Oh god here I go sinning again.
Fuck you Naruto Soundtrack. You have no right to be that fucking good.
Ehehe... Here Taylor has no powers, not from a Shard at least. She just has a mixed asian heritage on her mother's side and an exercise regimen that's simply insane.
For she is...
The Beautiful Green Beast of Brockton Bay, and she's in the Springtime of her YOUTH!
YOUTH 1.1
Deep in the woods-that is to say, off behind the counselors' cabin and next to a small stream- of Camp Marigold, a young girl of about fourteen years old was exercising under the hot, late summer sun in her bright green workout clothes, sweat beading on her forehead and dripping down her nose. While this wouldn't be out of the ordinary for a summer camp, especially one that emphasized health and fitness like Camp Marigold, the girl herself was exercising in a way that would leave even Olympic level athletes boggling in sheer disbelief because not only was Taylor Hebert doing pushups, she was doing vertical handstand pushups.
On one finger.
"Ninety five… ninety six… ninety seven… ninety eight…"
"Taylor? Um, not to interrupt but um… you have a call waiting for you?" Taylor's Cabin Counselor, Maria, spoke up as she took in the scene, her clipboard held almost fearfully in front of her chest. Taylor, despite having only been at camp for a week, had quickly gained a reputation of the decidedly odd sort- further exacerbated by how driven she was towards her… intense… exercise regimen and the way that, despite being eager to participate in any and all camp activities, she never seemed to make any friends.
"Ninety nine… one hundred! Ha! Two thousand even!" Taylor crowed as she nimbly dropped to her feet, her wavy black hair disheveled and barely held in an overstrained tie, looking barely winded despite having been exercising for the last seven hours straight, from dawn to just now, and being covered in sweat. "Oh hey Maria, what's up?"
"You uh… have a call waiting for you at the front office," Maria answered, gulping a little bit. Taylor's presence was always a bit much for the older girl. Despite being a teenager, Taylor was too driven, too intense, too strong to be real, and just being near her felt like being in a bonfire.
"Oh, thanks! That must be Emma calling- it's like one, right?" Taylor grinned and checked her watch, nodding with satisfaction. "Well, thanks again for telling me, Maria! And hey, is there still a spot open for canoeing today?"
"Y-yeah… um, we're heading down at three. Don't be late?"
"I'll be there!" Taylor waved lightly and sprinted away, almost bowling Maria over with the gust of wind that followed in her wake.
"Gah! Man, that kid is just… weird," Maria shook her head, frowning and worrying her lip. "No super powers my ass… Everything she damn does is superhuman."
"Hey Emma~!" Taylor half sang as she dawdled around in the phone booth, twirling the outdated plastic cord in her fingers as she looked around at the wood grain of the phone housing. "How ya been?"
"I'm fine. How about you? Are you holding up okay without me there?" Emma responded, the faint sounds of traffic audible through her end.
"Yeah, I'm…" Taylor dropped her almost ever-present smile and leaned against the phone booth wall. "I'm okay, sort of. I've been keeping my mind off of it but… it doesn't really get easier, you know?"
"Yeah," A quick burst of noise cut across the line as Emma nodded and her hair scratched over her phone. "Hey, listen, you know I'm basically free for the rest of summer, right?"
"Mhmm. Just a few more modeling gigs, right?" Taylor asked, switching from twirling the cord in her fingers to idly using one hand to braid her hair. "What about it?"
"Well, if you're going through a bad day, I want you to call me, okay? BFFs means we stick together and help each other out, y'know? So like… yeah, just… I know it's hard for you… So I'm here whenev- Dad what are you doing?"
Taylor blinked and tilted her head, "Emma, what's going on?"
"Yeah sorry, someone rolled a dumpster across the road, Dad's taking another way around to the maa… oh shit this is bad."
"Emma?" Taylor called out frantically as she heard the sounds of a struggle, "Emma answer me! What's going on!"
With mounting panic, Taylor called out again and again, listening helplessly at the sounds of screaming and struggling across the phone line until she could no longer bear it and barreled out of the phone booth, running as fast as she could towards home, towards Brockton Bay, towards her friend who was in danger and she couldn't lose anyone else she had to save Emma had to run faster, FASTER!
The phone booth exploded in her wake, glass and metal flying apart like the cheap plywood that held the outdated payphone while the ground itself parted from the wind following her.
It wasn't enough, she wasn't fast enough, she had to go faster, run faster, save Emma from whatever was out there.
Taylor grimaced as she reached under her wristbands, and tore free the thin straps holding the resistance bracelets to her body, barely skipping a step as she removed the resistance bands from her ankles as well. As the thin strips of ultra dense metal fell, Taylor vanished in a blur of speed, the four bands cratering the ground behind while the sheer force of her push dug a trench in the packed dirt, forcing it into the air with the sound of a sonic boom.
The world blurred around Taylor, going from green and brown to the drab grays of Brockton Bay, the dilapidated and worn down buildings around her providing familiar landmarks as she sprinted and sprinted and sprinted and- where!? She knew the route that Emma's dad always took to the mall, but where were they!? Every second she wasted was a chance that Emma could be injured or worse! She should have acted sooner- no she should have never gone to camp at all if this was going to happen! Taylor blinked tears out of her eyes as she ran, until she saw- there!
In her heart, she saw everything- the slow movement as some asian woman whipped her fist out to strike Emma. Emma, on the ground, her father pressed against a wall with a gun to his temple. On the roof, a black clad figure watching and doing nothing. Three more men standing around, looting the car.
Fury overtook panic and she saw red.
She threw herself forward, not even bothering to slow down as she extended her leg into a picture perfect flying side kick right on a collision course with the one woman in the group.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"
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Feb 1, 2018
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The CyberQueen
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Feb 3, 2018
#58
YOUTH 1.2
Sophia wasn't really sure what was more surprising- the fact that a half-asian girl in the dorkiest green clothes flying side-kicked a woman out of nowhere and stopped on a dime, or the fact that said woman actually seemingly survived the kick even though she went flying across the entire goddamn alleyway. Either way, dorky clothes aside, the girl was definitely someone she didn't want to tangle with- enough speed and strength to have the shockwave of a kick bowl over four people without touching any civilians? Definitely a fighter- and an extremely skilled and powerful one at that.
"Emma! Are you alright!?" Taylor knelt over Emma's prone form, gently shaking her friend's shoulder. "I came as fast as I could!"
"T-taylor…? What the… fuck…?" Emma blinked, not really able to process Taylor's sudden appearance, nor the fact that her attackers were all slumped unconscious against the far wall of the alley. "How… how did you get here so fast?"
"I ran, duh," Taylor pulled Emma into a tight hug, giggling almost deliriously as she buried her face into Emma's shoulder. "I'm so so sorry I wasn't here sooner. Are you hurt?"
Emma shook her head, not actually sure if this was real or not. "I… I'm fine, really. But… Dad! Dad are you okay?"
"I'm fine dear," Alan replied, shakily pushing away from the wall and leaning against the car. "I can't say the same about those… thugs. Taylor, when did you get here?"
"Just now, Dad," Emma rolled her eyes and wiggled in Taylor's arms. "Uh, Tay, you can let me go now."
"No! I left for camp a week ago and this is what you get into?" Taylor gripped Emma tighter, not willing to let her friend go for a while. "If I wasn't in time, who knows if that suspicious person up there would have even tried to help!"
"Wait what?" Emma looked up and sure enough, there was a strange figure in black who chose that moment to leap down dramatically and land lightly on the roof of the car.
"Everything alright here?" the figure asked, a crossbow idly resting on her shoulder. "I was about to step in, but… well, things seem to have been handled."
"Yeah, no thanks to you!" Taylor shot back, finally standing up and taking Emma with her, the much shorter redhead blushing as Taylor held her off the ground like an oversized stuffed animal. "I saw you up there! You had every chance to act in the time it took me to get here!"
"... Uh, Tay?" Emma spoke up, her voice barely above a squeak. "Can you seriously let me go now?"
"... Fine," Taylor set Emma on her feet, still glaring at the figure who had dared to not even try to help Emma. "And who are you anyway, miss edgy Batman wannabe?"
"Oi! I'm not a Batman wannabe!" the figure protested, huffing as she holstered her crossbow. "And for your information, my name is Shadow Stalker!"
