Celestial Escalation v1
(I've seen the Tinker/Celestial Forge used, but thought there were other possibilities besides Tinker that could be... interesting. Hence a Celestial Dojo.)
The bullying had hit the point where she'd been tossed in here like so much garbage.
Instead of panicking about the small area and bugs and smell though - she was HERE. Nor was she alone.
The guy reminded her of a bear in some ways. Big. Massive. Solid.
He was old, older than her father. Wearing strange clothes. And regarding her with eyes that were sad.
"What... is this?" asked Taylor as scenery began fading into existence around her. A clearing in a deep temperate forest.
"This is halfway to the afterlife, the Pure Realm if you prefer," said the old guy. "You're not dead though. I, on the other hand, am. Been dead for quite awhile, sort of. Time doesn't work the same way here as back in the Impure Realm."
"So this is a dream or hallucination?" asked Taylor.
"I don't know all the details myself," said the man. "As one of my colleagues might say, I walk the stage but I'm just one of the actors. I'm not the director or producer or handle the various details of the production. I'm real. Or I was at least."
"Ah. Who are you?" asked Taylor, wanting something to make sense but getting the feeling that damn little of this intersected with things that made sense.
"Hang on," said the man, getting up from where he'd been sitting on the grass and revealing that yes - he really was that large and massive. Not fat though, nor a weightlifter type, but definitely had a fair amount of muscle. "It's been awhile but I always did enjoy the whole introductory spiel."
"Okay," said Taylor, rolling with it.
The man stood briefly on one sandal-clad foot, striking a pose. "Some call me simply the 'Toad Hermit' but I shall tell you my true identity! I am the man who has no peers among the East, West, North, and South! Even the Heavens themselves know few to equal me! White-haired Summoner of the Toads! Men respect me! Women adore me! Those who have taste anyway. My skills are legion and my prowess substantial! One of Konohagakure's famed Sannin! Famed author! Famed ninja! Famed lover! Sometimes all three at the same time! I am..." (wooden boards clapping together in the background as he shifted to a different pose) "the noble JIRAIYA!"
Taylor wasn't sure what to make of this, so simply went with polite clapping.
The big guy relaxed a bit and gave off a smile that left him looking still quite old, but a bit younger. "Anyway. I'm here to train you in the ways of the ninja."
"I'm sorry, Mister Jiraiya, but I'm not sure how that... WHY AM I SO YOUNG?!"
Jiraiya scratched his head briefly. "I'm pretty sure that's because the training is going to take years. Just on this side though, only a few seconds will pass on the world you came from. Don't worry about that. Worry about the lack of chakra. Not sure how we're going to get around that."
Someone else, even older, stepped out of the forest. Followed by a...
Taylor was currently around nine or so (physically at least, fifteen prior to getting lockered up), but she still appreciated the broad-shouldered blond man who stepped out of the woods to stand alongside the two older men.
"That's why we're here," said the older older guy. "To establish the Village Hidden In The Bay will require something be done about that. Though that's much later, if at all. This is just the first stage of a ninja path after all."
"Right, no chakra means no ninjutsu or genjutsu," said the blond man. "However, there is a way. Right, Kurama?"
Taylor heard and felt a rumble that sounded like a chuckle. Slowly she turned to look behind her. She was vaguely aware of falling backwards onto her butt and scooting a couple of feet away.
A building-sized semi-humanoid fox-being squatted there, looking down on her. It grinned, revealing a predator's sort of dentition.
"A bit now. Mind you. This will hurt you more than it does me," rumbled the fox.
The fox-thing was right. It DID hurt. It hurt lots.
"WHY DO I HAVE FOX EARS AND A TAIL?!"
"Because it is amusing and gives you a Changer rating so that you can keep your hero identity and private life seperate," said Kurama.
"Mainly the amusing, I'd think," said Jiraiya. "Now, as soon as you can, we'll start with basic chakra manipulation exercises."
* A moment later, seven years later *
"Yeah, Taylor. You look a lot better like this! Just go ahead and die in there so nobody has to-"
"Baka Emma."
"What was that, Taylor?" asked Emma, slapping the locker door once to emphasize how helpless her former friend was. "Making up words now?"
"Nah, just stretching my legs," said a voice behind her. "Later, Enema."
