A Light In The Darkness (Worm/P:tH)

[Aeshdan]

EDIT: This section has been heavily reworked after I realized that having actual character sheets for our three Nobles was stupid, given that I'm not actually rolling dice for anything and this isn't a Gamer story. Game terminology has been left in where I couldn't think of a better way to explain certain powers and abilities.

Spoiler: Some translation notes:

• In Princess: The Hopeful, a starting Princess (with an Inner Light of one) has a maximum reserve of ten Wisps, and starts to become emotionally depleted when she drops below three. So if a power below mentions spending one Wisp to activate, read that as "These abilities can be used several times before our Nobles start running low, but not indefinitely." Abilities which cost multiple Wisps can be read as "These powers can't be used more than once or twice before our heroes start running dry", while abilities which don't cost a Wisp can be read as "These abilities can be used pretty much without limit." As the Hopeful grow more powerful and their Inner Light rises, their Wisp pools will get bigger and their staying power will scale up appropriately.
• A few of the powers below allow the Princess to bless "an ally" or "a target" in various ways. Unless specifically noted otherwise, the Princess can also use these powers to enhance herself.

Spoiler: Taylor Hebert Character Sheet

Taylor Hebert: Seeker of Hearts

Inner Light 1

Invocations: Terra 2, Acqua 1.

Transformed Attributes: Wits +1

Transformed Skills: Athletics +1, Crafts +1, Stealth +1

Holy Shield: This power allows the Princess to spend a Wisp to shield herself against an attack. Blows that would shatter bones or cut flesh only bruise, while weaker blows can be all but completely negated. This may manifest as a literal magical shield, supernatural toughness, or a serendipitous dodge that turns what would be a direct hit into a glancing blow.

Practical Magic: The Practical Magic of the Court of Hearts allows the Princess to spend a Wisp to bless an ally who is currently following her orders or instructions with enhanced skill and ability. The Princess cannot use this power to bless herself. This power can be used even when the Princess is not Transformed.

Data Wizard: This Charm adds a personal computing device to Taylor's Regalia, in her case manifesting as a holographic computer screen and keyboard, which she may make visible to others or not as she desires. It can magically interface with mundane cables, wireless networks, and any form of storage media.

Reflected Light: This charm allows Taylor to detect active supernatural phenomena within Inner Light x 10 yards of her. She knows how many sources are within her range, but not precisely where they are. This Charm will let her detect use of parahuman powers, but not the parahumans themselves unless their power is of the sort that is always active (Aegis's regeneration, Miss Militia's weapon, etc.)
- Shard-Attuned: This upgrade refines Taylor's Reflected Light sense for parahumans, allowing her to pick out individual powers. When a parahuman power is used within her range, she has a chance to divine what the power is. Taylor gains access to this upgrade from her bond with the Queen Administrator Shard.

Charge: This Charm allows Taylor to give Wisps to another. She and the target must be reasonably close by (close enough to speak, roughly).
- Accepted: This upgrade allows Taylor to take Wisps from another's pool, with their permission.

Javelot: The Javelot Charm adds a ranged attack to Taylor's Regalia. In her case, this takes the form of glowing, firefly-like constructs of energy which fly at the target and impact. Like all Regalia weapons, Taylor may switch freely between inflicting Bashing and Lethal damage with this attack.

Celestial Grace: This Charm allows Taylor to spend a Wisp to gain a brief surge of enhanced physical prowess, enhancing her reflexes, strength, and stamina and allowing her to pull off superhuman feats of athleticism.

Shape Earth: This Charm allows Taylor to spend a Wisp to shape rock and hard-packed earth with her bare hands, as if they had the consistency of Play-Doh. The stone or earth will retain its shape when she releases it and retain its hardness and durability to all other sources.

Eidetic Memory (Merit): Her mental connection to the Queen Administrator shard allows Taylor to review any memories, even those formed before the link, with eidetic clarity.

Spoiler: Emma Barnes Character Sheet

Emma Barnes, Grace of Swords

Inner Light 1

Invocations: Fuoco 2, Terra 1.

Transformed Attributes: Presence +1

Transformed Skills: Athletics +1, Brawl +1, Empathy +1.

Holy Shield: This power allows the Princess to spend a Wisp to shield herself against an attack. Blows that would shatter bones or cut flesh only bruise, while weaker blows can be all but completely negated. This may manifest as a literal magical shield, supernatural toughness, or a serendipitous dodge that turns what would be a direct hit into a glancing blow.

Practical Magic: The Practical Magic of the Court of Swords allows the Princess to spend a Wisp to break through any barrier that separates her from those she loves. This can be anything from smashing through a literal physical barrier to granting a few moment's lucidity despite a power that warps the beloved's emotions, and the love can be romantic, platonic or familial. This power can be used even when the Princess is not Transformed.

Kensai: The Kensai Charm adds a melee attack to Emma's Regalia. In her case, this takes the form of an aura of what looks like translucent red flames around her fists (or other unarmed attacks), which cause the blows she strikes to land with considerably enhanced force. Like all Regalia weapons, Emma may switch freely between inflicting Bashing and Lethal damage with this attack.

Celestial Grace: This Charm allows Emma to spend a Wisp to gain a brief surge of enhanced physical prowess, enhancing her reflexes, strength, and stamina and allowing her to pull off superhuman feats of athleticism.

Shadow Touch: This Charm allows Emma to spend a Wisp to project her Transformed self across multiple dimensions, allowing her to touch and be touched by incorporeal capes/objects. (Homemade)

We Rely On You: This Charm allows Emma to spend a Wisp to bless any ally in sight with improved skill, granting the recipient a brief burst of unnatural talent and knowledge. This Charm does not stack with other instances of itself, even from different sources.

Touch of Fortune: This Charm allows Emma to spend a Wisp to bless any ally in sight with good luck. For the next few moments, the target's actions and choices will be exceptionally serendipitous. This Charm does not stack with other instances of itself, even from different sources.

Sense Falsehood: This Charm grants Emma a supernatural sense for deception, which she must spend a Wisp to activate. If someone knowingly lies to her, whether by deliberate untruth, factual assertions made in knowing ignorance, or deliberate sophistry, she is aware of the deception. This Charm detects the intent to deceive, so it will not expose honest mistakes or protect Emma from accidentally misunderstanding what the other person is saying.

Fair Welcome: This Charm allows Emma to spend a Wisp to improve the impression she makes on anyone meeting her for the first time or experiencing their first substantial interaction with her (basically, any interaction where the phrase "First Impressions" applies), causing their impression of her to be notably better than it would otherwise be.

Trace the Threads: This Charm allows Emma to spend a Wisp to seek out people nearby who know the information she wishes to find and to intuit the best way to speak to them.

Spoiler: Greg Veder Character Sheet

Greg Veder: Champion of Swords

Inner Light 1

Invocations: Fuoco 3.

Transformed Attributes: Strength +1

Transformed Skills: Athletics +1, Firearms +1, Weaponry +1.

Holy Shield: This power allows the Prince to spend a Wisp to shield himself against an attack. Blows that would shatter bones or cut flesh only bruise, while weaker blows can be all but completely negated. This may manifest as a literal magical shield, supernatural toughness, or a serendipitous dodge that turns what would be a direct hit into a glancing blow.

Practical Magic: The Practical Magic of the Court of Swords allows the Prince to spend a Wisp to break through any barrier that separates him from those he loves. This can be anything from smashing through a literal physical barrier to granting a few moment's lucidity despite a power that warps the beloved's emotions, and the love can be romantic, platonic or familial. This power can be used even when the Prince is not Transformed.

Levinbolt: The Levinbolt Charm adds a ranged weapon of some sort to a Prince's Regalia. In Greg's case, this takes the form of a pair of sci-fi-esque pistols of golden metal which shoot bolts of light: blue when the pistols are set to deal Bashing damage and red when they switch to Lethal damage (like all Regalia weapons, the pistols may be toggled freely between the two.). The pistols have a stylized sword design on the sides, this likewise switches between blue and red depending on the pistols' damage mode.
- Damaging: This upgrade increases the Levinbolt pistols' stopping power.
- Flaming: When activated, this upgrade causes the Levinbolt pistols' energy bolts to become superheated. They deal increased damage and may set clothes, dry wood, or other flammables on fire. Activating this upgrade causes a stylized flame design to appear around the sword designs on the pistols and changes the color of the designs and energy bolts to golden-white.

Kensai: The Kensai Charm adds a melee weapon to a Prince's Regalia. In Greg's case, this takes the form of a Star Wars lightsaber with a golden-white blade. Like all Regalia weapons, Greg may switch freely between inflicting Bashing and Lethal damage with this weapon.
- Damaging: This upgrade increases the lightsaber's cutting power.

Barrier Jacket: This Charm makes Greg's transformed body more durable and harder to physically damage, as if he were made of iron.

Celestial Grace: This Charm allows Greg to spend a Wisp to gain a brief surge of enhanced physical prowess, enhancing his reflexes, strength, and stamina and allowing him to pull off superhuman feats of athleticism.
- Danmaku Dance: This upgrade gives Greg superhuman reflexes against gunfire and other ranged weapons, allowing him to literally dodge bullets.

Data Wizard: This Charm adds a personal computing device to Greg's Regalia, in his case a smartphone. It can magically interface with mundane cables, wireless networks, and phone networks.

