Evonix
Aspiring Lovecraft antagonist.
- Location
- Canada to 2 sigmas
Fugly Bob's
Ring-Maker [Worm/Lord of the Rings Alt-Power] [Complete]
- Thread starter Lithos Maitreya
- Start date
- Crossover Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- Maine
- Pronouns
- They/Them/Theirs
"Everyone! Get in the car! We're going to Yellowstone!"
"Sorry, I'm not allowed back in national parks. I kinda... froze a geyser."
"HOW?"
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Interlude 8b: Alec
Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
Many thanks to @themanwhowas and @BeaconHill for betareading.
Many thanks to @MugaSofer for fact checking.
"Hey, Rachel."
Bitch gave Alec a slight glower as she passed him. He was on the couch of their little apartment/cell in Coil's base, prone and sprawled across the cushions, a controller in his hands and his eyes on the TV.
Bitch passed behind the couch without a word, whistling for her dogs as she approached the door of the little flat.
"Headed out?" he called.
"Yeah," she said.
"Where to?"
"Dunno. Job."
"Mm. See you."
She didn't answer. A moment later, he heard the door opening and closing behind her.
It had been less than a month since Leviathan's attack. It had been nearly as long since Alec had last been given a job by Coil.
He didn't really mind. He had a living space to himself—one where he didn't have to see that asshole Krouse very often, thank God—all of his creature comforts taken care of, and a stipend large enough to keep him plenty occupied. When he got really bored, he went out to help Bitch with her jobs, or hung out with one of the other Travelers. Never Krouse, though.
It wasn't bad, really, just sitting here on another man's dime.
Alec lazily threw the controller across the room and flopped onto his back. The game had been getting boring anyway. It really was much more interesting to count the cracks in the ceiling.
There weren't any. Coil kept the base in good shape.
Holy hell, I'm bored.
There was a knock on his door. "Come in!" he called.
It slid open, and the telltale whirring of powered wheels signaled the arrival. "Hey, Jess," he said.
"Alec. Bitch around?"
"Nah, just went out for a job."
The whirring stopped as Jess pulled her wheelchair up by his head. "You didn't go?"
"Didn't feel like it. You know he never tells me to go anymore."
"Yeah." A pause. "I'll be honest, I'm glad your power didn't work on the Wards."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Annatar's fucking scary."
Alec snorted, craning his neck slightly to look up at her face. "What are you, chicken? Is she too spooky? That'd be a good thing if I'd mastered her."
"I'm not so sure." Jess shook her head. "You know Krouse stole one of her modules this afternoon?"
"Really?"
"Yeah." Her lips were pursed.
"Something go wrong?"
She shook her head slowly. "He got the module to Coil, all fine. Except…" She glanced at his face. "Look, Krouse is… not a paragon of good judgement, right?"
"You don't say?" Alec's voice dripped with sarcasm.
Jess winced. "Still bitter?"
"He pulled a gun on me. Yeah, I'm bitter."
"He was trying to get you out of jail."
"Don't care. Fuck him."
Jess shook her head. "I don't know. I'm—doesn't matter. Point is, ever since he got back a couple hours ago, he's been… well. Weird."
"More than usual?"
"Way more. Muttering to himself, pacing, shivering. He keeps saying that it's cold."
"Turn up the heater."
"We did. It's fucking eighty in there. That's why I left. He's still shivering."
Alec blinked. "Huh. Tell him to ease back on the drugs?"
"Ha. Ha. He's not sick, as far as we can tell—no fever or anything. Marissa's trying to get him to rest, but he keeps ignoring her, or getting up to pace and mutter some more." She shuddered slightly. "I'll be honest, it's creeping me out."
"You're welcome to stay here until he gets over it. Or until, he snaps and kills everyone in there—whichever comes first."
She rolled her eyes and cuffed the top of his head. "Ass."
"What?" He gave an exaggerated shrug. "You were the one saying he's gone off the deep end."
She glowered down at him, but there was a slight upward quirk to her lips. "Yeah, but you're still an ass."
"A mighty fine ass, thank you very much."
She laughed. "In your dreams."
"Mighty fine dreams, too."
"I'm sure."
"Careful, there. Your eyes might come out if you roll them any harder."
"Nice of you to be concerned." Jess glanced down at her watch, then sighed. "I should get on my way. I was going to see Noelle, just thought I'd stop by on my way down. You want me to come by again later?"
"Do what you want," Alec shrugged. "I'll be here."
She glanced at him. Not for the first time, he wished he was better at reading faces. Anger, petulance, displeasure, fear—these he could recognize. Whatever was in Jess' face was less familiar. "Maybe I'll stop by," she said slowly. "Later, Alec."
"See ya."
Her wheelchair whirred as it carried her away until it was muffled by the closing door.
Alec shifted on the couch. He sighed. Maybe I should've gone with Bitch.
