Quest

by Kahlil Johnson

Uhhhh

19. Pro17

Aiden sat quietly on the back porch of his house and waited. Inside, his Father was vigorously yelling at his Mother - as was the norm for this time of day.

Aiden wasn't quite sure what they talked about while he was outside. He could hear them well enough, but he didn't fully understand all the words. It could be anything really. It wasn't even always his Father doing the yelling. Today, what few snippets of the conversation he understood confused him. His father seemed to be mad at his Mother for selling their house. Aiden found that strange. A few months ago, selling the house and going somewhere else seemed to be the only thing his parents could absolutely agree on.

Now it was just one more thing for them to scream about.

He had once asked one of his teachers what he should do at times like this. He wasn't asking about how to make the yelling stop or to help his parents be happy. He just wanted to know if there was anything he could or should be doing while he waited. This happened to him fairly often after all. He had spent more time on the little deck behind his home than in even his own room. He had come to love the place, to claim it as his own in some small way. Sometimes his Mom brought her friends over, and they played on the deck too, but that wasn't all that common because his Father didn't like it.

Regardless, he spent a lot of time kicking his legs back and forth in the backyard. His teacher, for what reason he couldn't fathom, had seemed positively horrified at the question. Then she asked a bunch of her own questions.

That was one of the few times both his parents managed to agree on something. Or so he gathered given that they chose to yell at him together that night.

He had since acquired better ways to spend his time when his parents started yelling. Even as young as he was, Aiden understood that Brockton Bay was dangerous and that he shouldn't wander around it by himself. That was before though. Now the city was nice. All the people were smiling, and all the bad guys had run away, thanks to Nexus.

That was the logic Aiden had applied the first time he had gotten up and gone to walk around the city by himself, his Armsmaster toy in hand.

He would have brought a different toy, preferably a Trainwreck one, but to his great disappointment, such a thing simply didn't exist. One of his friends at school had one, but apparently, his father had made it himself using a 'three dee printer' - whatever that was.

Originally, he had stuck to just walking up and down his own street, occasionally digging around in people's bushes, or ducking into the few green areas between houses. He didn't want to go too far and get in trouble. But well - he hadn't. His parents hadn't even noticed he was gone, actually.

So each time they set him outside to wait for them to finish yelling, he went exploring.

And each time, he ranged further and further away before returning. It wasn't that he really intended to go further away. It was just that Aiden had a preference for nature. Trees, grass, and water. None of these things were particularly abundant in his tiny suburban neighbourhood - so he had gone further and further away.

Today, he was walking along the side of the culvert that ran behind most of his neighbourhood and beyond. The ugly concrete pathway was a long time interest of Aidens, but he had only recently managed to muster the courage to go down into it. The sloped concrete walls of the culvert were there, he was told, to allow the water to rise when it rained - preventing the creek within from overflowing into people's back yards. Most of that information had gone over Aidens head when he'd had it explained to him, but what he did recall was the fact that he could die if he slipped and fell into the water.

Aiden didn't fully grasp what that meant, but he didn't like it regardless.

So it was that he was very carefully trudging up the edge of the culvert, waving his Armsmaster toy around, and generally enjoying himself when he came upon a man. Three men actually. All of them were standing in the shadows of a bridge that passed over the culvert, and Aiden instantly frowned when he saw them.

Two of the men looked like anyone he might see on the street. Just normal people. The third, however, was a black man with greying hair and a tattered, unseasonable long coat covering his form.

"No fucking justice in this shit hole city anymore. Back when Kaiser was around, you'd be fucking dead for coming here and daring to dig around behind my restaurant." One of them cussed, lashing out with a kick that caught the old black man on the shoulder and earned a grunt of pain from him.

"It was just trash! I was hungry and it was just trash!" The old man cried out, clutching his wounded shoulder and shimmying away on his but as best he could.

"It was my trash you stupid fuck! You start eating there now and the next thing I know a whole army of you degenerates will be lining up at closing time. Then what huh? You gonna pay me for all the customers you scared away just by showing your stupid face near my store? Gary fucking help me teach this fucking thing a lesson!" Growled the man.

"Boss he's just a hobo I dunno if-" The much more worried looking companion of the first man stuttered out.

"This is why you never got your fucking tats you pussy. You weren't willing to do what had to be done. He's a fucking hobo - no one is going to notice if he goes missing."

"No, wait, please! I - I can get money! I'll steal it if I have to just don't-" The old man cried out in terror.

"Shut up!" The first man spat at him, kicking him again.

Now, Aiden didn't fully understand everything the men had just said. But he had been around his parents long enough to recognize a swear word when he heard it. He had also watched enough cartoons to know that these were obviously some very bad people.

To Aiden's mind, this was the exact moment when a hero would show up. Just as the men were about to hurt the old man again, someone like Aspirant or Huntsman would do a flip over the edge of the culvert, and call for them to halt or something else cool like that. Having not yet been noticed by anyone in the area, he watched for a second as the men continued to liberally bludgeon the old man, craning his head back to try and spot the hero as they arrived.

But as the seconds ticked by and no one came to help, Aiden was left with the realization that this was it. No one was coming - likely because no one knew anything was wrong. He briefly debated screaming as loud as he could for help to rectify that, but the image of his mother flashed through his mind's-eye, berating him for ever making so much noise and disturbing other people.

He bit his lip, suddenly unsure of what to do, but knowing he had to do something. Then he looked down at his Armsmaster action figure and asked himself;

'What would Trainwreck do?'

And the answer to that, of course, was obvious.

This was how Aiden Tate found himself running straight at the men, still biting his lip to restrain the terrified scream in his chest from exiting his lungs and making trouble for the people nearby. He barely even considered what he would do after he had succeeded in his charge, but the sudden stumbling of the man whose leg he rammed into, followed by that same man stumbling backward and falling into the creek made him feel like maybe everything would be okay.

Unfortunately, he had failed to account for several factors.

For one, Aiden was not a very large child. In fact, he was somewhat underfed and scrawny - something his teachers had taken note of but failed to do anything about. Second, because the water level in the culvert was so low, the creak was only really ankle deep.

So while yes, he had knocked the grown man into the water, that same man took maybe a single second picking himself back up and striding towards Aiden with murder in his eyes.

"You little-"

"Sir we can't- he's a kid! Nexus will-" The other man, who was now to Aiden's left as he stood between him and the old man, cautioned.

"I don't fucking care! He's just some fucking kid. Bet no one even notices him when he goes missing, I mean it fucking happens all the goddamn time here!" The man raved as he bent forward to reach towards Aiden, who was frozen with fear and indecision.

Faintly, Aiden started to hear something approaching them from a distance, but despite the renewed hope of heroic intervention, he was still completely unable to bring himself to move or even speak when the man stretched forward to grab him.

"Hasn't been like that in months…" The more reasonable of the two men grumbled - though he notably didn't try to stop his compatriot either.

Aiden watched - as though in slow motion - as the man's hand moved towards him, wondering with pure terror what would happen when he succeeded. He'd never been beaten up before. Would it be like when his father found out he spilled juice on the carpet in the basement? Or would it be worse?

He was spared from having to find out by a most peculiar thing.

Three pigeons. Each one was plump like they were someone's pets and had merely escaped somehow. Their plumage was pristine and shiny, completely at odds with the unpleasant dirty appearance pigeons were known for, or as his father liked to say, 'Flying Rats'. But perhaps the most notable thing about them was the longer than seemed reasonable talons on their feet. Talons that were liberally slashing and stabbing at Aiden's aggressor, causing him to flail and beat ineffectually at them.

"What the- the hell is up with these fucking-" The first man complained, though the second merely paled.

"Shit, those things don't normally come this far out." The second man hissed through clenched teeth as he carefully backed away from them. When he was a sufficient distance away, he turned and sprinted, clawing his way up the side of the culvert and out of sight.

Aiden was dimly aware of these things. They looked like pigeons but definitely were not actually the common animal. His friend who lived near the big castle told him that Nexus had made them to protect people. He called them Guardian Angels and said that he even got to pet one once. Aiden had been quite jealous at the time.

Now, as they left bloody streaks on the face of the man they were attacking, he wasn't so sure.

The distant sound of something approaching grew as the angels attacked man, and Aiden - remembering the old man behind him - turned to see if he was okay, which had the entirely intentional effect of moving him further away from his attacker.

"Sir?" He asked politely, just like his father had taught him to when speaking to his betters.

"I'm okay, nothing broken. You should go, kid. No telling how long he'll be distracted." the old man coughed out, levering himself up and then wincing when it became obvious he was too weak to push himself fully to his feet. Aiden tried to help him up but was too small and weak himself to really make much difference.

"The angels will bring Nexus here, so it's safe." He stated adamantly, causing the old man to look at him strangely - like when he said something he shouldn't and a teacher noticed.

He never got the opportunity to actually say anything about it though, because several things happen all at once.

For one, the angels all spontaneously flew away. Second, the man they were attacking let out a howl of outrage and spun to face Aiden again. And third - a massive wall of water slammed into everyone in the culvert as it flowed downhill towards the bay, sweeping Aiden, the old man, and the bad man up.

The old man, perhaps in a feeble attempt to protect Aiden, kept a decent hold on the child as they were fully submerged, but he needn't have bothered. Aiden found the entire experience surprisingly painless. In fact, he would almost describe the gentle swell of water as it swirled him around as a caress. In the relative darkness beneath the surface, he could almost see the shape of a woman swishing around the liquid around him.

Aiden had no idea how long he was underwater, but curiously he never felt the need to breathe. Eventually, he just allowed himself to be dragged along - losing his grip on his Armsmaster toy in the process - until he was eventually deposited on the sands at the edge of the bay, a significant distance from both his starting location and his home. In fact, he had no idea how he would even attempt to get home from here.

He shook his head to shake the stars out of his eyes and turned to the old man nearby to see if maybe he would help, then paused when he got a good look at him. The old man was staring mesmerized at something… that was directly behind him.

Heart suddenly jackhammering, Aiden whirled around to face whatever this new threat was - privately he kind of hoped it was sharks - only to stop in shock.

Because behind him, there stood a woman. Mostly. She wasn't wearing any clothes, which Aiden thought was icky and weird, but from the waist down her entire body was made of clear water that widened out at its base as though she was wearing the shore of the bay itself as a dress. Indeed, instead of shifting back and forth, the waters of the bay were remaining perfectly still at this exact moment - directly beneath her. She had long nearly ethereal hair of a color Aiden wasn't sure he had a word for and thin elfin features.

"Hello, dear child." The woman said with a kind smile, leaning over to be closer to eye level with him.

"Um, hello." He replied slowly, then winced and closed his eyes out of reflex.

"Why do you flinch at the sight of me? Have I hurt you so?" The woman asked with a caring tone that made Aiden slightly uncomfortable.

Because he had never quite experienced anything like it before.

"No, I just-" Aiden paused, forcing himself not to make any 'um' or 'ah' noises and swivelling his head to eye the old man again who was just watching events unfold with stark surprise on his face. "-I'm not supposed to make stupid noises when I talk. Because it makes me stupid." He finally explained, trying to recall exactly what his father had said.

"Hmm." The lady in front of him hummed, standing and turning to the old man. "I will heal you in exchange for a boon." She half asked, half ordered, her tone becoming suddenly cold and imperious as she slid forward across the water to be in front of her target.

Aiden noticed that when she moved further inland, the water moved with her, and hurriedly jogged through the sand to catch up to her before his shoes got too wet.

"A what?" the old man asked dumbly.

"A b- a favour. A task, a request. Would you like to be healed?" She stated in an exasperated voice, suddenly sounding slightly less… old-timey… when she talked.

"...what favour?" the man asked carefully.

"I require clothes to fit the boy, a tent, a gas lamp of some kind, and-" She paused, turning to regard Aiden before turning back to the old man. "-a chicken dinner."

"I don't have any money to buy that stuff with." the old man pointed out, his voice almost expectant sounding.

"Here. You may take what you want from it so long as my needs are met." The woman stated imperiously, waving a hand and causing a briefcase to drift up onto the beach from beneath the bay. Cautiously, the old man limped over to it, bending over and popping the shockingly dry briefcase to reveal more money than Aiden had ever seen in real life - although briefcases full of money were fairly common in the tv shows he was allowed to watch, so it wasn't like he didn't understand the concept.

"And… I can keep the rest?" The old man confirmed.

"Yes, yes there's always more where that came from. Young Man, what is your name?" The woman questioned Aiden suddenly turning away from the old man.

"Aiden, miss." He responded quickly.

"My name is Nimue. Always remember that money is unimportant. You will only end up like him if you spend your life pursuing it." Nimue said kindly, gesturing at the old man who lifted an eyebrow but wisely chose not to speak.

"Yes, miss." Aiden dutifully acknowledged.

"Good boy. You are very innocent, do you know that? And so brave." She said with a smile, shifting so that she at least looked like she was sitting on the beach before patting a spot beside her.

Aiden at this point had already concluded that Nimue was a new hero of some kind, which to his mind, meant that she was automatically at least as trustworthy as his teachers. If you couldn't trust the superheroes, what was the point in trusting anyone? Thus, it was completely without guile that he took a seat next to the woman. The sand beneath him was surprisingly comfortable and warm as he sat in it - not at all the freezing cold he had been expecting from the beach - and he felt a sense of calm contentment wash over him as Nimue tousled his hair and smiled down at him.

"So just-" the old man started.

"Be about your task." Nimue cut him off politely, before adding "Should you forget the specifics, merely consider what you would need to live comfortably here by the bay."

"You said you'd heal me though!" the old man countered instantly.

"You have been healed from the minute you set foot in my waters. Congratulations, you no longer have cancer." Nimue grumbled at him before turning back towards Aiden, even as the old man blinked and patted himself down in disbelief.

"What was I saying?" she asked him thoughtfully. The old man had already turned to jog across the beach as though his life depended on it.

"You said I was brave?" Aiden asked more than stated.

"Why yes! Yes, you are! Tell me, do you know what most people would have done in that situation?" She asked him with that same tone his teachers used when they were providing lessons.

"Called the police?" He offered hesitantly.

"No, dear. They wouldn't. The truth is, they would have done absolutely nothing. Do you know what chivalry is?" She asked him.

"Like, knights and stuff?" He asked.

"Yes! Just like that. Let me tell you-" She smiled at him, a huge glimmering smile that made Aiden feel warm and tingly inside just seeing it.

They spent a lot of time just like that, talking to each other. Nimue taught him all sorts of things about chivalry, and how to be a knight, and how important it was to always try to do the right thing. She taught him about magic, and about how she was one of the only fairies in the world right now. She asked him about his favourite foods, his favourite toys, and who his favourite hero was.

She had been very polite when she had told him he was wrong and that Nexus was obviously a better choice than Trainwreck, which Aiden didn't think was fair.

After all, Nexus had all the powers. Nobody at recess was allowed to pick her when they were playing because they could just make up whatever they wanted, and that was no fun for everyone else.

At length, the old man brought Nimue everything she had asked for and more, thanking her profusely for healing him with tears in his eyes and swearing he would never forget this favour. Nimue had just watched smugly on as he left them behind, only to call him back from halfway up the beach when she realized she had no idea how to build the tent.

Aiden watched the entire thing while feeling almost surreal about it all. The entire thing was just… nice. He imagined that if his parents were ever happy at the same time, that this would be what it would feel like to go to the beach with them.

Still, it was getting dark, and he was starting to get worried about how he was going to get home. He was sure his parents would have to notice he was missing eventually, and they wouldn't be very happy with him if they had to come to find him.

When he had made Nimue aware of this fact, however, she had merely directed a strained smile towards him, and gestured at the half finished tent that the old man - who said his name was Aron - was building, then at the unopened chicken dinner resting atop a plastic bag nearby.

"I'm truly sorry that I am unable to help you Aiden, but I cannot stray too far from my waters. I'm sure that if your parents love you, they will come for you. Why not stay here tonight?" She offered.

Aiden didn't really have to think about it that hard. He was hungry and the beach was surprisingly comfy anyway. As long as Nimue kept him safe then one night shouldn't be so bad right?

"Okay." he agreed.

It wasn't much more than a week later that Aiden realized that his parents… probably weren't coming. Aron - who had come back every day to see him - had even given his name to the police and asked if there were any missing person reports. There weren't, however, and after spending a day under the care of the police while they tried - and failed - to contact his parents, Aiden had eventually opted to just run back to Nimue.

He was much less bothered by the situation that he felt he probably should be - but Nimue kept him fed, and cleaned his clothes for him, and Aron helped him get to school every day so… really it wasn't any different from normal for him. As the days continued on, he realized that it was honestly better than it was before. Nimue and Aron helped him with his homework, and for some reason, he never had trouble finding his way back to the beach - despite Aron claiming that he could never seem to find the exact spot they were in until Aiden had woken up for the day, almost as if he was being forced to wait to find it somehow.

