Ridli Scott
(Verified acid sweater mutant)
- Location
- The Periphery
In Nuclear Fire
- Thread starter Poliamida
- Start date
Just enjoy the AU. String Theory being actually able to trigger her doomsday thing and it flizzling just enough to be able to push the moon slightly but not actually break it up into dangerous chunks is the kind of thing i can see a shard going 'hol'up a moment, this actually can't happen (without entity approval) otherwise all my siblings would line up to beat me up, oh and it would wipe out all the experimental population, better make up a 'malfunction' on the spot'.
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- Pronouns
- He
Okay. I don't understand what is happening in this chapter. Is she hallucinating? What the heck is happening?
Peter is going mildly nuts with hunger due to becoming a werewolf but doesn't realize it. This is because he is so insistent on the transhumanism improvements that he has lost track of what's happened to his own body and actually black boxed himself.
The final nail the coffin is that rather than get a outside perspective to help, Peter internalizes the issue out of a combination of pride and wanting to not be a burden. This results in the issue being undiagnosed until it's almost too late at the end of this chapter.
Satisfaction
brought it back.
Ah, healthy parahuman coping mechanisms, how grand. Truly, Miss Militia deserves an honorary degree in psychiatry.
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Ridli Scott
(Verified acid sweater mutant)
- Location
- The Periphery
To be fair, giving how fucked up is Worm this could be totally what canon MM would say.
That's the fucked up thing about Worm, all the people with powers are broken.
Poliamida
(Verified Heavy Molecule)
- Location
- Beyond the Stars
Damnit! I swear that wasn't my intention.
Thanks! I enjoyed writting all of them a lot.
Please don't call TT God. Her head is big enough already."I amPoliamidaGod and you will not have seggs, I said!"
This so far is one of my favorite chapters, I loved the dialogue between Browbeat and HellWan.
Not monkey (yet) as Peter hasn't yet cracked how to mix Saiyan with Zergs, but he'll be dealing with a Garu going through his first transformation and that's only marginally better. At least the problem won't be bigger than a building.
I've read some contradictory information about the issue. From what I found Sphere did build his moon base, or at the very least traveled to the moon and set the foundations for the base (the remains are apparently still there). Then Ziz intervened and things got weird. Then I saw that one quote that arromdee shared and decided to run to the hills with it and decided that, okay, maybe String Theory failed to blow it up but she's crazy enough to maybe have messed something else in the process.
People really like to see MM as the mom of the group but she really isn't. She's just as broken as anyone else. Her advice may have been the correct thing to say to an adult soldier who's already fighting a war and saw his friends die, but not to a totally not child soldier.
Ridli Scott
(Verified acid sweater mutant)
- Location
- The Periphery
Are you being sarcastic? Who are you and what did you do with Poli?
So Vista was lucky for no receiving the Patton Treatment from MM?
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- Pronouns
- She/They
Nobody told me sudoku was an acceptable means of atonement! BRB, going to do something terrible so I have an excuse to fill in numbers in a grid.
I couldn't help but notice.
You said 'yet'.
Cyborg monkey flesh-eater werewolf confirmed.
Ridli Scott
(Verified acid sweater mutant)
- Location
- The Periphery
Only if you filled the grid using a shodo brush, tradition before anything.
pingas plight
-Most cunning scientific fuck-up in all of Mobius
Techpriest, ascending from tech support hell, about to spread the word of the good lord tech:
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=za5TOa3Q-Ro
- Location
- California
So... I feel like Peter could theoretically make himself a cage that takes kinetic energy and uses it to strengthen itself like how his body self improves. That way he can make sure he won't break out by accident and maybe they'll have a cage for any insane brutes? Obviously it could be used against him but teleportation can escape it and he doesn't have that yet. Probably too odd for him to make but a fun idea.
Poliamida
(Verified Heavy Molecule)
- Location
- Beyond the Stars
Sarcastic? I don't know what you mean. I was being quite literal back there.
Nia’s Interlude
Poliamida
(Verified Heavy Molecule)
- Location
- Beyond the Stars
Nia's Interlude
Now and again, Nia wondered if her master understood what he had made when he created her.
After having those sorts of thoughts she'd immediately burst out laughing because of course he didn't have a clue! He never asked before jumping or looked at the sides before charging in. He just acted on impulse without regard for consequences, his only consideration being that he aimed away from those he cared for.
Not like Nia could find any fault in that because she was largely the same. If anything, she appreciated that her master made her feel like she wasn't so alone.
He and Newt insisted on calling him by his name, but did that truly change anything? They could call him Master or Peter or 'my liege' or maybe even Kathy for all the dirt that it'd matter. Their relationship would remain just the same.
They were bonded, maybe deeper than any of them would like to admit out loud.
'Do as you wish, no pressure,' Master had said after he had sacrificed part of his blood to wake her up, linking them with chains that only death would break. And death would not come as long as Nia had something to say about it.
And that was where part of the problem resided because it was hard not to be pressured when she had been given power over life and death itself.
She could close any wound.
She could order people to 'rise and walk' and they would.
She had also been able to walk on water that one time she had decided to try it out.
And the only reason why she hadn't yet tested out if she could turn water into wine was that she feared being called a cheap knock-off.
That was the power that she had been given. She hadn't asked for it, and she still struggled to tell if she had any responsibility to use it or not.
She'd call the entire situation unfair, but that was just life.
Seriously, Master ought to consider himself lucky that Nia was so patient and merciful or she'd have already taught him the pecking order. But she understood. Master himself hadn't had a choice when he found himself in this clusterfuck of a world with the power to finish dooming it or saving it. She couldn't fault him for bringing her in. If anything, it made her happy to know that he saw in her a spark of light in the darkness worth fighting for.
