Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
to fall by
How to Train Your Endbringer
- Thread starter RavensDagger
- Start date
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Mr Fish sounds like a perfectly normal dog to me.
- Location
- North America
Hey, are these pictures a good look for a dog levi?
Omake - The_Grandmage
- Location
- Florida, USA
The man rubbed his face with his hands, wanting it all to just end. Finally, he dropped them to the table, looking across it at the hero who sat across from him. With that serious look on his face like he hadn't just said the stupidest thing in the world. He took refuge in his paper cup of absolutely terrible coffee, bracing himself for what was coming.
"Okay, let me get this straight. A parahuman shows up, having apparently Mastered an Endbringer, probably the entire reason the attack just stopped. She stops a band of villains from hijacking supplies for the camps of survivors of the city. Kaiser attacks her, the man who shoots swords out everywhere and is ridiculously lethal. He gets killed. The rest of the Empire capes and goons are brought into custody, and your suggestion of what to do with the parahuman is. . ." he left the sentence fade away as he looked up into Armsmaster's visor, and that stupid serious look on his stupid beard.
"Arrest her," he said, repeating the offense of being too stupid to lead a rat through a maze, much less a group of government-backed heroes.
"Right," he drawled, drumming the fingers of one hand on the table. "I was brought in to explain exactly why that's a terrible idea. I'm not really sure where to start, so let's begin by you trying to explain exactly what the charges you;d arrest her for are, and we'll move on from there."
The serious look deviated for a moment in a slight frown. It was a pleasant change for a moment before he ruined it by saying "She killed Kaiser. That's murder."
"No, Leviathan killed Kaiser. To protect her, yes, but even if that was her choice it'd be self defense. And even then, reviewing the notes I was given it seems like she gave no order for that. And in case you'd forgotten, the Endbringers have killed a lot of people. We've got memorials up about them. All over the place. We're building one here. Quite frankly, there's probably a question if Kaiser should go on it now that I, thankfully, don't have to answer. Try again."
The beard rustled, deep in thought. The man tormented by the fact he actually seriously thought they should arrest someone who had control of an Endbringer took another drink of terrible coffee. One day, good coffee would return to this city. Probably long before the hero he was talking to got the point of their conversation. And about a decade after he himself beat his own brain in with the palm of his hand from trying to explain it.
"Leviathan is dangerous. We can't let a cape who can control it run around free," Armsmaster finally said, laying out what was probably the foundation of his logic.
Sensing an opportunity, the man struck. "So, what you're telling me is the young, shy, timid seeming girl in a ruined city, probably alone, lost, hungry, without shelter, basically at the lowest point she's probably ever been at and is missing a good chunk of the base of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs should be arrested. The same one who, for some reason, is in control of one of the three greatest engines of death and destruction in the world and decided to use it to both stop it from attacking the city and trying to stop the people from being more put upon by the gangs? So what you want is to take someone who hasn't thought to use their giant weapon of mass destruction to just take what they want, and tell them society is now their enemy, and basically force them into villainhood when they can just claim large chunks of territory and can kill massive numbers of heroes who try and stop her? Knowing that most villains will laugh, and not help, because they'd be happy to cede territory to her to avoid Endbringers themselves? You want to throw dozens of lives, and what infrastructure this city has down the drain in an attempt to arrest someone who if they decide to resist arrest can probably decimate the Eastern Seaboard. Because she's dangerous?"
He looked around, finding himself standing. He sat back down, making noise as he brought the chair back up to the table. He picked up his coffee, and downed the last of it. He sighed, and looked across at the hero, who seemed to be in shock. He waited, and as soon as the Tinker tried to speak, spoke over him, to hammer home his point. "That's the stupidest, most costly thing I've ever heard of. That's a plan so terrible I'm having difficulty believing a grown man suggested it. Let me explain to you the basis for our laws. Our laws are all basically built on the idea of the social contract. We'll all try and live together as best we can because working together gets better results than having to do everything ourselves. When villains showed up basically flaunting the laws because most people couldn't stop them, the government backed heroes because it created a balance, it upheld the social contract. Now along comes someone who can control an Endbringer, maybe more."
He leaned forward, crumbling the paper cup that one held coffee into a ball. "Nothing is balanced anymore. If she becomes a hero, villains will go out of their way to surrender when they hear she's coming. If she becomes a villain, the government will give her whatever she wants. They'll make it legal. They will go out of their way to decry anyone who stands against her as villains and paint her in the best possible light because there are only three options here: We go back to how Endbringer attacks usually work, she stops the attacks, or she increases the attacks."
He sat back. "Let me tell you the worst kept secret in the world. The Endbringers? They're destroying the world. The economy can't support this. We lose too many parahumans, too many veteran heroes and qualified fighters every attack. If she can stop it? We'll put a crown on her head and hold parades in her honor. She'd have to eat babies to make anyone even bat at eyelid at her behavior. So shut up about arresting her, because no jury in the world would convict her. The only thing you'll do is rebrand yourself as a villain."
He slumped in his chair, and removed his rectangle-framed glasses. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out a long-suffering sigh.
"Quite frankly if they do put a crown on her it'll make it easier to swing the Queen Administrator branding. I'm not sure whether to try and push against it for something more friendly to the public, if that's even possible, or to play the Noblesse oblige angle to the hilt and see how much extra funding gets thrown our way for it."
RavensDagger
Officially Infracted Speceist since 2019!
- Location
- Someplace Cold, Canada
This is awesome! I hope you don't mind if I threadmark it?
Anyway, I especially like this last bit (and I know Armsmaster was a bit daft this last chapter, but I was playing it for laughs. My humour is hit and miss at best). The whole Noblesse Oblige idea is pretty good. I'll have to do something with that, turn Queen Administrator into an actual Queen.
- Location
- Florida, USA
Heck yeah, do as you will. Glad you think it's worth threadmarking.
