Cutiepie
Professional Mom
- Location
- Ask my kids, they can find me wherever I hide
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ah, that's right. Thanks, I appreciate you 😊
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Bianca is Goddess's real name. Godess was a parahuman that managed to take the powers of her clustermates and took over an alternate Earth, specifically Earth Shin. Interestingly, the same Earth Shin that Sleeper was going for the portal for.
ThrawnCA
Carbon-based biped
- Location
- Australia
The relevance of cookies is that Atropos asked for permission to make herself a snack before going to work - and used the opportunity to lace the food in the kitchens with Riley's power-killing prions.
So she can in fact work against you while eating your food.
So she can in fact work against you while eating your food.
- Location
- Australia
Furthermore, here are specific quotes to do with Atropos and Goddess.
The chapter, by the way, was titled "Sleight of Hand". Because mwahahahaha.
M. H. Fuzzball
Aperture Science-certified Horrible Person
- Location
- Sector 2814
I will point out that Bianca brought that shit upon herself, since among other things she did kidnap Atropos, Riley, Theo and that other girl. If she shows up in your home and you had nothing to do with that, then at most you're on your second warning, and therefore cookies couldn't hurt your situation.
Crayz9000
Deranged Bounty Hunter
- Location
- Improbably superpositioned
Amy should have had Vicky grab a salt shaker to go with the pitcher. You need electrolytes along with the water when replacing fluids, which is why hospitals use saline solution.
I don't think there would be enough in the leg of ham by itself, unless it was cooked and cured in which case it probably wouldn't be very useful to Amy's power, to say nothing of having to work around the nitrate salts.
- Location
- Australia
Amy figured it out. She's good at that sort of thing.
- Location
- Somewhere
Plus, could have big a big leg of ham. Flintstones at the Drive In big.
This should be either "the general injunction against flying in the house" or "the general no-flying-in-the-house injunction". What you have now is a double negative.
ThrawnCA
Carbon-based biped
- Location
- Australia
"injunction of" also works.
- Location
- Australia
Bugger.
Need to fix.
Will do that now.
ThrawnCA
Carbon-based biped
- Location
- Australia
Honestly, I'm not sure why that rule even exists (and is it canon?). I mean, I could understand not wanting feet on the ceiling, or wanting speed limits (just like there might be a rule against running). But why forbid Vicky to float an inch off the ground?
- Location
- Australia
Because flying in the house leads to flying fast in the house, and Carol is very much one for binary rules.
And no, it's not canon.
I just like the idea of "no flying in the house". It's very much a superhero rule.
GreydonCreed
Man of Culture
- Location
- United States
Probably because it's a little too easy to bump into (and break) things when floating. Can't exactly stop on a dime (from inertia).
Languages, despite what teachers and professors might like to claim, are not math. Double negatives are commonly used (in many languages) as an emphasis of the negative. English has been using double negatives since it was a distinct language (a trait inherited from both of the primary language roots - latin and germanic.)
- Location
- Australia
However, in this case it did not convey the meaning I wanted, so I fixed it.
ThrawnCA
Carbon-based biped
- Location
- Australia
That's all very well for other languages, but there ain't no such thing in English.
- Location
- Australia
Though English is one of the few languages where a double positive can indicate a negative.
"Yeah, right."
Part Ninety-One: Asking the Important Questions
- Location
- Australia
A Darker Path
Part Ninety-One: Asking the Important Questions
[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
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♦ Topic: A New Warning Delivered
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay ► New Capes ► Atropos
Atropos (Original Poster) (Banned) (You Wish) (UnVerified Cape) (Can Actually Kill Anything) (Yes, Really) (Watch Me) (Verified Dethpicable)
Posted On Mar 15th 2011:
Hello again to my favorite city, and the wonderful people therein!
I hope you're having an awesome week. Mine's looking up; I had a little bit of a rough patch yesterday, but I made two new friends, so that's always a good thing.
So anyway, for those who have read the title of this post, you must be wondering exactly who did the stupid and got my attention.
That person is Sleeper.
He's not very sociable, but that's okay. It takes all kinds. In his case, he was looking to go someplace populous and kill a lot of people, if by accident.
For reasons of my own, I'm reluctant to let that happen, so I had to go in and give him a warning not to. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but I got in through his storm (mostly in one piece) and delivered it to his hand. At midnight local time, even, because traditions are fun.
Yes, I could've just ganked him, but I've said everyone gets a warning, so he got a warning.
What happens next is up to him. Either he loses his powers, allows me to shunt him to an unoccupied alternate Earth where he can devastate the landscape to his heart's content, or I put Sleeper to sleep, permanently.
I gave him twenty-four hours to think about it. We'll see how it goes then.
Toodles!
(Showing page 1 of 276)
►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
Well, dang.
Okay, this is going to need some unpacking, because apparently Atropos is too modest to claim credit for stopping the first potential interdimensional war.
Where do I start?
About a week and a half ago, a cape dictator calling herself Goddess (pretentious? Never!) on an alternate Earth with the designation of Shin decided she needed outside help to quash the multiple resistance movements pushing back against her Benevolent Rule (yes, this is sarcasm).
So, not being from Brockton Bay, she decided that the best possible way to pull this off was to kidnap not only Atropos (a career ending move if I ever heard of one) but also to grab a few hostages on top of that (one of whom was our very own Miss Medic). Held in remote locations, they were Goddess' guarantee that Atropos wouldn't go all murder-happy on her and her Court.
This did not go well.
See, Atropos saw her coming. (Goddess' real name was Bianca. The day before all this kicked off, in Atropos' PHO post, she literally inserted the phrase "Be informed: a new city arises", which spells out BIANCA if you go back and look at it (I facepalmed so hard when someone told me.))
