Zap Rowsdower
Ex-cultist vagrant
- Location
- Bright lights, big city
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yet. There's usually the first few minutes of the game plus maybe one boss battle before the powerup loss.
- Location
- Painting, Peach's Castle
If I had to guess, it's probably more than the village that got quarantined. There's probably a few miles that makes the Quarantine zone, and probably some more victims counting the capes and PRT that were at the scene. Not to mention a few visitors.
Probably closer to 320 at the low end, maybe 400.
Samus has dealt with worse odds.
It is worth noting that it seems to intend the TOWN of Ellisburg, rather than just the village.
I think it's far more likely that the number falls into the majority of the town's population, with the bulk of the land sealed away. It would also explain why Nukes wouldn't be very effective, since many of the monsters are wandering the nature of Nilbog's "kingdom". They could easily hide and remain hidden until the PRT thinks it safe and they attack, unless you completely glass it.
And sorry to say, but dropping a Tsar Bomba isn't in the cards.
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Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
It's not even just that, to be honest. There's also the fact that nuking the town would probably trigger whatever failsafes Nilbog has in place as some sort of revenge for his death. A biotinker like him is perfectly capable of releasing some sort of plague upon the world as a final fuck you to those who dared to try and eliminate his "kingdom."
Restoration 3.1
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Restoration 3.1
Setting up a bank account was difficult to do when either your identity did not exist or you legally were still a minor and needed parental approval for anything like that. Luckily, Adam came across someone calling himself the Number Man that managed to handle creating an account that I could access via my so-called cape identity. He just asked for a small percentage of any profits from bounties that I managed to complete in exchange for keeping track of the money for me. It was an easy exchange to make, and the man was clandestine about it. He also had recommended people to go to in order to establish my identity, should the PRT be unable to provide the necessary paperwork on their end.
I doubted I would need that, but the question became whether I would establish myself as Samus Aran on this Earth, or would I take my old name back? Taylor Hebert was supposed to be a fifteen-year-old girl, nearly sixteen. I was more than a decade older than that. Of course, then the question also became whether I was going to stay here on Earth Bet.
The answer to that would depend at least partially on whether I was able to contain everything that the Simurgh had pulled over from the Federation base or not. As near as I could tell, there were no X Parasites on Earth currently. Gods, I hoped that remained the case, for the planet's sake. It wouldn't likely be possible for me to consume them all. Then there was the Phazon.
Eidolon had managed to get it contained in Canberra, but the Federation had contained it before. Containment inevitably failed, and when combined with what the Space Pirates tried to use it for, along with the first evil clone of me… Was there a Phaeze Bet? Would I need to seek it out and destroy it to neutralize the threat posed by the Phazon here, or would we be able to neutralize the Phazon without locating it?
I doubted the Simurgh would just let me go without a fight, and I wouldn't be able to use a Phazon-powered Omega Cannon on her a second time.
I stared down at my portable terminal, flipping through the old data logs some more. I'd managed to adapt its power cable to use the outlets in Dad's apartment, and I was currently just refreshing myself on what I had faced before. Phazon. Ridley. X Parasites. Zebesians. Though I never saw Ridley on the battlefield, I was confident that I had heard him, but Adam said that he never did. Nor did my suit record the cry I heard.
Still.
Dad walked up behind me as I pulled up the most recent image I had of Ridley, the one of the X-Parasite-infested corpse. I'd killed it, taken its Core X, and integrated it into myself, allowing me to use my Screw Attack once more. Dad let out a low whistle as he looked at the picture.
"What's that, Taylor?" Dad asked. He lightly placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. Whatever he'd gone through at the Ziz fight, he hadn't wanted to talk about it, but since we'd been back, he'd been a bit more touchy-feely. Like he wanted to make sure I was real or something. "Looks like a demented pterodactyl."
"That is what I called Neo-Ridley," I said. "In my debrief that I gave to the Galactic Federation after the destruction of the BSL research station. It was a possessed corpse of a clone of Ridley."
I brought up an image of the Ridley clone I'd faced on the Bottle Ship, and then I brought up a side-by-side of the clone with the final image I had of Ridley on Zebes. I grit my teeth a little, looking at him. There were so many times that I'd thought I had killed him. On Zebes, I truly had. And then the bastard was back again, less than four months later, cloned by the Federation.
"And that's… Ridley there?" Dad asked. He pointed to the second image, the one on Zebes.
I nodded. "Right before I killed him. And that on the left is the clone, right before I killed him." I clenched my right fist, closing my eyes. I could still hear his taunts on Zebes. The bastard hated me as much as I hated him. I brought my left hand up to my father's hand on my shoulder. If Ridley was back, I would not let him steal another parent from me. I would not.
"Taylor," Dad said softly. "You killed someone?"
"I've killed many someones," I said. "Most of them Space Pirates, but not all. Dad, I'm a galactic bounty hunter. Which means that sometimes, I've needed to kill. Many of the bounties I've taken are things that can't be brought back alive."
"Things, not people?" Dad asked.
I shrugged. "About half and half. Ridley was a dead and make sure he's dead bounty. He was too dangerous to the galaxy at large to allow to live, and… I'll admit, I got some personal satisfaction out of his death. His deaths."
