- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He
Yeah, I have the same pet peeve.
A CYOA in Worm or I think my name is No No
- Thread starter Rajvik_wolfboy
- Start date
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- Tags
- worm cyoa cyoa si self insert
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
Sadly, there are a lot of people who really do think that simply saying 'I want to apologize' is enough, without actually saying 'I apologize,' and others do think that the two are equivalent. Ms. Smithers may be one of them.
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He
My dad drilled into my head, "Don't make excuses. Apologize and explain your actions."
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
Which is good. What we've seen of Ms. Smithers does suggest a different upbringing, though (or it didn't stick very well).
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
for those talking about actually saying "I apologize," or "I'm sorry" this is the important part right here. Akane acknowledges Smither's intent, and accepts the intended apology. A method of saving face as it were. She has no reason to allow Smithers to save face, but is doing so because it saves time and does not bring up again things that were painful.
Side Story: 2
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
No No Side Stories
SS2
Berlin Germany
January 17, 2011
The bar was known as Checkpoint Charlie and had been built around the last standing checkpoint gate from the Berlin Wall after the majority of it had been torn down. Opened in 1993, the bar had first been a place for old enemies to meet and reconcile, and then a place where the odd backpacker and history buff could catch a look at what had been. Now it was the kind of place that movie buffs and producers thought would be a place where spies would meet their contacts to gain information out of the old Soviet Union States. The blonde that walked in this night looked like the average college age backpacker. She was young, blonde, American, and looked around at the bar divide before heading over the "Western" side.
The "western" side of the bar was decorated to look like a mixture of western style bars with cozy booths, open tables and stools along the bar itself. Along the walls were the three flags of the NATO allies that had controlled West Berlin as well as pictures of important leaders from those countries. All dark wood and brass, the fixtures gave off a warm and welcome feeling. Comparatively, the "East" side was similarly done up as what could be thought of as a commissar's lounge with the flags of the various Soviet and Eastern Bloc nations on the wall and images of Lenin, Stalin, and the various communist leaders of the Eastern Bloc.
As the blonde sat down on one of the barstools, a smartly dressed brunette man with a short cut beard stepped up beside her and ordered a beer. "Could I get one of those as well?" the blonde asked, causing the bartender to nod.
"You're American," the man said in English lifting an eyebrow.
"Guilty as charged," the blonde said, smiling and looking the man up and down. "Unfortunately, I came here looking for someone, though maybe you could help me find them."
"Funny thing that," the man answered. "I came here specifically to meet someone as well. But then again if you are the woman looking to set up an auction then we've found the people we were both looking for."
"Then we have indeed," the woman said with a nod. "Holly Genarro," she continued, offering her hand.
"Hans Gruber," the brunette man said, shaking her hand and smiling. "I'm told that you have some very rare objects for this auction."
"My employer does, yes," she answered. "And I am told that certain associates of yours are highly interested in acquiring said objects."
Gruber nodded, "If they are authentic," he said, causing the blonde to roll her eyes.
"You do realize the problem with trying to authenticate anything related to this, yes?" she asked.
"Why don't you explain it to me?" Gruber said softly with a laugh.
"These objects are not only well known," she answered. "But they are also supposed to be completely lost, and if found, the finders are only due a fee from the major metropolitan museums that are supposed to be in possession of them. My employer would be losing money by doing this, which if we brought in anyone outside the pair of us, we would be forced to do so. We took them because the people who did find and recover them brought back other, authenticating items as well as pictures of where they were recovered from." At this point she slid a half dozen polaroids that she pulled from the interior pocket of her jacket across to him face down. "It was suggested that a few of your associates would be willing to pay a hefty sum for such items, along with several other individuals around the world. Do you think your associates would be interested?"
Gruber looked at the pictures and then blinked before looking more closely. "I'm sure they will be," he answered. "What are the details on the auction?"
"One month from now in Boston," she answered, sliding a business card over to him. "Details are on that card as well as contact information for my employer. I do hope to see you, or at least your factor at the auction." With that the blonde put a five Euro note under her now empty beer bottle before getting up and walking out, leaving the brunette man sitting there staring at the pictures.
Walking out the woman waved down a cab which she took to the Angleterre Hotel. There she walked out of sight from any potential watchers by going straight to the elevator and climbing in. She only rode it up one floor before going to one of the rooms, quickly changing clothes and leaving by way of the stairs at the opposite end of the hallway. Walking out the opposite side of the hotel she caught the city transit bus north and then a second west before walking a block to "Curry at the Wall" where she sat down next to a dark-haired young man who seemed to be doing something on a laptop computer. "Hey Auggie," she said as she sat down next to him and picked up one of the two earbuds that was plugged into the computer. "Joan?"
"I'm here Annie," the woman on the screen of the computer answered. "And from the sound of things they took the bait, hook line and sinker."
"Good," the blonde replied. "A joint operation like this doesn't come along very often does it?"
"No," her boss answered. "But with a little luck, between us all we will be able to roll them all up nice and tidy. Augie, break it down and the two of you come home, there is still a lot to do before the "auction" takes place."
"Yes ma'am," both her and Auggie answered before the image of their boss blinked out and Auggie started to put up the computer. "So what do you think happens next Annie?" Auggie asked.
"We get ready to support the PRT and FBI," Annie Walker answered as she helped him gather the computer up before they headed out to the unmarked embassy van that would take them back to the airport.
**
SS2
Berlin Germany
January 17, 2011
The bar was known as Checkpoint Charlie and had been built around the last standing checkpoint gate from the Berlin Wall after the majority of it had been torn down. Opened in 1993, the bar had first been a place for old enemies to meet and reconcile, and then a place where the odd backpacker and history buff could catch a look at what had been. Now it was the kind of place that movie buffs and producers thought would be a place where spies would meet their contacts to gain information out of the old Soviet Union States. The blonde that walked in this night looked like the average college age backpacker. She was young, blonde, American, and looked around at the bar divide before heading over the "Western" side.
The "western" side of the bar was decorated to look like a mixture of western style bars with cozy booths, open tables and stools along the bar itself. Along the walls were the three flags of the NATO allies that had controlled West Berlin as well as pictures of important leaders from those countries. All dark wood and brass, the fixtures gave off a warm and welcome feeling. Comparatively, the "East" side was similarly done up as what could be thought of as a commissar's lounge with the flags of the various Soviet and Eastern Bloc nations on the wall and images of Lenin, Stalin, and the various communist leaders of the Eastern Bloc.
As the blonde sat down on one of the barstools, a smartly dressed brunette man with a short cut beard stepped up beside her and ordered a beer. "Could I get one of those as well?" the blonde asked, causing the bartender to nod.
"You're American," the man said in English lifting an eyebrow.
"Guilty as charged," the blonde said, smiling and looking the man up and down. "Unfortunately, I came here looking for someone, though maybe you could help me find them."
"Funny thing that," the man answered. "I came here specifically to meet someone as well. But then again if you are the woman looking to set up an auction then we've found the people we were both looking for."
"Then we have indeed," the woman said with a nod. "Holly Genarro," she continued, offering her hand.
"Hans Gruber," the brunette man said, shaking her hand and smiling. "I'm told that you have some very rare objects for this auction."
"My employer does, yes," she answered. "And I am told that certain associates of yours are highly interested in acquiring said objects."
Gruber nodded, "If they are authentic," he said, causing the blonde to roll her eyes.
"You do realize the problem with trying to authenticate anything related to this, yes?" she asked.
"Why don't you explain it to me?" Gruber said softly with a laugh.
"These objects are not only well known," she answered. "But they are also supposed to be completely lost, and if found, the finders are only due a fee from the major metropolitan museums that are supposed to be in possession of them. My employer would be losing money by doing this, which if we brought in anyone outside the pair of us, we would be forced to do so. We took them because the people who did find and recover them brought back other, authenticating items as well as pictures of where they were recovered from." At this point she slid a half dozen polaroids that she pulled from the interior pocket of her jacket across to him face down. "It was suggested that a few of your associates would be willing to pay a hefty sum for such items, along with several other individuals around the world. Do you think your associates would be interested?"
Gruber looked at the pictures and then blinked before looking more closely. "I'm sure they will be," he answered. "What are the details on the auction?"
