Outsider Chronicles: Nereid 53
Waking up somewhere without a massive chunk of memories and with a strange body is never fun. Discovering that I'm a victim of an incompitant group of wannabe Cadamus agents is just annoying. On the up side, I'm now pretty cute!
Well, this was significantly more popular than I thought. Then again, Hololive is pretty popular. To be clear, no, this is not a true crossover with Hololive, Melissa is NOT Gura, just based on her. I'm not the type of person who writes fics about real people and, while I know that the Hololive members are technically characters, they are close enough to real for me to put them in that same category. Now thats done, enjoy!
Chapter 2
"Well, thats certainly…interesting," said Director Emily Piggot as she stared through the one way mirror into the testing room where her newest Ward was undergoing power testing.
The little shark-girl was dancing in the middle of the olympic sized swimming pool they had been using to test her swimming speed with a toothy grin on her face as the former contents of the pool swam through the air in the form of a huge school of sharks of different types. The fact that several dummies that had massive chunks taken out of them made it quite clear that those sharp looking teeth in the constructs were not just for show.
"Shaker 7 at least," said Armsmaster, "Her ability to manipulate water is almost unheard of among Parahumans. Her other abilities are less powerful, but still impressive."
Piggot glanced at the clipboard in front of the watching scientist who was viewing the tests.
"Brute 1, Thinker 1, Mover 3?" she said.
"Shes stronger than her size and build suggests, she has enhanced senses, including a form of electroreception and can swim as fast as a shark," said Armsmaster, "She has also demonstrated the ability to create an orb of water she can use to swim on land."
Piggot groaned. Capes with powers even remotely like the Endbringers were always a pain to deal with from a PR perspective, as seen with the recent situation with Canary. Fortunately, they tended to be quite rare and the powers fairly weak. Unfortunately, that clearly wasn't the case here. On the up side, the little shark girl was both personal and adorable to the point where even Piggot couldn't really bring herself to feel more than mild disapproval.
PR was going to have a field day with this one.
"Theres one more thing," said Armsmaster, picking up a folder from the desk and handing it to her, "The results of the blood tests have come in and have revealed some rather interesting things."
Piggot raised an eyebrow and opened the folder. A few moments later, the other one joined it.
"Is this accurate?" she asked.
"I ran it three times through three different methods," said Armsmaster, "Then I checked the machines and ran the tests again. They are accurate."
Piggot groaned again and rubbed her eyes.
"This is going to be a massive pain in the ass," she said, "Suggestions?"
"Keep this under wraps for now," said Armsmaster, "We need to do some more research. There are a few things about the tests Melissa underwent that I want to double check.
Piggot nodded. She was fine with leaving that particular worm can unopened for a while longer.
"Right, I've been away from my office for long enough," she said, "Contact me with the final results of the tests later."
"Yes ma'am," said the doctor running the tests as his colleagues on the floor started putting the shark girl through some more tests on her hydrokinesis.
The power testing took most of the morning and revealed a lot of extremely interesting things. Apparently, in addition to my obvious powers, I also had a rather out of place natural talent with polearms. The professors were convinced it was an aspect of my power, but I wasn't so sure. Swinging around the training spears they'd given me had sparked some rather fuzzy memories of being trained by someone I'm pretty sure was either my Mother or Grandmother with a spear, which had some…interesting implications, both that my memories apparently weren't permanently gone and who in their right mind would train a preteen with a fucking spear.
However, that could wait for later, for now I had to deal with what would likely be my greatest foe in this world, greater even than Zion and the Endbringers. The PR department.
OK, I'm exaggerating, Mr Dibbley was actually rather nice and seemed eager to work with someone who was both as adorable as me and willing to work with him and not instantly shut down every recommendation. He was also smart enough to realise that, regardless of the party line, superheroes needed costumes that were practical, as well as PR friendly.
"So, what about this one?" asked Mr Dibbley as I examined myself in the mirror.
My current outfit was a white, toga-like outfit that faded to blue at the bottom, ancient greek style sandals and a golden reith in my hair. I'm not entirely sure where that came from.
"Well, I like the trident, but I'm not too sure about the rest of it," I said, "I could probably manage, but it doesn't…feel right."