"Remember, don't open the door for anything in the world!" Master's voice came from somewhere inside the metal cage he had put himself in.
If the cage had been made of common steel and iron Nia had no doubts that he'd have been able to just tear his way out, but he had done something to it. It involved energy fields and-- well, she wasn't sure. Something about Doctor Gero and his lab.
He had been rambling at the end of his explanation.
"And don't believe anything that comes out of my mouth!" He continued. "Especially if I start sounding like any of you! It happened in Alf, it happened in Xiaolin Showdown, so I'm not discarding any possibilities!"
Yes, rambling just like that.
"I know what Alf is," Taylor said with her arms folded as she stared down at Master's new room with a hint of apprehension in her voice. "Mom loved it. But what the heck is Xiaolin Showdown?"
Nia fought against her most basic instincts to not smash her palm against her forehead. Had he already forgotten that there was information that he wasn't supposed to share? Especially that which involved fiction that didn't exist either in Bet or Aleph.
"New comic book," Aisha's timely intervention saved the moment. "He tried to get me into it but it wasn't my thing."
Taylor offered her a cheeky smile. "Not enough jokes about bodily functions?"
"You know it."
After the 'incident' earlier that day when Master found out that his body was experimenting with some changes marginally more monstrous than average puberty, he had assembled the team to tell them what he was going through. He had requested they remained at his side just in case he broke free and did something monumentally stupid.
His words.
"Shouldn't we tell--" Danny offered but was immediately shot down.
"No!" The immediate response of Taylor, Aisha, Newt, and Nia made him flinch.
"Alright, alright," he smiled, scratching the back of his neck. "And I thought that living in a house with just two women was already hard enough. I'm just not a fan of putting a member of our family inside a cage."
Nia pressed her lips into a thin line. She wasn't a fan either, but it wasn't like calling the pilocks in the government would do them any good. They'd support the idea of throwing Master into a cage, the difference being that they'd demand control of the single key.
She was not giving them that.
And so, they waited. It had already been late in the day when Master rushed into his lab to build his new home, and it was already close to midnight.
They still had a long night in front of them.
"I have cards," Aisha offered. "Anyone up to play some Poker?"
"I'll only allow Go-fish," Taylor argued back. "I'm not letting any of us gamble at the base."
"Boring. Not like I had any money, to begin with. What about--"
"No strip poker either!"
"I wasn't going to suggest that!"
"Yes, you were."
"Yes, I was."
The minutes continued their unrelenting march, now and again interrupted by the sound of Valerie and 63 playing checkers on one of the corners of the room. At least, something that resembled checkers. Nia was reasonably sure that they changed the rules every few moves.
On the opposite corner, Sun was going through a series of fluid motions, something involving her martial arts training. Her dedication to the routing was admirable, even if it looked dreadfully boring.
"So, has anyone read any good books recently?" Nia asked, the silence finally catching up to her.
Newt immediately perked up. "Oh, yes, I've been reading a book on the life of Cornelius Scipio. What a fascinating man!"
Taylor puffed, blowing a lock of hair that had fallen over her face away. "Lisa has been helping me to get into marketing. I also need to improve my math because I want to take my GED at the end of the year."
Why were they talking about work?! Those two were so boring! Why couldn't they read a romance or drama like normal people?
Taylor's declaration of wanting to finish High School early brought Danny into alert, who jerked his head at them. "Really? It makes me proud that you want to improve, but are you sure you want to take on that much responsibility?"
"I'd also argue that you don't need one of those," Nia shrugged. "What can they do to you if you just drop out of school? And it's not like you'll need to search for a job." Seriously, what part of 'we can declare war on the world and win' hadn't those people understood yet? The only reason they hadn't done so yet was because it'd be too much of a hassle.
Taylor gave her a long and hard look. "It's about personal pride! I want to be a better person, and prove to myself that I can do it."
There she was with all her mature talking.
"Is that why you went out in a mask in the first place?"
Taylor pursed her lips as if trying to swallow something bitter. "No, that-- that wasn't it."
"Then may I ask why you did it?" Danny intervened.
A crimson flash spread across Taylor's face. "Dad, really?"
"What? Can't a father ask his daughter why she chose to become a superhero?"
The floor seemed to have become truly fascinating with the way that Taylor was staring at it. "You already know how things were in Winslow. I was lost. I no longer had control of my life. Then I got these powers and realized that I had an option. I could go out there and claim something for myself." The corner of her lips curled into a smirk. "Admittedly I thought that I'd stop some muggers and that'd be it. Actually conquering territory was never part of the plan. But now we have it, and I'll fight both to protect and improve it because it seems that no one else wants to."
Danny reached out with a hand as if wanting to place it on Taylor's shoulder. Then he stopped, and instead of that pulled Taylor into a hug.
The girl who had earned her fame feeding her enemies wasps, who had helped defeat the major gangs of the city, and who had become a major headache to the other heroes, melted in her father's arms.
"I made many mistakes that I deeply regret," Danny told her. "But know that, whatever happens next, I'll do my best to--"
The moment of family bonding was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a heavy blow. Like if a tank had crashed into a garbage truck. Even the floor rumbled and a bit of dust fell on their heads.
Nia turned her head towards the cage. It was happening.
Taylor cursed, breaking the hug and pushing her father behind her. "Everyone in position!"
She didn't need to say that twice.
As another blow from inside the cage was heard, and 63 hastily boarded the Buster.
"How strong was that thing again?" An edge of concern colored Taylor's voice.
