In which Taylor Hebert, bird Tinker, decides to redeem a villain through the power of friendship.
Knight In Gray Armor
- Thread starter YseultNott
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- worm armsmaster taylor hebert
[Complete][AU] Knight In Grey Armor
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Slope 1.1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Taylor should change into her night clothes, go to bed, and try to catch some sleep. It's past three in the morning, and she has school tomorrow. She should at least take off her shoes.
She can't bring herself to move.
She should turn off the lights before Dad notices. She's not sure how she managed to sneak inside without waking him up. But if she does, she will have to stay in the dark, she won't be able to see anyone coming.
There was a man, a villain. He wanted her to come with him.
Taylor didn't. Taylor didn't want to go with him. He didn't take no for an answer.
She looked him in the eyes, she thinks. Hard to tell, with his mask. She looked him in the eyes, and then she couldn't move.
He could have done anything, could have taken her anywhere, and she couldn't have stopped him, because she couldn't move.
He wanted to use her for her power. He wanted her to work for him, to make things for him, and there was nothing she could do to stop him.
He said she would do it, in the end. Work for him, do anything he asked.
Taylor couldn't move, couldn't run, and she knew if she stayed like that long enough, she would break and build anything he wanted for the privilege to blink.
Someone saved her. It was hard to see what happened through her burning eyes, but it was a man, wearing power armor, she thinks.
He saved her, and she ran all the way home.
She can't bring herself to move.
She should turn off the lights before Dad notices. She's not sure how she managed to sneak inside without waking him up. But if she does, she will have to stay in the dark, she won't be able to see anyone coming.
There was a man, a villain. He wanted her to come with him.
Taylor didn't. Taylor didn't want to go with him. He didn't take no for an answer.
She looked him in the eyes, she thinks. Hard to tell, with his mask. She looked him in the eyes, and then she couldn't move.
He could have done anything, could have taken her anywhere, and she couldn't have stopped him, because she couldn't move.
He wanted to use her for her power. He wanted her to work for him, to make things for him, and there was nothing she could do to stop him.
He said she would do it, in the end. Work for him, do anything he asked.
Taylor couldn't move, couldn't run, and she knew if she stayed like that long enough, she would break and build anything he wanted for the privilege to blink.
Someone saved her. It was hard to see what happened through her burning eyes, but it was a man, wearing power armor, she thinks.
He saved her, and she ran all the way home.
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hmm this feels like the opening of a smut fic TBH
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- He/Him
It... Wasn't supposed to. Can you tell me what gives you that impression?
- Location
- USA
I can sort of see it now that randomcringyjoke mentions it. There are a few smut fics (often but not always) featuring Masters like Nice Guy or Valefor that have this sort of dom-sub, controlling storyline. I didn't see it here until they said it, though.
I'm assuming this is Valefor she ran into, saved by Armsmaster?
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
I can guarantee that no sex whatsoever will happen in this fic, including offscreen.
It's not Valefor, but an original cape called Basilisk, who have the power of stopping someone from moving. It can range from not being able to move the pinky toe all the way to the heart or lungs not working. He can only affect one person at a time, and needs to see the person. Eye contact isn't necessary, although he sometimes pretends it is for intimidation.
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- Location
- USA
Yeah, I was pretty sure there wasn't going to be any sex here. That might have been partially why I didn't see it that way till it was pointed out.
Oh, an OC huh? Interesting.
Oh, an OC huh? Interesting.
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- He/Him
Let's just say that Taylor's trigger event is not where this world diverged from canon.
Slope 1.2
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- He/Him
Taylor only wanted to catch a bird.
It wasn't the first time she sneaked out at night to go to the Trainyard. Everything actually valuable has long been taken, but it doesn't mean she can't find useful things there. Scrap metal, parts from old engines, bits of wiring salvaged from long dead utilities. It's not like she has the money to go to a hardware or electronic store.
She needs them. She has ideas dancing in her head, terrible ideas and terrible machines, and she has to make them. She has to. She could help people with them.
She had gotten inside an old passenger train, and was trying to pluck out the springs of one of the seats when through the broken window, she saw a bird swoop down to catch something in the grass growing between the rails.
A barn owl.
