Blaze a New Path

Dis Lexic · Jan 17, 2024

Blaze a New Path

Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.

So this is similar to Wish upon a Crystal Star, only instead of Genshin, its Star Rail. Same basic premise, only now Taylor is absolutely channelling the Trailblazer. Should be fun. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Taylor Hebert slumped against the metal wall of her prison, curling up in a vain attempt to keep some heat in. She had been locked in one of the dumpsters behind Winslow since shortly after the end of school after Sophia apparently took umbrage with her dodging…whatever prank the Trio had planned with that mess in Taylors locker. At first, her predicament wasn't that bad, she was locked in the paper dumpster rather than the canteen dumpster after all, but that had quickly changed as the temperature began to fall. Now, Taylor was starting to feel numb and, although she couldn't see it, her fingers were starting to turn blue.

To make matters worse, she was starting to feel warm, something that her sluggish mind realised meant that she was on the verge of hypothermia. It had to be getting dark now and no one had found her. No doubt her Father had reported her missing, but the chances of anyone looking for her was pretty much nil. She was going to die here, freezing to death in a bin behind her school, lost, forgotten and unmourned by everyone. What a truly pathetic way to go.

Some part of Taylor was happy to finally be done with it all, to no longer have to suffer, but another part of her was absolutely not willing to give up. She didn't want to leave her Dad alone, losing her would utterly destroy him after all, she didn't want to just die and let the Bitches Three win, but more than anything else, she just didn't want to end it all here.

While two years worth of bullying had worn her down to the degree that she was basically a shell of what she once was, her current close proximity to death served to reignite a spark of her old fire. She wanted to do so much more, to see more than just the rotting corpse of a city and she certainly didn't just want to die in such a state where the only person who would cry for her was her Father!

With that in mind, Taylor forced herself to move, pushing forward and slamming her entire body against the side of the dumpster. Nothing happened, but she kept going, pushing past the cold numbness and pain to keep trying.

Unfortunately, as shitty as Winslow was, their dumpsters weren't in quite as bad shape as to allow a teenage girl to break through the side of one and the surge of desperate strength soon abandoned Taylor, leaving her to slump against the side of the dumpster once more, now completely spent and feeling even more helpless than before.

"Please," she whispered through cracked lips, not sure who she was directing the prayer towards, "I just want to live…"

With that thought, the cold darkness claimed her.

Twin stars spiralling through space, shining sparks zipping between them. One of the sparks comes free and falls towards Taylor, carrying with it a sense of warmth, curiosity and a burning heart. For a brief moment, the spark resolves into the front of a train before…

Taylor awoke as the sound of metal scraping filled the dumpster. A moment later, the lid was pulled away and an arm reached inside, grabbing her by the back of her shirt and pulling her out. A moment later, she found herself resting against the dumpster as a rough hand took hold her her chin and forced her to look up. Her vision was blurry, both from fatigue and the loss of her glasses at some point, but she could vaguely make out something red and black hanging over her.

"Hnn, she'll live," said a voice.

Her rescuer let her go and disappeared, to be replaced by a white and black blur, which draped something warm over her body.

"Are you sure this is the right one?" asked a young sounding voice from somewhere above her, "She doesn't look like much."

"Maybe not, but since when has looks told us anything?" asked a more mature female voice, "Regardless, he said we need her, so we shall save her. Have you called an ambulance?"

"Already done," said the young voice, "Are we going to stick around?"

"No, we have more work to do," said the second woman, her blurry form moving away as she stood, "Come on, she'll be alright now."

If anything else was said, Taylor missed it as the darkness claimed her again.

Much later, she wasn't entirely sure if she'd dreamt the whole thing as the only proof was the black and gold jacket that the paramedics had found her shivering under.

Taylor sighed as she turned off the shower and started stripping out of her clothes. She still felt sticky, but she knew from experience that the feeling was in her head. This wasn't the first time she'd got splattered with juice and it likely wouldn't be the last, despite the promises of Blackwell three months ago.

Taylor quickly finished towelling off, then jogged over to her room and promptly face planted onto the bed, drifting off almost before she hit her pillow.

Then, she reopened her eyes and grinned as she found herself looking up at the roof of a train carriage. She sat up and looked around. The train car was luxurious, with shiny grey, black and red marble floors and gleaming, dark metal walls. The seat she was sitting on was a curved sofa, bound in pale red leather with an identical one across the way and a number of small tables and chairs were scattered around the room. Large windows looked out onto a truly breathtaking view of constantly flowing stars and the car was lit up by small, golden lamps and a massive, holographic image of what appeared to be a fish skeleton.

She wasn't entirely sure why she could come here in her sleep, but she'd been able to ever since the Locker incident at the start of the year. She did consider that it could be a power, but being able to visit a magic space train in your sleep didn't really seem like a very useful power. That said, it did come with some perks…

"Taylor, your back!"

Taylor turned at the voice, just in time to get tackled hugged by an excitable, pink haired girl in blue and white. Well used to the girls enthusiasm by this point, Taylor just returned the hug, what little tension from her day putting up with her bullies remaining simply melting away.

"Hey March," she said.

March 7th pulled back from the hug and looked at Taylor with a frown on her face.

"Whats wrong?" she asked, "You look down."

"Its nothing, I'm fine," said Taylor.

March frowned, then seized Taylor by the hands and dragged her out of the lounge car and into the equally lavish buffet car. A few moments later, Taylor found herself with an armful of ice cream and being dragged in the opposite direction to March's room, where she was promptly shoved down onto a beanbag and handed a spoon.

"March, what the hell!?" spluttered Taylor, more than a little taken aback.

"Taylor, we've known each other for long enough now that I can tell when your hiding something," said March, "Now, we are going to eat this ice cream and you are going to tell me whats bothering you. I might not be able to help personally, but just talking about things can help to put them into perspective. Now talk!"

Taylor sighed and dug her spoon into the ice cream.

"Nothings changed," she said, "Its been three months and we're back to business as usual. I nearly died and the school has done NOTHING!"

With the last word, she wrenched a chunk of ice cream out of the tub and shoved it into her mouth.

"And on top of that, Dad is around even less than he was before! I get that he has a new job now and I'm glad hes doing better after what happened at the old Union building, but at least I saw him on occasion then. Now I barely even see him first thing and hes always getting called in!"

She continued to rant as she worked her way through the ice cream with March listening dutifully all the while. Finally, Taylor began to wind down and slumped back into the beanbag, letting March wrap her in a hug.

"Come on Tay, its not all bad," said March, "You've got us, right?"

Taylor gave a slightly strangled laugh.

"Oh sure, dream friends that I'm still not 100% sure are real?" she said, "No offence March, but theres a limit to what you guys can do."

She sighed as she felt her eyelids begin to droop.

"I just wish…I could meet someone like you outside…" she mumbled as she drifted off in March's arms.

Taylors eyes opened again, now looking up at the old, faded Alexandria poster she had pinned to her ceiling and sighed. As usual, the moment she fell asleep, she found herself back in this shitty world, despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to stay on the Astral Express. She went to sit up, intending to go and find some food, only to find her attempt stymied by an arm around her side.

With a yelp of shock, she shot up and dove across the room, shoving the arm aside and snatching up a baseball bat that was leaning against the wall, turning to face the intruder, only to freeze in utter shock as her unexpected bedmate sat up, her pink hair looking rather dishevelled.

"Hnn, Tay? Whats wrong?" asked March 7th.

"M-March?" stuttered Taylor, "But…how did…"

March blinked, apparently removing the last of the sleep induced fuzz from her mind and looked around. There was a moments pause as she took in Taylors room, before she met Taylors eyes again, a grin crossing her face.

Right, this is shorter than I'm happy with, but honestly, the next bit works best with a new Chapter, so I'll end it here.

Incase its not obvious, I changed Taylors Trigger Event for the memes. Shes the Trailblazer, so she gets to spend the start of her journey in a bin.

Hmmm, I wonder who got her out of the dumpster. As if you can't guess! Still, that does have some rather…interesting implications, no? Should be fun.

To be clear, the jacket Taylor got is the one Stella wears. I suck at trying to describe that, so I'm not going to even try.

Just March being March. I fully intend to have Taylor get a lot more friends before the end of this.

Taylors power is fairly simple. When she goes to sleep, she wakes up on the Astral Express. Whether thats the real Express or a construct of one is up for debate, but it acts as a conduit that allows her to summon anyone whos ever been in contact with the Nameless. In theory, that means she could summon anyone you can interact with in the game, in practice its the Gatcha cast. I'm going to start with just the members of the Express though.

Danny has a new job. I'm sure thats not going to tie into anything at all!

With regards to nothing much getting done, well, Taylors actually even more shit out of luck than normal here. Her attack happened outside of school (barely), outside of school hours and genuinely has no witnesses, so there was even less reason for Blackwell to give a shit. Fortunately, she was in hospital for less time.

And with that, I'm going to wrap this up. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!

Dis Lexic · Jan 17, 2024

Blaze a New Path

Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.

Well, this got a better response than I was honestly expected. Lets see if we can do more with this entry. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," said Taylor as she and March left Fugly Bobs Burgers, her friend looking incredibly pleased with herself and the oversized T Shirt she had draped over her arm, "Or that you managed to finish that entire Challenger."

March snickered as she tucked her prize away…somewhere.

"There are a lot of benefits that come with the Path of the Trailblaze," she said, "Being able to eat basically anything and not suffer negative effects is one of them."

Taylor blinked.

"Wait, so you used the blessing of a god to…win an eating contest?" she asked incredulously.

"Yep," said March, "Now come on, theres more to see!"

She grabbed Taylors hand and dragged her further down the Boardwalk, stopping at the railing at the seafront where you could get an amazing view of the Rig framed by the entrance of the bay. March eyed the sight for a moment, then pulled out her camera and took a picture.

"Why are you so interested in seeing everything?" asked Taylor, "Surely you've seen more impressive places?"

"Sure, but that doesn't make this place any less important," said March, "Every world has new sights to see, new memories to make. Thats what it means to be a Trailblazer."

She turned to Taylor and grinned.

"Besides, this world does have one thing that none of the others I've been to has," she said.

"Whats that?" asked Taylor.

March's grin widened and she pointed over Taylors shoulder.

"Superheroes!"

Taylor turned to see Glory Girl with Panacea in her arms fly over the Boardwalk and disappear.

"You've never been to a world with heroes?" asked Taylor as the two of them started moving again.

"Not like this," said March, "I've met heroes of course and powers are downright common, but the masks and secret identity thing? Nah, thats more like something out of one of Mr Yangs cartoons!"

Taylor snorted.

"Unfortunately, real life isn't much like a cartoon," she muttered.

From their, the conversation turned to more cheerful things as the two girls headed towards the Downtown area of the city. While the Boardwalk was set up for the rich and stupid, Downtown was much more reasonable and had a lot of interesting things to see. They spent some time wandering around, with March taking pictures of the historic buildings and statues and Taylor passing on what she knew about local history, mostly learnt from her Father and late Grandfather.

Eventually, the two of them found themselves in a hole in the wall cafe, enjoying a drink and snack as March went back over the pictures she'd taken with a satisfied look on her face.

"This has been a lot of fun Taylor!" she said, "We should bring Dan Heng or Mr Welt next time we come out."

Taylor frowned.

"Would that even be possible?" she asked.

"I don't see why not," said March, "You brought me out, didn't you?"

"I don't even know how I did that," muttered Taylor, looking down and stirring her drink.

March looked up and frowned at the look on her friend's face. She put her camara down and reached across the table, taking Taylors hands in hers.

"What's wrong Taylor?" she asked, "Didn't you have fun today?"

Taylor sighed and shook her head.

"No March, its not that, its…"

She trailed off, her gaze shifting of her friend to the window behind her as she tried to figure out how to tell her friend what was bothering her without sounding like a total bitch. It was pretty obvious at this point that Taylor did, in fact, have powers. Summoning friends from a space train made that rather obvious. She wasn't about to start questioning whether or not the Nameless were actually real or not, they were all far, FAR to animated for them to not be at least based on real people, not to mention the many utterly bonkers stories they'd told Taylor, but as a power it wasn't…exactly the best.

Masters were, after all, one of the most feared and reviled power types around for fairly understandable reasons. Even those who created projections or controlled animals were viewed with a certain level of distrust, which meant that they were severely underrepresented in the Protectorate. Even Game Master, the newest member of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, had been viewed with a level of distrust before the aggressive PR campaign that culminated in a Protectorate wide DND live stream led by the new Master had done away with that. And he just had the ability to turn models into animated minions.

Her power on the other hand would set off every alarm bell the Protectorate had.

Even if she could prove that her 'projections' were…well, projections and that she didn't actually have any control over them, there was no way that she'd ever be left alone.

Plus, her powers made the idea of being a Cape basically impossible.

So yeah, how was she supposed to tell March, one of said projections and her best friend (and wasn't that more than a little sad), all of that without coming off as a massive bitch?

Just as she was starting to get her thoughts together, her idly wondering gaze landed on a woman with purple hair on the other side of the street. As if sensing Taylors gaze, the woman paused and looked over, meeting Taylors gaze dead on. Taylor froze as the woman smirked, winked and pressed a finger to her lips, before turning with a flick of the jacket she was wearing over her shoulders, revealing the black spider like pattern on the back. The same pattern that had been on a business card Taylor had found in the pocket of the jacket she'd been found under after she'd been saved from the dumpster.

Without thinking, Taylor jumped to her feet, ignoring March's startled yelp, and sprinted out of the cafe after the woman, a confused March on her heels.

In the far corner of the cafe, a newspaper dropped, revealing a young blonde woman who looked decidedly confused and not a little bit like she'd just seen a ghost. When the two new girls had entered the cafe, Lisa Wilborne hadn't thought much of it, just another couple of College girls looking for their caffeine fix.

That was until she had idly turned her power on them and nearly ruined the upholstery of her favourite armchair.

Instead of the standard response from her power, probably something about repressed sexual fantasies or possibly a hint about the girls proclivities involving questionable chemicals, Lisa's power had instead briefly hiccupped, before throwing back something she had never seen before.

A girl who once slumbered in eternal ice and knows nothing about her past. To find out the truth about her origins, she decided to travel with the Astral Express. As of right now, she has prepared about 67 different versions of her life story for herself.

She had no idea what any of that meant, but it was pretty fucking clear that that girl was no ordinary collage student and some kind of Cape, although she had never got a result like THAT from a Cape before either. The fact that her power had seemingly gone right back to normal afterwards was even more confusing, even overshadowing the fact that the girl was apparently really as nice as she appeared.

Confused and curious, Lisa turned her power on the other girl and got…

A girl who boarded the Astral Express. She seeks others to fill the hole in her heart and bears the touch of the Trailblaze.

More nonsense, followed by some perfectly normal results that, under other circumstances, would probably have hit every one of Lisa's heartstrings and had her approach the taller girl herself, but her confusion and trepidation at the unexpected and unexplained power interaction held her back. Instead, she stayed put and just watched the two, gathering what intel she could.

Plus, this would help later when Coil inevitably pointed her at the new Capes in town.

Now, as the two ran out of the cafe, Lisa got to her feet, folded her newspaper and tucked it into her bag, and left after them, making sure to stay well back as the two of them sprinted across the road and down another street.

However, before she could follow the two of them, an arm shot out of an alley and grabbed her, yanking her into the shadows. A gloved hand clapped over her mouth before she could scream and a sultry voice sounded in her ear, heavy with power.

