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Brockton Bay, the Massachusetts PRT Headquarters building, Thursday 6 January 2011, 7:11 PM EST (Colorado Springs time: 5:11 MST)…
"I daresay congratulations are in order now, Vista."
Hearing that bemused comment from her now-former operational top boss, Missy Byron shrugged before she took her seat to Lisa Wilbourn's left, they then forming a row on one side of the meeting room with Taylor Hebert, Aisha Laborn, and Dinah Alcott. "Do you blame me, Colonel?" the just-Gifted Living Wormhole — who had inherited the memories of a native of the central equatorial continent who once fought for her home nation against the largest team of metahumans to rise on the World of the Forge during the Dawn of Power, the infamous Unending League of Super-Soldiers — confessed as she held up a hand, allowing the space above her palm to warp to her bedroom back at her mother's house, bringing from it an enclosed envelope stamped with the insignia of the federal Department of Defense and the United States Joint Specialized Warfare Command.
Staring at the potentially most powerful Ward to ever train in Brockton Bay, Emily Piggot could only shake her head, once again mentally cursing the fact that the General Court in Boston didn't fund her operation well enough to have full-time mental health support staff on hand for those under her overall charge. Given that parahumans were known to be mentally affected by their trigger events, that the Commonwealth government didn't think to provide for such when the main base in Boston was quite amply supported…! "No, not really. I assume you got that package from Cape Cod and hid it from your parents."
"Duh!" Missy drolled, playfully sticking her tongue out.
Snickers filled the room. Also attending this first meeting between the dimensionally-shifted Mistress of the Mindless Legions and the former commanding officer of the Black Sheep Squadron was her deputy director Mike Renick, plus the leader and deputy leader of the local Protectorate (in fighting uniforms), in addition to the soon-to-transfer current leader of the Wards, Rory "Triumph" Christner, he in his lion/gladiator-themed battle suit. Currently, Sophia Hess was in the Wards' training area getting dressed in her dark uniform. Taylor and her friends had teleported back to Earth from Tariko Katabarbe's cabin via PAA; as the would-be Trickster of the Show returned to her own life, Mark Calaway and Isaac Thomas had both gone home, as had Regina Paek, Emma Barnes and Madison Clements. "Well, after hearing about what you went through on this Earth Bet planet, I'm glad you're here, Miss Hebert," Rory noted as he reached over to squeeze Dinah's hand. "And thanks! BOTH times!"
Taylor chuckled. "It's my pleasure, Mr. Christner. Dinah's other-self suffered quite a bit because of Coil, so everything I could do to keep your cousin safe from him, the better. I hope your uncle and aunt will understand what must happen now."
"We'll be receiving a delegation from Stargate Command soon, Miss Hebert," Renick declared. "I assume you've got some jamming function on your PAAs to prevent this man — if he's arranged to do so — from eavesdropping?"
"Automatically done as soon as we arrived, Major," Lisa answered. "Given how much I've had to change my own life to keep clear of him, there's no way in hell we'll give him any chance to gain any advantages over us."
"And you're sure that he's in the PRT somewhere?" Piggot demanded as she gazed on Taylor.
"More than sure." Here, a flash of frustration crossed her face. "His name's on the tip of my tongue, but for the life of me, I can't recall it now. He was involved in things…" She then stopped to stare directly at the former Marine attack fighter pilot. "Ellisburg," she then hissed out. "He was involved in Ellisburg in my universe! Same as your counterpart…!"
"CALVERT?!"
That was a pale Piggot, who was staring wide-eyed at the younger woman. Frowning, the leader of the Protectorate keyed a control on his HUD screen to tap into his private database server, a unit gifted to him by his Newfoundlander girlfriend on his birthday a year before. Said unit was linked into networks that couldn't be accessed by standard PRT/Protectorate networks save through special security firewalls backed by mesonium crystals which had been forged from the blood of a certain sentient AI-turned-bioroid from Deer Lake on the Rock whom everyone pretty much saw as Colin's soul-mate. After a moment as images of the aftermath of the Ellisburg incident flashed before his eyes — then-Strike Captain Emily Piggot had taken a platoon of the best from Brockton Bay to New York to help with the rise of the recently-triggered Jamie Rinke; she had been the only survivor of that group, though barely — the experienced Tinker grimly nodded. "It's a trigger-worthy event, Director. Given how bad then-Strike Captain Calvert suffered when he escaped Niblog's creations, the chances were good he could have gained powers."
"He retired right after that incident," Hannah Washington added. "Even if he's still an advisor to the National Protectorate Coordination Centre in Washington, he's not obliged to submit to an MRT scan to see if he has an active gemma."
"This version of Coil — if Calvert IS Coil, of course! — could also be a natural-born metahuman as well," Colin added. "Before he went insane and joined the Slaughterhouse Nine after the turn of the Millennium, Professor Manton did help researchers of the Specialized Warfare Regiment in drawing parallels between parahuman trigger events and natural metahuman empowerment. Given how harrowing the whole Ellisburg incident was, if he had enough mesonium in his blood stream…"
"Like the way 'mutants' — Ugh! Aught to wash my mouth saying that! — in the Marvel universe get their powers, you mean," Aisha cut in, making people gaze her way. As Colin and Hannah nodded and Rory hummed, the Singularity of Attention added, "Heck, even a lot of the first generation of metas back on Yiziba — even if they used mesonium from the Great Crystal of Power to help boost their abilities — ended up getting their powers in situations like what happens here."
"That's true. Even if there are parallels between Bet and here, there are the differences as well," Lisa warned.
Taylor nodded. "What does he do these days?" she then asked. "Now that I'm remembering things, he also owned a construction company. They built Endbringer shelters; he used an abandoned one in the Bay as his main base there."
