Spirit Detective Taylor (Worm x Yu Yu Hakusho)
- Thread starter Pendragoon
- Start date
- Crossover
Interlude 3.c
February 7th, 2011
Thomas Calvert was not having a good day. It wasn't likely he would have a good week either, considering he was going to spend it within a quarantine cell due to his voluntary Master Stranger screening.
Tonight was his first attempt at using his power to assist with an active operation since assuming the Director's position of the PRT East-North East. It has also been the first time in over a year that his power had suffered from a backlash, causing a reality to forcefully collapse. The only other time that had occurred was when he failed to recruit Sarah Livsey.
Getting the girl under his thumb had proved difficult with her power, and due to a simple mistake he ended up with a 'choose between two bad options' scenario. He had tried to set up so that his men would tail her in one reality while he tried different methods to get the job done in the other. The problem came when he was too focused on the timeline where he was trying to forcefully subdue her, and missed the fact that in the backup reality she had noticed his men in reserve. He had thought he was being cautious enough of all the potential workarounds her power had, but obviously she was more observant then he'd expected.
Thomas dropped the timeline where he was trying to subdue the girl, this type of forceful method hadn't worked the last three times he'd tried it anyway, and split a timeline with the girl trying to retreat through the crowds. He sent one version of his men through the crowd and the other around on a parallel side street.
The second reality's group managed to jump the girl and knock her unconscious. He kept the split realities going just in case the first reality worked out better. That reality had the men pushing through the crowd after the girl. They cornered her in an alley she'd tried to escape through, but she turned around and simply grinned at his men. She said something to one, some deep secret that the man considered a good enough justification to simply execute a teenage girl on the spot. Two bullets to the chest and she was done.
Thomas was in a state of shock at the level of unprofessionalism his mercenary had displayed by letting a Thinker get to him that he missed when the other version of Sarah woke up and started trying to pull herself out of her bindings. Before he could do anything, the dumb girl started mouthing off and that same man shot her there as well, leaving him with no good option. That's when the rebound had happened and the first reality simply vanished, leaving him with a nightmare of a headache and a bunch of dead mercs.
The same type of rebound had happened again just hours earlier, in one reality he had sent the Wards to back up the Protectorate which had allowed Lung to be captured. Shadow Stalker had been present and managed to get a lucky shot taking out Othalla, but that led to Hookwolf going on a revengeful killing spree. Armsmaster, Velocity, Clockblocker and Gallant had perished in the fighting, Panacea hadn't arrived in time to save any of them.
He wouldn't have even bothered to send the Wards in his throwaway reality if it hadn't been for the rumors of a new Merchant Cape and seeing the opportunity to get information. The early reinforcements from New Wave in that reality had allowed for no permanent casualties among his people, leaving only Brandish debilitated for New Wave. Without Vista present there were no significant captures made, but he would accept that in exchange for the lives of his Capes. Esprit had decided to join the Wards on their mission which presented the perfect opportunity to see what the mystery cape could do.
The call had come from Aegis, Esprit had died at the hands of a new Merchant Cape, a trash controller of some type. Fitting for the scum that they were. From there he ordered the retreat. He hadn't collapsed the reality with all of the casualties and had been using it to gather information when the girl arrived back to base in his safe reality with all three Merchant capes in tow alongside two of Insight's lap dogs.
His confusion was met with a sudden collapse of his realities, all he could do to save his own skin had been to deflect blame onto the possibility his radio had been hacked and voluntarily turn himself over for screening. Which they would find evidence of, because it was a contingency he had arranged for just such an occasion, one of Insight's many bugs in the system would be revealed.
The fact he had placed the bug there himself would remain undiscovered.
So, Thomas found himself with ample time to spare, he couldn't be sure that he wouldn't see another catastrophic failure of his power so he had kept both realities safe this time. While he intended to keep the one spent in confinement, in the other he had simply gone home sick instead. At worst he could redo the confinement if suspicions arose from the same search he had tasked Armsmaster with, but for now he would carry out his work as Coil instead.
Insight had made her move, shown off her team and all but declared for the side of angels, effectively ending her Independant status that had led to villains being willing to work alongside her in the first place. In many ways this would limit her once the Capes were known to be hers. He had allowed her to think she had pulled a fast one when she managed to secure Grue and Bitch, but he had seen the beginnings of her plan, she had even used his own tactics to recruit them preemptively. He could use that against her easily enough.
Grue had been an easy one, Brian Laborn was looking for a solution that would lead to a stable home environment for his sister. His goal of adoption would have made for an easy way to control him for the better part of a year with no progress being made. That Insight had just handed all of that to him, fast tracked the custody proceedings, made him an easy target. He already had a caseworker on payroll for when he was ready.
Bitch was even simpler, she wanted to work with her dogs and keep them safe. Leveraging that would be enough. As a result, Insight had aided her in systematically tearing down Hookwolf's slice of the Bay. Not one dog fighting ring existed for more than a week before Bitch would raid it with a dozen dogs at her back, often with assistance from Grue and recently, Shadow Stalker and Warlock. Providing a better environment for her to continue would be enough to subvert Insight's hold on her.
Shadow Stalker was the easiest of her Capes to use against her. Why she was trying to keep that psychopath branded a Hero was a joke he failed to grasp. Sophia Hess had been perfectly positioned to become his, he even had an escape plan already in motion for when she was brought in, yet Insight preempted him once more. She almost certainly had to be a powerful precog to pull off what she did, or the most powerful Thinker he had ever heard of outside of Cauldron's own Boogeyman.
Then there was Warlock. Thomas didn't even have a name to attach to the mystery man. He was likely a recent trigger, having witnessed Rune's death and triggered from it if PHO was anything to go off of. He had agents working to follow the man, but he had proven elusive and Coil's only flyer was conspicuous. All he could do was hope he caught a lucky break in one of his realities and managed to capture the Cape. He would very much enjoy that interrogation.
Finally there was Esprit, Taylor Hebert. The ties she had to Shadow Stalker should have prevented any sort of cooperation with Insight, yet she had assisted in bringing the Merchants down. Warlock had also assisted in the Oni Lee fiasco, so it seemed they had some level of rapport. Assigning additional men to watch Hebert's civilian activities might be prudent if she had truly taken 'Mush' down single handedly. It also called into question his prior assumption that Warlock had been the one to take down Oni Lee. He needed to get Esprit to come in for power testing as soon as possible.
If necessary, he could use Panacea as leverage, but he needed to be cautious until he knew exactly what had caused his reality to collapse abruptly. Any split could be permanent, that thought was haunting in a way Thomas couldn't explain, he had relied on his power for so long that the idea of it being unreliable was terrifying to him.
So, Thomas continued to work. Another message had arrived from Accord, his negotiations to secure the Travellers was continuing as expected. Accord wanted them out of his city, but was unwilling to just hand them over as a write off, so Coil had made arrangements. A raid on an Empire safehouse had secured a prize that Accord was quite interested in. Victor may have been comatose, but he was still a Cape and Capes had inherent value.
Coil's latest offer included the man, and Accord's interest had been immediate. It seemed he would be acquiring the Travellers earlier than anticipated, early March couldn't come soon enough, finally he would have the Capes to turn the tables on Insight. He would employ them against the Empire and Insight as needed, bolstered by the numbers he could hopefully conscript Grue into the Protectorate at the very least. Warlock was not one he expected to bear fruit, given his probable ties to the Empire. The less said about Bitch and Shadow Stalker the better.
All in all, his plans were coming together better than he could have ever hoped. Emily shooting herself in the foot with Esprit couldn't have gone better even if he had planned it. All he had done was sabotage her dialysis machine and have her meds altered to hasten the decline of her health, he hadn't expected it to work so swiftly.
If Esprit wasn't such a wild card he would likely be trying to recruit the girl as a thank you, but if it was an aspect of her powers that corrupted his safe reality, he needed to keep her far away from anything he was involved in.
The door to his M/S cell chimed and Armsmaster stepped inside. "Director Calvert, you were correct. The communication systems had been compromised by an outside agent."
"Good work as always, Armsmaster." Director Calvert said as he stood from the bed. "Did you manage to ascertain the identity of the party responsible?"
"We did." Armsmaster said. "It took a bit of work to unravel some of the false leads, but Dragon and I were able to confirm it was Coil. I've already forwarded a detailed summary of our findings to you for review."
All Thomas Calvert could do was blink, somehow Insight had managed to screw him over once again. In his other reality an alert sounded that an order for him to report immediately for Master Stranger screening had him on edge, had Insight known what his power was and set up a situation that would force him to keep a reality where he was exposed? The implication that she knew his identity was of even greater concern. He couldn't afford the waste of time that waiting in confinement was, so he reluctantly collapsed the reality where his long fought negotiations with Accord had just concluded. He would need to retread the lost ground, but he had a template to work from, Accord would appreciate the efficiency in their second round of negotiations and might even offer a better rate for time saved.
"We also have a matter that will require your attention." Armsmaster continued. Thomas gestured in understanding as he tried to process exactly how Insight had managed to screw him over. "Lady Photon has requested that Esprit be brought in for power testing for fear of a bad interaction with Panacea and Glory Girl that could result in Master-like effects. Rennick wasn't comfortable making a decision of this magnitude."
Well then, finally something he could work with. "Contact Esprit and request she report in for power testing to clarify the issues Lady Photon has raised. That should be enough to get her through our doors, we can respond appropriately from there."
"Very well, I'll make the arrangements." Armsmaster said.
Esprit had volunteered to come in immediately after their concerns were spelled out. Sarah Pelham and a recently recovered Carol Dallon were also going to be present, which was a surprise as she was still listed as being in a coma in the debrief he had been given just hours earlier. He would need to look into that, because as far as he knew, Panacea couldn't do anything for brain damage and Carol Dallon certainly had some based on the report. The fact that she had also just been released from her own round of Master Stranger screening pointed to Carol's own suspicions and the possibility of Panacea being more capable than initially known.
Thomas had requested additional security given the apparent disagreements between Esprit and the older members of New Wave. That both Dallon sisters were there in support of Esprit may have been a sign that their concerns of Mastering were well founded, or completely overblown.
Thomas didn't really care which it was, he finally had an excuse to test his power against the girl's and he was going to make use of it. He needed to know if it was her that had caused his reality to fail, he needed data so he could plan around blind spots, eliminate them if necessary.
He was accompanied in the observation room by Miss Militia and Battery, acting as a buffer between Panacea and Glory Girl on one side, and Brandish and Lady Photon on the other. Originally, Assault was slated to join them, but Battery had put her foot down and demanded he be excluded due to something called a 'Dallon Sandwich', which Battery had refused to elaborate on. Knowing Assault, it was best he didn't take the five minutes it would take to look it up.
Let it never be said that Thomas Calvert couldn't learn from past mistakes.
Esprit wasn't in costume for today's testing, unless she hadn't been kidding about the green jacket and track pants being her costume. She made no attempts to hide her face and had put her hair up in a ponytail. The girl was fit, yet plain. There was nothing about her that commanded attention or indicated she held great power, it was the worst part of the Parahuman phenomenon. You simply didn't know who was dangerous until it was too late.
Thomas knew that fact first hand, Ellisburg had ensured he would never forget. The irony that he made use of that same fact for his own ambitions was not lost on him.
Thomas gave a nod and created a new split. In both realities Miss Militia keyed up the mic. "Alright Esprit, we're going to start things off simple to establish a baseline." Below Esprit gave a thumbs up as three targets popped up down range. "Please shoot each target as accurately as you are able, there isn't a time limit and please don't destroy them. We have a special target arranged for later just for that purpose."
Thomas raised an eyebrow at the obvious amusement in Miss Militia's voice but didn't question it in either reality. Esprit raised a finger and took aim at the first target when a crippling headache hit him like a sledgehammer and he was back down to one reality. The first target was left spinning as she repeated her motions almost instantly. Flashes of cobalt light streaked through the room, hitting each target dead center.
He hid it well, barely wincing at the sudden agony, but he had an answer. Her power was affecting his own in some way. He hated to do it, but another test was needed. This time when he split realities he keyed up the mic for the first reality. "Esprit, could you stand by for a moment?"
Then in the second he said, "Esprit, could you repeat the shot?"
As soon as she took her position he was surprised when nothing happened, as was everyone else, including Esprit. Within a moment she was marching towards the viewing platform, glaring at him as she brushed right past security and continued right up to him.
"So, that's why you wanted me here?" She demanded, grabbing his shirt. "To use your power on me?"
She then punched him so hard the reality collapsed on itself instantly.
What the hell happened? He stared down at Esprit, who was still waiting for his next instruction. He hadn't gotten a headache that time even though it had collapsed. Her power hadn't worked in the reality that ended up failing, maybe that was part of it. The fact she had known to attack him immediately raised all kinds of alarms in his head about the girl. She must have known what his power is, there's no other explanation.
He had to force himself to calm down in the event Panacea caught on to his reactions. If Esprit was aware of things, it was likely she was as well given their apparent relationship status. Ensuring Esprit actually died in an accident should be easy enough, but arranging for Panacea to be taken out as well? There wasn't any easy way to test how much they knew either, not with how Esprit's power interacted with his own.
"Excuse me, are we going to continue with this or not?" Esprit yelled from the testing floor.
"Miss Militia, please arrange for the next test." Thomas said and she gave a nod and voiced something into her radio instead.
A massive concrete block was wheeled into the room, on the side facing Esprit was a promotional cutout of Shadow Stalker. Brandish sucked in a breath as Panacea doubled over in laughter at the sight of it, a moment later Glory Girl had joined her. Thomas made a quick split and pulled up Esprit's abridged file notes, ah, Shadow Stalker had some history with the girl.
A vague memory from earlier in the year resurfaced and Thomas had to hide a frown, he'd forgotten that critical detail somewhere along the way. Living two simultaneous lives might be doing more harm to his long term memories than he initially speculated. He would need to run some tests on whether the memories most affected were from kept or discarded realities at a later date.
Miss Militia ordered Esprit to make ready and Thomas collapsed the reality he had checked Esprit's file in. He mentally prepared for another headache but it didn't come. He made it a point to push down the instinct to immediately split the realities again, as Esprit raised a finger towards the target. The girl had a massive grin on her face as her fingertip glowed cobalt.
A blinding flash followed, the shot cleared the distance in an instant and the target exploded. The girl had just reduced a six foot cube of reinforced concrete to rubble. Nothing in her file indicated she should have been capable of doing that. They would need to up her Blaster rating at a minimum. He reviewed the footage and was surprised to see, or rather not see, the effects of her shots. The target exploded just as they had to his eyes, but the brilliant cobalt was nowhere to be seen.
"Her powers can't be recorded?" Thomas asked.
"Unfortunately, no. All attempts to record her powers have failed." Miss Militia replied. "Armsmaster can't even see her powers through his visor."
"Have you tried analog media?" Panacea cut in, drawing looks from the entire room but she didn't wilt under the attention. "Try to get an old VHS camcorder and an analog tv, see if that works."
"We hadn't considered that." Miss Militia said and Panacea smirked, judging by her smug look she clearly knew it would work. Thomas couldn't help but wonder why an archaic media would work when a more advanced one didn't? That would be a question he left to Armsmaster to solve.
Thomas had his own issues to work through now that he had a better grasp of the situation. The fact that only his backup realities resulted in a collapse so far indicated a harrowing implication about his power. It was possible that the reality he ends up choosing to keep might be the only 'real' one, as it's always the one that Esprit's power causes a backfire with. He wasn't living in two different realities simultaneously as his power suggested. That left Thomas with only one real option, he was a precog. A new question formed in his mind that saw him become more panicked than anything prior had ever elicited.
Was he in control, or was his power controlling him when he used it instead? Did he actually decide which side of the coin would be ideal, or was his power doing it for him? The idea was the stuff of nightmares, being a slave to his power made it all the more likely that he would die if the right Cape found him. Did Esprit have her own precog ability that sabotaged his or was there some deeper aspect to her power that caused the corruption?
Figuring that out right now was too dangerous, especially if she was prepared to resort to deadly force if there's even a hint of something being wrong with a situation.
Testing continued without much incident, with Thomas resisting the itch to split another reality off if only so he could shoot Panacea for her snark in a moment of catharsis. The gnawing need to do so only grew as Esprit demolished the Brute testing course in total, further testing would require specialized equipment located off site. Esprit was given a provisional rating of Brute Four as a result of how much she could lift and that she could shrug off small arms fire when her aura was active. She also gained a Mover rating of Two for clearing the mile sprint in under three minutes.
Panacea snorted when they announced Esprit's time, which only served to confirm that Esprit wasn't showing them everything. That raised the question of how to approach the accusation that she had a Master power when her power set seemed to be entirely focused on combat.
With her power testing complete, he decided to split a reality, in one he asked her to wait a few moments, in the other he chose to approach her, asking her to refrain from all usage of her powers in both realities.
As Thomas entered the testing room, Esprit was doing a few basic stretches likely as part of a cooldown routine. "Esprit, I was hoping to have a word with you before we conclude things."
"Sure thing." She said and stepped over. "Is this about New Wave's accusations?"
"It is." Thomas confirmed. "They are convinced either you have a Master power, or an as of now unknown associate of yours does. I would like an answer I could put on the paperwork that would satisfy my superiors when they conduct their own check of our findings."
"Ah." Esprit said, clearly lost in thought. She glanced around in confusion for a moment, before nodding. "I do have another associate, one that New Wave has been made aware of, so I can understand the concern."
"Could you give me something more for the report?" Thomas asked as he did his best to hide his frustration. "We are a government agency and need to be as thorough and accurate as possible."
"Stop fucking with my power and maybe I'd be inclined to answer." Esprit said as her fist pulled back and Thomas shut down the reality in frustration before she could land a second punch. Esprit's voice echoed in his head with each throb of his still intense headache, and as much as he wanted to create another split and just shoot the girl in the fucking eye, he knew with his luck that would be the reality that would stick and his life as Thomas Calvert would be at an end. Assuming he could get away with it in the first place given how powerful the girl seemed to be.
New Wave wouldn't be satisfied with the results of testing, but until they could provide further proof of human Mastering there was nothing he could do. He did hold some concern that Panacea was more capable than she let on, but without any proof acting on it would be difficult given his current issues.
The fact that he wanted Esprit as far away from him as possible right now had little to do with that. Obviously, she had secrets and he was once again reminded of his loss of Sarah Livsey, there was a connection there that he was missing, he just needed to figure out what it was.
With that problem temporarily dealt with he secluded himself inside his office and pulled out a phone from his pocket before dialing a number he had long since memorized. It was with a sense of deja-vu that the phone was answered precisely on the second ring.
"Hello Accord, I was hoping to resume negotiations for the Travelers. I have recently acquired an asset you may be interested in."
"I'm listening, make your offer Coil." Accord said curtly. The implication of reprisal for wasting his time was clear by his tone.
Thomas smiled wide, knowing exactly how this had gone before. "Victor of the Empire Eighty Eight."
