Good evening Spacebattlers! I've never run a quest before (Because I have the writers equivalent of ADHD and am, all in all, not the greatest writer in the first place) but I really wanted to try. So, I present to you a nifty little intro. Posts will obviously be somewhat longer once initial power selection is out of the way but until then - Enjoy! (PS: If I'm doing something quite wrong, please don't be afraid to tell me. As previously mentioned, I'm kind of an idiot. I won't be offended, I promise.)
Taylor Hebert has been having an exceptionally bad day. Possibly even her very own 'worst day ever'.
Mind you, if asked, and indeed, even in the confines of her own mind, she will henceforth refer to it as her second worst day ever. It is a lie she tells herself, because humans are innately selfish beings, for whom personal suffering is much more sharply felt than second hand suffering.
It all began, you see, with a girl. Taylor's best friend in fact. She was never a very good girl - at least by the moral standards that Taylor Hebert lives by - but she was always at least content to apply her maliciousness to others, usually in largely small ways.
This girl, was called Emma Barnes. And for reasons quite beyond you (or Taylor, for she is the only source of knowledge you currently have access to) she decided, at the start of highschool, to become Taylor's mortal enemy.
Together with two other girls - whom Taylor, and therefore you, hate just as much as Emma - she has been systematically destroying any and all possible happiness, success, and stability in Taylor's life.
You know this, because Taylor Hebert has just triggered, while trapped in a tiny metal coffin full of almost literal poison. You know this, because you are the direct result of the Parahuman power that Taylor Hebert has just received.
In other words, using language that you are copying from your beleaguered Masters mind, you, are a projection.
To say that you are copying it from her mind however, is somewhat unfair. Or at least, a vast oversimplification of what is happening. Truthfully, it is easier to say that you 'received' it from her. Parahuman powers are, after all, not typically sentient. In that sense you are like... hm. Athena! A fully conscious existence that has sprung to life from within the mind of your Master. Everything you know, you know as a result of Taylor knowing it, which, at the very least, means you can skip the awkward infant years of normal human growth.
Which brings you to the now. Your Master has just used her power for the first time, with the simple command to free her from her confinement. This means that this is the first time you will ever manifest in a physical sense. You have, you feel, a vague sense of choice before you. One that - once you decide - will irrevocably change you to better suit your Master's needs.
What exactly, do you choose?
[X] Meseek's Death (Taylor has the power to Project an ever-growing number of Meseeks ala Rick & Morty.)
[X] King Of Monsters (Taylor has the ability to Project Godzilla. Note that this comes with a sort of selective intangibility in order to allow you to exist in her vicinity without killing the city.)
[X] Hero Of Another Story (Taylor's projection randomly shuffles between characters from other media, who can train and teach her to use their own abilities.)
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Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
May 28, 2020
#22
Spoiler: Take Note!: Hero Selection
[x]Hero Of Another Story(13 Votes)
You have chosen to Emulate some of mankinds greatest heroes from across spacetime.
When you use your powers, you receive a pool of energy that fuels the abilities of the Hero you are emulating.
Attacks & Unique Techniques Cost 1 Energy
Special Forms Cost 5 Energy
Building a Unique Item Costs 2 Energy (Dependent on size and useage)
Teaching Taylor Hebert how to use one of your powers expends 10 Energy, but is reduced by 1 for each day you choose to manually teach her.
When you run out of Energy you return to your base form, and the franchise or series you were drawing from becomes Locked.
Choose your difficulty:
[ ]Hard Mode(Starting Energy 30 points):
You are permanently tangible, and unable to hide or become immaterial to follow your Master around. If you are destroyed you take a significant time to reform (Three Days), during which you are unaware and unable to protect your Master.
[ ]Normal Mode(Starting Energy 20 points):
You are capable of taking on an intangible & invisible form that allows you to trail your Master unnoticed. If you are destroyed you reform roughly an hour later, but remain aware of Taylor Heberts circumstances during this time.
[ ]Easy Mode(Starting Energy 10 points):
You are largely unstoppable. Much like the Siberian, destroying you doesnt do anything except force your Master to reform you, which she can do more or less infinitely, functionally allowing her to teleport you at will.
Calmly, or rather as calmly as it is possible to be when your first cognizant thought upon birth was 'Kill Those Bitches', you reconfigure yourself for your intended useage.
You had many configurations available to you, but of them only one seemed appropriate for your needs. True, a neon blue agent of chaos might have been gratifying, and a lizard the size of a city might have been useful, but what your Master needs now more than ever is a Hero. Not a punch clock costume jockey like the Protectorate. Not an edgy vigilante bent on revenge. But a capital H Hero. Someone who regularly meets, matches, and defeats unfathomable odds to uplift the people around them.
Your Master, you feel, is in drastic need of uplifting.
Even if bathing her enemies in nuclear hellfire would have been just as satisfying.
When you're configuration is complete, you find yourself an unpleasant collage of not quite human features. At a distance you might look human enough, but on closer inspection you have something of the uncanny about you, as though someone forgot to add the normal imperfections of humanity to you as you were exiting the mold.
It doesn't matter though, because the form is temporary. A transitional phase as it were. The second your body settles is the second that a web of lights stretches out before you, a network of possibilities and heroism from which you draw strength.
Without hesitation you reach out to grasp one, and engage your emulation protocol. Your body shifts. Your mind realigns. You become more.
And then, like the totally normal human you probably appear to be, you set to work fiddling with the combination lock on Taylor Heberts prison.
Choose A Series Or Franchise:
[ ]Bleach
[ ]Naruto
[ ]One Piece
[ ]Write-In
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A Hat & Its Man
May 29, 2020
#48
Spoiler: Choices
Spoiler: Results
Spoiler: Current Emulation Status
You reach forward to fiddle with the lock - and then stop. Your current emulation is... volatile. You're reasonably certain that you're Master would describe him as 'literally a psychopath', but you try to be charitable about it. Regardless, you are at an impasse. You're pretty sure that you can remember the combination for the lock with a little focus - that information was part of the packet of information that formed your Ego after all. However, your simmering hatred for the ape spawn that put your master in there is mixing with your current forms exceedingly violent tendencies, leaving you feeling like you should make your displeasure known.
You take a deep breath to consider.
Then... you act.
[ ] You draw your Zanpakuto, and make your fury known. A howling gale rips open the doors on the nearby lockers as you narrow your focus and sweep the blade outward, ripping the wall of lockers in front of you, and indeed, going all the way to either end of the hallway, clear from the wall, leaving only your Master untouched. (Synchronize Emulation: 3 Energy)
[ ] You scowl, and use your superior strength to rip the combination lock from the door with a noticeable screech of tearing metal. (Synchronize Emulation: 1 Energy)
[ ] You suppress your Emulation's instincts and quietly do your best to remember the locker combination.
