd made a mistake, but mistakes weren't all bad. Sure, bad situations could come from them, but if you learned from them, you were all the better.

Mom's words, said so long ago, when I'd had trouble with a math problem. Looking back I could sort of follow her line of thought, that she'd been trying to gauge where I didn't understand through me attempting the problem. But I hadn't wanted to, knowing that I'd make a mistake, shying away from it.

Mom hadn't liked that one bit, the fear of making a mistake, the fear of failure.

Remembering that gave me enough of a grounding that I could think beyond my tumultuous state. I took a series of breaths that worked to calm me down.

"Odd question," I said to Kid Win. He started a little. "Or odd request. Can you get me a notepad and pen? Or a pencil?"

"Sure, yeah," he said. He ran two fingers over the lower part of his left arm and his armour popped up revealing a compartment. Within was a short notepad with a shorter pen, and three energy bars, too small for anything but a very light snack.

He pulled out the notepad, opened it and tore out a few pieces of papers before he gave it to me. He put his papers back in the slot before he closed it.

Today was bad. But it could have been so much worse.

A reminder that would hopefully always be in my mind. I needed to learn from this. I needed to be better. But more than anything I needed to face the hardest question of all.

Would I be better off with the Wards?

Pachirisu stirred from her sleep beside me. She hissed a little, having jumped too fast to her feet and she looked towards the door, her cheeks sparking a little. I looked in the direction she was looking at and I could see Dad walking in between PRT troopers, Dedenne on his head.

He must have seen us because he jumped off, landing with a skid against the ground and then rushed towards us, agile as he passed between people's legs. Dad, I could see, started moving a little faster, leaving behind the people that were lugging my equipment: one of them carrying the microwave while others carried the pieces of my too large computer.

"It's going to be okay, girl," I said to Rattata. She'd fallen asleep, something that worried me but I hadn't stopped. At least she was in less pain when she was sleeping, and at least she was still breathing.

Last edited: Dec 17, 2017

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Dec 12, 2017

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A hug from Dedenne, his tail curling around my neck, and then a hug from Dad shortly after.

"I'm so happy you're okay," he said, squeezing me tight and not letting me go. "I thought—" The words were cut short, a breath he hadn't meant to take taken. "Dedenne woke me up and he was panicking," he said. "There weren't signs of a fight, but…who knows the type of powers that are out there? It might have been that ABB guy Oni Lee for all I knew."

I was aware that there was a crowd. I was aware that there were Protectorate and PRT personnel. I was aware of Kid Win who stood just to our left, shifting uncomfortably. But more than anything I could see that Armsmaster was approaching, talking to a person in a suit before the two parted ways.

I pulled back.

"I'm sorry," I said and then stopped. There were people around me, looking at me even indirectly. I'd only once had this sort of attention and it hadn't been a good day: The house in the nicer parts of town; there'd been a general thrum of people; and then me, ever the idiot, walking in even though I'd had a gut feeling that something was wrong.

"Can we talk about this after?" I said. "Rattata is hurt and I need to heal her."

Dad nodded and we both looked to Armsmaster.

"I've prepared a room for you," he said. "It should be enough to connect your equipment. If you'll follow me."

I took Rattata as gently as I could without waking her up. Pachirisu and Pidgey found perches on each shoulder while Dedenne jumped ont and settled on my head. I followed, Dad beside me, his presence appreciated. I checked and the PRT troopers were following with my equipment in tow. Kid Win dithered at the back for a moment before he went into a light jog and went forward to talk to Armsmaster.

I didn't hear nor care about their conversation.

We walked through a short series of halls before we walked into what looked like an office that had just been cleared out. I didn't wait for permission, didn't hesitate, I started moving.

"Put them there, please," I said, directing them towards the table. The moment they had I started working.

My setup up was on the ugly side, wire stripped and then reattached before they were bound in non-conductive tape. I moved through the wires one at a time, running my hand through them searching for any breaks. I didn't have my notes which meant I had to largely go on memory but when I felt comfortable I plugged the computer in.

It started booting up. Hopefully nothing important was disconnected or it would take longer, but right now it would be five minutes before everything was checked over and I could start altering Rattata.

Next was the microwave, checking that it still worked and nothing was damaged. I had to check that the magnetron wasn't damaged and in need of repair again and luckily it wasn't. I started connecting the wires from the computer to the microwave, double checking to see if everything was in place, and then waited.

The booting finished, a diagnostic having been run and everything coming out alright.

"Did you bring the solution?" I asked.

Dad nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bottle filled with the stuff, a second later, he pulled out my syringe. I thanked him and started working, having Rattata drink the solution before I put him in the microwave and pressed the defrost button.

The two windows opened up. I minimized the window without any code and watched as the current state of Rattata's body was written, being scanned by the microwave. I pulled up the file history on Rattata, how her code had looked when she'd first come into being. I hadn't done this before, but it should have been the same in principal. If I pasted the old code onto the empty window, she'd revert to how she'd been at his birth.

But I wasn't going to do that because of a niggling feeling: I scanned through the code and found the section on her brain. I checked that the scan was at least to that point and noted the differences, saw the additional code that was likely short and long term memories.

I'd been right. If I'd just taken the old copy, then I'd have done removed the memories of us together. I would have lost some of our familiarity, the memories that had sprouted in our time together. I had to do this the long way.

I had to wait until the scan was done and I had the full amount of code to work with. I copied over all of it to the blank window and closed the scan. I pulled up the copy of Rattata just after I'd finished my work and started noting the differences. I highlighted entire portions so that I would not mess with them even mistakenly. I saved these with a note added to them that those would be the sections I wouldn't alter.

The focus was less on her mind and more on her body. I scanned through it, seeing trying to get sight of the problem. It took me too long before I noticed that the code to her bones was wrong, there were breaks in the code. I checked the sections on how the body was built and would grow, saw that they were slightly different from their previous state. When I tried to conceptualise the change I could only thing that her bones were stronger.

I wrote in the breaks in code then continue to look for more. It wasn't as easy as I thought because each injury manifested in a different way, sometimes it would be breaks, others it would be deviations from what I knew it should be like. Some cells not working to capacity and others were growing more than they should. I fixed these and then made a note on the notepad to check if there were similar deviations from the others.

When I was done, I pressed enter and five hours appeared on the microwave, already starting to count down.

I let out a relieved breath, sitting back against my chair, letting the worry bleed away. Pidgey and Pachirisu were still hurt but their injuries weren't as bad as Rattata's were. They would be able to last the less than five hours that needed to pass before Rattata was fully healed.

Now I had to deal with everything else.

"Can I talk to my Dad first?" I said. Armsmaster nodded and motioned for Kid Win to leave the room. The door closed behind him and Dad shuffled where he'd been leaning against a wall. He was watching me, frown lines dominating his face. It might have been me reading into things, but I could see restrained anger underneath it all.

"I wasn't kidnapped," I said. He didn't move. His expression didn't shift. He'd known, or at least he'd guessed. "I went out tonight because…I wanted to prove that I could take care of myself, that I didn't need to be in the Wards."

"And you thought fighting a cape would do that?" he said. His tone wasn't angry, but it was just as bad: Disappointment.

"Yes," I said, the words soft. Dedenne jumped onto my shoulder, rubbing against my neck in an effort to soothe me. Pidgey had found a perch and was watching me while Pachirisu had fallen asleep.

"Taylor," he said and it sounded hurt. "When have I ever given you reason to think that I wouldn't listen to you? That you couldn't talk to me?"

He really hadn't. But I'd convinced myself that I couldn't. Why, when it made things harder? The answer came to me.

"It's…because…we don't talk anymore," I said. "Haven't talked a lot…since Mom died."

Dad recoiled a little, guilt spreading over him.

There had been a time where he hadn't done a good job taking care of me after Mom had died, when everything was still fresh. I understood it now more than I had then. He'd lost a pillar of his life and he had been reeling, trying to figure out how to move forward. But I'd been younger and my mind had been geared towards pointing everything in my direction.

I'd been scared that he hadn't wanted me, that he blamed me, and that had led to bigger issues. It had led me to think that maybe he agreed, that it had been my fault, that if I'd just picked up the phone…

I was surprised as I felt Dad engulfed me in a hug, holding me tight.

"I'm so sorry, Taylor," he said. My body was still wound tight and it took me a second before I relaxed into the hug. "I…I could see that things were different," he said. "But—but I convinced myself that you were just growing up, that this was being a teenager. I read all I could, to be a better parent, and it said that it was important to give you space, but…" He stopped, taking a breath. "I just didn't realise that I was giving you too much, not talking."

"It's my fault too, Dad," I said. I pulled back and out of the hug, taking a seat on the chair. Fatigue on two front, on the physical and emotional level.

Armsmaster had left another small box of orange juice. I took it and started to open it, focusing on detaching the straw and pulling it out of its little plastic bag.

"Things have been bad at school," I said. I didn't look at Dad, focusing my attention on breaking the hole with the straw. "I'm…I'm being bullied."

"What?" there was a momentary flash of anger in his voice. I could hear him breathing harder then quickly work to restrain it. "Have you spoken to anyone? To your teachers?"

"Yes," I said. "But I don't have proof. Some of them say they're going to be on the lookout for it, watch so that the bullies can be punished, but it hasn't come to anything yet."

"That's unacceptable," said Dad. "Should I call them? We should tell the school principle. Have her do something."

"They'd still need proof, Dad," I said and sighed. "And I don't have that. And anyway it's…that's why I did this. Part of the issue. I thought that being in the Wards might be the same way, that I might be bullied, that I won't have any friends and that would just hurt me. Especially since I'd have to spend time here when I'm using my powers."

Dad nodded. "You don't want to have your powers mixed up in all of that," Dad said and sighed. He took of his glasses, rubbing his eyes before he the glasses on again.

"But I didn't do that," I said. "Didn't prove that I could take care of myself. I got all of my pets hurt in varying degrees and could likely have been killed if that villain had chased after me. I think it makes sense that I join the Wards, if for nothing else than their protection."

"But there would still be the taint," said Dad. He sighed again. "Do you know that I was bullied when I was at school?" I shook my head. "Yeah. I was tall and rail thin. My glasses were big back then and that was a good way of teasing me. I took it, the teasing, then the bumping, the then shoving, taking my stuff, even though it smarted. I kept telling myself that things would be better once I left high school.

"But that didn't work. They kept digging at me on a very bad day, when my defences were lower and my skin had worn from their ribbing." I looked at him and there was guilt in his eyes, shame. "All at once things went black and when I came to, my bullies were on the ground, bleeding. My body hurt but I was on my feet, breathing hard."

I frowned. "You're telling me that I should fight them? It doesn't work that way with girls, Dad."

"No," he said. "I'm not saying fight. I'm saying that these things have an effect on you, that just taking it isn't an option. This bullying is wearing away at you and…I don't think it would be conducive that you move from one sort environment to another."

"But I still need to join, Dad, to get their protection. Tonight showed me that. A random cape was able to take me down easy. Imagine if it was the really bad guys?" I said.

He put up a hand, stalling me. "It's also important to understand that not all communities are the same, not every group of people are warped to the point that they…find self-worth by stripping that of another. And maybe the Wards won't be like school.

"You can disagree if you want to," he said. "But how about giving them a chance? We agree to give them a three month trial period and if you feel that you don't fit in that time, you'll just leave."

"I'll still need their protection," I said.

"Maybe," said Dad. "Or maybe in that three months or less, I'll have found a better alternative. Something like New Wave but less insular or maybe another group that's better. Your safety is important here but so is your happiness."

I smiled at that. "Thanks, Dad," I said. There were still some reservations, that I would have to fight and put my pets in danger, but if Dad was trying, then I could. Maybe I could use this to start up my pet shop idea. There was money involved right? Maybe there might be contacts too.

"And," Dad said, "I should talk to Alan. See if he doesn't know a legal route into dealing with this."

I felt a pang at that, but even though things had been set to be better on the communication front, I couldn't just break his faith like that.

No, I thought. You're falling back on past behaviour. The type of behaviour that lead to this mistake in the first place.

"Dad," I said. I took a breath and then just pushed it out. "Emma's heading the bullying campaign."

Even so, even knowing that him knowing was better, it hurt because this would be him losing a friend. I knew how much that hurt and it was a lot.

Last edited: Dec 17, 2017

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"Shouldn't I be there with them?" I said. It smarted a little, sitting on the side-lines while Dad spoke with Armsmaster. I could see them, both about the same height but Armsmaster more intimidating in his tinker tech armour.

"They're not really discussing anything," said Kid Win. He was on my chair while I stood. His attention on a window which displayed the program I had that decoded the scans from animals and my pets.

I had his hover board in hand, looking at it and running my hands through it. There were footholds on the thing and I could see little slits that I knew would be able to fit an input device from his boots. Maybe they were receding? Because then they would be damaged every time he walked.

I felt the urge to break it apart, looking at how it run, the deeper level tech but I was holding myself back. It had taken five minutes before we'd both had the courage to ask if we could rifle through the other's tech. I didn't think we were at that point yet, even with both of us no doubt wanted the same thing.

Parallels to sex ran through my mind and I pushed them aside. Those thoughts were, if not inappropriate, not needed in this situation.

"Or, not really?" he said. He stopped looking over the code, looking towards me. He was still in his armour, which made me very aware of how the dynamic had changed, but I'd been steadily trying to push past it.

"They did the same thing with me when they were trying to recruit me," he said. "It was Aegis who was in my place and my Mom was talking to Battery. Aegis broke the ice, explained a few things about the Wards and made it easier to understand the stuff they were talking about when they broke into legal terms." He shrugged. "Armsmaster didn't say it in so many words, but I think it was expected."

"Okay, then," I said. I looked away from the board, pushing it away a little even though it was very hard to do. His board generated its own electricity and my thought process was geared towards perhaps a mobile microwave? I shook my head, clearing myself of the thoughts.

Kid Win, I noticed, was grinning. He was excited.

"I've lost my train of thought," I said. That seemed to make him even more excited.

"I never really thought there'd be another tinker in town, you know?" he said. "I mean, sure there are. But one that's a Ward? It's exciting."

I swallowed. "Pressure," I said.

"What? No," he said. "Not like crime fighting or anything. Just bouncing ideas off of each other." He pointed at the screen. "This code. I already have so many ideas on similar process, maybe things that might have my armour not require as much of my input as it already needs. I could maybe use the same general idea that you have here, but limited so maybe I can heal injuries?

"While I was watching now. Seeing your expression," he said. "I could see that you had similar ideas. That you were just aching to be out of here and tinkering. I like that, being a part of it. Growing by trading ideas."

I smiled a little, caught up in his enthusiasm. He reminded me of Greg, passionate about what he was excited in. But unlike Greg, we shared similar interests which made me actually want to listen to him. It helped, also, that I didn't think he was gullible, that I didn't think being around him would make the bullying worse.

But then I didn't know if that was really true.

This isn't school, I thought. I needed to stop those sort of thoughts because they would badly colour things. These are different people.

"What's it like? Being in the Wards?" I asked.

"Work," he said. "You have different duties, some of them good, some of them bad in the boring sense. It's…strict? The Director has a military background which means she thinks like that."

"Breaking people down and then rebuilding them?" I said, not liking the thought.

Kid Win frowned. "No," he said. "Not to that degree. But it's like…there are rules and she expects them to be followed. You don't break command, that sort of thing. She takes some time to get used to, especially since we have more rules than most. But when you look at it from the broader picture, that she's trying to push back against the creeping forces of villains, you start to understand how she thinks."

I nodded, taking it all in. I took his notepad, flipped through to an empty page and held the pen at the ready.

"You said with us being more restricted than most," I said. He flinched. I mentally ran back what I'd said and found that my tone had taken an adversarial note.

"Yeah," he said. He shrugged and he was uncomfortable now. "We're tinkers," he said. "I mean…think about it. Really think about it. We have the capacity to build almost anything with the right resources and the right specialization. We have the potential to build some really dangerous stuff. So there are rules and regulations to mitigate things.

"All our tech must be tested before it can go out for field use. The stuff we make shouldn't be able to severely hurt people, even if it malfunctions, that sort of thing. There's an entire rulebook. Though, to be honest, I haven't read all of the thing. I just got the broad strokes down and then learned through trial and error. It means that some of my stuff has been scrapped, but—"

I flinched, a visceral image of Pidgey lying on a table with chest cracked open and people digging through his innards ran through my mind.

I wrote down:

Ask for rules and regulations in advance.

Scrapping of tech. Relation to living beings?

Testing process?

"Okay," I said. I'd calmed down a little, my hand running over Pachirisu's sleeping form. It was the thing that calmed me down. "What are the other Wards like? I'm thinking more of the…culture?"

"Like are we all friends?" he asked. I nodded. "The people who've been here longest know each other best. There's a mesh of certain personalities and others that don't fit in too well. Most of us have found our places, our archetypes for lack of a better word, while others are still figuring out. Shadow Stalker. She's still relatively new, so that's to be expected."

Cliques had been disrupted. Which meant there could be openings where I could make friends while things settled.

"What does the 'work' usually mean?"

"It means keeping your studies up," he said. "It means training, it means taking vocational courses. Sometimes it means that you'll have to go out to talk to kids like us, who are in bad places so they don't turn villain, other times it just means walking through the streets with a Protectorate member. So the civvies know your face in times of crises.

"It means training to be a hero, but that's almost secondary. Mostly it's a place for people with powers to come together, so that they have a safe place to use their powers, grow their abilities whatever path they want to take in the future."

"So I don't have to join the Protectorate after the Wards?"

"Most do," he said. "But that's mostly because they want to. There's nothing stated though that you could go a particular route. You're not locked into everything…" he hesitated, looking at me.

Pidgey chirped. I looked in his direction and he was giving Kid Win a dry stare.

"You're hiding something," I said, looking back at Kid Win. "Or, not hiding something, but there's something you're not saying. Pidgey seems to think so and I agree with him."

"Um…Part of the whole restrictions for tinkers," he said. "You get royalties for any of your tech that'll be used by other tinkers, or mass produced in cases. But you're not allowed to sell it."

I wrote:

Definition of tech? Do my pets fall under that line?

Pet shop idea. Would it be restricted?

My watch beeped.

"Can I have the chair?"

"Sure," said Kid Win and he stood. I sat and made a few of the changes that weren't automatic. I sat another alarm for an hour from now.

I returned to my notes, noting the bullet points and seeing the direction my thoughts had been going. I wouldn't be allowed to sell my tech, but were my pets technology. Something to be asked when I spoke to Armsmaster.

Was there something else? More questions that I could ask Kid Win. I didn't think so, but there were some I could ask the people in charge.

The door to the office opened.

"Do you have some time to spare?" asked Dad. "We're going to start talks about the Wards program."

I nodded, standing and following as we moved to a boardroom.

888

Armsmaster. Miss Militia. Mrs Hernandez.

She looked the most out of place in her professional clothes, her hair neatly done. But then, she was an office worker, from the HR department. High enough on the totem pole that she could observe the meeting to see if procedures were being followed.

I caught that she didn't appreciate that she was here, but then it was ten at night and her day would have been disturbed.

Then there was Mr Graham. He was from legal, though he wouldn't be representing the Protectorate in this case. He would be serving to make sure that everything was on the up and up, explaining things on our end and seeing that we didn't fall into any pitfalls.

He and the situations around him made me think that there were enough people without legal representation that this was needed. But then I could believe it. Brockton Bay was in a bad place and it had been for a while now. I'd read up a little on other cities, to see how they worked and the most important thing that I got was that their crime didn't have the same weight as ours.

A dragon that was just waiting for someone to make the wrong move before it woke, an army of white supremacists or the scum that were the bridge merchants.

The ball was in my court and I realized that I was shying away from it.

"I don't want to fight," I started. "It's not all of it, but it's part of the reasons I didn't want to join the Wards in the first place."

I took a breath, feeling a little shame for the first time because I was aware that heroes were in front of me. People that regularly risked their lives to protect others. It upset me that I couldn't even try to meet their standards.

"This, going out tonight, as stupid as it was. It was to prove that I could protect myself if it was needed," I said. "But," and I sighed, "I see now that I can't. I need to join the Wards at least until I think I'm in a better place."

"People join the Protectorate and the Wards for different reasons," said Miss Militia. I was momentarily distracted by a swirl of green energy that solidified into a knife in her hand before it disappeared, pushed back into hiding beneath the table. I had to push back the flood of thoughts, energy into matter and mater into energy, the properties of energy and what they would mean for that of matter especially in living organisms.

I took a breath and pulled out my notepad, jotting down: Energy into matter—matter into energy.

When I looked back to Miss Militia I caught a crinkle in her eyes. A smile maybe hidden beneath her mask?

"I remember," she said. "When the Wards were just starting off and Hero was giving one of his usual light speeches." There was warmth in her eyes, a happiness and a deeper sadness. "He said that the Wards would be a place where we could be kids. It was a general sentiment that it was training so we could be heroes if we wanted, but the choice was ultimately ours."

"The public often thinks that the end all and be all of being a member of the Protectorate and the Wards is fighting villains," Armsmaster said. "But this isn't the case. It's a part of it and it's the part that people notice the most but there are other duties: Support roles, thinkers that make sure powers aren't used to ruin the economy or subjugate the country, or tinkers working to advance technology even beyond the fact that most tinker tech is hard to replicate.

"Joining the Wards would open you up to all of these roles," he said. "Give you experience in each of them so that, at the end of the day, you can decide your future."

"So if I wanted to have a pet shop," I said. "Hypothetically speaking."

"Then we could gear things in that direction," said Armsmaster. "Enrol you in business centred courses, get you internships in business in your civilian identity and point you towards the right people. You'd still be required towards field work, but it might be minimal. Perhaps you're on coms more than the other Wards or you have to do PR events."

"But going out into the field would be minimal?" I said.

Armsmaster nodded. "You have to understand that your safety above all else is our concern," he said. "As it stands, it would be likely at most six months before you'd have to go out to patrol. We'd give you enough time to settle, build you and your…pets up before we put you, or them, in a situation where there might be possible dangers."

"When I was talking Kid Win he said something about testing," I said. "About restrictions. Could I get more information on that in the broad strokes level? At least what it would me to me."

I heard Armsmaster sigh, being quiet for a moment before he started speaking, his words measured.

"Hero was my tutor," he said. "He was my mentor while I was still in the Wards, but that's often the relationship between tinkers in the Protectorate and Wards. My point: He taught me to think a certain way. Which was: Get a picture of what I want to happen. Break it down into smaller pieces that will form the greater goal. Then working at the smaller pieces to form the final product. So look at the Wards, Protectorate and the PRT and try to discern what they're trying to achieve."

He stopped talking and it took me a second to connect that he wanted me to answer.

"Keep people safe," I said. "Keep unpowered people safe?"

"Yes," said Armsmaster. "Keep people safe. What would that entail?"

I gave it a moment's thought.

"I had a thought once," I said. "That the police having the authority to stop crime doesn't make sense. People outnumber them and thus it should be hard to enforce laws. But laws make society work. It's mostly better for everyone if they work so I sort of figured that they work because everyone just agreed that they should be allowed to do what they do for the greater whole."

It connected. "You're saying that you can only save people if they allow you to do that," I said. "By keeping to laws that they agreed to beforehand and being accountable."

He nodded. "Tinker technology has the potential for great dangers," he said. "But it's especially worse in your case, at least from a perceptions standpoint." I felt my stomach twist at that. "From what I got from watching you work your specialisation falls within manipulating biomatter. You're as dangerous as any of us can be, but people will think you're more so because of three people: Bonesaw. Mannequin. Nilbog."

I let out a long shaky breath. I was comparable to two members of the Slaughterhouse Nine and a threat so large that an entire town had to be walled off. I looked towards Dedenne, having fallen asleep sometime during this meeting. He'd been on guard since the others were asleep, but he must have been tired.

He was still a child compared to the others. He should have been asleep two hours ago.

Looking at him, thinking about the others, the thought that they might lead me to being compared to those monsters didn't gel. But if I thought about my full potential, that, if I wanted to, I could make my pets want to breed, that I could make them hostile to everyone else and run them out of the city, that I could have a veritable army loyal to me like Nilbog?

I shuddered again.

"Okay," I said. "I can see that restrictions are needed. But, what would that mean? I make animals. Living animals. What if one of them can be dangerous? I mean, yeah, I make them so they'll follow my lead, that they can control their animal impulses, but what if I create another squirrel that can fire off enough electricity to kill a person? Does that mean I'll have to kill my pet?"

"First and foremost it would mean making them sterile," said Armsmaster. "Anything self-replicating immediately makes you an S-Class threat."

Another shudder ran through me, another comparison with monsters, this time the Endbringers came to mind.

"During your trial period, we'd test the impulse control of your pets as we'd do for a master with a similar power. All future pets, though, would have to be looked at. Either me or Dragon would look over the code, talk to you about what it does. I'm thinking, if you join the Wards, that we might have a joint project as the first thing we do. Perhaps a program that will be a step in between the process. You changing the code of your pet and then a simulation of what they'll be appearing, so it can be pruned."

"Fuck," I muttered and I couldn't help myself. Why hadn't I thought of that. "Sorry," I said. "Just—"

"I understand," said Armsmaster.

"Dad already spoke to you about the trial period?" I said.

"Yes," said Armsmaster. "Three month trial period before you really join, so you can get a measure of things. You'll have to understand that this will mean limited access to our systems, that your fellow Wards won't unmask around you and you'll have to be watched, that sort of thing."

I nodded. "I think that's all of it on my end. I'm willing to see how well I fit," I said. "See how these restrictions will be applied and how much I can get from this experience."

"Then," said Mr Graham, "we should start discussing the nitty-gritty of this. First issue to be worked out, smoothing over the process of Taylor's entry into Arcadia."

The conversation was more boring than I could pay attention to so I pulled out the notepad and started jotting down the ideas that I had. A machine to see how Miss Militia's power worked and ideas on implementing something similar. I wasn't sure of the direction yet but my mind was filled with directions to move forward.

Even if this didn't work out I could see that at least I'd come out of it better from having learned the different directions that my power worked.

888

AN: Last chapter of this arc. Next small interlude then start of Arc 2: Upgrade.

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Starters

Interlude

"Another one?" she said and she held back the intense urge to let out a short breath. She couldn't show weakness, especially not with the people in front of her, the type of people.

Her conscious mind thought this, but her unconscious mind was years back: The rain splattering against her; the fear of an unfamiliar situation, of a threat that hadn't been experienced before; her compatriots being taken one after the other; and finally, seeing that thing.

The demented beast that likely still thought it was human.

Nilbog.

She'd been in a similar situation before, when she'd found out about Panacea's ability. But it seemed the punishment for her survival wasn't enough, that she still had to deal with people that were just waiting for a bad day before they could snap and there'd be a repeat of Nilbog's situation.

"Yes," said Armsmaster. He was in armour sans his mask and the man looked on the tired side. Knowing the man, he'd likely not slept, but then there was a tinker in the building and he often spent time studying their technology.

"Taylor Anne Hebert," he continued. "Eight forty-five last night we received a call from her father. He told us that Dedenne, one of her creatures, was panicking and that Taylor wasn't in her room. Since she's a tinker, he feared that she might have been taken."

"And she wasn't?" she said, though she already knew the answer. Capes and conflict were things that went hand in hand. She'd likely gone out either to fight crime or steal supplies for her technology. Whatever the case, she'd likely left her home to fight.

Fights that they know they'll win, a part of her thought, memories of their capes flying away, leaving them.

There was a pitcher of water in front of her. She took her time as she poured herself a glass, then slowly downed the drink.

It always seemed closer at moments like this, but then it always seemed closer when there were strong enough reminders. Her dialysis machine had been that reminder once upon a time, but it had folded into her routine, the vividness of it lost. But bio-tinkers couldn't be. They were few and far between, something whose sprouting she couldn't get used to enough that it lost its sharpness.

"We found her having escaped a fight with Circus," said Armsmaster. "She wasn't hurt, but she was distraught since all of the pets that had been present then were hurt. We calmed her down, returned her to base where she agreed to join the Wards on a trial basis."

She frowned at that. "Reasons?" she said.

"Part of her trauma," said Armsmaster. "Her father told me that she was being bullied in school. Something he just found out today. I think she might have triggered because of this and it's part of her trauma not to trust situations. Or, not trust the things she didn't make herself."

More reminders of Nilbog, she thought. He'd been the loner sort, or at least that's what the files said on him. She pushed it back.

"How does her power work?" she asked.

Armsmaster was quiet for a moment, his expression blank as he looked at her. She knew that he knew. She also knew that he wasn't a stranger to bad things happening. Would he guess now what she was thinking? That she already trying to come up with controls so that they might be able to counter her if she ever went rogue?

"She has a machine," he said. "A microwave that she uses to make her pets." A point that could be used against her. "She has to use biomatter," the words were slow as he said this, "but there's a sizeable chunk of time before whatever she's using is altered. She manipulates DNA through code, which also takes its own time before the physical process starts.

"For now there has been a size limit," he continued. "Small creatures that can fit in her microwave, but I think the first thing she'll do with resources is create a bigger machine, something that can birth her stronger creatures."

She swallowed. "The reason for this?"

"Because she wants to protect them and she doesn't think she'll stick with the Wards," said Armsmaster. "I've gotten a small grasp of how she thinks. She's methodical, seeing a situation as it is and then learning from it. There's room for error there because of inexperience, but she's got a foundation that can take her far."

"The story with her father is as such: They were going to come here today so they could ask questions. She didn't want this so thought she could buy herself some time. If she'd succeeded last night, then it's likely she would have used that as a stepping point for her father giving her more time. She would have cited that, in the span of two days, she had trained her creatures to fight off a person, that if she was given more time, she could teach them to do more."

"But she didn't succeed and she accepted that. She came here. But that's not because she wanted to…"

"It was because she had to," she said. She frowned, putting her hands together and resting on them. "She's skittish. The first thing going wrong, the first person that disturbs her and she'll bolt." Armsmaster nodded. "So," she continued, "it makes sense that she build herself up from the start. The creatures she has are small and lacking. She'll build bigger things, so they can protect her if things don't go well."

"More protect each other," said Armsmaster. "But, yes, all around it will be more about protection, preparing for the worst."

"I don't like that," she said, "that we could have such a powerful force without proper guidance. I don't think it needs to be said the parallels to Nilbog."

"Or Bonesaw," Armsmaster added. "We don't know that she can't alter bacteria or people."

She hummed. "We keep her happy," she said. "As happy as we can. We look over everything she's building, coming up with countermeasures just in case something spooks her in the macro sense and we have an S-Class event in Brockton Bay."

"Yes, Director," said Armsmaster and he stood, leaving.

She pressed a button.

"Darleen?"

"Yes, ma'am," was the answer.

"Hold my calls for the next hour," she said and she pressed the button, closing herself off. She turned in her chair to the view her office afforded her of the city, of the rig over the ocean.

She rarely interacted with Panacea, only doing so when it was needed. But that was easier. Panacea was both a child and a member of New Wave, she rarely had reason to interact with her. But this child would be different.

Even as she looked out towards the PHQ she couldn't help but feel that she could sense the girl, she could track which office she was in and how she was looking at the creatures that could cause unknown destruction with an amount of love.

She let out another long breath, trying and failing to reign it all in. She doubted that her mind wouldn't just transplant Nilbog over her form. She doubted that she wouldn't be the person that made Taylor bolt, a worse prospect. But she also doubted that not talking to her would be the better option.

She just had to deal with this, like she'd been dealing with everything since that nightmare of a day.

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Upgrade

2.1

"And this is the hospital wing," said Kid Win. It was morning and I felt a little on the tired side but I would make do. I hadn't slept much the night before, going through dealing with my pets, neutering them so I could stop becoming an S-Class threat and finally jotting down some notes for the ideas I accumulated over the night.

But the little amount of sleep I'd gotten had been on the PHQ, something that was still hard to encapsulate because right now I was rubbing shoulders with a hero. There was a glee there. Because of course there was. Who didn't dream of being Alexandria? Or maybe in this case Hero since our powers felt under a similar spectrum.

But it was all cast under a shadow of what it truly meant. At some point during the day I'd have to interact with the other Wards.

"It's…really boring," he said. "I've never really seen the inside of it, but the others with seniority have if they've had to fight villains. And the guys here don't like to just have people walking through and especially if they have pets."

Pachirisu was walking in front of us, keeping an eye on Dedenne who had run down the hall to put her tail in an electrical socket. Pidgey was on my shoulder and Rattata was sleeping in the pocket of my hoodie.

"The microwave kills all bacteria and parasites before the start of the process," I said. "And even if they have any diseases, my ability weeds them out when I'm altering their code."

"Oh," he said. "Okay. Yeah, but I don't think they'll really give you any time to explain that. They are doctors. They only ever let you explain when they're trying to get a diagnosis…or prognosis…whichever it is."

I hummed. "Can you show me to my lab? I kind of want to burn off some of the energy I have before I go home," I said.

"Um, yeah, sure," he said. We walked in silence after that, getting on an elevator and descending a few floors before we stopped. "This floor is the tinker floor, with permissions for each of our labs. Armsmaster has permission to get into all of our labs, but there's a log to check his entry and exit, and how much time he spent there. There's also footage so that he doesn't try to steal anything."

He was grinning as he looked in my direction. A joke, I realised, but not an overly funny joke. I gave him a smile, but his grin faltered. He rubbed the back of his head, the sound of metal against metal reverberating.

We walked into the hall, moved past three doors before we stopped in front of one, my name already written on a digital name plate.

"The first password's usually one-two-three-four," said Kid Win.

I pressed it and the door opened into the lab. It as sizably large: a workspace with a desk and computer sequestered on a corner, a long table dominating the furthest end of the room, shelves with machinery on all sides of the walls, and a large open space in the middle of the room.

My microwave and my old computer had been put on the long table.

"Two phones," I said, noticing them for the first time.

"Sort of required for tinkers," he said. "Armsmaster tells me that when standard issue phones started being a thing, tinkers would break them apart the first chance they got. Those who had a handle on their powers made modifications, sometimes for the better, but more often than not they broke them. So this," he said. "Tinkers get two phones. The second you can do whatever you want with so long as the first is intact. Armsmaster even has some of his stuff in there to make sure that they can't be tempered with."

I gave him a nod, looking at the phones. Pushing back the urge to take it apart, see how it worked and any ideas that I could get from it, any of the parts that could be turned towards different functions.

"Can I get some time to be alone?" I said. "Just…let all of this settle?"

He nodded. "I'm the next lab over if you need anything," he said. I nodded and watched him as he left, the door closing behind me. I looked at the room and at the corners where the movies told me cameras would usually be, then walked on over to my computer.

First things first.

I switched it on, entered the password I'd been given and then quickly changed it to something else. There were some security questions I had to answer and I quickly answered those. The software was different from the one I was used to, but that didn't matter in the grand scheme.

I figured out the permissions that I had, the things I could and couldn't view. I didn't have the files for the people who worked here, nor did I need them. I could know which capes worked for the Protectorate ENE, but there was no information on their civilian identities nor the minutia of how their powers worked.

That hurt a little as I considered what I might have learned from viewing them. Just a small glimpse of Miss Militia's power and I had a range of ideas on new technology. I could only imagine what it might have meant if I saw Battery's power or Velocity's. Maybe I could make the quick attack quicker? However their powers worked, using it to increase speed without having to rely on musculature.

I moved through the thing and found the guidelines for tinkers, sent them over to my phone before I turned the computer off.

It wasn't explicit but implicit. Tinkers of the past had done it on their phones and from the way Kid Win had said things it hadn't sounded like they'd been too heavily reprimanded. I wanted things to work out here, but if they didn't, then they didn't and I'd have to move to someplace else. If there was even a place for me.

You're doing it again, I thought and sighed. Letting go of the way I thought wouldn't be that easy, it seemed.

I detached the wires connecting from everything else to the tower, pulling it out of its position and then moving it over to the table. It was a heavy thing, making me think that perhaps my next pet should have enough muscle that it could help me with the heavy lifting. I dug through the shelves and drawers on the wall until I found a screwdriver and then started working.

My mind sort of turned off as I worked, systematically taking apart the computer's tower, mentally and physically noting the differences. My watch beeped when an hour had passed and I had to stop, take a fifteen minute break before I returned to things.

Today was a free day, where I didn't really have any obligations. Everything the Protectorate would require of me would start tomorrow. That meant I could have the entire day to work today if I wanted and I wanted that.

A fifteen minute break. I dug through all of the cupboards until I found a small pantry with energy bars, small boxes of orange juice and a note that these weren't the only food items that my body needed to function. I grabbed energy bars, broke them apart and put them on the floor for the others to eat while I did the same.

"I don't think I apologised to you," I said. Ten minutes had passed, five minutes left before I had to get back to work. "For what happened last night."

Pachirisu moved forward and put her hands on my stomach, looking up at me. I smiled at that. I hadn't known her long enough that I was good at reading her and that hurt, especially since most of the time we'd spent together had been training. Her trying to hit me or me flinging rocks at her so she could dodge them.

I liked to imagine that she was saying 'it's okay.'

Pidgey chirped and I could read him: Irritation.

"You're right," I said. "I shouldn't have been that stupid. Going out there, putting you all in danger. Getting all of you hurt. I should have just come here in the first place. Listened to Dad."

Rattata had finished eating now, having drunk her orange juice and she was sleeping. Dedenne was running around the room, searching. I heard him squeaking in elation and guessed he must have found an electrical socket.

Two modes of doing things: Pachirisu generated her own electricity while Dedenne needed some from an external source. Of course, if she was hit by electricity, Pachirisu would absorb it, but since she was larger, it had given me more space to add, streamlining a little.

My watch beeped.

I stood and walked over to a drawer filled with books and pencils.

I'd almost gotten my pets killed last night because I'd been stupid. I was trying to be smarter now, not making the same mistakes. So what did that mean?

I set myself a thirty minute timer for this line of thinking.

What did I do wrong? I wrote.

I rushed things.

Didn't talk to Dad.

Not enough training.

Pets too weak. Not meant for fighting.

Not enough information.

Not expecting the unexpected.

Commands inefficient.

I was sure that it wasn't all of them, but these were the first that I could work on. I didn't know that things would work out with the Protectorate. I didn't know if I would fit in and I would eventually join them as a full member of the Wards. But I needed to make sure I got this place's full benefit.

The first step in that would be more space, it would be bigger pets that would allow me to make more alterations: Make sure that I could give them strong protections while also allowing for incapacitating attacks.

I'd have to learn more about power, think about how they worked and the routes they took so that they wouldn't be so limited in what bio-organisms could actually achieve.

I looked at the microwave, small and limiting.

It was the first thing that would have to be changed.

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2.2

Yesterday had been the precursor. A day spent collecting my thoughts, but today would be when the real work got done.

"Excited?" asked Dad. He looked as nervous as I felt, though I did my best not to let my expression show it. Kid Win had given me the tour yesterday but that had been cursory, both of us moving forward so that we could get to our labs. But today would be different.

I made the 'so-so' gesture.

"More terrified than anything," I said. "I'll be rubbing shoulders with heroes."

"Don't let that intimidate you," said Dad. "They're just people."

"People with superpowers," I said.

"You're people with superpowers," he said. "Relative to you they are just people. Treat them like that. It's how I keep myself sane every time I try to get the Mayor to get the ferry up and running every once in a while."

I nodded, giving him a small smile. "I'll try to remember that," I said, pushing back all the bad feelings that were jumping around in my stomach, the thoughts that wanted to come to the fore.

I didn't want to judge this yet. I didn't want to judge them yet.

The second phone that Armsmaster had given me had already been stripped the day before. I'd held out for most of the day, mechanically stripping and remaking my computer, but in the spaces where I'd had to get out of my lab to eat, it had been the only thing on-hand and between one moment and the next the thing had lay apart in front of me. My first phone, therefore, was something I paid conscious attention not to mess with, because it was my life line.

With it, I could use an app that called a cab to my location. The cab would have tinted windows and a partition that made sure that the driver couldn't see my face. When it picked me up, it would take an indirect route to the PHQ, making sure that it would be hard for me to be tracked back home, for that matter, it would be hard for people to guess that I was a cape.

The cab was already outside as I left and when I was inside, the windows closed and the thing started moving. I put on the standard issue mask I'd been given until I could get a cape identity, if I got a cape identity.

I flipped through my phone, looking over images of frogs. I hadn't completed the second iteration of my machine yet, but from the framework that I'd already drawn up and sent to Armsmaster for approval I knew that I would have a little leeway on the things that I could build.

How powers worked and how they gave abilities was something I'd found out that people had been researching since their appearance, something that I guessed I wouldn't figure out any faster. It was made worse because my ability didn't give me a starting point on this as it had with forming the electric sacks in Dedenne and Pachirisu's cheeks.

But the moment I'd started thinking about what was actually achievable through nature, things because easier. Frogs could create poisons that coated their bodies as a form of defence, but I could use this as offense. My ability had already provided a direction to work towards, blending together everything that I wanted.

The image in my head was of a bipedal frog that could pass for human under low light. It would be on the small side, but there was potential for growth there. It would have sacks in its cheeks that had the capacity to inflate, fill with air and poison so that it could spit it towards its target.

The problem now was making sure that the poison was of the non-lethal nature.

Which was the reason I was researching frogs. I wanted something that could incapacitate, but no matter the dosage, it wouldn't cause an overdose. But that was hard to come by.

The cab stopped and there were three knocks on the door. I exited into a parking lot, moved to an elevator pressed my phone against a pad where the up button should have been. My phone lit up and I entered my security code. The doors opened and I stepped through, pressing down and feeling a whole lot of apprehension.

I checked my phone when I heard, "Hold the door!"

My heart almost stopped at that, the impulse to just let the door close hitting me before I pushed myself forward. I put a hand in front of the closing doors and they stopped before they could hit me, opening again. It was a boy, tanned skin with his feet in the air as they ran. He was wearing a mask much like my own.

Aegis.

"Thank you," he said. I slunk a little back, giving him the maximum amount of space that I could. He noticed and looked in my direction. "You're…the new girl, right?"

"Um, yeah," I said. "I sort of don't have a name yet."

"Oh, man," he said. "I feel for you there. I remember when I didn't have a name. Spent a month with the PR department, discussing connotations behind names, how it fit and how it would meld with my costume." There was a whine in his voice. "It was gruelling. You have my sympathy."

"Thanks," I said. "I guess."

He extended a hand. "Aegis."

I took it, shaking it. "I guess…you can call me Cat Lady for now."

Self-deprecation. It was a method towards making friends.

"Cat Lady?" he said.

"You know," I said and I chuckled in a way that I thought was natural. "Like, how those cat ladies horde cats. I sort of horde things too."

"Master?" he said. I frowned, remembering that he couldn't see my expression through my mask.

"I don't entirely know what you mean by that," I said.

"Master," he said. "Capes that control things. People, animals, bugs or they can create things that can move and control them."

"Like Miss Militia?" I asked. "She controls her guns."

He tilted his head, letting a long sound of though. "I guess," he said. "But, no. It's more a threat thing, not a how powers work. Miss Militia would be more blaster than anything. She's more of a threat at a distance. A master's like…this is a villainous example, but Rune? You know her?"

"The girl that carries cars with her power?" He nodded. "Yeah, I know her. There was a rumour once that she went to my school. It wouldn't have been out of place quite honestly."

Aegis was quiet for a moment, faltering. Maybe I'd been too negative. It was a fine line between being self-deprecating and being a downer.

"But," he said, "that's what the whole master thing's like. More people that control things, people you have to take out so their powers are taken out of the picture or rendered inefficient."

"Yeah," I said. "That would be mean. I have pets. If I were in a fight they would fight for me."

"Cool," he said. "So, do they like, appear out of thin air?"

I shook my head. "You want to see one of them?" He nodded. "Dedenne, you want to meet Aegis?"

He scurried over my head, moving and then peeking from under the hood of my hoodie. I couldn't see him, but I could guess that he was looking towards Aegis.

"That…is not what I was expecting," he said. "Does…she? He," I nodded, "bite?" I shook my head at that. He extended a hand and Dedenne jumped on it, squeaking as Aegis slowly ran his hand over Dedenne's back. "God," he whispered, "it feels like my heart's going to melt right now. Has Vista seen him yet?"

I shook my head. "Haven't met the others," I said. "Sort of my first official day."

"Oh," he said. He looked at his wrist, a watch. "She should be in already. Her and Gallant are the sort that like to wake up early." He looked at the floor buttons, seeing that I was nowhere near the Wards' hangout. "You want to pop in? Meet them before you go…you're a tinker?"

"Yeah," I said. My hand went to my neck and I caught Pachirisu's tail. She must have been started out of a nap because she moved a little, popping her head out. When she saw that Dedenne was being brushed, she fought her way out and jumped onto Aegis, bearing her tail and shooting at him the most pleading expression I'd ever seen her do.

"Oh, man," he said. "No," he whined. "You have the worst sort of power," he said. I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. He didn't notice, now having to devote his attention between Dedenne and Pachirisu. "This sort of cuteness isn't supposed to exist. How is anyone supposed to fight these beauties."

It took a second before the words registered, but the entirety of the sentence sunk in.

Stop it, Taylor, I thought, feeling angry at myself. Not everyone is out to get you.

Pachirisu loved this because she jumped up and ran around his neck, rubbing her cheeks against his mask.

"Vista will just love these," he said. "Can you spare some time?" he said. "Please? Please?" He paused a little, but still not enough to give me a moment to dither. "Please? Tell her please? Come on, you'll get some belly rubs?"

It didn't take much convincing. Dedenne and Pachirisu looked in my direction, both of them looking at me with big eyes, holding their tails and a pleading running off of them.

Cuteness and charm distilled.

Saying no didn't seem like an option.

And so I didn't.

"Sure," I said and I pulled out my phone, starting to alter my schedule. It was a good thing that I'd left the morning for personal work before I got started dealing with the admin staff.

Last edited: Dec 17, 2017

317Upgrade

2.3

"The PR department is going to love you," said Gallant. He wasn't wearing a costume, instead in a loose fitting shirt and sweatpants. I glanced in his direction, feeling a pang of guilt. He and Vista were wearing masks similar to mine. It must have been annoying even if they weren't saying anything.

"Yeah?"

In all right this seemed more like a club house than the base of burgeoning heroes: A desk that had books scattered on it, a side that had a large television with games connected to it, another with another desk with computers, and mostly open space with thick rubber padding.

There were also rooms at one end for each of the Wards, not rooms to stay too long in, but if a nap was needed it would be the place to go. I had my own, but it was unlikely I'd be using it when I had my lab.

I glanced at my watch at that, even knowing that an alarm would give me fifteen minutes before I had to go and discuss how the transfer thing to Arcadia would go.

"Yeah," said Gallant. I had the air from him that he was smiling. We were both to one end watching Vista as she threw a Frisbee, Dedenne and Pachirisu working to catch it. Aegis was in the air with Pidgey, the bird doing a good job of dodging as Aegis tried to catch him.

I made a mental note to ask Aegis if he'd have any free time in the future to help me train Pidgey, give him an aerial threat to go against in case he ever had to go against a flier.

"Yeah," said Gallant. "They're all about image. Making the people we look over feel safe, easing them into the whole powers thing. Your…pets help a lot. I think people will be comforted by them."

"So they don't have to think about the scary capes, like Lung." He looked at me at that, then turned back towards the others before he shrugged. Maybe that was a yes.

It was headache inducing to watch because Vista had warped space so she had more room with Pachirisu and Dedenne. But I watched, because they were happy. It seemed that all of my pets, with the exclusion of Rattata who was still sleeping in the pocket of my hoodie, were social creatures.

"Where are you headed next?" Gallant said to me. "You keep glancing at your watch."

"Some stuff to discuss with the admin staff before…" there was a buzz that broke me off, the alarm that gave us time to put on our masks. No one stopped what they were doing.

A girl walked in a moment later, clad in a white mask and casual clothing, Shadow Stalker no doubt. She gave the entire picture a look, looked in my direction, before she walked off towards the rooms. Gallant beside me sighed.

"She doesn't like me?" I said.

"No, it's not that. She's just…not to badmouth her or anything, but Shadow Stalker's not the real social kind. Prefers to be on her own."

Maybe she was like me? Maybe she'd been hurt and coming into a team wasn't that easy? But I was trying to be into all of this. To make friends.

Maybe the difference between you and her is that you're alone because you have too, a part of me thought, while she's doing it because she wants to. She doesn't need anyone. But you do, it's just that people tend to not want to be around you because you let off radiation.

I closed my eyes, thankful for the mask. My breathing was slower, trying to push down the thoughts but it was hard. I chose, then, to focus on the things that made me happy. Dedenne was squeaking happily because he'd moved faster than Pachirisu and had gotten the Frisbee. As a reward, Vista was giving him a belly rub and Aegis was giving him a round of applause.

My pets were unlikely to be able to hang out with anyone until the pet shop idea took off, when they and their kind couldn't be connected specifically to me. This helped them, giving them a different perspective from just being with me. It meant that there was the risk that they might love someone else more than me, but if that was what made them happy then it was something I could get behind.

"Anyway," said Gallant. "Tips when you eventually meet the PR department. Say no to the dress."

"Dress?"

"Yes, dress," he said. "They try and do it to any girl that walks through. Get them to wear a dress, prove that femininity hasn't been lost. Never mind that those things are a bitch to manoeuvre in."

I looked at him. "You say that like you have personal experience."

"It was for a bet," he said quickly.

Okay, maybe it was a bad thing that we were wearing masks because he could see my grin, nor could I see that he was most likely blushing.

"Maybe I should talk to Clockblocker," I said. "See if he has some pictures. You look like the type that might look good in a dress."

"I did," he said. "But you'll only have your imagination to go on for that. I made sure to delete every picture that he took."

"And Kid Win managed to retrieve them," Aegis said from the sky. He was close enough that he'd heard us but he was steadily flying away.

"What? No," Gallant whined. "You're joking right? Knowing D—Clockblocker it's only a matter of time before he 'leaks' the things!"

"We were actually planning on it being on the montage on your birthday," said Vista.

"What?" said Gallant "You too? You were in on this?" He voice was almost like someone had taken his last piece of candy. It was enough that it gave Vista pause, making her look away from Pachirisu and shifting a little.

Vista shrugged, it was on the stilted end of a shrug. "When they were saying it, it sounded really funny," she said.

"And Glory would have probably liked to see it," said Aegis. He landed. "Okay, little guy. Let's not get me sweating before I actually have to exercise alright? Make we can pick this up later?"

"Actually," I said. I had to pull my mind away from the fact that the rumours were actually true that Gallant and Glory Girl were dating, focusing on what I wanted. "If you're off to training, could you take him with you? I want him to practice some evasive manoeuvres but I don't really know what that means."

"Sure," said Aegis. "He'll listen to me, right?"

"Will you?"

Pidgey shrugged before he moved to land on Aegis' shoulder.

"Speaking of training," said Gallant. "Vista, you still coming?"

"Um…maybe later," she said. "Going to hang out with Dedenne and Pachirisu a little more while I get started on some school stuff."

Gallant shrugged. "We usually have communal homework time round about eleven," he said. "Maybe if you're free you can pop up?"

I took out my phone and looked at the day's schedule. "That'll be lunch," I said. "If you guys don't mind my eating then, sure."

"Cool," said Gallant, walking away. "It was good to meet you, Cat Lady."

"Hey," said Aegis, floating backwards and looking at me. Gallant was at his side, walking and guiding him so he didn't bump into anything. "Maybe we can figure out a name for you."

"Before PR does," said Vista. "They can come out with horrible names if you're not on the lookout. They almost got Clockblocker's name to be Stopwatch."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," said Vista. "Good thing he knows how to deal with them." From her tone of voice I got that she was grinning. "He was confined to desk duty for a month because of his stunt, but it was awesome."

The door to the rooms opened again. "Gawking after Gallant again," Shadow Stalker said walking out. She was dressed in exercise gear, her crossbow held in hand. She'd been looking at Vista at the comment.

Vista, who'd been about to throw the Frisbee again, stopped at that, almost dropping the thing. Shadow Stalker walked with a stride as she moved, enough that I could almost feel a smugness to her. Dedenne looked at Vista, waiting for the Frisbee, but Pachirisu was keeping her eyes on Shadow Stalker, glaring.

"Cute," she said, condescending. Pachirisu didn't stop looking in her direction until the doors had closed behind her.

"Bitch," I heard Vista mutter. She didn't throw the Frisbee which made me feel awkward because I didn't know what to do in a case like this. She was younger than me and I could read between the lines that she had a crush on Gallant.

What was I supposed to say? She was like me, being torn down by another. But she was also different from me in that she had a support structure. We were the same but different enough that I wasn't sure any approach would work, not any of the things I wished others had to said to me. Instead I was stuck in place, just standing.

Vista sighed. "It's a bad showing," she said. "Her. Thought at least she would play nice with your situation."

"My situation?" I said.

"The whole trial thing," she said. "They didn't tell us much. But these things usually happen when a person isn't too sure if they want to join or not. Guessed it was true for you too, and with how powers work…" She shrugged. "Thought a good showing would make you join."

I shrugged too. "I think I actually prefer it this way," I said. "Getting to know the real people more than the facades they put up when it's needed. Means I don't get blindsided when there's no turning back."

"Well," she said. "All of us are being genuine. Even though that probably means nothing. Even Shadow Stalker."

"So she's always like that?"

"Stand-offish most times," she said. "But she has her bitchy days. I guess that today's one of them. Best to stay away from her. Bitchy days, she gets real bitchy."

"You're swearing a lot," I said.

"I kind of want it to sink in that she's a bitch." She bent and picked up Dedenne, hugging him. "And I want to make sure that if she says something bitchy you know that she's a bitch that's not worth listening to. I kinda don't want these guys to leave," she said, "and I sort enjoy it that you're not stopping me from calling her a bitch."

Dedenne slipped out of Vista's hands, ran up her arm and gave her a hug at that. Pachirisu joined in, jumping and lightly scaling up Vista to wrap her tail around the girl. She was giggling at this, her anger most likely starting to wane.

"You guys won't cause trouble, right?" I said. Dedenne gave a squeak and Pachirisu gave me a nod before she started chittering. Rattata peeked out of my pocket, looking in Pachirisu's direction before she gave a long suffering sigh, scaling up onto my head and just sitting there.

Protection duty?

I pushed it aside and left, going up a few floors and then pushing into a very different mind-set. I had my notebook out and paying attention, recording the meeting in case my thoughts began to stray if things got too boring.

"It'll take a little while before you're transferred to Arcadia," the woman said. "People are often accepted there in batches and in those batches the people within are often looked into."

"Just in case they are Wards?"

She nodded. "Which is the reason in the months before the transfer goes through, you'll have to put in a good showing at school. Your father gave me access to your school records and I see here your grades have been dropping."

"Round about when the bullying started," I said. There was a kneejerk reaction to not say anything in this direction but I stamped it down. "It's hard to focus in school when I have to constantly look over your shoulder."

Going by her expression, I was likely being defensive. I took a breath, calming myself down. My transfer to Arcadia was something the Protectorate would work on whether or not I joined the Wards, whether or not my grades rose. I just had to keep calm, make the transition smooth so the wrong sort of people wouldn't have the need to ask the right sort of questions.

"We'll have to give you an after school tutor, catch you up and see if that makes you improve…"

She went on, running through what would be expected of me in the school front while everything was being prepared. I listened intently, making a mental note to change my schedule because it seemed to be getting a whole lot more dense.

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ManMag

Dec 17, 2017

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Dec 19, 2017

#177

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2.4

"Brody, right?"

He nodded, giving me a bright smile that seemed fake.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll be your trainer while we're get you to the point where you get the hang of things. So, do you exercise by yourself? Maybe you have a routine and we can build on that?"

I shrugged. "Mostly run every morning. Distance varies, but it's a few blocks."

He nodded at that. "Then we'll get started on that as a warm out, a brisk jog before you start on weights," he said.

Dedenne, Pachirisu and Rattata had joined me this time while Pidgey was sitting this one out. I first set their machines, tracking the notes that I had on their muscles and estimating the distance each could run without strain before we all started.

I didn't pay much attention to myself, instead focusing on them. Rattata won on stamina on the treadmill. When I was doing short sprints, starting and stopping, Pachirisu was fastest. She was larger than the others. I'd had more space to add the odd musculature that meant the quick attack could be faster.

Next were weights on my end, starting off light. I had the others doing their dodging practice, then. There was a machine that could track motion and shoot out rubber balls at varying sets of intensity. I set it so that it started light before it started to get hard. I made a mental note to give myself the same sort of training.

"And that's it for today," said Brody. He pulled out a slip of paper. "This sort of thing tend to go hand in hand with healthy eating habits. So this is how you should eat. Ultimately it's up to you if you actually do, but a healthy diet makes sure your body has all it needs that this process isn't too taxing."

I gave him a nod, took a picture of his dietary recommendation and then left, this time heading for my lab.

I held back the urge to sigh when I saw Armsmaster at my door.

"Morning," I said.

"Morning," he returned.

"This will likely sound rude," I said. "But I'm a little on the tired side and I think working will do me good. I've already put it off this morning and…"

"Put it off?" he said. "Why?"

"Hanging out with the other Wards," I said. "Not all of them. But they generally seem nice."

"That's good," he said. "The Wards are about building relationships, forming connections."

"Is that why you're here? To see if I'm forming connections?"

My tone was off, but then I was tired. Brody had pushed me past the point where I'd have been comfortable if I'd been doing things myself. I'd showered and there was a part of me that felt, even with the fatigue, invigorated, felt better about things. But then that as exercise. It tuckered you out but sent out chemicals that made you feel happy.

I needed to work and this was just postponing that.

"No," he said. "What you make of the Wards is up to you. I came here because I looked into the blueprints that you sent for my approval. I've approved them."

I've felt a glimmer of excitement before it started to fade. He had more to add, I was sure.

"But," and there it was, "I don't think you should build this as is."

"Oh?" I took the moment to open up my door, getting into my lab. Since yesterday, it had turned into an organised mess. I was in the process of redoing my computer, using the ideas generated by the Protectorate issue computer. I was hoping that it would be a computer I could have for home use. The limited access that my phone gave me was a restriction I didn't like.

He hummed and my phone buzzed. I looked at it and it was an email with an attachment from Armsmaster. I opened the attachment and it was too small on my phone.

I quickly went to my computer, opened it and then opened the attachments. Since giving him the thing he'd made recommendations over the designs I'd given him. Stuff that could be streamlined, components that might work better and other tinker stuff that worked along similar lines, though they would be better because of specialisations.

"We can get stuff from other tinkers?" I asked.

"Didn't Kid Win tell you?" I shook my head. "Do you mind?"

Again I shook my head, standing. He took a seat, moved through my computer until he had a tab opened that had a list of parts. My power didn't fill in the blanks.

"Does it have pictures?" I asked. He changed the settings and instead of lists of words I saw pictures of the equipment. There my ability worked, filling in the blanks and telling me the functions of each. "This makes things easier," I said.

A resource I wouldn't have if I wasn't in the Wards.

"Since you're here," I said. "I had an idea and I was wondering if it was feasible." He turned, giving me his full attention. "Miss Militia's power means her weapon shifts states, energy into mass. I wanted to do something similar to streamline the process of creating my pets."

He hummed. "You're thinking turning them into energy, manipulating them in that state and then ultimately reforming them?"

I nodded. "It's advantageous in the grand scheme. It means that I don't have to build bigger and bigger things to make larger pets. I could just turn them into an energy form which ultimately means one device, and it would be mobile. Any pet that's hurt could be stored in their energy state so that all their injuries are halted."

He hummed again, being quiet for a long moment before I got another email with an attachment. I opened the video and it was of Armsmaster testing one of his halberds. He left it on a table, walked a short distance away and then moving his hands in a sequence. The halberd turned into an energy state that flowed towards Armsmaster before hardening in his grasp.

"It's something that I haven't used yet," he said. "But it's useful. Villains often try to take away my halberd at their first opportunity, hope to use it against me. This is to mitigate that. I'm showing you this because…do you think your technology might work on people?"

I shifted at that. "That's the first direction my power turns, actually," I admitted. "Um…It's…how I got my power…I…"

"Triggers are personal events," said Armsmaster. "Traumatic events. If you're not comfortable, it's not something you have to say."

I shook my head. "I have to give the event less power, right? Same concept as the N-word." I took a breath. "And I told myself I'd get better at talking to people, sharing things that might be important."

He gave me a nod and was quiet, waiting without rushing me.

"I…wanted friends," I said. "My power could give them to me if I built my microwave. But when I turned towards it…" I shuddered. "It was manipulating how they thought, rewriting it."

"But you can stop that, can't you?" he said. I got the sense that he didn't understand that, which I didn't like.

I shrugged, pushing the strange mix of emotion starting to surge in my stomach. A part of me wanted to think that he didn't care, but that didn't gel when I considered the greater circumstances surrounding all of this. It was less him and more me, the badness of the past dictating how I thought about things now.

"My power has parts that are automatic," I said. "I can focus on parts, but that means less of a focus on other parts. Pachirisu for instance. I focused on giving her certain attributes, being able to generate her own electricity, making her have a higher maximum capacity, that sort of thing. My power decided that it would be best she had the appearance that she did. Imagine if that sort of thing happened while I was working on people."

"The program we're planning to build, the in-between, it will help us against that," he said.

"Maybe for a physical stand point," I said. "But the degree of sophistication that we'd have to put in this program would be extraordinary for it to look at all available avenues." I took a breath and let it out in a sigh. "You have to understand, when I'm creating my pets I'm breaking them apart and reforming them. I'm manipulating everything about them. I'm sure that if I wanted to, I could integrate certain thought processes, fill in memories, that sort of thing. Having that sort of control over a person?"

I shook my head.

"That's not something I'm ready to do anytime soon," I told him. My voice was hard, certain. It would be a step too far, a step too close in Bonesaw's direction. I already had a power that made me comparable to monsters, but if I manipulated a person and warped them with my power, then I wouldn't be comparable to one, I'd be one.

Armsmaster said nothing, only gave me a nod. "Do you think, then, we could use your idea as stasis? Ferrying people that are hurt to hospitals?"

"Maintaining that system would be headache inducing," I said.

"Dragon helps a lot in that department," he said. "Tinkers have specialisations, hers is learning other's tech and producing it on a wider scale. You'll earn royalties of course, for any tech she makes that sprouts from your designs."

Not something I'd considered, but it would do.

"I don't know what the final iteration will be," I said. "But I'll start working on it. It should make things easier. I was thinking about starting on a combat orientated pet, one that's bigger."

"Notes?"

I dug through my computer and found everything I'd gathered, sending it to him.

"I was thinking about it producing chemicals that give the person a high," I said. "Knocks them out. My ability works through what's already achievable from a biological standpoint so I've been doing research on the poisons frogs produce and seeing if I can't prod—"

I stopped and looked at the email, information on sweat from a cape called Newter. I quickly accessed the files on villains and found him there, a monster cape which the file said his power knocked a person out by producing a high. Another attachment and I could see variants that Armsmaster had already created in a lab, seeing how they worked and the tests he'd done as well as links to the creations of a potions tinker.

I looked him up, seeing the stuff he built and focusing on those that had a base from biological organisms.

It was easy to get lost after that. Moving between writing, sketching ideas and coming up with plans for my creation. I didn't have the frog yet, I realised and that was enough of a push to turn my ability towards creating the new alteration process.

I looked through the access on other's technology, paying attention to Armsmaster's research on Miss Militia's ability. There were a lot of question and I moved to ask Armsmaster but I noticed that he'd left. I sent him an email and he quickly responded by giving me a breakdown of the tech he used to make the change between states.

The framework appeared in my mind and I started moving forward, using the parts I did have so that the work started and requisitioning the others. The tech to for the state change had been personal to Armsmaster and I started on my own, my ability making variations to fit the broader image of what I wanted.

Armsmaster's was stuck to his weapon, calling it towards him. But I would need this to be a projected outwards towards an animal, pet or person if that idea went through. Whatever this turned out being, I needed it to also be able to synch up with my computer, which meant an access point. I searched through, finding information on a cape that was good with drones, synching them on a network that transferred information wirelessly.

The framework shifted, but the shift wasn't large enough to mess up what I'd already started doing. Links between the casing and the storage unit were all that was needed.

A ball, on the small side with storage components for both the tech to change states and the information. Using the drone tinker's ideas, it would synch up the information with a computer, manipulating the information therein as I did the same on a terminal. I'd have to create a specialised pad to handle the transfer or I'd have to alter my computer again.

When I paid attention to it, it seemed easier to create a pad than to alter my computer.

My watch beeped, disturbing me. It was lunch. I felt the impulse to not eat, to continue working, but that would be starting on a slippery slope.

I started going for the cupboard when Rattata stopped me, barring my path.

"You want me to go to the Wards?" I said. She nodded. I sighed. "Fine."

She jumped up me and into my pocket.

"Oh," said Kid Win, coming out of his own lab. "You going up?"

I nodded. "Eat, didn't bring any schoolwork so I'll probably working on requisitions."

"Fugue?" he said as we walked.

"Armsmaster was just in," I said. "Gave me some good pointers."

"He does that," he said. "What are you building?"

"Storage unit that turns animals into energy," I said. "Puts them in stasis."

He let out a whistle. "Starting big."

"Seems small, really," I said. "The tech stuff is easy for me. I have trouble when I'm thinking about the bio part of it. I'm still on the ideas front on a frog idea that I'm going with, but I've already started building and scrapping parts on the storage front."

He let out a short breath. I gave him a look.

"I'm envious," he said. I frowned at that, not that he saw it.

"Why?"

"Because you're much younger than me, powers wise, and you've got yourself figured out," he said. "You know that tinkers have specialisations, right?"

I nodded. "I'm learning that more and more."

"Well, when you know your specialisation, working becomes easier. You get a direction of how you should work, the direction your power peeks." He was shifting a little as he talked. "I haven't figured it out, which means most of my time's been spent making and breaking things."

"Oh," I said. I stopped talking, not sure what to say before I pushed words out of my mouth. I knew they'd be stupid but I needed to stop pulling back when things started to get emotional. "Have you tried listening to your power?"

I heard him try and fail to hold back a snort. "Listen to my power?" he said. "Does your power talk to you?" The mirth was gone and now there was general curiosity. "Because there are people who've thought that powers are alive. Yours could be proof of that."

"No, not alive," I said. "Just…" I stopped talking as he pressed his sequence for the elevator. Thinking about phrasing. "My power gives me directions, turns towards particular parts. I didn't know what it wanted me to build at first, except that it would help. I listened to it, let it run its course and it gave me the microwave, then it gave me Pidgey. I asked it to give me something that could protect me and then it was Dedenne, the first pet that had something resembling a power.

"From the directions it gave me, I made Rattata and Pachirisu. On Rattata it gave me the feeling that certain things would work and others wouldn't and I let that run its course, didn't try to push it. With Pachirisu I pushed a little, giving it an idea of a direction to move but I didn't micromanage it."

"So just…let my power do whatever?" he said.

I shrugged. "Give it a direction and let it do what it wants," I said. "Maybe it only works for me, but it's worth a try, right? It could give you data that helps fill in the blanks?"

He sighed. "I've got the feeling that that might not work," he said. "I'm…I get a lot of ideas, too many most of the time. So I just fumble, starting, stopping to build another and it just turns into a mess. I can't imagine loosening the reigns being a good thing."

Again I shrugged. "Just an idea," I said.

He shrugged too. "I've had sugestions from others so...worth a try," he said. "Can't lose more time than I would otherwise."

The elevator opened and we walked down into a short hallway that took us to the Wards' base. Almost all of them there, even Clockblocker. Dedenne and Pachirisu were already with Vista, the former sleeping while the later was eating some fruit. I scanned and Pidgey was with Aegis, sleeping on the boy's shoulder.

Maybe it said something about me that it took me so long to notice them, but whether that was good or bad I didn't know.

Panacea sitting with her books in front of her and Glory Girl sitting beside Gallant, splitting her time between her own books and Gallant. Clockblocker was just to their side, making a gagging gesture every time the pair tittered. Vista was watching him, shaking most probably in laughter.

Shadow Stalker was absent, I noticed, which relieved me because all of them were sitting as one group. No clique, just a single unit that I would have to settle into, a unit that had history.

"Hey," said Gallant and there was excitement in his voice. He was looking away from Glory Girl and towards Kid Win and me. "You two finally came. Cat, Panacea's been really interested about talking to you about your pets."

I smiled even if he couldn't see it. He'd unknowingly given me an entry point, that would make things a little easier.

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"Have you thought about healing?" Panacea was saying, a little disrupting, but I didn't mind. There had been enough of a slack in conversation that I'd started thinking again, considering how to move forward.

The requisitions had been made and they'd be here tomorrow, giving me time to get back to my work.

"If you can make them, then healing should be easy," she said. I caught a frown on Glory Girl, but it disappeared so quickly that I might have imagined it.

"It's something I'm working to see if it's feasible," I said. "Armsmaster wanted me to work in a similar direction but my power has caveats, things that might make it harder to heal people."

"Sort of like you and brains," said Clockblocker. He shook his head, in the process missing the flicker from Panacea. "Powers can be weird sometimes," he said. "But that's not important right now, that's for when we have to take the Cape classes. Right now is a name. Can't call you Cat in public, it might stick."

I shook my head. "Haven't even started thinking about a name," I said. "And I bet it's one of those things that I'd be terrible at."

"You came up with names for them?" said Vista, gesturing towards my pets.

"That's different," I said. I couldn't articulate how, but it just was.

"Then don't worry about it," said Clockblocker, excited, "because I already have one and it just rolls off the tongue: Xochiquetzal."

"Rolls off the tongue?" Kid Win muttered.

"How would you even spell that?" said Gallant.

"Do I even want to know what that's all about," said Aegis, all of them almost overlapping.

"What it's all abo…" I thought about the dress, that pictures had been pulled out and that all of it had pointed towards Clockblocker enough that I'd naturally made the leap. I pulled out my phone.

"No," he said. "Don't search it. Trust me, it's a good name. A god—"

"Of childbirth?" I interrupted. An ugly image ran through my mind of me birthing my pets. I shuddered and I could see a similar sort of body language running through the others. We'd all had similar enough thoughts and we hadn't liked it. "Hard no."

"Come on, it would be fun," he said.

"Goddess of sexual power? Wrong connotation," said Aegis.

"Careful," Panacea said under her breath, she was smiling a little, glancing at Glory Girl with the corner of her eyes. I really liked that I could see their faces, read them more than I could read the others.

"What?" said Aegis.

"Just that there are few things that you could say that are right in this direction," she said. "Or at least things that'll satiate Glory over here."

"There you go making me sound militant again," Glory Girl muttered. "Wasn't even going to say anything. He's right anyway. Many people would flip their hats with a name like that."

"Point," Panacea said and she shrugged. "Hard not to see you as militant, though, seeing as you're the one that used her aura to make a point," she said, mirth in her tone.

"Becky was just getting on my nerves," said Glory Girl. "What's having powers if you can't use them to shut up a b—an annoying person."

"You can say bitch," said Vista. "I say it enough times."

"No swearing," Aegis put in, stern. I had the feeling Vista would have stuck out her tongue if she'd been able to.

I let out a breath. "Screw it," I said. "You're heroes, right?" I took a breath, letting the impulse wash over me and grabbed my mask, pulling it off.

There was quick and I instantly regretted taking off my mask, making such a grand gesture of it when there was really nothing to see beyond. Just a plain face that edges on the side of ugly, dorky.

"Finally," said Clockblocker. He was the first to take off his mask. "You know," he said, running a hand through short, red hair, "I was wondering how you were going to eat with that thing on."

I looked at my food, a fruit salad. "I hadn't really thought about it," I said.

Aegis, then Vista and Gallant and finally Kid Win, the longest because he'd had to press buttons at the base of his helmet to take it off.

"Means I can do this," said Vista and she stuck out her tongue.

"Back to the names," said Clockblocker. I could really see his excitement now. "Medeina, the goddess of trees and animals, or Lempo, the god of the wilderness or Mielikki, goddess of the hunt. The last one's on the intimidating side, to counter the whole cuteness factor."

"You have a real obsession with gods, don't you?" I said, starting to eat.

"Well, I did want to be the Titan god of time," he said, standing a putting on a pose that might have been reminiscent of Zeus had Clockblocker been larger and with more muscles. The effect might probably have been better if his voice was deeper. "But then Clockblocker just sort of popped into my head and I went with that?"

"Not Stopwatch?" I said. "Because that a perfectly respectable name."

His face twisted in disgust at that. "No thank you," he said. "And that should be a lesson to you. Image does not come up with good names. Their costumes aren't half bad as long as you say no to the dress." He was glancing at Gallant as he said this.

"Ha-ha," said Gallant. "And so you know, I know, and it's not going to happen."

"Know what?" said Glory Girl.

"Nothing," he quickly said, his hand stretching out, pointing towards Clockblocker who looked like he'd just been about to say something. "Nothing."

"Nothing," Clockblocker said, but he made it sound anything but.

"Oh, now I have to hear it," said Glory Girl and there was something about her that just seemed to shift. She wasn't any bigger and yet she seemed more, she filled up the room, her hair seemed just right and she seemed to have the right amount of confidence that it wasn't annoying.

Dedenne squeaked and an arc of electricity shot through the air, hitting Glory Girl. She noticed only that it hit her but not that it hurt. The feeling of her being bigger dulled and I had to keep Dedenne close because he was shaking.

"What's that about?" I said, brushing his back and muttering that it was going to be okay under my breath.

"I…might have been a little too enthusiastic when I arrived," she said. "He was just so cute and I wanted to brush him. Must have misjudged my strength."

"Oh," I said. "But—"

"The aura," said Panacea. "Glory Girl can make people feel certain things in relation to how they see her. Close to a friend or something on that spectrum and it's awe, you don't like her and it's fear."

"Guess that means he doesn't like me," Glory Girl said with a pout. "That's going to bug me forever."

"You could try to apologise," I said. "I'm sure Dedenne wouldn't mind forgiving you."

"Might want to cut off the aura first," said Gallant. "All of it."

All at once Glory Girl went from being an exceptional hero a little on the intimidating side to being one of the Wards. She hadn't changed but she looked more normal if on the higher end of the beauty spectrum.

"Dedenne," I said, distracting myself from the thoughts. "Glory Girl has something to say to you."

I sat on him on the table, making him look towards Glory Girl. He stuck close, making sure that he wasn't too far away. Pidgey gave a chirp from Aegis' shoulder and Dedenne returned a squeak. Pidgey let off a sigh, shook his head and then closed his eyes.

"They can talk to each other?" I heard Clockblocker mutter to Aegis but I ignored it.

"Hey, little guy," Glory Girl said, laying on her hands and looking towards Dedenne. He didn't look at her, instead trying to burrow into my hands.

"It's going to be okay," I said, soft, trying my best to be gentle.

"I know that my aura must have scared you," she said. "That I must have scared you by grabbing you too hard, but…I'm sorry. It's something I've got to work on, something I'll rightly work on if it means I get a friend like you. Please say you forgive me?"

Dedenne was less scared, but now he was fastidiously looking away.

"How about a bribe then?" Glory Girl said. She floated into the air and moved to her bag which had been thrown in a corner, she returned with a box of cookies. "Would you like one?" She pulled one out and laid it on the table.

Dedenne looked at the cookie, then at Glory Girl and then at me.

"If you want it you can take it," I said.

He skipped forward, took the cookie and then returned, using my bowl as a cover.

Glory Girl let out a sigh. "Guess I'm going to have to keep working on that," she said. "But you like me, girl, right?" she said to Pachirisu.

Pachirisu gave a little shrug.

"I think she wants a bribe, too," I said.

Glory Girl pulled out a cookie and Pachirisu jumped forward, grabbing the cookie and then moving for Glory Girl's neck.

I heard the buzz of the door before it opened.

"Finally," Shadow Stalker said. I looked in the direction, an instinctive reaction, and saw as she took off her mask: Sophia.

"You've got to stop thinking like that," said Jessica. "It's not your fault, none of this is."

"Yeah well, that might be true, but I can't exactly help it." A shrug because I didn't like it, speaking about things at school when things were better. I had a friend. "This won't be any better," I said.

"It will be," she said, smiling. "Trust me."

I hadn't wanted to go and yet I had. I'd pushed it all down, the feeling of wrongness. The house had been full of people, more than should have been there, a party. But I'd kept moving, maybe it could be different. Maybe since we weren't at school people wouldn't act the way they acted at school.

"Oh my god," Madison said. "She actually came."

Jessica, standing smiling beside them. Jessica, Emma and Madison laughing, and Sophia looking at me with a smirk. The same smirk that I could see starting on her features now.

A familiar flash of something great, stretching over multiple iterations of other place, all of them eclipsed by the sight of it. But the image in my mind was already slipping, the only thing still clear being her.

I stood, noticing that everyone seemed a little out of it except me. Gallant was starting to speak but I didn't listen. I needed to be alone. I walked towards the door, towards her and she didn't move, barring my path.

"Pachi," I said, my voice was cold, without anger. I heard Pachi moving, felt Rattata slipping out of my pockets and landing on the ground, and Pidgey's wings in the air behind me.

Sophia snorted and moved out of the way.

I left, my pets following me. I heard someone else trying to follow me but Rattata let out a sharp screech and the footsteps stopped following. The elevator and I moved mechanically: phone against the pad and moving through my sequence.

Kid Win and Gallant were beyond as the doors closed.

Now where to go? Home? No, I no longer had a lab at home. Down and to my lab and locking the doors.

I couldn't let myself feel anything. I didn't want to feel anything because it might hurt.

I hadn't known them all that long and yet it seemed like it would be a repeat of the pattern. All of them forcing me into a state where I knew what it might be like to have friends before it was ripped away from me.

I shook my head. This time was different. I didn't have to be alone.

I sat down, letting out a breath and forcing my mind elsewhere. I couldn't deal with major decisions, with thoughts that strayed too close to her, to the Wards. I needed something purer.

I turned off every reminder for the day, even though it went against the progress from before. A schedule, so I'd still have a life, so they wouldn't make me live by their time. Sure I'd had to put some things around them, but ultimately it had been mine.

A pen and pencil, my computer and phone on and I started to work, letting my ability run its course.

A pet that was made out of poisonous gas. I could inlay each molecule of the gas with the pet's brain—No, it was better if everything was handled elsewhere. A molecule of gas couldn't handle the processing power of a living being without it having to have to encompass the entirety of the pet. An idea, of things with connections that stretched to elsewhere and I had an idea of how to move forward.

I could off load all mental processes into a brain that was elsewhere with a connection to the…gas avatar.

The idea seemed to close to something else and my stomach twisted but I pushed through it. I was barred from the powers of the Wards but I could use something else. I called forward PHO and searched for Shadow Stalker, her power and how it shouldn't work from a purely biological standpoint. But it did. Had my power grown?

That wasn't important, what was important were the ideas that were finding purchase:

A pet made of killing gas. I pushed aside the killing part that seemed so alluring and searched through my earlier research, gas that could knock a target out. My ability used this and formed an image of how I could go about it, the alterations I could go about. But there was just so much more.

I could feel the ideas calling out to me, wanting me to do more. But I wouldn't be able to achieve it yet, not when I hadn't completed the energy-to-matter device. A device that would work best when I was still with the Wards.

"Fuck."

I let out a long breath before I took it in, took another in before I let it out. I took my phone and glance at the watch. Four hours I hadn't noticed. Four hours that I'd been on my own, with none of the others here.

Did they care? Or had they taken Sophia's side?

"No," I said. "No. You're doing it again. Falling on past behaviour."

Realising this didn't make it any easier. There was still the chance that I was wrong.

"Doesn't matter, though, does it? This is just a stepping stone. You can look for another place? Some place better."

If there even was a place like that.

I stood and stretched, started packing and then moved to leave. The door opened and Kid Win was standing beyond, that caught me off guard.

"Can we talk? Please?"

"I—" I stopped myself from saying I didn't want to. I looked at Rattata, thought about how she'd been hurt, all because I hadn't spoken to Dad. I couldn't forget. I couldn't make the same mistake.

I nodded and stepped back, allowing him in.

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"I…sort of don't know how to start," he said and I believed it. His voice was unsure, his posture and even his expression giving me the same general sense. He also seemed nervous, but that had less to do with me than the others. They were all giving Kid Win their attention, the sort of attention I might have thought strange at one point if they came from animals.

I didn't say anything, sitting on my work table and constantly telling my brain to stop willing me to leave. I'd made this decision because it made the most amount of sense. If I didn't listen here when it was hard, then it might be easier to let things slip when I wasn't paying active attention. I needed this for my long term mental and emotional survival. Setting a routine, allowing it time to take hold so that it could be near automatic.

"This is the sort of thing that's…touchy territory, it's made worse because I don't entirely understand it," he said. He swallowed, looking at me. "You triggered, because of Sophia."

I felt my stomach twist. I shifted and shrugged, wanting more than anything to leave. I willed my body to stay, but my mind started wandering a little, choosing to focus on other things. How I could alter my creatures now that there was a wealth of information and other things I could play around with. There were monster cape, Case 53s, could I do something like them?

"She's…" he started, forcing me to focus back on him. He stopped for a long moment and then shook his head. "I don't know how to make this better, honestly."

"I'm not leaving the Wards if that's what you're afraid of," I said, shrugging and turning. A small slip where my body hadn't listened to what I wanted. I noticed that I'd packed, that everything was ready and that Kid Win wasn't standing in front of the door. If I really wanted to, I could leave.

Not the Wards, I thought. I'd be leaving too much there if I left.

"That's—" He stopped. I looked at him and his lips were pursed. "I was going to say that that's not the reason I'm here," he said. "But it is, at least in part? But I think it might be for different reasons than you think—not saying that I know what you think better than you, just—"

"You don't have to step on egg-shells around me," I said and internally winced because he flinched a little. I might have been overly harsh on my delivery.

Him stepping on egg-shells was too close. It meant I was fragile, that she had a lot of power over me.

Like you need the reminder when it's all so obvious.

"Okay," he said. He took in a breath and let it out. "I'm getting the feeling that you're thinking towards me wanting you to stay in the Wards because it would be better for us," he said. "But that's not it. I want you to be safe, to be happy—in as much as a relative stranger can want for another stranger. I want to make sure whatever is going on doesn't sour things to the point that you're not okay long-term."

"That I'm not a villain?" And again my tone was harsh, acrid.

"Part of it," he said. "Dunno know if Armsmaster's taught you his philosophy yet, but it's about the small part coming together to make the grander whole."

"He mentioned it."

"It's the same here. You being okay works towards a multiple directions," he said. "Sure I don't want you to be a villain because I think you could be scary if you wanted. But that's in the long term and I'm focusing short. Are you okay?"

I took in a breath and let it out. I tried and failed to gauge what I felt. Every time I tried, I couldn't stop the instinctive feeling to pull back from it all, push it all down and focus on something else.

"I'm…not sure what I feel," I said. "I haven't had time to deal, to think."