"... Jesus Christ you are edgy," Taylor muttered and shook her head. "Whatever, point is, why the hell did you wait so long to help my friend!?"
Shadow Stalker shook her head and crossed her arms, "I said I was about to step in when you showed up. Not my fault you apparently think a fraction of a goddamn second is enough time for me to jump in and kick ass. You literally popped up out of nowhere!"
"I did not," Taylor muttered. "I ran. From Camp Marigold."
"... Tay, did you just run fifty miles in less than a minute?" Emma almost whispered, shaken at just how fast Taylor had to have run.
"... Uh, yeah? I had to take my weights off though… Oh man now I have to go back and find them!" Taylor groaned, grabbing her hair and bopping her head repeatedly. "Aaargh they probably left such a mess!"
"... You ran at mach four because you dropped some weights?" Shadow Stalker spoke up, not super happy at having been ignored, "What, does your power make you faster the less weight you carry?"
"Power? I don't have powers. I just trained really, really, really hard!" Taylor corrected Shadow Stalker. "And yes, I ran at mach four because I dropped some weights. Each one was like six tons!"
"... That's bullshit. How did you not kill those goons if you're strong enough to lift twenty four tons!?"
"Well, I didn't actually touch the lady and the shockwave isn't that bad," Taylor shrugged. "Anyway… uh… Emma, stay safe, don't go to the mall until I get back from camp. Mr. Barnes… uh… sorry that I didn't get here faster."
"It's… fine, Taylor," Alan coughed into his hand as he gently shooed Shadow Stalker off the car and slid into the driver's seat.
"And you, Darth Sneaker… man, get better hobby," Taylor snickered before dashing off, the gust of wind bowling Shadow Stalker over enough that she almost crashed into Emma.
"..." As Shadow Stalker recovered, she poked Emma in the shoulder, "Your friend is a fucking nutcase."
"Yeah but she did a better job saving me than you did, weirdo."
"... Fuck you very much." Shadow Stalker leapt away with those parting words, leaving Emma standing there awkwardly staring in the direction Taylor had left.
"... She ran fifty miles in a minute," Emma shook her head again and climbed back into the car. "Dad, do you know how fast she must have been going?"
"... Well, according to my phone… about mach 4." Alan spoke blandly, as if he weren't even surprised.
"... That's bullshit!"
"Language, young lady."
"Sorry. But still! She ran at mach four!? What kind of stupid 'training' did she do that lets her run at mach four, apparently without superpowers!?" Emma groaned, clenching her fists against her eyes. "It doesn't make sense!"
"With her mother's side of the family, nothing makes sense," Alan spoke sagely, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. "In fact, I blame it all on Taylor's grandfather on her mother's side."
"... You knew him?"
"Well, no, only secondhand from what Danny told me, but what he told me was plenty."
"... Let's just go home and pretend today never happened…"
506
Jsyrin
Feb 3, 2018
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Jsyrin
The CyberQueen
She/Her
Feb 7, 2018
#124
Hmm... so just what kind of sordid past does Danny have in this fic? Or Annette for that matter?
YOUTH 1.3
"So…. mind explaining the bill, kiddo?" Danny raised an eyebrow as he stared down at Taylor. "Something about… the destruction of a phone booth and a long stretch of dirt road?"
"Ehehehe…. R-right… that," Taylor coughed and looked to the side, tapping her foot on the freshly packed dirt that she'd spent all week fixing. "I um… Well… I was on the phone with Emma-"
"Stop right there, that explains everything," Danny cut in, patting Taylor on the head. "It's fine, Taylor, I understand. I heard the whole story from Alan- are you alright though?"
"Um… well…" Taylor rolled her shoulders and shifted her weight. "I was a little sore the day after but I worked through it."
"You pulled a muscle from running at supersonic speeds and kept working out until the pain went away," Danny deadpanned.
"... Yes."
"Figures," Danny huffed and led Taylor back to the car- old as it was, it still held up fine even with the extra weight of Taylor's training bands. Though, granted, that might have just been Old Man Roku's weird bullshit 'not magic' that made the bands seemingly weight only twenty four pounds instead of their actual twenty four tons.
He preferred not to think about it. Thinking about it led only to madness and a disturbing inclination towards green.
Bad enough that Taylor's grandfather had already gotten to the poor girl, Danny didn't need the old man's corpse infecting him with that kind of weirdness even twelve years after his death.
"Hey dad?"
"Yeah kiddo?"
"... Can we go get burgers?"
"Sure, I'll stop by McDonald's on the way back."
"Thanks."
He rolled his eyes and shook his head, but who was he to deride his daughter's choice in fast food?
Even if Fugly Bob's was way better (and also more expensive but that was the price of quality).
The ride home was silent, for the most part, broken only by the sounds of soft rock over the radio, Taylor's loud snoring less than five minutes into the trip, and finally, the loud shuffling of paper and chewing as Taylor tore into her six burgers at once, almost like a woodchipper in terms of speed and noise.
It was a shame that they were forever banned from taking on Fugly Bob's Challenger… challenge…. Thing… after Taylor had eaten three of them in a row in the span of five minutes. Danny would have paid good money to see the looks on everyone's faces just once more.
"Hey, dad?" Taylor asked, right after they arrived home and had safely stored Taylor's luggage back into her room (and her training equipment back in the basement). "Can I… ask you something?"
"What is it, kiddo? Do you wanna go sleepover at Emma's?"
"Well, that too, but…" Taylor hesitated, fiddling with her resistance bands, undoing and re-clipping the reinstalled straps. "... Do you think… I could be a hero?"
"..." Danny snickered and turned away, muffling it into his fist as he leaned against the kitchen table.
"Dad! That's a serious question!" Taylor whined, stomping her foot gently- though her strength still meant it made a tangible tremor in the hardwood. "I wanna be a hero! So I can help people!"
Danny sighed and hugged Taylor, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her as his expression dropped. "I know it's serious, Taylor. But… you're so young and… I can't help but feel like this is a bad idea."
"Why? Is it because I don't have po-" Taylor was cut off by Danny's finger over her lips.
"Taylor you and I both know that isn't true," Danny deadpanned. "You may have gotten to where you are by hard work alone, but we both know that no normal person can do anything like what you can do."
"... Okay fair," Taylor conceded. "Still, I wanna be a hero!"
Danny pulled away and sighed again, pursing his lips and looking down at Taylor with a thoughtful expression. "I get where you're coming from, Taylor, but… they have guns out there. Capes with weird powers, explosives, and god knows what else. I don't want to see you get hurt, kiddo."
"I won't!" Taylor crossed her arms. "I finally worked out Grandpa Roku's muscle hardening technique and the scroll says that it's bulletproof if you can push it far enough! Also, you know I can run faster than people can see- faster than bullets if I take my weights off."
"It only takes getting unlucky once, Taylor," Danny replied, crossing the kitchen and pulling out the address book. "Look, you know what- I know you're not going to budge on this-"
"No way!"
"-so I'm going to make sure you get the best head start you can, and so that I don't have to worry as much." He shook his head and read through the list of names while Taylor stood there awkwardly, not sure what to say. "You go on ahead and go over to Emma's, I'll call ahead to let Alan know- stay below thirty, by the way, so I actually have time to call."
Taylor snickered. "Heh- fiiine. Thanks dad!"
"No problem kiddo- and she's gone already," Danny rolled his eyes as a gust of wind thundered through the house, dialing Alan's number. "Hey Alan- yeah, Taylor's on her way already. Mhmm. Just letting you know- Oh yeah, dinner on friday sounds great, will Zoe make that lasagna-yes? Yes! See you later then, Alan."
As he hung up, he sighed and rubbed his brow, punching in the numbers for a far, far less pleasant call, but a necessary one.
"Hello? Who is this?"
Danny spoke clearly, rolling his eyes wryly at the young man on the other end trying to sound tough. "Tell Lee he has a call. Tell him it's from… Athos."
"Who do you think you're talkin' to man? We're the fuckin-"
"I don't care who you are, just tell Lee that he has a call and if he knows what's good for him he'll call me back within a half hour." Danny huffed and hung up, dragging a hand down his face. "How did Annette deal with people so well…? Oh right… her mother."
Within fifteen minutes, there was a knock at the door. As Danny opened it, a knife was pressed against his throat.
On the other side of the threshold stood the silent assassin of the ABB, the repeat suicide bomber, the teleporting nuisance of Taylor's maternal side family.
