10. A Dad's Duty
- Location
- Ohio
Daniel Hebert had always considered himself to be an average man. All throughout his life as well as his own reckoning he had never been particularly important or impressive. He graduated from a local high school with decently above average grades, which had allowed him to get a minor scholarship from the local college.
He applied himself well, not excelling but keeping a B average in all his classes. In the end he graduated with a business degree to advance himself to any local companies.
While he himself had been an average student it was his time in college that really changed his life. A local girl named Annette had shared enough interest that they had started dating. She might not have been considered a stunning beauty but she had always taken his breath away. There had been some minor issues about gender roles and a hiccup with a local feminist cape that had come up. They had both had a long discussion about what they wanted in a relationship and found that their ideas were quite compatible. There were of course some clashing and disagreements but reasonable compromises were worked out and they grew as a loving couple. In the end they were partners, sharing each other and were happy together. Their love was never anything that legends were made of but that didn't matter to them.
Marriage came and soon after they were pleased that they would be adding another to their family. The pregnancy was hard as well as the delivery and they both decided to be content with only one child. Danny, Annette and their new baby Taylor might not live like a sitcom family but they were happy.
With both Danny and Annette working they were able to secure a life without excess debt or troubles, a respectable income from both partners had placed them in a comfortable, middle or upper middle income family. He was content, that was until tragedy had disrupted Daniel's life.
With his wife gone he was lost. It was only after his wife had died did Danny really understand how much he had shared, and how much of him was now missing. They were stronger together, and without her, he was less than half of what remained.
It wasn't just the little things that really expressed how shattered he was. She had always been the cook and he was fine cleaning after. He had been happy working overtime as she would take care of home and finances. They were complete together, and without her; he himself was lost.
In his depression Danny didn't know how badly he had withdrawn, how much he was leaving his daughter to fend for herself. It was only after something bad happened to his daughter did he reflect on how pathetic he had become, how badly he had failed the greatest thing left in his life.
If things had been left as they were he would have continued being pathetic, his shame causing him to withdraw in fear of doing something worse. Luckily his loving daughter would not allow him to fold in on himself and with her new powers had shattered the melancholy he had been trapped in.
He didn't know exactly what Taylor had done to him but he was very grateful, it felt like he had his edge back. He had already found that he was waking up at least an hour before his alarm went off, he was drinking less and overall just felt good.
As for Taylor he was concerned for her and he was determined to help. While she had blossomed in grace and power that didn't mean that she didn't need a father, and if need be he would protect her with everything he had left.
He had just gotten off the phone with his lawyer, his lawyer had connections to the cops, the cops had connections to the local news, the news had connection to the schools board. In the end the school board knew that they were over the barrel and were willing to settle. Eventually the local evening news had a segment that would likely force the school board to make an attempt to settle. As he sat down he made a mental note to get a new television as theirs was still an old CRT. It was functional but he would be ashamed to have friends over to watch any sort of game.
With a push of the remote he flipped to the correct channel and waited. After waiting though a few minutes watching commercials the jingle of the channel 7 news came on.
"Good afternoon Brockton Bay I'm Michael Ericson." The news anchor in a crisp dark blue suit greeted.
"And I'm Katie Miller." The pretty blond co-anchor echoed. "In our top story it seems like the bay has become a bit more whimsical as two new capes were seen being escorted around the boardwalk by our very own Gallant and Miss Militia."
The news continued to go on chit chatting excitedly showing plenty of pictures and video clips of Aegina and Taylor. Both girls were extremely photogenic and every video showed shots of the two girls. The camera showed them in a bit of shaky cam, the girl's while not pressed they were always followed by a crowd.
There was a video clip that his lawyer would be most interested in. In the clip Taylor eloquently gave a concise explanation of recent events. She thanked the PRT, and Protectorate for their generosity allowing her to purchase a new wardrobe after her power induced changes. Danny was quite amazed at his daughter's skill at wordcraft as she verbally tore the staff and administration of Winslow a new one. Her tone and word choice were so subtle and gentle that Taylor could only be seen in the best of light, but she still harshly condemned Winslow. He wouldn't be surprised if someone burnt down what was left of the school, because it was surely a pit of corruption led by malefactors and idiots.
The news had a few clips of Aegina and the petite bright haired fae dazzled everyone each time she spoke. While all of Aegina's answers were much shorter than Taylor's she had a vibrant shyness to her actions that were both withdrawn and teasing. Danny was certain that any newly printed dictionaries would use a picture of her for the definition of coquette.
As the news channel moved on to its next story Danny threaded his fingers together and placed them under his chin. While he had always desired to protect his daughter that desire suddenly took on a renewed fiery strength as it started to sink in just at how imposing a task protecting her would be.
The news continued for a while as his feelings stewed within him.
He was slightly distracted from his dark thoughts as the door to the basement opened and he turned to see his daughter coming up. He took a few moments to really examine her so that he could really get a sense of her. She was wearing a black button up long sleeve shirt with a black and green flannel pleated skirt that ended right above her knees. She had taken to almost exclusively wearing a dress or skirt since her changes. It was unlike what she would usually wear and it gave him something else to worry about.
