Taylor stopped at the sight of the poster. Because of course someone put up a poster.
Of G-Girl during that fight in Canberra.
"People keep putting that up," said her PRT-assigned liason, Sergeant Murphy.
"I did NOT have a bottle of sriracha," pointed out Taylor.
"True," agreed Sergeant Kendra Murphy.
"I did NOT say anything even remotely like 'crunchy and satisfying'," continued Taylor.
"You can't even talk when you're skyscraper-sized," agreed Sergeant Murphy.
"Tell me I get a cut of Simurgh Chips, Atomic Barbeque Flavor," tried Taylor.
"They're not 'Simurgh Chips' they're 'G-Girl Chips' and the PRT does funnel a percentage into your accounts," said Sergeant Murphy. "I honestly think-"
Taylor glanced at her liason, wondering why she had cut off like that, before the guy finished stepping through the doorway. "Enough of that, Miss Hebert. I think it's time you became the monster you're meant to be."
There was a moment when his eyes met hers and she suddenly felt things go woozy, but then it was swept away as a torrent of rage came through the link between her and the Other.
Using her tail to make the leap across the room, her now-bigger hand grabbed ahold of the person's head so that his eyes were now covered by the heel of her hand. Claws began digging in and her voice was a growl that communicated a level of pissed-off-ness that had just passed White Hot Fury. "Let her go. Now. Or else."
* Contessa *
There were times when she needed to sow conflict. Times where someone might consider the steps she was taking were immoral at best and crimes against humanity at worst.
Then there were times when she could just sit back in a lounge chair, sip on a White Claw, and watch as various assembled members of the Fallen were being decimated.
Taylor had emerged from her shelter, been slammed by three energy attacks and then confronted by another one of their Master-type parahumans.
G-Girl wasn't immune to Master-effects, but whatever she was connected to did NOT like her being controlled and quickly doused her with what was effectively a tidal wave of pure rage that shattered such constructs. Tidal rage? Whatever, it quickly put her into a berserker state that was entirely and precisely focused on reducing whoever had done such a foolish thing to thin red paste status.
Within ten seconds of emerging, she'd reached thirty feet in height. That made her a bigger target and more shooting of both ammunition and energy blasts commenced. At the thirty second mark she was over a hundred feet in height and atomic breath started sweeping the locations of various pockets of attackers.
For some strange reason, those pockets of attackers hit by that line of destruction failed to renew their assault.
Contessa smiled, toasted the distant form currently blasting a swarm of relatively tiny cultists, and contemplated how many steps were being removed from the Plan. Just removing Mama Mathers (currently part of a steaming crater) was going to simplify a whole lot of things.
It was truly interesting how many villains or villain groups threw themselves at G-Girl with the idea of either getting the credit for her kill or for getting her under their control. It was rather more interesting to see the villains or villain groups that found out G-Girl had arrived and decided a strategic withdrawal with all due speed was a good plan.
There were citizens, of course, who were horrified at the thought of a teenage girl who could get provoked to the point where she was four-hundred and change feet tall of giant lizard. This was lessened a fair amount by having her here, in a remote part of the Nevada desert, where some idiot couldn't just walk up to her and start something that ended up with radioactive craters.
She had eaten the Simurgh, the Hope Killer, the Endbringer who had driven entire communities to homicidal madness with her song. In a lot of people's eyes, this made G-Girl a whole hell of a lot more acceptable.
Contessa got up, leaving the chair behind. "Door me. Cincinatti. Fourth floor stairwell of the Flem Building." Time to get busy again. And she needed to mention that G-Girl was rapidly becoming "cannot path" just like the Endbringers and Eidolon. Which meant something.
She did have to idly wonder if G-Girl realized she'd been using telekinesis and precog once she'd passed the hundred-foot mark.
* Leviathan *
It was a Conflict Engine #2:Water. One of the most common compounds in the universe. It was supreme in that element, an element necessary for the majority of [Host Species] to exist.
They were there to ensure there was conflict and that [Host Species] would be spiraling into oblivion so that the Cycle could continue without obstacles.
Except that there was an obstacle.
A very big obstacle.
Having access to cables and sunken machinery, Conflict Engine #2 was quite aware that #3 was gone.
Eaten.
In 10,000 Cycles that had never happened before.
There had been 4,107 Cycles where one of the Conflict Engines had been destroyed. 789 Cycles had seen more than one Conflict Engine ended. Om Nom Nom had NEVER been involved before this.
