A CYOA in Worm or I think my name is No No

Minor quibble, but Ilya/Illya is a male name - the closest feminine form is Ilyana/Iliana, although it's more common in Bulgarian and Romanian than it is in traditional Russian naming practice. It took me several re-reads to make sense of that first segment as a result.

thanks will fix this this evening
 
... that's Kayden, isn't it? Dang.

I love White Collar, Burn Notice, Leverage, all those shows. This is great. I just want more. Do we get to hear Nate declare "We're gonna steal a supervillain" next?
 
Chapter 9.1
AN: So I've been doing some metal outlining and figure currently that chapter 9 is family time melding into the major crossover event which will be chapter 10. Then we'll get into chapter 11 where they go to Tokyo. Chapter 12 will be the final chapter of the first Arc/Season and will be capped off with a Backscenes scene that will hint at the finale of season 2, (chapters 13-24). So with that, i give you the opening post of chapter 9

edit: alright i goofed, this is actually chapter 9

Chapter 9- Family Time
9.1
Saturday January 29, 2011

Danny smiled as he looked around the warehouse at the group of parents and teenagers that filled it. The warehouse itself was one that the union kept easy to empty (or empty in the first place,) in case that they needed to pull in the entire membership for something. It was also where they kept their grill, already set up to vent to the outside and loaded with wood and charcoal, ready to cook. He had arranged the venue, the PRT had provided the meat, and New Wave was providing a couple of large bags of charcoal and some firewood to refill the cooker once everything was done and cleaned up.

Closest to himself were most of the adults for the entire group. Emily was chatting with the various mothers, while the fathers helped with the grill itself, talking sports between themselves and wondering if the Docksbodies were going to make it to the playoffs this year or not. The adults were avoiding the elephant in the room, that all of the families here had at least one parahuman in it. Thankfully, those who were not in the know couldn't necessarily guess who was which one. Danny realized that it was arguably an illusion of not knowing, but then again it was the same illusion that allowed the girls to go to school like normal teens, so like everyone else, he kept his mouth shut on the situation.

Looking around again, he paid more attention to the other groups. The teens had divided themselves into what could arguably be called age groups, with the new members of the Wards being allowed to slide in and make themselves as comfortable as possible. Rachel Lindt, for example, was sitting with Aisha Laborn, Missy Byron and Dinah Alcott, and each girl was petting a dog of some variety, the sizes seemingly directly in opposing proportions to their size. Dinah's father had mentioned that he and his wife had agreed to take the canine based biokinetic into their home both as a way to help the girl as well as providing a backup to protecting Dinah, especially as the young girl had bonded so well to the former villain. Cerberus, as the PRT was now calling the older teen, had brought with her a good number of her dogs, and the Alcotts were helping her and the PRT fund a pair of no kill shelters in the city as well as either adopt the dogs out, or train them for working relations.

Turning his attention to what the girls were discussing, it seemed that Aisha was regaling them with a story about what she had been doing the night Lung had burned a major portion of the south docks area to no more than ash and rubble. That she had walked out of the situation with a signed Stitch Jones album was surprising, especially since she even knew who the man was. This was, of course, something that had to be explained to the rest of the group who proceeded to laugh a bit at her fangirling. Her response was a succinct "Bite me," before she turned the attention of the group on Missy and what she was up to as the girl kept cutting glances at another group.

Following the direction of the blushing girl's gaze she could see two possible groups of interest. The closest was the older boys, Rory Christner was standing in a loose circle with Dean Stansfield, Brian Laborn, Carlos Hernandez and one of the PRT troopers by the name of Ethan Morrow. Ethan and Brian were debating fighting techniques, the jovial trooper smiling as he and the older teen squared up and Brian threw a few blows at the trooper who took the blows on his arms and chest. Brian was the son of a local gym owner that had been a bit of a local legend back in the day. Danny had known John Laborn better back in the "Bad old Days" of the Bay when the man could have gone Golden Gloves and had a chance to go professional and get out of the bay itself. The other man had given that up for a family with a woman that unfortunately had turned into an addict on first his dime, and then apparently the state's. As the two talked, John Laborn snickered behind him and made a comment that Danny couldn't quite make out but that had the other father's chuckling.

Beyond the young men were their equals in some sense, and betters in others. While a boy named Alec had gathered the younger boys around a TV set and gaming console in the back corner, while the older teen girls had gathered around a table and proceeded to gossip. They sat almost as if they were playing cards, Victoria at one end of the table, Taylor to her left and the new girl Lisa to her right. Akane sat next to Taylor and between her and Katie, while on the other side, Amy Dallon sat between Lisa and Crystal Pelham. Opposite Victoria, Ethan's wife Sharron sat as if to mediate the group, or maybe deal the cards if a poker game broke out. The pair had taken in Katie who was trying to help moderate Ethan's sense of humor at home while Sharron was trying on being a mother, as Ethan was wanting to become a parent.

"Neil," Sarah Pelham called out from the group of mothers, "Do you know where Erik is?"

"Over with the other gamers I believe," Neil Pelham replied loud enough for his wife to hear. "Is something wrong?"

"No," the woman most of the world knew as Photon Mom answered. "I just hadn't seen him in a while, and you know what they say about children when they're quiet."

"They're up to something," most of the parents chorused in response before laughing.

"We get no respect!" a chorus of indignant male voices replied from the gaming corner, causing the entire room to start laughing.
**

**Taylor**
"Well, that was something," Battery, no Sharron, mumbled as the laughter died off. "So what have you girls been doing over the past week and a half?"

"Mostly hanging out or being at school like any other normal teenager," Katie answered and the rest of us mostly nodded. "I had a date last Saturday, and Akane spent the weekend just outside of town with her cousins at the Chinese Amazon's farm."

"A date huh," Sharron asked. "I didn't know about that, who is he?"

"Greg Veder," I answered, poking Katie in the side as she blushed and looked away from her new caretaker. "He's okay I guess," I continued, "we've been going to school together for years and other than being a little bit of a geek, and occasionally a little creepy, he's not a bad guy."

"I haven't noticed him being creepy," Akane commented with a raised eyebrow, "when was this?"

