Firebird, a Worm AU/Xover?
- Thread starter chibipoe
- Start date
BerserkerZeroOne
(Unexploded Supernova)
- Location
- On your left!
I know, but no one put the obvious "guy staring at breasts" in so I felt that I had to stand up for men everywhere and make us in to the internal perverts we are.
It's not perverted if it's only in your head and there are no telepaths around to hear your thoughts.
It's not perverted if it's only in your head and there are no telepaths around to hear your thoughts.
Dr. Mercurious
Strangest Person You Know
- Location
- New England
...I wish I could say yes.
Sorry but this was too tempting to write.Query: I require examples of half-formed thoughts. Nothing explicit, but I'll allow some off-color. Just like random thoughts you have through the day. 1 per person each. Some will even make it into 4.1.
Ok, I think I have enough! Thanks, everyone.
"Oh god, my arm is green. Panacea said I was clear! The radiation damage was healed... fuck. Fuck Fuck FUCK! I'm going back. Yeah, going back. Gamma radiation Tinker bomb, heh, fuck this. I AM NOT GOING TO BE SOME GREEN WALKING GLOWSTICK!"
Last edited:
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
A bit late:
But that is an interesting thought.Ok, I think I have enough! Thanks, everyone.
- Location
- Existance
He knows. He posted in reply to that.
He says he's sorry and couldn't help himself.
Thank you for a great chapter Chibipoe. I really enjoyed both Lisa's and Armsmaster's perspectives. (And I'm sorry that I was unable to thank you last night after reading the new chapter.)
I do have to wonder if we'll see Lisa do the smart thing and try to get hold of Taylor as soon as possible to thank her (repeatedly) for saving her. If she's still visibly bruised and moving carefully I can see the meeting going quite well for her actually. Depending of course on what Taylor learns about her intentions via reading her surface thoughts.
It also seems as if Armsmaster might be getting an idea about Taylor's precognition.
Add to that the fact that he seems to now be aware of Taylor's pyrokinesis, which can lead him and Piggot back to the firebird's appearance over Winslow when the first Thinker blackout occurred, and you don't even have to mention possible telepathy to make any meeting with Piggot very interesting.
With Armsmaster's possible guilt over his actions towards Taylor (at least it appears that way to me) any decisions they reach will probably be emotionally difficult for him.
And I just have to say, I very much like how you portrayed Armsmaster, as competent, flawed and growing.
I do have to wonder if we'll see Lisa do the smart thing and try to get hold of Taylor as soon as possible to thank her (repeatedly) for saving her. If she's still visibly bruised and moving carefully I can see the meeting going quite well for her actually. Depending of course on what Taylor learns about her intentions via reading her surface thoughts.
It also seems as if Armsmaster might be getting an idea about Taylor's precognition.
Add to that the fact that he seems to now be aware of Taylor's pyrokinesis, which can lead him and Piggot back to the firebird's appearance over Winslow when the first Thinker blackout occurred, and you don't even have to mention possible telepathy to make any meeting with Piggot very interesting.
With Armsmaster's possible guilt over his actions towards Taylor (at least it appears that way to me) any decisions they reach will probably be emotionally difficult for him.
And I just have to say, I very much like how you portrayed Armsmaster, as competent, flawed and growing.
Taylor wouldn't be digging too far into his mind, but the poor greenish bastard's name is Bruce. He's a PRT researcher that helps vet Tinker equipment, and he's also very confused because high intensity radiation exposure doesn't turn people green it burns them, rips apart their bodies at a molecular level, and kills them. It most definitely would not do anything that media suggests it would such as causing spontaneous mutations or the development of superpowers. Right?
Sleep Walking - 4.1
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
4.1
Piece of (Damn, I really) shit, I hate (Wait, why did I) red lights. Why do I (come downstairs) always get (want a beer) a red on this corner (Beer, Beer, Beer, Beer, Whiskey!) damnit! Why is 15mph (again? Fuck, this) so damn slow!? (always happens.") "Hmm... (What was I doing.)
Telepathy wasn't like the empathy at all. Actual thoughts were less of a mess and more of a constant noise. The walls I had put up helped screen them out, but unlike with my empathy, maintaining them required conscious effort. I was exhausted, and there was a lingering, bone-deep ache that made it that much harder to block out the noise.
Chinese or Italian?" (Half a box of white rice,) again? Ehh... (week old mashed potatoes,) I'm glad I'm not in Australia. (some of that soup) that spider in the toilet (I can't stand but) "Fuck, how many (she always makes, celery) I can't stop this feeling (that's starting to rot. Maybe) would have been (there's something in the pantry) I like trains.
It was like when Emma and her cronies would crowd around me and say random things to rile me up. I didn't let it bother me then and I wouldn't let it bother me now. Although, I had wondered if that would change if a lot of people started panicking all at once.
(Dat ass...) a killer. heh heh heh. (I can make quickly?) literally... but fuck that stings!" (times I have to tell my boss, // Deep inside of me // (Ooh, found a penny!) wood shrinks when (Girl, you just don't realize) it goes dry..." (What you do to me) Shit, did I remember to pick up the dry cleaning? (Ten am to two pm, my ass.)
I opened my eyes slowly, staring at over the skyline of Brockton Bay as the thoughts faded to a distant murmur. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than just walling everything up. That clearly wasn't working. How many times had I taken a hit I could have avoided? Gotten into something because I had only thought to look ahead after the fact or listened for what the emotions around me were telling me of what my opponents intended?
A sigh escaped. It wasn't like there was anyone that I could actually ask for help. There was only one… person… thing, whatever, even suspected of being a telepath. I couldn't just fly up into orbit, and even if I could, I knew that trying to ask the Simurgh for help was a bad idea.
I sighed again and unfolded my legs, wincing at the pins and needles from having sat on it too long and swinging them back and forth until the feeling returned. I could mostly tune the voices out, but what I needed was to practice hearing what I wanted and nothing else. If I could do it right… I could do so much to help people. Know when someone was going to do something bad and be there to stop them. I could even do something a bit less violent, help people. I could know their thoughts, their feelings and help them that way.
"Taylor Hebert, super-therapist," I said aloud, then snorted. "Yeah, that's not happening."
I dropped my hands down, letting them curl around the edge of the telekinetic shape I was sitting on. Talking to Catherine and Minako had filled me in on a lot of what I had missed and I wasn't sure I was happier for having the knowledge.
The Empire had responded to my take down of Cricket, Hookwolf, Fenja and Menja by attacking in force, launching attacks across the city before hitting the PRT and liberating the four of them. The ABB had responded with a campaign of terror aimed at Empire territory in response to that and their earlier attack at the market where I'd first encountered Cricket.
A week of fighting and terror… that had only come to an end because the Empire were forced to withdraw. Both them and the ABB had suffered a lot of losses and it seemed like an unspoken ceasefire was declared.
And then I apparently made things tense again by cratering a building and wrecking several city blocks from the shockwave. I grimaced at the thought, wishing it were possible to glare at a hole in your mind. Nothing had surfaced about the time I was missing other than some really unsettling dreams that I didn't understand. I almost wondered if they were my precog working while I was asleep, but I was pretty sure there weren't any ancient ruins on the moon.
"Moping up here again?" I looked up to see Vicky floating there, holding a familiar brown bag. "I brought burgers."
"I am not moping," I said, hating how petulant I sounded. "And you didn't need to do that."
"Have you looked at yourself in a mirror?" Vicky retorted. "You are skin and bones. I mean, I was kind of envious over how slender you were… but this is taking it a bit far."
"Just give me a burger." I told her, rolling my eyes while stretching the platform out a bit. "You can sit, if you want."
Vicky carefully felt around with her hand, frowning. "This is still the weirdest thing. How am I supposed to tell where to sit?"
"Sorry I can't color-code my power for your convenience," I snarked, unwrapping one of the burgers and tearing into it. After chewing, I continued. "Just look for the distortions in the air."
"Because those are so obvious," Vicky replied, gingerly sitting down. She sat the paper bag down, shaking her head as it remained stationary. "Utter bullshit, I'm telling you."
"Telekinetics can't be that uncommon," I said, reaching for another burger. "And don't you have several teammates who can make forcefields? I'd figure they'd have made chairs out of them at least."
Vicky didn't say anything for a moment, eating her own burger in silence. "First, most telekinetics affect a specific thing. Second, no, they make forcefields and I haven't seen any of them shape them into anything else Third, telekinetics don't just do… whatever it is you do. The reason it's bullshit is because you don't have any rules."
"Hm?"
She sighed, tossing her grease-stained wrapper into the breeze. "Most grab-bag capes have a few weak powers and maybe one strong one. You have... how many powers now? And pull out new ones regularly? With no apparent limits?"
I dropped my wrapper into the bag, catching the one she had thrown with my powers and dropping it in there as well. "I've wondered about it a few times, but I don't know how to respond to that."
"Well, take Narwhal, for example," Vicky explained. "She's ranked so highly because she can get around the Manton limit."
"Manton limit?" I frowned, rolling the words around in my head. "What the hell is that?"
Vicky stared at me. "You've had your powers how long and you don't know?"
"I've kind of been preoccupied with a bunch of things. Looking up obscure details hasn't been high on my priorities." I fished another burger free of the bag and began unwrapping it. "Enlighten me."
"Obscure?" Vicky repeated, almost growling. "Ugh. Why am I teaching you basic parahuman 103?"
"Just lucky, I guess?" I asked.
"You are not funny," she retorted before sighing. "Alright, here's what it means. You can basically affect living things, or inanimate objects. But not both. Most of the time, this means you can't use your powers directly on other people. Like you can't just make someone burst into flame, or something. And… you usually can't use your powers on yourself. I think that's right."
I frowned. "Okay, I can get the not being able to use your powers on yourself… sort of. But the other part? That doesn't even make sense."
Vicky shrugged. "I'm sure Dr. Manton agrees with your assessment. How many degrees do you have, again?"
"Whatever," I said, poking at the bag to see if there was another burger hidden among the wrappers I had deposited in there.
"You're still hungry?" Vicky asked. "Maybe I should have taken you to Fugly Bob's. Least then we could order more."
"Have you looked at me recently?" I returned with a grin. "Skin and bones."
"Fine," she said, sighing heavily. "Fugly Bob's it is. I'm not eating anything else, but I'll treat you to some more. Anything to get you looking like you're not starving."
"Sounds good," I said, preparing to disperse the platform. "Race you?"
"First," Vicky interrupted and I turned my head to look, taking note of her expression. "I.. wanted to talk about something. Why I was… angry when we talked at the hospital."
I raised a hand. "You were stressed. Let's not…"
"No." She cut me off with a shake of her head. "I want… I need to talk to someone about it."
Vicky shifted where she sat and it was a moment before she finally said anything. "Did Catherine or Minako fill you in on this week in detail yet?"
"Broad strokes," I answered. "It was something of a tense atmosphere at the time. Their dad doesn't entirely like me, I think."
"Cath says he's a bit overprotective and a bit controlling as far as their cape thing goes," Vicky said. "I get why, but yeah, I can see him being a bit of a jerk easily, even if I haven't met him personally."
"Wait, cape thing?" I blinked. "You know?"
"Well, yeah?" Vicky asked. "I mean, I didn't say anything because not my business, but Taylor, two girls hang out with you as civvies, two girls hang out with you as a cape. I don't need to be a rocket scientist to put two and two together and get five."
"Five?"
"Anyway, they told me the day after you went missing," Vicky went on. "I got Amy to fix Mina up. Don't know if she told you, but she was pretty busted up after you went missing."
"Yeah, though not that Amy had patched them up," I answered. "Or maybe they did. There was a lot of topic changing that night."
"Well, I did," Vicky said. "They didn't give me much more than confirm that they thought it was someone who had taken you because of your powers." She paused to stare at me for a moment before reaching over and flicking me in the forehead.
"Hey! What was that for?" I rubbed at the spot and glared at her.
