That's it. You have killed me.
Eden's Edge (Worm/Sonnie's Edge [Love, Death, and Robots])
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
Okay, now that I reread it, I'm ready to present my thesis: The Big and Definitive and Completely Objective Analysis of Who Fucked Up and How Much
TLDR; everyone.
Now, to unpack.
Firstly, Annette. Honestly, in the best of the worlds the actual best thing to do would have been getting Taylor to Protectorate and negotiating for a Tinker who specializes in neurology to professionally do stuff.
But, three problems.
1) Her Shard was clearly fucking with her and maybe even trying to get Taylor to die through negligence so that she would have more motivation to Seek Worthy Opponents.
2) The cape in question could fuck up on their own, since the initial reaction was very likely involved with an abnormal trigger, and their Shard could obfuscate the things due to limitations. I'm honestly impressed that Annette managed to browbeat her own Shard into ( grudgingly ) helping her
3) And that's not even talking about frankly understandable authority and trust issues Annette has with the Protectorate, and this is a setting where Doctor Mother can designate a fucking city to be a massive experiment in neo-feudalism, and no one else in the conspiracy meant to save the world points out how fucking stupid the idea is, so. There's like a non-zero chance of them snatching Taylor and using her in a fucked up experiment right out of protective custody, if she proves interesting enough. Dunno how the deals affected the trigger, but power nullifier is actually very OP, broken as fuck depending on how far up the Shard Social Chain the effect spreads.
So, instead of that, repeated mind wipes.
As a tangent, fuck Emma, fuck Sophia, fuck Sophia especially since I think she was intentionally trying to get Taylor to trigger all this time, only to finally succeed on like the fifth attempt. I mean, Emma not figuring it out after the first two times is implausible, so I guess she's either completely detached from reality and/or someone was encouraging her, guess who. I kinda wonder how Annette managed not to murder her, I mean, she repeatedly triggered Taylor's suicide attempts, it's not outside the realm of possibility a normal, mentally-adjusted parent would have tried to kill her after that. I suppose she can compartmentalize like a champ.
Ahem. So, mind wipes.
Despite what Taylor feels on the matter at the moment, her mom did fuck up. She also did her best, so. Honestly, moving out and arranging regular visits is really not a bad idea, but lol, not gonna happen, this city is fucked.
Okay, so the rest of them don't really need so much text.
Carol fucked up at being a parent. But she, like, still needs therapy for that incident, and apparently nobody convinced her of that.
Victoria fucked up at patience and restraint.
Amy fucked up by not asking to get paid some actual real money from the hospitals who employ her. Well, understandable. Getting paid for your services is capitalism, and capitalism is eviiil.
Taylor fucked up at figuring out relationships, but that's fairly normal for a teenager, and considering she's hornier than I remember being in her age, ( and I regret sooooooo many thing I've done ) probably because of feedback loops, well. She kinda needs to properly apologize, when she's able to.
Abby fucked up by picking up a girl with scars and frankly not being prepared for her issues. Understandable, though. You thought it was a simple body issue, but it was me, Being Taylor Is Suffering! It's like saying she went hiking, but wasn't prepared to climb the Mount Everest. But still, the point stands.
I mean, I hope things get better for her, but for now Taylor is kinda a crispy toast with scrambled eggs on it and probably leans into useless lesbianism to distract herself from it. You know it's bad when your trigger event somehow improves your mental state.
Photon Mom fucked up by pushing Brandish into adopting another child, but that's from canon.
Lisa fucked up at not being smug and poking people who would probably murder her if she doesn't take over Coil's organization first, but that's also from canon. She should wind down somewhat, maybe read a capefic. I've heard that one about a bug girl and a detective is very good.
The only one who didn't fuck up is... Lindsay? She killed Hookwolf, so, high five.
Ah, it actually feels a little freeing to let it all out like that.
Okay, looking forward to the next chapter!
Fuck, it's here already.
TLDR; everyone.
Now, to unpack.
Firstly, Annette. Honestly, in the best of the worlds the actual best thing to do would have been getting Taylor to Protectorate and negotiating for a Tinker who specializes in neurology to professionally do stuff.
But, three problems.
1) Her Shard was clearly fucking with her and maybe even trying to get Taylor to die through negligence so that she would have more motivation to Seek Worthy Opponents.
2) The cape in question could fuck up on their own, since the initial reaction was very likely involved with an abnormal trigger, and their Shard could obfuscate the things due to limitations. I'm honestly impressed that Annette managed to browbeat her own Shard into ( grudgingly ) helping her
3) And that's not even talking about frankly understandable authority and trust issues Annette has with the Protectorate, and this is a setting where Doctor Mother can designate a fucking city to be a massive experiment in neo-feudalism, and no one else in the conspiracy meant to save the world points out how fucking stupid the idea is, so. There's like a non-zero chance of them snatching Taylor and using her in a fucked up experiment right out of protective custody, if she proves interesting enough. Dunno how the deals affected the trigger, but power nullifier is actually very OP, broken as fuck depending on how far up the Shard Social Chain the effect spreads.
So, instead of that, repeated mind wipes.
As a tangent, fuck Emma, fuck Sophia, fuck Sophia especially since I think she was intentionally trying to get Taylor to trigger all this time, only to finally succeed on like the fifth attempt. I mean, Emma not figuring it out after the first two times is implausible, so I guess she's either completely detached from reality and/or someone was encouraging her, guess who. I kinda wonder how Annette managed not to murder her, I mean, she repeatedly triggered Taylor's suicide attempts, it's not outside the realm of possibility a normal, mentally-adjusted parent would have tried to kill her after that. I suppose she can compartmentalize like a champ.
Ahem. So, mind wipes.
Despite what Taylor feels on the matter at the moment, her mom did fuck up. She also did her best, so. Honestly, moving out and arranging regular visits is really not a bad idea, but lol, not gonna happen, this city is fucked.
Okay, so the rest of them don't really need so much text.
Carol fucked up at being a parent. But she, like, still needs therapy for that incident, and apparently nobody convinced her of that.
Victoria fucked up at patience and restraint.
Amy fucked up by not asking to get paid some actual real money from the hospitals who employ her. Well, understandable. Getting paid for your services is capitalism, and capitalism is eviiil.
Taylor fucked up at figuring out relationships, but that's fairly normal for a teenager, and considering she's hornier than I remember being in her age, ( and I regret sooooooo many thing I've done ) probably because of feedback loops, well. She kinda needs to properly apologize, when she's able to.
Abby fucked up by picking up a girl with scars and frankly not being prepared for her issues. Understandable, though. You thought it was a simple body issue, but it was me, Being Taylor Is Suffering! It's like saying she went hiking, but wasn't prepared to climb the Mount Everest. But still, the point stands.
I mean, I hope things get better for her, but for now Taylor is kinda a crispy toast with scrambled eggs on it and probably leans into useless lesbianism to distract herself from it. You know it's bad when your trigger event somehow improves your mental state.
Photon Mom fucked up by pushing Brandish into adopting another child, but that's from canon.
Lisa fucked up at not being smug and poking people who would probably murder her if she doesn't take over Coil's organization first, but that's also from canon. She should wind down somewhat, maybe read a capefic. I've heard that one about a bug girl and a detective is very good.
The only one who didn't fuck up is... Lindsay? She killed Hookwolf, so, high five.
