- Location
- Oklahoma
[X] Patrol – Go search for trouble [QA is not casting a vote today. She seems excited, though.]
Time to go smashing things again.
Time to go smashing things again.
Fate/In Glory Of (Worm)
- Thread starter Jefardi
- Start date
- Crossover Modern Superhero
Voting for 03.26
Deadweight Hero
I can't beat the demon lord help-
[X] Patrol – Go search for trouble [QA is not casting a vote today. She seems excited, though.]
xamaplak
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE @SOUP?
- Location
- the Soup Store
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Uh, there were 3 votes after you announced the tie and 2 were for patrol. Am I missing something?
Euclaid Galieane
Addicted to Words
- Location
- Inside a Book
This quest is also run on SB (link).
A very belated 2024 Valentines gift for SV
Aporia 03.26
[X] Power experimentation
The trek out to the forest wasn't actually that bad this time; turns out not having to deal with ice made it easier to not have to worry about breaking your neck, who knew?
Slush still sucked though.
Taylor wiped some snow off the stump before sitting down and manifesting her power.
The imaginary sinew tensed.
A colourful cascade of motes revealed the giant, the shadow always in the corner of her eye becoming material.
Blackened-iron coloured skin with coal black hair greeted her vision as she studied him. His eyes seemed dim as they impassively stared at something two feet above where she was sitting. Quite literally dim, as she could barely see his yellow pupils. Perhaps it was related to how he glowed red when he did something cape-like? Taylor could have sworn she had seen his eyes glow in the past.
Taylor opened her notebook.
She'd been taking notes daily since she had first manifested the giant; they never left home, always staying in the coal chute in the basement, except when she came out here.
At first it was because she didn't want them to be taken by the Trio, but since changing schools to Clarendon, it was to keep her friends from seeing them and asking questions. Like why she had a notebook written in ciphers.
...also because after a year of noting everything the Trio did to her, it seemed just… wrong to not have a journal to note things in, daily. It was a weird thing to have as a holdover from her time at Winslow but it wasn't the worst thing.
While the notes in the journal varied, from what proven ways she'd measure his strength (at least able to lift fifteen tons from her rough guess on the pile of trees she had made him carry once) or speed (under the speed of sound but she'd measure him jump half a mile in about ten seconds, so above 180mph) or durability (he'd taken small arms fire and whatever that tank thing shot and had regenerated, or when Kage had cut off his hand… though it had taken a while for them to heal) to how long he could stay manifested (53 minutes, give or take a minute in there… the time was still going up, just in decreasing amounts) in a stationary situation.
Then there were the limitations she had run into; the time where he didn't do what she had given as a directive- the time she had asked him to destroy a tree but he hadn't came to mind. Taylor still had yet to figure out if the action was impossible that it kept him from doing it, or if it was something entirely different that interfered that time.
The closest other possible one, was when she had asked him to write a word; it had shortened the ephemeral gauge in her that gave a sense of how long he could be manifested, and the only result had been meaningless scribbles. It looked like how a drunk might describe the written word in a third-hand account.
This gave a bunch of things to investigate, especially considering the giant had now gotten into several fights.
Taylor was limited.
Shewoul-couldn't harm the giant to figure out how his regeneration could work or how long it took. She had a distinct impression that he could move faster than she could actually see, so measuring it would be a mostly pointless endeavour. She could check to see if he made a sonic boom, but that would probably invite some scrutiny here and she deeply didn't wish for that. Then there was his strength; she could have him cut down a bunch of trees and see when he couldn't lift them further but she was… hesitant to do so. For one, she felt a mite bad about casually killing trees that had to be older than her dad; another was that she was basically guesstimating how much a pine tree weighed. Or the fact that if they got up to a certain weight, the ad-hoc strength testing would probably fall apart.
Another avenue was investigating if her power had any esoteric abilities but…
...it had been two months and he hadn't displayed any. Super strength, durability and regeneration seemed to be a pretty good set. It would be nice if he could fly… or if Taylor had access to any of these abilities, but no. Her power was literally giving something else superpowers!
…
…
...at least the giant made her feel safe.
That left only two things off the top of her head.
Neither of which really required her to come all the way out here, but Taylor had found she enjoyed having the giant summoned; not having him look like if he made a wrong move the house would break did much for her own sanity.
First was the fact that she still didn't know how sentient he was; did he merely reflect back her own thoughts? Was it some part of her subconscious that directed him?
There was… evidence that went either way. He seemed to act like an extension of her but on the other hand, at least twice now she had felt something… foreign. Did it just magnify what she felt? Is that what a master effect felt like?
Second though, was to figure out something that had been puzzling her for weeks.
What did the writings that appeared in her vision when she pulled another unseen muscle meant.
The best way to describe this was going cross-eyed while wiggling your ears, except your ears were located your pupils.
...it was a very different feeling than when she manifested the giant.