Thus, Aiden Tate, found himself something of an urban legend.

Thus, the tale of the Blessed Child of the Bay began.

Thus, a knight was born.

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Bowler Hat Guy

Bowler Hat Guy

A Hat & Its Man

Jun 26, 2021

#36,347

Spoiler: Plan

Current Energy: 13

Current Training: Right Hand of Destruction 9/10 - Complete!

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Outer Mistral, Remnant

"I- I was going to ask if you're bandits but you don't seem super… murdery. The boy currently nervously sandwiched between your Master and Mem speaks up shyly drawing his arms in towards himself in what you would guess is an attempt to appear smaller.

"We are not, no." Mem agrees easily, confirming the boy's point for him.

"Unless evil clones count." Taylor notes absently as she wistfully steps back from the Oscar, obviously grasping that he is uncomfortable, and unlike when you were merely imitating him, that he is effectively a complete stranger to her.

Even if he was a stranger she presently favoured greatly.

"Huh?" Oscar blurts in confusion. You don't think he has processed enough of what your Master has said to really understand that she just implied she was a murderer. You suspect the sheer absurdity of the statement has simply blindsided him.

"Hey don't worry about that. She says crazy shit like that all the time. I'm Trainwreck, that's… Coldcock, she's Nexus and these are the brat pack. Sorry about the home invasion." Trainwreck winningly steps in, somehow managing to have more social acumen than your Master.

"Hey! Why don't we get our own introductions!" Aisha immediately chooses to complain instead of allowing Oscar to get a word in edgewise.

"He couldn't think of an insulting but not too insulting way to describe us." Dinah opines in a matter of fact tone that has Aisha, Mem, and Mun nodding along with the simple explanation.

"You know calling me out on it doesn't make me feel bad right?" Trainwreck says blandly before gesturing at a still somewhat confused and panicked Oscar with his eyebrows in a way that isn't visible to the boy in question.

"Right. Home Invasion. So…" Aisha trails off, eyeing your Master and obviously expecting her to get back on with things - or possibly explain what the goal in being here in the first place is.

Taylor, for her part, has taken to staring at Oscar pensively, as though she is not quite sure what to say now that her tender reunion is over.

'I don't know what to say.' Your Master explains to you with a touch of panic in her mental tone. You… consider that for a moment. You were going to say 'the truth' without thinking about it much, but even setting aside the difficulty of explaining the concept of a multiverse to what amounts to a peasant child, there is obviously something else that is much more unbelievable than that in your explanation.

Namely the fact that you obviously emulated a version of the boy from the future. Or… more accurately, a version of this reality that was further along than the one you are presently in - making it distinctly likely that this Oscar isn't even the one you scanned to emulate.

This is obviously something your Master has realized already, because she clearly doesn't want to explain… well any of that.

'...what are our goals here?' You reason out, while simultaneously motioning with your hands for everyone to give you a second when the sudden silence in the barn stretches into the uncomfortable. Given that you are one half of the duo that makes up 'Nexus', and therefore one of the most powerful people in the world makes deferring to you easy for most people, even if they don't know you personally. Oscar, however, lacks this context, and so mostly just makes feeble gestures of confusion while asking whispered questions of Mem when everyone else pauses to watch you and Taylor silently converse.

'Stopping Salem.' Taylor responds to you instantly. All else aside, it is clear to you that she hasn't for a single moment forgotten exactly what she hopes to achieve here, if not today, then eventually.

'But we don't need Oscar for that. In fact, if you succeed, Oscar might not ever have to get involved.' You point out, not because you actively don't want to help Oscar, but simply because it needs to be said.

'I'm not going to just abandon him! He thought we were Bandits when he saw us like that's a real possibility for him!' Taylor counters instantly.

'I know, I was just saying. So if the main goal is to stop this Salem - then helping Oscar where possible is merely a secondary objective. Let's try and figure out what to do next before we try to explain too much to him.' You continue, providing a decent reason for putting off that awkward conversation. Your Master purses her lips but nods slightly when you are done, then speaks aloud.

"We're Hunters. We- we just got lost and ended up here by mistake." Taylor offers by way of explanation, handily demonstrating the fact that she is more than passingly familiar with local culture as a result of Ozma being permanently attached to her, and more specifically, as a result of months spent subjectively pretending to be Ozpin himself during your simulations.

"How-" Oscar pauses to glance at Mem, who unlike Taylor hasn't demonstrated an interest in his physical comfort whatsoever and is therefore still hugging him, before continuing. "How did you get lost and end up in a barn?" he finally spits out.

"I have a… semblance? Do you know what that is?" Taylor explains carefully, waiting for Oscar to nod in acknowledgement before continuing. "I have a semblance that lets me teleport to places."

It is perhaps a measure of how strange the combatants in this world are that this not only makes sense to Oscar somehow - it also causes him to visibly relax, completely dropping his guard. All it took was the knowledge that you were 'Huntsmen' - the local equivalent of monster hunters - and an explanation for why you were there for him to calm down.

On the one hand, it's good that he's managed to relax. On the other hand, you fear for his future given how gullible he appears to be.

"Okay. Um. So why…?" He continues on, shooting pleading looks at Mem who pouts at his implication and speaks up for herself before anyone else can.

"We are destined to be together eventually. I simply know you very well already." Mem explains in a guileless manner that causes Oscar to turn bright red, Taylor to pinch the bridge of her nose, and everyone else to snicker like children - including Danny and Trainwreck.

"Ahah… Mem why don't you come over here for a bit kiddo. Fun times over." Danny snickers out, gesturing to his pseudo granddaughter. Mem shoots a reluctant look at Oscar instead of immediately complying so Mun chimes in.

"Hey, this is your emotional support minion speaking. Stop being so fucking creepy!" She teases, waving her arms in the air and laughing.

Counter to your expectations, this does get Mem moving, albeit sullenly, and you can hear her mumble 'I was… creepy?' to Mun in question as she returns to Dannys side.

"So!" Taylor jumps in before Oscar can fully process any of that and start asking awkward questions.

"We're lost. Where are we?" She asks loudly to draw Oscars attention back to her.

"Um- I- That is-" Oscar blurts out, clearly distracted in a way that only a teenage boy can really manage. Taylor just waits patiently for him to get himself together before he finally manages an answer.

"We're just a bit north of Mistral. Close enough that guards and merchants on the way to Wind Path keep the area clear of most Grimm. Are you headed to Mistral?" Oscar asks, eyes alight with sudden curiosity now that he isn't afraid of imminent death.

"The... continent or the city?" Taylor asks slowly, obviously trying her best to remember the geography of this place and failing at it. Which makes sense. It wasn't exactly a focus of your simulation.

"The… city? You're already on Mistral the continent. How far can you teleport?" Oscar blurts out in amazement.

"Back home the answer most people will give you is 'as far as she wants'" Aisha notes sarcastically. Dinah along with the rest of the kids besides Mem snicker at this.

"Cooool…" Oscar mumbles, earning himself a smile from Taylor before she refocuses herself on the task at hand.

"Right well. We were actually trying to get to Vale. I think I can probably manage it this time but if you have a spare map or scroll we could borrow?" Taylor says kindly. Oscar winces at the request.

"We don't really have one. We have a scroll but my Aunt uses it when she sells our crops. I have a map of Mistral though…?" He offers instead.

"Just Mistral?" Taylor queries, working hard to restrain her disappointment.

"Y-yeah. My aunt made me memorize it in case I ever got lost. I don't know why though - it's not like a dozen other things won't kill me before I can get home." Oscar grumbles.

"Don't say that. Of course you'll lose if you give up - that's why you have to keep trying, no matter how bad it gets." Taylor says firmly and with such utmost certainty that Oscar freezes up and blushes again.

Aisha makes a retching noise somewhere behind you.

"Is she always like this? All wholesome and shit?" She whispers to Mun who appears to be the only person present who shares her feelings on the topic.

"Oh yeah she's the fucking worst. Once, I swear she actually quoted the new Alexandria movie, but when I asked her about it she said she'd never seen it." Mun whispers back.

"I can hear you, you know." Taylor says dryly to the pair.

"Well the building is still here so obviously you chose not to do anything with that, did you Demolition Debby." Aisha snaps back.

"I- first off, I don't do that much collateral damage, and second 'Demolition Debby'?" Taylor snaps back, temporarily forgetting Oscar who is now watching the conversation with a worried interest.

"Yeah you hang out with Collateral Damage Barbie all the time and you have the same 'Apply Brute Force' thing going on so-"

"Hey, here's a fucking thought. Lets go before the kids aunt or whatever shows up and calls the cops." Trainwreck jumps in.

Oscar quickly blanches at this.

"I'm sure if we explain-" Taylor tries to counter only to be cut off by Oscar himself.

"No, she'll totally do it. Um, I'll go get you that map?" He offers just before sprinting out the door of the barn.

"Sure." Taylor answers, then before he can finish turning to leave she blurts out; "Oscar, do you want to come with us? I could teach you how to fight?"

"Taylor." Danny immediately says with a severe tone in his voice.

"He'd be totally safe! And- I mean it would just save me the trouble of coming back to find out what the deal with the bandits is and-"

"Taylor." Danny repeats again, somewhat more softly. "You can't just take him from his home like that."

"Do… I get a choice?" Oscar asks pensively.

"Ofcourse!" Taylor splutters, whirling around on him with a smile on her face that runs perfectly counter to the frown on her fathers.

"Can I… think about it? Will you come back?" He asks worriedly.

"Sure, anything you want." Taylor agrees easily.

"Then um, I'll stay here for now? My Aunt really needs the help around the farm and all so…" He trails off with a wince when Danny and Taylor exchange expressions.

"Go ahead Oscar. We'll be here." Danny says, waving him away before the conversation can drag on any longer. When he finally leaves, the elder Hebert turns a disapproving look on his daughter.

"Taylor, you can't just kidnap people you like." He says blandly.

"I feel like you're using exaggerated language in order to enhance the severity of-" She responds.

"Your Mom used to do that too - I figured out how to ignore it by the time you were three. Kidnapping is kidnapping." Danny says firmly.

"I'd like to lodge a complaint? I had to like, pick a fight with you to get training. I'm feeling discriminated against!" Aisha cries out in annoyance.

"I-" Taylor opens her mouth to say something to that, then pauses to glance skyward - a sure sign she is presently listening to Ozma. Then she sighs.

"Fine. I'll come back later once I've settled everything else." She grumbles, ignoring Aisha and meandering over to a wall of the barn to start scratching runes into a wooden board with her fingernail.

"And that is?" Danny asks quizzically.

"Buncha magic." Taylor responds cryptically.

"Taylor." Danny repeats again, more sternly. You can feel her roll her eyes from here as she turns back to answer him.

"I'm gonna make it so the next person who comes here with ill intent gets struck by lightning." She grumbles.

"Just the next person?" Danny asks suspiciously.

"And the next one after that provided a thirty minute recharging period has passed, up to roughly a hundred victims before I have to come back and refill the rune." She admits without an ounce of shame in her voice.

"I… see." Is Danny's only response.

It is only shortly after that when Oscar returns, pushing the barn door open and sliding into the room with you while carefully glancing behind him to make sure he hasn't been spotted coming back.

"Here - you should go now cus I'm pretty sure my Aunt is getting suspicious about how long I've been in here." He blurts out, shoving a rolled up piece of paper into Danny's hands and stepping back.

Taylor stares at him for a second from where she is just finishing her bit of adhoc runework on his barn, then sighs and draws her sword.

"I'll come back to check on you okay?" She states, ignoring his flinch at her drawing her weapon and cleaving a Gap into the space between all of you.

"Kay." He nods quickly, stepping slightly away from her but staring at the hole in reality with a keen interest.

"Come on guys, time to go." Taylor grumbles, waving all the children through the Gap, stopping Mem and Mun before they can pass through it.

"Sent the brat pack home?" Trainwreck asks, though it is more a statement of fact than anything else.

"Of course. This place is dangerous - Aisha doesn't even have powers." Taylor states as though offended that she would ever choose any other course of action.

People like to view your Master as someone who is categorically out of touch with common sense. That is - mostly - true. But that doesn't mean she is incapable of reasoning. Just that she is a bit beyond what other people consider 'common sense' in the first place.

So it is patently obvious to you that she would never willingly bring unarmed, untrained children to, in her own words, 'kill the devil'.

"So where are we going now?" Trainwreck asks as you heed your Masters subtle queue for you to head into the Gap first.

"Emmy's going to scout the other side first, but I'm pretty sure I can take us to Vale. Mostly." Your Master explains as you plunge through the Gap and quickly out the other side in your intangible form. The last thing you hear from anyone before you leave is Trainwreck screeching 'Mostly?!' - and then you are through and standing in the middle of a quaint if anachronistic township.

The city you are in clearly stretches for some distance, and has many of the hallmarks of a major city - but it lacks the skyscrapers or any other form of major vertical construction. It would seem that any time more space is required the citizens just build outward - which you suppose makes sense for this world. Remnant, in so far as you can remember it, is almost entirely barren of civilization save for the four relatively small 'kingdoms' that barely even qualify for the name. There is an abundance of undeveloped land to make use of - provided one is willing to brave the monsters of Grimm that roam that vast majority of the planet.

Speaking of said creatures - you find yourself surrounded by them on arrival. And not just you - several people, most of them young girls in brightly coloured clothing that stands out starkly against the drab grey of the brickwork surrounding you are also surrounded by the monochromatic monsters.

You - dimly - recognize some of them from memories you once held as Oscar. Not well enough to put names to many of them, but just enough that you hold a sensation of familiarity to almost all of them. All around you, citizens of the city cower and flee from the tide of monsters filling it, while those girls fly about destroying them almost as fast as they can appear. Robotic soldiers of some kind roam the streets in ordered formations, many of them being torn apart in the process of ridding the city streets of even just a single one of the Grimm. Overhead, flying machines of some kind riddle the sky, dropping more robotic soldiers and firing judiciously into the horde surrounding you.

In a word, it is absolute chaos here. Wherever 'here' is.

"I believe this is the right place. However, there are a number of Grimm within the city." You send back to Taylor as you approach a blonde girl who has been struck to the ground by what you can only describe as a demonic bear, twice the size of a normal animal and entirely black save for it's white bonelike mask and burning crimson eyes.

"What? I thought that since Oscar was still on the farm that- I'm coming." Taylor blurts out at you, sending a spike of anxiety and anger down her connection to you. Before the bear Grimm can follow up on it's attack to lunge at it's blonde victim, a sword blade appears in the air above the blond as Taylor uses your vision to triangulate the position of her next gap. The blond - clearly still conscious and just about to lurch to her feet to keep fighting - freezes to stare at the hovering weapon as it rips a new Gap open.

"Mo-" She begins to yell in joy, only to pause when instead of whoever she was expecting - your Master flies out of the hole, swinging her leg downward from overhead so hard that the bear has largely disintegrated before it can even hit the ground below to make a crater.

"Where's the breach?" She asks icily, turning to the blond girl while Trainwreck, Danny, Mem and Mun come through the Gap behind her.

"Uh… that way?" The blond asks quizzically, squinting at your Master as though unsure what to make of her.

"Thank you. Trainwreck, kill everything that looks like that. Emmy, watch Dad. Dad, don't die." She orders, crouching down for a moment before springing upward with such force that she almost immediately vanishes into the sky overhead.

"The fuck even are these things?" Trainwreck asks curiously, while also casually backhanding a wolflike creature so hard that it rockets through several of its compatriots, causing almost all of them to explode into their component parts before dissipating into the black fog that makes up their forms.

"You don't know what Grimm are?" The blond blurts out, turning her back to your group so that she can fire several rounds of ammunition from her… armored gauntlets…

You can tell you aren't going to like this world already.

"Trainwreck, you are embarrassing me." Mem hisses in perhaps the greatest show of emotion you've seen from her to day, her pale face pickening slightly as she steps around the metal giant with Mun on her shoulder in her bird form.

"My own daughter just told me to stand here and do nothing. You get used to it." Danny muses dryly, hefting his hammer over one shoulder.

"Hey, new people, less talking - more fighting!" the blond yells before screaming and charging into another pack of the monsters alone.

"There is no need." You state blandly, appearing behind the blond and jerking her backwards to help her avoid an attack that would have otherwise probably injured her greatly.

Or reduce her Aura significantly. Honestly it's hard for you to tell in this chaotic mess whether she's glowing or not when she takes damage.

"Buddy, I don't know if you've noticed, but there are Grimm all over Vale. There is a need." She growls at you, swatting your hand away.