Ah, it actually feels a little freeing to let it all out like that.
Okay, looking forward to the next chapter!
Fuck, it's here already.
- Location
- Adelaide, Australia
She honestly doesn't remember killing Hookwolf though so that might have been Lung. If so, at least he did something useful before he lost his head.
- Location
- Earth, probably.
- Pronouns
- None/Any
Well, this was a fun chapter. I anticipate the meeting will be a lot less fun, but for now, for now things are pretty okay.
Wolfman217
Oh No! Oh No! Oh No!
- Location
- England
What's this bit mean? I can't tell, it's clearly referencing something that happened earlier but I'm not sure what, is it just the fact that Taylor wants to take the whole team to the meeting? Seems a bit overdramatic for that?
Anyway....YAY Update.
Looking forward to things moving on to stuff with Eden and the PRT & Protectorate because to be honest I'm just kinda bored of New Wave. I just don't consider them very interesting, Carol is just a bitch, Victoria's seriously annoying, Amy is beyond overdone in worm fic's at this point (the only person more so is Lisa) and the rest are just meh, can't remember their names half the time.
(Any fic where Lisa or Amy don't feature gets an automatic 'I'll check that out' from me)
I hate the PRT and Protectorate but conflict and antagonism with them is at least interesting.
Also Annette in fic's is rare, and especially Villainous Annette (honestly the only one of them I can think of is the crack-ish/comedy fic' where Annette IS Marquis and Taylor is a Ward), so I just want more Annette scenes and Taylor/Annette interaction. Also Flare is great, and Kurt and Lacey and the rest are really interesting.
Like, Annette is her mother, Kurt and Lacey were pretty much honorary uncle/aunty and her dad's best friends, and if I know anything about Union-like communities especially given Danny's position and length of tenure, then loads of people in the union would have been family friends and regularly seen at BBQ's, picnic's, party's and stuff (it's implied, at least to me, in canon that one of the effects of Annette's death was that Danny just stopped socializing with people bar Kurt and Lacey and even then that was rare).
(Even without Danny, more fic's should involve the Dockworkers.....people really forget how much potential they have, it's a ready made organization/potential gang who Taylor has known and been around pretty much her whole life)
So you've got all that on one hand vs New Wave, who for most of them she's literally just met, and of the rest, Carol is....well, Carol, Mark is depressed and so non-interactive and she hasn't known Victoria or Amy long at all really (just realised how quickly those two have attached to her.....it's kind of weird and unbelievable), and yet she seems to have massively attached to and has an insane amount of trust in New Wave.
Like even outside of the stuff with Annette (which Taylor has said isn't a problem for her anymore and it's NW who are pushing her to separate from Annette) she should still have attachment to people in Eden, given most of it is just the Dockworkers, and especially Kurt and Lacey, who she should trust more than anyone in New Wave.
So it's odd that 'her group' and the one she places her trust in is New Wave, and the 'outsiders' are Eden. Cuz that's definitely the vibe that's being sent. She's 'with' New Wave, and has to 'convince' them to 'let her' interact occasionally with Eden.....when really she should want to and be with Eden and Victoria, Amy and the rest of New Wave should be the ones trying to convince her it's 'in her best interest' to leave.
Honestly the Dallons are more fucked up then Annette, Kurt, and Lacey are. Taylor would actually be more likely to be happy and stable with them! Annette experienced a tortured to death husband, a tortured and raped daughter to the point her mind broke, a trigger, and being forced to mind wipe said daughter regularly to prevent her brutally killing herself....and somehow she's still more well adjusted than the Dallons are (and I'll just say it, still a better mum than Carol as well!).
Amy is seriously mentally unhealthy, like unbelievably so, and just not a very fun or good person to be around (why do people even like Amy, even forgetting her problems, she's just not very likeable? She has NO personality outside of cranky, bitchy, quietly unstable mess), her and Taylor are not going to miraculously fix each other and be happy. Victoria is an idiotic vainglorious collateral damage Barbie who has to have some serious horror done to her to make her even remotely consider that she's a moron and she needs to work on that. Carol is.....just highly highly unpleasant. And Mark is well, poor Mark, so depressed he's practically unresponsive half of the time and yet has a family that is somehow even more fucked up than he is.
I love how there's the comment that Carol should have never been given Amy to look after....while at the same time has now essentially been given Taylor too!
I also love how the argument is about getting Taylor away from Annette....when actually getting Amy away from Carol (and arguably Victoria) is far more vital! Like seriously Amy has been far more fucked up by Carol and Victoria than Taylor has been by Annette, and Annette arguably had no other choice!
The bloody Dallons are way more dangerous to Taylor than Annette is! Even more so now Annette literally has no more reason to mind wipe Taylor or even want to! And who is also utterly necessary to have around so Taylor doesn't die!
Seriously Taylor and Amy should be trying to get the fuck away from the Dallons, Taylor because she'd actually be happier, healthier, and more stable with Annette and the rest, and Amy because two of the Dallons are the root cause of all her mental problems.
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What's this bit mean? I can't tell, it's clearly referencing something that happened earlier but I'm not sure what, is it just the fact that Taylor wants to take the whole team to the meeting? Seems a bit overdramatic for that?
Anyway....YAY Update.
Referencing Taylor's drunken flirting with Carol earlier in the fic.
Write your own then.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
Hmm.
That's an interesting application of powers, lol.
Kinda wondering how it works exactly, whether it's a hard built automatic counter that prevents Shards from using their powers or QA staring angrily at the Shard trying to hurt her Host and telling them to back the fuck off.
Also, is Taylor actually secondary trigger? I read somewhere that Shards propagate from mother to son, from father to daughter, and Danny didn't tri-
Oh shit he totally did, didn't he.
Anyways. Here's the question everyone in every Worm fic asks the author about:what about them busses ah, I mean, have you thought about the name for the Shard lodged into Annette's brain? It's, like, not critical, not in the least, but fun to think about.
That's an interesting application of powers, lol.
Kinda wondering how it works exactly, whether it's a hard built automatic counter that prevents Shards from using their powers or QA staring angrily at the Shard trying to hurt her Host and telling them to back the fuck off.
Also, is Taylor actually secondary trigger? I read somewhere that Shards propagate from mother to son, from father to daughter, and Danny didn't tri-
Oh shit he totally did, didn't he.
Anyways. Here's the question everyone in every Worm fic asks the author about:
Aeselon
Runs With Sentences
- Location
- UK
In fairness to QA, she's been trying to connects to Best Host for literal Years in this fic, with another shard continuously getting in the way (via Annette and her mind wipery). Can you blame the poor dear for being a bit overprotective now that she's finally connected and is getting so much awesome Data? I mean, come on, how many shards get to be connected to a human whose brain has been stuck in a tinkertech kaiju that's using her old human body as a meat puppet to be a useless lesbian around other hosts?
In case it's not obvious, the above is not at all serious despite the fact that I'm a sucker for QA being a little... Aberrant in comparison to other shards and being weirdly on Taylor's side.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
Hey, no judging, this is very popular fanon, and I'm also a sucker for it.
So does this count as Taylor reaching third base?
And I can't tell if Amy is pissed at the Taylor/Victoria interactions, or flustered/aroused. Or both?
...I'm gonna guess both.
And I can't tell if Amy is pissed at the Taylor/Victoria interactions, or flustered/aroused. Or both?