Kid Win nodded slowly. "I know you might not be comfortable talking to me," he said. "But the Protectorate has professional help. You could speak to Doctor Johansson. He could help you sort through stuff. And dealing with Shadow Stalker, well, Armsmaster's busy right now but I'm sure if you called him in…"

I was shaking my head, about to say no because what help would it be…? I noticed that I hadn't been listening, that I'd missed some things while fixating on other things.

"I triggered back there?" I said. He frowned and nodded. It made sense then that my ability had grown, that I could conceptualise building so much more—

I shook my head before the thread of thoughts could stretch too long. My mind was trying to find something else to focus on when pet ideas had failed, much like I'd focused on my tinkering and stopped from thinking about Sophia, about the fact that she was a Ward.

A breath in and then out.

The larger implication was what was grating. Maybe I had idealised heroes, put them in a place so far above human that they'd been bound to fail. When I tracked the image of a hero in my mind it wasn't supposed to have people like Sophia, evil people like Sophia. But now it had and…could I trust that? What if there were more people like Sophia but they were in higher positions?

Another breath in and then slowly out.

"How would I deal with this?" I asked Kid Win. "What would the steps look like and where might they lead?"

"Honestly?" he said. "I don't know. It's…complicated. Because…" He pressed a button on the arm of his armour. "I might get in trouble, but…" He shrugged. "Shadow Stalker was a vigilante before she started with the Wards."

I nodded, it was something almost everyone in Brockton Bay knew. She'd been a force to be feared, crueller in her enforcement of the law. It had been a week of news dominated only by her when she'd joined the Wards, with many people questioning if she hadn't been strong armed or broken a law.

"She did something that stepped over a line," Kid Win continued. "Strayed too far when handling a criminal and that meant we had to take her in. She was offered a choice, juvenile detention or being a part of the Wards. It's something that was meant to herald the Second Chances Program. People with minor crimes being rehabilitated and turning hero."

"She's a PR stunt," I said, thinking about Armsmaster and how he thought. Look at what's trying to be achieved. The small parts and how they come together into making the greater goal. "If things turn out well for her, then it could be used as a proof of concept where others are concerned."

I could already see that I was unlikely to get the result I wanted. But then, I wasn't entirely sure what the result that I wanted was.

"On the other side is you," he went on. "You've got the power to become Nilbog—I'm really sorry for the comparison, but it's really easy to make." I nodded. "If they alienated you now, then it could mean something very bad down the line. It's especially worse because you've had a second trigger and people say those can be bad. So bad that I was surprised that you're talking to me right now."

Another shrug, pushing the bits of emotion down, not feeling the entirety of the words or their implications. It was easier to look at the route things might take, the decisions and how they spread from and to me.

Distracting yourself so you don't have to deal. Focusing on anything else but her.

"They have to keep me happy because I might snap," I said. My voice faltered a little because thoughts intruded: Was he speaking now because he wanted to make sure that that wasn't the case? Would all future interacts have the same suspicion? That they weren't truly my friends but they were trying to appease me so that I didn't flip out in the future?

Kid Win swallowed, shifting and then shrugging. I let out a sigh, sitting heavily. Dedenne jumped on my leg and I started rubbing his back. He'd positioned himself so that he was so that his eyes were on Kid Win, a serious expression on him. Cute even though I could guess that he wanted to look intimidating.

"Two hard positions," he said. "On one hand they'll likely be thinking about a possible threat and on the other they'll be thinking about setting a framework towards turning other threats."

"So things will lean unevenly towards my end?"

Just like they always do, a part of me thought.

Kid Win shrugged uncomfortably. "Maybe." He shrugged again. "I don't know." He sighed, sitting on a table. The thing must have been fortified because it didn't even strain from the amount of weight his armour must have put on it. "I'm really bad at this," he said. "I feel like every word out of my mouth is pushing you away when I don't want that."

He was looking down, not looking at me and slightly blushing.

Did he like me?

"Do you like me?" I asked, the words coming out as bemused as I felt. His head shot up at that.

"No," he said quickly, then blanched. I might have blanched too but I pushed it down, not allowing myself to feel…whatever it was that surged through me. "I mean…" He stopped, talking a breath. "I don't like-like you—God that sounded childish," he muttered. I smiled at that.

"Remember what we discussed?" he said. "The whole bouncing ideas things?" I nodded. "I'm still stuck on that. I want that to move forward." He sighed again. "This all sounds so selfish when I say it at loud."

I shrugged at that. "I kind of like that selfish," I said. "I like knowing goals, I think. It means I don't get blindsided in the future. It means…that I don't hold you to godhood only to be let down."

"Like right now?" he said. "The image of what the Protectorate is and what it truly is, being different?"

I nodded. "The grey of it," I said. "When you build something up its whatever colour you want it to be. The Protectorate in my head just helped people. They helped in what's now looking like a naïve way. They didn't think about public reaction or perception or that sort of thing. Only fought villains."

"It wasn't filled by people, but 'Heroes,'" Kid Win said. I gave a slow nod. "Which of them is yours?"

No need for further explanation, even a kid that wasn't a cape geek had the one they held up as a role model.

"Alexandria," I said.

He nodded slowly. "Mine was—still is, Hero," he said. "His death sort of disrupted the godly image I had in my head growing up, showing me that they're people. But I sort of wanted to be a hero even more after that. Like…it's, being a hero, it's something that anyone can be. It's not something you're born into but something you work at becoming."

"Maybe this is it for me? When that images starts to warp into something else, something more realistic," I said. "But…Sophia…it's not that easy because I don't think she's actually working towards being a hero. She's…a vile, vile person, which just makes it worse. She less here to be a hero and more because she has to. Maybe, if she was and she was caught up with something else it might be easier. But…"

That didn't gel. It wasn't the impression I had.

Kid Win shrugged. "I can sort of buy that," he said. "But she still does good. She did good even before things were bad. She's doing good now. I don't know if that makes you and her better."

"It doesn't," I said. "Not even a little. I don't think I'll be able to work with her. I can see myself sticking with the Wards, but that'll be because of resource you'll give, but…" I shook my head. "I don't think working with Sophia, especially with—especially with everything."

"I suppose that's good," said Kid Win, "but…It's part of the courses I take. People who trigger with Master powers, and you're that even if it's through the tinker route, get their powers because of isolation. No friends so they make their own, that sort of thing. It's…been noticed that those that get too lost in the friends their powers make are often worse off."

"Make friends," I said.

"Yeah," he said. "Make friends. Maybe us as friends. The others as friends. The Wards as friends?"

"Yeah," I said. "Sure. I'll need to deal first. See the path things take."

"Okay," he said. "If you need any help, you can come my way."

"Sure," I said. He left and I started back home.

888

"How was work?" Dad asked.

I let out a sigh. "Complicated," I returned.

"I'll get tea," he said. "Maybe we talk?"

"That'll be good."

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Interlude

Relief. Vigilance. Fear. Doubt.

A cloud and it radiated off of the figure as he walked forward, body slight hunched and taut. He didn't have pocket in is armour, but Gallant was sure that if he did, Kid would have had his hands shoved within.

"How did it go?" Gallant asked when Kid Win was close enough.

Fear. Minor, but it was there. A sense of distrust that mingled with the fear, a sense of guilt, but dulled. A mix of colours blending on into the other and giving off an image: He was afraid of betraying her trust.

"It went," Kid Win answered, not even trying to hide how tired he felt. It wouldn't have done any good. Almost everyone was an open book to him, their emotions laid bare and through them, a little of how they thought.

"We talked," Kid continued. "Which was better than I expected. But…I think I might have messed things up. How much…" He shrugged.

Flares of guilt that coloured most of his emotional cloud, a nimbus that got larger, seeping with dark colours as doubt started to fester.

Don't get distracted, Gallant thought to himself. His ability made people uncomfortable, that he could read them, that, if he wanted, he could manipulate them through words and power both. Calling attention to it didn't make things any better and being distracted by watching the cloud, taking it in, it was a step in that direction.

"She's staying?" he asked.

"She is," Kid Win returned, still tired. "But she always was because of the resources a tinker can get." There was the guilt again, directed inward. "A part of me thinks it's because she already started working, that she's got a project she wants to finish off before she'll leave, especially if she's forced to work with Shadow Stalker."

More guilt, still directed inwards.

"You don't have to say," said Gallant. "You don't have to talk about your conversation."

"I know," said Kid Win. A determination started to appear, starting to spread. He opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted.

"The Director is ready to see you know," Laura said. "Both of you."

All at once Kid Win's clouded shifted, all of his emotions starting to dull, his cloud getting smaller as he tried to reign in his emotions. There were flickers of intimidation that tried to fester, but he pushed them down, a calm and determination taking their place.

Gallant pushed the sight aside, focusing on what he knew was coming. They walked in and they had an audience. The Director, Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Assault and three PRT personnel Gallant had never talked to before. All of them were expectant, all of them on edge, but none more than Director Piggot.

Her cloud was the largest, dominated by a fear that she tried and failed to reign in. She would succeed at times, but then the fear would be transplanted by an anger, a loathing that was directed at Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Assault and now Kid Win and him.

It was the same sort of loathing he often saw when Theo's cousin had to go through Carlos to talk to him, the sort of loathing that was so deeply set in a person that it couldn't easily be detached.

"Have a seat," the Director said, her voice even, devoid of all the emotions that Gallant could see hanging over her.

"Armour," he said. "It makes it hard to sit."

"Ditto," said Kid Win, his voice was shaky and Gallant caught the edge of him starting to fail in reining his own cloud in.

"Then stand," said the Director, still without expression but Gallant caught the disturbance: Annoyance directed at both of them, that annoyance turning to exasperation where Gallant was concerned before moving onto a dull sort of rage at both herself and him. "There was an incident."

Gallant nodded. "Cat, the new tinker, had a second trigger because of Shadow Stalker," he said. It had all been in Aegis' report, he knew, sent just after the incident in question. But this was for something else, he could see it in all of them.

"The provocation?" Director Piggot asked.

"Nothing we could see," he went on. "It just happened at the sight of Sophia. It's highly likely they have history. From what's been said, it's very likely that they go to the same school."

"Even with your sight?" Armsmaster asked.

Gallant nodded. "Everything happened too fast. It was like I explained before, when Glory Girl triggered. We all reacted and she didn't, she just stood and left. Holed herself up in her lab for the last four hours before she left."

Information they all knew. Information they'd been discussing going by their clouds.

"And Shadow Stalker?" said Director Piggot.

Gallant swallowed at that, shifted. It was noticed. He didn't like the next sequence because it might mean certain privileges were closed off, but to say nothing might cause trouble, especially if they already knew.

"Glory Girl used her aura to try to get her to spill, but it didn't work too well," he explained. "Shadow Stalker said, and I quote, 'she was a loser from school,' and that she didn't know why she'd reacted like that. It was a lie, she felt smug even if she didn't show it. When Glory Girl turned up her aura to get the truth out of her, a fight broke between them."

"Is everyone concerned alright?" asked Miss Militia.

Gallant nodded. "We were able to stop things before anyone could get hurt," he said.

Director Piggot jotted down a note and Gallant couldn't help but feel that it was a reminder to stop Glory Girl and Panacea from coming into the base for study times. It would mean he'd have to go to her house, which would mean her father being there and that might mean…

He stopped himself from sighing. It was one thing being able to see people's emotional clouds, but it was another to see a person with depression on their bad days. How their clouds were larger than they were, the ugly colours all of them getting darker and sinking towards black, how they clung to a person, not allowing any light through.

"Kid Win," said the Director. "You talked to her."

"Yes," said Kid Win.

"Anything you'd like to tell us? Something that might help in how we deal with this?" she asked.

"There are many things I would like to say," he said. "But…I'm not sure. She's—" He stopped himself. "I'm still on edge. I haven't had time to think about what I can and can't say. If I talk now I might say the wrong thing and I don't want to know where that might lead."

Director Piggot nodded. "You can leave," she said.

Kid Win gave his own nod before he left, silence descending until the door had been closed behind him.

"Tell us about the girl's emotional state after her second trigger," the Director said.

Gallant swallowed. "That's…not information I'm comfortable giving out, especially without her knowing. It's an invasion of her privacy."

"Extraordinary circumstances," said the Director. "Her emotional state gives us a direction on how to move forward. There are many moving pieces where this is concerned, avenues that we have to consider and we need all the information we have access to. Her and Kid Win's discussion would have made things better, but we don't have access to that and we can't force it because him having her trust works."

He nodded. "She's a master," he said. "Powers from isolation. Kid Win right now is the only person she sees as a friend. If he betrays her than that would be bad?"

The Director nodded. She didn't grin, but there was a smugness to her, an expectation. She tried to tamper it down but it was too late, he'd already seen and she knew that he had. There was a disappointment at that, directed inwards again.

She expected him to see things her way and he could, but that was a slippery slope. If he did it now, then he might be liable to do it in the future, he was liable to do it and for people to find out, and then all of the discomfort would be more pronounced. People started asking themselves if he might disclose their emotions without their knowledge.

"She's not suicidal," he said. "She's not liable to hurt herself or anyone else. I don't know if there's anything that might make her snap in the sense of just attacking anyone, not even Shadow Stalker, but I wouldn't push it."

Disappointment.

Director Piggot, Armsmaster and one of the unnamed PRT personnel. Miss Militia, though, had a pride to her.

"You can leave," she said, an annoyance starting to flood into her cloud.

He would pay for this, he was sure. He walked out and pulled out his phone, sending a message. He went to the elevator and scaled up, going to the roof. Glory Girl was already there, waiting for him.

She had a cloud, but it was almost similar to Cat's. It wasn't a cloud more than an aura, her emotions clinging to her person, sometimes hard to read. But there was a difference between Victoria and Cat: Where Victoria was concerned it was because of her aura, but from Cat, it was because she'd lost a little in her ability to feel.

"It was bad?" Victoria said, landing. She was no longer in costume.

He shrugged. "Not bad. Not good," he said. "But it might be bad. I think you won't be able to come here anymore."

"We'll make it work," she said.

"We will. About…"

"I've talked to Mom," she said. "She'll talk to the others. If things don't work out, she might have a place with us."

"Thanks," he said. He let out a long breath before walking to the edge of the roof, taking a seat and looking out towards the ocean. Victoria sat beside him, leaning her head against his shoulder, not caring about the armour he was wearing.

They didn't talk, but then he had a lot to think about, a lot to plan for. Things would be bad, he'd already seen. Shadow Stalker didn't have a very good relationship with anyone on the team, distance at best and territorial at worst. But everyone had put up with it because they had to. Gallant couldn't see that being true now, though.

All of them knew how hard triggers were and to have a second trigger was no doubt worse. Even if they didn't know the details, the fact that Shadow Stalker had caused her to trigger was enough to cause dissent among the ranks.

He couldn't help but worry at how the dissent might take shape.

888

"Disappointing," said Armsmaster.

"Yes," the Director said. "Triggers…"

"Are nebulous things," said Armsmaster, maybe guessing her thoughts. The two were strange in that they could almost share the same wavelengths at certain times while completely missing each other in others.

Each had its benefits: In the short it meant meetings could be quickly over if they were in agreement, but in the long it could mean obviously bad decisions going through.

Assault watched with disinterest, that he was here in the first place was because he could offer a measure of council. He'd been a villain and so they thought he could predict the thoughts of other villains in part. Maybe he could. Maybe he couldn't. It had all been so long ago now that he doubted he still had that edge.

"Most think they come from violence, but that's not all of it. A stubbed toe could cause a trigger under the right circumstances."

"The part I'm worried about is not the trigger, but the events resulting from it," she said. "She already had Nilbog-like powers. Now that has possibly increased and we don't have a clear indicator how. If Narwhal is the basis, then…"

The Director shuddered. Visibly.

He couldn't stop himself from doing the same.

"Shadow Stalker was bullying the girl," said Armsmaster.

"Possible," said a woman from the PRT, she was Shadow Stalker's case worker. "But if that's the case then I haven't gotten any report from the school. Not that I would, there are benefits to housing a Ward. The staff might have thought about turning a blind eye."

"Something to be looked into," said The Director. She took in a breath. "What do the files say about Shadow Stalker's family? Could we get a willing transfer?"

"The mother wouldn't move," the case worker said. "There's a distance between herself and her daughter. This would be an added hassle. She'd say no."

"And the Youth Guild would cause a ruckus if they found out about us sending a minor away, even with everything surrounding Shadow Stalker. Not to mention if we did force the issue, others might question if the issue will be forced where they are a concerned, if they'll lose something if they turn sides."

"True," Assault put in. Not much he could add, but he was here, it made sense that he say something.

"Taylor," said Miss Militia. "We could mover her to another team. Another city."

"No," the Director and Armsmaster said, their voices overlapping. Armsmaster looked to the Director to continue, but the woman was letting out a breath, taking a long drink of water.

"She's working on something which I might be able to build upon," said Armsmaster. "Something I might make better. She's working on something that could be a Panacea-level good in the medical field, for Endbringer events if we move fast enough."

"Explain?" said the Director.

"She's building a portable stasis device," said Armsmaster. "Turning people into energy and stalling all physical processes. With Dragon's help, we could give them out to search and rescue personnel for the injured."

"She could still do that in Boston or New York," said Miss Militia.

That seemed to stump Armsmaster a little. Assault could guess that Armsmaster liked having her near, like knowing that he could walk into her lab, study what she was building and work on it faster. If she was somewhere else, then the process would be slower.

"The father is too connected to things," said the Director. "He's done a lot of work and I doubt he'd just leave because of this. From their viewpoint, it might be easier to just look for another team. That she's said she wouldn't leave now, doesn't mean she wouldn't leave in the future."

"Then we change things," said Armsmaster. "She said before that she doesn't want to be a hero. We could scrap the whole hero aspect. She's a Ward only in name, giving her the protection that comes with that. But she has no reason to come to base. We set her up so she works from home—"

"Letting her get lost in her powers," said Director Piggot, interrupting. "No. We don't know that her trigger's meant for her mental state. Right now we keep her away from Shadow Stalker until we have a better read of the situation. Shadow Stalker will be placed on suspension for a few days for her fight with Glory Girl. We see what the girl will do, if she'll report this and what she'll ask for. We'll see if we can't mediate the matter between them, whether or not one of them will have to leave and so on."

Nods were shared.

"We'll have to contact the school," said Miss Militia. "Tell them to be on the lookout for anything. She'll be fragile. If she's bullied now…"

The Director nodded, holding back a shudder.

"With that let's dismiss," she said, Assault caught a tremor in her voice, slight enough that he might have imagined it. "Armsmaster, a word."

Armsmaster stayed while they left.

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#286

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3.1

I am strong. I have power. I can fight back.

Dedenne vibrated against me. I might have been shifting so much that I'd woke her. A girl, her name eluded me, gave me a queer look before she looked forward, focusing on the lesson.

Classes passed and there was nothing. Lunch and a girl from a gaggle bumped into me enough that Dedenne woke. He moved to attack but I clicked my tongue once and he eased. The girl and the gaggle were already away, laughing before they were intercepted by Ms Jacobs. The laughing stopped and the girl who'd bumped into me looked distraught as Ms Jacobs spoke.

Lunch ended and I held my breath because I had class with Madison. If it was Sophia who tried something then I could fight back, but a cape against a normal person could land me in jail. She saw me, frowned and then passed my chair without word.

The last class passed and I let out a relieved breath. For today it was over, but knowing them, it was only a matter of time before it started again.

I'd done away with my schedule yesterday, which meant I had an excess of work to do today. But I was drained having spent the day waiting for the worst to happen. I needed a pick-me-up and that meant some tinkering time.

I held my breath again because there was the chance that I might bump into Sophia. Something had changed, most likely action behind the scenes. I didn't know the how of it yet, which meant I couldn't entirely depend on it. I'd have to change things for myself, making sure things were better in the long term.

But that would be after tinkering.

Pidgey was already in my lab as I entered and there was a glass case that was filled with half a dozen frogs. Rattata and Pachirisu were supposed to be here too, but they were likely somewhere else, Pachirisu most likely spending her time with the other Wards and Rattata sleeping in a corner somewhere.

I sat on my desk, reviewed the footage and saw Armsmaster moving with Pidgey on his shoulder and a frog wriggling in his claws. I fast-forwarded and saw as he came again until finally he did something that made the doors automatically open for Pidgey came close, then on his next entry coming with the glass bowl.

I made a mental note to prepare beforehand if I was going to have Pidgey foraging for new pets less I disturb the others.

That was for the future though. I stretched a little, smiling and set an alarm to ring an hour and a half later before I started working: My supplies had arrived and I took them apart, building. I let myself get lost in it, the world fading as my body moved as though it was in a trance. Parts coming together and their functions unfolding against my mind, new ideas forming and me working on automatic to change things on the fly.

What if the mass wasn't just right? What if the base animal that I was working on was too small? What if there were parts missing? What if I wanted to make it bigger than it should be?

If I could break something apart into energy and then reform it as something different, then wasn't it true that I could just form something out of energy?

I requested access to the store of technology Armsmaster and Kid Win used to provide energy for their various armour, then used ideas formed from tinkers with specialisations in the direction or something close to it. It was unfortunate that I was disturbed before I could get done.

"Sooner you finish the other stuff," I said, feeling good. "The sooner that you can return to this."

With a nod I started with what I mentally thought of as the Ward portion of my day. First were my tutoring sessions, thirty minutes spent going over things I should have known, things that had been covered at school. I had to remind myself through it that it was for my benefit, that even if it felt like punishment it was good. Then it was exercise, an hour where the pain in my muscles was compounded by the exertion, and then…

"I'm here to file a complaint or…grievance against Shadow Stalker," I said to the woman, Ms Hernandez.

888

"Step one down," I said to Chris. "I actually did something."

I was in his lab, looking over everything. Looking at him, he didn't like that one bit. Unlike mine, his lab was an actual mess. Parts in a pile on one side, projects that had been started and abandoned, completed projects that were in the process of being stripped for parts, projects that were just being started.

"Yeah?" he said. He was only barely paying attention to me. He'd detached the breastplate of his armour and pulled out sections off of it. He was now in the process of pulling out bits of it and from the looks of it, trying to get to his power source. Before he'd been working at getting wires into the thing that would lead power towards two pieces he'd just built, those that would make up the breastplate.

I hummed. "Got a grievance form and everything. It'll be tomorrow or the day after that I can talk to the right people to get things sorted."

He looked up. "Have you figured out what you want yet?" he asked. "Or at least what you expect to get from it?"

I shrugged at that, something I'd thought about and not come to a conclusion to. Villains outnumbered heroes. The program for turning villains into heroes was a good idea and something that the world needed to happen. It just smarted that in this case it had to come at my expense, it was even worse because I was now having to consider which I wanted to be achieved: The greater good or my personal happiness.

"That's…bad," he said. "Not knowing what you want will mean you don't have the right footing. You won't be able to articulate what to say, that sort of thing."

I shrugged. "I'll think about it tomorrow," I said. "Right now I want to get some work done with my thing before the day's done. Leaving at nine tonight so that I can get it done, getting the initial tests in and that sort of thing."

"Don't work too much," he said. "You might burn out."

"Noted," I said. "Can I ask what you're building?"

"Offence and defence," he said. "Electric force field generator when it's in my armour and then it can turn into a projectile that makes a clothesline. I'm hoping to program in basic combat so that it's efficient in how it uses energy."

"Then I'll leave you to it," I said. "It's about time I start thinking about offence too. I'm hoping once I get this iteration of my pet creation machine done the process will be streamlined."

"There's to hoping," he said, not looking up, instead pulling down his goggles and starting to light a welding torch.

"Hey," I said, he looked up. "You mind if I steal the designs to your goggles? I've just had an idea that might make things easier if I was ever in a fight."

"Sure," he said. "The idea?"

"Pidgey as sort of surveillance drone," I said. "Maybe a contact lens that feeds me what he's seeing. Means I always know what's going—"

Chris' expression twisted, closing his eyes and opening them. "There it goes again," he said. "I'm stealing the idea," there was a questioning edge to the words.

"Sure, go for it," I said. "What direction is your power pushing you towards?"

"Drones running all along my armour," he said. "But it would mean having a larger energy source, which will mean increasing the bulk of my armour. Shorter legs, larger back and maybe arms to help with movement. But that would have its own trade-offs: I'd be slower and I'd have less movement over all. I'd have to rely on projectiles…"

He shook his head. "Not worth it," he said. "Too much work, too much change. It would make me a brute when I like being a mover."

"I'll leave you to it," I said.

Hard stuff done which meant I could continue my work. The only time limit I had now was my going home and there were still a few hours before that. I got the base done first before I worked on my storage unit: It was a sphere that fit comfortably in my hand. It had sensor all along it that would respond to a squeeze; differing amounts of pressure meant different functions.

The ball could project a field that turned a pet into energy and draw it in at a distance, but this was weak, with a whole range of criteria having been met. The pet had to have been held by the ball, the internal mechanisms geared towards that particular pet. If this wasn't true then the ball needed to touch the target. I had a sense that that might fail if there was too much interference.

My first test was not one of my pets. I took a frog and pressed against the ball. It popped slightly open and a swirl of energy wrapped around the frog, all at once the energy was sucked in and the ball closed.

Ball to pad and then I moved to my computer. The scanning process was faster, five minutes and I had the entire breakdown of the frog's code. I saved it and then pressed the ball again, pointing it away. It popped open, the sound fiercer than before and the light was projected out and away from me, it started to congeal and solidify before there was a frog on the ground.

It was alive. I took it and put it in my microwave, waiting the fifteen minutes that passed before the scan completed. I looked over the microwave data and the ball data to see if the process of changing states had changed something and from the looks of it everything about the frog was still normal.

I did it with all the other frogs to ensure that there wouldn't be any deviations before I moved on.

"Pidgey," I said. "You want an upgrade? My power's grown, maybe you could be stronger in some way at the end of it?"

Pidgey shrugged and let me press the ball against him. The energy washed over him and sucked him in.

"Okay, power," I said. "Let's get to work."

888

"Quick Attack," I said. Pidgey swooped high and then started to dive, silver light buzzing off of him and dove, moving faster than the impetus the push should have given him.

Much like I'd gotten the idea of making a pet that was made of gas from Shadow Stalker, I'd gotten the idea to make the quick attack faster from Glory Girl. I wasn't sure that her power worked in the same dimension, but this made sense. This being: I didn't need to increase musculature and I wasn't afraid of the attack hurting my pets.

A quick attack now came with a once off invincibility, meaning any of my pets that could do the quick attack could hit harder without the same being true when they were hit. Unfortunately there was a still a cap to how much the quick attack could be used a given time, but that would be something I worked around.

There was still an avenue with my power in didn't entirely understand, and that was which of my pets could have which powers. There was a theme I was sure, but nailing it down was hard.

Rattata, Pachirisu and Dedenne were all rodents and only the former two could do the Quick Attack. With how my power had grown I'd thought that I could now make Rattata able to shoot out electricity but I hadn't been able to do that, an instinct that was likely from my power telling me no.

Putting Pidgey into the equation and he could do the quick attack. It wasn't the species that wasn't important, what was? What made Rattata so different that she couldn't have electric power? What made Dedenne so different that she couldn't do the quick attack?

Pidgey slammed into the padded dummy, glancing off and then taking into the sky.

"Agility to Quick," I said. I'd thought it might be Battery's power, but I'd noticed that hits were weaker when this facet of power was on, but I could work around this.

The quick attack was fast, but with his increased agility it was almost like teleportation. The slam into the dummy was harder, enough that the thing bounced back a little.

When I looked into it, there was the sense that each of my pets could only hold a certain number of cape power-inspired abilities, but that didn't mean I couldn't game this. I could still play with how Pidgey's beak was made up to make it harder, still make the bone in claws sharper and denser for greater attack.

The powers were just icing on the cake.

"Scratch," I said and pointed. Pidgey had been flying in a circle overhead, he swooped low, still moving fast with his enhanced agility. Claws outstretched he ran them through the wood, causing gauges to form.

"I think that's enough on your end," I said. "Rest. Rattata, your turn."

Rattata got up from her ball, stretched a little before she moved to stand in front of me.

"Focus energy to Quick," I said. She stood, glaring towards her dummy, a white energy starting to appear around her before she darted forward. That was Battery's inspired power. Standing still and building up energy that enhanced an attack. Where quick attack shored up Pidgey's agility, focus energy increased the power.

Not as fast as Pidgey with agility, but considerable fast and stronger.

"Burning the midnight oil?" I started a little, not expecting anyone. It was nearing the time I was supposed to be going home, I glanced at my watch and I had fifteen minutes before I had to leave.

Battery.

"Um…yeah," I said. "Just…upgraded my pets and I was testing out what they could do."

"What they could do?" she said. She was still in costume, though she was sans mask, but then, so was I.

I shifted. "They sort of have powers now," I said. I caught a flicker of surprise at that. "I'm seeing what those powers are in the real world. The code doesn't give me much to work beyond making connections to sources of inspiration."

"Oh," said Battery. "Do you mind if I watch?"

"Actually," I said. "Could we have a small battle? Some of my pets have powers that affect people. I've been forming something of an attack strategy and I'd like to see how it works."

She nodded. "That might be fun," she said. "Your pets. How much can they take?"

"More than animals their size but not much," I said.

"I'll do my best to hold back," she said. The circuitry of her costume started to glow and the she moved too fast, getting a little distance from me. "Have you looked at combat strategies, yet?"

I shook my head. "No. Haven't gotten to the part. It's only my third day," I said. "This will be my second fight with a cape."

"Okay, then," she said. "I'll let you start things off."

I nodded. The other had been listening in and they'd started moving. Pachirisu moved to stand in front of me while Rattata skirted to the side, Battery circled the air and Dedenne ran up my arm and sat on my head.

"Pachi, quick," I said. Pachirisu darted forward and Battery moved in the same instance: She glowed and then ran forward, towards Pachirisu. "Bolt." Pachirisu's cheeks sparked and Battery jumped over her, the bolt leapt from her cheeks and hit Battery, not that she noticed and she kept moving forward.

She had a shield too or she was resilient enough that she didn't notice electricity.

"Rat, Pidge, quick to peck." Rattata started moving, darting towards her. Battery stopped on a dime, turning to the side, rolling and dodging as Pidgey got close, then jumping to dodge Rattata who'd been attacking close to the ground. "Den, charm. Pidge, quick."

Dedenne made a sound and Battery looked in my direction, faltering. Pidgey stopped himself with a bat of the wings, turned and swooped down. Battery started glowing again, started to move but it was too late. Pidgey slammed into her and she rolled back, coming to her feet and ducking low because Pachirisu had tried to tackle her.

"Pachi, Den, charm; Rat, quick," I said. Pachirisu made a sound and Battery looked towards her. Rattata started moving and Battery started to dodge but Dedenne made his own sound that turned Battery towards us. Rattata's blow landed but it wasn't strong enough that Battery was thrown back.

She was pushed back and I got the sense that she was moving herself further back. She stopped, coming to her feet and starting to glow. The longer she held that the faster and stronger that she would be.

"Agility to quick," I said. Battery started to move and she was intercepted. She was caught slightly off-guard that it was Pidgey but she recovered quickly. The trade off came to play, a hit and Pidgey was sent into the ground, all the while Battery kept moving forward until she was a breath away from me.

"I think I win," she said. I nodded. She moved back. "Better than I expected," she said. "But you're too obvious. Who's going to attack, what their attack will be. Not to mention that you're trying to do too much, giving too many specific orders."

"What would you suggest?" I asked. I pulled out my phone and started recording.

"First? I'd build something that means I could give commands while being far away," she said. "You just stood there, a target that any blaster could take out. Second, I'd shorten the commands, obfuscate so that the one attacking isn't known. Third, I'd try something broad, one command that gives off a particular plan of attack: Scatter means disperse; field means attacks that have a wide area of affect, that sort of thing."

I was nodding all through it.

"Most importantly, though, information. Form a broad image of the threat and a broad plan. I'm a mover-brute, the first is the one you should do something about. Disrupt my footing and make it harder for me to get at you. Make it hard for me to move. Second I'm a brute which means you can't take me out by pure force. That charm trick was good, but it needed something offensive. Maybe something that wore me down, made me tired, a gas that gradually knocked me out, that sort of thing."

"Could we do this again, maybe?" I said. "So I can refine the process? Maybe get ideas from you?"

She nodded. "That would be good. Phone?" I pulled it out and gave it to her. "My number and e-mail address. I should get to jogging before I retire."

"And…" I glanced at my watch. "I should be getting home. Thanks for this and it was nice to meet you."

"You too," she said.

A wave and then I left.

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#301

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3.2

Sophia either wasn't at school or she was avoiding me. There was more credence to support the former information than the latter because that didn't gel. Where Emma tore into me through my secrets and Madison used childish pranks, over and over to the point that they were grating, Sophia used violence.

She wouldn't be avoiding me.

I wasn't sure how she would act now, with everything, but I still had my guard up. Dedenne was perpetually in a place where he might be able to easily come out and attack anyone that did the same to me and I wasn't spending any time in a place where I was alone. Sure I didn't like spending time in the cafeteria, it meant that I had to watch out for an attack from multiple angles but it was better than the violence that might come to bare.

Okay, then, make approximations. What's the most reasonable thing that's happened.

She's not at school because of what happened. The right people found out and they had made things harder for her. She wasn't in jail, because I doubted it would be that easy, but she was no longer in my face. Probably people so I didn't freak out. No one wanted another Ellisburg, the Protectorate and PRT more than anyone else because they knew all of the information about what had happened there.

Did I like that or hate it?

I wasn't sure, but then, I wasn't sure about a whole manner of things. I still wasn't sure what I wanted out of filing a complaint against Sophia. Every time I thought about it I couldn't help but think of the trolley problem: I had the power to save the train, but it came at the expense of one person, me.

A part of me thought that maybe it might have been easier if it were another person's suffering, but since it was so close I had to really think about it, consider it and its implication.

School was slow but I forced myself to pay attention. There was still something greater I was working towards and school was a part of that. I needed to up my grades, make sure that the wrong questions weren't asked. Now more than ever I wanted to have my pet shop, I wanted…others to feel the same sort of comfort that I felt with them, the same measure of protection I felt as Dedenne breathed against my neck.

School was starting to be easy. After yesterday people were wary, their footing uneven. The girl who'd bumped into me had been suspended, with nothing said by the school but the message being clear. Either I was off limits or bullying wouldn't be something they let go.

A part happy and another not because it meant eyes.

I disregarded it, keeping an eye out for the threat that was really something, but even so, I was still caught off guard.

"Taylor," she said. "Can we talk? In private?"

It was just after school and people had been streaming around us towards their various forms of transport. Some had stopped now, though, and they were watching. They tried to make it like they were not, but too many had stopped, groups making as though they were talking to each other and not doing a good enough job that it was hard not to notice.

Waiting. Watching. Not even trying to help.

"No," I said and that shocked her a little. Maybe saying yes would have been good, maybe talking would have been good. If not for her then for me because I wanted to make an active effort to do that now. But this was ringing the same alarm bells that had rang at Jessica's party.

I'd ignored those but the same wasn't going to be said now.

I could fully see her using the guise of friendship to get me somewhere private, somewhere there wouldn't be any witnesses and then she and the others descending. Her using the secrets that she still had in reserve, Madison most likely having gotten a gang of people to push me around, and Sophia probably standing over it all with her smug smirk.

I took a breath, aware that she looked scared now. I didn't think that I was scowling, but then I wasn't sure what I was feeling, wasn't sure which of that tumultuous state my face was deciding to show.

"I'm going to leave," I said. "Don't try to stop me or…" I didn't continue because I wasn't sure what I would do. Emma was in her element and she could make the ground say that I was the one who started this if I punched her like I felt like doing.

She didn't stop me though, going out of her way to step to the side, and I saw that she was watching me as I got into my cab.

I got the impression that she knew.

888

"I don't know if I'm the only one, but shouldn't we all have signed NDA?" I asked. Third day and following the regimented diet was still going well, looking forward though, I didn't have that sense. I was already started to miss junk food.

"Have you told your Dad about us?" Gallant asked.

I nodded. "I was told that I could tell him," I said. "He was told that he couldn't sell the information or something like that. He couldn't in any way mess up with everyone's secret identity. I can guess where this is going to go, but he's my Dad."

"Might be with Sophia that she doesn't have a good relationship with her parents," said Gallant.

"Don't doubt it," Clockblocker muttered, having to speak with food in his mouth to put in the quip.

"And she has a better relationship with this girl. There's a clause in the NDA that you can tell someone, you can have a confidante that's not a parent or guardian. It was a thing that therapists fought to be in the contract because a solo hero life was unhealthy."

"Oh," I said. "But, what if Emma uses that information? What if she decides to sell who I am?"

"Then Sophia gets in a lot of trouble," said Clockblocker. "More than this bullshit suspension she's under now, or the bullshit reasons that they've suspended her."

"She's been suspended?"

Gallant nodded. "She fought with Glory Girl after you left. She was suspended for that and Glory Girl and Panacea have stopped being able to come here for study sessions. It's a toss-up if that will last forever."

"Sorry about that," I said. "You and Glory Girl can't have much time with your busy schedules."

"It's not your fault," he said, too quickly, as though he'd been expecting it on a level. "Things just sort of happened."

We lapsed into silence after that, eating. I'd come here to eat first before getting to my tinkering. My pet would be done in a few minutes and I wanted to check it over and get started on another before I had to start training and devote some time implementing Battery's suggestions and thinking about what I wanted.

My phone buzzed and I flipped through it, an email from Armsmaster asking about the progress of my stasis device. I sent a quick reply, telling him to meet me in my lab in five minutes so I could hit two birds with one stone.

My phone buzzed again.

"And this is me having to get to work," I said. "It was fun chatting with you guys."

"Yeah, same here," said Gallant. Clockblocker gave a wave, his attention on his phone where I could see him playing a turn-based game I didn't know.

Armsmaster was already waiting for me.

"The first iteration is done," I said. "But first I need to do something. Can you give me a few minutes? The ball can only store one of my pets and I can't give you a demo until the pet I was working on is out."

"Sure," said Armsmaster.

I moved to my computer and started moving through it. The pet was done but I still felt compelled to look over its code, ensuring there wasn't anything that could mean it didn't function. My power didn't give me that sense when I broadly considered, but I'd had to use all of my frogs as bio-matter, then injecting a ton amount of energy so that it could be turned into more bio-matter. It was possible there might be errors there.

Everything looked fine, with my power having provided two cape-inspired powers both of which I had the sense had been inspired by either Glory Girl's aura turned in another direction or Gallant's emotion-based projectiles…

"I'm such an idiot," I muttered.

"The frog idea wasn't viable?" asked Armsmaster.

"No. Not that. I've just now put the pieces together that context says Gallant can't be a tinker," I said. "Chris was too excited to have another tinker which shouldn't make sense. I guess I never actively thought about it."

"It's a long con," said Armsmaster. "People tend to take away a tinker's technology the first chance they get when they are fighting them. We thought it would be smart if we caught people off guard, lulled them into a false sense of security where Gallant might be able to strike."

I nodded. "And that's a thing a lot of people do?"

"Those who can, yes," he said. "But other powers are too simple and it doesn't work."

"Right," I said. "Well, he's okay." I stood and walked on over to the ball, squeezed it in just the right way and the light shot out, congealing into a form that was about the size of a child and only vaguely looked like a frog.

He was colder than I imagined he'd be, but then I hadn't paid attention to his appearance. When I'd been making him, I'd been focusing on making sure that his skin could secrete a touch-based toxin; his cheeks could produce the same toxic and he could be able to spit it over long distances; and that his fingers could inject a venom that worked much faster than the touch based toxin.

My power had responded by making him the sort of colours that screamed dangerous to people: He was largely a dull blue, with yellow eyes and dark rings around them; his cheeks were a dull orange colour and he had bands of black at points on his body. The teeth that were showing in the facsimile of a dark grin also didn't help the dangerous look.

If I met him in a dark alley, I'd be afraid that I was seconds away from being mugged.

Armsmaster didn't say anything, but he spent a long moment looking at Croagunk and Croagunk returned the favour.

"So, the stasis ball," I said.

"Yes," said Armsmaster. "Can you give me the broad-strokes of how it functions? The thought process behind it?"

I reached for my phone, consolidated all of my notes and then sent them over to him. While he read I checked over Croagunk, having him pick up some of the heavier pieces of equipment to see how strong he was and then moving onto the smaller pieces to see the dexterity that his bulbous fingers provided him.

"You don't mind being a lab assistant, right?" I said. "The others don't really have the strength for it."

Croagunk gave a long and deep croaked that I took for him not caring.

"You want something to eat? I don't have any work yet and Armsmaster and the others will want to see what you can do," I said. I looked over to Armsmaster and he gave a nod.

Another croak.

"Food's over there. Don't eat all of it," I said.

Croagunk started walking in the direction, an odd sort of lumbering because his legs were too short and arms were too long.

Okay, I thought, now for Gastly.

Everyone needed to breathe, even Battery and brute shield. Gastly would be a counter to her and other brutes. I guessed that all shields allowed air through so they would be able to let Gastly through, or I might make it so they were able to move through objects. They were inspired largely by Sophia's power and she could move through things.

But there was still the hitch of know how to start. Sophia's power was a starting point, but it had its limits. Using her power, Gastly would have to have a large amount of bio-matter that could shift into gas, but I didn't want that. The image I had in my head was of something that was always gas. There were people whose powers allowed them to do this, I knew, but my power hadn't yet inspired me in the same sort of way as it had started doing.

But Gastly was just too useful not to make, because he would make what I was doing with Dedenne much easier. Gastly as a cloak against me waiting to effect people without being spotted?

Even if it was hard, Gastly would be my long term project, but in the meantime, I'd keep churning out the easy to make pets in the meantime.

"How fast do you think I'd be able to get a dog?" I said to Armsmaster.

"A dog?"

"I'm making a dog sized pet," I said, excited because the possibilities were already running through my mind and I could note the subtle differences in what my power told me could work and what to stay away from.

"You don't believe you're moving a little too fast?" he said. "Moving from one pet to the next? I can't help but see a similar behaviour to what you did before your night with Circus."

I frowned at that. "I don't see it?"

"Your father says you started making pets faster, every morning he would wake up and there would be something new. It's not days now because your technology is getting better, but it's the same general sentiment."

"This is about Sophia," I said.

"It's about Shadow Stalker, yes," he said. "I got the memo that you were filing a complaint. It might be me making something out of nothing, but I can't help but feel this is you preparing before you leave the Wards."

"I'm not leaving the Wards," I said.

Armsmaster nodded. "Then, if I might ask, what do you expect from the process?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Something. Sophia was there when I first triggered. She was the reason that it could happen in the first place." Emotion was starting to find my words and I felt like curling back. I pushed through. "I…had a friend and then I didn't have a friend. Sophia was responsible somehow, I just don't know how. Then my friend became vile and…Sophia was there, always, with the same smug smirk that she always has."

"She took something from you, then took away more because no one wanted to be your friend. Are you worried the same might be true here?"

I swallowed, thinking about it and then nodded. "I'm worried that she might make it so that my pets are taken away from me," I said. "Not through direct action, but if I don't have the protection of the Wards, then…"

Armsmaster nodded. "But, I'm guessing, you still don't know what you want?"

"I don't," I said. "A part of me wants Sophia to be gone. But another part, a more rational part, says that that would mess up a lot of things." I took a breath. "Chris can't get into trouble." Armsmaster nodded. "I know about the Second Changes Program. Knowing that, I feel like the groundwork for turning future villains might be destroyed because of me."

Armsmaster was quiet for a long moment before he asked, "Would talking to Shadow Stalker help?"

"I want to say that nothing she can say would ever make things better," I said. "But I also what to know why, if that makes sense? Like, there should be a reason for everything she did. I'm not saying that it would things better, but maybe if I understood how she thought, where she was coming from, then…something. I don't know what."

"You filed a grievance," said Armsmaster, "against a person. It's procedure that there be mediation first, that we first seek to see if there can't be peace between you two, then we work out how things could be, with suggestions from both of you. From how you speak, I don't get the same that she broke any crimes?"

"Maybe," I said. "Some stuff from my locker disappears but it's locked. Might be someone with a shadow power or a person that just very good at cracking locks. They broke something my mother gave me, a source of comfort but in real value it might have been worthless."

"Which means she hasn't broken the conditions of her parole," he said. "If you were looking to get her sent to prison, then that's unfortunately not something you can get out of it. I think you might be able to get something akin to a restraining order, meaning you wouldn't see or interact with her. But the base isn't infinitely large and you might bump into her, and your school is even smaller."

"Can't she get sent to another team?" I asked.

"She could, but that would be ultimately up to her and her family," he said. "If they said no, then…"

"She's going to say no," I said under my breath, not angry but certain. She would do it to spite me, show me that even though things were looking as though they might work, it wasn't complete. She still had a measure of power and she could get at me in one way or another if she wanted to.

I took in a breath and let it out. "If it gets into restraining order thing. I don't want to constantly have to dodge her. I spent so much time running, having to eating in…" I stopped, letting out a sigh. "If I was doing the same thing here?" I shook my head.

"No, that wouldn't be it," he said. "You're the victim in the case, at least as far as we can tell."

"How could you tell?"

"Thinkers," he said and he didn't elaborate. He stood. "It seems like you know what you want, at least in part, the mediation, do you still want it to happen? To ask her why?"

"Can the same thinker be used to see if she's telling the truth?" I asked. He nodded. "Then yeah."

"Good," said Armsmaster. "Could you send me all of the specs and thought processes were the stasis ball is concerned? You should have a dog that's about to be put down within the hour."

The image of what I wanted was different now.

"Maybe two dogs," I said. "I'm…just…I have a lot of ideas and I feel like forgetting them would be a travesty."

His nod was short, terse as he left, leaving me my stasis ball.

888

AN: There's going to be another time skip coming up. Not large or, I believe, anything important missed. I'm hoping this time it will work better than it did in my previous attempt. Tell me if it doesn't, not saying I'll change it because it'll mean restructuring a lot of the chapter. But I sort of want to gauge how much I can skip before it leaves people reeling.

PS: Before it's asked. I'm posting this at the end of this chapter because I have an aversion with posting author's notes at the begging of chapters.

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Jan 6, 2018

#302

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3.3

"They asked you here?" I said.

Panacea nodded, she was wearing her costume which hid most of her. It made me think of religious people near the nun area. Not a costume I wanted because I doubted she could easily manoeuvre with the thing, but then it was unlikely that she was a front line combatant.

"They wanted me to see if you've been neutering your pets," she said. "Get a more objective level of what they can do." She whispered the words. "I think they might be scared of you."

"Oh, they most definitely are," I whispered back. There were personnel around us, Armsmaster talking to a few people who were seeing how fast Croagunk, Hondour and Riolu could run. "It might be because I'm moving too fast, making too many pets in too short a period of time."

Panacea nodded. "Powers tend to scare people if they aren't used in what they think is the right way," she said and in those words she sounded so tired.

"Must be tiring," I started. "Being a healer."

She gave me a look and the shrugged, looking forward. Armsmaster was walking towards us and Croagunk was walking with him, he looked tired going by how much his cheeks were inflating and deflating.

"We've done all we can on our end," he said. "Your analysis should give us more information."

Panacea nodded, moving to touch Croagunk before I stopped her, grabbing her arm. She started at that.

"Suck it in," I told Croagunk. Maybe it was sweat, but maybe it was the touch toxin. He gave me a long croak, then the slight sheen from his skin started to fade, drying up. "You can go ahead."

Panacea nodded and touched him. She gasped and then she got a hold of herself.

"Problem?" said Armsmaster.

"No," she said. "Just…they're different from the others. It caught me a little off-guard, expecting one thing and then getting another. I can tell the odd musculature and how they work, but I can't access their brain to see their powers."

Armsmaster hummed. "Thank you, for your assistance. I'll get the others so you can finish and get about your day."

Panacea smiled. "Hey," she said to me. "Do you want to get coffee tomorrow? If you're not busy? I've got something of a proposal."

"Um…sure," I said. "I'm sure I can move things around."

She gave me her number, tested the others and then left for the day. It was certainly odd, but I pushed it back because my phone beeped, telling me that it was time to talk to Sophia.

888

"I'm not stupid," she started. "I know that this is just a farce."

"A farce?" Mr Brown. "You think that this process will treat you unfairly?"

She shrugged. "I'm the proto-criminal here," she said, "my power's weaker than hers. She's a commodity where I'm less so. Her power could be strong. Makes the most sense that you'll bend over backwards to protect her."

She wasn't looking at Mr Brown at the last, instead looking at me. Her expression was impassive, but there would be something that shone in her eyes every time she said something that might have been close to a barb.

Reading between the line and it was: You're weak. You're fragile. You need to be protected.

"I take it, then, that you don't believe you did anything wrong?" Mr Brown asked.

She frowned. "Did something wrong in what sense?" she said. "I'm in high school, and high school has things it lives by. Ribbing is one of them. It's not my fault she's a baby about it."

"And you don't think that that 'ribbing' was going too far at any point?" I asked, my tone even, the anger I felt at how blasé she was a low simmer.

She shrugged. "That's on you, not me," she said. "If you wanted us to stop then you could have stopped us. Instead you just took it. Didn't push back, didn't defend yourself."

It's your fault, my mind translated. This could have all been over sooner but you didn't stop it. You were weak. You still are. Unsure, hiding behind the greater good just like you hid behind not having proof.

"It's not my fault," I said, my voice shaky, as though I didn't believe the words. She snorted and the smugness slipped onto her expression. I swallowed, steeling myself. "It's not my fault that you're just a bully."

She shrugged. "You can call me that if it makes you feel better," she said.

"Sophia," said Mr Brown. "Taylor's grievance here is that she can't see herself working with you. She triggered because of your actions—" another of her smug smirked appeared as she turned a little, repositioning herself in how she sat, "—and rightly there's trauma involved. Seeing as you've—"

"I'm not skipping town," she interrupted. "I know the deal. Like I said, I'm not stupid. You want her happy. She's happy if I'm gone. But I won't leave. I signed stuff to be here and I haven't broken any of that. I still get to be here and I want to."

You're not going to win this. I'm going to be in your face whether you like it or not, and you're not going to do anything about it.

I hadn't come here with a fighting strategy and Sophia had. She wanted to hurt me but she was playing another game, she was doing it smart. She wanted to show me that the rules couldn't help me, that even if I tried to stand up against her there would be consequences.

What had Battery said, form something broad and start there, then refining it?

Coming into this I'd wanted to know why, but right now I didn't care. I was angry and I wanted to hurt her just like she'd hurt me. Just like she was still hurting me right now.

But how could I win this?

What hurts them most?

With me it had been taking away my friends, taking away being able to make friends, putting me on my own. But Sophia didn't care about friends, she didn't care about people as long as she was hurting them. But she had to care about something.

I took a breath.

"I want Shadow Stalker to be relegated to desk duty," I said.

She loved hurting people. At school she hurt me. As a cape she'd hurt criminals.

"Before," I said to Mr Brown, "I would have been happy at the restraining order that Armsmaster suggested, but there was still the chance of us bumping into each other and it didn't help at school. I'd still have to deal with her before the transfer went through. For that sort of thing to come into effect schedules would have needed to be drastically changed and that would have impacted everyone. But this way, what I want only impacts one person. If she's on desk, maybe is on coms, then that's that.

"I know that there's the worry that you'll lose access to a cape, so I'm offering myself. I'll be more active. I'll start making pets that have a more offensive capability than Shadow Stalker, that can offer protection and I'll even have them trained by PRT troopers so that our capes aren't outnumbered, that they can put in more of a fight. It'll make up for you losing her and it'll be better off. But I don't want her out in the field."

Mr Brown was impassive, considering and Shadow Stalker was only rage.

I couldn't help myself. I gave her my most satisfied, my most smug smirk. This could be messing up a lot of things. But I didn't care. I'd hurt her as my as I could with this one move. I just hoped the Protectorate played along, even with all they potentially were losing if things went bad.

888

"That's…I want to say, vindictive," said Chris.

"She was just sitting there taunting me," I said. I had so much energy running through me, the thrill of it. "She knew she could play people, leverage the Second Chances Program, but I think I made the irrelevant. I took away what she liked doing. I took away her teeth."

"Not saying you don't deserve to get a punch in," said Chris. "But…again, vindictive. It's warring with the mental modelling that's been rendering in my mind."

"Well…maybe that's because I never had this much power before," I said. "The power to get what I want and minimising the bad consequences to almost nothing. Like, there was that movie about a thinker that could see a minute into the future. I've thought about having that power, about what I might do with it. And the one thing I kept coming back to was punching Emma in her stupid face just for the feel of it, where consequences don't really matter."

He frowned as he looked at me. "Not saying I haven't thought similar things about douche nozzles. But it would sort of send the wrong message if someone like Armsmaster heard you."

"Good thing I'm not talking to Armsmaster but talking to you," I said. I let out a sigh than must have been wistful.

"Sure," he said. "But…don't want to detract from your high. But you know what this means, right? If it happens? It means there'll be pets you make knowing that they'll get in situation where they might get hurt, or worse…"

"Oh," I said.

Fuck. It just couldn't all work out, could it?

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Jan 8, 2018

#375

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Croagunk had shorter legs and that meant a better footing. Riolu had longer legs but his arms were also powerful even with them being relatively shorter. It meant their combat styles differed even if they both moved towards close quarter combat.

I was recording them as they fought, seeing the knowledge that my power had imparted on both of them to get a measure of how they fought without instruction. Croagunk barely moved as he fought, rooting himself in one spot with arms swiping and incoming punches parried and blocked while trying to get a jab in; Riolu was mobile, bouncing in a way that reminded me of Bruce Lee, sending out quick kicks and a flurry of punches.

As it stood, the fight between them was uneven. Croagunk was holding back the toxin that made him a beast against close combat fighters, while Riolu had the advantage that she was faster: Croagunk tried to parry a punch but it was a feint, the real punch managing to get through; the hit got Croagunk to rear back a little, leaving another opening which Riolu took, sending and landing a kick that toppled Croagunk over.

Croagunk rolled and came to his feet, blocking another kick from Riolu and trying to get a jab in. It failed, Riolu landing on one foot only to push herself back, getting distance.

Riolu had gotten more hits in, but she'd burned more energy with how she moved. I had it in mind that Croagunk was winning and he wasn't even using his powers.

"Okay, stop," I said. I stopped the video. "I think I got the gist of it. Grab some water, maybe a snack and we can all gather," I was shouting as I said the last words. The others were doing their own exercises, dodging, running and attacking. They stopped at my words.

I sat on the floor, gathering my thoughts as they milled, water and snacks for those who wanted and then coming to sit in front of me.

Pidgey choosing to perch on Riolu's head, the humanoid dog not paying any attention to this but looking at me with intense focus; Dedenne coming to snuggle against my side before I pushed him to the others, at that he went to share electricity with Pachirisu; Rattata using Hondour's body for warmth as she lay, I got the sense that if I took too long she might fall asleep; and Croagunk sitting slightly on his own, grinning and slowly inflating and deflating his cheeks.

My high from my victory over Sophia hadn't abated, but there were other things warring for my thoughts that I needed to relax enough that I could work through them. I'd sent out Pidgey to pick up the first animal he could find and he'd brought back a caterpillar. My power had burned off some of that high by creating something and I now had to do something else to distract myself while it cooked.

"I got a general sense of how each of you lean towards fighting," I said, "and I'm thinking about our go-to strategies in a fight. What we fall back on before we get more information, before we start to finesse things.

"Some history. Pidgey, Pachirisu, Rattata and I already had something along this lines, a strategy of sorts but I've come to realise it's not too good when fighting a cape, it wasn't meant for that. So we're scraping elements of that. As it stands, this is how things will play out:

"I'm imagining that we're fighting at night," I said. "Which is when it feels like most crimes happen, but we should try all we came to adapt this strategy, okay?" There were nods from those who felt like it while others just kept watching me.

"Croagunk is our main fighter," I said. Riolu's eyes flickered at, confusion and hurt. Croagunk, for his part, let out a short wheezing laugh. I scowled in his direction and he stopped. "The thinking behind this is that Croagunk is always attacking on two fronts: He's trying to hit the person for the faster acting toxin, but if he's hit, then our enemy is also at a disadvantage because he'll have the touch-based toxin active. It also helps that he's better at taking a hit."

I searched Riolu, seeing if she felt any better but she'd closed herself off, not giving me anything. I let out a short sigh.

"Croagunk will be our main fighter and he'll also be the first parts of us getting more hits in," I said. "As you fight, I want you to keep using taunt, making the enemy keep coming at you. As they do, the others will act. Rattata, Pachirisu and Pidgey will be waiting in the shadows, looking for weaknesses when the enemy is too devoted fighting Croagunk that they aren't watching out for you. You guys can understand each other so I'm counting on you to coordinate, ensure that you don't hit each other while you're fighting.

"Hondour, you'll be protecting Dedenne for the most part, circling the battlefield, keeping out of sight. The two of you as well as Pachirisu will be our second plan, when the enemy inevitably knows that we're playing with their emotions we'll start attacking them on all sides. Pachirisu starts moving around and charming them, the same with Dedenne; Croagunk further puts them off balance by making them scared. In all that while we don't stop attacking."

Riolu barked, it sounded like a question.

"You'll be close to me," I said. "Right now, I'm the point of failure. Everyone will be gunning for me and until Hondour gets bigger I'll have only my legs to move. Riolu, you've got the best reflexes and if something tries to hit me you'll be the most able to intercept it.

"But that's just the beginning. I was thinking of variations in strategy but that's for the future, me giving coded commands or that sort of thing but I'm still trying to work out the system. As it stands I want to see if this works first…"

I glanced at my watch and thankfully it was true, Battery seemed to come to jog every night before she went home. I smiled, "I was hoping to take you up on the training. I came up with a strategy and I'd like to see how it works."

"I'd be happy to oblige," she said.

888

Croagunk was too slow, but then this was good, it meant I was already on the back foot and I could learn to adapt.

"Ry, quick," I said as Battery ignored Croagunk completely and came at me. I didn't have the power to disrupt her footing yet, but I could disrupt her on the mental level.

Riolu darted forward, her quick attack angled so that it was a kick. Battery parried the kick, but I could see that it took out her barrier; Riolu landed and pounced in the same moment, another kick hurtling towards the woman. She glowed and stopped in quick succession, using that speed to dodge low and again used the small respite to glow and get speed and power that she punched Riolu back.

Pidgey made a sound and Riolu darted back, moving to come at my side as I ran, doing my best to get my distance from Battery, gathering my thoughts. Her barrier had been taken out, which meant that when she glowed she wasn't just gathering speed, but she was fuelling all of her powers. Duration likely mattered, the more time she stopped, the faster and stronger she and her barrier were.

"Rat-Focus, Pidge-Agility," I said, while I'd been thinking she'd been glowing, watching as Croagunk moved, getting closing and inflating his cheeks. Croagunk acted, spitting out gobs of his toxin and Battery moved.

I could tell that she'd been using the moment I'd been thinking to gather information on terrain because of how she moved. When she dodged she chose to move away from Rattata and Pidgey, keeping aware that when she moved closer to Hondour and Dedenne they moved away, trying to get into her blind spot.

Croagunk spat again, firing where Battery would be, but the woman stopped short, glowing, then hoping over Rattata's attack only for Pidgey to slam into her. She landed in a roll and came to her feet, her stance wide so that she wouldn't easily fall over again, only to shift and dodge as Croagunk spat.

Battery frowned as she looked in his direction. I could see the gears turning, he was the most annoying with his spit, she would likely try and take him out first because he was slower than the others and she wasn't sure what that spit did. Nothing was scarier than the unknown threat.

Croagunk must have realised this too because he croaked, a sound he'd likely now laced with his taunt ability.

Battery rushed forward and Croagunk spat a rapid fire of purple slime that was dodged. Pidgey tried to take advantage but Battery was expecting this, she ducked into a low roll, came to her feet and barrelled into Croagunk, pushing him through the air and sending him rolling against the ground.

"Stop!" she said, slight panic in her voice.

The floor was padded but from the looks of it Croagunk had been hit by enough force that he was left reeling. I rushed forward and then stopped before I could touch him, remembering that his skin had the toxin and it would knock mean out.

"Please tell me you're fine," I said. "Is anything hurt? Are you ribs broken? Can you breathe fine?"

Slowly Croagunk pushed himself to a sit, holding the finger that was closest to a thumb, up.

I let out a long, relieve breath.

This is what it's going to be like, constantly, a part of me thought. Except it will be near exponential because you'll have a lot more pets out there, fighting villains that won't be holding back, protecting people that might not appreciate them.

I pushed down the thoughts.

"He's fine?" said Battery and she genuinely sounded worried.

I nodded. "He might be in a little pain, but he's resilient." I checked and he'd pulled back his toxin. I started rubbing him against the head. He liked it going by his croaking.

"I'm sorry about that," said Battery. "I just felt…was that a power of his? Making me throw caution to the wind like that? Not even considering recharging my power?"

Another nodded. "Taking your mental footing," I said. "It was supposed to make it so the others could find an avenue to attack, but you were too fast, too strong."

"I'm a mover," she said. "I told you before, that's the part that you should take out first."

"I know," I said. "I have a way that I might do that, but that's still in the works."

She nodded. "You were better though," I said. "Less commands than the last time. Even if this fight was shorter."

"I took your advice to heart," I said. "I've still got one strategy, but I'm seeing that these guys can adapt pretty easily while keeping the broad strokes of what we want to happen."

"You should look up other masters," she said. "She how those that have to verbally control their creations do it."

"It was on my list," I said. "I wasn't really supposed to start training today, but I had a lot of energy and I thought about putting it into something."

She frowned a little, slightly unsure.

"You don't have to mince your words," I said. I could tell where this was going. This place could be a lot like high school sometimes in how quickly rumours passed. "I'm not a child that'll just flip out at the slight provocation," I said, regretting the words and the tone because the worked against me.

I took in a breath then let it out.

"Sorry," I said. "Just…don't like people treating me like I'm fragile."

She nodded. "I wanted to ask if this had anything to do with the memo we got," she said. "That you were thinking of creating active duty…animals that might work with the PRT."

She was still choosing her words, or was she? I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, even though my mind wanted to translate and say, does this have anything to do with your ultimatum?

I shrugged. "I guess," I said. I'd offered me so Sophia could be in her own personal hell. I wanted that to go through. I wanted her to get a sliver of the suffering I'd felt but personally crafted.

Chris' words came to mind. It was okay to have the vindictive kind of thoughts when they were directed at douche nozzles, it was only bad if the higher ups heard them.

I made a note to never say out loud what I'd just thought.

"Do you have any more pointers before I leave?" I said. "Stuff to think about?"

"You're along the right track," she said. "But I'd really invest in getting more protection for yourself. That guy—" Riolu gave a low growl, "—girl is a smart idea, but you need to be able to protect yourself too. Kid Win's great with guns, maybe he can give you one of his to carry."

I nodded. "Thank you," I said. "I really should be going. I didn't tell Dad I'd be late today."

She gave me a smile. "Have a good night."

I went down to my lab and started packing stuff, starting to bid goodbye to Croagunk, Riolu and Hondour before I left. They hadn't been cleared to come with me yet and there was fear that they might be too large, but as I was starting to leave I got an e-mail from Armsmaster.

Pets have been cleared. You're free to go home with them. Recommended that you do.

I couldn't help but read a lot into that.

Last edited: Jan 8, 2018

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Jan 8, 2018

#376

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3.5

Sophia wasn't at school again.

Madison was confused as Emma stopped her as she'd started to come my way. Their entourage was gave me odd looks as an argument broke out between them.

I watched it all, Dedenne's form against me comforting, pushing away the feelings that I was alone. The knowledge that Rattata was in the building, keeping an eye on me from the shadows and that Pidgey was making his rounds in the air made me feel even safer.

Armsmaster hadn't warned me, but what else was there to read in his words?

Sophia loved violence. I'd taken that away, she might very well do something.

But it wasn't today. I got into a cab at the end of school, but instead of going to the PHQ, I went to one of the more expensive coffee places, the sort of place that I couldn't afford. Or maybe I could? I had a Ward allowance now but I hadn't really dipped into it.

I was used to not having a lot of spending money and being with the Wards was giving me a feel of a rich kid's lifestyle. Not having to worry about the money and just buying whatever I wanted.

As nice as that was, though, there was still a non-zero possibility that it would all go to hell.

I took out my phone and set a reminder attached with a memo. It would ensure I asked Dad about putting all of my money into a saving's account, something that I might have to use if things started getting harder on the Wards side of things.

"Thank you for coming," said Panacea. She smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Could you follow me? I reserved a place where we can talk upstairs."

"Um…sure," I said, following her to the back of the coffee place and then up a set of stairs. She walked into a room that looked like it was made for meetings and after I'd come in she closed the doors and left it.

"The Rogue Lounge," she explained. "Or…that's the name everyone says to make themselves feel better. It's a place for capes to meet, discuss. Saying Rogue Lounge makes it sound legit, but the higher class villains have likely met here."

"You sound a little nervous," I said, looking around, inspecting everything. If villains met here, then I could see it being the big players. The mental image of Kaiser, dressed in his metal armour, and Lung, the dragon, sitting opposite each other, talking over a cup of tea crossed my mind.

It was an amusing sight and one that didn't make any sense.

Panacea shrugged a little, not looking at me while she chewed her lips.

"Why?" I said. She looked up at that, a brow raised. "Would villains meet each other?"

"Keeping a measure of the status quo?" she said and shrugged. "I imagine villains don't want things to change too much, even if they're always vying for territory. Maybe pushing out a new player or stopping a war before it calls the wrong people in."

"Makes sense," I said. "Why are we here?"

"To talk, discuss," she said. "Since getting a read on your pet, I had an idea that I wanted to come to fruition but I'm a little scared that things might move too slow if I went by official channels." She sighed. "I think I might want to break the status quo, but break it in such a way that everyone is better off even if there's initial resistance."

She was quiet for a moment before she moved forward, going over to a small fridge and opening it. Therein, was a large rat that was asleep, its fur too thick, perhaps to weather the cold of the fridge; there was also a large amount of meat and I couldn't tell where it came from.

She worked, pulled out the meat and putting on the table, disturbing my pets in the process. She pulled out the rat and then put it on top of the meat.

She looked at what she'd done for a long moment, then looked at me, slightly unsure before she pushed herself forward. She put one hand on the meat and the other on the rat then she started working. Flesh started to twist and meld together, more mass added onto the rat and its features starting to change.

Where there'd been a rat before now there was starting to be something much like my pets, its fur yellow, with red cheeks, long ears that ended with a black fur and a zigzagging tail.

The process was hit and miss, I could see, with none of the elegance that I felt my ability had. The legs would be too short which made me think that her pet's stomach would rub against the ground as it walked; the ears would droop because she wasn't using the right sort of bone for their configuration and the eyes were just wrong.

"Pachi," I said, because I was forming more of a basis on what her ability was. "Do you mind letting Panacea touch you?"

Pachirisu moved forward and Panacea ran a hand over her fur once before returning both her hands to her creation. The process became faster and I could guess that she'd been working from memory before, using information she'd probably gleaned when we'd first met to create her variation.

But touching Pachirisu was giving her more of a footing.

"Your pets have changed," she said and she sounded unsure. As though her ability was controlled by her emotions, the pet's fur coloured a dark brown before it returned to its yellow state. "I felt it when I touched your Croagunk. You've given them the same part of the brain that capes have, but different."

"Wait," I said. "You can work on brains? But I thought—"

I stopped because this was the wrong thing to say. She pulled her hands away from her pet, making sure that it was still asleep. She sat back, looking tired.

"I think my power and yours are twins," she said. "You can do what I do but there's an extra step in that you have to use technology. But essentially, I think that anything you can do, then I can do."

"So that's a yes," I said. She nodded slowly. "But you told Armsmaster—"

"Why don't you heal people?" she said, interrupting me and sounding confrontational. I'd hit a sore spot.

"Because my ability has caveats," I said. "It has automatic portions of it that I can't account for. I can focus on one thing, but that means directions where my power does what it wants. If I worked on a person then there's a lot that I could miss that my power just did."

"Your power," she said, "and not you?"

"My power," I said, certain. I felt like I knew what she was trying to imply, that it wasn't my power doing things but me. If I accidently altered a person's mind then it was because I wanted to. "Wait," I said. "Is that how you feel? That you might accidently rewire a person's brain?"

She flinched and that, which was answer enough. She looked a little sad, I noticed, and I could guess why. She'd come here thinking that we were the same, that we had the same fears and she was now finding out that, no, that wasn't true.

"Can I ask why?" I said. "Why you're afraid of that in the first place? That you might do this, especially if your power doesn't have automatic aspects like mine?"

She opened her mouth and then closed it, wringing her hands, closing herself off.

"Being a tinker is about ideas," I said. "Sometimes they sprout from nothing, sometimes they are inspired and other times you can force them out. Like right now, having seen you work, I'm having images of a pet that can release an aura that can heal anything."

What she wanted, because a bit of her tension eased.

"When…when I first got my powers, the idea came up to build something big, something large that could fit a person in." I stopped, breathing slowly. I'd told Armsmaster this but it hadn't been in this much detail. I felt bad now that my power had turned this way. "My power told me that this was a route towards friends. I urged it gently in another direction and I got my pets."

"But you're still altering their minds," she said. "Making them loyal."

"A part of my ability," I said. "I never really think about it and my power does it. But…that's not where I'm going with this. I think that you feel guilty about this lie you've been telling people, about not being able to affect brains, but…you shouldn't. Maybe it's something about me, but I don't feel guilty about not healing people because I know for certain that there's something I could miss, something I could do wrong that would likely leave a person worse off than they were if I hadn't worked on them."

"I think I feel the same way," she said, sighing. "But where it's different is that it's less my power that I'm afraid of, but me. I could be the one that changes a person, because…because…"

She closed up, shaking her head and wiping forming tears away. Pachirisu took that moment to jump onto her and snuggle against her. Panacea smiled at that.

"I was thinking about breaking the status quo," she said and it took me a second for the thoughts to connect. She didn't want to continue on the thread anymore and instead was going back to why we were here. "I came here wanting you to begin work on something that can heal. It's why I showed you my power. It's what I hoped the outcome would be. But more than that, I want you to know that I'll start seeding them."

"The Protectorate won't like that," I said. "Self-replicating threats—"

"I know," she said. "I've read up on it. They won't be self-replicating. When I touch something I feel everything about them and I get a sense of how they work. They'll call me in again and I'll get a sense of what you did. There'll be minor variation, but I think I can rebuild it to the point that it doesn't consider reproduction."

"But you'll be making more, giving them out to hospitals," I said.

She gave me a nod. "I'm only one person," she said, "and there's only so much that I can do. I can save a life, but that's limited to Brockton Bay or the people that will be coming to Brockton Bay. But with this idea, then I'll be making more of a difference than I ever could on my own."

"Even if it lands you in trouble?"

She swallowed. "Good people do the right thing even if it goes against their best interests," she said.

I was sure she didn't know about things with Sophia, but it felt as if in those words she was shaming me. Telling me that it had been wrong to go off on her like that, that it had been wrong to potential mess up the Second Chances Program, and that it had been wrong to put up my pet for potentially dangerous situations.

But, even if the words hurt, I couldn't see myself pulling back. I'd won and I felt good because of it. The same sort of good that I felt when I was tinkering, when a new pet had finished cooking.

"You're a better person that I am, then," I said, coming to a stand. "I'll start working on it today. With how fast I've been, lately, I think it should be finished tomorrow. But they'll probably call you in."

"Thank you," she said.

"Don't thank me. Doing this will impact you a lot more than it will me," I told her. "Breaking the status quo even if it helps, is almost always violent as things shift, finding a new place to settle."

"This might be the exception," she said. "Or at least I hope."

I shrugged. I couldn't see the problems right now and I didn't want to dwell on it because she had a good idea, one that would make a lot of people's lives better.

"If that's all, I should go," I said. "Get started on working on it before something else comes to mind."

"Can you wait a little?" she said. "I want to get him done before you leave."

I nodded and pulled out my phone, letting her make…Pikachu. It felt right, even if I hadn't been the one to make her.

291Shade

3.6

"I know you've been worried about me making more pets," I said. "So I've been thinking about working more on my infrastructure, or on the more hard technology. But before doing that I was thinking about one last pet that could be a resource not to just me but everyone: A healer."

888

There would be testing, of course, most likely more than there was for my other creatures but that was a periphery concern. I needed to figure how things would work, really thinking about it beyond me wanting to add another pet to the family. Because when I created my new pet, it would spur the birth of another and that one would have less protection with Panacea's plan.

It needed to be able to protect itself, it needed to be strong and it needed to be smart and that meant me either adding a lot of brain power or working off of something that was already intelligent. My knee-jerk reaction was to go human, after all since I was now adding most of my bio-mass through converting energy, I wouldn't have to use the person I scanned, just a copy of their brains.

But there were still a lot of grey areas that I was worried about. It made me ask which I regarded as more important, the meat body or the mind. When I sat down and thought about it, then I didn't really care about the meat body, more than one power could twist the meat body with the person still able to function. But the moment the mind was altered then things changed.

I would still be manipulating a mind even if it was just a copy, a clone.

So I needed to put more thought in how I structured the mind, but I also felt like experimenting. I was no longer confined by the physical structures of how the animal naturally was, which meant that I could play with a lot.

I started with a pig, reading how it thought and tweaking it. It was more work I'd put on a brain than I ever had before, guiding how it would think, paying attention to how I was able to add stores of knowledge into it through a piece of the brain that my power failed to give me any information on even if I stared at it, trying to conceptualise it.

It needed to consider healing its first priority, but it needed the same sort of skittishness that pigs could have. It needed to be able to gauge a situation and see if it or its wards were in any danger. It needed to be able to learn and quite quickly so that it could have more finesse with its ability, making healing faster the more experience it had.

I thought about the powers it should have. There was the Panacea inspired power, an aura around itself that healed injuries. I read over that piece of code more than any, urging my power to give me more insight because I didn't want anything to go wrong. My power obliged. If it was an aura then it could be spread over multiple targets but it would need me to add more processing power to my pet, something my power couldn't do on its own and I would have to use maybe a human to achieve.

It needed to be narrower. Maybe a duel ability that came together to do one thing. My pet would get knowledge of an injury when it was close to a person and it could then mould a ball of light that with specifications on how to fix the things that had gone wrong.

But what if someone had lost a leg? Panacea needed biomass, would the same be true for my pet? I tried to gauge my power and it didn't tell me anything.

Their powers were inspired on a functional level by capes, and from what I could tell they worked similar to those capes' powers with a few caveats. I didn't think that Glory Girl's invincibility shorted out after a hit, so maybe I was unconsciously restricting the abilities, or my power was for the same reasons some pets weren't able to get certain powers?

I shook my head because the thoughts weren't leading me anywhere.

The safe assumption would be that it wouldn't create any bio-mass and that more would need to be added. I made a note of this, seeing if it wasn't something that could be tested when the Protectorate was doing its testing of my pet. I wasn't sure how it would work, but I didn't even try to think about it. They would figure all of that out.

On the protection side. It would have to be able to defend itself and I was thinking something near Battery's shield. I let my power make the alterations and read through them, the ability would mean that my pet could concentrate on making itself a brute, damage becoming less and less the more it focused. It would also have to be strong and in this direction I wanted it to be a duel-effect, a power that made it strong as well as odd musculature that meant it was stronger.

When I stepped back, allowed myself to breath because I felt like I was done, I felt a large sense of achievement because this was the first pet since Pidgey that I'd paid all my attention into building. Since getting my stasis ball everything had just been easier and I'd felt the instinctive need to just make more pets at the expense of putting all my attention into them.

It made me think of how teachers were often in situations where their classes were crowded and they couldn't pay attention to everyone. In those cases they would gravitate towards giving that attention to the problematic elements, making sure they didn't get into trouble. In some other cases it would be the high achievers, the elements they knew would gain the most from their attention. In large part it meant cases of negligent, kids that weren't focused on at all.

I'd been one of those kids. Not smart or problematic enough that I could get some attention.

Was I doing the same thing to my pets, then? Focusing on those that I thought would be useful in what…protecting me? Ignoring the others?

If this was true, it was worse on my end because I wasn't a teacher, I was their parent in the literal sense. Me not paying attention to them was even worse.

What's even worse is that you're using them when they might be negatively affected.

I pushed the thoughts aside then paused and pulled out a piece of paper. I'd make my first mistake because I hadn't talked to Dad. I'd guessed how he'd react and used that information as a basis to move forward. Wasn't I doing something similar now when I stopped myself from having certain thoughts? Wasn't I limiting the information I had and working off of bad information, or at least emotionally?

I let out a long sigh, pulling further back from my work.

It was early evening. I'd gotten in and spoke to Armsmaster and then got to work on creating my pet. The countdown said it would be thirteen hours before the pet was done, the largest amount of time since the upgrade, which further showed that I'd devoted more attention to this, or at least I'd done something different.

On arrival, I'd left my pets directions on how they should train and most of them were done by now. But the only ones that were in the room with me were Hondour and Rattata who were sleeping, and Caterpie who'd been eating leaves since she'd come into being.

Had I spent any time with them since I'd created them? I didn't even feel that I knew Hondour that well. I knew he was the quiet sort, but was that because he was or because he saw that he wouldn't get my attention and didn't even try?

Why hadn't I considered that before? Why hadn't I considered the emotional health of my pets when the main reason I wanted to keep my victory against Sophia was for my own.

"Hey," I said. They all perked, though Rattata looked annoyed that I'd woken her up. "I need to go talk to Armsmaster? Want to come along?"

I'd phrased it for everyone but Hondour was the only one that stood. Rattata stood only in that it allowed her to hop of Hondour and find somewhere to sleep on the table. Caterpie went back to eating her leaves.

Hondour and I left, walking in silence. He was large enough that his head stopped at my hip, which meant I didn't have to stop walking as I put my hand on his head, scratching it a little. I felt him as he stopped and that broke me a little more, his surprise at affection.

The first thing I noticed about Armsmaster's lab was that it was bigger than mine, so much bigger, and it was neat. I could see a few projects in the works but he had a system were Chris put his stuff in piles and I divided my projects into semi-piles, Armsmaster looked like the sort of person that returned everything he wasn't using to its proper place.

"Taylor," he said.

"Sorry disturb you," I said. "Just, finished my work on my pet and it'll be done in thirteen hours. You can start your testing without me if you want to."

He nodded, returning to a halberd he was working on.

"Another thing," I said. He stopped, looking in my direction. "How would I go about giving my pet some time out of the base? I don't think it's good for their emotional health if all they are always cooped up at the house or at base."

"You're too untrained for patrol," he said. "Even light. Best bet, Crises Points. It's a program we do with hospitals for youths that are at risk of triggering. They get to meet a superhero, you talk to them, make them feel better. Your pets might offer a form of therapy, but it would have to be something that's discussed with hospitals beforehand."

"Thanks," I said. "I'll do the leg work myself."

He nodded and returned to his work. I left, taking a long walk through the tinker floor. There were only three of us but there were a lot more rooms, most of them devoted to testing the technology that Armsmaster and Kid Win built. Somewhere there was a room where Armsmaster's iteration of my stasis ball was being tested. If he'd gotten around to working on it.

I pulled out my phone, quickly sending a message to the right people and I got an answer on that front pretty quickly. I'd need a costume because even though hospitals weren't usually attacked by villains, it was better to be cautious.

Costumes were a big deal and I didn't think that the Crises Point thing would come out quickly. But I needed to be patient, think of something else to bond with them.

"Do you want to go running?" I asked Hondour. "I know it was part of your training, but—"

He barked, excited. I smiled and we went up to the training room, to the treadmills only to stop because Sophia was there in her Shadow Stalker garb, using the same machine I used for dodging practise as target practise. She had three machines running; two were trying to fire at her while the third was firing in the air. She spent her time dodging, shifting in and out of her shadow state, and firing at the balls that flew through the air.

She hit more than she missed.

She was dangerous but I'd neutered her.

"Come on, Hondour," I said, maybe a little too loud. "Let's start running. We'll need to build up stamina for when we start going on patrol."

Hondour gave an excited bark. Shadow Stalker faltered a little, not shifting fast enough into her shadow state and a series of the balls hitting her. I kept my attention on her as she hissed, making sure she didn't try firing one of those arrows in my direction, though I doubted she would do something that stupid.

I felt relieved, though, when she left. I focused back on Hondour and how happy he was as we ran together.

888

Riolu and Croagunk were on the roof. Riolu was meditating, eyes closed and facing the ocean, while Croagunk lay on his back watching the sky, doing his croaking thing but not inlaying any of his power in them.

I joined them, putting my phone away and doing nothing, watching the water and as much as I could see it and then turning to watch the city as night fell.

"Beautiful night," Aegis said, disturbing us. I hadn't even noticed him coming in. He was dressed in his full costume and it looked like he came from the city.

"Yeah," I said.

He landed, taking a seat. He made to brush Riolu but she growled and he pulled back. Croagunk gave his wheezing chuckle.

"I'm surprised you're up here. Me and the others were talking and we thought we might have to stage an intervention with you and Kid Win," he said. "You two have been holed up in your labs too much."

"Sorry, I've just had a lot of energy and I've been using it to tinker," I said.

"I noticed. These guys are growing," he said, letting out a small chuckle. I smiled at that, though I didn't entirely feel it, it just reminded me that I'd been remiss in other duties.

Silence. It wasn't uncomfortable. At least I didn't think it was.

"You know," he said, disrupting it. "There aren't any hard feelings." I looked at him. "About what you did to Shadow Stalker, throwing your weight around to get her benched. We sort of don't get all of it, but…triggers aren't things that sprout from happy memories so we sort of get you wanting to get her back. So if that's why you've been eating your own…"

"It's not," I said. At least I didn't think it was. "Like I said, I've been busy."

He nodded. "Heard Battery's sort of mentoring you," he said.

"Not in so many words, but she's been giving me advice. Helping me find out the sort of fighter I would have to be. But I haven't really had time to put my attention into all of it. It's something I'm going to be doing over the next few days."

"You know, I could help too," he said. "Offer variety in case you're ever up against someone who can fly."

Croagunk croaked, earning my attention. "He's saying you'd be easy compared to Battery."

"Is that right?" said Aegis. "Well, sir, I feel like defending my honour, now."

Croagunk croaked again. I translated, "Any time. It's sort of…like he doesn't care, like you're not worth his time. Like you'd be that easy."

"You know, its freaky that you can do that," he said. "Well…you and Vista. I'm sort of jealous."

"She can understand them too?" I said.

"Not all of them, but Dedenne and Pachirisu pretty well. Asked her how she does it so I can get if I'm pushing Pidgey too hard, but she just said it was a feeling. Like, how you can be so in tune with a pet that you can sort of tell what they're thinking. I think I might be at a disadvantage because I've never had a pet before, building regulations."

"Oh," I said. "Well, keep at it. Vista spends almost every day with Dedenne and Pachirisu, so it's got to be that."

He shrugged. "How are you with the pet shop, thing? Is that still something you're working towards?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Want to reserve a place on the waiting list," he said. "Kind of want to be the first people to have one. Know that my first pet was one a friend of mine made."