"He said that it would be strong enough to contain Alexandria," Newt replied. "At least as long as the energy fields remain--"
S̴̬̿e̴͙̋̎̕ẗ̴̨̳̰́͝ͅ ̵̛̯̻͇͙̝̈̓̏͠m̸̨̡̙̥̺͙̐͘ȇ̶̡̨̻̱̦ͅ ̶̡̺͛̔̊͑f̴͎̍̆͗͌r̷̦̆̿̒́̑̚e̷̢̗̤̍͊̆̑͝ȩ̴̼̙̼͚̞̋̎̀͊!̸̤͔̤̯̟̦̣̐̑
A wave of dizziness washed over Nia and she dropped to a knee. It was as if a voice had started ringing inside her brain only to quickly go quiet.
She looked around and found that Newt, Sun, and the runt were all in the same state.
"What happened to you?" Taylor yelled.
That was an excellent question. Nia herself had no idea.
"Peter's trying to take control of the Hive!" Newt said in alarm as she slowly climbed back to her feet. "I think he's about to--"
The light suddenly died out and the whole room descended into darkness.
A blackout. Master had wrestled his way into the Hive and used his authority to cut the energy. And if there was no energy, how could they keep the energy fields--
Or, right, they couldn't.
She wanted to take a sandal and smack him in the side of the head for forgetting something as basic as independent power sources.
There was a rumble, the sound of tearing metal, and then another one that reminded her of a tall tree cracking under heavy wind.
It took Nia a moment to realize those were footsteps.
Someone started yelling.
63 turned the lights of the Buster on. Newt summoned a flame. Under the soft glow they could see the shape of something big moving, but soon it was gone.
When energy returned some heartbeats later it revealed that an entire side of the cage was missing, the metal plates bent as if something big and angry had torn through them. There were incisions in the floor marking where claws had cut into it, and pieces of rocks and dust scattered around them. Where had those come from?
"Shit!" Taylor cursed, looking up at the hole that was now through the ceiling. A ceiling made of stone and asphalt, some five or ten meters underneath the streets of the city. On the other side they could see the full moon shining in the night sky. "Sun! Get us a portal up there!"
The mechanical girl didn't waste a second arguing the given order. She darted up the ceiling, and a moment later the team was stepping through the portal that Sun had opened for them, the Buster lagging as he needed a bigger exit for his bigger frame.
It was already close to midnight, the city around those parts was largely asleep, and the end of the tunnel led to an empty parking lot.
Of Master, there were no signs.
"Sensors!" Taylor yelled at Newt. "Do we have sensors? Do we know where he's going?"
"He took control of the hive and kicked us out! 63 and his siblings are trying to wrestle control back but it will take them time."
"Any idea of what he may want?"
"According to 63--" Newt paused her explanation, her face turning a shade of red. "The message 'kill the assholes' has been running on repeat through the hive."
Newt had made abundantly clear that she wanted to keep a sense of decorum and order around her children. That included looking after one's language. If Master wasn't respecting that, well, he'd have to be disciplined.
Personally Nia thought that the little rascals would need to eventually learn all that stuff, even if the responsibility fell on her as their aunt.
"Ha!" Aisha laughed. "Good luck with that. Do you have the faintest idea how many of those are out there?"
Taylor pinched the bridge of her nose, and that was when she realized that she wasn't wearing her helmet, which she immediately summoned.
The moment the armored plates locked around her head it was as if a different person came to replace her. Her back straightened up and her shoulder locked in place. The helmet wasn't there just to protect her head, but also her sense of self. That was the mask that she wanted to be seen as and behind which the teenager could hide.
Both Newt and Nia followed her example. They didn't care about secret identities as they didn't have civilian lives to protect, but the communication channels were still up and running and those may prove useful.
Besides, they were elegant! Nia had made her in the shape of a fox.
"What about you?" Taylor glanced at her artificial companions. "Aren't you also at risk of falling under his control?"
"Nah," Newt said with a shrug. "We can't be controlled like the unaugmented zerg can. And I trust him to not even try."
Nia said nothing but let a predatory smile split across her face. Him, trying to take control of her? That wasn't how their relationship worked. Because he was her Master. Hers. When she called he obeyed. The fact that she was okay with lending him to Newt notwithstanding.
If he had tried to take control she'd yank the chains away and put them around his neck where they belonged.
"Very well," Taylor nodded slowly and took a step back to look around. "Okay, this is what we're going to do. Belisarius, tune in to the police radio and keep us informed of anything you hear. Imp, keep an eye out for PHO for any sights of new parahuman in the Bay. Sun--"
It was a relief that there was someone eager to take charge. Someone who kept her cool didn't fall prey to panic and kept her sight of the objective. Even if Taylor was largely faking it thanks to her power.
And besides, who else was there?
Newt?
Nia loved her sister dearly, but Newt was largely a doer. When given an objective she'd fulfill it, but she'd struggle to create one for herself in a vacuum.
Sun?
She was brilliant, but if she couldn't beat a problem into a bloody pulp she didn't know what to do.
Aisha?
That would be hilarious! Just before it stopped being a comedy and became a tragedy.
Nia?
If there was indeed a benevolent being up there watching after them he'd never allow that to happen.
Just no.
Nia was too self-centered for that. Too selfish. She did things her way and refused to listen. Like Master in many regards, who preferred the safety of his head over the dangers outside. That's why neither he nor she would ever be good leaders.
That didn't mean that they couldn't help.
"Relax, girl," Nia interrupted Taylor's speech. "There's no need for that." She closed her eyes, opened her mask, and took a deep breath allowing the air of the city to fill her lungs. Then pointed southwest. "He went that way."
Taylor followed with her eyes in the direction that Nia was pointing. "Are you sure? How do you know?"
"I have an excellent sense of smell."
To their side, Aisha snickered but Taylor ignored her.
"Good enough. Belisarius, stay. I still want someone listening to the radio because we don't want the PRT to get involved." So she said, but Nia wondered if the reality was that she didn't want her dad anywhere close to the line of fire. "If they call, tell them, I don't know, that it's a training exercise! The rest, Move out!"