Jess hadn't ever asked him to come with her to meet Noelle. He didn't really know anything about the other girl—just that something was wrong with her powers, and that Coil had offered the Travelers a promise to help them heal her in exchange for their presence and help in the Bay. Privately, Alec didn't think much of the promise.
Then again, he was a hell of a cynic. Maybe it'd all work out? Either way, it wasn't really his problem.
His cell phone rang as he was reaching for his controller again. He grabbed the phone instead. "You speak to the Regent," he said airily. "Grovel, peasant."
"Nice to hear from you, too. How's Rachel?"
"Oh, you know, pissing all over the base to mark it as her own," said Alec easily, sitting up straight. "I think she misses you guys. How's Faultline, Tats?"
"Don't call me that."
"Would you prefer Ta-tas?"
"Ha. Ha. Funny. Alec, you don't have time for this."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "How do you figure?"
"Short version? Your father is in Brockton Bay, and Coil's promised to give him what he wants."
Alec missed being bored. The fear that drove like a spike into his heart was hot and sharp. "Me."
"Yes."
Alec closed his eyes. "Why should I believe you?"
"Because we were teammates? Because I wouldn't have gone to the effort of getting this number for a joke or prank? Because you don't trust Coil anyway? Because this is too fucking insane for me to be making it up?" Tattletale's voice was rising in what sounded like very real panic. "Take your pick—his mercs will be in your room in minutes."
Alec took a deep breath to steady himself. He'd been prepared for something like this, hadn't he? He had plans...which Coil probably already knew. Shit. "Okay. What do I do?"
"I've talked to Faultline. She'll shelter you. She doesn't want you doing jobs with us—you've got too much of a reputation, and your power doesn't work with our MO. But she's willing to try to keep you safe, and take you with us when we leave this shithole of a city."
"Why?" Alec asked blankly. "What does she want for it?"
Tattletale was silent for a moment. "Nothing from you," she said finally. "This is part of what she's paying me. Alec, you need to hurry."
Alec bit his lip. "Okay. Where do I meet you guys?"
"The Palanquin. It's a club. Get moving. You have about five minutes before they get there."
There was a click, and Tattletale was gone.
Alec stood. Five minutes, huh? Sorry, daddy dearest, I'm not ready to come home quite yet.
There wasn't a lot to pack. He just tossed a bit of food and a water bottle into a backpack and walked out the door.
Guess I won't be here if Jess comes back. He considered leaving a note, then thought better of it.
He wasn't stopped by the first mercenary he passed, nor the second. Then his phone rang, and he picked it up.
"Alec." It was Coil, but he sounded different. His voice was a little deeper than usual, and a touch louder. Alec had to focus to make himself keep walking as he held the phone to his ear.
"Hey, hey," Alec chided. "Regent. You don't know who might be listening."
"Alec. I have a job for you."
"Really? Someone you need mastered?"
"Yes. Come to my office at once. Please hurry."
"I'll be right there."
"Liar." Coil sighed audibly into the receiver. "Who was it? Did you master one of my men?"
"Nah. There's an idea, though. Wish I'd thought of it."
"Alec, whatever you heard, I'm open to—"
Regent hung up. He slipped his phone into his pocket and looked over at the mercs at the entrance to Coil's base. They were looking at him.
The entrance was a large room, like a hangar. The five men were in cover on the near side of a barbed-wire barricade, with a mobile gate in the center. That gate, Regent knew, was controlled from a booth behind which one of the men stood. On the far side of the room, the outer door which led from the base into the basement of some office building was waiting.
"So," he drawled. "This can go two ways."
"Boss says you aren't to leave," said the leader. "Sorry, kid."
"Either you step aside," Regent continued, stepping forward and hefting his baton. "Or I go through you."
"Don't be an idiot, kid," said the leader warningly. "There's five of us—"
"Six."
The captain blinked.
"Six," Regent said again. "There's one inside the booth."
The captain hesitated for a moment. "…Sure," he said. "Six. Your point?"
"Aren't you going to ask how I knew he was there?"
"Don't care. Turn around, kid."
"Regent," said Regent.
"And this is how I knew," he said through the mouth of the mercenary in the booth. Regent flexed the man's leg, lifting him up to look out the booth's windows, and pointed the man's guns out of them. Bullets flew.
The captain went down before he knew what was happening. Regent was no marksman, but hitting a stationary target at something like fifteen feet wasn't hard. He could feel the man struggling against him, could feel his horror and rage.
That's what you were going to send me back to, he thought. Only worse.
He dove into cover with his real body as his puppet continued to fire on the other mercs. The surprise was still keeping them from reacting well, but it wouldn't last much longer, especially given these guys' training. In that window, he managed to take out one more.
Two down, three to go.