I was going to find the new Ridley and introduce him to a fully charged plasma beam. Down his throat if I needed to. He was not going to threaten this world. I knew I had heard him. The only reason to doubt was the lack of record, but… my gut said otherwise. I wouldn't freeze this time either. I'd treat him just like the Kraid I'd faced on ZDR.
"What did he do to you?" Dad asked.
"Ridley has consistently tormented me since I was three years old," I said. "He came to K-2L, a bit after I had learned how to make friends. Old Bird had encouraged the younger me to put myself out there, befriend many things, even if they weren't human. So, I did."
I heard Dad mouth Old Bird's name under his breath. He wasn't as quiet about it as he thought, but I supposed I could translate it for him if needed. The English version of his Chozo name was slightly less respectful, but it worked well enough. Dad shook his head. "So, you tried to befriend Ridley?"
I nodded. "He killed my adoptive parents not long after that. Then killed more parental figures of mine later on in my life. He was the general of the Zebesian Space Pirates, and when I went to Zebes that last time, I killed him for good."
"And the Federation cloned him," Dad said. "And you killed that clone, but then the corpse of the clone got possessed somehow, so you killed him again."
"Pretty much," I said about as flippantly as I could muster. Ridley was not someone I enjoyed thinking on at the best of times, and here I was talking about him with my father.
Dad wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I stiffened at first, and a part of me rose up that made me want to react differently than I should. However, I was able to force it down and relax into the hug. I was not going to drain my father's life energy. I could get plenty of energy from food.
"I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that," Dad said. "And that I wasn't able to be there for you."
I smiled. "Thank you, Dad, but it couldn't be helped."
"Yeah, well, at least that thing's dead now, right?" he said.
I nodded. Ridley was dead. The clone was dead. Neo-Ridley was dead, and its core was absorbed by me. Assuming Adam was right, and the Simurgh just made me hallucinate Ridley's screech, I had nothing to worry about. There was no Ridley to kill a fourth time. Hopefully.
"Good. Then let's not worry about that. I wonder if any Space Pirates escaped Canberra," Dad said.
"Not sure how they could," I said. "Between all the firepower and the quarantine, it's highly unlikely."
Dad nodded. "Wish I could have seen you send the angel bitch packing." His eyes were a little glassy as he looked at me. Perhaps it was a bit of pride shining through.
I shrugged. "Maybe someone has the footage." Other than the psychic attack, it really wasn't all that different from the stuff I dealt with normally. The only difference was the Phazon.
I did not want to make more of a deal out of it than I had already, however. Adam had already sent information about the Phazon to the Triumvirate and Director Piggot. They were free to disseminate that as they chose.
"So, Taylor," Dad said. "I was thinking."
I cocked an eyebrow.
"I know, I know, dangerous prospect," Dad said, raising his hands in mock-defeat. "But I was thinking about how to tell you that Alan knows you're back."
I closed my eyes. Alan. Dad had mentioned an Alan before. Where did I recognize the name from? Wait. Was that… "Emma's dad?"
Dad nodded. "I spoke to him when we got back from Canberra." Dad took the seat next to mine at his dining room table. "Apparently Emma let him know that you were back, and he'd called me to… check up on me. He wanted to make sure that you were… well, actually you and not going to sue Emma over a mistaken identity."
Wait. Sue? Just how overexuberant had my former best friend been about trying to find me? Sophia had mentioned that Emma had misidentified previous girls as me, but surely them saying that they weren't who she thought she was would have prevented things from going further, right?
"Well, it wasn't a mistake," I said.
"I know," Dad said. "And now, so does Alan. Then Zoe came on the phone, wishing me congratulations on your return. She also wants us to come over for dinner…"
"When?" I asked.
"Tonight," Dad said. "She invited the three of us over, and she says that Anne and one of Emma's friends will be at the dinner too."
I blinked, looking at my Dad, and I frowned for a second. "Three of us?"
"Karrin was invited as well," Dad said. He must have seen the ever-so-slight tilt of my head, as he began to clarify. "Karrin's well…" Dad flushed a little as he spoke, as if he were embarrassed to be telling this to me. "She's a woman that I've been dating for a while."
"A girlfriend," I said calmly.
"Well, we haven't actually labeled it as that, yet," Dad said. "She's been helpful in dealing with… well, things."
"Was she the one who suggested you sell the house?" I asked.
Dad shook his head. "That was my therapist, actually. Karrin just supported me through it. She hasn't been over the past couple days because she wanted to give you and me some time together before we… well, introduced you to her."
I snorted. Well, if Dad had a girlfriend, nearly three years after his first wife died, more power to him. It would be slightly hypocritical of me to bemoan him wanting to find some happiness. I'd taken my own from time to time, after all. Still though. "And you feel the best time to introduce me to her is at a dinner at the Barnes's?"
"Actually," Dad said, pausing for a second. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his cellular phone. He flipped through the menus on it, clearly reading something. "She's in the lobby right now. I told her to come on up."
I took a closer look at how my father was dressed. He wore some jeans and a nice long-sleeved flannel shirt. His hair was slicked back, and he had even shaved. This woman was more than just someone that he was dating. He really liked her.
