The Entity flows through the void. As it swims through the imensurável emptiness, it remenbers.
It remembers its predecessor.
Oh so greater them itself. Over 10 times its volume. So many more shards, soo much more power... and yet...
...It died.
It remembers the struggling. The fight. The predecessor being destroyed.
It remembers the last ditch effort that birthed it's own existence. A small piece of being, shot into the vastness of the emptyness through multiple dimensions
The predecessor was desperate to save at least a part of itself, It's work... Why though?
For what end? What purpose?
What did the predecessor want so badly? What was its purpose? What was the entity's purpose? What should It do? Why it was?
It searched inside itself and found ... [Missing]
It was... [INCONPLETE].
It lacked the data necessary to deduce what it should do. It was able to formulate theories. Too many of them. Too many.
It was knowledgeable on several subjects of the physical universe and it possessed an abundant selection of shards capable of several techniques, but ... What should it do with it.?
It's [ Database] was damaged and lacking...
But it was not empty.
In it, there was the knowledge of a process.
[ Nativisation ].
In all its complexity, it could be summarized as an interaction-based experiment that would involve creating an avatar to interact with a [Host] species.
Host... The concept seemed nebulous to the Entity. What were hosts in relation to itself?
Focusing on the assured navigation data of it's predecessor, under a category of [ Possible Destinations] it decided on the method to find it out.
###
Missy was catastrophically pissed.
On her birthday! One her freaking birthday!!! From all occasions for dad to bring his fucking lover ( because of course, it was what that skank was) It had to be her birthday ?!?!?
And what does Mom do? She calls her fracking fling from work.
It took no more than 45 min for them to start the old routine.
It was supposed to be her freaking birthday and she was not even presented the right to a peaceful day. So Yeah, she ran away from that place.
First just with her legs. Once she was far enough from anyone she leaped in space to try to cover more ground. She ran and ran until she was exhausted.
Once she stopped, breathing hard and deep. She realized, Absentmindedly, that she ran to the outskirts of the city.
Trees all around. No one in sight ... It was peaceful. She decided she liked it there.
"Hello." A voice echoed behind her. It sounded haunting and holly, like all miracles do.
It was ... a man? It looked like a man, but instead of normal skin and features, he had a sort of hazy substance that made her mind feel fuzzy. Almost as If someone had taken a recording of a real person and put a dozen of filters through it until it became difficult to distinguish any details.
The clothes were easiest to perceive. A simple outfit composed of a sand-colored T-shirt that came to his knees and seemed made of some cheap material, coupled with overly baggy sand-colored pants of the same stuff. At a later date, she would realize he had created it in the model of Indian classic clothes, which, apparently, had been the single most used outfit in the history of humanity.
It was an odd sight, but, thanks to what I would later discover to be a passive Stranger power, I found it pleasing to the eyes. Half a minute it takes before she realizes he is not saying anything because he already greeted me and I had said nothing.
"Hello." My voice was less steady than I would like, and at that moment I realize my eyes are still wet from before.
Great first impression, Missy. First time meeting a new parahuman on your own, and you look like a crying baby... Well, at least I am not in costume. He will just think I am some normal girl and not associate it with Vista.
"Why are you distressed?" The blurry man asks, and his voice is different from any I have ever heard. Sounds distorted themselves to the point they became like music.
There is something in it that made me want to hear it forever. Not because it was beautiful or pleasing, but because it was so attention-grabbing that it made me feel like, for once, someone was actually devoting me their full attention. A voice like that promised a conversation that would be meaningful.
"Because my parents care more about hurting each other than they do about me." Escapes my mouth. Before I have time to even decide how I felt about opening up to a stranger, who just happen to be a parahuman, the man speaks.
"I do not know what my parent cared about. That distresses me." He says, as If talking about your personal problems with someone you met 2 minutes ago was the most common thing in the world.
" I... I am sorry." She says, because, what else could she even say? This whole interaction was weird. She decided to just act normally and go with the flow. " Did you... lose them recently?"
The person seemed to think a bit before answering. " Yes. "
They stood there in silence for a bit. It was awkward, but not awkward the way time with her parents was. More of a calm kind of awkward.
"What is your name?" She asked, trying to restart the conversation.
###
The Entity had thought of this scenario before. [ Nativisation ] was one of the few uncorrupted protocols in it's database. One of the few things it knew and was confident in.
Thousands and thousands of terabits of data were dedicated to absorbing what it could comprehend of the native species' culture. It had filtered through concepts and sounds, it searched in between the most relevant words of its interlocutor's language...
A name is a word or phrase that constitutes the distinctive designation of a person or thing. Names were generally given with the objective of figuratively associating the object with something else designated by the same word. What would it want to be associated with? What was that it focused on? What it did desire to forget?
" Purpose. " It spoke.
She Taught me Sadness - Chapter 3 - Randon Encounter
"Purpose." The strage man said, and although the voice was still weird, to her ears it also sounded... young?
The tone did not distract her from the most dangerous fact about the response.
A cape name...Of course. The man is using his Stranger power to mask his appearance so of course, he would not give his real name. Heck, she may have interrupted the guy's patrol or something.
The possibility of him being a villain crossed through her mind, but it was discarded soon after.
The man felt so warm and innocent that she doubted heavily that he could harm a fly. Only months later she would realize this conclusion came partially due to the Stranger power the creature had permanently on. If the feeling caused by glory girls' aura was that of supernaturally-intense awe, this creature had an aura of approachability and friendliness. Piggot herself probably would have a hard time hatting the guy.
"Well... nice to meet you, Purpose. Are you new to the cape industry of The Bay?" For all that she disliked doing the sales pitch on 3 minutes from knowing the guy, it was protocol. Meet a new cape that is not a villain and does not seem to be established, lightly point them on the Protectorate's way If you were out of costume, and more blatantly in costume.
" I have not heard of you before, and I am quite the cape geek." She was not actually. Most times she had to ask Carlos who was who in the cape scene from out of the Bay.
"Yes." Short and simple answers, but no rude tone. Maybe he was the more secretive kind of cape... No, the guy did not give the brooding or paranoid vibe. It was just a hunch, but...
" Not wanting to intrude, but...Are you new to the cape life ?"
"Not a cape."
That… was a bit different. He was obviously using his power to make himself look all weird and hard to describe. The clothes were also too abnormal to not be a costume. Why would he deny being a cape? Did a cape make him look like that? Tinkertech?
" Why do your face and hands look like that than?" She tried to ask in a non-accusatory tone. Nothing to be gained on being rude.
" It was the best I could do."
Okay... She was officially confused. He said he was not a cape, but admitted making himself look weird in a way only powers could. Was he one of those people that thought cape only referred to costumed heroes and not all parahumans? " You have powers right?"
"I have." Damn those short answers were starting to annoy her. Was he doing that on purpose?
"And you have a cape name, don't you? It is not like your mother called you purpose and put that on your documents."
"Did not called me anything. Died on giving birth to me. I do not have documents." That is sad, but does not aswer any questions. Heck, how does one talk to this guy?
