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Inclusion [Worm] Xover
- Thread starter chibipoe
- Start date
In all likelihood no, but it would be interesting to see more fanfiction for that series.
Never got around to finishing the manga, and now it is no longer being published, but the fact that it appeared that actual Angels were placed in Gynoid bodies to be commanded by Humans had so many ways it could go horribly, horribly wrong.
Which would have been interesting to explore, especially since demons were coming into the picture as well.
The anime is completely different as the Steel Angels were Sufficiently Advanced Technology mixed with Magic.
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Chapter Three
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
Chapter Three
Something in her neck popped and she sighed in satisfaction at the release of tension as she bounced on her heels, anxious for the morning's training session to begin. It was still fairly early in the morning, but she seldom slept in anymore. It had become habit now, to be up early. Though even now, the first light of day continued to brighten and grow stronger as she started across the street toward the PRT complex and the several buildings that made it up.
The central building held the administrative officers, where the current director and staff operated from, with several buildings attached. One for the armory and vehicles, connected to it was also the underground sections where the cells were. Her destination this morning, though, was the gym. Mostly used by the Troopers and the more physical minded office workers, there were also some equipment and facilities for Parahuman use. Primarily, the Wards to be precise.
The approach was uneventful as it always was, the front doors sliding open and she waved toward the agent manning the security desk for the early morning shift as she crossed the lobby, pointedly ignoring the poster of her hanging near the gift store, and other distractions. "Morning, Terry!"
"Taylor," the imposing man said. Even sitting down, he was still a well-built figure. "Heading to the gym?"
"Yeah, that time again," she said with a grin, holding up her badge for him to scan before setting her hand on one scanner and leaning in for the other, making sure not to blink as the light ran over her eye.
"What do you plan to break this time?" Terry asked as the scanner gave back whatever readings they used to confirm that she was really her and not someone pretending..
"No plans to break anything," Taylor snorted, wondering what they used to verify that she was authentic. As far as she was are, scans didn't show anything beyond surface stuff. They had Vicky's sister touch her once and all she could tell was that she appeared to be a perfectly normal human.
Of course, given the odd ways some powers worked, that was hardly the weirdest thing. She'd looked at the reports on Carlos' biology once and it had left her wishing she hadn't. Being able to adapt other parts of your body to fill in if one fails… was just weird. He could hear with his toes if he needed to, or something equally bizarre.
Then again, I am hardly one to talk, she thought, waving at Terry as she headed toward the gym, taking several shortcuts through the maze that was the first floor of the PRT building.. When she started fighting, she was apparently utterly invulnerable. Nothing they had found yet could hurt her and she didn't appear to need anything. Air, food, water, warmth, any cravings just fell away. The air part was particularly important as it let her clash with Leviathan and there was no fear of drowning.
Fighting him underwater was still a pain, as the Endbringer's mobility reached absurd levels, so it wasn't something she liked to do if she could help it. Behemoth, at least, was easier to fight in that regard as she could stay on him the whole time. She kept moving down the halls, occasionally greeting a passing office worker. As her thoughts trailed off to the only Endbringer hadn't fought, or rather, hadn't been allowed to fight yet.
The Simurgh.
She understood why, her lack of proper flight and the possibility of becoming one of the Endbringer's time bombs wasn't something they wanted to risk. There didn't seem to be many Master or Stranger powers that worked on her, but it wasn't something they wanted to risk anyway. Shaking her head, she turned down one last hall, sighting the unmarked double doors of the PRT Gym.
She sighed as she took in the sight of the empty, expansive room. Training equipment strategically placed a generous distance from the center sparring ring.
Dropping her pack with the supply of water bottles against a wall, she slipped out of her shoes and skipped across the cold, metallic floors as she headed for one of the practice mats. The room wasn't currently set up for any of her usual acrobatic practice, so she decided to start with some warm-ups while she waited.
A few minutes of stretches and other exercises, Taylor stepped back to the edge of the mat and bowed before moving forward, sliding into one of the stances they had drilled into her as she started running through one of the practice katas she'd been instructed on. She started with a slow, steady pace, working on the simpler things. Basics, of a defensive grappling style they had either found or constructed for her. After she was confidant of her start, she exploded into a faster paced kata, running through several high impact routines before returning to the slower ones and then settling into alternating between them, waiting for her instructor to arrive.
Not for the first time, she thought on how strange it was that, even though she was unbelievably durable and stupidly strong, running through all this training still ended up developing her muscle tone and increasing her physical definition. There wasn't any noticeable benefit or increase to her strength, but it did at least help with her movement and reactions. And maybe, just a little bit, her self-confidence. She couldn't deny that looking good, at least in her opinion, felt good.
She brought her kata to a close and then took a deep breath, glancing toward the punching bag and weighing whether she had time to start on that or not when the doors swung open to reveal the PRT's combat instructor.
Amelia Cold moved across the room with a grace that Taylor was still trying to gain. She was better now than when she had started, but the woman still made her feel woefully inadequate. Blonde hair pinned up in a bun and held in place by a pair of hair-sticks, there were other things about her that made Taylor feel inadequate as the woman slipped her shoes off, bowed and stepped onto the mats in a flawlessly smooth movement.
"Taylor," she said, inclining her head slightly.
"Amelia," Taylor returned the gesture, then snapped a hand up to turn aside a strike aimed at her face.
"Better," Amelia said. "You're finally making progress at that becoming second nature. However…" She advanced, launching a series of attacks that Taylor countered, when a punch abruptly turned into a throw and Taylor found herself landing flat on her back.
"You missed an opportunity to latch on and use it as a point to subdue with," Amelia said, staring down at her. "You're effectively invulnerable and should take advantage of that fact."
Taylor grimaced and twisted her legs, kipping up in an easy movement. "Understood."
"We'll run through your usual routine, then focus on turning the deflections into grapples later today," Amelia said. "You've enough strength that once you have a grip on someone, they won't be able to escape."
"And if I'm facing multiple opponents?" Taylor asked with a wry grin as she slowly moved through the techniques that comprised this routine.
Amelia shrugged. "Incapacitate and move on. You're experienced enough with your strength now not to damage someone unduly." Her eyes flicked in the direction of the doors as a group of yawning Wards began to filter in. "Keep working on your form with the new equipment and slowly increase your speed. I'll be back." She walked away, idly flicking something resting on her belt, and something else springing up in her place.
Taylor stared at it for a moment, blinking. Something new? It was vaguely human shaped, though a bit polygonal, and entirely one color, a faintly golden yellow. Its sudden appearance gave her the impression of a hologram or some kind of projection. Shrugging, she moved forward and threw a probing punch at it's head.
It brought its hands up in a block, awkwardly stopping the punch she had thrown at normal human strength. The block wasn't one she recognized and judging from the way it stood, she thought it was around the level of a random gang member with no particular training. Taylor moved back, curious to see what it did and the projection or whatever it was advanced. Apparently, it could follow a simple fight, she decided.
"It's something Dragon developed," Amelia called out, looking over from where Taylor could see her. "It should pick up the pace as you do. Start slow though, we're still putting it through it's paces." Taylor nodded and turned aside a punch, taking note that she could feel the impact, minor as it was. Definitely hardlight then? Or something with substance. There was no telling what sort of thing Dragon had cooked up.
Taylor followed Amelia's directions, slowly amping up her pace and the complexity of her moves. After a while, she glanced toward where the instructor was going over something with the Wards, which included, surprisingly, a sullen looking Shadow Stalker.
Perfect. She's busy with them. Taylor took a deep breath and then began to draw on her power more, raising her upper limit quickly as her speed and strength skyrocketed. Time to see how much this projection could handle. Another series of exchanges and when it made its next move to attack, she switched from the softer style she had been using into something harder.
She slid out of the way of a punch aimed at her head, and locked her hand around it's wrist. She pulled it in close, hooking a foot around its ankle as she followed through with the textbook takedown. Taylor flowed seamlessly into the next part, driving the figure down onto the mat on what would have been its face. The construct landed with an audible smack. Had it been a human, they would likely be knocked unconscious from the amount of force she had used.
Or at least, in a lot of pain. She was sure that had it been a person, she would have dislocated that arm.
Instead, she lost her grip as it's outline blurred and then fizzed away with an electrical crackle, leaving her with nothing to hold onto as it vanished. Without ceremony, it popped back into existence on the other side of the mat, taking up that same basic stance it had before.
"Huh," she said, rising into a standing position as well. This time, the projection didn't wait for her to attack, moving forward as soon as she was on her feet. Its attacks were improved now, forcing her to expend more attention to keeping it at bay. Actual effort had to be put into avoiding or blocking its attacks, ineffective as they were, and it wasn't leaving easy openings like before.
"Alright," she said, baring her teeth in a feral grin. "Let's see what this thing can really do." She picked up the pace even more and a few minutes later, she landed a solid hit that shattered the projection into shards of golden light that slowly disappeared. Straightening, she looked around, expecting it to reform.
When it did not, she looked around and saw that the Wards were all staring in her direction, with Amelia looking on from where she had been working with Vista. Taylor smiled and raised a hand to Vista, who grinned and waved before settling back to wait for Amelia to focus on her again.
"Nicely done," Amelia said. "Since you've finished that, could I trouble you to demonstrate a few basic throws for the others while I help Vista with her kata?"
Glancing toward the other Wards, then back to Amelia, Taylor nodded slowly. "Sure." She crossed over to where they had been doing warm-ups before stopping to stare at her. "Hullo, Dean. Chris, Dennis, how're you today?"
"Usual," Dennis said with a grin. "Ready for getting pounded into the dirt!"
"Loser," Sophia snorted. "Not even going to try?"
Taylor crossed her arms and cleared her throat before an argument could break out. "Actually, Dennis, you can sit and observe for right now. Sophia, you're my demonstration partner right now."
"You're serious?" Sophia asked, looking wary but eager at the same time. Taylor let a small smile play across her lips and inwardly smirked as the other Wards winced, recognizing the look. Sophia, however, only had attention for her at the moment.
"Absolutely," Taylor said. "Wouldn't have said it otherwise." The girl rose slowly and moved up to stand opposite Taylor.
"Powers allowed?" she asked, stretching quickly to get ready.
"If you want," Taylor told her with a shrug. "Just demonstrating a few moves, so I don't see the point, but knock yourself out." She wasn't entirely sure how her own powers would help against someone who could more or less phase through objects, but was curious to see what the result would be.
Here's hoping this won't be a big mistake. Taylor nodded at Sophia. "Try to hit me."
"Try to?" Sophia asked, looking annoyed. "And even if I do, what will it do?"