It honestly gave her something of a headache as the flowery, almost calligraphy flowing across her sight had to make sense of something in the background and the foreground.
She still was having trouble making sense of this; was her projection or herself inherently lucky? She assumed it was her power because she definitely didn't feel like she got a 100 on any strength score or test that had ever existed.
Ever.
The biggest mystery, however, was what a Noble Phantasm was?
It was something she had turned over and over in her head.
Doing a web search did not help nor did any looking at reference books. It sounded like a catholic term, but she hadn't found anything related.
Taylor had decided to break the problem up literally;
Noble:
1a: possessing outstanding qualities : illustrious
1b: famous, notable
2: of high birth or exalted rank : aristocratic
3a: possessing very high or excellent qualities or properties
3b: very good or excellent
4: grand or impressive especially in appearance
5: possessing, characterized by, or arising from superiority of mind or character or of ideals or morals : lofty
6: chemically inert or inactive especially toward oxygen
Phantasm:
1: a product of fantasy: such as
1a: delusive appearance : illusion
1b: ghost, specter
1c: a figment of the imagination
2: a mental representation of a real object
Noble's 6th definition could be thrown out. The rest… could mean something; the giant was indeed possessing outstanding qualities, she didn't think he was of high birth? He did have… an interesting appearance, that she could agree on. She knew Phantasm's 1c definition was not applicable; she had clearly seen him act upon the world…
Throwing definition combinations together gave Taylor a… rather scary hypothesis.
Noble not only meant excellence but of someone's fame or station at birth. Phantasm fairly uniformly meant ghost or something other.
Was the giant… was her power the ability to summon a dead cape?
It was practically impossible to actually search every cape to exist- many capes in the USA weren't notable outside of their localities. That didn't even cover capes from before the internet or from before the Protectorate. Then there was the fact that she had no way of researching capes from other continents. It just…
Much of Africa had turned into parahuman warlords. South America only had countries in name only. Only what the government capes could defend. Europe was falling apart, brick by brick; a glimpse to what North America may be like in ten, fifteen years. The Middle East had been in constant war for the past two decades; much of it's economic wealth was destroyed by Behemoth. South-East Asia was huddled together trying to keep stable while preparing for the CUI to expand.
...was fraught with difficulties.
What nipped that theory in the bud was the fact that it gave it a rating. 100.
Going further down the rabbit hole, she could guess two outcomes from that; either it was an attribute inherent to the giant or… it referred to his quality. Maybe if he died, she would get a random dead cape as her power?
Except that was impossible, the giant was the best, he was invincible!
…
…
…
Where did that thought come from?!
No one was invincible, no one.
She closed her eyes as she rubbed at her forehead. Just having the text open hurt. The top two lines were at fault.
One kept changing constantly, the other was like someone was stabbing you in the throat while throttling her heart with icy plasma, tendrils sliding through her nerves, making them jittery, tensing and untensing.
It was while she was trying her best to look away from them yet see if she could decipher something from it, anything, that she felt it.
The edge of what felt like… page.
She knew it felt like paper, a well-worn and dog eared. Light and could be blown over by a stiff breeze. Through her eyes.
A new muscle tinged.
Without thinking she tensed it, shaking at the new fantastical muscle straining in exertion.
Battle Continuation: 50
The ability to stay alive.
It allows for battle even on the verge of death, and allows the user to stay alive until they receive a clearly fatal blow.
---
???
???
---
???
???
???
---
???
???
???
---
???
???
"W-What?"
This… Taylor at least understood what some of this said; she had seen the giant lose a hand and get a hole blown through his torso so large she could have reached both arms through it. He had survived it.
It was the many question marks that gave her pause.
Did her power, whatever this vision overlay was, not know about the giant?
As she stared, she could feel another 'page' to the right over her vision just as their was a page to the left. Turning it left, watching the words flip over like a page being turned only to be replaced by the first set of words was surreal.
She then went two 'pages' to the right.
The only thing Taylor could read off of this 'page' was that regeneration was a thing… which she had already seen him do.
Her brow furrowed.
"Hang on, can I only see stuff you've done?"
The giant merely placidly stared back at her.
Most of this was question marks, unknown.
Taylor didn't even know where to start.
This didn't answer any questions, merely raised a multitude of them.
As she stared up at him, she couldn't help but mutter.
"Are you even my power?"
The girl had been distracted ever since coming back from the first.
The shadow had watched her mutter to herself and write notes while staring at itself.
There was nothing that threatened her, however, and therefore nothing for the shadow to do.
The girl slept, ate, went to her place of learning, talked to the cripple and the birdgirl, and then went back to learning.
It all mattered not to the shadow as none threatened her life.
Everything changed at the shrill noise.
Every single person in the building froze.
All activity halted.
The world stood still.
When it ended, motion restarted.
Many cried, others hugged or left the building.
All trappings of hierarchy were stripped away after that noise.
The girl rushed to a public latrine.