Having been a young boy himself once there were certain things that would draw the eyes of the male population. Taylor was stunning in anything, and while a tight pair of jeans had their charms; there was always something about a lady in a dress.
He didn't want to be an overbearing father, but his instinct to protect his little girl was sounding red alert.
"Hey dad." Taylor said with a curious look on her beautiful face. "Is something wrong?"
"Not really, just thinking." He grumbled. "And reminding myself of something I need to do."
"Alright, if you say so." She said as she sat down on the couch. "So anyway, I hope you don't mind but I completed a ritual circle in the basement."
It took Danny a moment to wrap his mind around that statement before he remembered that she did warn him to be prepared for weird stuff. "No human sacrifices in the house."
"Understood." Taylor nodded. "Beside human sacrifices is a backup plan only if things are going very very badly."
Danny laughed, but instantly cut himself off when he recalled his daughter's condition of only speaking the truth.
Clearing his throat he decided it was best to change the subject. "You and Aegina were just on the news."
"I thought that there would be something like that. Fame will be something that will only help me after all." She said as she played with a lock of her hair twisting it around a finger.
"Are you planning on doing more publicity stunts?"
"Reminding people about Fairies is very important." Taylor replied. "After all, belief or faith has a sort of special power to it. It also has an odd interaction with fairies, or at least the weaker of fae creatures. I'm not sure if there are any left but the weakest of our kind could actually be harmed by disbelief."
"Wait, like the whole I don't belie-." Danny started before cutting himself off. "That could kill?"
"Disbelief rarely caused enough harm to be fatal, and I'm far too powerful to be affected." She answered with a dismissive toss of her hair. "However, the inverse is what I am seeking. Belief in fairies would make us more powerful, or at least give us more to work with to power our magic."
"Alright I guess. Maybe I'm getting better at this because that only sounded slightly crazy." He sighed. "So any plans to boost your fame?"
"Yes, and I was wanting to run an idea by you." Taylor said as she crossed her legs and leaned back comfortably. "I have been thinking of an opportunity here in the bay that is low risk with potentially massive rewards. May I ask for your opinion of Uber and Leet."
For a moment Danny was slightly taken back by the question, then his first instinct was to tell her to stay away from the video game duo. Eventually he took a while and really gave the question his consideration. The two capes were somewhat newcomers to Brockton Bay. The PRT said that they were villains but they never did anything close to what the E88 or ABB did. They mostly seemed to focus on their video streams where they tried to reproduce ideas from popular video games. As such they had a long list of crimes such as theft, destruction of property, disturbing the peace, and a decent number of assaults and battery.
When they weren't being a menace, they were a joke because of the humorous malfunctions of their Tinkertech. There were however a few cases of them being very entertaining.
"I think that they are the least villainous of the villains in the city, and that if they weren't so foolish they might be entertaining or perhaps able to do some good." Danny grumbled.
Taylor smiled, her expression seemingly brightening the room. "I agree. They could become so much more if they had some wisdom. She said, the last word seemed to have some sort of extra weight to it.
"I like stories." Taylor continued. "Honestly, who doesn't like a good story? Uber and Leet seem to already know that video games are an excellent medium for telling a good story. Even if they fail they are at least trying. There is a particular story that they have already recognized that I would like to focus on."
"What story?" Danny asked.
"A classic, the type of story that has long been told even before video games were even considered." She answered. "The story tells of a land in turmoil, of a wise princess that had been captured by an evil powerful king. The only hope for the land rested with a courageous hero that could defeat the evil king and rescue the princess."
"Yeah that sounds pretty classic." Danny agreed, although he seemed to sense some sort of catch. "I'm sure that it would have a happy ending with the hero and princess being together happily ever after."
"Well perhaps, although nothing is certain." Taylor shrugged. "Anyway, as often as I hear a good classic story. I can enjoy a good twist to change things up. For example what would happen if a threat from outside was even worse than the land's internal conflict. Something that needed the powerful king, the wise princess and the courageous hero to put aside their differences in order to act as one to defeat a greater foe."
"Sounds interesting, but what does that have to do with Uber and Leet?" He asked, trying to understand where his daughter was going.
"Well you see they provide a great opportunity. For one they are already established creating videos, and have a large following even if they don't have the greatest reputation. There is some experimentation that I want to do with creating some magical artifacts that I think they could help with." Taylor answered as she smoothed a pleat on her skirt. "Then there's also the fact that I think I could make some alterations to their powers."
That caused Danny to almost choke on his spit. Capes that messed with other cape's powers were all well known for good reason. Every Trump cape that he could think of that either granted, nullified, stole, or altered other powers were all well known or feared villains. If Taylor could make small changes to other cape's powers that put her in the realm of Teacher, Hatchet Face and– Glaistig Uaine. Danny took a few moments to think of all the complications that could arise between that cape and his daughter.