"Ah, none of that now," the voice purred, "Don't scream."

Lisa felt her tongue freeze and her stomach dropped. Shit, a new Master was in town? This was bad!

"Good girl," said the voice, "Don't worry though, I have no intention of turning you into my puppet, I just need a quiet word with you."

Lisa swallowed as she tried to aim her power at the person behind her to get some idea of how to get out of this situation.

"I don't have any money," she said, "And I…"

She was cut off as her power responded and provided its answer.

A member of the Stellaron Hunters. A dashing, collected, and professional beauty. Used the enchantment of Spirit Whisper to set up Trailblazer to absorb the Stellaron. Her hobby is shopping for and organizing her collection of coats.

Oh hell, not another one!

"Yes, I'm sure," said the woman, "Fortunately, I'm not interested in money. No, I need you to carry a little tale to that slippery boss of yours."

Lisa's stomach dropped even further, if that was even possible. That was really, REALLY bad! For someone to do something like this, it meant that they cared even less about the Unwritten Rules that Coil did. At least he put up a front that he gave a shit! This woman had grabbed her out of costume! There weren't many people who would do that and all of them were either insanely powerful, completely insane or both. Neither one of those boded well for Lisa or the rest of the Bay.

"Oh, calm down Miss Wilborne," said the woman, "I have no intention of messing up your little game. All I need you to do is carry a message to your boss and that will be the end of it."

"Why not just Master me to do it?" hissed Lisa.

The woman huffed.

"Because asking is so much easier," said the woman, "Of course, there are other ways to deliver it, but I don't think we've reached that point yet. Better to just have one of his…employees to let him know. I'll even pay you for the trouble."

A white clad arm came into Lisa's view, holding a bundle of cash. Lisa ground her teeth for a moment, weighing her options, before she let out an explosive breath.

"Alright, fine," she said, "What's the message?"

"See, wasn't that easy?" said the woman, "The message is 'stay away from the Trailblazer and her friends'."

Lisa blinked.

"You mean that girl and her pink haired friend?" she asked.

"Exactly."

For a moment, Lisa was tempted to ask what their deal was, but she decided against it. Instead, she said:

"You know thats not going to keep him from going after them, right?"

"Oh, almost certainly," said the woman as she let Lisa go, tucking the cash into Lisa's pocket as she did, "But the warning must be given, as is in the script."

Lisa swallowed as she stumbled slightly before regaining her balance. The moment she had, she whipped around, drawing her gun from under her jacket as she did and aiming it at the purple haired woman who had grabbed her. Despite the fact that she now had a gun pointed at her head, the womans smug smile didn't shift.

"Alright, now that things are a bit more even, who the fuck are you?" snarled Lisa as she aimed her power at the other woman.

Fortunately, this time it worked.

Completely calm, not showing any indications of fear. Knew that I would do this, already prepared. Knows how this encounter would go down. Everything already planned out.

That was scary enough, but then her power went on with more utter nonsense.

Follower of Destiny's Slave, on the path of Nihility. No fear response at all. Psychology indicates origin on Pteruges-V.

Lisa's grip on her gun slacked in confusion at the competely unfamiliar terms that came from apparently nowhere. She had never experienced anything like this before where her power spat up things the outright couldn't' understand. She sometimes had to parse odd phrasing, but it was never this bad! The woman just chuckled as she unfolded her arms, revealing that she was holding a clip. The clip that had come from Lisa's gun as it happened.

"You should really try to be less predictable, Miss Wilborne," said the woman, "But I'll play along, as is fair. I am Kafka of the Stellaron Hunters. I'm sure we'll be great friends in the future~."

With that, she placed the clip on the ground and walked away.

"Bye bye Miss Wilborne, see if you can surprise me next time."

Lisa watched as Kafka vanished around the corner, before her legs gave way and she collapsed. She swallowed as she desperately tried to keep her lunch down. Somehow, despite the fact that she'd never threatened her once, that entire encounter was far more terrifying than any Cape fight she had ever been in.

It took a short while before she could stop shaking enough to operate her phone, but when she could, she immediately called Brian.

"Hey Brian," she said after the other Undersider picked up.

"Are you alright?" asked the Undersiders leader, "You sound shaken."

Lisa let out a slightly hysterical laugh.

"I've just had an encounter with one of the scariest people I have ever met," she said, "No, I'm not alright. Could you come and pick me up? We need to talk. All of us."

"Alright, but is this going to affect the job?" asked Brian.

Lisa hesitated.

"I don't think so," she said, "We'll see what the boss says."

"Great, that'll go down well," said Brain, "Alright, I'll be there in a few."

He hung up. Lisa let out a sigh and settled back against the all of the alley, utterly spent from the entire interaction. After a moment, she started to laugh as she imagined what would happen once Coil inevitably ended up poking Kafka and her mysterious group. She could hardly wait to see it.

You know, I originally planned for this chapter to have a fight, but this is a perfect place to end it. We'll save the Nameless making their grand entrance for next time I guess.

Mostly just bonding with March here, but Taylor really needs a friend, so thats fine. Also, a look into Taylors head, which is always a dangerous place to tread.

Game Master is a recent recruit into the Protectorate and has been a part of it for about 3 months. He has the power to animate and control models, turning them into full sized versions of themselves, complete with any abilities they might have. Yes, I did get the idea from Constellations, so all props to UnwelcomeStorm for the idea. The difference is, instead of military toys, he instead leans more towards DnD as a theme. He also runs a monthly Protectorate DND game that gets streamed and is remarkably popular among nerds for obvious reasons.

Oh my, Kafkas in town and has an interest in Taylor. I see no way THAT won't end badly.

And to make matters worse, theres something funky affecting Thinker powers. I'm sure THAT won't cause any problems for anyone.

Who wants to bet that Coil will actually heed that warning? Anyone? Didn't think so.

And with that, I'm going to sign out. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!

EDIT: Added a bit with Lisa experiencing some odd results with her power. This is not her power pulling the info out of nowhere either. I wonder what that indicates? Hehe, I'm just going to put this Chekovs cannon down over here...

Dis Lexic · Jan 17, 2024

Blaze a New Path

Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.

Right, before we begin, I would like to start by giving a warning. I have been plotting a great deal about this story and actually have a decent plotline beyond 'Taylor gets Star Rail friends'. As a result, we are now swerving harshly into AU territory, even more than normal so if you don't like that, heres your warning. Please keep that in mind before you point out that something isn't canon. Oh, and before I forget, I've made some edits to the previous chapter to fit in with what I have planned. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

As Taylor ran through the streets after her mysterious quarry, she thanked her lucky stars that she'd started running every morning, otherwise she would have already lost the mysterious woman. As it was, it seemed like she was just one step behind her quarry, only just managing to keep up as she led Taylor and March on a weaving path through the Downtown area. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough to keep up and eventually lost the woman in the maze of alleys. Taylor skidded to a stop in the middle of a crossroads, looking around wildly, but there was no sign of the woman. She scowled and muttered something rude under her breath.

"What the hell Taylor?" gasped March as she ran up beside her friend and bent over, gasping for breath, "What was that all about?"

Taylor sighed softly.

"Sorry March, I just…saw someone I need to talk to," said Taylor.

March eyed Taylor.

"It must have been someone really important to make you run out like that," said March.

"Yeah…," said Taylor, "Come on, lets…"

She was cut off by the sound of a gunshot and a scream. Both girls jumped and turned towards the source. Both sounds were fairly common in Brockton Bay, but they were still the sort of sound that caught attention. Before Taylor could stop her, March took off in the direction of the sound.

"March, wait!" shouted Taylor as she scrambled after her friend.

Investigating screams and gunshots in Brockton Bay was not a good idea after all and, while Taylor had no doubt that March could take care of herself if the stories she'd told were anything to go by, it was still a bad idea to get mixed up in whatever that was.

Taylor caught up to March as she stopped at the corner and peered around it. Taylor joined her friend and swallowed when she saw what was going on.

From the look of it, Pairan the local Rogue had been putting on one of her puppet shows to advertise one of the shops on the street which, as usual, had attracted quite the crowd. Unfortunately, it had also attracted some far less pleasant attention.

The doll masked girl was facing down both Victor and Alabaster of the Empire, backed up by a dozen goons armed with assorted weapons. It was pretty clear that the meeting was anything but pleasant based on Pairans tense posture and the way the crowd was cowering away from the Empire goons.

It was pretty obvious what was going on. With the Proctorates recent acquisition of Game Master and the massive force multiplier that was his power and the rumours of Lung having recruited a Tinker, the Empire likely wanted to shore up their own forces to maintain their lead and, while Pairan wasn't exactly known for her combat prowers, every little helped and her cloth constructs could be quite intimidating and strong based on some of her past shows.

"Oh, thats not good," muttered Taylor, pulling back around the corner, "Come on March, we should go. I don't want to get pulled into that."

She turned to go, but paused when she realised that March was still watching the stand off.

"March?"

March stepped back and turned to Taylor, a serious look on her face.

"We can't leave her," she said, "We need to help."

Taylor stared at March, uncomprehending.

"Those guys are from the Empire, right?" asked March, "Are you seriously alright with leaving them to do what they want to Pairan and those people?"

Taylor flinched.

"I…we can call the Protectorate," she tried.

"And how long will it take them to get here?" asked March.

Taylor flinched again and looked down, an awful feeling welling up in her gut. She knew how it felt to have people stand by and do nothing, but this wasn't some bitchy schoolgirls, this was one of the most powerful gangs in the Bay and two capes to boot! What could she do against that?

Suddenly, her spiralling thoughts were cut off as March hugged her.

"Sorry Taylor, that wasn't fair," she said, "You're not a fighter, I shouldn't expect you to be ready for a fight like that."

The pink haired girl stepped back and smiled at Taylor.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this," she said as her bow appeared in her hand.

"W-wait, you're not gonna fight on your own, are you?" asked Taylor.

She had no doubt that March could handle the goons, but Alabaster and Victor too? That was a bit much. True, they weren't as dangerous as most of the Empires roster, but still a bit much for one girl and her ice. She needed backup, but there wasn't anything Taylor could do to help…

"I can't just leave that girl to face down that many enemies on her own," said March, glancing back at Taylor and smiling, "Besides, I'm not on my own."

Taylor frowned, but before she could ask what March meant, she got her answer as a faint breeze and the smell of roasting coffee washed over her. Taylor glanced back as Dan Heng stepped out of a glowing door that had appeared out of thin air.

"You ready to help Dan Heng?" asked March.

The dark haired young man sighed and nodded.

"I am," he said, summoning his spear, "Lets go deal with this mess."

"You wait here Taylor," said March, "Don't worry, this won't take long."

Taylor stared after the two Nameless as they rounded the corner, then slowly shuffled forward and peaked around the corner. March and Dan Heng approached the crowd, drawing attention from the bystanders and thugs, one of whom tapped Alabaster on the shoulder and pointed to the approaching newcomers. The pure white Nazi looked over and looked the two up and down, his lips curling slightly at Dan Hengs vaguely Asiatic features. He stepped away from where he and Victor had been looming over Pairan and planted himself in front of the two Nameless.

"Thats close enough," he said, "This is an important meeting and we don't need any interruptions."

"Looks more like an intimidation attempt to me," said Dan Heng, resting his spear across his shoulder.

Alabaster scowled and drew a very large gun from under his white jacket.

"Fine, lets do this the fun way!" said Alabaster, "Die Chink."

He pulled the trigger, only for the bullet to ping off a small crystal of pink tinted ice. Dan Heng reacted instantly and surged forwards. Before Alabaster could react, the Vidyadhara swept him off his feet and stabbed Alabaster through the back with his spear, pinning the immortal Nazi to the road. At the same time, March drew back on her bow and fired off three arrows that pinned Alabaster through his jacket and between the legs, creating rapidly spreading ice that trapped him in place.

"I suggest you all leave," said Dan Heng as he stepped away from the cursing Alabaster, pulling out his spear leaving him frozen to the floor, "I have no interest in stoking conflict here."

The normal thugs looked at each other nervously, then over at Victor, who had an unreadable expression on his face. He stepped away from Pairan, who immediately retreated behind her massive, stuffed rabbit, and moved in front of his men.

"I don't believe I know you two," he said, "Are you…new in town?"

"You could say that," said Dan Heng.

"I see," said Victor, "In that case, let me give you a piece of advice. Making an enemy of the Empire is an incredibly bad idea, especially for one of your…persuasion."

A faint sneer crossed the skill thiefs face.

"However, since we were basically done here anyway, I'll be generous," he continued, "Let Alabaster up and we'll call all this a misunderstanding and go our separate ways."

"I think not," said Dan Heng, "He attempted to kill me, so I'll be handing him over to the authorities."

Victor's eyes narrowed behind his mask as his hands moved to the knife and gun at his hips.

"That will not be happening," he said, "I highly suggest that you take my warning and leave. After all, its not just you who are in danger."

He gestured to the bystanders and his men raised their weapons, only for one of them to have his knife shattered by one of March's arrows.

"It appears we are at an impasse," said Dan Heng, "I do not wish to fight you, but nor can I allow this fool's attack to go unpunished."

"Or you threatening the doll girl either!" piped up March.

Victors eyes narrowed and he drew his weapons.

"Fine, don't say I didn't warn you," he said, "This is what happens to those who oppose the Empire!"

He brought up his gun, only to be forced to hop back as Dan Heng darted forwards at incredible speed, the tip of Cloud Piercer leading the way.

Taylor watched from her hiding place with wide eyes as her friends fought the Empire. Dan Heng focused on Victor, demonstrating his incredible skill with both spear and unarmed fighting as he danced around the Skill Thief, keeping the Empire Cape on the defensive, although Victors many stolen skills meant that he could keep Dan Heng off him, even if he could actually attack.

Meanwhile, March focused on the thugs, keeping them hemmed in with accurate shots from her bow that prevented them from either helping Victor or attacking the bystanders. One tried to pull a gun, only to have it shattered and his hand frozen with a well placed arrow, taking him out of the fight for now.

It was incredible for Taylor to watch as her two friends handled the situation with such apparent ease, despite being outnumbered. A part of her wanted to help, but what could she even do? She was just a normal girl, power to summon superpowered friends aside, and she didn't even know how to do that. Its not like she could actually step in or anything. She didn't have anything like a weapon and there were rules when it came to living in Brockton Bay, chief among them being that you don't piss off the gangs, especially not for complete strangers or people who could look after themselves.

Then again, Dan Heng and March hadn't even hesitated to step in to help Pairan.

Taylor swallowed the guilt she felt rising in her chest and refocused on the fight. As she did, she saw that Alabaster was managing to work his way free of the ice by physically ripping himself free, leaving a fair amount of skin behind. Of course, he was back to pristine condition in moments, allowing him to make impressive progress. He'd already freed his knife arm and was making good headway on freeing his gun as well and neither of the Nameless had noticed.

Taylor froze, unsure of what to do. It was pretty clear that, once he was free, Alabaster would jump March from behind, either killing her outright, or taking her hostage to force Dan Heng to back off. Unfortunately, Taylor was too far away to get March's attention with the chaos of combat going on around her and, while she was certainly managing, the pink haired girl's focus was taken up with dealing with the goons. The only way she could stop this fight from going downhill quickly was to do something herself.