Tomoyo's Touch (Merit): Many of a Princess's Charms have multiple modes or can otherwise be modified with a Transformation action, which usually requires a few moments of concentration. With this Merit, Greg can enable, disable, or alter the properties of his Charms just about instantly and without needing to focus on doing so. He still needs to focus for actual Transformation.

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EDIT 12/25/2020: After a lot of thought, I've decided that the Shard-Favored power really doesn't work for the the story arc I want, and have removed it from Taylor's character sheet. Still thinking about what to replace it with, so if you have any suggestions for logical powers for QA to grant Taylor please let me know.

 

[the DragonBard]

Character Sheets for our three protagonists as of (approximately) Interlude 1

Click to shrink...

Taylor Hebert: Seeker of Hearts

Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 3 (4), Resolve 3, Presence 1, Manipulation 2, Composure 3.

Click to shrink...

Eh, I'd say Int 3, as she's supposed to be intelligent prior to her depression and bullying.
Also, considering their age, and builds, Str 2 might be a little high, but eh. Not a biggie.

 

[Aeshdan]

AN: Merry Christmas to all!
AN2: After a lot of thought, I've decided that the Shard-Favored power really doesn't work for the the story arc I want, and have removed it from Taylor's character sheet. Still thinking about what to replace it with, so if you have any suggestions for logical powers for QA to grant Taylor please let me know.
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Greg Veder dashed forward through the darkened maze, trying to run and keep in a half-crouch at the same time. The pounding beat of the music spurred him on and drowned out rational thought, and the distinctive sound of lasgun fire echoed from the twists and turns of the maze. Ahead, he spotted moving patches of crimson light, and opened fire. His first two shots missed, but on the third his gun chimed and his opponent's crimson vest went dark. He ducked to the side, scampering into the mess of support pillars that held up the partial second story. He saw another crimson-vested figure moving further into the maze, fired, and managed to tag the opponent again, but then his own blue-glowing vest vibrated and went dark.

Dammit, he thought as he broke into a sprint, trying to find cover during the few seconds before his vest powered up again. Just as he ducked into a corner, his vest hummed on his shoulders as he powered up again.

"Yippe-kai-yay," Greg whispered with a grin. He took a moment to confirm that he had not accidentally touched off his Transformation and then dived back into the fray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma grinned as she and her friends filed out of the laser tag room.

"That was fun," she said. "Thank you for suggesting this, Greg."

"You're welcome," Greg replied with a smile.

"You girls want to go for another round?" she asked.

"Uh…" Madison chimed, pointing at Greg.

"Hey, five out of six of us are girls," Emma said. "You, me, Taylor, Julia, Lucy," she added, pointing at each in turn. "I figure that's good enough".

"Good point," Madison admitted. "And yeah, I'm up for another round."

"Me too," said Greg. "I want to see if I can make first place this time. Second's good, but I bet I can do better."

"I'm sure you can," Emma said. She shot Greg a smile, which only grew in response to his blush.

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"By the way, what do you think of Panacea?" Greg said. The sextet had retired from games for a bit to enjoy the arcade's food court.

Madison made an unintelligible noise through a mouthful of chicken.

"Who?" Emma replied. She didn't remember any capes by that name off the top of her head…

"Amy Dallon," Greg replied. "Brandish and Flashbang's younger kid. She just manifested powers a few weeks ago, and according to PHO she's some kind of healer. Last I heard, the PRT was putting her through some power testing to verify that her abilities don't let her mind-control you like Teacher or turn you into a monster or something, but if she passes the testing and has a power that can be used in the hospitals… that could be huge."

"About time something went right for the Bay," Taylor added, having just swallowed her bite of pizza. "Seriously, when was the last time something went right around here?"

"When New Wave took down Marquis, maybe?" Emma said. "I'm pretty sure that was the last time a villain group was actually taken off the scene and stayed off. When was that again?"

Greg reached into his pocket for his phone, but Emma covertly kicked his ankle under the table, and he started and put it back away.

"I don't know," Taylor said. "Maybe a decade ago?"

"Do you really think that qualified as a good thing?" Lucy chipped in. "I mean, yes Marquis was a criminal, but from what my parents say, when you paid him for protection you got it. That's more than the PRT does now. And he wasn't as bad as Lung, let alone the Merchants."

There was a moment's awkward pause.

"And that's exactly what I mean," Taylor said. "If the PRT had done their job and followed up on New Wave taking Marquis down, prevented other gangs from claiming the territory they left behind, then the Bay might not be so much of a mess today. But they didn't, and so now we have the situation we have today."

"I don't think we can say it was their fault, though," Emma contributed, thinking out loud. "The local PRT, I mean. For whatever reason, it's like the government just wrote us off fifteen years ago, and ever since the local PRT have been doing the best they can without support or resources."

She winced internally. And now we're going to have to try and make a difference with even fewer resources than the PRT have, with the gangs stronger than ever, and after all these years barely holding the line I doubt the PRT will have the nerve to take a risk. Not fun.

Think about that later.

"Hey, Emma," Madison said, startling Emma out of her momentary distraction. "Doesn't your dad know Carol Dallon? I mean, they work at the same firm, right?"

"Kind of," Emma said, thinking. "I mean, I'm pretty sure they know each other, but they've got different focuses. Dad's a divorce lawyer, where Carol's specialty is torts and malfeasance. Well, that and cape law, obviously. Anyway, it's not like we hang out with the Dallons or anything. Carol's just a work associate of Dad's."

The five of them (Emma, Greg, Taylor, and Emma and Taylor's dads) had actually discussed hiring Carol Dallon as a legal consultant for the Hopeful. If anyone would know how to navigate cape law as an independent, it would be Carol Dallon, and New Wave had at least tried to change Brockton Bay for the better. None of which she would mention in present company, of course.

"Why do you ask?" she said instead.

"Just wondering if you could get me Glory Girl's autograph," Madison said. She blushed slightly. "She's really cool."

"Oh yeah," Greg said. "She's like Alexandria, but… uh…" he blushed. "I mean, Alexandria's cool, but she's so dark and stoical that it comes across more as menacing than inspiring. Like, she's the kind of hero you're glad is there, but not necessarily the kind you want to actually know, you know what I mean? But Glory Girl, she's an Alexandria package, and a pretty strong one according to PHO, but she's young and peppy and white and gold and inspiring…" he cut off abruptly, blushing again, and ducked his eyes.

Is he worried about offending me? Emma thought with a mental eyeroll. Eh, don't suppose I can blame him. It's not like he knows me that well yet.

"She's the kind of hero that makes you want to follow her, rather than the kind that makes you want to avoid her hunting you, is that what you're trying to say?" she asked. Greg nodded, looking relieved.

"Well, she certainly is photogenic," Emma said. "I doubt she's actually had model training, but she's got some of the same skills. And the right looks and personality for it. Which is doubly important… no, make that triply important, since she's an independent and an open cape."

"Hopefully, having two new capes trigger will lead to New Wave pushing harder against the gangs again," Taylor said. "Like I said, I think the Bay is way overdue for something to go right."

"You can say that again," Lucy added.

There was a moment's pause. "So, who wants to drive the go-carts with me after we finish dinner?" Madison asked.

"I think that sounds like a lot of fun," Taylor said.

Greg swallowed. "Me!" he said, raising a hand.

Emma smiled. "I'm in," she said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taylor stood in front of her father's workbench, staring down at her red-gloved hands. In one hand she held an empty can from dinner. She stared at the can, imagining it collapsing, shrinking down into a solid ingot.

Come on… she thought, probing at the weight of Light inside her, feeling it flow down her arm and pool in her hand. She pictured light limning the can, crushing it into a lump.

BANG!

There was a flash of reddish-orange light and a sound like a firecracker going off, and the can flew out of her hand and across the basement, bouncing off the wall with a clang and clattering to the floor.

Taylor jumped backwards in shock, but the can just lay there on the floor, bent and twisted as if it had been hit with a bullet.

There was a creak as the basement door opened. "Taylor?" her dad called down. "Everything ok?"

"Fine, dad," she called back. "Just had a bit of a power misfire, but nothing's damaged."

Except the can, of course, but that was destined for recycling anyway. That's why she was experimenting with it in the first place.

With a sigh, she stepped across the room and picked up the can again.

Ok, let's try that again. I want to recycle the can, not blast it. Blowing holes in the ships won't exactly clear up the Boat Graveyard.

In the back of her mind, she felt QA's icy touch. The Shard was very interested in watching her experiment with her powers, but unfortunately it couldn't tell her exactly how to make them work either.

Just like learning to ride a bike, she thought, pushing Light down her arm and into her hand again.

Something clicked behind her eyes, and she felt Light infuse her hand as it began to glow a soft pink. She squeezed down on the can, willing it to collapse into a lump. There was an odd feeling of resistance, a sense not of trying to force her Light into a new shape but of trying to bend something that resisted bending.

Wrong material, maybe? she thought. She put down the can and tried a glass bottle, then the cement floor. Neither responded, but with each she increasingly felt that she was drawing close, that shaping those substances was just beyond her grasp.

Taylor sighed. With a thought, she willed the energy back into herself, the light fading from around her hand. Then she pushed it into one hand, then the other, each lighting up in turn, then she dismissed it again.

Well, I figured something out, she thought. Have the feeling that's all I'm going to get for the night, though. Better de-transform and hang out with Dad a bit, then later I can see if I can infuse and de-infuse my hands again. Getting that down should at least be a step towards what I want.

She closed her eyes for a moment and felt the Light fade, retreating to a glow deep within her. When she opened her eyes, she was once again her normal self and clad in normal clothes.

