Overpowered (Worm Alt!power)
- Thread starter Stravickan Ovmahn
- Start date
-
- Tags
- worm alt!power magic overpowered
*points out the word variably in my previous statement* ... though now that i think about it it's not even the cells dividing that causes aging past a certain point it's the damage to the DNA stands in the dividing so she might very well be immortal without Panacea having noticed if the extra mass causes the division to happen without damaging the DNAI don't think you can call it slowly aging. Her cell only divide when she is injured. If Taylor lives without injuring herself, her cells will not divide and she will not age.
Though we all know that is not going to happen.
- Location
- United States
The actual expression is "intents and purposes".
Stravickan Ovmahn
Lip-man of a hated god
- Location
- United States
Oh, thank you for that.
Stravickan Ovmahn
Lip-man of a hated god
- Location
- United States
She was able to tell the physical changes to her body by her power. That should be completly with her realm of ability.
5: Set up
Stravickan Ovmahn
Lip-man of a hated god
- Location
- United States
Dad,
I know you're probably worried about me, and you're right to. But I'm fine, or as fine as I'm going to get. My powers have… helped me a lot since I got them. I'm sure the PRT has told you all sorts of things, but… I'm not sure. When I escaped from that locker I only had one thing on my mind, get the person that put me in there. That person was Shadow Stalker. So if they told you I attacked their Ward, they're lying.
I don't know when I'll be home, if I come home at all, but I wanted you to know I'm okay. And for you to know I'm doing good. I'm going to be using my power to do good, to be a hero even if the PRT thinks I'm not right now. You'll probably see me soon, so keep your eyes peeled for a new cape in town.
I can't think of anything else to add, so I'll just leave it there. I'll try to send you a letter whenever I can.
-Taylor
I know you're probably worried about me, and you're right to. But I'm fine, or as fine as I'm going to get. My powers have… helped me a lot since I got them. I'm sure the PRT has told you all sorts of things, but… I'm not sure. When I escaped from that locker I only had one thing on my mind, get the person that put me in there. That person was Shadow Stalker. So if they told you I attacked their Ward, they're lying.
I don't know when I'll be home, if I come home at all, but I wanted you to know I'm okay. And for you to know I'm doing good. I'm going to be using my power to do good, to be a hero even if the PRT thinks I'm not right now. You'll probably see me soon, so keep your eyes peeled for a new cape in town.
I can't think of anything else to add, so I'll just leave it there. I'll try to send you a letter whenever I can.
-Taylor
I stood in front of the mailbox in the Shadow Dimension and closed my eyes before opening a Door. I sank feet first through the world and reappeared on the other side in the span of a second. Carefully, I slid the letter in and closed the mailbox behind me before jumping back into the Shadow Dimension. The pain was even duller than the last time, suggesting this was something I was going to continue to get used to.
I turned around and walked about five blocks before stepping out of the dimension again. I pulled out the phone and carefully considered it, thinking hard about what I wanted to do.
I was immortal, maybe not invulnerable, but still immortal to some degree. Though, the idea that I could accumulate enough paper cuts and stubbed toes to die of old age was rather amusing. But that aside, I had real opportunity. Maybe I wouldn't have felt responsibility like this if I had a normal lifespan to look forward to, but I didn't. There was just something about knowing that I would be able to live for some unknown length of time just by taking care of myself that gave things a sense of perspective.
But I needed a little help, just a little to get me off the ground. In that fight, I only managed to catch someone Glory Girl had been tossing around beforehand. I didn't land a single substantial hit on Stormtiger despite my power. And I utterly failed when I fought Sophia before. Not to mention when I used up all of my energy and started to take hits. I needed to work smarter, and work with a budget. And I needed a way to really train and test my power.
I selected the call button and held the phone up to my ear. Coil answered on the first ring.
"Hello Taylor, what can I do for you?"
"I've decided to take you up on your offer, but I'm going to need a few things."
"Such as?"
"You think you can find a weight set for someone with super strength?"
"...I'll see what I can do. I send you a location of a safe house I've set up. It'll be your base of operations and where I'll deliver materials to you. A man will be waiting for you there to learn of anything else you may require. Do you have any idea on what cape name you'll want?"
The question caught me off guard. I hadn't really thought of it before, but I would need a name. Something fitting of the lawless vigilante theme I was going to push. But as I was thinking, my mind drifted to someone else. The person responsible for what happened to me, the person who had ruined my life even before the locker. A person I would like nothing more than to remind of that fact.
"Something with the term 'shadow' in it," I told him. "Or at least closely related."
"Hmm, the man you'll meet will have a few ideas ready for you when you arrive, be sure to give it some thought. I must get going, but I thank you for your decision, Taylor. You won't regret it." The line went dead as he hung up.
***
I was expecting lead weights or something. Instead, I got Tinker tech. I have to say, it certainly did cut down on the space the entire thing took up. The weights were able to adjust themselves to gravity, making themselves heavier depending on what setting I put them on. And the way each device could be hooked into a different sort of weight machine left me wondering if it was a gravity Tinker or a fitness Tinker.
Either way, trying to bench press the weights when they were supposed to weigh a thousand pounds each was giving the interesting feeling of burning in my arms. But it wasn't quite testing me. I raised the bar one more time before looking over at Phil and giving him a nod.
Phil was the man Coil had provided me with along with the basement I was working out of. He was an older man, grey hair and balding, and had a distinct Englishman's accent to him. He reminded me very much of a butler, even acted like it too.
Phil pulled out a little remote and pressed the button a few times, increasing the weight each time he did. This time when I brought the bar down my muscles began to scream in effort, letting me know it was working. Taking it with a hint of satisfaction, I set myself to completing a few more sets. It got boring fast.
"Phil, tell me some of those names you had thought of," I said through grunted breaths.
"As you wish," he responded with a nod. "On your suggestion, Shadow Knight was one of my first thoughts."
"Eh, maybe. What else?"
"Shadow Enforcer might be another. The term 'shadow' makes things a little difficult. Shadow Hunter, Shadow Baton, Shadow Baron, Shadow Tiger, Shadow Queen, and various others. However, if you were to expand your theme a little wider, other options exist."
"Such as?"
"Shade, Black Strike, Silhouette, Gloom, The Pale, Shroud, and likewise."
"Hmm," I thought loudly, replacing the bar back on the metal rack meant to hold it while Phil turned the tech off. The feeling of the work out in my arms faded almost the moment I lost contact with the bar. Odd, but regardless I felt as if I made progress. How much though was still a question.
"Maybe we should talk my costume before the name," I mentioned as I rose from the machine and began to stride across the room.
"Excellent idea miss Hebert, Coil has already sent some prototype ideas for you to look over."
"That was fast," I said with a raised eyebrow. Phil nodded and said before producing several papers with drawings on them. I took them before I opened the closet I had been provided. The room was a cross between a basement and a bedroom, with a set of stairs coming down from the upper floors right in the centre of the room and everything else going around it. My weight set was to the immediate left of the stairs and a small kitchen for one to the right. Behind the stairs and to the right was a bed, a couch, television, and a closet. The final corner holding only a door to a bathroom.
I slipped on a jacket as the basement was kept a little cold and started looking through the designs while I sat on the couch. Most weren't bad and seemed to take the 'shadow' part of my theme into consideration. They even had suggested gear I might carry.
The first one was an interesting design. It looked like a leather trench coat that had its sleeves ripped off. It had a black sports bra on the inside acting as the only under clothing for the coat, which would expose my midriff. Maybe a little more skin than I was willing to show. The costume also seemed to suggest a whip and a revolver. I wasn't sure either was something I was willing to use.
The next one employed a lot of armour stitched into a black suit, giving the wearer almost complete coverage and allowing mobility. It came with a black hood cloak meant to be worn like a cape and had a pair of two expandable police batons. I didn't see anything immediately troubling about it so I didn't dismiss it outright.
The next one that I looked at reminded me of an actual knight. It had a full silver mask and black plate armour around the torso, arms, and legs with chainmail stretching the gaps. At first, I questioned the amount of armour, but then I considered that the less energy I had to spend protecting my body the more I might have to use for other things. Something to consider.
The only issue with that one was it suggested using industrial chains used like whips. What was he expecting me to fight? I might see where it could be useful against Hookwolf or maybe Lung, but past them there was little I could think of.
The costume on the next piece of paper used an interesting piece of clothing. It was like a cloak, but only draped over one half of the body. It had a belt filled with throwing knives and a bolas. This one was interesting because it suggested a small shield strapped to my left arm while leaving the hand free. The idea intrigued me.
The rest of them were along similar lines or simply didn't interest me. When I had finished I had only decided the five of them were worth considering, with only two I was rather on the fence with. After a few minutes, I looked up at Phil and asked,
"Which do you think would be the best?"
"To be honest Miss Hebert, I wouldn't accept any of them."
"Why's that?" I asked, surprised by his answer.
"Because the PRT is already aware of your identity as a recently triggered cape. So you will need some extra protection if you are going to head out, and I would suggest a costume that wasn't so revealing of your gender."
"You think I should look like a guy?"
"It would give you an extra layer of protection."
I considered it a moment before I stated, "I don't want to cut my hair."
"There are ways around that," Phil assured. He gathered the five I've seriously considered and stated, "I'll take these to Coil and see what can be done to more gender-neutral made. And then we can consider again. In the meantime, you can experiment with your power to see what kind of combat you wish to train in."
"Alright," I said, but he was already on his way out. I sat there in silence for a few minutes as I thought. After a bit, I raised a hand and let my energy envelope it. "Where to start?"
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... i know what you meant but the wording is a bit awkward
missing "
- Location
- Samsara
I liked the chapter. You get to see Taylor sending a message to her dad, something I was wondering when she would do. You get her to make a decision on Coil's offer. I liked the idea of Taylor bitch slapping SS by adding shadow to her cape name. And of course her thoughts about her apparent immortality.
But this chapter feels very disjointed to the previous one. We only see her talking about the previous discussion near the end of the first scene which caused me a bit of confusion in the first few paragraph before I got comfortable. Maybe change it to her first thinking about what Amy said and making the decision to call Coil after leaving a letter to her dad. This might smooth the transition between the chapters. I hope I explained myself well.
Keep it up. Looking forward to what happens next.
6: Threshold
Stravickan Ovmahn
Lip-man of a hated god
- Location
- United States
The energy was tricky. I had established that I used it to open Doors and to give me a bit of durability, but past that it was like I was groping around in the dark to figure out exactly what it was that the energy could do. Mostly because there were many things it seemed capable of.
The first thing I tried was something I had speculated before. The idea that my energy increased the properties of whatever I extended it over. For this, I tried on two objects I had with me in the safe house. A rubber band and a kitchen knife.
There was hardly any change with the knife except for the fact that I suddenly felt like I was able to use it more effectively. I gave it a few swings and found that there was, in fact, some sort of reflex in the way I held the knife. It was odd when there wasn't anything to be attacking, but a few swipes through the air, spinning it in my hand, and throwing it revealed that I sort of had the use of it down. Though, I wasn't sure a kitchen knife was going to be all that important to me and my cape persona.
The next was the rubber band as it didn't have any clear way of being used as a weapon like a knife did. It was probably as different from the knife as it could get, giving me a good idea of what can and can't be affected by my energy. However, the effect it had was curiously not what I was expecting.
The band took on the light green glow I had begun to associate with my energy. Tentatively, I gave it a pull. As it stretched, I continued to pull as it expanded further and further, going far beyond the normal range of the rubber band. Examining it strangely, I let one end go and watched it snap back and sting my wrist with enough power to draw blood for a few moments. Curious.
I looked over into the kitchen where I saw a water bottle I had partially drank sitting on the edge of the counter. Glancing at the rubber band in my hand for a moment, I took a stance and aimed at the bottle. Instead of shooting the band, which would have taken it out of my energy, I flicked my wrist at the bottle with the rubber band in hand. The band shot out like a whip and snapped against the side of the bottle, causing it to explode in a rain of plastic and water before the band came back to my hand.
I looked down at the band with wide eyes. That was pretty impressive as far as rubber bands go. Make me more than a little curious as to what other applications of the energy I would be able to accomplish. I dispelled the energy around the band and went to grab something else when I paused.
The rubber band was gone. Looking at my palm strangely, I willed my energy back. Nothing, it was just like every other time I exerted my energy over my hand. I quirked my mouth and thought on it. And then I got the idea to remember what it was like to have my energy effect the rubber band.
