Current Energy: 14
Curren Training: Inner Peace (5/10) Cost 5 to Complete. You can all thank Kejmur for this Omake Bonus!
Saturday, January 15th, 2011
Oathbound Headquarters, Brockton Bay
You and Taylor hurriedly rush towards your new base of operations, having hurriedly sent the address to Muscles.
What you find when you arrive is... something.
"I'm tellin' ya. Junkyard is a look. Who's the tinker here huh?" Trainwreck is explaining to Danny. The pair of them are standing in front of the Garage, where Trainwreck has apparently found the time to drag several damaged cars in from somewhere and has proceeded to rip them into their component parts, which are separated into several far from neat piles outside. The damaged roll-up door from your earlier visit has already been clearly replaced with partially rusted chrome, that has been beaten into shape and riveted together in several places to create a sort of bulkhead. You'll give it this, it looks sturdy, and judging by the counterweight holding up that you can see just inside the entrance, probably extremely heavy but...
It looks like it's been rusting and neglected for generations, instead of like brand new Tinkertech that has just been added to the building.
"And I'm telling you that if the neighbours here start complaining about your... style... lowering property values then we could be fined!" Danny tries to shout at the abrasive tinker, who is clearly creating a second bulkhead to replace the other door. Mostly by beating the metal into shape with his fists.
You have no idea why any of this counts as Tinkertech, but you're just going to accept that powers can be weird sometimes and leave it at that.
"Danny boy, you bought a busted garage in the docks. I raise the property values just by farting here." Trainwreck says, not bothering to stop what he's doing.
"Hey Dad. Trainwreck." Taylor greets the pair as she approaches cautiously, walking over to the finished bulkhead to examine it.
"Taylor tell your teammate that he can't cover the building in this kind of hideous garbage!" Danny huffs, turning towards your Master.
"Yeah Boss, tell me all about how I shouldn't be worried about gettin' shot in my sleep by Nazi's." Trainwreck drawls.
"It's not... that bad?" Taylor offers sheepishly towards her father.
"Taylor it looks somehow worse than when we bought it. I'm not even sure it counts as Tinkertech." Danny says exasperatedly.
"Hey, my signature look is hard to pull off. If you'd have let me nip down to the Ship Graveyard to steel some plating off the freighters we'd really be cooking with gas." Trainwreck counters.
"How strong is this one?" Taylor asks curiously.
"Eh, not as tough as me but ain't nothing weaker than a rocket gonna punch through it. I'm gonna do all the doors first, otherwise, this place is gonna get shot up the second you announce it to anyone."
"It seems fair Dad," Taylor says to the man, who throws his arms up in defeat and turns to continue staring balefully at the noise that Trainwreck is making.
"Is this a bad time?" A voice asks politely from behind the pair.
"No!" "Yes!" Danny and Taylor say at once, then turn to stare irately at each other.
"So..." Muscles says as he approaches, going from a firm jog to a careful walk as he stops next to you.
"Just ignore it. They do this." You say, materializing next to him and looking him over. He's definitely seen better days. The sweatshirt and pants he's been using look like they haven't been washed in a few days, and have several stains that look like they came from the floor of an alley on them.
"Is that so. Are there any beds in there?" Muscles asks in a neutral tone, eyeing the building.
"Nah. Just got it. Doing some-" You pause to glance at Trainwreck, "-renovations."
"That's fine. I have a sleeping bag." Muscles replies easily, shrugging his shoulders to emphasize the stuffed backpack he's wearing and lifting the duffel bag in his right hand.
"Anyway!" Taylor says, turning away from the silent argument she was having with her Father.
"Dad this is Muscles. He's joining up and will be staying here with Trainwreck." She explains quickly.
"Muscles this is my Dad."
"Aspirant." Muscles says, leaning forward and proffering his free hand to shake with Danny who obliges slowly.
"Sorry?" Danny says quizzically while giving the man the kind of up and down examination he'd probably give to any adult man he expects to be spending time around his teenage daughter.
"I've decided to go by Aspirant. 'To Aspire'. I thought my powers just made me strong and hard to hurt, but Emmy showed me that with the correct knowledge, I could be much more powerful than a mere Brute. So... Aspirant." He says with another shrug. Taylor smiles widely at this, and you can feel a strong sense of contentment coming from her as he acknowledges you.
"Nice! Stick with me and you'll be called Master Buddha Fist in no time! Wait no! Better! Godhand! No wait, to pretentious, uh-" You start pumping one fist and immediately jumping in to begin brainstorming other names.
"A-anyway. Over there is Trainwreck. He's our Tinker." Taylor says proudly, puffing her chest out ever so slightly when she says 'Our Tinker'. You guess that with Trainwreck and Aspirant here she finally feels like a team leader. Or at least, part of a team.
"Yo. Don't touch any of my shit." The belligerent Tinker says, turning to regard Aspirant and then returning to his 'Tinkering'.
"Noted," Aspirant says without missing a beat.
"Are you sure you'll be okay alone with him? He's a bit..." Danny says, trailing off worriedly.
"Is he dangerous?" Aspirant asks curiously, eyeing the larger Tinker as though sizing him up.
"Fuck yeah. Just not to you. Doors over there. Don't go through the Garage, haven't finished the gate yet. Might fall on you." Trainwreck answers belligerently.
Aspirant nods his head once, then nods towards your Master and her Father before turning towards you.
"If possible, I would like to continue training with you." He says before awkwardly attempting a disciples bow.
He fails at it miserably, and it mostly just looks awkward, but you accept the gesture for what it is and return your own bow.
"Sure. I'll bring Taylor out tomorrow." You say, while happily envisioning a mountain top temple where your Master trains an army of Parahumans in Kung Fu.
"I feel like I should get some say in this?" Taylor offers jokingly. You eye her to ascertain that she is, in fact, joking, then quip back.
"Yeah but Taylor. Kung Fu."
Kung Fu, you feel, is always the correct answer.
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
Oathbound Headquarters, Brockton Bay
The next day, you rouse your Master from her sleep once more, having allowed her to sleep in, and the pair of you make your way back towards the headquarters with Danny in tow. You feel bad for dragging the guy around like this when he probably has things to be doing, but the news has said that the Empire Eighty-Eight has stepped their actions up since the capture of Skidmark and 'Mush'. Large swathes of the city that once counted as 'Merchant' and 'ABB' territory are suffering from sporadic gang violence, and it's speculated that it's only a matter of time before the E88 begins the true push to consolidate what's left of the city.
Your Master seemed conflicted on the subject. She obviously wants to go out to fight - this situation is largely her fault after all - but fear for her Father is obviously holding her back.
Breakfast was a quiet affair as a result of that, with Taylor obviously not willing to run out on her Father, and her Father trying to hide his obviously relief that she wouldn't be running into a Gang War while he was an obvious target.
When you all eventually pulled up outside the Headquarters, several things became immediately evident. First among them, that Trainwreck probably didn't sleep last night. Second among them, that in the absence of the controlling factor that was 'Danny' he obviously did end up going to the Ship Graveyard for some materials.
You can tell because he apparently decided to cover every wall and all the doors in some degree of armoured plating.
"We're going to get fined, I can just tell." Danny says darkly.
"I think it looks... effective?" Taylor tries.
"How do we get inside? Does it match fire safety rules for this type of building?" Danny counters, and for the first time you notice that none of the doors have handles anymore.
'I got it.' You offer to your Master, ghosting through one of the walls and into the Garage where you find Trainwreck. At first you assumed he was waiting for you, because he appears to be standing in a corner of the unlit room unmoving, but upon closer inspection, you realize that he appears to be asleep. In his armour. Just... standing there.
Shaking off the creepiness of it, you turn to examine the inner door of the Garage, and find what appears to be a simple lever built into the wall with enough length to comfortably within the Tinkers enlarged hands. Shrugging, you grasp and pull the lever, only to be met with the most horrendous grinding noise you have ever heard in your life.
"Why!?" Danny yells while covering his ears. Taylor winces along with him, but doesn't cover her ears, instead walking into the Garage to examine it. Not much has actually changed inside, which you think you might actually be thankful for, and so it is largely Barren.
"I think it's cool!" You say once the sound has finished and the door has finished opening, allowing light to stream into the building.
"It's like, a siren you know? We're on the case!" You laugh.
"...I'll be in the office trying to get the wiring working," Danny says bluntly, walking past you with a tiny toolkit in hand, and clearly choosing not to address your statement. You nod at him as he passes, then turn towards Trainwreck, who the noise has somehow failed to awaken.
"So what's the plan?" Your Master asks you, leaning against one wall.
"Aspirant is probably still asleep if that sound didn't wake him up. Training?" You offer.
"...Fine." Your Master says, eyeing Trainwreck herself now.
"Don't worry, nothing personal today. Actually!" You say deviously, jogging back out to the car to grab the snacks you made for today and returning with the container open and presented to your Master.
"Celery snack?" You put forth, waggling the container under your Master's nose. She quirks a brow at you, but reaches towards the container regardless with an exasperated sigh.
Which is when you jerk the container slightly out of her reach. Grinning, you wait patiently for your Master to shift forward to grab at the food you are offering her, the move it to the side as she does so. This time, she shifts forward to follow the movement, one hand reaching out to grasp your arm at the elbow to prevent you from continuing to mess with her.
You, of course, retaliate by pivoting on one foot and hip checking your Master four feet backwards with a firm shake of your rump.
She stares at you. You stare back. You reach into the container to take a celery snack out. Your Master moves, practically teleporting in front of you as you step into her attack and allow the force of her forward motion to dissipate on your stomach. She accepts the counter, putting one foot behind her to disperse the force of the shove into the floor and then leaps upward, lifting one knee to land in your shoulder and pinning you to the wall long enough for her to snatch a snack out of the container before landing.
"Are we done?" She asks you irately, sticking the snack in her mouth and biting it in half savagely.
"Yes! Ohohohoh man! The thing with your knees was so cool! My legs are too short for that kind of stuff!" You croon at her, jumping forward to envelop her in a huge hug. She dangles with her feet just off the floor, still chewing her snack, and raises an eyebrow at you, before blinking once.
"Wait. How did I do that?" Taylor says in confusion.
"Kung Fu Baby!" You yell proudly.
"You never taught me Kung Fu!" She counters, jabbing you in the stomach as you put her down.
"Yes, I did! The Dragon Warrior is all about Kung Fu!" You counter happily.
"That doesn't even-" She begins irately but you cut her off.
"The Kung Fu was in your heart all along!" You crow. Taylor stares at you. Then starts to chuckle. Then laugh uproariously, snorting happily the whole time.
"You-you're so lame!" She cackles, leaning over to put her hands on her knees.
"You love it." You say, buffing out your non-existent fingernails on your non-existent shirt proudly.
"Yeah, yeah I do," Taylor answers, coming over to hug you.
You spend the rest of the early morning play fighting with Taylor. The fact that she seems able to fight without automatically attempting to murder her target seems infinitely satisfying to her, and she exercises that ability to it's fullest while sparring with you.
At about noon, Aspirant walks into the garage and comes to a halt next to you.
"Hey." He says simply, apparently not knowing what else to say.
"Morning. Er. Afternoon, I guess." Taylor offers.
"My man! Are you ready to do some Kung Fu!?" You shout at him, causing him to step slightly away from you.
"...yes?" He responds.
"Awesome. After lunch though. Have a seat, I made enough for everyone!" You say, marching out to the car once more. Behind you, you can faintly hear Trainwreck finally waking up, complaining about how loud it is.
You return with Dumplings. But not just any Dumplings. Oh no, you managed to convince Danny to pick up the ingredients to make Dumplings the way they should be made. Perfect, fluffy, delicious, dumplings.
You have to stop thinking about it when you realize you have stopped halfway back to the garage and are about to open the container they are in yourself.
"Alright, get a load of these." You say as you come back, plopping down to sit cross legged on the floor with Aspirant and your Master.
"Hm. What's in them?" Aspirant asks curiously.
"Secret Recipe. Why? You have allergies or something?" You ask suspiciously.
"No, but I was thinking that since I can control my own biology, I can start incorporating things that human bodies usually eject. I can't naturally produce it, but if I force my body to add carbon to my bones I can eventually get them diamond hard. Things like that." He explains politely, withdrawing a fist-sized dumpling and taking a bite out of it.
"Isn't that dangerous? I mean, if you do that won't you get heavier too?" Taylor asks curiously.
"Not a problem for me. I... actually have two powers. Sort of." He explains hesitantly.
"Well, lay it on me. Conquering Buddha style isn't gonna make itself." You chatter expectantly.
"...I'm still not calling it that. But... I have a sort of telekinetic field that holds me together. I think some of my biokinesis is just making micro-adjustments to myself with telekinesis. Separately they're both kind of mediocre, but together I can fake being really strong. Also..." He continues before trailing off.
"What?" Taylor asks worriedly.
"I- don't really look like this." He explains taking a deep breath.
"Well yeah, no one looks like this." Taylor points out, wrinkling her nose at the man.
