Gust Front 2.3
"It's a pleasure, Lily has told me many things about you."
Violet smiled down at Himeko, and goodness, she really was strikingly tall, Himeko recomposing herself took longer than she would have liked to admit.
"Hopefully all good?"
Her response didn't waver, she hoped, and the woman facing her threw her head back and chuckled slightly, a high pitched snort emerging from her throat as she did so.
"Goodness no, she can't praise you enough, Major?"
Narwhal, Violet's tone had sharpened dramatically as she finished, and as Himeko met her eyes, she saw the steel of a soldier within them. The steel and iron of someone who'd fought long and hard to get where they were, and someone who might, just might understand.
"It's… just Doctor, now, actually."
Himeko tried to keep the sadness from her voice as she spoke, but Violet picked up on it all too quickly.
"Who… no. I am sorry for your loss."
Her voice was tinged with the same sense of any commanding officer, the one who has had to make the decisions they despise beyond all measure.
"So, Doctor Murata?"
Himeko shook her head, snorting slightly.
"No, a friend of Lily's is a friend of mine, call me Himeko, or Doctor Himeko if you insist upon the formality."
Violet smiled at her again, and Himeko felt a twinge in her chest as they made their way into her living room, whereupon Himeko realized two things.
One, Taylor had mentioned something before being interrupted by Danny and the PRT, she'd mentioned something about being resistant to emotional effects.
Two, she'd been cut off far too soon and that… that had to be important. There was no reason for such a delay, even with the golden light that had spilled out around Taylor. There were people in this world who could twist another's emotions and mind, they called them Masters.
"Violet, Lily, could you tell me more about Human Masters?"
The living room fell into silence as Himeko spoke, with Lily looking pale, and Violet's face darkening in rage.
"Y'know Himeko, you really don't know how to be subtle, do you?"
Lily's voice shook slightly as she reached for a can of beer, cracking the tab and taking a long draught from it.
"Did you have to ask that? Or is it related to-"
Himeko sighed, cutting off Lily as she did so.
"It's related to Taylor, yes."
Violet looked up, before asking, she appeared furious, but not to the same extent as earlier, and her voice was more curious this time.
"She said you were blunt… care to tell me who "Taylor" is?"
Himeko shook her head.
"There are enough details that could muddy the waters, but suffice it to say, my power can spread to people of sufficient will, this is not a good thing, I won't replicate it willingly, and it tends to turn the people it infects into apocalyptic, ticking time bombs just waiting for an opportunity to explode."
Violet blew air through her lips and looked upwards soon after.
"Lily said you were blunt, I should have believed her. I assume you infected this "Taylor"?"
Himeko nodded, her face grave.
"My first act upon arriving here was to pull her from a locker she had been imprisoned within. I failed to stop or contain the energy that poured off of me at the time, and I could not stop myself from infecting her, although… she is not a threat in the normal manner."
Violet cocked her head to one side.
"The normal manner?"
It took a moment for Himeko to respond, although when she did it was cautious.
"Normally the radiation I emit would cause people to turn into mindless abominations armed with scythes or bows or swords made from twisted… material. They emit radiation as well, and ruthlessly stalk and kill others."
"That's normal? Where are you from?"
The question was asked politely, but with an air of uncertainty to it, as if Violet couldn't believe her own voice.
"More or less, it accompanied any serious eruption or impact event. Hordes of infected "survivors" would pour from the sights of each and every catastrophe."
Himeko's face was quiet and angry as she finished.
"I was so angry at myself for letting it happen. Now… I need to know what you know about Human Masters, I have a suspicion it's related to Taylor's… struggles."
Lily leaned in, facing her from her position across the table.
"Her struggles? Like who put her in that locker? Feels a bit like a conspiracy theory, doesn't it?"
Himeko shook her head, kicking her own feet up onto the ottoman in the center of the living room.
"I don't think so. I've gone to her school, spoken to the teachers there, seen the students."
She paused, wetting her lips with her tongue.
"Blackwell is lying, and she's terrible at it, not only that, she's been intimidated into keeping quiet. Other teachers at the school, those who aren't total fools, saw the way that Taylor's grades shifted and they've seen enough to know she's doing something to cover up for them."
Himeko paused.
"I've seen bullying and schoolyard pranks in my day, and I've seen hazing of a dozen varieties. This is so far beyond that… the cruelty is unparalleled. I'm astonished about the sheer amount of people who are in a position of power who simply… ignored her because it was easier to do."
Another pause.
"Finally… I have spoken with and seen Taylor for days now, days in which I have seen the best and worst sides of her. She encountered something that broke her into a wreck not more than a day ago. She looked like she'd seen a ghost of something."
Violet moved first.
"But you can't be sure that it was a master."
Himeko shook her head.
"I can't, but I have a hunch, because of the sheer… apathy of the school. I don't understand how they could just ignore such events happening."
"So you jump to master involvement?"
"Not quite, it's also the behavior of other students around one of the trio of primary bad actors mentioned in the reports. One Sophia Hess."
Himeko watched carefully as Violet said nothing, but Lily stiffened in her seat, before she whispered.
"Sophia Hess? You're sure?"
Himeko stood up and moved to her office, the section of the main room slightly isolated behind a simple screen, and came back with a pile of paper.
The stack, with a muted wham, landed on the coffee table, and Himeko gestured to it.
"Read it and weep."
They read, and the hours of the night dulled into the early ones of morning. The papers rustled, coffee was brewed and consumed, and the conversation had stilled completely as Himeko took notes, Violet read, and Lily turned stony faced.
As the sun's rays touched against her face, Himeko startled slightly, looking over her shoulder to the two women in her living room. She pushed glasses down her face, casually inspecting the sight, and had to stifle a slight giggle.
For one thing, Violet was surprisingly cute, crashed out and slumped over a couch, sleeping away with no cares in the world.
For another, Lily's snores were loud enough to wake the dead.
Himeko snickered, scooped up her short friend and set her down in her bedroom, then, she returned, and had to stifle a slight surprised grunt as she moved to pick up Narwhal and move her to the guest room.
The surprise was when Narwhal woke up, blearily opening an eye and yawning, her voice slightly wavering in the early hours of the morning.
