Current Energy: 13
Current Training: Monster Hunter (9/10) - Complete!
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
[You should tell her about Salem.]
"I'm not telling her about Salem." You respond bluntly, not actually opening your eyes or getting out of bed. Taylor is still asleep, and so you are forced to barely whisper the response, but you make it as firm as possible.
[Why? She's a hero. In fact, she's extremely powerful. Someday, I'm sure she will eventually gain the ability to help. Besides, you were educating her about the Grimm - well Salem controls the Grimm.] Ozma answers you in a reasonable - yet still highly annoying - tone.
"In descending order, because I don't want to. True. Also true. That day is not today, and Salem herself isn't a Grimm." You fire back immediately. Your current emulation is making this conversation extremely difficult for you. It's true that someday, Taylor might obtain an ability that would allow her to reach the world of Remnant, to assist with its various problems - but you wouldn't be able to follow her there. Your metaphysical reach only really extends a bit past the planets atmosphere. As such, if your Master were to leave to help with some nebulous crusade that is neither her problem nor her responsibility, she would have to leave you behind.
And that idea terrifies you.
[Oscar...] Ozma says chidingly.
"I'm not Oscar. I'm Emmy." You spit back.
[...Emmy then. Surely you can see what a boon she would be to us.] Ozma tries again. You do. You even understand that your Master would feel obligated to try and help just by being told about it. But you really don't want that to happen, which is why you refuse to explain Salem to your Master. The woman is, for all intents and purposes, the closest thing this Emulation's world has to The Devil. An unkillable, ageless, immortal woman, who both controlled and directed the beasts of Grimm in their eternal quest to end humanity. It was the type of world ending problem Taylor would jump to heed the call for. She probably wouldn't even ask how she could help. She'd just go do it.
So you refuse.
"I'm not doing it!" You hiss obstinately, only, you might have been just a bit too loud that time, as Taylor begins to stir next to you, going from fully asleep to fully awake with barely any transition between the two states. The switch is so sudden that anyone watching would think she had just woken from a sudden jolt in a nightmare or something, with the way her entire body stiffened, and her eyes shot straight open.
"...What's a Salem?" She asks you curiously and without preamble.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it." You say quickly, nervously rising from the bed yourself and shifting to your normal clothing.
"You know I can see what you're doing when I sleep right?" She points out.
"..." You find yourself temporarily lost for words at that. You had honestly sort of forgotten.
You and your Master stare at each other for several seconds. Then several more. You begin to feel a stinging sensation in the corners of your eyes, and a mounting pressure in your head. Your Master seems mildly taken aback by this, but before she can respond, you well... you start crying.
"I-if I tell you you'll leaaaaaaave!" You whine loudly. Ugh. What is this? Is this normal? You hate this. Is this something adult Humans can opt out of? Is this one broken? It's leaking for gods sake!
Okay you aren't that out of the loop. You understand what's going on just fine. But pretending you don't helps you distance yourself from several key facts about it. For one, your emulation isn't the one crying. You are. And that is a serious problem. Just... not one you are going to address. At all. Ever. Or report. Ever.
Dammit.
"Emmy!?" You Master squawks, leaping up in a panic and pulling you close to her in a tight hug.
"Hey it's okay- I'm not going anywhere. I won't leave you." She says gently. Then her grip on you tightens. "I'm not leaving you." She repeats.
"Theres..." You pause to sniffle. What the hell is this? This is pathetic. You hate it. "There's a woman. Who makes the Grimm. She can't be killed. She can't be stopped. I- I'm pretty sure she's going to end the world." You say quietly.
"I- don't understand. I mean yeah, sure lets go kick her ass and leave her on the moon or something-" Taylor starts, causing a spike of fear to rise in your gut.
"No!" You blurt out, hugging her tightly.
"I can't leave the planet." You whisper.
"Oh. Ooohhh. Huh." Taylor answers after a second.
"Okay." She says when you don't having anything else to add. You blink.
"O...kay? Just like that?" You say, wiping tears from your eyes. Which now itch. Because ofcourse they do.
"Well, yeah? If you can't come, why am I going?" Taylor asks you in genuine confusion, like she had just stated a fact as simple as two plus two equals four.
"I- you- that's-" You bumble.
[Disappointing.] Ozma states in annoyance.
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
City Hall, Brockton Bay
The morning was awkward, but once you get all your blubbering out of the way things quickly return to something approaching normal. You finish your descriptions of as many Grimm as possible to your Master.
Then she picked up and did some more soul... pushup... things... with her sword. She's up to a solid eight minutes before the thing shuts down, which is a notable improvement over where she started, even if she seems annoyed with how slow her progress on the topic is.
After that was school which was... school... honestly, you barely had to do anything. Apparently the handful of interventions you managed earlier in the week were enough to scare anyone else in the school away from doing anything to awaken your Master's ire. It wasn't even you most of the problem students were afraid of. It was her. You typically just had to show up.
There had even been one occasion where two girls had faked being about the hurt each other, seemingly just to bait you into appearing which was... weird.
Regardless, you were now standing invisibly next to your Master as she makes her way through City Hall to speak to the Mayor. She doesn't have an appointment, but you doubt she really realizes that. Your Master, quite without noticing it, seems to have recently come to believe that getting into meetings with important people is just a matter of showing her face on their doorstep. It's a tendency that probably shouldn't be encouraged, but hasn't backfired yet, so you decide not to comment on it.
"Excuse me?" Your Master says as she steps into the fairly generic looking office building, it's facade obviously having been rebuilt a number of times - likely as a result of capes fighting near it. The inside is fairly simple to see. There are a number of tellers nearby - ostensibly for different civil services, and a single much larger and more important looking desk next to a doorway you assume leads further into the building. This is the desk your Master stops in front of in order to ask the secretary there - a bored looking man who seems nonplussed at Taylors arrival - for assistance.
"And you would be?" He asks plainly.
"Taylor Hebert?" Your Master puts forth.
"Mhm. How can I help you?" The man - the little cue on his desk says Aaron - asks.
"I was told the Mayor wanted to see me?" Your Master asks quizzically, to which Aaron notably scoffs.
"I don't see an appointment for you." He says in explanation when your Master raises an eyebrow at him.
"Listen I don't really care, but maybe you should - I dunno, phone and ask him?" Taylor points out. A short preteen girl enters the building at about this point, looks around once, and then makes a bee line for you while this conversation is going on. By the time your Master has finished speaking, she has already been curiously bobbing back and forth behind her like... well like an excited school child.
"I'm not going to disturb the Mayor just because-" Aaron continues to try and dismiss your Master but is cut off.
"Oh my god you're Nexus! Oh my god! Aren't you nearly as strong as Alexandria!?" The short brown haired girl blurts out excitedly. Aaron immediately pauses. Then, apparently having fully processed that statement in the time it takes your Master to turn around and acknowledge her apparent fan, pales noticeably.
"Sir? There's a Taylor Hebert to see you? Nexus?" He hisses quietly into the phone while your Master regards the girl.
"Hi? I don't... think I'm as strong as Alexandria. I dunno. It isn't like we've ever arm wrestled. Although..." Taylor says, putting on a thoughtful expression.
'Really?' You ask in exasperation.
'It would probably be really good exercise. I mean, it's really hard for me to get a high impact workout done nowadays.' She responds to you seriously.
"Awesome." The girl states, then sticks her hand out gamely.
"I'm Dinah!" She blurts out, blushing. Your Master - shocked out of her contemplation of using the strongest hero in the word as 'exercise', stares dumbly at the outstretched hand. You realize that she hasn't ever actually had to deal with a fan before. Only people who were too afraid of her to get involved directly, or people who were too stupid not to get involved.
"Taylor." She says, hesitantly shaking the little hand being offered to her, as though unsure of what she should be doing.
"Will you- I mean can you sign my uh..." Dinah says, pausing to pat herself down before pulling out a napkin from a back pocket and holding it out, her backpack dangling from one shoulder, which makes sense since school would have only recently let out for the day.
"No she's just standing here talking to a fan. Should... should I call the PRT?"
"My uh... napkin?" She continues in embarrassment.
"Sure. Let me just..." Taylor mutters, leaning over Aaron's desk and snatching a pen from it, causing him to flinch away from her with the phone in his hand. Before she quickly - and awkwardly - scratches out 'Nexus' in cursive on the napkin.
"Thanks! I gotta go! Tell Uncle Roy I said hi!" She says chipperly, turning and running out of the building - without actually taking the napkin back.
"...What the hell was that?" Taylor asks you blandly, obviously just as blind sided by the drive by fangirl as you are.
'I... don't know. Should I follow her?' You ask.
'No it's fine.' Taylor replies, furrowing her brows and looking down at the napkin before shrugging and pocketing it.
"The Mayor will see you now." Aaron says in a small voice once your Master turns her attention back to him, obviously having been too afraid to interrupt her before this.
"Thanks. Through here?" She says, barely registering his obvious terror at having been sort of rude to her.
"Third door on the left. Can't miss it." He replies, slowly hanging up his phone as though afraid sudden movement will draw aggression. Your Master rolls her eyes at him, then continues onward as though he hadn't spoken.
The Mayor's office turns out to look almost exactly like Director Piggots, only... gaudier. There are more meaningless newspaper clippings and awards on the walls, and the carpet is a different color, but that's about it. Even the chair before his desk is identical, as though it came from the exact same office supply store.
"Miss Hebert. You... somewhat terrified my secretary." The Mayor says, standing and walking around the desk he is sitting at to shake your Master's hand politely, not showing even an ounce of the apprehension his secretary did at her presence.
"I literally didn't do anything!" She complains instantly, pouting slightly.
"You have somewhat of a reputation for ah... massive overkill I believe is the word my son used." The Mayor says with a chuckle, leaning back on the side of his desk instead of walking back around it. He is a an oddly normal looking man. The majority of your acquaintances are either superhumans, or people who work with superhumans, and so, you are accustomed to everyone you having a certain... presence. Roy Christner lacks that presence. He's so perfectly mundane that you wouldn't look twice at him in a crowd. You suspect your Master might feel that same dissonance, because she seems temporarily lost for words as the stocky man speaks to her.
Then she snaps out of it.
"Yeah I'm... really sorry about that. Had to send a message." Taylor answers with a smile. Roy smiles back. Then his smile turns sharp, and your Master's fades slightly.
"I'm going to be honest with you. The city needs money. Badly. The Boardwalk is suffering because of the Empire, and tourists aren't visiting anymore. Usually, I'd be forced to tax the bejeezus out of you for that castle you put up in the middle of the city. But I see an opportunity. So. How do you feel about guided tours?" The Mayor states with a gleam in his eyes.
'Do you... feel like we should have brought Dad?' Your Master asks you rhetorically.
'Proooobably.' You respond.
Still, your Master fights valiantly, her face transforming into her smiling mask of indifference as she leans forward to begin to haggle.
"Now, when you say 'bejeezus'." She states slowly. This time, the Mayor's smile fades slightly, as it occurs to him that he might not be dealing with a perfectly helpless teenage girl.
Two and a half hours later, with several concessions, including allowing all the current residents to keep their current rental rates, moving police patrols through your neighborhood, and pushing ahead city works projects to repair the roads and infrastructure, you're Master walks out of City Hall smiling. Sure, a sizeable portion of your base of operations is about to become what is - for all intents and purposes - a Parahuman Mall, but Taylor managed to ring a lot more out of the Mayor than the man was probably expecting. And it isn't as though you had anything to do with all that empty space anyway.
"Not bad." Your Master hums to herself as she stretches out in front of the build, then pauses to withdraw the napkin from the girl earlier with a frown.
"Weird that she left this behind. Weirder that the Mayors... niece? His niece just sort of ran in and out like that." Your Master mutters as she stares at it.
'There's writing on the back.' You notice, having been brazenly ducking around the object in your Master's hand shamelessly. Taylor turns it over dutifully as you point it out.
"84% chance the Butcher dies, 43% percent chance you can help him afterward?" Taylor says aloud, staring at the neatly written text like it might bite her.
"...Shit." She mutters.
Then an explosion rocks the downtown core, loud enough that you can hear it from uptown, with a large plume of black smoke expanding upward in the distance to signify the most likely target.
"Shit!" She yelps, quickly stuffing the cryptic message back in a pocket and getting ready to rush over just for her phone to begin buzzing with messages that she hurriedly pulls out to read. The message scrawling across the screen is pretty straightforward.
'Butcher, Stay Away'
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit." She moans.
You really shouldn't go anywhere near that crazy person but...
[ ] You can't let this slide.
[ ] Getting involved here is stupid. You should get to the Heap.
[ ] Write-In
Spoiler: Author's Note
Last edited: Sep 3, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Sep 5, 2020
#17,717
Spoiler: Choices:
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 13
Current Training: None
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
City Hall, Brockton Bay
Your Master stares pensively into the distance at the rising smoke. Her hand tightens imperceptibly around her cellphone, the message to stay away still scrolling across it.
You tense up, unsure of how she will respond. You can feel the frustration in her heart. Can sense her imminent need to do something, to help.
That's why you're not as surprised as you should be when she quickly pockets her cellphone, steps behind you, and speaks.
"Let me pick you up, we have to go." She says firmly.
You don't bother to question the order, or get embarrassed by the way she immediately sweeps you up into a princess carry. You just accept it for what it is and focus on what is ahead.
Because despite what's been said, your Master refuses to back down when faced with obvious danger.
"A-are you sure this is a good idea?" You ask, slightly worried. You arent really sure what the mechanics of the Butcher are. You cant recall a shard that's intended to behave in the way it's purported to. What's worse, while you're resolved to 'break some rules' as it were, you aren't sure if you could reasonably force the issue and prevent the thing from connecting to Taylor in a worst case scenario. If you had full access to all your permissions, maybe, or if you could directly communicate with the Warrior Hub to report it's abberant behaviour it might be shut down...
But you can't do any of those things. And it worries you to think about.
"I won't fight. Just get all the civilians out of the area. Promise." Taylor declares unyieldingly.
You don't like it, but you suppose you'll have to accept it.
Quickly dashing across the sky, you and your Master end up reaching the plume of smoke with time to spare, just in time to find the area has fallen into absolute chaos.
A small number of PRT soldiers have hunkered down behind an overturned personnel carrier. Gallant is among them, silver armor gleaming in the daylight, occasionally popping up to fire bolts of energy from his hands from the rear of the formation. Throughout the streets, men and women in what you can only really describe as tribal or cultist gear are running amok, howling with glee at the madness around them. Small groups of them are chasing what few pedestrians remain in the streets, firing heavily modified firearms haphazardly into the air to instill yet more terror.
In the center of the street, a short distance away from Gallant's group, Armsmaster is fighting, his expression thunderous as he twirls his halberd to fend off two other Parahumans who appear to be attack him in tandem. One is a medium sized dog like creature, that slavers and growls as it moves about, frantically darting in to nip at the heroes lower half. The other is a woman who fights with near catastrophic abandon, allowing Armsmasters slashing strikes to tear her skin apart. Yet, she seems unperturbed by the gruesome wounds, allowing her own blood to well up from them and then hardening immediately into ugly red, scab like armor.
As you examine the situation, a giant spike of rebar zips past, skewering a PRT officer, who's body is held aloft by it as it slams into the concrete behind him.
'Help Gallant!' Your Master orders you, throwing you towards the group being assaulted.
'What about you?' You ask as you hurtle forward, landing in just such a way as to fall on the shoulders of one of the roaming cultists, your weight and momentum immediately shattering them and driving him to the ground with a sickening crunch that you hope wasn't lethal.
'To help!' She replies instantly. Overhead, you see her rip open a gap and vanish into it.
'That's not-' You begin, but stop to turn and swing Long Memory outward, battering another tremendous skewer of metal out of the way and succinctly preventing it from murdering you.
Never mind. You should focus on your orders.
"Emmy?" Gallant asks you instantly, his head only turning towards you fractionally as the nearby PRT officers clear a path for you to him.
"Yes. What the heck is going on?" You ask him plaintively. As you do so, you turn to see a number of fleeing pedestrians vanish into a gap that appears from nowhere.
No, not nowhere, rather in the split second before the cultists would catch up to them, a sword pierced through the space in front if them. At a guess, it almost looks like your Master is in the Gap... and is navigating by triangulating using her ability to share your sight. You can even feel her doing it, peering out at the world through your eyes.
"We were transporting Uber and Leet to Boston when the Teeth attacked. They haven't tried to break anyone out, they just started attacking us." Gallant says, and you imagine that if you could see Dean's face beneath his helmet he would be grimacing. You notice the back of the transport is open, and that the aforementioned villains are nowhere to be found, but you quickly put it out of your mind. You wouldn't stay here if you didn't have to either you supposed.
"And... the Butcher?" You ask hesitantly, looking around you.
"She's-" Gallant begins to say but stops when you shoulder check him out of the way of another skewer. It almost doesnt work. You can see the thing course-correct mid-air as it approaches, forcing you to slap it out of the way with Long Memory. Your Aura reserves drain slightly for the effort, but the skewer slams into the concrete behind you having missed it's mark.
"She's doing that." He says bitterly.
You eye the still quivering rod behind you, tracing it's path backwards in confusion as you realize that there's no way it should have been able to hit you at the angle it was approaching from - especially not with the cover of the upturned vehicle between you and it.
"Butcher Fourteen can't miss." Gallant says, as if reading your mind. You blink at the information.
"Why is she attacking you specifically? Armsmaster is right there." You ask, turning back to him.
"I... may have made her feel some things when she first attacked." Gallant admits pensively.
"What things?" You ask incredulously, making sure to pan your gaze about whenever possible to help your Master evacuate people - something she has been doing using your peripheral vision throughout the course of the conversation.
"Remorse mostly." Gallant says, leaning out from behind cover to scour a group of cultists with more of his concussive blasts, bowling them over and then leaving them staring in horrified understanding at each other for the handful of seconds his Master power lasts. Of course, it wears off quickly, leaving the group a gibbering mess, but the effect gave the PRT troopers enough time to foam them to the ground with a vengeance, something they've been doing for a while now if the multitude of such foam clusters in the street is anything to go by.
'Help me get everyone else out - then we'll move the troopers and Armsmaster away.' Your Master requests urgently. You comply immediately of course, becoming intangible and jumping to stand atop the overturned wreck, panning your gaze in every direction possible. The results are both immediate and pronounced, as your Master quickly blitz's the area, having no need to travel the physical distance between points to create her Gaps. When it becomes apparent that all the bystanders are gone, she appears behind Armsmaster for a brief second. Just long enough to reach out and drag him backwards through the Gap she is in. This has the obvious side effect of alerting the two Capes he was fighting to a stalemate to your immediate presence. If they were less crazy, or merely more observant, they may have noticed you as you arrived, but you suppose they're a part of a Cult for a reason. Critical thinking probably isn't a very important skill to them.
Of course, this is ultimately meaningless, given the fiery explosion and the oddly dressed woman who sprints out of it, one gauntleted fist raised in challenge as she barrels towards the vehicle you are standing on.
'Master!' You call instantly, knowing that Gallant almost certainly won't be able to handle her. It's not an insult to the boy. Just the reality of things. Dean Stansfield is many things. A kind man. A good man. But he is, ultimately, not a man with very useful powers. Like many Parahumans you have encountered this cycle, his abilities seem markedly unregulated, as though his Shard wasn't aware of the necessary baseline from which to gather information before connecting.