With her usual combination of audacity and sneakery, she managed to make it look like she was slaughtering her way through the resistance guys, while in fact she was doing the exact opposite. End result: Goddess lost her powers, the resistance forces took the palace, and Atropos got the hostages home safely. RIP Goddess.
Since then, Shin has since opened trade relations with Bet, via a portal that apparently exists somewhere.
Anyway, Sleeper started moving very recently, and it was determined he was heading for this portal. If he'd gotten through it, the loss of life would've been catastrophic, and apparently Atropos feels some level of responsibility for Bet-Shin relations, so she took it on herself to deliver him the warning she talked about.
*How* she did it, I'm not entirely sure, because his 'storm' (as good a word as any) is pretty well destructive to anything that's not actually the ground, but she got in and out again alive, so I'm not arguing.
All I can say is, damn. That's some serious dedication to doing the right thing.
Sleeper, if you have internet access, here's my two cents. Do what she says. Seriously.
►Atropos (Original Poster) (Banned) (You Wish) (UnVerified Cape) (Can Actually Kill Anything) (Yes, Really) (Watch Me) (Verified Dethpicable)
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
(sigh)
Okay, fine, that happened. I did that. The governments of Shin are transitioning as we speak, to a vaguely democratic model where cape and non-cape alike get a fair shake, following my specific recommendation not to have a backlash against capes in general.
Sleeper's incursion would've set all that back, and I'm not a fan of wasted effort. Thus, the warning.
►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
I can confirm that Miss Medic and a friend were abducted from her home on the fifth, and returned within a few hours, unscathed. The third hostage was equally unharmed, according to them.
Representatives of Earth Shin have opened diplomatic negotiations, which include trade agreements.
Sleeper has also been reported to be on the move.
The PRT wishes to thank Atropos for saving Miss Medic, and her timely response to this crisis.
►Malarkey
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
Huh, so Aleph isn't the only alternate out there. Good to know.
Anyway.
'Swhat happens when you break one of the Rules.
Goddess broke Rule 3. She thought she had brought Atropos to her choice of battlefield, and found the landmine she had already prepared.
►GrinningCat
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
Heh whelp I know that the Darwin Awards committe declared death by Atropos as off limits for nominations of awards but I bet earth shin will be forming its own Darwin academy from the sheer stupidity goddess showed there Rest in Pieces moron.
►UnconcernedFox
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
*peers suspiciously at Sleeper*
*settles back and grabs more popcorn*
*not over yet*
►MissMedic (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
I've checked and I am allowed to say that yes, I was there, and yes, it went down basically like Bagrat says.
It was kinda scary, and I don't really want to talk about it, but Atropos totally got us all home safely.
►WingsOnHigh (Verified Not the Simurgh)
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
Reading between the lines, I'm a little concerned about some of the phrasing there. 'A little bit of a rough patch', 'wasn't the easiest thing in the world', 'mostly in one piece'.
Should we be worried?
►Atropos (Original Poster) (Banned) (You Wish) (UnVerified Cape) (Can Actually Kill Anything) (Yes, Really) (Watch Me) (Verified Dethpicable)
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
Meh, it's nothing I couldn't walk off, with a little help from my friends.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 274, 275, 276
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Atropos
From: Reave
Subject: Just checking
Are you actually okay? Sleeper is no joke.
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Reave
From: Atropos
Subject: Re: Just checking
And nobody's laughing.
It got a little hairy there for a while, but I came out of it okay.
Thanks for asking. I appreciate it.
Audrey Howell
Former Vice Principal, Arcadia High
Winslow High School looked less than appealing as Audrey drove into the parking lot, but that was only to be expected. Arcadia set a very high bar. Still, someone was making a belated effort, as attested to by the parts of the frontage that had been pressure-washed, probably to get rid of graffiti.
I still don't know why I agreed to this, she told herself, but that wasn't strictly true. She'd been working with Vernon for seventeen years at Arcadia, and considered him to be more like a brother than a boss. So when he'd asked her to take over at Winslow for the duration, at least until the beginning of the next school year when the Board could appoint new staff, she'd found it hard to say no.
It was going to be one hell of a wrench, and a steep learning curve, she knew that much. Winslow had a distinctly shabby reputation; 'gang-infested' was a phrase she'd heard more than once. She could only hope the junior recruits at Winslow had gotten the memo that the gangs were gone from Brockton Bay.
Parking her car, she retrieved her shoulder-bag and got out, then made sure to lock the vehicle. How much good this would actually do, she wasn't sure, but it was worth a try. Checking herself out in the side mirror—hair tied back professionally, business attire, floral scarf around her neck for a touch of colour—she nodded in satisfaction. She wasn't quite sure what headspace the kids would be in after the principal and one of the teachers were escorted out by police, but they probably wouldn't react well to a total martinet walking in the front door.
As she climbed the front steps of the school, she could see many subtle (and not so subtle) clues indicating a long-standing lack of maintenance on the building and its surroundings. She couldn't do much about them, or about the sidelong glances from the students also coming in, but she took note and kept moving. As the outsider here, she was the one who was going to have to prove herself to the teachers and the student body.
She hadn't been able to get away from Arcadia until today, so Winslow had been without a principal for a week. The Board had sent an interim administrator in on a strictly temporary basis; he'd kept the cogs turning, delegating where he could and signing what had to be signed. Audrey was the one who was going to have to actually do the job rather than just hide in the office and kick the can down the road.