I really do need to start a proper exercise regimen, she thought, glancing down at her slight potbelly. Maybe I can talk to Dad about that. We both need to get used to talking to each other again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greg lay in bed, scrolling through PHO on his cellphone. His mundane cellphone – he definitely didn't want to access his civilian account with his Regalia phone.

His stomach twisted as he spotted thread after thread about cape battles and gang raids. Each of them seemed like a personal failure. Each was pain and suffering that he hadn't even tried to stop, criminals and villains that he hadn't even tried to arrest.

"I am only one man," he whispered out loud. "Even Legend, even Alexandria… hell, even Scion can't be everywhere at once, can't stop crime before it's been started. And I won't save anyone if I go off half-cocked and get myself killed. If I'm to do this, I have to do it right."

The mantra didn't make the guilt go away, but it did repurpose it, turn it from a scourge at his failures to a spur driving him onwards, pushing him to train, to strengthen himself, to reach the state where he could start to do something to strike a blow against the gangs.

It hasn't even been quite a week since we brought Mr. Hebert in on this, he thought. Don't be impatient. And don't forget the good things. You had fun today, spent time with your friends, made some little progress towards becoming a better person. This was a good day.

He felt the Light inside him burn brighter with that thought. His joy and contentment, the flashes of friendship he'd felt on nights like tonight, even his nascent crush on Emma, these were the fuel that his heart's fire burnt.

Maybe I ought to get off PHO, he thought, refocusing on the phone he still held. Seeing things that make me angry when I can't actually do anything with that anger isn't particularly comfortable, and it probably isn't good for my mental stability either. And none of my distraction threads have updated recently.

He tabbed back to the main page, then paused.

Oh, interesting! The Protectorate are announcing a new Ward. Well, that's good. More heroes on the street is always good. Let's see who it is…

"Oh my god," he whispered out loud, as he stared at the thread.

He quickly flipped to his chat app, selecting Taylor's and Emma's phone numbers. They'd both want to hear about this.

 

[the DragonBard]

Any bets it's Shadowstalker?

 

[dperson3569]

Thanks for the update. Doing it on Christmas was a great idea. I hope to see your story in 2021.

 

[Aeshdan]

AN: Dear God did this chapter not want to be written. Still, I have it down now, and I'm hoping the next few should be easier.
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'"Ladies and gentlemen of Brockton Bay," Armsmaster said. "I am pleased to announce that the independent parahuman hero Shadow Stalker has elected to join the Wards East-North-East." Though slightly warped by the poor audio on Emma's phone, his tone came across as crisp and matter-of-fact. He didn't have the presence or articulation of a really good public speaker, but he wasn't as wooden as Emma would have expected from his reputation either.

There was a fanfare, and Shadow Stalker came out onto the stage. Her former costume had been upgraded: the modified hockey mask replaced with a black mask showing a frowning woman's face, metal kneepads and gauntlets added, the bodysuit and cloak now custom tailoring of the finest materials. The overall impression was striking. Sophia looked like a "Shadow Stalker" now, like an assassin, a predator, rather than a teen wearing a cobbled-together costume. The PRT's image department knew their craft.

"The Parahuman Response Team and Protectorate wish to congratulate Shadow Stalker on her decision," Armsmaster continued. "We expect that Shadow Stalker will prove a valuable and valued addition to the Wards East-North-East, and we hope that our training, resources, and oversight will enable her to become a more effective hero. Thank you, and I will now be taking questions from the audience.

The video shifted to show a middle-aged white man in a collared shirt. "Stephen Cooper, Brocton Bay Herald," he said. "How do you respond to the reports of excessive violence by Shadow Stalker in the past? Does her being permitted into the Wards mean that the Protectorate endorses this behavior?"

The video shifted back to Armsmaster. "No evidence has been presented that Shadow Stalker has employed a level of force beyond what is permissible by a heroic parahuman acting in defense of self or others," he said in that same matter-of-fact tone. "That being said, one of the functions of the Wards program is to teach young parahumans restraint in the use of their powers. Under Protectorate supervision, Shadow Stalker will be taught how to engage threats effectively without disproportionate use of force."

The video shifted again to show a rather pretty-looking Asian woman. "Susie Wen, Brockton Network News," she said. "Shadow Stalker, I have two questions for you. First, can you tell us why you chose to join the Wards at this time, after spending over a year as an independent hero?"

Emma felt herself tense up. That was the same question she'd been asking herself. Why would Shadow Stalker, the girl who had looked down on the "prey", voluntarily join the Wards, submit herself to PRT oversight and Youth Guard meddling?

Shadow Stalker stepped… no, stalked… up to the microphone. "I had an…encounter…. recently," she said. "I got reminded that there's a lot bigger fish out there than I am, and I realized that if I was going to survive, I needed backup, someone in my corner when I pi… uh… when I angered someone who was actually ready to hit me where it hurts."

She laughed, a sound that seemed oddly out-of-place coming from behind the unmoving scowl of her mask. "I can't say that I'm altogether happy with being a Ward, having to toe the line and dot all my t's, but it's worth it to know that I've got the PRT and Protectorate backing me up if someone comes after me."

Emma hit the button to stop the video and stared at that frozen image of the newly-madeover Shadow Stalker.

She keyed up a reply to the email.

Message received, she sent. Need to discuss implications… sleep on it? She pressed Send, then bit her lip.

God, I hope Taylor is still up, she thought. As the Queen of Storms had warned, entering the dream-realm to converse with Gabriel and the other Hopeful left one feeling tired the next day. For that reason, the Hopeful had been limiting their use of the dreamworld, and they hadn't been planning on meeting there this night. If Taylor had already gone to bed, she wouldn't get the message until sometime the next morning. Which admittedly wouldn't be the end of the world, but for something sensitive like this the chance to talk and coordinate in the dreamworld, with no way for a hypothetical observer to spot or eavesdrop on their meeting, was priceless.

A sudden chime made Emma jump. Greg had just replied to her reply with a simple Agreed. Emma nodded, then paused for a moment and chuckled at how pointless it was to nod when the people she was talking to were in entirely different houses.

She tabbed back to the PHO thread and started the video up again.

"Thank you, Shadow Stalker," Susie Wen said. "For my second question, there's been a lot of debate about your exact powerset. Would you be willing to clarify exactly what it is you can do?"

Shadow Stalker sighed. "It's pretty much what PHO has already figured out," she said. She sounded… bored? Angry? No, exasperated, frustrated that she had to stand up in front of people she didn't respect and answer their questions.

"I can go into a shadow state," she continued, "within which I can phase through solid objects and weigh a lot less. I can't actually fly or anything while I'm in the shadow state, but since I weigh so much less I drift when I'm jumping down and can jump really high. And I can take sh… stuff with me when I go shadow, my clothes and gear and the like. That's pretty much it."

It wasn't, of course. Or at least Emma suspected it wasn't. Shadow Stalker wasn't such a fool as to blab any weaknesses she might have had, and it wouldn't surprise Emma a bit if Sophia's power had applications that she hadn't mentioned. As Taylor had pointed out in their discussions, cape battles were won and lost by knowledge at least as much as by skill or raw power. If you knew what your opponent could do, and they didn't know what you could do, you had the advantage.

There was another chime, and Emma paused the video again and tabbed back to her email program. Like Greg, Taylor had sent a simple Agreed. None of them would say more by email.

Oh, thank God, Emma thought, feeling a sudden surge of relief.

"Probably time for bed anyway," she said to nobody in particular as she pushed her chair back.

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Lights out and tucked into bed, Taylor closed her eyes and focused, breathing steadily in and out. After a few moments, she felt the line of warmth around her wrist, where the Queen of Swords had linked the three Hopeful to Gabriel. She pushed a bit of her Light into that bond, and felt it flare to life. The inside of her eyes seemed to fill with red-gold flames, and then she found herself standing in the doorway of Gabriel's dreamworld pocket-study.

Greg and Emma were already there, seated on two of the beanbag chairs.

"Hello Taylor," Emma said as Taylor walked into the room.

"Hello, Emma," Taylor replied, taking a seat of her own. "Ok, we've all seen the video, right?"

Greg and Emma nodded.

"I feel like the first question we have to ask," Emma said before Taylor could continue with what she was saying, "is whether we think Sophia is genuinely trying to reform herself. I'd like to believe that she took what you said, Taylor, to heart, and is trying to improve herself by working with others."

"To give her her due," Emma continued contemplatively, "she has been fighting criminals, not mugging people or preying on civilians. I think I forgot that a bit, given how she was introduced to us. And the Protectorate might have its flaws, but they are still probably the best option for Sophia if she wants to make more of a difference or grow past that obsession with predators and prey."

Taylor paused, her mind flashing back to her meeting with Sophia that first day back. "Possible," she said. "Probable, even. But even if we hope for the best, we have to plan for the worst. So… let's think. I don't see how Sophia could know about me or Greg, even without the glamour, so our identities are probably safe. But what about you, Emma? Even if Sophia is trying to make herself a better person, she might decide that the right thing to do is to out you to the PRT and get you in the Wards and 'making a difference' as well."

"Gabriel, you're the expert," she added. "If Sophia tried to out Emma to the Protectorate, would the glamour interfere? Make it less likely for them to take her seriously?"

"Most likely," Gabriel replied. "The glamour doesn't stop absolutely ironclad proof, though, and very strong evidence can sometimes break through. If this Sophia did indeed report your true identity to the Protectorate, especially if she provided full details on how she knew, there is at least a chance that those she spoke to would believe her. A much lower chance than there would be without the glamour, but still a chance."