"Not the point," Taylor said, sliding into a simple stance, one hand extended before her, like she was about to beckon the other girl over. The other arm slid behind her back. "Go ahead, try and hit me, hard as you can." She trailed off at the end, an almost uncaring lilt to her voice that the other girl picked up on.
Sophia's eyes narrowed and she took up a stance as well. "Fine." Taylor did not have to wait long as the other girl rushed forward. She was faster than Taylor had thought she would be. The patrol the other night hadn't given any real opportunity to test that out due to the other girl's attitude. But, she might as well have been moving in slow motion as Taylor moved to turn aside the punch. There was a moment of resistance as the other girl faded out into a vaguely humanoid shadow, like she couldn't quite touch her, or like trying to grip something smooth that wanted to flow out of your hands, like silk.
Then she was stepping into her guard, seizing part of what might have been her shirt and hooking one leg behind Sophia's and bringing her down with an impact that seemed to ring in her ears. The shadow became Sophia again, the foul-tempered Ward lying there, stunned for a moment before she shifted into her phased state and quickly rolling away as she recovered.
"Apologies for interrupting," a voice said, as Sophia took up her place opposite of her again, before they could have another exchange. "I have a message for Nike." Taylor turned to look at the PRT agent standing just off the mat, failing to notice him beforehand.
"What's up?" Taylor asked, moving off the mat to stand in front of the agent, who looked a bit overwhelmed. Probably still fairly new.
"I don't know exactly," he said apologetically. "But you're to report to the Rig as soon as possible. There's a transport waiting."
Taylor sighed, looking toward Sophia. "Looks like we'll have to postpone. Maybe next time."
"That's it?" Dennis protested, looking disgruntled. "I thought I'd avoid being a punching dummy, but instead you get her worked up and now ditch us so we have to deal with her?"
Taylor looked in his direction. "Sorry, Dennis. Duty calls. Anyway. Maybe get Vista to play dodgeball with her."
"Dodgeball?" Sophia asked suspiciously, glancing toward Vista. "This isn't elementary school. She'll probably cry when I hit her the first time."
Vista was glaring at Sophia, having caught that bit and said something in response as Taylor walked away and Dennis said something to add fuel to the fire. Taylor headed for her bag and picked it up, hearing the buzzing of her phone as she did so.
Amelia: I will get you for this. Grinning, Taylor glanced toward the instructor, who was putting her phone away and giving her an exasperated look as she moved to mitigate the growing argument. Saluting, Taylor shouldered her bag and left the gym, the messenger following after her.
The ride out to the rig was much more sedate as she wasn't feeling any need to show off and the entrance they were going to wasn't the one that civilians used for tours. The sun was beginning to rise past the clouds that were dispersing slowly and Taylor simply let herself enjoy the sun, trailing a hand out and feeling the spray of water as they crossed toward the Protectorate's headquarters.
The transport slowed, skimming into the shadow of the Rig and pulling up alongside the stairs that lead up and inside. Taylor hopped out easily onto the platform and thanked the pilot before starting up the stairs.
I wonder what this is about. The thought sent a line of cold down her back as she considered any number of things that could interrupt her morning training. She reached the top and punched in her passcode, then went through the checkpoint inside. One of the PRT who operated this checkpoint nodded to her and started down the hall, clearly expecting her to follow.
It didn't take Taylor long to realize they were heading toward one of the meeting rooms and she frowned, wondering what this was about once more. She looked at the PRT officer just ahead of her, but he didn't give her any clues.
It was apparently important enough that they had called her in, and only her. Maybe there was a new Protectorate transfer they wanted to her met? What other reason could they want her to…
Wait.
She blinked as a spark of realization hit her. They weren't. They wouldn't. It was just the other day, they couldn't have made it already, could they? The officer stepped into a meeting room and she heard voices for a moment, muffled and indistinct before he stepped back out.
"You can go ahead, they're ready for you," he said, stepping out of the way. Swallowing the kernel of dread lodged in her throat, Taylor pushed the door open, wishing they had given her time to get cleaned up if they were going to spring this on her now like she suspected.
The meeting room was one of the larger ones, and sitting around the table at the end opposite her was an assortment of faces that she was used to seeing in costume more often than not. Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Assault, Triumph.
They were all dressed fairly casually, except for Armsmaster, who appeared to be wearing a stripped down version of his usual armor, working on some project or another on a tablet computer he was holding. Already feeling she was going to regret it, she stepped into the room, the door closing behind her as the three Protectorate capes and senior Ward locked eyes on her.
"Taylor," Armsmaster said first. "Glad you could make it on such short notice. We apologize for disrupting your morning practice, however, this is more important.."
"It's fine," Taylor said, feeling her stomach churn slightly. "Is this about…?"
"The Wards leadership, yes," Triumph finished.
"Oh," Taylor said, moving to one of the chairs and dropping into it. "But you aren't transferring up for another couple of months, I thought…"
"There may be some changes within the local Protectorate as well," Armsmaster said, "After consideration we believe that it would be more efficient in the long term if we prepared for these changes early, and so we decided to finalize who will be taking Triumph's place to lead the Wards. He'll be moving up with us over the next few weeks, and his replacement will unofficially take over the Wards.
"And that would be…." Taylor said hesitantly, feeling she already knew the answer.
"You." Armsmaster finished for her. "Congratulations Taylor. You'll be assuming his responsibilities unofficially. The official transfer will occur at the usual time, but you'll hopefully be comfortably seated as leader of the Wards at that point."
"Sir," Taylor began, swallowing heavily. "Is this a good idea? I don't have the best relationship with the Wards, because of all my duties and always working with the transfers…"
"Taylor," Miss Militia said in interruption. "You're effectively Triumph's second and whether or not you are close friends with them, we feel that the other Wards do respect you."
"Honestly," Triumph added. "I don't think there's a better choice. If I could have gotten it approved, I'd have turned leadership over to you sooner. You'll do well for them, I know it."
"Regardless," Armsmaster said, voice firm. "The decision is made. Your primary contact with the Protectorate from here on out will be Assault."
Taylor blinked. "But… isn't it usually the Protectorate's second in command that the Wards leader goes to with any issues or requests?"
There was a moment of silence, in which the three shared a look. Ultimately, Armsmaster nodded. "Normally, you would be correct. However, there is extenuating circumstances. Understand, this doesn't leave the room," Armsmaster said, staring at her seriously. "Miss Militia may be relocating soon, to take lead of her own Protectorate squad. Should that happen, Assault will be taking her place. You'll have the necessary paperwork outlining everything delivered soon. Triumph will fill you in as well."
Taylor fell back against the chair, stunned. "What." Aegis, and now Miss Militia?
"It isn't entirely settled," Miss Militia added. "It had only come up recently, and as a possibility. So if things play out differently, you'll be back to working with me."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Assault said lazily. "More time I can spend annoying Puppy and not having to deal with a bunch of kids. No offense, Taylor." Taylor rolled her eyes and threw a weak grin in his direction.
"There's more to go over, but," Armsmaster began, his attention settling exclusively on her. "I know you have misgivings about this and I want to know how you feel on the matter. Is this something you want to do? If you truly don't feel you're fit for the position, we can make other arrangements."
Taylor exhaled slowly, thinking the matter over. Did she want to? It had been a rumor for a long time, which she knew had load to some of the friction and distance between her and the Wards. But to be their leader? Did she want that? Was she even capable of doing that?
Yes.
"With all due respect, sir, I had this discussion with Triumph when he advised me of this possibility," she said. "I appreciate the sentiment of offering a choice, but we know that isn't true. And… I want to do this."
The three Protectorate members exchanged a look and it was Assault that spoke. "I'll send you an email and let you know when is a good time to meet. You'll also get to tag along with me on a security detail tomorrow. Some parahuman performer or other. You should have an email waiting on that already though."
"The paperwork will be waiting when you stop by your quarters on-base," Armsmaster said.
"I'll go take a look now," Taylor said. "If you don't need me for anything else?" No one said anything and she took advantage and quickly left the room. Leader of the Wards? So soon? Rory's chat the other day had been pushed to the back of her mind, but now, with this meeting.
She barely noticed anyone as she made her way to her room and keyed in the code for entry. A moment later, the door closed behind her and she stared at the neat stack of paperwork at her desk.
Sighing, Taylor crossed the room and sat down, beginning to look the papers over.
"This… hah…" Sophia panted, trying to climb out of the space she had found herself trapped on, only to end up at the bottom when she thought she was about to climb out. "This isn't… ah… doesn't prove anything."
"It proves you're a loser," an angry voice said and she looked up to see the youngest Ward sitting on a bench, almost looking bored if it were not for the glare being directed her way. "Oh, what was it you said? Who is the little bitch now?"
"Language!" Dean called, though he looked amused at the entire scene.
"Oh piss off, Dean," she replied. "It's been nothing but attitude since they dumped her on us and even getting slammed by Nike hasn't knocked any sense into her. She should learn her place."
Sophia's jaw set and she phased, intending to pass through the surface she was trapped it. It would hurt, but it would get her out of this and then she would-
"That didn't work the last five times, what makes you think it will now?" Vista mocked as she emerged from the wall back at her starting point. "You're only going where I want you to til you say you're sorry and mean it!"
"I am not apologizing for shit," Sophia snarled. "Not to her and certainly not to a snot-nosed brat like you."
Vista's expression darkened. "Enjoy the fall."
"Whaaaaaaa-" Sophia's voice trailed off as she began falling, appearing out of a spot in the air and falling towards where she had been, only to appear in the air again.
"Um, isn't that a bit much?" Chris asked. "I'm sure she didn't mean what she said…"
Vista glared at him. "All she's done is talk trash about my friend and none of you have done anything about it!"
"Except me!" Dennis called out.
"Except Dennis," she amended. "And I'm tired of it. I've been here longer than any of you!"
"Missy," Dean said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "You're right. You have, but you're still a kid an-."
"We're all kids, dumbass," she snorted. "She's the only one who acts like an adult. And all of you give her shit for it!"
"Well, let's face it," Chris interrupted. "She isn't really a Ward, is she?"
"What? Of course she is!" Vista protested.
"No, he kind of has a point," Dennis added quietly. "She's the face of the Wards, for the most part, but does she spend any real time with us? It's either off with the Protectorate, like today, or off with the Scabs when they come in and leave us basically cooling our heels."
"And really, what are we supposed to do? It's not like we even matter," Chris said. "None of us really get to patrol with her much, if at all. She's always off by herself on solo patrols. Why do we not get those?"
"We got to do something once, you know, not be glorified attachments," Dean said, then frowned. "Also, she's getting away."
Vista glanced toward where Sophia was pulling herself free of the loop of twisted space, as it was beginning to dissolve without her active attention. She almost reset it and then shrugged, warping the space to put the other girl near the doors. "Get out of my sight." Sophia stiffened but elected to say nothing as she left the room.