As the door of the locker comes free, you are treated to the sight of your Master's unconscious form. She is pale almost to the point of being nearly deathly so, and her hands are soaked red with blood where - in her panic - she had begun desperately scrabbling against the steel walls of her prison.
"Tch." You spit, quickly stepping forward and pulling her into your arms as she falls backwards out of her coffin. You ignore the spattering of offal and gore that spills out of the thing alongside her, and disregard the brownish-red stains that are no doubt ruining your white haori.
You stare down at the girl who's power fuels your existence and ponder what to do next. Powers like you don't usually have self-determination, and so you are briefly lost as to what to do. You briefly consider flaring your spiritual power hard enough to drive everyone in the building to their knees in suffocating pain but another quick glance at your Master nixes that thought. You have to prioritize her safety before anything else.
Safety that is very much in doubt once you allow yourself to fully take in her battered and wounded state. She's barely breathing, her chest rising and falling in shallow laboured breaths.
A quick check of your Emulations memories, as well as what you've gleaned from your Master, indicate to you that the best place to go when this type of situation pops up would be the hospital. Nothing in your shared set of experiences immediately contradicts this fact so you-
[ ] Blitz it. You never learned the Flash Step Technique but the strength to cause minor earthquakes by stomping hard enough translates into quite a lot of horsepower when applied to forward motion. (Synchronize Emulation: 1 Energy)
[ ] Run there but mind your effect on the surroundings. Sonic Booms in Urban Environments are no good.
Of course, it takes you roughly thirty seconds of travel to realize you actually have no idea where you are going. Your shared memories allow you to understand what a Hospital is but that doesn't mean you know where one is.
You also get the distinct impression that if you don't get your Master to a medical professional soon, you are going to go down in history as the most useless projection ever.
Thankfully, your headlong rush has attracted enough attention that you might be able to ask the person over there trying to get your attention for directions.
[ ] Sure she appears to be flying straight at you with absolutely zero intention of slowing down, but obviously that's just because she understands how urgent this is.
[ ] Now you just have to explain to the guy why you absolutely won't put your Master down. You understand that he has a motorcycle and all but you're willing to bet your life (literally) that you're faster than that thing.
[ ] What the hell is a Hookwolf and why the hell does everyone else keep screaming it at you?
Last edited: May 29, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
May 31, 2020
#97
A/N:So heres what I'm going to do tonight since I missed a day or two and I wanna get this moving along. I'm gonna post this. Then I'm going to go do a level in X-Comm 2 or read for an hour or something. Then I'm going to come back and write the next bit. Rinse & Repeat until I eventually go to sleep. Also, way to completely eschew subtlety thread. I'm sure that won't have any negative consequences.
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 24
You realize with a sort of feral glee, that the girl in the white dress flying at you is either having some difficulty stopping, or is about to start a fight with you.
That...
That's perfect! Not only does it give you a target to work some anger out on, but it also gives you someone who will have to tell you where the hospital is! Or else!
You feel an almost unconscious sense of elation fill you at the prospect of such violence, as you further synchronize with your current emulation. True there are some downsides to the process - like the very slight possibility that you temporarily forget you aren't actually Zaraki Kenpachi - but the benefits! The feelings! The sheer breadth of experience you get by further submersing yourself in his life!
You can practically hear your non-existant heart pumping faster as you contemplate a response to your attacker.
Your hands are out, they're carrying your precious Master. Your legs too - If you were to stumble and fall while carrying her you would never forgive yourself. So that only really leaves...
Spiritual power pours off of you in waves as you prepare your self for battle, and you lunge forward, straight into the path of the oncoming attack.
Or rather, you headbutted the girl's fist. Not with too much strength behind it or anything. Just enough to halt the attack and get her attention.
That's why you're surprised when you hear a whipcrack sound like rolling thunder, and the girl - who's fist was very firmly planted in your forehead for a moment - shoots backward as if struck a blow.
"Oi! Is that it? Wheres the follow through!" You yell after her, glad you had already wrapped your Master in a layer of power to protect her from the ludicrous speeds you were moving at while carrying her.
"What?! Why the hell are you tearing apart the city carrying a corpse around!?" She yells at you as you lightly jog (re:flexed your legs a single time) towards her. Her face was a strange mix of afraid, determined, and angry that your emulation vaguely recalls seeing a few times.
Usually right before getting savagely wounded by someone he wasn't taking seriously.
It's an outcome you don't think is likely given your sudden movement appears to have surprised your target. To you, it was fairly lazy as far as leaps go. To someone without superhuman vision, you must have looked like you teleported. You would have held back more but well... she called your Master a corpse so...
"Hey! This ain't no corpse! This right here is my very own Master! So! Tell me where the hospital is-" You growl pleasantly, mouth spread into a too wide, menacing smile.
"- and we can fight later." You finish with an almost perverse croon, quickly lifting your foot up and kicking the girl downward so fast she can barely react. Then you let rip with what drabs of your spirit can seep past your limiter.
The results are immediate. The girl - who's name you should really get at some point - freezes in place, the overwhelming pressure exuded by your very presence falling over her as surely as gravity itself. Some part of you - the part that is powered by an alien meat computer - can't help but marvel at the effects of this hitherto unforeseen energy. Souls are not, as far as you can tell, real. And yet here you are, oppressing reality with yours.
Somehow.
You let the pressure remain for another moment before cutting it off and stepping back still grinning at the kid.
"You..." she gasps, clearly having trouble breathing.
"You were trying to find a hospital!?" She eventually screeches at you, panic and slight relief obvious in her tone as she rises to her feet.
"Where the hell else was I gonna take her!?" You yell back.
"Nowhere! Don't you have a phone?! How did she even get hurt?! What, did you run her over by mistake?" She retorts immediately. You can tell she's just trying to appear unbothered by her seeming inability to stop you. Despite the back and forth, she's obviously wary of you, doing her best to keep out of arms reach.
"The hell is a phone?" You ask instead of pointing any of your observations out, turning your head slightly to regard the devastation behind you. If there is one thing about drawing most of your knowledge from your emulation that you dislike, it is that his understanding of common knowledge on this Earth is severely lacking. Actually... you are pretty sure his understanding of common knowledge , in general, was severely stunted.
As it turns out, the shockwave your mere passing has caused left a very obvious, very noticeable trail of destruction leading to your current location. Vehicles that you ran past litter the road, mostly upturned and dented and the facades of many of the buildings adjacent to the road are either crumbling or non-existant.