The shadow watched as the girl looked around, checking each of the unlocked doors before focusing on the shadow.
"I… there is going to be a battle, somewhere, elsewhere. A city is going to die. Probably. It happens every three months. Heroes and villains join to fight them and lose every time. At best we tie. I'm… I can't do anything about it. But… maybe you could make a difference? Maybe?"
She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself.
"Or maybe the villains will take the chance to strike without the heroes here?" She mumbled that to herself. "Miss Militia and Armsmaster are probably going to go…"
Green eyes stared at the shadow as if it held all the answers.
It only held some.
[] Try and send the giant to the Endbringer fight. [+5, QA is dumping her votes right here]
[] Stay home, don't fight the force of nature in a different postal code. Patrol the city while the heroes are away. Make sure there is a city for the true heroes to return to.
Author's note: This is a big vote. Please think it through before voting. I'm excited regardless of which wins.
Also, hey, less then a week since last update! Improvement!
Please, please vote. This one is one of the more important votes I've had so far.
There may be an interlude in the near-future as well.
The trek out to the forest wasn't actually that bad this time; turns out not having to deal with ice made it easier to not have to worry about breaking your neck, who knew?
Slush still sucked though.
Taylor wiped some snow off the stump before sitting down and manifesting her power.
The imaginary sinew tensed.
A colourful cascade of motes revealed the giant, the shadow always in the corner of her eye becoming material.
Blackened-iron coloured skin with coal black hair greeted her vision as she studied him. His eyes seemed dim as they impassively stared at something two feet above where she was sitting. Quite literally dim, as she could barely see his yellow pupils. Perhaps it was related to how he glowed red when he did something cape-like? Taylor could have sworn she had seen his eyes glow in the past.
Taylor opened her notebook.
She'd been taking notes daily since she had first manifested the giant; they never left home, always staying in the coal chute in the basement, except when she came out here.
At first it was because she didn't want them to be taken by the Trio, but since changing schools to Clarendon, it was to keep her friends from seeing them and asking questions. Like why she had a notebook written in ciphers.
...also because after a year of noting everything the Trio did to her, it seemed just… wrong to not have a journal to note things in, daily. It was a weird thing to have as a holdover from her time at Winslow but it wasn't the worst thing.
While the notes in the journal varied, from what proven ways she'd measure his strength (at least able to lift fifteen tons from her rough guess on the pile of trees she had made him carry once) or speed (under the speed of sound but she'd measure him jump half a mile in about ten seconds, so above 180mph) or durability (he'd taken small arms fire and whatever that tank thing shot and had regenerated, or when Kage had cut off his hand… though it had taken a while for them to heal) to how long he could stay manifested (53 minutes, give or take a minute in there… the time was still going up, just in decreasing amounts) in a stationary situation.
Then there were the limitations she had run into; the time where he didn't do what she had given as a directive- the time she had asked him to destroy a tree but he hadn't came to mind. Taylor still had yet to figure out if the action was impossible that it kept him from doing it, or if it was something entirely different that interfered that time.
The closest other possible one, was when she had asked him to write a word; it had shortened the ephemeral gauge in her that gave a sense of how long he could be manifested, and the only result had been meaningless scribbles. It looked like how a drunk might describe the written word in a third-hand account.
This gave a bunch of things to investigate, especially considering the giant had now gotten into several fights.
Taylor was limited.
She
Another avenue was investigating if her power had any esoteric abilities but…
...it had been two months and he hadn't displayed any. Super strength, durability and regeneration seemed to be a pretty good set. It would be nice if he could fly… or if Taylor had access to any of these abilities, but no. Her power was literally giving something else superpowers!
…
…
...at least the giant made her feel safe.
That left only two things off the top of her head.
Neither of which really required her to come all the way out here, but Taylor had found she enjoyed having the giant summoned; not having him look like if he made a wrong move the house would break did much for her own sanity.
First was the fact that she still didn't know how sentient he was; did he merely reflect back her own thoughts? Was it some part of her subconscious that directed him?
There was… evidence that went either way. He seemed to act like an extension of her but on the other hand, at least twice now she had felt something… foreign. Did it just magnify what she felt? Is that what a master effect felt like?
Second though, was to figure out something that had been puzzling her for weeks.
What did the writings that appeared in her vision when she pulled another unseen muscle meant.