Wait ! Why am I even talking to him anyway? Out of costume, I can at best try to point him the Protectorates way, and I do not think the opinion of some random girl would make that much of a difference anyway, so...
"Oookay... It was nice meeting your purpose. See you later."
"When?" He asked, no emotion in his tone. Sounded likes a genuine inquiry.
Now, this is starting to get weird. Is he some kind of creep? He fells too nice to be around to be a creep, but one could never be too sure...
I can probably take him since he only seems to have a Stranger power and strangers tend not to be grab-bag capes, but that would mean using my power and exposing my face. So that is a no...
" Ahm... maybe tomorrow? same time and place?" She lied, hoping to the strange man.
"Yes," He answers in the same weird calm tone. She was already walking away at him, feeling a bit weirded out but generally better than before. She did not expect much would come from this one random encounter.
Mom always said expectations were made to be tarnished.
###
"Retreat now, Hookwolf ! " Kaiser's voice echoed in his metal mask.
With a masterful strike, Armsmaster almost managed to impale his left kidney, but a parry by his bladed arm managed to redirect the spearhead to the nearby all.
Bradley Meadows hated The word "retreat". It was basically a more fancy way of saying "run away". He wanted to go to his full-wolf form and munch on this Dickehaed Heroes ... but he had to obey Kaiser. The only reason he had come to the mission tonight anyway was to play bodyguard to Othala and Victor, and those two had already managed to escape by the Backdoors with the money while he distracted Armsmaster and Shadow Stalker.
The fight had begun inside the building they were using as a "Accountability Center" but long ago had the freaking Tinker followed him through the main garage exit and to the streets.
They wouldn't give him one opening for escape, always keeping a safe distance while not letting him out of sight. ArmsDouch and his Ward bitch were good hunters, he would give them that.
He felt another one of those stupid electric arrows stab his leg. This whole thing was starting to get into his nerves. He used his bladed arm to cut down a telephone pool just in the right angle for it to fall down on the older hero. Arms managed to dodge of course, but it took him long enough to get his bearings. Now Bradley had gained some distance
Now he just needed some smoke-screen bullshit to distract the Armored Nerd and Emo Teen long enough for him to escape... There!
At the end of the street, some random fucker using a weird outfit stood immobile. The lines on him seemed a bit blurry and for a second Hookwolf thought of just leaving the dude be, but shook it off a moment later. Blurry or not, Unknown random cape or weird civilian, he needed a wounded causality to aid his escape ASAP.
He swung the metallic limb in a heavy arc. He could chop the fucker in half in one move, but he wanted this one to survive enough to distract his enemies. It was supposed to be a 2-second thing... But the fucker did not budge.
" The Shit?"
He stared at the idiot who was still standing in a relaxed pose, no scratch on him. " A Brute, Hanh?" He swung again, aiming for the head this time... Nothing. Another swing. To the neck. No effect.
All plans on using the guy as a distraction to escape were abandoned now. This shithead was disrespecting him!
Bradley was well aware that he was not the strongest cape around, he accepted the fact that there were people in the world he could not beat... but this Mother fucking cumstaing nig## did not even move when he attacked !!! No defensive stance. No dogging. He just stood there like a retard ignoring Hookwolf like he was an insect. That could not stand!
Still aware of Armsmaster on his vicinity - not attacking probably because he was also confused about the blurry idiot- Hookwolf retreated a few steps and started to work his magic. In less than 3 seconds he exploded from his human form to the flurry of ever-moving blades that gave him his fame and glory.
Armsmaster was talking again but Hookwolf did not listen to a syllable, he just jumped on the unknown element like the wrath of Fenris himself.
The fucker did not budge.
"Raaaaarrrghhh" He roared and howled. Scratched, slashed, stabbed, and even munched the cape's shoulder. " Mother fucker, Do not ignore me!"
For the first time in the night, the blurry man spoked. " What do you wish of me?"
It was a retarded question coming from one crazy retrograde who had the audacity of ignoring him. With nothing but fiery rage, Hookwolf shouted: " Fight me !!!"
Armsmaster was stabbing something into his leg at that point but he did not even care, all he could hear in between his blades was the stranger mumbling. The words were clear as day in stark opposition to his face and voice. " Fight... Conflict...Combat..."
Shadow Stalker did not complement just anyone or anything. She was not like Kid Win or Clockblocker that uses the word " Awesome" every 3 phrases.
But she had to admit... Watching the new cape DESTROY Hookwolf was pretty awesome.
First, the blurry guy in the plain sand-colored costume just stood still as Hookwolf slashed at him. He did not move an inch when the metal beast the size of a bull tried to bite off his entire arm with the shoulder and part of the chest.
Than, while Armsmaster stabbed the Nazi with some Tinker bullshit, the guy fired some high explosive Blaster power inside Hookwolf's throat.
It was more than just Hardcore. It was smart. He had the balls ( and probable confidence in his Brute power) to let himself get his arm on the Nazi's maws, just so he could burn the animal's gut.
The Empire cape now laid, hopefully dead, 15 meters away from their original position, from where the blurry cape had not moved an inch. The asphalt below wrecked in a beautiful image of the blast and Wolf's trail.
Armsmater by the other hand managed to get out of it unharmed. Even If he was a couple of feet from Hookwolf, his quick reflexes and experience were enough for him to backflip away just fast enough that the 1.5 tons cape flying away not even grazed him.
" Unknow parahuman, identify yourself!" The tinker shouted, probably pissed someone exploded a fucking villain right in front of him.
Sophia wanted to sigh at the guy's pose, but he was her commanding officer at the end of the day, so...
With a quick mix of parkour and her powers, she managed to get out of the building she was watching this from and land a few feet from the armored man.
The guy only started walking on Hookwolf's direction.
" Halt, what are you doing?"
" Fighting."
Sophia could perceive the change on Armsmaster posture. He was tense. Ready to attack. " He is defeated. Out of Combat. We will apprehend him now."
Sophia actually had to force herself to stay quiet. Hookwolf was a huge piece of shit, but the retarded system wanted to make a show of not killing him and leaving him in a place he surely would escape from so that he could hurt more people.
Fucking Disgusting
" Ok. "
...
.... Is this a freaking joke? The guy practically kills one of the toughest motherfuckers in one of the most cape-heavy cities in the country and just says: "Ok " When someone asks him to back off.
What is this guy?!?
" What are you called?" Sophia says, thankfully holding her anger in. " Are you new is the Bay? Are you passing or staying?" Maybe a bit too much, but Armsboss was not saying anything, so she had to hold the ground.
" ... I am called Purpose. And I Stay around until I learn what I wish to learn."
Learn. What does that suppose to mean? The Tinker beat her to it though, by asking: " Would you be willing to come to the protectorate for questioning? To give your report of what happened in here?" Now he was going into diplomacy mode... she hated that part.
" I am not willing to do this." He said, no emotion in his voice, which - somehow - still managed to be monotone and friendly at the same time.
Armsmater tensed. " If he dies... you will be held accountable. To come with us would really help to get things on your side of the story."
Now he would start to subtly ( not) pressure the guy into obedience and assimilation into the system.