Finally Nia's language had been spoken! Enough about talking, planning, and thinking. It was time for action! Master had misbehaved and therefore would need to be punished.
Taylor took to the sky, her mechanical wings unfolding. In one hand she took Aisha and in the other Valerie.
Sun followed, carrying Newt.
That only left Nia, but she had her means of transportation. "Look after the fort!" She told Danny before jumping into the Buster's arms. "We'll be back in no time!"
The robot piloted by the runt jumped, and as he did the thrusters on its back activated, propelling both of them forwards.
Now, this-- this was fun!
How could she not enjoy being there, with that group?
Shortly after being woken up, an apocalyptic threat had come to kill them only to be killed back and all its efforts to hurt them wasted. Some days ago they had been busting a supervillain hideout, and now they were chasing a maddened werewolf across the city. She had no idea what they'd be doing tomorrow and she loved it! It was exciting!
And yet, there was a nagging voice in the back of her mind that didn't leave her alone.
She knew what she was. She knew where her origins lay. She knew that there was another Nia out there in the infinity of existence. Maybe several of them.
And she hated it.
Did she exist only because of the accomplishments of someone else? How much of her being was 'hers' and how much was the sloppy seconds of someone else?
She wanted her emotions, her desires, and her accomplishments to be only her own. She wanted to hold them, control them, and not share them with anyone else.
Her greatest fear was that if they ever met those copies her family would struggle to tell them apart.
Did that make her selfish?
Probably.
And that was where her other great fear steamed from.
Those other Nias-- they had been heroes, hadn't they? Maybe not 'super', maybe not embroiled with masks and capes, but they had helped save their worlds. They had stood alongside their people fighting evil.
So, the easiest way to break from them was to not be like that.
Yet the very thought was nothing less than abhorrent.
She wasn't going to hurt the few people she cared for on a freaking spoiled whim! As tempting as it sometimes was.
Sometimes she felt like she was an ugly mess of contradictions.
"Ta-- I mean, Ladybug!" Danny called through the radio. "Several people just called about the alarms of multiple cars being triggered at the same time. It happened close to where you are."
Nia sharpened her ears. She didn't have to work too hard to find the place Danny was talking about, as their destination was a parking garage around four stories high. The entire place was alight like a Christmas tree and was as loud as a rock concert.
"We see it!" Taylor confirmed. "We're moving in."
The top floor was empty and yet covered in Master's traces.
"His body is releasing a low electromagnetic pulse," said Valerie, who was carrying in her hands a device that looked like a calculator with a fan strapped to its back. "That's what triggered the cars."
"Why would he do that?" Taylor asked, looking around the place.
"If it was me, I'd do it to hide from cameras."
"He cares about stealth. At least that's something. Where next, Nia?"
She didn't reply immediately. Master had spent a long time there, and yet there were no signs of tampering. Why? What had attracted him to--
Her head hit something solid and she fell back on her ass.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Someone asked. She didn't care whom. That had been embarrassing enough without knowing who had been staring at her.
Still, what had that been? The space in front of her was just empty air. And yet--
Nia picked herself up from the ground, stretched her hand out, and let it rest against something solid.
"An invisibility field!" Taylor said, reaching the obvious conclusion.
Not waiting for an order, Sun rushed in and punched it with all her might.
The fist that should have been strong enough to topple buildings failed to make a dent on the force field, releasing a sound that Nia would have described as the muffled flap of a wing.
And yet, her efforts hadn't been wasted because at the moment of impact the shield flickered allowing them to comprehend its dimensions, and see what was inside.
The dome was big enough that an entire truck could be parked inside, and for its content--
"Damn, what the heck is that thing?" Aisha whistled in amazement.
"According to the blueprints uploaded to the hive--" Newt started and then paused, glancing at 63 for further information. "It's called the Final Flash Cannon."
A fairly self-explanatory name. The barrel of the gun was wider than her torso.
Taylor walked up to it with several flies circling her head. "Punch it again."
Sun did it with gusto. The result was the same, but the moment the gun materialized into existence Taylor lined the flies tracing the length of the barrel. She turned back, and with an extended index, she pointed at the city.
A moment passed.
Then another.
"This thing's aimed at Emma's house." Taaylor's voice was so cold and emotionless that it almost made Nia shiver. What emotions was she hiding as she said that?
A pregnant silence followed which Nia didn't dare to break out of fear of admitting that she had no idea who that was.
Then she remembered who it belonged to and felt like kicking herself in the back of the head.
"Oh, good," Aisha said with a dismissive shrug. "So, do we go back to base and continue sleeping?"
"Imp!" Taylor snapped at her. "We can't let him do that."
"What?!" The devilish girl yelled, stepping down. "Why not? Come on, I'm sure that you dreamed about doing that yourself! This is the bitch that betrayed you and made your life hell! Give me one good reason why we shouldn't let him blow her up!"
If she wasn't the one suggesting that, Nia would.
Taylor's hands clenched into fists, and even as she projected a facade of control Nia could see how the flies that surrounded her broke into an erratic pattern.
"Dreaming of doing this? No. Nothing of what I imagined was anywhere as quick or painless." Her voice was raspy as if holding back a poisonous spit. "But I believe in punishing the appropriate people, and as much as I hate her I don't believe that her family deserves it." She chuckled. "And do you know what else? When she gets old, her modeling career dies out, and her only option left to pay the bills is to marry a rich asshole, I want to be there and I want to be laughing!"
That was slow and boring, but Nia could respect those who played the long game.
"Fine," Aisha said begrudgingly. "If that's how you want to handle it, do it."
Taylor gave her a sharp nod. "But now the question is, why hasn't he fired yet? Isn't this thing ready?"