"That was for going off to meet a stranger and then bringing her home!" Vicky said. "For all you know, she was just setting you up for what happened. She wasn't around when they woke up, which means either she was kidnapped too, or she was in on the whole thing."
"Given what happened, I can't imagine putting herself willingly into that situation," I replied. "I mean, she seemed just as surprised as everyone else when everything exploded. I think, anyway. I was a bit preoccupied with trying to breathe and get everyone out at the same time."
"Could have been an act," Vicky insisted. "I mean, you weren't reading people's minds before whatever happened to you. And you should really let Amy make sure you're alright, while we're on that subject."
"First, the doctors say I'm fin—"
"My sister trumps whatever those quacks say."
"And second," I continued, raising my voice a little. "In case you hadn't noticed, your sister either doesn't like me, or is scared of me. Maybe both. I don't know why, either."
Vicky's shoulders slumped. "No, I don't know either. She won't tell me why, but I know there has to be a reason. She doesn't dislike people without one."
"I could find out," I said, but held up a hand as Vicky turned to glare at me. "But I won't. I don't have someone with similar powers to teach me etiquette on mind-reading, so I have to figure it out for myself. I'm trying to avoid invading people's privacy if I can help it." I blinked, and for a split second I could see the phantom of a smiling, aged face in front of me. Distantly, I could almost hear his voice as he held out a hand towards me.
I blinked again, and it was gone and Vicky was waving a hand in front of my face. "Earth to Taylor. You in there?"
I shook the image away. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You spaced out on me for a second," she said. "Are you sure I shouldn't get Amy to look at you?"
"I'm fine," I insisted. "The only thing I'm having trouble with is learning to only hear what thoughts I want to hear."
"I dunno," Vicky said. "I mean, those were some pretty crazy sounding drugs, from what I saw on your report. There could be something making you loopy still. Like just now, you completely spaced out."
"Weren't we talking about this past week and not me?"
"Fine, be a grouch," Vicky said, taking a deep breath. "The Protectorate and New Wave focused on just relief at first, letting them fight it out. Though the Empire was getting it hard from the Protectorate after busting out their people."
I grimaced at that. "Not a deal, right?"
She made a face. "No one told me about them attacking and breaking them out until recently. Turns out I was spouting rumor when we talked at the hospital. Protectorate was just keeping quiet about it, probably to save face. I won't pretend to know why exactly though."
"And the Empire wasn't crowing over getting one over the Protectorate and PRT?" I asked. "That's… kind of surprising."
"It was kind of worrying, honestly," Vicky admitted. "I've never known the Empire to not gloat when they do something big. The only reason they wouldn't would be if there something else they wanted to brag about, something bigger."
"I wonder what that was." I frowned. "Did they ever say anything?"
She shook her head. "Usual threats, but they were just aiming at the ABB for the most part. ABB was hitting back just as hard. Harder, really, given what they were doing with their new cape."
"I think I remember that. You mentioned her in the hospital," I said. "Bakuda, wasn't it?"
Vicky's expression tightened into a scowl. "Yeah. That's her."
I frowned at her. "Something bad happened, didn't it?"
"Three days after it started, yeah." Vicky began, pausing as her hands curled around the edge of the platform, knuckles turning white from the force she was applying. I reinforced the surface as she was gripping it with enough force that I could feel my telekinesis crumpling. "The Empire kept bringing more to bear and kept pushing the ABB back. The ABB was staying focused on them unless attacked, but their methods… well, any place could be a bomb waiting to go off."
"What happened?" I asked when Vicky fell silent.
"We were helping clear a part of Anders Memorial that had been damaged by a nearby explosion," Vicky finally said. "Some shop or another got melted and the effect damaged some of the hospital's structure."
I didn't say anything or interrupt as she continued. "Mom went to check if there was anyone else, but, apparently one of Bakuda's bombs was still there and she got caught in the blast."
"She isn't—"
Vicky shook her head. "No. She didn't die. This one was apparently something else. Caused pain. She wouldn't stop screaming. Amy did what she could, but she doesn't do brains and well, Mom's been a problem since. Like, Ames spends more time away from the house than at it now. So do I, for that matter." Can't stand to have another argument.
"Arguments?" I prompted and she rolled her eyes before blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes.
"Amy fixed her up, like I said," Vicky continued. "But she… I think it did something else. She's really unpleasant, particularly toward Amy. Acts like Amy's done something to her personally, or going to do something to her."
"That… I don't know what to say. That's been the cause of the arguments, I take it?"
"Yeah," Vicky said. "I got fed up with it and started calling her on it. Since, she's started giving me the same sort of attitude."
"And it isn't something that Amy can fix?"
"Even if it was, Mom isn't likely to let Amy touch her to do it." Vicky snorted. "Anyway. Let's go hit up Fugly's. I'll fill you in on how things settled down once we've got a table and you're stuffing your face."
My stomach chose to growl loudly, interrupting what I had been planning to say and I took the bag containing our trash. "Sure. I don't have any place special to be right now and more food is probably good."
"Race?" Vicky asked.
"Really?" I asked. "Even recovering, you'll still eat my dirt."
"Loser buys sundaes!" Vicky fired back, diving off the platform with a laugh.
"Cheater!" I called out, giving chase.
"Closed?" I frowned at the sign, then looked past it at what I could see of the interior, then up toward the roof, signs of damage clearly visible. I guess they had closed early rather than risk problems over the damages.
"The mall's still open," Vicky pointed out, glancing up and down the street. "We can probably get something at the food court." The combination of the recent fighting and the damaged shops or restaurants had discouraged people from coming out.
"I guess we're going there," I agreed. "Wasn't there a new place in there? Korean barbeque or something like that?"
Vicky nodded. "I think that's it. I've heard good things about them."
"Loser buys sundaes this time!" I shouted and took off after a quick check that no one was around to see. Vicky's outraged cry only made me laugh as she rushed to catch up to me. Vicky said something as she drew closer, but I only gave her an absent nod and did a barrel roll around her.
Flying was easily my favorite power now that I could do it properly. Especially right now, with how I was still recovering. There was nothing quite like being able to just forget about how easily I got tired or how utterly weak I felt sometimes, to be able to just take to the air and leave that behind. Nothing quite like the feeling of freedom that it gave, that you weren't tied down to anything.
A shrill whistle interrupted me and I came to a halt, turning to see Vicky hanging back a bit. "What?"
"Mall's back there," she said, pointing with her thumb back over her shoulder. "You just kept on going. You really should let Amy check you out. Zoning out while flying at high speed?"
"I said I'm fine," I told her, more curtly than I meant to as I dropped toward the mall. "I think we already went over the situation with your sister too."
Vicky shook her head. "No, not putting it off this time. We're eating and then you're coming with me. One time spacing out is okay, but twice in less than half an hour?"
"You aren't going to stop about this, are you?"
"You can read my mind, what does that tell you?"
"Ugh, fine," I growled. "It's on you when Amy freaks out again."
"I'll deal with that if it happens," she told me. "Let's go find some more food for you first."
"Whatever." I sighed, dropping quickly down between some cars in a stretch of parking lot where there was no one around. I looked around, feeling for anyone that might be approaching and my eyes landed on an area that was taped off. "Is that—"
"Where the transport got turned over," Vicky answered before I had finished. "Just past that is where you had it out with the Empire. They still haven't filled in the crater from where you buried Hookwolf."
I didn't say anything as I walked toward it, severing the tape with an idle use of my powers. I hadn't given the area much thought in the wake of the fight, but seeing it now, in full daylight, I could only stare. There were sections of grass and dirt strewn around from where the transport had been turned over, but the worst of the damage was past that spot, craters and just whole sections of the tarmac torn up and ground down until all that was left was a disaster zone.
"I heard the Mall's planning to replace the big window in the food court with just a wall," Vicky said somewhere behind me. "In case something gets thrown that way during a fight."
"I didn't throw anything near the mall," I muttered sourly, glancing toward the distant windows of the food court.
"No," Vicky said as she walked up beside me, arms crossed. "You didn't. But you could have. They could have. And there were a lot of stupid people with their noses pressed against it. They're afraid it's going to happen again and someone will throw something or someone at that window and there's going to be another crowd of gawkers turned collateral. Then the mall has to explain why it happened in the first place."
I snorted. "You, of all people, lecturing me about damage? What did Assault call you again? Collateral Damage Barbie?"
"Which makes you Mass Destruction Skipper," Vicky retorted without any sign that she was irritated. "C'mon, sidekick, let's get some food."
"I am not your sidekick!" I protested as she started toward the mall.
"I'm the senior cape here, so by default, you're my sidekick," Vicky said. "Did you miss that memo?"
"It must have come while I was a prisoner in someone's basement," I replied, shaking my head. Vicky gave me a look and I shrugged. "Could have been worse. I could have been stuffed in a refrigerator."
"That is not funny." Vicky glared at me.
"Sorry, it sounded funnier in my head." I shrugged again. "Guess my sense of humor isn't that great."
"If only Amy could fix that too," Vicky said, grinning at me. "Now, come on, enough staring at this mess. Food is this way."
The entrance we took was actually on the other side of the mall from the food court, and I took the time to observe in silence, noticing just how skittish the people shopping were. More than a few had an air of trepidation surrounding them, like they were expecting something bad to happen at the drop of a hat.
But as nervous as people were, I could at least see that they were enjoying themselves. Unlike in other places across Brockton, the mall seemed to have all its stores open and undamaged, having apparently escaped the week-long conflict untouched. Fugly's was only one example out of many places that were either closing up early for repairs everyday, or were closed entirely.
"Escalators aren't far," Vicky chimed in while reaching behind her to pull me forward. I hadn't even noticed while people-watching, but my breath was starting to run short at some point, leaving me feeling winded.
"Thanks," I muttered, grateful when the escalators were there and I was able to just stand while it carried us upward.
"Now do you think I'm wrong about getting Amy to take a look? You can't even walk a few feet without threatening to pass out. Have you seen your face right now? If that color was any more wrong…"
"I'll be fine when I've had some more to eat," I said, irritated. "I said I'd go, you don't have to keep harping on it." I stepped clear of the escalator and looked around, spotting the line of people that seemed to be for the new restaurant she had mentioned. We wandered over and settled in at the back of the line, slowly inching forward.
"Look, I'm sorry," Vicky said finally. "I'm worried about you though. But you really do look like you're going to keel over at any second now, Taylor."
"I don't look that bad," I said. "I'm just tired."
"Bullshit," Vicky snapped. "You look like shit. I swear, I should just—"
Whatever she was going to say was interrupted as a group came into the line directly behind us. I glanced toward them, noting that none of them were anyone I knew, though an odd sense of familiarity tugged at me as I met eyes with a well-built teenaged Asian boy. I looked past as he broke eye contact, feeling surprise, guilt, and fear, of all things from him. Two other boys were talking and the last two were an Asian girl who looked bored and a younger girl who saw me and smiled brightly before waving.
However she stopped, apparently in surprise, as she looked beside me and seemed to finally notice who I was with. For a moment, I thought it was just another fan before she brightened again and called out to her. "Hi, Vicky!"
Vicky's expression smoothed out and I got a sense of irritation mingled with amusement running through her mind. "Hi, Missy. How are you?"
Missy's smile grew for a moment before she exhaled. "Tired. First time we've gotten to go out since all this stuff started last week."
Vicky smiled weakly. "That I will agree with. This week has been hell."
"Amen to that," one of the boys said, stepping up. "How's this place's food?"
Vicky shrugged and threw an arm on my shoulders. "Not sure yet. Checking it out with my friend Taylor, here. Taylor, this bunch goes to Arcadia with me."
"Hi," I said, slipping from under her arm. I could feel the emotional connections, mostly friendship, amongst them, though there was the oddest mix from the Asian boy, but it wasn't directed at Vicky. It was aimed at me. And I had no idea who he was.