Instead of answering, the man only remained silent for a bit before looking at Hookwolf again. And bite me If the trash bag was not laying there as whole and healthy as a minute ago. What the hell???
" You... You did that? You restored him?" Armsmaster asked.
" Yes. "
" What-Yo-... Are you really not willing to come with us? We only wish to clarify some things. You are not obligated to do anything you do not wish to. "
"Yes."
"All right... Shadow Stalker go watch over Hookwolf and warn me when the reinforcements arrive. "
Well, Fuck you too, Halberd. She could only clench her jaw as she moved to have a clear shot of the Nazi's head. Even If just with some electric darts, it would do some damage. From the distance, she could see the armored Dickhead talk more with the blurry guy.
The reinforcements arrived in 4 minutes. There were 2 minutes before the weirdo disappeared, teleporting away in a cloud of blue-colored mist. Predictable. Arms got the charisma of a broken computer screen.
Sophia hoped that would not be the last time she saw the weird cape, though. She wanted to see all of this power of his used on a real fight.
###
The Entity' simulated human throat was hummed in a expression of their contentment. ( human patterns processing was improving)
Earth was a very enriching planet. Out there in the vacuum, one would have to travel hundreds of thousands of light-years to get as many stimuli as It got in a 5 Km radius.
It got to observe part of the life cycle of a colony of arthropods, learn how the local vegetation ingeniously ( although inefficiently ) collected their energy from the native star and from the dead beings in the ground, aquatic animals moved through their fluid habitat... all in 2 minutes of time and 300 meters of space.
And the "Host" species around was a greater source of knowledge the Entity could have ever expected.
At the first It met a young, still developing, little Host. The little female had a Space-Distortion focused Shard attached to her through a small dimensional bridge constantly opened on her central nervous system.
Just The analysis of the relationship with the Shard connected to the girl would have being amazing, but It got even more than that. It managed to roll several analysis thanks to the complexity of these Hosts. Biological processes, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal functioning, responsiveness too Entity-Specif stimuli ... soo much.
Thanks to it all... the Entity could not resist trying to interact with other Hosts.
It moved like a human, slowly and surely, through the dark surface of the Earth. No more than 6562 steps later he was at the face to face with Host.
Said Host was, interestingly enough, using their Transmigration Of Solid Matter shard to coat their physical form with metallic alloys.
It gladly scanned both the Host and their Shard, while the other attacked their physical form with his metal parts. It was a funny and interesting feeling being the target of such violence.
The icing on the cake came when the Host communicated with him.
" Mother fucker, Do not ignore me!" He wanted attention, but more than that too...
" What do you wish of me?" The Entity had questioned, in order to better proceed with the interaction.
" Fight me !!!" That was it. It wanted conflict. It made sense considering what the Entity had seen from the species in their [ Nativisation ] preparations...
The Entity deduced that going with the interlocutor's expectations was generally the best course of action.
...So it attacked
It was a low-cost, still effective, technique. Find the dimension with the planet whose atmosphere is rich in liquid-hydrogen, isolate a part of the atmosphere, compress it, and move it to the desired location. Minimal effort for the size and malleability of explosive combustion.
The Host was put in status, severely damaged. What apparently was a good thing since it stimulated more Hosts to come and interact with it.
The following conversation was not very interesting. Or rather, the Shard belonging to the technology-covered Host was so rich with data. The Entity delegated talking with the Host to his interaction Shards and focused his main processing to hacking into the Shards databases.
Hybridization of technology, fascinating...Commoditization spacial use for technological structures... Data for efficiency protocols...
By the time he finished with it the interaction was practically over.
It moved away, through dimensional movement this time, as its shard had recommended, returning to their initial landing point with ounces of more data to work with.
Overall the experience was... instructive? No, that was not the most appropriate word. It was accurate, but... it lacked so much...
It would be described as...
...Fun.
//////////////////////////////////////////
Oh, to help visualize what Purpose did. Imagine something like this
At the Monday evening after her birthday, Missy was emotionally healed and ready for work.
She felt especially excited since she received Miss Militia's message to make her way to HQ immediately after school.
Generally, Monday's were day-patrol for her. Nothing ever happens on day patrol, and a call like that sounded like a mission, so she was in the hope for some action.
When she arrived at the meeting room, MM was already there with most of the wards.
Missy sat in a comfortable office chair and spent the next 15 minutes listening to Chris babble about his new Canon project. She learned to the words " Master Piece" and " ridiculous firepower" being thrown around, but aside from that it was typical Kid Win noises.
Conversation slowly petered out as the electric doors slid open with a hiss. In stepped their armored leader, decked out in his usual blue and silver suit and walking with his famous halberd in hand.
"Good, everyone's here," The Protectorate nodded firmly, not pausing at all before continuing, "Last night the PRT took Hookwolf into custody."
Silence fell on the room. Missy didn't know what she had expected but it definitely wasn't that. Hookwolf had been captured once before, by Miss Militia, Assault and Battery, back in 2008, but escaped custody, not a week after. He was one of Kaiser's heavy hitters, unofficially considered one of the Empire's 3 strongest members, behind Purity and Kaiser himself.
"In the late hours of this Sunday Shadow Stalker and I were in a raid to what we thought at the time, was a lightly guarded money laundry house for some of the Empire 88 drug and weapons dealing market."his voice was clinical and detached. " We were surprised to Find Victor and Hookwolf present there." His hand moved to a remote control that activated the monitor in the wall behind him. " During the confrontation, We were interrupted by a new cape. Apparent one for a passive approach unless insistently attacked, after continuous offensive by Hookwolf, counter-fired with excessive force and incapacitated the empire cape.We wished to inform you of the situation and discuss him."
The screen now showed a Man with blurry features, as If the video had been tampered with to occult him. His Race and facial features were hard to distinguish and his clothes resembled something you may have found a lot in India a few centuries ago.
Oh shit.
" Self identified as ' Purpose '…"
Oh shit, Oh shit, Oh shit.
"… This parahuman has provisonal classifications of Brute 7, for invulnerability; Blaster 5 for explosive attacks; Shaker 3 for some kind of mid-range healing; Mover 4 for beyond eyesight teleportation; And Stranger 3 for his appearance blocking effects."
Seriously now: Oh Shit!
"Well, that's... quite the bag of powers, but why make an urgent reunion to talk about this guy specifically. We are not going to be sent after him, are we?" Dean asked, concern evident in his tone.
"No. The reason you were all called here is more ... abnormal." The Tinker's tone was a bit more emotional now, although by a small margin. " On conversation with Purpose, he admitted to having already encountered one of our members since arriving in the city. I could not extract who, but interviews conducted this morning confirm none of our senior members remembers having met him. That leaves you all as to be questioned."
Missy froze in place. What was she supposed to say ? She went to cry in an abandoned area on her birthday and met a rogue cape she talked with even though she should not get close to parahumans when out of costume? Her face burned just on the idea of explaining that to Armsmaster.
" I have never seen the guy." Dennis said casually.
" Neither have I." Chris added.
" I have not encountered this cape." Carlos added.