"Hi-Himeko? Did we pass out?"
Himeko placed a finger to her lips and smiled slightly.
"Apologies, I was going to carry you to the guest room, but woke you instead."
The other woman yawned and stretched, sitting up in her rumpled and slightly wrinkled clothing, reflecting on the stack of papers.
"I see why you think a master might be involved. But something doesn't fit the pattern."
Himeko frowned lightly.
"Pattern?"
Violet nodded once, grimly.
"Has Lily told you what I do?"
Himeko shook her head.
"Makes sense, she did kind of just drop the two of us into a room and laughed about it."
Himeko raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Well, she does do that with some frequency, if the rumors on PHO I hear of her are somewhat true."
Violet laughed, the sound bright and loud, only to be drowned out by what had to be a power given snore coming from Himeko's bedroom, because there was no way in hell that a normal person made noises that loud.
"All of them are some frame of true, but she exaggerates her own stories as well."
Himeko snickered.
"Really? For what reason?"
Violet settled into the chair, gentle as she went, before she responded almost coyly.
"She likes the mystique, and she likes it when the enemy has no idea what she can actually do."
Himeko frowned.
"Speaking of… what can she actually do?"
Violet sighed and leaned back.
"I wish I knew, but she keeps it really close to the chest. According to the PRT itself, she's a really powerful kinetic energy manipulator in a small area around herself. But she's not Manton Limited, meaning she can affect herself as easily as anything around her."
"Is that where her superhuman feats come from?"
Himeko's question was asked as coffee brewed and the smell of bacon sizzling filled the small room, with a chair slightly groaning as Violet stood up just a bit.
"Here, let me help."
Only for a single finger of Himeko's to meet her forehead and gently push her down.
"Ah ah ah, I am hosting, and you heard me out, more than that, while you don't believe me yet. I suspect that you will soon. But you were telling me that this doesn't fit the pattern?"
Violet sighed.
"Ok, so, Parahumans like you or me, we have a few things in common. One is that we're not subtle. You know Heartbreaker?"
Himeko's lip turned down and her gaze turned icy.
"Yes. He could keep a low profile, could have done a number of things, instead, he targets the people with the highest profiles imaginable, just because he can? And others… we're just not subtle. Masters can do this sort of subtle thing."
"But?"
Violet shook her head.
"But they almost never do. Heartbreaker was aforementioned, but there are others, Mindblank, Eraser, a few capes on the east coast, and… then there's Leere."
"Leere?"
Violet shuddered.
"Gesellschaft, nazi cape. She's… a brainwashing master, and they keep her to make more nazi fanatics to drop on US soil."
Himeko's jaw hit the floor.
"They do what?"
Violet froze up slightly, before she spoke.
"Gesellschaft, a Germanic Nazi ring. Leere is one of theirs, but before you ask why we don't just kill her…"
Violet paused, sucking in air through her teeth.
"Leere is 13, she triggered, as far as we can tell, 1 year ago. The PRT has her at Master unknown, because we can't figure out what she does to people."
Himeko spoke.
"I take it she's kept underground?"
Violet nodded.
"Complete ghost, one photo of her in a little nazi uniform."
Himeko grimaced.
"Filthy ideology."
Her breakfast companion nodded.
"Yes. Part of the reason I'm here, actually, is tracking a link to a few of their capes in Brockton Bay."
"So it wasn't just for my winning smile and excellent personality?"
Violet snickered slightly.
"I have to say, I was impressed by your debut, takes a lot of restraint, and I'm not used to seeing that."
"That pattern you mentioned, right?"
"Exactly, to get back on track… These three girls could absolutely be victims of a master, but why? What's the end goal of attacking a single student like this? What does the Master get from all this? That's why I'm confused and uncertain."
Himeko nodded, steepling her fingers together.
"I don't think they're victims, I think one of them is, the master."
Violet raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure about that theory?
Himeko shrugged.
"I don't know, but it's the only explanation that makes sense to me. These three torment her mercilessly, you mentioned that other parahumans aren't subtle. But, what if we're missing the forest for the trees here?"
Violet thought for a moment.
"You think that the subtlety is the parahuman being loud?"
Himeko nodded.
"What if it's an obsession, if we look at it from that perspective… then what's happening would make total sense from a stalker, but the apathy-"
Violet nodded, picking up on what the other woman was saying.
"Would make total sense if a Master who specialized in emotions was messing with people's ability to perceive her complaints as genuine. Even circumstantially, this evidence is more than enough to put all three of them away in serious detention centers."
"The question is which one of the trio is the master. Madison Clements?"
"Nahhhh, it's not her, I interviewed her for an internship thing at the PRT last summer."
Lily's voice, thick with sleep, filled the air as she strode out, adding a swing of her hips and a flirty look at Himeko.
"Man if I'd known I'd get princess carried, I'd have come over faster."
"You fell asleep on the couch snoring loud enough to start an aircraft engine."
Himeko's response was deadpan and quick, and got a chuckle out of Violet, and an exaggerated stabbing motion into Lily's heart.
"Gah! Himeko you wound me!"
"Right."
"But you were saying something about Madison Clements?"
Lily nodded.
"Yup."
She popped the "p", leaning in and pointing over the complaints.
"Her harassment is purely vocal and online, also, she's not exactly creative with her insults, I think she's a capital "F" follower. No, I wanna know what's up with Emma Barnes."
Violet spoke up next.
"What about Hess?"
Lily shook her head, ice cold in her eyes.
"Not her. She's a psychopath and a bitch, but it's not her."
Himeko spoke up, her eyes locked tight to Lily.
"You know something about Hess that you're not telling us. What is it?"
Lily looked away, and it was Violet, who suddenly spoke up.
"Lil, if this is important… we need to know."
Lily sighed, leaned forward, and began to speak.
"Sophia Hess is a parahuman, but she's not our master."
Himeko narrowed her eyes, and the air subtly shifted. Lily looked guilty.
"Look, you have to understand, I never would have allowed this, but… Sophia Hess isn't someone I can say anymore on, just… you have to know that she's not the master."
The woman stood up, and moved towards the door.