True Name: ┌╪╓╒ï↑╬╙
Master:[Ϙ̸̡̡̡̨̡̡̛̣͇͚͇̺̳̦̤̼̮̺̰̦̯̙̪͉̹̬̖͙̱͓̣̜͉͙̤͚̞͖̯͔̲̙̘̱̱̬̰͕̞͕͉̳̜̥̳̜̥͈̲͓̩͇͍̰͇͖͇͇̼͇̼̯̖̰̦̖̰̫̘͉̩̙͌͒̂̿̊͌̓̈́̈́̌̓̒̇̈͐̀͊͋̀͗̃̓́̈́̐̾͐̓̆͌͑̏͂̋̽̋̀̄̉̄̃̀͊̐̇͂̂̒̿̄̎͊́̃͗͛̿̈́͌̚̕͘̚͘̚͘͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͝͠͠͝͝͝ͅͅυ̸̧̢̡̡̨̨̢̛̛̤̥̻̳͎͉͙̗̜̦̦̦̥̜̺͍̣͍͙̘̦͍̼͈̻͚̙͖̺̦͖̯͙͔̦̹̳̥̝͉̯̠̯̘̭̘̭͎̜͈̟̬̯͖̮̼̞͉̹͚̍̀͛͒̎͆̐̍̉̊̔̍̇͌̂̉̌͛̈́̀̃̿́͒̈́͂͗̓̅̊̊̏̆̀̄̎͑͂̽͛̆̋́́̽͋̀̈́̏́̌̏̍̐͊̀̈́̅͘͘͘̕̚̕͘͜͝͝ͅǝ̴̢̨̨̢̢̧̛̛̥̹̬͔̲̖̘̟͙͍̬͍̪̗͙̮̟̜͕̳̙̳͎̭͉͕̳̙̮̹̮̞͎͎̗̹͈͎̜̼̘̗̻̺̟̳̟̰̬̗̱̱͎̞̜͚̟̙̗̼͕̟͆̒̓̋̓̈̑̇͛̒̀̽́̆̿̎̃̎̄͌̓̉̑̐̇͂̀̿̀̽̎͒̓́̈͋̽̍̃̀̐̀̀̆̐̽͛͌͌͂̒͌̑̀̐̂̿̚̕͘̚̕͘͘͜͝͝͠͠ͅɿ̶̨̨̨̢̢̧̢̢̧̧̧̢̧̰͙̫͔̝͚̠͍̲̺͙̯͖̹̳̠͕̘͎̠̘͚͉̹͈̳̫̫̖̠͇͇̺͚͍̘͇̩͙̘̜̗̖̩͓̤̝̘̝̭͖̭̼̘͙͕̮̗̭̝͆́͜ͅͅͅͅͅô̷̧̡̢̧̱͖̪͈̘̠̣̤̯̝̮͚͓̖͕̠̻̭̻̯̱͙̲̞̩̺̤̮̳̒͗͜͝ͅͅn̴̡̡̡̨̡̨̧̨̛̠̳̙̮̬̟̜͎͖̫̭̳̬̟̰̠͈̖͖̙͓̦̞̤̬̠͚̞̲̮͉͍̰̹̤̘͙͎̝͔͔͔̖̺̮̝̙̤̣̠̥̭͚͉̝̮̺̘͍̘̼͙͇̮̰̠̳̲̦̖̦̫͔̖̰̻̊̌̈́̋̍́̂̋͐́̈̎͆̒̍̇͘͜͜͜͠͝ ̷̧̛͖͚̱̬̰͓̗̙̺̱̖̄̓̾̽̿̇͌̀̑̌̍̾̏́̒́͗͆̋̽͒͗͘͘̚͘̚͘͠͝͠ǝ̴̡̢̡̨̢͚̬̟̞͙̼̣̪̱̪̻̘̗͈͎̺̬̞̠̙̜̹͕̼̪͈̺̫̹̮͇̭̲̥͖̰̥̺̙̹͍̪̲̼̗͈͈̝͕͙̻͖̲̼͈͖͇̠̥͍̗̟̍̕͜͜l̴̛̯̞̮͇͊̌̂͊̀́͗̓̈́̒͆͌́̏̏̉̄̅͌̿̀͊̾̅̂͂͐̐̀̉͒̐́̆͛̇̈́̿̉͊́́̀́̾̊̌̀̊̚̕͘̕̚̚͝͝͠ ̸̨̨̡̡̨̡̨̧̻̣̭͙̖̳̭̫̯̞͇͓̣̥͓̼͓̮̣̼̮͇̟̱̣̫̖̥̟̘̟̭̙̱͎̪͚̬̙̟͉͇͎͖̬͉̞̞̪̼̬̥̝̖͍̲̦͓̠͈͕͔͕͙͚̙͎̺̰̹̥̻̞̲͚̟̪̗̐̔͊͗̈́͒̅̄́̉̈́͆̓̌͆͒͌͆̓͊̉̊̽̊̽͆̓̽͑̕̚̕͜͜͝͝͝͝ĉ̴̡̢̧̢̢̢̢̢̛̼͖̗̥̦̠̪̞͔̭̤͖̭͇͓̖̩̹̰̪̻̫̪̼͎̯͍͚͓͉̤̦̫͕̼̪͎̰̩̻̣͚̣͕̬̜̫͎̙͕̭̊̇͆̀̑̓͛̀̄̆͆́́̌̌͌̊̊́̍̈̈́̎̃͊̽̈̇̽̊͗̅̎̅́͌̌̇̍̒͌̒͗̅̂̈́̑̒̂̓͗̎̈́̿̋̈́̅̈́͒̈̋̑̎̀̌̓̄̎͒͋̆̅̒̆͐͊̃̋͋̎͑̚̕̚͘̚͜͜͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͝ͅͅį̸̧̨̢̧̡̧̨̢̧̛͈̻͎̪̩͙͚̱̫̤̱̪͔̠̱̫̠͙̦̳̩̙̬͖̩̲̯͈̩̱͉̮̖͉̰̺̞͇͓̠͖̦̦͓̬̼͉̜̬̰̻̂͋͌͂̀͂̿͂͌̎̅͊͌̈̐̾͊͆͐͂̒̓̾̒̌̚͠ͅΰ̴̨̢̞̝̰̮͇̹̝̣̣͍͍̘̪̻̟̹͖̗̣͍̤͖̠̜͓͆̇́̈́̎̽̑́̀͌̃̍̌̎͒͋̄̈͆̉̍̆̀͛̂̏̀͋̿̒̈́̊͌̈́͌̆̍͑͌̓̐͊̌̊̋̃̅̐͒͋̄̊͛̚̚̚̚̕̕͜͜͜͝͝͠͝į̷̡͈̟͓̰̞̗̜̰̙̖̳̝̪̩̘͇̖̣̦͇̫̞̖̲̩̼͍̥̰͕̤̫̈͂̑͗͂̄̎͂̒̓͛̔̐͛̈̽͆̈́͑̊̿̿͒̇͘͜͜͜͜͠͠]