Oni- fucking- Lee.
Danny sighed and pushed the knife away with a deadpan expression, "Hello Mataro. Come in why don't you? And leave your knives at the door, you know where. We need to talk about Taylor."
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Feb 7, 2018
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The CyberQueen
She/Her
Feb 13, 2018
#197
Oh hey, this one is an update. Cheers!
YOUTH 1.4
"So… who's this?" Taylor asked as she saw the other girl sitting in Emma's room. She let her overnight bag thump to the floor, rolling her shoulder idly to relieve the mild discomfort from the bag strap digging into her skin through her tanktop.
The other girl barely looked up from her phone as she typed something, the glare of the screen reflected in her brown eyes. Idly, Taylor noted that the girl herself was wearing a quite drab amount of black, which… honestly didn't go super well with her dark skin. Not that Taylor was any judge of fashion, but Emma had a few choice words to say and proximity had meant the knowledge had rubbed off over time.
"This is Sophia," Emma answered, rolling her eyes slightly as she witnessed the aforementioned girl simply roll over on the floor without another word. "She's uh… you know the alley?"
"... Really?" Taylor deadpanned, her neutral opinion of Sophia already dipping into light disdain. "So why is she here instead of terrorizing some random muggers?"
"Well, aside from the fact that it's still five in the afternoon," Sophia responded snidely, "It's because I wanted to know just what the hell kind of power you've got that lets you run at mach fucking four."
"... Mover powers are a thing," Taylor mumbled, idly flopping onto Emma's bed.
"Most mover powers that let you cross that much distance that fucking fast are teleportation powers or don't let you hit hard enough that your fucking backdraft takes out a bunch of criminals," Sophia growled, hopping to her feet and poking Taylor in the shoulder. "So either you really hit the jackpot, or you're doing something weird even for a Cape."
"Everything I am, I gained with hard work," Taylor spoke sagely, moving Sophia's finger away. "And what are you even going to do with the knowledge of my abilities anyway?"
"..." Sophia paused and stepped back, blinking twice. "... Uh…. nothing?"
"..."
"... Wait, you mean you stalked me to my house, revealed your secret identity, basically forced your way into being my "friend"... for nothing." Emma cut in incredulously, an expression of sheer disbelief at Sophia's stupidity etched upon her face as if set in stone.
"... Well… when you put it that way…" Sophia coughed into her hand. "I mean… well… it's like… you're super strong, that much is obvious…. And like… the strong have to stick together to make it in this world, so I figured.."
"Make friends with the person who ran at mach four, and what, start your own little hero team?" Taylor raised an eyebrow, idly examining her nails and frowning a little bit at their condition. No doubt Emma would freak out and immediately call for a manicure once she noticed. "If you haven't noticed, Sophia, neither of us are really impressed with you even if Emma did have a lapse in judgement that's lasted long enough for you to get comfortable here."
"Hey!"
"It's true~"
"Screw you, Tay."
"..." Sophia growled low in her throat, clenching her phone in her hands. "Fine. Yes, that's what I wanted to do. Happy?"
"Eh," Taylor rocked her hand in a so-so motion. "Two out of ten for presentation, six out of ten idea. I'm down to be a hero, but… well… the way I've seen you work doesn't mesh well with me."
"Watching people get beat up until you decide to step in is kinda a dick move," Emma noted thoughtfully.
Sophia huffed and rolled her eyes, the frown on her face deepening further. "Fine. I can see this is going nowhere. I'll let myself out. See you losers later."
Without another word, Sophia stomped away, making enough of a racket that both girls could hear it until the moment that she slammed the door shut and left for real.
A moment passed.
"... That girl needs therapy," Taylor muttered. "Anyway, now what?"
"Well… We could start by talking about the fact that you APPARENTLY STILL HAVEN'T STOPPED WEARING A HORRIBLE AMOUNT OF GREEN, HMMMMM???????"
"ACK NO STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING EMMA NO BAD TOUCH BAD TOUCH!"
"I WILL GET YOU TO DRESS IN MORE COLORS THAN GREEN EVEN IF IT KILLS YOU!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
"Hm," Mataro sipped thoughtfully from his cup of tea, paused, stood, and dumped the entire cup into the sink along with the mouthful he had taken. "Disgusting."
"... Fuck you too, Mataro," Danny deadpanned. "Now back to the point. Pull back the ABB activities for now. No more expansion, no more public Nazi beatings-"
"... Why?"
"- Look, as much as we both hate Nazis and enjoy beating them up in public, it's still illegal. And also just keep any illegal stuff below board- you know, strictly financial unless you have reason to blow up either a Nazi house or a drug den."
Mataro took a deep breath and pulled a knife from his coat, jamming it into the table to get his point across.
"Mataro I swear by Annette's grave if you don't put that and the rest of your knives away where they're supposed to I will castrate you with my old sniper rifle."
Mataro acquiesced.
"And stop being so obstinate about this, Mataro. You know Taylor. She's going to be a hero and as much as you've already pledged to offer her support below the table, I'd rather not have to break you out of prison. The first three times were enough, thank you very much."
Mataro growled low in his throat, clenching his fist and very pointedly raising his middle finger.
"It's not my fault you were blinded for a week because you forgot to replace your mask lenses and dropped a fucking flare bomb," Danny countered. "three fucking times in a row."
The second middle finger joined the first. If Mataro had taken his mask off, Danny was sure that he'd see Mataro giving him a death glare to end all death glares.
"Right, well, thanks for agreeing to this. You know the way out, blah blah blah. Oh and tell Grace that she really needs to get more sun- you two come over for dinner again, just like… well, before the summer, alright?"
The Mataro in front of him dissolved into ash that rapidly faded away into smoke, leaving naught but a burnt smell in the kitchen and the subtle motion of a ninja disappearing across the rooftops.
"... Just once I'd like him to walk out like a normal person," Danny sighed.
Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
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Feb 13, 2018
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Jsyrin
The CyberQueen
She/Her
Feb 18, 2018
#227
Lil bit late. Not much happening, but... it's something?
YOUTH 1.5
"... Do I want to know where all this stuff came from?" Danny asked of Mataro a few days later, where a crate full of various items sat in his living room. That Mataro had managed to sneak it in without damaging the doorways was strange enough, but that Grace of all people was sitting near it and giggling madly was cause for worry. "... And do I want to know what's in the box?"
"Art supplies," Mataro deadpanned and shuffled through it, pulling out indeed several cans of high quality spray paint, brushes, regular paints, fabric dyes, and more. "Protective gear. Explosive kunai. Explosive shuriken. Explosiv-"
"... Grace did you tell Mataro to put a crate full of bombs in my living room?" Danny sighed, his fingers twitching as he fought the urge to crack open the basement concrete and retrieve his rifle.
"... Noooo….?" Grace coughed, backing away from the crate to bop Mataro over the head. "Lee, don't just say they're explosives! They're stun grenades and smoke bombs and stuff, not high powered demolitions explosives!"
Danny stared, expression flat.
"... Okay fine, some of those are in there too." Grace admitted, shrugging and pulling out pouch after pouch until the beginnings of what could possibly be an actually practical hero outfit were arrayed upon the couch. "But hey, just because she's a hero doesn't mean she won't need some weird stuff."
"If I wanted weird stuff I'd let Taylor read the scrolls that Old Man Roku and Gai left for her in the attic," Danny glared, tapping his foot. "My daughter is not going to be carrying around high powered explosives and that's final."
Grace frowned and grumbled as she sifted through the (thankfully blunt) throwing implements and gathered the ones marked with green wrappings. "It's not like they'd just blow up… these took me all week to make… ungrateful bastard…"
"Careful Grace, this ungrateful bastard is the one that can send Taylor to destroy what you love most," Danny warned, frown deepening upon his face.
"You wouldn't!" Grace gasped, absolutely horrified. "You wouldn't dare!"
"..." Mataro whacked Grace upside the head. "It is only an old car, Grace. There are hundreds more like it. Thousands, considering it is nothing more than a restored and repainted 1967 Volkswagon Beetle with additional cupholders and stereo."
"But it's miiiiiiine!" Grace whined. "I built it from the ground up! And those speakers were expensive!"
"..." Danny rolled his eyes, "Melodrama aside, shouldn't we ask Taylor for input before we start making her costume for her?"