But…she couldn't. Right? Alabaster was, for the most part, an ordinary person, so even a fairly weak girl like Taylor could probably put him down for long enough for March to freeze him again if she took him by surprise, but the rules that her parents and experience in the Bay had driven into her that doing something like that was beyond stupid. On the other hand, if she didn't, she'd have to watch her first friend in years get hurt or even die. And besides, when had following the rules ever done her any good?

Taylor swallowed, her resolve hardening as her fingers unthinkingly closing around the handle of the bat that hadn't been there a moment ago. She felt a warmth well up in her chest, flowing through her body as her stance straightened and, for a brief moment, she was vaguely aware of another presence standing just beside her.

"Rules…are meant to be broken," she whispered, then took a deep breath and, before she could come to her senses, charged into the fray.

Alabaster had just managed to free his other arm from the ice and was about to charge the cryokinetic when, out of nowhere, a baseball bat slammed into his side with far more force than should have been possible, crushing his ribcage and sending him flying into a nearby dumpster. March jumped at the unexpected interrupt and glanced over, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of the dazed and newly retrapped Alabaster free of her ice and Taylor stood where he had been, bat in hand and panting as if she'd run a marathon. It didn't take a member of the Genius Society to figure out what had happened

"Thanks Taylor, I wasn't expecting him to get loose!" she called, then turned her attention back to the goons, "Right, I think this has been going on for long enough!"

She opened her hand and a larger than normal arrow appeared in it. She grinned as she knocked it to her bow.

"Hey Taylor, check out this awesome move!" she shouted and jumped, drawing her bow back and firing the arrow at the goons.

Taylor watched with wide eyes as the arrow seemed to explode, breaking apart into a large number of…rabbit ice sculptures? The gleaming ice dolls rained down among the E88 goons and exploded, coating the area in frost and trapping the lot of them in ice. At the same time, Dan Heng took advantage of Victor's distraction at the unusual attack and disarmed the skill thief, sweeping him off his feet and pinning Victor to the floor. A moment later, a motorcycle and a PRT van came careening around the corner, lights and sirens blaring.

As the PRT poured out of their van and took control of the area, Taylor felt all the tension drain out of her and she fell to her knees as her legs turned to jelly, her hands shaking so much that she couldn't keep hold of her bat. She was so shaken up by everything that she hardly even noticed that her hair had turned grey and was slowly bleeding back to its original colour.

Up on a nearby rooftop, a young girl with silver hair sat back from her floating screens, a strange look on her face.

"Huh, I guess that Kafka wasn't full of it after all," she said, "I guess the brat really is something interesting."

She smirked as she sat forwards and started typing at her floating screens.

"I can't wait to see where this is going. Heres hoping we won't get too distracted by other things in the future."

And done. I was going to do a bit more, but fuck it, this is as good a time as any to end it. I want to get this done before I go to bed anyway.

So yeah, I think its fairly obvious that the Stelleron Hunters have something planned for Taylor and fully intend to pull her strings. On the up side, they have significantly better plans for her and the rest of Bet than some of the other people lurking in the shadows.

I know that Taylor seems a lot more cowardly here, but there is a reason for that. Here, she has a power that she doesn't fully understand, is in a much better headspace thanks to spending 3 months hanging out with the people on the Astral Express and isn't in 'cape mode' as it were. Shes still thinking as a normal civilian. Thats going to change pretty fucking quick, dont worry.

I'm not…entirely sure I caught Dan Hengs personality properly here, but I think I managed in the end. The entire thing was going to devolve into violence anyway.

I know that saving Pairan is pretty common, but its a decent way to have them fight someone more dangerous than Uber and Leet and it does make a degree of sense that the Empire would want to shore themselves up since the other two main factions have recently boosted their forces.

Oh my, I think there might be more to Taylors power than just summoning friends! That should be fun.

Little glimpse into what Silver Wolf was doing while all this is going down. She was actually the one to lure Taylor and March to the shake down with some holograms of Kafka while Kafka was dealing with their snake problem. Fun fact, did you know that many of her voice lines lean pretty heavily on the 4th wall?

And with that, I'm going to leave this here. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!

Dis Lexic · Jan 17, 2024

Blaze a New Path

Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.

And we are back. Nothing much to say here, other than enjoy!

Chapter 4

With the end of the fight and arrival of the PRT and Protectorate, things somehow managed to get both more and less hectic. The Troopers were quick to coat both Alabaster and Victor in containment foam after Dan Heng released the latter, before moving on to check over the bystanders and cuff the beaten goons for the police. At the same time, Miss Militia, the Protectorate Cape on the scene, approached Parian to make sure she was alright. While this was going on, March helped a still shaking Taylor out of the road and sat her down out of the way.

"S-sorry about this," said Taylor through her trembling.

"There's no need to apologise Taylor," said Dan Heng, leaning against the wall beside the two girls, "It's perfectly normal to get the shakes after your first proper fight."

Taylor let out a soft snort.

"I wouldn't call what I did fighting," she muttered.

March sat down beside Taylor and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You did fine!" she said, "Every little helps in a fight."

The sound of footsteps approaching cut off Taylor's response and she looked up to see Miss Militia slowly approaching, her glowing weapon in the form of a knife at her hip. As she moved closer, Dan Heng pushed off the wall and instead leaned on his spear. Miss Militia paused, eyeing the young man as her power morphed into a hunting bow. There was a brief moment where Taylor was worried something was about to spark off, before Dan Heng relaxed and returned to his previous pose and Miss Militia's expression shifted to something less tense.

"Hello there, are you all alright?" she asked as she finished approaching, looking over the three of them with an experienced eye.

"We're fine," said March, "Dan Heng and I could handle them easily!"

She caught Miss Militia's glance at the still shaking Taylor and gave her friend a squeeze.

"The Trailblazers just a bit shaken," said March, "This was her first fight, so shes not used to it."

"Ah, I see," said Miss Militia, "You know, the Wards can provide training…"

She trailed off as she glanced between Dan Heng and March.

"Although, you probably don't actually need any help, do you?" she finished.

"Probably not," said Taylor, finally managing to stop shaking, "Um, thanks though?"

"Well, if you change your mind or just need some help, you know where to find us," said Miss Militia, "Now, moving on, can I get a statement from you three?"

It didn't take long for the three of them to give Miss Militia a run down of events. Despite the fact that it had felt like an eternity to Taylor, apparently the fight had only taken a few minutes. Once they were done, Miss Militia said goodbye and moved over to talk to the leader of the PRT troopers.

Taylor took a deep breath as the last of the shakes finally faded and she turned to raise an eyebrow at March.

"Trailblazer?" she asked.

March blushed and looked away.

"Ah, your remind me of someone who goes by it," she said, "I figured that you'd rather not go by your real name, even if the Path of the Trailblaze will probably protect our identities."

Taylor frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, I told you that the Path provides protection for us, right?" she asked, "Well, this is part of it."

"The Trailblaze's protection can extend to any social norms on a specific world," said Dan Heng before Taylor could ask what March meant, "Generally, it's not obvious or relevant, but it has occasionally saved our asses when we've been on a planet with very particular social rules. On this world, it will provide a level of dissociation between our 'Cape' selves and normal, everyday ones."

"So…a Stranger effect?" asked Taylor, "Huh…"

"Pretty much," said March, "So you don't need to worry about anyone seeing us and putting two and two together."

Well, that was certainly a massive weight on Taylor's shoulders. She hadn't really had time to consider the consequences of this whole thing yet, but a part of her had been panicking over having a massive target painted on her friends back once the Empire heard about this, to say nothing about her if anyone recognized her.

"Um, excuse me?"

Taylor looked up at the unexpected voice to see Parian stood a short distance away, her stuffed protector just behind her. The seamstress Cape was shifting awkwardly and playing with the hem of her overly poofy, red dress.

"I-I just wanted to say thanks for the help," she said, "If you hadn't have come along, that could have ended…badly."

March grinned as she got to her feet, pulling Taylor with her.

"Don't mention it!" said the pink haired girl, "We can't stand bullies like that, right Dan Heng, Trailblazer?"

"Hnn," said Dan Heng, while Taylor just twitched as she tried to suppress a wince.

Parian looked a little taken aback at March's enthusiasm, but rallied herself.

"Regardless, you took a huge risk for me," she said, "I owe you one and I always make sure I pay my debts. I…I can't fight very well, but if you need any help…I'll do what I can."

"You really don't need to do that," said March, "Although…"

Her eyes shifted downwards and March grinned, pointing at the thing hanging from Parians belt.

"Make me a few of those and we'll call it even!"

An hour later, Taylor and March returned to Taylor's house, Dan Heng having returned to the Express shortly after they had been released from the scene, March gleefully hugging her prize from Parian to her chest. The seamstress Cape had been surprised at the request, but had gladly accepted March's offer, quickly whipping up a set of crochet dolls of the Astral Express crew in record time.

As they approached the house, Taylor paused when she saw her Fathers truck in the driveway and smiled. Ever since the dumpster incident, her Father had been making an effort to get home at a reasonable time so that they could have a proper dinner. It wasn't perfect, his new job came with difficult hours at times and the distance that had built up between the two of them wasn't going to be bridged in just a few months, but he was trying and, with the encouragement from her friends on the Express, so was Taylor.

Taylor glanced at March, who had also seen Dannys truck, and her friend smiled at Taylor.

"You go on," she said, "I should be getting back anyway. I've got a lot of pictures to sort out and I need to find a place for these!"

She held up her new dolls with a wide grin. Taylor grinned back, hugged her friend and jogged across the road towards her house. She paused at the door and glanced back, just in time to see March vanish through a glowing doorway that vanished once she was through. Taylor smiled again and opened the door, letting the warm air scented with home cooked food wash over her.

"I'm home!" she called.

"In here," called Danny from the kitchen.

She followed the voice and found her Father at the stove with a flowery apron on as he stirred a pot on the stove. He glanced over at her as she entered and smiled.

"Have a good day?" he asked.

Taylor smiled.

"Yes, for once I did," she said.

Later, after a pleasant dinner and evening with her Father, Taylor headed to bed, quickly dropping off to sleep and, as usual, finding herself in the parlour cabin of the Astral Express. She flopped back on the soft sofa with a satisfied sigh, enjoying the luxurious surroundings and current quiet and basking in the good feelings that came from the slow improvement of her relationship with her Father.

Unfortunately, the good feelings couldn't last and Taylors thoughts quickly moved from her good evening to the events of the day. It was pretty clear at this point that she had powers, no matter how bizarre having entirely sentient projections was, and yet she had absolutely no idea what to do with them. Common sense dictated that she was supposed to go out and be a hero, but how could she do that when she didn't have any real power of her own? Its not like she could rely solely on her friends to do all the fighting.

Then again…

Taylor sat up and looked down at her hands. During that fight, she had hit Alabaster with a baseball bat. At the time, she had thought that it had just been in the alley, but thinking back, that wasn't the case. Instead, when she'd needed it, the bat had just…appeared, along with a surge of energy.

Taylor held out a hand and, feeling a little silly, mentally tried to call for her hypothetical bat. To her surprise, she felt a brief flare of power and a bat appeared in her hand. Taylor stared at the weapon, taking in the unusually reflective material it was made of and the geometric patterns that covered it, before a slow smile crossed her face. She jumped to her feet and took a stance.

She took a few practice swings, then drew back and swung the bat with all her might. There was a loud crash as the shockwave of her swing clipped a lamp, sending it spinning to the ground. Taylor jumped at the crash and muttered a curse when she saw the mess she'd made.

"Might I suggest experimenting with that somewhere else?" said a voice from the parlour carriage door.

Taylor jumped and turned to see Himeko approaching, a disapproving look on her face. Taylor blushed and hid her bat behind her back. Himeko just rolled her eyes and pointed at the sofa.

"Sit," she said.

Taylor did as she was told, watching as Himeko walked over to the sideboard where a tea set was set up. A few minutes later, Himeko sat down across from Taylor, putting a steaming cup of tea (thankfully not Himeko's coffee) in front of her.

"So, why don't you tell me what's bothering you," said Himeko after taking a sip of her paint thinner masquerading as coffee.

Taylor blinked.

"I…"

"And don't tell me that it's nothing," said Himeko, "I've already heard about what happened from March and Dan Heng and I've seen enough people come through here who are far better at hiding their feelings than you. So spill, whats bothering you?"

Taylor stared down at the bat resting across her lap, idly tracing the lines on the surface.

"I feel useless," she said eventually, "March and Dan Heng…they didn't hesitate to jump in to save Parian and I just sat there."

"Its not really like you could do anything else," said Himeko, "March and Dan Heng are both trained and have experience in combat. You have neither and didn't even have a weapon until you figured out how to summon that Curio."

"I know that, but still," said Taylor, "I don't…I don't want to feel like that again."

Himeko nodded.

"I understand feeling helpless," she said, "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Taylor was silent for a moment, still playing with her bat.

"I guess…I need to learn how to fight," she said, "I've got this…somehow, so all I need is to learn how to use it. Right?"

"That is always wise when you have a new weapon," said a new voice, making Taylor nearly jump out of her skin.

She and Himeko turned as the speaker stepped into view. He was tall, with a mane of white hair and golden eyes, wearing a white shirt under armour plating, red pants and tall boots.

"Lord General, I wasn't expecting you," said Himeko, getting to her feet to greet the newcomer.

"I had some free time, so I decided to visit the Astral Express," said the apparent General, "I see you have a new crew member."

"Um, I'm Taylor," said Taylor, not entirely sure what to make of the newcomer to her dream.

"I am Jing Yuan of the Xianzhou Luofu," said the man, "Always a pleasure to meet a member of the esteemed Astral Express. You'll have to forgive me for eavesdropping, but I heard that you are interested in training, correct?"

Taylor glanced at Himeko, but the Navigator was studiously sipping at her coffee.

"I…suppose," said Taylor.

"In that case, I might be able to help," said Jing Yuan, "I can't provide a full training in every aspect of combat, that would take to long and I doubt my teachings would be that helpful for your weapon, but what you need is a basic primer and experience in fighting, two things that I can provide."

"Somewhere other than my train I hope," said Himeko.

"Naturally, I wouldn't dream of causing any unnecessary damage to the Express," said Jing Yuan with a slight bow, "So, what do you say Miss Taylor?"

Taylor glanced at Himeko, who nodded slightly.

"Its as good an offer as any," she said, "The General might be lazy, but he is a great teacher who can help you get started."

Taylor hesitated for a moment, then let out a sigh. Its not like anything bad could happen in her dream…probably.

"Alright, sure," she said, "It should be interesting if nothing else."

"Thats the spirit!" said Jing Yuan, "Come, lets go."

He led Taylor over to a glowing, blue orb she hadn't seen before and, at his order, put her hand on its surface. There was a flash of light and the next thing Taylor knew, she was stood in a place quite unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was a large courtyard, surrounded by white walls with green tiled roofs. A tree with golden leaves grew in one corner and the area was ringed with stone benches, while the centre was dominated with a raised dais made of white stone blocks with a number of racks containing wooden weapons edging it.

Jing Yuan walked over to the dias and hopped up onto it, before turning to Taylor and beckoning her over. Taylor hesitantly joined the older man on the dais as he pulled a wooden sword from the racks and turned to her. The white haired man was still wearing the same faint smile he had since she had met him, although now it looked a little bit wider.

"Alright Taylor, let's see what you can do," he said, "Draw your weapon and come at me."