"And," Emma said, "as Taylor said, we've got to plan for the worst. So assuming that Sophia successfully outed me to the PRT, what does that mean for us?"

"Well…" Greg said slowly, "for one thing, Taylor and I may need to be even more careful about not drawing obvious connections between the three of us. Both of us are a lot more vulnerable to the PRT than you are, Emma."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked.

"Well," Greg said, "my parents don't know about me, and if the PRT were to find out and come to them I'm sure they would sign me over to the Wards in a heartbeat. And Taylor, uh…" Greg blushed slightly but kept talking, "your dad is a single parent now, and from what you said money is a bit tight and your dad hasn't been handling your mom's death well. It probably wouldn't be that hard for the Youth Guard to get CPS to take you away from your dad and punt you into the foster care system for the Wards to nab. But Emma's got two parents, her dad's well off, and there are no signs of marital or parental trouble. Short of a straight-up frame, which would be a little much even for the Youth Guard, there's no way they can take you away from him."

There was a moment's pause. Wow, that's cynical, Taylor thought. Can't say he's wrong to think along those lines, though, much as I'd like to.

"The bigger issue," Taylor said out loud, "is what might happen if one of the gangs gets their hands on Emma's identity. We all know what happened to Fleur from New Wave, and I'm sure that Kaiser or Lung would do the same to Emma if he thought he could get away with it. Or worse, Skidmark. He wouldn't even worry about getting caught, most likely. And we have to assume that the gangs will have slipped moles into the PRT."

"That sort of threat the glamour should provide better protection against," Gabriel said. "Every remove the information must pass through amplifies the effects of the glamour exponentially. Sophia saw you transform directly, so the glamour provides little protection. Those she speaks to in person might be able to pierce the glamour, but it will be difficult for them. And those who merely see a report about you will find it even harder to believe, almost impossible."

"So Sophia herself is the biggest threat," Taylor said.

"Looks like," Emma agreed. "Which reminds me. Remember how I told you about my first meeting with Sophia? How I was able to grab her, even with her phasing powers?"

"Yes," Taylor replied.

"I didn't realize it at the time," Emma said, "but looking back I'm fairly sure there was a specific Charm I used to do that. I remember activating it, now that I know what to look for. I can't be completely sure, but I doubt either of you will be able to touch her while she's in shadow form, not unless you learnt a similar Charm."

"That would depend on the exact mechanism that this 'Shadow Stalker' uses," Gabriel added. "I can't be certain, but… she passes through solid objects, correct? Walls and the like, without any holes that a mist or particle could slip through?"

"I… think so," Greg said. "I haven't actually seen her do it, not even on video, but the PHO wiki says that she can."

"That would imply that her powers work on somewhat similar principles to magic that shifts you into Twilight," Gabriel said. "If that is the case, then Emma is right and you won't be able to touch her in her insubstantial state without specific Charms."

"The point being," Emma said, "I have a Charm to counter her, and she knows it, so she is going to have to be careful around me. And for that matter, she doesn't know how the Charm works, so she won't know the limits of what I can do against her. Whereas against you two, she is much more dangerous. So another reason to try and keep her from connecting you two to my two fellow Hopeful once we make our debut."

"Which we will want to do anyway," Taylor said with a sigh. "I don't think this is getting us anywhere. Until we find out more, is there anything else we can do?"

"Emma, maybe you could try and reach out to Sophia?" Greg said. "See if you can set up a private meeting with her to find out what she's up to?"

"Yeah, I probably should reach out to her," Emma said after a moment's thought, sounding reluctant. "I hate to admit it, but I think I owe her an apology for the way I treated her in the alley, and afterwards. I still think I needed to call her out on what she was doing wrong, but I should have also praised her for what she was doing right, and suggested what she could be doing better. I'll have to think a bit on exactly how to set up a meeting with her without giving myself away to anyone else, though."

"Well," Taylor said after a moment's pause. "As long as we're here, I had a question for you, Gabriel. I've been working on a new Charm, trying for something that would help me break down the ships in the Boat Graveyard, and tonight it felt like I got something working…."

 

[Axiomatic]

Hell yeah, rereading time.

 

[Firestorm_100]

Glad to see this story is back. Nice reasoning by the group without them being way off base or completely certain or correct in the outcome. Hopefully we will see their debut soon.

 

[Kaernetron]

Interesting. Not sure how I missed this story until now.

 

[Aeshdan]

AN: So yeah, between moving to a new town and starting a new job this one's been on hiatus for quite a while. The good news is that I have a big chunk of the next chapter written, so hopefully that one will come faster.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor glanced around the table, feeling a strong sense of deja vu. She'd been to dozens, maybe hundreds of lunches like this one before. After, the Barnes had invited the Heberts over a few times, but those had only made the pain worse. But now, for the first time in months, there was something like the old joy.

I've missed this so much, she thought. It's still not the same, though. It'll never be the same, not this side of heaven. Until then, all I have is memories.

On cue, she felt the icy touch of Queen Administrator against her mind, and memory after memory of lunches and dinners with the full Barnes and Hebert families present flashed across the inside of her eyelids. It was a peculiar experience. QA's touch made the recollections far more vivid than any normal memory, so clear that it was more like watching a movie. Or in this case, a slideshow, QA stringing together snapshots from half a hundred different Sundays.

As the string of memories blurred across her mind, Taylor felt a stab of sharp-edged sorrow. Her mother's death still hurt, indeed since she had Blossomed it in some ways hurt worse. But the pain was, for lack of a better word, cleaner now. She wasn't sure how much of that was simply natural recovery, how much was holding the Light within her, and how much was her father being present for her once again, instead of lost in the fog of his own depression, but the choking despair and loneliness that had plagued her during those first terrible months were gone.

"Taylor?"

She started slightly at Emma's voice, realizing that she had completely zoned out while watching her recalled memories. She felt QA's touch against her mind again, offering to replay the portion of the conversation she'd missed, but she pushed it away.

"Sorry," she said out loud. "I was just… remembering Mom." There was a momentary pause around the table.

"I know I've said it before," Taylor said into that silence, "but thank you so much for being there for me and Dad, this past year. I…," she heard her voice catch, "I don't even want to think about where I'd be without you propping me up."

"You're welcome," Emma said. "I'm sure you and Mr. Hebert would do the same for me, though I hope to God you never have to prove that."

The corner of Taylor's mouth twitched at that. "Oh, I hope the same," she said. "Now, you were saying?"

"We were just talking about Winslow," Emma said. "Anne seems to have gotten through there alive and relatively sane, so I wanted to know if she had any survival tips to share. We've only got one more week before we start, we're running out of time to prepare!"

"It's not as bad as the stories say," Anne said with a twisted grin. "I'm not saying I'm not really glad to be out of that place and off to college, but it's not like there's open warfare in class or drug deals in the halls… actually, there probably are drug deals in the halls, but they at least make a token effort to keep it undercover. It's still a school, not an outpost of Hell."

"That's a relief," Taylor said with a smile, a vague memory of cleansing an actual outpost of Hell tickling the back of her mind. Unfortunately, the eidetic memory QA granted only seemed to work for her memories in her current life. While it would have been a priceless boon to have full access to her recollections of her past lives, those memories were as vague and fragmented as they apparently were for most Nobles.

"The actual problem," Anne said, "is just that most of the teachers and staff are pretty shitty. Mrs. Amokahenee, for instance, was drunk enough to notice at least one day in every five. Hard to learn English when your teacher can't speak straight".

"And then there's 'Mister G'", she continued, making air quotes with her hands. "I'm not sure if he actually thinks he's still in high school himself or if he just wants to pretend, but either way he cares a lot more about being 'the cool teacher' than actually teaching. And so on."

"Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy," Taylor commented. "Winslow is the 'bad school', so the only teachers who get sent there are the ones who are too lazy, incompetent, or troublesome to get a position at any other school. And - surprise, surprise - staffing a school pretty much entirely with bad teachers means that the students tend to run wild and not learn much, especially when the smartest and best-off students get skimmed off to send to Arcadia. Which in turn means that Winslow stays the 'bad school'."

"Sounds about right," Anne said with a nod. "There are one or two exceptions, but bottom line, if you want to learn anything at Winslow, you'll pretty much have to put in all the work yourself. The teachers are going to be no help at all."

"Hmm…" Emma said, "We'll want to keep an eye on Greg, then. From some of the stuff he's said, I get the impression he's not the best on the whole self-motivation thing. At least not when it comes to schoolwork, he's actually been commendably diligent about getting in shape and otherwise prepped for superheroing."

"My God, I almost forgot about that!" Anne said with a grin. "It's so surreal… my baby sister is a freaking superhero!"

Emma rolled her eyes. "I'm not a baby anymore, Anne," she said, with the tired tone of someone who'd said what she was saying many times before and knew she'd say it many times more.

"Yeah, yeah," Anne said. "Hey, after we're done eating, can I see you two do some cape stuff?"

Taylor swallowed a mouthful of soup and smiled, feeling the solid warmth of the Light inside her. "I think I've got the perfect thing," she said. "Could you pass the butter?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ok, now watch this."

Taylor's crimson-gloved hand glowed with a soft pinkish light as she scooped up the rock from off the table. She squeezed it between two fingertips and the stone deformed like Play-Doh, bulging out around her fingers into an irregular donut shape. She dropped the deformed rock back onto the table with a clatter, then scooped up half a dozen more, smooth stones of various colors taken from the French drain in Emma's front yard.