"... Oh. Right. Well she's standing right behind you if you wanna ask now," Grace pointed behind Danny.
"Hey dad! Hi Uncle Lee! Hi Grace!"
"Hey, squirt!"
"Hello, Taylor."
"... Okay how much of that did you hear?" Danny sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"... All of it…? You were pretty loud and I was in my room."
"... Well whatever. Just… okay, you two just brought costuming supplies, right?"
"Yeah, and weapons."
"Yes."
"... Okay we're going to have to talk about the weapons. Taylor… go nuts, I guess. Make a costume that you'd be okay with going out in… and for the love of god please actually use the armor?"
"Well… alright? Ooh! You brought green!" Taylor all but dove into the crate, mixing and matching pieces while Danny led Grace and Mataro into the kitchen.
"Really?" he sighed, "Just… really? You actually thought giving weapons to a girl who can punch through a semi-truck if she doesn't hold back even more than her weights already hold her back?"
"Well what if she goes up against something she can't just punch?" Grace shrugged, leaning casually against the refrigerator. "Y'know, like Hookwolf?"
Danny deadpanned. "Semi. Truck."
"Hookwolf is a racist blender on megasteroids."
"..." Danny mulled it over in his head. On the one hand- lethal weapons in the hands of a girl who could probably throw them harder than an armor piercing tank shell. On the other hand… his beloved daughter fighting crime against Nazis and drug dealers with guns… And maybe the idiots who thought the ABB was just the Asian version of the E88.
Concern for collateral damage… or maybe his daughter's health and safety.
Destroyed buildings… or his daughter coming home bruised and bloodied if things went awry.
"... Okay but Mataro is going to have to train her because as much as she knows how to throw darts she's never handled kunai or shuriken." Danny pinched his brow and groaned the groan of the long-suffering powerless father to a superhero. Across the city, several men sensed unconsciously that another had joined their fold.
"Wait really? I thought Old Man Roku would have left something for her," Grace raised an eyebrow incredulously. "She doesn't know how to use them at all?"
"No, because when Mataro borrowed them twenty years ago he conveniently forgot to return the scrolls," Danny glared at Mataro, voice full of accusation.
Mataro coughed into his hand and finally broke his stoic, emotionless facade, putting his hands up in surrender. "In my defense, you know how bad I am about cleaning and organizing."
"Yeah, if I didn't yell at you every single week you'd lose your goddamn mask in a laundry pile," Grace snarked, elbowing Mataro in his side. "I would know, you've actually somehow managed it."
"... It was a bad time."
"It was last week."
"... You two are idiots," Danny sighed. "How the hell have you managed to keep the ABB in line for six years when you act like this?"
"In our defense, it mostly runs on its own and it isn't exactly hard to manage a bunch of money laundering operations when you're the best Tinker ever," Grace bragged smugly, until Mataro whacked her upside the head. "Ow!"
"I think that title is Dragon's," Danny rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Since I'm obviously in no shape to do anything but threaten any boys my daughter brings home, you two are going to have to make sure Taylor's ready to face the ins and outs of the cape scene."
"And make bombs for her to use against the Nazis?" Grace perked up.
"No, and get her to join the Wards maybe," Danny shook his head. "As much as I really, really hate the Protectorate for being a bunch of dicks under a thin pretense of heroism, at least she'll have more friends than maybe just Emma and Amy."
"... Couldn't you sign her up for it yourself?" Mataro asked, pulling a knife out and sharpening it until Danny snatched it away and flung it down the hall, where it impaled itself into the corkboard Danny and Annette had specifically set up on the wall by the door for such events.
"How many times do I have to remind you? And no, not unless she says she wants to join the Wards," Danny frowned at Mataro.
"Hey guys check me out!" Taylor interrupted, stepping into the kitchen wearing-
"... What the fuck is that?" Grace recoiled in open disgust.
"..."
"... Well it's practical," Danny muttered, pinching his brow once again and trying to suppress the flashbacks of Old Man Roku.
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Feb 18, 2018
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Jsyrin
The CyberQueen
She/Her
Feb 25, 2018
#256
It's been uh...
Literally a week. Cool.
Have more shenanigans.
SPRINGTIME 2.1
"Kenta."
"Daniel."
"Just Danny please."
"You wouldn't call me on my work phone if it wasn't important, Danny, let's skip the pleasantries and get on with it."
Danny rolled his eyes as he heard Kenta audibly groan and sink onto the squeaking frame of his La-Z-Boy in his apartment. "Taylor's going to be a hero. Can you take a few days off?"
"... She what now?"
"Taylor. Hero. Need you to either give her a list of tips or come over and do it in person. Also don't wear the Green Sentai suit please?"
"Fuck you, the Green Sentai suit is a classic."
"It's an outdated reference!"
"Japan still makes Super Sentai and Kamen Rider shows and kids still love them!" Kenta roared irritably, a burst of flames audibly whooshing past the receiver.
"... Yes, but it's a bad influence on Taylor, who, as you know, already wears an unhealthy amount of green."
"Taylor likes my Sentai suit…" Kenta muttered. "Anyway, I'll ask Alexandria if I can take a few days off this weekend. Shouldn't be hard, not like there's ever any crime in San Francisco anymore. Not sure why."
"I couldn't imagine," Danny deadpanned. "Maybe it's the giant flaming dragon that held off an Endbringer until it got kicked to death and saved all of Japan in the process?"
"Ego stroking will get you everywhere," Kenta laughed. "See you in a few days Danny. And tell Mataro to come over and pick up his knives one of these days. Little shit still hasn't taken them back and it's been almost two years now."
With that, Danny hung up and rolled his eyes, rubbing his forehead. "Why is it that every single cape I know is an absolute moron?"
"Probably because they knew Grandpa," Taylor sauntered casually into the kitchen and retrieved a pre-made protein shake, downing it in a single gulp and tossing the empty container into the trash. Sweat dripped off of her body, leaving a trail that most definitely lead all the way back to the basement.
"... What have I told you about leaving towels on the ground, Taylor?" Danny raised an eyebrow.
"... Oops, sorry," Taylor giggled and palmed her forehead. "Guess I got out of the habit from summer camp. I'll clean it up once I'm done- sorry again!"
"That kid," Danny shook his head and read over some important documents from the Union as Taylor returned to her workout. "Guess I should be glad that she took after Annette instead of me…"
"Concentrate," Mataro spoke calmly that Saturday morning, his voice muffled behind his snarling demon mask, "Kunai and shuriken rely on entirely different wrist movements compared to darts, and are far easier to throw incompetently. As it is, you should only use these when in a severe situation."
"Not that you'll probably ever be in one," Grace snarked, her own mask dangling from its strap around her neck. "What with the whole 'run faster than bullets and punch harder than a freight train' thing."
"Right!" Taylor pumped her fists and took careful aim, concentrating as she flicked her wrist forward with as much force as she thought was necessary and-
-winced as the shuriken impaled the ship just to the right of the circular target, punching a hole through the steel hull and clattering to a halt… after punching through another three ships.
"... Restraint, jesus fuck," Grace muttered, her face scrunching up as she moved her seat a little further behind Taylor. "I know it sound stupid coming from me but holy shit squirt those are regular shuriken- y'know, the kind that's supposed to be nonlethal?"
"Sorry…" Taylor grinned sheepishly. "I'll get better at this I swear! And if I can't get it right by the end of today I'll definitely have it down by tonight! And if I can't do that, I'll just have to do even more restraint exercises until I can punch a rice paper door without breaking the screen!"
"... That might be a little excessive, squirt," Grace muttered to no avail as Taylor began practicing with renewed fervor, flinging braces of kunai and shuriken- with dramatically improving aim, Mataro noted, with continuously improving restraint- the first few had fallen short or still done entirely too much damage, but Taylor was improving… slowly (for her, at least).
A word Mataro hadn't had to use for the girl in any capacity for almost five years. And wasn't that a frightening thought- that the girl he used to take on piggyback rides could without a single doubt run faster than he could teleport away from her if they ever came to blows.
"Good." A few hours later Mataro watched as Taylor systematically destroyed and set up new paper targets, figuring out new ways to trick shot her throwing weaponry into the bullseye position once regular throwing was mastered. "You learn… Frighteningly quickly as always."