Taylor hesitated for a moment, then decided that she might as well see where this was going and did as she was told. In response, Jing Yuan easily avoided her clumsy swing and gently rapped her across the shoulders, sending Taylor sprawling.

"You need to be faster than that," said Jing Yuan as Taylor got to her feet, "You're holding your bat too tightly. Here, like this, it will give you more control."

He showed Taylor a different grip and had her swing at him again, this time with far more control. Despite herself and the no small amount of confusion she felt at the unexpected addition to her Express, Taylor couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she trained with the General. This was exactly what she needed and she fully intended to take full advantage of every minute of it.

Lisa sat at her desk, staring down at her phone as she waited for Coil to respond. She had just finished relaying the message Kafka had given her and was now waiting for her boss's reaction. She was pretty sure that he wasn't going to take the warning seriously, but she had been paid and had no intention of EVER getting on Kafka's bad side if she could avoid it.

"I see," said Coil at length, "Very well, thank you for informing me."

Curious, intends to investigate the Trailblazer to see what the fuss is about. Also intends to find and eliminate Kafka. Will fail.

Lisa twitched slightly at yet another out of character statement came from her power. She wasn't sure what had changed, but it was getting rather irritating.

"Speaking of new Capes in town, I'd like you to look into the recent fight that happened in the downtown area," said Coil, "It involved a new group who managed to take down Victor and Alabaster."

New group is likely the Trailblazer and friends.

Lisa's eye twitched. Oh lovely, she was already having yet another bullseye painted on her back by her boss. As if ordering her to get the Undersiders to steal from Lung wasn't bad enough.

"What about the Casino job?" asked Lisa, "I still have some work to finish for that."

"Focus on that for now," said Coil, dashing the tiny hope that he'd call off poking the dragon, "The new group can wait for now, but I want you to focus on that next."

"Yes sir," said Lisa through gritted teeth.

Coil hung up without another word, leaving Lisa to sit back with a groan. Things were starting to get complicated and it was extremely doubtful that they were going to get less so any time soon. Assuming her team didn't get barbecued by a rage dragon.

She got to her feet and left her room in search of coffee. She had a lot of work to do and needed caffeine. As she did, she just missed the slight flicker of movement that seemed to flash across her freestanding mirror, leaving a tiny streak of ice that quickly melted away.

March 7th woke to the smell of breakfast and the soft sound of her alarm. For a moment, she lay still, enjoying the warmth of her bed, before she sat up and stretched, a contented smile on her face. That had been a fun dream. Not only had she got to see a cool new place, but she'd managed to get some cute souvenirs and even managed to get Taylor to smile! It was a shame that it was just a dream really, those little dolls would have looked great on her shelf.

A knock on her door drew her from her thoughts of her dream.

"Come on March, wake up!" called Stella through the door, "Breakfast is getting cold!"

"Coming!" called March back as she hopped out of bed and into her slippers, grabbing her dressing gown from where it was draped over the back of her chair as she went past. As she did, the trailing sleeves caught something on her desk and knocked it off. March paused and glanced back to make sure nothing had broken, only to freeze when she saw what it was.

She slowly walked over and picked up the item. For a moment, she stared at it, then turned and sprinted out of her room, nearly running over Stella as she went.

"Wha…March, whats wrong?"

March ignored her friends startled call as she burst into the dining car and zeroed in on Dan Heng. She ran over and seized the surprised spearman by the shoulders.

"Did you dream about Taylor last night?" she asked.

"I…March, what are you…?" stuttered Dan Heng, completely taken aback by the out of character greeting.

"Did you!?" shouted March, but before Dan Heng could respond, Mr Yang stepped up and gently pulled March away from the Express guard.

"Thats enough March, calm down," he said, "Take a deep breath and start again. Whats wrong?"

March did as she was told, taking deep breaths until she wasn't quite as worked up. Once she was calmer, she wordlessly held out what she had found in her room.

A crochet doll of herself with a small, stylized P on the back.

And done. Hoo boy, that was fun. I wonder if my Chekovs armoury is sufficiently loaded yet or do I need more munitions?

Well, at least Taylors first meeting with a Protectorate Cape went better than canon here. She didn't even have to worry about coming up with a name for herself!

I don't know what colour Parian actually wears, but I realised that I had a small girl with a massive protector and couldn't resist. No, she doesn't have any connections with Clara, I just liked the idea.

Why yes, Danny is making an effort here. Thanks to the shake up that comes from taking a new job and getting out of his rut, along with some advice from friends and mandated therapy, he and Taylor are in a much better place. I see no way this won't end up causing problems in the future.

Taylor finding her teeth and getting an offer for some training from the General. I don't know why I picked him, but he is a pretty good option all things considered. Also, apparently Taylors dream world expands beyond the Express. This does not mean that she can visit everywhere in the various locations, just ones important to people she recruits later on.

Lisa between a rock and a hard place. Fortunately, despite her worries, Kafka is unlikely to target her. Unfortunately, theres a non-zero chance that someone ELSE has become interested in her.

Oh my, things are certainly getting interesting on the Express. The real one that is. Is that a gun or a full on Chekhov's warhead?

Anyway, with this, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!

Vortiboy23 · Jan 17, 2024

Followed so hard my friend.

Young Pyromancer · Jan 17, 2024

Could use an editing pass, but otherwise pretty good.

Wonder how you'll handle the scaling. Because it gets really silly when you compare damage in game to the animations to the lore.

Dis Lexic · Jan 25, 2024

Blaze a New Path

Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.

And we are back. Nothing much to say here, other than enjoy!

Chapter 5

Tattletale swore violently as she clung to the back of Judas for dear life as the mutant mutt took a sharp turn at high speed. Things had been going SO well until just a few minutes ago. They had got into the casino, grabbed all the loot and got away in short order. The plan had been perfect, in and out before anyone could get an alert out, either to the authorities or Lung. Unfortunately, it appeared that Human error had erred once again and someone managed to get in contact with the ABB. Now they had Lung on their ass and Oni Lee harassing them, herding them through the Docks to prevent them from getting away from his boss.

And to make matters worse, the only reason why they were still alive was thanks to her power and she was rapidly building up to a truly magnificent Thinker headache. They had to get away soon or else they would…

A member of the Stellaron Hunters, and a swordsman who abandoned his body to become a blade. Pledges loyalty to "Destiny's Slave," and possesses a terrifying self-healing ability.

Tattletale nearly lost her grip on the spur she was clinging to as her power spat out one of its random results. She looked up, just in time to see the source of the information step out of an alley in front of them, barley catching a glimpse of dark hair and crimson eyes before the dogs barreled past. She turned in her seat and watched as the man held up a black and red sword that looked like it had been shattered and put back together with gold and ran his fingers down the blade, making the whole thing glow faintly.

Then, he vanished and Lung faceplanted as his legs were cut out from under him.

Lung roared as the sudden pain ripped through his rage. He pushed himself up, just in time to see the Undersiders vanish down an alley. He wasn't worried about them getting away, Oni Lee would make sure of that, so he was fine to take a few seconds to squash the bug who had decided to get in his way.

He turned a burning glare on the newcomer as he turned to face Lung, an impassive expression on his face. To Lungs surprise, he wasn't wearing a mask, although the dark blue and red hair and red eyes would be rather difficult to hide. Then again, Lung didn't actually give a single shit about how other Capes went about their business, if they stood against the Dragon, they would be scorched to ash.

Lung planted his regrowing legs and jumped at the man with a burst of fire, claws outstretched. The man shifted and the next thing Lung knew, it felt like a truck had slammed into his cheek, crushing bone and cartilage and sending him flying, even with his bulked up form. Lung hit the ground hard and pushed himself up, his power roaring to new heights as his regeneration kicked into high gear as his cheek snapped back into shape.

Then, there was a flash of light and he gasped as he felt his entire lower half disconnect.

Immediately, he released a huge blast of fire in an attempt to buy time for his regeneration to do its thing. That tactic usually worked, but this time it didn't even dissuade his attacker for a moment and Lung was once again punted down the street.

Barely surprising a groan, Lung pushed himself up as best he could, fixing the unknown Brute with a burning glare as he stalked forwards, glowing blade held easily and horrific burns rapidly vanishing under a faint, crimson glow. At the same time, Lung realised that his own regeneration was far more sluggish than it should have been.

"You…what have you done?" he growled.

"Only what was needed," said the man, stopping in front of Lung and sneering down at him, "I had hoped for more. You are unworthy of the title of Dragon."

Kenta's eyes went wide, but before he could respond, a booted foot slammed into his temple and he blacked out.

"I'm done here," said Blade, turning on his heel and stalking away from the rapidly shrinking form of Lung.

"I can see that," said Silverwolf as she shimmered into existence, "What was that last bit about?"

"I have felt the fangs of a Dragon," said Blade, "He is not even close."

"I'll take your word for it," said Silverwolf, pulling up a few holographic screens, "Anyway, this quest is nearly done. I've dealt with the demon guy and the Undies have made their getaway, so now all we need is…"

She turned to the other end of the road expectantly and, as if on cue, a motorcycle came screeching around the corner, throwing the three Villains into the harsh light of the powerful headlights. The bike skidded to a halt and Armsmaster jumped off, his halberd unfolding as he held it ready, but not pointed at the two Stelleron Hunters.

"Are you going to fight me?" he asked.

"Wouldn't be much of a fight," said Silverwolf, "Sides, we only came to deal with him."

She jabbed a thumb at the now entirely Human half of Lung.

"I see," said Armsmaster, shifting his halberd to shoot a dart at Lung, "Why? I was under the impression that you were mercenaries."

"Elio's script demanded it," said Blade.

"And now thats done, we'll be going," said Silverwolf, "See ya Armsy!"

She waved and she and Blade vanished in a shower of blue polygons.

For the Protectorate, Monday morning always began with a meeting. It was an opportunity for everyone to get caught up with the weekly chaos that hadn't been important enough to warrant an emergency meeting and to ensure that anyone who hadn't bothered to read the update emails (Assault) was up to date.

As per usual, Hannah was second to arrive, after the ever early Game Master, and took her seat at the table with her coffee and breakfast muffin. She and GM shared idle chit chat as they waited for the rest of the resident Heroes to file in in dribs and drabs, with Armsmaster arriving exactly on time, along with the Director. As Piggot took her seat at the head of the table, a standard scowl on her face, Armsmaster activated the projector and turned to the room.

"Last night, Lung was taken into custody," he said without preamble.

There was a pause, broken only by Assault as the Kinetic Striker choked on his coffee.

"Good god man, don't just drop bombshells like that with no warning!" he wheezed between coughs as Battery pounded him on the back.

"I'm guessing that there's more to that report or you wouldn't look so tense," said Game Master.

Hannah blinked and took a closer look at her boss. Sure enough, Armsmasters chin was rather more tense than was normal, even for the high strung Tinker. It was rather surprising how well the Master could read Armsmaster considering that they hadn't known each other long, although

"There is," said Armasmaster, "The ones who took him down were the Stelleron Hunters."

"Ah, that would do it," said Game Master.

"Um, who are the Stelleron Hunters?" asked Triumph, "I haven't heard of them before."

"They are a group of mercenaries who appeared around six months ago," said Armsmaster, "Dangerous and mobile, they have a number of murders on their rap sheet, but they have been operating on the other side of the country until now, so there was no need to brief all the Wards on them. Now that we have confirmed that they are in town however, that will change."

The projector flashed up with images of the three known members of the Stelleron Hunters with their names listed underneath.

"First, the assumed leader, Kafka," said Armsmaster as the first image expanded to fill the screen, "Female, age unknown. She had been spotted draped with a black jacket and wearing a white collared shirt inside, a pair of tight-fitting dark shorts, purple pantyhose, and a pair of sunglasses on her head. She is a Master 7, with the power to create threads that enables her to take control of her targets, although her control is noted to be fairly crude. She is also armed with a sword and a pair of submachine guns and is skilled in the use of both. As an additional note, Thinkers have noted that she appears to lack a normal fear response and is resistant to most Master powers."

Kafkas image shrank back down and the next one popped up, this one showing a dark haired man glaring at the camera.

"Blade, the apparent muscle of the group," said Armsmaster, "Male, age unknown. Wears a long, dark coat, grey trousers and carries a black, red and gold sword at all times. Is the most unpredictable of the group and generally only appears when combat is expected. Very dangerous and prone to go for the kill. He has an extremely potent healing factor, to the point where he can recover from stabs through the heart in seconds. He can also fire energy blasts from his sword and has the power to weaken certain healing factors, although that last ability is only theorised at the moment."

The image shrank and the last one popped up.

"Silver Wolf, the groups hacker and Tinker support," said Armsmaster, Female, age unknown. Wears a black coat, a crop-top, black shorts with a decorative piece of black and purple fabric that hangs off the back and purple goggles. Is a Hacker Tinker of considerable skill and has a number of weapons that are extremely potent. Tinkers are forbidden from engaging with her due to the risks of having their tech hacked. Is noted to be obsessed with video games."

The photo shrank back down.

"There has also been mention of someone called Elio, but we don't have any information on them, aside from their name," said Armsmaster, "Based on what we do know however, it's likely that they are the groups actual leader and likely some kind of precog."

He scanned the room.

"It goes without saying that if you see these people, you are not to approach without backup," he said, "And the Wards are to avoid them at all costs."

There was a general round of confirmations.

"Good, now, moving on, as I said before, Lung was taken into custody last night," said Armsmaster, "I was alerted to him engaging someone in combat who, after some investigation, turned out to be the Undersiders."

"Wait, really?" asked Assault, "Huh, I wouldn't have thought they had it in them…"

Armsmaster shot a look Assaults way.

"Indeed, this is out of character for them," he said, "Regardless, it appears that they robbed one of the ABB's front casinos and Lung took exception. There was a chase, with Oni Lee preventing the Undersiders from losing Lung or escaping out of ABB territory."

"So…what happened?" asked Triumph.

Armsmaster gestured to the image of Blade still on the screen.

"For some reason, Blade stepped in and…dealt with Lung," he said, "He is currently sedated in the medibay with his lower half missing."

There was a round of startled gasps and winces from the gathered Capes.

"And that is why we don't want anyone going after the Stelleron Hunters," said Piggot, speaking up for the first time, "They have generally avoided causing any permanent harm to Heroes for some reason, but I don't want to risk that changing if I can at all avoid it. We aren't entirely sure why they are in town or why they decided to help the Undersiders, but unless they actively side with one of the Gangs, I have no intention of hitting that particular hornet's nest. That said, Game Master, I want you to extend your net of pawns. If they start something, I want to know it before something explodes."

The Master nodded.

"I'll need some more suitable pawns," he said.

"Granted, just get it done," said Piggot, "Put in an order after the meeting."

Game Master nodded and Armsmaster took that as his cue to move on.

"In slightly less concerning news, we also have a new group of potential heroes," he said, "Miss Militia, I believe you encountered them?"

Hannah nodded and stood as the screen switched to show images of the Trailblazer and her friends, taken from her bodycam.

"I encountered them on Friday at about 1400 hours," she said, "They stepped in to help Parian with a recruitment attempt from the Empire. They weren't clear on their actual alignment, but their willingness to help Parian and talk to me afterwards indicates possible heroic inclination. They introduced themselves as March 7th, Dan Heng and the Trailblazer."

She pointed to each picture in turn."

"Interesting names," said Battery, "There doesn't seem to be any real theme to them or their costumes. In fact, aside from Dan Heng, they don't even really look like costumes."

