The Force Is Not A Quirk!
Episode V
Ghosts of the Past
It is a time of uncertainty. After the
attack on Hosu the heroes of Japan
find themselves at a loss. The League
of Villains has revealed their ability
to create the monstrous Nomu,
chimeras of flesh that obey only
the commands of their Master!
Meanwhile, despite the Hero
Commission's attempts to cover up
Stain's attack on Endeavor, more
and more heroes are hearing the
whispers that the Number 2 hero
has been paralyzed by the Hero
Killer Stain!
All do what they can to try and
maintain the peace the past generation
fought so hard to create, even as the
next protectors of humanity prepare
to take their spots amongst the greats…
"…and it appears that the Midwest dialect is the most, for a lack of a better term, understandable of all the ones spoken in this country. There are others, of course, that can be understood but because of the way the words are spoken most lifeforms are able to understand them quite well. It also seems to be the dialect that is the most respected while also not being seen as arrogant, at least according to those I have spoken with. My own accent is similar to an English accent, same as yours, and while seen as cultured it can put off others who feel that one is holding themselves to a higher standard than others. Which is, to be perfectly honest, confusing because I would have thought that all would want to hold themselves to as high of a standard as possible. I myself hold myself to a very high standard and I strive to achieve that standard every day-"
"We could just give him over to guys in R&D," Quinlan whispered to Bant. "They have been rather curious about how he works…"
"Except we might end up with an army of him," the healer pointed out, which caused Quinlan to turn several shades paler than was the normal for him at the horrid thought of a thousand Threepios all swarming towards him, complaining about how he was using towels as napkins and how it wasn't proper to eat ice cream right out of the tub.
"Yeah!" Wrecker bellowed from across the room, causing Bant to turn and watch him as he grabbed onto Tech and shook his brother so hard it was a wonder his teeth didn't go flying out. "Ya see that!? Now that was a move! Popped out of no where and drove his throat right into his shoulder!" He turned to the screen and began to count. "1! 2! 3! Pay up!"
"We didn't actually bet anything," Tech pointed out.
"Yeah, Wrecker," Crosshairs said dryly, chewing on his toothpick. "You do realize that the other person has to AGREE to the bet in order for it to be a bet, right?"
"Eh, ya don't know what you're talkin' about!" Wrecker proclaimed with a scoff. But he didn't bother to elaborate, causing Crosshairs to scoff and go back to reading the magazine that held his full attention.
The American Government, as the group had learned their original detainers were called, had been rather nice in getting them a place to settle in once it had become clear that they hadn't meant to end up crashing into Star and Stripe's training area. They had been given a barracks all their own, which only was a bit unusual for Bane since he was used to bunking all on his own. Thankfully they had their own rooms so he didn't have to deal with them when he slept, much to Bant's relief as she worried about waking up to find a shiv pressed to her throat because she had been snorting in her sleep.
Beyond the bedrooms they had a large communal area where they could relax. There were several games that all of them had enjoyed learning how to play, with Stripe (as she had said they could call her to save some time) and her 'boys' often joining them so they could 'teach the aliens pool' or 'ping pong' or 'pinball'. They also had a large tv that the Bad Batch often claimed as their own, flipping through rapidly the channels til they found something they liked before, after a while, getting bored and moving on to something else.
They'd been asked to remain on the military base, something even Bant had, at times, chaffed against as she was curious about the massive world that lay beyond the barracks. But she also understood that it was for as much their own safety as everyone else's. They were strangers to this place and with their ship broken there was little chance of them ever leaving it. Even if they did it sounded as if there was nothing beyond it… it was very likely that it would take a lifetime to find more intelligent life. That meant that the planet, Earth, would be their home for a long while and it wouldn't be good if they made a mistake that made life difficult for any of them. They needed to have this place be a home and not a prison… after all, they wouldn't be able to find anyplace else.
Still… Bant sometimes wished…
The door to the common area opened and Hunter walked in, Omega rushing from behind him and past him, letting out a cry of 'sneak attack!' as she leapt onto Wrecker who laughed and allowed her to 'grab' him.