Instantly, the green energy formed a bright light construct resembling the band I was thinking about. I gave it a few pulls to make sure it was just as stretchy as it was before and considered it harshly. I looked back at the kitchen knife I had already used and examined its surface a little more closely. The metal seemed a little brighter, as if someone had polished the outer most layer. The plastic handle looked like it had been left out in the sun for a while. Slowly, I began to piece together what might have happened.
Dispelling the energy band, I raised my other hand and attempted to recreate the feeling of the knife just as I had done to make the band. This time, it wasn't as whole as the band had felt, but I certainly had a formless blade made of my energy resting in my grip. And if I let the energy consume more of the blade I bet I would be able to create a more solid projection. But I had another idea.
I went back into the kitchen and found four more rubber bands lying about and set them on the counter. Kneeling down on the floor so I'd be eye level with them, I posed a finger over them and let my energy expanded to encase them.
At first, I watched as they began to break down and dissolve in the energy. But after a minute, I began experimenting with ways to get them to stop. It turns out it was easier than I first thought. I stopped imagining them as something my energy was encasing and start thinking more of them as something my energy was reinforcing like it did to my body. Instantly, the rubber stopped dissolving and remained in it partially decayed state. I quirked my mouth at it and dropped the energy field.
Then in one hand, I summoned the pure energy band and gave it an experimental flick across the room. I found it to be just a little more responsive and powerful than it had previously, probably because of the little bit of rubber band I had dissolved since then. In my other hand, I reinforced the rubber band with my energy and gave it another test flick. It too shot across the room like a whip before snapping back to my hand, though it felt a little more… grounded.
The best I could describe it would be like switching between a car made mostly of plastic and steering so smooth you could barely feel it compared to an older truck. The older truck being the actual rubber band, in this case, feels more real than the plastic car. You can feel it moving as opposed to the floaty, light car. That was kind of the way my energy was, intangible and required just a small amount of mental concentration to keep it together. The actual band felt far more real to me and more reliable. Which just let one question.
I combined the two techniques. Reinforcing the band and summoning the energy band over top of it. I took a moment to study the way each effect interacted with each other. They were… unaligned. It took a lot of micro adjusting to get them to fit inside of each other before I was ready to test them, but the effect was worth it.
I could tell the new rubber whip could stretch much further, too far for me to be able to test in this room. Its striking force was incredible too, as I learned when I accidentally left a gouge in the concrete floor. I got the impression that with a little more experimentation I could limit that effect to being more of a blunt force attack rather than a cutting one, but I was distracted from that experiment when I discovered something else.
By sheer accident, I gave the band a flick and it shot out towards the stairs. I reflexively attempted to correct it as I didn't want to damage the stairs when something strange happened. Instead of cutting or impacting the stairwell, the band latched on the railing and became taut. Curiously, I gave it a tug. No resistance as it stretched. At that moment, I pictured myself pulling on the rail, thinking with the intent of the energy band shortening. This time, when I pulled I was met with the resistance I was looking for as the band became as rigid as a rope. With one final idea in my mind, I willed the band to shrink.
That was a mistake, as I suddenly found myself flying head first at the stairwell as the band pulled me closer towards it. I had a moment to dispel the energy, causing the real band underneath to snap in half, but I was already flying. I hit the railing head first and heard something snap right before a massive amount of pain shot through me.
The pain faded a moment later as my skull began to reform, but damn it hurt in the process. Looking around I saw that I managed to create a massive crack in one of the support beams of the stairwell. I added that to the list of things I've managed to damage since I began experimenting with things. Right along with a kitchen knife, a water bottle, and the floor. I decided to wait until I got outside again before trying to experiment more.
In the meantime, I grabbed a piece of paper and began to note down the few things I had learned for future reference.
First, my energy was able to break down and consume objects and then later recreate them as pure light constructs with their properties exaggerated. Or at least, I guessed that based on the effect of the rubber band. It would be a little harder to tell with the knife, but I could assume it was harder and sharper than normal.
Second, my energy could reinforce an object to a very similar effect.
Third, I can combine the two techniques to multiply the effect.
Fourth, the more rubber bands I had consumed the stronger the effect of the energy band.
I put the pen and paper down a moment and consider that last one for a moment. Then I reached out to the other rubber bands still sitting on the counter where I had left them and let my energy consume them entirely and wrote one more thing on the paper before I got moving again.
Fifth, I can control the elasticity of the band as well as change how long it is at any time.
With that done I set the items aside and considered what to do next. I had managed to let almost an hour and a half go by since Phil had left, putting the time at about seven o'clock. I was going to need to eat soon, and if what Panacea said was correct I was going to need to eat a lot just to make sure I am able to heal next time I go out.
I started rooting through the cabinets and found some basic cooking utensils and a few food items. There was a fridge, but it hadn't been stocked up yet. There were spaghetti noodles and sauce in the cabinets, so I supposed that would have to do. I Filled a pot full of water, threw some salt in to keep the noodles from sticking, and set it on the stove to get it to a boil.
I grabbed the phone and sent Phil a message to return with more food items for the kitchen and then considered what I was going to do the rest of the night. My eye drifted to the weight machines and I was reminded of what it felt like to actually strain my muscles. Despite how boring it might be, working out would be a productive way to pass the time.
With that in mind, I set to work.
***
When I came out of the shower the next morning, Phil was cooking some breakfast on the stove.
"Ah, good morning Miss Hebert, I thought I would take the liberty of getting some food going for you," he greeted me.
"Uh, thank you," I responded awkwardly. This was going to take some getting used to. "What did you have in mind?"
"As I'm sure you're aware, your room is underneath a reasonably popular coffeehouse on the Boardwalk. It appears to be trying to expand its breakfast menu with some rather… odd items and I thought you might enjoy some of the more high protein selections. Namely, a so-called 'bacon and jelly' sandwich. I hear it is one of the more well-received items."
"Well, it's different," I admitted.
"Quite so," Phil said with a nod before flipping the bacon over. "What would you like to drink?"
"Tea, please."
"There is black and Earl Grey, more upstairs in the coffeehouse."
"Just black is fine."
"Right away. You'll find the final version of your costume design sitting on the small table for your review."
I nodded to him once and went to the small, one person table that sat it the end of the length of the countertop. Sliding into the chair, I picked up the papers he had left there. The top one was a much more detailed rendition of the costumes of I had been observing, seeming to take the best designs from each. The pages with it were more detailed drawings of individual pieces. As I looked through them I found myself a little more uncomfortable with what I was seeing.
"Isn't the name a little… weird? And maybe stereotypical?"
"Most cape names are," Phil answered swiftly. "As I recall, many were laughing at Glory Girl's name the first few weeks before it became normal. Yours is much the same. It'll be strange at first, but then it'll be normal. And then it'll be a reason to be feared."
"Feared?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, feared. If you were just an independent you would only be fighting villains, and even then you would be working inside the rules. But you are, or rather will be, a lawless vigilante. You'll be against heroes and villains alike, and because you don't obey the rules the villains have no reason to hold back against you."
"Why hold back at all?" I asked, frowning. "Their villains after all."
"A little thing commonly referred to as the unwritten rules. It is a little more large scale than what you're going to be upsetting, the rules make sure that villains don't go too far. Lung could burn down half the city and break every cape he comes across in his path, but it would bring every other cape in the world down on him. The Empire could attempt murder every minority in the city overnight if they wanted, but it won't happen."
"And how do I play into that?"
"Because everyone else has gotten used to this game, and Coil wishes you to upset that balance by 'being a hero through villainy' so to speak. A reputation of fear is a reputation that may protect you against certain threats."
"I see." With that cleared up, I turned my attention back to the drawings. After another minute of consideration, another bit of the design caught my eye.
"The Brute Sword? Geez, look at the size of it… that is a little extreme, isn't it? I wouldn't be able to use it against half of the capes I come across."
"That is why it is called the Brute Sword, it is meant to deal damage to Lung and Hookwolf. Or knock Glory Girl out of the air. And while it is technically a sword, its function makes it more of a pointed hammer as it will likely weight an incredible amount."
"But it's almost as large as I am!"
"True, but you have an incredible strength that seems to be able to improve. No one but another Brute is going to be able to pick up the blade, and it will only add to your reputation. Not to mention, you can use the flat of the blade as an effective shield in addition to the one strapped to your other arm."
"Well, I suppose so…" I guess if it was a factor of reputation and intimidation, it would do the trick. But still, the sword I was looking at looked like it came out of some fantasy video game. And if I didn't have my strength, it would be completely impractical.
"But you should make two," I stated. "In fact, create two of the shield as well. I've discovered something about my power I'm going to need it for."
"As you wish. Does that mean the design is to your liking?"
I took a deep breath and went over the drawings again, double checking to make sure I didn't have any second thoughts.
"I'm not going to need the chain or the gun. In fact, I'd rather not have guns at all. Everything else though seems fine."
"Very good ma'am. I'll let Coil know and the main part of your costume should be completed by tonight. Once done, you'll be able to go out again. So be sure you know what it is you wish to do, Shadow Paladin."
The first thing I tried was something I had speculated before. The idea that my energy increased the properties of whatever I extended it over. For this, I tried on two objects I had with me in the safe house. A rubber band and a kitchen knife.
There was hardly any change with the knife except for the fact that I suddenly felt like I was able to use it more effectively. I gave it a few swings and found that there was, in fact, some sort of reflex in the way I held the knife. It was odd when there wasn't anything to be attacking, but a few swipes through the air, spinning it in my hand, and throwing it revealed that I sort of had the use of it down. Though, I wasn't sure a kitchen knife was going to be all that important to me and my cape persona.
The next was the rubber band as it didn't have any clear way of being used as a weapon like a knife did. It was probably as different from the knife as it could get, giving me a good idea of what can and can't be affected by my energy. However, the effect it had was curiously not what I was expecting.
The band took on the light green glow I had begun to associate with my energy. Tentatively, I gave it a pull. As it stretched, I continued to pull as it expanded further and further, going far beyond the normal range of the rubber band. Examining it strangely, I let one end go and watched it snap back and sting my wrist with enough power to draw blood for a few moments. Curious.
I looked over into the kitchen where I saw a water bottle I had partially drank sitting on the edge of the counter. Glancing at the rubber band in my hand for a moment, I took a stance and aimed at the bottle. Instead of shooting the band, which would have taken it out of my energy, I flicked my wrist at the bottle with the rubber band in hand. The band shot out like a whip and snapped against the side of the bottle, causing it to explode in a rain of plastic and water before the band came back to my hand.
I looked down at the band with wide eyes. That was pretty impressive as far as rubber bands go. Make me more than a little curious as to what other applications of the energy I would be able to accomplish. I dispelled the energy around the band and went to grab something else when I paused.
The rubber band was gone. Looking at my palm strangely, I willed my energy back. Nothing, it was just like every other time I exerted my energy over my hand. I quirked my mouth and thought on it. And then I got the idea to remember what it was like to have my energy effect the rubber band.
Instantly, the green energy formed a bright light construct resembling the band I was thinking about. I gave it a few pulls to make sure it was just as stretchy as it was before and considered it harshly. I looked back at the kitchen knife I had already used and examined its surface a little more closely. The metal seemed a little brighter, as if someone had polished the outer most layer. The plastic handle looked like it had been left out in the sun for a while. Slowly, I began to piece together what might have happened.
Dispelling the energy band, I raised my other hand and attempted to recreate the feeling of the knife just as I had done to make the band. This time, it wasn't as whole as the band had felt, but I certainly had a formless blade made of my energy resting in my grip. And if I let the energy consume more of the blade I bet I would be able to create a more solid projection. But I had another idea.
I went back into the kitchen and found four more rubber bands lying about and set them on the counter. Kneeling down on the floor so I'd be eye level with them, I posed a finger over them and let my energy expanded to encase them.
At first, I watched as they began to break down and dissolve in the energy. But after a minute, I began experimenting with ways to get them to stop. It turns out it was easier than I first thought. I stopped imagining them as something my energy was encasing and start thinking more of them as something my energy was reinforcing like it did to my body. Instantly, the rubber stopped dissolving and remained in it partially decayed state. I quirked my mouth at it and dropped the energy field.
Then in one hand, I summoned the pure energy band and gave it an experimental flick across the room. I found it to be just a little more responsive and powerful than it had previously, probably because of the little bit of rubber band I had dissolved since then. In my other hand, I reinforced the rubber band with my energy and gave it another test flick. It too shot across the room like a whip before snapping back to my hand, though it felt a little more… grounded.
