I also want to comment on a suspicion of mine: I think since the druggie is seen around the premises of Wonderland, the two ND missions acts as a prerequisite for his recruitment mission like how Hero Worship and Puella Magi acts as one for Yara and Noelle respectively.
I also want to comment on a suspicion of mine: I think since the druggie is seen around the premises of Wonderland, the two ND missions acts as a prerequisite for his recruitment mission like how Hero Worship and Puella Magi acts as one for Yara and Noelle respectively.
You'll have your usual ESP roll at the start of the turn. Her locked personal action will fit it where it makes the most sense, depending on which missions you choose.
You'll have your usual ESP roll at the start of the turn. Her locked personal action will fit it where it makes the most sense, depending on which missions you choose.
I was just idly wonder that, maybe, since it's locked, if we're successful at it we might get slight bonuses on our Abarimon/Third Person/Shroud missions owing to knowing some things that could be useful beforehand.
I was just idly wonder that, maybe, since it's locked, if we're successful at it we might get slight bonuses on our Abarimon/Third Person/Shroud missions owing to knowing some things that could be useful beforehand.
The information you get are the bonuses. There was a world where you did the Four Seasons mission and had NO CLUE Scarlet Maturity had a chance to show up.
The information you get are the bonuses. There was a world where you did the Four Seasons mission and had NO CLUE Scarlet Maturity had a chance to show up.
If we were playing Uiarra would have Probably Needed both Mona and Yara as our first 2 Recruits if we wanted to succeed in that without knowing about the trap.
Faust did good but I doubt he would have espcted 2 Potency 13, since Im pretty sure being 18 and gilded cage means yara is the other Potency 10, with Noelle as 20 yrs old and fighting against the mgs is 8.
Read this quest and I liked it a lot, especially this last mission. I want to write a few candidates and a recruit, but before I also have some power-based questions.
1- As Mona realized in her last fight, she is her core, and the light construct that is her body is something she can manipulate. Can she learn to mold her construct body on reaction so attacks land on her invulnerable core instead of the perishable light construct-like body?
2- Arc's powers protect her from acts of harm, but do they have to be knowing ones? For example, a villain gives to his minion a blindfold, a machine gun, and an alarm clock and tells them to climb to a specific roof, put the blindfold on and fire down the street when the alarm clock goes off, knowing that Arc will pass down the street during that time. Can the minion unknowingly hit her?
What about range? If a villain instead builds an autonomous turret on that roof and tells the minion to go across the city and press a red button when the alarm clock goes off, unknowingly activating the turret, what happenens?
3- What counts as an act of harm? If she goes to a fast-food joint and the chef regularly makes the burgers too greasy, will she be able to reflect the fat onto him?
Horizon, City of Leviathan's Rest –The Apiary– December 22, 2067
You are Madeleine du Marseille.
It's been about a week since Mona exploded Scarlet Maturity so hard that even his space-pants melted. Of course, he got better—which sucks—but it's pretty neat that your friend is stronger than carbon-fiber nanoweave space-pants.
It's about 3AM in the morning, and both you and said pee-pants slayer are laying around your room, bored and unable to sleep. Mona said if you make her watch another horror movie she's gonna tell Lady Leizi about your nightmares, and the next season of Magical Girl Gang: War isn't out until the new year.
So you and her are just sitting here, with nothing to do. Better than being alone with nothing but your thoughts, you guess. An episode of Behind the Hero blares on the TV, but neither of you are watching it. Mona's reading one of your comic books for the hundredth time, and you're idly scrolling on Hero for Hire.
■
Welcome to the Hero for Hire official message boards.
You are currently logged in, Shadow_Witch
♦ Topic: SCARLET MATURITY PEES HIS PANTS (16K FOOTAGE, NOT CLICKBAIT)
In: Boards ► ► Front Page
notaburner13 (Original Poster)
Posted On Dec 21st 2067:
Video link [here].
Video of Dominion CEO admitting to power-enforced slavery [here].
Detailed analysis of Scarlet Maturity's power [here].
Video of victim dying at exact same moment Pee-pants revives [here].
Dubstep-autotune remix [here].
(Showing page 1 of 94)
►Anansi (Moderator) (Powers) (Verified User)
Replied On Dec 21st 2067:
None of this information has been corroborated. These videos are extremely graphic. This thread, and the other six you have made, violate the terms of use for Hero for Hire. Cease immediately.
►notaburner13 (Original Poster)
Replied On Dec 21st 2067:
Make me. Delete the thread, you fucking traitor.
Oh wait, you can't. Because you're so shit you can't even undo my admin permissions. No wonder you went running to suckle at Dominion's teat. Your brother would be ashamed.
Fuck you, Sunny, you traitorous bitch.
►Anansi (Moderator) (Powers) (Verified User) (Real Name is Sunny Michaels. Fuck her. )
Replied On Dec 21st 2067:
Stop this at once.
It's you, isn't it Eve?
►King Suzaku
Replied On Dec 21st 2067:
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
► turkybroth
Replied On Dec 21st 2067:
Just stay out of it. They've been at it for over a week. Everyone's seen the videos too. The OP (Moon River, the AI?) has been pinning it to the top of every forum.