"Thanks Uncle Lee!" Taylor beamed, flinging her last practice shuriken into the air and leaping after it to spin kick it directly into the nose position of the smiley face she drew on the last target with yet more kunai and shuriken. "What now?"
"Lunch." Lee began walking away. "Grace, take care of the evidence."
"Aye aye!" Grace hopped to her feet and snapped on her gloves, the aperture in the palm opening up and releasing a single sphere the size of a golf ball. As she reared back, Taylor blanched slightly and dashed behind Grace, allowing the (probably psychotic) woman to fling the grenade at the practice ship and unleash a blast that…. Completely destroyed all evidence of the paper targets and practice weapons, though it did nothing to fix the damage Taylor did to the surrounding area. "Tada~!"
"Ohhh… so that's why you have mouths tattooed on your hands," Taylor looked down at Grace's gloves, examining the mouthlike apertures and the swirling dimensional pocket they linked to. "Neat!"
"Mhmm~! Pride and joy right here," Grace dusted off her hands and clipped her gloves back to her belt, showing off the almost disturbingly realistic mouths tattooed upon her palms, flexing her hands and giving the illusion of the mouths opening and closing. "Isn't it neat? I got the idea from one of the stories Mataro told me about someone Old Man Roku once fought!"
"Ooh! The bomber guy, right?"
"Yup!"
"I thought that story was the coolest as a kid," Taylor grinned and giggled. "So where are we going for lunch, Uncle Lee?"
"Obaasan's." Mataro answered simply, stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking down the street away from the Boat Graveyard. "We must hurry before the lunch rush hits."
"Nice!" Taylor cheered, then turned back to Grace, "Hey, you know…"
"What is it, Taylor?" Grace asked, almost afraid of the excited look on Taylor's face.
"Grandpa left a bunch of scrolls and stuff, right? Well, he also left a scroll about something called sealing techniques- apparently he used them a lot of storing stuff away-"
"And lemme guess, you think I could use them?" Grace raised an eyebrow, mind racing as she looked down at her hands. "... That sounds incredibly badass."
"Yeah, but uh… there's one problem." Taylor's face screwed up into a thoughtful frown as she looked Grace up and down. "... The sealing techniques rely on something called Chakra, and uh… I'm not sure if you… have any?"
"... What the dick is Chakra?" Grace asked, completely nonplussed.
"I don't… really know? I'm pretty sure it's what lets me do the stuff I do… and part of what lets Uncle Lee do what he does."
Mataro flickered into existence behind Grace, the clone in front of them collapsing first into ash, then into smoke. "Chakra is a blend of physical and spiritual energies. According to Uncle Roku, anyone can use it, though some people have far more than others."
"How much do I have, Uncle Lee?" Taylor asked.
"Far too much," Mataro deadpanned. "I do not know how or why, but you have more chakra than me, and my techniques are very chakra intensive even with parahuman abilities augmenting them. I suspect that the sheer amount of physical training you do allows you to have such immense amounts of chakra."
"Huh. That's… pretty cool, I guess," Taylor shrugged and laced her hands together behind her head. "So uh…-"
"If your next words involve the words 'race' or 'challenge', I will not hesitate to throw you into the ocean," Mataro glared at Taylor and flicked her forehead.
"Ow! Fine…." Taylor huffed and rubbed her smarting forehead while Grace snickered.
"We should hurry anyway, it's almost noon," Grace rolled her eyes and quickened her pace, followed shortly by Mataro and Taylor.
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Feb 25, 2018
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The CyberQueen
She/Her
Feb 25, 2018
#285
17 hours later and... I give you what basically amounts to a canon filler chapter.
Spot the Lion King joke.
No points for the Hero Academia joke because it's just that obvious.
SPRINGTIME 2.2
"... I like your outfit. Very green," Kenta nodded when he saw Taylor's complete uniform, complete with protective riot helmet and clear face guard. He felt that perhaps the respirator over her mouth was a bit excessive for Brockton Bay, but then again, worse could come to worst at the drop of a hat and it was far better to look ever so slightly intimidating… not that Taylor's excessively green riot armor would be intimidating anyone unless they had a phobia of green and/or riot armor... than to accidentally overdose in the middle of a burning meth lab.
He would know, it had happened to him. Rime didn't stop laughing about it for a week.
And neither did Alexandria.
Nor did Eidolon.
They didn't stop laughing for a month when it happened a second time.
"Thanks Uncle Kenta!" Taylor chirped brightly, looking for all the world like a SWAT trooper with zero fashion sense, her voice just faintly muffled by the respirator, though not by much. "So what kinda tips do you have for being a hero?"
Kenta hummed low in his throat, a rumbling noise comparable to that of a lion or some guy named Frank yelling into a metal trash can. "I'm sure you already know the basics- don't kill, try to look good, be friendly, etc etc. Hmm… Preparation is key, as is a good support network. Some people can make it by just on street smarts and knowing how to use guerilla tactics, but they are few and far between."
"Oh, like that vigilante floating around…. Uh… what was her name again…?" Taylor twisted her face into a variety of comical expressions as she tried to remember. "Danger… Sneaker? Nightcrawler-"
"No that's a Marvel character and a trademarked name."
"Darn. Darth Stalker? No... Shadow Sneaker? That doesn't sound right... Darkness Raven Way? No that wasn't even close... Wait, no, got it! Shadow Stalker!"
"..." Kenta stared at Taylor for a moment. "... You've got to be kidding me."
"No I swear that's her real cape name!"
"... Christ, and I thought Grace choosing "Bakusatsujoo-sama" when she started was bad… and let's not even mention Mataro's "Death Shinobi" phase," Kenta groaned and facepalmed, shaking his head. "I'm still not happy that the ABB that your grandfather started is a criminal organisation now, by the way."
"..." Taylor frowned, fidgeting slightly. "Well… to be honest, neither am I. Hey wait, what does ABB even stand for?"
Kenta blinked, "It used to stand for the various gangs under the name 'Asian Bad Boyz' before Roku combined them all into the Awesome Bowling Brigade-"
"Wait grandpa turned a bunch of criminal gangs into a bowling team?" Taylor cut in, completely nonplussed. "What the heck?"
"It was called a bowling brigade, it wasn't actually a bowling brigade… for the most part," Kenta deadpanned, as fed up with the strange name as Taylor was already. "The real name- or at least the name he used most often- was the American Beasts Brigade-"
"Like the name of grandpa's old dojo?"
"Yes, like the name of the dojo. He taught his students how to become self reliant and how to defend themselves from street level non-powered criminals. Through sheer charisma he managed to do the same with the gangs and turned the criminal element into what essentially was a neighborhood watch," Kenta explained. "How your parents and Mataro managed to turn it into an East Coast Yakuza when it started as a West Coast self defense and neighborhood watch organization is beyond me."
"... Well… at least they don't try to beat people up for money?" Taylor shrugged awkwardly. "... Except for like… the ABB guys who say they're ABB but they're actually not part of the real ABB… what's up with those guys?"
"I suspect they want street cred but have no idea how the ABB actually works," Kenta deadpanned, sitting back in the Hebert family living room and frowning slightly when Danny's favorite armchair failed to provide him the same comforting sensations as his custom ordered La-Z-Boy couch at home. "But that's nothing worth discussing at this point. You know how to restrain yourself, correct?"
"Mhmm!" Taylor nodded, whirling around and punching a wall for demonstration, the action causing a loud crack of knuckles meeting drywall but ultimately no damage came to the thin plaster. "Tada! See? No damage!"
"Good," Kenta nodded opening his mouth to continue before a loud trumpeting interrupted him. "Ah, I need to take this."
Taylor pursed her lips and sat down, waiting patiently as Kenta picked up his phone and began speaking in rapid Japanese with the person on the other end.
Minutes passed until Kenta finally put his phone away and stood with a sigh.
"Apologies, Taylor. I need to go. The local Director finally got wind of my vacation and asked me to see her."
"Oh, okay," Taylor stood and gave Kenta a firm handshake as he headed for the door. "Thanks for coming again, Uncle Kenta! You're still coming for dinner tonight, right?"
"Of course, wouldn't miss it for the world," Kenta waved cheerily as he stepped out and hopped onto his motorcycle, continuing to wave until he drove off and a bright green flash emanated from his bike, leaving Kenta gone and the Green Heroranger in his place.