"You have my attention."
Even as Thomas repeated his negotiations with Accord, he made notes to have Esprit's file updated. He had much work to catch up on, and as much as some things had gone to hell, there was enough still going his way that he could continue to look on the bright side of things.
Priority Message: Esprit Updates
Updates to Esprit's file have been logged as follows.
Cape Name: Esprit
Civilian Name: Taylor Anne Hebert
Father: Daniel 'Danny' Hebert
Mother: Annette Rose Hebert *Deceased*
Age: 15
DOB: June 11th, 1995
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 155 Pounds
Bios: Identity is public knowledge and she makes no effort to hide who she is. Identity was exposed by the Empire Eighty Eight as part of Shadow Stalker's unmasking and the following attack on Esprit at her mother's grave.
Mother died in an automotive accident in 2008. Annette served as a lieutenant for Lustrum in the nineties; her views have likely influenced Taylor's own. *See file on Lustrum for more information*
Father is head of hiring for the Dock Workers Union. *See incidents 37564 and 41879*
Currently homeschooled though she makes frequent visits to Arcadia to meet friends. Esprit is believed to be dating Panacea, aka Amy Dallon, in their civilian identities as an extension of this. Extremely protective of Ms. Dallon as evidenced by the Oni Lee encounter. Any attempts on one are likely to elicit extreme reactions from the other. *See Attachments for details.
Trigger Event: Trapped in a locker filled with biological waste by several classmates, one of which was her former best friend, another of which was the civilian ID of a former Ward. Avoid situations that would seek to emulate these conditions at all costs. No forced confinement, avoid presenting any news in a way that would seem like a betrayal of her trust. Recruitment attempts ill advised due to Trigger Event.
Blaster Five: Demonstrated an ability to decimate reinforced concrete as well as a high degree of accuracy with her shots as well as the ability to finely control all aspects of the power itself. Highly flexible and potentially lethal. Please see the details below on the potential Stranger ratings this category also carries for Esprit.
Brute Two: Demonstrated the ability to survive small arms fire consistent with most low level Brutes. Enhanced strength also demonstrated. Rating should be increased by at least one full point if her aura* is visible.
Mover Three: Enhanced agility and running speed has been demonstrated in addition to jumping ability being well beyond normal human limitations. Visible aura effect likely means a similar increase in abilities and would justify an increase in rating.
Stranger One: Blaster abilities have been demonstrated to be linked to an individual's ability to perceive the esoteric energy her power emits on the visible spectrum. Given this varies on an individual level we are hesitant to give her a higher rating in this category. The amount of energy she produces seems to be linked to the visibility on an individual level.
No artificial methods have been able to record a single reading of her powers no matter how much she pushed them. Analog sources were suggested by Panacea and further testing will be conducted at the first available opportunity.
Rules of Engagement: Should Esprit prove hostile, she is to be treated as a potentially lethal fighter at close range and an imminent threat at medium range. Recommendations include long range snipers with tranquilizer bolts as well as Brute equipped PRT squads for capture and containment. Esprit is to remain sedated if in custody at all possible times. *See details on Trigger Event*
Panacea should be considered hostile as well in the event Esprit is to be engaged. *See Panacea's Threat Assessment*
Glory Girl is extremely likely to prove hostile as well. *See Glory Girl's Threat Assessment*
Author's Notes:
Well, Thomas had an interesting few days in the aftermath of the Merchant fight. While he suffered a few setbacks and we get some insight into past events, his plans aren't completely off the rails yet. Messing with Taylor won't be nearly as easy as he expected either. The final interlude will go live around the weekend and will star Danny.
Only one more Interlude before we get into Arc 4, which is longer than any previous arc. I don't plan to do more than two interludes between arcs going forward, four was simply too many imo.
Also, I'm currently posting a second fic called A Fistful of Cicadas. Turns out, Taylor has a thing for blondes with freckles so she joins the Undersiders without ever meeting Armsmaster. Smugbug ensues. Updates to this fic will not interfere with SDT updates.
Thomas Calvert was not having a good day. It wasn't likely he would have a good week either, considering he was going to spend it within a quarantine cell due to his voluntary Master Stranger screening.
Tonight was his first attempt at using his power to assist with an active operation since assuming the Director's position of the PRT East-North East. It has also been the first time in over a year that his power had suffered from a backlash, causing a reality to forcefully collapse. The only other time that had occurred was when he failed to recruit Sarah Livsey.
Getting the girl under his thumb had proved difficult with her power, and due to a simple mistake he ended up with a 'choose between two bad options' scenario. He had tried to set up so that his men would tail her in one reality while he tried different methods to get the job done in the other. The problem came when he was too focused on the timeline where he was trying to forcefully subdue her, and missed the fact that in the backup reality she had noticed his men in reserve. He had thought he was being cautious enough of all the potential workarounds her power had, but obviously she was more observant then he'd expected.
Thomas dropped the timeline where he was trying to subdue the girl, this type of forceful method hadn't worked the last three times he'd tried it anyway, and split a timeline with the girl trying to retreat through the crowds. He sent one version of his men through the crowd and the other around on a parallel side street.
The second reality's group managed to jump the girl and knock her unconscious. He kept the split realities going just in case the first reality worked out better. That reality had the men pushing through the crowd after the girl. They cornered her in an alley she'd tried to escape through, but she turned around and simply grinned at his men. She said something to one, some deep secret that the man considered a good enough justification to simply execute a teenage girl on the spot. Two bullets to the chest and she was done.
Thomas was in a state of shock at the level of unprofessionalism his mercenary had displayed by letting a Thinker get to him that he missed when the other version of Sarah woke up and started trying to pull herself out of her bindings. Before he could do anything, the dumb girl started mouthing off and that same man shot her there as well, leaving him with no good option. That's when the rebound had happened and the first reality simply vanished, leaving him with a nightmare of a headache and a bunch of dead mercs.
The same type of rebound had happened again just hours earlier, in one reality he had sent the Wards to back up the Protectorate which had allowed Lung to be captured. Shadow Stalker had been present and managed to get a lucky shot taking out Othalla, but that led to Hookwolf going on a revengeful killing spree. Armsmaster, Velocity, Clockblocker and Gallant had perished in the fighting, Panacea hadn't arrived in time to save any of them.
He wouldn't have even bothered to send the Wards in his throwaway reality if it hadn't been for the rumors of a new Merchant Cape and seeing the opportunity to get information. The early reinforcements from New Wave in that reality had allowed for no permanent casualties among his people, leaving only Brandish debilitated for New Wave. Without Vista present there were no significant captures made, but he would accept that in exchange for the lives of his Capes. Esprit had decided to join the Wards on their mission which presented the perfect opportunity to see what the mystery cape could do.
The call had come from Aegis, Esprit had died at the hands of a new Merchant Cape, a trash controller of some type. Fitting for the scum that they were. From there he ordered the retreat. He hadn't collapsed the reality with all of the casualties and had been using it to gather information when the girl arrived back to base in his safe reality with all three Merchant capes in tow alongside two of Insight's lap dogs.
His confusion was met with a sudden collapse of his realities, all he could do to save his own skin had been to deflect blame onto the possibility his radio had been hacked and voluntarily turn himself over for screening. Which they would find evidence of, because it was a contingency he had arranged for just such an occasion, one of Insight's many bugs in the system would be revealed.
The fact he had placed the bug there himself would remain undiscovered.
So, Thomas found himself with ample time to spare, he couldn't be sure that he wouldn't see another catastrophic failure of his power so he had kept both realities safe this time. While he intended to keep the one spent in confinement, in the other he had simply gone home sick instead. At worst he could redo the confinement if suspicions arose from the same search he had tasked Armsmaster with, but for now he would carry out his work as Coil instead.
Insight had made her move, shown off her team and all but declared for the side of angels, effectively ending her Independant status that had led to villains being willing to work alongside her in the first place. In many ways this would limit her once the Capes were known to be hers. He had allowed her to think she had pulled a fast one when she managed to secure Grue and Bitch, but he had seen the beginnings of her plan, she had even used his own tactics to recruit them preemptively. He could use that against her easily enough.
Grue had been an easy one, Brian Laborn was looking for a solution that would lead to a stable home environment for his sister. His goal of adoption would have made for an easy way to control him for the better part of a year with no progress being made. That Insight had just handed all of that to him, fast tracked the custody proceedings, made him an easy target. He already had a caseworker on payroll for when he was ready.
Bitch was even simpler, she wanted to work with her dogs and keep them safe. Leveraging that would be enough. As a result, Insight had aided her in systematically tearing down Hookwolf's slice of the Bay. Not one dog fighting ring existed for more than a week before Bitch would raid it with a dozen dogs at her back, often with assistance from Grue and recently, Shadow Stalker and Warlock. Providing a better environment for her to continue would be enough to subvert Insight's hold on her.
Shadow Stalker was the easiest of her Capes to use against her. Why she was trying to keep that psychopath branded a Hero was a joke he failed to grasp. Sophia Hess had been perfectly positioned to become his, he even had an escape plan already in motion for when she was brought in, yet Insight preempted him once more. She almost certainly had to be a powerful precog to pull off what she did, or the most powerful Thinker he had ever heard of outside of Cauldron's own Boogeyman.
Then there was Warlock. Thomas didn't even have a name to attach to the mystery man. He was likely a recent trigger, having witnessed Rune's death and triggered from it if PHO was anything to go off of. He had agents working to follow the man, but he had proven elusive and Coil's only flyer was conspicuous. All he could do was hope he caught a lucky break in one of his realities and managed to capture the Cape. He would very much enjoy that interrogation.
Finally there was Esprit, Taylor Hebert. The ties she had to Shadow Stalker should have prevented any sort of cooperation with Insight, yet she had assisted in bringing the Merchants down. Warlock had also assisted in the Oni Lee fiasco, so it seemed they had some level of rapport. Assigning additional men to watch Hebert's civilian activities might be prudent if she had truly taken 'Mush' down single handedly. It also called into question his prior assumption that Warlock had been the one to take down Oni Lee. He needed to get Esprit to come in for power testing as soon as possible.
If necessary, he could use Panacea as leverage, but he needed to be cautious until he knew exactly what had caused his reality to collapse abruptly. Any split could be permanent, that thought was haunting in a way Thomas couldn't explain, he had relied on his power for so long that the idea of it being unreliable was terrifying to him.
So, Thomas continued to work. Another message had arrived from Accord, his negotiations to secure the Travellers was continuing as expected. Accord wanted them out of his city, but was unwilling to just hand them over as a write off, so Coil had made arrangements. A raid on an Empire safehouse had secured a prize that Accord was quite interested in. Victor may have been comatose, but he was still a Cape and Capes had inherent value.
Coil's latest offer included the man, and Accord's interest had been immediate. It seemed he would be acquiring the Travellers earlier than anticipated, early March couldn't come soon enough, finally he would have the Capes to turn the tables on Insight. He would employ them against the Empire and Insight as needed, bolstered by the numbers he could hopefully conscript Grue into the Protectorate at the very least. Warlock was not one he expected to bear fruit, given his probable ties to the Empire. The less said about Bitch and Shadow Stalker the better.
All in all, his plans were coming together better than he could have ever hoped. Emily shooting herself in the foot with Esprit couldn't have gone better even if he had planned it. All he had done was sabotage her dialysis machine and have her meds altered to hasten the decline of her health, he hadn't expected it to work so swiftly.
If Esprit wasn't such a wild card he would likely be trying to recruit the girl as a thank you, but if it was an aspect of her powers that corrupted his safe reality, he needed to keep her far away from anything he was involved in.
The door to his M/S cell chimed and Armsmaster stepped inside. "Director Calvert, you were correct. The communication systems had been compromised by an outside agent."
"Good work as always, Armsmaster." Director Calvert said as he stood from the bed. "Did you manage to ascertain the identity of the party responsible?"
"We did." Armsmaster said. "It took a bit of work to unravel some of the false leads, but Dragon and I were able to confirm it was Coil. I've already forwarded a detailed summary of our findings to you for review."
All Thomas Calvert could do was blink, somehow Insight had managed to screw him over once again. In his other reality an alert sounded that an order for him to report immediately for Master Stranger screening had him on edge, had Insight known what his power was and set up a situation that would force him to keep a reality where he was exposed? The implication that she knew his identity was of even greater concern. He couldn't afford the waste of time that waiting in confinement was, so he reluctantly collapsed the reality where his long fought negotiations with Accord had just concluded. He would need to retread the lost ground, but he had a template to work from, Accord would appreciate the efficiency in their second round of negotiations and might even offer a better rate for time saved.
"We also have a matter that will require your attention." Armsmaster continued. Thomas gestured in understanding as he tried to process exactly how Insight had managed to screw him over. "Lady Photon has requested that Esprit be brought in for power testing for fear of a bad interaction with Panacea and Glory Girl that could result in Master-like effects. Rennick wasn't comfortable making a decision of this magnitude."
Well then, finally something he could work with. "Contact Esprit and request she report in for power testing to clarify the issues Lady Photon has raised. That should be enough to get her through our doors, we can respond appropriately from there."
"Very well, I'll make the arrangements." Armsmaster said.
Esprit had volunteered to come in immediately after their concerns were spelled out. Sarah Pelham and a recently recovered Carol Dallon were also going to be present, which was a surprise as she was still listed as being in a coma in the debrief he had been given just hours earlier. He would need to look into that, because as far as he knew, Panacea couldn't do anything for brain damage and Carol Dallon certainly had some based on the report. The fact that she had also just been released from her own round of Master Stranger screening pointed to Carol's own suspicions and the possibility of Panacea being more capable than initially known.
Thomas had requested additional security given the apparent disagreements between Esprit and the older members of New Wave. That both Dallon sisters were there in support of Esprit may have been a sign that their concerns of Mastering were well founded, or completely overblown.
Thomas didn't really care which it was, he finally had an excuse to test his power against the girl's and he was going to make use of it. He needed to know if it was her that had caused his reality to fail, he needed data so he could plan around blind spots, eliminate them if necessary.
He was accompanied in the observation room by Miss Militia and Battery, acting as a buffer between Panacea and Glory Girl on one side, and Brandish and Lady Photon on the other. Originally, Assault was slated to join them, but Battery had put her foot down and demanded he be excluded due to something called a 'Dallon Sandwich', which Battery had refused to elaborate on. Knowing Assault, it was best he didn't take the five minutes it would take to look it up.
Let it never be said that Thomas Calvert couldn't learn from past mistakes.
Esprit wasn't in costume for today's testing, unless she hadn't been kidding about the green jacket and track pants being her costume. She made no attempts to hide her face and had put her hair up in a ponytail. The girl was fit, yet plain. There was nothing about her that commanded attention or indicated she held great power, it was the worst part of the Parahuman phenomenon. You simply didn't know who was dangerous until it was too late.
Thomas knew that fact first hand, Ellisburg had ensured he would never forget. The irony that he made use of that same fact for his own ambitions was not lost on him.
Thomas gave a nod and created a new split. In both realities Miss Militia keyed up the mic. "Alright Esprit, we're going to start things off simple to establish a baseline." Below Esprit gave a thumbs up as three targets popped up down range. "Please shoot each target as accurately as you are able, there isn't a time limit and please don't destroy them. We have a special target arranged for later just for that purpose."
Thomas raised an eyebrow at the obvious amusement in Miss Militia's voice but didn't question it in either reality. Esprit raised a finger and took aim at the first target when a crippling headache hit him like a sledgehammer and he was back down to one reality. The first target was left spinning as she repeated her motions almost instantly. Flashes of cobalt light streaked through the room, hitting each target dead center.
He hid it well, barely wincing at the sudden agony, but he had an answer. Her power was affecting his own in some way. He hated to do it, but another test was needed. This time when he split realities he keyed up the mic for the first reality. "Esprit, could you stand by for a moment?"
Then in the second he said, "Esprit, could you repeat the shot?"
As soon as she took her position he was surprised when nothing happened, as was everyone else, including Esprit. Within a moment she was marching towards the viewing platform, glaring at him as she brushed right past security and continued right up to him.
"So, that's why you wanted me here?" She demanded, grabbing his shirt. "To use your power on me?"
She then punched him so hard the reality collapsed on itself instantly.
What the hell happened? He stared down at Esprit, who was still waiting for his next instruction. He hadn't gotten a headache that time even though it had collapsed. Her power hadn't worked in the reality that ended up failing, maybe that was part of it. The fact she had known to attack him immediately raised all kinds of alarms in his head about the girl. She must have known what his power is, there's no other explanation.
He had to force himself to calm down in the event Panacea caught on to his reactions. If Esprit was aware of things, it was likely she was as well given their apparent relationship status. Ensuring Esprit actually died in an accident should be easy enough, but arranging for Panacea to be taken out as well? There wasn't any easy way to test how much they knew either, not with how Esprit's power interacted with his own.
"Excuse me, are we going to continue with this or not?" Esprit yelled from the testing floor.
"Miss Militia, please arrange for the next test." Thomas said and she gave a nod and voiced something into her radio instead.
A massive concrete block was wheeled into the room, on the side facing Esprit was a promotional cutout of Shadow Stalker. Brandish sucked in a breath as Panacea doubled over in laughter at the sight of it, a moment later Glory Girl had joined her. Thomas made a quick split and pulled up Esprit's abridged file notes, ah, Shadow Stalker had some history with the girl.
A vague memory from earlier in the year resurfaced and Thomas had to hide a frown, he'd forgotten that critical detail somewhere along the way. Living two simultaneous lives might be doing more harm to his long term memories than he initially speculated. He would need to run some tests on whether the memories most affected were from kept or discarded realities at a later date.
Miss Militia ordered Esprit to make ready and Thomas collapsed the reality he had checked Esprit's file in. He mentally prepared for another headache but it didn't come. He made it a point to push down the instinct to immediately split the realities again, as Esprit raised a finger towards the target. The girl had a massive grin on her face as her fingertip glowed cobalt.
A blinding flash followed, the shot cleared the distance in an instant and the target exploded. The girl had just reduced a six foot cube of reinforced concrete to rubble. Nothing in her file indicated she should have been capable of doing that. They would need to up her Blaster rating at a minimum. He reviewed the footage and was surprised to see, or rather not see, the effects of her shots. The target exploded just as they had to his eyes, but the brilliant cobalt was nowhere to be seen.
"Her powers can't be recorded?" Thomas asked.
"Unfortunately, no. All attempts to record her powers have failed." Miss Militia replied. "Armsmaster can't even see her powers through his visor."
"Have you tried analog media?" Panacea cut in, drawing looks from the entire room but she didn't wilt under the attention. "Try to get an old VHS camcorder and an analog tv, see if that works."
"We hadn't considered that." Miss Militia said and Panacea smirked, judging by her smug look she clearly knew it would work. Thomas couldn't help but wonder why an archaic media would work when a more advanced one didn't? That would be a question he left to Armsmaster to solve.