"Back in Winslow," I answered, "and I might be doing him a disservice in saying that, but there were a few times since the start of high school that he came off a bit, obsessive."

Katie snorted, "Yeah," she said suppressing a laugh. "Greg sometimes loses track of where he is and goes a bit far in his conversations, but he wouldn't hurt anyone. Hell, Brian and I are teaching him how to fight and he is so damn careful with both of us, like he thinks he's a brute or something."

"You don't think?" I started, only for Akane to laugh and shake her head.

"I've Gibbs slapped the guy," she said, suppressing a chuckle. "He isn't, he's just careful and not wanting to fuck up what he sees as obviously a good thing for himself."

I nodded only for Katie to smile and sigh a little. "He's a good guy, but like most men, needs a bit of work. Sort of like Ethan, right Sharron?" That had her guardian sputtering and the rest of us chuckling

"Yeah, yeah, yuck it up you bunch," the heroine said smiling. "So why don't you tell me about that date from Saturday?"

"It wasn't much," Katie answered. "We went to the Boardwalk and had dinner before walking around a bit. With the Merchants gone, it was actually quite peaceful."
**

**Katie
Brockton Bay Boardwalk
Jan. 22, 2011**

I giggled as Greg finished reciting the rabbit scene from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" while we walked south along the Boardwalk. Two weeks of mandatory time off, plus hazard pay for what had happened Tuesday had been a nice addition to my bank account, allowing me to add more music and manga to my now growing collection. I had placed a few special orders when Akane, Taylor and I had hit Uber and Leet's store the day before and gotten each of them sized for the costumes for Halloween. Akane had been enthusiastic about it, and Taylor had gotten caught up in the excitement after a while, going for a Lulu costume to compliment my Yuna costume. All in all, it had been a good night out as had this one.

The sun had set behind the mountains in the distance a while before, and with us near the southern edge of the boardwalk, the stars were shining through the light pollution of the city while the moon fell away from hitting full a couple of days before. In short, it was a romantic night out, even though it was cold as hell. "So what are you thinking about Katie?" Greg asked as he bumped into me pulling from my musings on the stars, the moon and the weather.

"How nice a night it is," I answered, turning to him and giving him a peck on the cheek. "School is peaceful, as opposed to Winslow, work is interesting as well as better paying, and my family situation is getting straightened out. All in all, life is good." As I had spoken, I had done a little shuffle step slightly away from him. "Having you around, however, is the reason for all of it," I continued as I turned back and gave him a smile. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had a reason to be better than I had been. The fact that you are a great kisser is just the cherry on top of everything."

Greg blushed as I reached out and pulled him close. "You're only saying that to boost my confidence," he muttered just before we kissed again, this one longer and more serious.

"Is it working?" I asked semi-seriously as we separated.

"Kinda," he answered a little breathlessly. "I mean I…" he started only to get interrupted by a familiar voice barging in.

"Aren't they cute," a familiar male voice said out of the darkness, causing both of us to turn and look, only to be flash blinded by the striking of a match. The face was also familiar to me but while I couldn't quite place it, Greg obviously did.

"What do you want Jimbo?" Greg growled, sliding around me to that side. I reached my hands into my pockets and wrapped my fingers around the roll of quarters in each.

Jimbo took a few puffs on his cigarette before answering. "You know Veder, since you didn't give me the answers to that test, I'm having to get up at the ass crack of dawn and ride the bus to Clarendon. Michael and I both are, and he's not happy about it either."

"Sounds like a you problem to me," Greg answered, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets and turning away from the asshole. "C'mon Katie," he said, showing a lot of bravado. "Something seems to stink down here, lets go."

I started to respond only to be cut off by the click of a switchblade, "It's a you problem alright Veder," the other boy growled even as he charged at us, only for Greg to pivot, step into the other boy's charge and then put his fist into the other guy's face. A fist that was wrapped around a roll of quarters just like mine were. The switchblade started forward even as the fist made contact, only to drop uselessly to the ground as its wielder folded around the fist before falling to the ground.

Greg stepped back and cradled his right hand. "I think I might have broken something," he muttered through a grimace. "Could you call the police, glass jaw or not that hurt."

"Sure," I answered, pulling out my phone and calling the BBPD while watching for Jimbo's usual partner. Thankfully no one else showed up out of the darkness until the flashing lights of the police and an ambulance showed up.
**
 
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I started to respond only to be cut off by the click of a switchblade, "It's a you problem alright Veder," the other boy growled even as he charged at us, only for Greg to pivot, step into the other boy's charge and then put his fist into the other guy's face. A fist that was wrapped around a roll of quarters just like mine were. The switchblade started forward even as the fist made contact, only to drop uselessly to the ground as its wielder folded around the fist before falling to the ground.

Man, when word gets around that Jimbo here got one-punched by GREG VEDER of all people... Whoa boy, he's going to be a Laughing Stock.
 
Man, when word gets around that Jimbo here got one-punched by GREG VEDER of all people... Whoa boy, he's going to be a Laughing Stock.
Maybe not if the bit about the roll of quarters comes out. Those little blighters are nasty as hell. Knew exactly what was going to happen the moment I read the bit about him holding a roll while throwing his punch. I mean when Greg comments about the guy having a glass jaw he has kinda underestimated the effect that roll has.
 
Good chapter, as usual.

Here are your edits:
that all of the families here had at least one parahuman in it.
in them
but that had the other father's chuckling.
fathers
Battery, no Sharron, mumbled
Battery, no, Sharron, mumbled
with her cousins at the Chinese Amazon's farm.
Amazons'
"So what are you thinking about Katie?"
about, Katie
only for Greg to pivot, step into the other boy's charge and then put his fist into the other guy's face.
charge, and then
 
Chapter 9.2
faster than i expected and fair warning, i have no beta

**Taylor**
**Saturday Jan. 29, 2011**
"Good lord what are you feeding that boy?" Sharron asked, laughing at the story. Katie meanwhile was blushing deeply and shaking her head at the older woman's antics. The boys had wandered over by that time, Dean sliding in next to Victoria and Rory next to Crystal.