Emma Barnes blinked, looked behind her to see Taylor walking away, then glanced at Sophia who was looking at the departing Taylor and then back at the locker.
"If she's out here, who did you push into..." Emma asked her friend/mentor.
"LET ME OUT!" yelled Madison.
* Taylor *
It was weird being fifteen again and in Winslow again and... well there were a lot of weird things here.
Seated in her desk after all these years, waiting for the bell to ring, noting the people staring at her. Before, that might have left her feeling a bit self-conscious. Instead it left her feeling a certain satisfaction. Ah, here came the Idiots Three.
"Taylor! You are going to be in SUCH trouble!" declared Emma.
"Hey, Trouble is my middle name," said Taylor with a partial shrug. "Nice to see you too, Moe. And I see you brought Larry and Curly with you."
"What?" asked Emma, not having expected a spine to have appeared.
"You aren't worth my time," said Taylor, honestly - all this time planning her return.
Emma tried to snatch the book open on the desk. She stared as Taylor had MOVED and had her arm in a grip that was like steel.
"Don't touch my things," said Taylor.
"Prey doesn't get to..." Sophia began, then stopped. Predators could tell when there was another predator present - there were signs of such a thing. Just the side-eye Hebert was giving her, like she was just waiting for an excuse.
There was a predator present. It was almost like this wasn't the real Taylor.
"You don't watch many nature documentaries do you?" asked Taylor, turning a page in her textbook while still holding Emma's wrist in the other hand. "Predator-prey relations are seldom simple. Take ambush predators for example. They hide in plain sight, waiting for prey to come to them. Then there's animals that are technically prey but predators avoid anyway. Cape buffalo, for example. They flip lions around like pancakes. Porcupines? Rhinos? Honey Badgers?"
Sophia snorted. "You aren't no porcupine, Hebert. You're more a soft little bunny."
"Is that why Emma is wearing bunny ears?" asked Taylor.
"What kind of..." As soon as Taylor had released her hand, Emma had felt the shift of weight on her head.
"Odd fashion choice," said Taylor. "Though if the 'predator-prey' thing is part of your kinky-sex-life, then that would explain a lot."
"Everyone take your seats," said Mister Gladly as he arrived, then stared at the bunny ears that Emma Barnes was taking off her head. "Not particularly an appropriate choice of clothing for school, Miss Barnes."
* Sophia *
A predator had to be able to evaluate the threat from a prey - that was one thing Hebert had right.
She didn't attack really large armed groups or try to take on Oni Lee or Lung when she was doing an undocumented hunt. Or off-the-books patrol. Six of one, half-dozen of the other.
Body language had a significant change. Hebert had been giving off prey vibes earlier - huddled into herself and trying not to attract attention. The usual signals. Now she was completely different. Confident. No jerky moves. No trying to hide in plain sight.
There was only one explanation that made sense. This wasn't Taylor Hebert. It was someone with a Stranger ability that made them LOOK like Hebert, the weakest prey in the school.
Which made that remark about ambush predators more than just a throwaway reference.
Whether Hebert was alive and somewhere else, or dead and hidden away, this was not Emma's old friend-turned-enemy. No, this was...
Shit. Could this be Skinwalker? She'd heard about that cape, out in New Mexico or somewhere. Someone who killed people, took a "sample" of their DNA and then morphed into their victim to use their identity for a time. It was in a briefing she'd half-paid attention to.
When Gladly started writing something out onto the board, Sophia casually pulled a phone out and tapped in a text message.
[Stranger at school. Skinwalker?]
There was no immediate reply, so she waited until after class to check her phone and read the reply.
[Skinwalker last reported KIA by S9 11/12/09. Confirm Stranger?]
Sophia sent back a confirmation and put the phone away. Right now she had to warn Emma and Madison that things were going to get loud.
[Confirm. Stranger posing as student Taylor Hebert.]
That would deal with the problem and she could focus on surviving. Kind of weird that someone who could be anyone would choose the lowest of the low but...
Oh hell.
THAT was the plan wasn't it? Be the lowest of the low, watch for the predator to take the bait, and then become the top predator. Freaking ambush predator. Which meant it was after the top predator as its preferred prey. Which meant it was hunting HER.
Which meant that if Hebert vanished, she'd have to keep an eye out for someone else to act up because Skinwalker could literally become anyone. Nobody even knew whether Skinwalker was a guy or girl because the power was that thorough.
