A Conjuror's journey

[PieceThruWar]

The area was densely forested which, while it might have been good for hiding, would be too confining for a proper outpost. An strategically important artifact must always be protected, and living on the border with Germania, that was one of the key lessons Karin had personally made sure the entire family knew and it showed in her own efforts at that ashen beach.

It was an uncomfortable prospect to think back to those lessons and Karin's rare smile of genuine affection when she quickly internallized the information, but Louise wouldn't argue that if there was one thing her mother was good at, it was warfare. To that effect, the pinkette decicided to spend the night clearing and fortifying the area before worrying about contacting her teacher. Shaped explosions to quickly fell trees, Fortify Strength to stack the logs in a pallisade around her chosen area and remove large stones, and Flames to clear away the underbrush to increase line of sight.

So she worked in the dark until finally going to sleep in a covered hole. Tired, dirty, and depressed by her thoughts of family.

-----------------------------------

Watching the reanimated khajiit help Kiba become acclimated to his new body in the distance, you address your secondary pupil. "You might not survive whatever trial awaits you, did you send Louise your gift?"

"I didn't want to interrupt whatever she might be doing in case it was dangerous, so I made that arrogant bird of yours take it and a letter to the same place the other one took Hinata." She explained.

"Very well, step up to the altar and begin."

Cattlaya only hesitated a moment before following your orders, approaching the effigy mage of a human rib-cage and a deer's skull bound by the entrails of a hound. Technically any predator would do as long as it was killed by the summoner and these requirements were only strictly necessary in Nirn due to the Liminal Barriers, but you had her do them anyway. No sense offending the sensibilities of a Daedric Prince you plan on summoning after all, even if he is probably the most relaxed of the bunch. By human standards... which admittedly didn't apply much when dealing with timeless entities who live inside themselves outside of existence.

A burst of Magicka announces her success and as she speaks with Hircine, you and can hear nothing of the conversation but howls and mirthful laughter. When she finally stands on shaky legs and leaves the area around the altar, her face is sweaty and drained of color. "T-that was... more intense than I expected."

"More the fool are you, then." You reply. "I warned you to prepare yourself. Now, what is your task?"

Swallowing, she nods. "Right... I'm supposed to kill a bear alone and without magic... and he said I have to... to eat it's h-heart."

Grimacing, you place a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Bear is greasy and tough, one of my least favorite meats. I doubt the heart is much better."

"That's not the problem!" Cattleya shouts back, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I don't want to kill some poor defenseless animal just because he thinks it'll be amusing!"

"It's a bear." You point out with a raised brow. "That's hardly what I would call defenseless."

She completely ignores your logic. "Too softhearted to be one of his hunters, he said. 'Maybe a tougher heart will do you well'... Ugh, I can't believe the bastard would make a joke about something serious. Why couldn't he have asked for me to kill a group of bandits or something less horrible?!"

While she continued to rail against the perceived injustice of her quest, you decide to wander off and avoid the whole mess. Either she will do it and gain power or she won't and can move on to Nature magics.

Status: Healthy
Magicka: (650/650)

Choose:
[] Visit with Raymond, he should be working on an aircraft of some sort.

[] Speak with Hircine yourself. You did introduce werewolves to Halkeginia after all, maybe that's worth something to your ancestral god.

[] POV Switch:

-[] Cattleya.
-[] Louise.​

[] Write in.

 

[PieceThruWar]

Having distracted yourself with a late dinner long enough for Cattleya to storm off, you make your way back to the corner of the base you'd erected the altar.

Conjuring a hare without bothering to bind it, you grip it by the head and end the thing's struggles with a flick of the wrist. A hard tug later and you are splashing blood on the effigy to summon Hircine back into the world. You don't have to wait long for a wave of magicka to wash over you as a large spectral creature with tusks and a tentacle on it's face springs into being.

"Ah, Tyne, just the mortal I had been meaning to speak with." The Lord of the Hunt says without speaking, his voice reverberating inside your head.

Ignoring the guard on the wall who fainted while trying to peep, you bow low and resist voicing your confusion over his choice in avatar. "Lord Hircine, the pleasure is all mine."

"No, I highly doubt that. Of all my so called followers, I must say you are quite the vexing individual." He replies and you try not to react since, had he wanted you dead, there would be nothing you could do to stop him. Noticing your discomfort, the Prince laughs, "After my gifts to your people, your own bloodline, I would expect a grain of devotion."

"If you recall, I did spread lycanthropy to another world. Surely that is worth something. Besides, my only remaining caregiver into a hagraven is hardly something I would be thankful for!" You argue, perhaps unwisely, but he merely brushes you off with a flap of his ghostly ears.

"You poisoned a woman with werewolf blood in a fit of intoxicated annoyance." He said with a trumpeting sound that you assumed to be a scoff based on context. "Am I now to grant boons for every mortal who drunkenly shoots a deer?"

A fair point, there wasn't really anything you could say to that. "What about this world? Not only did I create an altar in your honor, but also pushed Cattleya toward your trial."

"The pink mortal? Yes, her affinity for nature is commendable, but the woman lacks a killer instinct... If she shows promise in her hunt, then we shall see. As for this realm, not even I find invading another Lord's realm a worthwhile challenge. There is no glory in battle without end."

"So nothing I have done has been significant enough to earn your favor, Lord Hircine?"

"Face it Tyne, you're no more a true hunter than that parasite host your apprentice failed to kill." Hircine says, though you aren't sure what exactly he is referencing. "As she is a lone wolf destined to death and failure, you are no better than a carrion bird... Though I am not above admitting that the vulture plays it's role even while seeking naught but it's own gain. Very well, a word of warning for services rendered: When the bee alights upon the wolf, tread silently and with care for consequences."

Disappointed, but not entirely surprised with the uselessly cryptic message, you sigh, "I was hoping for something a mite more substantial." In response, the Daedric Prince winked and dispersed his avatar. Shaking your head, you head off to bed for the night. "Well, that was less than helpful."


Status: Healthy
Magicka: (650/650)

Choose:
[] Visit with Raymond, he should be working on an aircraft of some sort.

[] Go with Espinoza and Trobror to assault a Brotherhood position.

[] Realign the Oblivion Gate to Louise's location, a messenger can be sent through to determine if it needs to be moved.

[] POV Switch:

-[] Cattleya.
-[] Louise.​

[] Write in.
----------------------------

A/N: Hircine, like all other Daedric Princes, exists outside of time. The Gate can't be opened for more than a few moments until the conflict is over or aerial superiority belongs to X-com.

 

[PieceThruWar]

Since Hircine wasn't exactly helpful, you decide to return to more fruitful endeavors such as establishing a more secure supply line than scavenged refuse.

To that end, you spent the morning after talking with the Daedric Lord opening a connection between the world your apprentice is on and your own. With the old gate still being mostly intact, it doesn't take long to align it properly and the sky soon began to burn red. As the portal burst into existence, you look over to Victoria.