...I'm gonna guess both.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
That's the best name for an Abaddon Shard I've ever heard.
But Amy isn't a Shard, is she?
WhoAmEye
Bunker-Dwelling Cryptid
- Location
- Vault Birb
- Pronouns
- She/Her
THat would be Sherrell and Sophia's shards, respectively.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
Huuuuh.
She, what. Grabbed the signals of everyone in the vicinity of her two bodies?
Also, it's my headcanon now that Vehicular Manslaughter is the one who made Eden crash and burn while texting. It obviously hopped away at the last moment and now encourages the Host to construct more vehicles and kill more people with them to propagate its manifesto.
[SPEED KILLS, KIDDO.]
That begs the question of whether her trump/brute powers are an esoteric application of those buds' powers culminating in said effect, or if there are still aspects to Taylor's power that we've yet to see.Sadly, Best Shard is already attached to Annette
Kadath
Sinnamon Roll
- Location
- Somewhere
Good thought. I'd be thinking it'd be cool if it was like, her body generates smoke that "infects" beasties and allows her to pilot them
Power Play 8.4
WhoAmEye
Bunker-Dwelling Cryptid
- Location
- Vault Birb
- Pronouns
- She/Her
FRIENDS
Special thanks to my lovely co-author and wife, @hellgodsrus, without whom I would never would have been able to take part in creating half my fics, and our girlfriend @SolarFlare for being awesome and also betaing! Also special thanks Prime Betas @Tamahori and @32nd_freeze and @Ganurath for being betas and feeding me validation and feedback between updates!
Enjoy!
Power Play
8.4
-.-.-
"So… do I bother getting dressed up?" I asked, lounging out on the couch. Amy was predictably the first to finish getting changed, since all she really did was put on her robe. She didn't even have to change out anything from under it, which kind of bothered me. World's greatest healer and they didn't even offer her a ballistic vest or under-armour?
Or did they and her own suicidal nature kept her from bothering to wear it.
"Eh." Amy shrugged, slumping down on the couch next to me once I sat up. "The internet already has footage of your face, and we're all unmasked."
"Yeah but. Official cape stuffs." I put an arm around her and frowned as I felt her hip easily. "Amy… do you have any armour?"
The fact her head and hood lowered and looked away was all the answer I needed.
I sighed and pulled her closer, pushing her lightly protesting face into my chest. "We don't know how this is going to go, and it isn't just a routine trip to the hospital."
"But it's so heavy." She grumbled. "And…" And dying wouldn't be so bad.
"I wanna say something like 'having something happen to you on my conscience would be way heavier' but then you'd just keep not wearing it out of spite."
She almost snorted.
"Come on, let's go up there and get you protected." I got to my feet and tugged her up with me. The fact that she didn't resist majorly meant I was either on the right track and she didn't want to admit it, oooooooor… I'm not sure what the other possibilities were, but I didn't really want to think about them.
"Do you know how many cape powers are actually stopped by ballistic vests?"
"I'm guessing… a bunch."
"In the Wards, Aegis is probably the only one who'd be mildly inconvenienced by me wearing one, if they wanted to beat me up." She huffed. "Only the gangs bring guns to cape fights and they know better than to target the hospital."
"Didn't they do that once?"
"Before my time, but I think the Marquis made an example of them?" Amy frowned and shrugged as we got to the top of the stairs. "Dunno."
"Well… what if we got Mom to make you like - a meat suit. Steak-Mecha." I thought it was a great chance to make her smile, but she only looked more downcast. "Amy?"
"I don't advertise that I'm a full biokinetic for a reason, Taylor." She looked uncomfortable as I pulled her into her room. "We've already talked about why." She sighed, pulling off her robes. It didn't look easy, what with no zipper down the front. "It's in the closet."
"Yeah…" I winced, and opened the closet door. Part of me was expecting to find something incriminating like a sex toy or fanart of Vicky with J-sized breasts doing whatever it was she mentioned artists doing of her, but the rest of me realised that Amy wasn't stupid, and most teenagers knew not to leave physical evidence for their parents to find, let alone anyone else. I found the vest - wow, that was way lighter than I thought it'd be from the looks of it - behind a couple of sweaters and a puffer jacket. "People start wondering, if you can do this, what else can you do?"
"Exactly." Glaring at the vest, she slipped her hands under and tugged it up, letting me hold it over her head for her to slip into. "God I hate this thing."
"It's weirdly light."
"Taylor, you have like triple the muscle density of your appearance. You can effortlessly carry me bridal. It is not light."
I cleared my throat guiltily and looked away. "Right. Keep forgetting that." Brainwave! "Does that mean if it gets too heavy for you, you want me to start carrying you?" I leaned forward, grinning.
"Oh my god." Amy buried her face in her knees. "... maybe?"
"Just say the word, and I'm yours." I smiled, sitting on the bed next to her. "I'm not sure what the word is, but I'm sure I'll pick it up through context clues when you start tiredly glaring at me, hunched over like you want to headbutt me in the boob."
"Careful. I bite."
"I noticed~" I giggled, leaning in, glad the door was shut, "And I can't wait for a chance to do it again." Cautious, face aimed at her neck, I want to kiss her, I want to make out, I want to hold her and help her destress before we face the Protectorate -
"Hmmm," she breathed. "I think. I might want to - destress after the meeting. If that's okay?"
"If we get a chance, I will happily shelve whatever else is in the way for you." I smiled, leaning in and kissing her neck softly, working my way up her jaw to her lips.
"You - are incorrigible." She mumbled, though her hand came up to grip my hair, before hesitating and flinching away. "I -"
"We've got ten minutes to make out before anyone comes to check on us." I looked at her through hooded eyes. "It'll be interesting playing tonsil hockey without an unfair advantage." I grinned lopsidedly and she chortled.
"Fine." She bit me.
-.-.-
The feeling of her letting me work my fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp - she'd flinched at first, her hand in mine pulling away, but I didn't grab her, didn't tighten my grip on her hair, just scritches.
Her little gasps as I worked my lips over her neck, tugging her just slightly to expose her more, suckling and leaving a fresh hickey by her collar, which she smacked me for - before returning the favour.
"Earth to Taylor." Victoria's finger jabbed at my butt and I almost made an indecent noise instead of the startled yelp that came out. "You're not back at Eden already, are you?"
I was stuck between her and Amy in the back of the Dallon's big black SUV. "What? No, no, I was just. Daydreaming."
Amy tried not to choke to death on her own - or was it my? - saliva next to me, and I had to pat her on the back a few times before she started breathing right again.
Carol glanced behind herself at us, before turning to face the road again, gingerly shifting in her seat. Mark was driving, and didn't even spare us a look in the rear-view mirror. Which - on one hand, I felt kind of offended, on the other, he was driving and -
And it felt weird, being in a car now that I knew it was a lie. That there was no crash. It probably helped that I was in the middle and surrounded by people who didn't make me think of -
"Taylor." Vicky's arms around me. "Stop."
"S-stop what?"
"Thinking about it. You started shaking again."
I nodded jerkily. "Th-thank you." Deep breath. Think about boobs. Deep breath. Chest heaving. Amy's - okay. Back in full on useless non-traumatic lesbian mode. I need to find better coping methods. Like, seriously. "Okay. I'm here. What's up?"