Emma felt herself grin at the expression on her elder sister's face. It was easy to forget how literally awesome superpowers could be until moments like this came round.

Shame Greg isn't here for this, she thought. While Anne had met the third member of the Hopeful in civilian guise, she had yet to see him in costume. And with Anne heading back to college in a few days, there wouldn't be another opportunity like this one for months.

Though on second thought, I can't deny that this lunch wouldn't be the same with Greg present, she admitted to herself. Greg's nice, but the Heberts are basically family. Hell, Taylor's more my sister than my actual sister is. Gonna be a long time before Greg and I get that close, if we ever do. And even then it won't be the same kind of close.

Taylor rolled the mass of stones around in her hand like she was shaping a doughball, and Emma caught glimpses of color through her rose-limned fingers. After a few moments Taylor opened her hands, revealing a single fist-sized lump of rock. The stone was surprisingly smooth and had an oddly blotchy coloration, with patches of white, black, rose pink, slate blue, and other colors across its surface, swirling together at the edges in beautiful feathery patterns.

Taylor set the rock on the table with a thump, and for a moment everyone just stared at it. Then Anne leaned across the table, and poked the rock with a hesitant finger. Though Taylor had shaped the rock like clay, it would be as hard as ever to anyone else, and the joins between the different patches were seamless.

"Holy shit," Emma's sister breathed. "That is seriously cool."

"I know," Taylor said with a grin, the pinkish glow fading from around her gloved fingers. "Right now I can only do it with earth and natural stone, but according to Gabriel I should eventually be able to shape concrete, asphalt, even glass and metal with enough practice. And from there, maybe I can scale it up enough to do something meaningful towards clearing the Boat Graveyard." Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Taylor's father twitch slightly, as if poked. "Still trying to work out the logistics of that," Taylor continued. "It's going to depend on so many variables… Never mind, topic for another day."

"And… who's Gabriel again?" Anne asked.

"He's basically our spirit advisor," Taylor said. "He was alive when powers like Emma's and mine were commonplace, and he studied how they worked. So the Queens linked his soul to ours, so we can visit him in our dreams and get the benefit of his wisdom."

"Your powers are weird," Anne said with a slight nod. "I mean, I know all powers are weird, but your powers are like super-extra-weird."

"Yup," Taylor said, popping the ending syllable. "Oh, and there's something else cool I can do. I think. I haven't actually tried this one outside the dreamworld yet. Don't worry, I'm completely certain I won't blow anything up."

She cupped her hands together, then raised them to her mouth and blew into them. When she opened her hands, a glowing white butterfly fluttered out from between them. It flapped through the air towards Emma.

Emma stared for a moment, then carefully raised her hand. She wasn't sure exactly what Taylor was doing, but it wouldn't hurt her. She could almost feel Taylor's love for her radiating off the butterfly like warmth from a fire.

The butterfly landed on Emma's upraised palm, dissolving into a shower of white sparkles, and…

It was as if someone had somehow drawn out Emma and Taylor's love for one another, distilled it down to its purest essence, and then injected that love directly into Emma's veins. The sheer joy and love for her sister in all but blood that had infused every sleepover, every birthday party, everything the two of them had done together, flooded her, so strong it almost hurt…

Then the surge of love was gone, almost as fast as it had come, and Emma could feel her Light burning brighter in its wake.

"So," Taylor said with a grin. "Was it good for you?"

Emma burst out laughing, less because the joke was especially funny and more because she felt like laughing.

"So… what the heck just happened?" Anne asked, a weird look on her face.

"This is one of those super-extra-weird things you were just talking about," Taylor said, still grinning. "See, we - Emma, Greg, and me - have a limited reserve of Light we use to fuel our powers. Some of our powers don't use much Light and we can use them pretty much as much as we want, but others we can only use a few times without replenishing our reserves. That'll change as we get stronger, we'll get deeper energy reserves, but for now we have to be really careful with the use of our stronger powers."

"Anyway, what I just did was take a bit of my Light and transfer it to Emma to help replenish her reserves. Theoretically I should also be able to do it the other way round with more practice, accept Light from Emma and Greg's reserves to replenish my own. And with both those tricks, we can juggle all our Light reserves, top off anyone who's running low or put extra reserves behind major workings. I can think of all kinds of ways that's going to come in handy."

She suddenly sat up straighter in her chair, her eyes going out of focus as the gem set into her forehead began to glow.

"Hang on," she said distractedly, "I've got an incoming call. From Void Cowboy, apparently."

"Hello, Ladybug speaking," she added to empty air.

There was a few moments' pause.

"You what?" Taylor blurted out

 

[Axiomatic]

Aw hell yes, I was just thinking about Princess the Hopeful yesterday and now this story pops up again? Ah, fate is generous sometimes!

 

[Aeshdan]

One problem I've discovered with writing a story that splits off at the alley scene? There's that year and a half between the alley and the locker, and so I have to keep reminding myself what has and hasn't happened yet. For example, I was really looking forward to showing Tattletale interacting with the Hopeful, had hopes of doing something pretty novel with that interaction... but then I remembered that according to the canon timeline Tattletale isn't going to arrive in the Bay for the better part of a year. Very annoying.

Of course, I can tweak things here and there, and have my heroes do other things that eat up the time, but I'm trying to keep the tweaking to a minimum and there are limits to how much time I can justify keeping Nobles out of action.

Though on the flip side, I may have a chance to nudge some people into developing into someone very different from their canon characterization if I place my heroes correctly. That could be fun...

 

[Aeshdan]

AN: Happy May Day to you all! I managed to get the next chapter of this finished up and released, in honor of the occasion. Unfortunately, I don't have any of Chapter 2.5 written yet, so it'll probably be longer before that one comes out. Hopefully not as long as I went between 2.2 and 2.3 though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the back of the comic store, hidden behind the shelves, Greg browsed the store's selection of manga. Most of it was Aleph imports, after what Leviathan had done to Japan the art form hadn't taken off the same way on Bet.

Weird how these feel different now, he thought, running his fingers across the spines of some mahou shojo collections. Used to be these were just fantasy, but now… now I am a real live actual-factual magical girl.

Or, well, magical boy. Hmm… imagine if my powers turned me into a girl when I transformed, like on this story here. Or the way this story does it, where getting my powers turned me into a girl even in my mortal form. Now that would be weird, especially if the glamour made everyone think I had always been a girl.

Heh, that would be fun. At least at first, on second thought I imagine it would get old pretty fast. Especially since I'm pretty sure Emma isn't a lesbian, so I could pretty much kiss any chance of getting to kiss her goodbye.

"All right, pal. Hands in the air! And don't try any funny business!"

The slurred words jolted Greg out of his reverie like a cattle prod to the arm. He froze for half a moment, then carefully and quietly padded to the edge of the row of shelves and peeked around the corner.

There were two figures visible in the momentary glimpse Greg got, besides the clerk behind the counter. They were clad in long-sleeved shirts, black ski masks, jeans, and gloves, such that Greg couldn't see anything of their features or skin tone. One was taller and burly, like a football player, and he was holding what looked like a baseball bat. The other was shorter and weedier, but was holding a gun in shivering fingers.

Oh, shit, Greg thought, ducking his head back and quickly glancing up and down the aisle. He couldn't see any cameras, and for the moment there was nobody watching him. Well, looks like it's time to keep those Oaths I swore. Ready or not, here I go!

He pressed his fingers to the star pinned to his shirt. "Yippie-kai-yay," he whispered, and golden fire blazed around him as the Light blossomed in his chest. And then the fire faded again, leaving him clad in the night-sky leather and other Regalia of Void Cowboy.

Greg stepped out from behind the shelving, drawing his golden pistols in a single smooth motion and leveling them at the robber with the gun. He felt a grin break out on his face. For all that his rational mind was gibbering in terror, something deep within him thrilled at finally stepping up and taking a stand. This was what he was Called to be, what he'd always dreamed of being: the sheriff, the man who stood up to lawbreakers and brought justice to the wild frontier.

"All right, ya yellow-bellied sons of sidewinders!" Greg drawled in his best fake cowboy accent. "Reach fer the sky!"

"Fuck, Cape!" one of the robbers blurted out. The one with the gun spun, and with a pew-pew Greg fired his flashpistols, catching the robber in the chest with a double bolt of vivid blue energy and knocking him backwards into the counter. The gun went off with a bang, and there was a crash as one of the store windows shattered.

Greg ducked back behind the end of the shelves just as a third criminal, this one also holding a gun, poked his head out from behind the other end of the shelving and fired twice. Out of the corner of his eye, Greg saw the holes appear in the sheetrock wall where the bullets had struck.

Greg poked his head back around the corner of the shelving and fired again, catching the first gunman in the face just as he was getting to his feet. The gunman let out a howl as Greg's energy bolt smashed in his nose, and he stumbled back and tripped over the counter again. At the same moment, Greg twitched his head to the side on instinct just as there was another bang and he heard something whistle past his ear.

Greg quickly glanced around, realizing that he'd lost track of the third robber, but couldn't see him anywhere. He peeked back around the corner of the shelving. There was a double bang and a golden flash as something struck him in the face. He let out an involuntary yelp and ducked back behind the shelving, his hand coming up to feel the side of his head.

He shot me he shot me oh hell I've been… Huh?

