An SI, inserts into Worm but she thinks she's tripping balls because it's an alt power Taylor story with lots of fanon so she goes around off-screening villains.
Off Screen (SI/OC)
- Thread starter Gorilla Glue
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1.01
1.01
Approaching a burning UFO wasn't one of my brightest moments. I could think of so many ways that this could go wrong. I could get set on fire. The UFO could explode. The aliens could shoot me. The aliens could give me a highly contagious space flu that turned me into a zombie.
Normally, I wasn't like this. I was meticulous. I always did my homework the day it was assigned. I was calm and rational, but life hasn't been easy lately.
My dad's tool store had been struggling for a while. He owed the local mob money and we left the state over Christmas after they broke his fingers. We drove for days until we reached our new home. South Park Colorado. A small town in the middle of nowhere.
I was starting school tomorrow. The new girl, arriving in the middle of the year. I knew we left for a good reason, but it wasn't an easy thing to deal with.
I approached the ship. It was burning brightly green. How was that even possible? Green fire? It was clearly damaged but I saw an actual alien crawling out. It looked like Yoda without the massive ears. Kinda reminds me of Kermit the frog.
It looked up to me and started making a shoving motion. "WORT WORT WORT! AAAAAAWUBADAGH!"
What the fuck? The alien was crawling towards me, injured. It touched its head. "EARTHLING!"
Uh. Uh Oh.
"AMBATABLOW!"
What? I thought it had a translator? What was it talking about?
"What's 'Ambatablow'?" I asked, jogging to the alien. It seemed friendly enough, probably just a bit panicked from the fact that it crashed.
The alien's eyes widened as I approached, it lunged towards me. "MY ENTIRE GODDAMN SHIP DICKHEAD!"
Wait, did aliens have a God? Wait, what was that about his ship?
I looked up as a loud crash sounded from the ship. Suddenly, I felt a pain across my chest as a slab of metal shot out and wrapped around me.
"What are you doing?!" I shouted, staring at the alien, a resigned look on its face.
My vision filled with white as the ship exploded. I awoke with a gasp and looked around my room. The clock read 5:30. Perfect, exactly one more hour before I woke up.
What a crazy dream.
I stretched out and felt a weight around my chest. The suit that the alien was wearing. It was on me. I patted it down and pinched myself. Nope, not dreaming.
You know what? If I do not see it it's not there. I lied down in my bed and closed my eyes. It'll be gone in the morning.
It was still there in the morning. Of course. Ignoring your problems doesn't make them go away. I needed to plan around this. Figure out a logical solution to a problem. My usual approach.
I took a deep breath and counted to ten. I needed to get ready for school first. It was my first day and I can't be late. I had plans. I would arrive to every class early and introduce myself to the teachers. I already had a perfect GPA from my previous school and I had to continue it here. I needed my grades. My parents couldn't afford to send me for college and I do not plan on living my entire life in debt.
The weird alien armor on me is a concern, yes, but my biggest concern is my future.
What even is this thing?
[Unit designation: Tech Jacket]
What the actual fuck was that?! A Tech Jacket?! How was this thing a jacket?!
Calm down me, calm down. I took a deep breath and counted to ten. I can deal with this later. For now, I'll just hide it. I hated skipping my usual morning shower but I couldn't be late today. I felt like a teenage boy spraying myself down with deodorant instead of showering.
Stupid fucking alien suit.
I quickly put something over the suit. It was surprisingly thin, despite being made of metal.
"Ready for your first day at Winslow, honey?"
Did I hear that right?
[Replaying Audio]
Thank you alien suit.
-------------------------------
[No toxins detected]
"Run that check again."
[No toxins detected]
"Are you sure?"
[No toxins detected]
"Zara, are you okay?" Crap. Mom was staring at me now. I'm pretty sure I've been staring blankly at my cereal for the past five minutes.
"Everything's fine mom."
I took a deep breath to calm myself. One, two, three, four, five, six…"
"You know, the Bay isn't as bad as they make it seem. I mean, Armsmaster leads the local Protectorate right?"
Deep breath. Deep breath. "Am I dreaming?"
[User status: awake]
So, I wasn't in South Park in the year 2025, I was in Brockton Bay in the year 2011. My parents had decided that the best way to avoid the mobsters was to move to a city where the gangsters had super powers.
Absolutely fucking brilliant. What the actual fuck?! I had so many goddamn plans about going to college and shit! How the fuck was I supposed to do anything when the goddamn world explodes in two fucking years!
What the actual fuck was I supposed to do now?!
I went through the morning on autopilot. My parents dropped me off for the first day but there was a bus route close to where I lived.
Ok ok ok. First step is to figure out what this weird alien suit could do. If it wasn't just some fancy chestplate, I could potentially use it to get my family out of here once shit hits the fan. I didn't know if this was the exact same world as canon Worm but I was going with that assumption.
"What can you do?"
[Primary purpose: combat]
How fucking convenient.
Wait, actually, since I was in Brockton, could Armsmaster or a tinker get this thing off me? Maybe. I would have to join the Wards and "weird alien suit sounds" like a great way to get me in trouble with the C words. Coil, Contessa, and maybe even Colin if he decided to poke and prod me instead of getting it off.
On the other hand, I need a shower and I would rather not wear the same bra for the rest of my life.
"Hey, you're new here right? Zara Thompson? Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"
Who dares interrupt my thinking?! Mr.Gladly. My morning was fairly uneventful. None of the teachers or students even noticed me. At least I didn't think so.
Mr.Gladly was already on my shit list. I hate when teachers make most of the class group projects. The chances of being paired with an idiot who torpedoes my perfect 100% grades are too high. I'm pretty sure he has a girlfriend already but the way he acts around us creeps me out.
[Weapon systems online]
"NO NO NO NO NO STOP STOP STOP! RETRACT! RETRACT NOW!"
[Minimizing]
It could do that shit the entire fucking time?! I nearly had a heart attack as I felt the metal expand from the vest, covering my body. If I hadn't been wearing winter clothes, it would've been a complete disaster. My first goddamn day of school too! And now, it tells me that it could shrink down this entire fucking time?!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I took a deep breath, stood up, and gave a generic introduction. Normally I would be a bit more detailed but one wrong thought and the suit nukes the school.
Unfortunately, we did in fact have a group assignment today. I took a deep breath and started praying.
"Please no one pick me. Please no one pick me."
[Eliminating threats]
"STOP STOP STOP!"
[Minimizing]
Shit shit shit. One, two, three, four… was that middle schooler coming to sit with me? I mean, I wasn't exactly tall but did this girl even clear five feet?
Thinking of heights made me worried. I was forgetting something wasn't I. Usually, I never forgot anything and if I did, I had it written down somewhere. Unfortunately, having an alien suit stuck to you and living in Worm tended to mess with my thoughts.
The middle schooler continued approaching me despite my best efforts to speak to her telepathically. A large group of other girls followed her. I took a deep breath. No negative thoughts. This suit was on a hair trigger.
[Change response settings]
You gotta be shitting me! I didn't even have time to tweak them now because the stupid middle schooler was sitting at my table, giving me this creepy smile. Did she think it was fucking cute or something? Was she trying to show me that she meant no harm? Smiling to signal her submission like a chimpanzee?
"Hi Zara, I'm Madison and these are my friends! It's sooooo nice to meet you!"
You gotta be kidding me. I could literally hear the emojis in her voice. I tuned them out as they introduced themselves and focused on the project. A short presentation on relevant gangs.
I cleared my throat, gathering their attention. "So, I think we should focus on one of the big gangs. The ABB, the Empire, and Coil. Is everyone good with that or do any of you want to do a smaller group like Faultline?"
"Who's Coil? You're new here right? The three big gangs of Brockton are the Merchants, the ABB, and the Empire." Madison said, giving me an odd look.
Merchants? Merchants?! The fucking Merchants?! It's ABB, Empire, and Coil! I know Coil was the most subtle of them all but everyone should know him as the mercenary guy! The merchants only gained power after Leviathan hit and they got obliterated by the Slaughterhouse nine shortly after. Who gives a shit about the fucking Merchants?!
"Hey, I think I know Coil. He's that snake mercenary guy right? I don't think he does much. Is he even a parahuman?"
Thank you posse girl 1. You know what? Fuck it. For once in a group project, I'll go with the flow. It was a harrowing thought but I was too tired to care at this point.
"The project can wait for now. Zara, I need to tell you about something very important," said Madison as she reached over to me.
"Please don't touch me."
Really. Please don't. The suit will interpret it as an attack and shoot missiles out my back or something.
She laughed it off but grabbed my arm and leaned over.
"Taylor Hebert," she whispered, the rest of the girls giggling.
You gotta be fucking kidding me. I'm staying the hell away from her. She's fucking crazy and I want nothing to do with her.
I have vague plans to kill Jack Slash. I'm not sure what the suit could do but I'm not a parahuman.
I don't like my chances against the Nine, and I'm not sure if Cauldron would skin me alive if I tried something but I still had to consider it. It could buy some time before Zion went crazy at the minimum.
When Golden Morning starts though, I plan on taking my parents and hiding. Taylor better not come and fuck me over.
Wait, where was she? Doesn't she have this class? I felt a sense of dread as I realized what I had probably forgotten.
"Who's Taylor?"
Madison's grin widened at that and she let out a giggle. "Oh, she's just someone you should avoid. No one else likes her, you know? I'm doing you a favor and warning you because we're friends but she's an attention seeker. Always blaming others for her problems."
"Is this Taylor in the room with us?"
"Oh… she's a bit… busy right now. You'll know her when you see her. She's tall and ugly. Looks like a giant bug with her geeky glasses and hideous hoodies."
I'll give her points for rhyming. I tuned her out for the rest of the day though.
I'm pretty sure I saw Taylor being carted out by the paramedics after school.
Oops.
Author's Note:
Zara Thompson. Basically a weaker Tech Jacket. Very meticulous and prone to panicking.
First arc is just the introduction arc but it's gonna take some time to plan the rest out.
Funny trivia. Taylor is about 5'9 and 130 lbs while Tech Jacket is for sure 5'9 and 123 lbs.
Taking a break from my other story. Want to finish it off strong, even if the ending is kinda rushed.
Do you guys think they genderswapped Tech Jacket for the show? Personally, I'm going with the theory that they're keeping it ambiguous for now because of copyright.
I just remembered that I should crosspost my stories. Not sure if I'll crosspost my other one because I'm gonna do a rewrite on it and it's not that good.
Approaching a burning UFO wasn't one of my brightest moments. I could think of so many ways that this could go wrong. I could get set on fire. The UFO could explode. The aliens could shoot me. The aliens could give me a highly contagious space flu that turned me into a zombie.
Normally, I wasn't like this. I was meticulous. I always did my homework the day it was assigned. I was calm and rational, but life hasn't been easy lately.
My dad's tool store had been struggling for a while. He owed the local mob money and we left the state over Christmas after they broke his fingers. We drove for days until we reached our new home. South Park Colorado. A small town in the middle of nowhere.
I was starting school tomorrow. The new girl, arriving in the middle of the year. I knew we left for a good reason, but it wasn't an easy thing to deal with.
I approached the ship. It was burning brightly green. How was that even possible? Green fire? It was clearly damaged but I saw an actual alien crawling out. It looked like Yoda without the massive ears. Kinda reminds me of Kermit the frog.
It looked up to me and started making a shoving motion. "WORT WORT WORT! AAAAAAWUBADAGH!"
What the fuck? The alien was crawling towards me, injured. It touched its head. "EARTHLING!"
Uh. Uh Oh.
"AMBATABLOW!"
What? I thought it had a translator? What was it talking about?
"What's 'Ambatablow'?" I asked, jogging to the alien. It seemed friendly enough, probably just a bit panicked from the fact that it crashed.
The alien's eyes widened as I approached, it lunged towards me. "MY ENTIRE GODDAMN SHIP DICKHEAD!"
Wait, did aliens have a God? Wait, what was that about his ship?
I looked up as a loud crash sounded from the ship. Suddenly, I felt a pain across my chest as a slab of metal shot out and wrapped around me.
"What are you doing?!" I shouted, staring at the alien, a resigned look on its face.
My vision filled with white as the ship exploded. I awoke with a gasp and looked around my room. The clock read 5:30. Perfect, exactly one more hour before I woke up.
What a crazy dream.
I stretched out and felt a weight around my chest. The suit that the alien was wearing. It was on me. I patted it down and pinched myself. Nope, not dreaming.
You know what? If I do not see it it's not there. I lied down in my bed and closed my eyes. It'll be gone in the morning.
It was still there in the morning. Of course. Ignoring your problems doesn't make them go away. I needed to plan around this. Figure out a logical solution to a problem. My usual approach.
I took a deep breath and counted to ten. I needed to get ready for school first. It was my first day and I can't be late. I had plans. I would arrive to every class early and introduce myself to the teachers. I already had a perfect GPA from my previous school and I had to continue it here. I needed my grades. My parents couldn't afford to send me for college and I do not plan on living my entire life in debt.
The weird alien armor on me is a concern, yes, but my biggest concern is my future.
What even is this thing?
[Unit designation: Tech Jacket]
What the actual fuck was that?! A Tech Jacket?! How was this thing a jacket?!
Calm down me, calm down. I took a deep breath and counted to ten. I can deal with this later. For now, I'll just hide it. I hated skipping my usual morning shower but I couldn't be late today. I felt like a teenage boy spraying myself down with deodorant instead of showering.
Stupid fucking alien suit.
I quickly put something over the suit. It was surprisingly thin, despite being made of metal.
"Ready for your first day at Winslow, honey?"
Did I hear that right?
[Replaying Audio]
Thank you alien suit.
-------------------------------
[No toxins detected]
"Run that check again."
[No toxins detected]
"Are you sure?"
[No toxins detected]
"Zara, are you okay?" Crap. Mom was staring at me now. I'm pretty sure I've been staring blankly at my cereal for the past five minutes.
"Everything's fine mom."
I took a deep breath to calm myself. One, two, three, four, five, six…"
"You know, the Bay isn't as bad as they make it seem. I mean, Armsmaster leads the local Protectorate right?"
Deep breath. Deep breath. "Am I dreaming?"
[User status: awake]
So, I wasn't in South Park in the year 2025, I was in Brockton Bay in the year 2011. My parents had decided that the best way to avoid the mobsters was to move to a city where the gangsters had super powers.
Absolutely fucking brilliant. What the actual fuck?! I had so many goddamn plans about going to college and shit! How the fuck was I supposed to do anything when the goddamn world explodes in two fucking years!
What the actual fuck was I supposed to do now?!
I went through the morning on autopilot. My parents dropped me off for the first day but there was a bus route close to where I lived.
Ok ok ok. First step is to figure out what this weird alien suit could do. If it wasn't just some fancy chestplate, I could potentially use it to get my family out of here once shit hits the fan. I didn't know if this was the exact same world as canon Worm but I was going with that assumption.
"What can you do?"
[Primary purpose: combat]
How fucking convenient.
Wait, actually, since I was in Brockton, could Armsmaster or a tinker get this thing off me? Maybe. I would have to join the Wards and "weird alien suit sounds" like a great way to get me in trouble with the C words. Coil, Contessa, and maybe even Colin if he decided to poke and prod me instead of getting it off.
On the other hand, I need a shower and I would rather not wear the same bra for the rest of my life.
"Hey, you're new here right? Zara Thompson? Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"
Who dares interrupt my thinking?! Mr.Gladly. My morning was fairly uneventful. None of the teachers or students even noticed me. At least I didn't think so.
Mr.Gladly was already on my shit list. I hate when teachers make most of the class group projects. The chances of being paired with an idiot who torpedoes my perfect 100% grades are too high. I'm pretty sure he has a girlfriend already but the way he acts around us creeps me out.
[Weapon systems online]
"NO NO NO NO NO STOP STOP STOP! RETRACT! RETRACT NOW!"
[Minimizing]
It could do that shit the entire fucking time?! I nearly had a heart attack as I felt the metal expand from the vest, covering my body. If I hadn't been wearing winter clothes, it would've been a complete disaster. My first goddamn day of school too! And now, it tells me that it could shrink down this entire fucking time?!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I took a deep breath, stood up, and gave a generic introduction. Normally I would be a bit more detailed but one wrong thought and the suit nukes the school.
Unfortunately, we did in fact have a group assignment today. I took a deep breath and started praying.
"Please no one pick me. Please no one pick me."
[Eliminating threats]
"STOP STOP STOP!"
[Minimizing]
Shit shit shit. One, two, three, four… was that middle schooler coming to sit with me? I mean, I wasn't exactly tall but did this girl even clear five feet?
Thinking of heights made me worried. I was forgetting something wasn't I. Usually, I never forgot anything and if I did, I had it written down somewhere. Unfortunately, having an alien suit stuck to you and living in Worm tended to mess with my thoughts.
The middle schooler continued approaching me despite my best efforts to speak to her telepathically. A large group of other girls followed her. I took a deep breath. No negative thoughts. This suit was on a hair trigger.
[Change response settings]
You gotta be shitting me! I didn't even have time to tweak them now because the stupid middle schooler was sitting at my table, giving me this creepy smile. Did she think it was fucking cute or something? Was she trying to show me that she meant no harm? Smiling to signal her submission like a chimpanzee?
"Hi Zara, I'm Madison and these are my friends! It's sooooo nice to meet you!"
You gotta be kidding me. I could literally hear the emojis in her voice. I tuned them out as they introduced themselves and focused on the project. A short presentation on relevant gangs.
I cleared my throat, gathering their attention. "So, I think we should focus on one of the big gangs. The ABB, the Empire, and Coil. Is everyone good with that or do any of you want to do a smaller group like Faultline?"
"Who's Coil? You're new here right? The three big gangs of Brockton are the Merchants, the ABB, and the Empire." Madison said, giving me an odd look.
Merchants? Merchants?! The fucking Merchants?! It's ABB, Empire, and Coil! I know Coil was the most subtle of them all but everyone should know him as the mercenary guy! The merchants only gained power after Leviathan hit and they got obliterated by the Slaughterhouse nine shortly after. Who gives a shit about the fucking Merchants?!
"Hey, I think I know Coil. He's that snake mercenary guy right? I don't think he does much. Is he even a parahuman?"
Thank you posse girl 1. You know what? Fuck it. For once in a group project, I'll go with the flow. It was a harrowing thought but I was too tired to care at this point.
"The project can wait for now. Zara, I need to tell you about something very important," said Madison as she reached over to me.
"Please don't touch me."
Really. Please don't. The suit will interpret it as an attack and shoot missiles out my back or something.
She laughed it off but grabbed my arm and leaned over.
"Taylor Hebert," she whispered, the rest of the girls giggling.
You gotta be fucking kidding me. I'm staying the hell away from her. She's fucking crazy and I want nothing to do with her.
I have vague plans to kill Jack Slash. I'm not sure what the suit could do but I'm not a parahuman.
I don't like my chances against the Nine, and I'm not sure if Cauldron would skin me alive if I tried something but I still had to consider it. It could buy some time before Zion went crazy at the minimum.
When Golden Morning starts though, I plan on taking my parents and hiding. Taylor better not come and fuck me over.
Wait, where was she? Doesn't she have this class? I felt a sense of dread as I realized what I had probably forgotten.
"Who's Taylor?"
Madison's grin widened at that and she let out a giggle. "Oh, she's just someone you should avoid. No one else likes her, you know? I'm doing you a favor and warning you because we're friends but she's an attention seeker. Always blaming others for her problems."
"Is this Taylor in the room with us?"
"Oh… she's a bit… busy right now. You'll know her when you see her. She's tall and ugly. Looks like a giant bug with her geeky glasses and hideous hoodies."
I'll give her points for rhyming. I tuned her out for the rest of the day though.
I'm pretty sure I saw Taylor being carted out by the paramedics after school.
Oops.
Author's Note:
Zara Thompson. Basically a weaker Tech Jacket. Very meticulous and prone to panicking.
First arc is just the introduction arc but it's gonna take some time to plan the rest out.
Funny trivia. Taylor is about 5'9 and 130 lbs while Tech Jacket is for sure 5'9 and 123 lbs.
Taking a break from my other story. Want to finish it off strong, even if the ending is kinda rushed.
Do you guys think they genderswapped Tech Jacket for the show? Personally, I'm going with the theory that they're keeping it ambiguous for now because of copyright.
I just remembered that I should crosspost my stories. Not sure if I'll crosspost my other one because I'm gonna do a rewrite on it and it's not that good.
Last edited:
1.02
1.02
As it turns out, the suit was surprisingly easy to use once I tuned the sensitivity. It did whatever I willed it too, as long as it was within its abilities.
Flying certainly was. This thing was so fast. You'd think it would be harder to control rockets on your boots and back but the suit adapted to my thoughts. I'm not ashamed to admit I copied Superman's pose and whooped as I rocketed through the sky.
[Unknown approaching]
I twisted in the air, searching for the figure on my hud. Holy shit! Vicky! She was flying right at me, arms outstretched.
She was one of my favorite characters, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! She even had her arms outstretched for a hug!
I paused and reoriented myself, stretching my arms out to catch her.
Wait, why was she coming in so fast? WAIT!
A sudden sense of dread filled me as she approached. Was this aura?
[Abnormal brain signatures detected. Compensating]
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh holy fuck that felt good.
WAIT! Did the suit just fucking drug me?! Oh fuck no! I do not do drugs! Never! In fact, I plan to never touch a drop of alcohol in my life, save for my wedding once I was between my late twenties to early thirties. Well, if I survive the great golden tantrum.
Drugs and alcohol are really bad for people and I have no idea how anyone derives pleasure from them. Honestly, if Madison was correct, then this version of Brockton Bay was worse considering the Merchant's MO. Damnit, Vicky just made me do drugs! She really crossed a line with that!
Shit, wait. Vicky!
I held my hands out in front of me and an energy shield sprouted from my arm at the last second, Vicky slamming into it like a bird on a window.
What the actual fuck was her problem?!
"GET DOWN RIGHT NOW VILLAIN!"
Villain?! This bitch! What the fuck was her problem! I knew she was a bit reckless but holy shit! Was I doing something wrong while flying?
Shit, maybe that was it. There's probably been at least one incident between aircraft and flying capes.
Ok, ok, ok. I'm still pissed about the drugs but at least it kept me calm. Maybe Victoria was panicked that I was in the path of an airliner or something.
I dismissed my shield and held my hands up in surrender. A look of glee filled her face as she wrapped me in a mid air tackle, flying fast towards the ground.
Excuse me, rude! What the actual fuck was her problem.
Shit, shit, shit, shit. We were approaching the ground too quickly, civilians scattering and screaming in terror as we descended.
What should I do? Do I do something? Why was Glory Girl doing this?!
I slammed into the ground, screaming as Glory Girl's feet ground into my ribs. The suit cushioned most of the fall but apparently it doesn't make me fucking invincible.
What the fuck was her problem?! Oh God, my ribs! I think one of them fucking broke! I'd be dead without this suit!
Glory Girl continued to stomp into me. I need to do something. Holy shit, I need to do something! What the actual fuck was her problem?!
I started gasping for air. What do I do? How do I get her to stop?! What the fuck! Was the suit malfunctioning?! I couldn't get enough air.
I had to tell her to stop. To please stop but I fucking couldn't. I panicked easily. I always had things under control. I couldn't fucking force myself to talk!
"GET HER OFF ME!"
A violet laser blasted out of my helmet, slamming Glory Girl in the face, sending her flying back.
I shakily got up and clutched my ribs. I started gasping for breath. I needed to focus. Lasers. I had fucking lasers galore! Why the hell wasn't I using them?! In fact, why hadn't I used any of the goddamn weapons in this suit?!
Glory Girl got up as civilians gathered to stare. Stupid fucking idiots! They literally saw me use a laser! Did they want to die?!
Shield. The shield. I formed it on my left arm. A weapon. Melee weapon, non lethal. Some sort of electrified stick formed over my right fist.
"DO NOT DRUG ME AGAIN!"
I don't give a shit if this suit had painkillers. No drugs!
A wave of terror hit me. I was braced for it. I knew it was coming but it still caught me off guard.
The civilians were screaming in terror, shaking in place. I think one dipshit pissed himself. What the actual fuck was wrong with her?! I'm pretty sure she has perfect control over her aura to the point she could selectively target people! Why the hell was she acting like a teenage girl Homelander!
Glory Lander!
Glory Girl started approaching me slowly. "I'M GONNA PUT YOU IN THE DUMPSTER VILLAIN! SURRENDER OR I'LL BREAK YOUR FACE!"
The fuck?!
"VICKY AURA!"
Huh?! Since when was that a thing?! I twisted my head to see Panacea, hands on her knees as she gasped for breath.
"Oh, sorry Amy! My bad!"
What a fucking 360! Also, fucking Panacea. I hated her. It's unfair to hate her now, yes, but the shit she did in Worm was horrifying. The Wretch. Even though Victoria spent the past few minutes beating the shit out of me, I was terrified for her.
I took a gasping breath and counted to ten in my head. I needed to be fair to Panacea. I wouldn't be like Glory Girl. Punishing people for something they haven't done. At least she was de-escalating the situation.
"Had enough little man? You gonna surrender?" Glory Girl said, assuming a triumphant pose.
Little man?! I guess the suit wasn't exactly form fitting and I haven't made any noise the entire time. Despite my gasps and screams, I set the helmet to only allow sounds from me if I willed it. Probably a good thing because I was crying right now. How pathetic would I look if I cried after getting my ass kicked on my debut.
I stood straight, not allowing a hint of pain to be shown. The suit obliged me, setting my posture straight.
"Not a villain. I'm a hero. Tech Jacket." I sounded terrible. The suit sounded great though.
"Oh… whoops my bad! You're pretty tough though so no harm no foul?"
Glory Girl really did look embarrassed. Was she dumb?! She was not this airheaded right?! Did Carol drop her as a baby or something?! The fuck did she mean no harm no foul?! I could taste blood in my fucking mouth!
I had a plasma thrower. A weapon that worked like a flamethrower and could melt through buildings.
No. Calm calm calm. Count to ten.
Panacea gave her an exasperated look. The first thing I noticed about Panacea were her eye bags. She really needed some sleep.
"Vicky… come on. Please be careful and tone down the collateral damage. They're already calling you Collateral Damage Barbie on PHO you know."
Panacea turned to me, giving me a caring and soft look. What the fuck?! Wasn't she a massive bitch normally?! That's at least how I remembered her!
Aw hell naw!
She started getting closer, a cautious hand outstretched. "Sir, I'm so sorry about my sister. Please, I'll heal you if you want but she's sorry ok?"
Aw fuck this shit! I should kick her fucking ass! That plasma thrower would burn right through her shields. I'd like to see Panacea fix that shit.
No.
I had to be better.
"No harm, no foul." The words tasted bitter. It was probably the blood.
Amy gave a soft smile at that. What the fuck was wrong with her?! I blame drugs. She was using drugs, wasn't she?
No way was I letting Panajunkie heal me.
"I can heal you sir. Don't worry, it's the least I could do."
"No."
Hell no. I saw fanart of the wretch. I would rather die than let Panacea touch me.
"Oh… if you say so." Panacea looked like a kicked puppy. What the fuck?! I blame drugs. My suit's drugs.
Fuck this shit, I'm out!
I formed my rocket boots and jetpack, flying off into the sky and back to my house.
I finally took that damn shower, now that I could minimize the suit. I couldn't let my parents see me like this. There were bruises all over my torso from my curb stomping.
The suit formed a good brace though.
I collapsed in my bed and quickly fell asleep.
Normally, I would read a novel for exactly thirty minutes before sleep, along with drinking a glass of warm milk but fuck that shit tonight, I got my ass kicked.
Why the fuck was Panacea so nice?!
Author's Note:
This is what I mean by heavy fanon. I'm well aware that Glory Girl isn't dumb or psychotic in canon and she has really good control of the aura.
I'm also not trying to write off certain tropes as bad. In my opinion, outside of some extreme examples, most tropes can be good or bad depending on the exact story and situation.
MC is a canon purist here so she's caught off guard.
Also, MC's not going to be good at fighting initially. She's not good at surprise scenarios.
As it turns out, the suit was surprisingly easy to use once I tuned the sensitivity. It did whatever I willed it too, as long as it was within its abilities.
Flying certainly was. This thing was so fast. You'd think it would be harder to control rockets on your boots and back but the suit adapted to my thoughts. I'm not ashamed to admit I copied Superman's pose and whooped as I rocketed through the sky.
[Unknown approaching]
I twisted in the air, searching for the figure on my hud. Holy shit! Vicky! She was flying right at me, arms outstretched.
She was one of my favorite characters, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! She even had her arms outstretched for a hug!
I paused and reoriented myself, stretching my arms out to catch her.
Wait, why was she coming in so fast? WAIT!
A sudden sense of dread filled me as she approached. Was this aura?
[Abnormal brain signatures detected. Compensating]
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh holy fuck that felt good.
WAIT! Did the suit just fucking drug me?! Oh fuck no! I do not do drugs! Never! In fact, I plan to never touch a drop of alcohol in my life, save for my wedding once I was between my late twenties to early thirties. Well, if I survive the great golden tantrum.
Drugs and alcohol are really bad for people and I have no idea how anyone derives pleasure from them. Honestly, if Madison was correct, then this version of Brockton Bay was worse considering the Merchant's MO. Damnit, Vicky just made me do drugs! She really crossed a line with that!
Shit, wait. Vicky!
I held my hands out in front of me and an energy shield sprouted from my arm at the last second, Vicky slamming into it like a bird on a window.
What the actual fuck was her problem?!
"GET DOWN RIGHT NOW VILLAIN!"
Villain?! This bitch! What the fuck was her problem! I knew she was a bit reckless but holy shit! Was I doing something wrong while flying?
Shit, maybe that was it. There's probably been at least one incident between aircraft and flying capes.
Ok, ok, ok. I'm still pissed about the drugs but at least it kept me calm. Maybe Victoria was panicked that I was in the path of an airliner or something.
I dismissed my shield and held my hands up in surrender. A look of glee filled her face as she wrapped me in a mid air tackle, flying fast towards the ground.
Excuse me, rude! What the actual fuck was her problem.
Shit, shit, shit, shit. We were approaching the ground too quickly, civilians scattering and screaming in terror as we descended.
What should I do? Do I do something? Why was Glory Girl doing this?!
I slammed into the ground, screaming as Glory Girl's feet ground into my ribs. The suit cushioned most of the fall but apparently it doesn't make me fucking invincible.
What the fuck was her problem?! Oh God, my ribs! I think one of them fucking broke! I'd be dead without this suit!
Glory Girl continued to stomp into me. I need to do something. Holy shit, I need to do something! What the actual fuck was her problem?!
I started gasping for air. What do I do? How do I get her to stop?! What the fuck! Was the suit malfunctioning?! I couldn't get enough air.
I had to tell her to stop. To please stop but I fucking couldn't. I panicked easily. I always had things under control. I couldn't fucking force myself to talk!
"GET HER OFF ME!"
A violet laser blasted out of my helmet, slamming Glory Girl in the face, sending her flying back.
I shakily got up and clutched my ribs. I started gasping for breath. I needed to focus. Lasers. I had fucking lasers galore! Why the hell wasn't I using them?! In fact, why hadn't I used any of the goddamn weapons in this suit?!
Glory Girl got up as civilians gathered to stare. Stupid fucking idiots! They literally saw me use a laser! Did they want to die?!
Shield. The shield. I formed it on my left arm. A weapon. Melee weapon, non lethal. Some sort of electrified stick formed over my right fist.
"DO NOT DRUG ME AGAIN!"
I don't give a shit if this suit had painkillers. No drugs!
A wave of terror hit me. I was braced for it. I knew it was coming but it still caught me off guard.
The civilians were screaming in terror, shaking in place. I think one dipshit pissed himself. What the actual fuck was wrong with her?! I'm pretty sure she has perfect control over her aura to the point she could selectively target people! Why the hell was she acting like a teenage girl Homelander!
Glory Lander!
Glory Girl started approaching me slowly. "I'M GONNA PUT YOU IN THE DUMPSTER VILLAIN! SURRENDER OR I'LL BREAK YOUR FACE!"
The fuck?!
"VICKY AURA!"
Huh?! Since when was that a thing?! I twisted my head to see Panacea, hands on her knees as she gasped for breath.
"Oh, sorry Amy! My bad!"
What a fucking 360! Also, fucking Panacea. I hated her. It's unfair to hate her now, yes, but the shit she did in Worm was horrifying. The Wretch. Even though Victoria spent the past few minutes beating the shit out of me, I was terrified for her.
I took a gasping breath and counted to ten in my head. I needed to be fair to Panacea. I wouldn't be like Glory Girl. Punishing people for something they haven't done. At least she was de-escalating the situation.
"Had enough little man? You gonna surrender?" Glory Girl said, assuming a triumphant pose.
Little man?! I guess the suit wasn't exactly form fitting and I haven't made any noise the entire time. Despite my gasps and screams, I set the helmet to only allow sounds from me if I willed it. Probably a good thing because I was crying right now. How pathetic would I look if I cried after getting my ass kicked on my debut.
I stood straight, not allowing a hint of pain to be shown. The suit obliged me, setting my posture straight.
"Not a villain. I'm a hero. Tech Jacket." I sounded terrible. The suit sounded great though.
"Oh… whoops my bad! You're pretty tough though so no harm no foul?"
Glory Girl really did look embarrassed. Was she dumb?! She was not this airheaded right?! Did Carol drop her as a baby or something?! The fuck did she mean no harm no foul?! I could taste blood in my fucking mouth!
I had a plasma thrower. A weapon that worked like a flamethrower and could melt through buildings.
No. Calm calm calm. Count to ten.
Panacea gave her an exasperated look. The first thing I noticed about Panacea were her eye bags. She really needed some sleep.
"Vicky… come on. Please be careful and tone down the collateral damage. They're already calling you Collateral Damage Barbie on PHO you know."
Panacea turned to me, giving me a caring and soft look. What the fuck?! Wasn't she a massive bitch normally?! That's at least how I remembered her!
Aw hell naw!
She started getting closer, a cautious hand outstretched. "Sir, I'm so sorry about my sister. Please, I'll heal you if you want but she's sorry ok?"
Aw fuck this shit! I should kick her fucking ass! That plasma thrower would burn right through her shields. I'd like to see Panacea fix that shit.
No.
I had to be better.
"No harm, no foul." The words tasted bitter. It was probably the blood.
Amy gave a soft smile at that. What the fuck was wrong with her?! I blame drugs. She was using drugs, wasn't she?
No way was I letting Panajunkie heal me.
"I can heal you sir. Don't worry, it's the least I could do."
"No."
Hell no. I saw fanart of the wretch. I would rather die than let Panacea touch me.
"Oh… if you say so." Panacea looked like a kicked puppy. What the fuck?! I blame drugs. My suit's drugs.
Fuck this shit, I'm out!
I formed my rocket boots and jetpack, flying off into the sky and back to my house.