"You're usually such a chatterbox." Victoria wriggled in her seat. "So um. I got worried when you were so quiet." I got worried you were thinking about my sister indecently, you mean. "Do you. Know what we should expect when we arrive at Eden?"
I shrugged. "Nope. Mom's going to be unhappy regardless because the Protectorate went ahead and pulled that shit after agreeing to a meeting, so there'll probably be a few Beasties out and active, Flare might be there, and uh." I winced. "Possibly some of the Undersiders?"
Carol shot me a glare. "Villains."
"Hired as security. Considering they've apparently only ever hit the gangs, might be their way of trying to work towards legitimate work?"
"Don't make excuses for them."
"Well -" I huffed and sulked. "Mom wouldn't hire them if she thought they'd turn on her. Not unless she's absolutely sure she could remove them all before they could do anything to me. So if they are there, they're - probably just for posturing. I dunno. Considering the Protectorate might be showing up, they might not even be in the open at all."
"And some of the Travelers." Victoria shot me an apologetic look. "Trickster was there this morning. They're… kinda weird as villain groups go. Lots of heavy hitters power wise, but they stay mobile and try to stay out of the limelight. They have um. A few kills in their rep, though. Mostly accidental."
"Mostly. There was that thing in New York, as well, from what I know." Mark frowned, still not looking into the rear view mirror. I wondered if the reason I had the great view of his face was because I was blocking the mirror - yeah, that was definitely it. Damn my tallness.
"Never really attributed to them directly, but yeah, forty people disappearing right before they skip town is pretty suspicious."
"Wait - forty?" I blinked. "That's… wouldn't that be enough to trigger a manhunt? Especially in New York of all places? Like - here in Brockton, that's basically just another Empire rally, and we all know how little is done about that, but New York is… Legend's stationed there, isn't he?"
"It's not like them leaving was the only thing that happened just after the forty people thing, but…" Victoria twisted her fingers around. I leaned into her a little bit as Mark turned the corner and I forgot to brace. "Oi, geddoff." She pushed me onto Amy - wheee - who just rolled her eyes and pushed me back - wheee - until Carol cleared her throat.
"If they are there… don't interact with them." She looked rather stern about it. "Taylor, that includes you. As a representative of Eden, it would be… understandable, but given you are also a representative of New Wave, it is not." She took a deep breath, straightening up even more somehow. "Ultimately, we are here impartially, to prevent conflict."
I winced. Mom - Mom I could maybe hold back, as long as they didn't go pressing her beserk buttons. But I had a sinking feeling they weren't here to make friends. "Prevent conflict. Got it."
"Impartially, Taylor."
"Look, I get that I'm representing New Wave too, but you're asking me to be unbiased about the woman who triggered to save my life, and also happens to be my mother. It's - it's not easy." I folded my arms and looked down at my oh-so-suddenly-interesting knees. "I can try. But I can't promise anything."
"That's all we can ask for," said Victoria, cutting across whatever Brandish had been about to say. "Doing your best."
"Get ready, because we've arrived." Mark noted, slowing down and pulling into the DWA… DWU… the dockyards work- the - just call it the Garden of Eden, that's what it is now. "And it looks like we weren't expected."
"What?" I frowned, dragging my attention to… "Did she really - no, Kurt or Lacey would have pushed for this. Had to be them."
The yard had been turned into a barbecue. Coolers, a fridge with six extension cords, a couple of grills set up, and what looked like most of the Union just hanging out. There were some big things that looked like converted aquarium tanks, or old shipping containers with glass panels, that presumably contained Beasties. But mostly it was just people in slightly ratty old clothing sipping on cans of beer and enjoying themselves in the sun. I could even hear music playing as we got closer.
"So, I'm not the only one seeing a couple of Beasties armwrestling, am I?" Victoria pointed to where - there was indeed a couple of Beasties armwrestling, some of the workers around them chanting and cheering or lamenting loss as one of them won, two people hunched and swaying slightly behind them with crowns of electronics on their heads. And there was a guy built like Neil moving into the place of the loser.
"... she's presenting Eden as a community. Presumably she has people filming it and if the PRT do anything…" Mark swiped at his eyes tiredly.
"Because it is a community." I took off my seatbelt. "The Dockworkers Association. Dad was the head of hiring before - before Lung wanted the territory and Dad said no. These aren't faceless thugs or random minions - they're the people who've been struggling to make ends meet since the Boat Graveyard became a thing."
"The thing is, that could be said of a lot of faceless thugs. That's how economic disparity works." Brandish pursed her lips as I scowled. "I'm not sure this will work on the PRT. Too many people trained in the military school of acceptable casualties. But it might make our jobs easier, stop things from escalating in the first place." She leaned round her seat as the car pulled to a halt. "Remember, we're intermediaries. We can't be seen to be enjoying the festivities." She waved a hand vaguely. "I'm sorry."
"Well… at least we can enjoy the food, right?" Victoria gently elbowed me at my crestfallen expression, and shot a winning smile at her mother. "Just one item each, I'm guessing? Don't be too positive about getting hold of it but be polite?"
Carol nodded slowly. "Yes. But be careful."
"Alright! Come on Ames, Tay." Victoria launched the door open and stepped out in full Glory Girl attire, flashing a dazzling smile at no-one in particular.
I rolled my eyes and climbed out after her, part of me wishing she sent that smile my way, while the rest of me elbow-dropped it into submission given Amy and I had plans already. Could Amy even get drunk with her power?
Kurt was approaching cautiously, beer in one hand, walkie-talkie in the other, but all that tension dropped away when he saw me bopping Victoria's non-bruised shoulder - she jumped a literal foot in the air then clearly realised she was in public and couldn't retaliate too much - "Taylor - glad to see you could make it. And New Wave - it's uh. Good to see you too, I guess. Not here to cause trouble?"
"If they were there'd be flight of the valkyries playing as they flew in." I wrapped an arm around Amy's shoulder as she stepped out behind me. "And look, Panacea's not a frontliner, right?"
"I suppose so." He sighed, then brought the walkie-talkie to his mouth. "All clear, boss, they brought Tango with them, not here for a fight." I couldn't hear the answer from who I presumed was Mom, before clipping it back into his belt. "So, can I interest anyone in refreshments? We've got tea, beer, coffee, soda."
"Just some water, I think." Victoria's smile was still dazzling, but also professional. Brandish-like. It was… kinda creepy. It was the smile I'd seen from a distance at school a few times. "And maybe a burger? We are working."
Kurt's hand hovered next to the walkie talkie. "Working?"
"As independent heroes. Just keeping an eye on things."
"They're here to make sure - " Victoria's elbow nudged me firmly between the ribs. "Ow. Look, we can beat around the bush or get to the point."
"As intermediaries, we're meant to beat around the bush." Amy had somehow already acquired a greasy looking hotdog. When had she even escaped my hug?! Sneaky girlfr - sneaky friend with benefits was sneaky. "The other half should be right behind us. Sorry." She didn't sound sorry.
"It's okay. If it's alright, I'll go let the boss know that you guys are here and why?"
"S'good with me. Fair warning, the grown-ups are going to be grumpier than we are." Victoria gave me a tentative smile. "And we're going to have to be fairly, uh, even given the whole public setting and everything."
"Politics sucks." I groaned, dragging my hand down my face.
Kurt actually chuckled. "Okay. I understand, won't hold it against you. Have uh. A moderate amount of fun, I guess?"