I pulled out my phone and created a list, put Aegis at the top of it.

"Carlos," he said. "My name."

I deleted Aegis and put instead Carlos.

"I'm Taylor."

"Good to properly meet you, Taylor."

My phone buzzed. "I'd better start getting home," I said. "I've been having too many late nights. Want to get an early night in."

He nodded. "Maybe see you tomorrow? We can eat together beyond chance meetings?"

"Yeah," I said.

I started back to my lab to pack up before I stopped.

"Do you want to go home with Pidgey?" I asked. I had too many pets and I was having trouble giving them individual attention. More often than not Pidgey spent his time with Aegis, they had a relationship even if I didn't know how far it spread. "He's small and wouldn't cause much of a fuss. I don't know if he'll agree, but it's worth asking."

"Yeah?" he said.

I nodded. Pidgey agreed after asking for my permission and I got the sense that he was happy even if he was hiding it under his usual serious façade. I felt another pang of guilt, but I had to remind myself that it was for his good and that I wasn't giving him away, just letting him spend the night with a friend.

I had a veritable entourage as I was getting into my ride home, with us sitting uncomfortably because there were just too many.

I made the mental note to start working on more stasis balls starting tomorrow, not to make more pets, even though my mind wanted to move in that direction, but to make sure that I could give those I had more freedom. Maybe go on a hike with all of them coming with me, a day together where we just enjoyed each other's company.

Yes, that would be the direction I went next.

Dad wasn't home yet, which meant dinner hadn't been done. I started going through it and Croagunk and Riolu helped, doing a majority of the chopping while I focused on getting everything together and watching my pot. I'd gotten in which meant it was late into the night when I was done and Dad still hadn't arrived.

I called him at work and the answer was immediate.

"Took you long enough," said Sophia.

Last edited: Jan 9, 2018

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ManMag

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Jan 9, 2018

#410

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3.7

"What—"

She interrupted me. "You have fifteen minutes to get to this hole your Dad calls an office," she said. "If you're late, I'll kill him. I catch a hit of the police or the Protectorate and PRT, the same treatment. Tick-tock."

She dropped the line.

Fuck.

My heart started to beat faster and the others around me noticed. Riolu jumped to my side while Croagunk inflated his cheeks, looking around. The others were acting too, Dedenne jumping on Hondour for protection, and Rattata and Pachirisu dropping, hiding. Caterpie was the only one who didn't move, looking confused even with how inexpressive her face was.

I'd known she was angry but I hadn't known it was this bad. I didn't know that I'd pushed her this far.

"Follow," I said and I left the house, starting to run. My mind didn't want to work, my heart was beating too fast and I was scared. A part of me knew that this was stupid, my pets out in the open like this without me wearing a mask, but my father was in danger and I had to save him.

How. You're running. You don't expect to get there in time, do you?

Movers. I pulled out my phone and sent text to the Protectorate. Shadow Stalker had warned me against doing that, but it made no sense that I not. Whatever the case, good or bad, she would be at the disadvantage if there were more people there. If she hurt my Dad, then everyone would be positioned to keep her in place.

I wrote in that they should track me with my phone and that they shouldn't try to call me because I knew what they would try to do. They would tell me to stay in place, but I didn't think I could do that, take that chance.

But you're still not going to reach the place in time.

I put called for a cab, slowing down so that the person on the other side could hear me. I told him that I was in a rushing and I told him where I was going, the route I was moving and that he should try to intercept me along those lines. I dropped the line when he agreed, putting more effort into running faster.

There was a thwip and flash of pain, something slicing through my hand and through my phone. I stumbled to a stop, Riolu helping me so that I didn't lose my footing. My pets had stopped, most looking in one direction. I did the same and I saw her, standing on the roof of a house, a dark figure against the lighter darkness, her cloak billowing and a crossbow held at her side.

Fuck. It'd been a trick. She wasn't with my Dad and she'd guessed that I would call. She'd made me send the forces of the Protectorate to Dad while she attacked me.

She raised her crossbow and fired. Riolu jumped, spinning and kicked. I heard the clink of metal against the road. A look with the corner of my eye and I could see it was one of her crossbow bolts.

She was actually trying to kill me.

She fired again, a series of bolts in quick succession. Riolu and Croagunk moved forward, each batting back the bolts before they could hit.

"We're moving," I said and I started running, trusting that Riolu and Croagunk would cover my back while I moved. She'd taken away my phone and that was the first thing I had to get back.

I started running towards a house.

"Rat, quick," I said and pointed for the door. Rattata didn't hesitate, running forward and crashing through the door. I saw lights flare and I didn't care that I was breaking and entering because the alternative was death.

Except if the owners have a gun, a part of me chimed in.

"Fuck," I said. "Be on the lookout for anyone with a gun. Shadows, disarm if they do," I said in quick order, getting into the house. I glanced and Riolu and Croagunk were no longer trying to parry her bolts but were running into the house.

Why?

I didn't pay attention to it, moving through the house until I found a phone on the bottom floor. I picked it up and heard a voice, "…sir. Make sure you're away from it all, we're sending—"

"I'm the intruder," I said. "I'm a cape. I'm being attacked by another cape. Please tell the Protectorate. It's—"

The phone stopped working and I could see that a bolt had pierced it. I looked around, looking to my pets and they were as surprised as I was. Shadow Stalker wasn't in the room with us, she wasn't anywhere I could see and yet she'd managed to fire a bolt and make it land.

Okay. Okay. Okay. What are her powers?

She can turn into shadow that can move through stuff, her gear could do the same thing. She didn't necessarily have to be in the room to fire at me and hit, she just needed to know where I was. As bad as thing had been when she could see me, at least then I could see her too, at least then my pets could see her.

"Out," I said. Short. Simple. I started running and the others followed. She didn't fire, which I didn't get, but I didn't have the mental capacity to answer it.

I started running away from the house, choosing to go in the direction I'd been going in the first place. She didn't have enhanced speed so if I managed to find and get into the cab, or any car for that matter, she would be hard pressed to keep trying to kill me.

"Watch," I said and I hoped it was enough, that they would get that they should be on the lookout. But then it was a simple order, especially with context.

I caught sight of a very dark patch of darkness and I stopped. It was a good thing because it moved. Riolu had spotted it too because she was in front of me and stopping another bolt. Croagunk acted next, firing his gobs of slime in her direction. They didn't do anything, only passing through her. She kept firing.

"Phase Two," I said. Pachirisu moved away from me and so did Hondour who was carrying Dedenne and Caterpie.

Hondour was faster, getting a little closer and Shadow Stalker devoted herself to pointing her crossbow in his direction. She was about to fire when Pachirisu made a sound; she faltered, looking in Pachirisu's direction only to instantly snap back towards Hondour's contingent when it made a similar sound.

Her crossbow dropped a fraction under the onslaught, and Croagunk used that distraction to run forward, closing the distance between them. The same hesitation that she'd had against firing at Pachirisu and Hondour she seemed to lose when she was faced with Croagunk. She shifted out of her shadow state and fired. Croagunk stopped, batting aside the bolts but he wasn't fast enough and one of them managed to get through, slicing his side.

"Bolt, range," I shouted, feeling the cold anger coursing through me. There was one pet who had the capability and the training for the command; Pachirisu's cheeks arced and then she fired. It would lose power with how far Pachirisu was, but it would be a hit that worked in our favour.

Shadow Stalker must have heard the crackling because she glanced in Pachirisu's direction and, going counter to what I thought, slipped out of her shadow state as she dodge. The bolt forked, turning and hitting her even as she dodged and she let out a whimper, but she wasn't incapacitated.

She landed in a roll, came to her feet and pointed her crossbow at Pachirisu who was already running for cover. She didn't manage to get the shot in because Rattata acted, moving and slamming into Shadow Stalker's legs, sending her spinning heels-over-head. She shifted into shadow, controlling how she fell and firing towards me before she landed.

Riolu managed to slap the bolts aside before she they could hit me.

Shadow Stalker landed, turning solid, leaping and then turning into shadow again. The leap seemed to send her higher than it should have, maybe weightlessness because she didn't have weight.

She was getting distance because she was losing. I had too many creatures out and I'd managed to land a hit. I'd stopped and a part of me wanted to keep running, but I didn't. This was the best place to be. I could see her which meant she could fire but she wouldn't hit.

It was now only a matter of time before anyone arrived and she'd be on the back foot.

She spent a moment on the roof and then she sunk, disappearing into the house.

"Fuck."

It would make things harder because we'd have to be looking over a wider area. I didn't think her power allowed her to go underground, but I didn't know and it sure as hell was possible. She could be using the cover to get closer so we didn't have time stop her bolts.

"Taunt!" I said, even though it was inviting trouble.

Croagunk croaked but nothing happened. Did it need line of sight or was it a distance thing?

I pushed it aside. It hadn't worked and that was what mattered. I had nothing to do at this point but wait. And so I did, making sure that my pets were looking in every direction so that she couldn't hit from an unexpected angle.

A minute passed without activity. A part of me wanted to relax but that might be her trap, lulling me into a false sense of security so she could have an easier time hitting me.

Aegis landed hard against the ground, a bird landing just after him. It was odd, similar to how I'd made Pidgey but it was too big, with extra features. It circled close overhead like Pidgey often did and I could see that the others were reacting to it, shifting in their formation to sounds that it made.

"Is she still here?" he asked, voice hard.

"I don't know," I said. "Last I saw her she was sinking into that house."

"Probably ran," he said. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Croagunk was hit. Is my Dad—"

"We found him bound and gagged," he said. "But he's fine. She didn't hurt him." He put his hand at his ear. "She's fine. Shadow Stalker's ran, I think, but to be safe I'll be sticking close." He looked around and I did too, more than one set of lights were on and I could see the shadows of people. "I'll take you up, less. Let's not risk someone getting a picture."

I nodded, letting him take me into the sky.

888

"I knew she was angry, but—"

"It's not your fault," said Dad. He was calmer than I thought he should be, but then I hadn't really ever seen Dad angry.

"I pushed her—"

"It's not your fault," he said again. "You didn't plan this, you didn't attack. She did that."

"But I played a part in it," I said. "I was…I was happy that I did that to her, that I took away something she loved."

"Some people love killing," he said. "Would you feel guilty about taking that away from them?" I shook my head. "Like you said, Shadow Stalker was violent. She was using being hero as a sort of release, we saw the person she really was today when she didn't have that release."

"You could have been hurt," I said. "Could have—"

"It's still not your fault," he said. "That's on her." He took me into a half hug. "I'm okay. Things will be sorted. Brockton Bay only so big and they'll find her before she can do something else. We'll be safe and she'll be behind bars."

I let out a sigh. "I'm scared that that's not true," I said. "She was able to plan so that she wasn't caught. She's smart, Dad, she played everything, played me, played—"

"She had outside help," said a woman, interrupting. She was on the short side, overweight. I hadn't met her but she met the description of Director Piggot I'd been given. "One of two people that could allow her to do what she did. Leet or Squealer."

"She was working with villains?" said Dad.

"We think it's a recent thing," she said. She walked into the room and took a seat. "We think it might have been because of your daughter's proposition."

"If you're going to pin this on her," said Dad and there was heat in his voice. I could feel that he was only a word from rising to his full height.

"No, Mr Hebert," she said, calm. "Trying to draw a picture. We had a thinker watching the meeting and he noted that Shadow Stalker was feeling intense amounts of anger directed at your daughter."

"Why didn't you do anything, then? Why didn't you have more thinkers maybe precogs look into her, see what she would do?" I said the words in quick order. "She could have killed me. Killed my Dad."

"Minority Report," the Director said.

"Oh," said Dad.

I frowned. "What?"

"It's a movie that—"

"I know what it is," I said, interrupting the Director. Whether she liked the interruption or not, I couldn't tell. "But what does it have to do with anything?"

"It sparked discussion about thinker powers," said Dad. "It resonated with a lot of people, that with thinker powers being a reality, things could reach the same state as Minority Report. People being arrested for crimes they would commit."

"It was decided, then, that thinker powers couldn't be used as a basis for arrest," the Director continued, "the same being said for other avenues of powers. But it could be used to prepare. If a thinker said a person was likely to commit a crime, then the right people could use that as a tip and be on the lookout.

"We did the same here. We kept an eye out on Shadow Stalker's behaviour, we monitored her movements to make sure she didn't go out and hurt herself or anyone else. But between yesterday and tonight, something must have happened, being in contact with the right people, that she was able to slip out of her ankle monitor, something only a tinker would help her do."

I let out a sigh. "Is there any chance of catching her?" I asked.

"We don't think she'll leave town," the Director said, "and with there only being so many places to go, it's only a matter of time."

"What about exposure?" I asked. "I fought without a mask."

"That's going to be a slower process to figure out," she said. "It was night, which works in your favour, but the wrong sort of word might pass that'll mean civilians know you're a cape."

"Is there anything we can do about that?" Dad asked.

"Until we know more? No," she said. "I'd advice going back home so that it lessens suspicion, though we won't know how much that will help. Ms Hebert, I'd keep the creatures of yours that can manipulate electricity close. Shadow Stalker has shown to have a weakness against it. In case she manages to slip through our countermeasures."

I nodded.

The Director stood about to leave before she stopped. "Your creature triggered," she said.

"I think he did," I said.

She gave me a long look before she left.

"Can we not go home?" I said. "I know it would be better in the long term, but—"

Dad stopped me. "We can stay here for the night."

Last edited: Jan 9, 2018

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Threadmarks Shade: Interlude

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Jan 9, 2018

#440

Shade

Interlude

He sat in his office looking over a variety of files, the one in front of him were grades of metal, their strengths and, most importantly, their costs.

"Calvert," she said. He was already at his feet, moving to pull her chair for her. The scowl though, stuck him in place. He gave her an easy smile that he could tell just grated her.

"Formalities?" he said, sitting as she sit and raising a hand, getting one of the waiter's attention. "We went through hell together, albeit indirectly, but the sentiment is the same. The least that could do is put us on a first name basis."

"Cut the jokes," she said. To anyone else she would have sounded as though she was calm, as though she felt nothing. But he knew her in a way no one else ever would. Her eyes were harrowed, a few strands of her hair loose from the bun. She seemed tired.

He shrugged. Interested in it all. They hadn't spoken since Ellisburg all those years. Even in his capacity as a consultant he only ever spoke to the Deputy Director when he was in Brockton Bay. That she was had called this meeting now…

"You called me here," he said. "I don't want to say I'm a very busy man, but…"

She took her time, taking a pitcher of water, slowly pouring it and drinking down a glass of water. A stalling tactic, maybe trying to calm herself.

She was spooked.

He pushed the paperwork in front of him in neat pile and sat forward, paying attention.

"What would you do if you knew all that you know now, back then?" she said, her composure lost as she ground out the words.

"I'm not sure I understand," he said.

"I mean, Nilbog," she said. "When he was still Rinke. What would you do if you knew what would happen? What would you do differently?"

"I think you already know the answer," he said. He'd lost a lot from that day, but it was nothing against what he'd gained. It hadn't been too long after that the right people had come to him, offering him power.

If he did anything to jeopardize that.

"But we can't say that, can we," the man said, talking to himself.

There was an image here. He was a bastard and she knew this, but she didn't know everything that he was doing, everything that he had planned.

He motioned with his hand, shaping it into a gun and then bending his thumb to show it going off.

"Do we have another one on our hands? Another one of those…freaks?"

The flinch was subdued, but it was nonetheless there.

"We have two," she said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a folder and a pen. He opened the folder and pulled out a piece of paper, reading through it before jotting down a quick signature. "One has been active for a while and they're not worth thinking about, but the other…Have you ever wondered how he did it? How he was able to amass an army without us noticing?"

A sense of discomfort felt across iterations.

"I try not to think about that day," he said. It wasn't the deaths of the others, but his own and how it had been so close. He hadn't had the same measure of security then that he had now, part of why he wouldn't want to change it all.

"Unfortunately that can't be true for me," she said.

"Of course not. You work for them. How can it be?"

She shook her head. "That's become easy, now. I understand them even if I don't entirely like them," she said. "What worries me is this. Every day I get a report of another creature in my city, so close to home that it brings everything to the surface. I think back and when I consider this, I feel like the threat might be even stronger than Nilbog."

He sat back.

He stared into the opposite wall, his eyes not even seeing the painting he'd put there.

He stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate.

"What's worse," she continued, "I'm the one providing resources. My hands are tied because I keep thinking that I can't screw this up. I can't just…make the threat disappear without collateral damage."

"I think," he said even as his mind worked, considering. "That that might be the right thing to do. Just…ending the threat, dealing with the collateral damage as it comes. It'll surely be better than if you leave the threat to gestate."

"Thing is, they aren't a threat," she said. "They're just…they're just a child and I keep thinking that if I do everything correctly, then there won't be a bad end. But there's thing after thing. They're fine and then they're having a second trigger and then…" She stopped. "You understand, of course, that if you use any of this information then I'll use all the power I have to ruin you."

He nodded. He believed her.

"They were attacked by another of the Wards," she said.

The pieces clicked, things that he had been working on in case they would be of any use. He picked up his phone, there was a ring and it was picked up.

"Shadow Stalker," he said. "She did something. She's likely to be amicable to asylum. Contact Tattletale, direct her towards the safe house you'll be housing Shadow Stalker, have her start getting everything she can."

"You think that might be the final straw?" he said.

"I don't know," she said, "and that scares me. I've had a thinker keeping eye on them, but that has its own troubles. Sometimes I feel like this is a lot of work, a lot of juggling."

"You could just quit," he said, shrugging.

"We both know I wouldn't be able to do that," she returned. "Now more than ever."

"I'm…not sure what you want from me," he said. "What you expect when you're not going to take the most obvious answer."

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe I wanted to hear you say that so I knew the thing not to do."

"Or maybe it was something else," he said and he sounded cavalier now. He sat forward, giving her a hard look. "Maybe this was something you wanted me to know so that I could do what you're afraid of doing. Putting a bullet through their head before they have one final bad day that will affect us all."

She was quiet for a long moment.

"Maybe," she said. "This was illuminating, Calvert."

"It was," he said and the world broke apart into the thoughts of a man sitting in his office. He stood and left his office.

He sat and picked up his phone. "Cancel calling Tattletale," he said. He returned to looking over the work that would be done for a brute of unknown strength.

Men were at his side as he left his office, both with concealed guns on their persons. He looked at the woman at the receptionist desk.

"You'll call when Shadow Stalker's in the safe house," he said. "My phone. I'm going on a drive."

The woman nodded.

888

"Female," said Tattletale. "Same age. They know each other…they went to the same school."

Shadow Stalker fought against her restraints but it was futile. Men were at the ready to fire Tasers at her if she slipped into her shadow state. He stood, watching.

"The girl's a tinker. She can make animals with powers. She's very good at it and she's been churning out at least one a day. Shadow Stalker wanted to show the other girl that she was stronger but she lost. She ran because she knew the tinker could have wiped the floor with her."

"Say that to me without the Tasers you bitch," said Shadow Stalker, her voice raw. The last thirty minutes Tatttletale had been digging into her, tearing into the girl to lower her defences enough that she could pull out the right sort of information.

"Can you get me a name?" he asked.

"Not with my power no," said Tattletale. "I've been using it some trying to work out a job. I'm spent. But I know that you can find out. She made it public, attacked the tinker in her civvies."

Then that would make her a toxic element. He made the mental note that Shadow Stalker not be traced back to him or his more useful assets or the game would change, he would have every villain and hero after him since they'd think he had a hand in it.

"I think if I you look, you'll find something," she said. She grinned as she looked at him and her grin was on his mind as the world broke apart, becoming the thoughts of a man who was playing golf.

He swung and the ball tore through the air.

He wavered, almost falling. He took a hold of his head.

"Are you okay?" Michael said.

"Just a dizzy spell," he said. "And it's not the first time. I'm sorry but I might have to forfeit. Get checked in case it's worse than it seems."

"Yes. Yes," said Michael. "You should."

They left and he returned to work. There was a lot of plans that needed to be made, things that needed to be reconsidered. He had to consider, though, if this tinker was an asset or if they would be a liability in the future.

He won the game and managed to get Michael as a supplier. The goods would be cheaper, than he would have been able to get with his previous supplier. Overall, the day had been good.

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Threadmarks Pursuit: 4.1

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Jan 14, 2018

#476

Pursuit

4.1

One thing at a time.

It was the early hours of the morning and I felt like I'd gotten enough sleep. Now I needed to do.

Dad and I had been given room with two beds and he was still asleep, with some of my pets strewn over him though he didn't look like he minded. As I quietly as I could, though not quietly because Pidgey was instantly awake from his roost, keen eyes on me.

"Just going to the lab," I whispered. "You can go back to sleep if you want to."

Pidgey ruffled his feathers, gave his wings a few flaps and in the process he woke up Caterpie. The caterpillar looked at me expectantly.

"Come on then," I said. She'd been hanging on the roof by a silk thread, at my words she cut it with her teeth, curled into a ball and landed feet first. She started moving in my direction and climbed onto my back. "Heavy," I muttered.

Pidgey hopped towards us and whispered a sound. Caterpie jumped off of me and landed on Pidgey's back. By the time that this was done, Hondour had also woken up.

"Let's go before we disturb the others," I said. We left and I was surprised as I walked that there were a few people up and about, talking to each other in hushed tones and generally looking tired. Working the night shift must suck.

"You know," I said. "I think you deserve a new name." Pidgey kept pace with me even though I must have been moving so slow compared to his larger wing span, and he moved too far with each flap that it had to be a combination of powers and physics. "Pidgey, it sounds so small now that I look at you. Like you're a kid."

Pidgey gave me a shrug.

"How do you like the name Pidgeotto?"

Another shrug.

We kept walking, descending and then moving to the tinker floor. I walked into my lab, looked at the progress of my new pet and counted a few more hours before it would be complete. Caterpie jumped off of Pidgeotto, shot a thread of silk that connected to the ceiling and used that to swing onto the table that had her leaves. She started eating.

Hondour curled into a ball and slept where I would be working and Pidgeotto found a new perch and he didn't take his eyes off of me.

I sat down and let out a breath. My power gave me the clearest sight of another pet, but before I could, the urge to create another one overwhelmed me. I pushed the image to the side. I didn't need a new pet, my existing pets had protected me as much as they were able with the limited training I'd given them. If I made anymore, then it would increase the numbers I have, but play havoc on coordination.

I needed to work on getting the pets that I had at a better position and most importantly, I needed to do the same for myself. In almost all of the fight with Sophia I had been a standing target, just waiting for her to shoot while my pets protected me. I needed to know what I would do if my pets weren't there to protect me.

First was an offensive weapon of my very own. Most of the supplies I had on hand were geared towards making weapons, but then most tinkers defaulted on it. For the first time I had to push my power into giving me something to work on, but it eventually acquiesced. I let myself get lost in it, my body being controlled by my power and with me working to refine the ideas.

My main target was Sophia and that meant electricity. My power gave me an idea of a gun that short a stream of electricity, but when I looked at this in detail I found that the option would be more than lethal. I pulled back and the idea changed, instead a stream the gun would now shoot slow moving balls of electricity and they would detonate outwards as they tapered off.

I made it so the gun could use an external shock of electricity to charge itself, which meant keeping either Pachirisu or Dedenne close, likely the latter because I didn't feel comfortable using the him as a fighter.

When the gun was done, my power gave me an animal that might have made the job better: A dog-like pet that would generate electricity through motion, also using this jolt to get faster.

I pushed the image back, instead going down a few floors to find a sleeping man in a lab coat. I gave him the gun and specifications, how it worked, how I'd built it and that sort of thing and he told me I'd get it back by the afternoon it if had been approved.

Onto the next task. Shadow Stalker could be anywhere, which meant I had to build another stasis ball.

I sat down and got through it, reading over the notes I'd made of the first stasis ball when my power chose to make things I little harder. I couldn't help the mental image that my power was telling me that more pets would be the way to go, but it was wrong in this case. More pets meant my attention being spread more and that meant there was a greater chance of me doing something stupid.

I needed a unit go-to unit. One that knew how to fight, which strategy to use and how to change that strategy with me giving the shortest possible commands. I already had something with my current pets. They were the safest option until Shadow Stalker was caught and I didn't have to worry about attempts on my life.

My door hissed open as I was working. I turned and it was Armsmaster.

"Burning the midnight oil?" he said.

I nodded. "Shadow Stalker might attack again," I said. "I'm making sure I can defend myself if things don't go too well."

"Building another of your pets?" he asked, voice without tone.

"No. Built a gun and it's gone for testing," I said. "I'm building more stasis balls, though they'll be more for containment. Keeping my pets close in case…"

He nodded. "Smart thinking," he said. "We will catch her, though," he said. "Trust that it's one of our highest priorities."

I nodded. "Sure," I said. "Were you here for something specific?" He inclined his head towards my stasis ball. I glanced at my watch. "Should be a few minutes before she's done."

"I know," he said. We didn't talk. I kept working, stopping at the three beeps of completion. I moved on over to the computer, looking over the code to make sure everything was in order before I felt comfortable enough to move on over to the ball and press it.

A beam of red light flew out and in started to congeal into a pet that was about as tall as I was, larger in size because it was slightly rotund and, when the process had finished, pink.

Audino, even with how large she was, was standing on the tips of her toes in one of the stances that was sure had a name in ballet circles. She twirled once stopping when her eyes set on me. She gave the most excited squeal before she rushed forward and engulfed me in a tight, yet still comfortable, hug and twirling me in the air.

She put me down, frowned and then started running her hands through the air as though drawing something. Between one point and the other, a ball of light sparked into life, getting larger and larger the more she moved until she pushed it forward and it hit me. At once I felt warmth, and comfort, and contentment, and ease and a range of other emotions that left me with what I was sure was a dopey grin on my face.

I moved and I felt lighter, as though my body had been heavily beaten before and I hadn't noticed it. Small things that must have caused an unconscious strain suddenly gone.

Audino looked towards Armsmaster.

"No," he said, tone terse.

Audino frowned at that but she didn't move any further. She started to hum, going over to her brother and sisters, talking to them in her humming voice. She didn't feel the need to heal them as she'd healed me, though she did give Hondour a belly rub she enjoyed to no measure.

"She'll need to be tested," said Armsmaster.

"Yeah," I said. "For your comfort, but I trust her," I said. Audino looked my way and gave me a very large smile, bowing again with the grace of one who'd been a ballerina for many years. "Can you go check the others? We were in a fight…"

She gasped at that, hands going to her mouth and then her expression changed, urging.

"Pidgeotto," I said. "You're the fastest. You want to lead her to the others?" Pidgeotto shook his head, not moving. "Hondour, you don't mind, do you?"

She slowly got up, stretched and then left.

"Faster if you call Panacea," I said. "The testing."

Armsmaster nodded. He left, leaving me with Pidgeotto and Caterpie. Pidgeotto took that moment to fly off his perch, grabbing the stasis ball and then dropping it over me to catch. He flew lower and pressed his beak into the ball.

"You want me to keep you close?"

He nodded.

"Okay," I said. I pressed the ball and it popped open, he was bathed in its light and then the ball took him in.

"We were flying towards you," Aegis had said. "We were given your location as you moved, but you're on the other side of town, even moving fast it wouldn't be instantaneous. Then we got told that your signal dropped and quickly after that there were capes fighting.

"Pidgey sort of jumped off me, tried to fly faster on his own but he couldn't. I outpaced him. I tried taking him so we could go together when he turned into light, morphing, getting bigger and then he'd changed. Getting bigger, faster, stronger. He grabbed me and then we started flying faster."

He'd triggered as much as I could guess.

I put him on the pad and checked over his code. It was different though I could still read it, but it was scary because it looked like changes I would make, extensions on the fundamentals so that the essential elements that made him him wouldn't be lost. But in it all was added musculature, added speed and added powers I hadn't even implanted on him.

The same parts that made up the brains of capes, but different. How different and what did that mean? Could my other pets trigger and would they change as well? Why had he changed when the others hadn't? Could it be a personality thing? Did he care about me more than the others?

Too many questions and I didn't even have an idea how to go about answering them.

"Thoughts for some other time," I said. I stood, getting back to work, finishing my second stasis ball and starting work on my third.

888

"Hey," I said.

"Hello," Panacea returned. Audino was in front of her, bringing to life another ball of light. She pushed it forward and it hit a woman who'd injured her leg in something or other, Panacea had her hand on the woman. "Healed," she said when the woman's expression had slipped into dopey.

"Everything's healed, even minor muscle issues that were genetic," she said. "There's…also some other stuff. Um…" She was blushing. "This is will be intrusive, but can I?" she said to me.

I nodded and held out a hand. She took it and then nodded.

"Can I do the same to you?" she said to another female trooper. The woman offered her hand. "Audino, I want you to note the differences between Taylor, me, I guess, and her," she said, gesturing towards the trooper.

Audino stood moved to each of us in turn, looking in our eyes as though that was how her ability worked and then looked expectantly at Panacea.

"What you…fixed, was a natural thing that's happens," she said. "You'll note differences and I think you'll be able to get the theme between it all. Who has what, the range, that sort of thing. This spreads out across genders and ethnicities and all other sort of circumstances that you have to pay attention to. Some stuff is worth fixing, but some others…not so much. You have to be able to judge which parts of them people will want changed."

Audino gave a nod, her face now serious.

"Next we'll test missing limbs," Armsmaster said, when he judged that Panacea's lesson had abated.

She looked in my direction and hummed, a serious edge with each stop of the hum, all of her serious.

"Not going to work," I said. "It might need additional biomatter."

Audino gave a nod, giving me a hug for getting what she'd been saying across. I felt a smile slip onto my expression despite that I wasn't a hugger. This seemed to fuel her because she started spinning with me held in her arms.

"Okay, okay," I said, chuckling. "You're making me dizzy."

She gave me another hug before she put me down. Even with the additional biomatter it didn't work.

"I think her power is less bio-manipulation like me," Panacea said when it was just her, Armsmaster and me, "and more general fixes. She sees what's wrong and coaxes the body into fixing it. But she's working within the limits of the body. What I'm doing is twisting things, for lack of a better phrase. I'm changing the additional biomatter to something close to human and then reattaching it."

"She might be able to reattach a limb," said Armsmaster.

She nodded. "I think so, yes. It's just urging the body, coaxing the parts to meld. She doesn't have to twist anything."

He looked at me. "As much of an asset as Audino is," he said. "We'll have to take things slow, go by procedure. Decide how all of this is going to work, pitch it to the Director and see if anyone down the line has anything they're afraid of before we roll it up."

I shrugged. "Thought that might be what's going to happen," I said. I gave Panacea a look. The same was true for her and her expression was set in determination.

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ManMag

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Jan 14, 2018

#477

Pursuit

4.2

New Cape in Brockton Bay?

Shadow Stalker connected to forceful entry?

"…and then there was a crash," the man said. "My door being broken down. I heard another voice on my line and it was a girl, maybe a teenager. She said she was being attacked and she wanted the Protectorate to help her and that was before the line dropped. I know it was stupid, but I looked out of the window and I saw Shadow Stalker fighting with a girl without a costume."

"It was crazy," it was a boy, a teenager that was maybe a year younger. "Like, the new cape had all these animals around her. I couldn't see them clearly, but I the ones I could see were this frog and dog that were about the size of children? They were fighters. Like damn they could fight.

"I guess Shadow Stalker kept firing at the other cape because they kept blocking these things I couldn't see. Then something hit Shadow Stalker, I think it might have been a rat, but that might be wrong. Another thing, it was white, shot lightning? And then Shadow Stalker sort of ran."

A picture with a dog but it wasn't a normal dog, on it were mouse and large caterpillar. Another that was blurry shapes, though one of them was clearly human.

"It was only one night," I said.

"It was loud," said Jeremy, speaking louder and with a large smile on him. "Exciting." I shot him a dark look but he looked a lot more scared of Dad than me, most likely the he had the same dark look but his was more powerful.

"To them, at least," he quickly amended. "They're clamouring for information. Finding out what happened, what lead to it, who the new cape is and what her powers are. It's pushed us towards action."

"Pushed me to finally coming here," I muttered, sitting in a rather comfortable chair in the Image Department.

"Yes," he said, still with that excitement, with that energy. "We only have a few hours before people are bursting at the seams, wanting to know more and we have to be there to provide. That means in that short time we need to discuss costume and name. Then we have to think about the narrative we're going to paint."

"Why is costume and name more important?" Dad asked.

"Because if we don't give people that, then they'll really start looking," he said. "We have something of an agreement with news media outlets. They don't let out information that could jeopardize a hero's civilian identity, but in return we have to give them something."

"You've already received word about people that can trace this back to Taylor?" Dad said, voice hollow.

Jeremy nodded, missing this entirely. "So we have to move fast. We have one place that's already been able to make the connection and they spoke to us, seeing if she might be a hero. We said we'd given them more by the end of the day, which is why we're here." He focused back on me. "So, have you thought of a name?"

"Yeah," I said and his excited smile dropped.

"Okay. What were you thinking?"

"Clockblocker sold me on the whole gods thing," I said. "Made me start thinking in that direction. I sort of settled on Phobos. He's the god of the fear of battle, which sort of is the theme that I want and how I'll be fighting, attacking people on an emotional level, unsettling them. Making them scared at the thought of fighting me."

"Fear?" he said, slowly shaking his head. "That's bad. You're a Ward, it's important to have light colours. I was thinking something more airy, how does Queen Mother, sound?"

"Queen Mother?"

"Ruler and mother to her progeny," he said, his excitement starting to pick up. "I was thinking blue and yellow and white as your colours, a—"

"No dress," I said. "What you're saying gives me a mental image of an incarnation of Cinderella I saw once. Not something I want. I want…something utilitarian. A costume with armoured panels, comfortable shoes that I can run in, a belt to keep my stasis balls and my gun. But that's the stuff that I've thought about so far, what I want to carry with me might get larger."

"Okay," he said. "We can work on that. First, your…animals?"

"My pets," I said.

"Yes, your pets, they are too close in picture to something else," he said. He started rifling through his tablet and then turned it over, showing me a monster of giant monstrous creatures that I knew were the work of Hellhound. She'd been the one to give me the idea of eventually Hondour as a mount.

"A very easy comparison to make since you're in the same city," he said. "They'll jump to the easiest label they can, a label they've already started attaching to them on sites like PHO: Monster."

"They're not—"

"Yeah," he said, interrupting me. "We know that, and that's because most of us have gotten the opportunity to know them. They haven't, which means we have to prime them beforehand. So I'm thinking, making it cute, work off of the whole monster idea but make it so people have a fluffy image in their minds. We call them pocket monsters, or…Pokémon."

I groaned. "That sounds so cheesy," I said. "So cheesy that I wouldn't be surprised if Mouse Protector had suggested it."

"You think?" he said. I frowned at that. "Mouse Protector is a genius of image. She's one of the most beloved heroes when not taking into account the powerhouses. It's been tested and everyone who isn't a teenager cite her as the hero they would like guiding them through a crises."

"Oh," I said. "My go-to reaction is to say no." I sighed. "But…the alternative is scary. I feel like people's hitch reactions is fear and my power leads to a lot of dark places. Pokémon it is."

He grinned. "For your stasis balls…Poke balls," he said. "And I thought adding some colour into them. Make them a variety of colours so—"

"No. Making them colours means the villains will know which of my pets…Pokémon," I said, because he'd put on an expectant expression, "I'm going to use. They'll all be the same colour with only me being the only one who knows which one will hold which Pokémon."

"I can work with that," he said. "Red and white, perhaps. We could make it a visible affair, at least when you're doing PR. Throw the balls into the air, maybe add effects?" I shook my head at that last, the first would mean I would have to make adjustments, add some recoil so that it would hitch back to my general direction so I could catch it.

I'd also have to take up catching practise.

He kept speaking and I listened. He was a lot like my power, giving me ideas to work off of and I would follow the general thread, fix where it needed to be fixed and then moved on. Much like my power he moved so fast that there were places where I might have slipped, but he was less large than the things I regularly worked with and I mostly caught the places where there might be something I might not like.

"And I think I've got it," he said, turning over his tablet.

Layers: A skin tight costume and a skirt, which I didn't like but I'd given Jeremy that. I had a red belt that had my gun at one side and the red and white sta—Poke balls on the other. The shoes had notes on them that said 'comfortable' and 'running.' There was a shirt with the red and white of the Poke balls and a jacket that had the rough outline of Dedenne sticking out of it.

Then there was the face where I'd received the largest amount of resistance: A gas mask covering the lower half of my face, goggles and large headphone like things covering my ears. It definitely didn't give of the image of anyone cute, but looking at it, there wasn't the image I was shadow stalker too because it was bright colours. Going off of red and white, some minor blues in it all.

"Short," Jeremy started, "simple and it'll make think you're a thinker-master combo which works for us because it pulls people away from you being a tinker. Even if you might have tinker gear, that's not surprising. We'll just say it's Kid Win or Gallant that made the guns for you.

"Anyway," he said, shaking his head. "The name…"

He stopped because my phone had buzzed. I'd only made two exceptions of lines that would get through: Armsmaster and Panacea.

I looked and it was the latter.

I need a name, it was written. I scrolled down and I saw a Pokémon resembling Audino except it was less adorned, more utilitarian in a sense, and with an egg stuck in its stomach.

"I think," I started as I typed a name that felt right, "you might want to turn on the news. Panacea's about to steal the news week."

Jeremy did this while I looked at the name, then the Pokémon and it did feel right.

Chansey.

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Jan 14, 2018

#478

Pursuit

4.3

I'm about to say your name, what should I call you?

Phobos, I retuned, because even though Jeremy's suggestion had seemed great, a Greek word for coordinator, which I was how I fought. I still liked that small measure of fear, giving people pause before they gathered up the courage to fight me.

Call them Pokémon, I said. Our pets.

It wouldn't fit when I had my own pet shop, when I no longer needed the protection of the Protectorate, but that would likely be after the Wards and I would have the opportunity to rebrand myself. Losing the moniker of a hero and instead donning that of a rogue.

Maybe Shopkeeper. If I had enough clout, people would accept that name even it was slightly on the silly end.

"Hello," she said and she took a breath, shuffling some papers in front of her. Chansey stood at her left, her face without expression as she looked out at the crowd; Glory Girl was at her right, an equally serious expression on her as she looked at the crowd. Maybe scanning it.

"I am Panacea of New Wave," she said. "Known by others as the healer of Brockton Bay. You've likely started hearing news of the cape that appeared after an altercation with Shadow Stalker. She calls herself Phobos and she's a friend, a hero in the making who helped in part in creating something that will revolutionise health care.

"She creates animals that we've started calling Pokémon," she went on. "Animals with a range of abilities, but one I took a liking to. She calls it Audino and this Pokémon has the ability to heal almost any disease or injury. Using the blueprint for this Pokémon, I made my own and I'd like to introduce you to Chansey."

Chansey stepped forward a little and she bowed. I could see the same sort of grace that Audino had, but it was less showy in Chansey.

"Chansey is much like Audino, much like me in that she's a healer; she cares about people and making them better. And together, with more of her sisters down the line, we'll be working to make the world as a whole better. As of now we're still starting things off, figuring out the rules and regulations that will apply because Chansey is sentient, she has her own ambitions in much as she can have them, her own wants and needs and those need to be worked around. We're hoping to give you more updates as we learn more during the week. Thank you."

There were questions but she didn't answer. The three of them left without word, following after a procession of doctors and going into the hospital.

I was in a room with a lot of people and, those whose expressions I could see did not look happy.

"Did you know about this beforehand?" Armsmaster asked.

"Yeah," I said. I could see more than one pair of eyes looking in my direction and I could tell that expressions were being restrained. "We had a chat and she suggested a Pokémon that's a healer. She said she wanted something like this and we didn't think that it would be as fast as she wanted working with the Protectorate. She said she'd do this…"

"And you didn't think it was worth telling us?" said a man who I didn't know. He must have been important, he certainly talked like it.

"No," I said. There was a reaction to those words but I didn't really care. "You would have stopped it and I didn't think that was needed. Panacea had a good idea, she convinced me that it would be faster without the Protectorate and PRT, and since she's a member of New Wave I didn't think that I could tell her what to do and not do. I'm under Protectorate rules and created Audino within procedure."

"Do you know the greater scope of her plans?" the Director asked.

"She's going to give out her Pokémon to hospitals as fast as she can create them. I don't know her very well, but the little time I spent with her, I get the mental image that she might push everything else back for the next week until she can build them up."

"She won't just take the easy option?" said Armsmaster. "Make them able to reproduce?"

"No. I don't think she'll do that," I said. "I told her that would be more trouble than it's worth. Above all the other trouble that this is going to cause. She said she'll tread carefully."

The Director nodded. "Thank you, Phobos," she said. "I'll be sending you an e-mail after this meeting is over. It's going to be about the reasons why we have the procedures we do, why we discuss things and what insubordination of the kind you did is bad for the organisation as a whole. You'll be tested on it, so give it your full attention."

My punishment. I nodded.

"You can leave," she said.

I left.

"Did you get in any trouble?" Dad asked.

I made the so-so gesture. "I was given some grunt work that I'm sure will take all of my free time," I said. "But I can deal with that. It might help me figure out the Protectorate and the PRT better. See if I can't help Panacea if it's needed."

We walked. "So you're going to help her?" he asked.

"Panacea needs to realise something that I realised. That communication is important," I said. "I'm still not sure how I'll go about that, yet. But I've sort of got this working plan right now that I'll slowly wear down her defences until she lets something slip. Maybe then I'll be able to help her, if I can."

"My daughter," said Dad, a large smile plastered on him. "Cape Therapist."

I snorted. "What kind of therapist goes by Phobos?" I said.

"Hannibal?"

"I don't think that's the sort of person that I should be taking cues from," I said, smiling. "It might be too easy for me to get away with eating people. And I think some of my Pokémon might enjoy it too."

Dad was closing his eyes. "I'll choose to not think about that too much," he said. "You're using his term a lot. Panacea used it too."

"Pokémon?" He nodded. "I'm starting to cringe less and less the more times I say it. I'm desensitising myself to it."

"Money'll probably make it easier," he said. "I can already see the toys. Plush dolls in the forms of your Pokémon. Have you suggested that already?"

"No," I said. "Jeremy might like it though. But I have him working on my costume. I'd like him to focus on that as much as he can so I can start getting out. There's this Crises Points thing that I want to do, helping kids that were going through similar issues that I was, giving them comfort."

"Cape Therapist," Dad whispered. I bumped him with my shoulder and he gave me a one-armed hug. We walked like that and I wasn't really sure where we were going, but we were. I didn't pay attention to the fact that people were looking at us, maybe even talking about it.

I felt a buzz and we moved apart. It was my phone, a message from Jeremy. "They have a mock-up," I said. "I've got to get fitted so we can move onto the real expensive material."

"I should grab a bite," he said. "Then call the office, talking about missing work."

We parted.

888

Clockblocker extended a hand and I mirrored the motion without even realising it. He took my hand, holding it in a fist and then took me into those half hugs that guys loved.

"What's that about?" I asked. We detached and I took a sit beside Chris, taking the food he'd bought for me. There were usually lines at lunch and with Jeremy going off on some spiel about being disappointed in me, it had seemed like I wouldn't be able to get out even if I'd wanted to.

"You being like him," said Gallant.

"Not choosing the PG names that our overlords foist upon us," said Clockblocker. "You used the awesome name that we thought up and not whatever awful name they would have chosen."

"It was actually good," I said. "Made sense thematically and it wasn't all that bad. But I like the sort of atmosphere that Phobos calls to mind."

"How much time did Piggot give you?" Carlos asked.

"A read on procedure," I said, "and a test. I don't think she cared all that much about the name more me letting Panacea do what she did."

Gallant groaned. "Only a matter of time before I get in trouble for that," he muttered.

Clockblocker grinned. "What's this?" he said, excitement in his voice.

"Pikachu," said Gallant.

"What is that, a disease?" Clockblocker asked.

"Panacea's…Pokémon," I said. "She made it, testing if she could. It's sort of like Pachirisu except it was more excitable when it was only minutes old. Wonder how he turned out."

"She can do that?" said Vista. "How can she do that when she's a healer?"

"She's less a healer and more me without the tinker ideas," I said. "She said she could make anything I could and I don't doubt her with how quickly she worked to get Chansey up."

"So she's her own level of scary if she wanted to be," said Carlos.

"Everyone's scary here if they want to be," said Clockblocker. "I think you're the scariest. The whole zombie thing you've got going."

"Says the guy that can mess with the fundamental forces," he returned. "I'm nothing compared to that."

"And that's nothing compared to the power to create life," he said and added effect to the last word, making them dramatic. "Should have called you Frankenstein and just been done with it."

"That would have been telling too much about her powers," said Gallant.

"Don't know why you guys make such a big deal about hiding your powers," said Vista. She was feeding Pachirisu and Dedenne. "Be badass enough and that doesn't matter."

"Yeah," said Clockblocker. "That."

"I don't think anyone can be as badass as you," said Carlos, giving her a bright smile. She smiled back, nodding in satisfaction.

"You've been in your lab," said Chris. "In the morning. Was going to say hi, but I needed to put the final touches on my armour before I lost this energy I have."

"I understand," I said. I took a sip of some juice, bitter. I took a glance and it was Cranberry. I'd never liked the stuff. I made a note never to buy it again. "I was working on a gun. Battery's been telling me to get one done for a while and I started getting it done. I also started working on more Poké Balls."

I reached at my side and pulled out the ball.

"Pidgeotto is in there," I said.

"Pidgeotto?" said Vista. "New pet…I mean, Pokémon?"

"No, Pidgey's grown. Decided to give his grown up form a new name since the first one didn't…fit."

"Can I see him? Since his trigger?" said Chris.

I pointed the ball up into the air and pressed it. Red light shot out, congealed and then Pidgeotto was there, dropping and then catching himself. I made a mental note so that a Pokémon inside would still know what was happening outside. That sort of disorientation wouldn't be good if I was being attacked again.

He flew down and sat on the ground. He was large enough that he could still see at our table. I gave him a brush on his head, running my hand over his much longer crest.

"Hey, big guy," said Carlos. "Maybe we can go training later? See what you can do now that you're all big."

Pidgeotto gave me a look and chirped. The word felt wrong, his voice was rougher, deeper, it sounded less like a chirp and more like a hoot.

"Okay," I said. The others were looking at me to explain. "He wants to make an exercise out of it. The group training."

"That's a good idea," said Carlos.

"Maybe I can test my armour too," said Chris.

"But tomorrow," said Carlos. "I don't know about you, but I've got an assignment I have to get done before I done before I go home."

"Ditto," said Gallant.

"Tutor stuff," I said. "Might as well get started."

888

"Are you sure you want to go home?" Dad asked. "We could spend one more night. I don't mind it."

"No," I said. "I have to get over it at some point and he sooner the better."

He nodded and we got into the cab. I had two Poké Balls done and I held them close: Pidgeotto and Hondour who would take up the most amount of space. I had all my pets tonight and my gun. I knew that we were being watched, but I didn't want to take chances.

It was dark as we walked up the small driveway, but everything was there. Dad put on all the lights, making sure that there was no stalker in the shadows. When we were sure there was nothing, we made a cup of tea and moved on over to the living room for a late night movie.

"Mr Hebert," said a man, wearing a dark suit. To his left was a tall man dressed in a work suite, his shirt rolled up above his elbows, and to his right was a boy wearing a Japanese school uniform, at least those I often saw in films.

I wasn't as scared as I should because everyone had already moved, my left hand at my gun while my right had the ball with Pidgeotto; the others had already moved, Rattata, Pachirisu and Dedenne having scampered beneath furniture; Caterpie ambling, watching the intruders; and Croagunk and Riolu having found positions in front of Dad and me.

"Phobos," he continued, unperturbed by us already forming ranks. "I've come here to talk."

"Who are you?" Dad asked, angling himself so he was slightly in front of me. I didn't like it, but I pushed back that feeling. The small cover allowed me to pull free my gun without the three of them noticing.

"I'm called The Gentleman," the man said. "And my associates are the Left Hand and Right Hand, respectively. We're here in an official capacity as representatives of The Elite."

"No," said Dad, surprising the man a little, thought that was quickly lost.

"You've heard of us?" The Gentleman said.

"Some of you," said Dad. "Bastard Son."

The Gentleman let out a sigh. "It's a pity that our group is so intrinsically tied to him and his misbehaviour," he said and he sounded sombre. "But trust me, Mr Hebert, we're not all as bad as him—"

"But you don't do anything to stop him," Dad interrupted. "No," he said again. "I know what you and your group do. I've read up on you and you won't get my daughter. Now leave, the Protectorate will be here in a couple of minutes. I've already contacted them."

"Already disabled," said The Gentleman. "Your watchers have been taken out. Not killed, but ensured that they notice our meeting. We ensured that our presence here wouldn't be known until we acted."

"And us?" I said. "The loose ends?"

He didn't answer, instead he said, "I've read your file, transcripts the Protectorate have on you. You wanted to be a rogue. We can offer you that, the resources without all that goes along with being a member of the Wards."

"And in the process you gain a foothold in our city?" Dad said. "Thanks, but no. We already have enough scum. This is over. Leave."

"Does he speak for you, Phobos?" The Gentleman asked.

I didn't even think about it. "Yes," I said.

He nodded and fixed his suite, taking out box from his pocket and pressed a button. There was a flash of light and when it faded, the three where gone.

"The Elite?"

"Call the Protectorate," said Dad. "They might still be in the area."

I nodded and pulled out my phone.

"Assault on coms," I heard. "Phobos. Got yourself in another mess already?" There was a playful tone to his voice.

"It's—" I started and stopped, my tongue suddenly going rigid. "Assault, I—" My tongue went rigid again, cramping up but this time there was a flash of pain.

"Are you in danger?" he said.

I wanted to say yes, but I only let out a whimper as more pain flashed, fiercer and lasting longer than the sudden flash of pain.

"Po—" I started and I screamed this time. "I don't think I can say."

"Stranger power at work," he said. "Battery and Velocity are already on their way. It might be restricting you from giving us certain forms of information so don't try to tell us anything. We don't know how much it scales."

I put the phone down, took a breath and said, "The Elite just visited us. They have a power that's stopping us from talking about them to people that weren't here."

"Can you send a text?"

I tried and was stopped by my hands cramping up. I shook my head.

Dad sighed. "That makes things harder," he said.

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Jan 16, 2018

#519

Pursuit

4.4

"They're already here," I said, putting up my phone and showing it to Dad. On it was a message from Battery telling me to open the back door.

"I'll go," said Dad. I nodded, then looked at Croagunk and gestured for him to follow. He followed quickly after Dad, still with a smirk, but an air of seriousness to him. I followed after, moving so that I could see our living room and into the kitchen. Dad had no sooner opened the door when Velocity appeared inside.

It was the first time I'd seen his speed but I got the impression that he was faster even than Battery. It was a second later that Battery appeared, also moving quickly and coming to a complete stop. Dad closed the door and Battery started to glow, gathering energy.

"You're safe?" she said.

"Yes," said Dad. "They weren't here to hurt us. It wou—" he stopped and I had the impression that it was that power, stopping him. Had something he'd been about to say been too close to giving information about the Elite? How did that even work?

"The power," said Velocity. He pressed his ear. "Have you got anyone of file with this sort of power?" He paused. "Okay, give me a list. The Fallen?" he said but he didn't stop, didn't let allow me to say no, allow me to do anything. "Council of Blight? Libra? Clan of the Void? Peter Jones? The Elite? Sp—"

He'd said it all in rapid fire and yet I could see that he still got what he wanted. How, though? When I hadn't said anything, when I was just looking at him, trying to wrap my mind around the words.

"Agnes Court? Blueblood? Nonpareil? Patrician? Uppercrust? Gentleman?" he continued, then, "Gentleman. The Elite are in town," he said, "and they are recruiting. The Gentleman is the front runner."

"Likely from two sources," said Battery. "Shadow Stalker and her attack, or Panacea's announcement. The latter's more likely. Assault—" she paused, likely cut off on the other end. It didn't take too long to connect the thought, if they'd come for me, then they would also be after Panacea.

"Elite are in town?" said Dad, letting out a relieved breath at the end of the words. "So what now? What do we do?"

"On your end?" said Battery. "Nothing. Knowing the Elite, they'll play the terrain first. Their modus operandi is to ask, put pressure and then to threaten. They've asked and you've likely said no which means they'll start putting the pressure. But less on you than on everyone else."

"I don't understand," I said.

"Turn things around so that you've got nowhere to go but them," said Battery. "They could do this by turning public perception against you or forcing you out of every town that you go to because of the trouble you'll be bringing along. The Elite in town means change, the status quo being broken and a new one setting. I'm afraid to say this but," she stopped, sighing, "it might mean war amongst our villains."

I swallowed, feeling a pit in my stomach.

"So I have no choice but to join them?" I said, my words shaky. I could imagine it playing out. The villains of Brockton Bay getting wise to what the Elite were after and taking the simple path to their status quo: Me being out of the picture. If it played out like this then other villains in other town would do the same thing because they'd feel the hand of the Elite.

If it went the public perception route then I would really have nowhere to go because I might be hated.

And there you went making it easy for them. Calling yourself Phobos of all things. I can see the tabloids picking up that name, the connotations behind it. The son of Ares and Aphrodite. A god of war and one of the vainest of the Greek gods, the one who'd betrayed her husband.

I'd been thinking that it worked on a lot of levels. Phobos, the god of fear of battle, his parents the gods of war and love. I'd wanted that dichotomy clear. That I loved deeply, but I would go to war if it was needed, that I was worth being feared.

"No," said Battery, pulling me from the loop, the downward spiral. "We'll protect you. You're one of us, you're our ward. We'll put in everything we can to make sure that these bastards don't get you."

I nodded, giving her a smile. I reminded myself that she was powerful. I reminded myself that Armsmaster was powerful. I reminded myself that each cape in the Protectorate could hold their own. The Gentleman had been smart with the power he'd used to censor us, but the Protectorate had been smarter, quickly figuring out the avenues that the power worked and subverting its influence. It hadn't been a minute and Velocity had already figured it out.

But, "They've infiltrated the Protectorate and PRT," I said, speaking the thought that just undercut my faith in the Protectorate. "They have access to my files, to transcripts about me."

And it wasn't the only thing. The troopers that had been watching me because of Shadow Stalker had slipped, taken down by an unknown power.

Battery and Velocity shared a look. I couldn't help but translate it into worry.

888

They're not going to kidnap me. They employ, it doesn't make sense to kidnap a person you want to employ because they become a problem.

It wasn't a better business model to build resentment, but I stopped those thought, instead giving myself the right set of mental words that would allow me to sleep for the night.

I'd opted to sleep at home. My watchers had been looked for and were found knocked out by some chemical agent. They'd been switched out, with Battery telling me that since these troopers were aware of the new threat, they could be on alert. Those words hadn't helped me much in getting any sleep, so I'd started jotting down notes.

"Attack, height, distance," I said to the gathered audience. Pidgey was out and was sitting in the corner of my room, something that allowed him to look outside through the window. "This is for more in-depth coordination, when I'm micro-managing, but I have the sense that you guys are pretty good at figuring things out in the macro sense.

"Anyway I was thinking that as our starting format, distilling each to a one or two syllable word. Three forms of distance: Close, mid and at range. Respectively they'll be: Clay, May and Rye. Height: low – lay, high - hay, mid - mo. The attacks being quick attack - kai, agility – ah…"

I went through it all the attacks that they knew that I had, then made additions to how fought now that Caterpie was in the mix. She wasn't the greatest fighter, but if we trained her aim, her silk would be the best form of slowing down a mover than we had. Short of breaking their legs.

When my brain was tired of generating ideas, but still not letting me sleep, I got out my new phone and started reading through the PRT's classification system and the broad strokes plans that they brought on hand before they started distilling it, refining it to the person they were fighting.

I only managed to get they rhyme down before time jumped. One moment I was reading and the next I was jerking awake and looking towards the window at the sound. I eased when I saw that it was Pidgeotto and he was trying to open the window with his beak.

I got up and opened it for him, not saying a word. He gave me a long look before he jumped out, letting himself fall before he spread his wings and started flying, making sure that he stuck to the darkness.

My body and brain both needed me to sleep even if I didn't want to. I went to bed, counting sheep before I was waking up for the next morning.

I didn't go to school again, but then how could I? If it wasn't the Elite then it was Shadow Stalker I had to be on the watch for. I could just see her using the whole Elite situation to try and kill me again; after all, she'd have more freedom since the Protectorate's resources would be geared towards the much bigger mess.

The much bigger mess that you had a hand in causing, the thought came. I pushed it back, another step back but I needed it right now. I didn't need to think about the negativity.

I finished up my third Poké Ball and then started on a fourth. There was another impulse again to create another pet but I pushed it back, instead devoting my time to refining the pets that I did have.

I tried modifying Rattata, Pachirisu and Hondour to have an emotion based power that caused a person to reel, but it only worked on Rattata and Hondour even though all of them had teeth. I gave Hondour a roar that would inflict fear and then Caterpie so that he could change the nature of his webs, making some able to conduct electricity for a plan I had brewing. Riolu I gave a high pitched screech that would incapacitate, though that would hurt my side just as easily.

After my work was done, I went to the empty training grounds and started discussing strategy, going over what I'd discussed the night before and changing configurations. The others were at school where I wasn't and I didn't have anything scheduled so I worked easing the sense that I might be attacked and taken away at any moment.

When that wasn't working enough, I decided to visit Armsmaster only to find that he was out on patrol. Battery, Velocity and Assault weren't in having worked the night shift, which meant the only person I could speak to was Triumph.

"Phobos," he said, smiling. "It's good to finally meet you."

"Yeah, sure," I said. "Can I ask what the battle plan is with the Elite? What do you need me to do?"

"Right now? Not stress about it too much," he said, easy in how he spoke, almost carefree. "We've got people looking into, discussing their possible avenues of attack and how to counter them. It's sort of thinker work."

This is bigger than you, my mind translated. Let the adults take care of it.

I took a breath, pushing down my irritation. I gave him a nod and a thanks before going back to my lab and starting work on another Poké Ball. I was about complete with it when my door buzzed and Chris stepped through, dressed in new armour: It wasn't overly different from how it had been before, still sleek for the most port, with the red and gold, but it was slightly bigger, with bulkier portions. The back and chest of the armour were bigger, the lower arms more pronounced and the addition of a sword at his side.

"Hey," he said. "Are you still in for the training exercise? We'd all understand if you weren't."

"No," I said. "I'm coming. I just…there's a few pieces of my costume that I didn't think to—"

"Already got that covered," he said. "Parts from previous iterations of my armour. Give me a sec." I nodded and he left, coming back a moment later with a mask that would cover my mouth, which extended earphone like protrusion that would go it both ears. He also had aviator like goggles. "Zoom function that I've disabled but works through eye twitches, the mask has a radio and the headset earpieces inside of it."

"I'll also need some of the PRT gear, since you've all got your costumes," I said.

"I'll walk with you," he said. "Vista's building our grounds at any rate. Us being there would interrupt her."

I nodded. "Give me a sec to finish this off and then we leave?" I said. He nodded and watched me as I worked. It took fifteen minutes before I had my fifth Poké Ball done and I had to decide which Pokémon I wanted to keep inside of it. I already had balls for Pidgey, Hondour, Croagunk and Riolu. Maybe Caterpie? Every day she seemed to be getting bigger.

I pushed the thoughts back. I wouldn't be using the Poké Balls now. I still had to get some individual training time done before I got started on that. Right now I needed to focus on strategizing.

"The Elite," said Chris. "You want to talk about them?"

I shrugged. "Not particularly, no. They're trying to poach me. From the first time I got my powers my Dad told me that was a possibility. It's just now deciding to come to a head."

He nodded. "The Protectorate will stop them," he said, certainty in his voice.

"Yeah. Sure," I said, unable to put up a good enough act in hiding my down.

888

"I was thinking King of the Hill," said Aegis. It was hard to pay attention to him because I was starting at the room. It was several leagues larger than it should be, bulging towards the centre so that a hill had formed; there were a variety of pillars and slabs spread out for cover, in a variety of different layouts.

"Three teams of two and we have to hold the hill for ten minutes to win," he continued. "We use the appropriate amount of force to make sure there aren't any injuries. But in case of an accident, Audino is on-hand to assist."

She was on one end of the room and she hummed loudly at the mention of her name.

"I was thinking team leaders are me, Gallant and Clock. Everyone amenable?" he said. We gave nods.

"Dips on first pick," said Clockblocker. Aegis shrugged. "Vista. Space-Time for the win," he said, giving Vista a fist bump.

"Phobos," said Aegis.

"Me and you, Kid," said Gallant. Kid Win gave a nod. "Just so we're clear, it's the person that has to hold the hill, not their pets." He said to me, "I don't want you cheating and keeping the rest of us back while one of your Pokémon stays on the hill."

I nodded.

"Then let's start," said Aegis. "A minute to plan and then we run for it."

Nods were shared and then we moved apart. The thing hadn't even started yet, but my heart was already beating fast, sweat starting to form and an all-round excitement start to fill me.

"Nervous?" Aegis asked as we walked.

"A little," I said. "More than anything I want to win."

"You and me both," he said. "So let's talk about how we'll win this."

185

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Jan 16, 2018

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Jan 16, 2018

#520

Pursuit

4.5

"Okay. Mover, shaker, brute and breaker. Master, tinker, blaster, thinker. Striker, changer, trump and stranger," Aegis said, almost sing-song. "There are also numbers involved, but that's just a hassle. We need broad strokes. I've read the manual which means I know them, but this isn't about me. Run us down. We have forty seconds left."

"Okay," I said, taking a breath and telling my brain to work. I'd read the classifications and I was smart enough that I could figure out generalities. "Clock and Vista. Striker and shaker respectively. We'll have to attack Clock at a distance while Vista we have to take out of her element, get in her face because her power doesn't work too well in places with people."

Aegis gave me a nod.

"Gallant and Kid. Blaster and tinker. We'll have to be on the lookout for ranged attacks from Gallant and we won't be sure what Kid's able to do because he's changed his armour. So we treat it like a trump? He could have a range of different abilities to work."

"We see what he does and what he doesn't do," said Aegis, "Try to attack him on the front of things he doesn't do. He can't manoeuvre well, then we make it a fight of manoeuvrability."

I nodded, paying attention. I glanced at my watch and we had twenty seconds before the match began.

"From a feelings perspective who do you think we go after first?" he said.

"Vista," I said without thinking.

"Reasons," he said. "I like your instincts but I want you to think about the things that you do, watch how your subconscious works so it can offer you greater detail. What's the feeling here?"

"The more free-time we give her, the greater the chance that she'll alter the environment," I said. "Make paths longer while hers is shorter."

"Ten seconds," he said. "Plan of attack?"

"I don't—"

"Calm down and don't think about the time," he said. "Give me a broad plan. How we move. Who attacks first."

I nodded. "Pidgeotto in the air with Caterpie and Dedenne," I said. "I'll explain the plan as we—" I was cut off by a loud shrilling sound and I jumped because all at once there was motion. Kid Win jumping into the air and flying towards the hill, space twisting so that it was shorter in some places and longer around us.

Too many things happening and I hadn't even discussed how we'd moved yet.

"Phobos," said Aegis. "Get out of your own head and come here. We should move. How should we move?"

Kid was already on the hill and his arm was splitting apart at the back and front, sections coming out and becoming drones that hovered around him. Vista and Clock were already at the base of the hill and I could see they were discussing as they hid behind cover.

"You're the leader," I started, but Aegis was already shaking his head.

"You have eight Pokémon," he said. "I feel like I know what Pidgeotto can do, but the others not so much. You know them, you know where they'll fit and you can get me in there without trouble because my power is easy. I fly, I punch really hard and I can take a punch. How do we move?"

Gallant had made his appearance and he was firing splotches of light towards Vista and Clock. Vista responded quickly, stretching a fallen pillar so that it was a wall between Gallant them. Then she started making the ground bulge up, building another wall so Gallant would have a harder time reaching the hill. Making sure Kid was alone.

"Plan's still ago," I said, finding my voice. I was watching Vista work and I was in awe of how she could control the area. I could see why people said she had a very bright future as a hero because she was powerful. "Vista should be first but I think we need to inconvenience them more. Gallant could be an ally until we take him down."

"Thinking?"

"His power is simpler," I said. "He's a blaster with the added effect of altering emotions. His blasts aren't that fast which means we can dodge them. He'll be the easiest to take down."

"Rule one: Never underestimate your opponent," he said.

I looked at him. "You know something about his power?" I said.

"I do, it's a long story, but remember that rule," he said.

I nodded. "You know him so maybe talk to him or carry him off? Make it so that he's in a place where isn't bogged down by them altering the terrain."

"And you'll be…?"

"Going after Vista," I said. "I have a plan."

He nodded. "Talk to me on coms. Let's move." He stepped into the sky, flying in the direction that Gallant was running and impeding Vista's work. Clock said something to her and Vista nodded, focusing less on Gallant and more on something that he and Clock were working on.

"Okay," I muttered, making sure to keep my voice low. Kid could have something in his suit that meant he could hear us, meaning he could transmit the information to Gallant. But if that was true then we were already doomed.

"First unit in the air," I said. "Stray-Bee combo at rye."

String shot and thunder bolt at range. Caterpie would know to alter how she made her silk so that it conducted the electricity and Dedenne would alter the voltage so that it stunned.

"Want to explain?" said Aegis. He was close and Gallant was trying to attack, flinging his light blasts towards Aegis. There wouldn't be talking, but I trusted that he had something up his sleeve.

"Can't, Kid might be listening in."

"Roger," he said and he swooped low, twisting and then getting close and clipping Gallant with his shoulder. Gallant spun, trying to regain his balance but Aegis used that to get close, grabbing Gallant by one arm and then flying, sticking close to the ground.

"First though, Car until there's an opening," I said. "Move."

Pidgeotto flapped his wings and got flew into the air. Kid was paying attention as he moved, not easing even as the trio moved towards Clock and Vista. My group started moving, Rattata and Pachirisu as our guides as we traversed the twisted mess that Vista had made. I thanked Jeremy's stamina training as I had to scale minor hills and descend all in a matter of seconds.

I heard Aegis scream and I looked in his direction. He'd dropped Gallant and he'd flown higher in the air, looking around before he let out, not a scream, but a roar. He'd been hit? But what did it mean? I already knew that Gallant's power was pretty versatile on the emotional level with all the iterations I'd been able to implant on my pets.

He swooped, forgetting the plan and going towards Kid.

"Den, shift," I said. "Car-Aegis!" Pidgeotto spread his wings and tipped, banking to the side and moving towards Aegis. Hopefully another set of emotion would wipe out Gallant's work.

I had to focus on our plan, let that run its course while I focused on this.

Vista was warping my terrain now, making it so I couldn't move directly towards them but I had to go towards Gallant, pitting us against each other. There was really nothing I could do to go against this because if I tried everything would be harder, the bulges in the ground were getting bigger which meant I would be tired by the time I got close.

I ran towards Gallant.

"At the ready," I said, quickly glancing at my watch. It had been two minutes. Eight more before Kid and Gallant took the match.

At my words Rattata and Pachirisu moved faster, straying away from us and keeping slightly out of sight. Riolu and Hondour were at my side while Croagunk ran up ahead. That wouldn't be good, Croagunk wasn't fast and pushing him like this would mean he would get tired quicker. Maybe Hondour's growth was taking too long and I needed to start working on mounts.

We passed a pillar that had been stretched into a wall and there was Gallant, at the ready.

"Forward," I said as he started firing. Croagunk moved right while we moved left, dodging the blasts as they came. Croagunk's cheeks filled and he started spitting, forcing Gallant to run in my direction. I pulled out my gun and he reeled, scrambling back as the slow orbs flew towards him. Some of Croagunk's spit landed but it didn't do any damage.

He started moving backwards while firing, stopping us from getting close. But in paying attention to us it meant that Rattata attack; her small form darted and Gallant jumped, dodging and then firing at where she'd be. The light hit and Rattata scream, scrambling back and then running towards me, jumping on my person and then scrambling into my clothes.

"Car," I said. "Tow, Ray."

Charm. Taunt. Roar.

Attacking him on all emotional fronts.

Croagunk was the first, giving off a deep croak that was quickly followed by a roar from Hondour and then a loud chattering from Pachirisu.

Gallant ignored all of these instead continuing to move back.

Why? What was different about him than everyone else? Was it because their powers were inspired by him? But then that didn't make sense? By that same logic many of the powers wouldn't work against their users. But I hadn't really tested that, had I?

Riolu barked beside me. I glanced at her and she had a focused look on her. She pointed towards the sky.

Pidgeotto and his contingent were still trying to get Aegis' attention as he fought Kid but it wasn't working. Whatever Gallant had done was stronger, affecting Aegis more and making him want to fight Kid. Kid was in the air and he was playing keep away, his sword having detached into segment that stretched, connected by an electric rope. He was doing his best to beat Aegis back but it was hard. Aegis was agile.

Then where are Clock and Vista?

"Back on Space-Time!" I shouted and I started to move towards the hill. Kid was off the hill which meant it was up for the taking now, they would be headed in that direction I was sure of it.

I was wrong because space got shorter and Clock was close, his hand outstretched towards me. Riolu acted, grabbing the outstretched arm and then freezing in place.

He'd effectively caught himself in trying to catch me. But since his armour was effectively a body suit, I couldn't knock him out with Croagunk.

I looked up and Pidgeotto was already circling around us, having abandoned looking for Vista.

"Stray," I said. And I pointed at Clock. Caterpie and then inflated her body before she started firing a stream of silk, making it rain down on both Riolu and Clock, draping it over them.

I made a mental note to start target practise with her soon.

"Rattata," I said, pulling out from my clothes. She was still scared, clinging to me so much that it hurt. "Rat," I said. "Focus." She did, but I could see the fear in her eyes.

It's going to be much worse in a real fight, I thought when the urge to let her seek comfort engulfed me. She needs to learn now.

I pulled her free and put her over Clock and Riolu. "Stay here and tell her not to try and free herself," I said. "If she succeeds then she might let Clockblocker out."

She made a mewling sound as I started to run and I stopped. I just couldn't. "Come," I said and she jumped, curling into me again. "Pidgeotto, keep an—"

Pidgeotto screamed as one of Kid's drones slammed into him, he lost control, spinning towards the ground. Caterpie was the fastest to the react, her feet taking hold of Dedenne before she jumped, shooting out a thread of silk that connected to the very high ceiling. The pair swung, descending slowly while Pidgeotto worked to regain flight.

I started running in the direction that he was falling, watching with my heart in my throat and he extended his wings. He flapped, weaning his momentum but it wasn't enough. He crashed into the ground.

The cold was seeping through me again, even as the worry for Pidgeotto fought through. I looked up and I could see that the fighting had stopped, both Aegis and Kid, who were much faster, were moving to check up on Pidgeotto. Audino was hopping with her enhanced strength, easily gaining ground.

Aegis was the first to arrive and he checked Pidgeotto over.

I was amongst the last. "Is he okay, are you okay?" I said, breathing hard.

Pidgeotto gave me a hoot. I frowned but nodded.

"We're restarting," said Aegis. "Different teams. Make note that Pidgeotto doesn't react well to electrified things. If your attack is electric based, then either turn it down or not use it."

Those of us present nodded. It was worrying, because it was another facet of my Pokémon that I didn't know.

888

Vista and I dominated, twisting space so Croagunk didn't have to shoot too far, and using gust to keep people back. Clock and I were so dangerous that we were disqualified when Aegis accidently flew into one of the frozen strings we'd set up and Kid and I weren't as good as I thought we'd be, having been attacked by everyone before we could even start moving towards the hill.

But Gallant and I were a nightmare.

"This is fun," he said as we sat on the hill watching as everyone else fought. Aegis turned in our direction and Croagunk, who'd been sitting beside me, croaked. Aegis rushed forward and was hit by blast from Gallant.

He surged back and went back to trying to catch Vista.

I hummed. "Good too," I said. "I was starting to feel tired of all the running."

"We should have brought snacks," he said. "Maybe some tea."

I hummed again. We watched in silence, acting when it was needed though with nine minutes in, that wouldn't be needed for much longer.

"I'm a thinker," said Gallant. I looked in his direction. "Thinker-Master combo," he continued. "I can see people's emotions as well as control them through blasts. It's why your emotion influx didn't work on me. I didn't want you to be caught off guard if you were caught alone again."

I gave him a nod. Pushing back intrusive thoughts, how my mind reached back and looked for all the times he could have been manipulating me. Paranoia could be dangerous if it wasn't curtailed. I needed to nip this in the bud.

My watch beeped.

"I think we've won."

"Indeed I think that's true," he said. I stood and helped him to his feet, stretching a little. The rest had been nice.

888

"You were moving too fast," Dennis said. "If it weren't for that, then you might have just bounced into it."

"You made the silk too thin," he said. "If it were thicker, there'd be less of a risk of slicing into anyone. Maybe thick enough that's finger length?"

"Might want to work with Caterpie," I said. "I was thinking of starting target practise with her. But maybe you can practise together. Get things to the point that you can build a silk with and you stop it."

"Good idea," said Dennis. "Was thinking of raising it, but I wasn't sure how that would play out."

"Maybe we could all do it," said Vista, "as sort of a proof of concept for your pets being with the PRT. Each of us trains alongside one and see if it doesn't make us better."

"That's not going to work the way I think you think it's going to work," said Gallant.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," she returned.

"You want to work with Pachirisu and Dedenne," he said. She nodded. "But they'd be better working with me. They can make a person lose their guard enough that I can attack. You'd be better off with Pidgeotto. Do that push and stretch thing you guys did."

"Oh," she said. "Well, it's still a good idea."

"It is," I said. "But let's talk to Armsmaster first. I just received Director Piggot's e-mail and it is a lot of work. She's got me reading laws and news articles and then subsequent shifts in policy and what the policies were and…"

"Torture," said Dennis. "Piggot is very good at that."

There was a chime and we all put on our masks.

"Heads up and smile," said Carlos. "I think we have a new recruit."

I looked up and saw him as he walked close. All I could think was…wow. He costume wasn't the best, looking more like clothes that had been put together, but it didn't matter because he was bodybuilder large.

"You're drooling," Dennis put in, elbowing me.

"I am not," I said, but I might have been blushing. "He's wearing a mask."

"Must be unsure about joining like you were, still are?" said Carlos. I made the so-so gesture. "Let's welcome him in, yeah?"

"Dedenne, make introductions?" said Missy.

Dedenne stopped eating and then ran off, going to the boy's leg and starting to pull him in our direction. It worked because the boy came close.

"Hey," he said.

His voice should be deeper, the thought came.

"Hey there, big guy?" said Dennis. "You wanna sit? We were having a conversation about how awesome we were."

"Um, yeah, sure," he said. His muscles started to shrink as he sat, his clothes having a looser fit. "I'm Browbeat, by the way."

"Clock," said Dennis. "Vista, Aegis, Gallant, Kid and Phobos."

"Nice to meet you all," he said.

"You thinking about joining the Wards?" said Gallant.

Browbeat shrugged. "Was thinking I'd do it down the line but things are a little forced," he said. "Some guys are after me. I think they are bad news."

"The Elite?" I said. He nodded.

And with that the happiness of the day faded.

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Jan 16, 2018

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Jan 16, 2018

#521

Pursuit

4.6

"Got a new contract today," said Dad. He looked a little shaken, as though the words were hard to say. "A Mr G. Tillman sees a lot of potential in Brockton Bay and is putting a lot of money into clearing the Ship Graveyard. The Mayor personally called me in to man the project when it gets started."

"G. Tillman," I said. "I'm not being paranoid that I think that Gentleman?"

"Same thought that I had," he said and he let out a long sigh. "It's starting isn't it? They're putting all their resources into making this Brockton Bay theirs."

I felt my stomach jump. I'd read about them a little, trying to get a sense of how they worked. They had once been business men and women before a law had come into place, so they'd started working under the cover of darkness. My access to the Protectorate's database said that The Gentleman likely operated in Las Vegas most of the time, and that place was rumoured to have a scary cape scene by PHO. Looking through the Protectorate hadn't resulted in much, most of the files above my clearance.

A part of me wanted to act, to do something, but I pushed it back. It had only been a day. I hadn't given the Protectorate any time to act, any time to plan. I needed to relax, watch what was going on while getting stronger. I hated what Triumph had said, or at least what I'd inferred, but it was true. Right now, all of this was still above me until I got strong enough to take care of myself.

So you're just going to do nothing while these people take over your town? While they limit your freedom? Positioning things so they own you?

I let out a sigh. "Yes," I muttered. Dad looked at me, brow raised. "Just talking to myself. Convincing myself that the Protectorate can handle this."

"Good girl," said Dad. "Bought Pizza. Maybe we can finally watch a movie tonight."

"I feel like you're just jinxing it," I said, grabbing some soda and pouring it. "Are you going to take the job?"

Dad sighed. "That's the question isn't it?" he said. "It's blood money. At least some of it. It comes from people being hurt and yet this could actually do some good. I've got people that I hear are starting to think it's a good idea to work with Ubër and Leet. I need to stop that, this money…"

"It will do good in your hands, but it also gives them a foothold," I said. I sat heavily on the couch. Dad put in an Earth Aleph movie about a man that transported people for a living. "For what it's worth, I think you should do it."

Dad looked at me.

"Some bad stuff might happen," I said. "I don't know how bad, but…the least we can do is give people jobs, right? So they can have something to do that helps them pretend the bad times aren't upon them."

"I'll think about it," Dad said. He pressed play and the image flickered, not what we'd expected to happen. A boy Vista's age and wearing blue body armour appeared on screen.

"Being a tinker is hard," he said. "Between the need for resources and the constant stream of people that think you're theirs. Here at the Toy Box things are different. You get to be you. Do what you want, the way you want without anyone hanging over your head. And all at the low price of fifteen percent of any profits made from sales. Join us and you'll become a lot harder to find. Contact us anytime on the secure computer we left in your basement."

The image flicked off and the movie started playing.

"I think," said Dad, "that we need to move."

888

"Fuck me, really?" said Chris. We were both early in, him to fix up his armour and I was going to finish work on one more stasis ball before I retired for the day. I was supposed to go training, have another day of it, but Rattata was still not dealing to well with Gallant's emotional blast while Pidgeotto still had a lot of issues he was working through.

"Yeah," I said, not feeling as excited as he was. "Dad and I have started moving because of it. He's speaking to the PRT for a protective custody thing because if we just sold the house it would be too obvious."

He hummed. "Shadow Stalker was a right bitch with her move," he said.

"Tell me about it," I said. "Not just messing up one aspect of my life, but all of it. I mean," and my tone was starting to get heated, "trying to kill me is one thing. But leaving me alive to face all of the shit that comes with having a tenuous civilian identity…" I let out a hard breath.

"Maybe it's because you're a tinker," he said. "Things like these really aren't supposed to be done. Sure, we protect our civilian identity, but it's supposed to be off limits in the first place. Because once you get into it, things have a penchant of snowballing."

"Like they are now?" I said.

He nodded. "One villain attacks you at home, then the others follow. They'll probably cite the fact that your civilian identity was already on a razor's edge and say there was no use separating between the two."

"Which I don't get," I said.

He smiled. "It's easy to forget sometimes that you're still relatively new to all of this," he said, "but there are certain things that spark reactions. Attacking someone in their civilian identity is one of those things because it raises the question: Could that happen to me? Could I be having a picnic with my family one day when Shadow Stalker suddenly descends?

"No one wants that uncertainty so they make it so that there are harsh consequences if that thing is done. So Shadow Stalker is bound to find that she doesn't have anyone to work with and that if she goes against villains they'll go against her hard because of that question at the back of their minds."

"But this isn't security," I said. "Because people are doing what she did?"

"Well, they'll go hard against Shadow Stalker because it personally affects them," he said. "But things that don't hurt or benefit them, they won't do anything about. Most of these rules are enforced by villains if that wasn't clear. They aren't strict, but they are generally accepted. Anyway, in this case I have it in mind that they won't react because it's unlikely that the Elite would do this to them, or they might but it'll be for some larger play. Like, if the Elite appear then they know what's going to happen so they'll attack because they don't want to lose or whatever."

"Why isn't the weight of the Protectorate helping any?" I said. "That's why I considered joining in the first place. Because they would protect me against this."

"That's a hard question," Chris said. "I don't know. It could be because they think you're too valuable for a move not to be made, or that they think we're weak." He shrugged. "I don't know how they think so it's hard to put myself in their head."

I hummed. "Anyway, I'm taking a short day today," I told him. "Going hiking."

"You think that's a good idea with everything?" he said.

"No, but…this week's been stressful," I said. "For me and my Pokémon. I just need a day to unwind. Maybe play catch. Delude myself that everything isn't going to shit around me."

"O-kay," he said. "You mind if me and the others join you? Safety in numbers and all that?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," I said. I moved through my sequence and got into my lab, looking over the work that I'd put in already making my sixth Poké Ball. Before I started though I looked over my e-mails, scanning them for anything important.

An update from Jeremy about how my costume was coming along and a request for another set of fittings. I checked my schedule for openings tomorrow and cut my tinkering time down so that I could fit him in. A request from Research and Development if they could have some of the variations on Caterpie's silk for testing. They were thinking about making costumes with it and were wondering if I was open to the idea.

"Caterpie," I said. She looked up from her eating. "Do you mind going to R&D? They want to test your silk."

Caterpie didn't makes sounds like the others, instead she communicated by staring at me with different levels of intensity.

"Just go and you'll be back," I said. "We won't leave you behind and at the end of the day you'll be eating the really fresh stuff."

She didn't sigh, but I had it in mind that she would have if she could. She jumped off her counter and started ambling along. Rattata disentangled herself from me and ran after Caterpie. Hondour stood, stretched and followed after.

An update from Armsmaster on when he would be able to look at the laptop that Toy Box had given me and another e-mail that was titled Guild of Masters with the subject: Recruitment.

I opened it, gave it a quick read through and then sent it over to the PRT offices just in case this was another group that might cause trouble down the line. I did a quick read through about them and they didn't seem villainous, more like an activist group that fought for the rights of masters. Right now they were in a campaign against the treatment of a cape by the name of Canary. She had been imprisoned for an accident with her powers.

I quickly redirected towards this and found that there was a common sentiment that she might be going to the Birdcage. There were even news reports with interviews from thinkers of varying future sight about this sentiment and how most of them thought it was highly likely. Another redirect and I was looking over if I could trust these reports, looking at past data and corroborating it before I stopped, noticing the trap I was falling into.

There was work to be done and I wanted to finish off early. I couldn't afford going on a wiki walk.

I made notes to start reading up on the Canary trial later.

I got up and started my work on the sixth Poké Ball, stopping after an hour to get my exercise in before I did some admin stuff. Working with my tutor, decided which course I was going to take and discussing how the whole Shadow Stalker thing would affect school. It was decided that I should maybe look at home school since it was looking more and more that I might not have a civilian identity.

"Chris told me that it would be a bad idea being alone," I said. "School's about learning, sure, but it's also about relationships. Glory Girl and Panacea manage it just fine. I think I might be able to too."

