Some people's powers were just unfair; Taylor reflected as she scrambled backward from the edge...
Garden (SI, Final Fantasy 8/Worm)
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Seed 1
- Location
- Writeland
Some people's powers were just unfair; Taylor reflected as she scrambled backward from the edge of the building; narrowly avoiding a tongue of flame meant to roast the skin from her body. Somebody who can regenerate from any wound and transform into a giant, fire breathing dragon, shouldn't ALSO get super senses out of the deal.
Her hands scrambled for the bottle of mace at her side, but the weather had been unusually damp, and when she gripped it, it slipped straight out of her grasp. She leapt backward as a section of brickwork practically exploded, Lung's huge mutated hand gripping it too hard for it to stay solid. Her heel suddenly hit a wet patch of the roof, and she was tumbling back instead of scrambling away. A horrible, frozen knife stuck itself into her guts as she fell. She wouldn't be able to get up again fast enough, and Lung was going to pull her arms and legs off and football spike her down a manhole, if she was lucky. This wasn't supposed to be how it went; it was her first night out. She was meant to run into a random mugging or heroically save a kitten from a tree, and now the Bay's most powerful supervillain was standing over her, his mouth opening wide; wider than any human's could, nests of fangs glinting in a horrible orange inner light.
She curled herself into a ball, rolling to one side. It wouldn't be enough, but-... Wait it was? She heard the roar of the flames, felt the heat washing over her, enough to turn the greyish proteins of her silk costume brown and blister her skin beneath it, but she hadn't been barbecued. She scrambled back to her feet; and had to shake her head to be certain of what she saw. The enormous brute that had climbed the roof to murder her wasn't alone; there was another one, even more violently twisted and mutated, holding onto Lung's massive jaws with hands as broad as trash can lids. He- she assumed it was male anyway- was red as bricks, squat in shape but not in size, ten feet tall and eight broad, standing atop tree trunk legs with elephant's feet, so thick with muscle it was like a parody of masculinity, it's head wrapped in a huge leonine mane, out of which poked an alligator's long maw ending in a hoggish snout, covered in piercings, with long curling tusks emerging from within, wreathed in fire. Lung exhaled, and blasted her with another heat wave that she stumbled back from, but the other cape, whoever it was, just laughed, a sound like concrete grating, and wrenched Lung's jaw violently to one side with a nasty cracking sound, before kicking him straight off the roof and bounding after him.
"Hey! You with the mask, you sticking around?" She heard suddenly, a heavy voice with a familiar accent- southern? Texan? Didn't matter- called to her.
"I..." She started, coughing from the smoke. "Are you?"
"Not really relevant kid, we gotta move." he said, offering her a hand.
She took it, and he yanked her forward with shocking strength, pulling her off her feet and into his arms; it was a bit awkward since she was a bit taller than him, but with one good leap he'd bounded off the roof and she almost screamed before he landed; jarring her pretty badly from the impact but leaving her none the worse for wear.
"Sorry; but we gotta get going. Sooner or later Lung's gonna figure out that fire just feeds Ifrit and he'll lay in with the claws and fangs instead. I'm tough, but I can't push as hard or high as he can." he said, letting her go.
There was a deafening roar, and a sound of shattering concrete.
"Like, now." He said firmly, waving her after him as he took off down an alleyway. Lacking better options, she chased him, her swarm feeding her a blurry view of the ongoing battle. Lung had grown even bigger, outsizing the other cape- Ifrit apparently, by half or more, and was violently slamming him into every wall and street lamp he could reach while Ifrit flailed and raked with foot long claws from his fingertips. Lung had him on the ropes; and she devoted a corner of her brain to sending as many bugs crawling over the still growing dragon to bite down and distract him, dig into his eyes and ears, make openings for the Man-Gator-Pig, until with a deathly CRUNCH that almost made her yelp, Lung bit down on him and he basically disintegrated into ashes and smoke.
"Ow! Jesus he's mad; what the hell did you do to him?" her rescuer said, pulling her down another alley to one side.
"I covered him in wasps and spiders..." She answered; suddenly glad that she'd put all that work into running every morning as she followed the strange cape.
"Yeah that'd do it. Did he find us?" he asked, as Lung roared again.
"No- I don't think he saw where we went, and... Oh my god, Armsmaster just showed up!" She gasped between breaths.
"What? Where?"
"Back at the- Oh, I can see..."
"Explain later... Come on, ABB's still on a war path, we need out of their territory and now." he insisted, apparently untroubled by the breakneck pace. He finally stopped when Taylor felt like her lungs were about to burst, and leaned back against the wall while she gripped a dumpter for stability and tried to force oxygen back into her body. "You okay kid?" he asked, pulling the cowboy hat off his head and fanning himself a bit.
Up close, she could get a better look. He was a broad, squat sort of guy, apparently a lot stronger than he looked, although she could see a fair amount of muscle beneath the thick brown coat he wore around his body; with a scarf wrapped firmly around his face to hide everything below his eyes, and a set of goggles on above that. The effect was a bit slapped together, but not too bad for a costume, kind of a golden age 1930s look. She wracked her brain for a moment and finally remembered. "Hey, I know you! You're uhh..." She coughed, and he pulled out a bottle of water from his coat, handing it off to her. It was still sealed, and she cracked it open, hesitating a moment before pushing her mask up just enough to take a sip.
"Garden." he said, waving her off when she offered the water back.
"I'm uhh... I haven't... really picked a name yet." She admitted.
"Damn kid, you really are green. And you picked a fight with Lung." He said, giving her a bit of a skeptical look past the goggles. He stepped around the dumpster and found a door nearby. She heard a small snapping sound and he pushed the door open, gesturing for her to follow. It turned out to be the back of a restaurant, dry goods stacked haphazardly around. There was no light until he opened a gloved hand and a tiny fire started in his palm, blazing merrily away without any apparent discomfort. She took a look around, pulling a swarm in around her before she stepped in after him and he shut the door, taking a seat on a stack of rice sacks.
"Okay, not my smartest moment, but I couldn't just stand there and do nothing..." She said, taking another gulp.
He reached toward her, and then apparently thought better of it, putting his hand in his pocket. "...Yeah, I know what you mean. Still though, was it that urgent that you couldn't get the PRT on the horn and report him?"
She fidgeted, pulling her mask back down. "... Don't have a phone. It's complicated."
"Uhh... okay then." He said, standing up and pacing for a moment; making time as he thought about something, Taylor figured, until he turned back. "Okay, I'm not going to patronize you here, but you seem like you might need a little help with this, if you seriously intend to go out again after tonight." He said, crossing his arms. The little flame hovered out of his hand and just sort of... drifted.
She wasn't really sure what to make of that. She hadn't planned on teaming up with anybody immediately, but... then again, she hadn't planned on punching Lung in the nose. Or... other places. She winced, imagining the grudge that she'd have for somebody who did THAT to her. "Okay. I mean, I'll take advice anyway." She mumbled, but he didn't seem to mind.
"Alright, first things first. Complicated or not... you really need a phone. Here." He said, pulling a phone out of another pocket. Having a whole coat on must have made a lot of room for miscellaneous stuff like that; she suddenly felt a bit silly for going with the bodysuit thing. The phone he gave her was pretty unimpressive; it was an old fashioned one with buttons on the front and only a tiny LED screen with the time on the front in green. "I've got a spare one already. The number of which is in that phone already. Call it any time you really need some backup, or if you just need to ask about something. The PRT's number's in there too, I recommend you call them only if you need to report a crime, and NEVER admit that you're a Parahuman. Those people are worse than telemarketers with selling you their bullshit."
"Uhh... thanks." She said, taking the chunky old device. "Anything else I should get?"
"Extra mask and set of gloves, big whistle to get people's attention, and wet naps."
"Uhh..."
"Trust me, you'll find SOMETHING they're good for." he said with some good humor. "I'd need to know how your powers work for the rest. Which seems like something to discuss another day. If you're still up for it." He said, walking back to her and extending his hand again.
She shook it, feeling a slight static jolt from his palm.
"I'm heading out now; wait thirty seconds and then come out if you don't hear anything. See you later, new kid." he said, popping his hat on and settling it in place before pulling the door open and glancing to either side, sweeping out and leaving her in pitch blackness.
She sagged back down and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, taking a moment and rubbing her palms over her arms. "Okay! Okay... fought a supervillain, didn't die, only... kind of ruined my costume. Made a... friend, maybe? Another hero anyway. Still... ALMOST died. And now Lung knows what my costume looks like and he's going to make me a human popcorn kernel if he sees me again." She inhaled deeply and rubbed her temples. Not the WORST way this night could have ended. But still. Maybe she really should have waited for the holidays. Now, with her costume half cooked and some unpleasantly painful burns down one arm, she was going to be out of action for a while anyway... Maybe that was for the best.
------------
Lung was long gone; apparently he'd noticed what was happening after Armsmaster had hit him with the sedative, and he was still fired up enough to resist it long enough to get away. He could be shockingly quick when he wanted to be, even when he was fifteen feet tall and weighed as much as a truck.
Armsmaster cursed under his breath. He'd have to refine the formula; make it act faster, and devise a better delivery system... Lung would be on the lookout for it now. Still, even if it wasn't the result he'd hoped for, he still got some useful data from the encounter. He examined the damage with a keen eye and had his helmet photograph every gouge and impact crater, starting at the street, and then ascending up one roof that Lung had climbed, then apparently been knocked off of... he reached down, seeing something amongst the ash and dust, brushing it off to reveal a small metal cylinder. A can of self defense spray. What in the world would a brute capable of standing up to Lung, even temporarily, need with something like this...
-------------
AN: So yeah, I ended up making it. Call this an experiment to see how badly I can distract myself from the stories I should be working on instead!
This one took me quite a while to write, and I'm still not entirely happy with how it came out... but I'm of the opinion that it's better to get something done than nothing.
Further experiments: this is something I'd really like a co-author or some omake writers for. If you're interested, particularly in PHO interludes, which I tried three times to write for this intro and couldn't manage worth a damn, please say so.
All of your comments are prized and appreciated. Ratings are fine and dandy but I like feedback best of all.
EDIT: This story is a pseudo-sequel to Full Moon Blues; read here:
Full Moon Blues (SI, Crossover, Dragonball/MCU) - Crossover
The SI here is the same person after jumping to a new universe via an event heretofore unknown.
Her hands scrambled for the bottle of mace at her side, but the weather had been unusually damp, and when she gripped it, it slipped straight out of her grasp. She leapt backward as a section of brickwork practically exploded, Lung's huge mutated hand gripping it too hard for it to stay solid. Her heel suddenly hit a wet patch of the roof, and she was tumbling back instead of scrambling away. A horrible, frozen knife stuck itself into her guts as she fell. She wouldn't be able to get up again fast enough, and Lung was going to pull her arms and legs off and football spike her down a manhole, if she was lucky. This wasn't supposed to be how it went; it was her first night out. She was meant to run into a random mugging or heroically save a kitten from a tree, and now the Bay's most powerful supervillain was standing over her, his mouth opening wide; wider than any human's could, nests of fangs glinting in a horrible orange inner light.
She curled herself into a ball, rolling to one side. It wouldn't be enough, but-... Wait it was? She heard the roar of the flames, felt the heat washing over her, enough to turn the greyish proteins of her silk costume brown and blister her skin beneath it, but she hadn't been barbecued. She scrambled back to her feet; and had to shake her head to be certain of what she saw. The enormous brute that had climbed the roof to murder her wasn't alone; there was another one, even more violently twisted and mutated, holding onto Lung's massive jaws with hands as broad as trash can lids. He- she assumed it was male anyway- was red as bricks, squat in shape but not in size, ten feet tall and eight broad, standing atop tree trunk legs with elephant's feet, so thick with muscle it was like a parody of masculinity, it's head wrapped in a huge leonine mane, out of which poked an alligator's long maw ending in a hoggish snout, covered in piercings, with long curling tusks emerging from within, wreathed in fire. Lung exhaled, and blasted her with another heat wave that she stumbled back from, but the other cape, whoever it was, just laughed, a sound like concrete grating, and wrenched Lung's jaw violently to one side with a nasty cracking sound, before kicking him straight off the roof and bounding after him.
"Hey! You with the mask, you sticking around?" She heard suddenly, a heavy voice with a familiar accent- southern? Texan? Didn't matter- called to her.
"I..." She started, coughing from the smoke. "Are you?"
"Not really relevant kid, we gotta move." he said, offering her a hand.
She took it, and he yanked her forward with shocking strength, pulling her off her feet and into his arms; it was a bit awkward since she was a bit taller than him, but with one good leap he'd bounded off the roof and she almost screamed before he landed; jarring her pretty badly from the impact but leaving her none the worse for wear.
"Sorry; but we gotta get going. Sooner or later Lung's gonna figure out that fire just feeds Ifrit and he'll lay in with the claws and fangs instead. I'm tough, but I can't push as hard or high as he can." he said, letting her go.
There was a deafening roar, and a sound of shattering concrete.
"Like, now." He said firmly, waving her after him as he took off down an alleyway. Lacking better options, she chased him, her swarm feeding her a blurry view of the ongoing battle. Lung had grown even bigger, outsizing the other cape- Ifrit apparently, by half or more, and was violently slamming him into every wall and street lamp he could reach while Ifrit flailed and raked with foot long claws from his fingertips. Lung had him on the ropes; and she devoted a corner of her brain to sending as many bugs crawling over the still growing dragon to bite down and distract him, dig into his eyes and ears, make openings for the Man-Gator-Pig, until with a deathly CRUNCH that almost made her yelp, Lung bit down on him and he basically disintegrated into ashes and smoke.