The best I could describe it would be like switching between a car made mostly of plastic and steering so smooth you could barely feel it compared to an older truck. The older truck being the actual rubber band, in this case, feels more real than the plastic car. You can feel it moving as opposed to the floaty, light car. That was kind of the way my energy was, intangible and required just a small amount of mental concentration to keep it together. The actual band felt far more real to me and more reliable. Which just let one question.
I combined the two techniques. Reinforcing the band and summoning the energy band over top of it. I took a moment to study the way each effect interacted with each other. They were… unaligned. It took a lot of micro adjusting to get them to fit inside of each other before I was ready to test them, but the effect was worth it.
I could tell the new rubber whip could stretch much further, too far for me to be able to test in this room. Its striking force was incredible too, as I learned when I accidentally left a gouge in the concrete floor. I got the impression that with a little more experimentation I could limit that effect to being more of a blunt force attack rather than a cutting one, but I was distracted from that experiment when I discovered something else.
By sheer accident, I gave the band a flick and it shot out towards the stairs. I reflexively attempted to correct it as I didn't want to damage the stairs when something strange happened. Instead of cutting or impacting the stairwell, the band latched on the railing and became taut. Curiously, I gave it a tug. No resistance as it stretched. At that moment, I pictured myself pulling on the rail, thinking with the intent of the energy band shortening. This time, when I pulled I was met with the resistance I was looking for as the band became as rigid as a rope. With one final idea in my mind, I willed the band to shrink.
That was a mistake, as I suddenly found myself flying head first at the stairwell as the band pulled me closer towards it. I had a moment to dispel the energy, causing the real band underneath to snap in half, but I was already flying. I hit the railing head first and heard something snap right before a massive amount of pain shot through me.
The pain faded a moment later as my skull began to reform, but damn it hurt in the process. Looking around I saw that I managed to create a massive crack in one of the support beams of the stairwell. I added that to the list of things I've managed to damage since I began experimenting with things. Right along with a kitchen knife, a water bottle, and the floor. I decided to wait until I got outside again before trying to experiment more.
In the meantime, I grabbed a piece of paper and began to note down the few things I had learned for future reference.
First, my energy was able to break down and consume objects and then later recreate them as pure light constructs with their properties exaggerated. Or at least, I guessed that based on the effect of the rubber band. It would be a little harder to tell with the knife, but I could assume it was harder and sharper than normal.
Second, my energy could reinforce an object to a very similar effect.
Third, I can combine the two techniques to multiply the effect.
Fourth, the more rubber bands I had consumed the stronger the effect of the energy band.
I put the pen and paper down a moment and consider that last one for a moment. Then I reached out to the other rubber bands still sitting on the counter where I had left them and let my energy consume them entirely and wrote one more thing on the paper before I got moving again.
Fifth, I can control the elasticity of the band as well as change how long it is at any time.
With that done I set the items aside and considered what to do next. I had managed to let almost an hour and a half go by since Phil had left, putting the time at about seven o'clock. I was going to need to eat soon, and if what Panacea said was correct I was going to need to eat a lot just to make sure I am able to heal next time I go out.
I started rooting through the cabinets and found some basic cooking utensils and a few food items. There was a fridge, but it hadn't been stocked up yet. There were spaghetti noodles and sauce in the cabinets, so I supposed that would have to do. I Filled a pot full of water, threw some salt in to keep the noodles from sticking, and set it on the stove to get it to a boil.
I grabbed the phone and sent Phil a message to return with more food items for the kitchen and then considered what I was going to do the rest of the night. My eye drifted to the weight machines and I was reminded of what it felt like to actually strain my muscles. Despite how boring it might be, working out would be a productive way to pass the time.
With that in mind, I set to work.
***
When I came out of the shower the next morning, Phil was cooking some breakfast on the stove.
"Ah, good morning Miss Hebert, I thought I would take the liberty of getting some food going for you," he greeted me.
"Uh, thank you," I responded awkwardly. This was going to take some getting used to. "What did you have in mind?"
"As I'm sure you're aware, your room is underneath a reasonably popular coffeehouse on the Boardwalk. It appears to be trying to expand its breakfast menu with some rather… odd items and I thought you might enjoy some of the more high protein selections. Namely, a so-called 'bacon and jelly' sandwich. I hear it is one of the more well-received items."
"Well, it's different," I admitted.
"Quite so," Phil said with a nod before flipping the bacon over. "What would you like to drink?"
"Tea, please."
"There is black and Earl Grey, more upstairs in the coffeehouse."
"Just black is fine."
"Right away. You'll find the final version of your costume design sitting on the small table for your review."
I nodded to him once and went to the small, one person table that sat it the end of the length of the countertop. Sliding into the chair, I picked up the papers he had left there. The top one was a much more detailed rendition of the costumes of I had been observing, seeming to take the best designs from each. The pages with it were more detailed drawings of individual pieces. As I looked through them I found myself a little more uncomfortable with what I was seeing.
"Isn't the name a little… weird? And maybe stereotypical?"
"Most cape names are," Phil answered swiftly. "As I recall, many were laughing at Glory Girl's name the first few weeks before it became normal. Yours is much the same. It'll be strange at first, but then it'll be normal. And then it'll be a reason to be feared."
"Feared?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, feared. If you were just an independent you would only be fighting villains, and even then you would be working inside the rules. But you are, or rather will be, a lawless vigilante. You'll be against heroes and villains alike, and because you don't obey the rules the villains have no reason to hold back against you."
"Why hold back at all?" I asked, frowning. "Their villains after all."
"A little thing commonly referred to as the unwritten rules. It is a little more large scale than what you're going to be upsetting, the rules make sure that villains don't go too far. Lung could burn down half the city and break every cape he comes across in his path, but it would bring every other cape in the world down on him. The Empire could attempt murder every minority in the city overnight if they wanted, but it won't happen."
"And how do I play into that?"
"Because everyone else has gotten used to this game, and Coil wishes you to upset that balance by 'being a hero through villainy' so to speak. A reputation of fear is a reputation that may protect you against certain threats."
"I see." With that cleared up, I turned my attention back to the drawings. After another minute of consideration, another bit of the design caught my eye.
"The Brute Sword? Geez, look at the size of it… that is a little extreme, isn't it? I wouldn't be able to use it against half of the capes I come across."
"That is why it is called the Brute Sword, it is meant to deal damage to Lung and Hookwolf. Or knock Glory Girl out of the air. And while it is technically a sword, its function makes it more of a pointed hammer as it will likely weight an incredible amount."
"But it's almost as large as I am!"
"True, but you have an incredible strength that seems to be able to improve. No one but another Brute is going to be able to pick up the blade, and it will only add to your reputation. Not to mention, you can use the flat of the blade as an effective shield in addition to the one strapped to your other arm."
"Well, I suppose so…" I guess if it was a factor of reputation and intimidation, it would do the trick. But still, the sword I was looking at looked like it came out of some fantasy video game. And if I didn't have my strength, it would be completely impractical.
"But you should make two," I stated. "In fact, create two of the shield as well. I've discovered something about my power I'm going to need it for."
"As you wish. Does that mean the design is to your liking?"
I took a deep breath and went over the drawings again, double checking to make sure I didn't have any second thoughts.
"I'm not going to need the chain or the gun. In fact, I'd rather not have guns at all. Everything else though seems fine."
"Very good ma'am. I'll let Coil know and the main part of your costume should be completed by tonight. Once done, you'll be able to go out again. So be sure you know what it is you wish to do, Shadow Paladin."
Dr. Mercurious
Strangest Person You Know
- Location
- New England
You know, I can't help but like Phil. He's a quality minion, and those are hard to come by. I hope he doesn't get killed.
an interesting story so far
Truth man, good help is so hard to find/coerce into working for you.
Henching aint easy though.
Dr. Mercurious
Strangest Person You Know
- Location
- New England
Especially if your Genre Savvy is more developed than your boss'...
7: Going Forward
Stravickan Ovmahn
Lip-man of a hated god
- Location
- United States
The new costume was… heavy. Not nearly enough for me to really bothered by it, but definitely enough to tell. My whole torso was protected by thick black armour ending at my shoulders with a pair of pauldrons. My biceps were bare except for some thick cloth from the padded armour I wore underneath. My forearms and hands were protected with metal armour as well as my shins, which had armour that went up to my knee and fit inside the combat boots I was wearing. The cloak had managed to stay in the design, though lost its hood somewhere. The way it was now, it would rest over the left half of my body, obscuring my left arm and leg the way it draped across. That left my right arm free to grab and wield my sword at any moment, or rather, when the sword got finished being forged.
I had a thick leather belt that held near twenty throwing knives and a several bolas. But to be honest, if I was throwing any of those objects at full strength, they would probably shatter themselves and whatever they hit. But good to have a ranged attack, regardless.
That left my shield and my mask. The shield was strapped across my left arm and was oval in shape, giving me away to protect my face from bullets or otherwise. There was a button that would activate some mechanical devices inside, not Tinker tech but actually mechanics, and two-sided panels would pop out of the side to increase its coverage. But once I get the Brute Sword I doubted I would need it. The mask was simple with a slight hint of Japanese samurai mixed into it. The face was a stoic frowning expression and required my hair to be pulled into a ponytail that pointed rather far upwards.
All in all, I was rather impressed with how much Coil had been able to put together. It was all really well made and had to cost an awful lot. Not to mention the actual butler, who could make a good bacon and jelly sandwich when required. It seemed that whatever it was Coil had seen through his power when we met, it made him really want me on his side. And getting outfitted with gear like this was definitely a point in his favour. I doubted the Protectorate would have been able to make something half as good.
The ABB storehouse I was looking down on was busy going through what I assumed to be the point in the day, dusk, when they moved product. Product, in this case, being drugs, small arms, and various other materials they were moving in and out. That much I could tell just from a quick walk inside through the Shadow Dimension. But stopping the product of this location wasn't my main goal. I had something else in mind.
Coil had managed to get me my file from the PRT. The information they had on me was thankfully little. They had super strength, healing, and teleportation of some sort. The details would make or break what I was about to do next. And since fear was my primary tool, I was going to have to move fast.
I walked to the edge of the roof I was on and took a deep breath. I could feel my heart rate begin to pick up as I begun to fully realize what it was I was going to do. But I was committed, and these people were criminals.
I raised my right hand and created the energy band with it, summoning the construct into my palm. It was rather bright, but no one seemed like they were going to look up. I reinforced the shield and took aim. Then, I flicked my arm forward.
The band shot through the air like a bullet and attached a door handle of one of the doors on the side of the building. I jumped off the roof right as I willed the band to close the distance between myself and the door. About halfway there the door was ripped from its hinges, putting us both in free fall for a moment. I released the band's grip on the door and held out the shield between myself and the ground. The asphalt cracked underneath me as I impacted, but I hardly cared. If anything, it would be one more detail they would tell.
The ABB standing around were still reeling from my sudden entrance, giving me the moment I needed to readjust my course. I reoriented myself towards the building and charged shield first. I ran through the wall like it was made of tissue paper, yet the crates stacked on the other side of it though didn't seem as willing to shatter. They exploded outward, flying through the air and disrupting everyone's activities inside. People were running like mad, scrambling to either get out of the way or get a weapon. I ignored them. I wasn't here for them.
I shot the band across the room and grabbed a crate off a wall of many other crates, willing the cord tight and ripping back towards me. It flew accordingly and slammed into another crate. Glancing over it the mess, I slipped out a little match out from a pouch on my belt and struck it on the rough surface on the back my shield. I then tossed the little flaming stick on a pile of drugs and hoped it would catch before moving on.
I spied a catwalk around the corners of the warehouse and immediately jumped up towards them, launching myself across the room and slamming into it just ten feet away from some men that had been trying to cross it. Now completely bent out of shape and me hanging from the metal, I began ripping pieces off before falling back down to Earth. I spun on my heels and threw the ripped pieces of metal as hard as I could at crates and the sides of the walls.
I followed up by flicking the band out and latching onto a crate that had a large stack of other crates resting on top of it. They came falling down like a house of cards, more than one busting open and spilling their contents out on the floor.
Suddenly, bullets began sparking against the armour of my costume. I turned and saw three men had gotten the courage to attempt to fire at me with little handguns. I took a stance, raising my shield in front of me and charged towards them. They broke formation almost immediately, but I didn't give chase. Instead, I steamed ahead, ripping through yet another wall and putting me outside.
I shot my band upwards and hooked on to the nearest building, hauling myself through the air a second later at breakneck speeds. Literally, I felt a stab of pain following a crack in my lower neck as my head snapped back from the acceleration. But it healed before I even got on the roof fully.
