Panory
The Omake Dragon
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Taylor: When did I get this badge?
Fate/In Glory Of (Worm)
- Thread starter Jefardi
- Start date
- Crossover Modern Superhero
Brutal.
Aporia 03.04
[X] Research Local – Find out what's going on with the cape scene in Brockton Bay
The first thing that Taylor did was look up the aftermath of yesterday's fight. Namely, who was involved.
The ice guy and smoke stuff was from a gang of thieves called Undersiders. A B-lister or C-lister group from what most people said. Their entries on the wiki really didn't say much except for the information it had on Grue, the guy making smoke, or Hellhound, an escaped murderer that could empower and control… dogs, of all things. There were three other entries; a guy named Regent, another cape named Tattletale and… Icybro.
Taylor stared at the screen, looked away from the screen, blinked, and then looked back.
Yup, Icybro. A flying cryokinetic. Seemed a little on the nose.
Then there were the two flying capes chasing them.
Gravwell and Starlight.
Gravwell, Taylor at least had heard of before. She was the most successful solo indie hero in Brockton Bay; she had been active for at least half a decade. Gravity controller. Hung out and showed tricks off at the park on Sundays.
Starlight… Taylor had never heard of before, though it wasn't hard to find out Starlight's other name by the very… divisive comments on her.
Purity.
The neo-nazi was trying to rebrand as a hero, going as far as changing her name and working with the well-known indie hero. Commentators pointed out that she had not once fought anyone from Empire Eighty-Eight since she went 'hero'. While that was all very interesting, what Taylor was more interested in, was what people thought about the giant.
No one but Kage seemed to have seen the giant last time, and she hadn't commented on PHO about him.
Reactions seemed… mixed.
On the one hand; not many people saw him; most of the fight took place within Grue's power. On the flipside, according to Gravwell, the clash between the 'Big Brute' and Icybro had somehow caused the lavapit.
The teen blinked.
She looked at the giant, ever-present, even dematerialized. Could he make lava?
Gravwell had also put out a statement asking the 'Big Brute' or whoever knew him to keep in mind the safety of the civilians.
Taylor winced.
"Did you kill anyone?"
The question escaped her before she remembered where she was. Thankfully no one in the library looked at her like she was crazy for talking to the air.
The giant shook his head.
Taylor stared for a moment before whispering, "can you make lava?"
The giant shook his head again.
She hummed. Thoughts for later.
Opening another tab, she started to do something she really should have done at the beginning; getting a complete roster of the major gangs' capes.
The easiest, of course, was Empire Eighty-Eight.
They had their own homepage.
Kaiser was of course the leader, though there had been talk about Iron Rain taking over a decade ago that had gone nowhere. As of now, the gang consists of fifteen capes; Kaiser, Brunhilde, Menja, Fenja, Krieg, Hookwolf, Stormtiger, Cricket, Iron Rain, Pure Steel, Bahn, Victor, Othala, Alabaster, and Rune.
Without a doubt, the biggest group in the bay. Perhaps not the most powerful, but up there. The only thing that really limited them, as far as PHO speculation said, was they were the only gang to lack a tinker.
The Asian Bad Boyz meanwhile had only three members; Lung, Oni Lee and Kage. Lung was powerful, enough so that when he first showed up, he had fought the entire Protectorate team to a standstill on his own. Taylor didn't think the heroes would do so well if a repeat happened given the hype around Kage.
The Archer's Bridge Merchants comprised of four capes; Skidmark, Squealer, Moist and Mush. They were like cockroaches and much like the analogy, were hard to permanently put down. She wasn't even sure if they only had four capes- their details were very sketchy.
That left Coil's gang… which Taylor could find not much on. Truthfully, she didn't even know if he was a parahuman. She assumed given his gang could hold its own with the others. Admittedly it was via soldiers armed with tinkertech weaponry… maybe his or her power was infinite money?
By the time Taylor had finished looking up and making note of each parahuman, it was very, very dark outside.
Thankfully she didn't run into any furbies this time, though a cat did hiss at her.
Invite Joanna to hang out after school?
[] Yes – Joanna can come along and give suggestions
[] No – Just send time with Nikki
What to do? Pick one.
Nikki's suggestions:
[] Hang out with birds [This option is disallowed if Joanna comes with. Nikki doesn't know Joanna well enough to show the birds]
[] Become a Mallrat.
[] Acquire cheap food. Consume a hideous bob. From Fugly's.
[] Go to the boardwalk and window shop. Be a poor tourist.
Joanna's suggestions:
[] Go to park
[] Play a board game
[] Gun Range [Will be chaperoned by Joanna's mom]
[] Movies at Joanna's house
Taylor's suggestions:
[] Hang out at Taylor's house.
[] Write-in
Author's Note: Two votes; invite Joanna and what to do with Nikki (and possibly Joanna).
Taylor now has at least a vague idea what each cape can do, according to PHO
Sorry for the delay. Please vote and discuss!
The first thing that Taylor did was look up the aftermath of yesterday's fight. Namely, who was involved.
The ice guy and smoke stuff was from a gang of thieves called Undersiders. A B-lister or C-lister group from what most people said. Their entries on the wiki really didn't say much except for the information it had on Grue, the guy making smoke, or Hellhound, an escaped murderer that could empower and control… dogs, of all things. There were three other entries; a guy named Regent, another cape named Tattletale and… Icybro.
Taylor stared at the screen, looked away from the screen, blinked, and then looked back.
Yup, Icybro. A flying cryokinetic. Seemed a little on the nose.
Then there were the two flying capes chasing them.
Gravwell and Starlight.
Gravwell, Taylor at least had heard of before. She was the most successful solo indie hero in Brockton Bay; she had been active for at least half a decade. Gravity controller. Hung out and showed tricks off at the park on Sundays.
Starlight… Taylor had never heard of before, though it wasn't hard to find out Starlight's other name by the very… divisive comments on her.
Purity.