"Taylor, does anyone else know about this?" Danny asked in a whisper.
"No." Taylor answered. "It's something that I am not really familiar with. This isn't fairy magic, or at least not entirely."
"I don't understand." He said with a pause.
"I don't understand entirely either." Taylor said with a shrug. "Parahuman powers are sort of alive but not really as we would understand it. Anyway, if they're alive then that opens up some opportunities."
Danny rubbed at his head in irritation. "This sounds like some very dangerous stuff Taylor. I know you said that you're powerful, but I don't want to see you get hurt. Even if whatever you want to happen with Uber and Leet goes as you planned; great. However, please consider the consequences if it goes bad."
"I have considered it, and as I said the reward versus risk are heavily in my favor." Taylor began to explain. "As they are right now they are lower powered parahumans with a bad reputation. If things go well I get many things that I want. If things go poorly I am confident that I can easily deal with them, and they're low profile enough that no one is going to search for them if perhaps they go missing in the feywilds for an extended time. However, I don't think that it will take much convincing for them to work with me. After all, isn't it true that men would do almost anything for a pretty face?"
His daughter smiled at him in a way that drew him in and caused everything else to fade away. Taylor took after Annette in all the best ways, and had a smile that said that everything was going to be just fine. Danny felt a huge desire to get a camera, but that would mean that he would have to look away. Besides, a photo wouldn't be able to capture the perfect beauty that his daughter personified. He felt an even stronger desire to protect his daughter from anyone else because of course they would be unworthy of her.
He wasn't sure how long he stared at his daughter but Danny was eventually forced to blink and the spell seemed to break. "Don't do that again." He commanded and pleaded in the same sentence.
"I make no promises. You should be prepared for glamours like that in case Aegina or Loreley foolishly decide to become a bit too mischievous." She replied, a mix of humor and warning in her tone.
The stressed patriarch growled. "Please don't, I felt like wrapping you in bubble wrap and keeping you in a tall tower. If you did that to some teenage boy.." He trailed off not really wanting to think exactly what hormonal boys would want to do with his daughter."
"Don't worry too much father." She said with a laugh, and a small green circular symbol appeared above her palm. A moment later a foot and a half tongue of fire lit up the room with flickering light. "After all I have much better things than a large stick to beat off any would be admirers."
"Fine." Danny growled only slightly placated. He brooded for a little longer until Taylor sat down on the arm of his chair and leaned into him for a hug.
"I love you." She said with a squeeze that he was able to return after getting his arms around her middle. "Even with all the changes, and magic, and everything I'm so glad that we're able to be like this. I missed you."
Danny softly rubbed his daughter's back, he didn't need an explanation as to why she might have missed him. "I love you too, my little owl, and I trust you. It's just, please be careful and ask if there's some way I can help." He said as he gently pushed her back, breaking the hug.
"Actually there is something that you can help with." His daughter replied in a light tone. "I recently made a deal with a large number of crows. They're why I know where to find Uber and Leet. Anyway it would be great if you could help me keep them fed and happy when they show up here."
"What do crows like to eat?" Danny asked. There was a certain laissez-faire feeling about his daughter, the Fairy Queen making animal friends.
"They're omnivores, so fruits and seeds. Although I expect they would particularly enjoy some feeder insects from the pet store as a treat." She shrugged.
"Simple enough."
"So back to Uber and Leet. If everything goes as planned I am going to bring them here for a little while." She said returning to her chair. "You don't need to prepare anything for them, and they won't be staying long."
"Alright, anything I should expect?" Danny asked.
"The unexpected." She said with a smirk and promptly closed her eyes and held her hands over her ears.
A second later the basement door opened and out stepped a copy of Taylor except this version of this version of his daughter sported long blond hair.
"Hey dad, did you expect this?" Her smile was bright and mischievous.
It took him a few moments to gather his thoughts as he looked between the two versions of his daughter. "I was more expecting the Spanish Inquisition." He said with a sigh.
"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" A voice cried from down in the basement.
"Is that?" Danny grumbled.
"Yes, no need to worry. If you're quiet and watch, most of your questions will be answered."
With a wave of his hand he assented to watching his daughter work.
"Alright you two can come up." She called and footsteps sounded from the basement stairs and the faces of two masked men appeared. He easily recognized them as the video game duo, the muscular figure of Uber stepping out first followed by the wary shorter form of Leet.
"As I said we are one day in the past, if you like you may call me Princess Zelda and as per our agreement you owe me a Master Sword.
"What, I only said that because you said we would use it for another video." Leet whinged. "Also you said I would get it back."
"I said we would use it in a video, and that you could get it back afterward." Taylor said firmly, as she held out her hand expectantly. Leet grimaced down at her hand not yet reaching for the purple handle of a sword visible from behind his back.
Uber, who had been rapidly typing into his phone, spoke up. "She's right, there's something odd with my phone. That date says it's yesterday, but my chat log seems glitched. How the hell did you even pull this off?" He asked, looking around his eyes lingering on the form of Taylor that still sat on the couch with her eyes closed.