"That was kind of harsh," Dennis told her.
"She's a bitch," Vista said bitterly. "And we're not talking about her. We're talking about Taylor."
"Yeah, and? We barely know her, and she's been here almost as long as you," Chris said. "We don't not like her, but that's because you can't like someone you don't know. Hell, Shadow Stalker's patrol the other night is the first time one of us has even patrolled with her in over a month. She's either alone doing something, or training, or breaking in one of the scabs, as Dennis calls them."
"We've been thinking about this for a while," Dean admitted quietly. "Especially after Carlos's decision."
"I've heard the rumors," Chris added. "I've even seen a few things when I was poking around in the systems. Word is they're gonna pass him over for Wards leader when Triumph trades up. So, he's thinking about bailing. He requested the paperwork for transferring."
"I talked to him yesterday," Dennis said. "He's turning the paperwork in this week."
Vista blinked. "What… why?"
Dean shrugged. "This won't sound good, and I'm sorry, but he's probably tired of standing in her shadow. I know how he feels, to be honest."
The other two boys made noises of agreement and she glanced between them before turning on her heel and taking two steps to the door from the mat. "You're all jerks!"
The lobby of the apartment complex was quiet as she came in, having finished a patrol and submitted her report and was now looking forward to relaxing for the rest of the night with a good book.
"Evening, Tay," the security guard said. "Good to see you in. Everything quiet tonight?"
"Isn't it always?" Taylor asked wistfully. "I spend more time wishing I had a book than actually doing anything, most nights."
"Try a PRT stakeout, and you'll see you're at least lucky to be moving," the guard said, shaking his head. "That reminds me, you had someone stop in looking for you earlier," he said as he flipped through some papers. "She looked pretty upset. Not sure if she ever came back down, and I haven't had the chance to make my rounds yet."
Taylor tilted her head thoughtfully. "She? Huh. Well, only people I know who might have a key could let themselves in, so I'll check. Have a good night!" Taylor headed for the stairs, preferring to take them over the elevator. The trip up to the third floor passed without seeing anyone and she unlocked her room quietly.
Her hand froze on the lightswitch, the light entering the room from the hall revealing the sleeping form on her couch. Vista lay there, curled up with the dried traces of what Taylor thought were tears on her face.
Closing the door quietly, Taylor moved to the closet in the dark and retrieved a blanket, gently draping it over the younger girl. "Well, that answers the question of 'who' at least." She said as she observed the younger ward taking up her couch. "Take it easy, Missy. We'll talk in the morning."
The other girl shifted and made a disgruntled noise, but did not stir as Taylor went to her desk, turning the monitor so that its light would not disturb her friend and began looking through her email.
Most of the messages were ordinary stuff, just sending off replies about her day, but she smiled at one of them and sent off a quick reply before shutting the monitor off and moving down the hall. A quiet shower later and she settled into bed, falling asleep before her head hit the pillow.
Vista was still asleep when Taylor woke, padding silently out to the living room. Shaking her head, she went into the kitchen area and began preparing breakfast.
"Hm," she said, checking the inside of her refrigerator. "I'll need to go shopping soon. Hope she likes sausage and cheese omelets." She pulled out what she needed and began cooking.
She was folding the second omelet over when a grumbling sound drew her attention and she saw an arm stretch above the top of the couch. "Morning!"
"Your couch sucks to sleep on," Vista said sourly, slowly sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. "Omelets?"
"I tossed some biscuits in the oven too. They should be done soon," Taylor said. "And given you didn't go to the little twin in the back of the apartment, it couldn't have been that uncomfortable."
"That thing barely qualifies as a bed and it sucks to sleep on even more," she retorted, pushing aside the blanket that Taylor had left on her the night before. "You could have woken me up."
"It was late," Taylor shrugged, plating the second omelet and switching off the stove. "You looked comfy where you were. You're lucky as it is I fired off a message for the PRT to pass on that you were here."
Vista stood and started toward the bathroom. "Would've been alright," she said in a half-mutter. "They wouldn't have minded."
Taylor glanced in her direction and frowned, but didn't say anything as she heard the door close to the bathroom. She was silent for a moment, before she sighed and turned back to the stove. She wanted to help, had tried even. But there was only so much she could do until Vista asked her to. It was an unspoken rule that unless invited, you didn't poke around another cape's life.
The biscuits came out of the oven a moment later and she transferred them to a basket and sat them on the table with some butter before carrying the two plates over. Taylor filled two glasses with orange juice and was sitting down when Vista returned and took the seat opposite her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Taylor asked a short time later, with both plates nearly empty. "I can tell something upset you."
"Bunch of jerks," her friend muttered, poking at a piece of sausage that had been ignored. "After you left…"
Taylor smiled slightly. "The boys started bad mouthing me?"
Vista looked up, blinking at her. "You know?"
"That they don't exactly like me? Yeah," she admitted. "It's not their fault on that front. I've got some responsibility in that, too."
"It isn't your fault you have responsibilities," Vista protested. "You won the power roulette, so what? They just want to be dicks because you're more popular than they are." She stabbed the sausage angrily as she spoke.
"I could have taken more time away from that to get to know them better," Taylor told her. "It's one thing to not have the opportunity, another to just not make opportunities."
Vista dropped her fork on the plate and pointed. "I may be younger, but I was here first! And I remember how it was at first, before they got here. They're just giant jerks because they weren't here to see you before all this happened!"
"It isn't their fault for that, though," Taylor replied. "And since, I've thrown myself totally into that. Let's face it. Vicky's efforts notwithstanding, I don't have much of a life outside of being Nike."
"You and I get along, so why can't they?" Vista pressed.
"We've known each other the longest, well, the two of us and Rory," she countered. "It's just the three of us left and the others all came in later. The other Brockton Wards all transferred to different teams. Like I said, just the three of us and Rory's about to-"
"About to what?" Vista asked.
Taylor sighed. "Well, we know his birthday's coming up, so it isn't a huge secret there. He's trading up to the Protectorate. The meeting I got pulled out for was about that. I'll be taking over when he joins the adults. I know it isn-"
Whatever else might have been intended to say, Taylor fell silent as she found Vista taking a step out of her chair to be right beside her, hugging her. "Oh gosh, you're going to be leader! That's awesome!"
"Yeah," Taylor admitted after returning the hug. "They offered and I accepted. And I guess it is awesome but it does mean a lot more work. I'm not sure how everything is going to work now, with the transfer program and all. It will probably be spaced out further. Either way, I've got lots more work ahead. An uphill battle, especially with the rest of my team."
"You'll be awesome, I know it!" Vista said, moving back around to her side of the table in a half-step. "Those jerk heads wil-"
"They're coming to take me away, ha-ha," Taylor gave an apologetic look to Vista as her phone began ringing, repeating the same ringtone over and over again that Assault had somehow programmed it to play for his calls assailing her ears. She didn't know how he'd managed it and Dragon could reset it. Taylor suspected that she wouldn't do so actually, that the Tinker had probably helped him somehow because she found it funny.
"One mo'," she said with a sigh, tapping the screen and holding the phone up to her ear. "Yes?"
"Good morning, sunshine!" Assault's overly cheerful voice sounded. "It's eight o'clock in the morning and I thought you should have breakfast with us this morning."
"I just finished breakfast, Assault," she said, rolling her eyes and smiling at Vista as she broke out in giggles. "I won't say no to some morning tea, though."
"You and your tea," he grumbled. "Fine, that works too. Civies, but have your uniform with you. Did you do your homework on today's assignment?"
"Something about running guard duty. Parahuman performer. An illusionist or something? Typical PR department stuff, I gathered. If they were going to assign us to one of those, it should have been for Canary, not some magician I've never heard of."
"You need to get out more," Assault said brightly. "Ok! My new plan! Get Nike to learn about non-work things! Quick's amazing and really been impressing with his shows!"
"I don't have time for that," Taylor replied. "I have- hey!"
"Hi, Assault!" Vista said, snatching the phone from her. "She'll be happy to go! You're doing guard duty on his show today? Can you get me his autograph?"
"Uh, sure. I can probably wing that. We'll have to talk to him at some point to coordinate, I'm sure…"
Taylor took the phone back and held one arm out, keeping the other girl at bay with a single finger pressed to her forehead. "Since I've been volunteered for this, I assume my schedule for today is wrecked? Why do I think this is going to be a theme with you?"
"Don't know what you're implying. I'm the soul of respo- Ow, not the face, Puppy!" Taylor stared at the phone as the line dropped and then shook her head.
Vista finally gave up trying to push forward and backed up, crossing her arms and glaring. "So, breakfast and now you're ditching me?"
"It's Assault, what can you do?" Taylor asked. "If I don't, he'll probably show up with shaving cream bombs or something equally absurd."
"Probably," Vista said with a frown before brightening. "You're really going to be security for Jacob the Quick?"
"Jacob the Quick?" Taylor asked. "Is that his stage name? It sounds pretty dumb."
"He's awesome!" Vista protested. "He was in China for one show and made the Great Wall disappear."
"A, it was probably just something with mirrors, and B, how did he not get snatched up by the Yangban? The CUI isn't exactly the friendliest space for capes."
Vista shrugged. "Dunno how he get in or out, but his dvd of the whole trip was pretty amazing! Wonder what he's planning for the Bay?"
"Some show down near the waterfront, at the outdoor amphitheatre," Taylor shrugged. "Open to all. Going to be a pain for keeping an eye on everyone." She frowned and went over to where she had left her backpack, drawing out the relevant paperwork she had brought home.
"Yeah, open to all. Not charging, but donations are appreciated," Taylor said as she looked at the flyer. "Nothing on what he's planning to do beyond how it will astound everyone."
"Well, you should go and have fun!" Vista insisted. "I wish I could go, but patrols today."
"Probably going to be boring," Taylor shrugged then grinned. "I'll make sure to get you your autograph. Assault will probably be too wired on sugar to remember." She stood and started clearing the table, then froze.
"What is it?" Vista asked, moving to help.
"I'm going to be in hell," she said. "I'm basically going to be babysitting Assault today. And I just know he'll get wired on sugar or caffeine."
Vista blinked and looked horrified. "I am so so sorry."
Taylor shrugged again. "Oh well. It won't be that bad, I hope." She gathered up the rest of the plates that Vista hadn't gotten and started toward the kitchen, loading the dishwasher quickly.
"I'll finish this," Vista said, gently pushing her out of the way. "You go do whatever future Wards leaders have to do to get ready for their day."
"Fine, fine," Taylor said, turning towards the hallway. "But, you do know you can talk to me, right? About anything?"