"Remember, we do not know where she is or what could be happening on the other side."

The half-arachnid teen shrugs, "Yeah yeah, I'll be careful. It's not like I don't know the dangers of my own planet."

"It most likely is not exactly the same as the world you are familiar with." You warn her, getting a roll of the eyes in response. "This is no jest, you may end up in a place where everyone is identical in appearance, but opposite in personality. Your realm has far too many shadow worlds to know which specific one you came from."

"So the odds of returning home?"

"Minuscule for the moment, but maybe one day." You answer honestly. From what you've seen of her personality, she would only become more rebellious and disrespectful if she suspected you of lying to her, even for her own good.

Victoria sighs despondently and soothingly rubs her lower body between the eyes. "Thanks for killing that hope... I guess I'll keep an eye out for evil doppelgangers or whatever."

"You have twenty-four hours to find Louise and get a proper accounting of the situation on the other side. I will open the portal again at roughly the same time tomorrow." You explain before ushering her forward.

Once she is through, you close the portal and reengage the barrier around the base. If things aren't too horrible in the other realm, you can begin to harvest resources and increase X-com's capabilities back to previous levels without relying on scavengers slowly combing through dangerous ruins on foot. With raw resources in abundance, your... associates can focus on building up and becoming a dominant force in the region.

Status: Healthy
Magicka: (650/650)

Prepare for when the portal reopens:
[] Gather workers and zombies to establish a base on the other side.

-[] Maximum strength; Mirelurk and Deathclaw zombies, skeletons, atronachs, and ninjas.
-[] Try to blend in, ergo no exotic creatures or noticeably undead minions.​

[] Pull Raymond from his work and try to rig up a system to move a large amount of resources.

-[] A rail line.
-[] A horizontal portal for aerial vehicles.
-[] Write in.​

[] Inform the rest of the Command Staff of the situation and get an update on what needs to be addressed.

[] POV Switch:

-[] Cattleya.
-[] Louise.​

[] Write in.

 

[PieceThruWar]

After sending Victoria through the portal, you spent the next hour or so informing the key members of X-com of the situation. Having gathered in the Command Center and explained Victoria's mission to join with Louise and establish an acceptable location, you finish by stating, "In less than a day, our resource limitation will not be."

"That's all well and good, but what of the local inhabitants? I highly doubt that child of yours understands the words 'subtle' or 'peaceful negotiations'. Are we prepared to fight a war on two fronts?" Vahlen asks from across the table.

"Now Moira, I think you give the girl too little credit." Raymond interjects before the woman can build up steam. "Miss Valliere is just an awkward teenager who isn't used to socializing, she's polite enough once she figures out her place in a group."

"The brat threatened everyone in the mess hall, considers us second class citizens, and thinks herself above any consequences. She burned down one of our few field tents the other day for no discernible reason!" Bradford shoots back with a laugh. "What a poor, misunderstood kid."

Rapping the table with his knuckles, Commander Flagg catches everyone's attention. "Regardless of your opinions on the girl, this is an opportunity we cannot pass up. With this Brotherhood outnumbering and outmaneuvering us, our scavenging teams' efficiency is hampered. Simply put, we need this other world's resources if we are to restore any semblance of normality."

Running a hand over your beard in the manner of all wise men, you incline your head to the man. "Precisely, thank you. My apprentice has been scouting out a parallel world to the one I summoned Victoria from. It should be similar enough to your own homeworld that your people can blend in to purchase supplies or even emigrate there, should the need arise."

"Excellent, I suggest we find a way to purchase parts from an aeronautics company. If we're lucky, we can jumpstart our fighter development enough to end this conflict before it changes from small skirmishes into all out war. At the very least, I would prefer to keep their helicopters from testing our defenses."

"Retrieving materials from the place was never an issue, the problem is maintaining a permanent or even semi-regular presence there. Somebody will notice, if they haven't already."

"Then we establish a rapport with a group that is willing to enter an alliance of sorts." Shen answers calmly before turning to you. "You can make a portal between two points on the same world, right?"

"Indeed." you answer simply, since it would only be a matter of enchanting matching gateways and moving the them to the desired locations. Much easier than an Oblivion Gate.

"Well then, we just need to rig whatever you make with a thin shell, a digital screen, and a self-destruct mechanism for when some one tries to take it apart. After all, I'm sure a government or two would be willing to trade ore and parts for 'blackboxed portal technology'."

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." Vahlen says as she stands to leave. "If you will excuse me, I believe we are close to understanding the computer systems recovered from the alien mothership and I would like to finish before you all inevitably create more work for my team."

Raymond shakes his head as she leaves and sighs, "She's going to stress herself into early aging if she doesn't learn to relax. We're in a whole new world full of fantastic things to see and she hasn't been outside since her lab was set up."

"The doctor's work is important to our survival." Bradford states, causing both you and Shen to share a pitying look for the man's lack of understanding.

"That is no reason not to spend a few moments in the sun." You point out. "Anyway, if there is nothing left to discuss..."

"Actually, there is one thing." The Commander says in answer to the implied question. "One of our recon teams took a Zodiac up toward the remains of the Boston airport to spy on the Brotherhood there. They've begun setting up some sort of scaffolding structure, which is odd, but the more important issue is the periscope they saw in the harbor. We suspect the Brotherhood has found a submarine, possibly of nuclear capability."

Shen leans forward before you can respond and asks intently, "A submarine, you say?"

--------------------------

Stepping through the portal, Vicky felt a jumbled mix of emotions.

Part of her was anxious about how her family would react to her new look, another excited to see everybody again, a third portion wanted to rush straight home and check on Iris after all this time, and a fourth did it's best to brace for the disappointment that was sure to come. The old dude wouldn't stop telling her that she probably wasn't going home, not wanting to get her hopes up.

Aunt Sarah and Taylor are taking care of everyone. Vicky reminded herself for what felt like the millionth time as the world came into focus.

She was in a clearing on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. The whole area was burnt and a wide circle of sharpened logs was surrounding her like some sort of pilgrim era town or something. It had been months since she'd been turned into a spider out of nowhere and now that she finally made it back home, it wasn't really home... but looking out toward the distant ocean, she could see that at least the city wasn't destroyed.

Mostly.

Staring at the tiny black specks floating over distant city she remembered being swallowed by the tentacled abyss that was dating her sister, she had to ask, "What the hell?"

"Ahhh!" A scream came from below her, causing the blonde to look down. Beneath her massive lower body was a familiar head of pink hair, being nuzzled affectionately by the fanged face of her spider head. No wonder she was screaming.

Pulling back enough to force the dimwitted thing out of the paradoxically older girl's face, Vicky laughed, "What on Earth are you wearing?"