"One month from now in Boston," she answered, sliding a business card over to him. "Details are on that card as well as contact information for my employer. I do hope to see you, or at least your factor at the auction." With that the blonde put a five Euro note under her now empty beer bottle before getting up and walking out, leaving the brunette man sitting there staring at the pictures.
Walking out the woman waved down a cab which she took to the Angleterre Hotel. There she walked out of sight from any potential watchers by going straight to the elevator and climbing in. She only rode it up one floor before going to one of the rooms, quickly changing clothes and leaving by way of the stairs at the opposite end of the hallway. Walking out the opposite side of the hotel she caught the city transit bus north and then a second west before walking a block to "Curry at the Wall" where she sat down next to a dark-haired young man who seemed to be doing something on a laptop computer. "Hey Auggie," she said as she sat down next to him and picked up one of the two earbuds that was plugged into the computer. "Joan?"
"I'm here Annie," the woman on the screen of the computer answered. "And from the sound of things they took the bait, hook line and sinker."
"Good," the blonde replied. "A joint operation like this doesn't come along very often does it?"
"No," her boss answered. "But with a little luck, between us all we will be able to roll them all up nice and tidy. Augie, break it down and the two of you come home, there is still a lot to do before the "auction" takes place."
"Yes ma'am," both her and Auggie answered before the image of their boss blinked out and Auggie started to put up the computer. "So what do you think happens next Annie?" Auggie asked.
"We get ready to support the PRT and FBI," Annie Walker answered as she helped him gather the computer up before they headed out to the unmarked embassy van that would take them back to the airport.
**
So I came to a decision about something. Normal threadmark posts are going to be strictly story posts, Side story threadmarks are going to be as if the story is a USA network TV series which means that you will either have Side Stories like this one, or Backstage Stories like the first of the Backstage Brockton Bay. Appocrypha will be for Omakes and "What Coil Dropped" scenes
That is all.
That is all.
Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
Last edited:
Chapter 8.3
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
**Dinah**
Watching the Three Ninja of Brockton Bay be debriefed on what had occurred last night, as well as what they had individually figured out in the intervening time was, educational. Director Piggot kept everything calm and no-nonsense, while Mrs Burns asked what I could only figure were pertinent questions about how things had happened. Once they were done, Mrs. Burns stood, as did her assistant, and thanked the three of them, especially Skitter's actions the night before. "Your methods were thoughtful and executed with a precision that we can only wish that others would have. Ladies, I wish you a good evening, let's go Caroline."
Once the pair left, the director turned to the others and sighed, "Alright Akane," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I can recognize Miss Alcott even with the domino mask, why do you believe that she has powers?"
"Because I shut them down last night so that she could get a decent night's sleep," Akane answered, frankly. "I also tried to hint to her mother that she might not be pretending, but the woman didn't want to listen. Dinah, did she say anything about bringing you here today?"
"No," I answered. "Mom is mostly concerned that Dad might be having an affair. There's a non-zero chance that he is, but the numbers say that he's working extra hours and cases to ensure that he has the money to buy her something nice for their anniversary next month."
"How do you know those things?" Akane asked, looking at me with her eyebrows raised. "I shut your power down when we met in the lobby."
"Because I've asked them every time mom starts having a snit over dad missing dinner for the last two weeks," she answered. "I do tend to remember what the answers are, which is making school a headache, literally."
Akane nodded and the director frowned. "Your power starts giving you the answers to whatever you are asked, correct?" she asked.
"In percentages," I told her. "For instance, there is a seventy-five percent chance that the person behind the kidnapping and murder attempt last night is listening to this conversation right now. Before you ask how I know that I asked myself what the chance was, that by going to Akane the person responsible for last night was going to be able to listen into whatever conversation we had. That it was an attempted murder and kidnapping was an eighty percent chance and that whoever is behind it is also a thinker, as the attempt had a two out of three chance of failure."
"Jesus," the director muttered. "I'll call your parents and get one or both of them down here immediately. For now, it's probably best if you stick with these three." I nodded at that as together there was a ninety percent chance of my being safe for the next six hours. "Girls, your current assignment is to guard Viewpoint and not allow her to go anywhere alone until cleared by myself in person, not even the bathroom. If he can listen in on a secure conference room, then whoever is behind this is within the system."
"Yes ma'am," the three others snapped off before standing. "Ward's lounge?" Skitter asked.
"As good a place as any to fort up," Rune answered. "And it allows us to draft Vista to watch her at school."
"Good point," Akane and the director said at the same time. Akane snorted before continuing after sharing a glance with her aunt. "Let's go, there's homework to be done."
**
Margaret Christner Alcott sighed as she entered the PRT building and stepped up to the security station. "Excuse me," she said, addressing the person behind the counter. "I received a phone call from Rory Christner asking me to come down here?"
"And you are?" the receptionist, a young blonde woman in the PRT blacks asked as she tapped at her computer.
"Margaret Alcott," she answered, receiving a nod.
"Thank you, ma'am," she said, looking up at her and smiling. "I'll let Rory know you're here and he should be down in a minute or two."
"Thank you," Margaret said, turning around only to see her nephew Rory come striding out of the elevators.
"Sorry to call you over here Aunt Margaret," he said as he stepped up to her. "It's a bit important and something that we can't discuss out here." She nodded and he turned to the receptionist, "Thanks, Margo."
"No problem Rory," the young woman said, giving her nephew a dazzling smile. "I hope everything goes well." Rory smiled and nodded before leading her towards the elevators.
"Did something go wrong between you and Crystal?" Margaret asked as the elevator doors closed and Rory pushed a button on the control panel.
"No," Rory answered, giving her a questioning look. "Why would you ask that?"
"Because that Margo girl is looking to stake a claim on you," she answered. "Done anything to lead her on?"
"Not that I'm aware of," he answered with a sigh. "But then again, around here it could be anything. That however, is not why I called and asked you to come down here."
"No," she said, sighing. "Has your cousin coerced you into having her tested to see if she is a parahuman?"
"She told you?" Rory asked, his voice swinging through varying tones of disbelief. "If she told you why didn't you bring her down to be tested already?"
"Because she's a child Rory," she answered with a touch of heat to her voice. "She's playing make believe and acting out to get attention while her father fools around with his…" she lowered her head and took a deep breath in before letting it out slowly. "Rory, your uncle and I are going through a bit of a rough patch and because of it, Dinah is likely acting out. It's not like she's experienced anything truly traumatic."
Looking up she found her nephew looking at her wide-eyed. "You really don't get it do you?" At that point he sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. "No No and Skitter were both there last night, and No No touched Dinah. Dinah has powers Aunt Margaret. In fact, she's a very powerful thinker and that whole scene last night was so that a villain by the name of Coil could kidnap her."
The elevator dinged, cutting off further talk as Rory led her down two halls before stopping at a door and waving his badge against a scanner next to the door. She heard the lock disengage and then he opened the door, waving her into a closed meeting room where Emily Piggot sat. "Mrs. Alcott," she said standing up. "Thank you for coming so quickly. Has Rory filled you in on the situation?"
"He was just doing so," Margaret answered, looking back to see her nephew enter the room behind her and shut the door. Feeling slightly shocked at the revelation she sat down in the offered chair. "I didn't think that she could hear our arguing, that we had managed to keep it from her."
"Children find out things in the oddest ways," Piggot said sitting down. "The fact of the matter though, is that Dinah has triggered. Worse, she has already popped up on one villain's radar. Currently I have Rune, Skitter and No No protecting her, but I can't have them do that twenty-four hours a day, every day of the week. Right now we are looking for a way to capture the villain in question, but he's a slippery little snake and has gone to ground and we don't know where he is at the moment. I hate to suggest it, but if you are willing to sign Dinah up for the Wards, I can house her here until we catch him or verify that he is no longer a threat."
"I can't do that without at least discussing it with her father," Margaret said with a sigh. "That said, can you keep her safe, as a Ward?"
"Not perfectly safe, no," Emily answered honestly. "Nothing is perfectly safe of course, but your daughter would likely be kept back at base, instead of being sent on patrol like the others. On the other hand, joining the Wards tends to mean that a parahuman is hands off to forcible recruitment. The main reason for this is because if someone goes after them, either to harm or kidnap them, it earns a response similar to breaking the unwritten rules. There have been incidents in other cities where villains who have gone after Wards, have been found near death from the response of both the local villains who didn't want to be pounded on because someone went too far and the heroes, both independent and Protectorate, who were angered by the action.."