Taylor doesn't know how she managed to whip out and aim the Birdcatcher in time, but she did, and the bird fell in the grass.
Taylor went outside to pick up the stunned bird, knelt on the ground and ran her hand through the soft tawny feathers, and then she put it in the side pocket of her backpack.
The Nest was almost done, but it wouldn't work without a living bird.
"I was waiting for you," said a man behind her, and she got up.
The man was wearing a fencing helmet painted to look like the head of an open-mouthed snake.
Basilisk.
A villain.
He said he wanted her to come with him, to work for him, and Taylor didn't want to, and the Birdcatcher might not have been made with humans in mind, but it's still a weapon and it's better than nothing.
She looked him in the eyes, she thinks. Hard to tell, with his mask. She looked him in the eyes, and then she couldn't move.
It wasn't the first time she sneaked out at night to go to the Trainyard. Everything actually valuable has long been taken, but it doesn't mean she can't find useful things there. Scrap metal, parts from old engines, bits of wiring salvaged from long dead utilities. It's not like she has the money to go to a hardware or electronic store.
She needs them. She has ideas dancing in her head, terrible ideas and terrible machines, and she has to make them. She has to. She could help people with them.
She had gotten inside an old passenger train, and was trying to pluck out the springs of one of the seats when through the broken window, she saw a bird swoop down to catch something in the grass growing between the rails.
A barn owl.
Taylor doesn't know how she managed to whip out and aim the Birdcatcher in time, but she did, and the bird fell in the grass.
Taylor went outside to pick up the stunned bird, knelt on the ground and ran her hand through the soft tawny feathers, and then she put it in the side pocket of her backpack.
The Nest was almost done, but it wouldn't work without a living bird.
"I was waiting for you," said a man behind her, and she got up.
The man was wearing a fencing helmet painted to look like the head of an open-mouthed snake.
Basilisk.
A villain.
He said he wanted her to come with him, to work for him, and Taylor didn't want to, and the Birdcatcher might not have been made with humans in mind, but it's still a weapon and it's better than nothing.
She looked him in the eyes, she thinks. Hard to tell, with his mask. She looked him in the eyes, and then she couldn't move.
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Slope 1.3
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The PRT say Taylor should join the Wards.
The PRT has an official website, and a part of it is helpfully dedicated to giving advice to new capes. Since Taylor is underage, most of that advice is to join the Wards as soon as possible, with a list of advantages and a list of all the misfortune that could befall her without their protection.
Dying figures a lot. Permanent injury, too. Since she's a Tinker, she gets a nice forced recruitment bonus.
Taylor thinks about Basilisk asking her to come with him, and not taking no for an answer. She thinks about being helpless, unable to move, and knowing she had lost before the fight could even begin.
Taylor thinks she should join the Wards. She would have funds. Materials. She would be safe.
She won't.
She can't.
A man saved her in the Trainyard. A hero, but not one from the Protectorate. He was wearing power armor, so he must be a Tinker.
Like her.
Maybe they could work together. Watch each other's back.
He saved her, after all.
The PRT has an official website, and a part of it is helpfully dedicated to giving advice to new capes. Since Taylor is underage, most of that advice is to join the Wards as soon as possible, with a list of advantages and a list of all the misfortune that could befall her without their protection.
Dying figures a lot. Permanent injury, too. Since she's a Tinker, she gets a nice forced recruitment bonus.
Taylor thinks about Basilisk asking her to come with him, and not taking no for an answer. She thinks about being helpless, unable to move, and knowing she had lost before the fight could even begin.
Taylor thinks she should join the Wards. She would have funds. Materials. She would be safe.
She won't.
She can't.
A man saved her in the Trainyard. A hero, but not one from the Protectorate. He was wearing power armor, so he must be a Tinker.
Like her.
Maybe they could work together. Watch each other's back.
He saved her, after all.
Slope 1.4
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Try as she might, Taylor doesn't find any reference to the man who saved her on PHO. It's like there isn't any adult Tinker hero operating in Brockton Bay.
Maybe he's a new cape, too. Taylor didn't see much of his fight with Basilisk, her vision blurry from keeping her eyes open for several minutes, but she started to be able to move again before the man who saved her left, and after a few blinks she managed to get a good look at his armor. It didn't have any paint or decorations.