"But Emma… I think you're onto something there Himeko, look at her. Something about this doesn't add up, I have to call the director. Keep me posted on your end?"
She stepped out, and Himeko waited until her footsteps had completely trailed off before she turned to Violet.
"Ward."
Violet nodded once.
"Has to be, no other reason she'd act like that lest Sophia was her own kid and Challenger was never the type."
Himeko paused.
"This situation is… messed up, I'm starting to suspect that the master isn't working against the others. Do you have any other insights?"
Violet paused for a moment.
"I've never seen a master not attempt control on people around them, we need to inspect other members of her family. Especially her parents, can you rely upon me to do that?"
Himeko studied the other woman carefully. Studied the resolve that burned and blazed in her eyes, before she nodded once, and rose from her spot at the kitchen table. Taking the plates of food, eaten during the conversation, she carefully moved back to the table.
"Let's get her, for the sake of Taylors health."
Violet looked at her, smiled and nodded, before asking quietly.
"Tell me about Taylor, before we split off."
Himeko smiles, leans back, and starts.
"She's strong, willpower like titanium, and… she's adapting to the infection well, no danger of any leakage so far. But… this treatment. I worry about her ability to rationalize or temper it. I worry she won't be able to hold it back if we do not stop this master in its tracks."
Violet paused.
"I take it she has to hold it back for really important reasons?"
Himeko nodded once, her tone shaking.
"If Taylor loses her ability to contain the energy and her emotions… she may wipe Brockton Bay off the map, entirely."
Violet went pale, standing up and moving for the exit.
"Then let's get this done, no?"
Himeko nodded.
"Couldn't agree more."
The door shut with a click as Violet made her exit. Himeko took a few moments to compose herself, to suppress the boiling rage that snarled in her to rip and tear down. To fly at Emma, Madison, and Sophia and force them to confess with her sheer presence.
Her fingers heated up, and Himeko felt that same golden light spread through her fingers and hands once more, lighting up veins and skeleton with even movements.
She sucked in a breath and forced her composure, feeling herself cool and calm down slowly and carefully. She had to maintain control, had to, there was no other option.
Lisa Wilbourne
It was official, Lisa hated her job. It was also entirely her boss's fault.
"You gonna talk about what's up with your chest, girlfriend?"
Aisha was sitting across from her, legs folded up, one half of the twins that had founded the Undersiders, the gorgeous young woman had her head cocked slightly to one side as she studied Lisa, staring at the prominent, curling mark on her chest.
"Never took you for the tattoo type."
Lisa grimaced.
"I'm not."
Aisha smiled at her, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Care to say more?"
Lisa frowned at her friend and, realizing that Aisha probably wasn't going away until she explained.
"Fine. It was probably our boss, I think."
Aisha raised an eyebrow.
"You think? Sis? You're the one with the super thinker power, don't you know more?"
Lisa shook her head.
"Headache. Can barely think, please don't aggravate it."
Aisha nodded.
"So our boss caused… this?"
Lisa nodded.
"I think so. Don't know how, but… woke up with it on my chest and a raging thinker headache. Don't… understand how."
Aisha nodded.
"Fine. This going to compromise the team? We're supposed to be interviewing that new girl, no?"
Lisa waved her off.
"I'll be fine by the time Cherish shows up. No need to worry."
Lisa moved her way from her room, silencing Regent with a lethal glare.
"No. Shut up. I know she's your sister and I know you think she's some kind of monster."
Alec surprised her when he grabbed her arm and tugged her aside.
"No… um… it's not that Tats."
She took a moment to look carefully at the young man. He wasn't disheveled, had dressed nicely, and was genuinely prepared. Was he wearing concealer as well? The lackadaisical smile was still present. But, it seemed stretched slightly, Lisa, preemptively wincing, slowly let her power out.
Is nervous. Sociopathic, engineered by situation, tied to sister. Sister brings up emotions Alec is uncomfortable with.
Lisa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that, her power was fond of pointing out only the most obvious sometimes. But as a sudden surge of pain rammed through her skull, a slightly deeper, huskier voice, the one she was really trying very hard to pretend didn't scare her, whispered.
"Alec is vulnerable right now. You can tear him open and make him yours. Should you wish, oh vessel mine."
She shrugged it off, fighting the voice that wanted her to do… horrible things to the people she was close to.
Alec didn't deserve that.
Even if he aggravated her constantly.
But his sister… was a slight unknown. It was, as far as Lisa had been concerned, impossible to shake off the unease that she felt around Alec, as if there was something hiding just beneath the surface and it was always there.
Her power had trouble reading him sometimes, and while it had whispered he had a hidden past, so did many of them. Lisa had been threatened into obedience by Coil, Aisha and Brian had killed someone before, and Bitch… Bitch had killed more than a few nazis at Hookwolf's rallies.
They were all damned, as far as Lisa knew, and Coil had them for felony's at best if he ever felt like making a point.
She still remembered what had happened the last time she'd "gotten cute" with him, and tried to resist. She cursed herself for her enforced helplessness, even as she chafed against it.
Coil was also responsible for her current predicament. Something that Lisa glared at, the tattoo prominent on her chest as she growled angrily, the mark flaring up.
"You could break him too. Take his power and make it your own. Do you want to know how?"
The damnable voice whispered in the back of her head, and Lisa flinched.
She shook her head, pushing the voice away from her, pushing it into the back of her mind, forcing it to be quiet so she could think.
And of course that was when her phone rang.
The phone she kept locked in her drawer, behind a biometric security measure.
The phone that Coil called.
She picked up the device and flicked it open then on, then up to her ear.
"Tattletale."
Voice was curt, angered.
"Would you like to know, oh vessel mine~? I can tell you why he is angry~ All you need to do is trust me~"
"Yes boss?"
Coil's reply was curt, sharp, a far cry from his normal order.
"I need a threat profile on Vermillion Knight, now."
"The newcomer? Why? She just busted a bunch of basic nazis?"
"He can't see her~"
The voice in her head, mocking in tone, laughing even as she shoved it into the darkness.
But if what it had told her was true…
"Complete it as soon as possible." Came the curt, angry reply from Coil.
"Fine."