Once again Newt moved that question to the runt. "It is, but the cannon's waiting for a signal. Buster thinks that Tech-Priest will first build several more before firing them all together."
"Can he block the signal?"
"Maybe. He won't know until he knows what it will be."
"Okay," Taylor clapped her hands together. "We wasted enough time here. Nia, where next?"
Their next destination was a gas station. How Master had managed to build the second cannon on the roof without anyone noticing was beyond any of them, but he was no longer there so they moved on.
Their next stop was an office building some 10 stories high. The lower floors were still in use, but the upper ones seemed to have been abandoned years ago. The rooms were empty, the ceiling had given in, the door that led to them was locked with a rusty chain, and there was a thick crust of pigeon droppings covering every inch of free space.
There were several broken or outright missing windows that gave access to both birds and the elements, and through one of them, they got inside.
Nia immediately had to close her mask as the smell of rott, piss, and other substances saturated their surroundings as a heavy layer. Thankfully they wouldn't need her nose as the claw marks on the floor and walls lead the way.
"There he is," Taylor said, pointing at the end of the corridor where a conference room may have once been.
So that was what he looked like now.
Even when hunched, Taylor wouldn't be able to reach his shoulder, his head reached to the ceiling. With those jaws he could have bitten a man's torso in two bites, he could easily hold Nia in one hand, and his claws were so long that he dragged them as he walked.
She wondered how Master was able to tinker in that state until she noticed that one of his hands was split open. From it, several tentacle-like tendrils came out which he used to build the weapon he was working on.
The most interesting aspect of him was that his body was covered in smooth armor plates. Nothing that one may see would betray that he had any organic components in him. There was no hair or soft muscle-like joints. Even his eyes were hidden behind a solid armor plate.
And yet, there was something distinctively not-artificial about his movements. They were too soft and fluid.
Master's current form reminded Nia of the cartoon with giant robots and tortured teenagers that she had seen not long ago. She had liked that one. If she were to tear Master's armor plates off would she find palpitating flesh underneath?
She was eager to find out.
"Tech-Priest!" Taylor yelled, taking a decisive step forwards.
Master stopped his work, but if it was because of Taylor's command or because he was done, it was hard to tell.
He walked up to them, resting his weight on his frontal claws. An impressive figure, even if his attitude wasn't threatening. The way he coked his head at them made him look more confused than aggressive.
Good. He hadn't forgotten his place.
"We aren't here to fight you!" Taylor continued. "Stand down and--"
There was a bright flash. Bright, red lines appeared across Master's body. His limbs fell apart, his torso dropping to the left, away from his legs, and the one arm that had fallen to the right.
"Great distraction, boss-girl!" Aisha said, dropping the invisibility cloak, and revealing that she had been wearing the Psy Blade in her right arm.
That--
Why had she--
Master--
It was fine. It was all right. Master had been turned into a dismantled puzzle box but it was alright because it wasn't like he could die to something as simple as that. And even if he could, Nia would revive him.
Imp's little surprise move had been an unwelcome one but it wasn't like anything had been permanently lost.
Nia was NOT going to turn the git's blood into steam.
"Imp!" Taylor yelled at her. "What did you do!?"
"Relax, he'll be perfectly--"
The electric sound of short-circuiting wires muted her words. Mechanical tendrils burst out of Master's severed limbs, connecting the severed parts, and pulling his body back together.
As Master rose to his full high, Imp took a step back. "See? What did I tell you? He's--"
Master roared and inside of his throat something lit up.
Imp tried to flee but it was too late and there was nothing she could do to prevent the pink-like substance from impacting her body.
There was a blur, and the next thing that Nia knew was that Sun's fist was connecting against Master's face.
A heartbeat later there was a hole on one of the walls through which he had been catapulted into the city.
Well, this had turned into a clusterfuck.
"Damn it!" Taylor cursed. "Imp!"
Where the younger girl had been standing a moment ago now there was a pink, round blob.
"Hey, guys--" A voice came from the blob. "Can you turn me around?"
So, she was still alive. That was a relief. That way Master wouldn't be agonizing over having hurt one of his friends once he came back to his senses, even if nothing of value would have been lost because Nia would have easily resurrected the little truant. If anything, he deserved recognition for holding back.
Newt grabbed the blob and rolled it around to show that the only part of Imp that hadn't been encased in the substance was her head.
"Can't you cut your way out?" Taylor asked her.
Imp seemed to struggle inside her gooey prison before shaking her head. "Nope. I can turn the sword on and off but nothing happens. I can't even move my fingers!"
Taylor shrugged. "Nothing to be done for now. Newt, carry her. The rest--" She turned towards the hole Master had been sent flying through. "Where did he go?"
They first turn to Nia. She tasted the air, but Sun's punch had made following his track difficult.
"Sorry," the mechanical girl said, looking at her feet.
"It's okay," Taylor reassured her, even if her tone betrayed her frustration. She glanced at the cannon that Master had just finished building and paused. "Wait a moment."
She did the same trick she had done with the first one, lining several insects in front of it so she could have a better idea of its objective.
"Weird. I thought that he'd be aiming for Sophia too, or at least Madison, but unless I'm very wrong, all three cannons are aimed at Emma."
"The best kills are overkills, right?" Aisha yelled from her prison.
No.
Master could be petty, sadistic, and vindictive. He also tended to make things more difficult than they had any right to be. But being this overly wasteful? That wasn't like him.
They were missing something.
"Wait!" Newt called, summoning a hologram of the Bay. In it, there was a red dot marked 'target', probably the slag's home, and three green dots that represented where the weapons were. "Look at the disposition. If we assume that the Barnes' household is the center of a circle, these 3 cannons are the same distance away from it, and exactly 27 degrees away from each other."
"I didn't understand anything you just said," Aisha complained.