For some reason, Louise was in a cheap thrift store princess costume. Cheesy looking lace and frills were everywhere on the outfit and she even had a matching mask and heels too tall to have belonged with the obvious children's costume. Not to mention the dirt and soot staining the entire thing. All in all, it was just too ridiculous not to laugh at and the blonde was beginning to get an idea of what was going on.

"Is this your secret base? Are you pretending to be a cape?!" She asked incredulously as her giggles died out and the pink haired girl puffed up her cheeks. It was like the girl didn't realize how childish that face made her look. "How do you even know about that stu-." She paused in horror at the ways Louise could have learned about cape culture. "Oh God, what insanity have you been up to?"

Choose:
[] Give Vicky a brief summary of current events.

[] Be petulant and refuse to answer. Drag her back to her family's house and let her ask them since she's being rude.

[] POV Change: Louise.

[] Write in.
-----------------------------
A/N: You haven't completely gained Spider!Vicky as a party member, but I'm willing to let you see her POV even though your choices are controlling Louise.

 

[PieceThruWar]

"Hmph! I'll have you know this outfit has received nothing but praise until your arrival, even your other self said I looked like a princess." Louise declared with crossed arms, confirming that the two of them were in some parallel dimension like Earth Aleph, but with a more recent point of divergence.

While finding out exactly what was different would be important, Vicky was more concerned with getting an answer to her more pressing question. "Yes, you look like something out of a Disney movie, that's nice." Leaning in to grab the shorter girl by the shoulders, she ground out, "What. Did. You. Do?"

Knowing the Valliere girl's penchant for violence at the drop of a hat, Vicky imagined the trail of destruction in her wake and she had at least controlled herself not to randomly start throwing curses or whatever at people. The blond had seen some pretty crazy things, especially since meeting Taylor, but that didn't mean she wanted to find out another of her friends was going crazy. As much as she like Louise, she wasn't sure she could take hearing the girl asking why eating people was wrong or just screeching incoherently for days.

"Unhand me!" The pink haired girl snapped as she freed herself, not liking that Vicky had apparently started shaking her at some point. "I did nothing wrong, I've merely been observing the locals and trying to fulfill master Cynric's wishes. While I will admit that there were some unfortunate incidents when I first arrived, such as that one peasant's house exploding wh-"

"You blew up someone's house?!" Vicky asked in horror, her eyes being drawn back to the city. Even from their distance, she could see that several prominent buildings were missing from the skyline, Medhall being chief among them. Groaning as she stared again at the concerning dots floating in the air, she palmed her face. "Just how much of my home did you destroy?"

Louise kicked a stone and turned away with a huff. "I resent that question, I'll have you know I was very careful to avoid causing too much damage. That boy's house only exploded because one of the local guards chose to barge through several Destruction Runes. Besides, Bakuda cast the spells that did all of that damage."

"Who?"

Shrugging, Louise answered, "I'm not entirely certain, but she was a member of those rebels with the imbecilic name that served the dragon-man."

"So an ABB cape then." Vicky concluded, earning a sneer and nod at the acronym. "OK, so you didn't blow up everything. What did you do? And what's the date?"

"April twenty-ninth, two thousand and eleven years AD... Whatever that's supposed to mean. As for what I've been doing, let's see..." The pink haired girl drawled and tapped a finger to her chin in thought. "Through Faultline I gained employment as a healer at the local hospice, where I met your sister. I've spent a few days with your family, had to remove tracking machines from my body after Miss Militia and Armsmaster decided to take it upon themselves to 'watch out for me', and have made a small amount of progress with Master Cynric's list. Amy was nice enough to assist me in establishing a vault at a bank, but that was delayed when the building came under assault by a group known as the Undersiders."

"Again, who?" Vicky asked, having no idea about a group by that name. She wasn't even sure if the group existed in her own world, but with how many small time gangs were in the area, it was possible they had just stayed under her family's radar.

"Taylor's band of thieves. " Louise said before raising an eyebrow at the blonde's open mouthed shock. "Really? With how fondly you spoke of her before, I would have thought you at least knew what she did in her free time."

"Taylor's a Villain?!" The very idea was terrifying to the blonde to the point she might have actually peed herself a little at the thought. Just picturing the eldritch plant-monster that clotheslined a damned Endbringer being on the opposing side was going to give her nightmares. "No, fuck this, we're leaving as soon as that portal reopens!"

It was Louise's turn to look perplexed as she asked, "What? Why?"

"There's no way we can take her and I'm not gonna be eaten if I can help it." Vicky replied as her lower body started scuttling around in circles and clicking it's mandibles in agitation.

"What are you talking about, I could easily subdue her if she can't run away." The poor, naive girl declared. "We shouldn't even need to fight anyway, she may be creepy and a so called villain, but she seemed nice enough at your 'slumber party' yesterday night."

Pausing in her pacing, Vicky stared and muttered, "Why would she be invited over if she's a villain? And after attacking you and Ames..." A lot of things weren't making sense, but she shook her head and continued, "No, it doesn't matter. Look, you obviously don't understand. The Taylor that you saw was just an avatar, a puppet body. I... I killed one once. It was pretty bad, blood everywhere." The blonde shuddered as memories of the event surfaced. Swallowing thickly, she ran a hand through her hair and tried not to think about how real it felt when she was covered in blood, the elfin woman's forgiving smile as she drowned in her own blood.

"Anyway, Taylor is actually some kind of giant plant-fungus-thing, to kill her you'd need to destroy the whole Eastern seaboard by this point to be safe."

God, am I really thinking about killing Amy's girlfriend agai- no, this isn't the same, it's not our Taylor. The Dallon girl thought grimly. I don't even know if that would work or if a chunk would live to get revenge.

Despite Vicky's explanation, the older girl refused to be swayed. In fact, she was now looking toward the blonde with suspicion in her eyes. "Would you really turn on your friend like that?"

"She isn't my Taylor, this isn't my world. I don't like it, but Taylor's mind isn't exactly stable and without Amy to fix her, she's going to lose herself if she hasn't already started." Vicky tried to clarify, but Louise glared at her.

"Then stop being an idiot and help her!" The girl shouted. "Even if she isn't exactly the same person, Amy and the other Vicky at least gave her a chance. Sure she lacks courage, is oddly creepy, and is kind of dimwitted, but she doesn't seem too bad. Especially if she's a big enough monster for a girl whose part spider to find her scary. I had to save the child from being abused by her classmates. does that sound like somebody who's going to start eating everyone?"

Coming from someone as unsympathetic as Louise, the words hit Vicky harder than they might have otherwise. If the girl who didn't think anything of telling her friends how hideous their anatomy was and routinely threw around lines like 'they're just commoners' when seeing others suffer was telling her to be more considerate, then it was kind of clear she was being a shitty person. One odd thing stood out that she needed to ask.

"Taylor is being bullied?"