Then he had to duck back into cover as the soldiers got their bearings back and began to fire. One was covering his mercenary in the booth, while the other two were firing on his cover. He could hear the bullets pinging off the wall.
He needed to draw their fire away. He had his mercenary pop up like a whack-a-mole and take a quick shot. He didn't hit anything, but it pulled their fire momentarily away from Regent, which was all he needed. Carefully, he ducked out from behind the wall, and reached out a hand to one of the men.
Sweat beaded on his brow as he tried to get a grip on the man's muscles. Hurry, he told himself. They'll look back here any second, and you'll be fucked.
The man's arm spasmed. The assault rifle turned spasmodically, and blew a hole into one of the other mercs. Three down.
Regent's puppet stood up at that moment, and shot down the merc Regent had used. The shots connected. Four down.
Unfortunately, the last merc took the opportunity, and struck Regent's ally in the shoulder. He ducked back down, and even secondhand the pain was hell.
Come on, I don't have all day. Reinforcements have got to be coming by now.
Regent gritted his teeth—both mouths of them. With two voices synchronized, he called out, "last chance, buddy. You're outnumbered now. Throw me the gun and I'll go without any more trouble."
Another spurt of gunfire against the concrete booth was all he got for his trouble.
Fucking fine.
With the soldier's body, he launched a spray of covering fire at the barricade behind which the man was ducking. With his own, he charged. Before the last merc knew what was happening, Regent was next to him. Before he could bring his gun up, the taser was in his face, and he was down.
Regent slammed the button to open the gate with the merc's body, and ran through it with his own, taking the stairs two at a time.
He sprinted until he was outside, resting against the building's back door. The stars flickered overhead. Regent blinked at them. It was hard to tell day from night in the base.
He sighed. Let his heart rate slow down a little bit.
He'd been trying to get his power onto as many of Coil's mercenaries as he could. The man was careful. He'd only managed to spend enough time close to a few of the mercenaries to be able to really master them if he needed to. He'd been really lucky that one of those few had been a guard at the gate. He couldn't count on luck like that again. For now, he had to get to the Palanquin.
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Many thanks to @MugaSofer for fact checking.
-x-x-x-
"Hey, Rachel."
Bitch gave Alec a slight glower as she passed him. He was on the couch of their little apartment/cell in Coil's base, prone and sprawled across the cushions, a controller in his hands and his eyes on the TV.
Bitch passed behind the couch without a word, whistling for her dogs as she approached the door of the little flat.
"Headed out?" he called.
"Yeah," she said.
"Where to?"
"Dunno. Job."
"Mm. See you."
She didn't answer. A moment later, he heard the door opening and closing behind her.
It had been less than a month since Leviathan's attack. It had been nearly as long since Alec had last been given a job by Coil.
He didn't really mind. He had a living space to himself—one where he didn't have to see that asshole Krouse very often, thank God—all of his creature comforts taken care of, and a stipend large enough to keep him plenty occupied. When he got really bored, he went out to help Bitch with her jobs, or hung out with one of the other Travelers. Never Krouse, though.
It wasn't bad, really, just sitting here on another man's dime.
Alec lazily threw the controller across the room and flopped onto his back. The game had been getting boring anyway. It really was much more interesting to count the cracks in the ceiling.
There weren't any. Coil kept the base in good shape.
Holy hell, I'm bored.
There was a knock on his door. "Come in!" he called.
It slid open, and the telltale whirring of powered wheels signaled the arrival. "Hey, Jess," he said.
"Alec. Bitch around?"
"Nah, just went out for a job."
The whirring stopped as Jess pulled her wheelchair up by his head. "You didn't go?"
"Didn't feel like it. You know he never tells me to go anymore."
"Yeah." A pause. "I'll be honest, I'm glad your power didn't work on the Wards."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Annatar's fucking scary."
Alec snorted, craning his neck slightly to look up at her face. "What are you, chicken? Is she too spooky? That'd be a good thing if I'd mastered her."
"I'm not so sure." Jess shook her head. "You know Krouse stole one of her modules this afternoon?"
"Really?"
"Yeah." Her lips were pursed.
"Something go wrong?"
She shook her head slowly. "He got the module to Coil, all fine. Except…" She glanced at his face. "Look, Krouse is… not a paragon of good judgement, right?"
"You don't say?" Alec's voice dripped with sarcasm.
Jess winced. "Still bitter?"
"He pulled a gun on me. Yeah, I'm bitter."
"He was trying to get you out of jail."
"Don't care. Fuck him."
Jess shook her head. "I don't know. I'm—doesn't matter. Point is, ever since he got back a couple hours ago, he's been… well. Weird."
"More than usual?"
"Way more. Muttering to himself, pacing, shivering. He keeps saying that it's cold."
"Turn up the heater."
"We did. It's fucking eighty in there. That's why I left. He's still shivering."