As she stepped in through the main doors, she was faced with a mass of students, every single one of whom (it seemed) were looking directly at her, dissecting her with their eyes. To her relief, she didn't see any gang colours, but one or two heads had remarkably short haircuts, and the atmosphere held more than a hint of sullen animosity, all aimed at her. She got the impression that Blackwell had done nothing whatsoever to endear herself to the students, and this had poisoned the well for her successors going forward.
And then a girl stepped out of the crowd; tall, neatly dressed, with long dark hair and glasses. Moving confidently, she went straight up to Audrey and held out her hand. "Hi," she said briskly. "You'd be Mrs Howell, our new principal? It's good to meet you."
Reflexively, Audrey shook it. "Yes, yes, I am," she replied. "It's nice to be here." Her brain finally caught up with her mouth at that point. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Taylor Hebert, but that's not important." Taylor smiled, her manner somehow giving the lie to her casual tone. "I just wanted to welcome you to Winslow, and wish you good luck in managing this madhouse." She added a chuckle that sounded so natural Audrey found herself smiling in response.
"Well, thank you, Taylor. I appreciate the sentiment." She made a mental note to look up Ms Hebert's file as soon as she got the chance; if this girl wasn't already student body president, the position was going wanting.
"That's okay." Taylor stepped aside to let her pass. "I have to get to home room now. You have a good day."
"You, too." Audrey moved onward; it took her a few moments to realise that the entire attitude of the hallway full of students had shifted. Where before there had been subtle sneers and scowls, people were now clearing the way for her and offering nods of respect. A few even murmured a greeting as she passed by.
What on earth is going on here? She'd done nothing that she could see to have engendered such a change. A brief glance backward assured her that there were no hulking students looming behind her to require such deference. On she went, trying her best to pretend this was how she was always treated in a new school.
It was only when she'd passed by all the students and was in an empty hallway that the question occurred to her: how did Ms Hebert know my name? I'm pretty sure there's been no announcement yet. It was just another mystery to add to the pile.
When she got to the principal's office—her office—she didn't bother knocking. The interim administrator looked up as she opened the door and entered. "Can I help you?" He was balding and overweight, almost a parody of the classic idea of a school principal.
"I believe so." She gave him a brief smile. "I'm Audrey Howell, the new principal. You would be Derek Simons?"
"That's me." He popped to his feet more quickly than she would have expected for someone of his apparently sedentary nature. "I wasn't expecting you for another couple of hours. What do you need?"
She took a deep breath. "I need you to fill me in on everything. Issues you're dealing with right now. Any discipline problems with the students. Where everything is in this office. Any maintenance problems you've found. Everything."
As the eager light died from his eyes, she realised he'd thought he was going to be just walking out the door the moment she walked in. Oh, hon. Not hardly.
"Um … okay, I've got a folder here …" He pulled open a drawer.
"Good, but before we get started on that, can you answer me a question?"
He looked up from the folder. "What?"
"When you're walking the halls, how do the students treat you?"
The grimace told her everything. "They look at me like I'm shit on the bottom of their shoe. Why?"
"Oh, no reason."
As he opened the folder, and started showing her what he had, she paid attention. But at the back of her mind, the question had been asked.
What the heck happened back there?
Cauldron Base
Legend
"Did you know?"
Keith looked up from his morning croissant as Rebecca stalked into the break room, staring daggers at Contessa.
Contessa finished pouring her coffee, put it down then turned to Rebecca with cup in hand. "About Miss Medic? Yes."
Keith's head came up; he knew what this was about, and he was still working out his stance on the matter. Despite his new knowledge about the girl, he still liked her. She was a delight to talk to, and dedicated to her role. He'd heard that everyone upped their game when she was around, so as not to disappoint her.
"What about Miss Medic?" Doctor Mother put down her herbal tea and looked from one to the other. "Don't keep us in suspense, here."
Rebecca sighed in aggravation and massaged her brow with her fingers and thumb; Keith suspected the pressure being generated would have crushed steel. "She's Bonesaw. Or she used to be. Atropos pulled some bullshit I'm still trying to get to the bottom of, had Panacea give her a total physical and mental makeover, then got Dragon to assist in getting the girl inserted into the Wards program."
Across the other side of the table, Kurt let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, yeah. That girl's got style."
Rebecca glared at him. "Shut up. Not helping."
"Bonesaw." Doctor Mother stared at her. "Are you certain?"
Keith understood where she was coming from. Between age, height, weight, facial shape, body type and ethnic phenotype, Bonesaw and Miss Medic had absolutely nothing in common. Both were preteen girls, and that was it.
"Chevalier got a look at her with his power yesterday." Rebecca let out a gusty sigh. "He said she had the purest of intentions. She wants to help people. But …"
"But she's still Bonesaw," Doctor Mother said. "What the hell? Why are we even letting this go on? For all we know, the girl will snap back tomorrow and start murdering people all over again."
"No, she won't." Kurt shook his head. "I've seen how Atropos works. She's there before a problem can become unfixable, and she knows how to fix it. If she's not keeping tabs on Miss Medic, I'll clean every corridor in this place with my tongue."
"But still …" Doctor Mother shook her head. "We should do something."
"No. We shouldn't." Contessa sipped at her coffee. "As Number Man said, Miss Medic is under her eye, and under her protection. Interfering would only draw her attention, and her ire. I have no desire to do either."
"Exactly. And she is helping people." Keith eyed Contessa carefully. "Is this why you didn't tell us earlier?"
She raised one perfect eyebrow. "Would it have helped?"
"Maybe!" Rebecca crooked her fingers as though she was looking for someone to strangle. "Not letting me get blindsided by it could've been useful!"