The call clicked dead a moment later. Leaving Lisa to think in peace and quiet.
She'd have to miss the meeting with Cherish, which… was a rough thing, but how bad could it possibly go? Aisha and Brian were good at talking, and provided that Bitch didn't pull her asinine dominance displays or hierarchical dog crap, this recruit should be a slam dunk.
But… if that voice was right.
If Coil couldn't see Vermilion Knight?
Maybe it was time that All_Seeing_Eye and Vermillion_Knight met in person.
But if she had to assemble that threat dossier, then she'd do so now.
Lisa cracked her knuckles, sat down in the chair at his desk, and booted up her laptop. She pulled a notebook from the bottom of her desk, and began to take notes.
Vermilion Knight was dangerous, scary, dangerous again, and her public shenanigans were clearly a distraction from what she was actually capable of.
That morning, Lisa had watched as Armsmaster and a half dozen PRT troopers moved around a puddle of burned out slag that had been something, at one point or another. Something made of a strange white metal shot through with purple accents.
She'd watched as they'd torn pieces of strange machinery, and slagged weapons, from the looks of the barrels and handles, out of the pile.
Whatever had been there had been another piece of something from where Vermilion Knight had come from, and she was covering it up.
But why?
Lisa relaxed, letting her power stare at the photos and the crime scene photos. She'd been there in person, taking photos from a nearby rooftop, and while she'd not thought about using her power to apply to camera work priorly, when it had just been an amateur hobby of hers.
She smiled bitterly, knowing full well that it was a sour taste to take pride in those photos.
Photographs taken of slag, severe heat damage on all pieces, burns in excess of normal melting temperatures.
Eyes narrowed, Lisa stopped her power and considered. Thermite would have worked here, but the amount that was needed would have been immense.
Her power unleashed again.
Amount of Slag consistent with medium sized room, thickness of melted door indicates bulkhead.
Bulkheads, doors that sealed areas of naval vessels off. Had she come from a ship? Lisa clicked open tabs on her laptop, browsing furiously.
Hours later, Lisa sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and went to find something to eat. As she threw together a sandwich in the kitchen, she looked elsewhere, wondering how the team's recruitment was going.
She had made no real progress. Military vessels didn't use titanium in their construction, for a number of reasons, but primarily because of its sheer cost. The metal was expensive and fairly rare, especially in the quantities needed to build entire vessels out of it.
To say nothing of the color of the metal. She'd thought it was titanium, but frankly wasn't sure anymore, the metal itself was white, even in the places that had melted to expose it. Titanium… didn't look like that.
Lisa sipped her coffee and sighed slightly. A ding on her laptop alerted her to a PHO message, and she took a brief look at it.
Hmm. Vermilion Knight, thanking her for the help involving Winslow.
Lisa smiled, a hunch that had paid its dividends many times over was helping this woman with whatever she asked for.
She'd been apprehensive at first, and a part of her still was, Lisa let her eyes track back over to the bug out bag she kept behind her door, with a spare gun and cash.
If the woman had been a PRT hero, she would have figured her out already, and a part of Lisa was fairly certain she already had, and yet… she kept asking for help.
She wanted more information, which made her firmly in the territory of a grey hero, a vigilante who was going to take things into their own hands if they felt the need.
But this hunch about Winslow… the woman, she'd rescued a girl that day that Lisa had seen her. That girl meant something to her.
Something that Coil likely wanted, given the presence of a threat assessment.
For just a moment Lisa dared to allow herself to hope, and then that voice surged from the back of her mind once more.
"Oh vessel mine, do you want to know why he's so concerned with Vermilion Knight~?"
The voice… it was as if she felt the presence of the voice then, fingers wrapping around her shoulders and tugging her back and close.
Lisa looked up, at the vanity mirror above her desk, and she saw the way her eyes opened, into bottle green seas, ringed around the middle with a white ring and black and white star shaped symbols.
She saw the woman draped around her shoulders, saw the same eyes on her, the same hair, but the differences ended.
This woman wore armor, a catsuit like Lisa, but armored plates fitting over the top of it.
"Do you want to know more, oh vessel mine~?"
"LISE!"
The voice, the shout, slammed her free of her thoughts, and she looked up from the meaningless scribbles on her desk, scribbles inscribed into the notebook and a threshold for a threat analysis rising clean from the page.
Vermilion Knight.
Threat Level: Yes.
Risk Level: Uncertain.
Powers: Brute 5, Mover 5, others unknown.
Threat level yes?
What on earth did that mean?
"LISE!"
"WHAT!"
Brian pounded on the door, and Lisa opened it, and found him… soaked in sweat and furious, the sound of arguing emanated from the downstairs floor of the loft.
"What?"
Brian looked murderous.
"Bitch did her thing."
Lisa felt a headache sprout in her forehead.
"Did we lose he-"
Brian cut her off.
"Cherish? Yes, she was gone the moment Bitch raised hell, Aisha looked about ready to stab her."
"Fuckkkk"
She could already feel Coil's ire rising.
The noose around her neck tightening.
"Come now little Vessel, let me in."
She shoved the voice down with gritted teeth.
"Fuck. Ok, we need other options, or the boss is going to come down on us hard."
Brian paled, and Lisa nodded.
"Not Spitfire."
She smiled a bit more.
"She's… volatile, and shy, and not immune to her own stuff. What about that new cape, Vermilion Knight?"
Lisa started chewing her lip. Considering her options as she stared down at the pages of her notebook, and a single string of text lurking in her head all the while.
VK: Thank you for your help.
A/N:
We're not that far from the end of this arc, and now we're getting into the meat of things, with Himeko piecing together everything even as shadowy figures move in the background. It's been a joy to write Narwhal and Himeko so far, and I can't wait to have more of their interactions!
If you enjoy this, please consider supporting me on Patreon, it helps me have more of everything to write and entertain you all! (Also you can read to the end of this arc, which is live up there!)
As always, comments and criticisms are always welcome and I love receiving them!
Relevant links!
Discord: Join the Firebird's hearth Discord Server!
P.S. Slight Housekeeping note, midterms are starting up, and the next story on the update schedule is Records of the Void, so it may be a bit before I'm able to update Cloudburst, my apologies for that everyone!