Thomas had his own issues to work through now that he had a better grasp of the situation. The fact that only his backup realities resulted in a collapse so far indicated a harrowing implication about his power. It was possible that the reality he ends up choosing to keep might be the only 'real' one, as it's always the one that Esprit's power causes a backfire with. He wasn't living in two different realities simultaneously as his power suggested. That left Thomas with only one real option, he was a precog. A new question formed in his mind that saw him become more panicked than anything prior had ever elicited.
Was he in control, or was his power controlling him when he used it instead? Did he actually decide which side of the coin would be ideal, or was his power doing it for him? The idea was the stuff of nightmares, being a slave to his power made it all the more likely that he would die if the right Cape found him. Did Esprit have her own precog ability that sabotaged his or was there some deeper aspect to her power that caused the corruption?
Figuring that out right now was too dangerous, especially if she was prepared to resort to deadly force if there's even a hint of something being wrong with a situation.
Testing continued without much incident, with Thomas resisting the itch to split another reality off if only so he could shoot Panacea for her snark in a moment of catharsis. The gnawing need to do so only grew as Esprit demolished the Brute testing course in total, further testing would require specialized equipment located off site. Esprit was given a provisional rating of Brute Four as a result of how much she could lift and that she could shrug off small arms fire when her aura was active. She also gained a Mover rating of Two for clearing the mile sprint in under three minutes.
Panacea snorted when they announced Esprit's time, which only served to confirm that Esprit wasn't showing them everything. That raised the question of how to approach the accusation that she had a Master power when her power set seemed to be entirely focused on combat.
With her power testing complete, he decided to split a reality, in one he asked her to wait a few moments, in the other he chose to approach her, asking her to refrain from all usage of her powers in both realities.
As Thomas entered the testing room, Esprit was doing a few basic stretches likely as part of a cooldown routine. "Esprit, I was hoping to have a word with you before we conclude things."
"Sure thing." She said and stepped over. "Is this about New Wave's accusations?"
"It is." Thomas confirmed. "They are convinced either you have a Master power, or an as of now unknown associate of yours does. I would like an answer I could put on the paperwork that would satisfy my superiors when they conduct their own check of our findings."
"Ah." Esprit said, clearly lost in thought. She glanced around in confusion for a moment, before nodding. "I do have another associate, one that New Wave has been made aware of, so I can understand the concern."
"Could you give me something more for the report?" Thomas asked as he did his best to hide his frustration. "We are a government agency and need to be as thorough and accurate as possible."
"Stop fucking with my power and maybe I'd be inclined to answer." Esprit said as her fist pulled back and Thomas shut down the reality in frustration before she could land a second punch. Esprit's voice echoed in his head with each throb of his still intense headache, and as much as he wanted to create another split and just shoot the girl in the fucking eye, he knew with his luck that would be the reality that would stick and his life as Thomas Calvert would be at an end. Assuming he could get away with it in the first place given how powerful the girl seemed to be.
New Wave wouldn't be satisfied with the results of testing, but until they could provide further proof of human Mastering there was nothing he could do. He did hold some concern that Panacea was more capable than she let on, but without any proof acting on it would be difficult given his current issues.
The fact that he wanted Esprit as far away from him as possible right now had little to do with that. Obviously, she had secrets and he was once again reminded of his loss of Sarah Livsey, there was a connection there that he was missing, he just needed to figure out what it was.
With that problem temporarily dealt with he secluded himself inside his office and pulled out a phone from his pocket before dialing a number he had long since memorized. It was with a sense of deja-vu that the phone was answered precisely on the second ring.
"Hello Accord, I was hoping to resume negotiations for the Travelers. I have recently acquired an asset you may be interested in."
"I'm listening, make your offer Coil." Accord said curtly. The implication of reprisal for wasting his time was clear by his tone.
Thomas smiled wide, knowing exactly how this had gone before. "Victor of the Empire Eighty Eight."
"You have my attention."
Even as Thomas repeated his negotiations with Accord, he made notes to have Esprit's file updated. He had much work to catch up on, and as much as some things had gone to hell, there was enough still going his way that he could continue to look on the bright side of things.
Priority Message: Esprit Updates
Updates to Esprit's file have been logged as follows.
Cape Name: Esprit
Civilian Name: Taylor Anne Hebert
Father: Daniel 'Danny' Hebert
Mother: Annette Rose Hebert *Deceased*
Age: 15
DOB: June 11th, 1995
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 155 Pounds
Bios: Identity is public knowledge and she makes no effort to hide who she is. Identity was exposed by the Empire Eighty Eight as part of Shadow Stalker's unmasking and the following attack on Esprit at her mother's grave.
Mother died in an automotive accident in 2008. Annette served as a lieutenant for Lustrum in the nineties; her views have likely influenced Taylor's own. *See file on Lustrum for more information*
Father is head of hiring for the Dock Workers Union. *See incidents 37564 and 41879*
Currently homeschooled though she makes frequent visits to Arcadia to meet friends. Esprit is believed to be dating Panacea, aka Amy Dallon, in their civilian identities as an extension of this. Extremely protective of Ms. Dallon as evidenced by the Oni Lee encounter. Any attempts on one are likely to elicit extreme reactions from the other. *See Attachments for details.
Trigger Event: Trapped in a locker filled with biological waste by several classmates, one of which was her former best friend, another of which was the civilian ID of a former Ward. Avoid situations that would seek to emulate these conditions at all costs. No forced confinement, avoid presenting any news in a way that would seem like a betrayal of her trust. Recruitment attempts ill advised due to Trigger Event.
Blaster Five: Demonstrated an ability to decimate reinforced concrete as well as a high degree of accuracy with her shots as well as the ability to finely control all aspects of the power itself. Highly flexible and potentially lethal. Please see the details below on the potential Stranger ratings this category also carries for Esprit.
Brute Two: Demonstrated the ability to survive small arms fire consistent with most low level Brutes. Enhanced strength also demonstrated. Rating should be increased by at least one full point if her aura* is visible.
Mover Three: Enhanced agility and running speed has been demonstrated in addition to jumping ability being well beyond normal human limitations. Visible aura effect likely means a similar increase in abilities and would justify an increase in rating.
Stranger One: Blaster abilities have been demonstrated to be linked to an individual's ability to perceive the esoteric energy her power emits on the visible spectrum. Given this varies on an individual level we are hesitant to give her a higher rating in this category. The amount of energy she produces seems to be linked to the visibility on an individual level.
No artificial methods have been able to record a single reading of her powers no matter how much she pushed them. Analog sources were suggested by Panacea and further testing will be conducted at the first available opportunity.
Rules of Engagement: Should Esprit prove hostile, she is to be treated as a potentially lethal fighter at close range and an imminent threat at medium range. Recommendations include long range snipers with tranquilizer bolts as well as Brute equipped PRT squads for capture and containment. Esprit is to remain sedated if in custody at all possible times. *See details on Trigger Event*
Panacea should be considered hostile as well in the event Esprit is to be engaged. *See Panacea's Threat Assessment*
Glory Girl is extremely likely to prove hostile as well. *See Glory Girl's Threat Assessment*
Author's Notes:
Well, Thomas had an interesting few days in the aftermath of the Merchant fight. While he suffered a few setbacks and we get some insight into past events, his plans aren't completely off the rails yet. Messing with Taylor won't be nearly as easy as he expected either. The final interlude will go live around the weekend and will star Danny.
Only one more Interlude before we get into Arc 4, which is longer than any previous arc. I don't plan to do more than two interludes between arcs going forward, four was simply too many imo.
Also, I'm currently posting a second fic called A Fistful of Cicadas. Turns out, Taylor has a thing for blondes with freckles so she joins the Undersiders without ever meeting Armsmaster. Smugbug ensues. Updates to this fic will not interfere with SDT updates.
- Location
- Greater Minneapolis Metro
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Only did it that way because I liked how it looked in my doc. XD
Hexcalibur
Not So Ordinary Sword
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- It
So Coil doesn't know Lisa is Insight? The snafu during her recruitment attempts might indicate paranormal influence in the parahuman world even before Taylor.
Interlude 3.d
February 12th, 2011
Danny Hebert was in a fantastic mood when he woke up that morning. Things were finally looking up for the Dockworkers, his daughter was smiling again, and that damned lawsuit had been settled and the check cleared. The Hebert's weren't millionaires, but it was still a large six figure payday that they desperately needed, even after the law firm's hefty cut.
It felt like a new chapter of his life, like after the years of suffering and hell, they were finally being rewarded for their patience. Today was the day they were finally moving back home, the cabin in the woods having served its purpose. He hadn't enjoyed the stay, it simply wasn't home, which was probably why he had chosen to work as much overtime as he could.
Danny had packed the bulk of his belongings the night before in anticipation of the return home. The only things still out were what he needed for his morning shower and to get dressed for the day.
Stepping out of the shower he was hit by the smell of freshly cooked bacon and felt his stomach rumble in anticipation. Danny decided that he could skip shaving if it meant getting bacon sooner, and tossed his razor into his bag after getting dressed for the day.
The sounds of conversation carried from the kitchen as he exited the master bedroom, his daughter's laugh echoed out and he couldn't hide his smile. Taylor was happy and healthy again, due in part to her new Cape identity. He couldn't help but be scared for her, she'd already gotten herself into multiple major fights in the last few weeks and he couldn't help but dread the day he got a call like he had with Annette...
Danny shook himself from the dark road those thoughts would lead him down, he didn't need to add that burden to his daughter's own.
Taylor was at the stove, putting together an omelette that smelled heavenly while Amy diced some of the ingredients next to her. The younger Dallon girl seemed to be spending most of her free time with Taylor lately, and it took everything he had to not poke and tease his daughter for it. If something came of it, it would happen on it's own. Trying to force it would probably just drive another wedge between them, again. That was the last thing he wanted, it was why he was sticking to a hands off approach with his daughter for the time being. Even if it pained him to do so.
"Something smells wonderful." He announced to the room as he poured himself a cup of coffee which had recently been brewed. Taking a sip he was greeted by the richness of whatever blend that Amy had come to insist be the only thing allowed in the cabin. He had asked her where she got it, but Amy had insisted he didn't want that answer. It had to be quite the rare, or expensive blend for her to insist on that. Either way, it wouldn't be wise to complain about how good the coffee was.
"Your omelette is up first, Dad." Taylor said as she flipped his breakfast. "Bacon's on the table, as is some toast and jam."
"Thanks, Taylor. Did you sleep well?" Danny asked.
"Well enough, all things considered." Taylor said. "I kept worrying that I would forget something important."
Amy chuckled at that. "We went over your room twice before we started cooking, just relax a bit."
Danny paused with a piece of bacon at his lips, had the girls just suggested that they had… It was far too early for Amy to have spent that much time with Taylor, unless…
He shook his head, there was no way the shy healer would have dropped such an obvious hint that they were sharing a room, it couldn't have been intentional. Danny chided himself for letting his mind wander. Still, he watched them as they bickered and bantered while cooking, even after they had finished cooking his omelette and started on their own.
The girls were clearly close in a way that screamed of being a couple, but in other ways he could tell that they were maintaining a degree of separation. It didn't have the feelings of a fight between the two, but clearly something was there. He chose to continue to play oblivious rather than draw attention to things, the last thing he wanted to do was screw things up like he had in the past.
He had fallen into depression after his wife passed on far too soon, and Taylor had suffered for it. Annette's little owl had died that day and were it up to him, all parties involved would have suffered. Unfortunately, he would have to leave that up to Taylor to decide how she would handle things. Taylor was strong now, she had fought Capes from each of the major gangs and walked away victorious. He had to trust that she could handle herself now, and that hurt to admit even in his own mind.
The fact he had gotten her back at all had been a small miracle, he knew that but it still troubled him that she refused to go into detail about it. What little information he had been able to find, as well as one extremely uncomfortable conversation with Carol Dallon, had given him an answer.
Trigger Events were traumatic things at the best of times, and Taylor's was considered to be on the far end of the trauma scale. It wasn't unheard of for newly triggered Capes to recover from a death like state, but what little Taylor had hinted at suggested there was more to it than the usual.
Both girls had joined him at the table while he had been spaced out, quietly eating their breakfast. He had to wonder if Amy had simply moved in as that would certainly have explained the tension with Carol for the last few weeks. Neither of them had broached the subject so Danny had chosen to let it lie. He also pointedly ignored that a batch of scrambled eggs and ham had been placed into a food dish where a rather large feline was currently eating from.
With breakfast finished, Danny pulled his truck around and backed it up to the porch. The cabin had been furnished, but there was enough brought from home that would require some heavy lifting. Not that either girl had any issues lifting the boxes that Danny could barely budge. He wasn't surprised by what Taylor could do, she had a Brute rating after all so it was expected. What surprised him was watching Amy move an entire weight set that cleared five hundred pounds without any visible strain.
Taylor flicked Amy's ear after she had loaded the weights onto the truck, whispering furiously at the girl while trying to hide that she was glancing at him. He occupied himself by paying attention to the feline that was currently carrying a blue plushie with a mess of black fuzz on its head. The cat hopped into the front seat of the truck and placed the toy inside before trotting back into the cabin.
Danny blinked a few times as the cat returned, this time carrying an empty food dish. "Okay, I have to ask." Both girls stopped their conversation and turned to face him while his finger tracked the cat towards his truck. "What the hell?"
The girls glanced at each other. "We thought it was yours."
"Thought it was mi-" Danny's jaw snapped shut. "Why would I have a mountain lion?"
Taylor grinned. "I just thought you took Kurt's advice to find yourself a cougar rather literally."
Danny couldn't help but sputter out nonsense for several moments while Amy did an absolutely terrible job at hiding her own laughter. "You are evil." He finally got out. Taylor's facade broke and she practically fell over in howling laughter. Even the cougar seemed to be amused by the exchange which raised even more questions.
Danny chose to throw his hands up and retreat back into the cabin rather than continue the one sided teasing that he was suffering under. It wasn't until he was on the road, without the girls, yet with the cougar seated beside him watching the world go by outside the window, that he began to get nervous. It had even seatbelted itself somehow.
"Just what are you?" Danny mumbled more to himself than at the feline. He didn't expect hissing that almost sounded like amused laughter.
He pulled to a stop at an intersection and just stared at the cougar, which seemed to let out a sigh. "Get it out of your system, then ask your questions."
Danny Hebert most certainly did not scream like a little girl, let the official record reflect that and for future readers to ignore the redacted bits just prior. It wasn't until a vehicle honked that Danny was pulled out of the moment and the world around him came back into focus. The feline hadn't said another word, yet it was watching him with an intensity that spoke of intelligence, wisdom and the weight of experience.
The truck jerked back into motion with a screech of tires, and he quickly found an old strip mall to pull into and put his vehicle into park. The silence stretched on for some time before he found the nerve to see if the mountain lion would speak once more.
"Just what are you, exactly?"
"My name is Genkai, and I am your daughter's guide to the Spirit World."
Danny pinched himself and winced in pain. He wasn't dreaming, maybe he'd been drugged by some merchant and was on an incredibly detailed trip unlike anything he had experimented with in college under Annette's watchful care. He was having a conversation with an animal, it was speaking english with him. Nothing about the day made sense anymore.
"Danny, calm yourself. Unlike Amy, I can't do anything to help if you hyperventilate or suffer a stroke. Not in this form at least."
Those last handful of words stuck in his mind, and his attention returned fully to the feline. He forced himself to take deep breaths, ran through old exercises originally intended to reign in his temper. They served their purpose well enough that he finally felt comfortable speaking.
"Okay, can you explain what you meant when you said you were my daughter's guide?" Danny asked with a shaky voice. "Are you a Cape or something else?"
"I am not what you would term as a 'Cape', though when I was alive I did wield power similar to Taylor's though much greater in magnitude. That shouldn't come as much of a surprise since I have been teaching her how to use her powers."
"I feel like I need a drink before we get any deeper into this conversation, preferably with my daughter in the room with us to explain things in a way that I can understand."
"Have it your way, Danny. Please drive safely as I have become rather attached to this form and would hate to need to house train a new one."
As they continued home Danny asked the occasional softball question, all of which were answered. He did his best to avoid the heavier questions but they still cropped up. The implications of learning that a spirit of a deceased master of martial and spiritual arts had been using a possessed mountain lion to train his daughter were rather high on that list. The revelation that she had been moonlighting as a grim reaper on Bet for the last five years also threw him, especially when she mentioned having assisted Annette with her crossing. He'd had to pull over for a while longer after that particular blow.
By the time he pulled into the driveway Taylor and Amy were both on the front porch waiting, though Amy was noticeably out of breath while Taylor seemed more amused than winded. That they had cleared nearly ten miles on foot faster than he had in his truck was astonishing, even with his mental freak out pit stops on the way. Seeing that Amy had done so alongside Taylor brought up another question that he couldn't help but ask.
"You've been training Amy as well?"
"Has she not made that obvious?" Genkai asked as she gracefully hopped out of the truck and walked over to the girls. "His reaction was everything you hoped for."
"Please tell me you recorded it." Taylor asked with a wide grin that immediately faltered under Danny's harsh glare. "I suppose you want to talk about…"
"Talking would be prudent, considering you've been keeping secrets from me again." Danny said with a voice that he knew was doing little to hide his suppressed anger that he had swore he would never direct at Taylor. "At least tell me this wasn't all just a plot to screw with me by keeping a talking mountain lion secret until the perfect moment."
"Well, Vicky's reaction was pretty entertaining, even if I was on the verge of blacking out when it happened." Taylor mused. "But no, it was more so trying to figure out the best way to tell you and then procrastinating in fear that you might react poorly. Amy set a deadline of moving back home for when to tell you, obviously I continued to keep it from you until we ripped the bandaid off by being obvious about it."
"I didn't even know there was a cat in the cabin." Danny said with a shake of his head. "Though that explains the weird hairs in the dryer's lint collector."
"Hey." Amy said, drawing everyone's attention. "I could have adopted a stray cat, or grown Taylor a cute tail, you never know with me."
Taylor's face turned blood red as she sputtered in embarrassment, she was saved from further teasing by the timely arrival of a massive Chinese delivery order. Amy paid in cash, along with what looked like a sizable tip before Danny could protest, and carried them inside. Genkai followed alongside, leaving Danny to guide his still broken daughter behind the feline.
"Amy, you broke Taylor." Danny said while struggling to hold his own laughter in. "Fix her."
Amy was chuckling as she cupped Taylor's cheek. "Sorry, nothing I can do for this one. She has a chronic case of gay panic."
Taylor's cheeks impossibly turned an even darker shade of red. "For someone who wants to take things slow, you are being one hell of a flirt right now." She mumbled.
"It's your fault for being so easy to tease." Amy said as she patted Taylor's cheek. "You're adorable when flustered. Now let's get this food laid out before it gets cold, I'm starving." Taylor muttered something he wasn't able to hear that caused Amy to bark out a sudden laugh.