Good for him.
Luckily, I'd been working in jeans and a blue blouse and my orange bomber jacket that I'd retrieved from my ship on the return to Brockton Bay. I still needed to do some clothing shopping, to get some local fashions, but in the meantime, I did have some things that were appropriate for the weather. I'd pulled my hair back into a ponytail as well.
"Does she know about the whole… rat thing?" I asked.
Dad nodded. "She knows about my secret identity. You can trust her with your own if you so choose."
I shrugged. It wasn't like I thought it was worth hiding from anyone. To appease Dad, I might just let the woman call me Taylor, especially given that we were going to the Barnes place later with her. I wondered if I should call Millie and see if she wanted to join us as well, but that didn't really seem all that appropriate, given I had only met her the once. It seemed like introducing an acquaintance to a friend's family was more of a third or fourth time out sort of thing rather than a second.
Then there was a rapping on the door, and Dad smiled and walked over to get it.
He opened the door, revealing a relatively short woman, maybe a little below average height. She wore a red sweater and black snow pants, and her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, albeit poking out behind a curious piece of headgear. The headgear had a chinstrap, covered her left ear, and there was a diagonal blindfold that covered her left eye there as well. She had slight scowl on her face when Dad opened the door, but that shifted when she saw my father. She ran inside and immediately gave him a hug and pulled him down for a kiss.
A kiss that lasted longer than I was comfortable with, to be honest. I might have been happy for him, but he was still my father, after all.
I cleared my throat. When it didn't work the first time, I repeated the process, louder.
They finally broke away from the kiss, and she mentioned something about not liking Dad's neighbor. She let the door close behind her, and the two of them made their way over to me.
I closed down my terminal.
"Taylor, I'd like you to meet Karrin Carpenter," Dad said. "Karrin, this is my daughter, Taylor."
"A pleasure," Karrin said, holding out her hand. "I've heard a lot about you."
I took the hand with my own, and when I felt a similar tingle to the one I felt when I'd shaken hands with other parahumans, I tilted my head. I wasn't sure if that was from the Metroid part of me or the Chozo part of me that allowed me to identify these energy types. It was curious though. "I don't doubt that. However, I'm not sure how much of it is accurate anymore."
Karrin nodded. "True. Especially since you don't look like you're fifteen."
"Twenty-six," I said with a shrug. "Or rather, I will be soon. Keeping track of dates is strange when you hop universes."
"I bet," she said.
I turned to Dad after taking my hand away. "You didn't tell me you were dating a coworker."
"Wait…" Karrin frowned. "How were you able to…?" She looked down at my ungloved hand and her own. "Huh. Well, that's something that I'd keep secret if I were you."
I nodded. Honestly, it didn't matter to me that Dad was dating a coworker of his. The Protectorate heroes all seemed to be fairly reasonable so far, even if they had a little less professionalism than some of the bounty hunters I'd worked with in the past. Still, I wasn't sure who she was. Obviously, she wasn't Miss Militia. She had the wrong complexion for that and wrong height. I didn't think I'd met her yet. "So…"
"Challenger," said Karrin. "Like the burger, but I'm not going to let you eat me."
I held up a finger. "That's…." I thought of something quickly, and I pointed to my father. "His job." She was cute enough, but she was dating my father. I wouldn't even bother thinking about doing anything like that with her.
She snorted. "So, the Hunter has jokes. Not bad."
"No, that was very bad," Dad said.
"She's effectively former military, Danny," Karrin said. "That was tame. And you've heard the jokes Kat makes when she's in town. She's still begging for that trifecta picture."
Dad shook his head. "She's not going to get it. She's got a better chance with Hannah. No matter what that woman says."
"Yeah, well," Karrin said and shrugged. "You know Kat." She turned back to me. "So, Taylor, first, let me congratulate you on being one of the ones to drive back Ziz. From what I read; it sounds badass. Your dad held his own too until something got a lucky shot."
I nodded.
"Well, those Space Pirate things… were they really aliens?" Karrin asked.
I nodded again, kind of thankful that she was taking up most of the conversation. Even if she was Dad's coworker and girlfriend, she was new to me. I needed to figure out the right way to talk with her.
"Taylor here was a famous galactic bounty hunter where she ended up," Dad said, pride in his voice. He clasped his hand on my shoulder again. "Samus Aran, the bounty hunter."
Karrin eyed him with her good eye, and she nodded. "Well, maybe later she can regale us both of stories of her hunts."
"Or Adam can," Dad said. "What is he doing, anyway, Taylor?"
"Work," I said. "Dealing with finances and getting a list of what we need for repairs and parts."
I trusted Adam to handle those items. I wasn't sure how much we could trust the Number Man just yet, but I suspected that he would keep his word well enough. What research Adam and I had been able to do had proven that the Number Man had a reputation for being a discreet banker. Precisely what I would need if I were to take certain bounties, after all.
"Who's Adam?" Karrin asked. I guess Adam's existence wasn't something that was common knowledge among Dad's coworkers yet.
"A friend," I said. "Works on my ship."