There was still the oddest sense of familiarity, but I couldn't place why and after a moment, I gave up, nodding absently as the others introduced themselves. Missy, the girl, was friendly, but there was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction. Something she wasn't happy with. It was something shared among them, a sense of dwelling on something I couldn't pin down. There was also a deeply buried core of jealousy in Missy toward Vicky.
I was pretty sure I didn't need mind reading to figure that out. The boy who had asked about the restaurant was named Chris and he felt primarily distracted with something. His hands would twitch occasionally, like he wanted to be doing something with them.
Conversation sprung up as the line moved forward. I tuned it out, as they were all talking about things at Arcadia and I didn't find it particularly interesting. I started to hum a melody, one I couldn't recall learning. I glanced at them from the corner of my eye, watching how they talked and joked. School had never been like that for me, even after I had—
The Asian boy was standing at the fringe of their group, his hands in his pockets and looking slightly uncomfortable. He saw me looking his way and shifted, then raised a hand and smiled awkwardly.
After a moment, he seemed to reach a decision and moved past the others, offering a hand. "Um, hi, I'm.. um, well, I'm Seiya."
"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking his hand. He looked like he was going to say something else before stepping back, nervousness and confusion clear in his thoughts and emotions.
"Sorry to have bothered you," he muttered, shifting back to where he had been standing. I consider reading his thoughts to figure out what was going on and learn why that nagging sense of familiarity hadn't left me. I pushed the thought away, though. People's minds weren't just open books for me to peek at whenever I felt like it.
I placed my order and went to find seats, but it quickly became apparent that we were going to end up crammed together with her friends. So much for finding out more about this week. I grimaced at the thought and found a seat, trying not to sigh as Vicky followed with the rest of the group.
One advantage to having Vicky around, at least, was that I could settle into the background whenever I wanted, most of the time. Apparently, her aura was almost constantly to some degree or another. With her commanding everyone's attention, I was usually ignored unless Vicky had other ideas.
"Oi, Taylor," Vicky said after the drinks had been delivered. "You're too quiet."
"Nothing much to say," I muttered, stirring the ice cubes around with my straw. "I don't go to Arcadia, so I don't know any of what you were talking about, either."
"Where do you go?" Missy asked curiously. "Clarendon?"
"I don't," I said. When I didn't say anything else, Missy frowned, looking to Vicky for clarification.
"Don't mind Taylor," Vicky explained. "She's still recovering from last week and it's got her out of sorts." I resisted the urge to glare as a chorus of agreement came out from the others and the conversation shifted to talking about things that had happened. I let it be background noise, trying not to dwell on the fact that they were talking about things I had missed. The gap in my memory was still there and all I had was what the Travelers had told me about.
"—Sirin," the redheaded boy, Dennis said, intruding on my thoughts. I looked up, then glanced to see Vicky looking in my direction with a faint grin on her face.
"What about Sirin?" I asked, forcing myself to sound like I had no idea. "She's some cape, right? An independent?"
"Well," Vicky began quickly. "Missy and the rest here, they're part of Dean's club at school. They handle the school's newsletter about the Wards and Brockton Bay's cape scene."
"Arcadia has a newsletter about that? Really?" I gave her a disbelieving look as I asked the question. There was something wrong with what she was saying, but I… no, I wasn't going to peek on people's thoughts!
"Not just about that," Missy chimed in. "But we do get to talk to them sometimes. Interviews and such. They take us out for that when we do. Been kind of busy lately, so we haven't gotten to recently."
"I see," I said. "What was the last one? Something to do with Sirin?"
"Well, yeah." Missy made an irritated face. "She came up because we had to do a bit about new capes and our only real source are the Wards… they didn't seem thrilled about the subject."
"Can you blame them?" Dennis said, then shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. "I mean, Clockblocker was talking about her. Said she was pretty much a… word I will not repeat in polite company."
I was glad my hands were curled around my cup and that it was made of that shatterproof plastic, or I was sure I would have broken it. "So, she's… not pleasant to be around?"
"Ignore Dennis," Lily said. "Sirin is, I am told, somewhat disagreeable, but she isn't anything like what he said. Flechette is of the opinion that the girl's very unhappy, is all."
Chris snorted. "Unhappy is a flattering description of her attitude," he said with a sour smile. "From what I've heard, she's a real—"
A hand smacked him in the back of the head. "She's not," Seiya said, glaring at him. "Just because your idol doesn't get along with her is no reason for name calling."
"Okay, okay," he said. "Didn't have to hit me that hard."
"It was just a smack, stop being a baby," Seiya retorted. "Can we talk about something else? There's always a bitch-fest when we have to talk to them and she comes up. Maybe talk about her good qualities instead?"
"What are those?" Dennis quipped, then held up his hands in surrender as Missy turned and glared at him. "I'll be good," he said in almost mock meekness.
"Well, um, there's…" Chris began before throwing up his hands. "Don't mean to be uncharitable, but I got nothing."
"You're both jerks." Lily shook her head, glaring at them.
They both shrugged. But Dennis was the one to actually respond as he started playing with the plastic cutlery as they waited for the food to arrive. "Alright, sure. We might be jerks. But the way the Wards talk, they've tried to reach out to her and got completely snubbed for their efforts. I heard one of the other Wards teams got saddled with that psycho Shadow Stalker and in exchange BB's Wards have to deal with Sirin. Did you see the fight she had here last week? That's something they kinda expected out of her. Just going nuts because she took a tap on the nose."
"I remember what Flechette said about that," Lily said. "It was hardly a tap on the nose. She was lucky not to have her nose broken. And, she did take down four of the Empire by herself. I think that's pretty impressive."
Dennis grimaced. "Okay, okay. Hookwolf being used as a dodgeball was pretty cool."
"I have video!" Missy chirped, digging a fancy phone out of her small purse. "Where was it… Ah!"
I leaned forward a bit to the sight of myself in costume using Hookwolf as a weapon set to some overly cheerful piece of music. Someone had even taken the time to add in visual effects every time one of the twins took a hit.
"So what?" Chris said. "She kicked their butts, sure, but it isn't like she made sure they couldn't escape. Remember this past week?"
"Wait, so the PRT fails to hold Cricket after she gets her butt kicked, twice," I said. "First by Vicky here, and then by Sirin… and that's somehow Sirin's fault? That stupid bitch nearly—"
"Taylor and I were shopping when Stormtiger, Hookwolf and Cricket attacked that marketplace," Vicky interrupted. "Cricket busted her up pretty good to try and distract me. I got Amy to fix her up, but…"
"And then she puts the stupid bitch down, along with her friends when they bust her out and the PRT or Protectorate still can't keep them in custody when three of them can't even walk, so again, how is that Sirin's fault?"
"Taylor," Vicky said, gently turning me to face her. "It's fine, they didn't know and you're okay."
"Um, is everything alright?" Missy asked, staring at me with worry. The others were all staring as well, while Vicky continued to say words that I wasn't really paying attention to. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then another. Calm. I needed to be calm.
Warmth surged through for a moment and the agitation I had felt fell away in its wake. I took one more breath and opened my eyes.
"Sorry, I'm… still recovering," I said. "Just got out of the hospital a few days ago."
"Look," Dennis said. "None of us meant to upset you. We talk to the Wards a lot and she's been a bit of a hot-button topic. So, we should apologize for dropping our irritation on you like that when you're clearly still recovering."
"Yeah!" Missy said. "You look like you've seen better days. You should see if Vicky's sister can get you fixed up!"
"I'll think about it," I said, ignoring the smug look Vicky was giving me as well as the repetitions of 'I told you so' that were playing through her mind.
"So, who's hungry?" Vicky asked. "And what's taking the food so long?"
"I'm sure they'll be here in a moment," I said, a half-smile forming as I felt the thoughts of a server going over our order to be sure everything was there. "Can't take too much longer. They've got a good reputation so far for a reason, right?"
"I guess," Vicky said, giving me a suspicious look just as the server arrived with our food. Her questioning thought was clear as day. Are you reading people's minds?
No. I felt my smile grow as Vicky nearly jumped out of her chair, drawing everyone's attention.
"Sorry, leg cramp," she said with a grimace, sitting back down carefully. Our food was distributed and we ate with the odd bits of conversation here and there. Vicky kept the conversation away from topics related to Sirin or the past week.
"So, Taylor, you don't go to Clarendon?" Dennis asked. "Immaculata then?"
I shook my head, sighing internally. "When I said I don't, I mean that. But I used to go to Winslow."
There was silence for a moment and my statement seemed to perplex all but one of the group before Chris leaned forward. "Wait, you don't go to school at all? How'd you manage that?"
"Home schooling," I lied easily, surprised at how easy the words came out. "It's….easier for me."
"I wish I could do that," Missy grumbled. "Stupid requirements."
"Requirements?"
She waved a hand. "After school club related stuff. We can't participate unless attending school. No home schooling, GED or anything like that."
"That… wow, that's pretty strict," I said.
"You have no idea," Lily muttered. "I'd have already tested out if I could."
"The extra credit is good, at least, right?" Dennis asked, snickering. The sense that there was something here I wasn't getting struck me and I resisted the urge to actively read their thoughts and find out what it was.
"We shouldn't talk about something when Taylor doesn't understand," Seiya's husky voice said, carrying an edge that caused the others to blink. "How about a change of topic?"
"I know!" Missy said. "We know her from Arcadia, mostly, but how did you meet Vicky, Taylor?"
"Uh, clothes-shopping, actually," I admitted. "Vicky was criticizing my choices."
"I was not!" Vicky protested. "I made suggestions, you'll recall. I could have, given some of the things you had picked out. Did you start out shopping for someone else and change your mind?"
I blinked and thought back to that, remembering that I had picked out an entire wardrobe for a different body than mine. "I dunno. Wasn't paying attention, I guess. And that was the only thing you could have criticized."
Vicky nodded. "Point. You do have a good eye. We should go shopping again soon."
I grimaced. "That'll have to wait, as much as I wish we could. Not exactly flush with cash right now after… well, you know."
"Hm, that's true," Vicky said before brightening. "Oh! I can just get Dean to—"
"I am not letting you use Dean's money to buy me new clothes," I interrupted. "I'll be fine."
"Uh, why do you need to buy new clothes?" Dennis asked. "Like, did your house blow up or something? Hey!"
"And the award to most thoughtless question goes to Dennis," Lily said, drawing her hand back from having smacked him. "Think about it, moron. She doesn't look well and she needs new clothes. What happened this past week, again?"
"Uh, the gangs… oh." Dennis shrank back into his seat. "Sorry."
I waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. I got a bit banged up, sure, but I'm alive and everyone I care about is fine."
"You won't be fine if you don't eat more," Vicky said. "You've barely touched the food we got here!"
"Yes, mother." I rolled my eyes and the sarcasm prompted a round of laughter. The conversation returned to Arcadia-related topics, so I began to eat my food instead. I wasn't in school, true, but it was actually kind of nice to think about my high school experience being more like than what I ended up with.
The shelter I was staying at was in the middle of the marketplace that Cricket, Stormtiger, and Hookwolf had attacked. The market had gotten hit again during the fighting, so it was still in pretty rough shape, but everyone who lived near or ran a business appeared to be working to fix things up. The shelter was one of the only places I knew of that I was able to stay at that wouldn't report me as a runaway. I think it had ties to the ABB in some way, but as I hadn't observed anything unusual happening while I had been here, I couldn't act on the possibility that it was.
I didn't even have a costume at the moment anyway, so it wasn't like I could do anything without just shucking any lingering pretense I had of a cape identity. Vicky and the rest of New Wave might be comfortable with that, but despite my failings so far I wasn't sure I was. The older lady who ran the shelter didn't ask for much from anyone, and I just tried to pitch in where I could. Right now, I was picking up trash that always seemed to appear out of nowhere, putting it in an industrial garbage bag and putting it with the rest of the trash.
"You," a resonant, deep voice said, "are not Asian."