"I'm sixteen." He says bluntly. Your Master goes silent, staring at the - and you can't stress this enough - adult looking man she's sitting next to. You can faintly hear Trainwreck laughing in the background while continuing to hammer away at some scrap metal with his fists.
"But you're huge!" Taylor finally shouts at him.
"Hah!" Trainwreck cackles from across the garage, causing her to blush.
"...Well, the only thing I know how to do with my powers right now is make my muscles bigger so..." Aspirant says with some embarrassment.
"So... you don't... normally look like this?" Taylor asks. In response, Aspirant merely nods - and then appears to deflate before you like a balloon, until he is just a regular-sized looking teenager with a slightly athletic build. Lowering the hood of his sweats, he smiles sheepishly at the two of you.
"Jamie. Nice to meet you again, I guess." He offers.
"...huh." Taylor grunts, staring at him unashamedly.
"Ohohohoh I have such a good idea for this! Look, forget the huge muscles, you gotta specialize!" You say excitedly.
"I... have? Into strength." He says in confusion, idly taking another bite of his dumpling.
"No man! Listen, you can change your body, right? So instead of just bulking up and prayin' get inspired! Mantis Shrimp punch so hard they make tiny sonic booms! Rhinos have skin tough enough to stop arrows! You can do all of that!" You explain, thinking of all the other Martial Artists and their specialties that your Emulation has seen over time.
"Sounds a bit like Crawler though." He points out to your confusion.
"Who now?" You ask, turning to your Master.
"Um. He's a... Changer? I think? Anything that hurts him he heals from and becomes immune to. He's with the Slaughterhouse Nine." Your Master explains. You continue to stare at her.
"The Slaughterhouse Nine are a group of roving psychopaths who tend to murder a bunch of people and then run away before they can get caught," Jamie adds helpfully.
"Oh. Well, that guy sounds like a jerk." You say with a shrug.
"Uhuh..." Jamie says uncomfortably.
A few more minutes pass in silence while everyone chews, after which you clap your hands together loudly.
"All right! Time for Kung Fu!" You say, standing up and running out to the front of the building. Spotting some grass, you quickly tear several hunks of the stuff out of the ground and then return to the garage.
"Okay Master, this one's easy." You explain, dumping the pile of grass at her feet and pulling a single blade from within it.
"Sword." You state, waiting patiently for your Master to withdraw the Zanpakuto that she seems to be able to pull from nowhere. When she does, you put the blade of grass on the tip of her sword and carefully step back.
"Okay, now try and do a full kata without letting the grass fall off your sword." You explain.
Taylor stares at you. Jamie stares at you. Trainwreck leans away from whatever it is he's doing to stare at you.
"...Is that even possible?" She asks you incredulously.
"Totally!" You exclaim, grabbing your now empty lunch container and placing a blade of grass on top of it. Then you run through a blinding fast combination of punches and kicks with the container in hand, ending by presenting the container - with the blade of grass still atop it - to both Jamie and your Master.
"...I want that." Jamie mumbles under his breath.
"Sorry, it'd take too long to teach you. You'll have to wait till Master has the time to show you." You say apologetically.
"But! Come over here. Let's start building you!" You say with a critical eye as Taylor begins to haphazardly swing her blade around, almost immediately failing as the blade of grass falls to the ground.
"...Don't you mean my style?" Jamie asks you blankly.
"Nah. First off, hard points of contact." You say, pointing at his knuckles, knees and elbows.
Oh yeah, you are gonna turn this kid into a monster.
School Again Tomorrow huh? Lame. Pick 2.
[ ] Your Master's sleeping patterns are clearly off. Vicky's sister was a healer, right?
[ ] The banks are open again today. Accompany Danny to sort your accounts out.
[ ] Technically, Danny doesn't have to know you went to meet Purity.
[ ] Continue Training (Inner Peace currently 5/10)
[ ] Complete Training (Inner Peace, Cost 5 to Complete) (Pick Another Action)
[ ] Write-In
A/N: So the bank option wasn't available today because Banks - especially back in 2011 - weren't typically open on Sundays. Just sayin'. Also, I couldn't find Browbeats civilian name so - he's Jamie now. Anyway, you guys know the deal. Have an hour or two to vote then let me get on the next one.
Last edited: Jun 28, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jun 29, 2020
#4,601
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 13
Current Training: Inner Peace (7/10) Currently 3 to Complete
Monday, January 17th, 2011
Winslow High School, Brockton Bay
School is an interesting affair that day. Your Master - having apparently realized that no one would dare contradict, argue with, or spite her, while she's within earshot - marches through the crowds of students with a relaxed air uncommon to her outside of her home.
There are also significantly more students than last week, presumably because they have all realized that Taylor isn't going to kill them all. The fact that the possibility did exist prior to this isn't something you would point out but well... all is well that ends well you suppose.
You somewhat expect the day to go on as peacefully as any other, and so go about your usual business of monitoring the halls for anything illicit or dangerous looking, when an announcement rings out throughout the building.
"Taylor Hebert to the principles office, please. That's Taylor Hebert, to the principles office." The P.A buzzes in a monotone voice that screams of apathy.
You frown, wondering if this has anything to do with the still currently missing Greg. One of the first things you did when arriving today was checking to see if the boy was present, which he wasn't. Sensing your Master moving through the halls, you decide to move towards her, and eventually end up walking into the office of the school. Invisibly, of course.
The office is - like much of the rest of the school, 'dingey'. You can't think of a better word for it. You'd almost consider it weather-worn if you weren't sure that the room was sealed against the outside. The room itself is small, basically consisting of four plastic chairs for people to wait in, a desk to the right of a door with the word 'Blackwell' emblazoned on a metal plate at its center, and just enough space between all of those things for one or two people to stand in front of said desk.
"I was called?" Taylor says, keeping her tone carefully neutral even though you can practically feel resentment and hostility rolling off her in waves.
"Yes, take a seat." The nasally voiced woman sitting behind the desk says, throwing your Master a nervous look as she speaks.
Your Master - her tension still obscenely high - acquiesces, sitting down and staring straight ahead.
'Are you going to be okay?' You ask her worriedly.
'Yes. No. I don't know. I hate these people.' Taylor answers bitterly.
'Well, they're clearly terrified of you.' You note.
'That's because they know I hate them.' Taylor replies. 'It actually makes it worse. I can't lose my temper with these people, or they'll call the PRT.'
The silence in the room stretches for another few minutes, long enough that you get bored and wander into the Principles office directly, only to find the woman slowly typing away at her computer in utter silence. She checks her watch once, glances at the door, and then returns to what she was doing.
'I don't think she's actually doing anything. Why are we waiting?' You ask curiously.
'Because she has the survival instincts of a lemming, and I have the patience of a saint.' Taylor responds, and you can clearly detect the faint grinding of teeth in her transmission.
Eventually - presumably because she can't actually make your Master miss an entire class - Taylor is let into the principles office, where she is regarded by the stick thing and severe-looking woman with the kind of reserved distaste you're fairly certain normal people reserve for things they accidentally step in.
"Are you aware why you are here Miss Hebert?" She asks finally.
"...No." Taylor says, obviously biting back the much more lengthy and aggressive response she probably would have preferred.
"Some students have come to me claiming they are being 'hunted by a bear' on school grounds. Would you happen to know anything about that?" The principle asks pointedly.
"...No?" Taylor answers this time, her tension rising another level.
'What did you do?' She asks you mentally.
'Nothing! I've been guarding the school like you asked!' You complain back.
'This whole time!? I didn't want you to keep doing it!' She responds in panic.
"Good. Last week was quiet. I'd like it to continue being that way." Blackwell snorts, turning back to her computer. Your Master stares at her in utter confusion at the frank dismissal.
"You can go." The principle says, apparently having assumed your Master would have gotten the message and left already. At this, she does, getting up and walking stiffly out of the office with a still confused look on her face.
'That wasn't so bad.' You opine.
'That... I don't understand. She had to know I was lying. It was so obvious it was painful. But she just... accepted it?' Taylor answers.
'Not to toot my own horn but ah, I have been the law 'round these parts.' You explain pridefully.
'So... as long as I keep the Gang Violence down she'll just... give me a free pass? I don't... is this what Sophia was doing? The PRT thought she was a Parahuman so maybe she had a deal with Blackwell?' Your Master muses, slowly growing angrier as she walks to class.
'So everything is fine as long as the greater good is served? No one matters more than the collective?' Taylor continues angrily. Then the anger drains out of her, and she pauses, standing in front of the door to her classroom.
'I was an acceptable target because it meant everyone else got to be safe. And now I'm benefiting from the same system that made me trigger.'
'Are you going to be okay? We could leave early?' You ask her worriedly.
'No.' She answers, opening the door and stepping into her classroom.
You aren't sure which question she was answering.
Monday, January 17th, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
Accompanying Danny to the bank after school was - overall - a fairly boring affair. You met the bank manager, who is apparently the only person authorized to open Cape accounts, and Taylor spent the majority of her time fidgeting with a coin with one hand, swishing it around whenever it was out of sight while trying to stop the penny from falling off. It was cute in a 'probably not actually worth anything' kind of way, not that you actually told her that.
That task done, you all return home. You are fairly confident that Aspirant will have his hands full with just the simple series of moves you showed him before leaving yesterday, and so feel no need to go to the headquarters to check on him.
Which is how you find yourself - once more - in the basement with your Master, having pulled a lump of grass out of the yard for the excercise.
"This. Isn't. Possible." Your Master growls at you as she runs through the movements she's been practicing for the fourth time.
"It's not about your stance. You need to attain Inner Peace. A calm heart. A strong will. When you have that, fast, slow, it doesn't matter - the blade of grass won't fall." You say with some amusement.
"That's even more frustrating. Where is this guy from anyway?" Taylor answers you with a frown.
"China. Don't stop moving." You instruct, leaning back and relaxing.
"And everyone in his China is a talking animal?" Taylor presses.
"Yes. Keep moving." You command when it becomes obvious Taylor is intent on evading the exercise.
"Then have you considered that maybe non-animal people can't do this?" She asks triumphantly.
"Yes. It's wrong. Okay look, do you want a hint?" You say with a sigh.
"Yes." Your Master growls at you.
"Think about your Locker." You say, eliciting a sharp flinch from her.
"Think about it, but don't let it affect you. Think about it - but know that it can't hurt you. Isn't your fault. Isn't your future. It just is. When you can think about it without feeling anything - then you're halfway there." You intone. Hm. You can distinctly remember this Emulation having no idea how to do any of that himself and then suddenly just... doing it. Strange.
"I- " Taylor starts with a frown, then starts when her cellphone begins to ring. You shrug at her when she turns towards you. Sure, now she wants you to demand she practice.
"Hello?" Taylor answers as she picks up the phone, her tone nothing if not resigned.
"Taylor? Um. It's me Greg? You- uh, you know Glory Girl right?" You can hear the missing Greg's voice half yell through the receiver of the phone.
"Yes. I'm not getting you her autograph Greg, it's too weird and-" Taylor starts with some annoyance.
"No! Look uh, I'm with a friend and he's kind of bleeding out? Like, a lot? Could you get Panacea do you think?" Greg yells, his voice rising with panic.
"Shit, shit, shit, hey look I'm getting help just- uh, take deep breaths?" He continues, followed by a retching noise.
'I could heal him.' You offer worriedly.
"Greg, where are you?" Taylor asks.
"I- you probably don't want to get involved with-" Greg blurts.
"Greg. Where." Taylor grinds out, already moving towards the stairs.
He answers, and Taylor hangs up.
Well, he's not dead at least. What do you do?
[ ] Just call Vicky. Panacea is a Healer too, and she doesn't have a resource limitation to work with.
[ ] This is Greg. He's like, almost sort of Taylor's friend. You can spare some energy for him if it'll get you there faster.
[ ] Write-In
A/N: This update was weirdly hard to write and I'm still not entirely happy with it. But here, since I've already taken way too long on it.
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jun 30, 2020
#4,846
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 11
Current Training: Inner Peace (7/10) Currently 3 to Complete
Monday, January 17th, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
'Emmy, tell Dad we're going.' Taylor orders you as she rushes to put her shoes on.
'He's not going to be happy.' You point out.
'Better he knows I'm gone so he can hide if something happens here.' Taylor says resolutely.
You suppose that's not an unreasonable expectation. If someone is watching the house and sees Taylor leave then Danny would definitely be in trouble if he was just sleeping in bed.
'Got it.' You answer, quickly bumbling your way up the tiny stairwell and then ghosting into the elder Heberts bedroom.
"Danny. Hey buddy, need you to uh- wake up. Just a bit." You call out, shaking the man out of his slumber. It isn't really that late in the night yet, but you suppose that as a working man Danny probably has a habit of sleeping and rising early.
"Wuh?" He mumbles blankly at you as he acclimates to consciousness once more. You can faintly sense your Master making it out to the backyard of the house as he does so.
"Hey so, Taylor's friend from school- Greg? He's dying or something so we have to go help him. We'll be back in a bit I swear." You explain quickly to him.
"What? Can't you just call 9-1-1?" Danny blurts in confusion and annoyance.
