Summoner Quest (Celestial Menagerie)

As usual, I had a hard time writing the dialogues, in the end, I'm not fully satisfied but it does convey what I want and I got tired of revising it.
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Tuesday, 04/26/2011 (12 AM)

When the police got there, they were quick to take custody of the three sleeping thugs. Then they took statements from Dauntless and me before a female police officer came and took Aisha's statement with a notepad in hand and a small recorder in her breast pocket. I remained close by and listened to her story.

"So I ditched school after the first break. It was boring and I had history during the next period." The completely unabashed way she said that caught me by surprise, she even seemed proud of it. It was as if she was saying, so what are you gonna do about it?

The policewoman didn't comment and gestured for Aisha to continue and the teenage girl appeared disappointed by the lack of reaction. "So yeah, once I left I did a little window shopping near the boardwalk but the guards gave me the stink eye. I got fed up with it so I started wandering around randomly."

She gestured vaguely in the direction of the street. "I end up not far from there, and I spot those three assholes following me." She grimaced. "I tried losing them by taking multiple random turns but they managed to corner me."

At that, she paused, visibly remembering the incident. Despite her present calm, it must have been terrifying.

"They start laughing and saying that I would make a good product for their whorehouse. And that they would sample me first." Her shudder was obvious at that. Briefly, I regretted not being firmer with those guys.

"But I didn't let those fuckers catch me that easily, I kicked that guy in the dick." She pointed at the leader currently being taken inside the police van. I winced but internally applauded her combativity. "And then I ran away. But they caught up with me again." She paused briefly, taking a deep breath before continuing. "At this point they were angry and the one I kicked grabbed me by the throat. I must have passed out at that point." I heard her muttering halfway to herself. "And I must have hallucinated too, I was floating in space and there was this green planet there."

I was forced to hide my surprise when I heard that, thankfully no one was paying attention to me. She saw Solar, that wasn't something I expected. Does that mean that Parahumans saw their own Shard when they triggered, or even multiple Shards if they all participated in their trigger event? My knowledge of Shards was unparalleled, I was without a doubt the leading expert on Shards on Earth but it mainly extended to how they function, how to heal them, and how they can be trained. The details of how they granted power were dictated by their parent Entity and could vary widely, my situation was too different to make any kind of guess. So I had no idea what a normal trigger event implied, or what normally transpired during that very first connection.

My attention returned to Aisha when she finished her story. "I woke up with Librarianman here hovering nearby," She pointed at me. "the asshole that grabbed me was held up in the air by a transparent hand, and the other two were trapped by the metal ball. It was weird as fuck, I thought I was still hallucinating before I recognize him."

Aisha addressed the policewoman. "That's enough for you?"

"Yes, thank you Miss Laborn. You and a guardian will need to come to the station to sign it in the next few days, however."

There was some grumbling from Aisha at that, but eventually, she acquiesced. With a nod of her hand, the policewoman left to finish processing the thugs.

"Yes, Aisha, thank you. I'm sure that remembering all that wasn't pleasant." She didn't respond but I think she appreciates the compliment.

I gave a mental command to Clank and soon I had a card in my hand. "Here is the direct number for the Protectorate HQ. If you call it you can get in touch with me. Even if I'm not available, leave a message and I'll get back to you. Do not hesitate to use it if you need help be it with your power or something else. I'll put the word to not dismiss you out of hand, please do not abuse it." Mentally I contact Aggretsuko and updated her on the situation.

Gingerly Aisha took the card. "Thanks. I'll remember it."

It was at that moment that we both heard the sounds of a car coming this way at far past the speed limit. Looking toward the street we saw a convertible screeching to a halt. The door opened and out came a tall young black man who rushed toward Aisha. He grabbed her and looked at her from every angle.

"Aisha! Are you alright?"

She batted his hand away. "I'm fine. The Hero saved me before anything happened."