"Damn, I was hoping this one would be it," said Mr Dibbley, "Alright, take that off and we'll see what else we've got."
I ducked into the changing rooms and did as I was told, then dropped into one of the seats around the table in the conference room the PR department used. I tried to listen to what the team was saying as they got to work on the next costume idea, but quickly lost interest. Apparently, my brain was back to being an impulsive brat, because it didn't take long for me to get restless as well. After a while, I stood and started wandering around the room, looking at the various pictures of different costumes Mr Dibbley had worked on. Eventually, I reached a part of the room that had been curtained off and, more out of boredom than anything, I shifted the curtain aside and peaked in.
What I saw was both the worst and single greatest thing I'd ever seen in my life and, despite a part of me wanting to close the curtain and sit back down, the rest of me knew I'd found my costume.
"Ah, so you found that," said Mr Dibbley coming up behind me, "Thats something I made back when I first started here. I've never found any use for it though."
He glanced down at me and twitched at the sight of my puppy dog eyes, then sighed and ducked inside the storage area to retrieve the costume. Two minutes later, I was wearing the costume and posing in the mirror, practically radiating delight. As much as this was EXTREMELY convenient, I couldn't stop the mix of childlike joy and fanboy glee at my new outfit.
"Well, that certainly works well with your theme," said Mr Dibbley as he scribbled on his pad, "We'll need to give you some leggings to keep it within the guidelines, but I think this will work nicely. I can already see plenty of marketing opportunities. Now we just need a name."
"Actually, I might have something," I said, "How about…"
Sophia Hess was in a foul mood. To be fair, that wasn't uncommon for her, but today she was especially miffed. During one of her recent 'outings', a Merchant thug had managed to get a lucky hit in. Not enough to deal real damage, but it had hurt and her reaction had been to put a bolt through the bastards gut. She had covered her tracks, but the injury and risk of someone figuring it out had forced her to avoid further outings for over a week, meaning that the only chances she had to let off steam were at school with Hebert. The fact that she was currently stood on stage on the sea shore with a chill wind at her bruised back no one knew about and thus, in a fair amount of paint certainly didn't help.
She tuned out Piggy's rambling at the podium and glanced around, wondering where the new girl was waiting. The stage was set up in the open, with no apparent place for the new kid to hide. The Shadow shifter hadn't actually met the Monster Cape yet, only having a vague idea about her after seeing her picture in the file she'd received on her. A part of hoped that the girls shark-like form would mean that she was more than another useless brat, but she wasn't hopeful. She had willingly rolled over without any protest after all.
She was drawn from her musings as Piggy finally finished the prelude and raised her voice slightly.
"And now, it gives me great pleasure to introduce Brockton Wards new member, Calypso!"
In response, the new Wards location was revealed as the sea behind the stage exploded and an enormous wave lifted up, carrying the little shark girl, who seemed to be using a trident as a surfboard. The wave crested and broke, sending the girl flipping through the air to land lightly in front of Piggy, turning her momentum into a spin as she struck a pose and…
"A!"
And just like that, any hope Sophia might have had that the new shark girl would be anything other than another useless housecat was gone in a puff of smoke. Between the cutesy pose, the oversized blue hoodie that was her costume and the shark themed hood, she struck the perfect image for the PR loving PRT. It certainly didn't help that Calypso seemed to be genuinely enjoying the show she was putting on.
Sophia scowled behind her mask, her mind made up about the new girl and nothing would change it for her.
After the surprisingly fun introduction was over, apparently my new body didn't suffer from stage fright…somehow, and getting scolded by Piggot for the unnecessarily flashy entrance, I ditched the hood of my costume and joined Vista and Shadow Stalker at the side door for my first patrol. I'm not entirely sure why I was paired with Shadow Stalker for this since our powers really didn't mesh, but I suspect that this was PRs way of drawing some attention. Girls first patrol or something?
Whatever, speaking of my new costume, in case you haven't guessed it yet, I was dressed exactly like Gura. The only thing I was missing was her hair ties, but I could probably get them from Mr Dibbley at a later date. I felt like I should have a headache for some reason, but frankly, I loved the look enough that I couldn't bring myself to care.
"So, what do we do on these patrols?" I asked as we started down the Boardwalk.