"And like the unwritten rules, if they have power, then they can ignore this for the most part." Margaret countered, earning a nod from the director.
"That is true," Emily said. "On the other hand, Coil is a very small fish in an only moderately sized pond. "I have it on good authority that neither Lung, nor Kaiser would allow someone to get away with assaulting a Ward with intent."
"What about Fleur?" Margaret asked hotly.
"First of all, Fleur wasn't a Ward," Emily answered dryly. "Furthermore, while that particular individual might have managed to enter the Empire like they intended, their life there was neither kind nor long. The way he died was a statement that even if Kaiser would accept those who broke the rules, the rest of the cape community would not."
Margaret Alcott blinked a moment before asking, "What happened to him?"
"I don't know how," The director said, looking down for a moment. "But he was caught out and buried alive with some very large rats in his coffin. We were alerted to his location about a week after the BBPD was informed of his disappearance. I won't horrify you with the details of the results, and Panacea was not a cape at the time, so he was only able to be cared for with normal medicine. He didn't survive."
Margaret blanched at the thought. "So what you are telling me is that at least some amongst the capes are willing to take the unwritten rules seriously," she said.
Piggot nodded, "We have our suspects of who might have been the person responsible for the death of Mathew Hines," she said calmly. "But there is no evidence and quite frankly, even if Kaiser has the willingness to accept someone else who did that, he doesn't have the power to keep them from meeting a similar fate." Emily rested her elbows on her desk before steepling her hands in front of her face. "Regardless of what you choose Mrs. Alcott," she continued. "We at the PRT will strive to protect your daughter the same as we do any other non-villain parahuman, however, if your daughter is a Ward, we have more of an ability to do so."
Margaret Alcott sighed. "Let me call her father and get him over here," she said mentally admitting her defeat on the subject. "I know that there are contracts to go through and he's better at dealing with that than I am."
Emily Piggot only nodded before looking at Rory. "Feel free to use the phone in here or Rory can take you outside if you wish to use your cell to call him," the director said. "I apologize but I have a lot of paperwork that I need to handle before I can go home. When your husband shows up Rory can collect him from downstairs and take you to Deputy Director Rennicks office to handle the paperwork."
"Thank you," Margaret said as she looked at her nephew who nodded. With that the director got up and left the meeting room to the two of them.
Watching the Three Ninja of Brockton Bay be debriefed on what had occurred last night, as well as what they had individually figured out in the intervening time was, educational. Director Piggot kept everything calm and no-nonsense, while Mrs Burns asked what I could only figure were pertinent questions about how things had happened. Once they were done, Mrs. Burns stood, as did her assistant, and thanked the three of them, especially Skitter's actions the night before. "Your methods were thoughtful and executed with a precision that we can only wish that others would have. Ladies, I wish you a good evening, let's go Caroline."
Once the pair left, the director turned to the others and sighed, "Alright Akane," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I can recognize Miss Alcott even with the domino mask, why do you believe that she has powers?"
"Because I shut them down last night so that she could get a decent night's sleep," Akane answered, frankly. "I also tried to hint to her mother that she might not be pretending, but the woman didn't want to listen. Dinah, did she say anything about bringing you here today?"
"No," I answered. "Mom is mostly concerned that Dad might be having an affair. There's a non-zero chance that he is, but the numbers say that he's working extra hours and cases to ensure that he has the money to buy her something nice for their anniversary next month."
"How do you know those things?" Akane asked, looking at me with her eyebrows raised. "I shut your power down when we met in the lobby."
"Because I've asked them every time mom starts having a snit over dad missing dinner for the last two weeks," she answered. "I do tend to remember what the answers are, which is making school a headache, literally."
Akane nodded and the director frowned. "Your power starts giving you the answers to whatever you are asked, correct?" she asked.
"In percentages," I told her. "For instance, there is a seventy-five percent chance that the person behind the kidnapping and murder attempt last night is listening to this conversation right now. Before you ask how I know that I asked myself what the chance was, that by going to Akane the person responsible for last night was going to be able to listen into whatever conversation we had. That it was an attempted murder and kidnapping was an eighty percent chance and that whoever is behind it is also a thinker, as the attempt had a two out of three chance of failure."
"Jesus," the director muttered. "I'll call your parents and get one or both of them down here immediately. For now, it's probably best if you stick with these three." I nodded at that as together there was a ninety percent chance of my being safe for the next six hours. "Girls, your current assignment is to guard Viewpoint and not allow her to go anywhere alone until cleared by myself in person, not even the bathroom. If he can listen in on a secure conference room, then whoever is behind this is within the system."
"Yes ma'am," the three others snapped off before standing. "Ward's lounge?" Skitter asked.
"As good a place as any to fort up," Rune answered. "And it allows us to draft Vista to watch her at school."
"Good point," Akane and the director said at the same time. Akane snorted before continuing after sharing a glance with her aunt. "Let's go, there's homework to be done."
**
Margaret Christner Alcott sighed as she entered the PRT building and stepped up to the security station. "Excuse me," she said, addressing the person behind the counter. "I received a phone call from Rory Christner asking me to come down here?"
"And you are?" the receptionist, a young blonde woman in the PRT blacks asked as she tapped at her computer.
"Margaret Alcott," she answered, receiving a nod.
"Thank you, ma'am," she said, looking up at her and smiling. "I'll let Rory know you're here and he should be down in a minute or two."
"Thank you," Margaret said, turning around only to see her nephew Rory come striding out of the elevators.
"Sorry to call you over here Aunt Margaret," he said as he stepped up to her. "It's a bit important and something that we can't discuss out here." She nodded and he turned to the receptionist, "Thanks, Margo."
"No problem Rory," the young woman said, giving her nephew a dazzling smile. "I hope everything goes well." Rory smiled and nodded before leading her towards the elevators.
"Did something go wrong between you and Crystal?" Margaret asked as the elevator doors closed and Rory pushed a button on the control panel.
"No," Rory answered, giving her a questioning look. "Why would you ask that?"
"Because that Margo girl is looking to stake a claim on you," she answered. "Done anything to lead her on?"
"Not that I'm aware of," he answered with a sigh. "But then again, around here it could be anything. That however, is not why I called and asked you to come down here."
"No," she said, sighing. "Has your cousin coerced you into having her tested to see if she is a parahuman?"
"She told you?" Rory asked, his voice swinging through varying tones of disbelief. "If she told you why didn't you bring her down to be tested already?"
"Because she's a child Rory," she answered with a touch of heat to her voice. "She's playing make believe and acting out to get attention while her father fools around with his…" she lowered her head and took a deep breath in before letting it out slowly. "Rory, your uncle and I are going through a bit of a rough patch and because of it, Dinah is likely acting out. It's not like she's experienced anything truly traumatic."
Looking up she found her nephew looking at her wide-eyed. "You really don't get it do you?" At that point he sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. "No No and Skitter were both there last night, and No No touched Dinah. Dinah has powers Aunt Margaret. In fact, she's a very powerful thinker and that whole scene last night was so that a villain by the name of Coil could kidnap her."
The elevator dinged, cutting off further talk as Rory led her down two halls before stopping at a door and waving his badge against a scanner next to the door. She heard the lock disengage and then he opened the door, waving her into a closed meeting room where Emily Piggot sat. "Mrs. Alcott," she said standing up. "Thank you for coming so quickly. Has Rory filled you in on the situation?"
"He was just doing so," Margaret answered, looking back to see her nephew enter the room behind her and shut the door. Feeling slightly shocked at the revelation she sat down in the offered chair. "I didn't think that she could hear our arguing, that we had managed to keep it from her."
"Children find out things in the oddest ways," Piggot said sitting down. "The fact of the matter though, is that Dinah has triggered. Worse, she has already popped up on one villain's radar. Currently I have Rune, Skitter and No No protecting her, but I can't have them do that twenty-four hours a day, every day of the week. Right now we are looking for a way to capture the villain in question, but he's a slippery little snake and has gone to ground and we don't know where he is at the moment. I hate to suggest it, but if you are willing to sign Dinah up for the Wards, I can house her here until we catch him or verify that he is no longer a threat."