Doctor Mother looked at Contessa and then back to Rebecca. "So, we're not going to do anything about the Slaughterhouse Nine member who's now part of the Wards, because another serial killer put her there?"
Despite how bad it sounded when she said it like that, Keith shook his head. "No. Because Atropos isn't just 'another serial killer'. As you may recall, her kill count includes the rest of the Nine, Butcher and the Teeth, most of the Machine Army, the Three Blasphemies, the Simurgh, and apparently the other two Endbringers. Now, she's set her sights on Scion. I'm willing to excuse a lot of dead villains for that."
"And don't even try to claim the moral high ground on this one." Kurt still sounded rather amused. "We've done far worse, with less in the way of results, and you know it. Hell, I used to be one of the Nine."
"But … but …" Doctor Mother sounded frustrated, while at the same time unable to muster a coherent argument. "That's different!"
"Different how, exactly?" Keith challenged her. He respected her for her part in forming Cauldron, but her tendency toward double standards didn't sit well with him.
"It's … I … we …" She stared at him, baffled.
"The phrase you're looking for is 'it's different for us, because we're the good guys'," Kurt said helpfully. "But that's bullshit. We've hurt innocents. She hasn't. In fact, she's helped a few of the people we hurt. And the fact that Dragon willingly assisted her in this means that Atropos has done something we never managed; or rather, never bothered trying to do. Got her out from under Saint's thumb. Who, exactly, is the good guy here again?"
Contessa cleared her throat. "I didn't tell anyone about Miss Medic," she explained, "so that by the time you did find out, she would be established, having already proven herself as a competent and willing healer. Had I mentioned it when she first showed up, you would've been watching her like a hawk for the slightest excuse to swoop in and grab her up. This would probably have irritated Atropos. We want to avoid that."
Amen, thought Keith. Pissing off the girl who had taken down the Simurgh with a sawn-off shotgun was not something he wanted to contemplate.
Doctor Mother turned her glare toward Contessa. "I thought you disliked Atropos. Since when do we use 'Atropos might get upset with us' as a reason not to do something?"
"Whether I like her or not is immaterial." Unperturbed, Contessa sipped her coffee again. "I've tried to influence her twice now, and each time she was waiting for me. Neither experience was pleasant. From the evidence to date, not irritating Atropos seems an excellent way to not have her peer over your shoulder and ask you what the hell you think you're doing."
Kurt nodded toward Doctor Mother. "And just remember, she's said that if she ever has to confront you, she will shoot you in the face, on general principles."
From the sour expression on her face, she hadn't forgotten.
"Okay, fine," Rebecca conceded. "I get why you did it that way. Still not happy. But moving on, has anyone heard anything new about Atropos with regards to Sleeper?"
"Yes, actually," Keith said. "She posted at midnight on PHO. Apparently, she went in there to serve him with a cease and desist. There are hints she may have been injured in the process, but she also said she 'walked it off' with the help of her friends."
Kurt facepalmed at that, but he was also chuckling. "Only goddamn Atropos."
Taylor
Cherie looked around at the Winslow auditorium and wrinkled her nose. "Doesn't really compare to the Arcadia one, does it? How often do you have school assemblies like this?"
"Maybe two or three times a year," I said honestly. In the back of my mind, I was keeping track of how Cauldron registered on my threatscape. Despite the fact that Doctor Mother still hated my guts, there were no plans to act against me (or Riley, Amy, or Dragon). Which suited me right down to the ground.
"Not totally surprising," she snarked. "Hey, isn't that the new principal you shook hands with before?"
"It is," I agreed as Mrs Howell stepped up to the microphone and tapped it. She and Blackwell both had bleached blonde hair, but that was about as far as it went with resemblance. Everyone quieted down—word had spread that I'd wished her well—and prepared to listen to what she had to say. I knew damn well any hecklers would be suppressed without me needing to do or say anything.
"Good morning," she said, the aged speakers amplifying her voice with only a little in the way of crackling. "As you are probably aware, Principal Blackwell was escorted out by police before first period exactly one week ago, due to severe irregularities in the way she was running this school. I'm Mrs Howell, your new principal. I do not intend to repeat her mistakes. As such, if anyone is suffering from bullying or other antisocial behaviour, bring it to me. I will listen, and I will act. We didn't tolerate that in Arcadia, and I will not tolerate it here."
She paused to allow the murmur of comments to pass through the audience. Most of the students were cynical, having heard far too many of these promises before, but Cherie nodded slightly. "She means it," she murmured.
I smiled slightly. "I know." If Mrs Howell had been principal when I'd started at Winslow, things may have turned out quite differently for me. But, spilt milk and all that.
"In addition, as you know, Spring Break is coming up next week. You will need to remove all belongings from lockers, and leave nothing in the school. This is because starting on Friday afternoon, the Brockton Bay Betterment Committee will be renovating the entire school from top to bottom. We're getting all new equipment, all new facilities. The last workers will be walking out on Monday morning as we're coming in."
There was stunned silence for a moment, then a roar of approval. We'd all seen how the Betterment Committee workers replaced entire streets overnight, or pulled down buildings and put up better ones in just days. I'd known this was coming, but the idea of Winslow being revamped in this way still gave me a little thrill. I did this. This is me.
Mrs Howell beamed at us all. "I'm glad to hear that you approve. Now, I'll let you get back to home room and enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you all for listening."
The applause started as she stepped down off the podium, and didn't cease until after she'd left by the rear door of the auditorium. As we began to disperse back to our classrooms, I knew that only part of it had been due to my earlier gesture of welcoming her. Most of the response was genuine, actually accepting her as their principal.