She nodded. "That's good to know," she said. "But Winslow is a different matter entirely. There's a measure of protection in being in Arcadia because it's known that all of the Wards go there, they're sure to protect each other. But in Winslow you might be alone and the right person looking to get a leg up might attack you."

I stopped her. "You don't really need to say much to get me to stop going to Winslow," I said.

"Then I'll start setting up a host of tutors," she said. "We'll schedule your day so that you don't miss anything."

I gave her a nod. "I'll be waiting for your e-mail," I said before leaving and going back to my work.

888

Six Poké Balls and six Pokémon between them. Audino, Chansey, Hondour, Croagunk, Riolu and Caterpie. Pidgeotto and Carlos would be flying together, meeting up with Victoria and Amy along the way.

"You're rich," I said.

"Um…the usual answer is my parents are rich," he said, running a hand over his hair and blushing. "But yeah, you could say that."

"You're not what I expected from a rich person," I said, unable to help myself.

"What did you expect?"

I shrugged. "Not sure really," I said. "But…"

"A snob?" Dennis put in, grinning like a maniac.

"Yeah," I said. "Close to it. Instead you're just…normal."

"Rich people are people too," he said, he didn't sound offend by what I'd said.

"But…" I stopped. "I'm just going to drop this before I put my foot in my mouth," I said.

"That's the smart thing to do," said Chris.

Conversation was mainly inane after that, some talk about school stuff, a video game that would be out soon and Missy wondering if they'd need to play it to prepare for Ubër and Leet. Missy talked about a movie that she'd like for us to see together, saying that since I was so tall I could maybe play at being her guardian so she could see the movie. I told her I'd have to check if I wasn't busy and she shrugged.

It didn't take too long before we were at the outer edge of town, and it wasn't much longer then—especially with Vista helping things along—that we found Carlos, Victoria and Amy.

"Where's Pidgeotto?" I asked.

Carlos inclined up. "I think he's seeing if the coast is clear," he said. "I tracked how he was moving and with his eyes it's likely."

"There was a lake over that way," Victoria said. She moved so that she was next to Dean.

"Not really a lake with how small it was," said Carlos. "Anyway the path leading up looks dangerous and it might be secluded. Maybe we go up there?"

The general sentiment was of agreement. I let out the others and we started our trek, with Vista helping along the way when a path looked like it might be hard to get through.

Audino and Chansey became fast friends, getting together and speaking in that humming way that did, both talking so fast that I had trouble figuring out their conversation. Dedenne, Pachirisu and Pikachu gathered together in a similar vein, sharing electricity and running off ahead to explore but sticking close to the group.

I also learned that Victoria was seriously into the cape lifestyle.

"…was thinking when Chris joined the Wards that he might get an invitation pretty soon," she was saying. "But there you went, playing things safe."

"Took me a bit to get things sorted with my power," he said, "but things are looking up. Might get my letter any day now."

"You'd actually join them?" Missy asked.

"No, but I'd take the tour," he said. "See all the stuff that they're building. Three tinkers are great, but image an organisation of tinkers," he gushed. He let out a sigh. "I'm hoping Armsmaster actually starts working on his idea at some point, but the way things are looking it might be a little longer."

"Idea?" I said.

"Tinker Con," said Chris, excited. "Gathering all of the Protectorate and Ward tinkers in one place and each of us showing off our tech. It would be an organisational nightmare, but damn would it be a sight."

"Why don't we do it ourselves?" I said. "We're our own division, mostly. Sure we have Protectorate oversight, but—"

Carlos stopped me with a snort. "Triumph, when he was still with us, tried to get us to train with Boston. Didn't happen throughout his stint as a Ward. Some that large is unlikely."

"Well that sucks," I said.

"A lot of things suck about being a kid cape," said Missy.

Amy gave an agreeing hum.

"How have things been at the hospital?" I asked, walking close to Amy.

"Good," she said. "Doing a lot. Chansey's been helping a lot with brain damage, giving more room to breathe, allowing for more people healed per visit. I've been using the time to get started on other Pokémon, Chansey's sisters."

"Where are you getting the bio-matter?" I asked.

"Buying a lot of pig's meat," she said. "But I've been talking to my mother about healing someone rich, making them pay a lot so that I could finance things. It's the easier option with the whole Elite thing looming."

"You too?"

She nodded. "They called a meeting in the Rogue Lounge and the adults attended," she said. "They offered us financing if we worked for them. It was nebulous what they would want but it had the ring of favours down the line. We told them we'd think about it."

"You don't want to join?"

"Victoria said it would be a bad idea. I trust her word for it. She's most likely looked at the Elite at one point," she said. She let out a sigh. "I'm trying not to think about it, instead working on helping people the way that I can. From the way everyone is talking around me, around us I guess, it's easier to just do my own thing."

"It really sucks being a kid cape," said Missy. "Not being taken seriously."

"No," said Dean.

"No what?" I was saying as Dennis was saying, "Yes."

"I know how these sorts of things go," said Dean. "One minute we're talking about how we're not being taken seriously, and then the next we decide we should do things without the adults. That sort of thinking is really dangerous and it could get us killed."

"In all honesty," said Victoria, "not knowing enough could get us killed. Not being prepared for the worst could get us killed."

"And what is the worst in this situation?" I asked.

"Bastard Son," said Victoria. "He makes an appearance and he doesn't hold back. He looks at the people that will stand in his way, stopping him from getting what he wants and then he starts taking them out."

"Our parents," I said.

Victoria shrugged and I didn't get how she could be so blasé. But then she'd grown up to cape parents, worrying that one day they might not come back.

"Maybe," she said. "It's easier to play us if we don't have their protection, them looking out for us. If he takes them out, takes the villains out, changes the narrative so that they either control or oust the Protectorate and PRT? Then he's got us whether we want it or not."

"Okay," said Dennis. "This is too heavy. I came here to frolic, not discuss the maybe death of my family and a takeover by villainous masterminds."

"Doesn't that mean," Chris started but he was stopped by Dean. "First definition is cleaner.

"Pretty hard to move away from it when it's already out there," said Missy, speaking over them. "We have the power to make a very big difference but it's likely that we won't. That they'll just tell us to train, keep going to school like we don't know what's going on, that we can't see the ripples that this is going to have."

"Fuck me, it's happening," said Dean. "Carlos, you're not going to stop this?"

"I…don't know," he said. "I've been reading up on the Elite and even though this is dangerous…I like it. It means that if worse comes to worst, we'll be together, working against them."

"Okay," I said. "Clearly my reading up on them hasn't been good because I feel like I have a lot of missing pieces."

"In some places they assimilate," said Chris. "Taking over the Protectorate and PRT in some way. Putting in plants or using master powers on people in key places or they superficially work along the same lines as the Protectorate while being villains on the down low. In that case, the Protectorate doesn't pay them much mind, focusing on the villains that might try and fill in the void left by the ousted villains."

"Bright side of all this is that there'll be less Nazis by the time it's over," said Carlos. "Even if things are worse on another level. But if we're working together, if every young hero is connected, we can make things harder for them."

"God you're agreeing with them," said Dean. He let out a sigh. "This is going to happened, isn't it?"

"Seems more and more likely," said Dennis. "But not today, okay? I really want to frolic."

"Seconded on the frolicking," I said. "I really need to unwind."

We frolicked.

199

ManMag

Jan 16, 2018

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Threadmarks Pursuit: 4.7

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Jan 17, 2018

#544

Pursuit

4.7

I heard a chittering and I was immediately awaked, jumping to my feet and scanning. It took a second for my mind to realise where I was, a new room that wasn't my home but another house the Protectorate had given us. It was relatively in the richer parts of town, the whiter parts of town where I might run into a skin-head on my morning runs.

But right now that wasn't important.

There was a crackle and then a squeal, then the smell of something burnt. I looked over the edge of my bed and I saw a massive cockroach thing, its body segmented and with a myriad of bony legs as long as my fingers. Pachirisu, Dedenne and Rattata were standing equal distance apart, looking at the thing as it twitched and then stopped moving.

It wasn't a moment later that I heard something downstairs.

I moved on over to my bag and pulled out Poké Balls, grabbing Riolu and Croagunk, and expelling them. They congealed, looking around in confusion before I clicked my tongue, pointing towards the door. Both of them were immediately on alert.

"Watch," I said to my mice Pokémon as they moved to glare towards the door. I didn't know what the cockroach thing was, but if there were powers concerned then it could just be playing dead.

They did and I looked towards the door, waiting.

I was expecting a crash but it didn't come. The footsteps I'd heard split apart, two going towards Dad's room while two more coming to mine. There was a flash of light at the corner of my eye as my phone lit and then darkened, a quick sequence that ended before the footsteps reached the door.

I eased. "Ri-Cro, ease," I said. There was a knock at the door, another sequence before they opened, PRT troopers standing beyond.

"There was a disturbance," said the lead woman.

I nodded and I pointed towards my mice. She moved forward while her partner was still at the door, looking into the room and scanning its edges. Maybe he was afraid that another of the things could be coming in, or there could be something else?

"Do you mind if we use one of your Poke Balls on it?" she said. "This thing, whatever it is, doesn't fit the local spread of capes or the capes we know who have a connection to the Elite."

"Yeah, sure," I said. I took Riolu's Poké Ball and started moving, the Pokémon sticking close to me in case the thing jumped back to life. Three seconds because I was a little at a distance and then a beam of light shot out and engulfed the roach. "How did it get in?"

"We're not equipped for micro-threats," she said. "The thing got in because it was small enough that motion detectors couldn't catch it. The security measures will upgrade while you and your father are at school and work."

I nodded, letting out a sigh and running my head through my hair. I glanced at my watch and it was three in the morning, with the flush of adrenaline it was unlikely that I would be able to go to sleep again before I had to wake up.

"I wasn't supposed to be easily found here," I said. "If anything, if I was found, the fact that this place has connections to the PRT."

"All above my pay grade, ma'am," she said. "You'll have to talk to my commander or Protectorate cape."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks." Not that they'd done anything, but I was impressed at their response time. "Can I leave? I want to talk to Dad."

It was starting to get annoying at this point, because I was sure that this wasn't an attack but another try at recruitment. I had expected consequences from Amy seeding her Chanseys, but this wasn't one of them. Being personally hounded and not having a moment's rest because people were interested in me.

I think this might be irony, sarcastic me chimed. All that time spent wanting to be wanted and now that it's here…

"We'll be checking the room," she said, interrupting the thoughts before they could solidify. "You're free to leave."

"Riolu and Croagunk, you're with me. You guys," I said pointing at the mice, "will stay with them. Don't get in their way, but if one of those things tries to make another entry, fry them."

"This is a very bad way to start a Sunday morning," Dad said, rubbing at his eyes. Our rooms were near each other on the second floor, while the PRT staff had rooms on the first. There were six in all and I had to wonder how they lived when there were only two rooms down there.

"Very bad," I said. "Tea?"

"Coffee," he said. "Might as well get some paperwork done if I'm going to be up. Taking a shower and then meeting you in the kitchen."

I nodded, watching him as he went to the bathroom. "Dad," I said and he stopped. "I'm sorry about all this. That—"

He shook his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for," he said and I could feel that he meant it. "It's like the bullying. Some people are just bad and they take it out on other people, others can't grasp that they're not owed anything. All these people, they're the latter. That's not on you."

"Still—"

He stopped me with a shake of the head. "I can guess where you're going to go," he said. "That you should have predicted this, played it safe to mitigate the risk, but…that can't be expected of you. You're…You might not like me saying this but you're still a kid. We can't expect you to be an adult all of a sudden just because you have powers. Sure you have to be careful, but there's a limit to how much you can be careful without having made mistakes."

I let out a breath and gave him a nod. Something to think about.

Downstairs there were two troopers who were watching the door and the first floor as a whole. I gave a wave and only got one in return, that would be Scot. He was less serious than the others which helped with us having strangers in the house.

"Coffee, tea?" I asked. Both shook their heads.

This wouldn't stop, or it wasn't likely to stop because Amy and I were too prized a possession. Going by the last few days, we were so prized a possession that people didn't care that we were under the umbrella of the Protectorate and New Wave. They were willing to field that risk to get at us, put in resources to make us theirs.

This wouldn't be the last early morning wake up because someone sent something to recruit or kidnap or whatever the roach had been trying to do. As long as I was in Brockton Bay, as long as I was somewhere easy to find, as long as the Protectorate and PRT took care of my hiding because they had double agents. They had spies in their midst.

I needed to keep things closer to the chest as much as I could, make the hiding firmer. For Dad to have a night's sleep without having to worry about something coming in and using him as leverage.

As the water boiled I went upstairs and picked up my phones and laptop. One phone was in working condition, while the other was for the most part non-functional. I'd picked it apart and not have the impetus to put it back together again.

I started pulling it apart again, looking for any of Armsmaster's technology that might be used to track my location, then I looked at the coding of the phone, doing my best to wrap my head around it. I started rebuilding it, encrypting the things so it would be private. I wasn't sure that my Ward phone wasn't, but if I was in a spy movie, it helped to be paranoid.

Dad arrived from his shower with his own paperwork and I poured him his coffee and tea for myself.

I had something of a working plan: I wanted to hide and with my power that would be easy if I had a few key elements. Then I wanted information, enough that I could prepare for future threats, see who would want me and how to ward them off. But all of it would need a few key elements, one of which was secure communication with the rest of the Wards, Amy and Victoria.

Encrypting each of the Ward member's phones would be hard and suspicious, but maybe I could create a work around. I just need to make sure that it as possible.

I started pulling up the historical files on my Pokémon, looking over their code. I didn't like working with the code of my pets when they'd changed species, so I instead started to working with their previous states, when they'd just been animals. I looked at the code broadly while focusing on the brain, letting my power give me what each line of code meant.

I looked for key pieces of loyalty, one that didn't have the tell-tale nature that Panacea had been able to get when reading my Pokémon. But more than anything it needed to have to hardworking and smart. I couldn't use just one, instead I had to make an amalgam, but first I used the dog that had created Riolu as a starting point, using the copy of its code.

Then I started to strip and add as was needed. The body didn't matter and really abilities didn't either. I pulled all of that away and left only the brain, then I started manipulating it, putting in safeguards because what I was creating had the potential for great danger and the intricate thought process that I'd used while creating Audino. Skynet came to mind all at once and I pushed that sort of thinking aside. This Pokémon would have feelings as much as any other, it wouldn't fall under the same trap.

"Taylor." I stopped my work and looked up. Dad was standing over me. "Breakfast?"

"I want bacon and eggs," I said. "But," I let out a breath and shook my head. "That would be bad. It would be a step back."

"You can treat yourself," he said. "I won't tell anyone."

"I'd know," Scott said from the living room. There wasn't a divide between the living room and the kitchen. He was playing cards with two other troopers. "I'd know and I'd secretly judge you."

I smiled. "I don't want to be secretly judged," I said.

"Bland cereal it is," said Dad.

I got back to my work, looking over the work I'd done and feeling a sense of satisfaction. It was almost as though my power had just been waiting for another Pokémon to be made, so much so that it had released all that tension into rushing through my idea. I tried to conceptualise all that my power had done, looking over every facet, making sure everything would work correctly.

There was limited brain power because of the processing power in my computer but I was planning bigger. When I found an Ethernet connection, Porygon would be able to use the web to find spaces in computers to use to increase their processing power and then I would start working, gaining more information on one end, securing it on another and then getting to work on hiding.

I ran the program, giving Porygon a few seconds to get used to their new home before they started building an avatar, a small duck like thing that was made entirely of lines.

I opened up notepad and wrote, Hello.

Hello.

There wasn't enough processing power, which meant parts of their brain were in hibernation. Maybe the language centres too. I needed to get that Ethernet connection because using a Wi-Fi connection could be dangerous. It would mean they would go out into the world in pieces and that might mean the right people capturing them before they reformed.

Echo?

Echo.

Right now they were just repeating everything I was saying, showing me that they were awake but not really functional. I started turning off my computer before I stopped. I wasn't sure how that would translate, would it be lost time or would it be sleep? I changed setting, made the computer lock but stay awake while it was closed.

It was six and I needed a shower. I couldn't use the Protectorate to off-load Porygon because with the amount of tinkers that they have, me trying to get Porygon in would set off a few alarms. I needed to make sure that this stayed away from the Protectorate and PRT as much as possible. This meant not using the house's phone line.

Still though, I needed to conceptualise my phone. I pulled out a USB cable and connected my phone to my laptop.

"Dad?" He looked up. "Can I borrow your laptop for a bit? There's something I'm working on."

He nodded and I had to run up to my room, grab a crossover cable and connect our laptops before cutting off access to our Wi-Fi connection.

Porygon couldn't duplicate, but that didn't matter. With the increased connection they could go about basic tasks if they only used specific portions of their mind. I had them check the encryption on my phone to look for and shore up any holes, then it was doing the same to Dad and my laptop. It took the better part of an hour, time that Dad started panicking because he had to get to work.

"Done," I said. "I was putting up firewalls. I'd recommend only using that so that people don't get at any confidential data."

"Thanks," he said. "We ride together?"

I shook my head. "Going to start the day off late today," I said. "I'm thinking about meeting up with Amy and Victoria before I go into work."

"Panacea and Glory Girl?" Dad said. "First name basis. You're friends now?"

"A bit," I said. "We went hiking yesterday. All of us. It was fun."

Dad smiled at that. "That's good," he said. He gave me a hug before he left and I followed in a cab right after him. I couldn't just go out on a walk anymore even though the Dallon residence was only a few blocks away. I sent a text that I was coming to both Amy and Victoria, with the latter getting back to me faster.

Amy alright? I asked. She's not answering.

Late night, she returned. Night duty. See you in a few.

She must have gone to get some healing done after we'd retired early into last night. She was really dedicated on the healing front, scarily so.

The cab driver was a PRT trooper and I was sure I was being followed by someone else; that would make things harder because there would be a panic when I eventually ditched them. If everything worked out alright and there was a large chance that it might not.

I pushed back my reservations, holding my laptop closer because if it broke them it might damage Porygon.

It didn't take too long before I stopped at the house, it was smaller than I expected, but then it was easy to think that New Wave was rich. I knocked and it wasn't a moment later that Flashbang opened the door, Pikachu on his shoulder and eating a cookie. He gave an excited squeak as he saw me, Dedenne and Pachirisu took that moment to peek out from under my hoodie.

Flashbang gave me a smile. "Taylor, right?" he said. I nodded. "Come in. Victoria said you'd be in, she's just taking a shower. You can wait for her in the living room until she's done."

"Thanks," I said, looking at the house and all the photos. Family portraits, Brandish in her Carol identity and smiling beside a few other people. I saw Emma's Dad when I looked closely but I pushed that back before it could really hit me.

The house was clean and orderly, everything having the air of being in its rightful place. I could also see that them not having a divide between cape and civilian in how they lived: Pictures of New Wave in full costume, pictures when they had still been the Brockton Bay Brigade. There were even pictures of Fleur when she'd still lived.

"Do you want anything?" he said. "Something to drink?"

"No, thank you," I said. "I'll just wait."

He nodded. "What about you guys?" he said to Dedenne and Pachirisu. "I have cookies." They gave excited squeals. "Follow me, then."

It took a bit before Victoria stepped out, her hair wet and wearing casual clothing. "You want to go to my room?" she said. "Dad! We're going upstairs!"

"Okay!" he returned.

I followed, moving past a set of doors and stopping in front of a door with a sticker of a brick with wings. I let out a snort and that and Victoria grinned. Like much of the house, her room was clean, everything in its place. But there was a messy quality in that Victoria had a lot of stuff.

Books piled one on top of the other, a wall filled with a board and it was filled with capes. It was split in three: Brockton Bay being the largest space, then Boston and then New York. There were also smaller circles with town names.

"My cape board," she explained. "Getting a feel of other cape communities just in case I ever think about expanding New Wave when it's mine. Different forms of how things work. How the game is played, so to speak."

"You're really into this," I said.

She shrugged. "You can only live with capes so long before you start to get immersed in this stuff," she said. "I caught that the thing you need the most in a fight is information, leveraging weaknesses, so I spend most of my time trying to find them in our villains."

"That's neat," I said.

"Anyway, enough about me," she said and she grinned. "You're up to something." I frowned at that. "You and Amy. You look the same when you have to do something. When you have to act. That you're here, that you haven't asked me to wake up Amy, it makes me think you want to punch someone."

"No," I said. "At least. I don't want you to punch someone. But, I think I want the think that Dean didn't want. Us coming together."

"You want to fight the Elite?" she said and she sounded excited.

"I want to hide." Her excitement dropped at that. "Like Toy Box. But not working with Toy Box because I like the Wards. I like my friends there."

Victoria shook her head. "Not sure where this is going."

"I want you to steal me and take me to Boston," I said. "Mouse Protector is there and maybe if I see her power at work, I'll be able to make a pet that can teleport. With it, my Dad and I can move off to some place that the PRT doesn't know and with less of a chance of the information leaking, but when I need to, I can be here at any moment. I'm thinking that Amy and the Chanseys might need it too."

Victoria's eyes set in the same way as Amy's. She gave me a nod, the excitement lost and in its place a calm determination.

"Let's do this," she said.

888

AN: I'll reiterate because I've now had to use my very limited, some might say non-existent, knowledge of coding to write about how Porygon works: I'm not, at all, tech savvy.

Pursuit

4.8

Be careful.

Be careful.

I took a breath and then connected the Ethernet cable.

"So," said Victoria, interrupting me from staring at the screen, worrying about the Pokémon I'd just sent out into an environment I really didn't know, about to carve out a portion for themselves. "You just made a program Pokémon?"

I nodded.

There was a low bustle as people worked. The place had really good Wi-Fi which meant there was a section filled with people carrying laptops and working, then there were computers lined up with a majority of people with headphones or earphones in. We were in one of five group workrooms with no computers but places to connect to the Ethernet.

It had been a pretty penny getting the room.

"It was really easy because most of my alterations are just code," I told her. "Here I just stripped away the body, leaving only the brain and then sort of let it run. The program became Porygon."

"And she…?"

"Whichever," I said.

"…is doing what now?" she asked. "Since you've given her the web."

"Getting more room that she'll be able to think," I said, still watching my screen. I pulled out my phone and saw messages from my Dad. I'd sent him an e-mail that I wouldn't be going to work and that if he received a call that he shouldn't panic, I was alright. If anything was wrong then he'd know.

Be careful.

His words because he knew I might be doing something stupid, that I might be putting myself in danger. It had been those words that had given me the strength to let Porygon out in the wild without me there to protect her.

"Then we start on our end?" she asked. "I'm still not sure on the greater goal. Why you're going through all of this when we're just going to meet a teleporter."

"Because I'm uncertain," I said. I let out a sigh, sitting a little back. "I'm good at doing research; it's something I pride myself in. Parsing through information and finding the right things. But…yesterday you and the others showed me the reality of it. That I don't know as much as I think I know."

"Okay?" she said. "Still, this?"

"This stays between us? Kid Squad?" I said.

"Kid Squad," she said. She extended her pinkie and I did the same, we interlocked.

"I think the Protectorate might be a sieve," I told her. "It was hard to conceptualise at first the how of it, but bringing together what all of you were discussing it became easier. Sometimes the Elite and the Protectorate work together, sometimes they might be one organisation in all but name."

"Which means moles," she said.

I nodded. "They were able to find my home, which isn't all that hard with what Shadow Stalker did. They were able to get information that should have been confidential. And just this morning some master or tinker's creature was able to get into our safe house and find me. It's got me not trusting the Protectorate as much as I did, even if they are against hard odds."

"Still," she said. "That doesn't tell me about Porygon."

"Porygon is work on multiple fronts," I said. "First thing when she returns will be building a secure messaging app that will be hard for third parties to crack. I'll invite the Wards, you and Amy so that we can talk or plan if it's needed."

She was smiling now. "We're doing this, aren't we? Taking on the Elite?"

I ignored her. "Second she'll start gathering information," I said. "Form a repository so I can look into it if I'm faced with something. The roach thing that came into my room today, is it really something that was there to recruit me or should I be afraid of being alone? The Protectorate already has that but I have limited access just in case I might be part of a long con, that or the slow hand of bureaucracy. But I need information."

"You know," Victoria said, still smiling though it was slipping into grin territory. "I remember my parents doing something along these lines. Gathering information in a rush, working at various angles. If you're doing that, then you're gearing up for war."

I shook my head. "I'm not gearing up for anything," I said. "I'm just preparing for the worst. Making sure that I can protect myself like you said."

"Yeah, sure," she said. She shrugged. "I don't mind it. I think it's smart." She sat back in her chair, tipping it over while her feet rested on the table. "I really don't understand that people don't get that we're already at war. Villains against society. I've already been trying to do my part, but I'm only one person."

"Your part?" I said.

"Cleaning up the streets," she said. "One Nazi at a time. Trying to make the bigwigs finally see me, so they can challenge me and I can put them down. Right now it's looking like that fight might shift. Even so I'm already geared for a fight. It'll be easy switching targets."

The same sort of intensity that Amy could have. I remembered Amy's words, how good people did the right thing even if it was against their personal interests. Was it true for Victoria too in this moment? Was she maybe putting herself in too much danger?

Are you? You don't really have protection and you don't know what the Elite can do. You should be with the Protectorate.

With the Protectorate I wouldn't know what was getting done. I wouldn't know if things were getting done because I was a kid and I wasn't worth getting that information. But here I could be sure of the steps that I was taking.

My phone buzzed and there was a message:

Hello.

I pulled up a memo pad.

Porygon?

Hello.

The image on my screen changed, going black and broken shards moving through until they formed Porygon. Below her was a bar and it showed thirty percent, slowly rising towards a hundred.

I let out a relieved breath.

"Porygon's fine enough that they're sending a message," I said. Victoria let out a whoop. "We'll wait until they're okay, then we'll see how long it'll take to build the chat app. Depending on the amount they can learn from existing frameworks and possible processing power, it shouldn't take too long."

"We can get something to eat in the meanwhile," she said. "See the sights even if we didn't bring any money coming here. You know, I can fly, but I've never really just decided to take a trip here. Wasting my power, right?"

"Priorities," I said as I started packing up, shutting down my laptop and checking my phone. Porygon had disappeared, my phone returning to normal.

888

Victoria hummed as we walked. "You can just see it, can't you?"

We were walking down a quiet street, houses on either end with people returning from church and a few kids playing. I scanned, seeing the houses that were of an older design though they were well kept, giving the street a richer feel to it though I could see by the cars that people were, at best, higher-middle class.

"I'm not seeing anything," I said, taking a lick of my ice-cream. The stuff was really good and it was inexpensive to boot.

"Right?" she said. "This is Accord's territory and I heard that he has OCD. Everything in its place, that sort of thing. Must have put a lot of money into fixing up buildings so that they didn't offend his sensibilities. Higher standard of living but not to the point where it foists people out."

"That's what the Elite are trying to do," I said. "They're starting a program to clean up the Ship Graveyard. The wanted my Dad to man it."

"Did he take the offer?" I hesitated and then nodded. "Good," she said. "More jobs lead to happier people, and happier people mean fewer triggers which mean fewer villains down the line. Oh," she said and she pointed up.

There were two heroes in the sky, both of them flying in a rush. One of them was leaving a trail of red smoke that was disappearing the further away she went, and the other was wearing a white costume and had bright yellow wings that she was using to fly. Dynamite and Temperance, Protectorate and Ward.

"Mouse Protector could be there," said Victoria.

"Or she couldn't and we could get spotted seeing as we'll have to fly," I said. "Let's wait on Porygon. It'll be more secure that why. Obfuscate everything until the new Pokémon is done."

She groaned. "Fine," she said and we kept walking, chatting about how being an independent hero worked as well as the financial side of things.

My phone buzzed and it was a message.

Happy to give you use of my servers. Just ask next time. Dragon.

Porygon, I wrote, having pulled up a memo.

My screen went black and Porygon formed.

Hello.

Are you alright? Just got a message from Dragon.

The status bar showed again and she was eighty-nine percent of the way done.

Be careful.

Careful.

"What just happened?" Victoria asked.

"Porygon must have tried to access Dragon's servers or servers that Dragon's maintaining," I said. "Dragon noticed."

"Have things already gone to shit?"

I shrugged. "She just told me to ask next time," I said. "Which is scary in its own right because it means Dragon detected Porygon's intrusion, was able to figure out what she is, and then traced it back to me before sending me a text on this phone instead of the one I left back at your place."

"She is the best tinker in the world," said Victoria.

"Yeah, there's that, but there's also this. How long has Porygon had to work? A matter of hours? Dragon should have taken days to figure all of this out," I said.

I shuddered, trying to think about what might have happened if Porygon hadn't been detected by a hero. I didn't know enough about them to know if she was able to defend herself against malware, and worst of all they were still so young.

"I think we should get moving," said Victoria. "Push forward quickly before Dragon tells on us."

I shook my head. "Even knowing that I made a virtual Pokémon, that doesn't tell her anything."

"It does tell them you're up to something, though," she said. "Then they'll devote thinkers into watching you. When that gets out, other people will also have thinkers watching you and then you can't move. Everything you do is predicted by one faction or another. Sometimes you have to move quickly, deal with the consequences as they come, that way you disturb how some thinkers work."

I took a breath and slowly let it out. "That sounds a lot like saying: Throw caution to the wind and just do."

"That," she said. "It beats this complicated plan you've set up. I mean, it could take days to build a safe messaging system and even then, she won't just take the word of an unknown magical app that tells her to go somewhere even if I say it's me. Better for a face-to-face meeting, we tell her everything and she just shows you how her power works. Low-tech and simple."

I let out a long breath. "Fine."

Victoria gave me a bright smile.

888

My plan had been simple: Send Porygon out into the internet, have her find a home in various computers and use that to expand her brain power. She would then use open-source software to learn how to create a messaging app that she would look over, making sure that uninvited third parties couldn't enter. We'd send a message as Glory Girl requesting a meeting at any location of her choosing, and we'd thereafter tell her my plan.

But maybe my plan hadn't been as simple as I thought.

"Burner phone and then I call her," said Victoria. "Simple."

I shrugged uncomfortably. "If all you have is a hammer," I said.

She hummed at that. "Tell me about it," she said. "When I first got my power I started getting muscle cramps in my legs. Went to the doctor and they told me I wasn't walking enough and muscles in my legs were starting to atrophy."

"How do you not walk?" I asked, my bemusement clear on my expression.

"I was a show-off back then," she explained. She quickly dialled and put the phone to her ear. "Hey, Aunty Mousy, it's me, Vicky…Yeah, it has been, but everyone's been busy back home. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, I'm in Boston right now and I'd like to meet, something I want to talk about. Really? Thanks."

She looked at me.

"She said she'd call me in fifteen minutes," I said. "Fight between Blasto's creatures and an Ambassador. She's trying to stop it before it can be a big thing."

"The fight that you wanted to go to," I said.

Victoria nodded. "All that money wasted because you didn't want to go watch some cape action," she said and she shook her head. "More sightseeing before the meeting. Knowing MP she'll want to meet at the top of a building for the scenery or something."

Mouse Protector didn't disappoint, wanting to meet us on top of a building that looked towards the coast, showing us what I thought off as the spread of villain territories. Looking at it all together I could see the beauty of Accord's territory, how the buildings had almost symmetric feel to their placement. But then things were quickly ruined by the surrounding blocks though I could see the effect, his territory, was slowly expanding.

No, I thought, trying to push back the thoughts but they fought their way through. Accord worked in a similar vein to the Elite, there was crime but it was all positioned so that people didn't notice it, so that it didn't affect them as much as it usually did. If the Elite got their way, if they got me, then I could ask them for things going by how much of a value I had.

I could ask for less crime, for the Empire and the Merchants and the ABB to be gone. I very well might have it and people would have jobs because they were willing to put money into very expensive projects.

But they're villains.

Villains that even the Protectorate sometimes worked with. It was the same thing I'd did what felt like so long ago, looked at the Protectorate through a naïve gaze of just fighting evil. But there was so much more: There was the public relations, trying to change the hero-villain dynamic, the bureaucracy and everything else. There were resource constraints, other areas that were in worst conditions and some areas that they could do more than they were doing now.

I didn't know where Brockton Bay fit in that spectrum, but I knew for sure that it was in a bad place. There were too many people without jobs, who were desperate and trying to get whatever amount of money they could; there were people that had given up, turned to drugs for comfort; and there were people taking advantage of all of that. The Protectorate and New Wave were struggling to get a handle on it all, and yet here were people that could help, even if it was a deal with the devil.

But are they really the devil or is this just an attempt to make things black and white? Draw the distinctions between good and bad even though everyone else sees there's wiggle room?

I let out a breath, not really sure.

Hello.

Porygon had finished spreading herself out and now she could think as much as any of my other Pokémon, though I didn't know how much that translated in the digital domain. For a test.

Hello, I said. I need a repository of everything you can gather on the Elite. I think the best place to start would be building a bot that—

Porygon broke apart and my screen returned to normal, coming alive as it opened up my notepad and started jotting down code too quickly for my ability to break it down. It made me aware for the first time that though my work converted living beings into code, starting from the ground up would be very hard.

Looking at it, I couldn't help the feeling that Porygon was just showing off, telling me that she knew what she was doing.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," I muttered under my breath and the image changed, a smiley face dominating my screen. "You can hear me?"

The image on my screen turned off and then an animated smiley face appeared, nodding.

She was likely using the speakers. I made a note to tell anyone about this because it would set off a lot of alarms if the wrong people found out about it.

Victoria was looking at me, she was about to ask something when I noticed that there was a woman standing next to her. Tall and petite, wearing a costume that was large parts brown and with a lighter brown fur at points, she was wearing a helmet with mouse ears and I could see tail that was moving behind her.

"Heroes!" she intoned. "You asked and the hero, Mouse Protector, answered the call."

I felt as knives run my spine and at how hammy it was, thankful that she couldn't see my expression behind my mask.

Victoria was smiling. "Good to see you Mousy," she said. "It's been a while."

"It has," she said, her voice lower, her eyes shining with warmth. "Who's your friend?"

"Phobos," I said.

"Phobos, Phobos?" she said.

"You know about me?"

She chuckled. "Know about you," she said. "I've prowled on a lot of conversations about you. Some people liking what you're doing others saying you're playing god and are going too far. Had a friend that did a double take at the entire thing with you, asked if Blasto hadn't disappeared to go to Brockton Bay. What's got the both of you here? Using a burner no less."

"Villains," said Victoria. "The Elite."

Mouse Protector groaned. "I hate masterminds," she said. "And the Elite are the largest group of masterminds I know."

"Masterminds that are after Phobos and my sister," said Victoria, "and things aren't looking good where the Protectorate is concerned."

Her brow rose.

"They've got spies in their midst," I said. "People working for the Elite and they were able to get information about me. What's worse there are a lot of other groups that have been able to get at my location even with their protection."

She frowned at that going by the crinkle in her eyes. "I can sort of see where you're coming from but I feel like you're being a little unfair to the Protectorate." It was my turn to frown, though she couldn't see this. "You're only seeing the villain's victories, not their losses, and they only have to win once before you notice something. It's especially worse because they are having to cover multiple angles while the villains can devote themselves to one form of attack, using the fact that the Protectorate is spread so thin.

"Have you talked to them any about this? Seen what they're doing? The direction they're planning on protecting you?"

I shook my head. "Because that might be giving the wrong people knowledge about what I might do," I said. "If I spoke, the Protectorate will be on the lookout and if they have a leak…?"

She shrugged. "I suppose that makes sense, though I'd still suggest speaking to someone, a person you trust. What do you want from me?"

A pet that can teleport.

"Anything you can give us that might help," I said. "Information on powers and tactics on how to deal with them."

"I'll talk dig up some of my paper files," she said. "When they were still Uppermost and some of the stuff they did after. Give me a few days to get everything together?"

We nodded.

"It was nice meeting you, Phobos," she said. "But I have to go. Knowing Accord there'll be trouble in Allston soon." Nods were shared and with that she blinked out of sight.

"You got it?" Victoria asked.

I gave her a nod.

230

ManMag

Jan 18, 2018

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Jan 29, 2018

#604

Pursuit

4.9

It was the jaw that tipped me off at first, but it culminated when we spoke. Armsmaster, except he wasn't Armsmaster now. He supposedly had a civilian identity but in all honesty that that didn't gel. I couldn't picture him as the man, just going to the store and buying groceries.

What was that even like?

Not that it mattered right here and now.

He, and his name was Collin when he wasn't Armsmaster, was standing shorter than he usually did, but that didn't mean that his presence had any less weight. He was angry, or at least he was disappointed, or was there something more? His face was a mask that allowed only glimmers of expression through, but not enough that I could read it.

He pulled out and small remote from his pocket and pressed it. I heard a short buzzed and a small hiss. I turned towards it and saw that all the mice were reaction: Moving from Amy and Victoria who were eating and rushing upstairs.

"Holographic projector that lets alternating buzz that interferes with heightened senses," he said. "It'll ensure that we can't be heard and we can't be seen enough for our lips to be read. What is being seen right now is us just seating."

"You're paranoid," I said.

"Rightly so," said Armsmaster. "Would you like to sit?"

I nodded, taking a seat, trying to read him but I really got nothing. It was almost like he was putting in an effort to being as unreadable as he could, not giving me the ability to guard against the worst if it were to happen.

"You were in Boston," he said. I gave a nod. "Why?"

"What do you think?" I asked, because I wasn't sure what to say or how to say it. I wasn't sure how he would react which unsettled me.

"I'm thinking a lot of things," he said, "and none of them are good. But, since you asked for my thoughts I'll tell you this. I am…unsettled because with the limited data I have. I think you're on the precipice of, using words that you've used before, doing something stupid."

That smarted, but I held it back. I'd asked for this while I gave my mind opportunity to come up with an answer that wouldn't…I wasn't really sure what I wanted in a situation like this.

"There's only one data point that I have," he continued, "but what you're doing now and what you did then are so similar that it's worrying. When you didn't want to join the Wards you made more Pokémon, missed school to train them and then you disappeared to go out into the city.

"Over the past weeks you've been amassing Pokémon, training and now you missed work without explanation to anyone to go off to Boston," he said. "As I said, I am unsettled."

"I'm not doing anything stupid," I said. "I'm being cautious."

"No," he said. "I don't think so. If you weren't about to do something…ill-advised, then you would be talking to me or Miss Militia or any one at the Protectorate. I've found that it's the ideas we don't have a firm footing on that we keep close to chest."

"Or," I said, "if we're afraid of incompetence."

I'd hurt him with the statement, I could see it and I felt good. It hadn't been stupidity. I'd thought about it, considered my options and seen that the Protectorate wasn't up to task, that it couldn't be trusted to protect me.

"You think the Protectorate is incompetent?" he said, slowly. He hid it well, but there was anger there and it shook me.

"I think that you lost information about me," I said, choosing my words. "I think that someone was able to breach your protections, find me at a safe house, something that shouldn't have happened. I'm questioning your competence with that in mind."

He scowled before it eased.

"Above all that," I continued. "I don't even know what you're doing. There's a measure of security in knowing, instead when I spoke to Triumph I was told it was just thinker stuff. I get it, I'm a kid, I deserve a measure of condescension, but…What did you expect? My life in danger and I'd just sit there? Discussing costumes like it's an ordinary day?"

The scowl disappeared.

"There are procedures—"

"I don't care much about procedures right now," I said. I was surprised that I meant it. "What I care about is protecting myself, protecting my Dad and then my friends and the city. All this procedure talk is just—"

"You're being short-sighted," said Armsmaster. Another hit. Maybe it was deserved because I'd hit back? "Procedure keeps everything working, it keeps everyone safe."

"I don't feel safe," I put in, even though I knew he had more to say. Another hit, my own, destabilise him. Not allowing him to form a rhythm where he would steamroll over me.

He continued, "They are systems which have been proven to work, refined. They're sure to have their vulnerabilities because of the shifting state of the work we do, but they are no less important. They give an outline of what is permissible—"

"What can be exploited," I said. Another hit.

He stopped, looking at me for a long time, his expression again unreadable. He let out a short sigh and said, "We're too similar. We're both hard-headed and in this case we both think we're right."

"We're at an impasse," I said and he nodded.

"We have thinkers on staff," he said. "People that are good at tracking certain bits of information, tracking certain tells. Using them, an audit is being undertaken, looking for the vulnerabilities. So far a few have been found, among them, the leak that provided the Gentleman with information about you. An agent whose cousin in Anchorage was kidnapped and threatened if information about you wasn't received."

"The roach?" I said. "Who sent it and how did they find me?"

"That was Lilith's creature. She's a master-striker," he said. "Her power is like Panacea's but it's more restricted. She can only manipulate bugs; she touches them and gives them upgrades, certain quirks that might be like your Pokémon but not to the scale. She can tell them to have growth spurts at certain times, tell them to grow armour if certain conditions are met or refine certain senses.

"The running theory is that it started at your home and then tracked you in some way we haven't been able to tell yet. Scent is most likely, but at this point we don't know because our only bio-tinker didn't report to work today."

I ignored that statement.

"Lilith is from a cult, relatively small fry. From the reports we were able to get before she got a shaker power that makes tracking her location harder, she was building a 'haven' for woman."

He stopped, looking at me expectantly. He'd extended a hand, forcing me to do the same.

"I wanted to hide," I said. "I went to Boston because Mouse Protector could inspire another pet. I didn't tell you because I didn't know about the audit, didn't know what you were doing and the best information I had on hand was that I couldn't trust anyone with information."

"Not even me?" he said. I shrugged and nodded. He sighed. "What was the plan after this phase? Where were you going to go? How were you going to build your pet when everything you have is being watching at the PHQ? How were you going to protect yourself if one of them had a method of tracking you? You've already said they can teleport, didn't you think that would make you easy to find?"

Each word, maybe unintentionally, ripped me to pieces because I hadn't thought that far. I'd focused on the Mouse Protector and my machinations with Porygon rather than thinking long term. Now I was left here feeling….stupid.

I said nothing, looking down.

"Small pieces going into the big," he said. "Know what you want at the big. Then figure out all of the small pieces before you start working. That means it'll be easier to refine the pieces that come after when you have a framework already in place.

"They were able to find you here because you're still in Brockton Bay," he said. "Most people know that capes form attachment to people or things, but more than anything their cities. Everyone who wants you to join their group, knows that they just have to loose whatever they have here and it has a non-zero chance of finding you.

"There's only so much we can do, so many resources we can put into protecting you, especially if we still want to give you the illusion that you're free, that you're allowed to make your own choices. But now, knowing your concerns, we've reached a point where you have to consider: Do you want stricter security or do you want to go somewhere else?"

"Somewhere else," I said. "Somewhere else and here. I like working here because I have friends. It's why I wanted inspiration from Mouse Protector, so I could spend my days here while my nights are…at an island somewhere."

He nodded. "That's the big. Them not knowing where you are at night so you can sleep without worry," he said. "How do we reach that?" He stopped, it was a question.

"A Pokémon that can teleport, created in secrecy," I said. This was a test, or was it a test? Maybe he was already looking ahead. Knowing that I might do something like this in the future and I needed to be better prepared?

I closed my eyes, trying to picture it all.

"I can't use raw materials," I said. "It would be too obvious, my manipulations. I'd have to do it somewhere else, maybe here and then go to the Protectorate just to create them. But then there'll be energy drain that can be measured and people might ask questions, if they ask question then thinkers might turn their direction towards that…Maybe a pet that can restrict thinker powers?"

"Would that mean you having to move near thinkers?" Armsmaster said. I nodded. "It'll be arranged. Continue."

"Can you hide the energy drain from my creatures?" I asked. He gave an affirmative. "Do you need Lilith's pet back?"

"We'd like it, but if I'm thinking along the same lines, then you could just recreate it," he said.

"You hide the energy drain and I use the Poké Ball with the roach to build the new pet," I said. "Make it able to teleport and see if I can't have it be able to disrupt thinkers, which seems so abstract that I'm not sure how I'd be able to do it."

"Thinkers naturally disrupt each other," said Armsmaster. "People that can see and operate emotions often have a hard time reading or manipulating each other. The same is true for future sight."

"So I have to meet someone that can see the future?"

"Or variants of it," said Armsmaster. "As I said, that'll be arranged. Go on."

"A safe house that no one knows about," I said. "Only you and the Director because she'll have to know about it. Since I don't want questions, then…Maybe I can set it up so that me and Dad only teleport when we're at the house? Move from that one to the next so that it seems like we're still there?"

I opened my eyes. "That's all I got," I said.

"We can work with all of this," he said. "I'll talk to the Director. She was already thinking about refining your security in some direction and she'll like this. You'll have to create your pet here because even back home you're still being watched, then go to base because we want this to happen quickly, not give people enough time to think about it, consider where you were today."

I nodded.

"But there's something else that I wanted to bring up at a later date, but now it seems the right time. You said before, that you would want to outfit PRT troopers with some of your pets, so that they had more power in the field."

I'd forgotten all about that, not put in time to make sure that everything could be okay. I'd just been swept up in everything else: Shadow Stalker, the Elite and everyone else who wanted me.

And again your pets are—

I cut the thoughts off before they could form. Even if I was distracted, I'd taken the day out to be with them and I was going to continue, make it a regular thing.

"There's—"

He stopped me with a raised hand. "That's not the direction I wanted," he said. "I was using it as a starting point. Endbringer events are often hard because there are only so many movers that we can use to bring people together. Capes that can fly or move at fast enough speeds to go wherever or teleporters that can work on a number of people are rare.

"But you can make them and quite easily. Perhaps that might be our starting point, that and more Pokémon that can heal, protected by each division of the Protectorate. It would mean your Pokémon are less likely to be hurt because they wouldn't be active duty, but they'd still be playing a large role."

I smiled. "Thank you," I said, because it was likely I might not have thought in the direction. "And I'm sorry about…everything. About what I said."

"I…was like you once," he said. "I wasn't the best...teenager because I did what I thought was right, even if it went against the establish rules. With age I learned to curb that behaviour, and with the human memory being what it is, I often forget what I was like before. It's understandable. The best you can do is try and do better next time."

"I will," I said.

"Which scares me," he said, "if I'm being honest."

"We'll start things with you creating the Pokémon," he said. "Then you'll got to the base, have a walkthrough looking for me because I'll send the message that you're wanted. Do you need to watch the power at work?" I shook my head. "Then it's likely that you'll have a few thinker powers under your belt."

I nodded. He stood. "We'll communicate using e-mail," he said. "Dragon's told me she's already communicated with you, I'll use the same e-mail provider."

I'd been standing and I started to stumble at that. He looked at me.

"Don't panic," I said. I reminded myself that communication was good and that it was inevitable that he would find out and things would be bad if he found out on his own and it was better if I just told him because it was part of what I'd been doing.

"I'm feeling the rational urge to," he said.

"Yes, but curb it," I said. I pulled out my phone and said, "Porygon?" Nothing happened. "Okay, you're blocking her. I…created a virtual Pokémon."

"You created an AI?"

"No," I said. "I created a virtual Pokémon. It was the same thing I did with my other Pokémon. Porygon is no more artificial intelligence than they are."

Armsmaster took a large breath, closed his eyes then let it out.

"The plan goes on as usual," he said. "We'll discuss this later. I'll talk to Dragon because I assume she knows about this since talking to her was what spurred this on." He pressed the button to his remote. "I'll see you back at base."

He left, not even say good bye to Victoria, Amy and Mr and Mrs Dallon who were all together in the kitchen.

"That bad?" said Victoria.

"Bad, good and then…" I shrugged. "I'm not sure. But, can I stay here for a while? I have something to do that I can't do at the PHQ."

"Of course," said Mr Dallon. "I'll make you something to eat while you work. Hun?"

Mrs Dallon smiled. "Thank you," she said. She gave me a long look before she said, "I'll be in the study. Amy? There was something I was hoping we'd talk about."

Amy frowned but followed as her mother left.

I pulled out my laptop.

"I'll be watching television," Victoria muttered. "This part is always boring."

I booted it and my screen went black while my phone buzzed. Porygon making me pay attention. I pulled it out and saw as a recording was sent over from my phone to my computer. I pulled out my headphones and gave it a short listen, my conversation with Armsmaster started playing through.

I made a reminder to talk to Porygon about that because that's the sort of thing that would worry people. For me it wasn't so different from what I was going to do the next time I got into my lab, making it so my Pokémon could see and process things even when they were in the Poké Ball. This would be hard seeing as they were in stasis, but I trusted that my ability would be able to pull through.

I moved on. I didn't have any new raw material which meant I had to work off of the copies that were already in my computer. I started flicking through the save history and stopped on the caterpillar that had formed Caterpie and the bird that had gone to form Pidgey who was now Pidgeotto.

Looking over the code for both, I had the feeling that it would be easier using the bird than the caterpillar. There were too many changes to be made for what I wanted, something that could teleport and offer security against thinkers.

I still didn't have the appropriate thinker powers, but there had to be something I could use to form a facsimile until things settled.

I started with the mind. I needed to make sure that this bird and Pidgeotto would be different in personality even if they were from the same base, which meant notching up certain attributes and decreasing others. I paid attention to the teleportation power, trying my best to conceptualise it and then I worked on thinker powers, letting my ability do the work there because I wasn't exactly sure which thinker abilities I'd run across.

"Food," I heard.

"Thank you," I said, only paying a periphery attention to my eating as I continued. I didn't have to rely on biomass which meant off the bat I could make the bird bigger, able to…no, that wouldn't work. But why?

"Porygon," I said. My phone lit. "Memo: Why do certain things work and others don't?" A quick glance and I could see the memo being written.

"New personal assistant app?" I heard Mr Dallon ask.

I shrugged. "Guess you could say that," I said. My power kept wanting to turn towards the body, but I wanted to make sure that everything in the mind was right, ensure that I got all I could.

"That means you're good with computers," Mr Dallon said. "Code and all that."

"Within a very limited margin," I said. "Did you want something?"

"Yeah," he said. "An idea that my wife had for Amy's idea. We're still trying to get financing for the meat she's using to make Chansey. So we want to streamline donations, make sure we receive them without knowing where they come from so that Amy doesn't feel compelled to heal those people for their generosity."

"You wanted me to build a site?" I said, still not looking up, focusing on my code. I didn't hear anything before he muttered an affirmative.

"We'd pay you of course," he said. "But we'd really rather like a tinker doing it, ensure it's safe. It might be that a villain wants to attack us in that direction and if it's just an ordinary site…"

I nodded. "Porygon," I said. "Were you listening?" My phone buzzed. "Do you think you could set it up?"

"There's code on the screen," he said. "Scrolling really fast."

"It's starting," I said. "I'm not sure when the initial draft will be done, but I'll keep you informed through e-mail."

"About payment—"

"I like what Amy's doing," I said. "And I really won't be the one putting work on it. Porygon might ask for payment, but that's up to her more than me, things she might be working on. If it gets too high, tell me. But…I should really be getting back to work."

"Of course," said Mr Dallon. I heard him walking off, heard muttering but I didn't pay attention. I was still lost in the work, juggling between letting my ability have what it wanted and me trying to conceptualise what thinker power I'd given the new Pokémon.

A click, all the cogs in their right placement and I felt like it was complete. I looked over the code, seeing if there was anything that might be bad down the line but there was just so much that I couldn't look over all of it. But when I looked at the broad strokes everything looked like it would be alright, my Pokémon would be a bird and it would live.

I took my Ward phone and scheduled a cab, it would be ten minutes before it got here and I would go to the PHQ. I checked my e-mails and found I had a list of them through the day: Chris asking if I was alright; Jeremy asking if I needed to reschedule; an e-mail to have meeting during the day about how school life would work. All of them I'd missed.

I set up another e-mail account on my phone then synched the two. The security on my Ward phone could be stripped, but I couldn't do that because it might set off whatever means that Armsmaster had put in to make sure the phone wasn't tampered with. E-mail would move from one phone to the other and Porygon would be able to look over my phone which she would handle the day-to-day.

She caught onto this pretty quickly. I saw three apps being downloaded and a schedule being set up. Time being divided and tasks that I still had to be done being put up with different colours to denote urgency. It was really beautiful to look at and it showed me how much free-time I had, which was more than expected.

At the same time I could see that the Dallon family was in their living room and they were talking to a computer.

"Um…I've, got to go," I said. "Can I ask what's going on?"

"Porygon," said Victoria.

My heart almost stopped. They knew about…it clicked. Mr Dallon had talked to me while I'd been working and that had been when I'd given Porygon permission to make contact. I made a mental note to be careful in the future because something like Porygon set off too many alarm bells, all of which wasn't her fault.

"She's designing the website right now," she said. "Got us talking to Dragon a while ago, she agreed to host our site, look over Porygon's work to see if there's anything she can buff up."

"Dragon?" I said. I looked at my phone. "You and Dragon are friends now?"

Friends.

"That's good," I said, though I wasn't really sure what to feel. It spoke to how big what I'd made was, how out of my hands it was. She'd made friends with one of the most powerful tinkers in the world, the most powerful living tinker. All in a matter of hours without me there to guide the process.

What if that could happen but with bad people?

I pushed back my reservations.

"I'd better go," I said. "I still have stuff to work on."

"Your idea to go into hiding?" said Mrs Dallon.

"Um…yeah," I said. "Make sure that the groups that have been reaching out to us don't kidnap us when our guards are down."

She nodded. "You'd be willing to give this over to Amy to recreate?"

"That was the idea," I said.

She gave me another nod and I got that the conversation was over with that.

"I'll be leaving then," I said. "Things should be done by tomorrow. I'll maybe try to stop by before going back to the house? Give you time to get a read on him?"

Amy nodded.

The cab was already waiting.

I left.

Last edited: Jan 29, 2018

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Threadmarks Pursuit: Interlude

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Jan 29, 2018

#605

Pursuit

Interlude

The programs were already at work in the background. Facial recognition, though it wouldn't work against the right powers: A changer that could completely change their physiology; a master who could hijack a person's body or their minds or control their emotions or anything else; and a range of other abilities he didn't yet have knowledge of.

But it was a starting point: With the facial recognition he could pinpoint the backbone of the program, see how it worked and then work out methods to subvert it. A device that could alter a face at specific points enough to blur it from other similar software. The gait recognition worked in the same vein, going into armour or the head of the right sort of thinker, making them move in a way that might make the ultimate objective easier.

The gait recognition was what first got her and he was alerted. He watched as she got out of her cab: Tall and wearing clothes that were at least two sizes too big. It made it harder to spot the creatures she had on her person which was where the other surveillance kicked in.

Four distinct heat signatures on her person, using them the programs were able to draw outlines and match them to her and her pets. On her person she would have the creatures: Rattata, a rat that was rapidly growing and from talk with the girl would be the size of a rabbit when it reached its adult state; Pachirisu, a squirrel; and Dedenne, a mouse.

All of them had their abilities, intricate ways of fighting that likely would grow as the girl made more advances on her creations, and all of them had been logged for study by people with the correct set of skills.

She moved to the elevator and pressed her phone against the keypad, the screen momentarily blurred as she did this, clearing when she was done and walking into the elevator. The cameras changed and she was standing in the elevator, looking at her phone; one of her creatures peeking out from under her shirt. The smallest one, Dedenne.

The girl's face was unreadable beneath her featureless mask, but going by body language she was…tense and trying to be at ease.

He flagged this.

She went a few floors down and into the tinker floor, moving past other labs to her own. The cameras switched and the pets on her person surged out. She put her backpack on a table, taking out what had been dubbed Poké Balls and releasing them. Each of her other pets flooded out, light becoming mass.

Croagunk. Riolu. Pidgeotto. Caterpie. Hondour.

There was another, Audino, but this creature was currently at the mess, eating with a league of medical personnel. One of them was making a concerted effort in figuring out what type of food Audino liked, with the Pokemon humming in that way she did.

"I'll be working for a while," the girl said. "You can have a walk around, but I doubt the others are still here. It's pretty late."

She pulled out a drive from her back and put it into her computer. She retrieved a ball—

Another video opened, running back until it showed the time that the ball had been placed in her office—

Another program started and through it tracking the trooper who'd deposited the ball, seeing the departments it had moved and forming and image of where it had come from.

It would be a specimen from Lilith of the Daughters of Eve, sent to the girl for her to study. Her programs came into life, decoding the creature and turning into—

For a millionth of a second the image jumped, placements in the wrong place with the girl still viewing code.

Other programs came to life, reviewing the data and trying to form conclusions, seeing if they couldn't undo any of what had been done or finding other cameras that hadn't been turned off or the speakers in the room. There was nothing.

"That can't be possible," muttered the man who watched.

He reached for his computer and after a short series of presses he had access to cameras that couldn't go off. But his programs alerted him to something else that was vying for his attention, a message:

"Director Piggot," the message said. "Classified ops in progress. Code: Three-Alpha-Delta-Two-Seven-Delilah-Seven-Epsilon-Enigma-Eternal-Ambrose."

"Armsmaster," another said. "Classified ops in progress. Code: Tango-Annotation-Digitrade-Tandum-Synthesis-Desmond-Synthesis-Everett-Everest-Everlasting-Anita."

A program to check the codes and he eased a little, though he didn't like it. He was supposed to be watching everything, making sense of it all and yet there were bits of information he wasn't privy on.

He continued to watch.

The girl was moving—

An e-mail had been received from Armsmaster, requesting her presence.

She and one of her pets, the bird: Pidgeotto. He started to note that it was odd that she wouldn't just send out an e-mail-and then she did, pulled out a phone and sent an e-mail asking for Armsmaster's location. Armsmaster didn't immediately return the e-mail, which was suspicious on its own.

She was part of the ops, but what was it?

He stopped himself. If he was able to figure it out, then it might mean he could be used to gain that information. He was the watcher and sometimes to get information it was best to watch those who watched.

But that didn't mean he could like it. After all that was what he did, looked for suspicious things, worked through them and then countered them if it was needed. This, though, didn't need any countering.

Even so he couldn't stop himself. He started another sequence of programs but another came to life and it gave him a message: Knew you'd do this eventually. I'm restricting access and giving it to your second. You could put effort into breaking these programs apart but you'll know the safeguard you've put in place and how thorough you are.

He sighed and sat back. Only watching, because he hadn't been able to safeguard against that guilty pleasure.

She'd found Armsmaster:

"…over," she was saying. "I understand large parts and I think I can build on it in a more tangible than the inspiration from other powers. It's interesting in how it eats, able to store energy throughout its body and then burn it for its growth spurts. I think it might be the a similar process to what might have happened to Pidgey when he turned to Pidgeotto, but using different avenues? Anyway," she said with a sigh, "it might be something to study up on."

Armsmaster nodded. "And you not—"

The footage stopped and another blinked on, a partial read from a phone towards an unknown e-mail. The facial recognition program kicked into life and the person was found: Jonathan McCurry.

Another program kicked into life and footage of the man started playing, being watched over for suspicious behaviour. All through it he was watched for messages he sent but nothing was found. He pressed a sequence, something he had to manually do and he had records of the trooper's phone, access to even deleted material, but there was nothing there. No trail, but then his opponents were smart.

There was a ping, a foreign program but it was out of his purview. He alerted Dragon and left the task to her while he logged this and gave it to the higher ups.

He watched as Jonathan was called by a higher up. He watched as Jonathan was surprised by a clone of him in the woman's office. He watched as the clone moved swiftly, getting close and letting loose a spray that made the man woozy, sending him quickly towards sleep.

Between Satyrical and the others that had deemed to help Brockton Bay, they would have the right information to bluff things along. And he would help too, he directed a program to gather all relevant information and send it towards the right channels.

One task done and that reminded him that there was still a curiosity.

He searched and he found her, sitting on a roof with all of her creatures around her, talking to them. Her phone buzzed and she stood, "We should be going, then," she said. "Dad's going to be worried."

They left the roof and he watched, following as they moved.

He made a call. "I was wondering if I could get access to the surveillance drones," he said.

"Why?" it was returned.

"Something caught my curiosity," he said, typing. "One of the targets of the Elite. She disappeared during the day. Thought it prudent to watch her."

"Right," the voice said, sarcastic. He was known well enough that it wouldn't be all of it. "Giving you access."

A short sequence and he had access to drones placed all over the city. His programs started working and he started following the cabs that were leaving. There were three in total and he devoted drones towards following each, only one of them was headed in the direction of the girl's residence.

He let the other drones go and focused on the solitary drone.

There was another ping but he ignored it, letting the series of programs take over individual tasks that would gather the information and take it to the right place.

He focused on the girl. She stepped out of the cab and walked towards the safe house, trying to look at it and the picture was a shifting mess of blurs. But he didn't get that far, the gait recognition program had caught something off about how the girl walked and it matched it to five iterations of Sytirical's movements.

He logged this and sent it to the right people.

He left the clone and continued to watch the cab. There were twenty stops in total before the cab retired for the night. But this was false as thermal imaging spotted the cab still moving, a personal hologram or illusion around it, all traffic set so it wouldn't get in the way of the invisible car.

A ping caught his attention, a message from Dragon: Desist.

"Fuck," he said, he started pulling back and then shook his head. He was likely to get in trouble but he wanted to follow this thread all the way to the end.

He watched as the car moved, going all the way out of town, watching as the girl and a man, Armsmaster, left the car, moving to a spot—

The feed cut off, his access to the drone gone.

His phone rang. He let out a breath.

"Hello?"

"Adam," the voice said.

Alexandria.

"Ma'am?" he said, swallowing.

"You're to report everything you saw to your Commander," she said. "If you were able to look in. We can't discount that someone else wasn't able to do the same."

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

"It goes without saying that there'll be penalties for your behaviour," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," he returned.

The line dropped.

He let out a long, shuddering breath. He knew. It was hard not to with all the programs that he'd built, all of them collecting information and feeding the most important to him. It hadn't been that long before he'd connected bits of information, caught stray images and known there was a greater conspiracy.

And where there were conspiracies there were keepers of that conspiracy. People that skulked in the darkness, protecting their secrets.

He'd acted, joining the Watchdog and showing them that he was a team player, that he would give them all of his information in the hopes that they wouldn't come after him. It had been three years and they hadn't yet visited him, he guessed that he was doing it right.

Or maybe he was being paranoid.

His fingers ached to start up the chain of events that had learned the information in the first place. There was now another piece, Phobos and the personal call from Alexandria herself. But he shook his head.

Rather false paranoia than the possibility of death.

He pushed his mind towards the audit. The Elite had spies in Brockton Bay, money was changing hands, it was his job to find it.

888

AN: Not my favourite arc, which might be why, at least to me, it feels like it just ended. A lot of stuff added into this not being my favourite arc, but the one that matters is that I had a shift of ideas regarding this arc. At first it would have been contained, with more emphasis on Audino and Chansey, but that sort of shifted as I thought about the wider implications of what Panacea did.

Various groups wanting a piece of the pie and how Taylor would deal with that sort of attention. Unfortunately I couldn't really deal with it because it wasn't really what I'd planned and there was a lot of stuff going on IRL that I had to deal with.

I don't know when I'll be starting the next arc—there's still a lot of stuff to do with my holiday just ending and me preparing to go back to school—but unlike this one, I've got a better idea of what I want out of it and I'm hoping it will come out better than this arc.

Last edited: Jan 29, 2018

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Threadmarks Ember: 5.1

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Jan 29, 2018

#628

Ember

5.1

One step in front of another.

One step in front of another.

One step-

I slipped and started falling. Jeremy's lessons came to mind and I started curling, minimised the impact from the fall, but it happened again. My world shifted and the ground which had been rapidly coming towards me was suddenly further away.

I fell, letting out a short scream as I flailed. Everything shifted again and I was suddenly falling towards water. The impact was still hard and worse it was cold. As fast as I could, I regained composure enough that I was able to swim up, surfacing.

My breaths came out in short pants, with the cold already starting to set in. I searched, looking past the dense foliage until I found the patch of empty space that led to the house. I started swimming, doing my best to push my mind away from the cold that was gradually starting to seep into me, pushing it away from my jaw which was starting to chatter.

I wasn't the best swimmer, especially with the cold, but I didn't have to swim too long before I felt something under me; an arm around my waist before I started to swim faster. In seconds I was out of the water and laying on my back. Croagunk stood beside me, looking down with a worry laced grin. In the air above us, Pidgeotto was circling in the sky, hooting at times.

A green form appeared in the sky before it disappeared and I felt a weight settle on my stomach. The scenery shifted, moving from frigid air, to slightly warmer air surrounded by a woodcrafted roof.

"Fireplace. On," I said. "Heating. On."

A crackling fire started and the room flooded with heat, too much to have been generated solely by the fire. More things about the house that I'd missed, more things that made me want to systematically tear it apart and learn all that made it work.

One of five safehouses that were called the Great Houses. It was one of the safest places to be because, as Armsmaster had phrased it, this was one of the houses that Dragon had studied to put together something on the scale of the Birdcage.

My breathing was starting to even out, with me able to hold a breath and then slowly let it out if I wanted to. Not that I wanted to, my mind was stuck on one thing: I was in one of the most secure safehouses in North America and yet I'd nearly died.

"I guess I should have started this by working out safeguards first," I said. I smiled, looking at my newest Pokemon as she stood looking back at me. She was small and round, bright green feathers with red tipped wings. Wings, I'd learned, couldn't support flight even though that didn't make sense because Pidgeotto shouldn't have been able to fly and yet he was able to.

Natu jumped and flapped her wings before she landed on me again.

"Go tell the others that I'm alright?"

Natu jumped, flapped her wings and then disappeared.

I lay there for a few more seconds before I pushed myself up, the day hadn't started yet, and there was still a lot to do.

"Course, room," I said. "Adjust heating."

I started moving, the wooden doors silently sliding open as I neared them. I caught the scent of something sweet as I moved past the kitchen and towards the stairs. That would be Dad making breakfast. It was better if he didn't see me in my condition because it might worry him. Not that it wasn't worrying me because...I really could have died.

"Shower on," I said as I started taking off the wet clothes. "Slightly hot water."

As I passed my window I could see the greater expanse: A line of trees that stretched further than I could see, with the tops of mountains peeking through at the horizon. I wasn't sure if the mountains were real or not, but Pidgeotto had flown that far out and he'd come back with his feathers singed. My guards had then decided to tell me that there was a forcefield at the edges of the facility, and that it worked both ways: Keeping things stuff from going out and coming in.

But thankfully, it didn't play well with teleportation.

A quick shower and I felt better. I dressed and went to my computer, running through my e-mails and seeing the replies that Porygon had sent, then seeing the changes in my schedule. There were slots opened for my classes, meetings that I knew that I had and some time for training as well as socialising.

My phone chimed and an alert appeared: Breakfast.

"—time. But finally, late last night, we received reports that a concerted effort from New Wave's Glory Girl, Shielder and Laserdream has lead to the apprehension of the long time villain."

"Off," said Dad as I entered. The news report that had been playing on the window blinked off, showing off the large barn just a little ways away from the house.

"What was that about?" I asked, sitting. Dad had made me fruit salad, which I appreciated because I liked it more than the cereal.

"Your friends got Purity," said Dad. I rose a brow. "There's even footage of it. Some stupid man stuck around and recorded the thing. High resolution too, which is amazing."

"Really?" I pulled out my phone and went to PHO, immediatelly finding a link to the video and following it:

Purity was bright against the night, illuminating even Victoria as she darted forward towards her. The villain shot but Victoria had already dodged; she tried to get close but Purity was on the lookout for this. Purity flew back and away from Victoria only to be hit from behind by a red laser.

She whipped around, moving to point a hand and Victoria took the opportunity to rush forward. Purity had expected this because she'd still been tracking Victoria. The shot landed but Victoria shrugged it off, continuing to rush Purity even as she was forced groundward by a salvo of Laserdream's lasers.

She started to fire toward Victoria and missed, caught by another laser. I could see the fight starting to leave her; she spent less time fighting and instead tried to run. She flew lower towards the ground while firing groundward, towards the people on the street, intentionally missing.

Laserdream spent less time trying to fire at the villain, but building forcefields to protect the civilains that were starting to spread out. Victoria swooped low and picked up a car, heaving it towards Purity who blasted it apart. A small distraction but it meant Victoria could get closer, she got close and slammed into Purity; the woman fired and Victoria was blasted back. Purity tried to fire again but the blast was stopped by a blue forcefield.

Purity looked down and I was sure she was panicked because she tried darting up before she was pelted back by Laserdream. She tried to fire again, but Victoria was close, swooping in and forcing the woman to fire at her again; before the blast could hit, Shielder's shield appeared and took the brunt of the impact which meant Victoria could fly in, crashing into the woman hard enough that she lost her shine.

The image blinked off as the heroes disappeared between buildings.

I let out a low whistle. "Impressive."

"Please tell me you're not going to be doing any of that," he said, his voice slightly hollow.

I shook my head. "Not by choice," I said. "Purity is...strong. I don't think I could put my Pokemon in that sort of danger."

Dad let out a short breath. "That makes me feel a little better," he said. "Especially since you and your friends are so similar." I gave him my best questioning expression. "Capes or not, I know parents. They certainly didn't give the go-ahead for what those three did."

I was watching the fight again, looking at how they moved and being impressed by it all. How Victoria had framed the fight to make herself the target while her much squishier cousins did the work. How they'd kept Shielder in a support role and at a place where the camera and Purity hadn't been able to easily tell until he struck.

"You don't have to worry about that from me," I said, which might have been a lie because I knew what this was a precursor to: Kid's Squad. Maybe Victoria had seen that it would be harder to get us into the fold and conviced her cousins to help her?

And with their success, it would be easy for them to leverage this to do something else.

Dad gave me a hum. I looked at him and his expression told me he didn't believe me in the slightest. I disregarded the hum, looking at the comment thread of the post. A lot of people were rooting for New Wave, some speculating if this was a message to the rest of the Empire, then things sort of lost forward impetus as there was an argument of the car Victoria had thrown and her use of force. I skimmed over most of it, thinking about commenting before holding back. I didn't really think I would add much to the discussion.

"How's the day looking?" Dad asked.

"Early morning meeting and then training," I said. "I think my tutoring might start today, but that's still to be discussed. I've slotted some time for it, which is good. It gets my mind in the right gears. What about on your end?"

"Meeting with the Mayor's options to talk contracts," he said. "Then we'll start the entire process of finding the required labour force. Most of it is low skill, which helps, but there'll be people who'll have to use specialised equipment. The company the Mayor wants manning the project already has it's own people from out of town, but that sort of things would very likely lead to a riot."

"A riot?"

Dad nodded. "Already heard word that it was something people were talking about," he said. "It's why I'd like to field it before it gets traction. Show people that they're being listened to."

"We don't need anymore villains," I said. He nodded at that. "Does that mean a late night? I could synch our schedules so that we arrive at around about the same time."

"Wouldn't mind that," he said. "I'll get Porygon to do it?"

"She can do that," I said. I'd finished eating and I was starting to stand. "It's still a little while before I have to go to work. I'll take a walk around the propety. See how the others are adjusting."

Dad was smiling as he gave me a nod. "You seem at ease for the first time since everything," he said.

I shrugged. "Easy to with this place," I said. "See you?"

"See you later, kiddo," he said.

I left through the kitchen door, hands in my pockets to protect against the crisp air. I scanned the skies and I could see Pidgeotto, circling far off in the distance. He'd taken to doing that a lot, stretching his wings and flying around a larger and larger area. Natu tried to follow along sometimes, flying through a series of short teleportations to move forward.

It was really easy to feel at ease because this seemed like where I belonged, where my Pokemon belonged: Croagunk spending most of his time in the lake; Riolu punching trees; Caterpie having webbed herself off in a section and constantly eating leaves; and the mice balancing between indoor and outdoor living.

I pushed the door to the barn open. Hondour and Riolu were sitting together, both of them turning towards me as I entered.

"Was thinking about getting the Frisbee out," I said. Hondour immediatelly stood, tongue lolling out and rushing towards me. I scanned and found the Frisbee before the two of us went outside, starting to play.

I let my mind go on autopilot as I threw, looking over the property. It was big, the sort of big that maybe Dean was used to. But there was a difference here in that this place was big because there was the space to. I doubted that I was anywhere close to any living person.

The Farmhouse.

I couldn't help but get lost in that image: A flock of sheep, other Pokemon in the surrounding forest, a veritable ecosystem. All of it, mine.

My power leapt and I could see it, sheep Pokemon that could make electricity. If I wanted to, I could go off the grip and still have access to technology because I would have power generators. It would be a great starting point, sort of like an animal reserve. Getting people used to Pokemon to ease them into the pet idea.

I gave a wistful sigh and felt a pang because it likely wouldn't be as easy as I was imagining it. There would likely be poachers or hunters or other people that wanted me or my pets. I would protect them and the there would be inevitable fighting.

My wistful sigh turned into one of resentment.

Sometimes it was just easier not being around people. My mind jumped and I pictured that that might have been something Nilbog might have thought and squashed that line of thinking.

My phone buzzed and I checked it, a reminder that there was ten minutes before I had to go to work. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a whistle, blowing it. Pidgeotto started flying closer and when I judged that he could hear me, I told him to go get the others.

We used the ten minutes to get everyone into their Poke Balls before Natu jumped onto my head. The scenery shifted and I was again in my room at the Brockton Bay safehouse.

Dad and I parted and I was on a cab, going to work. The others would be at school and I would be alone for most of the day, but even so Porygon had reserved some socialising time. There was a note there to 'make friends.' I judged she wanted me to make friends with the Protectorate.

First though, the meetings. I was right, my tutors had already been hired and were prepared to teach me though the 'school day' would be shorter than it usually was at Winslow.

"...still," the woman said, "it will be longer than most of the Wards because you have extra classes. I think it's best that we lumped those with your regular classes."

I hummed through most of it, listening where my attention was needed, but for the most part relying on Porygon to record and alter my schedule. My phone buzzed but I didn't look at it with the meeting.

Jeremy was my next meeting. I looked at my phone as walked towards his division, it was a message from security telling me that they thought my phone might have been bugged and that I wouldn't able to send or receive messages until I went to go speak to them to have the matter checked.

Something else Porygon had done?

I ignored it for now, making sure to set a reminder after I met with Jeremy. He was already waiting for me as I reached his office and he was pacing.

"Good," he said, letting out a relieved breath. "I've been sending you messages for the last few minutes but you haven't been answering."

"Something wrong?" I said.

"Yes," he said. "Sort of an emergency. One of the people who wanted to run the Phobos and Shadow Stalker story are putting pressure on us. Their competitor managed to run the Purity story and they want an exclusive to one-up them. They want you."

"Me," I said. "But—"

"You haven't prepared," he said. "You don't even really have a combat worthy costume. But we have the first draft and it's...workable. We should get you dressed. We'll speak as you do, I'll try and fill you in as much as I'm able."

I felt my stomach twist, my hand finding Hondour's head because I needed the comfort. I was sure to embarrass myself. I could already feel it.

Last edited: Feb 5, 2018

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Jan 30, 2018

#640

Ember

5.2

"You're not going go to be there with me?" I asked, my voice breaking as I said the words. I could already hear them: The host talking in that fake way they often did and the audience clapping or laughing as it was needed.

Thankfully, this was a recording, with the segment airing mid-afternoon. But there was still the chance that I might flub, saying the wrong word and eliciting a laugh from the audience.

Calm down Taylor, I thought, though the words didn't have much weight. They seemed hollow and didn't help at all in calming me down.

"This is about you," Jeremy said, speaking over Miss Militia who'd been just about to speak. "They want to know everything about you, about your powers. They might like Miss Militia to be there but it wouldn't scratch the same itch showing off something new would."

Like I'm an object instead of a person, I thought, resentment starting to build. Like they didn't force this matter by threatening to reveal my civilian identity.

I took in a large breath and let it out, tried to take another breath and almost choked as the host started positioning to bring me in. People surged around me, touching my costume and making sure I'd put it on okay. One of them tried fix the positioning of my Poke Balls but I stopped her, brushing her away.

Meeting my clone had been scary, but meeting the illusionist who'd hidden the plane that took Dad and I to the Farmhouse had been even scarier. It had shown me another dimension to powers and it had forced me to put the policies behind Master-Stranger Protocols first on my completion of Director Piggot's assignment.

It worked to be paranoid, to be on my guard because all a person had to do to steal my pets was take a ball. It would be harder since my pet wouldn't exactly go along with that, but anything else could happen and they might be forced to obey.

I was shoved, both from my thoughts and towards the stage. I let myself move, keeping my breathing even as I walked through: The lights almost debilitated me but my goggles darkened, taking this as an attack and showing me thermals. I blinked and the thermals turned off, but the darkening effect persisted.

There was clapping, but I ignored that, continuing forward while giving a small wave to the audience. I didn't look directly at them, looking towards the host: A woman sitting on a comfortable chair and wearing business-casual cothing. She stood as I neared, a bright smile on her that honestly seemed genuine.

I shook her hand and sat as she offered it. I gave another wave at the audience, being forced to look at them because of how the chairs were angled. They were a large group, men and women with many of them in the early- to mid-twenties age range. Even with how early it was in the morning, they were dressed well. But then, if the camera panned out, it needed to give out the feel of the afternoon.

"Phobos," she said. Her name was Karen, a talkshow host with an in with the heroes. I'd asked why she wasn't on the news and been told that she didn't like it, she better liked talking to interesting people in an informal setting. But unlike most hosts, she had a nose for sussing out bullshit.

"Welcome to the show. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

I wasn't smiling. I couldn't smile because I was still nervous.

"Thank you," I said. "It's good to be here." There was a voice modulator in my mask, meaning that my tone was hard to read and it was hard to tell that I meant none of what I just said.

"So," she said. "You're our newest Ward. What's that like?"

"She'll soft ball you at first," Jeremy had said. "But she'll progressively ask harder and harder questions. Be prepared for it. Think of it as a verbal joust."

"It's not what I imagined really," I said, my word slow and measured. "Behind the scenes there's a lot of procedural work that you don't often see get mentioned: A lot of meetings, a lot of focus on doing well at school, and above all being around friends."

"Sort of like high school?" she said.

I felt my heart jump at that. "No," I answered. I could see she wanted me to elaborate but I didn't. There was a light to her eyes and I coud see that that line of questioning wasn't done.

"Tell us about the name, Phobos. What was the rationale behind it?"

"A lot of parts coming together, really," I said. "My power has been described by many members of the Wards as cuteness distilled. I like that, sure, but...what if I was being attacked by a villian. What if I had to protect people without having to fight? My Pokemon wouldn't able to intimidate them, so I was hoping with the name would do that."

"By choosing a name with leanings to phobia?" she said.

I nodded. "A name with a few leanings," I said. "Phobia being amongst them. I don't want people to fear me, because that's just crazy. But I want people to have pause, to think if it's worth doing whatever badness that they should be doing when I'm around."

She was humming, nodding and looking at me like this all was so interesting.

"It's about protecting yourself," she said. "The name?"

"Myself, my Pokemon and people," I told her.

"Very heroic of you," she said, smiling, that light in her eyes. Had the Elite spoken to her or paid her? Was this going to be one of their plays. "And perhaps it might be able to stop people from looking further into the name."

"You're talking about the other leanings," I said. She nodded.

"Leanings to Ares and Aphrodite," she said. "Leanings to the Greek Gods which...aren't the best gods. Selfish, arrogant and egotisical."

"Maybe I am those things too," I said. "I am a teenager after all." That got a small chuckle from parts of the audience, and it helped, giving me a firmer footing. Especially against her maybe barbs.

This was a fight. Verbal barbs much like Armsmaster. I'd had more knowledge back then, able to hit him as hard as he could hit me, but this would be harder. I needed to speak broadly, ensure that she got as good as she was starting to give.

"Anyway, it's all about how you read it, isn't it?" I said. "A lot of text is like that. You find your own symbolisim, one that speaks to you. It's largely subjective even if everyone likes to pretend that it's objective."

"Tell me about it," she said, smiling and ignoring my subtext: If you read into it wrong, then it says more about you than it does about me. "How do you read into it. The thought process behind it."

"Love and war," I said. "A dichotomy. I'm...a mother. I make my Pokemon and I feel a bond towards them that I imagine is similar to what parents feel. I worry about them, fuss over them eating enough and I want to see them grow to their best them. I love them and fully prepared to protect them."

"As any mother would," said Karen. I'd unintentionally hit too close to home. I'd expected that she would make a joke about the whole mother thing, but she was deathly serious. "As many mothers often do."

I glance at the crowd and they were nodding. There was something there that I was missing. I didn't watch the show, didn't know Karen's history. It might that she'd been forced to protect her child and I wouldn't know abou it. I didn't say anything though.

"And making them fight for you..." she said. "Doesn't that worry you."

"Every time," I said. "I really don't like the idea of it. The fighting. But...being a cape, it tends to call a certain thread of trouble. You may want to be a rogue, but more often than not there'll be something that drives you towards being a hero or a villian."

"Not true for everyone," she said. "I"m thinking of Brockton Bay's very own, Parian."

"Yeah," I said. "But the difference between me and Parian is that my power might be more valuable than hers."

She laughed. "Teenager indeed," she said and that elicited a laugh from the audience. "At any rate, can we see some of them? I heard there was going to be a demonstration?"

I nodded. "The first of them I would like you to meet is Dedenne," I said, smiling. I tapped my pocket a little and I felt Dedenne stir. He peeked out, looked around and with a short shriek slid back into my pocket.

"Oh?" said Karen. "Is he nervous?"

"I think so," I said. "I've never shown him off in front of a crowd before. Let's not push it. I know someone who's less likely to be shy." I picked a ball and pointed it on the table in front of us. After a flash of light, Pachirisu appeared.

She looked around and then grabbed her tail, winding it around herself before she looked at everyone with large eyes.

"My god, she is adorable," said Karen. Pachirisu chattered, looking in Karen's direction. She started forward and jumped onto Karen, the woman bracing herself before she found that Pachirisu wanted to rub against her cheek. She eased, letting out a laugh.

"Want to say hello to the audience, Pachi?" I said. Pachirisu jumped off of Karen, did a forward flip and landed on the table between the both of us before she gave the audience a wave. She then looked around, then towards me. She jumped on to me and peeked into my pocket, chattering.

She looked at me and chattered, pointing towards Dedenne.

"Oh?" I said. Theatrics on my part. "Okay." I looked at Karen. "She's saying that if Rattata is out, Dedenne is likely to come out too. May I?"

"Of course, of course," she said.

Another ball and Rattata was out. She looked at the crowd and steadfastly ignored them, looking towards me and chattering at the others. Dedenne peeked out of my pocket again and then slowly came out, jumped onto the table and stuck close to Rattata.

Did he trust Rattata more than Pachirisu? Or was it something else I'd missed while focusing elsewhere, changes in relationships.

"Is there anything they can do?" she asked. "I heard that they have powers?"

Heard through reaching into the Shadow Stalker situation.

"Yeah," I said, "but that sort of thing is classified."

"Oh," she said, still smiling. "That's a little disappointing." She sat back. "I'm hoping the next subject of conversation is less classified, even with the possible intrigue behind it."

I'd been waiting for this.

"Shadow Stalker," I said.

"Yes," she said. "Shadow Stalker."