"I can't do that without at least discussing it with her father," Margaret said with a sigh. "That said, can you keep her safe, as a Ward?"
"Not perfectly safe, no," Emily answered honestly. "Nothing is perfectly safe of course, but your daughter would likely be kept back at base, instead of being sent on patrol like the others. On the other hand, joining the Wards tends to mean that a parahuman is hands off to forcible recruitment. The main reason for this is because if someone goes after them, either to harm or kidnap them, it earns a response similar to breaking the unwritten rules. There have been incidents in other cities where villains who have gone after Wards, have been found near death from the response of both the local villains who didn't want to be pounded on because someone went too far and the heroes, both independent and Protectorate, who were angered by the action.."
"And like the unwritten rules, if they have power, then they can ignore this for the most part." Margaret countered, earning a nod from the director.
"That is true," Emily said. "On the other hand, Coil is a very small fish in an only moderately sized pond. "I have it on good authority that neither Lung, nor Kaiser would allow someone to get away with assaulting a Ward with intent."
"What about Fleur?" Margaret asked hotly.
"First of all, Fleur wasn't a Ward," Emily answered dryly. "Furthermore, while that particular individual might have managed to enter the Empire like they intended, their life there was neither kind nor long. The way he died was a statement that even if Kaiser would accept those who broke the rules, the rest of the cape community would not."
Margaret Alcott blinked a moment before asking, "What happened to him?"
"I don't know how," The director said, looking down for a moment. "But he was caught out and buried alive with some very large rats in his coffin. We were alerted to his location about a week after the BBPD was informed of his disappearance. I won't horrify you with the details of the results, and Panacea was not a cape at the time, so he was only able to be cared for with normal medicine. He didn't survive."
Margaret blanched at the thought. "So what you are telling me is that at least some amongst the capes are willing to take the unwritten rules seriously," she said.
Piggot nodded, "We have our suspects of who might have been the person responsible for the death of Mathew Hines," she said calmly. "But there is no evidence and quite frankly, even if Kaiser has the willingness to accept someone else who did that, he doesn't have the power to keep them from meeting a similar fate." Emily rested her elbows on her desk before steepling her hands in front of her face. "Regardless of what you choose Mrs. Alcott," she continued. "We at the PRT will strive to protect your daughter the same as we do any other non-villain parahuman, however, if your daughter is a Ward, we have more of an ability to do so."
Margaret Alcott sighed. "Let me call her father and get him over here," she said mentally admitting her defeat on the subject. "I know that there are contracts to go through and he's better at dealing with that than I am."
Emily Piggot only nodded before looking at Rory. "Feel free to use the phone in here or Rory can take you outside if you wish to use your cell to call him," the director said. "I apologize but I have a lot of paperwork that I need to handle before I can go home. When your husband shows up Rory can collect him from downstairs and take you to Deputy Director Rennicks office to handle the paperwork."
"Thank you," Margaret said as she looked at her nephew who nodded. With that the director got up and left the meeting room to the two of them.
- Location
- Sydney
It makes sense that her parents wouldn't believe her if they think she's just acting out. After all thinker powers are difficult to prove compared to more obvious ones and easy to fake. Really its more questionable how Coil discovered her abilities... Maybe he visited the mayor while she was there as Calvert and overheard her complaints. he could probably used a timeline to interrogate her with some testable question?
Not sure if it's Cannon or Fannon but she suffered thinker headaches.Coil would watch doctors offices for such things to spot new thinker triggers.
- Location
- East of Sun, West of Moon
In fact, I seem to recall at least one ficlet where Dinah actually is just acting out, and picked a 'percentage precog' precisely because it is impossible to disprove without a brain scan.
Boy was that Dinah shocked when the world did end...
- Location
- Cambridge, UK
Definition of BRUNETTE
a person having brown hair —usually used of a woman or girl and usually spelled brunette in that use—when used of a man or boy usually spelled brunet… See the full definition
www.merriam-webster.com
Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
Why? Because English.
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
my mother minored in English, and yet i never caught that one about brunet/tte myself, i knew about blond/e
Chapter 8.4
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
**
Thomas Calvert sighed as he released the pair of timelines that he had been carrying since the night before. Taylor Hebert had well and truly fucked his plan, and Tattletale had almost outed him to the majority of the capes in the city as well as Emily Piggot. As creative as he was sure Kenta Horaki and Maximillian Anders would be in his death, Emily would surely surpass them both. Not because she would be against killing him, no, she wouldn't kill him unless he left her no choice. Some asshole in prison would kill him for any number of reasons, this of course was assuming he didn't get sent to the Birdcage.
No, last night he had been left with no option but to let things play out with his mercenaries, and that had failed with Mr Pitter and all but one of the rest being captured. Not that they had stayed captured mind you. It was interesting how the police transport that was supposed to be taking them to the local precinct for booking seemed to have disappeared completely, but that was someone else's investigation, and if they figured out that Coil was the responsible party, well, Skitter had already laid the blame on him, regardless of what the press release stated. What are you playing at Emily? he thought as he split his timelines again.
In the first timeline he kept working at his desk. There was plenty to be done as an Assistant Deputy Director and Strike Team Leader, and there never seemed to be enough hours in the day. It would be Nine PM when he finally put his computer to standby mode, clocked out, and drove his completely bland Honda Civic home before eating a late dinner and going to bed. Like all days, the next day promised to be as long as this one had been, especially if things got interesting overnight.
In his second timeline, he logged out and put his computer on standby before clocking out and going downstairs to the street. Outside he crossed the street before going down it three blocks to another parking garage where inside he unlocked and climbed into the back of a panel van. The panel van was unmarked and had a curtain separating the rear area from the front. In the back of the van was a full set of unmarked black BDUs as well as one of his costumes. Stripping out of his work uniform he contemplated whether or not he should get into his costume now, or in the locker room. If he costumed up now, he could be caught, but the mercenaries would know it was him. On the other hand, if he wore the uniform, which intentionally mimicked the PRT work BDUs, they would believe him just another of the body doubles that "Coil" used to keep people guessing. Shrugging, he put on the clean BDUs before climbing into the front of the van and driving to another parking garage next to a construction site. His base was under the entire block, but the easiest entrance for anyone to use was the elevator in the parking garage. Even then it required a key to not only unlock the panel that hid the button to the proper floor, but one also had to unlock the button itself and open the doors manually at the floor. Calvert knew that it made some of his mercenaries wonder why the local body double lived outside the base, but others knew he was also a mole in the PRT, so it was a non-issue.
Entering the base went as expected, quietly and with little fanfare as his face, and ID were checked against a physical list, before he was allowed to proceed past the secondary entrance and again at the main entrance. Entering the locker room he changed into his Coil costume before going to relieve the body double on duty and taking over and accessing the PRT camera feeds. Emily was doing paperwork, Dinah was in the Wards area with the director's niece, Skitter and Rune. And how the fuck that friendship happened I have no clue. How is her racist ass so nonchalant about being friends with a Japanese lesbian? he wondered before shaking his head and moving on. The Alcotts were both in a meeting room with Triumph, going over paperwork, Probably the contracts to put Dinah in the Wards, he thought. Now I'm going to have to either figure out a contingency to use her, or give up on the plan as a whole. He didn't like that idea, but then again, he couldn't use a child in the Wards itself as a magic 8-ball to boost the usefulness of his and Tattletale's powers. Even splitting his timelines to do so, either the girl herself would get wise to what he was doing, or else those around her would. He couldn't kidnap her now and stay in town either. Doing that would bring the entirety of the local PRT and Protectorate down on his head, and that was assuming that he would be able to kidnap her in the first place. The Undersiders were good, but they weren't the hardened criminals it would take to snatch a girl, and none of them would try and grab a Ward, they weren't completely suicidal, so it would have to be the mercenaries grabbing her, which with the Merchants now gone, would point directly at him. Or would it? The thought percolated inside his brain for a moment and he started to work up a plan that just might work, as well as divert the blame.
.
**
Four figures entered a dark and ramshackle bar in the southern docks from opposite sides of the room but at the same time. Kaiser grimaced as did Lung as both found their arrival was unable to provide them leverage against the other. Grumbles from both parties carried them to a simple table and the two gang leaders sat opposite each other as did their seconds. "Lung," Kaiser said with a nod. "It seems that a snake has reached beyond what it should."