► AnApple
Replied On Dec 21st 2067:
Is my boy Earthen Owl okay?! That's all I care about in all of this! Is he???
You follow the continued drama between the mods and whoever "notaburner" is before running out of things to read. You sign in irritation, and then look at your other tab and sigh in even more irritation.
Your mom's bank account is frozen. It has been for two weeks now. They finally caught on that she was dead, and now you can't use it as your own anymore. It was fine for a little bit—it's not like Lady Leizi makes you pay rent or for meals—but now you need it to access the salary Justice Unlimited has been paying you.
You need the money for something.
But first, you need a bank account, and, because you're a minor, you need your legal guardian to sign off on it unless you want to use a shady place. Only issue is, you don't have a legal guardian. Mr. Chaucer brought it up with you before, but that was when you were still in shock and couldn't deal with the idea. He let it go immediately, and no one has said anything since.
You look at the date on the calendar and feel more miserable. But it's time to stop wallowing.
You need a legal guardian. The question is: who?
Mona
Mona's basically your big sister now. You two spend every night together, and her mom makes you dinner more often than not. But right now, she's still moping about the stupid things Scarlet Maturity said, and it's ticking you off. She's laying upside down on the bed, staring into space.
You huff in outrage. She's not even reading Tree of Life א! So you decided to do to her what you did to Wolong.
"Mr. Chaucer is fucking your mom."
Mona swivels her head to look at you like a robot. Then she rolls over, sits up on the bed, and says, without changing her expression:
"No, he's not."
"Uh-huh. Don't they eat breakfast together everyday?"
Mona blinks. You see her slowly coming out of zombie-mode.
"They're both just early risers. Mom likes to have someone to talk to in the morning."
"Suuuuure. Someone to talk to who she was fucking last night. You actually believe he just comes over every morning juuuuuust before you wake up? He's obviously been sleeping over."
"Come on, Maddie, that's not funny."
"What's not funny? That she's riding him like a stallio—"
"Maddie, gross!" Mona shrieks, throwing a pillow at you, "And watch your language!"
Mona frowns and puffs out her cheeks, crossing her arms while she sulks. Mittens crawls into her lap and starts purring, while Barkavious lets out a sleepy "woof".
Good, she's acting like herself. You feel relief that she's the same. She's not a liar. She's just dumb ol' Mona.
And maaaaaybe she could use another poke or two.
"Let's watch them at breakfast tomorrow," you say, "Then you can see the truth for certain. Or we could go to her room right now and listen at the door for—"
"Maddie!"
* * *
The next day, you two get up early and groggily go to the kitchen in Mona and her mom's shared apartment. The Apiary is enormous, the size of several sports arenas. It was so big that Valiant Silver had built a rail system inside it just to get around. That translated to there being giant rooms for everyone, including the spacious kitchen where you got a bagel and Mona filled a bowl of cereal. The room was big enough that you could eavesdrop on Mr. Chaucer and Ms. Merola without being noticed.
". . . closing the accounts. Getting power of attorney was a nightmare, but only Gus had family left and they were more than willing to assist," Mr. Chaucer finishes.
"Well, I'm glad," Ms. Merola says, "I know how much this has bothered you."
"I must thank you, Marisa. Your help has been invaluable."
"Happy to help, Joelle. It was fun dusting off my old law degree."
You elbow Mona. "'Joelle'? They're totally fucking."
"Language, Maddie!" Mona hisses back, "And they're just having a conversation."
"Oh, Joelle, your tie is crooked!" Ms. Merola says.
"Madam, I assure you, I've been wearing a tie since I was a lad. I could tie a half-Windsor with one hand. There is simply no way my tie is crooked."
"Yeah, look at those sparks fly," you whisper, "Totally fucking."
"Come over here, you goose. I'll show you." Ms. Merola reaches over the table and loosens Mr. Chaucer's tie. She then pulls it right again, the neckwear much straighter than before. Her face sits right next to Mr. Chaucer's as she looks up with a twinkle in her eye.
"Ah," he says, not looking away from her, "I suppose it was crooked."
Mona's eyes go wide.
"Levithan's Blood, they're frickin'."
"They're actually fucking!?" You . . . you were just making things up! Holy shit! You were right?!
Mr. Chaucer continues to stare into Ms. Merola's eyes, but then he smiles ruefully. "I'm afraid, madam, that duty calls. As delightful as this morning has been—as they all are."
Ms. Merola sits back and breaks the spell. "Oh, go on, Joelle. We both know this place would fall apart without you."
"I certainly hope not!" Mr. Chaucer laughs and finishes his coffee. He moves to leave and walks by the two of you.
"Madeline! Mona! Wonderful to see you two up bright and early! On this very special day!"
You whip your head up to squint at Mr. Chaucer. Wait, does he know . . . ?
"Now, I must be on my way. Ta-ta girls!"
You're staring at Mr. Chaucer's back as Mona grabs your arm and pulls you after him.
"We're gonna follow him!"