"Waste time," growled Shadow Stalker.
"Don't be like that Stalker," said Vista, "These patrols are important!"
"How?" asked the shadow shifter.
"Well, I'd guess that they reduce the amount of crime in the areas patrolled," I said to head off the argument, "If crooks know that an area is patrolled, even if its by the Wards, they are going to be less likely to do their thing there. It only likely works with pickpockets and petty thieves, but its still something."
"Exactly," said Vista after a moment of shocked silence.
"Did you swallow the rule book or something?" asked Shadow Stalker.
"Nope, just basic logic," I said, "And ignoring that, it makes sense to have the newbees patrol in safe areas."
Shadow Stalker scoffed, but didn't respond.
The patrol was fairly boring after that. Shadow Stalker refused to talk to me, which was perfectly fine with me, and me and Vista mostly chatted about what it was like being a Ward. The other blonde had a wealth of advice and stories under her hat, which honestly highlighted how fucking stupid the Wards ranking actually was. We were also stopped a few times by interested civilians who wanted to ask questions or get pictures and/or autographs, which clearly annoyed Shadow Stalker and Vista, but I was happy to oblige. It was actually quite the experience being so open and happy to perform since I'd been quite shy in my last life that I could remember, which honestly made me wonder just how much the change in physical brain had affected me.
That was something to think about later though. For now, I was having fun and the change was far from the worst one I can think of.
We were about half way down the Boardwalk when a familiar smell caught my nose and my nose instantly started watering. I looked around and quickly spotted the source, a stand manned by a clearly Japanese woman. I darted over, pulling my wallet out of my pocket as I went and ignoring Vistas shout.
"One Takoyaki please!" I said to the surprised woman.
"Ah, of course," she said, "One moment."
I bounced on my toes as I waited, then accepted the polystyrene tray of dumplings.
"Thank you," said the woman as she accepted payment, "Come again!"
"I will!" I called as I ran back to my teammates, already sticking one of the fishy balls into my mouth and shivering in pleasure at the taste.
"What was that?" asked Vista as I rejoined them.
"I'm hungry," I said, "Plus, Takoyaki is awesome!"
"Not that, I meant the Japanese!" said the space warper, "I didn't know you could speak Japanese!"
I blinked.
"Wait, I was speaking Japanese?" I asked, "Huh…neat! Other languages are always useful!"
Vista stared at me.
"You…didn't know you could…no, what am I saying, of course you didn't," she said, "Sorry, I forgot."
"Eh, its fine," I said, "Want some?"
Stalker scoffed and looked away, while Vista looked curious.
"What is it?" she asked as she took a dumpling and sniffed it.
"Takoyaki," I said as my friend popped the snack into her mouth, "Fried octopus dumpling."
Vista paused at that, then looked thoughtful.
"Huh, never had octopus before," she said, "Not bad."
We continued along, sharing the rest of the Takoyaki as Vista filled me in on which stalls did good food and Stalker ignored us as best she could.
Eventually, we reached the end of the Boardwalk and went to turn around and head back to the PRT building, but before we could, the sound of shattering glass and a loud gunshot sounded from just around the corner. Before Vista and I could react, Stalker was off, dashing around the corner in the direction of the sound.
"Stalker, wait!" shouted Vista, "Oh dammit! Console, this is Vista, gunshots heard at the newsagents on Seaview, Stalker already on route, permission to engage?"
There was a rather irritated sigh from the console.
"Of course she did," said Aegis, who was manning the console that day, "Alright, its just a bunch of thugs moonlighting, no sign of gang colours, so you can engage. Preferably before Stalker hurts someone."
"Got it, moving in," said Vista, "Alright Calypso, lets move!"
I nodded and ran after Vista and Stalker.
It didn't take long to find the robbery, not when the front door had been kicked off the hinges for…some reason. Stalker was crouched outside, crossbow held at the ready.
"Whats going on?" asked Vista as we joined her.
"Damn gangers have got hostages," growled Stalker, "One of them spotted me and grabbed the cashier before I could dart him."
I glanced into the shop and saw that the two thugs in ski masks had taken cover and were pointing guns at the door while the third was holding onto a terrified looking young woman with a knife under her chin.