"Oh, ya got me! Ya got me! I'm goin' down! Hunter, tell my next of kin I love'em!"
"We're your next of kin, Wrecker," Hunter said with a shake of his head.
Crosshairs put down his magazine and Bant was struck yet again at how his Force signature changed in the presence of Omega. While he could be standoffish and arrogant around everyone else when the little female clone was near him he at once perked up, his smiles becoming more genuine.
"Well, what did Hunter teach you today?" Crosshairs asked.
"Had me run the obstacle course blindfolded," Omega replied, rubbing her shin where a bruise was already beginning to form. She, much like all the rest of them, was wearing earthling clothing, with her garments being a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that had Stripe's upper body on it, her curling her arm to show off her muscles and the words 'We Can Do It!' emblazed across it.
It was rather interesting, from a cultural examination, what clothing all of them had selected to wear. Bant herself preferred flowing garments, with loose shirts and billowy pants. Some of their minders had commented that she looked like the hippies of years past and other than their deplorable partaking of drugs Bant had to admit there was a lot about the hippies that she agreed with; when Jeff, one of the cooks, brought her a crown of artificial pflowers to wear she had taken to wearing it often, liking that she could display nature without hurting an innocent plant.
Quinlan had quickly latched onto the 'casual look' that many of Stripe's boys liked when they weren't working. Jeans, boots, tank tops, and a canvas cowboy hat that he loved to lower over his face when he decided to take a nap. He'd also shown a great interest in the tattoos that many of the soliders had though that wasn't new; she wondered how the Council would react if they knew stately and collected Obi Wan had joined her, Quinlan, and Lumaria in getting a tattoo back when they'd all been padawans.
The Bad Batch had proven to be just what one would expect and what one WOULDN'T expect when it came to clothing choices. Crosshairs like loose clothing like her, as it allowed him to move freely. But he also had discovered he rather liked sandals and if he wasn't wearing them then his feet were completely bare. Star and Stripe had mentioned something called a pedicure to him and he had come back the calmest he'd been since she'd met him. Tech just like t-shirts with graphics on them and casual slacks though he tended to get attention with all the different gadgets he'd have on his person. He'd taken to helping repair equipment around the base to make extra money and thus could easily afford to buy things online that he liked. Wrecker loved his muscle shirts but ONLY if they were in pink. He also liked painting his fingernails and toe nails and once she had walked in on him and Stripe discussing if he'd like to try on some lipstick.
Hunter… basically wore what he always wore but in Earth style. Though that didn't stop his brothers from slipping different graphic tees into his laundry so that he would come out forced to wear 'Daddy's Little Princess' shirts.
As for Bane he hadn't bothered to look at the fashion magazines. Which was fine because Stripe had taken a lot of interest in dressing him up, finding western gear that he could modify to his tastes.
'Cad Bane,' Bant thought with a shake of her head. 'The idea that I could consider myself friends with that bounty hunter…' It had been startling how much he had mellowed out since they'd arrived on Earth months ago. Or, at the very least, he hadn't been glaring at them all the entire time they were on the base, clearly thinking of different ways to kill them. 'It's the Quirks… its given him something new to challenge himself against.' Bane, upon learning about Earth, had found himself intrigued with Quirks and how he could deal with them all, often chatting with Tech and Hunter about the best ways to take down this quirk or that.
Quirks.
That had taken them all for a loop.
80% of the population of Earth had a Quirk. And the 20% that did not, that were like most beings Bant had met in the galaxy, were dying out rapidly. One of the base's doctors had been thrilled to find out she was a healer and had been more than willing to swap information with her and had told her that if one broke down the Quirkless nearly 90% of them were over the age of 40. For Earthlings the average lifespan was 70s, with some easily passing 80 to 90 but rarely getting past that. That meant that the birthrate for the quirkless was rapidly falling off.
Quirks.