"Mmwehwy?" you say thought a mouthful of bagel.
"We're gonna follow him and get proof that he and my mom are . . . fricking. . ."
"And then?"
"I don't know! I'm improvising here! I need you to support me, Maddie!"
Mona drags you along and you try to imagine if she really was your sister. Mona couldn't be your legal guardian—Leviathan's Blood, no—but her mom could. She'd be really nice too. You like Ms. Merola. It's just . . . to her, you're her "daughter's friend". She doesn't really know you. She hasn't tried.
She'd be fine, but you can do better. You want your legal guardian to be . . . more.
So, onto the next candidate.
Mr. Rhys
You and Mona follow Mr. Chaucer as he boards a tram with several of the new staff. You try to act inconspicuous, but Mona's newly found memetic fame makes it hard to remain incognito. As you're swarmed by people wanting her autograph, you lose sight of Mr. Chaucer. You strain to see over the throngs of people, but eventually you spot him heading to the training room.
The training "room" was something of a misnomer. It was a room in the same sense an indoor stadium was technically a room. The first part was a gymnasium filled with equipment divided into "no powers" and "with powers" sections. But the real draw was the area behind the gym—a long flat expanse of land over a hundred yards long. The Apiary could shape this area to resemble all kinds of terrain and environments, and it was large enough that metahumans not named Black Swan could use their powers without fear of collateral damage. You could feel Echidna wandering around back there, stretching her wings.
Mr. Chaucer walks towards the "powered" section of the gym where Mr. Rhys is punching heavily reinforced pads held by Dr. Rhodes. You and Mona follow him, hiding behind a weight rack.
"Come on!" Dr. Rhodes shouts, "Faster, harder! Keep up your footwork! One-Two!"
Mr. Rhys is in his base from, swinging away. He keeps it up for another minute until a timer goes off, and Dr. Rhodes drops his arms.
"Alright, break! Take five," he says.
"I can keep going," Rhys insists, "I'm not even tired yet. Another round, right now!"
Dr. Rhodes just shakes his head. "My arms need a rest. And I think this has done all the good it's going to do."
"I'll say," Mr. Chaucer adds, as he walks up, "Good God, is still keeping this up, John Henry?"
Dr. Rhodes scratches the side of his face. "I was gonna give him another day before the talk. But with tonight . . ."
"What are you guys jabbering about?" Mr. Rhys says. You grimace. He's been acting weird since you got back from Balthazar, "I'm right here. You can say whatever you want to my face."
"Very well," Mr. Chaucer says, primly. He pulls himself to his full height and then leans forward into Mr. Rhys' personal space, where tells him, "You're acting like a child. Enough of this tantrum. Grow up."
"What did you say?!" Mr. Rhys snarls, "Watch it Chaucer—you weren't there! Twice now, twice, I go on a mission and everyone has to pick up my slack because I'm useless. I couldn't do jack against Floating Venom Morpheme, Scarlet Maturity tore through me like I was nothing, and I couldn't even touch Blue Skies! Y'know, the guy they call 'Sky High Blue Skies' 'cuz he's always blazed? He kicked my ass!"
Mr. Rhys stalks over to a sandbag and punches it so hard it tears off its mount and goes flying.
"Maddie had to save me! She shouldn't have to do that! She's fourteen for Christ's Sake! I'm supposed to protect her!"
The room echoes with his pronouncement as Mr. Rhys kicks the bag on the ground.
"Are you quite finished?" Mr. Chaucer says with a raised eyebrow, "Because it's been some time since I've seen someone destroy property while screaming 'you don't understand me', and it makes me nostalgic for when Abigail was a teenager."
"Listen here, bub—!"
"No, you listen, Rhys," Chaucer shoots back, "You sound like an adolescent! You couldn't do anything against a flying, Named-Rank Behemoth and Scarlet Maturity. So can't the rest of Horizon! And you're upset you failed to ambush a hydrokinetic in a cloud of water vapor he controlled? My goodness, your ego!"
"It's not—"
"It's exactly that, Rhys. Like it or not, Madeline is a full-fledged hero and member of Justice Unlimited. She is your teammate. And teammates pick each other up," Chaucer jabs him in the chest, "You rescued Opale. The Apiary is ours. Everyone survived. The missions were successful whether you're satisfied with your own performance or not. Now, quit sulking! You haven't left this room in days. I have something for you, and tonight . . ."
The rest of Mr. Chaucer's words are drowned out by stupid, clumsy Mona knocking over a whole rack of weights. By the time you clean them up, his conversation with Mr. Rhys is over. Mr. Rhys is sitting on a bench, holding something in his hands that Mr. Chaucer gave him. Dr. Rhodes has a hand on his shoulder.
". . . thanks Chaucer. This means . . . this means a lot. And I'm sorry. You're right. I gotta respect my team and just work harder for next time."
Mr. Chaucer smiles. "Apology accepted. I know something about younger, more powerful teammates doing something you think is impossible, after all."
He snaps his finger and a jolt of electricity sparks.
"Now, I have to see Dr. Ibis. I'll see you tonight."
And with that, he's gone.