Taylor ignored her and looked at the map. "You think that he'll surround the house with cannons before shooting."
"If we assume that he won't build on water and that he'll keep the same distance from each cannon, he has enough room on land for 2 more. Here and here." Two new dots came to life. "These locations will give him a clear sight of the target. At the speed we're moving, and assuming that he's already at the fourth location, we won't catch him if we just follow him, but we can arrive at the fifth location before he does and wait for him there."
"What if you're wrong and he only needs to build 4?"
"Then the Barnes' house turns into a crater."
Taylor paused before speaking again. "That's a risk that I'm willing to take." That was the spirit! "Ely, you're with me! Sun, can you carry both Newt and Imp? Good! Let's move on!"
They took to the sky once again, darting towards where Newt had pointed them at.
Could they be able to stop Master before he fulfilled his plan?
Did they want to?
Well, yes. Letting him go along with this would give them far more trouble than they'd want to deal with. At least not for now, not until they were far stronger.
And so, as they traveled, Nia thought about Master's apparent plan, and the message he had left written in the Hive. Why had he used a plural if everything so far pointed at him only aiming for one person?
There was something in all that mess that didn't sit well with Nia.
She was having a really bad feeling about it.
Could he-- no, that'd be incredibly stupid!
Exactly the thing he'd try doing.
Fracking hell!
In moments like those, she'd be calling Tattletale for help. But the wannabe fox was indisposed that night and they already had more than enough problems dealing with Master to also worry about Taylor's pet.
Luckily for them, Nia did have an alternate source of information.
Making sure that no one would hear her, she dialed a number and waited for the other person to answer.
"I'm getting really tired of you people always knowing my phone number!" Someone was cranky. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she was being woken up at one in the morning.
"Hi, Vicky, nice to hear from you too. Say, can I ask you a question?"
The former New Wave hero clicked her tongue before replying. "You aren't leaving me alone until I do, aren't you? Fine, shoot."
"Does Dragon Ball have any means to travel across dimensions?"
"What kind of-- you know what? It doesn't matter. Fine, if you want to know-- It kind of does? There's this one character at the end of Z called Buu who did it once. They tried to defeat him by trapping him in an alternate dimension but he just focused all his power on breaching the dimensional barriers and escaped that way."
Oh, no.
"How strong was he?"
"How the heck am I supposed to know? He's from way late into the series but the power levels in Dragon Ball are all over the place! Like, they treat Freezer being able to blow up a planet as a big deal, but Vegeta can do it too. Of course, he blew that one up in a filler so people can't agree if that counts or not. But then Roshi blew up the moon this one time which would mean-- why am I even talking to you about this? I want to go back to sleep!"
So did Nia, and yet here she was trying to stop her Master from doing something amazingly stupid.
He could be such a handful sometimes.
"Okay, okay. Just one more question. Does the name 'Final Flash' mean anything to you?"
From the other side of the line came a sound that reminded Nia of a glass cracking.
"I'm going."
"Wait, that's not--"
Vicky hung up.
Well-- things were about to get slightly more complicated.
This was going to be such a headache.
Browsing through the available channels of their communication network, Nia switched to the one that was reserved for only those 'in the know'.
"So, good news, team! I think I figured out what Master's doing. He's trying to focus all his weapons on a single spot to breach dimensions and get to Cauldron's base."
"Who?" Came Aisha's voice.
Oh, yeah, Nia had forgotten that the little devil had also joined that very exclusive club.
"Evil conspiracy that controls the world. And a bunch of assholes."
"So… you'd say that they are the kind of people we should be beating up, right?"
"They made their base in the corpse of an alien god," Newt pointed out. "And are keeping an army of deranged monsters in their basement."
"The problem being…?"
A perfectly reasonable thing to ask, once again answered by the simple fact that they should be making their lives easier, not more complicated.
"We'd prefer to save dealing with that mess later," Nia said. "And besides, I know Master. If he kills them now he'll forever regret it. He wants to savor it and do it while in full control of his faculties."
At least that's how she'd like to handle it.
"I guess that's fine. And what is the bad news?"
If Nia had been walking instead of being carried by the Buster she'd have skipped a step and dropped to the floor. "What do you mean?"
"Come on, whenever someone says that they have good news they follow them with the bad news!"
Nia licked her lips, unsure of what to say.
Why was the child devil being so much of a pain in the ass today?
Thankfully there was no need for her to answer that because they had just reached their objective.
It was a construction site for what the signs outside informed would eventually become an apartment complex. The foundations were there and the steel beams crisscrossed the structure shaping it up into a wireframe, but there were no floors or walls and the scattered tools looked like they hadn't been used in weeks.
"Third floor!" Newt yelled pointing at the right location.
This was going to be awkward. Those of them who could fly would have no troubles moving around the structure, but those of them who were bound to the ground--
Well, Val just unfolded her mechanical arms and clung to the structure as if she was a spider.
Newt seemed to have no problem keeping her balance while she grabbed Imp's ball in one hand.
But Nia--
"Are you sure that this is the right location?" She asked, hugging one of the columns and doing her best to not look down.
"Positive! I can see the target straight from here."
"Couldn't he have--" Nia's question was interrupted by Taylor suddenly straightening up. "What the-- why is she here?!"
Oh, no--
A chill ran up Nia's back, and just a moment later her worst fears were confirmed when a figure arrived amongst them.
"Hey, Heavy Gear, how are you doing? What a nice night for a midnight stroll, right?"
Nia didn't know how, but Victoria was doing a great job hiding the fact that she had just woken up. Mostly thanks to the hoodie that hid her wild hair. The fact that she was wearing only socks, no shoes, was the only evidence that she had exited her house in a hurry.
"Glory Girl," Taylor said through clenched teeth. "What do you want?"
Vicky glanced at Nia, and her heart skipped a beat.