80% of people had quirks and they were so strange and fantastical that the study of even a select few would take a lifetime. Each Earthling found their body mutating in order for their Quirk to come forth. There were ones that were rather basic and normal… her doctor friend, Braga, had a quirk that let him see the different wavelights, which proved useful in medicine. That was simply his eyes being different from a standard Earthling. There as a mechanic who worked on the jets who had a quirk that allowed him to spit a goo that welded metal together, fusing it so it was like the two pieces had always been one. That was understandable too, at first, until one looked at just how good his spit was at blending the metals.
'Then there are the quirks that simply can't be natural but are,' she thought to herself. There was a guard whose finger nails were made of diamonds. That… that wasn't natural. It shouldn't be biologically possible! And yet she'd seen the medical files (he had given permission; Bant would never destroy doctor/patient confidentiality). 'And Stripe…' she thought. 'Stripe… its like the Force but… not, at the same time. She is able to do things that are impossible. She makes me feel like all those scared locals, whenever I would go to a planet to assist after a battle and they'd tremble in terror as I used the Force… I thought I knew what that was like but…'
General Roddenberry had told them that they were working on falsifying Quirks for all of them to better hide that they were aliens. While no one at the base minded that and in fact were VERY interested in the Force, eventually some politician would come wanting a visit and would ask questions. Her and Quinlan had understood that… after all, they had encountered such things plenty of times during the War, with Senators wanting to tour the Temple and take photos with the 'proud Jedi knights, protecting our Republic'. She and Bane would be listed as Mutant Quirks; she was rather glad that Quirks could so radically alter physical appearances because no one would find her odd or strange if she walked about. And General Roddenberry had said she'd most likely get a water breathing quirk while Bane would get something with his eyes, to explain his aim. Quinlan would most likely claim his psychometry for his Quirk.
As for the Bad Batch… well, they were basically Quirk users already. Wrecker's strength. Hunter's ability to detect electrical signals and his enhanced senses. Tech's enhanced intelligence. Crosshairs' vision. Even Omega could claim greater agility… more than one person had asked her if the girl was a Jedi or not, considering how quickly she was able to move through the training yard the base had set up for all of them to use.
"You had her run it blindfolded?" Crosshairs said, drawing Bant from her thoughts. "What were you thinking? She could have dashed her brains in." While he didn't move from his slouched position on the couch Bant got the sense that if no one was around he would have gathered up Omega and begun cuddling her like a mother Tooka. The sniper was surprisingly protective of his sister.
"We used to run it blindfolded and there was no live fire," Hunter commented.
"Yeah, those were the days!" Wrecker proclaimed, lifting Omega up so she could sit on his lap.
Tech frowned though. "You know I have been talking to many of our new companions and allies and they have me realizing that our adolescence wasn't proper in the slightest."
"Heh, that was your first clue?" Crosshairs said. "Well… how'd you do then, kid?"
"Only the one bruise!" Omega declared. "I got to run it a few times to memorize it… I missed a jump on the final curve and that's why I fell."
"She was impressive," Hunter stated. "Gonna be better than all of us soon."
"'specially cause we'll be withered old men while she'd get to remain in her prime," Crosshairs commented.
"And I told you," Stripe said as she entered with Bane, "we're working on that. We have a baseline for what you are like with the accelerated aging and what you're like without it." Bant shook her head; Stripe had used her quirk to give the command 'Tech does not have accelerated aging' and then had some of the medical personal take readings and the like. They were rather sure they'd be able to create some kind of gene therapy to cure the Bad Batch of the Kaminoins' dark work. "Alright, gather round everyone!" Stripe clapped her hands together. "We have your documents and the like!"
"Alright!" Wrecker declared. "We get ta go outside!"
"She didn't say that," Hunter warned his largest brother before looking at Stripe. "So, what do we have?"
"Names and places of birth and all that," Stripe said with a grin. "So you guys have New Zealand accents so we decided to say you are from Queensland. Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Omega, and Crosshairs Batch."
"Won't that get us unwanted attention, having those names?" Hunter asked. "I mean… Hunter works-"
"Course it does," Crosshairs grumbled.