The meal was shared in near silence by comparison, avoiding the heavier topics that would need to be touched on eventually. Danny wasn't particularly eager for the confrontation and Taylor seemed to be just as reluctant. Either way, there was no point in spoiling the meal by forcing the issue, they would have plenty of time later.
As the meal wound down Taylor and Amy both suddenly perked up at the same moment, sharing a look before they both stood in almost unison. Danny watched closely as they seemed to communicate an entire conversation with just a few twitches. Then he noticed that Genkai had also sat up and was looking off into the distance.
"Dad, Amy and I are gonna do a quick jog through the neighborhood, see what's changed in the last month."
Danny didn't really buy that for an instant, he wanted to demand they call for more experienced heroes for whatever had drawn their attention, but he knew that Taylor could handle herself much as it pained him to admit. The video of her fight with Oni Lee had been proof of that, even without her powers being visible in the recording.
"Alright, be safe you two."
"Oh, don't worry." Taylor said with a grin, as she pulled on her green jacket. "There's nothing to worry about, we'll be back soon."
They were barely out the door with Genkai before his cell began to ring. He hated that he now had one, especially after the role they played in Annette's death but they were too useful. Knowing that if he and Taylor had simply possessed them, her death might have been avoided. Hell, Taylor could have probably recorded some of the bullying and had proof that the school couldn't simply ignore just because one of the perpetrators was a Ward.
Checking the number he couldn't help but smile as he answered. "Danny Hebert speaking, what can I do for you Mister Anders?"
The voice on the other end chuckled. "No need to be so formal, please call me Max."
Author's Notes:
And with this we will officially kick off Arc 4: Let the Games Begin, next week! It's gonna be a ride and I can't wait to bring it to everyone!
Danny Hebert was in a fantastic mood when he woke up that morning. Things were finally looking up for the Dockworkers, his daughter was smiling again, and that damned lawsuit had been settled and the check cleared. The Hebert's weren't millionaires, but it was still a large six figure payday that they desperately needed, even after the law firm's hefty cut.
It felt like a new chapter of his life, like after the years of suffering and hell, they were finally being rewarded for their patience. Today was the day they were finally moving back home, the cabin in the woods having served its purpose. He hadn't enjoyed the stay, it simply wasn't home, which was probably why he had chosen to work as much overtime as he could.
Danny had packed the bulk of his belongings the night before in anticipation of the return home. The only things still out were what he needed for his morning shower and to get dressed for the day.
Stepping out of the shower he was hit by the smell of freshly cooked bacon and felt his stomach rumble in anticipation. Danny decided that he could skip shaving if it meant getting bacon sooner, and tossed his razor into his bag after getting dressed for the day.
The sounds of conversation carried from the kitchen as he exited the master bedroom, his daughter's laugh echoed out and he couldn't hide his smile. Taylor was happy and healthy again, due in part to her new Cape identity. He couldn't help but be scared for her, she'd already gotten herself into multiple major fights in the last few weeks and he couldn't help but dread the day he got a call like he had with Annette...
Danny shook himself from the dark road those thoughts would lead him down, he didn't need to add that burden to his daughter's own.
Taylor was at the stove, putting together an omelette that smelled heavenly while Amy diced some of the ingredients next to her. The younger Dallon girl seemed to be spending most of her free time with Taylor lately, and it took everything he had to not poke and tease his daughter for it. If something came of it, it would happen on it's own. Trying to force it would probably just drive another wedge between them, again. That was the last thing he wanted, it was why he was sticking to a hands off approach with his daughter for the time being. Even if it pained him to do so.
"Something smells wonderful." He announced to the room as he poured himself a cup of coffee which had recently been brewed. Taking a sip he was greeted by the richness of whatever blend that Amy had come to insist be the only thing allowed in the cabin. He had asked her where she got it, but Amy had insisted he didn't want that answer. It had to be quite the rare, or expensive blend for her to insist on that. Either way, it wouldn't be wise to complain about how good the coffee was.
"Your omelette is up first, Dad." Taylor said as she flipped his breakfast. "Bacon's on the table, as is some toast and jam."
"Thanks, Taylor. Did you sleep well?" Danny asked.
"Well enough, all things considered." Taylor said. "I kept worrying that I would forget something important."
Amy chuckled at that. "We went over your room twice before we started cooking, just relax a bit."
Danny paused with a piece of bacon at his lips, had the girls just suggested that they had… It was far too early for Amy to have spent that much time with Taylor, unless…
He shook his head, there was no way the shy healer would have dropped such an obvious hint that they were sharing a room, it couldn't have been intentional. Danny chided himself for letting his mind wander. Still, he watched them as they bickered and bantered while cooking, even after they had finished cooking his omelette and started on their own.
The girls were clearly close in a way that screamed of being a couple, but in other ways he could tell that they were maintaining a degree of separation. It didn't have the feelings of a fight between the two, but clearly something was there. He chose to continue to play oblivious rather than draw attention to things, the last thing he wanted to do was screw things up like he had in the past.
He had fallen into depression after his wife passed on far too soon, and Taylor had suffered for it. Annette's little owl had died that day and were it up to him, all parties involved would have suffered. Unfortunately, he would have to leave that up to Taylor to decide how she would handle things. Taylor was strong now, she had fought Capes from each of the major gangs and walked away victorious. He had to trust that she could handle herself now, and that hurt to admit even in his own mind.
The fact he had gotten her back at all had been a small miracle, he knew that but it still troubled him that she refused to go into detail about it. What little information he had been able to find, as well as one extremely uncomfortable conversation with Carol Dallon, had given him an answer.
Trigger Events were traumatic things at the best of times, and Taylor's was considered to be on the far end of the trauma scale. It wasn't unheard of for newly triggered Capes to recover from a death like state, but what little Taylor had hinted at suggested there was more to it than the usual.
Both girls had joined him at the table while he had been spaced out, quietly eating their breakfast. He had to wonder if Amy had simply moved in as that would certainly have explained the tension with Carol for the last few weeks. Neither of them had broached the subject so Danny had chosen to let it lie. He also pointedly ignored that a batch of scrambled eggs and ham had been placed into a food dish where a rather large feline was currently eating from.
With breakfast finished, Danny pulled his truck around and backed it up to the porch. The cabin had been furnished, but there was enough brought from home that would require some heavy lifting. Not that either girl had any issues lifting the boxes that Danny could barely budge. He wasn't surprised by what Taylor could do, she had a Brute rating after all so it was expected. What surprised him was watching Amy move an entire weight set that cleared five hundred pounds without any visible strain.
Taylor flicked Amy's ear after she had loaded the weights onto the truck, whispering furiously at the girl while trying to hide that she was glancing at him. He occupied himself by paying attention to the feline that was currently carrying a blue plushie with a mess of black fuzz on its head. The cat hopped into the front seat of the truck and placed the toy inside before trotting back into the cabin.
Danny blinked a few times as the cat returned, this time carrying an empty food dish. "Okay, I have to ask." Both girls stopped their conversation and turned to face him while his finger tracked the cat towards his truck. "What the hell?"
The girls glanced at each other. "We thought it was yours."
"Thought it was mi-" Danny's jaw snapped shut. "Why would I have a mountain lion?"
Taylor grinned. "I just thought you took Kurt's advice to find yourself a cougar rather literally."
Danny couldn't help but sputter out nonsense for several moments while Amy did an absolutely terrible job at hiding her own laughter. "You are evil." He finally got out. Taylor's facade broke and she practically fell over in howling laughter. Even the cougar seemed to be amused by the exchange which raised even more questions.
Danny chose to throw his hands up and retreat back into the cabin rather than continue the one sided teasing that he was suffering under. It wasn't until he was on the road, without the girls, yet with the cougar seated beside him watching the world go by outside the window, that he began to get nervous. It had even seatbelted itself somehow.
"Just what are you?" Danny mumbled more to himself than at the feline. He didn't expect hissing that almost sounded like amused laughter.
He pulled to a stop at an intersection and just stared at the cougar, which seemed to let out a sigh. "Get it out of your system, then ask your questions."
Danny Hebert most certainly did not scream like a little girl, let the official record reflect that and for future readers to ignore the redacted bits just prior. It wasn't until a vehicle honked that Danny was pulled out of the moment and the world around him came back into focus. The feline hadn't said another word, yet it was watching him with an intensity that spoke of intelligence, wisdom and the weight of experience.
The truck jerked back into motion with a screech of tires, and he quickly found an old strip mall to pull into and put his vehicle into park. The silence stretched on for some time before he found the nerve to see if the mountain lion would speak once more.
"Just what are you, exactly?"
"My name is Genkai, and I am your daughter's guide to the Spirit World."
Danny pinched himself and winced in pain. He wasn't dreaming, maybe he'd been drugged by some merchant and was on an incredibly detailed trip unlike anything he had experimented with in college under Annette's watchful care. He was having a conversation with an animal, it was speaking english with him. Nothing about the day made sense anymore.
"Danny, calm yourself. Unlike Amy, I can't do anything to help if you hyperventilate or suffer a stroke. Not in this form at least."
Those last handful of words stuck in his mind, and his attention returned fully to the feline. He forced himself to take deep breaths, ran through old exercises originally intended to reign in his temper. They served their purpose well enough that he finally felt comfortable speaking.
"Okay, can you explain what you meant when you said you were my daughter's guide?" Danny asked with a shaky voice. "Are you a Cape or something else?"
"I am not what you would term as a 'Cape', though when I was alive I did wield power similar to Taylor's though much greater in magnitude. That shouldn't come as much of a surprise since I have been teaching her how to use her powers."
"I feel like I need a drink before we get any deeper into this conversation, preferably with my daughter in the room with us to explain things in a way that I can understand."
"Have it your way, Danny. Please drive safely as I have become rather attached to this form and would hate to need to house train a new one."
As they continued home Danny asked the occasional softball question, all of which were answered. He did his best to avoid the heavier questions but they still cropped up. The implications of learning that a spirit of a deceased master of martial and spiritual arts had been using a possessed mountain lion to train his daughter were rather high on that list. The revelation that she had been moonlighting as a grim reaper on Bet for the last five years also threw him, especially when she mentioned having assisted Annette with her crossing. He'd had to pull over for a while longer after that particular blow.
By the time he pulled into the driveway Taylor and Amy were both on the front porch waiting, though Amy was noticeably out of breath while Taylor seemed more amused than winded. That they had cleared nearly ten miles on foot faster than he had in his truck was astonishing, even with his mental freak out pit stops on the way. Seeing that Amy had done so alongside Taylor brought up another question that he couldn't help but ask.
"You've been training Amy as well?"
"Has she not made that obvious?" Genkai asked as she gracefully hopped out of the truck and walked over to the girls. "His reaction was everything you hoped for."
"Please tell me you recorded it." Taylor asked with a wide grin that immediately faltered under Danny's harsh glare. "I suppose you want to talk about…"
"Talking would be prudent, considering you've been keeping secrets from me again." Danny said with a voice that he knew was doing little to hide his suppressed anger that he had swore he would never direct at Taylor. "At least tell me this wasn't all just a plot to screw with me by keeping a talking mountain lion secret until the perfect moment."
"Well, Vicky's reaction was pretty entertaining, even if I was on the verge of blacking out when it happened." Taylor mused. "But no, it was more so trying to figure out the best way to tell you and then procrastinating in fear that you might react poorly. Amy set a deadline of moving back home for when to tell you, obviously I continued to keep it from you until we ripped the bandaid off by being obvious about it."
"I didn't even know there was a cat in the cabin." Danny said with a shake of his head. "Though that explains the weird hairs in the dryer's lint collector."
"Hey." Amy said, drawing everyone's attention. "I could have adopted a stray cat, or grown Taylor a cute tail, you never know with me."
Taylor's face turned blood red as she sputtered in embarrassment, she was saved from further teasing by the timely arrival of a massive Chinese delivery order. Amy paid in cash, along with what looked like a sizable tip before Danny could protest, and carried them inside. Genkai followed alongside, leaving Danny to guide his still broken daughter behind the feline.
"Amy, you broke Taylor." Danny said while struggling to hold his own laughter in. "Fix her."
Amy was chuckling as she cupped Taylor's cheek. "Sorry, nothing I can do for this one. She has a chronic case of gay panic."
Taylor's cheeks impossibly turned an even darker shade of red. "For someone who wants to take things slow, you are being one hell of a flirt right now." She mumbled.
"It's your fault for being so easy to tease." Amy said as she patted Taylor's cheek. "You're adorable when flustered. Now let's get this food laid out before it gets cold, I'm starving." Taylor muttered something he wasn't able to hear that caused Amy to bark out a sudden laugh.
The meal was shared in near silence by comparison, avoiding the heavier topics that would need to be touched on eventually. Danny wasn't particularly eager for the confrontation and Taylor seemed to be just as reluctant. Either way, there was no point in spoiling the meal by forcing the issue, they would have plenty of time later.
As the meal wound down Taylor and Amy both suddenly perked up at the same moment, sharing a look before they both stood in almost unison. Danny watched closely as they seemed to communicate an entire conversation with just a few twitches. Then he noticed that Genkai had also sat up and was looking off into the distance.
"Dad, Amy and I are gonna do a quick jog through the neighborhood, see what's changed in the last month."
Danny didn't really buy that for an instant, he wanted to demand they call for more experienced heroes for whatever had drawn their attention, but he knew that Taylor could handle herself much as it pained him to admit. The video of her fight with Oni Lee had been proof of that, even without her powers being visible in the recording.
"Alright, be safe you two."
"Oh, don't worry." Taylor said with a grin, as she pulled on her green jacket. "There's nothing to worry about, we'll be back soon."
They were barely out the door with Genkai before his cell began to ring. He hated that he now had one, especially after the role they played in Annette's death but they were too useful. Knowing that if he and Taylor had simply possessed them, her death might have been avoided. Hell, Taylor could have probably recorded some of the bullying and had proof that the school couldn't simply ignore just because one of the perpetrators was a Ward.
Checking the number he couldn't help but smile as he answered. "Danny Hebert speaking, what can I do for you Mister Anders?"
The voice on the other end chuckled. "No need to be so formal, please call me Max."
Author's Notes:
And with this we will officially kick off Arc 4: Let the Games Begin, next week! It's gonna be a ride and I can't wait to bring it to everyone!
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
C: The instant Danny learns Max Anders is Kaiser, one of two things will happen:
1: Danny will turn on the Nazi full force.
2: The vast majority of the readerbase will rip @Pendragoon a new one.
I do wonder which it will be?
1: Danny will turn on the Nazi full force.
2: The vast majority of the readerbase will rip @Pendragoon a new one.
I do wonder which it will be?
Hexcalibur
Not So Ordinary Sword
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- It
Trying another angle Max?
There might be a Nazi hunting season soon.
There might be a Nazi hunting season soon.
Fair, I just didn't want to recap too much of what the reader already knows.
Danny is pretty much up to speed now on the Spirit World stuff.
Let the Games Begin 4.1
February 14th, 2011
I panted for breath as I forced myself uphill on my morning jog. It had been over a month since I started this little routine of mine, and the results spoke for themselves. My exercises included a morning jog, some martial arts practice in the park, then a hard run back home whilst pushing my Spirit Energy to the brink in an effort to beat my best time. Actually breaking that record was an ultimately fruitless endeavor most days since Genkai kept insisting I wear increasingly heavy weights on these runs. Not to mention the Spirit Cuffs she now made me use on myself at all times.
I'd come to one conclusion about my Spirit Guide and mentor.
She was a domineering sadist.
At least I had company on these jogs, Vicky had insisted she act as my escort in the event someone was foolish enough to try something ever since my run in with the Empire. It had become a comfortable routine since Amy was still decidedly not a morning person and was unwilling to get up in time to join us. Vicky was jogging alongside me, matching my pace, but I couldn't help feeling a touch jealous of how her feet never quite hit the ground like they should. Bullshit cheating powers were bullshit.
She probably didn't need to accompany me anymore, I wasn't the slightly underweight stick I once was, but her company was welcome. I still didn't think I looked good, but Vicky never once hesitated to compliment my appearance when she felt it was due. Of course that caused me to practically glow, and in one particularly embarrassing case, literally. It didn't help that I was still crushing on a girl that as far as Amy and I knew was completely straight, even if she was having issues with her current, or maybe former, boyfriend. I'd long since accepted that nothing would come of it, which meant that being a teasing flirt back was in the cards, hell, Amy always found it amusing when I managed to get Vicky to stumble.
"Still having that dinner with Dean tonight?" I asked as we finally hit the downhill stretch to the park.
"Yeah." Vicky answered, not sounding winded at all. Filthy cheater. "We aren't back together, but I have my hopes that I've finally gotten through that thick skull of his."
"Well, I wish you luck. He'd be a fool to let someone as amazing as you get away." I said with a wide grin. "I'm actually hoping he continues to be a fool, that would give me a shot."
Vicky stumbled and went airborne for a moment before setting back on the ground. "Seriously Tay, talk about coming out of your shell." She grumbled but I could see the smile on her face. "What ever happened to that shy girl I met last month?"
"She got buff as hell and gained the ability to level buildings?" I said with a flat tone. "You of all people should know how difficult being subtle can be."
"Touche." Vicky said with a chuckle then a vicious smirk crossed her lips. "I'd offer to sleep with you, but I've seen your current bed."
I choked on my own spit as my footing faltered, the concrete rose to meet my face. I snapped my hand out and caught my weight with it and sprung into the air with a twist before landing back on my feet. I gave Vicky my best glare as she stuck her tongue out at me. "That's such dirty pool! I can't help that Genkai insists I continue to sleep in a fucking snake pit."
"What's the matter, Tay?" Vicky said, as she jogged in place on her tiptoes. "Don't like long slimy things wiggling between your legs?"
My mouth worked but I couldn't put together anything coherent as I felt my face heat up. Finally, I turned on my heel, flared my Spirit Energy, and took off at a full sprint towards the park. I took a small measure of pride in the fact Vicky had to stop pretending and actually take flight to keep up even as she cackled at having won our little verbal joust.
I shifted through the last of the kata that Genkai had taught me, they were similar to Tai Chi in many ways but more focused on using Spirit Energy to augment your movements. Vicky was beside me, mirroring the motions. Although she lacked any Spirit Energy of note, she could use her powers to replicate the effects and keep up with me.
Our forms completed, I gave a customary fist bump and jumped back a dozen feet. The crowd of onlookers that gathered daily for our little show took several steps back to give us space. Vicky gave a show of limbering up as I flexed my Spirit Energy, the blue glow becoming visible to even the least spiritually attuned person. This was as much practice as it was to remind people of what I could do, to show how stupid it would be to attack me or mine. Especially the now familiar girl with two tone hair that had taken to watching us every morning. She was a parahuman, and best I could figure out, lived close to my home. If she had any thoughts of becoming hostile, it was best to give her an idea of what she would be up against.
I drew my aura back in and Victoria rocketed forward. Her fist snapped out as I stepped to the side and redirected her momentum. The crowd let out a cheer as the wind from her punch washed over them. She flowed with the shift and used it to spin into an airborne kick, leveraging her flight. I ducked even as I focused Spirit Energy into my fist to reinforce my skin and bones and stuck her now exposed kidney.