H/W: 253cm, 311kg
Alignment: Chaotic Insane
Strength: 100
Endurance: 50
Agility: 50
Energy: 50
Luck: 40
Noble Phantasm: 100
Master:[Ϙ̸̡̡̡̨̡̡̛̣͇͚͇̺̳̦̤̼̮̺̰̦̯̙̪͉̹̬̖͙̱͓̣̜͉͙̤͚̞͖̯͔̲̙̘̱̱̬̰͕̞͕͉̳̜̥̳̜̥͈̲͓̩͇͍̰͇͖͇͇̼͇̼̯̖̰̦̖̰̫̘͉̩̙͌͒̂̿̊͌̓̈́̈́̌̓̒̇̈͐̀͊͋̀͗̃̓́̈́̐̾͐̓̆͌͑̏͂̋̽̋̀̄̉̄̃̀͊̐̇͂̂̒̿̄̎͊́̃͗͛̿̈́͌̚̕͘̚͘̚͘͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͝͠͠͝͝͝ͅͅυ̸̧̢̡̡̨̨̢̛̛̤̥̻̳͎͉͙̗̜̦̦̦̥̜̺͍̣͍͙̘̦͍̼͈̻͚̙͖̺̦͖̯͙͔̦̹̳̥̝͉̯̠̯̘̭̘̭͎̜͈̟̬̯͖̮̼̞͉̹͚̍̀͛͒̎͆̐̍̉̊̔̍̇͌̂̉̌͛̈́̀̃̿́͒̈́͂͗̓̅̊̊̏̆̀̄̎͑͂̽͛̆̋́́̽͋̀̈́̏́̌̏̍̐͊̀̈́̅͘͘͘̕̚̕͘͜͝͝ͅǝ̴̢̨̨̢̢̧̛̛̥̹̬͔̲̖̘̟͙͍̬͍̪̗͙̮̟̜͕̳̙̳͎̭͉͕̳̙̮̹̮̞͎͎̗̹͈͎̜̼̘̗̻̺̟̳̟̰̬̗̱̱͎̞̜͚̟̙̗̼͕̟͆̒̓̋̓̈̑̇͛̒̀̽́̆̿̎̃̎̄͌̓̉̑̐̇͂̀̿̀̽̎͒̓́̈͋̽̍̃̀̐̀̀̆̐̽͛͌͌͂̒͌̑̀̐̂̿̚̕͘̚̕͘͘͜͝͝͠͠ͅɿ̶̨̨̨̢̢̧̢̢̧̧̧̢̧̰͙̫͔̝͚̠͍̲̺͙̯͖̹̳̠͕̘͎̠̘͚͉̹͈̳̫̫̖̠͇͇̺͚͍̘͇̩͙̘̜̗̖̩͓̤̝̘̝̭͖̭̼̘͙͕̮̗̭̝͆́͜ͅͅͅͅͅô̷̧̡̢̧̱͖̪͈̘̠̣̤̯̝̮͚͓̖͕̠̻̭̻̯̱͙̲̞̩̺̤̮̳̒͗͜͝ͅͅn̴̡̡̡̨̡̨̧̨̛̠̳̙̮̬̟̜͎͖̫̭̳̬̟̰̠͈̖͖̙͓̦̞̤̬̠͚̞̲̮͉͍̰̹̤̘͙͎̝͔͔͔̖̺̮̝̙̤̣̠̥̭͚͉̝̮̺̘͍̘̼͙͇̮̰̠̳̲̦̖̦̫͔̖̰̻̊̌̈́̋̍́̂̋͐́̈̎͆̒̍̇͘͜͜͜͠͝ ̷̧̛͖͚̱̬̰͓̗̙̺̱̖̄̓̾̽̿̇͌̀̑̌̍̾̏́̒́͗͆̋̽͒͗͘͘̚͘̚͘͠͝͠ǝ̴̡̢̡̨̢͚̬̟̞͙̼̣̪̱̪̻̘̗͈͎̺̬̞̠̙̜̹͕̼̪͈̺̫̹̮͇̭̲̥͖̰̥̺̙̹͍̪̲̼̗͈͈̝͕͙̻͖̲̼͈͖͇̠̥͍̗̟̍̕͜͜l̴̛̯̞̮͇͊̌̂͊̀́͗̓̈́̒͆͌́̏̏̉̄̅͌̿̀͊̾̅̂͂͐̐̀̉͒̐́̆͛̇̈́̿̉͊́́̀́̾̊̌̀̊̚̕͘̕̚̚͝͝͠ ̸̨̨̡̡̨̡̨̧̻̣̭͙̖̳̭̫̯̞͇͓̣̥͓̼͓̮̣̼̮͇̟̱̣̫̖̥̟̘̟̭̙̱͎̪͚̬̙̟͉͇͎͖̬͉̞̞̪̼̬̥̝̖͍̲̦͓̠͈͕͔͕͙͚̙͎̺̰̹̥̻̞̲͚̟̪̗̐̔͊͗̈́͒̅̄́̉̈́͆̓̌͆͒͌͆̓͊̉̊̽̊̽͆̓̽͑̕̚̕͜͜͝͝͝͝ĉ̴̡̢̧̢̢̢̢̢̛̼͖̗̥̦̠̪̞͔̭̤͖̭͇͓̖̩̹̰̪̻̫̪̼͎̯͍͚͓͉̤̦̫͕̼̪͎̰̩̻̣͚̣͕̬̜̫͎̙͕̭̊̇͆̀̑̓͛̀̄̆͆́́̌̌͌̊̊́̍̈̈́̎̃͊̽̈̇̽̊͗̅̎̅́͌̌̇̍̒͌̒͗̅̂̈́̑̒̂̓͗̎̈́̿̋̈́̅̈́͒̈̋̑̎̀̌̓̄̎͒͋̆̅̒̆͐͊̃̋͋̎͑̚̕̚͘̚͜͜͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͝ͅͅį̸̧̨̢̧̡̧̨̢̧̛͈̻͎̪̩͙͚̱̫̤̱̪͔̠̱̫̠͙̦̳̩̙̬͖̩̲̯͈̩̱͉̮̖͉̰̺̞͇͓̠͖̦̦͓̬̼͉̜̬̰̻̂͋͌͂̀͂̿͂͌̎̅͊͌̈̐̾͊͆͐͂̒̓̾̒̌̚͠ͅΰ̴̨̢̞̝̰̮͇̹̝̣̣͍͍̘̪̻̟̹͖̗̣͍̤͖̠̜͓͆̇́̈́̎̽̑́̀͌̃̍̌̎͒͋̄̈͆̉̍̆̀͛̂̏̀͋̿̒̈́̊͌̈́͌̆̍͑͌̓̐͊̌̊̋̃̅̐͒͋̄̊͛̚̚̚̚̕̕͜͜͜͝͝͠͝į̷̡͈̟͓̰̞̗̜̰̙̖̳̝̪̩̘͇̖̣̦͇̫̞̖̲̩̼͍̥̰͕̤̫̈͂̑͗͂̄̎͂̒̓͛̔̐͛̈̽͆̈́͑̊̿̿͒̇͘͜͜͜͜͠͠]
H/W: 253cm, 311kg
Alignment: Chaotic Insane
Strength: 100
Endurance: 50
Agility: 50
Energy: 50
Luck: 40
Noble Phantasm: 100
The best way to describe this was going cross-eyed while wiggling your ears, except your ears were located your pupils.
...it was a very different feeling than when she manifested the giant.
It honestly gave her something of a headache as the flowery, almost calligraphy flowing across her sight had to make sense of something in the background and the foreground.
She still was having trouble making sense of this; was her projection or herself inherently lucky? She assumed it was her power because she definitely didn't feel like she got a 100 on any strength score or test that had ever existed.
Ever.
The biggest mystery, however, was what a Noble Phantasm was?
It was something she had turned over and over in her head.
Doing a web search did not help nor did any looking at reference books. It sounded like a catholic term, but she hadn't found anything related.