Lung grunted nodding, "Agreed," he stated flatly. "Tonight, the Merchant areas of the southern docks will burn, and I will be sighted in various places. If you can provide me any intelligence on Coil's holdings, I will ensure that they do not survive either."
Kaiser nodded and Kreig slid a folder across the table to Oni Lee. "That contains locations that we know of or suspect of belonging to Coil. Know that he has many mercenaries with tinkertech additions to their rifles."
Lung nodded to this, and Oni Lee slid a similar folder to Kreig, "These are the locations downtown of Merchant labs that we have found out about. Mostly in the basements and workspaces of buildings."
"They will be dealt with," Kaiser replied flatly. "Is there anything else I should know about?"
"Included in there is the number for the burner phone that I will be using tonight should your forces need something burned out or other things coordinated." Kaiser smiled at this and together the two of them shared a nod of acknowledgement before leaving the way then entered.
**
*Katie*
All of us were comfortable when the door opened a few hours later to admit the Director. Akane was playing her guitar, while Dennis wailed away on a harmonica and Chris kept time with a pair of wooden spoons and a mixture of pots and cans. Taylor was the one that surprised me, singing the lyrics to the Mellencamp song strongly and without any hesitation. She had a good voice, and at least the music was inoffensive. Once they finished the song the director spoke up, startling everyone else as they hadn't seen her come in and she had bypassed the warning buzzer. "You know, if I had video of that and showed it to Glenn, he might just stroke out," the director joked.
"Oh please no aunt Em," Akane said holding her guitar close while shaking her head. "The tear he's been on for the last day has been bad enough. My phone and email have been blown to Hades by him trying to convince me to give up the ninja bit and become one of his special PR projects."
"I have to agree with Akane, director," Taylor said, nodding. "My phone and email are at least as bad as Akane's and I don't have her confidence, or her voice."
"Your singing voice is fine Taylor," Akane said smiling. "As with anyone, it's a matter of picking what songs you're singing lead on, and which ones you are singing backup."
"She's right Taylor," I said from where Dinah and I were sitting on the couch. "You have a great singing voice. Not as flexible as Akane's, but then I don't think many are?"
Akane shrugged at the compliment, but Dennis nodded. "Katie's right," he said. "I've seen you sing everything from Abba to ZZ Top and make it sound right, even knowing how it's supposed to sound. The fact that you know all the lyrics by heart makes me think you have a thinker power that we don't know about."
"Stop trying to flirt with me Dennis," Akane said with a smile, "I already have a girlfriend, I don't need a boyfriend on top of that."
The male Ward rolled his eyes and everyone else chuckled before the Director asked, "How are things between you and Mayumi?"
"Getting better," Akane answered with a smile. "She should be heading to school about now, given the time difference."
"And her sleep issues?" Akane's aunt asked.
"Also getting better," Akane answered with a sigh. "We talk constantly and at least intellectually she understands what I was doing."
"She's just having trouble working through it," the director finished nodding. "Well I have news," she continued. "Once her mother gets back from getting some clothes for her, Dinah will be staying here for the time being. You're in a different grade than Vista, Dinah, so while she can't watch over you in class, she will be making sure you get here safely after school. Taylor, Katie, Akane, you will provide as much overwatch as possible and do whatever you feel is necessary to protect them until backup can arrive should anything happen."
"Yes ma'am," we chorused and the director nodded.
"One of the Protectorate will take you to school each morning until this is resolved and you can go home," she continued. "If anything happens, I assure you, all hell is going to come down on whoever is responsible, and probably within minutes of it happening."
"Thank you ma'am," Dinah said smiling and the director just smiled. "When my mother gets back, can i talk to my parents for a while?"
"Of course," the director answered. "If you want I can take you to the conference room where your father is now. There is no reason you can't wait on her with him."
"I'd like that, thank you," Dinah answered.
"Alright then," the director said and Dinah got up to go with her. "Taylor, you can go home if you need to, and I'll talk to your father about this tomorrow sometime."
"It's alright ma'am," Taylor answered. "I already told him there was an issue and that I might need to stay for a few days. He wasn't exactly happy, but he understood." The director grimaced, but nodded before leading Dinah out of the room. "So Akane, what's going on with Mayumi?"
**
**Saotome Mayumi**
"Mayumi!" a familiar voice shouted out, causing me to look in time to see my schoolmate Tokiwa Kyoko running up to me. "Have you seen Kaname today? Something happened last night and I haven't heard from her since she called me to ask for me to record a show for her."
"No," I answered as we turned the corner of the sidewalk and the backside of the school came into view. "Holy hell, what in the world happened here last night?" Destruction littered the ball field in front of us where some kind of fight had occurred. "You don't think Kaname was involved with this do you?" I asked.
"I don't know," Kyoko answered with some uncertainty. "Do you think it is connected to the incident down at the docks last night?"
"What happened down at the docks last night?" I was astounded.
"Some tinker's giant mecha either went crazy or was piloted through a portion of the docks district chasing a small truck." Kyoko explained. "Shot up the street a good bit, and crashed through some warehouses before another, smaller mecha stopped it. The smaller mecha disappeared but the Police department's Cataclysm Division is investigating the event according to this morning's news."
"Any word on the drivers of the truck?" I asked as we circled the damage to the area so that we could enter by the main doors.
"No," Kyoko answered. "But if Kaname was involved, that is probably where she was." Mayumi only grimaced as she went to change her shoes from her outdoor pair to her inside slippers. If she was involved, I hope that she is alright." both girls thought.
Thomas Calvert sighed as he released the pair of timelines that he had been carrying since the night before. Taylor Hebert had well and truly fucked his plan, and Tattletale had almost outed him to the majority of the capes in the city as well as Emily Piggot. As creative as he was sure Kenta Horaki and Maximillian Anders would be in his death, Emily would surely surpass them both. Not because she would be against killing him, no, she wouldn't kill him unless he left her no choice. Some asshole in prison would kill him for any number of reasons, this of course was assuming he didn't get sent to the Birdcage.
No, last night he had been left with no option but to let things play out with his mercenaries, and that had failed with Mr Pitter and all but one of the rest being captured. Not that they had stayed captured mind you. It was interesting how the police transport that was supposed to be taking them to the local precinct for booking seemed to have disappeared completely, but that was someone else's investigation, and if they figured out that Coil was the responsible party, well, Skitter had already laid the blame on him, regardless of what the press release stated. What are you playing at Emily? he thought as he split his timelines again.
In the first timeline he kept working at his desk. There was plenty to be done as an Assistant Deputy Director and Strike Team Leader, and there never seemed to be enough hours in the day. It would be Nine PM when he finally put his computer to standby mode, clocked out, and drove his completely bland Honda Civic home before eating a late dinner and going to bed. Like all days, the next day promised to be as long as this one had been, especially if things got interesting overnight.
In his second timeline, he logged out and put his computer on standby before clocking out and going downstairs to the street. Outside he crossed the street before going down it three blocks to another parking garage where inside he unlocked and climbed into the back of a panel van. The panel van was unmarked and had a curtain separating the rear area from the front. In the back of the van was a full set of unmarked black BDUs as well as one of his costumes. Stripping out of his work uniform he contemplated whether or not he should get into his costume now, or in the locker room. If he costumed up now, he could be caught, but the mercenaries would know it was him. On the other hand, if he wore the uniform, which intentionally mimicked the PRT work BDUs, they would believe him just another of the body doubles that "Coil" used to keep people guessing. Shrugging, he put on the clean BDUs before climbing into the front of the van and driving to another parking garage next to a construction site. His base was under the entire block, but the easiest entrance for anyone to use was the elevator in the parking garage. Even then it required a key to not only unlock the panel that hid the button to the proper floor, but one also had to unlock the button itself and open the doors manually at the floor. Calvert knew that it made some of his mercenaries wonder why the local body double lived outside the base, but others knew he was also a mole in the PRT, so it was a non-issue.