"Its more about what we've been teaching him," Brian said from behind me, causing me to look back and up to find the older teen almost looming behind me. Wow, I thought, he's huge! "Greg," he continued, "is learning boxing and weights from me, while Katie teaches him the dirty tricks that you don't use in the ring and keeping his cardio up."

"I'm sure she is," Ethan said, smirking only to be smacked by his wife who muttered something under her breath. "What about you Taylor?"

"Went to talk to Akane's Aunt last Saturday about possible modeling work," I muttered just loud enough to be heard. "Allowed myself to get talked into a half-dozen photo shoots over the next few months that a former friend had been slated to do and now can't." At that point I grinned. "She finds out that I am going to be the one doing them and she's going to be pissed."

"Sometimes the petty revenge is the best revenge," Lisa said, lifting her glass. "So what will you be modeling?" the blonde asked.

"Shoes and gloves to begin with," I answered thinking back to that day. "Apparently I have better legs and hands than Emma does, and the guy doing the pictures also hated Emma's attitude."

**0900-Saturday January 22, 2011**

"Taylor, Akane, so good of you to come by," Hikari Horaki said walking out of a hallway from the back of the offices downtown. Suddenly she turned, looking behind her and yelled out, "Hitomi, come here and meet your cousin," before she finished walking toward us. "Akane," she continued, "your cousin is here because of that fracas up at Cornell, so she's going to be the one to take you out to the farm while Taylor and I discuss what she is possibly agreeing to." She then turned to me, "and I've already talked to your father Taylor, and if you agree to anything I'll fax the paperwork over to him or hand it to you to take home with you to discuss with him. Also, don't think that you have to decide anything today, if you want to take a few of the offers home with you and discuss them with him, that's fine as well. None of these will happen before the next Endbringer attack has passed, though at that point it might get a bit hairy."

As I nodded to this a girl almost as tall as Mrs. Horaki's husband walked out of the back. Between the girl and Hitomi Horaki I could see the family resemblance, and there was a definite resemblance to Miranda and Nemuri as well. But why don't I see any resemblance to Kenta Horaki or Akane? my mind asked.

Akane froze, her face looking like she had seen a ghost, before blinking and smiling at her cousin. "Nihao, Hitomi," she said, causing the other girl to misstep and almost fall before looking at us, her eyes flashing from her mother's back to me and then to Akane.

"Do I know you?" she asked carefully, and Hikari Horaki laughed.

"When you were about six I think," the woman said, turning around to smile at her daughter. "Your father, sister and I introduced you to your aunt and namesake," she said, only to be interrupted by her daughter who finally remembered.

"The picture with the woman and the baby," she blurted out in shock before taking Akane in with another look. "You look good for someone who's supposed to have been dead for over a decade."

Mrs. Horaki gasped only for Akane to chuckle and respond with, "You should see the other guy," smiling the entire time. "Taylor, you ok here?" I nodded, a slightly crooked smile coming to my face as I did so. Akane was in a joking mood, which meant that she was ready, willing and able to give Dennis and Amy a run for their money in snark, sarcasm and pranks. "Then since Hitomi is going to be giving me a ride out to this farm, I suppose we ought to get a move on." She stepped over and gave her aunt a hug before going over to her cousin and poking the girl in the clavicle. "Let's get a move on, I'm sure the local elders want to have a word with both of us before I can do anything else."

An almost feral grin spread across the older girl's face. "Alright," she said. "How fast do you think you can shamble there, madam zombie?" Hitomi asked.

"Probably faster than you if I knew what you were driving," Akane said with a smirk. "But since you are doing the driving, and I don't know what you drive, I think you should take the lead."

"Touche," Hitomi said with a nod before turning around. "Walk this way," she said as she started to head back the way she came. Akane gave me a smile and a quick hug before running off after her cousin and I had to smile.

"This is going to give the elders nightmares I'm sure," Mrs. Horaki muttered before turning her attention back to me. "How about we go look at some of the things that these designers and manufacturers want you to model." I could only nod and watch the other two go out of sight, a feeling of dread starting to fill me about what was to come.
**

"Taylor," Mrs. Horaki said as she led me into a new room. "This is Maureen O'Hara, and she's going to be your personal assistant and the fitter for clothes while you are here." I looked at the young woman in the room and blinked before giving her a shaky smile and a nod.

"I'm going to need a stepladder for this one boss lady," the small, bubblegum pink haired young woman said with a smile. Something about the way she said it, along with the smile suggested that she didn't mean the jab as anything more than a way to break the ice. "Still, she has nice legs, can I see your hands real quick?"

I blinked at that but nodded. "Why my hands?" I asked.

"There's a rush on a glove advertisement that we need a model for," Mrs. Horaki said with a sigh. "Technically it is for next winter's clothing line but the manufacturer wants it in place to be advertised before next October and is pushing for it to be done before spring is even here."

"That red-head that got herself arrested was supposed to be shooting it next Sunday," the assistant grumbled as she examined my hands and forearms. "Not that she was very good for it, just the best we could find at the time. Problem of course is that her pretrial release limits her to home and school, effective house arrest, and the photographer wants to do the whole thing down at the boardwalk." At that point Maureen looked up at me. "Your hands are more what we were looking for than hers were," I shot her a questioning look and she smiled at me. "Honestly, please tell me you'll do this, so we don't have to reschedule everything."

"Maureen," Mrs. Horaki said with a slightly chiding tone. "Taylor is still getting used to the idea that she can be a model, don't pressure her."

"Getting used to…" The pink-ette said, stepping back and giving her boss a questioning look. "Boss lady look at her, I know a dozen models that would literally kill to have her body, and another dozen or more that would just for her hair. Hell, I want to know what she uses to get that sheen, and how she gets it that straight while still having the amount of curl that she does. I mean seriously, if I wasn't looking right at you now, I would think the closeups from the fashion show last weekend had been photoshopped."

I stared at the anime styled strawberry-blonde, my mouth hanging open in shock. "I just wash it," I answered dumbfounded, "Nothing special goes into my hair, just a common shampoo and time."