"Ow! Jesus he's mad; what the hell did you do to him?" her rescuer said, pulling her down another alley to one side.
"I covered him in wasps and spiders..." She answered; suddenly glad that she'd put all that work into running every morning as she followed the strange cape.
"Yeah that'd do it. Did he find us?" he asked, as Lung roared again.
"No- I don't think he saw where we went, and... Oh my god, Armsmaster just showed up!" She gasped between breaths.
"What? Where?"
"Back at the- Oh, I can see..."
"Explain later... Come on, ABB's still on a war path, we need out of their territory and now." he insisted, apparently untroubled by the breakneck pace. He finally stopped when Taylor felt like her lungs were about to burst, and leaned back against the wall while she gripped a dumpter for stability and tried to force oxygen back into her body. "You okay kid?" he asked, pulling the cowboy hat off his head and fanning himself a bit.
Up close, she could get a better look. He was a broad, squat sort of guy, apparently a lot stronger than he looked, although she could see a fair amount of muscle beneath the thick brown coat he wore around his body; with a scarf wrapped firmly around his face to hide everything below his eyes, and a set of goggles on above that. The effect was a bit slapped together, but not too bad for a costume, kind of a golden age 1930s look. She wracked her brain for a moment and finally remembered. "Hey, I know you! You're uhh..." She coughed, and he pulled out a bottle of water from his coat, handing it off to her. It was still sealed, and she cracked it open, hesitating a moment before pushing her mask up just enough to take a sip.
"Garden." he said, waving her off when she offered the water back.
"I'm uhh... I haven't... really picked a name yet." She admitted.
"Damn kid, you really are green. And you picked a fight with Lung." He said, giving her a bit of a skeptical look past the goggles. He stepped around the dumpster and found a door nearby. She heard a small snapping sound and he pushed the door open, gesturing for her to follow. It turned out to be the back of a restaurant, dry goods stacked haphazardly around. There was no light until he opened a gloved hand and a tiny fire started in his palm, blazing merrily away without any apparent discomfort. She took a look around, pulling a swarm in around her before she stepped in after him and he shut the door, taking a seat on a stack of rice sacks.
"Okay, not my smartest moment, but I couldn't just stand there and do nothing..." She said, taking another gulp.
He reached toward her, and then apparently thought better of it, putting his hand in his pocket. "...Yeah, I know what you mean. Still though, was it that urgent that you couldn't get the PRT on the horn and report him?"
She fidgeted, pulling her mask back down. "... Don't have a phone. It's complicated."
"Uhh... okay then." He said, standing up and pacing for a moment; making time as he thought about something, Taylor figured, until he turned back. "Okay, I'm not going to patronize you here, but you seem like you might need a little help with this, if you seriously intend to go out again after tonight." He said, crossing his arms. The little flame hovered out of his hand and just sort of... drifted.
She wasn't really sure what to make of that. She hadn't planned on teaming up with anybody immediately, but... then again, she hadn't planned on punching Lung in the nose. Or... other places. She winced, imagining the grudge that she'd have for somebody who did THAT to her. "Okay. I mean, I'll take advice anyway." She mumbled, but he didn't seem to mind.
"Alright, first things first. Complicated or not... you really need a phone. Here." He said, pulling a phone out of another pocket. Having a whole coat on must have made a lot of room for miscellaneous stuff like that; she suddenly felt a bit silly for going with the bodysuit thing. The phone he gave her was pretty unimpressive; it was an old fashioned one with buttons on the front and only a tiny LED screen with the time on the front in green. "I've got a spare one already. The number of which is in that phone already. Call it any time you really need some backup, or if you just need to ask about something. The PRT's number's in there too, I recommend you call them only if you need to report a crime, and NEVER admit that you're a Parahuman. Those people are worse than telemarketers with selling you their bullshit."
"Uhh... thanks." She said, taking the chunky old device. "Anything else I should get?"
"Extra mask and set of gloves, big whistle to get people's attention, and wet naps."
"Uhh..."
"Trust me, you'll find SOMETHING they're good for." he said with some good humor. "I'd need to know how your powers work for the rest. Which seems like something to discuss another day. If you're still up for it." He said, walking back to her and extending his hand again.
She shook it, feeling a slight static jolt from his palm.
"I'm heading out now; wait thirty seconds and then come out if you don't hear anything. See you later, new kid." he said, popping his hat on and settling it in place before pulling the door open and glancing to either side, sweeping out and leaving her in pitch blackness.
She sagged back down and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, taking a moment and rubbing her palms over her arms. "Okay! Okay... fought a supervillain, didn't die, only... kind of ruined my costume. Made a... friend, maybe? Another hero anyway. Still... ALMOST died. And now Lung knows what my costume looks like and he's going to make me a human popcorn kernel if he sees me again." She inhaled deeply and rubbed her temples. Not the WORST way this night could have ended. But still. Maybe she really should have waited for the holidays. Now, with her costume half cooked and some unpleasantly painful burns down one arm, she was going to be out of action for a while anyway... Maybe that was for the best.
------------
Lung was long gone; apparently he'd noticed what was happening after Armsmaster had hit him with the sedative, and he was still fired up enough to resist it long enough to get away. He could be shockingly quick when he wanted to be, even when he was fifteen feet tall and weighed as much as a truck.
Armsmaster cursed under his breath. He'd have to refine the formula; make it act faster, and devise a better delivery system... Lung would be on the lookout for it now. Still, even if it wasn't the result he'd hoped for, he still got some useful data from the encounter. He examined the damage with a keen eye and had his helmet photograph every gouge and impact crater, starting at the street, and then ascending up one roof that Lung had climbed, then apparently been knocked off of... he reached down, seeing something amongst the ash and dust, brushing it off to reveal a small metal cylinder. A can of self defense spray. What in the world would a brute capable of standing up to Lung, even temporarily, need with something like this...
-------------
AN: So yeah, I ended up making it. Call this an experiment to see how badly I can distract myself from the stories I should be working on instead!
This one took me quite a while to write, and I'm still not entirely happy with how it came out... but I'm of the opinion that it's better to get something done than nothing.
Further experiments: this is something I'd really like a co-author or some omake writers for. If you're interested, particularly in PHO interludes, which I tried three times to write for this intro and couldn't manage worth a damn, please say so.
All of your comments are prized and appreciated. Ratings are fine and dandy but I like feedback best of all.
EDIT: This story is a pseudo-sequel to Full Moon Blues; read here:
Full Moon Blues (SI, Crossover, Dragonball/MCU) - Crossover
The SI here is the same person after jumping to a new universe via an event heretofore unknown.
Last edited:
Seed 2
- Location
- Writeland
Taylor fell almost straight into bed when she got home, and in far too short a time, her alarm was blaring, and she'd pushed herself out of bed to stumble to the bathroom and take a shower she instantly regretted when the water hit her burns. Luckily, all she'd gotten was some mild blistering; it'd sting for a while, but she could cover it without too much pain. She felt guilty for skipping her run, but her body was already sore, and she needed the time to do a little browsing online...
Information on Garden was scant, but not completely absent. He'd shown up a while back in New York and gotten into a few fights with the local villains, but nothing serious, usually just long enough for the NYC Protectorate to show up. There was a blurry photo of him talking to Legend- and wasn't that a story she'd have to ask him about if she saw him again, but he'd declined to join the Protectorate and spent some time moving around. Why he'd come to the Bay of all places, she couldn't even imagine, but she had to be glad that he did.
Nobody really knew what his powers were either. "Some kind of a Brute" was all PHO could come up with, since he'd taken gunfire a few times without too much trouble. She'd noticed a few small holes in his coat, so it wasn't bullet proof, meaning he'd probably taken it himself. And he had made a jump off a roof without any trouble. But then again, she'd also seen him conjure up a fireball somehow. And there was that other thing- Ifrit, which Taylor was pretty sure now was a projection or master-minion or something. Garden had reacted as if in pain at the exact time Lung had chewed the thing in half, so maybe he was a Master? If so, that was almost an unfair combo. She could see the theme though; a big summoned fire monster, fire powers, physical durability... he had a lot going for him. No surprise, there was a standing topic addressed to him on PHO with the PRT offering a spot for him if he wanted to join. Aaaand of course, a bunch of guys with iron cross avatars making quote-unquote "Subtle" counter suggestions. Apparently just being white and southern was enough for the E88 fans to go "ONE OF US". It'd probably get even worse if they knew he'd given Lung a slug in the jaw.
Too soon, she had to pack things in and make her excuses to dad about not having gone on a run. School was... school. The level of torment was not particularly strong or weak. The only thing to recommend it was that having come within inches of being flambe'd by a fire breathing dragon put things into perspective.
She almost jumped out of her skin when the phone she'd nearly forgotten about began violently vibrating in her backpack. She still had a moment before she needed to get on the bus, and her bugs told her no one was paying much attention to her... she slipped aside, and pulled out the phone. It wasn't a call, but a text, which showed up on the tiny screen in black block letters.
Across the street on the roof. Be subtle.
Her instinct to just look up was quickly tamped down, and instead she sent a single fly buzzing it's way around, spotting a blurry human shape standing there in a coat and hat. When the fly had hovered in place for a few long seconds, he seemed to notice it, and gave it a wave. He said something, but she couldn't quite make out what it was with the fly's limited hearing. Him pointing down toward a side road was more helpful.
She chewed her lip for a moment, considering what to do, but nobody seemed to notice that she wasn't going for the bus stop... she slid away, walking toward the meeting place and waiting.
He hit the ground next to her and she yelped again, before he shushed her firmly.
"Hey kid, sorry for all the cloak and dagger. I assume nobody followed you."
"No, nobody.. hey how the heck did you know where I was? Oh crap, you've seen my face too..."
"Relax kid, I'm not gonna tell anybody. Here. What'd I tell you, spare mask." he said, handing her a mask and a hooded jacket; it looked second hand, and a bit big for her, but she pulled it on gratefully and tied the black band of fabric around her upper face.
"I didn't think you meant the next DAY." She huffed.
"No time like the present. As for how I found you; don't worry about it, it's not something other people can do. I still don't know your name, or where you live. I only tuned in when I knew you'd probably be out. Still in school huh?"
"Uhh... yeah. Is that a problem?"
He sighed heavily, breath fogging even through the scarf. "I already said I'm not gonna judge you. I don't got the right. But I can't sleep right if I know you're running around out here not knowing your ass from your elbow- no offense- about all this super hero stuff. You almost got yourself killed once already."
She gave him a small glare. "I could have handled it. I just didn't know he could find me, and then I tripped..."
"Yeah. And you think that can't happen again?" he said, crossing his arms. "Little miscalculations and just plain bad luck have killed more people than supervillains ever will. And there's more than that; you went right with me when you had no idea who I was. What if I turned out to be a supervillain myself?"
"Then at least you wouldn't have been the one actively breathing fire on me."
"True enough. But still. You gotta be careful out here. There's people out there who'll be your best friend right up until they get the knife in, or worse. People who'll make you think that what's right is wrong just with a clever word. People who you'll fall in love with, just because they told you to. You gotta be ready for anything out here. Trust nobody you don't know."
"Including you?"
"Hell yeah including me. I expect you to be ready to shove a million roaches up my ass the second I so much as look at you funny. I mean, assuming you can do that. I'm guessing these little guys are yours." He said, gesturing around to the little trails of roaches that were indeed wending their way from cracks in the walls to circle around her.
"Uhh, yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"Don't worry about it. I meant it. So, I've already told you the most important stuff. If you want to learn more, that's up to you. If not, I'll get out of your hair and be on my merry way, I'll never do my trick to find you again, and you won't have to worry about me again." He said, turning on his heel and making his way to the end of the street, before turning over his shoulder. "But if you want to know more, I'm stopping off at my safe house."
She followed after him. After that, not doing so would have just felt... weird. Not that any part of this was normal. Walking around in costume like this in broad daylight just felt... strange. Like being outside in pajamas. There wasn't even anyone around, and her swarm would have warned her long before they caught sight of her anyway, but it still felt surreal. After the harrowing she'd gone through at school though, she'd take any distraction. His "Safehouse" turned out to be a walk up in a building that looked halfway to abandoned. He was clearly the only tenant on the entire floor, and she wondered if he'd actually bothered to inform the landlord that he was living there; there wasn't a lock on the door, and the knob was stuck on with duct tape.
The insides weren't much better, but he'd clearly made some effort to make the place livable. It had a noticeably lower bug density than the places to either side, although not zero. There was almost no furniture, and what looked suspiciously like a scavenged TV and pirated cable; not exactly what she'd imagined the lair of a secretive superhero to look like.
"You hungry? There's not much but you can have a bowl of cereal or something. Uhh... No milk though." He said awkwardly as he pulled off his heavy coat and hung it off a nail he'd driven into an exposed stud in the wall. Underneath it he was as well built as some of the dockworkers that Taylor had met; and there was a gun belt around his waist that he pulled off and hung alongside the coat.
"Uhh, I'm okay." She said, peeling off the jacket he'd given her; wincing as some of her burns pinched.
"You sure about that?" He asked, turning to face her; without the hat his hair was short and thick, and she couldn't tell for certain with the goggles, but his eyes looked very blue. "You didn't tell me you got hurt in the fight."