Taylor sighed and sat back on the couch, twiddling her thumbs for a bit before deciding to brush off the old DVD that Kenta had begged her and her father to destroy, sliding it into the player and snickering as the opening credits of the 2003 Super Sentai series Kaiju Sentai: Heroranger scrolled across the TV screen.
Uncle Kenta would be so angry if he found out she still had the DVD, but watching him perform as the comic relief bumbling big guy on an old children's show that she'd actually watched when she was younger was just too good to pass up.
The fact that both Mataro and Annette had been hired as the comic relief side character villains was just a plus.
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Feb 25, 2018
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Jsyrin
The CyberQueen
She/Her
Feb 27, 2018
#322
Hey, new chapter pretty quick, eh? Unfortunately, not much happens here.
Eh.
I'll get to the important stuff eventually.
SPRINGTIME 2.3
"Mask?" Danny asked idly, looking Taylor over as she prepared to go out and fight crime that night.
"Check." Taylor patted the respirator on her face, breathing through it with a rasp not unlike that of Darth Vader before flicking the switch to let her breath and talk normally.
"Zipties?"
"Check.
"Duct tape?"
"Check."
"Kunai and shuriken?"
"Double check."
"First aid scroll?"
"Check."
"Burner phone?"
"Check."
"Actual phone?"
"Check."
"Coupon book?"
"Che- hey wait why do I have a coupon book in here anyway?" Taylor asked, leafing through said coupon book before storing it away in one of her pockets.
"You never know when you need a discount," Grace spoke sagely from the door, having picked the lock and opened it without warning. "Besides, who doesn't need a coupon book?"
"Those rich jerks who make more money in a day doing nothing than most people earn by working hard for their entire lives, maybe?" Taylor snarked and rolled her eyes, then her shoulders, then her neck. "Right… I think that's everything. So… any tips on where to patrol?"
"The docks for the Merchants, the rough side of downtown for E88, Boardwalk if you wanna hang out with me n' Lee tonight. Rich side of downtown if you wanna go beat up a lawyer, I guess? Or if you can find Coil, he's probably over by that place. Stay clear of the PRT building though. Trying to find crime within a six mile radius of the place is like looking for water in the Sahara," Grace rattled off, twirling her keys around her finger until Mataro snatched them out of nowhere and walked back to her Jeep so he could listen to the radio while he waited. "There's probably gonna be low level crime all over, but yeah, that's the general idea."
"Cool. Thanks Grace! Have fun with Lee on your date!" Taylor whooped and ran off, disappearing in a rush of wind and leaving Grace red faced behind her.
"B-F-W- Date!?" Grace sputtered, staring off at where Taylor vanished. "I'm not dating Mataro!"
"... Grace I've literally caught you two in bed together," Danny deadpanned.
"..." Grace wordlessly slammed the door in Danny's face and left.
An hour later, and Taylor was beginning to feel a bit put out- not that she wanted there to be crime in Brockton Bay, but even in the roughest areas, there wasn't any crime that she saw. Was tonight just an off night or was it actually just that hard to find criminals?
"Low level crime all over my ass," Taylor muttered, standing atop the highest building she could reach- the Medhall Tower in the middle of downtown- and brooding much like Batman always did. Sure, she didn't have the right colors for it, but pretending to be Batman was always more fun than not. "Haven't seen so much as a jaywalker…"
"Because the you haven't been looking in the right places, dumbass," a familiar voice called out from behind her, surprising Taylor to the point that she flicked a dull kunai towards the voice while spinning around.
"Ow! What the fuck was that for!?"
"... Oh, it's you." Taylor deadpanned, not really much caring as Shadow Stalker rubbed her shoulder and picked up the kunai. "I'm gonna need that back by the way."
"What, a crappy prop kunai?"
"No, a gift from my uncle," Taylor rolled her eyes and snatched the kunai away, spinning it by the loop and sliding it back into its proper pouch. "Now what do you want, Sophia?"
"Shadow Stalker while I'm in costume, stupid," Sophia grunted as she stepped up beside Taylor and looked out over the city like some kind of discount Batman. "And to answer your question, I want to go punch criminals in the face until they're too fuckin' scared to even think about committing another crime."
"Uh huh. Good plan, Shadow the Edgehog," Taylor pulled Sophia back from the edge and took her place, sticking to the concrete with her chakra. "You going in solo or do you actually have friends?"
Sophia grunted and crossed her arms. "Fuck you, weirdo."
"... How are you not dead in a ditch by now?" Taylor stared at Sophia in confused wonder, her brow furrowed slightly as she flipped up the faceplate of her helmet. "You're nowhere near muscled enough to have proper martial arts training…"
"I have powers, dumbass," Sophia growled as she phased in and out for emphasis. "I'm intangible like that. And I have a crossbow."
"... Yeah but how have you not gotten shot yet?"
"What, you think the idiots I fuck up are actually smart enough to shoot me while I'm kicking their asses?"
"... You have a point there, but there's also a thing called shit luck."
"... I fight street level criminals in alleyways in the middle of the night."
"..." Taylor mulled it over in her head and shrugged. "Okay, that explains it. Hey, so what's up with that edgy predator/prey stuff you tried to get Emma into?"
Sophia rolled her eyes behind her mask and snorted derisively. "It is what it is. In this world you're either predator or prey, strong or weak, survivors or dead. I'm strong, you're strong, your friend has the potential to be strong. The strong need to stick together to survive, cut out any weakness. How hard is that to understand?"
"The fact that so many consumer products are made to help anyone with just about any disability proves your point pretty dead wrong," Taylor deadpanned. "And so does human history. Doctors wouldn't be a thing if people just abandoned others at the first sign of 'weakness'."
Sophia threw her hands up. "I'm not talking about physical weakness you idiot! Everyone gets sick! It's mental strength! Mental weakness!"
"... That's still bullshit, but whatever. Anyway, I'm going back to doing something productive. You…. I guess you can keep brooding like the edgy Batman knockoff you are," Taylor shrugged and casually slid down the side of the tower, gaining momentum until she was able to springboard across the roofs, leaving Sophia behind and sputtering with pure indignation.
"That… fucking green idiot! Who the hell does she think she is questioning me like that!? Fucking christ!"
Taylor rolled her eyes as the sound of Sophia ranting carried on until she was well and truly out of earshot some two blocks later.
"Feh. What a weirdo."
334
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Feb 27, 2018
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The CyberQueen
She/Her
Mar 9, 2018
#369
It's not really "action" action, but it's some important stuff. Sorry for taking a while on this.
SPRINGTIME 2.4
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Taylor shouted, flying in from the rooftops to plant both feet into a hapless mugger's chest, sending the poor man flying back into a dumpster with a loud clang of distorted metal. "Oh shit!"
Heedless of the terrified and horribly confused victim off to the side, she rushed over to the the crumpled form of the mugger and checked his vitals. "Oh god oh crap oh dear Buddha, God, Jesus, Ra, Zeus, Odin, Kamen Rider, Tommy Oliver and Akaranger please let this guy be okay!"
Patting him down, Taylor continued to frantically check until she whipped out her phone and all but screamed into the receiver as it connected. "Amy I fucked up!"
"... You didn't break your everything again, did you?" came the tired deadpan from the other end.
"No I think I almost killed a mugger!" Taylor continued to panic, frantically tapping her leg and gritting her teeth. "I need you to get over here right now!"
A moment of silence.
"Taylor I don't even know where you are let alone how to get to you."
"Fuck! Okay hang on I'll be there in a few seconds you're at the hospital right!?" mind running at miles a second at this point, Taylor picked up the unconscious man, supporting his most likely shattered spine and skull as she ran towards Brockton Bay General.
Leaving behind a very confused, somewhat concerned Madison Clements to pick herself up off the alley floor and head home.
"... PHO is gonna freak when they hear about this…" she muttered to herself, already tapping out details on her phone.
"You know, I'm probably going to have to tell dad and… everyone else about this," Amy muttered as she healed the mugger's injuries from 'seriously life threatening' to 'probably not going to do anything strenuous for a few weeks'. "Especially since, of all things, you actually called the cops to the hospital."
"Was I not supposed to?" Taylor asked, relieving the stress of almost having killed someone by doing vertical pushups. "I mean, it was interrupting a crime in progress and…"
"No! No, it's just uh… how do I put this…." the gothy, black robed healer fumbled with her words for a few moments. "Well… most independent heroes kinda… forget to do that. So… good job for being responsible, I guess?"