None of New Wave had been able to get too much out of Taylor about her life before Triggering other than general information... or they hadn't spread it around if they had. Amy might have, but Victoria hadn't. Even being in whatever their relationship was considering their rocky start, the fact Taylor was dating her sister, and well... Iris' existence, the plant-girl seemed content to just let things move forward without looking too hard at the past.

Louise nodded with an angry scowl. "She was."

Choose 1:
[] Explain that it isn't an issue anymore and start heading back to the city.

-[] The two of you can look for a new phone.
-[] Take her to meet her family.​

[] It really isn't your story to tell even if you did know the circumstances, which you don't. Take Vicky to Taylor with Recall so they can talk about it.

[] Remain distrustful of her and remain at the outpost. If she could seriously plan to betray a friend she's known longer than you, what's to stop her from turning on you. She's on thin ice until you can be sure.

[] Write in.

 

[PieceThruWar]

"But how?" Vicky asked. "She wasn't even going home last time, why would she go to school and let people pick on her? Especially if she's a villain this time."

It didn't make any sense to the blonde, not when she'd seen the other girl do the crazy things she had. Why would you let it happen when you can cause an earthquake by flinching? Victoria felt she had come a long way with her self-control in the last few months, but even she would have at least scared the assholes off with her aura... if she still had it, not that many sane people would try to taunt her now. The benefits of being a fourteen foot tall arachnid mutant, she supposed.

"I couldn't say, but we can ask her." Louise replied, reaching out to grab at one of her legs.

So caught up in trying to puzzle out why a less morally restrained version of Taylor would have a bully problem, she barely had time to give a questioning look to the pink haired girl. A shower of purple sparks enveloped the two of them in an instant and suddenly she felt herself squashed down beneath a ceiling of a small room. With how big her body was, Louise was forced to appear on her spider half like some sort of spider rider or else be crushed into a wall.

Crushed beneath the two of them was a bed, the mattress thankfully empty. Looking around the unfamiliar room, Vicky tried to keep her lower half in check as she searched for any sign of Taylor, but was entirely unsuccessful this time and her spider half felt almost drunk. As it was, she could barely force herself to turn around when she heard the sound of someone screaming.

Bracing herself against the door-frame was another girl, her height and youth making her seem awkwardly proportioned as her body had yet to catch up to what must have been several growth spurts. Her outfit was wet with sweat and she looked exhausted. Feeling concerned and oddly nauseous as she watched the girl and struggle to stay standing, Vicky used her lower forelimbs to support her and asked, "I thought you said we were going to see Taylor."

"Yes... that's why we're here." The shorter girl said, pointing to the one who was still screaming and trying to flee. Vicky's confusion only grew as a man she recognized came up the stairs with a kitchen knife in hand before freezing.

He was tall, skinny, and balding, but she had met him a couple of times with Aunt Sarah. "Danny?"

Seeming to overcome his shock at her appearance, he pointed his knife and shouted, "Let go of my daughter!"

Daughter? I thought Taylor was an only child. She wondered before it dawned on her. Struggling to gently push the girl to sit against the wall, Vicky had to confirm her suspicion. "Is this Taylor?"

"Are you stupid? How can you not know?" Louise sneered as she floated out from behind her, landing next to the ill looking girl and curtsying to Danny. "Good morning, Mr Hebert."

"Y-you're that new healer." He stated in disbelief, still not lowering his weapon, though he did make sure not to point it at Louise. the fact he thought the smaller girl to be less of a threat was almost laughable. "What are you doing here?"

Louise, justifiably, didn't seem concerned as she answered with disturbingly fake cheerfulness, "We came to visit Taylor to make sure she is doing alright."

Well, that seals it. This is Taylor... though how does a villainous Taylor still live with her dad if Heroic Taylor can't stay in the same room as him without flipping out? Is this really what she looked like before? I'd guessed the elfin avatar was because of body issues, but this is kind of extreme. She doesn't share a single feature with her cape identity!

Danny almost began to relax until Louise's words registered and he tensed. "What happened? Who is that? How did you get in my house? How do you know Taylor?"

Vicky wasn't even sure how to begin answering most of the man's barrage of questions, but would have introduced herself if not for the fact that she was suddenly distracted by her lower half. There was fear and confusion flooding the simply creature's brain as it's limbs twitched in an increasingly more coordinated manner, not one of those movements caused by either her or her 'partner'.

Without warning, Taylor pushed Louise away and tackled her father down the stairs as Vicky's lower body reared back. Stunned for a moment as her head slammed through the ceiling, the blonde found herself carried out through the wall of the bedroom and into the street. She was helpless to do anything as the panicked spider failed to fight against whatever was Mastering it. People out for a morning jog or retrieving the newspaper were treated to the sight of Victoria's wild flailing as she tried to grab a onto anything that might help. Considering her appearance and the lava leaking from her lower mouth as both of her minds grew agitated, the fact that everyone was running away in terror wasn't surprising.

Police sirens began to whine in the distance as she finally began to regain control of her own movements. She must have traveled three or so blocks by that point and there was a slowly cooling trail of liquid rock winding through the streets. Victoria threw her arms in the air and looked down to meet her other eyes as she shouted, "What the fuck was that?!"

She only felt a little guilty when the spider's head drooped like a sad puppy.

Status: Healthy
Magicka: (14000/14000)

Choose:
[] Ash Rune both Heberts so they can't run away and go retrieve Vicky.

[] Disregard Vicky's little freakout and explain the situation.

-[] Tell Mr. Hebert that Taylor is your friend and Vicky was concerned about the bullies.
-[] Let him know you don't mind whatever criminal activities they're involved in.
-[] Write in.​

[] Take Taylor aside and chastise her for shoving you. Then proceed to ask about how she's been since the sleepover.

[] Write in.

--------------------------
A/N: Louise used up her last charge of Recall, you'll need to recharge it or make a new one if you wish to use it again.

 

[PieceThruWar]

As always, it fell to the youngest Valliere to be the voice of sanity and reason while the others panicked. Still not at her best after the previous night and then discovering Victoria's disturbing potential for betrayal, being shoved aside did nothing to improve Louise's mood. She knew there would be time to raise her grievances once she resolved the current situation, so instead made her way down the stairs after the other two.

At the bottom was Taylor, trying to drag her groaning father deeper into the house, the tumble apparently disagreeing with the man. It was a simple matter to Levitate ahead and drop down in their path to the basement. "Halt!"

"What do you want?!" Taylor growled menacingly as her insects began to make themselves visible in the edges of the walls and from inside all manner of crevice. "Why are you attacking my home?"

Giving the girl a look of pity, the pinkette replied, "Attacking? Oh, you poor thing, I knew you were dimwitted, but I didn't know it was this bad. Vicky found out about the trollops that were harassing you at the academy and just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"You mean you two came to investigate the locker?" Mr. Hebert asked, freeing himself from his daughter's grasp as he tried to stand on his own, gripping the side of his head with a wince.