"Universal rules aren't set in stone for me, a day back in time is easy as long as I avoid paradoxes, and even those can be worked around. Like your phone gets a signal and knows its today but glitches with the internal memory thinks it should be tomorrow." She held out her hand as Leet grudgingly handed her the ornate sword that had been slung across his back. She gingerly took the sword and she touched the handle and a smirk appeared on her face. "Oh, it's not an iron alloy."
"Yeah, no normal metal would be worthy of The Master Sword." Leet said proudly, then his face took on an uncertain look. "It's made out of an uh, its- Hell I can't really remember, call it unobtainium or maybe hyruleium; yeah that sounds better. What are you going to do with it?"
"When I'm done with it, I hope it will truly be worthy of its namesake." Blonde Taylor said as she swiftly moved around opening cabinets and setting things on the counter. They all took a few moments to watch as she filled up a mop bucket from the sink, pulled a lighter from a drawer and tested it before setting it down.
"Dad, do we have any charcoal?" She asked as she pulled out a blue cylindrical pound container of salt.
"I think there's an old bag of barbeque briquettes in the garage, they might be slightly damp.
"So listen." Taylor called as she went into the laundry room and returned with a bottle of bleach. "I think we would really benefit if we worked together some more. After all, I think I would be able to help you both."
"Help us how?" Uber asked as his eye followed her with a shrewd look.
"Well, I have a secret and if you promise not to share or speak of it with anyone that isn't here I will tell you."
"Ok, I guess capes are well known for keeping secrets." Uber said.
"I need you both to promise."
The cape duo glanced at each other for a few moments and eventually turned together. "We promise." They said together.
Taylor's face took on a gentle smile. "The secret is that I'm what the PRT would call a Trump, and I can grant power. Take you for example Uber, skilled at anything you choose, but you lack power." She then turned toward the other cape.
"For you I might be able to make it so that you can repair Tinkertech, but what you really need is some courage." A light seemed to appear from Leet's eyes as he glanced over at his partner. "Then with my wisdom we could do great things."
"Dude." Uber breathed glancing at his friend for a few moments and they seemed to have a silent conversation before he turned back to the blonde Taylor. "You're not playing with us, you can grant and alter powers."
"Why do you think I am playing with you? I haven't tried it yet, but I am speaking the truth."
"Also courage isn't isn't really a power, how would you give me courage?" Leet asked.
"I said that what you really need is courage, and that isn't something that can be given. If it's given then it's not really courage. I have a friend that would be able to help you gain some courage." She smiled in a way that was both beautiful and terrifying. "If you can gain courage, then you might be worthy of the sword."
Leet opened his mouth a few times before Uber put a hand on his shoulder. "Can we think about it for a bit? We'd also need more details."
"Think about it as long as you want." She said as she walked past them and toward the basement door. "Speaking of time I need to get you back when you belong."
Taylor took a few moments gathering Uber and Leet and shepheadring them back into the basement. "Dad please don't come down to the basement until I come out myself." Taylor said as she moved back to the counter before gathering all the items she had collected.
"Which you?" Danny sighed, as he looked between the two Taylors that he could see.
"Oh yes, me. Well when I am downstairs simply tell me that everything is good to go." Taylor said, pointing back towards herself then toward herself sitting on the couch. It took her less than a minute to take all of the things downstairs and she closed the door. "See you when you catch up."
Getting out of his chair Danny waked over to the basement door and listened, when he didn't hear anything he walked up to the temporally correct Taylor and shook her shoulder. "You're gone."
"Oh good." She said as she stood up and reached for her new shoes that were beside the door.
"Do I need to be concerned about the time-space continuum?" He questioned.
"No I don't think so, time travel is a tricky business but even then I would have to intentionally try and tear a hole in the fabric of reality; even then a pesky paradox would likely only harm myself." She said, reaching for the door. "You already know when you should see me next. I gotta go because I have a schedule."
As she left Danny stuck his head out the door and called. "Bye, have fun messing with the laws of the universe." After shutting the door he walked to his chair and collapsed into it.
Groaning, he rubbed at his face. Taylor had warned him that being mad would help. However it seemed that his brain was still trying its best to make some sort of sense out of the nonsense that had been flying his way hot and fast. A headache was starting to build behind his eyes as he tried to make sense of his situation. Finding nothing to really grasp on to, he defaulted to his more basic instincts; he needed to protect his daughter.
Heading up stairs he went to his room and went into the back of his closet. Grasping a long black padded case with a zipper he opened a family heirloom.
Three zips sounded before the content of the cloth case was revealed, inside was an old wood and steel weapon. It was passed down from father to son until it eventually ended up in Danny's care.
Reaching over to grab a small can of WD-40 he spayed a liberal amount into a rag before passing the wet rag along the weapon that had been passed to him. There was a bit of rust and tarnish, but with the lubricant he could clearly see the markings on the barrel that read WINCHESTER 12 GA. Soon after more stamped markings were visible, MODEL 1897.