"That would make sense if they are new," said Dauntless.

"I got the impression that the Trailblazer was new, but March and Dan Heng were both far too confident for this to be their first fight," said Miss Militia.

"Agreed," said Armsmaster.

"I'll put out some requests for any information other departments might have," said Piggot, "For now, lets move on."

Armsmaster nodded and repeated what he had done for the Stelleron Hunters, albeit with far less detail.

"Finally, it should be noted that Dan Heng has some kind of Trump ability," he finished, "We interrogated Victor after we took him in and he said that his power didn't work on Dan Heng. This will likely not be relevant to anyone here, but it might come up."

After that, the meeting turned to more mundane topics and ended an hour later. As the Proctorate began to file out, Hannah found herself walking with Game Master, which was fine with her as she found the Minion Master to be far better company than most of her other colleagues.

"So, what did you think of the new kids?" asked Game Master as they walked.

Hannah hummed thoughtfully before answering.

"They seemed like good kids," she said, "They were clearly close and cared for each other. Assuming nothing bad happens to them, I think they'll make good heroes."

Game Master snorted.

"Nothing bad, in this city?" he said.

Hannah winced and nodded.

"Yeah, therein lies the problem," she said, "I really hope that they decided to join up before anything bad happens."

"Do you think thats likely?" asked Game Master.

Hannah frowned, but before she could answer, Game Masters phone rang. The Minion Master scowled slightly as he fished his phone out of his belt, but his expression shifted into confusion when he saw the caller ID. he shot Hannah an apologetic look as he answered.

"Hello? Shouldn't you be in scho…?" he said, before cutting off and listening, "Wait, what happened? No…wait…slow down honey…no, stay there, I'm coming home. No, absolutely not…I don't care, you're more important. I'll be there as soon as I can. Love you."

He hung up and turned to Hannah, a stricken look on his face.

"I have to go," he said, "My daughter was attacked at school!"

Hannahs stomach dropped at that.

"Oh my gosh, is she…"

"Shes fine, she wasn't hurt, but apparently that was the last straw," said Game Master, starting to speed walk in the direction of the Directors office, "Shes home right now and I need…"

Hannah seized his hand, stopping him in his tracks and mid babble.

"Danny, thats enough," she said, "You go, I'll let Director Piggot and Armsmaster know. They'll understand. You go be with Taylor."

Danny stared at her, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Alright, thanks," he said, "I'll call you later!"

He gave a strained smile and ran off in the direction of the Protectorate locker room.

"And drive carefully!" shouted Hannah after her retreating friend.

She sighed softly and whispered a brief prayer to the Rainbow Titan, before turning and jogging to let her bosses know about Danny's unplanned absence.

And with that, I'm done. This was a bit of an interlude chapter, but I'm not really comfortable calling it that considering I switch POVs in my standard chapters anyway. Regardless, its a bridge for the next bit of the story.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. I want to try to avoid situations of canon as much as I can, but that doesn't mean that the script won't keep going. It just so happens that the Lung of this Bet met someone significantly more dangerous than Bug Girl this night.

So, normally, Lung is shown to be the next best thing after being unstoppable in fics, but after reading the Wiki, thats not the case. Apparently, it can take a while to regrow limbs if hes not massively ramped up and a good way of doing that is to hit him hard and fast before he can do that. Which is what Blade did, causing a huge amount of damage incredibly quickly, which basically forced Lungs power to focus on keeping him alive after being bisected. He is also using a weapon that was designed for fighting the Abominations of Abundance and his entire shtick is death symbolism, so I extrapolated that out and gave him the ability to temporarily slow down regeneration.

There was also Silver Wolf there, who could easily apply a few DOTS to slow Lung down even more.

Armsmasters not an idiot. He knows hes no match for two opponents, one of whom is noted for being able to hack Tinker gear. So, he took the gift wrapped Lung and let the really dangerous opponents go.

Bit of back story about what the Stelleron Hunters have been getting up to since their arrival and a harsh warning about what they can do. I really wish that some characters' powers were a bit clearer since I have no idea what Kafka's power actually does. I based her noted powers on what she does in her trailer though.

I'm pretty sure that captured Villains would be happy to spill the details about their potential rivals' abilities since they will inevitably get out thanks to the PRT's complete lack of secure information. In case your wondering, Victors power didn't work because Dan Hang isn't Human, so any Human tuned power just won't work on him. The same applies to Foxiens and any of the puppet/robot characters as well, for fairly obvious reasons.

So, did anyone fail to guess who Game Master was? Again, inspired by Constellations, props to Unwelcome Storm, etc.

Oh my, something happened to Taylor? I'm sure that won't blow up at all. We'll get to that next time.

Hmmm, it appears that Hannah might have found religion. Now who could she be praying to and, perhaps more importantly, WHY? I'm sure thats not indicative of anything to come.

Anyway, with that done, I'm going to sign out. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!

Vortiboy23 · Jan 25, 2024

Huh so Danny is under the aegis of the Hunt?

Young Pyromancer · Jan 25, 2024

Vortiboy23 said:
Huh so Danny is under the aegis of the Hunt?

???
Where did you get THAT from?

Vortiboy23 · Jan 25, 2024

Young Pyromancer said:
???
Where did you get THAT from?

The Hunt is usually under the moniker of Rainbow Arbiter.

Young Pyromancer · Jan 25, 2024

Vortiboy23 said:
The Hunt is usually under the moniker of Rainbow Arbiter.

Yes. Who Hannah was praying to. Not Danny.

PrimeKnight · Jan 26, 2024

Dis Lexic said:
Wish upon a Crystal Star

where can I read this?

Dis Lexic · Jan 26, 2024

PrimeKnight said:
where can I read this?

My Vault. Its not a full story.

Dis Lexic · Feb 2, 2024

Blaze a New Path

Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.

And we are back. Nothing much to say here, other than enjoy!

Chapter 6

Monday morning dawned bright and early with a genuinely bizarre event.

Taylor Hebert was in a good mood.

She had spent most of the weekend with Jing Yuan, training with the General and, later, the Generals other student, Yanqing. The kid was nice, but didn't seem to understand the concept of holding back. On the up side, it forced Taylor to improve at an almost inhuman rate, on the other, getting the snot kicked out of her with infinite flying swords hurt, even in a dream. Fortunately, Jing Yuan was smart enough that he knew when to get the two children to stop and, after calling up one of his lower ranked Cloud Knights to act as a guide, sent Taylor out to explore the Laofu between sparring bouts, something which her new friend, a girl named Sushang, seemed quite jealous of.

So yes, after three days of things going well for her and at least one new friend (Taylor wasn't sure if Yanqing counted yet), Taylor was definitely in an uncommonly good mood, enough that the Trio and their hanger ons usual crap simply slipped off her like water off a ducks back. After all, knowing that she had at least two genuine friends in March and Dan Heng she could call on for backup if needed, not to mention the other members of the Astral Express and possibly even the natives of the Laofu, assuming her connection to the Xianzhou was the same as the Express, it was really hard to consider a bunch of school girls to be that intimidating.

Unfortunately, her good mood and newfound immunity to the Trios bullshit didn't come without its consequences, consequences that came home to roost just after her first period class.

She was making her way towards her next class on the floor below and had just reached the top of the stairwell when a foot hooked around the ankle and pulled. She stumbled dangerously close to the edge of the stairs, before a foot slammed into the small of her back.

Time seemed to slow down as Taylor tipped forwards, giving her just enough time to see Sophia's cruel smirk, before she fell head first down the stairs.

It was only thanks to the hours of practice over the weekend that Taylor was able to control her fall well enough to keep from being seriously injured, although she still hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of her. She lay still for a moment, absorbing the actual murder attempt from her bully, before pushing herself up to her knees. As she did, she became aware of someone standing over her. She looked up and met Mr Gladlys eyes.

For a moment, the teacher stared down at her, a strange expression on his face, before he glanced up at Sophia. For a brief moment, Taylor thought that he might do something useful, only for that tiny little expectation to be shattered as the 'teacher' turned around and walked away.

Taylor got to her feet, watching Gladly go and ignoring the sound of Sophia stomping down the steps behind her. In that moment, something Jing Yuan had said to her came to mind.

"Facing down impossible odds is an admirable thing to do, assuming you have a good reason to do so. However, if you don't have a reason to fight, its better to retreat. You gain nothing by dying in a worthless battle. Never sacrifice yourself if you can find any other way to achieve your goals."

What was she getting from remaining at Winslow? What could she possibly gain from remaining in a place that had made it quite clear that she was unwelcome and actively pushing her down? The answer was simple. Absolutely nothing. At best, she gained the satisfaction that the Trio wasn't beating her, but was that really worth putting up with their bullshit? The answer was pretty obvious and Taylor found that she honestly couldn't give one single shit if the Trio drew some sick satisfaction from her 'loss'. She was done with this bullshit.

"You should…"

"Nope, I'm done," said Taylor, cutting off Sophia's barb.

She dropped her ratty old backpack on the floor with a thump and walked out of the school, completely ignoring Sophia's look of utter shock as she watched her 'pray' simply walk away.

Taylor barely noticed the walk home. Her thoughts were spinning far too quickly for her to be able to focus on anything else. Sophia's assault wasn't truly unexpected, she'd done similar things in the past, albeit not quite as dangerous as kicking Taylor down the stairs, and Gladly being useless was pretty much expected at this point.

However, the fact that Gladly had seen Hess' assault and done nothing was beyond the pale.

It was one thing when the faculty could plead ignorance, even if it was wilful, but for an assault that could have easily landed Taylor in the hospital, if not dead was a step too far. There was a part of her that baulked at the idea of backing down, but the rest of her wasn't willing to stay in a place that had made it blatantly obvious that everyone in it would happily stand aside and do nothing in the face of attempted murder.

Then again, this was Winslow, so she probably shouldn't be that surprised.

Taylor entered her house and flopped down on the sofa, ignoring the spiking pain from the bruises and scrapes from her fall. She lay still, ignoring the sound of a door opening and heels on the hall floor. A few moments later, the footsteps came back and the sofa dipped slightly.

"Sit up," said Himeko.

Taylor mumbled a protest and hugged the throw pillow tighter. Himeko sighed and, after some coaxing, managed to get Taylor to sit up so she could tend to the teenager's injuries.

For the next few minutes, the room was silent but for the ticking of the clock and the occasional hiss from Taylor as Himeko probed her bruises. Finally, the Navigator was done and shut the first aid kit with a snap.

"Alright, you're done," she said, "Now, call your Father and sort this mess out."

Taylor flinched.

"Nah, it can wait," she said, "Dads too busy with work, so…"

She was cut off as Himeko gently flicked her on the forehead.

"No, none of that now," she said, "I've heard you talking with March about how much better things have been going between the two of you lately, don't ruin it now. Besides, you probably want to sort it before your school calls him."

Taylor twitched, then sighed and nodded. Himeko smiled and gave the younger girl a hug.

"Don't forget, I'm here if you need anything," she said, "You're a part of the Astral Express and we look after each other."

Taylor smiled and returned the hug.

"Thanks Miss Himeko," she said, "And thanks for patching me up."

Himeko nodded and stood, disappearing back into the Express. Taylor's smile faded and she sat back with a sigh. For a moment, she toyed with the idea of just ignoring Himeko's suggestion, before shaking her head and getting to her feet. It wasn't worth the lecture when Himeko found out. She reached for the phone and dialled her Fathers number. To her mild surprise, he picked up quickly.

"Hi Dad," she said, "We need to talk."

It took every bit of self control Danny had to make it home without speeding. Fortunately, the traffic was light as the work day had only just got started or he might have done something foolish. Once he got home, he ran inside and immediately relaxed when he saw Taylor sat on the couch, clearly bruised and with a bandage on her cheek, but mostly unharmed.

Taylor looked up as Danny entered the living room. He crossed the room and pulled Taylor to her feet, ignoring her protests as he looked her over for injuries, then hugged her tight.

"I'm fine Dad," said Taylor, gently pushing her Father away, "Just a few scrapes and bruises."

Danny reluctantly let Taylor go and sat down beside his daughter.

"What happened?" he asked, "You said you were attacked and, knowing Winslow, I thought…"

Taylor winced.

"Yeah, I can see why you'd think that, but it wasn't anything like that," she said, "One of my bullies decided to push me down the stairs."

Danny felt his heart skip a beat. That was…significantly less bad than he was expecting, but still serious. Taylor was lucky she hadn't been seriously injured!

"You mean the school hasn't done anything?" he asked, "I thought they were going to be more vigilant after what happened in January."

While the school had managed to worm out of any kind of actual repercussions over that as it had happened outside of school hours and (barely) off of school grounds, they had still promised to make sure that they would keep an eye out to prevent any follow ups.

Taylor snorted in response to the question.

"Not in the slightest," said Taylor, "But today was especially bad. Gladly saw the whole thing and just did…nothing."

Danny ruthlessly shoved down the urge to animate some of his pawns and hunt down the worthless teacher.

"And thats why you came home?" he asked.

Taylor nodded.

"I knew they were pretty much useless, but to see it that blatantly…I can't go back Dad," she said, "Sophia could have killed me with that stunt and a teacher did NOTHING, despite seeing the whole thing. If this keeps up, they are going to do something that will seriously hurt me."

Danny took a deep breath, strangling both his rage and the dark feeling of self loathing rising in his stomach. Now was not the time for either. Now was the time to help his child and be a Father.

"Alright, I'll get you pulled out," he said, "What do you want to do? Try for a transfer or go home school? I'm sure I can get you put on the list for Arcadia if you want."

Taylor bit her lip.

"I think…I think I'd prefer to be homeschooled for now," she said, "Thanks to those bitches, my grades are in the toilet, so I doubt I'll be able to get into any other school. Besides, the last thing I want to deal with is more teenagers."

Danny nodded. He wanted to push for Arcadia, but now wasn't the time. He'd approach the issue later if needed, but Taylors wants came first now.

"What about Winslow?" he asked, "Do you want to do anything with that?"

Taylor shrugged.

"I guess, but I don't know what can really be done," she said, "I mean, theres not really that much evidence. I have my journal, but other than that…"

"Well, I can at least show it to Alan," said Danny, "He'd probably know better than me. Do you mind if I have a look at it?"

Taylor shrugged and pointed at the thick binder that was on the coffee table.

"Sure, I thought you'd want to," she said, "I brought it down after I called you."

Danny stared at the massive binder, stuffed with even more loose notes and felt his heart sink further. Just how much had he missed before the Trio woke him up? He swallowed, opened the binder and began to read.

As it turned out, he'd missed quite a bit. His heart broke when he read that Emma was one of the ringleaders and he made a mental note to have a strongly worded conversation with Alan later. He also felt a surge of horror and rage when he realised that another of the three, and likely the one who had pushed Taylor down the stairs if the other actions she had taken were anything to go by, was Shadow Stalker.

Finally, after what felt like forever, he was done and shut the binder. For a moment, he stared down at it, before he turned and looked at Taylor.

"Taylor…" he started, "Taylor, I'm so sorry. I missed so much, I should have…"

Taylor cut him off with a hug.

"Don't worry about it Dad," she mumbled into his shirt, "Neither of us were in a good place and I was the one who hid it from you."

Danny smiled, despite his tears and hugged Taylor back. For a moment, they both stayed like that, relishing in the warmth of their family bond. At the back of Dannys mind, the soft song of his power shifted to a more upbeat rhythm. Eventually, Danny reluctantly broke the hug.