"Just some burns, it's no big deal." She excused, as he took the jacket and tossed it over a chair.
"Uh huh. You want them to go away?"
"What?" She asked. "Uhh... I mean if you've got some kind of tinker medicine or something, I guess it's okay, so long as there's no weird side effects."
He chuckled. "Something like that." He said, holding his hand up and making a circle with his middle and ring finger, moving it in a slow loop. There was a sudden flash of light and a soft sound like muffled bells, and the pain melted away. She pulled up her sleeve; no sign of anything amiss, not even any redness.
"Oh come on; you're a Healer!?"
"I'm lots of things kid. Just don't make a habit of it. I can only do that... eight more times before I need a recharge." He shrugged.
"You run on batteries?" She asked, pulling a folding chair away from the tiny kitchenette to sit across.
"Nah, it's more like ammo... Okay, let's make it an exercise. What do you think my powers are?" he asked, leaning up against a wall and tapping his foot.
She frowned. She'd just gotten out of school; thinking wasn't something she was figuring on doing much of until she'd had a powernap to recharge a little. But then again, this was a lot more important than dealing with... "Okay. PHO thinks you're some kinda-sorta Brute. But last night it seemed like that big guy- is his name Ifrit?"
He nodded briskly.
"Okay, I don't think he was real- he's not a person anyway."
"Debateable. He was real enough to skin my ass raw when I tangled with him in New York." He shrugged.
"...Okay I was gonna guess he was a projection or something. I thought you had a whole fire thing going on, but then you healed me. And you've got limits going on... Are you some kind of Master? Is Ifrit still alive?"
"In a manner of speaking. He was never really alive. Just a sort of... collection of energy with enough will and intellect to hold it together. Technically, Ifrit is an Embodied Metaphenomenon, made out of the rage and impotent anger felt there since 1994."
She sat there dumbfounded for a few long moments and coughed. "Umm. Are you serious?"
He nodded.
"Okay... not gonna lie you're sounding a little... Myrddin-y from where I'm sitting."
"You mean crazy? I don't actually think he IS by the way, I think he's just having a laugh and we're not in on the joke." He shrugged again. "Believe it or not, that's how my powers work. Conglomerations of power and emotion dwell in this world, and my power is to take them into myself and play host to their power. They give me all my abilities. Included among those is the ability to draw more powers from certain places around the world. And other parahumans."
She scooted back before she'd even realized what she was doing; insects around them rustling restlessly. "You steal powers?" She said grimly.
"No no, cool your brakes hon, I don't steal anything. I mean, I tried of course. There's a lot of guys out there we'd be better off if they were normals, ya know. No, I take sort of, peripheral bits of powers. You know what a valence electron is?"
She nodded. Well, she was pretty sure anyway. Chemistry class, unfortunately, hadn't been going so great.
"Right well, all I take is that outermost shell of power that hovers around the nucleus of people's abilities. For example, I can tell that you've got a valence I call "Bio." Lets me inflict temporary poisoning on someone, or toss a corrosive chemical. Thing is, once I use it, it's gone. Used up until I get more."
"That's... SO broken." She said with a small laugh.
He laughed a little. "Wait until I tell you the real good part. Those valences are what let me jump off buildings and run all night without breaking a sweat. I can put that power into my body and use it to amp up my physical and mental abilities. Doesn't even cost me anything."
"Oh come on! Seriously? And all I get is bugs?"
"Hey, bugs are cool. Don't knock bugs. I AM pretty awesome though." he said, flexing his arm like a comic book cover.
She snorted. "Yeah okay. Bugs are cool." She agreed, leaning back and kicking her legs. "So I got like, twenty percent of your powers right?"
"Mmm, maybe it wasn't a fair question huh? Don't worry about it. But it's something you've gotta think about. Identifying people's powers is a big part of this business. If you run into somebody whose powers you don't know about you're at a serious disadvantage. Same thing the other way around. Big names can't get around that, but you'd be shocked at how many super fights are just two dudes hiding at opposite ends of an alley having heart attacks trying to figure out what the other guy can do before they figure him out. You ever read JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?"
"Uhh... can't say I have."
"Hm, too bad. They could turn that thing into a textbook for new capes. Sucks how almost every copy was destroyed by Leviathan. It's like he KNEW something." he said, scratching his chin beneath the bandana. "Oh, right..." He said, reaching up and pulling off his goggles and bandana. He was pretty handsome, not exactly a model, but pretty decent, his face looked too young for his body really, but the short beard he wore helped a bit. "Fair's fair. I saw your face, now you see mine. It's not gonna help you find out who I am anyway. But consider it a sign of trust. Most capes REALLY freak out over this kinda thing."
"Why's that?" She asked, deciding to pull off her own mask; it was warm enough in here anyway.
"Unwritten rules. Never let anybody see your face, never look at anybody else's face without the mask, if you recognize somebody on the street, you pretend not to, even if he was trying to burn down an orphanage last week. Thing is, a lotta capes can figure out who somebody is, mask or no mask, in no time flat. But they don't say anything."
"Why not? I mean, if it's a bad guy..."
"Because nobody can do this 24/7, and if there was a danger of people busting into your house at four AM to kill your kids with fireballs and lasers, shit would get a lot more dangerous, real fast. Thing is, a lot of people will tell you this is all some big bullshit game. Like we're all a bunch of kids playing cops and robbers but with real guns, and that's some grade F horse shit. This is serious. So one cape to another; think real hard about it before you go out there again."
She flushed furiously. "Come on, I already said I know I wasn't being smart, but I can't just sit around and... do nothing."
He dragged his hand down his face and groaned. "Yeah, kid, I know. I've got powers too, remember. I know how bad the itch gets. But I gotta tell you to go home and quit while you're ahead anyway; on the off chance maybe you do it and spare yourself this bullshit. But if you can't, and I bet you can't, you're better off knowing how it all works. And you're better off still having help."
She chewed her lip, standing up from the chair and pacing around the living room for a minute. "I was going to go to the PRT..."
"Probably a good idea." he agreed. "If you can handle their bullshit."
"What do you mean?"
"They're a state run organization, with all the bureaucracy and public relations dumbassery that implies. You'd have a bunch of shit kid team mates- no offense- and they'd only let you out on a leash if you sit up and beg first. Plus..." He scowled. "You'd probably end up bunking with Shadow Stalker."
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's either a psychopath or doing a really good impression of one. First night I went out here in Brockton she rolls up and shoots me with a god damn crossbow. Live bolt too; I'm talking broadhead, not some little field tip. If I was a normal I'd have bled out right in that alley. Worse thing was she was just mad because I was patrolling in "Her" territory, like some gangbanger or a dog pissing up a tree. Later found out she's done that to a bunch more people. Probably only got into the Wards on a plea deal."
She stared at him and then grit her teeth. Somebody getting away with that kind of behavior just because they were useful to an institution... yeah that sounded familiar. "Okay, shelve the Wards then. But I can't just jump into New Wave... They're a family team."
"They're not actually. I looked into them when I first got here, and there's nothing about having to be a family member to join. You DO have to unmask, and that carries it's own issues. Plus, I'm not an authority but those people give me weird vibes." He said, holding a hand out and wobbling it.
"...You're not looking for a sidekick are you?" She joked.
"Sure, I can use a gofer."
"...Wait what?"
"Yeah but you're gonna have to pick a name, I'm not introducing us as Garden and the Seedling."
Information on Garden was scant, but not completely absent. He'd shown up a while back in New York and gotten into a few fights with the local villains, but nothing serious, usually just long enough for the NYC Protectorate to show up. There was a blurry photo of him talking to Legend- and wasn't that a story she'd have to ask him about if she saw him again, but he'd declined to join the Protectorate and spent some time moving around. Why he'd come to the Bay of all places, she couldn't even imagine, but she had to be glad that he did.
Nobody really knew what his powers were either. "Some kind of a Brute" was all PHO could come up with, since he'd taken gunfire a few times without too much trouble. She'd noticed a few small holes in his coat, so it wasn't bullet proof, meaning he'd probably taken it himself. And he had made a jump off a roof without any trouble. But then again, she'd also seen him conjure up a fireball somehow. And there was that other thing- Ifrit, which Taylor was pretty sure now was a projection or master-minion or something. Garden had reacted as if in pain at the exact time Lung had chewed the thing in half, so maybe he was a Master? If so, that was almost an unfair combo. She could see the theme though; a big summoned fire monster, fire powers, physical durability... he had a lot going for him. No surprise, there was a standing topic addressed to him on PHO with the PRT offering a spot for him if he wanted to join. Aaaand of course, a bunch of guys with iron cross avatars making quote-unquote "Subtle" counter suggestions. Apparently just being white and southern was enough for the E88 fans to go "ONE OF US". It'd probably get even worse if they knew he'd given Lung a slug in the jaw.
Too soon, she had to pack things in and make her excuses to dad about not having gone on a run. School was... school. The level of torment was not particularly strong or weak. The only thing to recommend it was that having come within inches of being flambe'd by a fire breathing dragon put things into perspective.
She almost jumped out of her skin when the phone she'd nearly forgotten about began violently vibrating in her backpack. She still had a moment before she needed to get on the bus, and her bugs told her no one was paying much attention to her... she slipped aside, and pulled out the phone. It wasn't a call, but a text, which showed up on the tiny screen in black block letters.
Across the street on the roof. Be subtle.
Her instinct to just look up was quickly tamped down, and instead she sent a single fly buzzing it's way around, spotting a blurry human shape standing there in a coat and hat. When the fly had hovered in place for a few long seconds, he seemed to notice it, and gave it a wave. He said something, but she couldn't quite make out what it was with the fly's limited hearing. Him pointing down toward a side road was more helpful.
She chewed her lip for a moment, considering what to do, but nobody seemed to notice that she wasn't going for the bus stop... she slid away, walking toward the meeting place and waiting.
He hit the ground next to her and she yelped again, before he shushed her firmly.
"Hey kid, sorry for all the cloak and dagger. I assume nobody followed you."
"No, nobody.. hey how the heck did you know where I was? Oh crap, you've seen my face too..."
"Relax kid, I'm not gonna tell anybody. Here. What'd I tell you, spare mask." he said, handing her a mask and a hooded jacket; it looked second hand, and a bit big for her, but she pulled it on gratefully and tied the black band of fabric around her upper face.
"I didn't think you meant the next DAY." She huffed.
"No time like the present. As for how I found you; don't worry about it, it's not something other people can do. I still don't know your name, or where you live. I only tuned in when I knew you'd probably be out. Still in school huh?"
"Uhh... yeah. Is that a problem?"
He sighed heavily, breath fogging even through the scarf. "I already said I'm not gonna judge you. I don't got the right. But I can't sleep right if I know you're running around out here not knowing your ass from your elbow- no offense- about all this super hero stuff. You almost got yourself killed once already."
She gave him a small glare. "I could have handled it. I just didn't know he could find me, and then I tripped..."
"Yeah. And you think that can't happen again?" he said, crossing his arms. "Little miscalculations and just plain bad luck have killed more people than supervillains ever will. And there's more than that; you went right with me when you had no idea who I was. What if I turned out to be a supervillain myself?"
"Then at least you wouldn't have been the one actively breathing fire on me."
"True enough. But still. You gotta be careful out here. There's people out there who'll be your best friend right up until they get the knife in, or worse. People who'll make you think that what's right is wrong just with a clever word. People who you'll fall in love with, just because they told you to. You gotta be ready for anything out here. Trust nobody you don't know."
"Including you?"
"Hell yeah including me. I expect you to be ready to shove a million roaches up my ass the second I so much as look at you funny. I mean, assuming you can do that. I'm guessing these little guys are yours." He said, gesturing around to the little trails of roaches that were indeed wending their way from cracks in the walls to circle around her.
"Uhh, yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"Don't worry about it. I meant it. So, I've already told you the most important stuff. If you want to learn more, that's up to you. If not, I'll get out of your hair and be on my merry way, I'll never do my trick to find you again, and you won't have to worry about me again." He said, turning on his heel and making his way to the end of the street, before turning over his shoulder. "But if you want to know more, I'm stopping off at my safe house."
She followed after him. After that, not doing so would have just felt... weird. Not that any part of this was normal. Walking around in costume like this in broad daylight just felt... strange. Like being outside in pajamas. There wasn't even anyone around, and her swarm would have warned her long before they caught sight of her anyway, but it still felt surreal. After the harrowing she'd gone through at school though, she'd take any distraction. His "Safehouse" turned out to be a walk up in a building that looked halfway to abandoned. He was clearly the only tenant on the entire floor, and she wondered if he'd actually bothered to inform the landlord that he was living there; there wasn't a lock on the door, and the knob was stuck on with duct tape.
The insides weren't much better, but he'd clearly made some effort to make the place livable. It had a noticeably lower bug density than the places to either side, although not zero. There was almost no furniture, and what looked suspiciously like a scavenged TV and pirated cable; not exactly what she'd imagined the lair of a secretive superhero to look like.
"You hungry? There's not much but you can have a bowl of cereal or something. Uhh... No milk though." He said awkwardly as he pulled off his heavy coat and hung it off a nail he'd driven into an exposed stud in the wall. Underneath it he was as well built as some of the dockworkers that Taylor had met; and there was a gun belt around his waist that he pulled off and hung alongside the coat.