I finally took that damn shower, now that I could minimize the suit. I couldn't let my parents see me like this. There were bruises all over my torso from my curb stomping.
The suit formed a good brace though.
I collapsed in my bed and quickly fell asleep.
Normally, I would read a novel for exactly thirty minutes before sleep, along with drinking a glass of warm milk but fuck that shit tonight, I got my ass kicked.
Why the fuck was Panacea so nice?!
Author's Note:
This is what I mean by heavy fanon. I'm well aware that Glory Girl isn't dumb or psychotic in canon and she has really good control of the aura.
I'm also not trying to write off certain tropes as bad. In my opinion, outside of some extreme examples, most tropes can be good or bad depending on the exact story and situation.
MC is a canon purist here so she's caught off guard.
Also, MC's not going to be good at fighting initially. She's not good at surprise scenarios.
1.03
1.03
"Are you sure?" I asked, looking back and forth between Madison and "Taylor".
"Pretty sure…" said Madison, giving me a worried look.
"Are you sure?"
"I've known her. For a year and a half…"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Zara, that is Taylor!"
That was not Taylor Hebert. She had dark brown hair. Not black. She should also be in the hospital after the locker incident. She did look… miserable and gloomy but… was I going crazy? Was it the drugs from yesterday? I'm glad the suit healed me overnight but I'm still pissed about the fucking drugs! God, this is why I never do drugs. I'm high on life, not substances!
[No toxins detected]
I'm crazy then. That's not Taylor. Am I crazy?!
[Brain signatures stable]
Damnit!
Madison was staring at me expectantly. This morning she ambushed me and pointed Taylor out, basically warning me to stay away from her because she's a lying attention seeker or something.
Honestly, I am a little worried now. Considering how Glory Girl and Panacea acted yesterday, maybe this version of Taylor was an absolute bitch who would cut out my kidneys the second I dropped my guard.
I ignored everyone as usual. Well, to the best of my abilities. Emma, Madison, and Sophia, along with a horde of minions literally abducted me before lunch and sat me down at their table. Fuck… I saw Taylor watching me from one of the corner tables. Why the fuck was she sitting in the cafeteria anyways?!
I was not in the mood for this. Getting my ass handed to me hurt like crazy and now none of my Worm knowledge was reliable. Also, PHO had me as Tech Jacket, the barely five foot short king of a tinker.
The first problem here was that I was not a tinker. I fucking hate tinkers and I was not a goddamn tinker. Technically, I wasn't even a parahuman. I couldn't really blame people for the assumption but it still bothered me.
Fucking tinkers.
The second problem was, some asshole, SpecificProtagonist, wrote a disgusting graphic story about me, well, the male version of me, and Glory Girl. I almost considered having my suit drug me again. Almost. If I ever get my hands on SpecificProtagonist, ohhhh boy they're in for it. Chainsword, electrified whip, plasma thrower, sonic emitter. They were so fucking in for it.
Was that Greg's alt account?! Void bitch boy got banned for saying that I was lucky to get stepped on by Glory Girl! That shit hurt so goddamn much!
Foooooo. One, two, three, four, five. Calm calm calm. Don't "crashout".
The third issue was people thought I was a male! Logically, I know that it's for the best. People are expecting either a teenage boy or a short man, not me. I also know that my short appearance doesn't exactly give people a lot of information on me. The armor was fairly bulky and my voice was disguised. It still pissed me off.
People were already starting to compare me to Accord. They told me that I got the short end of the stick for bumping into the "Collateral Damage Barbie". They told me that I was short sighted for dismissing the help of Panacea.
What the fuck was Panacea doing?! I don't remember reading that she spent most of her time healing at the hospital! Wasn't she just a "Oh fuck" emergency healer for the heroes?
"... So, Zara, are you a predator or are you prey."
What? Shit, I missed something. Everyone was staring at me. Who was even just talking? Uhhhhh.
"Heh, the strong silent type huh? You look like a predator to me. Not a weak, dumb, loser, son of a bitch, femcel, whore, piece of shit prey like Hebert."
What the actual fuck Sophia?! What the hell?! Femcel and whore are polar opposite terms! How was femcel even a thing here?! Wasn't the year 2011? Also, did she start frothing at the mouth when she said Hebert?!
"If you were prey, I, a predator, would rip you open and eat you alive. Literally. A predator needs her protein, Zara, and a human body has a lot of it. I will eat your heart like a meatball while using your intestines as spaghetti!"
Was she on drugs? This must be the influence of drugs. The fucking Merchants, they infiltrated the Wards! Aw hell naw!
No. No way! Maybe there was something in the water! Was this Worm, but something got in the water? Was this why everyone was so batshit insane?! Ok, think Zara, think! Was there something in the water? It would explain the widespread insanity. It wouldn't explain why Taylor looked different or how she got out of the hospital early.
"Zara, let me just make things clear," said Emma, pushing Sophia to the side and shooting me a terrifying grin.
I knew the trio were fucking crazy but what the actual fuck?! There was a roach on the table. Was Taylor watching us? She shouldn't be able to this early right? I mean, she was out of the hospital so maybe she did?
Aw hell naw, I did not want to piss off a stronger version of Skitter. I know I'm probably unbeatable for her but I don't want to even think about it.
"We have an agenda to maintain, and that's to keep Taylor Hebert miserable. The entire school is united in this. We are going to make her life a living hell. Every day she comes here, she'll wish she was in that car with her mommy. We even got the teachers on our side. Blackwell made Taylor beg on her hands and knees while she shredded her transfer application to Arcadia. If you're not with us, you're with her. There is nothing more pleasurable in life than watching Taylor cry."
Everyone started clapping and laughing.
This was insanity. I died and I was in hell. I should burn the insanity away. Plasma thrower. The school. I could burn this entire building and everyone in it within seconds. No one would blame me because these people were clearly fucking lunatics! Was there a master here?!
Was Taylor some weird reverse Nice Guy?! What the actual fuck was that? The fuck did she mean?! Was she getting off on Taylor's misery?!
I glanced over at Taylor. She was giving me a sad look. I never knew someone could look so upset, even after seeing Panacea yesterday.
Was she giving me fucking puppy eyes?! Oh God, was her lips trembling?! I don't know whether I should be more creeped out by that or what Emma just said.
"TECH JACKET! CONFIRM VISUAL AND AUDIO!"
It was real. Of fucking course. Shit, Emma was talking again.
"Hey, Zara, why don't I take you to our next Taylor bullying session? You'll get to experience the pure joy of making Taylor cry first hand!"
I looked at the roach, then at Emma, then at Taylor. Taylor gave me a sad forlorn look before slowly turning away.
I couldn't take this shit any more. I started screaming. Loudly. I scooped the roach up before placing it in my mouth, swallowing it whole and running out the cafeteria. I quickly found an empty classroom and sat in the corner, crossing my legs into a lotus position.
CALMING TECHNIQUE ACTIVATE! OHHHMMMMMMMMM OHMMMMMMMMMM OHMMMMM!
"...Hey, Zara…"
Please no. I opened my eyes. It was Taylor. She was crying and smiling at the same time.
Fuck me.
"I just want to say… I appreciate it. I know, you don't want to hurt me… but please, just go with them. They'll hurt you if you don't and I don't want to see that. It's why I haven't tried to transfer again. They'll just pick a new target."
Jesus.
I stared at Taylor. She was crying even harder now. That was fucking disgusting.
I got up and handed her my handkerchief. She gave me a shy look and blushed before absolutely eviscerating with snot.
I'm agnostic but I'm thinking of converting now. This entire school needed an exorcism.
"Taylor. What the actual fuck is going on?" I stared into her eyes. She started blushing harder and shyly looked away, muttering something to herself and fiddling with her fingers.
Aw hell naw! PLASMA THROWER! PLASMA THROWER SAVE ME!
Now, I didn't have anything against lesbians but I knew what I liked. The three C's of a perfect man. Calm, confident, and competent. I had my future already planned out.
I'd totally go for Accord if he wasn't a psycho supervillain.
Screw this shit, I'm leaving. I gave Taylor one last look. We met eyes and she quickly turned away, blushing harder. I calmly walked to the window, opened it, and jumped out.
It was only the second story and I spent a lot of time hiking when I was younger. That and I had the alien exosuit help me climb down the building.
Anyone asks, I'm just a tough girl.
I quickly got away from the school, activated the full armor, and took off into the sky.
Huh.
This was my first time skipping school.
Fucking Winslow.
"Are you sure?" I asked, looking back and forth between Madison and "Taylor".
"Pretty sure…" said Madison, giving me a worried look.
"Are you sure?"
"I've known her. For a year and a half…"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Zara, that is Taylor!"
That was not Taylor Hebert. She had dark brown hair. Not black. She should also be in the hospital after the locker incident. She did look… miserable and gloomy but… was I going crazy? Was it the drugs from yesterday? I'm glad the suit healed me overnight but I'm still pissed about the fucking drugs! God, this is why I never do drugs. I'm high on life, not substances!
[No toxins detected]
I'm crazy then. That's not Taylor. Am I crazy?!
[Brain signatures stable]
Damnit!
Madison was staring at me expectantly. This morning she ambushed me and pointed Taylor out, basically warning me to stay away from her because she's a lying attention seeker or something.
Honestly, I am a little worried now. Considering how Glory Girl and Panacea acted yesterday, maybe this version of Taylor was an absolute bitch who would cut out my kidneys the second I dropped my guard.
I ignored everyone as usual. Well, to the best of my abilities. Emma, Madison, and Sophia, along with a horde of minions literally abducted me before lunch and sat me down at their table. Fuck… I saw Taylor watching me from one of the corner tables. Why the fuck was she sitting in the cafeteria anyways?!
I was not in the mood for this. Getting my ass handed to me hurt like crazy and now none of my Worm knowledge was reliable. Also, PHO had me as Tech Jacket, the barely five foot short king of a tinker.
The first problem here was that I was not a tinker. I fucking hate tinkers and I was not a goddamn tinker. Technically, I wasn't even a parahuman. I couldn't really blame people for the assumption but it still bothered me.
Fucking tinkers.
The second problem was, some asshole, SpecificProtagonist, wrote a disgusting graphic story about me, well, the male version of me, and Glory Girl. I almost considered having my suit drug me again. Almost. If I ever get my hands on SpecificProtagonist, ohhhh boy they're in for it. Chainsword, electrified whip, plasma thrower, sonic emitter. They were so fucking in for it.
Was that Greg's alt account?! Void bitch boy got banned for saying that I was lucky to get stepped on by Glory Girl! That shit hurt so goddamn much!
Foooooo. One, two, three, four, five. Calm calm calm. Don't "crashout".
The third issue was people thought I was a male! Logically, I know that it's for the best. People are expecting either a teenage boy or a short man, not me. I also know that my short appearance doesn't exactly give people a lot of information on me. The armor was fairly bulky and my voice was disguised. It still pissed me off.
People were already starting to compare me to Accord. They told me that I got the short end of the stick for bumping into the "Collateral Damage Barbie". They told me that I was short sighted for dismissing the help of Panacea.
What the fuck was Panacea doing?! I don't remember reading that she spent most of her time healing at the hospital! Wasn't she just a "Oh fuck" emergency healer for the heroes?
"... So, Zara, are you a predator or are you prey."
What? Shit, I missed something. Everyone was staring at me. Who was even just talking? Uhhhhh.
"Heh, the strong silent type huh? You look like a predator to me. Not a weak, dumb, loser, son of a bitch, femcel, whore, piece of shit prey like Hebert."
What the actual fuck Sophia?! What the hell?! Femcel and whore are polar opposite terms! How was femcel even a thing here?! Wasn't the year 2011? Also, did she start frothing at the mouth when she said Hebert?!
"If you were prey, I, a predator, would rip you open and eat you alive. Literally. A predator needs her protein, Zara, and a human body has a lot of it. I will eat your heart like a meatball while using your intestines as spaghetti!"
Was she on drugs? This must be the influence of drugs. The fucking Merchants, they infiltrated the Wards! Aw hell naw!
No. No way! Maybe there was something in the water! Was this Worm, but something got in the water? Was this why everyone was so batshit insane?! Ok, think Zara, think! Was there something in the water? It would explain the widespread insanity. It wouldn't explain why Taylor looked different or how she got out of the hospital early.
"Zara, let me just make things clear," said Emma, pushing Sophia to the side and shooting me a terrifying grin.
I knew the trio were fucking crazy but what the actual fuck?! There was a roach on the table. Was Taylor watching us? She shouldn't be able to this early right? I mean, she was out of the hospital so maybe she did?
Aw hell naw, I did not want to piss off a stronger version of Skitter. I know I'm probably unbeatable for her but I don't want to even think about it.
"We have an agenda to maintain, and that's to keep Taylor Hebert miserable. The entire school is united in this. We are going to make her life a living hell. Every day she comes here, she'll wish she was in that car with her mommy. We even got the teachers on our side. Blackwell made Taylor beg on her hands and knees while she shredded her transfer application to Arcadia. If you're not with us, you're with her. There is nothing more pleasurable in life than watching Taylor cry."
Everyone started clapping and laughing.
This was insanity. I died and I was in hell. I should burn the insanity away. Plasma thrower. The school. I could burn this entire building and everyone in it within seconds. No one would blame me because these people were clearly fucking lunatics! Was there a master here?!
Was Taylor some weird reverse Nice Guy?! What the actual fuck was that? The fuck did she mean?! Was she getting off on Taylor's misery?!
I glanced over at Taylor. She was giving me a sad look. I never knew someone could look so upset, even after seeing Panacea yesterday.
Was she giving me fucking puppy eyes?! Oh God, was her lips trembling?! I don't know whether I should be more creeped out by that or what Emma just said.
"TECH JACKET! CONFIRM VISUAL AND AUDIO!"
It was real. Of fucking course. Shit, Emma was talking again.
"Hey, Zara, why don't I take you to our next Taylor bullying session? You'll get to experience the pure joy of making Taylor cry first hand!"
I looked at the roach, then at Emma, then at Taylor. Taylor gave me a sad forlorn look before slowly turning away.
I couldn't take this shit any more. I started screaming. Loudly. I scooped the roach up before placing it in my mouth, swallowing it whole and running out the cafeteria. I quickly found an empty classroom and sat in the corner, crossing my legs into a lotus position.
CALMING TECHNIQUE ACTIVATE! OHHHMMMMMMMMM OHMMMMMMMMMM OHMMMMM!
"...Hey, Zara…"
Please no. I opened my eyes. It was Taylor. She was crying and smiling at the same time.
Fuck me.
"I just want to say… I appreciate it. I know, you don't want to hurt me… but please, just go with them. They'll hurt you if you don't and I don't want to see that. It's why I haven't tried to transfer again. They'll just pick a new target."
Jesus.
I stared at Taylor. She was crying even harder now. That was fucking disgusting.
I got up and handed her my handkerchief. She gave me a shy look and blushed before absolutely eviscerating with snot.
I'm agnostic but I'm thinking of converting now. This entire school needed an exorcism.
"Taylor. What the actual fuck is going on?" I stared into her eyes. She started blushing harder and shyly looked away, muttering something to herself and fiddling with her fingers.
Aw hell naw! PLASMA THROWER! PLASMA THROWER SAVE ME!
Now, I didn't have anything against lesbians but I knew what I liked. The three C's of a perfect man. Calm, confident, and competent. I had my future already planned out.
I'd totally go for Accord if he wasn't a psycho supervillain.
Screw this shit, I'm leaving. I gave Taylor one last look. We met eyes and she quickly turned away, blushing harder. I calmly walked to the window, opened it, and jumped out.
It was only the second story and I spent a lot of time hiking when I was younger. That and I had the alien exosuit help me climb down the building.
Anyone asks, I'm just a tough girl.
I quickly got away from the school, activated the full armor, and took off into the sky.
Huh.
This was my first time skipping school.
Fucking Winslow.
1.04
1.04
"Get away from me."
"A lone wolf huh, I could respect that. I thought you were a pathetic puny prey because of how quiet you are but you're just the strong silent type aren't you? You're really predator material, Zara."
If she knew how much I was screaming internally, she would probably shoot me dead.
Was Sophia coming on to me? Was this her psychotic way of flirting? She literally just showed me a video of her hitting Taylor with a chair titled "Nerd Bitch gets Rekt With Chair. LOL!" on Youtube. Why did she show me this video?! Was she giving me hints?
In fact, why haven't the PRT seen that video by now? It had nearly a million views, practically viral by 2011 standards. Also, why the hell did that video have so many likes?! The dislike function still existed but apparently not for videos of skinny nerds getting bullied.
I was one of the popular girls now. Somehow. I barely spoke to anyone and when I did, it was to tell people to piss off. Apparently Sophia thought I was "One, metal ass predator bitch" for eating that roach. I was never really popular before… this. Popularity wasn't really a thing at my school. In fact, I didn't even believe this mean girl cliche thing actually existed outside of movies.
After my… brief lack of judgement, still can't believe I skipped school, I decided to lay low. I flew to a hiking trail out of town to clear my head after jumping out the window. It was nice. Reminds me a lot of my old house. My parents couldn't afford a lot of electronics and toys so I spent most of my childhood playing in the forest.
As for now, I needed to gather information. Plans go wrong when they're based on bad intel. I spent most of the week doing research and from what I could tell, most of the differences in this world were confined to Brockton Bay.
The Merchants were a full gang, one of the big three. Almost no one knew who Coil was. Panacea volunteered almost 24/7 at the hospital. Lung was a legend known as the "Dragon of Kyushu" who was nearly unbeatable in a direct battle. Winslow students were crazy. The DWU had "territory". Glory Girl was known as the "Collateral Damage Barbie."
Honestly, Glory Girl is kinda based. While I don't approve of the damage she causes civilians or her reckless attacks on random people, I liked the way she treated gang members. They've done worse to other people.
Was she even a cape? Even if she was, she wasn't the main character. Logically, I knew it was my bias as a reader, but I was worried what she would do. This world is a house of cards and she's the idiot who faceplants into it.
Taylor was different too. From what I could tell, this Taylor was much less of an asshole, much more sensitive, and her school life seemed to suck even more. I literally saw one of the teachers slap her for not handing in her homework. What the actual fuck was wrong with this place?!
I was tempted to help her. I really was. Maybe it was the sad looks she kept giving me or maybe I just really hated how much the bullies reminded me of gangsters. I had no idea how but I'm sure I could come up with something.
It wasn't the most pressing concern though. Golden Morning. I somehow doubt that I was lucky enough to be in a world where one of the differences was that Scion wasn't a crazy space monster.
"Zara, did you see that? Wasn't it the funniest thing you've ever seen? Take that you worm!"
Huh. SHIT!
How did I not notice?! Taylor was right in front of me, drenched in soda and staring at the ground. What the actual hell was wrong with these people?! Wasting soda like that? I knew Emma was a spoiled bitch but what is her problem?
Oh yeah, also, why the hell was that funny?! Does she have any idea how irritating soda in your clothes is? It's sticky and it'll smell nasty. I knew they did worse than this but holy crap it was pissing me off.
Deep breaths. I quickly did a count in my head, tuning everyone out. I hated this. Senseless cruelty. It reminds me of what the mobsters did to my family. How they would demand money, raising the rates higher and higher. We didn't make much and we didn't give them much. They did it because they could.
If only I had the Tech Jacket then. Part of me was tempted to track down the mob that ran us out of town in this reality too.
Screw this. I wasn't going to let this mean girl mafia bullshit continue. I opened my eyes, ready to lay into Emma.
Taylor was gone. Shit.
I made up some excuse. Something about a class and started looking for Taylor. I had my gym clothes with me. It was sweaty, gross, and it was probably too short for her but it was the least I could do.
I couldn't find her until we had a class together. She looked clean. Really clean, as if it never happened.
She was a cape right? That had to be a power.
"Tech Jacket, confirm image."
Yep, Taylor with unnaturally clean clothes. How had she done it? Did she make the bugs clean them? That's not how it worked right? Unless she had an exact copy of the same hoodie hidden somewhere.
I followed Taylor after school. Probably not the smartest idea, but I marked her with the Tech Jacket, found a place to transform, and tracked her in the air. I needed to find out what the actual fuck was going on.
I followed Taylor to the mall. There was a weird blonde girl following Taylor, probably one of the NPCs Emma kept around. Somehow, she noticed me, hovering high in the air. She turned and gave me a vulpine smile.
Literally. That's what the Tech Jacket described it as. I have no idea why, but I guess it fits. She had her hair in a bun and her face was covered in freckles. She shot finger guns at me. Definitely knew I was here.
Wait, Tattletale?! Oh God, why?! Why the fuck was Tattletale following Taylor?! Was Taylor already an Undersider? Did they recruit her?
I looked up the major characters in Brockton. PHO was surprisingly useful. Aside from a few differences in reputation, everyone was in the same teams. The Wards were the Wards, sans Browbeat, though I don't think he joined until just before the heist.
Wait… was that Panacea?! Why was she walking up to Taylor? Shit, is Tattletale stalking them?! What the fuck?! This is bad. Really bad. I can't fight in a crowded building. I needed space to fly and shoot. I don't know jack shit about hand to hand combat and I'm not confident in my ability to focus once someone closes in, especially after that debacle with Glory Girl.
I took a deep breath. Calm. No fuck calm! I had a helmet! I could scream all I want and no one would know.
Oh no.
Was this why Taylor was so different? The hair color. The weird behavior. Did Panacea do this to her?
No. I'm not going to pull a Glory Girl.
"Tech Jacket, enhance audio."
"...It's Carol. She's just been so much lately. She wants me to heal even more. It's all New Wave this, New Wave that with her. I haven't gotten a good night of sleep in months."
"Maybe you should just tell her that it's a bit too much for you? You could also ask your sister too. You two are close right?"
NO! FUCK NO! EWWWW!
Also, the fuck was Tattletale doing?! She's just there! Watching them! Well, so am I, but still!
"It hasn't been easy for me either. There's this new girl at school, Zara."
Oh for fucks sake! Why?! I literally try to stay as quiet as I can to not attract any attention! Well, that and I was too busy screaming internally.
"I think she's a bully too. I… I thought we could be friends. I thought that she might be different but she's just another one of those bitches. She was just there, staring while they poured soda on me. T_T"
T_T?! What the fuck was T_T?!
I nearly jumped as I got a ping on my radar. Fucking Glory Girl. She was coming right at me.
"Enhance audio."
"BIG ASS BEAT DOWN COMING UP!"
Typical.
I was ready this time. No way was I letting her make me her bitch twice. I raised my left hand, a missile launcher forming over my wrist, locking in on Glory Girl. A concussion missile. I had no idea how it worked but, as the name suggests, it had a purely concussive explosion. No shrapnel, no heat, just kinetic energy. Should be non lethal unless I hit someone directly. Contrary to popular belief, most missiles, including alien missiles apparently, exploded from proximity, not direct contact.
Fox 2! Fox 2!
Glory Girl saw it coming and she tried to dodge, jerking herself to the side. She was far more maneuverable than an actual fighter jet but at her speed it didn't matter much.
Besides, the missile knows where it is at all times. It knows this because it knows where it isn't.
The missile exploded right in front of Glory Girl, flinging her backwards. Her scream sounded like R2D2.
That's for breaking my ribs and making everyone think that I'm a really short man you dumb bitch!
Ahhhh shit. The civilians on the ground saw that. Tattletale gave me another vulpi- GRIN! A normal grin! Taylor and Panacea were both glaring at me. Shit… Taylor was probably a cape. At least I got that confirmed now.
Did I? Maybe she just knew New Wave this time around and hated watching me smoke Glory Girl like a MiG-23.
Shit wait! Glory Girl! She was approaching fast on my radar, coming from below.
Dammit she was persistent!
I held up a hand, signalling her to stop.
"What, are you crazy?!" she bellowed, looking angrier than ever. The tiara was gone and her hair was a mess. Meh, that's what happens when you eat a missile.
"Why are you attacking?" I asked, setting my body language to neutral and mentally preparing a shield and stun baton. No plasma thrower on heroes!
"You're stalking my sister aren't you?! Why are you following her?" she ground out, gritting her teeth and clenching her fist.
Shit, was this what that was about?! Awwww crap how did I explain this?! I was stalking my other classmate because I think she's a cape and I happened to run into your sister and Tattletale.
"Well?! Explain yourself you pint sized pervert!"
The fuck did she just call me?! Pint sized pervert?! Was this what Taylor felt? No, this was worse! People thought I was some crazy short dude in power armor! What the fuck?!
"COMING IN HOT!" shouted Glory Girl, fist pulled back as she shot out towards me.
Shit, I forgot to say something didn't I?
I blasted forward. I was faster and I had more maneuverability. I could pull all the crazy Ace Combat moves, though, I still had to be wary of high-g maneuvers. The suit did cushion a lot of the effects but I still felt lightheaded when I pushed it.
Unfortunately, I was only faster than Glory Girl while facing forward, meaning I couldn't kite her at a range.
I had an idea though. I changed my trajectory, pulling up until we were both over the mall.
After I gained enough distance, I twisted myself mid air and pulled downwards. As expected, Glory Girl clumsily overshot me before redirecting herself.
Amateur. How did she have more flight hours than me?
I flew down, heading for the mall, letting Glory Girl build up speed behind me.
My suit could thrust vector. I pulled myself upwards, spreading my arms and legs out and forming thrusters to push me up, dramatically decreasing my decent speed.
I let out a deep exhale as I felt the G-force push the air from my body and started blinking rapidly to clear the nausea.
Glory Girl shot past me like an idiot and I quickly reoriented myself, pointing my nose at her.
GET COBRA MANEUVERED WOOOO!
I pointed another concussion missile at her. Fox 2!
I calculated the distance perfectly. The missile exploded right behind her, sending her flailing towards the ground right in front of Taylor and Panacea.
Splash one bandit!
"Tech Jacket… clip that shit!"
I quickly blasted away. There was no way I was sticking around for the aftermath of this one.
Author's Note:
I'm pretty sure Tech Jacket is all lasers, no missiles but that means no Ace Combat references.
Zara is the weird ROTC War Thunder kid.
Also, feel free to correct me on improper aircraft/fighter jet term usage. While my other story focuses mostly on hand to hand, this one is gonna be a lot of dog fights.
"Get away from me."
"A lone wolf huh, I could respect that. I thought you were a pathetic puny prey because of how quiet you are but you're just the strong silent type aren't you? You're really predator material, Zara."
If she knew how much I was screaming internally, she would probably shoot me dead.
Was Sophia coming on to me? Was this her psychotic way of flirting? She literally just showed me a video of her hitting Taylor with a chair titled "Nerd Bitch gets Rekt With Chair. LOL!" on Youtube. Why did she show me this video?! Was she giving me hints?
In fact, why haven't the PRT seen that video by now? It had nearly a million views, practically viral by 2011 standards. Also, why the hell did that video have so many likes?! The dislike function still existed but apparently not for videos of skinny nerds getting bullied.
I was one of the popular girls now. Somehow. I barely spoke to anyone and when I did, it was to tell people to piss off. Apparently Sophia thought I was "One, metal ass predator bitch" for eating that roach. I was never really popular before… this. Popularity wasn't really a thing at my school. In fact, I didn't even believe this mean girl cliche thing actually existed outside of movies.
After my… brief lack of judgement, still can't believe I skipped school, I decided to lay low. I flew to a hiking trail out of town to clear my head after jumping out the window. It was nice. Reminds me a lot of my old house. My parents couldn't afford a lot of electronics and toys so I spent most of my childhood playing in the forest.
As for now, I needed to gather information. Plans go wrong when they're based on bad intel. I spent most of the week doing research and from what I could tell, most of the differences in this world were confined to Brockton Bay.
The Merchants were a full gang, one of the big three. Almost no one knew who Coil was. Panacea volunteered almost 24/7 at the hospital. Lung was a legend known as the "Dragon of Kyushu" who was nearly unbeatable in a direct battle. Winslow students were crazy. The DWU had "territory". Glory Girl was known as the "Collateral Damage Barbie."
Honestly, Glory Girl is kinda based. While I don't approve of the damage she causes civilians or her reckless attacks on random people, I liked the way she treated gang members. They've done worse to other people.
Was she even a cape? Even if she was, she wasn't the main character. Logically, I knew it was my bias as a reader, but I was worried what she would do. This world is a house of cards and she's the idiot who faceplants into it.
Taylor was different too. From what I could tell, this Taylor was much less of an asshole, much more sensitive, and her school life seemed to suck even more. I literally saw one of the teachers slap her for not handing in her homework. What the actual fuck was wrong with this place?!
I was tempted to help her. I really was. Maybe it was the sad looks she kept giving me or maybe I just really hated how much the bullies reminded me of gangsters. I had no idea how but I'm sure I could come up with something.
It wasn't the most pressing concern though. Golden Morning. I somehow doubt that I was lucky enough to be in a world where one of the differences was that Scion wasn't a crazy space monster.
"Zara, did you see that? Wasn't it the funniest thing you've ever seen? Take that you worm!"
Huh. SHIT!
How did I not notice?! Taylor was right in front of me, drenched in soda and staring at the ground. What the actual hell was wrong with these people?! Wasting soda like that? I knew Emma was a spoiled bitch but what is her problem?
Oh yeah, also, why the hell was that funny?! Does she have any idea how irritating soda in your clothes is? It's sticky and it'll smell nasty. I knew they did worse than this but holy crap it was pissing me off.
Deep breaths. I quickly did a count in my head, tuning everyone out. I hated this. Senseless cruelty. It reminds me of what the mobsters did to my family. How they would demand money, raising the rates higher and higher. We didn't make much and we didn't give them much. They did it because they could.
If only I had the Tech Jacket then. Part of me was tempted to track down the mob that ran us out of town in this reality too.
Screw this. I wasn't going to let this mean girl mafia bullshit continue. I opened my eyes, ready to lay into Emma.
Taylor was gone. Shit.
I made up some excuse. Something about a class and started looking for Taylor. I had my gym clothes with me. It was sweaty, gross, and it was probably too short for her but it was the least I could do.
I couldn't find her until we had a class together. She looked clean. Really clean, as if it never happened.
She was a cape right? That had to be a power.
"Tech Jacket, confirm image."
Yep, Taylor with unnaturally clean clothes. How had she done it? Did she make the bugs clean them? That's not how it worked right? Unless she had an exact copy of the same hoodie hidden somewhere.
I followed Taylor after school. Probably not the smartest idea, but I marked her with the Tech Jacket, found a place to transform, and tracked her in the air. I needed to find out what the actual fuck was going on.
I followed Taylor to the mall. There was a weird blonde girl following Taylor, probably one of the NPCs Emma kept around. Somehow, she noticed me, hovering high in the air. She turned and gave me a vulpine smile.
Literally. That's what the Tech Jacket described it as. I have no idea why, but I guess it fits. She had her hair in a bun and her face was covered in freckles. She shot finger guns at me. Definitely knew I was here.
Wait, Tattletale?! Oh God, why?! Why the fuck was Tattletale following Taylor?! Was Taylor already an Undersider? Did they recruit her?
I looked up the major characters in Brockton. PHO was surprisingly useful. Aside from a few differences in reputation, everyone was in the same teams. The Wards were the Wards, sans Browbeat, though I don't think he joined until just before the heist.
Wait… was that Panacea?! Why was she walking up to Taylor? Shit, is Tattletale stalking them?! What the fuck?! This is bad. Really bad. I can't fight in a crowded building. I needed space to fly and shoot. I don't know jack shit about hand to hand combat and I'm not confident in my ability to focus once someone closes in, especially after that debacle with Glory Girl.
I took a deep breath. Calm. No fuck calm! I had a helmet! I could scream all I want and no one would know.
Oh no.
Was this why Taylor was so different? The hair color. The weird behavior. Did Panacea do this to her?
No. I'm not going to pull a Glory Girl.
"Tech Jacket, enhance audio."
"...It's Carol. She's just been so much lately. She wants me to heal even more. It's all New Wave this, New Wave that with her. I haven't gotten a good night of sleep in months."
"Maybe you should just tell her that it's a bit too much for you? You could also ask your sister too. You two are close right?"
NO! FUCK NO! EWWWW!
Also, the fuck was Tattletale doing?! She's just there! Watching them! Well, so am I, but still!
"It hasn't been easy for me either. There's this new girl at school, Zara."
Oh for fucks sake! Why?! I literally try to stay as quiet as I can to not attract any attention! Well, that and I was too busy screaming internally.
"I think she's a bully too. I… I thought we could be friends. I thought that she might be different but she's just another one of those bitches. She was just there, staring while they poured soda on me. T_T"
T_T?! What the fuck was T_T?!
I nearly jumped as I got a ping on my radar. Fucking Glory Girl. She was coming right at me.
"Enhance audio."
"BIG ASS BEAT DOWN COMING UP!"
Typical.
I was ready this time. No way was I letting her make me her bitch twice. I raised my left hand, a missile launcher forming over my wrist, locking in on Glory Girl. A concussion missile. I had no idea how it worked but, as the name suggests, it had a purely concussive explosion. No shrapnel, no heat, just kinetic energy. Should be non lethal unless I hit someone directly. Contrary to popular belief, most missiles, including alien missiles apparently, exploded from proximity, not direct contact.
Fox 2! Fox 2!
Glory Girl saw it coming and she tried to dodge, jerking herself to the side. She was far more maneuverable than an actual fighter jet but at her speed it didn't matter much.
Besides, the missile knows where it is at all times. It knows this because it knows where it isn't.
The missile exploded right in front of Glory Girl, flinging her backwards. Her scream sounded like R2D2.
That's for breaking my ribs and making everyone think that I'm a really short man you dumb bitch!
Ahhhh shit. The civilians on the ground saw that. Tattletale gave me another vulpi- GRIN! A normal grin! Taylor and Panacea were both glaring at me. Shit… Taylor was probably a cape. At least I got that confirmed now.
Did I? Maybe she just knew New Wave this time around and hated watching me smoke Glory Girl like a MiG-23.
Shit wait! Glory Girl! She was approaching fast on my radar, coming from below.
Dammit she was persistent!
I held up a hand, signalling her to stop.
"What, are you crazy?!" she bellowed, looking angrier than ever. The tiara was gone and her hair was a mess. Meh, that's what happens when you eat a missile.
"Why are you attacking?" I asked, setting my body language to neutral and mentally preparing a shield and stun baton. No plasma thrower on heroes!
"You're stalking my sister aren't you?! Why are you following her?" she ground out, gritting her teeth and clenching her fist.
Shit, was this what that was about?! Awwww crap how did I explain this?! I was stalking my other classmate because I think she's a cape and I happened to run into your sister and Tattletale.
"Well?! Explain yourself you pint sized pervert!"
The fuck did she just call me?! Pint sized pervert?! Was this what Taylor felt? No, this was worse! People thought I was some crazy short dude in power armor! What the fuck?!
"COMING IN HOT!" shouted Glory Girl, fist pulled back as she shot out towards me.
Shit, I forgot to say something didn't I?