I turned to stare at the person who had spoke, meeting the eyes of an Asian man. He was wearing a simple suit, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. I glanced down quickly, feeling my eyebrows raise toward my hairline at the tattoos there.
"No, I'm not," I said, meeting his eyes. "And? I don't approve of what happened here, so I'm helping to clean things up."
"Most who are not Asian do not seem to care," he observed. "Do you claim to be different?"
"I'm here, aren't I?" I retorted, feeling irritated by the fact that this stranger was challenging me. "If I didn't care, I would probably be somewhere else instead of helping to clean up."
"You could be one of the Empire's," he told me, "pretending to be helpful in order to do harm here. After all, very few white people stay here for long."
"Now, you listen her—" The woman who ran the shelter appeared, gesturing for silence before speaking to the man in what I thought was Japanese, the rapid-fire words barely making sense to me. I had started picking up a few words here and there, but so far, hello and goodbye were the limits of my vocabulary. In several languages, but I got winces whenever I spoke. Apparently, my pronunciation was terrible.
I wonder if I can learn a language by copying it from someone's mind? I toyed with the idea as the man asked something and the woman answered, gesturing toward my face as she did so before making a motion like she was swinging something.
The man's eyes were intent when he shifted his gaze back to me as the woman walked away. "You were here when the Empire and their trash attacked."
"What?" I blinked and then looked at him closer. "Oh, it's you! I wondered where I had seen you before. Yeah, I was here. Not that it mattered much, all I did was get my face bashed in."
"You are still here, though, and your attacker is not."
"Is there something I can help you with?" I asked, turning my back on him to begin shifting some of the smaller pieces of rubble. Amy had fixed up most of what was physically wrong with me at her sister's insistence, but it had still been a tense few minutes and I still didn't know what Amy's issue with me was. I had some theories, but I wasn't sure how I was going to broach the subject with Vicky, or if I was even going to.
"I am curious about you," he said, moving around and beginning to shift some of the larger pieces of rubble with little apparent effort. "It is not often that we find runaways here, Taylor Hebert."
"What do you want?" I asked, concealing a wince. Of course he knew my name. My luck wouldn't allow anything else.
"Want? Nothing. I am curious, however." His reply was measured and I said nothing, expecting him to continue. "You are not Asian. None of these people are yours, so why would you do anything for them?"
"Why wouldn't I? They're letting me stay. I want to stay. So I help around. No one bothers me, so I don't bother others. People are friendly, so I'm friendly. It's nice to stay here while I look for my own place again. So I do."
"Even if these acts set your own against you?"
"They aren't my own if they attack me for this," I answered with a snort. "And I don't think helping clean up around here is going to make the Empire's, if that is who you mean, opinion of me any lower. And anyway, what do you care, whoever you are?"
I wasn't sure if it was amusement in his voice as he spoke. "I care because I am responsible for this neighborhood, and many others. I look after them and anything strange or potentially dangerous is something I must look into."
"I'm a scrawny fifteen year old girl who looks like she still needs to eat several hamburgers so that a stiff breeze won't blow me away. How dangerous could I possibly be?"
"This town has a man who can turn into a dragon, your argument is invalid," he remarked and now I was sure it was amusement that I was feeling.
"That's… wow, I don't have a response to that," I said. "Point made. I don't have any bad intentions. I'm here because it's a place to stay and nobody tries to pry into my business."
He eyed me for a long time and I wondered why I was being so honest with him. I had seen him from a distance that day when I was getting my nose checked, but I hadn't learned any details about who he was.
"Very well," he straightened. "You may remain here, if you wish. You are now Asian."
I blinked. "I still don't know who you are, but I'll go wherever I plea— I am now Asian? What?"
"I am Kenta Nakamura," he said, straightening. "This area is under my protection. If I said so, you would be turned away. I have decided that you may remain. For now."
"That's great, but what does that have to do with my now being Asian?"
"If I say you are Asian, no one will argue with me," he said simply. "This place is not meant for those who are not Asian, therefore to remain, you must be Asian."
"... You can't just say someone is Asian and make it true, though." Was this guy insane?
"No one will disagree if I say you are Asian," he said, shrugging carelessly. "My word is law."
"Who are you?" I asked, frowning. "Your name doesn't tell me anything. Assume I'm completely clueless."
"The only name you need concern yourself with is what I have given you," he said, looking around at the repairs that were going on. Other than the woman from the shelter, no one had approached, though there was a slender man standing a short distance away. Mr. Nakamura's attendant or bodyguard. I remembered thinking that he seemed to be someone important and he clearly thought so. "There was much that happened this past week that could have perhaps been avoided and I am making sure repairs and rebuilding are proceeding properly."
"And that requires that you question the random white girl?" I couldn't keep a hint of mockery from my voice.
His eyebrows knitted together in irritation. "You were an anomaly, one that I have judged," he said. "I have other tasks to attend to. Perhaps will speak again, little shrike."
"Little shrike? Why do you call me that?" I blinked. Now I was getting pet names from this guy? Wasn't a shrike a— Shit, did he know too? Was there really a sign over my head that everyone but me could see, telling the world?
"It is a bird," he said, clearly amused by my consternation. "You remind me of such, with your spindly limbs."
I wasn't getting much in terms of thoughts or emotions beyond amusement from him. I had noticed some people were harder to read than others. Maybe if I—
"Ow, damnit," I muttered as a spike of pain lanced through my head when I reached out for his thoughts. I winced and held a hand to the side of my skull, taking several slow breaths to try and ease the pain away.
"Are you alright?" he asked, actually sounding concerned. A little bit, at least. His attention was completely focused on me.
"Just a headache," I said. I had felt this sort of pain before, but where? I scanned my memory quickly and felt cold as I realized it. Armsmaster, both when he was disguised as a teacher and in costume.
Obviously, he wasn't Armsmaster, but… if was this something specific to parahumans then this Kenta Nakamura was probably one. The question was who? The most likely suspect was not something I wanted to think about right now.
"Little birds should not strain themselves if they only recently left the nest," he said, drawing my attention. "Go and rest, Taylor Hebert. Your help is not needed for now."
I wanted to argue with him, but this really did hurt and the possibility that he might be a parahuman made me want to go find something else to do. Preferably away from here. Far away. I simply nodded and walked away, thinking of what errands I needed to run. If I was going back out as Sirin, I was going to need to make a replacement for my costume, or make a new one. To do that, I was going to need materials, since everything I had been working on got torched. And for that, I was going to need money.
"Back to square one," I muttered as I went and retrieved my backpack from the room I was staying in. I pulled my jacket on and made my way down to the back exit. "Money, then I can go see if Parian's shop has any more of that fabric."
I pushed down the hood of the lightweight hoodie I was wearing under my jacket; it had served its purpose for now. Gathering money the way I had been doing with the scratch cards was a bit risky at the moment, but my options were either that, ask for a loan from one of my friends, or take money from the gang members, like the Empire. The last was one I was divided on, whether they were criminals or not, it was still stealing. At the same time, I couldn't ignore the insistent thought that I simply didn't care about that. They couldn't stop me if I chose to do it, so whether the law said it was stealing didn't matter. I grimaced at the direction of my thoughts and entered the next corner market with purpose.
An hour later, with a modest amount collected, I arrived at my destination finally. Unlike many of the shops I had seen in the past few days, Parian's was largely untouched. After I entered, I made my way toward the counter, surveying the interior curiously. There wasn't even signs of damage to the walls, like cracks that I had seen in other stores.
"Hello! Oh, it's you again." The same young woman who had been here before emerged from the back, her eyes widening slightly as she saw me.
"You remember me?" I asked as I stopped at the counter. I had only visited twice and it had been quite a while since the last trip.
"I don't get as much demand for that particular fabric as you might think," she said, indicating a roll of the fabric I had made my first costume from. "Mainly, ah, specialty orders. So, I tend to remember them, by sight at least."
"Well, I was hoping to see if you had something that might be more durable than that?" I sorted through the cash I had, hoping what I had acquired would be enough. "If not, can I get—"
"I don't, I'm sorry." She shook her head and gently laid a hand over mine, halting what I was doing. "And what I've got has been bought up in a special order. I just haven't pulled it from the front yet. I'm expecting more in two weeks, though demand has been driving the price up. I can put you down on the list if you want?"
I concealed a grimace. Parian's was the only shop I knew where I could get the fabric from and I didn't want to wait two weeks to have the fabric I needed to rebuild my costume. "Is there anywhere else that I can get some at?"
"Not that I know of," she said. "I've asked my supplier if there is anyone else who gets it, in case I run out. Unfortunately, the closest person is in New York City."
"I see," I said, grimacing openly this time. "Well, sorry to have bothered you today, then." I left her shop dejected, kicking a rock into the gutter as I wondered how I was going to recreate my costume. I could go out with something thrown together, but it would just look cheap. Lesser quality fabric was an option, but it wouldn't afford any protection and after the last few fights that I could remember being in, I wasn't even sure if the high-dollar stuff would be enough. Maybe I needed something more armored?
"Damn, now what do I do?" I muttered aloud, running through my options. I slipped my arms free of my jacket and shimmied out of the hoodie quickly. The jacket went back on and I stuffed the other into my backpack. I really did like the jacket, but the fact that it was the only thing to survive, even if battered was still kind of irritating. I'd put a lot of money into that costume. Even the replacement I had almost finished was gone now.
I had to start from scratch all over again, with not even half the resources I had the first time around. I could always stitch some bargain bin finds together, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as what I had before.
"This sucks." I dug my hands into my pockets and kept walking, mulling over my options. I wasn't happy with any of them and I couldn't just beat down gangers and take their money to fund my new costume. The idea was appealing, but would draw attention I didn't want very quickly, especially after my unintentional stunt at the hospital. I had no idea what Dauntless would do about it.
Hopefully nothing, as telepathy wasn't a power that any cape was suspected to have, but I was leery of drawing their attention without a better idea of how they would react. I thought of the phone number tucked away in an inner pocket of my coat. I could call whoever that was, but I wasn't sure who it was from. Lisa? Assault? Both were possibilities. I slipped it out and stared at it, the number was half-faded and most of what was written on it was illegible. Unlike my coat, it had not fared as well during the week laying there in the wreck of the firehouse.
Still, the ink was a separate thing applied to the paper. Maybe I could make it clearer by drawing the ink up? The surface had faded, but… I concentrated, trying to identify which parts were paper and which weren't. It was a very fine application of my power and I hadn't tried using it on something so small before. Maybe if I tried something else?
A hole tore in the center of the card as I felt my grip on the ink tighten, but it yanked the paper with it and the card all but ripped in half.
Well that was stupid. And pointless. I sighed and tucked the damaged card back into the inner pocket. Well, maybe not entirely pointless. I could manipulate something that small. Maybe I could do something even smaller? Something to look into, but I still had no immediate solutions for what to do right now.
I tapped my powers and scouted a place where I wouldn't be observed. I didn't have solutions right now, but that was alright. I hadn't had any when I struck out on my own. I'd make it work somehow.
I nodded as that thought came to me, turning down a side-alley and following several twists that lead me to a secluded spot. Another quick check told me I was alone and I went airborne. I would make this all work out somehow. I had started mostly from scratch once before and I could do it again.
Piece of (Damn, I really) shit, I hate (Wait, why did I) red lights. Why do I (come downstairs) always get (want a beer) a red on this corner (Beer, Beer, Beer, Beer, Whiskey!) damnit! Why is 15mph (again? Fuck, this) so damn slow!? (always happens.") "Hmm... (What was I doing.)
Telepathy wasn't like the empathy at all. Actual thoughts were less of a mess and more of a constant noise. The walls I had put up helped screen them out, but unlike with my empathy, maintaining them required conscious effort. I was exhausted, and there was a lingering, bone-deep ache that made it that much harder to block out the noise.
Chinese or Italian?" (Half a box of white rice,) again? Ehh... (week old mashed potatoes,) I'm glad I'm not in Australia. (some of that soup) that spider in the toilet (I can't stand but) "Fuck, how many (she always makes, celery) I can't stop this feeling (that's starting to rot. Maybe) would have been (there's something in the pantry) I like trains.