Taylor had decided to break the problem up literally;
Noble:
1a: possessing outstanding qualities : illustrious
1b: famous, notable
2: of high birth or exalted rank : aristocratic
3a: possessing very high or excellent qualities or properties
3b: very good or excellent
4: grand or impressive especially in appearance
5: possessing, characterized by, or arising from superiority of mind or character or of ideals or morals : lofty
6: chemically inert or inactive especially toward oxygen
Phantasm:
1: a product of fantasy: such as
1a: delusive appearance : illusion
1b: ghost, specter
1c: a figment of the imagination
2: a mental representation of a real object
Noble's 6th definition could be thrown out. The rest… could mean something; the giant was indeed possessing outstanding qualities, she didn't think he was of high birth? He did have… an interesting appearance, that she could agree on. She knew Phantasm's 1c definition was not applicable; she had clearly seen him act upon the world…
Throwing definition combinations together gave Taylor a… rather scary hypothesis.
Noble not only meant excellence but of someone's fame or station at birth. Phantasm fairly uniformly meant ghost or something other.
Was the giant… was her power the ability to summon a dead cape?
It was practically impossible to actually search every cape to exist- many capes in the USA weren't notable outside of their localities. That didn't even cover capes from before the internet or from before the Protectorate. Then there was the fact that she had no way of researching capes from other continents. It just…
Much of Africa had turned into parahuman warlords. South America only had countries in name only. Only what the government capes could defend. Europe was falling apart, brick by brick; a glimpse to what North America may be like in ten, fifteen years. The Middle East had been in constant war for the past two decades; much of it's economic wealth was destroyed by Behemoth. South-East Asia was huddled together trying to keep stable while preparing for the CUI to expand.
...was fraught with difficulties.
What nipped that theory in the bud was the fact that it gave it a rating. 100.
Going further down the rabbit hole, she could guess two outcomes from that; either it was an attribute inherent to the giant or… it referred to his quality. Maybe if he died, she would get a random dead cape as her power?
Except that was impossible, the giant was the best, he was invincible!
…
…
…
Where did that thought come from?!
No one was invincible, no one.
She closed her eyes as she rubbed at her forehead. Just having the text open hurt. The top two lines were at fault.
One kept changing constantly, the other was like someone was stabbing you in the throat while throttling her heart with icy plasma, tendrils sliding through her nerves, making them jittery, tensing and untensing.
It was while she was trying her best to look away from them yet see if she could decipher something from it, anything, that she felt it.
The edge of what felt like… page.
She knew it felt like paper, a well-worn and dog eared. Light and could be blown over by a stiff breeze. Through her eyes.
A new muscle tinged.
Without thinking she tensed it, shaking at the new fantastical muscle straining in exertion.
Battle Continuation: 50
The ability to stay alive.
It allows for battle even on the verge of death, and allows the user to stay alive until they receive a clearly fatal blow.
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"W-What?"
This… Taylor at least understood what some of this said; she had seen the giant lose a hand and get a hole blown through his torso so large she could have reached both arms through it. He had survived it.
It was the many question marks that gave her pause.
Did her power, whatever this vision overlay was, not know about the giant?
As she stared, she could feel another 'page' to the right over her vision just as their was a page to the left. Turning it left, watching the words flip over like a page being turned only to be replaced by the first set of words was surreal.
She then went two 'pages' to the right.
???
Regenerates automatically, ???
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Regenerates automatically, ???
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The only thing Taylor could read off of this 'page' was that regeneration was a thing… which she had already seen him do.
Her brow furrowed.
"Hang on, can I only see stuff you've done?"
The giant merely placidly stared back at her.
Most of this was question marks, unknown.
Taylor didn't even know where to start.
This didn't answer any questions, merely raised a multitude of them.
As she stared up at him, she couldn't help but mutter.
"Are you even my power?"
The girl had been distracted ever since coming back from the first.
The shadow had watched her mutter to herself and write notes while staring at itself.
There was nothing that threatened her, however, and therefore nothing for the shadow to do.
The girl slept, ate, went to her place of learning, talked to the cripple and the birdgirl, and then went back to learning.
It all mattered not to the shadow as none threatened her life.
Everything changed at the shrill noise.
Every single person in the building froze.
All activity halted.
The world stood still.
When it ended, motion restarted.
Many cried, others hugged or left the building.
All trappings of hierarchy were stripped away after that noise.
The girl rushed to a public latrine.
The shadow watched as the girl looked around, checking each of the unlocked doors before focusing on the shadow.
"I… there is going to be a battle, somewhere, elsewhere. A city is going to die. Probably. It happens every three months. Heroes and villains join to fight them and lose every time. At best we tie. I'm… I can't do anything about it. But… maybe you could make a difference? Maybe?"
She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself.
"Or maybe the villains will take the chance to strike without the heroes here?" She mumbled that to herself. "Miss Militia and Armsmaster are probably going to go…"
Green eyes stared at the shadow as if it held all the answers.
It only held some.