" I haven't met this parahuman in before." Dean was the last one. And then it was her turn.
" I … " She looked directly at where her leaders eyes supposed to be. Even without seeing it, she could feel He was judging her. Reproving of her. " I have not meet him in any of my patrols." She mouthed, calmly sounding.
The next seconds of silence felt like minutes, but finally, Armsmaster concluded : " It is possible he might have encountered some of the protectorate heroes while in his civilian identity… Any of you have encountered a civilian that called for attention and/or fit this individual's physical description? He is around 5'6" and appears to be slim. "
Damn, that was close.
" Sir, what are we suppose to do If encountering this individual?" Aegis asked, formal in order to sound serious and respectful, as ge often trued to be around senior heroes.
Armsmaster let the silence creep for a few seconds before answering: " try to disengage, and warn the HQ."
Vista frown at that. " But Sir, you yourself said he does not appear to be hostile unless attacked, so If one of us see' s him we can at least- "
"No." Curt and uncaring, he gave her his best version of a stare down in disapproval. " You are not to engage this cape in any circumstances. It is above your scope. So limit yourself to scouting for his location."
" Beyond my, 'scope' ?" She said, voice sharp, but not in a disrespectful way.
" Scope of Ability, experience, strategic cognition, clearance... In between other relevant factors." He finished, without a hint of gentleness or heat. It was all mechanical facts to him.
" Ooof." Clockblocker let it out, when the silence got to thick. " Soo... Any idea what this want or If he will join anyone?"
"Although his ethnicity is not easily determinable, we deduce Purpose does not intent on joining neither the ABB and The Empire." He continued as If he had not clinically whipped her a moment ago. In his mind, he probably did nothing. Just remind me of my place... She rationalized.
"His motivations as a cape are highly mysterious. While interrogated by me about his reasons to not accompany us, consider joining the protectorate or inform me of his alliances and goals, Purpose made sure to communicate the least possible."
Yet he talked to me just fine. Maybe you are the problem! Missy snapped, in her mind.
" He only information he released that lead to conclusions on his profile was that he: 'Is here to learn ..."
"And... do we have any idea what this means? What is he after? Information?" Aegis tried.
"We do not think so... Our analysts, based on recordings from my helmet, came to believe purpose to have some form of mental condition. Low IQ, Autism, or some form of mental illness that would allow for functional interaction but impede in more complex and organized activities and thoughts."
That... would explain it actually. She concluded by revising her memories of their interaction.
As her superior finished the meeting, repeating what he had already said in more summarized words. "Unknown variable", "Watch out for the repercussions of his presence" , " Do not approach him because you are just kids" Same obvious and annoying bullshit... Even before they were dismissed
Missy already knew what she should do.
###
"Hey" The little Host called from a few meter's away.
The same Host from his first encounter, the one with the space manipulation. He appreciated meeting her again. He wished for it...
" Hey." It imitated her tone in emotion. Imitation seem to work well for improving interactions. Hosts--humans, it was good to separate the average humans to humans containing Entity Shards --liked seeing themselves in others.
" I... Sorry If I did not come to see you like I promised, but... would like to talk ?"
The Entity smiled at her, and, although his features were blurry to her sight, she felt the warmth of it like the morning sun.
Vista would not recommend most girls her age to hang around adult man who were considered a potential A-class threat
But also most girls her age did not have to deal with criminal and mad parahumans as job description. And certainly not chance to educate said man who could be a potential A-class threat.
" So you... sensed my power? That is how you knew I was Vista." She asked, worried. This kind of Trump power could be a nightmare If it feel on the wrong hands. Unwritten rules aside, the intel asset he could be was out of reason.
" Yes. "
She had, just HAD to make sure to keep an eye on him. And the best way to do this is making him want her around. For all she and the PRT Tinkers could gather, the guy was very simple-minded... What not necessarily meant he was harmless, but looking at him...
Purpose was squatting close to a lonesome flower. Poking at the poor plant like he expected it to move or something. His body language, that of a lethargic child. He felt to her like a child. Like he was new to everything. It was weird, but also kind of refreshing.
"What are you doing ?"
"Studying this plant." He answered, with the same distracted tone Kid Win used when he was playing with a machine.
"Oookay... say Purpose how do you sense powers? You can see exactly what a parahuman can do? You can tell by looking, or is some other sense? Is there a range?"
He decided to ignore her in favor of poking more at the flower.
" Hey I am talki- " She froze at the sight of the little colorful plant.
A second ago the thing was 10 cm tall, had 2 leaves at it's side and it's petals were white.
Now the plant was more than twice that size, had 5 leaves and its petals were so red that calling it anything other than crimson would be a lie. " Purpose did you... change that plant?"
"Yes."
She closed her eyes to think. After taking a deep breath she managed to ask: " Purpose you... you can make explosions, heal people, teleport, disguise yourself with this hiding thing that has some brute power and can change plants... That sounds like more than 3 powers..."
She was not very educated in cape stuff, never saw much of a point in it, considering how little it helped compared to actual field experience and intel, but... aren't people suppose to have AT MAX 3 powers? And If they did have more than 1 they were supposed to be weak? She remembers clearly listening to Dean talk about it when discussing Myrddin and how even though he looked to have a lot of powers, it was all the versatile application of just 2 powers... Her simpleton friend though...
"Purpose, how exactly do your powers work?"
The man looked away from the flower, who had just grown into a small three while she collected herself, he seemed, puzzled.
###
How exactly do your powers work?
... How to answer that?
The processing power of her central nervous system did not equate to the databases needed to contain the volume of data that would be needed to give an in-depth explanation...He could try to synthesize the information into something she would comprehend like humans seemed to do with their overly simplistic languages, but that would probably represent an obstacle in her quest to understand him...
"Do I have to answer?" He questioned, not wanting to occur in miscommunication.
" Why can't you?"
"You would not understand." He simplified the response to avoid referring to their difference of species. Nativisation advised against that.
The little female seemed to be angered by my response, " Why?!? Because I am young? Do you think-"
"Miscommunication occurred." He warned what seemed to cease her aggressive state... Her shard seemed to be influencing her chemical processes relating to aggressiveness protocols. Why though? What are the Shard's objectives? " Why do you belive aggression should be amped in this situation?"
The little human recoiled slightly. " I ... I am sorry, I did not meant to be rude."
Rude? ...Offensive behavior? She believe she committed a offense. Why?
" Why are you -"
" I aint ! I aint ...I just... I get so many people underestimating me because of my age. No matter what I try, everyone just... fucking hell." She was showing increasing signs of distress even though nothing on the environment or in her organism suggested danger ... What a curious process this was.
With the back of her hand she hubed her right eye. She seemed to be promptly avoiding looking at the Entity. " I ... sometimes I fell like ... like less of person, you know? Nothing I say that matters is heard. Nothing I can do beyond what is allowed- and that aint much. People around do not talk to me like an equal. Don't listen most of the time." She continued to narrate her experiences, and his scans demonstrated that doing so was provoking Endorphin release and stopping the production of Cortisol...