"I know," Vista said, smiling brightly. "And maybe I will, sometime soon."
"I'll hold you to that," Taylor told her before heading toward the bathroom so she could get ready.
"You do realize that you could risk your ID if you're going to be walking around with me, right?" Taylor asked, rolling her eyes at the man sitting across from her. "I'm pretty recognizable even with the suggestions that PR made for when I'm out of costume."
"No one will pay me any attention if I did," he shrugged. "They'll be too busy wanting your autograph."
"Don't remind me about that," Taylor grimaced, thinking of an outing where she had gotten swarmed by people wanting autographs. "I still think Glenn set that up, but I can't prove it."
"That guy," Ethan shook his head. "He looks a clown, but getting one over him is hard."
"So, what is our plan for this thing today?" She asked, taking a sip from the cup in her hand. "I mean, you obviously can't run security detail in your civies."
"I'm observation and support," he said, spreading a series of pictures across the table in the meeting room that they were using. "Our backup will include a squad of PRT agents. There isn't any expectation that violence will break out and the client doesn't expect any trouble either, however, PR wants to make a good impression."
"And if there is trouble, it's just us and some PRT agents? What if it's more than we can handle?"
"If there's something that you can't handle, then we're all screwed and I'll be calling for the sirens," he retorted.
Taylor made a rude gesture at him. "I can't be everywhere, Ethan. Two or three people playing it smart can make it impossible for me to do anything. They've tried it before, and There's going to be a lot of people there. Lots of potential hostages, and a Cape to account for."
He didn't say anything for a long moment, then leaned back in his chair. "Ok, new plan. We've got some time to kill and I have some scenarios I want you to puzzle over."
Taylor blinked, slightly stunned by the sudden turn of unusual events. "Oh? Shouldn't we be getting set up for security detail?"
Ethan waved a hand. "That's later. We have time." He reached down and sat a case on the table, flipping it open. The lid kept her from seeing the contents, but he pushed the paperwork to one side and laid out a map, then an assortment of miniature figurines.
"Does Battery know you collect… are those PRT figurines? And Protectorate? Is that one of me?"
He grinned. "I even have the limited edition."
"This is disturbing beyond words," Taylor told him blankly.
"The limited edition one is worth a lot, too," he said with a grin. "I'm expecting the value to increase by about thirty percent when you lose the training wheels. I can sell it then and be set for life."
"So, here's the deal," he went on as Taylor stared in disbelief, trying to form a reply, placing the miniature of her on her side of the table and began sorting the others on his side. "The PRT has been suborned and you are assaulting this area to liberate someone from their cruel grasp. For convenience's sake, we'll say it's the PRT building which you're already familiar with, so you know what you are heading into.." He pushed over some papers. "We'll say that the expected response time is this," He said as he jotted down a random number. Taylor noticed that it was a fairly small one. "And you already have an idea of their pattern of response. Your goal is to break through their perimeter and extract the prisoner."
"You mean hostage," she said.
"Sure, let's go with that," he said. "What's your plan?"
Taylor stared at the table and the figures there for a moment. "Is this really how we are going to prepare for the security detail today? Playing with miniatures?"
"Yup," he said, drawing out the last syllable. "I'm Wards Liaison until further notice, remember. So, what's your plan?"
Taylor sighed. "I'm invincible, so I bull rush them and extract the hostage."
"They're prepared for a frontal assault and you find yourself rooted to the spot by containment foam sprayers. Remember, they've been suborned. You are the enemy now. Any and all tactics the PRT employs can be used against you. Try again."
"Containment foam can't hold me for long, you realize?" She asked in irritation.
"Long enough for them to remove your target and reinforcements to arrive. And you said yourself, a numbers game can work against you if they're smart. You want to get in, get out before that can happen." Ethan countered with a grin. "Can't just smash your way through this."
"I don't smash my way through everything!"
"Isn't that your whole power?" He asked reasonably. "Let me see, how many times did you break something? The spat at Fifteenth and Marina with the Empire?"
"Hookwolf broke that wall with his head!"
"You and ABB, round one?"
"Lung broke that street pole on his own head! I had nothing to do with that."
"Riiight," Ethan drawled. "Before you came along, all the villains had a habit of breaking things with their head already. Anyway. The assignment. Plans. Let me hear them."
Taylor sighed and looked at the map, taking note of the figures he had laid out and their positions. "Well, first I…"
"I still say that is completely unfair," Nike insisted, crossing her arms as she stood with Assault, looking over the slowly growing crowd that was filtering into the amphitheatre. The PRT had taken up positions and were helping direct the flow of traffic at the positions she had instructed. Assault had, as he had promised, delegated authority to her, leaving himself in a support and observation position. "You had a counter for everything I tried to do! You even cheated! They got there before the response time!"
He shrugged. "Can't help it if I am just that good. One day, my apprentice, such skill will be yours."
"Uh-huh," she replied with a disbelieving snort before looking around the area. "Do you really think we'll see any trouble today?"
"Probably not," Assault admitted before tilting his head toward where a casually dressed man was was busy speaking with the stagehands, apparently disagreeing with them over how everything was being set up. Standing beside him was an arabic woman whose hand he held. "But even though the Empire's kept a low profile since you settled in, I can't imagine them pleased about that. Kaiser likely won't do anything, but if some overeager low-ranking members were encouraged to disrupt things, I could see that."
"Probably not, though," he went on as they watched the stagehands take direction from the couple, while occasionally giving them bemused looks. "Too high a chance of acquiring attention they don't want. More likely for someone smaller to hit it, do a smash and grab on the ticket booth or something."
"It's open to everyone, no tickets," Nike said with a grin, watching as the couple headed backstage, the woman apparently cajoling her companion to leave the stage crew alone. "Did you even read the briefing?"
Assault shrugged. "I'm just observing and seconding you. That's outside my duties."
"Keep a watch here, then," she told him. "I'm going to make a sweep of the block, so that my presence is noticed."
"Proactively deterring anyone scoping the place out by making your presence known," Assault said with a nod. "I approve. I'll keep my line clear so buzz me if you need anything."
"Be back in ten or so," she said with a wave, heading toward the amphitheatre's entryways. Too many of them, if she was honest. The number of PRT they had on hand was barely enough to cover each avenue of approach and that was if she countered herself and Assault.
A few people waved and called out greetings that she returned with a smile, stopping to take pictures briefly here or there while keeping an eye out for any signs that someone might attempt to disrupt this event.
She kicked a rock idly, sighing as she watched it bounce along before coming to rest against a pair of shoes. A pair of shoes that were occupied by a girl who was right around her own age. She was wearing a blue dress, and holding, of all things, a single red balloon as she scanned the area, looking irritated.
Her eyes fell on Nike and widened as she came closer. "Everything alright, miss?"
"You're… you're Nike, aren't you?" The blonde girl asked.
"That's me," she confirmed. "Figured I'd see if you were okay, standing off by yourself."
"Wow, I'm really talking to Nike, that's cool," the girl said, sounding starstruck for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm okay. More or less. My... well, my uncle and his girlfriend were supposed to come hang out with me before the show. Looks like they bailed or are too busy making googly-eyes at each other. Bleh."
"Need any help finding them?" Nike asked, giving another glance around. No one was displaying any signs of causing trouble, by her survey and she knew it was more likely that something would happen during the show than before it, if trouble did happen.
"Really?" Her voice rose a notch. "Would you really? That'd be great and I could rub it in his face that I got to meet you before he did. We're visiting and he hoped he could get to talk to you."
NIke smiled easily. "Sure, do you know where we can find them?"
"Probably backstage making out or something," she made a face. "He's supposed to take a break before the show, but noooo, has to make sure everything is all perfect and forgot about me. Sometime, he's a jerk."
Nike smiled a bit and held out her hand in greeting. "I'm Nike, as you guessed. At least when I'm in costume."
"Oooh, that's right, you're like that New Wave bunch, right? Do you know Panacea? She's kind of my idol."
"We go to school together, yeah," Nike answered as they started walking toward the amphitheatre. "Your uncle is a stagehand, I guess?"
The girl's expression twisted a bit oddly for a moment before she smiled. "Yeah, something like that. Manager, actually, but he might as well be, for how much he sticks his nose in when they're setting up."
"I know the type," she said, thinking of some of the times when Armsmaster got into his everything must be perfect periods.
"Anyway," the girl said, surprising her by grabbing her hand and pulling her along. Nike blinked, surprised at how strong the girl was for her size. "I know he's gonna freak when he sees you! I think he was wanting your autograph or something."
She let herself be pulled along, bemused. "I didn't catch your name…?"
"Oh, I'm Riley! Pleased to meet you!"
Something in her neck popped and she sighed in satisfaction at the release of tension as she bounced on her heels, anxious for the morning's training session to begin. It was still fairly early in the morning, but she seldom slept in anymore. It had become habit now, to be up early. Though even now, the first light of day continued to brighten and grow stronger as she started across the street toward the PRT complex and the several buildings that made it up.
The central building held the administrative officers, where the current director and staff operated from, with several buildings attached. One for the armory and vehicles, connected to it was also the underground sections where the cells were. Her destination this morning, though, was the gym. Mostly used by the Troopers and the more physical minded office workers, there were also some equipment and facilities for Parahuman use. Primarily, the Wards to be precise.
The approach was uneventful as it always was, the front doors sliding open and she waved toward the agent manning the security desk for the early morning shift as she crossed the lobby, pointedly ignoring the poster of her hanging near the gift store, and other distractions. "Morning, Terry!"
"Taylor," the imposing man said. Even sitting down, he was still a well-built figure. "Heading to the gym?"
"Yeah, that time again," she said with a grin, holding up her badge for him to scan before setting her hand on one scanner and leaning in for the other, making sure not to blink as the light ran over her eye.
"What do you plan to break this time?" Terry asked as the scanner gave back whatever readings they used to confirm that she was really her and not someone pretending..
"No plans to break anything," Taylor snorted, wondering what they used to verify that she was authentic. As far as she was are, scans didn't show anything beyond surface stuff. They had Vicky's sister touch her once and all she could tell was that she appeared to be a perfectly normal human.
Of course, given the odd ways some powers worked, that was hardly the weirdest thing. She'd looked at the reports on Carlos' biology once and it had left her wishing she hadn't. Being able to adapt other parts of your body to fill in if one fails… was just weird. He could hear with his toes if he needed to, or something equally bizarre.
Then again, I am hardly one to talk, she thought, waving at Terry as she headed toward the gym, taking several shortcuts through the maze that was the first floor of the PRT building.. When she started fighting, she was apparently utterly invulnerable. Nothing they had found yet could hurt her and she didn't appear to need anything. Air, food, water, warmth, any cravings just fell away. The air part was particularly important as it let her clash with Leviathan and there was no fear of drowning.