The neo-nazi was trying to rebrand as a hero, going as far as changing her name and working with the well-known indie hero. Commentators pointed out that she had not once fought anyone from Empire Eighty-Eight since she went 'hero'. While that was all very interesting, what Taylor was more interested in, was what people thought about the giant.
No one but Kage seemed to have seen the giant last time, and she hadn't commented on PHO about him.
Reactions seemed… mixed.
On the one hand; not many people saw him; most of the fight took place within Grue's power. On the flipside, according to Gravwell, the clash between the 'Big Brute' and Icybro had somehow caused the lavapit.
The teen blinked.
She looked at the giant, ever-present, even dematerialized. Could he make lava?
Gravwell had also put out a statement asking the 'Big Brute' or whoever knew him to keep in mind the safety of the civilians.
Taylor winced.
"Did you kill anyone?"
The question escaped her before she remembered where she was. Thankfully no one in the library looked at her like she was crazy for talking to the air.
The giant shook his head.
Taylor stared for a moment before whispering, "can you make lava?"
The giant shook his head again.
She hummed. Thoughts for later.
Opening another tab, she started to do something she really should have done at the beginning; getting a complete roster of the major gangs' capes.
The easiest, of course, was Empire Eighty-Eight.
They had their own homepage.
Kaiser was of course the leader, though there had been talk about Iron Rain taking over a decade ago that had gone nowhere. As of now, the gang consists of fifteen capes; Kaiser, Brunhilde, Menja, Fenja, Krieg, Hookwolf, Stormtiger, Cricket, Iron Rain, Pure Steel, Bahn, Victor, Othala, Alabaster, and Rune.
Without a doubt, the biggest group in the bay. Perhaps not the most powerful, but up there. The only thing that really limited them, as far as PHO speculation said, was they were the only gang to lack a tinker.
The Asian Bad Boyz meanwhile had only three members; Lung, Oni Lee and Kage. Lung was powerful, enough so that when he first showed up, he had fought the entire Protectorate team to a standstill on his own. Taylor didn't think the heroes would do so well if a repeat happened given the hype around Kage.
The Archer's Bridge Merchants comprised of four capes; Skidmark, Squealer, Moist and Mush. They were like cockroaches and much like the analogy, were hard to permanently put down. She wasn't even sure if they only had four capes- their details were very sketchy.
That left Coil's gang… which Taylor could find not much on. Truthfully, she didn't even know if he was a parahuman. She assumed given his gang could hold its own with the others. Admittedly it was via soldiers armed with tinkertech weaponry… maybe his or her power was infinite money?
By the time Taylor had finished looking up and making note of each parahuman, it was very, very dark outside.
Thankfully she didn't run into any furbies this time, though a cat did hiss at her.
Invite Joanna to hang out after school?
[] Yes – Joanna can come along and give suggestions
[] No – Just send time with Nikki
What to do? Pick one.
Nikki's suggestions:
[] Hang out with birds [This option is disallowed if Joanna comes with. Nikki doesn't know Joanna well enough to show the birds]
[] Become a Mallrat.
[] Acquire cheap food. Consume a hideous bob. From Fugly's.
[] Go to the boardwalk and window shop. Be a poor tourist.
Joanna's suggestions:
[] Go to park
[] Play a board game
[] Gun Range [Will be chaperoned by Joanna's mom]
[] Movies at Joanna's house
Taylor's suggestions:
[] Hang out at Taylor's house.
[] Write-in
Author's Note: Two votes; invite Joanna and what to do with Nikki (and possibly Joanna).
Taylor now has at least a vague idea what each cape can do, according to PHO
Sorry for the delay. Please vote and discuss!
KindredVoid
Shard Whisperer
[X] Gun Range [Will be chaperoned by Joanna's mom]
Every Master needs someway to fight back, if Taylor ever gets a gun it's important she know how to use it.
Plus it sounds hilarious.
Every Master needs someway to fight back, if Taylor ever gets a gun it's important she know how to use it.
Plus it sounds hilarious.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Huh. We got some older names in those lists, like Iron Rain.
There are a lot of different parahumans here. Assuming things is bad.
There are a fair, fair number that are very minor and aren't easily known about.
- Location
- Oklahoma
[X] Yes – Joanna can come along and give suggestions
[X] Gun Range [Will be chaperoned by Joanna's mom]
[X] Gun Range [Will be chaperoned by Joanna's mom]
Deadweight Hero
I can't beat the demon lord help-
[X] Gun Range [Will be chaperoned by Joanna's mom]
- Location
- Ohio
I love having an excuse to show this video!
View: https://youtu.be/hfATurG-xAo
I have seen videos of crows/ravens speak English before. They are probably only mimicking the sounds they hear, but the coherence from their beaks is uncanny.
That would explain why she's so mad. People probably expressed their sympathies for Joanna, which only served to piss her off and push everyone away from her. This is all under the assumption that she wasn't always a bitch.
Chances are, Taylor sitting next to Joanna at lunch confused her long enough for her control to slip and the tears to spill out. Joanna's anger could also try be her trying really, really hard to not cry.
Snow is not white or clean when it is yellow.
- Pronouns
- He
Or when it's black. Sometimes its black.
Aporia 03.05
[X] Gun Range [Will be chaperoned by Joanna's mom]
"So."
The wheelchair bound girl turned to the two of them as they sat at a lunch table by themselves. Thankfully, people still kept their distance from Joanna. Or, rather, the combination of Nikki and Joanna had made the space they were given increase by another three seats.
"Since we're going to be friends for now." She leaned back in her chair. "Me and my mom are heading to a gun range this weekend. Do the two of you want to come? My mom will chaperone, of course."
"Uh, sure?" Taylor blinked. "I've never gone shooting before."
"I have. Mostly for hunting. We smuggled a few arms over to America with us, so I would be okay with going to such a range." Nikki added her two cents in.
Joanna raised a brow. "You smuggled guns into the U-S?"
"Family heirlooms." Nikki corrected.
"Like, what, the family AK-47?" Taylor couldn't help but ask.
"It's a few. Mosin, Kalashnikov, RPK, and grandpa's Makarov." Nikki listed.