It was like when Emma and her cronies would crowd around me and say random things to rile me up. I didn't let it bother me then and I wouldn't let it bother me now. Although, I had wondered if that would change if a lot of people started panicking all at once.
(Dat ass...) a killer. heh heh heh. (I can make quickly?) literally... but fuck that stings!" (times I have to tell my boss, // Deep inside of me // (Ooh, found a penny!) wood shrinks when (Girl, you just don't realize) it goes dry..." (What you do to me) Shit, did I remember to pick up the dry cleaning? (Ten am to two pm, my ass.)
I opened my eyes slowly, staring at over the skyline of Brockton Bay as the thoughts faded to a distant murmur. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than just walling everything up. That clearly wasn't working. How many times had I taken a hit I could have avoided? Gotten into something because I had only thought to look ahead after the fact or listened for what the emotions around me were telling me of what my opponents intended?
A sigh escaped. It wasn't like there was anyone that I could actually ask for help. There was only one… person… thing, whatever, even suspected of being a telepath. I couldn't just fly up into orbit, and even if I could, I knew that trying to ask the Simurgh for help was a bad idea.
I sighed again and unfolded my legs, wincing at the pins and needles from having sat on it too long and swinging them back and forth until the feeling returned. I could mostly tune the voices out, but what I needed was to practice hearing what I wanted and nothing else. If I could do it right… I could do so much to help people. Know when someone was going to do something bad and be there to stop them. I could even do something a bit less violent, help people. I could know their thoughts, their feelings and help them that way.
"Taylor Hebert, super-therapist," I said aloud, then snorted. "Yeah, that's not happening."
I dropped my hands down, letting them curl around the edge of the telekinetic shape I was sitting on. Talking to Catherine and Minako had filled me in on a lot of what I had missed and I wasn't sure I was happier for having the knowledge.
The Empire had responded to my take down of Cricket, Hookwolf, Fenja and Menja by attacking in force, launching attacks across the city before hitting the PRT and liberating the four of them. The ABB had responded with a campaign of terror aimed at Empire territory in response to that and their earlier attack at the market where I'd first encountered Cricket.
A week of fighting and terror… that had only come to an end because the Empire were forced to withdraw. Both them and the ABB had suffered a lot of losses and it seemed like an unspoken ceasefire was declared.
And then I apparently made things tense again by cratering a building and wrecking several city blocks from the shockwave. I grimaced at the thought, wishing it were possible to glare at a hole in your mind. Nothing had surfaced about the time I was missing other than some really unsettling dreams that I didn't understand. I almost wondered if they were my precog working while I was asleep, but I was pretty sure there weren't any ancient ruins on the moon.
"Moping up here again?" I looked up to see Vicky floating there, holding a familiar brown bag. "I brought burgers."
"I am not moping," I said, hating how petulant I sounded. "And you didn't need to do that."
"Have you looked at yourself in a mirror?" Vicky retorted. "You are skin and bones. I mean, I was kind of envious over how slender you were… but this is taking it a bit far."
"Just give me a burger." I told her, rolling my eyes while stretching the platform out a bit. "You can sit, if you want."
Vicky carefully felt around with her hand, frowning. "This is still the weirdest thing. How am I supposed to tell where to sit?"
"Sorry I can't color-code my power for your convenience," I snarked, unwrapping one of the burgers and tearing into it. After chewing, I continued. "Just look for the distortions in the air."
"Because those are so obvious," Vicky replied, gingerly sitting down. She sat the paper bag down, shaking her head as it remained stationary. "Utter bullshit, I'm telling you."
"Telekinetics can't be that uncommon," I said, reaching for another burger. "And don't you have several teammates who can make forcefields? I'd figure they'd have made chairs out of them at least."
Vicky didn't say anything for a moment, eating her own burger in silence. "First, most telekinetics affect a specific thing. Second, no, they make forcefields and I haven't seen any of them shape them into anything else Third, telekinetics don't just do… whatever it is you do. The reason it's bullshit is because you don't have any rules."
"Hm?"
She sighed, tossing her grease-stained wrapper into the breeze. "Most grab-bag capes have a few weak powers and maybe one strong one. You have... how many powers now? And pull out new ones regularly? With no apparent limits?"
I dropped my wrapper into the bag, catching the one she had thrown with my powers and dropping it in there as well. "I've wondered about it a few times, but I don't know how to respond to that."
"Well, take Narwhal, for example," Vicky explained. "She's ranked so highly because she can get around the Manton limit."
"Manton limit?" I frowned, rolling the words around in my head. "What the hell is that?"
Vicky stared at me. "You've had your powers how long and you don't know?"
"I've kind of been preoccupied with a bunch of things. Looking up obscure details hasn't been high on my priorities." I fished another burger free of the bag and began unwrapping it. "Enlighten me."
"Obscure?" Vicky repeated, almost growling. "Ugh. Why am I teaching you basic parahuman 103?"
"Just lucky, I guess?" I asked.
"You are not funny," she retorted before sighing. "Alright, here's what it means. You can basically affect living things, or inanimate objects. But not both. Most of the time, this means you can't use your powers directly on other people. Like you can't just make someone burst into flame, or something. And… you usually can't use your powers on yourself. I think that's right."
I frowned. "Okay, I can get the not being able to use your powers on yourself… sort of. But the other part? That doesn't even make sense."
Vicky shrugged. "I'm sure Dr. Manton agrees with your assessment. How many degrees do you have, again?"
"Whatever," I said, poking at the bag to see if there was another burger hidden among the wrappers I had deposited in there.
"You're still hungry?" Vicky asked. "Maybe I should have taken you to Fugly Bob's. Least then we could order more."
"Have you looked at me recently?" I returned with a grin. "Skin and bones."
"Fine," she said, sighing heavily. "Fugly Bob's it is. I'm not eating anything else, but I'll treat you to some more. Anything to get you looking like you're not starving."
"Sounds good," I said, preparing to disperse the platform. "Race you?"
"First," Vicky interrupted and I turned my head to look, taking note of her expression. "I.. wanted to talk about something. Why I was… angry when we talked at the hospital."
I raised a hand. "You were stressed. Let's not…"
"No." She cut me off with a shake of her head. "I want… I need to talk to someone about it."
Vicky shifted where she sat and it was a moment before she finally said anything. "Did Catherine or Minako fill you in on this week in detail yet?"
"Broad strokes," I answered. "It was something of a tense atmosphere at the time. Their dad doesn't entirely like me, I think."
"Cath says he's a bit overprotective and a bit controlling as far as their cape thing goes," Vicky said. "I get why, but yeah, I can see him being a bit of a jerk easily, even if I haven't met him personally."
"Wait, cape thing?" I blinked. "You know?"
"Well, yeah?" Vicky asked. "I mean, I didn't say anything because not my business, but Taylor, two girls hang out with you as civvies, two girls hang out with you as a cape. I don't need to be a rocket scientist to put two and two together and get five."
"Five?"
"Anyway, they told me the day after you went missing," Vicky went on. "I got Amy to fix Mina up. Don't know if she told you, but she was pretty busted up after you went missing."
"Yeah, though not that Amy had patched them up," I answered. "Or maybe they did. There was a lot of topic changing that night."
"Well, I did," Vicky said. "They didn't give me much more than confirm that they thought it was someone who had taken you because of your powers." She paused to stare at me for a moment before reaching over and flicking me in the forehead.
"Hey! What was that for?" I rubbed at the spot and glared at her.
"That was for going off to meet a stranger and then bringing her home!" Vicky said. "For all you know, she was just setting you up for what happened. She wasn't around when they woke up, which means either she was kidnapped too, or she was in on the whole thing."
"Given what happened, I can't imagine putting herself willingly into that situation," I replied. "I mean, she seemed just as surprised as everyone else when everything exploded. I think, anyway. I was a bit preoccupied with trying to breathe and get everyone out at the same time."
"Could have been an act," Vicky insisted. "I mean, you weren't reading people's minds before whatever happened to you. And you should really let Amy make sure you're alright, while we're on that subject."
"First, the doctors say I'm fin—"
"My sister trumps whatever those quacks say."
"And second," I continued, raising my voice a little. "In case you hadn't noticed, your sister either doesn't like me, or is scared of me. Maybe both. I don't know why, either."
Vicky's shoulders slumped. "No, I don't know either. She won't tell me why, but I know there has to be a reason. She doesn't dislike people without one."
"I could find out," I said, but held up a hand as Vicky turned to glare at me. "But I won't. I don't have someone with similar powers to teach me etiquette on mind-reading, so I have to figure it out for myself. I'm trying to avoid invading people's privacy if I can help it." I blinked, and for a split second I could see the phantom of a smiling, aged face in front of me. Distantly, I could almost hear his voice as he held out a hand towards me.
I blinked again, and it was gone and Vicky was waving a hand in front of my face. "Earth to Taylor. You in there?"
I shook the image away. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You spaced out on me for a second," she said. "Are you sure I shouldn't get Amy to look at you?"
"I'm fine," I insisted. "The only thing I'm having trouble with is learning to only hear what thoughts I want to hear."
"I dunno," Vicky said. "I mean, those were some pretty crazy sounding drugs, from what I saw on your report. There could be something making you loopy still. Like just now, you completely spaced out."
"Weren't we talking about this past week and not me?"
"Fine, be a grouch," Vicky said, taking a deep breath. "The Protectorate and New Wave focused on just relief at first, letting them fight it out. Though the Empire was getting it hard from the Protectorate after busting out their people."
I grimaced at that. "Not a deal, right?"
She made a face. "No one told me about them attacking and breaking them out until recently. Turns out I was spouting rumor when we talked at the hospital. Protectorate was just keeping quiet about it, probably to save face. I won't pretend to know why exactly though."
"And the Empire wasn't crowing over getting one over the Protectorate and PRT?" I asked. "That's… kind of surprising."
"It was kind of worrying, honestly," Vicky admitted. "I've never known the Empire to not gloat when they do something big. The only reason they wouldn't would be if there something else they wanted to brag about, something bigger."
"I wonder what that was." I frowned. "Did they ever say anything?"
She shook her head. "Usual threats, but they were just aiming at the ABB for the most part. ABB was hitting back just as hard. Harder, really, given what they were doing with their new cape."
"I think I remember that. You mentioned her in the hospital," I said. "Bakuda, wasn't it?"
Vicky's expression tightened into a scowl. "Yeah. That's her."
I frowned at her. "Something bad happened, didn't it?"
"Three days after it started, yeah." Vicky began, pausing as her hands curled around the edge of the platform, knuckles turning white from the force she was applying. I reinforced the surface as she was gripping it with enough force that I could feel my telekinesis crumpling. "The Empire kept bringing more to bear and kept pushing the ABB back. The ABB was staying focused on them unless attacked, but their methods… well, any place could be a bomb waiting to go off."
"What happened?" I asked when Vicky fell silent.
"We were helping clear a part of Anders Memorial that had been damaged by a nearby explosion," Vicky finally said. "Some shop or another got melted and the effect damaged some of the hospital's structure."
I didn't say anything or interrupt as she continued. "Mom went to check if there was anyone else, but, apparently one of Bakuda's bombs was still there and she got caught in the blast."
"She isn't—"
Vicky shook her head. "No. She didn't die. This one was apparently something else. Caused pain. She wouldn't stop screaming. Amy did what she could, but she doesn't do brains and well, Mom's been a problem since. Like, Ames spends more time away from the house than at it now. So do I, for that matter." Can't stand to have another argument.
"Arguments?" I prompted and she rolled her eyes before blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes.
"Amy fixed her up, like I said," Vicky continued. "But she… I think it did something else. She's really unpleasant, particularly toward Amy. Acts like Amy's done something to her personally, or going to do something to her."
"That… I don't know what to say. That's been the cause of the arguments, I take it?"