Standing on the edge, I spun on my heel again and raised my energy band. Through a series of quick strokes, I began carving my name into the side of the warehouse from this distance. Shadow Paladin. Maybe Phil was right, the name was sort of growing on me.
More importantly, this wasn't going to be my first stop of the night. A had plans to do this against several warehouses and otherwise across the city. Appear out of nowhere, cause as much destruction as I could within a short amount of time, leaving only my name behind. And maybe, Shadow Stalker would get the message.
She, along with everyone else, would be looking for a new cape. I wasn't going to do something so stupid as to let the powers I revealed match what they know. That meant more energy construct fighting and no teleportation. They didn't need to be completely contrary, just different enough for them to wonder. But even then, she is going to see a new cape appear on the scene and question if it's me. And then maybe, she'll get the message when she sees the name. The message that this is what I am now, and if I saw here again this is what I would do.
Maybe I was expecting too much of her, or getting lost in my own ideas of spite against her. But there is no way she won't at least make some connection. Unfortunately, the meant the PRT might as well. But my civilian identity is already compromised. At this point, I'm just trying to muddy the waters. Maybe that'll pay off, but there are other locations I needed to hit tonight.
"Phil?" I said, pressing on the little ear bug through a gap in my mask. "Where is the next location?"
"Just five blocks to your North, Shadow Paladin," Phil answered immediately. "An ABB money laundering operation boarding on the edge of Empire territory. A brief reminder that you are entitled to whatever money you steal from them as Coil will clean it for you. And then it's on to the Empire locations before circling over to the Merchants."
"Sounds great," I answered with a nod before turning the direction I needed to go. I could feel the effects of that last fight beginning to seep into my muscles, waking them up and causing them to hum in my body. It was going to be a very destructive night.
I had a thick leather belt that held near twenty throwing knives and a several bolas. But to be honest, if I was throwing any of those objects at full strength, they would probably shatter themselves and whatever they hit. But good to have a ranged attack, regardless.
That left my shield and my mask. The shield was strapped across my left arm and was oval in shape, giving me away to protect my face from bullets or otherwise. There was a button that would activate some mechanical devices inside, not Tinker tech but actually mechanics, and two-sided panels would pop out of the side to increase its coverage. But once I get the Brute Sword I doubted I would need it. The mask was simple with a slight hint of Japanese samurai mixed into it. The face was a stoic frowning expression and required my hair to be pulled into a ponytail that pointed rather far upwards.
All in all, I was rather impressed with how much Coil had been able to put together. It was all really well made and had to cost an awful lot. Not to mention the actual butler, who could make a good bacon and jelly sandwich when required. It seemed that whatever it was Coil had seen through his power when we met, it made him really want me on his side. And getting outfitted with gear like this was definitely a point in his favour. I doubted the Protectorate would have been able to make something half as good.
The ABB storehouse I was looking down on was busy going through what I assumed to be the point in the day, dusk, when they moved product. Product, in this case, being drugs, small arms, and various other materials they were moving in and out. That much I could tell just from a quick walk inside through the Shadow Dimension. But stopping the product of this location wasn't my main goal. I had something else in mind.
Coil had managed to get me my file from the PRT. The information they had on me was thankfully little. They had super strength, healing, and teleportation of some sort. The details would make or break what I was about to do next. And since fear was my primary tool, I was going to have to move fast.
I walked to the edge of the roof I was on and took a deep breath. I could feel my heart rate begin to pick up as I begun to fully realize what it was I was going to do. But I was committed, and these people were criminals.
I raised my right hand and created the energy band with it, summoning the construct into my palm. It was rather bright, but no one seemed like they were going to look up. I reinforced the shield and took aim. Then, I flicked my arm forward.
The band shot through the air like a bullet and attached a door handle of one of the doors on the side of the building. I jumped off the roof right as I willed the band to close the distance between myself and the door. About halfway there the door was ripped from its hinges, putting us both in free fall for a moment. I released the band's grip on the door and held out the shield between myself and the ground. The asphalt cracked underneath me as I impacted, but I hardly cared. If anything, it would be one more detail they would tell.
The ABB standing around were still reeling from my sudden entrance, giving me the moment I needed to readjust my course. I reoriented myself towards the building and charged shield first. I ran through the wall like it was made of tissue paper, yet the crates stacked on the other side of it though didn't seem as willing to shatter. They exploded outward, flying through the air and disrupting everyone's activities inside. People were running like mad, scrambling to either get out of the way or get a weapon. I ignored them. I wasn't here for them.
I shot the band across the room and grabbed a crate off a wall of many other crates, willing the cord tight and ripping back towards me. It flew accordingly and slammed into another crate. Glancing over it the mess, I slipped out a little match out from a pouch on my belt and struck it on the rough surface on the back my shield. I then tossed the little flaming stick on a pile of drugs and hoped it would catch before moving on.
I spied a catwalk around the corners of the warehouse and immediately jumped up towards them, launching myself across the room and slamming into it just ten feet away from some men that had been trying to cross it. Now completely bent out of shape and me hanging from the metal, I began ripping pieces off before falling back down to Earth. I spun on my heels and threw the ripped pieces of metal as hard as I could at crates and the sides of the walls.
I followed up by flicking the band out and latching onto a crate that had a large stack of other crates resting on top of it. They came falling down like a house of cards, more than one busting open and spilling their contents out on the floor.
Suddenly, bullets began sparking against the armour of my costume. I turned and saw three men had gotten the courage to attempt to fire at me with little handguns. I took a stance, raising my shield in front of me and charged towards them. They broke formation almost immediately, but I didn't give chase. Instead, I steamed ahead, ripping through yet another wall and putting me outside.
I shot my band upwards and hooked on to the nearest building, hauling myself through the air a second later at breakneck speeds. Literally, I felt a stab of pain following a crack in my lower neck as my head snapped back from the acceleration. But it healed before I even got on the roof fully.
Standing on the edge, I spun on my heel again and raised my energy band. Through a series of quick strokes, I began carving my name into the side of the warehouse from this distance. Shadow Paladin. Maybe Phil was right, the name was sort of growing on me.
More importantly, this wasn't going to be my first stop of the night. A had plans to do this against several warehouses and otherwise across the city. Appear out of nowhere, cause as much destruction as I could within a short amount of time, leaving only my name behind. And maybe, Shadow Stalker would get the message.
She, along with everyone else, would be looking for a new cape. I wasn't going to do something so stupid as to let the powers I revealed match what they know. That meant more energy construct fighting and no teleportation. They didn't need to be completely contrary, just different enough for them to wonder. But even then, she is going to see a new cape appear on the scene and question if it's me. And then maybe, she'll get the message when she sees the name. The message that this is what I am now, and if I saw here again this is what I would do.
Maybe I was expecting too much of her, or getting lost in my own ideas of spite against her. But there is no way she won't at least make some connection. Unfortunately, the meant the PRT might as well. But my civilian identity is already compromised. At this point, I'm just trying to muddy the waters. Maybe that'll pay off, but there are other locations I needed to hit tonight.
"Phil?" I said, pressing on the little ear bug through a gap in my mask. "Where is the next location?"
"Just five blocks to your North, Shadow Paladin," Phil answered immediately. "An ABB money laundering operation boarding on the edge of Empire territory. A brief reminder that you are entitled to whatever money you steal from them as Coil will clean it for you. And then it's on to the Empire locations before circling over to the Merchants."
"Sounds great," I answered with a nod before turning the direction I needed to go. I could feel the effects of that last fight beginning to seep into my muscles, waking them up and causing them to hum in my body. It was going to be a very destructive night.
interesting story so far
8: Unexpected Encounter
Stravickan Ovmahn
Lip-man of a hated god
- Location
- United States
I managed to make front page news, so there was that. Last night managed to attack all but one of my targets. And the one I missed was only because the Protectorate was already there. It was a little early in my career to start getting into fights with Miss Militia.
"And here we are," Phil said, placing a plate of pancakes down in front of me for breakfast. I set the phone I had been using to look at the news of to the side and started digging in. My phone had been upgraded from a flip phone to a touch screen which I was still getting used to. I never had a chance to really figure them out back home as I was never able to have a cell phone.
"Are you aware of what it is you wish to do today miss?" Phil asked me. He was now standing at the sink, calmly loading the dishwasher with all the dishes I had created after returning here last night.
"I have a few ideas," I admitted. "I was thinking that I could take the time and train some of my more abstract power. Carefully, of course."
"Very well ma'am. But might I suggest you also take the time to further train your muscle strength? You only have so long before you run into trouble."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, running around and breaking all the supervillains toys is a novel idea, it very quickly becomes old hat if you don't escalate it from there. Right now, you are a problem to Lung and Kaiser, and they will make an attempt to stop you soon. But say that attempt fails and you go on your way. In just a few weeks you stop making headlines, you become less of a problem and more of an annoyance, and they work around you instead of stopping you. And then you're just a fact of life instead of an active danger." Phil punctuated that sentence by closing the dishwasher door. He wiped his hands off with a towel and then came to retrieve my breakfast dishes.
"So what you're saying is," I began, "is that if the super villains are going to make a move against me, these first few days or weeks is the time they're going to do it."
"Rightly so," Phil confirmed with a nod. "Forewarned is forearmed."
I considered that for a moment. My plan for tonight had been the same thing as last night. Run around the city, destroy as much super villain property as I could, then head home. But settling into a routine like that might make it easier to track me down or lure me into a trap. I would need to do something a little different each night to avoid that. Something that still built on my reputation.
Though, speaking of my reputation, there was still one thing we hadn't covered yet.
"What has the PRT thought about me?" I asked as I grabbed the cell phone again, hoping to get a look at their website.
"They're rather on the fence thus far," Phil answered wistfully. "And I'm sure it has more than a little to do with them suspecting this new cape might very well be the teenage girl they saw had triggered just a few days ago. Though, they can't prove that at all."
"So they won't call me a villain or hero just yet?"
"Just so, it seems like they're waiting for information to come out so they don't look foolish if it goes the other way."
"I suppose that makes sense," I conceded with a nod. "So how much longer can I do this before you think they'll decide on how to label me?"
"I suppose it all depends on how your next move is Miss Hebert. You made your move last night, the villains you've targeted will surely make their move soon, and once you respond to that the PRT will have to make their move. And it goes full circle."
"You seem to know a lot about how this works," I said curiously. Phil shrugged.
"I would like to think so. Now, is there anything else you require be I leave you for this morning?"
"Uh, yes. I'm going to need some variety when I go out tonight so I don't get tracked or otherwise. Do you have any ideas?"
"Well," Phil began thoughtfully. "Coil may have some jobs for you, if you were willing to do so. Or you might attempt hunting an actual villain tonight, though I would suggest holding off until your Brute Swords comes in tomorrow."
"Hmm," I said thoughtfully. "What kind of jobs would Coil be providing."
"Nothing too outlandish," Phil stated with a brief nod. "Break into a building and expose a company's ties the Empire. Or disrupt a prison transport holding someone clearly innocent of their crime. You might take down an independent by the name of Card Trick that came to the city near a month ago and started taking bribes from the ABB to look the other way. And a few various other jobs of that nature, if you are interested."
"I'll have to give them some thought," I stated as I rose from the table. I stretched backwards and let my arms pop. I was still kind of stiff from last night's activities. But nothing that wouldn't get hammered out with some good use of the weight machine.
"Of course, I'll will leave you to it then," Phil gave a small bow before turning and shuffling upstairs. I took a deep breath and looked at my weight machine and considered it. I had been up until well past midnight last night, and woke up pretty early today. Yet I didn't feel all that tired except maybe a touch physically. Another part of my power, maybe? No need for sleep? I'll have to test that out more carefully in the future, but not needing to sleep could be very useful in the future.
I took out the second shield that had come along with the first one. It was identical to the first, right down to the mechanical aspect of it. Thought, already its paint was faded and the edges were worn. A sign of my energy slowly breaking away at it.
I set it next to the bench press. As I slid underneath it and fixed my hands around the bar, I extended my energy over the shield and began pumping the weights. They needed a little bit of adjustment to give me a true challenge, but as soon as I got it going I was able to perfectly multitask. Dissolving my shield while I gave my muscles a much needed work out.
I got about thirty minutes through before becoming bored, but I had a solution to that. I found a pair of earbuds, popped them in, and focused on that. I hadn't had that opportunity before, as I had never been allowed a cell phone. But getting the chance to listen to music while working out made it tolerable and let me use the touch screen phone Coil provided.