I've just been thinking of the two best bits of funny there, the idea that Armsmaster's default is to try and arrest the girl with the pet Endbringer, and the idea that Image's problem with her will be her name. There are probably several places willing to throw a crown on her to avoid turning into a new Japan. And that's with just the one. If she collects more?
I'm just wondering what Coil plans. Because if I were him I'd be planning on getting on her good side. That's a power you can put on the Throne and comfortably help run the world from a Grand Vizier position. Whereas making a power play, well, that could end. . . poorly.
I've just been thinking of the two best bits of funny there, the idea that Armsmaster's default is to try and arrest the girl with the pet Endbringer, and the idea that Image's problem with her will be her name. There are probably several places willing to throw a crown on her to avoid turning into a new Japan. And that's with just the one. If she collects more?
I'm just wondering what Coil plans. Because if I were him I'd be planning on getting on her good side. That's a power you can put on the Throne and comfortably help run the world from a Grand Vizier position. Whereas making a power play, well, that could end. . . poorly.
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- Location
- USA
No offense, but this Taylor couldn't conquer a sandbox. No powers, seeing Leviathan face to face, and presumably months of extra bullying has clearly knocked something loose in her head in just the right way that when she went off the deep end she popped back up into her pre canon chatterbox mode.
While this is a good thing for Bet since it means that using Leci for evil will never cross her mind, it also means that one of the three biggest guns on the planet is in the hands of what is effectively a particularly selfless 12 year old.
We Got FISH'd!?!
Good thing this make-shift shelter isn't an abandon NYPD police station or former detectives Yemana, Levitt and Wojciehowicz will make inquiries and stare at Fish.... :naughty
_OYemana " He's very VERY Tall..."
Levitt " Or... we are incredible short, like me. "
Wojo " Hey, man, can you watch the game up there outside Yankee Stadium ?? "
Yemana & Levitt " WOJO?! "
Wojo " Huh, what? Perhaps Mr. Fish over here is our Mr. Fish from time gone bye, guys."
Taylor " Really? " -stares at Mr. 'Fish'
Fish (2 of 20) " .... no. " -stares back at Wojo
--@--
As for young Taylor's state of being...
Taylor might still be in shock or shell-shock due to the Endbringer hitting her hometown and she in the middle of the assault/attack before she stop it by her verbal gesture statement...
She is also probably wondering where her dad is and if he is safe or not and whether her home is still standing....
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Wrin
Not an Owl
- Location
- United States
I didn't get the first reference, but I understand and agree with that last bit. Unless she saw her home destroyed off screen and Danny killed, re-connecting will probably be her next priority after immediate survival.
- Location
- East of Eden
This is probably my favorite subsection of Worm fan fiction. I think Friendbringer! stories are the best, I've yet to find one that's disappointed me (content wise, update schedules are another thing :lol)
The First one was in reference to Ms. Taylor calling the EndBringer as Mr. Fish.
The series that had a Mr. Fish was Barney Miller, and Mr. Fish was a Detective working for the NYPD in the 1970s...
- Location
- USA
She escaped certain death and is really really happy, possibly ecstatic, she didn't die. That might be enough to keep her in a positive frame of mind for a while and revert back to how she was when she was previously a happy person. Basically who she was before she got shat on by the world. Even at 16ish she likely hasn't had much of a change in basic morality since she was 12 and hasn't gone through the trials that turned her into a villain as in canon. Even in canon she didn't retaliate against her tormentors when she had plenty of ways to do it without being outed. She will likely get over her survival high as real world issues start hitting her again.
In Which Alexandria is Confused and Taylor Take her Endbringer Out for Walkies
RavensDagger
Officially Infracted Speceist since 2019!
- Location
- Someplace Cold, Canada
In Which Alexandria is Confused and Taylor Takes her Endbringer Out for Walkies
Rebecca Costa-Brown was a woman used to being blindsided. Every day, new cases passed her desk, either at the Protectorate Headquarters or in her little office within the confines of a Cauldron base. She could remember, in excruciating detail, the first battle against Behemoth, the first appearance of Leviathan and the day the Simurgh tore apart Lausanne.
There was never, truly, a sense that she had 'seen it all.' Sure, she was one of the strongest capes out there, and yes, as Chief Director of the PRT she had seen more than most, but she knew to keep herself grounded and expect the worse.
She pressed a hand to her right cheek, eyes unfocused on the screen before her. The call from Director Piggot--over an emergency line, no less--had been worrying enough. The report she was now reading didn't make things much better.
Taking a deep breath, she refocused and, with a few clicks, cleared her appointments for the rest of the evening and the next morning. She picked up her office phone and pressed a few keys, turning on a few Tinkertech anti-spyware programs. "Legend I need you in my office, as soon as you can get here," she said the moment the line was picked up.
"I'll be there in two," Legend replied, his voice unusually serious. He had picked up on her own tone.
Hanging up, Rebecca walked over to the window taking up half her office's wall and worked it open. Just in time, as a prismatic streak was cutting through Los Angeles skyline. When the hero slipped into her room, she shut the window and turned to him.
"What's wrong, Rebecca?" he asked, his brow knit in worry.
Rebecca opened her mouth to speak, then paused. "I'm not sure where to start, so I guess I'll start from the beginning. Did you notice anything strange during yesterday's battle?"
Legend seemed to consider this for a moment. "It was pretty standard. We got there earlier than usual, had time to set things up. And the city came out of it better than I had hoped or expected. Leviathan left at some point but no one was around to see it happen, at least, no one I spoke to."
Rebecca nodded. "That's because he never left the city." She talked past his surprised expression. "I received a report from Director Piggot from Brockton Bay, two of her capes ran into a young woman who was, and I quote' being followed by Leviathan as though it was her pet poodle.' That's from Assault who was on the scene."
"And it's real?" he asked.