Regardless, you put those thoughts out of mind and as you rematerialize just in time to swing Long Memory at what you can only presume is the Butcher. In hindsight, getting in melee range of an exploding teleporter with a danger sense may not have been wise, as you are immediately blasted with a gout of fire that drains yet more of your Aura. When the smoke and flame clear, you can tell that your Master has successfully evacuated Gallant and the others.
Mostly because of the baleful way the Butcher is staring over your shoulder at where they once were.
[May I?] Ozma asks suddenly. You consider it for a second, then mentally shrug and allow it. It isn't as though Ozma is less capable than you in any way. Quite the opposite in fact. Shoulders slackening, your postures abruptly relaxes as Ozma takes over your body.
"You remind me of a woman I knew once. She thought that power was the only thing that mattered." He says idly, taking a fencers stance with Long Memory. The Butcher doesn't actually answer you, but her eyes do flick back to you, as though only just registering that you were even still here.
'Why are you talking to her?' Your Master asks frantically. You can sort of... feel her... sitting in the veil just behind you. You're sure if she wanted to, she could reach out and yank you through a Gap faster than you could think to react.
"Because not all that wander are lost Miss Hebert." Ozma says plainly, eyeing the Butcher up and down. The woman has been curiously still during your internal conversation, and is now watching you from fifteen feet away like a cat who has just detected a mouse. It dawns on you for the first time, that for all the Butcher is described as an unstoppable force of nature, the person before you is really just a scarred looking asian woman.
'Did he just quote Tolkien at me? How do you even know what- look, that woman has two dozen ghosts screaming in her ear right now, and most of them are telling her to murder and eat you. Not necessarily in that order. Can we go?' Taylor says, sounding clearly on edge.
'You can hear what the voices in her head are saying?' You ask worriedly.
'No. I can hear the ghosts that follow her around like lost puppies screaming at her. Can we go?' She responds, correcting you instantly. The Butcher - possibly having sensed that you plan on leaving - suddenly lurches forward, her hand outstretched in the same way it was when she was attempting to approach Gallant.
You don't know what she was planning on doing, or if she even had a plan at all really, because Taylor yanks you backwards at that moment. You spend an nth of a second falling through nothing, before you are deposited on the ground in the middle of Trainwrecks garage. You recognize it because of how hideous it is.
The second you get your bearings, you stand, Ozma having relinquished his control sometime during the fall, and turn around, only to freeze.
Because Miss Militia is in the garage with her phone out, and is giving your Master a look you recognize from the many, many times you 'forgot' to do some of your chores and got scolded by your Aunt. And from the slightly sheepish look on Taylor's face when you turn to her, she knows it too.
Miss Militia looks... displeased. Choose TWO (2). Taylor will automatically spend any extra time continuing her current training, if any.
[ ] Begin Training (Pick a Skill or Power)
[ ] Go on Patrol. (Choose up to 2 people to accompany you.) (Victoria, Trainwreck, Aspirant, Wards, Danny)
[ ] Have Taylor take some time out to fortify the Heap with Onmyoudo.
[ ] Continue Training Your Team (And also, Danny)
[ ] Continue to research Fleur's ghost. Even if you're worried Taylor is going to end up fighting the thing.
[ ] The hell was up with Night? You feel like that response was weird, given her weeks-long imprisonment.
[ ] Uber and Leet got away. They're a minor annoyance at best, but still. You should at least track them down.
[ ] So apparently, the Butcher walks around with a small army of ghosts screaming at it constantly. You aren't sure how helpful that information is but still.
[ ] Write-In
A/N: Please note that if you don't use one of your two votes to start in on training something new, there won't be anything to train, and you will continue to have two other actions. So you have the space to skip training things you don't care about. I'd just like to note that this update was way harder to manage because of the Write-In vote. I love it, keep it up and all that - but I basically sat down to stare at it for thirty minutes while mentally adjusting away from the two options I originally presented and it was rough XD.
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Sep 6, 2020
#17,857
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 12
Current Training: None
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
The Heap, Brockton Bay
"Do you have any idea how badly that could have gone?" Miss Militia says bluntly, tapping her foot in agitation. It's still early evening, and after having caught you and your Master as you arrived in the garage, you have all relocated to a sitting room somewhere on one of the upper floors - one you didn't know existed, but that apparently someone does, as it looks to have recently been filled with some cheap furniture. The 'stretched' nature of the Heap makes it so that floors that would have been made up of hundreds of wooden boards instead look as though someone stretched a single one out over the entire floor, and the close up look of the swirling pattern in the grain is mildly distracting to anyone unaccustomed to it.
"I didn't even fight! I was basically invisible the whole time!" Taylor counters with a huff, crossing her arms infront of herself and refusing to make eye contact with the older hero.
"Yeah but you were using Emmy to navigate right? Animo has a trump power so you'd have been fu- out of luck if he'd managed to hit you with it." Vista points out from where she is sitting smugly to your right at the table. Your Master turns towards her with one eyebrow raised, no doubt in response to the aborted curse word the smaller girl failed to hide.
"Yeah but-" She tries to counter again.
"Taylor. I understand that you have a very strong power. Possibly one of the strongest, but you have to understand that you aren't always correct." The older woman continues to explain, even as around you ghostly soldiers move about, putting up generic motivational picture frames, adjusting lights, and just generally refurbishing the room you are in, and - if you had to hazard a guess - the rest of the heap at the same time.
"Except in this case, I totally was." Your Master points out easily, finally turning her gaze on Miss Militia, where they proceed to stare each other down for the next sixty seconds. Then Miss Militia smiles at her, and a chill works its way down your spine. You can't see the smile - her mask obscures it - but you can tell what her expression is from the movement of her eyes and other facial muscles.
"Yes. I suppose you were." She answers serenely.
"So why-" Your Master begins, obviously put on edge by the sudden change in Miss Militia's tone.
"I called your Father from work." She responds bluntly, cutting her off.
"Busted." Vista mumbles under her breath. You get the distinct impression that the smaller girl is... well not enjoying this, since she's not that mean spirited, but seemingly appreciative of the fact that Taylor can be punished at all, which you suppose is a reasonable thing to expect. Other people with Taylor's degree of strength have probably gotten away with quite a bit in this city.
"But- I didn't- that's not fair!" Taylor blurts out. She's mildly anxious but no more so than one might expect from a teenager being scolded. You are reasonably certain that she could flip over to her stepford smile and nix this entire situation in a heartbeat, but hasn't bothered to. Again, you assume your Master actually prefers to be treated to like a regular teenager, likely because of the months of neglect leading up to her trigger event. It's cute in it's own way.
"Of course it's fair, you're underage, your Father should know when you get into a fight with a group of psychopathic cultists. You're lucky you aren't actually part of the Protectorate or the Director would have you on monitor duty until you were old enough to drink." Miss Militia says in an entirely too reasonable tone.
"You mean console duty?" Taylor answers quickly, having spent enough time around Dean and Victoria to understand the pains of the particular punishment.
"No, she means monitor duty. It's like console, only instead of watching a patrol you're just staring at security monitors for hours." Vista chimes in.
"Sounds boring." You chime in, appearing in the seat nearest to Vista.
"You're in trouble too. Don't act like you weren't involved." Miss Militia adds, turning towards you.
"...Huh?" You grunt unintelligibly.
"What were you thinking? Why didn't you convince her to leave it alone?" Miss Militia asks, turning fully towards you.
"Uh... I... thought it made sense at the time?" You say hesitantly. You are, completely unused to being held accountable in any way shape or form. As the physical manifestation of a power, your Master is more often yelled at for your actions than vice versa, making the situation you are currently in extremely strange to you.
"Emmy, you're a smart boy. You should know better than this." Miss Militia says, crinkling her eyes at you. You pan your gaze over to your Master at this, completely at a loss for how to respond, only to see her smiling at you encouragingly, a sensation of contentment wafting off her.
Well, okay then. At least Miss Militia treats you like an actual person. Even if that currently isn't very helpful to you right now...
You spend the next fifteen minutes being berated by Miss Militia along with your Master, like a pair of siblings caught collaborating to steal a cookie from the cookie jar. Eventually, Danny arrives, bursting through the door with an anxious expression on his face that passes when he lays eyes on Taylor, and summarily interrupting whatever it was Miss Militia was next about to say on the topic of your problem solving capabilities.
"Taylor? You're okay right?" He says quickly, stepping up to the table and standing next to Miss Militia's seat. All things being equal, Danny looks much better than he has previously. He's obviously still burning the candle at both ends in order to make his job fit in with his assistance of his daughter, but at the same time, the benefits of Aura seem to have more or less kept him on his feet, smoothing out the bags under his eyes and giving his skin a healthier tone than the pallid color in was before this.
Also, he appears to have been working out, if the very slight decrease in his potbelly is anything to go by. It makes sense you suppose. Muscle growth is just a side effect of a torn muscle healing. Since Aura enhances healing drastically, a dedicated person could conceivably abuse it to rapidly get into shape.
You just didn't think Danny would care to do so.
"I'm fine Dad, I didn't even actually fight anyone." Taylor huffs in annoyance.
"And yet I'm still worried." He answers her quickly.
"She's being honest Mister Hebert. Reports from Armsmaster and Gallant imply that she only evacuated everyone and then left." Miss Militia says calmingly. Danny turns slightly to examine her before turning back to Taylor with a sigh.
"I told you, you can just call me Danny." He says with an awkward shrug.
"Danny then." Miss Militia confirms with another crinkle of her eyes to signify her smile. Danny shuffles slightly at the attention.
"What..." You whisper to Vista, noticing the weird interaction.
"I dunno, they've been like that since they met yesterday. It's really weird." She whispers back.
Of course, neither of you were quite quiet enough for either adult in the room to fail to hear you, which is why both of them snap towards you suddenly to speak at once.
"You're grounded." "Vista, please check the office for any missed calls." They rattle off indignantly, before turning back to Taylor, who looks at you plaintively as both adults begin to bare down on her. That seems like as good a reason to return to your Spirit Form as any, something you do the second they turn away from you and Vista leaves the room.
'Traitor' Taylor huffs at you mentally.
'Survivor' You fire back.
You watch your Master get berated by the pair for almost thirty more minutes, before they finish, allowing the both of you to go home for some much-needed rest.
Rest you don't get, because the second you step out of the Gap into the kitchen of the home, your Master starts furiously scribbling out notes in a notebook she keeps exclusively for cape things.
"Um. Do you want me to make dinner...?" You ask hesitantly. Your Master doesn't typically let you cook in this form. Mostly because it's not very good at it. That said, you doubt she's going to be doing any cooking with the way she is furiously scribbling in her notebook right now.
"Order a pizza." She says distractedly, withdrawing her pencil to eye the page she is scribbling in critically, then pulling the page out and tossing it into the garbage bin on the opposite side of the room without looking up.
"What are you doing exactly?" You ask curiously, even as you begin poking about the various menus and delivery services stuck to the fridge by magnets in order to locate the nearest pizza place.
"Anti Butcher stuff." Your Master says vaguely, causing you to turn around and stare at her flatly.
"We aren't supposed to go near the Butcher." You point out.
"Not for me!" She counters instantly, then blushes when she looks up to see you staring at her, unable to fathom how she can go immediately from a tongue lashing over why not to do this exact thing, to doing this exact thing.
"I mean - I think all those ghosts following the Butcher around are the previous Butchers right? So I thought that maybe if I could make a Talisma or Ward that would stop them from screaming constantly, the Butcher wouldn't be as dangerous?" She offers carefully.
"...and someone else will be using it, right?" You ask carefully.
"Yyyyyyyyes?" Taylor says sheepishly.
"Master!" You yell helplessly at her.
"Oh come on!" She yells back, throwing her hands into the air in protest. You don't say anything, but you do let a few tears well up at the corner of your eyes.
"Hey, that's not- fine. I'll make the thing and just hand it over to the PRT when it's done." She huffs after she gets a good look at you, then turns away blushing slightly again.
"Awesome!" You respond, your attitude and demeanour doing a complete turnaround as you begin poking at the fridge again.
"...Was this Emulation always this manipulative?" She asks you skeptically.
"Nope. But I've known you my whole life!" You respond with a happy smile.
Taylor groans at you in response.
Friday, February 4th, 2011
Uptown, Brockton Bay
Your Master is staring at an empty spot on the road again. You know it's because she's - ostensibly - examining Fleur, but the fact that you are completely incapable of seeing her sort of makes it hard for you to fully grasp that fact.
"Emmy?" Your Master asks you suddenly.
'Yes?' You respond. You have a bad feeling all of a sudden. A very bad feeling.
"I'm gonna do something stupid, just to see what happens. I need you to watch my back." She says cryptically, pulling her backpack off and putting it on the ground in front of her.
School that day had gone about how you might expect. A number of... Panda Gang... members had gotten your attention in order to pester you for information on your Master. It hadn't seemed malicious, and honestly, most of the students had learned to keep things tame while school was in session, so you had yielded.
You aren't sure if your Master will appreciate a bunch of wannabe minions knowing when her birthday is, but you also assume that if she doesn't, it will be a problem for future Emmy. This version of you will be long gone by then.
Screw future you. That guy is probably going to be an omnicidal jerk anyway, if your Master's current patterns hold. Besides, you got some useful information out of them in return. Apparently Accord had moved into town. No one had noticed because he hadn't actually done anything is all. Some of his minions - Ambassadors the PHO geeks had called them - had been spotted moving about in old Empire territory while your Master had been contending with the Teeth. There hadn't been much more information than that, presumably because Accord didn't have much of a reputation for overt threats.
'Please don't' You send to her plaintively, still very much in mind of the tongue lashing you got yesterday for situations exactly like this.
"Hear me out," Taylor says.
"...I'm listening." You say, materializing next to her on the street.
"So, clearly Fleur's ghost is nuts." Taylor begins.
"...Yes..." You reply hesitantly.
"And part of that is that ghosts kind of decay over time I think." She continues, still rooting around in her bag.
"Which we know because?" You ask.
"Nemesis told me." She replies easily.
"So we're taking expert advice on ghosts from your sword now." You note flatly.
"My ghost killing sword, yes," Taylor responds cheekily. You don't bother to dignify that with an answer, instead worriedly looking around the street at all the people who have been going out of their way to ignore your Master for the duration of her time here.
"So anyway, if ghosts decay over time, it's probably because their souls are losing power right? So if I can juice her up, she should go back to mostly normal! Then we can have a nice chat and I can do the Dallons a solid by bringing her back!" Taylor crows.
"And... you don't see any way that could go wrong?" You say hesitantly.
"I mean... I might have to kick her ass, but how hard can that be?" Taylor asks you quizzically. You miss when your Master was a wuss. She was a lot less liable to do stupid things back when she was afraid of getting shot to death for them.
"So... what do you need me to do?" You say, resigning yourself to your fate. You don't really know enough about ghost stuff to actually hold an argument with your Master on the topic, so you definitely aren't going to convince her to change her mind. If something goes wrong, at least you'll be able to say you tried.
"Here. Don't lose it." Your Master says, finally coming out of her backpack with a folded up piece of paper that she promptly slaps your chest with, withdrawing her hand to show that it was firmly stuck to the front of your coat.
"What-" You begin to ask but don't get much further than that.
Because there was something standing right in front of you, it's distended face - an unpleasant deformation of a normal human head that looked like someone had stretched a human face over the skeleton of a lizard - mere inches from you, one ophidian eye turned in your direction. You barely think about your reaction, merely leaping backwards and drawing Long Memory in the face of the... whatever the hell it is. As you do so, you get a better picture of the full scope of the thing. The 'human skin stretched over a lizard body' theme was prevalent all throughout. It's four limbs, spindly things that ended in large gripping hands, kept it aloft, each one long enough that it was effectively straddling the road and leaning down to stare at you.
"Yeah, she's gotten way worse since the last time we were here." Your Master says idly, not bothering to react to your obvious fright or the huge lizard thing hanging above you and carefully examining the people nearby.
"What the hell?" You hiss in distress, not dropping your combat stance.
"Alright, I'm gonna do my thing now. Just make sure nobody wanders too close okay?" Taylor says ignoring your question.
"I don't think-" You begin, mind already awhirl with how bad of an idea this is, even as your Master hops up the monster - to Fleur's chest, and slaps another Talisman on it, one that she doesn't let go of as it lands.
For a moment, nothing in particular happens. Not at first. Then, your Master's aura unfurls behind her, larger than it normally would while she was holding back. It balloons up large enough for the spectral spider that it presents as to tower over the area, causing a number of the people nearby to back up and withdraw their phones.
Then it begins to shrink. You can't fathom why at first. Not until the monster hovering above you begins to quiver and thrash, it's ghostly limbs passing harmlessly through the nearby buildings. The giant chain covered in human mouths that appears on her chest doesn't make you feel any better about it either.
It occurs to you that, in her own way, your Master might actually be attuning this ghost to one of the realities she draws power from. It would make sense. All of her abilities are finely tuned to work in this dimension. They are miniature emulations of a foreign reality, tuned not to interfere with your Master's continued survival or acquisition of new abilities.
And your Master is currently pumping her Spiritual Power into another entity.
"Master I really don't think-" You blurt out in sudden mortal terror. This kind of containment breach is your worst nightmare. The only thing intended to run on alternate physics in this dimension is your Master. You have no idea what the immediate side effects of spreading that around will be. Aura is one thing. it's generally fairly contained. The afterlife though? You would love it if that could go ahead and stay unchanged.
You watch in stunned terror as the chain on Fleur's chest begins to
[ ] Consume itself, culminating in a giant hole in her chest that becomes the only constant in her form as it begins to flicker across a multitude of different shapes, ending in one that is mostly but not perfectly human.
[ ] Lengthen and stabilize, along with Fleur's form, which becomes distinctly human, and also, is wearing a familiar set of clothes.
Ofcourse, the second Fleur's form normalizes into something approaching human, it tries to murder your much weakened Master, who has apparently dumped most of her power into the ungrateful spirit.
Without thinking overmuch about it, you leap forward, jabbing the spirit in the chest with long memory and send it flying backwards into a nearby building with a surprising thunk. Surprising for two reasons. One, you shouldn't have been able to touch the thing at all. And two, it shouldn't have been able to interact with the building at all.
"Master?" You say hesitantly, turning to Taylor who blinks blearily at you.
"I... didn't think this through." She says sheepishly, pulling herself to her feet and shaking slightly before withdrawing her sword. You purse your lips at her apparent weakness, then turn back to Fleur, who is climbing out of the dustcloud her impact with the road caused, apparently none the worse for ware.
You assume, for just the briefest of moments, that she might be able to be reasoned with. She seems more confused than anything else, glancing about the street as if only just seeing it for the first time. Then she lays her eyes on your Master, and barely even thinks before leaping at her with a speed and ferocity you find terrifying.
Still, your grip on Long Memory firms, and you stand tall. You'd rather die than let your Master fight alone.
Your Master is weakened, and unable to fight to her full capacity - you will have to work together to subdue Fleur, if not outright destroy her. What's the plan? (Only write in's are acceptable here, please include at least a general plan and the maximum amount of energy you are willing to use on it.)
[ ] Write-In
Spoiler: Author's Note
EDIT: Did I miss any Omake between the previous update and now? I've been out of it.