"Uhh, I'm okay." She said, peeling off the jacket he'd given her; wincing as some of her burns pinched.
"You sure about that?" He asked, turning to face her; without the hat his hair was short and thick, and she couldn't tell for certain with the goggles, but his eyes looked very blue. "You didn't tell me you got hurt in the fight."
"Just some burns, it's no big deal." She excused, as he took the jacket and tossed it over a chair.
"Uh huh. You want them to go away?"
"What?" She asked. "Uhh... I mean if you've got some kind of tinker medicine or something, I guess it's okay, so long as there's no weird side effects."
He chuckled. "Something like that." He said, holding his hand up and making a circle with his middle and ring finger, moving it in a slow loop. There was a sudden flash of light and a soft sound like muffled bells, and the pain melted away. She pulled up her sleeve; no sign of anything amiss, not even any redness.
"Oh come on; you're a Healer!?"
"I'm lots of things kid. Just don't make a habit of it. I can only do that... eight more times before I need a recharge." He shrugged.
"You run on batteries?" She asked, pulling a folding chair away from the tiny kitchenette to sit across.
"Nah, it's more like ammo... Okay, let's make it an exercise. What do you think my powers are?" he asked, leaning up against a wall and tapping his foot.
She frowned. She'd just gotten out of school; thinking wasn't something she was figuring on doing much of until she'd had a powernap to recharge a little. But then again, this was a lot more important than dealing with... "Okay. PHO thinks you're some kinda-sorta Brute. But last night it seemed like that big guy- is his name Ifrit?"
He nodded briskly.
"Okay, I don't think he was real- he's not a person anyway."
"Debateable. He was real enough to skin my ass raw when I tangled with him in New York." He shrugged.
"...Okay I was gonna guess he was a projection or something. I thought you had a whole fire thing going on, but then you healed me. And you've got limits going on... Are you some kind of Master? Is Ifrit still alive?"
"In a manner of speaking. He was never really alive. Just a sort of... collection of energy with enough will and intellect to hold it together. Technically, Ifrit is an Embodied Metaphenomenon, made out of the rage and impotent anger felt there since 1994."
She sat there dumbfounded for a few long moments and coughed. "Umm. Are you serious?"
He nodded.
"Okay... not gonna lie you're sounding a little... Myrddin-y from where I'm sitting."
"You mean crazy? I don't actually think he IS by the way, I think he's just having a laugh and we're not in on the joke." He shrugged again. "Believe it or not, that's how my powers work. Conglomerations of power and emotion dwell in this world, and my power is to take them into myself and play host to their power. They give me all my abilities. Included among those is the ability to draw more powers from certain places around the world. And other parahumans."
She scooted back before she'd even realized what she was doing; insects around them rustling restlessly. "You steal powers?" She said grimly.
"No no, cool your brakes hon, I don't steal anything. I mean, I tried of course. There's a lot of guys out there we'd be better off if they were normals, ya know. No, I take sort of, peripheral bits of powers. You know what a valence electron is?"
She nodded. Well, she was pretty sure anyway. Chemistry class, unfortunately, hadn't been going so great.
"Right well, all I take is that outermost shell of power that hovers around the nucleus of people's abilities. For example, I can tell that you've got a valence I call "Bio." Lets me inflict temporary poisoning on someone, or toss a corrosive chemical. Thing is, once I use it, it's gone. Used up until I get more."
"That's... SO broken." She said with a small laugh.
He laughed a little. "Wait until I tell you the real good part. Those valences are what let me jump off buildings and run all night without breaking a sweat. I can put that power into my body and use it to amp up my physical and mental abilities. Doesn't even cost me anything."
"Oh come on! Seriously? And all I get is bugs?"
"Hey, bugs are cool. Don't knock bugs. I AM pretty awesome though." he said, flexing his arm like a comic book cover.
She snorted. "Yeah okay. Bugs are cool." She agreed, leaning back and kicking her legs. "So I got like, twenty percent of your powers right?"
"Mmm, maybe it wasn't a fair question huh? Don't worry about it. But it's something you've gotta think about. Identifying people's powers is a big part of this business. If you run into somebody whose powers you don't know about you're at a serious disadvantage. Same thing the other way around. Big names can't get around that, but you'd be shocked at how many super fights are just two dudes hiding at opposite ends of an alley having heart attacks trying to figure out what the other guy can do before they figure him out. You ever read JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?"
"Uhh... can't say I have."
"Hm, too bad. They could turn that thing into a textbook for new capes. Sucks how almost every copy was destroyed by Leviathan. It's like he KNEW something." he said, scratching his chin beneath the bandana. "Oh, right..." He said, reaching up and pulling off his goggles and bandana. He was pretty handsome, not exactly a model, but pretty decent, his face looked too young for his body really, but the short beard he wore helped a bit. "Fair's fair. I saw your face, now you see mine. It's not gonna help you find out who I am anyway. But consider it a sign of trust. Most capes REALLY freak out over this kinda thing."
"Why's that?" She asked, deciding to pull off her own mask; it was warm enough in here anyway.
"Unwritten rules. Never let anybody see your face, never look at anybody else's face without the mask, if you recognize somebody on the street, you pretend not to, even if he was trying to burn down an orphanage last week. Thing is, a lotta capes can figure out who somebody is, mask or no mask, in no time flat. But they don't say anything."
"Why not? I mean, if it's a bad guy..."
"Because nobody can do this 24/7, and if there was a danger of people busting into your house at four AM to kill your kids with fireballs and lasers, shit would get a lot more dangerous, real fast. Thing is, a lot of people will tell you this is all some big bullshit game. Like we're all a bunch of kids playing cops and robbers but with real guns, and that's some grade F horse shit. This is serious. So one cape to another; think real hard about it before you go out there again."
She flushed furiously. "Come on, I already said I know I wasn't being smart, but I can't just sit around and... do nothing."
He dragged his hand down his face and groaned. "Yeah, kid, I know. I've got powers too, remember. I know how bad the itch gets. But I gotta tell you to go home and quit while you're ahead anyway; on the off chance maybe you do it and spare yourself this bullshit. But if you can't, and I bet you can't, you're better off knowing how it all works. And you're better off still having help."
She chewed her lip, standing up from the chair and pacing around the living room for a minute. "I was going to go to the PRT..."
"Probably a good idea." he agreed. "If you can handle their bullshit."
"What do you mean?"
"They're a state run organization, with all the bureaucracy and public relations dumbassery that implies. You'd have a bunch of shit kid team mates- no offense- and they'd only let you out on a leash if you sit up and beg first. Plus..." He scowled. "You'd probably end up bunking with Shadow Stalker."
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's either a psychopath or doing a really good impression of one. First night I went out here in Brockton she rolls up and shoots me with a god damn crossbow. Live bolt too; I'm talking broadhead, not some little field tip. If I was a normal I'd have bled out right in that alley. Worse thing was she was just mad because I was patrolling in "Her" territory, like some gangbanger or a dog pissing up a tree. Later found out she's done that to a bunch more people. Probably only got into the Wards on a plea deal."
She stared at him and then grit her teeth. Somebody getting away with that kind of behavior just because they were useful to an institution... yeah that sounded familiar. "Okay, shelve the Wards then. But I can't just jump into New Wave... They're a family team."
"They're not actually. I looked into them when I first got here, and there's nothing about having to be a family member to join. You DO have to unmask, and that carries it's own issues. Plus, I'm not an authority but those people give me weird vibes." He said, holding a hand out and wobbling it.
"...You're not looking for a sidekick are you?" She joked.
"Sure, I can use a gofer."
"...Wait what?"
"Yeah but you're gonna have to pick a name, I'm not introducing us as Garden and the Seedling."
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Seed 3
- Location
- Writeland
The rest of the afternoon was spent on training, which in Garden's opinion she had apparently been doing poorly. Running to build stamina was fine, apparently, but not without the full course body workout you were meant to do beforehand of 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats, and 100 pull ups, every single day. He'd said this with an incredible seriousness but then for some reason kept grinning the whole time he walked her through it. They did the whole process in the apartment's one bedroom, which was apparently just the gym, since he slept in the living room.
She couldn't manage the pull ups, and at the end she felt like her body was falling apart, but he didn't seem disappointed. He did the same thing right beside her, and insisted that he wasn't using his powers for it. Given his build it was believable enough. Then, it was full contact sparring. On her part anyway. He didn't do more than catch her feeble attempts at landing a hit and correct her apparently abysmal punching technique; and that went on until her muscles were screaming and her knuckles stinging despite only hitting bare skin.
Afterward he insisted she immediately eat something high in protein. She decided on an unopened pack of turkey jerky in lieu of the home made yogurt he pulled out of the fridge. If he was offended he didn't show it, but halfway through his bowl the lights flickered strangely, and he put it down and wiped his mouth, pulling his bandana back on over his face. "Villains outside." He said flatly.
"What?" She said, jerking back and fumbling for the improvised mask he'd given her, as he calmly plucked the gun from the belt on the wall and walked to the door.
She'd lost focus again, and stopped paying attention to her surroundings; he was right of course, swarm saw three people standing outside deliberating. He'd pulled on his goggles already, and opened the front door.
------------------
Was expecting you. Had alarms set somehow- power is independently aware and warned him. Lisa jerked a bit as the door swung open and she found herself facing a rather large and unimpressed looking gun. There was another person behind him; a girl, younger, long dark hair- not a daughter or family member; not a girlfriend either. Thank god. Flies started buzzing when the door opened. Agitated, confused. Controls or influences insects.
"You're breaking the rules kiddos. You're not supposed to come to somebody's house you know. Some people might get real upset about that sort of thing."
"You don't live here." She piped up; smiling beneath her mask. "Not more than one or two nights a week, you just use this place when it's convenient, and it's in your capacity as a cape. Besides, we're not here to attack anyone. Can you put down the gun please-"
"No. And shut up. You're either watching my place, or you're a Thinker, and I don't talk to Thinkers. You, Tall Dark and Edgy, you look like you're at least halfway in charge, what're you doing here?" He demanded. Putting on a front. Wary, but doesn't consider me a threat. Won't shoot unless forced to. Easily antagonized- Oh they weren't going to get along well.
"I'm Tattletale, this is Grue, and Regent, we're-"
"Tattletale." Grue interrupted her, stepping forward with his hands up. "We don't want any trouble. Just the opposite actually; you did us a solid. If not for you two, we'd probably have been ripped apart by Lung."
"So, you kids are the ones who got him all riled up. Not exactly the smartest decision of your lives."
"Obviously there were some unexpected hiccups." Regent shrugged. Feigning confidence. Nervous-not about the gun. Unsure if his powers will work on summoned entities. Unsure of Garden's motives. Wants to go home and play video games. Gee thanks. Big insight.
"Why?" Garden asked bluntly.
There was an uncomfortable silence- probing for information- Well yes, obviously- Suspects involvement of third party, doesn't believe profit motive sufficient to undertake risk-still thinks we're a bunch of stupid kids. "It was a job from our employer." She spoke up, annoying him again.
"Bugs." he said flatly.
"Huh?" The girl inside said, apparently surprised to be addressed.
"Can you search them, for bugs." he clarified, annoyed but patient.
"Oh! Uhh, yeah. She has a gun on her hip, and... a knife on her shoe." She said. Uncertain, uncomfortable with this situation. Control over arthropods extends to access to their senses. Accessing the mites on your skin- Ew.
"Nothing electronic?"
"Uhh, no."
"We left our phones behind for this. But why are you so interested?" Grue asked.
"Because if this "Job" was for ordinary customers they wouldn't have you stealing from Lung. Usual parahuman work can be done with Faultline's crew, so either you were just the only ones stupid enough to accept-"
"Hey!" She interrupted, and he pulled the hammer back on the gun; abruptly silencing her. ...Still won't shoot you unless forced to. Probably. Oh, how reassuring.
"Shut the fuck up. As I was saying, either you're all so dumb you thought you'd just get away with it, you didn't know what you were walking into, your boss is trying to get you killed on purpose, he's got some big plan that relies on Lung being really mad, or he's just trying to stir up shit to be a shit-stirrer. Any way it goes, most likely he or she is some wannabe supervillain and you're all a bunch of dumb ass minions who almost got yourself killed stealing from Lung, and then decided to come over to my place to do- what exactly?"
"Well we were going to offer you a slice of the pie since you saved our skins, but I'll keep it if you don't want any part of that dumb-ass minion deal." Regent shrugged, adjusting his mask. Joking to cut the tension- didn't consider that boss might try to get rid of us like that-wondering if the money is really worth it. Well look at that, maybe he did have a brain.
Grue glared at him through his helmet, and took a step back, putting his foot behind a five dollar Eidolon lunch box, and an Alexandria one, and skidding them over to Garden, who didn't look away from them, nor take his aim off her. The girl inside the apartment yelped softly, and Lisa looked over to her; then down at what she was staring at. There was something out of a very weird kid's cartoon waddling up to the lunch box- a little blond furry thing with a single huge deedlybopper wagging around above it's head. It popped open the lunch boxes and filed through the cash inside, then turned the boxes around and examined them from every angle, before giving a big thumb's up to it's apparent master. Utility construct-far more dextrous than it appears-either expendable or indestructible-independently intelligent and SAPIENT her power lit up, with a strange giddyness that cleared away some of the starts of a Thinker headache creeping up her neck. What in the hell?