Now it was the other two's turn to look at me shocked. "You mean that you don't treat your hair?" Mrs. Horaki asked, running a hand through the trailing end of my hair even as Maureen blinked at me. "This is all natural?" the older woman asked.

"Bullshit," Maureen breathed out, "and that really was your first-time modeling clothes?" I nodded and her eyes got wide. "We got ourselves a gods be damned natural. How in the hell did we manage that boss?"

"I don't know," Mrs. Horaki said almost breathlessly, "but Taylor?" I turned to her and nodded. "If you would be so kind as to let us know what problems you have with modeling for this agency, I will move heaven and earth to fix them."

"Mrs. Horaki," I said, giving the woman as kind a smile as I could. "As Akane has pointed out to me, my problems stem from certain slanderous redheads and the damage they have done to my self-esteem. I'm going to take the glove shoot for you." That got the both of them beaming. "And then we'll take each of Emma's other shoots on a case-by-case basis as they get closer. Are there any others that are rush jobs?"
**

**Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011**
"So you're modeling out of spite," Vicky said smiling as Lisa cackled off to the blonde's right.

"Oh yeah," I said smiling. "As Lisa said, sometimes the petty revenge is the best, besides, it helps Akane's aunt out of a bind and it gets me out there outside my comfort zone."

"Could you possibly drag Amy along with you to a few of those," Vicky asked only to receive a slap on the shoulder from her sister who reached across Lisa to accomplish it. "Ames, you know you need to get out more, and it's not like you wouldn't enjoy it."

The healer looked at her sister, jaw hanging open in apparent shock. "Vicky!" she finally got out, voice tinged with a little whine. "Why did you?"

"Ames, it's not like anyone here at the table doesn't know, or really care about it," Vicky said, giving her sister a smile even as Crystal gave her a hug from the other side. "By now I bet better than half the school knows, and you know what?" Amy gave her sister a questioning look, "The only ones that care either go to Othala for their healing, or else want to get in your pants."

"You're joking," Amy deadpanned, causing her sister to shake her head.

"She's not wrong," Akane said smiling. "I have a personal tap into the gossip mill, and once news about your personal preferences hit the mill, the whispers and questions took off. Which girl you fancy is probably the second biggest question out there right now."

"What's the first?" Amy snarked back.

"Where the endbringer is going to hit the weekend after next." Akane said flatly and effectively killing that avenue of conversation.
 
"Where the endbringer is going to hit the weekend after next." Akane said flatly and effectively killing that avenue of conversation.

Just randomly dropping a 9/11 joke out of nowhere. Or a casual holocaust reference in the middle of your story about getting waffles.

Just... Why girl? WHY drop that?

Endbringers are like massive unstoppable terrorist attacks married to natural disasters and horrific acts of gods, with death counts guaranteed and the ones dying mostly being the true Heroes and Villains willing to put their life on the line to save the day...

You don't bring that shit up. Ever.

//I feel there were would be a strong social aspect enforcing this in their culture.
 
Just... Why girl? WHY drop that?

two reasons, first, its the truth. As Samuel Johnson is quoted as saying

"Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully."

knowing that a time approaches where there is a really decent chance that one of three "Natural Disaster" engines is going to pay someone a personal visit, and that it could very well be you, definitely focuses the mind, on that problem.
The second reason was that she wanted to kill that line of conversation, so mission accomplished, no one is about to poke at how deep she is tied into the local rumor mill and through whom.
 
The second reason was that she wanted to kill that line of conversation, so mission accomplished, no one is about to poke at how deep she is tied into the local rumor mill and through whom.
I don't know man, kinda feels like using Tzar Bomba to deal with a squirrel problem, sure it'll deal with the squirrels but what else is it going to get rid of?

That was a joke if you couldn't tell
 
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"Where the endbringer is going to hit the weekend after next."
Let's defend this (in some way).

Depending on culture, this line is either terribly insensitive, or a sad attempt at a joke. A standard South African version of it would be "Whether we're going to a braai, the beach, or the theatre the weekend after next." Braai being a popular pastime of preparing meat (and sometimes other foods as well) on fire, wood being preferred though charcoal is also accepted (only heathens use gas). It's also a social occasion for time around the fire, hence being used like in this context.

South African humour has long been dark, with the "funniest" joke almost always being something that makes light of a tragedy. Other people tend to find our jokes terribly insensitive and offensive, but it's honestly natural to us. So I have this confused frown for a few seconds when I read comments finding it insensitive. xD
 
and i just happen to have a very morbid sense of humor, most likely from growing up on stories about my maternal grandmother, who was the medical examiner for this end of the state, (tri-county area) and who would take my mother to "scrape pilots up off the tarmac" during summer holidays from school.
 
and i just happen to have a very morbid sense of humor, most likely from growing up on stories about my maternal grandmother, who was the medical examiner for this end of the state, (tri-county area) and who would take my mother to "scrape pilots up off the tarmac" during summer holidays from school.
Random thought: I wonder if student pilots being required to observe when the medical examiner was doing that would increase the number of careful pilots.
 
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having sat through (though not allowed to participate) initial pilot safety training i can honestly say the answer to this is maybe. People seem to have this subconscious thought of "It won't happen to me." thats part of why drivers the world over pull stupid shite. I've caught myself doing it at times, and afterwards go "Why the hell did i do that" regardless of the outcome
 
Chapter 9.3
Alright, i'm putting a warning on this chapter for edging near torture during it, doesn't actually show it but it does have the characters discussing it and its fallout. That said, here's the next update.

Chapter 9.3

It took the group a few minutes for the group to work their minds through that comment, successfully distracting them from who my personal gossiper was. It was a dirty trick, but an effective one especially since somehow in the two weeks we had been there Millicent Erkhel had managed to not only insert herself into the gossip and rumor mill at Arcadia, but had managed to get herself keyed in to everything that went on in the school from freshman to senior years. The girl knew it paid to listen, and in those two weeks, Millicent had managed to become Arcadia's gossip queen. "Anyway," Taylor said, trying to get the conversation started once more. "Hitomi took you off to see the Amazons, how did that go and where are they set up?"

"Most people refer to it as the Germantown farm I think," I answered.