I blasted forward. I was faster and I had more maneuverability. I could pull all the crazy Ace Combat moves, though, I still had to be wary of high-g maneuvers. The suit did cushion a lot of the effects but I still felt lightheaded when I pushed it.
Unfortunately, I was only faster than Glory Girl while facing forward, meaning I couldn't kite her at a range.
I had an idea though. I changed my trajectory, pulling up until we were both over the mall.
After I gained enough distance, I twisted myself mid air and pulled downwards. As expected, Glory Girl clumsily overshot me before redirecting herself.
Amateur. How did she have more flight hours than me?
I flew down, heading for the mall, letting Glory Girl build up speed behind me.
My suit could thrust vector. I pulled myself upwards, spreading my arms and legs out and forming thrusters to push me up, dramatically decreasing my decent speed.
I let out a deep exhale as I felt the G-force push the air from my body and started blinking rapidly to clear the nausea.
Glory Girl shot past me like an idiot and I quickly reoriented myself, pointing my nose at her.
GET COBRA MANEUVERED WOOOO!
I pointed another concussion missile at her. Fox 2!
I calculated the distance perfectly. The missile exploded right behind her, sending her flailing towards the ground right in front of Taylor and Panacea.
Splash one bandit!
"Tech Jacket… clip that shit!"
I quickly blasted away. There was no way I was sticking around for the aftermath of this one.
Author's Note:
I'm pretty sure Tech Jacket is all lasers, no missiles but that means no Ace Combat references.
Zara is the weird ROTC War Thunder kid.
Also, feel free to correct me on improper aircraft/fighter jet term usage. While my other story focuses mostly on hand to hand, this one is gonna be a lot of dog fights.
- Pronouns
- he/him
This is pretty good lol. Makes me feel about as crazy as the MC is feeling
LunaMoth
Wings of Kynareth is my comfort song...
- Pronouns
- He/They
This looks like it's going to be fun, one of those 'less than great' to put it nicely fan-canon filled worm fics, but seen from an outsiders perspective (someone who has only experienced canon worm).
I don't know why but it's super common in worm fics for authors to really overdramatize Winslow and the Bullying past the point where suspension of disbelief breaks. You did that well here, as my suspension of disbelief is broken, but that might just be because the MC is also a comedy character in a comedic setting.
I don't know why but it's super common in worm fics for authors to really overdramatize Winslow and the Bullying past the point where suspension of disbelief breaks. You did that well here, as my suspension of disbelief is broken, but that might just be because the MC is also a comedy character in a comedic setting.
It reminds me a lot of how the Dursleys get a bit too much in some Harry Potter stories or how Konoha in general go crazy in Naruto fics. My biggest theory for why it's popular is because those people (Dursleys, Konoha, the Trio) are more hateable because they're more relatable villains than magic snake man, ninja snake man, and supervillain snake man.
Part of fanfiction is that often they're like fun campfire stories. They're meant to be satisfying and fun to tell first and foremost and I don't mean that in a bad way.
1.05
1.05
Part of me wanted to follow Tattletale into the mall to see what she wanted to do with Taylor and/or Panacea. It was a terrible idea that I shot down faster than Glory Girl. She's a supervillain. The Undersiders aren't the worst but I know they'll try to pull something if they knew I was onto them.
I was worried about Taylor and Panacea. Taylor especially considering how easy she was to manipulate at the beginning of Worm. She might have Panacea as a friend now but would that be enough for her? Panacea seems busier here and the bullying at Winslow was worse.
Panacea was a different issue though. She's stubborn, especially when it comes to her black and white worldview and Tattletale loves messing with people. A perfect recipe for disaster.
Also, I just shot down Glory Girl in front of a huge crowd of civilians. Are people in this city just naturally dumb or were they conditioned to be this stupid? When you see two capes fighting in the air, one of them with missiles, you run away, not stay and record it!
The biggest problem though, was that I was broke. My family literally just moved here because our store was going out of business. We lived in one of the few poor neighborhoods that the Empire controlled. Most of the others belonged to the Merchants but dad said the Empire was safer for us, especially if the loan shark decided to hunt us down. The downside was that we couldn't have any Mexican or Chinese food.
Funny enough, my dad was a dockworker now and Danny Hebert was the actual leader of the DWU. He wasn't just some hiring manager, he practically led them. They practically owned the docks like a gang, constantly skirmishing with the Merchants.
How the hell was that even a thing?! I knew that the economy of this shithole city was dying and the docks were going under. How the hell did the dockworkers control territory?! From the research that I did, thank God for my suit's internet capabilities, they even had enough political power to bargain with the city's government and the PRT.
Mom wasn't exactly much better. She was a waitress for some diner nearby which I'm almost certain is an Empire front. What the actual fuck was wrong with this place?
I took a deep inhale. One, two, three, four. Ok, calm.
After yesterday's battle, I decided to patrol the boardwalk today. It's where the Wards usually patrol and I figured that I should make contact with the local heroes that aren't in New Wave. Those people were crazy. They were bad enough in Worm and I didn't want to see how bad it gets in this world if Glory Girl was anything to go by.
I touched down on the boardwalk and looked around. Some of the enforcers and civilians gave me odd looks but most of them ignored me.
The boardwalk was beautiful. It was the definition of a tourist hot spot. Most of the stores were cape themed, likely as a result of most people touring Brockton to see the parahumans.
I've never been to a beach and I didn't have enough money to enjoy a boardwalk like this. With Golden Morning looming over my head, I hadn't even thought to come here. Even knowing how much of a shithole this city could be, watching the sunset along the coast was a stunning sight.
I nearly had a heart attack as I turned the corner, almost running directly into Taylor and Tattletale. I stared at them, screaming into my helmet. I loved having a soundproof feature. Taylor was giving me a cautious look, probably on account of me shooting down her friend's sister after stalking them midair.
Tattletale gave me a "vulpine grin" as the suit insisted, her "bottle green" eyes staring directly at mine. Did she know I was screaming internally? Probably. Screw her. Fucking thinkers.
They were… shopping. I think. Was this some recruitment attempt from Tattletale? She probably knew Taylor was desperate for friends and wanted to recruit her into the Undersiders.
Should I bother interfering? Tattletale was weird about secret identities. She could probably figure out who I was if she wanted to put in the effort. It wouldn't even be that hard for her. I was the only new student at Winslow for the new year and Tech Jacket showed up shortly after, showing recognition towards Taylor of all people. Tattletale likely knew that I knew she was Tattletale but she wouldn't do something unless I provoked her in her civilian identity.
This was so bullshit. I quickly stepped past them and headed for my target. Clockblocker and Vista had stopped on their patrol route to take some pictures with the civilians.
Tally-ho! Clockblocker and Vista directly ahead. Perfect! Finally, something is going my way! I'd much prefer to have Aegis here too but as long as it wasn't Shadow Stalker or Gallant it was fine.
The less said about Sophia the better but I was the most worried about Gallant. He would be able to see how panicked I was and he was Glory Girl's boyfriend. I knew that he was a reasonable guy but I hit his girlfriend with two missiles yesterday. I even put a victory marking on my helmet. Kid Win would've been fine but I would rather not deal with a tinker, especially in my armor.
Clockblocker was a bit of a clown at times but he could be serious when the situation required it and he was very competent. His name was a bit immature but I knew he was likely a recent trigger when he joined the Wards.
Vista was also fine. She overcompensated for the fact that she was seen as the team kid but I couldn't really blame her for that.
I walked towards them, giving a casual wave, just in case they were still wary about me blasting Glory Girl.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't TINKER-bell! You run out of fairy dust or something little bro?"
What the actual hell did Clockblocker just say to me? Wasn't Peter Pan the one who needed fairy dust from Tinkerbell to fly? I guess the tinker joke wouldn't land if he called me Peter Pan. Also, what kind of greeting was that? I know I was considered a hero, if PHO was to be believed but shouldn't he be a bit more formal? Especially if the usual PRT MO was to try and recruit me?
He held out a hand for me to shake, giving me an odd stare.
Ok… I guess he didn't really see me as a threat. Maybe he was telling a joke for the crowd. I decided to indulge him and reached out for a handshake before Vista slapped the back of his head and pushed his arm away.
"Ignore him Tech Jacket, it's just a stupid prank he likes to pull on people with his powers. I'm Vista. It's nice to see more heroes in the city," she said. It sounded rehearsed. I wonder if Vista practiced her hero persona in the mirror.
Also, what was that about a prank with his power? Who the hell did something like that? Would Clockblocker really use his power on another hero outside of sparring? That sounds like the perfect way to alienate me to the PRT! Was he trying to pick a fight?!
I gave a quick greeting back and shook Vista's hand. Something weird I noticed were the costumes those two were wearing. They looked like plastic.
Vista didn't really have much "armor" besides her helmet, chestplate, and boots. The problem was, that did not look like armor. It looked like cheap plastic plates that a cosplayer would wear.
Clockblocker was the same. Even though he had plates over his entire body, it all looked like plastic.
Wait, were these two cosplayers? I… guess it could be two siblings maybe? Going to the boardwalk as Clockblocker and Vista, maybe to go and meet the real deal. Yes. That must be it. There was no way Clockblocker was this dumb.
Did they think I was a cosplayer? There was no way civilians would approach me pretending to be Clockblocker and Vista right? Were these two blind or something? Anyone could tell how complex my armor was. How was anyone supposed to create something like this in the few weeks that I was active?
Crap, Vista was saying something. I replayed the audio. She gave me a pitch for the Wards. She used male pronouns. Damnit did she think I was some preteen or a really short guy? At least I think they're the real deal now.
I should still make sure. "Hello, Vista. You guys aren't just cosplayers right?"
Vista gave me an offended look. I turned to Clockblocker. If these two were cosplayers then the older brother or babysitter should've figured out I was the real Tech Jacket and any sane person would know better than to joke around with a parahuman.
"Of course! I'm such a big fan of you, Tech Jacket, may I shake your hand little guy?" asked Clockblocker, before receiving another slap from Vista.
Jeez.
"It's the costumes right? It's not real armor you know. They don't want us to look too intimidating so no weapons or armor except for tinkers," explained Vista, grimacing, "It's the Youth Guard. They don't like the child soldier comparisons."
What? WHAT?! HUH?! At least Vista wasn't crazy but what the actual fuck?
"Don't you guys get into fights all the time?"
"Wards aren't supposed to fight, but this IS Brockton."
I'm not dealing with this.
"I should go."
I turned around, forming rocket boots over my feet and shooting into the air.
"Bullshit."
At least Vista was normal.
---------------------
That night, my dad said he had to go work overtime. Mom already worked the night shifts at the diner but I knew my dad was lying. I just didn't believe that there was more work to do at the docks this late.
Like any good daughter would, I activated my alien power armor and stalked my father's truck from the sky.
I didn't know what would be worse. Dad cheating on mom or dad working for the Empire.
Dad was probably doing work for the Empire.
He didn't shave his head or anything but I knew he was out most nights and I highly doubted he was cheating. We somehow had enough money for everything despite the fact that both mom and dad made jack shit from their jobs.
I could excuse us living in Empire territory. The Empire was somewhat defensive of… the right people… to a degree. As long as we paid our protection money. While they wouldn't go out of their way just to protect us, the threat of running into Hookwolf was enough to deter most other gangs, especially those without any capes.
It was also safer for us than living in Merchant territory.
Mom also worked at an Empire front. None of us acknowledged it but there were a lot of skinheads that visited the diner. I could excuse that too. Afterall, it was Brockton Bay and we did live in Empire territory. She did get the job pretty quickly though.
Dad also knew someone in Brockton. He said it was an old friend of his that would help us out but I've never seen him.
All of that could be excused as coincidences but there was just too much evidence for me to ignore.
I hated gangs. Not just the bosses, but the individual members too. Degenerate scum who would rather harass innocent civilians rather than work an honest job. They were the people who demanded money from us. Everytime we were close to paying it off, the interest rose. They broke my fathers fingers time and time again when he was late on his payments. They threatened to burn down our house and my fathers shop.
The reason we even moved was because they threatened to take me as payment.
Honestly, I hope they come. If it wasn't for the impending apocalypse I would take a page out of Glory Girl's book and lock them in dumpsters.
If my dad was one of them now. One of the Empire. I will stop him. I could terrify him as Tech Jacket. Give him a warning.
My parents refused to take money from me when I offered to get a job but I could take cash from gangsters and slip it into my parents' wallets.
My dad met up with a skinhead. This was probably the "friend" my dad knew. I followed them to the docks and saw them meet with another skinhead before covering themselves with ski masks. Dad put on a fake license plate.
I locked onto the truck. Our truck. Concussion missile at the ready.
I wanted to do something. I should do something. Go and stop my dad. Hug him. Beat the shit out of him. Tell him to stop. Tell him I had my suit now.
I did nothing. I just watched from the air. Damnit.
They found a shipping container, one of them shining a UV light on it.
Guns. My dad was an arms smuggler for the Empire. I felt the disgust well in myself as they loaded them into our truck.
I saw two other cars pull into the area. Video and audio confirmed them as members of the DWU.
Fucking Danny Hebert's little gang. I needed to look into them too. They didn't have any parahumans. At least not yet and I didn't even know if they did anything illegal but I needed the intel.
Eight dockworkers came out. A couple of them had pistols. One had a shotgun and another had some hunting rifle.
Dad.
Dad dove into the truck as the Nazis took cover and drew their own weapons. All three had rifles.
This was getting messy. They started shooting and I saw dad duck, desperately trying to start the truck.
I dove down, spraying a line of hot green plasma between the two gangs, a wall of green fire separating them.
Was that really plasma? Reminds me much more of napalm. Fucking alien tech.
I landed between them as dad drove off.
The remaining men dropped their weapons as I formed electric blasters on each arm towards both groups.
Did I just help the Empire smuggle guns?
Part of me wanted to follow Tattletale into the mall to see what she wanted to do with Taylor and/or Panacea. It was a terrible idea that I shot down faster than Glory Girl. She's a supervillain. The Undersiders aren't the worst but I know they'll try to pull something if they knew I was onto them.
I was worried about Taylor and Panacea. Taylor especially considering how easy she was to manipulate at the beginning of Worm. She might have Panacea as a friend now but would that be enough for her? Panacea seems busier here and the bullying at Winslow was worse.
Panacea was a different issue though. She's stubborn, especially when it comes to her black and white worldview and Tattletale loves messing with people. A perfect recipe for disaster.
Also, I just shot down Glory Girl in front of a huge crowd of civilians. Are people in this city just naturally dumb or were they conditioned to be this stupid? When you see two capes fighting in the air, one of them with missiles, you run away, not stay and record it!
The biggest problem though, was that I was broke. My family literally just moved here because our store was going out of business. We lived in one of the few poor neighborhoods that the Empire controlled. Most of the others belonged to the Merchants but dad said the Empire was safer for us, especially if the loan shark decided to hunt us down. The downside was that we couldn't have any Mexican or Chinese food.
Funny enough, my dad was a dockworker now and Danny Hebert was the actual leader of the DWU. He wasn't just some hiring manager, he practically led them. They practically owned the docks like a gang, constantly skirmishing with the Merchants.
How the hell was that even a thing?! I knew that the economy of this shithole city was dying and the docks were going under. How the hell did the dockworkers control territory?! From the research that I did, thank God for my suit's internet capabilities, they even had enough political power to bargain with the city's government and the PRT.
Mom wasn't exactly much better. She was a waitress for some diner nearby which I'm almost certain is an Empire front. What the actual fuck was wrong with this place?
I took a deep inhale. One, two, three, four. Ok, calm.
After yesterday's battle, I decided to patrol the boardwalk today. It's where the Wards usually patrol and I figured that I should make contact with the local heroes that aren't in New Wave. Those people were crazy. They were bad enough in Worm and I didn't want to see how bad it gets in this world if Glory Girl was anything to go by.
I touched down on the boardwalk and looked around. Some of the enforcers and civilians gave me odd looks but most of them ignored me.
The boardwalk was beautiful. It was the definition of a tourist hot spot. Most of the stores were cape themed, likely as a result of most people touring Brockton to see the parahumans.
I've never been to a beach and I didn't have enough money to enjoy a boardwalk like this. With Golden Morning looming over my head, I hadn't even thought to come here. Even knowing how much of a shithole this city could be, watching the sunset along the coast was a stunning sight.
I nearly had a heart attack as I turned the corner, almost running directly into Taylor and Tattletale. I stared at them, screaming into my helmet. I loved having a soundproof feature. Taylor was giving me a cautious look, probably on account of me shooting down her friend's sister after stalking them midair.
Tattletale gave me a "vulpine grin" as the suit insisted, her "bottle green" eyes staring directly at mine. Did she know I was screaming internally? Probably. Screw her. Fucking thinkers.
They were… shopping. I think. Was this some recruitment attempt from Tattletale? She probably knew Taylor was desperate for friends and wanted to recruit her into the Undersiders.
Should I bother interfering? Tattletale was weird about secret identities. She could probably figure out who I was if she wanted to put in the effort. It wouldn't even be that hard for her. I was the only new student at Winslow for the new year and Tech Jacket showed up shortly after, showing recognition towards Taylor of all people. Tattletale likely knew that I knew she was Tattletale but she wouldn't do something unless I provoked her in her civilian identity.
This was so bullshit. I quickly stepped past them and headed for my target. Clockblocker and Vista had stopped on their patrol route to take some pictures with the civilians.
Tally-ho! Clockblocker and Vista directly ahead. Perfect! Finally, something is going my way! I'd much prefer to have Aegis here too but as long as it wasn't Shadow Stalker or Gallant it was fine.
The less said about Sophia the better but I was the most worried about Gallant. He would be able to see how panicked I was and he was Glory Girl's boyfriend. I knew that he was a reasonable guy but I hit his girlfriend with two missiles yesterday. I even put a victory marking on my helmet. Kid Win would've been fine but I would rather not deal with a tinker, especially in my armor.
Clockblocker was a bit of a clown at times but he could be serious when the situation required it and he was very competent. His name was a bit immature but I knew he was likely a recent trigger when he joined the Wards.
Vista was also fine. She overcompensated for the fact that she was seen as the team kid but I couldn't really blame her for that.
I walked towards them, giving a casual wave, just in case they were still wary about me blasting Glory Girl.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't TINKER-bell! You run out of fairy dust or something little bro?"
What the actual hell did Clockblocker just say to me? Wasn't Peter Pan the one who needed fairy dust from Tinkerbell to fly? I guess the tinker joke wouldn't land if he called me Peter Pan. Also, what kind of greeting was that? I know I was considered a hero, if PHO was to be believed but shouldn't he be a bit more formal? Especially if the usual PRT MO was to try and recruit me?
He held out a hand for me to shake, giving me an odd stare.
Ok… I guess he didn't really see me as a threat. Maybe he was telling a joke for the crowd. I decided to indulge him and reached out for a handshake before Vista slapped the back of his head and pushed his arm away.
"Ignore him Tech Jacket, it's just a stupid prank he likes to pull on people with his powers. I'm Vista. It's nice to see more heroes in the city," she said. It sounded rehearsed. I wonder if Vista practiced her hero persona in the mirror.
Also, what was that about a prank with his power? Who the hell did something like that? Would Clockblocker really use his power on another hero outside of sparring? That sounds like the perfect way to alienate me to the PRT! Was he trying to pick a fight?!
I gave a quick greeting back and shook Vista's hand. Something weird I noticed were the costumes those two were wearing. They looked like plastic.
Vista didn't really have much "armor" besides her helmet, chestplate, and boots. The problem was, that did not look like armor. It looked like cheap plastic plates that a cosplayer would wear.
Clockblocker was the same. Even though he had plates over his entire body, it all looked like plastic.
Wait, were these two cosplayers? I… guess it could be two siblings maybe? Going to the boardwalk as Clockblocker and Vista, maybe to go and meet the real deal. Yes. That must be it. There was no way Clockblocker was this dumb.
Did they think I was a cosplayer? There was no way civilians would approach me pretending to be Clockblocker and Vista right? Were these two blind or something? Anyone could tell how complex my armor was. How was anyone supposed to create something like this in the few weeks that I was active?
Crap, Vista was saying something. I replayed the audio. She gave me a pitch for the Wards. She used male pronouns. Damnit did she think I was some preteen or a really short guy? At least I think they're the real deal now.
I should still make sure. "Hello, Vista. You guys aren't just cosplayers right?"
Vista gave me an offended look. I turned to Clockblocker. If these two were cosplayers then the older brother or babysitter should've figured out I was the real Tech Jacket and any sane person would know better than to joke around with a parahuman.
"Of course! I'm such a big fan of you, Tech Jacket, may I shake your hand little guy?" asked Clockblocker, before receiving another slap from Vista.
Jeez.
"It's the costumes right? It's not real armor you know. They don't want us to look too intimidating so no weapons or armor except for tinkers," explained Vista, grimacing, "It's the Youth Guard. They don't like the child soldier comparisons."
What? WHAT?! HUH?! At least Vista wasn't crazy but what the actual fuck?
"Don't you guys get into fights all the time?"
"Wards aren't supposed to fight, but this IS Brockton."
I'm not dealing with this.
"I should go."
I turned around, forming rocket boots over my feet and shooting into the air.
"Bullshit."
At least Vista was normal.
---------------------
That night, my dad said he had to go work overtime. Mom already worked the night shifts at the diner but I knew my dad was lying. I just didn't believe that there was more work to do at the docks this late.
Like any good daughter would, I activated my alien power armor and stalked my father's truck from the sky.
I didn't know what would be worse. Dad cheating on mom or dad working for the Empire.
Dad was probably doing work for the Empire.
He didn't shave his head or anything but I knew he was out most nights and I highly doubted he was cheating. We somehow had enough money for everything despite the fact that both mom and dad made jack shit from their jobs.
I could excuse us living in Empire territory. The Empire was somewhat defensive of… the right people… to a degree. As long as we paid our protection money. While they wouldn't go out of their way just to protect us, the threat of running into Hookwolf was enough to deter most other gangs, especially those without any capes.
It was also safer for us than living in Merchant territory.
Mom also worked at an Empire front. None of us acknowledged it but there were a lot of skinheads that visited the diner. I could excuse that too. Afterall, it was Brockton Bay and we did live in Empire territory. She did get the job pretty quickly though.
Dad also knew someone in Brockton. He said it was an old friend of his that would help us out but I've never seen him.
All of that could be excused as coincidences but there was just too much evidence for me to ignore.
I hated gangs. Not just the bosses, but the individual members too. Degenerate scum who would rather harass innocent civilians rather than work an honest job. They were the people who demanded money from us. Everytime we were close to paying it off, the interest rose. They broke my fathers fingers time and time again when he was late on his payments. They threatened to burn down our house and my fathers shop.
The reason we even moved was because they threatened to take me as payment.
Honestly, I hope they come. If it wasn't for the impending apocalypse I would take a page out of Glory Girl's book and lock them in dumpsters.
If my dad was one of them now. One of the Empire. I will stop him. I could terrify him as Tech Jacket. Give him a warning.
My parents refused to take money from me when I offered to get a job but I could take cash from gangsters and slip it into my parents' wallets.
My dad met up with a skinhead. This was probably the "friend" my dad knew. I followed them to the docks and saw them meet with another skinhead before covering themselves with ski masks. Dad put on a fake license plate.
I locked onto the truck. Our truck. Concussion missile at the ready.
I wanted to do something. I should do something. Go and stop my dad. Hug him. Beat the shit out of him. Tell him to stop. Tell him I had my suit now.
I did nothing. I just watched from the air. Damnit.
They found a shipping container, one of them shining a UV light on it.
Guns. My dad was an arms smuggler for the Empire. I felt the disgust well in myself as they loaded them into our truck.
I saw two other cars pull into the area. Video and audio confirmed them as members of the DWU.
Fucking Danny Hebert's little gang. I needed to look into them too. They didn't have any parahumans. At least not yet and I didn't even know if they did anything illegal but I needed the intel.
Eight dockworkers came out. A couple of them had pistols. One had a shotgun and another had some hunting rifle.
Dad.
Dad dove into the truck as the Nazis took cover and drew their own weapons. All three had rifles.
This was getting messy. They started shooting and I saw dad duck, desperately trying to start the truck.
I dove down, spraying a line of hot green plasma between the two gangs, a wall of green fire separating them.
Was that really plasma? Reminds me much more of napalm. Fucking alien tech.
I landed between them as dad drove off.
The remaining men dropped their weapons as I formed electric blasters on each arm towards both groups.
Did I just help the Empire smuggle guns?
1.06
1.06
"Are you sure?"
"Zara, kiddo, don't worry too much about your old man. I wasn't even there when the truck was hit."
Fucking bullshit. My dad was a filthy gunrunner and I helped him escape. Those guns. The Empire was going to use them. How many people were they going to kill with them? I'm pretty sure I even saw a 50 cal. Was that going to Victor?
I got up, pushing my breakfast away. I felt too disgusted to eat. Eat the food that my dad bought with his dirty Empire money.
I've always despised criminals who use their families as an excuse. People who feel entitled to enriching themselves at the expense of others just because they feel that they've suffered more. That filthy loan shark we escaped from was one of them. I knew he had some shitty childhood and a wife and child.
In my darkest moments, usually when my father was late on a payment, I fantasized about a world where the shoe was on the other foot. Would I be merciful to his family knowing what he would do to us?
In fact, the shoe was on the other foot now. I had the Tech Jacket. I could fly to his mansion right now and burn everyone who got in my way. Those two fools that always came to our shop demanding money would get a personal visit from me too.
My dad was just like him now. He was using mom and I as an excuse to work for the Empire. I knew he meant well, I really did. He was still a dipshit for taking the Empire's money to smuggle guns.
Even worse, I protected him. I helped him escape Danny's DWU thugs. I should've fired the missile. If it was anyone else I would've done it. I couldn't. I just couldn't. When I saw that truck, all I could think about were my memories in it. When I was a child. All the road trips we took. All the places dad drove me in it. I was a hypocrite.
This was what I hated the most about Taylor. Or Taylor from Worm. Not this weird bizarro Taylor. Skitter. Skitter from Worm.
Skitter was a hypocrite. She and those fucking Undersiders did horrible things while using their crybaby backstory as a shield. Pathetic. They were villains who occasionally did the right thing but they were still villains.
While I pitied Skitter, I knew that logically it was only because I read the book from her perspective. If I ever met her here. If Taylor still became Skitter, I would happily blow her to hell.
"...right Zara?"
I snarled, turning around and grabbing whoever just interrupted my brooding by the throat, pressing her against the locker, lifting her up.
She started screaming, pulling her lips back revealing her teeth. A perfect impression of a chimpanzee. Shit, I think that was Madison.
We were in the locker room. Taylor also had PE this semester. I vaguely remember her original schedule not including a PE class but that might just be me forgetting a minor detail.
I always wore my gym clothes to school and changed in the bathroom. Even when minimized, the tech jacket was still visible when I was changing. I didn't think anyone even noticed because of how little I talked.
I let Madison go, giving her a quick pat and mumbling an apology. I made some random excuse about me being stressed out for a project or something. Honestly, this probably earned me more credit with the trio, especially Sophia.
I saw Taylor giving me a fearful look out of the corner of my eye. I tried to give her a reassuring smile but my eyelids were twitching. She gave me a grimace and hurried out.
Taylor probably hated me. I don't really know why exactly she was talking about it with Panacea. Honestly, it might've been because I jumped out the window when she was talking to me combined with the fact that I'm one of the "popular" girls now.
I should really clear that up with her but I've been putting off anything related to my civilian life. I just had bigger fish to fry now and I spent most of my time at school brooding or using my mental link with the suit to do research.
The DWU was most likely a gang. They weren't really a big threat to most people and they tended to just stay by the docks but my father was caught between them and the Empire.
There were even some rumors that a lot of the women who worked at the docks were former members of Lustrum's group. Lustrum's group actually had their own capes and while most of them were imprisoned, a few were rumored to be working for the DWU.
Some rumors even said that Lustrum herself was a member of the DWU. Apparently she wasn't in the Birdcage.
That bit of information nearly gave me a heart attack but fortunately, every other dangerous Birdcage prisoner was still there. Glaistig Uaine, Teacher, String Theory, and all the other psychos I could think of.
I had no idea why the hell Taylor was getting bullied so hard, especially when Danny had so much power. The DWU, even if they didn't have some former Lustrum capes, they had more leverage and power than most normal gangs outside of Brockton.
Even if they were a completely legitimate organization, which I highly doubt considering how little the dockworkers mattered, Danny still had a lot of options.
The DWU was highly connected in the city, especially with other unions and industries. In fact, dockworker was more of an affiliation than an occupation. A lot of blue collar businesses were technically a part of the DWU just because they were located near the docks.
This was Winslow. Most of the students here had at least one parent that could be fired on Danny's word alone. He could even threaten Winslow by restricting their access to contractors for repairs and maintenance.
In fact, how was Emma the richest kid in the school?! Her dad was just some divorce lawyer! Did the Heberts burn cash for warmth or something? I followed Taylor home once as Tech Jacket and they lived in a hovel. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I found out the ghost of Annette literally kept their house from collapsing.
I had no idea what I was going to do about the DWU. Most likely, they were doing something illegal. There was just no way for them to have so much power when the docks were in such poor condition. I wouldn't actively hunt them like I did with the ABB, Empire, and Coil but I wouldn't give them a free pass.
I was sure Taylor was a cape though. I was sure she didn't control bugs. Her clothes were always in pristine condition after school, no matter what the bullies did to them. I once saw her with rips in her hoodie during class that disappeared after school.
Going off the assumption that she still wanted to be a hero, what would she think of me if she found out I arrested a dockworker? She would hate me. She's a hypocrite for her allies. While Taylor wasn't important in the grand scheme of things, especially because I can't rely on the original Worm, I didn't like the idea of having her gunning for me.
Fucking Taylor. I had no idea what was going on with her. She knew New Wave for sure and she knew Tattletale. I didn't want to know what was going on with her but I was going to start going out as Tech Jacket.
Screw Golden Morning. At best, I was just another flying artillery cape. In terms of superpowers, I wasn't special. Nothing I have could possibly help and I needed experience. At best I might be able to buy time by assassinating Jack Slash but I knew Cauldron wanted him to start Golden Morning. Something about how there might not be enough capes in ten years time when Scion goes crazy regardless.
Even then, the best plan I had was to continuously strafe the Nine from a distance and so many things could go wrong, especially with Bonesaw.
In Brockton Bay, the only remotely useful capes for Golden Morning would be Lung, Bakuda, and maybe Leet if Khepri or a similar master comes into play. In the meantime, I would start hitting the gangs, starting with Coil. I needed to get my dad out of the Empire but Coil was the biggest threat. I needed to know what he had in this world and if he really was just some nobody. That, and I didn't really know what to do about my father. I needed more time to plan for that.
I was losing it. I barely paid attention in school and today, I even let Madison do all the work during Gladly's class. She did surprisingly well. I always thought she was a complete idiot but the presentation we had was fairly coherent.
Shit, wait. Madison was a dumbass. I looked around the class. Taylor was pissed. Fuck! I just presented her work, didn't I? Ohhhhh God damnit! What the hell was happening to me?!
Fucking Earth Bet!
I nearly shot a laser at Madison when she confronted me after class, asking me if I wanted to attend some rich people's party.
Like hell. I can imagine how embarrassing it would be for me. My fanciest clothes consisted of one pair of extra nice jeans, a decent blouse, and a fancy bomber jacket that belonged to my grandfather.
Even if I wasn't broke as shit, Taylor was going. I could read between the lines. Taylor was going as a friend of New Wave and the Trio wanted to mess with her.
This was a disaster waiting to happen and I would rather fight Hookwolf on the ground than go to that shitshow.
"Are you sure?"
"Zara, kiddo, don't worry too much about your old man. I wasn't even there when the truck was hit."
Fucking bullshit. My dad was a filthy gunrunner and I helped him escape. Those guns. The Empire was going to use them. How many people were they going to kill with them? I'm pretty sure I even saw a 50 cal. Was that going to Victor?
I got up, pushing my breakfast away. I felt too disgusted to eat. Eat the food that my dad bought with his dirty Empire money.
I've always despised criminals who use their families as an excuse. People who feel entitled to enriching themselves at the expense of others just because they feel that they've suffered more. That filthy loan shark we escaped from was one of them. I knew he had some shitty childhood and a wife and child.
In my darkest moments, usually when my father was late on a payment, I fantasized about a world where the shoe was on the other foot. Would I be merciful to his family knowing what he would do to us?
In fact, the shoe was on the other foot now. I had the Tech Jacket. I could fly to his mansion right now and burn everyone who got in my way. Those two fools that always came to our shop demanding money would get a personal visit from me too.
My dad was just like him now. He was using mom and I as an excuse to work for the Empire. I knew he meant well, I really did. He was still a dipshit for taking the Empire's money to smuggle guns.
Even worse, I protected him. I helped him escape Danny's DWU thugs. I should've fired the missile. If it was anyone else I would've done it. I couldn't. I just couldn't. When I saw that truck, all I could think about were my memories in it. When I was a child. All the road trips we took. All the places dad drove me in it. I was a hypocrite.
This was what I hated the most about Taylor. Or Taylor from Worm. Not this weird bizarro Taylor. Skitter. Skitter from Worm.
Skitter was a hypocrite. She and those fucking Undersiders did horrible things while using their crybaby backstory as a shield. Pathetic. They were villains who occasionally did the right thing but they were still villains.
While I pitied Skitter, I knew that logically it was only because I read the book from her perspective. If I ever met her here. If Taylor still became Skitter, I would happily blow her to hell.
"...right Zara?"
I snarled, turning around and grabbing whoever just interrupted my brooding by the throat, pressing her against the locker, lifting her up.
She started screaming, pulling her lips back revealing her teeth. A perfect impression of a chimpanzee. Shit, I think that was Madison.
We were in the locker room. Taylor also had PE this semester. I vaguely remember her original schedule not including a PE class but that might just be me forgetting a minor detail.
I always wore my gym clothes to school and changed in the bathroom. Even when minimized, the tech jacket was still visible when I was changing. I didn't think anyone even noticed because of how little I talked.
I let Madison go, giving her a quick pat and mumbling an apology. I made some random excuse about me being stressed out for a project or something. Honestly, this probably earned me more credit with the trio, especially Sophia.
I saw Taylor giving me a fearful look out of the corner of my eye. I tried to give her a reassuring smile but my eyelids were twitching. She gave me a grimace and hurried out.
Taylor probably hated me. I don't really know why exactly she was talking about it with Panacea. Honestly, it might've been because I jumped out the window when she was talking to me combined with the fact that I'm one of the "popular" girls now.
I should really clear that up with her but I've been putting off anything related to my civilian life. I just had bigger fish to fry now and I spent most of my time at school brooding or using my mental link with the suit to do research.
The DWU was most likely a gang. They weren't really a big threat to most people and they tended to just stay by the docks but my father was caught between them and the Empire.
There were even some rumors that a lot of the women who worked at the docks were former members of Lustrum's group. Lustrum's group actually had their own capes and while most of them were imprisoned, a few were rumored to be working for the DWU.