"From what I've gathered, yes. She claims that she's not interested in joining the Wards, but she acted to stop an assault on a supply convoy by the Empire Eighty Eight. Legend, this girl is walking around free with an Endbringer at her beck and call."
He eyed her and she knew what he was going to say next. "'Becca, if she's got any sort of heroic inclination, we can't just... get rid of her. This is an opportunity."
"I know. Trust me, I know. We need this girl on our side. I don't know if her control extends to the others or not, but even if it doesn't, we can't let her just... wander around with that kind of firepower." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm going to send word to evacuate the city, but for them to do it quietly."
"I want to meet her," he said.
Rebecca paused. On the one hand, he was a member of the Triumvirate. If anyone could get away from a hairy situation it would be him. And he was incredibly charismatic. Chances were good that if he opened a dialogue with this Queen Administrator girl, he would get her talking, and maybe convince her to join up where they could better control her. On the other hand, it was a risk. But then, it was no more dangerous that being deployed to any other Endbringer battle.
"Battery from the Protectorate ENE convinced her to show up tomorrow to talk with the PRT. The girl probably wants to sign up as an independent."
"And we don't want that?" he asked.
Rebecca made a so-so gesture. "We'd rather have her onboard than not. This isn't the kind of thing you can ignore, and we need to keep her safe from the Fallen, the Slaughterhouse Nine or the Yàngbǎn whatever she chooses. Contessa can probably help with that. But I would much rather she be under our thumb."
"'Becca, I'm not going to force a kid to join us. If she wants to be independent then we can help her without taking away her freedom. If we're kind to her she'll probably join us of her own free will."
The chief director shifted on the spot. "Fine, try it your way. If anything it will at least appease her and show that we're taking things seriously." She leaned back onto her desk. "But do be careful."
Legend gave her one of his signature smiles. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine."
***
"And this, it Mr. Fish!" Taylor said. She was in an excellent mood. Yeah, sure, she had to help at the dog shelter, but it wasn't any worse than doing chores at home and she got to play with the dogs a bit. She just hoped that Leviathan wasn't getting jealous of all the attention she was paying to the dogs.
Rachel took in the alleyway where the blue light of a rising sun was only just bright enough to highlight the shadows and hide the worse of the debris lining the walls. Then she looked up at the tallest shadow, at the four-eyed creature standing thirty feet tall and whose arms had descended onto either side of Taylor in an almost protective fashion.
"That's not a dog."
"Well, no, but he acts like a dog... sometimes." Taylor hugged Leviathan's leg and smiled up at the city-killing monster. "So, uh, you said that you wanted to go on patrol with your dogs. Could I bring Mr. Fish along? See, we're trying to be heroes too."
Rachel looked down from the Endbringer and stared at Taylor. "Will he hurt my dogs?"
"No! Well, not unless they try to hurt me."
She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Does he need a leash?"
"Do you have one that's big enough?" Taylor asked back a little dubiously. Leviathan's neck was rather on the thick side.
"Yeah." With that, Rachel turned and made her way back towards the dog shelter, her three constant companions at her heels though they were sneaking looks at Leviathan.
The shelter was only just down the block from where Leviathan was hiding, so Taylor didn't have far to go to find her Endbringer. With a few quick motions, she put her bandanna back on and pulled down her hoodie, noting as she did that her clothes were getting a little scruffy.
"Come on!" she called over her shoulder.
{Understood.} Leviathan followed after her, his footsteps making the ground tremble.
Taylor, no, the intrepid heroine Queen Administrator and her plucky sidekick Unit Two, waited in front of the shelter and ignored the panicked screams from just down the road. Yes, Unit Two did look rather scary, but there wasn't much she could do about that... yet.
Rachel came out with a mask held in one hand and a length of chain dangling from the other. "Here," she said as she passed Taylor the chain and began to affix her mask. "We'll go around this block, then head west."
"Cool. Hey, do you think it'd be alright if we take something of a detour? I, uh, want to check on something."
"'S long as it don't take too long." Rachel tapped her dogs on their heads. Taylor watched, fascinated, as the dogs started to grow bigger and taller and boney spikes tore out of their bodies. In a few short minutes the dogs were the size of minivans and Rachel was climbing up the side of the biggest of them.
"Wait, you're going to ride on your patrol?" Taylor asked. She couldn't see the look Rachel was giving her on account of the mask, but it was easy to guess. "Uh, okay, give me a minute."
Turning to Leviathan she gestured at the Endbringer, and when that failed to do anything tried speaking. "Hey, can you dip your head down a bit?"
{Complying.} he said as he lowered his head.
Giving him a smile in gratitude, Taylor looped the chain around his neck, then fastened it into a rough knot. "Hey, do you think I could ride on your shoulder?" she asked.
{Affirmative.}
"Awesome!" Taking a bit of a running leap, Taylor grabbed onto the slick fish-like skin along Leviathan's back and pulled herself up so that she was perched on his shoulder, then she grabbed onto the chain still wrapped around his neck and used it as a handhold. "Okay, okay, now stand up, but slowly."
{Understood.} Gently, Leviathan stood up to his full height and Taylor, perched on his shoulder and looking at the ground far below, giggled in a mixture of joy and vertigo. "Hey, if I fall, you'll catch me, right?"
{Additional Secondary Directive: Prevent Host-Queen_Administrator from suffering from kinetic damage in case of a fall. Directive Accepted.}
"Okay Rachel, lead the way!" she called out to her new buddy.
Rachel looked nonplussed but soldiered on with aplomb. "This way."
The first few steps were a little jarring, but some whispered instructions had Leviathan even out his pace so that he was slinking forwards like a predator stalking prey, rather than a giant in a fragile world. It also made Taylor realize something really important. "I need a sword."
{New Secondary Directive: Acquire 'Sword?'}
"Hrm, no, no, I'll find one on my own. You know, it's almost too bad that you splattered Kaiser, I bet he could make awesome swords. Ohh, and we should get you a costume. Or at least a hat!"