Good. It was about time the place had someone in charge who actually wanted to do their job.
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Director_Renick_PRT_ENE
From: Atropos
Subject: Regarding Miss Medic
Hi. Imma need to borrow her (and Tenebrae, of course) this afternoon to close the deal with Sleeper. I'll be around about three-thirty-ish, with Panacea and Glory Girl.
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: TheRealPanacea
From: Atropos
Subject: Can I borrow you?
So hey, I need to go and deal with Sleeper this afternoon, just after three. Are you up for another collab with Miss Medic? You worked together pretty well last time. And yes, if Vicky wants to come along, she's welcome.
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Atropos
From: Director_Renick_PRT_ENE
Subject: Re: Regarding Miss Medic
I'll have them both in my office at that time.
Thanks for the heads-up, and thanks for dealing with Sleeper.
May I ask what he's going to choose?
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Atropos
From: TheRealPanacea
Subject: Re: Can I borrow you?
You already know I'm going to say yes. Vicky's shaking her head in the background, but I know she's going to want to come along anyway.
See you then.
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Director_Renick_PRT_ENE
From: Atropos
Subject: Re: Re: Regarding Miss Medic
That would be telling.
Thanks for this.
Toodles!
End of Part Ninety-One
Part Ninety-One: Asking the Important Questions
[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
■
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♦ Topic: A New Warning Delivered
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay ► New Capes ► Atropos
Atropos (Original Poster) (
Posted On Mar 15th 2011:
Hello again to my favorite city, and the wonderful people therein!
I hope you're having an awesome week. Mine's looking up; I had a little bit of a rough patch yesterday, but I made two new friends, so that's always a good thing.
So anyway, for those who have read the title of this post, you must be wondering exactly who did the stupid and got my attention.
That person is Sleeper.
He's not very sociable, but that's okay. It takes all kinds. In his case, he was looking to go someplace populous and kill a lot of people, if by accident.
For reasons of my own, I'm reluctant to let that happen, so I had to go in and give him a warning not to. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but I got in through his storm (mostly in one piece) and delivered it to his hand. At midnight local time, even, because traditions are fun.
Yes, I could've just ganked him, but I've said everyone gets a warning, so he got a warning.
What happens next is up to him. Either he loses his powers, allows me to shunt him to an unoccupied alternate Earth where he can devastate the landscape to his heart's content, or I put Sleeper to sleep, permanently.
I gave him twenty-four hours to think about it. We'll see how it goes then.
Toodles!
(Showing page 1 of 276)
►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
Well, dang.
Okay, this is going to need some unpacking, because apparently Atropos is too modest to claim credit for stopping the first potential interdimensional war.
Where do I start?
About a week and a half ago, a cape dictator calling herself Goddess (pretentious? Never!) on an alternate Earth with the designation of Shin decided she needed outside help to quash the multiple resistance movements pushing back against her Benevolent Rule (yes, this is sarcasm).
So, not being from Brockton Bay, she decided that the best possible way to pull this off was to kidnap not only Atropos (a career ending move if I ever heard of one) but also to grab a few hostages on top of that (one of whom was our very own Miss Medic). Held in remote locations, they were Goddess' guarantee that Atropos wouldn't go all murder-happy on her and her Court.
This did not go well.
See, Atropos saw her coming. (Goddess' real name was Bianca. The day before all this kicked off, in Atropos' PHO post, she literally inserted the phrase "Be informed: a new city arises", which spells out BIANCA if you go back and look at it (I facepalmed so hard when someone told me.))
With her usual combination of audacity and sneakery, she managed to make it look like she was slaughtering her way through the resistance guys, while in fact she was doing the exact opposite. End result: Goddess lost her powers, the resistance forces took the palace, and Atropos got the hostages home safely. RIP Goddess.
Since then, Shin has since opened trade relations with Bet, via a portal that apparently exists somewhere.
Anyway, Sleeper started moving very recently, and it was determined he was heading for this portal. If he'd gotten through it, the loss of life would've been catastrophic, and apparently Atropos feels some level of responsibility for Bet-Shin relations, so she took it on herself to deliver him the warning she talked about.
*How* she did it, I'm not entirely sure, because his 'storm' (as good a word as any) is pretty well destructive to anything that's not actually the ground, but she got in and out again alive, so I'm not arguing.
All I can say is, damn. That's some serious dedication to doing the right thing.
Sleeper, if you have internet access, here's my two cents. Do what she says. Seriously.
►Atropos (Original Poster) (
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
(sigh)
Okay, fine, that happened. I did that. The governments of Shin are transitioning as we speak, to a vaguely democratic model where cape and non-cape alike get a fair shake, following my specific recommendation not to have a backlash against capes in general.
Sleeper's incursion would've set all that back, and I'm not a fan of wasted effort. Thus, the warning.
►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
I can confirm that Miss Medic and a friend were abducted from her home on the fifth, and returned within a few hours, unscathed. The third hostage was equally unharmed, according to them.
Representatives of Earth Shin have opened diplomatic negotiations, which include trade agreements.
Sleeper has also been reported to be on the move.
The PRT wishes to thank Atropos for saving Miss Medic, and her timely response to this crisis.
►Malarkey
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
Huh, so Aleph isn't the only alternate out there. Good to know.
Anyway.
'Swhat happens when you break one of the Rules.
Goddess broke Rule 3. She thought she had brought Atropos to her choice of battlefield, and found the landmine she had already prepared.
►GrinningCat
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
Heh whelp I know that the Darwin Awards committe declared death by Atropos as off limits for nominations of awards but I bet earth shin will be forming its own Darwin academy from the sheer stupidity goddess showed there Rest in Pieces moron.