"What's that? I can't hear you I'm-" You say suddenly, having felt your Master's presence rocket into the sky and out of your range- just in time to discorporate you and leave you blinking away tears as you find yourself suddenly falling from a great height.
"All abooooooard!" You yell, having long since gotten used to the sensation of falling infinitely.
'You are so weird.' Taylor says fondly to you as she begins to sprint across the skies.
Monday, January 17th, 2011
Brockton Bay
Finding Greg isn't really that hard. Or at least, Greg's general location anyway. Your Master just got near the address he listed and then slowly started to arc her way down when it became clear that it was surrounded by three car sized lizard dog things.
Stopping a few stories above the monsters, she takes the time to snatch you out of the air and hurl you towards a nearby rooftop, presumably so you don't land on top of one of the things.
'Man. You know the sensation of imminent death wasn't great at first but once you get used to it-' You begin stretching your arms and bouncing from foot to foot with nervous energy.
Taylor ignores you, instead withdrawing her shoddy little burner phone and calling Greg again.
"Greg? The address you gave me has... guards. Should I kill them or...?"
"Oh god no! Absolutely do not attack those! Hang on I'll come get you, is there anyone else out there?" Greg asks desperately.
"Just me and Emmy," Taylor confirms with a quick look around.
"Good, I was worried- anyway. Hang on." Greg answers, hanging up. A few seconds later, a side door on the squat abandoned building he was apparently in opens up, and the boy himself stumbles shakily out of it between two of the giant monster dogs. He looks around quickly, turning left and then right when it becomes obvious Taylor isn't standing in the street.
"Up here." She calls to him as she descends the rest of the way to the ground, staying out of easy reach of the monsters.
"Taylor? I didn't know you could fly!" Greg says excitedly.
"It's more like walking on air." Taylor answers with a disappointed shrug.
"Huh. Shit! Okay so is Panacea on the way because he's getting really pale and I don't know-" Greg hums in awe before blinking and then frantically continuing.
"No." Taylor says succinctly as she follows Greg into the building, warily eyeing the beasts to either side of her. You follow along behind her invisibly, having used your intangibility to jump from floor to floor inside of the building you landed on instead of having to dive straight off the roof.
"Wh- Grue is dying! I thought-" Greg blurts stupidly, stumbling as Taylor brushes past him.
"Hey man don't worry, we got this." You say confidently, appearing next to him and preventing him from falling over. There is the light of recognition in Greg's eyes as he sees you, and he purses his lips in worry as you return to invisibility and follow after your Master.
"G-Man, I gotta say, for a dork you have some surprising connections." A laconic voice calls from further into the building as Taylor follows Greg's directions to a room that looks like it was once the break room for employees of the abandoned storefront you are now in.
"...What happened here?" Taylor asks cautiously as she approaches the group of people in the room.
There are four of them, and only one seems to be in good health. Laying down on a decrepit couch is a large man in black motorcycle leathers, wearing a stylized helmet with a skull on it. Blood is seeping from a wound on his side, where an arrow has apparently shorn straight through him from front to back.
On the floor, also laying down, next to him, is a girl in a skintight purple and black body suit with blond hair that you faintly recognize from somewhere, unconscious and with blood trickling from her ears and nose in rivulets.
In a corner, as far as she can apparently get from everyone else, is a girl wearing a tattered green coat, staring warily at everyone else as if deeply confused.
And in the center of it all, sitting on a stack of boxes, is a pale boy wielding what looks like a homemade sceptre, a shirt that doesn't fit right, pants that fit too tightly, and a porcelain mask that reminds you somewhat of Parian's albeit lacking any humanoid features.
"Do you want it in chronological order or by how fucked we are?" The pale boy says casually, twirling his sceptre in one hand.
"Regent. Seriously man, I asked you to keep pressure on this!" Greg yelps as he runs into the room, quickly darting to the couch and putting pressure on side of the man who is obviously bleeding out. You want to hurry over to heal the guy but can't help but notice the way that your Master is currently eyeing Greg as if examining an insect.
"You're villains." She says carefully, watching Greg for any reaction.
"They mostly only rob the other Gangs though!" Greg adds quickly, looking to Regent worriedly.
"Only cus it's easier." Regent hums, then leans towards your Master and faux whispers, "We're totally villains."
"Greg. Why, are they villains." Taylor asks again, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Well you see when someone else has something that you want very very much-" Regent drones.
"Regent, shut the fuck up." Greg hisses at him, before turning an embarrassed look on Taylor.
"Look I can explain later okay? Please?" He asks desperately.
"...Fine." Taylor says with a sigh, although you notice that at some time during the conversation her sword has ended up firmly in her grasp, point sharply dug into the dirty carpet beneath you.
"Nice, all right let's get you moving buddy." You say, appearing next to Greg, being very careful not to step on the Girl on the ground.
Energy: -1
With the long ease of practice, your paws begin to glow, and you infusing the healing energies of chi into the dying man. It takes a few minutes - not only does his wound have to heal, but his body has to eject the arrow that is lodged in him. Curiously, you find it takes much longer than it should for this to happen. By the time you are done though, the man on the couch has grown still, his breathing coming easier and unlabored.
"Should I do her too or?" You ask, point down at your feet.
"Please," Greg says tiredly. And you move to do so.
Energy: -1
"So. 'G-Man'." Taylor drawls, although you can tell she is extremely off-put by the situation. Her hands are gripping the hilt of her sword so hard that her knuckles have turned white, and she's making sure to keep everyone in the room in her line of sight.
"It's my gamertag." Greg explains lamely.
"Not a Cape name?" Taylor pushes, eyes narrowing. Greg snorts at her with a forlorn laugh that sounds as though it is coming from the pits of despair.
"No I- I just wanted to have some friends okay? I was just hanging out with Regent when he started getting undressed and ran out here!" Greg complains lamely.
'He's totally lying.' You opine as the blond on the ground begins to groan and sit up.
'I know. He called that guy Grue and acted like he knew them.' Taylor notes back.
"Ow. I hate Trumps. Trumps are the worst." The girl complains as she stumbles to her feet, then turns to eye you and Taylor.
"My heart goes out to you. Truly." Taylor drawls. You note, with some satisfaction, that she has managed to switch out to the imposing version of herself she typically falls into when very serious about something.
"You should be careful yourself. I don't know what she's calling herself but Shadow Stalker's new partner means business." The blond says with a shrug.
"Are they still outside?" She asks, turning to Greg.
'They know each other.' You say.
'Yeah...' Taylor responds, troubled.
"I don't know. No one shot at me when I went to get Taylor but..." Greg trails off, shrugging.
"Ehem." You cough, drawing the girls attention.
"Sorta don't know what's going on here." You say, raising one hand.
"Oh I got this one. Shadow Stalker started shooting at them, Grue got clipped, Tats had a seizure, and Bitch started freaking out about her dogs." Regent chimes in.
"Didn't understand 'em." Mutters the girl in the corner.
"Yeah that's about the gist of things. I know this is alot to ask but do you think you could maybe stall them a bit? So we can get away?" 'Tats' says pleadingly.
"Your villains. Why shouldn't I just let Shadow Stalker capture you?" Taylor fires back.
"Because she's not going to capture us. Grue was going to die before you showed up. Stalker isn't even with the Protectorate anymore. They'll probably announce she's eighteen and left the program of her own accord in a few days. Sooner if it comes out she's using lethal force. And her new partner is everyone's problem. You wouldn't like it very much if your 'friend' here just suddenly disappeared now would you?" The girl says, her smile turning vulpine the longer she talks.
Taylor looks like she's going to say something to the effect of 'screw you', but 'Tats' tilts her head slightly to indicate Greg, who is still nervously shuffling about near the couch in his day wear. Taylor bites her lip and then glares at the girl.
"What were you even doing out here tonight anyway? Robbing a jewelry store? And you better be at school tomorrow Greg." Taylor snips, clearly having already made her decision but not wanting to admit it.
"Trying to sign a new independent. Spitfire. You should look her up." Tat's says pleasantly, apparently completely ignoring your Master's considerable ire.
'What's the plan?' You ask your Master.
What is the plan?
[ ] Shadow Stalker is a hero, and your not sure how much you trust these guys Greg is with. You vaguely recall him telling Taylor about them at some point. The Undersiders you think. You might as well head out and try to talk to her. If she knows that Taylor has all of the villains under control they can work together to have them arrested.
[ ] Get the Undersiders out of here. Regardless of affiliation, no one deserves to die, and they seem like they're in a pretty bad way.
[ ] Grab Greg and run. Shadow Stalker and the Undersiders can deal with their own problems.
A/N: Surprisingly I only saw maybe two people make this connection. Try to keep in mind this decision is not unlike the 'E88 have Danny' one - people could actually die here. I'm off to work. Enjoy.
Last edited: Jun 30, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Jun 30, 2020
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Threadmarks Tribe 4.15
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jul 1, 2020
#5,044
Spoiler: Choices:
Energy: 9
Current Training: Inner Peace (7/10) Currently 3 to Complete
Monday, January 17th, 2011
Brockton Bay
Your Master purses her lips in thought, obviously considering what to do next. Then she sighs and withdraws her phone.
"Um, Taylor I don't think the police-" Greg starts nervously.
"She's not calling the police she's calling the Protectorate. Or Glory Girl." Tats says with the air of someone who knows they're right and doesn't particularly like it.
"Both. Don't move." Taylor commands, poking through her phone slowly to find Victoria's contact number.
"There's really not much point in calling the PRT - the only one of us with a warrant is Bitch. Grue has some misdemeanours at best." Tats says smoothly.
"Hey! I'll have you know I steal internet from my neighbours. I'm very evil." Regent drawls.
"No you don't I pay for your internet. Now shut up." Tats says without missing a beat.
"Hey so- you know that's super mean right?" You chime in, glancing at the girl in the corner everyone has been calling Bitch since you got here.
"Her name is Bitch. Look all I'm saying is that we're small time. The Protectorate has bigger things to worry about than us."
"Then they'll be happy to help you out when they get here," Taylor answers evenly, raising the phone to her ear.
"Vicky? I know it's kind of late but I've got a bunch of villains here who claim someone is trying to murder them. I'm going to call the Protectorate next but I was hoping you could give me some backup." Taylor says succinctly, maintaining eye contact with Tats.
"That's probably a bad idea. At least tell her to come in low?" Tats suggests quickly, shooting a worried look around the room as though waiting for something bad to happen. Taylor eyes her for a few seconds while listening to Victoria's response, then covers the receiver of the phone to ask;
"Why?"
"Glory Girl flies really fast, Stalkers new friend can turn off people's powers. You do the math." The blond snips back, lifting a hand to massage her temple.
"...I'll text you the address. Be careful on the way in. They have a power cancelling trump. Yeah like Hatchetface I guess." Taylor says begrudgingly. Then she hangs up and moves to make another call.
"Wait! Okay, let's trade. Give us a head start with the Protectorate and I'll tell you when they plan on moving Lung out of the city. They're moving him at the same time as Skidmark, Mush, & Oni Lee so you'll want to be there to stop Squealer from springing them!" Tat's blurts before Taylor can finish dialling the number.
Your Master pauses to consider, and you can tell she's beginning to get annoyed. It isn't just that Tats won't shut up - it's that she's making sense. Your Master is obviously aware that things aren't always black and white, but she desperately dislikes the idea of compromising here.
"What's to stop me from making you tell me?" Taylor asks pointedly, tightening her free hand's grip on her sword.
"You wouldn't torture us and that's pretty much the only way you'd get it. I'd just lie otherwise. You're a 'Hero' after all." Tat's answers with an annoyed but smug tone, angling her head so you are no longer in her field of vision.
Taylor doesn't bother to respond, merely glaring at the other girl. Her hand hovers over the call button of her phone, and her gaze darts back and forth between it and Tats.
"How do I know you're telling the truth," Taylor says suddenly.
"Could always take a hostage. I wouldn't mind a vacation." The blond responds with a vulpine grin.
"Pass." Taylor grinds out, which only widens the girl's smile.
This chance probably won't come again. You doubt the PRT will just tell you when they'll be moving Lung.
[ ] Accept. If there is even a slight chance of Lung escaping it would be a problem for you.
[ ] Decline. The PRT can handle a single coked up Tinker. You have bigger problems.
(Special Note: You don't actually get Lisa if you accept.)
It doesn't take Vicky very long to arrive but in the intervening time, your Master grills the Undersiders for every piece of information she can and formulates the bare bones of a plan.
Essentially, from what the girl - Tattletale you've found when you mistakenly called her Tats aloud - can guess, Shadow Stalker and her partner are waiting for the Undersiders to move from their current location, and are content to let them stew. Or rather, Tattletale intuited that Shadow Stalker wouldn't follow them into this particular building. Something to do with the working light fixtures. You aren't sure because at a certain point Bitches huge monster dogs shrank back down to normal sized dogs and you were sent to stand watch outside.
"Hey Vicky." You wave at the blond as she glides up to you across the ground in her costume.