Some rumors even said that Lustrum herself was a member of the DWU. Apparently she wasn't in the Birdcage.
That bit of information nearly gave me a heart attack but fortunately, every other dangerous Birdcage prisoner was still there. Glaistig Uaine, Teacher, String Theory, and all the other psychos I could think of.
I had no idea why the hell Taylor was getting bullied so hard, especially when Danny had so much power. The DWU, even if they didn't have some former Lustrum capes, they had more leverage and power than most normal gangs outside of Brockton.
Even if they were a completely legitimate organization, which I highly doubt considering how little the dockworkers mattered, Danny still had a lot of options.
The DWU was highly connected in the city, especially with other unions and industries. In fact, dockworker was more of an affiliation than an occupation. A lot of blue collar businesses were technically a part of the DWU just because they were located near the docks.
This was Winslow. Most of the students here had at least one parent that could be fired on Danny's word alone. He could even threaten Winslow by restricting their access to contractors for repairs and maintenance.
In fact, how was Emma the richest kid in the school?! Her dad was just some divorce lawyer! Did the Heberts burn cash for warmth or something? I followed Taylor home once as Tech Jacket and they lived in a hovel. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I found out the ghost of Annette literally kept their house from collapsing.
I had no idea what I was going to do about the DWU. Most likely, they were doing something illegal. There was just no way for them to have so much power when the docks were in such poor condition. I wouldn't actively hunt them like I did with the ABB, Empire, and Coil but I wouldn't give them a free pass.
I was sure Taylor was a cape though. I was sure she didn't control bugs. Her clothes were always in pristine condition after school, no matter what the bullies did to them. I once saw her with rips in her hoodie during class that disappeared after school.
Going off the assumption that she still wanted to be a hero, what would she think of me if she found out I arrested a dockworker? She would hate me. She's a hypocrite for her allies. While Taylor wasn't important in the grand scheme of things, especially because I can't rely on the original Worm, I didn't like the idea of having her gunning for me.
Fucking Taylor. I had no idea what was going on with her. She knew New Wave for sure and she knew Tattletale. I didn't want to know what was going on with her but I was going to start going out as Tech Jacket.
Screw Golden Morning. At best, I was just another flying artillery cape. In terms of superpowers, I wasn't special. Nothing I have could possibly help and I needed experience. At best I might be able to buy time by assassinating Jack Slash but I knew Cauldron wanted him to start Golden Morning. Something about how there might not be enough capes in ten years time when Scion goes crazy regardless.
Even then, the best plan I had was to continuously strafe the Nine from a distance and so many things could go wrong, especially with Bonesaw.
In Brockton Bay, the only remotely useful capes for Golden Morning would be Lung, Bakuda, and maybe Leet if Khepri or a similar master comes into play. In the meantime, I would start hitting the gangs, starting with Coil. I needed to get my dad out of the Empire but Coil was the biggest threat. I needed to know what he had in this world and if he really was just some nobody. That, and I didn't really know what to do about my father. I needed more time to plan for that.
I was losing it. I barely paid attention in school and today, I even let Madison do all the work during Gladly's class. She did surprisingly well. I always thought she was a complete idiot but the presentation we had was fairly coherent.
Shit, wait. Madison was a dumbass. I looked around the class. Taylor was pissed. Fuck! I just presented her work, didn't I? Ohhhhh God damnit! What the hell was happening to me?!
Fucking Earth Bet!
I nearly shot a laser at Madison when she confronted me after class, asking me if I wanted to attend some rich people's party.
Like hell. I can imagine how embarrassing it would be for me. My fanciest clothes consisted of one pair of extra nice jeans, a decent blouse, and a fancy bomber jacket that belonged to my grandfather.
Even if I wasn't broke as shit, Taylor was going. I could read between the lines. Taylor was going as a friend of New Wave and the Trio wanted to mess with her.
This was a disaster waiting to happen and I would rather fight Hookwolf on the ground than go to that shitshow.
1.07
1.07
I loved flying but I had no idea what I was doing. I needed info on Coil but I didn't know where to start. I did a bit of research into Thomas Calvert but I couldn't find any evidence of him being Coil. Well, obviously not. The only thing I got was that he was some consultant for the PRT and he owned a lot of businesses.
One in particular that stood out to me was Fortress Constructions, a company that built Endbringer Shelters. It could be how he built his underground base.
I briefly entertained the thought of tracking down Tattletale by following Taylor and interrogating or even working with her. I didn't like Tattletale. She was selfish and she was working with Coil to steal his organization for herself. She kept the rest of the Undersiders in the dark about their boss and there was a good chance she would betray or blindside me.
I also wasn't sure how much I liked the idea of Tattletale having so much power, especially if I was the one who gave it to her. She wasn't a monster like Coil but she was still a powerful supervillain.
I need to take down Coil fast, before he kidnaps Dinah and recruits the Travelers, if he's still planning on it.
A loud crash in the distance stopped me. Smoke rose into the sky. Cape fight.
Fucking typical. I increased my altitude, hovering far in the air scanning the area. Hookwolf. Tally-ho on Hookwolf.
I locked onto him with a missile and aborted the shot at the last moment. Hookwolf was acting odd. He was slowly walking forward. Not thrashing around like a psycho wolf monster.
I zoomed in on him and saw who he was walking towards. Vista. Vista on the ground bleeding out. Why the hell was she trying to fight Hookwolf alone?!
I vaguely remember something about her getting injured from Hookwolf but the Wards didn't even have armor in this world.
I know that Clockblocker and Vista told me the Wards did fight here in Brockton even though they weren't supposed to generally but I thought they meant fighting the Undersiders or some other low threat villains.
She was too close for missiles. Switching to guns! I learned my lesson from that encounter with Glory Girl and I wanted to avoid close combat if I could but I needed to get Vista to a hospital.
This was probably the worst battleground for me to fight in. We were surrounded by apartment buildings. Hookwolf was a big metal monster and I needed to use my heavy weapons on him but if I missed there was a good chance of me obliterating an entire building full of civilians.
I hovered down behind him and aimed my wrist at his back, shooting a beam directly into his steel flesh.
He whirled around, facing me, as Vista stood up and assumed a fighting stance.
"I would've won if the Youth Guard let me have a gun. Stupid cheap plastic garbage," she said, spitting blood onto the ground and cracking her knuckles.
Vista… WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE NORMAL ONE!
Even Hookwolf seemed at a loss for words, rapidly turning his head between Vista and I before settling on me. His form started twisting, metal rising out of his back.
Did Hookwolf just grow wings? Why did Hookwolf just grow wings? Since when could Hookwolf grow wings? How did Hookwolf just grow wings?
I took off into the air, igniting my afterburners, a blue trail forming behind me as the flying Nazi flew after me.
Hookwolf was like a cockroach. He was a dirty grubby creature that was extremely hard to kill and absolutely terrifying when they flew.
I was faster than him. With the afterburners at least but that couldn't last forever. There was no way he was flying so fast with just his wings. I think he was actually using spinning blades internally as a makeshift engine.
I could melt his body with my weapons but I would have to get under him. Lasers don't just disappear and I can't just start shooting down towards the city. Even shooting at Hookwolf from the same altitude is risky. There's a good chance I could hit something on the ground if my angle was too low.
I was tempted to pull a cobra maneuver on him but the thought of falling into his spinning razor jaw was way worse than getting punched by Glory Girl.
I needed to figure something out and fast. The afterburners were draining my suit's energy fast and I was feeling more strain on my body. I'm actually not sure how the hell this suit is recharging. My main theory currently is solar power or motion, and I don't really know how much energy it has.
I clasped my hands together and dove forward as if I was on a springboard, curling in upon myself as I rotated in the air.
Hookwolf shot past me. People in this city really had poor maneuverability. I continued rolling, orienting myself under Hookwolf until I saw his underside. I was too close for missiles. Typical. Just my damn luck. I could easily beat this idiot from miles away if it wasn't for all the civilians in the city.
Blinking away the nausea, I formed cannons over both arms, pointing them at Hookwolf, leading him by just a little, and rapidly fired violet energy bolts into him.
Honestly, I had no idea what I was shooting. They burnt, they electrified, and they somehow had a kinetic component. By default they were shot in short bolts though I could concentrate them into a longer beam.
The bolts slammed into Hookwolf, exploding against his form, blasting glowing hot steel through the sky like fireworks.
I kept firing, holding down that mental trigger as shot after shot went into his body. His form twisted and I was suddenly facing his head, the jaw opening, shotgunning metal shards into me.
Since when the fuck could he do that? What the hell was wrong with this place? Did the Empire have even more fliers than just him? Like some deranged parahuman Luftwaffe.
The metal couldn't penetrate my armor but it still hurt when they slammed into me.
It shouldn't hurt. I was holding the suit back. When I went over the functions, I knew that the suit was deeply connected to my body but I could go farther. I could have it replace organs and add modifications, making me a brute without even deploying the armor.
My weapons would get stronger. I would be able to withstand more extreme maneuvers. I would be faster. Fast enough to accelerate to FTL speeds. If I wanted, I could leave the solar system. I'm sure with enough scouting I could even find a world untouched by the entities.
I knew I should do it. There was an actual apocalypse coming and I wasn't nearly strong enough, even at full power but it just wasn't a step I was ready to take.
That, and I couldn't leave my family. I wasn't even sure if they were my real family. Would my dad really work for the Empire? I didn't want to ever think about that but I needed to be here for Golden Morning. For my family.
I oriented myself high, blasting upwards, gaining altitude. I couldn't fight below Hookwolf like this. The shrapnel would rain down on the city and I doubt he cared about civilians getting caught in our battle.
I headed towards the bay, igniting my afterburners and streaking over the city. Was the PRT watching this shit?! Did they even know Hookwolf could do this? They did. Thanks suit. I was just a dumbass who never bothered researching the known villains.
Shit, the only help I could get from the heroes would have to be from New Wave. They were the best heroic flyers but they were probably pretty pissed at me for shooting down Glory Girl.
Wait, they were at that party right? Were they seeing this shit right now?
Once I was over the bay, I pulled myself upright and cut my jets, breathing heavily, nearly fainting from the g-force. I made some distance between me and Hookwolf but he was gaining fast. I leaned to the side, falling down and leaning back before restarting my thrusters.
Hookwolf flew above me, way too close for comfort but I was facing his underside now and I was close enough to use pure electricity attacks. Lightning arced from my arms into Hookwolf as I flew back towards the city, orienting myself upright to position myself above Hookwolf.
Hookwolf howled and spasmed mid air as the electricity danced along his body. His momentum kept him flying forward before he torpedoed into the water.
He shot back out towards me, mouth open revealing row after row of spinning blades. He was so close. I felt my heart jump into my throat. I knew it wouldn't be enough to keep him down. I was planning to fire lightning into the water to keep him down but I wasn't expecting him to turn around so fast.
I tried to juke upwards but he caught my left leg with a chain, wrapping tightly enough to crush me through the armor.
"DO NOT DRUG ME!"
I screamed and cried into my helmet but I would not use painkillers. Not now, not ever. I've seen what happens to people who use drugs. It always starts as just a bit.
I threw my arms down, forming thrusters on both hands, straining the jets on my armor as far as it allows me.
Nausea pounded in my head as I felt a stab of pain in my leg as it dislocated at the knee. I thrashed in the air before turning towards the Protectorate ENE HQ, The Rig as people called it, and tried to blast myself forward.
I couldn't beat Hookwolf and I needed help fast. Where the fuck were the heroes?! Were they all at that stupid fucking party?!
I felt a sharp pain stab into my leg as Hookwolf shot forward and bit down, the blades in his mouth grinding into the armor before he pierced it and sliced my leg off. The suit quickly sealed the wound but it couldn't regenerate the thruster.
My heart was beating out of my chest and I felt light headed, darkness encroaching on my vision. I was really glad I didn't eat anything today. I skipped breakfast due to what I found out about dad. I skipped lunch because I thought I saw a human finger in the meatloaf and I didn't want to eat before flying. I didn't want to find out if my helmet had a vomit removal feature.
Was I going to die? In my first real cape fight? I didn't even make it to the Leviathan attack and I was already going to die to Hookwolf of all people. I needed to live. For my parents. I needed to at least get my father out of the Empire.
What was I even thinking? I could've won. I was an idiot who ran in without a plan and I was going to die now. I didn't think to research the villains I already knew and I was blindsided by a flying Hookwolf.
I clumsily shot through the air, unable to stabilize my flight. I just needed to get out of here. The suit could regenerate my injuries when I slept, as long as I was alive. Fucking space tinkers.
I crashed into the water, skipping on the surface before Hookwolf caught up and wrapped me in his chain, pulling me into his maw. The blades ground into me from all sides. I could feel my bones breaking as he crunched into me.
I lashed out with my plasma thrower, scorching his interior with green alien napalm. He had a core. At least I really hope he still has a core in this world. Warnings shot through the screen of my helmet but I knew I could withstand the heat better than he could.
The pressure lessened as the blades inside him glowed and melted.
I should've used this sooner. I needed to be away from the city for it to work but it was one of my strongest weapons, able to practically melt through anything.
The metal encasing me melted and separated, one half falling into the water while the other was reforming Hookwolf's shape.
The armor braced my broken bones and I shot forward, transforming my arms into metallic tendrils, wrapping around Hookwolf before I pulled up hard, boosting into the sky, ignoring the throbbing headache and crushing g-force.
Parahuman powers didn't work in space but my suit did. Hookwolf was much lighter now after I burnt off half his mass.
I made sure to drag him far with me, keeping him away from my body.
He was trying to cut through the metal tentacles but he couldn't find the leverage midair.
I saw an odd bubble of metal form outside the tentacles before it opened, dropping a very human Hookwolf out.
I quickly reversed my direction, nearly blacking out from the g-force, shooting back down at Hookwolf before he could fully reform.
I was faster than he was, clamping down on his arms, sending electricity coursing through his body, knocking him out. I might've been a bit angrier because I clamped down harder than I meant to on his right arm before I tore it off.
Eye for an eye. Othala can fix his bitch ass up in prison.
I felt my vision fade as I hugged onto Hookwolf, plummeting towards the city.
I woke up mid air, seeing a house approaching fast. No wait, I was approaching the house fast. It was a mansion actually. They were having a party. Wait.
SHIT!
I activated all my thrusters, rapidly decreasing our speed. I dropped Hookwolf into the pool before I stabilized myself and face planted in the middle of a party.
I got up, the suit forming a hollow leg to prop me up. God damn, my everything hurts!
Everyone was staring at me.
Shit, this was the party Madison was talking about! I saw Taylor, Panacea, Glory Girl, and probably Dean staring at me from one corner.
The rest of New Wave was here too. Why didn't any of these fuckers catch me?!
I looked around and saw the trio. Emma was preparing to throw a bottle of "I refuse to even scan it" at Taylor.
I saw a guy who I think was Alan Barnes talking to who was probably Brandish who was pointing a hard light sword at me.
Alan Barnes looked like Peter Griffin.
Shit, wait, HOOKWOLF!
I stumbled over to the pool and fished him out. Still alive.
People gasped as they saw Hookwolf. I was totally ruining this party wasn't I.
Holy shit, I fought Hookwolf and attended the party! At least I was the most well dressed person here.
"Armsmaster and Ms.Militia are coming. Don't move, Tech Jacket."
Thanks Carol.
Author's Note:
Most of the characters here will have buffs. It would be boring if the MC could just blast everyone with missiles from halfway across the city.
I'm also going to write a sort of Omake section where I truly dial up the fanon to 11. I think some really good criticism I got in the early chapters was that I wanted to write a semi serious story so I need to keep the characters still a bit reasonable.
I loved flying but I had no idea what I was doing. I needed info on Coil but I didn't know where to start. I did a bit of research into Thomas Calvert but I couldn't find any evidence of him being Coil. Well, obviously not. The only thing I got was that he was some consultant for the PRT and he owned a lot of businesses.
One in particular that stood out to me was Fortress Constructions, a company that built Endbringer Shelters. It could be how he built his underground base.
I briefly entertained the thought of tracking down Tattletale by following Taylor and interrogating or even working with her. I didn't like Tattletale. She was selfish and she was working with Coil to steal his organization for herself. She kept the rest of the Undersiders in the dark about their boss and there was a good chance she would betray or blindside me.
I also wasn't sure how much I liked the idea of Tattletale having so much power, especially if I was the one who gave it to her. She wasn't a monster like Coil but she was still a powerful supervillain.
I need to take down Coil fast, before he kidnaps Dinah and recruits the Travelers, if he's still planning on it.
A loud crash in the distance stopped me. Smoke rose into the sky. Cape fight.
Fucking typical. I increased my altitude, hovering far in the air scanning the area. Hookwolf. Tally-ho on Hookwolf.
I locked onto him with a missile and aborted the shot at the last moment. Hookwolf was acting odd. He was slowly walking forward. Not thrashing around like a psycho wolf monster.
I zoomed in on him and saw who he was walking towards. Vista. Vista on the ground bleeding out. Why the hell was she trying to fight Hookwolf alone?!
I vaguely remember something about her getting injured from Hookwolf but the Wards didn't even have armor in this world.
I know that Clockblocker and Vista told me the Wards did fight here in Brockton even though they weren't supposed to generally but I thought they meant fighting the Undersiders or some other low threat villains.
She was too close for missiles. Switching to guns! I learned my lesson from that encounter with Glory Girl and I wanted to avoid close combat if I could but I needed to get Vista to a hospital.
This was probably the worst battleground for me to fight in. We were surrounded by apartment buildings. Hookwolf was a big metal monster and I needed to use my heavy weapons on him but if I missed there was a good chance of me obliterating an entire building full of civilians.
I hovered down behind him and aimed my wrist at his back, shooting a beam directly into his steel flesh.
He whirled around, facing me, as Vista stood up and assumed a fighting stance.
"I would've won if the Youth Guard let me have a gun. Stupid cheap plastic garbage," she said, spitting blood onto the ground and cracking her knuckles.
Vista… WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE NORMAL ONE!
Even Hookwolf seemed at a loss for words, rapidly turning his head between Vista and I before settling on me. His form started twisting, metal rising out of his back.
Did Hookwolf just grow wings? Why did Hookwolf just grow wings? Since when could Hookwolf grow wings? How did Hookwolf just grow wings?
I took off into the air, igniting my afterburners, a blue trail forming behind me as the flying Nazi flew after me.
Hookwolf was like a cockroach. He was a dirty grubby creature that was extremely hard to kill and absolutely terrifying when they flew.
I was faster than him. With the afterburners at least but that couldn't last forever. There was no way he was flying so fast with just his wings. I think he was actually using spinning blades internally as a makeshift engine.
I could melt his body with my weapons but I would have to get under him. Lasers don't just disappear and I can't just start shooting down towards the city. Even shooting at Hookwolf from the same altitude is risky. There's a good chance I could hit something on the ground if my angle was too low.
I was tempted to pull a cobra maneuver on him but the thought of falling into his spinning razor jaw was way worse than getting punched by Glory Girl.
I needed to figure something out and fast. The afterburners were draining my suit's energy fast and I was feeling more strain on my body. I'm actually not sure how the hell this suit is recharging. My main theory currently is solar power or motion, and I don't really know how much energy it has.
I clasped my hands together and dove forward as if I was on a springboard, curling in upon myself as I rotated in the air.
Hookwolf shot past me. People in this city really had poor maneuverability. I continued rolling, orienting myself under Hookwolf until I saw his underside. I was too close for missiles. Typical. Just my damn luck. I could easily beat this idiot from miles away if it wasn't for all the civilians in the city.
Blinking away the nausea, I formed cannons over both arms, pointing them at Hookwolf, leading him by just a little, and rapidly fired violet energy bolts into him.
Honestly, I had no idea what I was shooting. They burnt, they electrified, and they somehow had a kinetic component. By default they were shot in short bolts though I could concentrate them into a longer beam.
The bolts slammed into Hookwolf, exploding against his form, blasting glowing hot steel through the sky like fireworks.
I kept firing, holding down that mental trigger as shot after shot went into his body. His form twisted and I was suddenly facing his head, the jaw opening, shotgunning metal shards into me.
Since when the fuck could he do that? What the hell was wrong with this place? Did the Empire have even more fliers than just him? Like some deranged parahuman Luftwaffe.
The metal couldn't penetrate my armor but it still hurt when they slammed into me.
It shouldn't hurt. I was holding the suit back. When I went over the functions, I knew that the suit was deeply connected to my body but I could go farther. I could have it replace organs and add modifications, making me a brute without even deploying the armor.
My weapons would get stronger. I would be able to withstand more extreme maneuvers. I would be faster. Fast enough to accelerate to FTL speeds. If I wanted, I could leave the solar system. I'm sure with enough scouting I could even find a world untouched by the entities.
I knew I should do it. There was an actual apocalypse coming and I wasn't nearly strong enough, even at full power but it just wasn't a step I was ready to take.
That, and I couldn't leave my family. I wasn't even sure if they were my real family. Would my dad really work for the Empire? I didn't want to ever think about that but I needed to be here for Golden Morning. For my family.
I oriented myself high, blasting upwards, gaining altitude. I couldn't fight below Hookwolf like this. The shrapnel would rain down on the city and I doubt he cared about civilians getting caught in our battle.
I headed towards the bay, igniting my afterburners and streaking over the city. Was the PRT watching this shit?! Did they even know Hookwolf could do this? They did. Thanks suit. I was just a dumbass who never bothered researching the known villains.
Shit, the only help I could get from the heroes would have to be from New Wave. They were the best heroic flyers but they were probably pretty pissed at me for shooting down Glory Girl.
Wait, they were at that party right? Were they seeing this shit right now?
Once I was over the bay, I pulled myself upright and cut my jets, breathing heavily, nearly fainting from the g-force. I made some distance between me and Hookwolf but he was gaining fast. I leaned to the side, falling down and leaning back before restarting my thrusters.
Hookwolf flew above me, way too close for comfort but I was facing his underside now and I was close enough to use pure electricity attacks. Lightning arced from my arms into Hookwolf as I flew back towards the city, orienting myself upright to position myself above Hookwolf.
Hookwolf howled and spasmed mid air as the electricity danced along his body. His momentum kept him flying forward before he torpedoed into the water.
He shot back out towards me, mouth open revealing row after row of spinning blades. He was so close. I felt my heart jump into my throat. I knew it wouldn't be enough to keep him down. I was planning to fire lightning into the water to keep him down but I wasn't expecting him to turn around so fast.
I tried to juke upwards but he caught my left leg with a chain, wrapping tightly enough to crush me through the armor.
"DO NOT DRUG ME!"
I screamed and cried into my helmet but I would not use painkillers. Not now, not ever. I've seen what happens to people who use drugs. It always starts as just a bit.
I threw my arms down, forming thrusters on both hands, straining the jets on my armor as far as it allows me.
Nausea pounded in my head as I felt a stab of pain in my leg as it dislocated at the knee. I thrashed in the air before turning towards the Protectorate ENE HQ, The Rig as people called it, and tried to blast myself forward.
I couldn't beat Hookwolf and I needed help fast. Where the fuck were the heroes?! Were they all at that stupid fucking party?!
I felt a sharp pain stab into my leg as Hookwolf shot forward and bit down, the blades in his mouth grinding into the armor before he pierced it and sliced my leg off. The suit quickly sealed the wound but it couldn't regenerate the thruster.
My heart was beating out of my chest and I felt light headed, darkness encroaching on my vision. I was really glad I didn't eat anything today. I skipped breakfast due to what I found out about dad. I skipped lunch because I thought I saw a human finger in the meatloaf and I didn't want to eat before flying. I didn't want to find out if my helmet had a vomit removal feature.
Was I going to die? In my first real cape fight? I didn't even make it to the Leviathan attack and I was already going to die to Hookwolf of all people. I needed to live. For my parents. I needed to at least get my father out of the Empire.
What was I even thinking? I could've won. I was an idiot who ran in without a plan and I was going to die now. I didn't think to research the villains I already knew and I was blindsided by a flying Hookwolf.
I clumsily shot through the air, unable to stabilize my flight. I just needed to get out of here. The suit could regenerate my injuries when I slept, as long as I was alive. Fucking space tinkers.
I crashed into the water, skipping on the surface before Hookwolf caught up and wrapped me in his chain, pulling me into his maw. The blades ground into me from all sides. I could feel my bones breaking as he crunched into me.
I lashed out with my plasma thrower, scorching his interior with green alien napalm. He had a core. At least I really hope he still has a core in this world. Warnings shot through the screen of my helmet but I knew I could withstand the heat better than he could.
The pressure lessened as the blades inside him glowed and melted.
I should've used this sooner. I needed to be away from the city for it to work but it was one of my strongest weapons, able to practically melt through anything.
The metal encasing me melted and separated, one half falling into the water while the other was reforming Hookwolf's shape.
The armor braced my broken bones and I shot forward, transforming my arms into metallic tendrils, wrapping around Hookwolf before I pulled up hard, boosting into the sky, ignoring the throbbing headache and crushing g-force.
Parahuman powers didn't work in space but my suit did. Hookwolf was much lighter now after I burnt off half his mass.
I made sure to drag him far with me, keeping him away from my body.
He was trying to cut through the metal tentacles but he couldn't find the leverage midair.
I saw an odd bubble of metal form outside the tentacles before it opened, dropping a very human Hookwolf out.
I quickly reversed my direction, nearly blacking out from the g-force, shooting back down at Hookwolf before he could fully reform.
I was faster than he was, clamping down on his arms, sending electricity coursing through his body, knocking him out. I might've been a bit angrier because I clamped down harder than I meant to on his right arm before I tore it off.
Eye for an eye. Othala can fix his bitch ass up in prison.
I felt my vision fade as I hugged onto Hookwolf, plummeting towards the city.
I woke up mid air, seeing a house approaching fast. No wait, I was approaching the house fast. It was a mansion actually. They were having a party. Wait.
SHIT!
I activated all my thrusters, rapidly decreasing our speed. I dropped Hookwolf into the pool before I stabilized myself and face planted in the middle of a party.
I got up, the suit forming a hollow leg to prop me up. God damn, my everything hurts!
Everyone was staring at me.
Shit, this was the party Madison was talking about! I saw Taylor, Panacea, Glory Girl, and probably Dean staring at me from one corner.
The rest of New Wave was here too. Why didn't any of these fuckers catch me?!
I looked around and saw the trio. Emma was preparing to throw a bottle of "I refuse to even scan it" at Taylor.
I saw a guy who I think was Alan Barnes talking to who was probably Brandish who was pointing a hard light sword at me.
Alan Barnes looked like Peter Griffin.
Shit, wait, HOOKWOLF!
I stumbled over to the pool and fished him out. Still alive.
People gasped as they saw Hookwolf. I was totally ruining this party wasn't I.
Holy shit, I fought Hookwolf and attended the party! At least I was the most well dressed person here.
"Armsmaster and Ms.Militia are coming. Don't move, Tech Jacket."
Thanks Carol.
I groaned, slowly picking myself off the floor, going over to the pool and fished Hookwolf out. Shit, I was screwing this party up wasn't I.
Carol was the first to recover, storming into my face and jabbing a finger into my chest. She had an ugly ass "call the manager" haircut.
She took a deep inhale, glaring at me hatefully.
"YOU SHORT LITTLE TINKER FUCK! HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH MY ONE AND ONLY DAUGHTER, VICTORIA!"
Huh?! Panacea was right there! I hated her but what the fuck Carol! I turned and looked at Panacea.
Damn, poor Amy. She was crying hard, leaning into Taylor as they hugged. Victoria had her mouth open in shock as she stared at her mom.
"What about Panacea ma'am?"
Shit. What the hell happened to my silence feature?
"What about her? She's not my real daughter. All she's good for is healing. I'm only raising her to make sure she doesn't turn into a villain."
Bruh. There was no way this was the real Carol, right?
"Tech Jacket, scan for toxins!"
Ok, I wasn't high right now. I was probably just feeling off after getting my ass kicked.
"You better take responsibility for fighting my daughter. I will give you a statement to make and if you screw this up I will sue your ass into the dirt! You got that little boy?!"
"Tech Jacket… Call Saul."
Carol was the first to recover, storming into my face and jabbing a finger into my chest. She had an ugly ass "call the manager" haircut.
She took a deep inhale, glaring at me hatefully.
"YOU SHORT LITTLE TINKER FUCK! HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH MY ONE AND ONLY DAUGHTER, VICTORIA!"
Huh?! Panacea was right there! I hated her but what the fuck Carol! I turned and looked at Panacea.
Damn, poor Amy. She was crying hard, leaning into Taylor as they hugged. Victoria had her mouth open in shock as she stared at her mom.
"What about Panacea ma'am?"
Shit. What the hell happened to my silence feature?
"What about her? She's not my real daughter. All she's good for is healing. I'm only raising her to make sure she doesn't turn into a villain."
Bruh. There was no way this was the real Carol, right?
"Tech Jacket, scan for toxins!"
Ok, I wasn't high right now. I was probably just feeling off after getting my ass kicked.
"You better take responsibility for fighting my daughter. I will give you a statement to make and if you screw this up I will sue your ass into the dirt! You got that little boy?!"
"Tech Jacket… Call Saul."
Author's Note:
Most of the characters here will have buffs. It would be boring if the MC could just blast everyone with missiles from halfway across the city.
I'm also going to write a sort of Omake section where I truly dial up the fanon to 11. I think some really good criticism I got in the early chapters was that I wanted to write a semi serious story so I need to keep the characters still a bit reasonable.
1.08
1.08
I'm so hungry. I'm starving and everything hurts like shit. I couldn't actually move on my own but I could mentally command the suit to move.
I grabbed Hookwolf's mask and peeled it off his burnt face. I wanted a souvenir and I'm sure it'll wash out. I was unmasking him but his identity was already public. I also took out his wallet but he only had seven bucks and a McDonald's coupon. After stashing the mask and loot into my suit, I plopped him in front of Brandish.
Panacea gave me a shy, wary look and glanced at Taylor who smiled at her. She raised a hand towards me. "Do, you nee-"
Brandish literally growled at Panacea, causing her to whimper and shrink into Taylor who gave her a hug and started whispering into her ear.
Taylor looked pretty. Unreasonably, uncharacteristically beautiful. She wasn't wearing her glasses and she had makeup on. She was wearing a fancy black dress. One of those crazy things that all the super rich celebrities wore. I think she had the most expensive dress at the party.
I'm not even gonna lie to myself, she's far prettier than I was. I have no idea how the trio gets off on making fun of her for her appearance.
On a scale of Rachel to Emma, Taylor was far closer to Emma while I was probably a bit farther on the Rachel side.
Well, that is if Rachel isn't some supermodel here.
Where the hell did the Heberts get the money for it? Maybe Panacea helped rent it for her. Emma was obviously about to pour… something on it. I leveled a glare at her with my cold robotic eyes and she actually squealed before running off.
Taylor was giving me a wary look, arms wrapped protectively over Panacea. Probably a good idea when some crazy power armored cape crashes your party holding the unconscious body of Hookwolf.
I looked around the party before I found the refreshments table. I couldn't move my body on my own but I could have my suit puppet me over. I screamed into my helmet as I felt the pressure against my broken bones but the food was worth the pain.
Fuck manners, I was too tired to care. Part of my helmet around my mouth opened. I grabbed a fistful of deviled eggs, partly crushing them due to the suit's clumsiness and shoved them into my mouth. Then, I grabbed a handful of meat and cheese from their charcuterie board. I'm sure this was some of that fancy rich people stuff but I didn't care enough to appreciate the flavor. It just tasted like regular deli stuff to me.
I turned to the punch. A quick scan showed that no one spiked it. I grabbed the bowl, raising it to my mouth and taking a huge gulp, drinking a full quarter of the bowl before setting it down.
I quickly reformed the part of my helmet covering my mouth. They all thought I was a guy and no one saw my mouth while I ate. Might as well keep that going.
I saw a really high tech motorcycle zoom into view with a normal following close behind. Holy shit, did Armsmaster tinker his motorcycle?! I always thought he just rode the same motorcycle all the other Protectorate heroes rode.
I felt heat rise in my face as I saw him. Armsmaster was… really handsome. Sharp jawline and tall with broad shoulders. He was totally my type. A no nonsense efficient lawman. I mean, that was literally his power, efficiency. He could be a bit insensitive at times and he was a glory hound but I knew that he was just dedicated to his job, something I really respected about him.
He did make fuck up with Leviathan but I knew most of that was from dealing with Taylor's bullshit. Honestly, my biggest issue with him breaking the truce wasn't the fact that he got villains killed, but it was the fact that it undermined the trust in Endbringer truces. I could totally fix him. Help him take down a few more villains like Hookwolf.
Alas, he had Dragon and well… I don't think he's into teenage girls. At least I hope not. I could never be sure in this psycho bizarro world.
Ms.Militia was also there. She looked really cool too, though for some reason the Tech Jacket kept pointing out that her crinkled eyes meant she was smiling. It was useful information I guess. The suit tended to point out some weird information such as Tattletale's grin and eye color.
All in all, I really respected those two. At least in the original Worm. Please, I'm not really religious but whatever God is out there, please let these two be normal.
If they were respectable Protectorate heroes, then this was the perfect chance for me to form a proper channel of communication.
I made my suit tighten around me. Partially to brace my broken bones but also to hide my nervousness.
Armsmaster stomped over, face stony and his movements far more robotic than I expected. Where was that nice smile Taylor described and warm demeanor? He was a serious person, more soldier than celebrity but he wasn't one of the most popular heroes for nothing.
I mentally slapped myself. He was probably just worried over the fact I crashed a high society party with Hookwolf. My reputation was already a bit shaky due to the fact I fought Glory Girl. That uber bitch Brandish put out a statement spinning it as Glory Girl just being overzealous in detaining a suspicious tinker. I was still considered a hero though. I also just took down Hookwolf after he had mauled Vista.
The first thing he did when he saw me was level his halberd towards me. "Tech Jacket. Power down your armor and put your hands up."
You gotta be shitting me. I complied, way too tired for another incident. I took a deep breath, instantly regretting it as I felt a sharp pain in my chest.
"I can't power down the armor, Armsmaster. I'm injured and I need it to stabilize myself."
He stared at me, before turning to look at Hookwolf, marching over to inject him with a tranquilizer.
"You were reckless tonight and your battle could've gone much worse. You're clearly a new hero and you need to join the Wards. Despite its crude nature, your armor shows promise and I'm sure with my guidance, you would make a great Ward."
What. WHAT?! Crude?! Ohhhh if that alien was still alive right now. What the fuck is his problem?! There goes my first celebrity crush of this world. Why was he such an asshole? I'll admit, he was right about how reckless I was. I didn't do enough research into Hookwolf and he blindsided me with his flight.
He continued to stare at me. I was at a loss for words. This seemed to happen a lot to me.