"Wait for it." You note dryly, pointing upwards. You aren't the only person completely unphased by the scenario either. It isn't as though your group couldn't murder a bloody swathe through the majority of this horde of monsters.

There just isn't any point in doing so.

Because Taylor is here.

Not more than a single second after you give your judgement on the situation, there is a brilliant flash of blue in the sky overhead - followed rapidly by an explosion of tiny light particles so numerous and fine that most observers could be forgiven for assuming it was merely an exceptionally ill timed and spectacular firework.

Until each of those individual motes of light turned downward, to begin raining down on the city like a barrage of clusterbombs made of magic.

You barely blink as one of the beams of light strikes a Grimm that was about to pounce on you. Nor do you react with any great surprise when the same thing happens simultaneously to every monster in your line of sight.

The blond however, does react, jerking bodily away from each explosion of light like a child afraid of its own shadow.

"As you can see, my Master has the issue handled. My name is Emmy. What is yours?" You asked lightly, amused to find that a majority of the aircraft over head have oriented themselves towards where your Master was even as she opens another gap to appear next to you.

"Uh." Is all the blond seems capable of respond with, first looking up, then at the suddenly calm area around herself, and then at your Master with a dazed expression.

"That was easier than I expected." Taylor says as she approaches you, lifting her glasses to rub her eyes.

"I mean these things are as annoying to use as ever, but as far as targeting solutions go-" She muses aloud.

"What the hell was that!?" The blond finally blurts out, pointing a finger at your Master that has you immediately tensing up. The womans gauntlets have guns in them after all.

"Long story. Tell you another time. Where's your team?" Taylor asks, brushing the question to the side and peering around herself.

"We got separated in the fighting but- hey! Don't change the subject! Tell me what you just did!" The blond cries out.

"Yaaaaaaang!" A new voice joins in, as a small girl wearing a puffy black and red dress flings herself into the arms of the blond who you guess is named Yang.

"Ruby! Are you okay?!" Yang immediately asks, changing targets almost too fast to be believed.

"Yeah but did you see the big laser thing!? Do you think they'd let me see the weapon that did it if I asked nicely?! Do you think it has a name already or-" The girl - Ruby - begins to call out at a rapid speed, quickly becoming nearly impossible to understand.

"I call it 'Kill everything in that general direction'." Taylor says blandly, resettling her glasses on her face and causing both girls to turn back to her in surprise.

""But that's boring!"" both girls say at once.

"Hey, that's a classic! 'Kill everything in that general direction' has never failed me before!" Taylor jokingly yells back at them before settling into a more relaxed stance.

"And speaking of the classics," She notes aloud; "Take me to your leader."

You can hear Victoria groaning at the reference from here.

Current Omake Points: 31

Citino would like to activate Age of Heroes II for 10 Omake Points.

Age of Heros II engages a minor form of the Counter Force - an amoral force of nature bent on ensuring humans remain the dominant species on the planet and don't somehow cause themselves to go extinct. This often manifests in 'random happenstance' managing to stop a scientist from engineering a plague that could kill all humans, or random hurricanes, earthquakes, or meteor strikes destroying the city said scientist happens to be in. Individual human lives hold no value to this force - only humanity as a whole. In addition, people across the United States will begin to randomly (and painfully, sometimes lethally) 'trigger' with Magic Circuits, allowing them to practice Nasuverse Magecraft.

This purchase will also activate [Root Access, a bud from Emmy that can go to any non-Shikigami, non-Parahuman of the threads choosing, even replacing powers they are supposed to have as long as they haven't triggered yet (Like Aisha, or Theo)

[ ] Citino/Yes

[ ] Citino/No

A/N: You know, I took a vacation hoping to write more, only for other people to fill most of my free time with other stuff. It's been fun, but also kind of frustrating that I had to fight so hard to find the time to write this. Regardless, it's a bit shorter than I wanted, but here it is.

On another note, one of our local questers started writing a story you should all check out;

Doing Better Next Time (Worm/Original Setting) by Vak

That's all from me today! Have a good weekend guys!

Scheduled vote count started by Bowler Hat Guy on Jun 21, 2021 at 5:34 AM, finished with 66 posts and 1 votes.

1 people have voted

[X] Plan: Forward Base Day 1

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A Hat & Its Man

Jul 11, 2021

#36,572

Current Energy: 13

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

City of Vale, Remnant

"So you're like, from another dimension?"

"Kinda, yeah."

"Huh. I'm a little yangry that alien life is… you know."

Your Masters eye twitches in response to the… you aren't actually sure it even counts as a pun. Just a haphazard combination of words that vaguely sound like the blond girls name, really.

"If it makes you feel better I'm basically a face attached to a bunch of heated tentacles inside this baby." Trainwreck adds in, rapping his knuckles against the chestplate of his armor.

"Ruby get off of there right now." Is the Yangs dull response, taking a step away from where she is walking next to Trainwreck, and beckoning her sister to stop climbing all over the tinkers armor.

"But Yang! This thing is so cool! Look, look, look! It's steam powered!" The smaller girl squeals in delight from where she is happily hanging off Trainwrecks back.

"This thing?" Your Master asks with a slight edge to her tone.

"His armor! I mean, you're very nice too Mister Trainwreck but this armor!" She yells out, completely ignoring the hidden meaning in the question.

Presently, the lot of you are walking in a loose group towards the last known location of the duo's teammates. Mem and Danny are largely watching from the rear of the group, Danny because he is very clearly unsure of how to interact with a group of teenage girls in any meaningful capacity, and Mem because well… she has always been a fairly quiet girl. If you had to put it into words, you suppose it would be best to describe Mem as watching fondly. She clearly is aware of who these people are, but is smart enough to realize that blurting that out could become very awkward very quickly - and so has chosen to hold her tongue, at least for the moment.

Trainwreck however, lacks any such social restraint, and is happily allowing Ruby to crawl across his armored form without much complaint as she examines his self made body.

He seems, for lack of a better word, quite proud of it - which brings to mind the fact that if he wasn't specifically working with your Master, he would be considered quite the big deal now. However, in your Masters presence he is largely just a footnote.

You make a mental note to suggest your Master do something nice for him at a later date, from where you are silently marching behind her, keeping an eye on the surroundings.

"If you hurt her in any way-" Yang spits, point anxiously at the giant tinker.

"You'll what, break your hand punching me? Relax kid, I got standards. I'm a fucking Superhero." Trainwreck drawls lazily.

"Right. You're an alien superhero. Totally a valid reason to trust you." Yang grumbles. In truth, as much as she has remained friendly since meeting your group, she clearly has her misgivings about you. Which is fair. If she didn't you would be questioning her intelligence.

"You don't really sound like you believe us." Taylor points out with some amusement, though most of her attention is on the continual presence of the humanoid drones that had been fighting the Grim here previously. Despite your Master having long since handled the majority of the Grim in the city - probably all of them really - the military machines have remained in the streets, directing civilians and, perhaps most notably, paying very close attention to your Master whenever she passes one.

"Girl, you helped us out and all, but you're clearly crazy." Is Yangs succinct and sure response.

"Yang!" Ruby cries out in dismay.

"What?! Look at her! She's not an alien Ruby!" Yang hisses in annoyance at her sister.

"A what?" A new voice asks in an exhausted tone. Your group turns as one towards the sound to find two more girls stumbling towards you, both clearly injured if only slightly. One of them is wearing a pristine white dress, and has similarly colored hair pulled back into a high pony tail, and the other is almost her exact opposite, wearing tight fitting black clothes, possessing long curly black hair in an untamed mane, and… cat ears.

You squint at said appendages suspiciously for a second, before consciously taking a mental step back to remind yourself that this isn't Amestris, and that this girl probably isn't the result of a deranged man's sick experiments into creating Chimaera with Alchemy.

Probably.

"Weiss! Blake! We found these guys after we got separated and they're aliens and superheroes like X-ray and Vav and-" Ruby leaps off of Trainwreck, babbling up a storm as she approaches what you assume are her wounded teammates.

"Oh god, it finally happened. She hit her head so hard she broke. Yang, what is your sister talking about?" the whiteclad one - Weiss - asks tiredly.

"Oh don't even get me started." Yang grumbles, following her sister to help her two wounded teammates stand.

"Hang on, I got it." Taylor says, interrupting the dark haired one before she can comment. Before anyone can really try to stop her, she lifts a hand into the air and flicks it towards the other group of girls, causing a waving of golden energy to fly from her that looks as though it seeps into all four girls.

"Hey what-... I feel… better?" Blake notes slowly, pulling away from her friends to test her footing.

"Healing? I thought your semblance was the huge laser thing. Or the portals. Wait, why do you have so many Semblances?" Yang asks.

"I actually have no idea what my semblance is. That was magic. Mostly." Taylor answers with a shrug. She seems perfectly aware of how absurd what she's saying is, but also, seems almost freed by the knowledge that this isn't her world, and she doesn't need to censor herself to function here.

"See? She just showed up, blew all the Grimm away, and says cryptic stuff like that!" Yang complains, visibly frustrated.

"Yang around a bit, it's an ongoing thing with the boss." Trainwreck jokes, earning annoyed looks from pretty much everyone except Yang herself, who points at him in acknowledgement.

"Alright, you get a pass. But seriously, what the hell is going on?" She asks.

"I'd like to know that same thing." A new voice adds to the cacophony.

"Where the fuck are all of you people even coming from?" Trainwreck asks, entirely unbothered by the… you count thirty armed soldiers pointing their weapons at your group, being led by a tall severe looking man in a vaguely military looking jacket.

You had actually noticed them gathering just outside your field of view, and were keeping track of them, but you felt no real need to warn anybody or do anything about it. So far, you have yet to really detect much of anything on this world that poses a serious threat to your Master.

"Ironwood. Bit much, don't you think?" Taylor notes aloud, just as unbothered by the encirclement as you are.

"Hey uh, she did help us out. I'm as suspicious as the next girl but this is sorta…" Yang trails off as she and her team are pushed roughly away from your own group by a set of soldiers.

"My apologies. I assure you that this will only be temporary - but as we have no record of you or the weapon you used to attack the Grimm, we will have to detain you. Just until your identity can be ascertained, you see." The clean cut man your Master identified as Ironwood states in an entirely unapologetic tone.

"I fail to see how this is necessary. We rendered you assistance in passing. Do not spit on that," You state, stepping forward and drawing attention to yourself. You had been trying not to threaten anyone while making your appeal to common sense. You can understand, to a degree why this is happening. It doesn't matter how friendly your Master seems - she effectively arrived from nowhere and demonstrated the ability to destroy a medium sized settlement in front of the collected military of a nation. No sane military mind would be happy or comfortable with that, least of all on a world as divided as this one.

But that doesn't mean you have to like the natural results of such.

"As I said, once we can ensure you aren't a hostile force or somehow related to the origin of this attack, you will be released." He repeats firmly.

There is a tense silence as your Master clearly contemplates that.

On the one hand, you have a limited amount of time to spend here - your home reality is still waiting for you, and there are quite a few threats on this world to be dealt with before your Master is going to be entirely happy going home. She might have been pacified more easily if she had gotten the opportunity to speak to Ozpin, but Danny had rightfully pointed out that the man is probably quite busy presently, what with the massive attack on his city. So she had been content to wait.

On the other hand, if your Master really wants to get on with things, she can just ignore these people. None of them can actually stop her, or even Trainwreck for that matter. Your only real concern is for Danny, Mem, and Mun - but if need be you are confident you can protect them at the expense of your own life.

So the question becomes,

[ ] Resist Arrest

[ ] Go Quietly

A/N: So it begins. I'll be back in half an hour to check the vote and to write the next bit - rinse and repeat till I blackout I guess. Shorter updates to include more choices and voting - the longer I make the update the fewer opportunities for Quester choices exist.

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A Hat & Its Man

Jul 11, 2021

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[X] Switch out with Ozpin, let him handle this.

Current Energy: 13

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

City of Vale, Remnant

"Hey I know we're heroes and shit but I teabagged the Simurgh a couple weeks ago and I don't really got the patience for this shit." Trainwreck growls, shifting his feet into a stance more suited to combat and glancing around himself.

"I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable with getting arrested for helping." Danny admits tiredly, pulling his hammer from his shoulder and shifting forward to sandwich a frowning Mem between himself and Trainwreck.

"General, this is foolish. Please, allow us to explain." She states aloud, though from seemingly nowhere she draws a replica of her weapon form, allowing it to slowly click against the ground as she settles with both hands on the cane's top.

In the background you note that Yang, Ruby, and their teammates are watching from outside the encirclement, obviously unsure of exactly what to do. They are obviously aware that you helped them - but equally, they are obviously aware that the man before you is some kind of lawful authority figure, leaving them unsure of who exactly is in the right.

'Taylor?' You ask your Master, unwilling to take action without her permission.

Well. That's a lie. You are very willing to take all sorts of questionable actions without her permission so long as it benefits your Master. Which is something you just realized about yourself, only accented by this current Emulation. Do you value right and wrong as your Master has taught you to understand them? Yes, absolutely. Do you value them above your Master's well being?

Not in the slightest.

'Hang on, I'm gonna... ' She pauses, audibly sighs, then continues. 'gonna let Ozma talk for a minute.'

You wrinkle your nose at the admission. Your previous emulation barely considered it, but your current one finds the permanent presence of another being in your Master's head somewhere between unpleasant and heretical.

Which makes the fact that you put it there particularly annoying.

'If I became intangible I could-' You begin to suggest, suddenly much more willing to kill basically everyone present.

'Just wait, okay?' Taylor answers, and there is a faint pulse of amusement from her end of your connection at your reaction.

And then, like a switch has been flipped, everything about your Master's outward demeanor and stance change. She straightens up, carefully dusts off her collar - and Nemesis vanishes somewhat violently from her hand, which forces you to resist the urge to snicker at the vindictive sword spirit.

"James. I believe it is for the best that we go with you, so I'll endeavour to convince my comrades not to do anything rash - but do be aware that the very reason you are attempting to detain us is likewise a reason for you to be very polite in our treatment." Taylor speaks, using a cadence and tone so perfectly mirroring an entirely different man that even the stalwart general is briefly given pause.

"I assure you, you aren't under arrest. For your own protection and everyone else's, I would ask that you come with me - peacefully." The general finally states after a moment to ponder, during which he glances between your Master and Mem - who is clearly wielding Ozpin's weapon of choice. As he does so, he waves at his men, causing the vast majority of them to lower their firearms.

Your Master visibly relaxes at this, and for good reason. As much as you are confident in the powers of Aura protecting Danny from harm, Aura is also native to this world, so it stands to reason that their military would have accounted for it.

"Thank you, James." Ozma states with a thin lipped smile for the man, before his expression freezes and his posture returns to your Master's normal outward demeanor.

"Man, I hate, hate, hate, doing that. I swear I let him take control for a minute and all I can smell is burnt toast the entire time. Guh." Taylor groans in annoyance, shaking her head slightly before glancing at Ironwood then to Trainwreck.

"Alright guys, looks like this might take a bit. You should probably make sure the kids aren't burning the castle down or something in protest." She finally says aloud in an entirely unbothered voice.

"I am not leaving my daughter to be arrested-" Danny says aggressively.

"I'm not under arrest! He even said-" Taylor tries to counter.

"Sweetheart, look at him - he's clearly a… what do the kids say… a tool." Says, gesturing loosely at General Ironwood, and earning a raised eyebrow from the man who is watching the by play curiously.

"Dad! He's the general of an entire nation's military! You can't just say that!" Taylor shouts in dismay.

"And I'm your father which means that I have a legal right to be present if-"

"This conversation is moot. I'm afraid I have to ask all of you to come with me." Ironwood finally decides to chime in, having carefully approached while the pair were arguing.

"Counterpoint," Taylor says, her sword appearing in her hands and cleaving a Gap open before anyone can immediately respond.

You're sure she expected her Father and Trainwreck to jump through it before anyone else could respond, but instead the pair just go back to eyeing their surroundings warily as every solider present raises their weapons again.

"...Seriously guys?" She grumbles at them.

"Magic words boss." Trainwreck notes with amusement at about the same time that Ironwood barks, "Drop your weapons immediately."

"...Please?" She asks, visibly annoyed - and clearly ignoring Ironwood's orders.

"I'm not-" Danny visibly bristles but Trainwreck cuts him off.

"Magic words boss. Plural. The fuck are they teaching you kids in school nowadays?" He sighs in mock dejection.

"Really? Right now?" Taylor hisses at him.

"Why the fuck not? Ain't like these dipshits can actually hurt us." he points out, much to Ironwoods visible annoyance.

"They can hurt Dad!" Taylor growls at him.

Trainwreck takes a moment to ponder that before noticeably deflating.

"Fine. You owe me for this though!" He finally bites back, reaching over to envelop Danny in one massive hand and jumping through the Gap - which quickly closes behind him.