Daniel Hebert began a slow, almost meditative process of caring for his family heirloom. As powerful as his daughter was he would do everything in his power to protect what was dear to him.
He applied himself well, not excelling but keeping a B average in all his classes. In the end he graduated with a business degree to advance himself to any local companies.
While he himself had been an average student it was his time in college that really changed his life. A local girl named Annette had shared enough interest that they had started dating. She might not have been considered a stunning beauty but she had always taken his breath away. There had been some minor issues about gender roles and a hiccup with a local feminist cape that had come up. They had both had a long discussion about what they wanted in a relationship and found that their ideas were quite compatible. There were of course some clashing and disagreements but reasonable compromises were worked out and they grew as a loving couple. In the end they were partners, sharing each other and were happy together. Their love was never anything that legends were made of but that didn't matter to them.
Marriage came and soon after they were pleased that they would be adding another to their family. The pregnancy was hard as well as the delivery and they both decided to be content with only one child. Danny, Annette and their new baby Taylor might not live like a sitcom family but they were happy.
With both Danny and Annette working they were able to secure a life without excess debt or troubles, a respectable income from both partners had placed them in a comfortable, middle or upper middle income family. He was content, that was until tragedy had disrupted Daniel's life.
With his wife gone he was lost. It was only after his wife had died did Danny really understand how much he had shared, and how much of him was now missing. They were stronger together, and without her, he was less than half of what remained.
It wasn't just the little things that really expressed how shattered he was. She had always been the cook and he was fine cleaning after. He had been happy working overtime as she would take care of home and finances. They were complete together, and without her; he himself was lost.
In his depression Danny didn't know how badly he had withdrawn, how much he was leaving his daughter to fend for herself. It was only after something bad happened to his daughter did he reflect on how pathetic he had become, how badly he had failed the greatest thing left in his life.
If things had been left as they were he would have continued being pathetic, his shame causing him to withdraw in fear of doing something worse. Luckily his loving daughter would not allow him to fold in on himself and with her new powers had shattered the melancholy he had been trapped in.
He didn't know exactly what Taylor had done to him but he was very grateful, it felt like he had his edge back. He had already found that he was waking up at least an hour before his alarm went off, he was drinking less and overall just felt good.
As for Taylor he was concerned for her and he was determined to help. While she had blossomed in grace and power that didn't mean that she didn't need a father, and if need be he would protect her with everything he had left.
He had just gotten off the phone with his lawyer, his lawyer had connections to the cops, the cops had connections to the local news, the news had connection to the schools board. In the end the school board knew that they were over the barrel and were willing to settle. Eventually the local evening news had a segment that would likely force the school board to make an attempt to settle. As he sat down he made a mental note to get a new television as theirs was still an old CRT. It was functional but he would be ashamed to have friends over to watch any sort of game.
With a push of the remote he flipped to the correct channel and waited. After waiting though a few minutes watching commercials the jingle of the channel 7 news came on.
"Good afternoon Brockton Bay I'm Michael Ericson." The news anchor in a crisp dark blue suit greeted.
"And I'm Katie Miller." The pretty blond co-anchor echoed. "In our top story it seems like the bay has become a bit more whimsical as two new capes were seen being escorted around the boardwalk by our very own Gallant and Miss Militia."
The news continued to go on chit chatting excitedly showing plenty of pictures and video clips of Aegina and Taylor. Both girls were extremely photogenic and every video showed shots of the two girls. The camera showed them in a bit of shaky cam, the girl's while not pressed they were always followed by a crowd.
There was a video clip that his lawyer would be most interested in. In the clip Taylor eloquently gave a concise explanation of recent events. She thanked the PRT, and Protectorate for their generosity allowing her to purchase a new wardrobe after her power induced changes. Danny was quite amazed at his daughter's skill at wordcraft as she verbally tore the staff and administration of Winslow a new one. Her tone and word choice were so subtle and gentle that Taylor could only be seen in the best of light, but she still harshly condemned Winslow. He wouldn't be surprised if someone burnt down what was left of the school, because it was surely a pit of corruption led by malefactors and idiots.
The news had a few clips of Aegina and the petite bright haired fae dazzled everyone each time she spoke. While all of Aegina's answers were much shorter than Taylor's she had a vibrant shyness to her actions that were both withdrawn and teasing. Danny was certain that any newly printed dictionaries would use a picture of her for the definition of coquette.
As the news channel moved on to its next story Danny threaded his fingers together and placed them under his chin. While he had always desired to protect his daughter that desire suddenly took on a renewed fiery strength as it started to sink in just at how imposing a task protecting her would be.
The news continued for a while as his feelings stewed within him.
He was slightly distracted from his dark thoughts as the door to the basement opened and he turned to see his daughter coming up. He took a few moments to really examine her so that he could really get a sense of her. She was wearing a black button up long sleeve shirt with a black and green flannel pleated skirt that ended right above her knees. She had taken to almost exclusively wearing a dress or skirt since her changes. It was unlike what she would usually wear and it gave him something else to worry about.