"I was on patrol when I saw you all flying over my head. I told myself 'well, that's weird' and I followed you."
Was she covering for her? Why? Not like Nia minded, that way no one would have to know about her little blunder, but why would Vicky care about her?
And that still left the question of how she had found them! Nia hadn't told her their location!
Almost as if reading her thoughts, Victoria raised her prosthetic hand showing that its back had shifted to accommodate a screen.
"A sensor array," Taylor muttered. "He gave you a full sensor array! Why?"
Because he had the long-term planning skills of a chihuahua! Hadn't that been established already?
But admittedly Vicky hadn't yet told anyone about how Master's power truly worked -at least, not as far as they could tell- so it wasn't such a bad ally to have around.
"Hey, it's not like I asked for this! Even if it is pretty badass." Vicky floated tracing a circle around them, looking at them one at a time. "Where is Tech-Priest by the--"
She didn't finish the question, the sound of screeching metal informing them that they had other problems to focus on.
As one, all the heads turned towards the source of the noise and found the werewolf that Master had turned into perched on one of the beams above them. He looked like a bird of prey ready to swoop in and strike.
"What the heck is that thing?!" Victoria yelled but received no answer.
She suddenly stopped and looked up at the full moon looming above their heads
"Crap. That's Tech-Priest, isn't he?" The silence was all the affirmation she needed. "Well, at least he didn't turn into a giant rampaging monkey."
"I don't get it," Aisha said.
"Long story. Have any of you tried cutting his tail?"
"I cut him in half. He just grew back."
"Then brute force it is."
Master had been very patient, very polite, allowing them to have that conversation while he waited. Nia wouldn't have allowed it. Or maybe it simply was that he was allowing them to make the first move.
Victoria charged with her fists in front of her. They connected, and that was when her shield shattered, if only for a heartbeat. That was all the time Master needed as his body lit up and dozens of electric arcs jumped from him and into the interloper.
A scream tore through the night as the attack bypassed Victoria's defenses, and all hell broke loose.
Sun followed through, but Master had learned from their previous encounter and dodged through the structure of the building, using the web of steel beams like a maze where he could hide in plain sight.
"Don't destroy it!" Taylor ordered. "We don't want the attention!"
An entire building collapsing would be the kind of thing that would alert the authorities that something was very wrong. Something easier said than done with a team that had never cared too much about collateral damage.
While those two battled, Nia hadn't been idle. The stunned Victoria would have already smashed against the ground if a hand of water hadn't caught her.
"What happened?" She asked as she returned to consciousness.
"You charged in like a clumsy gorilla and that was the result."
Victoria stared at Nia with fury in her eyes. "Hey! Who are you calling a gorilla? You were the one who--"
And suddenly, Master was amongst them.
Shit.
He lunged at Taylor, wrestled something from her armor, and then jumped away.
"He has the Illusion!"
Oh, that could be--
The world turned black. As if a bucket of sticky oil had washed over every surface, and even the air itself. The sight of the city around them vanished, and even the sky above became a solid void.
At least they could still see enough to find each other.
"No fair!" Aisha yelled. "This is my schtick!"
From somewhere in the darkness came the sound of claws digging into metal as Master circled them, closing in for the kill.
"What does he want?!" Victoria asked, rising into the air but keeping close to the rest of them. She looked down at the screen in the back of her hand, but it had turned into static.
"To blow some assholes up!" Aisha answered.
"Do you have any idea how many of those are out there?!"
"Yes, that's what I--"
A claw reached out from inside the shadows, exposing itself long enough to punch the slime ball that Aisha was trapped in.
"You fu--!" The girl cursed as she smashed into Sun.
"Be careful, he--" Newt's words got interrupted when they heard once again the sound of Master using the same attack he had used to trap Aisha.
They scrambled.
The attack missed. Or at least, that's what Nia hoped because she could no longer see where the others were.
Well, this was getting dangerous.
Not like Nia minded, she was enjoying this side of Master. It was exhilarating! But couldn't he have picked a better moment for something like this? And a better target?
"Nia, above you!" Came Taylor's warning.
It took her just a moment to process what had been said, and just another to form a shield of water that took the brunt of the attack aimed at her.
That had been a nice try.
She'd punish him for it later.
"Nia! Move to the beam to your left! Three meters! Newt, up! Sun-- behind you!" Taylor kept yelling orders.
"What's going on?!" Victoria's voice was tingling with confusion and just a bit of fear.
"I'm leading you! Do you have any idea how many bugs are around here? Buster, pickup Nia!"
A hand closed around her chest and brought her to an upper level, where the rest of the team -plus one- had assembled, with Sun carrying Aisha's prison.
"How are we supposed to fight him like this?" Said 'plus-one' asked.
"We need to pin him down!" Taylor replied. "Maybe if-- Ely, right!"
Ignoring his projectiles, this time Master reached out with one of his claws. That proved to be a mistake when Valerie hopped back and shot from the palms of her mechanical arms hundreds of threads that tied themselves around Master's body, gluing him to the structure.
So she didn't just look like a spider, she had webs too. Neat.
"Like that?" The younger girl beamed in pride.
Master struggled against his restraints, the threads cutting into his armor. How strong was that thing? Not strong enough because one by one the threads snapped.
The opening didn't go unnoticed by Newt, though, who jumped at his back.
"Come on, Tech-Priest! We're your friends, remember? Get back to yourself!"
Her words went ignored as Master finally broke free, pushing her away, but that had been his loss. In her hands, Newt had the Illusion.
The dome of darkness collapsed.
"On him!" Taylor ordered, and the others obeyed.
Victoria punched him, cracking his face plate. It only took him a second to rebuild his head and punch back.