[] Try and send the giant to the Endbringer fight. [+5, QA is dumping her votes right here]
[] Stay home, don't fight the force of nature in a different postal code. Patrol the city while the heroes are away. Make sure there is a city for the true heroes to return to.
Author's note: This is a big vote. Please think it through before voting. I'm excited regardless of which wins.
Also, hey, less then a week since last update! Improvement!
Please, please vote. This one is one of the more important votes I've had so far.
There may be an interlude in the near-future as well.
Ferb_Ancos
The one under the table
- Pronouns
- He
Pretty neat chapter and one where Taylor gets a somewhat better understanding of what her Proyection's potential is. I love that it seems that when Heracles came, a part of Ilya came with it explaining those little slips of the tongue.
I know it may not win... but I think this is best in this situation. Heracles is strong, but I don't think that will be enough. Even if he goes, cooperation with the other heroes will be difficult at best and that may be a mess against an Endbringer.
[X] Stay home, don't fight the force of nature in a different postal code. Patrol the city while the heroes are away. Make sure there is a city for the true heroes to return to.
I know it may not win... but I think this is best in this situation. Heracles is strong, but I don't think that will be enough. Even if he goes, cooperation with the other heroes will be difficult at best and that may be a mess against an Endbringer.
[X] Stay home, don't fight the force of nature in a different postal code. Patrol the city while the heroes are away. Make sure there is a city for the true heroes to return to.
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- Pronouns
- He
Yeah, if he goes he won't make much of a difference.
Not sure if it's wank, but I heard you need to be a planet buster at least to kill an Endbringer's core.
He won't die for sure, but he won't be much help either.
Either way, we need 6 votes minimum to beat out QA. Guess we know why it got so excited before.
QA is excited because it's possible data time! [Joy]!
SaberFail
All Ideas. No Skills. a bit hungry
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Stay home, don't fight the force of nature in a different postal code. Patrol the city while the heroes are away. Make sure there is a city for the true heroes to return to.
Taylor is not ready for this, even if she isn't going personally, she doesn't have enough control over Heracles to stop him from causing further damage while fighting the endbringer.
Edit: we also have no idea what would happen if he takes fatal damage, he could tank it with those nine lives of his, or it could turn out that he no longer has that skill, since we have no idea how exactly QA managed to get a Servant to materialize, he could have lost some skills
Ser Hercules of Greece, first of his name.
Berserker: sips tea
Close enough honestly, I'm sure Hero is somewhere on the Throne
Hi Ilya, what you doing in Taylor's head?
Taylor is not ready for this, even if she isn't going personally, she doesn't have enough control over Heracles to stop him from causing further damage while fighting the endbringer.
Edit: we also have no idea what would happen if he takes fatal damage, he could tank it with those nine lives of his, or it could turn out that he no longer has that skill, since we have no idea how exactly QA managed to get a Servant to materialize, he could have lost some skills
Ser Hercules of Greece, first of his name.
Berserker: sips tea
Close enough honestly, I'm sure Hero is somewhere on the Throne
Hi Ilya, what you doing in Taylor's head?
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- Pronouns
- He
Or even worse, still have nine lives and loses them all anyway.
Deadweight Hero
I can't beat the demon lord help-
[X] Stay home, don't fight the force of nature in a different postal code. Patrol the city while the heroes are away. Make sure there is a city for the true heroes to return to.
Heracles will probably just get in the way, madness enhancement and all. Better stay home for now.
Heracles will probably just get in the way, madness enhancement and all. Better stay home for now.
- Pronouns
- He
Won't matter I don't think. QA spent 5 votes and 2 people on SB voted to go.
[X] Stay home, don't fight the force of nature in a different postal code. Patrol the city while the heroes are away. Make sure there is a city for the true heroes to return to.
SaberFail
All Ideas. No Skills. a bit hungry
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Another thing is that we don't know what would happen if Berserker actually dies, would he respawn after a while? Would he disappear permanently and end the quest because Taylor would be de-powered? Or would QA roll the gacha and summon a new Servant?
So, I know there is some obfuscation because two website voting, but big votes like this usually end up in the twenties for how many vote. Even my average chapters get around 15 votes, so there is a fair chance of either winning. That is to say, QA did put her finger on the scale quite heavily but it's not truly impossible.
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[X] Stay home, don't fight the force of nature in a different postal code. Patrol the city while the heroes are away. Make sure there is a city for the true heroes to return to.
Butt out, QA! Even ifBasaka dare ni mo makenai that, he's honestly best as Taylor's guardian at this point rather than an actual "strike" weapon.
Butt out, QA! Even if
Count Sinner
Fate in Your Favor
- Location
- Placentia ca
[X] Try and send the giant to the Endbringer fight. [+5, QA is dumping her votes right here]
- Location
- Oklahoma
[X] Try and send the giant to the Endbringer fight. [+5, QA is dumping her votes right here]
DATA DATA DATA DATA. I'm wit QA ere boyo!
DATA DATA DATA DATA. I'm wit QA ere boyo!