"Hey. Taylors inside?" She asks curiously. You nod, but make sure to keep your eyes on the surrounding buildings. You've been getting the sense that you're being watched for a while now but you haven't been able to spot anyone doing so.
"So who're we looking out for anyway?" She asks, settling in next to you with nary a care in the world. A side effect of being mostly invincible you guess.
"The Undersiders are claiming Shadow Stalker tried to kill them. I had to heal two of them so someone shot an arrow through one of them." You explain with a shrug.
"Want me to go talk to her? You called the PRT already right?" She asks.
"Bad idea Glory Hole." A voice calls from behind you, causing Victoria's eyes to narrow.
"W-what she means is that you'd be in danger!" Greg jumps in. Mosty by actually jumping in front of Tattletale. Victoria merely raises an eyebrow in his general direction without looking away from the other blond.
"Power Cancelling Trump. If you try to fly up there you'll just fall and break a leg or something." Tattletale says with a shrug. Victoria snorts but turns to eye the rooftops again with a more focused gaze. Weird. You swear Taylor already told her that...
"So the plan is...?" Vicky asks as Taylor pushes her way past the other Undersiders (and Greg) carrying an unconscious Grue in her arms.
"Can you get these guys out of here? Preferably to the PRT. I'll try to talk them down. Or at least distract them." Taylor answers.
"Again, I really don't think-" Tattletale tries to chime in but is quickly silenced when Greg shoves his hand over her mouth. This has the interesting side effect of making her go temporarily cross-eyed and begin gagging - which you find interesting but choose not to comment on.
Vicky frowns at your Master for a second, then eyes the rest of the Undersiders.
"Doesn't everything that makes this dangerous for me also apply to you?" She says, waggling a finger back and forth between herself and Taylor.
"Maybe?" Taylor says evasively. It's been said before, but your Master really doesn't want to ever have to explain the nature of Spiritual Power. She is firmly convinced that she would be branded a lunatic within the first sentence.
"Are you sure we can't just tag team them? What's Mini Hatchetface's range anyway?" Vicky asks defiantly.
"Couple blocks," Tattletale says blandly. Vicky pales appreciably at that.
"But she's a Hero right?" she responds quickly.
"Was Gavel?" The villain counters.
"No, but-"
"Ladies, you're both pretty. I don't want to die tonight so if we could get moving?" Regent jumps in.
"I'm not going without my dogs." Bitch adds from where she is huddled in the entrance of the building with her pets. Vicky looks annoyed at this for a second then looks around. Seemingly spotting what she was looking for, she quickly drags what looks like an old truck across the street and roughly yanks it's front door open.
"All aboard folks, last stop, a PRT jail cell." She chirps smugly.
"Okay but I'm positive that's a crime." Greg mumbles in confusion.
Seeing that Victoria seems to have this part of things in hand, your Master exhales once slowly and then leaps into the sky in the middle of the street. She then begins to move across the area in a zigzagging pattern, obviously searching for Shadow Stalker. You chase after her on foot, not bothering to move to the rooftops.
This is probably the primary reason why you succeed where your Master fails. That, and the fact that you are shot at.
'I think I've got her.' You call to your Master as you pivot around a bolt that shoots past you and lodges itself into a wall on the opposite end of the street. You just barely catch a whisp of shadow ascending to the roof of the nearest building before you lose sight of it.
Quickly following up on your call, your Master hurries back to you, sword drawn and ready.
"You should back off. They'll just get away if you stick your nose in this." An echoey sounding but somehow familiar voice calls out to your Master from within the shadows of the area.
"I've got Glory Girl escorting them to the PRT now." Your Master answers back confidently.
"That bimbo will just lose them halfway there." The voice calls angrily. Taylor doesn't bother to answer, apparently as mystified but the familiar-sounding voice as you are. You suspect that part of the problem is the echoey nature of it. The brief rundown Tattletale was able to give your Master on Shadow Stalker's powers indicated her Breaker state included a number of caveats, so you suppose 'sounding weird' wouldn't be too strange.
Apparently realizing that Taylor is neither going to leave nor acquiesce to it's wishes, the voice - Shadow Stalker, goes on the attack. Another bolt is fired that your Master evades by turning fractionally with a snort. Then, making sure that the Undersiders are well out of her range, she flares her power, causing the blue widow that always accompanies such displays to burst into the sky above her.
It's a pity. You get the sense that Taylor probably doesn't get to be in a lot of fights. It must be frustrating to her for everything to end so-
Everything stops, and you cease existing for a second. Your continuity of thought is cut. Your mind is spread across a billion tiny crystal structures, your existence a mere trifle in the face of-
-quickly.
You have no idea what just happened. It felt like you sort of blinked, and now everything is in different locations. Your Master is on the ground, gritting her teeth as she rips an arrow out of her upper arm and, is staring at you like she thought she might never see you again.
'Whaaaat just happend.' You ask in confusion.
'The Trump. I got distracted when you disappeared and she shot at me.' Taylor explains, leaping backwards and returning to trying to subdue her current foes with Spiritual Pressure.
"Go. Last warning." Shadow Stalker demands again.
"Fu-" Your Master calls back.
You don't get to hear the full invective. In fact, 'You' end up not existing for an indeterminate amount of time, and when 'You' come back, you find you aren't fully in control of yourself. The subroutine you use for Emulating is well... it's on, that's for sure.
"Bring him back!" a rough yell echoes out in front of Po as he blinks away the stars in his eyes. In front of him are two... things. One looks like a shaved monkey holding a sword and the other is a... spirit? Weird. He could have sworn that he was just with the Furious Five having lunch but...
Eh, he was sure things would work themselves out. First things first, this oppressive sensation of being crushed had to go. Flexing his will, Po pushed away the aggressive chi around him, which had the added side effect of making him glow.
Energy: -1
Then he quickly darted forward to swat the sword the naked monkey was wielding away from the spirit.
"Hey, woah there. Let's talk this out." He says nonchalantly. He'd seen some things in his time. Fought armies of spirits. Fought some of the greatest Kung Fu Masters of his time.
Po was not afraid of one spirit and one ape.
"Emmy!?" The ape squawked as she brought her sword around again in a decapitating swing on the semi-transparent spirit she had previously held pinned to the wall with it.
"Can't even control your own fucking projection. What a joke." The spirit laughed, attempting to dart forward and swing a fist at the monkey. Po attempted to deflect the attack but found to his curiosity that he couldn't. Thankfully the monkey was paying attention, because it jumped backwards, avoiding the blow.
Then she stopped and stared agog at the spirit.
"Sophia?" She whispered.
"Hebert." the spirit scowled back at her.
"Po." He added helpfully, lifting one hand in greeting.
"No, there's no way- you were a fucking Ward the whole time? A fucking Hero?" Hebert says in dismay.
"No shit. You gonna get out of my way now or-" Sophia snaps turning to eye Po warily.
"No. No, you don't get to just... just... take this away from me. Why?!" Hebert fumes, stepping forward and raising her sword.
"Ehem." Po coughed pointedly. Hebert looks back and forth between Po and Sophia, then growls in frustration.
"Fix him or I'll kill you." She declares coldly, and for the first time, you detect a faint sensation of fear coming from the spirit. You can also - oddly - literally feel determination and murderous intent flowing off the girl.
Po felt this was probably the point at which, he should step into things.
"Okay, first off, there isn't anything wrong with me. Sure I have kind of an eating problem but I'm just growing." He says, stepping between the two.
Energy: -1
"Here I'll make it easy. Let's all just sit down and talk." He says, infusing chi into his hand and pulling the spirit into a hug then leaning over to-
'Emmy? Emmy, please be okay. Please remember me. Please don't leave.' You hear your Master halfway wailing to you as you blink back into existence, seemingly having gone from being in the middle of a fight to several blocks away without any intervening time passing.
"Wah?" You bumble, shaking your head and looking around at the barren rooftop you now find yourself on. You pause and check your logs. You have no real idea what was going on but you get the impression that part of yourself that holds the mind of the people you Emulate was suddenly shunted to the top of your command structure for a bit. You are extremely disoriented by this. It feels like you just woke up from a dream, which - for a being that doesn't sleep, nor dream, is extremely disconcerting.
"Emmy?" Taylor calls to you desperately as she rushes forward to claw at you, dragging you into a fierce hug.
"I- It's okay. I'm here. What happened?" You ask.
"I- I ran away," Taylor admits, drawing your attention to the fact that your Master is, in fact, bleeding all over you.
"Do you need healing?" You ask gently, pushing her away to look at the wound.
"Later. Please." She mumbles, leaning back into you.
You frown. Your current Emulation isn't naturally violent. But your previous Emulation was, and you suddenly find yourself with nothing but thoughts of finding and killing a certain ex-hero. But for now...
"Let's get home and call Victoria." You mumble to your Master.
You really hope things went better on her end than on yours, or tonight will have been a total crapshoot.
[ ] What convoluted series of events had to happen for you to get called like this anyway? (Coil Interlude)
[ ] What the hell were the Undersiders doing out tonight anyway? (Tattletale Interlude)
[ ] Goddammit Greg. (Greg Interlude)
A/N: Try not to argue too much about it, but from a certain point of view a lot of you were kind of right and kind of wrong. I went into this with this specific interaction between Emma and Taylor's powers in mind, but I should note that it's not like it stuns her or anything to flicker Emmy like that. It was just extremely distracting the first time it happened is all. The real bitch is when Emmy is all the way 'On' he's just going to think he's whomever he's emulating - that means that if you happen to be the Joker at the time... well you get the idea.
It also means he's going to spend energy without thinking about it because most of the characters he's copying don't have arbitrary power limitations like that. Truthfully, the major thing that makes Emma a nightmare for Taylor is the psychological effect she has on her. Taylor triggered because she was alone and had no one to rely on. Emma triggered with the ability to make Taylor alone and have no one to rely on. As far as psych tactics go, the only thing she could have been more of a bitch about would be if she figured out the effect she was having on Emmy and tricked him into protecting her.
The next update is a Vicky Interlude followed by whatever Interlude you guys vote for. The first vote in this Update will determine what happens with Vicky. See you all when I wake up on Canada day - kindly point out any massive errors in my writing in your replies. I'm barely awake while writing this, so I know the errors definitely exist.
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Bowler Hat Guy
Jul 1, 2020
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Threadmarks Interlude: Victoria Dallon
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jul 1, 2020
#5,178
Vicky really hated Tattletale.
It was a conclusion she had come to after no more than fifteen seconds in the villain's presence, and was made worse by the fact that she had no justification to punch the other girl in her stupid, smug, face.
It wasn't just that she wouldn't shut up - which was a problem most of the villains in the city had actually. It was that she wouldn't shut up about things that she absolutely shouldn't know up. Case in point;
"So, trying to stay in the new Capes good books huh?" The other blond mused at her from the open window of the truck she was currently carrying. Accepting that it would probably be dangerous to get caught by the Trump in the air, she had opted to merely push the truck forward very quickly at first, ensuring that she wouldn't be under it if her super-strength vanished. That, however, had only lasted until she had gone far enough away that Tattletale had confirmed they were likely out of the enemy's range. Which was a pity. It was a lot harder to hear the bitch from behind the truck.
"Yeah, and? She's nice." Vicky defended instantly, shifting her grip slightly and jostling the vehicle above her in an attempt to make Tattletale shut up.
"She's a nervous mess that's going to take her frustrations out on everyone else the minute her restraining bolt is gone. Remind you of anyone?" Tattletale continued unphased.
"No. Shutup or I'm leaving you." Vicky shot back, then immediately frowned when Tattletale's smile merely widened.
"Uh, Tattletale? We're kind of... really high up?" That blond kid with no costume said nervously, interrupting the two's conversation. Vicky didn't know what his deal was but he seemed just a tad too friendly with the other Undersiders. He also had a tendency to stare at her or Tattletale when he thought neither of them was looking which was just... ew. She made a mental note to warn Taylor away from him in the future.
"Ssh. She won't drop us. She's a Hero after all. Not a murderer. Mostly. Just out of curiosity, does she know you've been Mastering her? Or that she scares the shit out of you?" Tattletale continued on blithely.
Now, this was familiar ground. The number of times she'd had to defend her aura to people had exceeded the double digits within a week of getting her powers. Sure it made you respect her when she was in the room, to a degree anyway, and she definitely had a few close calls with addicts who had weak hearts when she was utilizing it for fear - but a Master effect it was not. It granted her little to no long term control of the people around her. She'd tested it with the PRT and everything.
Not that it stopped people from occasionally bothering her about it though.
"I'm not a Master. Now be quiet." She growled.
"Just going to ignore everything else I said huh?" Tattletale called back smugly.
Victoria made the smart choice and just stopped talking at that point. It wasn't like she could double arrest these idiots.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Tattletale added.
Then the truck was sharply yanked out of her arms and deposited on the road next to her.
"What the-" She yelped, but swiftly darted to the side as a fast-moving object plowed through the tarmac where she had just been floating.
"Hey um. Sorry about this." The object said.
With her voice.