"Tech Jacket, you're already on shaky grounds right now. People could've gotten hurt after you crashed into a crowded party with Hookwolf. You also fought Glory Girl twice. The first time was a mistake but you were caught stalking Panacea the second time. If you continue this irresponsible behavior, you might find yourself in the Birdcage."
No. No no no no no! He was just saying that to intimidate me right? Probably. It sounded like one of those strict anti-drug PSAs they did in schools. I couldn't think straight right now. I could barely stand. If it wasn't for my armor, I would be flat on the ground.
Before I could respond, Brandish started advancing towards me.
"Tech Jacket, I don't want you anywhere near my daughter or Panacea. I will be filing a lawsuit if you do not get rid of that… horrid symbol."
Symbol? Was she talking about the crossed out tiara on my chestplate? It was a kill marker I added for shooting down Glory Girl. Was she really that pissed off?
I sneered under my helmet before having the suit scrawl a crossed out wolf head right next to it.
I looked at the partygoers. They were all giving me a fearful look. What the hell was wrong with these people?! Did they think I wanted to crash here of all places?
"Young, man are you ok? Do you need medical attention?"
I turned, surprised at Ms.Militia's sudden interjection. She sounded… caring. Like my mom. I really wish my mom was here right now.
She kneeled down in front of me, gently grasping my helmet gently to look into my eyes. The helmet kept pointing out that her crinkling eyes meant she was smiling towards me. It really did make me feel better.
Just seeing her gentle look made me want to join the Wards. To give up and just go with the flow. There were other heroes out there. People far stronger than me who could deal with Golden Morning.
I… I didn't know what to do. Pushing her away gently, I stood straight, slowly flying into the air. Armsmaster looked like he wanted to stop me but I saw Ms.Militia shoot him a glare.
I flew towards the cafe my mom worked at. I wouldn't unmask to her. Not now. If I joined the Wards I would but right now, I just wanted to see her.
The cafe turned silent as everyone stopped to gawk at me. I saw a couple of skinheads quickly looking away, with one of them scrambling for the door. I saw my mom holding a pot of coffee staring at me. She looked terrified.
I quickly left through the door and flew back home. Dad was out again. I stumbled into my room, and collapsed into my bed.
Like a dam breaking, everything hit me at once. The pain from being inside Hookwolf. My missing leg. All my broken bones. The party. My parents.
I quickly formed my helmet again, screaming as loudly as I could before I passed out in my bed.
Author's Note:
Taylor's "nerdy girl was actually beautiful after putting on fancy clothes and showing up her bullies at an important party" ahh movie scene was ruined by Tech Jacket after she said it's Tech Jackin time and slammed Hookwolf into the pool.
I'm so hungry. I'm starving and everything hurts like shit. I couldn't actually move on my own but I could mentally command the suit to move.
I grabbed Hookwolf's mask and peeled it off his burnt face. I wanted a souvenir and I'm sure it'll wash out. I was unmasking him but his identity was already public. I also took out his wallet but he only had seven bucks and a McDonald's coupon. After stashing the mask and loot into my suit, I plopped him in front of Brandish.
Panacea gave me a shy, wary look and glanced at Taylor who smiled at her. She raised a hand towards me. "Do, you nee-"
Brandish literally growled at Panacea, causing her to whimper and shrink into Taylor who gave her a hug and started whispering into her ear.
Taylor looked pretty. Unreasonably, uncharacteristically beautiful. She wasn't wearing her glasses and she had makeup on. She was wearing a fancy black dress. One of those crazy things that all the super rich celebrities wore. I think she had the most expensive dress at the party.
I'm not even gonna lie to myself, she's far prettier than I was. I have no idea how the trio gets off on making fun of her for her appearance.
On a scale of Rachel to Emma, Taylor was far closer to Emma while I was probably a bit farther on the Rachel side.
Well, that is if Rachel isn't some supermodel here.
Where the hell did the Heberts get the money for it? Maybe Panacea helped rent it for her. Emma was obviously about to pour… something on it. I leveled a glare at her with my cold robotic eyes and she actually squealed before running off.
Taylor was giving me a wary look, arms wrapped protectively over Panacea. Probably a good idea when some crazy power armored cape crashes your party holding the unconscious body of Hookwolf.
I looked around the party before I found the refreshments table. I couldn't move my body on my own but I could have my suit puppet me over. I screamed into my helmet as I felt the pressure against my broken bones but the food was worth the pain.
Fuck manners, I was too tired to care. Part of my helmet around my mouth opened. I grabbed a fistful of deviled eggs, partly crushing them due to the suit's clumsiness and shoved them into my mouth. Then, I grabbed a handful of meat and cheese from their charcuterie board. I'm sure this was some of that fancy rich people stuff but I didn't care enough to appreciate the flavor. It just tasted like regular deli stuff to me.
I turned to the punch. A quick scan showed that no one spiked it. I grabbed the bowl, raising it to my mouth and taking a huge gulp, drinking a full quarter of the bowl before setting it down.
I quickly reformed the part of my helmet covering my mouth. They all thought I was a guy and no one saw my mouth while I ate. Might as well keep that going.
I saw a really high tech motorcycle zoom into view with a normal following close behind. Holy shit, did Armsmaster tinker his motorcycle?! I always thought he just rode the same motorcycle all the other Protectorate heroes rode.
I felt heat rise in my face as I saw him. Armsmaster was… really handsome. Sharp jawline and tall with broad shoulders. He was totally my type. A no nonsense efficient lawman. I mean, that was literally his power, efficiency. He could be a bit insensitive at times and he was a glory hound but I knew that he was just dedicated to his job, something I really respected about him.
He did make fuck up with Leviathan but I knew most of that was from dealing with Taylor's bullshit. Honestly, my biggest issue with him breaking the truce wasn't the fact that he got villains killed, but it was the fact that it undermined the trust in Endbringer truces. I could totally fix him. Help him take down a few more villains like Hookwolf.
Alas, he had Dragon and well… I don't think he's into teenage girls. At least I hope not. I could never be sure in this psycho bizarro world.
Ms.Militia was also there. She looked really cool too, though for some reason the Tech Jacket kept pointing out that her crinkled eyes meant she was smiling. It was useful information I guess. The suit tended to point out some weird information such as Tattletale's grin and eye color.
All in all, I really respected those two. At least in the original Worm. Please, I'm not really religious but whatever God is out there, please let these two be normal.
If they were respectable Protectorate heroes, then this was the perfect chance for me to form a proper channel of communication.
I made my suit tighten around me. Partially to brace my broken bones but also to hide my nervousness.
Armsmaster stomped over, face stony and his movements far more robotic than I expected. Where was that nice smile Taylor described and warm demeanor? He was a serious person, more soldier than celebrity but he wasn't one of the most popular heroes for nothing.
I mentally slapped myself. He was probably just worried over the fact I crashed a high society party with Hookwolf. My reputation was already a bit shaky due to the fact I fought Glory Girl. That uber bitch Brandish put out a statement spinning it as Glory Girl just being overzealous in detaining a suspicious tinker. I was still considered a hero though. I also just took down Hookwolf after he had mauled Vista.
The first thing he did when he saw me was level his halberd towards me. "Tech Jacket. Power down your armor and put your hands up."
You gotta be shitting me. I complied, way too tired for another incident. I took a deep breath, instantly regretting it as I felt a sharp pain in my chest.
"I can't power down the armor, Armsmaster. I'm injured and I need it to stabilize myself."
He stared at me, before turning to look at Hookwolf, marching over to inject him with a tranquilizer.
"You were reckless tonight and your battle could've gone much worse. You're clearly a new hero and you need to join the Wards. Despite its crude nature, your armor shows promise and I'm sure with my guidance, you would make a great Ward."
What. WHAT?! Crude?! Ohhhh if that alien was still alive right now. What the fuck is his problem?! There goes my first celebrity crush of this world. Why was he such an asshole? I'll admit, he was right about how reckless I was. I didn't do enough research into Hookwolf and he blindsided me with his flight.
He continued to stare at me. I was at a loss for words. This seemed to happen a lot to me.
"Tech Jacket, you're already on shaky grounds right now. People could've gotten hurt after you crashed into a crowded party with Hookwolf. You also fought Glory Girl twice. The first time was a mistake but you were caught stalking Panacea the second time. If you continue this irresponsible behavior, you might find yourself in the Birdcage."
No. No no no no no! He was just saying that to intimidate me right? Probably. It sounded like one of those strict anti-drug PSAs they did in schools. I couldn't think straight right now. I could barely stand. If it wasn't for my armor, I would be flat on the ground.
Before I could respond, Brandish started advancing towards me.
"Tech Jacket, I don't want you anywhere near my daughter or Panacea. I will be filing a lawsuit if you do not get rid of that… horrid symbol."
Symbol? Was she talking about the crossed out tiara on my chestplate? It was a kill marker I added for shooting down Glory Girl. Was she really that pissed off?
I sneered under my helmet before having the suit scrawl a crossed out wolf head right next to it.
I looked at the partygoers. They were all giving me a fearful look. What the hell was wrong with these people?! Did they think I wanted to crash here of all places?
"Young, man are you ok? Do you need medical attention?"
I turned, surprised at Ms.Militia's sudden interjection. She sounded… caring. Like my mom. I really wish my mom was here right now.
She kneeled down in front of me, gently grasping my helmet gently to look into my eyes. The helmet kept pointing out that her crinkling eyes meant she was smiling towards me. It really did make me feel better.
Just seeing her gentle look made me want to join the Wards. To give up and just go with the flow. There were other heroes out there. People far stronger than me who could deal with Golden Morning.
I… I didn't know what to do. Pushing her away gently, I stood straight, slowly flying into the air. Armsmaster looked like he wanted to stop me but I saw Ms.Militia shoot him a glare.
I flew towards the cafe my mom worked at. I wouldn't unmask to her. Not now. If I joined the Wards I would but right now, I just wanted to see her.
The cafe turned silent as everyone stopped to gawk at me. I saw a couple of skinheads quickly looking away, with one of them scrambling for the door. I saw my mom holding a pot of coffee staring at me. She looked terrified.
I quickly left through the door and flew back home. Dad was out again. I stumbled into my room, and collapsed into my bed.
Like a dam breaking, everything hit me at once. The pain from being inside Hookwolf. My missing leg. All my broken bones. The party. My parents.
I quickly formed my helmet again, screaming as loudly as I could before I passed out in my bed.
Author's Note:
Taylor's "nerdy girl was actually beautiful after putting on fancy clothes and showing up her bullies at an important party" ahh movie scene was ruined by Tech Jacket after she said it's Tech Jackin time and slammed Hookwolf into the pool.
Armsmaster took a device from his armor, unfolding it into a screen, powering on to reveal director Piggot.
"Tech Jacket. I am Piggot the bigot."
"Wait, what did you just say?"
"I said I am director Piggot! What? Is your 'tinker tech' malfunctioning little man?"
Ok… she definitely said she was Piggot the bigot right?
"We demand that you hand over your armor immediately and come with us. If you are underage then you will join the Wards immediately, or be branded a villain."
What the fuck?! What was wrong with her?! I specifically flew to the bay just to avoid collateral damage! Excuse me for whatever I did while fighting Hookroach!
Also, little man?!
Armsmaster was next, clearing his throat. "Tech Jacket, in light of your reckless fight and for your own protection, I must insist on taking credit for Hookwolf."
Sorry, what? Didn't he soft sell Taylor on the Wards by giving her the option to take credit for Lung if she joined? He didn't even demand it if she wanted to remain independent!
Oh, God, why were these people so fucking crazy?!
"I can't take off the armor. It's bonded to my body. I wouldn't even be able to stand without it right now," I explained. I could probably minimize it all except for the helmet. It'll blow my "secretly a girl" schtick but I would rather establish a friendly relationship with the heroes of the city.
"SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY VILLAIN!"
Armsmaster lunged forward, halberd at the ready. Shit, I wasn't ready for this. Out of reflex, I shot a low power laser out of my helmet, hitting him in the chest. Armsmaster crumpled to the ground on the spot, rolling on the floor while moaning in pain.
I'm pretty sure that laser would barely stun a normal person.
"Oh! You're injured?! You poor little boy! Let Mama Militia take a look."
What. The. Fuck?!
What was wrong with these people?!
Ms.Militia sprinted over to me, wrapping me in a tight hug. I quickly braced the armor before she could further crush my ribs. She started stroking my back, pressing her head against mine whispering reassurances into my helmet.
"I need a drink. If only my kidney…wait… did you just say your armor was bonded to your body?" asked Piggot, her face going pale.
"Buh. Buh buh buh buh buh buh BIOTINKER! NILBOG BIOTINKER! REEEEEEEE! REEEE KILL ORDER! ARMSMAST-ACKHHHHH" Piggot dramatically clutched her chest as she fell out of view. I think she was having a heart attack.
"DEPLOYING NANOTHORN! Tech Jacket, surrender immediately or we will take you in by force," said Armsmaster, leveling his halberd into some fighter stance. The tip of the halberd was glowing.
Oh hell no.
"RUN LITTLE BOY! RUN!" Ms.Militia was crying as she pushed me away.
Fuck this shit. I activated the afterburners, blasting off into the air.
Wait. Biotinker! Shit, was this why everyone was acting so crazy? Was there some biotinker poisoning everyone?
"Tech Jacket. I am Piggot the bigot."
"Wait, what did you just say?"
"I said I am director Piggot! What? Is your 'tinker tech' malfunctioning little man?"
Ok… she definitely said she was Piggot the bigot right?
"We demand that you hand over your armor immediately and come with us. If you are underage then you will join the Wards immediately, or be branded a villain."
What the fuck?! What was wrong with her?! I specifically flew to the bay just to avoid collateral damage! Excuse me for whatever I did while fighting Hookroach!
Also, little man?!
Armsmaster was next, clearing his throat. "Tech Jacket, in light of your reckless fight and for your own protection, I must insist on taking credit for Hookwolf."
Sorry, what? Didn't he soft sell Taylor on the Wards by giving her the option to take credit for Lung if she joined? He didn't even demand it if she wanted to remain independent!
Oh, God, why were these people so fucking crazy?!
"I can't take off the armor. It's bonded to my body. I wouldn't even be able to stand without it right now," I explained. I could probably minimize it all except for the helmet. It'll blow my "secretly a girl" schtick but I would rather establish a friendly relationship with the heroes of the city.
"SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY VILLAIN!"
Armsmaster lunged forward, halberd at the ready. Shit, I wasn't ready for this. Out of reflex, I shot a low power laser out of my helmet, hitting him in the chest. Armsmaster crumpled to the ground on the spot, rolling on the floor while moaning in pain.
I'm pretty sure that laser would barely stun a normal person.
"Oh! You're injured?! You poor little boy! Let Mama Militia take a look."
What. The. Fuck?!
What was wrong with these people?!
Ms.Militia sprinted over to me, wrapping me in a tight hug. I quickly braced the armor before she could further crush my ribs. She started stroking my back, pressing her head against mine whispering reassurances into my helmet.
"I need a drink. If only my kidney…wait… did you just say your armor was bonded to your body?" asked Piggot, her face going pale.
"Buh. Buh buh buh buh buh buh BIOTINKER! NILBOG BIOTINKER! REEEEEEEE! REEEE KILL ORDER! ARMSMAST-ACKHHHHH" Piggot dramatically clutched her chest as she fell out of view. I think she was having a heart attack.
"DEPLOYING NANOTHORN! Tech Jacket, surrender immediately or we will take you in by force," said Armsmaster, leveling his halberd into some fighter stance. The tip of the halberd was glowing.
Oh hell no.
"RUN LITTLE BOY! RUN!" Ms.Militia was crying as she pushed me away.
Fuck this shit. I activated the afterburners, blasting off into the air.
Wait. Biotinker! Shit, was this why everyone was acting so crazy? Was there some biotinker poisoning everyone?
- Location
- Florida
She has no right calling anybody crazy after even thinking this.
1.09
1.09
Everything still hurts in the morning and I was in a terrible mood. The suit could not in fact regenerate an entire limb. It did fix most of my broken bones, though my everything still felt like shit. I didn't even want to look at my left leg right now. It wasn't my leg, it was the suit's. Mercifully, the suit was able to form a layer of synthetic skin over it, allowing me to at least pretend I was still whole.
I spent most of the night dreaming of the battle. Hookwolf crushing me inside of him. Him tearing my leg off. The blades grinding into my armor, pressing my limbs as warnings screamed inside my helmet. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Deep breaths hurt. My ribs still weren't fully healed. I nearly threw up when I saw the suit's leg in the shower.
I quickly stumbled into my room, picking up Hookwolf's bloody mask, staring into it.
I won. It was my first real fight and I still won. I'm alive. I'm alive and I could've killed him.
Dad was off to work early but mom was sleeping in after her shift. Good. I didn't think I could keep myself from breaking down if I saw her after meeting her as Tech Jacket. Why was she so tired of me? I was considered a hero right? Was she in the Empire too?
I wore extra baggy clothes today to cover up the fact that I needed to form a basic exoskeleton to walk without a limp. I honestly doubt anyone would notice, considering the crazy obsession the school has with Emma and the events of the party.
For some reason, Emma, the sophomore year student wasn't just the queen bee of the sophomores, she was the queen bee of the entire school. I have no idea how she managed it.
Aside from some of my wilder ideas such as Emma secretly being some master or stranger, not even unbelievable given recent events, I wasn't really sure how she was so ridiculously influential. Her dad was a lawyer, not a CEO or politician. She was able to go to a lot of fancy high society events but she wasn't really that special. Her family was well off and she was a model but I have no idea how that made her the top dog at Winslow.
If the rumors about the DWU and Lustrum's leftovers were true, then Danny Hebert had Alan beat by miles.
The fucked up part of my brain told me that Danny Hebert was pretty handsome and I should dress up like Annette and start hitting on him. I blame the suit. It was probably screwing with my head somehow.
FOCUS ZARA! I couldn't take deep breaths without feeling my ribs so I did a mental count.
I really should've taken the day off but I liked going to school. Even if it was a complete shithole like Winslow, it gave me a sense of normality. As if my leg hadn't been chewed off by Hookwolf.
I was on a hair trigger today. Everything and everyone around me was pushing me to the edge. My fight with Hookwolf was all everyone was thinking about. Tech Jacket was some nobody tinker who had two encounters with Glory Girl. Overnight, he fights Hookwolf across the city and wins, dunking Hookwolf into some rich guy's pool while they were having a party with all the city's elites before nearly causing a fight with Armsmaster and Ms.Militia.
The trio had been there, as had a few of their favorite pet mean girls and it was all they were talking about. I was so tempted to just start blasting them with an electric cannon. Please, would these little idiots just stop fucking talking about the fight.
There was supposed to be some confrontation with Taylor too but I only caught a bit of it from Emma. She was pissed that Taylor knew Panacea and wanted to show her her place with some idiot prank in front of Brockton's elites.
Stupid Emma, Taylor never got dirty. I was almost sure of it. Taylor had some different power. I wasn't really sure what it was but one application of it allowed her to clean herself perfectly. I could see her wearing dirty ripped clothes during school and they looked brand new when I followed her after school.
I thought a bit about what Taylor's power could be but nothing came to mind. Was it clothes powers? Maybe she was more grossed out over the fact that the trio shoved her up Satan's asshole than the fact that no one helped and triggered from that. It would explain her dress. The one Parian made.
I had no idea how the fuck Taylor did it but she got Parian to make her dress. Parian had an honest to goodness shop on the boardwalk. One of her dresses costs more than my apartment's rent for several months. It's quite the upgrade from her occasional performances in Worm.
Everything at school set me off today. Someone slamming their locker too loudly reminded me of Hookwolf's clanging. Madison's shrill voice reminded me of the metal grinding against my armor. Emma slammed an entire watermelon over Taylor's head and all I could think of was my head being crushed in Hookwolf's stomach. The spaghetti and meat sauce lunch reminded me too much of gore when I saw it. All I could think about was if I hadn't been fast enough. Hookwolf would've shredded me. Every time someone bumped or touched me nearly caused me to fly away.
At one point, I was pushed into a crowd of girls as they swarmed Taylor. The way they crowded me reminded me too much of getting eaten by Hookwolf and nearly made me use the plasma thrower.
As much as I hated to admit it, I was glad the trio considered me their friend. I couldn't stop being Tech Jacket. As much as I wanted to give up, I knew I would never forgive myself if something happened to my family and I hadn't tried my best to stop it. With the trio as my friend, I could at least live my civilian life in peace.
Aside from nearly having a heart attack in public, nothing much happened at school. At least I don't think so. I wasn't really paying attention to much. I went through the motions of the day, trying to occupy myself with anything. Anything to not think about yesterday.
I was called into Blackwell's office near the end of the school day. I had no idea what the hell she could possibly want with me considering I spent most of the time doing absolutely nothing. Her secretary gave me a weird stare and made me wait.
Fuck her. Fuck waiting. I needed something to do. Normally I was fine with sitting down. I loved meditating and thinking but I needed something to focus on or I would think of Hookwolf. I rapidly glanced around the room, cataloging every little detail. I could feel my heart rate rising.
Finally, Blackwell called me in. She was fucking hideous. I wouldn't be surprised if she was a goblin from Ellisburg that escaped containment and got a job. The room was cramped, her massive desk taking up most of the space.
She was talking. Something about Taylor, attention seeking, a fight and asking if I saw something. I missed most of it. I didn't dare touch the replay function. I just know I would fuck it up. Slip and replay the battle in my head.
Shit, I missed something again. I needed to breathe. Deep breaths but I couldn't. My ribs hurt too much. I blinked my eyes rapidly and forced myself to pay attention. Blackwell was talking about how it was best I ignore whatever I saw with Taylor.
Fuck her. I don't give a shit about Taylor. Not after yesterday. She had everything that she needed to get herself out. Her father. Panacea. New Wave. Maybe even Tattletale. She didn't need my help.
The bell rang and I screamed. Throughout the day, I've been keeping an eye on the clock, bracing myself for the sound.
I felt myself starting to hyperventilate and my ribs were on fire. I clutched my chest and sank to the floor. Blackwell was smiling. That fucking bitch! Was she laughing at me?!
I rushed out the door, using the exoskeleton to run. I needed to leave before I attacked Blackwell.
When I got home, I took out Hookwolf's mask and stared into it. I took a deep breath, ignoring the pain. I could do this. I forced myself to take deep breaths, ignoring the pain.
I thought of my parents. My dad lowered himself to work with the Empire for us. My mom was terrified of a hero. I wouldn't let one bad night stop me but I will learn from it. My first real cape fight and I took down Hookwolf. I lost a leg but he lost an arm.
I went to the kitchen and washed the mask out, sponging away the blood and grease. I scanned the mask. It was as clean as it'll ever be and I wore it over my right arm. The same arm I tore off Hookwolf.
Reforming my armor, I noticed a wolf head decorating my arm. If Glory Girl ever tries me again I'm absorbing her tiara into my helmet.
Author's Note:
I've planned out a good portion of this story and it's gonna get pretty dark. Still gonna have a lot of fanon tropes but some of them will be played horrifyingly straight.
Also, Zara will not become a Parahuman.
Everything still hurts in the morning and I was in a terrible mood. The suit could not in fact regenerate an entire limb. It did fix most of my broken bones, though my everything still felt like shit. I didn't even want to look at my left leg right now. It wasn't my leg, it was the suit's. Mercifully, the suit was able to form a layer of synthetic skin over it, allowing me to at least pretend I was still whole.
I spent most of the night dreaming of the battle. Hookwolf crushing me inside of him. Him tearing my leg off. The blades grinding into my armor, pressing my limbs as warnings screamed inside my helmet. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Deep breaths hurt. My ribs still weren't fully healed. I nearly threw up when I saw the suit's leg in the shower.
I quickly stumbled into my room, picking up Hookwolf's bloody mask, staring into it.
I won. It was my first real fight and I still won. I'm alive. I'm alive and I could've killed him.
Dad was off to work early but mom was sleeping in after her shift. Good. I didn't think I could keep myself from breaking down if I saw her after meeting her as Tech Jacket. Why was she so tired of me? I was considered a hero right? Was she in the Empire too?
I wore extra baggy clothes today to cover up the fact that I needed to form a basic exoskeleton to walk without a limp. I honestly doubt anyone would notice, considering the crazy obsession the school has with Emma and the events of the party.
For some reason, Emma, the sophomore year student wasn't just the queen bee of the sophomores, she was the queen bee of the entire school. I have no idea how she managed it.
Aside from some of my wilder ideas such as Emma secretly being some master or stranger, not even unbelievable given recent events, I wasn't really sure how she was so ridiculously influential. Her dad was a lawyer, not a CEO or politician. She was able to go to a lot of fancy high society events but she wasn't really that special. Her family was well off and she was a model but I have no idea how that made her the top dog at Winslow.
If the rumors about the DWU and Lustrum's leftovers were true, then Danny Hebert had Alan beat by miles.
The fucked up part of my brain told me that Danny Hebert was pretty handsome and I should dress up like Annette and start hitting on him. I blame the suit. It was probably screwing with my head somehow.
FOCUS ZARA! I couldn't take deep breaths without feeling my ribs so I did a mental count.
I really should've taken the day off but I liked going to school. Even if it was a complete shithole like Winslow, it gave me a sense of normality. As if my leg hadn't been chewed off by Hookwolf.
I was on a hair trigger today. Everything and everyone around me was pushing me to the edge. My fight with Hookwolf was all everyone was thinking about. Tech Jacket was some nobody tinker who had two encounters with Glory Girl. Overnight, he fights Hookwolf across the city and wins, dunking Hookwolf into some rich guy's pool while they were having a party with all the city's elites before nearly causing a fight with Armsmaster and Ms.Militia.
The trio had been there, as had a few of their favorite pet mean girls and it was all they were talking about. I was so tempted to just start blasting them with an electric cannon. Please, would these little idiots just stop fucking talking about the fight.
There was supposed to be some confrontation with Taylor too but I only caught a bit of it from Emma. She was pissed that Taylor knew Panacea and wanted to show her her place with some idiot prank in front of Brockton's elites.
Stupid Emma, Taylor never got dirty. I was almost sure of it. Taylor had some different power. I wasn't really sure what it was but one application of it allowed her to clean herself perfectly. I could see her wearing dirty ripped clothes during school and they looked brand new when I followed her after school.
I thought a bit about what Taylor's power could be but nothing came to mind. Was it clothes powers? Maybe she was more grossed out over the fact that the trio shoved her up Satan's asshole than the fact that no one helped and triggered from that. It would explain her dress. The one Parian made.
I had no idea how the fuck Taylor did it but she got Parian to make her dress. Parian had an honest to goodness shop on the boardwalk. One of her dresses costs more than my apartment's rent for several months. It's quite the upgrade from her occasional performances in Worm.
Everything at school set me off today. Someone slamming their locker too loudly reminded me of Hookwolf's clanging. Madison's shrill voice reminded me of the metal grinding against my armor. Emma slammed an entire watermelon over Taylor's head and all I could think of was my head being crushed in Hookwolf's stomach. The spaghetti and meat sauce lunch reminded me too much of gore when I saw it. All I could think about was if I hadn't been fast enough. Hookwolf would've shredded me. Every time someone bumped or touched me nearly caused me to fly away.
At one point, I was pushed into a crowd of girls as they swarmed Taylor. The way they crowded me reminded me too much of getting eaten by Hookwolf and nearly made me use the plasma thrower.
As much as I hated to admit it, I was glad the trio considered me their friend. I couldn't stop being Tech Jacket. As much as I wanted to give up, I knew I would never forgive myself if something happened to my family and I hadn't tried my best to stop it. With the trio as my friend, I could at least live my civilian life in peace.
Aside from nearly having a heart attack in public, nothing much happened at school. At least I don't think so. I wasn't really paying attention to much. I went through the motions of the day, trying to occupy myself with anything. Anything to not think about yesterday.
I was called into Blackwell's office near the end of the school day. I had no idea what the hell she could possibly want with me considering I spent most of the time doing absolutely nothing. Her secretary gave me a weird stare and made me wait.
Fuck her. Fuck waiting. I needed something to do. Normally I was fine with sitting down. I loved meditating and thinking but I needed something to focus on or I would think of Hookwolf. I rapidly glanced around the room, cataloging every little detail. I could feel my heart rate rising.
Finally, Blackwell called me in. She was fucking hideous. I wouldn't be surprised if she was a goblin from Ellisburg that escaped containment and got a job. The room was cramped, her massive desk taking up most of the space.
She was talking. Something about Taylor, attention seeking, a fight and asking if I saw something. I missed most of it. I didn't dare touch the replay function. I just know I would fuck it up. Slip and replay the battle in my head.
Shit, I missed something again. I needed to breathe. Deep breaths but I couldn't. My ribs hurt too much. I blinked my eyes rapidly and forced myself to pay attention. Blackwell was talking about how it was best I ignore whatever I saw with Taylor.
Fuck her. I don't give a shit about Taylor. Not after yesterday. She had everything that she needed to get herself out. Her father. Panacea. New Wave. Maybe even Tattletale. She didn't need my help.
The bell rang and I screamed. Throughout the day, I've been keeping an eye on the clock, bracing myself for the sound.
I felt myself starting to hyperventilate and my ribs were on fire. I clutched my chest and sank to the floor. Blackwell was smiling. That fucking bitch! Was she laughing at me?!
I rushed out the door, using the exoskeleton to run. I needed to leave before I attacked Blackwell.
When I got home, I took out Hookwolf's mask and stared into it. I took a deep breath, ignoring the pain. I could do this. I forced myself to take deep breaths, ignoring the pain.
I thought of my parents. My dad lowered himself to work with the Empire for us. My mom was terrified of a hero. I wouldn't let one bad night stop me but I will learn from it. My first real cape fight and I took down Hookwolf. I lost a leg but he lost an arm.
I went to the kitchen and washed the mask out, sponging away the blood and grease. I scanned the mask. It was as clean as it'll ever be and I wore it over my right arm. The same arm I tore off Hookwolf.
Reforming my armor, I noticed a wolf head decorating my arm. If Glory Girl ever tries me again I'm absorbing her tiara into my helmet.
Author's Note:
I've planned out a good portion of this story and it's gonna get pretty dark. Still gonna have a lot of fanon tropes but some of them will be played horrifyingly straight.
Also, Zara will not become a Parahuman.
NO GORILLA GLUE, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO MAKE FUN OF THE ANGSTY WORM FANDOM EXPERIENCE, NOT JOIN IT!!!
But all jokes aside, I'm really enjoying this story. A lot. Maybe even more than the other one over at SB.
But all jokes aside, I'm really enjoying this story. A lot. Maybe even more than the other one over at SB.
1.10
1.10
It was probably a terrible idea but I always kept Hookwolf's mask with me. It was integrated into the Tech Jacket and it still appeared when I minimized the suit. Whenever I get stressed or start thinking of the fight, I remember the mask.
Apparently, I was called into Blackwell's office over a fight between Taylor and a bunch of girls after Emma slammed a watermelon on her head. I have no idea what the actual fuck was wrong with Emma but she decided to hit Taylor over the head with an entire twenty pound watermelon, one which she carried with her for the entire day before smashing it over Taylor's face.
For once, Taylor fought back and she kicked Emma's ass, maybe with a brute or thinker power. Probably brute considering how she just took an entire watermelon to the face. Taylor ended up getting detention due to the fact everyone called to the office backed Emma's bullshit story about Taylor smashing a watermelon over her own head. Funny enough, my freakout was a huge nail in Taylor's coffin because they thought I was panicking from whatever Emma said Taylor did.
I was tempted to go and correct Blackwell but I couldn't exactly tell her I was going crazy after Hookwolf nearly blended me mid air.
Taylor was mad at me though. I think the fact I jumped out of a window in our first conversation added to the fact I'm "friends" with the trio and yesterday firmly made me a bully in her head. I really should make it up to her one of these days and I would if I didn't live in this shithole world. It was selfish of me but I wanted to avoid any and all trouble in my civilian life.
I was still a bit jumpy after my fight last week. I still flinched at loud noises, especially anything that reminded me of metal. That, and I was completely grossed out at the sight of ground meat. I really hope I get over that soon because I wanted to try Fugly Bob's at least once before it inevitably gets blown up.
I didn't have the money for it though. Despite being one of the Empire's most important members, Bumwolf only had seven bucks and a McDonald's coupon. I went on a few patrols as Tech Jacket but I tried to avoid fighting. I didn't want to laser some unpowered gangster in half just because I got jumpy.
At least I could get half off a ten piece McNugget meal. If that coupon was for some burger I would've burnt it on the spot. Chicken nuggets were made of ground chicken but if I don't think about it then they were actually just mini fried chicken chunks.
For once, I decided to go with Emma, Madison, and probably Julia. It would be a good change of pace. One day where I could pretend to be normal before I started looking into Coil.
I was beginning to think that Coil might actually be a minor threat but I needed to be sure with someone like him. People who lived in the city barely knew he existed and he only controlled a small bit of territory that no one actually knew about. He still had his mercenaries who were seen in public occasionally skirmishing with the Merchants. I didn't even know if he had people like Tattletale, Trainwreck, or Circus working for him. In fact, it could be possible that Thomas Calvert was just a normal civilian.
If he was the same as he was in Worm except for the notoriety or territory then he was an even bigger threat considering no one would even bother looking into him.
I didn't actually buy anything from the mall but I liked pretending that it was because I was picky. None of the other girls called me out on it or even really talked to me. It seems that most people accepted that I just didn't talk much. I wouldn't be surprised if Sophia told them a line about how I was some stealth predator and to not talk to me.
The trio freaked me out and I generally didn't like interacting with them directly. Winslow had a crazy dynamic where students were distributed in three distinct groups, like something out of a shitty high school movie.
The first group were the popular kids with the trio at the top. The fifteen to sixteen year old sophomore students Emma, Madison, and Sophia literally ruled the students, including the boys. I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that this crazy movie high school didn't have some head jock or something that ran around giving other students wedgies.
Aside from spending a psychotic amount of time bullying other students, Taylor in particular, most of being a popular kid was a status symbol. That and the fact no one, not even the gang kids messed with you. There were a few parties and other hang out events but I usually ignored those in favor of flying around the city looking for near death experiences.
The other groups were the gang kids and the geeks. Gang kids were pretty obvious, going to school wearing gang colors and beating the shit out of each other or the geeks. For some reason, they left the popular kids alone.
The geeks weren't just stereotypical movie geeks. They were literally anyone who wasn't in a gang or a popular kid. No middle ground, no loners. It was all or nothing when it came to this school.
I would probably have been a geek due to the fact I ignored almost everything but that would mean too much drama in my civilian life. I have no idea how Taylor wasn't on a constant hair trigger during Worm. It wasn't just a matter of not using your powers to get revenge, it was a matter of not lashing out at a perceived attack. I almost fired a missile at one of the lunch ladies for slamming a tray too loudly.
I still have no idea how the trio got so popular. Sophia was a psycho, even more so than I expected from Worm. She also had some weird obsession with carnivorous animals. Emma was a sadistic lunatic who loved tormenting Taylor in particular. Madison wasn't just a hanger on, she was on equal footing with the other two, which was even more surprising given the fact I nearly choked her out once and no one did anything about it.