"I haven't the faintest idea what that's supposed to mean, but I visited her school the other day and ran off a group of children who were deriding your daughter. The way she simply stood there was disappointing, but I've come to realize she isn't the most intelligent of people, so I shouldn't hold it against her." Ignoring the man's souring expression, Louise continued, "Anyway, since we both consider Taylor to be a friend of sorts, we came to discuss the issue."

Taylor's face shifted between indignation to confusion before she looked around in panic and dispersed her bugs. "Wait a minute! Vicky? You mean Glory Girl is here?"

"Well not anymore, she ran off a moment ago for some reason."

"You're not talking about that monstrous thing are you?" The girl's father rudely asked.

Louise gave the man a disapproving frown. "Don't call her that! Victoria may be a hideous monster, but I won't stand for you calling her a thing."

"You mean that giant lava spider was Glory Girl?!" Taylor asked in alarm. "Oh my God, what happened to her!"

"That isn't important, she's been like that for a while." Louise answered with a negligent wave. When Taylor tried to argue, the pinkette spoke over her, "The important thing is that we aren't here to fight or whatever infantile fantasies you might be entertaining. Yes, Vicky was a bit concerned when I told her you're a villain, but-"

"You told her?!" "What?!" Came the simultaneous cries from the father-daughter duo before Mr. Hebert looked at his daughter with a mix of emotions. "What is she talking about, Taylor?"

The bug-girl didn't answer, choosing instead to look at the pinkette with a look of betrayal. "How could you out me like this?"

"You mean your own father doesn't even know?" Louise asked with a tilt of her head. Was the child daft? If Vicky was correct, they wouldn't they both be plant creatures because of their magic? Was he not a mage as well? How would that even work, did she just randomly gain control of her magic and never tell the man that he could do so as well? Then again, she probably hadn't even thought too hard about it.

"No, I did not." The man said, interrupting her musings. Looking at him, she saw his face was changing color as he visibly restrained himself from shouting. "Taylor, what the hell is this? How are you a Villain? Since when do you even have powers?!"

Instead of answering, the girl started looking around the room like a cornered animal. Seeing that she was probably going to flee, Louise telekinetically locked the doors. Hearing the click as the locks went into place, Taylor's insects began to buzz with agitation before she locked eyes with the pinkette and sighed in defeat. Obviously, giant plant monster or not, the child wasn't willing to put her father in danger by fighting someone she had no hope of defeating in the same room as him.

Glowering at Louise, who smile genially back, Taylor deflated and explained, "The locker, dad. It... It's called Triggering... The worst day of your life and suddenly you get powers." Mr. Hebert had a look of stunned horror for some reason, though honestly, what was so terrible about a metal box. "But I'm not a Villain!"

"Yes you are. I helped arrest you, remember?" Louise pointed out helpfully, startling the father.

"You got arrested?! When- The sleepover? You said you were spending the night with friends!"

Not wanting to create a misunderstanding, Louise quickly protested, "Oh no, the sleepover was real, we wrote helpful information on Amy's skin."

"Who is Amy? Another Villain?" The man demanded accusingly.

"God, no dad, Amy Dallon. Panacea." Taylor said, slapping herself in the face. "Dad, I'm not a Villain... I'm an under-"

"You are!" The pinkette exclaimed, growing somewhat concerned with the worsening signs against the girl's intelligence. It was beginning to appear as if Taylor needed a constant chaperone. "Vicky assures me that the Undersiders are villains!"

"You robbed a bank!" Mr. Hebert yelled. "Lacy's sister was there... She said they had a new... Fuck, you put black widows on innocent people?!"

"I wasn't going to let them bite anyone!" The girl argued, "I have complete control over them, dad! If I didn't do something to keep the civilians under control, Bi- Hellhound would have used her dogs on them!"

"And that makes it okay?!"

"I was keeping them safe! I told you, I'm not a Villain da-"

"Shut up!" Louise shouted, growing tired of the useless back and forth. "It doesn't even matter. Mr. Hebert, your daughter may be an imbecile and a criminal, but that is perfectly fine. She hasn't harmed anyone and there's nothing you could do to punish her that wouldn't be a betrayal of your own kin. Neither Vicky or I are going to harm her or tell the city guard so long as she doesn't make herself our enemy."

While Taylor gave her a conflicted smile of appreciation, the man just looked defeated. "Aren't you supposed to be heroes? I mean, Glory Girl is part of New Wave... How can they just look the other way?!"

Louise simply shrugged, never having claimed such a title. "If it makes you feel any better, the Protectorate tried to find out where I live so they could, presumably, kidnap my grandfather and force me to join them."

"Not to mention one of the Wards put me in the locker." Taylor added with disgust. He didn't look any happier for knowing.

Status: Healthy
Magicka: (13970/14000)

Choose:
[] Go search for Vicky.
-[] Take Taylor.
-[] Go alone.

[] Victoria can take care of herself. Request breakfast and a chance to clean up, you're filthy.

[] Write in.

 

[PieceThruWar]

With Taylor awkwardly waiting for somebody to break the silence that had fallen and her father sitting at the table looking lost in thought, Louise was quickly growing impatient. Yes, the girl used her magic to threaten some commoners into submission, why was this such a big problem for the two of them? It wasn't as if she started killing them all for no reason. If even those he considered heroes were fine with it, why was the man so distraught?

"This is a waste of time." The pinkette declared, grabbing the other girl by the wrist and pulling her closer. Ignoring her struggles and the sudden buzzing that made Mr. Hebert flinch, she continued, "We need to go find Vicky before she gets into trouble, we will be back later."

Neither of the two's protests mattered to the young noblewoman as she hoisted the other girl into the air and flew off through the hole in the upstairs bedroom. Whatever had caused Vicky to act so erratically, she at least had the sense of mind to leave an easily recognizable trail. Following the cooling puddles of molten earth, she paid no mind to the flashes of and cheers of the peasantry as she passed.

"I'm so screwed." Taylor muttered, trying to shrink in on herself. Not that it worked to hide her, since she was much larger than Louise. "Everyone is going to know I'm a parahuman now."

Scoffing, the pinkette replied, "Don't be absurd, people already know that we know each other. How is this any different than helping you at your academy?"

"Because now you're carrying me toward a giant lava spider! This is going to look like we're going into a cape fight together!" She snapped. "Fuck, why do you keep doing this to me? Yeah, you helped with the bitch trio, so thank you for that. Hell, whatever you did on the roof made Madison scared to be near the other two, but that doesn't give you the right to just come in and throw my life into chaos! I'll give you the bank wasn't your fault and sort of opened my eyes to how the Protectorate really is, but after that? Tracking me somehow? Threatening me? Blinding me? Interrupting a team meeting and kidnapping me, causing a chase through the city for a slumber party? Breaking into my house with Glory Girl? You never even explained why she's suddenly a mutant centauride! Can't you do anything normal?! And it's just highschool, a crappy one, not some special academy!"