Violet smiled down at Himeko, and goodness, she really was strikingly tall, Himeko recomposing herself took longer than she would have liked to admit.
"Hopefully all good?"
Her response didn't waver, she hoped, and the woman facing her threw her head back and chuckled slightly, a high pitched snort emerging from her throat as she did so.
"Goodness no, she can't praise you enough, Major?"
Narwhal, Violet's tone had sharpened dramatically as she finished, and as Himeko met her eyes, she saw the steel of a soldier within them. The steel and iron of someone who'd fought long and hard to get where they were, and someone who might, just might understand.
"It's… just Doctor, now, actually."
Himeko tried to keep the sadness from her voice as she spoke, but Violet picked up on it all too quickly.
"Who… no. I am sorry for your loss."
Her voice was tinged with the same sense of any commanding officer, the one who has had to make the decisions they despise beyond all measure.
"So, Doctor Murata?"
Himeko shook her head, snorting slightly.
"No, a friend of Lily's is a friend of mine, call me Himeko, or Doctor Himeko if you insist upon the formality."
Violet smiled at her again, and Himeko felt a twinge in her chest as they made their way into her living room, whereupon Himeko realized two things.
One, Taylor had mentioned something before being interrupted by Danny and the PRT, she'd mentioned something about being resistant to emotional effects.
Two, she'd been cut off far too soon and that… that had to be important. There was no reason for such a delay, even with the golden light that had spilled out around Taylor. There were people in this world who could twist another's emotions and mind, they called them Masters.
"Violet, Lily, could you tell me more about Human Masters?"
The living room fell into silence as Himeko spoke, with Lily looking pale, and Violet's face darkening in rage.
"Y'know Himeko, you really don't know how to be subtle, do you?"
Lily's voice shook slightly as she reached for a can of beer, cracking the tab and taking a long draught from it.
"Did you have to ask that? Or is it related to-"
Himeko sighed, cutting off Lily as she did so.
"It's related to Taylor, yes."
Violet looked up, before asking, she appeared furious, but not to the same extent as earlier, and her voice was more curious this time.
"She said you were blunt… care to tell me who "Taylor" is?"
Himeko shook her head.
"There are enough details that could muddy the waters, but suffice it to say, my power can spread to people of sufficient will, this is not a good thing, I won't replicate it willingly, and it tends to turn the people it infects into apocalyptic, ticking time bombs just waiting for an opportunity to explode."
Violet blew air through her lips and looked upwards soon after.
"Lily said you were blunt, I should have believed her. I assume you infected this "Taylor"?"
Himeko nodded, her face grave.
"My first act upon arriving here was to pull her from a locker she had been imprisoned within. I failed to stop or contain the energy that poured off of me at the time, and I could not stop myself from infecting her, although… she is not a threat in the normal manner."
Violet cocked her head to one side.
"The normal manner?"
It took a moment for Himeko to respond, although when she did it was cautious.
"Normally the radiation I emit would cause people to turn into mindless abominations armed with scythes or bows or swords made from twisted… material. They emit radiation as well, and ruthlessly stalk and kill others."
"That's normal? Where are you from?"
The question was asked politely, but with an air of uncertainty to it, as if Violet couldn't believe her own voice.
"More or less, it accompanied any serious eruption or impact event. Hordes of infected "survivors" would pour from the sights of each and every catastrophe."
Himeko's face was quiet and angry as she finished.
"I was so angry at myself for letting it happen. Now… I need to know what you know about Human Masters, I have a suspicion it's related to Taylor's… struggles."
Lily leaned in, facing her from her position across the table.
"Her struggles? Like who put her in that locker? Feels a bit like a conspiracy theory, doesn't it?"
Himeko shook her head, kicking her own feet up onto the ottoman in the center of the living room.
"I don't think so. I've gone to her school, spoken to the teachers there, seen the students."
She paused, wetting her lips with her tongue.
"Blackwell is lying, and she's terrible at it, not only that, she's been intimidated into keeping quiet. Other teachers at the school, those who aren't total fools, saw the way that Taylor's grades shifted and they've seen enough to know she's doing something to cover up for them."
Himeko paused.
"I've seen bullying and schoolyard pranks in my day, and I've seen hazing of a dozen varieties. This is so far beyond that… the cruelty is unparalleled. I'm astonished about the sheer amount of people who are in a position of power who simply… ignored her because it was easier to do."
Another pause.
"Finally… I have spoken with and seen Taylor for days now, days in which I have seen the best and worst sides of her. She encountered something that broke her into a wreck not more than a day ago. She looked like she'd seen a ghost of something."
Violet moved first.
"But you can't be sure that it was a master."
Himeko shook her head.
"I can't, but I have a hunch, because of the sheer… apathy of the school. I don't understand how they could just ignore such events happening."
"So you jump to master involvement?"
"Not quite, it's also the behavior of other students around one of the trio of primary bad actors mentioned in the reports. One Sophia Hess."
Himeko watched carefully as Violet said nothing, but Lily stiffened in her seat, before she whispered.
"Sophia Hess? You're sure?"
Himeko stood up and moved to her office, the section of the main room slightly isolated behind a simple screen, and came back with a pile of paper.
The stack, with a muted wham, landed on the coffee table, and Himeko gestured to it.
"Read it and weep."
They read, and the hours of the night dulled into the early ones of morning. The papers rustled, coffee was brewed and consumed, and the conversation had stilled completely as Himeko took notes, Violet read, and Lily turned stony faced.
As the sun's rays touched against her face, Himeko startled slightly, looking over her shoulder to the two women in her living room. She pushed glasses down her face, casually inspecting the sight, and had to stifle a slight giggle.
For one thing, Violet was surprisingly cute, crashed out and slumped over a couch, sleeping away with no cares in the world.
For another, Lily's snores were loud enough to wake the dead.
Himeko snickered, scooped up her short friend and set her down in her bedroom, then, she returned, and had to stifle a slight surprised grunt as she moved to pick up Narwhal and move her to the guest room.
The surprise was when Narwhal woke up, blearily opening an eye and yawning, her voice slightly wavering in the early hours of the morning.