He then almost lost his balance when Aisha crashed into him. "Ha! Fear my mighty ball!" Her prison bounced up where Buster was waiting for her. He smashed her down, sending her into Master once again. "I-I think I'm going to throw up."
Val and Taylor were doing alright. Taylor coordinated, and Val attacked whenever she could, but her threads were becoming less effective every time she used them.
The main thing those two were doing was making sure that their improp battlefield didn't collapse under its weight.
"Ely! Up there!"
"Saw it!"
The girl climbed to a juncture in one of the upper floors where the rivets had snapped and glued them back together.
And Nia--
Nia just observed.
Taylor was a fearsome fighter, despite being the weakest of them. Her power lied in the way she solved problems, putting the right tools in the right places. She was trying to outfight Master, to overwhelm him. That was the only thing that life had taught her, and in that regard, she was doing a decent enough job.
And yet it was useless because she was playing right into his game.
He got wounded, broken, yet physical pain would never be enough to keep him down because that was the pain he understood. The one he felt safe in, and could even enjoy. He knew that if he endured and survived, he'd come on the other side stronger than before.
It was admirable, in a certain way.
Newt's method was marginally better. She was trying to talk to him, to appeal to his emotions. But Master already didn't comprehend them half the time, and in his current state, he may as well be deaf to them.
No, they were getting nowhere with this. So it was time for Nia to put an end to it because as fun as it had been, it had gone for long enough.
She started climbing.
Master was a creature of wild impulses, easy to drive towards extremes. That was something easy to forget despite how much he praised logic. Or maybe it was exactly because of that he did it?
To reach such a wild creature, you needed to speak its primal language. And what was more primal than fear?
The fear of not mattering, of not being good enough, of being unreliable--
Those were Nia's fears, and the reason why she hated her master. It was because of him that she suffered them.
Was the only reason for her existence the exploits of someone else?
And it was also because of that that she loved him.
He had seen something great, had aimed to replicate it, and the result had been Nia. He had given her life, had given her a purpose, and had given her the choice if she wanted to follow it or not.
What a pointless question that had been.
There was nothing more precious or worth fighting for than loyalty and companionship. And as much as she sometimes struggled with it, that was who she was. Whatever may happen, she'd always be there for those who loved her, and who she loved in turn.
Having reached the top of the building, Nia looked down.
Sun and Victoria had tried to attack from different angles but Master's armor had become strong enough that they couldn't even dent it.
Newt tried to lock his arm behind his back, but Master willed his joints to move in whatever direction he desired and slipped free.
Soon enough they'd be unable to even put up a challenge. At least, not without resorting to potentially lethal weapons, something that Nia wasn't going to allow.
"Hey, Master!" She yelled, closed her eyes, and jumped into the abyss.
He was a far simpler creature than her.
He craved companionship. He desired for someone who could understand him. A feeling that Nia could sympathize with all too well. That was why she didn't feel alone when they were together. No matter what would happen, she'd always have someone alongside whom she could scream at the incoming storm. Someone who she could blindly trust to catch her when she stumbled.
Nia opened her eyes and found herself inside a clawed hand.
He had saved her, just like she knew he would.
Except that--
Why were they still falling?
Had the freaking muppet jumped without considering his own safety? Not like the drop would hurt him. Heck, would it have even hurt her? She had been made with very stern stuff. But it was the principle of things!
A small reminder that, if alone, they'd spiral into destruction.
But they weren't alone.
They came to a sudden stop, and Nia saw Master's free hand holding Newt's, who remained fixed to one of the beams.
It was because of that that Nia was also so grateful that Newt was with them. She was the rock that kept them anchored, and the safe haven where they'd always find refuge.
When they were together, Nia felt safe.
"Sorry about that," came the deep, rumbling voice from somewhere inside the mechanical beast, the animalistic madness finally gone.
"It's alright," she reassured him, reaching up for Master's face to tap where his nose should be. "Boop!"
…
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- Location
- Salt Lake City, UT, USA
And that's how you deal with a rampaging Fera.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I was wondering just how exciting the night would be considering the premise was him being locked up to prevent escape. That just begs the question of if he'll escape.
Thanks for the chapter!
"shoot"
Thanks for the chapter!
"clicked"
"shoot"
At this point I am hoping the next tech tree is the Cyberpunk 2077 tree, because Victoria really needs to chrome the fuck up. Particularly with some Grounded Plating and a Mill-Spec Sandevistan, unless she decides to go full Netrunner. Though if Victoria does, it will be just to torture Tattletale.
Holy space llama, that chapter just flew by. 8k+ words, and it felt like 2k.
Silverias
Seeing is Believing
- Location
- Squiddy Places
They're more rage than evil. It's not a desire to hurt things, it's the sudden understanding that violence can solve all of your problems and you now have a surplus of it.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oh my god Trigun. Trigun has some utter BULLSHIT with plants. If Peter could make himself become plant he could either A. make his arm into a city destroying cannon or B. make a regular gun fire fucking BLACK HOLES
Ridli Scott
(Verified acid sweater mutant)
- Location
- The Periphery
Looks like both healers in this fic have several issues that could qualify for evacuate said universe. Fuck Zion, these pair are far more dangerous.
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So he werewolves into a animalistic Evangelion unit!?
Talk about going 'beast mode'.
At least they managed to fight through the crazy in him. So more like a Uratha going through their first change, than a Saiyan going full Oozaru. That's... good. Very good actually! Much more easily directable and controllable.
Also Vicky now has even more hints to just how Peter's powers work. That could lead to some interesting results.
Talk about going 'beast mode'.
At least they managed to fight through the crazy in him. So more like a Uratha going through their first change, than a Saiyan going full Oozaru. That's... good. Very good actually! Much more easily directable and controllable.
Also Vicky now has even more hints to just how Peter's powers work. That could lead to some interesting results.