{New Secondary Directive: Acquire 'Hat?'}
"Yes. But later."
The patrol route that Rachel lead Taylor down was fairly simple. First, they cut out towards the Boardwalk where looters and scavengers were even now breaking into shops. Most of these fled as soon saw they saw Rachel's huge dogs. The rest ran screaming when they saw Taylor and Mr. Fish. It made her feel all warm inside, to know that she was helping protect the city, and only a couple of days since deciding to become a cape!
Then, with a few grunted cues, Rachel led her deeper into the city into what was once Empire territory, but was now mostly a wrecked landscape. There were more normal people here, and they tended to shy away from the pair of capes but didn't always run screaming. A few even took out phones to take pictures and film their passing.
Taylor waved shyly at a few of them, but quickly found herself pressing into Leviathan's side to avoid the gazes of their cameras. "Are we going to circle back to the shelter now?" she asked.
"Mmm, not yet. Gonna go see one of my... friends first."
"Okay, cool. And, um, the place I wanted to go was that way. It's not too far, especially since we're moving pretty fast."
Rachel looked in the direction Taylor was pointing. "We could go by rooftop."
"Oh, that sounds so cool!"
"Later," she said before turning her attention back to where her pack was walking. They crossed the entrance to another shelter, this one taking up an entire church and a few community buildings as well as a large parking area that hadn't been too badly hit by the flooding, then Rachel led them off the main roads and through a winding path made up entirely of alleyways and passages through broken fences.
She slowed to a stop, whistling so that her other dogs did the same, just as they were nearing the docks. "It's there," she said, pointing towards a two story building that didn't seem to have been hit too hard by the attack. "Stay here."
There were maybe a dozen people hanging around the entrance from every ethnic group and age, which as far as Taylor knew was a good sign. A desk sat just outside, manned by a gruff older man with a military bearing and a pretty blonde girl.
"Lisa!" Rachel called out as she brought her dogs a little closer.
The blonde looked up and grinned at Rachel. "Heya Bitch, doing your rounds, I see," she said before turning to whisper something to the man next to her. "I'll be with you in a minute." She raced into the shelter.
Taylor, who was until then sneaking a peak around the corner, pulled back on Leviathan's leash and pointed off towards the side. "There," she said and the lumbering Endbringer shifted over to where she had pointed.
This day had been getting better and better. Hanging out with Rachel wasn't quite fun, but she was a nice enough girl and didn't pry much. Taylor wasn't sure if she could trust her yet not after... She shook her head. Anyway, Rachel seemed the same way, which, if anything, made her feel much better about herself. And later they would go by her house, maybe dad... but she'd better not think about that either.
"So, Leviathan, do you know any tricks?"
{Definition Request: 'Tricks.'}
"You know, like, uh, shake hands, play dead, stuff like that."
{Unit-02 capabilities include: Psychological Warfare, Macro Hydrokinesis, Flow Dynamics Manipulation, Ranged Sensing--}
"No, no, none of those are useful," Taylor said with a shake of her head. "I meant stuff you can do, you know, like, um, maybe you could use your Hydrokinesis for fishing, or something."
{Correction Understood. Unit-02 capabilities include: Mass Manipulation of Marine Biology, Promoting Conflict, Genocide, Temperature Manipulation, Weather Manipulation, Landscaping--}
"Oh, oh, could you make ice cream?"
Leviathan paused. That wasn't to say that he had been moving much, but his arms did sway a little and his head was always moving, now he froze on the spot. Half a minute later the Endbringer started moving again. {Affirmative.}
Taylor's grin was vicious. "Perfect. Now, I know people think you're scary, but I'm sure we could go and grab some ingredients and make some killer ice cream, then we can give it to all the kids in the shelters. Maybe start a mini-water park with your hydrokinesis? Yeah, I've got this PR stuff in the bag. Endbringer? Hah, more like... Ice-Cream-Bringer... we can work on that one."
"Taylor," came Rachel's voice from around the corner. "Lisa wants to talk at you."
Rachel and her friend, Lisa, came around the corner. The blonde was rolling her eyes at her friend's phrasing, a smug grin on her face. Then she actually looked ahead of her and promptly twitched so hard that she almost landed on her face.
Two wide eyes stared up at Leviathan, then raced up to the girl sitting on his shoulder. "Hi! You must be Lisa. Rachel... well, actually she didn't say anything about you, but that means she didn't say anything bad, right? I'm not very good at introductions am I?" she said. Then, in what might have been a suicidal move for a non-Brute, she shoved herself off the Endbringer and fell towards the ground.
Just a few feet before crashing to the pavement, a tendril of swirling water wrapped around her waist and gently caught her before lowering down to the ground and whipping back from whence it came. She extended a hand towards Lisa. "I'm Taylor, or Queen Administrator in costume. Pleased to meetcha!"
Lisa fainted.
So, no chapter tomorrow on account of it being Thursday and that's when I post my weekly chapter of Glitch.
Oh, and there shouldn't be as much, or any, time skip in the next chapter. It'll take off where this one ended. It was just getting to be a on the longer side and this was a good place to snip it. It's really hard to get the tone right in this bit. Taylor's clearly suffering from something (PTSD? Depression? Shock?), but is trying to see the world as bright and cheerful even though it's... well, it's Brockton Bay. It doesn't help that her thought process is so obviously off. In fact, she's pretty similar to Bitch in that one aspect.
Rebecca Costa-Brown was a woman used to being blindsided. Every day, new cases passed her desk, either at the Protectorate Headquarters or in her little office within the confines of a Cauldron base. She could remember, in excruciating detail, the first battle against Behemoth, the first appearance of Leviathan and the day the Simurgh tore apart Lausanne.
There was never, truly, a sense that she had 'seen it all.' Sure, she was one of the strongest capes out there, and yes, as Chief Director of the PRT she had seen more than most, but she knew to keep herself grounded and expect the worse.