"Hi-Himeko? Did we pass out?"
Himeko placed a finger to her lips and smiled slightly.
"Apologies, I was going to carry you to the guest room, but woke you instead."
The other woman yawned and stretched, sitting up in her rumpled and slightly wrinkled clothing, reflecting on the stack of papers.
"I see why you think a master might be involved. But something doesn't fit the pattern."
Himeko frowned lightly.
"Pattern?"
Violet nodded once, grimly.
"Has Lily told you what I do?"
Himeko shook her head.
"Makes sense, she did kind of just drop the two of us into a room and laughed about it."
Himeko raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Well, she does do that with some frequency, if the rumors on PHO I hear of her are somewhat true."
Violet laughed, the sound bright and loud, only to be drowned out by what had to be a power given snore coming from Himeko's bedroom, because there was no way in hell that a normal person made noises that loud.
"All of them are some frame of true, but she exaggerates her own stories as well."
Himeko snickered.
"Really? For what reason?"
Violet settled into the chair, gentle as she went, before she responded almost coyly.
"She likes the mystique, and she likes it when the enemy has no idea what she can actually do."
Himeko frowned.
"Speaking of… what can she actually do?"
Violet sighed and leaned back.
"I wish I knew, but she keeps it really close to the chest. According to the PRT itself, she's a really powerful kinetic energy manipulator in a small area around herself. But she's not Manton Limited, meaning she can affect herself as easily as anything around her."
"Is that where her superhuman feats come from?"
Himeko's question was asked as coffee brewed and the smell of bacon sizzling filled the small room, with a chair slightly groaning as Violet stood up just a bit.
"Here, let me help."
Only for a single finger of Himeko's to meet her forehead and gently push her down.
"Ah ah ah, I am hosting, and you heard me out, more than that, while you don't believe me yet. I suspect that you will soon. But you were telling me that this doesn't fit the pattern?"
Violet sighed.
"Ok, so, Parahumans like you or me, we have a few things in common. One is that we're not subtle. You know Heartbreaker?"
Himeko's lip turned down and her gaze turned icy.
"Yes. He could keep a low profile, could have done a number of things, instead, he targets the people with the highest profiles imaginable, just because he can? And others… we're just not subtle. Masters can do this sort of subtle thing."
"But?"
Violet shook her head.
"But they almost never do. Heartbreaker was aforementioned, but there are others, Mindblank, Eraser, a few capes on the east coast, and… then there's Leere."
"Leere?"
Violet shuddered.
"Gesellschaft, nazi cape. She's… a brainwashing master, and they keep her to make more nazi fanatics to drop on US soil."
Himeko's jaw hit the floor.
"They do what?"
Violet froze up slightly, before she spoke.
"Gesellschaft, a Germanic Nazi ring. Leere is one of theirs, but before you ask why we don't just kill her…"
Violet paused, sucking in air through her teeth.
"Leere is 13, she triggered, as far as we can tell, 1 year ago. The PRT has her at Master unknown, because we can't figure out what she does to people."
Himeko spoke.
"I take it she's kept underground?"
Violet nodded.
"Complete ghost, one photo of her in a little nazi uniform."
Himeko grimaced.
"Filthy ideology."
Her breakfast companion nodded.
"Yes. Part of the reason I'm here, actually, is tracking a link to a few of their capes in Brockton Bay."
"So it wasn't just for my winning smile and excellent personality?"
Violet snickered slightly.
"I have to say, I was impressed by your debut, takes a lot of restraint, and I'm not used to seeing that."
"That pattern you mentioned, right?"
"Exactly, to get back on track… These three girls could absolutely be victims of a master, but why? What's the end goal of attacking a single student like this? What does the Master get from all this? That's why I'm confused and uncertain."
Himeko nodded, steepling her fingers together.
"I don't think they're victims, I think one of them is, the master."
Violet raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure about that theory?
Himeko shrugged.
"I don't know, but it's the only explanation that makes sense to me. These three torment her mercilessly, you mentioned that other parahumans aren't subtle. But, what if we're missing the forest for the trees here?"
Violet thought for a moment.
"You think that the subtlety is the parahuman being loud?"
Himeko nodded.
"What if it's an obsession, if we look at it from that perspective… then what's happening would make total sense from a stalker, but the apathy-"
Violet nodded, picking up on what the other woman was saying.
"Would make total sense if a Master who specialized in emotions was messing with people's ability to perceive her complaints as genuine. Even circumstantially, this evidence is more than enough to put all three of them away in serious detention centers."
"The question is which one of the trio is the master. Madison Clements?"
"Nahhhh, it's not her, I interviewed her for an internship thing at the PRT last summer."
Lily's voice, thick with sleep, filled the air as she strode out, adding a swing of her hips and a flirty look at Himeko.
"Man if I'd known I'd get princess carried, I'd have come over faster."
"You fell asleep on the couch snoring loud enough to start an aircraft engine."
Himeko's response was deadpan and quick, and got a chuckle out of Violet, and an exaggerated stabbing motion into Lily's heart.
"Gah! Himeko you wound me!"
"Right."
"But you were saying something about Madison Clements?"
Lily nodded.
"Yup."
She popped the "p", leaning in and pointing over the complaints.
"Her harassment is purely vocal and online, also, she's not exactly creative with her insults, I think she's a capital "F" follower. No, I wanna know what's up with Emma Barnes."
Violet spoke up next.
"What about Hess?"
Lily shook her head, ice cold in her eyes.
"Not her. She's a psychopath and a bitch, but it's not her."
Himeko spoke up, her eyes locked tight to Lily.
"You know something about Hess that you're not telling us. What is it?"
Lily looked away, and it was Violet, who suddenly spoke up.
"Lil, if this is important… we need to know."
Lily sighed, leaned forward, and began to speak.
"Sophia Hess is a parahuman, but she's not our master."
Himeko narrowed her eyes, and the air subtly shifted. Lily looked guilty.
"Look, you have to understand, I never would have allowed this, but… Sophia Hess isn't someone I can say anymore on, just… you have to know that she's not the master."
The woman stood up, and moved towards the door.