"Yeah," Vicky said. "I got fed up with it and started calling her on it. Since, she's started giving me the same sort of attitude."
"And it isn't something that Amy can fix?"
"Even if it was, Mom isn't likely to let Amy touch her to do it." Vicky snorted. "Anyway. Let's go hit up Fugly's. I'll fill you in on how things settled down once we've got a table and you're stuffing your face."
My stomach chose to growl loudly, interrupting what I had been planning to say and I took the bag containing our trash. "Sure. I don't have any place special to be right now and more food is probably good."
"Race?" Vicky asked.
"Really?" I asked. "Even recovering, you'll still eat my dirt."
"Loser buys sundaes!" Vicky fired back, diving off the platform with a laugh.
"Cheater!" I called out, giving chase.
***
"Closed?" I frowned at the sign, then looked past it at what I could see of the interior, then up toward the roof, signs of damage clearly visible. I guess they had closed early rather than risk problems over the damages.
"The mall's still open," Vicky pointed out, glancing up and down the street. "We can probably get something at the food court." The combination of the recent fighting and the damaged shops or restaurants had discouraged people from coming out.
"I guess we're going there," I agreed. "Wasn't there a new place in there? Korean barbeque or something like that?"
Vicky nodded. "I think that's it. I've heard good things about them."
"Loser buys sundaes this time!" I shouted and took off after a quick check that no one was around to see. Vicky's outraged cry only made me laugh as she rushed to catch up to me. Vicky said something as she drew closer, but I only gave her an absent nod and did a barrel roll around her.
Flying was easily my favorite power now that I could do it properly. Especially right now, with how I was still recovering. There was nothing quite like being able to just forget about how easily I got tired or how utterly weak I felt sometimes, to be able to just take to the air and leave that behind. Nothing quite like the feeling of freedom that it gave, that you weren't tied down to anything.
A shrill whistle interrupted me and I came to a halt, turning to see Vicky hanging back a bit. "What?"
"Mall's back there," she said, pointing with her thumb back over her shoulder. "You just kept on going. You really should let Amy check you out. Zoning out while flying at high speed?"
"I said I'm fine," I told her, more curtly than I meant to as I dropped toward the mall. "I think we already went over the situation with your sister too."
Vicky shook her head. "No, not putting it off this time. We're eating and then you're coming with me. One time spacing out is okay, but twice in less than half an hour?"
"You aren't going to stop about this, are you?"
"You can read my mind, what does that tell you?"
"Ugh, fine," I growled. "It's on you when Amy freaks out again."
"I'll deal with that if it happens," she told me. "Let's go find some more food for you first."
"Whatever." I sighed, dropping quickly down between some cars in a stretch of parking lot where there was no one around. I looked around, feeling for anyone that might be approaching and my eyes landed on an area that was taped off. "Is that—"
"Where the transport got turned over," Vicky answered before I had finished. "Just past that is where you had it out with the Empire. They still haven't filled in the crater from where you buried Hookwolf."
I didn't say anything as I walked toward it, severing the tape with an idle use of my powers. I hadn't given the area much thought in the wake of the fight, but seeing it now, in full daylight, I could only stare. There were sections of grass and dirt strewn around from where the transport had been turned over, but the worst of the damage was past that spot, craters and just whole sections of the tarmac torn up and ground down until all that was left was a disaster zone.
"I heard the Mall's planning to replace the big window in the food court with just a wall," Vicky said somewhere behind me. "In case something gets thrown that way during a fight."
"I didn't throw anything near the mall," I muttered sourly, glancing toward the distant windows of the food court.
"No," Vicky said as she walked up beside me, arms crossed. "You didn't. But you could have. They could have. And there were a lot of stupid people with their noses pressed against it. They're afraid it's going to happen again and someone will throw something or someone at that window and there's going to be another crowd of gawkers turned collateral. Then the mall has to explain why it happened in the first place."
I snorted. "You, of all people, lecturing me about damage? What did Assault call you again? Collateral Damage Barbie?"
"Which makes you Mass Destruction Skipper," Vicky retorted without any sign that she was irritated. "C'mon, sidekick, let's get some food."
"I am not your sidekick!" I protested as she started toward the mall.
"I'm the senior cape here, so by default, you're my sidekick," Vicky said. "Did you miss that memo?"
"It must have come while I was a prisoner in someone's basement," I replied, shaking my head. Vicky gave me a look and I shrugged. "Could have been worse. I could have been stuffed in a refrigerator."
"That is not funny." Vicky glared at me.
"Sorry, it sounded funnier in my head." I shrugged again. "Guess my sense of humor isn't that great."
"If only Amy could fix that too," Vicky said, grinning at me. "Now, come on, enough staring at this mess. Food is this way."
The entrance we took was actually on the other side of the mall from the food court, and I took the time to observe in silence, noticing just how skittish the people shopping were. More than a few had an air of trepidation surrounding them, like they were expecting something bad to happen at the drop of a hat.
But as nervous as people were, I could at least see that they were enjoying themselves. Unlike in other places across Brockton, the mall seemed to have all its stores open and undamaged, having apparently escaped the week-long conflict untouched. Fugly's was only one example out of many places that were either closing up early for repairs everyday, or were closed entirely.
"Escalators aren't far," Vicky chimed in while reaching behind her to pull me forward. I hadn't even noticed while people-watching, but my breath was starting to run short at some point, leaving me feeling winded.
"Thanks," I muttered, grateful when the escalators were there and I was able to just stand while it carried us upward.
"Now do you think I'm wrong about getting Amy to take a look? You can't even walk a few feet without threatening to pass out. Have you seen your face right now? If that color was any more wrong…"
"I'll be fine when I've had some more to eat," I said, irritated. "I said I'd go, you don't have to keep harping on it." I stepped clear of the escalator and looked around, spotting the line of people that seemed to be for the new restaurant she had mentioned. We wandered over and settled in at the back of the line, slowly inching forward.
"Look, I'm sorry," Vicky said finally. "I'm worried about you though. But you really do look like you're going to keel over at any second now, Taylor."
"I don't look that bad," I said. "I'm just tired."
"Bullshit," Vicky snapped. "You look like shit. I swear, I should just—"
Whatever she was going to say was interrupted as a group came into the line directly behind us. I glanced toward them, noting that none of them were anyone I knew, though an odd sense of familiarity tugged at me as I met eyes with a well-built teenaged Asian boy. I looked past as he broke eye contact, feeling surprise, guilt, and fear, of all things from him. Two other boys were talking and the last two were an Asian girl who looked bored and a younger girl who saw me and smiled brightly before waving.
However she stopped, apparently in surprise, as she looked beside me and seemed to finally notice who I was with. For a moment, I thought it was just another fan before she brightened again and called out to her. "Hi, Vicky!"
Vicky's expression smoothed out and I got a sense of irritation mingled with amusement running through her mind. "Hi, Missy. How are you?"
Missy's smile grew for a moment before she exhaled. "Tired. First time we've gotten to go out since all this stuff started last week."
Vicky smiled weakly. "That I will agree with. This week has been hell."
"Amen to that," one of the boys said, stepping up. "How's this place's food?"
Vicky shrugged and threw an arm on my shoulders. "Not sure yet. Checking it out with my friend Taylor, here. Taylor, this bunch goes to Arcadia with me."
"Hi," I said, slipping from under her arm. I could feel the emotional connections, mostly friendship, amongst them, though there was the oddest mix from the Asian boy, but it wasn't directed at Vicky. It was aimed at me. And I had no idea who he was.
There was still the oddest sense of familiarity, but I couldn't place why and after a moment, I gave up, nodding absently as the others introduced themselves. Missy, the girl, was friendly, but there was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction. Something she wasn't happy with. It was something shared among them, a sense of dwelling on something I couldn't pin down. There was also a deeply buried core of jealousy in Missy toward Vicky.
I was pretty sure I didn't need mind reading to figure that out. The boy who had asked about the restaurant was named Chris and he felt primarily distracted with something. His hands would twitch occasionally, like he wanted to be doing something with them.
Conversation sprung up as the line moved forward. I tuned it out, as they were all talking about things at Arcadia and I didn't find it particularly interesting. I started to hum a melody, one I couldn't recall learning. I glanced at them from the corner of my eye, watching how they talked and joked. School had never been like that for me, even after I had—
The Asian boy was standing at the fringe of their group, his hands in his pockets and looking slightly uncomfortable. He saw me looking his way and shifted, then raised a hand and smiled awkwardly.
After a moment, he seemed to reach a decision and moved past the others, offering a hand. "Um, hi, I'm.. um, well, I'm Seiya."
"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking his hand. He looked like he was going to say something else before stepping back, nervousness and confusion clear in his thoughts and emotions.
"Sorry to have bothered you," he muttered, shifting back to where he had been standing. I consider reading his thoughts to figure out what was going on and learn why that nagging sense of familiarity hadn't left me. I pushed the thought away, though. People's minds weren't just open books for me to peek at whenever I felt like it.
I placed my order and went to find seats, but it quickly became apparent that we were going to end up crammed together with her friends. So much for finding out more about this week. I grimaced at the thought and found a seat, trying not to sigh as Vicky followed with the rest of the group.
One advantage to having Vicky around, at least, was that I could settle into the background whenever I wanted, most of the time. Apparently, her aura was almost constantly to some degree or another. With her commanding everyone's attention, I was usually ignored unless Vicky had other ideas.
"Oi, Taylor," Vicky said after the drinks had been delivered. "You're too quiet."
"Nothing much to say," I muttered, stirring the ice cubes around with my straw. "I don't go to Arcadia, so I don't know any of what you were talking about, either."
"Where do you go?" Missy asked curiously. "Clarendon?"
"I don't," I said. When I didn't say anything else, Missy frowned, looking to Vicky for clarification.
"Don't mind Taylor," Vicky explained. "She's still recovering from last week and it's got her out of sorts." I resisted the urge to glare as a chorus of agreement came out from the others and the conversation shifted to talking about things that had happened. I let it be background noise, trying not to dwell on the fact that they were talking about things I had missed. The gap in my memory was still there and all I had was what the Travelers had told me about.
"—Sirin," the redheaded boy, Dennis said, intruding on my thoughts. I looked up, then glanced to see Vicky looking in my direction with a faint grin on her face.
"What about Sirin?" I asked, forcing myself to sound like I had no idea. "She's some cape, right? An independent?"
"Well," Vicky began quickly. "Missy and the rest here, they're part of Dean's club at school. They handle the school's newsletter about the Wards and Brockton Bay's cape scene."
"Arcadia has a newsletter about that? Really?" I gave her a disbelieving look as I asked the question. There was something wrong with what she was saying, but I… no, I wasn't going to peek on people's thoughts!
"Not just about that," Missy chimed in. "But we do get to talk to them sometimes. Interviews and such. They take us out for that when we do. Been kind of busy lately, so we haven't gotten to recently."
"I see," I said. "What was the last one? Something to do with Sirin?"
"Well, yeah." Missy made an irritated face. "She came up because we had to do a bit about new capes and our only real source are the Wards… they didn't seem thrilled about the subject."
"Can you blame them?" Dennis said, then shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. "I mean, Clockblocker was talking about her. Said she was pretty much a… word I will not repeat in polite company."
I was glad my hands were curled around my cup and that it was made of that shatterproof plastic, or I was sure I would have broken it. "So, she's… not pleasant to be around?"
"Ignore Dennis," Lily said. "Sirin is, I am told, somewhat disagreeable, but she isn't anything like what he said. Flechette is of the opinion that the girl's very unhappy, is all."
Chris snorted. "Unhappy is a flattering description of her attitude," he said with a sour smile. "From what I've heard, she's a real—"
A hand smacked him in the back of the head. "She's not," Seiya said, glaring at him. "Just because your idol doesn't get along with her is no reason for name calling."
"Okay, okay," he said. "Didn't have to hit me that hard."