Entering the base went as expected, quietly and with little fanfare as his face, and ID were checked against a physical list, before he was allowed to proceed past the secondary entrance and again at the main entrance. Entering the locker room he changed into his Coil costume before going to relieve the body double on duty and taking over and accessing the PRT camera feeds. Emily was doing paperwork, Dinah was in the Wards area with the director's niece, Skitter and Rune. And how the fuck that friendship happened I have no clue. How is her racist ass so nonchalant about being friends with a Japanese lesbian? he wondered before shaking his head and moving on. The Alcotts were both in a meeting room with Triumph, going over paperwork, Probably the contracts to put Dinah in the Wards, he thought. Now I'm going to have to either figure out a contingency to use her, or give up on the plan as a whole. He didn't like that idea, but then again, he couldn't use a child in the Wards itself as a magic 8-ball to boost the usefulness of his and Tattletale's powers. Even splitting his timelines to do so, either the girl herself would get wise to what he was doing, or else those around her would. He couldn't kidnap her now and stay in town either. Doing that would bring the entirety of the local PRT and Protectorate down on his head, and that was assuming that he would be able to kidnap her in the first place. The Undersiders were good, but they weren't the hardened criminals it would take to snatch a girl, and none of them would try and grab a Ward, they weren't completely suicidal, so it would have to be the mercenaries grabbing her, which with the Merchants now gone, would point directly at him. Or would it? The thought percolated inside his brain for a moment and he started to work up a plan that just might work, as well as divert the blame.
.
**
Four figures entered a dark and ramshackle bar in the southern docks from opposite sides of the room but at the same time. Kaiser grimaced as did Lung as both found their arrival was unable to provide them leverage against the other. Grumbles from both parties carried them to a simple table and the two gang leaders sat opposite each other as did their seconds. "Lung," Kaiser said with a nod. "It seems that a snake has reached beyond what it should."
Lung grunted nodding, "Agreed," he stated flatly. "Tonight, the Merchant areas of the southern docks will burn, and I will be sighted in various places. If you can provide me any intelligence on Coil's holdings, I will ensure that they do not survive either."
Kaiser nodded and Kreig slid a folder across the table to Oni Lee. "That contains locations that we know of or suspect of belonging to Coil. Know that he has many mercenaries with tinkertech additions to their rifles."
Lung nodded to this, and Oni Lee slid a similar folder to Kreig, "These are the locations downtown of Merchant labs that we have found out about. Mostly in the basements and workspaces of buildings."
"They will be dealt with," Kaiser replied flatly. "Is there anything else I should know about?"
"Included in there is the number for the burner phone that I will be using tonight should your forces need something burned out or other things coordinated." Kaiser smiled at this and together the two of them shared a nod of acknowledgement before leaving the way then entered.
**
*Katie*
All of us were comfortable when the door opened a few hours later to admit the Director. Akane was playing her guitar, while Dennis wailed away on a harmonica and Chris kept time with a pair of wooden spoons and a mixture of pots and cans. Taylor was the one that surprised me, singing the lyrics to the Mellencamp song strongly and without any hesitation. She had a good voice, and at least the music was inoffensive. Once they finished the song the director spoke up, startling everyone else as they hadn't seen her come in and she had bypassed the warning buzzer. "You know, if I had video of that and showed it to Glenn, he might just stroke out," the director joked.
"Oh please no aunt Em," Akane said holding her guitar close while shaking her head. "The tear he's been on for the last day has been bad enough. My phone and email have been blown to Hades by him trying to convince me to give up the ninja bit and become one of his special PR projects."
"I have to agree with Akane, director," Taylor said, nodding. "My phone and email are at least as bad as Akane's and I don't have her confidence, or her voice."
"Your singing voice is fine Taylor," Akane said smiling. "As with anyone, it's a matter of picking what songs you're singing lead on, and which ones you are singing backup."
"She's right Taylor," I said from where Dinah and I were sitting on the couch. "You have a great singing voice. Not as flexible as Akane's, but then I don't think many are?"
Akane shrugged at the compliment, but Dennis nodded. "Katie's right," he said. "I've seen you sing everything from Abba to ZZ Top and make it sound right, even knowing how it's supposed to sound. The fact that you know all the lyrics by heart makes me think you have a thinker power that we don't know about."
"Stop trying to flirt with me Dennis," Akane said with a smile, "I already have a girlfriend, I don't need a boyfriend on top of that."
The male Ward rolled his eyes and everyone else chuckled before the Director asked, "How are things between you and Mayumi?"
"Getting better," Akane answered with a smile. "She should be heading to school about now, given the time difference."
"And her sleep issues?" Akane's aunt asked.
"Also getting better," Akane answered with a sigh. "We talk constantly and at least intellectually she understands what I was doing."
"She's just having trouble working through it," the director finished nodding. "Well I have news," she continued. "Once her mother gets back from getting some clothes for her, Dinah will be staying here for the time being. You're in a different grade than Vista, Dinah, so while she can't watch over you in class, she will be making sure you get here safely after school. Taylor, Katie, Akane, you will provide as much overwatch as possible and do whatever you feel is necessary to protect them until backup can arrive should anything happen."
"Yes ma'am," we chorused and the director nodded.
"One of the Protectorate will take you to school each morning until this is resolved and you can go home," she continued. "If anything happens, I assure you, all hell is going to come down on whoever is responsible, and probably within minutes of it happening."
"Thank you ma'am," Dinah said smiling and the director just smiled. "When my mother gets back, can i talk to my parents for a while?"
"Of course," the director answered. "If you want I can take you to the conference room where your father is now. There is no reason you can't wait on her with him."
"I'd like that, thank you," Dinah answered.
"Alright then," the director said and Dinah got up to go with her. "Taylor, you can go home if you need to, and I'll talk to your father about this tomorrow sometime."
"It's alright ma'am," Taylor answered. "I already told him there was an issue and that I might need to stay for a few days. He wasn't exactly happy, but he understood." The director grimaced, but nodded before leading Dinah out of the room. "So Akane, what's going on with Mayumi?"
**
**Saotome Mayumi**
"Mayumi!" a familiar voice shouted out, causing me to look in time to see my schoolmate Tokiwa Kyoko running up to me. "Have you seen Kaname today? Something happened last night and I haven't heard from her since she called me to ask for me to record a show for her."
"No," I answered as we turned the corner of the sidewalk and the backside of the school came into view. "Holy hell, what in the world happened here last night?" Destruction littered the ball field in front of us where some kind of fight had occurred. "You don't think Kaname was involved with this do you?" I asked.
"I don't know," Kyoko answered with some uncertainty. "Do you think it is connected to the incident down at the docks last night?"
"What happened down at the docks last night?" I was astounded.
"Some tinker's giant mecha either went crazy or was piloted through a portion of the docks district chasing a small truck." Kyoko explained. "Shot up the street a good bit, and crashed through some warehouses before another, smaller mecha stopped it. The smaller mecha disappeared but the Police department's Cataclysm Division is investigating the event according to this morning's news."
"Any word on the drivers of the truck?" I asked as we circled the damage to the area so that we could enter by the main doors.
"No," Kyoko answered. "But if Kaname was involved, that is probably where she was." Mayumi only grimaced as she went to change her shoes from her outdoor pair to her inside slippers. If she was involved, I hope that she is alright." both girls thought.
Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
Coil's bad day is about to get worse tonight.
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
well first of all, Mayumi and her brother Daisuke are the only two of the Saotome-Tendo-Kuno clan that do not attend Furinkan High school, they attend Jindai High School, the setting for most of Full Metal Panic
I didn't realize until you started posting the Ranma crossunder elements in this fic how well Furinkan, Tomobiki, Juuban High school, Infinity Academy, Graviton High, Manekigaoka Academy and several others would fit into the Worm world with minimal changes.
Chapter 8.5
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
**Aisha Laborn**
The day had been quiet, even with the shit that had gone down the night before, none of the gang bangers at school had done anything more than sneer at each other, and the Empire and ABB had been downright cooperative with each other when a Merchant had been involved. Shit was about to get real in the worst sense of things, I could feel it. Mom was too stoned to give a shit, and unfortunately her current boyfriend liked to get grabby when he got high, so I was sitting out in the building's hallway when the new tenant who had moved in down the hall showed up. The new guy was old, maybe even older than dad, but there was something about him that said he wasn't going to take anyone around here's shit either. Even from here I could see the muscles on his arm as he shifted the plastic grocery bags from one hand to the other before pulling out his key and opening the door one handed. As quietly as I could I slipped down the hall as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Looking inside I could see that the apartment was really bare bones, an old army cot, a pair of folding tables and what looked like it was possibly some kind of sound system sat against the opposite wall. "If you're going to try and get a look, you might as well come in and take a look around, might keep your friends alive so long as you can convince them that there isn't anything here worth their lives," the man said, never having turned around.