"An AI," Dad said. "That she trusts implicitly, and well, he's proven himself in my eyes so far. Piggot supposedly is planning on talking with him at some point. I don't know how to feel about that."
"Director Piggot isn't really all that bad if you know how to deal with her," Karrin said. "Problem is, she really dislikes unprofessional people. Especially capes. Treat her with professionalism, and she'll do the same back."
Dad smiled.
"So, what had you angry when you came in?" I asked.
"Oh… it doesn't really matter," Karrin said.
"Matters a little," Dad said. "I don't like when things make you angry."
"It's not really a big deal. I've heard worse," Karrin said. "I don't want to mess things up with you and your neighbors."
Dad shrugged. "If they get messed up, they get messed up. What's going on?"
"Your neighbor, the one with the baby?" Karrin asked.
"Kayden," Dad said, supplying the name.
"Yeah. Her," Karrin said. "She made a comment about how I must have done something to deserve my disability, and she made a grossed out face… She didn't really say it to my face… just to her daughter as she was rocking her."
I shook my head. That was just wrong.
"Fuck her," Dad said. "She can't get her shit together and she decides to be a bitch about my guests… She can come over and complain herself if she chooses."
I held up both hands to help calm the situation. There was no reason to go off the handle at one dumb woman who had some ignorant views. Racism and ableism did go hand-in-hand at times. I shook my head, and gestured, trying to get them to change the subject.
Karrin smiled. "Sure. Taylor, I love your hair, but why the blonde tips?"
"Haven't been able to dye my hair in about nine months," I said. "Just cut it."
Karrin nodded. "If you want to go full blonde again, I can give you the name of my hairdresser. She's very good."
I smiled in thanks.
"Oh, and I was thinking that after the dinner with the Barnes family, you and I might be able to get together for a shopping trip. I mean, not literally after, but the day after. I can take the day off," Karrin said.
I shrugged. I did need new clothes in local styles, but I really didn't know this woman all too well.
"That might not be bad," Dad said. "Maybe you can even bring Emma with you."
I shot my father a look that he missed, and then I sighed. "Maybe."
Dad smiled, and he gave my shoulder another squeeze. "It'll be fun for you, Taylor. Good for you to get out and see the city, how it's changed from what you remember."
I nodded. Who knew? Maybe the shopping trip would actually be some sort of fun bonding activity for me and my father's girlfriend. Maybe it wouldn't. We'd have to find out.
We just had to make it through the upcoming dinner first.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Common fanon name for Mouse Protector, given she doesn't have a canon one is "Katherine" which has Kat as a nickname.
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Nazi gotta be a shithead.
Brightstone
Feral Goblin
Hooray for not... whitewashing... the Nazi!
The bitch...
Interesting seeing Danny with someone besides Militia. Though from context, Taylor may stand a chance. Or with Parian, age wise.
The bitch...
Interesting seeing Danny with someone besides Militia. Though from context, Taylor may stand a chance. Or with Parian, age wise.
Mr. Cloak
Orchestrator of Paradoxical Apocalypse
- Pronouns
- I
That's better than anything I could have dreampt up.
Small typo.
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
Ratcatcher and Mouse Protector? But of a theme clash no?
Sir_Braazmiir
Tiefling Paladin
- Location
- Wherever I am
Nope, Katherine is Mouse Protector, Karrin is Challenger. Speaking of the latter, what are her powers?
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Challenger's powers aren't canonically defined other than she has a rather large rifle and axe.
For that matter, do they even define Challenger's gender or looks at all in Canon? Cause this is the first fic I have ever seen that has her as a her. Most fics either forget about Challenger, or have her as a him.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
She appears in Dauntless's interlude in Ward.
Ah, that explains my ignorance then. I haven't been able to get too far in Ward yet... just doesn't draw me in like Worm did, good as it is.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Yeah, took me a bit to get into Ward, tbh. Once I did, however, it sucked me in hard. There's a lot of cool things in the story.
- Location
- Colorado
- Pronouns
- She/Her
gvgfjbfdjdsdbfbsjjgfdhdh!!! This joke... Perfect... Simply love it!
Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location....
"You may have gotten the best of me last time, Ratcatcher! But soon... SOON! I shall have you and your little burgermeister right where I want you... IN FRONT OF A CAMERA! MUaha--"
Mouse Protector's diabolical plotting was cruelly cut short by a heavy thumping and a shout of, "KATHERINE GO TO BED!"
"NOT COOL! You can't just cut off an evil laugh like that!"
"I swear to god if you make me come down there--!"
"FINE! Fine, I'm going! Jeez. You never let me have any fun."
"You may have gotten the best of me last time, Ratcatcher! But soon... SOON! I shall have you and your little burgermeister right where I want you... IN FRONT OF A CAMERA! MUaha--"
Mouse Protector's diabolical plotting was cruelly cut short by a heavy thumping and a shout of, "KATHERINE GO TO BED!"
"NOT COOL! You can't just cut off an evil laugh like that!"
"I swear to god if you make me come down there--!"
"FINE! Fine, I'm going! Jeez. You never let me have any fun."