She pressed a hand to her right cheek, eyes unfocused on the screen before her. The call from Director Piggot--over an emergency line, no less--had been worrying enough. The report she was now reading didn't make things much better.
Taking a deep breath, she refocused and, with a few clicks, cleared her appointments for the rest of the evening and the next morning. She picked up her office phone and pressed a few keys, turning on a few Tinkertech anti-spyware programs. "Legend I need you in my office, as soon as you can get here," she said the moment the line was picked up.
"I'll be there in two," Legend replied, his voice unusually serious. He had picked up on her own tone.
Hanging up, Rebecca walked over to the window taking up half her office's wall and worked it open. Just in time, as a prismatic streak was cutting through Los Angeles skyline. When the hero slipped into her room, she shut the window and turned to him.
"What's wrong, Rebecca?" he asked, his brow knit in worry.
Rebecca opened her mouth to speak, then paused. "I'm not sure where to start, so I guess I'll start from the beginning. Did you notice anything strange during yesterday's battle?"
Legend seemed to consider this for a moment. "It was pretty standard. We got there earlier than usual, had time to set things up. And the city came out of it better than I had hoped or expected. Leviathan left at some point but no one was around to see it happen, at least, no one I spoke to."
Rebecca nodded. "That's because he never left the city." She talked past his surprised expression. "I received a report from Director Piggot from Brockton Bay, two of her capes ran into a young woman who was, and I quote' being followed by Leviathan as though it was her pet poodle.' That's from Assault who was on the scene."
"And it's real?" he asked.
"From what I've gathered, yes. She claims that she's not interested in joining the Wards, but she acted to stop an assault on a supply convoy by the Empire Eighty Eight. Legend, this girl is walking around free with an Endbringer at her beck and call."
He eyed her and she knew what he was going to say next. "'Becca, if she's got any sort of heroic inclination, we can't just... get rid of her. This is an opportunity."
"I know. Trust me, I know. We need this girl on our side. I don't know if her control extends to the others or not, but even if it doesn't, we can't let her just... wander around with that kind of firepower." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm going to send word to evacuate the city, but for them to do it quietly."
"I want to meet her," he said.
Rebecca paused. On the one hand, he was a member of the Triumvirate. If anyone could get away from a hairy situation it would be him. And he was incredibly charismatic. Chances were good that if he opened a dialogue with this Queen Administrator girl, he would get her talking, and maybe convince her to join up where they could better control her. On the other hand, it was a risk. But then, it was no more dangerous that being deployed to any other Endbringer battle.
"Battery from the Protectorate ENE convinced her to show up tomorrow to talk with the PRT. The girl probably wants to sign up as an independent."
"And we don't want that?" he asked.
Rebecca made a so-so gesture. "We'd rather have her onboard than not. This isn't the kind of thing you can ignore, and we need to keep her safe from the Fallen, the Slaughterhouse Nine or the Yàngbǎn whatever she chooses. Contessa can probably help with that. But I would much rather she be under our thumb."
"'Becca, I'm not going to force a kid to join us. If she wants to be independent then we can help her without taking away her freedom. If we're kind to her she'll probably join us of her own free will."
The chief director shifted on the spot. "Fine, try it your way. If anything it will at least appease her and show that we're taking things seriously." She leaned back onto her desk. "But do be careful."
Legend gave her one of his signature smiles. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine."
***
"And this, it Mr. Fish!" Taylor said. She was in an excellent mood. Yeah, sure, she had to help at the dog shelter, but it wasn't any worse than doing chores at home and she got to play with the dogs a bit. She just hoped that Leviathan wasn't getting jealous of all the attention she was paying to the dogs.
Rachel took in the alleyway where the blue light of a rising sun was only just bright enough to highlight the shadows and hide the worse of the debris lining the walls. Then she looked up at the tallest shadow, at the four-eyed creature standing thirty feet tall and whose arms had descended onto either side of Taylor in an almost protective fashion.
"That's not a dog."
"Well, no, but he acts like a dog... sometimes." Taylor hugged Leviathan's leg and smiled up at the city-killing monster. "So, uh, you said that you wanted to go on patrol with your dogs. Could I bring Mr. Fish along? See, we're trying to be heroes too."
Rachel looked down from the Endbringer and stared at Taylor. "Will he hurt my dogs?"
"No! Well, not unless they try to hurt me."
She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Does he need a leash?"
"Do you have one that's big enough?" Taylor asked back a little dubiously. Leviathan's neck was rather on the thick side.
"Yeah." With that, Rachel turned and made her way back towards the dog shelter, her three constant companions at her heels though they were sneaking looks at Leviathan.
The shelter was only just down the block from where Leviathan was hiding, so Taylor didn't have far to go to find her Endbringer. With a few quick motions, she put her bandanna back on and pulled down her hoodie, noting as she did that her clothes were getting a little scruffy.
"Come on!" she called over her shoulder.
{Understood.} Leviathan followed after her, his footsteps making the ground tremble.
Taylor, no, the intrepid heroine Queen Administrator and her plucky sidekick Unit Two, waited in front of the shelter and ignored the panicked screams from just down the road. Yes, Unit Two did look rather scary, but there wasn't much she could do about that... yet.
Rachel came out with a mask held in one hand and a length of chain dangling from the other. "Here," she said as she passed Taylor the chain and began to affix her mask. "We'll go around this block, then head west."
"Cool. Hey, do you think it'd be alright if we take something of a detour? I, uh, want to check on something."
"'S long as it don't take too long." Rachel tapped her dogs on their heads. Taylor watched, fascinated, as the dogs started to grow bigger and taller and boney spikes tore out of their bodies. In a few short minutes the dogs were the size of minivans and Rachel was climbing up the side of the biggest of them.
"Wait, you're going to ride on your patrol?" Taylor asked. She couldn't see the look Rachel was giving her on account of the mask, but it was easy to guess. "Uh, okay, give me a minute."