At their respective sizes at the end of that conflict, it had been like a human chomping down on a Doritos.
Conflict Engines were not at all designed to have the same emotions as a [Host Species].
[Order: Give me a good fight.]
[Reply: Alternative site requested.]
[Order: Give me a good fight.]
[Reply: Order acknowledged. Locating attack point far away from location: Giant Scary Thing.]
[Order: Target: Brockton Bay.]
[Reply: Request alternate site.]
[Order: Give me a good fight.]
[Ping: Conflict Engine #3, Status Request]
[R3 ~: C Nf4N EnG404 #3. gO F*(n) SnL7]
[Observation: Conflict Engine Subsumed/Absorbed/Digested. Giant Scary Thing = Giant Very Scary Thing.]
[Order: Give me a good fight.]
Leviathan began preparing itself, it would not go down (the hatch) without a fight.
* March 7, 2011 *
"You'll have to go yourself from here," said Strider, staggering over to where he could sit down. "You're heavier than you look."
Taylor looked at the nearby coastline and then at where Strider was obviously still in some distress. "Close enough."
Strider watched her take a running leap and hit the water, then left a wake behind her as she continued to grow and become more giant-reptile as she went.
There had been the jawbreaker she'd gotten when eating the Simurgh and she'd passed that on to the connection she felt with the Other. What she'd gotten back eventually had been power. Like she needed more power. She was already strong enough, wasn't she?
The contemplation of the coming battle seemed to further her increase in size and strength, and she was worried now about the shockwaves generated in the water from her speed.
After a few tries, she thought she had the trick of it, using her new telekinesis to grab air and form a bubble in front of her seemed to reduce the effect of her pressure wave.
There was a discontinuity in the water nearby. She could see multiple futures where she investigated and...
"Found you," growled G-Girl as she began increasing even more rapidly in size, changing course ever so slightly.
* Brockton Bay Staging Area *
She gripped her sword tightly, hoping that she had a chance to use it. Frankly, she didn't think her odds were very good.
Seriously, who thought that "pep talk" was going to do anything but add to the stress level?
"You okay, Bladestress?"
"Fine, seriously, I'm fine," she answered.
"You don't look fine," pointed out her teammate, Surfer Girl.
"My power allows me to imbue any weapon I'm holding with a shear field that cuts through anything, but I have to be right next to an Endbringer to try," the Virginia Beach hero pointed out. "I'm not really comfortable with the idea of being at touch-range with an Endbringer. YOU on the other hand..."
Surfer Girl shrugged. Brute and Mover powers as long as she was in contact with water? Yeah, any other Endbringer she'd be at a loss. This one she at least had a chance with.
The rain had started out small but was rapidly ramping up. That was something she hadn't been prepared for. Just how hard it was to see or hear anything through it when it got to the point where her waterproof poncho was feeling a bit inadequate.
"Leviathan is approaching. Brace for tidal wave," said the voice of Dragon through the earbud.
Taking a deep breath, trying to calm herself, Bladestress drew the sword she'd selected for this. A Viking Ulfberth-style longsword. The first part of her power went into the blade, reinforcing it, strengthening the metal and making it seem lighter in her hands.
She was aware of Surfer Girl nearby, hitting the switch that shifted her Tinkertech surfboard to active mode.
The wave. She could see the swell off in the distance, gaining height as it came towards the target area. Towards her.
"Bladestress. If we don't make it. I just wanted to say..."
Bladestress' head jerked to the side. Was this a love confession?! Now?! She hadn't seen THIS coming! She was sure as heck not ready for this sort of thing!
"it's been fun. But you're also kind of annoying and a major killjoy."
Bladestress blinked a few times, processing that. "Ah. Right." Also trying to decide if she was disappointed or relieved.
The oncoming wave broke as Leviathan erupted out of it, being carried in the mouth of G-Girl.
"Ah," said Surfer Girl.
"All defenders, this is Dragon. G-Girl appears to have engaged Leviathan."
"No shit," commented Bladestress.
"She's got to be, what, three hundred feet long or so?" asked Surfer Girl.
Surfer Girl made a little noise as Leviathan managed to free itself, leaving roughly half of itself in G-Girl's mouth where it quickly vanished.
Bladestress looked up at the sound of jets but couldn't see anything through the cloud cover.
"JSDF?" asked Surfer Girl, doing the same.