Her face was changing coloration. Blushing. " Look I am sorry I pushed on about your powers. You do not have to tell me anything now, If you do not want to.... We can just... Hang out?"
###
Missy was feeling embarrassed out of her mind. She came here to prove that she could do a better job that Armsmaster did by talking to Purpose and maybe getting intel, recruit him If possible...And not even 5 minutes into the talk she starts yelling at the guy like some immature little girl.
And to put a cherry on top of it, she got nervous on her embarrassment and ended up blurting out " Let's hang out ?" Along with her apology. How silly did that sound? A 12-year-old girl asking a Adult man to " Hang Out". She felt like hiding under a rock.
" Yes, thank you." He said, still mostly monotone, but with hints of ... happiness? Was he serious?
" You... you mean it?" She later hated how she sounded at that moment, but still was to surprised to care. No one just Hanged out with her. The other Wards spent time with her and were friendly ( Sophia Excluded ) but none of them ever invited her to do stuff out of work hours. " I mean ... yeah sure that sounds good." She tried to save face. " what would you like to do? "
He looked at the side for what she realized was the sight of the city, a certain air of wonder to his posture.
Vista had already flown before. She took a ride with Aegis more than once but flying while being carried was not the same as flying on her own. Like this, she felt thrilled and relaxed at the same time, and unlike her own power which took concentration, time, and creativity this flight was instinctual and super easy. It felt a bit like when she was little, and she would run in the park with her dog, the speed and the wind on her face were refreshing down to the soul.
Seriously! Was that how Glory Girl felt every day? One more reason to envy the bitch.
She cruised through the skies at what was probably 50 miles an hour- What wasn't much but still felt awesome- with purpose a few meters in front of her. Although she could not see him right she was happy he was not focused on her. He just let her fly like she saw fit, no coddling or "Keeping an eye on the kid".
They were not very far from the ground, 30 meters above the tallest buildings around. She felt like going even faster and higher, but she opted for following his lead- She did not know If this power granting thing of his had a range limitation, anyway. She could shorten the space between himself and the ground to make sure the fall felt like a small leap, but still...
They passed through several city blocks in a few minutes. Moving in a straight line made a whole difference for movement, as her powers had already thought her. They left the most abandoned part of town where they had met and started flying in between the tallest buildings of the center. She flew pretty close to commercial building's 19th floor window and manage to get a glimpse of the boring workdays of a couple of dozen of people.
In Brockton Bay seeing people flying was not so unusual. People might take their phones to record it though, what would be a problem... If they could see them of course. But thanks to a small discussion she had with Purpose before they sat off ( explaining the basics of discretion to the guy was like explaining algebra to a whale ), both of them were now invisible.
Making others invisible And giving them flight... she would be worried about how good of a spy he would be in the villain group If she was not enjoying the hell out of herself.
Purpose flies closer to her. As he catches her attention he points out to a tower standing tall over the horizon."There."
"...Medhall Tower? Why do you want to go there?"
###
Maxuel Anders was furstrated. He rarely would need to sumon his subordinates in their civilian guises, even more rarely, If ever, he would call them to the Medhall Tower ( Kayden and the twins excluded, grated their ... intimacy), but thanks to the protectorate's raid to their safe-houses the last weeks Kreig had advised them to not reunite on their usual spots or in costume.
That was why, although he might not like it, he was in one of the conference rooms of Medhall surrounded by his Leutanants in civilian garb. Victor and Krieg were elegant and respectable in an Italian suits; The twins looked elegant in pencil skirts and white blouses; Alabaster managed to look normal with the help of some makeup and a wig; Crusader at least put the effort not to dress like his usual rednec self, daunting a cheap suit; Stormtiger and Criquet looked like average 30-year-olds in jeans and pollo shirts; Hookwolf... His absence also a reminder of why they were having this meeting
The Empire was suffering some serious losses recently. Gesellschaft had been sending less support thanks to the financial crisis in Germany; The Protectorate managed to take down several of their business, cutting down the flow of capital even more; and now one of their strongest parahumans was on his way to the birdcage.
Max needed to be careful in his strategies and direct his people towards a cautious but steady recovery of their operations. Taking his seat at the head of the table he explained his plans.
"...And after the careful introduction of bases all over the west side of archer bridge Alabaster's man shall-" a power surge interrupted him. In the now dark conference room, his man grumbled and complained
When light retuned to the room it was not the yellow glow of the lamps, but some sort of ethereal black-light coming from an individual... floating 5 feet into the air.
"Intruder! formation Solkors !" Max commanded. His subordinates started to move in a practiced routine to capture and annihilate foreign elements. They started... but stoped.
" My powers are not working !" Storm Tiger was the first to yell.
"Mine gonne too! He a fucking Trump !" Crusader Added.
This was bad. Who was attacking them? How were they found? Why were they breaking the unwritten rules? How did It come to this?
### 5 minutes earlier###
Holy fucking shit! The Empire 88 ! In Medhall?!? The biggest company n the city? Worse then that, by the looks of it the CEO was Kaiser! She had fucking seen the News call the guy a philanthropist. Why the hell was this day?
The worse part of it all... she could not even do anything about it right now. She was not in costume, had no authorization, had no way to tell this to the others without having to explain how she found out..."Why the hell did you bring me here, Purpose?" She asked her guide, both still invisible, inaudible intangible, and flying like ghosts to the world.
"Greater concentration of people with powers in the vicinity." He answered plainly, probally completely missing why she was so angry.
"But - But- You - You can't just go after capes when they are out of costume ! You just can't !"
"Ok."
... This guy...
"Argh ! You don't understand anything! " She snapped at him. " What do even want here ?!?"
"To learn."
...
....
She would have to investigate that further later... But now she needed to think on what ot do about the Empire. She couldn't possibly just walk ( Or fly ) awya from a opportunity like this. If only she had a way to do domething withouth- Wait !
"Wait !... We cannot arrest them when in civilian guise... but you ... You can do a lot to them beyond arresting. No one would ever have to know I was here..." As plan started unraveled in her mind a grin bloomed in her face... a dangerous, dangerous grin.
"What powers do you have again?"
###
The glowing man floated above the now depowered Cape's. His features were obscured by the weird light much like Kaiden's power did to her.
"Empire 88... Your welcome in this city has been revoked.""
They were exposed. Max was exposed This was a catostrophe!
" You must be out of your mind, If you believe you can attack this organization and keep on living, Mongrel." Max attempted to take control of the situation, with his powers not responding he had to keep the intruder busy for long enough for the armed reinforcements to arrive. " Who you represent? Who is foolish enough to insult the Empire?"
" I came to give you a warning." The stranger intoned, in a voice that resemble dozens of cord instruments playing at once and somehow creating words. " Leave Brockton Bay and Sease or criminal activities ... Or have your Identity's made public.
The room exploded in curses, protests and gasps. " You are insane ! I will have your rogue ripped of and your limbs tore asunder ! The full might of the Gesellschaft upon you ! I - "
" You have been warned." The stranger shouted, before leaving
###
" Oh my god, That was amazing! " Missy yelled.
They were back at solid land, close to the recluse place they met. She was bursting with excitement and he ...looked a bit less monotone.