"He owns Fortress Construction, which develops various office and residential complexes all throughout New England," Renick answered. "He does come in to teach operational security courses for various PRT departments all along the East Coast."
Wry chuckles filled the room. "And if he's been empowered for a decade or so given that the events in Ellisburg happened near the same time as 9/11, he's had loads of time to build up his personal fortune — both legal and illegal — plus spread his network of spies and informants into the areas he'd want to have influence in, especially around here," Lisa finished.
Taylor perked, clearly confused. "'Nine/Eleven'?"
"Eleventh of September in 2001, Miss Hebert," Colin answered. "Terrorist attacks were carried out on the World Trade Centre in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington by an Islamist fundamentalist group called 'al-Qā'idah'." He didn't translate that, knowing the just-Gifted metahumans' battle suits had proficient translator functions built in. "Such were done by effective kamikaze-like strikes on the targets by hijacked civilian passenger aircraft. There would have been a fourth attack on either the White House or the Capitol building in Washington, but that was averted by the passengers overwhelming the terrorists." He then sighed. "Sadly, they didn't recover the aircraft before it crashed into a farmer's field in Pennsylvania."
"Didn't that happen where you came from, Taylor?" Hannah asked.
A shake of the head responded. "Behemoth, the first Endbringer to appear, attacked downtown Manhattan in 1994, sometime in March as I recall," the Mistress of the Mindless Legions stated. As Colin and Hannah grimly nodded, Taylor then added, "The World Trade Centre and dozens of other skyscrapers at the south end of Manhattan were brought down in that attack. Given that the Endbringers began smashing down cities since 1992, if anything like al-Qā'idah ever came into existence back then, it would have probably been absorbed into a local parahuman gang. Trigger events are VERY common after Endbringer strikes."
"Eighty-nine-point-six percent chance you're right, Taylor," Dinah mused.
Hearing that from the Augur of the Probability Abacus, Rory shook his head. "Uncle and Aunt should have SEEN that!"
"We didn't want to blab it out in case the snake had spies on them, Rory," Missy warned.
As the Brute/Blaster nodded in grim understanding, a knock echoed from the door. Colin keyed a switch on the desk to open it, allowing one of the evening secretaries to lean in. "Colonel O'Neil is here with the others of SG-1, Director. Agent V from the Special Committee should be arriving soon concerning Skitter's situation vis-à-vis her local self's parents."
"Send them in," Piggot instructed.
The secretary ducked out. A moment later, a silver-haired Air Force colonel dressed in a plain green utility uniform walked into the room, the sight of which made Taylor exclaim in disbelief. As everyone gazed in confusion at her — including Jack O'Neil, who had been accompanied by his work mates Captain Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and Teal'c of Chulak — the veteran pararescue specialist from northern Minnesota blinked before gazing at their host. "Something I said, Emily?"
The PRT director threw up her hands. "You got me, Jack!"
"I think the Boss Lady's having a fan moment here, Colonel," Aisha wryly noted.
"She is," Lisa foxily noted. "Oh, she is!"
Taylor waved down the clairvoyant. "Shush! Shush! I'm in my happy place now, Lisa!"
Staring at the just-Gifted master telepath, Jackson blinked before he chuckled. "'What's fiction in one place…'"
"…'is fact in another', Daniel Jackson," Teal'c finished. As O'Neil and Carter nodded in understanding, the former First Prime to the current 'leader' of the Goa'uld High Council nodded. "It is befitting that the Herald of the All-Death has returned."
People blinked. "Sam, why am I afraid to ask what THAT means?!" Renick wryly wondered…
Twenty minutes later…
Chucking to herself as she thought about Taylor Hebert literally geeking out over the four members of Stargate Command who came to visit this evening, Emily Piggot walked into her office to get some files…
…then she stopped on seeing the man in the basic black business suit seated before her desk, he then giving her a knowing look. "Agent V," the former commanding officer of the Black Sheep Squadron greeted the senior agent of the Special Committee on Alien Activities based out of Boston with a polite nod. "So, what brings you about our neck of the woods?"
"Typical business, Colonel," the man born Miles Verret said. Hearing him address her by her old rank made Piggot smirk. Like she, he was a former military man, having join the Corps after 9/11 and serving a tour in Iraq before he got out, then joined the New York Police Department briefly before an incident with rogue Shōzoki gatherer androids won him the attention of the mysterious "men in black". As this had been two months after Isaac Thomas' Gifting as Doctor Renaissance — by then, the hyper-genius polymath from Queens had made inroads with the Special Committee concerning equipment upgrades — the veteran of the War on Terror was soon inducted into the SCAA, falling into the place of the previous "Agent V"; he had been killed in that very incident that would change Verret's life in ways scant few normal people got the chance to experience.
A sigh escaped the former attack fighter pilot. "Skitter, you mean."
"Right in the ten-ring, ma'am," Verret affirmed. "Given Mark Calaway's and Margo Black's involvement with her — especially since she attracted the attention of Saeru Hinako as well — Chief Zed wanted me to ensure she wouldn't turn out to be a potential threat to the planet. While it was Lord Rjazán' who got her into this dimension, it's better to be safe than sorry."
Piggot nodded. "Well, you're right to be cautious, Corporal. She just got Gifted at Tariko's house. I'll be losing Vista as well, much to her relief." As Verret snorted in understanding, she looked around. "Where's Agent W? Surprised he's not here."
An amused smirk answered. "Yes, he's a man of focus. Right now, he's focusing on a quiet evening with his wife."