I let out a sigh. "She and I had history before I joined the Wards. She...made life hard for me at school and didn't like that I was a Ward. She attacked me."

"Any reason why?" she said, almost sounding like she cared. "I heard that she was aiming to kill you."

I shrugged. "Shadow Stalker is...troubled," I said. "It's the only way that I can make sense of what she did. There was something wrong with her that she hid well, that she didn't show until she finally snapped."

"As I understand it, she's escaped." I nodded. "What would you tell her? If she was watching?"

"That it's better for everyone involved if she hands herself over to the Protectorate. Because with her trajectory, she's likely heading down a very dark path," I said. The voice altering thing in my mask helped hide that the words were a lie, shallow and not meant in the slightest.

Karen nodded, opened her mouth to speak and stopped as my Pokemon stopped working the audience and jumped onto the ground, Pachirisu and Dedenne's cheeks crackling as they looked in the direction that I'd come. The audience was reacting, looking in the direction and a few cameras had turned to face the side of the stage.

I was immediatelly on my feet, one hand with a Poke Ball at the ready and another on my gun, waiting for trouble.

"Okay," said Karen from behind me. There was a crack and the sound of something going on before there was a roar. People were starting to move. "Let's remain calm. Leave through the back entrances. Quickly and calmly."

A quick glance and people were still calm, a few of them sticking around and pulling out cameras. Riolu, Croagunk, Caterpie, Pidgeotto and Hondour were out. With them in tow, my Pokemon started to shift: Dedenne running towards Hondour while Caterpie shot a thread of string towards the ceiling and used that to climb onto Pidgeotto; Rattata and Pachirisu an towards the crowd and found a hiding place; while the others stayed close, waiting.

There was another crash, a rapid series of cracks and then a twoom before there was a scream.

I swallowed, glancing towards the crowd again, seeing if they were evacuating okay. Half of them had left, but now they were starting to panic. Through it all Karen was speaking, urging everyone to remain calm throughout the process. She wasn't leaving.

I wanted to pull out my phone, but that would mean not having access to Natu's Poke Ball when I needed to hightail it out of here.

Keep breathing. In and out, make sure that everyone's evacuated before leaving. Miss Militia can—

She could do nothing as he crashed through a wall, slamming into the ground and not moving to get up. There was another roar and a dragon stepped through, metal plating covering every part of him, fire rushing out of his eyes and running up his arms.

Lung and he'd already ramped up.

Fuck.

Last edited: Feb 5, 2018

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ManMag

Him/He

Jan 30, 2018

#648

Ember

5.3

"Kai rush."

Pidgeotto was the first to move, swooping low and closing the distance between himself and Lung in the blink of an eye. The bird slammed into the dragon and Lung tipped, his arm shooting out to grab Pidgeotto before Riolu appeared, twisting and flicking out a leg.

Lung tipped back and fell, slamming into the ground hard enough that some of his metal armour broke in places, the flakes littering the ground. He roared and my Pokemon pulled back before a wave of fire shot out, sending heat in every direction. The fire disappeared where it crashed into something, but there was a force behind it, enough heat that it was worth avoiding.

"Go," I said as he tried getting to his feet. Pidgeotto swooped, stopping as Lung tried to point a hand in his direction; he flapped his wings and a massive burst of wind appeared, pushing Lung further into the ground and breaking off more of his armour.

Don't give him a moment to breath. He's on the backfoot. Take him down.

"Car-Tow," I said.

Croagunk croaked and Lung reacted, all of his scales falling off and a man revealing himself beneath it all. Tall and slim, wearing a skintight firesuit that looked tinker made with no mask. He quickly got to his feet and metal plates started appearing over his arms.

He rushed us.

My mind wanted to reel, figure out what was going on because this wasn't Lung, but right now that wasn't important. He stopped mid-run, sliding forward to stop and look towards Hondour and Dedenee. Rattata took the opportunity and shot towards the man, the Left Hand I was sure, and caught him in the leg. He slipped and fell, contorting and sinking one of his metal hands into the ground for balance. He pushed himself up and landed on his feet.

Pachirisu made a sound and Left Hand looked in her direction, his right hand flicking into the air; Pidgeotto, who'd been moving towards Left Hand, banked to the side as shards of metal flew in his direction. Even so, some of the metal shards landed, sinking into his body.

"I hate trumps," said Left Hand. "I really do." He let out a sigh. "I hate master-trumps that I can't attack because they are hard to deal with. This was a bust, whatever I was planning isn't going to work now. So, how about we just...go our seperate ways?"

"You're a villian," I said.

He shrugged at that, making a so-so gesture. He flicked his right hand and Miss Militia gave a short shriek. "There's metal imbedded in her. I can move it, make it sink further in if I want to. But I don't want to kill her."

"If you don't want to, then don't," I said.

"I also don't want to get caught," he said. "I've got too much to do. Just...let me leave, Fear Lady. Because right now, the best path towards getting out of here in a fight is taking that bird out of the picture."

Pidgeotto shrieked, almost falling out of the sky before he caught himself.

"Fuck you," I muttered. I could see from his body language that he didn't care. "Just go," I said. "Fuck, leave. I won't do anything."

"Smart choice," he said. The metal around his left hand dropped, disappearing before it could hit the ground. He turned and left, not paying the slightest mind that I might attack him.

I gave myself a moment to breathe before I rushed forward, checking if Miss Militia was okay. A form came over from my left and Riolu growled.

The woman pulled out a phone and a picture appeared. It seemed familiar but that wasn't all of it. I took out my Wards phone, pointed its camera at the phone and my screen blinked green. She was a PRT trooper, why she hadn't acted before I didn't know but maybe there was more going on that I was missing?

The woman reached into her purse and pulled out a first aid kit, quickly working to patch Miss Militia up.

I stood, with my heart still beating hard against my chest, looking around. The damage was relatively minimal, at least on this side, and I didn't think anyone was hurt. Three people were towards the doors, one of them with a phone camera still pointed in our direction; Karen was also in the group, doing her best to usher them out but they were resistent since the danger was gone.

"She's going to be alright?" I asked.

"Yeah," the woman said. "Audino should be able to fix the damage. I've already called in help, it should be here soon."

I nodded, feeling a little bit better.

888

Report done and I let out a breath. I pressed send and I watched the screen for a little while before I stood. It was another play by the Elite but they hadn't know enough about my pets, Croagunk had forced him to do away with the act. Left Hand had shown himself and whatever he'd been trying to do hadn't been achievable.

But what had it been?

He'd been posing as Lung, but to what end? The obvious answer to me was so that the Protectorate would go after him, but I'd been able to put it together which meant there was likely another aspect to it.

I took another breath and slowly let it out, pulling out my phone and seeing that it was still blocked. I had to talk to the security department first before I went anywhere because not being in contact with Porygon wasn't something I liked. My schedule was already out of whack and I didn't have it in me to devote time into fixing it. Porygon had shown me the good life and now I was hooked.

The security department was a few floors up and I'd never gone up there before, I was a little surprised to find that it was being manned by one person who sat in front of a myriad of computer screens. He seemed familar.

"Hello. Phobos, right?" he said, smiling. He wasn't wearing a mask, most likely not a cape.

"Yeah," I said.

"I'm Adam," he said. "Big Brother for the time being until everything settles." He was wearing a nervous smile that creeped me out a little.

"Okay," I said. "The security concern?"

"Right. Right," he said. "Um...I've noticed regular e-mails being sent of to another account that I don't have on record. Didn't read the e-mails, but some of them might have sensitive information so it's not something that I can just let go without explanation."

"I'm sending them to myself," I said. "I opened another e-mail account, I use Dragon as a provider so it's secure if you're worried about that. I could get her to tell you this if you opened up a channel."

"I can do that," he said. He sat on his chair and typed a quick draft, sending it off. The reply was immediatte on Dragon's side, a return that I was telling the truth. "Huh," said Adam. "Can I ask why you're doing that when you have a perfectly good issue e-mail."

"I'd rather not say. Armsmaster would understand if I—" He cut me off by sending off another e-mail to Armsmaster. "Right. Anyway, you'll unblock me with you have conformation?"

"Yeah. Sure," he said. "Thank you for coming."

I nodded and left. Armsmaster would be busy for most of the day, dealing with the attack the Elite had been staging and its implications. I would likely not have my phone for most of the day, which meant I had to do the mundane stuff myself.

I checked my old schedule, labelled things that I'd missed and then went to those that were still on the schedule. My classes were first and a small amount of tinker time to regain my energy; I spent it making alterations to Natu, trying to inject some of the thinker powers I must have picked up and jotting down notes for my next set of projects: Sheep that could generate electricity because I really loved the image of that on the Farmhouse; something that could expel water because things could have been worse off if it had bee the real Lung I'd been fighting; and a variations on pets that could teleport.

There was a slot for training, but I didn't feel like attending that one, still tired from having to fight Left Hand. Carlos and Dean arrived around about this time.

"School isn't supposed to be out yet," I said.

"We get short days," said Carlos. "Most of the courses at Arcadia are self study so we can get some hero time in without suspicion."

"Smart," I said.

"And convinient for us," said Carlos. "But they sort of balance things out by giving us a lot of homework. Which we won't be getting into right now because I'm hungry and I want to figure out how you survived Lung attacking you."

"It wasn't Lung," I said, frowning.

"It wasn't?" said Dean. "But." He pulled out his phone and gave a few presses before he showed me the video. It was of earlier today, Miss Militia having just been thrown through a wall and people moving to get out; then it was me fighting Left Hand disguised as Lung, showing how I was winning; and at the point where he would have shown himself as Left Hand, the cameras stopped working.

"Elite," I said.

"Of course it is," said Carlos. "So Lung..." I shook my head. "Why, though?"

"Have you seen PHO?" said Dean. "People are up in arms why Lung is still allowed to be a thing. I've even seen a few posts that are questioning the efficacy of the Triumvirate for not dealing with the guy once and for all."

I let out a breath. "Now it makes sense," I said. "They're doing their best to take out the major players in Brockton Bay."

"Does that mean that Purity was them too, then?" said Carlos, the question directed at Dean. "Masterminding things?"

"No," said Dean. He gave me a look. "That was help from someone else. I think that's just coincidence. Or maybe they're using something that happened to their best advantage? They could have people connected to the media. No, let me rephrase that: They very likely have people connected to the media."

I looked at my phone and let out a sigh. Adam still had still blocked my phone.

"Could check that pretty easily, but I'm on lockdown," I said. "Security risk."

"Oh?" said Carlos.

"Porygon," I said. "A new Pokemon that...lives on the internet."

"An AI?" said Carlos.

"No," I said. "Just downloaded brain code."

"Right," he said.

"Anyway, I've been using her to gather information on the Elite, anything she could verify," I said. "I haven't really looked at it and I was hoping I could track their business interests right now. Porygon also's been doing my schedule and that alerted our security techies that something might be amiss."

"Have you got it sorted out then?" asked Dean. He wasn't as surprised as Carlos, I noticed.

I nodded. "Should be a few hours before everything's verified and I have access again. Which sucks because I'm really aching to see PHO, read through the discussions while they were still young."

"It's already gotten to the place where it's all inane," said Dean, looking at his phone. "Name calling with a few moderator actions. Concensus is starting to set, though, that people are expecting Triumvirate action soon. I think it's reaching the point where they actually might have to do something before it reaches mainstream audiences."

"This will likely be bad," said Carlos. "Lung isn't dumb. He'll be expecting something like this if not this exact situation."

"The ABB will be making a move?" I said. Carlos nodded. "Then maybe we could point the fight towards the Elite. Do the villains know that they're in town?"

Both of them shrugged.

"Maybe we should tell them," I said. "Have them fighting amongst themselves and have us picking them off while their focus is elsewhere."

"Breaking the status quo," said Dean. Carlos and I looked in his direction. "It...was part of Victoria's speech. She said that this was our only opportunity to unsettle things. She said change was in the horizon and that it was better if we directed it before things could find a way back to the way they were. It's why she hit Purity, a start in the path towards taking down E88."

"She's not wrong," I said.

"But it's also not that easy," said Carlos. "Let's talk to the higher ups? See what they think?"

Each of us nodded.

Last edited: Jan 31, 2018

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Jan 31, 2018

#678

Ember

5.4

"Good news?" Clock asked.

He paused his game with Browbeat and turning towards Aegis who'd just entered. All of us were present, which had become rare as of late with our different schedules. But then, things had changed. This was the calm before a major storm and they wouldn't just let kids go off on patrol when the chances of danger were higher.

"Depends on your definition of good," said Aegis. "They said that they would take it under advisement, see if it fits in with the plan that they have."

"Meaning they'll do all the work and we shouldn't worry ourselves about it," said Vista.

"If you want to be bleak about it, yeah," he said.

"And anyway do you blame them?" said Gallant. "It's...just a lot happening and they have to deal with the attacks, close off all future vulnerabilities."

"Sucks that we're the vulnerabilities," said Vista.

I didn't like it, but in this case it was true. Adam had returned my access and I'd received my e-mails, looking over them and then getting onto PHO, reading through the discussions. Some people were calling bullshit on Lung attacking, speculating that it was a stupid move that made absolutely no sense for the trouble that it would bring; others were accepting the narrative, saying that they expected horrible things for me in the future because Lung wouldn't accept his loss; and then there were the people questioning the concept of the Wards program.

"Also doesn't make that much sense if people are being rational about it," said Browbeat. "I mean, they know cape life is dangerous, they know that the Wards face that danger sometimes and yet seeing it is somehow different than all the other times it happens out of sight."

"Glory Girl's uncle has a saying he likes," said Gallant. "For the most part, people are stupid, they just don't know it."

Clock let out a low whistle. "Lightstar sounds like a really chipper guy," he said.

We didn't comment to that.

"No official duty, then," said Kid. He stood. "Been meaning to get some upgrades done on my armour."

"And I've got meetings," I said. "Should be busy for the rest of the day. See you guys tomorrow?"

There were nods and Kid and I left. There were still things that Browbeat didn't know and me being a tinker was one of them. The story that would get out would be that my goggles and gun were being built by either Kid or Gallant, our resident tinkers.

"You disappeared yesterday," he said.

"Yeah," I said. "I decided to spend the day with Victoria. Didn't get a chance to look at my phone."

I gave him a look, making it clear that I was lying, hoping that he would know that it wasn't something that I could just say. There was an audit going on, but that didn't mean the wrong sort of ears wouldn't be paying attention to our conversation.

He gave me a nod, his expression unreadable. "Your costume looks good," he said.

I smiled at that. "Thanks," I said. "It's not done yet. I'm thinking I'm going to make the mask and goggles my own instead of using your scraps. But this is a general look."

"Why didn't you go the direction of armour?"

I shrugged. "My power doesn't naturally go that direction," I said, "and I don't think I'd be too good at dealing with projects that take that much time. My power's pretty much got me hooked on the good life where a project ever really takes about a day to complete. Armour feels like it would take me a while."

"It offers more protection though," he said.

I gave him another shrug. "How have things been on your end?"

"Better," he said. "I've started giving my power a little room even if it scares the hell out of me, and it's broken up my armour a lot but if I sort of focus without pushing I can sort of put it together again in a way that works"

"Sort of?"

"It's complicated," he said. "It's like...trying to draw a picture and you have the image in your head. You draw it and it's almost done but there's this line you have to erase because it feels wrong, and then you're left having to change more lines and then you have another picture that you're working on."

"You're never done," I said. He nodded. "Is that better than before? It would suck if I made things worse."

"I'm still figuring things out," he said. "It's too early to tell." Our labs came up. "See you, Taylor."

"See you," he said.

I checked my schedule. I had two hours of work before I met up with Panacea and the rest of New Wave so they could copy Natu. Until then I could work, but I really couldn't because for what I wanted, I couldn't easily get anything. The only animals that I could work on were those that were saved on my computer, and I didn't want to work on those in case I accidently created a clone.

Much like the Repository, Porgygon's website, I needed another database, but this one with code from which I could work from without having to requisition animals first. Luckily for me, this could be rather easy because teleporters did exist.

I sent an e-mail to Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Battery, Assualt, Triumph and Velocity, making sure that whichever one of them wasn't busy could help me cut through the red-tape that meant hiring Strider. I could probably do it on my own if I wanted to, Victoria flying me around and Natu teleporting us back to Brockton Bay. But that would let on too much.

Assault was the first to answer and he told me that he would send the message onto Armsmaster.

Without any new material to work with, I started working on a new pet that could teleport. I looked through the work that it might take using a caterpillar as my base but it would be too much effort and I wasn't feeling it. For that matter I really didn't feel like doing anything that wasn't starting to work on a new Pokemon.

With a sigh, I started searching through the functions of the Repository. When I'd first gained access to the site, I had been its only member, but now I looked at the member's list and it had grown: Glory Girl; Shielder; Laserdream; Panacea; Gallant; and Dragon. When I looked at the dates that they had joined the site, New Wave and Gallant had joined about the same time, with me being the earliest and Dragon appearing soon after.

Focus.

I searched through the information that Porygon had gotten on the Elite and it was a lot. It showed how they'd began and what they were now. I focused more on what they were now, looking at how they worked and their leadership: Agnes Court; Bastard Son; Blueblood; the Gentleman; Nonpareil; Patrician; Regis Rex; Uppercrust; and Uppermost.

I first looked at information on the Gentlman, the leader that was currently in Brockton Bay. He spent most of his time in Las Vegas—to which there was a general description of how things worked in the city. Speculation said that he was a thinker, but it hadn't been pinned down what his power exactly was; the Hands though were a little easier. The Left Hand was a blaster-thinker, able to called forth metal from nothing and control it. He also either had a minor danger sense or hyper-awerness that meant he couldn't be taken by surprise. The Right Hand was a blaster with a minor shaker rating; he could form bulges on his person that he threw, when they hit, they erupted with a liquid whose volume exceeded what he'd thrown.

Which meant he was the reason that I'd been inspired to build a pet that could call out water. I wondered if that meant I could give Natu the same danger sense or hyper-awareness?

I closed my eyes: A pet that has a danger sense.

I waited and a new Pokemon didn't pop up.

A pet with hyper-awareness.

Again there was nothing. But then, hype-awareness was broad. I needed to narrow it down because something like that was good. It would mean that my Pokemon could do what the Left Hand had done, attacking without having to look in their direction of attack.

Narrow it down.

It must have to do with senses, so:

A pet that can see all around it. I waited for the burst of inspiration that usually came with me making a request from my power.

A pet that could hear really well and could process all of that information. My power supplied me with a blueprint of how I could bring this about. Connections to the brain and to hairs that picked up the smallest of vibrations. But nothing that felt like I was tapping into a power.

But there was something there when it came to the processing side. It felt like I could tap into something else to make a smart pet. I'd already achieved this when I'd been making Audino, but this felt different.

Was this Left Hand's power, though, or was it a power from another thinker?

I shook my head. I wouldn't be able parse it because I didn't know all of the powers that I had under my belt.

A lot of work, but it had come to nothing. But then I'd gotten distracted hadn't I? I'd been checking business interests and their leanings to the Elite.

To say that there were a few would be an understatement. I counted thirteen business that had some leanings to the Elite, three of which were large enough that I knew about them; I counted two cape teams that were rumoured to be sponsored by them; and there was even one business that worked with the Protectorate.

I stopped at that, checking and saw that the same company that had outfitted the Rig with its shields was being run by Uppercrust.

"Well fuck," I muttered, because I really wasn't sure how to take this. I'd thought before, that having the Elite in town might have the same sort of good I'd see off of the villain Accord. Did the Protectorate share the same sentiment? They had to if they were willing to work with them in some situations.

I quickly checked Uppercrust and how he operated and he generally had a mild hand, with no crimes connected to him even though he was a part of the Elite. But was that because he was clean or because he was very good at hiding it?

With powers, it might be impossible to tell or, if not impossible, then it would be very expensive, and most of the money that I would earn would be locked up in a trust until I was eighteen.

Assuming the worst, he was very good at hiding his crimes and the Protectorate seemed to deem that good enough.

Could I do the same? If the amount of good they were going to do was greater than the bad?

I let out a sigh, feeling my stomach starting to twist uncomfortably. I stood, grabbing my Poke Balls and starting to move through the base, looking for my Pokemon. I stopped by the medical wing and had a chat with Audino.

"I'll be going to Panacea's house," I said to her. "Maybe you can have a chat with Chansey?"'

She thrilled at that and she let me get her into a Poke Ball.

888

"Good job on taking down Purity," I said, sitting in Amy's study. Victoria was on the other side of me, both of us watching as her sister was forming her own Pokemon.

It was looking different from mine. The body was round but the colours were dark, the shaping and wings wrong. Amy had her entire attention directed to her work.

"Thanks," she said. "Even catching her off guard she gave us a good run for our money. It was frankly terrifying."

"And stupid," said Amy. Another set of wings were starting to sprout as well as a strange tail. "Purity's fought both Lung and Oni Lee. You shouldn't have gone after her."

"You're just a worry wort," said Victoria. "It turned out alright."

Amy just snorted, unsatisfied but not saying anything.

"How did you manage it?" I asked. "Cornering her?"

Victoria looked abashed at that. "I...sort of asked Porygon if he could hack into a few surveillance cameras," she said.

My heart stopped at that and then it clicked why Dean looked at me as he'd explained how New Wave had achieved this. "What?" Something must have set her off because Natu disappeared under Panacea's hand and I felt a weight on my head.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it," she said quickly. "But I didn't think you'd mind. She seemed open to doing it."

"Porygon's not human," I said. "She's smart but she can still be manipulated."

She frowned at that. "I didn't manipulate her—"

"Maybe not intentionally no, but..." I felt a part of me starting to panic because what she'd had Porygon do was dangerous and she didn't even understand it. Porygon mainly operated using bots, trawling the internet for information. It was mainly non-intrusive, not worth detecting if it didn't interupt that particular sight.

But hacking into surveillance systems...it might take more effort and it might lead to the wrong sort of attention. It might lead to people seeing what Porygon was and being stupid, going with their kneejerk reactions and trying to kill hr, probably kill me to for what I'd created.

I took a long breath, reminding myself that I hadn't told Victoria all this, that it wasn't a worry that she would share. I worked to calm myself down.

"Porygon," I said and my phone went black, Porgyon appearing. "Don't hack into government or private systems, okay? Rule of thumb, don't do things that are illegal."

Hello.

I let out a small relieved breath. I looked at Victoria and I wasn't sure what I wanted to say to her because as I thought about it, it made me angry again. It had been illegal, but she must have thought that it wouldn't be pointed at her if people detected it and then chosen to just go ahead with her stupid plan.

Kind of reminds you like someoneelse, doesn't it? Someone that makes plans and doesn't think things through? Someone who did illegal things using Porygon. Someone whose being hypocritical right now?

My anger eased. "She's impressionable," I said. "Just...don't make her do anything that could get her in trouble. Because of what she, is a lot of people are just waiting to validate their fear of her, okay? I don't want to go down wherever that road leads."

Victoria nodded. "Sorry," she said. "I'll talk to you next time I want her help."

I nodded.

"Can I touch you again, Natu?" Amy said. "I'm having a little trouble."

Natu appeared where she'd been before and Amy continued, her eyes wide. I didn't blame her. There were wing-like protrusions from the centre mass, another set of wings that stretched large though they wouldn't be enough for flight I was sure of it. A small protrusion started to form and I really couldn't tell what it was, it might have been a head with one eye, but then there were two other eye-like orbs on the centre mass.

"Victoria," said Amy, sounding panicked. Victoria went over to Amy, lifted her sleeve and touched her arm. Chansey, who'd been chatting with Audino, stepped forward and touched Amy's head.

She continued to work, focusing on the Pokemon that she was creating. I didn't see a change on the outside, but she must have been doing something inside.

I went over to my bag and started summoning my Pokemon as I got what she was doing. The Pokemon she was creating had a lot of things that weren't working and she was using the others as her base. She just needed the right mixture of biology the same way that my power helped me.

"Touch Amy, please," I said. She seamed to ease more with each touch, looking more determined.

Fifteen minutes passed and she let out a relieved breath.

"He's done," she said. She looked at me, gig me a tired smile. "You're good with giving them names."

"Sigilyph," I said. "It feels right."

"That works."

Last edited: Feb 5, 2018

172

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Feb 7, 2018

#702

Ember

5.5

For most of our journey I was watching Amy, Audino and Chansey in their element. All of them with the confidence of trained medical professionals as they stood over their patients. Amy stopping and touching them, while Audino and Chansey only stood close, each diagnosing in their own way. Then they would begin the healing process.

In a matter of fifteen minutes I'd seen more sick people than I'd ever seen before, which solidified one thing in me: I really don't like seeing people when they are suffering.

"How do you do this every day?" I asked as we moved, me following Amy as she went to her next patient. A young nurse was leading the way, a clipboard held in hand and her gaze being cast towards it at times.

"This is actually the easy part," she said, a hollow smile on her. "The hard part is leaving at the end of the day. Knowing that there are still people that need my help."

I could imagine it, especially if it was exacerbated by seeing this everyday.

We entered a room with six people and after a glance at her clipboard, the nurse led us toward the last bed. The man was unconscious, so the nurse picked up another clipboard and showed Amy something. She nodded at that, touched the man and then removed her hand half a minute later.

We left, moving towards another set of patients.

"I forgot to mention this while working on Sigilyph," said Amy. "But Natu and Pidgeotto can breed."

My mouth opened and then closed.

Pidgeotto I knew for sure that I'd neutered. I took a second and tracked the changes I'd made on him and they didn't stray in that direction. I didn't think that I was the cause, which meant there was an aspect of my ability that I had to look at, something that I'd missed that had resulted in this change. Natu was more worrying because it meant my attention had slipped. I made a mental note to pay more attention in the future, maybe set up a check list of everything I needed to check to make sure that a Pokémon was made correctly.

"I fixed it," said Amy. "But my fixing and yours are different. I have a feeling that at the first opportunity Audino will undo my work if you don't tell her otherwise."

"She'll see it as an injury?"

Amy nodded. "Chansey's already made similar mistakes."

We stopped, standing over a girl who had half her face burned off. Her father was sitting next to the sedated girl, his eyes red as he held his daughter's hand.

Amy healed her.

"Undoing tubes that had been tied," she continued. It took me a second to hear the words because I was still reeling from the girl, questioning how Amy could just move on from that. "It's worth watching that Audino hasn't been doing the same thing."

I nodded, but I wasn't paying active attention. There were the injuries and illnesses that I could see, but there were a whole lot more that I couldn't see which was scary in its own way.

Amy stopped, looking at me before she glanced at her watch. "Let's go to the roof. My break is coming up anyway."

I nodded and eagerly followed her out and away from all the sickness. The moment we were out, I took out a Poké Ball from my belt and let out Pidgeotto. He took a moment to adjust before he took off into the sky, scouting the perimeter.

"You don't like being here," she said.

I shook my head. "It's too much all at once," I said.

Amy hummed. "It's why I'm pushing so hard and trying to do things so fast. Because as bad as this is, it's worse once you scale it up. Thinking about all the other hospitals in other cities, states, and other countries."

I didn't know how to respond to that. How should I change my actions in relation to the new information.

She continued, "Victoria likes this. Us working like this. She says that we're undoing the impact of crime on multiple fronts. Her trying to prevent it while I deal with the aftermath."

"But you don't see it that way," I said. It wasn't a question because I could hear the shift in her tone, even if I didn't entirely know what it meant.

She shrugged. "Less that and other things," she said. She was quiet, frowning before she said, "I'm adopted...which means however much we pretend otherwise, there'll be a layer separating me from the rest of my family. I can't help but feel, sometimes, that me not being an active fighter like them is another layer."

"So you want to be like them? Be out there, fighting crime?"

Her frown deepened before she gave me a slow nod. "I...want more of a connection with my family. But to do that, I'd have to spend less time here."

"You have to choose between doing the right thing and finding a measure of happiness?" I said. She nodded. "I...sort of had to make a similar decision a short while back and I didn't go about it the right way. I feel like I made a lot of mistakes."

"The thing with Shadow Stalker?"

I nodded. The story must have gotten out. My go-to was Gallant, but the Wards and New Wave, and I guessed me, were friends.

"I don't have concrete advice for you," I said. "Because these things are different, like our powers are different. Your choice is much harder than mine but...as horrible as it is, I think I'd choose happiness if I was in your position."

"Just like that?"

"I'd feel guilty," I said, shrugging. "But…" I shut up, unable to verbalise it. "Maybe because I'm selfish and I want more out of life than to see that all day."

"Can I ask you something? Forgive me if it's rude, but speaking to you I'm starting to see a pattern."

"Go ahead."

"Why are you a hero?" she asked.

I didn't even need to think about it. "I'm not," I told her. "I'm...a teenage girl who has powers that make her valuable. I'm a teenager that wanted to surround herself with her pets and saw the Protectorate as the best way of doing that."

"So you don't care about saving people with your power? You don't feel you have to?"

I took a long breath and looked out towards the city. Pidgeotto was a short distance away, flying over a set of buildings. Far enough to stretch his wings, but close enough to swoop in if needed. I looked at him for a long moment.

"Does your mother expect you to go out and fight crime?"

She hesitated before she gave me a shake of the head. That she'd hesitated was telling, but I wasn't sure what it told me so I put that out of mind.

"Going by the whole cape dynamic," I said. "That's what I would essentially be doing. Creating Pokémon for the explicit purpose of putting themselves in danger for my sake.

"If it doesn't put my Pokémon in too much danger. I'm prepared to save people in a way, but...I'm not going to go out there looking for trouble because of some moral imperative. Because what I've found about morals is that they're easy when they're unlikely to come about."

"It's easy to say you're going to pull the lever and switch tracks than actually doing it and killing someone," she said. I nodded and she snorted. "You aren't helping me one bit," she said, smiling a little.

"Sorry."

She shook her head. "The perspective helps me figure things out. But maybe there's something you might actually be able to help me on: Sigilyph."

"The complications," I said.

"The complications. The teleportation didn't take. Something happened and it felt like his body rejected the power."

"I've felt something like that before," I said. "Didn't really think about it in this case because I'm used to my power giving me resistance when some powers will work and others won't."

"'Why some work and others don't,'" she said. I frowned. "You said that to Porygon while working on Natu."

"Oh. I've been waiting to find time to study that," I said. "But on my end, it's more scholarly curiosity than any real need."

"Do you mind if it's a joint project? Figuring it out? I feel like I might make more mistakes of I don't figure out how this all works."

"Porygon, are you listening?" My phone gave a short buzz. "She controls my schedule," I explained.

Amy looked at me before she said, "Shielder's suspicious. You should know."

"Of Porygon?"

Amy nodded. "He likes her, but he's also planning for the moment she goes Skynet."

"That's lovely," I muttered under my breath. "But those are future problems. Right now, I have to go home. Spend the evening with Dad and my Pokémon."

"Okay," said Amy. "But, one more thing. I saw your fight with Lung."

"Not Lung. The Left Hand."

She waved if off. "I saw your fight and I was wondering if you'd teach me the way you fought. Train me."

"That might actually be fun," I said.

888

"I'm a teenage girl that wants to surround herself with her pets," I muttered under my breath.

The Protectorate had been the best way of doing that before, but now it felt lacking. I had friends that I liked being with, but I was also restricted and not as safe as I thought I would be.

It made me rethink it was worth talking the Gentleman, seeing what he had to offer and how I might be able to use it to my best advantage.

I wanted to talk to him. But that was complicated.

I was being watched, possibly, through numerous avenues and it would be hard to escape them all. If I disappeared, I would be found pretty easily and then there would questions. But as bad as those questions were, the setback on a personal development level would be even worse.

My cab was waiting and I got in. It took a path to the house while I took off my costume and waited it stopped. I got in, greeted my guards and the clone that was already hanging with the others before I summoned Natu, both of us teleporting to the Farmhouse.

Dad wasn't home yet, which meant I had the evening for myself. But before I let myself relax, I called and checked that he hadn't been captured by Shadow Stalker again.

Everything was okay and he was going to have a late night.

Audino and I cooked first. She wasn't too good at it because she expected to be a natural, but I finally got her to slowly work through it.

Then we watched a sparring match Croagunk and Riolu. Unlike before, Riolu was using her powers, which in this case meant chaining quick attacks. Croagunk had fallen towards blocking his face while waiting for an opening.

On the third quick attack, Riolu was breathing hard while Croagunk was doing his best to keep on his feet. He didn't succeed, falling back, groaning.

Audino healed him and then Riolu.

Croagunk stood and croaked, there would be another match.

Riolu started with a quick attack but abandoned it as Croagunk croaked. She instead lunged, striking at Croagunk with a flurry of punches that were all blocked before she jumped back, coming to her senses.

She scowled and got into a stance that would turn into a quick attack.

"Quick attack - focus punch combo," I said. Riolu gave me a look before she held a closed fist. "Not at Croagunk."

She gave a short nod, but continued standing still. She lunged, almost teleporting as she breezed past Croagunk; her fist crashed through a tree.

"That actually worked."

I was surprised, but I wasn't sure why I thought it wouldn't. There could be abilities that might not be able to work well in tandem, but I had to figure out which abilities could.

"I think I need to give you a greater scope of abilities," I said to Croagunk. "Or reshuffle things." Riolu might have smirked at that. I shook my head. "I think I'm putting too may things on my plate."

You know what your problem is? sarcastic me said. You don't know what you want. You're just ambling.

I let out a breath. I didn't like the tone of my inner monologue, but when I listened to it, it stopped me from bullshitting myself.

I didn't know what I wanted and I was aimlessly moving from idea to idea without having a clear path. I was reacting to the world around me.

So, what do I want?

I wanted to be free and safe. I wanted to keep making Pokémon and I wanted them to be free and protected. I wanted to have friends. I wanted to other people to experience the same joy that I felt having Pokémon. I wanted people that were bereft of companionship to have it.

Okay, those were the big, but they had to have an order to them. I needed to make them concrete so I could identify the smaller bits that would make me achieve my goals.

I left my Pokémon to their sparring, Hondour accompanying me as I went to the living room with a pad and pen. I started jotting down:

Freedom and safety (Me, Dad and Pokémon)

More Pokémon (Farm setting?)

Friends (Keeping)

Pet shop

There was a list, now I had to think about the small set of goals that would bring about all of this.

Freedom and safety first: I partially had safety with the Protectorate's protection, but they were having trouble with that at the moment. By they were limiting my freedom in certain aspects with all the regulations I had to wade through, even with all the benefits that rose from those regulations.

But I had other options, with the best being the Elite or Toybox, each having their own downsides. An in increase in safety with a decrease in freedom of one kind or another; or I might lose friends in the process of moving from heroes to what we're technically villains.

It was just easier right now to make all my planning while still planning to be in the Wards. It was better if I just worked on my contingencies in case the worst happened.

I started jotting down:

● Work on the change on the Poké Ball so that the outside world can be perceived.

● Put in a failsafe so that Pokémon can escape their balls on their own.

● Build another Pokémon that can teleport (redundancy).

● Look into Natu's thinker protection and how it works.

● Start on counters for other power categories (master and stranger).

● Looking into abilities that can boost me (Armour? Pokémon? Drugs?)

● Maybe give Dad a Pokémon?

Freedom partially covered, with things that I might be able to be missing that I would add later.

More Pokémon, but I'd limited myself in still working with the Protectorate, still being in the Wards because that meant I didn't have to worry about possibly losing my friends. If I was working with the Protectorate, then I'd have to follow their regulations, figure out what they wanted and, through that, get what I wanted.

What does the Protectorate want?

· Teleporting Pokémon.

· Healing Pokémon.

· Cute Pokémon (PR reasons).

I felt like I was starting to get tired as I looked at that list, seeing how paltry it was. But there were still two more items on my big goals that I had to work on. I tried and failed to push myself, to churn out more small bits that might lead to me having what I wanted.

I shook my head. "This isn't going to work," I muttered to myself, my hand running over Hondour's head. I scratched her behind the ear and she leaned into that. I went about setting a reminder to continue on this thread of thought tomorrow morning.

"Could you go get Natu for me?" I said to Hondour.

She got up and left. I went up to my bedroom and got ready for bed. Natu was the first to appear, teleporting into my room.

"Keep an eye on my phone, yeah? Dad'll send a text when he wants to be picked up," I said, getting into bed. Natu disappeared for a minute before she returned and got into bed with me, facing towards the phone.

I went to sleep.

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Feb 9, 2018

#718

Ember

5.6

Cells that store more energy than they should. Hollow legs that were made out of bone, looking at the configuration it was layered so that the legs would be stronger even with how thin they were. The thing had been scaled up, but adjustments had been made, making sure than it wouldn't die since physics acted differently on it now.

I sectioned off portions of the code that I found most interesting. There was a structure that I found odd, a portion of the brain that didn't make any sense. I quickly scanned through the files I had, searching for something similar and not finding it.

The thing was dead, but I was sure I could bring it to life if I wanted. I looked through the code that made up its brain. It was a lot, some of it I couldn't read, but I focused on what I could. I spotted some of the thing's instincts, finding that they were somewhat lacking for something that was supposed to carry out complicated tasks.

I took out the sections I didn't understand, altering the brain so that the roach would be my creation. I made sure to reign my ability in, doing my best to keep it from doing its own thing but it was hard. My attention slipping at times to find that there was code I remembered putting in, but I hadn't been paying attention.

It was irritating because it meant that I had to put in more work into a side project than I wanted. I left the project, instead forming the roach from the original copy while I looked towards other things.

While the roach was cooking, I got into more mechanical work, starting on other Poké Balls and starting figure out how I would upgrade them so that they could perceive the outside world even in stasis. Maybe I could put in more computing power in the balls, making it so they altered my Pokémon's brain, adding the information within.

But a lot of wrong could happen with that.

I shook my head, ripping out the page with my notes and throwing it away. Maybe something that worked in another avenue. I could maybe train my Pokémon so that they were faster to react. Sounds that would alert them if the situation was combat or I was just letting them free.

I stopped, letting out a breath because I was extremely bored.

I looked at my notes and I didn't feel a forward impetus. There were still my big goals to work on, my I felt the same general sense of…not being able to move forward there that I felt before.

I pulled out my phone, checking the time and the started sending out a chain of texts. Dennis answered first and I called.

"Please tell me you're out of school," I said.

"About to," he said. "What are you thinking?"

"A day out at town," I said. "Doing something that doesn't have to do with being a Ward."

"Stir crazy," he said. "Let me talk to the others, see who's up for a movie and then a bite at the Boardwalk?"

"That would be awesome, thank you," I said.

"Cool. Call you in a bit."

888

"…maybe you're burned out," said Victoria. "Dean?"

Dean looked away from a window that was showing a set of menswear, looking towards Victoria and then me. He made a so-so gesture. "Something about you throws me off a little, but you generally seem tired."

I let out a sigh. "There's just been so much going on," I said. "It's hard to imagine that it hasn't even a month yet, and…"

"Which is why we're here," said Dennis. "Retail therapy."

"Let's not spend too much, okay?" said Dean. "You still owe me from the last loan."

"I said I'd pay you back."

Dean hummed. "Hard to take that seriously when you're not working out a payment plan, instead talking about shopping some more."

Victoria got close to me. "Let's ignore them and do our own shopping," she said. "I've been wanting to dress you up since I first saw your fashion sense. I just didn't know how to approach it."

"There's nothing wrong with how I dress," I said defensively. I looked down at my clothes and looked at theirs. The difference between them and me was stark. I looked frumpy where they looked like they'd put in a lot of effort in how they dressed.

Having noticed it, it was hard not to feel self-conscious.

"Only thing wrong is that you're not wearing your size," she said. "I mean, there's comfort and then there's…" She stopped. "Sorry if I'm being too hard on you. Let's just go browsing. No commitment."

I shrugged, following as she led me to various shops. She lead me to a skirt and I said no, she tried a dress but that didn't work too so she lead me towards jeans.

"I'm too thin for these," I said. "Too tall."

"Let's try them on, see how they look?"

I let out a long groan, but I moved as she ushered me towards the changing rooms. I got the things on, something that took me a little while with how tight the damn things were. Victoria was smiling as I walked out, she motioned that I twirled and I did.

"More, and then shirts," she said, smiling. "We can't really see how it looks with your hoodie."

Three more pairs of jeans, ten different shirts of various sizes until I found things I actually liked. I got two pairs of skinny jeans and regular jeans, a few shirts that ranged from starting to cling to my body to being purposely too big.

It had gotten to the point where she'd gotten my defences down a little, making pick clothes that I might not had if I'd been alone. But she was taking it a bit too far…

"No," I said.

"Please?"

I shook my head, staying firmly on the sneakers side of things. I was too tall and she wanted to make me taller with shoes that heels. I liked the boots on an aesthetic level, but not enough to actually buy them.

"Fine," she said, pouting. "My turn. I think I saw a few good items, but I'll have to see which one looks the best. I don't think I can afford buying too many things. Blew my G allowance a while ago."

"G allowance?"

"Perks of loving rich," she said, smiling. I followed her as she moved through the aisles, picking up clothes and throwing them over her shoulder.

"Oh," I said. "And he doesn't mind?"

She shrugged. "Not that I've noticed," she said. "G's good like that. Really wish I could introduce you sometime, but he's a busy guy."

That through me for a loop a little, but then I noticed a couple of friends that were doing their best at inconspicuously pointing their phones in our direction. It was really, really obvious.

Victoria waved and I felt as she notched up her aura a little.

The girls squealed, rushing forward. "Can we get a picture?" one of them said.

"Do you mind?" she asked me. I shook my head and took the girl's phone, taking a picture of the three of them. They thanked her before they left, babbling excitedly.

They seemed to be the herald to a greater rush because pretty quickly after a lot more people came to ask for an autograph or a picture. Men and women, girls and boys, some of them thanking Victoria for the work she'd put in for finally apprehending Purity. Victoria was gracious through all of it, wearing a smile and making small talk.

"How long has this been going on?" Dennis asked, sliding in next to me. He had three shopping bags held over his shoulder. Dean was standing over Dennis, a tired look on him.

"Just a few minutes," I said. "The tide seems to be growing."

Dennis groaned. "This is going to take a while," he muttered. He pulled out his phone, sending a text. "Let's go pay for your stuff and grab a bite? She'll meet us there."

"Yeah," I said. I didn't have to wait in line, much to the chagrin of a woman in her mid-twenties that had been in front of me. But she didn't say anything, likely intimidated because she'd seen me talking to Victoria at some point.

I kept glancing back at the crowd and how Victoria was working it. She seemed taller than the people around her, but it wasn't because of her height. She was standing in the air to better look at everyone.

"It's a sight, isn't it?" said Dennis. "Makes me wish I was a cape. All those girls throwing themselves at me." He gave a wistful sigh.

I gave him a grin as I shook my head. "I have the strong feeling that you'd abuse it if you were ever a cape," I said. "Use it to impress girls and nothing else."

He gave me an exaggerated gasp. "I'm insulted," he said, hand over his heart. "I would be the best if I had powers. I'm a gentleman and a scholar."

"I think it's the other way 'round," I said. "And it needs to be said to you, not you saying it about yourself."

Dennis shrugged. "Whatever. Burgers and a smoothie?"

"Salad," I said. "I'm still trying to keep to my eating regiment."

"I remember that," said Dean. He wasn't looking at us, instead watching the crowd. He had a frown on him that was deepening the more he watched. "It gets better the longer you're doing it. Or, maybe you—Oh fuck."

The words were no sooner out of his mouth than three cracks reverberating. At once people dropped low, spreading apart and running in ever direction. I could feel Victoria's aura even though I couldn't see her. She'd dropped lower and was hidden by the spreading crowd.

"She's not hurt," I said, my throat dry. Dean was reaching into his bag, pulling out a featureless white mask. Dennis was doing the same thing, both of them throwing their bags aside and starting to move.

It didn't gel. Victoria should have been a figure in the air, scanning for the person who'd shot her, exuding strength. Instead it looked like she'd dropped, like she might be hurt.

I pulled out my mask and belt, throwing my bag to the side with the others. I put on the mask and belt, grabbing a cluster of three Poké Balls in one hand and one in the other. I pointed the three groundward while the one was pointed towards the sky.

Pachirisu, Caterpie and Rattata congealed on the ground while Pidgeotto appeared in the sky.

"Watch the bags," I said and I started running. When people saw me they moved out of the way, giving me space to run towards the others. I glanced up and I could see Pidgeotto circling low around the sky, taking it all in.

"Alert," I shouted. "Anyone with a gun." I didn't wait to see if he'd heard, instead continuing my run while taking holding a ball in my right hand and letting out Riolu and Croagunk to make sure I wouldn't be hit by anyone using the crowd as cover.

Victoria was on the ground, frozen in time but I could see where she was bleeding. Dean wasn't looking at her, instead he had his gaze out towards the crowds which were still running, the Boardwalk's security having trouble fighting their way towards us.

"Pidgeotto!" he shouted. "Wind attack," and he pointed to our right, a crowd of seven that were running. Pidgeotto swooped down and then banked right, quickly changing direction and using the quick attack to move; in the process he dodged six cracks of gunfire.

"Go-Rye," I shouted.

Pidgeotto stopped and then flapped his wings, conjuring a burst of wind that bowled over at least thirteen people. He swooped down again and I could see a woman, tall and petite, her hair bleached blonde, fighting to get to her feet; she moved too slow because Pidgeotto flew close, grabbing her arm by the claws and dragging her a little into the sky.

"Croagunk," I said and that was enough. He spat and even with the distance he hit his mark. Three gobs of purple liquid hit the woman in the face before Pidgeotto couldn't keep hold. The woman dropped and didn't move to get up.

"Clock," I said.

Dennis shook his head. "I have to—"

I interrupted him. "Don't worry about it," I said. It wasn't even worth thinking about. She was my friend and she was in trouble. I let Natu out. "Take her to base, take her to Audino."

Natu waited until Victoria started moving before the pair disappeared.

888

"We need to hit them," said Missy, her tone harsh. Victoria had been healed and the woman had been arrested, but she was still reeling. Ever since we'd arrived, she'd been in Dean's arms while her parents talked to the Protectorate.

Amy was standing over the pair, cold rage on her features.

No one said anything.

"We can't let them just do this," she said, still angry. "Let their ingrates attack one of us and get away with it. We need to show them that shit like this has consequences."

"That might be adding fuel to the fire," Eric said. He was had a far off look to him, thinking about something.

Missy reeled, looking in his direction with what might have been disgust. "She's—"

"Missy," Dean interrupted. "Calm down."

She stopped, looking towards Dean, then at Victoria. She sat down, crossing her arms and letting out a breath. "So what now? Are we just going to sit like the good kids we are? Wait for the adults to officially bench us?"

"No," said Eric. Missy looked in his direction. "We just have to make sure that we clear the surrounding area, make sure when we add that fuel, it has nothing to spread onto."

He looked at me. I took in a breath, knowing the direction he would turn.

"Kid?" I said. "Jamming surveillance?"

"Already doing it," he said.

"You want Porygon?" I said.

He nodded. "Coordinated attack, taking out their most dangerous elements. Rune, Fenja and Menja, Othala, Crusader and if we can do it, Hookwolf. At least five teams, targeting a specific person and knowing how their powers work so well that losing would be impossible, and we need to hit them before they think of this as a possibility."

"And we say nothing to the Protectorate, to your parents?" I asked.

"If we tell them anything they'll stop us," said Chris.

"Or they co-opt it," said Missy. "Make it theirs. This needs to be ours. We need to show them that we're not to be messed with, that they should control their minions or there'll be consequences."

I took in a breath and slowly let it out. This would be a step back, not talking when I needed to. But as I looked at Victoria, thought about how I'd had to move because of villains, how I was in hiding, the same sort of anger that Missy felt sparked within me.

I looked at the others and the same was true for them, even Dean looked pissed.

"Okay. Let's start planning how we'll do this," Carlos said.

Last edited: Feb 9, 2018

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ManMag

Feb 9, 2018

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Feb 16, 2018

#736

Ember

5.7

"It's only a matter of time before this is noticed," I said. "Since I disappeared to Boston with Victoria, I'm sure they've got a better form of surveillance on me, and with the range of powers that they have…"

I shrugged in what I hoped was apologetic. I really didn't want to mess this up when it meant so much to everyone, me included.

"It's only a matter of time before Armsmaster goes into my lab for one reason or another and sees that my armour isn't there," said Chris. He was checking over the segments that made up his armour before starting on the task of putting the thing on.

"I'm not a quick thinker," said Shielder. "My family will know this about me, but I like the long plays. Slow progress but big effects in the long term. Which is why I want Victoria to take point on our end."

Glory Girl sat up at that, looking a little shell shocked. She'd been quiet for most of this, stand close to Gallant and the two of them not speaking.

"Second," said Laserdream. Panacea nodded, even though she wasn't dressed as Panacea. She was wearing a skin-tight white costume with the motif of a rod that had two snakes coiling around it.

A lot of people thought that the two snakes meant healing, but that was a different god. The healing symbol was of one snake. Panacea had told me this and I got the sense that it was symbolic of wanting to fight. Maybe the god was a warrior?

Glory Girl let out a low breath, disentangling herself from Gallant. "I get what you guys are doing," she said. "But I don't think I'm in the right frame of mind for this."

"Well, deal," said Shielder, which I thought was harsh. "We need that brain of yours. Get it in the game. Let's not be like…" He stopped, looking at us and then holding eye contact with Glory Girl, communicating something we weren't privy on.

She gave a short nod and took a breath, floating a little off the ground. She gave a stronger nod. "Okay," she said. "Okay. Let's start doing this."

Aegis nodded. "We shouldn't split up," he started. We all looked in his direction. "We want to take out all their major players, but to do that, we'd need to hit all of them at once while they're separated, make sure they can't back each other up.

"But that's improbable," he said, "the situation we want too perfect. So we need to take out their strongest, or the person that screams E88."

"That still leaves room for a wildfire," said Shielder.

"Unless Kaiser's the person we take out," said Gallant.

"But that has its own sort of problems," Clock put in. "Ripples that spread out. Either the Empire makes noise, rampaging so their leader is let out, or they break into factions and we have more gangs on our hands."

"Smaller gangs are easier than one big one," said Kid. "They might even take each other out in the process."

"Again, it has its own problems because innocents could get hurt as things settle," said Clockblocker. He let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I hate to say it because I might be the bad guy, but…this too big for us. I was quiet before, agreed because I'm angry with all this shit that's been happening. Shadow Stalker attacking Phobos, then the Elite and then Toybox and now this. But we shouldn't forget that we're the good guys."

I could see the disagreement and I could feel my kneejerk reaction to tell him he was wrong, but so much of this was fuelled by anger.

"Gallant." He looked in my direction. "How long do your emotional blasts last?"

"Depends on how much I hit you," he said. "Three blasts and I can have you feeling on thing for five minutes. More and it's longer. Does everyone agree?"

"Passion is the thing we don't want," Shielder said with a shrug. Gallant searched the room and there were nods, consensus that if we were doing this then we needed to have our heads clear.

Gallant pointed a hand and then threw splotches of light at everyone. When he hit me, I could feel everything dull, my anger, my fear, irritation, the anxiety and the guilt. It wasn't just three blasts, with each of us he changed minor aspects to combat our specific neurosis. With me and Victoria, though he seemed to put in more work.

"This also means that I can't take part in all of this since I'm the only one who's still pissed," said Gallant. He looked upset by that.

"Wait," said Panacea. She moved forward, sure in herself in the same way that she had been at the hospital. She touched Gallant's arm and his expression eased until it was placid. "Not the same avenues, and I'll have to undo it, but it's the same thing."

"Thank you," he said, his voice without tone.

"We should get the Protectorate in on this," Aegis said. He looked to the room and no one disagreed. "This is too big, with too many avenues that we aren't covering."

"It might be emotions bleeding in," said Vista. "But I still think this still has to come from us. There's meaning in that, it gives people pause. Because when we look at it, we're the ones that are being attacked over and over. They see that we're kids and they're taking advantage of that."

"It that's it, an image thing, then it should be clear," I said. Everyone looked in my direction and for the first time I didn't feel self-conscious. "The message doesn't permeate well with the others because things aren't clear. This could really be the Empire, but with everything that's been going on with the Elite, with what they tried to do with Lung? It could be a setup."

"More reason to bring in the Protectorate," said Kid. "More reason to bring in the adults. They can point us in a direction."

"But they likely won't," said Vista. "Because we're kids, because they have to cover their asses with everything that's been going on. They have to make sure that it seems like we're safe, that the Youth Guard doesn't make an inquiry."

"They sort of need to cover their asses to function," Kid put in. "It's what working in the government entails. We all knew that, or at least had an inkling even if we didn't know the full depths of it."

"It's different when you see that you're in danger and they aren't doing enough," said Vista. "Or maybe they are, but they're not telling us anything because they feel they don't need to. That needs to change if anything, they have to stop babying us because it's not making us feel any safer, certainly we aren't with everything that's going on."

"So we tell them what we're planning," said Aegis. "But we don't give them time to dissuade, only push whatever operation they have in the works."

He was looking at Clock as he said this. Clockblocker shrugged, "There's still a lot that we're missing, a lot of avenues where things go wrong, but they might take that over."

"So who do we hit?" said Glory Girl. "On our end it's E88, but they're harder. We were lucky with Purity because she's been on her own for a while, making her easier to hit. But the others might have an inkling about this and might band together."

"But Shadow Stalker's too small," said Shielder. "It sends the message, but it's not as loud as we want it. Even with the danger, it's much better if we hit E88. I think with Porygon hacking—"

"No," Aegis and I said at the same time. He motioned for me to continue.

"Things with Porygon are complicated. I have to be wary of what I let her do because it means something to how people perceive her. From the people I've talked to, some have defaulted towards being afraid of her and something like this, being able to hack into surveillance cameras is a step towards making that fear more tangible."

I was looking at Shielder as I said this, hoping to transmit that I knew he was scared. Sure things looked justified to us, but someone else that was scared of an 'AI' the same wouldn't be true for them.

"Not to mention that it's illegal," said Aegis. "This is the first step towards us working for our independence, to be taken seriously. If we start that off on the wrong foot then things become much harder in the future."

"Then public information," said Shielder. "Social media feeds, images on the internet. Maybe they can give us something."

"It's still bad," said Aegis, "or it can be bad, but it's the only thing we have to go on while we're working on a time limit. Phobos?"

"I feel the same way, but it works," I said. "Porygon, you were listening, right?"

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket before the laptops at our centre came alight, in each of them Porygon appearing. She pulled up pages of the Repository on two of the laptops, showing files on the Empire and on Shadow Stalker: The people in the gang, their powers and their feats.

The third screen showed nothing.

"Shadow Stalker doesn't send as loud a sound," said Glory Girl, "and E88 put us in too much danger even with our numbers. I think we should choose the safer option because of what we're trying to do. If we get hurt, then people will panic and they'll want more regulations."

Aegis nodded. "Seems like Shadow Stalker is who we're after," he said. "Her and whatever tinker she's made friends with." He looked towards the computers. "Porygon, do you mind filling in the blanks?"

Yes.

The words scrolled on the screen. Porygon disappeared from the third laptop, a tab opening and images starting to scrawl through. Other tabs opened and there were mentions, another showed that it was one Uber and Leet's website before it disappeared, most likely off-loaded onto another computer.

"How long did this take when you were going after Purity?" Aegis asked.

"Fifteen minutes," said Laserdream. "Then we just tracked her on our phones."

He nodded. "We should suit up and discuss the broad strokes of how we'll play things and the threats we might face. We've never all of us fought together, some of us haven't really fought before which means we'll have to take this into account. Whatever happens, we play this safe because this isn't worth it if anyone of us get hurt."

We moved. Kid Win putting on his armour while Gallant released his silk covered armour from a Poké Ball. Shielder and Laserdream put up two shields that hid him from the rest of us as he dressed.

I counted my Poké Balls, mentally preparing myself for what would be coming. I would be putting my Pokémon in danger which I didn't like, maybe it was emotional me bleeding into my thoughts, but even now I didn't like it.

Panacea moved to come stand next to me.

"I'm a little scared," she said. "Even though I know it's likely that they won't put in on the frontlines during the fight."

"Gallant's work might be starting to bleed away," I said. "You could ask him to refresh it."

She shook her head. "I want to be scared and I sort of want to be angry because it gives me impetus to move forward," she said. "To…bend certain rules."

"Like what you did to Gallant?"

"That was the calm," she said. "A lot of things that I was thinking in my emotional state not making sense. Honestly, a part of me regrets in now because it was so…" I took in a breath and slowly let it out.

"It was something you wouldn't have done otherwise?" I tried.

"It was something that have meant worse things down the line if I'd done it wrong," she said. "It's…complicated. I can talk about it, maybe gain some perspective, but I have a feeling that I'll regret it in the future."

"I'd listen to that feeling if I were you," I said. "It's going to be future you that has to deal with the things that you're doing now."

Kid, with all his armour on, walked towards us. "Tinker talk?"

"Emotion talk," I said. "You want to talk tech?"

"That'll be kind of hard since I'm the one that doesn't fit in with the both of you," he said. He frowned and then tsked. "Insecurities are coming up."

"We were just talking about that," said Panacea. "That we should maybe not say things because this might be awkward after. Like a night out drinking…I'm assuming."

I snorted at that and Kid Win gave a light chuckle.

"Smart," he said and he sighed. "There it is again. The insecurity." He sighed even longer. "I feel like I'll have to be on my own for a long time after this."

"We all might, one way or another," said Panacea.

There was a moment of quiet as we watched the others work. Vista was standing with Aegis, Glory Girl and Shielder; Clockblocker and Gallant were having a conversation; and Laserdream was standing in the air, running her hand over Sigilyph's feathers.

"Your cousin's on her own," I noted.

"Yes," said Panacea and she didn't elaborate. I let it go, listening as all the emotion started returning.

The laptops came alight, letting out a loud chime. Our leaders got closer to the computers. Aegis, Glory Girl and Shielder moved to individual laptops. Aegis beckoned Gallant and Clockblocker, while Vista put herself next to Glory Girl.

Kid Win let out another sigh. I turned in his direction and I could only see his lower and there was only resignation.

It was hard nowadays to really know what irony was when it was bastardised, but this fit: Us having our emotions supressed and them being clear all of a sudden.

The insecurity again, a deeper issue fighting through Gallant's work.

"Okay," said Aegis. "This is good. It gives us a location, even if the image it puts up is uglier on other levels."

The three of us neared at that, looking at the images that were on display. Shadow Stalker as a figure in the air, jumping from a rooftop as a couple took a picture; another of her with two capes, one of them in a purple skin-tight suit and another that looked like he was going to a renaissance fair, Tattletale and Regent of the Undersiders; her in her civilian guise in a series of photobombs on social media; and a phone video of a person spotting Shadow Stalker talking with Uber and Leet.

"We have a map," said Glory Girl. "But we got it by tracking her through her civilian identity. That's entering muddy water."

"Why?" I asked. "She broke the rules first."

"We have more to lose," said Shielder. "We have to think about how this plays out long term. How it will set the playing field with future villain interactions."

I felt the need to grumble, which meant more of what Gallant had pushed away was coming back.

"The system as is, is screwed up," Laserdream muttered, maybe unable to hold her own emotions back.

"But that will be up to the Protectorate to decide because we'll need a warrant before we can act," Aegis continued.

"They might stall the process," I said.

"They might," said Glory Girl, "but if they do, then we act. This is about sending a message and the message is sent whether or not the laws works with us."

"Kid?" said Aegis.

Kid Win nodded and slid fingers over his armour. The panel disappeared, revealing a set of buttons beneath. He moved through a quick sequence of presses before he nodded.

My phone buzzed. Panacea pulled out her phone and glanced at her screen, there were a number of missed calls and messages. It would be the same for me too, with Dad worried out of his mind. I pushed the stirring feelings back.

Aegis pulled out his phone and made out a call. It was immediately picked up.

"Aegis," said Armsmaster, his voice sounding like it had an echo. "You're on speaker with the rest of the Protectorate and New Wave."

"That's good," he said, "because we need a warrant. We've tracked Shadow Stalker and we're going after her."

"At least they were smart enough not to go after the Empire," I heard Assault mutter on the other end.

"You understand," said Director Piggott, "that you're not in a position to make demands, especially with what your behaviour."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we are," said Aegis. "Too much has happened and you haven't been doing enough to guarantee that we're safe. We're choosing to take our safety into our own hands, even if it means we're going to catch flak for it."

There was a snort at that, male, and then there was muttering before it was stopped by a tut.

"If you came in," said Miss Militia. "We could—"

"Dissuade us," Vista interrupted. "We'd rather not." Her hard tone was returning. "We're doing this. We're only giving you the go ahead because we know the bad light that will be cast if you can't control your own Wards."

"Seems like we can't," I heard a mutter.

"And New Wave?" I heard Brandish asked. "You feel the same way?"

Panacea shifted beside me. Laserdream hugged Sigilyph closer to her, the bird nuzzling into the girl.

"Yes," said Victoria, the word sounding as though they'd been forced out. "That's true."

"Give us a moment," said Armsmaster. He put us on mute.

"We're in so much shit after this," Clock muttered. "I mean, Piggot's going to throw her weight around to make sure we regret this."

Kid Win snorted and Vista couldn't hold it in because she let out a guffaw. That seemed to set off a domino effects as all of us broke into nervous laughter because this seemed all so real all of a sudden.

"Give us an hour and all the information you have," said Armsmaster. "We'll give you your warrant."

131

Ember

5.8

The Docks and the building was in disrepair: A large tag that was various gang signs that overlapped, surrounded by just random graffiti that made the thing look ugly; the windows were boarded up and the doors barred with large chains.

The surrounding buildings were in similar states but there were signs of light. People skulking at the foot of one building and a few lights lit in another.

"Never attack a tinker in their workshop," I muttered under my breath.

Vista shifted, pulling off her binoculars and looking in my direction. "Our numbers make up for it," she said and she sighed. "But I get the sentiment. My kneejerk reaction is to say that it's Uber and Leet, and…"

She rolled her hand. Because saying it was Leet was enough.

"And we've got it," Kid Win's voice sounded in my ear. "We can go in."

"Vista, you're up," said Aegis.

"Got it," she said and space started to shift. The space between buildings started stretching out, getting longer before it stopped. Vista kept looking towards the building, holding her binoculars with her right hand while her left kept making pinching and stretching motions.

She would be working on not only above ground, but below. Her power had the limitation that it didn't work so well when there were people in the area and she was using that sense to pinpoint where Uber, Leet and Shadow Stalker were.

"Okay," said Vista. "I've got them below ground. They're on the move…okay, Shadow Stalker's going above ground. She just ghosted up. The others, I'm guessing Uber and Leet, are using the sewerage tunnels."

"Where are they from my position?" said Shielder. He was with Galant, Shielder, Caterpie and Hondour. I hoped it didn't hurt him too much being in that smelly place, or I at least thought that it might smell.

"Um…fuck," she muttered. "There are people inbound. I'm not sure how many, but they're moving into the—"

"Undersiders," Glory Girl said in my ear. "Fuck, this is far more people than we expected."

"Yes, but they're not why we're here," said Aegis. "We're here for Shadow Stalker. Let's close in on her as fast as we can and then leave. It's the smarter play."

"Hondour just heard people and she's leading us in Uber and Leet's direction," said Shielder. "Do we still move forward?"

"Vista," said Aegis. "Extend their path, watch that the Undersiders don't go underground. Clock, send out Natu so that our reserves can come in if needed."

"On it," said Clockblocker.

"Shadow Stalker spotted," said Crystal. Red light started lighting up the sky as she peppered a shadow against the night. Shadow Stalker shifted into her solid state and started running, moving faster before she jumped up, sliding into a building.

Aegis and Kid Win plunged down, Kid taking point and bodily breaking through boarded up window. We couldn't see anything of the fight until Shadow Stalker appeared on the roof, running and then jumping off before turning into shadow.

Laserdream started peppering her with lasers but it didn't work much, those that hit her passing through her. She found a space within the fire and turned solid, falling faster before she shifted into shadow again when she was close to another building. Aegis and Kid Win broke out of the building and parts of Kid Win's chest plate shooting out, connected by a line of electricity.

Shadow Stalker shifted solid, slammed into the wall and then fell, shifting into shadow again. The plates hit the wall and rebounded, going back into Kid Win's armour. They followed her down, Shadow Stalker firing her bolts at them and forcing them to dodge.

Aegis shot down, forcing Shadow Stalker to pay attention to him and giving Kid Win some space. Shadow Stalker turned to shadow, but Kin Win was already acting. He pulled free a short, blunt sword from his side. He threw and the thing detached into segment that were connected by electricity. The sword wound around Shadow Stalker, constricting, and she turned solid before she could be hit by the electricity.

Natu appeared just above us, flapping her wings and angling herself so that she landed on my hand.

"Uber and Leet headed above ground," said Shielder. "They've got drone things and we can't get through."

"Spotted," said Vista. "The Undersiders are trying to pick them up. Should we do anything?"

"Kid can handle Stalker," said Aegis. "Fliers are taking charge. We'll see if we can get them, but if we can't, we do nothing."

He took off and as I looked in the sky I could see the flier contingent. Aegis with Laserdream, Glory Girl, Pidgeotto and Sigilyph.

The Undersiders were already moving, the space stretched out and that made their exit path harder. Laserdream was already peppering them with her lasers while Pidgeotto and Sigilyph sent gusts of wind slamming into them.

The scenery shifted, bending so that it was slowly forming a maze. But there were parts that were open, where Vista couldn't work because there was a concentration of people. The Undersiders seemed to have a thinker supplied knowledge of the ground.

Pidgeotto flew to the side and crashed into Sigilyph. The two tumbled into Laserdream and her aim was off by a wide margin, slamming into a building side, taking small chunks out of it.

A halo flew off one of the dogs, purple and growing bigger. When Crystal fired off her lasers they seemed to slam into a pane of invisible air, breaking apart violently.

All of them pulled back, flying further into the way, with crystals firing off lasers in a large range to gauge how far the halo effect stretched. It was pretty large and it was growing larger.

"Vista," said Aegis. "Start undoing things. We aren't going to beat them."

"Got it," said Vista.

I touched my ear. "Do you guys need any help?" I asked.

"No," said Gallant. "It's nearly done."

"Then this is over," said Aegis. "Let's report in. Face our licks."

888

Director Pigott was waiting for us.

"I want reports," she said. "Everything that happened, everything you planned. Then I want a risk assessment: What went wrong, what else could have gone wrong and the long term implications of what you've done focusing on the Murphy's Law. Aegis, Gallant, a word."

The moment that they were out of the room Clockblocker groaned and lay face down on the table.

"It's near midnight," he muttered. "And I have a feel that I'll be grounded after all this."

"And I promised Dad that I wouldn't go out and take on Purity," I said. I let out a sigh. "Dad's going to be disappointed if nothing else."

"I'm just going to sleep," said Vista. "Screw it all. I'm tired." She got up, carrying Pachirisu in her arms as she moved towards the bedroom. I pulled out my other Poké Ball and summoned all of my other Pokémon.

I checked them over. I knew that they weren't hurt, having been looked over by Panacea and Chansey, but I couldn't hold back my worried. Caterpie looked around as she shifted into a solid state, then shot me a look before she glared towards Clockblocker.

"Right. Right," he said, coming to a stand. He groaned as he stretched. "Just give me a moment to change clothes then I'll get you your leaves."

Caterpie only looked towards Clockblocker before she exploded.

I scrambled back, clicking my tongue and urging the others to stand in defensive formations as we looked towards Caterpie. At once my mind geared towards panic, that it was a tinker device that we'd missed and now it was coming to effect. Killing my Pokémon.

The explosion was a burst of light with Caterpie at its centre, the shape of her body started to shift, changing from a caterpillar to something I couldn't tell. I watched, transfixed as the pieces clicked. She'd triggered much like Pidgey had.

The light faded and Caterpie revealed her new form. I could see the segmented bits were her tail was, the green cocoon angular in how it draped over her. Caterpie's eyes were on either side of her face, with nothing that I could see that looked like a mouth.

She started to fall forward before a segment in the centre of her 'face' opened and she shot out a thread of silk that hit Clockblocker in the face. Clockblocker's power must have activated because Caterpie stalled in her fall.

"That was a trigger," said Chris. "Like Pidgeotto?"

"Yeah," I said. "Riolu. Make sure she doesn't fall when Dennis' power clocks out?"

Riolu nodded and jumped on the table. I took a breath.

"But it wasn't like a human trigger," said Dennis. "We didn't all reel like when…" He looked at me and then just tapered off.

"Something else, something different," I said. "I need to go to my lab and look her over. See what changes this means."

"I'd better do the Tinker floor," said Chris. "I want to see some of the stuff we picked up from Leet's lab. Maybe I can get a few ideas on them."

"So we're just ignoring the whole report, thing?" said Dennis. He followed us as we walked. "Because we're already in a lot of trouble and we're not doing ourselves any favours."

Chris shrugged. "It's too late into the night for critical thinking," he said. His mask was off, held under his arm. He ran a hand over his face, wiping away some sweat. "I wouldn't mind going to sleep like Missy."

"Then why don't you?" I asked. "You don't have to do anything today."

"I'm something of a deep sleeper," he said. "If I slept now, I'd probably miss the bad news that Carlos and Dean are going to deliver."

"A little bleak, there," said Dennis.

Chris shrugged. "It was too good," he said. "We won, got Shadow Stalker and our arrest looks like it's going to stick. We weren't hurt, damages to armour will be easily fixable. Something wrong has to happened to even things out."

"Very bleak," Dennis muttered. He gave Chris a clap on the back. "You need a day out like we did with Taylor. Only…maybe somewhere exotic because we can teleport now."

"How did you manage that anyway?" Chris asked. "Teleportation is something almost all tinkers are working on but it's ridiculously hard."

"When I went out with Victoria," I told them. "I had a conversation with Mouse Protector. This was supposed to be a secret. I think I might have trouble in the future because of it."

"No," said Dennis, a whinge in his voice. "It's spreading." He took a breath and then slowly let it out, his expression getting bright all of a sudden. "You could use this for Tinker Con," he said.

Chris and I turned to look at him.

"You can make more, right?" I nodded. "Then that could better facilitate movement. It would be less of a logistical nightmare," he said.

"And since I don't have to hide things, I can set up my database better," I said. "Which would mean I could make more teleporting Pokémon."

"Database?" said Chris.

"Of animals," I said. "I've noticed that it's limiting having to request new animals every time that I have an idea."

"Why don't you just automate it?" said Chris. "Just churn out the Natus over and over. Maybe alter the fundamental parts of thinking so that they don't think along the same lines."

Dennis groaned. "Please don't tell me this is going to turn into tinker talk," he muttered.

"No," I said. "Not really incomprehensible stuff at any rate." I looked at Chris and frowned. "For some reason I'm pushing against that. Creating the same thing over and over."

"Oh," he said, nodding sagely. "You're one of those."

"One of which?"

"The artistic tinkers," he said. "There are a few. Whether it's because of them or how their powers work, but they don't build the same thing over and over."

"Like Leet?" said Dennis.

"Please don't compare me to him," I said. He grinned at that. "I'd like to think I'm more competent."

"In defence of the guy, he did push us off," said Dennis. "That halo shield thing was amazing before it fizzled out."

"Really wish I had my detectors on hand when he shot that," said Chris. "I'm thinking maybe it was a variation of the New Wave abilities? Breaking them up to how they worked and then making something that extends?"

Dennis groaned again.

The elevator opened and we walked down the tinker floor.

"You don't mind if I take from your stash of leaves, right?" said Dennis. "I promised her some leaves but I didn't have any on-hand."

"It's cool," I said.

"See you guys later," said Chris, continuing on.

I looked at Dennis. "You don't have to stay," I said.

"I sort of wanted to ask you a favour," he said. "Or at least I wanted to ask Porygon a favour."

I could see where this was going. "You want her to do your work for you," I said.

Dennis shrugged. "She was watching everything and she's smart, so…"

"I don't think that's the direction her intellect gears," I said. "But you can talk to her." I pulled out my phone, ignoring the voice and text messages from Dad because I didn't want to feel right now, and sent a message to my other account. "She should call you shortly."

"Thanks," he said. "See you later, then."

I nodded, took a Poké Ball and pointed it at Caterpie, though that also felt wrong because she was no longer a caterpillar. I looked over her data, seeing shifts in power and she there was only one additional ability that had sprouted. When I looked in the direction, I got the sense of the ability that Audino used to get tougher.

Metapod.

888

"It was long," said Chris. "So I'm going to assume it was bad."

It was near two in the morning when Carlos and Dean returned, texting Chris and me, while they woke up Missy and Dennis. Even though it was the rest of us that hadn't had some nap time, they were the two that looked the most grumpy.

"Good and bad," said Carlos. "We have a seat on the table now, but…it might not be in that way in the future."

"I don't understand," said Missy.

Carlos took in a long breath before he slowly let it out "I'm stepping down from leadership," he said. "I was politely asked to step down into a deputy position and I accepted."

"Fuck me," said Dennis, immediately awake. "And fuck you," he said to Carlos. "Please don't tell me that—"

Carlos shook his head. "It was the way I planned it out, that I thought it might work, but they wanted to send their own message. The new leader's going to be external, most likely from Boston or New York since they would know the most about how things work here."

Dennis let out a relieved breath, thought about it and then frowned.

"We could make trouble," said Missy. "All of us threatening to leave."

"That might work now, but it wouldn't serve us well when we go to the Protectorate," said Dean. "We got what we wanted, a seat on the table, we get a voice. We should be happy about that."

"It still sucks that us doing the right thing means this," she said, her arms crossed.

"It's how things are," said Carlos. "Anyway, let's focus on the good. This is all confidential," he said, looking at Chris.

"Already active," he said. "I keep it on nowadays because it's convenient. Means I don't have to worry about forgetting it."

Carlos nodded. "I have the power to tell you what I deem fit and I think it works that I just tell you everything. The Protectorate, PRT, New Wave and the Police used our attack to make it seem like we were making a large play. While we were attacking Shadow Stalker, they raided multiple locations suspected to have an in with E88. The Protectorate managed to get Hookwolf and Stormtiger, while New Wave captured Menja."

"That's good," I said. "Which is at odds with how you're saying it. Something like this is further than anything we could have done."

"That's true," said Carlos. "But there's a lot around that that will have to be dealt with in the future. The woman was questioned by thinkers and it looks like the Elite have nothing to do with her. She just wanted to avenge Purity.

"But they might use this to their advantage," he continued. "We don't know how yet, but they think that the most likely thing could be changing focus. Moving from their machinations with Lung to this, making Kaiser feel like he has to do something to protect his reputation."

"Action. Reaction," said Dean. "We attacked them to send a message, they might use us to send a message that they are still powerful. What's worse is the people around them. Dragon and Porygon have been looking at past data and they think that with the attack on the E88, we should expect new triggers."

"They know about Porygon?" I said, my voice dry.

Carlos nodded. "We'll get to that," he said. "What's worse, there's still everything going on with Lung, what he might do because of this, how he might protect his rep."

"Too many things," said Dennis. "All of them we didn't consider. I can't help but wish we'd taken more time."

"If we'd taken more time then we might have seen that we shouldn't do anything in the end," said Missy. "This way, we've done something and it's changed the field. The power bases are unsettled and we might actually win, whereas if we didn't do anything then they wouldn't have changed."

"Then there's the Youth Guard and how it will react to our mission," said Carlos. "The Deputy Director expects that there'll be in investigation and that at the end of it we might be more restricted than we were before."

Missy let out a huff. "Screw them if they try that," she said.

"She seemed to like that," Dean put in. "She really didn't like what we did." He frowned. "I shouldn't have told you that," he said. "I think I'm too tired and my barriers are down."

"With that in mind, she may be more hands off," said Carlos. "It might hit her, what we were able to do, but with our powers it would be easy for her to say that even with their controls it would be hard keeping track of us without relating to illegal means."

"More punishment," said Missy.

"I told you there would be bad," said Chris.

"I need to stress though," said Carlos. "We have a seat on the table and that means something. Most of this has been happening without us knowing. But now we do and we can plan, we can have a dialogue with the Protectorate and maybe have more missions on our own but with permission."

"You think they'll give us that?" Missy asked.

Carlos nodded. "While I'm leading. Yes," he said. "But when my replacement steps in…" He shrugged.

"But we'll deal with that when we get there," said Dean. "For now, Porygon." I gave him a thankful smile at that.

"They know about her and are having Dragon watch her for the most part, keeping her reigned in. From what's been talked about, Porygon's been making a lot of friends, trying to do a lot that might hurt in the future but hasn't hurt anyone now."

"Stuff like what?" I asked.

"She's mostly collecting data. Worldwide data," he said. "Dragon's one of two members of the Protectorate that have access to the Repository and they're a little scared about what she was able to dig up."

"Oh fuck me," I muttered under my breath. I closed my eyes. "Please tell me it's legal."

"It was legal," said Carlos. "But…it's scary. She's been alive what…maybe a week? Less?"

"Less, I think," I said. "With everything that's been going on I haven't been paying attention to dates."

"And in that time…" Carlos shook his head. "Right now, Dragon's keeping watch and she's said she could build things that might limit Porygon's power if it were needed. But she's only one person…which is why this matter was sent to the Watchdogs."

I let out a long sigh. Maybe in was undue pessimism on my part, but I couldn't help but want to start thinking of ways to make sure she would be protected if they tried anything against her.

"Thanks for telling me," I said. Carlos shrugged. "And at least now we don't have to hide her from the Protectorate. We have a resource we can use."

"That's good," said Carlos. "Because I'm already thinking about our next big assignment: The Undersiders helped Uber and Leet, and Shadow Stalker's been talking to everyone to find a team. The timeline is too close and I think the bit players might be banding together…"

144

ManMag

Feb 16, 2018

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Threadmarks Ember: Interlude

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Feb 22, 2018

#741

Ember

Interlude

"Good," said Coil. He sounded relieved. "We're all here."

"Yes," his Master said. He was sitting in a large chair, hands steepled an watching the others: Kaiser, wearing ostentatious armour, with one of the growing women standing behind him, and Coil, who wore a skin tight bodysuit, his own guards behind him. "Be quick to get to your point or you will find me…displeased."

Kaiser snorted at that and the Master turned in his direction, shooting the armoured man a cold gaze. "Threats already?" he said, the smugness palpable in his voice. "But then, what do you expect from a—"

"The Elite are invading Brockton Bay," Coil interrupted.

He'd been moving as the words had been spoken, focusing on another location while thinking about continuing forward. He'd already had a path, getting behind the Growing Woman before she could grow and pulling free a grenade before moving elsewhere. Coil's guards would pose a problem since they had guns, but the Master could tank those while he dealt with Kaiser.

Grenades at close range to counter his armour, all around him in a field. There would be metal and there would be a lot of death, but it would serve his Master's purpose.

But that wouldn't be needed. Coil's words had eased the tension that had been rising.

"The Elite?" said Kaiser. "This far from the West Coast?"

"The girl," said the Master. "The healer. She brought them here with her announcement."

"Her and Phobos, yes," said Coil. "The two of them are profitable, calling all sorts of people in our midst. I've heard, through my sources, that Phobos was being hounded by various groups that wanted her to join them."

"This promises more trouble in the future," the Master said. "They promise more trouble in the future." There was an edge to the Master's voice, a heat there that was steadily rising.

He wasn't the only one who noticed, because the men behind Coil dropped the arms that been crossed, getting them closer to their sidearms. He reacted, crossing his arms behind his back, holding a pair of daggers he would use to slice through both men's neck if they moved to take their weapons, dodging Kaiser and then going after the Growing Woman.

"Attacking them would bring us nothing but trouble," said Coil. "You've no doubt been reading what they've been saying."

"Bakuda has informed me," the Master said, as Kaiser nodded. "She tells me that things are pushing towards the Triumvirate making an appearance."

"Unlikely," said Kaiser. "They'd be stepping on a lot of toes. The image it paints of the Brockton Bay Protectorate isn't good if they do. There'll be questions even after this, questioning the leadership and their efficacy. The Protectorate has a lot to gain from keeping this internal."

"They did," said the Master and there was chiding in his voice, his gaze not straying from Kaiser. The man's expression was hidden behind his armour.

"But they've earned a victory. What is it they're saying, the largest blow against your little group since Marquees was still a presence. It explains why the other one isn't here."

The Growing Woman shifted, growing a bit and the Master responded, growing larger. He thought about moving behind her, filling the room with himself, but this wasn't an active combat situation, he reminded himself. He needed to temper his impulses, read the situation as best he could.

"Let's not," said Coil. "We are all of us too powerful, too important. If we're taken down, then who stands against the Elite?"

"I would not be caught," the Master said. "I would kill all of you and they would let me walk. The same is true with fighting the Elite. I would win."

"If you believe that, you're more stupid than I thought," said Kaiser. "The Elite have put you in a position where any movement calls their attention. The public will continue to talk and the Triumvirate will eventually feel compelled to act even if it steps on toes."

The Master only smiled, projecting confidence. Coil sighed.

"This isn't going to get us anywhere," he said.

Kaiser looked in Coil's direction. "This infighting exists because Lung and I are playing a different game," he said. "I assume I'm correct, of course."

The Master nodded. "I don't believe you," he said to Coil. "You…are a parahuman. You hide it, but I know it is true. You hide behind the persona of one who is smart and who uses that smartness in strategic positions to get what they want. But this is false. It is the work of a power."

"You're a thinker," Kaiser supplied. "And thinkers are often masterminds. What's to make us think that this isn't all a play on your part? Moving pieces so that you come out ahead while we chase shadows?"

Coil sighed and then shrugged. "I don't think there's anything I can say that might change your minds. Maybe I could show you, but that would expend too many resources on my part, especially with such short notice."

"This is over, then," said the Master and he stood, stretching a bit. "I have things to do. Come," the Master said and he followed.

They walked into a short hallway, down a flight of stairs and out through the back exit of the Rogue Lounge, their car was already waiting. The Master shrunk a bit, getting into the driver's seat while he got into the passenger's.

"Call Bakuda," the Master said.

He pulled out his phone and called, putting the girl on loudspeaker.

"You were listening?"

"Yeah," the girl said, "and I've been looking into it as much as I can. Hacking isn't my forte, but…it shouldn't take long to figure out."

"Good," the Master said.

He dropped the line and put the phone back in his pocket. He sat back, easing a little but not letting his guard down. He watched the cars around them as they passed, people going about their business, unknowing of everything that was going on around them.

The traces of why were gone, but the sentiment was still there. He liked the bustle, watching it, being a part of it. There was a thrill there, the same as the thrill he felt when he was in combat, when his mind had less weight and his body was doing most of the work.

Were there parallels?

He tried to reach but hit a wall, there was only so much that he could do, only so far that his thoughts could stretch before it was too far. He felt the frustration, but he brought himself into a meditative trance: Focusing on nothing, the word bleeding away and only the things that he needed to focus on at the forefront.

A man running, chasing something. He was dressed too well to be an attacker, but that could be misleading. He paid attention only so far as it was needed before the car had gone too far, there was more to focus on. A kid that was paying a little too much attention to the car, then a police car that looked their way. He and his Master both wore their masks, but they were hidden behind tinted windows.