She wants to find him. He saved her. She wants to thank him.
She doesn't even know his name.
Taylor can't call him, or send him an email or use PHO to message him. She doesn't have any of his contact information. Just walking the streets in the hope of running into him is out as well, both inefficient and risky.
Basilisk showed she isn't ready to go out solo yet.
It was harder without access to the Trainyard, but Taylor has managed to finish the Nest by sacrificing her night lamp.
It's done.
She will put Athena in the Nest today.
Maybe he's a new cape, too. Taylor didn't see much of his fight with Basilisk, her vision blurry from keeping her eyes open for several minutes, but she started to be able to move again before the man who saved her left, and after a few blinks she managed to get a good look at his armor. It didn't have any paint or decorations.
She wants to find him. He saved her. She wants to thank him.
She doesn't even know his name.
Taylor can't call him, or send him an email or use PHO to message him. She doesn't have any of his contact information. Just walking the streets in the hope of running into him is out as well, both inefficient and risky.
Basilisk showed she isn't ready to go out solo yet.
It was harder without access to the Trainyard, but Taylor has managed to finish the Nest by sacrificing her night lamp.
It's done.
She will put Athena in the Nest today.
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Slope 1.5
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The Nest is a nice, innocuous name for a terrible thing.
Taylor could have called it something else, like Cage, or maybe Torture Implement, instead of hiding behind an euphemism. But Nest is less likely to scare people off or get her arrested.
She wishes she had the material they use for dissections at Winslow. The scalpels, the bone scissors, the groove directors. Instead, she has scissors and pins salvaged from an old sewing kit, a cutter, and a dinner knife stolen from the kitchen and sharpened as much as she could.
It will have to do.
"I'm sorry, Athena," Taylor says, and she gets to work.
Replacing one of Athena's eye with a camera proves difficult, mostly because of her lack of experience and improvised tools, and the results are far from perfect. The neck of the birds will be stiffened, lacking its original ability to turn 270 degrees, and the unequal weight will impair their flight somewhat.
But it will record things, and bring the film back to her.
Taylor puts Athena in the Nest, and waits for more birds to come out of it.
Taylor could have called it something else, like Cage, or maybe Torture Implement, instead of hiding behind an euphemism. But Nest is less likely to scare people off or get her arrested.
She wishes she had the material they use for dissections at Winslow. The scalpels, the bone scissors, the groove directors. Instead, she has scissors and pins salvaged from an old sewing kit, a cutter, and a dinner knife stolen from the kitchen and sharpened as much as she could.
It will have to do.
"I'm sorry, Athena," Taylor says, and she gets to work.
Replacing one of Athena's eye with a camera proves difficult, mostly because of her lack of experience and improvised tools, and the results are far from perfect. The neck of the birds will be stiffened, lacking its original ability to turn 270 degrees, and the unequal weight will impair their flight somewhat.
But it will record things, and bring the film back to her.
Taylor puts Athena in the Nest, and waits for more birds to come out of it.
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Hecatonchires
Just an H-class cyborg with an octopus brain stem
- Location
- The Gong, NSW, Australia
Nest is 😬🤭
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm sorry, I'm not entirely sure what you mean?
Hecatonchires
Just an H-class cyborg with an octopus brain stem
- Location
- The Gong, NSW, Australia
Damn icons over diff platforms.
😬 is teeth bared grimace
🤭 is mouth covered in shock. SV has added a girlish blush 😔
😬 is teeth bared grimace
🤭 is mouth covered in shock. SV has added a girlish blush 😔
Slope 1.6
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- He/Him
She found him.
The man who saved her.
Taylor found him.
It took her several weeks. Several weeks, where Athena's children swept over the streets of Brockton Bay before bringing footage back to her. Several weeks where she pored over said footage, pinning every appearance of the man on a map of the city.
Given where he got sighted the most, Taylor is fairly sure she knows where he lives, or at least operates from.
It's a group of delerict buildings, where people were tortured and killed by the Slaughterhouse Nine when they came to Brockton Bay. No one wanted to buy them after that, and they were left to slowly rot.