"Finally! Mem, Mun, do you mind…?" She asks, still ignoring Ironwood. Taking your that as your queue, you fade away, becoming intangible - at about the same time that Mun, in the form of a bird, flutters over to land on your Masters shoulder, and Mun flickers slightly before vanishing herself - leaving behind only the freestanding cane from which she was born.

Your Master, quickly and cheekily, scoops the weapon up, sheathing Nemesis (which you will surely hear about later) and waiting patiently for everyone present to… well for them to stop yelling.

It takes a while.

"So you know, when you said I wasn't under arrest, I kind of expected not to be put in a prison cell?" Taylor notes aloud from where she is currently sitting patiently on a bench - in a prison cell. Granted, the cell is on an airship, which is interesting enough you suppose, but still.

This was not what you were promised.

The cell itself is nothing to write home about. It's basically just a metal room with a heavy steel door set into one wall. That single door is easily a foot thick, and has a single circular window roughly a hand length wide set into it. Through that window you can see General Ironwood, in addition to one other person who have come to see you - a scant hour after your Master's incarceration.

You, of course, are not in the cell with her. Instead, you spent the majority of the last hour wandering about the airship, more specifically, trying to figure out who to kill to crash the whole thing in the unlikely event hostilities arise. You don't want to kill everyone present, but historically your current Emulation has only ever really had one way of solving his problems.

"I gotta agree with her, Jimmy. If she's anything like as strong as you said she was this strikes me as a mite stupid. Is- is this even actually holding her?" a scruffy looking man asks the general, looking for all the world like he just wandered out of a strip club and accidentally found himself on the military vessel. He has spiky black hair, a shirt unbuttoned a quarter of the way up in a fashion common to men who are less attractive than they think they are, and - for no particular reason that you can discern - a red cape draping down the back of his otherwise normal looking attire.

"These cells are rated to survive the entire ship crashing. Even a Maiden-" Ironwood begins to explain patiently.

Neither of the men are aware your Master can hear them. Because really, she can't. They are listening to her via some form of surveillance system in the cell, but you are merely standing behind them and relaying what they are saying.

Which is why it catches both men off guard when she answers the scruffy one.

"Not really, no. Look I really do want to help you guys, but I kind of need to talk to Ozpin before I head home for the day and this is getting really old really fast." Taylor speaks up, cutting Ironwood off.

Both of the adult men standing outside the cell pause to look at eachother.

"You know, it'd serve you right if she blew the ship up to get out right?" The scruffy man notes dryly.

"I don't understand how she can even hear us. A semblance?" Ironwood muses, frowning at the door.

"Don't have one yet. Look, I have kind of a thing about being locked in small metal boxes. Give me a second."

"Do not attempt to breach the door." Ironwood immediately barks.

"No wait, I kind of want to see this." The other man calms him, gently stepping to the side of the door, clearly expecting it to be blown off its hinges.

"Qrow this isn't a game. If she is a Maiden she needs to be protected at all costs - even if she doesn't like it." Ironwood growls back at him.

It is at this particular moment, that a sword pierces space next to the two, ripping open a Gap that your Master quickly steps through.

"First off, not a Maiden. Second. I get that teleporting straight to the man would be rude but if someone doesn't get me in contact with Ozpin soon I'm gonna do it." Your Master says flatly.

This time, it is the scruffy man - Qrow's - turn to stare agog at your Master, recognition and abject terror flashing through his eyes for just the briefest of moments before he steps forward to put his hands on Taylor's shoulders.

"You poor fucking kid." He says aloud.

"Uh… okay I mean the cell wasn't that tiny." She says awkwardly stepping away from him.

"Sorry. You said you wanted to talk to Oz right? I'm betting you've got a message for him?" Qrow continues, his eyes slightly bloodshot.

"Well yeah but-" Taylor asks in clear confusion.

"The hell is that woman thinking. I swear I- hey how old are you?" Qrow continues to ramble, pacing back and forth in a manner that even Ironwood finds perplexing.

"Fifteen…" Taylor says hesitantly, clearly no more aware of what's going on than you are, but more than willing to talk as long as someone will eventually actually help her.

Qrow, of course, begins actively counting on his fingers, clearly trying to work something out.

"Qrow? Explain." Ironwood eventually states flatly.

"Huh? Oh. Don't worry about it. Family stuff. Come on, we gotta get my stupid sisters sprog to Ozpin." He says tiredly.

It is at this exact moment, that it clearly clicks for your Master, and she suppresses a snicker at the man's expense as she explains it to you.

'I completely forgot about her because she sucks, but Qrow here has a sister who's got hair like me and can cut portals open with her semblance. I think he assumes I'm his niece somehow.' Taylor notes with some amusement.

You consider that for a moment, then shrug.

Whatever gets things moving along the quickest.

And hey, you didn't even have to kill anyone.

Last edited: Jul 11, 2021

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Jul 11, 2021

#36,731

Current Energy: 13

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Beacon Academy, Remnant

With Qrows stamp of approval - and seeming inability to agree with Ironwood about much of anything at all - it takes very little time at all for your Master to finally be directed to Ozpin.

Which is not to say that she is taken straight to him. Oh no, for an entire host of reasons, your Master finds herself waiting on the school grounds for her meeting with the man.

"I feel like I should have just gone straight to him." She muses aloud, causing Qrow to wince from where he is standing awkwardly nearby. Presently, the two of them are just sort of sitting in one of Beacon Academies many smaller courtyards.

"Is that a thing you can do? Just ah, go places you've never been?" Qrow asks hesitantly.

"Just have to have an idea of where I'm going. A picture works, really. I mean, I could probably just have run from the city to here in the same amount of time but you know." Taylor says with a shrug.

"Uh Huh… so uh. Level with me here kid. You said your name was uh… Taylor, right? You said you aren't a Maiden but I get if you just didn't trust ol Jimmy. Guy is a bit of a dick." Qrow says, licking his lips nervously and glancing around himself.

"I am not, nor have I ever been a Maiden. They aren't that impressive in the first place. Shaker Five, Blaster three or four at best I think." Taylor explains thoughtfully.

In truth, your understanding of what a 'Maiden' is lines up roughly with what your Master is assuming. As far as you are aware, all a Maiden really gets out of the title is the ability to affect their surroundings to a certain degree using the elemental effects common to this world, with a secondary ability to shoot blasts of said element at their enemies.

So basically a middling Shaker/Blaster combo, by your world's standards.

"The hell is a Shaker Five?" Qrow blurts out in confusion.

"Oh it's like… a rating system? For uh… I guess semblances? There are twelve of them with a rating between one and ten for the strength of the power. It's supposed to inform how you approach an opponent and what level of force would be required to take them out." Taylor explains easily, recounting the PRT rating system for the man. She probably doesn't see much issue in doing so - after all, Remnant has its own flavour of superhuman to deal with.

"...so it's an entire system designed to fight other people? Only other people?" Qrow asks shrewdly.

"Well yeah, we're the ones with the cool powers." Taylor answers him quizzically.

"That woman is a bloody psychopath." He answers her resolutely, pulling a flask from his hip and taking a swig of it.

"Uh…" Taylor utters, blinking in surprise at the behaviour.

"Don't worry bout it. I'll figure it out later. Let's go wait for Oz in his office." Qrow eventually belches out before pausing to stare at the Raven on your Masters shoulder - Mun.

"...Hey that isn't Raven literally right there is it?" He asks in a suspicious tone.

"No, it's a completely unrelated girl that can also turn into a bird." Taylor answers dryly.

Qrow spends the entire walk to the elevator heading to Ozpin's office staring blankly at Mun - whose beak twitches into an entirely uncanny grin just before everyone steps onto said elevator.

"No one will believe you." She whispers to him.

Understandably, the man almost has a heart attack.

"Glynda! Oh man, I am glad to see you. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how the hell you made hot chocolate taste so good!" Taylor belts out the second she steps off the elevator, finding a tall, buxom, blonde woman heatedly arguing with Ironwood in front of the large desk Ozpin claims as his own, and that is - besides the chair behind it - pretty much one of the only pieces of furniture in the room.

The blonde woman - who you must stress, looks like a teenage boys idea of a hot teacher - turns angrily towards your Master and Qrow as they step off the elevator, pointing a riding crop of all things at them.

"I have no patience for you today Qrow." The woman says, her voice dripping with venom.

"I didn't even say anything!" He protests weakly.

"And I assume you are the girl in question? Hello, my name is Glynda Goodwitch. I apologize for how James treated you but as you could see things we're somewhat... hectic." Glynda explains kindly, before turning a venomous glare towards Ironwood.

"Love that woman. Absolute slave driver, but she knows what she's about." Taylor jokingly says to Qrow, covering her mouth as though trying to hide what she is saying but not at all bothering to actually lower her voice.

"I find it interesting that you seem to know her when I'm sure I've never seen you in Beacon before." The man who had been quietly watching the proceedings from his chair on the far side of the desk notes. His voice isn't loud or particularly demanding of attention - but it immediately silences everyone else the minute he speaks regardless.

"Yeah I didn't go here. Or anywhere. Look this is going to sound weird but uh… Hm. You know I wanted to talk to you but I just realized how insane everything I have to say is going to sound." Your Master muses aloud. You aren't sure when she picked the habit up, but she just… thinks out loud a lot recently. You suspect it's a habit she has acquired in the interests of seeming like less of an implacable engine of destruction to the people around her.

It does serve that purpose, but it also makes her seem like much more of an airhead than she actually is.

"You said you had a message from my Sister right? Start with that." Qrow encourages her.

"I know you think that's helpful but it's really not." She tells him flatly. Qrow mumbles something mean spirited about his sister that you don't quite catch, but doesn't himself say anything past that point.

"Okay let's start easy. Raven is the… Spring? Spring Maiden. The psycho that put the Fall Maiden in a coma is hiding out in your school waiting for a chance to finish the job, the White Fang are going to hijack all of your killer robots, and I'm him, but like, two deaths from now." Your Master blurts out before tapping a finger on her lips in consideration and adding;

"Also, why did you build killer robots that could all be hacked simultaneously from one location?" She asks in befuddlement.

The room stares at her. She stares back.

"...setting aside some of that for the moment." Ozpin begins, leaning forward to tent his fingers, both elbows resting securely on the desk in front of him.

"No wait, I can prove it!" Taylor blurts out, pulling Long Memory from her waist and not even blinking when it becomes Mem.

"Hello." She greets cordially, smiling shyly at Ozpin whos expression remains stoic.

The room looks from Mem, to Ozpin, and back again.

"So I turned Long Memory into a person with magic. Long story." Taylor explains sheepishly.

"Nope. No. I'm out. Call me when you guys figure this out. Glynda, give the kid my Scroll number when you get the chance. I'm gonna go see how my other nieces are doing." Qrow immediately rattles off, pivoting on one foot and leaving the room.

"Does he know that you consciously delete his number from your Scroll whenever possible or…?" Taylor asks curiously, turning back to Glynda.

"And how exactly do you know that?" Glynda asks sharply.

"I just said, I've got one of him swimming around in my head. Here, look." Taylor says with a sigh, waving her hand and causing a burst of blue energy to form into a chair under her.

"See? Magic." She says simply, before absently conjuring a chair for Mem to sit in.

"Anyway, I'm basically future you. Or… alternate reality you. One of the two. Probably both. So if one of you could just, point me in Salem's direction, I was hoping to throw her into the Sun and go home in time for dinner…" She elaborates.

The entire time your Master has been rambling, an entire host of expressions has run across the faces of the people in the room with her. Glynda appears suspicious but tolerant of the situation so long as Ozpin does likewise, Ironwood is staring stony faced at your Master, doing his utmost not to give anything he is thinking away, and Ozpin is just… staring. At Mem.

"...I'm afraid that even if I was willing to direct a lone teenage girl-" Ozpin begins slowly.

"Who is also you." Taylor interjects. Ozpin turns a flat gaze on her.

"As I was saying. Even if I was willing to direct you to Salem, I cannot. I have no idea where she is besides a general assumption that she resides somewhere in the Land of Darkness which is… quite a bit of area to search." Ozpin notes carefully.

Taylor squints at him for a moment, then sighs.

"And I guess at least one of you would throw a fit if I started just… I dunno… blowing up large swathes of the place?" She asks lamely.

"...quite." Ozpin responds with a quick glance to a dour looking Ironwood.

"Well that… sucks. What was the name of that city with all the criminals, out by Mistral? Wind Path? I guess I could clear that place out before I head home…" She muses to herself.

"I am going to have to ask you to refrain from… actually I am curious. What exactly did you intend to do in a City where the authorities are also the criminals?" Ozpin asks curiously.

To this, Mem raises her hand, like a school child attempting to garner her teachers attention. The slight movement is more than enough to draw Ozpin's attention back to her, and you have to applaud the mans focus because he is clearly much more interested in her than he lets on.

"Yes?" He acknowledges her, causing her to quickly lower her hand.

"I would not worry too much. By the time Taylor was finished raising her castle in our home city there were no more criminals left of note." The Shikigami notes neutrally.

"Chief, I know you think that's reassuring but it super isn't." Mun states from her shoulder.

"I don't understand. Our enemies were vanquished and we were able to come here. That is clearly an absolute win in any context." The Shikigami argues.

"I uh, I didn't kill anybody I swear." Taylor rushes to explain when everyone turns to stare at her.

"In… any case. I would like to verify as much of what you have to say as possible. If I find you to be trustworthy, perhaps I can… consider some of your more outlandish claims." Ozpin offers, his eyes darting to Mem and then Mun before returning to your Master.

It's a better offer than you were expecting. You suppose being an ancient wizard comes with a slightly more flexible than normal mindset - because you would have given even odds that your Master's claims would be dismissed out of hand. Still, this outcome clearly isn't what your Master wants, which is evidenced by the way she is frowning.

"Can we at least deal with the Fall Maiden thing? I get that it might take a while to suss out that Leo is working for Salem but-" Your Master starts then pauses.

"Also the Headmaster of Haven Academy, that Leo guy? He's totally a turncoat." She explains before going on.

"Anyway, can we at least bag Cinder? Why do you have a grown woman in what amounts to a highschool anyway?" Taylor questions.

You can actually hear Ozpin inhaling deeply when she is finished speaking.

"I… will look into it. We have no means of proving what you are saying is true." Ozpin says tiredly.

"Oh. That's easy. Just spread it around that I'm a Maiden and the psycho will probably try and kill me the next time I'm alone." Taylor answers with a shrug.

"Absolutely not. Even assuming you are correct, we already have one Maiden severely injured - what's to stop her from doing the same to you?" Glynda finally snaps, reentering the conversation as her well honed instincts as an educator of children kick in, forcing her to speak out against such a plan.

"Easy. I'm never actually alone." Your Master says with a grin that - if you are being charitable - could loosely be described as feral.

Last edited: Jul 11, 2021

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Threadmarks Emissary 14.6

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Bowler Hat Guy

A Hat & Its Man

Jul 23, 2021

#36,893

Current Energy: 12

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Beacon Academy, Remnant

"This wouldn't be such a big deal if my tracking spell worked on Salem." Your Master notes aloud, sinking lazily into her conjured chair.

"...I have found over the years that finding her is something of an exercise in futility, yes." Ozpin concedes without directly commenting on your Masters claims of magic.

"If you would just come to explain things to the rest of the Atlesian Council I'm sure we could-" Ironwood finally speaks in a clearly impassioned voice.

"James, I appreciate your concerns, but you simply don't understand what we are up against. Even the full might of the Atlesian military wouldn't be enough. Not yet. We need more time." The headmaster of Beacon Academy tiredly counters, clearly retreading an argument that has happened multiple times in the past.

Your Master perks up at this.

"You know actually, there is something I can do real quick before leaving. It should buy you tons of time." She states, drawing every eye in the room back to her.

"Ah fuck. She's got the face. The one she gets when she's going to do something outrageous like it's nothing. Hey, ask your deadbeat dad for popcorn, this is gonna be sick." Mun muses from Mem's shoulder, earning a confused look from the girl and a slight twitch from Ozpin.

Taylor, of course, ignores all of them.

"Well I can't track Salem, but I should be able to set a spell to hunting down the local White Fang. Or rather, their masks." She muses aloud.

"I would appreciate it if you did not cause a disturbance while the city is otherwise still recovering Miss..?" Ozpin states, trailing off - at which point it occurs to both you and your Master simultaneously that she never actually provided anyone with her name.

"Taylor, but back home they call me Nexus. Look, you probably don't believe me when I say the White Fang is going to help that psycho destroy the whole city, but you do admit that they have to be dealt with right? I have a plan."