Mona immediately flies over to Rhys and demands he help her prove Mr. Chaucer and her mom are involved. She describes all kinds of plans where Rhys pretends to be Mr. Chaucer or her mom—or, in one convoluted plan, both—and Rhys nervously demurs while Dr. Rhodes laughs.
You look at Mr. Rhys. You imagine him as your guardian. He would do the job—he'd be happy to do it. But . . . he'd be so protective. He'd try to have you live a normal life, discourage you from being a hero. He'd do it for all the right reasons—and that's part of the reason you love him—but . . . that's not what you want.
That's not what you need. You feel the familiar thrum of violence in your veins, the urge for revenge.
So you move on to the next candidate.
Dr. Ibis
You, Mona, and Mr. Rhys follow Mr. Chaucer to Dr. Ibis' lab like some kind of three-headed monster. Dr. Ibis, surprisingly, did not take over Valiant Silver's lab when you all relocated to the Apiary. He said it was like kissing another person's spouse—not done unless you were a dick or thinking with one.
You giggled, but Lady Leizi shot him a glare™ and he apologized for his turn of phrase. Either way, Valiant Silver's lab was much too much of a mess for him to use without cataloging everything useful first—which would take weeks.
Instead, he created a facsimile of the laboratory he had on Jacob's Ladder and worked there.
"Dr. Ibis," Mr. Chaucer greets as he enters.
"Joelle, good to see you," Dr. Ibis says absent-mindedly from his desk. In front of him were a number of vials, pippets, and a gene sequencer.
Mr. Chaucer freezes in place.
". . . are you feeling quite alright, Doctor?"
"Ha! Impressed by my 'normal greeting' are you?! The great Dr. Mammoth Ibis has been improving his already august self. I've been doing therapy online!"
"Why . . . that's wonderful! I'm so proud of you—"
"I'm doing it for me, but I appreciate the support. Now, why are you blathering on?"
"{I suppose that lasted as long as could be expected.} Ahem. I came to discuss tonight—what in the world are you working on?!"
There was a sickly red glow coming from the sequencer.
Dr. Ibis' turned grave. "Printemps' DNA profile. Young Madeline was wise to secure his body for examination. Though, it does make me wonder if she could benefit from sessions with Dr. Hawkins . . ."
"Why is it glowing?"
Name: Printemps, Jean-Luc Villeneuve Power: Construct Creation, Energy Manipulation, Transmutation Faction: The Four Seasons Potency:6 Ibis' Notes: We are well familiar with Printemps and his powers. But . . . there is something wrong with this sample. There is still an energy in it.
Lingering.
"I presume it is a remnant of Scarlet Maturity's power. The glow has died down considerably over time. Another week and it should be gone completely and safe to use for Project Prometheus. Should be."
"Yes," Mr. Chaucer says, eyeing it, "But perhaps better safe than sorry . . . ?"
"Perhaps. Now, what's this about tonight? I haven't forgotten! But, uh, tell me anyway. So I know you know."
"Yes, well we've—"
"Wait, I see someone spying on us! I see you! You shall not steal of my genius!"
"Scatter!" Mona shouts, and you all flee.
By the time you reconvene, Mr. Chaucer is gone and Dr. Ibis is demanding Mona let him participate in the "social-bond creating shenanigans".
You try to imagine Dr. Ibis as you legal guardian and—
"But I want to be included in hijinks! I want to! I go to therapy now!"
—no. Maybe you can be his legal guardian?
Lady Leizi
You three split up to find Mr. Chaucer, and you're the one who happens upon him. He's in a room in the residential suites that you've never been in before. As you follow behind him, you hear two other voices.
Lady Leizi and Ms. Opale are sorting through a room decorated with hundreds of photographs. There are clothes for a woman with a slender build thrown everywhere, and the photographs all feature a girl with flaming-red hair and clear blue eyes. There's a silver girl with blank, white eyes in a lot of them too, as well as a lot with Ms. Opale.
Mr. Chaucer respectfully knocks on the open door, and Lady Leizi and Ms. Opale look up at him.
"Joelle!" Ms. Opale calls. She runs over to hug him and trips over a slinky nightgown on the ground. "Ow, fuck, ow. Wait, since when did Ophélie dress like this?!"
"Since we gave her a room and she started finding excuses to sleep over," Lady Leizi calls from the bed. She holds up a pair of lacy underwear. "Oh, my. I supposed we did give her and Towarri their privacy."
"My baby cousin . . ." Ms. Opale says in shock, "Oh shit, Joelle! I'm sorry!"
Ms. Opale gets up and goes to hug Mr. Chaucer, only to stop, go to shake his hand, and then stop again in uncertainty. Mr. Chauce puts her out of her misery and pulls her into a hug.
"Opale," he says, tearing up a little, "I'm so, so glad you're okay."
"Y-yeah," she says, her voice warbling, "I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to really talk. It's just been—"
"A whirlwind? Think nothing of it my good woman. I understand you've been read in on Project Prometheus? That would knock anyone for a loop."