Yeah, warning off Emma just rose to the top of the priority list.
Still trying to figure out how it had ended up being Madison stuffed into the locker.
* PRT ENE HQ *
"Priority message from Shadow Stalker. Some kind of Stranger, similar abilities or MO to Skinwalker."
Deputy Director Renick nodded to the Trooper. "Investigate and confirm. If there's an infiltrator at that school there would have to be a reason for it. Do we have a name of the suspect?"
"Taylor Hebert according to Stalker," said the Trooper. "Context reads she thinks Hebert replaced by Stranger."
"Investigate thoroughly the suspect's background, if we're dealing with an identity-theft by Stranger power then there will be gaps of knowledge and things that are out of character," advised Renick. "The more you can dig up, the more we can check to confirm. If we do confirm, then foam 'em and put in an M/S cell."
"Sir."
"Don't take chances if they're a threat, but be aware that Stalker might be imagining things," said Renick. "Teenagers having mood swings isn't uncommon."
* Taylor *
The Celestial Dojo rumbled but connections came and went and nothing clicked into place.
Just as well as plans were to keep the current skills and not add anything more until it was practical.
Taylor had eventually gotten to where she could get an idea as to what the Celestial Dojo had done, and more had fallen into place when she'd managed that feat.
[Suddenly! Ninja!]
[Train under tutelage of 1 or more legendary ninja to begin the road to becoming a legendary ninja yourself!]
[Unlocks Basic Taijutsu, Basic Ninjutsu, Basic Genjutsu]
[Unlocks Chakra System]
Yeah, and now she had several dozen ninja techniques she could roll out at a moment's notice and had reached a solid chunin level in taijutsu. Special jonin at least in ninjutsu. Passable genin in genjutsu because she hadn't had any targets to practice with because that area in her mindscape had only dead people whose minds couldn't reliably be affected by genjutsu.
She didn't have a bloodline or really advanced techniques. Well, not practiced in the real world at least.
Taylor went through her classes, not really paying attention to the whispers or the occasional physical act like the spitballs.
During the shuffle between classes she used one of her advanced techniques. [Multiple Shadow Clones.] While they would disperse after a single hit, they were perfect for scouting and getting stuff done.
Like acquiring a costume. Oh, sure, she could just go kitsune form and use the Disguise technique to make a costume that way, but she wanted an actual costume and equipment.
One copy, in kitsune form with the red hair and fox ears and fox tails and size-inflated bust (no point in not making sure at least a fair amount of gazes were drawn away from her face and further distancing the new hero from stick-thin Taylor Hebert), was making her way to the PRT HQ to register as an independent hero! Jiraiya AND Minato AND Sarutobi had all complained about, but acknowledged the need, for paperwork to be filed and that the bigger the government involvement the more mountains of paperwork figured into it.
Another copy (looking identical to the one that would be registering) showed up with an appropriate costume. The registering clone took the outfit, changed with a quick dress-up technique (Cosplay No Jutsu!) and walked the remaining distance to the PRT building.
* Detective Phil Fish *
Front desk duty. At least there was a bathroom nearby.
Nine months, five days, seven hours till mandatory retirement. Not that he was counting.
He understood they were short-staffed. That they were trying to put him somewhere that was low-risk. He appreciated that.
Hell, he'd admit as soon as anyone else that the shaking in his hands meant not being anywhere near the frontline in a combat position. Here all he had to do was raise his hands and barriers would automatically snap into place.
Still, you kept your eyes on the monitors. Kept track of where everyone was. One woman and her five-year-old checking out the gift shop. Vista had a new sticker out, so that was expected even on a school day and this early. This one was actually kind of cute, with a little chibi cartoon Vista on a skateboard going through one of her distortions. It came as a pair so you could stick one up far away from the other or something.
As far as he knew, Vista didn't actually have a skateboard.
He hadn't talked much with the Wards, what he mainly did prior to getting "fill in at the front desk" duty was investigating leads on supervillains and going over reams of internet crap trying to pull actual facts out of that garbage.
He checked the monitors and raised a wrinkled eyebrow. Obvious cape was obvious, despite not wearing a cape. Maybe it was the fox ears. Maybe it was the two fox tails training behind her. Maybe it was the ceramic half-mask covering her upper face. Maybe it was the shirt-happiko-shorts ensemble with the shirt reading "Foxy Lady" in sparklies.