►UnconcernedFox
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
*peers suspiciously at Sleeper*
*settles back and grabs more popcorn*
*not over yet*
►MissMedic (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
I've checked and I am allowed to say that yes, I was there, and yes, it went down basically like Bagrat says.
It was kinda scary, and I don't really want to talk about it, but Atropos totally got us all home safely.
►WingsOnHigh (Verified Not the Simurgh)
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
Reading between the lines, I'm a little concerned about some of the phrasing there. 'A little bit of a rough patch', 'wasn't the easiest thing in the world', 'mostly in one piece'.
Should we be worried?
►Atropos (Original Poster) (
Replied On Mar 15th 2011:
Meh, it's nothing I couldn't walk off, with a little help from my friends.
■
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Atropos
From: Reave
Subject: Just checking
Are you actually okay? Sleeper is no joke.
■
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Reave
From: Atropos
Subject: Re: Just checking
And nobody's laughing.
It got a little hairy there for a while, but I came out of it okay.
Thanks for asking. I appreciate it.
■
<><>
<><>
Audrey Howell
Former Vice Principal, Arcadia High
Winslow High School looked less than appealing as Audrey drove into the parking lot, but that was only to be expected. Arcadia set a very high bar. Still, someone was making a belated effort, as attested to by the parts of the frontage that had been pressure-washed, probably to get rid of graffiti.
I still don't know why I agreed to this, she told herself, but that wasn't strictly true. She'd been working with Vernon for seventeen years at Arcadia, and considered him to be more like a brother than a boss. So when he'd asked her to take over at Winslow for the duration, at least until the beginning of the next school year when the Board could appoint new staff, she'd found it hard to say no.
It was going to be one hell of a wrench, and a steep learning curve, she knew that much. Winslow had a distinctly shabby reputation; 'gang-infested' was a phrase she'd heard more than once. She could only hope the junior recruits at Winslow had gotten the memo that the gangs were gone from Brockton Bay.
Parking her car, she retrieved her shoulder-bag and got out, then made sure to lock the vehicle. How much good this would actually do, she wasn't sure, but it was worth a try. Checking herself out in the side mirror—hair tied back professionally, business attire, floral scarf around her neck for a touch of colour—she nodded in satisfaction. She wasn't quite sure what headspace the kids would be in after the principal and one of the teachers were escorted out by police, but they probably wouldn't react well to a total martinet walking in the front door.
As she climbed the front steps of the school, she could see many subtle (and not so subtle) clues indicating a long-standing lack of maintenance on the building and its surroundings. She couldn't do much about them, or about the sidelong glances from the students also coming in, but she took note and kept moving. As the outsider here, she was the one who was going to have to prove herself to the teachers and the student body.
She hadn't been able to get away from Arcadia until today, so Winslow had been without a principal for a week. The Board had sent an interim administrator in on a strictly temporary basis; he'd kept the cogs turning, delegating where he could and signing what had to be signed. Audrey was the one who was going to have to actually do the job rather than just hide in the office and kick the can down the road.
As she stepped in through the main doors, she was faced with a mass of students, every single one of whom (it seemed) were looking directly at her, dissecting her with their eyes. To her relief, she didn't see any gang colours, but one or two heads had remarkably short haircuts, and the atmosphere held more than a hint of sullen animosity, all aimed at her. She got the impression that Blackwell had done nothing whatsoever to endear herself to the students, and this had poisoned the well for her successors going forward.
And then a girl stepped out of the crowd; tall, neatly dressed, with long dark hair and glasses. Moving confidently, she went straight up to Audrey and held out her hand. "Hi," she said briskly. "You'd be Mrs Howell, our new principal? It's good to meet you."
Reflexively, Audrey shook it. "Yes, yes, I am," she replied. "It's nice to be here." Her brain finally caught up with her mouth at that point. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Taylor Hebert, but that's not important." Taylor smiled, her manner somehow giving the lie to her casual tone. "I just wanted to welcome you to Winslow, and wish you good luck in managing this madhouse." She added a chuckle that sounded so natural Audrey found herself smiling in response.
"Well, thank you, Taylor. I appreciate the sentiment." She made a mental note to look up Ms Hebert's file as soon as she got the chance; if this girl wasn't already student body president, the position was going wanting.
"That's okay." Taylor stepped aside to let her pass. "I have to get to home room now. You have a good day."
"You, too." Audrey moved onward; it took her a few moments to realise that the entire attitude of the hallway full of students had shifted. Where before there had been subtle sneers and scowls, people were now clearing the way for her and offering nods of respect. A few even murmured a greeting as she passed by.
What on earth is going on here? She'd done nothing that she could see to have engendered such a change. A brief glance backward assured her that there were no hulking students looming behind her to require such deference. On she went, trying her best to pretend this was how she was always treated in a new school.
It was only when she'd passed by all the students and was in an empty hallway that the question occurred to her: how did Ms Hebert know my name? I'm pretty sure there's been no announcement yet. It was just another mystery to add to the pile.
When she got to the principal's office—her office—she didn't bother knocking. The interim administrator looked up as she opened the door and entered. "Can I help you?" He was balding and overweight, almost a parody of the classic idea of a school principal.
"I believe so." She gave him a brief smile. "I'm Audrey Howell, the new principal. You would be Derek Simons?"
"That's me." He popped to his feet more quickly than she would have expected for someone of his apparently sedentary nature. "I wasn't expecting you for another couple of hours. What do you need?"