"We'll do our best." I promised, before turning to Amy the moment he was walking away. "Where did you even get that?"
She didn't bother answering, just pointed to one of the grills where it looked like Sherrel was laughing about something with Lacey, starting an impromptu crab-claw tongs duel with her.
"Man, I hope I don't see whoever's knee I broke…" Victoria murmured, worrying at her lip. "Amy, um. If we do -"
"Nobody's limping, Victoria, Mom probably already dealt with it." I smiled softly, bumping shoulders with her. "Now, c'mon, I'm dying for some sugar and a burger's a great way to interrupt those two before they pinch something they shouldn't."
"..." It was hard to tell under her hood at first but -
"Amy, are you blushing?"
"N-no."
"Y'know, this kinda reminds me of when I first realised I was gay." I mentioned casually as we started strolling over to the food tables. "The rush of hormones, dolphins -"
"Endorphins." Amy interrupted.
"- endolphins, and all that - I dunno if it's the feedback loops playing a part or not, but everything is probably going to be turned lewd or innuendo or entardre -"
"Entendre." Vicky tried to correct me.
"- for a while. Like pinching." I smirked lazily at the healer and she smacked my ribs. "Oof - what is it with you two and abusing my ribs lately, I'm going to need to ask Mom for reinforcements at this rate."
"It's hard to smack your face when you're so tall." Amy grumbled, taking another bite of her hotdog. "Seriously, you're giant."
"Comes with a great view." I grinned down at her.
There was a yelp - Sherrel appeared to have lost the duel, and was nursing her butt. Never turn your back on your opponent. "Hey hey, little Hebert," she waved, before shooting a glare at a cackling Lacey who looked like she was about to try for a second pinch.
"Hey, uh." Do I call her Sherrell? Her mask is pushed up into her hair and it's not like she has a costume on… "How's it going?"
"Everything's going great. If I knew the benefits, I woulda joined the Union way earlier." She raised her tongs as if to make a clack-clacking point.
"Nice - any idea where Flare is? I haven't seen her around and - yeah. Wanted to make sure she was healing okay."
"She's out, at the moment. Probably at home by now, resting up."
Not hurt. That's good. I nodded slowly. "Okay. Thanks for letting me know."
I turned my attention to Lacey and Victoria - the former of which was apparently gawking at Victoria's arms, apparently astounded that a Brute didn't have massive thews. Which, coming from someone built like her, may have had a point - except Victoria still had muscles, just - smoother, subtler ones than emaciated old me did. Shit, I should probably eat too.
"Just one would be fine -"
"Nonsense! You need to eat up, you're a growing girl!"
Lacey wouldn't take no for an answer and Victoria was left with a paper plate piled high with meats, potatoes, and coleslaw. "Uh - Taylor, help?"
I knew Lacey. So I just grinned. "I can help you eat it, sure."
"That's not what I - I guess it works though. Cause you do need to eat." She smiled politely at Lacey. "Thank you. Sorry for barging in like we are. It looks like a lovely day you're having here."
Lacey still gave me a plate piled not quite as high as Victoria's with food, but I couldn't get away without it. "Don't be silly. You're friends of Taylor's, you're friends of ours. And family is always welcome at the Union Barbecues."
"Maybe we should sit down somewhere and eat." I suggested - before spotting Amy rummaging around in one of the coolers with Sherrel. They seemed to be having a quiet talk about something, something that involved a lot of Amy shaking her head but not scowling. And pushing away a glass bottle so Sherrel had probably suggested alcohol.
Somehow that didn't surprise me in the slightest.
We got to a table in the shade - Amy had grabbed some plastic knives and forks, and a bottle of soda for each of us - and sat down to eat. Vicky looked like she wanted to eat more than just her burger, but almost did nothing but look longingly at the rest while eating.
"So how's the burger?" I asked around a sausage, grinning.
"This has to be someone's secret recipe, it's so good." She almost sobbed. "I want to try the rest too."
"You got a single item. A plate of food." I gestured, grinning. "Or a meal. A meal's a single thing, right? It's not like we're doing what Eric is and cheering on the Beastie Armwrestling -" I looked over and paused. "... or doing what Manpower is doing and actually armwrestling a Beastie."
Both of them turned to look and sure enough, Sarah and Carol were there, both looking disappointed - Sarah in more of a fond 'that dumbass' kind of way, while Carol was just straight 'that dumbass' kind of disappointed. At least Neil won.
"Go uncle Neil, wow." Amy had raised eyebrows.
"Don't encourage him!" Victoria gasped, scandalized.
"I've touched those Beasties, I know how strong they can be." Amy grumbled, stabbing a hashbrown and taking a big bite out of it.
"When would you have - oh. Opening night?" Victoria winced.
Amy just nodded, quietly saying, "When I - forget it."
"No, it's important to talk about our feelings and stuff." I wrapped an arm around her. "Quietly, for sure, but…"
Amy harrumphed and turned away, but didn't resist leaning into me. "When I said I was doing everything opposite my instinct. That's why I came down to Eden and - helped fix up some Beasties. Lilith told me to get out when she realised you were coming - at first I thought she was being a bitch, but then she told me it was better to be caught trying to break in than getting caught having been in there and helping."
"Well. It definitely worked." I nodded. "Was that why PHO said the first part of the show was cancelled?"
"Probably. Lilith already had them made, I just - fine tuned them. Finishing touches that would have taken her so much longer." Amy admitted quietly. "Can we - not talk about this."
"Right." I nodded, looking to Victoria, who reluctantly nodded back. "... so how's the food? Compared to - your normal fare, I guess."
"Homely?" Amy shrugged. "Like someone put some effort in to make it more than just store-bought. Not gourmet but… good."
Victoria made a whining noise and I rolled my eyes. "Victoria, it'll be fine. If we need an excuse, we can literally just point at Lacey and say 'the big girl wouldn't take no for an answer and fed us'. Kurt can back us up, she used to do it to me all the time before -" before I couldn't bear to look at her without thinking of Dad and - "B-before. Fuck, I need so much therapy." I sighed, grinding the heels of my palms into my eyes. "Does - does the trigger ever get easier with time?"
"No." Victoria said, right as Amy said, "Yes."
They looked at each other. Victoria looked down at her food thoughtfully. "No. It gets easier to push to the side. Like… getting shot at. You think 'bad, danger', but you don't freeze up anymore."
"I'm sorry." I tried, but she shook her head.
"Not your fault this city is the cesspit of the East Coast. And speaking of cesspits -" she nodded at the entrance, where a veritable convoy of PRT vans came streaming in. At least six of them.
Behind them came Armsmaster and Miss Militia, both on motorbikes.
"Here comes the cavalry…"
Special thanks to my lovely co-author and wife, @hellgodsrus, without whom I would never would have been able to take part in creating half my fics, and our girlfriend @SolarFlare for being awesome and also betaing! Also special thanks Prime Betas @Tamahori and @32nd_freeze and @Ganurath for being betas and feeding me validation and feedback between updates!
Enjoy!
Power Play
8.4
-.-.-
"So… do I bother getting dressed up?" I asked, lounging out on the couch. Amy was predictably the first to finish getting changed, since all she really did was put on her robe. She didn't even have to change out anything from under it, which kind of bothered me. World's greatest healer and they didn't even offer her a ballistic vest or under-armour?