He couldn't feel any blood, just a tender patch on the side of the jaw, no worse than when he'd been punched in the face by one of the schoolyard bullies. He suddenly remembered that flash of golden light.

Oh right, he thought, Gabriel mentioned that, that one of my powers is a shield against attacks.

AWESOME!

There was the crack of another gunshot, but no flash or impact this time. Greg glanced around, but he couldn't figure out what the robber had been shooting at.

"Let's go!" he heard someone hiss from the other side of the shop. "Cops'll be here any minute!"

Oh no you don't, Greg thought, feeling the Light like a roaring flame within him. He stepped out from behind the pile of shelving, guns coming up. He was met by an explosion of gunfire, and his Light flashed into a golden shield around him, blunting the impacts of the bullets into nothing worse than soft punches. Greg staggered, but his counterfire hammered the already-battered gunman in the face, knocking him backwards into a sprawling pile of limbs. The other gunman turned and bolted for the street, and Greg ran down the aisle to try and get a clear shot. Before he reached the end he saw the third robber, the big one who had formerly had the baseball bat, dash past the end of the aisle too quickly for Greg to risk a shot.

As Greg rounded the corner of the aisle, he saw the third robber almost out the door, the second nowhere to be seen. He fired with both flashpistols, one missing but the other nailing the robber in the back of the head, causing him to trip and land flat on his face. Hearing a groan, Greg spun around and glanced down to see the one with the gun stirring, reaching for the gun that had fallen next to him. Greg quickly kicked the gun away, then hopped over him to where he could see both criminals, almost tripping over the baseball bat the one robber had dropped.

"All right, ya varmints," he drawled, remembering to keep up the fake-cowboy accent. He had no idea how long he'd be able to keep that little affectation going, but it was certainly fun. "I've got you covered, so no funny business. Now what don't you just move right over there," he added, gesturing with the gun, "and sit there nice and quiet-like till the paddywagon gets here."

"Sorry about the mess, sir," he added to the clerk, who was peeking up from behind the desk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"...The police showed up a few minutes later," Greg's voice continued out of empty air. "I gave them my statement as Void, then left and found a safe spot to call you, since I saw that Ladybug was Transformed."

Emma shook her head and let out a quiet breath. What a story! she thought.

"Before anything else," Emma said, "Congratulations, Void. You did good work today."

"Thank you," Greg replied. "I don't think these were particularly competent robbers, though."

"Even so, it was still good work," Emma said.

"Agreed," said Taylor.

There was a moment's pause, then Greg's voice sounded again. "I don't know how long I've got before someone finds me in here, so unless one of you has something to say right now I think I should cut the line and get back home, and then you can call me back later, once we've all had more time to think about it. In the meantime, I'm sure there's going to be a PHO thread or three about this. I can troll a couple of those as V- as the Jester Of PHO, see what conclusions they come to and try to muddy the waters a bit."

"Ooh," he continued, voice suddenly perking up, "I just thought of something else. I can send you the login credentials for my civilian account, then go ahead and create my cape account. Then later tonight I can log on as my cape self, while you pretend to be my civilian self. That way we'll have my two identities visibly active in two different places at the same time."

"Both very good ideas," Emma said. "Anyone have something to say off the cuff?"

"Void," Taylor said, "When you were giving your statement to the police, did you mention you were part of a team? Or did you just give them your own name?"

"Umm…" Void said from the other end of the call. "I think I just gave them my own name? Not completely sure."

Taylor nodded. "Ok," she said. "Then most likely nobody will know about the rest of us just yet. Not… sure if that's something we should care about. We'll have to think about that."

"Any other questions?" Taylor asked. She glanced around the room, then nodded and said "Ok, looks like that's it for now. Thanks for calling this in, Void."

"Goodbye," Greg's voice said, and the gem in Taylor's forehead winked out.

Taylor let out a long sigh, her Ladybug regalia dissolving in a shower of pinkish-white sparkles and revealing her mortal frame and clothes beneath. "Well," she said, "sounds like the Hopeful just made their debut. Or Void Cowboy did, at least."

Emma glanced over at her mother and sister. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next…

"Did Greg say those guys shot at him?" Anne blurted out, eyes wide.

Called it, Emma thought.

"Yes, he did" Taylor said, eyes closed. "Fortunately, all of us have a defensive shield as one of our powers."

"Holy shit," Anne breathed.

"You're sure the Wards aren't an option?" Emma's mother said, though from her tone Emma was pretty sure her mother already knew the answer to her question.

"Quite sure," Danny said from the other end of the table.

"Honestly," Emma said, trying to sound casual, "It's not as though being Wards would keep us that much safer, at least not in Brocton Bay. You know as well as I that the PRT and Youth Guard don't actually keep the Wards from getting into fights, they just keep them from getting properly trained and equipped for those fights."

Emma's mother's lips tightened, but before she could say anything, Taylor cut in.

"There are a few other factors as well," she said, "reasons why we'll probably be safer independent than in the Wards. For one thing, a lot of the danger for independent heroes comes from the risk of one or the other of the gangs tracking them down and attacking them in their civilian identity, since they don't have a whole organization to back them up. But like I mentioned earlier, one of the powers we all have is a Stranger effect, a glamor that makes it hard for people to connect our heroic and civilian identities. If we can disengage from a fight long enough to Transform, then we're safe."

"Or as safe as anybody can be in Brockton Bay," Emma commented with a smirk. "The thing is," she continued, "That glamour only works as long as we keep our identities secret. It won't work on you, for example, not now that we've told you the truth. If we joined the Wards we'd have to give up our identities, and we're pretty sure the gangs have moles in the local PRT branch."

Taylor picked up the thread of conversation again. "Whereas staying independent will let us pick our battles, engage when we have the advantage and disengage when we don't."

"And it's not just our identities," she added, warming to the topic. "Cape battles tend to be very heavily rock-paper-scissors. That's one of the big advantages the Protectorate has over most gangs, when they finally decide to bring down the hammer they can usually bring in heroes whose powers are a hard counter to whatever villains they are going after. And that means that information is a tremendous resource in cape battles. As long as we can keep the gangs confused on exactly what we can do and how our powers work, we will have a huge strategic advantage. For example, they're probably going to assume that Void is a Tinker, because so much of his Regalia looks like Tinkertech, and that means they'll be preparing the wrong countermeasures. And even leaving aside moles, if we joined the Wards the PRT themselves would publish at least some of the details of our powers."

Emma's mother was looking a little overwhelmed, and Emma felt herself smile fondly. She'd rarely gotten to see this side of Taylor in action before, and was enjoying seeing her all-but-sister's wits turned to real life rather than mere games.

"So…" Emma asked, "what do we do now?"

There was a moment's pause as the gathered Barnes and Hebert families exchanged looks around the table.

"Honestly, I don't think this changes our plans that much," Taylor eventually said. "It's not like this forces our hand or anything, we can still wait until we're ready to make any major moves of our own."

"You have a point," said Emma's father, "but I do think this underlines the need to get in touch with Carol Dallon or some other expert in cape law as soon as possible. There are a lot of ways an independent cape could end up in hot water, and we need to make certain you are prepared for the next time you find yourself in a situation like the one Void Cowboy was in today."

Emma sighed. "I suppose this is my equivalent of what just happened to Void," she mused out loud. "We'd been waiting and preparing, anticipating the time when we'd step out into the public eye. And then something happens, and I realize that I can't put it off anymore. The time to take that first step is now."

"Though I'll have to wait till tomorrow to make the call," she added with a laugh. "I don't think even Mrs. Dallon works Sundays, except in serious emergencies."

"No, she does not," her father confirmed.

"So, make the call to Mrs Dallon tomorrow…" Taylor said distractedly. "And then after that I suppose we'll have a better idea of what other steps we need to take with regard to the PRT and the law. Is there anything else we need to do right now, or can we take the rest of this afternoon off? I want to spend time with my family."

Emma felt a cheek-stretching smile blossom on her face, her heart thrilling at what Taylor had just said. "I think that sounds like a great idea," she said. Deep within her, she felt her Light burn brighter.

"Agreed," said Emma's mother, sounding relieved. "Anyone for Trivial Pursuit?"

"Umm… I don't think that one's really an option for me anymore," Taylor said, tapping her forehead meaningfully.

"Oh, right," said Emma's mother.

"I'll go see what else we have in the basement," Emma said, getting to her feet.

"I'll come with you," Taylor said, pushing back her chair and rising.

Emma raised one hand and squeezed her face. Her smile had gotten so large it was making her cheeks hurt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Dad?" Taylor asked tentatively as she and her father drove home from the Barnes'. "Can I talk to you about something? I think I need a sanity check."

"Okay," Taylor's dad said, sounding as nervous as Taylor felt. They were both still learning how to talk to each other again.

"So…" Taylor said slowly, "This is something that's been bugging me for a while now." She tapped the center of her forehead with a finger. "As far as I can tell, nobody else knows what I've learnt from Queen Administrator about how powers work. It's certainly not common knowledge. And I've been sitting on this secret instead of sharing what I know."

"I thought that was the plan," Taylor's father said. "Didn't you say earlier that one of your big advantages over the gangs was that they wouldn't know how your powers worked?"

"Keeping details on our exact powers secret is one thing," Taylor replied. "That's the kind of information that could be used against us, and it's not much use to anyone other than us and those who want to hurt us. But what I've learnt from QA about shards in general, how they link to us and how the powers they grant work…God, I don't even know what people might be able to figure out with this. Certainly more than I know right now. Not to mention that it just feels wrong to keep people ignorant of how their own powers actually work."