"But Emma… I think you're onto something there Himeko, look at her. Something about this doesn't add up, I have to call the director. Keep me posted on your end?"
She stepped out, and Himeko waited until her footsteps had completely trailed off before she turned to Violet.
"Ward."
Violet nodded once.
"Has to be, no other reason she'd act like that lest Sophia was her own kid and Challenger was never the type."
Himeko paused.
"This situation is… messed up, I'm starting to suspect that the master isn't working against the others. Do you have any other insights?"
Violet paused for a moment.
"I've never seen a master not attempt control on people around them, we need to inspect other members of her family. Especially her parents, can you rely upon me to do that?"
Himeko studied the other woman carefully. Studied the resolve that burned and blazed in her eyes, before she nodded once, and rose from her spot at the kitchen table. Taking the plates of food, eaten during the conversation, she carefully moved back to the table.
"Let's get her, for the sake of Taylors health."
Violet looked at her, smiled and nodded, before asking quietly.
"Tell me about Taylor, before we split off."
Himeko smiles, leans back, and starts.
"She's strong, willpower like titanium, and… she's adapting to the infection well, no danger of any leakage so far. But… this treatment. I worry about her ability to rationalize or temper it. I worry she won't be able to hold it back if we do not stop this master in its tracks."
Violet paused.
"I take it she has to hold it back for really important reasons?"
Himeko nodded once, her tone shaking.
"If Taylor loses her ability to contain the energy and her emotions… she may wipe Brockton Bay off the map, entirely."
Violet went pale, standing up and moving for the exit.
"Then let's get this done, no?"
Himeko nodded.
"Couldn't agree more."
The door shut with a click as Violet made her exit. Himeko took a few moments to compose herself, to suppress the boiling rage that snarled in her to rip and tear down. To fly at Emma, Madison, and Sophia and force them to confess with her sheer presence.
Her fingers heated up, and Himeko felt that same golden light spread through her fingers and hands once more, lighting up veins and skeleton with even movements.
She sucked in a breath and forced her composure, feeling herself cool and calm down slowly and carefully. She had to maintain control, had to, there was no other option.
Lisa Wilbourne
It was official, Lisa hated her job. It was also entirely her boss's fault.
"You gonna talk about what's up with your chest, girlfriend?"
Aisha was sitting across from her, legs folded up, one half of the twins that had founded the Undersiders, the gorgeous young woman had her head cocked slightly to one side as she studied Lisa, staring at the prominent, curling mark on her chest.
"Never took you for the tattoo type."
Lisa grimaced.
"I'm not."
Aisha smiled at her, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Care to say more?"
Lisa frowned at her friend and, realizing that Aisha probably wasn't going away until she explained.
"Fine. It was probably our boss, I think."
Aisha raised an eyebrow.
"You think? Sis? You're the one with the super thinker power, don't you know more?"
Lisa shook her head.
"Headache. Can barely think, please don't aggravate it."
Aisha nodded.
"So our boss caused… this?"
Lisa nodded.
"I think so. Don't know how, but… woke up with it on my chest and a raging thinker headache. Don't… understand how."
Aisha nodded.
"Fine. This going to compromise the team? We're supposed to be interviewing that new girl, no?"
Lisa waved her off.
"I'll be fine by the time Cherish shows up. No need to worry."
Lisa moved her way from her room, silencing Regent with a lethal glare.
"No. Shut up. I know she's your sister and I know you think she's some kind of monster."
Alec surprised her when he grabbed her arm and tugged her aside.
"No… um… it's not that Tats."
She took a moment to look carefully at the young man. He wasn't disheveled, had dressed nicely, and was genuinely prepared. Was he wearing concealer as well? The lackadaisical smile was still present. But, it seemed stretched slightly, Lisa, preemptively wincing, slowly let her power out.
Is nervous. Sociopathic, engineered by situation, tied to sister. Sister brings up emotions Alec is uncomfortable with.
Lisa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that, her power was fond of pointing out only the most obvious sometimes. But as a sudden surge of pain rammed through her skull, a slightly deeper, huskier voice, the one she was really trying very hard to pretend didn't scare her, whispered.
"Alec is vulnerable right now. You can tear him open and make him yours. Should you wish, oh vessel mine."
She shrugged it off, fighting the voice that wanted her to do… horrible things to the people she was close to.
Alec didn't deserve that.
Even if he aggravated her constantly.
But his sister… was a slight unknown. It was, as far as Lisa had been concerned, impossible to shake off the unease that she felt around Alec, as if there was something hiding just beneath the surface and it was always there.
Her power had trouble reading him sometimes, and while it had whispered he had a hidden past, so did many of them. Lisa had been threatened into obedience by Coil, Aisha and Brian had killed someone before, and Bitch… Bitch had killed more than a few nazis at Hookwolf's rallies.
They were all damned, as far as Lisa knew, and Coil had them for felony's at best if he ever felt like making a point.
She still remembered what had happened the last time she'd "gotten cute" with him, and tried to resist. She cursed herself for her enforced helplessness, even as she chafed against it.
Coil was also responsible for her current predicament. Something that Lisa glared at, the tattoo prominent on her chest as she growled angrily, the mark flaring up.
"You could break him too. Take his power and make it your own. Do you want to know how?"
The damnable voice whispered in the back of her head, and Lisa flinched.
She shook her head, pushing the voice away from her, pushing it into the back of her mind, forcing it to be quiet so she could think.
And of course that was when her phone rang.
The phone she kept locked in her drawer, behind a biometric security measure.
The phone that Coil called.
She picked up the device and flicked it open then on, then up to her ear.
"Tattletale."
Voice was curt, angered.
"Would you like to know, oh vessel mine~? I can tell you why he is angry~ All you need to do is trust me~"
"Yes boss?"
Coil's reply was curt, sharp, a far cry from his normal order.
"I need a threat profile on Vermillion Knight, now."
"The newcomer? Why? She just busted a bunch of basic nazis?"
"He can't see her~"
The voice in her head, mocking in tone, laughing even as she shoved it into the darkness.
But if what it had told her was true…
"Complete it as soon as possible." Came the curt, angry reply from Coil.
"Fine."
The call clicked dead a moment later. Leaving Lisa to think in peace and quiet.