The adorable little whatever-it-was vanished with a sound of tinkling bells and sparkling lights. It's master knelt down slowly and picked up the wad of bills within, running them between his fingers. "Well as peace offerings go, I've had worse. But this doesn't change anything. You are working for a supervillain, aren't you?"
"Maybe. But that's part of why we wanted to meet you. To talk." Grue took over again, stepping up a little closer than he'd dared to before. "You do the Hero thing, I get that. But you haven't joined up with the white hats, and after all, we were robbing another supervillain. We don't necessarily have to be on opposite sides."
Garden snorted. "So this is a bribe? You want me to look the other way while you carry on with your little cops and robbers game? And what happens if your boss does something I don't approve of?"
"Well, you could always quit the hero thing and give the other side a try. I'm not gonna judge, but you know... that apartment aint exactly a good look." Regent tossed in.
"Ah, so it is a bribe. With promises of bribes to come if I cooperate. That's cute. Tell me, what does your boss think about that? Am I talking to the monkey when I should be looking for the organ grinder?"
"We didn't discuss it with him." She put in, crossing her arms. "He doesn't care what we do with the money."
"We don't even have to do the jobs if we think they don't smell right. But the pot this time was just too big to ignore. Even if we did some dragonly attention over it. See, we actually came to see if the girl behind you wanted to make a little scratch if she didn't like how the other side lives." Regent said, miming picking his nose through his mask.
"Huh. That so. What do you think Bugs?" Garden asked, stepping to one side, gun half lowered but still at attention.
"Uhh... no. I want to be a hero. Thanks but no thanks, I'm not interested in working for supervillains." She said firmly. Uncertain under the surface-home life is financially strained-very interested in the money even though she doesn't want to seem influenced.
"Well there you go. One last question though- This boss of yours, what's he paying you? Was this a one time job, or are you on retainer?"
Grue told him.
He whistled, rubbing his chin through the bandana. "Well, that's not nothing, that's for sure. But you know, it brings to mind a counter offer. How about you quit this Supervillain shit while you're ahead, and get all of the money he'd have paid you before he got you killed doing something stupid and then some?" Her heart gave a strange jerk as she processed the suggestion.
"What do you mean, just steal it?" Grue said. Regent laughed. She wasn't laughing.
"Why the hell not? You're supervillains. You apparently don't mind stealing from Lung, why not go for a bigger prize from a smaller fish? However he's paying you, he's apparently got money to spare. Supervillains tend to have a lot of liquid capital laying around, especially the ones who employ catspaws like you kids."
"You don't even know who our boss is. For all you know we'd be pissing off Kaiser, or worse." Regent said. Intrigued at the proposition. Would be happiest to get the money and be free of any further obligations. Questions employer's commitment. Afraid of reprisals.
"Doubt it. You kids don't seem much like the white supremacist type. If Kaiser had the brains to keep deniable assets we'd all be fucked, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't. You're definitely not ABB. DEFINITELY not Merchants. Not that many other choices." He shrugged. Figured it out much earlier. Knows about Coil's existence- eager to take him down. Not out of a sense of justice or obligation- wants his resources-doesn't want to be beholden to his authority. Ambitious, stubborn, self absorbed, distrusts authority, ethical enough to avoid supervillainy, not so ethical he wouldn't do what was necessary.
"You SURE you're not up to switch teams?" Regent teased.
"We don't exactly want a reputation as easy turncoats. You might have a point about the boss, but what happens afterward?"
Garden shrugged. "Whatever you want. If the money's not enough to retire on, it'll sure as shit be enough to move out. Take you and yours out of this shit hole and start up somewhere else, new name and mask somewhere out of my neighborhood where I don't have to give a shit if you knock over casinos and piss off dragons. Or get a legit job and get out of the game completely. Or you can stick around, and keep doing what you're doing, and eventually you'll piss off the wrong person and no amount of "Rep" will keep them from pullin' out your guts. Or you'll get caught one too many times and the boss will decide you aren't worth yankin' out of jail again. Or you'll piss me off, and you'll find out exactly which rules I think don't apply to me."
She glanced rapidly back and forth between Grue and Garden, then stepped between them before Grue could get his next line out. "Grue. Let's go. We can talk about this later. We can go, right?" she said, turning back to him, hoping he'd catch the expression on her face well enough.
Garden stared, and then shrugged, stepping back inside. "You didn't commit any crimes where I could see 'em. Think about what I said, kids. Apparently you can find me well enough to give me an answer. Now get." He said, scooting the cash boxes inside before shutting the door firmly.
------------
"What the heck was all that about?!" Taylor hissed at him under her breath as soon as her bugs told her they were gone.
He shrugged at her, pulling his mask down. "That's uhh... that's an advanced lesson."
------------
AN: "But why was Regent even there?" You ask. Well they were going to bring the whole team as a show of solidarity and force in the face of an unknown powerful parahuman, since this situation is so different from the canon where it was just Tattletale doing her "Come to my white van Taylor we have candy" routine. Bitch didn't want to come, and that was probably for the best.
She couldn't manage the pull ups, and at the end she felt like her body was falling apart, but he didn't seem disappointed. He did the same thing right beside her, and insisted that he wasn't using his powers for it. Given his build it was believable enough. Then, it was full contact sparring. On her part anyway. He didn't do more than catch her feeble attempts at landing a hit and correct her apparently abysmal punching technique; and that went on until her muscles were screaming and her knuckles stinging despite only hitting bare skin.
Afterward he insisted she immediately eat something high in protein. She decided on an unopened pack of turkey jerky in lieu of the home made yogurt he pulled out of the fridge. If he was offended he didn't show it, but halfway through his bowl the lights flickered strangely, and he put it down and wiped his mouth, pulling his bandana back on over his face. "Villains outside." He said flatly.
"What?" She said, jerking back and fumbling for the improvised mask he'd given her, as he calmly plucked the gun from the belt on the wall and walked to the door.
She'd lost focus again, and stopped paying attention to her surroundings; he was right of course, swarm saw three people standing outside deliberating. He'd pulled on his goggles already, and opened the front door.
------------------
Was expecting you. Had alarms set somehow- power is independently aware and warned him. Lisa jerked a bit as the door swung open and she found herself facing a rather large and unimpressed looking gun. There was another person behind him; a girl, younger, long dark hair- not a daughter or family member; not a girlfriend either. Thank god. Flies started buzzing when the door opened. Agitated, confused. Controls or influences insects.
"You're breaking the rules kiddos. You're not supposed to come to somebody's house you know. Some people might get real upset about that sort of thing."
"You don't live here." She piped up; smiling beneath her mask. "Not more than one or two nights a week, you just use this place when it's convenient, and it's in your capacity as a cape. Besides, we're not here to attack anyone. Can you put down the gun please-"
"No. And shut up. You're either watching my place, or you're a Thinker, and I don't talk to Thinkers. You, Tall Dark and Edgy, you look like you're at least halfway in charge, what're you doing here?" He demanded. Putting on a front. Wary, but doesn't consider me a threat. Won't shoot unless forced to. Easily antagonized- Oh they weren't going to get along well.
"I'm Tattletale, this is Grue, and Regent, we're-"
"Tattletale." Grue interrupted her, stepping forward with his hands up. "We don't want any trouble. Just the opposite actually; you did us a solid. If not for you two, we'd probably have been ripped apart by Lung."
"So, you kids are the ones who got him all riled up. Not exactly the smartest decision of your lives."
"Obviously there were some unexpected hiccups." Regent shrugged. Feigning confidence. Nervous-not about the gun. Unsure if his powers will work on summoned entities. Unsure of Garden's motives. Wants to go home and play video games. Gee thanks. Big insight.
"Why?" Garden asked bluntly.
There was an uncomfortable silence- probing for information- Well yes, obviously- Suspects involvement of third party, doesn't believe profit motive sufficient to undertake risk-still thinks we're a bunch of stupid kids. "It was a job from our employer." She spoke up, annoying him again.
"Bugs." he said flatly.
"Huh?" The girl inside said, apparently surprised to be addressed.
"Can you search them, for bugs." he clarified, annoyed but patient.
"Oh! Uhh, yeah. She has a gun on her hip, and... a knife on her shoe." She said. Uncertain, uncomfortable with this situation. Control over arthropods extends to access to their senses. Accessing the mites on your skin- Ew.
"Nothing electronic?"
"Uhh, no."
"We left our phones behind for this. But why are you so interested?" Grue asked.
"Because if this "Job" was for ordinary customers they wouldn't have you stealing from Lung. Usual parahuman work can be done with Faultline's crew, so either you were just the only ones stupid enough to accept-"
"Hey!" She interrupted, and he pulled the hammer back on the gun; abruptly silencing her. ...Still won't shoot you unless forced to. Probably. Oh, how reassuring.
"Shut the fuck up. As I was saying, either you're all so dumb you thought you'd just get away with it, you didn't know what you were walking into, your boss is trying to get you killed on purpose, he's got some big plan that relies on Lung being really mad, or he's just trying to stir up shit to be a shit-stirrer. Any way it goes, most likely he or she is some wannabe supervillain and you're all a bunch of dumb ass minions who almost got yourself killed stealing from Lung, and then decided to come over to my place to do- what exactly?"
"Well we were going to offer you a slice of the pie since you saved our skins, but I'll keep it if you don't want any part of that dumb-ass minion deal." Regent shrugged, adjusting his mask. Joking to cut the tension- didn't consider that boss might try to get rid of us like that-wondering if the money is really worth it. Well look at that, maybe he did have a brain.
Grue glared at him through his helmet, and took a step back, putting his foot behind a five dollar Eidolon lunch box, and an Alexandria one, and skidding them over to Garden, who didn't look away from them, nor take his aim off her. The girl inside the apartment yelped softly, and Lisa looked over to her; then down at what she was staring at. There was something out of a very weird kid's cartoon waddling up to the lunch box- a little blond furry thing with a single huge deedlybopper wagging around above it's head. It popped open the lunch boxes and filed through the cash inside, then turned the boxes around and examined them from every angle, before giving a big thumb's up to it's apparent master. Utility construct-far more dextrous than it appears-either expendable or indestructible-independently intelligent and SAPIENT her power lit up, with a strange giddyness that cleared away some of the starts of a Thinker headache creeping up her neck. What in the hell?
The adorable little whatever-it-was vanished with a sound of tinkling bells and sparkling lights. It's master knelt down slowly and picked up the wad of bills within, running them between his fingers. "Well as peace offerings go, I've had worse. But this doesn't change anything. You are working for a supervillain, aren't you?"
"Maybe. But that's part of why we wanted to meet you. To talk." Grue took over again, stepping up a little closer than he'd dared to before. "You do the Hero thing, I get that. But you haven't joined up with the white hats, and after all, we were robbing another supervillain. We don't necessarily have to be on opposite sides."
Garden snorted. "So this is a bribe? You want me to look the other way while you carry on with your little cops and robbers game? And what happens if your boss does something I don't approve of?"
"Well, you could always quit the hero thing and give the other side a try. I'm not gonna judge, but you know... that apartment aint exactly a good look." Regent tossed in.
"Ah, so it is a bribe. With promises of bribes to come if I cooperate. That's cute. Tell me, what does your boss think about that? Am I talking to the monkey when I should be looking for the organ grinder?"
"We didn't discuss it with him." She put in, crossing her arms. "He doesn't care what we do with the money."
"We don't even have to do the jobs if we think they don't smell right. But the pot this time was just too big to ignore. Even if we did some dragonly attention over it. See, we actually came to see if the girl behind you wanted to make a little scratch if she didn't like how the other side lives." Regent said, miming picking his nose through his mask.
"Huh. That so. What do you think Bugs?" Garden asked, stepping to one side, gun half lowered but still at attention.
"Uhh... no. I want to be a hero. Thanks but no thanks, I'm not interested in working for supervillains." She said firmly. Uncertain under the surface-home life is financially strained-very interested in the money even though she doesn't want to seem influenced.
"Well there you go. One last question though- This boss of yours, what's he paying you? Was this a one time job, or are you on retainer?"
Grue told him.
He whistled, rubbing his chin through the bandana. "Well, that's not nothing, that's for sure. But you know, it brings to mind a counter offer. How about you quit this Supervillain shit while you're ahead, and get all of the money he'd have paid you before he got you killed doing something stupid and then some?" Her heart gave a strange jerk as she processed the suggestion.
"What do you mean, just steal it?" Grue said. Regent laughed. She wasn't laughing.
"Why the hell not? You're supervillains. You apparently don't mind stealing from Lung, why not go for a bigger prize from a smaller fish? However he's paying you, he's apparently got money to spare. Supervillains tend to have a lot of liquid capital laying around, especially the ones who employ catspaws like you kids."
"You don't even know who our boss is. For all you know we'd be pissing off Kaiser, or worse." Regent said. Intrigued at the proposition. Would be happiest to get the money and be free of any further obligations. Questions employer's commitment. Afraid of reprisals.
"Doubt it. You kids don't seem much like the white supremacist type. If Kaiser had the brains to keep deniable assets we'd all be fucked, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't. You're definitely not ABB. DEFINITELY not Merchants. Not that many other choices." He shrugged. Figured it out much earlier. Knows about Coil's existence- eager to take him down. Not out of a sense of justice or obligation- wants his resources-doesn't want to be beholden to his authority. Ambitious, stubborn, self absorbed, distrusts authority, ethical enough to avoid supervillainy, not so ethical he wouldn't do what was necessary.