"Okay," Taylor's father said, his eyes not leaving the road, "So what are you thinking of doing?"

"See, that's what I just realized tonight," Taylor replied. "Once we go public, I could just tell the simple truth: my shard talks to me and told me about how they work. Even if the general public think I'm as nutty as Glaistig Uaine, the truth will be out there and people who do the research will find the evidence to corroborate it. And with the glamour, I wouldn't have to worry about it drawing attention to you or me if I make the announcement as Ladybug."

"Who's 'Glashic Uana'…" said Taylor's father.

"Glaistig Uaine," said Taylor, putting some extra emphasis on the pronunciation. "She's a villain who can summon parahumans that die near her as these weird ghost things, with their powers. She's famous for claiming to be the queen of the fairies, and for being one of only… I think it's three parahumans to enter the Birdcage of her own will."

Taylor paused for a moment. "And now that I think about it…my god, she actually could be the queen of the fairies, couldn't she? I mean, I know that it's at least possible to get powers without getting them from a shard. Who's to say Glaistig Uaine isn't actually a fairy?"

And if she is in fact the queen of the fairies she claims, then that strongly implies there might be other fairies around, she thought. QA, remind me to ask Gabriel what he knows about fairies next time we meet up.

Hang on, is Glaistig Uaine a parahuman? Do you know? she sent to Queen Administrator.

"Okay," Taylor's father said, "from what you're saying, it doesn't sound like anybody takes Glaistig Uaine's claim to be a fairy queen seriously."

Unknown, QA sent back at the same moment. Unable to correlate host identity to shard connection with current datasets.

No entities corresponding to concept set "fairies" detected in preliminary survey of Earth dimensional manifold. However, current modeling indicates that only 42 percent of concepts labeled "fairies" would be detectable by current Shard sensory mechanisms.

Huh, Taylor thought. "Well…yeah, they don't," she said out loud, quickly refocusing on the spoken conversation.

"In that case, I'm not certain anyone would even pay enough attention to investigate what you're saying. On top of which…why isn't this more common knowledge? You can't be the only parahuman whose shard talks to her, so why hasn't anyone else shared what they know about the shards? Only reason I can think of is that there's some conspiracy that, for whatever reason, wants to keep the existence of the shards under wraps, and if that's the case then speaking out could put you in their crosshairs."

Taylor opened her mouth to reply, but before she could speak she felt QA's touch like a line of ice against her mind.

Progenitor hypothesis: negation, it sent. Standard Shard connection protocols do not permit direct communication with host. Additionally, general Shard cognition minimal. Abstract reasoning and formulation of complex concepts not required. Communication with host neither possible nor required. Queen Administrator, as controlling shard, posseses atypical capacity for abstract reasoning.

"Huh," Taylor said out loud. "Apparently, I may actually be the only parahuman whose shard talks to them. According to QA, most Shards aren't particularly… sapient, I guess. They're smart, but it's more like an animal than an actual person. QA's got a lot more capacity for abstract thought than most Shards, because its function is to coordinate and direct other shards at… whatever it is they do when they're not linked to people like us."

Though preventing direct communication is not a smart idea, she sent to QA. Science works by communication and collaboration, by people taking the discoveries of others and building on them. You would be a lot more likely to get interesting new discoveries if your hosts didn't have to keep reinventing the wheel.

Consideration, QA sent back, the emotional sidebands alive with a weird mix of skepticism and concern.

"And again, the glamour should provide some defense against anyone trying to backtrack from Ladybug to Taylor and Danny Hebert," Taylor said aloud. "Plus, I get the impression from QA that the Shards really don't understand the Light, or the way Hopeful powers work. I'm pretty sure I've got at least some ancillary protection against Thinker powers, over and above what I get from the glamour."

"Taylor," Taylor's dad replied, "you said yourself that the glamour has limits. It might make you proof against normal investigation, but this? Revealing that you can talk to the source of powers, that you know secrets about powers that nobody else knows, that you might for all anyone knows be able to unmask capes or talk the Shards into creating new capes on demand or God alone knows what else? That's going to bring national attention down on you."

"Thinkers and mundane detectives will be hunting for you," he continued, getting more agitated as he spoke, "and they'll be authorized to break all the written and unwritten rules to get you. If Ladybug shows her face in public, the gangs, the Protectorate, and probably the Yangban and Gelleschaft will all jump on her and fight over who gets to drag her away."

"Dad!" Taylor shouted, and her dad refocused on the road just in time to avoid rear-ending the car in front of them. Neither spoke again until they were back in their driveway and the engine off.

"Listen, Taylor," Taylor's father said, turning in his seat to face her, "if you're going to get people to believe you, you're going to have to come up with arguments and proof beyond 'my powers talk to me and tell me how they work' anyway, right?"

"Yes, good point," Taylor replied, facing him and nodding.

"So write up those proofs and arguments and share them, but keep the fact that you can actually talk to your Shard private. Like you said earlier, that's the kind of information that will be dangerous to share. Just having guessed a bunch of stuff about powers won't freak people out nearly as much."

Taylor took a deep breath. Dad may be a little bit paranoid, she thought, but that doesn't make him wrong. The reaction probably won't be as bad as Dad is thinking, but even a few people freaking out could do a lot of damage. Plus, Dad was right earlier when he said that mentioning talking to QA might taint people's opinion on the rest of my evidence. I never until this minute gave any credence to Glaistig Uaine's claim to be a fairy, and others wouldn't necessarily take me any more seriously.

"Okay," she said out loud. "I'll keep the fact that I can talk to QA under my hat, at least until there's some good reason to share the information."

"Thank you, Taylor," her father said, letting out a sigh of relief. "I just… I lost your mother, and it almost broke me. If I lost you too…" His eyes went blank, and Taylor felt her stomach twist.

"I understand, Dad," she said out loud, reaching over to give his arm a squeeze. It was the closest she could manage to a hug with both of them in car seats.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go inside. I want to go see what PHO is making of Void Cowboy's debut."

 

[Aeselon]

I really like the idea of powers that get better as you become a better person. Also a fascinating/hilarious juxtaposition with Worm as a setting.

 

[Maelger]

Well, Princess: the Hopeful is a fan made splat for the new World of Darkness. That said they don't have near close to the support structure Nobles get in game so it is a pretty bad situation nonetheless.

 

[Aeshdan]

I really like the idea of powers that get better as you become a better person. Also a fascinating/hilarious juxtaposition with Worm as a setting.

Click to shrink...

That juxtaposition was one of my motivations for coming up with this crossover, yes. Glad you like it!

 

[Aeshdan]

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♦ Topic: I Was Rescued By A New Cape
In: Boards ► Local News ► Brockton Bay
LegendLover69 (Original Poster)
Posted On Aug 30th 2009:
(Sorry in advance if this comes off as a little scatterbrained, I think I'm still kind of in shock).

So there I was, behind the counter at my game-store day job, when three men in balaclavas come in through the door. Two have got guns, and the third's built like a football linebacker and has a baseball bat. So they tell me to put my hands in the air, which of course I do. Then one of the smaller guys with the guns tells me to fork over the cash.

About then there's this bright golden flash from the rear of the store, and a moment later some cape I've never seen before steps out from behind the shelving. No clue how this guy got back there. There's a fire door in the back of the store, but you can't open that without setting off an alarm, and the only other way in or out of the store is right past my desk.

I wish I had pictures of this guy, because he looked seriously freaky. Not like a Case 53 or anything like that, his actual body looked human enough. No, the weird thing was his clothing. He had this long coat and hat on, that looked like they were some kind of hole in the universe, you could see a starry night sky through them. Seriously trippy, and I wish I had pictures. (I know the store has security cameras, but I don't know how to get the footage). Anyway, besides the weird-ass coat he had a shiny metal belt and a star-shaped badge, and he was holding a couple of Tinkertech rayguns.

So this guy comes up behind the thugs and tells them to "reach for the sky" in this really obvious fake cowboy accent. One of the robbers tries to spin around and the cape shoots him in the face with those Tinkertech guns. Just knocks the dude over, nothing serious. I ducked behind the counter at that point, so I kind of lost track of what was going on for a moment, though I heard a bunch of gunshots. Then one of the crooks stumbles into the counter and falls over almost on top of me, which made me freak out even more.

By the time I got myself back together, the fighting was pretty much over. The guy with the baseball bat had gotten away, but the new cape was covering the other two.

The cops showed up pretty soon after that. They took statements from me and the new cape (he gave his name as Void Cowboy). After that, Void Cowboy departed, the cops left with the two crooks in cuffs, and I started trying to clean up the mess.

So yeah: A broken window, a half-dozen holes in the walls, and I was scared out of at least a decade of my life, but on the other hand I think I got to be the first one to witness a new cape's debut.

(Showing page 1 of 10)

►Space Zombie
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
BS! Pics or it didn't happen.

►WingedOne
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Wait... what the tabula rasa just happened? I am confuse.

►Procto the Unfortunate Tinker (Not a tinker)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Wait, "Void Cowboy"? That can't possibly be right. I refuse to believe that Void Cowboy could actually be a cape. Some things are just too messed up to contemplate.

►White Fairy (Veteran Member)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Ooh, a new cape! Well, that's certainly something Brockton Bay has no shortage of. Sounds like a Tinker from the description, and one with teleportation technology to boot.