Alec blinked. "Huh. Tell him to ease back on the drugs?"
"Ha. Ha. He's not sick, as far as we can tell—no fever or anything. Marissa's trying to get him to rest, but he keeps ignoring her, or getting up to pace and mutter some more." She shuddered slightly. "I'll be honest, it's creeping me out."
"You're welcome to stay here until he gets over it. Or until, he snaps and kills everyone in there—whichever comes first."
She rolled her eyes and cuffed the top of his head. "Ass."
"What?" He gave an exaggerated shrug. "You were the one saying he's gone off the deep end."
She glowered down at him, but there was a slight upward quirk to her lips. "Yeah, but you're still an ass."
"A mighty fine ass, thank you very much."
She laughed. "In your dreams."
"Mighty fine dreams, too."
"I'm sure."
"Careful, there. Your eyes might come out if you roll them any harder."
"Nice of you to be concerned." Jess glanced down at her watch, then sighed. "I should get on my way. I was going to see Noelle, just thought I'd stop by on my way down. You want me to come by again later?"
"Do what you want," Alec shrugged. "I'll be here."
She glanced at him. Not for the first time, he wished he was better at reading faces. Anger, petulance, displeasure, fear—these he could recognize. Whatever was in Jess' face was less familiar. "Maybe I'll stop by," she said slowly. "Later, Alec."
"See ya."
Her wheelchair whirred as it carried her away until it was muffled by the closing door.
Alec shifted on the couch. He sighed. Maybe I should've gone with Bitch.
Jess hadn't ever asked him to come with her to meet Noelle. He didn't really know anything about the other girl—just that something was wrong with her powers, and that Coil had offered the Travelers a promise to help them heal her in exchange for their presence and help in the Bay. Privately, Alec didn't think much of the promise.
Then again, he was a hell of a cynic. Maybe it'd all work out? Either way, it wasn't really his problem.
His cell phone rang as he was reaching for his controller again. He grabbed the phone instead. "You speak to the Regent," he said airily. "Grovel, peasant."
"Nice to hear from you, too. How's Rachel?"
"Oh, you know, pissing all over the base to mark it as her own," said Alec easily, sitting up straight. "I think she misses you guys. How's Faultline, Tats?"
"Don't call me that."
"Would you prefer Ta-tas?"
"Ha. Ha. Funny. Alec, you don't have time for this."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "How do you figure?"
"Short version? Your father is in Brockton Bay, and Coil's promised to give him what he wants."
Alec missed being bored. The fear that drove like a spike into his heart was hot and sharp. "Me."
"Yes."
Alec closed his eyes. "Why should I believe you?"
"Because we were teammates? Because I wouldn't have gone to the effort of getting this number for a joke or prank? Because you don't trust Coil anyway? Because this is too fucking insane for me to be making it up?" Tattletale's voice was rising in what sounded like very real panic. "Take your pick—his mercs will be in your room in minutes."
Alec took a deep breath to steady himself. He'd been prepared for something like this, hadn't he? He had plans...which Coil probably already knew. Shit. "Okay. What do I do?"
"I've talked to Faultline. She'll shelter you. She doesn't want you doing jobs with us—you've got too much of a reputation, and your power doesn't work with our MO. But she's willing to try to keep you safe, and take you with us when we leave this shithole of a city."
"Why?" Alec asked blankly. "What does she want for it?"
Tattletale was silent for a moment. "Nothing from you," she said finally. "This is part of what she's paying me. Alec, you need to hurry."
Alec bit his lip. "Okay. Where do I meet you guys?"
"The Palanquin. It's a club. Get moving. You have about five minutes before they get there."
There was a click, and Tattletale was gone.
Alec stood. Five minutes, huh? Sorry, daddy dearest, I'm not ready to come home quite yet.
There wasn't a lot to pack. He just tossed a bit of food and a water bottle into a backpack and walked out the door.
Guess I won't be here if Jess comes back. He considered leaving a note, then thought better of it.
He wasn't stopped by the first mercenary he passed, nor the second. Then his phone rang, and he picked it up.
"Alec." It was Coil, but he sounded different. His voice was a little deeper than usual, and a touch louder. Alec had to focus to make himself keep walking as he held the phone to his ear.
"Hey, hey," Alec chided. "Regent. You don't know who might be listening."
"Alec. I have a job for you."
"Really? Someone you need mastered?"
"Yes. Come to my office at once. Please hurry."
"I'll be right there."
"Liar." Coil sighed audibly into the receiver. "Who was it? Did you master one of my men?"
"Nah. There's an idea, though. Wish I'd thought of it."
"Alec, whatever you heard, I'm open to—"
Regent hung up. He slipped his phone into his pocket and looked over at the mercs at the entrance to Coil's base. They were looking at him.