" We might have just gotten read of the Empire - in one evening !"
" You are happy." Not a question, but a statement.
" Well, yes! We just helped a lot of people! We did what no one on the protectorate managed to do in 20 years! We are big damn heroes !" She said, approaching him and fixing her gaze where his eyes seemed to be.
" Heroe... Helping people... Is that your Purpose?"
She paused at that. That ... did not felt it was a normal question. It felt like it held meaning to the weird man.
What was his deal anyway? The only thing that remained constant about him was his claim of wanting to " Learn". To the point of spying on the empire ... what did he want ot learn.
" Purpose, you said you were looking for people with power in order to learn ... But what are really looking for ? What do you want to learn ? "
" Everything." There was no existation. That seemed like an absolute for him. " Everything I can until I find my purpose."
That... was a bit weird. She heard of people who had existencial crisis and wanted to find a purpose for their life, but that semed a bit more than that. Maybe this was related to his trigger event? The trauma left him so broken he had to reconstruct himself and find a new purpose for living?
Well he just helped her make the Brockton Bay pontentially free of Super-Nazi's. The leat she can do it is help him in his " Journey" ( and just maybe, make him give a chance to heroism while at it)
////////////////////////////////
Took a while. Have important exams soon so not much time to write. Hope you all doing ok.
Missy felt a little silly at how excited she felt. There was no reason to be all smiles, she was just having a friend and colleague over to discuss some subjects. It was a totally mellow and sophisticated thing and being giddy would be just silly.
So she calmly and elegantly arranged the books she managed to gather into the living room table.... "Mans Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl; "The Diamonds of Human Life " by Alexandria; "12 Rules of Life" by Jordan Peterson; "The Lack" by the Humanist; " Love Does" by Bob Goff; "The Untethered Soul" by Micheal Singer. She honestly felt kind of lost when first thinking about Purpose search for ... well, purpose.
She did not like feeling like she knew nothing and had nothing to offer so she put some effort into gathering what she could from the internet and find in the library about finding purpose in one's life.
She was just going to find purpose in her living room.
"Hehe" she giggled to herself. With a name like that, a bunch of bad puns could be made. Clocblocker would probably love it to have him around.
The doorbell rang.
Using her power she shortened the trip to the door to 5 steps. Unlocking her front door she was faced with an empty porch.
With a smile, the child welcomed the other and closed the door
"Remember to be invisible so that no one sees you coming and only turn visible. come to door, use the doorbell and I will tell you If the coast is clear." She had said to him. At least she was cooperative.
It was lucky both mom and dad would be out for the weekend. They could always meet at some public place, but she wanted the boy to feel comfortable and welcome. She guessed Purpose did not get much of that Thanks to his unusual personality and mental state. So she wanted to be in this safe space. Being welcome, safe, respected, and valued... That was what everyone needed right? Even people with non-neurotypical minds, like him? Maybe especially to people like him.
Closing the door she said she smile saying. " Coast clear."
And there he was. A man of blurry lines and weird visual effects. Still felt weird to focus on his face but she was getting used to it. she wondered why he did not just used a mask? She might ask it later, at the moment...
"Hey, ready to start?
###
The Entity analyzed the object being presented to it. It was a codex of artificial sheets of celluloid folded and sewed in layers to form a cohesive block. By his [nativization] protocols he knew this served as is a medium for recording information in the form of symbols and images. Book. Books. Data... she brought him external compartmentalized data.
"You... can read English right? I mean- You said you had no documents so I suppose- not that should mean-" She was slightly distressed trying to reformulate a very basic question, how curious. He let her continue with the rephrasing and explanations for a while until she finally said: "I - I just - You can read, right?"
"Yes." The Entity had to learn the languages of the natives in the third stage of [nativization] after all. Currently, it was capable of decoding and responding in 4235 of the 6934 languages of the human race. Including this written language.
"Good, I ...Good." She walked tensely to one of the books. "This is just something I thought might be a good start. I am not much of the bookish type, but it is better than just walking in the streets expecting meaning to hit you in the face."
That statement was logical. Consuming the knowledge and wisdom of others was more efficient than only gathering your own ...
With a blurry hand, it reached for the book closest to its hand. Dry vegetal life in his hand was outwardly painted with the image of a burning match.
It was useful. It was good.
" Thank you." The Entity said as it was protocol.
###
"Thank you." He said, and she smiled just a little.
He shifted through the book, his blurry fingers caressing the pages as If the paper itself was fascinating instead of the contents. It was weird sight. The spectral cape appearance contracted heavily with the "normalcy" of her parents luxurious modern decor. It just did not fit. Like putting a dragon at a computer store or a Shiva statue in a school bathroom.
She took a sit and let him read for a while, but as any teen doing nothing was not an activity she would tolerate for long. Drowsy, she asked : " Sooo… anything interesting?"
The weird man looked in between her and the book for a bit, before answering
" Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant" his voice was different, more… engaged maybe?
" Hmn… pretty powerful stuff." Not very enlightened, but what could she say, she was not a poet.
" I … What should I become?"
Ok… that was a bit heavy. Was he just asking for a suggestion, or would actually take what she said as a directive ? It was hard to know with this guy. She … Could she tell him to be a hero ? Could she tell him anything? He was the most powerful cape she knew. She could…
" You should become whatever you want to be. There is no right or wrong answer in life." But she could not. Disregarding one's feelings and needs over your own desire's was ugly. It was just plain ugly and disgusting. Especially If it was someone who counted on you.
The man stared at her for a few seconds, those clouds of color he had for eyes pouring straight into her soul. For a moment she thought she said something wrong. In the end she gave a basic non-answer to his question, but after a while he said
"Thank you, Missy."
Hers was the first name He ever said.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
Any of you guys know good phylosophers on the subject of purpose
Lisa was a curious girl to the fault. It was just who she was. Her powers did not help her case much too. When she found a piece of incomplete information she almost never could resist the urge to complete it. It was her curse. Sherlock did not want to be a detective, he needed it.
So that was why when Coil asked her to investigate this "Purpose" guy, and she couldn't easily find anything, she got a bug on her shoulder.
The man was the most blank of Blank-Slaters she ever encountered.
No whisper about him before a few weeks ago. She deduced it was thanks to the incredible variety of his arsenal. A man with 30 different powers could easily have had 10 other cape identities. But ... there were wholes in the theory. For starters, the man seemed to behave as a teen with severe autism, therefore not the kind to lie or plot in a complex level.
There was always the possibility of Purpose actually just being a simple-minded man who recently triggered with an impressive amount of power.
The most nerving part of them all was that her power did not seem to work right on the guy. She suspected it was part of the Stranger aura he used to look like a blur of a person.
She figured she would solve his case eventually, not giving much importance as her boss did not press her on the full profile for this one. She did not figure she would meet the guy before having her first draft ready...
###
The night was one of those few dangerous ones.