"-and Crosshairs could be Cross. Wrecker could be Rex, I suppose, but that feels wrong. But Tech? Omega?"
Stripe though waved him off. "No one will question it. New Zealand is a different place…" She trailed off and it became clear she really didn't have a good answer. "Now, Cad is just Cad Bane. Bant, we went with Bant Eerin… same with you, Quinlan. There are a few Voses out there but no one will press you too much on it." She began to hand out packets. "These have your family history… we tried to keep it as close to the truth as possible."
Bant flipped through hers. Both her and Quinlan were orphans, raised together. There were documents about her medical degrees, allowing her to begin practicing medicine right away. That was a nice thing… she had been worried that she'd have to hide her-
"What is that?" Cad said, cutting into her thoughts. He was staring at the TV that was still on, though Omega had muted it when Stripe had come into the common area. The wrestling program they'd been watching was over and it was now the World News…
…and on the screen was a man with a lightsaber.
Cad turned to Stripe. "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't be handing out our tech to anyone." He gestured at his guns, which had been modified to use Earth-based ammo.
"We didn't, I swear!" Stripe said quickly. "We haven't even studied your lightsabers."
"Everyone, shut up!" Quinlan snarled, everyone but Bant jumping at that. She was too focused staring at the screen. "Bant… you seeing this?"
"Yes…" she whispered. "I… it can't be." She moved towards the TV, the Bad Batch shifting to allow her to sit on the couch but Bant just plopped down on the ground, Quinlan joining her, near dazed. She recognized that helmet… it was the Temple Guard helm, something that had been a regular sight back home. But that wasn't what truly had her in shock.
She recognized that lightsaber combat.
The figure was using his weapon against a villain that was able to fire light from his nostrils, sending out beams at his foes. A… gross quirk… but the hero battling him, which the scroll on the bottom of the screen said was The Negotiator ('The Negotiator!'), was reflecting every bolt back.
"Obi Wan…" Bant whispered, Quinlan grabbing her shoulder and squeezing it tight. "Obi Wan…"
They'd found him.
~MC~MC~MC~
"Okay, brothers and sister!" Toga said as she slid into the area of the ship she had been told was the dining room. She had several different plates balanced in her hands and began to set them down. "I have some yummy treats for us all! A little dish from my home planet-" And she giggled at that… she was on a spaceship and was visiting other worlds! She had a HOME PLANET! It was so cool! "That I know you will love."
"And by that you mean you have the dishes I made," Dabi said dryly, entering with the rest of their lunch, Magne following behind with some bottles of water. He would have preferred booze but when he'd begun naming all the different drinks he enjoyed Kalifa, Jink, and O-Mer had just stared at him in confusion, with only Brandy sounding familiar and even then it was something called "Corellian Brandy".
"I helped!" Toga declared.
"You wanted to pour your bloodsauce over everything," he pointed out, making Toga pout and mutter that they didn't know what they were missing. While the padawans, as that's what the three had said they were, hadn't had a problem with Toga drinking blood and in fact informed them that there were plenty of species that drank blood (a fact that had made Toga sob on his shoulder for 20 minutes, much to his annoyance, while Magne assured the padawans they hadn't done anything wrong) they weren't fans of it and thus would let her have as much as she wanted… so long as they didn't have to partake.
That hadn't stopped Toga from trying to get them to try out her favorite meal.
"It smells wonderful," O-Mer said politely and Dabi forced himself not to scoff… the padawans were FAR too polite for his taste and he really needed to get them to loosen up. He didn't do well with people not cursing and insulting each other. "Thank you, Dabi."
"Whatever," he said as he settled in. He reached up to touch his face but Magne shot him a look and he sighed, dropping his hand. The ship had featured a small medical bay with a holographic doctor droid that the kids they'd rescued had insisted they all visit. They had mostly suffered from cuts and bruises though Kalifa had a broken ankle that the hologram had said she'd need to have looked at by an actual medical professional. As for Dabi he had been prescribed something called Bacta that was already making his skin feel funny. All cool and numb. It was applied in strips that wrapped around his face, only leaving his mouth visible below the bridge of his nose, but the kids had insisted that it would help with his burns. They'd even said it was possible that their teachers at the Temple might be able to give him skin grafts to restore his face completely.