"You SURE you're not up to switch teams?" Regent teased.
"We don't exactly want a reputation as easy turncoats. You might have a point about the boss, but what happens afterward?"
Garden shrugged. "Whatever you want. If the money's not enough to retire on, it'll sure as shit be enough to move out. Take you and yours out of this shit hole and start up somewhere else, new name and mask somewhere out of my neighborhood where I don't have to give a shit if you knock over casinos and piss off dragons. Or get a legit job and get out of the game completely. Or you can stick around, and keep doing what you're doing, and eventually you'll piss off the wrong person and no amount of "Rep" will keep them from pullin' out your guts. Or you'll get caught one too many times and the boss will decide you aren't worth yankin' out of jail again. Or you'll piss me off, and you'll find out exactly which rules I think don't apply to me."
She glanced rapidly back and forth between Grue and Garden, then stepped between them before Grue could get his next line out. "Grue. Let's go. We can talk about this later. We can go, right?" she said, turning back to him, hoping he'd catch the expression on her face well enough.
Garden stared, and then shrugged, stepping back inside. "You didn't commit any crimes where I could see 'em. Think about what I said, kids. Apparently you can find me well enough to give me an answer. Now get." He said, scooting the cash boxes inside before shutting the door firmly.
------------
"What the heck was all that about?!" Taylor hissed at him under her breath as soon as her bugs told her they were gone.
He shrugged at her, pulling his mask down. "That's uhh... that's an advanced lesson."
------------
AN: "But why was Regent even there?" You ask. Well they were going to bring the whole team as a show of solidarity and force in the face of an unknown powerful parahuman, since this situation is so different from the canon where it was just Tattletale doing her "Come to my white van Taylor we have candy" routine. Bitch didn't want to come, and that was probably for the best.
Last edited:
Seed 4
- Location
- Writeland
AN: I hope that the perspective change doesn't bother anyone.
---------------
Side Garden
I stepped out of my other safehouse, masked up and armed, sipping at a coffee I'd brewed up to help me get through the long night ahead. I felt the coils of Quetzelcoatl slithering above my head, and let him fade from the world to rejoin the others within me. A quiet, haughty energy filled me, nudging the cold logic and righteous fury as if in greeting. I should have pulled him back earlier; but his vigil had been appreciated. Next time it might not be the Undersiders coming to call, but Lung, and I'd be grateful for knowing about it before he knocked at my door. I took a long sip, and heard the crunch of stones and pavement, sighing and exhaling a small gout of steam.
"So, do I have your answer?" I said into the gloom, without looking.
An almighty crunch hit the ground behind me, the sound of heavy breathing from something huge and powerful; but without the overbearing heat of Lung.
"We have a few conditions." Grue answered me, and I smiled. I had them now.
-------------
"Sir; the building is closed, you can't be in here." A guard warned me as I stepped through the front door, giving him a look. Not nearly fat or out of shape enough to be in this kind of job. Far too familiar with the weapon at his side. Sight unseen, I cast a quick Scan... Level 7, impressive. And right there in the description...
"My mistake. Y'see I thought this here was some kinda Supervillain's place. But I figure they probably don't post their operatin' hours. So if you could just direct me to-"
He whipped the gun out of his holster and I drove two fingers into the joints of his wrist, making his hand spring open so I could pluck it out of the air and smash it into his forehead. I stepped over him and up to elevator. Naturally the buttons lacked an option for sub-sub-sub basement, but there was a card reader there. I ignored it. I let Ifrit boil up from within me, the sensation of my body becoming bigger than it was rippling through me; growing until I felt myself parting from him and his bulk striding into the world, leaving tracks of melted tile and flame in his wake. He smashed a fist through the elevator's ceiling, and I hopped aboard his shoulders to let him hop up onto the roof and grip the guide cable before he snapped the suspension and let the elevator drop like a stone.
Emergency safeties kicked in and skidded it to a halt. But whatever the brakes were designed to defeat, two and a half tons of fire monster dropping onto it from a height of fifteen meters wasn't it, and it rapidly screeched it's way downward until it hit a proper stoppage. Ifrit flowed back into me, and I kicked the doors, hard, knocking them out into the hallway in front of me. A forest of guns aimed their way toward me, and I reached into a pocket. A bullet nearly clipped my ear, and I ignored it. I didn't really smoke of course; but carrying a pack around was worth it just for effect. I slid the coffin nail into my lips through a fold in the bandana and stared straight ahead, feeling Quetzelcoatl slithering from my body and coiling about me. A single spark leapt from his long, serpentine body straight to the tip of the cigarette and lit it, just as ceiling lights began to explode in time with the frantic fire of their guns.
----------------
"First things first. I need an accurate description of his powers."
"I can tell you." Tattletale had replied firmly, with good conviction. "But you're not going to like it."
--------------
Lightning struck like a serpent, leaping through body armor to nip at nerve endings, through the casings of electronics to gouge at Tinkertech weaponry. Nonetheless, lasers burned me, injuring me more than I expected. I was forced to waste another Cure bringing myself back before I sustained something serious, smashing my way through their ranks with fists, feet, and firearms. Just had to find the right route now; get to the right hall at the right time.
-------------
"Damn. That is pretty fucky. But I think I know how to handle it..." I said, rubbing at my chin through my bandana. "Alright. I'll help. But I've got a condition of my own. I'm going to need some things from each of you. I promise, it won't hurt a bit." I said, cracking my knuckles.
"You've got a plan." Tattletale said. "That fast? And you're really sure." It wasn't a question. She knew. Thinkers man. But I was going to get my revenge before long.
"You know it. And believe me... you're not going to like it." I grinned.
-------------
Side Lisa
Coil was agitated. Way more than Lisa had ever seen him. He'd practically screamed at the guard who rushed in to notify him that Garden was making it through the hastily formed bulwarks that they'd tried to levy against him- Non parahuman military forces ineffective-no different than early PRT operations against Nilbog and the Nine. Coil intended on hiring Parahuman reinforcements who have yet to arrive in the Bay. Undersiders are his only option.
"Bitch can be here in minutes. I just need to call-"
"Then call them!" He practically shouted.
Unexpected response. Feeling unusually on edge; enough to sacrifice secrecy to the rest of the team. Power is not telling him what he wants to know. Her powers told her, with an unusual icy clarity. And a hint of strange, haughty amusement.
Is it because the other her that he'd created wasn't cooperating? Her fist clenched reflexively as her other hand dialed. Just five more minutes, that was all she needed to last.
-------------
The past.
"You want me to get him suspicious on purpose?" Lisa asked incredulously.
"Well-"
"No. No that could work. If he uses it then..."
"You want to fill us non-Thinkers in any time today?" Regent asked, leaning on that ridiculous scepter.
"You probably wouldn't get it. You don't need to worry about any of that. Just focus on getting in and making sure that you're in position by the proper time. And ya know, on how all our lives are placed in your slender, delicate little pianist's fingers." Garden shrugged.
"Mmm, is that all you'd like to place in them?" He flitted back. "That's pretty weird for a hero. Aren't you much too old for me?"
"Focus, Regent. So, all we need to do is wait for the signal?" Grue growled.
"You got it. Bitch, you're on collections. Tattletale can tell you where to go."
She growled- quite literally, rather than the metaphor in Grue's case. "Don't trust you."
"Good." Garden said, shrugging his shoulders. "Means you've got a brain. But as little as you trust me, trust your boss less, and your payday more. Plenty to last you at least a year, or I really will be in your corner until I've worked it off." He said, tipping his hat.
"He's telling the truth." Lisa said with a shrug. "Weird as that might be."
She didn't say anything more, but seemed mollified enough to wait for Tattletale to properly explain where to go and what to do.
--------------
Side Coil
She wasn't even screaming. She always screamed at this part. At least a little. He remembered quite enjoying it at times when she was being particularly petulant. But nothing he did worked, she only grimaced and glared, teeth set tight. And he didn't have time.
He aimed right for her head and cocked back the hammer. "You told him how to find this place, didn't you? Thought you'd found yourself a knight in shining armor? Your power must have told you he was trustworthy; you haven't been in contact long enough for you to form an opinion properly. So tell me right now; what was the plan?"
She spat a mouthful of blood out on the floor and gave him a hoarfrost smile. "What's the matter Coil? Not having as much fun as usual with the foreplay? Maybe you should step it up a little. I'm feeling a little neglected."
His knuckles whitened on the gun. "You know."
"Haven't you heard Coil? I'm psychic." She said, and this time when she spat, it hit his face, soaking through the mask.
He shot her through the head, and collapsed the timeline, then opened another.
Now he kept his gun on her in both.
---------------
Side Garden.
I flicked my cigarette away unsmoked and spat to clear the taste from my mouth. How my dad ever went through so many of those things I'll never know. Quetzelcoatl slithered sinuously around my body, a glimmering emerald snake the length of a city block, slipping through the floor, walls, and ceiling with a ghostly indistinction that befitted the Lord of Air, his tongue crackling from his maw over the cowering mercenary I had pinned to the wall.
"Directions or Dismemberment hombre. Now I ain't no killer, but my friend here, he's got a bit of a mind of his own. And electrical injuries- man you know, there's just not much room for error. Course if you want somethin' safer I can just shoot you. That way you'll have at least four or five hours before you bleed out, and I'll probably remember to come back. Probably." I shrugged.
"C-coil's in his office. That way, down the stairs and to the right. But you don't get it man, this place is-"
"Shhh. Sleep." I ordered, and he sagged in obedience, falling to the ground in a heap. "You heard the man. Hurry and get in." I said, letting Quetzelcoatl creep back into his cozy place within my head.
-------------
Lisa
"Boss... are you feeling okay?" She asked, hands raised, stepping back slowly.
"You know." He said venomously. Perfect for the snake he was.
This time she didn't smile. Her eyes just hardened, in a way that was like her, yet not. "Oh. So she cracked. Maybe she just felt like the conversation was getting a bit boring."
"If you're bored, we can cut this short right now. Tell me what Garden knows, and you'll live."
"As what? A leashed and collared addict? Or would you go for the bomb in the collar routine? I already rolled the dice on this one Coil. No going back for me." She said, as the clock ticked down...
He pulled the hammer back, and then a knock came at the door.
"..."
"..."
"Boss! We gotta go, he's almost broken through to this hall!"
--------------
Coil
-Split the timeline once more. In one he kept Tattletale firmly fixed in his sights, in the other, he turned to the door as the knob turned. The locks were in place, he was certain, but who knew how long that would avail him.
In the other, Tattletale smiled, and took a single step toward him. He fired immediately- Or tried to. His finger jerked strangely, pointing the gun away from her, and she gripped it suddenly, with more strength than a girl her size should have had-
Regent- He realized, abruptly, in both timelines, his body in the second one turning back to face Tattletale, only to suddenly feel his leg give way. He hit the ground, and felt his gag reflex suddenly trigger; a spray of vomit pouring into the inside of his mask. Tattletale suddenly grasped him by the wrist and bent his arm-
At 2:45AM exactly, in both timelines, an alarm rung on Lisa's phone, and she plunged her hand into Coil's chest; fingers wreathed in claws of milky ice.
------------
---------------
Side Garden
I stepped out of my other safehouse, masked up and armed, sipping at a coffee I'd brewed up to help me get through the long night ahead. I felt the coils of Quetzelcoatl slithering above my head, and let him fade from the world to rejoin the others within me. A quiet, haughty energy filled me, nudging the cold logic and righteous fury as if in greeting. I should have pulled him back earlier; but his vigil had been appreciated. Next time it might not be the Undersiders coming to call, but Lung, and I'd be grateful for knowing about it before he knocked at my door. I took a long sip, and heard the crunch of stones and pavement, sighing and exhaling a small gout of steam.
"So, do I have your answer?" I said into the gloom, without looking.
An almighty crunch hit the ground behind me, the sound of heavy breathing from something huge and powerful; but without the overbearing heat of Lung.
"We have a few conditions." Grue answered me, and I smiled. I had them now.
-------------
"Sir; the building is closed, you can't be in here." A guard warned me as I stepped through the front door, giving him a look. Not nearly fat or out of shape enough to be in this kind of job. Far too familiar with the weapon at his side. Sight unseen, I cast a quick Scan... Level 7, impressive. And right there in the description...
"My mistake. Y'see I thought this here was some kinda Supervillain's place. But I figure they probably don't post their operatin' hours. So if you could just direct me to-"
He whipped the gun out of his holster and I drove two fingers into the joints of his wrist, making his hand spring open so I could pluck it out of the air and smash it into his forehead. I stepped over him and up to elevator. Naturally the buttons lacked an option for sub-sub-sub basement, but there was a card reader there. I ignored it. I let Ifrit boil up from within me, the sensation of my body becoming bigger than it was rippling through me; growing until I felt myself parting from him and his bulk striding into the world, leaving tracks of melted tile and flame in his wake. He smashed a fist through the elevator's ceiling, and I hopped aboard his shoulders to let him hop up onto the roof and grip the guide cable before he snapped the suspension and let the elevator drop like a stone.