It looked like her. It looked exactly like her. Only it was wobbling in the air slightly, and holding a posture distinctly not her. Quickly darting her eyes to the side, Vicky checked the Undersiders. Hellhound, Regent and Tattletale were helping a stumbling Grue out of the damaged truck, and the blond kid was-
Vicky whipped her head around to stare at the duplicate of herself. It was still just sort of hovering there, watching her watch it.
"Later Glory Hole~" Tattletale crooned as the street began to fill with inky black darkness. She tried to blitz the teenage villains before they could escape, but was swiftly sideswiped by her doppelganger plowing into her from the side. The two of them bounced along the road, into and then back out of the Undersiders smokescreen before coming to a stop.
"Ow. What the fuck, aren't you invincible?" The doppelganger complained, standing up and wobbling slightly when it couldn't fly - because both their shields were down.
"Fuck," Vicky growled, quickly rising to her feet and rushing the fake. When she was halfway to her target her shield reasserted itself, and she took off with her flight, her fist colliding in with the duplicates jaw and popping both of their shields just in time to stop it from taking off and attempting to escape. However, unlike the fake, Vicky had long since been trained in how to fight like a normal person. Mostly boxing really. Which was apparently more than her enemy had, because it completely failed to block her follow up punch to its face, which caused it's head to rock back from the impact and left a bloody mess of her - it's - nose.
"Villain huh? Taylor will be disappointed." Vicky mused aloud. Maybe if she was lucky the guy would take the hint and let her chase the rest of the villains. She was pretty sure he hadn't actually done anything yet - well except body snatch her which she would be bringing up later - so if he would just -
"I've got a good reason for that." Her doppelganger tried to explain, flickering slightly and then appearing with an unbroken nose and no visible blood on its face.
"There's really no good reason for being a supervillain." Vicky pointed out.
"Agree to disagree." Her dupe said with a bitter expression on its face, before turning to sprint back into the expanding cloud of inky blackness that had continued to spread after they had exited it. She tried to follow, she really did, but the second she made contact with the cloud her sense of direction went haywire. If she landed she could walk in a straight line, but flying she basically completely lost track of which way was 'down'.
When she eventually emerged on the other side of the cloud, next tot he broken truck and with approximately zero Undersiders in sight, she nearly screamed in frustration.
Then she heard the roar of a motorcycle, and Armsmaster flew past her and into the cloud. A feral grin spread across her face, and she pulled herself up and flew overhead, acting as a spotter. No way was she going to let these guys get away when Taylor had gift-wrapped them for her.
A/N: Gregs got one of those catch 22 powers that isn't a Trump power but will probably be classified as one anyway. An accurate PRT descriptor of him would probably be something awkward to say like Phylactery. It's kind of looking like the Greg interlude is going to win the vote so I look forward to inevitably explaining this.
Would you friggin believe that I wrote about half of this when the vote had 'Accept' winning, then checked again and 'Decline' had pulled ahead? The Undersiders were going to get away clean because The PRT were all busy at the time. Which is fairly normal with the Undersiders for some reason.
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Bowler Hat Guy
Jul 1, 2020
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Threadmarks Interlude: Greg Veder
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jul 2, 2020
#5,375
'Retard'
'Weirdo'
'Pervert'
Greg Veder was more than passingly familiar with such insults. In fact, if he were being honest with himself - which was rare even he could admit - he was probably referred to by such insults more frequently than his own name. At least by his peers.
And that was fine. Greg wasn't a baby - he could handle some name calling. He could even handle some bullying really. You could only spend so much time on the internet before you became acclimated to degeneracy.
Plus, Greg wasn't actually retarded. Or well, his Mom called it being 'disabled', and Greg made an effort to respect that in front of her, but it was what it was. No, Greg was just... different.
It wasn't noticeable when he was younger. What kid wasn't sort of excitable at that age? It was as Greg got older that problems began to accrue.
He just couldn't focus on things that didn't interest him. He would miss it when people were speaking to him, or assume they were speaking to him when they weren't. He would read into things incorrectly, and see intent where there was none, or not notice the subtext of a statement. Once or twice wasn't a problem. But once it became a consistent trend, people started to notice.
And teenagers arent well known for accepting people who are different.
So Greg had gone through life with something of a disconnect. It wasn't as though he couldn't learn to deal with people. It just took him a lot longer to get familiar with other people. Long enough that... most people found it to be too much of a hassle. And that stigma made it so that others wouldn't even consider the effort.
That was why Greg liked the internet. The internet made social interaction easier. The internet had rules. Subtext had to be explained because text was less expressive. Social norms weren't worth considering because suddenly messaging someone and suddenly walking up to them were very different prospects. If you had something to say you could say it, and if you had an interest in something you could find people who shared that interest. There was no awkward fumbling to say the right thing, or read the mood.
Still, he had been really happy when Taylor had started talking to him. It didn't noticeably improve his school life. Actually, it noteably lowered it. But he was glad regardless. Here he was, weird Greg, and he was getting to talk to a girl even more maligned than himself.
Yeah the general apathy and derision people had for him had sort of dialed itself up after that. He had read enough comic books to understand the progression at this point. Taylor was important. Taylor mattered. Greg was just set dressing. He did his best to keep that fact in mind. He kept his problems to himself.
He didn't need Superman to help him with his personal problems.
"Greg, sweety, are you up?" His mom called to him
"Yeah!" He called down to his mother.
"Dinner's ready!"
"Give me fifteen minutes!" He yelled back.
Then turned back to his computer.
"Fuck off you Empire fucks." He growled into his keyboard, leaning over it like a gremlin. This had been his appointed task since he had started hanging out with Taylor. He knew she didn't really 'do' internet. The chances that Taylor had been on PHO any time in the last week were... slim at best. So while she was off doing Superman things, he was waging the info war. Lois Lane things.
Most recently, that meant picking fights with Empre Eighty Eight goons who were trying to spread the dubious rumour that Taylor was secretly one of them. On paper it made sense. She hadn't made a major action against the Empire since she started caping. Meanwhile, the ABB was all but defunct. The Merchants were gutted. Even Greg knew the optics of the situation were... off.
Typing in one final insult, Greg leaned back to stretch, then rose to head down the stairs.
"Do you think it would be better if he was medicated?"
"With what? Who's going to diagnose him? He's just a bit different is all."
"He's barely passing school. He doesn't have any friends. I can barely understand him half the time!"
"Just, let it go. None of that shit's gonna help him."
"I just want him to be more normal."
'This is where you say I am normal Dad.' Greg thought bitterly. This wasn't a new thing for him. His parents weren't nearly so quiet as they thought they were. But they still loved him so he let it go. It didn't really hurt him anyway. It was just another thing he had grown used to.
Quietly as he could, Greg decided to slip outside for a walk. He slid his feet into his shoes, and slid out the door. It wasn't like he lived in a dangerous neighborhood. His family wasn't well off by any means, but via a combination of luck and and both his parents keeping their jobs when the economy crashed, they had ended up living in a neighborhood that was nominally 'upper class'.
Which was why he was extremely surprised when - not five minutes after turning the corner nearest his home, he was stopped.
"Hey Greg. Out kinda late huh?" A voice called out to him. It was one of his neighbors he was pretty sure. Not a very close one, just 'a neighbor'. The kind you saw at block parties, or barbeques. Still, Greg tried to be polite, if only for his parents sake.
"Uh, hi. I'm just sort of, walking around." Greg offered, attempting to step lightly around him, only to be blocked.
"Ah, ah. You know, somethings been bothering me. Why's a kid like you get to stay in a nice neighborhood like this huh?" The man asked rhetorically, an air of menace shifting into his tone.
"I- I don't-" Greg tried, backing up and trying to run towards his house.
"I- I- I-, quit stuttering you fucking defect." The man mocked, grabbing Gregs arm and pulling him backward.
"I'm not-!" Greg bit back automatically, only to be solidly struck across the face by the much larger man.
"Shut up. There are new rules now you here me? No more chinks or niggers to ruin the place for the rest of us. No more pretending mistakes like you are okay!" The man roared, dragging, Greg backwards towards a space between two houses.
Greg wondered why no one was coming. Why no one was calling the police, or even really taking notice. This wasn't like the Docks, or the area the ABB controlled. It was... it was...
A neighborhood full of white people that never seemed to experience any trouble with the nearest gang - a white supremacist group.
Greg felt his heartbeat begin to jackhammer as he pumped his scrawny legs in a feeble attempt to escape his capture.
"Quit fucking struggling retard!" The man yelled, punching Greg solidly in his gut. It hurt. It hurt a lot. He had never really been attacked before.
Greg spent a time that was simultaneously extremely short and infinitely long being physically bludgeoned. There was more to it than that, but really, there was only one word ringing in Gregs mind. He couldn't feel his arms, his chest felt like someone was sitting on him, and his eyes were swollen shut.
But all that was ringing in his mind was that one word. That one damn word.
'Retard'
'Why can't he just be normal'
He blacked out.
But only for a second.
And when he came back the world was different. His eyes were swollen, so he switched them out for ones that worked. His lungs, he could tell they were punctured by his own ribs now, so he changed them out for lungs that worked. While he was at it, he switched them out for Lungs that worked better. His neighbors lungs in fact. And on and on it went. By the time he fully realized what was going on, he was a perfectly average man.
Better muscles. Better bones. A healthy, strong body. It was like a jigsaw puzzle. He just had to grab the pieces he wanted from his surroundings.
He was so focused on improving himself that he didn't really notice he had bludgeoned the man before him to death until his fists had hit the ground where the mans head... was. You could punch surprisingly hard and fast when you had the luxury of swapping tired muscles out for fresh ones.
He hadn't dared go home after that. He had literally just killed man. He couldn't bring that back home with him.
So Greg wandered. He wandered for a few days actually. He didn't eat because he could just swap to a form that wasn't hungry. The same went for sleeping too.
Left to his own devices he probably would have continued on like that until he got bored. Having powers, he found, surprisingly did not include a crash course on heroics. Not that he would count as a hero. Rogue at best if anyone ever found the corpse of his... victim.
He was mostly minding his own business at a mall while using his powers to look inconspicuous when a blond girl who he would have literally died to speak too a week ago dropped into the seat across from him.
And that, is how he learned the unwritten rules - and more specifically, how badly one particular villain was abusing them.
Also how he got his first 3-Dimensional crush. But that was no one's business but his own.
A/N: Well, this is what I've got while trying to entertain a bunch of people that showed up at my house. Apologies if some of the spelling or grammar is off. Some of you did accurately guess that Greg is more or less acting as Taylor did in canon. Well, with some differences. Notably, Greg is a lot easier to manipulate than Taylor.
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Jul 2, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jul 3, 2020
#5,588
Spoiler: Choices:
Spoiler: Current Emulation Status
Energy: 8
Current Training: Inner Peace (7/10) Currently 3 to Complete
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
You'd like to say you took Taylor home that night, but the fact remained that she was so much faster than you that such an endeavor would be impractical at best and stupid at worst. Taylor's mood as she dances across the sky to arrive at home is only further worsened when Victoria eventually calls to let her know that some of the Undersiders escaped. Specifically, Regent and 'That Bitch' who you presume to be Tattletale.
You are also treated to the unpleasant truth that Greg both had powers, and was apparently at least nominally being considered an Undersider.
Your Master doesn't even seem phased by this information. Just... tired. Tired and sad.
You're still trying to parse alot of what happened while you were being interfered with, but you get the impression that the only thing saving your current relationship with her is the fact that you didn't outright attack her while you were malfunctioning. You suspect things would have been much worse had that been the case. For the surrounding area if not the entire city.
Still, the two of you manage to make it home, to a half awake Danny who took one look at his daughter as she walked through the door and promptly blacked out where he was sitting. You feel for the guy. You know he's been doing as much work as possible from home in order to reduce the time he spends travelling to and from work, and on top of that has been practically drowning in books on Cape law and Cape psychology in a desperate attempt to do anything to help his daughter. Unfortunately, there's only so much he can do. He isn't exactly a young guy, and weeks of minimal sleep haven't been kind to him.
"I'm going to sleep." Taylor says neutrally as she kicks her shoes off and climbs the stairs.
You hesitate for a second, then, in an act that you hadn't bothered to attempt since your first night of existence, you trundled up the stairs after her. Usually, you wouldn't have bothered. Your Master isn't generally comfortable sleeping with other people nearby. Or being touched by people much at all honestly. But the sensation of despair and acceptance coming from her is so... so... loud for lack of a better word, that you can't help it.
Case in point, despite clearly being able to tell you are following her, she makes no overt attempt to stop you, merely ignoring you as she shuffles into her room, pulls off her socks, and drops into her bed with a soft thump.
"Shove over." You say quietly, lifting the tired girl up and shimmying onto the bed behind her.
"Mm." She grunts back at you, dangling limply as you shift her about.
"Hey, I'm still here right? She can't mess me up if I'm dead." You say, settling into the bed with a creak and settling your Master next to you so she can use your furry body as a pillow.
"I don't want that." She says in annoyance.