Or did they and her own suicidal nature kept her from bothering to wear it.
"Eh." Amy shrugged, slumping down on the couch next to me once I sat up. "The internet already has footage of your face, and we're all unmasked."
"Yeah but. Official cape stuffs." I put an arm around her and frowned as I felt her hip easily. "Amy… do you have any armour?"
The fact her head and hood lowered and looked away was all the answer I needed.
I sighed and pulled her closer, pushing her lightly protesting face into my chest. "We don't know how this is going to go, and it isn't just a routine trip to the hospital."
"But it's so heavy." She grumbled. "And…" And dying wouldn't be so bad.
"I wanna say something like 'having something happen to you on my conscience would be way heavier' but then you'd just keep not wearing it out of spite."
She almost snorted.
"Come on, let's go up there and get you protected." I got to my feet and tugged her up with me. The fact that she didn't resist majorly meant I was either on the right track and she didn't want to admit it, oooooooor… I'm not sure what the other possibilities were, but I didn't really want to think about them.
"Do you know how many cape powers are actually stopped by ballistic vests?"
"I'm guessing… a bunch."
"In the Wards, Aegis is probably the only one who'd be mildly inconvenienced by me wearing one, if they wanted to beat me up." She huffed. "Only the gangs bring guns to cape fights and they know better than to target the hospital."
"Didn't they do that once?"
"Before my time, but I think the Marquis made an example of them?" Amy frowned and shrugged as we got to the top of the stairs. "Dunno."
"Well… what if we got Mom to make you like - a meat suit. Steak-Mecha." I thought it was a great chance to make her smile, but she only looked more downcast. "Amy?"
"I don't advertise that I'm a full biokinetic for a reason, Taylor." She looked uncomfortable as I pulled her into her room. "We've already talked about why." She sighed, pulling off her robes. It didn't look easy, what with no zipper down the front. "It's in the closet."
"Yeah…" I winced, and opened the closet door. Part of me was expecting to find something incriminating like a sex toy or fanart of Vicky with J-sized breasts doing whatever it was she mentioned artists doing of her, but the rest of me realised that Amy wasn't stupid, and most teenagers knew not to leave physical evidence for their parents to find, let alone anyone else. I found the vest - wow, that was way lighter than I thought it'd be from the looks of it - behind a couple of sweaters and a puffer jacket. "People start wondering, if you can do this, what else can you do?"
"Exactly." Glaring at the vest, she slipped her hands under and tugged it up, letting me hold it over her head for her to slip into. "God I hate this thing."
"It's weirdly light."
"Taylor, you have like triple the muscle density of your appearance. You can effortlessly carry me bridal. It is not light."
I cleared my throat guiltily and looked away. "Right. Keep forgetting that." Brainwave! "Does that mean if it gets too heavy for you, you want me to start carrying you?" I leaned forward, grinning.
"Oh my god." Amy buried her face in her knees. "... maybe?"
"Just say the word, and I'm yours." I smiled, sitting on the bed next to her. "I'm not sure what the word is, but I'm sure I'll pick it up through context clues when you start tiredly glaring at me, hunched over like you want to headbutt me in the boob."
"Careful. I bite."
"I noticed~" I giggled, leaning in, glad the door was shut, "And I can't wait for a chance to do it again." Cautious, face aimed at her neck, I want to kiss her, I want to make out, I want to hold her and help her destress before we face the Protectorate -
"Hmmm," she breathed. "I think. I might want to - destress after the meeting. If that's okay?"
"If we get a chance, I will happily shelve whatever else is in the way for you." I smiled, leaning in and kissing her neck softly, working my way up her jaw to her lips.
"You - are incorrigible." She mumbled, though her hand came up to grip my hair, before hesitating and flinching away. "I -"
"We've got ten minutes to make out before anyone comes to check on us." I looked at her through hooded eyes. "It'll be interesting playing tonsil hockey without an unfair advantage." I grinned lopsidedly and she chortled.
"Fine." She bit me.
-.-.-
The feeling of her letting me work my fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp - she'd flinched at first, her hand in mine pulling away, but I didn't grab her, didn't tighten my grip on her hair, just scritches.
Her little gasps as I worked my lips over her neck, tugging her just slightly to expose her more, suckling and leaving a fresh hickey by her collar, which she smacked me for - before returning the favour.
"Earth to Taylor." Victoria's finger jabbed at my butt and I almost made an indecent noise instead of the startled yelp that came out. "You're not back at Eden already, are you?"
I was stuck between her and Amy in the back of the Dallon's big black SUV. "What? No, no, I was just. Daydreaming."
Amy tried not to choke to death on her own - or was it my? - saliva next to me, and I had to pat her on the back a few times before she started breathing right again.
Carol glanced behind herself at us, before turning to face the road again, gingerly shifting in her seat. Mark was driving, and didn't even spare us a look in the rear-view mirror. Which - on one hand, I felt kind of offended, on the other, he was driving and -
And it felt weird, being in a car now that I knew it was a lie. That there was no crash. It probably helped that I was in the middle and surrounded by people who didn't make me think of -
"Taylor." Vicky's arms around me. "Stop."
"S-stop what?"
"Thinking about it. You started shaking again."
I nodded jerkily. "Th-thank you." Deep breath. Think about boobs. Deep breath. Chest heaving. Amy's - okay. Back in full on useless non-traumatic lesbian mode. I need to find better coping methods. Like, seriously. "Okay. I'm here. What's up?"
"You're usually such a chatterbox." Victoria wriggled in her seat. "So um. I got worried when you were so quiet." I got worried you were thinking about my sister indecently, you mean. "Do you. Know what we should expect when we arrive at Eden?"
I shrugged. "Nope. Mom's going to be unhappy regardless because the Protectorate went ahead and pulled that shit after agreeing to a meeting, so there'll probably be a few Beasties out and active, Flare might be there, and uh." I winced. "Possibly some of the Undersiders?"
Carol shot me a glare. "Villains."
"Hired as security. Considering they've apparently only ever hit the gangs, might be their way of trying to work towards legitimate work?"
"Don't make excuses for them."
"Well -" I huffed and sulked. "Mom wouldn't hire them if she thought they'd turn on her. Not unless she's absolutely sure she could remove them all before they could do anything to me. So if they are there, they're - probably just for posturing. I dunno. Considering the Protectorate might be showing up, they might not even be in the open at all."
"And some of the Travelers." Victoria shot me an apologetic look. "Trickster was there this morning. They're… kinda weird as villain groups go. Lots of heavy hitters power wise, but they stay mobile and try to stay out of the limelight. They have um. A few kills in their rep, though. Mostly accidental."
"Mostly. There was that thing in New York, as well, from what I know." Mark frowned, still not looking into the rear view mirror. I wondered if the reason I had the great view of his face was because I was blocking the mirror - yeah, that was definitely it. Damn my tallness.
"Never really attributed to them directly, but yeah, forty people disappearing right before they skip town is pretty suspicious."
"Wait - forty?" I blinked. "That's… wouldn't that be enough to trigger a manhunt? Especially in New York of all places? Like - here in Brockton, that's basically just another Empire rally, and we all know how little is done about that, but New York is… Legend's stationed there, isn't he?"