"Just to the west of town?' Crystal asked and I nodded in response. "I knew I had seen more activity out that way the last three or four years. How did Lung end up with it."

That caused me to grimace slightly. "You know the rumors about women getting kidnapped and shipped overseas for the sex trade?" The others grimaced and nodded. "Lung, when he took over the Asian gangs, ordered it to stop, threatened the lot of those that remained that if they worked to continue it he wasn't going to be happy. Apparently, one of the old gangs thought they were, sneakier than the dragon."
**

Akane
Jan. 22, 2011

"The Farm '' was a phrase whispered by both parents and teenage to twenty-something young women in fear. Rumors abounded about girls going missing, never to be seen again, and the common thought was that they were shipped out and sold overseas, forced into the sex trade and left somewhere overseas with no ability to escape. Word was that it was the ABB that did it, that they would kidnap pretty, young American girls and sell them in Singapore or Malacca, and that "The Farm'' was where they were collected to await shipment while being broken in. The fact that these rumors were mostly spread by the Empire and their sympathizers didn't make me think that they were lies, but they struck me as a touch of moral relativism as the Empire assuredly shipped girls off to Europe for their own contact's, pleasure.

The place that Hitomi brought me to definitely would have fit the image that the Empire wanted people to believe about Asians and the ABB. Most of the people that were in view were Asian, and almost all were women, though the handful that were not Asian showed no signs of distress. Hitomi must have noted the wonder that covered my face as I looked around, and she spoke up to explain. "When Lung conquered the various gangs, creating the ABB as it is now, he set down a list of rules that to defy would mean death," she said simply as she parked the car. "One of those rules was that no person was to be sold, period. The remains of the local Triad gang tried to continue the outbound flesh trade through here, and Lung was not pleased. As a result, he made a pointed example of the group."

"I'm almost afraid to ask," I commented as she put the gear shift into park. "But what did he do?"

"The way most of the people here remark about it is that Lung put them to work in the field," she answered. "The reality is that he cut one of their Achilles tendons and then put them out as scarecrows before handing the farm over to the Amazon elders."

"He crucified them?" I asked shocked, and she nodded. "It's honestly a bit more western than I would have anticipated." I added after taking off my seatbelt. "How many were there?"

"Six," she answered, opening the driver's door, and I followed with the passenger door. "The decree was that if they survived a week, or triggered, they would be released and sent out of the city. Only one of them even got close, and he died the night before he would have been freed."

Climbing out of the car, I blinked at that before realizing that things would have been worse for them if they had simply been handed over to the Amazons. The elders didn't play around when it came to kidnapping and sexual assaults. The fact that there would have been ample evidence to see them convicted in a normal court was beside the point. "He did that because he said he would punish them didn't he?" I asked.

"Yes," Hitomi answered, shutting her door. "And for whatever problems anyone has with Lung, he is a man of his word. If he tells you that he will do A if you do B, then he means it and he will follow through with it. Now, let's go see grandmother," she said with a smile as I closed my door.
**

**Taylor**
"Jesus Christ," I heard someone mutter, and it took me a minute to realize that it had been me. I looked at Akane and blinked before looking at the others. Lisa, Vicky and Katie looked contemplative, while Amy looked sick and Crystal and Sharron looked angry. The boys all just looked shocked.

"How," Crystal growled, "can a monster like that still be free?"

"Multiple reasons," Lisa answered, clearly waxing philosophical. "The least of which being that the last time he fought the local Protectorate and New Wave, he kicked your asses." Crystal blinked at that bluntness but nodded in acceptance. "Then there is the fact that he shows up to practically every Endbringer fight, and fights on the front line every time, and that's after single-handedly fighting a delaying action against Leviathan at Kyushu, while the other capes worked to evacuate the civilians. He earned a lot of good will for that alone, and a lot of fear as well. The final thing is that outside of breaking the rules and going after him in his civilian persona with intent to kill from the beginning, the only capes that can stop him in a rampage are Alexandria and Eidolon, and that is out of all the known heroes and villains."

"What about Crawler?" Brian asked.

"Crawler is a definite maybe," Lisa replied. "But the problem then becomes which power wins, Crawlers adaptive regeneration, or Lung's ability to escalate to the threat?" At that point the entire group went contemplative. Akane and Lisa had points, certainly, but Crystal was right in that the man was a monster.

"Monster or not, he keeps his people in line," Sharron said, breaking the quiet of thought. "I found out, after the fact, that a couple years back there were some mooks that decided to initiate a new member by having her carve up a girl in an alley. Lucky for the girl, Shadow Stalker happened by and rescued her and her father, or else they might have ended up a different statistic. After the foursome got released on bail though, they went back to the west end, only to end up decorating a couple of lamp posts."

"Brutal," Carlos commented.

"But effective," Vicky chimed in. "The ABB tends toward a mixture of white- and blue-collar crime, but it's mostly completely internal to the West End and it is almost completely non-violent."

The rest of the group nodded to this, and Crystal sighed in response. "So the long and short of it is that while Lung is a monster, he is at worst a useful one that keeps to his own and because of that is less of a problem."

"Eh," Akane said, wiggling her hand. "I wouldn't necessarily go that far. But I will say that he is less of a priority than say, Kaiser and the Empire."

The collective group nodded again, before Katie spoke up. "Hey," she said, "why are we talking about work when we have so much else to discuss? How did things go, meeting your uncle's mother?"

Akane sighed at that. "About as well as it could go, I think," she answered. "It was what I expected anyway. Hitomi introduced us, and she called me over for a hug while reminiscing about the one time she had met my mother. Then she started testing me on the Amazon Style of fighting which lasted the rest of the day."

"What about after that?" I asked.

"Afterwards," Akane answered, "Which meant after I beat a couple of the Amazon's there, Hitomi took me to Uncle Kenta's place which wasn't far away. His place is, modest, for around here, bigger than your house Taylor, but not as big as Dinah's, and he obviously patterned it after the Kuno home in Nerima."

**1800 hrs. Jan. 22, 2011**
"Akane!" I heard a voice yell as I climbed out of Hitomi's car only to be impacted by a teenage missile.