"It'll be quick. Just bite my tongue off. Works for most humanoids." You say with a shrug. It might sound morbid, but you absolutely mean it. Your current Emulation is about as peaceful as it gets and even he was feeling mildly murderous after that ordeal.
"I said don't." Taylor demands, her voice growing heated.
"...We'll cross that bridge when we get there." You say instead of fully acknowledging the order.
"Good. Now shut up I'm...tired..." She trails off drowsily, yawning and then falling asleep.
You give it a few hours, making sure your Master is sleeping peacefully before you enter your Spirit Form and slip from the bed and down the stairs. You were out late with her so it's already edging close enough to morning that you think it should be okay to start working on breakfast. Which is where you find yourself when something extremely strange happens. And not just strange by human standards, you mean strange even by the dubious rules of reality you find yourself currently operating under - which is quite strange given you are a humanoid panda that knows kung fu.
Because standing suddenly next to you is a tiny Taylor. Sort of.
It's about half your Masters size - closer to the rough size of an early middle school child than a teenager - and has the same long silky hair that your Master prides herself on.
This is about where the similarities end. Because that hair is bubblegum pink and it's smiling at you with the kind of beatific lack of worry you're reasonably certain your Master is unlikely to ever truly obtain.
You quickly scan through your knowledge of all the powers you Master currently possesses and finally come down on the only one that could reasonably explain Mini-Taylor. Her sword, as far as you can recall, is supposed to obtain a degree of sentience at some point. You just wish you could remember literally anything else about it. Without Emulating someone from that world your knowledge of it's rules is surface level at best. Still, having come up with the most likely solution to the problem, you turn towards Mini-Taylor and smile.
"Woah, wha- oh, it's you!" You call out to her ecstatically.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up, and you're so cute!" You continue, sweeping her up into a hug and shifting her back and forth while she limply relaxes into your grasp. You faintly note that she is wearing a tiny version of the black clothes your previous Emulation favoured, and wonder where they came from.
"Oh, Master is going to be so excited!" You say instead of voicing any of your thoughts, mentally revising the amount of food you'll have to cook in order to make sure you have enough leftovers to be satisfied.
"Yeah, I can't wait to help her out more!" Mini-Taylor says with a bright smile that nearly blinds you. She sounds like Taylor inhaled an entire helium balloon and you love it.
"In fact, I think I can start right now!" She continues, wiggling out your grasp and drawing what you are surprised to realize is a tiny sword. Your so surprised to see the thing that you completely fail to defend yourself in any way shape or form when she starts to march towards you with it.
"Woah woah, easy now, how about-" You try to placate, lifting your hands up and trying to gently fend her off. Unfortunately, you don't really get to finish the request. With a cry of "Go to Sleep!" Mini-Taylor cleaves your head from your shoulders, and suddenly your perspective shifts to a sleeping Taylor.
Several seconds later, Mini-Taylor quietly creeps into the room, looks around the room once, and then wiggles into the bed next to your Master, pulling Taylor's arms around herself like a blanket. With the metaphysical equivalent of a shrug, you decide to go into what passes for a rest mode for you, until your body reconstitutes.
Which happens an hour later, and is interrupted by Mini-Taylor, who kills you before you even finish appearing.
You get the message after that.
No one in the Hebert household wakes up until noon, precluding the chance of Taylor actually going to school. Your Master, in her infinite wisdom, chooses the auspicious time of 12:34 pm to bolt out of her bed and roll away from Mini-Taylor, one finger pointed at her in obvious confusion.
"What the hell!?" She screeches, as Mini-Taylor drowsily sits up and blinks the sleep out of her eyes. Then her eyes alight on Taylor, and she springs awake, launching herself at your Master.
You take this as a sign that you are safe to reconstitute yourself behind her in the center of the room.
"Taylor!" Mini-Taylor yells happily, colliding with your Masters mid-section and grabbing on like a monkey.
"Emmy! Why! This!" Taylor asks loudly, panic and confusion written so loudly on her face that it's nearly comedic.
"Okay so-" You start trying to explain, but are interrupted when Danny bursts through the door, his glasses hanging from one ear and a baseball bat firmly grasped in both of his hands.
"Taylor?! What's going on, is it the Empire?!" He bellows as he enters.
"Grandpa!" Mini-Taylor yells, sprinting across the room to envelop him in a similar tiny hug to the one your Master was just in.
Danny Hebert, you suspect, might actually be the scariest person you've ever met. You can't quite put your finger on why, but something about the absolutely expressionless face her turns towards you is absolutely terrifying.
"...I have questions." He says with nearly no inflection.
Fifteen minutes later, you, Danny, Taylor, and Mini-Taylor are in the kitchen having a family meeting.
"So... she's a sword." Danny says with the air of someone who is slowly realizing their life is falling apart.
"Zanpakuto! Waaaay better than 'a sword'!" Mini-Taylor calls to him while stuffing most of your leftovers down her gullet. You have genuinely no idea where any of the food is going.
"But..." Taylor says in confusion, grasping the air in front of her and suddenly holding her sword. Somehow, between one blink and the next the Mini-Taylor was gone. As soon as you realized that, Taylors sword had once more vanished into the ether, and Mini-Taylor was once more eating your breakfast.
"How... do you have a name...?" Taylor asks hesitantly, uncertainty in her voice.
"Yes!" Mini-Taylor says, clapping happily but failing to elaborate.
"...What is it?" Taylor asks, her face cramping as her limited patience is tried to its limit.
"I've been trying to tell you but you aren't listening! You need to sleep more!" Mini-Taylor chastises your Master, one cheek puffing up in child like outrage.
"I've been sleeping more every day!" Taylor retorts.
"Yeah but stupid over there hasn't!" Mini-Taylor answers, sticking her tongue out at you.
"I- don't- what?" Taylor blurts out. It looks like she might be digging in to ask again, but once more Mini-Taylor vanishes. Taylor blinks once. Then twice. Then turns towards you, a question in her eyes.
"Okay so. Hear me out. You might, have been missing REM sleep because I wasn't sleeping." You admit, having figured this out sometime in the middle of the night.
"...is that why I've been so tired? I thought it was the training but..." Taylor muses then trails off. Your glad she isn't mad at you at least.
"I'm still not over the fact that your sword called me Grandpa. Kiddo, you aren't actually dating anyone... right?" Danny asks in despair. Taylor, in her infinite wisdom, chooses to copy her swords conversational technique, and turn towards you as if he hadn't spoken.
"So schools out. Training I guess?" She questions you, absolutely straight faced.
"If you want. Didn't you want to talk to Greg? The PRT might-" You offer carefully.
"No. Gregs a villain. He got arrested. I did my best. Training?" Taylor declares savagely. Obviously she doesn't want to think about the PRT or Greg right now.
Maybe you'll bring it up again later.
What's the plan?
[ ] You suppose today might be a good time to follow up with Parian.
[ ] Your new team is woefully lacking in any kind of... teamwork. You're pretty sure Trainwreck doesn't even have a phone. You should look into that.
[ ] Continue Training (Inner Peace currently 7/10)
[ ] Complete Training (Inner Peace, Cost 3 to Complete) (Pick Another Action)
[ ] Write-In
Your Master doesn't get out enough. Find time for her to socialize! (Bonus for no school)
[ ] Pick someone to Socialize with after school. (Currently Available: Victoria, Trainwreck, Danny, Aspirant)
Last edited: Jul 3, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
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Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jul 5, 2020
#5,843
Spoiler: Choices:
Energy: 7
Current Training: None
Inner Peace - Learned!
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
Oathbound Headquarters, Brockton Bay
"Tell me again why you needed me for this?" Taylor asks dryly from where she is using her ability to stand on air in order to muck about in the wiring further up in the wall of the tiny office of the Headquarters - which Trainwreck has affectionately started referring to as 'The Heap'.
Your Master would have probably argued the point with him, but since the team doesn't have patrols, go anywhere, or appear to actually do anything, the infuriatingly brash tinker had ample time to fashion the letters for Heap from wrought iron and have them bolted to the roof of the building.
As with most of Trainwreck's creations, he insists that this counts as Tinkertech.
"Did you have something better to be doing? Come on, I always knew I'd have to teach you how to take care of the house on your own eventually. I just thought it would be our house." Danny replies with some amusement, lifting a small device out of his toolkit and handing it to Taylor so she can check for any live current.
This is, of course, despite the fact that she could probably rub a live wire on her tongue and suffer no harm. Danny however insists that the proper safety procedures be observed, which is why he also forbade you from punching through the flimsy walls until something electrocuted you.
Also, Trainwreck suggested he might suplex you if you grievously damaged 'his' place.
"You don't think my future husband might have it under control?" Taylor says, with an air of doubt in her voice.
"I always assumed you would be successful and have your own house well before you married. That or well..." Danny answers, then trails off awkwardly. Left unspoken is the very real chance he would be lost to gang violence before Taylor ever made it to adulthood. Which is something you know the man has at least partially made peace with already. You suspect that have the reason he is so supportive of Taylor's choices now is in order to prepare her for when he's gone. Of course, being a Hebert, he hasn't said any of this to his daughter any more than she has admitted to both knowing about and resolutely denying her Fathers self imposed prophecy.
A more obstinately incommunicative family you feel you'd be hard pressed to find. Your sure you could find one, but the fact that it would require the use of your Transdimensional Search Routines is quite telling.
"I'm sure Emmy will turn into a sentient house or something at some point," Taylor says, aiming for a joking tone but instead sounding mostly grim. Her grip tightens imperceptibly on the device in her hand, causing the cheap plastic case to shudder a deform.
"Taylor..." Danny says quietly.
"No! I'm strong! I have a team! I'm keeping my head down with the gangs! I'm doing everything right!" Taylor snarls, eliciting a wince from the older man.
"Baba Yaga." You say suddenly, interrupting the rather tense moment and drawing the attention of both Heberts.
"She has a big house with legs that runs around. I could kick people off the lawn." You explain. You're actually rather proud of this bit of information. You don't typically have the opportunity to directly learn new things, but Taylor spends so much time at school that you've had ample opportunity to poke about the school library.
"You can turn into mythical beings?" Taylor asks.
"You can turn into a woman?" Danny asks.
The two share flat looks with each other, each one obviously questioning the priorities of the other. Then they both break out laughing.
You take the opportunity to give yourself a purely mental high five. You are so good at this human thing. Panda thing. Whatever.
"Go on, you'll get it this time. I promise." You encourage your Master, who is now standing in the center of the Non-Trainwrecked side of the Garage. To say the junk based Tinker has been busy over the last few days might be something of an understatement, given the huge hunks of ruined metal strewn about one side of the chamber, and the double-sized suit of riveted armour hanging from several chains in the middle of the mess. Trainwreck, you are gathering, doesn't really make 'advanced' devices. He just does a handful of things really well, really fast. It would be very impressive if it wasn't so cringe inducing. You're pretty sure your Master is going to need a tetanus shot just from being with ten yards of the mess.
"What specifically is she learning?" Jamie asks when your Master neglects to answer you, instead choosing to focus on the blade of grass balanced precariously on the tip of her sword.
"Inner Peace." You state confidently.
"And this helps with that by...?" He continues pointedly. From anyone else you would think he was casting doubt on your teaching methods. From Aspirant, you get the impression he just genuinely wants to know the answer. Certainly, there is a certain degree of skepticism in his questions, but it's of the respectful variety that is agreeable to being proven wrong, which you can appreciate.
"It's kind of like, imagine you're a pond right? and there's all these fish darting around in it, going back and forth, making the surface ripple. You can't do anything about the fish, but since you are the pond, you can control the ripples along your surface." You explain as best as you can. Honestly, as good as this Emulation is at this type of thing, his deductive reasoning and ability to explain how one gets from point A to point B with it is severely lacking.
"...That make's no sense." Jamie says, turning to look at you quizzically.
"It's a spiritual thing. Like, if you are unaffected by the self, you can be unaffected by reality in the same way." You try again. Jamie continues to watch you pensively for a few seconds before turning back to your Master who has yet to move.
"As above so below huh..." He muses.
"Sure, that. Totally." You concede happily. Spiritualism is so far away from anything you can even pretend to understand that the best you can do is regurgitate what your Emulation would say and pray. A fact that you are loathe to admit.
Suddenly, Taylor's eyes flash open, and she begins to move. Slowly at first, twisting her sword in lazy arcs around herself that use simple centrifugal force and fine control to keep the blade of grass in place. Then she begins to increase her pace, twisting her blade around in a blinding fast series of blows that you know would be executions for any non-brute they met. And yet somehow the movements are much less brutal than you have come to expect from your Masters sword style. They have a much more premeditated feeling to them, a relaxed mien that makes the attacks feel like simple cursory movements, taken out of necessity more than anything else. Not hesitant but not... eager either. A mild pull on your remaining energy storage lets you know that what you have just witnessed wasn't merely a fluke, and your Master finishes her impromptu sword dance by planting the tip of her blade in the ground with a gentle click that is belied by the single blade of grass that flutters down to land on the hilt with perfect precision.
Your Master of course chooses to break this peaceful and solemn moment by pumping one fist excitedly and prancing slightly.