The entrance was a large room, like a hangar. The five men were in cover on the near side of a barbed-wire barricade, with a mobile gate in the center. That gate, Regent knew, was controlled from a booth behind which one of the men stood. On the far side of the room, the outer door which led from the base into the basement of some office building was waiting.
"So," he drawled. "This can go two ways."
"Boss says you aren't to leave," said the leader. "Sorry, kid."
"Either you step aside," Regent continued, stepping forward and hefting his baton. "Or I go through you."
"Don't be an idiot, kid," said the leader warningly. "There's five of us—"
"Six."
The captain blinked.
"Six," Regent said again. "There's one inside the booth."
The captain hesitated for a moment. "…Sure," he said. "Six. Your point?"
"Aren't you going to ask how I knew he was there?"
"Don't care. Turn around, kid."
"Regent," said Regent.
"And this is how I knew," he said through the mouth of the mercenary in the booth. Regent flexed the man's leg, lifting him up to look out the booth's windows, and pointed the man's guns out of them. Bullets flew.
The captain went down before he knew what was happening. Regent was no marksman, but hitting a stationary target at something like fifteen feet wasn't hard. He could feel the man struggling against him, could feel his horror and rage.
That's what you were going to send me back to, he thought. Only worse.
He dove into cover with his real body as his puppet continued to fire on the other mercs. The surprise was still keeping them from reacting well, but it wouldn't last much longer, especially given these guys' training. In that window, he managed to take out one more.
Two down, three to go.
Then he had to duck back into cover as the soldiers got their bearings back and began to fire. One was covering his mercenary in the booth, while the other two were firing on his cover. He could hear the bullets pinging off the wall.
He needed to draw their fire away. He had his mercenary pop up like a whack-a-mole and take a quick shot. He didn't hit anything, but it pulled their fire momentarily away from Regent, which was all he needed. Carefully, he ducked out from behind the wall, and reached out a hand to one of the men.
Sweat beaded on his brow as he tried to get a grip on the man's muscles. Hurry, he told himself. They'll look back here any second, and you'll be fucked.
The man's arm spasmed. The assault rifle turned spasmodically, and blew a hole into one of the other mercs. Three down.
Regent's puppet stood up at that moment, and shot down the merc Regent had used. The shots connected. Four down.
Unfortunately, the last merc took the opportunity, and struck Regent's ally in the shoulder. He ducked back down, and even secondhand the pain was hell.
Come on, I don't have all day. Reinforcements have got to be coming by now.
Regent gritted his teeth—both mouths of them. With two voices synchronized, he called out, "last chance, buddy. You're outnumbered now. Throw me the gun and I'll go without any more trouble."
Another spurt of gunfire against the concrete booth was all he got for his trouble.
Fucking fine.
With the soldier's body, he launched a spray of covering fire at the barricade behind which the man was ducking. With his own, he charged. Before the last merc knew what was happening, Regent was next to him. Before he could bring his gun up, the taser was in his face, and he was down.
Regent slammed the button to open the gate with the merc's body, and ran through it with his own, taking the stairs two at a time.
He sprinted until he was outside, resting against the building's back door. The stars flickered overhead. Regent blinked at them. It was hard to tell day from night in the base.
He sighed. Let his heart rate slow down a little bit.
He'd been trying to get his power onto as many of Coil's mercenaries as he could. The man was careful. He'd only managed to spend enough time close to a few of the mercenaries to be able to really master them if he needed to. He'd been really lucky that one of those few had been a guard at the gate. He couldn't count on luck like that again. For now, he had to get to the Palanquin.
-x-x-x-
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Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
This is a one-chapter week. Flicker 8.6 will arrive next Monday.
- Location
- United Kingdom
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Poor Alec. Good luck to him.
Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
If Krouse had put on the Ring, he would not have been able to give it up.
Let me be clear--if Krouse gets the support he needs from his friends, and works at it, he's not in a bad place to recover right now. He could easily overcome this. He only held Narya for a little while.
It's a shame, then, that he hasn't got any real friends.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
That and the fact that he's Simurghed.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
And even before that has the judgement abilities of a fly for anything outside of tactical situations.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Baaaaaasically, he's sorta slightly perma fucked, because I reallllly doubt Annatar will help him. Or is even able to help him in fact. Generally I expect him and Coil to get into a fight over Narya and one of them kills the other. And then we have a Noelle problem. And everything gets way complicated.
I wasn't expecting them meeting to help at all, rather the opposite really. Mostly expecting either him and Coil or him and Annatar to get into a fight. Or both, if worst luck happens to Coil.
- Location
- not here
I knew that the rings could srew up Coil, what with him not being the destined bearer, but I never expected them to have this much an effect on Krouse. I kinda pity the guy. I mean he just stole a little trinket for his boss, it's not usually a crime punishable by eroding your soul from the inside...