Last edited: Sep 6, 2020
701
Bowler Hat Guy
Sep 6, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Sep 7, 2020
#18,093
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 10
Current Training: None
Friday, February 4th, 2011
Uptown, Brockton Bay
"Master?" You ask carefully, as Fleur fully emerges from the cloud of dust surrounding her.
"I'm fine." She returns to you through gritted teeth. You'd like to believe her, you really do. The problem is - you're pretty sure she's lying. Being obstinate, as it were. As much as your Master is standing on her own two feet now, she clearly isn't at her best. She looks like a stiff breeze could push her over. And while, under normal circumstances, your Master could handle even the strongest human while weakened, you aren't quite sure against your current opponent.
"I won't..." said opponent mumbles at you as she draws closer, her black loose fitting outfit and dishevelled blonde hair making her look so much like Victoria in the mornings that you almost don't notice it when she draws the sword hanging out her waist, pointing it at your Master.
"Listen, I know you're confused right now but we just want to help!" You say quickly to her, stepping to the left so that you are between your Master and the enemy, an action that actively causes Taylor to grimace in annoyance behind you. You ignore the displeasure wafting off of her. If she didn't want to be unable to fight, she shouldn't have drained all her power into a hostile ghost.
For a second - just a single second - the woman facing you looks like she might actually be considering what you just said. Might. In reality, once that second passes, her expression becomes taught with a mixture of fear and anger, the likes of which you aren't sure human faces are intended to express. Not fully anyway.
That's why you aren't as surprised as you wish you were, when a fluorescent green aura begins to emanate from her - and you suddenly find yourself driven to the ground by a great pressure.
'Master!' You screech mentally, when you realize you can't move.
'I- I got it. Just-' Taylor responds, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes just long enough for whisps of her own Spiritual Power to wafter off of her, reducing the Pressure you are experiencing to something approaching manageable just in time for you to roll over and mule kick Fleur mid air as she leaps furiously towards your struggling Master with her sword extended in a clumsy thrust that showcases her absolute lack of any kind of training with the thing. Your kick catches her in the sternum, but doesn't knock her back nearly as far as you might prefer, merely pushing her a few meters to the left, and leaving your Taylor roughly between the two of you.
Not bothering to think about anything else, you rush upward, leaping at Fleur with Long Memory and making several rapid fire thrusts at her throat and face in an attempt to push her backward. Despite your superior skill, you find yourself unable to land a solid hit on the ghostly woman, her superior speed and strength allowing her to overcome her lack of technique with sheer physical prowess. It becomes all you can manage to keep her from advancing, a far cry from the push you were hoping for.
'Duck!' Your Master warns you quickly. You immediately drop to a knee, feeling Taylors hand on your back as she vaults over you with a thrust of her own that Fleur haphazardly deflects before growling at her like she might be the source of all the worlds evils.
"I won't let you take them! My family!" Fleur howls back in a way that sounds damaging to her throat if nothing else.
"Lady, I'm trying to help!" Taylor shouts back in annoyance, barely deflecting a counter-attack and pivoting on one heel just in time for you to step past her and take the brunt of the irate ghosts counter attack.
"I don't think she's listening!" You blurt out, still unable to manage a counterattack against your stronger, faster opponent.
"Well we can't just kill her." Your Master counters. What goes unsaid is the fact that you don't appear to be capable of winning this fight in the first place. At best, you are managing a stalemate - one that will quickly turn in the enemies favour the longer the battle lasts, since your Master is the only thing stopping you from being crushed under Fleur's spiritual pressure.
[May I?] Ozma offers. You've gotten more accustomed to ceding control to the old man since you first began Emulating Oscar, but you'll never like it. Still, this seems like the time for it.
The second you switch, Ozma takes over the furious battle of deflections and counterstrikes you are engaged in, and despite the fact that he is no faster nor stronger than you were, overcomes the stalemate in a matter of moments, eventually juking to the side of one of Fleur's haphazard sword strikes and thrust Long Memory into her chest with enough force to crack bones, launching her solidly away from your and your Master and into another building.
"My apologies for this." He says in his usual bored monotone, before reaching out to grab Taylor by the back of her collar, and depositing her on the ground at your feet, handily stopping her from following up on his attack.
"Wha-" She blurts out in annoyance, only to be silenced when Ozma waves a hand at her, causing a thick green dome of energy to appear around her. She punches weakly at it for a second, but ultimately fails to break through it in her weakened state.
Energy: -1
'What the hell Emmy?' She asks you plaintively.
'It's not me! It's the other guy!' You explain quickly, not wanting to be blamed for this later.
'We didn't need him! We had this!' She complains irately.
'No, we don't! You can barely stand! Why are you even fighting!?' You counter immediately.
'Because who else is going to!? Your current guy isn't exactly Legend, Emmy!' Taylor she shoots back. It occurs to you that this might be the first time you've ever actually argued with your Master about something. Past emulations might have cajoled her slightly, or been somewhat pushy, but ultimately, if your Master wanted to do something - you've always facilitated it. Your sense of right and wrong is almost entirely Taylor-centric in most situations, so you've never really cared what your Master wanted to do so much as the fact that she wanted to do it.
'I can't die! You can!' You counter, feeling a sickening sensation in your gut at the words.
'I don't want you to die though!' She counters, renewing her efforts to get through the barrier Ozma has placed her under.
"Excuse me, but might I ask you to call the authorities? There's a... what's the term... Brute Stranger?" Ozma calls out, either not noticing or choosing to ignore your conversation in favour of turning towards the handful of bystanders watching you fight against what must - to them - appear to be nothing at all. The majority of them are well out of the way, having been staying away from your Master before this all started, but some have slowly inched closer with their cellphones out as they watched, recording the entire fight with nary a care for personal safety.
"I'd also suggest running." Ozma adds, lifting Long Memory into a fencers stance, just in time for Fleur to rocket towards him.
Much as you might expect from the ghosts strange fixation with your Master, she uses the recoil of Ozma's immediate counter attack to bounce away from him, landing feet first on the Barrier your Master is under and lifting her sword upward, blade facing the ground in an attempt to pierce through it.
"None of that now. Miss Fleur, I believe it was?" Ozma asks casually, lifting Long Memory and pointing it toward her, causing a large green hand to extend from its tip to grab the wayward ghost in its grip.
Energy: -1
"I understand that you appear to be suffering from some degree of distress. Returning from the dead is never pleasant. Rest assured-" He begins but is cut off when Fleur wiggles an arm free and begins to hack at the spectral hand holding her in place, quickly shattering the construct.
"-Rest assured, that when your temporary bout of mania passes, we shall not hold it against you." Ozma continues, stepping forward and jabbing the woman in the throat hard enough to break the windpipe of a normal person, but not having any more immediate effect on the undead woman than causing her to cough and reach for her throat defensively.
"I assume there is an ultimate goal here." Ozma asks you pointedly as he continues to beat Fleur about the head, disarming her attempts to counter attack and harshly returning his own blows with a casual sort of disdain that you find somewhat chilling.
'Ideally, if we could get her to calm down...' You say hopefully.
"Kick the shit out of her until she complies!" Taylor yells angrily from beneath the Barrier she is still trying to weakly get out of. Ozma raises an eyebrow in her direction but doesn't contest her request.
"I can only be in control for so long. I suppose this will have to be quick." He muses, before launching into a blinding series of blows that unerring land on Fleur's skull. Regardless of what the desperate ghost tries, no matter how fast she moves, she seems unable to truly stop Ozma, who slips around her defences as though they aren't present.
Basically, he beats her about the head until she falls unconscious.
Then immediately relinquishes control of your body back to you, allowing the Barrier your Master is under to dissipate.
"Okay what the hell was that?" Taylor grumbles at you as she stands and stumbles over to you. You quickly get a shoulder under one of her arms in order to hold her up, squeezing her in a tight hug about the waist as you do so.
"Ozma is a much better fight than me. Unfortunately." You answer, slightly dejected.
[You will grow with time Os- Emmy.] Ozma consoles you, which is actually somehow more annoying than if he hadn't said anything at all.
"Not that! I told you already, I hate it when you act like you're expendable!" Your Master hisses at you, lifting a hand to painfully pinch your cheek.
"But I am!" You complain.
"Not to me." She answers resolutely. Then sighs.
"Let's go look at Fleur." She commands, getting you to help her hobble over to the downed woman. To your surprise, you find her eyes open, staring at the sky in a dejected sort of misery, as if having accepted her fate.
"I just... I just knew that after me it would be my family. I'm so sorry Carol, Sarah." She cries weakly.
"Your sisters are fine," Taylor says bluntly, nudging the woman in the side.
"What- but the Empire-" She blurts out, sitting up, her face covered in bruises.
"I beat the crap out of half of them and the other half ran away or died," Taylor responds again, still incredibly bluntly. She's clearly not pleased with this turn of events, and is taking her mild annoyance out on the poor woman before you. Not that it looks like she's taking offence to it. In fact...
"Thank you..." She mumbles, closing her eyes and waiting.
"...So can we go now or what?" Taylor says, nudging her again with a foot.
"...You... aren't going to finish me off?" She asks opening one eye hesitantly.
"No. Your niece asked me to resurrect you actually. She's a friend of mine." Taylor answers, her tone lightening at the mention of Vicky.
"Is that... possible?" Fleur asks hesitantly, sitting up and actually examining you and your Master for a second. It's strange, you wouldn't have described her as beautiful while she was screaming and trying to murder you, but once the rage and grief had left her expression, she took on a sort of demure beauty. Like a less boisterous Vicky perhaps. You can definitely see the family resemblance at least.
"Yeah, that's me. I've got all the powers." Your Master says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"...Oh." Fleur says quietly.
You probably would have spent the next several minutes in completely awkward silence, except for the sudden arrival of Vicky, who rockets out of the sky to land next to you with a perfect three-point landing that slightly craters the concrete nearby.
"Came as soon as I heard, where's the fire?" She says quickly, scanning the area for signs of anything wrong.
"It's... look I just want to go to sleep. Can I explain tomorrow?" Your Master sighs out, slouching against you.
"Uh?" Vicky answers dubiously, obviously not clear on what exactly is going on.
"Oh! Here!" You say, pulling the talisman your Master stuck to you off and slapping it on Vicky's... shoulder. Because you choose life.
Two things happen at that moment. One, you stop being able to see Fleur. And two, Vicky spins to where you assume Fleur is still sitting, and begins to yell incoherently.
You aren't sure why you expected this to go any other way.
Ah, the weekend. Choose TWO (2). Taylor will automatically spend any extra time continuing her current training if any.
[ ] Begin Training (Pick a Skill or Power)
[ ] Go on Patrol. (Choose up to 2 people to accompany you.) (Victoria, Trainwreck, Aspirant, Miss Militia, Vista, Danny)
[ ] Have Taylor take some time out to fortify the Heap with Onmyoudo.
[ ] Continue Training Your Team (And also, Danny)
[ ] The hell was up with Night? You feel like that response was weird, given her weeks-long imprisonment.
[ ] Uber and Leet got away. They're a minor annoyance at best, but still. You should at least track them down.
[ ] You aren't sure how helpful it will be, but your Master has a bunch of 'Butcher Wards' to give to the PRT
[ ] They forbid you from interacting with the Butcher - but Accord is free game, right?
[ ] Write-In
You're Master is somewhat drained from today's fighting, but Fleur seems like a much easier ghost to work with than most.
[ ] Low Powered Shikigami. (Fleur is effectively Human baseline.)
[ ] Medium Powered Shikigami. (Fleur returns as a proper Shinigami, and can exit her body at need.)
Where will you perform the ritual? You doubt the PRT will let you use their base if the subject of your ministrations isn't one of theirs.
[ ] Write-In
You have some social time this weekend, who will you spend it with?
[ ] Victoria *
[ ] Amy *
[ ] Aspirant *
[ ] Trainwreck
[ ] Parian *
[ ] Danny *
[ ] Miss Militia
[ ] Vista
[ ] Oliver
[ ] Write-In
717
Bowler Hat Guy
Sep 7, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Sep 8, 2020
#18,238
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 9
Current Training: Lesser Magic Usage (5/10) thanks for this Omake Bonus go to Demensional Wonderer
Saturday, February 5th, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
Your Master, possibly as a side effect of expending so much of her power the day before, wakes up late.
Now, when you say 'late' you really don't mean much. Your Master has some bizarre standards when it comes to her scheduling, and so, when she snorts and groggily flops awake at precisely eleven minutes past six, you aren't particularly bothered by it.
She, however...
"Ugh. I feel like I got run over by a bus. Never let me do that again." She complains, blinking sleep out of her eyes for perhaps the first time in weeks. Compared to the way she typically bolts awake and immediately begins to move about, this sleep addled version of your Master is almost kind of cute.
Not that you would ever say that to her face.
"You don't exactly listen to me when I make suggestions." You point out, only... slightly heatedly. Taylor winces at the accusation then smiles sheepishly at you.
"Sorry. I just - I'm the only person who knows anything about all this magic stuff you know? I can't ask anyone else for help, not unless your next guy is Merlin or something." She explains, then pauses.
"...Can you do Merlin?" She asks.
""Sentient Vending Machine."" You remind her, and are surprised when she speaks the words at the exact same time as you, as if having expected them.
"Yeah, yeah. The Multiverse is vast and terrifying blah blah." She grumps at you, causing you to narrow your eyes at her.
"Why yes Master, I do enjoy my entire purpose for existing being belittled." You say snidely. It's gotten a lot easier to be snippy with your Master recently. Part of that might be your Emulations dislike of being looked down on, or the mere fact that you are, for all intents and purposes, experiencing your very own teenage rebellion through him, but once you get past all the hormones and teasing, it's easy to treat Taylor less like your reason for existing, and more like a particularly precocious sibling.
And siblings, well - they argue. A lot, actually.
"That's not what I meant!" She wails, throwing her arms in the air in exasperation, then leaning over and pulling you into a tight hug.
"I- I know I don't always do the smart thing. And I know that you put up with a lot for me. Really. I'm sorry I didn't listen. I'll try to be more mindful." She says quickly, squeezing you tightly. You frown up at her, which must look positively silly given your silken green pyjamas and sleeping cap.
"I just don't want you to get hurt." You admit freely.
"Well, I don't think it's possible to completely avoid all risk. Behemoth could walk into town today and I'm not sure what I could do to stop him - but I wouldn't do nothing." She chides you.
"I'd turn into something bigger and eat him." You say resolutely. Were you supposed to be able to turn into anything larger than your average car? No, absolutely not. That would have been one of the first limitations placed on you by Eden as she landed, assuming you were even allowed into circulation in the first place - which you usually weren't. But until you make a connection with the Warrior or Thinker hubs, you doubt either of them will notice your slight insubordination. This cycle has certainly been none standard as far as progress updates and regular communication go, after all.
"Sure you would." Taylor chuckles teasingly, poking you in the cheek with one finger and smooshing it around like you were some kind of baby.
"Taylooor." You complain at the treatment. This doesn't really have any other effect than causing her to start tickling you with small jabs here and there as you try - and fail - to break her grapple on you.
[On the topic of Merlin. I might be of some assistance.] Ozma cuts in, causing your smile to fade slightly.
Annoyingly, you realize that the old man is probably correct. You're fairly certain that he is the Merlin equivalent of his home world. So, with a sigh and a wistful look at your Master, you politely switch places with Ozma.
"Miss Hebert, I believe-" He begins, only to be cut off as Taylor's eyebrows shoot up and she leans away from you, lifting you bodily from the bed and dropping you off its side like a bag of refuse.
"...Was that necessary?" Ozma asks from his position on the ground.
"Aren't you like, a billion years old? And you were in my bed? With me?" She points out, shivering slightly.
"I fail to see the difference between myself and Oscar. It isn't as though we have suddenly aged appreciably." Ozma notes in some mild annoyance, carefully sitting up with as much dignity as it's possible to have in ones pajamas.
"Emmy. He's Emmy. And you're not." Taylor says flatly, sliding out of the bed herself and pulling a set of clothes out of her dresser.
"Be that as it may. I happen to be fairly accomplished in the use of Magic, if I might offer my services." Ozma explains patiently, intangibly stepping out of your sleep wear and manifesting your usual attire instead.
"Cool. I'll see you downstairs." Taylor answers pointedly, glancing from you to her clothing and back again.
[She wants you to leave the room.] You explain in exasperation.
"I am aware of that, but we have never before needed to-" He begins to argue.
[Just... just do it.] You sigh. You get the impression that Ozma was expecting to be treated the same as well, you. Which, while amusing, isn't likely to be the case.
"As you wish." He says tersely, slipping through the floor and taking a patient seat in the living room to await your Master. She comes downstairs dressed in well fitted black sweater and jeans. Close enough to her preferred clothing style of 'vagabond' for comfort, but fitted well enough to exaggerate her natural grace in motion. You're sure Taylor doesn't really realize it, but the sheer amount of martial arts training crammed into her head causes her to walk around with the kind of casual strut one might expect from a runway model.
You are more aware of this than most, because unlike so many other offences at school that you are capable of cracking down on, bludgeoning teenage boys who are merely talking about her isn't within your purview.
"So. Magic?" She says curiously as she takes a seat in a nearby recliner - a far cry from the typical closeness she displays when the two of you are home alone.
"Ah, yes. Magic. Where I come from... came from, Magic was a gift from the Gods, accessible to everyone." Ozma begins to explain, his expression and tone becoming pensive as he speaks on his far distant past.
Saturday, February 5th, 2011
The Heap, Brockton Bay
You've never before been quite so bored of a particular series of myths and legends. You can't quite say that you disliked hearing about Ozma's dubious history, and the history of the people that walked Remnant before the current age. But as far as practical applications go, there was nearly no explanation to be had that morning.
Sure, Taylor was fairly interested and listened to the stories with rapt attention, but you doubt it was lost on her that roughly eighty percent of what was said was to the effect of 'you have to be responsible with magic, don't take it for granted'.
Needless to say, you found the entire affair fairly boring. Not that your current situation is much better.
"But why is she blond." Victoria asks you for the seventh time since arriving at the Heap that day to make a body for her mortality challenged aunt.
"I... don't know? I can't even see her. You still have the thing." You say, pointing at the shoulder of Victoria's costume with one hand to indicate the elaborate script filling out the loose piece of notebook paper still stuck to it.
It's early afternoon, and your Master had begrudgingly deigned to leave home that day in order to get Fleur's resurrection over with. She was planning on doing it regardless, but had wanted to do it later in the day, as she was still tired from the previous days exertions. Vicky, however, had other plans, showing up at your home in the morning with her ghostly aunt in tow.
Her plan, apparently, was to have Fleur up and about in time to bring her to see her mother during her lunch hour.
"She probably fucked something up somehow." another voice grumbled from nearby.
Oh, and also, Amy was here. You aren't sure why you didn't expect that. But there it was.
"I'm sorry if my Master's powers over life and death don't meet your exacting standards." You snipe at her in annoyance. You aren't quite so murderous or maniacal as any of your previous emulations, but the girl's continued dislike of your Master just irks you for some reason.
"Hey, I work in a hospital, friends of the patient are allowed to complain." She shoots back.
"No wonder you're so miserable." You counter.
"Say's the sentient muppet." She fires back.
"Jesus Amy just kiss and get it out of your system why don't you," Vicky says, causing both of you to turn baleful stares on the blond.