Having been a young boy himself once there were certain things that would draw the eyes of the male population. Taylor was stunning in anything, and while a tight pair of jeans had their charms; there was always something about a lady in a dress.
He didn't want to be an overbearing father, but his instinct to protect his little girl was sounding red alert.
"Hey dad." Taylor said with a curious look on her beautiful face. "Is something wrong?"
"Not really, just thinking." He grumbled. "And reminding myself of something I need to do."
"Alright, if you say so." She said as she sat down on the couch. "So anyway, I hope you don't mind but I completed a ritual circle in the basement."
It took Danny a moment to wrap his mind around that statement before he remembered that she did warn him to be prepared for weird stuff. "No human sacrifices in the house."
"Understood." Taylor nodded. "Beside human sacrifices is a backup plan only if things are going very very badly."
Danny laughed, but instantly cut himself off when he recalled his daughter's condition of only speaking the truth.
Clearing his throat he decided it was best to change the subject. "You and Aegina were just on the news."
"I thought that there would be something like that. Fame will be something that will only help me after all." She said as she played with a lock of her hair twisting it around a finger.
"Are you planning on doing more publicity stunts?"
"Reminding people about Fairies is very important." Taylor replied. "After all, belief or faith has a sort of special power to it. It also has an odd interaction with fairies, or at least the weaker of fae creatures. I'm not sure if there are any left but the weakest of our kind could actually be harmed by disbelief."
"Wait, like the whole I don't belie-." Danny started before cutting himself off. "That could kill?"
"Disbelief rarely caused enough harm to be fatal, and I'm far too powerful to be affected." She answered with a dismissive toss of her hair. "However, the inverse is what I am seeking. Belief in fairies would make us more powerful, or at least give us more to work with to power our magic."
"Alright I guess. Maybe I'm getting better at this because that only sounded slightly crazy." He sighed. "So any plans to boost your fame?"
"Yes, and I was wanting to run an idea by you." Taylor said as she crossed her legs and leaned back comfortably. "I have been thinking of an opportunity here in the bay that is low risk with potentially massive rewards. May I ask for your opinion of Uber and Leet."
For a moment Danny was slightly taken back by the question, then his first instinct was to tell her to stay away from the video game duo. Eventually he took a while and really gave the question his consideration. The two capes were somewhat newcomers to Brockton Bay. The PRT said that they were villains but they never did anything close to what the E88 or ABB did. They mostly seemed to focus on their video streams where they tried to reproduce ideas from popular video games. As such they had a long list of crimes such as theft, destruction of property, disturbing the peace, and a decent number of assaults and battery.
When they weren't being a menace, they were a joke because of the humorous malfunctions of their Tinkertech. There were however a few cases of them being very entertaining.
"I think that they are the least villainous of the villains in the city, and that if they weren't so foolish they might be entertaining or perhaps able to do some good." Danny grumbled.
Taylor smiled, her expression seemingly brightening the room. "I agree. They could become so much more if they had some wisdom. She said, the last word seemed to have some sort of extra weight to it.
"I like stories." Taylor continued. "Honestly, who doesn't like a good story? Uber and Leet seem to already know that video games are an excellent medium for telling a good story. Even if they fail they are at least trying. There is a particular story that they have already recognized that I would like to focus on."
"What story?" Danny asked.
"A classic, the type of story that has long been told even before video games were even considered." She answered. "The story tells of a land in turmoil, of a wise princess that had been captured by an evil powerful king. The only hope for the land rested with a courageous hero that could defeat the evil king and rescue the princess."
"Yeah that sounds pretty classic." Danny agreed, although he seemed to sense some sort of catch. "I'm sure that it would have a happy ending with the hero and princess being together happily ever after."
"Well perhaps, although nothing is certain." Taylor shrugged. "Anyway, as often as I hear a good classic story. I can enjoy a good twist to change things up. For example what would happen if a threat from outside was even worse than the land's internal conflict. Something that needed the powerful king, the wise princess and the courageous hero to put aside their differences in order to act as one to defeat a greater foe."
"Sounds interesting, but what does that have to do with Uber and Leet?" He asked, trying to understand where his daughter was going.
"Well you see they provide a great opportunity. For one they are already established creating videos, and have a large following even if they don't have the greatest reputation. There is some experimentation that I want to do with creating some magical artifacts that I think they could help with." Taylor answered as she smoothed a pleat on her skirt. "Then there's also the fact that I think I could make some alterations to their powers."
That caused Danny to almost choke on his spit. Capes that messed with other cape's powers were all well known for good reason. Every Trump cape that he could think of that either granted, nullified, stole, or altered other powers were all well known or feared villains. If Taylor could make small changes to other cape's powers that put her in the realm of Teacher, Hatchet Face and– Glaistig Uaine. Danny took a few moments to think of all the complications that could arise between that cape and his daughter.
"Taylor, does anyone else know about this?" Danny asked in a whisper.
"No." Taylor answered. "It's something that I am not really familiar with. This isn't fairy magic, or at least not entirely."