Turning to Leviathan she gestured at the Endbringer, and when that failed to do anything tried speaking. "Hey, can you dip your head down a bit?"
{Complying.} he said as he lowered his head.
Giving him a smile in gratitude, Taylor looped the chain around his neck, then fastened it into a rough knot. "Hey, do you think I could ride on your shoulder?" she asked.
{Affirmative.}
"Awesome!" Taking a bit of a running leap, Taylor grabbed onto the slick fish-like skin along Leviathan's back and pulled herself up so that she was perched on his shoulder, then she grabbed onto the chain still wrapped around his neck and used it as a handhold. "Okay, okay, now stand up, but slowly."
{Understood.} Gently, Leviathan stood up to his full height and Taylor, perched on his shoulder and looking at the ground far below, giggled in a mixture of joy and vertigo. "Hey, if I fall, you'll catch me, right?"
{Additional Secondary Directive: Prevent Host-Queen_Administrator from suffering from kinetic damage in case of a fall. Directive Accepted.}
"Okay Rachel, lead the way!" she called out to her new buddy.
Rachel looked nonplussed but soldiered on with aplomb. "This way."
The first few steps were a little jarring, but some whispered instructions had Leviathan even out his pace so that he was slinking forwards like a predator stalking prey, rather than a giant in a fragile world. It also made Taylor realize something really important. "I need a sword."
{New Secondary Directive: Acquire 'Sword?'}
"Hrm, no, no, I'll find one on my own. You know, it's almost too bad that you splattered Kaiser, I bet he could make awesome swords. Ohh, and we should get you a costume. Or at least a hat!"
{New Secondary Directive: Acquire 'Hat?'}
"Yes. But later."
The patrol route that Rachel lead Taylor down was fairly simple. First, they cut out towards the Boardwalk where looters and scavengers were even now breaking into shops. Most of these fled as soon saw they saw Rachel's huge dogs. The rest ran screaming when they saw Taylor and Mr. Fish. It made her feel all warm inside, to know that she was helping protect the city, and only a couple of days since deciding to become a cape!
Then, with a few grunted cues, Rachel led her deeper into the city into what was once Empire territory, but was now mostly a wrecked landscape. There were more normal people here, and they tended to shy away from the pair of capes but didn't always run screaming. A few even took out phones to take pictures and film their passing.
Taylor waved shyly at a few of them, but quickly found herself pressing into Leviathan's side to avoid the gazes of their cameras. "Are we going to circle back to the shelter now?" she asked.
"Mmm, not yet. Gonna go see one of my... friends first."
"Okay, cool. And, um, the place I wanted to go was that way. It's not too far, especially since we're moving pretty fast."
Rachel looked in the direction Taylor was pointing. "We could go by rooftop."
"Oh, that sounds so cool!"
"Later," she said before turning her attention back to where her pack was walking. They crossed the entrance to another shelter, this one taking up an entire church and a few community buildings as well as a large parking area that hadn't been too badly hit by the flooding, then Rachel led them off the main roads and through a winding path made up entirely of alleyways and passages through broken fences.
She slowed to a stop, whistling so that her other dogs did the same, just as they were nearing the docks. "It's there," she said, pointing towards a two story building that didn't seem to have been hit too hard by the attack. "Stay here."
There were maybe a dozen people hanging around the entrance from every ethnic group and age, which as far as Taylor knew was a good sign. A desk sat just outside, manned by a gruff older man with a military bearing and a pretty blonde girl.
"Lisa!" Rachel called out as she brought her dogs a little closer.
The blonde looked up and grinned at Rachel. "Heya Bitch, doing your rounds, I see," she said before turning to whisper something to the man next to her. "I'll be with you in a minute." She raced into the shelter.
Taylor, who was until then sneaking a peak around the corner, pulled back on Leviathan's leash and pointed off towards the side. "There," she said and the lumbering Endbringer shifted over to where she had pointed.
This day had been getting better and better. Hanging out with Rachel wasn't quite fun, but she was a nice enough girl and didn't pry much. Taylor wasn't sure if she could trust her yet not after... She shook her head. Anyway, Rachel seemed the same way, which, if anything, made her feel much better about herself. And later they would go by her house, maybe dad... but she'd better not think about that either.
"So, Leviathan, do you know any tricks?"
{Definition Request: 'Tricks.'}
"You know, like, uh, shake hands, play dead, stuff like that."
{Unit-02 capabilities include: Psychological Warfare, Macro Hydrokinesis, Flow Dynamics Manipulation, Ranged Sensing--}
"No, no, none of those are useful," Taylor said with a shake of her head. "I meant stuff you can do, you know, like, um, maybe you could use your Hydrokinesis for fishing, or something."
{Correction Understood. Unit-02 capabilities include: Mass Manipulation of Marine Biology, Promoting Conflict, Genocide, Temperature Manipulation, Weather Manipulation, Landscaping--}
"Oh, oh, could you make ice cream?"
Leviathan paused. That wasn't to say that he had been moving much, but his arms did sway a little and his head was always moving, now he froze on the spot. Half a minute later the Endbringer started moving again. {Affirmative.}
Taylor's grin was vicious. "Perfect. Now, I know people think you're scary, but I'm sure we could go and grab some ingredients and make some killer ice cream, then we can give it to all the kids in the shelters. Maybe start a mini-water park with your hydrokinesis? Yeah, I've got this PR stuff in the bag. Endbringer? Hah, more like... Ice-Cream-Bringer... we can work on that one."
"Taylor," came Rachel's voice from around the corner. "Lisa wants to talk at you."
Rachel and her friend, Lisa, came around the corner. The blonde was rolling her eyes at her friend's phrasing, a smug grin on her face. Then she actually looked ahead of her and promptly twitched so hard that she almost landed on her face.