"What? You usually just ignore people that annoy you but when you're around Nexus you never shut up." She adds after a second, only half paying attention to you or her sister as she watches your Master carefully directing Danny and Trainwreck about the room you are in, deep in the bowels of the Heap at the end of what you suppose could politely be described as a service tunnel. The two men are shifting about pillars of rusted metal that Trainwreck had quickly erected for your Master upon her request, moving them inches at a time to match your Master's vision of the room perfectly.
She says it's for better Feng Shui. You suspect she might just be enjoying bossing them around.
"...You suck." Amy says after a second, turning away from the both of you and not specifying which one of you she was talking to in the first place. You resist the urge to stick your tongue out at her as Trainwreck and Danny finish placing the last metal rod, each one covered in warding talismans to mirror the setup in the PRT building.
With the pillars in place, it takes very little time at all for your Master to tie a rope to each of them, clearly delineating what is inside and what is outside the barrier.
As this is your third such experiencing of this event, you aren't particularly blown away when she goes through all the usual motions, is accompanied by all the usual flashing lights, and finishes the ritual by stepping away from a very confused looking naked blond woman.
The watching Dallons however...
"I- I didn't think-" Amy blurts out stupidly.
"Aunt Jess!" Vicky yells, darting forward to scoop the confused woman up into a hug and spinning her around like a particularly large teddy bear.
"Vicky! You're so big now!" Fleur laughs after a second to acclimate to things, hugging the girl back. The pair look similar enough for it to be uncanny.
"Um, shouldn't you be more worried about-" You begin to say, averting your eyes from the naked woman and finding Amy and Trainwreck staring intently at the sight infront of them, even as Danny stoically stares at a wall with a look of consternation on his face.
"Sssh. Lemme have this." Trainwreck whispers to you.
"Amy?" You ask, ignoring your larger team mate even as Taylor snorts and flicks a hand in his direction, throwing her notepad at his head.
"Mm?" She answers you distractedly.
"Your aunt? Is naked?" You say in exasperation. The New Wave healer blinks once, then turns away hurriedly, reaching into her backpack for a set of clothes your Master had instructed the pair to bring with them.
"So why are you blond now?" Vicky asks sometime later as you give Fleur a quick tour of the Heap as she acclimates to having a body again.
"...We're all blond Vicky." Fleur notes with a confused look.
"...No, but I mean, Uncle Mike was blond but you always had black hair." She says hesitantly.
"I...-" Fleur says than stops, her eyes dilating like a cats.
"Jess?" Amy says quickly shuffling to the front of the group to poke her in the neck with one finger.
"Is she okay?" Danny says walking forward.
"No. She's in shock. Did you do something wrong or-" Amy grinds out, immediately turning to your Master accusingly.
"I- remember my whole life, and Mike, but if I don't focus on it, it's like... like I remember differently. If I don't think about it I can remember growing up with Carol and Sara, but I can't remember anything... specific... and when I focus on it I can tell that that's wrong, but it's still what I remember." Fleur whispers distractedly. She seems less afraid or angry, and more lost than anything else.
"Quick check, how many people here knew she wasn't a Dallon before this?" Taylor asks suddenly, then nods thoughtfully when only Amy and Vicky lift their hands, Amy with a scowl and Vicky in obvious distress.
"If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say many people passing the spot Fleur died at considered her 'Part of New Wave' and nothing more. Everyone knows about Fleur, but I don't think anyone but you guys actually knew anything about 'Jess'" Your Master explains with a frown.
"How does that make any sense?" Amy grumbles, removing her hand from Fleur when it becomes clear she isn't going to keel over and die on the spot.
"Some landbound spirits become kind of like gods when they get enough prayer or worship. Little 'g' gods I mean." Taylor explains with a shrug. Fleur snorts at this.
"Can you cut the Myrrdin crap for one second and-" Amy begins to spit, before Fleur leans over and pulls her in a one armed hug.
"Hey, relax okay? I'd be dead without her." She chides.
An awkward silence reigns in the hall for a while after that, with Trainwreck eventually getting bored and wandering off to continue with his usual projects and tinkering. Then Fleur speaks again.
"Sooo, what did I miss? Are you two seeing anyone? Are they nice? How's school?" Fleur begins to rattle off, pointedly not letting go of Amy when she started to uncomfortably paw at the arm she had wrapped around her shoulders.
Vicky, being the type of person she is, takes Fleur's questions as an immediate invitation to tell you far more about her relationship than you actually wanted to know, and judging by the sour look on Amy's face - far more than she wants to know too.
Saturday, February 5th, 2011
Uptown, Brockton Bay
Carol Dallon - Amy and Vicky's mother, better known in the city as the hero Brandish, worked in the part of town that could nominally be described as 'nice'. Brockton Bay didn't have an abundance of such areas, but what few it did have were heavily built up. Skyscrapers, fronts for tons of high-end businesses, and offices for every kind of professional you might imagine abounded here. It occurred to you that your Master could technically afford to live in this area now, but that she would probably never abandon the home she grew up in. Not unless she was forced to.
Presently, you were waiting for Carol at a nearby cafe, having managed to get here in time to grab a table and for Vicky to message the elder Dallon with the good news.
You assumed anyway. The look of put upon tolerance on the woman's face as she stepped into the cafe to find her daughters sitting with two other people - Taylor and Fleur - indicated that Vicky might not have been entirely forthcoming on the topic of this meeting.
"Good afternoon Nexus. If you need legal representation I would happy to meet you in my office - you didn't need to go through Vicky like this." She says diplomatically as she sits down, smoothing her black pencil skirt out and subtly adjusting cuffs on the suit she was wearing.
"Oh, I'm not actually here for that. Vicky-" Taylor begins to explain, obviously struggling not to fall into her stepford smiler routine in the face of the other woman's brusque business like attitude.
"Mom! Jess is back! Remember I told you what Dean said about-" She half shouts, drawing more attention than you are entirely comfortable with, despite the relative lack of people in the cafe with you.
"Vicky. Aura. And what's this about Jess?" Carol says, smoothly speaking over her daughter.
"Hey, Carol. Nice to see you're as unflappable as ever." Jess says sarcastically, making a tiny wave towards the other woman.
Instead of being happy or curious or anything else, which is what you might expect of someone getting a dead family member back, Carol's head immediately snaps to Taylor, who she glares at with a furious intensity.
"Do you think this is funny? That I would appreciate this?" She hisses at your Master who leans away in surprise at the sudden aggressive response.
"Mom, seriously it's Jess. We can even confirm with PRT. Amy tell her!" Vicky says excitedly, ignoring her mother's obvious change in mood.
"I actually can't confirm who she is," Amy says, shrinking in on herself. "I didn't have my powers back then so I wouldn't know..." She trails off, swallowing a lump in her throat and looking anywhere but at Vicky. Carol apparently takes this in exactly the wrong way, and begins to tear into Jess verbally.
"Just because my daughter is well meaning does not mean I appreciate these attempts to insert yourself into my family." She hisses, withdrawing her phone and standing up.
"Mom?" Vicky says, floating up and around to get the womans attention.
"Mom who are you-" Vicky asks.
"Hello? I believe I am being followed by a Stranger who-" She begins to explain to whoever is on the other end of the line - presumably a PRT officer.
"What was in the closet Carol." Jess says suddenly, causing everyone else to stop and stare, Vicky and Amy with confusion, Taylor in curiosity, and Carol in... you guess 'shock' and possibly 'terror' might be the words to use.
"You..." Carol says, expression turning thunderous.
"Yeah, it's almost like, I was there right? Crazy." She drawls. She's putting up a strong front but from where you're standing it's clear that Jess is just as distressed by this turn of events as Carol, her hands tightly gripping her knees, knuckles white with strain.
It's only for a second, but you swear you can see Jess' eyes dart to Amy for a moment, something the younger girl doesn't notice in her attempts to collapse in on herself, hiding from the argument with a resigned familiarity.
Eventually, Carol hangs up the phone call she was in the middle of, and presses her lips in to a thin line, her face an otherwise tight mask giving no insight into whats going on in her head.
"My lunch is short. I- we'll talk later." She spits out, almost like the words cause her physical pain, before striding out of the cafe, completely ignoring the gobsmacked looks on Vicky and Amy's faces.
"Did... you just make Mom run away?" Vicky mumbles in awe.
"Honestly? No. She's going to spend the entire time between now and when next we meet coming up with reasons I'm lying and convincing herself they're true. Maybe I should talk to Sarah." Jess says tiredly, her posture loosening dejectedly.
'Should we be here for this? This feels private.' Your Master notes awkwardly, having mostly just watched the entire exchange passively without getting involved.
'Prooobably not.' You reply.
"Ah well. I'm just gonna... get out of your hair. Do you want me to drop you off at your house Vicky?" Taylor speaks up, drawing everyone's attention.
"Sure. Uh, sorry about... you know. Mom can be..." Vicky trails off hesitantly.
"Being a bitch is Carol's default defence mechanism," Jess explains bluntly, earning an unwilling snort from Amy and a suspicious look from Vicky.
"She's not that bad..." Vicky tries to defend her mother, only to have Amy and Jess turn disbelieving looks on her.
"Right. Uh, just... come to the Heap if you need anything I guess Jess. Aftercare and all that." Taylor says taking an awkward step away from the conversation, obviously not wanting to spend any significant period of time insulting her friend's mother.
Then she swings her hand lazily outward, creating a Gap next to the table. As an afterthought, the reaches into it and withdraws a few bills, which she leaves on the nearby counter.
"You keep money in that thing?" Jess asks, obviously in an attempt to change topics.
"Money, bad guys, my keys. Whatever needs storing." Taylor explains, sticking her tongue out in jest.
"...Huh. I should tell Mike about that. He'd think it's hilarious." Jess grins at you.
Amy and Vicky both go silent at that, looking away, and Jess' expression quickly pales.
Your Master, deciding that this is her limit for drama today, quickly makes a Gap of her own, and steps out of the cafe, leaving the younger members of New Wave to gently explain to Fleur that her Boyfriend is now married and has kids.
Saturday, February 5th, 2011
The Heap, Brockton Bay
When you and your Master get back to the Heap, in your customary position in the garage, it is to find Trainwreck angrily stomping about and yelling at people. Dozens of them, in fact, all of whom are ignoring him as they tramp through the garage and into the Castle proper.
"What the fuck! Stop! Desist! Piss the fuck off! Holy shit, being a good guy sucks!" Trainwreck complains as he loudly stomps after the men in workers outfits as they carry a variety of things through the castle. Then Trainwreck actually notices you.
"Boss! These fucking chodes said you gave 'em permission to turn my fucking Garage into a mall! Tell them to fuck off!" He yells angrily, stomping over to stop infront of your Master.
"Uh... I kind of did?" She answers carefully.
"The fuck!? WHY!?" He bellows, swinging his arms outward in dismay and nearly - possibly intentionally - clobbering a passing workman. Taylor looks around for a second, then frowns, and gestures for Trainwreck to follow her as she walks further into the castle - it's halls and doorways very clearly sized for someone of his bulk. You pass Oliver on the way, the boy having apparently somehow ended up helping the workers as if he were one of them.
"Okay so, you know how I want to be able to pay you guys?" Taylor explains placidly as she leads him towards what is nominally the 'throne' room, where the Wardstone is kept.
"Yeah, that's why you got the gig rezzing stiffs for the PRT." He points out.
"Yeah well, I can't always rely on that. And the city could really use some new cashflow, so - mall." She finishes lamely.
"That suuucks. Am I gonna have to stop swearing? We gonna put little windows in so the plebs can look at me tinker like a zoo animal?" Trainwreck snarls, seeming actually angry about having his space taken from him.
"What? No! Look, I'm gonna set things up so that only some parts of the Castle are accessible to the public. The rest is still all ours okay? They probably just needed to come through your garage to get some of the bigger stuff inside. I promise I'll stop it from happening again okay?" Taylor says as she enters the throne room and takes a seat in front of the Wardstone.
"...I still don't like it." Trainwreck grumbles as he steps into the room. Your Master does... something... with the Wardstone, that causes a large steel chair to rise from the ground for him to sit on.
"Do you want me to make it up to you?" Taylor offers hesitantly.
"I dunno, can you give me my dick back?" Trainwreck says sarcastically.
"Without! Ripping my soul out." He adds when it looks like Taylor is going to take him on his offer.
"...No?" She says finally.
"Thought so. Look as long as I don't gotta do any dog and pony show crap I'm fine. Just don't make me talk to anyone." He grumbles, standing to leave.
"Hey Wreck?" Taylor asks hesitantly before he can leave.
"What?" He shoots back in annoyance, though not nearly as irate as he was before.
"I just, don't want you to have to fight. Is that... bad?" She asks, biting her lip in thought. Trainwreck's expression softens, and he sighs, turning around.
"Always with the innocent all-loving hero shit with you." He mumbles under his breath. Then aloud;
"Boss, I appreciate you. I do. If I weren't with you I'd be living in a junkyard beating up guys for cash. But... come on. Look at me. I aint made for this shit." He says with a shrug.
"Wreck..." Taylor chides him slightly. You love your Master, you really do, but she has something of a rose tinted image of her teammates. Despite Trainwrecks rampant cussing, obviously surly behaviour, and only barely heroic demeanour, she is unlikely to ever stop believing in him. Loyalty and trust are too important to her for anything else. And you suspect Trainwreck knows that too. Because despite his complaints to the contrary, his power suits have begun to take on an increasingly clean appearance to them as time goes on. As if the man is doing his utmost to be capable of standing alongside Nexus and Aspirant without having to show shame.
The pressure must be unbearable.
"A-anyway. I got shit to do. Keep the goons out of my stuff." Trainwreck says quickly when it looks like the conversation might turn towards your Master unnecessarily puffing up his ego to make him feel better.
Then he shuffles out of the room and stomps off, decisively ending the conversation with a slight blush to his face.
"I wish I could do more for the guy." Taylor says quietly as the sound of his tremendous foot steps vanishes up the hall.
"Someday Master." You console her.
You hope anyway. You have no idea what's up with all the deformed triggers this cycle but one thing is for sure;
It can't possibly be something good.
Saturday, February 5th, 2011
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay
Your last stop for the day is apparently the PRT headquarters. Deciding that she isn't really in the mood to see Piggot today, your Master makes the executive decision to just find Armsmaster, so she can quickly pass the Talisman' she made on before heading home for the day.
Your Master, of course, has no idea if they'll actually work. The only thing she's positive they will do is repel ghosts. She had already added that particular feature to the Heap while she was experimenting with it, presumably to keep the Butcher off the grounds in the event that she managed to bypass the other defences that were already in place.
As is typical of your Master's trips to the building, the receptionist has already grown well accustomed to her, and buzzes her into the main building with a minimum of fuss, only taking the time to ensure that Armsmaster was actually present before allowing her in.
The first sign you have that something abnormal is happening, is the fact that the door to Armsmaster's lab is standing open, rather than locked down as one might expect from the anal retentive tinker.
The second is that once your Master tentatively steps in, Armsmaster latches onto her like a life preserver in a sinking ship.
"Good evening Nexus." He says quickly, rising from a seated position and taking three large steps towards Taylor before turning to the right to speak to a woman who had been leaning against the wall, just out of your line of sight.
"We will inform you if Ravager surfaces. So far we have yet to receive indication she's in town, now if you'll excuse me, Nexus is an important partner of the PRT and requires-" He begins to rattle off, only to be spoken over by the woman in the mouse themed knights outfit.
"Oh hey! You're Skadoosh girl!" The unknown cape says, flamboyantly drawing her sword and lifting her pinky finger into the air to mimic your Master's most recorded moment of heroism.
"Uh." Taylor splutters, blinking at the other woman.
"Mouse, this really isn't-" Armsmaster tries to cut in with a pained expression, obviously trying to chivy your Master out of the room.
"Hey have you ever considered a work study? I feel like you and me could get along. Guys like Armsy are all by the book. There's no banter or posturing to it. It's boring." She says, then pauses, leaning around to pointedly stare at Armsmasters ass.
"Well, a little posturing." She corrects herself smugly when Armsmaster turns slightly to block her line of sight.
"I, uh, I'm sorry, who exactly-" Taylor begins.
"Don't." Armsmaster groans.
"Allow me to introduce myself!" The mouse theme cape says, striking another pose and bellowing the statement like a saturday morning cartoon.
"When the cat's away the mice shall play! When there is no where to turn to, I shall be there! The mouse with the most! Mouse Protector!" She bellows, flourishing her sword flamboyantly, before falling into a relaxed stance and smirking at Armsmasters obvious distress.
"Plus, we're both badass babe independents with swords. I've watched that Skadoosh video like fifteen times." Mouse Protector adds when it becomes clear your Master is to blind sided by her sudden announcement to say anything.
"I- don't know if 'babe' is the right word." She eventually stutters out, finishing her first sentence since arriving here.
"We can work on that. Come ooooon. You have a catch phrase and everything!" She bemoans.
"...Did you have something you wanted to bring me, Nexus?" Armsmaster finally asks, giving up on escaping and just deciding the ignore Mouse Protector for the moment.
Taylor glances between Mouse Protector and Armsmaster for a second before fully stepping into the room after him, turning to face him and away from Mouse Protector - who you stay facing to make sure she has an eye on her.
"Right. I brought these. They should partially repel the Butcher away from anyone holding one. They won't help if she decides to shoot at you from range though." She says, reaching out and withdrawing a stack of paper talisman that she hurriedly hands to Armsmaster, who examines them curiously.
"What's the mechanism?" He asks curiously, turning them over and frowning as his visor lights up to examine them. "I can see there's some form of harmless radiation coming from them, consistent with your other work."
"I noticed I could see a bunch of-" Taylor pauses to look over her shoulder at Mouse Protector before turning back to Armsmaster.
"- the work I've been doing for the PRT recently? I can see all the previous Butchers. Those should repel them. I don't actually know if it will stop anyone from being possessed, or if it will make the actual Butcher less crazy but I wanted to do something." She admits.
"Hm. I'll see to having all of us outfitted. Thank you." Armsmaster says distractedly.
"What, just like that? No month long tests or detailed investigations?" Taylor asks dryly.
"That's unnecessary. You're a vetted PRT contractor at this point. Suspecting every piece of work you provide for us will only serve to alienate you and reduce our own efficiency." Armsmaster explains. Your Master feels a spike of happiness at that, though it quickly fades when Mouse Protector slings an arm around her shoulders and leans in to speak boisterously with her.
"So, I hear you've got a whole castle set up for us independent types to crash at." She says suggestively. Predictably, Armsmaster perks up at this, turning towards the pair of you.
"Wouldn't it make more sense to stay with the PRT? If they're helping you find someone?" Your Master asks hesitantly.
"We'll compensate you for her stay," Armsmaster says, just a bit too quickly. Taylor sends him a flat look that he ignores.
"Oh, I can see it now, the team-up of the century!" Mouse yells happily.
You aren't actually positive, but you're pretty sure you can see your Master's will to live drain from her body as Mouse Protector continues to espouse the tactical benefits of mouthing off in combat.
Ah, the weekend. Choose TWO (2). Taylor will automatically spend any extra time continuing her current training, if any.
