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.
Is this a reference to something, or another generic Magical Girl show in the setting?
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.
Moon River, still being awesome as always.
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.
ouch.
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.
…for what?
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?
It's time to look at our promising candidates! Our first is—
Nope. She's only 5 years older than you, Maddie.
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.
(
Sits up)
Holy shit, is that a
@BKNK.SHOP reference? Cool!
"Mr. Chaucer is fucking your mom."
Not as hard as what Maddie did to Wolong, but definitely funnier.
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!"
I want to say that Maddie would not say that shit.
But like, let's be honest. We're internet natives on SV. At least 50% of us were as aware about sex in 8th grade as Maddie is rn.
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.
How big is it, exactly? If you could compare it to the size of an IRL city, what would it scale to?
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?!
Maddie has discovered the power of
random bullshit go! It was super effective!
She'd be fine, but you can do better. You want your legal guardian to be . . . more.
So, onto the next candidate.
Next.
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
So if you fired a Kamehameha, it could land in the grass without hitting anybody? Cool.
"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!"
My guy, your standards are too high. You're the ESPIONAGE guy. Chill.
And Blue Skies a stoner? Huh, the more you know.
"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!"
Chauncer's speaking facts again!🗣️🗣️🗣️
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."
Next time, you'll also have 10 espionage! So there's that.
…Absolutely not.
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.
Nora had practically unfathomable levels of forgetfulness. Her (first) lab probably looks like one of those hoarder houses you see on tv, but more techy.
Name: Printemps, Jean-Luc Villeneuve
Power: Construct Creation, Energy Manipulation, Transmutation
Faction: The Four Seasons
Potency: 6
…let's give that to Wolong to look at. That would probably help out.
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?
Adopt the fourty-fifty year old man! There's nothing about this that can go wrong!
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.
Aw… it's Towarri and Ophale's pics!
"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."
…did not expect that. Should have, but didn't. Whoops.
"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."
Ms. Opale wipes her eyes, "Aww, dammit. I'm crying again. S-sorry guys, mood swings . . ."
Yup, Chauncer's really a softie. And besides, I'm glad that we went that way and saved Opale. I never liked America (the story version!) that much anyways.
Also, is that the estrogen kicking in there at the end?
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."
Ah yes, the fabled Estrogen x2000. Approved by transfems all over Horizon.
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."
Few things to note here:
Maddie's ditched the "Mr. Hiver" thing. Nice.
Also, Opale's about as experienced as Chauncer or Ibis, while being more mature than our newer recruits. She's the right pick for 2nd in command.
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 . . .?
There's only one person that it can be. Give it up for Mr. Joelle Chauncer, everybody.
"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."
Ooh, LoTR reference, I think.
Also, Chauncer's very sweet for remembering Maddie's birthday.
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."
Oh. That's why Bitterman was talking about when he responded to that comment about Maddie apologizing.
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.
Yay!
Also, Dreamwalker's very funny. Looks like he's trying his best to get a reroll on his d20 table.
"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."
Oh. That makes… a lot more sense than what we thought it was.
Name: Wild Speaker, Inmaculada Ruiz
Power: Mental Manipulation, Ally Empowerment
We can get x3 Mental Manipulation with this on. MM and Ally Empowerment also probably have some synergy. Might want to see if we can ask that of Wolong.
Name: Epoxy, Chung Hye-Jin
Power: Fundamental Force Manipulation
Faction: SLAYERS
Potency: 5
Holy moly! Five cost Fundamental Force! Say that five times fast.
Sweet, now getting double or even triple Synergied heroes should be easier.
Name: The Giant Slayer, Abigail Reyes
Power: Transmutation, Enhanced Strength
Faction: SLAYERS
Potency: 8
Looks like Transmutation wasn't just a SM added keyword— it was a Synergy! Are all the powers SM can add synergies? Hmm…
Also. No complaints about skyscraper-sword lady.
Damn you Leviathan, we could have had the best power couple of all time between her and Opale. DAMN YOU!!!!
Devious purple. No complaints from me here on the color choice.
"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 Merola Morales may not have the best health, but she's definitely got one hell of a dating game.
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.
One with significant consequences.
Uh oh. It's America.
I'll be back with some combos for our new powers in five minutes! (Or maybe I'll be back tomorrow. It's getting late.)
)