There was no incident.

They continued forward until they stopped in front of a hospital.

"Take off your costume and go in your civilian guise," his Master said. "You have severe brain damage and you want to be healed. Opt for the monster instead of the healer girl. She might ask questions."

He nodded, thinking of both being here and being on a rooftop.

He followed his Master's orders.

888

"The Elite are in town," Tattletale said.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Faultline muttered, but it looked like the sentiment wasn't shared by the others. Skidmark was lounging, scratching his crotch, while Squealer lay over him, running a hand over the man's chest.

Circus' features twisted under her mask, feeling a surge of disgust at the display. Not at just this, but at everything that had happened before: The pair finding her hideout and thinking they could pilfer, Skidmark getting the brilliant idea that he could get her to join their group, make her a dog after a bone.

She took a breath and slow let it out, aware that her lighter was in her hands, that it was flicked open and a flame was alight. Just a small push and she could have the both of them on fire, just pull and thrust and she could have daggers through their skulls.

She pushed that back, focusing. "Is that supposed to mean something to us?" she asked.

Tattletale looked her way. "Maybe not yet, but soon," she said. "They've already started a recruiting drive and they've already succeeded in getting people two people on their side: Trainwreck and Grue. They're going to give out the invitation to all of us and then there's going to be pressure."

"But why are they a big deal?" she asked, irritation in her voice as Skidmark kissed in her direction. Her lighter disappeared and throwing knife appeared, running in between her fingers. "Why should we be scared?"

"Because they have a lot of scary people on their side," she said. "Hell, the people that are here are scary because they're from Vegas, and god knows how much scary shit happens in that place."

"So you want us to what, buddy up?" said Skidmark. He snorted. "Who says that you bunch of bitches are worth a damn? Well," he said, grinning.

"Maybe not in a fight but—"

Bitch of the Undersiders stepped forward, leg extending and kicking back Skidmark's chair, sending him and Squealer tumbling back. Mush was moving back, spreading out and starting to grab dirt from the floor to add to himself, but the place was on the clean side, not allowing him to be much of a danger. He knew this and was moving back, away from the fighting.

Six knives appeared between her fingers as she stepped back, looking at everyone and looking for an incoming attack.

Squealer was getting to her feet, hand to her mouth to whistle but it didn't work, sputtering coming out. Faultline and her crew, the largest contingent, were moving around a girl in robes, pulling back and moving towards the doors.

"Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me," Tattletale was muttering. She too moving back, sticking close to her team. "Everyone—" she started, but a table was sent hurtling through the air before it was caught by a stream of fire, breaking the thing apart as it was set alight.

Circus grinned as she pushed, sending the fire towards the Merchants only to have it stopped by an invisible pain of air.

A sharp whistle reverberated and there was a crash, a golden 'car,' made of sharp angles, circles that let out a deep blue light and made the thing hover, crashed into the place. Skidmark, Squealer and Mush all moved towards the car, its doors popping open to let them in.

All of this had gone to hell so quickly, nothing discussed and they hadn't even talked about whether the threat was real or fake. She stepped back, watching as holes appeared on the car, guns starting to pop out and spinning, letting out a loud hissing sound. She threw a set of knives in a quick flurry, one of them meeting their mark and hitting one of the guns. The thing jammed, blowing up and taking off a chunk of the car. A spray of slime shot through the air and landed on the car, seeping into the opening and jamming the mechanisms.

Another gun shot out, this one faster. It picked a target, fire with a dull thud and let out a beam of light. The first shot fired towards one of Faultline's people, Newter. The boy was agile enough that he was able to fly out of the way. Another was sent towards Gregor the Snail and he tumbled back, crashing into the ground. He didn't stop firing his slime, though, but instead his aim was off in large part.

Spitfire fired and Circus magnified the fire, consuming a large part of the car. Even so the thing could shoot. She saw the flash of light and jumped out of the way, landing and throwing a set of knives to hit key points. On the fifth hit, the gun stopped moving, arcs of electricity shooting when it tried to.

She was close to a wall now, the exit not far off. She quickly ran, ducking low as a liquid-like beam tried to hit her and magnified a stream of fire from Spitfire. Gregor the Snail was still shooting out his slime, covering more of the car and barring its manoeuvrability; one of the panels that kept the car aloft had failed, one side sinking into the ground.

She made it out, breathing a little hard as she glanced back. The place was on fire, the car starting to short out under the slime and fire.

Faultline and her crew, the Undersiders and she were out, moving back and further away from it all.

"That was royally stupid," said Faultine, the comment directed Bitch.

"No. No," Tattletale said, a finger pointed a Bitch. "Take a walk. Clear your head, but saying nothing." Bitch glared in Tattletale's direction so long that Circus thought there might be a fight before she walked off in a huff. She put her fingers to her lips and whistled, her monsters descending from a neighbouring building and starting towards her. "Stay close!" Tattletale shouted.

"Don't think she's going to listen to you, Boss Lady," Regent muttered, loud enough for them to hear. Tattletale scowled in his direction and the boy just shrugged.

"Nice to see that you have a handle on all of this," said Faultline.

"Don't," said Tattletale. "Please." There was a loud popping sound and then a loud crash. The car was thrown out of the building and the Merchant clambered out.

"Inviting them was stupid," said Faultline, her voice was softer, her gaze on the three as they got themselves together. Squealer shouted something and the three of them started booking it, running away from the car.

"I realise that now," said Tattletale. "But we needed the numbers. We needed everyone on board. I was hoping we could work together." She sighed. "We should get distance. Squealer thinks her car might blow up."

"Another meeting," said Faultline. "After I've had time to verify if this is true or not."

Tattletale nodded, not saying a word but looking at everything. She looked at her teammates, her eyes lingering on Bitch, and Circus could see that she was pissed.

"These guys are a big deal?" she asked.

"Yes," said Tattletale.

"It means servitude if we work for them," Faultline added. "It's better if we fight against them if you're into your freedom."

She nodded, letting out a breath. "Do you mind if I tagged along?" she asked Faultline. "It doesn't seem safe to be on my own."

Faultline gave her a nod, but her attention was on Tattletale. Something was being shared between the two, she was sure of it. But it wasn't important, what was important right now was figuring out if it was worth it to keep living in Brockton Bay.

888

AN: I haven't had much writing time with school starting to really eat up most of my time. Expect the update rate to be inconsistent as I try to steal some time from other things.

134

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Feb 22, 2018

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Threadmarks Foresight: 6.1

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Feb 24, 2018

#745

Foresight

6.1

"Phobos."

I jumped, instantly going for my gun and pointing towards the door. It took me a second for the pieces to connect: I was still in my lab, Hondour and Rattata were close, both of them having gone on the alert the moment my door must have opened, and I was in my lab.

"I'm sorry," I said, hand over my heart and doing my best to regain control over my breathing. "I didn't hear you come in."

"It's okay," said Armsmaster, walking further into the room. He looked towards my workstation and I couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious. In front of me was a glass cube that was in the process of being built; it was the largest thing I'd built from the ground up, easily as large as a toddler. "This is a server," he said. "I'm seeing components of my tech, as well as some from the Toybox."

"Yeah," I said, my stomach twisting. I took a breath and slowly let it out, doing my best not to look guilty. Because really, there was nothing to feel guilty about.

He was quiet, most likely taking it in, thinking about the implications of this and the information that I had. It wouldn't take him too long, especially with how well he knew me, to move in the right direction.

"How is it going?" he asked. He walked closer, taking a look at the configuration of it all. I took a step back and watched. "I'm trying to get a read on your speciality. On it's limits, nailing it down. It seems quite varied."

I shrugged. "I can say the same about you, about Kid Win. Both of you seem to favour building armour, but the underlying restrictions are hard to tell."

"There's still a theme," he said. "A direction our tinkering leads us and we have to work within that. I want to show you something."

His hands moved away from server and starting pressing a series of buttons on his arm. My phone buzzed and I pulled it out, watching as Armsmaster was in the test phases of what would likely be a new form of armour. It was a machine that was large and clunky, with a hollow opening the size of an arm.

It was test thirty-five and a man with his face blurred out was standing beyond. He had a fresh wound on his arm, too clean to have been any but self-made. He put his arm through and the machine blinked on, orange light shooting out before the inside of the thing started spinning.

Slowly, the cut started closing up.

There was an attachment that wasn't the video on the e-mail and I opened it, seeing blueprints of the machine. There were parts that I didn't understand, things that didn't make sense, but there were elements that seemed familiar.

"This is the same tech as the microwave," I said.

He nodded. "I'm still working on miniaturising it," he said, pride in his voice. "Integrating it into my armour so that I can have a minor healing factor."

"That's…awesome," I said. I looked at him, read his body language and I sighed. "Why do I feel like there's more to this?"

Armsmaster gave me a small chuckle. "A lot has happened and you're still reeling," he said. "There's nothing more. I have a project and I wanted to share it with what I think will be a prominent tinker."

I looked down, hiding my smile, hiding the fact that I was blushing. I said nothing, fumbling and trying to put something together but my ability was stalling, trying to catch up to the new reality.

He probably doesn't mean it, I thought and the words were strangely grounding. There's probably something more going on that I'm missing.

"That's not the reason I'm here though," he said. "Your project about building a database."

And there it is, I thought. Showering me with a compliment before letting me down. I'd broken the rules, me and the others, and this might be a way of punishing me.

"We don't think it's a good idea that you take in on," he said. "There's already so much we're planning for you and with the Youth Guard likely to make an appearance, it's better that we're seen as following regulations."

"So it's a no-go on that, then?"

"No," he said. "Which is to say that we like the idea of the project. We believe that it will be in our benefit if we equip you with all that we can so that you build better and better Pokémon."

I'd been expecting a jab with the right, instead it was an uppercut. I hadn't been able to defend myself and my surprise showed.

"I don't understand," I said.

"We're outsourcing the creation of the database," he said. "Dragon's got the stasis…Poké Ball technology in a good enough place. There's a lot that disrupts the capturing process, too much movement, power use, but it's workable for the purposes it was designed."

"Oh," I said. "I'd forgotten that was in the works. Things might be easier on my end too, if I don't have to worry about making Poké Balls. Focusing on other avenues."

"That's the idea," he said. "Your training, the projects that you'll be doing with the Wards and on your own, and hopefully the Pokémon that you'll be supplying for the Protectorate and PRT."

I nodded. "I was already brainstorming how I'd do that," I said, "but a lot of it relies on me having certain animals. Kid's given me insight and I think it's true. My ability doesn't like me creating the same thing over and over. He made the comparison with Leet and I read up more on him, how stuff he's repeating has a tendency to fail…"

"You're thinking that might be true for Pokémon that you create," he said. "That they might be non-viable?"

I nodded. "I mean, it could be false, that belief, but the chance that it might be true is too scary. It would mean me creating something that's stillborn."

"Then we'll work on getting the database up and running," he said. "But before then you're going to have to be in a lot of meetings with animal protection groups and other legal personnel to get an image of the regulations that should be put in place to protect their well-being."

I gave him another nod.

"But we'll need a certain haste with the Pokémon. An Endbringer event is in the forecast in a month, month and a half, and we need people to get accustomed to working with Pokémon."

"Make it a priority, got it," I said. I'd have to postpone the work I was doing to build my own server, make sure that I could create a place that Porygon could be able to hide in if needed, but this was more important.

There wasn't an attack yet on that front, it was just my paranoia. But the Endbringers were an inevitability.

"Good," he said. "Something else. Dragon and Porygon have given us data that expects a high rate of triggers with everything that's been going on. Now more than ever, the Crises Points programme becomes important."

"I can do it?" I said, excited.

He nodded. "We've fast tracked your costume and it should be done at day's end. Tomorrow, maybe the day after, we're planning on starting to visit schools. Have public patrols to ease the public, show them that we're still a presence."

"Okay," I said. "I'm up for that. More the Crises Points thing than the patrols, but I can do that too." Though I really didn't want to. There'd just been so much that I wanted to opportunity to just relish it, relish the fact that I had one less problem to worry about.

He nodded. "More will be discussed," he said. "I'll let you go about your day."

He left.

If I'd be receiving more animals to scan, then I needed more bases to streamline the process. I looked over the work I'd already done on the server, pushed the work aside and sat down, jotting down ideas for multiple pads that would download information on any animals I got.

My phone buzzed and I checked, a message from Aegis asking everyone for a meeting.

With a sigh, I stopped what I was doing.

"Natu," I said. "Do you mind going to get Pidgeotto. This might need him." I wasn't sure why, but he'd taken to wanting to stay back at the Farmhouse when he wasn't needed. Maybe he liked the space, the freedom of flight and being away from the bustle of the city.

Natu disappeared for a minute while I was packing up, stowing things away and making reminders to make starting up much easier. The pair return and I returned Pidgeotto to his Poké Ball while Natu settled on my head.

The others were already there, Kid Win wearing his armour with his mask off. There was a small box on the table.

"Am I the last to come in?" I said, taking a sit. Dedenne moved over the table, jumped up my arm and nuzzled against my cheek. I felt a low thrill of electricity running through me. He moved back and looked at me with an amount of pride. "What?"

"A new application," said Vista. "Nuzzle. Dedenne can shoot electricity but it's weaker than Pachirisu's shots, right. Well, with Nuzzle, I've got it measured and it's more powerful. Close to being the same power level as what Pachirisu can do."

"Smart," I said, smiling though I didn't feel it. I was the one that was supposed to be figuring all of this out. But then, I was preoccupied. As I looked at everyone, I was aware that I'd been so preoccupied that I'd forgot that I'd been testing out giving my pets time to hang out with other people.

Aegis had been set on having Pidgey as a friend and that hadn't happened.

Something to fix.

"Let's start things then," said Aegis. "Because this shouldn't take too long. About a half hour ago I call a call from Faultline, they want to meet."

"With us?" I said.

Aegis nodded. "It'll be them, the Undersiders, Uber and Leet, and Circus."

"That's all the minor villains," said Kid. "What's going on?"

"They know about the Elite and want to discuss it," he said. "They want help, I'm thinking. They like their independence and they're willing to work with heroes if things return to normal."

"What are our leaders saying about this?" Vista asked.

"That this is ours, that'll we do what we do fit, but if we decide to go ahead with the meeting," he said, "then we have to have a shadow. People from the Protectorate that might be able to help us out if this goes awry."

Vista smiled at that, sitting more at ease.

"Are we going to meet with them?" said Clockblocker. "Work with villains that likely want things to return to the status quo? Work with villains for that matter?"

"That's why I called this," said Aegis. "To hash things out, see if we should do this. Arguments for and against."

"Obvious for," said Kid. "We could learn more about them. Get Phobos close and she can have their abilities down and that'll get us more information."

"They might not like that," said Gallant.

Kid Win shrugged. "The same will be true for them," he said. "Tattletale's got some sort of clairvoyant power right?" Aegis was the one who nodded. "She'll be using that to get a read on us with however her power works. We stand to gain more even if we lose on this front because we don't get just one piece."

"Not mentioning that I think we might have a way of countering her thinker ability with Natu," I said. "But I'm still not sure how she works on that end."

"Against," said Clockblocker, "being the fact that if this got out it might cause a bad kind of stir. We have to remember that the public don't know about the Elite being in Brockton Bay. They see this and it'll be some sort of conspiracy."

"Then we take countermeasures," I said. "Teleport to wherever, make sure that we've jammed the place of all signals and have scans that there aren't any camera or the like."

"Easy in any other situation except this one," said Gallant. "They have Leet. They'll be able to get countermeasures up if they're working with a tinker. We can't discount that this is all some trap, that it's not a trap from the Elite and their tinker for that matter."

"We could talk to the Watchdogs on sight," said Aegis. "But that will take a few days before we get information, even then it could be information we can't really use."

"Seems like you're saying we have to decide between risky and careful," I said. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't stand being grounded more than I have to, and my grounding will be extended if I just rush into this."

"Ditto," said Clockblocker. "It's unlikely that we'll be lucky a second time."

"All for getting as much information as we can from the Watchdogs?" said Aegis. All of us raised our hands. "That's that, then. I'll get that started. Phobos, I want Porygon gathering all the information that she can that we can use if things turn out badly."

I nodded.

"I'll also give you training schedules that were sort of mandatory for this," he said. "We'll be training against sects of Protectorate teams and we'll be graded, with more freedom being given the better we are."

"Goody," I muttered. "More training." My body was sore because my training regimen had been bumped up since everything had happened. It didn't look like it would be slowing down any time soon, too.

"Please tell me it starts tomorrow?" I said. "I worked most of the day so that I could meet with Amy before I had to go home."

"It's tomorrow," said Aegis. "This is pretty much done."

I stood.

"Do you mind waiting a minute," said Gallant. "I want to see Victoria."

"She's grounded," I said. "If—"

"Her parents aren't home," said Gallant. "Please?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Meet me in my lab?"

He nodded. I started collecting all of my Pokémon, packing up some of my tech and the notes on how Amy and I would be spending much of the day. Hopefully when the day was done, we'd have some insight to how powers worked.

131

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Feb 24, 2018

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Threadmarks Foresight: 6.2

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Feb 27, 2018

#751

Foresight

6.2

The red light congealed, solidifying into a large shape that was wrapped in silk. I didn't know if the silk was really needed to 'fool' the Poké Ball, but I didn't want to lose my stuff in the odd chance of failure.

"Could you release the others while I get this free?" I said.

"Sure," said Amy. I handed over my bag while I pulled free a knife from my side. I pressed a button and the knife started to vibrate, a low blue light appearing over it. It cut through the silk like it was butter.

I had my laptop, three energy cells and the base from my Poké Balls. There were also cameras and microphones that I'd requisitions. Twelve in total, they would work to journalise everything as we tested them out. There were also a few chairs and a table, a small fridge and a few parts that I might use to tinker on the fly.

"Caterpie isn't here?" said Amy.

"Metapod," I corrected, "and no. Natu will go and pick her up when it's needed. She's gotten even more voracious and she prefers to stay back home if she can. I think it's the immobility."

"I really would have liked to see her transformation," she said. "It would have been a great learning experience."

"Damn," I said. Amy looked in my direction, her eyes wide and questioning. "I had something I was going to show you. There's another way that you might find out the process, but it means us possibly doing something stupid."

"Let's first setup and then discuss," she said.

I nodded and we got to work: Riolu and Croagunk helped us with the table, carting it to be at the edge of the little clearing we were using. I started put my computer and putting the parts together, booting up and letting the thing initialise.

Pidgeotto and Sigilyph were in the air, rechecking our surroundings to make sure there was no one around. It would be hard to get where we were without being able to fly or teleport, but it was better to be on the side of caution.

It took us fifteen minutes before everything was setup. The cameras on and placed at the right angles, the speakers close enough that they'd be able to hear us. I had the energy cells up and Pachirisu had filled a tinkertech supercapacitor with electricity enough that it would let my laptop, the pad and the fridge work.

"Do we really need the fridge when we can teleport?" Amy asked.

"Trust me, when the fugue hits, your mind doesn't work right and you don't even consider things like teleportation."

"I'll take your word for it," she said with a shrug. "How do we start this?"

"Can I scan your Pokémon, first? Get them on my database?"

"Sure," she said. It didn't take too long before I had Pikachu's data and I started reading it over, comparing it to Pachirisu's code. There were similarities, but there was a part missing when I looked at the physical structures of Pikachu's brain.

It was Sigilyph next and then Chansey. Sigilyph was the most new thing I'd ever see, the odd musculature, how frail his wings were and the connection between powers that kept him functioning. I had the image in mind, that if Sigilyph ever ran into a person that could stop powers, he'd die shortly after.

"You still haven't fixed Natu and Pidgeotto," said Amy. I hummed, looking in her direction. "The birds," she said. "Audino healed them like I thought she would. You didn't neuter them."

"No," I said. "Damn. I forgot. Give me a sec." I returned both of them to Poké Balls and then looked for the section of code and started to change it. "Done," I said, letting them out.

Amy gave them the once over and then nodded.

"Now we start," she said. "I was thinking we start with compiling data. The powers that they have."

I nodded. "Let's also get a feel of the 'powers' that fill the powers spots and those that are just a quirk of how we made their biology."

We started, cataloguing the Pokémon and their abilities. I looked over the data while Panacea used her power and the both of us discussed. It was a little on the hard side because both of us weren't biologists. We could manipulate biology, but the technical jargon was something we just didn't have.

Which meant we were fumbling more of the time.

"…coils are thicker," Amy finished. She had a hand on Pachirisu and Pikachu.

"Coils?" I said, looking over my data.

"Like…where they generate the electricity," she said. "It's…I don't know how your code tracks, but there are like coils that stretch between these organs to the cheeks? There are three of them on Pachirisu and Pikachu, with only two on Dedenne. Both of them considerably smaller."

I started looking through the data, seeing the connections and not finding them before I shook my head.

"I think we're looking at this in too much detail," I said. "Let's pull out for a bit and just look at things…cosmetically for lack of a better word. We've got four mice—"

"Rodents," Amy corrected. "They're not all mice."

"I know, but…Rodent makes me think disease," I said. "It's better if people think they're mice." Amy shrugged. "Anyway, four mice, but only three of them can have electric powers."

"Okay," said Amy, she had a notebook out. "Let's say Electric types and Rattata will be…baseline? Maybe Normal, in this case meaning she doesn't have a clear category of powers."

"That works," I said. "Let's say they're all Normal, then as we add in a set of powers they can have, we give them that category."

"So, like…Sigilyph, Pidgeotto and Natu are Normal. But Natu can't fly, does that have a bearing on anything?"

"Flying isn't a power," I said. "Or it shouldn't be."

"It is for Sigilyph," said Amy. "He can't fly otherwise except with the help of Vicky's power."

"But that's different," I said. I closed my mouth, pouting because I couldn't really put a finger on why I thought that was different. "It's…I want to say that all of them are birds, most birds fly, even if there's aid from a power. It shouldn't be something that we make special."

Amy shrugged. "Let's move forward, hash more of this as we get the data. Okay, they're all normal. Now we have to look at the powers they can get."

"But we don't exactly know which," I said, "because we haven't tried the combinations, and there's the problem that we don't know some of Sigilyph and Natu's abilities."

She nodded. "You have a feeling for this, right? Maybe you could try adding abilities and feeling what works and what doesn't?"

I nodded. I returned Natu to a Poke Ball and started making alterations, using Pidgeotto and Sigilyph as a guide. Pidgeotto had three abilities that filled his power slots: Agility, gust and quick attack.

I tried adding all of them and I got the sense of wrongness that I was about to do the wrong thing.

"None of the powers that Pidgeotto has at present can be sent over to Natu," I said.

"Meaning there's something about them that just doesn't fit," said Amy. "But what? Can you try with Sigilyph? Do you think your power might help you there, too?"

"I think it might," I said. I let Natu out and put Sigilyph in. Sigilyph had gust and light screen as filled power slots. The light screen had an active and passive phase, one protected against a certain form of attack while another protected against something though both Amy and I weren't sure about that. There was also a third spot that allowed him the ability to fly and a fourth we thought might be the thinker blocker that Natu had

I decided to play around with the slot that had gust, trying to add the other abilities. Neither quick attack nor agility worked.

I shook my head.

"Okay," she said. "Okay. Let's say," she said, "that Natu and Sigilyph aren't Normal, but Pidgeotto is."

"Natu and Sigilyph don't fit into Normal because they can have thinker powers?" I said. She nodded.

"You've checked, right?" she said. "That he can't?" I nodded. "So for the time being, let's call them Thinker types."

I nodded. "What about the master powers?" I asked. "Should they be their own type?"

Amy groaned. "This is growing to be a little complicated."

"We've only just started," I said. "It's been what? Only a hour?"

"Only?" she said.

"Yeah. I could go another before I have to take a break," she said. "Let's do that and then start afresh."

I shrugged and we set up food for ourselves and our Pokémon.

"I think I might be able to get you your own set of Poké Balls," I said.

"Yeah?"

I nodded, quiet as I chewed down a sandwich. "Armsmaster and Dragon have been doing a project where they make a whole bunch of them for stasis purposes. They're finally done. I might get a set so that you can carry your Pokémon with you."

"That would be nice," she said. "But probably it won't be that easy. I can see the Protectorate wanting some concession out of it."

"Maybe," I said. "But then, the things will be expensive to make so it's to be expected."

We were quiet as we ate then we went back to work.

"I think we have to find a baseline of what Normal is," I said. "An ability that all of them can have. Quick attack is the one ability that most of them have: Pidgeotto, Rattata, Pachirisu and Pikachu, and Riolu."

Amy shook her head. "You're making this too big," she said. "I think, that we should focus on the birds. Maybe…this might be better if we increased the sample size. More birds?"

It would likely set off a few alarm bells, but…"Yes," I said, thinking about Carlos. Maybe I could create a bird Pokémon for him to be his friend, and I'd be doing good work because it would further the tinker-scientific field.

Sounds like you're just rationalising wanting to make more Pokémon, sarcastic me said.

Maybe. And if that was true, I didn't mind.

"Two birds each, we aim for normal in one and not in another," she said. "Sigilyph, Pidgeotto, do you mind grabbing four birds? Don't hurt them! Can I borrow Natu to get some biomass and Poké Ball?"

"Sure," I said.

Pidgeotto was the first to return, bringing back a dazed bird and then going off to grab another. I got the bird into a Poké Ball and started changing it, making sure that I kept the changes I made small, not injecting too many powers because the process might take longer.

I was done by the time Amy got back. "Around twelve minutes before it's done," I said. Sigilyph returned, carrying a bird and then left again. Pidgeotto returned and he was carrying a duck. It was hurt, so I put it in a Poké Ball so it wouldn't die on us.

With that done, Pidgeotto took off and started flying around in a wide circle before finding a perch to roost.

Amy spent the time playing with the Pokémon while I went on working on the Director's assignment. It sucked that I was still doing the thing and it was worse now because I was doing something similar to what had landed me the punishment in the first place.

I ignored it, especially as the new Pokémon finished.

A small bird with red and brow feathering. It had a ruddy look to it, especially as it jumped excitedly at me, flapping its wings with unbridled enthusiasm.

"You work with Spearow while I work with the next Pokémon," I said. Amy nodded. "I took the duck and started altering its code, letting my ability run free and not giving it direction except that it need to do it quickly."

Even with my request, it would take thirty minutes before the bird was done. I stood and watched Amy's work. It seemed more 'normal' than Sigilyph had been, more bird looking. This was about the same time that Sigilyph returned with the last bird.

I glanced at my watch, it was nearing six.

"We should start packing up," I said. "I have to be home soon."

She nodded. "I make the last bird and then we talk through text?" I nodded. She stood back, her Pokémon waking up. "Starly, I was thinking," she said.

"Not half bad," I said.

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Feb 27, 2018

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Threadmarks Foresight: 6.3

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Feb 28, 2018

#784

Foresight

6.3

"Ducklett, water pulse," I said and I pointed.

The duck, blue in colour with yellow feet and beak, swooped down a little before it opened its beak wide. Blue light formed, growing more concrete with every second before it was shot out. It hurtled through the air, slammed into a tree and then burst apart into a flood of water.

"Wingull!" Amy shouted. "Water pulse!" The bird reacted, white feathered with a few bands of blue; it opened its beak and gathered a ball of light that it sent forward. It slammed into a tree and burst apart.

"Wingull, Starly, quick attack," she continued. The two birds swooped low a shimmer surrounding them as they went to their individual targets. They both slammed into rocks and broke them apart.

Amy turned in my direction as her birds swooped into the air, flying around in circles and joining the rest. She looked excited, a new light shining through her eyes.

"You want us to stay, don't you?" I muttered.

"Don't you?" she said. "This adds more mystery. We've got two Normal, but only one of them can learn agility. We've got two 'Water' types and one of them has both quick attack and agility. How? Why?"

"This will sound stupid the moment this is out of my mouth, but, maybe it's because Ducklett's a duck? That's why she's different?"

"Maybe," she said. "Let's tally up, get some data and try to make sense of it. I nodded and pulled up a spreadsheet named birds. I started jotting down the powers that each of them had.

"So, the ones that are shared by most of the birds are quick attack and agility, with four of seven and three of seven, respectively," said Amy. "All of the birds we think of as Normal have agility and quick attack, with the exclusion of Spearow for the latter ability."

I nodded. "All the birds with other types, Thinker and Water, don't have agility with the exclusion of Wingull." I sighed. "I was going to say the addition of other types means there's negative interactions with the 'agility' power."

"It might be that we still have too small a sample size to really work with," said Amy. "That we're too narrowed in our approach, because even one variable throws it off."

"That's true," I said and sighed. "But I can't make any more birds. Even with these two Dad and Armsmaster will be in a panic because they think that I'll do something stupid. Worse yet if I don't get home before my curfew."

Amy frowned. "Then maybe we should really call it a day," she said. "I don't want you in trouble."

There was something weird in her tone, something weird about her body language in general, but where it was leading, I couldn't tell. I chose to ignore it. I was a tired of thinking, of being confused when my ability was usually so clear to me, of trying to figure out the mechanics of how it worked.

For the first time I could honestly say I sympathised with Kid Win if figuring his power was anything like this. Because as it stood, these things didn't make any sense.

We'd started packing up before and now we finished off. I made sure everything was stored okay, while Natu started teleporting everyone who wouldn't fit into a Poké Ball. There were just so many of my Pokémon I was starting to notice.

"Spearow," I said. "You'll go last. You too, Ducklett," I said, looking at my feet where the bird was. It was standing close to me, brushing against my legs at times. It seemed to calm down at that.

"You look like you're thinking about doing something," said Amy. "Nothing stupid, I hope."

I shook my head. "No, just going to chat with Carlos before I go home."

She nodded, finishing off her own packing and then disappearing as Natu settled on her head. Natu returned less than a minute later and I'd already sent a text and gotten the return reply.

"We're not going home, just yet," I said to the gang. "Stay still," I said to Spearow. He did, making a show of it. I got the ball close to him and then pressed it. It opened with a pop, turning the bird into energy and sucking him in. "Take us to the landing pad, yeah?"

The scenery shifted and I was in a large empty room with a lot of cameras. I moved towards the door and opened it with my phone, I then quickly went to my lab, reconnected the equipment I'd taken for the day and started altering key features of how Spearow thought.

Carlos arrived as I was finishing off, his costume on save his mask.

"You wanted to talk," he said.

"Give me a sec," I said. I finished off the code, waited a minute as the process finished and then I turned to Carlos with the ball in hand. "How would you like to be a pilot member of the pet shop program?"

His eyes bulged at that. "You're already starting it?" he said.

I made the so-so gesture. "I'm not really starting it, it's just…I have the feeling I'm going to be creating a lot of Pokémon in the near future and I'll be neglecting some of them. So I'm thinking about giving them to people I think will be able to take good care of them."

He swallowed, looking at the ball in my hands. "So…that one's mine?"

I nodded, feeling a pang. I didn't know Spearow at all, we hadn't had time to get attached and yet it was so hard. Ducklett, sensing this, got closer to me, giving me a hug. I took a breath and then slowly let it out. I gave the ball to Carlos.

"His name's Spearow," I said. "At least that's what I named him. You can change it if you feel like it because he's yours."

Carlos took the ball with both hand, looking at it for a long time before he turned back to me. "You're sure about this?"

"Not even a bit," I said. "But if I feel like if I wait for me to be sure, it'll never happen. I'll convince myself that I'll do it next time, hoarding them all and then leaving them unhappy."

Carlos let out a long breath, grinning wildly. He moved forward and then stopped, getting his composure back. "Thanks a lot, Taylor," he said, his voice shaky. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

I nodded, smiling slightly and not feeling it. "You'll want to be alone when you get him out of the ball. There's an imprinting thing that'll take hold." He was nodding as I talked. "But Carlos," my voice grave. He looked up. "If you hurt or abuse him in anyway, then…"

"I won't," he said. "Thanks again, but…I'm gonna go?"

He rushed out of the room before I could say anything.

"Let's go home," I said to Natu and Ducklett.

Dad was already home and he had dinner prepared.

"Good day?" he said. It was a few minutes after curfew, but so far he hadn't mentioned anything.

I shrugged. "Nothing special happened," I said. He gestured at Ducklett. "Oh. Amy and I started figuring out how this all works. I told you about Sigilyph, right?" He shook his head.

I started telling him, about Amy trying to make a teleporter and coming up short because of the strange she created her Pokémon.

"We want to figure out how abilities work and which animal falls within each group so that she doesn't lose any of them," I said. "It might also mean I don't have to depend on my ability a lot if I had more intel. Maybe I could direct what I wanted in greater detail instead of how I'm doing things now."

"So you wanted a greater sample size?"

I nodded. "But it's still not enough. We have seven birds and there are already two outliers with the theories that we have."

"Well, it is still the first day," he said. "These things take a long time. Maybe even years."

I groaned. "Don't tell me that, please," I said. "It'll make me lose the drive to continue forward."

Dad snorted. "Do I need to teach you the value of patience and hard work?"

"Maybe you should," I grumbled under my breath.

"Good, then," said Dad, sounding chipper. The he went into lecture mode.

I tried to smile through it, but after thirty minutes I lied and said I had to go to the bathroom before slipping out of the back, Ducklett following me. I spent nearly an hour trying to convince her that it was good to get distance, to spend some time in the lake and it was Croagunk that finally tipped the scales.

I went to bed for the night and the next morning, I woke up with a string of e-mails that had pictures of birds which were clearly Pokémon.

"Amy," I muttered, groggy and just wanting to slip back into bed. "What the hell?"

Last edited: Feb 28, 2018

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Feb 28, 2018

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Mar 2, 2018

#795

Foresight

6.4

My hair was still wet and by all rights the clothes I had on weren't on the fashionable side, but they would do. I went downstairs, through the kitchen because it allowed me quicker access to the back of the property. Dad was already awake and it looked like he'd been awake for a while now.

"Going for your run?" he said, not looking up from his work.

"No," I said. "Amy's…been on something of a bender and I'm helping her out of it."

"A bender?" said Dad. "She's been drinking?" He sounded worried, with a tone that looked like it would lead into a lecture. I decided to head him off.

"Power use," I said. "What we were working on yesterday? She got ahead of herself and made eight bird Pokémon and she's…she needs my help hiding it from her parents."

"Oh," he said. "Oh…I honestly have no idea how to deal with that. Except maybe tell you that you don't have to feel the same way? That you don't have to hide anything from me. If it's isn't bad, then I'll try to roll with it."

"Roll with it?"

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "Go with the flow." He was grinning madly as he said that. "You know, Taylor, you have to work on your game if your Dad's hipper than you without even trying."

I snorted. "Wrong century, Dad. Hip, going with the flow?"

"Then what are the kids saying these days?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I'm not really sure, but I know it's definitely not that," I said. "I should go before Amy does anything…other than what she did…Um, you don't mind if I take her Pokémon right? We have a lot of space."

"It's fine," he said. "This place is too empty for my liking anyway."

I gave him a smile before I left, going into the slightly nipping air. I could have put on something warm, but I would be going to Brockton Bay in a few seconds and that would be a waste. I put fingers in my mouth and then blew out, a sharp whistle piercing the air. I let out another.

Three things happened: Pidgeotto flew up out from the trees, flying in my direction before he turned, swooping back into the trees; Ducklett appeared from the direction of the lake, flying towards me; and Natu appeared and landed on my head.

"We'll be going to Amy's," I told her. "Just have to wait for Ducklett to arrive."

Natu gave a chirp. It didn't take long before Ducklett reached us and settled in my arms. The scenery shifted, outdoor shifting into the relatively tight confines of Amy's room. She quickly got to her feet, wringing her hands. It looked like she hadn't slept.

Her room was cluttered, eight bird Pokémon sleeping on the floor on one side of the room and over twelve normal birds sleeping in another. Her computer was on and I could see a spreadsheet opened, it was filled with names and abilities, the power 'agility' highlighted.

That wasn't the most fascinating sight however. No, that was the giant owl that was sleeping beside her bed. I couldn't really tell then thing's height when it lay on the ground, its wings tucked in, but it was likely my height if not a little taller.

I shook my head, but it didn't completely work because I was comparing it to Pidgeotto and he maybe half the size of the thing.

I shook my head again, focusing on Amy.

"You look…"

"Like I didn't sleep?" she said. "Yes, because I haven't. Not really. I've been working all night trying to gather the data that I can without waking up anyone else."

"Um…"

"Don't," she said, slightly irritated. "No pity or worry or anything else. I just…had to get this done. I need a Pokémon that can teleport and me learning about this is the best way at getting that."

"Right," I said. "I feel like there's an underlying issue here, that maybe you're…like, making this the issue instead of dealing with that?"

"You're a psychologist, now?" she said.

"No, but I'm reading up on procedure relating to mental health and it might be bleeding into how I look at the world," I said. "I'm sorry. But, you should sleep. Let's not rush this or there'll be mistakes, mistakes that might mean your Pokémon might get hurt."

Amy shook her head. "But we—"

I held up a hand. "I'm going to make a teleporting Pokémon for you, which means that what we're doing can just be for science," I said. "No personal stuff involved in it. Whatever they are."

She eased at that, letting out a relieved breath. "Thank you," she said.

I shrugged. "So, do you want to talk or something?" I said. "Maybe we can grab breakfast? I sort of didn't eat this morning and Dad will be making something while I'm here."

"No," she said, "I'm hanging on by a thread as is. I really need sleep. But thank you."

I nodded and looked over the birds, though not all of them birds. There were six birds and two Pokémon that looked like bats.

"You've named them?" I said.

She nodded. "I was hopped up on coffee," she said, "and I lost the plot at the end there, which is why some of them got so odd. But I felt it out and…Anyway,"

She pointed towards each of the birds as she spoke. Chatot was a parrot-like bird that had a head like a musical note; Pidove was bird that looked like a mix between a dove and a pigeon; Farfetch'd was a brown duck; Swellow might have been a swallow; there were two owls, the giant, Noctowl and the smaller, Rowlet; and the two bats, Zubat and Woobat.

"Noctowl was Hoot-Hoot, before," she said. "But then he triggered and I was lucky that I could think fast enough that I touched him. I felt the change, the shifting and it was…beautiful. It felt like a restructuring, the parts that make up powers fitting together better. It was like…a kid that's trying to complete a puzzle. They see similar shapes and they shove the pieces together, fraying the edges. This was like…a master at work."

"We're the kids?" I said. She nodded. "That's…disheartening."

"You're better than I am," she said smiling slightly. "You're the little girl that's doing things carefully, where I'm the boy rushing through it so they can finish and move on to the next game."

"Still disheartening," I said. "But it raises more questions, like the nature of powers. I mean, I know that I'm tapping into them, but the way you said it, it sounded like there's some kind of guiding force."

"Or maybe a natural direction that these things move," she said. "Like, gravity as a concept is sometimes describes as too neat, but it's the way the universe works. Maybe it's the same way here?"

I shrugged. "That's above my paygrade," I said.

"Me too, honestly," she said, "and maybe all of this is. Maybe we should get in academics? People that study powers? Because this is just a natural extension of that."

"That would mean money," I said.

She tsked. "It's easy to forget about that sometimes," she said. There was a knock on the door.

"Amy," said her father said. "I'm hearing voices?"

"Um…yeah, Taylor, she's on speaker," she lied. "We're talking about our work."

"I…I honestly don't entirely believe that," he said. "I'm going to open the door now—"

"No," said Amy. "I'm naked."

Mr Dallon muttered something under his breath that I couldn't here, with only the words 'worried about' passing through. I glanced at Amy and she was red.

"Counting till five and then I'm coming in," he said. "One…" I looked at the birds. I wouldn't be able to carry them all without hurting some in the process and even then I'd have to talk to give Natu the word to go home.

"Might as well fess up," I whispered.

Amy had her eyes closed, still blushing, but more than anything she seemed a little scared. She gave me a small nod.

"Four…five," he said and then the door opened, slowly. He peeked through and then got in more when he saw that we were clothed, there was a relieved look to him. "Hello, Taylor."

I gave a small wave. Mr Dallon looked around, stopping when he saw the birds on the ground and surprising showing when his eyes fell on Noctowl. He was quiet for a long moment before he turned my way.

"Did you sleep over, Taylor?" he asked, the words were careful, as though he was stepping on egg shells. Amy groaned, muttering 'oh my god' under her breath and looking away.

All of it was confusing.

"No, just arrived to pick up some work," I said. "I had Amy studying some of my Pokémon and also giving me more material to work off of. The place where I am doesn't have much of a bird population."

He nodded as I spoke, looking at me, at the birds and Pokémon and then at Amy.

"Would you like to stay over for breakfast?" he said.

"No, but thank you," I said. "Dad's already prepared something. And I have to go on my morning run before this."

"Okay," he said. He didn't move to leave.

"I'll go, then," I said. "We'll meet when we start training?" I said to Amy.

She had her face covered with her hands as she nodded. Natu transported the birds back to the property, leaving us in an awkward silence while we waited and then thankfully she took me home.

I ran and then sat with Dad, doing my best to parse through what had just happened. At some point, Dad broke out into unabashed laughter at it all, to the point where he had tears in his eyes.

"Taylor," he said through a guffaw. "I think…I think he thinks you and Amy might be an item."

I frowned. "What? But…Um. I don't think…huh." And then. "Oh."

888

I turned and I liked it. Bright colours like the Protectorate wanted but there was an edge to it. My mask made me little intimidating, as well as the slight static sound that was being let off by the thing. It meant a layer of security from people being able to hear my commands, but the higher pitched sound, which most of my could perceive, were audible.

"Now," said Jeremy. "I know that we've just completed one phase of the branding process but with your Pokémon, I think it's good that we move on to the next. Plush toys. I've already got mock-up of your then roster."

I only absently listened, instead moving off the base and then jumping up and down, stretching to feel how it moved. I did a quick lap, which Jeremy didn't like, feel the traction that the shoes offered.

"Yeah, sure," I said. "There was going to be a Crises Points thing that Armsmaster was setting up."

"Late afternoon," said Jeremy. "I'll be couching you on dealing with kids, what to expect and the image you'll be trying to exude. There's bound to be reporters."

"Okay," I said. "Question, whatever happened with the segment with Karen? We didn't finish it and it didn't air."

"But it found its way to the internet and Karen got a bump in popularity," said Jeremy. "There was footage of how she reacted, trying to save people and she was heralded as a hero. It should bring in viewers even if she didn't get what she originally wanted. I think people might also be hoping that there's another 'Lung' attack."

"Good for her," I said. "I think. Is it possible that she might be working with the Elite?"

Jeremy shrugged. "Certainly it's possible," he said. "Whether it's true or not is another matter, a matter that I have nothing to do with. Different department. The thing that I have to deal with, is you…"

I sighed and listened. Just my luck that a matter of hours apart I was moving from one lecture to the next. Jeremy's phone rang at a point and he sighed.

"There's a situation and your PR event has been postponed for tomorrow," he said.

"Why? What's going on?"

"A fight broke out between a new group that's encroaching on Merchant territory," he said. "Things are bigger than they should be and it's called for a greater number of our capes."

"I have to go," I said. He nodded. It wasn't a little longer that my phone buzzed, a message from Aegis. I quickly went to our base and I was amongst the last to enter, Browbeat and Clockblocker the last.

"We might have a situation," he said. "There's an attack and that means groups in the periphery might be working towards something. I've asked and I've gotten the go ahead, and anyone that wants in can help in the patrol."

"Patrols on our own?" said Vista.

"Groups of threes with PRT troopers driving and aiding if it's needed," said Aegis.

"I'm coming too," said Browbeat. "I don't think I want to miss another excursion."

"Groups of three and four," Aegis amended. "Phobos' group will be the one with a lesser number because she can make that number grow. Kid will be on mine because I want air support, as well as Vista and Browbeat. Gallant, you'll lead the second team? Assuming everyone's going out?"

Nods were shared.

"Have you called New Wave?" Gallant asked.

Aegis nodded. "Yeah. They'll be more active too." He looked at Gallant. "Glory Girl's sitting this one out."

Gallant nodded.

"Then let's move," he said. "People will likely be acting. Let's talk using coms."

The trucks were already ready, each with five troopers, two of whom had containment foam dispensers.

Gallant, Clock and I left with our van, while the others left on theirs.

Last edited: Mar 5, 2018

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ManMag

Mar 2, 2018

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Mar 10, 2018

#807

Foresight

6.5

Much though I hated Director Piggot's assignment, there was more than a lot of utility to it than I might have thought. Every time I turned my attention towards a thing that was happening or being done, it was the assignment that provided more information about how the Wards, Protectorate and PRT worked.

There were three classes of PRT trucks: Patrol, containment and transport. All the trucks were large, but they were different degrees of large. The patrol truck was the smallest of the three, the sleekest and it was the fastest. It was roomy enough that it could carry ten people and it also had some tech integrated into it.

The containment truck was the middle ground. Large enough that it could keep the likes of Lung contained, but fast enough that it could get back to the Rig without being intercepted. The transport truck was big and bulky, outfitted with a few weapons, made so that it could take an assault, and with countermeasures that made it hard for captured villains to be caught in transit.

I knew all of this in abstract, words in a file, describing purpose and thought behind procedure, along with how that procedure had come about. This was the first time that I could say I'd been in any of them save seeing them from the outside.

There were, all together, eight of us. Gallant, Clockblocker and me as the capes, and five PRT troopers. All of them had given us codenames instead of their names. I'd read about this too, about how it'd come about: There'd been too many instances of thinker masterminds getting access of the right bits of information which had lead to breaches in security. This was giving them less to work off of.

Nozzle and Spray were the troopers that would be working the Containment Foam guns; Techie worked the computer, alerting us of any police reports we had to pay attention to, he was also the only person with access to drones over the city for surveillance; Guide sat in the passenger seat, looking at the HUD that dominated his side of the windshield, they would plan out our path, making sure we weren't impeded by traffic; Butler was the driver; and Sure Shot was the only trooper authorised to carry any weaponry that tinkers were cycling out.

There were more official designations, they were same through most trooper groups in a city. But certain things stuck and as part of the information there'd been a glossary on code words used in Brockton Bay that weren't official but were accepted.

"How are we going to play this?" said Gallant. He was standing, easy enough to do because even though we were moving rather quickly, the truck was stable. "None of us have worked with troopers before."

"You lead, we follow," said Sure Shot. They sounded like a woman, though that was hard to tell for sure. They were on the tall side, their uniform making me think they were muscular. They lead the troopers.

"We've been around the block enough that we can usually get the general trend of how you fight, shore you up when you need it."

Gallant nodded. "What about Butler?"

Was there something Butler I didn't know?

"He'll have his training to go on and we'll guide him through the rest," said Sure Shot. She glanced in Butler's way. Maybe he was new, with only theoretical knowledge to work off of? Or maybe not theoretical, but he'd been working in the relative safety of the training grounds.

I shook my head, taking a deep breath and slowly let it out. This was my first patrol…well, there was that night with Circus, but I really didn't want to think about that. This was my first patrol and maybe I was starting things on the deep end.

"No need to be nervous," said Gallant glancing my way. Was he using his power or was I that high-strung? I looked at the others and couldn't get anything from them, all of us wearing one form of costume, hiding our expressions. "This is preventative. There are other vans out there and they'll give people that think they can use this opportunity pause."

"So it's likely that nothing might happen," I said, the filtering of my voice through my mask sucked away all of my doubt. Even so, Gallant would get it.

"It's what we're working to achieve, but it helps us to be prepared for anything," he said. "Bit players are likely to use this opportunity when the big guns are being kept busy."

Bit players. Except there was reason to think that they were banding together. The Undersiders, Faultline's Crew, and Uber and Leet. Each of them might be hard for just the three of us to handle alone, but if they were working together?

I ran my hand over my Poké Balls, thumbing at their front and feeling the indentations that told me which held which Pokémon.

There were eight in total: Pidgeotto. Hondour. Riolu. Croagunk. Rattata. Pachirisu. Natu. Metapod.

I grabbed the second last and pointed, the light shooting out and congealing into Natu. She took in the situation, looking at everyone around her before I felt her settling on my head.

"That's a good idea," said Gallant, but I caught something in his voice. "Thinker protections. There was the threat that there might be new triggers. We don't know what new powers might be around."

"It scares me that we're going into situations blind," said Clockblocker. "But more than anything I'm scared because we're currently moving through ABB territory."

Gallant turned in his direction, sharp in his movement. I got the sense, not through him, but with how Clockblocker reacted.

It took me a second before the pieces slipped into place. Lung's territory and it was still news that I'd beat him. People were still psyched about it and there'd been conversation between us that we might have to expect pushback from the situation. If he found out that I was here, then I might have a dragon on my tail.

"But he doesn't have a thinker," I said, more for myself than for them. "At least none that we know about, and even so, Natu blocks thinkers, however that works. If it really works."

"It works," said Gallant. I let out a relieved sigh at that. He was a thinker and it was blocking him. I still didn't know the exact avenues, but there was at least one form of protection.

"And it would be stupid for Lung to do anything," he continued. "People are still discussing if the Triumvirate should come in and take him out of the picture. He benefits more if he lays low."

"Or he might use this to prove how powerful he is," Nozzle said. "It's his pattern. He likes to show off his strength and he knows he's strong because he fought Leviathan and came out ahead."

"Not what I think they want to here, Noz," said Spray, a sigh in her voice. "You're scaring the kids."

"Good thing, with what they signed up for," said Nozzle. "If they're scared, then they're paying attention."

"Condescending much?" Clockblocker muttered. "Like we haven't prepared for this, like we having been preparing for this."

"Preparing and doing are completely different things," Nozzle returned.

"Enough," said Sure Shot. "Let's stop this before it becomes a fight. You were planning. That's good. It gives us an inkling of what you're going to do, how you'll think and how we'll fit into the picture."

I could tell the woman was trying to be reassuring, but it wasn't helping in the least. Clockblocker had the same feelings I often saw on Vista when we were being restricted because we were kids. It didn't help that Nozzle radiated smugness.

Gallant didn't move to speak and I couldn't get a bead on him, what he was feeling or abstract qualities of what…

"Fuck," I said. I was grinning, but the others couldn't see it. I felt the surprise. "Nothing's wrong, just…" I took Natu's Poké Ball and pointed it at my head. It hit her and sucked her in. I looked at everyone and that certainty of knowledge was gone.

I summoned her and the moment she settled on my head it was back. She was projecting Gallant's power, making me an honorary thinker. I didn't know how Gallant's power worked, but I had the sense that it wasn't the same.

"Are you going to explain?" Clockblocker asked.

"Maybe later," I said. "I need to check something really quickly."

I pulled out my Ward phone and remotely accessed images of the data I had on my computer. I flicked through until I found an image of Natu's code and started looking at it. The lines of code were a mess, too many things coming together and I couldn't even form an image of where I'd formed the inspiration. But when I looked deeper, I could see a sliver of code that made me think of Gallant.

It was there, but hidden. Maybe if I looked deeper, then I could see the powers that made out the thinker blocking power?

Gallant's hand settled on my shoulder, startling me. I looked up.

"Pull back," said Gallant. "I've seen this before with Kid Win and we don't need it right now. Hold the impulses back."

"Right. Right," I said, even though I felt the itch to look over the code. See the elements and how I might change them. Maybe what Amy had said would offer me information. I knew now that there was a way that powers fit together, maybe if I—

Something's wrong.

I looked up and Gallant was standing a bit away from me, his hand pointed in my direction. He'd been about to fire one of his blasts at me and Natu had told me indirectly, feeling out the others and projecting it because she couldn't feel what Gallant felt.

"Am I going to have to do this?" he asked.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "No. I'm fine. I'll get a handle on it."

"Good," he said. "Now—"

"We have something," Techie interrupted. "Mover that's switching between flight and running. There's equipment on their person that make me think tentative tinker."

"We're not really the team to handle a mover," said Gallant. "How far is Aegis' team?"

"Relatively the other side of the city," said Techie after a few clicks. "We received the ping because the mover's course is taking them in our direction. A minute, maybe two, before they rush past us at current course."

"They'll be using this street?" Gallant asked.

"They've been moving in a predictable line," said Techie.

"If they're a tinker, it might be that they don't have their tech finely tuned," I said. "If they don't have a backer then they'll have to have done what I did. Go dumpster diving. They might not be able to turn easily."

"That makes things easier," said Gallant. "I think we can set a trap. We'll use the tactic that we used in our King of the Hill match. Clock will use the combo we talked about, get a line out and block them so we can capture. Have they been linked to a crime?"

Techie nodded. "Hitting a pawn shop. Computer equipment was stolen. Police gave chase but they couldn't keep up."

"Okay," said Gallant. "A minute to prepare. Maybe less."

We got into it. The sirens were put on and people actually moved to get out of the way, cars changing direction to get out of the way. This was ABB territory, if the PRT saw fit to put their sirens on, then it would likely be a fight involving Lung, not a person to be around.

I got out of the truck with Gallant beside me, already pulling out my Pokémon. Metapod got onto Hondour and the pair of them moved with Clockblocker as they ran into an alley for cover. Gallant, Croagunk, Riolu and I stood in the middle of the near empty road while Pachirisu and Rattata were hiding.

I wanted for Pidgeotto to be in the air, giving me a feed of the view from the sky, but that would mean we'd be spotted and there was the chance our mover would change directions. We couldn't have that.

Less than a minute and I could see him. A boy on the short side, his face hidden behind a hockey mask and segments of what might have been armour. When he saw us he didn't slow down, instead he ran faster. Gallant pointed and started firing, the boy jumped, the action going further than it should, fast because of all that forward momentum from running.

"Go!" I said, but the sound was too high to be heard by normal humans. Pidgeotto used a quick attack to intercept, flapped his wings and sent the boy hurtling back. Fire spurred out of his back and he stopped before he could hit the ground, landing.

We'd seen a similar manoeuvre when he'd slipped from jumping onto a police car while he ran. He could stop pretty quickly, but he had to work to build up his forward momentum.

He turned, looking to ran away but he stopped as he heard Croagunk croak. He turned in our direction and ran towards us, putting him direction in the course of Gallant's blasts. Three in total and they hit, the concussive force enough to counter the forward momentum and the emotional impact not making him want to get up or run.

I pulled out zip ties from my side and bound the mover's hands behind his back. He didn't fight against me.

Something's wrong.

I felt this at the same moment that I heard Pidgeotto give a warning, then start to tumble out of the air. I pulled out his Poké Ball and the ball of light caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Undersiders," Gallant muttered.

888

"Clock, close!" Gallant said. "Troopers, out!"

I twitched the corner of my mouth, deactivating the buzz that me speak at a high frequency.

"We're fighting?" I said. "We aren't running."

"Those dogs are faster than the truck and strong to boot," said Gallant. "We try to run and they might tip it over. Go."

I nodded, pulling the mover along with me before I stopped. Natu could only teleport with one figure in the abstract sense, which meant I couldn't take anyone with me when I did. But I could send him away.

"Get him to base and then come back," I said.

"No," said Gallant, but it was too late. Natu had appeared on the mover's head and then disappeared. A second later she was on my head again. "Master-Stranger Protocols," he said. "Thinker protocols. That might be what they wanted."

The troopers were out of the van, Sure Shot with a tinker gun out, Nozzle and Spray with their containment foam dispensers; Techie with what looked like a futuristic gun, but I could see it wasn't tinker. Guide and Butler were near the van, sticking close so they could protect it if needed, both of them with similar guns.

The last time a truck had been left alone, Squealer had seized it and used it for parts. It was now in policy that trucks had to be protected at all times. It was also the reason that we stuck close.

They appeared and the lead dog jumped off, Hellhound atop it. The next two landed, Tattletale and Regent on each, there was also a cape I didn't know, sitting and hugging Tattletale. Tattletale frowned and then realisation hit her, then there was suspicion and then a smugness.

"We're leaving, Bitch," she said. "There's no longer reason for us to be here. Unless this is going to be a thing?" she was directing this at us.

"You know we can't just let you walk," said Gallant.

She snorted, loud and obnoxious. I got the sense that it was intentional. Maybe trying to elicit a certain response?

"We're in ABB territory," she said. "This becomes too loud and it wakes up the dragon. We can run because we're more agile, we'll escape even if Oni Lee is after us. That's harder for you."

"We don't have to worry about that," he said.

"The teleporter?" she said and she laughed. "A knife and its…she's out of the picture." She looked at me. "And Oni Lee is very good at throwing knives. He's got a streak, violent, he won't be aiming for non-lethal measures where animals are involved."

I knew she was a thinker, that she could play people, but it was getting to me. Against my wishes images appeared in my mind, missing a dodge and a knife hitting Natu. I swallowed, feeling my stomach twist and turn.

There was a sense of smugness from Tattletale. She knew she was getting to me.

"Ah-ah," said Regent. In the same moment Clockblocker's hand moved and slapped him in the shoulder. I frowned, confused.

"He's clock blocked," said Tattletale. "He tried to be smart, thinking he could catch us off guard. That's not going to happen. We'll leave, not cause trouble because it helps us if you guys aren't too badly hurt before we meet."

I heard whines and I focused in the directions. Hondour and Riolu looked like they were in pain and I knew the cause. Hellhound was glaring at Hondour in particular.

"Oh, shit," said Tattletale.

"Car!" I said. "Kai!" Pachirisu made a sound and everyone save me, Gallant and Regent looked in her direction. Gallant was already firing a flurry of bolts, but his aim was off, the blasts sent too high.

I was aware that I hadn't given a target. Rattata moved from the shadows, running fast and leapt. She was aiming for Tattletale, the closest Undersider, a bad idea because we still didn't know what that cape could do. The mystery cape held up a hand a green hexagon appeared in Rattata's path.

Rattata slammed into it and the thing was strong enough that it didn't wink out at the hit. Instead another shield, about the size of a torso, appeared on the other side of the mystery cape. Both shields moved in a circular arc that worked to protect both the cape and Tattletale as everyone broke into action.

Gallant and the troopers were already firing, a wide spray that meant they could catch everyone before they moved. Gallant with his power; Sure Shot with his gun that shot out a stream of red light; and the rest of the troopers that were firing air guns.

Tattletale pulled her dog, bodily turning it and letting it take the brunt of the fire. Bitch and Regent did the same, using the dogs as cover while Regent still worked to throw off the aim of our blasters. The mystery cape intercepted some of the blasts and more shields appeared, getting larger in number, some slamming into each other to form bigger shields.

I was slower than the others, but I was moving, with one hand grabbing my gun and firing while the other moved to grab at a ball at my side. I pointed towards Metapod and she was returned into her ball.

I pointed to add to fire but my hand spasmed and I dropped my gun. The same was true for Spray and Nozzle, both of them unable to effectively fire. Tattletale was saying something, directed at Bitch but the girl wasn't listening. I tried to focus on what she was feeling and it was a mix of different things, hard to sparse except the more intense bursts.

She wasn't going to listen.

"Go! Go!" she screamed, exultation in her voice. The dogs, having grown larger since the fighting had started, rushed forward, spreading out to attack everyone. Tattletale's dog passed the boundary of a shield from the other side and the veritable wall of shields flickered out.

"Hold fire on shields!" Gallant shouted. They didn't have blaster powers which meant we didn't have to take cover, but there were still dogs the same of cars hurtling towards us.

"Roar!" I said. My voice magnified. Hondour moved forward and then roared, everything stopped, the dogs trying to scramble to a halt, but they were big and it was hard. "Riolu, Kai!"

Riolu disappeared from my side, rushing forward and crashing into Bitch's dog. The hit raised the dog up and sent it falling backward. Bitch jumped off, crashing into the ground and rolling to come to a stand.

"Bitch, no!" Tattletale was shouting. She and the cape had been pushed off their dog, sticking close to each other and pulling back as the dog was hit by the air-gun from the troopers. They weren't hurt but the fire seemed to give the dogs pause.

"Let's leave before—" She ducked low as a spiralling red light shot at her; it missed, but I knew she was shocked. A gob of foam shot through the air, aimed upwards in a wide spray and a shield appeared. The thing was the size of a torso, but when the foam hit, another shield appeared, the things connected and formed a larger shield.

Tattletale and the cape ran from under the foam-covered shield, more shields flickering into life around the mystery cape, protecting them from the incoming fire. I saw Rattata darting closer, passing a shield that had been moving to her and, again, all of the shields disappeared. The foam falling and hitting the ground where they'd been.

"Cro, spit!" I said, pointing at the mystery cape. My frog's pouches inflated, a series of gobs shooting out, aimed and shot. I'd thought I'd catch the cape while she focused on running, simultaneously trying to ward off Rattata who was getting close, but it didn't work. A shield flickered into life and stopped the gobs of poison from Croagunk.

Too much was happening and I was having trouble framing it all, paying attention and then directing people to their parts.

I'd missed that Riolu was on the ground, in pain and growing larger. One of the dogs was struggling to get up, but Bitch was fine. She was on her feet and looking in Riolu's direction with what felt like interest.

"Screech!"

Riolu opened her mouth and there was a scream but it wasn't the same, it was the power-fuelled scream that I was expecting. It was just a scream because she was growing uncomfortably. Hondour was still growing but she seamed to be fairing better, maybe distance helped.

I was panicking when I shouldn't be.

I took Riolu's ball and pointed it at her. The light shot out, hit but did nothing. She'd grown too much and the settings of the balls were off.

"Pidgeotto," I said as he congealed. "Gust!"

He quickly got a measure of the situation, started to flap his wings before he stalled, falling. The effect was enough to take Regent's attention away and for Gallant's beam to hit him. The concussive force meant he was pushed off his dog, crashing into, not the ground, but a shield that appeared under him.

Again the mystery cape had lost her shields and she used catching Regent to make more shields. Gallant had been firing at Regent and the shield cape moved her shield to intercept. There were five more shields on the field and then ten as she moved them out to catch other projectiles.

Our fire stalled. Us attacking meant there were more shields on the field.

There shields were still moving, some of them coming together to form larger shields while others moved around them. Shifting so that they were all protected. Riolu was on the other side of the shields, still screaming, still growing larger.

Tattletale was trying to talk to Bitch, but the girl wasn't listening. She continued to use her power, torturing Riolu.

My throat was dry, my heart doing its best to leave my body. I had to think. I had the pieces, I could form a larger picture to take them down. Natu. I could use her to—

Pachirisu and Rattata were on separate sides, running towards them. A shield barred Rattata's path and she couldn't move to stop herself in time. She hit it and another shield flickered into life behind her, both shields serving to keep her in place.

The same manoeuvre was used on Pachirisu but she dodged to the side "Kai!" and lunged forward in a quick attack. She passed past one shield and all of the cape's shields flickered out of existence.

"Unblocked," said Clockblocker, running forward. A shield appeared "Car!" and flickered off as Clockblocker sidestepped it.

Regent's dog, which was now protecting Bitch saw and started to intercept. Gallant fired a series of blasts that caught the dog, making it slower. Clockblocker got closer, tagged the dog and quickly moved around it.

Another shield flickered into life, moving to hit Clockblocker but it flickered out as Pidgeotto swooped down, crashing into the cape, Regent and Tattletale. Bitch had been missed. She was too close to Riolu and with Regent in the field, Pidgeotto might have accidently hit her.

Bitch saw Clockblocker still coming and moved forward at a run, screaming in a mix of rage and joy. She struck out in a kick and the moment it landed, she was stuck. Her effect on the dogs stopped, but Riolu was still in pain. She was as large as a person, with a tough and bony hide. She was breathing hard, her eyes crusted over with might have been bone.

Bitch's power worked on dogs, but Riolu was different.

Clockblocker went for Regent first and the boy acted. Clockblocker slipped, fell and hit a shield. There were two shields now and they were both moving to shield them before they winked out of existence. Pachirisu was in their midst, crashing into the shield user with one of her cheeks.

Clockblocker quickly scrambled to his feet, stretching out an arm and with how close he was, even with Regent's power. He managed to make contact.

There was still Tattletale and two dogs, one of which looked like it couldn't put too much weight on one leg.

"Brutus! Angelica!" said Tattletale, but she wasn't listened to. Both dogs chased after Pachirisu who moved faster than them. Darting into an alley and away from their allies. Tattletale looked defeated. She sighed as Clockblocker walked towards her. "Help," she said and everything changed.

Everyone suddenly disappeared, sinking into the floor. The ground dropped from under me and I fell into darkness before the scenery shifted and I was back in the street. I saw a boy with blue armour there, a holographic interface in front of him as he pressed it.

He stopped and looked in my direction. He felt happy. He stepped forward and disappeared, space ripped in front of me and I could see a room with the boy in armour stepping through. The portal closed behind him.

"Hello, Phobos," he said, sounding excited. "Sorry about this. But you know the job."

"You're…"

"Dodge. Of the Toybox,' he said, sounding disappointed. "We sent you a message."

"Where are my friends?" I said. I didn't have any Pokémon except Natu and Metapod if this turned into a fight. I wouldn't win this depending on the tech he had.

"In temporary pocket dimensions," he said. "I've got them stowed until th—" Bitch timed out and summarily fell into the ground. "Until the others have stepped out. We sort of owe Tattletale a favour."

"Why?"

"Access to Leet's tech," he said. I got the sense that he was grinning. "Guy's got a broad-spectrum ability even if it doesn't work half the time. Great source of intel."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Maybe show you we aren't that bad?" he said, shrugging. "Things are sort of coming to a head with the Gentleman. I haven't been watching closely enough to get a clear picture, but some of your capes pushed all of this into action. The Right Hand showed up and we think that's the area of their base.

"Honestly, why I agreed to this in the first place. Because if they're busy it means they can't try to nab me again like the tried to before I got in contact with the right people. I'm hoping they won't nab you too, but the way things are looking it's sort of hard to tell. From what I know they'll be switching people up, get you off your footing when you think you're starting to get used to them. But you probably already know that with Porygon and what he can do."

"Wait Porygon?" I said. It was too much, talking in a constant stream of thought so I couldn't really take in what he was saying. Especially when I had to worry about Riolu, my other Pokémon and my friends.

"Yeah," he said. "He—" Clock's effect faded on the dog and the mystery cape and they fell into the ground. "Oh. I'm done. Let's talk again, okay?"

He stepped back into a featureless room.

"Natu," I said. The scenery shifted and I was close, already moving push him into the ground. A massive portal opened in front of him and I stepped through before I could hit him, the scenery shifted and I was standing in the alley again, but this time the others were there.

"What the hell just happened?" Gallant asked. He looked slightly worse for wear.

I ignored him, running to Riolu. She burst before I could reach her, breaking apart into light, her form changing and reshaping. Using the additional biomatter from Bitch's power and integrating it into her trigger.

The light faded and she was taller, still breathing hard but she didn't look like she was in any pain.

I let out a relieved breath, my arms wrapping around her in a hug. I was too weak. I was too weak and too easily flustered and she'd gotten hurt. She'd been in so much pain that she'd triggered.

"Never again," I muttered, pushing back the tears. I had to become better. I had to become stronger. Or all of this needed to stop.

888

AN: I'm usually better at having all the pieces of a fight in mind and keeping track of them. But there was something about this chapter that made things harder. I'm hoping the fight is comprehensible because I don't feel too good about it. If it didn't work, could you tell me why because I'm having trouble figuring it out.

Last edited: Mar 10, 2018

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Threadmarks Forsight: Intermission

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Mar 10, 2018

#811

Foresight

Intermission

"…and now a word from our sponsors."

The man was abruptly cut off as the TV went dark. They boy turned and looked at the taller man that was standing just to his left. He directed a glare in the man's direction, but he didn't seem to care.

"Why?" the boy asked.

"Because there might be trouble," the man returned. He stood up, stretched a little, jumping up so high that his knees nearly touched his chest. "There's activity."

"Which direction?"

The man pointed towards a window. The boy stood, giving his sofa a longing look as he moved past it towards a window. He looked and couldn't see anything, but then that wasn't his power. He looked at the man, at Hector he reminded himself because there was something to be said about familiarity, and tried to figure out of this was a joke or not.

The last guy he'd been on a team with, 'Freddie,' had been something of a joker. He hadn't been funny, but he'd thought himself as such and never missed the opportunity for a joke. He'd once made him rush half way across Vegas for a fight that hadn't been there. He'd once left the boy after a mission and he'd had to walk, gathering attention because a boy as young as him couldn't walk alone at night without earning attention, and a whole other things that he'd made himself forget.

Freddie hadn't made it a month in the Gentleman's employ, a flesh ball sent flying at his nose with enough liquid that it could have filled a tanker.

Hector wasn't the same. Hector, even if he was less serious than a professional should be, always focused on the job.

He deserved the benefit of the doubt, even if he was still stretching, his arms splayed wide and his fingers wriggling.

The boy waited, watching in the direction until he saw something. An ugly car that was flying through the air, being chased by a massive dragon-bird-fly thing. The thing fired off a spurt of something that might have been foam, but the car must have had a forcefield on it because the foam hit something invisible, fell and crashed through the roof of a building.

Hector moved to stand next to the boy.

"There's a person on that thing," he said. "If you look really close you'll see the speck."

He did and he could see them, tied to the thing and having trouble keeping to their feet even with how slow the thing was. A ball of light flickered into life and it surged through the air, growing much bigger and hitting the side of a building, getting closer to the car. The car suddenly turned, thrusters activating and pushing it further into the air and over a rooftop.

"It's coming our way," said Hector. "I've been tracking the fight and slowly but surely, things have been turning towards us."

"They know?"

"I'm betting on it," he said, smiling. "I'm not sure if they're working together, that all of this is an act, but I think they might trying to bog us down with numbers. Something this loud is bound to call the Protectorate."

"The we should leave," the boy said. "It works better if people don't know we're here."

"Oh, come on, Kaito," said Hector. "Everyone already knows we're here. The boss is already trying to get the others to make an appearance because he's spent. Let's at least get one good fight in." He grinned. "We could even tell the boss we were trying to take out some of the unpredictable elements."

Kaito gave the man a dry look. "The Merchant's are perfectly predictable," he said.

Hector blew a raspberry. "Don't be boring, Kaito," he said. "Let's be kids. Let's have fun."

"You're not a kid," the boy returned. "You're an adult. You're in your mid-twenties."

"Age is nothing but a number," he said. "A number that's useful for getting out a loan and maybe getting a drink, sure, but not much else. It has all these expectations attached to it that are just fucking annoying. Like, I want to have fun. I want to be care free, why does this number have to stop me from doing that?"

He was quiet for a long time, watching the fight. Some of the foam had caught the car and it was weighing it down. It crashed into a roof, bounced off hard enough that the stuff cracked. A person got out of the car, breaking apart and grabbing pieces of the rubble.

Mush.

He jumped off and landed on the roof, grabbing still more rubble. The sphere of light moved in his direction and the man continued forward. The rubble that made up his body was starting to bake, but he was growing larger and larger, picking up the rubble that littered the rooftop. He formed an arm and flung towards the dragon-bird-fly. It couldn't stop fast enough and the arm crashed into it, breaking it apart.

The person fell only to turn into a mannequin which crashed onto a rooftop.

The car, Squealer's creation fell into the space between buildings. The now giant Mush ran, moving in their direction and shedding some of the rubble to be smaller.

"Teleporter," said Hector.

"The Travellers," said Kaito. "They were in Boston. We were going to try and recruit them before we left."

"They're here," said Hector. "I can't help but feel that there's an alliance, that this might be one of Accord's plans."

"It very well might be," said Kaito. "We're too close to him and with how we function, with our structure, it was only a matter of time before we started encroaching on his territory."

"We already might be if he was setting stuff up in Brockton Bay," he said. "This place is just perfect for a mastermind working behind the scenes."

Kaito sighed.

"No, don't do that," said Hector. "Don't sigh. I'm telling you, it's sketchy. You must be thinking it too since your mind jumped on it so quickly."

"No," said Kaito. "It's because you talk about it a lot. Every time we're having a conversation."

"But that's because it feels so right," said Hector, speaking louder, excitement running through him. "How can a guy without powers stand with the big guns without help? It has to be one of two things: Either he's a thinker or he's being backed by one—Protectorate just showed up."

"O—" and then he was suddenly standing on a rooftop, something metal moving toward him. He acted on automatic, bloating all of his body and anchoring just in case something hit.

The metal thing, it looked like a large set of claws, hit and he ruptured; liquid spreading out from him in a giant wave. There were people on the roof and they were hit by the wave of steaming liquid, sent flying or stumbling back.

One man rolled with the wave, landed on his feet and quickly came out. He was the one with the metal claw, or, he was the one who'd had the giant claw because it had been damaged by the liquid.

The man threw the claw gun aside and pulled out another gun, but dodged aside because Kaito had already thrown a flesh ball the size of a finger. The thing had been sent low to the ground and even with the man dodging, it still burst, sending another wave that sent him tumbling back.

Something hit him from behind and he burst again, breaking whatever it had been apart. He turned in the direction, saw one of the Travellers, Ballistic, trying to get to his feet. The man touched a piece of rubble on the ground and it his Kaito's stomach. There was another rapture and another wave.

They wouldn't win, even if it looked like they might. With each hit he was making them weaker, making them lethargic and tired, compounded by the fact that they were being hit over and over with water. It would only be three more big waves before they couldn't get up.

The scenery shifted around him and he was suddenly falling.

The teleporter, maybe having switched him out with another Mannequin. He started bloating himself, looking down and waiting to hit the ground. But as he came closer, he saw their plan, they'd switched him out so that he fell towards the fight between the Merchants and the Protectorate.

The bloating over his hand disappeared and he hit his belly. The impact was enough for another rupture, but this one was more focused, a stream of water that shot him away from the fight and slamming into a roof. But he'd been noticed.

Three figures, all of them movers.

He'd lost all of his clothes from the constant bloating, which meant there was nothing holding him back as his feet started to bloat.

Velocity reached him first and Kaito stumbled back before he could bloat the rest of his body. A quick flurry of punches that were weak along but were enough to push him back when they were being delivered with superspeed. His left foot ruptured before he was supposed to and he was pushed up into the air, sent tumbling head over heel before he crashed into the ground and was sent flying into the air again.

He curled into a ball, angling his feet downward while bloating but Assault was already in the air. The man hit and Kaito didn't rapture, instead he was sent slamming into the ground which caused him to fly up into the air as he ruptured.

He bloated before he could hit the ground, but this time he anchored himself, focusing on his opponents. He hit the ground and ruptured, a massive wave that was sent in all directions only to hit to no effect. Assault and Battery stood through the wave, while Velocity ran, jumping to another roof and quickly returning when much of it was gone.

He couldn't win this, not without help.

And help came. All of them started to cough, Hector's work, and Kaito started through a dozen flesh balls in their direction. He managed to hit Battery with half a dozen of the things. She weathered through the first set, but the last of the balls sent her back, surging towards the edge of the roof. Assault followed to catch her while Velocity kept him from running.

Kaito threw, but already the man was out of the way. Velocity got close, got real enough that he was able to hook an arm around Kaito's neck and pulling him back. Kaito fell, his back already bloated, but Velocity was already gone as the wave was sent out in all direction, and back again before he could think about escape.

Come on, Hector, he thought. But he knew the man's limitation, that even the minor coughing had required too much effort.

Another flurry of hits from Velocity, all of them not hard enough that they were able to rapture him, but they kept his attention on him until Battery and Assault were back, the former wearing a containment foam dispenser.

It wouldn't work. He could—Velocity hit him in the face hard enough that his bloating ruptured and a wave was sent out, sending the man tumbling back. Assault used that cover to rush forward and before Kaito could do anything, the man had him in a hug, raising him up so that he couldn't touch the ground or move his hands.

Kaito bloated the back of his head and sent it back against the man, but it didn't rapture. Battery dashed towards them and started layering the both of them with containment foam.

He couldn't move.

888

"Yeah, boss…?" said Hector, running a hand over his head. He could feel a slight buzz and he hated it. He reminded himself, as he stood surrounded by a metal box, that he should get a haircut.

"They caught the Right Hand," he said.

"Bother," it was returned. "How?"

"Not really sure," he said. "It was a plan, the villains worked so that the Protectorate did their dirty work, but they also got rid of the Merchants. There might be something more going on."

"Your figure in the shadows theory," the boss said.

He smiled, feeling excited because Taboo and Right Hand had been mentally making fun of him every time he brought it up. He felt a pang, he was really going to miss the little guy.

"Yes," he said. "They seemed to know where we were, or at least a rough location or maybe there was something else? It's…I don't have all the pieces yet, boss."

"It doesn't matter," the boss said. "We're done, I think. I've already set things in motion on my end and now they only have to spill over. We'll let another take their place."

"You managed to convince the others?" he asked.

"Tentatively," the boss returned. "Uppercrust."

"That makes sense," said Hector. "Should I just leave then? If they know where I am, it doesn't make sense for me to stick around."

"Do you think you might be able to retrieve the Right Hand?"

"The Protectorate came out in full force," he said. "I don't think I'd make it out of there without being captured."

"Then leave," the Gentleman said. "No dillydallying."

"I'm afraid that's going to be a little hard boss," said Hector, smiling.

The boss sighed. "Have fun," he said and the line cut off.

He did away with a section of his box, but called metal forth so it blocked out every window. It had been a hunch and he'd been right, the teleporter required line of sight and he'd been at an angle where he could see the Right Hand but not him.

He had to keep aware of that.

He focused and felt the general drift of metal within a few blocks of him. He couldn't control it very easily, especially the further off it was, but he could still feel its weight against his mind and through that he could feel the disturbances, the empty spaces that were people or objects depending on the movement of metal dust.

But he didn't need to focus that far off now.

He jumped up and down, getting his heart to beat faster before he started moving.

Their base had started shifted a while back and he'd let it, aching for something to burn off some of his energy. He started moving, out of their penthouse and into the hall. There was space where an elevator should be, but it was steadily shrinking, getting smoother because it was turning into stone.

He moved left and to the stairs. They were changing too in a sense he couldn't quite make sense of. He could see that the staircase was as it should be, but there was the undercurrent of something else, a spiral staircase with mechanisms that meant the stairs were rising.

Smart. They were making sure they could climb with exertion while he had to get tired. He moved faster, leaping so that he didn't have to individually go down the stairs. Four leaps and he met them.

A boy with orange skin and a girl with a jester's costume. The boy spat, but Hector was already sidestepping and continuing forward. The girl threw and he brought out his arm, metal having sprouted out of it. There was a clink of metal against metal and the impact was hard enough that it broke some of his plating.

He broke it further with his mind, showering the field with bits of metal that meant his sensory ability was better.

The boy, Newter, jumped onto the side of a wall and hurtled towards him. He blocked a set of knives with his right hand and flicked with his left, sending shards of metal flying towards Newter. The boy contorted, dodging and landing before he could hit Hector. He moved to spit but Hector brought his hand together, breaking his metal and sending forward a cloud of metal that got in the boy's airways.

Newter broke into a coughing fit.

A knife and he couldn't move fast enough. He ducked and it sliced at his shoulder. He flicked his right hand but Circus moved aside, rushing forward and striking with a giant sledgehammer.

He fell back, rolled and called up thin slabs of metal that were sent flying towards Circus. They didn't hit, intercepted by throwing knives. When the slabs of metal broke, they continued forward as metal ash. Circus stepped back, a lighter in hand before she sent torrent of fire towards him.

He scrambled back but it still wasn't enough and some of the flames licked his clothes and exposed skin.

There were already knives hurtling towards him and he ducked low, sending out a torrent of metal plates which were dodged before he felt something wet over a plate.

He grinned, stepping back.

"I've won," he said. The woman had a hand to her side, pulling back and glaring at him. "Scurry off. Take your friend too or he'll likely die."

"You're not going to attack?"

He shrugged. "This was exhilarating," he said. "I want to fight you again. I'm hoping that things will work so we fight again. I can't have that if you're dead. Now go."

She quickly moved forward, taking the boy by the clothes and pulling him away. He focused and searched for a way out. At some point during their fight he'd been switched into the shaker space and the place was gradually closing in, keeping him from escape, but there were corners that were still open.

He moved, leveraging a boarded up window and slipped out of the building. He formed metal over his arms, digging in to control he descent. When he was on the ground, he started walking, make sure to keep track of where everyone was and avoid trouble.

Last edited: Mar 10, 2018

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Threadmarks Foresight: 6.6

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Mar 11, 2018

#822

Foresight

6.6

A shadow passed over the sky, swooping down and then landing. Noctowl and he was giving me a calculating expression. I didn't like it and maybe that was because I hadn't been the one who'd created him. He was likely more loyal to Amy than he was to me, which made me uncomfortable.

It made me aware of how dangerous Pokémon were. It made me aware of how large he was, the intellect that shone in his eyes, how sharp his beak and claws were, and how strong he was if his musculature was anything like Pidgeotto.

A part of me itched to make alterations, to instil a sense of loyalty towards me, but that seemed like it might be crossing a line.

I was safe and that was what mattered. Lucario stood beside me, her face cool as she looked toward Noctowl. The giant bird looked in her direction and it didn't blink. Lucario returned the look, still with a cool gaze, but she was standing taut.

"You're going to have to wait a little while," I said. My nose itched and scratched it with my arms. I had bright yellow gloves on and then had blood on them. I didn't want that on my face.

"I've still got to haul this stuff."

Noctowl gave a hoot, opened his large wings and took off without and ounce of wind from his powerful wings. A power at work, much like it was likely a power that Pidgeotto used, the same power that Sigilyph used, but with these birds it was better integrated.

"You going to tell me what's up with that?" I said, looking at Lucario. She was looking up towards the sky in the direction Noctowl had flown, a direction, I noticed, that was on the away from where Pidgeotto liked to be.

"Is this a territories thing?" I asked. Because that was the feeling I got. They were both large birds and maybe there was something primal there. I had to wonder if birds were territorial creatures.

Something to check up on. But not now.

I reached into the tub and started pulling out pieces of meat, putting them in a large bowl thing that had come with the farm. I'd sectioned things off so that the raw meat was to one side, the food was to another and the bird feed in another. There was also a corner with fruit.

My Pokémon had a mix diet and figuring it out was costly.

I took off the gloves, putting them in the pockets of my apron and the whistled, calling the others while I stood back, watching it all.

I pulled out my phone, looking at the string of missed calls and texts.

Carlos: Here if you need to talk.

Carlos: Mission report wanted by the Director. You don't have to come in, but something to look towards.

Chris: Are you okay?

Chris: I get it if you need time. But it's important to talk to people.

Chris: I'm a little worried. Maybe a call saying you're okay?

Chris: Missy says I should give you time. So, don't rush about answering. Deal however you want to deal.

Missy: Getting stronger helps.

Amy: Call me.

Victoria: …

Victoria: Not sure what I can say. I feel like I should say something.

Victoria: I was told to hold my chin up the first time. It wasn't anything like this though. I don't know how I'd deal in your position, except maybe make things safer? If you need anything. I'll be here. Maybe share perspectives.

There were more, but I didn't feel like reading through them. I swiped away all of the notifications and turned to what information we had about everything that had happened.

Four captures: The Right Hand, Newter, and Skidmark and Mush. Squealer had managed get away in the chaos, maybe going underground, but she was a tinker who made cars. With the only vehicle she'd managed damaged beyond repair. I suspected that the Toybox was involved.