"It's- look I can take her to the hospital if that's what you want but you have to stop." The girl warns you, her eyes flicking back and forth between you and your Master uncomfortably.
You mull your options over, but ultimately realize that whatever else, your Master's safety has to be top priority. You can pick as many fights as you'd like later.
You grumble over it a bit, but finally, say;
"Fine. Lead the way."
"It- it would he faster if you let me take her. I can fly." The girl says quickly.
There are several reasons you can't do that. First among them is that you can't actually get very far away from your Master before discorporating. It wouldn't hurt you per say, but it would definitely be annoying, not to mention jarring.
You also aren't sure you really trust this random stranger with your Master's safety.
[ ]Agree. You can just enter your Spirit Form and trail after her.
[ ]Agree, but explain that you are, in fact, a projection.
[ ]Disagree. There is exactly one pair of hands allowed to carry your Master - yours. She's going to have to be your guide.
[ ]Disagree. You kind of get the impression there has been a misunderstanding here but you aren't sure what. The approaching sound of sirens might be a tip-off...
[ ]Write In
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Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jun 1, 2020
#120
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 24
"Heh. Nah." You say blithely, completely ignoring the girl's statement. She stares at you for a moment, a retort on the tip of her tongue, but swiftly stops herself from speaking when she gets a good look at your face.
"There's been a mistake here. You assumed that I could be reasoned with. No ones gonna carry my Master but me you hear? I'm not going to trust her to some jumped up teenager, not when one of you little brats did this to her in the first place." You bark out.
"You- Do you even understand the position you're in? You're not going to the birdcage if you keep going, you're going to get a kill order!" She yells at you. You stare blankly at her for a second, then turn around as you notice the approach of several colourfully dressed people.
"Unknown Parahuman! This is Armsmaster of the Protectorate ENE! Surrender now or we will be forced to put you down!" One of them yells at you.
You turn slightly back towards the kid, who's got a smug look on her face like she's just scored a major blow against you or something. Then you turn back to the guy yelling at you and his friends.
"Let's see... blue guy... red guy... other red guy... greenish-blue chick..." You mumble as you count them off. You get the impression that your current Emulation wasn't really good with people because you eventually become frustrated by one of them running around fast enough to throw your count off.
"Oi!" You yell at the group, turning fully away from the dumb kid.
"Where's the damn hospital?!" You yell at them.
There is a brief pause as the group takes this in. Then their apparent leader replies.
"Surrender and we will ensure the boy receives medical attention!" The guy in the white and blue armour calls to you over some kind of loudspeaker.
You're getting really tired of this argument. You understand that they're scared of you - you could kill them all without even blinking after all - but if they know that, then why do they insist on testing your already incredibly limited patience? You've been alive for less than an hour and you're fairly certain that you've spent at least half that time failing to get your point across.
All of this flickers through your head, and eventually reaches it's peak when the guy in red who can't seem to sit still makes a dash at you from just outside your line of sight. It was a good move. You would have loved to let him get a few shots in here and there just to enjoy the sensation of the fight. Honestly, in other circumstances, you'd have let these guys wail on you for hours if they could put up a fight for that long against you.
But you have priorities.
Which is why you kick the guy across the street with enough force to send him through several buildings the minute he makes it in range of you. The sensation of kicking him was kind of weird though. Like the amount of force you were using wasn't enough even though you knew perfectly well it was. This is why it doesn't surprise you when the guy goes sprawling across the street instead of across the block.
Not that it matters, seeing as how he doesn't get back up.
"All right. Last chance." You growl, unleashing your Spiritual Pressure once more, but this time across the entire area, driving every living thing in sight to its knees under the staggering force of your soul.
"I'm going to the hospital. One of you is going to take me." You state blandly, stepping over to the kid on the ground near you and slamming your foot into her shoulder hard enough to shatter the bone there. Or... you thought you did. Instead, there's just that same whipcrack sound and the shockwave your blow produces sends her entire body slamming into the ground. Which was a bit more damage than you intended but... eh.
You release the pressure you were exuding and pointedly ignore the pained moan coming from the girl. You also ignore the guy in the blue armour when he gets his feet back under him and starts yelling at you again. You're about two seconds from just leaping straight up far enough that you can see the whole city and navigating that way when the guy in the red and white costume lifts his hands in surrender and steps toward you.
"Look I can tell there's been a misunderstanding-"
"Assault stand down!" The armoured guy yells.
"But you promise if I lead you to the hospital you won't hurt anyone else?" He continues, also ignoring the blowhard.
"Sure why not." You say with a shrug, readjusting your hold on Taylor.
"Coooool. Hey uh, you mind if I grab Glory Girl there or...?" He continues nervously, pointing behind you.
"Dumb name but sure." You repeat, since you don't actually care what happens to her.
"Great..." Assault mumbles as he shuffles past you.
It takes about twenty minutes, and two more bursts of Spiritual Pressure for you to both arrive at the hospital and make white and blue guy shut the hell up. Assault is relatively quiet the entire time, which works just fine for you. Maybe you'll find him for a good fight later, once your Master is healed.
Regardless, you are now standing in the lobby of a Hospital while they take your Master away for treatment. There are a number of people in stupid outfits yelling at you, and though you aren't inclined to listen to them, Assault was at least helpful enough that you might consider it.
[ ] You ignore them. You were only waiting for them to situate your Master so you could go stand menacingly in front of the door to her room anyway.
[ ] Tell them you're leaving, and then assume your Spirit Form to watch over your Master. They won't be able to tell where you've gone so they should leave.
[ ] Entertain them. You have perfect knowledge of where your Master is in relation to you anyway, so you can spend a moment to speak to Assault and the rest of his Squad, if only so they'll stop glaring at you and rushing all the other people out of the lobby.
[ ] Write-In
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Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jun 1, 2020
#141
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 24
"The hell are you rushing everyone out for?" You ask curiously. You've been standing in the middle of the lobby for a while now but you hadn't really been paying attention to the nearby people because well...
They didn't provide you with anything.
You had no interest in interacting with them, they didn't seem likely to be able to give you a good fight, and - unless you drastically misread the situation - none of them could easily help your Master right now.
It was only the absence of any ambient chatter or movement that forced you to even notice they were gone.
"We were worried you might do that super gravity thing again so we moved them. Look I know you aren't in a great mood but, can you give me something here? I gotta go back to my boss and explain why I brought you here and all." Assault says, eyeing you warily. At least he had the balls to stand next to you instead of off keeping his distance like a coward.
"My Master was hurt and trapped so I got her out and brought her here. It ain't hard yah know?" You explain with only a hint of annoyance in your voice. This has to be the third time you've explained this. It can't be that hard to grasp.