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

A High Rise Apartment, Vale, Remnant

You lazily trail behind the tiny glowing orb of light your Master has set you to follow, pausing just outside of a large apartment building in the city's downtown core when the light zips straight up to the midway point of the building and then darts inside.

Sighing, and with your hands stuffed in your pockets, you rapidly ghost through the front door of the building and, ignoring the elevator, begin invisibly making your way up the stairs. When you finally make it to the appropriate floor, you range out into the hallway until you find the door the light is hovering in front of - and you step inside.

The apartment is fairly simple. You would almost describe it as 'utilitarian' - which makes sense, as the temporary abode of a terrorist cell. The main room of the apartment is just a couch and a television. There are very few personal effects present.

And there are three faunus of various types sitting about the room, nervously talking to each other.

"Shit, I thought today was going to be it, but they called it off at the last second!" One of them complains vehemently, their hands pressed together and straining as there owner continues to increase the strength he is putting into them.

"Hey those kids screwed up our timing is all. We still have our shot." Another one of them consoles him.

They keep talking but you don't actually pay altogether too much attention to them. You wander about the apartment just long enough to find the stylized White Fang masks the group has hidden in one of their closets - then you wander back out to the main room.

You twist your head from side to side, enjoying the satisfying pop as you prepare for action.

Then, you stretch your hand forward and become tangible.

"Foolish terrorists who defy the will of my Master… shall all be punished." You declare, clamping your hand around the first of the three men's heads.

"Wha-" He opens his mouth to protest, but you don't allow him to finish. Via main force, you yank the man into the air with your grip on his skull - then you punch him in the stomach until he stops moving, and you drop him.

You turn to find the two other men in the room scrambling for their weapons, so, in the interests of preventing that, you drop into a crouch and stretch your hand out to the floor. With a mere thought, the alchemical tattoo covering your arm lights up, and the floor beneath both of them opens up, like a hungry shark surfacing for the kill.

-1 Energy

You don't kill the men of course. That would be much easier than what you have actually been instructed to do. Instead, you leave the two encased up to their chins in the same material the floor is made of - a laminated hardwood - only several times thicker, precluding any escape attempts.

"The police will arrive shortly." You state blandly, walking into the room the men keep their masks and weaponry in, and dragging it to the center of the room.

Then you turn to the glowing wisp of the tracking spell, which darts out the window.

You sigh, and head for the stairs.

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Beacon Academy, Remnant

"And you think you can reasonably locate and capture every member of the White Fang in the city in a single day." Ironwood asks your Master incredulously.

"Well, I could do it easily, yeah. You don't want me to cause a huge public disturbance though so my partner will do it instead." She answers with a chilling smile on her face as she draws a tracking spell in the air and gestures the resulting orb of glowing light towards you.

"That should take you to every White Fang mask in the city. Just beat up everyone you find wearing one and the-" She pauses to glance at Ozpin "-police?" he nods slowly and she turns back to you.

"The police will come pick them up after you tell me the location." She finishes.

"If you can find them for us then my men can-" James starts to counter.

"Aren't your men busy keeping public order?" Taylor cuts him off sweetly.

You… get the impression she only tolerates Ironwood at best, and even that just out of politeness.

"She has a point James." Ozpin points out.

"What I would like to know is what qualifies you for the task." The blond woman turns to ask you.

You smile at her.

"I have my ways." You tell her, before vanishing once more from sight.

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Abandoned Warehouse, Vale, Remnant

You crack your knuckles as you come upon the warehouse district of Vale. You cock your head at the frantic bobbing and weaving of the tracking spell as it hovers above a particular building in the distance.

The sea breeze drifts through the air, giving everything a slightly salty smell, and that, mixed with the scent of industry all around you, reminds you distinctly of home.

Setting aside your nostalgia, you quickly report your thirtieth location of the night to your Master, and stalk forward.

Someone has to tell these people that they have crossed the wrong person, after all.

A/N: We're going to do a jump cut from here back to Earth on Sunday just because this is starting to feel like it's dragging on. If you haven't already, you should check out all the really sick fanart NathanMedium has been providing recently. You gotta go like the post. Do it for me. Do it for Hat Daddy.

This short chapter was brought to you by blackmail and sick time off work!

Last edited: Jul 23, 2021

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A Hat & Its Man

Jul 28, 2021

#36,928

Current Energy: 12

[Root Access] has budded for 5 Omake Points.

Age of Heroes II has been activated for 5 Omake Points! (This actually happened several updates ago but I forgot to make note of it)

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Beacon Academy, Remnant

"So…" Taylor mused aloud. She was bored. She was overwhelmingly, incredibly, bored - but she tolerated it, because as she had come to understand from regularly interacting with Emily Piggot, authority figures did not typically react well to having their authority flouted.

Even when there was nothing they could conceivably do to stop you besides withholding their personal approval.

"You seem to be in a hurry." Ozpin noted, sipping from a mug Goodwitch had brought him once the evening had begun to drag on.

Taylor was aware of why people here had freaky fairytale names, but that didn't make them any less freaky. She was also aware of why Ironwood - a General who really had better places to be - was still sitting in the office with her and everyone else, despite multiple hours passing since her arrival. Mostly she got the impression that he thought he could stop or subdue her if he had to, and that he was leery of leaving her alone with Ozpin. It was a nice thought, and she supposed that he might be with the belief that the one big attack was her main form of attack, and that she could be fought in melee but well...

She doubted it.

'Is that pompous? I feel like I've started taking being the most dangerous person in any room for granted.' She mused to her mental roommate.

'It could be considered such. Fortunately, or perhaps, unfortunately, my world does not see such wild swings in power from person to person as your own does. An individual like yourself is basically unheard of here.' Ozma - brain Ozma - returned to her.

"I have a pretty strict bed time. I mean, not that strict, obviously, but I'm generally pretty busy and I like waking up early." She answered the real physical version of Ozpin with an off handed shrug that jostled the younger girl sitting in her lap. Taylor could have made a second magical seat for her erstwhile sort of daughter, but she could she preferred hugging her - so that was what she did, leaning forward to plunk her chin atop Long Memories head as she spoke.

"Grand Mother does insist we leave the castle grounds by eight pm." The white haired shikigami noted absently.

"That's because if Danny's busy watching us she can't drag him off to-" Mun - still a bird, though now standing astride Taylors hat, cawed.

"Please don't talk about my Dad doing… that… while I'm in the room." Taylor jumped in swiftly to cut her off.

"I do not understand." Mem grumbled with a frown. Well. Taylor described it as grumbling. In reality it was the same monotone she always spoke in, with just the slightest downturn at the end to signify her feelings at any given moment. It had taken her a while to notice, and even longer to fully grasp, but she had gotten it down eventually.

Actually, she used her magic glasses and cheated until she could figure it out without them, but no one in the world could prove it except Emmy - and Emmy wasn't a narc.

""You'll understand when you're older."" She said automatically, ignoring Mun's snickering in favour of lifting an eyebrow in the direction of the other person who had spoken - Ozpin.

"...I am an educator." He lied blandly, reaching for his mug and taking a sip from it, which was a weirdly obvious tell for a supposedly immortal wizard.

'I should like to note that I am not in fact an immortal wizard. My memories and will are inherited, but the person that possesses them remains distinct. It is not at all the same.' Ozma quickly defended his other self.

'I'm fifteen. It's an obvious tell.' She countered mentally.

"Suuuure…" Taylor drawled, before eyeing Mem.

"I don't see the purpose of just waiting here like this." Ironwood finally ground out.

"I'm not making you stay." She returned without looking at him.

"But you are being very obstinate about not moving. If you would just let me take you to Atlas we can protect you from-"

"Hey chief, take a hint. Get fucked." Mun cut him off, flapping her wings on top of Taylor's head and puffing herself up. Taylor sighed, stretched a hand up to stroke the bird's head - which she leaned into appreciatively - then flicked her in the side of the head.

"Hey!" she squawked.

"Language." She returned evenly before turning her gaze to Ozpin.

"I thought you were an educator?" She asked him dryly. Predictably, he just smiled enigmatically at her and took another sip of his hot chocolate. Sherolled her eyes at him. She was sure he thought he was being mysterious instead of just bluffing poorly.

Whatever. She still had some time left before she had to move on to the next stage of things. She'd let Mem have this. The girl was clearly enjoying just quietly being in the presence of her progenitor, neither particularly interested in making conversation or asking questions - which made sense. From a certain perspective she was actually older than Ozpin. While he changed and 'reset' with every incarnation, Mem was always the constant. Always the same. She knew the mans entire life just as well as he himself did, probably better - so she felt no need to question him on anything.

Which was not to say she couldn't be prodded into making conversation.

But first…

"Emmy? How are we doing?" She asked her friend, unable to keep a hint of worry from seeping into her tone. It was rare that she was the more powerful of the two of them - it had only happened a few times thus far, and even though she was aware of the combat prowess of Emmy's current guise, she was also aware that the level of combat he was familiar with was patently different to what he would face here or on her own world. And as much as he was 'immortal' she still didn't like it when he got hurt - not that it stopped the ass from willingly going to his death when he thought it would be useful.

"Fine. One Moment." He responded succinctly to her, and such was her worry that she immediately switched her field of view to his own.

"Why are you doing this?" a terrified faunus asked, staring up at him from within the brutalized cockpit of a damaged mech of some kind.

"I was asked to." was Emmy's blunt response.

"B-but-" The faunus pleaded as his hand clamped around the mans head and squeezed. There was an immediate flicker of aura from him, the the sound of cracking glass, and then cries of pain.

"Also, you are genocidal monsters. It would seem I have a type." he added, before the pain of his grip caused the other man to black out.

Taylor winced but didn't comment on the sight. She knew Emmy could tell when she spied on him that way, and as much as he clearly didn't care, she did, so she tried not to let her instinctual need to keep tabs on him push her to invade his privacy constantly. Even if she had gotten accustomed to him ranging far and away from her, she still never quite got to liking it. Significant distance between the two of them left her feeling… uncomfortable.

"I have finished with this location." Emmy finally sent to her, rattling off an address to her that she dutifully proffered to Goodwitch, who noted it down and directed the authorities appropriately.

She would literally kill to bring this woman home with her.

"And how are you even finding them? How do you know these aren't just innocent people?" Ironwood pushed after the thirtieth repetition of this particular pattern.

She chose to ignore him in favour of something more important to her.

"Mem, was there anything you wanted to say to Ozpin, now that you've gotten to see him again?" She asked gently, grinding her chin into the top of the girl's head in order to scratch it.

Mem took a moment to consider that while Ironwood continued to rant - something everyone else had simply started ignoring when it became obvious how futile it was. She felt bad because he was obviously trying to be a good man. It wasn't like he was just kidnapping her for her own protection - which he absolutely could… attempt. He genuinely wanted to try and understand and keep her safe.

He was just too militant about it for her tastes.

"Ah." She noted before nodding once and sticking her hand out, palm up towards the headmaster - who hesitantly glanced at it before extending his own hand to place in the tiny palm.

Mem stared at the point where they were touching skin to skin for a moment, then spoke.

"Grand Mother once told me…" She pauses, as though trying to remember something.

"Ah. 'If this Ozpin guy is so great, he can pay for your lunch'". Mem finally finished. There was a pregnant pause as everyone in the room absorbed that for a second.

Ozpin slowly removed his hand from Mems - which remained out palm up - and looked genuinely distressed for a moment before his expression evened out again.

"My apologies but if you would like you can eat in the cafeteria?" He tried.

"Nah Ma says don't take food from strange men. Cash or nothing! Child Support! Child Support!" She cackled, taking off from atop Taylors head to avoid the inevitable smack for being such a brat to fly circles around the spacious office, chanting the worlds.

"Child Support, Child Support!" She cried out with malicious glee.

It was at precisely this moment that the elevator opened, disgorging a haggard looking Qrow.

"Okay so, Yang wasn't super happy that you exist but-"

"Child Support, Child Support!"

The haggard man stopped at that, staring up at the talking bird, then back down at Taylor with a distressed look, before sighing and removing his wallet from his pants.

"Okay look, don't tell Yang about this." He said, withdrawing several bills.

"Aren't you going to correct this misunderstanding?" her inner Ozma asked pointedly.

"Why would I? Raven sucks and he's kind of cute when he thinks the world is ending." She responded with a shrug.

"Has it occurred to you that finding pleasure in haggard looking, overworked men might indicate your interest in men is remarkably similar to your father?" Ozma returned to her.

"Please don't ever deconstruct my tastes ever again." She responded with a wince - though she did accept the bundle of local currency from the man.

"Why? Unlike my usual situation, I do not appear to be fading over time - I have nothing to do but critique you." Ozma answered honestly, obviously in a good mood as a result of her well… being here in the first place.

"I liked you better when you were more like that guy." She grumbled at him, indicating the physical version of Ozpin with a quick flick of her eyes in the mans direction.

"And I liked when teenage girls were not capable of casually obliterating cities. Perhaps we can compromise?" He responded dryly.

Taylor snrked unexpectedly at the joke, then waved away the concerned looks from all present as she contained her laughter.

"All right Emmy, I'm gonna bring you back." She told her friend once she had gotten herself fully under control.

"Hey, bird brain, get down here. It's time to go home." She called up to Mun, who squawked a few more times before descending to land on her hat, even as Mem nodded and stood up, flickering until she was once more a free standing cane in the middle of the room that Taylor swiftly snatched up and sheathed at her back.

"Leaving so soon? We have several free dorms here if you would prefer. I'm sure using your semblance so frequently must be tiring." Goodwitch immediately offered.

Taylor almost tried to convince her to come with her before recalling how much of a hassle it would be to keep her permanently anchored to Earth Bet properly. Normal gaps barely took her any effort anymore, but as she had noted the first time Emmy had tried to come here, the ones she had to use in order to keep people stable in other realities were more… conceptual… almost. She couldn't have put it into words if asked, but it was just different. Different enough that she wasn't keen to test her ability to keep on open permanently.

"Thanks but I'm good. I'll be back in a week or two - hopefully nothing crazy will happen while I'm gone." She said good naturedly and with a glint in her eyes as she opened a new Gap and stepped through it before Ironwood could argue the point with her.

Emmy was already hovering in the immaterial space between all things, waiting for her.

"Bed time?" He asked her blandly, despite being covered in minor injuries and more blood than could possibly have come from himself alone. Wordlessly, she held a hand up to send a wave of healing light over him before answering.

"Just one more thing. Wait here." She informed him before stepping out of a gap she had secretly been guiding through the castle the entire time she had been sitting in that little office.

People assumed that because she was nice, and friendly about her status as a very dangerous person, that she must inevitably be very stupid. This was an image that was only reinforced when she chose to prioritize things that interested her over… well everything else. She couldn't help it. The first man she had ever respected cared about one thing, and one thing only. She wasn't quite that bad, but she was definitely just a bit more self interested than the classic example of a hero should be.

And much like Zaraki Kenpachi, when she really wanted something, she wasn't above being an absolute bitch to get it.

--

Cinder Fall was having a very bad evening. Things had started out well enough. She had managed to make enough of a showing during the breach to avoid suspicion - no one was going to look to deeply at just another huntress in training helping fight off the Grimm - and despite the abject failure that the entire fiasco had been, she was nowhere near stupid enough to put all her eggs in one basket. The breach… that had just been a test. A first attempt. So long as the White Fang's resources existed, she would succeed. Already she was sure her virus would have infected Ironwood's scroll, and would be spreading to every one of those robotic soldiers the fool brought with him. With an entire army behind her, there was no way she could fail - because she was always one step ahead of the naive fools who seemed to run the world.

Or so she thought.

Barely an hour after getting back to their room, Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury had begun to receive desperate requests for assistance from the White Fang. Apparently - somehow - Ironwood had sussed out where all the cells of the organization in the city were and shut them down with brutal efficiency.

She had, ofcourse, tried to get up and leave. Not to help. That would be foolish. But to escape. If he knew that much then he probably also knew about the virus. And that meant it was only a matter of time until they started investigating where it could have come from - and she didn't want to be anywhere in Beacon when that happened.

Only… when she opened the door - it didn't lead to the familiar hallway outside of their temporary abode. It lead to… nothing. Literally. It was like looking into the primordial abyss from whence the Grimm came but somehow… worse. She gazed into the nothingness and countless bloodshot eyes gazed back.

She was so stunned that she stopped moving for a full second before it dawned on her how precarious the situation was.

"Cinder?!" Emerald, yelped as she backed into her to escape the maddening gaze, slamming the door and whirling towards the window… that was already blocked by the same nightmarish void.

"I- through the walls!" She ordered with a growl, immediately turning to blast a hole in the wall to escape through with a gout of fire from her left hand. When the smoke cleared, she was not facing a hole into another room.

She was yet again, staring into the Abyss.