That earned him a smile. "Well, even former assassins who join the 'men in black' need a break or two. After the craziness he got into back in '09, I suppose he's enjoying his time tracking down our Niphentaxian, Avalonian and Shōzoki friends."
A laugh answered her. "Oh, he does! Still, we get the odd intruder from other planets at times in our AO. Word's getting out about him thanks to Nassur and Shogai Dakejinzō." As Piggot nodded on hearing the names of two of the most successful and most feared bounty hunters active in the local cluster, Verret added, "There was a small group of prisoners who escaped from a transport shipping them from Tengsei to Hichkyech'eng which made its way here; they crash-landed near Moosehead Lake up in Maine." As she nodded on recalling reports of a "mysterious plane crash" in that region of the Pine Tree State a half-year ago, he added, "As soon as she got here from Fukunokami, Dakejinzō contacted John and I, plus your counterpart in Portland as well as No. 3 Defence Unit over in Gagetown. Turns out these were some of the bandits the Three Princess Dragons of the Outmarches send free warriors after all the time; they're guilty of two known and four suspected massacres of whole villages on Tengsei."
She winced. "Shit! What happened?"
"Well, Dakejinzō got a chance to see John in action. They had taken a family from Bangor hostage, so I went in to negotiate their release. One got trigger-happy, nearly nailing me right here…" — here, he pointed to his forehead over his nose, that making Piggot wince — "…when John came through a window thanks to a breach charge our Canadian friends loaned him, then dropped all of them with head shots. Since escape for anyone bound for Hichkyech'eng incurs an automatic death sentence…"
A dry chuckle escaped her. "I doubt other bandits in the Noukiite Outmarches will consider coming our way again anytime soon. No matter what he does these days, a man like John Wick of all people makes quite the impression." As he chuckled, she held up a finger. "Matter of fact, I got a report from Isaac Thomas concerning what could have happened to the man three years from now if Professor Rhetor hadn't stepped in like he did." As Verret winced — he had seen that report as well — she sighed. "Much that I've got no real reason to care for capes, people like Doctor Renaissance really do go out of their way to make normals like me comfortable with all the crazy stuff they get involved in all the time. Good thing the man's legally considered a 'metahuman'; I'd shudder to think about what might have happened to Isaac if those loons in Watchdog got their hands on him."
"Yizibajohei and military structures — even part-time military structures — rarely if ever mix well," Verret sagely warned.
"True, true. Well, since you're here anyway, Skitter is visiting us; I contacted her counterpart's parents to get them over here since they know about her now." As both rose from their chairs with Piggot holding the files she wanted to get, she added, "Despite all the crap she's gone through right now, she seems to be a stable girl. The Gifting, no doubt."
"Pretty much the same as any other parahuman who gets Gifted. Thank God for Tariko," Verret noted as he opened the door for her to pass through, then he followed her. "Oh, did Armsmaster say anything about the latest tech cache we passed onto him?"
"You can ask him since he's…"
KK-KOOM!
The whole building suddenly shook as that ear-popping sound echoed from several floors below. "Oh, hell!" Piggot snarled as emergency alarm klaxons echoed throughout the complex. "What happened NOW?!"
Moments later, five floors down…
"Got her, Skitter!"
"Thanks, Vista! In here, Panacea!"
Footfalls echoed from the hallway outside the laboratory set aside for Chris Cullen for his own use, that heralding the arrive of a certain biokinetic healer, she escorted by the Living Wormhole. "What happened?!" Amelia Dallon demanded.
The young Tinker known in public as Kid Win was on the floor near his work desk, his neck having been ripped open thanks to an exploding metal beaker; right now, Sophia Hess was keeping his torn jugular vein from bleeding him out with a blood-soaked towel. Seeing that and sensing what happened to her friend, Amelia barked, "Move!" The shadow-shifter did so, which allowed a spurt of blood to escape Chris' neck before the healer's hand landed on the wound, allowing her powers to quickly seal up the vein and repair the damaged tissue around it. "Damn it, Chris, what the hell were you doing…?!"
"Making some sort of power fluid by the looks of it," Lisa Wilbourn scanned the mess left behind with her new goggles; such had been gifted to her by Isaac Thomas as a way of effectively "burying the hatchet" between the PHO rivals. "Armsmaster, would you mind if I send a sample of this to Doctor Renaissance?" she then asked the elder Tinker, who had hooked his own armoured suit's systems into the room's security monitors to review what just happened in the last half-hour.
"Please do so, Tattletale," Colin Wallis bade as a faint cough escaped his current student. "Are you alright, Kid Win?"
"Damn…!" the brown-haired, green-eyed teen moaned as he moved to sit up, being helped by Amelia. "What happened, Amy…?" he wondered, looking around before his eyes fell on a nearby undamaged clock. "Seven-fifty-two…?" he read out, his already pale skin blanching. "What the hell happened to the whole damned day?! It should be just after lunch…!"
The other people in the room automatically winced on realizing what had befallen him. "Tinker fugue…!" Lisa and Colin called out together before both exchanged looks, then the former snickered.
"What the hell were you trying to make, man?" Sophia asked as she tossed the blood-soaked towel into a nearby incinerator bin while looking around her work-mate's space. "I know you got problems with specialization, but this…"
The teen who suffered from both attention deficit disorder and dyscalculia blinked before shaking his head. "Dunno! I got out of school, then something just CAME to me! I came here and…" Here, he shrugged. "Last thing I remember."
Colin sighed. "We'll get this material you were trying to make analyzed, Christopher. You need to get to the cafeteria and get some food and fluids into you to replenish what you lost before Amelia healed your wounds. Take a work tablet with you, try to relax and see if you can recall what drove you here in the first place. I know you have concentration issues…"
"I could telepathically probe his subconscious to see what happened, Armsmaster."