Slowing down a bit as Taylor ranted, Louise felt a familiar tightness in her chest at the girl's words. After trying to help the brat, letting her be involved in the things she did with Vicky and the others... why did everyone she tried to be friends with turn on her? Montmorency finding out before the first lessons that she couldn't cast spells and telling the others, Hinata getting upset about her killing two rebel mages and running off despite Louise treating her like a little sister, and now Taylor yelling at her over her attempts to be helpful. She didn't even know until that moment how invested she'd been in the possibility, not really meaning to be genuine when she'd called the bug-girl a friend.

With years of practice, she shoved those feelings aside and let anger take their place. "No, I can't be normal! I don't even know what normal is! I just came to this place less than a month ago, how could I?"

"France isn't that different from America." Taylor argued.

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

"So being French isn't an excuse for breaking into my fucking house!"

"Who said I was French?!" Louise screamed back in frustration. "I'd never even heard of that country until several months ago!"

"Your acc- oh... right." The other girl suddenly went quiet. A moment passed in silence before she mumbled, "I'm sorry, I... I forgot about... Well, Panacea told me."

Not satisfied with that non-statement, Louise irritably demanded, "Told you what?!"

"About the Gesellschaft." Taylor said, shifting awkwardly in her grasp. "I wasn't thinking, I... It's just been a hectic morning."

That shaft thing again? Why does that word keep coming up? The pinkette wondered.

Shaking her head, she was about to ask what Taylor was talking about when the younger girl interrupted, "I know that's no excuse. I'm not the best with people either, so it's kind of hypocritical of me to get mad at you for that... and you have helped me a lot... but really, a little warning would make a big difference."

"Maybe," Louise begrudgingly conceded. She was reluctant to accept an apology from the girl, knowing from experience that it such things were often just another way to allow for further cruelty. Still, in some ways she felt a kinship with Taylor after witnessing her being tormented by Madison's friends. "But that stupid phone thing stopped working for me, so I didn't have that option."

"Can I see it? Maybe I can fix it for you to make up for being an insensitive idiot."

Shifting the girl to one arm, Louise pulled the device out of her pocket and handed it over. While fixing the thing would be a step in the right direction, it wouldn't make things better all at once... though it might make the girl an idiot savant rather than just an idiot.

After a minute of fumbling with the device, Taylor suddenly asked, "Is this even your phone?" When Louise answered to the affirmative, she asked further, "Did you buy it?"

"Hmm? Oh, no." The pinkette replied as she noticed the lava trail disappear. "I liberated it from a peasant on my first night in this city in return for disposing of some bandits who were assaulting her."

As the pair flew higher for a better view, Taylor sighed, "So you stole it. Well, there's your problem."

"What do you mean?" Louise asked, spotting a glowing orange dot moving on a distant street between two rectangular automobiles. That was Victoria, no doubt about it.

"Whoever you stole it from obviously reported it stolen and the phone company shut off your service. You'll have to get a new one or at least switch providers."

"Providers?" The pinkette asked, earning a louder sigh.

"Just ask one of the Dallons to help, I doubt my dad will let me leave the house for a while after I get ba-" Taylors words were cut off as she reached up to cover her mouth. Between the gagging and wet noises, Louise could guess that the girl had become violently sick.

Lowering to the ground, she set her passenger down and tried to distract herself from the vomiting with anything else. Commoners were watching from all directions, flashing lights and holding up their phones for some reason. The disgusting creatures were simply watching with interest as a teenage girl emptied her stomach in the street.

"It's Valley girl!" A young brown haired woman in a pink shirt with the shape of a white and gold mask on the front cheered. She couldn't have been any older than Victoria. "Can you sign my shirt?"

"Why?" The pinkette asked, confused but happy for the distraction from Taylor's retching. "I really don't understand why you all keep asking for me to ruin your clothing."

Pausing in her searching for a writing utensil, the woman explained, "It's an autograph... you know, proof that we got to meet somebody awesome."

She still didn't understand why they wouldn't use something else, but the blatant flattery did make her feel slightly better after the earlier argument, so she nodded her assent. Writing her name in perfect Tristanian with another of those clever little 'markers', she heard Taylor slowly recovering.

"Um... thanks." The woman said, sounding disappointed for some reason. Whatever it was, she recovered quickly and asked, "So... why are you all dirty? Did you get in a fight? Isn't that the girl you saved from those bullies at Winslow? Why's she puking her guts out? Did you do some cool flying tricks?"

Taken slightly aback at the rapid onslaught, Louise shook her head and slowly answered, "No fight, I was building a fort in the woods and yes. Her name is Taylor... I don't know what made her sick."

"Don't just go telling everybody who I am." Taylor called out weakly as she stood back up with a glare toward the commoner.

"Hey, it's not her fault!" The commoner shouted back. "You're all over the internet. It's not every day a cape outs herself to stop bullying, you should be more grateful!"

Smirking toward the stunned bug-girl, Louise echoed, "Yes, you should be more grateful."

"Whatever, it's not like you're even slightly inconspicuous. Weren't we supposed to be meeting your friend?" Taylor asked, completely dismissing the conversation with the peasant woman.

"Wow, aren't you a bitch." The young woman sneered, but was completely ignored as Louise picked the other girl up and flew off.

Once they were further away, Louise stated, "It's not my fault you people all have such boring hair colors, I've hardly seen a lock of green or blue since my arrival!"

"Because those aren't normal... No, we're not doing this now." Taylor rubbed at her head. "I guess Vicky's spider half is close enough to an actual spider that I can control it and I'm bringing her back, but it's not easy. The thing's senses are just weird even by bug standards and I can't block them out."

"Wait, are you the reason she ran off in the first place?" Louise asked in annoyance. Just as she finished talking, sirens started blaring from less than a block away as Vicky came screaming toward a building and started to scale the structure.

"God damnit, not again!" Literally screaming.

Landing down on the rooftop where Taylor made Vicky stop, Louise called out, "If you wanted to go for a walk, you could have waited for us to come with."

"Shut it cat-girl." Victoria growled and leaned forward to loom over them menacingly, making Louise pout at the implicit threat. She didn't need anyone else to know about that story. "There's some sort of Master power effecting my lower half and it's pissing me off!"

Taylor took a step back and waved timidly, "Er... Sorry about that... I thought you were attacking my house and then after Louise explained everything, it was the quickest way to find you."

"Fine, whatever, I'm here. Just stop already." Vicky huffed, looking down at her other, unmoving head with an uneasy expression.

"Right... I can't do that." When Vicky turned back to glare at her and her lower mouth drooled hissing puddles onto the rooftop, Taylor held her arms up in surrender and blurted, "I can't turn my power off, I'm really sorry!"

The blonde put her head in her hands and groaned, "Do you have any idea how weird this feels even without somebody making my other half terrified? Like, holy fuck is it weird and now your saying I can't even walk on my own around you?!"