I smiled, "Hello Nemuri," I said ruffling the girl's hair. "How have you been?"

"I'm good," the girl said, pushing herself just far enough away from me to look up at me before grabbing my hand. "We need to get you to the bath though, you're all stinky."

"Grandmother has been testing her in the Amazon style most of the day," Hitomi volunteered. "I'll get you some of my older clothes to wear since you didn't bring anything to change into."

"Didn't know I was going to need to," I chuckled. "But a bath sounds terrific right about now," I continued, and food wouldn't be amiss either."

As I said that Nemuri dragged me through the doors and the scent of food smacked me across the face, causing my mouth to water. "Well I'm glad you're hungry," Uncle Kenta said, turning away from the stove where he had just pulled something out of the oven. "Because I have spent half the afternoon preparing dinner, I hope you like it."

"By the smell, I'm sure I will," I replied. "Now, where's that bath?" I asked Nemuri, who smiled and drug me off, leaving Hitomi with her father.

**
**Akane**
"So you had a family dinner?" Taylor asked smiling. I nodded in response, so she asked. "What are they like?"

"Nemuri is a chatterbox," I answered smiling as I recalled the last weekend. Filled me in on everything that was going on with the family, like how your dad got the restaurant refloored and ready to open again tomorrow or how her mom is now going through a stack of offers to find you just the right jobs." I then leaned closer to her and lowered my voice. "She even told me how your father took Aunt Ukyo out to dinner last Saturday."

"I thought he seemed a bit," she paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "Upbeat the next morning. "Hey Dad!" she called out to where her father was tending to the grill. "How was your date with miss Kuonji last weekend?"

Danny Hebert seemed to try and ignore the question, but Crystal's father stepped over and elbowed him slightly, talking to him in a low enough tone that the people at the girl's table couldn't hear them. After a moment of talk though, Taylor's dad handed the tongs over to Crystal's and walked over to them. "We had a nice date," he answered. "I took her over to Fratelli's Fish House for dinner, and then we killed a few more hours walking around the boardwalk and talking. Yes, we enjoyed ourselves and yes, I will be asking her out again once the restaurant hits its stride for the year. Are there any other questions?"

"No Dad," Taylor said smiling at him. "Its good to go out there and try to move forward."

He smiled at her and reaching past Brian ruffled her hair. "Thanks kiddo," he said. "We'll talk more about it tomorrow." Taylor nodded and her dad went back to the grill where he took the tongs back from Crystal's father.

"Ok, that's the youngest," Katie said looking at me. "What about the other two?"

"Hitomi is still a bit off kilter because of Cornell and having to change schools because the majority of her major's areas were destroyed. Miranda on the other hand is currently debating whether or not to quit working on learning the Amazon style."

"I would love to learn the Amazon style," Crystal muttered, and Rory wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.

"I'm fairly sure I could talk Elder Xian Pu into teaching you," I commented. "But you would be facing a steep learning curve. Quite frankly, the most effective way for you to learn would probably be the traditional way, which means working in the Nekohatten."

"Why would that be a problem?"

"Well to start with you don't speak Mandarin." I answered.
**
 
Last edited:
**Taylor**
"Jesus Christ," I heard someone mutter, and it took me a minute to realize that it had been me. I looked at Akane and blinked before looking at the others. Lisa, Vicky and Katie looked contemplative, while Amy looked sick and Crystal and Sharron looked angry. The boys all just looked shocked.

"How," Crystal growled, "can a monster like that still be free?"
I'm confused - is this relating to the semi-crucifictions of the ganger assholes - why would anyone consider that particularly monsterous? They deserved it, or possibly a straightforward death. But the sentance enforced provided a very clear example. Don't like the rules? It's a big country - leave.
 
to settle your confusion, yes it was. And the reason they consider this monstrous is that as a nation of laws, we expect laws to be followed. In a perfect world, catching these gang members doing what they did, Lung would have captured them, and then handed them, and any evidence of their wrong doing over to the police so that they could stand trial and be sentenced for what they did. That he took justice into his own hands is as much the problem is the fact that he went and old school crucified them.

For note, proper crucifiction is a long slow death, especially if you are provided water for the duration of the time frame. The way the human body is bound in such a case you have to strain to stay upright, or you can't breathe, theres no sleep during this, no ability to take the weight of your body off of parts not designed to bear it, except by putting it on other parts that are not designed to bear that weight
 
Indeed, and it's the root of one of the terms for 'most painful thing imaginable' -- excruciating, literally 'of the crucifiction'.
 
Pho post being built participate here

forums.spacebattles.com

I think my name is No No (Worm AU/Semi-SI) PHO thread RP

■ Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards. You are currently logged in, Saotome M You are viewing: • Threads you have replied to • AND Threads that have new replies • OR private message conversations with new replies • Thread OP is displayed. • Ten posts per page • Last ten messages in...
 
Interlude: Tokyo
well for all the fighting this chapter gave me here it is. going to focus on a new story for a bit while this one percolates some more after this. I don't know when i'm going to get back to it other than later this year.

**
Interlude: Tokyo
Mayumi sighed and leaned against the door to their apartment, closing it behind her as she changed her street shoes for her house slippers. "I'm home," she called out hearing her mother doing something in the kitchen. Probably fixing her lunch, she thought before shoving herself off the door to walk further into her home.

"Welcome home dear," her mother called out. "You're home early, I thought you were going to go out with Eri, Kyoko, and Kaname after school?" Mayumi followed her mother's voice to the kitchen where the woman was sitting. "What happened to your clothes?" her mother asked in shock at seeing Mayumi in her gym clothes.

"Stupidity happened," Mayumi answered before sitting down with a sigh of dejection. "One of the other people in my year received a package from one of his usual suppliers, but it wasn't what he had ordered. So to ensure that it didn't disappear from his apartment, he brought it to school with him until he could call the shipper during lunch break."

"Alright," Ran said giving Mayumi a questioning look. "How does that explain you being in your gym clothes?"