"Alright, I have work to do," he said, "Don't worry, I'll handle all this."

Taylor nodded and yawned.

"OK, I think I'll go have a nap," she said.

Danny nodded and watched Taylor vanish upstairs. For a moment, he considered the amount of time Taylor was spending sleeping lately and wondering if he should get her a checkup, before deciding that he could deal with that later. Instead, he pulled out his work phone and dialled his boss.

"Armsmaster, what do you need Game Master?" said Colins voice down the line, "I thought you had clocked out to deal with a family matter?"

"I have and this is related to it," said Danny, "My daughter was pushed down the stairs at school and, according to her, it was Sophia Hess who did it. Not only that, but I have a huge folder full of documented bullying targeting my daughter, of which Hess was one of the main perpetrators."

There was a moment of silence from the other end of the line.

"I see," said Colin, "Thank you for informing me of this. I shall investigate immediately."

The Tinker hung up in his usual brusque manner after being given an important task, leaving Danny to drop his phone and take a deep breath. Right, that was the easy stuff dealt with, now for the more difficult job. He reached for the phone and dialled Alans mobile.

You know what? I'm going to leave this one here. The next chapter really needs to be all in one go and this is a good place to end it.

The basic gist of Taylors power is that the more people from an area she meets and interacts with, the more she has access to. So, she basically has access to the whole of the Express and, with three Xianzhou natives on her roster, she can access a number of places there as well. The people she meets is also determined by what she needs or wants at that time. She needed training, so she met Jing Yuan, who introduce her to a training partner and, since she always needs more friends, her power provided another one in the form of Sushang. We'll see more examples of that next chapter.

So yeah, theres the attack. Not as bad as it could have been, but still really not good. And with Gladly just standing there and doing fuck all, it was basically the last straw.

Himeko drops by for some patching up and good advice. I did nearly use Welt for this, but figured Himeko was a better choice.

I do like a Danny who puts in the effort. Of course, this one has an incentive to want to tighten his bonds with others. I wonder if people can guess whats going on with him? Hehe, I might need to expand my armoury soon…

And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!

BB-Leviathan · Feb 5, 2024

Please tell me Taylor is going to end up being as much of a gremlin trash panda as stelle is!!

Dis Lexic · Feb 5, 2024

BB-Leviathan said:
Please tell me Taylor is going to end up being as much of a gremlin trash panda as stelle is!!

Probably not since theres way to much shit going on and I'm trying to keep this from going full crack, but we will see some gremlin trash panda action in the future

Dis Lexic · Feb 19, 2024

Blaze a New Path

Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.

And we are back. Nothing much to say here, other than enjoy!

Chapter 7

Taylor settled back on her bench and stretched. She had quickly come to love spending time in the Luofu just as much as the Astral Express. The express was amazing and she loved all of the crew, but it was also small and often noisy. The Luofu on the other hand felt far more open and relaxing. Here, she could sit on a bench and watch the endless, fascinating procession of Humanity going about their day while enjoying the warm sun.

Plus, the architecture was amazing.

All told, it was the perfect place to just sit and think, without interruptions from the Express crew doing something chaotic.

As if on cue, a purple blur suddenly came vaulting over her bench, skidded to a stop and dove under Taylors seat, taking cover behind her legs as a trio of men in green robes sprinted past and vanished around a corner that led towards the Exalting Sanctum.

"Phew, finally lost them!"

The purple blur crawled out from under the bench and scrambled up to sit next to Taylor, revealing it to actually be a small girl dressed in purple with matching hair, a purple tail and a pair of small horns sticking out of her forehead.

"What was that all about?" asked Taylor, "Do you need help?"

"Nah, I can manage," said the girl with a grin, "Slipping my minders is easy these days!"

"I…see," said Taylor, not entirely sure what to make of that.

The girl cleared her throat.

"Anyway, I'm Bailu, a doctor from the Alchemy Commission," she said, "Come here, let me have a look at you."

Before Taylor could protest, the tiny doctor grabbed her face and pulled her in to take a close look at the bandaged scrape on her face, then quickly checked her over, somehow managing to poke every bruise Taylor had received from her fall with unerring accuracy.

"Hmm, I'd say you took a fall down some stairs," said Bailu, "I'd say that you'll be fine, theres no damage more serious than a bit of bruising."

Taylor stared at Bailu.

"How in the world could you tell all of that with a glance?" she asked.

"Like I said, I'm a doctor," said Bailu as she hopped off the bench, "Now come on, lets get the other thing treated."

Taylor frowned.

"Other thing?" she asked.

"Yep, you're clearly in a bad mood and that needs treatment," said Bailu, "I tend to find that good food and company is the best medicine for those and I know where we can get both! Come on!"

She seized Taylors hand and pulled her to her feet, forcing Taylor to stumble after the much smaller girl as Bailu dragged Taylor away from her brooding bench.

It didn't take them long to reach their destination, a smaller district that was surprisingly full for its small size and out of the way area. However, what caught Taylors attention the most was the sheer amount of delicious smells that dominated the area. It was more than enough to make her stomach growl loudly, getting a grin from Bailu.

"Welcome to Aurum Alley, the best place on the Luofu for good food and people who won't rat you out!" said Bailu with a grand gesture, "Come on, I'll show you around!"

She sprinted off, leaving Taylor to hurry after her little guide. The next couple of hours was spent being introduced to the various vendors that called the alley home, especially the food vendors, all of whom seemed to know Bailu well and were quite fond of the little doctor.

They were just talking to a woman, who was apparently called Tall Aunty for…some reason Taylor decided not to ask, when the low buzz of bustle that filled the alley was interrupted by a loud crash. Taylor nearly jumped out of her skin and looked around wildly for the source, only to quickly find it in the form of a young, redheaded woman in a revealing, red dress stood on a makeshift stage with a gong in one hand and a smouldering brazier at her feet.

"Hey everyone, listen up!" she called, "We got some brands, bright as the sun, so pay attention, its time for some fun!"

Beside Taylor, Bailu perked up and grinned.

"Oh hey, I didn't know Lil Gui was going to be performing today!" she said, hopping off her stool and grabbing Taylors hand, "Come on Taylor!"

She pulled Taylor over to join the crowd that had begun to gather around the girl as she dropped her gong and seized the metal rods sticking out of her brazier, yanking them out in a shower of sparks as music began to play from somewhere, striking up a swift beat. With a slightly manic grin, the girl struck up a fast dance with the burning brands, sending sparks flying and painting short lived pictures in the air with her movements. The crowd clearly loved it if the noise they were making was anything to go by and Taylor couldn't help but notice that many of them pulled out phones to record the performance. Apparently all sentient creatures had the same inclination, even semi-immortal aliens.

For some reason, that idea struck Taylor was rather funny.

Finally, as the brands began to burn down, the performer stomped on her stage with a heel and a second girl popped out from behind, drawing a massive sword that she slipped under her partners feet. A moment later, the red-head was sent skyward with a mighty heave. The redheaded performer flipped over and flung an arc of small balls she'd apparently had hidden in her dress, which promptly exploded into a riot of colourful fireworks as she brought her brands to her mouth and blew out a huge plume of fire, the entire thing somehow briefly creating the shape of a roaring lion-dog.

Taylor gladly joined in the applause as the girl landed and took a bow.

"Man, Lil Gui's performances are always great!" said the short girl stood beside Taylor, "Totally worth ditching work to see!"

With the show over, the crowd began to disperse, most of them pausing to exchange a few words with Gui and her assistant and drop a few Strale into a bucket that had been set up by the stage. Once it had cleared somewhat, Taylor followed Bailu as she skipped over to the two. As she approached, Taylor suddenly realised that the girl who had been helping the performer was Sushang, the Cloud Knight Jing Yuan had assigned to show her around last time she had been on the Luofu.

"Oh, hey Taytay!" said Sushang as the Cloud Knight spotted Taylor, "I didn't know you were back!"

Taylor twitched slightly at the nickname.

"Please don't call me that," she said, "I was in the area and ended up getting dragged along by Bailu here."

"Hey, I couldn't just leave you brooding like that!" said Bailu, "You might not be a Native, but spending your time brooding is bad for everyone!"

"Well said Dragon Lady!" said the redhead with a grin, "I entirely agree! Nice ta meet you Taytay, I'm Guinaifen, Streamer, entertainer and Shangshangs best friend!"

"I'm Taylor," said Taylor, "Please don't call me Taytay."

"Anyway, we're done here, so lets go get some lunch," said Guinaifen, "Come join us Taytay!"

Taylor opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, she was swept up in Guinaifen's blazing wake.

Despite herself, Taylor found herself greatly enjoying spending time with Guinaifen and Sushang. They refused to stop calling her Taytay and she eventually gave up asking them to stop, but despite her dislike of the nickname, she found that she didn't mind these two using it. It was almost impossible to actually dislike them, despite Taylor's lingering issues from the Trio.

After lunch, Bailu had left, citing a need to actually get back to work, leaving Taylor with Sushang and Guinaifen. Not that that changed much. The two girls had decided to take over from Bailu and Sushang had been told to act as Taylors guide, so they ended up giving her another tour, this time including some places that were more off the beaten path.

As they made their way through one of the residential Delves, Sushang paused and looked down an alley, frowning slightly.

"Something wrong Shangshang?" asked Guinaifen.

"Isn't that Huohuo?" said Sushang, pointing down the alley.

Guinaifen and Taylor followed the Cloud Knights finger to where a small, green haired Foxian was staring at a gloomy looking house with a nervous look on her face.

"I think so," said Guinaifen, "She looks like she needs help, come on!"

Without waiting for her companions, she marched down the alley towards the girl, leaving Taylor and Sushang to follow her.

"Another friend of yours?" asked Taylor.

"Yeah, we worked together on a project for the…actually, I probably shouldn't mention that," said Sushang, "But yes, we're friends. We try to help her out with her work when we can shes…not very good with scary things."

As if to prove her point, Guinaifen closed in on the girl and spoke up.

"Hey there!" she said.

"YEEK!"

The little Foxian leaped a foot in the air and scuttled back, pressing herself against the wall of the alley and shaking like a leaf.

"N-noooo, stay away!" she screamed, waving a flag she'd pulled from somewhere wildly in front of her.

"Oh for the love of…calm down brat, its just the fireworks girl," said a deep voice from somewhere behind the girl.

The girl stopped flailing and opened one eye. She let out a sigh of relief and got to her feet, still shaking slightly.

"H-hello Miss Guinaifen," she said, "Um, did you need something?"

"Nah, we just saw you and thought you might need some help," said Guinaifen.

"O-oh, thats nice of you, but I probably shouldn't…"

"If we leave it with you, we'll never get anywhere!" said the deep voice, "Tell the girl and lets get this over with! And whos the new girl?"

Taylor and Sushang had finally caught up.

"Oh, right, this is Taylor," said Guinaifen, "Taytay, this is Houhou and Tail."

Huohuo's tail seemed to erupt into ghostly green flames and separated from Huohuo, forming into the shape of a green fireball with an almost cartoony canine face.

"Hrumph, I thought something weird was going on," said Tail, "So, you're the anchor for this whole mess?"

Taylor frowned.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, "What are you talking about?"

Tail paused and turned back to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait, so you don't…oh, now that is rich!" he said with a bark of laughter, "You have no idea where we are, do you?"

"U-um, what are you talking about Mr Tail?" asked Houhou.

"And you didn't notice either," said Tail, "Can't say I'm surprised about these two morons, but I'd have thought a Judge, even one as useless as you, would be able to tell."

Houhou visibly wilted.

"Hey now, no need to be harsh!" said Sushang, "Now, what are you talking about?"

"Tch, fine, I guess I should tell you," grumbled Tail, "Or, actually, I'll just show you. Hey brat, get the door open!"

Houhou perked up and glanced over at the door she had been standing in front of before the trios arrival.

"Um, OK?" she said, "But…why? It's a weird report, but it's probably just another Helobus…right?"

"Nah, not this time," said Tail, "In fact, I suspect that the thing we're after is because of HER."

He pointed at Taylor with a tongue of flame.

"Wait, how could whatever you're here for be my fault?" asked Taylor.

"Well, this is your dream, right?" said Tail, "You have more control than most, but your subconscious still reigns. That has an effect, especially when your mind is trying to figure something else. The result is…"

Houhou opened the door and the girls stared through with wide eyes.

"...that," said Tail, sounding smug.

Instead of the normal inside of a rundown house, the door led into a bizarre, twisted landscape that looked more like the rundown hallway of a school on Earth than anything on the Loufu. After a few moments, Taylor recognized that it was, in fact, just that. In fact, it was the main hallway of Winslow, albeit…off. Everything was a shade of dark blue and a number of orbs of light floated in various places, providing a remarkably eerie light.

"W-what is this place?" asked Taylor.

"This is the Dreamscape," said Tail, "Also known as the Memory Zone. You might consider it as the basic foundation of these dreams. I have no idea whats actually FORMING these dreams, or letting you connect us to them, but I do know how these sorts of things work."

"How did you manage that?" asked Sushang.

"You really think we can't tell when we are being screwed with?" said Tail, "We are masters of illusion and trickery, we can tell when something is screwy. Plus, we're energy beings, so we tend to be a bit more aware of when things…change. Anyway, enough standing around, lets go!"

"Whoa, wait a sec, are you sure its safe?'' asked Taylor.

Tail snorted.

"Its as safe as your subconscious can be," he said, "Sides, we can handle anything we might find in there and, perhaps more importantly, we wouldn't be able to access this unless it was something that you wanted. This IS your world after all."

Taylor frowned at that and glanced at her friends. Sushang shrugged.

"I don't really get whats going on, but this sounds like it could be fun," she said, summoning her oversized sword.

"Hell yeah, I'm always down for an adventure!" said Guinaifen with a wide grin, "Come on Taytay, lets see what your subconscious can come up with!"

"I feel like you two are taking this whole dream thing entirely too well," said Taylor.

Guinaifen shrugged.

"I don't really care to be honest," she said, "I've been around a few Heliobi and they tend to spout bullshit."

"HEY…fair point actually."

"Tail might be telling the truth, but I can deal with that later," continued Guinaifen, ignoring Tails protest, "If this is a dream, its a fun one, if not, I get a potentially fun adventure out of it and help a friend."

"What she said," said Sushang, pointing at the redhead.

"U-um, same," said Houhou, "B-but if this is a dream, can't you make me a bit braver?"

Taylor looked between her new friends and sighed.

"Well, I guess I can't really argue with that," she said, "Fine, whatever, lets get this over with. I don't want to spend any more time in Winslow than I absolutely have to, dreamscape or otherwise."

She summoned her bat and stepped up to the door with her friends. As she did, Houhou joined them.

"I-I'm coming to," she said, "This was my mission first, so I-I can't chicken out!"

"Thats the spirit brat," said Tail, "Just try not to piss yourself when we run into something scary."

He vanished and returned to Houhou's tail. Taylor made a mental note to have a word with the green flame creature once this was over, then took a fortifying breath and stepped through the door into the nightmare of her old school.

And with that, I'm done. Well, that certainly took a turn, no?

A meeting with the cutest doctor around, because she needs a healer, followed by some new friends. Because you can't go wrong with Gui and Sushang. Besides, I kinda want to do a scene where Vicky meets those two. I suspect they'll get along like a house on fire.