"I'm sorry, but 'holy fuck'? How can fornication be holy?" At the blank looks on both the girls' faces, Louise blushed. She was about to explain that when she kept hearing that word she'd done some rather embarrassing research on her phone to figure out what the word meant, when the other two burst out laughing.

Shouting for them to be quiet, only made the giggling worse and she waited redfaced for them to stop. This was what was occurring when a group of six black armored soldiers burst out of a nearby door, faces hidden and weapons aimed at the trio of girls.

Status: Healthy
Magicka: (13970/14000)

Choose:
[] Attack.

-[] Flames are safest since Victoria should be immune.
-[] Write in.​

[] Mount Vicky with Taylor and Flee!

-[] The mountain clearing.
-[] The Hebert Residence
-[] The Dallon Home​

[] Let the others take the lead.

[] Write in.
------------------------------------

A/N: Probably switching back to Spider!Vicky's POV unless you guys speak up against it. None of my characters can give satisfactory autographs, it's just the natural order of things.

 

[PieceThruWar]

As the PRT agents spread out and demanded that none of them move, Victoria Dallon looked to the others in an attempt to keep them from doing anything stupid. She might as well have not bothered.

Before she got a word out or Taylor even had time to react, Louise was already leaping toward her while dragging the other girl by the arm. Of course, one of the troopers started spraying containment foam then and the others followed with their weapons.

"Louise stop!" Vicky ordered, but the pinkette wasn't listening as the two of them took cover behind the blonde's torso, her enlarged body giving them ample protection... leaving the blonde completely soaked in the now sizzling goop and pelted with rubber, led, and ineffectual taser barbs.

Standing imperiously as the spider half was forced to struggle backwards to the edge of the rooftop, the little witch shot a spike of ice into the containment foam tank. While Vicky choked and sputtered on the expanding substance, she felt tiny arms struggle to wrap around her upper body, followed by a weightless feeling.

Shit, is she going to- She is! She thought as the older girl slowly lifted the three of them into the air. This is insane! There's no way you can carry my fat ass! Oh Jesus, please please please don't drop me!

Panicking internally as they slowly gained distance from the building and the bullet impacts on her carapace died out, a hysterical portion of her mind was caught up on the thought that she hadn't flown in a long time. After flying under her own power for years before being cursed with suddenly turning into a Case 53 out of nowhere, the open air was a familiar comfort that she didn't know she'd missed so much. Not that it helped much when all that kept her from a grisly end was a pair of tiny arms no bigger than Vista's.

The blonde's worry was made worse by the fact that her lower half was fighting against Taylor's control just to curl into a ball and cry about how they were all going to fall to their deaths... or it felt that way at least, until she felt a tingle and they turned invisible. Most of the foam fell away as she noticed that her second brain was now free to do exactly what she'd expected and she felt invisible droplets rain down over the next few minutes.

Their journey was painfully slow and Vicky couldn't manage to keep up the constant panic, slowly regaining enough composure to try comforting her other half with mixed success. The trio's invisibility flickered twice during the journey, but they eventually landed in front of a dreadfully familiar house just as Louise's magic wore off.

Free to scrape the last charred bits of foam from her face, Vicky twisted around to glare at the pink haired girl. "Why would you bring us here?!"

"Because we were attacked!" Louise whispered harshly. "I couldn't take us all the way back to the mountains without somebody seing us when my magic failed and they would find us immediately if we went back to Taylor's house."

While said girl stumbled off into the grass and started to throw up, Vicky argued, "We didn't need to run! I already told them I thought somebody was Mastering me, they were just trying to help! If we just waited, we could have gone to the PRT headquarters and explained what was happening."

"Isn't there some sort of masquerade law or other? Taylor doesn't have a costume on, which Madison and the other you were quite clear are important."

"If you two would have kept your cool and behaved like reasonable people, she could have just moved my legs for me and we could have played it off as her cape identity having been nearby when we were visiting her civilian identity!" Vicky shot back.

Heaving a few heavy breaths, the subject of their quiet conversation spoke up, "We.. couldn't... stay... or they'd call my dad. I'd prefer we don't throw more crazy at him yet."

"Vicky?!" A familiar voice called from the house, causing all three to turn. Running toward them from the open doorway was Amy, a shattered coffee mug left in her wake.

"Yeah, sis?" Came Vicky's easy reply from one of the upstairs windows, which made her sister turn in confusion and trip. Vicky watched her own face pop out of the window and meet her eyes with a gaping expression.

Status: Healthy
Magicka: (3170/14000)

Choose:
[] Make up excuses about guessing-shaft clones or something. Spider-Vicky tries to dispute this, discreetly cast Alteration invisibility on her, but only to remove sound.

[] Babble about how Vicky is Vicky from the maybe future and how you're an adventurer from another realm.

[] Let Spider-Vicky do the talking.

[] Write in.
------------------------------
A/N: It's Friday morning, April 29th 2011, just half an hour before school would start. Using Alteration invisibility for only sound is a much less efficient alternative to Muffle, but you never had Cynric teach her that spell.

Spoiler: On returning to Dark Souls

If you guys return to Dark Souls from any Earth, it will be to a point in time between games. If you return from Halkeginia, it will be to Dark Souls 1 era and in the same version of the world as the one you left Henrietta in. From another realm will be decided at that time.

 

[PieceThruWar]

"There's two of you?" Taylor asked in a horrified whisper.

From the corner of her eye, Vicky could see Louise's expression. The way she was struggling not to say anything and looking back pleadingly, she almost looked constipated. The blonde remembered how volatile she used to be and knew her alternate self was likely seconds away from going into her reflexive, as Amy once put it, 'rage mode' mode.

The other Victoria Dallon leapt out of her window and moved to lift Amy away to safety, enveloping them all in her aura. Vicky never realized before that moment just how amazing she was. The luster of her hair, the curve of her hips, the fullness of her lips, not to mention her boobs were just the best. Hell, even though she was snarling, it only showed how impeccable her teeth were.

"Wow." Vicky said, her voice husky and mouth suddenly dry. The sound of her voice drew the other Vicky's attention to her and she suddenly felt a wave of self-consciousness. 'Is my hair straight? Are my clothes dirty? Oh God, I haven't brushed my teeth today!'

"Who are you?" The other Vicky demanded, causing her lower body to rear back as if threatening. She could feel the creature's fear, but it didn't make any sense. Why would it be afraid of such a kind and beautiful woman. Especially since it was Vicky that it was afraid of, even if not the same instance of herself.

"I-I love you!" She blurted out, immediately feeling foolish for being too blunt. That didn't even answer the question. Awkwardly trying to salvage the situation, she explained, "W-w-what I meant... I mean... You... I er..."