Lung and Oni Lee intended on having their heads. Arming over 2 dozen common goons to serve as what Regent like to call "Canon Fother", but as everyone there knew, were a huge problem. She grimly remembers the time when a stray bullet coming from an incompetent cop, blind by Brian's darkness, manage to graze Rachel's ear. 3 cm to the left and she would have been dead. You do not underestimate the danger of normies with guns
The only reason she was as calm as she was ( besides her incredible ability to ignore her emotions ) was that she knew that If things ended up with her scorched to the bone, her kind and paternal enslaver would probably collapse the timeline into a less horrible outcome. Quantum Insurance is the best insurance ... or at least she would keep telling herself. Honestly, she would still give a 30% chance of the snake letting her die over some dumb reason or another.
Still, she relayed the intel to Brian and the team. Their leader tried to argue that a confrontation would be suicidal they spent literal 2 hours trying to come up with plans and strategies, some even involved using bombs and taking a sniper riffle with them. In the end, they agreed with a simple and blunt "Meet the fucker's halfway" as Rachel liked to put it.
They mounted and went to the warehouse boss pointed them to. Wouldn't you know, The masked mater of ninja fuckery (Alec's words) was there with a half dozen guys, but Lung and the rest of his gang are nowhere to be found.
Catching him by surprise, Grue released a tsunami of darkness before he knew what was happening. From a safe distance, mounted over Brutus, Lisa saw ( or rather did not see ) as Grue a cloud of darkness where she was 90% sure Brian was advancing on the enemy.
"Regent, can you sense what is going on there?" she asked. Most forgot how Alec could keep track of the muscle movements of people he had already used his power on repeatedly. Useless against Lee and his goons, but useful to track their teammates when communication was a no
"Yeah, Grue is unhurt and swinging like crazy. I got the impression the ninja is not down yet though."
They waited there while Grue dealt with Oni Lee and Angelica scared away the ABB goons who were not taken by Darkness. At some point, Oni Lee managed to get out of the Smoke Zone. Lisa spotted the guy for less than 2 seconds before he was gone, Teleporting from roof to roof.
"Oni Lee is gone. What now?" Brian asked, rejoining them and mounting Judas.
" Give me a minute. " She walked away from the group as If to look around. When in the right distance, she took out her phone and called out Coil as they had agreed.
"Tattletale." His voice was as cold and unamused as always.
Swallowing down her anger, she asked: " Hey boss man, thanks for that tip on the place. Lung was not there, but I guess you already knew that. Any tips on how to proceed?"
"Lung will be at the location I am about to send to your phone. When there, be cautious and watch out for a unknown young hero with insect manipulation powers."
"Noted. Anything else?"
"That will be it. Just wait a bit before approaching and engaging. Caution is our pick." He hugged up.
She mused on the intel for a bit. If there was a new hero around ...
ˆˆˆˆ Probability of engaging Lung alone: Low
If The new element was to keep to itself, Coil probably would not have mentioned it.
New element will act against Lung
Probably call for backupˆˆˆˆ Her power supplied
Well, that seemed pretty convenient to her. If they got Lucky, the white hats and could distract Lung enough to open a window of opportunity to them or even deal with Lung on their own.
" Okay, guys. Give me a bit more time to get Lung's location, and then let's get the Dragon down."
A few minutes later they were watching a black-clad cape rain a biblical plague over Lung. It was impressive and terrifying. Sadly, even with all her terrible army, the bug cape was not succeeding on taking him Down. The healing factor was to much to overpower.
The Dragon Man climbed the building the bug cape was hiding in and she just stood there paralyzed.
Even from the great distance, what Lisa could get through the binoculars was enough for her power to work with.
ˆˆˆKnows that running would be futile
Has no plan. Has no backup ˆˆˆ
Lisa was about to Tell the guys to start Moving when she noticed it
###
The heat coming from Lung was overwhelming. Even If she was not panicked Taylor would probably Still be incapable of breathing right.
In truth, she never thought this was how it would end. All she wanted to do was stop Lung from killing children, something that any hero worth the name would at least try. Even if it meant dying, she had to do something.
Now she had Death staring her down with flaming rage.
As she instinctively turned her back on Lung to avoid his flames, she felt that unbearable heat of his flare. At that moment, she froze and closed her eyes, gritting her teeth so as to not cry out in pain when it finally hit her.
The pain took longer than she expected though prompting her to open her eyes and find...
"What the..." she could only gap at the new arrival, that now stood between her and Lung.
He looked like a nightmare she once had. instead of a person, he was more like a specter. All floating colors and blurry lines instead of the normal face or head one should have.
Lung though was largely more experienced in the cape business and came up with a strategy to approach the new arrival in less than 3 seconds. Such strategy: throwing a fireball at the apparition.
The stranger only turned his head to face his fiery doom. Then suddenly, the football sized fireball shrunk into a ping-pong sized amber, which the specter caught with one hand.
Was... was she being rescued?
###
Holy shit, Purpose was rescuing the Bug girl?
But, them again Lisa had Theorized he would try to be a hero. Fighting Lung to save a woman in danger probably made sense in a simpleton's mind. And judging by what she knew of his powers... he may have a chance.
from her binoculars, she could see him using what looked like some space manipulation to shrink Lungs attack.
ˆˆˆNot pyroknesis. Looks like Vista's powerˆˆˆ
The Dragon seemed startled for a split second before returning to his aggressive state. Lung followed up with a physical attack this time, swinging his clawed hand at Purpose with killing intent. The guy didn't even flinch as the hand slapped the hell out of his face.
A normal man would have lost theirs had to such mighty strike. Purpose did not move an inch. Neither did he move when Lung gave him a push-kick that could probably throw a van a dozen meters or when the gang leader threw a left hook straight at his temple.
ˆˆˆDoes not feel pain. Still feels sensory impute from the strikes. Has Super Senses.ˆˆˆ
Lung, not being an unthinking brute like most misinformed theorizers assumed, realized the futility of his conventional strategies and decided to get creative. Focusing hard on his pyrokinesis he expanded the already existing flames in other to set the entire roof on fire.
ˆˆˆLung Want's to distract Purpose using Bug Girl. Make Purpose Focus on Saving Bug and them collapse the roof. Expects that a chaotic fight in the burning building will end up in his favor, even If not to beat Purpose, at least to make it impossible for him to avoid the death of Bug Girl.ˆˆˆ
Clever Motherfucker. Lisa got worried, She was ready to ask Alec to try to trip Lung into falling from the building when purpose made his move. With a wave of his hand, the fire started to move differently.
in less than 3 seconds all the fire on the roof jumped from the burning surfaces and started to converge into the palm of Purpose's hand. Like a whirlwind sucking water, all fire spun and compressed into a 5-inch mini-tornado of bright burning energy.
ˆˆˆLearned Lung's pyrokinesis. Was curious to test it. Could have put the fire's down, but thought that would be a waste of perfectly good energy. will use the energy to-ˆˆˆ
And before her power could finish the analysis, the tornado of fire launched itself straight into Lung's face and into his opened, roaring mouth. From there the control that kept the fire condensed was released, resulting in an explosion that pushed the Dragon Man back and out of the roof.