"Got a cape approaching," said Detective Fish into a microphone. "Query?"
"No match in database," was the immediate answer. "Closest is a deceased anti-hero from Kyushu - Inari."
"Got it," said Detective Fish.
Two more Troopers went to standby.
"Fish, overwatch notes presence of two E88 plainclothes and one ABB plainclothes in observation points. ABB ganger dropped phone on spotting approaching cape."
"Right-eo, then," muttered Detective Fish as the new cape entered. VERY new cape, very new costume. She still had a dangling sales tag on that happiko. Ears flicked all over the place on entering and nose twitched. Possibly enhanced senses - hearing and scent. Smile indicates slightly lengthened incisors on both lower and upper sets of teeth.
Looked like she was trying to project confidence while her tails flicking behind her seemed to indicate nervousness. Not unusual for a new cape on the scene. Give her points for showing up here this early in her cape career, not like some of them who went out and their debut ended up with them face down in an alley and trying to figure out who to call with the news their kid was deceased.
Yeah, he'd had to do that a few times over the years.
"Hi there," said Detective Phil Fish. "How can I help you?"
"I'm here to pick up whatever forms I need for independent hero status," said the cape.
"Groovy," said Fish. Watching her wince was one of his old guy pleasures in life. Got to take 'em where you find 'em. He handed her the proper forms. "You want to fill them out here, we've got a conference room on this floor."
"Thanks, but I'll have to go over them later," said the new cape.
"Just so I've got a record of it, you have a cape name yet?" asked Fish, not expecting one if she was THAT new. "Also some basics on your power so I can pencil it in?"
"Oh, I'm going with Kitsune or Kunoichi unless they've been taken," said the new cape. "Or Kitsune Kunoichi if both are taken. I can change later if I come up with a better one, right?"
"It happens all the time," reassured Detective Fish. "So many of the good names are taken. I can check now... Yes. Kunoichi is taken but she died in the Leviathan attack on Kyushu. Kitsune... Japanese refugee hero now in Korea. Has a native nemesis villain named Kumiho where they've clashed several times. Huh. Did not know that. Shouldn't use the two names together because it'll cause confusion in the press and trust me - from what I'm seeing you don't want a connection to this Kumiho person."
"Ninja girl? Because my powers are ninja techniques?" asked the new cape.
"Stranger/Mover huh?" asked Fish. "Hmmm. Taken. Rogue or minor villain associated with Bondage Girl in Austin."
"There's really a cape named 'Bondage Girl'?" asked the new cape.
"Tinker. Specializes in restraint devices. Occasionally ends up as the target of her own devices," said Fish. "On the other hand, her merchandise apparently sells really well. You're going with Japanese themes in a city that has the ABB, so you're aware that Lung might object kind of violently?"
"I'm not planning on crossing paths with Lung if I can at all avoid it," said the new cape. "How about Shuriken?"
"Cape in San Francisco, power is very accurate throwing skills," said Fish. "That one I know. Ninja theme... fox. Inari is taken. How about Zenko - good foxes that serve the goddess of harvests?"
"Zenko? Zenko. I could use a rapier and scratch a 'Z' in the clothes of my opponents maybe?" asked New Cape.
"I think anything Zorro-like would eventually get the Disney lawyers on you," cautioned Fish.
"Eh, it'll work for now I suppose," said the new cape. "Can I drop the papers off this afternoon?"
"No problem. Take your time," said Detective Fish as she left. "Stay safe out there."
"Odds?" came a question from the intercom.
"That she'll play it safe?" Fish considered. "Maybe 50/50. She DID have enough sense to get the paperwork and introduce herself before going out to do the cape things. Be really nice if I didn't have to figure out next of kin."
"Amen," responded the console operator.
* Zenko *
"Heavenly or virtuous fox," read the shadow clone at the library.
"That works for now, I suppose," said another shadow clone. "I know if we used Kuzunoha it'd get messed up by nearly everyone not Japanese."
"Yeah, you'd think it would be easier than that. Just grab a name from myth... Hey, what about Kurama?"
"Name ourselves after a nine-tailed fox demon?"
"Why not?"
"Good point."