"Right. Your... Master. The girl right?" Assault asks, and you nod easily in response. He frowns slightly, and then carefully fiddles with something in his ear for a moment before turning back to you.
"So now that she's safe, could I convince you to come down to the Rig with me? We just need to ask you some questions." He hazards, eliciting a snort from you.
"Pass. I ain't going anywhere." You respond with a yawn. You're not actually tired - you don't actually have the biology for it - but you do feel... not quite bored but... something along those lines.
Assault looks around for a second, taking special care to judge the distance between you and his armoured squadmate, then leans towards you.
"Look, you need to understand how bad this is looking for you. The only reason we haven't tried to arrest you is the amount of collateral damage the fight would cause. You basically shredded half a neighbourhood open. We wouldn't even be having this conversation if Velocity had been more hurt. As it is, were going to have a lot of questions for your... Master... when she wakes up. Unless..." he trails off looking at you pointedly.
You allow what he has said to sit for a moment while you think. You dislike the way he just blatantly threatened your Master, but you can appreciate the warning if nothing else. Unfortunately, you can't exactly just allow him to take you to this 'Rig'. You're almost positive that it would be outside your Master's effective range.
Still you can't just leave this be. Glancing around at your surroundings once more, you respond.
[ ] Write-In
Several hours later, you find yourself hovering at the foot of your Master's bed, invisible and immaterial. The room has been fairly bustling with activity, as nurses, police officers and one particularly ornery teenager in a white robe pass through it.
At some point Master's father had shown up, taking a position next to her bed and sitting down to stare forlornly at her still form.
She was alive obviously, the ornery girl had used her powers and had her looking brand new in a manner of minutes. But she had yet to awaken, which was causing you no end of distress.
Her father has yet to say or do anything, save sit and stare. He's obviously mad - he's practically screamed the last two 'PRT' officers out of the room for you. But otherwise, he's just so... passive. Like he doesn't understand that it's his duty as her father to find and murder the little shits that did this to her.
For a second, staring down at your Master, your vision fuzzes over briefly, leaving you staring at a much smaller girl, with bright pink hair that your emulation was unnaturally fond of. Then you blink and the image snaps back to normality.
You'll need to be careful about giving your emulation so much free reign in the future, it's already started to corrupt you.
Suddenly though, the heart monitor next to the bed spikes, and your Master jerks upward, lurching up and out of such that she ends up half crouched on top of it, staring at her hands.
"Taylor!" The father yelps, rapidly leaning over to slap at a button near the bed repeatedly.
"Dad?" Taylor asks quietly, her eyes never once leaving her hands.
"My God Taylor what happened?! No one here would tell me except that a crazy parahuman carried you in and left you here! They said there was an attack on your school!" He yells, quickly standing and pulling her into a fierce hug.
"Dad I-" Your Master says, her voice choking up as she speaks.
"I was- they pushed me into my locker! And no matter how much I screamed, no one came! They just left me there Dad!" She cries out, her voice growing louder and more distorted by crying as she speaks.
"I... I blacked out at some point, and I had this dream... I fought the Protectorate and..." she continues, sobbing. Sobs that quickly cut off as your metaphysical leash is tugged, and you suddenly find yourself sharing your vision with your Master.
She freezes, then slowly pans her head upward, tears still in her eyes, and locks gazes with you over her father's shoulder.
Damn, you're so freaking proud of her right now.
[ ] You immediately reveal yourself to the occupants of the room. Your Master can 'see' and 'communicate' with you regardless of where you are, but her father cannot.
[ ] You mentally greet your Master, but otherwise, stay hidden.
[ ] Write-In
Last edited: Jun 1, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jun 1, 2020
#170
A/N: Alright, last update for the night. This update brought to you by insomnia, and also, Monster Energy. Because it doesn't count as an addiction if it's not a controlled substance. Probably. Maybe. I'll probably do a blitz like this every sunday, in additional to my usual once daily shorter updates.
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 24
"I ain't a person you know." You state bluntly, taking a moment to relish the delicious look of surprise on Assaults face at your words.
"Hey now, I don't know where you were raised but here in America-" He blurts out and you roll your eyes at him before cutting him off.
"I'm a projection dumbass. Random personality and powers whenever I'm used." You say with a shrug, not bothering to lower your voice the way Assault clearly has been trying to. This has the immediate effect of causing the man in the tin can to whirl towards you as if you had just slapped him, which you find hilarious for some reason.
Assault, who clearly has noticed his compatriots attention, pauses for a moment, another retort clearly on the edge of his lips. He eyes you up and down as though trying to find some flaw in your statement that he can seize on, and by the look in his eyes you assume he found one.
"Listen, I get that you might think that right now but... do you have a name?" He says instead, changing topics on the fly.
"Zaraki Kenpachi, Captain of the 11th." You reel off automatically and have to spend a second tamping down your Emulations belief that introducing yourself is something you do right before a fight.
"N- Your cape name man! Jesus!" Assault yelps, leaning away from you like you were poisonous or something. You stare at him with the type of dead eyed glare you usually reserve for people trying to make you fill out paperwork.
"I. Am. A. Projection." You say slowly, making sure to enunciate and project your voice so there is no way you can be misunderstood.
"In the strictest sense I think you could technically call me 'Multiverse Emulator' but that probably doesn't mean anything to you. Look just be a good little goon and find out who did this to my Master. It ain't like I want to tear up the road ya know?" You grunt. If you could get a headache you'd probably be experiencing a splitting one by now. Between the mood whiplash of trying not to give in to your Emulation's need to fight everything and the continued annoyance of somehow being unable to communicate with anybody despite speaking the correct language, you are rapidly starting to lose your patience.
"And I'm telling you-" Assault starts but you don't really listen to the rest. This is annoying. You're bored. You're leaving.
With barely a thought you enter your Spirit Form and then drift off towards your Master. You just barely make out the sound of the guy in armour charging up to Assault and yelling something about 'Master Stranger' something or other before you leave earshot. Eventually, you find the room they have your Master situated in - then settle in to wait.
"Master! Oh, man! Today has been wild!" You blurt out, forcing yourself into the physical world with an idle flex of your considerable will.
The response you get is... interesting. Pathetic. But interesting.
Your Master's father releases her from his grasp and whirls around on you as fast as he possibly can, his hand reaching out to grab the nearest object - in this case, the tiny chair he was previously sitting on - and raising it between the two of you. Taylor herself just continues to stare at you, a look that you would peg as something between abject terror and apoplectic rage creeping onto her face the longer you maintain eye contact with her.