Good riddance I guess?
Good riddance I guess?
*cracks knuckles* Okay, let's do this thing! Let's cross our fingers and hope we fade in on a scene involving an unlikely couple, possibly exchanging the sweet whispered nothings we ALL know they secretly want to say....
...fuck it, I'll take it. I mean, just a SLIGHT glower basically is a love letter from Bitch, right?
"their"? That means they're living together! THAT COUNTS. I'M COUNTING THAT. I'm getting The Chart!
*eyes that*
*eyes the REST of the chapter*
...Coil just lost Bitch, didn't he. This was a "Tattletale just hired Bitch for a job to get her out of the base." gambit, wasn't it. Otherwise, the timing is... suspiciously good, you know?
I find it hard to envision a world in which people are happy to see Krouse.
"Hell, I'd done nothing for FREE before! And, as the man once said: 'If you're good at something, NEVER do it for free!'"
(This would have been a puerile giggle and an insinuation about what that translates to, but... Coil. *gags* I... I can't. I just... can't.)
...there's so many lines here I could abuse to make it sound like Alec's pissed that his SO isn't paying attention to him. But... COIL. *gags* oh god it gets worse every time i think about it
Jess. Jess, he can TELL what your nervous system is actually feeling, you know. He knows you mean "scary HOT."
*wild, hysterical laughter*
*opens mou-
OH GOD DAMN YOU ALEC. I had one of my favorite pictures all ready to go, too!
*opens mouth*
*pauses*
*closes mouth*
I'll just get the scotch, shall I? Instead of making jokes about pineapple juice helping with that.
I'm getting the- *gags* ...getting the- *gags* ...getting th- *gags* oh god this has never happened to me before
LOOK, I REALLY DON'T LIKE KROUSE, OKAY?!
"Scratching at his neck, asking if we have any more of that Ring of Power. You know, the usual Krouse bullshit."
(Behold what happens when the weak of will and/or mind encounter a Ring of Power. ...and it couldn't have happened to a more deserving pair of guys. Fuck you, Krouse. Fuck you, Coil. Fuck you with a cactus. Sideways.)
*eyes that*
*happily skips off to The Chart*
AND I'M OKAY!
...oh, yeah. I'm shipping the shit outta them. Mmmmm-MMMM! Just shoot that sweet, uncut shipping right into my VEINS!
RIGHT INTO MY VEINS.
FTFY, Alec.
He's emotionally numb, folks. Not STUPID.
And THAT is the sound of it about to become your problem.
...and Lithos shows he's got Alec's personality down PAT.
*puerile giggle* Don't most people?
VERY nicely. I mean, you've SEEN her in that spandex outfit, right?
I really like this exchange, for what it's worth. Tattletale giving a short, clear info dump... and Alec responding INSTANTLY to that knowledge.
I also really like THIS line. Tattletale and Circus both bailed on the Undersiders because they'd hit their limits, but that doesn't mean Lisa doesn't CARE about her former teammates.
Faultline's got a thing for pretty boys, got it.
Look, Lisa, you're already on The Chart with Faultline, you don't have to feed me lines like this... but I'm glad that you do!
Consider this for a moment, then consider how Alec was always buying new clothing. Now consider if that was a DELIBERATE choice on his part, not because he liked wasting money... but because it helped him to never, ever form an attachment to things, just in case he needed to just up and leave one day EXACTLY LIKE HE IS NOW. After all, he could never know when
Yeah, you're just... just wearing that Ring, aren't ya, Coil. I'm sure that'll work out REAL GOOD for you in the end.
*opens mouth*
*gags*
*gags a lot*
Look, Lithos... real talk time, here. You gotta get away from Coil so I can make innuendo happen again. You're KILLING ME.
See? See that?! That's prime joke real estate, just going to waste because of COIL.
You know, if it wasn't Regent, this would be one of those Crowning Moments of Awesome scenes. ...ah, fuck it, let's give it to him, anyways!
"You can't count to six, obviously."
You would be surprised. Incredibly, incredibly surprised.
Oh, hey! There's that good ol' fashioned nightmare fuel I was missing!
I mean, Regent's no saint. He's done a LOT of Very Bad Things in his life, but... he ran away from Heartbreaker while KNOWING what the fuckhead would do to him if he got caught because even HE had limits, you know?
Four, Regent. We just went over this whole counting thing a few moments ago.
Huh. You know, I never thought about it, but he probably WOULD get pain feedback, wouldn't he.
*puerile giggle* Coil hires guys who REALLY like fighting.
I... gotta say, I can't easily recall many moments of Regent sprinting like this from canon. I mean, he STROLLED to his death against Behemoth. I think it says something about how/where on the scale of priorities he ranks Behemoth and Heartbreaker, you know?
Yes. Just luck. Pure luck. Nothing else.