"Y-yeah. Yeah . . . no shit, guys. Wow." Ms. Opale looks around the room in wonder. "Still can't believe I'm living in the Apiary, y'know? I thought Ophélie might if she stayed a hero, but me? On Justice Unlimited? Feels like a dream."
Her face drops.
"A dream after a nightmare."
"Were you aware," Lady Leizi drawls, "That our dear Joelle was the one who insisted we save you? Even after your warning that it was a trap?"
Ms. Opale whips her head around. "Joelle? W-why . . .? Why dammit!?"
Mr. Chaucer puts a hand on her shoulder. "I loved Abigail too. I couldn't abandon the person she wanted to spend her life with."
Mr. Chaucer raises an eyebrow as Lady Leizi tilts her head, "I thought you were glowing, darling. Something you wish to share?"
Ms. Opale blushes and kicks the floor. "Uhh, Alice—Mendicant—approached me like on my second day here? Said it was their "sacred duty to help all cracked eggs grow into chickens. Or make omelets or whatever". They offered me a symbiote to help me transition. Apparently they're way easier to make than healing ones? And, uh, I said yes."
Ms. Opale gives a big smile and you see it. She does look a little different. Softer, maybe? Happier definitely.
"Apparently it's super efficient, so changes will happen fast. But, uh, it's gonna be intense."
"As long as you're happy, darling," Lady Leizi says. There's the barest edge of a smirk on her lips. Wait. Is that how Mendicant knew . . .?
"Very." Opale closes her eyes. "Is it okay to feel this much happiness when the people you love are gone?"
"I've asked myself the same thing everyday. The dead give no answers," Lady Leizi says, "One can only hope to live in a way that will let you look them in the eye when you meet again."
"Well said," Mr. Chaucer agrees, "We'll have a toast tonight. To absent friends."
"Oh, yeah, what's that about?" Ms. Opale asks.
Lady Leizi answers. "A number of things. Among them, celebrating the newly appointed second-in-command of Justice Unlimited."
"Oh, dang. Nice. Who is it?"
Lady Leizi fractionally raises an eyebrow.
"Who . . . me?!" Ms. Opale yelps, "Me?!"
"I assumed you'd accept, darling."
"It's an honor but . . . me?!"
Lady Leizi tips her head. "You're the second most experienced hero here. You've more than proven yourself. Black Swan is powerful indeed, but Mona needs a little more seasoning before she's ready for leadership. You don't have to accept if you're disinclined, but it would, selfishly, be a great relief for myself if you would accept."
"I . . . uh, wow. Wow. Uh . . ."
Mr. Chaucer pushes her in the back good-naturedly, "Just say yes, Opale! Come on, out with it!"
Ms. Opale starts crying again, but quickly says, "Y-yeah. I'll do it! I'll do it! But, uh, I need to rebrand first. Fuck being Hiver, I've so fucking done with Hiver."
"Of course," Lady Leizi assures her, "Any notions of your new identity?"
"Well, I have a few . . ."
As Opale describes her new name and costume, you picture Lady Leizi as your legal guardian. She'd be . . . rough at first, but she would figure it out quickly. She'd never pressure you, she'd always support you, maybe she'd even come to love you?
But you remember the image of Scarlet Maturity destroying her without even touching her. You remember the feel of her blood on your skin as you feared you hit something vital.
You . . . you can't watch a mom die again.
So, regretfully, no. It can't be Lady Leizi.
But then who . . .?
The Winner
Mona texts you that Lady Leizi caught her and Mr. Rhys, so you'll have to complete the mission on your own. You roll your eyes. Posers. You follow Mr. Chaucer down a number of winding hallways, until he stops at a room and enters. You peek your head around the door before it closes, only to see Mr. Chaucer staring right at you.
"Ah, Madeline. As delightful as it was having a shadow all day, I do need to actually speak with you."
You freeze. Uh-oh. Busted.
". . . you noticed, huh?"
"I noticed. Huh," he says with a smile, "You and Miss Merola-Morales are not as stealthy as you might wish. Perhaps some remedial espionage training is in store for both of you?"
"Oh, Leviathan's Blood, no," you beg. Lady Leizi is merciless teaching in her chosen field.
Mr. Chaucer taps his nose. "Just a jest. Now, come with me, if you would."
You shrug as Mr. Chaucer leads you into his living room. On a coffee table sits a rectangular object covered with a cloth. He walks over to it and grabs a corner of the cloth.
"Now, since this is the first time we've spoken properly today, allow me to say: Happy Birthday, Madeline!"
"Y-you knew?" you say, your voice quivering. B-but you hadn't told anyone! You didn't want to make a big deal out of it. You weren't a baby. And everyone forgot because it was so close to Christmas anyway. Everyone but your mom . . .
"Of course, I did," Mr. Chaucer says, shaking you out of your thoughts, "I completed all of the paperwork to set up your trust, after all."
He gives you a jolly grin. "But enough of that. Don't you want your present?"
You nod, still a little shell-shocked.
Mr. Chaucer pulls off the cloth, revealing a terrarium. Inside of it is a—
"A Brazilian black tarantula?!" you squeal, rushing over.