"Who the hell are you?!" The man growls at you, drawing your attention away from your Master long enough for her to blink the tears out of her eyes and fall back onto her bed with a strained groan.
"Name's Zaraki Kenpachi. And that right there-" You say pointing behind him. "-is my beloved lil Boss."
"She's fifteen you god damn-" The man howls, stepping forward to actually try and brain you with his chair. You would have let him too, just for having the balls to try, but a sharp tug on his shirt by your Master stops him in his tracks as he turns his reddening face on her.
"Dad it's..." Your Master says, and despite the joy your presence should bring her, seems to be even more sad than she was before.
"It's fine. He- I think he's my p... my power." She gets out, her voice strained and hoarse.
"Ding ding ding! I'm one of those, watcha call it. Projections." You add helpfully. Your Master turns a baleful glare on you at your blithe comment and a slight tug on her connection to you opens communication between you.
'Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!' She mentally howls at you, before turning back to her father.
"Dad, when I was in the locker... I think... I think I got powers and... I think I asked them to get me out... and..." She pauses, the focus required to speak coherently obviously a tremendous struggle for her to muster right now.
"Instead I think I got... him." She finishes lamely.
"Taylor... why... why didn't you tell me?" The man says hoarsely, glancing back and forth between you and his daughter and slowly putting his chair down.
"It was just some bullying! I was handling it! Spit balls and light shoving aren't that big a deal Dad!" She hisses at him.
"This isn't a spit ball Taylor! They put you in the hospital! They made you this!" The father says angrily, gesturing rudely towards you at that last bit. You can tell from the steadily growing roil of turmoil and despair coming off your Master in waves that this line of conversation is making her deeply unhappy, which is something your pretty sure you could fix with a good strike to the-
'Do not!' She commands you again, which is about at the point that you realize she seems to have some means of divining your intent. You don't remember configuring yourself for that but you also don't know how that could go wrong so you let it slide for the moment.
"And what could you do about it Dad? Yell at them?" She shoots back, apparently perfectly capable of saying something to you and speaking with her voice simultaneously.
"We could have gone to the administration! Reported them, hell, I could probably find the Super Intendants contact information somewhere if I had to!" He retorts.
"Don't you think I tried that? Do you know how many times I've reported them? This has been going on for over a year now Dad! Nobody cares! Nobody is going to do anything about it! Not when they can put their little track star on a pedestal and ignore everything she does!" Taylor scowls back.
On the one hand, it's nice that anger seems to be helping your Master recover a bit since you really hate seeing her sob and cry. On the other hand, you feel like it's important that you interject here.
"I could do something about it." You say blithely, noting that your Master's command not to deck her father apparently superseded her command not to speak.
Both father and daughter turn to you for a moment, faces red with bottled rage that has finally begun to boil over, and then promptly turn back to each other to continue their yelling match.
Which is why neither of them notices the nurse open the door and walk into the room.
You wave lazily at her before vanishing back into your Spirit Form. You've got the distinct impression that this little shouting match is going to take a while - and also that you aren't actually invited to participate.
[ ] Wait it out then sit down for a talk with your Master once she's settled down. (Jump to next day.)
[ ] Wander around the Hospital for a bit (Glory Girl Interlude)
[ ] Wonder what the hell Master/Stranger Something or other is (PRT Interlude)
[ ] Write-In (Choose a relevant Interlude)
Spoiler: Chapter Meme
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Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jun 2, 2020
#220
It would probably surprise many people to learn that the PRT's Master/Stranger Protocols actually had levels of severity.
There were, after all, different levels of Master. Some - like Teacher or Heartbreaker - were insidious, and all encompassing. Powers that not only took control of a person but basically erased who they were entirely in order to facilitate that control, leaving behind only a shell of a human being behind as cover.
Others were much more manageable or at least, survivable. Most Master powers that affected humans had well defined limits and a fairly narrow focus when they werent world shattering threats. This meant that the screening process for them was fairly quick, at least, as quick as anything managed by a beuracracy could be.
"Ethan Howell. Twenty Seven. Yes I'm certain I'm not a projection." Assault rattled off for the fifth time in the last twenty four hours. It was a titanic effort of will for him not to make a joke or be flippant when giving the responses. Usually he wouldn't care - he'd be as irreverent as he wanted, to whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Triumvirate in town? Meh. Legend could take a joke, and Eidolon could use a laugh.
Unfortunately, any answer that deviated even slightly from the entirely serious list of things he'd answered the last four times he'd undergone this examination would be seen as a sign that he had indeed been Mastered.
Not for the first time since being locked in his cushy low level containment cell, he wondered about the girl.
It was pretty obvious that she was some kind of Master - the guy with the weird hair had made that pretty clear just by opening his mouth. But did that make her a villain? Ethan wasn't quite sure. He hadn't been allowed to participate in the investigation into her circumstances, mostly due to the speed with which Armsmaster had seen him rammed into M/S containment once the crisis had passed, but he didn't regret it.
Ethan wasn't stupid. He could see a trigger event when someone shoved it right in front of him, and being trapped and dying sounded like it fit the bill. He wasn't sure if the girl was dying or just wounded, but one look at the pale form Zaraki had been holding was enough to convince him that she was in a bad way no matter how you looked at it.
It just sucked that the guy the girl had decided to Master into helping her had to be such a freaking wrecking ball.
Ethan had seen the way the guy had basically plucked Velocity out of the air with a kick. The Protectorate ENE had exactly two speedsters capable of making a run on a guy with that kind of power, and he was damned if he was going to let his wife get punted across the city just because Armsmaster needed to show a new Parahuman his place.
"All right, Assault - you're cleared for now. Your going to need to wear this for a few days so we can track you though." The lab technician said finally, pulling Ethan from his musings. He was holding up one of the anklets the PRT used to track it's more problematic members and holding it out gingerly towards him.
"Hm. Not bad. It'll bring out my eyes." Assault chuckled, grabbing and slapping the thing on his ankle without complaint.
As an ex-villain, it wasn't the first time he'd worn one after all.
"The Director wants you to head up to the debrief, she's not happy." The tech continued apologetically, and Assault could only snort.
When was Piggot ever happy?
"Someone explain to me why the hell it looks like someone drove a building through the streets for an hour? Why the Cape who endangered one of my Wards was allowed to just walk away?" The Director said testily, not bothering to wait for everyone to even finish sitting down before unleashing her considerable ire on them.
Most of them had the good grace to at least look chagrined, with Assault and Battery sharing uncomfortable glances with each other before turning towards Miss Militia and Velocity, like school children asking their friends for the correct answer and all of them coming up sadly lacking.
Armsmaster, of course, did not.