* Taylor Prime *
It was easy to tell something was up. For all their various talents, being able to look innocent was NOT a skill that any of the trio had particularly practiced. The staff at Winslow were just not very good at paying attention or caring that much.
Taylor figured it was just par for this particular course that she wouldn't even be able to get one day without the trio escalating. Even when she did nothing but take it - they'd escalated.
When Sophia started looking smug and whispering to Emma, who then nodded to Madison, with all three trying to look innocent and completely failing at it? Yeah. Something was up.
Huh. Number 5 put the outfit up on the roof and dismissed herself. Good to know.
"Taylor Hebert, report to the office. Taylor Hebert. Office. Now."
A titter from Emma. Yeah, this was going to play out poorly. Avoid the trap now, get in trouble for that later. Go into the trap and try to break out from inside. Or Option C. The problem being she didn't actually know what Option C was because she didn't know what the trap was or how serious to take it.
Did they plant drugs in her locker or something else like that?
Taylor got up from her desk, gathered her things, left the room and considered what actions she could take.
"Shadow Clone," used Taylor, splitting off another self as soon as she was in a position where there were neither cameras or people watching. Then that clone dismissed itself so that the plan would go out to the other clones she had sent out earlier.
A rooftop Taylor immediately used Disguise to appear as Emma and run ahead of herself.
Running into the Principal's office, she immediately started talking. "She's trying to escape! South exit!"
A PRT Trooper immediately covered "Emma" with containment foam. Naturally, that clone was dispelled immediately.
All the other clones and the real Taylor all got that and immediately started wondering if they'd screwed up at the PRT earlier. It hadn't seemed that way, but the alternative was...
Oh. Fishing maybe?
"There's nobody in there?" said someone in the office she was approaching.
"She must have been the Stranger," said another voice. "Fan out, she couldn't get far!"
The door opened. Taylor waved. "Hi. I was supposed to come to the office?"
She was immediately covered in foam.
Dimly, through the layer of foam, she heard a voice laden with sarcasm. "Great going, rookie. Now the doorway's blocked."
"Wait. Look out the window. Isn't that the redhaired girl running away from the school?"
"Damnit, is there another exit?"
"No. There is not. And her name is Emma Barnes. And I'd summon the real one to the office except you've blocked the damn door."
Taylor thought Blackwell sounded quite irritated. So this plan was apparently paying extra dividends if she could irritate the administration and get other people upset at someone besides herself.
"This is Troop Leader Rodriguez. Stranger is currently disguised as a red-haired student wearing a green blouse and skirt combination."
"Helloooooo," called out Taylor from within her foamy prison. "Is there a reason I'm covered in goo? Is this some other crazy sex thing Sophia came up with? I keep telling them I'm not into that."
Dead silence from the other side for a good five seconds.
Principal Blackwell broke the silence. "Say what?"
"Is that you, Principal Blackwell?" asked Taylor despite identifying the voice. "I think I figured out why those three keep targetting me. They want me to be their sub. Can you tell them to stop now or is this something you're into and that's why you've never stopped them before?"
Another good five seconds of silence.
An unfamiliar voice spoke. "We were called in for a Stranger infiltrating the school, but things appear to be stranger even than that."
"Can someone let me out? I really need to blow my nose and if I sneeze in here I think that's not going to go well," stated Taylor.
"You have Hebert's file out. Can I see it?" asked the unfamiliar voice.
"Uhm..." said Principal Blackwell's voice.
Taylor jerked a little as another clone dispelled. Going to an adult shop disguised as a 50 year old man and buying a few things, then coming back and using substitution to stick a few magazines and "toys" into certain bookbags was mission complete.
Another clone, disguised of course, had gone through Emma's room. She'd been there often enough over the years that breaking in and planting some evidence and stealing other things that could be put where a search could more easily find them? Easy. But a bit concerning in some cases. In one particular case VERY concerning. Whatever. If dear Emma hadn't wanted reprisal then she shouldn't make enemies of ninja.
And more PRT troopers were now coming in to investigate from what she could make out of all the comments going round in the office.
Meanwhile the real her was stuck in containment foam, giving her an alibi.
Jiraiya would be proud of her, Taylor thought. Always have an alibi and an escape route - it was in the ninja rules somewhere.