"It was just a smack, stop being a baby," Seiya retorted. "Can we talk about something else? There's always a bitch-fest when we have to talk to them and she comes up. Maybe talk about her good qualities instead?"
"What are those?" Dennis quipped, then held up his hands in surrender as Missy turned and glared at him. "I'll be good," he said in almost mock meekness.
"Well, um, there's…" Chris began before throwing up his hands. "Don't mean to be uncharitable, but I got nothing."
"You're both jerks." Lily shook her head, glaring at them.
They both shrugged. But Dennis was the one to actually respond as he started playing with the plastic cutlery as they waited for the food to arrive. "Alright, sure. We might be jerks. But the way the Wards talk, they've tried to reach out to her and got completely snubbed for their efforts. I heard one of the other Wards teams got saddled with that psycho Shadow Stalker and in exchange BB's Wards have to deal with Sirin. Did you see the fight she had here last week? That's something they kinda expected out of her. Just going nuts because she took a tap on the nose."
"I remember what Flechette said about that," Lily said. "It was hardly a tap on the nose. She was lucky not to have her nose broken. And, she did take down four of the Empire by herself. I think that's pretty impressive."
Dennis grimaced. "Okay, okay. Hookwolf being used as a dodgeball was pretty cool."
"I have video!" Missy chirped, digging a fancy phone out of her small purse. "Where was it… Ah!"
I leaned forward a bit to the sight of myself in costume using Hookwolf as a weapon set to some overly cheerful piece of music. Someone had even taken the time to add in visual effects every time one of the twins took a hit.
"So what?" Chris said. "She kicked their butts, sure, but it isn't like she made sure they couldn't escape. Remember this past week?"
"Wait, so the PRT fails to hold Cricket after she gets her butt kicked, twice," I said. "First by Vicky here, and then by Sirin… and that's somehow Sirin's fault? That stupid bitch nearly—"
"Taylor and I were shopping when Stormtiger, Hookwolf and Cricket attacked that marketplace," Vicky interrupted. "Cricket busted her up pretty good to try and distract me. I got Amy to fix her up, but…"
"And then she puts the stupid bitch down, along with her friends when they bust her out and the PRT or Protectorate still can't keep them in custody when three of them can't even walk, so again, how is that Sirin's fault?"
"Taylor," Vicky said, gently turning me to face her. "It's fine, they didn't know and you're okay."
"Um, is everything alright?" Missy asked, staring at me with worry. The others were all staring as well, while Vicky continued to say words that I wasn't really paying attention to. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then another. Calm. I needed to be calm.
Warmth surged through for a moment and the agitation I had felt fell away in its wake. I took one more breath and opened my eyes.
"Sorry, I'm… still recovering," I said. "Just got out of the hospital a few days ago."
"Look," Dennis said. "None of us meant to upset you. We talk to the Wards a lot and she's been a bit of a hot-button topic. So, we should apologize for dropping our irritation on you like that when you're clearly still recovering."
"Yeah!" Missy said. "You look like you've seen better days. You should see if Vicky's sister can get you fixed up!"
"I'll think about it," I said, ignoring the smug look Vicky was giving me as well as the repetitions of 'I told you so' that were playing through her mind.
"So, who's hungry?" Vicky asked. "And what's taking the food so long?"
"I'm sure they'll be here in a moment," I said, a half-smile forming as I felt the thoughts of a server going over our order to be sure everything was there. "Can't take too much longer. They've got a good reputation so far for a reason, right?"
"I guess," Vicky said, giving me a suspicious look just as the server arrived with our food. Her questioning thought was clear as day. Are you reading people's minds?
No. I felt my smile grow as Vicky nearly jumped out of her chair, drawing everyone's attention.
"Sorry, leg cramp," she said with a grimace, sitting back down carefully. Our food was distributed and we ate with the odd bits of conversation here and there. Vicky kept the conversation away from topics related to Sirin or the past week.
"So, Taylor, you don't go to Clarendon?" Dennis asked. "Immaculata then?"
I shook my head, sighing internally. "When I said I don't, I mean that. But I used to go to Winslow."
There was silence for a moment and my statement seemed to perplex all but one of the group before Chris leaned forward. "Wait, you don't go to school at all? How'd you manage that?"
"Home schooling," I lied easily, surprised at how easy the words came out. "It's….easier for me."
"I wish I could do that," Missy grumbled. "Stupid requirements."
"Requirements?"
She waved a hand. "After school club related stuff. We can't participate unless attending school. No home schooling, GED or anything like that."
"That… wow, that's pretty strict," I said.
"You have no idea," Lily muttered. "I'd have already tested out if I could."
"The extra credit is good, at least, right?" Dennis asked, snickering. The sense that there was something here I wasn't getting struck me and I resisted the urge to actively read their thoughts and find out what it was.
"We shouldn't talk about something when Taylor doesn't understand," Seiya's husky voice said, carrying an edge that caused the others to blink. "How about a change of topic?"
"I know!" Missy said. "We know her from Arcadia, mostly, but how did you meet Vicky, Taylor?"
"Uh, clothes-shopping, actually," I admitted. "Vicky was criticizing my choices."
"I was not!" Vicky protested. "I made suggestions, you'll recall. I could have, given some of the things you had picked out. Did you start out shopping for someone else and change your mind?"
I blinked and thought back to that, remembering that I had picked out an entire wardrobe for a different body than mine. "I dunno. Wasn't paying attention, I guess. And that was the only thing you could have criticized."
Vicky nodded. "Point. You do have a good eye. We should go shopping again soon."
I grimaced. "That'll have to wait, as much as I wish we could. Not exactly flush with cash right now after… well, you know."
"Hm, that's true," Vicky said before brightening. "Oh! I can just get Dean to—"
"I am not letting you use Dean's money to buy me new clothes," I interrupted. "I'll be fine."
"Uh, why do you need to buy new clothes?" Dennis asked. "Like, did your house blow up or something? Hey!"
"And the award to most thoughtless question goes to Dennis," Lily said, drawing her hand back from having smacked him. "Think about it, moron. She doesn't look well and she needs new clothes. What happened this past week, again?"
"Uh, the gangs… oh." Dennis shrank back into his seat. "Sorry."
I waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. I got a bit banged up, sure, but I'm alive and everyone I care about is fine."
"You won't be fine if you don't eat more," Vicky said. "You've barely touched the food we got here!"
"Yes, mother." I rolled my eyes and the sarcasm prompted a round of laughter. The conversation returned to Arcadia-related topics, so I began to eat my food instead. I wasn't in school, true, but it was actually kind of nice to think about my high school experience being more like than what I ended up with.
***
The shelter I was staying at was in the middle of the marketplace that Cricket, Stormtiger, and Hookwolf had attacked. The market had gotten hit again during the fighting, so it was still in pretty rough shape, but everyone who lived near or ran a business appeared to be working to fix things up. The shelter was one of the only places I knew of that I was able to stay at that wouldn't report me as a runaway. I think it had ties to the ABB in some way, but as I hadn't observed anything unusual happening while I had been here, I couldn't act on the possibility that it was.
I didn't even have a costume at the moment anyway, so it wasn't like I could do anything without just shucking any lingering pretense I had of a cape identity. Vicky and the rest of New Wave might be comfortable with that, but despite my failings so far I wasn't sure I was. The older lady who ran the shelter didn't ask for much from anyone, and I just tried to pitch in where I could. Right now, I was picking up trash that always seemed to appear out of nowhere, putting it in an industrial garbage bag and putting it with the rest of the trash.
"You," a resonant, deep voice said, "are not Asian."
I turned to stare at the person who had spoke, meeting the eyes of an Asian man. He was wearing a simple suit, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. I glanced down quickly, feeling my eyebrows raise toward my hairline at the tattoos there.
"No, I'm not," I said, meeting his eyes. "And? I don't approve of what happened here, so I'm helping to clean things up."
"Most who are not Asian do not seem to care," he observed. "Do you claim to be different?"
"I'm here, aren't I?" I retorted, feeling irritated by the fact that this stranger was challenging me. "If I didn't care, I would probably be somewhere else instead of helping to clean up."
"You could be one of the Empire's," he told me, "pretending to be helpful in order to do harm here. After all, very few white people stay here for long."
"Now, you listen her—" The woman who ran the shelter appeared, gesturing for silence before speaking to the man in what I thought was Japanese, the rapid-fire words barely making sense to me. I had started picking up a few words here and there, but so far, hello and goodbye were the limits of my vocabulary. In several languages, but I got winces whenever I spoke. Apparently, my pronunciation was terrible.
I wonder if I can learn a language by copying it from someone's mind? I toyed with the idea as the man asked something and the woman answered, gesturing toward my face as she did so before making a motion like she was swinging something.
The man's eyes were intent when he shifted his gaze back to me as the woman walked away. "You were here when the Empire and their trash attacked."
"What?" I blinked and then looked at him closer. "Oh, it's you! I wondered where I had seen you before. Yeah, I was here. Not that it mattered much, all I did was get my face bashed in."
"You are still here, though, and your attacker is not."
"Is there something I can help you with?" I asked, turning my back on him to begin shifting some of the smaller pieces of rubble. Amy had fixed up most of what was physically wrong with me at her sister's insistence, but it had still been a tense few minutes and I still didn't know what Amy's issue with me was. I had some theories, but I wasn't sure how I was going to broach the subject with Vicky, or if I was even going to.
"I am curious about you," he said, moving around and beginning to shift some of the larger pieces of rubble with little apparent effort. "It is not often that we find runaways here, Taylor Hebert."
"What do you want?" I asked, concealing a wince. Of course he knew my name. My luck wouldn't allow anything else.
"Want? Nothing. I am curious, however." His reply was measured and I said nothing, expecting him to continue. "You are not Asian. None of these people are yours, so why would you do anything for them?"
"Why wouldn't I? They're letting me stay. I want to stay. So I help around. No one bothers me, so I don't bother others. People are friendly, so I'm friendly. It's nice to stay here while I look for my own place again. So I do."
"Even if these acts set your own against you?"
"They aren't my own if they attack me for this," I answered with a snort. "And I don't think helping clean up around here is going to make the Empire's, if that is who you mean, opinion of me any lower. And anyway, what do you care, whoever you are?"
I wasn't sure if it was amusement in his voice as he spoke. "I care because I am responsible for this neighborhood, and many others. I look after them and anything strange or potentially dangerous is something I must look into."
"I'm a scrawny fifteen year old girl who looks like she still needs to eat several hamburgers so that a stiff breeze won't blow me away. How dangerous could I possibly be?"
"This town has a man who can turn into a dragon, your argument is invalid," he remarked and now I was sure it was amusement that I was feeling.
"That's… wow, I don't have a response to that," I said. "Point made. I don't have any bad intentions. I'm here because it's a place to stay and nobody tries to pry into my business."
He eyed me for a long time and I wondered why I was being so honest with him. I had seen him from a distance that day when I was getting my nose checked, but I hadn't learned any details about who he was.
"Very well," he straightened. "You may remain here, if you wish. You are now Asian."
I blinked. "I still don't know who you are, but I'll go wherever I plea— I am now Asian? What?"
"I am Kenta Nakamura," he said, straightening. "This area is under my protection. If I said so, you would be turned away. I have decided that you may remain. For now."
"That's great, but what does that have to do with my now being Asian?"
"If I say you are Asian, no one will argue with me," he said simply. "This place is not meant for those who are not Asian, therefore to remain, you must be Asian."
"... You can't just say someone is Asian and make it true, though." Was this guy insane?
"No one will disagree if I say you are Asian," he said, shrugging carelessly. "My word is law."
"Who are you?" I asked, frowning. "Your name doesn't tell me anything. Assume I'm completely clueless."
"The only name you need concern yourself with is what I have given you," he said, looking around at the repairs that were going on. Other than the woman from the shelter, no one had approached, though there was a slender man standing a short distance away. Mr. Nakamura's attendant or bodyguard. I remembered thinking that he seemed to be someone important and he clearly thought so. "There was much that happened this past week that could have perhaps been avoided and I am making sure repairs and rebuilding are proceeding properly."