Well now, isn't that interesting? A look into how her power actually functions behind the scenes. And yes, this form of it has been largely inspired by Penacony. I have to say, the entire thing with the Dreamscape was remarkably handy in giving me something vaguely canonical to make this idea work.

As for why Tail can tell that they are in a dream and everyone else can't, well, he pretty much spelled it out for us. As it stands, those who are drawn into Taylors dream genuinely can't tell that they are dreaming and generally don't remember much when they wake up, with a few exceptions and basically view their experiences as normal dreams…right up until they get something that transfers back with them.

Anyway, next time a dungeon delve, make sure you bring some fire and physical characters along for the ride! I suspect this party is really badly constructed, but at least they have the best healer in the game! Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!

PrimeKnight · Feb 19, 2024

well shit... subconscious dreamscape is a scary place... but hey atleast it's not the trio ID, EGO and SUPEREGO I think that's where more fckery is happening... moreso when it's the mind of insane or weebs... after all they saw the infamous R34 etc.

Dis Lexic · Apr 15, 2024

Blaze a New Path

Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.

And we are back. Nothing much to say here, other than enjoy!

Chapter 8

"This place is a dump," said Guinaifen as she stepped around a pile of broken desks that were floating around a basket ball sized glowing orb, "Is the real version of it this bad?"

"Worse, there are people there," said Taylor.

The group had been making their way through the dreamscape for a while now and Taylor had quickly concluded that, while it looked like Winslow, it wasn't actually that close to the school. While it had enough similarities to be recognizable, the posters on the walls and pin boards were all advertising different Capes, like a smug lizard, a bee themed villain or a shrine with a pawprint instead of the more normal things you'd expect in a school, the corridors were completely incomprehensible and more than one room they had investigated had a been upside down, with the furniture on the ceiling.

The worst part was the bizarre, mannequin like figures that occasionally appeared. They didn't do much, just stood around in groups and produced indistinct whispering that carried unnaturally and faded as the group got closer to a group. To make matters worse, as they passed, the figures' heads would all turn towards them and follow them as they moved away, the whispers getting more intense as they left. It was all incredibly creepy and it didn't take long for Houhou to be nearly plastered to Taylors back, shaking like a leaf. Even Tail had stopped making snarky comments.

Aside from being creepy as fuck, the masks the figures were wearing were interesting. There appeared to be four in total, red and black, red and green, blue and yellow and black and gold. The first three were all the gang colours and carried shapes and themes that were tied to the gangs, like wolves, knights and Nazi symbology for the Empire, Dragons, foxes, crows and other Asian inspired creatures for the ABB and a generic mess that looked slapped together for the Merchants. The black and gold ones were probably meant to represent the unaligned students, because what else were the manikins supposed to be, because those were the school colours. Those masks were all shaped the same, although they did have unique patterns.

Eventually, after walking for what felt like forever, the group rounded a corner and found that the bizarre maze had finally come to a stop. Instead of more school corridors, the hall opened out into a large, circular chamber that was lined with lockers in various states of disrepair, each of which had a masked figure seemingly bursting out of them in a shower of…something. It wasn't clear what it was supposed to be, but based on the twisted shapes, it probably wasn't anything good.

"Alright, now whats this supposed to be?" asked Sushang, moving over to examine one of the sculptures, "Any ideas Taytay?"

"Not a clue," said Taylor, "Getting locked in my locker was one of the few 'pranks' those bitches didn't do to me. Tail?"

"Don't look at me!" protested the Heliobus, "I'm no expert in this shit, I just know the basics. If ya want more, you'll need one of the Harmony's brats."

"U-um, are we done here then?" said Houhou, "Theres nothing here, so we can go back, right?"

"Oh for the love of Lan, will you grow a spine brat!"

Taylor tuned out the arguing pair as she walked over to the locker directly across from the main hall. This one was larger than the others and the figure was more detailed, her mask resembling a vaguely insectoid form, with large yellow lenses and mandibles around the mouth.

As Taylor stared into the yellow orbs, a strange sense of familiarity stole over her, but before she could figure out why, a cry from Guinaifen made her duck, barely avoiding a massive, clawed paw that nearly took her head off.

Taylor stumbled back, summoning her bat as her friends joined her, their own weapons at the ready, as they all looked up at the creature clinging to the wall and glaring at them.

It was a chimaera, with the head and forebody of a panther, the back legs of a blue feathered bird with the birds head on its back where the goat would normally be and a serpent with crimson scales for a tail.

The massive beast jumped off the wall and landed heavily, each head letting out a scream from each head that created a horrific, discordant sound that seemed to drill into Taylors head. The sound forced her to cover her ears and nearly resulted in her losing her head as the Chimera took advantage of the parties pain to pounce. Taylor ducked the snapping jaws of the snake as Sushang blocked the Panthers massive paw with her own massive sword and Guinaifen and Houhou jumped back to get into a better position.

Taylor stumbled as she avoided another strike from the snake, the ringing in her ears putting her off balance, before a paper tag slapped against her chest and a wave of green light washed over her, washing away the disorientation. Surprised, she glanced over at the source of the tag. Houhou nodded and waved her flag, directing more tags over to Sushang, healing a cut she'd taken from another claw swipe.

"I-I'll keep you up, you guys focus on the fight!" she called.

Taylor nodded and turned her attention back to the Chimera. Sushang was dealing with the front end, meeting the massive claws blow for blow with her sword, while Guinaifen was dancing around and showering the bird head with firecrackers and other pyrotechnics, leaving Taylor to deal with the snake. The red reptile came in again, fangs bared and dripping venom, but instead of ducking, this time Taylor met it with a solid blow with her bat. The snake recoiled, spitting blood and Taylor pressed the attack, intending to deal with the monster quickly so she could get this over with.

However, as her bat reached the snake, the birds head let out a shriek that hit with a physical force, blasting all three attackers back and sending Taylors head spinning. A moment later, the disorientation vanished again as Houhou did her thing. Taylor stumbled to her feet as the bird let out another shriek. This time, the shadows around the creature seemed to coraless and four of the masked mannequins stepped out, armed with an eclectic mix of weapons.

"Oh come on!" shouted Taylor as a mannequin in a red and black wolf mask ran at her with a knife.

She ducked the strike and took the masked head off with a swing of her bat, sending the animated doll dissolving back into darkness. The others were quickly dispatched by the rest of the party, but the bird simply shrieked again and another four appeared. This time, all four ignored the three fighters and instead charged towards Huohuo.

"Ahhh, someone help me!" she yelped as she ducked under the reaching hands and retreated.

Taylor scowled and started to move towards the healer, but before she could take more than a couple of steps, Tail blazed to life.

"Hey, hands off the brat!" he snarled as he surged up, "This ones mind, find your own pray!"

Huohuo grabbed the green fireball as it passed and Tail seemed to vanish. A moment later, one of the Chimera's minions launched itself at the little Foxian, switchblade aimed at her face. Instead of retreating, Huohuo's hand snapped up and caught the mannequins wrist.

"I said, hands off," growled the green haired girl, looking up and fixing the animated doll with a literally burning glare.

Taylor took a step back at the unexpected change, before being reminded that she had more important things to worry about as the snake tail took a swipe at her.

"Hey, should we be worried about that?" she called over to Guinaifen.

"Hmm? Oh, no, I wouldn't worry," said the juggler as she vaulted over the Chimera's paws and threw yet another handful of firecrackers in its face, "They can handle it."

Taylor looked back over at the possessed Huohuo, just in time to see her slam a fist into one of the dolls and shatter it with a flash of green and black light

"Like hell would I let a pathetic thing like this hurt my host!" snarled Tail, "Alright, thats enough, time to end this!"

He brought Huohuo's hands together and began to chant in a language Taylor didn't recognize but somehow managed to shake the air with the force of its intonation. More of the paper dolls Huohuo used rippled out and formed a ring around the Chimera, locking it in place with crackling energy.

"Someone get that damn bird!" shouted Tail, "We can't hold it for long and we won't get anywhere until its gone!"

"I got this!" shouted Sushang, heaving up her sword, "Take this, Shape of Taixu!"

There was a loud crack and an enormous, round angry looking bird appeared in a huge puff of smoke. It let out a cheaping battlecry and charged. There was a massive crash and the Chimera was smushed under an enormous, feathery behind. The panther head let out a rather pathetic sounding wheeze while the snake thrashed around from where it stuck out from under the birds butt.

A moment later, the oversized chicken vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the Chimera looking considerably flatter and the birds head quite clearly dead.

"The bird is silenced!" called Sushang.

"Nice work Shangshang!" called Guinaifen, "Come on Taytay, lets finish this thing!"

"Don't call me that!" shouted Taylor back as she charged up her bat and charged the snake.

Guinaifen chuckled as she ran towards the still wheezing panther head. Taylor dodged around a half hearted snap from the snake and swung her bat.

"You've outstayed your welcome!" she shouted as she hit it in the chin, shattering its teeth and snapping its spine.

At the same time, Guinaifen vaulted over the panthers head, baiting a weak snap and taking the opportunity to drop a bundle of firecrackers down its gullet. A moment later, they went off and the Chimera vomited up a mixture of smoke and burnt blood, before going limp. Tail released his technique and flashed out of Huohuo, causing the little Foxian to collapse to her knees, breathing heavily.

"Did we get it?" asked Sushang.

A moment later, she got her answer as the monster melted into a puddle of bluish goo. The remaining mannequins dissolved back into shadows, leaving the room calm again.

"Well, that was a complete mess," growled Tail, "You must have one fucked up life to generate something like that!"

"What was that thing anyway?" asked Sushang, "It didn't really seem to fit in here."

Tail snorted.

"Like I keep saying, this place is HER subconscious," he said, jabbing a flaming paw in Taylors direction, "Dreams exist for a reason and whatever it is thats controlling this one can't fully keep intense ones from influencing the surface dreams."

"Are you saying that that thing was my fault?" asked Taylor.

"Only in the same way your normal dreams are your fault," said Tail, "I'd suggest avoiding cheese before bed, but other than that, you can't control this lower level of the Dreamscape."

Taylor thought about that for a moment, before deciding that it wasn't worth asking anything else.

"We should probably get going," she said, "I don't really feel like staying here longer than I have to."

She turned to the corridor, but before she could take more than a step, reality seemed to dissolve around her and, in the blink of an eye, she and her companions were back in the alley where they had started.

"Huh…well thats handy," she said.

"Yeah, I don't think I could have taken another walk through that creepy place," said Sushang, leavering herself to her feet and dismissing her sword, "Man, I'm beat…"

"That was one hell of a workout," said Guinaifen, "I could use something to eat after that. You guys coming?"

"U-um, I'd love to, but I need to make my report," said Huohuo.

"Aww come on, that can wait, right?" said Guinaifen, slinging an arm around the little Foxians shoulder, "Come on, lets go cool off from the boss fight with a feast!"

Huohuo dithered for a moment, before wilting and nodding.

"Great! I know just the place!" said Guinaifen, "Come on Shangshang, Taytay, lets go eat!"

The red headed performer led the way out of the alley, with an eager Sushang following. Taylor stared after the three girls, an odd feeling coiling in her stomach. It still felt strange to her to have so easily found so many friends in such a short amount of time, despite the damage the Trio had done to her self confidence and social skills and the fact that they were almost certainly the result of her bizarre power certainly didn't help. And then there was what Tail had said…

"Hey Taytay, come on!" shouted Guinaifen, "I'm hungry!"

"Coming!" called Taylor, running after her friends.

She'd think about the implications of Tails' comments later, for now she'd leave the existential crisis for Future Taylor.

A few hours later, after a whirlwind tour of some of the Loufu eateries, Taylor returned to the Express. She dropped into one of the sofas in the Parlor Car, glad that the room was empty for once, and let her mind go back over the events of the day and what she had decided to push off to enjoy some food with her friends, specifically what Tail had said.

She didn't…really like the little fireball, he was abrasive and his treatment of Huohuo didn't help, but he didn't strike her as a liar. That said, his explanation had…interesting implications to put it mildly. She had no idea where her power had pulled the apparently fully realised people she'd met in her dreams, but they couldn't actually be real…right?

And if they were, what did that mean exactly? Was she somehow summoning them across space and time from…wherever they lived to Earth Bet? And why were they all so willing to be her friend? Was she Mastering them somehow? It clearly wasn't absolute, they could go against her wishes, but the really insidious and dangerous Master powers weren't complete mindwipes. Was it even possible to figure out what was actually going on? After all, if they were simply constructs of her powers, would they know? And what…

"Taylor?"

The sudden voice cut through Taylors increasingly chaotic thoughts and nearly made her fall off the sofa. She opened her eyes and looked up to see a worried looking Mr Yang looking down at her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She swallowed.

"I-I'm fine," she said, "Just…thinking."

Mr Yang nodded and took a seat in the chair across from her, putting one of the cups he was holding in front of her.

"Drink that, it will help calm your thoughts down," he said.

Taylor stared at the steaming cup for a moment, then slowly took it and took a sip. Immediately, she felt her body relax as the herbal tea did its job. Mr Yang took a sip from his own cup and settled back in his chair.

"Now, why don't you tell me whats bothering you?" he asked, "I might be of some assistance."

Taylor stared down at her reflection in her tea for a moment, weighing her options in her mind. She still wasn't…entirely sure if she should discuss her worries with what might be aspects of her own imagination, but on the other hand, Mr Yang was reliable and she needed another viewpoint.

"I'm…not really sure how to explain it," she said, "Not tactfully at least, so I'm just going to say it. I have no idea if you guys are real or not and its driving me crazy."

Mr Yang hummed thoughtfully.

"What brought this on?" he asked.

Taylor told the older man the story of what had happened on the Loufu, what Tail had told her and her worries.

"Ah, I see," said Mr Yang, "Well, I'm not sure if I can settle your fears that we aren't real, but I can confirm that you aren't physically summoning us to your world. That said, there is some level of connection between us."

Taylor looked up sharply.

"March found some dolls she acquired during your day out in her room after she woke up," said Mr Yang, "And when Himeko patched you up, she took a few slips of paper from your house that were in her hand after she woke up."

"How is that even possible?" whispered Taylor, now even more torn about what to think about this situation.

Mr Yang shrugged.

"In my experience, almost anything is possible," he said, "I am still unsure if your world is apart of our own Universe or another branch of the Imaginary Tree, but I am sure that we are both very real."

Taylor frowned.

"Are you…suggesting that I might somehow be connecting to another reality?" she asked, "Like Earth Aleph?"

"Its possible," said Mr Yang, "But we can't be sure quite yet. We are investigating it though."

Taylor felt a shiver go up her spin at that.

"Why?" she asked.

Mr Yang sighed.

"Taylor, your world is dying," he said, "Something is very wrong with it and that is concerning. Himeko received some very odd readings when she ran some scans while she was with you and they are extremely worrying. If we are in the same Universe, that is something we have to investigate. If nothing else, if we can find your world, we can provide some aid in dealing with your problems and connect you with the rest of the Galactic Society."

Taylor blinked.

"You'd do that?" she asked.

Mr Yang shrugged.

"Thats what being a Trailblazer means," he said.

The two of them lapsed into silence for a moment as Taylor absorbed all that. She felt…a little better. She still wasn't entirely sure if she believed that everything Mr Yang had said was true, but it did make her feel a bit better, if only because she had got her worries out.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked eventually.

Mr Yang raised an eyebrow.