Working for a supervillain isn't all that bad, I suppose.
***
I got through about three hours of straight weightlifting before I simply couldn't really take it anymore. Music was great and all, and getting to use my muscles felt incredible as well, but there was a limit. I tried watching television for a bit, but quickly got tired of that too. It was becoming very apparent that I was going to be very bored down here if I didn't find something to do. But without any books nearby, I was at a loss.
After a little bit of deliberation, I threw on a hoody and a long pair of jeans before tieing my hair up and starting up the stairs. The only way I was going to find something to do or read was by going out and getting something.
I debated about traveling through the Shadow Dimension but decided against it. The world was bleak, silent, and lacking in detail. On top of that, I can't move objects from that world. Meaning if someone throws a ball or something, it's going through me like I'm not even there. Well, to everyone else I am not even there, but regardless I didn't fancy walking through a lifeless world and possibly getting killed as well.
The workers in the coffee shop didn't even look at me as I emerged from their back room. They were probably told about me in some way, I could picture Coil setting it up like that.
Thankfully, the rest of the little shop was empty. There was a couple sitting in the furthest and darkest corner of the room, seemingly enjoying some time together. A middle-aged man in a suit doing some work on a laptop by the window. And finally a group of friends chatting by the door. Not very busy at all.
So why did I feel like something was off?
I did my best to ignore the feeling as I walked out, even when one of the kids from the group of friends by the door looked up at me. He had brown hair and a pale complexion, but past that there was nothing interesting about him. His friends, and equally unassuming pair, a boy with reddish hair and a younger girl with blonde hair didn't seem to notice me or the distraction of the first one. I picked up my pace and walked out faster.
Once a block away from the coffee house, I was able to breathe a little easier and focus a little harder on where I was going. I was on the Boardwalk, so if I was shopping there was anywhere I could go.
I didn't know the layout all that well of all the shops here, but I passed the time looking in the windows as the crowds of people walked past me. Most items were meant for the tourists coming by, but a few shops were more 'everyone' oriented. Curiously, I found a blade shop and walked inside. Everything in there was ornamental, made of stainless steel that probably wouldn't be great for fighting with. And since much of it was styled after animes and popular television shows, they designs were a little too flashy as well. But it got me thinking about how effectively a sword construct would be if it was made out of these lesser quality swords.
Regardless, I ended up not buy anything there. There were better ways to spend my money. But as I stepped out of the shop I was assaulted by many things happening at once.
The first thing was people shouting, the kind of shout everyone generally knew meant a cape battle was happening nearby. A little stunned by that, I looked around and saw Armsmaster standing on the roof of one building as Oni Lee appeared out of nowhere. I watched him pull out a grenade right before a crossbow bolt hit him in the shoulder. But Oni Lee turned to grey dust a second later.
Looking around, I saw Shadow Stalker on a different roof, reloading her crossbow. I felt a flare of anger hit me, but before I could act on it someone grabbed me by the arm. I looked around and saw the brown haired boy from the coffee shop.
He had followed me. I felt my muscles hum under my skin.
"Oh sh- sorry," he said with a wide-eyed expression before hastily letting go of my arm. "Look, um, Taylor right?"
I narrowed my eyes at him dangerously and he took a step back. Other people were too busy trying to clear the area to really notice us. I decided to say nothing.
"Alright, I, um- sorry, I didn't really think this through." He rubbed the back of his head nervously and glanced up at the cape battle currently happening. "Look, I wasn't expecting to run into you, or for those three to be getting into it this close by. And I know you could probably rip me in half if you wanted to, but I thought maybe you'd want to talk? Please?"
I stared at him. He looked uncomfortable and on edge. Every few seconds his eyes would dart up to the rooftops where Armsmaster and Shadow Stalker seemed to leading the fight further and further away.
There she was. The one person that was responsible for all of this, getting away. And this guy wanted to talk to me.
"No," I said firmly, maybe a bit angrily. I pushed him a little out of the way, careful to not use my strength too much. I didn't know what I was going to do, if anything, but this was a chance to actually get her. Between Armsmaster and Oni Lee, I might not find an actual chance to confront her. But better to be there in case there was.
I just needed to put together an impromptu costume out of what was in the area. I glanced back at the sword shop I had emerged from, where the brown hair kid was still standing. Maybe those swords wouldn't be completely useless.
"And here we are," Phil said, placing a plate of pancakes down in front of me for breakfast. I set the phone I had been using to look at the news of to the side and started digging in. My phone had been upgraded from a flip phone to a touch screen which I was still getting used to. I never had a chance to really figure them out back home as I was never able to have a cell phone.
"Are you aware of what it is you wish to do today miss?" Phil asked me. He was now standing at the sink, calmly loading the dishwasher with all the dishes I had created after returning here last night.
"I have a few ideas," I admitted. "I was thinking that I could take the time and train some of my more abstract power. Carefully, of course."
"Very well ma'am. But might I suggest you also take the time to further train your muscle strength? You only have so long before you run into trouble."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, running around and breaking all the supervillains toys is a novel idea, it very quickly becomes old hat if you don't escalate it from there. Right now, you are a problem to Lung and Kaiser, and they will make an attempt to stop you soon. But say that attempt fails and you go on your way. In just a few weeks you stop making headlines, you become less of a problem and more of an annoyance, and they work around you instead of stopping you. And then you're just a fact of life instead of an active danger." Phil punctuated that sentence by closing the dishwasher door. He wiped his hands off with a towel and then came to retrieve my breakfast dishes.
"So what you're saying is," I began, "is that if the super villains are going to make a move against me, these first few days or weeks is the time they're going to do it."
"Rightly so," Phil confirmed with a nod. "Forewarned is forearmed."
I considered that for a moment. My plan for tonight had been the same thing as last night. Run around the city, destroy as much super villain property as I could, then head home. But settling into a routine like that might make it easier to track me down or lure me into a trap. I would need to do something a little different each night to avoid that. Something that still built on my reputation.
Though, speaking of my reputation, there was still one thing we hadn't covered yet.
"What has the PRT thought about me?" I asked as I grabbed the cell phone again, hoping to get a look at their website.
"They're rather on the fence thus far," Phil answered wistfully. "And I'm sure it has more than a little to do with them suspecting this new cape might very well be the teenage girl they saw had triggered just a few days ago. Though, they can't prove that at all."
"So they won't call me a villain or hero just yet?"
"Just so, it seems like they're waiting for information to come out so they don't look foolish if it goes the other way."
"I suppose that makes sense," I conceded with a nod. "So how much longer can I do this before you think they'll decide on how to label me?"
"I suppose it all depends on how your next move is Miss Hebert. You made your move last night, the villains you've targeted will surely make their move soon, and once you respond to that the PRT will have to make their move. And it goes full circle."
"You seem to know a lot about how this works," I said curiously. Phil shrugged.
"I would like to think so. Now, is there anything else you require be I leave you for this morning?"
"Uh, yes. I'm going to need some variety when I go out tonight so I don't get tracked or otherwise. Do you have any ideas?"
"Well," Phil began thoughtfully. "Coil may have some jobs for you, if you were willing to do so. Or you might attempt hunting an actual villain tonight, though I would suggest holding off until your Brute Swords comes in tomorrow."
"Hmm," I said thoughtfully. "What kind of jobs would Coil be providing."
"Nothing too outlandish," Phil stated with a brief nod. "Break into a building and expose a company's ties the Empire. Or disrupt a prison transport holding someone clearly innocent of their crime. You might take down an independent by the name of Card Trick that came to the city near a month ago and started taking bribes from the ABB to look the other way. And a few various other jobs of that nature, if you are interested."
"I'll have to give them some thought," I stated as I rose from the table. I stretched backwards and let my arms pop. I was still kind of stiff from last night's activities. But nothing that wouldn't get hammered out with some good use of the weight machine.
"Of course, I'll will leave you to it then," Phil gave a small bow before turning and shuffling upstairs. I took a deep breath and looked at my weight machine and considered it. I had been up until well past midnight last night, and woke up pretty early today. Yet I didn't feel all that tired except maybe a touch physically. Another part of my power, maybe? No need for sleep? I'll have to test that out more carefully in the future, but not needing to sleep could be very useful in the future.
I took out the second shield that had come along with the first one. It was identical to the first, right down to the mechanical aspect of it. Thought, already its paint was faded and the edges were worn. A sign of my energy slowly breaking away at it.
I set it next to the bench press. As I slid underneath it and fixed my hands around the bar, I extended my energy over the shield and began pumping the weights. They needed a little bit of adjustment to give me a true challenge, but as soon as I got it going I was able to perfectly multitask. Dissolving my shield while I gave my muscles a much needed work out.
I got about thirty minutes through before becoming bored, but I had a solution to that. I found a pair of earbuds, popped them in, and focused on that. I hadn't had that opportunity before, as I had never been allowed a cell phone. But getting the chance to listen to music while working out made it tolerable and let me use the touch screen phone Coil provided.
Working for a supervillain isn't all that bad, I suppose.
***
I got through about three hours of straight weightlifting before I simply couldn't really take it anymore. Music was great and all, and getting to use my muscles felt incredible as well, but there was a limit. I tried watching television for a bit, but quickly got tired of that too. It was becoming very apparent that I was going to be very bored down here if I didn't find something to do. But without any books nearby, I was at a loss.
After a little bit of deliberation, I threw on a hoody and a long pair of jeans before tieing my hair up and starting up the stairs. The only way I was going to find something to do or read was by going out and getting something.
I debated about traveling through the Shadow Dimension but decided against it. The world was bleak, silent, and lacking in detail. On top of that, I can't move objects from that world. Meaning if someone throws a ball or something, it's going through me like I'm not even there. Well, to everyone else I am not even there, but regardless I didn't fancy walking through a lifeless world and possibly getting killed as well.
The workers in the coffee shop didn't even look at me as I emerged from their back room. They were probably told about me in some way, I could picture Coil setting it up like that.
Thankfully, the rest of the little shop was empty. There was a couple sitting in the furthest and darkest corner of the room, seemingly enjoying some time together. A middle-aged man in a suit doing some work on a laptop by the window. And finally a group of friends chatting by the door. Not very busy at all.
So why did I feel like something was off?
I did my best to ignore the feeling as I walked out, even when one of the kids from the group of friends by the door looked up at me. He had brown hair and a pale complexion, but past that there was nothing interesting about him. His friends, and equally unassuming pair, a boy with reddish hair and a younger girl with blonde hair didn't seem to notice me or the distraction of the first one. I picked up my pace and walked out faster.
Once a block away from the coffee house, I was able to breathe a little easier and focus a little harder on where I was going. I was on the Boardwalk, so if I was shopping there was anywhere I could go.
I didn't know the layout all that well of all the shops here, but I passed the time looking in the windows as the crowds of people walked past me. Most items were meant for the tourists coming by, but a few shops were more 'everyone' oriented. Curiously, I found a blade shop and walked inside. Everything in there was ornamental, made of stainless steel that probably wouldn't be great for fighting with. And since much of it was styled after animes and popular television shows, they designs were a little too flashy as well. But it got me thinking about how effectively a sword construct would be if it was made out of these lesser quality swords.
Regardless, I ended up not buy anything there. There were better ways to spend my money. But as I stepped out of the shop I was assaulted by many things happening at once.
The first thing was people shouting, the kind of shout everyone generally knew meant a cape battle was happening nearby. A little stunned by that, I looked around and saw Armsmaster standing on the roof of one building as Oni Lee appeared out of nowhere. I watched him pull out a grenade right before a crossbow bolt hit him in the shoulder. But Oni Lee turned to grey dust a second later.
Looking around, I saw Shadow Stalker on a different roof, reloading her crossbow. I felt a flare of anger hit me, but before I could act on it someone grabbed me by the arm. I looked around and saw the brown haired boy from the coffee shop.
He had followed me. I felt my muscles hum under my skin.
"Oh sh- sorry," he said with a wide-eyed expression before hastily letting go of my arm. "Look, um, Taylor right?"
I narrowed my eyes at him dangerously and he took a step back. Other people were too busy trying to clear the area to really notice us. I decided to say nothing.
"Alright, I, um- sorry, I didn't really think this through." He rubbed the back of his head nervously and glanced up at the cape battle currently happening. "Look, I wasn't expecting to run into you, or for those three to be getting into it this close by. And I know you could probably rip me in half if you wanted to, but I thought maybe you'd want to talk? Please?"
I stared at him. He looked uncomfortable and on edge. Every few seconds his eyes would dart up to the rooftops where Armsmaster and Shadow Stalker seemed to leading the fight further and further away.