"At approximately 14:30 yesterday, we began receiving reports that the Parahuman designated Line Drive was rampaging through the city, leaving untold collateral damage in his wake. At 14:34 I-"
"Hey hang on, Line Drive? Like from football?" Assault chimed in, cutting off Armsmasters no doubt long winded and extremely meticulous report. It was all she could do not to rub her temples in frustration at the immediate headache the mere sound of the idiots voice caused her.
But she couldn't, because that would let him know he was getting to her. Ever a hazard while Parahumans were involved.
"Most of the damage he caused was merely a side effect of his Mover power. He departed from Winslow in a straight line until we stopped him. It seemed appropriate." Armsmaster answered flatly.
"No I get the logic, I just didn't think you knew anything about sports." Assault answered with a guffaw. He immediately jolted as Battery no doubt kicked him under the table, and she could see Velocity restraining a chuckle of his own before she turned a baleful glare on him.
God damn children the lot of them.
"If you're all quite done?" She said, cutting everyone else off with the sheer frigidness of her voice.
"Line Drive. Tell me about him. And don't think I'm moving past my original question Assault. Theres already phone footage surfacing of you seemingly surrendering to him. Stay here after the meeting." She said waspishly, taking a perverse sense of satisfaction at the expression on Assaults face at her assertion.
"Ehem. I believe his primary power is some kind of subjective gravity or mass manipulation. If he can rapidly change himself from super heavy to ultra light, it would explain the shockwave he generates when he moves, as well as the Shaker power he displayed during our confrontation." Armsmaster said, jumping immediately back to the topic at hand.
"I dunno boss, feels like a stretch. He was kinda glowing bright yellow too." Assault pointed out.
"Maybe it's a by product of high power usage? No power is as simple as 'gravity control' there has to be more to it." Velocity offered.
"I'm... not sure he was controlling gravity." Miss Militia said pensively, earning a slightly irked expression from Armsmaster for disagreeing with him - not that anyone but Emily would notice.
"Explain." She said flatly. Generally she didn't trust Parahumans, but if she was absolutely forced to, she'd like to think she could put her faith in Miss Militia. Of all the Parahumans she had met, the woman seemed the least overtly screwed up, and, dare she say, even normal.
She was also a hell of a soldier though so, maybe Emily was just biased.
"I was set up on a nearby rooftop before we engaged and the way he moved... if his power was just Gravity Control I don't think he'd be able to navigate at the speeds he was moving. He'd have slammed into a wall long before we caught up with him - but he didn't." Miss Militia explained, shooting a look towards Velocity.
Emily frowned but acknowledged the point. Then decided to move on before the room devolved into a PHO worthy debate over the new Capes powers. The fact of the matter was, they just didn't have enough data to make accurate guesses. The best they could do was accept that he could do what he did and leave the exact mechanics for someone else to figure out.
For now anyway.
"And the girl?" She asked, bluntly changing topics.
"Taylor Hebert, Age 15, goes to Winslow in the same year as Shadow Stalker. I asked Stalker what she knew of her when she arrived at the rig today and she was equal parts dismissive and evasive, claiming no knowledge of her situation." Armsmaster rattled off once more with a frown.
"She was seen to by Panacea as soon as she got done healing her sister. Multiple abrasions consistent with someone trying to burrow through rock using their fingers, suffering from toxic shock and just on the edge of organ failure when Panacea saw to her." He continued, wincing slightly.
Because of course she couldn't just have a Master who ate babies and gave her justification to get a kill order on her. No, she had to be sympathetic.
"What are the chances this is a trigger event then?" She said wearily.
"Fairly high. We suspect she might be a power granting Trump in a similar vein to Teacher. Line Drive literally did not exist until today. Nothing Dragon or I can find indicates he had powers before this. Taken at face value, she appears to be able to grant powers to someone that affect their personality at the expense of making them think they're a projection."
Emily considered that for a second. If Line Drive was anything to go by, the girl might be some kind of strange mix between Othalla and Eidolon. Unfortunately, there was no way she could charge the girl for something that happened during her Trigger event. Still, she couldn't just allow a threat like that free reign. Line Drive might have caused enough of a scene that no one would notice her for a while, but eventually someone else would put the pieces together, and the last thing she needed was one of the gangs having a source of disposable Parahumans.
"I'm assigning Line Drive a threat rating of Brute 7 Shaker 8, and the girl a Master 4 Trump 8." She decided eventually, leaving the girls Master rating low until she could determine her leanings. If she joined the PRT the Master rating would probably disappear entirely. If not well... no one liked a high level Master. They were a problem that tended to solve itself in places like Brockton Bay.
"Someone contact the Heberts. I want that girl in the Wards, no matter what. Meeting adjourned. Assault. Sit down." She said, growling that part as she saw the red clad hero attempt to leave with his wife.
Sometimes, her job felt like babysitting more than anything else.
Last edited: Jun 2, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jun 3, 2020
#298
Spoiler: Current Emulation Status
You manage to go the entire day without responding to Daniel Hebert's fervent demands that you present yourself for his inspection. Not because you don't want to but-
'Stay out of this.'
Your Master apparently has her own opinions on the matter and, like many of the things they argued about at the hospital before reconciling in the dingy living room of their home that night, it differed greatly from her fathers.
You can tell that this won't be the end of things. Daniel Hebert had the air of the bulldog around him. An aura of 'refusing to let it go' practically oozed off of him in waves once Taylor had explained what she understood of her power to her Father. Which, amusingly, wasn't all that much. It largely boiled down to 'This guy is my power and also an unkillable badass.'
Well. You added that second part yourself but it was implied.
Now, you find yourself trailing after your Master as she heads towards her bedroom, studiously ignoring you even though your Spirit form is entirely visible to her at all times. She opens the door quickly, shutting it in your face, then immediately collapses into a quivering heap on the floor.
"Oh god. I have- I have powers! I fought the Protectorate! I literally curb-stomped Glory Girl!" She cries out, panic obvious in her tone. Heedless of her surroundings, she continues to rant to herself, curling up in a ball on the floor and leaning her head against the door in clear distress.
"What am I going to do? He barely listens to me! Can I be held accountable for things my Projection does? He's basically his own person so maybe they'll- arrest my power? Christ who's going to believe me!?" She mumbles loudly to herself, her arms tightening around her torso protectively while the rest of her visibly shakes.
"Ok. Ok. I can't be the only person with a power I can't control right? If I go to the Protectorate myself they'll be lenient and I can-" She says, calming down surprisingly quickly for a teenager having a panic attack.
You decide that this is as good a time as any to insert yourself into the conversation since you walked through the nearby wall and are presently sitting on your Master's bed while she talks to herself.