"I don't understand." He said with a pause.
"I don't understand entirely either." Taylor said with a shrug. "Parahuman powers are sort of alive but not really as we would understand it. Anyway, if they're alive then that opens up some opportunities."
Danny rubbed at his head in irritation. "This sounds like some very dangerous stuff Taylor. I know you said that you're powerful, but I don't want to see you get hurt. Even if whatever you want to happen with Uber and Leet goes as you planned; great. However, please consider the consequences if it goes bad."
"I have considered it, and as I said the reward versus risk are heavily in my favor." Taylor began to explain. "As they are right now they are lower powered parahumans with a bad reputation. If things go well I get many things that I want. If things go poorly I am confident that I can easily deal with them, and they're low profile enough that no one is going to search for them if perhaps they go missing in the feywilds for an extended time. However, I don't think that it will take much convincing for them to work with me. After all, isn't it true that men would do almost anything for a pretty face?"
His daughter smiled at him in a way that drew him in and caused everything else to fade away. Taylor took after Annette in all the best ways, and had a smile that said that everything was going to be just fine. Danny felt a huge desire to get a camera, but that would mean that he would have to look away. Besides, a photo wouldn't be able to capture the perfect beauty that his daughter personified. He felt an even stronger desire to protect his daughter from anyone else because of course they would be unworthy of her.
He wasn't sure how long he stared at his daughter but Danny was eventually forced to blink and the spell seemed to break. "Don't do that again." He commanded and pleaded in the same sentence.
"I make no promises. You should be prepared for glamours like that in case Aegina or Loreley foolishly decide to become a bit too mischievous." She replied, a mix of humor and warning in her tone.
The stressed patriarch growled. "Please don't, I felt like wrapping you in bubble wrap and keeping you in a tall tower. If you did that to some teenage boy.." He trailed off not really wanting to think exactly what hormonal boys would want to do with his daughter."
"Don't worry too much father." She said with a laugh, and a small green circular symbol appeared above her palm. A moment later a foot and a half tongue of fire lit up the room with flickering light. "After all I have much better things than a large stick to beat off any would be admirers."
"Fine." Danny growled only slightly placated. He brooded for a little longer until Taylor sat down on the arm of his chair and leaned into him for a hug.
"I love you." She said with a squeeze that he was able to return after getting his arms around her middle. "Even with all the changes, and magic, and everything I'm so glad that we're able to be like this. I missed you."
Danny softly rubbed his daughter's back, he didn't need an explanation as to why she might have missed him. "I love you too, my little owl, and I trust you. It's just, please be careful and ask if there's some way I can help." He said as he gently pushed her back, breaking the hug.
"Actually there is something that you can help with." His daughter replied in a light tone. "I recently made a deal with a large number of crows. They're why I know where to find Uber and Leet. Anyway it would be great if you could help me keep them fed and happy when they show up here."
"What do crows like to eat?" Danny asked. There was a certain laissez-faire feeling about his daughter, the Fairy Queen making animal friends.
"They're omnivores, so fruits and seeds. Although I expect they would particularly enjoy some feeder insects from the pet store as a treat." She shrugged.
"Simple enough."
"So back to Uber and Leet. If everything goes as planned I am going to bring them here for a little while." She said returning to her chair. "You don't need to prepare anything for them, and they won't be staying long."
"Alright, anything I should expect?" Danny asked.
"The unexpected." She said with a smirk and promptly closed her eyes and held her hands over her ears.
A second later the basement door opened and out stepped a copy of Taylor except this version of this version of his daughter sported long blond hair.
"Hey dad, did you expect this?" Her smile was bright and mischievous.
It took him a few moments to gather his thoughts as he looked between the two versions of his daughter. "I was more expecting the Spanish Inquisition." He said with a sigh.
"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" A voice cried from down in the basement.
"Is that?" Danny grumbled.
"Yes, no need to worry. If you're quiet and watch, most of your questions will be answered."
With a wave of his hand he assented to watching his daughter work.
"Alright you two can come up." She called and footsteps sounded from the basement stairs and the faces of two masked men appeared. He easily recognized them as the video game duo, the muscular figure of Uber stepping out first followed by the wary shorter form of Leet.
"As I said we are one day in the past, if you like you may call me Princess Zelda and as per our agreement you owe me a Master Sword.
"What, I only said that because you said we would use it for another video." Leet whinged. "Also you said I would get it back."
"I said we would use it in a video, and that you could get it back afterward." Taylor said firmly, as she held out her hand expectantly. Leet grimaced down at her hand not yet reaching for the purple handle of a sword visible from behind his back.
Uber, who had been rapidly typing into his phone, spoke up. "She's right, there's something odd with my phone. That date says it's yesterday, but my chat log seems glitched. How the hell did you even pull this off?" He asked, looking around his eyes lingering on the form of Taylor that still sat on the couch with her eyes closed.