I sent a message detailing my thoughts to Carlos.

I let out a long breath, watching as the Pokémon ate. How the smaller Pokémon congregating together, while the bigger were glaring at each other. I took a long breath and slowly let it out at the drama that I would have to be dealing with.

I liked it, though, because it meant things were less complicated.

Lucario and Croagunk were together, Croagunk having to look up as he conversed with the dog. Hondour sat with Rattata, Pachirisu and Dedenne, sitting so that she was a barrier between them and Noctowl. She was bigger than she'd been just less than an hour before.

Riolu had used the extra mass from Bitch's power to fuel her trigger. Hondour had used it to get bigger. I'd checked and she had the same part of her brain that I thought was related Pokémon that could trigger, but it hadn't been set off.

Something different between Riolu, maybe her humanoid figure playing a picture in how Bitch's power worked. At the reminder, everything replayed in my mind: Riolu on the ground, growths forming around her and her screaming.

And all of them had been my fault.

Sitting here now, the solution was clear, just send Natu over there to send Riolu away. I'd panicked and not been able to think. Because of that, she'd been through what had been the worst pain in her life.

I needed to be better.

I jumped off my seat and earned looks from my Pokémon. Ducklett jumped into the air, flapped her wings and landed close. She rubbed her head against my leg, earning a smile. Farfetch'd flew close, quacking before she took off.

Ducklett gave me a look.

"You can go," I said, still smiling. I liked that she was socialising. She gave me a last look before she ran a little and took off into the air, going after Farfetch'd. Wingull followed soon after, then it was Pidove and Spearow.

"Can you take me to the house, Natu?"

The scenery shifted and I was away from the slightly nipping air.

"You can go to the others, if you want," I said. "I'll be doing a little work." I felt Natu disappear and I started moving. Taking off the bloodied clothes, taking a shower and then going to my lab.

I hadn't been able to continue going on patrol and Carlos had given me the go ahead to go back to base. I'd had a quick meeting with the Deputy Director and he'd fast tracked me requisitioning my equipment. I could work from home for the day, so long as any tech that was new was tested and I had cameras in my lab that went directly to the Protectorate.

I didn't really want to deal with anyone right now, because I needed to sort out what I felt first. But I was having trouble even going that far.

I had my laptop and it had access to my computer at the Rig. It meant I could access the rapidly growing database. It wasn't as fast as it could be with there only being two scanning pads, but it was enough that I could start working.

I looked at my files of Pokémon and found Chansey. It felt wrong in the same regard that turning Noctowl to be loyal had felt, but this was needed. I looked through Chansey's brain and changed little ways in how she thought so she'd be different from Amy's Chansey. I pressed and everything started up.

One thing was done, but it was now onto the next part. I looked through the animals that I already had on hand and started working on something that could teleport. I'd been putting it off because other stuff started coming up, but it needed to be done.

I quickly ran through it, with an image in mind that I wanted something small that could maybe go on a shoulder. Making it small helped me because it lessened the amount of time that I had to work on the Pokémon. When I was done, I got a camera and hooked it up so that my phone mirrored the feed from the camera.

"Porygon," I said and the screen went dark. "I want you to watch the changes I'm making, I'll to five so you can learn from them. But I want you to build a program that will randomise the process while still producing a functional creature."

An image flew through my mind, of a stillborn Pokémon, but I pushed through it.

I pulled up the notepad and copied over most of the code, then began changing how the through processes worked. It took me ten minutes before it was done and I was moving onto the next one, then the next and then the next.

"Do you think you have it?"

Need more.

I nodded and repeated the process. Going until I'd made five iterations of the creature, all of them set so they could think different. So that ones were smarter than others, so that others could have different attributes. All of them had three abilities, though, had the thinker projecting power that I'd refined a little.

Give try.

I nodded. I went upstairs, getting the computer that Porygon could access and I connected the power cells to it. I downloaded the program Porygon had made and set it up. It took a fifteen minute before the thing was done and I watched as it started randomising how the Pokémon would think.

Porygon had gone beyond that. I could see a chain set up that was set to automate when the first of the Pokémon was done.

I checked over the data, looking for anything wrong and I couldn't find anything. But even so, I made sure that I had one prepared to cook so that if the worst happen…

I didn't even want to think about it. So I didn't.

My official duty was done, which meant it was unlikely that I would be disturbed. Amy would have her teleporting Pokémon to help with her issues, the Protectorate would have their teleporters for Endbringer events and they'd even have help with Chansey who would help Audino and Amy's Chansey in healing those injured in the fight.

All of it meant I could be left alone, to deal how I wanted to deal.

Which meant preparing. I went back to my laptop with the Wards access and I started building a custom Pokémon. I focused on another teleporter, one with the thinker blocker ability, but this tie I focused on a projection power. I needed a cool Pokémon that could make me feel the same thing and maybe I could work out something that could give out none verbal commands?

It would take a lot of training, but it was something I would be doing. I needed to get stronger, to have a cooler head, because I didn't have a choice but to fight. I was still a cape, still a tinker and there would still be people who found reason to go after me.

I'd have to take my training seriously. I took my time with this one, making sure that everything was alright. Focusing on teleportation for redundancy purposes and then putting in, after seeing if I could, the power to conjure both shields that blocked certain powers like Sigilyph and those that could block anything.

Chansey finished and the work on my second teleporter started.

I took a little time to show her around our house, then having Natu send her off to the Rig to help Audino where it was needed. I looked over my work, then started building a third small teleporting Pokémon to serve me when I needed to get my other Pokémon from a tight spot.

It would be bigger than the others and with the capabilities of acting as a fighter if it was needed.

The test Pokémon finished while I was working on my third teleporter. With baited breath, I let them out and waited. They were small, with features that looked like a hybrid of a bug and a fox. The Pokémon, Abra, looked in my direction and then disappeared.

It had worked. Which meant that the others could work.

I set things up so I just had to change the balls. I made the mental note to start drawing up plans of a machine that would automate the process.

Ralts finished cooking and I was about complete with my third teleporter, so I put them in to start cooking. I checked over Ralts' abilities, relishing the how she cleared my mind, dulled the emotions in the same way that Dean had done when we'd been going after Shadow Stalker.

It was only then, when I wasn't running away from everything and I could allow myself to pull back, think about everything that I noticed that I'd fallen into what must be a tinker trap. The same sort of trap that Amy had fallen into and I hadn't entirely understood.

Another Abra finished. I checked that it was alive and it was. Unlike it's older sister, this one ran to where Dedenne and Pachirisu were playing and joined them in their game. The older sister was still watching television with Rattata and Hondour.

I pulled out my phone, calling Amy.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey. I'm sending Natu over. I need someone to talk to."

"Okay."

888

AN: I've gotten into the bad habit of deleting my work wholesale because I don't like it. Just finished the chapter right now and on the tired end, so I haven't had much opportunity to read this. But if I don't post it now, I'll delete it instead of posting. This is security.

Forgive any errors, I'll work on them tomorrow.

119

ManMag

Mar 11, 2018

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Threadmarks Foresight: 6.7

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Mar 17, 2018

#835

Foresight

6.7

"You know, I think I can see the crazy a little when I'm on the other side of it," Amy said.

She looked a little drained, but there was a smile on her face. We were in the living room and there were three Abras watching TV, two more were outside, and one, which was now Kadabra, was sitting on the floor, having a staring contest with Natu.

Amy couldn't see him, but Mr Mime was in the kitchen, cooking. It must have been knowledge I'd added or it was due to some power combinations, but he moved through the kitchen with a natural grace to him. Ralts was sitting on my shoulder, our minds were linked much like Natu was able to do and through her, I could feel the others to a greater degree.

It either meant Ralts was better, or the upgrade I'd given the specific power with the introduction of Tattletale's thinker ability made things better.

Amy bent down and picked up an Abra. The Pokémon had been stretching out its arms towards her. Abra snuggled against Amy and I could see her easing a little, some of the fatigue, the mental sort, having been dulled.

Amy hummed. "Can I keep her?" she asked.

"You can keep a Abra," I said. "It's up to you which one."

"Thanks," she said, giving me a smile. "This will make travelling easier. Hospitals are bound to be packed with the whole mess between the Travellers and the Merchants. Sure that area of town isn't full of people, but it's a prominent squatter zone."

"Things were bad?"

"Not as bad as they could be on a fight of that scale," she said. "But still bad enough that the city will still be reeling. Luckily the Protectorate can count this as a win with the captures."

"I know about them. Carlos told me," I said.

We both went quiet, not taking the first step. I let myself feel out with Ralts' ability. It didn't work on the Abras, Kadabra, Mr Mime and Natu, but when I focused on the mice I could feel them. Before it had just been feelings, but now it also included concepts.

If I focused, I could track attention see the direction that my Pokémon's 'thoughts' were going before an action. I could see minute detail, how Pachirisu's legs went taut in what was going to be a leap. She did and a sense of jubilation ran through her as Dedenne missed catching her, the smaller Pokémon softly hitting the ground and sliding over the wood.

Pachirisu chittered and the concept that went through my mind was laughter.

The feelings I got off of Dedenne disappeared as he leapt again. Pachirisu repeated the manoeuvre, but this time a pane of blue light appeared; Dedenne stepped onto that, using it to change direction and lunge into Pachirisu. They both tumbled onto the ground, the only sense I could feel being confusion in Pachirisu and a wheezing laugh from an Abra.

"It's hard not to get lost in it," said Amy. "I'm guessing you're feeling it too? The thinker power?" I nodded. "Sigilyph can do this too. Except its not like this. It's more…the strong sense that something is wrong."

"I've upgraded the power," I said. "The…" I swallowed, feeling the discomfort running through me. "The fight with the Undersiders. It meant I could be near Tattletale and her power is strong when it comes to giving information."

"Is it the same for Tattletale?" I gave her a questioning look. "Does it work the same for her too? Does she project information onto people?"

"No. More likely she receives information," I said. "This ability is more reception-projection. The thinker 'mon are receiving the information and then projecting it onto us."

"So two abilities?"

"One, it's all encompassing," I told her. "It's a bunch of abilities clustered together to give a function. A thinker power that gathers information through reading emotional states; another that has to do with connecting dots, forming a picture out of abstract connections; one that…that's a little hard to explain but it's sort of an image, an impression that I don't know what it means yet; and then Tattletale's ability."

"All coming together to make the ultimate thinker ability," said Amy. "I'll have to bring Sigilyph over at some point. Upgrade his ability."

I nodded and we were quiet again. Amy turned, facing a window and looking outside. "Can we go for a walk? This place seems like it's really beautiful and I'd like to see my birds."

"Okay," I said. "Ralts," I whispered. "Tell Kadabra to get Amy and me a jacket." I wanted to move beyond the point where I needed to talk, but I hadn't had time to really think about how I'd get to that point yet.

Kadabra stood, disappearing between one motion and the other. He returned a moment later, carrying two jackets. He handed them over and then went to the kitchen. Natu disappeared from where she was, appearing in the kitchen. There was only silence between Natu, Mr Mime and Kadabra but I had the impression they might be having a conversation.

If only it were that easy.

"Oh," said Amy.

Before I could ask a flood rolled over me and I could feel her. I could feel the deeper layers of her mind even if I couldn't read her thoughts. I knew there was a connection to family and it left her feeling down; I knew there was a deeper connection to an individual and it was mixed up in a bag of emotions that were hard to parse.

Then there was everything around her, they way people looked at her and the judgement.

All at once it was cut-off, violently so. I looked at Amy and saw that Abra was asleep.

"That…I don't know, but—Fuck. Did you know that would happen?"

"No," I said. I was still reeling. The traces of the information were still there but they were fading. In its place were more information except they weren't as deep. Amy was deeply uncomfortable. "But I might have brought it on. Sorry."

"It's okay," she said, not entirely meaning it. "It helps that I know that it didn't just happen." She focused, changing Abra and then the Pokémon woke up. "Let's not do something like that without permission okay?" she said, voice soft. She smiled.

We put on our jackets and walked outside.

"This place is beautiful," she said.

"It's really made me want to have a farm," I said. "I've even got this idea of sheep running through my mind that I'm going to do tomorrow. I'll make them able to generate electricity so I don't need the power from the power cells I get from the PRT."

"Looks like you're already starting," she said, she was watching the skies which were filled with birds playing. I caught Noctowl moving through the air, flying fast and swooping before abruptly stopping. Flapping his wings once, twice, quickly shooting up into the air. He spotted us and then started flying in our direction.

"It also sounds like you're putting work in so that you don't have to go out," said Amy. Before I could think about answering, Noctowl landed, stirring up some dirt in front of us.

He leaned in and Amy ran her hands through his feathers. Noctowl purred and then an idea got into him so fast I couldn't do anything. He struck forward, beak grabbing Amy by the jacket and threw her in the air. Noctowl flapped his wings, rising in the air and caught her on his back.

The two of them flew off.

"Well, fuck me."

888

"That was exhilarating," said Amy, a broad grin on her. Her hair was dishevelled and her face was red. "I didn't know he'd be strong enough to ride and after I got used to it. He was intuitive. I totally get why Victoria didn't walk for a while when she got her powers."

I was smiling too, even if I was a little envious. A part of me wondered if I could force another trigger from Pidgeotto, but I hated myself for even thinking in that direction when I knew what triggers were.

Not that that was entirely true in the case of Pokémon. Metapod had triggered by what looked like choice, Lucario's trigger had been a mixture of pain and Bitch's power forcing things to come into being. It could be that they were different things entirely and maybe I thought it was a trigger because it was the only thing I knew?

"Do you want to ride him?" said Amy. "I'm sure he'd let you. Right, Nocty?" she said, giving him a hug.

"No, thank you," I said. My Pokémon didn't trust Noctowl, either because of instinct or because he was really dangerous. I was inclined to feel the same sort of pause. "Noctowl's too…I'd rather it be Pidgeotto than Noctowl when it happens. I have the feeling it would mean a lot to him."

"So he's still going to trigger?"

I nodded. "Most of my Pokémon have the potential for another form," I said. "With the exception of Pachirisu, Dedenne, Lucario and Mr Mime. I'm sure I might be missing one."

"Have you checked mine?"

"When I scanned them. Noctowl's done. Chatot too, but they're the only ones I can remember off the top of my head."

"Do you know why?"

I shook my head. "Thought about investigating it, but we're still trying to figure out the underlying rules at work here," I said. "It doesn't make sense to add more to the pile."

Amy nodded and then she sobered. "Fuck," she said. "I'm sorry. A part of me forgot why I came here."

The reminder and the picture flickered in my mind: Riolu on the ground and screaming. I pushed it back.

"It's fine," I said. "I like the distraction."

"But you called me because you wanted to talk," she said. "Not for me to enable you being distracted." She sighed. "It's what I got when Ralts and Abra did what they did."

I sighed. "I don't even know how to start," I told her.

"Anywhere you want to," she said. "I'm here to listen. I don't know that I can say anything that'll be able to help you, to give you advice. But you honestly never give me advice I like and it still helps me figure things out."

"Okay," I said. I took a few breaths, trying to conceptualise what I wanted to say before, "I'm at something of an impasse: I need to be able to protect myself, which means putting myself at risk and getting my Pokémon stronger. But the idea of them getting hurt…"

I stopped, unable to say it as I thought about how Lucario had come into being.

I took a breath. "It's worse because…I can't really run away from it, you know? Because it would mean losing too much. It would mean me not having friends, which I really don't want, or my Dad being away from his home. A city that he's always wanted to help and is actually in the process of making better.

"Then there's the fact that powers exist and they make anything possible. There's some incarnation of a power out there that would be able to find me if I hid and then I wouldn't be able to protect myself."

I was breathing a little hard, the emotions coming to bear.

"It feels like the world is conspiring so that I put my position where there's the chance of my Pokémon getting hurt. First it was to Circus, the second time it was to Bitch. Both times they were only hurt, but what about the third time? What if things are worse? How do I deal with that?"

Ralts was on my shoulder. I took her off and wrapped her in a hug.

Amy sighed. "My go-to is…you just deal," she said. "Like I often have to deal when my family goes out on patrol or they start discussing going after villains. But, that's different isn't it? My family makes the decisions on their own and that isn't entirely true for Pokémon, right?"

I shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure," I said. "But I feel like they don't. I feel a lot like I'm priming them towards certain behaviour. Making them think that their entire purpose is fighting."

"Isn't that taking away their agency a little?" she said. "Sigilyph trains with Victoria a lot. I didn't tell her to do that and I don't train my Pokémon as much as you do. Maybe they enjoy it, like we like using our powers."

"Maybe," I said with a sigh. "Still doesn't stop me from feeling worried or feeling guilty."

Amy snorted. "Guilt is…a pervasive sort of emotion," she said. "It always find something to piggyback off of and then it gets its claws on you. Even worse, you can realise that it's like that but it doesn't mean you don't feel any less guilty."

"Sometimes emotions are more of a pain than they're worth," I muttered.

"But then you imagine being bereft and it isn't the best thing," she said. "I still think back to what Dean did, being as close to emotionless as is possible and…I didn't like it. The things I did made sense, but I couldn't enjoy them, you know?"

"I don't think there was really much to enjoy about that night."

"There was," said Amy. "Being a part of the planning. Knowing that I might actually help out beyond just being a medic. Sure, I didn't do much at the end of the day, but entertaining the possibility was something I would have relished."

"Point conceded," I said and I sighed. "I honestly don't know how to move forward. But I feel I should."

"Or you could just give yourself some time," she said. "Away from the Protectorate, the Wards and everyone until you're ready. Like…" she stopped, hugging Abra. "Like Victoria. She's taking stock right now, still interacting with people but it's more…informal setting. We hang out without the whole cape dynamic weighing her down, reminding her off…getting shot while doing something she loved."

"That would mean stalling on the progress side," I said. "Getting stronger."

"Yeah, but something has to give, right?" she said. "You have to think. Which do you think is more important."

My safety in the long run, or the short run safety of my Pokémon. It wasn't even worth a thought.

"I could do with some time off," I said.

888

I'd just finished telling Dad about my day and I knew what he was going to say.

"Before you say anything," I said and I could see that I'd broken his train of thought. "Could you maybe grab an Abra? Ralts' relaying information in my head and I feel like I'm effectively reading your mind."

"Oh," said Dad, but before he could move, Kadabra appeared beside him, carrying a shiny spoon she'd picked up in the kitchen at some point. She drew a line through the air with the spoon, moving it to close the space between herself and Dad. "Oh," Dad said again. "This is…wow."

He looked around the kitchen. Dedenne and Rattata who were eating; at Pachirisu who was lounging with Hondour on the floor; at Lucario who was in a meditative trance while Pidove nested on her head. He moved his hand and ran it over Ducklett who was close to him, running his hands over her head before scratched at the space between Ducklett's beak and neck.

I felt the thrill, the elation from Ducklett, that this was just the right spot.

"This is what having powers is like?" he asked.

"A bit," I said. "I'm thinking this what it might be like to be certain thinkers. But with being a tinker it's just…Ralts, do you think you could…?"

A mixture of concepts flooded my mind and the general impression was, yes.

I thought about building something. An arm machine that would work to take Poké Balls, summon the Pokémon within and then returned the Poké Ball onto an empty pad. The ideas came into my head, the pieces I'd need and how I could go about building it.

"Fuck," Dad said and he was grinning. I wasn't really sure the information Ralts was sending, especially since she worked by sending concepts, but it was enough to take Dad's breath away.

He shook his head. "But I'm getting distracted. I wanted to say something," he said and then he stopped, looking down for a long moment before he said, "I think it might be a good idea that you see a therapist. All this stuff that you're dealing with…"

"It's not stuff anyone should be dealing with, much less a teenager?" Dad nodded, though it looked like it was the last thing he wanted to do. I let out a sigh. "It might be a good idea. People are scared that I might be the next Nilbog with my powers, they treat me differently, trying to stop me from blowing up and taking over a city."

Dad was quiet.

"With everything that's been happening, I think I get why they're scared. It's only so long before something happens that causes me to snap, right? If I couldn't deal with people when Bitch was hurting Lucario. What if the worse happened?"

Dad sighed. "I hate that I don't have the answers for you. That I can't say or do anything that magically makes things better."

"I really don't think anyone could do that, Dad," I said. "But having you with me means a lot. Having your support." He smiled at that. "But I'll be working from home for a few weeks. I've already talked to Armsmaster and I think he was happy with the Abras that are being trained that he was willing to agree to this."

"If you're expecting me to convince you to go out on patrol," said Dad. He snorted, shaking his head. "If it were up to me. You'd be like Dragon, only letting suits of armour do the battles for you."

"If only," I said.

Our conversation went into a lull, Dad going to put on a martial arts film that had Lucario absolutely riveted. When it was over, with both Dad and me being privy on the direction Lucario thought, we had no other choice but to put on another movie. Which meant it was just after midnight when we went to sleep.

Not that I minded one bit.

Last edited: Mar 17, 2018

118Foresight

6.8

"This place is nice," said Carlos. He wasn't wearing as much as I was, but then, I didn't think that he felt the cold much. It struck me that I didn't have a real idea how his power worked.

"Yeah," I said smiling. Hondour was barking in the distance, running and chasing half a dozen Mareep. They bleated, getting away from her as she chased them, a few of them congregating and forming a massive arc of electricity that Hondour easily dodged.

It felt like I was moving back a little, to the times when I'd only had a microwave, when I'd had to set alarms so that I could make alterations to frequencies, but it was good. I'd spent less time creating variations off of Abra, but instead setting up a version of what I wanted. Making Pokémon that I had no intentions of fighting with, changing how they were primed.

"I have some cows cooking," I said, still smiling. "I'm thinking I might start selling milk or something."

Carlos frowned. "I don't think that's going to go as well as you think it is," he said. I gave him a questioning look and he said, "GMOs. Some people will be scared of the long term effects that drinking Pokémon milk might cause. Not to mention it might be a little…icky."

I sighed at that. "Humans, sometimes," I said. "Cow's milk is a godsend but then anything other is suddenly wrong? Milk is milk is milk, as long as its pasteurised it's good."

"Good luck convincing everyone else of that," he said. Spearow, who'd been flying, swooped down and started chirping excitedly around Carlos. "It's good to see you too, bud," he said.

"Sorry about not getting him back to you last night. I forgot about it for the most part until you wouldn't have been in the office."

"It's okay," he said, smiling, his attention more on Spearow than on me. "You dealing with a lot." I just nodded at that saying nothing. "Spoke to Armsmaster and he told me you're going to be working from home for a while."

I nodded. "I'm still going to be going to base for school and to pick up supplies, but it's for the best," I said. "I need to take things slower. Just spend time with my Pokémon in an environment where they aren't at risk of getting training."

"Does that mean you won't be training?"

I let out a short breath. "No. Unfortunately it doesn't," I said. "I still have to keep making progress because that's also a way towards…helping me emotionally? I haven't really conceptualised what I want right."

He nodded. "Well, I mostly wanted to know about exercise," he said. "Well…not mostly. But…never mind. Just wanted to plan our rosters. We've got three days before we've got a training exercise with some of the Protectorate and two more before we're having a training exercise with the Boston Wards."

I gave him a glance at that.

"Triumph…is not happy," he said, grinning. "But I finally convinced the Deputy Director and he got the Director to give us the go-ahead. It's largely thanks to you for bringing in the Abra. With the trip taking a second, we won't be losing a lot of time."

"Happy to help," I said.

He nodded and shifted, giving me the impression that he wanted to leave. "Oh!" he said. "Before I get back. Missy's a little upset at you."

"Why?" I said frowning.

"Because I have a Pokémon and she doesn't," he said. "For the first time in a very long time I saw the kid in her. She's hurt. I think that she thought she'd be the first person to have a Pokémon."

"Oh. I didn't even think about that. The grander implications," I said. "But…she has Dedenne and Pachirisu. They spend more time with her than me for the most part."

"But they still aren't hers," Carlos said, shrugging. "I know that you put a lot of thought into letting me keep Spearow. You don't have to rush that if you don't feel ready, especially when these guys are your kids."

"I wasn't going to rush it," I said. "I'm going to be taking my time on a lot of things, figuring what makes me happy through all of the obligations and do more of that than the other stuff."

"Right sort of outlook," he said. He glanced at his watch. "There's going to be a morning briefing, nothing serious but reports on everything that happened yesterday and how we could change things, also how we'll be dealing with Chariot possibly joining the Wards."

"Chariot?"

"The tinker," he said.

"Oh. Right," I said. My watch vibrated. I grinned. "My first koi Pokémon is done. I want to fill up the lake, it's really empty."

"Can I see it?"

I nodded and focused on my lab, directing the thoughts towards the Abra that was on Carlos' shoulder. The scenery shifted around me and I was in the study that was starting to be my lab. I took the Poké Ball with my new pet. Carlos appeared after me. I smiled because it had worked.

I focused on the lake and the scenery shifted again, this time Carlos appearing closer behind me. I pointed the Poké Ball just above the water and the flash of light darted out, congealing into an orange fish that dropped into the water.

"That's about it," I said. "Sorry, it wasn't much to look at."

"What's its name?"

"I've been thinking about that," I said. "The naming convention. Especially with me creating iterations of the same Pokémon."

"Yeah?"

"Maybe I could make them species designations?" I said. "Like, sure I'm basically calling my Pokémon by their species, but that aren't enough yet for that to be a problem. But if there were a lot of them, and they were pets, then people will naturally trend towards giving them personal nicknames."

"So you're thinking like a line of Pokémon? So Abras would be made of the Abra line," he said. "Spearow has his own line, that sort of thing?"

I nodded. "So he would be the first in the Magikarp line."

"What can he do? Magikarp?"

"Nothing," I said. "I'll be pulling back on the powers with my personal Pokémon," I told him. "They're not fighting creatures anymore. They're just animals."

I felt something, concepts that came together into hunger.

"Animals that I haven't had time to feed yet," I said.

"I could stick around for a little while," said Carlos. "Help you through feeding them."

888

"The kids…shifty and he hordes," said Chris. "I think a large part of this might be that he caught me at a bad moment and I'm directing that towards him, but…he's not easy to like."

I was in his lab, sitting back against a countertop. He was making minor tweaks to his armour. I could see a computer with connections running to the back, an upload 65% complete.

"I got you hooked on the good life with all the sharing," I said, grinning.

He grinned back. "Yeah. You have," he said. "Thanks again for this."

I shrugged. "You're the one whose going to field the flak," I said. "I'll just lie and say I knew nothing about it."

"That might actually be worse for you," he said. "For Porygon. Fuck, I'm still in a bad mood, aren't I? Being pessimistic?"

"I like to think of it as realism," I said. "But, some might call it pessimism. Anyway, I wanted to talk about something but I didn't have the time, something I might need us to work together in."

He stopped working, looking excited.

"They Toybox knew about Porygon," I told him. "Dodge knew about her and her capabilities."

"How?"

"Because Porygon made communications," I said. "She requisitioned them for a job. She wants Toybox to build her servers."

"Smart of her," said Chris. "I like Dragon and she's an awesome tinker, but…I've heard she's too by the books. If the Protectorate said Porygon was too much of a threat and she had to be executed, then—"

He motioned a finger running through his neck.

"Okay," I said. "There's being a realistic and then there's being too honest. But, maybe I should still keep quiet about it? Let the Protectorate figure it out themselves? They've got the Watchdogs looking into this, after all."

He shrugged. "If Porygon's talking to them, do you think you'd be able to call them?" He stopped, frowning before he swallowed. "Not having emotions really gave me perspective, like me having a lot of insecurities that I was missing."

I stayed quiet. I'd needed Amy to listen to me and it was likely that Chris just needed the same.

He sighed. "A large part of that is that you're a better tinker than me, that in so little time you managed to get the Toybox headhunting you when I couldn't all this time. But…isn't it stupid to not use a resource that's there because it wounds my pride?"

He took a breath, letting it out in a huff. "I guess this is a long way of pushing myself to using you, I guess." He closed his eyes. "Not in the wrong way, hopefully, but maybe…I don't know, getting something out of the influence of my friend? Fuck, it sounds so selfish when I say it out loud."

"It's not a bad selfish," I said. "You're not putting me in danger, right?"

"I don't think so," he said. "I just…I kind of want to see the Toybox. Like really, really badly."

"Okay," I said and Chris' smile was so large it was infectious. "Let's go to the roof, Porygon's easier to talk to up there."

I looked at Ralts and thought at her. Natu disappeared, appearing on Chris' head. Every time it was getting easier, especially when I was using Ralts. Natu seemed better on projecting the thinker ability while Ralts was good at both projection and reception. But Natu was quickest on the draw when we had to teleport.

The scenery shifted and we were outside, the air hot and humid. I spoke to Porygon and it wasn't too long before I was looking at Dodge.

"Phobos," he said and he sounded excited. "You called."

"Yeah. Me and Kid were wondering if you could host us? Give us a tour of the Toybox?"

"Really?" he said, his voice going higher pitched. "I want to say yes so badly, but I'll have to talk to the others. This is a community and you coming in might affect all of us. I'll call you when I have an answer?"

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye-bye," he said and the image blinked off.

"Excitable," said Chris.

"You could say that again," I said.

117

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Threadmarks Foresight: 6.9

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Apr 4, 2018

#854

Foresight

6.9

"...remuneration," I heard, but at this point, I was barely paying attention. I took a glance at my watch. I'd been in this meeting for almost an hour, pretending I knew or was interested in what they were talking about.

I really should have been, when they were talking about the money I would have for personal projects. How all the Pokemon I was providing would be charged on the greater Protectorate but it was all so boring.

Numbers, abstract quantities that weren't important because...really, how could they be important?

Almost a week had passed since I'd talked with the Deputy Director and Armsmaster to allow me to work at home, and I'd largely moved away from requiring a lot of money in how I created my pets. The Mareep and Flaaffy largely generated the electricity I needed to create new Pokemon, something I was now taking far slower because I'd essentially given the Protectorate and PRT what they wanted: Eleven Abras, five Kadabras and fifteen healers in the form of Chanseys and Audino.

The only thing they really ever needed to give me was money for food and perhaps a place with a little more space because it looked like I'd need it in the near future.

"Phobos," I glanced in the direction. A woman, wearing a grey suite, she had dark and ornate in how it was dolled up. She looked at me with a keen gaze. "Are you still paying attention?"

"No, honestly," I said. "I've hit my limits."

Ralts was on my shoulder and through her I could sense the room, feel the surge of irritation and disappointment in sets of people. I focused, pushing down and I felt the sense dull. It wasn't really me doing the work, but Ralts playing with the filtering to make sure I wasn't receiving the full breadth of her mental power.

I ignored all of the information, picking up my phone as it buzzed. A small preview of a picture appeared: Chris taking a selfie that showed the others in the distance behind him.

I pressed the image, blowing it up and I closed my eyes, pushing back my envy.

The view behind them was tropical. The sun shining bright in the sky, blue-green water and the most beautiful sand I'd ever seen. I could see Carlos, Crystal, Eric and Victoria were playing sky volleyball.

"Trouble?"

I shook my head. "Are we going to be done anytime soon?" I asked. It seemed like the only time I was with the others these days was when we were training. Even being able to teleport, there were times when I was too lazy to leave the farm.

A man sighed. "I think that might be for the best," he said. "But we'll have to meet again, soon. I want to set up a training program for some of the troopers so they can effectively use the teleporters."

"They've already been vetted?" I asked.

The man nodded. "Thinkers are looking for people with good experience with animals, responsible pet owners," he said. "We're even having a sect of the Watchdogs look into their backgrounds."

A breath I didn't know I'd been holding was slowly let out. I nodded and stood, which was the signal for everyone else to stand. Where they had documents and files they had to gather, I didn't. I'd been recording the entirety of the meeting and had taken pictures of the documentation I'd been given. Porygon would read through it, match it to other policies that were similar in nature and make sure that my Pokemon weren't getting at bad deal.

I focused on two concepts: A hospital and the Rig. Ralts, having gotten used to how I thought, quickly matched the two concepts and the scenery shifted around me. The boardroom shifting into the medical wing of the Rig.

There were two Audino and three Chanseys in the room. A Chansey, Charlotte she'd been named, was the first to see me. She gave me a wave and a smile, but she kept moving forward towards a cape that was badly hurt. Not a local that I could see, but one with bull mask and a cowboy feel to him. I had the strong impression that he was from Texas.

I found Audino looking over the work of a Chansey, the two sharing a conversation with their humming. The Chansey would nod, hum back and after a few minutes it released a ball of light that healed a trooper whose features had been scrunched in pain.

Happiness. Fondness. Hurt.

Even so Audino glided forward gaily, wrapped me in a hug and spun me around. I hugged her back, feeling as the happiness rose a lot, the *hurt* decreasing by margins. I let out a short sigh, still smiling as she put me down.

"I'm going on a tropical island with the others," I said. "You wanna play hooky? Today doesn't look like a busy day."

Audino let out a happy sound before the concepts of Chansey and Amy slammed into my mind.

"Chansey's also going to be there, yeah," I said. "She and Amy might be the last to arrive. She's doing teaching duty like you."

Another thrill. She made a sound and an Andy the Audino looked up, humming back. They shared a short conversation before Andy nodded. Audino looked at me and hummed, the concept of yes flooding my mind.

"Go ahead, Ralts," I said. I felt Ralts' form disappearing from my shoulder and appearing on Audino. She disappeared a moment later, with Ralts appearing soon after.

Lab and Rig.

The scenery shifted and I appeared in my lab. I quickly looked over work before I got lost in the day. There were new scans in my database and I looked them over, seeing any new ideas that I had and what I might get with them. There was an e-mail that I'd received from Carlos, confirmation from two sources that the Gentleman had left Brockton Bay: From the Watchdogs and from Tattletale, Aegis said that there was a note that this was a peace offering for Bitch's behaviour.

I took a breath before the image of Lucario in pain could overwhelm me. I felt the instinctive urge to stamp it down, but I didn't let it. I closed my eyes and took slow breaths. Reminding myself that it was all in the past, that even though it could happen again, panicking didn't help. It didn't mean that panic and guilt were gone, but it rooted me in the now.

I felt Ralts moving and I glanced in her direction. She'd teleported into my lap and was trying to push herself into my arms. I smiled a little as I hugged her. My therapist had told me that pets helped in issues such as mine, dealing with traumatic experiences. He'd talked to Ralts and Natu since they were always around me and they were supposed to give me hugs whenever I was down.

Other things I was supposed to do were exercise and vacations on tropical islands. I had to wonder if Crystal's therapist had given her the same advice and that's why she'd wanted today.

I stopped checking over my work, instead setting up reminders for early tomorrow to check over stuff that I hadn't been able to today. I stood and grabbed three Poke Balls before I left for the island.

888

The volleyball match was still on going: Victoria and Eric were on a team, with Crystal and Carlos on the other. They were moving pretty quickly through air, a fast paced game that leveraged super strength and brightly coloured shields.

Dean, Mr Mime and Marcus were on grill, with the former looking up at the match at times. Rattata was on Dean's shoulder, looking towards the meat that Marcus was grilling. The way she was standing, it was only a matter of time before she stole a piece.

I didn't disturb.

Missy was on her own, laying on a blanket under an umbrella with Pachirisu, Dedenne and Croagunk laying beside her. She had large sunglasses on and she had a book on her chest. She was likely dozing.

Dennis was throwing a Frisbee for Hondour and Lucario to chase after. Lucario was faster to accelerate, but Missy had warped space in the sky, making it so the Frisbee sailed further with a short throw, and this meant Hondour could catch up and out pace Lucario.

Amy had already arrived. She was in the air on Noctowl, the other birds flying after her, rising and swooping as Amy practised flying on her bird. Some of my birds weren't here, Pidgeotto and Natu had taken to spending the day on their own at the farm, when every other Pokemon that wasn't working was here.

Metapod, hanging by a thread on a tree, looking over everything; Kadabra sitting under a tree and shining a spoon; Magikarp was swimming in a large pool of water that wasn't too far from the ocean; even the Mareep were roaming, Chris and Trevor sticking closer to them and talking shop.

Chris was the first to notice me. He waved me over.

"You can go join the others," I said to Ralts.

She disappeared and appeared next to Missy, waking her up in the process. I caught Missy's smile as she shuffled a little so that she was snuggling with Pachirisu, Dedenne and Ralts.

I took off my shoes, walking to Chris and Trevor.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Talking shop?"

"Discussing energy sources," said Chris.

"We're having a disagreement on using electricity versus other exotic energy sources," said Trevor. "I'm calling this guy unimaginative."

"And I'm telling him there's something to be said by choosing the easier option," Chris put in. "Electricity is a staple in most specialisations. I'm building on that instead of trying and failing until I pin down the mechanics of something exotic."

"Unimaginative," said Trevor, mischief shining in his eyes. "What's your go-to?"

"Electricity," I said. Chris was grinning as Trevor looked aghast. I shrugged. "Works well with bio-tinkering, and it means I don't need large power cells."

"Just a lot of food," said Chris.

"Surprisingly less than it should with the energy output," I said. "I think I might have picked up something with to do with electricity at some point. Or it might be something I'm geared towards in the grand scheme."

"I thought the whole bio-organism was your speciality," said Trevor.

I shrugged. "Maybe. My power's pretty wide spectrum, which is the norm for Brockton Bay in a capacity. Chris, Armsmaster and now you."

Trevor smiled, even blushing. "I was wondering what you think about people taking a bit from your work," he said. "Chris is cool, but most of the stuff he does mobility wise I think I could do in my sleep."

Chris frowned at that, but said nothing. I was trying to keep my expression placid, but it didn't work. Chris noticed and his frown deepened. Not that Trevor noticed, he was talking about teleportation and wanting to build something off of the Pokemon that had the ability.

"Less shop, more having fun," I said. "I wouldn't mind some volleyball. Chris?"

"I was thinking about exploring for a bit. I sort of wanted people that would come with me," he said. "Missy says she's enjoying the beach and the others aren't up to walking."

"I could go for that too," I said. "We might get to talk. I have something for you."

One of the Mareep bleated, looking at me.

"You can come to," I told it.

Trevor's enthusiasm was gone, instead he was frowning. "I'm not up for that," he said. "Hiking. I'll see you guys when you get back." He shambled over to the grill.

Dennis and Marcus had noticed us. I gave them a wave as Chris and I started walking deeper into the island.

"You shouldn't pay attention to him," I said when we were far from the others. Chris found a stick and picked it up, starting to clear the path with it. Mareep rushed forward, deft in how he stepped around.

"I'm not," he said. "Movement isn't my field like his is. I'm sure I could rig up a teleporter if I put in the work. But what's the need? Redundant."

I nodded, not really sure if he meant it or he just wanted the conversation to be over.

"Anything from Toybox yet?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. I'm hoping they haven't forgotten about us," I said.

"They might be busy, especially if what you thought is true," he said. I gave him a questioning expression. "The whole Squealer thing."

"Oh, right, I forgot about that," I said. "Haven't really been paying attention to things. The Elite are gone for the time being, I'm trying to stress less. Do more things that I enjoy. Like setting up the pet shop idea. The initial steps."

He turned in my direction. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" he said, sounding excited.

I reached for my belt and pulled out a Poke Ball. I handed it over.

"It's...I don't know. I was trying to be more creative, seeing the lengths I could go with life and..." I shrugged. "I'm not sure if it fits personality wise, but, it's unique, truly one of its kind."

I handed it over and Chris took the ball. He pressed it, pointing it away and the red light shot out, congealing into a Pokemon that hung in the air: It was made entirely out of metal, with a round body with one eye, magnets connected to either side of it and a screw sticking out of the top of its head.

"What's its name?" he asked.

"Magnemite," I said. "It's sort of like a Porygon in that it's consciousness without body. I worked to code its brain into its body so that it doesn't have a central brain. I've also put in considerable effort on the electricity generation side of things, using Battery as a starting point."

He was quiet and I felt nervous, starting to see the flaws in Magnemite and why Chris might not like them. The metal looked too dull and the whole aesthetic of him seemed like it had been shoddily put together.

Magnemite flew forward and snuggled against Chris. They made a sound like dial-up. Chris smiled and I eased.

"Retro," he said. "Thanks."

"I was so worried that you wouldn't like them."

He shook his head. "You made me a Pokemon," he said. "I don't think there's anything you could have given me that I wouldn't have liked. She or he?"

"Either, both," I said. "Whichever. Like I said, sort of like Porygon."

"I though Porygon was a girl," he said.

I shook my head. "Dragon and Armsmaster refer to her as him and she doesn't mind," I said. "Good thing about being a Pokemon is that you don't care about gender constructs."

Chris nodded, his eyes on Magnemite as the Pokemon flew close to Mareep, the two of them sharing electricity. Magnemite did this for a moment before they darted away.

"Don't go too far," said Chris. "What does he eat?"

"Nothing, I don't think," I said. "He's sort of...living technology. Non-biological life."

"Like Weld?"

"A little like him," I said.

"Have you ever thought about studying them? You and Amy?" he said.

"Not really, no. It would mean working on people, and that's a slippery slope," I told him. "For me and Amy in different ways."

"Oh," he said. "You can't tell me?"

I took a breath. "Not now. Today's too good a day to dwell on that," I said. He nodded.

We walked a little more before we decided to turn back.

888

"String shot," said Dennis, pointing. The spider, about the size of a closed fist, yellow in colour and extremely spry, jumped and shot out a thick string of silk.

"It's electric too," I said. "Which means that it can stun people by running a current through the silk."

"This is awesome," he said. "But it doesn't mean I'll stop working with you, Meta!" he shouted. Metapod only gave Dennis a bored look.

"He also has another power," I said. "Give him the order, agility and then have him move."

"Okay," said Dennis, grinning. "Agility. Joltik, go for that tree!" he exclaimed, pointing. Joltik, who'd been in front of Dennis, leapt, moving so fast it was almost teleportation. With one leap, he'd cleared several feet to land on the side of a tree.

"Fuck, that was awesome!" said Dennis.

"It was," said Trevor. "Anything for the rest of us?"

"Only one more and it's going to Missy," I said. I caught her looking surprised at that.

"Right," said Trevor. "Only core members get the cool powered pets."

I shrugged. "Honestly, yeah," I said. "Marcus, I know a bit, but I've only just gotten to know his name. Even so, I can't say I know his character."

"You don't have to worry about it, Taylor," he said. "I get what your Pokemon mean to you."

"Thanks," I said.

"You," I said to Trevor. "You're still new. You're-"

"A criminal," he said, voice tight. "You can say it. You can judge me even if you don't know what that fucking man was doing."

Trevor took a breath, shoved his hands in his pockets and then walked off.

"I'll take care of it," said Carlos. He started flying after Trevor, Spearow following after him. His presence likely wouldn't help.

"What about Dean?" Missy asked as I gave her her Poke Ball.

"Amy and I are working together on that. Enjoy this," he said, smiling.

Missy pointed her ball away and pressed it. The Pokemon solidified.

"What's her name?" she said.

I couldn't help but feel a little guilty, because of all of them, Vista was the one person that knew Pokemon better than everyone else. Yet she'd been the last person to receive one. Maybe it was unfairness on my side, not seeing her as adult enough when she'd proved her dedication.

"Emolga," I said.

Missy smiling, her eyes starting to tear up. Emolga jumped, catching the air with flaps between her arms and flew into Missy's face, hugging her.

Missy warped space and got close to me. Giving me a hug.

"Thanks a lot, Taylor," she said.

This was the happiness I wanted to spread out to the world. The happiness that my Pokemon could give people. Even if it wasn't heroics in the same way my friend partook in, this was the right course. It was something to work towards.

Last edited: Apr 5, 2018

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Apr 4, 2018

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Threadmarks Foresight: Interlude

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Apr 15, 2018

#867

Foresight

Interlude

"You screwed up, again," said Faultline.

Newter would be grinning, a soft chuckle escaping him just for the words to dig in deeper. But there was none of that and Spitfire was especially aware as they sat in a private room on the second floor of the Palanquin. She was especially aware of the fact that it was only herself and Faultline representing her group. Ellie hadn't taken well to Newter leaving and she seemed to be afraid that the same might happen to the rest of them.

Circus sat a little to one side, watching everything with a keen eye. Not a member of their crew, but she favoured them than working with the Undersiders.

The Undersiders were a member short as they, in Tattletale's case, sat or stood, looking around the room.

"I know," said Tattletale, the words slow and terse. Spitfire had seen this before: Faultline was naturally on the smarter end and she'd had to work for it, she didn't appreciate that some people were handed that knowledge because of their powers; Tattletale would know this, likely, and she'd be pissed because no one liked knowing others thought they were dumb.

Newter had theorised Tattletale's perspective and it had made sense. Another reminder and she felt his absence again. She took a breath, closing her eyes. She was thankful that she was wearing a mask, but then that didn't mean much, right? When the Undersiders had two thinkers that could get them to the point where they might be able to read her.

"But that isn't going to happen again," Tattletale said.

"We've...as they say, let the dog go," Regent commented, his body language exuding a lack of care. The only person that reacted was Reciprocate, the woman was still new enough to everything that she hadn't learnt to hide her body language.

The parting hadn't been pretty.

"Is that a good idea?" said Circus. "Bitch knows a lot of the plans we've put in motion. She knows alliances."

Tattletale sighed, her voice seeming hollow. "It's..." She stopped, looking towards Faultline. "Some capes, their powers mess up their bodies, others, it messes up how they work on a mental level."

"I've read about this," said Faultline.

Tattletale nodded. "Bitch is one of the latter," she said. "When we still had Grue, it was a little easier because he could handle Bitch. Keep her in line. The same can't be said for me. It was better to just let her go."

"Still doesn't tell us anything about information getting out," said Circus.

"She called the Protectorate on her," said Faultline. "Made sure that she was in more capable hands."

Tattletale nodded. "There's just too much going on right now and...twice she's meant that things go bad. It's awful, I get that, but...I can't always be watching her, even if she's our muscle."

"She's been caught?" said Faultline, her voice was softer.

"Not yet, most likely," she said. "They're verifying the information. But it'll be soon. I've been trying to keep track of her too and she's been hanging out in her regular haunts."

Faultline nodded, sated. She hid it well, but she cared a lot of about people. Not everyone, certainly not the abstract concept of people, but if she could understand them, the Faultline could be the best protector.

She remembered their first meeting, when she'd been caught by a bit-rate vigilante and the advice she'd been offered. It had been harsh, but true and as soon as she'd gotten into the circle of trust, she'd seen Faultline's softer side.

"Moving forward," said Faultline. "Are the Traveller's still working with us?"

"Yeah," said Tattletale. "Still haven't figured out their thing yet, except that they're bound by obligation. But they have a vested interest in the Elite not taking over Brockton Bay."

"I don't trust that," said Faultline and Circus hummed.

Tattletale nodded. "I don't too, but at least we're all on the lookout," she said. "We can use them while we figure things out, see what their greater game is." Tattletale smirked and winked with her left eye.

Faultline didn't comment on it and Spitfire chose to not do the same.

"What about Toybox?" Circus asked. "What's their deal in all of this?"

"Dodge was hounded by the Toybox while he was still setting things up," said Faultline. "It's why he got the idea to form the Toybox. He's doing the same here, helping tinkers whether they want it or not."

"Squealer," said Circus. "What's going to happen to her?"

Everyone turned to look at Tattletale. "She's going to be better off than she would have been with Skidmark," said Tattletale, a low level smugness in her tone. "They're going to rework her memories, remove the blocks with drugs, most likely gear the way she'll think moving forward."

"That's awful," Reciprocate said, her voice shaky.

"Better than other ways it could go," said Regent. Reciprocate glanced in his direction and swallowed. Something there, maybe a mystery that would bite them when it hurt the most?

If Newter were here, he would have commented that their was a tryst and things were moving past the honeymoon stage. Of course it was unlikely, but imagining it would drop the tension a few notches.

"Is that their SOP?" asked Faultline. "Messing with people's memories?"

Tattletale was shaking her head as she said, "I can see where you're going and no. Their memory tinker is relatively new, couldn't have been doing this that long."

"Really rude to keep us out of the loop like that," Regent muttered loudly. Newter would have agreed, earning a look from Faultline that would have been ignored.

"It's nothing that concerns you," said Faultline.

"Which just makes me all the more interested," Regent returned. "Come ooon, tell me. I won't tell anyone."

Faultline ignored him. "Newter," she said.

"He's fine, likely healed," said Tattletale. "I've scouted and I've seen Panacea and Phobos together at hospitals. They seem friendly and I have the strong sense that they are trading ideas, working off of each other."

"Pretty obvious when you look at it," said Circus.

"But where they differ is that Phobos has a lot of gear," said Tattletale. "Those balls she was carrying, she started the trend when Panacea had to have her Pokemon with her-"

"Are we really using that stupid name?" Circus muttered.

"-but now I'm seeing her with Poke Balls." Circus groaned. "I'm thinking Phobos is a tinker, works with gear and life."

"I don't know if that makes things easier or harder," said Faultline. "There's the advantage that if we take away her gear and Pokemon then she won't really be a threat. But that's hard when her Pokemon have such varied power sets."

Tattletale was nodding. "She would have been a powerful ally," she said.

"But that's out of the picture, now? With the things that went on with Bitch?" said Faultline.

Tattletale shrugged. "Things are sort of in flux," she said. "We have to give them time settle before we can really see what they're feeling. But things are liable to be bad. It's only a matter of time before E88 or the ABB act and that's liable to leave the Protectorate reeling. They might need help from the more stable forces."

"Only a matter of time before their people are transported out of town," said Faultline.

"If it hasn't already happened," said Tattletale said. "Phobos can teleport, that brings a new dimension to things."

Spitfire felt her stomach twist as the implication hit. They'd already lost Newter.

She didn't listen much after that, letting the conversation wash over her and trying to crystallise every memory she had of Newter, making sure they wasn't lost. There would be a trial soon and then all the crimes they'd committed would catch up to him. Five years, maybe six, maybe ten? How many jobs had they made? What would the sentence be? Would the judge be harsher on him because of how he looked? Would it be like how things were going with Canary?

"...trust her," said Faultline. It was now just the three of them, the others having left.

"I know," said Tattletale. "But it remained to be said. There are a few things that you'll want to know if we want to work well together."

"Like the wink?"

Tattletale nodded. "Circus is on Coil's payroll. It's one of the reason that she's staying. She's building up a fund so that when she goes elsewhere, she can be comfortable while she scopes out her new grounds if she needs to run. I'm also on Coil's payroll, me and the Undersiders, and so are the Travellers."

"I'm starting to see what's going on," said Faultline. "He's trying to take over and do it quietly."

Tattletale nodded. "I'm working against him," she continued. "I've managed to get the Traveller's on my side by getting them what Coil was promising to look into."

"Does the rest of your team know?" said Faultline. "Mistrust..."

"I know," she said. "It's how I lost Bitch." But she didn't elaborate. "I'm going to tell Regent soon, but I need something for him before he'll agree. I need your help."

"I won't accept before I know what it is."

"Smart," she said. "Down the line. I'm not sure how long, Heartbreaker might make an appearance. I want to have forces allied that'll help me handle him when he does. I've already got the Travellers, but they're liable to just move on if what I'm planning next doesn't work."

"I'm a mercenary," she said. "If there's money involved-"

"Not money," said Tattletale. She pulled out her phone and sent an e-mail.

Faultline read it and then nodded. "We'll help you," she said.

Tattletale smiled and then left.

"What did she give you?" Spitfire asked.

"A way to get Newter back," said Faultline. "Do you remember Madcap?" Spitfire shrugged, the name vaguely niggled a part of her mind. "Well, he's Assault. We can use that."

888

"Sandy Cunningham," said Danny, smiling.

The woman was on the younger end, late twenties or early thirties, with dark hair that was cut short. She wasn't wearing anything that was interview worthy, but not many people did. Brockton Bay's economy had been in shipping or at least connected to the docks for most of its life, but that had dried out and so with many people's incomes.

It was possible that Sandy hadn't been working for the last few months, maybe for a few years and her unemployment would have run out in the process. Danny had to wonder what she'd been doing to make ends meat.

The woman stood, shifting uncomfortably.

"Are you going to do this or what?" the man said. Shorter and younger, a tattoo picking out from his collar bone.

"No trouble," she said. "I don't find that I get recruited or anything?"

"Of course not," the man said. "Do you think I'd get my cousin in on something like this? No," he said. "I just personally need your help. I won't get you involved in the job more than this."

"I'll do it," said Sandy. "I'll tell them you were here."

"Is there something wrong, Mr Hebert?" Sandy asked, nervous.

Danny took off his glasses, pressing at the bridge of his nose and easing the tension. "Sorry," he said. "I've just been working on this for a little while and I'm a little tired. Would you like a sandwich?"

"No, thank you," she said and it was a lie.

"Please," Danny said, easily. "I'd feel so awkward if I ate on my own."

She held back a sigh and nodded. "If you insist," she said. Danny stood, stretching a little as he moved to the small fridge that was now in his office.

There was a moment's silence where they ate, Danny using the moment to gather his thoughts, focusing on the woman. He focused on the impression he'd seen, urging it to continue forward, for more:

"They'll get savvy, soon enough," she said. "I can't do this any more."

"This is money," the man said. "You're saying no to that?"

"I'm saying no to the possibility of going to jail," she said. "I'm sorry Jet, but no. This has to stop."

Jet frowned, his expression twisting before it eased. "Knew it would always come to this," he said, his tone dripping with anger, frustration. "That you'd choose your white half when it mattered."

Impression of hurt moved through her, deep enough that they stemmed from something old. She didn't say anything, only watching as Jet left. She tried not to cry, but she couldn't help it. She heard footsteps and was quick to wipe away her tears before her daughter walked into the apartment.

He didn't have a sense of the time this had happened, but there was a measure of who Sandy was as a person. Danny finished off his food and they started. She was the sort that he was looking for, people that had something to fight for and were willing to go along the right routes to get it done. Even if she'd made mistakes at first, what matters was that she saw the errors of her way.

"This is just a formality," he said. "Just us getting some face time, but relax, I think you've already gotten the job with what I've seen in your Resume."

Sandy let out a long relieved breath and she was more comfortable as they spoke. The meeting ended for Sandy but for Danny there were two more meetings before the day was done. This was slower, him handling the cases that might volatile down the line, but he had power now.

"Are you going to be leaving soon?" said Margret.

"Not for a bit," said Danny. "I've got the car. You're free to go."

Margret smiled and closed the door to his office. He pulled open his laptop-he worked exclusively from it these days. Taylor had upgraded it and Porygon handled the security aspects. Danny hadn't tried to make head or tails of it, all of it going over his head.

He smiled though, thinking of his daughter, how happy she'd seemed in recent days.

The moment the laptop was open he saw new folders on his laptop, filled with information that Porygon had collected. Criminal records and the like, using stuff that should have been classified but had been dumped into the Internet through one method or another. These would be the people he'd be interviewing tomorrow.

He opened his browser and looked through Brockton Bay's news for anything that might make his heart stop. He let out a breath when there was nothing, there were headlines on the fight between villains and the Protectorate action, there was talks about the sudden influx of activity in Brockton Bay's cape scene and sightings of a possible new independent hero, there was also a note that Purity and Shadow Stalker's trials were set to begin.

Nothing directly concerning Taylor. There was a small measure of security in that, even if things concerning Taylor would be cloak and dagger with the Elite being the perpetrators.

Something's wrong.

Danny looked up and there was a cape standing in front of him, wearing a demon mask: Oni Lee.

"The master requires your appearance," the man said.

"And if I say no?" Danny asked, calm. It was so easy to be calm, just pushing the emotions into the ether.

"I'll have to force you," said Oni Lee.

Danny nodded and stood.

Magi.

It was a moment later that the Kadabra appeared in front of Danny, spoon already out and thrust forward. A shield appeared beyond the desk and it moved forward, slamming into Oni Lee before he could do anything. Magi swung both arms so they were at either side and golden shields appeared, too moving forward and crashing to two clones of the man, eviscerating them.

Magi brought both arms forward, moving his spoon so that it was upside down and seven clones all screamed, falling on their knees before they started turning into ash. Danny took stretched his arm out and put it on Magi's shoulder.

Nothing happened.

Panic, but it wasn't Danny's. It belonged to Magi.

"Let's calm down," he said. He imagined Taylor hard at work, building something though what wasn't important. The concept mattered and Magi would know what it meant.

The spoon moved and a yellow shield appeared, this one protecting them from all sides.

"Okay, let's test out how this scales," Taylor said. Lucario conjured the blue shield three times, but on the forth try nothing happened.

"Maybe it has a recharge rate?" said Taylor. "Let's try that again, see if this is the hard limit and if it works if you make it persist?"

Three was the limit if the shield was used in succession, but if it was used with other powers it seemed work just fine. But it worked better if it persisted, not being allowed to flicker out-

"Light screen blocks powers, but physical impacts work against it," Amy said to Taylor-

"It's not...it's more general purpose than that," said Taylor. "A wide ranged thinker power that can have distinct iterations and we just have to train them. Ralts is better at reading and projecting at and to minds, Natu is better at reading people from that information and forming an impression what they'll do, while Magi and the Abras are more general, able to make you feel certain things if you want."

"That's dangerous, Taylor, having that much power over people's minds," said Amy.

"I know. I'm already being compared to Nilbog, I don't want the Heartbreaker comparison," she said. "I'm teaching them to limit it to confusing people-"

"And maybe something to make them sleep," said Panacea. "Can't fight you if they're snoozing."

Taylor grinned. "I could just kiss you," she said. There was a calculating look in her eyes while Amy looked like a dear caught in headlights. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"That might-"

Stop.

And it stopped.

Sleep, he sent the concept.

Magi nodded and a new sense unfolded in Danny's mind. He could tell where Oni Lee was. There were ten of him and they were skulking, some in the room and the others outside in other rooms. Disappearing at times. There were two more people that were walking towards the office.

Bakuda.

Lung.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He pressed it, but it was as he'd thought. The tinker had blocked off all signals, sort of like when Shadow Stalker had sought to attack his daughter, but this time he wasn't as useless.

Sleep, he sent again.

"What's the range?" said Taylor, just waking up.

"Seems to be line of sight for unfamiliar minds," said Chris. "It's the only reason I can think why it worked on everyone else except me to some degree."

We'll have to get closer then.

Explosion. Question.

"No," said Danny.

Wider. Screen.

Lung and Bakuda were near the office, now. Magi moved his spoon and the shield spread out, taking out the clones in the office save one. Magi moved his spoon, pointing it to the left and hitting Oni Lee with something as Danny scrambled for the safe. He quickly moved through and opened it, pulling out a handgun he'd never thought he'd used.

The clone was moving, going to its master that had fallen asleep, but a quick series of light screens shot out towards it. The clone moved, dodging and pulled out a knife and threw. A blue shield appeared and blocked the knife. This was the clone's last action before it fell apart as ash.

Danny checked the gun over before he was satisfied. It wouldn't do much against Lung, but...it was the destructive power that Magi didn't have.

"Let's go," Danny whispered.

He tracked the direction Lung and Bakuda were coming from and they moved for another exit. It was slow, Magi wasn't one for spry movement, depending a lot on his teleportation, but with it gone, this would have to do.

Lung was moving faster and he was moving to intercept them.

Danny and Magi stopped, changing directions. Lung did the same, running with superhuman speed, but still not at mover levels. There would have to be a confrontation one way or another.

He moved in Lung's direction and the man waited now.

Danny opened the exit and the man stood tall, no sign that his power was in effect.

"Danny Hebert," said the man. "Father to Phobos."

"I think that that's obvious," said Danny. The man glowered but Danny wasn't about to show fear. People like him got off on that. "What do you want?"

"To speak without incident," the man said. "Oni Lee?"

"In my office," he said. Lung looked towards Magi.

"I see," he said. "I've come here to send a message to your daughter. She has tomorrow to tell the truth, that I did not attack her, or there will be consequences."

"That all?" Danny asked.

Lung nodded. "You can leave. You'll find that your creature can now go."

Danny put his hand on Magi's shoulder and the scenery shifted.

One his appearance he pulled the emotions from the ether, letting out a shaky breath.

He made the mental note that he wouldn't be pushing all of his emotions away like that again. It was too dangerous, even if it had meant he'd been thinking on his feet.

He looked around, finding that he was at the house, his house. He must have sent the concept to Magi without meaning to. He looked over everything, feeling as people started moving to check on the disturbance and he decided to wait. Better to tell them everything here than have to go to the Rig, and it might mean he was in his and Annette's house for a little longer.

Last edited: Apr 16, 2018

125

ManMag

Apr 15, 2018

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Threadmarks Thief: 7.1

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Apr 17, 2018

#881

Thief

7.1

"I hate this," said Kid Win. He was wearing shorts and a baggy shirt, strapped behind him was a bulbous jet pack, with segments connected to his elbows and the back of his legs, and at his hip was a grey Poke Ball.

"Come on, it'll be exciting," said Chariot. He and Browbeat were wearing a similar getup to Kid, though Chariot had a rough exoskeleton on him. There were parts moving at the joints, lighting up when he moved a little. Browbeat didn't have any gear, only his slightly bulked up self.

He nodded at Chariot's words.

Kid turned and looked in my direction. I shrugged. "I'm feeling excited," I said. I was wearing similar clothing, with a belt and six Poke Balls strapped on me, my gun on my left side. It was set to stun.

"Less stressing and more focusing," said Browbeat. He glanced to the other side of the court. I did the same and I could see the others there, huddled up and talking. Vista was the one doing a majority of the talking, while the others listened. "They're planning."

"They are," said Kid and he swallowed. "Fuck me. I don't think we can win this. Their powers-"

"We can get them beat," I interrupted. "Just need a tactical mind. Powers aren't everything."

Kid nodded, letting out a breath.

"Five minutes," a voice boomed, without an accent I could place and reminding me of someone, though I couldn't put my finger on it. Kid seemed to lose his composure a little before he calmed down again.

"Okay. Vista first," he said. "With her on, she'll be controlling the field and we don't want that."

"Obvious," said Chariot. "They'll be expecting it."

"Which means they'll be trying to protect her," said Kid. "Maybe we can use that. Pick out the others under the guise of going for Vista? Aegis will be the worst to deal with, which is why Browbeat will handle him. You can go a little hard on him without hurting him, so throw the balls faster, harder."

Browbeat nodded.

"Phobos, you're our least mobile player right now, which means you'll have to be at the back," he continued. "Waiting and watching until you can call a Pokemon out. I think you'll be the one they try and take out first because you're our force multiplier. So let's protect her while still trying to go on the offence?"

"I'll do it," said Chariot. "I'm the most mobile. I can track what they're doing."

Kid nodded. "I'll keep to the skies a little. Vista will be manipulating the ground if it helps her, making it so we can't run well, while Gallant will flood us with his blats. Let's try and avoid those."

"Players at the ready," said the voice.

"Browbeat, you get to hold," said Kid. "Me and Chariot chasing."

We moved until we were on the other side of the room, I touched the wall and looked to the other side. Aegis and Gallant didn't have Poke Balls, but Clock and Vista did, in Vista's case she had three. Since my primary power was controlling my Pokemon, I'd been allowed a maximum of six while for the others it was three.

It wasn't fair, not really, but this was about a few things: Thinking on our feet, dodging practice and, most importantly, wiping the floor with the other team.

"Go," said the voice.

Aegis took off into the sky, moving too fast because space had been compressed; Chariot dashed forward and Kid flew, much slower than how the others were moving. Chariot was the first to reach a ball and he grabbed it, dashing back towards us while Aegis picked up the remaining ball.

"Dodge."

And then there was action. Browbeat threw and I missed as the ball travelled, Aegis was knocked out of the air and both balls tumbled towards the ground. A ball was already hurtling in my direction and I ran, only to stumble and fall as I hit a growth that had formed in the ground.

Chariot covered me, throwing his ball towards the one hurtling towards me and changing their momentum. They bounced and I let out a breath of relief as I quickly got to my feet, running out of the way of another ball sent my way by Gallant.

Aegis was already out, but that didn't mean we were winning. We'd spent a long time figuring out the rules for the various powers in play and it had come to this: There could be a maximum of four beings to the field.

Clockblocker was the one to move, reaching for his Poke Ball and depressing it as he dodged a throw from Browbeat. Joltik was out, momentarily looking around before jumping on Clockblocker's shoulder.

I ducked low as Gallant's splotches of light came at me, pulling out my gun and pointing. A ball came my way and I fired: the electricity and ball met; the ball of electricity detonated harsh enough that the ball was struck off course.

Chariot was immediately in the direction, catching the ball and throwing it towards Vista.

This was a smaller scale, but it was happening again. There was too much happening and I couldn't focus on it all. But this was supposed to help, this was supposed to acclimate me to battle without having to depend on my Pokemon.

Focus.

Kid had chosen to stick close to the ground, still hovering but not where he was the sole target and he was easy pickings. He was dodging most of the blasts from Gallant. Chariot was zipping around the field in quick dashes, doing his best to get close and trying to attack Vista from an oblique angle. Browbeat was hanging close to me, he was surprisingly bereft because no one was attacking him.

I was running, keeping an eye on everything and watching.

A ball that had been thrown toward Clockblocker suddenly changed direction and Vista caught it. She had five seconds and I could see her eyes scanning before she started to throw in my direction.

I pointed my gun, but the ball dodged. Browbeat jumped only to catch the ball but he stopped short, hovering in the air by invisible strings. I started to dodge to the side, but it didn't work, space was stretched and it was making my jumps shorter to the side.

I fired a quick set of blasts and each of the detonated, making the ball bounce against the ground. The moment's distraction was enough time for Chariot to take a ball and sent it flying towards Vista's direction. But she'd done something to the space, having warped it so the ball travelled longer in parts and so it was more likely to bounce against the ground.

A ball sailed through the air, passing Kid who'd grabbed his own ball and was trying to throw it at Gallant, and it bounced off of Browbeat. I was still close and I jumped to catch it, but Vista messed space up, making my jump shorter.

Browbeat was out, but he was still on the field, which meant we couldn't call out a Pokemon.

I ran to the ball which had started rolling towards Vista's team and took it. Clockblocker was dodging a hit from Chariot, while Joltik jumped and landed on the ball, a catch.

Chariot was out.

I threw at Gallant and he dodged out of the way, most likely sensing my intentions.

"I'm out!" said Chariot and I took a Poke Ball, depressing it. Ralts congealed and appeared on my shoulder. The calm washed over me and I felt more comfortable in my skin.

I focused and I could feel them all, sort of see where their attention was with the exception of Gallant. In one capacity or another, all of them were focused in my direction now. My team was happy, while the other side was resolute.

They had all the balls on their side, the one Joltik had caught on the ground. They would either be throwing at me or at-

Kid.

He felt it and was on alert as the first ball flew in his direction. He moved back, his jet pack sending him further even with Vista's machinations. The ball missed, sailing slightly high. I focused and I was in the air in front of it. Vista wouldn't be able to warp space with me so close and I caught it.

Clockblocker was out in a capacity, but he could choose to pass that on. He did, reaching for his Poke Ball and returning Joltik. Another ball from Gallant was sailing my way, but I blinked out of the way before it could hit me.

I appeared close to the line and threw in towards Clockblocker, hitting warped space with the ball and missing him. Vista still had a ball and she threw, not at me but at a ball that was sailing through the air towards Gallant. The two balls hit, falling out of the air and moving so they were falling towards Vista's team.

Browbeat timed out, the strings that had held him loosening and he fell to the ground. "Out!" said Kid. "Chariot in!"

They quickly changed positions and we were all movers.

Kid Win was the slowest of the three of us and the changed things so they were attacking him. But it wouldn't work, I was having Ralts give him a sense of when attacks were coming. It was hard with Gallant on the field but we were paying attention to him, dodging his blasts when he had opportunity to hit.

"Space is warping!" Chariot shouted. I looked and I'd missed it. Vista had been manipulating our side of the field, hitting the spots we weren't in and slowly making our side of the field smaller while stretching out her own.

They had more room to dodge even if they weren't using it. They were clustered together, at the centre of the sanctuary of warped space.

Chariot threw and something weird happened, the ball seemed to hit a weird configuration in space that had it moving like it was flowing into a pipe, slowly moving it towards Clockblocker.

Clock caught it and Chariot was out.

"Lullaby," said Kid.

Hypnosis, I thought and I focused on all three of them.

Vista and Clock fell, the same couldn't be said for Gallant. He looked at his teammate and threw a ball in our direction, quickly following it up with a flood of his power.

"Aegis," he said and Aegis flew into the field, momentarily caught by the warped space and he stopped. The air was warped, making moving into the thick of things harder for him.

I had to wonder how they were throwing balls towards us if space was so harshly warped. There had to be paths that allowed for straight movement, or had Vista been doing the brunt of the work? Manipulating space to open paths and quickly close them?

Magi the Kadabra would have been able to let me see the past, see the pattern and look back, but Ralts' thinker ability hadn't reached that point yet.

I gestured and Kid moved so he was close to me, both of us looking towards the more dangerous Gallant. He had a ball in hand and there were three balls on the floor near him, which meant he would be the one to throw them our way.

"Five minutes," said a voice.

"There are paths," I said. "Roads where they can throw towards us. We might be able to hit then."

"Or we can just use their catch paths," said Kid. Gallant threw his ball but it was at neither of us and it was angled low to the ground. I teleported, but even so it wasn't enough, the ball bounced against the ground and I caught it on the rebound.

He wasn't out.

I teleported back as he fired his splotches of light, then returned and threw towards Clock. The ball was caught in the paths, moving so it could be caught. Gallant started running in the direction, but I was already moving, I focused on the concept and a blue shield materialised, sliding forward towards the group.

The shield hit the twisted space, tried to bend with it and then shattered into pieces. An idea hit and I sent the concept again, a yellow shield flew out and where it did, space snapped back into place. I sent the attack again, pushing it out in every direction and the room twisted, snapping in places so that it was smaller than it had been.

Vista had pushed the limits of the field before we'd even started so we could have more of a field. It didn't matter now.

Aegis, able to move, flew forward and grabbed a ball. The ball that had been headed for Clockblocker had suddenly flown off course and he was still in the game.

A ball moved in my direction but a shield blocked it. I teleported on the other side and caught the ball, appeared in the air and then threw. Aegis moved out of the way and I teleported to the ground again as splotches of light flew in my direction.

Aegis landed grabbed a ball and threw it in the same second, hard. Kid dashed out of the way and ducked low as another ball flew towards him. I teleported and grabbed the balls that had already hit against the ground and threw towards Gallant who'd been firing his splotches of light at Vista.

He turned targets, hitting the ball with his power and sending it off course. A rapid series of hits and Vista jumped, looking around, twitching.

"We're not out yet," I heard him say.

Vista nodded while still trying to get a view of everything.

Kid was now in the air in a match against Aegis, ducking low at times in an effort to dodge. Aegis threw and I could see that Vista was going to act. I had Ralts send out a wide wall of yellow light towards Kid. It passed through him but banished Vista's effect. The ball Aegis had thrown flew into Kid's waiting arms.

"Pidgeotto!"

I complied and Pidgeotto was out.

Gust, I sent out and the field changed as everyone on the other side, falling over against the onslaught of air. The only person that was able to hold on to their ball was Aegis.

Kid Win threw just as Aegis was getting into the air and hit. Aegis dropped his ball and flew out of the field. I grabbed a ball that had rolled in our direction and with a yellow shield preceding the ball, I threw towards Clockblocker. Gallant fired his splotches of light by they disappeared against the shield. Vista tried to warp space but it snapped back to normal where it met the shield.

The ball hit Clockblocker.

Vista warped space and Clockblocker started to slide out of the field.

Two against four. If we managed to get the both of them out it would be a victory without point calculation, but if we didn't, then Porygon would be in play and things could go either way there.

Gust.

Pidgeotto flapped his wings but the air rushing up and hit the ceiling. Gallant jumped, moving further than he should have been able to and threw down. The ball moved too fast and before I could give the order to teleport the ball was slamming into me.

I pulled a Poke Ball out and Pidgeotto was out of the game. Kid picked up the ball and threw, it was the reverse for him, hitting a wall of warped space that made the ball go up first and slow it down. I quickly sent the light screen and everything snapped into place.

Gallant shot his splotches of light but Kid and I dodged. I picked up a ball and threw it, the wall of light flying before it. Vista ran out of the way, her own ball in hand before she threw it. The wall of light flickered out and started anew at my order, hitting everything so Vista couldn't impede Kid and me.

Gallant had gotten a ball and he threw it at Kid. The ball hit and bounced off. I teleported and close and caught it before it could hit the ground.

"Chariot," I said. Kid flew out while Chariot dashed in.

He saw a ball near the line and dashed towards it. He tripped, almost falling over before stopping on a dime and shooting back. He hadn't gotten the ball.

With only three of us, Vista didn't hide the fact that she was warping space, forcing me to undo her work while she focused on running and dodging both Chariot and me.

Fuck me, I thought as a ball flew too close. Because I'd been stupid, choosing to fight hit directly when I could-

"Time," said the voice. "Match end. Team Vista wins."

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck," Chariot said, throwing his ball against the ground.

-just send her to sleep. If I had, we'd have won this. I couldn't help but be disappointed in myself.

888

Towel on my shoulders and I could feel my muscles burning. I took a drink of water, walking to the others that had already finished their showers. Chris, Missy and Trevor.

"What are you guys doing?" I said. I threw myself on the couch, sitting so I was next to Chris. There were rows of data on the laptop in front of them.

"Cursory look at the scores," said Trevor.

"I'm the reason we won," said Missy, smiling. "I kept getting points for how I was using my power."

"My motion camera at play there, even if I didn't get the points," said Trevor. He minimised the tab with the data and pulled up one of the feeds from his drones. "It tracked how the air moved and formed an image of how Vista was laying things out."

He showed the image and I could see how air had warped. He played the video forward and I could see how she kept shifted the spaces, dealing with multiple sections at once. She had trouble where people were closely clustered, but she was very good at guessing how far and using that to her advantage.

"This is amazing," I said. Vista smiled even brighter. It was scary how powerful she was. "Are we ready to send it?"

"Still going to have to do a little editing first," said Trevor. "But that shouldn't take too long with Porygon doing it. Something I've been meaning to ask, is he like a resource we can use? Because I sort of want the same functionality that Chris has."

I glanced at Chris. "You told him?"

He shrugged. "We made a pact, told him a little about the Kid Squad. He isn't about to rat us out."

"Snitches, stitches," Trevor supplied.

"Sure, you'd have to speak to Porygon if she isn't too busy," I said. I stretched a little and then went over to my bag, pulling out my own computer. "Can you send me the feed of the path Missy made that she could throw? I'm interested in that. Matter of fact, did you discuss it beforehand?"

Missy shook her head. "Had the idea to make us impossible to hit and I kept twisting things so that sound didn't travel right and reach you," she said.

"Fuck me, that's scary," said Chris. Missy gave him the most adorable smile she could manage. Marcus got out of the boy's showers, he was thinner and leaner, better looking than when he was dolled up with muscle.

"Where're the others?" said Trevor.

"Talking," said Marcus. "Be out in a bit. From what I caught, Carlos wants to turn this into a meeting."

I groaned. "Please no. I'm too tired to pay attention," I said. Trevor nodded beside me, even Missy shrugged.

"Maybe if we just leave, hide, he won't put in the effort to find us," said Trevor. But that wasn't likely to work, Dean probably knew what we were planning in a roundabout way and he'd be out here soon.

"Let's just take it so we can go on," said Chris. "Taylor, want to join in on Trevor building his armour? Trade idea, make it better than-"

My phone buzzed and I looked at it. A message sent through Porygon from the Toybox. I looked at Chris and he immediately understood. We'd just gotten our meeting.

We didn't have time to discuss, though, because Carlos, Dean and Dennis stepped out of the showers at that moment. Dean said something to the others and Carlos nodded.

"We have a mission," he said. "The Protectorate was given information by Tattletale on where Hellhound could be found, it seems like they're betraying her for reasons. They've be verifying the information and were building a plan to move forward but something came up, they want us to handle it. Who's up for it."

"Me," Marcus said, a hint of emotion in his voice. "I've had a run in with the Undersiders, with Bitch and Regent in particular. I won't say no to a little payback."

"Me too," I said. I didn't want to but, "I have a feeling Lucario would be pissed at me if I didn't take the opportunity for her own payback."

"Is that a good idea after the last time?" said Chris.

"We're not going to go now, right?" I said. "There's time to plan?"

"Early evening," said Carlos. "She's in a populated area right now, but we know where she sleeps."

"Then it's time to practice a little trick," I said. "It should be fine."

Carlos nodded. "Then we should start discussing, putting everything forward and discussing a plan, talking about coordination and synergy."

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Apr 17, 2018

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Apr 23, 2018

#887

Thief

7.2

"This should be a relatively light mission," said Aegis. We were at base, sitting in front of a large screen that had images of Bitch, Rachel Lindt and her monstrous dogs.

"Hellhound—"

"Can we just call her Bitch?" Chariot interrupted. He was the only one of us not wearing a costume, but then he hadn't finished his armour yet. Because of that, he wouldn't be able to be an active combatant. "I mean, no one's watching. We don't have to be PG."

"Seconded," said Clockblocker, earning a scowl from Aegis. Clockblocker only shrugged.

"Thirded," Browbeat put in.

"Fourthed," I said.

Aegis sighed. "Fine. Bitch, is on the outskirts of town, hiding out in an abandoned warehouse," he said. The image of the warehouse appeared in a block, an active feed going by the looks of it; next to this was an image of Bitch with her dogs walking into the warehouse.

"She's been keeping quiet, thankfully, but when we attack that isn't likely to happen. I've looked over everything and Porygon's noted at least twelve different dogs."

"Fuck me," Browbeat muttered. I looked in his direction and he was nervous. "You know how big those things can get, right?"

"Not planning to let them get big," said Aegis. "We're playing this quick and clean. We have the advantage here and we're going to make sure we use it to look good."

"This is a test, isn't it?" said Clockblocker. "From the higher ups?"

"No," said Gallant. "They have something else they're working on, something that's leaving them worried."

"More stuff on the Elite?" Browbeat asked.

"Elite?"

"Evil guys trying to take over the city," Vista said to Chariot. "Tried to get Phobos, tried to buy Panacea and they tried to strong arm Browbeat into joining them."

"They're also the reason behind that whole Lung thing," I said. "Tried to frame him to put him out of the picture."

Chariot's eyes opened wide at that. "That wasn't you?" he said. "Fuck me. D'you know the reason I chose this gig was because I thought I was working with the Ward that could take down Lung."

"I thought you had to come here because you were robbing a place," said Kid Win.

"Pshh. I would have gotten a slap on the wrist for that," he said. "I stole less that it would cost to ship me out of town and send me to juvie. I got my pick between picking up papers at the side of street and joining the Wards for my probation period. Could have easily picked up papers and it would have been easier than this. I'm mean…good grades? The training? Fucking extra school work?"

"If it's worth anything, I think I might win if I actually fought Lung," I said. "Just put him to sleep and its done."

"Remember not underestimate your enemies," said Aegis. "And let's focus. Everything points to the Elite being between plans right now. That might have changed, but we would have been told. Let's not forget that even with the Elite making plays, we still have local villains that are trying to do their villain thing."

"Long story short, this might be something else," said Clockblocker.

Aegis nodded. "Continuing. This isn't a test, which means less pressure. We're just doing this because it's the right thing to do. Bitch is a villain, but more than anything, she's might be a danger to herself."

"Not seeing it," said Browbeat.

At that, a new block came up on the screen, an e-mail from Tattletale.

"Bitch is likely on the autism spectrum," said Aegis. "She's…not very good at understand social cues which means she had a path of least resistance towards being a villain."

"Is this true?" I said. I'd pulled out my phone to read the e-mail from Tattletale. "Has it been fact checked?"

The information relayed what had happened to Bitch and why she'd gotten towards being a villain in the first place. How she'd been mistreated in a foster home and her trigger, killing the foster parent.

"We don't have the resources for that," said Aegis. "But I've had Porygon do what she can on her end. Getting police reports into the first sighting of Rachel Lindt and the situation around it. It's important that we get her without hurting her. I know that, knowing this, we might feel the need to talk her down, but that isn't likely to work because something we do might set her off."

"Is Grue what set her off in the first place?" said Gallant. "I heard one that some autistic people don't do well with change. Maybe Grue abandoning them…?"

"Could be," said Aegis.

I listened and I wasn't sure what to feel. I'd seen a tantrum from a person with autism. Granted they'd been a kid, but…I felt like I didn't know enough to judge that this happened across the board. But did that mean I had to automatically forgive her for what she'd done to Lucario? That she'd tortured her with an impassive expression on her face?

I made a mental note to discuss this with my therapist, but right now it wasn't conducive to anything. I pushed the thoughts aside.

"Clean, quiet," said Vista. "We don't hurt her, but she won't be inclined to do the same."

"Which is why we take away her weapons," said Aegis. "SOP with masters," he said, looking in particular to Chariot, "take away their minions. Phobos works as an example, you take away her Pokemon and you've got her beat—this is discounting any toys she might have," he said, heading me off.

"But doesn't she make those things?" said Chariot. "Pull them out of thin air."

"No," I said. "She uses dogs as a base." I thought about what had happened to Lucario and Hondour. "She has a power that makes them bigger, pulls mass from nowhere to bulk them up and she can do it a distance, though I think it might be slower then."

"Not a striker thing, that's good to know," said Aegis. "The plan I came up with can still work. Okay," he said, "this is how it'll go: Chariot will be our voice in case anything goes bad. Vista, you'll have Dedenne, Pachirisu and Emolga and you'll be watching them because they'll draw out the dogs. They'll use Charm, they'll be chased and you'll stretch out space so Bitch's power has less of a hold."

Vista nodded.

"Gallant, Phobos and Browbeat will be teleporting in close," she said. "Gallant will work to make her pliable while Phobos will be there trying to put her to sleep. Browbeat will be the muscle. Clock, you'll be with Vista while Kid Win and I will be in the air, just in case we have monstrous dogs to deal with."

"Sounds like a plan," said Clockblocker. "We should probably not do anything for the rest of the day just in case."

"Wouldn't mind missing school if I'm being honest," said Vista.

888

"Why am I not surprised," Clockblocker muttered, though there was a bit of an edge in his voice, a sense of excitement.

I was with him, Vista, Gallant and Browbeat. Kid Win and Aegis were in the sky, scouting, while Chariot was back at base. All of us had binoculars and were were watching the scene below.

Bitch had six monster dogs already prepared. She was on one of the biggest, with two of them following just after it as she chased a cape in a shoddy costume. The other three were destroying what was either a Case 53 or a breaker.

"Chariot," said Aegis. "Have Porygon check the Repository for any info on these capes. Either they're the new capes that have been making the rounds or they're from out of town and that might mean Elite."

"On it," said Chariot.

"Aren't we going to help them?" said Vista. The Case 53 was humanoid in shape, but their skin was made out of a black bark; they had splits and crevices running along them, a green goop flowing out of it.

A dog grabbed the Case 53, teeth digging in and forcing a large spray of goop to cover the dog's face. The dog reeled, shook it's head and in the process threw the Case 53. The person hit the side of a building, more goop spraying out and they fell to the ground, coming to their feet without much trouble.