Fighting him underwater was still a pain, as the Endbringer's mobility reached absurd levels, so it wasn't something she liked to do if she could help it. Behemoth, at least, was easier to fight in that regard as she could stay on him the whole time. She kept moving down the halls, occasionally greeting a passing office worker. As her thoughts trailed off to the only Endbringer hadn't fought, or rather, hadn't been allowed to fight yet.
The Simurgh.
She understood why, her lack of proper flight and the possibility of becoming one of the Endbringer's time bombs wasn't something they wanted to risk. There didn't seem to be many Master or Stranger powers that worked on her, but it wasn't something they wanted to risk anyway. Shaking her head, she turned down one last hall, sighting the unmarked double doors of the PRT Gym.
She sighed as she took in the sight of the empty, expansive room. Training equipment strategically placed a generous distance from the center sparring ring.
Dropping her pack with the supply of water bottles against a wall, she slipped out of her shoes and skipped across the cold, metallic floors as she headed for one of the practice mats. The room wasn't currently set up for any of her usual acrobatic practice, so she decided to start with some warm-ups while she waited.
A few minutes of stretches and other exercises, Taylor stepped back to the edge of the mat and bowed before moving forward, sliding into one of the stances they had drilled into her as she started running through one of the practice katas she'd been instructed on. She started with a slow, steady pace, working on the simpler things. Basics, of a defensive grappling style they had either found or constructed for her. After she was confidant of her start, she exploded into a faster paced kata, running through several high impact routines before returning to the slower ones and then settling into alternating between them, waiting for her instructor to arrive.
Not for the first time, she thought on how strange it was that, even though she was unbelievably durable and stupidly strong, running through all this training still ended up developing her muscle tone and increasing her physical definition. There wasn't any noticeable benefit or increase to her strength, but it did at least help with her movement and reactions. And maybe, just a little bit, her self-confidence. She couldn't deny that looking good, at least in her opinion, felt good.
She brought her kata to a close and then took a deep breath, glancing toward the punching bag and weighing whether she had time to start on that or not when the doors swung open to reveal the PRT's combat instructor.
Amelia Cold moved across the room with a grace that Taylor was still trying to gain. She was better now than when she had started, but the woman still made her feel woefully inadequate. Blonde hair pinned up in a bun and held in place by a pair of hair-sticks, there were other things about her that made Taylor feel inadequate as the woman slipped her shoes off, bowed and stepped onto the mats in a flawlessly smooth movement.
"Taylor," she said, inclining her head slightly.
"Amelia," Taylor returned the gesture, then snapped a hand up to turn aside a strike aimed at her face.
"Better," Amelia said. "You're finally making progress at that becoming second nature. However…" She advanced, launching a series of attacks that Taylor countered, when a punch abruptly turned into a throw and Taylor found herself landing flat on her back.
"You missed an opportunity to latch on and use it as a point to subdue with," Amelia said, staring down at her. "You're effectively invulnerable and should take advantage of that fact."
Taylor grimaced and twisted her legs, kipping up in an easy movement. "Understood."
"We'll run through your usual routine, then focus on turning the deflections into grapples later today," Amelia said. "You've enough strength that once you have a grip on someone, they won't be able to escape."
"And if I'm facing multiple opponents?" Taylor asked with a wry grin as she slowly moved through the techniques that comprised this routine.
Amelia shrugged. "Incapacitate and move on. You're experienced enough with your strength now not to damage someone unduly." Her eyes flicked in the direction of the doors as a group of yawning Wards began to filter in. "Keep working on your form with the new equipment and slowly increase your speed. I'll be back." She walked away, idly flicking something resting on her belt, and something else springing up in her place.
Taylor stared at it for a moment, blinking. Something new? It was vaguely human shaped, though a bit polygonal, and entirely one color, a faintly golden yellow. Its sudden appearance gave her the impression of a hologram or some kind of projection. Shrugging, she moved forward and threw a probing punch at it's head.
It brought its hands up in a block, awkwardly stopping the punch she had thrown at normal human strength. The block wasn't one she recognized and judging from the way it stood, she thought it was around the level of a random gang member with no particular training. Taylor moved back, curious to see what it did and the projection or whatever it was advanced. Apparently, it could follow a simple fight, she decided.
"It's something Dragon developed," Amelia called out, looking over from where Taylor could see her. "It should pick up the pace as you do. Start slow though, we're still putting it through it's paces." Taylor nodded and turned aside a punch, taking note that she could feel the impact, minor as it was. Definitely hardlight then? Or something with substance. There was no telling what sort of thing Dragon had cooked up.
Taylor followed Amelia's directions, slowly amping up her pace and the complexity of her moves. After a while, she glanced toward where the instructor was going over something with the Wards, which included, surprisingly, a sullen looking Shadow Stalker.
Perfect. She's busy with them. Taylor took a deep breath and then began to draw on her power more, raising her upper limit quickly as her speed and strength skyrocketed. Time to see how much this projection could handle. Another series of exchanges and when it made its next move to attack, she switched from the softer style she had been using into something harder.
She slid out of the way of a punch aimed at her head, and locked her hand around it's wrist. She pulled it in close, hooking a foot around its ankle as she followed through with the textbook takedown. Taylor flowed seamlessly into the next part, driving the figure down onto the mat on what would have been its face. The construct landed with an audible smack. Had it been a human, they would likely be knocked unconscious from the amount of force she had used.
Or at least, in a lot of pain. She was sure that had it been a person, she would have dislocated that arm.
Instead, she lost her grip as it's outline blurred and then fizzed away with an electrical crackle, leaving her with nothing to hold onto as it vanished. Without ceremony, it popped back into existence on the other side of the mat, taking up that same basic stance it had before.
"Huh," she said, rising into a standing position as well. This time, the projection didn't wait for her to attack, moving forward as soon as she was on her feet. Its attacks were improved now, forcing her to expend more attention to keeping it at bay. Actual effort had to be put into avoiding or blocking its attacks, ineffective as they were, and it wasn't leaving easy openings like before.
"Alright," she said, baring her teeth in a feral grin. "Let's see what this thing can really do." She picked up the pace even more and a few minutes later, she landed a solid hit that shattered the projection into shards of golden light that slowly disappeared. Straightening, she looked around, expecting it to reform.
When it did not, she looked around and saw that the Wards were all staring in her direction, with Amelia looking on from where she had been working with Vista. Taylor smiled and raised a hand to Vista, who grinned and waved before settling back to wait for Amelia to focus on her again.
"Nicely done," Amelia said. "Since you've finished that, could I trouble you to demonstrate a few basic throws for the others while I help Vista with her kata?"
Glancing toward the other Wards, then back to Amelia, Taylor nodded slowly. "Sure." She crossed over to where they had been doing warm-ups before stopping to stare at her. "Hullo, Dean. Chris, Dennis, how're you today?"
"Usual," Dennis said with a grin. "Ready for getting pounded into the dirt!"
"Loser," Sophia snorted. "Not even going to try?"
Taylor crossed her arms and cleared her throat before an argument could break out. "Actually, Dennis, you can sit and observe for right now. Sophia, you're my demonstration partner right now."
"You're serious?" Sophia asked, looking wary but eager at the same time. Taylor let a small smile play across her lips and inwardly smirked as the other Wards winced, recognizing the look. Sophia, however, only had attention for her at the moment.
"Absolutely," Taylor said. "Wouldn't have said it otherwise." The girl rose slowly and moved up to stand opposite Taylor.
"Powers allowed?" she asked, stretching quickly to get ready.
"If you want," Taylor told her with a shrug. "Just demonstrating a few moves, so I don't see the point, but knock yourself out." She wasn't entirely sure how her own powers would help against someone who could more or less phase through objects, but was curious to see what the result would be.
Here's hoping this won't be a big mistake. Taylor nodded at Sophia. "Try to hit me."
"Try to?" Sophia asked, looking annoyed. "And even if I do, what will it do?"
"Not the point," Taylor said, sliding into a simple stance, one hand extended before her, like she was about to beckon the other girl over. The other arm slid behind her back. "Go ahead, try and hit me, hard as you can." She trailed off at the end, an almost uncaring lilt to her voice that the other girl picked up on.
Sophia's eyes narrowed and she took up a stance as well. "Fine." Taylor did not have to wait long as the other girl rushed forward. She was faster than Taylor had thought she would be. The patrol the other night hadn't given any real opportunity to test that out due to the other girl's attitude. But, she might as well have been moving in slow motion as Taylor moved to turn aside the punch. There was a moment of resistance as the other girl faded out into a vaguely humanoid shadow, like she couldn't quite touch her, or like trying to grip something smooth that wanted to flow out of your hands, like silk.
Then she was stepping into her guard, seizing part of what might have been her shirt and hooking one leg behind Sophia's and bringing her down with an impact that seemed to ring in her ears. The shadow became Sophia again, the foul-tempered Ward lying there, stunned for a moment before she shifted into her phased state and quickly rolling away as she recovered.
"Apologies for interrupting," a voice said, as Sophia took up her place opposite of her again, before they could have another exchange. "I have a message for Nike." Taylor turned to look at the PRT agent standing just off the mat, failing to notice him beforehand.
"What's up?" Taylor asked, moving off the mat to stand in front of the agent, who looked a bit overwhelmed. Probably still fairly new.
"I don't know exactly," he said apologetically. "But you're to report to the Rig as soon as possible. There's a transport waiting."
Taylor sighed, looking toward Sophia. "Looks like we'll have to postpone. Maybe next time."
"That's it?" Dennis protested, looking disgruntled. "I thought I'd avoid being a punching dummy, but instead you get her worked up and now ditch us so we have to deal with her?"
Taylor looked in his direction. "Sorry, Dennis. Duty calls. Anyway. Maybe get Vista to play dodgeball with her."
"Dodgeball?" Sophia asked suspiciously, glancing toward Vista. "This isn't elementary school. She'll probably cry when I hit her the first time."
Vista was glaring at Sophia, having caught that bit and said something in response as Taylor walked away and Dennis said something to add fuel to the fire. Taylor headed for her bag and picked it up, hearing the buzzing of her phone as she did so.
Amelia: I will get you for this. Grinning, Taylor glanced toward the instructor, who was putting her phone away and giving her an exasperated look as she moved to mitigate the growing argument. Saluting, Taylor shouldered her bag and left the gym, the messenger following after her.
***
The ride out to the rig was much more sedate as she wasn't feeling any need to show off and the entrance they were going to wasn't the one that civilians used for tours. The sun was beginning to rise past the clouds that were dispersing slowly and Taylor simply let herself enjoy the sun, trailing a hand out and feeling the spray of water as they crossed toward the Protectorate's headquarters.