[ ] Complete Training (Lesser Magic Usage 5/10) 5 to Complete (Choose an additional Action)
[ ] Go on Patrol. (Choose up to 2 people to accompany you.) (Victoria, Trainwreck, Aspirant, Miss Militia, Vista, Danny, Mouse Protector)
[ ] Have Taylor take some time out to fortify the Heap with Onmyoudo.
[ ] Continue Training Your Team (And also, Danny)
[ ] The hell was up with Night? You feel like that response was weird, given her weeks-long imprisonment.
[ ] Uber and Leet got away. They're a minor annoyance at best, but still. You should at least track them down.
[ ] Write-In
You have some social time this weekend, who will you spend it with?
[ ] Victoria *
[ ] Amy *
[ ] Aspirant *
[ ] Trainwreck *
[ ] Parian *
[ ] Danny *
[ ] Oliver
[ ] Miss Militia
[ ] Vista
[ ] Mouse Protector
Last edited: Sep 8, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Sep 9, 2020
#18,491
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 8
Current Training: Lesser Magic Useage (5/10) - (7/10)
Sunday, February 6th, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
"Magic, comes in many forms. But it's primary form, is the manipulation of the elements. Fire, Ice, Lightning - the concepts behind them, more than just there physical forms. A skilled magician could effect wonders through the combinining of these things." Ozma explains to Taylor who is sipping a cup of tea across from him while Ozma works his way through his third or fourth cup of hot chocolate.
"I can already do that though." Taylor points out, slightly non plussed as she lifts a hand and a small flame appears in it. You're briefly surprised by that because you understand direct applications of your Master's Onmyoudo abilities have always been somewhat more limited than her Talisman work. Even something as simple as creating a flame in her hand would have taken her a few moments of concentration that she could ill afford in combat a week ago.
"What you are holding, is fire. A neophyte can make 'fire'. It's very simple. That's not a spell. That's a building block." Ozma chides her.
"Fire can be many things. It is consumption. It is change. It is wild. A true Master can take just these aspects from the flame to affect things." Ozma continues. Taylor frowns at this, but extinguishes the flame in her palm, considering his statement.
"Can you give me an example? My magic doesn't work like that. I don't even make fire. I just ask a spirit of fire to do it for me." She explains, waving a hand in the air to indicate the room around you.
"Imagine a crystal ball. There is nothing magical about it. However, you wish to use it to see great distances. And so you bend 'Light' to show you an image, you give it permanency with 'Earth', and you trap the image in the crystal with 'Shadow'. Now, for so long as you have invested those things in the crystal - it will scry for you. But Magic always has a cost. When you use it, you are giving it up. While that crystal ball is active, your ability to use Light, Earth, or Shadow will be severely reduced - if not taken entirely." Ozma continues. You suspect that if he wasn't mindful of your Energy reserves he would be waving his hands around to make a show of what he is saying using his own magic.
You also suspect he might have just explained why his own magic is so weakened. After all, you can think of at least six subjects he has invested it in off the top of your head. The Maidens and the Branwen's. Although, you aren't really sure what combination of elements would allow you to give someone the power to turn into a bird.
"So, you can apply it to a limited number of things at once?" Taylor notes curiously.
"Correct. In practical application, I believe my own form of Magic is slightly more applicable to 'on the fly' usage than your own - which seems to have a significant focus on ritual components." Ozma notes. Then he pauses in consideration.
"Granted, I can only grant you a limited application of that power. My apologies. I suppose much of this would be entirely academic to you." He admits.
"No, it's fine. Fascinating, actually. It's completely different from what I can already do. Even though they're both called 'Magic' they have nearly nothing in common." She muses.
"Yes, well. If we had access to power such as yours on Remnant, we could-" Ozma begins but is cut off as the front door of the house opens, causing your Master to jolt slightly in surprise, then bolt upright with her sword drawn as she advances towards the front door.
[Ehem.] You faux cough to remind the spirit that you'd like your body back. He sighs dejectedly at that, but relinquishes his control, allowing you to follow Taylor to the front hallway, where Danny is standing with a particularly bedraggled looking Fleur. She has bags under her eyes, and a particularly downcast expression on her face.
"Last I checked I live here too kiddo." Danny points out, when Taylor fails to put her sword down immediately - more from shock than any sense of actual wariness.
"Shouldn't you be at work? Is everything okay?" Taylor asks, quickly disappearing her weapon to glance back and forth between Danny and Fleur as if she had never actually expected them to interact again.
"Well, Jess here showed up at the Heap early this morning looking for somewhere to sleep, but you don't really have beds in the place so I told her she could stay here for a while." Danny answers smoothly.
"Addendum! You said we could crash here for a while!" Mouse Protector declares from outside, lugging a huge suitcase into the hallway behind Danny and Fleur. Unlike the Taylors Father and Jess, she is wearing one of the domino masks the PRT provides, the ones that slightly blur your face.
"But... what about Wreck and Aspirant?" Taylor asks in dismay.
"Trainwreck sleeps in his suit and Aspirant bought himself a futon ages ago. We do pay them you know." Danny points out.
"What about you?!" Taylor continues.
"...I have an office, and a very comfortable desk?" He offers sheepishly.
"Emmy, note to self, buy furniture." Taylor says, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes, while stepping aside so everyone can get fully into the building.
"Noted." You acknowledge with some amusement.
"I... I'm really sorry." Jess says as she passes Taylor, a hollow look in her eyes. Concerned, your Master pulls her aside and sits her in the living room while Mouse Protector and Danny move about the house.
"You don't even have a guest room? Come on Danny boy, your daughters making that chedder, you should upgrade already! She's the big cheese in this place right?" Mouse yells from somewhere upstairs.
"I don't just take my daughters money. She earned it. It's hers. And if you touch anything in my bedroom without my permission, we'll be having words." Danny fires back.
"What happened?" Taylor asks Jess, ignoring the byplay.
"I - Vicky managed to convince them that I'm actually me but... they said they didn't know what to do right away. Carol convinced them to ask me to get back to them after they've had time to 'process'." Jess says bitterly.
"...But you have literally nowhere else to go." Taylor says, frowning.
"Yeah, Vicky... wasn't happy. I don't think Amy was either, but she's too quiet to cause a scene." She notes in return. Neither girl brings up the fact that she was probably expecting to stay with Lightstar, her boyfriend. Neither girl mentions that her coming back would probably screw his life up in a number of ways.
"Is Vicky liable to show up on my doorstep next?" Taylor asks, in lieu of all that goes unspoken.
"Probably not. I think she went to see her boyfriend. Dean?" Jess explains lifelessly.
"O-kay. One of you can take the couch, and one of you can have my bedroom - unless you're willing to share. I barely sleep here anyway." Danny says as he comes down the stairs, his eyes darting to a picture of his late wife on a nearby wall in a motion you're sure only you and Taylor notice.
"Thank you for the ride here Danny. I- don't actually know what I would have done." Jess says, some life returning to her tone - though not much.
"It's what my daughter would do. I assume anyway." He answers with an awkward shrug and a sly look towards Taylor.
"She recruited most of her team off the streets after all." He says with a chuckle.
"No I- I mean technically- Huh." Taylor says after a second, realizing that yes, everyone on her team was technically homeless before Parian joined up.
"Anyway. I have to get to work. I won't be gone for a long, just some clerical stuff, so if you need me I'll be at the Heap. Taylor can bring you over - right?" Danny finishes, before turning to Taylor for confirmation.
"Yeah I've got it. I wanted to do a training session with the team today anyway." Taylor says with a glint in her eyes that causes Danny to pale appreciably.
"RightwelllookslikeImightbelateso-" He blurts out, quickly pivoting on one foot and half running half walking out of the house. The engine of his old truck is audible quickly after, receding into the distance.
"He's nice." Jess says absently, staring after him for a second before turning back to Taylor, her mood only slightly improved.
Truthfully, you couldn't agree more. It's not as pronounced, but since Taylor got powers, got you really, Danny has been slowly forced further and further away from his own depression and doubts. He still has worries and concerns, but they are much more in line with those of a normal father, rather than one who is paranoid and reeling from the loss of his wife.
Even if he still drastically overworks himself.
"Yeah. He's the best." Taylor admits shyly. Then blinks and turns to Jess with her stepford smile on.
"So you wanna learn to use that sword?" She says pleasantly.
Sunday, February 6th, 2011
The Heap, Brockton Bay
"I regret this!" Jess screams as her Shinigami form desperately scrambles backwards in an attempt to avoid your Master's brutal sword strikes.
"Go Invisi-babe! I can't fucking tell what's going on, but as long as you're fighting, I ain't!" Trainwreck yells from the sidelines, where he and Aspirant cooling down from their own bouts against your Master. To their side sits Jess's body, carefully leaned against a wall and out of the way of any of the fighting.
"This is nothing! Come on! Use both hands!" Your Master yells gleefully at the older woman.
"How would that help!?" She screeches as she jumps bodily to the side, narrowly avoiding Taylor's sword as it plows three feet into the wall she had been backed up against.
"Using both hands increases control! Power! Accuracy!" She continues to yell, swinging her sword haphazardly to the left and force Jess back from her own aborted attempt to counterattack.
"Is this... normal?" Oliver asks from near Aspirant and Trainwreck, dressed in a fetching pair of gym clothes that nearly gave your Master a stroke the first time she saw him in them.
Trainwreck and Aspirant look at each other, then to your Master, then back to Oliver in unison.
"Eh." "She is being remarkably gentle." They say at once.
"How... how is this gentle? I can't actually see uh... Invisi-Babe?" He turns to Trainwreck for confirmation, who is promptly slapped in the back of his head by Aspirant.
"Jess" The white armoured hero corrects him. They pointedly don't use the name 'Fleur', as that would rather give much more away than anyone would like.
"Right... uh... I can't even see Jess but I'm pretty sure I'd be dead if I had to deal with that." Oliver says, gesturing to your Master who has continued to drive Jess into a corner with her superior technique and strength.
"The boss can do a pretty good Panacea impression. Long as she don't cut nothing off you, it's fine." Trainwreck explains blithely.
"Not that such damage is common. She is an excellent teacher. Merely... extreme." Aspirant jumps in to defend.
"Time!" Danny yells from where he has been patiently staring at a stopwatch during the entire exercise. He wasn't really here by choice. Taylor had just pointedly decided to wait for him to arrive after work that day before beginning her training session. Something Trainwreck and Aspirant appreciate, because it meant they weren't woken up at seven in the morning - but that Danny did not. Of course, Taylor hadn't actually fought Danny, merely running him through an easy series of martial arts techniques, which had taken some of the sting out of it for the older man - who no doubt was terrified of experiencing exactly what Jess was right now.
"All right. I have a good idea of where you are with things. You wanna..?" Taylor says, wiping non-existent sweat from her brow. The ghostly woman seems too out of breath to actually respond, but she does walk over to her body and sink into it, vanishing just as her body's eyes snap open.
"Ugh. Going from out of breath to not is terrible. I am never doing this again." She says as she stands up on wobbly feet. Danny, noticing this, quickly steps over to support her.
"It... does show results eventually..." He offers weakly.
"It's cute that you think you have a choice." Trainwreck chimes in.
"Thank you, Danny," Jess says, pointedly ignoring Trainwreck. "I'm going to go sit down until this is done. My head hurts." She grouses, shooting Taylor a grumpy look. Even still, Taylor has a sense of contentment rolling off of her at the look - because if she's annoyed at least she's not sad.
'I'm gonna take Wreck and Aspirant somewhere else for a second okay? Can you distract Ollie?' She asks you silently.
'I should know enough to spar with him. What's happening?' You ask curiously.
'Gonna give em Aura. Wreck refuses to wear a helmet for some reason, so it feels prudent.' She grouses.
'But Oliver isn't?' You ask curiously.
'I've known Oliver for less than a week. No, I'm not going to hand him a free brute power, thanks.' She points out blithely.
That's fair you suppose.
'Anyway, I'm going to go find Parian at her shop and bring her back.' She continues.
'Sure.' You acknowledge.
So saying, you appear in front of your newest teammate, ghost viewing talisman firmly stuck to your chest and smile.
"Come on, it's me and you next." You say, even as Taylor gestures Trainwreck and Aspirant out of the room. Danny and Jess take this as their excuse to leave, and quickly scuttle off to... wherever Danny goes when he's hiding from training. Probably his office. There aren't a lot of rooms with places to sit in them yet.
"So..." He says to you as you square up with Long Memory, his hands coming up into an easy boxing stance.
"How do we...?" He asks curiously, trailing off. You consider it for a moment. Trying to determine what you know about Olliver really.
Then you remember all the glances your Master shot him throughout the day.
"Dodge!" You yell, rushing at him. And if anyone asks you, you can just point to your Master's training methods. Nothing suspicious about it at all really.
Really.
Sunday, February 6th, 2011
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay
As it turns out, your average Parahuman isn't actually allowed to just 'visit' people the PRT has under lock and key.
In that same vein, however, when your Master explains it as wanting to examine the side effects of one of her powers, they were much more accomodating. Possibly because they want to know as much as possible about Taylor's abilities. If a recording of the conversation you're about to have isn't in the Director's hands within minutes of you leaving, you'll eat your own shoes.
Regardless, your Master was eventually allowed access, along with a small squad of PRT troopers the reinforce the ones that typically watch the prison - the security in which has been significantly improved since becoming the only effective means of holding Parahumans in the city.
"...Night?" Taylor asks as she approaches the cell. You notice Shadow Stalker - Predator you guess - sitting in an adjacent cell, staring at her as she does so. Not that your Master deigns to so much as acknowledge her presence.
"...Yes." The woman in the cell responds, her voice coming through a speaker panel near on it's outside. Despite having been presumably trapped in an endless expanse of impossible to process energy for several days, she seems fairly... not insane, which is something. She is also sitting perfectly still on her bed, facing the wall to your left. You would describe the stillness as uncanny, but in Night's case it almost seems peaceful. At ease, in some way.
"I wanted to see if there were any side effects. I- didn't actually intend to hold you for that long." Taylor says diplomatically. You can tell that she doesn't really feel bad about holding the woman. She was a Nazi Assassin. Your Master isn't nearly so all loving as to let that go.
"Do not apologize." Night says waspishly, before her expression flattens out again.
"I am a monster, in a cage." She says plainly. "Your cage was merely more beautiful than most."
"Is that all? Nothing else?" Taylor asks quickly.
"I am self aware." Night responds simply.
"You and everyone else." Taylor answers in annoyance.
"No. You do not understand. Today is Sunday. On Sunday, I was conditioned to wake up at seven o'clock. I cooked breakfast. Always eggs, always sunny side up, two pinches of pepper, one piece of toast. My 'husband' would awaken twenty minutes later. When we met in the kitchen, he would lean on the fridge, comment on the weather, and gesture at breakfast. Then he would ask me if I had made coffee." She explains blandly, as though reciting from a script.
"That is 'Sunday'. That is every Sunday I have experienced, in my Adult life. I did not choose it. I simply did it." She finishes.
Your Master, slightly stunned by the admission, blinks once before coming to the obvious conclusion.
"You were brainwashed." She realizes quickly.
"Yes. That merely made me a Monster on a leash." Night notes, still not bothering to turn her head, remove her hands from her lap, or display anything you could even vaguely register as 'body language'.
"If that's the case, and you aren't Mastered anymore, couldn't you work with the PRT to-" Taylor points out, perking up. You suppose forgiving a Nazi Assassin, and forgiving an unwilling slave to Nazi's might be two entirely different things to her.
"No. I have choice. I choose to be imprisoned." She says instantly, her tone turning slightly enraged for a moment before falling back to its dull monotone.
Your Master continues to ask her questions for some time after that, but beyond that point, Night simply refuses to speak. She just sits there, nearly unblinking, until you eventually leave.
'Was that... helpful?' You ask carefully.
'Not at all.' She grouses.
Sunday, February 6th, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
"Yo, Hebert the younger! How's tricks?" Mouse Protector greets your Master as you appear in the living room of your home.
"...Please put some pants on." Taylor says in annoyance, pointedly ignoring the greeting, and the pantsless woman sitting on her couch with the television on.
"Why? We're all ladies here. Unless that's your bag. I don't judge." Mouse says easily.
"Excuse me miss." You say sheepishly as you appear in the room with your Master. "But I also live here, so-"
"Yeah, but you don't count. Weren't you a buxom blond like two weeks ago?" Mouse dismisses you instantly.
'She's like a female Trainwreck.' You note in horror, even as you opt to vanish once more from sight in embarrassment.
'...Yeah, I guess she kind of is, isn't she?' Taylor replies in dawning horror herself.
"Aw is he shy? That's adorable! Hey, you eat yet?" Mouse asks with a snicker, gesturing to your Master with a beer bottle.
"...No?" Taylor says carefully, obviously unsure of how to deal with this woman. If it were Trainwreck, she would be dishing it out as good as she got it - over time your Master has assimilated enough of the big Tinker's vocabulary to be able to fire off insults and non-sequiturs just as well as he can. But Mouse is... well she's a stranger. And that kind of behaviour isn't normal or appropriate with strangers.
Not that this appears to actually stop Mouse from doing so.
"Cool. I was poking around your kitchen earlier. You've got a bunch of stuff that's about to go bad. You ever have college food?" She asks, hopping up from her seat.
"...No?" Taylor repeats herself, slightly distressed as Mouse spins her around and leads her into the kitchen.
"Oh man. You gotta appreciate it while your young. Once you get older you have to run for hours to work this crap off. Unless you have some kind of bullshit brute power that keeps you looking crisp." She says, eyeing your Master and chugging the rest of her beer before depositing it on the counter to begin rummaging around in the cupboards above the sink.
"Let's see, pasta, soy sauce, whatever the hell this is..." She begins to explain, handing the items off to your Master as she withdraws them.
"Uh... looks like, dried peppers," Taylor notes, eventually giving up on manually juggling everything being thrown at her and just using Onmyoudo to make it all float in front of her.
"Awesome, those fry super good." Mouse croons, leaving her exploration of the cupboards to dip into the fridge and repeat the process.
"What exactly are you making?" Taylor asks faintly.
"I dunno. And it's what we are making. Come on, the apprenticeship starts outside the job." She jokes, coming out with an armful of food stuffs.
"You... don't know?" Taylor says incredulously.
"Yeah, it's college food. Were just gonna fry all this bullshit at once and eat what comes out." Mouse says cheerfully.
Taylor looks dubiously between the stacks of unhealthy foods and Mouse Protector's clearly toned stomach in obvious doubt and confusion.
"Yeah, I've got one of those bullshit brute powers. Just a little though. This Mouse still has to work for a living after all." She says with a wink, dropping all of her ill-gotten gains on the table in the kitchen and then beginning to carefully pick through them.
The entire rest of the evening is surreal, as Mouse proceeds to alternate between giving somehow perfectly valid advice in the least acceptable way, and distracting your Master with her colourful banter enough that it never even occurs to her to actually walk away from the entire mess.
Eventually, the pair end up eating something that might technically count as food, while surrounded by the mess of their aborted attempt at 'cooking' and laughing at how silly it all is.
Which is how Danny and Jess find them when they eventually both get home - Danny just to drop Jess off.
Somehow, he was much less pleased with the mess. Even if he did look oddly touched when he walked in to see it at first.
But only at first.
School tomorrow. Choose ONE (1). Taylor will automatically spend any extra time continuing her current training, if any.