Regent, seen here thinking about how he's not going to get lucky... as he makes his way to Faultline's place.
You spell "inevitable result of his actions, personality, and very existence" weird. (We hates Krouse, we does.)
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Great as always! One interesting thing is that it... honestly seems like Coil is not using his power. If this was Canon Coil Alec wouldn't have been able to walk out so easy as far as I remember.*cracks knuckles* Okay, let's do this thing! Let's cross our fingers and hope we fade in on a scene involving an unlikely couple, possibly exchanging the sweet whispered nothings we ALL know they secretly want to say....
...fuck it, I'll take it. I mean, just a SLIGHT glower basically is a love letter from Bitch, right?
"their"? That means they're living together! THAT COUNTS. I'M COUNTING THAT. I'm getting The Chart!
*eyes that*
*eyes the REST of the chapter*
...Coil just lost Bitch, didn't he. This was a "Tattletale just hired Bitch for a job to get her out of the base." gambit, wasn't it. Otherwise, the timing is... suspiciously good, you know?
I find it hard to envision a world in which people are happy to see Krouse.
"Hell, I'd done nothing for FREE before! And, as the man once said: 'If you're good at something, NEVER do it for free!'"
(This would have been a puerile giggle and an insinuation about what that translates to, but... Coil. *gags* I... I can't. I just... can't.)
...there's so many lines here I could abuse to make it sound like Alec's pissed that his SO isn't paying attention to him. But... COIL. *gags* oh god it gets worse every time i think about it
Jess. Jess, he can TELL what your nervous system is actually feeling, you know. He knows you mean "scary HOT."
*wild, hysterical laughter*
*opens mou-
OH GOD DAMN YOU ALEC. I had one of my favorite pictures all ready to go, too!
*opens mouth*
*pauses*
*closes mouth*
I'll just get the scotch, shall I? Instead of making jokes about pineapple juice helping with that.
I'm getting the- *gags* ...getting the- *gags* ...getting th- *gags* oh god this has never happened to me before
LOOK, I REALLY DON'T LIKE KROUSE, OKAY?!
"Scratching at his neck, asking if we have any more of that Ring of Power. You know, the usual Krouse bullshit."
(Behold what happens when the weak of will and/or mind encounter a Ring of Power. ...and it couldn't have happened to a more deserving pair of guys. Fuck you, Krouse. Fuck you, Coil. Fuck you with a cactus. Sideways.)
*eyes that*
*happily skips off to The Chart*
AND I'M OKAY!
...oh, yeah. I'm shipping the shit outta them. Mmmmm-MMMM! Just shoot that sweet, uncut shipping right into my VEINS!
RIGHT INTO MY VEINS.
FTFY, Alec.
He's emotionally numb, folks. Not STUPID.
And THAT is the sound of it about to become your problem.
...and Lithos shows he's got Alec's personality down PAT.
*puerile giggle* Don't most people?
VERY nicely. I mean, you've SEEN her in that spandex outfit, right?
I really like this exchange, for what it's worth. Tattletale giving a short, clear info dump... and Alec responding INSTANTLY to that knowledge.
I also really like THIS line. Tattletale and Circus both bailed on the Undersiders because they'd hit their limits, but that doesn't mean Lisa doesn't CARE about her former teammates.
Faultline's got a thing for pretty boys, got it.
Look, Lisa, you're already on The Chart with Faultline, you don't have to feed me lines like this... but I'm glad that you do!
Consider this for a moment, then consider how Alec was always buying new clothing. Now consider if that was a DELIBERATE choice on his part, not because he liked wasting money... but because it helped him to never, ever form an attachment to things, just in case he needed to just up and leave one day EXACTLY LIKE HE IS NOW. After all, he could never know whenthe shit-swizzling felch lordol' Fuckface McGeeHeartbreaker might show up. He couldn't afford to have any ties that might slow him down in getting the fuck outta there, you know?
Yeah, you're just... just wearing that Ring, aren't ya, Coil. I'm sure that'll work out REAL GOOD for you in the end.
*opens mouth*
*gags*
*gags a lot*
Look, Lithos... real talk time, here. You gotta get away from Coil so I can make innuendo happen again. You're KILLING ME.
See? See that?! That's prime joke real estate, just going to waste because of COIL.
You know, if it wasn't Regent, this would be one of those Crowning Moments of Awesome scenes. ...ah, fuck it, let's give it to him, anyways!
"You can't count to six, obviously."
You would be surprised. Incredibly, incredibly surprised.
Oh, hey! There's that good ol' fashioned nightmare fuel I was missing!
I mean, Regent's no saint. He's done a LOT of Very Bad Things in his life, but... he ran away from Heartbreaker while KNOWING what the fuckhead would do to him if he got caught because even HE had limits, you know?
Four, Regent. We just went over this whole counting thing a few moments ago.