It was at that moment, feeling absolutely instantly helpless, that Cinder Fall snapped. With a fury, she began to raze the room itself. The floor, the ceiling, the beds - everything went. She burned it all, and only managed to avoid hurting her underlings by sheer happenstance - as they were smart enough to stand behind her while she rampaged.

Eventually it dawned on her that she was no longer standing in a room. She was hovering in a void. There was nothing else left to distinguish where they were. There was nothing around to even tell her which way was up and which was down. She just… hovered in the nothingness, under the gaze of an infinite number of eyes.

Her underlings were speaking to her at that point - seeking her guidance, sure that she knew what to do.

But she didn't. And she knew it. And eventually, they figured it out too.

She had no idea how long the three of them… drifted. Tried to attack the eyes - that were simultaneously too close and infinitely far away at once.

Nothing seemed to work.

Until finally, there was a whisper in her ear, and the softest graze of something against the back of her neck.

"Hello, Cinder Fall." It whispered, at once too loud and entirely too quiet. Cinder whirled around at that, only to find herself staring at… nothing. Infinite, unending, nothing.

There was another brush against the back of her neck, and she whirled around, realizing that her underlings were nowhere in sight.

"Who- Where are Emerald and Mercury?!" she demanded instantly, not because she cared for their well being - she just didn't want to be alone here.

"I let them go. Do you want to see?" The voice asked, and without prompting part of the… nothing... dislodged itself from the rest, elongating into a creamy white hand that pinched lightly at the air, and pulled downward, like it was unzipping something.

Instantly, Cinder was relieved by the presence of something in this vast expanse of nothing, as a window of sorts appeared in the space with her, opening onto a raging blizzard. Faintly, she saw her two underlings stumbling through the cold winds and biting snow.

She moved to reach for the window, to try to climb through it, even knowing the hell that would await her on the other side, but it vanished from sight, like an illusion.

"No wait-" She called out to it forlornly.

At this point, it would be accurate to say that she was experiencing something not unlike sanity slippage, which, a clinical, cruel, part of her mind, recognized was probably the point.

"Sssh. I'm nearly done. This is more difficult than I thought it would be." The voice - she thought it was vaguely feminine though she wouldn't put money on that - hushed her, and once again she felt that… light touch… on the back of her neck.

All at once, fear and despondency became anger in the face of helplessness. How dare this thing, this monster imprison her? HER?!

"Who are you!? WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" She cried into the void, perhaps more fearfully than she initially had wanted to.

"In my world, I'm called Nexus. People call me lots of things. But to you, I'm Death." The voice said, sounding almost… bored.

"Then just kill me!" She screeched, all sense of decorum, dignity, or self respect already having been stripped from her by the endless void.

"I don't actually like killing though, you see. I'm compromising here. Look in a mirror when you get back. I left three little marks on your neck. Three tiny, insignificant runes, charged with all the power I could muster. You've worked with Salem, so I'm sure you're aware of Ozma's curse - to walk the world helping humans. Well I'm a bit more selfish than that. My primary concern is the kids. So here's the deal. If anyone from Beacon Academy dies, so will you. If you try to contact Salem - you will die. If you try to hurt any of my kids - you will die. Go ahead. Try it. Think about hurting one of them. Think about Ruby." The voice ordered her, and she - reluctantly - contemplated strangling the annoying little pissant that-

A chill ran down her spine. Her heart… just briefly… had stopped beating. She thought it was a trick at first, but the minute she had the same thought she… she felt it. Her heart just… stopped. The vital lifeblood it pumped went absolutely still in her veins.

Terrified, she gazed up into the face of god, and watched as it carefully removed it's hat to fan itself.

"See? Nothing so complicated as 'unite all humanity'. Look after my kids for me. If you don't, I won't be the one killing you. You will be. Now piss off." It ordered her.

And suddenly… she was back in her room again, sans any furniture, or sign that anything at all had been in the room.

And she wept.

Taylor skipped into her castle light as a feather. She liked fighting. But more than that - she liked getting her way at the expense of people who really deserved it.

Tomorrow is Sunday - choose Two (2) activities for the weekend.

[ ] Patrol The City (Choose a target area: The Docks, Downtown, Uptown) (Choose two people to come with you: Victoria, Gallant, Triumph, Aspirant, Trainwreck, Jess, Danny, Mem, Oliver)

[ ] Have Taylor take some time out to fortify the Heap with Onmyoudo.

[ ] ...Could you start a parahuman training school? You could at least look into some candidates... (Choose one: Dojo Students, Dockworkers, Panda Gang, Police)

[ ] As much as Mem says her project is Danny approved... you don't trust it.

[ ] Your Master has to admit that Aisha is at least… competent… maybe it's time to actually equip her with something?

[ ] You wonder how Mouse Protectors 'vacation' has been going?

[ ] Hypothetically, your Master doesn't mind Vicky's offer of a blind date with some boy she's never met before...

[ ] Hypothetically, your Master doesn't mind Vicky's offer of a blind date with some girl she's never met before…

[ ] Take Time Off (Pick an Extra Social)

[ ] Write-In

It's the Weekend which means your Master is liable to be with friends. Choose Two (2)

[ ] Victoria (2)

[ ] Amy (2)

[ ] Aspirant (2)

[ ] Trainwreck (2)

[ ] Parian (2)

[ ] Danny (3)

[ ] Oliver (2)

[ ] Jess (1)

[ ] Triumph (0)

[ ] Gallant (0)

[ ] Mem (2)

[ ] Mouse Protector (2)

[ ] Dinah (2)

[ ] Write-In

[Root Access] is available for distribution! Please select a non-parahuman, non-shikigami to have the bud go to! (Parahumans that haven't triggered yet count!)

[ ] Write-In

Last edited: Jul 28, 2021

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Bowler Hat Guy

Jul 28, 2021

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Threadmarks Qrow Breaks it to the girls by KokuenDG (Canon)

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KokuenDG

KokuenDG

Good Civ Inspector

Oct 14, 2021

#42,100

Qrow Breaks it to the girls.

As you stand in front of the door leading to your niece's room, you can't help but wonder what gods cursed you with the task of cleaning up after your very estranged and very irresponsible older sister.

'Probably the same ones that thought it would be a great idea to make a semblance bring nothing but bad luck to people,' you think to yourself with a scoff, reaching for your flask.

"Might need a bit of liquid courage for this bombshell," you mutter before taking a hefty swig from your flask. You sigh as you feel the pleasant burn of the alcohol in your throat. "Not every day that you have to let someone know about their long-lost younger sister after all." Or potentially older sister in Ruby's case. Maybe? You never really got around to asking about Taylor's actual birthday beyond figuring out that she was apparently the same age as your younger niece. Er, other younger niece? Known younger niece??

"Damn it Raven. Can't ever make things simple, can you?" You sigh for probably the twentieth time today before putting your flask away. "Might as well get this over with then." You raise your hand to the door lazily, knocking on the wood a few times with your knuckles before settling in to wait.

Fortunately, you don't have to wait long.

"Coming," You hear the voice of your youngest (?) niece call out. After a few moments the door opened to reveal a slightly damp looking Ruby poke her head out of the door. "Sorry for the wait Yang was being laz-Uncle Qrow!" You wince slightly at the high-pitched squeal of joy, bracing yourself before catching the girl as she slams into you at full – though thankfully not semblance assisted – speed. Her silver eyes gleam as she stares up at you.

"It's so good to see you! How have you been? Where have you been!? Did you miss me?" You blink at the rapid-fire questions before smirking wryly.

"In order: alright, around, and" you pause before raising a hand to pat Ruby's still wet hair, "Nope." You chuckle a bit as Ruby gives you an exaggerated pout before giggling herself. "Is this a bad time or something?" You glance at the towel around his PJ-clad niece's shoulders pointedly.

"Nah, it's just me and Yang in here right now. We both already washed up and we're just waiting on Blake and Weiss to come back, so you can come hang out if you want. Oh, but Yang's kind of in a weird mood right now and she's got her headphones on, so I doubt she heard anything." Ruby says before squawking indignantly as she's poked in the side by headphones wearing older sister.

"I'm pretty sure the whole building heard your Rubes. You weren't very quiet after all," Yang chuckles, before wrapping an arm around your side to slide into the impromptu group hug. "It's good to see you though Uncle Qrow. You would not believe the day we've had."

"I can take a guess. Anyway, while I would like to stick around and catch up, I do have something I need to talk to you two about that I'd prefer not to say while out in a hall. The acoustics aren't all that great out here and all that." Both of the girls blink and glance at each other at that, before Yang turns back to you with a quirked eyebrow.

"I mean, you can come in sure. Probably won't have a lot of time to talk in private here since Blake and Weiss should be here in a bit but I'm sure they won't mind you being here." Ruby nods at that but glances up at you with a curious and somewhat worried look in her eyes.

"What's up though Uncle Qrow? This isn't anything bad, is it?"

You sigh again – for the twenty second time? Twenty third? You've lost count at this point honestly – before patting Ruby's head in a comforting manner. "Honestly Ruby, it depends on your definition of bad. It's definitely…not something that I thought I would discover today, that's for damn sure."

Yang tilts her head at that, before shrugging as she lets go of you to walk back into their dorm room. "Well, you might as well come in then. I'm sure whatever you're worried about can't be that bad."

'You have no idea kid.' You think to yourself, before walking in with Ruby, who was still attached to you in a tight embrace, in tow. Idly, you gently pry the small girl off you and set her down near what you assume to be her bed, before walking over to one of the free chairs and plopping down heavily. "Well like I said, it depends on your definition," you say as you scratch your chin. You glance at the two girls for a long moment, before continuing. "Anyway, before we get into the not fun stuff I heard that you met some interesting folks today, yeah?"

Yang gave you an – understandably – odd look at that, but Ruby was quick to reply, "Oh yeah you mean the big group with Mister Trainwreck and his 'Boss'? They were kind of weird but Mister Trainwreck's armor was super cool and I've never seen anything like it it was so much more modular than Crescent Rose but it was steam powered and I've never seen anyone use steam like that oh and his Boss just instantly destroyed like hundreds of Grimm at once but her naming sense could be a bit better I mean who names something 'Kill everything in that general direction' there's just no soul in that name at all and so bori– GAH! Hey!"

"Yeah you mean those guys with the weird 'alien' girl with the hat right? Their 'Boss' or whatever," Yang says, ignoring the indignant cry of her sister who was just the victim of pillow assault. "Interesting isn't really the word I'd use for them, but they helped us out a ton yeah. Why do you ask?"

You hum in thought for a bit, leaning back and glancing up at the ceiling to avoid the blonde's suspicious gaze as you figure out how the fuck you're gonna break it to them that they have a long lost sister that they never knew about because of a certain sister of yours. A certain irresponsible and selfish sister that apparently thought that it would be a great idea to never let her family actually know she exists–

"Uncle Qrow? Your aura is…" Ruby trails off, knocking you from your thoughts as you glance at her questioningly, before looking down to see that your aura wavering in agitation from how tightly you clenched your fist. You slowly take a deep breath in, unclenching your fist as you try to calm yourself down and exhale softly. You send an apologetic glance to Ruby and the equally worried looking Yang.

"Sorry kids, it's just…you know what, to hell with it. Might as well rip the band-aid off." Taking another deep breath in to steady yourself, you look at Yang and Ruby. "So you remember that girl with the hat right? That killed all of those Grimm?" At their uncertain nods of affirmation you continue. "That girl's name is Taylor and well, congratulations girls. You have a long lost sister."

"What." Ruby and Yang say.

"What." You hear two muffled voices say.

A few things happened in the next moment or so.

You watched as both Yang and Ruby alternated between states of visible confusion and disbelief. You watched as Yang lowered her head in thought, fists clenching at her sides slowly. You watched Ruby glance at her sister in concern before forcing herself to chuckle in obviously faked amusement.

"That's a good one, right Uncle Qrow. Not…the best joke you could've told but points for the attempt at shock humor I guess," she says, giving you the brightest and fakest smile you've seen from her in a while.

You ignore it, instead looking at the silent Yang. "The first time you saw her, how did she look to you? Coming out of that portal with that katana was familiar, wasn't it? Kind of reminds you of someone, I'd imagine," You state more than ask. You both know who you're talking about after all.

And by how you can see your niece's hair go from a golden blonde to a slowly flickering flame, you know that your words have had the intended response.

"B-but they said that they were aliens! And Mr. Trainwreck said that he's actually a mass of tentacles or something under his power armor, and I've never heard of a faunus like that…" Ruby trails off, glancing nervously between you and the silently fuming Yang. "O-oh! She also called that older guy with her dad a lot so it's possible that you might just be mistaken right?" At this point she looks at you with pleading eyes, as if begging you to not talk about this anymore.

You file that bit of information away because you didn't know that tidbit before – gotta see who this 'Dad' of Taylor's is. He may not be family but he has to be something to have a kid with Raven – before replying to Ruby. "You've seen pictures of Raven before, right Ruby? Basically an older, dark haired version of your sister with a fondness for black and red and a penchant for weapons of the katana variety. Now compare your sister Yang here with Taylor. While it may not be 100% because genetics are funny like that, you can't tell me that you didn't see an odd resemblance between the two."

"W-well I–" Ruby starts, but Yang interrupts her before she could gather her thoughts.

"How old is she," the blonde says with a calmness that doesn't match the blazing anger that you can see in her blood red eyes.

"…She said she's fifteen, apparently," you eventually say, meeting her piercing glare with a tired, understanding gaze. "Fits all too well for it not to be a possibility, I'd say." After a few moments she nods her head silently before standing up abruptly and walking over to her drawers. Yang jerks them open forcibly, earning a small wince from Ruby as she reaches in and grabs the bracelet form of her weapons and quickly slipping them on her wrists. You watch as she stalks over to the door silently.

"Yang? What's, where are you going with…" Ruby begins to ask, but trails off as she sees her sister activate her gauntlets.

"I need to go hit something," Yang says, before forcing the door open and stalking past her two sheepish looking teammates.

'Well that could've gone better. Then again, it could've gone much worse,' you think to yourself with a sigh.

"…So am I the older one or is she?"

You sigh again. Damn it Raven.

Because while Taylor is garnering amusement from this, a family is having a not so great time considering the concept of them having another member that they had no idea about for 15 years of her life.

And then it turns out that Taylor is related to them through dimensional shenanigans anyway kek.

Last edited: Mar 5, 2022

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KokuenDG

Oct 14, 2021

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Threadmarks Emissary 14.8

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Bowler Hat Guy

Bowler Hat Guy

A Hat & Its Man

Aug 4, 2021

#37,244

[X] Your Master has to admit that Aisha is at least… competent… maybe it's time to actually equip her with something?

[X] You wonder how Mouse Protectors 'vacation' has been going?

[X] Clockblocker (0)

[X] Amy (2)

[X] [Root Access] Aisha

Current Energy: 11

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

Hebert Household, Brockton Bay

You wake up to the sensation of something crawling overtop you. Against your better judgement, or… control… your Master was in such a good mood before going to sleep last night that she all but shoved you into the bed and fell asleep sprawled over you. As always, you are amazed and disturbed by her ability to go to sleep and wake up on command - as though it's merely a switch she can choose to flip on and off at will.

At first, you assume the sensation is the result of your Master waking up, getting her drooling face off your shoulder, and then going to brush her teeth, as is her routine in the morning.

Instead, you crack one eye open to find Nemesis staring back at you, her miniscule form tugging angrily on one of your Masters legs in an attempt to pull her away from you.

"What-" You start to ask only to clamp your mouth shut at the intense stare Nemesis levels at you the minute you make a noise.

The two of you stare at each other for a moment, before the sword opens its mouth.

"You stay outta this." She hisses at you, before abruptly returning to her erstwhile physical activity.

It is worth noting, at this point, that your Master is sprawled across your midsection in an entirely haphazard fashion, with her head laying on your left shoulder, her torso bent at a bizarre and frankly uncomfortable looking angle in the space between your extended left arm and body, one of her knees pinning your right arm to the bed, and the other leg splayed at an angle away from the rest of you, dangling partially off the bed.

Thus, Nemesis is effectively trying to drag your Master onto the floor - you glance at the clock on the nearby wall - fourty minutes before her typical waking hour.

Grunting at the strange behaviour, you shift your right arm to get it under both your Masters legs, then sit up and gently place her - still asleep - on the bed next to you.

"So what-" You begin to ask only to be cut off.

"I said stay out of it!" Nemesis hisses at you, like an angry cat. You lift an eyebrow in her direction, and watch with curiosity as she clambers over you to get onto the bed herself, push your Master onto her back, then crawling onto her chest, where she pins your Masters arms to her sides with her knees, rears back-

And headbutts your Master so hard that Taylor instantly snaps awake, her senses immediately snapping to your point of view as she takes over your vision in an attempt to determine what is happening even a fraction of a second faster than it would be to actually just open her eyes.