* Taylor #4 *
There was something to be said for planting evidence that already existed and simply brought things to light as opposed to manufacturing evidence in order to scuttle someone's (or several someone's) reputation.
For one thing, people digging into various records or doing forensics would end up corroborating the findings.
She was a ninja, trained mainly by Jiraiya the Gallant but with specialty training by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze. Infiltrate and devastate was just a part of her playbook. Even if her training had cut off at "advanced beginner" levels and the really interesting techniques were something she couldn't use. Even with an infusion of Uzumaki bloodline in order to better withstand and contain the two-tails of chakra within her.
Well, within Taylor Prime at least. She was just a temporary copy cloned off in order to get all sorts of crap done while her real self was off doing the tedium that was school.
Drop a few incriminating documents here in this file. Move some so that an errant page would be sticking out enough that someone could find the rest. An envelope from "a concerned parent" regarding information that they'd just stumbled across purely by coincidence. Little tactics like that.
Oh, and they'd been planning to plant drugs in her locker at some point. Yeah, that was going to end up blowing up in Emma's face.
That didn't even get into where Emma had a copy of Sophia's patrol schedule. Labeled as such. And who was Shadow Stalker but Sophia freaking Hess.
Number 4 had realized that she couldn't dispel herself because when the real Taylor found this out, she wouldn't be able to keep from reacting. No, she had to wait until after school before dispelling. That meant finding something to do in the meantime.
"Dibs on the Princess," said Taylor #4.
"No problem," said Leet. "I got Bowser."
"Hey, itsa me, Mario," said Uber.
"Didn't know what I expected when I saw a foxgirl knocking on our door, but asking if we had Super Mario Kart wasn't it," admitted Leet.
"Eh, I had a few hours to kill, and I haven't officially become a hero yet," said Taylor-4.
"You didn't say how you knew where our secret base was," said Uber.
"I told you, if you beat me at this game without cheating, I'll tell you," said Taylor-4.
* PRT ENE HQ *
"We've got Stalker's handler in M/S quarantine, she couldn't answer some basic questions about Stalker's school performance and then we found evidence of her covering up misconduct. Looks like some siphoned funds as well."
"Oh lovely. Like the morning wasn't going badly enough," said Deputy Director Renick. "Full investigation authorized. Any evidence of actual Mastery or just corruption?"
"Looks like just corruption, but we'll have to check further. Might be orders from someone in the chain-of-command though. We're already checking."
"Great," said Renick. He had HAD plans for the morning, now there were meetings to reschedule and some that were going to have to face interruptions as this clusterdump developed. "Tell me we at least got the Stranger."
"No," said Detective Dietrich. "Apparently the Stranger can switch identities after making physical contact. Stranger appeared as Emma Barnes after making physical contact with Barnes when Barnes attempted physical bullying of the Stranger while the Stranger was imitating Hebert. This can get confusing very fast."
"Standard when dealing with Strangers," agreed Renick. "Keep me informed."
Detective Arthur P. Dietrich seemed to struggle with wanting to say something.
"What?" asked Renick, dreading the answer.
"Apparently it was teenage kinky sex with a massive dose of dominance and psychological abuse to enforce a submissive stance," said Dietrich. "Magazines were found in Barnes' possession. Her first reaction was dismay that they were in her backpack before denying she knew anything about them. Some of the models were noted to have a resemblence to Hebert. Possibility was floated by Hebert that Principal Blackwell found the situation... stimulating just before evidence was found."
"Oh hell, if that hits the press," said Renick. One way for the scandal to get front-page coverage was sex to be involved. It would make it that much harder to do damage control.
"It's looking pretty sordid," agreed Dietrich. There were times when he regretted the downsizing of NYPD's 12th Precinct as funds went to the PRT and his shift in employers as a result.
"Yeah, that would be bad," said Renick. "Fortunately we can probably keep it all buried in NDAs."
* WBBR *
"This is Carolyn Wu with breaking news. Scandal breaking at Winslow Senior High School in Brockton Bay."
"Drug bust again, Carolyn? Or another stolen car?" He knew otherwise of course. Either of those hardly qualified as news anyway at that particular location.
"Not this time, Skip. Sex, drugs, violence, all that's missing is the Rock n Roll. More after the break." Carolyn smiled. She was pretty sure there was enough innuendo and flag-words involved here that this would make national.