"And that requires that you question the random white girl?" I couldn't keep a hint of mockery from my voice.
His eyebrows knitted together in irritation. "You were an anomaly, one that I have judged," he said. "I have other tasks to attend to. Perhaps will speak again, little shrike."
"Little shrike? Why do you call me that?" I blinked. Now I was getting pet names from this guy? Wasn't a shrike a— Shit, did he know too? Was there really a sign over my head that everyone but me could see, telling the world?
"It is a bird," he said, clearly amused by my consternation. "You remind me of such, with your spindly limbs."
I wasn't getting much in terms of thoughts or emotions beyond amusement from him. I had noticed some people were harder to read than others. Maybe if I—
"Ow, damnit," I muttered as a spike of pain lanced through my head when I reached out for his thoughts. I winced and held a hand to the side of my skull, taking several slow breaths to try and ease the pain away.
"Are you alright?" he asked, actually sounding concerned. A little bit, at least. His attention was completely focused on me.
"Just a headache," I said. I had felt this sort of pain before, but where? I scanned my memory quickly and felt cold as I realized it. Armsmaster, both when he was disguised as a teacher and in costume.
Obviously, he wasn't Armsmaster, but… if was this something specific to parahumans then this Kenta Nakamura was probably one. The question was who? The most likely suspect was not something I wanted to think about right now.
"Little birds should not strain themselves if they only recently left the nest," he said, drawing my attention. "Go and rest, Taylor Hebert. Your help is not needed for now."
I wanted to argue with him, but this really did hurt and the possibility that he might be a parahuman made me want to go find something else to do. Preferably away from here. Far away. I simply nodded and walked away, thinking of what errands I needed to run. If I was going back out as Sirin, I was going to need to make a replacement for my costume, or make a new one. To do that, I was going to need materials, since everything I had been working on got torched. And for that, I was going to need money.
"Back to square one," I muttered as I went and retrieved my backpack from the room I was staying in. I pulled my jacket on and made my way down to the back exit. "Money, then I can go see if Parian's shop has any more of that fabric."
***
I pushed down the hood of the lightweight hoodie I was wearing under my jacket; it had served its purpose for now. Gathering money the way I had been doing with the scratch cards was a bit risky at the moment, but my options were either that, ask for a loan from one of my friends, or take money from the gang members, like the Empire. The last was one I was divided on, whether they were criminals or not, it was still stealing. At the same time, I couldn't ignore the insistent thought that I simply didn't care about that. They couldn't stop me if I chose to do it, so whether the law said it was stealing didn't matter. I grimaced at the direction of my thoughts and entered the next corner market with purpose.
An hour later, with a modest amount collected, I arrived at my destination finally. Unlike many of the shops I had seen in the past few days, Parian's was largely untouched. After I entered, I made my way toward the counter, surveying the interior curiously. There wasn't even signs of damage to the walls, like cracks that I had seen in other stores.
"Hello! Oh, it's you again." The same young woman who had been here before emerged from the back, her eyes widening slightly as she saw me.
"You remember me?" I asked as I stopped at the counter. I had only visited twice and it had been quite a while since the last trip.
"I don't get as much demand for that particular fabric as you might think," she said, indicating a roll of the fabric I had made my first costume from. "Mainly, ah, specialty orders. So, I tend to remember them, by sight at least."
"Well, I was hoping to see if you had something that might be more durable than that?" I sorted through the cash I had, hoping what I had acquired would be enough. "If not, can I get—"
"I don't, I'm sorry." She shook her head and gently laid a hand over mine, halting what I was doing. "And what I've got has been bought up in a special order. I just haven't pulled it from the front yet. I'm expecting more in two weeks, though demand has been driving the price up. I can put you down on the list if you want?"
I concealed a grimace. Parian's was the only shop I knew where I could get the fabric from and I didn't want to wait two weeks to have the fabric I needed to rebuild my costume. "Is there anywhere else that I can get some at?"
"Not that I know of," she said. "I've asked my supplier if there is anyone else who gets it, in case I run out. Unfortunately, the closest person is in New York City."
"I see," I said, grimacing openly this time. "Well, sorry to have bothered you today, then." I left her shop dejected, kicking a rock into the gutter as I wondered how I was going to recreate my costume. I could go out with something thrown together, but it would just look cheap. Lesser quality fabric was an option, but it wouldn't afford any protection and after the last few fights that I could remember being in, I wasn't even sure if the high-dollar stuff would be enough. Maybe I needed something more armored?
"Damn, now what do I do?" I muttered aloud, running through my options. I slipped my arms free of my jacket and shimmied out of the hoodie quickly. The jacket went back on and I stuffed the other into my backpack. I really did like the jacket, but the fact that it was the only thing to survive, even if battered was still kind of irritating. I'd put a lot of money into that costume. Even the replacement I had almost finished was gone now.
I had to start from scratch all over again, with not even half the resources I had the first time around. I could always stitch some bargain bin finds together, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as what I had before.
"This sucks." I dug my hands into my pockets and kept walking, mulling over my options. I wasn't happy with any of them and I couldn't just beat down gangers and take their money to fund my new costume. The idea was appealing, but would draw attention I didn't want very quickly, especially after my unintentional stunt at the hospital. I had no idea what Dauntless would do about it.
Hopefully nothing, as telepathy wasn't a power that any cape was suspected to have, but I was leery of drawing their attention without a better idea of how they would react. I thought of the phone number tucked away in an inner pocket of my coat. I could call whoever that was, but I wasn't sure who it was from. Lisa? Assault? Both were possibilities. I slipped it out and stared at it, the number was half-faded and most of what was written on it was illegible. Unlike my coat, it had not fared as well during the week laying there in the wreck of the firehouse.
Still, the ink was a separate thing applied to the paper. Maybe I could make it clearer by drawing the ink up? The surface had faded, but… I concentrated, trying to identify which parts were paper and which weren't. It was a very fine application of my power and I hadn't tried using it on something so small before. Maybe if I tried something else?
A hole tore in the center of the card as I felt my grip on the ink tighten, but it yanked the paper with it and the card all but ripped in half.
Well that was stupid. And pointless. I sighed and tucked the damaged card back into the inner pocket. Well, maybe not entirely pointless. I could manipulate something that small. Maybe I could do something even smaller? Something to look into, but I still had no immediate solutions for what to do right now.
I tapped my powers and scouted a place where I wouldn't be observed. I didn't have solutions right now, but that was alright. I hadn't had any when I struck out on my own. I'd make it work somehow.
I nodded as that thought came to me, turning down a side-alley and following several twists that lead me to a secluded spot. Another quick check told me I was alone and I went airborne. I would make this all work out somehow. I had started mostly from scratch once before and I could do it again.
No, not Fugly Bobs! Damn you Bakuda. *shakes fist*
Right, a bit banged up. Taylor is rather adept at understatement.
Oh, this was rather amusing to me. Surprisingly civil conversation with the leader of the ABB though. I wonder what the future holds for him...
Great chapter chibipoe.
Much to her confusion and dismay, heh.
- Location
- Over the hill and far away
This is CLEARLY Best Lung. He is a dragon, she is now Asian
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
Does he fight evil by moonlight and win love by daylight?
Love how you just...make the fandom memes fit into your story in a plausible way.
I personally was cracking up at Taylor's new Asian status, but it does make sense in a weird way for Lung to use that as a way to say she's off-limits.
I personally was cracking up at Taylor's new Asian status, but it does make sense in a weird way for Lung to use that as a way to say she's off-limits.
Khepri14
Thus kindly I scatter...
- Location
- Following the wind
Oh ho, no. He's not gonna-
HE DID!!! He fucking did it!!
rofl:(I know it's not the exact phrase but hey, take what you can get.)
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Sasha
Not the Leader
- Location
- The Ever After
Funny thing is, Ziz would probably be eager to show her the ropes.
The Phoenix Force is even more powerful than I thought if it can make references to DC.
Lung is so badass that he inspires memes.
ABB!Taylor confirmed.
Good chapter, if not my favorite, @chibipoe. It was filler, but it was filler that had to be gotten out of the way so that the story could move forward.
The scene with "Mr. Nakamura" laid it on a bit thick for my taste, as did the stuff the Wards talked about, but they didn't bother me overmuch. The overall pacing continues to be rather slow, but I'm hoping it will pick up soon.
As always, I look forward to more.
Amusing as this Lung is, I think that title goes to Protective!Neighbor!Lung from Go Gently, though this is shaping up to be a possible contender.This is CLEARLY Best Lung. He is a dragon, she is now Asian
VolantRedX
Official Conscience of Worm Fanfiction!
You were just 100 words shy of 10K in one post. That's a bit much.
- Location
- West Michigan
Any Lung that is more than just a two-bit street thug is a good Lung. Journey of the Dragonfly, Dreaming of Foxfire, Firefly (though that was Fem!Lung), etc.Amusing as this Lung is, I think that title goes to Protective!Neighbor!Lung from Go Gently, though this is shaping up to be a possible contender.
Some, of course, are better than others.
You were able to get this to flow in so naturally- did you have to rewrite the scene at all to get it to work, or did it just pop out of your subconscious and you ran with it?
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
Fun fact, I actually can genuinely claim to have read that issue first print as that was during my wee years of being Green Lantern obsessed. Kyle IS my GL.
ABB!Taylor confirmed.
Good chapter, if not my favorite, @chibipoe. It was filler, but it was filler that had to be gotten out of the way so that the story could move forward.
The scene with "Mr. Nakamura" laid it on a bit thick for my taste, as did the stuff the Wards talked about, but they didn't bother me overmuch. The overall pacing continues to be rather slow, but I'm hoping it will pick up soon.
As always, I look forward to more.
This one was going to be pretty slow-paced, no way around it, especially. As it lays out groundwork for the later arc. Things will ramp up though.
Not even the longest chapter in the story so far, so not really. I did a 12k one a ways back. Next will be more in tune with usual update size, probably.
Amusing as this Lung is, I think that title goes to Protective!Neighbor!Lung from Go Gently, though this is shaping up to be a possible contender.
There will be more Lung in this arc. And more E88. They're still kicking around.
I don't, personally, see him holding his territory and having any sort of proper comforts solely on the basis of 'I am more badass than all of you." So there is Lung, 2nd most powerful parahuman in BB and then there is Kenta Nakamura, respected Oyabun who handles the Yakuza and their interests.
Most of their conversation flowed pretty much straight out with little adjustment. The You are now Asian bit is a bit stilted, in hindsight, but no rewriting was done.
earthboy
(verified ape)
- Location
- NYC
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Lung knows Taylor by sight and by name, huh.
Other than the Wards, is there anyone who hasn't figured her secret identity out?
Other than the Wards, is there anyone who hasn't figured her secret identity out?
Fixed.
GiftOfLove
From the Heart
I always worry a bit when I see this kind of Kenta, because it usually preludes airbrushing all his crimes away.
ABB deals in human trafficking, don't they?
: /
ABB deals in human trafficking, don't they?
: /
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Yep, and they have the Farm.
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
They do a lot of unpleasant things, yeah. But a person is rarely one thing only. Taylor already suspects(which might have been too soon, but ah well, I'll roll with it), but perceptions are important. Reconciling raging dragon-man who doesn't stop and can take on the entire Protectorate with weird maybe Yakuza guy Kenta might not be the easiest thing if all you see is one side of things.
In short, I just don't think his setup in canon is feasible so I'm elaborating on it. There can be good things done without whitewashing the bad. Others mmv, of course.
- Location
- West Michigan
You didn't get the memo, did you?
'The Farm' is literal. It's an actual farm, out in the countryside, with livestock and horses and a sheepdog and everything. It's where they stash anyone whom the fuzz want too badly. It's just like The (read: Piney's) Cabin in Sons of Anarchy.
/not entirely serious