"Well, this isnt a great start," I said, "Maybe next time you should hold back a bit for your backup, hmm?"
"Shut it brat," growled Stalker.
I ignored her and pulled a metal flask out from under my hoodie.
"Whats that?" asked Vista.
"I need water to control, right?" I asked, "Well, thats what these are for."
I opened the flask and used my power to pull the water inside out, then sent it slithering into the shop. Theres no way that the robbers would be able to see the water, not when they were currently busy arguing about something too soft for me to hear. The water soon reached where I needed it and a quick flex of my will sent it lancing up, wrapping around the hostage takers knife arm and yanking it away. He yelped and let the girl go as he was pulled off balance. The elbow to the gut probably helped.
At the same time, Vista did her thing and the three gunmen were suddenly within arms reach of us. My trident snapped up, the solid shaft slamming into one of their wrists, forcing him to drop the weapon as Stalker pounced on the other, driving him to the floor as she drove one of her bolts into his shoulder.
"Well, that was easy," I said as I suspended my opponent off the floor with a tendril of water.
The last goon was currently cowering away from the cashire as she stomped on him, so we didn't need to worry about him.
"Not that surprising, these are bottom feeders," said Stalker, disgust clear in her tone, "Even the Merchants are better than these worms!"
"You still shouldn't have run in like that," said Vista as she returned from saving the thug from his victims vengeance, "It could easily have gone worse.
Stalker glared at Vista, but before she could say anything, a police car pulled up outside. With one last glare, the shadow shifted stomped away to skulk in the shadows, leaving the two of us to talk to the police.
After that, the remainder of the patrol was uneventful, only broken by me stopping by the Takoyaki stall again, much to the amusement of the owner. Before long, I was back in the Wards quarters, going through the report with Vista and feeling remarkably pleased with my first day as a superhero.
Across the country, a short woman with red hair watched the replay of the newest Brockton Ward for the fourth time, her breakfast forgotten. She had just reached the part where the adorable shork girl charmed the crowd when the bedroom door opened and a taller woman stumbled out.
"Morning Bea," she said, "What'cha watching?"
The womans voice snapped the red-head out of her trance and she shut the laptop with a snap and got to her feet.
"Hurry up and get sorted hun," said Bea, "We're going on a roadtrip!"
Before the second woman could protest, Bea vanished with a pop, leaving her lover wondering what the actual fuck had just happened.
And with that, I'm done. I'm not entirely pleased with this, but its fine. I got all the things I wanted to do done, so that works.
So yeah, Melissa is quite the powerhouse. I'm sure that hydrokinesis on that level won't cause any issues at all! Also, mysteries abound! With any luck, that won't blow up in Piggots face later.
Incidentally, Mr Dibbley's first name is Dwayne.
Soooo…can anyone tell that I watched the recently released Gura animation before writing this? Cus I did. Yes, I did indeed give her Gura's outfit. I couldn't really have her go by Gawr Gura unfortunately, theres no logical reason for her to do so. I went with Calypso instead because its the name of a Neraid, so its somewhat fitting.
Had to fit the 'A' in somewhere. Just a reminder, she isn't actually Gura, just channelling her.
Why Takoyaki? No idea, I just needed some padding and that worked. Same with the robbery at the end actually, although I did need something to cap it off and not make it a complete waste of time. I might rewrite that later for something more relevant.
Hmm, I wonder whos coming to town now?
Before I go, heres a quick omake for something I briefly considered doing before I decided it would be a bit much and wouldn't make any sense. Enjoy!
Civilization Escalation
I stared at the new girl in utter disbelief. We had been informed earlier in the day that we were getting a new Ward and Miss Militia had just introduced her to us. Despite the domino mask, it wasn't really that hard to figure out who she was, not when she was a tall, skinny girl with long, curly hair and a wide mouth. What had me taken aback was the fact that she was wearing her hair up with what looked like owl feather themed clips and was wearing a brown cloak.
"Alright kids, this is Architect, our new Ward," said Miss Militia, "Shes a Civilization Tinker."
I'm not entirely sure what a Civilization Tinker would do, but the idea made me laugh. Now enjoy the images that come with the idea of Taylor fucking Hebert channaling Mumei.
And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!