Joanna started. Then, visibly gathering her wits, she whistled. "Damn. Bring them with you, maybe they'll have ammo at the range."
Nikki gave her a thumbs up.
Joanna blinked, and left that as it was. "Never fired a gun before?" She asked, turning her head to Taylor.
"Nope." She replied, with a slight head shake. "I think my dad has a shotgun somewhere but…"
Taylor shrugged.
Joanna gave Taylor a look. "Okay, so. Are you down to learn to shoot? My mom can teach you even, she's pretty good."
"Sure." Her brow furrowed. "Do you guys go shooting a lot?"
"Yep. Not like I can fist fight someone anyways." Joanna replied, the bitterness in her voice could be tasted; it was so thick.
She sighed, angrily scowling at her lap. "Yeah. Mom likes to shoot for recreation."
Taylor very much did not comment on that, something that Nikki seemed to pick up on as well. "Is there a bus stop near the range…?" She was trying to figure out if she would have to see if she should get her dad to drop her off.
"Oh. We can pick you up." Joanna motioned to herself. "Sorta can't ride the bus, you know." She replied curtly. "So just give me an address."
That was how Taylor found herself waiting for a car to pick her up for the second Saturday in a row.
Honk.
That must be them.
Taylor got up, making sure to lock the door, and stepped around the first step on the porch, a hole still evident in it before making her way to her ride.
It was a black SUV with a wheelchair rack. Oh, and the windows were tinted. If it had a sign that said free candy, it couldn't be more suspicious. Honestly, it was giving Taylor a very bad feeling.
The darkened front window slowly opened. A woman who resembled Joanna stared at Taylor, her eyes like that of a hawk's. "You're the stringbean that made my Joey cry."
The air left Taylor's lungs as she felt shame. She took a breath as blue eyes continued to glare at her. Not the ideal way to meet someone, even from her limited understanding of how, y'know, people met each other. Or for the person driving the vehicle she was about to get into.
"I didn't mean to but yeah. Yeah I did."
"Mom." Came Joanna's voice from inside the car. "She's alright, and… I told you she wasn't the actual reason."
Then "And stop calling me joey!"
The woman's eyes were little more than chips of ice staring Taylor down. She grunted softly. "Alright. Come on in." The window slowly went back up, and Taylor could hear the locks disengage.
This was going to be a… painful ride, she could already tell.
Truthfully, if she didn't know that her giant could blow apart any threat that anyone gave her, she might be a bit more hesitant to get into the vehicle. Well, any threat from an angry soccer mom.
"Hey Joanna."
Joanna sighed. "Hi stringbean. Don't mind my mom."
"I just don't see why you're with her." Her mother replied, not sulking… but close.
"She doesn't treat me like I'm made of glass." Joanna replied, she looked... smaller without her wheelchair. The lack of a wheelchair however smaller it made the other girl seem physically, it did nothing to diminish the air around her.
"I'm pretty sure I'll end up with a ball of ice in my face if I did." She squinted at Joanna. "Or a broken jaw."
Both Joanna and her mom snorted.
"Alright, Stringbean." Joanna's mom had a small smile on her face. "You can call me Miss Alyssa if you want. Once we get to the range, remind me to show you Joey's baby photos."
Some of the accumulating tension left Taylor.
The mortification on Joanna's face would fit on any teen.
Taylor didn't know how to react to that, though she felt if she was a bit more cruel, she would have felt some kind of sadistic glee. Alas, she wasn't that kind of person, nor had she known Joanna long enough to feel comfortable enough being like. Rather, she leaned over to Joanna.
"Don't let Nikki see. She'll start sketching them."
Solidarity in being embarrassed. Because Taylor knew she would feel second hand embarrassment if that started to happen.
"Oh god she would." Joanna groaned softly, "she totally would. Mom please don't."
Miss Alyssa grinned, chuckling as she spoke. "Alright, alright, I won't! For now of course, in the future? That's another matter."
Taylor gave Joanna a dead eyed look.
"You're screwed."
Joanna put her face into her hands with a soft groan.
"So. Since Nikki isn't the one being picked up, you must be Taylor." Miss Alyssa stated as a spike of anxiety started to creep up Taylor's spine at being addressed again. "Tell me Taylor, your parents know you're coming, right?"
Taylor made a hand waggle, for lack of a better term. "Kind of? I need to call dad when I leave. Also to give you his office number in case of something happening." She held up a post-it note.
Alyssa raised a brow.
"Does he know it's a gun range?" Joanna asked, holding out her hand for the post-it note, as her mom was driving and couldn't take it.
She handed over the post it note.
"Uh. Hm." Taylor thought for a moment, before freezing and paling slightly- not that she had much colour to her skin. She actually hadn't mentioned where she was going now that she thought about it, "...no?"
Miss Alyssa roared with laughter. "That's great! I don't mind if you didn't tell him! Every girl needs to sneak out to shoot guns sometimes you know?" A grin was plastered on her face as she drove.
Joanna also laughed. "You forgot to tell him?!"
Taylor's cheeks reversed colour into a light red as she instinctively fought to keep her hands from hiding her face.
"It didn't come up, okay?!"
That only encouraged the laughter from the two others in the car.
"I can only imagine you asking to borrow the shotgun and him not even asking why!" Joanna stopped laughing only because she choked on air.
Taylor groaned as she put her face firmly in her hands, as she leaned forward, elbows on her knees.
After a minute, she looked up, "I'm pretty sure that's how Nikki's talk with her grandma went."
Joanna snorted softly. "Considering what she's bringing? I have no idea what her grandma is like, but with how weird she is? I could totally see it."
"I haven't met her." Taylor gave a half-hearted shrug, "she's probably nice. At least since she raised Nikki. I don't think Nikki has a mean bone in her body."
"Mmm nah." Joanna replied, looking up with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Asked her for a drawing of a murder as a joke, a mean spirited one. But still a joke... she made me one, detailed enough that it made me queasy so I don't think that she lacks a mean bone."