Restoration 3.2
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Restoration 3.2
The Barnes family lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods in the Docks South district of Brockton Bay. The route Dad took from his apartment was a familiar one, leading to the dark bungalow style house. Memories of a simpler time bubbled up within me, when a taller dark-haired woman sat in the seat Karrin currently sat in, when I'd share the back seat with a redheaded girl. If any doubts remained about my relationship to my father, these memories, this place helped me erase them. I still wasn't entirely sure about being called Taylor, but I could accept that I at least had been her prior to my life on K-2L.
Someday, I'd figure out the specifics on how I ended up there to begin with, but without being able to scan the various energies and portals, it was definitely a mystery. I doubted the camp had cameras covering my disappearance, and even if it did, it wouldn't have been to the level that I would have needed to trace back what had happened. I supposed it was possible that there were people with thinker powers who might have been able to help me trace back those events, but I'd have to meet them first.
"Thinking deep thoughts?" Karrin asked, glancing back at me from the front seat.
"Just remembering," I said honestly. It was a little hard, to be perfectly honest. It may have been a year and a half for everyone here, but for me it had been much longer. Yes, the house, the neighborhood, and even the people were familiar, but it had been a different life. Though Taylor Hebert had lost her mother, she didn't watch her killed in front of her face. She didn't get taunted with her mother's death, with the killer claiming to have eaten her to survive. Except… she did. I did. Because despite being Samus Aran, I was Taylor Hebert too, and if it weren't for Emma, I'm not sure that I would have even believed that. I probably wouldn't have reconnected with my father.
"If you're not up for doing this, Taylor," Dad said as we pulled to the stop sign at the end of the street. He turned back to look at me, a bit of concern miring his face, mirroring that on Karrin. "We can back out. Just drive by, give them a phone call and say that something came up."
I shook my head. It wouldn't be fair to either Emma, her family, or my father if I was the reason that we were unable to go to the dinner. I hadn't seen Emma since the Boardwalk, and given the state that she'd been in, I didn't want to just abandon her. Yes, she was a little over half my age, but I remembered when we were friends. I remembered spending every weekend with her, either at our house or hers. I didn't really remember everything we did then, but being here, being in this neighborhood reminded me how close I'd been with her.
I wasn't sure that we'd be that close again, given the age gap, but I did owe her some time. For the friendship we did have.
"We can go on, Dad," I said, my voice a little low and scratchy. I cleared my throat and raised the volume, repeating, "We can go on."
"Okay. I don't want to force you into something you're uncomfortable with," Dad said.
"What about you, Danny?" Karrin asked. "After fighting the Simurgh… I know you've been cleared by the PRT, but how are you feeling about this?"
Dad smiled. "Pretty good, actually. I haven't had a whole lot of time to spend with Alan these past few months, and I kind of miss it. It'll be good to grab a beer with him and listen to him bitch about whatever legal hoops he's having to jump through."
"That sounds vaguely illegal of him," Karrin said. "But what do I know? Maybe things are different here in Brockton Bay than Chicago."
"Karrin, you've been working here longer than I've had my job," Dad said.
"By like two months," Karrin said, and she prodded Dad in the arm. "Light's green, Piper."
"Oh God, don't start that now," Dad said.
"Piper?" I asked as Dad started us moving again. We were maybe a few blocks away from where I knew Emma's house was.
"One of PR's original suggestions for what your dad should call himself," Karrin said. "The Pied Piper. Since, y'know, he led the rats away from that town."
I looked on blankly. I think both of my mothers probably would have been disappointed in me here, but I really couldn't think of the story she was talking about. "What makes a piper 'pied'? I get from context, that maybe he led rats away from a town with some sort of panpipe?"
"I never really got that either," Karrin said. "Pied Piper. Would they have gone with the whole renaissance theming or would they have leaned into a pie theme and somehow made you wear a pie with a pipe sticking out of it?"
Dad let out a chuckle. "Wait, you two don't know what pied means?"
"So, it doesn't have anything to do with pies?" I asked. If I'd had my earbud in, I was almost certain that Adam would be chuckling in my ears. The AI did like to pick on me when a bit of my ignorance shown through, but there were many human stories and idioms and such that I didn't really know all that well due to my upbringing.
"Not at all. The adjective 'pied' actually means 'having two or more different colors.' Don't really feel bad about not knowing that," Dad said. "Your mom explained it to me, Taylor. So, the piper in the story just basically wore multicolored clothing. The main issue I had with that name was the other implications. The piper didn't just lure the rats out of the city with his music, but he also lured children. It was possible that someone would have taken that out of context with me, and well, I didn't want to play into that."
"You don't really like playing into much with the PR, Danny," Karrin said. "It's why you picked the most garish costume you could get away with."
Dad smiled. "And it's fun to beat up Nazis while looking ridiculous."
I laughed a little as we pulled into a driveway in front of the familiar bungalow house. Sitting on the stairs of the front porch were two familiar faces: Emma and her friend Sophia. Both wore jeans and hoodies. Emma wore blue while Sophia went with black. I didn't see any sign of their third friend, Madison, but it looked like the two of them were talking animatedly about something.
"Hmm… Did not expect Sophia to be here," Dad said. "But that should be okay."