Two wide eyes stared up at Leviathan, then raced up to the girl sitting on his shoulder. "Hi! You must be Lisa. Rachel... well, actually she didn't say anything about you, but that means she didn't say anything bad, right? I'm not very good at introductions am I?" she said. Then, in what might have been a suicidal move for a non-Brute, she shoved herself off the Endbringer and fell towards the ground.
Just a few feet before crashing to the pavement, a tendril of swirling water wrapped around her waist and gently caught her before lowering down to the ground and whipping back from whence it came. She extended a hand towards Lisa. "I'm Taylor, or Queen Administrator in costume. Pleased to meetcha!"
Lisa fainted.
-End Part the Fourth-
So, no chapter tomorrow on account of it being Thursday and that's when I post my weekly chapter of Glitch.
Oh, and there shouldn't be as much, or any, time skip in the next chapter. It'll take off where this one ended. It was just getting to be a on the longer side and this was a good place to snip it. It's really hard to get the tone right in this bit. Taylor's clearly suffering from something (PTSD? Depression? Shock?), but is trying to see the world as bright and cheerful even though it's... well, it's Brockton Bay. It doesn't help that her thought process is so obviously off. In fact, she's pretty similar to Bitch in that one aspect.
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- Location
- North America
I wonder did she get the memo that Levi may go back to killing like normal if something happens to Taylor?
Lisa's shard/agent/passenger or whatever you are calling them is blue screening, isn't it?
- Location
- USA
No. So now a certain someone will probably do it. Whether it's an idiot or a hardcore kyushu surviver...*shrugs.
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
- Location
- USA
Mr fish needs a hat. All the hats.
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- Location
- Canada
Taylor, are you actually retarded? You just told him to make lethal ice cream.
Enjoy the piles of dead kids you dumbass (who doesn't have the brains to figure out that going with the Protectorate is more liekly to net you food when you ask for it than trying to go back to a shelter).
Look I know canon Taylor was less than bright but unless this is "still half thinking this is a funny dream" level of zoned out, I really don't see her being quite this bad.
SneakyDevil
(Verified Devil's Advocate)
- Location
- Universe A-94
I can see it now
QA: Oh no! Host is going to die!
Points metaphorical finger to metaphorical head
QA: But Unit 02 can't kill Host if Host controls Unit 02! I'm HALPING!
QA: ...oh better make some adjustments to make sure Host has no problems being near and using Unit 02.
Metaphoical onomatopeia for a very physical breakage in the brain.
QA: .... Oops.
QA: Oh no! Host is going to die!
Points metaphorical finger to metaphorical head
QA: But Unit 02 can't kill Host if Host controls Unit 02! I'm HALPING!
QA: ...oh better make some adjustments to make sure Host has no problems being near and using Unit 02.
Metaphoical onomatopeia for a very physical breakage in the brain.
QA: .... Oops.
- Location
- Florida, USA
So, I had a thought in my head after that last bit of writing, and it wouldn't go away. Worst yet, it's been growing and festering in the back of my mind.
And with this, it has gained force. I regret everything that's about to happen.
Omake: QUEEN Administrator, Part 1 (Ominous Foreshadowing): NERVous Meetings
Legend blinked at the young girl in front of him. And looked up at the poorly disguised Endbringer behind her. "Now, I can understand why you might be worried about. . . Unit Two. But I can assure you we've no interest in hurting someone who wants to side with the heroes. I understand there have been some. . . issues in the past, but the Protectorate has been very willing to work with reforming villains in the past. And one of the biggest goals is ending the loss of lives due to Endbringer attacks. And if working with Unit Two will end Leviathan attacks, it's a good thing overall, yes?"
He smiled at the girl, who held at her soiled hoodie and twisted it, thinking hard about his answers. "So you don't want to cut him up to try and figure out how to stop the others?"
Legend stepped forward, and smiled over at the Endbringer that was standing guard over this teenager. His own heart thrummed with worry. Everything about this was wrong. Her was a young girl worried about them taking away an Endbringer. How little could she have had before the attack to be thins worried about losing something they'd been trying for years to destroy and had absolutely nothing to show for it besides memorials to the dead? Still, they could get her help. And with her help, they could possibly save the world. He turned his smile back to her, letting himself fill up with the hope he might be able to help this poor soul. She had a pure heart. And the fact it hadn't broken, when so much else of hers had, spoke to the type of Hero she would be.
"Queen Administrator. I can say without a doubt that no one would try and harm Unit Two as long as he behaves himself. We'd much rather have him, and you, working with us than push you away. You're the type of Hero we've been waiting for, for a long time. I know your powers might not seem like the most friendly. But that's what we have dedicated PR teams for. Join us, and we can make you the hero you were destined to be."
He held out his hand, watching the conflict in her eyes, and hoping she would take it.
***
Taylor sat in a chair, Mr. Fish standing protectively behind it. In front of her was a wide semi-circle of tables with a number of people sitting behind them, folders stacked up around them, pencils and pens working as people spoke together, motioning towards her and her friend. Directly across from her was the overweight man in glasses who'd introduced himself as Mr. Chambers, the head of PR for the Protectorate. Around him where the heads of Image and PR from Brockton Bay and several surrounding areas. They were taking this very seriously. She rubbed at her arm, self-conscious of how she must look in her stained hoodie.
Mr. Chambers started talking, shushing the group as he looked over Taylor, no, Queen Administrator and Unit Two. "First, I think, we should talk about, ahem, Unit Two. Does he have any way to change what he looks like? Maybe make himself smaller?"
Taylor blinked, and turned to looked up at Unit Two. "Uhhm, can you change how you look?"
{Affirmative. Unit-02 form selected due to Primary Directive of Host-High_Priest. Major form redistribution requires recalibration of Core. Seventy-five percent of redundant outer armor may be shed without compromising Core stability.}
She blinked at him. "Uhmmm, yes. He can become a lot smaller. But he can't change important things, like the number of limbs or such."