Her shield held but the force of the impact still launched her away from me. Vic quickly recovered, arresting her momentum and returned to the fray. This time her feet touched ground and she kept her strikes quick and light, giving me minimal chances to counter attack. It didn't help that thanks to her powers each of those punches could punt a car across the street.
I drew deep on my Spirit Energy, reinforcing my body just as Genkai had taught me, and I stopped dodging. The punch caught me in the shoulder and Vicky's eyes widened as she saw the feral grin that had formed on my face. I let the force spin me and delivered a backhand across her jaw, I kept the power of my strike just under the level that I knew could break her shield. No point letting the general public know she wasn't truly invincible after all.
Before she could recover I landed multiple body blows with thunderous force, adding a flare of visible Spirit Energy with each impact to sell the effect as well as replicate the drain such blows would have on me in actual combat. The crowd went wild as Vicky stumbled back, I moved to press the assault and saw her smirk a fraction of a second too late.
Her punch landed solidly in my gut, and I came damn close to throwing up. She followed it up with a light tap to my forehead.
"I win." She chirped.
I coughed for a moment and fell back into the grass. She tossed me a water bottle and I gulped it down greedily. Once I'd caught my breath, I gave her a level glare. "You know I'd kick your ass if I didn't have all these damn weights on."
"Sure, and if you weren't wearing them, I'd just fly straight up and start throwing cars at you till one connected." She said, then stuck her tongue out.
"Says the girl that still can't see half my attacks." I answered with a grin. "Sure you wanna try that fight, Dallon?"
She didn't get to answer me as my ringtone interrupted her, ~~'Running in a crowd, in a faceless town, I need to feel the touch of a friend.'~~
I hurried over to my bag and fished out my phone, quickly sliding the green icon to answer. "Amy? You're up earlier than usual."
"Blame Genkai." She said in a voice I recognized as the 'give her more coffee before she bites your head off' tone. "She's got me doing specialty training too, you know."
"I am aware." I said while doing my damndest to not laugh. "Still say you should join me on my jogs."
"Then let you rope me into your little sparring matches with Miss Collateral Damage? Not a chance in hell." She answered. "Anyway, I'm calling because I need to regrow over a dozen limbs and I don't know if I have enough energy in me."
"Shit." Even as she confirmed it, I was pulling the over weighted backpack back on. "Hey Vic, stop signing autographs!"
"Make me!" Vicky shouted back.
"Alright, I'll try to wrangle Vicky and get-" I cut off as I heard a familiar beeping in the background. "Amy, you're already at the hospital? We've talked about overworking yourself."
"Where else would I be when people need my help?" She asked with a yawn.
"Getting ready at home since you called me as soon as you heard about it."
Amy went silent for a moment and I got a sneaking suspicion. "Just how long have you been there?"
I heard a weary sigh come through the receiver. "About ten minutes after you left for your jog."
"We've talked about this, Amy."
"Yes, we have." Amy snapped. "That doesn't mean that my feelings have gone away. I still wake up in the middle of the night and think of everyone that might be dying while I'm idle."
"You can't shoulder the burden of the world on your shoulders. No singular person can withstand that kind of guilt."
"How would you know!" She yelled.
Silence hung heavy between us as we both took calming breaths. Neither of us needed to say anything. It had all been said before.
"Does Genkai know about this?" I asked instead.
"I am aware." Genkai's voice carried through the phone and I shrunk back on instinct. "Director Calvert secured Sarah's permission for Amy to be called in. Hookwolf attacked several people and there are multiple amputees that could use her aid."
"What she said." Amy cut back in, now sounding dejected. "Problem is I lack the biomass to actually regrow their limbs and I have no idea how draining this will be on me. I was hoping my favorite Spirit battery would be willing to assist just to be on the safe side."
"I see how it is, you just want me for my power." I said, trying for a bit of levity.
"Yes." She said without inflection. "You coming?"
I sighed. "I'll be there. Want me to pick up your usual on the way?"
There was a moment of silence. "Better make it a double."
I couldn't help but grin. "Done."
Brockton General had become very familiar to me over the last month and change. I'd made it a regular stop on my evening jog to pick up Amy after school. She wasn't nearly as dedicated, and Genkai wasn't trying to push her like the sadist I knew her to be, but she had shown some remarkable improvements nonetheless. If this experiment worked out, we might finally be able to step up her training.
The girl at the reception desk gave me a kind yet tired smile as I walked past with Vicky in tow. She was the regular on the night shift, which meant she had probably been held over for a second shift. I could sympathise with that, Dad had been putting in more hours with the Dockworkers lately thanks to a few extra contracts they had picked up. I wasn't sure why Medhall had taken such a sudden interest in local investments but I wasn't one to complain about something that made Dad happy.
As the elevator rose, I double checked the cup carrier from the coffee shop just down the road and made sure everything was secure. Last thing I wanted was another mishap as nothing pissed off Amy quite like spilled coffee. When the door opened I hung a right, Vicky no longer questioned my ability to always know where Amy was when she was close by.
I found her in the intensive care unit stabilizing a patient who looked worse than I did after my fight with Oni Lee. We owed Castiel an apology, he was right about just how gruesome Hookwolf could be when he wanted people dead and this man had survived. Barely, if what I was sensing from him was any indication.
"Coffee has arrived!" I declared and handed Amy a cup.
She took it without a word and downed half of it in one shot. The girl's ability to handle scalding, condensed caffeine never failed to impress me. Genkai was in spirit form thankfully, I wasn't sure how the hospital staff would have handled a 'trained' mountain lion casually following Amy around as she patched people up.
It was probably a good thing most of the victims of the attack were unconscious, because Amy's bedside manner was lacking in one key way. She didn't have one. Well, unless 'dismissive bitch' counted, then she had it in spades. Thankfully, she only aimed that side of her personality at me when she was uncaffeinated, or exceptionally pissed with me.
The last of the man's wounds were healed, leaving a stump in place of his left arm and barely anything below his torso. Amy finished the first cup of coffee off and tossed it into a nearby trashcan before cracking her knuckles. "Alright, time to see if this works."
Amy placed both hands on the man's exposed chest and closed her eyes. I could feel her Spirit Energy gathering in her palms and almost missed the subtle pulse of the roots that lived beneath her skin pierce from her hands into the man's chest and begin to spread. It was a clever way to replicate the way she had enhanced me without needing me present.
Slowly the man's arm regrew itself, followed by his legs. I was thankful that he had a blanket in place to hide certain other things growing back in just as I'm sure he would be glad to have been unconscious for all of this. The entire process took about twenty minutes, during which I'd found a comfortable chair and Vicky had begrudgingly left for school. I wasn't too thrilled that Amy was missing school to heal, but the situation was rather dire. It counted as training on top of things so I wasn't going to complain too loudly, at least not until she was finished.
Amy finished up with the last of his toes and let out a shaky breath, falling back into a chair that Genkai had asked me to position some minutes before. I got back to my feet and handed Amy the second cup. The sparkle in her tired eyes made my heart flutter and I had to look away to hide the blush that was heating up my cheeks.
She nursed this cup much slower than the previous, actually taking the time to enjoy it. "Four more patients to go, and I'll be lucky to have the Spirit Energy to fully heal two of them."
"The more you train the more you'll be able to heal but this was why you asked me to come, right?" I shrugged, lifting my own cup to take a sip of my nearly depleted green tea. "Want me to help with the rest so you aren't fighting your own fatigue from the third on?"
"That sounds lovely." Amy agreed and I followed her into the next room.
All told, getting the five survivors back on their feet took us around two hours with short breaks in between each of them. I personally wanted to blast Hookwolf when I saw the fourth patient was a girl who wasn't even ten years old, but he had seen fit to shred both her arms into mulch. That her younger sister had apparently died on the scene just infuriated me further. What possessed the Empire to attack a small apartment complex with several of their Capes was something I wanted answers to, but the PRT had put a lid on it. Given the escalating gang war I wouldn't have been surprised if it was a strike against the remains of the Merchants given the lack of White or Asian victims.
"How can the Heroes let them get away with shit like this?" I grumbled, as Amy made her way through the remaining patients in the ER that had come in overnight. Thankfully, none of them were even remotely as injured as the previous five and she hadn't needed to expend Spirit Energy to fix them up.
"Rules, regulations and oversight." Amy recited with a fair bit of heat. "That's part of the reason New Wave never joined beyond registering as affiliates. They often couldn't act on things without clearing significant red tape. It's also how I came to be adopted by them."
"Shit, I know you didn't go into much detail when you last brought up your father, but how exactly did that happen?"
Amy laughed bitterly. "The Brigade attacked his civilian home, and if he hadn't surrendered, would have likely killed me in the crossfire since I was hiding in a closet right next to where they were fighting him. Sarah filled me in on the details that Insight was missing when I confronted them. It had been Carol's plan and with how it had backfired in several ways, Sarah was nominated to be the leader when they rebranded as New Wave to avoid another clusterfuck of that magnitude."
"Too bad the Pelhams didn't take you in instead, I get the feeling they would have treated you better."
"Probably, but Carol had her legal career bringing in far more money and only one child, so she was the logical choice."
"Logical doesn't always mean best."
"Too true." Amy said as she stopped at one last room, one that was familiar to me. "Maybe I should actually listen to that advice?"
Amy pushed open the door of a familiar coma patient. Millie had grown slightly thinner over the last month, but otherwise seemed stable. "Are you comfortable with this?" I asked as Amy pulled a seat beside her bed. "I know you healed Carol, but from what I understand, that was significantly less risk involved."
"Less risk isn't even touching the tip of that iceberg. I hate Carol and wouldn't have lost much sleep if I fucked up with healing her. This girl however is innocent, I'd probably snap if I twisted her into something she wasn't."
I crouched down and pulled Amy into a hug. "It's your call, but please don't feel pressured to do something you aren't ready for."
She returned the hug. "Thanks Tay, it means a lot that you've stuck beside me through everything."
"That's what friends are for." I said with a smile, then my voice turned teasing. "So, am I allowed to give you shit about hiding in the closet or is it still too soon?"
I laughed even as she shoved me off of her and I went sliding across the floor.
Author's Notes:
And so Arc 4 begins and I'm excited to get into it!
I panted for breath as I forced myself uphill on my morning jog. It had been over a month since I started this little routine of mine, and the results spoke for themselves. My exercises included a morning jog, some martial arts practice in the park, then a hard run back home whilst pushing my Spirit Energy to the brink in an effort to beat my best time. Actually breaking that record was an ultimately fruitless endeavor most days since Genkai kept insisting I wear increasingly heavy weights on these runs. Not to mention the Spirit Cuffs she now made me use on myself at all times.
I'd come to one conclusion about my Spirit Guide and mentor.
She was a domineering sadist.
At least I had company on these jogs, Vicky had insisted she act as my escort in the event someone was foolish enough to try something ever since my run in with the Empire. It had become a comfortable routine since Amy was still decidedly not a morning person and was unwilling to get up in time to join us. Vicky was jogging alongside me, matching my pace, but I couldn't help feeling a touch jealous of how her feet never quite hit the ground like they should. Bullshit cheating powers were bullshit.
She probably didn't need to accompany me anymore, I wasn't the slightly underweight stick I once was, but her company was welcome. I still didn't think I looked good, but Vicky never once hesitated to compliment my appearance when she felt it was due. Of course that caused me to practically glow, and in one particularly embarrassing case, literally. It didn't help that I was still crushing on a girl that as far as Amy and I knew was completely straight, even if she was having issues with her current, or maybe former, boyfriend. I'd long since accepted that nothing would come of it, which meant that being a teasing flirt back was in the cards, hell, Amy always found it amusing when I managed to get Vicky to stumble.
"Still having that dinner with Dean tonight?" I asked as we finally hit the downhill stretch to the park.
"Yeah." Vicky answered, not sounding winded at all. Filthy cheater. "We aren't back together, but I have my hopes that I've finally gotten through that thick skull of his."
"Well, I wish you luck. He'd be a fool to let someone as amazing as you get away." I said with a wide grin. "I'm actually hoping he continues to be a fool, that would give me a shot."
Vicky stumbled and went airborne for a moment before setting back on the ground. "Seriously Tay, talk about coming out of your shell." She grumbled but I could see the smile on her face. "What ever happened to that shy girl I met last month?"
"She got buff as hell and gained the ability to level buildings?" I said with a flat tone. "You of all people should know how difficult being subtle can be."
"Touche." Vicky said with a chuckle then a vicious smirk crossed her lips. "I'd offer to sleep with you, but I've seen your current bed."
I choked on my own spit as my footing faltered, the concrete rose to meet my face. I snapped my hand out and caught my weight with it and sprung into the air with a twist before landing back on my feet. I gave Vicky my best glare as she stuck her tongue out at me. "That's such dirty pool! I can't help that Genkai insists I continue to sleep in a fucking snake pit."
"What's the matter, Tay?" Vicky said, as she jogged in place on her tiptoes. "Don't like long slimy things wiggling between your legs?"
My mouth worked but I couldn't put together anything coherent as I felt my face heat up. Finally, I turned on my heel, flared my Spirit Energy, and took off at a full sprint towards the park. I took a small measure of pride in the fact Vicky had to stop pretending and actually take flight to keep up even as she cackled at having won our little verbal joust.
I shifted through the last of the kata that Genkai had taught me, they were similar to Tai Chi in many ways but more focused on using Spirit Energy to augment your movements. Vicky was beside me, mirroring the motions. Although she lacked any Spirit Energy of note, she could use her powers to replicate the effects and keep up with me.
Our forms completed, I gave a customary fist bump and jumped back a dozen feet. The crowd of onlookers that gathered daily for our little show took several steps back to give us space. Vicky gave a show of limbering up as I flexed my Spirit Energy, the blue glow becoming visible to even the least spiritually attuned person. This was as much practice as it was to remind people of what I could do, to show how stupid it would be to attack me or mine. Especially the now familiar girl with two tone hair that had taken to watching us every morning. She was a parahuman, and best I could figure out, lived close to my home. If she had any thoughts of becoming hostile, it was best to give her an idea of what she would be up against.
I drew my aura back in and Victoria rocketed forward. Her fist snapped out as I stepped to the side and redirected her momentum. The crowd let out a cheer as the wind from her punch washed over them. She flowed with the shift and used it to spin into an airborne kick, leveraging her flight. I ducked even as I focused Spirit Energy into my fist to reinforce my skin and bones and stuck her now exposed kidney.
Her shield held but the force of the impact still launched her away from me. Vic quickly recovered, arresting her momentum and returned to the fray. This time her feet touched ground and she kept her strikes quick and light, giving me minimal chances to counter attack. It didn't help that thanks to her powers each of those punches could punt a car across the street.
I drew deep on my Spirit Energy, reinforcing my body just as Genkai had taught me, and I stopped dodging. The punch caught me in the shoulder and Vicky's eyes widened as she saw the feral grin that had formed on my face. I let the force spin me and delivered a backhand across her jaw, I kept the power of my strike just under the level that I knew could break her shield. No point letting the general public know she wasn't truly invincible after all.
Before she could recover I landed multiple body blows with thunderous force, adding a flare of visible Spirit Energy with each impact to sell the effect as well as replicate the drain such blows would have on me in actual combat. The crowd went wild as Vicky stumbled back, I moved to press the assault and saw her smirk a fraction of a second too late.
Her punch landed solidly in my gut, and I came damn close to throwing up. She followed it up with a light tap to my forehead.
"I win." She chirped.
I coughed for a moment and fell back into the grass. She tossed me a water bottle and I gulped it down greedily. Once I'd caught my breath, I gave her a level glare. "You know I'd kick your ass if I didn't have all these damn weights on."
"Sure, and if you weren't wearing them, I'd just fly straight up and start throwing cars at you till one connected." She said, then stuck her tongue out.
"Says the girl that still can't see half my attacks." I answered with a grin. "Sure you wanna try that fight, Dallon?"
She didn't get to answer me as my ringtone interrupted her, ~~'Running in a crowd, in a faceless town, I need to feel the touch of a friend.'~~
I hurried over to my bag and fished out my phone, quickly sliding the green icon to answer. "Amy? You're up earlier than usual."
"Blame Genkai." She said in a voice I recognized as the 'give her more coffee before she bites your head off' tone. "She's got me doing specialty training too, you know."
"I am aware." I said while doing my damndest to not laugh. "Still say you should join me on my jogs."
"Then let you rope me into your little sparring matches with Miss Collateral Damage? Not a chance in hell." She answered. "Anyway, I'm calling because I need to regrow over a dozen limbs and I don't know if I have enough energy in me."
"Shit." Even as she confirmed it, I was pulling the over weighted backpack back on. "Hey Vic, stop signing autographs!"
"Make me!" Vicky shouted back.
"Alright, I'll try to wrangle Vicky and get-" I cut off as I heard a familiar beeping in the background. "Amy, you're already at the hospital? We've talked about overworking yourself."
"Where else would I be when people need my help?" She asked with a yawn.
"Getting ready at home since you called me as soon as you heard about it."
Amy went silent for a moment and I got a sneaking suspicion. "Just how long have you been there?"
I heard a weary sigh come through the receiver. "About ten minutes after you left for your jog."
"We've talked about this, Amy."
"Yes, we have." Amy snapped. "That doesn't mean that my feelings have gone away. I still wake up in the middle of the night and think of everyone that might be dying while I'm idle."
"You can't shoulder the burden of the world on your shoulders. No singular person can withstand that kind of guilt."
"How would you know!" She yelled.
Silence hung heavy between us as we both took calming breaths. Neither of us needed to say anything. It had all been said before.
"Does Genkai know about this?" I asked instead.
"I am aware." Genkai's voice carried through the phone and I shrunk back on instinct. "Director Calvert secured Sarah's permission for Amy to be called in. Hookwolf attacked several people and there are multiple amputees that could use her aid."
"What she said." Amy cut back in, now sounding dejected. "Problem is I lack the biomass to actually regrow their limbs and I have no idea how draining this will be on me. I was hoping my favorite Spirit battery would be willing to assist just to be on the safe side."
"I see how it is, you just want me for my power." I said, trying for a bit of levity.
"Yes." She said without inflection. "You coming?"
I sighed. "I'll be there. Want me to pick up your usual on the way?"
There was a moment of silence. "Better make it a double."
I couldn't help but grin. "Done."
Brockton General had become very familiar to me over the last month and change. I'd made it a regular stop on my evening jog to pick up Amy after school. She wasn't nearly as dedicated, and Genkai wasn't trying to push her like the sadist I knew her to be, but she had shown some remarkable improvements nonetheless. If this experiment worked out, we might finally be able to step up her training.