"Don't make the mistake of thinking that because someone is nice that they can't hurt people." Miss Alyssa spoke up, wagging her finger slightly at Joanna. "I've heard Legend is quite personable and kind. But he has the ability to scour a city to it's bedrock. So never mistake kindness for weakness. Neither should you mistake weakness for kindness like that new cape gal, Parian."
"...I also... Don't think she understands sarcasm well? Might be the language barrier…" Taylor's interest was piqued as the named Parian had yet to come up in her research, "whose Parian?"
"New cape. Like Limbsmaster." Joanna replied. "You know, Rogues, sell their powers out like mercenaries..." She cleared her throat. "Parian does advertising with puppets for businesses on the Boardwalk. Controls them with her powers."
"Haven't heard much about Limbsmaster." Joanna admitted. "But word online is that she'll sell her tinkertech to anyone willing to buy."
Taylor's head cocked, as the way Joanna said it made it sound... "Is that rare? For capes to sell tech?" She was hoping it wasn't – she would like to buy some tinkertech setup to help see what the Giant was doing.
Joanna sighed, leaning back. "Rogues are rare, generally speaking. Either because the Elite roll them up, villains target them, or they join the Protectorate because the villains target them. There are also laws that don't help, it's tricky being a Rogue really. Usually most wash out."
She shrugged. "It's rare for them to be independent and sell tech, I don't think the Protectorate allows their Tinkers to. Only villains really sell the tech, or Rogues."
Taylor frowned.
"Huh." That was less than ideal. "So how come Dragon can sell her own tech?"
"Dragon's with the Guild." Miss Alyssa supplied. "You might be too young to know, but it was actually a bit of a tizzy when the PRT made her an Honorary Protectorate member. But she's Guild first and foremost, and the Guild is a lot more free than the Protectorate."
"The Guild..." Taylor repeated the name, trying to dimly recall what it was, "isn't that the Canadian organization of assassins?"
Joanna slowly turned, blinking. "What?"
"Don't... they only get sent out on kill orders or s-class threats?" She looked between Joanna and Miss Alyssa to see if she was just completely crazy.
"How do you know what an S-class event or a kill order is and not what the Guild is?" Miss Alyssa mumbled softly.
"Yes, but that doesn't make them assassins. They're… like the SWAT team, where the Protectorate are regular cops." Joanna explained.
"Um, it came up in school? About how fast to run away from things." Taylor lamely commented. Surprisingly, something that Mr. Gladly taught actually was useful, who knew?
"Fair." Joanna grumbled.
"We're almost there." Miss Alyssa warned them.
"Since you've never shot something before, we'll start you off small after we go through some safety training." Joanna explained to Taylor. "Maybe by the end of it we can have some fun with what Nikki brought, if she did bring them."
Taylor nodded, that made sense. She wasn't gun savvy enough to know everything that Nikki had referenced, only that Joanna had been pretty excited about it. "What do you usually shoot?"
"I prefer handguns. Easy to store on my wheelchair. Plus, I like the look of revolvers." Joanna answered. "Don't worry, you'll find a favorite after some shooting."
Taylor's mouth opened with the words 'don't you have to be an adult to carry firearms' only for it to die on her lips. They lived in Brockton Bay. It was probably the best justification for carrying a gun.
Instead she focused on a different part, "do you have a lot of guns?" If you have a favourite type of handgun, that would imply she owned a lot, right?
"I collect revolvers. Not professionally, of course. But I have a rather large collection of them." Joanna answered, a small smile playing across her lips. "Right now I only have twenty of them. But I plan on getting more."
Taylor nodded, and then asked, "do you like westerns?"
Joanna shook her head.
"If only." Miss Alyssa dryly remarked as she pulled into a parking lot, freezing as she went to get out of the car. "That… is one ugly car."
Joanna turned and frowned. "I'm surprised that it-that's Nikki."
"Yeah, it's Nikki." Taylor was guiltily quite glad others had the same opinion of her friend's car. "It's... Not as bad inside?" She offered to assuage their view of it.
"Nothing could be as bad as the outside." Miss Alyssa offered as she pulled herself out of the car.
"Don't watch." Joanna replied sourly as her mom began to untangle the wheelchair from the back of the SUV. "Go help Nikki unpack her illegal weapons."
Taylor took Joanna at her word and hurried over to Nikki's abomination on wheels.
"Hey Nikki. Waiting long?"
"Nope." Nikki lifted up a long gun case and pushed it into Taylor's arms. "Hold this please."
Taylor's arms didn't quite buckle but it was far heavier than she was expecting. She had to brace herself after nearly dropping it.
"That is the big gun. I think an outdoor range will be required to shoot that. But the rest are here." Nikki reached in and pulled out two more cases. "Are you ready to learn Soviet firearms?" She asked.
"Suuure?" Taylor couldn't even convince herself that she was sure. "Are they that different?"
"These weapons could be dragged through water, sand, and mud without jamming." Nikki smiled, wearing her smiley face hoodie.
She turned. "Joanna. Joanna's mom."
"I can hear the ruskie in your voice." Miss Alyssa noted. "Commie?"
"No the other ones." Nikki replied.
"The monarchy?" Miss Alyssa asked, raising a brow.
"No. The people stuck between those two and the criminals." Nikki answered. "Ready to shoot?"
Miss Alyssa looked to Taylor, to see if she was.
Taylor gave a nod. Though she was mostly ready to set down the gun case. It wasn't getting lighter.
Nikki traded Taylor the larger case for a smaller one. This was closer to the size of a briefcase than the previous one and that much easier to hold.
"Alright, you two ready?" Joanna asked, rolling up to the girls, her mom just behind her but not pushing the chair.
"I do believe I am." Nikki replied as she grabbed an ammo case from her trunk.
"Sure." It was far easier to carry the smaller case for Taylor.
The process for getting into the shooting range was a little involved, but it didn't take over twenty minutes before the three girls and Joanna's mom were in the shooting range.