Hearing that familiar voice, Chris looked over. "Taylor…?"
He then stopped on seeing Taylor Hebert in her dark battle uniform, the familiar hooded black cloak — a replica of the original lost when she was Gifted some hours ago on Yiziba, such created by a local seamstress in Kabe-koli at Tariko Katabarbe's request before the Mistress of the Mindless Legions returned to Earth — slung over her shoulders. "You're Skitter?!" he asked, earning him a nod from the insect mistress. "A Taylor from another universe, huh?! What about our Taylor, Amy?"
"She ended up partially mastering the ebony mesonium injected into her body on Thanksgiving, then teleported herself out of our multiverse, placing herself on Earth Bet, which is where Madame Skitter hails from," Colin explained as he knelt beside his younger peer, patting his shoulder. "Worry about it later, Christopher. Get some food into you now."
A shaky nod answered before Amelia and Sophia helped him back to his feet…
Minutes later, the cafeteria…
"You have no idea what drove you into a Tinker fugue, Christopher Cullen?"
Chris Cullen shook his head. "Not a damned thing, Teal'c," he answered before nibbling down on a Caesar salad he got for himself. Currently, the young Tinker was surrounded by three of the four just-Gifted metahumans hailing from Brockton Bay, not to mention Sophia Hess, Amelia Dallon, Teal'c and Daniel Jackson. Currently, Jack O'Neil and Samantha Carter were busy with Rory Christner and Dinah Alcott in a meeting hall some floors up arranging for the latter's formal induction into the cadet element of the Joint Specialized Warfare Command. Emily Piggot had come by a few minutes ago to inform Taylor Hebert that her parents were now being briefed by Miles Verret concerning what the Special Committee's plans concerning her slipping into her local self's place were, plus how such would be implemented over the next few days with theirs and her agreement. "I mean…" He paused before squeezing his hands together into fists. "I walk out of Arcadia, then something…!"
"It felt like something hard slammed into your brain, right?" Lisa Wilbourn asked.
He looked at the pretty, green-eyed, freckled blonde before nodding. "Yeah! How…?!"
"That's what happened to me when my counterpart on Earth Bet was killed," the clairvoyant said as she sat back in her chair, a cup of hot chocolate in hand. Much that she did have some money — embezzled from her parents' private bank accounts once she got to a working computer thanks to Regina Paek after she had been rescued from Coil's people — the funds were tight in places despite the transgender gynoid's own JSWC affiliate's stipend contributing to their household, so special food treats were somewhat rare for them. "She was killed by Taylor's former best friend Emma Barnes, who — unlike our version — went totally around the twist after the local version of the Gold Moon Society attacked her, then dedicated her whole life into wrecking Taylor's life every which way possible. She even helped force her TRIGGER EVENT atop that!" As the young Tinker blanched and Sophia growled under her breath, Lisa sighed. "Negotiator — that's the name of the power shard I got when I Triggered last year — gave me a good look into the events of Gold Morning; that's the MOAFS-like event Taylor went through before Lord Rjazán' brought her into the Dark Gaol for the Undertaker and Suiki to find. The kimfombeke who's the source of many people's powers both here and on Bet decided it was time to 'end the experiment' and exterminate all of humanity within his reach."
"No thanks to Jack Slash," Taylor muttered before sipping her tea.
Chris winced. "No War Hawks in your universe?"
"No metahumans as they're seen here anywhere on Bet or any of the other places Scion — that was this thing's name — got to."
"Damn…!"
"Could Chris' own shard be wanting to slip fully into our multiverse?" Jackson then asked. Given his position as one of Stargate Command's senior civilian advisors and chief archaeologist, he had been asked by his team leader to look in on things for their report to their commanding officer, Major General George Hammond, once they returned to Cheyenne Mountain.
People perked. "Is your version of Chris dead?" Lisa asked Taylor.
The insect mistress grimly nodded. "Yes, he was killed in Gold Morning." As Chris himself winced on hearing that, she reached over to gently squeeze his hand in reassurance, grateful that her Yizibajohei-sourced telepathy and past-selves' experiences taught her to keep total control over her own Avalonian touch-telepathy, so she didn't inadvertently invade another person's mind. "Scion saw him killed when he deflected an energy blow from Crane into his suit, detonating a power cell there."
"Wait! Sensei Abigail Rowan-Satō?! THAT Crane, Curly?!" Sophia demanded.
"Same person. I assume she's in the Birdcage here along with Amelia's father and Mom's friend?"
"One of the cell block leaders there," Chris confirmed. "General Raeburn was the one who caught her when she slipped into Alberta looking for parahuman or metahuman kids to kidnap into her 'mobile dōjō'."
The shadow-shifter snorted. "Yeah, I remember that! The general took off her Power Jewel and whooped the bitch's ass just with her martial arts; no boosted strength or invulnerability or anything!" As Taylor gaped in awe on hearing that — now that she was Gifted, she had absorbed her past-selves' memories concerning encountering the many heiresses to the Seekers' special gifts to sentient species across the known Multiverse; that an even exceptionally-trained martial artist like Dean Raeburn of all people could take down the likes of Abigail Rowan-Satō WITHOUT powers said a lot about the Ontarian/adopted Saskatchewanian — Sophia smirked. "Then again, given she IS the grandmaster of her own school of martial arts, can't be surprised at that."
"Why was this criminal not killed by the Keystone Jewel Warrior, Sophia Hess?" Teal'c asked.
A shrug answered the Chulakite warrior. "For all the shit she caused, Teal'c, Sensei never killed any of her students. A lot of them — once they got over all the cult shit that she forced on them with help from the shrinks — all ended up joining the armed forces of their own nations, moving right into their spec war teams as soon as they got out of basic training."