'Jesus Christ girl, you're blowing it, get ahold of yourself!' The arachnid-girl berated herself as she slapped her lower head several times until it stopped waving it's front legs in the air. Brushing off her navy blue X-com jacket that barely worked as a crop top over her enlarged upper body, she tried to smile charmingly. "Vi-Victoria Dallon."

Dumbfounded by the unexpected answer, the better Vicky mouthed the word, "What."

Vicky didn't blame her, it sounded insane. There were so many things she could say to explain it all. 'like Aleph and bet, but another Earth bet.' 'Multiverse theory' 'dimensional and possibly time travel'. Unfortunately, the words that came out resembled nothing of what she should have said. "We should hook up."

"What?!" Came the soul crushing response as the Vicky that wasn't a hideous monster recoiled in disgust, her sister held protectively to her chest.

"Stop." Louise growled angrily, her hands glowing golden as she clutched at the back of her head. A moment passed with nothing happening when the small girl had the audacity to step menacingly toward the other Vicky. Vicky was about to step in to protect her other self and sister when Louise screamed with tears in her eyes, "Get out of my head!"

"Shit, I'm so sorry." The local Victoria said quickly and like a curtain being torn down then lit on fire, Vicky belatedly realized what was happening and what she had just said. While Amy was let free to check on the burns Louise's chip caused, the two.. doppelgangers stood a few paces apart and stared, both blushing scarlet for different reasons. Or maybe the same reason, she didn't know.

What she did know was that she'd just propositioned herself. Groaning, she put her head in her hands. "I am officially the world's biggest narcissist."

"Hey, I'd do me." The other her said jokingly, obviously trying to make things less awkward. "So... are you like, a clone or something?"

"Or something." She replied with a slight smirk. "I'm you from a parallel world."

"Huh." Was the girl's nonplussed response. Several more moments passed before the other two finished healing each other of their respective burns and bloody nose.

Looking around as Louise led the hesitant group into the back yard, Vicky spotted Taylor sprinting down the street in the distance. Pointing at the fleeing Villainess, Vicky called out, "Louise!"

The pink haired teen quickly flew off in pursuit, leaving Amy and the two Vickys behind. Standing to her full height and stepping over the wooden fence, Vicky tried to conceal her presence from any curious neighbors or traffic by laying down with all eight legs splayed out. It would work well enough as long as nobody noticed how the head sticking over the fence was at least twice as big as it should be. Hopefully her hair would confuse the issue long enough for them to look away.

"Okay, the kid is gone. Talk." Her doppelganger demanded, arms crossed.

"Kid?" Vicky asked, surely they couldn't be talking about Louise, the girl was pretty violent toward people who assume her age based on her appearance.

Though apparently these two were lucky, or unlucky, enough to have somehow not learned that lesson yet. "Do you really need to ask?" Amy asked flatly. "How do you know Louise and what are you planning?"

Did they think she was a criminal or something, what was with the interrogation? "Uh... I've been helping her out since her teacher, Cynric, used his power to summon me. Hasn't she said anything, Ames?"

"Don't call me that, I don't know you." Amy replied with a glare, making the spider-girl frown.

"Sure you do!" Vicky argued. "I'm pretty sure this Earth is just like mine. I'm not sure when the timeline split, but it couldn't have been too long before Louise arrived, things are too similar. That means you know me as well as you know her."

The other Vicky looked startled at the sudden attention on her before asking, "What's dad's favorite food?"

"Beef Stroganoff, too easy." She grinned.

"What was my worst grade on the last report card?" The next question came immediately.

After a moment of thought she answered, "B minus in Chemistry, I forgot a bunch of symbols on the last test and mom brought me ice-cream because I was too mad at myself to leave my room."

"Birthmarks?"

"A dented cowboy hat on your right foot and a splotch in the middle of your back, mine are gone now."

"Trigger event?"

"A stupid foul in basketball." It wasn't even close to a bad trigger event, but it still annoyed her to think about. "Amy's was when that gang attacked the mall and I... er... we got hurt."

"Where does Dean keep his condoms?"

"Gallant doesn't use them." She grinned lecherously in response.

"Vicky!" Amy screeched in wide eyed alarm.

Both Vickys burst into laughter as the local one floated over and wrapped an arm around the larger one's shoulder. "Well, looks like she's legit. Does this make us twins?"

"No, you're not twins!" Amy grumbled in annoyance and then began to plot quietly on how to turn her sister's boyfriend inside out without killing him. Vicky didn't exactly hate Dean, but their last breakup had been so out of nowhere that she almost hoped Ames wasn't joking. Seriously, who just dumps their super hot girlfriend because something about her house gives him a headache?

Not that Amy of all people would do something like that, since anyone who could deal with Taylor's insanity on a nearly constant basis and not have a single breakup was a paragon of patience in the blonde's book.

"So, twin sister of mine," Bizzaro-Vicky began. "How'd you end up... y'know?"

Towering over the smaller Glory Girl, Vicky couldn't help but feel a stab of envy. It had been months and she was no closer to finding out why or how she was turned into a monster. "I don't know, I was just hanging out with a friend and the next thing I know, I'm a giant spider... not like this though, I was like... the size of a dog and only had a gross mockery of my face... I got used to it after a few months, but God was it terrifying."

"Anyway, eventually an old man named Cynric pulled me to a different world full of strange things that they said were aliens. We were on a spaceship or something when... I don't have the powers I had as Glory Girl. There was an explosion and I couldn't breath. I-I'm pretty sure I was dying, 'cause everything was going black and... and..."

"I gave her what she needed to survive and the power to stop it from happening again, it just so happened to change her into her current form as well." Louise finished for her, dragging a put out Taylor through the air. "We escaped the ship shortly thereafter and fled to another world when the ship started sucking everything into one of those."

Following the point smaller girl's arm, Amy, Glory Girl, and Taylor sucked in a breath in unison. She was pointing to the blackhole that was floating above the city, though the others seemed to realize they wouldn't have had to leave dimensions if it had been as stable as the one they were now seeing.

"Holy shit." The local Vicky whispered, to which the others nodded in agreement.

After a moment of silence, Amy suddenly asked Louise, "So wait... you're not an escaped Gesellschaft experiment?"

'The fuck?!'

Status: Healthy
Magicka: (3170/14000)

Choose:
[] Remain silent, no need to incriminate yourself when letting them come up with their own explanations has been working so far.

[] Clear up the misunderstandings as best as you can. Seriously, is that what they thought? Wow, that's degrading.

[] Try to reinforce their mistaken assumptions, of course you're an... escaped experiment.
-[] Deflect, Vicky mentioned before that Taylor and Amy are supposed to be courting one another.
-[] Cast aspersions on Vicky's mental health so she can't properly argue against you and be believed, she'll forgive you later. Probably.

[] Write in.

---------------------
A/N: Before anyone comments on the reference to DC comics, Bizzaro is a character that existed before the timeline split and Vicky was taking Parahuman studies in school, a class that would more than likely looked at pre-Scion superheroes at some point.