Taylor had been given a simple 9mm glock to shoot, with Miss Alyssa explaining to her proper gun safety and how to stand when taking a shot. "Alright, now to the fun part." She smacked a button. "Line up the sight and shoot." she ordered as the paper target moved to a certain distance from them before stopping.
Taylor squinted down the sights. Truthfully, she was pretty nervous. She had never handled a firearm before. If it was anything like the movies, didn't guns go backwards from recoil? Was it going to hit her in the face?
Before she could go further down that rabbit hole, she pulled the trigger.
BANG
The paper target didn't have a hole in it.
"Your finger." Miss Alyssa held up her own firearm. "Move the trigger to the middle of your finger pad, otherwise you'll throw off your aim."
"Also." Nikki spoke up from her own lane. "Do not try and compensate for the recoil." She lifted her own gun, the makarov and fired several shots with almost mechanical precision.
Taylor took a deep breath, putting her finger back on the trigger. This time she tried to hold steady, keeping the pistol aimed down the range. Don't worry about recoil. Nikki said not to worry about it.
BANG
BANG
BANG
The next couple of shots didn't let Taylor say that she had improved, but she was getting less gun-shy. Or perhaps gun wary was the better term? She still wasn't hitting the target. Albeit, that was probably due to the fact that she was having trouble keeping the gun steady. At least she was pretty sure it was going down her own lane and not into someone else's.
Joanna rolled up to Taylor, frowning. "Foot work is off, but you're too excited. Deep breath and ease off the adrenaline. Mom?"
Miss Alyssa hummed, coming up behind Taylor. "Here Stringbean." she put her arms around Taylor, using her feet to adjust Taylor's own while helping her aim.
Taylor took a moment to take a breath in and out, trying to steady her breathing and fight down the adrenaline.
BANG
BANG
BANG
With Miss Alyssa's help, the next few shots actually hit the target. Admittedly, the woman was doing much of the aiming. But that was an improvement!
"Having fun?" Nikki asked, emptying her pistol downrange
"A bit."
Truthfully, Taylor would probably be having more fun when she was able to consistently hit the target.
"Alright. Now try it by yourself." Alyssa pulled away from Taylor, but still watched her.
A couple more magazines later and she was consistently at least hitting the target. She wasn't getting within the circle, but she could at least tell where she was hitting.
Letting the next round go without her shooting any, she just observed the others shoot. Nikki was... shooting bullseye, repeatedly. Every shot.
"How?" Taylor couldn't help but ask.
"Hunting small animals that have white coats amongst the snow for years." Nikki replied. "Hitting a clearly marked target that is stationery?" Nikki shrugged. "No wind to mess with my shots either. It's just experience. You'll get it too, eventually."
That made sense from what little Nikki had said about Russia.
"Do you actually like to hunt?" Taylor glanced over to the other lanes that Miss Alyssa and Joanna occupied.
Miss Alyssa was helping Joanna with the AK-47. They were allowed to fire it indoors, apparently.
"No." Nikki replied. "I much prefer the ability to buy everything I need at a store in one place. It is safer, and much easier. Gives me more time to do what I like instead of simply surviving."
Taylor gave a vaguely agreeing hum, after all, what else could be said to that?
After a moment she asked, "can I try some of your guns?"
Nikki smiled, setting her pistol down. Bending over, she hefted up a large rifle. "Okay, I will help you shoot this." She said as a belt of bullets dangled from it's side.
The gun did not look legal in any sense of the word. It was lending more and more credence to Taylor's current working hypothesis about Nikki, namely that her family was part of the Russian mob.
I'm pretty sure this thing's bullets are bigger than what she was shooting...
Taylor had a good time and got to shoot a PKP.
[] Patrol – Go search for trouble [+2, QA votes for this.]
[] Research Local – Find out what's going on with the cape scene in Brockton Bay
[] Power experimentation – Taylor is going to mess around with her power/prep for exciting part of cape life
[] Preparations – Taylor doing prep work for the boring part of being a cape
[] Cape social (Taylor doesn't know any capes yet) – Talk to another cape
Author's Note: Finally have a new chapter. Sorry for delay. Fun fact, when I first heard about the Guild, that's legit what I thought. Canadian Hero Assassin organization.
Taylor got to go pew pew. More of Joanna time.
"So."
The wheelchair bound girl turned to the two of them as they sat at a lunch table by themselves. Thankfully, people still kept their distance from Joanna. Or, rather, the combination of Nikki and Joanna had made the space they were given increase by another three seats.
"Since we're going to be friends for now." She leaned back in her chair. "Me and my mom are heading to a gun range this weekend. Do the two of you want to come? My mom will chaperone, of course."
"Uh, sure?" Taylor blinked. "I've never gone shooting before."
"I have. Mostly for hunting. We smuggled a few arms over to America with us, so I would be okay with going to such a range." Nikki added her two cents in.
Joanna raised a brow. "You smuggled guns into the U-S?"
"Family heirlooms." Nikki corrected.
"Like, what, the family AK-47?" Taylor couldn't help but ask.
"It's a few. Mosin, Kalashnikov, RPK, and grandpa's Makarov." Nikki listed.
Joanna started. Then, visibly gathering her wits, she whistled. "Damn. Bring them with you, maybe they'll have ammo at the range."
Nikki gave her a thumbs up.
Joanna blinked, and left that as it was. "Never fired a gun before?" She asked, turning her head to Taylor.
"Nope." She replied, with a slight head shake. "I think my dad has a shotgun somewhere but…"
Taylor shrugged.
Joanna gave Taylor a look. "Okay, so. Are you down to learn to shoot? My mom can teach you even, she's pretty good."
"Sure." Her brow furrowed. "Do you guys go shooting a lot?"
"Yep. Not like I can fist fight someone anyways." Joanna replied, the bitterness in her voice could be tasted; it was so thick.
She sighed, angrily scowling at her lap. "Yeah. Mom likes to shoot for recreation."
Taylor very much did not comment on that, something that Nikki seemed to pick up on as well. "Is there a bus stop near the range…?" She was trying to figure out if she would have to see if she should get her dad to drop her off.