"Hey, relax. Nobodies gonna hurt you all right?" You say, trying for calming and instead, getting a sort of self-assured menace. To your Master's credit, she doesn't grow surprised and then leap away violently or anything. She merely pauses in her monologue for a moment to turn her head woodenly towards you, her pupils contracting slightly before she turns back to examine the door you absolutely didn't bother using.
"Do you have an off button?" She asks immediately once her head swivels back to you, not bothering to rise from her position on the floor.
"Nah. It's me and you till the end Master. I can't really die, being your power and all." You respond pleasantly, then blink and think about it for a moment.
"I mean. If you destroyed me I'd be back in about an hour so I guess if you really wanted to I could go find those guys with the dumb outfits and let 'em wail on me until-"
"No! No fighting! Especially not the Protectorate!" She spits at you instantly, her voice rising precipitously.
"Taylor? Is everything all right?" Her father calls from down the stairs, evidently having heard the yelling.
"Yeah! I was just- I stubbed- Yeah I'm fine." She calls back, quickly cycling through several failed lies before settling on a technical truth.
"...All right. If that man shows up again you call me all right? Or if you need help with anything else, you know I'm right-" Danny yells back, awkwardly choosing to maintain a conversation through the walls of the house.
"Dad! I'm fine! Panacea healed me and everything all right?!" Taylor quickly answers, her hands coming up to cover her face.
"Okay... g'night Little Owl. Love you." Daniel adds before breaking off.
"Night Dad. Love you too..." Taylor whispers, no nearly loud enough to actually be heard.
"Your Dad's all right. Weak as hell, but he's got balls." You put forth the compliment, hoping to curry some favour here since you are - evidently - not in your Master's good books at the moment.
"You- just- okay. Fine. You're my power. My power is apparently being so pathetic I need superpowers to give me an imaginary friend and said imaginary friend is evidently a battle crazy psychopath. Is that about right?" Taylor says bluntly, taking a deep breath and rising from her seated position to sidle around you to the little writing desk in her room.
"Kinda. I ain't exactly like this on purpose ya know." You explain, fighting with your Emulations innate inability to communicate properly in order to get your point across.
"So what, I made you like this?" Your Master asks you incredulously, withdrawing a notebook and quickly scribbling something in it.
"Nah, I'm kinda like... Gah! This is so damn hard!" You blurt in frustration. Sure you have no problem blithely not explaining yourself well when it's to someone else but you feel like your Master deserves a slightly more detailed explanation than that.
"Fine look. Imagine you got a deck of cards. Each card is a guy, right? And they all got their own powers and personalities and crap. When you called me I drew a card and became the guy on it." You say finally, proud of your explanation.
"Can I draw a new... card?" Taylor asks hesitantly, and you get a short burst of embarrassment as she realizes how rude that would sound to anyone but you.
"Nope. Gotta use this guy up first. Also, I dunno if 'Imaginary Friend' is what I'd describe this as." You say gesturing between the two of you with a finger.
"...Oh. Right, sorry." Taylor answers, her face turning carefully blank and her tone flat.
Wait, what? What the hell is this now? Did you do something wrong? Was it because you said you weren't her imaginary friend? Why were human teenagers so god damn hard to understand? Quickly you try to expand on your previous statement.
[ ] Taylor is basically your Mom. She made you, and most of your outlook in life is a combination of her opinions and whatever Emulation you're using at the time.
[ ] Taylor is basically your Best Friend by default. You literally can't fathom doing anything in life but watching her back as best you can.
[ ] Master is Master, duh.
[ ] Write-In.
Taylor stops and stares at you briefly as you explain, her expression flickering from that blank mask of hers to pleasantly surprised to depressed all over again in a heartbeat.
"Master?" You query quietly, frustrated by your own inability to make all of your Master's problems go away.
"It's- it's nothing. I just, I guess I'm just disappointed in myself." She says in a self-deprecating manner that hurts your emulated heart just to witness.
"A-anyway! If this is just a suit you're wearing than what do I call you?" She says quickly, changing the subject before you can put your foot in your mouth any longer.
"Zaraki Kenpachi." You say blankly, not knowing what else to say.
"No that's the uh... Card? The card you drew right? So what do I call you when your not this guy?" Taylor presses.
"...Uh." You grunt unintelligibly. You've... never actually had occasion to think of a name for yourself. You're a copycat by trade, so you never considered having your own name. What the hell are you supposed to say to that? Sure you have your official designation in the Shard Network but that's more like a title than a name...
[ ] Write-In
Hesitantly, you present your chosen name to your Master with as much confidence as you can manage.
"See? Was that so hard?" She says to you, her lips curling up slightly at the edges in a smile.
Oh. You made your Master smile. And it felt... good? You understand intellectually that this is the whole point of your current existence, but you didn't think you would like it so much. Did all humans have this? Was it a positive reinforcement thing or-
"So what else can you do?" Your Master asks, interrupting your train of thought.
Slowly, you smile at her, a much more kind smile than would otherwise be typical of your current emulation.
Taylor won't have school tomorrow, this is a good opportunity to show her what you can do! What do you show Taylor tomorrow?
[ ] Begin training her to take on some of this Emulations power. (Choose a Skill/Power)
[ ] Training is for chumps! Master is gonna wake up a badass! (Choose a Skill/Power: Cost 10 points)
[ ] Convince her that you need a tour of the city - you'll run into another host to show off by beating up eventually.
[ ] Write-In
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Bowler Hat Guy
Jun 3, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jun 3, 2020
#363
[X] Taylor is basically your Best Friend by default. You literally can't fathom doing anything in life but watching her back as best you can.
"You're like my best friend ya know? In a way, I was basically made for you!" You blurt out, doing your best to condense your thoughts down into their simplest possible form.
When this doesn't immediately seem to impress your Master, you press on, scrambling to provide context.
"I mean, powers, they always give you what you need right? So here I am!" You say, picking up steam as Taylor's blank facade begins to twitch slightly.
"I'm the ultimate friend! I'll never betray you, never leave you. I'll always be by your side! Nothing matters more to me than you! Cus that's what I was made for!" You declare, pounding your chest once with a closed fist and then wait patiently for a response.
[X] "I am M.E." Wait for confusion "No, my name is Multiversal Emulator. Literally, '\em\' '\ee\', 'ME'."
Generally, whenever you've addressed directly in the past, you've been demoted as 'Multiversal Emulator' by your... peers. But that feels somehow wrong all of a sudden.
You want, desperately, to present something to your Master that she would approve of, but creativity is such a new concept to you that it's difficult to fathom what else you could use.