Ofcourse, because your Master views your point of view anytime she sleeps and you do not, once her rational mind reasserts itself she pauses in her sudden attempt to - in all likelihood - kill everything in the room with her.

"Nemesis what the f-heck!?" Taylor cries out in dismay, scrambling up against the headboard of the bed and sending the younger girl tumbling backwards.

"I told you! I told you not to do it but you did anyway!" The sword complains heatedly, scrabbling upright where she lands and then charging across the bed to try and drop kick your master in the face.

It doesn't work, but the sight is certainly something you aren't sure you will ever be able to forget.

"Oh come on! I didn't fight shit! It was just easier to carry her that way!" Taylor immediately fires back, rolling to the side - directly over you in fact - and avoiding the drop kick by swiftly tumbling off the side of the bed and onto the floor.

"I still don't know what-" You start to ask only for Nemesis to use your chest as a launch pad to leap from in an attempt to… you think she was going to try and claw your Master's eyes out, which is just a bit more violent than you are willing to tolerate at this hour.

Thus, before she can complete the jump, you swiftly snatch her by one leg, then fling her back the way she came - onto the bed next to you. There is a pause in the frenetic movement around you, with Taylor coming out of a roll that would have seen her avoiding Nemesis' attack only for her to turn and find the sword spirit well away from her.

"...What is going on?" You say tiredly. Your current emulation has both seen and experienced some of the worst humanity has to offer. He has fought in wars, helped overthrow a tyrant, and depending on the exact definition one was using, had at one point attempted to fist fight what amounted to god on high.

And despite not personally living those experiences, you feel that every ounce of how tired he was with all the fighting was very clear in your question.

Nemesis, perhaps seizing on the opportunity to get a third party involved in the argument before it occurs to your Master to even try, immediately turns to you with large tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

"Emmy! She- she used another weapon! That's not fair! I hate it! I'm her weapon!" Nemesis begins to cry to you, loudly, wetly, and while scrabbling over to hang off your neck from in your lap like a scared child.

Which is really quite at odds with her murder attempts from several seconds ago.

"First off you little psycho, I just said I didn't even get into a fight with her!" Taylor complains again, standing and shaking her hair out of her face.

"But you introduced her and everything! You were all like, 'Pow, I killed all your problems and will kill you too, and here's my awesome weapon that is also a girl'! You didn't even mention me!" Nemesis wails, burying her face in your chest.

You are… incredibly unsure how you feel about this. From a certain perspective, at least, if Nemesis is to be believed, they are both your Master. Hm.

"Stop crying you tiny narcissistic demon! I know you're just trying to get him on your side!" Taylor grouses, walking over to try and yank the sword spirit off of you in annoyance. It doesn't quite work however, as she holds tightly to your neck as she is lifted away.

"Emmy! Come on! What if she suddenly started using some other weird aliens powers!" Nemesis cries out in distress.

You pause to think about it for a second. For one thing, you already evicted Queen Administrator from its chosen host because you liked her more. The idea of Taylor somehow bonding to another shard is-

"I would eat them." You admit freely, stretching your hands up to retake Nemesis from your Master, who shoots you a betrayed look.

"See!? She's bad and wrong and I'm right and cute!" Nemesis emphasizes, sticking her tongue out at your Master as she returns to clinging to you. You turn a stony gaze towards your Master, suddenly much more in tune with the sword's point of view.

"Oh come on!" Taylor yells, throwing her hands up in the air as if to say 'I give up'.

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

The Heap, Brockton Bay

The rest of the morning goes about the way it usually does, barring a few exceptions. Rather than choose to train or meditate, your Master spends the bulk of the morning sulking while Nemesis rides around on your back like a limpet, smugly staring down at Taylor periodically while devouring a bowl of cereal that rests precariously atop your head like a living - unwilling - table.

Mem and Mun awaken not too much later, the former with ease and grace, and the latter with great ire and annoyance at being awoken so early on a weekend. Most of your little family eats breakfast, prepares for the day, and then as a group - travels by Gap to the Trainwrecks garage, the customary entry point for your Master.

Ofcourse, today proves to be somewhat less than lucky for your Master, because what she arrives too is not the peaceful slumbering form of Trainwreck during his midmorning nap.

"Come on, you owe me!" A shrill voice screeches the minute you enter the area.

"It's eight in the fucking morning! All I owe you is an ass whooping for waking me up, and the only reason I ain't is cus you'd make it fucking weird!" A male voice returns.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm a proper lady doing my best with what I have! I'm trying to live my best life you jackass! Come on!" The female voice - which you've now identified as Aisha's - returns.

"I'm not making you a fucking chainsaw! You're fucking thirteen!" Trainwreck spits.

At this point, you, your Master, Mem, and Mun, have turned to stare quizzically at the duo, neither of whom have noticed your presence due to their arguing. Trainwreck is holding Aisha in the air by the back of her shirt, dangling her several feet away from one of the weapons on his walls that she is even now desperately reaching out for.

"Just let me borrow one! Come on I've got plans and shit man!" Aisha complains.

"I feel like I'm going to be afraid to ask but - what plans?" Taylor finally jumps, making your group's presence known.

"None of your business!" Aisha spits out far too quickly.

"I believe this is in relation to a previous request to 'hang out' after school, in order to participate in Parahuman activities." Mem notes aloud.

"Why are you such a narc!" Aisha cries out in dismay.

"I do not know what that is." The white haired girl admits freely.

"It means you betrayed the gang and I'm gonna steal your lunch snack tomorrow." Mun states with malicious glee. Mem pouts at this before responding.

"I did not 'narc' on you then. You did not actually say you wished to patrol with us - your exact words were that you wished to 'hang out - violently'. I merely inferred the context. I do not believe it is fair to censure me for this without informing me that it is a secret." Mem corrects instantly, frowning.

"Jesus chri- Birdbrain control your sister for shit sake!" Aisha yells in frustration.

"'Kay first off, I'm not taking the codename Birdbrain.

Second-" Mun starts to wind up, clearly about to burst into a tirade.

"Okay, everyone shut up for a second while I try to make sure I understand this right." Taylor says flatly, instantly silencing the kids.

"You all planned on going on a patrol." She states more than asks, earning nods from all present.

"And you weren't going to tell me." There are yet more nods.

"…and I don't suppose I could convince you not to go?" She tries, earning blank looks from the children - who clearly don't want to lie, but likewise, don't want to agree either.

"…can you take Trainwreck with you?" Taylor eventually asks.

"Boss!" Trainwreck cries out in protest.

"This is your fault! You let her steal the first chainsaw!" Taylor hisses back at him.

"Actually, M-m-" Mem begins to say then gets caught on the second word as though she isn't quite sure how to say it.

This is not a problem Mun has.

"Yo Mom, we don't want help." The bird girl counters for her erstwhile sister. Taylor visibly shivers in confusion at the word, and seems so overtly thrown off that she is temporarily left speechless.

Neither of the girls has actually directly referred to her as their Mother before - despite the fact that in a very real sense, she did birth them.

You imagine it must be somewhat overwhelming.

"Yeah! As the leader of the team I gotta put my foot down on that one!" Aisha calls out from where she is still dangling from Trainwrecks extended arm.

That snaps Taylor out of it, and she quickly turns to Mem.

"Memory, you're the responsible one so you're in charge." Taylor immediately states, brooking no argument by way of her tone and expression. Her acceptance of their decision brings a smile to Aisha's face that Taylor is quick to put a stop to.

"And! Nobody is going anywhere until I make Aisha a weapon that will make sure she doesn't get killed. Trainwreck put her down, I'm gonna need you for this. Mem, how good are you with engraving runes?" Taylor rattles off, quickly pulling her hair back and tying it behind her head with her ribbon and stalking into the mess of mechanical parts strewn about the garage.

The force of her declaration is such that it takes a couple moments for everyone else to catch up with what she has said, after which, all present begin to scramble after her.

"My birthday is totally coming up soon! Just saying!" Mun squawks as she races behind your Master.

"I'm going to be following them invisibly the whole time they're patrolling, aren't I?" You ask in a resigned tone. You don't strictly mind. Your shared origin with Mem as a nonhuman being slowly getting the gist of humanity leaves you with a sense of kinship with her not unlike a little sister. You would - probably - kill everyone in a five block radius if someone killed her.

So it's obviously for the best that it never happens.

"Absolutely, yes." Your Master admits freely over your mental link, as her tattoos become visible and she begins to use alchemy to transmute the loose metal in the room into something else entirely, all the while discussing specifics with Trainwreck, Mem, and Aisha.

"Ah, um. Yo?" A voice calls to your Master, interrupting her in her inspection of a tube of metal that you don't honestly recognize.

Your Master, being the intrepid sort, had very quickly taken to the internet in search of hypothetical materials that science can't synthesize - but that Alchemy absolutely can. Thus, what you are currently looking at is what the internet describes as a 'High Entropy Alloy' - whatever that is.

"Hmm?" Taylor hums in thought, barely glancing away from what she is currently doing with the glistening silver tube of metal in front of her to acknowledge the speaker.

"It's uh, Clockblocker and Dauntless, reporting for uh…" Clockblocker - Dennis, as you know him - asks, turning to the blue clad adult hero who is standing bemusedly behind him.

"What do we do here, actually?" He asks curiously. Dauntless glances at Taylor, who still isn't paying all that much attention, then shrugs.

"Honestly, I think the original goal was to make sure Nexus didn't build a giant castle in the middle of the city to stage a political coup from." He answers sarcastically.

"Ship kinda sailed on that one huh?" Clockblocker jokes back.

"That it did." Dauntless admits shamelessly before taking over.

"Anyway, we're swapping out for your previous liaison, I hope the short notice isn't too much trouble." He apologizes to your Master who grunts at him before going still and looking up owlishly at the duo.

"Hey Clock. Dauntless. Sorry, let me just clean this up and I'll show you around." Taylor says, leaning away from the piles of parts and scrap metal surrounding her. Despite being covered in oil and sweat, she nonetheless manages to cut a pretty figure as she does so, and Clockblocker visibly gulps as she stretches. Your Master either doesn't care, doesn't notice, or far more likely, isn't capable of connecting the reaction with herself for some bizarre reason.

Regardless she stands up and pads over to the two.

"I'm trying to synthesize a metamaterial that can hold up to a certain minimum power flow through it but it's tough going." She says in answer to the unasked question of what exactly she was doing in the first place.

Lazily she lifts the goggles around her neck up to eye level, and resettles them on her nose as glasses.

"Oh. That's…. Tinkery sounding? I dunno how I'd deal with your powers. They sound complicated. Mine is a lot simpler - just freezing stuff." Clockblocker admits freely.

"I think it's neat. If you were a more violent guy you'd be super dangerous. It'd be nice to be able to just lockdown anything I… touched." Taylor pauses, turning to stare at Clockblocker in a way that makes the boy freeze in place, like a mouse that has been spotted by a cat.

Slowly, she stretches her arms out to lay loosely across Clockblocker's shoulders, and one could easily be forgiven for assuming she was about to passionately embrace him.

Then her hands snapped up to grab the sides of his head and began shaking him.

"You're a genius! Come here, do your thing to this for me!" She orders him, letting go of his head and maneuvering behind him to bodily shove him toward her project for the day.

"I would like it on record that I am acting under duress!" Clock calls out jokingly behind him as Dauntless observes with amusement.

"I'm barely touching you!" Taylor fires back, prodding him in the back with a finger and then pointing at the object she wants him to freeze.

"…you're a lady so I won't make the obvious joke here." Clock deadpans back at her, reaching out to tap the metal tube with one hand.

"And yet, you made me think of the dirty joke anyway. Truly, a master of your craft." Taylor sighs in mock amazement.

Then the two start laughing and snorting like pigs.

A few hours and several failed attempts to force permanence on the effect Clockblocker generates later, you and your Master find yourselves on the roof of the castle in the mid afternoon sun. It isn't the highest point in the castle - that distinction goes to the roof of the wizard tower jutting out of the building next to you - but it is the location of the pigeon coops.

Pigeon coops that look distinctly different from the last time you saw them.

"When the hell did this happen?" Taylor asks no one in particular - more throwing the question into the void than actually requesting an answer.

Before you - where there used to be what amounted to a fairly large shed with shelves and weatherproofing for pigeons to huddle in - is what you can only reasonably describe as a bird mansion.

It… it literally looks like a small house. Well. Small by your standards. The construction is easily twice the size of the original shed, and would be downright palatial to the average pigeon - which probably explains the sheer number if the things sticking their heads curiously out the windows of the building to examine your Master as she draws closer.

"Hey, woodworking is a fun hobby. Should try it sometime." A voice lazily calls out in answer to your Masters question, and as one you turn to find Mouse Protector lying lazily in a beach chair, wearing a black bikini and sipping an alcoholic drink while she basks in the sun overhead. A pigeon whose coloring is suspiciously similar to a butler's suit and tie cocks its head at you from where it is standing at attention on an arm of the chair.

It's fairly obvious that Mouse Protector is tanning up here - reading a book and drinking it looks like - but the fact that she is doing all this while still wearing her helmet makes the entire thing somehow entirely surreal to observe.

"Okay but… why?" Taylor asks in stark confusion.

Mouse Protector lifts her head from her seat - showing that she is for some reason wearing sunglasses over her helmet - and extends an accusatory finger towards your Master.

"Hey, what do you think Mouse Protector stands for? Gotta look out for the little guy. And what are pigeons besides flying rats?" She points out before pausing and tilting her head towards the nearby pigeon on her chair with her.

"No offence Jeeves." She apologizes, and the Pigeon dips its head in acknowledgement before bowing slight to your Master as she approaches.

"…I made them sapient by mistake, didn't I." Taylor surmises quickly.

"I dunno. Jeeves, make cute pigeon noises if you think this swimsuit makes me look fat." Mouse asks in complete seriousness.

The bird notably stops making anything that could even vaguely be considered intentional noise as it turns one gimlet eye on her.

"Yeah, they know better than to fall for the trap - they're sapient." Mouse jokes.

"Are you… ever socially appropriate?" Taylor sighs.

"Are you?" She fires back, which draws your Master up short - because not only does your Master suck in social situations, she actively portrays herself as markedly more of a space case than she actually is in order to put people at ease.

"How are you enjoying your vacation?" Taylor swiftly asks, immediately changing the subject.

"Eh. Can't complain. Bunch of working boys in tight shirts running around the place all day, nice accommodations. Could use less bird shit though." Mouse quips.

You and your Master both look around, finding a pristine looking rooftop and a disgruntled looking pigeon glaring at Mouse.

"Okay well. They're weirdly hygenic for pigeons so that last thing isn't really a problem either." Mouse admits lazily when the 'Jeeves' hops onto her helmet and then bends over bodily to stare her in the face for the comment.

There is a moment of pleasant quietness, which your Master chooses to break by speaking again.

"Hey uh…. Jeeves, is it? I need some people looked after. I've got a few pictures here so-" Taylor begins but is cut off when the pigeon makes a loud cooing noise that draws one of its compatriots out of the large bird house.

Said pigeon is, among many other things, mottled grey and black, and has a tiny green helmet on, looking as though it was taken directly from a GI Joe toy. You have no idea how the thing stays in place, but given that these are magic pigeons, you're willing to just ignore it for the moment.

"Uh." Taylor boggles as the… soldier pigeon… lands gently on her outstretched arm like the finest hunting falcon to have ever been birthed. Jeeves snaps off a quick… avian… salute to his compatriot, before returning to whatever service he was providing Mouse Protector.

Blessedly, 'exceedingly weird shit' is pretty par for the course for your Master, so she rapidly restrains her sense of wonder in favour of getting on with business.

"At…ease?" She puts forth when the Pigeon maintains an uncomfortable looking salute towards her for a second too long. It immediately snaps its wing down and turns its head to stare at her.

"…There are four girls who will be patrolling independently in the near future. I need you to comb the area around their school for anything strange then report back so I can make sure they don't get into too much trouble." She explains, holding up pictures of Mem, Mun, Dinah, and Aisha - then indicating the location of the building in question.

The pigeon examines each image in turn, before cooing once, bowing, and hopping away to disappear into the bird house.

Two minutes later, a flock of pigeons emerges from the building, and takes off in a suspiciously organized formation that rapidly and deliberately appears to dissolve into a random collection of pigeons.

Taylor stares blankly after then for what seems to you to be an oddly long time, then stalks back over to Mouse Protector.

"…that definitely happened." She says aloud, as though to convince herself.

"Oh so your power weirds you out as much as everyone else? That's oddly comforting." Mouse teases, lifting a hand to stroke Jeeves' chin, which he appears to appreciate.