"Oh. We can pick you up." Joanna motioned to herself. "Sorta can't ride the bus, you know." She replied curtly. "So just give me an address."
That was how Taylor found herself waiting for a car to pick her up for the second Saturday in a row.
Honk.
That must be them.
Taylor got up, making sure to lock the door, and stepped around the first step on the porch, a hole still evident in it before making her way to her ride.
It was a black SUV with a wheelchair rack. Oh, and the windows were tinted. If it had a sign that said free candy, it couldn't be more suspicious. Honestly, it was giving Taylor a very bad feeling.
The darkened front window slowly opened. A woman who resembled Joanna stared at Taylor, her eyes like that of a hawk's. "You're the stringbean that made my Joey cry."
The air left Taylor's lungs as she felt shame. She took a breath as blue eyes continued to glare at her. Not the ideal way to meet someone, even from her limited understanding of how, y'know, people met each other. Or for the person driving the vehicle she was about to get into.
"I didn't mean to but yeah. Yeah I did."
"Mom." Came Joanna's voice from inside the car. "She's alright, and… I told you she wasn't the actual reason."
Then "And stop calling me joey!"
The woman's eyes were little more than chips of ice staring Taylor down. She grunted softly. "Alright. Come on in." The window slowly went back up, and Taylor could hear the locks disengage.
This was going to be a… painful ride, she could already tell.
Truthfully, if she didn't know that her giant could blow apart any threat that anyone gave her, she might be a bit more hesitant to get into the vehicle. Well, any threat from an angry soccer mom.
"Hey Joanna."
Joanna sighed. "Hi stringbean. Don't mind my mom."
"I just don't see why you're with her." Her mother replied, not sulking… but close.
"She doesn't treat me like I'm made of glass." Joanna replied, she looked... smaller without her wheelchair. The lack of a wheelchair however smaller it made the other girl seem physically, it did nothing to diminish the air around her.
"I'm pretty sure I'll end up with a ball of ice in my face if I did." She squinted at Joanna. "Or a broken jaw."
Both Joanna and her mom snorted.
"Alright, Stringbean." Joanna's mom had a small smile on her face. "You can call me Miss Alyssa if you want. Once we get to the range, remind me to show you Joey's baby photos."
Some of the accumulating tension left Taylor.
The mortification on Joanna's face would fit on any teen.
Taylor didn't know how to react to that, though she felt if she was a bit more cruel, she would have felt some kind of sadistic glee. Alas, she wasn't that kind of person, nor had she known Joanna long enough to feel comfortable enough being like. Rather, she leaned over to Joanna.
"Don't let Nikki see. She'll start sketching them."
Solidarity in being embarrassed. Because Taylor knew she would feel second hand embarrassment if that started to happen.
"Oh god she would." Joanna groaned softly, "she totally would. Mom please don't."
Miss Alyssa grinned, chuckling as she spoke. "Alright, alright, I won't! For now of course, in the future? That's another matter."
Taylor gave Joanna a dead eyed look.
"You're screwed."
Joanna put her face into her hands with a soft groan.
"So. Since Nikki isn't the one being picked up, you must be Taylor." Miss Alyssa stated as a spike of anxiety started to creep up Taylor's spine at being addressed again. "Tell me Taylor, your parents know you're coming, right?"
Taylor made a hand waggle, for lack of a better term. "Kind of? I need to call dad when I leave. Also to give you his office number in case of something happening." She held up a post-it note.
Alyssa raised a brow.
"Does he know it's a gun range?" Joanna asked, holding out her hand for the post-it note, as her mom was driving and couldn't take it.
She handed over the post it note.
"Uh. Hm." Taylor thought for a moment, before freezing and paling slightly- not that she had much colour to her skin. She actually hadn't mentioned where she was going now that she thought about it, "...no?"
Miss Alyssa roared with laughter. "That's great! I don't mind if you didn't tell him! Every girl needs to sneak out to shoot guns sometimes you know?" A grin was plastered on her face as she drove.
Joanna also laughed. "You forgot to tell him?!"
Taylor's cheeks reversed colour into a light red as she instinctively fought to keep her hands from hiding her face.
"It didn't come up, okay?!"
That only encouraged the laughter from the two others in the car.
"I can only imagine you asking to borrow the shotgun and him not even asking why!" Joanna stopped laughing only because she choked on air.
Taylor groaned as she put her face firmly in her hands, as she leaned forward, elbows on her knees.
After a minute, she looked up, "I'm pretty sure that's how Nikki's talk with her grandma went."
Joanna snorted softly. "Considering what she's bringing? I have no idea what her grandma is like, but with how weird she is? I could totally see it."
"I haven't met her." Taylor gave a half-hearted shrug, "she's probably nice. At least since she raised Nikki. I don't think Nikki has a mean bone in her body."
"Mmm nah." Joanna replied, looking up with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Asked her for a drawing of a murder as a joke, a mean spirited one. But still a joke... she made me one, detailed enough that it made me queasy so I don't think that she lacks a mean bone."
"Don't make the mistake of thinking that because someone is nice that they can't hurt people." Miss Alyssa spoke up, wagging her finger slightly at Joanna. "I've heard Legend is quite personable and kind. But he has the ability to scour a city to it's bedrock. So never mistake kindness for weakness. Neither should you mistake weakness for kindness like that new cape gal, Parian."
"...I also... Don't think she understands sarcasm well? Might be the language barrier…" Taylor's interest was piqued as the named Parian had yet to come up in her research, "whose Parian?"
"New cape. Like Limbsmaster." Joanna replied. "You know, Rogues, sell their powers out like mercenaries..." She cleared her throat. "Parian does advertising with puppets for businesses on the Boardwalk. Controls them with her powers."
"Haven't heard much about Limbsmaster." Joanna admitted. "But word online is that she'll sell her tinkertech to anyone willing to buy."
Taylor's head cocked, as the way Joanna said it made it sound... "Is that rare? For capes to sell tech?" She was hoping it wasn't – she would like to buy some tinkertech setup to help see what the Giant was doing.