"At least none of the cape gangs got hold of those kids," Amelia breathed out, sipping her coffee…
…then she tensed as something washed over them all. "Oh, Vicky…!"
"Hey! There you are, Ames!"
Taylor's head snapped over. "VICKY! AURA!" she barked out.
Heads spun around to see Victoria Dallon literally "skid" in mid-air to a halt at that barked command…
A flash of bright light then appeared behind her! "VICKY-SAN!"
"EEP!" the Bay's strongest cape yelped…
KK-KLONK!
"STOP BEING SILLY, VICKY-SAN! YOU'RE GIVING EVERYONE A HEADACHE!"
…before she was smashed face-first into the floor by Saeru Hinako's folded umbrella!
Silence fell as people took that in…
…then Amelia collapsed to the floor in a gale of laughter as Taylor shook her head and Lisa smirked…
The main meeting hall, 8:55 PM…
"Welcome home, Little Owl…"
Hearing that from Danny Hebert, the other-dimensional counterpart of his own daughter choked up before tears spilled down her cheeks. With a moaned lunge, she soon found herself in the embrace of the dockworker and his wife. "Daddy…Mommy…!"
Watching this from their places at the table, several of those who had come to this meeting moved to applaud, then paused as Sophia Hess raised a hand to wave them down. Hearing the quiet sobs escape Taylor Hebert, people there — all of the members of the local Protectorate and the Wards were present, as were Emily Piggot and Mike Renick, the four members of Stargate Command who had come to meet with Dinah Alcott, the senior agent of the Special Committee on Alien Activities, Saeru Hinako, Victoria and Amelia Dallon, plus Taylor's fellow just-Gifted metahumans — nodded as the insect mistress allowed the years of pain, frustration, and other feelings which had built up in her heart to flow out. Watching this from one side of the table, Ethan Hudson grinned as he reached for his wife's hand, squeezing it; even if the Mistress of the Mindless Legions could fall back on CENTURIES of knowledge concerning her powers, there was no denying how touching this moment really was.
Nearby, Rory Christner leaned over to whisper in his cousin's ear, "Will they have issues?"
The Augur of the Probability Abacus shook her head. "One hundred percent, they'll be alright."
"Definitely betting odds," Aisha Laborn quietly lamented from beside her soon-to-be former classmate.
Missy Byron shushed them, making many of the people in the room grin in understanding. A gentle knock at the door made Colin Wallis tap a control to open said door, allowing another man in the ubiquitous black business suit "uniform" of the "men in black" to step inside. Said newcomer was accompanied by a young black man with his raven hair done in cornrows, his muscular frame and lantern jaw instantly earning him admiring stares from Missy, Sophia and even Hannah Washington; the latter was quick to turn away to hide the blush crossing his face. "Hey, John," Piggot quietly called out. "Thought you were on a date."
The man born Jardáni Izmaílovich Javánavich smiled as he shook the retired fighter pilot's hand before doing the same with Renick, then Jack O'Neil. "Miles told me you had to push the meeting with Ms. Hebert up because of her Gifting," the man now known commonly as "Agent W" despite he also being quite recognizable to certain sectors of society as "Baba Yaga" or by his Anglicized name of Jonathan "John" Wick quietly stated before gazing over at the couple holding their daughter's other self in one corner of the room. "Damn! When I read Isaac's reports on Earth Bet, I never thought it was THAT bad…"
"The Herald of the All-Death must expunge the pains of the past if she is to properly take her place among the Children of the Forge, Master John," Teal'c sagely noted, making the famous Ruska Roma-born assassin gaze his way.
Miles Verret gazed at the Chulakite warrior. "'Master of the All-Death', Teal'c?"
"A previous incarnation of Mistress Lekero was involved in an incident which far outstripped any 'mother of all fight scenes' in terms of overall destruction, Gatekeeper Miles," the former first prime to Apophis explained. "Scientists working under various System Lords were able to detect the side effects of the All-Death as such echoed through the various Stargates. Later peaceful contact with the Children of the Forge revealed that Mistress Lekero — with the assistance of the Quadrumvirate of the Forge — were forced to totally devastate an entire dimension to remove a most dangerous species from Existence."
As people winced, a voice painfully called out, "Hopefully…won't have to do that…in this incarnation…"
People winced as they gazed over at Taylor. "You okay, Curly?" Sophia Hess asked.
"Don't push, Sophia-san!" the Living Spirit of Innocence gently chided.
"I'm okay, Hinako," the insect mistress breathed out as her other self's parents pulled clear of her. Taking a deep breath, she then gazed at Teal'c…before her eyes locked on Verret and Wick, they then going wide under her goggles; like Lisa Wilbourn did, Taylor Hebert got a pair of special goggles from Isaac Thomas to help her in the field even if her new body had been created without any visual problems. "Oh, my God!" she exclaimed. "You have the MIB in this universe, too?!"
People blinked before Verret laughed, which soon made some of the others in the room chuckle. "Knew it!" he called out before holding out his hand to his partner. "Pay up, Agent W!" he then bade.
Wick chuckled as he handed a Lincoln note to his partner. Slipping that into his jacket pocket, he then rose from his chair, walking over with his hand out. "You're quite right, Miss Hebert. Officially, we're known as the United Nations Special Committee on Alien Activities, but the term 'Men in Black' has always been applied to us. I'm Agent V, senior SCAA agent for New England. My partner, Agent W," he then added as Wick came over to also shake her hand.
"And before you ask, Agents J and K do exist as well," the Roma-born former assassin added. "They're based in New York, of course; that's where most of the sentient beings we normally deal with congregate here in America."