"Well, mom did always teach me to make sure all my bases were covered," Taylor remarked, hopping back to her feet to give Amy a hug. "Thanks for the help. I'm gonna head out again, but call me if the police want a statement!"
"Wait you dumbass!" Amy snapped, batting Taylor upside the head. "Goddamn, can't you sit still for like five minutes?"
"... No not really?" Taylor looked away. "Sitting still is boring. It's unproductive and the only time I really do it is if I'm meditating or studying really hard."
"... As dumb a bundle of bricks and muscle as ever," Amy sighed and sat back down. "First: Have you considered joining any teams?"
"Well… not really?" Taylor leaned against the wall, then decided to start pacing. "I mean, Dad probably wants me to join the Wards because then I get an actual paycheck for heroing and stuff, but we're well off enough that it doesn't super matter? I mean I also kinda wanna join New Wave with you and Vicky and everyone else, but uhhh…."
Amy raised an eyebrow, pointedly staring at Taylor. "If what you're about to say involves anything about color scheme, I'm going to break my hand on your face."
"... Well you don't seem to have outfits in any colors but black and white is all…"
"..." Amy sighed and pinched her brow, "I hope you realize that just because the Dallons and Pelhams dress in mostly white and me and my dad dress in black doesn't mean that we actually have a unified color scheme beyond the actual New Wave logo somewhere on our outfits."
"Wait you don't? How come I never see anyone wearing anything but black and white then?"
"... Taylor the only part of New Wave you've seen is the Brockton Bay chapter, and not even all of it either."
"No I'm pretty sure I've met everyone at some point," Taylor shook her head and started counting on her hands. "There's the Dallons and Pelhams, who all wear a bunch of white. Fleur and Lightstar still wear a lot of white too… you and your dad always wear a bunch of black… even if his armor is white…. Uhh… the Weather Girls all wear black and white too… lot of blue, though… And they moved like a month ago."
Amy frowned and crossed her arms. "Okay fine, you've met everyone. Still, you can join New Wave and not change your outfit colors."
"... I didn't know that."
"Taylor has anyone told you that you're a complete doofus sometimes?"
"Just about everyone I know, actually… even Uncle Kenta… And Vicky- hey how are you two doing by the way?"
"Fine, I guess. She keeps whining that we don't go out enough but we never do anything together but cuddle on the couch even when I ask her so…" Amy shrugged and smiled, fondly thinking of her girlfriend.
"That's so cute!" Taylor giggled into her hand. "Well… is that everything?"
"... I guess yeah. Just uh…. Stay safe I guess? I don't want to have to heal you because you got shot doing something stupid," Amy waved Taylor off, pushing away the tiny muttering in her mind that Taylor was either going to die or do something incredibly stupid.
"Mr. Lavere."
"Taylor."
"I guess it's White Knight right now, huh?"
"Indeed it is… have you chosen a hero name yet, Taylor?" Antoine Lavere, the White Knight of New Wave, asked, idly polishing the bone sword that made him so fearsome to Brockton Bay's criminal element. "I imagine you'd like to take after your mother in that regard. My condolences, by the way."
"It's okay," Taylor shook her head, fighting down the pang of sadness. "She died a hero… and… Well, I can't take the name Blue Beast since my outfit is green, can I?"
"Perhaps Green Beast, then?" White Knight grinned as his helmet retracted so his face was visible. "Quite fitting, I'd think."
"Yeah, I was thinking that too!" Taylor bounced on her toes and looked around. "So uh… what are you doing in this alley, sir?"
"Patrolling, obviously," Antoine chuckled and patted Taylor's helmet, suddenly growing serious. "Tonight was not a good night for you to make your debut, Green Beast."
"Why not? Is it because school starts tomorrow? I can go home and get some sleep if it's that big a deal," Taylor tilted her head and tapped her foot.
"Well… yes, that, but also, there's been some rather worrying activity from the Teeth in the city."
"Oh… that's not good," Taylor shivered. "Didn't you fight the Butcher off once?"
"Yes, but the Butcher has since gained more powers and I'd rather not tangle with her now as it is… that was over ten years ago after all… And not only that, the Fallen have been making moves as well."
"What about the Empire?"
"About usual, actually, though some of my associates in the less than legal circles have notified me that Gesellschaft is making overtures at sending in more capes."
"That sounds bad… Iron Rain and Kaiser are bad enough already…" Taylor shivered and shook her head. "Well, thanks for the heads up, Mr. Lavere! By the way, Amy texted me earlier and said something about if I saw you I should tell you um… hang on…"
After pulling her phone from her pocket, Taylor read Amy's text aloud.
"Taylor. If you see my dad, tell him to pick up something from Blockbuster before it closes. Also get food. Fridge is empty."
"... She couldn't have just texted me?" Antoine wondered, scratching his chin idly.
"She also said you left your phone on the coffee table," Taylor noted.
"... Drat. I knew I forgot something."
"It happens," Taylor shrugged. "Seeya later Mr. Lavere!"
"Of course, any time!"
Last edited: Mar 9, 2018
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Mar 9, 2018
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The CyberQueen
She/Her
May 29, 2018
#423
And here we are, the continuation of the Beautiful Green Beast of Brockton Bay!
It's almost nostalgic coming back to this...
SPRINGTIME 2.5
The Teeth, huh?
Taylor sighed as she slipped into bed after a thoroughly unproductive patrol. So what if the Teeth were trying to push into Brockton Bay? New Wave and the Protectorate were definitely enough to stop them- and even if they weren't, Uncle Lee and Grace would probably be able to stop them, especially if Uncle Kenta showed up too.
Still, though…
The Butcher.
That name was enough to make Taylor shudder involuntarily. Beating up the Butcher probably wouldn't be too hard for most Capes, but the fact that killing the Butcher would lead to the killer becoming the new Butcher?
Nuh uh, no way.
Her dad would never let her go out and fight Butcher, especially if she lost control and actually did end up accidentally killing the villain.
Taylor shuddered again, this time squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to block out the disgusting crunch of the mugger's spine against the dumpster.
Control.
Control.
Breathe.
In. Out.
"I need to work on my control," Taylor whispered to herself as she fell asleep, dreaming fitfully of sprays of blood, of broken bones, of justice and horror in equal turns, of pain and heroics and death.
She did not wake happily the next day.
"Remind me again why you had us bring all this crap?" Grace asked irritably as she set up yet another far too fragile target in the Boat Graveyard, crossing her arms once finished.
"I told you, I almost made a mistake I couldn't fix on my first night out, and now I need to work on controlling my strength until I make sure I never do it ever again," Taylor answered, decked out in her full hero outfit with even more weight than usual, having swapped out her usual weight bands for an even heavier set.
"Uh huh… and you couldn't just… not hit people?" Grace raised an eyebrow, looking over at Mataro. "Y'know, like you did in that alleyway with those goons that definitely had more guns than brains?"
"I could, but that would still leave me at risk of hurting someone if I actually did hit them, especially once I get excited," Taylor sighed and threw herself among the targets, working through them as she slowly trained her muscles to use less force, to hit softer and just barely crack the fragile glass targets shaped like human torsos.
"And so your solution is to learn how to control your muscles to be delicate and precise with glass targets. Inventive," Mataro said as he raised an eyebrow, having forgone his usual gear in favor of blending in with the local populace… or as much as one could when one had dragon tattoos all over one's arms and torso while also wearing a t-shirt that covered none but the torso tattoos. The glasses helped, but the fact that his shirt was an Oni Lee logo t-shirt produced solely by the ABB completely ruined any kind of disguise that he may have had going for him.
"Expensive as fuck, though," Grace snorted, wincing as Taylor smashed several targets. "Christ, getting glass is hard enough but hollow torso shaped glass? You're goddamn lucky I can do all sorts of weird shit with my bombs."
Taylor paid them no heed as they conversed, focusing on the targets before her, forcing herself to attack at full speed yet hit with only a fraction of what it would take to crack the targets, throwing herself fully into the makeshift course as she weaved through stationary targets, bobbing and ducking, striking at targets on rope swings and spinning turntables, creating a blur of green motion that flew through the Boat Graveyard like a whirlwind until she came down upon the final target with an overhead axe kick and a cry of "LEAF DROP!"