"Yes. I know not everyone is comfortable with spiders, so if I missed the mark on your gift—oh my."
You immediately open the enclosure and let her crawl onto your hand. She climbs up your arm and settles on your shoulder.
"You are Shelob," you whisper, revelantly, "I shall teach you to feast on the blood of Men and Elves."
"Ah, from the Ungoliant herself," Mr. Chaucer says, "Do have her mind blades from Gondolin."
You're still petting Shelob as Apep flicks his tongue out, curious. "Thank you, Mr. Chaucer. I love her."
Shelob joins the menagerie!
"I'm very happy, Madeline. Err, there was one other, less charming, matter I had to discuss with you. It seems your mother's old bank account was frozen. Were you aware?"
Your smile transforms into a scowl.
". . . yeah."
"Apparently there were very large sums of money being transferred from it at regular intervals. They coincided with whenever your pay was deposited in your trust. It seems you were moving it to your mother's account to send it elsewhere."
". . . yeah."
"I grew concerned it was being stolen, so I looked into where it was going. Madeline, you've been sending thousands upon thousands of dollars to the Worker's Mitt Relief charity fund, all anonymously."
You don't look him in the eyes. "Yeah?"
"Well, why on Earth are you doing that?"
You pull your hat over your eyes so Mr. Chaucer can't see your face. "Three people dead, over a hundred injured."
"Come again?"
"Three people dead, over a hundred injured. That's how many people got hurt by my flock when I was in Third North Tower."
You keep your voice steady. You know it's steady. So how does Mr. Chaucer know to gently tip your hat back so he can see your tears?
"Madeline. Madeline, Madeline, Madeline. It's not your fault." He kneels down and pulls you into a big hug. You resist at first, but something inside you breaks and suddenly you're sobbing into his shoulder.
"I-I d-didn't mean to!" you wail as he holds you, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Shhhh. Shhhh." He doesn't say anything. He just makes comforting noises as he rubs your back.
That just makes you cry harder and soon you're completely exhausted. Mr. Chaucer is the only thing holding you up.
"Madeline. I want you to listen to me. It is no one's fault but that madman, Clovis Laurent. You were in an impossible situation, especially one for a little girl. Not a soul on this Earth will blame you for what is an accident."
"B-but . . ." Your throat is stuck.
"But nothing. If you would like to release an apology, that can be arranged. Justice Unlimited will make sure the injured parties are well taken care of. But no more punishing yourself, do you understand?"
You don't understand. You got three people killed. They died in a car accident that your flock caused. It's not okay. It will never be okay. Who cares if you're just a kid? You try to tell Mr. Chaucer that, but all that comes out is:
"Will you be my legal guardian?"
Your words surprise even you. But you keep speaking as your emotions flow.
"Y-you understand me. You won't stop me from trying to be a hero. B-but you also will make sure I'm okay. That's your job around here. Not everyone notices, but I do. You make everyone okay. We can't do it without you. S-so, can you help me? I need someone. Someone I won't have to watch die."
"Madeline. Of course," he whispers, "It would be an honor. But, I want you to do two things for me."
"W-what?"
"First, sleep on this. You're very emotional right now. If you still feel this way in the morning, we'll sign the guardianship paperwork immediately. Okay?"
You nod into his chest.
"Second, I'd like you to talk to someone about how you feel. It doesn't need to be me, or anyone here. If you'd like, I know Dr. Hawkins has worked wonders with Emeril. She's a former member of New Dawn, and might be uniquely suited to understanding your feelings. Would that be alright?"
So she's a shrink? You're not crazy. But, it might be nice to talk to someone . . .
"O-okay," you agree.
"Wonderful. Wonderful. Then, Madeline, do you think you're up for one more surprise?"
You pull away from the hug, the smell of smoke and cinnamon lingering in your nostrils. "I think so . . .?"
"Then follow me. And, uh, please take Shelob back. She's climbed under my jacket and I can feel her moving."
* * *
Mr. Chaucer leads you to a big room in the Apiary that you, yet again, have never been to. Seriously, how huge is this place? As you two walk it, the lights are off.
"Odd," he says, "Well, the light is somewhere around here . . . found it!"
He flips the on lights, and suddenly over a dozen people spring out and all shout:
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MADDIE!"
Mr. Rhys, Mona, Ms. Merola, Ms. Opale, and Lady Leizi are there. So is Dr. Rhodes with his wife, Sandra, Natalie, and his younger son, Nathan. Wolong and New Dawn are here too, Gentleman James and Miss Naught shout with everyone else. Palisade looks uncomfortable, and there's a guy in pajamas and a sleeping cap stuffing himself with pizza.
The room is filled with balloons and decorations, with a great big banner that reads "Happy Birthday" in Sindarin. You look at Mr. Chaucer who shoots you a wink. Mona flies over and gives you a great big hug, and then starts screaming when Shelob climbs in her hair. Mr. Rhys also hugs you and Lady Leizi gives you a smirk over her sunglasses that is unfairly cool. Ms. Opale is nice and says she looks forward to getting to know you, also she's sorry she gave you a gift card for your birthday—she just wanted to get that out of the way.