"Kevin Brown and James Edwards, right?" Taylor wondered.
Both men chuckled. "I guess those movies from — Earth Aleph, was it? — were pretty detailed," the older SCAA agent mused.
"Isaac warned you about that?" Lisa Wilbourn wondered.
"He did, Miss Wilbourn," Verret affirmed.
"So, what brings you people here?" Annette Hebert asked as people moved to take their seats, with Brian Laborn moving to place himself very close to his sister, they then reaching out to warmly grasp hands.
Verret moved to the head of the room. "Given how dangerous some of the battle lines on Yiziba could be if they were unleashed on Earth, Professor, people like my partner and I are sent out to meet up with those who were Gifted — either with the help of Miss Katabarbe, Mister Thomas, or if they found a Gift crystal lying about as the Camelot Wondercolts in California did this past November — to get a general reading over who was Gifted, what powers they received, and what potential threat they pose."
Understanding nods answered him. "The PRT concept writ large," Taylor concluded. "You need to be prepared. Given I worked with the Chicago branch of the PRT under Director Hearthrow, I understand that a lot."
"Colonel Hearthrow — he's in the Illinois Air National Guard — is the leader of the Illinois PRT as a whole," Hannah affirmed.
"Both the PRT and the Protectorate in Illinois would form the Seventh Squadron of the 106th Cavalry Regiment where they to be federalized for emergency reasons," Colin added, making the adopted Yizibajohei in the room nod in understanding.
"Like we'd become the Second Battalion of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment if it happened to us," Renick added.
Taylor hummed. "Well, at least we'd have some big shoes to fill if that ever happens," she noted.
"You saw Glory, right?" Victoria asked.
"Yes, both the Aleph and Bet versions," the Mistress of the Mindless Legions affirmed before she focused on Wick. "And I'm sorry to ask, Agent W, but is there an actor from Canada named Keanu Reeves alive here?"
The Roma ex-assassin blinked. "Yes, he's here. Why?"
She smirked. "Take away your beard and moustache, then trim your hair, you'd look like his character Neo from The Matrix."
That made Wick blink as people gazed at him. "I think you've got a point there, Taylor," O'Neil noted.
Chuckles filled the room. "So, what type of people join your group?" Danny asked. "Any metas or parahumans?"
"Given the overall paranoia neighbouring races possess concerning 'they who must never be named', we don't have any metahumans or parahumans employed as field agents, Director Hebert," Verret answered. "We do have working relationships with the specialized warfare forces of multiple nations, chief among them being the Specialized Warfare Regiment in Canada given their place of operational and organizational primacy among peer units worldwide. However, one hidden clause of the International Specialized Warfare Treaty of 1957 forbids organizations like ours from employing people like your daughter directly. As your daughter will no doubt know, Agent K was a founding member of the SCAA when it was established in 1969, as was Chief Zed, our current director-in-chief. Agent J was a former police officer from New York who joined in 1997."
He waved to himself. "I'm a more recent entry into the organization; I was hired on in 2008 after brief stints in the Marine Corps and the New York Police Department." Verret then waved to Wick. "Agent W is a former assassin from Belarus who worked the streets of the Big Apple for one of the local families. He came onto the force a year after I did, after he met his future wife and decided he didn't want to be an assassin anymore. Believe me, his skills on the street saved my life a couple of times."
"Especially last year," Piggot noted as O'Neil nodded.
"Having been with Lustrum back in my young and foolish days, I doubt you wanting to leave THAT life was easy," Annette mused as she gave Wick a knowing look. "Even if you and Helen do make a beautiful couple, Jonathan."
"Mom!" Taylor chided. "You don't call them by their real names!"
Wick laughed. "It's alright in this setting, Taylor," he calmly stated.
Verret shrugged. "John and I met when he was in the middle of his final mission for his then-employers, the Tarasov Family. It was an effectively 'impossible task', but as Kevin, James and I watched, he pulled it off…even with the interference of a group of Shōzoki gatherer androids who had come to New York in hopes of eliminating the Special Committee as a whole to help Mother's set task to bring all 'rogues' like Miss Wilbourn's girlfriend 'back' under her control. That was the second time I had to deal with rogue AIs; the first time, with Doctor Renaissance's help, was what got me into the SCAA in the first place."
"Shogai Dakejinzō certainly approved of Master John's actions last year, Gatekeeper Miles," Teal'c noted.
Taylor nodded. "So, you often liaise with bounty hunters like Hunter Commander Nassur and his wife?"
"Whenever their business brings them here," Wick advised. "Given that the governments of the various member-states of the Galactic Federation — to say anything of their rivals in the Ipraedies Empire or the Seifukusu Dominion, never mind the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios — don't want to push an open 'first contact' with Earth at this time…"
"Because of the SGC and its actions alone, it may be coming," Lisa finished.
"Yes, Miss Wilbourn, it may be coming," Verret warned. "That's another reason we do meetings like this."
Nods from all around the table. "So, let's get down to the nitty-gritty of this," O'Neil cut in. "What ARE your plans, Taylor?"
A smirk answered the Minnesotan pararescueman-turned-alien first contact specialist. "What I wanted to do since I was old enough to remember, Colonel O'Neil. Become a hero." As people grinned, she waved around the room. "Thankfully, in no small part to the people in this room and elsewhere, it seems not NEARLY as crazy as it was back in my Brockton Bay." She then nodded to the two SCAA agents. "You both may assure Chief Zed that I and any battle team I may form will be there if the Special Committee needs our particular help in resolving issues coming our way." She then focused on the four visitors from Colorado Springs. "Please assure General Hammond that if such assistance is required by Stargate Command, we'll be there for you and your friends as well. We of Yiziba have had a long history with the lar'beke. While we won't EAT them…!"