There she was. The one person that was responsible for all of this, getting away. And this guy wanted to talk to me.
"No," I said firmly, maybe a bit angrily. I pushed him a little out of the way, careful to not use my strength too much. I didn't know what I was going to do, if anything, but this was a chance to actually get her. Between Armsmaster and Oni Lee, I might not find an actual chance to confront her. But better to be there in case there was.
I just needed to put together an impromptu costume out of what was in the area. I glanced back at the sword shop I had emerged from, where the brown hair kid was still standing. Maybe those swords wouldn't be completely useless.
Dr. Mercurious
Strangest Person You Know
- Location
- New England
..and once again, Gallant proves why he graduated from the Deanna Troi School of Empathy with the highest of marks.
NOTE: For those not familiar with Star Trek The Next Generation, one of the regular characters was Deanna Troi, an Empath with ridiculous amounts of range whose empathy powers never really helped, and in fact screwed her over on at least two occasions. Gallant continues this trend, as his empathic senses also never actually help anyone. His Shard clearly has the bit in its teeth over that one, bringing more evidence that Gallant is NOT a Cauldron Cape despite WoG to the contrary.
NOTE: For those not familiar with Star Trek The Next Generation, one of the regular characters was Deanna Troi, an Empath with ridiculous amounts of range whose empathy powers never really helped, and in fact screwed her over on at least two occasions. Gallant continues this trend, as his empathic senses also never actually help anyone. His Shard clearly has the bit in its teeth over that one, bringing more evidence that Gallant is NOT a Cauldron Cape despite WoG to the contrary.
9: A Wards Interlude
Stravickan Ovmahn
Lip-man of a hated god
- Location
- United States
"What do you think this is about?" Vista asked them as she came into the room. The other Wards were already here, standing around or sitting on the couches. Shadow Stalker was standing off in the corner while Kid Win had his hoverboard on the coffee table so he could make some adjustments.
"Probably something to do with that new cape from last night," Gallant said with a nod. "What was the name? Black Paladin?"
"Shadow Paladin," Shadow Stalker stated sourly. Kid Win and Clockblocker looked at each other.
"Upset someone else is using your edgy theme?" Clockblocker asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. "So I take it you don't like your new Shadow Pal?"
"Enough of that," Director Piggot stated as she came into the room, Miss Militia and Armsmaster behind her. The Wards immediately fell silent and looked up at her, everyone but Kid Win who took a moment to make sure something wasn't going to fall apart before doing so.
"As you all seem to be talking about it, you have a general idea of why you're here." Piggot held up a tablet and scroll past on the screen until she found the right photo. She turned the tablet around and showed them the side of a partially burnt warehouse with the name 'Shadow Paladin' carved into the side of it.
"Now, normally a new cape appearing isn't this noteworthy, nor is an independent fond of excessive violence anything particularly special." Kid Win could have mistaken it, but it seemed her gaze lingered on Shadow Stalker as she said it.
"However," she continued. "There are a few concerns surrounding this one." She started swiping through the tablet again until she found a short clip which she showed the group of them. "As you can see here, a young girl by the name Taylor Hebert had gotten into a confrontation with Shadow Stalker. And while Miss Hebert seems to make a claim of Shadow Stalker, the only thing our investigation turned up was that Shadow Stalker had antagonized Miss Hebert in the past. But in light of the fact Shadow Stalker appear to not only illegally possessed a crossbow in her civilian identity, but also felt the need to load it with the same lethal bolts that got her in our program in the first place, you, Shadow Stalker, will be taking remedial lessons to learn not only proper behaviour but also proper procedure." Piggot's lips curled up into a smirk. "In addition to doing monitor duty for the rest of the month, Armsmaster will be accompanying you on every single outing and teaching you how a Ward is supposed to handle themselves."
Shadow Stalker shot a venomous glare at Armsmaster who conveyed nothing but a frown. Kid Win found it slightly amusing, and judging from Clockblocker's snickering, he wasn't alone.
"The reason I bring this up," Piggot continued a moment later, while looking back down at her tablet, "is that it is possible this 'Shadow Paladin' is actually Taylor Hebert. And the Shadow term might very well be her attempting to get a message to Shadow Stalker. We don't know this for sure, as there are a few inconsistencies."
"Like what," Aegis asked curiously after having spent most of the conversation silent.
"For one, this new cape appears rather well equipped. It would be hard to believe that Miss Hebert was able to get this professionally made costume after just a few days of getting her power ad being on the streets.
"Secondly, there is this." Piggot turned the tablet around again and showed a video taken from a camera phone. It was one of the new cape, dress wholly in black, getting shot at and seemingly not to care. "From the confrontation between Shadow Stalker and the girl we know that while she can heal she didn't show any durability."
"And lastly, there is this." Piggot swiped to the side and brought up another video also taken from a phone showing the cape using a green energy band to latch onto a tall building and speed away on the band. "Taylor Hebert didn't show this power at any point and also appeared to be able to teleport, eliminating the need. It is also possible this might be a Tinker device of some sort."
"That seems like enough evidence to say these are two completely different people," Aegis pointed out. "Alone, we might have to question it, but with all that together is there really any chance these two are actually the same person?"
"Probably not," Piggot admitted. "If it wasn't for an interesting account from Glory Girl of New Wave. She claims to have run into a cape new on the scene with a thrown together costume that helped her apprehend Rune the other day. And while she seemed to be too busy dealing with Rune to really watch the other cape, she did report a green light flashing every now and then. So the possibility remains." Piggot glanced between the lot of them.
"There is a very important reason for all of this. One, if Shadow Paladin is Taylor Hebert as the name suggests, then she is very likely to attack Shadow Stalker the first chance she gets. So whenever your fellow Ward goes out at night, one of you will also accompany her and Armsmaster. Two, if they are, in fact, different people then Taylor Hebert is very likely to be living on the streets or otherwise and you are all to keep an eye out for her." Piggot adjusted the screen and showed them a clear picture of Taylor's face.
"Finally, because Shadow Stalker will be taking double shifts as punishment, two of you, Clockblocker and Kid Win, as well as the two of you out right now anyway, Vista and Gallant, will be off the rest of the day. With adjusted hours the rest of the week at Shadow Stalker's expense."
"Sweet!" Clockblocker shouted immediately, earning him a glare from both the director and Shadow Stalker. Piggot shook her head and turned to walk out of the room while Shadow Stalker shuffled off behind Armsmaster.
On their way out, Dennis raised his hand and high fived Chris at their luck. Missy and Dean followed just behind them as they walked out the building.
"Hey," Missy began as soon as they were all on the street. "Any of you find it weird that Sophia got off as easy as she did after breaking probation?"
"It was a little odd," Chris acknowledged.
"Well, it's not the only thing," Dean stated with a nod. "I've heard some strange things going on recently all over the place."
"Like what?" Dennis asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I heard that for the first time in years Brockton Bay is getting some real out of town help from the other branches of the Protectorate."
"About time too," Dennis said nonchalantly. "City's been getting kick left and right for a while. Maybe now w- the heroes," he stressed that last word perhaps a bit harder than he should have, "will finally get something done."
"They get things done," Missy protested.
"Like what," Dennis countered immediately.
"They act as a deterrent," Dean said, stepping between them. "Even if they aren't as effective as people would like them to be sometimes, the simple fact they are there and exist keeps villains from doing what they want whenever they what to."
"Eh, I guess," Dennis conceded with a shrug. "Anyway, you three want to head somewhere? There is this place on the Boardwalk that just started selling bacon and jelly sandwiches and you've got to try them."
"That's sounds disgusting," Missy stated, her face scrunching up judgmentally.
"Sorry," Dean said, "But as soon as Victoria heard that I-"
"Yeah, yeah," Dennis said with a dismissive wave. "Your relationship ruins everyone's fun, we get it."
Dean paused then rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. Dennis smiled and looked back at Chris.
"What about you, you in?"
"Uh, sure," he answered with a shrug. "I've got nothing else planned."
"Great," Dennis said, with a widening grin. "You're going to love these sandwiches."
***
"Okay," Dennis admitted. "So the sandwiches were a bust. How was I supposed to know they would only serve them for breakfast?" Missy rolled her eyes at him before taking a bite of the muffin she got.
"You could have looked it up," Chris pointed out.
"Nah, it's fine." Dennis said. "Besides, they still got great muffins. That's good enough right?"
"Riiiiiiight," Missy drawled sarcastically. Chis gave a soft laugh at that and went to take a sip from his coffee when something caught his eye. Or someone, rather. A face, partially hidden by a hoodie, walking towards the front door of the place. It took him a moment to place it, but when he did his eye widened.
He was just about to move when she looked at him and he frozen in his seat. She held his gaze for a moment before passing by them and leaving. There was something about her look that threw him off. Something strange about it that he could shake the feeling of oddness of. It took Chris a moment to shake himself out of his shock, but as soon as he did he stood up.
"Uh, guys, I'll be right back. I have to go do something."
"Alright man," Dennis said, appearing to direct more attention to the video he was getting ready to show Vista.
Chris got out of the booth and walked out the front door, immediately spotting Taylor's hoodie walking the other way. As calmly as he could, he followed her thinking about how he would approach this.
The long the walk took the more he began to realize how stupid of an idea this was and began to mentally kick himself for it. Maybe it was just because he knew how mean Shadow Stalker could be that he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe if she had a chance to tell her side of what happened she would be more likely to come in and get it all cleared up.
"Man, this was a dumb decision," he muttered to himself as he turned down one street she had disappeared on. Yet, as much as he knew it was probably not going to work, he had already committed to the idea.
He saw her go into one of the shops further along down the street and started making his way there, not very eager to actually follow her there. He walked along the sidewalk slowly when suddenly he heard an explosion.
Instinctively, he went for his belt where he would have kept a few gadgets had he been in costume. Instead, finding nothing, he tried to see what was going on while people ran past him. But for the moment he couldn't see anything.
Then Taylor came out of the shop right when Armsmaster and Shadow Stalker came into view. He saw her visibly tense and her eyes narrow at the sight of them and instantly realized what she was probably going to do.
And already on a roll of stupid decisions, he decided to reach out and grab her by the arm.
He instantly regretted it the moment she snapped her head around and stared daggers at him.
"Oh sh- sorry," he said hastily, dropping her arm as fast as he could. He swallowed once and tried to speak. "Look, um, Taylor right?" He eyes narrowed at him and he quickly began to realize he was getting nowhere.
"Alright, I, um- sorry, I didn't really think this through." He rubbed the back of his head nervously and glanced up at the cape battle currently happening.
'Why did this have to happen here?' he asked. 'You two couldn't have been literally anywhere else?' He took a breath and decided to keep going. At this point, it wasn't like he could fail that badly.
"Look, I wasn't expecting to run into you, or for those three to be getting into it this close by. And I know you could probably rip me in half if you wanted to, but I thought maybe you'd want to talk? Please?" In his mind he was crossing his fingers for more talking, less getting ripped in half.
When she placed a hand on his chest, he panicked for a moment until he realized she was only pushing him out of the way.
"No," she stated and walked past him. He let out a sigh of relief and watched her walk off. It might not have worked at all like he had initially hoped, but at least she didn't attack him. Point in her favour, he guessed.
Then she paused and looked back at him and the store contemplatively and suddenly Chris got a bad feeling.
"Probably something to do with that new cape from last night," Gallant said with a nod. "What was the name? Black Paladin?"
"Shadow Paladin," Shadow Stalker stated sourly. Kid Win and Clockblocker looked at each other.
"Upset someone else is using your edgy theme?" Clockblocker asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. "So I take it you don't like your new Shadow Pal?"
"Enough of that," Director Piggot stated as she came into the room, Miss Militia and Armsmaster behind her. The Wards immediately fell silent and looked up at her, everyone but Kid Win who took a moment to make sure something wasn't going to fall apart before doing so.
"As you all seem to be talking about it, you have a general idea of why you're here." Piggot held up a tablet and scroll past on the screen until she found the right photo. She turned the tablet around and showed them the side of a partially burnt warehouse with the name 'Shadow Paladin' carved into the side of it.
"Now, normally a new cape appearing isn't this noteworthy, nor is an independent fond of excessive violence anything particularly special." Kid Win could have mistaken it, but it seemed her gaze lingered on Shadow Stalker as she said it.