"I…don't know if I fully believe everything you said," she admitted, "But a good way to do that would be to confirm that we are in the same Universe…right? There must be something I can do to help you find Earth."

Mr Yang smiled slightly and pulled a box out of his pocket.

"I was planning to give you this anyway, but since you ask, just holding onto this will help," he said, handing Taylor the box.

She opened it and was surprised to find a normal looking smartphone inside. She pulled it out and found that it had a black case with a golden pattern that looked like a cross between a spider web and a series of train tracks.

"That can connect to the Galaxy Net across vast distances," said Mr Yang, "Its also got a built in booster that should be allow it to connect, assuming you are within range of a beacon."

"And if I'm not?" asked Taylor.

Mr Yang shrugged.

"Then you are in a completely out of the way spot or something is blocking the signal," he said, "But either way, it will help us narrow down where your world is."

"Will I even be able to take this out of here?" asked Taylor.

"March and Himeko we able to bring things through, so I don't see why you wouldn't be able to," said Mr Yang.

Taylor stared down at the phone, feeling a little torn. Her Dad had calmed down his distaste for phones since he had started his new job, he'd had to since it relied on him being in contact at all times, but she still didn't have one. There wasn't really much point when she didn't have anyone to call and she herself still had a level of dislike for them. That said, it would be useful to have one and it might help shed some light on this whole mess.

She took a deep breath and picked up the phone.

"Thanks Mr Yang," she said, "For…everything today."

"Don't mention it Taylor," said Mr Yang with a fond smile, "You are a part of the crew after all, its only right that I'd help."

Taylor returned the smile and took a deep breath.

"Alright, I should probably go now," she said, "I'll see you later."

"Stay safe Taylor," said Mr Yang.

Taylor nodded and closed her eyes. A moment later, she opened them again and found herself back in her bedroom. She lay still for a moment, staring up at the ceiling, before she lifted her arm and stared at the black and gold phone still clutched in her hand.

She groaned and let her arm fall to cover her eyes. Things were getting complicated and she didn't know how to feel about that.

The phone in her hand buzzed and she looked at the screen to see that a message had come through. Hesitantly, she navigated the menus to open the messaging app.

You have been added to the Astral Express chat

March 7th: Hey Taylor! Mr Yang said he'd given you a new phone! Now we can chat even when we're apart!

Dan Heng: Don't spam her too much March.

March 7th: I won't!

March 7th: Oh, actually, now I can finally introduce you to my other bestie!

PIC

Taylor blinked as an image of March with her arm around another girl dressed in black with long, grey hair and hooded, yellow eyes popped up in the chat.

March 7th: This is Stelle!

Stelle: Heeey, a little warning next time!

Stelle: Still, its nice to finally meet you Taylor, I've heard a lot from March.

March 7th: Its so annoying that you can't meet Taylor like we can! I wanna go out with my girls!

Taylor frowned. March had told her about Stelle, the last member of the Express, but for some reason, they had never met, despite them having made several attempts at summoning her to Taylor Dreamscape. It was a weird limitation and only added to the pile of questions that needed answering. Unfortunately, it wasn't likely they would get any answers any time soon, although it was nice to see that she could connect to the Express' chat. Whether that was her power doing something or if she had genuinely just contacted aliens was still up in the air, but hopefully, she'd found out eventually.

And with that, I am done! Hoo boy, this chapter was a massive pain in the ass for some reason. I blame the Chimera. I'm not really happy with that fight, but fuck it, I'm sick of redoing it over and over. Work being mental certainly didn't help matters, but what can you do?

Yes, that Chimera does represent the Trio, no this is not a Persona situation. She isn't suddenly over her issues because she smushed a nightmare, it was simply a construct created by her mind in response to the stress of the day. Basically, her Shard has hijacked her brains natural dreaming rhythms, but strong feelings can occasionally get through.

To be clear, that wasn't a boss mob. The Chimera was just an Elite enemy type, like the robot Trex cooks in Penacony.

I've been playing Dragons Dogma lately, which miiiiight have manifested here.

A short conversation with Mr Yang brings up some very interesting potential problems that I'm sure won't cause problems later.

Anyway, I'm going to sign off now. With any luck, the next chapter will take less time. Until then, don't forget to leave a review on the way out!

Andorxor · Apr 15, 2024

Dis Lexic said:
she was locked in the paper dumpster

Paper is a good insulator, she probably would be dead already in the food dumpster

Dis Lexic · Apr 25, 2024

Blaze a New Path

Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.

And we are back. Oh, and before I forget, spoilers for the end of the Trailblazer quest in 2.1 are ahead. Although considering recent reveals and the general state of the fandom from what I can tell, I probably don't need the warning…Still, you have been warned. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

Amy Dallon let out a sigh as she slammed the door behind her and leaned against it. She was finally done with the days batch of patents, which meant that she could disappear for a bit to try and recharge before yet more idiots came by needing her help. She pushed of the door and wondered towards the edge of the roof, digging a cigarette and lighter out of her robe as she went. However, as she pulled out her lighter and moved to light up, she looked up and froze when she saw that her normal spot was occupied.

Leaning against the railing that ran around the edge of the roof was a girl with long, silvery blonde hair, wearing a pale green shirt, a white skirt and a brown jacket. It took a moment, but Amy recognized her as one of the people she had healed that day, a girl with some kind of degenerate disease that had been eating away at her body. The disease had been somewhat novel, but nothing that special, but what made Amy actually remember the girl above all the others she'd healed was that the girl was some kind of Parahuman. However, Amy made it a point to not remember any Cape she healed outside of costume, even if this girl was rather unusual in how her power had modified her body.

That being said, Amy did tense slightly when she recognized the other girl. Amy might have healed her, but you never knew what unknown Parahumans would do and she'd had a few near misses back when she'd first Triggered.

After a moment's consideration, Amy decided that the chances that she was in any danger was pretty low and, as such, she wasn't willing to risk her one break that kept her from going completely insane. With that in mind, she ignored the voice in the back of her head telling her to be cautious that sounded suspiciously like Carol and stalked over to the edge of the roof, ignoring the other girl as she looked up at Amy's approach.

She took a moment to get her cigarette lit and inhaled, letting the nicotine flow through her and wash away some of her tension, before turning a challenging look on the other girl.

"What?" she asked.

The girl blinked.

"What what?" she asked.

Amy snorted.

"Well, your clearly up here for some reason and I'm the only person who comes up here with any regularity, so its probably me," she said, "So, out with it, what do you want? Just so you know, I don't do requests."

The girl smiled slightly, Amy's venom washing off her like it was nothing.

"You've already done more than enough for me," she said, "You DID heal me earlier."

Amy snorted.

"Yeah, I know," she said, "So what are you still doing here?"

The girl sighed and looked back out over the city.

"I wanted to say thank you," she said, "You moved on a bit too quickly to let me do it earlier."

Amy snorted again.

"You're welcome, now you can leave," she said.

The girl glanced at Amy, who ignored her.

"You know, its weird," she said, "Those of us with the power to do nothing but destroy envy those who can heal, but the healers envy those of us who can only destroy."

Amy jolted and looked over at the other girl, who was staring out across the city again, an unreadable expression on her face.

"I was born to be a weapon," she said, "A tool of destruction. I never even had a choice, just aimed at my creators' enemies and discarded when my purpose was complete."

She looked back to Amy and met her eyes.

"I know what it looks like when someone is trapped in a life they don't want," she said, "The fact that you heal rather than kill doesn't change that fact."

She pushed off the railing and took Amys free hand, pressing something into it.

"I don't think I can help you in the same way you did me, but if you ever want someone to talk to, feel free to call," she said, before releasing Amy's hand and vanishing down the stairwell.

Amy stared after her for a long moment, before looking down at the card the other girl had given her.

"That was…weird," she muttered.

She stared at the card, contemplating whether she should just throw it away or not, but before she could decide, a loud alarm going off inside the hospital chased it from her mind. She cursed and sprinted into the building, absently tucking the card into her robe as she went. Two hours later, she had forgotten the entire encounter.

Amy let out a loud groan as she dropped face first onto her bed. She loved her sister, rather more than she really should, but good god, how was it that she managed to consistently choose the absolute worst people to set her up with? Admittedly, any of the boys Vicky knew were a poor choice, but still. Exactly why Vicky had thought that Amy would get on well with a jock like Jason was anyones guess.

Well, to be fair, he was a nice enough fellow and would be a good boyfriend for most anyone else, but the problem was that he was so deep in the closet that he was spending winter with the White Witch.

It didn't help that Vicky and Dean had spent the entire time making googoo eyes at each other and generally being disgustingly adorable. So yes, all in all, her evening had gone absolutely horribly and now all she wanted to do was get some sleep.

Amy let out a sigh and leaved herself to her feet, kicking her Panacea robes aside as she started getting changed. As she did, something fell out of the pocket, making her pause and pick it up. It was the card the girl had given her the previous day.

For a long moment, Amy stared down at the card, feeling conflicted. On one hand, she knew basically nothing about the other girl, not even her name, other than the fact that she was Parahuman who had apparently been used as a weapon, which carried a whole host of implications. On the other, she had been holding Amy's hand when she'd promised to help if she could and had been totally honest. She really shouldn't take the risk, but she also knew that she couldn't take much more and desperately needed to talk to someone who wasn't connected to New Wave. With some hesitation and a desperate hope that she wasn't about to make the worst mistake of her life, Amy reached for her phone and dialed the girl's number.

March entered the Express Parlor car alongside Stelle, responding to Pompoms call to find the rest of the crew already waiting.

"Whats gong on?" asked March as she joined Dan Heng on the sofa, "Did something happen?"

"We think we've managed to locate Taylors homeworld," said Mr Yang, making March stiffen.

"You have?" she gasped, "Does that mean we can get there?"

"Possibly," said Himeko, "But theres something…weird about the signal we're getting from the tracker in her phone."

"Weird how?" asked Dan Heng.

Himeko frowned.

"Its like…like we're detecting it through multiple layers of frosted glass," she said, "I don't really know how else to describe it. We can pick it up and communicate, but actually tracking the signal is nearly impossible."

"But…you said you'd found it!" protested March.

"We've managed to narrow it down to a likely area," said Mr Yang, "Unfortunately, thats not that helpful when its only down to a likely sector. However, we'll probably be able to get a better idea of where its coming from once we arrive."

"So…we're going?" asked March.

"We are," said Himeko, "Something about this whole situation is concerning."

She glanced at Pompom, who nodded and vanished towards the front of the train, leaving the rest of the crew to make preparations for Warp. For once, March didn't stand up and try to maintain her feet through the jump, instead she remained where she was, staring out the window at the stars.

"Are you alright?" asked Stelle, "You seem…on edge."

March nodded.

"I am," she said, "This whole mess is…well, I don't really know what to think about it. I've somehow made a friend across who knows how many lightyears and neither of us can be 100% sure that the other actually exists. Its…weird and I don't think I'll be able to figure this all out before we actually meet Taylor face to face."

Stelle nodded, but didn't say anything, instead putting an arm around the pink haired girl as Pompom's voice echoed through the train, telling them to brace for Warp jump. A moment later, the train flashed and everything went inside out and jumped forwards. A moment later, there was a loud screech and Pompoms panicked shout over the PA system.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" shrieked the conductor.

A moment later, the entire train slammed to a halt, throwing everyone and everything that wasn't nailed down around the car, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass and a great deal of screaming.

After a few moments, everything stopped and March found herself floating in a bubble of glowing energy generated from Mr Yangs cane, along with the rest of the crew.

"Is everyone OK?" asked Mr Yang.

There was a general chorus of groans of affirmative and he let everyone down. March stumbled slightly as her feet met the deck and she looked around, taking in the mess the car had become. Thankfully, most of the heavy stuff was attached to the floor, but there was a still a lot of broken glass and cups scattered across the floor where they had been thrown out of the cupboards where they were stored.

"Pompom, are you alright?" asked Himeko, "What was that? Did we hit something?"

"Owww, Pompoms fine!" said the bunny as it stumbled into the room, "There was some kind of barrier around the system. Fortunately, it was fairly weak or the Express might have been damaged."

Himeko frowned and quickly accessed the Express's systems from her terminal. While she was checking the Express for damage, March walked over to the window and peered out.

The Express was currently positioned in a new solar system around a standard sun, with nine planets orbiting around it. Between the third and fourth, there was a decent sized asteroid belt. From what she could see, there wasn't any sign of life anywhere.

"I don't think this is the place," said March as she turned to the rest of the Crew.

"No, neither do I," said Himeko, "But…theres something wrong here. According to the records we have, this should be the Ullanor system, but it doesn't match the maps we have."

"I suspect those maps must be fairly old," said Dan Heng, "They could be wrong."

"I suppose so," said Himeko, "But I'm also detecting some really…strange readings from that asteroid field. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say that…"

"Its the remains of a planet," said Mr Yang in a heavy voice, pointing out the window.

The crew stared in mute horror as the orbit of the Express brought them around the sun and allowed them to see the source of the asteroid belt. The shattered remnants of a planet rested in the position of the missing fourth, cold and dead as it slowly crumbled.

"What…happened here?" breathed Stelle.

"I don't know, but I suspect that it had something to do with that barrier," said Himeko, "And I think that finding Taylors world just got that much more important. We should probably bring in some help."

There was a round of general agreement, before everyone slowly drifted away to get started, leaving March staring at the corpse of a planet and wondering with a sick feeling if that was the fate that awaited her friends world. And if they could actually stop whatever had managed to do that.

Far, far away from the Ullinor system, orbiting a blue marble, a pair of golden yellow eyes opened as it faintly sensed the destruction of one of its barriers.

And done. Another interlude chapter, mainly because I don't like skipping multiple days and couldn't figure out a good way to do it. Besides, I needed to set some things up.

Speaking of, Amy has a new friend! I'm sure that won't end badly for anyone.

The Express is heading for Earth! Unfortunately, its not that easy. Someone really doesn't want anyone to stick their nose into its schemes. I have no doubt that this is going to end very badly for everyone.

And with that, I'm going to leave this here. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!

shade argost · Apr 25, 2024

Dis Lexic said:
She was finally done with the days batch of patents,

Don't think that is the right word there.

Dis Lexic said:
She pushed of the door and wondered

off maybe?

Dis Lexic said:
Far, far away from the Ullinor system, orbiting a blue marble, a pair of golden yellow eyes opened as it faintly sensed the destruction of one of its barriers.

Don't know enough to tell which is the correct spelling but you also have Ullanor.

TriviaFreak · Apr 25, 2024

Dis Lexic said:
the Ullanor system

Really? Now I'm thinking that Warrior & Thinker found a bunch of greenskins at some point and that they were the basis for Squealer's power.

Lorddarkrai2 · Apr 25, 2024

Dis Lexic said:
The crew stared in mute horror as the orbit of the Express brought them around the sun and allowed them to see the source of the asteroid belt. The shattered remnants of a planet rested in the position of the missing fourth, cold and dead as it slowly crumbled.

Meanwhile on the Death Star:
Darth Vader: how did you miss a planet?
technician *being force choked*: GAKHFSH
Darth Vader *drops the now corpse* : Aim at the Rebels' Planet. or you will join him.
*the rest of the technicians rush to do as ordered.*
Darth Vader: why is good help so hard to find?

amball2000 · Apr 25, 2024

Someone, anyone, please have Taylor discover the Path of Propagation. I want to see what she'll do with that.

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