Joanna sighed, leaning back. "Rogues are rare, generally speaking. Either because the Elite roll them up, villains target them, or they join the Protectorate because the villains target them. There are also laws that don't help, it's tricky being a Rogue really. Usually most wash out."
She shrugged. "It's rare for them to be independent and sell tech, I don't think the Protectorate allows their Tinkers to. Only villains really sell the tech, or Rogues."
Taylor frowned.
"Huh." That was less than ideal. "So how come Dragon can sell her own tech?"
"Dragon's with the Guild." Miss Alyssa supplied. "You might be too young to know, but it was actually a bit of a tizzy when the PRT made her an Honorary Protectorate member. But she's Guild first and foremost, and the Guild is a lot more free than the Protectorate."
"The Guild..." Taylor repeated the name, trying to dimly recall what it was, "isn't that the Canadian organization of assassins?"
Joanna slowly turned, blinking. "What?"
"Don't... they only get sent out on kill orders or s-class threats?" She looked between Joanna and Miss Alyssa to see if she was just completely crazy.
"How do you know what an S-class event or a kill order is and not what the Guild is?" Miss Alyssa mumbled softly.
"Yes, but that doesn't make them assassins. They're… like the SWAT team, where the Protectorate are regular cops." Joanna explained.
"Um, it came up in school? About how fast to run away from things." Taylor lamely commented. Surprisingly, something that Mr. Gladly taught actually was useful, who knew?
"Fair." Joanna grumbled.
"We're almost there." Miss Alyssa warned them.
"Since you've never shot something before, we'll start you off small after we go through some safety training." Joanna explained to Taylor. "Maybe by the end of it we can have some fun with what Nikki brought, if she did bring them."
Taylor nodded, that made sense. She wasn't gun savvy enough to know everything that Nikki had referenced, only that Joanna had been pretty excited about it. "What do you usually shoot?"
"I prefer handguns. Easy to store on my wheelchair. Plus, I like the look of revolvers." Joanna answered. "Don't worry, you'll find a favorite after some shooting."
Taylor's mouth opened with the words 'don't you have to be an adult to carry firearms' only for it to die on her lips. They lived in Brockton Bay. It was probably the best justification for carrying a gun.
Instead she focused on a different part, "do you have a lot of guns?" If you have a favourite type of handgun, that would imply she owned a lot, right?
"I collect revolvers. Not professionally, of course. But I have a rather large collection of them." Joanna answered, a small smile playing across her lips. "Right now I only have twenty of them. But I plan on getting more."
Taylor nodded, and then asked, "do you like westerns?"
Joanna shook her head.
"If only." Miss Alyssa dryly remarked as she pulled into a parking lot, freezing as she went to get out of the car. "That… is one ugly car."
Joanna turned and frowned. "I'm surprised that it-that's Nikki."
"Yeah, it's Nikki." Taylor was guiltily quite glad others had the same opinion of her friend's car. "It's... Not as bad inside?" She offered to assuage their view of it.
"Nothing could be as bad as the outside." Miss Alyssa offered as she pulled herself out of the car.
"Don't watch." Joanna replied sourly as her mom began to untangle the wheelchair from the back of the SUV. "Go help Nikki unpack her illegal weapons."
Taylor took Joanna at her word and hurried over to Nikki's abomination on wheels.
"Hey Nikki. Waiting long?"
"Nope." Nikki lifted up a long gun case and pushed it into Taylor's arms. "Hold this please."
Taylor's arms didn't quite buckle but it was far heavier than she was expecting. She had to brace herself after nearly dropping it.
"That is the big gun. I think an outdoor range will be required to shoot that. But the rest are here." Nikki reached in and pulled out two more cases. "Are you ready to learn Soviet firearms?" She asked.
"Suuure?" Taylor couldn't even convince herself that she was sure. "Are they that different?"
"These weapons could be dragged through water, sand, and mud without jamming." Nikki smiled, wearing her smiley face hoodie.
She turned. "Joanna. Joanna's mom."
"I can hear the ruskie in your voice." Miss Alyssa noted. "Commie?"
"No the other ones." Nikki replied.
"The monarchy?" Miss Alyssa asked, raising a brow.
"No. The people stuck between those two and the criminals." Nikki answered. "Ready to shoot?"
Miss Alyssa looked to Taylor, to see if she was.
Taylor gave a nod. Though she was mostly ready to set down the gun case. It wasn't getting lighter.
Nikki traded Taylor the larger case for a smaller one. This was closer to the size of a briefcase than the previous one and that much easier to hold.
"Alright, you two ready?" Joanna asked, rolling up to the girls, her mom just behind her but not pushing the chair.
"I do believe I am." Nikki replied as she grabbed an ammo case from her trunk.
"Sure." It was far easier to carry the smaller case for Taylor.
The process for getting into the shooting range was a little involved, but it didn't take over twenty minutes before the three girls and Joanna's mom were in the shooting range.
Taylor had been given a simple 9mm glock to shoot, with Miss Alyssa explaining to her proper gun safety and how to stand when taking a shot. "Alright, now to the fun part." She smacked a button. "Line up the sight and shoot." she ordered as the paper target moved to a certain distance from them before stopping.
Taylor squinted down the sights. Truthfully, she was pretty nervous. She had never handled a firearm before. If it was anything like the movies, didn't guns go backwards from recoil? Was it going to hit her in the face?
Before she could go further down that rabbit hole, she pulled the trigger.
BANG
The paper target didn't have a hole in it.
"Your finger." Miss Alyssa held up her own firearm. "Move the trigger to the middle of your finger pad, otherwise you'll throw off your aim."
"Also." Nikki spoke up from her own lane. "Do not try and compensate for the recoil." She lifted her own gun, the makarov and fired several shots with almost mechanical precision.
Taylor took a deep breath, putting her finger back on the trigger. This time she tried to hold steady, keeping the pistol aimed down the range. Don't worry about recoil. Nikki said not to worry about it.