"It's not like them leaving was the only thing that happened just after the forty people thing, but…" Victoria twisted her fingers around. I leaned into her a little bit as Mark turned the corner and I forgot to brace. "Oi, geddoff." She pushed me onto Amy - wheee - who just rolled her eyes and pushed me back - wheee - until Carol cleared her throat.
"If they are there… don't interact with them." She looked rather stern about it. "Taylor, that includes you. As a representative of Eden, it would be… understandable, but given you are also a representative of New Wave, it is not." She took a deep breath, straightening up even more somehow. "Ultimately, we are here impartially, to prevent conflict."
I winced. Mom - Mom I could maybe hold back, as long as they didn't go pressing her beserk buttons. But I had a sinking feeling they weren't here to make friends. "Prevent conflict. Got it."
"Impartially, Taylor."
"Look, I get that I'm representing New Wave too, but you're asking me to be unbiased about the woman who triggered to save my life, and also happens to be my mother. It's - it's not easy." I folded my arms and looked down at my oh-so-suddenly-interesting knees. "I can try. But I can't promise anything."
"That's all we can ask for," said Victoria, cutting across whatever Brandish had been about to say. "Doing your best."
"Get ready, because we've arrived." Mark noted, slowing down and pulling into the DWA… DWU… the dockyards work- the - just call it the Garden of Eden, that's what it is now. "And it looks like we weren't expected."
"What?" I frowned, dragging my attention to… "Did she really - no, Kurt or Lacey would have pushed for this. Had to be them."
The yard had been turned into a barbecue. Coolers, a fridge with six extension cords, a couple of grills set up, and what looked like most of the Union just hanging out. There were some big things that looked like converted aquarium tanks, or old shipping containers with glass panels, that presumably contained Beasties. But mostly it was just people in slightly ratty old clothing sipping on cans of beer and enjoying themselves in the sun. I could even hear music playing as we got closer.
"So, I'm not the only one seeing a couple of Beasties armwrestling, am I?" Victoria pointed to where - there was indeed a couple of Beasties armwrestling, some of the workers around them chanting and cheering or lamenting loss as one of them won, two people hunched and swaying slightly behind them with crowns of electronics on their heads. And there was a guy built like Neil moving into the place of the loser.
"... she's presenting Eden as a community. Presumably she has people filming it and if the PRT do anything…" Mark swiped at his eyes tiredly.
"Because it is a community." I took off my seatbelt. "The Dockworkers Association. Dad was the head of hiring before - before Lung wanted the territory and Dad said no. These aren't faceless thugs or random minions - they're the people who've been struggling to make ends meet since the Boat Graveyard became a thing."
"The thing is, that could be said of a lot of faceless thugs. That's how economic disparity works." Brandish pursed her lips as I scowled. "I'm not sure this will work on the PRT. Too many people trained in the military school of acceptable casualties. But it might make our jobs easier, stop things from escalating in the first place." She leaned round her seat as the car pulled to a halt. "Remember, we're intermediaries. We can't be seen to be enjoying the festivities." She waved a hand vaguely. "I'm sorry."
"Well… at least we can enjoy the food, right?" Victoria gently elbowed me at my crestfallen expression, and shot a winning smile at her mother. "Just one item each, I'm guessing? Don't be too positive about getting hold of it but be polite?"
Carol nodded slowly. "Yes. But be careful."
"Alright! Come on Ames, Tay." Victoria launched the door open and stepped out in full Glory Girl attire, flashing a dazzling smile at no-one in particular.
I rolled my eyes and climbed out after her, part of me wishing she sent that smile my way, while the rest of me elbow-dropped it into submission given Amy and I had plans already. Could Amy even get drunk with her power?
Kurt was approaching cautiously, beer in one hand, walkie-talkie in the other, but all that tension dropped away when he saw me bopping Victoria's non-bruised shoulder - she jumped a literal foot in the air then clearly realised she was in public and couldn't retaliate too much - "Taylor - glad to see you could make it. And New Wave - it's uh. Good to see you too, I guess. Not here to cause trouble?"
"If they were there'd be flight of the valkyries playing as they flew in." I wrapped an arm around Amy's shoulder as she stepped out behind me. "And look, Panacea's not a frontliner, right?"
"I suppose so." He sighed, then brought the walkie-talkie to his mouth. "All clear, boss, they brought Tango with them, not here for a fight." I couldn't hear the answer from who I presumed was Mom, before clipping it back into his belt. "So, can I interest anyone in refreshments? We've got tea, beer, coffee, soda."
"Just some water, I think." Victoria's smile was still dazzling, but also professional. Brandish-like. It was… kinda creepy. It was the smile I'd seen from a distance at school a few times. "And maybe a burger? We are working."
Kurt's hand hovered next to the walkie talkie. "Working?"
"As independent heroes. Just keeping an eye on things."
"They're here to make sure - " Victoria's elbow nudged me firmly between the ribs. "Ow. Look, we can beat around the bush or get to the point."
"As intermediaries, we're meant to beat around the bush." Amy had somehow already acquired a greasy looking hotdog. When had she even escaped my hug?! Sneaky girlfr - sneaky friend with benefits was sneaky. "The other half should be right behind us. Sorry." She didn't sound sorry.
"It's okay. If it's alright, I'll go let the boss know that you guys are here and why?"
"S'good with me. Fair warning, the grown-ups are going to be grumpier than we are." Victoria gave me a tentative smile. "And we're going to have to be fairly, uh, even given the whole public setting and everything."
"Politics sucks." I groaned, dragging my hand down my face.
Kurt actually chuckled. "Okay. I understand, won't hold it against you. Have uh. A moderate amount of fun, I guess?"
"We'll do our best." I promised, before turning to Amy the moment he was walking away. "Where did you even get that?"
She didn't bother answering, just pointed to one of the grills where it looked like Sherrel was laughing about something with Lacey, starting an impromptu crab-claw tongs duel with her.
"Man, I hope I don't see whoever's knee I broke…" Victoria murmured, worrying at her lip. "Amy, um. If we do -"
"Nobody's limping, Victoria, Mom probably already dealt with it." I smiled softly, bumping shoulders with her. "Now, c'mon, I'm dying for some sugar and a burger's a great way to interrupt those two before they pinch something they shouldn't."
"..." It was hard to tell under her hood at first but -
"Amy, are you blushing?"
"N-no."
"Y'know, this kinda reminds me of when I first realised I was gay." I mentioned casually as we started strolling over to the food tables. "The rush of hormones, dolphins -"
"Endorphins." Amy interrupted.
"- endolphins, and all that - I dunno if it's the feedback loops playing a part or not, but everything is probably going to be turned lewd or innuendo or entardre -"
"Entendre." Vicky tried to correct me.
"- for a while. Like pinching." I smirked lazily at the healer and she smacked my ribs. "Oof - what is it with you two and abusing my ribs lately, I'm going to need to ask Mom for reinforcements at this rate."
"It's hard to smack your face when you're so tall." Amy grumbled, taking another bite of her hotdog. "Seriously, you're giant."
"Comes with a great view." I grinned down at her.
There was a yelp - Sherrel appeared to have lost the duel, and was nursing her butt. Never turn your back on your opponent. "Hey hey, little Hebert," she waved, before shooting a glare at a cackling Lacey who looked like she was about to try for a second pinch.
"Hey, uh." Do I call her Sherrell? Her mask is pushed up into her hair and it's not like she has a costume on… "How's it going?"