The transport slowed, skimming into the shadow of the Rig and pulling up alongside the stairs that lead up and inside. Taylor hopped out easily onto the platform and thanked the pilot before starting up the stairs.
I wonder what this is about. The thought sent a line of cold down her back as she considered any number of things that could interrupt her morning training. She reached the top and punched in her passcode, then went through the checkpoint inside. One of the PRT who operated this checkpoint nodded to her and started down the hall, clearly expecting her to follow.
It didn't take Taylor long to realize they were heading toward one of the meeting rooms and she frowned, wondering what this was about once more. She looked at the PRT officer just ahead of her, but he didn't give her any clues.
It was apparently important enough that they had called her in, and only her. Maybe there was a new Protectorate transfer they wanted to her met? What other reason could they want her to…
Wait.
She blinked as a spark of realization hit her. They weren't. They wouldn't. It was just the other day, they couldn't have made it already, could they? The officer stepped into a meeting room and she heard voices for a moment, muffled and indistinct before he stepped back out.
"You can go ahead, they're ready for you," he said, stepping out of the way. Swallowing the kernel of dread lodged in her throat, Taylor pushed the door open, wishing they had given her time to get cleaned up if they were going to spring this on her now like she suspected.
The meeting room was one of the larger ones, and sitting around the table at the end opposite her was an assortment of faces that she was used to seeing in costume more often than not. Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Assault, Triumph.
They were all dressed fairly casually, except for Armsmaster, who appeared to be wearing a stripped down version of his usual armor, working on some project or another on a tablet computer he was holding. Already feeling she was going to regret it, she stepped into the room, the door closing behind her as the three Protectorate capes and senior Ward locked eyes on her.
"Taylor," Armsmaster said first. "Glad you could make it on such short notice. We apologize for disrupting your morning practice, however, this is more important.."
"It's fine," Taylor said, feeling her stomach churn slightly. "Is this about…?"
"The Wards leadership, yes," Triumph finished.
"Oh," Taylor said, moving to one of the chairs and dropping into it. "But you aren't transferring up for another couple of months, I thought…"
"There may be some changes within the local Protectorate as well," Armsmaster said, "After consideration we believe that it would be more efficient in the long term if we prepared for these changes early, and so we decided to finalize who will be taking Triumph's place to lead the Wards. He'll be moving up with us over the next few weeks, and his replacement will unofficially take over the Wards.
"And that would be…." Taylor said hesitantly, feeling she already knew the answer.
"You." Armsmaster finished for her. "Congratulations Taylor. You'll be assuming his responsibilities unofficially. The official transfer will occur at the usual time, but you'll hopefully be comfortably seated as leader of the Wards at that point."
"Sir," Taylor began, swallowing heavily. "Is this a good idea? I don't have the best relationship with the Wards, because of all my duties and always working with the transfers…"
"Taylor," Miss Militia said in interruption. "You're effectively Triumph's second and whether or not you are close friends with them, we feel that the other Wards do respect you."
"Honestly," Triumph added. "I don't think there's a better choice. If I could have gotten it approved, I'd have turned leadership over to you sooner. You'll do well for them, I know it."
"Regardless," Armsmaster said, voice firm. "The decision is made. Your primary contact with the Protectorate from here on out will be Assault."
Taylor blinked. "But… isn't it usually the Protectorate's second in command that the Wards leader goes to with any issues or requests?"
There was a moment of silence, in which the three shared a look. Ultimately, Armsmaster nodded. "Normally, you would be correct. However, there is extenuating circumstances. Understand, this doesn't leave the room," Armsmaster said, staring at her seriously. "Miss Militia may be relocating soon, to take lead of her own Protectorate squad. Should that happen, Assault will be taking her place. You'll have the necessary paperwork outlining everything delivered soon. Triumph will fill you in as well."
Taylor fell back against the chair, stunned. "What." Aegis, and now Miss Militia?
"It isn't entirely settled," Miss Militia added. "It had only come up recently, and as a possibility. So if things play out differently, you'll be back to working with me."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Assault said lazily. "More time I can spend annoying Puppy and not having to deal with a bunch of kids. No offense, Taylor." Taylor rolled her eyes and threw a weak grin in his direction.
"There's more to go over, but," Armsmaster began, his attention settling exclusively on her. "I know you have misgivings about this and I want to know how you feel on the matter. Is this something you want to do? If you truly don't feel you're fit for the position, we can make other arrangements."
Taylor exhaled slowly, thinking the matter over. Did she want to? It had been a rumor for a long time, which she knew had load to some of the friction and distance between her and the Wards. But to be their leader? Did she want that? Was she even capable of doing that?
Yes.
"With all due respect, sir, I had this discussion with Triumph when he advised me of this possibility," she said. "I appreciate the sentiment of offering a choice, but we know that isn't true. And… I want to do this."
The three Protectorate members exchanged a look and it was Assault that spoke. "I'll send you an email and let you know when is a good time to meet. You'll also get to tag along with me on a security detail tomorrow. Some parahuman performer or other. You should have an email waiting on that already though."
"The paperwork will be waiting when you stop by your quarters on-base," Armsmaster said.
"I'll go take a look now," Taylor said. "If you don't need me for anything else?" No one said anything and she took advantage and quickly left the room. Leader of the Wards? So soon? Rory's chat the other day had been pushed to the back of her mind, but now, with this meeting.
She barely noticed anyone as she made her way to her room and keyed in the code for entry. A moment later, the door closed behind her and she stared at the neat stack of paperwork at her desk.
Sighing, Taylor crossed the room and sat down, beginning to look the papers over.
***
"This… hah…" Sophia panted, trying to climb out of the space she had found herself trapped on, only to end up at the bottom when she thought she was about to climb out. "This isn't… ah… doesn't prove anything."
"It proves you're a loser," an angry voice said and she looked up to see the youngest Ward sitting on a bench, almost looking bored if it were not for the glare being directed her way. "Oh, what was it you said? Who is the little bitch now?"
"Language!" Dean called, though he looked amused at the entire scene.
"Oh piss off, Dean," she replied. "It's been nothing but attitude since they dumped her on us and even getting slammed by Nike hasn't knocked any sense into her. She should learn her place."
Sophia's jaw set and she phased, intending to pass through the surface she was trapped it. It would hurt, but it would get her out of this and then she would-
"That didn't work the last five times, what makes you think it will now?" Vista mocked as she emerged from the wall back at her starting point. "You're only going where I want you to til you say you're sorry and mean it!"
"I am not apologizing for shit," Sophia snarled. "Not to her and certainly not to a snot-nosed brat like you."
Vista's expression darkened. "Enjoy the fall."
"Whaaaaaaa-" Sophia's voice trailed off as she began falling, appearing out of a spot in the air and falling towards where she had been, only to appear in the air again.
"Um, isn't that a bit much?" Chris asked. "I'm sure she didn't mean what she said…"
Vista glared at him. "All she's done is talk trash about my friend and none of you have done anything about it!"
"Except me!" Dennis called out.
"Except Dennis," she amended. "And I'm tired of it. I've been here longer than any of you!"
"Missy," Dean said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "You're right. You have, but you're still a kid an-."
"We're all kids, dumbass," she snorted. "She's the only one who acts like an adult. And all of you give her shit for it!"
"Well, let's face it," Chris interrupted. "She isn't really a Ward, is she?"
"What? Of course she is!" Vista protested.
"No, he kind of has a point," Dennis added quietly. "She's the face of the Wards, for the most part, but does she spend any real time with us? It's either off with the Protectorate, like today, or off with the Scabs when they come in and leave us basically cooling our heels."
"And really, what are we supposed to do? It's not like we even matter," Chris said. "None of us really get to patrol with her much, if at all. She's always off by herself on solo patrols. Why do we not get those?"
"We got to do something once, you know, not be glorified attachments," Dean said, then frowned. "Also, she's getting away."
Vista glanced toward where Sophia was pulling herself free of the loop of twisted space, as it was beginning to dissolve without her active attention. She almost reset it and then shrugged, warping the space to put the other girl near the doors. "Get out of my sight." Sophia stiffened but elected to say nothing as she left the room.
"That was kind of harsh," Dennis told her.
"She's a bitch," Vista said bitterly. "And we're not talking about her. We're talking about Taylor."
"Yeah, and? We barely know her, and she's been here almost as long as you," Chris said. "We don't not like her, but that's because you can't like someone you don't know. Hell, Shadow Stalker's patrol the other night is the first time one of us has even patrolled with her in over a month. She's either alone doing something, or training, or breaking in one of the scabs, as Dennis calls them."
"We've been thinking about this for a while," Dean admitted quietly. "Especially after Carlos's decision."
"I've heard the rumors," Chris added. "I've even seen a few things when I was poking around in the systems. Word is they're gonna pass him over for Wards leader when Triumph trades up. So, he's thinking about bailing. He requested the paperwork for transferring."
"I talked to him yesterday," Dennis said. "He's turning the paperwork in this week."
Vista blinked. "What… why?"
Dean shrugged. "This won't sound good, and I'm sorry, but he's probably tired of standing in her shadow. I know how he feels, to be honest."
The other two boys made noises of agreement and she glanced between them before turning on her heel and taking two steps to the door from the mat. "You're all jerks!"
***
The lobby of the apartment complex was quiet as she came in, having finished a patrol and submitted her report and was now looking forward to relaxing for the rest of the night with a good book.
"Evening, Tay," the security guard said. "Good to see you in. Everything quiet tonight?"
"Isn't it always?" Taylor asked wistfully. "I spend more time wishing I had a book than actually doing anything, most nights."
"Try a PRT stakeout, and you'll see you're at least lucky to be moving," the guard said, shaking his head. "That reminds me, you had someone stop in looking for you earlier," he said as he flipped through some papers. "She looked pretty upset. Not sure if she ever came back down, and I haven't had the chance to make my rounds yet."
Taylor tilted her head thoughtfully. "She? Huh. Well, only people I know who might have a key could let themselves in, so I'll check. Have a good night!" Taylor headed for the stairs, preferring to take them over the elevator. The trip up to the third floor passed without seeing anyone and she unlocked her room quietly.
Her hand froze on the lightswitch, the light entering the room from the hall revealing the sleeping form on her couch. Vista lay there, curled up with the dried traces of what Taylor thought were tears on her face.
Closing the door quietly, Taylor moved to the closet in the dark and retrieved a blanket, gently draping it over the younger girl. "Well, that answers the question of 'who' at least." She said as she observed the younger ward taking up her couch. "Take it easy, Missy. We'll talk in the morning."