She had mentioned that she knew my dad, and she even had his number. She just hadn't wanted to call him while he was on patrol, which likely meant that she worked for the Protectorate too. I knew she was parahuman, and her power had something to do with insubstantiality. However, I wasn't completely informed as to the roster of the Protectorate just yet. It had been a rather hectic few days, and I'd been focused primarily on dealing with the matters at hand rather than pulling up any and all information I could.
I was pretty sure that Adam knew far more than I did about the makeup of the local hero team. I actually counted on that. His information and the dossiers gathered were something that I would go over that night.
"I met her the other day," I said. "She seems like a good kid, good for Emma."
"Maybe," Dad said as both girls looked up, noticing us in the driveway. He turned off the car, and he stepped out, followed by Karrin.
I stepped out as well, closing the door behind me. As I took a few steps away from the car, I swear, Emma must have learned how to teleport because she was suddenly at my side, wrapping me into a hug.
Okay, yes, I could have avoided it, not allowed the hug to happen, but it was Emma. Once upon a time, we had been best friends.
"Taylor, I'm so glad you're okay," Emma said. "I saw the videos and the reports… and…"
I lightly returned her hug and stroked a hand through her hair as I had a long time ago. "It'll take a lot more than that to take me down."
"Damn right," Sophia said, giving me an approving nod. She smiled at the two of us. "You're a badass, Samus."
"Taylor," Emma said, burying her face in me a little. "She's Taylor. You know that, Sophia."
"Got it confirmed and everything," I said with a shrug. "Dad's my father for certain."
"Never said you weren't," Sophia said. "Just… Which name do you prefer?"
I shrugged again. I would answer to either name, at least from the people here. Samus was the name I used the most, and if we ever dealt with people from the Federation, I would be using the name Samus Aran. Honestly, legally I probably wouldn't be able to use Taylor Hebert here as I clearly wasn't the right age for that.
"You can call her Taylor here, at least," Dad said, approaching. "But… outside of those who know, it might be better to just call her Samus. Her mom and I didn't have her when we were teenagers, after all."
I smiled, nodding.
"For secret identity things, right?" Emma asked. "The unwritten rules?"
"I'm sorry, the what?" I asked. It almost sounded like there should have been capitalization in there, from the emphasis she placed, but that couldn't be right. The idea of a secret identity made some sense, but overall, it was just a little off to me.
"There's a set of… etiquette that capes tend to follow," Dad said. "Both hero and villain. Nothing really concrete, but it's something that prevents things from going real bad with villains and vice-versa."
I crossed my arms and tilted my head ever so slightly. This was strange, but it wasn't completely off.
"Think of it as rules of engagement," Dad said. "Capes don't actively release information about secret identities on either side, and they work to protect the identities of their allies. We don't publish the identities of the villains either, to prevent… well, attempted vigilante justice from people not equipped to handle the powers that villains have."
"It's a little more complicated than that, but when you combine it with the Endbringer truce, keeping identities secret of the villains and the heroes tends to help guarantee the best turnout to those," Karrin said. "Plus, it prevents escalation. The Protectorate doesn't go for killing blows on anyone who doesn't have a kill order, and in some ways, that prevents most villains from doing the same. Of course, there's always exceptions and people who will kill or maim severely, but the Protectorate tends to come down hard on those who do."
"If they can," Sophia said, a bit of sarcasm in her voice. "Lung's still out there. Hookwolf was until Hunter got him. Who knows if the Nazi fuck will be back on the street or not?"
"If he is, Taylor can get him again," Emma said. Then she looked around at everyone and flushed. "I mean, Hunter can get him."
"Did everyone forget Ratcatcher?" Dad asked.
"I didn't," Karrin said as she sidled up to him, wrapping her arms around him. "But we should probably head on inside. Girls, just because Alan and Zoe know about the cape stuff doesn't mean that everything should be out in the open. Taylor's identity will be, as Taylor, anyway, but it's up to her about how she wants to handle being identified as Hunter."
"Let's play that by ear," I said, and Emma grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the door.
Sophia just shook her head as she watched us. She seemed amused by Emma more than anything else, but she also constantly kept her eye on her. It seemed like she was a good friend. Especially with Emma being mostly normal. I supposed that I could probably work with her, teach her some Federation martial arts. Sophia would probably benefit from that as well, but that was something to consider for later.
Emma called out when we stepped inside, "Mom! Dad! Anne! Uncle Danny and Taylor are here with Uncle Danny's girlfriend!"
A red-haired man dressed in a green sweater vest overtop a dark blue collared shirt and khakis stepped into the living room as Emma pulled me in. It took me a second as I looked him over before I was sure I remembered him. He wasn't that much older than the last time I'd seen him, but it looked like he'd started to get a few more gray hairs. This was Alan Barnes, Emma's dad, and I knew him.
He seemed surprised to see me holding Emma's hand, with Dad, Karrin and Sophia behind me. It felt a little strange as he looked me over and consideration came into his eyes. At first, I wasn't sure if he was trying to figure out if he recognized me or if he was looking at me as a man does a woman. If it was the latter, it only felt weird because he was the father of the girl who had been my best friend as Taylor.
Luckily, he spoke up, removing doubts. "Wait. You're Taylor?"