"However," she continued. "There are a few concerns surrounding this one." She started swiping through the tablet again until she found a short clip which she showed the group of them. "As you can see here, a young girl by the name Taylor Hebert had gotten into a confrontation with Shadow Stalker. And while Miss Hebert seems to make a claim of Shadow Stalker, the only thing our investigation turned up was that Shadow Stalker had antagonized Miss Hebert in the past. But in light of the fact Shadow Stalker appear to not only illegally possessed a crossbow in her civilian identity, but also felt the need to load it with the same lethal bolts that got her in our program in the first place, you, Shadow Stalker, will be taking remedial lessons to learn not only proper behaviour but also proper procedure." Piggot's lips curled up into a smirk. "In addition to doing monitor duty for the rest of the month, Armsmaster will be accompanying you on every single outing and teaching you how a Ward is supposed to handle themselves."
Shadow Stalker shot a venomous glare at Armsmaster who conveyed nothing but a frown. Kid Win found it slightly amusing, and judging from Clockblocker's snickering, he wasn't alone.
"The reason I bring this up," Piggot continued a moment later, while looking back down at her tablet, "is that it is possible this 'Shadow Paladin' is actually Taylor Hebert. And the Shadow term might very well be her attempting to get a message to Shadow Stalker. We don't know this for sure, as there are a few inconsistencies."
"Like what," Aegis asked curiously after having spent most of the conversation silent.
"For one, this new cape appears rather well equipped. It would be hard to believe that Miss Hebert was able to get this professionally made costume after just a few days of getting her power ad being on the streets.
"Secondly, there is this." Piggot turned the tablet around again and showed a video taken from a camera phone. It was one of the new cape, dress wholly in black, getting shot at and seemingly not to care. "From the confrontation between Shadow Stalker and the girl we know that while she can heal she didn't show any durability."
"And lastly, there is this." Piggot swiped to the side and brought up another video also taken from a phone showing the cape using a green energy band to latch onto a tall building and speed away on the band. "Taylor Hebert didn't show this power at any point and also appeared to be able to teleport, eliminating the need. It is also possible this might be a Tinker device of some sort."
"That seems like enough evidence to say these are two completely different people," Aegis pointed out. "Alone, we might have to question it, but with all that together is there really any chance these two are actually the same person?"
"Probably not," Piggot admitted. "If it wasn't for an interesting account from Glory Girl of New Wave. She claims to have run into a cape new on the scene with a thrown together costume that helped her apprehend Rune the other day. And while she seemed to be too busy dealing with Rune to really watch the other cape, she did report a green light flashing every now and then. So the possibility remains." Piggot glanced between the lot of them.
"There is a very important reason for all of this. One, if Shadow Paladin is Taylor Hebert as the name suggests, then she is very likely to attack Shadow Stalker the first chance she gets. So whenever your fellow Ward goes out at night, one of you will also accompany her and Armsmaster. Two, if they are, in fact, different people then Taylor Hebert is very likely to be living on the streets or otherwise and you are all to keep an eye out for her." Piggot adjusted the screen and showed them a clear picture of Taylor's face.
"Finally, because Shadow Stalker will be taking double shifts as punishment, two of you, Clockblocker and Kid Win, as well as the two of you out right now anyway, Vista and Gallant, will be off the rest of the day. With adjusted hours the rest of the week at Shadow Stalker's expense."
"Sweet!" Clockblocker shouted immediately, earning him a glare from both the director and Shadow Stalker. Piggot shook her head and turned to walk out of the room while Shadow Stalker shuffled off behind Armsmaster.
On their way out, Dennis raised his hand and high fived Chris at their luck. Missy and Dean followed just behind them as they walked out the building.
"Hey," Missy began as soon as they were all on the street. "Any of you find it weird that Sophia got off as easy as she did after breaking probation?"
"It was a little odd," Chris acknowledged.
"Well, it's not the only thing," Dean stated with a nod. "I've heard some strange things going on recently all over the place."
"Like what?" Dennis asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I heard that for the first time in years Brockton Bay is getting some real out of town help from the other branches of the Protectorate."
"About time too," Dennis said nonchalantly. "City's been getting kick left and right for a while. Maybe now w- the heroes," he stressed that last word perhaps a bit harder than he should have, "will finally get something done."
"They get things done," Missy protested.
"Like what," Dennis countered immediately.
"They act as a deterrent," Dean said, stepping between them. "Even if they aren't as effective as people would like them to be sometimes, the simple fact they are there and exist keeps villains from doing what they want whenever they what to."
"Eh, I guess," Dennis conceded with a shrug. "Anyway, you three want to head somewhere? There is this place on the Boardwalk that just started selling bacon and jelly sandwiches and you've got to try them."
"That's sounds disgusting," Missy stated, her face scrunching up judgmentally.
"Sorry," Dean said, "But as soon as Victoria heard that I-"
"Yeah, yeah," Dennis said with a dismissive wave. "Your relationship ruins everyone's fun, we get it."
Dean paused then rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. Dennis smiled and looked back at Chris.
"What about you, you in?"
"Uh, sure," he answered with a shrug. "I've got nothing else planned."
"Great," Dennis said, with a widening grin. "You're going to love these sandwiches."
***
"Okay," Dennis admitted. "So the sandwiches were a bust. How was I supposed to know they would only serve them for breakfast?" Missy rolled her eyes at him before taking a bite of the muffin she got.
"You could have looked it up," Chris pointed out.
"Nah, it's fine." Dennis said. "Besides, they still got great muffins. That's good enough right?"
"Riiiiiiight," Missy drawled sarcastically. Chis gave a soft laugh at that and went to take a sip from his coffee when something caught his eye. Or someone, rather. A face, partially hidden by a hoodie, walking towards the front door of the place. It took him a moment to place it, but when he did his eye widened.
He was just about to move when she looked at him and he frozen in his seat. She held his gaze for a moment before passing by them and leaving. There was something about her look that threw him off. Something strange about it that he could shake the feeling of oddness of. It took Chris a moment to shake himself out of his shock, but as soon as he did he stood up.
"Uh, guys, I'll be right back. I have to go do something."
"Alright man," Dennis said, appearing to direct more attention to the video he was getting ready to show Vista.
Chris got out of the booth and walked out the front door, immediately spotting Taylor's hoodie walking the other way. As calmly as he could, he followed her thinking about how he would approach this.
The long the walk took the more he began to realize how stupid of an idea this was and began to mentally kick himself for it. Maybe it was just because he knew how mean Shadow Stalker could be that he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe if she had a chance to tell her side of what happened she would be more likely to come in and get it all cleared up.
"Man, this was a dumb decision," he muttered to himself as he turned down one street she had disappeared on. Yet, as much as he knew it was probably not going to work, he had already committed to the idea.
He saw her go into one of the shops further along down the street and started making his way there, not very eager to actually follow her there. He walked along the sidewalk slowly when suddenly he heard an explosion.
Instinctively, he went for his belt where he would have kept a few gadgets had he been in costume. Instead, finding nothing, he tried to see what was going on while people ran past him. But for the moment he couldn't see anything.
Then Taylor came out of the shop right when Armsmaster and Shadow Stalker came into view. He saw her visibly tense and her eyes narrow at the sight of them and instantly realized what she was probably going to do.
And already on a roll of stupid decisions, he decided to reach out and grab her by the arm.
He instantly regretted it the moment she snapped her head around and stared daggers at him.
"Oh sh- sorry," he said hastily, dropping her arm as fast as he could. He swallowed once and tried to speak. "Look, um, Taylor right?" He eyes narrowed at him and he quickly began to realize he was getting nowhere.
"Alright, I, um- sorry, I didn't really think this through." He rubbed the back of his head nervously and glanced up at the cape battle currently happening.
'Why did this have to happen here?' he asked. 'You two couldn't have been literally anywhere else?' He took a breath and decided to keep going. At this point, it wasn't like he could fail that badly.
"Look, I wasn't expecting to run into you, or for those three to be getting into it this close by. And I know you could probably rip me in half if you wanted to, but I thought maybe you'd want to talk? Please?" In his mind he was crossing his fingers for more talking, less getting ripped in half.
When she placed a hand on his chest, he panicked for a moment until he realized she was only pushing him out of the way.
"No," she stated and walked past him. He let out a sigh of relief and watched her walk off. It might not have worked at all like he had initially hoped, but at least she didn't attack him. Point in her favour, he guessed.
Then she paused and looked back at him and the store contemplatively and suddenly Chris got a bad feeling.
10: Fire Giant
Stravickan Ovmahn
Lip-man of a hated god
- Location
- United States
I had to be careful and really consider how I was going to move forward. I had stolen a black bandana from one store and tied it around the lower half of my face. Next, I threw on a plain sweater that should at least hide my normal wear from view so I could hopefully escape later. I considered my hair for a moment, then decide to let it hang loose but wrapped in another bandana. It wasn't the best disguise, but it would have to do.
Moving carefully through the Shadow Dimension, I had re-entered the sword shop and grabbed a large, curved knife. It wasn't perfect, but I could almost get the projection of the kitchen knife to overlap it. The reinforcement making ready for me to use. After making sure that it would work like that, I slipped it back into its sheath and hooked it onto my belt.
I turned and walked right out of the store and out on the street which by now most people had abandoned. Even the weird boy from before was gone, though I no idea where. But that gave me the easy advantage of not having to worry about people getting in my way or throwing things while I traveled. I walked over to the shadow of a nearby building and disappeared through it.
Finding the fighting wasn't that hard, Oni Lee's explosions were going off regularity. Which did let me learn that fire didn't seem to be something that translated into the Shadow Dimension. Of course, getting close enough to really look at it was something I was unwilling to do. Instead, I stayed at least a building or two away and kept a close eye on the arrows flying through the air as they appeared from where I could guess Shadow Stalker was likely standing.
I watched for a bit, working to coming to a decision on what to do. I didn't want to get caught in between Oni Lee and the heroes. And I definitely didn't want to fight both her and Armsmaster. That likely wouldn't end well for me. I had to wait for her to break off from the others.
It was at that moment, an explosion much larger than what Oni Lee had been producing went off far too close to me. In something of a small panic, I attempted to dart backward as small bits of rock and rubble pierced completely through me. I hissed in pain as a small what larger chunk of rubble ripped through my shoulder.
I darted away and jumped to another building, gripping my shoulder. As soon as I thought I clear, I did a quick look over of the injury. What I saw surprised me. I wasn't healing, but I wasn't bleeding either. I could see my blood and the inside of the injury, but the blood wouldn't flow and my body wouldn't heal. It simply stayed, as if in a stasis.
I shook my head, the Shadow Dimension only ever seemed to get more strange the more I used it. But either way, staying here wasn't going to be much of an option anymore. Particularly as it seemed like there was a series of smaller explosions trailing around the area. I had no idea what was going on out there and it could very well kill me if I stayed here. Which only left one option that still gave me a chance of getting a stab at revenge.
Joining the fight.
As I ran off the roof and jumped into an alley, I tried to remember what powers they would already know about that don't also overlap with the Shadow Paladin. I couldn't use my energy in any obvious manner because of green band Paladin used to travel. Protecting myself or reinforcing my weapons didn't cast a light if I didn't want them to, but they had already seen me get injured. So perhaps it would be better if I let myself get hurt just to reinforce that. I could also use Shadow Dimension, though I doubted there would be a safe moment to. After that, I basically only had physical force to go on. It would have to be enough.
Coming out of the Shadow Dimension, I instantly realize what had happened. Two more capes had joined the fight. Specifically, some independent and Lung himself.
I instantly had to dodge a blast of fire going in, ducking back into the alleyway. Jumping onto the roof right after that, I quickly got a lay of the land. Armsmaster and Shadow Stalker were heading one direction while Lung was stomping his way to where the water met the wooden boardwalk part of the Boardwalk.
I was caught between going after the first two and helping the independent when Lung looked around and locked eyes with me. Like something possessed him, the moment he looked at me he grew upwards several inches and his hands start to become more claw-like.
So that was it was going to be?
I was saved from having the first move as the independent chose to attack at that exact moment. He had a weird portal based attack, with light pink circles appearing around Lung's face where paper thin projectiles shot out of, surrounded by purple fire. They promptly exploded against Lung's face, snapping his head back a moment. I took the distraction as an opportunity.
I jumped through the air, arcing wide over the building still sitting in between us and coming down close to where he was standing. I missed just a little, falling just a little to his left as he recovered from the attack on his face. Not willing to miss a chance to injure him, I lashed out and stabbed the knife I had gotten into his arm. It sank about half way and immediately stopped my descent. Unfortunately, that left Lung having a moment to retaliate.