It's loud and chaotic and happy in a way you thought you'd never be again in that library so long ago.
It just sucks that Mona snapped a picture right as you started crying again.
* * *
One more thing.
"So Mr. Chaucer's gonna be your dad now?!" Mona says, somehow, through a mouth full of cake.
"He might be your dad soon too," you shoot back.
Mr. Chaucer begins choking and Mr. Rhys hits on the back until he can breathe again.
"P-pardon?"
"Oh, fudge it, forget the plans," Mona declares, "Mom! I know you and Mr. Chaucer are . . . fricking."
"Mona Mercedes Merola-Morales!" her mom shouts, "Where did you learn that language?!
"N-now see here!" Mr. Chaucer sputters, "Your mother has been helping me on a tricky legal matter. All of the accounts of the SLAYERS were still open. I was trying to close them and get their estates and remains to their respective families!"
"And ensuring their . . . legacies don't go to waste," Lady Leizi adds. She's eating cake and somehow making that look cool.
"Yes," Mr. Chaucer agrees, "There is that too. They would understand."
C-Class Powers
Name: Wild Speaker, Inmaculada Ruiz Power: Mental Manipulation, Ally Empowerment Faction: SLAYERS Potency: 3 Ibis' Notes: The history of SLAYERS is somewhat convoluted and tedious. But Chaucer has become a regular at our "boys-night" poker games and he agreed to not tell everyone I was counting cards if I "made a reasonable attempt at being respectful". Note to self: Edit out recorded admission that I cheat at cards.
SLAYERS began as a three person team with an "edgy" theme. The Bloody Slayer, The Shadow Slayer, and our own Chaucer, the Thunder Slayer. Abigail Reyes would later join as The Giant Slayer. Shortly after Chacuer left to go into business, The Bloody Slayer and Shadow Slayer would split over creative disagreements about the direction of the team. SLAYERS seemed doomed to fall apart until The Giant Slayer recruited the team's now-iconic roster and slew Hundred-Hands Hecatoncheires.
Wild Speaker had the ability to talk to animals. When she did, the animal's intelligence was raised to humanesque levels. It sounds like an idyllic power, but apparently animals are terrible conversation partners. Birds mostly discuss wind-speeds and the location of seeds, dogs and cats swear like sailors, and bugs are apparently uniformly "total jerkwads". Still, Wild Speaker could order them to fight, which they often did if only for the novelty of committing violence with a purpose.
B-Class Powers
Name: Epoxy, Chung Hye-Jin Power:Fundamental Force Manipulation Faction: SLAYERS Potency: 5 Ibis' Notes: Epoxy, also known as "The Last Nail in the Coffin" was the second-in-command of SLAYERS and a member of Powers in her individual capacity. Her power allowed her to stick objects together on a molecular level through a subtle manipulation of the strong nuclear force. The objects she stuck together could only be released by her, and apparently she charged double to unstick things than stick them together.
Her nickname comes from her uncanny ability to place enemies in positions where she could stick them to objects that would completely immobilize them. Deadman famously broke his own neck to escape from her during one fight, and revived with his head facing the wrong direction. This gave her a bloodthirsty reputation that appears to have "ruined her dating life". She and The Giant Slayer were often at metahuman mixers and speed dating events, though it appears Epoxy was usually there against her will.
It was something of an irony that a group named "SLAYERS" and who was famous for killing a Named-Ranked Behemoth would make most of their money doing non-combat civilian work. Epoxy and Vulcan were popular in construction, Wild Speaker in pest control, and even The Giant Slayer mostly did bodyguard work. They had their moments of combat as all metahumans do, but if you wanted a "blue-collar" team, SLAYERS was as close as you were going to get.
Name: The Giant Slayer, Abigail Reyes Power: Transmutation, Enhanced Strength Faction: SLAYERS Potency: 8 Ibis' Notes: The Giant Slayer was the former leader of SLAYERS and the paramour of Ms. Opale. Before she and Opale started dating, her desperation to get married was something of a running joke in the metahuman community. She, famously, is one of the only people to make King flee a battle, if only because her constant flirting made him uncomfortable.
Perhaps The Giant Slayer was merely waiting for Opale, or perhaps her hyper-competence and destructive power frightened any potential partner. The Giant Slayer had the power to increase an object's size and mass to exponential levels, and then be able to swing the object as if it were its regular size. The Giant Slayer had immense strength, so this could result in her swinging swords the size of skyscrapers. This power let her become a regular hunter of Gold-Rank Behemoths and even Named-Rank on occasion.
Name: Vulcan, Augustus "Gus" Schulte Power:Algernon-type Faction: SLAYERS Potency: 13 Ibis' Notes: It seems doomed love and SLAYERS are inextricably intertwined, because Vulcan is the former lover of our Handyman.
He was an Algernon-type, specialized in metallurgy. He made all of the weapons and armor used by SLAYERS and often sold his creations to clients such as Steelheart and Valiant Silver.
He never pushed his power too far. He was too afraid of the Rebound. There is a certain wisdom in that, perhaps.