The other girl shifted and made a disgruntled noise, but did not stir as Taylor went to her desk, turning the monitor so that its light would not disturb her friend and began looking through her email.
Most of the messages were ordinary stuff, just sending off replies about her day, but she smiled at one of them and sent off a quick reply before shutting the monitor off and moving down the hall. A quiet shower later and she settled into bed, falling asleep before her head hit the pillow.
***
Vista was still asleep when Taylor woke, padding silently out to the living room. Shaking her head, she went into the kitchen area and began preparing breakfast.
"Hm," she said, checking the inside of her refrigerator. "I'll need to go shopping soon. Hope she likes sausage and cheese omelets." She pulled out what she needed and began cooking.
She was folding the second omelet over when a grumbling sound drew her attention and she saw an arm stretch above the top of the couch. "Morning!"
"Your couch sucks to sleep on," Vista said sourly, slowly sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. "Omelets?"
"I tossed some biscuits in the oven too. They should be done soon," Taylor said. "And given you didn't go to the little twin in the back of the apartment, it couldn't have been that uncomfortable."
"That thing barely qualifies as a bed and it sucks to sleep on even more," she retorted, pushing aside the blanket that Taylor had left on her the night before. "You could have woken me up."
"It was late," Taylor shrugged, plating the second omelet and switching off the stove. "You looked comfy where you were. You're lucky as it is I fired off a message for the PRT to pass on that you were here."
Vista stood and started toward the bathroom. "Would've been alright," she said in a half-mutter. "They wouldn't have minded."
Taylor glanced in her direction and frowned, but didn't say anything as she heard the door close to the bathroom. She was silent for a moment, before she sighed and turned back to the stove. She wanted to help, had tried even. But there was only so much she could do until Vista asked her to. It was an unspoken rule that unless invited, you didn't poke around another cape's life.
The biscuits came out of the oven a moment later and she transferred them to a basket and sat them on the table with some butter before carrying the two plates over. Taylor filled two glasses with orange juice and was sitting down when Vista returned and took the seat opposite her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Taylor asked a short time later, with both plates nearly empty. "I can tell something upset you."
"Bunch of jerks," her friend muttered, poking at a piece of sausage that had been ignored. "After you left…"
Taylor smiled slightly. "The boys started bad mouthing me?"
Vista looked up, blinking at her. "You know?"
"That they don't exactly like me? Yeah," she admitted. "It's not their fault on that front. I've got some responsibility in that, too."
"It isn't your fault you have responsibilities," Vista protested. "You won the power roulette, so what? They just want to be dicks because you're more popular than they are." She stabbed the sausage angrily as she spoke.
"I could have taken more time away from that to get to know them better," Taylor told her. "It's one thing to not have the opportunity, another to just not make opportunities."
Vista dropped her fork on the plate and pointed. "I may be younger, but I was here first! And I remember how it was at first, before they got here. They're just giant jerks because they weren't here to see you before all this happened!"
"It isn't their fault for that, though," Taylor replied. "And since, I've thrown myself totally into that. Let's face it. Vicky's efforts notwithstanding, I don't have much of a life outside of being Nike."
"You and I get along, so why can't they?" Vista pressed.
"We've known each other the longest, well, the two of us and Rory," she countered. "It's just the three of us left and the others all came in later. The other Brockton Wards all transferred to different teams. Like I said, just the three of us and Rory's about to-"
"About to what?" Vista asked.
Taylor sighed. "Well, we know his birthday's coming up, so it isn't a huge secret there. He's trading up to the Protectorate. The meeting I got pulled out for was about that. I'll be taking over when he joins the adults. I know it isn-"
Whatever else might have been intended to say, Taylor fell silent as she found Vista taking a step out of her chair to be right beside her, hugging her. "Oh gosh, you're going to be leader! That's awesome!"
"Yeah," Taylor admitted after returning the hug. "They offered and I accepted. And I guess it is awesome but it does mean a lot more work. I'm not sure how everything is going to work now, with the transfer program and all. It will probably be spaced out further. Either way, I've got lots more work ahead. An uphill battle, especially with the rest of my team."
"You'll be awesome, I know it!" Vista said, moving back around to her side of the table in a half-step. "Those jerk heads wil-"
"They're coming to take me away, ha-ha," Taylor gave an apologetic look to Vista as her phone began ringing, repeating the same ringtone over and over again that Assault had somehow programmed it to play for his calls assailing her ears. She didn't know how he'd managed it and Dragon could reset it. Taylor suspected that she wouldn't do so actually, that the Tinker had probably helped him somehow because she found it funny.
"One mo'," she said with a sigh, tapping the screen and holding the phone up to her ear. "Yes?"
"Good morning, sunshine!" Assault's overly cheerful voice sounded. "It's eight o'clock in the morning and I thought you should have breakfast with us this morning."
"I just finished breakfast, Assault," she said, rolling her eyes and smiling at Vista as she broke out in giggles. "I won't say no to some morning tea, though."
"You and your tea," he grumbled. "Fine, that works too. Civies, but have your uniform with you. Did you do your homework on today's assignment?"
"Something about running guard duty. Parahuman performer. An illusionist or something? Typical PR department stuff, I gathered. If they were going to assign us to one of those, it should have been for Canary, not some magician I've never heard of."
"You need to get out more," Assault said brightly. "Ok! My new plan! Get Nike to learn about non-work things! Quick's amazing and really been impressing with his shows!"
"I don't have time for that," Taylor replied. "I have- hey!"
"Hi, Assault!" Vista said, snatching the phone from her. "She'll be happy to go! You're doing guard duty on his show today? Can you get me his autograph?"
"Uh, sure. I can probably wing that. We'll have to talk to him at some point to coordinate, I'm sure…"
Taylor took the phone back and held one arm out, keeping the other girl at bay with a single finger pressed to her forehead. "Since I've been volunteered for this, I assume my schedule for today is wrecked? Why do I think this is going to be a theme with you?"
"Don't know what you're implying. I'm the soul of respo- Ow, not the face, Puppy!" Taylor stared at the phone as the line dropped and then shook her head.
Vista finally gave up trying to push forward and backed up, crossing her arms and glaring. "So, breakfast and now you're ditching me?"
"It's Assault, what can you do?" Taylor asked. "If I don't, he'll probably show up with shaving cream bombs or something equally absurd."
"Probably," Vista said with a frown before brightening. "You're really going to be security for Jacob the Quick?"
"Jacob the Quick?" Taylor asked. "Is that his stage name? It sounds pretty dumb."
"He's awesome!" Vista protested. "He was in China for one show and made the Great Wall disappear."
"A, it was probably just something with mirrors, and B, how did he not get snatched up by the Yangban? The CUI isn't exactly the friendliest space for capes."
Vista shrugged. "Dunno how he get in or out, but his dvd of the whole trip was pretty amazing! Wonder what he's planning for the Bay?"
"Some show down near the waterfront, at the outdoor amphitheatre," Taylor shrugged. "Open to all. Going to be a pain for keeping an eye on everyone." She frowned and went over to where she had left her backpack, drawing out the relevant paperwork she had brought home.
"Yeah, open to all. Not charging, but donations are appreciated," Taylor said as she looked at the flyer. "Nothing on what he's planning to do beyond how it will astound everyone."
"Well, you should go and have fun!" Vista insisted. "I wish I could go, but patrols today."
"Probably going to be boring," Taylor shrugged then grinned. "I'll make sure to get you your autograph. Assault will probably be too wired on sugar to remember." She stood and started clearing the table, then froze.
"What is it?" Vista asked, moving to help.
"I'm going to be in hell," she said. "I'm basically going to be babysitting Assault today. And I just know he'll get wired on sugar or caffeine."
Vista blinked and looked horrified. "I am so so sorry."
Taylor shrugged again. "Oh well. It won't be that bad, I hope." She gathered up the rest of the plates that Vista hadn't gotten and started toward the kitchen, loading the dishwasher quickly.
"I'll finish this," Vista said, gently pushing her out of the way. "You go do whatever future Wards leaders have to do to get ready for their day."
"Fine, fine," Taylor said, turning towards the hallway. "But, you do know you can talk to me, right? About anything?"
"I know," Vista said, smiling brightly. "And maybe I will, sometime soon."
"I'll hold you to that," Taylor told her before heading toward the bathroom so she could get ready.
***
"You do realize that you could risk your ID if you're going to be walking around with me, right?" Taylor asked, rolling her eyes at the man sitting across from her. "I'm pretty recognizable even with the suggestions that PR made for when I'm out of costume."
"No one will pay me any attention if I did," he shrugged. "They'll be too busy wanting your autograph."
"Don't remind me about that," Taylor grimaced, thinking of an outing where she had gotten swarmed by people wanting autographs. "I still think Glenn set that up, but I can't prove it."
"That guy," Ethan shook his head. "He looks a clown, but getting one over him is hard."
"So, what is our plan for this thing today?" She asked, taking a sip from the cup in her hand. "I mean, you obviously can't run security detail in your civies."
"I'm observation and support," he said, spreading a series of pictures across the table in the meeting room that they were using. "Our backup will include a squad of PRT agents. There isn't any expectation that violence will break out and the client doesn't expect any trouble either, however, PR wants to make a good impression."
"And if there is trouble, it's just us and some PRT agents? What if it's more than we can handle?"
"If there's something that you can't handle, then we're all screwed and I'll be calling for the sirens," he retorted.
Taylor made a rude gesture at him. "I can't be everywhere, Ethan. Two or three people playing it smart can make it impossible for me to do anything. They've tried it before, and There's going to be a lot of people there. Lots of potential hostages, and a Cape to account for."
He didn't say anything for a long moment, then leaned back in his chair. "Ok, new plan. We've got some time to kill and I have some scenarios I want you to puzzle over."
Taylor blinked, slightly stunned by the sudden turn of unusual events. "Oh? Shouldn't we be getting set up for security detail?"
Ethan waved a hand. "That's later. We have time." He reached down and sat a case on the table, flipping it open. The lid kept her from seeing the contents, but he pushed the paperwork to one side and laid out a map, then an assortment of miniature figurines.
"Does Battery know you collect… are those PRT figurines? And Protectorate? Is that one of me?"
He grinned. "I even have the limited edition."
"This is disturbing beyond words," Taylor told him blankly.
"The limited edition one is worth a lot, too," he said with a grin. "I'm expecting the value to increase by about thirty percent when you lose the training wheels. I can sell it then and be set for life."
"So, here's the deal," he went on as Taylor stared in disbelief, trying to form a reply, placing the miniature of her on her side of the table and began sorting the others on his side. "The PRT has been suborned and you are assaulting this area to liberate someone from their cruel grasp. For convenience's sake, we'll say it's the PRT building which you're already familiar with, so you know what you are heading into.." He pushed over some papers. "We'll say that the expected response time is this," He said as he jotted down a random number. Taylor noticed that it was a fairly small one. "And you already have an idea of their pattern of response. Your goal is to break through their perimeter and extract the prisoner."