I tried to enjoy the mall but the fact that I couldn't afford anything here kept reminding me of my dad's… activities.
Taylor. Taylor fucking Hebert spotted. Taylor with Tattletale. What were the fucking odds I would run into them? Taylor saw us first, giving us a scowl and trying to walk away but Tattletale gave us a totally normal smile that did not remind me of an animal whatsoever. Why did Taylor go to the mall so fucking much?! I knew she had to have some sort of power, why doesn't she go mess with those?
Fucking Tattletale. I really didn't like her. She was manipulative and cruel. If it wasn't for the fact she was Taylor's friend, she would be one of the most hated characters ever written, especially if Worm went with her as an antagonist. I wanted as little to do with her as possible unless I hit a wall with Coil.
Tattletale's power would be tricky to work around. She probably wouldn't antagonize me for no reason if she knew I was Tech Jacket, something which I doubt she knew at the moment. My best hope would be to stand in the back and act normal. Emma, Madison, and Julie were the bigger fish, especially if Tattletale was trying to befriend Taylor.
Tattletale would probably figure out I was a cape but Tech Jacket would be a stretch. I spent most of the time as Tech Jacket flying or walking with an exoskeleton, meaning that she might not be able to connect me through body language.
Emma had a psychotic look on her face as she pushed us towards Taylor. I couldn't leave now. It would draw too much attention to me, causing Tattletale to lock on me in particular. Why? Why couldn't I have one peaceful day?! I just wanted some cheap fucking McNuggets.
Shit. Tattletale was staring right at me. She was giving me her signature totally normal smile. Did she know? I don't think she would try something with our civilian identities, especially because she probably knew that I knew she was Tattletale and the secret identities were much more important here.
The "unwritten rules" were more or less public on PHO and capes in general seemed to respect them much more. Something strange I noticed was the fact that Kaiser executed the man who was said to have killed Fleur of New Wave personally. If Tattletale knew I was Tech Jacket and that I knew she was Tattletale, she would be a fool to use my civilian life against me.
"Awwww Taylor, who's this? How much are you paying this poor girl to be your friend?"
This is going to be a shitshow. Tattletale, Emma, Madison, and Julia were smiling like chimps. Taylor and I were screaming internally. At least Tattletale wasn't looking at me. She was too busy ripping into Emma, Madison, and Julia. Holy shit, she was saying some out of pocket shit.
To her credit, Taylor didn't actually look too pleased. More worried and surprised, probably at the fact that Tattletale was defending her so hard. I was thankful that none of them seemed to pay me any attention.
A shrill laugh from Emma sent my thoughts crashing into a wall. Why the hell did all of them have such high voices? It sounds like metal scraping and I fucking hate it!
"...right Zara?"
What? Why? WHY ME?!
I replayed the audio in my head. Emma had told Tattletale that Taylor was a psycho manipulator. In Emma's words, "Taylor was a crazy manipulative crybaby bitch girl who used her master 1 crybaby powers to get Panacea and Glory Girl on her side."
How the fuck did Emma even know about the PRT rating system? They were pretty well known in this world on PHO but I had no idea that Emma would even touch that site. Also, has Emma never met Carol? There was no way that control freak liked having Taylor befriend Panacea or her daughter.
Emma also told Tattletale a highly altered version of the watermelon incident. In her retelling, Taylor came to school with a huge watermelon, screamed "Watermelon, release!" before slamming it over her own head and attacking students. The incident scared me so bad that I had a panic attack in the principal's office.
Shit, now Taylor was glaring at me. Ohhhh I'm screwed. Tattletale was looking at me too, giving me her signature vulp- TOTALLY NORMAL smile. It was only a matter of time before Tattletale figured out that I was Tech Jacket. In fact, I'm pretty sure I saw her glancing at the suit's left leg a few times.
In the grand scheme of things, Tattletale wasn't a major threat but she could be annoying, especially if I didn't deal with her. If I couldn't avoid her and she insisted on messing with me then my best bet would be to kill her and incinerate the body. I would rather not because of how useful her power was during the various events in Worm and the fact I didn't know everything in this world. For all I know, Scion could be weak to chocolate and we'd never find out without her power, assuming it worked the same.
She wasn't a psychic. She shouldn't be a psychic. Her face paled when I thought about incinerating her. She looked even more worried now. Fuck. Fuck this. I just wanted some fucking McNuggets.
Please. Anyone. Contessa. Director Piggot. Get me out of here.
Thankfully, Tattletale left me alone and continued needling Emma. She made some off handed remark about eyes, nose, ears or something and Emma took off running.
The strongest bully of history meets the strongest bully of today. We followed her away but I had enough for today and peeled off to the food court McDonalds. I doubt any of them would notice that I was missing anyways.
Well, any of Emma's friends because Tattletale and Taylor did. They found me at McDonalds and Tattletale was giving me a weird look.
I ran out of the mall.
Later that day, I got a phone call, obviously Tattletale. I was tempted to just block the number and ignore her but I knew that would just cause issues later. Better to just pull the bandaid off now.
I groaned, took a deep breath and picked up the call. "Who is this?"
"Ohhhhh, don't be like that Tech Jacket. You know who it is! Say, I have quite a story to…"
She sounds like a door to door salesman.
"Not interested."
"Ohhhh don't be like that
. Loooook, I'm sure you know all about the unwritten rules already so don't worry about your secret identity tinker 'boy'. Now, just hear me out,"
How the fuck did she say?! "Look, Tattletale, just tell me what you want and leave me alone. I don't want to work with a villain like you and I don't trust you."
"Come on Tech Jacket, we're just the Undersiders. This whole, cape thing? It's all just a big game of cops and robbers, you know? I mean, even the PRT believes it. They could be doing so much more to catch the villains but they can't actually hold any of them for too long. Hell, even Uber and Leet escape all the time!"
Fuck this. It's not a game, I literally almost died in my first real fight! What would the civilians who live in this shit think about a line like that? People like my family?
"...I mean, Hookwolf just escaped too, you know? PRT didn't even bother to hold him for a week before the Empire broke him out."
What?
Shit, what? No, no, no, no. I could feel my breathing speed up. I just caught him and he escaped? Wasn't he supposed to go to the birdcage? What the fuck was the PRT even doing?! After all, did they just let him go? I lost part of my left leg for that bastard and they let him escape! I knew they generally wanted to avoid killing villains and they let certain ones get away with a lot of bullshit just to have them for the Endbringers but what the actual fuck?!
Tattletale's voice faded. I think she was talking to me about his dog fighting rings or something. I couldn't think of anything besides Hookwolf. He was going to kill me. The next time he saw me, he would catch and crush me.
I felt like crying. I was crying. Why? How the fuck did they lose Hookwolf? I should've killed him at the party. Ripped his head off or burnt him to ashes. He wasn't anything special. No reason to keep him alive for Golden Morning. Was everyone in this world a total idiot? Could they even survive for two more years?
I hung up on Tattletale and activated my suit, blocking out all sound. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Closing my eyes, I counted. Counted to twenty this time as I saw my heartrate normalize. I glanced down at my shoulder. The mask. It was only on one arm.
I minimized the suit and ran outside into an alley, transforming and blasting into the air. Not this time, Hookwolf. This time I was going to beat him into the dirt. No tricks, no luck, just me kicking his face in.
I couldn't rely on anyone here. Not my parents. Not the heroes. Not the PRT. No one but myself.
It was probably a terrible idea but I always kept Hookwolf's mask with me. It was integrated into the Tech Jacket and it still appeared when I minimized the suit. Whenever I get stressed or start thinking of the fight, I remember the mask.
Apparently, I was called into Blackwell's office over a fight between Taylor and a bunch of girls after Emma slammed a watermelon on her head. I have no idea what the actual fuck was wrong with Emma but she decided to hit Taylor over the head with an entire twenty pound watermelon, one which she carried with her for the entire day before smashing it over Taylor's face.
For once, Taylor fought back and she kicked Emma's ass, maybe with a brute or thinker power. Probably brute considering how she just took an entire watermelon to the face. Taylor ended up getting detention due to the fact everyone called to the office backed Emma's bullshit story about Taylor smashing a watermelon over her own head. Funny enough, my freakout was a huge nail in Taylor's coffin because they thought I was panicking from whatever Emma said Taylor did.
I was tempted to go and correct Blackwell but I couldn't exactly tell her I was going crazy after Hookwolf nearly blended me mid air.
Taylor was mad at me though. I think the fact I jumped out of a window in our first conversation added to the fact I'm "friends" with the trio and yesterday firmly made me a bully in her head. I really should make it up to her one of these days and I would if I didn't live in this shithole world. It was selfish of me but I wanted to avoid any and all trouble in my civilian life.
I was still a bit jumpy after my fight last week. I still flinched at loud noises, especially anything that reminded me of metal. That, and I was completely grossed out at the sight of ground meat. I really hope I get over that soon because I wanted to try Fugly Bob's at least once before it inevitably gets blown up.
I didn't have the money for it though. Despite being one of the Empire's most important members, Bumwolf only had seven bucks and a McDonald's coupon. I went on a few patrols as Tech Jacket but I tried to avoid fighting. I didn't want to laser some unpowered gangster in half just because I got jumpy.
At least I could get half off a ten piece McNugget meal. If that coupon was for some burger I would've burnt it on the spot. Chicken nuggets were made of ground chicken but if I don't think about it then they were actually just mini fried chicken chunks.
For once, I decided to go with Emma, Madison, and probably Julia. It would be a good change of pace. One day where I could pretend to be normal before I started looking into Coil.
I was beginning to think that Coil might actually be a minor threat but I needed to be sure with someone like him. People who lived in the city barely knew he existed and he only controlled a small bit of territory that no one actually knew about. He still had his mercenaries who were seen in public occasionally skirmishing with the Merchants. I didn't even know if he had people like Tattletale, Trainwreck, or Circus working for him. In fact, it could be possible that Thomas Calvert was just a normal civilian.
If he was the same as he was in Worm except for the notoriety or territory then he was an even bigger threat considering no one would even bother looking into him.
I didn't actually buy anything from the mall but I liked pretending that it was because I was picky. None of the other girls called me out on it or even really talked to me. It seems that most people accepted that I just didn't talk much. I wouldn't be surprised if Sophia told them a line about how I was some stealth predator and to not talk to me.
The trio freaked me out and I generally didn't like interacting with them directly. Winslow had a crazy dynamic where students were distributed in three distinct groups, like something out of a shitty high school movie.
The first group were the popular kids with the trio at the top. The fifteen to sixteen year old sophomore students Emma, Madison, and Sophia literally ruled the students, including the boys. I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that this crazy movie high school didn't have some head jock or something that ran around giving other students wedgies.
Aside from spending a psychotic amount of time bullying other students, Taylor in particular, most of being a popular kid was a status symbol. That and the fact no one, not even the gang kids messed with you. There were a few parties and other hang out events but I usually ignored those in favor of flying around the city looking for near death experiences.
The other groups were the gang kids and the geeks. Gang kids were pretty obvious, going to school wearing gang colors and beating the shit out of each other or the geeks. For some reason, they left the popular kids alone.
The geeks weren't just stereotypical movie geeks. They were literally anyone who wasn't in a gang or a popular kid. No middle ground, no loners. It was all or nothing when it came to this school.
I would probably have been a geek due to the fact I ignored almost everything but that would mean too much drama in my civilian life. I have no idea how Taylor wasn't on a constant hair trigger during Worm. It wasn't just a matter of not using your powers to get revenge, it was a matter of not lashing out at a perceived attack. I almost fired a missile at one of the lunch ladies for slamming a tray too loudly.
I still have no idea how the trio got so popular. Sophia was a psycho, even more so than I expected from Worm. She also had some weird obsession with carnivorous animals. Emma was a sadistic lunatic who loved tormenting Taylor in particular. Madison wasn't just a hanger on, she was on equal footing with the other two, which was even more surprising given the fact I nearly choked her out once and no one did anything about it.
I tried to enjoy the mall but the fact that I couldn't afford anything here kept reminding me of my dad's… activities.
Taylor. Taylor fucking Hebert spotted. Taylor with Tattletale. What were the fucking odds I would run into them? Taylor saw us first, giving us a scowl and trying to walk away but Tattletale gave us a totally normal smile that did not remind me of an animal whatsoever. Why did Taylor go to the mall so fucking much?! I knew she had to have some sort of power, why doesn't she go mess with those?
Fucking Tattletale. I really didn't like her. She was manipulative and cruel. If it wasn't for the fact she was Taylor's friend, she would be one of the most hated characters ever written, especially if Worm went with her as an antagonist. I wanted as little to do with her as possible unless I hit a wall with Coil.
Tattletale's power would be tricky to work around. She probably wouldn't antagonize me for no reason if she knew I was Tech Jacket, something which I doubt she knew at the moment. My best hope would be to stand in the back and act normal. Emma, Madison, and Julie were the bigger fish, especially if Tattletale was trying to befriend Taylor.
Tattletale would probably figure out I was a cape but Tech Jacket would be a stretch. I spent most of the time as Tech Jacket flying or walking with an exoskeleton, meaning that she might not be able to connect me through body language.
Emma had a psychotic look on her face as she pushed us towards Taylor. I couldn't leave now. It would draw too much attention to me, causing Tattletale to lock on me in particular. Why? Why couldn't I have one peaceful day?! I just wanted some cheap fucking McNuggets.
Shit. Tattletale was staring right at me. She was giving me her signature totally normal smile. Did she know? I don't think she would try something with our civilian identities, especially because she probably knew that I knew she was Tattletale and the secret identities were much more important here.
The "unwritten rules" were more or less public on PHO and capes in general seemed to respect them much more. Something strange I noticed was the fact that Kaiser executed the man who was said to have killed Fleur of New Wave personally. If Tattletale knew I was Tech Jacket and that I knew she was Tattletale, she would be a fool to use my civilian life against me.
"Awwww Taylor, who's this? How much are you paying this poor girl to be your friend?"
This is going to be a shitshow. Tattletale, Emma, Madison, and Julia were smiling like chimps. Taylor and I were screaming internally. At least Tattletale wasn't looking at me. She was too busy ripping into Emma, Madison, and Julia. Holy shit, she was saying some out of pocket shit.
To her credit, Taylor didn't actually look too pleased. More worried and surprised, probably at the fact that Tattletale was defending her so hard. I was thankful that none of them seemed to pay me any attention.
A shrill laugh from Emma sent my thoughts crashing into a wall. Why the hell did all of them have such high voices? It sounds like metal scraping and I fucking hate it!
"...right Zara?"
What? Why? WHY ME?!
I replayed the audio in my head. Emma had told Tattletale that Taylor was a psycho manipulator. In Emma's words, "Taylor was a crazy manipulative crybaby bitch girl who used her master 1 crybaby powers to get Panacea and Glory Girl on her side."
How the fuck did Emma even know about the PRT rating system? They were pretty well known in this world on PHO but I had no idea that Emma would even touch that site. Also, has Emma never met Carol? There was no way that control freak liked having Taylor befriend Panacea or her daughter.
Emma also told Tattletale a highly altered version of the watermelon incident. In her retelling, Taylor came to school with a huge watermelon, screamed "Watermelon, release!" before slamming it over her own head and attacking students. The incident scared me so bad that I had a panic attack in the principal's office.
Shit, now Taylor was glaring at me. Ohhhh I'm screwed. Tattletale was looking at me too, giving me her signature vulp- TOTALLY NORMAL smile. It was only a matter of time before Tattletale figured out that I was Tech Jacket. In fact, I'm pretty sure I saw her glancing at the suit's left leg a few times.
In the grand scheme of things, Tattletale wasn't a major threat but she could be annoying, especially if I didn't deal with her. If I couldn't avoid her and she insisted on messing with me then my best bet would be to kill her and incinerate the body. I would rather not because of how useful her power was during the various events in Worm and the fact I didn't know everything in this world. For all I know, Scion could be weak to chocolate and we'd never find out without her power, assuming it worked the same.
She wasn't a psychic. She shouldn't be a psychic. Her face paled when I thought about incinerating her. She looked even more worried now. Fuck. Fuck this. I just wanted some fucking McNuggets.
Please. Anyone. Contessa. Director Piggot. Get me out of here.
Thankfully, Tattletale left me alone and continued needling Emma. She made some off handed remark about eyes, nose, ears or something and Emma took off running.
The strongest bully of history meets the strongest bully of today. We followed her away but I had enough for today and peeled off to the food court McDonalds. I doubt any of them would notice that I was missing anyways.
Well, any of Emma's friends because Tattletale and Taylor did. They found me at McDonalds and Tattletale was giving me a weird look.
I ran out of the mall.
Later that day, I got a phone call, obviously Tattletale. I was tempted to just block the number and ignore her but I knew that would just cause issues later. Better to just pull the bandaid off now.
I groaned, took a deep breath and picked up the call. "Who is this?"
"Ohhhhh, don't be like that Tech Jacket. You know who it is! Say, I have quite a story to…"
She sounds like a door to door salesman.
"Not interested."
"Ohhhh don't be like that
. Loooook, I'm sure you know all about the unwritten rules already so don't worry about your secret identity tinker 'boy'. Now, just hear me out,"How the fuck did she say
?! "Look, Tattletale, just tell me what you want and leave me alone. I don't want to work with a villain like you and I don't trust you.""Come on Tech Jacket, we're just the Undersiders. This whole, cape thing? It's all just a big game of cops and robbers, you know? I mean, even the PRT believes it. They could be doing so much more to catch the villains but they can't actually hold any of them for too long. Hell, even Uber and Leet escape all the time!"
Fuck this. It's not a game, I literally almost died in my first real fight! What would the civilians who live in this shit think about a line like that? People like my family?
"...I mean, Hookwolf just escaped too, you know? PRT didn't even bother to hold him for a week before the Empire broke him out."
What?
Shit, what? No, no, no, no. I could feel my breathing speed up. I just caught him and he escaped? Wasn't he supposed to go to the birdcage? What the fuck was the PRT even doing?! After all, did they just let him go? I lost part of my left leg for that bastard and they let him escape! I knew they generally wanted to avoid killing villains and they let certain ones get away with a lot of bullshit just to have them for the Endbringers but what the actual fuck?!
Tattletale's voice faded. I think she was talking to me about his dog fighting rings or something. I couldn't think of anything besides Hookwolf. He was going to kill me. The next time he saw me, he would catch and crush me.
I felt like crying. I was crying. Why? How the fuck did they lose Hookwolf? I should've killed him at the party. Ripped his head off or burnt him to ashes. He wasn't anything special. No reason to keep him alive for Golden Morning. Was everyone in this world a total idiot? Could they even survive for two more years?
I hung up on Tattletale and activated my suit, blocking out all sound. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Closing my eyes, I counted. Counted to twenty this time as I saw my heartrate normalize. I glanced down at my shoulder. The mask. It was only on one arm.
I minimized the suit and ran outside into an alley, transforming and blasting into the air. Not this time, Hookwolf. This time I was going to beat him into the dirt. No tricks, no luck, just me kicking his face in.
I couldn't rely on anyone here. Not my parents. Not the heroes. Not the PRT. No one but myself.
yeah Nope 👎
We beating tattletales ass with this one 🔥🔥🔥🐧🐧🐧
Though hookwolf is getting euthanized tonight which is ironic someone putting a dog down, who runs dog fighting rings, is pretty funny.
We beating tattletales ass with this one 🔥🔥🔥🐧🐧🐧
Though hookwolf is getting euthanized tonight which is ironic someone putting a dog down, who runs dog fighting rings, is pretty funny.
1.11
1.11
"WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HOOKWOLF? GRAHHHHHHHHH!"
I blasted across the sky, wildly scanning the area Hookwolf was known to frequent for any sign of him, screaming into my helmet. I was going to melt him, sell his body to a recycling plant, and use that money to go to Fugly Bob's.
After taking a moment to calm down, I did some research and found out that Hookwolf was the Empire's heaviest hitter outside of Purity. I had briefly considered laying low but it was too late for that. Taking down Hookwolf the first time was a point of no return.
I'm barely five feet tall and I looked like a slightly less wimpier version of Madison. The thing with capes though, was that there was a certain showmanship about them. A sense of individuality and personal branding, a lot of it having to do with gender.
Taylor should've armored the back of her head but she wanted to make it clear she was a girl under the armor. I had my entire body covered, with nothing to indicate that I wasn't a man. Combined with the fact most female tinkers would use a female voice, everyone thought Tech Jacket was a short wimpy man or a prepubescent boy.
Hookwolf was the Lung of the Empire. Their heavy hitter. After losing to me in my first real fight, Hookwolf, and by proxy the Empire's reputation was in the dumpster. They had to make an example out of me.
I was the single most hated cape for the Empire. Well, the single most hated cape that they could kill at least. It was too late to lie low. I needed to beat Hookwolf into the ground. Prove the first time wasn't just an upset.
I didn't want to think about it but I could die. Easily, but I prepared for it. In my Tech Jacket, I noted everything I knew about Worm as well as the differences. The Tech Jacket could only be separated from the user by death and I set my father as the inheritor.
After flying around like an idiot, setting off flares in Empire territory, I realized that the civilians were probably calling the PRT so I decided on a more subtle approach.
"WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS HOOKWOLF?! WHERE IS HOOKWOLF? RAHHHHHHH?!" I shouted, as I spun the Nazi over my head like a pizza.
He didn't say anything but he threw up mid spin, sending vomit all over his unconscious skinhead buddies before passing out. Fuck. Not again. I quickly went through their wallets before I flew off again, scanning for more Empire members to interrogate. These assholes were broke as shit. I've gone through nearly twenty of them and I only just got over fifty bucks.
I spotted a truck full of skinheads. Perfect. Slamming into the ground in front of them, I raised my right arm, laser cannon at the ready towards the truck. The gangsters got the message as they slammed the brakes and scrambled out, scattering as I shot into the truck until it exploded, leaving behind another burnt out vehicle. That makes three today.
Crazy thing about gangsters is they're always so easy to identify. Empire 88 members especially like to advertise their affiliation with a shiny bald head as well as the usual colors.
Something slammed into my back, barely moving me as I stood in front of the burning truck. Cricket. Absolute loser. She's known for her ambushes but I could tune out her subsonic pulse and she didn't have any way to pierce my armor.
Pathetic! I wouldn't even keep her as bait for an Endbringer!
Her only trick was that she was hard to catch and I didn't want to shoot at her, in fear that a stray shot could injure civilians.
She dodged a few of my swipes, even managing to hit me with her kamas before I shot into the asphalt behind her, sending shrapnel rocketing into her back.
Cricket threw herself forward out of reflex, right into my hand as I boosted forward and caught her by the throat and slammed her into the ground.
She tried to hit me in the head with a kama but I grabbed the arm, twisting it until I heard a snap.
I grabbed her mask, ripping it off her face before slamming it back into her face, knocking her out. I'll give her credit for trying to take down someone in power armor with nothing but her kamas.
I looked down at her scarred face. She was hideous. She loved fighting. She loved being Cricket, the Empire's psycho assassin. That's why she kept her scars.
I had her head clamped in my hands. I could do it right now. Incinerate her. The plasma thrower was enough to cremate her in seconds and no one would know. She was utterly useless against Scion, let alone any of the Endbringers. If I handed her in to the PRT, she would be out in a week.
I couldn't do it.
Quickly, marking the building she left on my hud, I clutched her tight before blasting off into the sky, flying towards the PRT building. Honestly, I didn't really trust them to even keep her in but I had a bigger fish to fry. Literally.
I think there was a tour about to start because I saw a large group of civilians crowded together outside. It wouldn't matter though. Cricket wasn't waking up any time soon and the PRT could foam her on the spot. If she did wake up, I hope she's smart enough to know that they'll be scraping her off the windows if she tried to attack the civilians.
I had no idea why but often, some of the Wards would lead the tour. Didn't they have homework or training to do?
What the actual fuck was my luck?! Taylor and Madison were in the tour group and Shadow Stalker was leading it with Clockblocker. Was Madison secretly a cape geek or did she know Sophia was Shadow Stalker?
Actually, was Sophia even Shadow Stalker in this world? She's a total psycho at school and I have no idea how the PRT wouldn't notice her sadism, especially with how much they valued good PR.
Either way, this was a shitshow waiting to happen. Not my problem though.
I touched down a bit away from one of the troopers and dropped Cricket on the ground, pointing at her and announcing "Cricket!" before blasting off heading towards the building Cricket had come from.
It was a storehouse. Filled to the brim with guns and guns. The sight of it pissed me off. I wonder how much of it my dad smuggled.
There was a bit of cash, mostly loose bills that I shoved in my… Tech Pockets (I seriously have no idea where the suit stores everything), before taking everything else outside and incinerating it.
A call rang in my HUD. Tattletale. Fucking bitch.
"The fuck you wan-"
"Tech Jacket, are you batshit insane?"
… That's not what I was expecting.
Taking my silence as an answer, she gave a huge sigh before continuing. "Hookwolf just got out. He's lying low. Taking it easy. I was trying to do you a favor by hitting one of his dog fighting rings to take some of the heat off you and what do you do? You go on a fucking rampage!"
"GO FUCK YOURSELF!" I screamed, hanging up on her.
That made a lot of sense. Well, except for the part where she was doing me a favor. She was probably trying to warm me up to the Undersiders or her at least. Honestly, it would've worked but it was too late now. The Wards were out of the question for me but the Undersiders were an option. If I joined, I would've had "protection" against Hookwolf. There was a taboo against killing capes from established groups, something I doubt would've stopped Hookwolf but it did raise the chances of me getting away with horrific life changing injuries instead of dying.
Only problem with that was I hate the Undersiders. I hate all of them. Selfish criminal bastards. That, and I knew Tattletale would want me for Coil if she was working with him here too. If I took him down, I wouldn't want anything left behind. Nothing for Tattletale to use.
No half measures, Walter.
Fuck that. I'm done living in fear of scum like Hookwolf.
A loud crash in the distance drew my attention. I saw a couple of figures rising into the air, darkness spreading around them. The Undersiders.
Funny detail I learned about them: Bitch's dogs could fly. They could grow wings and fly like some weird dog dragon. Looks like Tattletale scrambled them to use my attack as a distraction. I wasn't sure of their exact capabilities but I knew the dogs were limited to melee range and they were fairly slow in the air. Their usual MO was to fly away on the dogs while diving onto the ground to escape faster fliers.
Normally, I would make an effort to catch them but I had a bigger fish to fry. Literally. I'm going to fry Hookwolf.
I was just about to resume my patrol when I saw them turn and head straight for me. The darkness cleared and I saw Tattletale wave me towards the ground. It was probably a dumb idea to even oblige her but I landed next to them.
Tattletale looked like a mess. Her hair was frazzled and she lacked her usual totally normal smile. She was also giving me an odd stare.
"You should calm down Tech Jacket. You're giving us short kings a bad name you know? Really not helping the angry short guy stereotype."
Fucking Regent.
Tattletale gave him an angry glare. If she could shoot lasers out of her eyes he'd be dead.
"Tech Jacket, you need to calm down. I know you're panicking but please don't fight Hookwolf. Even if he doesn't kill you, you'll become a target as a heavy hitting independant."
Where was her smug tone? What was her angle? I knew she didn't care about me. Even if she did, I was just another pawn for her. A strong cape she could throw at her enemies.
I wasn't planning to fight the Undersiders but she was right. I felt restless. Just stopping here to talk felt wrong. My whole body was shaky and I could feel my heart rushing. Deep down, I knew I was making things worse for myself but the more I thought of it, the worse I felt. I had to push it down. Hookwolf wouldn't give me time to wallow in my own misery.
The mask. Remember the mask. If I couldn't stand up to Hookwolf, then I wasn't strong enough. He was strong but he was a big fish in a small pond.
"Tattletale, I'm not going to play by some greasy gangster's rules. If the PRT won't stop the villains then I will. Tell me where Hookwolf is or stop wasting my time."
"He's coming, Tech Jacket. Don't die," said Tattletale, giving me a sad look before she got back on the dragon dog as the Undersiders took off.
Regent made a joke about how he was glad to finally have another cape shorter than him.
I stood there, staring into the sunset. Despite my situation, I've never felt calmer since I arrived in this world.
Hookwolf leapt onto the building behind me. Untransformed, mullet greasy as ever.
I took out Cricket's bloodied mask, tossing it on the ground in front of him.
He let out a growl, staring into my eyes.
I took a deep breath and shot into the air.
Author's Note:
WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS FRAUDWOLF?! GRAHHHHHH! WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS HOOKWOLF? RAHHHHHHHH!
"WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HOOKWOLF? GRAHHHHHHHHH!"
I blasted across the sky, wildly scanning the area Hookwolf was known to frequent for any sign of him, screaming into my helmet. I was going to melt him, sell his body to a recycling plant, and use that money to go to Fugly Bob's.
After taking a moment to calm down, I did some research and found out that Hookwolf was the Empire's heaviest hitter outside of Purity. I had briefly considered laying low but it was too late for that. Taking down Hookwolf the first time was a point of no return.
I'm barely five feet tall and I looked like a slightly less wimpier version of Madison. The thing with capes though, was that there was a certain showmanship about them. A sense of individuality and personal branding, a lot of it having to do with gender.
Taylor should've armored the back of her head but she wanted to make it clear she was a girl under the armor. I had my entire body covered, with nothing to indicate that I wasn't a man. Combined with the fact most female tinkers would use a female voice, everyone thought Tech Jacket was a short wimpy man or a prepubescent boy.
Hookwolf was the Lung of the Empire. Their heavy hitter. After losing to me in my first real fight, Hookwolf, and by proxy the Empire's reputation was in the dumpster. They had to make an example out of me.
I was the single most hated cape for the Empire. Well, the single most hated cape that they could kill at least. It was too late to lie low. I needed to beat Hookwolf into the ground. Prove the first time wasn't just an upset.
I didn't want to think about it but I could die. Easily, but I prepared for it. In my Tech Jacket, I noted everything I knew about Worm as well as the differences. The Tech Jacket could only be separated from the user by death and I set my father as the inheritor.
After flying around like an idiot, setting off flares in Empire territory, I realized that the civilians were probably calling the PRT so I decided on a more subtle approach.
"WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS HOOKWOLF?! WHERE IS HOOKWOLF? RAHHHHHHH?!" I shouted, as I spun the Nazi over my head like a pizza.
He didn't say anything but he threw up mid spin, sending vomit all over his unconscious skinhead buddies before passing out. Fuck. Not again. I quickly went through their wallets before I flew off again, scanning for more Empire members to interrogate. These assholes were broke as shit. I've gone through nearly twenty of them and I only just got over fifty bucks.
I spotted a truck full of skinheads. Perfect. Slamming into the ground in front of them, I raised my right arm, laser cannon at the ready towards the truck. The gangsters got the message as they slammed the brakes and scrambled out, scattering as I shot into the truck until it exploded, leaving behind another burnt out vehicle. That makes three today.
Crazy thing about gangsters is they're always so easy to identify. Empire 88 members especially like to advertise their affiliation with a shiny bald head as well as the usual colors.
Something slammed into my back, barely moving me as I stood in front of the burning truck. Cricket. Absolute loser. She's known for her ambushes but I could tune out her subsonic pulse and she didn't have any way to pierce my armor.
Pathetic! I wouldn't even keep her as bait for an Endbringer!
Her only trick was that she was hard to catch and I didn't want to shoot at her, in fear that a stray shot could injure civilians.
She dodged a few of my swipes, even managing to hit me with her kamas before I shot into the asphalt behind her, sending shrapnel rocketing into her back.
Cricket threw herself forward out of reflex, right into my hand as I boosted forward and caught her by the throat and slammed her into the ground.
She tried to hit me in the head with a kama but I grabbed the arm, twisting it until I heard a snap.
I grabbed her mask, ripping it off her face before slamming it back into her face, knocking her out. I'll give her credit for trying to take down someone in power armor with nothing but her kamas.
I looked down at her scarred face. She was hideous. She loved fighting. She loved being Cricket, the Empire's psycho assassin. That's why she kept her scars.
I had her head clamped in my hands. I could do it right now. Incinerate her. The plasma thrower was enough to cremate her in seconds and no one would know. She was utterly useless against Scion, let alone any of the Endbringers. If I handed her in to the PRT, she would be out in a week.
I couldn't do it.
Quickly, marking the building she left on my hud, I clutched her tight before blasting off into the sky, flying towards the PRT building. Honestly, I didn't really trust them to even keep her in but I had a bigger fish to fry. Literally.
I think there was a tour about to start because I saw a large group of civilians crowded together outside. It wouldn't matter though. Cricket wasn't waking up any time soon and the PRT could foam her on the spot. If she did wake up, I hope she's smart enough to know that they'll be scraping her off the windows if she tried to attack the civilians.
I had no idea why but often, some of the Wards would lead the tour. Didn't they have homework or training to do?
What the actual fuck was my luck?! Taylor and Madison were in the tour group and Shadow Stalker was leading it with Clockblocker. Was Madison secretly a cape geek or did she know Sophia was Shadow Stalker?
Actually, was Sophia even Shadow Stalker in this world? She's a total psycho at school and I have no idea how the PRT wouldn't notice her sadism, especially with how much they valued good PR.
Either way, this was a shitshow waiting to happen. Not my problem though.
I touched down a bit away from one of the troopers and dropped Cricket on the ground, pointing at her and announcing "Cricket!" before blasting off heading towards the building Cricket had come from.
It was a storehouse. Filled to the brim with guns and guns. The sight of it pissed me off. I wonder how much of it my dad smuggled.
There was a bit of cash, mostly loose bills that I shoved in my… Tech Pockets (I seriously have no idea where the suit stores everything), before taking everything else outside and incinerating it.
A call rang in my HUD. Tattletale. Fucking bitch.
"The fuck you wan-"
"Tech Jacket, are you batshit insane?"
… That's not what I was expecting.
Taking my silence as an answer, she gave a huge sigh before continuing. "Hookwolf just got out. He's lying low. Taking it easy. I was trying to do you a favor by hitting one of his dog fighting rings to take some of the heat off you and what do you do? You go on a fucking rampage!"
"GO FUCK YOURSELF!" I screamed, hanging up on her.
That made a lot of sense. Well, except for the part where she was doing me a favor. She was probably trying to warm me up to the Undersiders or her at least. Honestly, it would've worked but it was too late now. The Wards were out of the question for me but the Undersiders were an option. If I joined, I would've had "protection" against Hookwolf. There was a taboo against killing capes from established groups, something I doubt would've stopped Hookwolf but it did raise the chances of me getting away with horrific life changing injuries instead of dying.
Only problem with that was I hate the Undersiders. I hate all of them. Selfish criminal bastards. That, and I knew Tattletale would want me for Coil if she was working with him here too. If I took him down, I wouldn't want anything left behind. Nothing for Tattletale to use.
No half measures, Walter.
Fuck that. I'm done living in fear of scum like Hookwolf.