He snapped his arm outward, flicking me off like a bug that had bitten him. Spinning through the air inelegantly, I hit and rolled across the ground. I brought up my energy to protect me almost immediately. I felt my muscles hum intensely under my skin and a burn in my arms, but strangely, my heart remained beating steadily.
Getting to my feet as fast as I could, I noticed I had landed just a dozen feet away from the independent. His costume wasn't all that impressive compared to other independents I've seen. For the most part, it was a tatter brown trench coat and a brown fedora sitting on top of a white mask. The mask had a simple smiley face on it, with a red diamond under the right eye and a black club over the left.
The independent wave his hand in front of him, opening his portals which a dozen playing cards floated out of and hovered in the air with purple flame surrounding them. He waved his hand again and they flew around Lung, encircling him before dive bombing one at a time in with small explosions.
As interesting as he was, I didn't feel like standing still for too long and didn't really want to give Lung much of a chance to grow larger than he was now. I changed the hand my knife was in and darted forward, running a little to the right so I wasn't directly in front of him.
Unfortunately, he half shouted, half roared and released a wave of fire off him before running forward. I threw up my protection a moment before the flames hit me and kicked off the ground with enough force to crack the concrete behind me, my knife leading the way.
I slammed into his shoulder with enough force to knock him unbalanced for a moment, my knife burying into him between two growing scales.
"Damn..ou..mutherfucker!" I hear him shout before he reach a clawed hand up around to either grab or crush me. I grit my teeth and acted instinctively, violently backhanding the much bigger hand hard enough I felt one of my bones snap. But it was enough, throwing his arm back and shocking Lung a moment before another bout of play card soared in and struck him in the face.
I took the moment to pull my knife out of him, dropping to the ground near his feet. Lung was large, already several feet taller than me. This was going to require some unconventional tactics.
As soon as I thought of it, an idea came to mind. I covered my hands in energy, dug them into Lung's scaled leg, and lifted up. He was easily one of the heaviest things I had lifted so far, next to my weight set that is. But it did the trick, forcing him onto one leg a moment before several more playing cards came crashing into him to knock him completely over.
I decided to jump on this chance as hard as I could, literally. I leapt upwards, arcing through the air and landing on Lung's face. Once again, I brought my knife out and plunged it deep into his neck, figuring his healing factor could probably handle it. But he almost instantly started attempting to get up, shouting mangled words through an injured neck and heavy accent.
Not willing to stay on top of him while he moved, I swung off him and jumped on the ground while keeping my arm around his neck and knife in place. I dug my feet into the ground felt my fingers burying themselves into his scale armour as I continued to grip him. Fire was rolling off him like water, effectively blinding me from what was going on even as my energy protected me.
The ground beneath us churned and broke and he failed and struggled, growing larger and more fiery by the second. But even as armoured scales grew around my arm and hands, I only felt my own strength increase to match it. Not the way I had normal strength, this felt more… intangible. A kind of strength I only felt the effects of rather than in muscles. Either way, I held on. Right until one of his hands managed to grab me.
I found myself being flung through the air a few moments before crashing into something wooden and shattering it. I was vaguely aware of my energy shattering and getting stabbed through my chest before my vision cleared up. Looking around, I saw I was surrounded by wooden beams, one of which was holding me up by being lodged rather painfully in my chest. There was water below me, which told me where I was. I was in the actual boardwalk of the Boardwalk. I would have laughed if not for the wooden beam currently in my lungs and the fact that a massive, flaming, Lung covered in scales was looming over me.
I didn't have enough energy to protect me, but that didn't mean I didn't have any energy at all. I had all the energy I was pushing into the knife which by some miracle, managed to stay in my hand. I let go of the knife, dropping it into the water below and grabbing on to the wooden beam propping me up. I saw Lung take a single step off the edge before barrelling down towards me.
At that moment, I crushed the beam I was skewered on with my hand and plunged downward straight into the water as Lung's massive form fell after me.
At first, hitting the water shocked me a little as it was incredibly cold for this time of year. Although, that quickly got overshadowed when Lung crashed down on top of me.
Very quickly, I found myself unable to see. Surrounded by dark ocean water and a massive amount of bubbling from Lung, who somehow managed to remain on fire as we sank. I knew he was reaching out and attempting to grasp me, even managing to hit me a couple times as I struggled to swim away from him. But every attempt at pushing off I made, I found it nearly impossible to move forward. And that was when I realized something.
We were both in water, and every cell in my body was really, really dense.
Moving carefully through the Shadow Dimension, I had re-entered the sword shop and grabbed a large, curved knife. It wasn't perfect, but I could almost get the projection of the kitchen knife to overlap it. The reinforcement making ready for me to use. After making sure that it would work like that, I slipped it back into its sheath and hooked it onto my belt.
I turned and walked right out of the store and out on the street which by now most people had abandoned. Even the weird boy from before was gone, though I no idea where. But that gave me the easy advantage of not having to worry about people getting in my way or throwing things while I traveled. I walked over to the shadow of a nearby building and disappeared through it.
Finding the fighting wasn't that hard, Oni Lee's explosions were going off regularity. Which did let me learn that fire didn't seem to be something that translated into the Shadow Dimension. Of course, getting close enough to really look at it was something I was unwilling to do. Instead, I stayed at least a building or two away and kept a close eye on the arrows flying through the air as they appeared from where I could guess Shadow Stalker was likely standing.
I watched for a bit, working to coming to a decision on what to do. I didn't want to get caught in between Oni Lee and the heroes. And I definitely didn't want to fight both her and Armsmaster. That likely wouldn't end well for me. I had to wait for her to break off from the others.
It was at that moment, an explosion much larger than what Oni Lee had been producing went off far too close to me. In something of a small panic, I attempted to dart backward as small bits of rock and rubble pierced completely through me. I hissed in pain as a small what larger chunk of rubble ripped through my shoulder.
I darted away and jumped to another building, gripping my shoulder. As soon as I thought I clear, I did a quick look over of the injury. What I saw surprised me. I wasn't healing, but I wasn't bleeding either. I could see my blood and the inside of the injury, but the blood wouldn't flow and my body wouldn't heal. It simply stayed, as if in a stasis.
I shook my head, the Shadow Dimension only ever seemed to get more strange the more I used it. But either way, staying here wasn't going to be much of an option anymore. Particularly as it seemed like there was a series of smaller explosions trailing around the area. I had no idea what was going on out there and it could very well kill me if I stayed here. Which only left one option that still gave me a chance of getting a stab at revenge.
Joining the fight.
As I ran off the roof and jumped into an alley, I tried to remember what powers they would already know about that don't also overlap with the Shadow Paladin. I couldn't use my energy in any obvious manner because of green band Paladin used to travel. Protecting myself or reinforcing my weapons didn't cast a light if I didn't want them to, but they had already seen me get injured. So perhaps it would be better if I let myself get hurt just to reinforce that. I could also use Shadow Dimension, though I doubted there would be a safe moment to. After that, I basically only had physical force to go on. It would have to be enough.
Coming out of the Shadow Dimension, I instantly realize what had happened. Two more capes had joined the fight. Specifically, some independent and Lung himself.
I instantly had to dodge a blast of fire going in, ducking back into the alleyway. Jumping onto the roof right after that, I quickly got a lay of the land. Armsmaster and Shadow Stalker were heading one direction while Lung was stomping his way to where the water met the wooden boardwalk part of the Boardwalk.
I was caught between going after the first two and helping the independent when Lung looked around and locked eyes with me. Like something possessed him, the moment he looked at me he grew upwards several inches and his hands start to become more claw-like.
So that was it was going to be?
I was saved from having the first move as the independent chose to attack at that exact moment. He had a weird portal based attack, with light pink circles appearing around Lung's face where paper thin projectiles shot out of, surrounded by purple fire. They promptly exploded against Lung's face, snapping his head back a moment. I took the distraction as an opportunity.
I jumped through the air, arcing wide over the building still sitting in between us and coming down close to where he was standing. I missed just a little, falling just a little to his left as he recovered from the attack on his face. Not willing to miss a chance to injure him, I lashed out and stabbed the knife I had gotten into his arm. It sank about half way and immediately stopped my descent. Unfortunately, that left Lung having a moment to retaliate.
He snapped his arm outward, flicking me off like a bug that had bitten him. Spinning through the air inelegantly, I hit and rolled across the ground. I brought up my energy to protect me almost immediately. I felt my muscles hum intensely under my skin and a burn in my arms, but strangely, my heart remained beating steadily.
Getting to my feet as fast as I could, I noticed I had landed just a dozen feet away from the independent. His costume wasn't all that impressive compared to other independents I've seen. For the most part, it was a tatter brown trench coat and a brown fedora sitting on top of a white mask. The mask had a simple smiley face on it, with a red diamond under the right eye and a black club over the left.
The independent wave his hand in front of him, opening his portals which a dozen playing cards floated out of and hovered in the air with purple flame surrounding them. He waved his hand again and they flew around Lung, encircling him before dive bombing one at a time in with small explosions.
As interesting as he was, I didn't feel like standing still for too long and didn't really want to give Lung much of a chance to grow larger than he was now. I changed the hand my knife was in and darted forward, running a little to the right so I wasn't directly in front of him.
Unfortunately, he half shouted, half roared and released a wave of fire off him before running forward. I threw up my protection a moment before the flames hit me and kicked off the ground with enough force to crack the concrete behind me, my knife leading the way.
I slammed into his shoulder with enough force to knock him unbalanced for a moment, my knife burying into him between two growing scales.
"Damn..ou..mutherfucker!" I hear him shout before he reach a clawed hand up around to either grab or crush me. I grit my teeth and acted instinctively, violently backhanding the much bigger hand hard enough I felt one of my bones snap. But it was enough, throwing his arm back and shocking Lung a moment before another bout of play card soared in and struck him in the face.
I took the moment to pull my knife out of him, dropping to the ground near his feet. Lung was large, already several feet taller than me. This was going to require some unconventional tactics.
As soon as I thought of it, an idea came to mind. I covered my hands in energy, dug them into Lung's scaled leg, and lifted up. He was easily one of the heaviest things I had lifted so far, next to my weight set that is. But it did the trick, forcing him onto one leg a moment before several more playing cards came crashing into him to knock him completely over.
I decided to jump on this chance as hard as I could, literally. I leapt upwards, arcing through the air and landing on Lung's face. Once again, I brought my knife out and plunged it deep into his neck, figuring his healing factor could probably handle it. But he almost instantly started attempting to get up, shouting mangled words through an injured neck and heavy accent.
Not willing to stay on top of him while he moved, I swung off him and jumped on the ground while keeping my arm around his neck and knife in place. I dug my feet into the ground felt my fingers burying themselves into his scale armour as I continued to grip him. Fire was rolling off him like water, effectively blinding me from what was going on even as my energy protected me.
The ground beneath us churned and broke and he failed and struggled, growing larger and more fiery by the second. But even as armoured scales grew around my arm and hands, I only felt my own strength increase to match it. Not the way I had normal strength, this felt more… intangible. A kind of strength I only felt the effects of rather than in muscles. Either way, I held on. Right until one of his hands managed to grab me.
I found myself being flung through the air a few moments before crashing into something wooden and shattering it. I was vaguely aware of my energy shattering and getting stabbed through my chest before my vision cleared up. Looking around, I saw I was surrounded by wooden beams, one of which was holding me up by being lodged rather painfully in my chest. There was water below me, which told me where I was. I was in the actual boardwalk of the Boardwalk. I would have laughed if not for the wooden beam currently in my lungs and the fact that a massive, flaming, Lung covered in scales was looming over me.
I didn't have enough energy to protect me, but that didn't mean I didn't have any energy at all. I had all the energy I was pushing into the knife which by some miracle, managed to stay in my hand. I let go of the knife, dropping it into the water below and grabbing on to the wooden beam propping me up. I saw Lung take a single step off the edge before barrelling down towards me.
At that moment, I crushed the beam I was skewered on with my hand and plunged downward straight into the water as Lung's massive form fell after me.
At first, hitting the water shocked me a little as it was incredibly cold for this time of year. Although, that quickly got overshadowed when Lung crashed down on top of me.
Very quickly, I found myself unable to see. Surrounded by dark ocean water and a massive amount of bubbling from Lung, who somehow managed to remain on fire as we sank. I knew he was reaching out and attempting to grasp me, even managing to hit me a couple times as I struggled to swim away from him. But every attempt at pushing off I made, I found it nearly impossible to move forward. And that was when I realized something.
We were both in water, and every cell in my body was really, really dense.