How did he know I was here? I thought as he finally turned around and looked at me. "Hi," I said, "I'm Aisha Laborn, I live down the hall with my mom in 22, what's your name?"
"Stephen Jones," the man grunted, "you going to come in or stay out there, cause I'm closing the door."
Oops, I thought and walked inside looking around. In one corner was a large metal safe, not the kind you would use for money, but the kind people kept the good guns in, and in the opposite corner next kitchenette was a ratty Lazy-boy with a turntable, a milk crate full of records and a set of headphones. "Kind of low end huh," I said, not thinking as I took in the effectively bare apartment.
"Yeah, I'm only here temporarily," Jones answered. "My bosses tasked me with finding someone and offering them a job. You want something to drink while you check out my place?"
"What are you willing to give me?" I asked with a grin before what I said registered. "That didn't come out how I meant it," I sighed.
"You have attitude kid," Jones said, turning around with a smile and leaning against the counter in the kitchenette. "How about some water, cause other than some milk or making a pot of coffee that's what I got."
"Bottled?" I asked and he nodded causing me to smile as I headed toward the easy chair and the crate of records. I preferred CD's as I could put the music on my phone but sometimes you just couldn't find certain songs outside of vinyl, and some of that was damn good. Looking on the turntable itself I stopped. "You have an actual Stitch Jones record?"
"Yeah," the guy said from about five feet away and I turned to look at him as he held out a cold bottle of water. "I actually have three of them, why?"
"Dude!" I said shocked, "do you not know how valuable those things are? I mean just the records are worth about five, and if it's signed, twice that. Damn shame he's dead, wasn't appreciated when he was trying to make it in the business, and died before he got popular."
"What do you mean before he got popular?" Jones asked as he leaned against the wall.
"You ask me that and you have three copies of Bionic Marine?" I asked. "Where the hell have you been for the last ten years?"
"Classified," Jones answered in what I was figuring out was his I mean business tone. "Why don't you tell me what you know about it."
"You got speakers for this thing?" I asked and he nodded. "Why don't you hook this up and put that record on while I tell you what I know. He shrugged and went into a closet, coming back with a pair of computer speakers that while they wouldn't make the album sound as good as the high end headphones, they would do well enough. "So, story goes that Jones was an active duty Marine back around the same time Scion shows up. He apparently dabbled in music, making extra pocket money playing the bars wherever he was stationed. At some point about 85 or so he had managed to save up enough money to fund recording an album and having five-hundred copies printed. Recon Records, as he called the company, produced exactly that one run of five-hundred copies of the album Bionic Marine, which flopped horribly on the charts." While I had been talking, Jones had unplugged the headphones and plugged in the speakers before turning them on and starting the record player. I continued as the strains of "Highway you sick Individual" started. "Word was with the flop of his only record, sales being poor and radio play being minimal, Jones left the music world behind and focused on his Marine career. He was declared lost in 1994 in Somalia during a capture operation that got a lot of Marines killed trying to take a parahuman warlord alive when, at least the Monday morning quarterbacks said that the UN should have leveled the damn block and been done with it."
"That's what I understand," Jones said, going back into the kitchenette and the fridge before pulling out a can of beer and popping the top. "How does that translate into demand for a record that was made nearly ten years before he died?"
"More about the way he died than anything else got it started apparently," I answered. "See, Jones had made Gunnery Sergeant in the intervening years, and the last anyone reported seeing him, he was using the fifty-cal that had been on an enemy truck to hold back the warlord's troops while his men retreated toward friendly forces. Had called the airstrike that had finally been authorized, right on top of him to take out the warlord who was leading his troops from the front. In the wake of that epic last stand, the media went digging into his past and found the album, which became an instant hit just off of the media push. It kept its fame for a while because the country's taste in music had changed, but between the fact that Jones had taken the master's with him when he left the recording studio and no one knew where he had put them, so they couldn't make any more copies. Because of that, those five-hundred albums became sought after relics of a man lost before he became famous."
I sighed as the album started its second and title track. "And you have three copies, that's between fifteen and thirty thousand dollars sitting in one of the shittiest apartments in one of the shittiest towns in the country." My part said, I sat down on the floor against the wall, nodding to the rhythm of the music as the water bottle in my hands sweated.
"Would you like one of them?" Jones asked, causing my head to snap up and find myself staring at a signed album in its original cover.
"You're joking right?" I asked in shock. "You just want to hand me an album that's worth ten-thousand dollars? For what?"
"Cause I can," he answered with a sad smile, "and you seem to like it. You wouldn't know all of that story if you didn't."
Carefully, gently, I took the album in my hands and stared in awe at the music in my hands. "Thank you," I said, a touch of awe coloring my voice. "You need anything around here, you let me know, I'll do what I can to help."
"I'll do that," he said with a smile and a chuckle.
**
10:30pm that night
"Shit," Coil cursed as his safe timeline collapsed as his car was run over by a rampaging giantess. The PRT had called almost as soon as his head hit his pillow, calling strike team leader Calvert in to help deal with the current crisis. The Empire were going almost door to door in the downtown area clearing out Merchant hideouts and pocket labs that had never even popped up on his radar. It was at this point his phone rang and answering he snapped out, "Report!"
"Sir," a guard that his computer identified as being at one of his downtown armories. "The Empire just hit us with twenty of their grunts. The people on the perimeter are currently holding them with small arms, but if they get one of their capes over here," the man's voice was cut short, and the line went dead with what sounded like a knife cutting through a watermelon.
"Damn it," Coil grumbled before splitting his timelines. In the first timeline he sent orders to all of his cache guards to collect what they could transport and blow up the rest, in the second he sent orders to the cache guards to hold firm while ordering the mercenaries in his base to reinforce his cache's. There weren't but three other locations downtown, all of them placed to allow his mercenaries to act at a moment's notice in any region of downtown so that he could exploit any opening there was.
That done, he sighed in the first timeline before returning to the locker room to change into his BDU's so that Strike Leader Calvert could report as needed. Fucking Kaiser and his Empire, he thought in both timelines as they worked the problems. Couldn't they just sit back and accept that their way of life is done?"
**
**Aisha**
I woke to near total darkness, covered in a sheet and leaning against a wall with my forehead resting against my knees. "Where?" I muttered only to hear a male voice hush me.
"Something is going on out there," I heard Jones say softly, "any idea what it might be?"
"If you have a telescope or something I can look and probably tell you," I answered just as softly. He grunted and in the dim light that was coming through the blinds I could see a pair of binoculars being held out in front of me. Taking them I went over to the window and looked down to where I could hear the pops of gunfire. "Looks like the ABB are making a push against the Merchants," I said, only to jerk my head back as the bottom of the building across the street exploded. "Fuck," I cursed. "Well there's one less meth lab in the city, but now the damn building across the street is on fire."
"Anyone in there?" Jones asked quietly and I shrugged.
"Various homeless druggies," I answered, "mostly the meth addicts that were fighting…" I trailed off as I thought of somebody I knew that might be over there. "I need to check on something," I gasped, handing him the binoculars and running out the door. As I ran down the hall I pulled the apartment key out of my pocket before sliding to a stop at mom's door.
Unlocking and opening the door I looked inside only to sigh in relief. Mom was still passed out, where I had left her. John was nowhere to be seen, but that wasn't a loss, so I pulled my cell phone out and started to dial 911 when I heard a very unmistakable roar. "Oh fuck, Lung's rampaging." I muttered as I hit the send button.