Emergency safeties kicked in and skidded it to a halt. But whatever the brakes were designed to defeat, two and a half tons of fire monster dropping onto it from a height of fifteen meters wasn't it, and it rapidly screeched it's way downward until it hit a proper stoppage. Ifrit flowed back into me, and I kicked the doors, hard, knocking them out into the hallway in front of me. A forest of guns aimed their way toward me, and I reached into a pocket. A bullet nearly clipped my ear, and I ignored it. I didn't really smoke of course; but carrying a pack around was worth it just for effect. I slid the coffin nail into my lips through a fold in the bandana and stared straight ahead, feeling Quetzelcoatl slithering from my body and coiling about me. A single spark leapt from his long, serpentine body straight to the tip of the cigarette and lit it, just as ceiling lights began to explode in time with the frantic fire of their guns.
----------------
"First things first. I need an accurate description of his powers."
"I can tell you." Tattletale had replied firmly, with good conviction. "But you're not going to like it."
--------------
Lightning struck like a serpent, leaping through body armor to nip at nerve endings, through the casings of electronics to gouge at Tinkertech weaponry. Nonetheless, lasers burned me, injuring me more than I expected. I was forced to waste another Cure bringing myself back before I sustained something serious, smashing my way through their ranks with fists, feet, and firearms. Just had to find the right route now; get to the right hall at the right time.
-------------
"Damn. That is pretty fucky. But I think I know how to handle it..." I said, rubbing at my chin through my bandana. "Alright. I'll help. But I've got a condition of my own. I'm going to need some things from each of you. I promise, it won't hurt a bit." I said, cracking my knuckles.
"You've got a plan." Tattletale said. "That fast? And you're really sure." It wasn't a question. She knew. Thinkers man. But I was going to get my revenge before long.
"You know it. And believe me... you're not going to like it." I grinned.
-------------
Side Lisa
Coil was agitated. Way more than Lisa had ever seen him. He'd practically screamed at the guard who rushed in to notify him that Garden was making it through the hastily formed bulwarks that they'd tried to levy against him- Non parahuman military forces ineffective-no different than early PRT operations against Nilbog and the Nine. Coil intended on hiring Parahuman reinforcements who have yet to arrive in the Bay. Undersiders are his only option.
"Bitch can be here in minutes. I just need to call-"
"Then call them!" He practically shouted.
Unexpected response. Feeling unusually on edge; enough to sacrifice secrecy to the rest of the team. Power is not telling him what he wants to know. Her powers told her, with an unusual icy clarity. And a hint of strange, haughty amusement.
Is it because the other her that he'd created wasn't cooperating? Her fist clenched reflexively as her other hand dialed. Just five more minutes, that was all she needed to last.
-------------
The past.
"You want me to get him suspicious on purpose?" Lisa asked incredulously.
"Well-"
"No. No that could work. If he uses it then..."
"You want to fill us non-Thinkers in any time today?" Regent asked, leaning on that ridiculous scepter.
"You probably wouldn't get it. You don't need to worry about any of that. Just focus on getting in and making sure that you're in position by the proper time. And ya know, on how all our lives are placed in your slender, delicate little pianist's fingers." Garden shrugged.
"Mmm, is that all you'd like to place in them?" He flitted back. "That's pretty weird for a hero. Aren't you much too old for me?"
"Focus, Regent. So, all we need to do is wait for the signal?" Grue growled.
"You got it. Bitch, you're on collections. Tattletale can tell you where to go."
She growled- quite literally, rather than the metaphor in Grue's case. "Don't trust you."
"Good." Garden said, shrugging his shoulders. "Means you've got a brain. But as little as you trust me, trust your boss less, and your payday more. Plenty to last you at least a year, or I really will be in your corner until I've worked it off." He said, tipping his hat.
"He's telling the truth." Lisa said with a shrug. "Weird as that might be."
She didn't say anything more, but seemed mollified enough to wait for Tattletale to properly explain where to go and what to do.
--------------
Side Coil
She wasn't even screaming. She always screamed at this part. At least a little. He remembered quite enjoying it at times when she was being particularly petulant. But nothing he did worked, she only grimaced and glared, teeth set tight. And he didn't have time.
He aimed right for her head and cocked back the hammer. "You told him how to find this place, didn't you? Thought you'd found yourself a knight in shining armor? Your power must have told you he was trustworthy; you haven't been in contact long enough for you to form an opinion properly. So tell me right now; what was the plan?"
She spat a mouthful of blood out on the floor and gave him a hoarfrost smile. "What's the matter Coil? Not having as much fun as usual with the foreplay? Maybe you should step it up a little. I'm feeling a little neglected."
His knuckles whitened on the gun. "You know."
"Haven't you heard Coil? I'm psychic." She said, and this time when she spat, it hit his face, soaking through the mask.
He shot her through the head, and collapsed the timeline, then opened another.
Now he kept his gun on her in both.
---------------
Side Garden.
I flicked my cigarette away unsmoked and spat to clear the taste from my mouth. How my dad ever went through so many of those things I'll never know. Quetzelcoatl slithered sinuously around my body, a glimmering emerald snake the length of a city block, slipping through the floor, walls, and ceiling with a ghostly indistinction that befitted the Lord of Air, his tongue crackling from his maw over the cowering mercenary I had pinned to the wall.
"Directions or Dismemberment hombre. Now I ain't no killer, but my friend here, he's got a bit of a mind of his own. And electrical injuries- man you know, there's just not much room for error. Course if you want somethin' safer I can just shoot you. That way you'll have at least four or five hours before you bleed out, and I'll probably remember to come back. Probably." I shrugged.
"C-coil's in his office. That way, down the stairs and to the right. But you don't get it man, this place is-"
"Shhh. Sleep." I ordered, and he sagged in obedience, falling to the ground in a heap. "You heard the man. Hurry and get in." I said, letting Quetzelcoatl creep back into his cozy place within my head.
-------------
Lisa
"Boss... are you feeling okay?" She asked, hands raised, stepping back slowly.
"You know." He said venomously. Perfect for the snake he was.
This time she didn't smile. Her eyes just hardened, in a way that was like her, yet not. "Oh. So she cracked. Maybe she just felt like the conversation was getting a bit boring."
"If you're bored, we can cut this short right now. Tell me what Garden knows, and you'll live."
"As what? A leashed and collared addict? Or would you go for the bomb in the collar routine? I already rolled the dice on this one Coil. No going back for me." She said, as the clock ticked down...
He pulled the hammer back, and then a knock came at the door.
"..."
"..."
"Boss! We gotta go, he's almost broken through to this hall!"
--------------
Coil
-Split the timeline once more. In one he kept Tattletale firmly fixed in his sights, in the other, he turned to the door as the knob turned. The locks were in place, he was certain, but who knew how long that would avail him.
In the other, Tattletale smiled, and took a single step toward him. He fired immediately- Or tried to. His finger jerked strangely, pointing the gun away from her, and she gripped it suddenly, with more strength than a girl her size should have had-
Regent- He realized, abruptly, in both timelines, his body in the second one turning back to face Tattletale, only to suddenly feel his leg give way. He hit the ground, and felt his gag reflex suddenly trigger; a spray of vomit pouring into the inside of his mask. Tattletale suddenly grasped him by the wrist and bent his arm-
At 2:45AM exactly, in both timelines, an alarm rung on Lisa's phone, and she plunged her hand into Coil's chest; fingers wreathed in claws of milky ice.
------------
Okay, just in case this was too confusing, the plan is:
Lisa deliberately tips Coil off that something is weird. She comes in unannounced to his office and acts just weird enough that he'll want to interrogate her properly, dropping some hints that Garden might know more about Coil than Coil would be comfortable with, and that she's not telling him everything she knows. This causes him to collapse any lifeline timeline he had open to make a new one where he can do his torture business.
Garden walks right in the front door and starts smashing heads, as loudly as possible, making sure everyone's attention is on him, drawing guards away from essential areas to deal with him.
Meanwhile, Grue is securing an escape route, while Bitch raids Coil's supplies for goodies.
Regent slips in, incognito, and ducks into a closet to put on a stolen mercenary uniform so he can move without too much danger or suspicion. He makes it to Coil's office in time to make sure Tats's brains don't end up splattered all over the floor while she closes the deal at a pre-determined time to make sure she gets him in both.
The timeline is not clear on this, but I choose to declare that Echidna is not yet in the basement.
Lisa deliberately tips Coil off that something is weird. She comes in unannounced to his office and acts just weird enough that he'll want to interrogate her properly, dropping some hints that Garden might know more about Coil than Coil would be comfortable with, and that she's not telling him everything she knows. This causes him to collapse any lifeline timeline he had open to make a new one where he can do his torture business.
Garden walks right in the front door and starts smashing heads, as loudly as possible, making sure everyone's attention is on him, drawing guards away from essential areas to deal with him.
Meanwhile, Grue is securing an escape route, while Bitch raids Coil's supplies for goodies.
Regent slips in, incognito, and ducks into a closet to put on a stolen mercenary uniform so he can move without too much danger or suspicion. He makes it to Coil's office in time to make sure Tats's brains don't end up splattered all over the floor while she closes the deal at a pre-determined time to make sure she gets him in both.
The timeline is not clear on this, but I choose to declare that Echidna is not yet in the basement.
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Spell Count, Seed 4
- Location
- Writeland
For anyone who's interested, here's Garden's spell count as of the end of the latest chapter:
Fire: 12
Blizzard: 11
Thunder: 24
Cure: 9
-All of these are from ordinary draw points around the city of Brockton or left over from New York.
And now the interesting ones:
Sleep: 100
-Regent
Blind: 100
-Grue
Scan: 100
-Tattletale
Bitch has no spells at all; but all of the Undersiders and in fact all capes in general can obtain more spells as they increase their levels.
Fire: 12
Blizzard: 11
Thunder: 24
Cure: 9
-All of these are from ordinary draw points around the city of Brockton or left over from New York.
And now the interesting ones:
Sleep: 100
-Regent
Blind: 100
-Grue
Scan: 100
-Tattletale
Bitch has no spells at all; but all of the Undersiders and in fact all capes in general can obtain more spells as they increase their levels.
Seed 5
- Location
- Writeland
Getting out of Coil's base was a lot easier than getting in. Of course part of me wanted to stick around, maybe even use the place for myself, but it was too risky. Who knew what little goodies he might have left behind, and in any case the commotion would probably have led people to find out where it was before long. So we abandoned it, got out with as much as Bitch's dogs could carry, which turned out to be... a lot.
We were in a secondary safe house, one of the Undersiders, not mine, and Regent had emptied out a whole duffel bag of cash and flopped down into it, making money-angels and giggling to himself. Tempting prospect, but I resisted.
"Ohoho! I hate to admit it "Hero", but you were right. A payday like this is all worth it. No more boss, lots of money, and nothing but free time to spend it!" He giggled to himself. "How much did we get anyway?"
"One million, two hundred thousand." Tattletale answered, washing her hand in the sink. She hadn't actually gotten any blood on it, but I could understand the impulse. I walked over to her, now that we were in the clear, and set my bare hand on her shoulder. She flinched, but then almost went limp with relaxation as I pulled Shiva back from her. "Aahh... Thank you. I didn't realize how cold it was." She said. It wasn't, in fact, very cold.
"You'll survive. So, how did it feel?" I asked.
She flinched a bit.
"Not that." I clarified. "Shiva."
"Oh. Her." She said and took a heavy breath. "You carry that around with you? All the time?"
I nodded. "More or less. It doesn't sit as heavy on me as it would for you. Your compatibility is fairly low; although it's best with Shiva out of any of the three. Did it hurt? Any memory loss?"
She paused for a moment and I could see the wheels turning. "Power causes memory loss with repeated usage... No. Nothing seems out of place. It was a bit overwhelming, that's all. At least until the end. When I tried to... bring her out, it felt like I was being split in half. Before that, it was just so... objective. Even when he had a gun to my head, I didn't feel afraid, because if he shot me, I would die, and that would just be a fact that was true. How do you live like that?" She asked, staring.
"It's not as hard on me. The three sit more lightly in my head than in yours. Shiva's a little chilly, but Ifrit warms her, and Quetzelcoatl livens her up. Before I got Ifrit, it was harder, but I could live with it."
"You "Got" him? There are more."
"A lot more. And anyway, unless I'm actively keeping them junctioned, they mostly just stay asleep. It reduces the impact they have on me." I shrugged. "Now then, unless anybody else has concerns, I'll just take my share and go."
There were several stares and at least one growl.
"Oh don't be like that. After all, I was the one who got stuck in and did most of the heavy lifting, and it was half my plan. The only one who risked more than me was Tattletale, and if I'm right she'll be compensating herself in other ways." I said, wondering how many hidden offshore accounts Coil had squirreled away if he kept more than a million in cash just sitting around.
"Fine." Grue said, heading off any further protest. "Every share is 240k, that okay by you?"
"Make it 250." I drawled. "Unlike you criminals, I actually gotta pay taxes on this shit."
More stares. I didn't budge.
"Fine, take it out of mine." Grue sighed as he started parcelling out stacks of clean, minty fresh bills. We each took a duffel bag, and I stepped to exit first.
"Pleasure doing business with you. If you ever decide to change your black hat for a grey one, I'm sure you can find me. Oh, and Tattletale, if you ever get caught-"
"You killed Coil because he took me hostage and it was the only way to stop him." She said, cracking a real smile for the first time since we'd gotten done with the plan. "You're such a loser. But thanks."
I flipped the hat from my head and held it as I bowed myself out, weighed down with my... marginally not-ill gotten gains? Shit I really was going to have to pay taxes... Maybe I should look into getting a lawyer. After I hide this.
----------------
Emily Piggot, the next morning.