"Yes! Yes yes yes!" She cheers, stopping only when Trainwreck leans over and slaps something you hesitate to call a 'device' which immediately begins belching music.
"Eye of the Tiger?" Jamie calls across the room to the Tinker dryly.
"Fuck else did you want me to play? You're in here sweating on everything every day and the Boss prances past periodically to do all that kung fu magic bullshit you two get up to. This isn't even a radio, I just figured out how to tune the different metals to make this specific song." He grumbles back, before turning back to work on some portion of the massively oversized suit hanging from the roof.
"Point." The younger man admits without ire. Your Master, for her part, pinkens slightly before turning to you, ignoring her coworker.
"Right so... Parian?" She says hurriedly.
"Yeah let's-" You begin but are cut off when Trainwreck speaks over you.
"Hey, if you're going out can I come? I'm fuckin' bored." He declares, not bothering to look away from what he's doing.
"I thought you were Tinkering?" Taylor asks hesitantly, likely for a number of reasons. First among them being, Trainwreck isn't very... PR friendly.
"What the fuck makes you think this is fun?" Trainwreck asks incredulously.
"...You're a Tinker?" Taylor offers weakly.
"And you're a masochist, but even you get tired of the song and dance sometimes right?" He shoots back.
"I wouldn't mind going out myself. I... might need a change of clothes. Maybe some toiletries." Jamie puts forth, wrinkling his nose and looking down at himself. The same set of clothes he's been wearing since he joined you, in fact. Taylor blinks at him for a second before something dawns on her, and she winces apologetically.
"There are no showers here huh?" She muses, before pausing to think about it.
Whom do you bring?
[ ] Both of them. Danny can just come with you if he needs protection.
[ ] Just Trainwreck. The guy's been a good sport about his involuntary hermithood. Might as well take the dog for a walk.
[ ] Just Aspirant. Trainwreck can watch Danny, but Jamie has some basic needs that you currently aren't meeting.
[ ] Neither of them. You don't expect this to take very long anyway. Maybe you can do something with them later.
A/N: I actually wanted to drop this yesterday, but I forgot I owed some people the time to hang out and watch Hamilton together so I found it hard to sneak away and write. Enjoy it while I go figure out how many omake I missed during my time away from the thread.
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Jul 5, 2020
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Spoiler: Choices:
Energy: 7
Current Training: None
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
The Boardwalk, Brockton Bay
The trip to the Boardwalk is both cumbersome and slow.
For one, Aspirant spends over an hour tweaking his body so that it neither matches the oversized weight lifter physique he had when you first met him, nor the somewhat more normal look of his civilian form. What he comes out with is actually fairly bizarre-looking, almost screaming 'cape'. His arms and legs have been lengthened such that he has an almost cartoonishly tall figure, something mitigated only by the corded muscle lining every portion of his body. You can only really describe it as 'whip like'. Sleek, long, dangerous.
When you were explaining the concept of 'reach' to him the other day, and how it affects a fighter, this was not what you were expecting him to land on. Nor were you expecting him to have used his free time to apparently figure out how to grow scales. Scales which ripple out from him in waves to cover a majority of his body in the white pearlescent material he is apparently making them from, and that fuse together after several layers into a suit of nearly perfectly smooth iridescent armouring on every part of his body but his face.
"I can't breathe through it, so it makes for a poor helmet." Aspirant explains, obviously misunderstanding the perplexed looks everyone is shooting him as he comes to a stop by the exit to the base. Counter to his generally tall figure, he doesn't stand hunched over. He instead keeps his back straight, and his posture proper, just the way you taught him. His hands are clasped behind his back as though a soldier at ease, and his now heavily dilated eyes regard you with a sort of bored patience.
"No that's not..." Danny says slowly, clearly trying to search for the right way to phrase what he's thinking.
"Ya look like a fucking alien." Trainwreck explains instead, gesturing to the interlocking plates of something that are adhering to the younger capes skin.
"I... thought this would be the most efficient form for using what Emmy has been teaching me?" He offers after a second.
"What? No. No no no, do not put this on me." You yelp, waving your hands frantically infront of you to ward the rest of the now suddenly staring team off.
"Monkey style strikes with secondary sets of Snake style muscles supporting instantaneous acceleration of my fists, nacre plates that should allow me to replicate some of the Turtle style feats you've told me about, talons that I should be able to use with Tiger style-" Aspirant begins to list off, pointing at his long arms and legs, then his chest, and then upturning his hand to display the three inch long talons on the end of each of his armored fingers.
"Okay so maybe I suggested he make some changes. So what! He looks cool!" You defend eventually.
"He looks like he lurks in dark forests at night and lures children away to eat 'em." Trainwreck counters. Then smiles widely.
"Welcome to the freak side ya little weirdo!" He declares, opening his arms in a loose gesture that encompasses everyone else in the room but Danny. Your Master blinks in surprise at the inclusion, her eyes going from the living tank that is your Tinker, to the bizarre physiology of Aspirants current form, to you - a sentient Panda. Then she points at herself in obvious confusion, a gesture which Trainwreck is only too happy pounce on.
"You spend hours doing the weirdest shit, and somehow that nets you new powers. You were fucking dancin' around with a blade of grass earlier like that's totally normal. Face it boss. Your a freak." He says with a shrug.
Surprisingly, the statement comes across as significantly lacking in malice, and in fact seems to contain an air of fondness that you weren't expecting from the armoured man.
"...Fair." Taylor answers him after a second, apparently being much more inclined to take the subtext of his statement for what it is in lieu of taking offence.
"That's all very nice but, won't we be drawing a lot of attention if we just walk into town like this?" Danny chimes in, worriedly looking around him and - possibly for the first time - realizing he's the only 'normal' person present.
"No shit. You want I should take my legs off and roll into the city?" Trainwreck asks sarcastically.
"Which is another thing, none of you will fit in my truck." Danny continues, ignoring the other man. You and Taylor look at each other, then to Trainwreck who has begun to smile smugly at Danny in a decided malicious way.
"I got something for that." He says, and you can swear the shadows in the garage lengthen as he speaks.
"I don't approve of this!" Danny screeches from his position atop Trainwrecks back, where the Tinker had apparently attached a basket like apparatus for him to stand in. He was pointedly not holding onto the handle of the machine gun bolted to the Tinkers oversized shoulder, ostensibly placed there 'just in case'.
"Sorry, Dad! When the PRT gives us our money maybe we can buy a bigger truck!" Taylor calls out to him from a nearby rooftop, where she is sedately leaping from building to building alongside Aspirant, who appears to be attempting to practice free running with his new morphology.
"Hey! Quit yer bitchin'! Who do you think has to carry you huh?!" Trainwreck yells jubilantly front where he is running up the road, steam pouring out of various holes in his suit as he sprints tireless along next to some of the slower moving vehicles.
"I think it's cool!" You call from the opposite side of the road, where you are running in order to complete the formation and keep a ground-level eye on Trainwreck. You have to admit that it isn't easy to keep up with the implacable metal man, but it is somewhat satisfying to cut loose in such a way.
Eventually, the entire group reaches the Boardwalk area, which is strangely much more populated than normal for this time of day. Despite school not yet being out, dozens of groups of people are milling about the area, and no small few of them bear the dubious markings of the Empire. You would have expected many of them to flee or at least cover their allegiance as your group reconvenes and slowly makes its entrance into the area, but instead, you are met with a mix of curiosity and contempt from different groups.
Trainwreck, in his infinite wisdom, begins to scowl openly at anyone who grows too close, but is held from action by Danny helpfully pointing out that they aren't actually committing a crime simply by being here. Still, there is a palpable air of anticipation and tension in the crowd as you travel through it. The people present that don't appear to be affiliated with the Empire are looking about in almost as much confusion as you, and several of them take your appearance as a sign that it might be time to go home.
A number of others withdraw there phones to record you.
"This is weird. Where are the enforcers?" Taylor whispers to Aspirant as they walk, the two of them leading the group.
"They could have been drawn away by a disturbance elsewhere but that seems unlikely..." Aspirant acknowledges, panning his head around to regard his surroundings with an uncomfortable looking click as his head rotates just slightly too far in either direction.
"Let's hurry. If the Empire is going to do something I..." Taylor opens with determination, then glances at her father's figure, still standing in the gunner's basket atop Trainwrecks back in order to avoid the crowds.
"I guess we should hurry up so we can leave." She bites out, changing what she was about to say.
With a sombre mood, the group makes it's way to the boutique, leaving only you and Taylor to enter, while the other two take up position outside.
"Hello? Is Parian in yet? I have an appoint...ment..." Taylor calls out as she enters the shop, only to trail off as she observes the condition of the interior.
It's a wreck. Many of the clothes have been thrown aside, and a number lay in a shredded pile at the rear of the shop, where a familiar saleswoman is laying in a pool of slowly drying blood.
"Emmy!" Taylor calls to you immediately, charging past you and into the rear room where Parian typically works while you slide to a stop near the wounded saleswoman.
To your surprise, she appears to be mostly okay. She has a long cut along one side of her body that reaches from her clavicle to her armpit, and she's so pale your sure she might still be in some danger, but someone has clearly taken the time to sew the wound shut and staunch the bleeding with some thread.
You quickly debate wasting what remains of your precious energy on healing her.
[ ] Yes. (Energy -1)
[ ] No. (Call for help)
When you are finished, you're Master returns from her search, a worried look on her face.
"Parian's not here. Is she going to be okay?" She asks.
You open your mouth to answer, but pause when Trainwreck sticks his head through the door.
"Uh. Boss? Gonna wanna see this!" He yells frantically.
With quick steps you and Taylor exit the building into the streets, where you are treated to a light show the likes of which you have yet to experience in this existence. Because out across the bay, a brilliant beam of white hot energy has exploded into existence, splashing against the luminescent shield of power that surrounds the Protectorate Headquarters and causing it to brighten.
And then flicker.
And then fail.
The mixture of terror and anticipation in the crowd increases to fever pitch, when finally the beam slams home into a rear section of the rig, vaporizing it nearly instantly.
"My brothers of the Empire! Rise up! The dragon is no more! The dealers are brought low! Lay claim to what is ours!" A voice calls from amongst the crowd.
You don't know who said it. You don't even know if it matters. The Protectorate Headquarters - and presumably it's prison specifically, were just destroyed before the eyes of the entire city, and the dozens if not hundreds of skinheads that have taken up on the Boardwalk have begun to whoop and holler, sporadic fights breaking out in the crowd as they begin to wantonly smash windows, attack pedestrians, and just generally riot.
"Fuuuuuuuuck." Trainwreck says, succinctly summing up the situation.
Your Master, who up to that point had a sort of doe in the headlights look to her, whips her head around to look at the massive Tinker, and then towards the brewing riot that you are sure is being even now replicated across the rest of the city.
You can tell she wants to do something. You can also tell that feels like she can't. Danny is looking on with a horrified expression, not noticing his daughter's plight, Trainwreck is thwacking one metallic fist into an open palm, and Aspirant seems as mystified but the sudden violence as Taylor.
It's obvious your Master is at an impasse. Help her.
[ ] Power is pointless if you don't use it. We have to help. (Attack) (Synergy 1)
[ ] We should convene with New Wave and whatever is left of the Protectorate - the Heroes have to respond to this. (Defend) (Synergy 3)
[ ] There's nothing we can do right now. We're too vulnerable. Let's fall back to the Heap. (Flee)
A/N: I think I've been accurately hinting at this for several updates now but, in the absence of any other threat, and in a political situation that is specifically designed by Cauldron to encourage a Warlord take over the city, Kaiser has finally decided to capitalize. Special thanks to the guy who brought up Nacre like a hundred pages ago.
A sort of recap on the results of your choices until now;
You never made a connection with Purity, so in a situation where it seems like the Empire has won her decision to eventually rejoin Kaiser was a given.
You didn't put as much time into Parian as you could have (and to be fair, there was a lot going on, you can't take every option, this Quest isn't that Mary Sue-ish) so when the Empire decided 'you're with us or against us' they basically showed up in force and took her away.
Coil wasn't finished unmasking the Empire at this point so that's an iffy proposition. Especially with most of the Undersiders out of commission (They would have been held at the PRT headquarters, not on the rig, so none of them are dead - the perks of being a low tier threat.)
The whole city is going to hell, basically in the exact same way it was starting to in canon, only there's no Bakuda to get Lung out, and the Empire (who would know when the transport is happening) have cut out the middle man and made Squealer rescuing anyone kind of an impossibility. Ironically, if you had taken Tattletale up on her offer, you'd have known to be around before this, and might have been able to deflect Purity from the Rig.
Anyway, have fun with this one. I've been sort of building to it for a while now given the choices that keep getting made. See you all in a few~
Last edited: Jul 5, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Jul 5, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Jul 6, 2020
#6,088
Spoiler: Choices:
Energy: 9
Current Training: None
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
The Boardwalk, Brockton Bay
"Call Vicky," you suggest to your Master, then rush to continue because the situation isn't exactly ripe for a long and involved conversation.