A loud crash in the distance drew my attention. I saw a couple of figures rising into the air, darkness spreading around them. The Undersiders.
Funny detail I learned about them: Bitch's dogs could fly. They could grow wings and fly like some weird dog dragon. Looks like Tattletale scrambled them to use my attack as a distraction. I wasn't sure of their exact capabilities but I knew the dogs were limited to melee range and they were fairly slow in the air. Their usual MO was to fly away on the dogs while diving onto the ground to escape faster fliers.
Normally, I would make an effort to catch them but I had a bigger fish to fry. Literally. I'm going to fry Hookwolf.
I was just about to resume my patrol when I saw them turn and head straight for me. The darkness cleared and I saw Tattletale wave me towards the ground. It was probably a dumb idea to even oblige her but I landed next to them.
Tattletale looked like a mess. Her hair was frazzled and she lacked her usual totally normal smile. She was also giving me an odd stare.
"You should calm down Tech Jacket. You're giving us short kings a bad name you know? Really not helping the angry short guy stereotype."
Fucking Regent.
Tattletale gave him an angry glare. If she could shoot lasers out of her eyes he'd be dead.
"Tech Jacket, you need to calm down. I know you're panicking but please don't fight Hookwolf. Even if he doesn't kill you, you'll become a target as a heavy hitting independant."
Where was her smug tone? What was her angle? I knew she didn't care about me. Even if she did, I was just another pawn for her. A strong cape she could throw at her enemies.
I wasn't planning to fight the Undersiders but she was right. I felt restless. Just stopping here to talk felt wrong. My whole body was shaky and I could feel my heart rushing. Deep down, I knew I was making things worse for myself but the more I thought of it, the worse I felt. I had to push it down. Hookwolf wouldn't give me time to wallow in my own misery.
The mask. Remember the mask. If I couldn't stand up to Hookwolf, then I wasn't strong enough. He was strong but he was a big fish in a small pond.
"Tattletale, I'm not going to play by some greasy gangster's rules. If the PRT won't stop the villains then I will. Tell me where Hookwolf is or stop wasting my time."
"He's coming, Tech Jacket. Don't die," said Tattletale, giving me a sad look before she got back on the dragon dog as the Undersiders took off.
Regent made a joke about how he was glad to finally have another cape shorter than him.
I stood there, staring into the sunset. Despite my situation, I've never felt calmer since I arrived in this world.
Hookwolf leapt onto the building behind me. Untransformed, mullet greasy as ever.
I took out Cricket's bloodied mask, tossing it on the ground in front of him.
He let out a growl, staring into my eyes.
I took a deep breath and shot into the air.
Author's Note:
WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS FRAUDWOLF?! GRAHHHHHH! WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS HOOKWOLF? RAHHHHHHHH!
- Pronouns
- Mr/Sir
Can't wait for her to just casually atomize him and be done with it. Just show everyone how much she's been going easy to play by the rules.
You know what, I can totally tell the naritive was expecting our MC to listen perfectly rationally and not get upset over the "Game of Cops and Robber's" and show how nice and friendly Tattletale is. And the MC did the natural thing of a trauma button being hit and treated like a joke, she crashed out.
Until today, the only character named Zara I knew was the one from Azur Lane so I can't help but imagine the MC looking like a teen version of her every time I read her name.
Fanon Lisa is bs, the only thing she doesn't know about the mc is that she got isekai'd. Maybe not even that, I read a fic where she finds out the genderbent mc used to be a man just because the mc stared too much at her ass.
Fanon Lisa is bs, the only thing she doesn't know about the mc is that she got isekai'd. Maybe not even that, I read a fic where she finds out the genderbent mc used to be a man just because the mc stared too much at her ass.
1.12
1.12
Waiting for Hookwolf on the roof was cliche. It was a terrible idea, like something out of a shitty western movie. I'm still going to kick his ass. I wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline or if I was just stupid but I wasn't scared at all.
My knowledge from the series wasn't useful here. It served as a good guideline but none of it was reliable. Frankly, this world seemed like Worm if everyone was a psychotic imitation of themselves. With how stupid useless the PRT and heroes were, I'd be surprised if there even was a world left for Scion to destroy, assuming he was still a crazy space monster.
Hookwolf was following right below me, blades spinning. I would've preferred to shoot him down from across the city. Blasting him with missiles but I had something prepared for a close up fight. It wasn't the ideal situation but I couldn't always count on a clean engagement.
I spun midair, orienting myself so that I was looking down at Hookwolf's maw. He was approaching fast, the metal blades growing larger and larger in my vision. Hookwolf wasn't dumb. He'd try to kill me the instant he had me in his mouth, not giving me a chance to burn him from the inside like last time.
I saw it. When Hookwolf flew, he transformed into a limbless wolf snake. There was nothing to indicate how he flew on the outside, no wings, no engines but I saw it in his mouth. Behind all the blades and hooks, a series of thin blades spun fast like a turbine.
Forming the laser cannon on my arms, I pointed them forward, right down Hookwolf's jaw, and shot out a continuous stream of green light, smoke rising from the melting metal. It wouldn't do much physically but Hookwolf was a prideful fighter. The more hits I got on him, the angrier he would get. Just what I needed.
Right before he could hit me, I boosted forward and dove down, throwing my head forward as I dove back down, Hookwolf passing right in front of me. I was in more danger up close but I was much more maneuverable than him.
I reoriented myself forward, preparing to fly towards the bay before chains lashed out from Hookwolf's side, spinning along his body.
I flattened my body and boosted up as one passed right under me before I shot forward.
Hookwolf was a big metal bastard and as such, he had a longer turning radius than I did. The more I made him turn, the more distance I could build between us.
Hookwolf was a tricky opponent to fight over a city. If I hit him with a large explosive, shrapnel would rain down on the city. I could use the plasma thrower but I would have to be far above the city skyline. Worse of all, I would have to limit myself to shooting him at point blank range or from below to avoid collateral.
I had a plan. Missiles were a limited resource and larger energy blasts took too long to charge, especially at such a close range. The plasma thrower was an option but I would have to keep it on him for a long time to be effective. To defeat Hookwolf, I needed to land hits in his maw. Blow him up from the inside. Hookwolf and I shared a similar weakness in mass. Everytime I used missiles, transforming bits of my armor into weapons, or got pieces of my armor blown off, I lost mass. I wasn't sure how much I had in the suit but I knew I wouldn't be able to regenerate it mid battle. Hookwolf was similar. He only had a set amount of metal on him. If I didn't get lucky and destroy his core, an explosion inside of him was a great way to take chunks off him.
A lot of people made comments over my first fight with Hookwolf. Most of them had different ideas for what I should've or could've done but none of them understood just how hard it was to form a coherent thought mid battle. Hookwolf was an experienced fighter but the more I annoyed him, the less he would think.
I had a fair bit of distance to hover and shoot before Hookwolf finally oriented himself to charge towards me.
I flew low, barely hovering above the street, skating backwards as I aimed my laser up towards him and firing rapid bolts of energy into his spinning form.
Hookwolf charged downwards before he leveled out with the ground, and flew straight. I guess it was too much to ask for him to crash.
I shot upwards right as I was about to crash into a building from behind, blinking away the nausea from the rapid change in speed.
Hookwolf had predicted my flight path, quite an obvious one considering I would've crashed if I hadn't gone up. As I flew, I mentally judged the distance and realized He would hit me directly at my current trajectory so I quickly threw myself down, slamming hard into the ground before flying low and straight towards Hookwolf.
My back was towards the ground as I slid under him, arms raised as I shot into his underside, sparks raining down onto me.
He retaliated by swinging the chains below him towards me with his spinning metal chains, forcing me to jerk from side to side as I dodged them.
Just as I cleared him, throwing myself upwards, one of the chains clipped me in the side, sending me careening towards my left.
I gasped as I felt the g-force crushing into me, my stomach in my mouth as I rapidly decelerated, spinning myself mid air before I rocketed back in Hookwolf's direction.
He tried to hit me with a burst of metal shrapnel but I put myself in a barrel roll, not aileron roll, as I passed by his side, flying towards the bay.
I saw Hookwolf sluggishly change his direction behind me as I hovered in the air, slamming both arms together into one large energy cannon as the suit locked onto Hookwolf's maw.
Right before he finished his turn, I finished charging a blast and fired, sending a glowing hot orb of energy across the street block.
I missed his maw, barely, as the blast slammed into the side of his face, a green explosion glowing in my view, as chunks of metal blasted into the sky, glowing bright orange as it melted in the air.
It nearly sent him crashing into the ground as he barely corrected his path at the last second.
I pulled myself upwards, rapidly gaining altitude as he slowly closed the distance. I felt like I was in some shitty ASMR video, being crushed by a hydraulic press as I pushed my suit as fast as I could without passing out.
I was nearing the bay but I saw the PRT building coming into view.
Hookwolf was a crazy bastard and the PRT haven't given me the best impression with their fumbling of Hookwolf but I really doubt he would be brazen enough to crash right into their precious skyscraper.
At this distance and speed, he would catch up right as we got to the building. No matter what, he would fly up above the building to cut me off.
I dove down, to the left of the building as Hookwolf followed, his trajectory sending him flying above me.
I tucked my legs into my body as I rapidly decelerated, doing a backflip midair, nearly passing out from the g-force as I struggled to breathe, darkness filling my vision.
As I finished orienting myself, right outside the PRT office workers, I shot back in the direction I came from.
Hookwolf circled around in a clockwise direction and dove for me, right as I passed under him, carving into his stomach with my lasers.
Director Piggot was going to have a heart attack.
As I weaved from side to side, avoiding Hookwolf's chains, I briefly panicked as one came right at my head, aiming to cleave me in two, and boosted to the side, crashing myself through several rooms in the PRT building.
Fuck.
I glanced around. Nobody was injured. Somehow. That was a terrible idea. What the hell had I bee- FOCUS!
I shook myself and saw where I was. The fucking Wards room! The entire tour group was staring at me as I dusted myself off.
I saw Taylor. She looked pissed and shocked. Did she figure out Sophia's identity somehow?
Problem for later, FOCUS!
I threw myself to the ground as a stream of containment foam shot towards me from a turret. I countered by lashing out with metal tendrils from my right arm, catching the turret and ripping it off the wall.
A new symbol appeared on my HUD. The turret had quite a bit of ammo inside, maybe enough to gum up Hookwolf's engine.
I flipped off the tour group as I sprinted towards the hole in the wall. Not a good idea but I was feeling pumped from the battle. Hookwolf was coming back around to check for me so I jumped out the window as if it was a diving board.
Right as I was about to slam into the ground, I spun around and shot towards the bay as Hookwolf descended on me from above.
I barely overshot him as he dove towards me, nearly slamming into the road as he desperately pulled up.
Pushing my afterburners and body to the max, I rapidly approached the Rig, a fitting name to be honest.
I saw turrets inside the glimmering forcefield level themselves towards Hookwolf.
Maybe I've judged the Protectorate too harshly.
I aimed the sprayer backwards, foaming Hookwolf's interior before yanking my upper body forward, rapidly decelerating into a Cobra maneuver as Hookwolf uncontrollably screamed past me, crashing into the shield like a bird against a window.
I would've started laying into him with my heavy weapons but I didn't want to risk the turrets attacking me instead.
Hookwolf quickly threw off part of his body as he spun around and crashed into the water. I started blasting the spot where he landed with electricity, hoping to provoke a response. The same response as our last battle.
Hookwolf's chain lashed out and caught the suit's left leg. Just like last time. Over the bay in almost the exact same position. Despite all I've done to prepare for this, all the fighting and maneuvers to stop him from thinking, I'm still surprised he fell for it.
Hookwolf had access to a healer, Othala, and he likely assumed I did as well. Afterall, with all the time Panacea spends healing, any hero could saunter into the hospital and ask for her. Even though I wasn't exactly a friend of New Wave, there's no way Panacea would refuse to heal a hero.
No matter how real the replacement leg felt, it was still a part of the suit. As soon as he threw his chain out, I purposefully positioned my left leg closer to him, subconsciously encouraging him to grab it.
When I saw the chain wrapping around it, I transformed it into a bomb. I tried to fly away as Hookwolf pulled against me. He would know something was wrong once the leg detached, but he wouldn't have time to react.
The leg detached, flying into Hookwolf's mouth as I slammed my hands together, dove into the water, and shot down as fast as I could, leaning my head up to see the sky fill with green fire and burning slag.
My eyes darted between the larger chunks of metal. Was Hookwolf really dead? There's a good chance I blew his core to hell but I had to be sure.
A shifting piece of the metal caught my attention. Just my damn luck.
Hookwolf was still alive but he didn't have much metal on him. Well, not enough to form a giant wolf monster. He looked like one of those cringy werewolf pictures with some basic motivational quote, but made of metal.
I saw him shooting towards the shore, forming propeller blades from his back. No way was I letting him escape. Not after all the effort I spent.
I quickly reformed the suit over where my missing leg would be and rocketed towards him, tackling Hookwolf by the waist as we flew towards the beach. The morbid part of me imagined what would happen if we did this during summer.
I slammed him into the sand and stood over him. We were close to the boardwalk, but the battle was practically over. Hookwolf didn't have enough metal to put up a real fight.
He swung out with his right arm, a hail mary after gathering all his metal into one arm, slamming it into my helmet.
I gasped in pain and stumbled backwards as I felt my brain rattle in my skull, darkness dancing across my vision as a sudden wave of nausea washed over me. I tasted blood and I'm pretty sure he broke my nose.
Hookwolf got up in a sad imitation of a boxing stance. I knew he had some weird fantasy about being a Viking barbarian or something but I was still surprised that he was still trying to put up a fight.
It wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. He was far more injured than I was. With all his metal gathered into his arms as gauntlets, I could see how injured he was. His entire torso was covered with burns and even worse, part of his greasy mullet was burnt off. That had to be the source of his power.
I could just blast him with my laser cannon and call it a day. I was pissed though. That sucker punch made it personal.
He lashed out with his left arm as I advanced. I caught it with my left arm, wrapping it around him, pressing it against my body before I slammed my right hand into his elbow.
He didn't even scream before he tried again with the right arm, slamming me in the chest with no effect.
I punched him in the head, sending him sprawling on his back.
I crouched over him and rained blow after blow on his head, slamming into him as blood covered my fists.
A loud engine drew my attention. I looked up as Miss Militia dismounted her bike, a foam sprayer at the ready. She approached me slowly, pointing the sprayer in the air.
I knew what she wanted before she spoke. I wasn't even paying attention but I didn't need to. Some lines about how heroes shouldn't kill. About how I shouldn't kill.
A crowd had gathered above to watch, filming us with their phones. I guess this shit translated to every universe.
I looked down at Hookwolf. I should kill him. The PRT couldn't even hold him for a week. The transport was ambushed by the Empire and several of their troopers were killed.
I would've killed him if they sent anyone but Miss Militia. I was glad they sent Miss Militia. I didn't think I could do it. As much as Hookwolf deserved to die, I don't think I could cope with the aftermath.
I got up and took a deep breath, thinking back to the fight.
I won. I made him my bitch. Most importantly, I wasn't scared at the thought of a rematch. I won this round with a trick, but I knew I could take him in an extended battle.
Miss Militia was probably giving me the Wards pitch but I ignored her. I so wanted to join the Wards. It was the easy way out but I didn't trust the PRT. I've seen enough from Vista and Clockblocker to know how hamstrung I would be. There were just so many threats out there that I needed to be ready for.
Taylor had been at the center of everything originally but I didn't even know if she was interested in being a cape, hero or villain, let alone if she even mattered here.
Taking one last look at Hookwolf, I had an idea. It was probably a terrible idea. One of the dumbest things I've ever done. I was completely depending on Hookwolf's psychotic "warrior honor" and his pride but I couldn't resist it.
I leaned towards Hookwolf, my head by his ear and I dropped the voice changer.
"Next time, the heroes won't be here to save you Hookwolf," I whispered. "You lost to a little girl. Take it to your grave."
I electrocuted him before he could react. I didn't think he would, given the state he was in but I was too tired to fight.
At once, the exhaustion and pain hit me. Everything at once. My head hurt like shit. I'm pretty sure he gave me a concussion and I was breathing heavily but I knew for once it wasn't the stress. I was just tired as fuck. Tired and hungry. I saw a McDonald's near the PRT building during the battle. I still had the McNuggets coupon.
I handed Hookwolf over to Miss Militia before I shot away into the sky, finding a quiet location to transform.
My left leg couldn't grow back so quickly but I could form a peg leg under my jeans.
Yarrrrrrr.
Hobbling my way to a bus stop, I noticed that I was getting some odd looks.
Checking my reflection, I realized I should've just blasted that bastard on the beach. That sucker punch broke my nose and gave me raccoon eyes!
Fuck it, the suit can fix me later. Nothing will stop me from getting my McNuggets!
----------------------------
I'm starving. I haven't eaten all day today. This seems to be a common trend for my battles, though I only have a sample size of two to work with. I rarely eat at school because of how gross the food is and I've been missing a lot of meals recently due to how stressed I was. I blame Hookwolf. I refused to acknowledge it but I hadn't gotten over my first fight with Hookwolf. I don't think I'll ever be over it, even after today. It was my first near death experience but I will overcome it.
Right now, all I wanted was some McNuggets. I still had that coupon. I've been saving it ever since my first fight. Even better, I had money now. Only around two hundred bucks because Hookwolf was an asshole who didn't leave any money for me.
The cashier gave me a frightened look as I demanded my ten piece meal, slamming the coupon onto the table while grinning widely.
I brought my order to a table and sat down, opening the packets of sweet and sour sauce. Nothing could fuck this up.
I whirled my head to the door as I heard it slam open. Taylor. Taylor Hebert stormed in angrily with Panacea following behind.
"Sophia FUCKING Hess! She's Sophia!" seethed Taylor as she stomped towards the counter, pausing once she caught sight of me.
I had no idea what the fuck Panacea and her were thinking but screw them.
Staring Taylor right in the eyes, I dunked two nuggets in the sauce before shoving them in my mouth.
She must've gotten the message because they ignored me for the rest of my meal.
They got burgers. Those burgers looked delicious.
I'm so glad I got over that fear because tomorrow I'm going to Fugly Bob's.
Author's Note:
One more chapter left for the introductory arc. Might take a while because I need to do a PHO segment and I fucking suck at those even with the PHO wizard thing.
Waiting for Hookwolf on the roof was cliche. It was a terrible idea, like something out of a shitty western movie. I'm still going to kick his ass. I wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline or if I was just stupid but I wasn't scared at all.
My knowledge from the series wasn't useful here. It served as a good guideline but none of it was reliable. Frankly, this world seemed like Worm if everyone was a psychotic imitation of themselves. With how stupid useless the PRT and heroes were, I'd be surprised if there even was a world left for Scion to destroy, assuming he was still a crazy space monster.
Hookwolf was following right below me, blades spinning. I would've preferred to shoot him down from across the city. Blasting him with missiles but I had something prepared for a close up fight. It wasn't the ideal situation but I couldn't always count on a clean engagement.
I spun midair, orienting myself so that I was looking down at Hookwolf's maw. He was approaching fast, the metal blades growing larger and larger in my vision. Hookwolf wasn't dumb. He'd try to kill me the instant he had me in his mouth, not giving me a chance to burn him from the inside like last time.
I saw it. When Hookwolf flew, he transformed into a limbless wolf snake. There was nothing to indicate how he flew on the outside, no wings, no engines but I saw it in his mouth. Behind all the blades and hooks, a series of thin blades spun fast like a turbine.
Forming the laser cannon on my arms, I pointed them forward, right down Hookwolf's jaw, and shot out a continuous stream of green light, smoke rising from the melting metal. It wouldn't do much physically but Hookwolf was a prideful fighter. The more hits I got on him, the angrier he would get. Just what I needed.
Right before he could hit me, I boosted forward and dove down, throwing my head forward as I dove back down, Hookwolf passing right in front of me. I was in more danger up close but I was much more maneuverable than him.
I reoriented myself forward, preparing to fly towards the bay before chains lashed out from Hookwolf's side, spinning along his body.
I flattened my body and boosted up as one passed right under me before I shot forward.
Hookwolf was a big metal bastard and as such, he had a longer turning radius than I did. The more I made him turn, the more distance I could build between us.
Hookwolf was a tricky opponent to fight over a city. If I hit him with a large explosive, shrapnel would rain down on the city. I could use the plasma thrower but I would have to be far above the city skyline. Worse of all, I would have to limit myself to shooting him at point blank range or from below to avoid collateral.
I had a plan. Missiles were a limited resource and larger energy blasts took too long to charge, especially at such a close range. The plasma thrower was an option but I would have to keep it on him for a long time to be effective. To defeat Hookwolf, I needed to land hits in his maw. Blow him up from the inside. Hookwolf and I shared a similar weakness in mass. Everytime I used missiles, transforming bits of my armor into weapons, or got pieces of my armor blown off, I lost mass. I wasn't sure how much I had in the suit but I knew I wouldn't be able to regenerate it mid battle. Hookwolf was similar. He only had a set amount of metal on him. If I didn't get lucky and destroy his core, an explosion inside of him was a great way to take chunks off him.
A lot of people made comments over my first fight with Hookwolf. Most of them had different ideas for what I should've or could've done but none of them understood just how hard it was to form a coherent thought mid battle. Hookwolf was an experienced fighter but the more I annoyed him, the less he would think.
I had a fair bit of distance to hover and shoot before Hookwolf finally oriented himself to charge towards me.
I flew low, barely hovering above the street, skating backwards as I aimed my laser up towards him and firing rapid bolts of energy into his spinning form.
Hookwolf charged downwards before he leveled out with the ground, and flew straight. I guess it was too much to ask for him to crash.
I shot upwards right as I was about to crash into a building from behind, blinking away the nausea from the rapid change in speed.
Hookwolf had predicted my flight path, quite an obvious one considering I would've crashed if I hadn't gone up. As I flew, I mentally judged the distance and realized He would hit me directly at my current trajectory so I quickly threw myself down, slamming hard into the ground before flying low and straight towards Hookwolf.
My back was towards the ground as I slid under him, arms raised as I shot into his underside, sparks raining down onto me.
He retaliated by swinging the chains below him towards me with his spinning metal chains, forcing me to jerk from side to side as I dodged them.
Just as I cleared him, throwing myself upwards, one of the chains clipped me in the side, sending me careening towards my left.
I gasped as I felt the g-force crushing into me, my stomach in my mouth as I rapidly decelerated, spinning myself mid air before I rocketed back in Hookwolf's direction.
He tried to hit me with a burst of metal shrapnel but I put myself in a barrel roll, not aileron roll, as I passed by his side, flying towards the bay.
I saw Hookwolf sluggishly change his direction behind me as I hovered in the air, slamming both arms together into one large energy cannon as the suit locked onto Hookwolf's maw.
Right before he finished his turn, I finished charging a blast and fired, sending a glowing hot orb of energy across the street block.
I missed his maw, barely, as the blast slammed into the side of his face, a green explosion glowing in my view, as chunks of metal blasted into the sky, glowing bright orange as it melted in the air.
It nearly sent him crashing into the ground as he barely corrected his path at the last second.
I pulled myself upwards, rapidly gaining altitude as he slowly closed the distance. I felt like I was in some shitty ASMR video, being crushed by a hydraulic press as I pushed my suit as fast as I could without passing out.
I was nearing the bay but I saw the PRT building coming into view.
Hookwolf was a crazy bastard and the PRT haven't given me the best impression with their fumbling of Hookwolf but I really doubt he would be brazen enough to crash right into their precious skyscraper.
At this distance and speed, he would catch up right as we got to the building. No matter what, he would fly up above the building to cut me off.
I dove down, to the left of the building as Hookwolf followed, his trajectory sending him flying above me.
I tucked my legs into my body as I rapidly decelerated, doing a backflip midair, nearly passing out from the g-force as I struggled to breathe, darkness filling my vision.
As I finished orienting myself, right outside the PRT office workers, I shot back in the direction I came from.
Hookwolf circled around in a clockwise direction and dove for me, right as I passed under him, carving into his stomach with my lasers.
Director Piggot was going to have a heart attack.
As I weaved from side to side, avoiding Hookwolf's chains, I briefly panicked as one came right at my head, aiming to cleave me in two, and boosted to the side, crashing myself through several rooms in the PRT building.
Fuck.
I glanced around. Nobody was injured. Somehow. That was a terrible idea. What the hell had I bee- FOCUS!
I shook myself and saw where I was. The fucking Wards room! The entire tour group was staring at me as I dusted myself off.
I saw Taylor. She looked pissed and shocked. Did she figure out Sophia's identity somehow?
Problem for later, FOCUS!
I threw myself to the ground as a stream of containment foam shot towards me from a turret. I countered by lashing out with metal tendrils from my right arm, catching the turret and ripping it off the wall.
A new symbol appeared on my HUD. The turret had quite a bit of ammo inside, maybe enough to gum up Hookwolf's engine.
I flipped off the tour group as I sprinted towards the hole in the wall. Not a good idea but I was feeling pumped from the battle. Hookwolf was coming back around to check for me so I jumped out the window as if it was a diving board.
Right as I was about to slam into the ground, I spun around and shot towards the bay as Hookwolf descended on me from above.
I barely overshot him as he dove towards me, nearly slamming into the road as he desperately pulled up.
Pushing my afterburners and body to the max, I rapidly approached the Rig, a fitting name to be honest.
I saw turrets inside the glimmering forcefield level themselves towards Hookwolf.
Maybe I've judged the Protectorate too harshly.
I aimed the sprayer backwards, foaming Hookwolf's interior before yanking my upper body forward, rapidly decelerating into a Cobra maneuver as Hookwolf uncontrollably screamed past me, crashing into the shield like a bird against a window.
I would've started laying into him with my heavy weapons but I didn't want to risk the turrets attacking me instead.
Hookwolf quickly threw off part of his body as he spun around and crashed into the water. I started blasting the spot where he landed with electricity, hoping to provoke a response. The same response as our last battle.
Hookwolf's chain lashed out and caught the suit's left leg. Just like last time. Over the bay in almost the exact same position. Despite all I've done to prepare for this, all the fighting and maneuvers to stop him from thinking, I'm still surprised he fell for it.
Hookwolf had access to a healer, Othala, and he likely assumed I did as well. Afterall, with all the time Panacea spends healing, any hero could saunter into the hospital and ask for her. Even though I wasn't exactly a friend of New Wave, there's no way Panacea would refuse to heal a hero.
No matter how real the replacement leg felt, it was still a part of the suit. As soon as he threw his chain out, I purposefully positioned my left leg closer to him, subconsciously encouraging him to grab it.
When I saw the chain wrapping around it, I transformed it into a bomb. I tried to fly away as Hookwolf pulled against me. He would know something was wrong once the leg detached, but he wouldn't have time to react.
The leg detached, flying into Hookwolf's mouth as I slammed my hands together, dove into the water, and shot down as fast as I could, leaning my head up to see the sky fill with green fire and burning slag.
My eyes darted between the larger chunks of metal. Was Hookwolf really dead? There's a good chance I blew his core to hell but I had to be sure.
A shifting piece of the metal caught my attention. Just my damn luck.
Hookwolf was still alive but he didn't have much metal on him. Well, not enough to form a giant wolf monster. He looked like one of those cringy werewolf pictures with some basic motivational quote, but made of metal.
I saw him shooting towards the shore, forming propeller blades from his back. No way was I letting him escape. Not after all the effort I spent.
I quickly reformed the suit over where my missing leg would be and rocketed towards him, tackling Hookwolf by the waist as we flew towards the beach. The morbid part of me imagined what would happen if we did this during summer.
I slammed him into the sand and stood over him. We were close to the boardwalk, but the battle was practically over. Hookwolf didn't have enough metal to put up a real fight.
He swung out with his right arm, a hail mary after gathering all his metal into one arm, slamming it into my helmet.
I gasped in pain and stumbled backwards as I felt my brain rattle in my skull, darkness dancing across my vision as a sudden wave of nausea washed over me. I tasted blood and I'm pretty sure he broke my nose.
Hookwolf got up in a sad imitation of a boxing stance. I knew he had some weird fantasy about being a Viking barbarian or something but I was still surprised that he was still trying to put up a fight.
It wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. He was far more injured than I was. With all his metal gathered into his arms as gauntlets, I could see how injured he was. His entire torso was covered with burns and even worse, part of his greasy mullet was burnt off. That had to be the source of his power.
I could just blast him with my laser cannon and call it a day. I was pissed though. That sucker punch made it personal.
He lashed out with his left arm as I advanced. I caught it with my left arm, wrapping it around him, pressing it against my body before I slammed my right hand into his elbow.
He didn't even scream before he tried again with the right arm, slamming me in the chest with no effect.
I punched him in the head, sending him sprawling on his back.
I crouched over him and rained blow after blow on his head, slamming into him as blood covered my fists.
A loud engine drew my attention. I looked up as Miss Militia dismounted her bike, a foam sprayer at the ready. She approached me slowly, pointing the sprayer in the air.
I knew what she wanted before she spoke. I wasn't even paying attention but I didn't need to. Some lines about how heroes shouldn't kill. About how I shouldn't kill.
A crowd had gathered above to watch, filming us with their phones. I guess this shit translated to every universe.
I looked down at Hookwolf. I should kill him. The PRT couldn't even hold him for a week. The transport was ambushed by the Empire and several of their troopers were killed.
I would've killed him if they sent anyone but Miss Militia. I was glad they sent Miss Militia. I didn't think I could do it. As much as Hookwolf deserved to die, I don't think I could cope with the aftermath.
I got up and took a deep breath, thinking back to the fight.
I won. I made him my bitch. Most importantly, I wasn't scared at the thought of a rematch. I won this round with a trick, but I knew I could take him in an extended battle.
Miss Militia was probably giving me the Wards pitch but I ignored her. I so wanted to join the Wards. It was the easy way out but I didn't trust the PRT. I've seen enough from Vista and Clockblocker to know how hamstrung I would be. There were just so many threats out there that I needed to be ready for.
Taylor had been at the center of everything originally but I didn't even know if she was interested in being a cape, hero or villain, let alone if she even mattered here.
Taking one last look at Hookwolf, I had an idea. It was probably a terrible idea. One of the dumbest things I've ever done. I was completely depending on Hookwolf's psychotic "warrior honor" and his pride but I couldn't resist it.
I leaned towards Hookwolf, my head by his ear and I dropped the voice changer.
"Next time, the heroes won't be here to save you Hookwolf," I whispered. "You lost to a little girl. Take it to your grave."
I electrocuted him before he could react. I didn't think he would, given the state he was in but I was too tired to fight.
At once, the exhaustion and pain hit me. Everything at once. My head hurt like shit. I'm pretty sure he gave me a concussion and I was breathing heavily but I knew for once it wasn't the stress. I was just tired as fuck. Tired and hungry. I saw a McDonald's near the PRT building during the battle. I still had the McNuggets coupon.
I handed Hookwolf over to Miss Militia before I shot away into the sky, finding a quiet location to transform.
My left leg couldn't grow back so quickly but I could form a peg leg under my jeans.
Yarrrrrrr.
Hobbling my way to a bus stop, I noticed that I was getting some odd looks.
Checking my reflection, I realized I should've just blasted that bastard on the beach. That sucker punch broke my nose and gave me raccoon eyes!
Fuck it, the suit can fix me later. Nothing will stop me from getting my McNuggets!
----------------------------
I'm starving. I haven't eaten all day today. This seems to be a common trend for my battles, though I only have a sample size of two to work with. I rarely eat at school because of how gross the food is and I've been missing a lot of meals recently due to how stressed I was. I blame Hookwolf. I refused to acknowledge it but I hadn't gotten over my first fight with Hookwolf. I don't think I'll ever be over it, even after today. It was my first near death experience but I will overcome it.
Right now, all I wanted was some McNuggets. I still had that coupon. I've been saving it ever since my first fight. Even better, I had money now. Only around two hundred bucks because Hookwolf was an asshole who didn't leave any money for me.
The cashier gave me a frightened look as I demanded my ten piece meal, slamming the coupon onto the table while grinning widely.
I brought my order to a table and sat down, opening the packets of sweet and sour sauce. Nothing could fuck this up.
I whirled my head to the door as I heard it slam open. Taylor. Taylor Hebert stormed in angrily with Panacea following behind.
"Sophia FUCKING Hess! She's Sophia!" seethed Taylor as she stomped towards the counter, pausing once she caught sight of me.
I had no idea what the fuck Panacea and her were thinking but screw them.
Staring Taylor right in the eyes, I dunked two nuggets in the sauce before shoving them in my mouth.
She must've gotten the message because they ignored me for the rest of my meal.
They got burgers. Those burgers looked delicious.
I'm so glad I got over that fear because tomorrow I'm going to Fugly Bob's.
Author's Note:
One more chapter left for the introductory arc. Might take a while because I need to do a PHO segment and I fucking suck at those even with the PHO wizard thing.
This story is hilarious! Love a main character who dissociates this much.
1.13
1.13
January 20, 2011
I'm getting cooked on PHO. As a girl, I didn't even know I could get so offended by people telling me I had a small dick. Some asshole made a joke and it just spiraled from there. I couldn't even fucking respond because some jackass Tin_Mother banned me.
The fuck they mean I went too far?! I'll fucking show them too far next time! Stupid fucking ingrates! Even Armsmaster was scolding me! Over PHO! Why did he even have a PHO account?! In fact, why did they let villains have certified accounts?!
I'm getting compared to Gavel, the birdcaged vigilante! This is bullshit! If they thought what I did to Hookwolf was brutal, then they'll be absolutely appalled at what I had planned for people like Jack Slash.
My reputation was in the gutter. They all think I'm a violent nutjob who runs around unmasking villains before beating them to death.
I have no idea how the hell people were angry at me. Hookwolf deserved it. He's blended up countless people before so why was it a problem when all I did was injure him? He's a big boy and the PRT had Panacea to patch his ass up!
As for Cricket, she wore a cage over her mouth. A domino mask was more concealing than what she had on. If she even used her civilian identity, anyone who saw her in public would be able to instantly identify her!
I quickly formed my helmet before screaming into it. What the actual hell was wrong with this place? I could excuse somethings like the comical sadism in Winslow but was this whole world upside down? How was I the bad guy?! I was expecting some pushback for almost killing Hookwolf, maybe a few fringe comments from sympathizers or wannabe capes who thought they understood the rules better, but how was roasting me becoming a trend?
I lived in a world filled with lemmings. If Cauldron was as dumb as the rest of this world, then I shudder at the thought of what those theoretical baboons had prepared for Golden Morning.
I really hope this idiocy was contained to the Brockton Bay capes and general civilians.
Bakuda's rampage. The Empire's outing. Leviathan. Leviathan's aftermath. Coil's general bullshit. Slaughterhouse Nine. Echidna. I could see it already.