"Universal rules aren't set in stone for me, a day back in time is easy as long as I avoid paradoxes, and even those can be worked around. Like your phone gets a signal and knows its today but glitches with the internal memory thinks it should be tomorrow." She held out her hand as Leet grudgingly handed her the ornate sword that had been slung across his back. She gingerly took the sword and she touched the handle and a smirk appeared on her face. "Oh, it's not an iron alloy."
"Yeah, no normal metal would be worthy of The Master Sword." Leet said proudly, then his face took on an uncertain look. "It's made out of an uh, its- Hell I can't really remember, call it unobtainium or maybe hyruleium; yeah that sounds better. What are you going to do with it?"
"When I'm done with it, I hope it will truly be worthy of its namesake." Blonde Taylor said as she swiftly moved around opening cabinets and setting things on the counter. They all took a few moments to watch as she filled up a mop bucket from the sink, pulled a lighter from a drawer and tested it before setting it down.
"Dad, do we have any charcoal?" She asked as she pulled out a blue cylindrical pound container of salt.
"I think there's an old bag of barbeque briquettes in the garage, they might be slightly damp.
"So listen." Taylor called as she went into the laundry room and returned with a bottle of bleach. "I think we would really benefit if we worked together some more. After all, I think I would be able to help you both."
"Help us how?" Uber asked as his eye followed her with a shrewd look.
"Well, I have a secret and if you promise not to share or speak of it with anyone that isn't here I will tell you."
"Ok, I guess capes are well known for keeping secrets." Uber said.
"I need you both to promise."
The cape duo glanced at each other for a few moments and eventually turned together. "We promise." They said together.
Taylor's face took on a gentle smile. "The secret is that I'm what the PRT would call a Trump, and I can grant power. Take you for example Uber, skilled at anything you choose, but you lack power." She then turned toward the other cape.
"For you I might be able to make it so that you can repair Tinkertech, but what you really need is some courage." A light seemed to appear from Leet's eyes as he glanced over at his partner. "Then with my wisdom we could do great things."
"Dude." Uber breathed glancing at his friend for a few moments and they seemed to have a silent conversation before he turned back to the blonde Taylor. "You're not playing with us, you can grant and alter powers."
"Why do you think I am playing with you? I haven't tried it yet, but I am speaking the truth."
"Also courage isn't isn't really a power, how would you give me courage?" Leet asked.
"I said that what you really need is courage, and that isn't something that can be given. If it's given then it's not really courage. I have a friend that would be able to help you gain some courage." She smiled in a way that was both beautiful and terrifying. "If you can gain courage, then you might be worthy of the sword."
Leet opened his mouth a few times before Uber put a hand on his shoulder. "Can we think about it for a bit? We'd also need more details."
"Think about it as long as you want." She said as she walked past them and toward the basement door. "Speaking of time I need to get you back when you belong."
Taylor took a few moments gathering Uber and Leet and shepheadring them back into the basement. "Dad please don't come down to the basement until I come out myself." Taylor said as she moved back to the counter before gathering all the items she had collected.
"Which you?" Danny sighed, as he looked between the two Taylors that he could see.
"Oh yes, me. Well when I am downstairs simply tell me that everything is good to go." Taylor said, pointing back towards herself then toward herself sitting on the couch. It took her less than a minute to take all of the things downstairs and she closed the door. "See you when you catch up."
Getting out of his chair Danny waked over to the basement door and listened, when he didn't hear anything he walked up to the temporally correct Taylor and shook her shoulder. "You're gone."
"Oh good." She said as she stood up and reached for her new shoes that were beside the door.
"Do I need to be concerned about the time-space continuum?" He questioned.
"No I don't think so, time travel is a tricky business but even then I would have to intentionally try and tear a hole in the fabric of reality; even then a pesky paradox would likely only harm myself." She said, reaching for the door. "You already know when you should see me next. I gotta go because I have a schedule."
As she left Danny stuck his head out the door and called. "Bye, have fun messing with the laws of the universe." After shutting the door he walked to his chair and collapsed into it.
Groaning, he rubbed at his face. Taylor had warned him that being mad would help. However it seemed that his brain was still trying its best to make some sort of sense out of the nonsense that had been flying his way hot and fast. A headache was starting to build behind his eyes as he tried to make sense of his situation. Finding nothing to really grasp on to, he defaulted to his more basic instincts; he needed to protect his daughter.
Heading up stairs he went to his room and went into the back of his closet. Grasping a long black padded case with a zipper he opened a family heirloom.
Three zips sounded before the content of the cloth case was revealed, inside was an old wood and steel weapon. It was passed down from father to son until it eventually ended up in Danny's care.
Reaching over to grab a small can of WD-40 he spayed a liberal amount into a rag before passing the wet rag along the weapon that had been passed to him. There was a bit of rust and tarnish, but with the lubricant he could clearly see the markings on the barrel that read WINCHESTER 12 GA. Soon after more stamped markings were visible, MODEL 1897.
Daniel Hebert began a slow, almost meditative process of caring for his family heirloom. As powerful as his daughter was he would do everything in his power to protect what was dear to him.