Huh. You know, I never thought about it, but he probably WOULD get pain feedback, wouldn't he.
*puerile giggle* Coil hires guys who REALLY like fighting.
I... gotta say, I can't easily recall many moments of Regent sprinting like this from canon. I mean, he STROLLED to his death against Behemoth. I think it says something about how/where on the scale of priorities he ranks Behemoth and Heartbreaker, you know?
Yes. Just luck. Pure luck. Nothing else.
Regent, seen here thinking about how he's not going to get lucky... as he makes his way to Faultline's place.
You spell "inevitable result of his actions, personality, and very existence" weird. (We hates Krouse, we does.)
Which... has a lot of implications.
Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
Coil is using his power, I think. People overestimate Coil's abilities--especially when he's high on a Ring of Power and overestimating himself.
I say "I think" because I haven't fully gone through and exactly pinpointed what the alternate timeline was. I think I could throw something together, but I haven't done so--and, as such, I can't actually guarantee that I could.
Dark Mage
Sanity is really overrated...
- Location
- Out of My Mind
Well Datcord
erk!
I think someone needs an
- Location
- Earth Prime
I suspect Coil may have sent her on makework just to make sure she didn't back Alec if Alec tried to fight his way out.
Now I implant into your mind: Heartbroken Coil being yandere.
Hm. Cross reference this with Stacked Deck: Colin vs. Parenting, and you've just made an entirely new set of entries on your Chart.
My guess would be that Coil has a larger operation elsewhere that he's actually using his power for go/no-go on, and he arrogantly assumed, with his shiny new ring of being very impressive, that he could overawe the boy, so just did this in both timelines. After all, Alec is in his base. And Coil hasn't kept him from Mastering his men. So Alec is just a teenager with the ability to foul one or two guys' aim at a time. Right?
- Location
- not here
You know, everyone makes Coils power something completly overpowered and impossible to overcome, but it's not really. Basically the guy can only do two things at once and then choose which he really did, and which only he remembers. It's not that great. I mean specific applications of that power are really impossible to overstate, giving you basically unlimited tries at something, or an option to abandon the action if it fails. But other than that? How do you really stop someone from escaping your base? Especially if for example Coil likes to use the alternative timeline to keep himself safe, preferably somewhere other than his base, just in case. Then he becomes just another guy without special power whatsoever. The reason he is successful is that the guy is intelligent, and doesn't let anyone really know how his power works. The power itself isn't omnipotent outside specific circumstances.
- Location
- New Zealand
One of the (many) things I liked in canon was how it was an understated but constant part of the parahuman community for capes to mislead others about their powers where possible. Outside of Coil and the Undersiders, nobody knew what Tatletale's power was, other than it was a thinker ability, and she liked to mess with people and lead them to false conclusions. Tattletale was the only person in Brockton Bay who knew what Coil's power was, and most of the city weren't even sure if he *had* a power, much less what it was, given his preference for hiring non-parahuman mercenaries (as far as anyone else knew). Regent pretended that all he could do was make people twitch and spasm, rather than full body Mastering them. Gallant pretended to be a tinker because people are leery of Masters. Assault changed his fighting style to hide connections to his past as the jailbreak villain Madcap. Most people weren't even aware that Shadow Stalker had been active as a vigilante before she joined the Wards, as she mostly stuck to the shadows (hyuk hyuk) and the Protectorate didn't want people to know that they took on shady characters (IIRC, she crucified a guy to a wall and almost killed him).
Word of God is that there were about two dozen independent capes in Brockton Bay, mostly unknown, and I'd bet a fair number of them tried to hide or mislead their powers.
Word of God is that there were about two dozen independent capes in Brockton Bay, mostly unknown, and I'd bet a fair number of them tried to hide or mislead their powers.
I suspect he is. In one timeline he tried to grab Regent; in the other he did nothing, waiting to see if it worked. Unfortunately, in both timelines Regent got a call from Tattletale warning him to get out of there, so it just didn't help him.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
That thought about whether Heartbreaker has a kill order or not got me thinking about if the Butcher does. I seem to recall that it did, but it wasn't actionable because Butcher. Does anyone remember/know Yea or Nay on that?
Reason its relevant to this is I'm contemplating the legality of Annatar killing the Butcher when it inevitably shows up in the future.
Reason its relevant to this is I'm contemplating the legality of Annatar killing the Butcher when it inevitably shows up in the future.
- Location
- Canada
The Butcher explicitly does NOT have a kill order, because it would be incredibly foolish to send people to kill her.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Oh really, huh coulda swore he/she/it did. Coolio, thanks!
- Location
- parker colorado
Besides Butcher another cape that doesn't have a kill-order despite horrific crimes is Bonesaw due to the fact that they are justifiably worried killing her will release a plague that will kill all of humanity.