The night had been a typical one for Brockton for the most part; which meant reports of gang violence, drug running, escaped convicts, and assorted and sundry other crimes, most of which thankfully didn't involve a Parahuman, and thus were not her concern, but there were nasty rumblings of a brewing gang war after Lung's run in with a mystery cape had apparently ended in less of an overwhelming victory than Lung was accustomed to, and in order to prove he was still on top of things he'd started making more aggressive moves on Empire 88 territory. But until something actually happened, all she could do was make sure her people were on standby and nurse a migraine.
That was, until the knock on her door.
"Enter." She commanded, pushing reports aside. One of her officers came in; Lawrence, a man she was sad was getting too old for the field.
"Commander." he saluted shortly. "Something strange went on tonight; Brockton police got an anonymous call in for a pick up. A bunch of men in body armor, all strung up together, wrists to ankles, fast asleep. Armor from the same supplier that we get ours from, as it happens."
Her brow furrowed, and she nodded for him to continue.
"Background checks come in, and a lot of them come back with records; some of them even have extradition orders. International gangsters and mercenaries, every one. There was also a single rifle- illegally modified for full automatic fire, and some kind of underbarrel device, which we suspect is tinker tech, with a stenciled note taped to it, reading "Coil's Men: For Evidence."
She rubbed at her temples and sighed. "Have them send the gun here, I'll have Armsmaster look over it. Were these men injured?"
"Superficially. A few bruises and contusions, one had broken ribs, another a concussion from what looks like a pistol whipping, another a broken nose. Medical examiner confirmed, they weren't knocked unconscious, they were literally sleeping. None of them woke up until this morning, and they showed considerable confusion about what had happened to them.
Possibly some kind of gas attack or mind altering power; neither of which boded well. "Did they give any statements?"
"Most of them have been extremely tight lipped. One of them however, mumbled something about a snake in their sleep."
"A snake could refer to Coil, if those are his men. It matches descriptions of reports we've heard; mercenaries armed with tinker tech aren't exactly common, even here in the Bay. If that's the case though, what about Coil himself?"
"Unknown at this time."
"Keep me posted. Whoever did this could be a serious asset, or a serious pain in the ass. Either way, I want to find them and ask them a few questions." She sighed. Either way, it was going to be more work, always more.
--------------
Evening, Max Anders.
"Coil's dead." Meadows said, almost the moment Max stepped through the door in his "Other" uniform, the steel one rather than the silk. "One of our guys found him wrapped up in two garbage bags in the bottom of a garbage can. Bigass hole in his chest."
"You're certain it was him?" Max said, somewhat alarmed. Not that he was overly fond of that upstart, but cape killing was rare, and if there was that kind of cape on the loose in his city, it could spell a lot of trouble for he and his.
"Sure as can be. Tall skinny bastard in a zipped up onesie with a snake on it. Plus someone caught all his guys and left them out to dry last night. Looks like he pissed off the wrong person."
"Or people." Max said thoughtfully as he sat in his throne. "...By the way, why were your men looking into a garbage can?"
"Looking for a place to dump a body." Brad replied simply.
"Ah, of course. Great minds."
-------------
Evening, Kenta.
"I have already made my decision. There will be no conscription. My people's lives are not so cheaply spent." He declared. For once, Bakuda showed enough sense not to argue. Although not enough to simply stay silent.
"Then can I at least-"
"You will furnish Oni Lee, and that is all. And you will more clearly label your creations. If not for his abilities, I would be missing my lieutenant already." He said, cutting her off with a wave of his hand and turning away, dismissing her. She was a potent addition to his power, but her willfulness was beginning to tire him. And when he had bigger concerns to deal with; such as the repayment for his humiliation.
--------------
The Next Day: Taylor.
The Weekend was upon her. Finally, the weekend! And her costume was nearly finished. The going was much smoother now that she had already completed a suit and knew more or less how it was done, and her spiders had the benefit of getting to eat the damaged sections to recoup the loss of protein that had gone into making it the first time. Not to mention, she hadn't had to breed their numbers up from scratch. This time, she was going to reinforce it a bit more, and maybe see about getting some dye for it. Spooky-graveyard grey had never been her first choice for it, she'd just gotten in too big a hurry, and ended up nearly roasting for it.
Remembering Lung made her remember Garden, and then, the Undersiders. She bit her lip, still feeling strange and uncertain about how that had ended up. She decided to follow the training program, and on some advice from Garden, she'd bought a tub of vanilla protein powder that had joined her other secret supplies in her hiding spot. It tasted pretty unpleasant, but it was easy to chug down quickly. She was never going to be the shapely and curvy type, but she figured she could at least put on a little muscle. If Alexandria could make it look good, then so could she. Maybe. A little. And besides that, as nice as an endless swarm of bugs was to have between you and the bad guys, every hero ended up throwing a punch some time.
She was halfway done and sweating like mad when her phone beeped at her, and she paused her count to pick it up.
Moving to a new place. Meet me at 12 on Saturday @ BB Cen. Library- G.
She typed back a quick "OK." and turned the phone off, wiping her brow and taking a few deep breaths, before she dropped back down into her next set of squats, hoping that by then the burning would stop.
---------------
We were in a secondary safe house, one of the Undersiders, not mine, and Regent had emptied out a whole duffel bag of cash and flopped down into it, making money-angels and giggling to himself. Tempting prospect, but I resisted.
"Ohoho! I hate to admit it "Hero", but you were right. A payday like this is all worth it. No more boss, lots of money, and nothing but free time to spend it!" He giggled to himself. "How much did we get anyway?"
"One million, two hundred thousand." Tattletale answered, washing her hand in the sink. She hadn't actually gotten any blood on it, but I could understand the impulse. I walked over to her, now that we were in the clear, and set my bare hand on her shoulder. She flinched, but then almost went limp with relaxation as I pulled Shiva back from her. "Aahh... Thank you. I didn't realize how cold it was." She said. It wasn't, in fact, very cold.
"You'll survive. So, how did it feel?" I asked.
She flinched a bit.
"Not that." I clarified. "Shiva."
"Oh. Her." She said and took a heavy breath. "You carry that around with you? All the time?"
I nodded. "More or less. It doesn't sit as heavy on me as it would for you. Your compatibility is fairly low; although it's best with Shiva out of any of the three. Did it hurt? Any memory loss?"
She paused for a moment and I could see the wheels turning. "Power causes memory loss with repeated usage... No. Nothing seems out of place. It was a bit overwhelming, that's all. At least until the end. When I tried to... bring her out, it felt like I was being split in half. Before that, it was just so... objective. Even when he had a gun to my head, I didn't feel afraid, because if he shot me, I would die, and that would just be a fact that was true. How do you live like that?" She asked, staring.
"It's not as hard on me. The three sit more lightly in my head than in yours. Shiva's a little chilly, but Ifrit warms her, and Quetzelcoatl livens her up. Before I got Ifrit, it was harder, but I could live with it."
"You "Got" him? There are more."
"A lot more. And anyway, unless I'm actively keeping them junctioned, they mostly just stay asleep. It reduces the impact they have on me." I shrugged. "Now then, unless anybody else has concerns, I'll just take my share and go."
There were several stares and at least one growl.
"Oh don't be like that. After all, I was the one who got stuck in and did most of the heavy lifting, and it was half my plan. The only one who risked more than me was Tattletale, and if I'm right she'll be compensating herself in other ways." I said, wondering how many hidden offshore accounts Coil had squirreled away if he kept more than a million in cash just sitting around.
"Fine." Grue said, heading off any further protest. "Every share is 240k, that okay by you?"
"Make it 250." I drawled. "Unlike you criminals, I actually gotta pay taxes on this shit."
More stares. I didn't budge.
"Fine, take it out of mine." Grue sighed as he started parcelling out stacks of clean, minty fresh bills. We each took a duffel bag, and I stepped to exit first.
"Pleasure doing business with you. If you ever decide to change your black hat for a grey one, I'm sure you can find me. Oh, and Tattletale, if you ever get caught-"
"You killed Coil because he took me hostage and it was the only way to stop him." She said, cracking a real smile for the first time since we'd gotten done with the plan. "You're such a loser. But thanks."
I flipped the hat from my head and held it as I bowed myself out, weighed down with my... marginally not-ill gotten gains? Shit I really was going to have to pay taxes... Maybe I should look into getting a lawyer. After I hide this.
----------------
Emily Piggot, the next morning.
The night had been a typical one for Brockton for the most part; which meant reports of gang violence, drug running, escaped convicts, and assorted and sundry other crimes, most of which thankfully didn't involve a Parahuman, and thus were not her concern, but there were nasty rumblings of a brewing gang war after Lung's run in with a mystery cape had apparently ended in less of an overwhelming victory than Lung was accustomed to, and in order to prove he was still on top of things he'd started making more aggressive moves on Empire 88 territory. But until something actually happened, all she could do was make sure her people were on standby and nurse a migraine.
That was, until the knock on her door.
"Enter." She commanded, pushing reports aside. One of her officers came in; Lawrence, a man she was sad was getting too old for the field.
"Commander." he saluted shortly. "Something strange went on tonight; Brockton police got an anonymous call in for a pick up. A bunch of men in body armor, all strung up together, wrists to ankles, fast asleep. Armor from the same supplier that we get ours from, as it happens."
Her brow furrowed, and she nodded for him to continue.
"Background checks come in, and a lot of them come back with records; some of them even have extradition orders. International gangsters and mercenaries, every one. There was also a single rifle- illegally modified for full automatic fire, and some kind of underbarrel device, which we suspect is tinker tech, with a stenciled note taped to it, reading "Coil's Men: For Evidence."
She rubbed at her temples and sighed. "Have them send the gun here, I'll have Armsmaster look over it. Were these men injured?"
"Superficially. A few bruises and contusions, one had broken ribs, another a concussion from what looks like a pistol whipping, another a broken nose. Medical examiner confirmed, they weren't knocked unconscious, they were literally sleeping. None of them woke up until this morning, and they showed considerable confusion about what had happened to them.
Possibly some kind of gas attack or mind altering power; neither of which boded well. "Did they give any statements?"
"Most of them have been extremely tight lipped. One of them however, mumbled something about a snake in their sleep."
"A snake could refer to Coil, if those are his men. It matches descriptions of reports we've heard; mercenaries armed with tinker tech aren't exactly common, even here in the Bay. If that's the case though, what about Coil himself?"
"Unknown at this time."
"Keep me posted. Whoever did this could be a serious asset, or a serious pain in the ass. Either way, I want to find them and ask them a few questions." She sighed. Either way, it was going to be more work, always more.
--------------
Evening, Max Anders.
"Coil's dead." Meadows said, almost the moment Max stepped through the door in his "Other" uniform, the steel one rather than the silk. "One of our guys found him wrapped up in two garbage bags in the bottom of a garbage can. Bigass hole in his chest."
"You're certain it was him?" Max said, somewhat alarmed. Not that he was overly fond of that upstart, but cape killing was rare, and if there was that kind of cape on the loose in his city, it could spell a lot of trouble for he and his.
"Sure as can be. Tall skinny bastard in a zipped up onesie with a snake on it. Plus someone caught all his guys and left them out to dry last night. Looks like he pissed off the wrong person."
"Or people." Max said thoughtfully as he sat in his throne. "...By the way, why were your men looking into a garbage can?"
"Looking for a place to dump a body." Brad replied simply.
"Ah, of course. Great minds."
-------------
Evening, Kenta.
"I have already made my decision. There will be no conscription. My people's lives are not so cheaply spent." He declared. For once, Bakuda showed enough sense not to argue. Although not enough to simply stay silent.
"Then can I at least-"
"You will furnish Oni Lee, and that is all. And you will more clearly label your creations. If not for his abilities, I would be missing my lieutenant already." He said, cutting her off with a wave of his hand and turning away, dismissing her. She was a potent addition to his power, but her willfulness was beginning to tire him. And when he had bigger concerns to deal with; such as the repayment for his humiliation.
--------------
The Next Day: Taylor.
The Weekend was upon her. Finally, the weekend! And her costume was nearly finished. The going was much smoother now that she had already completed a suit and knew more or less how it was done, and her spiders had the benefit of getting to eat the damaged sections to recoup the loss of protein that had gone into making it the first time. Not to mention, she hadn't had to breed their numbers up from scratch. This time, she was going to reinforce it a bit more, and maybe see about getting some dye for it. Spooky-graveyard grey had never been her first choice for it, she'd just gotten in too big a hurry, and ended up nearly roasting for it.
Remembering Lung made her remember Garden, and then, the Undersiders. She bit her lip, still feeling strange and uncertain about how that had ended up. She decided to follow the training program, and on some advice from Garden, she'd bought a tub of vanilla protein powder that had joined her other secret supplies in her hiding spot. It tasted pretty unpleasant, but it was easy to chug down quickly. She was never going to be the shapely and curvy type, but she figured she could at least put on a little muscle. If Alexandria could make it look good, then so could she. Maybe. A little. And besides that, as nice as an endless swarm of bugs was to have between you and the bad guys, every hero ended up throwing a punch some time.
She was halfway done and sweating like mad when her phone beeped at her, and she paused her count to pick it up.
Moving to a new place. Meet me at 12 on Saturday @ BB Cen. Library- G.
She typed back a quick "OK." and turned the phone off, wiping her brow and taking a few deep breaths, before she dropped back down into her next set of squats, hoping that by then the burning would stop.
---------------
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