"Everything's going great. If I knew the benefits, I woulda joined the Union way earlier." She raised her tongs as if to make a clack-clacking point.
"Nice - any idea where Flare is? I haven't seen her around and - yeah. Wanted to make sure she was healing okay."
"She's out, at the moment. Probably at home by now, resting up."
Not hurt. That's good. I nodded slowly. "Okay. Thanks for letting me know."
I turned my attention to Lacey and Victoria - the former of which was apparently gawking at Victoria's arms, apparently astounded that a Brute didn't have massive thews. Which, coming from someone built like her, may have had a point - except Victoria still had muscles, just - smoother, subtler ones than emaciated old me did. Shit, I should probably eat too.
"Just one would be fine -"
"Nonsense! You need to eat up, you're a growing girl!"
Lacey wouldn't take no for an answer and Victoria was left with a paper plate piled high with meats, potatoes, and coleslaw. "Uh - Taylor, help?"
I knew Lacey. So I just grinned. "I can help you eat it, sure."
"That's not what I - I guess it works though. Cause you do need to eat." She smiled politely at Lacey. "Thank you. Sorry for barging in like we are. It looks like a lovely day you're having here."
Lacey still gave me a plate piled not quite as high as Victoria's with food, but I couldn't get away without it. "Don't be silly. You're friends of Taylor's, you're friends of ours. And family is always welcome at the Union Barbecues."
"Maybe we should sit down somewhere and eat." I suggested - before spotting Amy rummaging around in one of the coolers with Sherrel. They seemed to be having a quiet talk about something, something that involved a lot of Amy shaking her head but not scowling. And pushing away a glass bottle so Sherrel had probably suggested alcohol.
Somehow that didn't surprise me in the slightest.
We got to a table in the shade - Amy had grabbed some plastic knives and forks, and a bottle of soda for each of us - and sat down to eat. Vicky looked like she wanted to eat more than just her burger, but almost did nothing but look longingly at the rest while eating.
"So how's the burger?" I asked around a sausage, grinning.
"This has to be someone's secret recipe, it's so good." She almost sobbed. "I want to try the rest too."
"You got a single item. A plate of food." I gestured, grinning. "Or a meal. A meal's a single thing, right? It's not like we're doing what Eric is and cheering on the Beastie Armwrestling -" I looked over and paused. "... or doing what Manpower is doing and actually armwrestling a Beastie."
Both of them turned to look and sure enough, Sarah and Carol were there, both looking disappointed - Sarah in more of a fond 'that dumbass' kind of way, while Carol was just straight 'that dumbass' kind of disappointed. At least Neil won.
"Go uncle Neil, wow." Amy had raised eyebrows.
"Don't encourage him!" Victoria gasped, scandalized.
"I've touched those Beasties, I know how strong they can be." Amy grumbled, stabbing a hashbrown and taking a big bite out of it.
"When would you have - oh. Opening night?" Victoria winced.
Amy just nodded, quietly saying, "When I - forget it."
"No, it's important to talk about our feelings and stuff." I wrapped an arm around her. "Quietly, for sure, but…"
Amy harrumphed and turned away, but didn't resist leaning into me. "When I said I was doing everything opposite my instinct. That's why I came down to Eden and - helped fix up some Beasties. Lilith told me to get out when she realised you were coming - at first I thought she was being a bitch, but then she told me it was better to be caught trying to break in than getting caught having been in there and helping."
"Well. It definitely worked." I nodded. "Was that why PHO said the first part of the show was cancelled?"
"Probably. Lilith already had them made, I just - fine tuned them. Finishing touches that would have taken her so much longer." Amy admitted quietly. "Can we - not talk about this."
"Right." I nodded, looking to Victoria, who reluctantly nodded back. "... so how's the food? Compared to - your normal fare, I guess."
"Homely?" Amy shrugged. "Like someone put some effort in to make it more than just store-bought. Not gourmet but… good."
Victoria made a whining noise and I rolled my eyes. "Victoria, it'll be fine. If we need an excuse, we can literally just point at Lacey and say 'the big girl wouldn't take no for an answer and fed us'. Kurt can back us up, she used to do it to me all the time before -" before I couldn't bear to look at her without thinking of Dad and - "B-before. Fuck, I need so much therapy." I sighed, grinding the heels of my palms into my eyes. "Does - does the trigger ever get easier with time?"
"No." Victoria said, right as Amy said, "Yes."
They looked at each other. Victoria looked down at her food thoughtfully. "No. It gets easier to push to the side. Like… getting shot at. You think 'bad, danger', but you don't freeze up anymore."
"I'm sorry." I tried, but she shook her head.
"Not your fault this city is the cesspit of the East Coast. And speaking of cesspits -" she nodded at the entrance, where a veritable convoy of PRT vans came streaming in. At least six of them.
Behind them came Armsmaster and Miss Militia, both on motorbikes.
"Here comes the cavalry…"
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Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
Looool.
Also, I just figured it out. Is Taylor's mom now roomies with AU!Squealer or something?
Can I just say how weird it is that Lilith chose a hot Brazilian dance as her daughter's callsign?
... what do you mean, milspeak?
Hey.
That's your sister's husband and also the man you're sleeping with! Unless Eye decided not to use anything from Ward, which would be pretty understandable.
"Push the horses up their asses and chase them to the shore!"
What?
Not sure about roomies but they're definitely close. A tinker (Squealer) disassembled a bunch of Arcadia's busses which messed up the bus schedule. Taylor got on the bus one to the library instead of home to escape the awkwardness of Chris trying to date her when she realized she's gay. Annette then tracked her down and recruited her. We first saw this when Vicky and Amy tried to rescue Taylor and only got the human body since Annette showed up with Sherrell to stop them.
On that note:
Which is correct? I'm seeing both fairly frequently.
WhoAmEye
Bunker-Dwelling Cryptid
- Location
- Vault Birb
- Pronouns
- She/Her
yes
(i have no idea)
Wolfman217
Oh No! Oh No! Oh No!
- Location
- England
Wait! Really?!?!? So Carol isn't just a bitch in general but she's also a cheating bitch who sleeping with her sister's husband!?!?!?! Fuck I thought she was bad before!
Carol: "Don't be having fun with the evil villains' minions!"
Taylor: "You do realise they're just normal people and their own community right?"
Carol: "NO! They're the evil villains' minions!"
.....why is Taylor considered a 'representative' of New Wave, she's not a member of New Wave, and Eden is literally lead by her mum, consists of the people she grew up with, and is also where her actual body is and needs to stay otherwise it dies. And more importantly the PRT and Protectorate are going to consider her involved with Eden ANYWAY, so by explicitly claiming her as New Wave they're contradicting their stated role as 'intermediaries'. Having her there as a 'representative' of New Wave works against the whole stated purpose of them being there.
A major part of the meeting is about her to begin with and her future, so how can she possibly be an unbiased intermediary?
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
The kicker? Apparently, her sister also cheats with Carol's husband. In Ward wildbow apparently decided that since Victoria is now a protagonist, all the suffering will be hers now. The way it looks there genuinely is no family member in her life who is helpful or not an asshole.
Wolfman217
Oh No! Oh No! Oh No!
- Location
- England
Man, I already thought New Wave were actually seriously fucked up, even more than Annette and Taylor are (as I've said in a previous post), but they really are just awful fucked up people.
Taylor needs to get the fuck away from them ASAP.