"You mean hostage," she said.
"Sure, let's go with that," he said. "What's your plan?"
Taylor stared at the table and the figures there for a moment. "Is this really how we are going to prepare for the security detail today? Playing with miniatures?"
"Yup," he said, drawing out the last syllable. "I'm Wards Liaison until further notice, remember. So, what's your plan?"
Taylor sighed. "I'm invincible, so I bull rush them and extract the hostage."
"They're prepared for a frontal assault and you find yourself rooted to the spot by containment foam sprayers. Remember, they've been suborned. You are the enemy now. Any and all tactics the PRT employs can be used against you. Try again."
"Containment foam can't hold me for long, you realize?" She asked in irritation.
"Long enough for them to remove your target and reinforcements to arrive. And you said yourself, a numbers game can work against you if they're smart. You want to get in, get out before that can happen." Ethan countered with a grin. "Can't just smash your way through this."
"I don't smash my way through everything!"
"Isn't that your whole power?" He asked reasonably. "Let me see, how many times did you break something? The spat at Fifteenth and Marina with the Empire?"
"Hookwolf broke that wall with his head!"
"You and ABB, round one?"
"Lung broke that street pole on his own head! I had nothing to do with that."
"Riiight," Ethan drawled. "Before you came along, all the villains had a habit of breaking things with their head already. Anyway. The assignment. Plans. Let me hear them."
Taylor sighed and looked at the map, taking note of the figures he had laid out and their positions. "Well, first I…"
***
"I still say that is completely unfair," Nike insisted, crossing her arms as she stood with Assault, looking over the slowly growing crowd that was filtering into the amphitheatre. The PRT had taken up positions and were helping direct the flow of traffic at the positions she had instructed. Assault had, as he had promised, delegated authority to her, leaving himself in a support and observation position. "You had a counter for everything I tried to do! You even cheated! They got there before the response time!"
He shrugged. "Can't help it if I am just that good. One day, my apprentice, such skill will be yours."
"Uh-huh," she replied with a disbelieving snort before looking around the area. "Do you really think we'll see any trouble today?"
"Probably not," Assault admitted before tilting his head toward where a casually dressed man was was busy speaking with the stagehands, apparently disagreeing with them over how everything was being set up. Standing beside him was an arabic woman whose hand he held. "But even though the Empire's kept a low profile since you settled in, I can't imagine them pleased about that. Kaiser likely won't do anything, but if some overeager low-ranking members were encouraged to disrupt things, I could see that."
"Probably not, though," he went on as they watched the stagehands take direction from the couple, while occasionally giving them bemused looks. "Too high a chance of acquiring attention they don't want. More likely for someone smaller to hit it, do a smash and grab on the ticket booth or something."
"It's open to everyone, no tickets," Nike said with a grin, watching as the couple headed backstage, the woman apparently cajoling her companion to leave the stage crew alone. "Did you even read the briefing?"
Assault shrugged. "I'm just observing and seconding you. That's outside my duties."
"Keep a watch here, then," she told him. "I'm going to make a sweep of the block, so that my presence is noticed."
"Proactively deterring anyone scoping the place out by making your presence known," Assault said with a nod. "I approve. I'll keep my line clear so buzz me if you need anything."
"Be back in ten or so," she said with a wave, heading toward the amphitheatre's entryways. Too many of them, if she was honest. The number of PRT they had on hand was barely enough to cover each avenue of approach and that was if she countered herself and Assault.
A few people waved and called out greetings that she returned with a smile, stopping to take pictures briefly here or there while keeping an eye out for any signs that someone might attempt to disrupt this event.
She kicked a rock idly, sighing as she watched it bounce along before coming to rest against a pair of shoes. A pair of shoes that were occupied by a girl who was right around her own age. She was wearing a blue dress, and holding, of all things, a single red balloon as she scanned the area, looking irritated.
Her eyes fell on Nike and widened as she came closer. "Everything alright, miss?"
"You're… you're Nike, aren't you?" The blonde girl asked.
"That's me," she confirmed. "Figured I'd see if you were okay, standing off by yourself."
"Wow, I'm really talking to Nike, that's cool," the girl said, sounding starstruck for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm okay. More or less. My... well, my uncle and his girlfriend were supposed to come hang out with me before the show. Looks like they bailed or are too busy making googly-eyes at each other. Bleh."
"Need any help finding them?" Nike asked, giving another glance around. No one was displaying any signs of causing trouble, by her survey and she knew it was more likely that something would happen during the show than before it, if trouble did happen.
"Really?" Her voice rose a notch. "Would you really? That'd be great and I could rub it in his face that I got to meet you before he did. We're visiting and he hoped he could get to talk to you."
NIke smiled easily. "Sure, do you know where we can find them?"
"Probably backstage making out or something," she made a face. "He's supposed to take a break before the show, but noooo, has to make sure everything is all perfect and forgot about me. Sometime, he's a jerk."
Nike smiled a bit and held out her hand in greeting. "I'm Nike, as you guessed. At least when I'm in costume."
"Oooh, that's right, you're like that New Wave bunch, right? Do you know Panacea? She's kind of my idol."
"We go to school together, yeah," Nike answered as they started walking toward the amphitheatre. "Your uncle is a stagehand, I guess?"
The girl's expression twisted a bit oddly for a moment before she smiled. "Yeah, something like that. Manager, actually, but he might as well be, for how much he sticks his nose in when they're setting up."
"I know the type," she said, thinking of some of the times when Armsmaster got into his everything must be perfect periods.
"Anyway," the girl said, surprising her by grabbing her hand and pulling her along. Nike blinked, surprised at how strong the girl was for her size. "I know he's gonna freak when he sees you! I think he was wanting your autograph or something."
She let herself be pulled along, bemused. "I didn't catch your name…?"
"Oh, I'm Riley! Pleased to meet you!"
Ohshit!
Though if it really is Jack Slash as Jacob, it doesn't quite make sense unless he does some major face-changes.
I guess we'll see. Personally, would rather them NOT be the S9, but then again, I understand they're a pretty easy group to use to add conflict to the story. Gah...
Though if it really is Jack Slash as Jacob, it doesn't quite make sense unless he does some major face-changes.
I guess we'll see. Personally, would rather them NOT be the S9, but then again, I understand they're a pretty easy group to use to add conflict to the story. Gah...
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chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
The Nine as shown in canon are boring. And they were already nuked in Firebird off-camera, so I thought we'd try something different. What that is... well, you'll see.
Khepri14
Thus kindly I scatter...
- Location
- Following the wind
Great. I had my suspicions with the name Jacob, and then my suspicions were further increased by the arabic woman, and then my suspicions were even further increased with the(just so happened to be alone) little blond girl. And then when she said her name was Riley, my suspicions were confirmed. The Nine are in town! And they've managed to fool the PRT into protecting them before they break cover, wreak havoc, and kill everyone. That's gonna be a huge amount of egg on their(the PRT's) face.
Of course, this depends on the crossover/AU not changing their powers and/or MO. And their powers and/or MO changing is quite likely considering the Nine's canon powerset and motivations has been rehashed to death...
Either way, this is not going to end well.
Of course, this depends on the crossover/AU not changing their powers and/or MO. And their powers and/or MO changing is quite likely considering the Nine's canon powerset and motivations has been rehashed to death...
Either way, this is not going to end well.
- Location
- Illinois
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
What? Would I do something horrible?
- Location
- West Michigan
I dislike almost all S9 arcs already, with the only real exceptions being Wake and Weaver Nine (where it was the entire premise) and Firebird. ("But Swift, Firebird didn-" "Exactly.")
Them popping up this early is just kind of 'bleh.'
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OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Hahaha, S9 started a circus and traveled the world bring joy with their act!
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
Next chapter will shed some light on this, but... we have Jacob, Riley and Amira(if someone knows her canon name, I'll change it, but as is). Suffice to say, this isn't a Nine arc.
Butterflies. Butterflies EVERYWHERE.
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
Not far from off. More like: Jacob became a magician/illusionist and spreads joy.
- Location
- West Michigan
Khepri14
Thus kindly I scatter...
- Location
- Following the wind
After all, he just wants to watch the world burn/see the chaos. As for Shatterbird's name, there is not one mentioned(or that I recall) or in the wiki or in the Cast page on the Worm website. So you can use any arabic name for a female really.
Ganurath
Literal Enthusiast
- Location
- A Valid Location
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Canon has her as nobility from Dubai, so whatever you go with should be [Personal Name] bint [Father's Name] bin [Paternal Grandfather's Name] Al Maktoum. Assuming, of course, I understand Arabic naming conventions correctly from a glance at the Wikipedia page of the current Sheikh of Dubai.
The Stormbringer
Worm Fanfic & Crack Connoisseur
- Location
- Spaaaaace~!
Jack, no. Jack, stahp! Do not anger the Nike, Jack! Don't do it! Bad! BAD JACK BAD-OH GOD SHE'S ANGRY!
- Location
- It's a whole new world we live in
I'm not sure what that was trying to say.
Also, you can't spell slaughterhouse without laughter
I'm sensing a pattern here
:lolIs that?...
Oh shit, run!
Thank you for a another chapter. Three things I want to mention though.
I have to admit, I like how Vista interacts with Tailor, trusting her enough to go to her and standing up for her with the rest of the Wards. Although with what you're hinting at about her home life and with what was Vista said about the couch and other bed I do wonder if her staying over is a more than regular thing. Especially since she has a key. Not that I would mind a close relationship between the two. (Yes, I know how some people will read that. No, I did not mean it like that.)
I think you wanted to say "As far as she was aware, scans didn't show anything beyond surface stuff."
Regarding the below, am I correct in that certain people did not believe a teenager would actually notice and understand what options would be allowed to her?
I have to admit, I like how Vista interacts with Tailor, trusting her enough to go to her and standing up for her with the rest of the Wards. Although with what you're hinting at about her home life and with what was Vista said about the couch and other bed I do wonder if her staying over is a more than regular thing. Especially since she has a key. Not that I would mind a close relationship between the two. (Yes, I know how some people will read that. No, I did not mean it like that.)
I think you wanted to say "As far as she was aware, scans didn't show anything beyond surface stuff."
Regarding the below, am I correct in that certain people did not believe a teenager would actually notice and understand what options would be allowed to her?
- Location
- Red Blood on Golden Shield
...
Where is that gif of screaming externaly that I saw the other day?
Where is that gif of screaming externaly that I saw the other day?