The dog was still reeling though, the green goop was slowly working its way so that it was covering the dog.

Before the Case 53 could do much, another dog got close, taking as swipe and violently striking the cape to one side. More goop sprayed out, catching the dog's paws and starting to climb over the dog.

Bitch wasn't noticing all of this in her frenzied chase of the other cape. A woman by the looked of it, and a blaster that was shooting out different coloured paint. In quick succession the paint struck a wall, forming a glassless window that the cape used to jump through. Bitch shouted a word and the dog's skidded to a stop, her dog immediately jumping to the side before it was struck by brown paint.

But the thing was too big, at the paint caught it in the side.

"They're not panicking," said Gallant. "I think this going their way."

Browbeat looked in Gallant's direction, but he didn't say anything.

"We wait until we have a measure of this," said Aegis. "We can't discount that this might be a trap. But everyone on alert. There might be squatters in the area that we might need to clear out."

"I could flex a little," said Vista. "Fill out for anyone that might need help."

"No," said Aegis. "Let's focus on one thing so we don't slip."

One of the dogs was finally completely covered by the green goop and it fell, losing all its strength. The Case 53, who'd been in the maw of a dog, pulled and ripped off their arm. They fell and then they moved, quickly moving between the dogs that were now much slower with the goop bearing them down. The cape jumped into the goop covered dog, spreading the bark-like exterior.

The other dogs stalled, confused, and that was opportunity enough for the cape, now a dog, to work. They lunged forward, teeth grabbed on dog and throwing it towards another. The dogs landed in a roll, coming up and preparing to attack but they were just so slow.

The cape dodged as a dog got up and lunged, running and slamming bodily into the dog. The other tried to swipe with a goop covered paw, but it didn't work, with supernatural grace the dog-cape moved out of the way.

Bitch, her quarry now hidden, had chosen to follow the commotion.

She shouted and the dogs stopped, pulling back and prowling around the dog-cape. Bitch arrived with her contingent, adding more fighters against the dog-cape.

Her expression was one of fury.

"She might kill them," I said.

"But they're still not worried," said Gallant.

"Tracking the other cape," said Kid Win. "They're moving fast. Creating doors out of their pant and moving through buildings. I think they'll be trying to get her from behind."

"Phobos," said Aegis. "Do you think you could get her out? Teleport her to a cell?"

"No," said Clockblocker. "Uber and Leet have proved that they're competent. They might have a hand in this with the villains working together. There might be a teleportation blocker. Can't take the chance."

"Fuck, you're right," said Aegis. "Chariot?"

"Nothing yet," he said. "Porygon's checking worldwide capes with similar powers and it's nothing like this. She's having to scour the net for it."

"Could be that they're just new," I said.

The dog-cape lunged forward and one of Bitch's dogs quickly got forward, striking and digging into the dog-cape's skin. The dog-cape moved in a way that put the spray of goop in Bitch's direction. Bitch saw this coming and she pulled her dog to the side, dodging the spray.

She shouted again and the dogs pulled back, prowling again. The dog-cape started to move when Bitch shouted something, the dog behind the dog-cape caught them by the leg, goop shooting out a little as the dog shook its head. Another word and Bitch had two more dogs got close, piling onto the dog-cape without hurting them hard enough for goop to capture them.

An ugly smirk worked its way onto Bitch's face only to be wiped away as she was hit by a gob of paint in the face. It wasn't hard enough to hurt her, but it was enough that her expression slipped.

Bitch shouted something, her expression still placid. Her hands snapped out, panic in them and they went to her mouth.

"Master," said Gallant. "She wasn't the one who spoke."

But the damage had already been done, the dogs got off the dog-cape and then sat.

Another gob of paint and it hit the hands and arms, they eased their fervent motions and she just sat.

"Okay," said Aegis. "Everyone at the ready. Trap or not, if this looks odd, we're stepping in. Except we might have the dogs and Bitch against us."

Ralts was on me, Natu was on Gallant and a requisitioned Abra was on Browbeat. We were the movers and we'd be the fastest in the fray.

"Plan still as it was?" asked Gallant.

"Still workable, but we've got to change this with our blasters in the fore," he said. "Browbeat out. Phobos, have Ducklett out and in the air. Vista still lead the dogs away while Brow, Clock and Joltik deal with the blaster-master."

"Wait," said Chariot. "Getting a call. I'll patch it through…Ward response unit, you're talking to Chariot. What up?"

Aegis sighed. "We have got to work on that," I heard him mutter.

"Um…hey. Okay," said the voice on the other hand, a woman, young. "This is…Canvas," she said. "I'm…I need help. I've just captured Hellhound of that Undersiders group. I need people to send her off to jail."

"Okay," said Chariot. "I've already got your location from the call. We have people in the area—"

"Kid and me," said Aegis.

"Aegis and Kid Win. They'll be there pretty quickly. Expect them from the skies."

"Okay," said Canvas and then she dropped the line.

A door appeared on the wall near Bitch, the dogs and the dog-cape. Canvas stepped out and the dogs reacted before Bitch said something and they eased.

"This could still be a trap," said Vista.

"You guys are so paranoid," said Chariot.

"Gallant, Phobos, Browbeat. Stand at the ready. Phobos, have birds in the air, in their blind spots."

I pulled at the two balls and Pidgeotto and Ducklett congealed, both of them taking to the air at my mental command. They flew up, Pidgeotto hiding better against the night while Ducklett hid under Pidgeotto's shadow.

They disappeared.

I tracked Aegis and Kid Win in the sky and they plunged down. Again the dogs reacted and again Bitch spoke, the dogs eased. They landed.

"Canvas?" said Aegis.

"Yeah," I heard the woman said. "That was surprisingly fast."

"We were in the area," said Kid Win. "Is that you?" and I could see him pointing at the dog-cape.

"My partner," said Canvas. "Fauves."

Fauves grunted.

Aegis had been looking at Bitch. "She's quiet. What did you do to her?" he asked.

"Part of my power," said Canvas. "Sorry, but I can't say anymore than that."

Aegis shrugged. "Does it wear off?"

"Yeah," said Canvas, her voice rising up a few notches. "It does, and it will eventually, but I'd rather not say. You know, keep you guessing."

"Right," said Aegis. "Can't really go on your word. Sorry, but this could all be some trick."

Canvas shrugged. "We can't really test that, now, can we?"

"We can," said Aegis. He put his hand in his ear. "Phobos. You there?"

"Yep," I muttered, even though I was sure this was all an act.

"Fuck me, Phobos?" said Canvas. "Really. Oh my god. Oh my god." Fauves grunted. "Right. Right. Professional."

"Could you come over here? I need to check if this new cape is telling the truth," he said.

"Sure," I said. I sent the concept to Ralts and the scenery warped around me, I was standing a small distance away. The dogs turned, teeth barred and a dangerous look in their eyes.

"Stay," said Bitch, calm even though I could see the rage underneath it all. Canvas was controlling her body but not her mind.

Even scarier that total control if I was being honest. I'd had the displeasure of waking up and my body hadn't responded. It had been terrifying and I'd fought. It still hadn't gotten easier even with me knowing what was rationally going on.

Canvas was excited while Fauves was just bored.

"Oh my god," Canvas muttered. "You're the girl that took on Lung and made it."

"I—"

"Yep, that's her," said Kid. "But let's get not get distracted."

"Yeah," I said, looking in particular at Bitch. "This is inhumane, it going on any longer."

Canvas deflated. "Oh," she said. "Um…"

"I'm sorry," I said. "But you're not seeing what I am. Bitch is…under a lot of stress right now. And I'm putting it lightly."

"Right. Right," said Canvas. She had pockets in her costume and she put her hands in them. I didn't need that though, I could see that I'd hurt her. "Then since you're here, we should maybe get going?"

Fauves grunted.

"Yeah. We'll go. The thing can come off pretty easily with good enough water pressure," she said and before I could move to speak Fauves moved forward, heading angling low and sweeping Canvas up, getting her on their back. They moved off, Bitch saying a word to stop her dogs as they moved to follow them.

Aegis sighed. "That could have gone better," he said. "Vista, start warping things, make sure these guys are in a maze until we figure out how to reverse the process. Send Natu over and we'll disappear."

The plan went off, Vista made the maze, Natu appeared and disappeared with Bitch just as Aegis and Kid Win shooting off into the air. I disappeared before the dogs could panic.

888

"You get dolled up and it's for nothing," said Dennis, his mask off and sitting on a couch. "I don't want to be that guy, but I wouldn't have minded doing something."

"Our first mission where things don't get pear shaped and you're complaining?" said Missy.

Dennis shrugged. "All the other times it came without us expecting it, but this time I was waiting. I wanted it to happen."

"That explains it," said Chris. "You jinxed yourself."

"You should do that more often," I said. Dennis scowled in my direction, but it wasn't with much heat. He reached into his side and pulled out his Poke Ball, pointing towards the table and pressing it. Joltik congealed.

Missy did the same and Dedenne, Pachirisu and Emolga were out. Missy had a bowl in front of her and the Pokemon started eating. Ralts disappeared from my shoulder and appeared amongst the mice.

I sighed. "I made a bad impression with Canvass," I said.

"Don't beat yourself up," said Chris. "There are just some days where things happened. Just gotta deal with them."

"Speaking of dealing, this is over right? I've been waiting forever for you guys to get back," he said to me and Chris. "I wanna work on my armour and costume."

I glanced at my watch. "I've got two hours before I have to go home," I said. "But I'm up for it."

"Yay!" said Trevor. "Teleporting or walking?"

"Walking," said Chris. "It gives us time to talk on some stuff. What are you thinking?" he asked as we were in the hallway.

"Going off of motion," he said. "I'm thinking I'm going to use it as an energy source. Store it by completely sucking up momentum and storing it as potential energy than turning it to various things."

"That's what you did, right?" I said. "When you stopped on the dime?"

"On a small scale, but I'll have to go bigger and work on conversion. Maybe something to give my punches a little more power or an area of effect that sucks up all motion to fuel a blast."

"I…have some things on that," said Chris. He'd pulled out his phone and he was swiping through it. I glanced over his shoulder and could see schematics of some of his stuff.

"Wait," I said. "You're sword's a gun?"

"Um, yeah..?" he said. "I was actually hoping I'd get to use it. Trials in the lab are one thing, but in the field…" he let out a wistful sigh.

"I have got to see that," I said.

"Short detour, you don't mind?" said Chris. Trevor shrugged. He continued flipping through his phone and finally sending an e-mail to Trevor and me.

"I'm not an armour kinda girl," I said.

"Could still make gloves," said Trevor. "For if you lose your gun and someone takes away the power of your Pokemon."

I shrugged. "I'll look into it."

We went into Chris' lab and he took his sword from its emplacement before we went over to the testing rooms. He whipped his sword and the sword broke into segments connected by a line of electricity. He swiped up and the sword shortened into a blunt sword.

He held his arm straight and then ran his finger over the hilt. There was a hollow thump and the tip of the sword shot out, hurtling across the room and slamming against a mannequin on the other end. Where it hit, it detonated, breaking apart into smaller chunks that flew away from the mannequin.

Chris ran his finger up and the pieces flew back, joining together and forming the tip of the sword before it stuck back together.

"Wow," I said and Trevor nodded.

"Did you soup up the individual pieces?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Chris. "It took me a lot of time. Was going to give up at the end there, but I just thought I'd put in too much work to stop."

"Sunk cost fallacy," said Trevor. "You gotta get over that. Sometimes its good to just abandon a project. Keep moving, making things better."

"Our powers have different philosophies," I said. "Chris' seems to like doing a lot of things in within like…one thing?"

"Maybe multiple functions?" said Chris. "Making this sword was easier because I was putting a lot into it. Not just a sword that cuts, but also a whip and a gun, and miniature drones which I'm going to program later to actually do things."

"Sounds like a whole lot of complexity addiction," Trevor said.

Chris shrugged. "Maybe. Are you working on anything new, Taylor?"

"Mobile pocket dimension in the Poke Balls," I said. "Make sure that the Pokemon have a feed to the outside world so it isn't as jarring when they're summoned."

"Isn't that a step back?" said Chris.

"It's a utility things, isn't it?" I said. "Them being energy is easier when it comes to manipulation, but it wasn't really have any utility when I'm in battle conditions."

"Doesn't creating a pocket dimension require tons of energy in the first place," said Trevor. "Where are you getting it all and isn't it unstable?"

"Still at the planning phases right now, but…doesn't everything we do have an element of instability?"

"Point," said Trevor. "Anyway, let's get to my stuff. I really don't like being on comms."

110

ManMag

Apr 23, 2018

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Threadmarks Thief: 7.3

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

May 8, 2018

#893

Thief

7.3

"How have things been, lately?" asked Dad.

It was breakfast in what was becoming usual. Mr Mime had prepared breakfast for us as well as putting up food for the house Pokemon. He'd been too passionate about work at first, going so far as to do most of my duties around the farm before I woke up. But that had been terrifying, most of my days were already spent either in my lab or in Chris or Trevor's labs, if I didn't need to do any chores I might end up being a shut in.

On similar mornings, Dad often asked me my plans for the day and I'd turn the question back on him. This was our starting point, branching out to whatever else we wanted to talk about. We didn't see each other most evenings, so this was our family time. But there was just something about today that felt different.

I gave it a moment's thought, trying to figure out what was new and it quickly clicked.

"You want to know about the therapy," I said.

"No," said Dad and then he stopped, quiet before saying, "Maybe, yes. But…not particularly. I just…want a macro sort of feeling on how things have been going."

I shrugged. "Good, mostly, after the whole Bitch episode," I said. "Everything's been good. Did I tell you about the dodge ball training exercise?" Dad nodded. "Well, it went well. Porygon edited the footage and we put it on the Internet. Word's passing and, generally, we've been getting good comments."

"Generally?" said Dad. He was smiling a little, even though it looked like there was something I just wasn't seeing.

"Few bad comments," I said after a mouthful. "Most of them seem fixated by us 'wasting tax payer monies.' Whatever that means."

"People seem to not like others having fun," said Dad.

"Right?" I said, excited all of a sudden. "Phase two's started now. We've been talking to other Wards around the country and we're thinking about starting a league sort of setup. But that's further off, we're mostly thinking we'll make it private exercise time to the higher ups."

"You think they'll stop you?"

I gave it a long think before I shrugged. "We haven't told them," I said, "Armsmaster taught me that if that's true about something you're planning, there must be a kernel that exists that makes you think they might disagree."

"Maybe," said Dad.

"Things with Trevor have also been looking up," I said. "He's…calmed down after the episode with the Pokemon. I've also been given responsibility with training some of the troopers, some are struggling with some of the Abra. I think it's the movement thing between teleportations, so I'm going to be training them."

"More responsibility," said Dad. "You think you're up for it when you've still got so much you're doing here or your school work?"

"It's relatively light and I set the schedule," I said. "And I feel bad since I saw the bill that keeps the farm running."

Dad nodded and again I had the sense that there was something I was missing.

"Is…something wrong?" I asked. "It's…I don't know what it is, but…"

Dad sighed and I felt my stomach twist. "Lung," he said. I closed my eyes, letting a long breath out. "He was at my office. He wanted me to send a message to you, that you should fix the word that's going around about his and your fight."

"When did this happen?"

"Two nights ago," said Dad. "I'm sorry, I've…been thinking on it and…a part of me didn't want to tell you. It seems like you've been in a good place, lately. Something like this—"

"I understand, Dad. You're just being a parent." He smiled a little, though it didn't reach his eyes. There was still something there, still a fear but it seemed different. "Does the Protectorate know?"

Dad nodded. "Spoke to them and they said they'll deal with it. Don't really know what that means."

"That's how they work," I said. "They tell you they'll do things but not how. But mostly they do do it, so…" I shrugged.

"You're so calm about this," Dad said.

"Protectorate says they'll deal with it and I believe them," I said with another shrug. A spoonful of my cereal and I swallowed. "But I'm thinking I'll put up a buffer for us." Dad looked worried about that. "I'll make a video saying that it was all an act, Lung gets what he wants and it lets people know about the Elite."

"You don't think that'll be messing up whatever the Protectorate are planning?"

"Not really sure what they're planning," I said. "I'll talk to Armsmaster, see what he thinks about it."

Dad smiled. "You're so grown up," he said.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Yeah," he said. My phone buzzed and it was a message from Chris.

"Chris is coming over, he's going to be helping me with the farm work this morning, maybe talk some tinker stuff. Is that okay?"

"Yes," said Dad. "That'll be fine."

888

"You do this every morning?" said Chris as I hefted a bucket of meat for the larger birds. We were both wearing protection and mine was bloodied. He'd been helping me with the feeds for the smaller birds, but he drew the line at handling bloodied meat.

"Yeah," I said. "Then I take some time to go for a walk, check and note habitats. Learnt that Pidgeotto and Natu are something of a couple. They have the same nest."

"Oh, cool," said Chris. "So they…mate?"

"Yes, apparently. It seems I took away their ability to procreate but not their…drive," I said. I put my fingers in my mouth and whistled, it was short and sharp, and just after Pidgeotto and Noctowl arrived to eat.

"What's next?"

"We'll take out the Mareep of their pen, have them forage," I said. Another whistle, but this one rose and dipped. It wasn't too long before Hondour appeared, jumping over the fence to the pen and barking at the Mareep. The sheep clustered together and stood their ground, arcs of electricity shooting between them, getting thicker.

Hondour barked, a loud thing that lost the Mareep their composure. Those at the back started turning and that was cause for the others to turn. They started moving, less fight in them and instead following the leading sheep. Hondour moved quickly, angling the group towards the exit.

"Are they dangerous? The sheep?" Chris asked. "Those arcs, that's likely to be more output than Reg could achieve."

"Yep. To you more than me," I said. "These guys aren't regular sheep. They stand their ground until they see that running is the smarter option. Which is why Hondour does the bulk of the work. That guy, though," I said pointing at a pen that was on it's own. There were four cows there, three of them were pink, almost bipedal, while one was brown with three tails.

"Don't get close to that side of the fence or Tauros would hurt you," I said. "He's very territorial."

"What about your Dad?"

"Magi protects him," I said.

Hondour was still moving, a few sheep would try and start off a thunderbolt attack, but Hondour would roar and all of that would be abandoned.

We followed at a distance.

"Pretty soon you'll need more space," said Chris.

"Tell me about it," I said. "I think Noctowl doesn't like it here. In the city, he spends most of his time flying with Amy. But here, there's the force field that's stopping him from doing that."

"You think we might have to invest in alternate world tech?" Chris said, a large grin on him. "Imagine the space on that."

"Whoa, there, Icarus," I said. "I don't even know how I might start a project like that. Not mentioning I'd eventually grow bored."

"Your Pokemon can't?"

"Not really something I've had them test out," I said.

"But something maybe Toybox is working on?"

"If they are, do you think they'd show us?"

Chris shrugged. "Four days and then we're meeting them. Do we tell the others?"

"It would be a betrayal if we didn't," I said. "Also it might be that we don't think that this is too much of a good idea if we can't get them on board."

"But this isn't a good idea," said Chris. "It's an incredibly stupid idea that could get us in a lot of trouble."

"True. I'll leave it up to you. This is more your baby than mine."

"Pressure," said Chris. "Now I have to consider which is more important. My selfish desire to see their tech, mingle with the greats, or making sure my friend doesn't get into trouble."

"I'm manipulative like that," I said to him. We'd passed into the tree line and I caught the first sign of Lucario. She was running, except she wasn't stepping foot on the ground, instead she was pushing herself off from tree to tree. Ducklett and Pidove followed closely after, flying and dodging between the trees; when there was space enough, Ducklett opened her mouth and shot out a ball of water, forcing Lucario to dodge.

There was an explosion, water flooding that area.

"Hondour," I said. "Keep the sheep away from the water."

Hondour glanced in my direction before she barked. She ran right of the sheep, barked and they changed direction.

"Let's take a short cut," I said. "They're headed toward the lake."

"Fuck," said Chris. "I forget sometimes that you have your own lake."

"It takes a while to get used to this," I said. "Have you made a decision?"

Chris sighed. "We'll have to tell them," he said. "I'm thinking we'll need countermeasures in case things go bad. We're not at full capacity if the others aren't in on it."

"Smart thinking," I said. "But I'll leave convincing them to you."

Chris groaned. "But I'm sure that you could get them to agree," he said. "You could use your feminine wiles."

"I don't think I have those," I said.

"Yeah…" he said, smirking. "You're the more, punch them until they agree with you sort of girl."

I gave him an aghast expression. "I've never punched anyone," I said.

"I meant metaphorically," he said. "And Shadow Stalker."

"Oh, right," I said, still with a smile. "That was good, even with everything that followed. Better still if she's sent to juvie."

"She did try to kill you," said Chris. "I'd be surprised if she got another deal. Unless you're thinking they might fudge things because of their Second Chances program?"

"That might be alienating me, though," I said. "And, tooting my own horn, I'm more valuable than Shadow Stalker."

Chris hummed and the sighed. "What do you think'll happen to Bitch?"

"Don't know, but…I really don't. I've talked to the therapist about it and I still haven't decided how I feel about that," I said. "She hurt Lucario, but then…I don't know. I don't really know how her mind works."

"Yeah," he said. "It's complicated, all of it. But if anyone deserves the Second Chances program it might be her."

"Might being the operative word," I said. "Does having mental issues mean you're absolved of everything bad you've ever done?"

"No idea," said Chris. "And I'm happy that I don't have to make the decision. I don't envy the Protectorate and how they play that."

"We might get useful Intel, though."

"Silver lining."

My phone buzzed, the same being true for Chris. I checked and it was Armsmaster.

"Something bad?" said Chris.

I shrugged. "Hope not."

888

"Bad?" said Vista. We were all of us in costumes just for preparation's sake. I didn't like the possibility that I might have to go out on a fight I hadn't picked, but if things were bad enough for Armsmaster to come talk to us, it was better to be prepared.

"I have no earthly idea," said Clockblocker. "Phobos, you want to check?"

"Squick on so many levels," I said. "It would be too much of an invasion. Let's just…bear our teeth and face the music."

"If you're not up to it, I could," said Trevor. "Hook me up to Ralts and we're good to go."

I shook my head. "That would be giving you implicit permission," I said. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he said. "But I was thinking on the whole thinker granting that your Ralts and Natu can do and I've been considering increasing processing power." He tapped his head as he finished.

Kid Wins' breath hitched. "Fuck me, why didn't I consider that."

"Yeah," I said, frowning. "I don't know if it'll work, but…something close to that is what Magi's been doing with Dad."

"And I'm leaving this conversation to go talk to the others," said Vista. She left and Clockblocker followed, the pair going over to Gallant, Aegis and Browbeat who'd been talking about a sport, either football or soccer.

"You were saying," said Trevor.

"Dad and Magi have this…mental link thing going on," I said. "Dad can sort of access Magi's thinker powers even if they're not in close proximity to each other. Magi uses the power in the background, while Dad gives it a path to work towards."

"Make your Dad effectively a Parahuman without needing to trigger," said Kid Win. "That's amazing."

"What's more amazing is that it's possible," said Trevor. "I've been thinking about powers since seeing your Pokemon, how they come about and that sort of thing."

"Every tinker does that," said Kid Win. "I tried looking in that direction, creating powers. But if your powers don't naturally trend towards that, it becomes hard."

"That's disheartening," said Trevor. He sighed a little and then grinned. "But that doesn't have any bearing on what I'm thinking. So, like, Magi has the powers and knows how to use them, but he gets cues from your Dad on the direction of use. Keep that in mind and then tell me, how do tinkers work? Where do we get this knowledge about the tech we use?"

"From…our…powers," I said. Kid Win's eyes were bulged out and it took me a second before the thoughts connected. "Fuck…I? What? No. But…What?"

"I know. I know," said Trevor. "It's not finished. There's still a lot missing, but, it at least explains one facet of powers. It also explains why we never really have to learn how to use our powers. Because the Great Pokemon that control us already know and are doing most of the hard work!"

"But…then…my power? I don't…" I took a breath, trying to think and I found that my mind just stuttered, trying to find paths and then stopping.

"It can't be Pokemon," said Kid Win. "It'd just be too…I don't even know. This is so crazy and yet it makes so much sense."

I could only hum. "So what are we saying. We figured out where powers come from?"

"Well, it's just a hypothesis at this point," said Trevor. "Can't really be a theory until it's been tested."

"How would you even test something like this," I said.

"We're tinkers, science isn't really our forte," said Kid Win. "But like, these things that were being said keep coming back to me and…all those crazy people that said powers are alive might actually be right," he sounded aghast.

"No, this might be right," I said. "Panacea was building a Pokemon and she caught it as it triggered. You know how I have to manually put powers together?" I got nods. "Well, she felt as powers formed. She said it was intricate, as though an experienced hand was putting the pieces together to build a power."

"Wonder how much money I'm going to get for this," said Trevor. "Do you even get money for discoveries?" He pulled out his phone, starting to type through it before he stopped, Armsmaster was walking into the room.

"Arms," said Trevor. "We think we discovered how powers work!"

Aegis and his contingent had stopped their conversation, with him moving towards Armsmaster. He stopped at that, looking between us and Armsmaster. He turned back to the others and they continued their conversation.

"Broad strokes," said Armsmaster. "I'm on something of a time limit."

"Phobos," said Trevor, lightly elbowing me.

"Um…Dad has this link with Magi the Kadabra," I said. "He can sort of use Magi's thinker powers. Magi has the powers, but Dad gives direction so they can be used."

"Leapfrogging off of that," said Trevor, "and we asked key questions. Where do our ideas come from? Why don't we ever have to actively learn how to use our powers? It's like, shooting fire out of your hands shouldn't be intuitive at all and yet it is. But if there's something connected to us that knows how to use the powers and is just waiting to for us to give it direction…"

"This has been said before," said Armsmaster. "There's a hypothesis that powers are alive, they use this as their line of thought."

"Then there's the fact that there's a guiding intelligence to how powers are built," said Kid Win. "Phobos mentioned something that only Panacea will really understand about a sort of intelligence building the powers that sprout when their Pokemon trigger."

"I didn't know this," Armsmaster said, it sounded like he was frowning. "That new powers you didn't program sprout during trigger. Are there any other effects of the trigger?"

"Um…" I ran my hand at the back of my head. "It's a full body change. Things that I did are unwound and changes I didn't even think about are done."

"Get to it, Phobos," Armsmaster said, curt.

"Well…they can sort of…um…they can have kids after a trigger," I said.

Armsmaster gave me a long look and then pressed his arm. A panel disappeared, revealing a screen beneath. He slid his hand over it in a long pattern before his hand moved up and the panel reformed.

"I've noted this down," said Armsmaster. "I'll check your schedules and mine, and we'll make this a joint project. Phobos, could you have Panacea send me her schedule, I'll love to pick her brain on this."

"Is it cool if I send you notes on the work we've been doing in categorising our Pokemon?" I asked. "If there is an intelligence, it might help figuring out how it thinks."

Armsmaster nodded. "We'll start," he announced. There was a shuffle as we took our seats, Armsmaster continuing to stand. "I've been looking over your work in the past few weeks," he said, "and I have to say, I'm impressed.

"You asked for more responsibility and you've taken it on well. Patrols have been good, monitor duty has been passable with a few exceptions." He glanced at Trevor as he said that. "And, thankfully, you've been able to keep up with your school work even if you missed some days."

"It was for a mission," said Clockblocker. "Totally above board."

"Dude," said Trevor. "The lady dost protest too much."

"Right," said Armsmaster. "As I was saying. Were it my decision, I think your…punishment would fall away. But this falls on the Director and she's adamant that something like this will teach you about the command structure."

"This is about the person who'll be taking over for me," said Aegis.

Armsmaster nodded. "Gully, a San Diego cape." The screen directly behind Armsmaster lit. He quickly turned around and stared at the screen which had just started showing pictures of Gully as well as information about her career and powers.

"Porygon?" said Armsmaster.

"Yeah," said Aegis. "She handles a majority of our recon, providing info. It means I don't have to make presentations."

Armsmaster hummed, nodding. "And she sometimes does your after action reports," he said.

"Mostly mine, boss man," said Clock. "When I'm too tired and I don't want to get mired in work."

"Understandable," said Armsmaster. "But don't forget what you're asked to do after action reports. It's sometimes less about documenting the information and more about learning from the experience."

"Which is why it's only been a few times," said Clock. "Minor stuff."

"I choose to take your word for it," he said. "It goes without saying that you should welcome Gully to the city. She won't have any friends, which means…"

"No hard feelings," said Aegis. "Right guys?"

Nods, though they were half hearted.

"Onto something else. Phobos, your father told us he told you about the Lung situation," he said. I nodded, the others looked my way. "Lung went to the office of Mr Hebert," Armsmaster explained. "He had a message, that Phobos should clear the record on her fight with Lung."

"Just like that, he decided to go after Phobos' civvies?" said Vista. "But there are rules to this. You don't go after people in their civvies or go after their family."

"We think Lung wants to make a point, put us in a position where the same thing that happened to the Empire happens to him," said Armsmaster. "We're going to acquiesce."

"You're going to be fighting Lung?" said Kid.

Armsmaster nodded. "The Watchdogs already have a location, the Protectorate as a whole will be handling the matter. We're in the planning stages right now."

"He'll be expecting it," said Gallant.

Armsmaster nodded. "He'll expect it, but we'll still come out ahead," he said. "You sent your own message when you went against Shadow Stalker, but we need to send our own. That you're our Wards and you're off limits."

Last edited: May 8, 2018

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

May 20, 2018

#901

Thief

7.4

"Do you have bugs?"

I looked down, surprised because I hadn't been forewarned. But then, Ralts was distracted. I could feel her attention if I focused and it was directed towards a group of kids that were making a game out of chasing Dedenne.

"Bugs are cool," the kid said, because I'd taken a little too long in answering him. "People think they're scary but…" He shook his head. "They're awesome. Dad said he'd get me a spider when I get better. A Terry spider."

"A tarantula?" I said.

The kid shrugged. "Maybe. I dunno. Do you have any bugs?"

"Um…Yeah," I said. "Metapod. But she's not here. She's a pupa, so she can't travel as much as the others."

"Pupa?"

"You know that thing a caterpillar turns into before it becomes a butterfly?"

The kid nodded. "A cocoon?"

I nodded.

"But a living cocoon, even if all she does is stare at you, demanding food. She really likes to eat."

"That's cool," he said, sounding a little disappointed. "But not what I meant."

"Ah. You mean, scary stuff."

"Dad said scary things can be beautiful too," the kid quickly said. "He said they weren't moootally exclusive."

"Mutually," I said.

"Mutually," he repeated, paying attention to the words.

"Yeah. Your Dad's right," I said. "But…I don't have any of those sort of things yet. But I could make one, show it to you when I come back tomorrow."

"Really?" he said, smiling.

"Yeah. But," his smiled dropped, "you'd have to do something for me first."

Rattata.

Rattata, who'd been snoozing on a windowsill so high that none of the kids could disturb her, lifted her head and looked in my direction. I beckoned her forward and she scampered down the wall, deftly moving through the kids, all of which were playing with Pokemon until she was next to us.

"You'll have to catch Rattata."

The kid deflated even more. "I've seen you fighting on the Internet," he said. "I know how quickly the Rat-attack?"

"Rattata," I said.

"I know how fast Rattata is," he said.

I pointed towards the group of kids that were chasing Dedenne. There were six of them and they'd finally worked together so they had Dedenne cornered. Dedenne looked at them, smiling and then he squeaked with his power. A girl, taken by the power, started forward and that was room for Dedenne to move, revitalising the chase.

The kid let out a breath. "This is one of those grown up things, isn't it?" he said. "You want me to play with the other kids?"

"Yes," I said. "It's an important thing to have friends."

"But…all the other kids think I'm a freak," he said, voice lower. "They make fun of me because I still like bugs and stuff."

"There are other kids like you," I said. "Look at the fringes. You'll see them. Maybe hang out with them?"

The kid sighed and looked around the room. There were four in total, a girl that was staring out the window; a boy that was jotting down on a piece of paper, looking towards laughing kids at times before returning to his drawing; and a boy with pink hair tied in pigtails, he was just staring at everyone, a far off look on him.

The kid sighed again and then nodded.

Calm. Boy, I sent to Ralts.

Ralts disappeared on my shoulder and appeared on the boy. The kid looked at Ralts and then back at me, before he started walking to the boy that was drawing on the floor.

"You follow too," I said to Rattata. "Let them catch you at the end."

Rattata left.

I reached at my side and pulled out a Poke Ball, pressing it and the light congealed. That earned me a glance from the kids and I could see others stopping their play to look at Lucario. The Pokemon only stood, not looking at anyone in particular and being my guard.

Ralts was with the kids and Natu was at home. I didn't have any sense of how things were, which I didn't like, but I was protected. Most of the birds were here, even if they were playing, all of the mice were here, with Pachirisu enjoying a bit of pampering as she was brushed by a gaggle. I had my gun if it was needed and there was also the abstract protection that was being in the hospital surrounded by kids.

Lucario grunted and gestured towards the entrance. I looked in the direction and Panacea was walking in, a new facet of her costume being a belt that held her white and grey Poke Balls. She took one and tossed it lightly in the air, it seemed to hit something, cracked open and shot out a beam of light. While that was happening, the ball flew back, going to Panacea's hand.

One of Armsmaster's upgrade, using the same principles that meant Miss Militia couldn't be disarmed, except the ball didn't turn into energy. It was something I was going to integrate into my own balls down the line, but I currently working on the pocket dimension side of things.

Pikachu appeared, looked around and the ran over to Dedenne's group. He joined their play, with Pikachu and Dedenne helping each other out when it seemed like they were cornered.

"People are trying to stealthily take pictures," said Panacea. Both of us consciously didn't look towards the exit, where there was a window looking into the kids' play area.

"I don't mind," I said. "Jeremy said I should look good just in case this happens."

"Your PR guy?"

"Yeah," I said. "Taking a break?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I've got twelve Chanseys working, which means I can rest a little. I need to have a good mental footing because Mom wants me to sit in on a meeting between herself and the Board. We're starting the process of branching out with the Chanseys, and Mom wants them to speak for us, lessen the admin we have to go through."

"Already moving on to another hospital?"

"Another city. Boston or New York," she said. "We want to get a sense of how things will work. The sort of protection the PRT and Protectorate will give, how villains will react to something like this. Things have been surprisingly…civil in Brockton Bay."

"Everyone's worried about something else," I said.

"Yep. What Lady Photon said." She sighed. "And every team sort of has a healer or they're still reshuffling." I raised a brow. "Empire still has their healer, the Undersiders are likely getting their act together, Lung is…Lung, and Uber and Leet have a tinker."

"Right," I said. "Let's thank the craziness."

She hummed at that. "Lung," she said.

I sighed. "Lung. I'm making a video, going to set the record straight," I said. "Armsmaster doesn't like it, says it gives Lung power, but…he went after my Dad. Not taking chances."

"We could gear up again," she said. "We're stronger than we were when we got Shadow Stalker."

I shook my head. "If I did that again, Dad wouldn't trust me," I said. "Then there's the broader implications. The Director punished Aegis, Gallant and Clockblocker, she might do worse now."

"Are they at least doing something about it?" she asked. I took her hand. "Okay."

It wasn't sharing thoughts, but she would know that something was up and it wasn't worth discussing.

"How have things been with Glory Girl?" I asked.

Panacea sighed. She pulled her hand out of my own and reached into her pockets, pulling out her phone. She quickly scrolled through and the showed me pictures of Glory Girl, except she wasn't wearing her usual costume. She was wearing more of a body suit with armour panelling. It was largely white with yellow-gold lines running through it.

"There's also a bulletproof vest," said Panacea. "Mom's been talking about how something like this will be taken, but Vicki's not having any of it."

"Getting shot is no easy thing," I said.

"Getting shot and hurt when you're not used to it is even worse," she said. "I've…been trying to help her, but…" She sighed. "It's good that Dean's been talking to her, helping her as much as he can."

"Yeah," I said. I gave Panacea a look, because there's been something in her voice. "I get the feeling there's a problem there."

Panacea only shrugged.

"Chariot makes a good point about where powers come from," I said.

"Yeah?"

"He thinks it's a similar deal to what Dad and Magi have. That powers are their own entities and they wait for us to give them direction. Armsmaster wants your schedule so it might be a joint project."

"That'll be cool," she said. "I'm—" She stopped at the sound of wood hitting the floor. Wee both starred down and it was a wooden ball. "No. No. No," she said.

"Ralts!" I said and she appeared on my shoulder. Panacea reached for her belt pulled out a ball and threw it. Abra congealed and then appeared on Panacea's shoulder as she caught the ball on its return.

I was already looking around the room, getting a feel for everyone to see if any emotions pointed me in a direction. There was nothing that I could see.

"Porygon," I said, pulling out my phone. The screen blanked. "Teleporters close to Brockton Bay. Swapping things out."

"Trickster," said Porygon, using the same voice she'd been using in our dodge ball game. "A mover cape. A Traveller, Trickster has the ability to teleport objects by switching them out with something of an equivalent size and mass. He seems limited by line of sight."

"Which means he's close," said Panacea, "most likely a window."

She reached for a Poke Ball and returned Pikachu. She disappeared before I could get a word in. The kids had noticed us and they looked scared, medical staff and parents that were outside were getting in the room.

"What's going on, is it an attack?" a parent said.

"Don't know," I said. "Take the kids away just to be safe. Pokemon, to me."

I started returning them in quick succession, sending out Ralts to bring back Natu. By the time I was done, the room was largely empty, with me, Natu and Ralts still in the room. I went to the window and then my surroundings shifted, with me coming to a stop in the roof of the neighbouring building.

I looked around until I found a mannequin just laying on the ground. I grabbed two balls, pressed and they congealed into Ducklett and Lucario.

Natu. Lucario. Ease. Movement.

Natu disappeared and appeared on Lucario.

Ducklett. Search. Panacea. Lead.

Ducklett took off, moving in a large circle before she started flying with vigour. Lucario and I started running, teleporting to other rooftops when Ducklett moved too far. A few seconds and I saw Panacea, standing on Noctowl with Abra hugging her neck.

All at once she disappeared as Noctowl swooped, the bird coming to a stop and flapping its wings.

Lucario and I continued running, teleporting over building tops until we could see the fighting. A cape was on the ground and he disappeared as Noctowl swooped close, Panacea appearing in his place.

Line of sight, which meant Panacea should have been in the air.

I looked up and I could see him falling and I could guess where what he was going to do with such limited options. I sent the information to Natu and I was ready as Lucario disappeared, having grabbed my gun and pointing it in his direction.

He was already stepping back and I knew that he had a plan at the ready even if I didn't know what it was. I shot and then I was violently swapped out, my own shot headed towards me. I disappeared before it could hit me, teleporting at his back and then shooting again. Three quick shots, but he managed to switch himself out with a person I hadn't seen.

I quickly scanned and he was on another rooftop, pulling out a pair of binoculars from the shirt of his costume. He didn't finish, because Panacea was already there, running recklessly towards Trickster in an effort to catch him.

Trickster switched himself out with Panacea and I was already in front of him, leg extended. I hit him in the chest and he stumbled back. I teleported out from his line of sight before he could catch me or Panacea.

Bacteria. Wind. Spread. Alarm.

Lucario appeared and I repeated the message, both of us disappearing before the pathogen could harm us. Noctowl and Ducklett were in the air, circling around, waiting to make their move, but Panacea was already working. Trickster was struggling to get up, coughing up a storm. He tried to look her way, but Panacea saw that coming. A yellow shield appeared, enclosing the both of them.

Panacea was standing over him, speaking and Trickster was still coughing from his body language.

This continued on for a few minutes and I saw Panacea ease. She reached down and pulled out a ball at Trickster's waist, she threw it and Pidove congealed, taking into the air and joining the others. Panacea bent low, finding a hold and touching it. She handed the ball over to Trickster and then disappeared, appearing beside me.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"He has a problem and was working on forcing our help," she said. "I'm…well, I'm hoping we will help him. But the price is that he gives himself up. He has a friend, more than really, that's a Case 53 that could easily go S-Class."

I let out a whistle.

"He took it? The deal?"

She nodded. "He's going to try and weasel his way out of it, but I've changed his body a little," she said. "Gave him something only I can fix. The effects will be felt in a day or so. He'll have to come back one way or another."

Trickster found his way to his feet, looking in our direction before pulling out his binoculars and disappearing, a mannequin left in his place.

"The thing with the bacteria?"

"My power means that I can feel every bit of bacteria in the air," she said. "I changed it in the moment, warping it so it could make him sick. Nothing long term and it quickly burns itself, but it was going to tire him out pretty quickly."

"Nothing wrong with me?"

She found a piece of skin and touched it. "You're fine," she said. "Sorry I roped you into this."

I shrugged. "It's starting to be a trend," I said. "A trend I don't mind because…I really don't feel like doing anything, if that makes sense."

She shook her head.

"Before, I was limited in the number of Pokemon I could make, because of regulations or whatever. But I'm slowly building up my farm and my power's like…Okay. You don't have to do much now, just keep making more babies."

"Not that you mind. You like your babies."

"That I do," I said, smiling. "Chris had the idea that we start working on making our way to another world. I'll be having space issues pretty soon."

"Or you could just buy an island like us and have Vista stretch it out," she said.

"Is that what you did?"

She nodded. "Yep. Building Pokemon that will act as thinker blockers, maybe even a Pokemon that can build illusions. What do you say, a trip like you and Glory Girl did back then."

"We'll have to work around this though, also my trip with Kid Win. We're going to have a meet up with Toybox, geek out over gear."

"Is that a good idea?"

"Is this a good idea?" I said.

"Point," she said. "Do the others know?"

"Leaving that to Kid. He wanted the whole Toybox thing and I'm an awesome friend," I said.

Panacea hummed. "I don't think that's it. Let's go back to the hospital, check that everything's alright."

I returned Lucario and Ducklett, Panacea doing the same with Pidove and Noctowl. We teleported back to the hospital, where Velocity was already waiting for us. He let out a relieved breath.

"Everything alright?" he said.

I nodded. "We had a run-in with Trickster. But it's sorted."

"He managed to slip the noose?"

Panacea nodded.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "The Travellers are a pain to deal with. Powerhouses in their own right."

"We were just lucky not all of them were there," I said. "Only Trickster."

"What did he want?" Velocity asked.

"He managed to steal one of my Poke Balls," said Panacea, her face without expression. "It'll be a pain to get that replaced."

"I'll have to tell Armsmaster about that," said Velocity. "Maybe have him work up security measures because this sort of tech getting out could be dangerous. Especially if it's improved upon."

"And they have Uber and Leet working, even tangentially, with them," I said, realising that the minor villains were still working together, they had no reason to stop now, even with the Elite having gone quiet.

Velocity let out a low sigh. He looked around. "Are you still up for going ahead with this?" he asked. "Or should we go back to base? I know you don't like putting your pets in danger."

"It's okay," I said, I smiled because there were still some kids waiting, looking at me with pleading eyes. "I doubt it'll happen a second time."

"Fuck," said Velocity. He looked around, letting out a relieved breath when the kids were still to far away to hear him. "Forgot to ask about your Pokemon. He doesn't have it, does he?"

Panacea shook her head. "We were lucky he caught an empty ball."

"More credence to the fact that he was just trying to steal the ball," said Velocity. He reached into his costume and pulled out a phone. "Is New Wave busy with anything?"

"Parents are waiting on a move from the Empire," said Panacea. "They said it's only a matter of time before they made a move with Merchant territory up for grabs."

Velocity nodded. "Wards will have to handle this," he said. "You guys aren't up to anything?"

"Nothing that I'm aware of," I said.

He nodded. "I'll stick around a bit and then leave, that okay?"

"Yeah," I said. "Going to spend most of my time with Panacea anyway."

"Okay," he said. He moved quickly and then he was in front of a group of kids. In the blink of an eye, a girl with long hair had her hair tied in an ornate hairstyle. Before she could even register this, more people's hair changed with the parents sporting ridiculous looks.

The kids seemed to enjoy it.

"He can cold read," I said under my breath, summoning my Pokemon and having them join the fun.

"You think…"

I shrugged. "Maybe he's mind is not all in on this," I said. "He's dealing with stuff."

Fire. Creature. Dragon. Lungs.

"Oh," she said. "They all are?"

I nodded.

"People are busy," she said. "Even you. Makes me feel like I just laze around in comparison."

"We're teenagers," I said. "Lazing is what we do."

"That and going to the mall," she said.

"Is that a proposition?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," I said. "We'll make a day of it. Maybe a girl's day out?"

"Yeah. Thirty minutes here, give the others time to get themselves sorted and then we leave?"

"Cool."

Last edited: May 20, 2018

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

May 20, 2018

#902

AN: There was a chapter posted before this chapter. If you haven't seen it, check that out first.

Thief

7.5

"Definitely not Brockton Bay," said Victoria. She was putting on make-up, Crystal beside her, the girl fixing her own hair. "Maybe not even America if we can help it. Imagine it, an afternoon shopping in the boutiques in Paris."

"Isn't it night in Paris?" said Crystal.

"And budget," I said. "I have no idea how the exchange rate tracks from here to there."

Victoria, using the mirror, scowled in our direction. "Spoil sports," he said. "Please tell me you're not going to be a wet blanket, Ames. Let's go to Paris."

Amy shifted a little and Victoria deflated. "Isn't that illegal? Just showing up in another country without going through their boarder control?"

"It is," said Victoria. "And we'd get in a lot of trouble for doing it. It would be setting a bad precedent because boarder control is pretty crummy to begin with when powers are involved. How do you stop someone from just flying over the boarder? Or just teleporting through? Or maybe just running through if they have the right power? But luckily most people don't do that."

"What about that smuggling group?" said Crystal. She frowned, thinking. "Can't remember their names. You spoke about them once."

Victoria shook her head. "Don't remember. But it doesn't matter, they're criminals, right? That's their entire deal." She sighed. "Which is why that can't happen. But we can teleport. Maybe New York."

"We could just fly to New York," said Crystal.

"I can't fly," I said.

"And that would be making too much of a scene," said Victoria. "Though it might mean maybe seeing Legend, and if our luck's just right, Alexandria might be in the area and we might say hello."

"Wishful thinking," I said. "But wishful thinking I could get behind. Go out in costume?"

"That might be more trouble than it's worth. We don't know how New York works."

"It would be fun, though," I said. "I've never been to New York."

Victoria gave me an aghast look. "You can teleport," she said. "You're one of the greats, maybe on a level with Strider. Why would you do that to yourself?"

"I suddenly feel a little guilty for not travelling more," I muttered. "But even then, it's not exactly easy. My Pokemon would have to have gone there in the first place, or just see the place line of sight."

Victoria shook her head, looking disappointed.

"First thing we did was have each of us fly Sabrina to every major city so she could have teleporting points," said Crystal.

"I can't fly," I said.

"You should get working on that," said Amy. "It's exhilarating."

"Pidgeotto is getting bigger," I said. "He'll be my mount when he gets big enough."

"We could push it along."

I shook my head. "Don't want to rush things. Even if the idea of flying is something that appeals to me."

Amy shrugged.

"Crystal, we could broaden the horizons, right? I fly to New York and you to Boston, teleport back so Natu and Ralts have the teleport points?"

"I can get go to New York," said Amy. "While you finish up your make up."

"Thanks, sis," said Victoria. "Maybe while the both of you are gone, I can convince Taylor to give makeup a try."

"No thank you," I said. "And I'll be saying no, throughout."

Crystal and Amy quickly got into their costumes and then left, leaving me with Victoria who was immersed on dolling herself up.

"Amy told me about the costume change," I said. Victoria stopped a little, glancing at me through the mirror before she continued.

She sighed a little. "You get shot and you sort of see how smart it is to have armour," she said, shrugging.

"I still don't understand it, though. You're an Alexandria package. You're invulnerable."

"Not entirely true," she said. "It's something we keep on the down low, but…I have a shield that I can turn on and off. It can take a hit, but it shorts out and has recharge time. It works better for people to think that I have invulnerability, projecting strength, that sort of thing, but…it's not something I'm willing to stake my life over."

"That makes sense," I said. "But…you don't have a civilian life. It's not like you can wear armour all of the time."

"Not entirely," she said. "Blasto has a fungus mask that offers some sort of protection. Amy's going to make me and the rest of the family one, insurance against any other errant shooters."

"She's going to make a flesh suit?"

Victoria nodded, smiling a little. "She's been…better, since you two buddied up. I think it might be collection of things, like the Chanseys she has, but…she's spending less time at the hospital which I like."

"Does she know this?" I asked. When we'd talked, Amy had put being a good person above everything else. I wanted to know her thoughts without breaking her confidence. "That you didn't like the whole hospital thing?"

"Yes. Told her as much as I could, but she was adamant," she said. She shrugged and then sighed. "But there was only so much I could say without forcing her to not do what she wanted."

"Amy can be headstrong at the best of times," I said, smiling a little.

"You can say that again," Victoria said. "But that's a Dallon thing."

Amy was the first to return, with Ralts on her shoulder. I picked up Ralts' ball and pointed it at her, she disappeared, being sucked into the ball.

"What are you guys talking about?" said Amy. She took a sit on Victoria's bed.

"The flesh suit you're making," said Victoria.

"You actually saw it in action," said Amy. I raised a brow. "It's why I can stand on Noctowl without worrying about all the changes. I interface a little into him so that I could get a sense of how he's moving. I also have this soup between the suit and me to absorb some of the force from abruptly changing directions."

"That is…amazing," I said. "When did you have time to get through all of this?"

Amy shrugged. "You've had a full plate with your tinkering and running a farm," she said. "I have a little more time because things are sort of slowed until we open up communication between other hospitals."

"Only a matter of time before Mom ropes you in on a combat situation," said Victoria.

Amy brightened at that.

My phone buzzed and I checked it, a message from Porygon with a link. I pressed it and I was redirected to a video.

"What's going on?" asked Amy, coming to stand so she could see my phone as I watched the video.

"Parian, the rogue," I said. Amy and Victoria were looking at me. "She's opening a boutique in a week."

Victoria frowned. "She was in school, wasn't she?" she said. "She hasn't even completed her degree and she already has the funding to be opening up shop?"

"She's a rogue," I said. "Could be, people want to be connected to a cape. Even if she doesn't make it through genius designs, there's a novelty in what she's doing."

"Or it's the Elite," said Amy. "They pushed money into me and what I'm doing even if they don't directly benefit. It could be the same thing here, getting a rogue under their control."

I groaned. "Does this mean this is something we have to focus on?" I said. "Round two of the Elite?"

"It's not like there's anything we can do, is there?" said Victoria. "Even if the money she's been give was illegally gotten, it's not how we deal with things. That's Watchdog territory."

"We could talk to her," said Amy. "Tell her that working with the Elite is really dangerous. Offer avenues she could turn to if things turn bad."

"Porygon, do you think you can find Parian?" I said.

Not even a second and I got an e-mail with a location. Most likely Porygon had intuited the trend of our conversation and was already preparing things before I'd asked.

"Do we go now or after our trip?" I asked.

"This will be hanging over the day if we don't do it first," said Amy. "Better we just get it over with, ask her what's going on and if she needs our help."

We waited for Crystal before taking off, teleporting downtown and then walking. It was suspect that I was walking around with members of New Wave and it might lead to certain people asking maybe the wrong question, but if felt like my civilian identity was so far gone that it wasn't worth caring about. I didn't have to go to school; I didn't live in Brockton Bay anymore and my only friends were the Wards or New Wave.

I couldn't help wondering if certain people might see the types of friends I had and call me snob, only wanting to hang out with the 'upper class.'

We arrived in front of the nameless store and there were people in side, packing up the remnants of the previous store. Peeking inside, I could see Parian, fully dressed in costume, talking to another cape, Canvas, I remembered. We weren't the only people there, a few members of the press were taking pictures, which in turn meant that more people were coming to stand at the front of the store, looking in.

I heard muttering beside me and I glanced towards Victoria, she was looking around her breathing a little faster.

"Maybe we should leave, com—"

"Glory Girl," I heard. "Oh my god it is." People started turning in our direction, phones up and others reaching into their bags.

Victoria looked around and the flew up, going to a rooftop. Crystal called forward a red shield, using it to hide from sight. Amy called out her Abra and the three of us disappeared, appearing on the rooftop beside Victoria.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Just…"

"It's okay," said Crystal. "We weren't expecting a crowd."

"We can just leave, if you want," said Amy. "We were prepared for having a relatively light day."

"No. No," said Victoria. "If Parian is in some sort of trouble, then I wouldn't forgive myself for just wussing out because…of whatever this is."

"We could go in armoured. She's in her costume," I said.

"People will have pictures of you," said Crystal. "They might be able to connect the dots."

I shrugged. "I think at this point every villain knows where I live," I said. "It doesn't matter if other people do, too."

"It's not that simple," said Victoria. "Having your cape ID known by everyone…"

"I know there'll likely be complications, but…it's sort of better in the long run," I said. "Right now I'm sort of stuck in this place where my Pokemon can't explore. They're either at the farm, at base or your house, but between that are long stretches where they're in stasis. But if I didn't have a civilian identity, then I might be able to just have them out whenever I want."

Victoria shrugged. "Let's do it, then."

888

Putting on the flesh suits seemed like an intensive process, Panacea doing most of the work and warping the thing so it stuck to Victoria.

"I've got threads growing out of it," she explained, "and they interface with Vicki's muscles so that she'll be able to translate movement of the suit just by directing her body. Of course I'm still working on ways to streamline the process which is why this is taking so long."

"Doesn't it need brain work?" I asked.

I caught the glances shared by Glory Girl and Laserdream, looking at each other and then slyly trying to look in our direction. I had to wonder what was going on there. It was clear at this point that Panacea could work on brains, otherwise getting inspiration from powers and building her own Pokemon would have been impossible. But she'd spent all that time saying she couldn't. How was the family dealing with that? Were they even dealing with it? Or was it one of those things that the family kept quiet about, watching and waiting for Amy to make the first move, to explain what was going on?

It seemed stupid, that something would just be in sort of stasis like that, but the same thing was true for us. We'd talked about her liking girls and it had been uncomfortable, with Amy stuttering through most of it, her face red. But it wasn't a subject we'd ever broached again and I did want to because it might be pushing her when she wasn't ready.

"Not brain work," said Amy. "I spent some time feeling out movement, the made the process slow, started at the complex bits, the hands and fingers, the face so it could replicate the expressions beneath, but everything else is simpler. This is just a hook up to muscles, certain muscular movements eliciting certain reactions from the suit."

"What about Glory Girl's shield? Does it just grow over it and everything she wears? I'm still not sure about the details."

"She knows about more than me," said Panacea.

"Um…it's an abstract sort of thing," Glory Girl said. "My power seems to have a concept of me and warps around them. Part of being me includes my clothes, so it melds around them. The same is true for the flesh suit."

"Is that a trend?" I said. "Powers having an understanding of abstractions?"

Victoria shrugged. "It's one of the fundamental questions behind how powers do what they do," she said. "But beyond that…" She shrugged again.

"And, done," said Amy. "At least this iteration of the suit. We should get going?"

Nods were shared and the scenery shifted, Ralts transporting me back into the street in front of Parian's shop and then quickly into the shop. We'd been gone long enough that Parian and Canvas had moved and I could see that Fauves was in the room too, in their breaker form and just standing.

"Phobos," said Canvas when she noticed. She felt happy and excited, but she was trying to restrain herself. "And New Wave. This is cool."

"And unexpected," said Parian, nervous. I couldn't see anything from her body language, but I had Ralts on my shoulder and soon Natu, which meant I could read the entire room. "What do I owe the pleasure?"

Glory Girl was the one who spoke, turning and looking away from the people that were taking pictures through the window. "We saw that you were opening this place and were curious," she said. "We were lucky that you were here."

"Fixing the place up," said Parian, still that under current of nervousness, but there was an anxiety there. "I want this opening to go well. I'm hoping I inspire more rogues," she said.

"Which is cool," said Laserdream. "Phobos and Panacea are sort of going through similar paths…if you squint a little. Panacea's mostly doing it non-profit, while Phobos is working through an institution."

"Is that why you've sort of gone dark?" said Canvas. "After the whole Undersiders thing, you haven't been doing much on the hero front."

I shrugged. "I have a farm," I said. "I've been taking care of that more than anything. Making sure that there are more healers to help the heroes out."

"Farm? In Brockton Bay?" said Canvas.

"Perks of being able to teleport," said Parian. "You don't really have to live in Brockton Bay, do you?"

I shrugged.

"Must be rich. Summer home, somewhere?" she asked.

I didn't answer, because I couldn't. Instead I felt a strong surge of emotion from Canvas. I felt the strongest sense of familiarity, of knowing that this wasn't true and restraining herself from saying it out loud. She knew who I was, I was sure of it.

"No. It's a long story," I said. "Safe to say I'm on witness protection."

I felt the frown from Parian. "I think I read or heard something about this," she said. "Shadow Stalker attacked you or something?" I nodded. "But isn't she a Ward?"

"She was, but she was…unstable, putting it lightly," I said.

"Do you guys want to have coffee somewhere that isn't here?" Amy asked. "We could show you the perks of being able to teleport. Maybe go to a small town and let them see capes?"

"Fuck me, yes," said Canvas. She looked at Parian. "I'm sorry, I know we were talking shop, but—"

"I get it," said Parian. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted."

"Come on," said Laserdream, flying forward and taking Parian's arm. "It'll be fun."

There was a jumble of emotion I couldn't entirely read, but they were intense. I felt as Parian paid an exorbitant amount of attention to where Laserdream was holding her arm.

The urge to direct Amy towards this hit me like a freight train, but then I stopped. This wasn't right, right? You didn't just point a lesbian to another lesbian because they were both lesbians, right? But then, if it was a cute boy, wouldn't I want to look towards them and drink them in? Let myself be a teenager?

Fuck it. If it was a faux pas, then I'd deal with it later, but: Doll. Girl. Girl. Love. Question.

Panacea glanced in my direction. I opened my eyes, rolling them towards Parian. I caught a frown from Panacea and then saw as there was realisation.

Negation, she said.

Shrug. Opportunity. Take. Question. Choice. You.

Complicated, she sent back. Fear. Rejection.

Opportunity.

"Hey," said Glory Girl, bumping into Panacea and me. "Rude, much."

"What's going on? What were they doing?"

"Having a conversation without us," she said.

"Ooh, can I join?" said Laserdream. She reached for her own Poke Ball and summoned Sigilyph.

Conversation. Subject. Question, she said.

"It's nothing," said Amy and I was sure she was blushing.

"Riiight," said Laserdream. She looked towards Parian, who was looking over everything with bemusement. "Have you agreed yet?" she asked. "Because I'm going lightly. Vicki decides to join in, and you won't have a choice but to agree with her."

"Um…I'm expecting someone," she said.

"We don't mind waiting," I said. "Were planning to go shopping anyway. Nothing hectic for the day."

"Shopping," said Parian and there was a peak of interest. "Where?"

"Haven't really decided, but we were thinking New York," said Glory Girl, she was smiling lightly.

"This…would help my work," she said, less to us and more to herself. "Visiting various boutiques and seeing the trends."

"You could deduct it as a business expense," said Panacea, the words coming out slow and stilted. So nervous that it was hard to parse that it'd been a joke. I got the strongest impression of cringe from her.

She must have sent it to Laserdream, because I caught her frown and her looking between us.

"Yeah," said Parian. "Yes. That could work. But…won't it look odd if we're just in costume. I'm…not comfortable being in my civilian identity yet."

"Ditto," said Canvas. "If…I'm not overstepping and I wasn't actually invited," she said, self-conscious.

"You're totally invited," I said. "Consider it an apology for how things went with Bitch. I wasn't as friendly as I wanted to be, back then."

"No, it's cool," said Canvas. "Water under the bridge." But I could feel that the words meant a lot to her.

"So we're just going to go out in costume?" said Parian.

Glory Girl shrugged. "It'll make someone's day, at least."

888

New York.

It was early evening and we were enjoying coffee el fresco. People here were different in that they seemed a little more used to capes. Some took pictures, but they did it so they didn't get in anyone's way. A quick picture and then they were moving, occasionally there would be a gaggle that wanted a picture with us.

It was charming.

"This place is amazing," said Canvas. Fauves, who I'd found out was her brother, had declined the invitation, giving off the sense that he would be quickly bored with the novelty of teleportation.

"Tell me about it," said Laserdream. "It's…I hate that it makes it clear how bad things are in Brockton Bay when you compare the two."

"Yeah," said Parian. She was sitting with Panacea to her left and Canvas to her right. I was beside Amy, Glory Girl beside me and beyond her Laserdream. I'd positioned things this way, much to Panacea's displeasure. "But if feels like things are getting better. Or is that just me?"

"You're talking about the Merchants?" said Canvas. "Because if it's that. I agree. Things are changing, even if how they change can be hard."

"More they change, though, the more they stay the same," I said. That earned the other's attention. "Suppose it's okay to tell you this since I'm going to make a video this evening, but…you guys know of the Elite?"

Parian didn't say anything, but I still had Ralts on my shoulder and I could feel her slight panic. I wasn't the only one who noticed, because Panacea shot a glance in her direction.

Canvas shook her head.

"They're these masterminds that try and take over cities," said Glory Girl. "They control the local capes, local businesses and even the local villains. They're in Brockton Bay trying to take over."

Canvas frowned. "So, the Empire and Merchants being taken down. That was all them?"

"No, that was us," I said. "But some things are." I took a breath. "Lung, that 'fight' I had with him. I wasn't really fighting him, but it was staged by the Elite. As far as we can figure it, they were trying to call in the Triumvirate to take him out of the picture. Maybe you saw the Internet chatter?"

"Yeah," she said. "You mean. You didn't really fight back?"

I shook my head.

"Fuck, that…I don't know how to feel about that," she said. She sighed. "You know, that was like, my hope spot, that Lung could be taken down and that I didn't have to be on the watch out for him when my parentage eventually gets out."

"You're Asian?" said Laserdream.

Canvas nodded. "Yeah. Me and my brother." She sighed. "My brother, they tried to recruit him and when he refused, some idiot that were his friends tried to hook him on the bad stuff." She sighed again. "Thankfully, he got away because he triggered, but that means Lung might be looking for us, wanting us to join his ranks."

"Fuck," said Parian.

"Why didn't you join the Wards?" Glory Girl asked.

Canvas looked down, shrugging. She took a breath, feeling an inward directed stupidity as she said, "Phobos could handle Lung. That made me feel like me and Fauves could do the same if we practised, got stronger and worked our way up until we took him down. But if that's not true, then…Fuck."

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling guilty even if I didn't know why.

Canvas shook her head. "It was stupid," she said. "I mean, Lung's been around a long time. That's for a reason. To just rock up and think that I could take him down…Ego, am I right?"

There was a moment of silence.

"At least he'll be unsettled," said Glory Girl. "Whatever new reality we'll have to face at the end of all of this."

"Small mercies," said Canvas.

"Well," said Laserdream. "All of us being wet blankets."

"Yeah," said Panacea, still speaking like she was a lot of attention to what she said, how she said it. "Your shop," she said, smiling, though it seemed forced. "That must have taken a lot. The loan process on its own must have been a headache."

Deer in headlights.

"You're really into the business stuff, aren't you?" Parian said, the same sort of focus in her voice that I felt from Panacea.

"Yeah. Spent time having to think about loans when I still needed financing," she said. "I thought about going to a bank, researching it and it killed me knowing all the stuff that I would have to go through. Sure, I might have a little leeway because I was a cape and what I was doing was novel, but…I don't even have credit history."

Parian didn't say anything, instead I felt a complicated mix of emotions.

"I'm a little lucky on that front since I don't have to worry a lot about starting capital," I said. "I'm getting a lot of money from the work my Pokemon are doing. Sure a lot of it goes towards feeding them and keeping them happy, but I have a bit left over that I can put into projects like the wool or silk thing."

Parian still said nothing. I felt a rising suspicion running off of Canvas, and when I glanced her way, she was looking at all of us and then towards Parian.

"Humans are pattern seeking machines," said Canvas. "Can't help but see the previous talk about the Elites, the use of the word mastermind which makes me think they work beneath in the shadows, and hear all this talk about money. Parian…?" But she didn't continue.

Parian was stock still, more nervous because all of us were looking at her.

"Parian," said Glory Girl. "These people are really dangerous. They give and they expect something in return."

"They didn't expect anything," she said, her anxiety so palpable that I felt Ralts wanting to skirt away from feeling them. Ralts liked immersing herself in happy emotions than the sad. I pushed back and focused more on using Natu to read the situation.

"I thought that this was too good to be true, so I read up on it," she said. "I'm dealing with Uppercrust and he's above board, even the Protectorate and PRT work with him. But then, even with that, I was suspicious until he told me what was going on. He wanted the whole rogue thing to work out. They tried before, when they weren't the Elite, and they were stopped by legislation. But by sponsoring rogues in business, he limits the laws that can be put in place because at some point it becomes discrimination."

"Aren't these guys criminals, though," said Canvas.

"Criminals that are sometimes advantageous to work with," said Panacea. "It's…we're not judging, not going to think you're committing the same evils as them, because…that would be hypocritical."

Parian looked at Panacea in confusion.

"The site that I have to collect donations," she said. "I'm sure a large part of the money comes from the Elite, but I just roll with it because I can do good with it."

The same thing was going on with my Dad, but I didn't want to just say that because it might ruin things for the city.

"So, if you've thought this through and it makes sense, then, who are we to stand in your way?" said Panacea. "Just…if things look like they're starting to get sketchy, you can always come talk to us."

Parian eased a little.

Last edited: May 20, 2018

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ManMag

May 20, 2018

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Threadmarks Thief: 7.6

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ManMag

ManMag

Him/He

Jun 17, 2018

#911

Thief

7.6

"Stupid," said Carlos, "all of those things are stupid."

I raised both of my hands in surrender. "All of them not my ideas. I'm just going along with them."

"Not exactly any better," said Dean. He was sitting with Vicki nestled into him. We were in Texas, sitting in a large tract of forest with sofas we'd brought along with the trip, and a small coffee table spread out with an assortment of food. Hondour and Lucario were our guard, their ears and sense of smell were amazing, which meant if any of the neighbouring wildlife came close, we'd know they were coming.

Victoria had bemoaned me for not travelling enough and this was a start of that, but I was more comfortable travelling with a group than alone.

"You're an enabler," Dean said.

I shrugged.

Carlos took a long breath and then slowly let it out, fingers rubbing the bridge of his nose. Spearow, who'd been flying close with Pidove and Chatot, flew towards Carlos and snuggled into him. Carlos let out a huffed breath and then eased.

"If the higher-ups find out about this…" he said and faltered. "I don't even know what they'll do because…Why? Why?"

"In my case, it's altruism," said Amy.

"Dangerous altruism," said Eric. "Opens you up to a lot of danger. Especially when there are safer options. That Case 53 chick that's going to be the new Ward boss."

Crystal slapped her brother's shoulder. "It's horrible that she's not even here and you're already thinking of her as some experiment for Amy to work off of," she said.

Eric shrugged. "Something like this, if it worked, could revolutionise the world. Above and beyond everything Amy's already done. Someone has to be the first guinea pig."

"That wouldn't be a good idea," said Dean. "Just for the resentment, even on a subconscious level, that it might cause if it didn't work. From a utilitarian stand point, it's better if the person that's being worked on is a little further off. It'd be easier to field disappointment that way."

"No. No. No," said Carlos. "I know the trend now. Enough of us speak in favour of something and it gains traction. Pretty soon we don't care about the consequences and we start planning how to do it."

"Ship's pretty much sailed on that front," said Dennis. "We're taking steps to hide this information from the higher ups. I'm betting that Chris already has his blocker active."

"I'm getting the feeling this isn't ya'll's first rodeo," said Trevor, in the worst Texan accent ever.

"This is how the whole thing with Shadow Stalker started," Missy explained. "Back then, we were thinking about hitting E88 before we decided it was too dangerous."

"Must've been a split-second decision since I missed it," said Marcus.

"It was," said Eric. "Emotionally charged. We rationalised it, saying it wasn't, but it really was."

"Then, let's try and make this not emotionally charged," said Carlos. "Pros and cons of all of this. Starting with the more important, at least from a societal level: Working on this Case 53 that they have."

"It's a possible S-Class," said Dennis. "That speaks for itself."

"But is that true?" said Eric. "Possible S-Class that's just been what? Hiding? That seems improbable."

"Improbable and impossible are two different things," said Missy. "Anyway, we can fact check it with Porygon, can't we?"

"Already did," said Amy. I'd left her to deal with Porygon just like I'd left Chris to deal with speaking with the others. I was going to help in all of this, but I wasn't about to make it my full priority.

"The Travellers are perhaps the most powerful group that's naturally formed," said Amy. "Strangely so because their weakest member looks like it might be Trickster and that's because his power isn't raw offence. They're made up of Sundancer, a woman that can call a miniature sun with all that entails; Ballistic, a man that can touch things and send them rocketing off at supersonic speeds; Genesis, a high changer that can transform into a variety of forms; and Perdition, his power has to do with time.

"Triggers don't make sense, which means I can't just make a blanket statement like, 'since the others are so powerful, we can infer that the unknown member is equally powerful.' But from reports Porygon managed to compile, one of them has the power to make people disappear."

All of us were sitting straighter now.

"Disappear how?" Missy asked.

"I don't know," she said. "The Traveller change cities after every incident. They were in Boston before coming to Brockton Bay, and there were minor reports there of Case 53s that were on a rampage before Trickster dealt with them."

"Multiple Case 53s?" said Victoria. She sat up. "How?"

Amy shrugged. "For how powerful they are, there's surprisingly little on the Travellers beyond how powerful they are."

"I don't know a lot, but a part of me wants to think they're making Case 53s and that's its own level of scary. When you look at the raw data, Case 53 are often more powerful than non-transformed capes."

"Could also explain the whole amnesia thing if she'd birthing them," said Trevor.

"That only works if they Travellers are really old," said Chris. "Which doesn't track."

Trevor gave a shrug. "Just spit balling."

"Credence to the whole S-Class thing," said Carlos. "Which means this is serious. The type of serious that we shouldn't think about dealing about ourselves because of the ramifications."

He looked around, waiting for someone to say otherwise, but no one did. It would be cool for our cred if we could say we'd made sure a possible S-Class threat was neutered before it could form, but it would be the height of arrogance. It wasn't likely that we'd be able to do the risk assessment that might end with us pulling off something like this, which meant there was more room for error, and with how S-Class threats worked, the devastation they could doll out was incredible.

"We tell the Protectorate and the rest of New Wave," said Carlos. "We let them show us the way to move forward in all of this." He looked more at Eric as he spoke.

Eric gave him a nod.

"Amy," Carlos continued. "We'll work on a joint presentation. Taylor, you mind consulting on it if you're going to be helping. The type of work the two of you think you might be able to bring in."

Amy and I nodded.

"Now the thing with Toybox," said Carlos.

Chris sighed. "I wish I could say something like, I'm doing it to better my tinker ability, but honesty, I just want to check out the tech that they have."

"It could be a trap," said Carlos. "Toybox are working with the Undersiders, Uber and Leet, and, possibly, they nabbed Squealer. This could be a campaign of theirs to get all of our tinkers."

"That really doesn't make sense with how Toybox works," said Chris. "More than anything they are about tinkering. To steal tinkers, it would mean that they're going against their core tenants."

"And yet Squealer's still not been seen since the Merchants were taken down," said Carlos. "That's suspect."

"This is a no, then?" said Chris. "I can't do this?"

"I'm sorry, but, I need a compelling reason," said Carlos. "Beyond that you just want to. You're taking a lot of risks for negligible gains."

Chris took a breath, held it and then let it out. "Okay," he said, in a tone that didn't convince me in the least. I glanced towards Dean, trying to read him and he didn't give anything away.

"Taylor," said Carlos, and I started a little because I'd been trying to get a sliver of what Chris was feeling from Dean. Most likely, he already knew what he was trying to do, even with my minor resistance to his power.

"Yeah?"

"You've been facilitating communication," he said. "That's got to stop." I glanced at Chris and I couldn't read him. I shrugged and just nodded. "Same order to Porygon."

Chris let out a short sigh, folded his arms and sat back. We'd been planning to spend the day, enjoy our time here, but suddenly there was an awkward air around everything. I took a bite of the food much like everyone else, ran my hand over Hondour, but after a while we all decided that maybe it was a good idea if we returned to the Bay.

"I'm going to be heading home," I said. "Spend some time with the 'mons."

"Mind if I join you?" said Missy. "I haven't really seen the place."

"Yeah. I mean, no. I don't mind," I said, giving her a smile.

888

"Sorry about the mess," I said. "But I've got a few new Pokemon around and I'd rather not take risks."

"It's okay," said Missy. "This is cool too." She found a chair and sat down, going to her belt and pulling at her three Poke Balls. She pressed them and they congealed into Dedenne, Pachirisu and Emolga. Dedenne looked around, shooting a look in my direction before she darted to Missy, going onto her shoulder giving her a nuzzle before coming to me.

I smiled, letting him settle in front of me and running my hand over him while I sat down, preparing myself to check things over before I started walking through the farm with Missy. My lab was a mess, a consequence of having too many ideas and working from multiple angles. One corner was filled with Poke Ball shells and as well cubes covered with reddish brown wire, there I was working on building the pocket dimension, linking it a feed that would allow the Pokemon to see the outside world while it lived in comfort, there were also notes on the stasis function, having it go on and off, just in case a Pokemon was hurt while it was in the Poke Ball.

Another corner had rods of varying lengths. Seventy percent of the energy I was using to make Pokemon still came from Armsmaster's energy cells, which didn't make any sense when I had Pokemon that could generate electricity. I was thinking about outfitting the sheep's kraal with rods that would draw electricity towards them and send it to containment units. Then there was just the mess of Poke Balls I regularly requisitioned and the various tools that could be used for each job.

The computer wasn't off, instead the monitor was. I put it on and immediately information was fed to me. Porygon's programs sometimes didn't know why certain things worked and other didn't, but they knew when things might not work when they were auto-generating Pokemon. Which meant I had a list of data to look over, flagging the areas and having the programs compile the new data so it could fix the problems. I checked and I had twenty iterations to go through. I pushed that back, adding it to the list of other iterations I was supposed to look through.

I checked the Pokemon that were complete. Five in total. I did a double check over their data, seeing if there wasn't anything I should be worried about, as well as going down the list of things I didn't want. The most important of which was that they couldn't reproduce. That done, I took the Poke Balls and put empty balls into the pads.

"More Abra?" Missy asked.

"Dogs," I said. "At least four of them are. The last is a Pokemon large enough for me to ride."

"Why?" she said. "You can teleport."

"For the fun? Teleporting is cool and all, but it's gotten stale at this point. I really like Bitch's whole riding dog things. Which is why Hondour is growing so much. But that's taking too long."

"So you made a bigger dog? Isn't that going to hurt her feelings?"

"Which is why this isn't a dog," I said. "It's a deer. Because that would definitely hurt her feelings. It's also the reasons I haven't made a bigger bird even though I can feel the ideas in my head. It might hurt Pidgeotto's feelings."

Missy shrugged. "I don't get that from him," she said. "He's been distracted lately."

"You've noticed too? It's all I can do to have him come with me anymore. I think this whole thing has started getting boring for him."

"Well, you're not as in much danger now like you were before. You can teleport, Lucario can protect you pretty well and you've been training. Maybe he thinks you don't need him as much?"

I sighed. "Yeah. And the other birds around her have been taking up my attention a lot," I said. "You don't mind if we visit their nest, right? It's been a while since I've seen it."

"We can do whatever," she said. "I just really like being here."

"First though, let's meet these guys and give them names."

We left my lab and I released the others when we were outside. Most of them left, while Hondour, Rattata and Ducklett stayed. I took the first of the new Poke Balls and pressed it. It shot out a stream of light and congealed into a small form. The Pokemon had green fur with yellow lines starting from its snout and running through to its ears; it had jagged points and a short-pointed tail with yellow fur.

It looked around for a second and then shot off towards us, looking excited as it yipped, barking at our heels. I bent low, running my hand over its fur and feeling a low thrill of electricity run through me. Dedenne, who'd been on my shoulder jumped off, landing in front of the small dog, sharing electricity with it. Pachirisu and Emolga followed suit.

"Another electricity 'type,'" she said.

"Yeah. More power into the mix," I said. "That and he was an idea I had early on that I sort of pushed to the side. I've been doing a lot of passion projects lately."

"Cool. What's his name?"

"It's awesome that you can tell their gender like that." Missy only shrugged. "Haven't thought about it yet. What do you think?"

The moment of calm between the three stopped as the dog shot towards Hondour, snuggling into her and then yipping again. Hondour let out a groan, barked and then Dedenne squealed, starting to run. The dog started to chase, moving quickly, trying to catch Dedenne. The dog was faster, but it was still young and Dedenne outmanoeuvred it, turning on the dime and causing the dog to slide as it tried to turn.

"Electrike," said Missy.

"I like it," I said. Another Poke Ball and this time the Pokemon had stripping like a tiger though I could see the dog shining through. It looked around, got close and sniffed my hand when I offered it. I ran my hand over its head and it closed its eyes, leaning in. When I stopped, it stayed in place, looking at me expectantly. "You can go play if you want."

The dog looked around and then moved over to Hondour who was lying on her paws.

"Growlithe," I said.

"How did you get that?"

"The name has a threat to it," I said. "Makes me think of a guard dog and he might have the temperament for it."

Missy shrugged. The next was a humanoid dog with a dull brown body, though its tail was secreting different coloured paint.

"Canvas?"

I nodded. "I like her power, makes me wish I had that artistic touch."

Missy snorted. "She said while creating a whole host of Pokemon that, though looked close to real world animals, are entirely different."

"Okay," I said, smiling. "Maybe I'm blowing it out of proportions. But her power's cool."

"Every other power is cool except yours," said Missy.

"You've felt the same way?"

"So much. I wish I had Victoria's powers," she said. "I mean, Carlos' too, but they're too gross while Victoria's are a little cleaner."

"If I'm hearing it right, it's the same thing I…" I glanced in Hondour's direction and stopped. She noticed, giving me an imperceptible look. "It's the same thing we were talking about before."

"Yeah. Maybe a little. Flying is awesome, though."

"Right?" I said. "People that can fly have no idea how good they have it."

"She said when she fully expects that she'll be able to fly soon."

"Shut up, you," I said. "Anyway, I could just…that's probably a bad idea."

"What is?"

"It'll be a brown note even telling you."

"Come on," she said. "Tell me. I'm not going to tell anyone."

"That's not the problem. Apparently, I've become an enabler lately, and I can't help but think that this is me continuing down that path."

Missy's eyes shone. "You were going to make a flying Pokemon, weren't you?" I didn't say anything, but the answer was most obviously yes. "Okay. Wow. You were right, because right now I more than want a flying Pokemon."

"And I'm not going to be an enabler," I said, hands raised in surrender. "Talk to Carlos and convince him. Which, when I think about it, he'll blame me for putting the idea in your head."

"He totally will," said Missy. "Which is why it makes the most sense to just make me a Pokemon and get it over with. We both know Carlos is going to agree anyway, so why are we still even talking about this?"

I took a long breath and then sighed. "I'll make a Pokemon. But whether I give it to you or not depends on both your parents and Aegis."

Missy groaned. "Fine," she said. "What's this guy's name?"

The humanoid dog wasn't looking at us, she hadn't been looking it us for a long while. Instead she was taking everything in, the paint flowing off her tail changing colours more as she looked around. She moved her hands in what I imagined was the classic gesture of an artiste. She held her hands in a square and looked around, taking it all in.

"Smeargle," I said and she turned to look in my direction. "You can use the barn wall if you want. But Dad said you can't paint the house. So if you feel like it, then go at it."

Smeargle left without another word, moving to barn in a rush, still moving to take everything in. When she neared too close to the cow's pen Hondour let out a bark and Smeargle got a little distance while moving towards the barn.

"You see, that one I don't get," said Missy. "Smeargle."

"It has smear in it."

"Yeah, and then the g-l-e," she said. "What's that about?"

"Names don't have to make sense," I said. "Moving on." Before she could say anything else. The next Pokemon was a dog, but it was a very small dog. Missy couldn't resist, she bent low and gave the dog a hug.

"It's so adorable," she squealed. The dog was barking, yipping but its yip was less excitement and more because it was young. "Lillipup," she cooed. "Aren't you adorable. Aren't you just the cutest."

At that there were a series of squeaks from Emolga, Dedenne and Pachirisu.

"Yeah. Yeah, you guys are cute too," she said. Emolga shook her head, crossing her arms and looking away from Missy. She squeaked something to the other mice and they left as a group, Electrike following them.

"Guess you have the name down," I said. Missy stood, Lillipup in her arms and still snuggling him. "Last one." I pressed and the light congealed, the largest Pokemon I'd ever made, easily taller than I was, even without the horns. The deer looked at me and then bumped its nose to my head.

Hondour made a sound, a whine and I looked in her direction. I knew she knew why I'd made the deer and I could tell she wasn't pleased.

And then she broke apart into light.

888

I screamed and it was a scream filled with all of my exhilaration. Space was warping around us, the distance between trees growing as Missy and I rode past them, Houndoom leading while Stantler followed. My scream had just ended when Missy followed with her own scream and I joined her, my eyes closed because I wasn't really doing anything. Just feeling the thrum of Houndoom's panted breath.

My eyes opened and I looked back, seeing the crowd we'd gathered. The birds were in the air following after us and Lucario was keeping up with us, using the trees to propel herself forward. Dedenne was in a pocket in my hoodie, Rattata on my neck, a heavy weight as she held on, stopping herself from flying off.

"Forward!" said Missy and Stantler took off faster, going ahead of us. Missy pointed and space violently lengthened, everything spacing itself out. I felt as Hondoom took off faster, pushing herself in the race.

Lucario landed ahead of us and then disappeared under the power of the quick attack. But even with the ground she'd received from the manoeuvre, we quickly caught up to her.

"Whoa!" I said, leaning a little to the right, towards the lake. Missy noticed and she spoke to Stantler, leading him in our direction. We jumped off, the Pokemon breathing hard as they went to drink from the lake. "That was awesome," I said, the exhilaration still in my voice.

"So awesome," she said. She walked next to Stantler and ran a hand over his back as he drank. "More of this."

I nodded. "I'm putting more time into spending time I do things I enjoy," I said. "I enjoyed this. Maybe we could do this on the island?"

"Yes. All of the yes."

"Awesome."

888

AN: I think this is a good place to end this arc. I was trying a more 'filler' arc, slowing things down and having more character interactions while still showing that the plot was moving forward. Whether I was successful or not might be subjective, but on my end, I don't feel like it. This arc seemed aimless which made me have a harder time coming back to write this story.

I don't want that, because I enjoy all my stories and I don't want to have resistance to writing them. So, I'm guessing this is an apology to the people who thought the story doesn't slow down. It seems like that tempo is how my writing trends.