In the absence of an easy out, you decide instead to shorten your title. That's something humans do right? As a sign of affection?
"I guess you can call me M.E." you say carefully.
"Emmy...? Like the award?" Taylor asks, peering at you curiously.
"No like... the letters? 'M' and then 'E'. M.E." You explain, hopefully, then quickly add-
"B-but if you like Emmy better that works too!"
Your Master wrinkles her nose at you for a second, glancing at a framed picture on her desk that has been laid face down so that it's face is hidden. Then she turns back to you.
[X] Begin training her to take on some of this Emulations power. (Spiritual Power Usage)
After hashing your plans out with your Master, you spend the rest of the night... well not watching her sleep. She explicitly forbid you from doing that because it was 'creepy'. But instead, just generally wandering about the Hebert household.
It wasn't much to look at. There was a garage that didn't look like it had been used, cleaned, or even really acknowledged for years. The living room was a quaint little number, consisting of a couch, an old television and a central coffee table that was mostly covered by unopened letters. The basement was crammed so full of stuff you would have had a hard time navigating it if it weren't for your intangibility. There was also a small kitchen but that barely registered to you - given that you don't actually need to eat in order to survive.
The upstairs was... well to you it was a hallway with a bathroom on the end of it. Your Master forbade you from going into her or her father's rooms so that was the limit of your explorations there. Not that you couldn't have gone in anyway. You've realized that your Master can only really give you one inviolable order at a time, with all others rendered moot. But respecting your Masters wishes seems like something you should try to do whenever possible, so you let it be.
Your wanderings, blessedly, are finally cut short when the shrill ringing of an alarm clock goes off. You throw all decorum to the wayside as you quickly make for your Masters room only to halt at the door, pausing to turn your head to the next room over - the room the sound is coming from.
You are just about to dejectedly wander down the stairs again, ignoring the sounds of Daniel Hebert's morning ritual, when your Masters bedroom door opens, revealing Taylor in sweats and with dark rings under her eyes.
She scowls at you slightly before stepping aside and waving you into the room.
"I can see what you're doing when I sleep." She explains grouchily, closing the door behind you and crankily marching back to her bed to sit on it.
"Do you even blink? You spent like an hour staring at a toaster." She berates you, eyeing her bedsheets with longing.
"I've never seen one before!" You defend yourself hastily, mildly embarrassed by the admission. It wasn't like it was a complicated machine or anything. You were just bored. Sure you could have wandered the two block area centered on your Master that you were allowed to exist in, but what if someone attacked her in her sleep? She'd be helpless!
"Uhuh." Your Master says skeptically, before sighing and wandering over to her desk to retrieve her notebook from the previous night.
"Whatever, I'm up I guess. You said you were gonna teach me something?" She asks with a yawn, slouching in her chair.
You blink at her nonplussed expression and then give a feral grin.
"This-" you say, releasing your Spiritual Energy into the air in the form of a menacing yellow skull that flickers and waves around you.
"-is Reiatsu. Spiritual Power. It is your soul made manifest! With it, you can be stronger, faster, better! A strong soul can subjugate those around it by force of will alone! It-" You continue, flaring your power enough that small objects in the room begin to shake and float upward.
"It's a Brute power. You can teach me to do that?!" Taylor asks, cutting off your explanation and summarizing your point for you, her face lighting up with excitement.
You open your mouth to explain that Spiritual Power is much more than just 'A Brute Power' but then pause as a realization Dawn's on you.
This idiot Emulation of yours feels the exact same way! He doesn't care even one whit about the implications involved in-
"...Yup." you answer, cutting off both the flow of your power and your train of thought.
"Does it... I mean will mine look like a laughing skull too or...?" Taylor continues, her enthusiasm dimming slightly.
You blink once at her, not fully grasping the purpose of the question.
"Dunno. Maybe?" You hazard. You arent actually sure if this use of your power will translate that across. Half of what you're doing is directly implanting the skills of your Emulation into your Masters mind, which means that there should be some superficial overlap in how those skills are displayed. At the same time, Souls are apparently.very complicated energy constructs. Theres no telling what your Masters will present as.
"Oh. That's... fine... I guess." Your Master says slowly, although most of her excitement is gone.
"Hey what's wrong? Wouldn't most people kill for this kinda opportunity?" You ask, perplexed.
"It's just, the skull thing isn't very... heroic?" She tries meekly, blushing slightly when you furrow your brows at her.
"Well... it ain't guaranteed to look like that. I- I mean, this guy, he's got a few screws loose, y'know?" You explain helpfully.
Your Master snorts at that, suppressing a mild chuckle before turning fully towards you, her notebook clasped in her hands and planted in her lap.
"So... what do I have to do?" She asks.
"Oh learning is easy when you got someone else around who can use the stuff. Basically, it's all about exposure." You say.
Your Master blinks at you once, then twice, then understanding dawn's in her eyes and she turns slightly pale.
"WAI-"
She manages, before you hit her with the full force of your aura.
A few hours later, you are forced to stop your impromptu training session when Daniel calls your Master downstairs for breakfast. The abrupt cessation of pressure beating her down seems to momentarily confuse her, as she remains on her hands and knees for a second afterward instead of immediately rising to her feet. You're actually fairly impressed by that. It should have taken her way longer to muster up the strength to do even that.
Regardless, you are now silently hovering behind your Master as she scarfs down an unholy amount of bacon and eggs. Her father is looking at her curiously, as though encountering a new and strange beast and you are pointedly not snickering at the ongoing mental tirade your Master is exposing you too while her mouth is otherwise busy.
"The Protectorate called." Daniel says eventually, his face turning slightly red as he visibly reins in his anger.
"They said they'd like to get your statement since they didn't catch you at the Hospital." He grinds out, staring baleful into his mug of coffee.
"Are they coming here?" Taylor asks pensively, her demeanor switching from cranky and tired to concerned and slightly scared so fast it nearly gives you whiplash.
"No, they insisted you come to the PRT building. 'More secure' they said. Taylor if you don't want to they can't make you talk to them." Daniel says sternly, then glances around the room.
"I got the impression they were more interested in your... friend... than you anyway." He finishes.
Your Master purses her lips at that, but doesn't move to have you reveal yourself.
"If they don't need me right away..." she says pensively.
You can tell that your Master would likely prefer not to be interrogated and is looking for any excuse to avoid it. What do you suggest?
[ ] Just get it over with. It's not like they can hold you while I'm around.
[ ] Call and tell them they can ask any questions over the phone - you've got better things to do then dance to their tune. (Additional training slot. Currently 1/10 - Spiritual Power Usage)
[ ] We could always go find that girl I stomped on, maybe apologize?
[ ] Write-In
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