**
The day had been quiet, even with the shit that had gone down the night before, none of the gang bangers at school had done anything more than sneer at each other, and the Empire and ABB had been downright cooperative with each other when a Merchant had been involved. Shit was about to get real in the worst sense of things, I could feel it. Mom was too stoned to give a shit, and unfortunately her current boyfriend liked to get grabby when he got high, so I was sitting out in the building's hallway when the new tenant who had moved in down the hall showed up. The new guy was old, maybe even older than dad, but there was something about him that said he wasn't going to take anyone around here's shit either. Even from here I could see the muscles on his arm as he shifted the plastic grocery bags from one hand to the other before pulling out his key and opening the door one handed. As quietly as I could I slipped down the hall as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Looking inside I could see that the apartment was really bare bones, an old army cot, a pair of folding tables and what looked like it was possibly some kind of sound system sat against the opposite wall. "If you're going to try and get a look, you might as well come in and take a look around, might keep your friends alive so long as you can convince them that there isn't anything here worth their lives," the man said, never having turned around.
How did he know I was here? I thought as he finally turned around and looked at me. "Hi," I said, "I'm Aisha Laborn, I live down the hall with my mom in 22, what's your name?"
"Stephen Jones," the man grunted, "you going to come in or stay out there, cause I'm closing the door."
Oops, I thought and walked inside looking around. In one corner was a large metal safe, not the kind you would use for money, but the kind people kept the good guns in, and in the opposite corner next kitchenette was a ratty Lazy-boy with a turntable, a milk crate full of records and a set of headphones. "Kind of low end huh," I said, not thinking as I took in the effectively bare apartment.
"Yeah, I'm only here temporarily," Jones answered. "My bosses tasked me with finding someone and offering them a job. You want something to drink while you check out my place?"
"What are you willing to give me?" I asked with a grin before what I said registered. "That didn't come out how I meant it," I sighed.
"You have attitude kid," Jones said, turning around with a smile and leaning against the counter in the kitchenette. "How about some water, cause other than some milk or making a pot of coffee that's what I got."
"Bottled?" I asked and he nodded causing me to smile as I headed toward the easy chair and the crate of records. I preferred CD's as I could put the music on my phone but sometimes you just couldn't find certain songs outside of vinyl, and some of that was damn good. Looking on the turntable itself I stopped. "You have an actual Stitch Jones record?"
"Yeah," the guy said from about five feet away and I turned to look at him as he held out a cold bottle of water. "I actually have three of them, why?"
"Dude!" I said shocked, "do you not know how valuable those things are? I mean just the records are worth about five, and if it's signed, twice that. Damn shame he's dead, wasn't appreciated when he was trying to make it in the business, and died before he got popular."
"What do you mean before he got popular?" Jones asked as he leaned against the wall.
"You ask me that and you have three copies of Bionic Marine?" I asked. "Where the hell have you been for the last ten years?"
"Classified," Jones answered in what I was figuring out was his I mean business tone. "Why don't you tell me what you know about it."
"You got speakers for this thing?" I asked and he nodded. "Why don't you hook this up and put that record on while I tell you what I know. He shrugged and went into a closet, coming back with a pair of computer speakers that while they wouldn't make the album sound as good as the high end headphones, they would do well enough. "So, story goes that Jones was an active duty Marine back around the same time Scion shows up. He apparently dabbled in music, making extra pocket money playing the bars wherever he was stationed. At some point about 85 or so he had managed to save up enough money to fund recording an album and having five-hundred copies printed. Recon Records, as he called the company, produced exactly that one run of five-hundred copies of the album Bionic Marine, which flopped horribly on the charts." While I had been talking, Jones had unplugged the headphones and plugged in the speakers before turning them on and starting the record player. I continued as the strains of "Highway you sick Individual" started. "Word was with the flop of his only record, sales being poor and radio play being minimal, Jones left the music world behind and focused on his Marine career. He was declared lost in 1994 in Somalia during a capture operation that got a lot of Marines killed trying to take a parahuman warlord alive when, at least the Monday morning quarterbacks said that the UN should have leveled the damn block and been done with it."
"That's what I understand," Jones said, going back into the kitchenette and the fridge before pulling out a can of beer and popping the top. "How does that translate into demand for a record that was made nearly ten years before he died?"
"More about the way he died than anything else got it started apparently," I answered. "See, Jones had made Gunnery Sergeant in the intervening years, and the last anyone reported seeing him, he was using the fifty-cal that had been on an enemy truck to hold back the warlord's troops while his men retreated toward friendly forces. Had called the airstrike that had finally been authorized, right on top of him to take out the warlord who was leading his troops from the front. In the wake of that epic last stand, the media went digging into his past and found the album, which became an instant hit just off of the media push. It kept its fame for a while because the country's taste in music had changed, but between the fact that Jones had taken the master's with him when he left the recording studio and no one knew where he had put them, so they couldn't make any more copies. Because of that, those five-hundred albums became sought after relics of a man lost before he became famous."
I sighed as the album started its second and title track. "And you have three copies, that's between fifteen and thirty thousand dollars sitting in one of the shittiest apartments in one of the shittiest towns in the country." My part said, I sat down on the floor against the wall, nodding to the rhythm of the music as the water bottle in my hands sweated.
"Would you like one of them?" Jones asked, causing my head to snap up and find myself staring at a signed album in its original cover.
"You're joking right?" I asked in shock. "You just want to hand me an album that's worth ten-thousand dollars? For what?"
"Cause I can," he answered with a sad smile, "and you seem to like it. You wouldn't know all of that story if you didn't."
Carefully, gently, I took the album in my hands and stared in awe at the music in my hands. "Thank you," I said, a touch of awe coloring my voice. "You need anything around here, you let me know, I'll do what I can to help."
"I'll do that," he said with a smile and a chuckle.
**
10:30pm that night
"Shit," Coil cursed as his safe timeline collapsed as his car was run over by a rampaging giantess. The PRT had called almost as soon as his head hit his pillow, calling strike team leader Calvert in to help deal with the current crisis. The Empire were going almost door to door in the downtown area clearing out Merchant hideouts and pocket labs that had never even popped up on his radar. It was at this point his phone rang and answering he snapped out, "Report!"
"Sir," a guard that his computer identified as being at one of his downtown armories. "The Empire just hit us with twenty of their grunts. The people on the perimeter are currently holding them with small arms, but if they get one of their capes over here," the man's voice was cut short, and the line went dead with what sounded like a knife cutting through a watermelon.
"Damn it," Coil grumbled before splitting his timelines. In the first timeline he sent orders to all of his cache guards to collect what they could transport and blow up the rest, in the second he sent orders to the cache guards to hold firm while ordering the mercenaries in his base to reinforce his cache's. There weren't but three other locations downtown, all of them placed to allow his mercenaries to act at a moment's notice in any region of downtown so that he could exploit any opening there was.
That done, he sighed in the first timeline before returning to the locker room to change into his BDU's so that Strike Leader Calvert could report as needed. Fucking Kaiser and his Empire, he thought in both timelines as they worked the problems. Couldn't they just sit back and accept that their way of life is done?"
**
**Aisha**
I woke to near total darkness, covered in a sheet and leaning against a wall with my forehead resting against my knees. "Where?" I muttered only to hear a male voice hush me.
"Something is going on out there," I heard Jones say softly, "any idea what it might be?"
"If you have a telescope or something I can look and probably tell you," I answered just as softly. He grunted and in the dim light that was coming through the blinds I could see a pair of binoculars being held out in front of me. Taking them I went over to the window and looked down to where I could hear the pops of gunfire. "Looks like the ABB are making a push against the Merchants," I said, only to jerk my head back as the bottom of the building across the street exploded. "Fuck," I cursed. "Well there's one less meth lab in the city, but now the damn building across the street is on fire."
"Anyone in there?" Jones asked quietly and I shrugged.
"Various homeless druggies," I answered, "mostly the meth addicts that were fighting…" I trailed off as I thought of somebody I knew that might be over there. "I need to check on something," I gasped, handing him the binoculars and running out the door. As I ran down the hall I pulled the apartment key out of my pocket before sliding to a stop at mom's door.
Unlocking and opening the door I looked inside only to sigh in relief. Mom was still passed out, where I had left her. John was nowhere to be seen, but that wasn't a loss, so I pulled my cell phone out and started to dial 911 when I heard a very unmistakable roar. "Oh fuck, Lung's rampaging." I muttered as I hit the send button.
**
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- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He
Every time someone writes something like, "Lung is on a rampage, " I hear the opening music for the original Power Rangers playing in my head...
Odd, that.
Odd, that.