O'Neil laughed as Daniel Jackson chuckled, Samantha Carter gaped and Teal'c remained as calm as ever. "There are people on Yiziba who EAT Goa'uld prim'ta?" the woman who figured out how to work the Stargate dialling system demanded.
"Ask Teal'c there about what happened when the SECOND incarnation of Doctor Destructo rose from the Great Crystal to toss those stupid snakes off Yiziba," Missy cut in as she indicated the former first prime.
Taylor blinked. "'Doctor Destructo'?"
"That's what Rampage, the Academician's twin sister, calls the Healer of Destruction," Colin provided.
Amused chuckles filled the room. "Getting back to what Colonel O'Neil wanted to focus on, I happened to read Isaac Thomas' files concerning Earth Bet," Wick then declared. "He happens to provide our group with the latest technology that comes to his mind which could help us pursue our mission. What you just went through…" He shook his head. "That you came out of something like Gold Morning — not to mention what led up to it — well, I pity what you had to go through to get here."
"And since you've stated you will form a battle team of your own, Miss Hebert, all I can advise is to just be careful," Verret added. "I've seen Isaac's files as well. In some ways — since you've yet to experience it — this version of your hometown is as crazy as your version of Brockton Bay. Escalating things like you did in the past would not work in the long term."
Hearing that, Taylor slowly nodded as her mother reached over to squeeze her shoulder…
Ōsaka in Japan, Ōtemae Junior High School (west of Ōsaka Castle), Friday 7 January 2011, 11:10 AM JST (Brockton Bay time: Thursday 6 January, 9:10 PM)…
"There she goes again…"
"You know what she is, Mami-chan."
A sigh escaped Fujieda Mami as she gazed on the woman now staring somewhere into the morning sky over the courtyard that separated the junior high element of the Ōtemae University complex from the high school and university teaching areas. "Yeah, but it's still weird to watch Ayumu-chan at times," the raven-haired, brown-eyed dog lover hummed as the person she and her friends from Class 3-6 tilted her head absently, a quirky smile crossing her face. "How can she live like that?"
"Live like what?" Mishima Saeko then asked. "You mean all the data input she gets all the time?"
"Yeah," the salaryman's daughter who was now moving to enter a national beauty contest called the "National Uniform Beauty Grand Prix" — so called because it was being driven by the national education ministry to promote the need for conformity among high school students, into whose ranks Mami and her peers would enter after April — then breathed out. She had been spotted by talent scouts while out shopping just before the turn of the New Year, then was invited to attend photo shoots. Nothing was risqué or leaning towards anything that was perverted, but such photos had begun making the rounds over the Internet, which earned her a tonne of compliments from most of their male classmates; fortunately for Mami, the mere PRESENCE of the most UNIQUE member of Class 3-6 trampled down quick on the few hentai jerks who might want to get into her panties.
Sighing, she then walked away from her friends to put herself against the safety fence framing the deck, squeezing her absent-minded-looking peer's shoulder. "What is it this time?" Mami asked as Kasuga Ayumu gazed her way, her brown eyes sparkling with the universe-ending power she possessed. "Eternity and Kismet still making moon-eyes at each other? That whole thing between the Avengers and the Justice League that got provoked by that jackass Krona happened in 2005 our time."
The raven-haired Shintō priest's daughter hummed as she "gazed" over the city. "Nah! Ever since Isaac-kun and Chikage-chan went on their training trips, things are quiet over there." She then sighed. "It's Taylor Hebert-chan I'm worried about."
A confused look answered her. "Who's she?"
"She calls herself 'Skitter' these days."
That made the canine lover blink again before her eyes went wide. "Oh, the Haywire case over in Brockton Bay, you mean?" she wondered, earning her a nod. "So, what's wrong with that? Did Tariko-chan get to her and got her Gifted?"
"Nah, it was Leno-sensei who did," the woman who was the Goddess Who Walks Among Men, Nodim ("Infinity"), answered. As Mami nodded — being one of the Infinite One's peers who had got herself used to her classmate's prefectures-worth of peculiarities, she knew who the players concerning seeing Terrans Gifted as adopted Yizibajohei always were — Ayumu sighed, a touch of sadness in her voice. "There was a local version of Taylor-chan, too. She got badly hurt by a dork in one of the gangs over there. Big shard of ebony meson right into her chest!" Seeing Mami wince on hearing that — the notoriety of Brockton Bay was well-known even in Japan thanks to the wonders of Parahumans Online — Ayumu added, "Too much for even Oba-chan…" — that was Dean Raeburn, Mami knew — "…or Margo-chan to fix up, so they had to mummify her in a ruby meson suit. But when the other Taylor-chan was brought here by Vladímir-sensei…" — yes, Mami knew who THAT was — "…for Mark-kun and Hinako-chan to find…" — oh, did Mami knew who THEY were! — "…they had to make her an Avalonian."
Mami nodded. "The Awakening was sensed by our Taylor-chan, right?"
"Hai! And she teleported to the other Taylor-chan's universe. And it's a MESS over there!"
"Why?"
"Oh, the stupid kimfombeke that was forcing people through trigger events over there decided it was time to 'end the cycle' thanks to a version of Jacob Black-kun who hadn't been put through his death scene until it was too late!" As Mami winced again — yes, even years after his death, the reputation of Jacob Black AKA Jack Slash was well known — Ayumu shrugged. "So, Taylor-chan — she got the Queen Administrator shard, which gave her Master abilities over minor creatures — had to get Amy Lavere-sensei to jailbreak her shard so she could force all the parahumans over there to help make this thing kill itself."