A good choice. Taylor should have thought of something like that, although transportation would still have been a problem.
She found him. Just in time, since Athena looks about to die, but she found him.
She found him.
The man who saved her.
Taylor found him.
It took her several weeks. Several weeks, where Athena's children swept over the streets of Brockton Bay before bringing footage back to her. Several weeks where she pored over said footage, pinning every appearance of the man on a map of the city.
Given where he got sighted the most, Taylor is fairly sure she knows where he lives, or at least operates from.
It's a group of delerict buildings, where people were tortured and killed by the Slaughterhouse Nine when they came to Brockton Bay. No one wanted to buy them after that, and they were left to slowly rot.
A good choice. Taylor should have thought of something like that, although transportation would still have been a problem.
She found him. Just in time, since Athena looks about to die, but she found him.
She found him.
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is the one who saved Taylor a SI or something
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- He/Him
My first instinct is AU Armsmaster. Not much evidence for that though, so we'll see who it is.
Slope 1.7
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- He/Him
Taylor doesn't have much of a costume.
She wishes she had an armor, or knew how to make one, but the closest she can get is an idea for what basically amount to covering herself in live birds.
It doesn't seem like a very good idea.
Instead, she has a cheap owl mask from the dollar store, cargo pants and a safari jacket, the Birdcatcher, and the crude control bracelet for Athena's children she made from a watch she found in the street.
Taylor is pretty sure she looks ridiculous, or at least pathetic, but she doesn't have anything better. The man who saved her saw her facing Basilisk, anyway. She was even more pathetic then.
It will have to do.
Taylor puts on her mask, and goes to meet the man who saved her.
He appears to be angry about it.
She wishes she had an armor, or knew how to make one, but the closest she can get is an idea for what basically amount to covering herself in live birds.
It doesn't seem like a very good idea.
Instead, she has a cheap owl mask from the dollar store, cargo pants and a safari jacket, the Birdcatcher, and the crude control bracelet for Athena's children she made from a watch she found in the street.
Taylor is pretty sure she looks ridiculous, or at least pathetic, but she doesn't have anything better. The man who saved her saw her facing Basilisk, anyway. She was even more pathetic then.
It will have to do.
Taylor puts on her mask, and goes to meet the man who saved her.
He appears to be angry about it.
Feels like armsmaster
- Location
- USA
I thought that too at first, but now I'm leaning towards Trainwreck.
maybe him as well
Hecatonchires
Just an H-class cyborg with an octopus brain stem
- Location
- The Gong, NSW, Australia
Is it the Trainwreck who thinks he's.... an attack helicopter?! 🚁
(old fic)
(old fic)
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- He/Him
It's not Trainwreck
Slope 1.8
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- He/Him
The man has a halberd, and its head is too close to Taylor's throat for comfort.
He's angry. Taylor didn't expect him to be angry.
"Who are you and what do you want?" the man snarls.
Taylor tries not to freeze. Not like the last time she faced down a man in a mask. Hopes he doesn't notice her hand slowly sliding toward the Birdcatcher.
He saved her.
He was the first person in over a year to care enough to help.
She doesn't want him to be an enemy.
"I'm the girl from the Trainyard. The one you saved from Basilisk."
The man relaxes a bit, raises his weapon away from her, but stays on guard.
"The Tinker girl," he says, and then, "What do you want?"
Taylor feels stupid, suddenly. Stupid and pathetic.
"I wanted to thank you," she says. "And I wanted to ask for… For advice."
He's angry. Taylor didn't expect him to be angry.
"Who are you and what do you want?" the man snarls.
Taylor tries not to freeze. Not like the last time she faced down a man in a mask. Hopes he doesn't notice her hand slowly sliding toward the Birdcatcher.
He saved her.
He was the first person in over a year to care enough to help.
She doesn't want him to be an enemy.
"I'm the girl from the Trainyard. The one you saved from Basilisk."
The man relaxes a bit, raises his weapon away from her, but stays on guard.
"The Tinker girl," he says, and then, "What do you want?"
Taylor feels stupid, suddenly. Stupid and pathetic.
"I wanted to thank you," she says. "And I wanted to ask for… For advice."