He wasn't sure about that. He'd most likely just burn it all over again when he used his powers. But the Bacta… that wasn't bad. And Toga had commented that the wrappings made him look a bit like Stain and the Hero Killer was one of the few people Dabi… well, like was a strong word. But he'd take looking like Stain over looking like his bastard father any day of the week.
"So," Magne said as she grabbed some of the chopped up purple things that tasted like potatoes and added them to her plate, "what is this planet we are heading towards?"
"Kassyyk," Jinx stated. "They are part of the Republic and they hate the Tradoshians. When they learn we were being hunted by them they will help us."
"Huh," Toga said. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole Republic thing. So all these planets have their leaders… King and queens and governors and Presidents and what have you. Rule the entire planet. But they also answer to the Republic?"
"They must obey the Republic laws but otherwise can make their own laws as they see fit," Kalifa stated.
"Seems like a good way to end up with a lot of fighting," Magne commented, Dabi silently agreeing with her. "Is that what caused this war to happen?"
"No," O-Mer said with a soft shake of his head. "The War started because the Separatists wanted to leave the Republic."
"That's not how it started though," Jinx countered. "It started because instead of just leaving the Republic they decided to attack people. They tried to kill Senator Amidala even though she supported their right to leave. They wanted her dead purely because she was the Chancellor's prodigy."
"It didn't help that the Trade Federation and the Techno Union and the Banking Clans all decided they wanted to leave too because Palpatine began to actually hold them accountable."
"Of course it was business," Dabi muttered. Sometimes he wondered what life with Endeavor would have been like had it not been for the businesses propping him up. Oh, he knew the Hero Commission was to blame for him getting away with so much but they only supported him because he brought in money. The licensing deals, the sponsorships. Endeavor would still be a monster but he would have faced some kind of judgment long ago without the businesses that backed him up.
"And the Separatists are the ones that sent those lizard guys after you?" Toga asked.
"Yes."
"Maybe."
O-Mer and Jinx shared a look at their conflicting answers.
"We don't know," Kalifa admitted. "But we hope to find out. There was alway evils in the galaxy, after all, even before the War."
Magne nodded. "That's why Stain said we need true heroes. Ones who do not desire glory or fame but instead do all they can to protect the innocent. Even willing to sacrifice themselves if it saves another."
"Sounds like a Jedi," O-Mer commented. "Though I've never heard of a Jedi Stain."
"Stain so could be a Jedi!" Toga declared. "We don't really know where he came from, he just kinda, you know, popped up?" She ladled more blood onto her noodles and began to happily slurp them down using the roughly made chopsticks O-Mer had made for her before they'd left the planet.
"Well…" Kalifa said slowly, "the droid pilot said we have about another day or so before we get to Kashyyyk…" And that had been a relief for Dabi that he didn't need to fly this ship; they'd managed to find one of the droid-driven ships the hunters liked to use and Jinx had rewired the thing to obey them. He was a touch leery trusting the thing but it was better than nothing. "…so why don't you tell us about this Stain?"
Dabi sat there in silence while Toga began to ramble on about Stain and how wonderful he was. 'I have no idea where you are, Father… and I don't like that. Don't like the idea that you are somewhere out there and I may never get my chance at revenge.'
He paused, looking about the table.
'But… maybe I have found a new revenge. It is one thing to tear down what you built… its another to surpass it. You can be king of that shitball of a planet… I will build myself an empire amongst the stars. You will be known to millions… billions are going to cheer my name.'
It would take work. More allies. Learning how this galaxy worked. But considered the padawans had been shocked by his powers, having never seen anything like that?
Well… he might be able to change the galaxy to his liking.
~MC~MC~MC~
In separate parts of the galaxy… the beings known as Darth Sidious and Darth Tyrannus felt the Force shiver in anticipation.