"The object that he received appeared to be a thermos," Mayumi continued. "And to get better phone reception he stepped out into the hallway while he made the call. Realistically there was no reason for him to expect anyone in the classroom to disturb the thermos. I was in there with Eri, Kyoko and Kaname having lunch and finalizing some plans on where we were going when one of the other students decided to do something stupid. They bit into the super-hot curry bread that the school store sells and it was too much for them, but they didn't have anything to drink. So they opened the thermos and tried to drink the contents."

Ran Saotome was not a stupid woman, she knew that dangerous things could come in innocuous packages, and as those words left her daughter's mouth, her face fell as her heart constricted in horror. "How many were hurt," she asked, "and how many died?"

"The boy who brought it was trampled when everyone freaked out and fled the classroom," Mayumi answered. "And another had to be tasered to keep him from starting a fight in the middle of the situation, but no one died, even though the entire classroom thought they were going to."

"What was in the thermos?" Ran asked, her body relaxing from the tenseness that it had taken on as Mayumi had told her story.

"A biological agent to break up long chain hydrocarbons," she answered. "Those uniforms we wear have so much polyester in them they practically disintegrated, leaving probably half the floor's occupants in nothing but their underwear. The problem was that we thought we were going to die."

"And what is the fallout on that going to be?" Ran asked.

"Four confessions of true love," Mayumi answered, "with varying degrees of success, three breakups, two less virgins and one very bruised military otaku that has stated that he and his supplier are going to have a long painful conversation about ensuring they ship the right product to the right people."

"If you know," Ran asked now suppressing a grin. "What was he supposed to be receiving?"

"A bunch of different small things apparently, but among them was supposed to be a new pair of flash-bang earrings for Kaname."

Ran's eyebrows rose at that, "Flash Bang Earrings?" she asked, and Mayumi nodded.

"The hook in the ear is the pin," the teen answered. "They seem to be really effective as Kaname demonstrated one a few weeks ago. I'm going to go see what Akane is up to, and if I have any new messages."

Ran nodded and the teen left for her room where she booted up her laptop and accessed her PHO account.
**


■​
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♦ Topic: There was a kaboom,
In: Boards ► North America ► United States ► Northeast region ► Brockton Bay
XxVoid_CowboyxX
(Original Poster)
Posted On Jan 18th 2011:
There was what felt like, an earth shattering kaboom while I was heading to the gym for my daily workout just now, and there is a pillar of flame in the distance. Is there some kind of cape fight going on? I'm not going toward it but knowing would be nice.


(Showing page 1 of 3)


►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)
Replied On Jan 18th 2011:
Can verify, felt that in my office at the northern edge of downtown. Does anyone have any official word on the cause?

►Char
Replied On Jan 18th 2011:
Great, all the heroes in the region are dealing with the explosion in Ithaca, and someone decides to blow something up in town. Question, has anyone seen Lung rampaging again. Maybe he hit another Meth Lab.

►Only Oni (Verified Cape)
Replied On Jan 18th 2011:
Was not Lung. Was not I either.

►From_The_Core (Verified Noriko Takaya Fan)
Replied On Jan 18th 2011:
Perhaps we have a newbie flexing hir powers on a Merchant's lab?

Or on Uber&L33t, if the duo is doing one of their game-based heists.

►Leet (Verified Cape) (Verified Rogue)
Replied On Jan 18th 2011:
Wasn't us either, though i find it a little scary that Oni Lee is posting on the board.

►Only Oni (Verified Cape)
Replied On Jan 18th 2011:
And why should my posting here cause any concern.

►Leet (Verified Cape) (Verified Rogue)
Replied On Jan 18th 2011:
uh maybe because you are talking more here than in person

►Only Oni (Verified Cape)
Replied On Jan 18th 2011:
If i am seeing you over business there is no reason for me to talk, you should know why i am there

►Leet (Verified Cape) (Verified Rogue)
Replied On Jan 18th 2011:
Fair point.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3


(Showing page 2 of 3)


►Rune (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:
Alright, so I've been given permission to answer this thread. The answer is that there was an operation yesterday that had not been planned that caused the destruction of a villain's underground base. There were no survivors as the explosion's pressure wave blasted the flames out the main vent causing the visible flame pillar. It also caused the parking garage at the corner of Mercator and 12th to collapse. Thankfully there were no friendly forces trapped within the base when it exploded.

►From_The_Core (Verified Noriko Takaya Fan)
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:
'Base'? How big was the hideout, just to ask?

Some... let's call them Friends... I know, say that the only thing that would qualify as a hidden base is 'a Wannabe Snake Man-Cave Of Pettiness', but it should not be that big, right? RIGHT!?!

►Skitter (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:
From what I mapped out with my insects, it was an abandoned Endbringer Shelter. We've all been in those for Drills. Part of the reason it exploded was that I tripped the fail safes for the generator's fuel supply, almost a thousand pounds of propane fuel that for some reason vented not into the sewer system like it was supposed to, but through the ventilation system. The entire base went up like a Michael Bay special effects budget, and it wasn't accidental, there were apparently charges in the base and the parking garage that took out the supports and brought the whole thing down.

In short, the snake involved wanted to be able to blow that place up on command, that we did it was a complete accident.

►From_The_Core (Verified Noriko Takaya Fan)
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:
...

Ok, time to get royally drunk!

►Echiko ((Verified Weeb)) ((Mobuseka Overdrive))
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:
Yeep. And I actually looked at an apartment only a block away from there. Good thing I went elsewhere.

*shudder*
*twitch*

Beer. Need more beer.

►From_The_Core (Verified Noriko Takaya Fan)
Replied On Jan 20th 2011:

My Bro is drunk and I'm using his account to stop those samba-loving Friends of his from posting shitty memes. Does anyone know how I can introduce a cast iron frying pan to Coil's kneecaps, I want to remove his kneecaps privileges from the chaos the consequences of his action caused in my house?

►Viewpoint (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 20th 2011:
Coil is now behind bars under master/stranger protocols and has about a ,0001% chance of escaping his confinement,

Vista and my kidnapping wasn't exactly his fault, this time, but because the mercs worked for him, he gets to take the blame. The explosion is completely his fault.

►RGB_Katana ( (Verified Internet Connoisseur)) ((Verified Human))
Replied On Jan 20th 2011:
Anyone knows why I saw from my window the teen villain Tattletale dancing the Macarena on the street below my house?