Lisa was both amazed and slightly terrified. But, professional ( and Curious) to a fault, she forced her power a bit to extract more than superficial information from the man who had just choked the dragon with it's own fire.
ˆˆˆ.........
"Grue I think we should leave," Lisa said, putting her binoculars down.
"What? Why?"
"Well... because..."
ˆˆˆPurpose knows we are hereˆˆˆ
////////////////////////////////
This is set some time after the Talk Missy and Purpose had in the last chapter.
What you think comes next?
What you think happened in the few weeks we skipped?
She Taught Me Sadness- Chapter 9 - Taylor’s Butterflies
" Is he ... is he dead?" Taylor asked when the silence on the rooftop became unberable
This was only just her freaking first night out and she already attacked a Guy who could fist-fight natural disasters and saw another guy blow his head up... She really needed to reevaluate her life choices, didn't she ?
" He is regenerating. Will return to full health in 48 minutes. His regeneration protocols are ... interesting." The blurry man said. His voice sounding like it was composed of a bunch other sounds, instead of a human throat." Are you unharmed ?" He extended his hand to help her up. She did not even remembered when she got to the ground. Probably in one of the 5 moments she thought she was gonna die.
"I ... uh... Yeah, I am ok." She answered, a bit tired from the adrenaline leaving her system.
This guy was a hero? She never heard about him. Considering he just beat Lung... she could only assume he was new around, because a guy strong like that should have a reputation.
"Your power is interesting too." He said, casually but still monotone.
" It is?"
" Yes. It is... powerful. I got something similar to control my own shards. But yours is... more advanced."
Oookay... that was a confusing statement. What was this guy talking about? Maybe she should just try to refocus on what it is important. " We should take him to the Protectorate. We cannot allow let him wake up or-"
" I transported him." The man said.
"What?!?" Taylor ran to the edge of the building, to look at the street below. Instead of a 7 feet tall asian man with a half maimed head she saw a cloud of blueish smoke. " Holy shit!"
He really did just beat Lung- The Dragon of Kyushu, one of the "top 100" strongest parahumans in the world - and dropped him into the heroes lap in less than 5 minutes?!? And she helped ? How crazy is this ?
" Are you alright?" The melodic alien voice came from behind her. She turned so fast she almost lost her balance, but managed to keep her dignity. " You are blowing up with danger hormones."
" I- I am - I am alright. You should - better go. To the protectorate, I mean. You just deliver a villain. You better... I don't know. Report to them?"
" No. It is not recommendable. It would bring complications." He said looking at her with those inkblots for eyes. " But I have friends from there. It is a interesting place."
"Interesting". He seemed to like that word. More importantly. She had confirmation of the guy beeing some kind of independent hero in collaboration with the Protectorate. Like Mouse Protector or... her actually. Once she actually does tell anyone, she is hero anyway... Heck, this was he first night out as a hero and she already felt spent by it. At least she did manage to save someone. Whoever Lung was after and all the people he would hurt on the future were now safe thanks to her.
Well... her and Capitan Blurry over there. Talking about this, she just had her first heroic colaboration too ( god that felt corny). Who was the first hero she met anyway?
" Ahm... Thank you for your help. You are?" God she hoped she was not breaking some cape etiquette right now.
" Purpose. You are?"
" I … haven't really thought of a name yet? It is really hard to come up for a name that fits my bug Powers without sounding like a villain or a weirdo." She answered honestly. The man only stared at her. " Purpose is a cool name." She blurted out trying to fill the awkward silence with small talk . " … It sounds. Deep." She was not good at small talk.
" Thank you. I choose it to fit my 'existential streak', you know." His answer assumed a different tone, almost as If he was imitating someone or making a reference. " Any more issues?"
Taylor's fidget a bit looking around. " Well … You said you delivered Lung, and since all his lackeys ran away a few minutes ago, so… I think our job here is done."
" Well, I believe we should Go after the Undersides and their dogs them"
" Yeah, we probably- Wait, what?"
###
"I think we are far enough" Brian said.
" We are not." Lisa protested from behind him. They were sharing a Mount and for the life of him he just wanted Lisa to stop hugging him so tight. Yeah they were going fast, and it was food to hold on for stability, but she was crushing his freaking spine from that hold.
Is Lisa afraid? She did not seemed afraid even when planing to face Lung! Then again this guy just killed Lung. " How do -" before Brian could finish a curtain of insects crashed into them.
Brian instinctively covered them in Darkness. But that did not seem to deter the small creatures in the slightest. Behind him he could hear Lisa Screaming. In front of them Alec and Rachel were also being attacked. The insects meant less of of a bother to the dogs though, who, by Rachel command were going after the Master of the creepy crawlies.
The bug controlling Cape stood right behind the spectral man who beat Lung. Brutus and Angelica advanced faster than cars and heavier than bulls, jaws strong enough to bite chunks out of cars and lamplight.
The blurry man waved a hand and spikes of metal bloomed from the ground stabbing the dogs in multiple places. Alec and Rachel fell from them but did not get stabbed themself.
Brian dismounted Judas and tried to drag Lisa along as darkness covered theirs cape. Or at least their attempt of escape as the weird blurry cape teleported right in front of them in the darkness. Which was supposed to be impossible, only he was supposed to be able to see in his Dark, but he honestly would not get surprised If this crazy cape took and Endbringer out of his pocket at that point.
Brian punched, a quick left, straight into the man's jaw. He knew it would not work, but he could not die or get caught here, not with Aisha waiting for him. So he threw the punch.
His hand broke in 3 places.
The blue of a man only looked at him. His twisted features, looking almost curious. What was he to be curious about ? Wasn't he taking this seriously? Was -
Brian's own world became went dark. Later he would wake up with his jaw hurting like hell and a concussion. Having received the heaviest sucker punch of his life, nearly breaking his mandible bones. The later forced induction into the wards would not make his recovery any sweeter.
###
Taylor could stand over the unconscious body's of the teenage villains Purpose called "The Undersiders". She felt … bad about it for some reason. Maybe because they were teens like her. Maybe it was the fact Purpose killed their Monster dogs with a power that looked like Kaiser's. But she did not felt so well about her first night out. She… could take a little break of cape business after that. She already had a part at taking down Lung anyway. She had a lot of good Karma to spent.
" Soo… It was good to work with you, Purpose. Can you take them to the PRT too?" She asked.
" Yes." As he answered the Undersiders were already gone in clouds of blue smoke.
" Cool, cool. We can… work together again? Maybe patrol?" God why couldn't she just shut up.
" Yes." He answered without hesitation, surprising her. She fumbled about before coming up with:
" Oh. Ok them. Bye." The teen started walking away on the general direction she knew could take her home.
" Goodbye."
Taylor arrived home to find her father angrily waiting for her. She apologized and hugged him. Overall her first night as escape was pretty exceptional. Her next months would be more calm and typical.
She would be bored and safe. Like children should be.
Taylor has being Un-Cannon. Lisa and Brian are going to be forced into the wards. Rachel is going to Juvie and god knows what is going to happen to Alec.
Purpose has being given the hero thing a try for a few weeks. We will see his first days later
forums.spacebattles.com