[ ] Complete Training (Lesser Magic Usage 7/10) 3 to Complete (Choose an additional Action)
[ ] Go on Patrol. (Choose up to 2 people to accompany you.) (Victoria, Trainwreck, Aspirant, Miss Militia, Vista, Danny, Mouse Protector)
[ ] Have Taylor take some time out to fortify the Heap with Onmyoudo.
[ ] Continue Training Your Team (And also, Danny, and Jess)
[ ] Uber and Leet got away. They're a minor annoyance at best, but still. You should at least track them down.
[ ] Who was it Mouse was looking for? Ravager?
[ ] The hell is wrong with New Wave? You need to find Vicky.
[ ] Accord should be safe for you to look for right? You're only supposed to avoid the Butcher after all.
[ ] Your biggest fan forgot her signed... napkin? Might be worth looking her up.
[ ] Write-In
Last edited: Sep 9, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Sep 10, 2020
#18,693
Spoiler: Choices:
Current Energy: 7
Current Training: Lesser Magic Useage (7/10) - (9/10)
Monday, February 7th, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
"Shapeshifting." Ozma quizzes as Taylor sits across the room, writing down notes while he does so.
"Fire for Change, Water for Fickleness - so they could change back and forth, mm... Earth for... Permanency?" Taylor responds carefully, frowning as she does so.
"Almost. Fire and Water are appropriate, Earth for Stability, not Permanency - unless you are try to trap someone as a rabbit or some such." Ozma answers easily, leaning back and laying your hands in your lap.
"Now. Healing?" He continues blandly.
"I don't really need to know that one though. I can already heal." Taylor points out.
"I was unaware that you felt that way. Tell me, did you also choose not to fully learn english, because you cannot actually speak a comma?" He asks dryly, causing your Master to blush slightly but otherwise not rise to his bait.
"...Water and Light and Earth?" She offers carefully.
"Yo, tiny. What's with the weird voice?" Mouse Protector jumps in, already fully dressed in the underlayer of her Costume as she walks down the stairs stretching.
"It would take entirely too long to explain the particulars. Would you perhaps like some hot chocolate?" Ozma answers, completely unperturbed by the rude form of address.
"Is there coffee? I could go for some coffee. Gonna make coffee." She says in response, walking past you and into the kitchen.
"Top shelf on the left!" Taylors calls after her.
"Where's blondie?" Mouse Protector yells back, causing Ozma to sigh and relinquish control of your body, having obviously determined that today's cram session is over.
"She left already. Dad took her to the PRT to register." Taylor answers neutrally. It's... partially true. In truth, Jess needed to talk to the PRT to prove she was alive again, and needed their help getting her an identity, since she legally didn't exist currently. She didn't even have citizenship in the country, which would make getting a job or having a life somewhat difficult, assuming she wanted to do that. Your Master offered to Gap her there, but as both of them had places to go afterwards, and your Master had school today, it would be easier to have a car with them when they were done.
"Huh. Didn't know she was in the business." Mouse muses as she walks out of the kitchen with a mug of coffee and a piece of toast.
"I found her the other day. Not sure she'll join up though. Where are you off to?" Taylor asks curiously, closing her notebook. Since the night before, she seems much more tolerant towards Mouse Protectors... Mouse Protectorness. Fond, even.
"Ah you know. See the sights. Mingle. Bring down the wrath of mouse and man on the corrupt degenerates of this mousetrap of a city." She says blithely, sipping on her coffee, taking a bite of her toast, and then setting both down to begin belting on her armor. Which is, to your surprise, not a prop or some fancy material. It's literal armor. No wonder the woman looks like a body builder under that suit. She does acrobatics in plate mail.
"Do you ever swear?" Taylor asks in amusement. "You seem like you're about to then you sort of side shift into the zany cartoon speeches."
"Gotta keep it PG. Plus, Ravvy hates it." Mouse says enthusiastically.
"Ravvy?" Taylor asks curiously.
"Ravager? We get along sometimes. Not always, but enough. Honestly, I just came to make sure she didn't get herself killed fighting the Butcher or something." Mouse says with a shrug that does nothing to hide the slight tension in her voice as she speaks - despite her obvious attempts not to let it show.
"Huh. You don't have problems being friends with a villain?" She asks hesitantly, as though not sure how offensive the question is.
"Eh, Ravvy isn't as bad as all that. She doesn't usually cause too much trouble." Mouse says, deflecting.
"Yeah but..." Taylor trails off, trying to find the right words.
"Anyway! Gotta go find her before she does something stupid! Have fun doing teenager things!" Mouse bursts out, having hurriedly finished strapping all of her equipment on before grabbing her toast and rushing out the door, leaving the majority of her coffee untouched.
"Emmy?" Taylor asks suddenly, staring after Mouse's fleeing form.
"Yes?" You answer attentively, shifting your attention back to her.
"Do you think I should it's okay to be friends with a villain?" She asks.
You hadn't thought about it until this point. You'd kick a puppy if your Master wanted you to, so it hasn't seemed relevant.
[ ] And by the same logic, she can be friends with whoever the hell she wants. Who's gonna stop her?
[ ] You don't think that's a very good idea. You've recently started to acquire a fledgling taste for this 'morality' thing, and you get the impression it would be frowned upon.
Hearing your answers, your Master nods once pensively at you, and then returns to her studies until school begins.
Monday, February 7th, 2011
The Heap, Brockton Bay
During lunch at school, it occurs to your Master that she probably should look into getting all of these people out of her house. You won't say the thought is entirely selfish in nature - she certainly feels bad about not accounting for the comfort of her friends and family until now - but you also won't say it's entirely unselfish either. Since the arrival of Jess and Mouse Protector, she's had to cut down on many of her usual morning antics. Training, messing with you... really just those two things honestly. Your Master probably needs a hobby.
Regardless, when lunch comes, she politely hands a stack of Talisman to the so called 'Panda Gang' leaders at her lunch table, and then excuses herself to take a quick jaunt to the Gap.
'What did you give them anyway?' You ask as she strides up a hallway towards her fathers office.
'Gaps mostly. Tear a tag and it'll spit you out in the empty outbuilding. I wanted to make sure they don't get murdered by some other Gang, but I don't want to give them anything they could hurt someone with.' She answers distractedly.
[There is still time to open a Huntsman Academy.] Ozma points out.
'...The old man want's me to remind you that you have a college sized building for hosting super school in.' You dryly pass on.
'Still haven't worked the kinks in the Oath out yet. It's either so strict as to make anyone who takes it useless, or so full of holes that it might as well not exist. Also I'm trying to work it down from 'break it and die' to some other, less permanent punishment.' She answers, perking up as she begins to delve into the details of her current magical side project.
'I- yeah 'instant death' definitely seems like an over reaction.' You choke out. You'd like to believe that no one in this world exists who would actually take an Oath with results like that, but you also know better than to think that belief is true.
Humans are stupid that way.
"I can't do it Jess." You hear Danny's voice say sternly from further ahead, his office door slightly ajar.
"Can't or won't? Please, I just need to talk to him. There has to be something-" Jess's voice rings out, the distress in her tone clear.
"Uh... knock knock?" Taylor says awkwardly, pulling the door open and firmly closing it as she steps in the room. Counter to the slightly desolate appearance it once had, Danny's office now has some actual soul to it. The desk looks relatively new, if not high end, there is a computer atop it along with a variety of other knicknacks and writing utensils, a filing cabinet in the corner, A large window at it's rear that opens onto the courtyard in the center of the castle, and a few pictures here and there along the walls, mostly newspaper clippings of Taylor's exploits.
Danny is sitting at his desk with one hand rubbing at his temple, and an annoyed expression on his face, while Jess stands over him, both hands holding the edge of the desk in a white knuckled grip as she stares thunderously down at him.
"Taylor! Shouldn't you be at school?" Danny asks worriedly, immediately turning towards his daughter as though Jess isn't in the room.
"I'm on lunch. Should I come back later...?" She asks hesitantly, looking back and forth between her father and the late New Wave cape.
"No, it's fine. What's going on?" Danny says quickly, shooting Jess a look when it looks like she might say the opposite. Taylor looks dubiously at the other woman for a second before soldiering on, obviously choosing to deal with it later.
"Well, you know how you said theres no furniture in this place? I figured that, since I'm rich now and all, I should look into applying some nepotism to the city. I know it's not glamorous, but if I opened my account up for you to hire all the Dockworkers to furnish and fix up the private parts of the castle, do you think they'd go for it?" Taylor asks, causing Danny's expression to brighten.
"I can definitely swing that. I thought about it a few times but I couldn't bring myself to use your money like that." Danny admits sheepishly.
"Dad. I'm fifteen. I hate fashion. I don't have a boyfriend. I don't need a car. I own a castle. I literally don't have anything else to spend my money on." Taylor answers flatly.
Danny blinks once, opens his mouth to say something, closes it, opens it again, then pauses.
"...Kiddo, do you think maybe you should get a hobby?" He blurts out. Taylor affects an affronted look as she responds.
"I have a hobby." She counters instantly.
'I don't think training counts as a hobby.' You chime in.
'Shut up. It totally does.' She responds quickly, her facial expression remaining unchanged by your words.
You leave the office not much later, having left Jess silently steaming in a corner the entire time. In a technical sense, your Master was very curious as to what was going on. On the other hand, if she was asking her Father for help and not Taylor herself, it was obviously because she felt that Danny could help - so it might be best to leave it alone for now. Especially if he was refusing to do whatever it was she was asking for. It wouldn't look good to go behind his back for something like that after all.
School that day ended relatively quickly, and, keeping in mind how distressed Jess obviously was today - your Master ends up making plans to find and talk to Vicky.
Monday, February 7th, 2011
Stansfield Mansion, Brockton Bay
Victoria, in her infinite wisdom, had skipped school that day in favour of hiding out at her boyfriend's house.
Dean was, as it turned out, spectacularly rich. Not personally, but his family. Which is why, when Vicky had accepted your Master's phonecall and provided directions to herself, your Master had ended up walking there instead of teleporting. She had literally never been to the 'rich' part of town. This had led her to feel increasingly annoyed as she passed nicer and nicer homes, homes that were seemingly free of any worry of criminal activity, that were in front of streets that were regularly patrolled by the police.
"Seriously, I knew you were well off but a mansion?" She groused to Dean when she had finally found and been led into his home.
"I... don't like to brag. I didn't actually earn any of it myself." He answers somewhat uncomfortably.
"Yeah but... you have a hedge maze. What the hell is even the point of a hedge maze?" Taylor continues to complain, her sensibilities as one of the nominally working poor deeply offended by the opulence on display. At this point, she had finally been led to a small side room in the mansion that - blessedly - looked a lot like a normal teenage boys bedroom, complete with slight mess and knickknacks strewn about. Vicky was inside on the - admittedly quite large - bed, surfing channels on the - admittedly quite large - television in the far wall as your Master entered.
"Taylor... you're a millionaire and you own a castle. I don't see what the problem is." Dean points out, causing your Master to miss a step and nearly fall over as she fully enters the room. You materialize and catch her, of course, but it's a near thing, and when she stands up fully again she has a far away look in her eyes, as though she has just been exposed to something psychologically damaging.
"Right. I- You know I forget sometimes." She says, tamping down on the slight sense of dismay in her heart. Your Master is many things, but she is - or was - proud of her upbringing. Despite her newfound wealth, she still chooses to live in her old home. She still goes to the poorest school. She still resents spending more than twenty dollars on a single article of clothing. She is, in essence, one of the common folk, and she considers herself as such. Not being that anymore, even a slightly, must be somewhat jarring for her, if not outright distressing.
"Never change Taylor." Vicky drawls weakly from her perch on the edge of the bed.
"Hey Vicky." Taylor responds to her instead of addressing the mild insult.
"Hey. Sorry you had to come out here." She answers, putting just a bit of a smile on her face, though not nearly one big enough to match her normal boisterous attitude.
"I feel like I should be insulted? I sort of live here?" Dean jokes, closing the door and walking over to sit next to Vicky. Your Master does likewise, pulling her legs up and sitting cross legged on nothing without even really thinking about it.
"Sorry Dean. So..." Taylor says, trailing off expectantly.
"My Mom is being difficult. Usually Aunt Sarah talks her down but they both seem to agree on this." She says sullenly.
"Difficult how?" Taylor asks curiously.
"They're treating her like she's some stranger!" Vicky barks out, finally letting her temper show.
"Mom was all like 'well we can get you some funds, then you're on your own', like she wasn't our problem or something!" She continues bitterly.
"Vicky, I know you miss your Aunt, but having a whole other adult to care for would be a little stressful." Dean says carefully, causing Vicky to narrow her eyes at him and lean slightly away from him, where she had originally been leaning into him quite a bit.
"They treated her like she was an embarrassing secret! Like she was Uncle Mike's mistress or something and they had to settle out of court with her so she'd go away!" Vicky rants.
"Did they actually tell your Uncle she was alive?" Taylor asks curiously.
"No! They wouldn't even let me give her his phone number!" She complains, getting up to float around the room angrily.
Your Master shares a look with Dean before turning back to Vicky.
"What about your cousins?" She asks.
"We all argued about it, but it's not like we have any say in things. We're just kids." Vicky says in disgust.
"And Amy?" Dean asks.
"She doesn't like to argue with Mom." Vicky continues, a touch less heated where her sister is concerned.
"Well, even if they don't want anything to do with her, can't you and your cousins just hang out with her anyway?" Taylor points out.
"That's not the point! It's not fair! She's back from the dead! When Aunt Jess died, that's when everything started to suck. Mom stopped doing patrols. Everyone did. Nothings been the same since, so why is everyone acting like her coming back is bad?!" She half screams in frustration.
Your Master looks like she's about to say something in response, but tenses suddenly, lunging from her position just in time for the glass of the window to Deans rear to shatter inward in an explosion of shards that scatter across the bed.
In her hand is a meter long piece of pointed rebar, its tip mere inches from stabbing into Deans back, through his heart, and back out the other side.
Your Master barely takes more than a second to respond, instantly whipping a hand out and throwing Dean bodily through the gap it creates, then pushing the entire gap forward across the room, sweeping Victoria up in it before she can charge outside herself. With lightning fast reflexes, she jumps backward towards the Gap herself, swiping another of the Butcher's ridiculously sized arrows out of the air just before closing the Gap, causing you to blink and reappear besides her in the Heap.
"My family is still there!" Dean yells, standing up quickly and whipping out his phone to begin dialing the PRT.
"I'll get them, Wreck, lets go!" Taylor yells through grit teeth, opening another Gap and plunging inside with you hot on her heels. You have no idea why the Butcher seems to be targeting Dean specifically - but you doubt leaving his family to her will improve the situation much.
For someone you're supposed to stay away from, the Butcher sure loves to involve you in things. You need to get Dean's family out of the house. What's the plan?
[ ] Write-In
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[ ] Panacea
[ ] The Butcher
[ ] Oliver
Spoiler: Author's Note
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Bowler Hat Guy
Sep 10, 2020
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Threadmarks Interlude: Oliver
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Sep 12, 2020
#18,957
Well, it wasn't the weirdest thing he had ever done. It was one of the most stressful though. Somehow, despite knowing fully that she was probably the more dangerous option, Oliver found that he preferred playing minder to Noelle, more than he did his current task.
That being, apparently, trying to suss out the specifics of how Nexus apparently brought people back from the dead.
He was apparently uniquely suited to the task, in that he both a) was such a fastidious non-combatant that there were really no records that he existed for anyone to investigate, and b) was fully capable of pointing to her base on a map - something Krouse emphatically couldn't manage, no matter how hard he tried.
They had all taken to coping with Luke's death differently. After the thing with Cody, Oliver had to figure that they had expected something like this to happen eventually. He knew he had. They hadn't told Noelle. There was no telling how she would react. But she was getting suspicious. Leading people into conversational traps and then pouncing on inconsistencies. Asking some uncomfortable questions. It was probably for the best that only he and Krouse ever really tried to keep a conversation running with her anymore. Noelle was shockingly smart when she had a goal to aim at, and right now, she honestly didn't have anything better to do than figure out what they were hiding from her.
Jess had withdrawn into herself, spending as much time as possible away from the rest of them. Something that wasn't abnormal for all of them, but was particularly noticeable when even Marissa was included in her attempts. Marissa herself was a wreck. She was weepy when she thought no one would hear her, stoically silent whenever they could, and otherwise did her utmost to do what was asked of her and nothing more. Like everything they were doing was merely an unpleasant task that she had to complete in order to move on to better things. Krouse was... Krouse. He'd drawn up two dozen plans to just kidnap Nexus's Father or Boyfriend or something before realizing that she had a movement ability that was vastly superior to his own, meaning that he couldn't pull any cute tricks and expect to get away with it. The only way they were going to get away with that kind of attack would be if she didn't know it was happening, and then never told her about it afterward - which would rather defeat the point of the exercise.
It was frustrating. So frustrating. The plan was supposed to be simple. Noelle wasn't exactly small and easy to hide. To get her into town unnoticed, they would need a distraction. A big one, since the local heroes had just come off of a fairly brutal conflict and were likely itching for an acceptable target to take their ire out on. So they had to cause a distraction. Preferably, a big one. As antsy as the Heroes were, they were usually fairly restrained in their use of force. Especially the Wards who - being kids - obviously had strict oversight preventing them from just executing random villains they came across. This, of course, had been the point where the plan had failed. Because the specific manner in which Luke had gone about his ambush - as planned by Krouse, he noted darkly - had led his victim to believe he was a brute, and that was trying to end his life.
They had obviously underestimated how on edge some of these people were. Because they hadn't, possibly couldn't have accounted for the Boston Games, and the scar it left on the locals. Locals who had been expecting a sudden violent influx of villains looking to take a bite out of them.
So Luke had died. Because they didn't properly have context.
Krouse - Trickster really, since Krouse himself really only existed outside that persona for Noelle, and Noelle alone - had seemingly learned his lesson from that with this newest plan of his. He had been fully briefed on Nexus - not because he was expected to fight her, but because it was Coil's intent that they do everything in their power never to see a hair on her head while they remained in the city, and through that briefing, had learned that the girl could - apparently - resurrect dead capes. It hadn't been directly said, but Krouse wasn't stupid. When their boss said that the entire Triumvirate would fall on them like an avalanche of fists and lasers for screwing with her, it had taken Krouse and Noelle roughly a day to figure out that there was a connection between the two suddenly returned heroes Dauntless and Miss Militia, and Nexus' apparently inflated importance to the PRT.
"And now I live in a castle." He mumbled stupidly to himself, having been awake and contemplating his life for that last several minutes while staring at the single distended ceiling tile that served for the ceiling of the room he had been provided with. It was an empty room, roughly the size of your average convenience store, with absolutely zero furniture in it. there was a door to one side leading to a bathroom that he was pretty sure was a duplicate of another bathroom, just like all the other identical rooms in this wing of the castle, and he had taken to sleeping in the middle of it in his sleeping bag. He had checked several other rooms near his own, and noted that the scratches on the bathroom mirror and all the slight stains in the tiles were nearly identical to one another. He hadn't the foggiest how Nexus had managed that, but given that her power appeared to be 'whatever she felt like' at any given moment in time, he chose not to question it.