She took a deep breath. "I need you to fill me in on everything. Issues you're dealing with right now. Any discipline problems with the students. Where everything is in this office. Any maintenance problems you've found. Everything."
As the eager light died from his eyes, she realised he'd thought he was going to be just walking out the door the moment she walked in. Oh, hon. Not hardly.
"Um … okay, I've got a folder here …" He pulled open a drawer.
"Good, but before we get started on that, can you answer me a question?"
He looked up from the folder. "What?"
"When you're walking the halls, how do the students treat you?"
The grimace told her everything. "They look at me like I'm shit on the bottom of their shoe. Why?"
"Oh, no reason."
As he opened the folder, and started showing her what he had, she paid attention. But at the back of her mind, the question had been asked.
What the heck happened back there?
<><>
Cauldron Base
Legend
"Did you know?"
Keith looked up from his morning croissant as Rebecca stalked into the break room, staring daggers at Contessa.
Contessa finished pouring her coffee, put it down then turned to Rebecca with cup in hand. "About Miss Medic? Yes."
Keith's head came up; he knew what this was about, and he was still working out his stance on the matter. Despite his new knowledge about the girl, he still liked her. She was a delight to talk to, and dedicated to her role. He'd heard that everyone upped their game when she was around, so as not to disappoint her.
"What about Miss Medic?" Doctor Mother put down her herbal tea and looked from one to the other. "Don't keep us in suspense, here."
Rebecca sighed in aggravation and massaged her brow with her fingers and thumb; Keith suspected the pressure being generated would have crushed steel. "She's Bonesaw. Or she used to be. Atropos pulled some bullshit I'm still trying to get to the bottom of, had Panacea give her a total physical and mental makeover, then got Dragon to assist in getting the girl inserted into the Wards program."
Across the other side of the table, Kurt let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, yeah. That girl's got style."
Rebecca glared at him. "Shut up. Not helping."
"Bonesaw." Doctor Mother stared at her. "Are you certain?"
Keith understood where she was coming from. Between age, height, weight, facial shape, body type and ethnic phenotype, Bonesaw and Miss Medic had absolutely nothing in common. Both were preteen girls, and that was it.
"Chevalier got a look at her with his power yesterday." Rebecca let out a gusty sigh. "He said she had the purest of intentions. She wants to help people. But …"
"But she's still Bonesaw," Doctor Mother said. "What the hell? Why are we even letting this go on? For all we know, the girl will snap back tomorrow and start murdering people all over again."
"No, she won't." Kurt shook his head. "I've seen how Atropos works. She's there before a problem can become unfixable, and she knows how to fix it. If she's not keeping tabs on Miss Medic, I'll clean every corridor in this place with my tongue."
"But still …" Doctor Mother shook her head. "We should do something."
"No. We shouldn't." Contessa sipped at her coffee. "As Number Man said, Miss Medic is under her eye, and under her protection. Interfering would only draw her attention, and her ire. I have no desire to do either."
"Exactly. And she is helping people." Keith eyed Contessa carefully. "Is this why you didn't tell us earlier?"
She raised one perfect eyebrow. "Would it have helped?"
"Maybe!" Rebecca crooked her fingers as though she was looking for someone to strangle. "Not letting me get blindsided by it could've been useful!"
Doctor Mother looked at Contessa and then back to Rebecca. "So, we're not going to do anything about the Slaughterhouse Nine member who's now part of the Wards, because another serial killer put her there?"
Despite how bad it sounded when she said it like that, Keith shook his head. "No. Because Atropos isn't just 'another serial killer'. As you may recall, her kill count includes the rest of the Nine, Butcher and the Teeth, most of the Machine Army, the Three Blasphemies, the Simurgh, and apparently the other two Endbringers. Now, she's set her sights on Scion. I'm willing to excuse a lot of dead villains for that."
"And don't even try to claim the moral high ground on this one." Kurt still sounded rather amused. "We've done far worse, with less in the way of results, and you know it. Hell, I used to be one of the Nine."
"But … but …" Doctor Mother sounded frustrated, while at the same time unable to muster a coherent argument. "That's different!"
"Different how, exactly?" Keith challenged her. He respected her for her part in forming Cauldron, but her tendency toward double standards didn't sit well with him.
"It's … I … we …" She stared at him, baffled.
"The phrase you're looking for is 'it's different for us, because we're the good guys'," Kurt said helpfully. "But that's bullshit. We've hurt innocents. She hasn't. In fact, she's helped a few of the people we hurt. And the fact that Dragon willingly assisted her in this means that Atropos has done something we never managed; or rather, never bothered trying to do. Got her out from under Saint's thumb. Who, exactly, is the good guy here again?"
Contessa cleared her throat. "I didn't tell anyone about Miss Medic," she explained, "so that by the time you did find out, she would be established, having already proven herself as a competent and willing healer. Had I mentioned it when she first showed up, you would've been watching her like a hawk for the slightest excuse to swoop in and grab her up. This would probably have irritated Atropos. We want to avoid that."
Amen, thought Keith. Pissing off the girl who had taken down the Simurgh with a sawn-off shotgun was not something he wanted to contemplate.
Doctor Mother turned her glare toward Contessa. "I thought you disliked Atropos. Since when do we use 'Atropos might get upset with us' as a reason not to do something?"
"Whether I like her or not is immaterial." Unperturbed, Contessa sipped her coffee again. "I've tried to influence her twice now, and each time she was waiting for me. Neither experience was pleasant. From the evidence to date, not irritating Atropos seems an excellent way to not have her peer over your shoulder and ask you what the hell you think you're doing."
Kurt nodded toward Doctor Mother. "And just remember, she's said that if she ever has to confront you, she will shoot you in the face, on general principles."