Director Piggot ordering Miss Militia to shoot Bakuda at the first opportunity, setting off all the bombs, wiping Brockton Bay off the face of the Earth. Armsmaster stuffing the Wards into a tinker tech cannon and shooting them at the Leviathan before charging in with his nanothorn halberd which explodes on him the second he gets close. Coil, snake costume and all, waltzing into the PRT building and asking for the director job on a whim, only to receive it because Piggot thought it would be funny.
I didn't even want to imagine how much worse the Slaughterhouse Nine and Echidna could get.
I took a deep breath. That's a problem for later. I had school today and for once, nothing crazy was going to happen. Nope. Just me and my civilian life.
Finishing my morning routine, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I was wearing a slightly faded blue shirt, my grandfather's bomber jacket that was several sizes too big, and an old pair of thrift store camo pants. Funny enough, no one at Winslow made invisible jokes.
Honestly, I'm pretty darn cute…
That's a lie, I looked like a lunatic. The bruises on my eyes haven't faded yet, probably for the best if Taylor sees me, and my clothes looked pretty old. My smile made me look like a chimpanzee. That dumb bitch Julie kept pointing out how my fingers were long like a chimp's and I couldn't get that thought out of my head now.
I'm going shopping after school. I had around two hundred dollars from attacking the Empire yesterday. Honestly, the money practically belonged to me before I took it. My family paid protection fees so I'm just taking back what they owed us.
I winced as I poked my eyelids. I really needed to stop getting into massive cape fights in the middle of the week. Even though I kicked Hookwolf's ass, I was still a bit twitchy and irritable.
My head felt like shit too. I really shouldn't have let Hookwolf get that sucker punch off. The Tech Jacket could heal my concussion in time but it had been too busy making me another leg last night. At least this time, I could walk on my own without an exoskeleton.
----------------------------
Could Hookwolf turn into a bus?
I had prepared a lot of excuses for my bruises, completely reasonable explanations but I panicked and told one of the trio's minions I got hit by a bus. I don't think she or anyone else really brought it but none of them pushed me on it.
Sophia probably thought I got it in a fight or something because she gave me an approving nod like the fucking psycho she was.
Speaking of who, I was pretty sure Sophia was Shadow Stalker after what I saw from Taylor yesterday. Her anger in the PRT building combined with the fact she stormed into the McDonald's complaining to Panacea about how someone was Sophia pointed to her discovering Sophia's Ward identity during the tour.
The fact that Sophia was a total psycho really didn't help my perception of the PRT. I assume that they're simply ignorant to the fact that she's fucking crazy. It painted a terrible picture of their competence. I understand them not noticing Sophia bullying in Worm but how are they missing the fact that she's completely unhinged? The alternative idea of them knowingly accepting Sophia as a Ward while ignoring or even covering up her civilian activities was too horrible for me to entertain.
I glanced over at Taylor. She was scrolling on the computer. I would bet the upper half of my left leg that she was a cape. The fact that she went on a tour of the PRT building, including the Wards area, on a Wednesday of all days makes me think she had been thinking of joining the Wards. Honestly, I had no idea how but she'd made herself into a VIP solely based on the fact that she was Panacea's friend. The fact that she had access to Tattletale and whatever power the mysterious DWU had paled in comparison.
The trio had no idea who the hell they were bullying.
She seemed much closer to Panacea and New Wave in general, meaning that she was much more likely to become a hero. While I think Tattletale was trying to manipulate Taylor, I doubt she would make a full villain out of her.
I really needed more info on her. Panacea was probably one of the most important parahumans in the world, including the likes of the Triumvirate and Dragon. People were completely reliant on her healing abilities and it would definitely be a good resource to have for everything to come.
If the Slaughterhouse Nine or some other external factor, broke her, the hero community would be in shambles. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Brandish did it. "My daughter or Panacea." Mom of the year!
Panacea needed Taylor, especially if she was her only friend. Unfortunately, that meant by proxy the world needed Taylor.
Fuck.
Taylor Hebert. She would be my next objective. Outside of maybe Night, who could fucking fly for some reason, the Empire didn't have anyone who could match me in the sky unless they got Purity out of her fake hero bullshit, which might not be hard to do for me considering my current reputation. Regardless, Tech Jacket needed to lay low, the perfect chance for me to deal with Taylor.
I needed to find out whatever the hell she was planning and I needed to know if I had to interfere to stop her from doing something stupid. She probably hated Zara Thompson and I doubt she had a better opinion of Tech Jacket. Didn't matter to me.
She's being rescued and I hope she does not resist.
Not today though. Both Zara and Tech Jacket were going on a break. Just for today at least.
I looked closer at what Taylor was doing on her computer. Browsing PHO. I really hope she wasn't viewing my thread.
She probably was. The good thing about Winslow sucking ass was that all the classes were easy.
That's a lie. I'm cheating with my Tech Jacket but I got my work done early and looked over at Taylor's screen. She was in fact reading the thread about me. Damnit, there was a whole page of short jokes about me! Not all of them refer to my height. I'm tempted to post that I was a girl under the armor just to stop the jokes.
The bell rang and I stormed out of the room. Fucking internet. If she decides to be a hero, I really hope Taylor understands that this isn't just a game. While she has Panacea and New Wave as an angel on her shoulder there's also Tattletale on the other.
I watched Taylor when I could for the rest of the day. I promised myself that I would take today off and that I would keep my interactions with her at school to a minimum but a part of me was worried she would actually go Carrie on the school. With how cuckoo bananas everyone here is, I couldn't take the risk.
Winslow. Another thing for me to deal with. Taylor and Panacea were both loners but they had each other. I'm fairly certain that Taylor was Panacea's only friend and I did not want to see how much damage Panacea could do on a rampage.
I really wanted to keep my cape and civilian life separate, but I was going to look into Winslow's staff. One day, Emma was going to sneak in an entire jackfruit and kill Taylor with it. Then, Principal Blackwell would personally help Emma hide the body but unfortunately for them, Panacea finds it and kills everyone.
My current working theory was that Blackwell was taking bribes, probably from Emma or maybe even her father, Alan Barnes. Probably. Either that or she was just a sadist taking it out on Taylor. It might even be a weird combination of both.
-------------------------------------
Are Taylor and Panacea a couple? Is Tattletale their third wheel? Does Tattletale spend all her time stalking the boardwalk? Was Contessa secretly setting me up or something?
As soon as school ended, I rode the bus to the boardwalk like a completely normal person. No flying on my mini break.
The stores on the boardwalk were expensive and most of what they sold was cape merch. It made sense though. Most of Brockton Bay's tourists stuck to the boardwalk and they came for the capes. I was tempted to buy a pair of Armsmaster underwear and throw it at him the next time he was on patrol.
I did buy one of Miss Militia's camo jackets. It was far more expensive than any jacket should be but I really liked Miss Militia. Besides Panacea, who I'm still unsure of, Miss Militia was one of the few changed characters that I liked.
I always got the impression that she would be far colder. A serious no nonsense woman who was more soldier than hero. I liked this version of her better.
After looking around the boardwalk, I decided that I would have a much better time at the market. The clothes they sold there were usually second hand but at least I could afford them. I could even go to Fugly Bob's afterwards. I'm sure the suit will save me if I have a heart attack.
My dreams of hamburgers and heart clogging grease were interrupted by the sight of Taylor crying. She was sitting on a bench, hugging Panacea on her right while Tattletale sat to her left.
My thoughts screeched to a halt as I took in the sight. I was prepared to walk away before all three of them caught sight of me staring. Shit. Ohhhhhh this was terrible. What should I do?
I let out a sigh and walked over to them, sitting on the bench right next to Tattletale. No way was I letting Panacea touch me. If I could take down Hookwolf twice, I can handle a conversation.
Tattletale looked like she was about to have a heart attack the moment I sat down next to her. I have no idea what her deal is. Even if I wanted to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, she was still a supervillain. She used me to attack Hookwolf. The Undersiders used my battle to hit dog fighting rings. Fucking parasite.
"Did Emma smash another watermelon over your head?"
Nailed it.
Taylor was giving me a glare. I met her eyes and stared back. If this had been a week ago when I first fought Hookwolf, I would've been a mess. Right now though, I just wanted to get this over with and continue my shopping.
"Zara. Did one of those bitches send you? I'm really not in the mood so please. Just leave."
Fan-fucking-tastic.
"Easy Taylor, I'm just here to do some shopping," I said, showing off my new jacket. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
Damnit! Taylor curled into Panacea who in turn was giving me an angry stare. Panacea certainly seemed nicer here, though most of it might be due to her having Taylor as a friend. I don't think I was going to make much progress with her now, especially if I was right about her just finding out who Shadow Stalker was.
Still, I didn't want to leave here empty handed.
I stood up and dusted myself off. Looking at the three of them felt so surreal. Taylor, Amy, and Lisa. Three of the most important characters in Worm. Three real people right in front of me. They were nothing like I expected but I'll get used to it.
"Taylor, before I go, I want to clear the air between us. I have a lot of issues in my personal life that I do not wish to bring to school. I have nothing against you and I do not approve of the bullying. All I want at Winslow is to be left alone. I don't know you, Taylor, but whatever problem you're having, you can beat them."
While Tattletale still looked like she was seconds away running, Taylor and Panacea seemed far less suspicious of me. Probably as best as it was going to get. For now at least. I spun around and started walking towards the market. I really hope I can find a nice pair of jeans there. Maybe even a few shirts if I'm lucky.
"Wait!"
I turned around and gave Taylor a questioning look. She was glancing between Amy and I. Were they a couple?
"Zara… please don't tell anyone at school about us. I really don't want them to mess this up," she said as Amy grabbed her for another hug.
Jeez. Fuck Fugly Bob's, I was going to get diabetes from those two if I stuck around any longer.
"Don't worry Taylor. I'm a big cape groupie," I said, staring right towards Tattletale. "Even though Panacea is an open cape, I know better than to break the 'Unwritten Rules'. Even heroes can be terrifying if you mess with their civilian identity."
Tattletale was looking really pale now. She better not snitch on me.
----------------------------------
I wasn't lying when I said Taylor could beat her own problems. She had all the resources she needed to get through Winslow. Her father. The DWU. Panacea.
That being said, I did not trust her to not get herself splattered on her first day out as a cape. Thinking back a bit, Panacea had been fairly stable during Worm before the Nine came to the bay. That being said, I did not want to see what happens to her if Taylor tries to use her cleaning powers on Lung or something.
With all that's been happening to Taylor lately, it was only a matter of time before she decided to debut.
I was patrolling in the air near my neighborhood, almost about to head home, when I saw it. A figure wearing all black, flying on a yellow hard light board. Clumsily gliding in the air.
My heart jumped into my throat as I saw her nearly crash into a building before regaining control of her hoverboard. The flowing brown hair made it painfully obvious it was Taylor.
She was flying over Merchant territory. Earlier tonight, I woke up from a nap to the sound of gunfire. The Merchants were probing Empire territory after I took down Cricket and Hookwolf. Just the sight of me passing overhead was enough to scare away the ones near my neighborhood.
Taylor was closing in on a group of Merchants next to a warehouse, probably a storage or lab. Right before she touched down next to the group, yellow hard light armor covered her body and with a wave of her hand, the ground below the gangsters glowed yellow, rising up to surround them before fading to reveal a solid ball of concrete.
What the fuck? Some kind of shaker ability maybe? Tinker possibly?
A hail of bullets slammed into Taylor, plinking off the armor as she flinched back before a wave of yellow formed a perfect square wall in front of her, blocking off the bullets.
That was too close to comfort. I started flying down towards her.
Taylor could've literally just died to some guys with guns if it wasn't for her armor. Her power must be fairly strong upfront, unlike her bug control in Worm. She seemed really inexperienced, like me during my first flight.
For a first night and presumably first fight, Taylor was doing pretty well. The idiot goons inside the warehouse came out, pointing a variety of cheap crappy guns at her. They all plinked off the armor as Taylor waved her hand, creating a wave of light, splitting into ropes that pulled the guns away from the gangsters.
A few of them must've been feeling brave because they charged the obviously bulletproof cape with knives and improvised melee weapons, all of which doing nothing as they slammed helplessly against another wall of yellow light.
She's a bit… reckless but I can chalk it up to it being her first night.
(Probably) Taylor took down the merchants fairly easily, wrapping them in light before transforming it into a rope.
She… called the authorities and waited patiently as a police car came by and picked up the gangsters. Taylor left without any incidents after the matter and resumed her aerial patrol.
Taylor? Normal debut? It's a miracle!
She continued this process with two other incidents, stopping a mugging and busting another Merchant rally.
Right as I was about to head home, promising myself to leave after seeing her hit one more warehouse, it happened. Taylor's first capefight.
A wave of garbage flew out of a dumpster towards her, slamming her back as she barely crossed her arms in front of her, right as she landed in front of another Merchant warehouse. Mush.
The man formed an armor of trash around himself, standing tall at around eight feet. A fitting form for a disgusting gangster.
I aimed a concussion missile down at Mush, flying lower, just barely above the buildings. I'm sure Taylor could take him but better safe than sorry.
Taylor recovered quickly, especially for a rookie as she wrapped herself in a hard light ball just as Mush flung himself forward, slamming both arms into her orb.
The orb bursted out, pushing Mush back as Taylor quickly recovered, flinging herself up on another hard light platform before throwing a ball of hard light glass towards Mush, smashing into him, knocking him over.
Mush huddled in his trash pile before reconstituting himself and launching forward, preparing to jump into Taylor, slamming her off the platform onto the ground.
He loomed above her, smashing himself into her hardlight shield, over and over until Taylor rolled out to the side like a giant hamster.
The shield split into glowing orbs in the air, before they transformed into ball bearings, shooting themselves into Mush who absorbed them.
It must've been a move Taylor was practicing. She did it so automatically that she didn't even consider the situation.
Now, I'm sure Taylor could beat him, eventually, but I didn't like how this fight was going.
I fired the missile, slamming it into the ground right in front of Mush, throwing him backwards as I aimed a laser behind him, firing a stream of bright green energy into his form, smoke rising from the melting garbage.
Mush threw himself out of the construct, visibly burnt, turning to look at me flying down in the sky.
Somewhere in that drugged out brain, a neuron fired as he tried to scramble away from me as garbage pulled towards him.
Taylor reacted quickly, blocking off his escape with a hard light wall, just as I passed overhead. I spun mid air, planting my feet into her light and fired a concussion missile into the center mass of Mush, scattering garbage everywhere.
He tried to crawl away but I lashed out with metal tentacles, grabbing Mush into the air, spinning around and releasing him into the sky before he could get a chance to pull more garbage towards himself. I shot up, grabbing him mid air and blasted him with electricity, knocking him out.
I looked at Taylor. She seemed a bit tired and scared from the encounter. Not bad for a first cape fight but she could use some polish, hopefully from heroes like the Wards or New Wave.
I landed in front of her, plopping Mush at her feet.
Taylor looked terrified of me. She totally brought into the Unwritten Rules crap didn't she?
I might as well make some small talk before the PRT shows up for Mush. "First night out?"
Taylor just kept staring at me, giving me a short nod. "Tech Jacket… thanks for the help…"
You're fucking welcome. Damnit, she already hated me.
"Got a name?"
"...Not yet."
Her answer was short and her tone was stiff. I don't think she wanted to keep talking.
She kept giving me nervous looks, eyes darting between me and Mush.
I sighed into my helmet, before turning to her. "Do you have any questions?"
"Weren't you a bit… harsh on him, Tech Jacket?"
"Is this about my reputation after Hookwolf and Cricket? Let me give you some advice. None of this cape shit is a game and you can't plan for everything. Fight to win. Do whatever it takes."
She didn't prod me more but I could tell she was unconvinced.
The PRT came by and picked Mush up. He'll be out in a week or so.
I crouched down and shot into the sky, barely missing Taylor yelling for me to wait. I quickly decelerated, pulling my upper body upwards, rapidly decelerating just as Taylor shot past me on her hoverboard, nearly falling off as she stopped in the air.
Did I just accidentally pull a cobra maneuver on her?
This girl was going to get herself killed, wasn't she?
Author's Note:
I'm surprised how many of you guys pointed out the Cricket mask thing in the crashout chapter but I couldn't say anything because it was coming up here.
Also, there you have it. Arc 1. The superhero origin story. Zara (mostly) coming to terms with how she was now in this weird bizarro version of Worm.
Taylor's alt power is Atom Eve's from Invincible. She can't do living matter at all. There is no limiter, it's just not something she can do. She's not really strong right now because first night and all but she'll be better later on.
More of it will be revealed in her POV. I'm planning to do a sidestory to fill out the blanks. It won't be too high effort though.
PHO interlude maybe later. I suck ass at them.
I'm also going to go back and put dates on everything.
January 20, 2011
I'm getting cooked on PHO. As a girl, I didn't even know I could get so offended by people telling me I had a small dick. Some asshole made a joke and it just spiraled from there. I couldn't even fucking respond because some jackass Tin_Mother banned me.
The fuck they mean I went too far?! I'll fucking show them too far next time! Stupid fucking ingrates! Even Armsmaster was scolding me! Over PHO! Why did he even have a PHO account?! In fact, why did they let villains have certified accounts?!
I'm getting compared to Gavel, the birdcaged vigilante! This is bullshit! If they thought what I did to Hookwolf was brutal, then they'll be absolutely appalled at what I had planned for people like Jack Slash.
My reputation was in the gutter. They all think I'm a violent nutjob who runs around unmasking villains before beating them to death.
I have no idea how the hell people were angry at me. Hookwolf deserved it. He's blended up countless people before so why was it a problem when all I did was injure him? He's a big boy and the PRT had Panacea to patch his ass up!
As for Cricket, she wore a cage over her mouth. A domino mask was more concealing than what she had on. If she even used her civilian identity, anyone who saw her in public would be able to instantly identify her!
I quickly formed my helmet before screaming into it. What the actual hell was wrong with this place? I could excuse somethings like the comical sadism in Winslow but was this whole world upside down? How was I the bad guy?! I was expecting some pushback for almost killing Hookwolf, maybe a few fringe comments from sympathizers or wannabe capes who thought they understood the rules better, but how was roasting me becoming a trend?
I lived in a world filled with lemmings. If Cauldron was as dumb as the rest of this world, then I shudder at the thought of what those theoretical baboons had prepared for Golden Morning.
I really hope this idiocy was contained to the Brockton Bay capes and general civilians.
Bakuda's rampage. The Empire's outing. Leviathan. Leviathan's aftermath. Coil's general bullshit. Slaughterhouse Nine. Echidna. I could see it already.
Director Piggot ordering Miss Militia to shoot Bakuda at the first opportunity, setting off all the bombs, wiping Brockton Bay off the face of the Earth. Armsmaster stuffing the Wards into a tinker tech cannon and shooting them at the Leviathan before charging in with his nanothorn halberd which explodes on him the second he gets close. Coil, snake costume and all, waltzing into the PRT building and asking for the director job on a whim, only to receive it because Piggot thought it would be funny.
I didn't even want to imagine how much worse the Slaughterhouse Nine and Echidna could get.
I took a deep breath. That's a problem for later. I had school today and for once, nothing crazy was going to happen. Nope. Just me and my civilian life.
Finishing my morning routine, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I was wearing a slightly faded blue shirt, my grandfather's bomber jacket that was several sizes too big, and an old pair of thrift store camo pants. Funny enough, no one at Winslow made invisible jokes.
Honestly, I'm pretty darn cute…
That's a lie, I looked like a lunatic. The bruises on my eyes haven't faded yet, probably for the best if Taylor sees me, and my clothes looked pretty old. My smile made me look like a chimpanzee. That dumb bitch Julie kept pointing out how my fingers were long like a chimp's and I couldn't get that thought out of my head now.
I'm going shopping after school. I had around two hundred dollars from attacking the Empire yesterday. Honestly, the money practically belonged to me before I took it. My family paid protection fees so I'm just taking back what they owed us.
I winced as I poked my eyelids. I really needed to stop getting into massive cape fights in the middle of the week. Even though I kicked Hookwolf's ass, I was still a bit twitchy and irritable.
My head felt like shit too. I really shouldn't have let Hookwolf get that sucker punch off. The Tech Jacket could heal my concussion in time but it had been too busy making me another leg last night. At least this time, I could walk on my own without an exoskeleton.
----------------------------
Could Hookwolf turn into a bus?
I had prepared a lot of excuses for my bruises, completely reasonable explanations but I panicked and told one of the trio's minions I got hit by a bus. I don't think she or anyone else really brought it but none of them pushed me on it.
Sophia probably thought I got it in a fight or something because she gave me an approving nod like the fucking psycho she was.
Speaking of who, I was pretty sure Sophia was Shadow Stalker after what I saw from Taylor yesterday. Her anger in the PRT building combined with the fact she stormed into the McDonald's complaining to Panacea about how someone was Sophia pointed to her discovering Sophia's Ward identity during the tour.
The fact that Sophia was a total psycho really didn't help my perception of the PRT. I assume that they're simply ignorant to the fact that she's fucking crazy. It painted a terrible picture of their competence. I understand them not noticing Sophia bullying in Worm but how are they missing the fact that she's completely unhinged? The alternative idea of them knowingly accepting Sophia as a Ward while ignoring or even covering up her civilian activities was too horrible for me to entertain.
I glanced over at Taylor. She was scrolling on the computer. I would bet the upper half of my left leg that she was a cape. The fact that she went on a tour of the PRT building, including the Wards area, on a Wednesday of all days makes me think she had been thinking of joining the Wards. Honestly, I had no idea how but she'd made herself into a VIP solely based on the fact that she was Panacea's friend. The fact that she had access to Tattletale and whatever power the mysterious DWU had paled in comparison.
The trio had no idea who the hell they were bullying.
She seemed much closer to Panacea and New Wave in general, meaning that she was much more likely to become a hero. While I think Tattletale was trying to manipulate Taylor, I doubt she would make a full villain out of her.
I really needed more info on her. Panacea was probably one of the most important parahumans in the world, including the likes of the Triumvirate and Dragon. People were completely reliant on her healing abilities and it would definitely be a good resource to have for everything to come.
If the Slaughterhouse Nine or some other external factor, broke her, the hero community would be in shambles. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Brandish did it. "My daughter or Panacea." Mom of the year!
Panacea needed Taylor, especially if she was her only friend. Unfortunately, that meant by proxy the world needed Taylor.
Fuck.
Taylor Hebert. She would be my next objective. Outside of maybe Night, who could fucking fly for some reason, the Empire didn't have anyone who could match me in the sky unless they got Purity out of her fake hero bullshit, which might not be hard to do for me considering my current reputation. Regardless, Tech Jacket needed to lay low, the perfect chance for me to deal with Taylor.
I needed to find out whatever the hell she was planning and I needed to know if I had to interfere to stop her from doing something stupid. She probably hated Zara Thompson and I doubt she had a better opinion of Tech Jacket. Didn't matter to me.
She's being rescued and I hope she does not resist.
Not today though. Both Zara and Tech Jacket were going on a break. Just for today at least.
I looked closer at what Taylor was doing on her computer. Browsing PHO. I really hope she wasn't viewing my thread.
She probably was. The good thing about Winslow sucking ass was that all the classes were easy.
That's a lie. I'm cheating with my Tech Jacket but I got my work done early and looked over at Taylor's screen. She was in fact reading the thread about me. Damnit, there was a whole page of short jokes about me! Not all of them refer to my height. I'm tempted to post that I was a girl under the armor just to stop the jokes.
The bell rang and I stormed out of the room. Fucking internet. If she decides to be a hero, I really hope Taylor understands that this isn't just a game. While she has Panacea and New Wave as an angel on her shoulder there's also Tattletale on the other.
I watched Taylor when I could for the rest of the day. I promised myself that I would take today off and that I would keep my interactions with her at school to a minimum but a part of me was worried she would actually go Carrie on the school. With how cuckoo bananas everyone here is, I couldn't take the risk.
Winslow. Another thing for me to deal with. Taylor and Panacea were both loners but they had each other. I'm fairly certain that Taylor was Panacea's only friend and I did not want to see how much damage Panacea could do on a rampage.
I really wanted to keep my cape and civilian life separate, but I was going to look into Winslow's staff. One day, Emma was going to sneak in an entire jackfruit and kill Taylor with it. Then, Principal Blackwell would personally help Emma hide the body but unfortunately for them, Panacea finds it and kills everyone.
My current working theory was that Blackwell was taking bribes, probably from Emma or maybe even her father, Alan Barnes. Probably. Either that or she was just a sadist taking it out on Taylor. It might even be a weird combination of both.
-------------------------------------
Are Taylor and Panacea a couple? Is Tattletale their third wheel? Does Tattletale spend all her time stalking the boardwalk? Was Contessa secretly setting me up or something?
As soon as school ended, I rode the bus to the boardwalk like a completely normal person. No flying on my mini break.
The stores on the boardwalk were expensive and most of what they sold was cape merch. It made sense though. Most of Brockton Bay's tourists stuck to the boardwalk and they came for the capes. I was tempted to buy a pair of Armsmaster underwear and throw it at him the next time he was on patrol.
I did buy one of Miss Militia's camo jackets. It was far more expensive than any jacket should be but I really liked Miss Militia. Besides Panacea, who I'm still unsure of, Miss Militia was one of the few changed characters that I liked.
I always got the impression that she would be far colder. A serious no nonsense woman who was more soldier than hero. I liked this version of her better.
After looking around the boardwalk, I decided that I would have a much better time at the market. The clothes they sold there were usually second hand but at least I could afford them. I could even go to Fugly Bob's afterwards. I'm sure the suit will save me if I have a heart attack.
My dreams of hamburgers and heart clogging grease were interrupted by the sight of Taylor crying. She was sitting on a bench, hugging Panacea on her right while Tattletale sat to her left.
My thoughts screeched to a halt as I took in the sight. I was prepared to walk away before all three of them caught sight of me staring. Shit. Ohhhhhh this was terrible. What should I do?
I let out a sigh and walked over to them, sitting on the bench right next to Tattletale. No way was I letting Panacea touch me. If I could take down Hookwolf twice, I can handle a conversation.
Tattletale looked like she was about to have a heart attack the moment I sat down next to her. I have no idea what her deal is. Even if I wanted to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, she was still a supervillain. She used me to attack Hookwolf. The Undersiders used my battle to hit dog fighting rings. Fucking parasite.
"Did Emma smash another watermelon over your head?"
Nailed it.
Taylor was giving me a glare. I met her eyes and stared back. If this had been a week ago when I first fought Hookwolf, I would've been a mess. Right now though, I just wanted to get this over with and continue my shopping.
"Zara. Did one of those bitches send you? I'm really not in the mood so please. Just leave."
Fan-fucking-tastic.
"Easy Taylor, I'm just here to do some shopping," I said, showing off my new jacket. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
Damnit! Taylor curled into Panacea who in turn was giving me an angry stare. Panacea certainly seemed nicer here, though most of it might be due to her having Taylor as a friend. I don't think I was going to make much progress with her now, especially if I was right about her just finding out who Shadow Stalker was.
Still, I didn't want to leave here empty handed.
I stood up and dusted myself off. Looking at the three of them felt so surreal. Taylor, Amy, and Lisa. Three of the most important characters in Worm. Three real people right in front of me. They were nothing like I expected but I'll get used to it.
"Taylor, before I go, I want to clear the air between us. I have a lot of issues in my personal life that I do not wish to bring to school. I have nothing against you and I do not approve of the bullying. All I want at Winslow is to be left alone. I don't know you, Taylor, but whatever problem you're having, you can beat them."
While Tattletale still looked like she was seconds away running, Taylor and Panacea seemed far less suspicious of me. Probably as best as it was going to get. For now at least. I spun around and started walking towards the market. I really hope I can find a nice pair of jeans there. Maybe even a few shirts if I'm lucky.
"Wait!"
I turned around and gave Taylor a questioning look. She was glancing between Amy and I. Were they a couple?
"Zara… please don't tell anyone at school about us. I really don't want them to mess this up," she said as Amy grabbed her for another hug.
Jeez. Fuck Fugly Bob's, I was going to get diabetes from those two if I stuck around any longer.
"Don't worry Taylor. I'm a big cape groupie," I said, staring right towards Tattletale. "Even though Panacea is an open cape, I know better than to break the 'Unwritten Rules'. Even heroes can be terrifying if you mess with their civilian identity."
Tattletale was looking really pale now. She better not snitch on me.
----------------------------------
I wasn't lying when I said Taylor could beat her own problems. She had all the resources she needed to get through Winslow. Her father. The DWU. Panacea.
That being said, I did not trust her to not get herself splattered on her first day out as a cape. Thinking back a bit, Panacea had been fairly stable during Worm before the Nine came to the bay. That being said, I did not want to see what happens to her if Taylor tries to use her cleaning powers on Lung or something.
With all that's been happening to Taylor lately, it was only a matter of time before she decided to debut.
I was patrolling in the air near my neighborhood, almost about to head home, when I saw it. A figure wearing all black, flying on a yellow hard light board. Clumsily gliding in the air.
My heart jumped into my throat as I saw her nearly crash into a building before regaining control of her hoverboard. The flowing brown hair made it painfully obvious it was Taylor.
She was flying over Merchant territory. Earlier tonight, I woke up from a nap to the sound of gunfire. The Merchants were probing Empire territory after I took down Cricket and Hookwolf. Just the sight of me passing overhead was enough to scare away the ones near my neighborhood.
Taylor was closing in on a group of Merchants next to a warehouse, probably a storage or lab. Right before she touched down next to the group, yellow hard light armor covered her body and with a wave of her hand, the ground below the gangsters glowed yellow, rising up to surround them before fading to reveal a solid ball of concrete.
What the fuck? Some kind of shaker ability maybe? Tinker possibly?
A hail of bullets slammed into Taylor, plinking off the armor as she flinched back before a wave of yellow formed a perfect square wall in front of her, blocking off the bullets.
That was too close to comfort. I started flying down towards her.
Taylor could've literally just died to some guys with guns if it wasn't for her armor. Her power must be fairly strong upfront, unlike her bug control in Worm. She seemed really inexperienced, like me during my first flight.
For a first night and presumably first fight, Taylor was doing pretty well. The idiot goons inside the warehouse came out, pointing a variety of cheap crappy guns at her. They all plinked off the armor as Taylor waved her hand, creating a wave of light, splitting into ropes that pulled the guns away from the gangsters.
A few of them must've been feeling brave because they charged the obviously bulletproof cape with knives and improvised melee weapons, all of which doing nothing as they slammed helplessly against another wall of yellow light.
She's a bit… reckless but I can chalk it up to it being her first night.
(Probably) Taylor took down the merchants fairly easily, wrapping them in light before transforming it into a rope.
She… called the authorities and waited patiently as a police car came by and picked up the gangsters. Taylor left without any incidents after the matter and resumed her aerial patrol.
Taylor? Normal debut? It's a miracle!
She continued this process with two other incidents, stopping a mugging and busting another Merchant rally.
Right as I was about to head home, promising myself to leave after seeing her hit one more warehouse, it happened. Taylor's first capefight.
A wave of garbage flew out of a dumpster towards her, slamming her back as she barely crossed her arms in front of her, right as she landed in front of another Merchant warehouse. Mush.
The man formed an armor of trash around himself, standing tall at around eight feet. A fitting form for a disgusting gangster.
I aimed a concussion missile down at Mush, flying lower, just barely above the buildings. I'm sure Taylor could take him but better safe than sorry.
Taylor recovered quickly, especially for a rookie as she wrapped herself in a hard light ball just as Mush flung himself forward, slamming both arms into her orb.
The orb bursted out, pushing Mush back as Taylor quickly recovered, flinging herself up on another hard light platform before throwing a ball of hard light glass towards Mush, smashing into him, knocking him over.
Mush huddled in his trash pile before reconstituting himself and launching forward, preparing to jump into Taylor, slamming her off the platform onto the ground.
He loomed above her, smashing himself into her hardlight shield, over and over until Taylor rolled out to the side like a giant hamster.
The shield split into glowing orbs in the air, before they transformed into ball bearings, shooting themselves into Mush who absorbed them.
It must've been a move Taylor was practicing. She did it so automatically that she didn't even consider the situation.
Now, I'm sure Taylor could beat him, eventually, but I didn't like how this fight was going.
I fired the missile, slamming it into the ground right in front of Mush, throwing him backwards as I aimed a laser behind him, firing a stream of bright green energy into his form, smoke rising from the melting garbage.
Mush threw himself out of the construct, visibly burnt, turning to look at me flying down in the sky.
Somewhere in that drugged out brain, a neuron fired as he tried to scramble away from me as garbage pulled towards him.
Taylor reacted quickly, blocking off his escape with a hard light wall, just as I passed overhead. I spun mid air, planting my feet into her light and fired a concussion missile into the center mass of Mush, scattering garbage everywhere.
He tried to crawl away but I lashed out with metal tentacles, grabbing Mush into the air, spinning around and releasing him into the sky before he could get a chance to pull more garbage towards himself. I shot up, grabbing him mid air and blasted him with electricity, knocking him out.
I looked at Taylor. She seemed a bit tired and scared from the encounter. Not bad for a first cape fight but she could use some polish, hopefully from heroes like the Wards or New Wave.
I landed in front of her, plopping Mush at her feet.
Taylor looked terrified of me. She totally brought into the Unwritten Rules crap didn't she?
I might as well make some small talk before the PRT shows up for Mush. "First night out?"
Taylor just kept staring at me, giving me a short nod. "Tech Jacket… thanks for the help…"
You're fucking welcome. Damnit, she already hated me.
"Got a name?"
"...Not yet."
Her answer was short and her tone was stiff. I don't think she wanted to keep talking.
She kept giving me nervous looks, eyes darting between me and Mush.
I sighed into my helmet, before turning to her. "Do you have any questions?"
"Weren't you a bit… harsh on him, Tech Jacket?"
"Is this about my reputation after Hookwolf and Cricket? Let me give you some advice. None of this cape shit is a game and you can't plan for everything. Fight to win. Do whatever it takes."
She didn't prod me more but I could tell she was unconvinced.
The PRT came by and picked Mush up. He'll be out in a week or so.
I crouched down and shot into the sky, barely missing Taylor yelling for me to wait. I quickly decelerated, pulling my upper body upwards, rapidly decelerating just as Taylor shot past me on her hoverboard, nearly falling off as she stopped in the air.
Did I just accidentally pull a cobra maneuver on her?
This girl was going to get herself killed, wasn't she?
Author's Note:
I'm surprised how many of you guys pointed out the Cricket mask thing in the crashout chapter but I couldn't say anything because it was coming up here.
Also, there you have it. Arc 1. The superhero origin story. Zara (mostly) coming to terms with how she was now in this weird bizarro version of Worm.
Taylor's alt power is Atom Eve's from Invincible. She can't do living matter at all. There is no limiter, it's just not something she can do. She's not really strong right now because first night and all but she'll be better later on.
More of it will be revealed in her POV. I'm planning to do a sidestory to fill out the blanks. It won't be too high effort though.
PHO interlude maybe later. I suck ass at them.
I'm also going to go back and put dates on everything.