With a lazy sigh, he pulled himself free of his sleeping bag and stood, walking towards the shower. Part of him considered buying some furniture for the place. A bed here, dresser there. Enough space in the corner for a gaming area if he wanted. But he quickly quashed the thought. He probably wouldn't get to stay long enough to really enjoy any of it, nice as the thought of his own room was. Once he figured out how Nexus worked he'd be back with the Travellers soon enough.
The shower he took was quick and simple. His power made it hard for him to sweat unless he really pushed himself, so there wasn't really all that much grime on him in the first place. He almost winced when he found himself thinking about how disappointed his mother would be that he wasn't washing as thoroughly as he was supposed to, but quickly suppressed it.
Finally done cleaning himself, Oliver stepped out of the shower, quickly brushed his teeth, and got dressed for the day. Then he went through the arduous task of trying to remember how to get from his - the room he slept in, to the kitchen - which for some reason wasn't anywhere near the rooms apparently set aside for sleeping.
Not that he ever saw anyone else on the team using them. Parian and Aspirant apparently had rooms above the Dojo and Boutique in front of the castle respectively, and Trainwreck mostly just slept in his garage.
So he pretty much had the whole place to himself. Mostly. Occasionally, he might stumble across one of the workers who were refurbishing part of the castle into a mall or something, or cross paths with Taylor's Father, who always politely greeted him and asked if he needed anything or had any questions, but in general, for a place with so much space, there were surprisingly few people in it. Finally, he managed to stumble across the kitchen, after taking a turn he was certain it wasn't behind the day before. The Castle did that sometimes. He was pretty sure it didn't so much rearrange itself as trick you into going places you didn't intend to. He was also pretty sure it didn't particularly like him. He had brought this up to Trainwreck once, and been summarily laughed out of the room for it.
Once he'd made himself a hearty breakfast - the kitchen was always well stocked even if nothing else in the building seemed to be - Oliver found himself with a disturbing amount of free time to kill. He had expected that joining a Superhero team would include a lot more... doing things. Oh, he had been trained somewhat. Aspirant came around periodically to get him to work through some forms that he didn't recognize but quickly mastered none the less. They would spar a bit, which was more training than he ever really did with the Travellers. Trainwreck had started trying to teach him about the local threats that he had apparently studied up on - this, ironically, included most of the Protectorate and Wards - mostly by yelling the information at him while the Tinker otherwise worked. Parian had basically woken him up on his second day to get his measurements and then left just as quickly, not having really done much talking to him at all. But as far as teams went, they didn't really do anything. Trainwreck and Aspirant wandered out twice a day to patrol a sizeable radius around the Castle, but they never brought him with them. Nexus came by sporadically to do... seemingly whatever popped into her head that day.
And he was left with nearly nothing to do.
The weirdest thing was when the group was altogether at once. With or without Nexus around, there was a sort of relaxed air among them. Trainwreck, for all his crass remarks pointedly never made passes at Parian. Aspirant seemed completely bored most of the time, but would occasionally chime in with something sufficiently Mister Miyagi sounding until you dissected it enough to realize it was a joke. Parian mostly argued with everyone about the abysmal lack of fashion sense, while simultaneously trying to convince them to wear Tabards of all things. It was an atmosphere not dissimilar to what his friends had had, before they had been tossed into this insane world. There was no tension. No constant nagging worry that today would be the day Noelle got out and killed them all. Or that they would screw up a job and get killed.
Like Luke had.
It was all so very strange to him. Rather than call the Oathbound a group of Parahumans who worked as a team, it seemed simpler to consider them a group of similarly aligned Parahumans that occasionally got together to fight things. Less X-Men, more Justice League, even if that he knew that reference would shoot right over the heads of anyone on this planet who hadn't dedicated more time to Earth Aleph media than was strictly healthy.
And despite the complete lack of any oversight from there supposed leader, it somehow all just... worked. He'd seen Trainwreck and Aspirant spar once. Just once. It was ludicrous. He had genuinely thought they were trying to kill each other at first. Then a timer had gone off and they had just stopped, immediately switching to friendly conversation like nothing had happened.
He was just thinking about trying to find that room Nexus had set that weird pillar formation up in when Trainwreck not so politely, banging a metal knuckle on the door to the kitchen caught his attention, causing him to jolt from his meal to look up at the Tinker standing in the oversized doorway that seemed almost designed for him.
"Yo, skinny. Garage." He intoned easily, jerking a thumb over one shoulder. It wasn't a request, and he hadn't bothered to phrase it like one. In the very short period of time Oliver had been here, he had determined that Trainwreck was the defacto second in command here. He organized the patrol schedules. He researched the threats. He made sure they all saw each other to talk shop and keep updated every evening. No one had explicitly said it, but there was an unspoken expectation that when Trainwreck asked you to do something - you did it. Even Parian seemed to respect that, which was strange given that she otherwise claimed not to be a combatant.
Oliver thought that 'Non Combatant' and 'Parahuman' were irreconcilably different, but he never tried to tell her that.
With a polite nod, he quickly scarfed his last few bites down, and then hurried off to follow Trainwreck to the garage. As much as everyone else in the place used that space like a meeting room, with Nexus entering and exiting it as readily as one might their own basement, Oliver had learned early on that that was an exception more so than a rule. He doubted anyone else would refer to the Garage as Trainwrecks tinker lab, but he undoubtedly did - and he had learned a long time ago that one of the first rules of Tinkers was not to fuck with one in their own lab.
"Alright, I ain't the most subtle fucker so let's be straight. What were you doing snooping around the boss' shit the other day?" Trainwreck said bluntly as Oliver crossed the threshold into the Garage, which immediately shut behind him as though it had a mind of it's own.
"I was just curious is all." He answered sheepishly, even though his heart was already trying to leap out of his chest it was beating so hard.
"Uhuh. That room with the pillars in it? Off limits. Stay the fuck out. And quit fucking lying to me you little bastard." Trainwreck said with an ornery tone, reaching out to smack Oliver on the back of the head with a metal limb that nearly made him black out from the impact.
"I- I'm not!" He defend blearily, trying to blink the stars out of his eyes.
"Listen kid, I was a homeless piece of shit. I'm still a piece of shit, but I ain't so homeless anymore. The boss gave me a place to live, the freedom to do whatever the fuck I want, and a fucking castle. So I'm gonna level with you. From one piece of shit to another." Trainwreck said seriously, reaching out with one hand and wrapping Oliver's entire skull in his fist.
"Did that weirdo in the gimp suit send you?" He asked. Oliver felt his heart drop out of his chest and into his stomach. Shit. He was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it.
"N-" He started but stopped to scream in agony as Trainwreck's hand around his skull began to squeeze.
"Let me qualify that statement. Gimpy paid me to hook up with this here crew. Just so happens, I like my current boss. She's nice. She trust me. Even sometimes manages to convince me I'm not a piece of shit. So when Gimpy started trying to call me in to do him some favours I said 'fuck it'. That brouha at the PRT a few weeks ago? I was supposed to let one of his guys do some shit in their while it was all busy like. He told me himself." Trainwreck explained pensively, and with surprising eloquence, lifting Oliver to eye level with him before continuing.
"I killed that guy. Popped his head like a zit. Did it to the last two guys who caught me on patrol and told me he'd screw me over if I didn't comply too." He continued drolly, as if not having just admitted to at least three murders.
"So this is real important. Did. The Gimp. Send you." He intoned clearly.
Oliver, in his infinite wisdom, found just enough focus through the intense pain he was in to make every negatory motion he could remember. He'd have just shook his head but well. That would likely hurt a great deal. So he didn't.
"No!" he croaked out, waving his arms about and scrabbling desperately at Trainwrecks hand until it loosened, dropping him to the ground bonelessly.
"So what the fuck are you here for then?" Trainwreck asked in irritation.
"My friend is dead and Nexus raises the dead!" Oliver replied quickly, too obscenely happy that Trainwreck believed he had nothing to do with Coil to bother to filter himself at that exact moment.
"And how'd you find that out?" He asked conversationally.
"I don't-" He started then thought better of it when Trainwreck made to grab for him again.
"Okay! Jesus!" He yelped, scrambling away from the larger man.
"I don't - Coil didn't send me, but my friends do work for him." He explained, not sure why he was doing so.
Then he looked around at the dozens of armored suits in the room, complete with many times more extremely painful looking weapons lining the walls, like a steampunk torture chamber, and recalled how much he disliked Krouse a that exact moment. So he sort of did know why he was doing it.
"Gimpy." Trainwreck said pointedly, making Oliver blink.
"What?" He asked hestiantly.
"Call him Gimpy. He looks it." Trainwreck expanded, before gesturing for him to continue.
"My - my friends work for Coil. We need a cure for our friend that he says he can find." Oliver reluctantly admitted.
"Huh. So you... trusted a gimp with a literal snake on his costume, not to be a snake?" Trainwreck asked in confusion. Oliver took that in for a moment, and then had to admit to himself that yes, that did sound blatantly self defeating. Still, he decided to change the topic.
"So... what now?" He asked fearfully.
"Eh. You're good." Trainwreck answered with a shrug.
"You're just going to... let me go?" He asked incredulously.
"Fuck no. Go find Aspirant and do some kung fu or some shit. Your one of mine now. It ain't like I never took the guys money. You don't betray the boss and I've got no problems." Was Trainwrecks nonplussed answer.
"...How did you even know I was here for a reason?" He asked stupidly.
"I told you. I'm a homeless piece of shit. I recognize my own. We gave you your pay on day one so you could buy furniture and shit. You still sleep in an empty fucking room. It doesn't take a genius to get that you weren't expecting to stay, and you weren't fucking subtle about walking in either." Trainwreck snorted.
"...I thought I did okay..." He said dejectedly, shifting into a less terrified sitting position now that he knew he wasn't about to die.
"That's cus the Boss spends seventy percent of her time staring at your ass when you talk to her. Love that girl, but she'd trust Jack slash if he approached her the right way. Hence." Trainwreck replied, gesturing at himself.
"Internal fucking security. Takes one to know one and all that." He finished in a somewhat self-deprecating tone.
Oliver didn't know what to say to that. He also didn't know how he was supposed to proceed. What few spy movies he'd watched indicated that when you were 'made' you should probably run the hell away. And if Trainwreck caught him doing anything he wasn't supposed to, he had no doubt he would end up at the bottom of the bay in an Oliver sized metal box somehow. But somehow... somehow, he didn't really want to go. And if Trainwreck wasn't going to kick him out well... technically he could still accomplish his goals right? He'd just have to try a bit harder to fit in. Maybe actually pick up a bed.
It wasn't like he hated it here after all. It was certainly more welcoming than what he was accustomed to nowadays.
Last edited: Sep 12, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Sep 12, 2020
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Threadmarks Succession 9.1
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Sep 16, 2020
#19,202
[X] And by the same logic, she can be friends with whoever the hell she wants. Who's gonna stop her?
-[x] So long as they hadn't done anything seemingly unforgivable. Self interest is your species's bread and butter, so you'd be a hypocrite for saying otherwise even with the fragments of morality you've got.
[X] Plan: Evacuation x Containment
-[X] Gap Emmy (Ozpin) and Trainwreck straight to the Butcher. Their job is to delay her while Nexus is evacuating everyone in the area. They should be safe as Trainwreck had Aura and Emmy is using Oz from the start. Order them to just delay the Butcher until Nexus came back and to not take any risk. If they can also have them slap the Butcher Seals around the room.
-[X] Once Nexus comes back have her release Nemesis and suppress the Butcher. Once the Butcher is suppressed have Nexus slap the Butcher Seals on the Butcher Herself.
-[X] Go all out. Ignore property damage. Have Nexus and Trainwreck take the Front and have Ozpin take sneak attacks to the Butcher.
-[X] See if Nexus can 'Kill' Butchers Ghost.
-[X] Have Nexus chuck the Butcher into the Spirit Realm once the Teeth leader is weakened enough regardless of the ghosts situation.
-[X] Max Energy Expenditure: 3
Current Energy: 5
Current Training: Lesser Magic Useage (9/10)
Monday, February 7th, 2011
Stansfield Mansion, Brockton Bay
You rush through the Gap after your Master, quickly followed by Trainwreck, who barrels past you as you exit, slamming one foot down to stop his forward momentum and, consequently, splintering the hardwood flooring beneath him as he comes to a full stop, arms raised in a defensive position as he scans your surroundings.
"Fuck's going on?" He asks, just as another of the Butcher's trademark metal skewers slams into his should, denting the metal there and bouncing off of him with a flicker of burnt orange energy as Trainwrecks Aura protects him from the brunt of the blow.
"Butcher attack. I need to get the people here out of the house." Taylor says verbally while simultaneously sending you a request with your mental link.
'I need a visual. Can you two distract her?' she says.
'Maybe for a little bit.' You determine, knowing that with both you and Trainwreck, as well as Ozma to fall back on, you aren't likely to be easily overpowered by a single cape. Quickly putting thought to action you become intangible and leap upward bouncing up through a few floors until you reach the roof of the building. Then you quickly pan your vision across the surrounding area until you spot the Butcher, in her almost samurai like garb atop another residential building in the distance. It's another mansion you think. Most of the homes in this neighbourhood would easily qualify for that label. As you watch, the woman quickly leans to one side, dragging a gauntleted hand across the roof she is standing on, and somehow coming away holding another of her ridiculous 'arrows', having seemingly pulled the material to make it from the roof beneath her.
"Ready?" Your Master asks both you and Trainwreck as you drop back down through the roof to land next to her. Trainwreck snorts, lifting both his hands to pull his dirty goggles over his face, then rolls his shoulders. Taylor seems to take that as a yes, because she quickly swipes at the space in front of her with her sword, creating a new gap that you and your teammate immediately dive through.
Well. You dive through it. Trainwreck jumps. As in, goes from a standing stop to a seventy mile per hour leap as if it's nothing. Which you suppose makes sense given how Aura is likely enhancing the already ridiculous strength of his suit. Regardless, you step through the gap with your weapon drawn, and immediately duck down to allow Trainwreck to pass by overhead, like a two-ton steel ball of death.
"Butcher Three! Danger sense!" Trainwreck roars at you as he plows into the spot the Butcher was standing in, facing away from you but suddenly leaping to the left and out of the way just in time for Trainwreck to go skidding across the rooftop terrace, only to twist in the air and slam his metal arms into the rooftop hard enough to cause some drag and prevent him from flying over the edge.
You capitalize on the moment, jumping forward to thrust outward at the woman before she can rise from her evasive maneuver. Recalling the scorching blast of fire the expands outwards from her teleportation ability, you make sure to make it a probing strike, leaning forward in a fencers stance and immediately pushing back off the foot you moved forward. It works - to a degree. While your strike doesn't land, the Butcher does, as you predicted, disappear. However, the resulting blast of flame doesn't emanate from her starting position, but her endpoint, which turns out to be directly behind you.
To that end, you find your sprawling forward, your Aura flaring as the heat of the blast scorches you. The very mild awareness of your surroundings that your Aura provides you warns you that something is descending on your head from above and behind you, but you are too off-balance to adequately respond to the attack. Thankfully, Trainwreck jumps forward to stand over you, one of his arms reaching outward, swinging past overhead in an arc and causing a sharp metal on metal ringing sound as he deflects whatever the Butcher was about to do to you.
"Butcher Six. Explosive teleportation. And Super Strength but the bitch has like six of those so meh." Trainwreck mumbles to you as you get to your feet and turn back towards your enemy.
'Taylor? How much longer?' You ask quietly.
'Halfway done. There are employees all over this stupid place and some of them don't want to leave.' She answers you in frustration, even as the Butcher quickly bends down to pull another arrow from the ground, the motion quick and practiced. You can't see anything even vaguely resembling human emotion in the woman's eyes as she moves about.
Seconds tick by, and as Trainwreck stands up and adjusts his armor, you begin trying to slowly circle around behind the enemy Cape. As you do so, you begin to become angrier and angrier. This waste of resources has shown up in your home, and by her mere presence is forcing your Master to back down. The circle you've been trying to walk around the woman begins to tighten as you seethe, until you find yourself leaping bodily at her, with a snarl on your lips and your weapon forgotten.
[Emmy.] A dim voice in the back of your head warns you, as you reach forward with your fingers outstretched to gouge her eyes out. You fail of course, because of that damned danger sense, but you don't care. You know you can win. You have Aura. You can shrug any hits off. She can't.
[Emmy, you need to calm down. Something isn't right.]
You just have to persist. To hunt her until she grows tired. You know that any Parahuman that kills her becomes the Butcher, but you aren't a Parahuman. You barely even register all the yelling going on around you as you roll across the spot the Butcher was in. You completely ignore the flash of pain as she draws the metal skewer in her hands across your front, causing your aura to flare.
[I detest it, but if you persist I will be forced to take over. Please.]
It wasn't perfect. you have a thin cut across your chest and a gash in your clothes, but that's trivial. You just have to-
Suddenly you find yourself face to fist with Trainwreck, who's barreling charge manages to hit the Butcher hard enough that she goes flying away from you, vanishing at the half way point of her fall. You snarl and turn to find her, to give chase - but are held in place by a metal hand pressing your futilely struggling form against the rooftop.
"Butcher Nine. Causes mindless rage." He explains as he swivels his head around watchfully, remaining in position even as a hail of rebar spikes begin to pepper him, most of them bouncing off of his aura and armor, but some of them managing to find softer gaps in his form that cause him to wince when they deflect off of him.
Like a bucket of cold water being poured over your head, your mind snaps back to normality, and you purse your lips in distress.
"You good?" Trainwreck grumbles at you, poorly hiding his concern even has he raises his free hand to deflect a shot from his head and releases his grip on you.
"Yeah. Sorry. I'll switch out if it happens again." You say resolutely.
[Are you sure?] Ozma asks. The old man is many things, but respectful of the fact that he is dead, and you are not, is chief among them. Despite his willingness to help you, he patently detests forcefully taking control of your body - despite the fact that such a switch would be temporary at best if you really didn't want him to do so.
"Has to be done." You mumble, standing as Trainwreck looks you over.
"We don't gotta beat the bitch right? Just distract her for a bit." Trainwreck asks to which you nod.
"Grab on and go invisible. When she shows up behind me smack her, then go invisible again." Trainwreck orders, and - in lieu of an actual plan - you comply, climbing onto his car size power armor and finding to your surprise that there are a pair of handles near where his shoulder blades would be. Similarly, two small pieces of his armor jut outward hissing with steam to create footholds for you that make the position oddly comfortable for what it is. You wish you had a Butcher ward on hand. Taylor gave most of the ones she made to the PRT earlier, so she never had the chance to make more.
"Let's rock!" Trainwreck screams as you settle, pounding his hands together and turning to sprint at the Butcher some three buildings away at this point. Steam begins to pour from vents on his shoulders, angle to pass you by without burning your skin off in the scalding heat and having the interesting effect of creating a trail behind you not unlike the contrails of a passing jetliner.
You wonder for a second how he plans on getting to the Butcher fast enough to catch her before she teleports away, only to be jerked forward suddenly when he leaps the entire distance - something you are positive his armor wasn't strong enough to accomplish on its own before he got Aura.
On the one hand, the feat is very impressive. Against most sane individuals, Trainwreck is basically a human artillery shell like this. Anything he hits that doesn't innately have a Brute rating is more or less guaranteed to die instantly.
If he hits.
Which he doesn't.