"Her families been doing this for a while right? Let's get with them and form a plan." You explain, then dart back into the building behind you to finish treating that poor girl inside.
Taylor nods at you, then begins handing out orders.
"Dad get inside, Trainwreck, cover the building, Aspirant, start funnelling bystanders this way if you can." You hear her commanding from behind you as you move away.
When you get back inside the girl is exactly where you left her, if possibly slightly more pale. You gently kneel at her side and begin to I fuse your chi into her, bringing her skin back to a rosey color and allowing the flesh of her wound to knit itself shut with the audible pop of stitches as they are ejected from now health skin.
Energy: -1
"Kurt, get everyone to the dockyard and bunker down. Use the emergency stuff we keel in the warehouse and convert some containers for sleeping. I don't have time to explain, just do it." You can hear Danny say as he jogs past you and to the phone behind the counter, face pinched in concern.
People you don't recognize begin filing hurriedly into the building behind you, at first merely milling about, but quickly becoming organized as Danny takes note of them. With barely a hint of the despair he was exhibiting a moment ago, the elder Hebert begins to bark at the newcomers, having them push aside racks of clothing and set up bedding areas for anyone wounded outside. You set the clerk down on the first one made, just in time for her to jerk and awaken, frantically slapping at her chest area in a panicked rush to hold tight to a wound that no longer exists.
"Where... Parian!" She jumps up, eyes searching the room frantically.
"Hey relax, relax, you're okay. We're in the store. Do you know what happened to you?" You ask gently.
"The Empire came to get her and she fought them for a while until the one with a cage on her head saw me hiding behind the counter. Parian tried to protect me for a little but..." she murmurs before trailing off, fingers tracing the wound that no longer existed.
"I understand. Stay here okay?" You say through gritted teeth as you rise to your feet. The clerk nods, tears welling up in her eyes as the reality of the situation catches up with her. She cant be more than eighteen or nineteen years old. Probably just working part time.
With great determination, you wander back out to the front of the building, where an island of calm has manifested to separate it from the chaos nearby.
'Vicky says her family is going to meet the what's left of the Protectorate and Wards at the PRT building downtown. Most of them can fly so it's not a problem but well have to fight our way there. The whole city is tearing itself apart.' Taylor tells you mentally, as you make your way past Trainwreck and into the fray around you.
'The clerk woke up. I think Cricket has Parian.' You report, twirling around a group of harried looking teens and throat punching an overweight looking man who seems entirely too focused on them as he sprints forward. You barely consider him as you march onward, kicking him firmly in the temple as he falls before you. With as much efficiency as you can manage you form up with your Master and Aspirant, forming a loose arc that stretches across the Boardwalk area like a shield wall, leaving behind it battered but safe civilians in the suddenly calm rearguard.
To your right, Aspirant slings himself about with the alacrity of a monkey, his elongated arms darting out from where he hangs with brutal efficiency, leveraging his size and vantage point to rapidly bludgeon E88 thugs into unconsciousness and wave fleeing civilians who have noticed your action onward.
To your left, your Master has unleashed her aura at a much reduced scale, and is clearly using every scrap of her concentration to make sure it only affects the criminals in the small area around her she is allowing it to affect. She doesn't so much fight as she steps slowly forward, and unrelenting juggernaut who's mere presence drives her enemies to their knees while the spectre of a monstrous spider looms over her.
Honestly, you feel kind of outdone here. You're just walking forward and punching people.
The pace is slow. Made even slower by the maddening number of innocents who are stupid enough to attempt to record you rescuing them, but eventually, you make it to the end of the Boardwalk, which seems to have been the focus of the rioting in the area.
"I think that's all of them!" Aspirant calls out, leaping to a rooftop and glancing across the area at the relatively small number of unconscious men you collectively left in the street behind you. There would have been more. Probably much more of them, but many of them had wisely chosen to simply leave when it became obvious what was happening.
"What do we do with them though?" Taylor asks worriedly. You aren't exactly equipped for the mass containment of people after all. This was supposed to be a shopping trip, not a riot suppression.
"I got it!" Trainwreck yells, having jogged up the Boardwalk to you as the area began to clear of trouble.
"I thought I asked you to watch the-" Taylor begins irately.
"Yeah, yeah, buildings safe. Left my gat with 'em." He answers nonchalantly, gesturing to his shoulder where his shoulder-mounted gun is no longer visible.
"That still doesn't-" Taylor tries again, obviously trying to well, lead.
"Look just let up for a sec. Check this out." Trainwreck says dismissively, obviously not noticing or caring about how his mild insubordination is bothering your Master. Instead, he steps across the way to firmly grasp a sign sticking out of the ground on a piece of metal, yanking it out of its place and discarding the sign over one shoulder.
"Trainwreck! We can't just use public property like that! What are you even doing?" Taylor chides the man.
"Restraining some Nazi's." He counters blithely, walking to the nearest unconscious gangster and picking him up by encircling both of his wrists in one massive hand.
Then he pins those hands to the wall of the nearest building, lays the metal rod against the brickwork, and flexes one of his hands. The results are immediate, as some kind of riveting device Trainwreck keeps in his armour plows through the metal and into the wall on one side of his captive's hands.
He then repeats the process on the other side, effectively chaining the man to the wall until someone comes along to release him. His prize secure, Trainwreck releases both his grip on the man and metal rod, which sticks out awkwardly from the wall where it hasn't been riveted down.
Then Trainwreck grabs another thug and repeats the process. It looks entirely unsafe. The edges of the metal rod are obviously digging into the men's wrists in a way that can't be comfortable, but whether it is because you have no other options, or because your Master is far from happy with these idiots at the moment, she allows the obvious poor treatment to pass without comment. Even Aspirant seems somewhat ambivalent towards the entire endeavour.
In fairly short order, Trainwreck has a line of men stitched to the walls of the nearest few buildings, and the streets are free of filth. Mostly.
"See?" Trainwreck says when he is finished, with a huge malicious grin on his face. You don't know why but you are vaguely uncomfortable with all of this. Still, if it works...
"Go get Dad. Let's head Downtown." Taylor eventually says, turning away from the restrained men.
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay
It takes hours for you to reach the PRT Headquarters. A trip that should have taken nearly no time at all given the building's proximity to the Boardwalk. Mostly because you were forced to either avoid or subdue dozens of small groups of gangsters en-route. You could have made a straight shot to the PRT building if you were willing to be more aggressive, but with Danny present, groups with too many firearms were a non-starter.
Still, eventually, you do make it, and are ushered into the building through the rear garage past a wall of heavily armed soldiers on a hair-trigger. Trainwreck, not being particularly interested in the PRT and more importantly, unable to fit through the smaller doors in the interior of the building, chooses to stay in the garage as you pass through it, allowing Danny to disembark and follow you in.
"This is insane! Why aren't the Triumvirate here or something?!" You can hear Vicky yelling as you enter the heavily populated conference room.
"Small conflagrations like are flaring up all over the eastern seaboard. There's no proof of direct involvement, but Thinker support suggests that the Gesselschaft are burning a lot of resources to field a distraction." Armsmaster's calm voice replies.
You don't know why but you had the faint and damning thought that he had to be one of the survivors.
"Enough! Nexus and her... team... are here. That should be everyone. Let's start the briefing." A familiar irate voice says as you come fully into view to find Emily Piggot at the head of a large conference table. To her right is Armsmaster, and to her left is a disgruntled looking Battery. Lining the rest of the table are a group of capes wearing nearly identical costumes, with only slight differences in colour to showcase their individual identities.
You don't recognize most of them - mostly because you don't overly concern yourself with people you aren't likely to have to fight - but Vicky is among them, wearing her costume and scowling at the Director from behind a woman who looks like an older, more severe version of herself.
"Victoria." The woman says brusquely, immediately silencing the younger girl, though she makes no effort to hide her judgemental stare from the Director as her gaze flicks from the rotund woman to your Master and back.
"Mom, she wasn't even going to call Nexus!" Vicky counters irately.
"Vicky please be quiet for a moment." Another woman who bears a shocking resemblance to Victoria's mother says, her tone much more placid than Victoria's.
"I didn't call them because I had assumed she wouldn't be willing to endanger Mister Hebert there by retaliating. Now if we are all quite finished?" Piggot states, then turns to gesture at Armsmaster when no one responds. Daniel quietly takes a seat at the table alongside Taylor, who shoots a wan smile at Victoria that the other girl returns before turning to watch whatever it is Armsmaster is doing.
"This," He says, activating a projector in the table that shines what looks like a map of the Bay along the wall behind the Director. "Is our current understanding of the Empire's deployment. A number of their capes have split up to take over strategic locations throughout the city. Purity appears to have taken up a position near the tip of the Boardwalk, ostensibly to block traffic too or from the Rig, which we have lost communication with. Several of the main highways out of the city have been blockaded, and Victor seems to have taken up atop the Medhall building to provide fire support to the area immediately surrounding it. After their big display earlier, we are expecting Kaiser to make an appearance to address things, but we have yet to spot him, Fenja or Menja." Armsmaster states in a flat tone.
"I don't understand, what do they get from this?" Danny asks suddenly, drawing every eye in the room. Armsmaster and Piggot exchange a grim look before Armsmaster decides to answer.
"The United States has a long-standing policy of isolating zones that are too heavily controlled by hostile Parahumans. It's likely that if the situation here remains untenable for an extended period of time, the city will be condemned and blockaded." Armsmaster explains, causing Danny to at first pale, and then redden as his temper begins to get the better of him.
"You're talking about Nilbog. They're going to abandon us like they did Ellisburg!" Danny shouts, rising to his feet and slamming his hands against the table.
The lack of a response is quite telling.
"Wow, you would make a great radio host Mister Hebert." A voice crackles over a sound system set into the ceiling. Armsmaster immediately begins to fiddle with a device in his gauntlet with a frown.
"Don't bother, I already know you'll have plugged this hole by the end of the conversation. You guys looked like you could use some help so I thought I would chime in." The voice continues snidely.
"Tattletale," Victoria growls in annoyance.
"Is this normal?" Aspirant whispers to your Master, who shrugs helplessly at the question.
"I don't see what you could possibly add to things," Piggot responds, with a barely restrained fury in her voice.
"Oh, you know. Little of this, little of that. You don't seem like you have much of a plan. Oh, most of your guys are still alive over on the Rig by the way. Thought you'd like to know." She continues. Piggot neglects to respond immediately, instead, pursing her lips in thought and waiting for the villain to continue. The 'most of' part of that statement is worrying you though. Vicky too if the strained expression on her face is anything to go by.
"So I was thinking, you guys need bodies, and well, you just so happen to have a bunch of my friends downstairs..." She says, trailing off suggestively.
"Oh come on! Just turn the thing off so we can get on with it! We don't need - " Vicky yells, her aura washing over the room until her mother snaps at her.
"Vicky, Aura. My daughter is right though. We don't need anything from you villain." The older woman responds, sneering at the last word.
"Oh yeah? So you have a way around Night, Fog, and Purity all together? My team recently picked up a pretty good counter to Night after all." Tattletale all but sings. You get the impression she's enjoying this somehow.
'Do you see Cricket anywhere on that map?' Taylor asks you mentally as she withdraws from the greater conversation.
'No, but - didn't Greg say she's usually with Hookwolf? He's up there.' You point out, wincing slightly as you say Greg's name and are gratified to find a lack of response from your Master on the subject.
"What's Hookwolf guarding?" Your Master jumps in, pointing at the map and causing the rest of the argument to fizzle out for a moment.
"Southern exit to the city. Low priority." Armsmaster rattles off quickly.
"The prodigal daughter returns! Hey, you're awfully quiet over there Nexus, I thought you were friends with our new guy!" Tattletale prods, causing your Master to grit her teeth and squint at the map. When your Master fails to respond, the argument continues on. With the majority of the room taking to arguing for or against releasing the Undersiders to help with the situation.
It's obvious this is going nowhere, you need to prioritize.
[ ] Advocate for the Undersiders (Designate another task on this list for them to complete)
[ ] Parian's situation is somewhat more pressing than anything else. The position isn't tactically very useful, but you should rescue her from Hookwolf.
[ ] Purity is effectively blockading the Bay with artillery fire. She needs to be handled, if only to get the Wards and Protectorate that remain as back up.
[ ] Victor is a serious threat to your Master's continued well being, he can easily snipe any fliers passing through his area of influence if he isn't stopped.
[ ] You need to find Kaiser. If you can take him out, this entire thing might grind to a halt.
[ ] Write-In
You're on fairly good terms with Vicky if not all of New Wave. You might be able to convince some of them to go with you?
[ ] Attempt to get Victoria's help.
[ ] Lady Photon seems like a level head.
[ ] Brandish is kind of scary when she's angry.
[ ] Don't Ask For Help
[ ] Write In
A/N: Choosing a task doesn't mean you'll succeed at it by the way. The Protectorate and New Wave will try to achieve other tasks that you don't, but there's limited manpower and the Empire is obviously playing for keeps.
Last edited: Jul 6, 2020
752
Bowler Hat Guy
Jul 6, 2020
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