"Huh, she actually managed to not break all of them," Grace muttered, watching as Taylor gently tapped the glass torso with her heel, with just enough force to drive a hairline crack through the thin walled material. "I'm… honestly impressed."
"As am I," Mataro nodded, motioning for Grace to clean up. "Taylor! It is lunchtime!"
"Aye aye Uncle Lee!" Taylor called back, waving eagerly before looking up and gasping, pointing with a loud whoop of excitement. "Hey! Hey! It's Amy and her girlfriend! Over here! Amy! Vicky!"
"... Aww crap," Grace groaned, echoed quietly by Mataro.
"Taylor? What the hell are you doing here?" Victoria asked as she came in for a landing, Amy held securely in a bridal carry. "And… what's with the goofy getup?"
"It's a uniform, Vicky," Taylor huffed indignantly, crossing her arms and looking away. "And at least I'm not flying around flashing my underwear at anyone who looks up."
"Hey! I wear shorts under this skirt!" Victoria shot back, causing Amy to roll her eyes.
"Ladies, ladies, you're both very pretty. Now can I actually stand or are you going to carry me for the rest of the day, Vicky?" she snarked, climbing out of Victoria's arms on her own and thwacking Taylor over the helmet.
"Hey! What was that for!?" Taylor yelped, rubbing her helmet out of reflex.
"Somehow I get the feeling you're going to do something really stupid, and like always I'm going to have to find a way to stop you from killing yourself," Amy grumbled, holding her hand and wincing as she shook away the pain.
"I wasn't!" Taylor whined, pouting at Amy, though the effect was lost due to the gasmask taking up most of her face. "I was just practicing my muscle control so I don't break people when I punch them!"
"... Couldn't you just… not punch them?" Victoria asked, raising a finger before pausing and really thinking over what she just said while both Taylor and Amy gave her a deadpan stare. "... Okay, I'm not in a position to say that but still."
"Well, aside from my girlfriend's hypocrisy, she does have a point. Couldn't you just not hit people? I know you can make shockwaves strong enough to knock most people out," Amy pointed out, idly prodding Taylor's steel hard bicep with a finger. "I've seen you do it. To Vicky no less."
"That was still a bullshit move and you know it," Vicky muttered haughtily, deliberately not looking at either of them.
"I mean… I guess. But what happens if I miss? Or if I get too excited? Or if I get angry?" Taylor shook her head. "One mistake was enough. And if I can help it, I'm never making that mistake again."
"... Well, alright. If you say so," Amy shrugged and patted Taylor's shoulder. "Anyway, me and Vicky were heading over to Fugly Bob's for lunch. You wanna come with?"
"Huh, oh no I already had lunch plans with Uncle Lee and Gra-... Hey wait where'd they go?" Taylor looked around awkwardly, noting the conspicuous lack of teleporter or bomber. "... Nevermind, I guess I'll go with you guys."
"Sweet! You think you can take on the Challenger?"
"I… uh… got banned from that."
"... How!?" Amy and Vicky chorused as one.
"... I ate three of them in five minutes."
"... Jesus Christ."
"Taylor what the fuck."
"Yeah, Dad said that too…"
Finally got this out. Bleh.
WILD 3.1
"So…" Taylor looked around at the scene before her, thoroughly unimpressed. "You guys are out here… beating up on defenseless people… for what? Well, I guess it doesn't really matter."
Quietly clenching her hand around the fist she had caught, she "gently" crushed the Nazi's hand until he begged her to let go, completely heedless of the guns that every single one of the ten Nazi scumbags had. "I suggest you all go home and rethink your lives because maybe I was feeling bad about crippling and nearly killing a guy a few nights ago but you guys… I don't think I'd even think twice."
She really hoped they didn't call her bluff.
"F-fuck you!" the man off to the side shouted, pulling out a revolver and- dropping it with a yelp of pain as it all but exploded in his hand, the silent whizz of a shuriken cutting through the metal and embedding in the wall behind him.
"Anyone else think that they can draw faster than me?" Taylor asked, completely fed up with these assholes as she idly flicked the forehead of the man whose hand she (almost) broke, knocking him out instantly.
"Shit, she killed Brandon!"
"Fucking kill her!"
"Die you fuckin' bitch!"
Taylor sighed again, arms blurring out and incapacitating the other three men, destroying their guns before her body blurred around the alleyway, knocking them out one after the other with barely more effort than it took for her to actually move between them. "Fucking Nazis… can't believe they'd just beat someone up in an alleyway like this… hey, are you alright, sir? Do you need to go to a hospital?"
"Nah, I'm alright," the man on the ground muttered, slowly pushing himself up as- oh no- blades began sprouting from his skin, his (blackface covered) face now obscured by a horrific mask of metal that barely resembled a wolf. "But you're not gonna be."
"... Ohhhh crap," Taylor mumbled, taking a step back as Hookwolf began to transform in earnest, creating the ever so familiar shape of a bladed wolf monstrosity that towered over her and scraped against the alley walls with a loud screech. "I can't believe I fell for that trap…"
"Well put it this way," Hookwolf chuckled darkly as he began to advance, his body rippling with every word, "You'll never fall for another trap ever again when I'm through with you!"
He roared as he charged, screeching blades whirling against each other as Taylor dodged the initial tackle with a high pitched yelp, her chakra surging around her in a blue haze of power as she hardened her skin. "Thanks for the vote of confidence!" she taunted back, easily avoiding his slow, slow attacks with such contemptuous ease that it was almost- okay it was entirely unfair. "But I bet you didn't mean it like this!"
Finally getting tired of the games and the property damage that was beginning to accumulate, Taylor swiftly released her seals and dropped her weight bands, blurring into motion with a thunderous kick that sent Hookwolf flying into the air, the impact resonating in the alleyway and creating a sound like an explosion.
"Hey Hookwolf!" Taylor sang as she leapt up after the spinning, screaming blade-wolf-blender-thing, the bandages hidden under her sleeves uncoiling and spinning around Hookwolf's body. Despite how he struggled, the bandages held fast, their chakra infused nature preventing them from being cut no matter how hard Hookwolf sliced.
"INITIAL!"
Taylor grabbed ahold of the mummy that was Hookwolf and began spinning, relishing in the feeling of her muscles straining to move such a large target to speed. Slowly, but with increasing acceleration, Hookwolf and Taylor began to twist about with such speed that it was akin to a tornado rushing towards the ground with a sound not unlike a high speed blender blade cutting through the air. Just before impact, Taylor disengaged and hopped upwards, slowing her descent and allowing her to watch as Hookwolf slammed into the ground at a good portion of mach speed.
"LOOOOOTUUUUUUUUSSSS!!!!!"
And the night was filled with the thunderous impact of Hookwolf's defeat, the alleyway exploding into dust and broken blades as Taylor leapt off of Hookwolf's unconscious body and out of the alley.
"And that's basically what happened," Taylor- or rather, Green Beast- spoke, idly hopping on her toes as she explained the situation to Armsmaster, who was much less of a jerk than Grace always said he was.
"I see…." Armsmaster muttered, watching as the PRT troopers shoved Hookwolf's unconscious, thoroughly foamed body into the back of a van. "Well, a commendable job you did, miss Beast. Though you have, however, caused a slightly concerning amount of property damage considering the crater in the alleyway and the gouges torn from the walls."
"Ah… shoot," Green Beast sighed, slumping over. "I'll be more careful next time, I promise!"
"See to it that you are. That said, would you be interested in joining the Wards program?"
"Huh? Me? Oh, uh… sorry but um…" Green Beast shuffled in place, idly gripping her right elbow with her left arm. "I'm already signing on with New Wave. Panacea and White Knight are family friends… so…"
"I see. Well, since New Wave works closely with the Protectorate, you may come in at any point for confidential power testing or general examination regarding your powers," Armsmaster noted, handing Taylor a business card. "I look forward to working with you." Without another word, Armsmaster saddled his bike and tore off down the street, presumably to go fight more crime somewhere else.
"Wow…." Taylor murmured, looking down at the business card and putting it away with the rest of her saved up cards- one from Miss Militia, Assault and Battery, Velocity, Dauntless, even one from Amy's dad, as redundant as it was- she literally had him listed as one of her emergency contacts after all. She didn't mind, it was like collecting autographs but way more useful. "He's much less awful than Uncle Lee and Grace say he is…"