I really hope this "Void Cowboy" joins the Protectorate soon. Independent Tinkers don't tend to last long before somebody tracks them down, and the last thing Brockton Bay needs is one of the gangs having Tinker support.

@WingedOne
Umm... I do not think that word means what you think it means.

►ZizDidIt
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
@ProctoTheUnfortunateTinker
No, see, Ziz did it. She's supposed to be launching her next attack soonish, right? So she decided that instead of attacking a city, she'd give Void Cowboy some tinkertech, turn him into an actual cape and watch the capes of the world break down having to deal with him.

*This user has received an infraction for this post. Joking about victims of the Simurgh is not funny. You've been warned on this before. - TinMother*

►GstringGirl
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
@LegendLover69
Ouch. I'm glad you're ok. Hope the repairs won't cost too much.

@SpaceZombie
And how exactly was he supposed to get pics?

@ProctoTheUnfortunateTinker
@ZizDidIt
Seriously, not cool! I know Void Cowboy can be a bit immature, but he's not that bad.

►Procto the Unfortunate Tinker (Not a tinker)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
@GstringGirl
"Ouch. I'm glad you're ok. Hope the repairs won't cost too much."
Agreed.

"I know Void Cowboy can be a bit immature, but he's not that bad."
Compared to who, Jack Slash? Seriously, that guy's a moron of the highest order. How the fuck has he not been permabanned yet?

*This user has received an infraction for this post. Neither personal attacks nor derails are acceptable in this forum - TinMother*

►BlueEyedBoyInBlue (Verified BBPD)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Can verify OP's story. Me and my partner were dispatched to the mall in response to reports of gunshots. When we arrived there we found a cape who gave his name as Void Cowboy, with two people in face-concealing masks held at gunpoint. We took statements from the new cape and the store clerk and arrested the two robbers.

I can also corroborate OP's description of the new cape's attire. It really is something you have to see to properly appreciate. Unfortunately, I don't have access to file footage on my personal account.

►Robby
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
@BlueEyedBoyInBlue

Holy flipping f-balls.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 10

(Showing page 7 of 10)

►XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Don't you see what this means? David Icke was right, humainty is being infiltrated by shapeshifting alien lizard demons, and they've sent this imposter to replace me because I know too mu

►White Fairy (Veteran Member)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
@ XxVoid_CowboyxX
The sad part is, I'm genuinely not sure if you're trolling us or you just forgot to take your dried frog pills today. Cutting off in the middle of a word was a nice touch, though, so points for that.

►LegendLover69 (Original Poster)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
@GstringGirl
Thanks for the well wishes. Repairs won't come out of my pocket, or even my boss's, the mall we rent the space from covers that. Can't imagine it'll cost that much anyway, and I imagine they have insurance.

►LittleOwl
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
@WhiteFairy
"forgot to take your dried frog pills today"

Ah, a woman of taste and culture, I see.

►VoidCowboyOfficial (Verified Cape)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
Well, it is pleasant indeed to see that my deeds have already born their due harvest of fame and appreciation.

Varmints of all stripes and ideologies take note - there's a new sheriff in town, and I intend to clean up this place.

@Bladeworksfan
My dear sir, the values of the Old West bear about as much resemblance to those of those Neo-Nazi varmints as that which comes out of a cow's udder bears to that which comes out of the cow's rear end.

@XxVoid_CowboyxX
Believe you me, young whippersnapper, I would rather not be associated with you. But I wear the garb of a cowboy, fashioned of the starry void. To take any other name would be like a coon wearing buckskin britches and calling itself a deer.

►Sothoth
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
@WhiteFairy
@LittleOwl
"dried frog pills"
Care to elaborate? I feel like I'm missing something here.

@VoidCowboyOfficial
You know, I think that might be the most poetic way of calling the E88's ideology BS I've ever read. I think I like you, Void Cowboy.

►ZizDidIt
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
[Post deleted]

[User temp banned – 24 hours]

*I repeat, joking about victims of the Simurgh. Is. Not. Funny. You've been warned on this before in this thread, hopefully a tempban will make it sink in. - TinMother*

►LittleOwl
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
@Sothoth
It's a reference to Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. In those stories, the Bursar of Unseen University (the main Wizzarding school for the series) is mad, but he takes hallucinogenic pills (made from dried frogs) that cause him to hallucinate that he is sane and a Bursar... and, incidentally, that he can fly. He's not allowed above the third floor, though.

@VoidCowboyOfficial
Welcome to Brockton Bay, Void Cowboy. And a good point with regard to your name.

►WhyteOne
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:

[Post deleted]

[User temp banned – 24 hours]

*Threatening violence is not permitted here. Have a 24 hour ban to cool off. - TinMother*

►AssaultOfficial (Verified Cape) (PRT ENE)
Replied On Aug 30th 2009:
@VoidCowboyOfficial
@Sothoth
OMG, LOL!!!

Welcome to Brockton Bay, Void! It's always nice to have a new hero, and especially one who isn't so bloody serious all the time!

End of Page. 1 ... 6, 7, 8, ... 10

♦ Private message from IAmTheNight (Verified Cape) (PRT ENE)

CopperColouredCutie: (Sent August 27th, 2009) Hello SS, this is E. from the alley. Can we get together sometime, talk face-to-face? I think I owe you an apology for some of the stuff I said in the alley. Plus I wanted to say congratulations on joining the Wards. Not necessarily what I'd have done in your shoes, but I think it's a good choice.

CopperColouredCutie: (Sent August 27th, 2009) P.S. Sorry to use your official account like this, but I don't know your civvy one.

IAmTheNight (Verified Cape)(PRT ENE): (Received August 28th, 2009 – Opened August 28th, 2009) Before I say anything, can you prove any of what you just said?

CopperColouredCutie: (Sent August 28th, 2009) Does this work? (view attached picture)

CopperColouredCutie: (Sent August 28th, 2009) So do you know the Cup of Sunshine café? On the Boardwalk, at the corner with Maple Street?

IAmTheNight (Verified Cape)(PRT ENE): (Received August 28th, 2009 – Opened August 29th, 2009) Not really my stomping grounds. You want to meet there?

CopperColouredCutie: (Sent August 29th, 2009). Yeah. Nice place, good coffee, and it's in public so if I were actually a villain then I still couldn't do anything to you.

IAmTheNight (Verified Cape)(PRT ENE): (Received August 29th, 2009 – Opened August 29th, 2009). Ok, fine. When do you want to meet?

CopperColouredCutie: (Sent August 29th, 2009). Monday morning sound good? Say 10:00ish?

IAmTheNight (Verified Cape)(PRT ENE): (Received August 29th, 2009 – Opened August 29th, 2009) See you there, survivor.

 

[Lain]

Good update, nice to see the story alive, but while there is a comment on Void Cowboy being a cape as something "too scary to contemplate", would be nice to see a conversation as to whether PHO user Void Cowboy and the cape Void Cowboy are the same entity, and subsequently, people asking why he doesn't speak like before.

People might be happy to hear about a new hero, but PHO reputation (and subsequently, Dragon knowing your IP address) can colour the public's perceptions for a months to come.

 

[ptbptb]

@Bladeworksfan
My dear sir, the values of the Old West bear about as much resemblance to those of those Neo-Nazi varmints as that which comes out of a cow's udder bears to that which comes out of the cow's rear end.

Click to shrink...

You '@'ed Bladeworksfan but there aren't any posts by him in the Interlude.

I suppose that his post could have been deleted by a PHO moderator, but that seems a bit meta for me.

 

[AramilOniasha]

I suppose that his post could have been deleted by a PHO moderator, but that seems a bit meta for me.

Click to shrink...

It was probably on one if the 5 pages that weren't shown.

 

[BigBad]

Greg's hero mode account speaks like he tips his fedora and refers to himself as gentlesir.

 

[Firestorm_100]

Did Greg troll everyone by opening a second account and pretending to be different people?

 

[Kaernetron]

While PHO will frown on sockpuppeting like any other online forum, I'm sure they make an exception for civillian and caping accounts. Paper thin unwritten rules and all.

 

[Aeshdan]

Did Greg troll everyone by opening a second account and pretending to be different people?

Click to shrink...

While PHO will frown on sockpuppeting like any other online forum, I'm sure they make an exception for civillian and caping accounts. Paper thin unwritten rules and all.

Click to shrink...

Kinda-sorta, yes. It's not just for trolling, though. He's trying to distance Void Cowboy the superhero from Void Cowboy the Laughingstock of PHO, both for PR reasons and to keep enemies from tracking him down by any info he may have let slip in his civilian identity.

Greg's hero mode account speaks like he tips his fedora and refers to himself as gentlesir.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that was a lot of fun to write. As mentioned above, Greg is deliberately trying to make it look like his hero mode and civvy mode accounts are different people, so he's playing the cowboy stereotype as heavily as he can manage to make sure he doesn't sound like himself.

 

[Bobot-Man]

Kinda-sorta, yes. It's not just for trolling, though. He's trying to distance Void Cowboy the superhero from Void Cowboy the Laughingstock of PHO, both for PR reasons and to keep enemies from tracking him down by any info he may have let slip in his civilian identity.



Yeah, that was a lot of fun to write. As mentioned above, Greg is deliberately trying to make it look like his hero mode and civvy mode accounts are different people, so he's playing the cowboy stereotype as heavily as he can manage to make sure he doesn't sound like himself.

Click to shrink...

The stunning thing to me is that you actually accomplished writing Greg as writing two separate people distinct from each other.
A genuinely outstanding job in that effort.