"She is, Alan," Dad said as he and Karrin joined my side. "Got several bits of confirmation, including biological tests."
"She looks a little like Annette did in college, but I can see you in her face too," Alan said. "What happened to you, Taylor? You grew up a lot."
"A lot," I said simply, repeating his last two words. Honestly, I knew that there were two more people in the house that would probably have questions, and I didn't want to do the explanation multiple times. Honestly, were it feasible, I'd have Adam do the explanations, but he was working on some contingency plans at the moment. If the worst came to pass, we needed to be ready and figure out how to handle things.
An older redheaded woman, roughly around Emma's dad's age came into the living room from the kitchen. She wore a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved plaid flannel shirt that flattered her body a bit. She was a little taller than Emma but about a head shorter than the man I once called Uncle. It took me a little less time to identify her as Zoe Barnes, Emma's mom.
"Alan, dinner's going to be ready shortly, I have Anne in the kitchen watching it," she said. "Karrin, Danny, it's good to see you and…" She paused when she took me in. She then stepped up to me and pulled me into a hug, with Emma stepping aside. It wasn't extremely tight, but it was enough. "Taylor, it's so good that you're back. Everyone here missed you."
I made an affirmative noise. If I'd remembered everything properly, I probably would have missed her as well.
"So, uh… shall we get to the table?" Dad asked.
"Yeah," Emma said. "Taylor and Sophia are next to me. Anne can sit on the other side of Taylor if she wants."
I let Emma lead me to the table, a mahogany dinner table sized for a large family and set for eight, and I took a seat to the left of my childhood best friend. Sophia sat on her other side, and then Karrin and Dad took seats next to her. Emma's parents took the seats on the opposite side of the table, and when Anne came in with the food, she took the last open seat.
Anne looked a lot like her younger sister, but her red hair was cut in a pageboy style, and she was wearing a long red dress with some black tights. She gave me a smile as she sat down at the table.
Dinner was some sort of game bird, one for each of us, spiced with some Earth-based spices that I wasn't entirely familiar with anymore. Yes, I'd eaten on the Federation Earth, but I never really saw the point in asking what spices some chefs used. I ate whatever was recommended. Mashed potatoes were also at the table, and there was a set of vegetables.
I took a sizeable portion of each, making sure not to take too much more than my father and Karrin, but I got my food. I started to take some bites, and it was amazing. The last time I'd had a meal this good was on my mission with the BSL when they'd invited me into their camp for the night. Aunt Zoe was as good a cook as I remembered.
"This is excellent, Zoe," Dad said. "What'd you put on the chicken?"
"It's not chicken, Danny," Karrin said. "Chickens don't get served that small."
"She's right," Aunt Zoe said. "They're Cornish Game Hens, and I put a rub of garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper on them before roasting them. There's a bit of butter under their skin as well."
I just focused on finishing my meal.
"Well, it's very good, Mom," Anne said. "And I can tell that… the woman that Emma thinks is Taylor likes it."
"She is Taylor, Anne," Emma said. "Uncle Danny even said she is."
"I mean, I can see that she looks that way, but Taylor was your age, Emma," Anne said. "No offense, but you're older than Taylor should be. And you're not even wearing glasses."
I shrugged after finishing off my mashed potatoes. "A lot happened, Anne. More than you can possibly imagine, really."
"What did happen?" Aunt Zoe asked. "You got so tall… and much older."
"It's a long story, but a brief summary is that I got sent to another universe, got younger, lived a life there until I was twenty-six, and now I'm back," I said. I wasn't planning to go into any sort of full detail, but
"You're taller than Danny is now, and Annette was," Uncle Alan said. "You were tall as a girl, but I didn't think you'd grow that tall."
"Gene therapy probably caused that," I said, and I held up my hands for a second as I saw Uncle Alan wanting to say more, ask questions. "When I was… really young, younger than when you knew me, a few years after I ended up in that universe, I was given a genetic therapy that helped me to adapt and survive on a planet that normally would be hostile to humans. Yes. Planet. That therapy is likely what caused my height to be what it is."
"You did say that you were a bounty hunter," Sophia said. "And… that… huh. Guess I could see that."
"Did that gene therapy help with your vision too?" Anne asked. "Because you wore glasses before."
"I guess," I said with a shrug. "It's possible that Gray Voice and Raven Beak corrected my vision when they were giving me the therapy, but… I'm not sure."
I'd used their proper names, not the translations, but I would translate if I needed to.
"Those names feel like mouthfuls," Aunt Zoe said.
I shrugged again. "I grew up with them. The Chozo raised me after my adoptive parents were killed, and they taught me their language."
"You mentioned them before, Taylor," Dad said. "Is there an easier name for us to use?"
"Gray Voice, Old Bird, and Raven Beak were… Chozo that were important to me on Zebes," I said. Though, Raven Beak really never had time for me then. He'd taken more time on ZDR. Still… he had been important back then. "They always tried to look out for me."
"What happened to them?" Emma asked.
"Gray Voice was killed by a particularly vicious Space Pirate," I said. "Old Bird… he disappeared after a Space Pirate raid."