With a look that seems to be a cross between rage and annoyance, the woman known as the Butcher vanishes once more from sight, causing Trainwreck to slam through into the rooftop and somehow not straight down into the basement. Which, again, should be impossible. Trainwreck weighs literal tons. He shouldn't even be able to stand on the roof without falling through it let alone impact it with that much force. You assume theres some kind of tinker bullshit going on but you can't for the life of you figure out what.
You decide to ask him later, however, because just as Trainwreck expected the Butcher explodes into existence directly above you, a skewer pointed downward, directly at the top of Trainwreck's exposed skull.
Quick as can be you appear, lashing upward at her with your own weapon. Now loudly snarling in frustration, the Butcher vanishes again, which you match just in time for Trainwreck to spin unerringly towards her position before she even reappears and leaps again.
"Get fucked bitch!" He yells as he clotheslines her sending her bouncing into the street.
"How the hell are you doing that?!" You ask, appearing still attached to his back and being forced to yell over the sound of his armor has he immediately pivots towards her and begins to give chase.
"I dunno. Fucking Aura bullshit. Tagged her when she was making you all pissy. Now I just kinda know how to get to her all the time." He says with a shrug as his arms and legs pump.
Now staring balefully at you, the armor on one of her arms have fallen off during her fall, the Butcher readies herself - and then Trainwreck stops, stumbling a few feet from reaching her and sprawling forward, his aura shining brightly against the black tarmac of the road as though trying - and failing - to protect him from something. You handily evade landing under him as he rolls by leaping off him, and manage to deflect another attack from the Butcher in the process, who instead of teleporting away, begins to dart around you, stay as close to Trainwreck as possible and quickly pushing back until it's all you can do to hold her back from landing a lethal attack on your teammate.
"Bu-Butcher- One. Causes. Pain." Trainwreck hiss out between his teeth as he writhes on the ground.
"Sho-short range." He continues, as tears begin to gather in his eyes and stream down his face. Panicking, you do the only thing you can think of.
You flick Long Memory to the side, and a whirling barrier of swirling green energy appears around you and Trainwreck. You do your best to keep it tight - enough so that there isn't any space to teleport underneath it - and then you step past it with determination.
Energy: -1
"Oz. Push her back." You say with some finality, switching places with the ancient warrior.
"I now see why comparing me to this woman makes your Taylor uncomfortable." He notes as he lunges forward, deftly weaving past the Butcher's attempted counter attack with a minimum of movement and nearly landing a blow to her skull before she vanishes.
"If you were one of my students, I would chide you for being so predictable." He continues, as a small shield of green energy appears at his back to deflect a blow that would have caved in his head, and absorbs most of the blast from the Butchers explosive teleportation.
Energy: -1
Then he steps deftly past it and slams Long Memory point first into the still airborne woman's knee so hard that it visibly bends backward, clearly broken. There is no shriek of pain or any other obvious sign that the damage is affecting the woman, but she does disappear again, reappearing some distance away standing on the broken appendage without obvious discomfort.
"[Most of my students would also recall that there is more than one of us.]" He notes idly as Trainwreck slams into her from the side, bouncing her off his shoulder and into a nearby wall.
"Get... wrecked..." Trainwreck chatters through visibly grit teeth, obviously still in significant pain. You get the impression that the woman is going to teleport away at that point, cutting her losses and possibly coming back with her gang at a later date - but a voice behind you and your unerring sense of where your Master is, quickly nix that thought. If you had control of your face currently, you'd be smiling smugly.
"Oppose, Nemesis." rings out in the street, and you are treated to the split-second image of a spidery limb touching to Butcher, like the afterimage left behind by lightning when you are too close to it.
You don't feel anything, and presumably neither does Trainwreck, but the Butcher immediately goes still, whisps of smoke building around her as though her teleportation power were working in slow motion.
"You guys know I'm going to have to pay for all of this right?" Taylor asks as she steps past you to approach the madwoman. Ozma quirks an eyebrow at her, but does take a second to note that damage to several buildings and the road that Trainwrecks passing has caused.
"Also - Get Wrecked? Is that on a T-Shirt? I feel like that should be on a T-Shirt. Do we have T-shirts?" She continues idly, one hand glowing golden as it's light washes over the man, who slumps into his armor in appreciation.
"Your dad told me that saying I'd fuck someone to death with a chain saw attachment for my junk wasn't appropriate." He answers jokingly, though he's clearly tired and still slightly hurting.
"Are you sure you're not a secret Merchant? Sometimes you almost sound like Skidmark used to." Taylor answers, stepping up to the Butcher with a frown on her face.
"Eh. 'Nother life maybe. What's the plan? You can't do that weird spidery shit for very long right?" He asks with a shrug.
"A few minutes yeah. I wanna try something." She answers lifting her sword and pointing it at the Butcher. You and Trainwreck both get alarmed looks on your faces, at the same time as the captured villain gets a maniacal gleam in her own, but all of you are confused when she jabs outward a half dozen times, swiping at the air to either side of the woman and the pausing to examine... something.
"Hey, you still crazy?" She asks, waving her khopesh lightly in the air and allowing the Butcher to move her head. A privilege she quickly abuses by screaming incoherently at Taylor.
"Gonna take that as a yes." She sighs, then reaches out with a hand to poke her in the forehead, pinky upraised.
"Skadoosh," She says absently, but with some enthusiasm, dropping her pinky finger like a guillotine and causing the Butcher to vanish from sight in a puff of golden smoke.
It is at about this point in time, that Armsmaster arrives, his usually quite loud motorcycle sparking with electricity and running almost completely silently. Without preamble, he leaps off it, just in time for Dauntless to snap into view next to him, and the pair turn to you with disapproving looks on their faces.
'On a scale from one to ten how grounded do you think I'm going to be?' Taylor asks you rhetorically.
'Forever.' You answer with a sigh.
'That answer doesn't match the criteria of the question.' She needles you in amusement.
'And yet, still the correct answer.' You note with some dark amusement.
A/N: Let it be known that this fight really didn't go the way on paper that it did in my head. Also, Trainwrecks aura is a darker orange, close to rust coloured, and his semblance is a manifestation of how simple he is. He picks something he wants and he goes for it. He doesn't think about consequences or intervening bullshit. So when he tags someone, he gets a shitty lesser path to victory that serves no other purpose but to tell him how to get from where he is, to where they are within in his limited range. It's like a Thinker version of the Juggernauts unstoppable power. If that makes sense. He also scored a solid 88 out of 100 for aura capacity, so theres that too.
Full disclosure, my current work schedule has shifted because of some things, so I've suddenly been shifted around to work during the exact period of time I typically sleep. This makes staying up after work to write this, really god damn hard, so if I don't post as frequently for the next week or two, that's why. Once my circadian rhythm or whatever the hell it's called adjusts, I'll be back to my normal post rate.
Anyway, here you go, enjoy.
793
Bowler Hat Guy
Sep 16, 2020
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Bowler Hat Guy
Bowler Hat Guy
A Hat & Its Man
Sep 20, 2020
#19,449
Current Energy: 5
Current Training: Lesser Magic Usage (9/10)
Monday, February 7th, 2011
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay
Well, this is... weird.
"It was an unfortunate but unavoidable result," Piggot says sternly from where she is sitting at the head of the boardroom table.
"It was foolish and unnecessary. Protectorate losses in the event that Nexus becomes the next Butcher are projected to be total. She already said that she had evacuated after the first attack. That was where it should have ended." Armsmaster insists coldly, his posture rigid and still underneath his power armour.
"She rescued the civilians, and only became involved in the delaying action of her team when it became obvious that she could successfully capture the Butcher. Which she did. Let it go." Piggot repeats.
"I was en route! There was no reason to-" Armsmaster begins but is cut off by a sharp gesture from the Director.
"Armsmaster." She says firmly and bluntly. "Nexus is not, nor has she ever been, under Protectorate supervision or control. I could push for it, lord knows I could push for it, but the fact of the matter is, it wouldn't work. Not unless she let it, and if she did, it wouldn't have good results for anyone involved. When we asked her to avoid the Butcher, it was a suggestion, not an order. A request at best."
'Is this... really weird?' You ask your Master mentally as the two of you sit awkwardly in the room, eyes darting back and forth between Piggot and Armsmaster as they argue.
'That they're kind of mad? Not really. Armsmaster has a point. I just couldn't do nothing.' Taylor points out.
'No, not that. I get that. I'm talking about the Director.' You explain, tilting your head in the woman's direction.
'Oh. Yeah, I was thinking of suggesting Dad buy a lottery ticket later or something.' Taylor acknowledges.
After the fight with the Butcher - who you have already carefully handed over to the PRT to be handled, upon Armsmaster's insistence - your Master had sent Trainwreck home, allowing him to handily avoid this debriefing. You suspect he would have stayed upon request, but that your Master was feeling just spiteful enough to make use of the fact that he didn't have to and they couldn't make him.
Which is how you found yourself here. In the PRT Headquarters. Being defend by Director Piggot. The woman is looking surprisingly good, all things considered. You suspect a significant portion of her constant grimace was a result of her medical condition, and in its absence, she can now direct one hundred percent of her malice to her facial expressions. Something she is currently demonstrating on Armsmaster, surprisingly.
"So... can we go?" Taylor interjects before the two other people in the room can devolve into the same argument they've now had several times.
"...Yes. Armsmaster. Stay." Piggot intones gravely, turning her head to look at Taylor without breaking eye contact with her nominal employee.
"Cool... cool. Thanks for... I mean... bye?" Taylor says hesitantly, standing and woodenly exiting the room, then exhaling sharply as the door closes behind her. You can tell she's not intimidated by being berated. She expected it, for the most part. No, the part that is obviously distressing your Master is; Piggot was on her side.
The two of you stand in relative silence in the hallway for a second, before your Master eventually gives up contemplating the turn of events, and opens a Gap to the Heap.
Monday, February 7th, 2011
The Heap, Brockton Bay
"Taylor!" a blonde missile yells as it slams into your Master, causing her to take a single step back to balance herself before registering what's going on and smiling wryly at Victoria who promptly lifts her up and begins to shake her like a child with a plush toy.
"Hey Vicky, how's Dean?" Taylor asks, politely ignoring her sudden vigorous shaking.
"He's fine, thanks to you! Why didn't you bring me with you?! It's the Butcher!" Victoria admits easily, looking over her shoulder at her boyfriend who is currently congregating in a small group of people made up of everyone who was in the house at the time, including his father, mother, and a handful of people who probably kept that huge building clean and stocked. The group doesn't look happy, per se, but they don't look mad either. More shocked than anything else in most cases, including Dean, who occasionally gets a faraway look in his eyes as though he is contemplating something.
"Was the Butcher." Taylor points out, causing Victoria to freeze.
"Taylor, did you-" She says a deathly quiet whisper.
"Wreck didn't tell you? We caught her. I just got done handing her off to Armsmaster and getting yelled at." Taylor shrugs.
"You caught her? Why didn't you bring me! Trainwreck literally just walked in, scratched his ass and went to sleep!" Victoria whines, much better naturedly than her earlier worried tone, gesturing back towards the far side of the garage where Trainwreck is clearly snoring inside his armour, a sleeping mask covering his face.
"I wasn't really planning on fighting her in the first place. But well, they managed to stop her long enough for me to catch her so..." Taylor continues with another shrug. You actually get the distinct sensation of... well, disappointment from her. Like she was expecting more.
"Still! I could have helped!" Victoria pouts, finally releasing your Master from the hug.
"Uh. Yo?" A new voice enters into the conversation, drawing everyone's attention to a man in a workman's outfit with a clipboard under one arm.
"Kurt? What're you doing here." Taylor asks curiously, turning towards the burly man.
"You get a lot of complete strangers walking around in your place huh Taylor?" Victoria chimes in.
"He's not - he's a family friend. Basically an Uncle really." Taylor admits sheepishly before turning back to the grinning man.
"Man, I had to hear about how my goddaughter was a big-time hero for weeks, so I'm kind of glad you're still so awkward!" He chuckles. "But as to your question, Danny showed up at the yard today and called the whole association in, told us to get this place kitted out. Most of the boys are outside right now, putting a fence up at the edge of the property and building a guard station. A couple are out with the box trucks grabbing all the furniture they can find without having to commission anything. Just came to give you a progress report." Kurt answers happily. There is a dream-like quality to him, as though he doesn't fully believe anything happening around him is real, but is going with the flow of things regardless.
"Cool. Uh... how's Lacey?" She asks awkwardly, distinctly aware of the way Dean's family has started to drift closer to eavesdrop.
"Eh, the usual. She's outside trying to convince that clothing cape of yours to make us all minion outfits." Kurt answers with a shrug.
"...Minion outfits?" Taylor asks dumbly.
"Yeah, she's got it in her head that if we're gonna work for a Cape we gotta wear a uniform. She'll get over it eventually." He says, then pauses and adds; "I hope."
"But you're not Minions!" Taylor blurts out in obvious confusion.
"You're paying us good money to renovate your doom castle. Danny says when he gets back from wherever that blond woman wanted him to go he'll probably draw up contracts for us to manage the place for you too. Security and shit. Even said we could move in if we wanted, which is nice cus a lot of us aren't doing so well. So, half of us will be living in this freaky castle, working for a cape. Which makes us-"
"Minions." Taylor finishes with a look on her face like she'd just bitten into a particularly sour lemon.
"Bingo," Kurt says jovially, pointing at your Master and snapping his fingers.
You and Taylor did a quick tour of things with Kurt after that. Parian's shop opened and has apparently been doing enough business that Sabbah is debating putting her education on hold until things stabilize. Aspirant's Dojo has become fairly well known if the crowds of people constantly moving in and out are anything to go by. The neighbourhood itself is... vibrant, almost. As though it's completely cut off from the troubles of the rest of the city. Further up the street, an empty lot bears an advertisement indicating a grocery store is going to be built there.
Your Master drifts through all of this with a blank look on her face, as though she hadn't fully grasped the changes her presence had made until that exact moment.
"This... isn't what I was expecting when I started," Taylor says wistfully, having gathered the whole team in the kitchen after dropping the Stansfield's off with the PRT.
"Fuck were you expecting? You're a teenage girl with a magical castle and superpowers. Buy yourself a pony and your living the dream. Fuck, hire a tinker to make you a unicorn or some shit." Trainwreck chortles from his oversized seat at the table.
"Ignore him. I think it's good that your thinking about things. You'd be a terror if you were a megalomaniac." Parian jokes, not fully turning away from Oliver, who she is measuring very carefully with a number of cloth rulles held aloft with her power.
"More people is good. Support staff, like the PRT have. I had considered installing a desk in the garage to take emergency calls for us, but never found the time to ask you for permission." Aspirant notes, lifting his cup of tea and sipping at it.
"Dude, aren't you like, a teenager? Why do you keep acting like you're a hundred years old?" Oliver complains.
"Keep your arms up." Parian chastises him.
"Being enlightened and being old only seem the same to people who are neither." Aspirant counters smugly.
"He's not that mature, trust me." Taylor snorts in response.
"Yes, he is! He's all 'listen to Master Aspirant, Padawan, and I will show you the mysteries of the fist.'" Oliver continues to complain.
"Nope. Watch." Taylor jokes then clears her throat to speak. "Fuck." She says plainly and neutrally to nothing in particular.
"Hah! Boom! Pony up bitch!" Trainwreck yells, proffering a hand towards Aspirant who begrudgingly withdraws a twenty-dollar bill and hands it over.
"It shouldn't count if we aren't training..." He grumbles, returning to his tea and pointedly refusing to look at Taylor, who is watching the pair with one eyebrow raised.
"Um... what...?" Oliver asks, slightly taken aback.
"They bet on me a lot. No idea why." Taylor explains, pointedly turning away from both boys with a haughty sniff.
"How are you settling in any way? I know I haven't gotten around to giving you too much training yet..." Taylor says, trailing off when Oliver pales appreciably.
"Great! Trainwreck has been teaching me! A-and I've been working with Aspirant a lot!" He blurts out, trying to jerk backwards but remaining in place when the cloth measure around his chest holds him firm.
"Hm. Is he good enough to be safe on the streets?" Taylor asks, turning to Aspirant.
"He's passable. Excellent student. Only slightly above human peak strength, but he absorbs the things I have to teach with alarming speed. If I was a better teacher, it's likely he would have surpassed me by now." Aspirant confirms.
"Good. No one goes out until I'm sure they won't die to the first guy with a gun they meet. Now the Butcher is down we can be more aggressive with the rest of the gang. I don't like having them so close." Taylor says thoughtfully.
"It has been some time since we sortied as a team." Aspirant notes.
"True. And if we can clear the Teeth up fast enough, we can make sure they don't try to break the Butcher out of PRT custody. All in favour?" Taylor asks, lifting a hand that everyone else in the room quickly matches.
"Great. Olly do you want to come, or would you prefer to stay back?" Taylor asks, turning back to him.
"I... guess I'll come?" Oliver answers hesitantly.
"I can weave ceramic plating into your costume for you. You'll probably want a helmet of some kind too." Parian chimes in, stepping away from him and drawing all of her measuring tools back into the folds of her dress as she takes a seat at the table.
"Could I get like... a weapon maybe?" Oliver asks hopefully.
"I'll look into it. We got a couple days before it's urgent." Trainwreck acquiesces.
Silence falls over the room for a second before Trainwreck speaks up again.
"So, your Dad fucking that blond or-" He tries only to freeze when Taylor shoots a look at him.
"She was quite pretty." Parian jokes - although you're pretty sure she's being mostly serious.
"You too? Come on, my Dad isn't sleeping with anyone. He's just Dad." Taylor gripes, then blinks when the whole table turns to look at her in pity.
"What?" She asks petulantly.
"Taylor, your Father is a hardworking single parent with a position of some political power in the city with direct ties to it's most powerful parahuman. His office is in a castle." Parian tries to explain.
"So?" Taylor asks in confusion.
"Your Dad's milf bait kid." Trainwreck says bluntly.
"He's not-" Taylor counters then stops when Aspirant, Oliver and Parian all refuse to meet her gaze.
"...Fuck." Taylor says succinctly as her worldview shatters.
And then Parian holds a hand out to receive a pair of bills from Aspirant and Trainwreck.
You snort silently from the corner of the room you've been standing in as the group begins to devolve into joking half arguments and outrage.
Even without being a direct part of the conversation, the ambience is nice. Familial, almost. Certainly not very professional though.
And you wouldn't change it for the world.
School tomorrow. Choose TWO (2). Taylor will automatically spend any extra time continuing her current training, if any.
[ ] Go on the Offensive (The Teeth)
[ ] Go on the Offensive (Accord)
[ ] Go on the Offensive (Travellers)
[ ] You should go on patrol to see if any other unaffiliated Capes have snuck into the city during the chaos.
[ ] Have Taylor take some time out to fortify the Heap with Onmyoudo.
[ ] Oliver could probably use some magical assistance with his costume and loadout. Does he even have a name yet?
[ ] Where the hell did Jess take your Dad?
[ ] Uber and Leet got away. They're a minor annoyance at best, but still. You should at least track them down.
[ ] Who was it Mouse was looking for? Ravager?
[ ] Your biggest fan forgot her signed... napkin? Might be worth looking her up.
[ ] Write-In
811
Bowler Hat Guy
Sep 20, 2020
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