She'd have to miss the meeting with Cherish, which… was a rough thing, but how bad could it possibly go? Aisha and Brian were good at talking, and provided that Bitch didn't pull her asinine dominance displays or hierarchical dog crap, this recruit should be a slam dunk.
But… if that voice was right.
If Coil couldn't see Vermilion Knight?
Maybe it was time that All_Seeing_Eye and Vermillion_Knight met in person.
But if she had to assemble that threat dossier, then she'd do so now.
Lisa cracked her knuckles, sat down in the chair at his desk, and booted up her laptop. She pulled a notebook from the bottom of her desk, and began to take notes.
Vermilion Knight was dangerous, scary, dangerous again, and her public shenanigans were clearly a distraction from what she was actually capable of.
That morning, Lisa had watched as Armsmaster and a half dozen PRT troopers moved around a puddle of burned out slag that had been something, at one point or another. Something made of a strange white metal shot through with purple accents.
She'd watched as they'd torn pieces of strange machinery, and slagged weapons, from the looks of the barrels and handles, out of the pile.
Whatever had been there had been another piece of something from where Vermilion Knight had come from, and she was covering it up.
But why?
Lisa relaxed, letting her power stare at the photos and the crime scene photos. She'd been there in person, taking photos from a nearby rooftop, and while she'd not thought about using her power to apply to camera work priorly, when it had just been an amateur hobby of hers.
She smiled bitterly, knowing full well that it was a sour taste to take pride in those photos.
Photographs taken of slag, severe heat damage on all pieces, burns in excess of normal melting temperatures.
Eyes narrowed, Lisa stopped her power and considered. Thermite would have worked here, but the amount that was needed would have been immense.
Her power unleashed again.
Amount of Slag consistent with medium sized room, thickness of melted door indicates bulkhead.
Bulkheads, doors that sealed areas of naval vessels off. Had she come from a ship? Lisa clicked open tabs on her laptop, browsing furiously.
Hours later, Lisa sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and went to find something to eat. As she threw together a sandwich in the kitchen, she looked elsewhere, wondering how the team's recruitment was going.
She had made no real progress. Military vessels didn't use titanium in their construction, for a number of reasons, but primarily because of its sheer cost. The metal was expensive and fairly rare, especially in the quantities needed to build entire vessels out of it.
To say nothing of the color of the metal. She'd thought it was titanium, but frankly wasn't sure anymore, the metal itself was white, even in the places that had melted to expose it. Titanium… didn't look like that.
Lisa sipped her coffee and sighed slightly. A ding on her laptop alerted her to a PHO message, and she took a brief look at it.
Hmm. Vermilion Knight, thanking her for the help involving Winslow.
Lisa smiled, a hunch that had paid its dividends many times over was helping this woman with whatever she asked for.
She'd been apprehensive at first, and a part of her still was, Lisa let her eyes track back over to the bug out bag she kept behind her door, with a spare gun and cash.
If the woman had been a PRT hero, she would have figured her out already, and a part of Lisa was fairly certain she already had, and yet… she kept asking for help.
She wanted more information, which made her firmly in the territory of a grey hero, a vigilante who was going to take things into their own hands if they felt the need.
But this hunch about Winslow… the woman, she'd rescued a girl that day that Lisa had seen her. That girl meant something to her.
Something that Coil likely wanted, given the presence of a threat assessment.
For just a moment Lisa dared to allow herself to hope, and then that voice surged from the back of her mind once more.
"Oh vessel mine, do you want to know why he's so concerned with Vermilion Knight~?"
The voice… it was as if she felt the presence of the voice then, fingers wrapping around her shoulders and tugging her back and close.
Lisa looked up, at the vanity mirror above her desk, and she saw the way her eyes opened, into bottle green seas, ringed around the middle with a white ring and black and white star shaped symbols.
She saw the woman draped around her shoulders, saw the same eyes on her, the same hair, but the differences ended.
This woman wore armor, a catsuit like Lisa, but armored plates fitting over the top of it.
"Do you want to know more, oh vessel mine~?"
"LISE!"
The voice, the shout, slammed her free of her thoughts, and she looked up from the meaningless scribbles on her desk, scribbles inscribed into the notebook and a threshold for a threat analysis rising clean from the page.
Vermilion Knight.
Threat Level: Yes.
Risk Level: Uncertain.
Powers: Brute 5, Mover 5, others unknown.
Threat level yes?
What on earth did that mean?
"LISE!"
"WHAT!"
Brian pounded on the door, and Lisa opened it, and found him… soaked in sweat and furious, the sound of arguing emanated from the downstairs floor of the loft.
"What?"
Brian looked murderous.
"Bitch did her thing."
Lisa felt a headache sprout in her forehead.
"Did we lose he-"
Brian cut her off.
"Cherish? Yes, she was gone the moment Bitch raised hell, Aisha looked about ready to stab her."
"Fuckkkk"
She could already feel Coil's ire rising.
The noose around her neck tightening.
"Come now little Vessel, let me in."
She shoved the voice down with gritted teeth.
"Fuck. Ok, we need other options, or the boss is going to come down on us hard."
Brian paled, and Lisa nodded.
"Not Spitfire."
She smiled a bit more.
"She's… volatile, and shy, and not immune to her own stuff. What about that new cape, Vermilion Knight?"
Lisa started chewing her lip. Considering her options as she stared down at the pages of her notebook, and a single string of text lurking in her head all the while.
VK: Thank you for your help.
A/N:
We're not that far from the end of this arc, and now we're getting into the meat of things, with Himeko piecing together everything even as shadowy figures move in the background. It's been a joy to write Narwhal and Himeko so far, and I can't wait to have more of their interactions!
If you enjoy this, please consider supporting me on Patreon, it helps me have more of everything to write and entertain you all! (Also you can read to the end of this arc, which is live up there!)
As always, comments and criticisms are always welcome and I love receiving them!
Relevant links!
Discord: Join the Firebird's hearth Discord Server!
P.S. Slight Housekeeping note, midterms are starting up, and the next story on the update schedule is Records of the Void, so it may be a bit before I'm able to update Cloudburst, my apologies for that everyone!