"And the third?" Anne asked. "Raven Beak? Did he look like a raven?"
"The translation is more the color than the bird," I said, but then I shook my head. "He died due to his own arrogance, putting himself in a situation that he wasn't able to handle well."
I hadn't wanted to kill him. I really hadn't.
"So, what did the Chozo look like?" Sophia asked. "Was this Old Bird really an old bird?"
"I'll see if I still have some images of him later," I said. "But yes… he was old when I met him, and the Chozo were an avian species."
"Were?" Alan asked.
"As of last week, to my knowledge, there are no living Chozo left in the galaxy of that universe. I suppose it's possible that they exist in Bet's galaxy, but I would have to go to the planet locations that they would likely be." I shook my head. "Earth Bet's communications relays aren't strong enough for me to send a message to them and expect anything in return."
"Aliens. You're talking about aliens," Anne said.
"What do you think those things were that the Simurgh brought over in Canberra? Puppies?" Sophia asked. "You've seen that shit online, right?"
"I have," Emma said. "Aliens aren't really stranger than parahumans or Endbringers. Or however Taylor got to where she was and back."
"And you are Taylor," Anne said, seeming to want to confirm.
"I've got confirmation she's my daughter, Anne," Dad said. "And I don't have reason to believe that I have a twenty-six-year-old bastard daughter out there somewhere."
"Shouldn't you be at college, anyway?" Karrin asked, taking some of the attention off of me. "How are your studies going?"
Thankfully, with the conversation now on Anne, and then a little on my Dad's relationship with Karrin, I was able to focus on finishing up my food and drink.
When I finished, Emma and Sophia had as well. The two of them were talking with each other a little, and then they both seemed to come to a conclusion. I wasn't sure if it was the same conclusion, but it was a conclusion nonetheless.
"Taylor, would you mind coming up to my room?" Emma asked. "If we can be excused."
Alan nodded, and thus I nodded and stood up.
I let Emma and Sophia take the lead at least to help remind me of which room was Emma's. It had been a long time since I'd been here, after all. When I made it into Emma's room, I took a sharp breath.
Yes, the room had the normal things: a bed, a dresser, side table, vanity with makeup, a couple bookshelves, and a mirror. However, in the corner of the room was what I could only describe as a shrine. There was a small table set up with a board behind it, and on the board was a collection of pictures of a curly black-haired girl with glasses. Some had younger versions of Emma in them, and others had only the girl. Only me. Also pinned on the board were newspaper clippings. Some had headlines about a missing camper, and others clearly were from possible conspiracy sites. There was a newer addition to the wall though, a picture of me in my armor, gotten from somewhere.
Emma walked further into the room, but Sophia stopped next to me. She nodded to the shrine. "Little creepy, isn't it? Eerie."
I shrugged. Clearly there was some sort of trauma there, and I wasn't going to judge the girl who had been my best friend.
"Ems is a survivor," Sophia said. "If she needed that to help her survive, so be it." She closed the door behind us after we were fully in. "Figured I might as well do a little bit of sharing. Since I know your identity and all."
I tilted my head.
"You put your armor on in front of us," Sophia said. "In a completely badass way."
"Yeah, she did," Emma said, agreeing.
Sophia walked over toward the bed and took a seat. I remained standing, just watching her. "You already know that I've got a power. You don't know my cape name."
I shrugged again. As I said before. I hadn't yet had time to go over all of the cape rosters for the Protectorate ENE.
"I'm Shadow Stalker," Sophia said. "One of the Wards."
Well, that made some sense, but what didn't was the reason they called me up here. If it was only to tell me about Shadow Stalker being Sophia, then it seemed like such a waste.
"Thank you for telling me," I said. "But…"
"But we do have an ulterior motive," Emma said. "Not a bad one though. Not really."
I glanced at the shrine.
"Oh, uh…" Emma shook her head. "It's complicated, Taylor."
"Let's uncomplicate it," I said. "What do you want from me?"
"We want to hire you," Sophia said. "You hunt bounties, and we want to place one with you."
I frowned a little bit. "What sort of bounty?"
"Dead or in jail," Emma said, frowning. "Just as long as they're not still out there."
"Who?"
"The ABB members that assaulted Emma a year and a half ago," Sophia said. "I'd hunt them down myself, but… the PRT and Protectorate keep a close eye on the Wards."
They wouldn't be able to afford much, but if someone had assaulted Emma… She had been my best friend once. She deserved to have this sort of closure.
"You don't have to tell me everything, Emma, but I will need more information about what happened," I said. "You can rest assured though. I'll take care of it."
As she started up her explanation on what happened to her, I started to plan. Nonlethality was the name of the game, and that was important here. Still, there was such a long gap between nonlethal and lethal that I could find an appropriate loophole.
I'd take care of those who dared to threaten my friend.
I promised.
Spectral Waltz
Scatterbrained Writer
- Location
- Walking the Endless Corridors
Unexpected, but very sensible~
Evaunit02mark1
S-s-smell the Prey, S-s-start the Hunt.
It's not every day a kid gets a famous intergalactic bounty hunter to help them get closure.
And she even gets the "Best Friend Discount", which is a fucking steal, let me tell ya.