The girl at the reception desk gave me a kind yet tired smile as I walked past with Vicky in tow. She was the regular on the night shift, which meant she had probably been held over for a second shift. I could sympathise with that, Dad had been putting in more hours with the Dockworkers lately thanks to a few extra contracts they had picked up. I wasn't sure why Medhall had taken such a sudden interest in local investments but I wasn't one to complain about something that made Dad happy.
As the elevator rose, I double checked the cup carrier from the coffee shop just down the road and made sure everything was secure. Last thing I wanted was another mishap as nothing pissed off Amy quite like spilled coffee. When the door opened I hung a right, Vicky no longer questioned my ability to always know where Amy was when she was close by.
I found her in the intensive care unit stabilizing a patient who looked worse than I did after my fight with Oni Lee. We owed Castiel an apology, he was right about just how gruesome Hookwolf could be when he wanted people dead and this man had survived. Barely, if what I was sensing from him was any indication.
"Coffee has arrived!" I declared and handed Amy a cup.
She took it without a word and downed half of it in one shot. The girl's ability to handle scalding, condensed caffeine never failed to impress me. Genkai was in spirit form thankfully, I wasn't sure how the hospital staff would have handled a 'trained' mountain lion casually following Amy around as she patched people up.
It was probably a good thing most of the victims of the attack were unconscious, because Amy's bedside manner was lacking in one key way. She didn't have one. Well, unless 'dismissive bitch' counted, then she had it in spades. Thankfully, she only aimed that side of her personality at me when she was uncaffeinated, or exceptionally pissed with me.
The last of the man's wounds were healed, leaving a stump in place of his left arm and barely anything below his torso. Amy finished the first cup of coffee off and tossed it into a nearby trashcan before cracking her knuckles. "Alright, time to see if this works."
Amy placed both hands on the man's exposed chest and closed her eyes. I could feel her Spirit Energy gathering in her palms and almost missed the subtle pulse of the roots that lived beneath her skin pierce from her hands into the man's chest and begin to spread. It was a clever way to replicate the way she had enhanced me without needing me present.
Slowly the man's arm regrew itself, followed by his legs. I was thankful that he had a blanket in place to hide certain other things growing back in just as I'm sure he would be glad to have been unconscious for all of this. The entire process took about twenty minutes, during which I'd found a comfortable chair and Vicky had begrudgingly left for school. I wasn't too thrilled that Amy was missing school to heal, but the situation was rather dire. It counted as training on top of things so I wasn't going to complain too loudly, at least not until she was finished.
Amy finished up with the last of his toes and let out a shaky breath, falling back into a chair that Genkai had asked me to position some minutes before. I got back to my feet and handed Amy the second cup. The sparkle in her tired eyes made my heart flutter and I had to look away to hide the blush that was heating up my cheeks.
She nursed this cup much slower than the previous, actually taking the time to enjoy it. "Four more patients to go, and I'll be lucky to have the Spirit Energy to fully heal two of them."
"The more you train the more you'll be able to heal but this was why you asked me to come, right?" I shrugged, lifting my own cup to take a sip of my nearly depleted green tea. "Want me to help with the rest so you aren't fighting your own fatigue from the third on?"
"That sounds lovely." Amy agreed and I followed her into the next room.
All told, getting the five survivors back on their feet took us around two hours with short breaks in between each of them. I personally wanted to blast Hookwolf when I saw the fourth patient was a girl who wasn't even ten years old, but he had seen fit to shred both her arms into mulch. That her younger sister had apparently died on the scene just infuriated me further. What possessed the Empire to attack a small apartment complex with several of their Capes was something I wanted answers to, but the PRT had put a lid on it. Given the escalating gang war I wouldn't have been surprised if it was a strike against the remains of the Merchants given the lack of White or Asian victims.
"How can the Heroes let them get away with shit like this?" I grumbled, as Amy made her way through the remaining patients in the ER that had come in overnight. Thankfully, none of them were even remotely as injured as the previous five and she hadn't needed to expend Spirit Energy to fix them up.
"Rules, regulations and oversight." Amy recited with a fair bit of heat. "That's part of the reason New Wave never joined beyond registering as affiliates. They often couldn't act on things without clearing significant red tape. It's also how I came to be adopted by them."
"Shit, I know you didn't go into much detail when you last brought up your father, but how exactly did that happen?"
Amy laughed bitterly. "The Brigade attacked his civilian home, and if he hadn't surrendered, would have likely killed me in the crossfire since I was hiding in a closet right next to where they were fighting him. Sarah filled me in on the details that Insight was missing when I confronted them. It had been Carol's plan and with how it had backfired in several ways, Sarah was nominated to be the leader when they rebranded as New Wave to avoid another clusterfuck of that magnitude."
"Too bad the Pelhams didn't take you in instead, I get the feeling they would have treated you better."
"Probably, but Carol had her legal career bringing in far more money and only one child, so she was the logical choice."
"Logical doesn't always mean best."
"Too true." Amy said as she stopped at one last room, one that was familiar to me. "Maybe I should actually listen to that advice?"
Amy pushed open the door of a familiar coma patient. Millie had grown slightly thinner over the last month, but otherwise seemed stable. "Are you comfortable with this?" I asked as Amy pulled a seat beside her bed. "I know you healed Carol, but from what I understand, that was significantly less risk involved."
"Less risk isn't even touching the tip of that iceberg. I hate Carol and wouldn't have lost much sleep if I fucked up with healing her. This girl however is innocent, I'd probably snap if I twisted her into something she wasn't."
I crouched down and pulled Amy into a hug. "It's your call, but please don't feel pressured to do something you aren't ready for."
She returned the hug. "Thanks Tay, it means a lot that you've stuck beside me through everything."
"That's what friends are for." I said with a smile, then my voice turned teasing. "So, am I allowed to give you shit about hiding in the closet or is it still too soon?"
I laughed even as she shoved me off of her and I went sliding across the floor.
Author's Notes:
And so Arc 4 begins and I'm excited to get into it!
They haven't met her yet. There's still a fair bit of tension after the whole blow up with Vicky and space is being given on both sides at the moment. Expect that to change after the day everyone's about to have.
Windborne
Devourer of Stories
- Location
- Oregon
Fair enough! Guess I'll be looking forward to it.
Breakfast Sandwiches by FirstSelector
@Pendragoon, this story is a lot of fun and I think it needs some omake.
***
Omake: Breakfast Sandwiches
Victoria Dallon did not often find herself completely unable to move.
Since her force field didn't need leverage in the same way as other, more physical Brute powers, it was rather difficult to pin her down using mundane means. Walls crumbled, chains snapped, doors buckled — enterprising villains had tried to keep her down, and universally failed. At best, they were able to slow her down temporarily.
Thus, it was a mild challenge to avoid disturbing her current restraints: Taylor and Amy.
Truth be told, Vicky was doing her best to avoid thinking about them as well. For all that she had been dating Dean on and off for the past few years, Vicky was slowly discovering a deep appreciation for girls, something she had not really noticed until Dean made an offhand remark over dinner a few months ago. That had sparked an argument, and in the ensuing 'off' phase, Vicky had done some serious soul searching.
The good news? She liked girls.
The bad news? Girls included her sister.
The worse news? Apparently Amy was a lesbian. And her girlfriend was hot.
The worst news? Vicky was trapped underneath both of them, as all three had fallen asleep in her bed last night.
Things had started off perfectly platonic — Taylor had come over for late dinner following an uneventful patrol, only for Amy to practically pounce on the taller girl and demand hugs. Vicky had needed to fight down a surge of jealousy as her sister was swept up into a princess carry by Taylor, which had rapidly turned into nuzzles and giggles as they retreated to the living room to put on a show.
No, put on a movie.
Bad brain!
Vicky had then bribed her way onto the couch with popcorn and a promised back rub for Amy; the healer's perpetual tenseness gave Amy ample opportunity to torture Vicky by asking for massages when she came home from the hospital. Vicky complied, obviously, but was glad that Amy couldn't see the blush on her face.
'Movie night' quickly turned into 'funny cape videos' night, which migrated upstairs when Vicky went to get her laptop and the other two followed. They were soon curled up among the pillows strewn on Vicky's bed, with Amy nearly in Taylor's lap while Vicky leaned against the ravenette's side.
Vicky was quite certain that they hadn't been this close before falling asleep.
Taylor, on Vicky's left side, was practically using her as a body pillow. Their legs were entangled in such a way as to prevent Vicky from moving even slightly without disturbing the other girl, nevermind the arm draped over her stomach. That would be somewhat easier to fix if not for the fact that Taylor had Amy's own hand in a death grip, locking Vicky's upper body into place, too.
Vicky's own arm was in a rather precarious position, having been commandeered by Amy as some sort of security appendage. That left Amy snoring quietly into Vicky's collarbone, the faint motion of Amy's breath sending ripples through her golden locks. Amy's own frizzy hair covered half of her face, and was luckily far enough from Vicky's own nose to prevent tickle-induced sneezes.
The whole scene was cute enough that waking the other girls would practically be sacrilege, and thus Vicky was trapped.
"Victoria!"
Aw hell.
Her mom's voice cracked like a whip through the house, cutting through the early morning gloom —
Wait, was it morning? How long had Vicky been trapped here?
"Victoria! It's almost eleven o'clock!"
Oh.
Even with her mom's heavy footsteps pounding up the stairs and down the hallway, Vicky struggled mentally to wake the pair of girls using her as a pillow. They were usually both so serious, focusing on their responsibilities to the detriment of their own well-being, and waking them from peaceful slumber was almost as criminal as the thugs Vicky stopped while out on patrol.
As though to punctuate her thoughts, Taylor wiggled slightly in her sleep, mumbling quietly to herself around a faint grin that Vicky could just barely see. She then proceeded to hug Vicky even tighter, her limbs flexing ineffectually around Vicky's force field and curling closer to the trapped blonde.
Then Vicky remembered that her mom was likely right outside her door, only to have said door open rudely to reveal an annoyed Carol. "Vicky, what are you doing still in… bed…"
Her mom's voice trailed off, lips turning up in a teasing smile —
***
I was cut off in my reading by a pair of amused (if pained) laughs. "Teasing?" Amy asked acidly. "Everything was fine up until then, but come on, this is Carol we're talking about."
"Fine?" Vicky squawked, cheeks faintly red from the perpetual blush she sported while we worked through the thread. "I'm straight, Ames! And seriously, even if I was a lesbian, you're my sister! Why are you two reading this stuff?"
Now it was Amy's turn to blush, though I suspected that it wasn't because she disliked the plot of 'A Dallon Sandwich,' or even just the omake we had just read. "What, are we not good enough for you?"
"It's just a silly story," I interjected, wrapping one arm around Amy's waist and pulling her closer to me. She resisted for a moment before succumbing to the power of snuggles, the tension escaping her body at the same time as her own annoyed huff.
Vicky, luckily, missed the byplay. She was instead thumbing through the story thread, a strange expression on her face as she read. "I can't believe this nonsense is so popular. I mean, yeah, you two are cute together, but I don't see why everyone wants me involved, too. Like, there's like two hundred omake for this story already… Though, as much as I hate to admit it, that one was pretty good."
"That author has written a few," I pointed out. "Is this… normal? Stories about capes, I mean. I don't think I've ever been a character in a story before. How are people so invested in us?"
Amy snorted in derision. "You'll get used to it. Cape fic authors come up with the weirdest fucking shit, and I'm pretty sure I've been 'shipped' with practically every teenage cape in the bay. At least they know I like girls, now."
I gave Amy a supportive squeeze, which turned into supportive snuggles when she leaned into the hug and pulled my arms closer. Vicky rolled her eyes at our display, though she didn't bother to hide her usual half-smirk at seeing us together. She was so honestly happy to see us together that I had long since forgotten to be awkward around her.
"Anyway," Vicky continued, "some of those omake are well written, which makes you wonder why that author is writing them instead of their own stories."
***
Yes, that was an omake of an in-world fanfic in a sidestory to a fanfic, which I'm pretty sure sets some meta density record.
***
Omake: Breakfast Sandwiches
Victoria Dallon did not often find herself completely unable to move.
Since her force field didn't need leverage in the same way as other, more physical Brute powers, it was rather difficult to pin her down using mundane means. Walls crumbled, chains snapped, doors buckled — enterprising villains had tried to keep her down, and universally failed. At best, they were able to slow her down temporarily.
Thus, it was a mild challenge to avoid disturbing her current restraints: Taylor and Amy.
Truth be told, Vicky was doing her best to avoid thinking about them as well. For all that she had been dating Dean on and off for the past few years, Vicky was slowly discovering a deep appreciation for girls, something she had not really noticed until Dean made an offhand remark over dinner a few months ago. That had sparked an argument, and in the ensuing 'off' phase, Vicky had done some serious soul searching.
The good news? She liked girls.
The bad news? Girls included her sister.
The worse news? Apparently Amy was a lesbian. And her girlfriend was hot.
The worst news? Vicky was trapped underneath both of them, as all three had fallen asleep in her bed last night.
Things had started off perfectly platonic — Taylor had come over for late dinner following an uneventful patrol, only for Amy to practically pounce on the taller girl and demand hugs. Vicky had needed to fight down a surge of jealousy as her sister was swept up into a princess carry by Taylor, which had rapidly turned into nuzzles and giggles as they retreated to the living room to put on a show.
No, put on a movie.
Bad brain!
Vicky had then bribed her way onto the couch with popcorn and a promised back rub for Amy; the healer's perpetual tenseness gave Amy ample opportunity to torture Vicky by asking for massages when she came home from the hospital. Vicky complied, obviously, but was glad that Amy couldn't see the blush on her face.
'Movie night' quickly turned into 'funny cape videos' night, which migrated upstairs when Vicky went to get her laptop and the other two followed. They were soon curled up among the pillows strewn on Vicky's bed, with Amy nearly in Taylor's lap while Vicky leaned against the ravenette's side.
Vicky was quite certain that they hadn't been this close before falling asleep.
Taylor, on Vicky's left side, was practically using her as a body pillow. Their legs were entangled in such a way as to prevent Vicky from moving even slightly without disturbing the other girl, nevermind the arm draped over her stomach. That would be somewhat easier to fix if not for the fact that Taylor had Amy's own hand in a death grip, locking Vicky's upper body into place, too.
Vicky's own arm was in a rather precarious position, having been commandeered by Amy as some sort of security appendage. That left Amy snoring quietly into Vicky's collarbone, the faint motion of Amy's breath sending ripples through her golden locks. Amy's own frizzy hair covered half of her face, and was luckily far enough from Vicky's own nose to prevent tickle-induced sneezes.
The whole scene was cute enough that waking the other girls would practically be sacrilege, and thus Vicky was trapped.
"Victoria!"
Aw hell.
Her mom's voice cracked like a whip through the house, cutting through the early morning gloom —
Wait, was it morning? How long had Vicky been trapped here?
"Victoria! It's almost eleven o'clock!"
Oh.
Even with her mom's heavy footsteps pounding up the stairs and down the hallway, Vicky struggled mentally to wake the pair of girls using her as a pillow. They were usually both so serious, focusing on their responsibilities to the detriment of their own well-being, and waking them from peaceful slumber was almost as criminal as the thugs Vicky stopped while out on patrol.
As though to punctuate her thoughts, Taylor wiggled slightly in her sleep, mumbling quietly to herself around a faint grin that Vicky could just barely see. She then proceeded to hug Vicky even tighter, her limbs flexing ineffectually around Vicky's force field and curling closer to the trapped blonde.
Then Vicky remembered that her mom was likely right outside her door, only to have said door open rudely to reveal an annoyed Carol. "Vicky, what are you doing still in… bed…"
Her mom's voice trailed off, lips turning up in a teasing smile —
***
I was cut off in my reading by a pair of amused (if pained) laughs. "Teasing?" Amy asked acidly. "Everything was fine up until then, but come on, this is Carol we're talking about."
"Fine?" Vicky squawked, cheeks faintly red from the perpetual blush she sported while we worked through the thread. "I'm straight, Ames! And seriously, even if I was a lesbian, you're my sister! Why are you two reading this stuff?"
Now it was Amy's turn to blush, though I suspected that it wasn't because she disliked the plot of 'A Dallon Sandwich,' or even just the omake we had just read. "What, are we not good enough for you?"
"It's just a silly story," I interjected, wrapping one arm around Amy's waist and pulling her closer to me. She resisted for a moment before succumbing to the power of snuggles, the tension escaping her body at the same time as her own annoyed huff.
Vicky, luckily, missed the byplay. She was instead thumbing through the story thread, a strange expression on her face as she read. "I can't believe this nonsense is so popular. I mean, yeah, you two are cute together, but I don't see why everyone wants me involved, too. Like, there's like two hundred omake for this story already… Though, as much as I hate to admit it, that one was pretty good."
"That author has written a few," I pointed out. "Is this… normal? Stories about capes, I mean. I don't think I've ever been a character in a story before. How are people so invested in us?"
Amy snorted in derision. "You'll get used to it. Cape fic authors come up with the weirdest fucking shit, and I'm pretty sure I've been 'shipped' with practically every teenage cape in the bay. At least they know I like girls, now."
I gave Amy a supportive squeeze, which turned into supportive snuggles when she leaned into the hug and pulled my arms closer. Vicky rolled her eyes at our display, though she didn't bother to hide her usual half-smirk at seeing us together. She was so honestly happy to see us together that I had long since forgotten to be awkward around her.
"Anyway," Vicky continued, "some of those omake are well written, which makes you wonder why that author is writing them instead of their own stories."
***
Yes, that was an omake of an in-world fanfic in a sidestory to a fanfic, which I'm pretty sure sets some meta density record.
Let the Games Begin 4.2
February 14th, 2011
Amy and I left the hospital shortly after ten. She decided she wasn't ready to heal Millie yet because, while she was reasonably confident she could do it, she wanted to get a bit more experience working on healthier brains first so she had a better idea of the baseline to be aiming for. 'No sense in fucking it up if I can help it,' as she put it. I chose to not comment on her lack of similar concerns when she had healed Carol.
I wanted her to head into school now that she was done at the hospital but with the travel time involved it would mean she'd arrive just minutes before her lunch period. Even if she could flex her Spirit Energy and make the run in enough time to catch the class before lunch, that didn't amount to a good idea. It would raise all kinds of questions about how she moved so quickly without Vicky skipping her own class to fly her.
"I still wish you would just let me skip." Amy whined with slumped shoulders. "Between having already missed the class I care about today, and Arcadia's over the top pink vomit they call Valentine's decorations, I just don't see the point."
"Isn't the next Endbringer due sometime this month?" I asked and Amy flinched. "May as well keep on top of your schoolwork given how they tend to keep you there for days after."
"Please, don't remind me." Amy grumbled then turned to me with concern in her eyes. "Are you planning to attend?"
"Not as a combatant, not this one anyway." I answered. "I'm not strong enough yet and the last thing I want to do is tip them off to what I might be able to do in the future."
"Please don't say shit like that out loud." Amy said, smacking my arm. "The Simurgh skipped her prior turn and with our recent luck she'll probably pay us a visit."