BANG
BANG
BANG
The next couple of shots didn't let Taylor say that she had improved, but she was getting less gun-shy. Or perhaps gun wary was the better term? She still wasn't hitting the target. Albeit, that was probably due to the fact that she was having trouble keeping the gun steady. At least she was pretty sure it was going down her own lane and not into someone else's.
Joanna rolled up to Taylor, frowning. "Foot work is off, but you're too excited. Deep breath and ease off the adrenaline. Mom?"
Miss Alyssa hummed, coming up behind Taylor. "Here Stringbean." she put her arms around Taylor, using her feet to adjust Taylor's own while helping her aim.
Taylor took a moment to take a breath in and out, trying to steady her breathing and fight down the adrenaline.
BANG
BANG
BANG
With Miss Alyssa's help, the next few shots actually hit the target. Admittedly, the woman was doing much of the aiming. But that was an improvement!
"Having fun?" Nikki asked, emptying her pistol downrange
"A bit."
Truthfully, Taylor would probably be having more fun when she was able to consistently hit the target.
"Alright. Now try it by yourself." Alyssa pulled away from Taylor, but still watched her.
A couple more magazines later and she was consistently at least hitting the target. She wasn't getting within the circle, but she could at least tell where she was hitting.
Letting the next round go without her shooting any, she just observed the others shoot. Nikki was... shooting bullseye, repeatedly. Every shot.
"How?" Taylor couldn't help but ask.
"Hunting small animals that have white coats amongst the snow for years." Nikki replied. "Hitting a clearly marked target that is stationery?" Nikki shrugged. "No wind to mess with my shots either. It's just experience. You'll get it too, eventually."
That made sense from what little Nikki had said about Russia.
"Do you actually like to hunt?" Taylor glanced over to the other lanes that Miss Alyssa and Joanna occupied.
Miss Alyssa was helping Joanna with the AK-47. They were allowed to fire it indoors, apparently.
"No." Nikki replied. "I much prefer the ability to buy everything I need at a store in one place. It is safer, and much easier. Gives me more time to do what I like instead of simply surviving."
Taylor gave a vaguely agreeing hum, after all, what else could be said to that?
After a moment she asked, "can I try some of your guns?"
Nikki smiled, setting her pistol down. Bending over, she hefted up a large rifle. "Okay, I will help you shoot this." She said as a belt of bullets dangled from it's side.
The gun did not look legal in any sense of the word. It was lending more and more credence to Taylor's current working hypothesis about Nikki, namely that her family was part of the Russian mob.
I'm pretty sure this thing's bullets are bigger than what she was shooting...
Taylor had a good time and got to shoot a PKP.
[] Patrol – Go search for trouble [+2, QA votes for this.]
[] Research Local – Find out what's going on with the cape scene in Brockton Bay
[] Power experimentation – Taylor is going to mess around with her power/prep for exciting part of cape life
[] Preparations – Taylor doing prep work for the boring part of being a cape
Author's Note: Finally have a new chapter. Sorry for delay. Fun fact, when I first heard about the Guild, that's legit what I thought. Canadian Hero Assassin organization.
Taylor got to go pew pew. More of Joanna time.
- Location
- Oklahoma
[X] Patrol – Go search for trouble [+2, QA votes for this.]
we shall rampage downtown yas
we shall rampage downtown yas
- Location
- Ohio
Aren't those all higher end guns!?
It occurs to me that there only two reasons for Joanna to be crippled in Panacea's hometown. Not wanting Panacea to touch her, and the handicap status being the result of a head injury.
Don't tell me it's because Panacea's schedule is booked. One of Panacea's greatest issues is that she does not have a schedule.
I hope Taylor's next friend has a nice car but has a bunch of garbage all over the inside of it.
All we did was sit next to her!
I think Nikki can do that because she has seen a murder.
I don't think Nikki will ever start a fight, but she sure as hell will finish it.
C'mon Taylor, you live in America! There's no such thing as an illegal gun!
Deadweight Hero
I can't beat the demon lord help-
[X] Research Local – Find out what's going on with the cape scene in Brockton Bay
Info info
Info info
Aporia 03.06.01
[X] Patrol – Go search for trouble [+2, QA votes for this.]
Saturday night.
Most people had plans for the one day a week where you didn't have to worry about the current day or the next one. Hanging out with friends, doing something with family, or having fun with a hobby.
Taylor couldn't quite call caping a hobby just yet.
She was hopeful that a second try wouldn't be as bad as the first.
Plus a desire deep within her was ready for some more action.
She just had to figure out where she was going to look for it.
Once she had set the course, all that was left was choosing where to start…
[] North (Docks, Trainyard & Boat Graveyard)
[] Northwest (Trainyard & Docks South)
[] West (Docks South)
[] Center (Downtown & Boardwalk)
[] Southwest (Commercial District & Downtown South)
[] South (Downtown South)
[] Southeast (Downtown Coast)
Author's Note: I got nothing complicated. Time to decide where Taylor goes!
Saturday night.
Most people had plans for the one day a week where you didn't have to worry about the current day or the next one. Hanging out with friends, doing something with family, or having fun with a hobby.
Taylor couldn't quite call caping a hobby just yet.
She was hopeful that a second try wouldn't be as bad as the first.
Plus a desire deep within her was ready for some more action.
She just had to figure out where she was going to look for it.
Once she had set the course, all that was left was choosing where to start…
[] North (Docks, Trainyard & Boat Graveyard)
[] Northwest (Trainyard & Docks South)
[] West (Docks South)
[] Center (Downtown & Boardwalk)
[] Southwest (Commercial District & Downtown South)
[] South (Downtown South)
[] Southeast (Downtown Coast)
Author's Note: I got nothing complicated. Time to decide where Taylor goes!
- Location
- Oklahoma
[X] Center (Downtown & Boardwalk)
Clearly this is the greatest den of crooks and thieves in the entire city.
Clearly this is the greatest den of crooks and thieves in the entire city.
KnownParadox
Not a sphere
- Location
- Canada
[X] Center (Downtown & Boardwalk)