From the sour expression on her face, she hadn't forgotten.
"Okay, fine," Rebecca conceded. "I get why you did it that way. Still not happy. But moving on, has anyone heard anything new about Atropos with regards to Sleeper?"
"Yes, actually," Keith said. "She posted at midnight on PHO. Apparently, she went in there to serve him with a cease and desist. There are hints she may have been injured in the process, but she also said she 'walked it off' with the help of her friends."
Kurt facepalmed at that, but he was also chuckling. "Only goddamn Atropos."
<><>
Taylor
Cherie looked around at the Winslow auditorium and wrinkled her nose. "Doesn't really compare to the Arcadia one, does it? How often do you have school assemblies like this?"
"Maybe two or three times a year," I said honestly. In the back of my mind, I was keeping track of how Cauldron registered on my threatscape. Despite the fact that Doctor Mother still hated my guts, there were no plans to act against me (or Riley, Amy, or Dragon). Which suited me right down to the ground.
"Not totally surprising," she snarked. "Hey, isn't that the new principal you shook hands with before?"
"It is," I agreed as Mrs Howell stepped up to the microphone and tapped it. She and Blackwell both had bleached blonde hair, but that was about as far as it went with resemblance. Everyone quieted down—word had spread that I'd wished her well—and prepared to listen to what she had to say. I knew damn well any hecklers would be suppressed without me needing to do or say anything.
"Good morning," she said, the aged speakers amplifying her voice with only a little in the way of crackling. "As you are probably aware, Principal Blackwell was escorted out by police before first period exactly one week ago, due to severe irregularities in the way she was running this school. I'm Mrs Howell, your new principal. I do not intend to repeat her mistakes. As such, if anyone is suffering from bullying or other antisocial behaviour, bring it to me. I will listen, and I will act. We didn't tolerate that in Arcadia, and I will not tolerate it here."
She paused to allow the murmur of comments to pass through the audience. Most of the students were cynical, having heard far too many of these promises before, but Cherie nodded slightly. "She means it," she murmured.
I smiled slightly. "I know." If Mrs Howell had been principal when I'd started at Winslow, things may have turned out quite differently for me. But, spilt milk and all that.
"In addition, as you know, Spring Break is coming up next week. You will need to remove all belongings from lockers, and leave nothing in the school. This is because starting on Friday afternoon, the Brockton Bay Betterment Committee will be renovating the entire school from top to bottom. We're getting all new equipment, all new facilities. The last workers will be walking out on Monday morning as we're coming in."
There was stunned silence for a moment, then a roar of approval. We'd all seen how the Betterment Committee workers replaced entire streets overnight, or pulled down buildings and put up better ones in just days. I'd known this was coming, but the idea of Winslow being revamped in this way still gave me a little thrill. I did this. This is me.
Mrs Howell beamed at us all. "I'm glad to hear that you approve. Now, I'll let you get back to home room and enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you all for listening."
The applause started as she stepped down off the podium, and didn't cease until after she'd left by the rear door of the auditorium. As we began to disperse back to our classrooms, I knew that only part of it had been due to my earlier gesture of welcoming her. Most of the response was genuine, actually accepting her as their principal.
Good. It was about time the place had someone in charge who actually wanted to do their job.
<><>
■
■
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Director_Renick_PRT_ENE
From: Atropos
Subject: Regarding Miss Medic
Hi. Imma need to borrow her (and Tenebrae, of course) this afternoon to close the deal with Sleeper. I'll be around about three-thirty-ish, with Panacea and Glory Girl.
■
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: TheRealPanacea
From: Atropos
Subject: Can I borrow you?
So hey, I need to go and deal with Sleeper this afternoon, just after three. Are you up for another collab with Miss Medic? You worked together pretty well last time. And yes, if Vicky wants to come along, she's welcome.
■
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Atropos
From: Director_Renick_PRT_ENE
Subject: Re: Regarding Miss Medic
I'll have them both in my office at that time.
Thanks for the heads-up, and thanks for dealing with Sleeper.
May I ask what he's going to choose?
■
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Atropos
From: TheRealPanacea
Subject: Re: Can I borrow you?
You already know I'm going to say yes. Vicky's shaking her head in the background, but I know she's going to want to come along anyway.
See you then.
■
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Director_Renick_PRT_ENE
From: Atropos
Subject: Re: Re: Regarding Miss Medic
That would be telling.
Thanks for this.
Toodles!
■
End of Part Ninety-One
Last edited:
- Location
- England
Well, if Sleeper was going to choose "Git murdered" then they (probably) wouldn't need a medic. So I guess he gets some combination of healed/de-powered/exiled.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
She wouldn't need the best two 'medics' on earth to kill him, now would she?
ThrawnCA
Carbon-based biped
- Location
- Australia
Atropos fulfilled every purpose of Bonesaw's kill order.
Removing a threat to society? Done.
Punishment for her crimes? Personality erasure is pretty severe, as punishments go.
Deterring others from offending? The public believes she got 9mm surgery followed by complete incineration, or something equally thorough, so yes.
The only difference between execution, and what she actually did, is the presence of Riley in the Laborn household and Miss Medic in the Wards. Which has been nothing but positive for everyone concerned.
Removing a threat to society? Done.
Punishment for her crimes? Personality erasure is pretty severe, as punishments go.
Deterring others from offending? The public believes she got 9mm surgery followed by complete incineration, or something equally thorough, so yes.
The only difference between execution, and what she actually did, is the presence of Riley in the Laborn household and Miss Medic in the Wards. Which has been nothing but positive for everyone concerned.