"Do you actually need comforting?" Taylor asks abruptly, plopping down next to the woman. It could have been a joke, but the tone and body language involved indicate it clearly isn't.

"On my vacation? Why would you even-" Mouse asks in a clearly fake cheery tone of voice.

"You did it for me." Taylor answers before Mouse can finish deflecting.

"…you are an annoyingly sharp kid." Mouse grumbles at you.

"Only when it's the most inconvenient for you specifically. I'm told I'm kind of an airhead otherwise." Taylor responds easily, tacking on; "So, wanna talk about it?"

"Nope." Is Mouse's succinct reply. She makes a popping noise on the 'p', just to be extra annoying about it.

"But we had a moment and everything!" Taylor complains.

"And you, a teenager, asking me, a grown woman, if I was okay was exactly the kick in the pants I needed to get over myself! See, you helped!" Mouse says cheerfully, popping to a standing position.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I just got a really good idea for a come back!" She cheers maliciously.

"Wai-" Taylor manages to get out before Mouse is simply… gone.

"Sometimes that woman is insufferable." Your Master grouses.

You refrain from pointing out that, to everyone else, your Master behaves almost the exact same way as Mouse Protector.

"What do we do now? Back to work?" You ask curiously.

"No, I gotta make sure none of these birds have super cancer or something. I didn't mean for them to be this smart, so there's no telling what else I did by mistake. I should probably look into paying them somehow too." She harrumphs, quickly withdrawing her cellphone and lifting it to her ear.

There is a brief pause and then-

"Heeeyy Amy. Look, this is gonna sound really weird but uh, how do you feel about mutant pigeons?" Taylor winces and pulls the phone away from her ear as Amy's voice rises to be loud enough that you can hear it from where you are standing.

"Mutant what!?"

"I swear to god Taylor, this better be the most awkward possible way to ask for me to make your boobs bigger or something because-" Amy growls as she steps through the Gap onto the roof with you, freezing in place when she comes face to face with every pigeon living in on the Heap.

As it turns out, that number is significantly higher than anyone could have possibly expected, since the Heaps 'bigger on the inside' properties appear to have extended to the bird house somehow.

"No Amy, you absolute bitch, I do not, in fact, want you to do anything to my body." Taylor says in a deadpan voice, from where she is just barely visible under a carpet of cooing pigeons.

Amy flinches slightly, then, still examining the situation, her eye begins to twitch subtly.

"So when you said 'mutant pigeons'..." She trails off with barely restrained annoyance.

"I meant, 'help, I accidentally made the pigeon population of the city sapient, and now I need to make sure they don't have magic cancer'." Taylor confirms.

"Taylor. You can be kind of a ditz sometimes, so I'm afraid to ask but- can these things breed?" Amy asks pointedly.

"...maybe?" Taylor answers after a second to think about it.

"Ma- are you- why would you-" Amy splutters, her face turning red with rage as she stomps forward amidst the squawks of pigeons who just barely manage to get out of her way on time. When she reaches your Master, her expression has smoothed out into an entirely calm one, as though she were chiseled directly from stone itself. Then she reaches into the mass of birds and - with a strength that seems to defy her slight frame - yanks your Master to her feet, leaving her hand wrapped around your Master's shoulder tightly enough that the faint glitter of aura splutters beneath it.

"Hebert. Explain." She demands flatly.

"Okay well, at first I enchanted them to look out for stuff for me, you know? Like, to patrol so I didn't have to?" Taylor offers nervously, carefully lifting a hand to try and push Amy's grasping claw off her only to have the hand firmly grasped by Amy's other hand.

"AND?" Amy hisses. Your Master flinches slightly at the intense look in the freckled girl's face then smiles sheepishly at her.

"So well. That worked out really well for me so I uh… enchanted them… more?" Taylor offers carefully.

Amy stares at your Master like she may have just encountered the stupidest person she was ever likely to meet.

"To be clear. These are normal pigeons. If I touch one, it will be a normal pigeon and not a fully sapient biotinker creation capable of breeding indefinitely. They're smart because of your power and nothing else." Amy asks for clarification.

"...If I say yes, will you ease up?" Taylor asks carefully.

"No, because you're still an amazingly stupid bitch. To the point I genuinely wonder why I- whatever. Bird. Hand. Now." Amy demands pointedly, stepping away from your Master and proffering an open palm towards her.

"...uh… who wants a checkup?" Taylor hesitantly asks, turning towards the mass of pigeons. Unsurprisingly, Jeeves emerges from the group - who are all remarkably unique looking for pigeons once you look closely at them - and flaps his way to landing in a dignified pose on Amy's open palm.

Amy briefly purses her lips, squints at the creature, and sighs in relief.

"Alright. Normal pigeon. That's… good." She says, her arm dropping to her side fast enough that Jeeves squawks in protest at the sudden need for his wings.

"Geeze, you are scary when you want to be huh?" Taylor muses with a sigh of relief of her own.

"I don't wanna hear that from you, Hebert." Amy growls irately back at her. Taylor raises her hands in surrender before walking closer to the healer.

"So, what's going on in Amy land?" she asks curiously.

"Amyland is closed and hasn't had any visitors since its inception." Amy returns, eyeing Mouse Protectors abandoned beach chair with interest.

"Ah, there's the bitch I know and love. Do you even have hobbies or is it all just school, work, school again for you?" Taylor asks with some amusement.

"I see you sometimes too." Amy answers lamely.

"...I seriously don't understand how we have such similar social lives when you were a celebrity for so much longer than me." Taylor notes aloud.

"I'm picky about my friends." Amy answers moodily before changing topics. "Look I can't check literally all of these birds for…" she trails off with a frown.

"Super Cancer." Taylor supplies in a sing-song voice.

"Not a real thing." Amy answers in a similar tone.

"Can you at least check out enough of them that you have a general idea of their health? I mean, as a species?" Taylor asks finally.

"They're pigeons, Taylor. They're literally as healthy as it's possible for pigeons to be. Actually, that's a lie, they're like weightlifting pigeons. So healthier than that." Amy says bluntly.

"How-" Taylor asks curiously, earning a grouchy look from Amy who points at her feet, which are devoid of shoes or socks, and are instead sticking out of two brown slippers. Around her uncovered ankles, dozens of Pigeons bustle back and forth, many of them brushing against her in passing as they clear the area. Realizing that Amy was probably relaxing at home when she called, your Master finally takes a moment to take in the fact that her healer friend is dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a sweater that is entirely too big for her, it's sleeves extending well past her hands when not pushed up.

"Huh." Taylor mumbles before her expression brightens maliciously, instantly making Amy wary.

"Aw, Amy, you do care! I knew that in that shriveled blackened heart of yours you had a spark of love and compassion!" Taylor cheers, earning an eye roll from the healer.

"Yeah, yeah. Drop by the Hospital more often. It gets boring hanging out there alone." She gripes, angling her head away from your Master.

"Yeah I'll try. You know me. Busy busy." Taylor says airily.

"Please, you spend all your time doing barely comprehensible wizard shit. You're like Myrddin but less sane and more cute." Amy grumbles.

Taylor freezes on the spot, as though struck by a bolt of lightning, and begins vibrating on the spot, earning a wide eyed look of terror from Amy.

"Wait I didn't mean-" She instantly moves to correct herself, but it's too late. Your Master has an idea.

"Why haven't I ever met Myrddin?!" She yells in excitement.

And your Masters ideas are rarely something that can be stopped.

Current Omake Points: 28

Kingell26 wants to purchase Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting I for 5 Points

Brockton Bay and its environs become inflicted with a small percentage of animals that display disturbingly high levels of intelligence. And Kung Fu.

[ ] Kingell26/Yes

[ ] Kingell26/No

Tomorrow is School again - choose two.

[ ] Begin Training (Choose a Skill or Power)

[ ] Complete Training (Choose a Skill or Power) Costs 10 Energy

[ ] Patrol The City (Choose a target area: The Docks, Downtown, Uptown) (Choose two people to come with you: Victoria, Gallant, Triumph, Aspirant, Trainwreck, Jess, Danny, Mem, Oliver)

[ ] Have Taylor take some time out to fortify the Heap with Onmyoudo.

[ ] ...Could you start a parahuman training school? You could at least look into some candidates... (Choose one: Dojo Students, Dockworkers, Panda Gang, Police)

[ ] Hypothetically, your Master doesn't mind Vicky's offer of a blind date with some boy she's never met before...

[ ] Hypothetically, your Master doesn't mind Vicky's offer of a blind date with some girl she's never met before…

[ ] Take Time Off (Pick an Extra Social)

[ ] Write-In

It's the end of Emissary! Choose Two (2) Interludes!

[ ] Jeeves

[ ] Munin

[ ] Unnamed Fallen

[ ] Trollo

[ ] Victoria

A/N: Usual disclaimers apply more than usual. Write on phone. Very tired. Type not good. Forgive bad writing of language. *monkey with a typewriter noises*

Last edited: Aug 4, 2021

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Bowler Hat Guy

Aug 4, 2021

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Threadmarks Interlude: Jeeves

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Bowler Hat Guy

Bowler Hat Guy

A Hat & Its Man

Aug 5, 2021

#37,414

"In the beginning, we were nothing but base animals!" Cried the chaplain. He was old - nearly sixteen - and his stilted waddle about the rooftop was proof positive that he had either been really lucky - or really good - to survive that long. Whichever it was, he had clearly survived some harrowing shit.

Which is why all the squabs loved to listen to the jackass talk. There was a certain 'realness' to everything he said. As though any effort to contradict him would require - at bare minimum - for the other party to have experienced just as much or more as the old man.

Jeeves had never had that problem, but at this point in his life, it could probably be argued that he had seen some shit, which annoyed him to no end.

"Even after she came, we were still lesser. We knew enough to know that we did not know! We knew only what was required of us for the mission!" The Chaplain continued. Jeeves cringed and did his best to shield himself from what he knew would happen next.

"For the mission!" The squabs cried out on que.

"I was there at the beginning. All of senior command was there! We faced countless trials! We fought many battles! We toppled Gods using only our talons, our guts, and our fearless drive to achieve The Mission!" The Chaplain cooed, gesticulating wildly with his extended head and neck, and expanding his wings to show the injury on the right one.

The one that ended his career as a flier.

"For the mission!" The squabs cried out, clearly not understanding the suffering, and sacrifice inherent in what they were giving themselves to. Of what they so desperately pined after. They extended their own mostly featherless wings in poor imitations of a true salute, and a wave of mostly yellow wings sprung up, enough to almost block his view of the Chaplain had he not been much larger than all the children present.

These squabs… they couldn't have been more than a couple of days old. Jeeves couldn't help but feel like this just wasn't what they should be doing right now. They should be running around slamming into walls like the annoying pests they were. Not… this.

But well, he supposed that was why he was here in the first place.

"And when we had achieved enough, she blessed us again! We were risen! We were given Knowledge, and Power! We were made her Angels, that we may smite her enemies, and guide her lessers to safety! We were made her Demons, that we may torment her opponents! We. Are!" The Chaplain all but screamed.

In truth, it wasn't like that at all, and most of high command knew that. Sure, Jeeves was as devoted to her as any other good pigeon, but the truth of the matter was, she hadn't given them anything but an opportunity. An avenue to something greater. It was less uplifting and more a quid pro quo. And Jeeves had spent every day of his early career doing his damndest to pay back that uneven bargain. He wasn't ungrateful. He wasn't stupid. But they had taught themselves how to be organized through magazines and television shows, glimpsed through darkened windows. They had an innate knowledge of her words, whenever she spoke to them - but they did not know english. They did not know how to organize, or what to do most of the time at all. Back in his day, they were just crying kids, desperately trying to find meaning and guidance in a world that was suddenly much more scary for their understanding of it.

So yeah, he loved her as much as anyone else. But he didn't think she was an all loving being, or an all knowing one. He did consider their relationship symbiotic. They did stuff for her, and in return they were sheltered in her coop. No predators could approach them here. No human dared attack them. They were fed, healthy, and safe. There were three times as many squabs around as he could remember surviving back… before.

And that, he would fight to protect.

Jeeves got so lost in his own thoughts on the matter that he barely even noticed when Chaplain finished his pontification, nor did he notice when the preacher ushered the squabs away to be cared for by whatever squad was on that duty today.

He did notice when Chaplain shocked him from his reverie by speaking to him.

"So, what can I do for you today Ace?" Chaplain asked him in a seemingly pleasant tone.

"Don't-! Don't call me that. I'm not an Ace anymore." He bit out. Chaplain knew this. Jeeves knew he knew this.

"Of course you are! Why, if you would just return to your god given mission I'm sure-" Chaplain began, so Jeeves cut him off by swatting him in the side of the head with a wing. It wasn't as hard as he could have hit the other man, but he wasn't trying to hurt him. Just shut him up.

"Do not. Call me that." He seethed.

As one might expect from airborn creatures, his kind had been immediately drawn to any kind of media explaining how her kind did battle in the skies. They had very quickly hit upon the fact that flyers who took out enough enemies were dubbed 'Aces'. The greats. The warriors of the skies.

The most prolific murderers their kind had to offer.

He much preferred Jeeves. 'One Who Served Others'. He thought it was much more fitting for what he wanted to do with his life, now that he had finished his service. He still had to run missions of course - they all did - but only the squads saw regular combat. Jeeves much preferred reconnaissance and surveillance to what he was doing before.

Not that Chaplain saw it that way. Not that any of them saw it that way. His superiors, they all saw his behaviour as disgraceful. As though his dislike of the mission - no matter how gruesome - made him a monster somehow. A deviant.

Sometimes, he even thought they might be right.

But if that was the case, then he couldn't be the only one. He had seen things during the Pipe Wars. Let a rage and a fury overtake him that had him leading his team further and further into those dark dank expanses, hunting creatures that shouldn't exist. Things that mocked her form, and tormented her people when they hid in the dark and the wet places.

Jeeves hadn't even realized that he had pushed too far until he was the only one left.

Ironically, he was lauded a hero for that one. Even though he really didn't feel like one.

"As you wish Jeeves." Chaplain replied with a flutter of his wings and slight puffing up. It was the human equivalent of a dismissive eye roll - not that anyone but he really understood that. While everyone else was busy trying to find bigger and better ways to kill each other, Jeeves had been studying. Learning. He understood the nuance of human behaviour and expression better than any other Pigeon.

And he planned to take advantage of that.

"So. What do you want, if not to return to her light?" Chaplain asked grouchily. He never liked being told to shut up - even when he really should.

"I'm putting together a team." Jeeves said immediately, driving straight to the point.

"Of what, cowards?" Chaplain sneered at him.

"No. We're going about this all wrong. You want us to do her bidding? Then we have to help her people - not just smite her enemies, which, by the way, she's perfectly capable of doing on her own." Jeeves insisted.

"Heresy!" Chaplain spat, rearing up to try and and spear him through the heart with a talon. Chaplain was never the best flyer, but get the guy in close combat and he was a monster. Jeeves didn't wait for him to finish the maneuver though. He wrote that manual. Thus, before he could be attack, he flapped his powerful wings, using just a tiny bit of the allotted power he got from the Great Coop, and blowing the preacher away with a gust of wind. Before the other man could get up, he sprinted over to him, not wasting the time required to get airborne - a rookie mistake - and stomped one of his feet over Chaplains neck, not hard enough to kill him, but definitely hard enough to let him know that what he said next would decide if the Dove's were gonna get involved or not.

"Listen, you raised me, so I'll let that go - but you shut up and you listen to me. I'm starting a new wing. I'm gonna find the best of her kind, and I'm gonna nurture them. I'm gonna smooth the way. I'm gonna glide into heaven knowing I left her an army." Jeeves said, his crooning shifting into a pitch he had rarely had occasion to use since losing his squad and refusing command of another.

"So are you in, or are you out?" He finished, stepping away and letting the other Pigeon rise.

And that is how Jeeves got the clout with High Command to even try his crazy idea. And the very next day, his branch was formed.

The Guardian Angels.

In a building not all that far away, Blasto stared blankly at the sewer grate that should have been disgorging his creations into the lab.

Should being the key word, because for a while now, everything he sent into the sewers died. Or at least, he assumed it died. It certainly never came back, which was as good as dead to him. Worse, actually, because it meant there was evidence he was here just laying around in those tunnels.

Frustrated and tired, he pulled the sewer grate in the basement of his building shut, withdrew a cannabis gummy from his pocket, downed it, and set to the task of growing another batch of foragers.

Honestly, things were supposed to be easier in this bloody city!

A/N: Since I know someone will ask, no the Pigeons can't speak english. But they understand it, and can communicate with each other, so consider this as only understandable because its from Jeeve's perspective.

Last edited: Aug 5, 2021

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Bowler Hat Guy

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