I mimed zipping my lips shut. "Subject dropped. So, since you're skipping school, wanna grab an early lunch and surprise Dad?"
"Works for me, I'm kinda hungry after burning so much Spirit Energy." Amy said as she pulled out her phone and checked the map. "There's an Italian place along the way, we shouldn't have to worry too much about hiding our abilities on the way."
I pulled my own phone out and sent off a text to Dad telling him to avoid making lunch plans, but refrained from elaborating. As we started on a jog, my phone pinged twice. One was from Dad teasing me for being so cryptic, the other was from Castiel mentioning that Genkai was worse than Hookwolf with his blades out.
That gave me something to stew about as we ran. The former Nazi's revealations had thrown me a curveball that left me conflicted on how to deal with him. Even if I wasn't ready to forgive him entirely, I couldn't help feeling sympathetic for what he had been through. It infuriated me that Kaiser had planned to send Rune off to the Gesellschaft in my place. It was one thing for them to target me, a fresh trigger with no history, it was another for them to do it to one of their own.
At first I had thought Castiel had been a bit extreme with the cover story, to go so far just to stay hidden, I knew I couldn't do it. Then he told his story about how he joined the Empire and what they had subjected him to during those early months. The things he told me about from his three month stay in an Empire run 'reeducation' camp sent chills through me. Needless to say, he learned very quickly how to hide things so that the beatings and electrocutions would stop. What to say and when to say it became second nature when it meant the difference between pizza and shock therapy.
The worst part of all of it? The man was straight, he just didn't know it until Insight had talked things through with him and offered him a literal out. He had been why Insight had chosen to cash in the favor that Amy owed her, to give Castiel a new life as his true self.
I was okay with that, and given the circumstances, I was willing to give him a chance. Exactly one chance because there was no way Amy would suffer a betrayal right now, and I wasn't much more inclined towards forgiveness than she was. Learning that Genkai had discovered his identity the same night that Oni Lee had done his best Hookwolf impression on me wasn't a fun revelation. I understood why she had kept it to herself, why she had insisted that he come clean to us in person, but it still felt like a betrayal.
It hadn't helped that he had intended to tell us everything anyway, which meant we had essentially forced him to out himself against his will. Amy and I both felt like shit after that. I ended up having nightmares for days after, which I probably deserved for my part in things. Seeing Cas instead of Rune at the graveyard hadn't been fun to wake up from, neither had the one where Amy followed up on her threats while Cas screamed in agony.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by Amy poking me in the ribs. I gave her my best pout and glare combo, but she simply pointed out that we had reached the restaurant in question. Twenty minutes later we left with a variety of dishes and resumed our trek to the Dockworkers Union office building. Hopefully Dad would accept this as part of my running apology for continuing to keep secrets from him. Namely Genkai's existence but also that Amy had moved in with me almost a month ago. That one in particular seemed to be the bigger issue with him, much to my surprise.
I didn't believe for one second that he had bought our story that we weren't a couple, but it had been the truth then and it still was. Even if we didn't really act that way.
Vicky had attempted to arrange for a double date tonight, but Amy had squashed that idea before it even got off the ground. Vicky hadn't taken no for an answer until Amy reminded her that she was trying to get back together with Dean, and how bringing us along might jeopardize that. We had our own issues and adding those to the melting pot just wasn't wise, especially when both of us had crushes on the girl in question. Not that Amy would ever tell Vicky about her side of things, but both sisters were well aware of my crushes on them.
The same night that we had been introduced to 'A Dallon Sandwich' Vicky had flown over to show us, and then promised swift revenge on Dennis for beating her to it. Then came the merciless teasing when she realised just how flustered we both were over the entire thing. She'd been a merciless flirt ever since, which kept sending me all sorts of mixed signals.
The maniacal cackling that followed as Amy chased her through the woods had been amusing to say the least. Even Genkai was pleased since Amy was wearing her weights at the time. I had been too busy reading the nearly twenty thousand word one shot, which has since grown to almost one hundred thousand words and gained a massive following. The nearly five hundred thousand words of 'omake' had left all of us dumbfounded, and flushed with embarrassment.
We arrived at the Union offices at a comfortable walk, no sense showing off and risking people looking too closely at any potential sightings that made it into the cape watcher threads pointing out that we couldn't have made the trip as quickly as we did. Amy and I both presented our IDs at the security desk, her's getting a raised eyebrow from the man but nothing more before we were both waved on.
On the way to Dad's office I dropped off a couple of the dishes for Kurt and Lacey, two of Dad's best friends who had been there for him through everything over the last, had it really been less than two months since my life was turned upside down? Was it morbid of me to think about how much better my life had gotten after I had died? Not that I would want to go through with that particular experience again anytime soon, it was just all so surreal.
Dad's office door was open soI poked my head inside to see him writing something on a stack of documents. I knocked twice and stepped inside. Dad looked up and smiled wide when I lifted up the bounty I'd brought with us.
"Taylor, Amy! You didn't have to bring all of this."
I shrugged and started setting up the various bowls of Alfredo, and Spaghetti across the desk as he cleared it. I retrieved some plastic cutlery while Amy washed up in the restroom, and Dad grabbed some sodas from his fridge. He gave us another round of thanks before we dug into our chosen dishes.
Amy and I were on our second dishes when something peculiar entered my range, causing me to pause with pasta dangling from my lips. I'd barely turned towards it when Amy picked up on the unfamiliar energy as well. Based on the movement speed and patterns the person was likely in a car, and heading in our direction. I'd made it a point to learn to recognize every Cape that I could after I noticed that each one had what could best be described as an abnormality in their Spirit Energy that made them stand out from the general population. I had most of New Wave and the Wards down, as well as Insight's known roster. The Protectorate was hit or miss, so it could have been them, but that would be risking a violation of a court order without reasonable cause.
"Dad, are you expecting company?" I asked as I stood.
He had a bite halfway to his mouth when he saw how serious Amy and I were being. "I have a group from Medhall scheduled to come by at…" He glanced at the clock then double checked his calendar. "Shit, eleven thirty, not one thirty. Now I feel like an idiot for missing that."
"Just tell them we surprised you with lunch." I said as I sensed them park and exit their vehicle. "Why am I not surprised that the most successful business in the bay has Parahumans on their payroll?"
"I wonder if they're a Thinker?" Amy added. "It would be smart from a negotiation point of view to influence things to go the way you want them to."
"Can't argue with that." I said, making an idle note of Amy's Spirit Energy spreading into her parasitic plants she kept concealed under her sleeves. My own Spirit Energy was stirring just beneath my skin as my anxiety rose. "We'll just have to put them down if they turn out to be hostile." Dad gave me a look when I said the words but my focus was on the approaching person.
A few seconds later there was a knock at the door and Dad called out for them. His secretary answered. "Mr Hebert, your eleven thirty is here."
"Go ahead and send him in, my daughter was just getting ready to leave." He fibbed. He then turned to me and mouthed out 'please don't destroy my office' which got an amused snort out of me.
Another thirty seconds passed and the door swung open, the Parahuman in question entering. He was a tall man with close cut sandy blonde hair, vibrant blue eyes and well trimmed facial hair. He was athletic looking and wore a perfectly tailored grey suit with a navy blue tie. More than that, he exuded confidence and seemed to draw attention. His eyes hovered over me, his Spirit Energy spiking in anxiety a bit as he did so, before he settled on Amy.
"Apologies, we lost track of time. My daughter, Taylor, surprised me with lunch."
"No apology necessary. It is a pleasure to meet the both of you, my name is James Fliescher, I'm the liaison for Medhall's overseas operations."
"A pleasure." I said as I reached out and carefully shook his hand.
Amy nodded to the man then did the same. Her Spirit Energy surged when she made skin contact but she gave no other indication of anything being wrong. She may have recognized him from previous healing, so I'd need to ask about that once we were away from prying ears. He certainly recognized her, however.
"Panacea, it is an honor to meet you." Mr Fliescher said with a genuine smile. "You are a true credit to our city."
"Don't mention it." Amy said in what I immediately recognized as her 'annoyed healer' tone. "We should probably get out of your way and I'm still hoping to catch my afternoon classes."
He began to protest but Amy and I were moving out of the room before he had the chance to articulate much of anything. I waved goodbye to Dad and he hollered another thanks for bringing him lunch as I shut the door. Amy was already marching off down the hall, past the confused secretary. I hurried to follow and no sooner than I had caught up she pulled me into an abandoned office.
She quickly shut and locked the door while I gave my best effort to seem amused as a bit of a mean spirited idea crossed my mind. "Why Amy, I had no idea you were into office play. Had I known, I'd have worn something a little dressier, and with heels."
I took great satisfaction in how red Amy became. "Shut up." She stammered out with an adorable pout. "That bastard was Krieg."
Oh. We had just left my dad alone in a room with one of the Empire's Lieutenants. I'd barely taken a step towards a door before Amy nearly tackled me. When that failed to stop me she grabbed my wrist and I felt the muscles in my legs lock up.
"Amy, he needs our help!" I nearly pleaded.
"Taylor, think this through. They've met before and have had several meetings together. Krieg has an absurdly well connected civilian identity. Don't go picking a fight when it wouldn't be smart to do so."
"How about giving him some late stage cancer instead?" I asked heatedly. "A bit harder to trace than my plan of explosive brain surgery."
"I would have to return and touch him, he would know it was me after being that obvious about it." Amy said. Damn her and her logic.
I took a few deep and measured breaths. "If Krieg is that well connected, what are the odds that Kaiser is Max Anders?"
I watched the faint remains of Amy's blush fall away into a pale blanche. "That would make too much fucking sense. No wonder the Empire has always been untouchable."
I already had my phone out and was dialing a number, Castiel picked it up on the third ring. "Taylor, I could kiss you for interrupting the hell that Genkai was just subjecting me to."
"You gave up any chance you had with me when you grew a pair, Cas."
"Touche." Castiel said with a breathless laugh. "So, what can I do for my favorite lesbian?"
"If I were to ask you if a specific person was the civilian identity of an Empire Cape, would you give me an honest answer?"
That seemed to bring him up short, to the point I almost thought the call had been dropped. "That will depend entirely on the circumstances as it would be one hell of a breach of the rules."
"Rules that the Empire never followed." I muttered. "I'll take it. A few minutes ago one James Fliescher introduced himself to us and Amy recognized him as Krieg. Given he was acting as a representative of Medhall in an official capacity, how far off the mark am I to assume that Max Anders is also Kaiser?"
A quickly hissed "Fuck" was all the confirmation I needed.
"Great, now I get to figure out why the Empire is funneling money into the Dockworkers Union."
"It was likely part of a plan to gain leverage over you." Castiel said. "Kaiser likes overly complicated plans where he can control people, bend them to his way of thinking."
"Yeah, that sounds like a nazi asshole to me." I said. "Thanks for the confirmation, now Amy and I have to make some decisions about the near future."
"I wouldn't worry too much yet. Now that you know his identity you have the advantage, he can't act yet without outing his civilian self anyway"
"He's trying to get to me through my dad, Cas. I'm not going to sit around doing nothing."
Amy touched my shoulder and I saw sympathy in her eyes. "He's right, Taylor. This isn't the right time. We can protect Danny now that we know, but dealing with Kaiser will have to happen later. There's no point showing our hands yet, he could have contingency plans we don't know of".
I hated to agree with them while my dad was possibly in danger but before I could hang up in annoyance, Castiel's voice carried over the speaker. "If you're going after them, I want in on it."
That brought me up short, did I want to involve Cas in this? He had as much reason as I did for hating the bastard, maybe more. I just wasn't sure we would agree on how final I wanted the solution to be.
"Assuming we can agree on the end result, consider yourself invited."
"Thank you." Castiel said before the line went dead.
Amy stayed silent for a few moments before she started snickering. "Grow a pair, huh?"
"Oh shut up." I teased, pushing her shoulder.
"Never." She said, then her smile fell. "You're planning to kill Kaiser, aren't you?"
"That is currently my frontrunner on the ideas front, unless you managed to solve the Sinning Tree."
"Unfortunately, no. I'd need the actual seeds for one, and maybe some lessons from Kurama if the seeds can even be grown with Spirit Energy. A lot of his plants seem to only be that lethal due to the nature of Demon Energy in general and my biology hacks only make up for so much. Given we can't even go to Demon World without starting the end of the world, I'm not in any hurry."
"It would be a letdown if you can't find a way to make it work." I shrugged and began to lead Amy back outside, taking care to keep my voice down. "No matter what, I'll need to consult with Genkai first before we take any actions against them. No point ignoring nearly a century of experience."
"We would be fools if we did." Amy agreed.
"Worse." I said, drawing an amused look from the mousy girl currently tucked into my side. "We'd be dimwits."
Author's Notes:
The Empire hasn't been idle and has plans in motions, while they won't be the focus of this arc they are still a factor within the larger story. The plot will catch back up with Taylor next week, just got a bit of fluff to get through first.
A Fistful of Cicadas (Smugbug Villain Taylor fic) continues to be an absurdly fun NaNoWriMo project for me and I do plan to continue to write it until I'm satisfied with the conclusion I reach, but I won't let it affect SDT's upload schedule. I have three months worth of a backlog that I am currently taking advantage of.
For those not aware, last week I had a resident where I work OD and I had to administer CPR when they stopped breathing. Needless to say this was a bit traumatic, but he is alive and I'm told a good reason for that was because I acted as quickly as I did. I HIGHLY recommend everyone get certified in basic life saving techniques because you never know when it will come into play.
Amy and I left the hospital shortly after ten. She decided she wasn't ready to heal Millie yet because, while she was reasonably confident she could do it, she wanted to get a bit more experience working on healthier brains first so she had a better idea of the baseline to be aiming for. 'No sense in fucking it up if I can help it,' as she put it. I chose to not comment on her lack of similar concerns when she had healed Carol.
I wanted her to head into school now that she was done at the hospital but with the travel time involved it would mean she'd arrive just minutes before her lunch period. Even if she could flex her Spirit Energy and make the run in enough time to catch the class before lunch, that didn't amount to a good idea. It would raise all kinds of questions about how she moved so quickly without Vicky skipping her own class to fly her.
"I still wish you would just let me skip." Amy whined with slumped shoulders. "Between having already missed the class I care about today, and Arcadia's over the top pink vomit they call Valentine's decorations, I just don't see the point."
"Isn't the next Endbringer due sometime this month?" I asked and Amy flinched. "May as well keep on top of your schoolwork given how they tend to keep you there for days after."
"Please, don't remind me." Amy grumbled then turned to me with concern in her eyes. "Are you planning to attend?"
"Not as a combatant, not this one anyway." I answered. "I'm not strong enough yet and the last thing I want to do is tip them off to what I might be able to do in the future."
"Please don't say shit like that out loud." Amy said, smacking my arm. "The Simurgh skipped her prior turn and with our recent luck she'll probably pay us a visit."
I mimed zipping my lips shut. "Subject dropped. So, since you're skipping school, wanna grab an early lunch and surprise Dad?"
"Works for me, I'm kinda hungry after burning so much Spirit Energy." Amy said as she pulled out her phone and checked the map. "There's an Italian place along the way, we shouldn't have to worry too much about hiding our abilities on the way."
I pulled my own phone out and sent off a text to Dad telling him to avoid making lunch plans, but refrained from elaborating. As we started on a jog, my phone pinged twice. One was from Dad teasing me for being so cryptic, the other was from Castiel mentioning that Genkai was worse than Hookwolf with his blades out.
That gave me something to stew about as we ran. The former Nazi's revealations had thrown me a curveball that left me conflicted on how to deal with him. Even if I wasn't ready to forgive him entirely, I couldn't help feeling sympathetic for what he had been through. It infuriated me that Kaiser had planned to send Rune off to the Gesellschaft in my place. It was one thing for them to target me, a fresh trigger with no history, it was another for them to do it to one of their own.
At first I had thought Castiel had been a bit extreme with the cover story, to go so far just to stay hidden, I knew I couldn't do it. Then he told his story about how he joined the Empire and what they had subjected him to during those early months. The things he told me about from his three month stay in an Empire run 'reeducation' camp sent chills through me. Needless to say, he learned very quickly how to hide things so that the beatings and electrocutions would stop. What to say and when to say it became second nature when it meant the difference between pizza and shock therapy.
The worst part of all of it? The man was straight, he just didn't know it until Insight had talked things through with him and offered him a literal out. He had been why Insight had chosen to cash in the favor that Amy owed her, to give Castiel a new life as his true self.
I was okay with that, and given the circumstances, I was willing to give him a chance. Exactly one chance because there was no way Amy would suffer a betrayal right now, and I wasn't much more inclined towards forgiveness than she was. Learning that Genkai had discovered his identity the same night that Oni Lee had done his best Hookwolf impression on me wasn't a fun revelation. I understood why she had kept it to herself, why she had insisted that he come clean to us in person, but it still felt like a betrayal.
It hadn't helped that he had intended to tell us everything anyway, which meant we had essentially forced him to out himself against his will. Amy and I both felt like shit after that. I ended up having nightmares for days after, which I probably deserved for my part in things. Seeing Cas instead of Rune at the graveyard hadn't been fun to wake up from, neither had the one where Amy followed up on her threats while Cas screamed in agony.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by Amy poking me in the ribs. I gave her my best pout and glare combo, but she simply pointed out that we had reached the restaurant in question. Twenty minutes later we left with a variety of dishes and resumed our trek to the Dockworkers Union office building. Hopefully Dad would accept this as part of my running apology for continuing to keep secrets from him. Namely Genkai's existence but also that Amy had moved in with me almost a month ago. That one in particular seemed to be the bigger issue with him, much to my surprise.
I didn't believe for one second that he had bought our story that we weren't a couple, but it had been the truth then and it still was. Even if we didn't really act that way.
Vicky had attempted to arrange for a double date tonight, but Amy had squashed that idea before it even got off the ground. Vicky hadn't taken no for an answer until Amy reminded her that she was trying to get back together with Dean, and how bringing us along might jeopardize that. We had our own issues and adding those to the melting pot just wasn't wise, especially when both of us had crushes on the girl in question. Not that Amy would ever tell Vicky about her side of things, but both sisters were well aware of my crushes on them.
The same night that we had been introduced to 'A Dallon Sandwich' Vicky had flown over to show us, and then promised swift revenge on Dennis for beating her to it. Then came the merciless teasing when she realised just how flustered we both were over the entire thing. She'd been a merciless flirt ever since, which kept sending me all sorts of mixed signals.
The maniacal cackling that followed as Amy chased her through the woods had been amusing to say the least. Even Genkai was pleased since Amy was wearing her weights at the time. I had been too busy reading the nearly twenty thousand word one shot, which has since grown to almost one hundred thousand words and gained a massive following. The nearly five hundred thousand words of 'omake' had left all of us dumbfounded, and flushed with embarrassment.