"So, you guys aren't fricking?" Mona says.
"No!"
"Not yet, sweetie."
"M-mom?!" Mona says incredulously as Mr. Chaucer also stares at Ms. Merola.
"Marisa?" he says, flabbergasted.
"Well, I've been waiting for you to ask me on a date. Or was all that flirting for nothing?"
Chaucer snaps his mouth shut and answers immediately, "This Saturday. Dinner? I would ask for sooner, but the holidays are upon us and . . ."
He gives you a look that warms your heart.
". . . I have plans to spend it with family."
"Sounds lovely," she says in reply, "But, um, you and Madeline are still coming over for Christmas dinner? I didn't break out that mistletoe for nothing."
"Huh," you say, elbowing Mona, "Maybe we'll end up sisters after all."
"Maddie!"
"What? And how old's your mom? Based on the look she's giving Mr. Chaucer, maybe we'll both be getting another sibling on top of that!"
"Maddie!"
* * *
Gabriel Kwan smiles to himself and enjoys another slice of cake. His team was mingling with the new Justice Unlimited splendidly, which would hopefully smoothing things over when he discussed the terms of their alliance. He would have to conceal Project Prometheus from them—regrettable, but he was not one to question Lady Leizi's infosec.
Speaking of that charming woman, she was inviting New Dawn to attend the Christmas celebration at the Apiary. Gabriel had to regretfully inform her he would be late.
He had a prior commitment at the Ọsanyìn headquarters, located in the Foot of the Ladder. A grand announcement was in the works.
Stats: HIT 7, ESPIONAGE 3, REPUTATION 7, OPERATIONS 6
Ibis' Notes: Opale can create tube-shaped barriers in any location she can see, including around objects. The outside of the barrier can withstand strong physical damage, while the area inside the barrier has a gravitational orientation chosen by Opale. The barriers are not permeable, but the top and bottoms are not enclosed, allowing Opale to fire them like a "beam" is she so chooses. The barriers can be any thickness she chooses, but the gravitational effect occurs in a strength proportional to the size of the barrier. The more barriers she creates at once, the weaker they all become collectively.
1- As Mona realized in her last fight, she is her core, and the light construct that is her body is something she can manipulate. Can she learn to mold her construct body on reaction so attacks land on her invulnerable core instead of the perishable light construct-like body?
2- Arc's powers protect her from acts of harm, but do they have to be knowing ones? For example, a villain gives to his minion a blindfold, a machine gun, and an alarm clock and tells them to climb to a specific roof, put the blindfold on and fire down the street when the alarm clock goes off, knowing that Arc will pass down the street during that time. Can the minion unknowingly hit her?
What about range? If a villain instead builds an autonomous turret on that roof and tells the minion to go across the city and press a red button when the alarm clock goes off, unknowingly activating the turret, what happenens?
Ready-made fundamental force manipulation is quite nice, as is another source of ally empowerment. For a random bonus these dna profiles are quite the get.
Well, for the DNA Profiles, they're a nice surprise! Printemps' is ominous, and the presence of a red keyword doesn't seem good. Hopefully Ibis is right, and if we give it a turn, it'll be safe to use. I also noticed that the Potency is red as well, when even Apiary didn't have a red Potency. Looking at the DNA profiles, I notice that the Transmutation tag appears twice, once in Printemp's profile, and once in the Giant Slayer's. In Printemps, it's the red keyword I mentioned.
For the various SLAYERS, they have an interesting spread of powers. Wild Speaker's power seems interesting, and I appreciate Ibis noting that talking to animals is actually not as thrilling as most fiction makes it out to be. Epoxy's power is definitely an interesting one, and I appreciate the demonstration of a relatively low Potency synergy power. The Giant Slayer's power is definitely an interesting, even if it seems simple on first glance. Transmutation being a Synergy power is quite interesting, I have to say. Perhaps Construct Creation is somehow involved?
Shelob is going to be very fun to use clones of. I was going to suggest a spider at some point, you thought faster than me!
I'm still waiting (patiently! don't feel rushed!) for an explanation for... forgive me for making up a name: Blood Magic Shadow Fusion works, because if we can do it on a smaller scale, we could graft Nevermore wings onto Mittens panthers and make sphinx rides.
You, Mona, and Mr. Rhys follow Mr. Chaucer to Dr. Ibis' lab like some kind of three-headed monster. Dr. Ibis, surprisingly, did not take over Valiant Silver's lab when you all relocated to the Apiary. He said it was like kissing another person's spouse—not done unless you were a dick or thinking with one.
Ok yep. It's official. Maddie is my favorite character. The rest of the top 5 are, in order: Mendicant, Lady Leizi, Faust, and Mona is tied with Scarlet Maturity for 5th.
"Sounds lovely," she says in reply, "But, um, you and Madeline are still coming over for Christmas dinner? I didn't break out that mistletoe for nothing."
"Huh," you say, elbowing Mona, "Maybe we'll end up sisters after all."
"Maddie!"
"What? And how old's your mom? Based on the look she's giving Mr. Chaucer, maybe we'll both be getting another sibling on top of that!"