►AllSeeingEye (Verified Cape)
Replied On Jan 20th 2011:
YOU SAW NOTHING
Edit:
Video or it didn't happen

►Regent (Verified Cape)
Replied On Jan 20th 2011:
I have $100 dollars if you have actual footage of that
End of Page. 1, 2


(Showing page 3 of 3)


►AllSeeingEye (Verified Cape)
Replied On Jan 20th 2011:
Regent you 4$$

Ahem...

What you may or may not know is that I was recruited by Coil to work for him at gunpoint, if you did see what you claim. then it would have been because of the removal of ALL HIS MONEY while handing all his information over to the PRT, just as he went on the run.

See footage here of Ninjas and Vista chasing him down as he ran from the PRT HQ

►RGB_Katana ( (Verified Internet Connoisseur)) ((Verified Human))
Replied On Jan 20th 2011:
@ AllSeeingEye @ Regent: Here is the proof [Link], miracles of modern technology for the win!

►From_The_Core (Verified Noriko Takaya Fan)
Replied On Jan 21st 2011:
Head hurts, feel pain even while typing, have to slow down and use one finger per letter, but good to learn that at least someone else is enjoying Coil's suffering.

►Skitter (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 21st 2011:
take two aspirin and drink a gatorade, the reason you have a headache is because of dehydration, especially of electrolytes.

►From_The_Core (Verified Noriko Takaya Fan)
Replied On Jan 21st 2011:
But I'm not a combat cyborg like some of RGB_Katana's former coworkers, I do not need to refill a 'fuel tank' located in my spine with Gatorade to function!

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)
Replied On Jan 21st 2011:
And I think we've derailed far enough that I can lock the thread now, thank you all for your participation.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3

■​


Mayumi shook her head with a light chuckle. Akane had given her the entire rundown on what had happened the next weekend as well as a link to where they had televised the fashion show. As unsubtle as the callout was, Akane had been right, this Taylor had rocked the runway and she had asked Aunt Hikari to send her any pictures of the girl that she could coerce out of the photographers. Alas there were no new messages from Akane, so she pulled out her phone and started texting with the other girls.

Child of Nerima

Did everyone get home ok?

Battle Fan Beater

Yeah, Sousuke was kind enough to get me to the nurse's station before everything went poof. The rest of you?

Twin Tails

Fine here, though I caught word that there is some kind of Masher in the local park. Sounds kind of weird though.

Boy Crazy Man Fan

A Masher, do you know if he's cute?

Battle Fan Beater

Eri, this is one of those things that you don't ask if the person is cute, or handsome, or anything like that, you stay out of that park after dark and wait for the police to catch them.

Twin Tails

Besides, from what I was hearing he wears a horse head mask. Don't know why he would chase women down and force their hair into ponytails though.

Mayumi sighed and hung her head. "My friends are weird

Sgt Stupid

I will investigate and see what the issue is.

Battle Fan Beater

Sousuke, you will not do that, you will leave it to the police.

Sgt Stupid

But he could be a viable threat to your safety.

And with that the conversation between Kaname and Sousuke devolved into an argument of why he should and shouldn't investigate and if the Masher was deemed a threat, to remove him. Mayumi shook her head and turned her attention back to PHO and the thread that had just updated while she was distracted.

♦ Topic: The Cornell Incident
In: Boards ► North Americal ► United States ► New York
AverageAlexandros
(Original Poster) (Cape Husband)
Posted On Jan 20th 2011:
So yesterday there was a very BAD explosion when the fusion engine/power generator at the particle physics lab at Cornell exploded. My husband informs me that this is not the normal thing that happens when a fusion reactor fails. (Contrary to popular sci-fi.) He also informed me that it had to be forced to happen, intentionally, and that we are looking for a blonde female approximately 20-23 years old that as of that point in time was driving a cherry red 1965 Chevy Bel Air that she stole from the professor that she mastered into blowing up the lab.

no other information is currently known about the subject, so please do not approach her and report her to your local police or PRT offices.

Edit: Image of suspect HERE and HERE


(Showing page 3 of 3)


►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)
Replied On Jan 24th 2011:
and of course everyone had to respond leaving us with the situation that was two Wards kidnapped.

►GstringGirl
Replied On Jan 24th 2011:
why would anyone do something like this

►Regent (Verified Cape)
Replied On Jan 24th 2011:
because my older sister is a genuine sociopath, the next question for me is, is she running from dear old dad, or working for him

►RGB_Katana ( (Verified Internet Connoisseur)) ((Verified Human))
Replied On Jan 24th 2011:
@ Regent Wait a moment, I think I have some surviving contacts to ask to. I will send you a PM to not scare anyone.

There is some talks among my housemates to get the hell out of BB.

I reiterated to them that none of us has the money to afford it, otherwise we would not be in five in a single apartment so to divide among us the rent.

►Miss Mercury (Protectorate Employee)
Replied On Jan 24th 2011:
@Regent
You said your sister, who's child are you? I'm assuming you are both 2nd gen triggers, and have you told your local PRT/Protectorate about who your sister and you are, who "Dear Old Dad" is?

►Regent (Verified Cape)
Replied On Jan 25th 2011:
@RGB_Katana
Thanks for the intel, my new boss will appreciate that, though knowing my luck your sources are the same as hers.
@Miss Mercury
Considering that when my previous boss was arrested @All seeing eye convinced us to turn ourselves in to the PRT, yes they know who my father is, and what he's capable of. As for my sister i have given them everything I know.

►Cherish (Unverified Cape)
Replied On Jan 25th 2011:
Thanks a lot you little shite, i get clear of the old fart and can't even get any support from my little bro.

►Regent (Verified Cape)
Replied On Jan 26th 2011:
Cherish, you blew up a college, that was bad enough. The fact that you blew up a college that Lung's Daughter went to and in doing so killed her GF causing her to trigger, you have bigger problems than a bounty on your head and Pops on your tail. You might want to turn yourself in.

►Cherish (Unverified Cape)
Replied On Jan 25th 2011:
Well F*SK me running​
 
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