At that, the young man finally took notice of me, an accomplishment considering my entourage. He looked wary and hesitant.

I also noted that a second person came out of the car, a young adult blonde woman. She walked sedately in our direction, her eyes moving rapidly between me and my partners. She remained silent as she positioned herself to the young man's side.

I returned my attention to him when he spoke up. "Hello, sir. Thank you so much for saving my sister." We shook hands, his grip was strong but hesitant.

"It's my job."

"Still thank you again, I'm Brian." He pointed to the girl by his side. "This is Lisa, a friend and colleague, she lends me her car to come here. And she came because she wanted to check on Aisha too." Interestingly The Libra pinged on that point, it was a partial lie. Maybe she was a fan and used the opportunity to see me.

"It's an honor to meet you Compendium." She gave me a brilliant smile.

There was an awkward silence that I decided to break by following the procedure. "Before I can let you go, I'll need to see some paperwork. Aisha recognizes you and you seem genuinely concerned but I can't let her leave with just anyone."

He was quick to hand me his ID, and it confirmed that he got the same family name as Aisha. The Menagerie chose that moment to give me a new partner and a new power but I ignore it for the moment.

I handed him back his card. "Well, everything is in order. Aisha had already given her statement, she'll just need to go to the station to sign it soon. And that will be all. Hopefully, she'll be able to put this experience behind her."

"We can only hope so. Anyway, we need to get going, I need to bring Aisha home. And then Lisa and I need to return to work."

I nodded. "Of course, it was a pleasure to meet you. I have a patrol to return to myself. There are always more villains to catch."

As the group turned away to go, I had an idea. "One last thing Aisha. Would you like a plushy of one of my partners?"

She shot me a disbelieving look. "You carry around plushies of your pets?"

I shake my head. "Nah, they're power generated."

The disbelieving look intensified and now includes Brian and Lisa. It was the blond that spoke up. "You have a power to generate plushy? Really?"

"Toys in general." I looked at Aisha. "So want one? You're not a child anymore but after what happened today I'm sure that you could appreciate something soft to snuggle with."

My enhanced sense allows me to see her blush despite her skin color. She tried to hide her embarrassment with bluster. "As if I need that." A pause. "But I'll take it, it will be a collector! I'll be able to make a killing with it."

I laughed. "Any preference?"

She put her finger under her chin deep in thought. "Can you do the other dragon you got? Bigger than this one and with an awesome hammer on his tail? It's fucking cool."

Hn, I didn't expect her to choose Massue. With an unnecessary gesture, a plushy of my Rhatalos appeared in my outstretched hand. "Here you go."

She was quick to grab it and hug it against her chest. I'm sure that I heard a muttered thanks but she spoke so low that I doubt anyone else heard it.

Her brother, now less nervous than before, gave me a nod in thanks too.

As the group left, I saw Lisa give an envious look at the plushy in Aisha's hands. She spoke with the most sugary sweet voice I ever heard. "Aisha…" The younger girl cut her off. "Go die in a fire."

As I mounted back on Camo I chuckled at their antics. While flying I took a look at what the Menagerie gave me. A species of fish that evolved to live outside of water and had fins that turned into wings, the Forest Flish was a minor creature, bordering on useless but cute. The power, Flashbang Summoning, was much more interesting. When summoning my partner I could generate a flash of light, a loud noise, or both, the intensity of which depends on the size of the creature. This could make for a potent crowd-control tool, and give some utility to my minor partners. I was sure that I would be using this one frequently.

Wordcount: 1588
Excess words: 351
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So before writing the next chapter I'm considering writing an interlude. I'm not a big fan of interludes in general, I think they're way overused, but they have their place.
So I decided to leave you the choice.

[] Interlude: Aisha
[] Interlude: Brian
[] Interlude: Lisa
[] No Interlude

For the roll, 630 points.

[] Creature

[] Power

Voting will be closed Monday at 3 PM GMT