She turned back as folder we opened and rustled through. Entire sheaves of paper discarded and others brought to the forefront. Several people she could see who'd been working diligently threw out what the were working on and turned to their companions, taking piles from them and got to work immediately. Mr. Chambers smiled at her, and started looking at Unit Two. "Excellent. This will open up a lot. Now, we wanted to talk to you about your names. Queen Administrator and Unit Two. They're unusual, certainly. How strongly are you attached to them?"
Queen Administrator gripped the sleeve of her hoodies in her hand and twisted at it, looking up at her faithful sidekick. "Uhm, that's what Unit Two calls me, and what Unit Two said his name was, so it'd be easiest to give him orders like that, I think."
"Alright," he said, taking papers passed up from his right and left and looking over them. "In that case, we've got a few options about how we can do this. We've got a few designs based on medieval Queens, playing up the idea of Noblesse oblige, or the responsibilities of the nobility. None of the various looks fit Unit Two's name, sadly. Hmm, chess-themed, but I don't think that strikes the right tone with a Queen. And then there's one. . . Hmm. It plays off an Aleph animated show, and ties into Unit Two's name as well as playing off the administrator of Queen Administrator, turning the Queen part from a title to an acronym."
He stood up, and walked around the right of the table, talking to a few people and making suggestions as they worked. Finally, he gathered a few pieces of paper, and happy with them, walked around to where she was sitting. He held the papers out to her so she could see the costume designs for herself and the form they'd like Unit Two to take, with notes about Unit Two's new size and some design elements they'd like him to incorporate if possible.
"Sadly," he said, looking over a few of the papers he still held, "The numbers and meanings don't quite match up to use the Major Arcana for designations, but with your first showing being defeating an Empire raid, playing into this aspect would probably work better. Don't need to lean more into the occult angles than is necessary to make the acronym work, after all. What do you think?"
***
Taylor pulled at the coat of her new costume. It was vaguely like a military uniform, calling to mind what PRT troopers might dress like for a semiformal event. The back had the large crown symbol diagonally slashed, large 'QU' on the top with a 'EEN' under it, running into the cut on the logo. Around it in smaller letters the acronym was spelled out in full to explain it. She turned, looking in the mirror set up for her backstage. The strange glasses they'd given her seemed to reflect all light, not only hiding her eyes, but disguising the area around them.
She pulled at the coat again, the armoring making it heavy and sit awkwardly, They'd promised to address it later with a better version, this early version being used to debut her before the more comfortable versions with less obtrusive armor could be completed. She nodded to herself, and walke dto her point, waiting for her cue.
***
Mike shifted his camera, watching the stage for the debut of the new Ward. It wasn't odd for new triggers in the fallout of an Endbringer attack, but the speed at which this was was being done and the media presence at the debut was odd. Worse yet was how little information had gotten out. Supposedly this new cape had stopped an Empire hijacking of supplies after the attack, and captured a number of their capes as well as putting down the Empire's leader. Sounded good to him, since they'd been constantly down on him and his entire faith.
The local director announced their new Ward, QUEEN Administrator, and a large logo appeared on the screen behind the stage. As the girl walked out, her sidekick, Unit Two was announced as well, and behind the girl came. . .
Mike blinked, staring from the logo to the biomechanical creature nearly a dozen feet tall striding along behind the new Ward. Then he turned to stare at the logo again. QUEEN, Qabalah Understanding for Eventual Endbringer Neutralization. He turned his head to stare at the huge biomechanical Leviathan with the large Bet on its shoulders as it followed the young woman who walked up to the podium, resting her elbows on it and lacing her fingers together in front of her mouth.
"Holy fuck," he said as understanding hit him like a truck full of bricks.
This is unreadable with the white forum skin. Could you please use the "None" color instead of white?
EDIT: Actually, the same is true for about half the other threadmarks too.
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zhuull
SB still lying to protect Racists what else is new
Obviously this will lead to:
Step One: Aquire Parian
- Location
- US
I've noticed that both here and on SB you have this massive hateon for Taylor that doesn't jive with canon at all.
Also, you're wrong.
Taylor asked him if he could make ice cream and he responded "affirmative" - Leviathan is a construct designed to logically fulfill tasks which have up until this point been "Provide Eidolon a worthy opponent" defining worthy opponent as a dangerous adversary capable of great destruction. Leviathan lists its skills which are all suited to this task.
Its new task is making ice cream. This is a skill it will develop in accordance with its new primary directive.
Deadly ice cream would be an unacceptable risk to his primary directive of protecting Taylor and not harming people.
The only real danger here is the unspecified quantity of ice cream though since she already implemented the three laws of robotics as his primary directive he'd be limited to a quantity of ice cream that isn't a threat to humanity.
Canon Taylor was intelligent and resourceful in ways most people aren't. She dealt with every threat she ever faced and those threats were ones no one else could.
Personally I think you've got some kind of narcissism where you think you could do better without the self-awareness to realize you couldn't (as your comments demonstrate) or you just have no reading comprehension. Probably both.
Also you're totally discounting the fact that trigger events are known to alter the personality of hosts so they're more suited to using the ability.
-Burnscar didn't like using her power/hurting people and the Entities want Shards to be used so it turns her into a manic psychopath in the presence of fire which erases her moral compunctions instantly
-Crawler's power literally mutates him into a monster and only kicks in when he's grevously injured so it made him crave pain and injury above everything so he's use it
-Taylor having realized this (unlike you) comments that Shadowstalker becoming an aggressive predator happened as an immediate result of her trigger
-Eidolon's power literally created the Endbringers without his knowledge just so it could be tested
-Tinker shards afflict their hosts with an irrepressible urge to tinker
Obviously this iteration of the QA Shard would make controlling Leviathan seem as normal as having a pet or a robot so she'd actually use it.
If she were too terrified of Leviathan to be in its presence or worried about the social consequences then she wouldn't be able to test the Shard - so the Shard fixed that.
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