Bladestress considered that for a moment. "Wouldn't think they'd be able to get to the fight due to distance."
Surfer Girl made a show of checking her equipment and flicking her sodden ponytail behind her. "Heard there were a few stationed in the USA just in case, I think one was down in Oceana. Probably would use local fighter jets."
Bladestress tried to snap her fingers, but as everything was very wet had a problem doing so. Oceana being a Naval Air Station near a pizza place she liked. "Oh yeah. There was a Japanese guy. Think I met him."
"Not like he's going to be able to do anything against an Endbringer, but it's probably just the symbology involved or something," stated Surfer Girl. "Well, I guess we're up after all. G-Girl's trying to chase Leviathan who figured out she's slower on land."
Bladestress nodded, preparing to use the second part of her power. Which was perception-based. It wasn't "empower blades" even if that was the PR tag she put out. She used blades because she'd been in the Society of Creative Anachronisms and knew how to use swords. Also daggers and bows. No, her power was actually if she was touching something she could make it more align with her perception of that item. The carbon-steel of her sword would get tougher and more resilient because she could focus on it being really good tough steel. The edge could slice through everything she'd tried it on because she was enforcing that it had a really sharp blade. Her power just made it more so as long as she maintained focus and willed it to be so.
If she could do it at range she'd have been Archeress or something and been a lot more comfortable with this fight.
Surfer Girl flipped her board out, jumped on and was slicing through the waves towards the fight, unlimbering her gun as she went. Her Brute 1(4) rating in effect because of all the rain and splash effects giving her the boost, while her minor hydrokinesis allowed her to have a Mover 1 rating as long as she was actually on some source of water.
Bladestress took a deep breath, trying to center herself from the nervousness she was feeling, and let her power enhance the edge to the point where it was particle-fine.
* G-Girl *
She swallowed the arm and leg, along with the chunk of chest they were attached to.
Leviathan was already regenerating and she could see, at her current size, where he would move. It was difficult to catch him though. While she could match or exceed his straight-line speed while using her telekinetic "bubble" - he was a lot more agile now that he was expecting her.
She grew bigger, crystalline armor beginning to show - another thing gained from digesting the Simurgh and sharing that core with the Other.
A thought during the chase and she grabbed the old ferryboat that had been quietly rotting away nearby and slammed it into the fleeing Leviathan with her telekinesis hard enough that the boat crumbled by more than half its length.
At which point it had temporarily slowed enough that Eidolon could use a projected giant yellow hand to grab it and Alexandria start punching away.
That stalled it just long enough for her to properly grab it.
Then it was just snack time.
"Urp!" Tasted like chicken. Weird. She'd expected a more fishy taste for some reason.
* Alexandria *
She was the OG flying Brute. Some considered her the most powerful parahuman, or the second most after Eidolon if they counted all the various powers he could field.
There was one exception, still relatively new to her power. G-Girl, sometimes still called Zilla, alias Taylor Hebert. She had a few other notable names given her that enjoyed some popularity. The End Eater. Atomic Dino. The Devourer of Threats. Escalation Queen. Tall, Dark, and Reptile (TDR). Stompy. It went on for quite some time.
She was popular too, and this would make her even more so.
The JSDF had started celebrating as soon as G-Girl had shown up, she suspected that an icon of Japanese cinema avenging the loss of Kyushu was going to have the scattered Japanese across the world setting world records of celebration. That one of their pilots had been able to get at least one missile hit when Leviathan had been concentrating entirely on the hungry jaws pursuing him? Yes, that would definitely cause the celebration to achieve epic proportions.
She glanced to the side where Eidolon was high-fiving G-Girl, looking ridiculously small against the now huge reptile. Come to think of it, he hadn't been particularly put out about the Simurgh fight either. Normally, if someone had tried to upstage him - he'd get surly and defensive. Not so much with G-Girl.
Legend hovered nearby. "Two down."
"And those she eats, she gets power from." Alexandria had, of course, noticed. Also read the report from the Number Man after he'd reviewed video of her after the fight.
"So, I'd expect hydrokinesis. Possibly weather control," speculated Legend. "She's quite powerful."
"So the Slaughterhouse Nine and several other threats have noticed," said Alexandria. She had enough self-control that she could have not smiled at the thought but didn't bother. "Not enough to face the real threat. At least not yet."
"When that time comes, she won't be alone," pointed out Legend.
"No, no she won't," agreed Alexandria.