"Ouch!" Mami hissed. "Shades of Heartbreaker…!"
"Yeah! Oh, you wanna know what 'thanks' she got for saving humanity in that multiverse, Mami-chan?"
Mami hummed. "Well, if she's in our multiverse now, I guess she's not wanted over there."
"Yeah, two bullets to the back of the skull," Ayumu groused, which made the other girl hiss in horror. "Well, Vladímir-sensei didn't like that, so he put her into Mark-kun's yard to help her brain heal, then Mark-kun and Hinako-chan brought her to a coven of Avalonians in the Bay. Body-swap later, she went through the Awakening, got her powers back as Skitter — that's her first battle name — then moved to start being a hero." She then pointed somewhere off to her left. "Our Taylor-chan sensed what happened, then went to Earth Bet — that's what people on that Earth call their planet since they had their own Haywire-sensei — to teach the dorks over there to appreciate what their Taylor-chan did for them!" Here, the Infinite One shrugged. "But with all that ebony meson in her body, neither Oba-chan nor Marko-chan can do anything help her get control of herself."
Mami hummed. Being as laid back as she was — which was said to be something of a prerequisite for anyone to obtain the power of the God/Goddess Who Walks Among Men, she had learned — Kasuga Ayumu didn't have much of a tactical mind when it came to confronting issues that could lead to fight scenes. Yes, she had nearly the two millennia's worth of knowledge and memories her twenty-six previous incarnations had collected since the Dawn of Power…but given how STRATEGIC becoming the Infinite One could be — when seen through the lens of military metahuman warfare — not forcing the poor girl to think so tactically was as smart thing in the long term. After all, any version of Infinity was said to be able to literally REBOOT THE UNIVERSE if s/he was driven to such an ugly extreme. Of course, Ayumu was just too sweet and well-natured to even CONSIDER something so ghastly — in her own words, "It'd be a really 'blah' day if I did THAT!" — but this forced her to rely on others when it came to thinking on such detailed stuff. And while Mami had been tempted to be Gifted herself — being one of Ayumu's friends, it was easy to arrange — she did fervently wish that some parahuman Thinker or metahuman hyper-genius polymath would team up with the shrine priest's daughter so she could get a little more active on the "cape" scene.
She then perked as something came to her. "Hey, wait a minute!"
Ayumu gazed her way. "Huh? What're you thinking of, Mami-chan?"
"Josef von Taserich-taii," the other girl mused. "He's lived with ebony mesonium his whole life!"
That made the Infinite One hum before she smiled. "Game-winning home run…!"
To Be Continued…
WRITER'S NOTES
Some scenes in this part were initially written by Dr. Tempo. Agent V (Miles Verret) is his creation as well; he is named in tribute to the Doctor's late uncle and aunt, who passed away in 2023. This part is written in tribute to them.
Translation list and source language: AO — Area of Operations (English abbreviation); Taii — Navy lieutenant/Army captain/Air Force flight lieutenant (Japanese).
Nassur and Shogai Dakejinzō are both major characters from The Senior Year. The former is Mike Smith's primary original character for the series, first appearing in "Return of Memory". The latter is my creation, made as a counterpart of sorts to Nassur; she first appeared in "Arrive Reiko-chan". Josef von Taserich (AKA Tash Ri) has been mentioned in several of my fanfics as well, first appearing in The Seventh Shipgirl (Fanfiction ID 12549222); his history is reviewed in Magic and Canada.
The planet Tengsei (also known as Jiyū) is in the Alpha Centauri system and was mentioned frequently in TSY. Hichkyech'eng is the top-tier prison planet of the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios, located in an uncharted star system deep within the territory of that realm; it was first mentioned in Phoenix From the Ashes. The Three Princess Dragons are based on the Koihime Musō interpretations of Ryūbi Gentoku (AKA Tōka), Sōsō Mōtoku (AKA Karin), and Sonsaku Hakufu (AKA Sheren); these ladies' proper native names are Seu-P'ya Yesu-K'i Hechnich'-Syechch'eng (AKA Ch'esyuk), Seu-Ne Yesu-Ne Hechnich'-T'uokch'eng (AKA Seup'it'), and Seu-Hech Yesu-Tuong Hechnich'-Tuongta (AKA Hep'p'yech) respectively. In physical looks, they resemble their KM selves save for Noukiite head ridges on their foreheads (a milder version of what Klingons from Star Trek have), plus blooming flower caste tattoos on their cheeks. The local name order with those of the Flower Youth Corps (in Noukiite, Seup'uk) is as follows: Seu-(family name) (sex/birth order prefix)-(given name) Hechnich'-(adult courtesy name). The name prefix Hechnich' is short for Hechnich'kye, literally translated as "Sacred true bone lord/lady".
Jardáni Javánavich (in Belarussian: Ярдані Яванавіч) is the proper way of Romanizing the birth name of John Wick; for some reason, the "a" sounds in the family name normally wind up Romanized as "o". Note that the patronymic Izmaílovich (Ізмаілович) is my invention; such is an eastern Slavic variation of the name "Samuel", which matches Keanu Reeves' father.
Fujieda Mami is a minor character from the Zenkoku Seifuku Bishōjo Grand Prix adult visual novel/video game series released by the now-defunct Lyceen company in the mid-to-late 1990s. Her appearance here serves as spoilers (of a sort) for people who would appear in Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman. Also, the mentioning of Eternity from Marvel Comics and Kismet from DC Comics — not to mention the meeting between the Justice League of America and the Avengers — harkens to the JLA/Avengers four-part crossover series published by Marvel and DC in 2003-2004.