We arrived at the Union offices at a comfortable walk, no sense showing off and risking people looking too closely at any potential sightings that made it into the cape watcher threads pointing out that we couldn't have made the trip as quickly as we did. Amy and I both presented our IDs at the security desk, her's getting a raised eyebrow from the man but nothing more before we were both waved on.
On the way to Dad's office I dropped off a couple of the dishes for Kurt and Lacey, two of Dad's best friends who had been there for him through everything over the last, had it really been less than two months since my life was turned upside down? Was it morbid of me to think about how much better my life had gotten after I had died? Not that I would want to go through with that particular experience again anytime soon, it was just all so surreal.
Dad's office door was open soI poked my head inside to see him writing something on a stack of documents. I knocked twice and stepped inside. Dad looked up and smiled wide when I lifted up the bounty I'd brought with us.
"Taylor, Amy! You didn't have to bring all of this."
I shrugged and started setting up the various bowls of Alfredo, and Spaghetti across the desk as he cleared it. I retrieved some plastic cutlery while Amy washed up in the restroom, and Dad grabbed some sodas from his fridge. He gave us another round of thanks before we dug into our chosen dishes.
Amy and I were on our second dishes when something peculiar entered my range, causing me to pause with pasta dangling from my lips. I'd barely turned towards it when Amy picked up on the unfamiliar energy as well. Based on the movement speed and patterns the person was likely in a car, and heading in our direction. I'd made it a point to learn to recognize every Cape that I could after I noticed that each one had what could best be described as an abnormality in their Spirit Energy that made them stand out from the general population. I had most of New Wave and the Wards down, as well as Insight's known roster. The Protectorate was hit or miss, so it could have been them, but that would be risking a violation of a court order without reasonable cause.
"Dad, are you expecting company?" I asked as I stood.
He had a bite halfway to his mouth when he saw how serious Amy and I were being. "I have a group from Medhall scheduled to come by at…" He glanced at the clock then double checked his calendar. "Shit, eleven thirty, not one thirty. Now I feel like an idiot for missing that."
"Just tell them we surprised you with lunch." I said as I sensed them park and exit their vehicle. "Why am I not surprised that the most successful business in the bay has Parahumans on their payroll?"
"I wonder if they're a Thinker?" Amy added. "It would be smart from a negotiation point of view to influence things to go the way you want them to."
"Can't argue with that." I said, making an idle note of Amy's Spirit Energy spreading into her parasitic plants she kept concealed under her sleeves. My own Spirit Energy was stirring just beneath my skin as my anxiety rose. "We'll just have to put them down if they turn out to be hostile." Dad gave me a look when I said the words but my focus was on the approaching person.
A few seconds later there was a knock at the door and Dad called out for them. His secretary answered. "Mr Hebert, your eleven thirty is here."
"Go ahead and send him in, my daughter was just getting ready to leave." He fibbed. He then turned to me and mouthed out 'please don't destroy my office' which got an amused snort out of me.
Another thirty seconds passed and the door swung open, the Parahuman in question entering. He was a tall man with close cut sandy blonde hair, vibrant blue eyes and well trimmed facial hair. He was athletic looking and wore a perfectly tailored grey suit with a navy blue tie. More than that, he exuded confidence and seemed to draw attention. His eyes hovered over me, his Spirit Energy spiking in anxiety a bit as he did so, before he settled on Amy.
"Apologies, we lost track of time. My daughter, Taylor, surprised me with lunch."
"No apology necessary. It is a pleasure to meet the both of you, my name is James Fliescher, I'm the liaison for Medhall's overseas operations."
"A pleasure." I said as I reached out and carefully shook his hand.
Amy nodded to the man then did the same. Her Spirit Energy surged when she made skin contact but she gave no other indication of anything being wrong. She may have recognized him from previous healing, so I'd need to ask about that once we were away from prying ears. He certainly recognized her, however.
"Panacea, it is an honor to meet you." Mr Fliescher said with a genuine smile. "You are a true credit to our city."
"Don't mention it." Amy said in what I immediately recognized as her 'annoyed healer' tone. "We should probably get out of your way and I'm still hoping to catch my afternoon classes."
He began to protest but Amy and I were moving out of the room before he had the chance to articulate much of anything. I waved goodbye to Dad and he hollered another thanks for bringing him lunch as I shut the door. Amy was already marching off down the hall, past the confused secretary. I hurried to follow and no sooner than I had caught up she pulled me into an abandoned office.
She quickly shut and locked the door while I gave my best effort to seem amused as a bit of a mean spirited idea crossed my mind. "Why Amy, I had no idea you were into office play. Had I known, I'd have worn something a little dressier, and with heels."
I took great satisfaction in how red Amy became. "Shut up." She stammered out with an adorable pout. "That bastard was Krieg."
Oh. We had just left my dad alone in a room with one of the Empire's Lieutenants. I'd barely taken a step towards a door before Amy nearly tackled me. When that failed to stop me she grabbed my wrist and I felt the muscles in my legs lock up.
"Amy, he needs our help!" I nearly pleaded.
"Taylor, think this through. They've met before and have had several meetings together. Krieg has an absurdly well connected civilian identity. Don't go picking a fight when it wouldn't be smart to do so."
"How about giving him some late stage cancer instead?" I asked heatedly. "A bit harder to trace than my plan of explosive brain surgery."
"I would have to return and touch him, he would know it was me after being that obvious about it." Amy said. Damn her and her logic.
I took a few deep and measured breaths. "If Krieg is that well connected, what are the odds that Kaiser is Max Anders?"
I watched the faint remains of Amy's blush fall away into a pale blanche. "That would make too much fucking sense. No wonder the Empire has always been untouchable."
I already had my phone out and was dialing a number, Castiel picked it up on the third ring. "Taylor, I could kiss you for interrupting the hell that Genkai was just subjecting me to."
"You gave up any chance you had with me when you grew a pair, Cas."
"Touche." Castiel said with a breathless laugh. "So, what can I do for my favorite lesbian?"
"If I were to ask you if a specific person was the civilian identity of an Empire Cape, would you give me an honest answer?"
That seemed to bring him up short, to the point I almost thought the call had been dropped. "That will depend entirely on the circumstances as it would be one hell of a breach of the rules."
"Rules that the Empire never followed." I muttered. "I'll take it. A few minutes ago one James Fliescher introduced himself to us and Amy recognized him as Krieg. Given he was acting as a representative of Medhall in an official capacity, how far off the mark am I to assume that Max Anders is also Kaiser?"
A quickly hissed "Fuck" was all the confirmation I needed.
"Great, now I get to figure out why the Empire is funneling money into the Dockworkers Union."
"It was likely part of a plan to gain leverage over you." Castiel said. "Kaiser likes overly complicated plans where he can control people, bend them to his way of thinking."
"Yeah, that sounds like a nazi asshole to me." I said. "Thanks for the confirmation, now Amy and I have to make some decisions about the near future."
"I wouldn't worry too much yet. Now that you know his identity you have the advantage, he can't act yet without outing his civilian self anyway"
"He's trying to get to me through my dad, Cas. I'm not going to sit around doing nothing."
Amy touched my shoulder and I saw sympathy in her eyes. "He's right, Taylor. This isn't the right time. We can protect Danny now that we know, but dealing with Kaiser will have to happen later. There's no point showing our hands yet, he could have contingency plans we don't know of".
I hated to agree with them while my dad was possibly in danger but before I could hang up in annoyance, Castiel's voice carried over the speaker. "If you're going after them, I want in on it."
That brought me up short, did I want to involve Cas in this? He had as much reason as I did for hating the bastard, maybe more. I just wasn't sure we would agree on how final I wanted the solution to be.
"Assuming we can agree on the end result, consider yourself invited."
"Thank you." Castiel said before the line went dead.
Amy stayed silent for a few moments before she started snickering. "Grow a pair, huh?"
"Oh shut up." I teased, pushing her shoulder.
"Never." She said, then her smile fell. "You're planning to kill Kaiser, aren't you?"
"That is currently my frontrunner on the ideas front, unless you managed to solve the Sinning Tree."
"Unfortunately, no. I'd need the actual seeds for one, and maybe some lessons from Kurama if the seeds can even be grown with Spirit Energy. A lot of his plants seem to only be that lethal due to the nature of Demon Energy in general and my biology hacks only make up for so much. Given we can't even go to Demon World without starting the end of the world, I'm not in any hurry."
"It would be a letdown if you can't find a way to make it work." I shrugged and began to lead Amy back outside, taking care to keep my voice down. "No matter what, I'll need to consult with Genkai first before we take any actions against them. No point ignoring nearly a century of experience."
"We would be fools if we did." Amy agreed.
"Worse." I said, drawing an amused look from the mousy girl currently tucked into my side. "We'd be dimwits."
Author's Notes:
The Empire hasn't been idle and has plans in motions, while they won't be the focus of this arc they are still a factor within the larger story. The plot will catch back up with Taylor next week, just got a bit of fluff to get through first.
A Fistful of Cicadas (Smugbug Villain Taylor fic) continues to be an absurdly fun NaNoWriMo project for me and I do plan to continue to write it until I'm satisfied with the conclusion I reach, but I won't let it affect SDT's upload schedule. I have three months worth of a backlog that I am currently taking advantage of.
For those not aware, last week I had a resident where I work OD and I had to administer CPR when they stopped breathing. Needless to say this was a bit traumatic, but he is alive and I'm told a good reason for that was because I acted as quickly as I did. I HIGHLY recommend everyone get certified in basic life saving techniques because you never know when it will come into play.
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Let the Games Begin 4.3
February 14th, 2011
I saw Amy off at Arcadia just in time for her to be fashionably late to her first afternoon class. Meanwhile, I had an appointment at the Dollhouse just off the Boardwalk. Parian had agreed to see me in person for some measurements and preliminary designs that she had come up with. I wasn't looking forward to having my measurements taken and had made every effort to make sure Vicky wasn't present, hence doing this while school was in session.
I zipped up my jacket as a chill sea breeze swept over the city, the dampness of it being the worst part. I could have warmed myself by burning even more Spirit Energy than I already was thanks to the Spirit Cuffs, but it felt wasteful when I could just endure it instead. It wasn't like I was going to get frostbite, and if I did, well, Amy would probably slap me before she fixed it. With her armored gauntlet no doubt.
Note to self: Don't give Amy a reason to slap you.
Amy wasn't with me this time so I didn't need to hold anything back as I traversed the city. Looking up at the nearby rooftops a grin came to my lips as I flared my power and leapt into the air, landing on top of the two story building with a roll and breaking into a full sprint towards the Dollhouse. I was finding the trip oddly relaxing. The ease at which I leapt over alleys, and in one case vaulting a four lane road to land on a shorter building across it, felt right and natural. The freedom of the run made me wonder how it felt to fly like Vicky could. It was a pity that active flight was so power intensive, it would probably be months, if not years, before I could manage it at my current rate of improvement. Thankfully, the near meditative state I fell into as I ran was enough to purge most of the anger I felt over the Empire revelations, a reckoning would be coming, but not today.
As I approached the shop a particularly mean spirited thought popped into my head and I decided to indulge it. With a flying leap and an acrobatic twist I managed a perfect three point landing on the sidewalk just outside the shop, to the instant protest of my knee. Fortunately the concrete seemed to take the worst of it, rather than my bones but it still hurt enough to remind me to reinforce myself with Spirit Energy if I ever plan to replicate that particular feat.
As I straightened up and turned towards the shop, it was then that I noticed the twelve foot tall neon green gorilla pulling off a flawless sign spinner routine. The sign was for the Dollhouse and, now that I was looking, I could see a few lines of thread running back inside through the closed door. I whistled softly at the clever usage of power on display.
The bell jingled as I carefully pushed the door open and stepped inside. Greeting me were several display mannequins all wearing elaborate dresses that would likely put a sizable dent in the settlement fund if I were to buy even one of them. A quick glance at one of the price tags more than confirmed my suspicions.
"I can never bring Vicky here." I muttered as I made my way towards the two sources of Spirit Energy further inside the shop.
I could hear the two people talking as I approached, one voice I recognized as Parian from our phone conversations, but the other girl's voice was vaguely familiar in a way I couldn't place. It could have been the hint of a New York accent throwing me off, but I couldn't be sure. All I did know was that they were a Parahuman based on their Spirit Energy.
Parian was leaning forward on the counter while talking to the unfamiliar Cape. The girl wore a purple bodysuit with white pointed panels that were likely armor across the costume. She had a tinted visor that I couldn't see through yet left the bottom half of her face exposed. What grabbed my attention however, aside from how form fitting her body suit was and how in shape she appeared to be, was the massive Arbalest hanging from a strap on her back, with three foot long ammunition as well as several oversized throwing darts strapped to her legs.
"Esprit, you're early!" Parian exclaimed, snapping me out of the trance I had been in.
I quickly glanced around, trying to find anything to distract myself from my prior thoughts, when I saw the wall clock and smirked. "I understand that time can fly, but I'm actually five minutes late. Care to introduce me to the girl that had you so thoroughly distracted?"
The purple clad cape snorted and turned to face me, that sense of familiarity hit me once again but not in a way I could work off of. "The name's Flechette, I transferred in from New York recently and I'm trying to get to know some of the local independents."
"You seem to be finding plenty of success on that front." I said, eyeing Parian. It was too bad she was wearing a full doll mask to hide her emotions. Half the fun of teasing someone was seeing their reactions. Flechette however just grinned.
"Careful now, you wouldn't want the Dallons to get jealous." Parian said.
"Vicky was quite jealous of my appointment here, she hates missing a shopping trip after all." Considering the prices on display, it had been the right decision to schedule this during school hours. "Amy however was thankful that I didn't attempt to drag her here." I had actually needed to threaten to drag her along if she attempted to worm her way out of going in for the rest of the school day.
"Wait, I thought that was just a forum joke, are you actually dating both of them?" Flechette asked with considerable enthusiasm.
"Just a forum rumor that some people like to tease me with." I gave Parian a pointed look then sighed. "It doesn't help that Vicky finds the whole thing hilarious and enjoys fanning the flames."
"Well, I certainly find it hilarious." Flechette said. "I'll be sure to get in on my share of the teasing if the opportunity should arise."
"Why is everyone so amused by my imaginary love life?" I asked both of them. "I'm being serious here, I don't fucking get it! Like at all, I'm not dating either of them!"
"Tell that to Panacea." Parian deadpanned and I turned my harshest glare upon her.
"Who do you think told me?"
Both Parian and Flechette winced at that. Fucking serves the both of them right for making assumptions. Not that I would ever even hint at the reasons behind that decision, but I didn't like people running away with their assumptions either.
"Ouch, that had to sting." Flechette said. "Still, you seem to have made some friends out of it, so it can't be all that bad."
"Yeah, there's that." I said, forcing down Amy's issues and focusing on the positives that the recent weeks had brought with them. "Still, best to not be too open about things in this city. It may have been fine in New York with Legend at your back, but here in the Bay we have Nazis that would sooner sell you for breeding stock than let you live."
"That seems unusually harsh." Parian said.
"Speaking from experience on this one." I said with an edge to my voice. "The Bay is a shitshow between Kaiser's white power brigade, Lung's sex and drug dens, oh right, the Merchants are gone so that's a bonus for the moment until someone else moves into their turf. Probably the Teeth, knowing our luck."
"I was hoping to take a shot at the Empire." Flechette said. "Part of why I chose to come here, Nazis are a blight that stains our world."
"Get in line." I said none too kindly. "I owe them for what they tried to pull."
Flechette chuckled, and once again I was hit by the familiarity of that laugh. "Sounds like I picked the right time to transfer in. Pity I won't get a shot at Rune since she got sniped."
It took everything I had to not react to that. "Well, you're certainly the right kind of crazy for the Bay, that's for damn sure." I said with a forced grin, as I held out my hand for her and glanced at Parian. "Something tells me you'll enjoy your time here."
Her own smirk answered me. "Fingers crossed. Parian, I'm sure I'll see you around."
She passed a folded sheet of paper to Parian and had she not been wearing a visor, I would have put money on her winking as she did. The whole scene sent my gay heart aflutter. Flechette then sashayed ever so achingly slowly towards the door. Parian and I were enthralled by the display until the door jingled and she made her exit.
Several moments passed before I could find any words. "Well, you can consider me jealous. I assume she gave you her contact info?"
Parian snapped out of her stunned state and opened the note, and just stared at it. I had to poke her to reboot whatever had bluescreened within her. "This is a personal number as well as a restaurant address and time." Then her head snapped to face me. "Wait, why the hell are you jealous? You've got both Dallon sisters."
"Again with that shit? I told you, no matter what PHO says I'm not dating either of them. Vicky is criminally straight and Amy is capital c Complicated."
"Complicated." Parian said flatly. "I've seen the pictures from your date last month, I've seen the footage from some of your Arcadia visits. How isn't that dating?"
"Like I said, complicated. Can we just drop my lack of a love life and focus on business or would you rather I give a verbal essay on how amazing Flechette's ass is?"
Parian choked and began to cough. I considered that a victory. "Okay, fine. To business then. Let's get your measurements taken care of, then we can go over some of the designs I came up with."
She led me into a small back room filled with measuring tapes, fabric, and a wall line with an assortment of sewing machines. Then she embarrassed me in return by having me strip down, thankfully only to my sports bra and athletic shorts that I had taken to wearing under my usual sweats and jacket. The less said about the incident that inspired that, the better.
Tape flew around me in a complicated dance, wrapping tightly just long enough for Parian to make a note on a clipboard before they reset and wrapped anew. I forced down my anxiety over being constricted, being confined, and resisted the instinct to flare my Spirit Energy to free myself. Once again, I cursed the trio for breaking me as they had.
Thankfully, Parian was all business as she took her measurements and compared various fabrics which in some bizarre twist of fate, actually stung a bit. I couldn't help but admit that Vicky's efforts to build my self confidence seemed to be working, pity I didn't know how to handle actually having an ego to bruise.
The final strings pulled away and Parian nodded. "Better than I had expected given the clothes you tend to wear."
"Please, I'm a twig, no need to sugar coat things." I said without thinking. There was that voice again, the trio's words echoing back in my head even though they couldn't do anything to me, not anymore.
"Taylor, have you actually looked at yourself in a mirror lately?" Parian asked. "Hell, your legs have me almost willing to risk jail time, so show some confidence in yourself."
If I could actually see myself in the mirror I had no doubt that I would have turned crimson at the praise. I was also laughing, because dammit that had caught me off guard. When I recovered enough to open my eyes, I was surprised to find a full length mirror had been moved in front of me and I was stunned into silence.
"See? Just try to say something negative about your figure, I dare you."
Immediately I wanted to make a comment, but had to cut myself off because it simply wasn't true anymore. Whatever it had been, between my resurrection, Genkai's training or Amy's enhancements… Note to self, ask if she tweaked my boobs to be bigger because I had them now. I actually looked attractive.
"Okay, I'll admit, I don't look terrible." I said, begrudgingly.
Parian nodded. "Good, now to make you look amazing with some of my wonderful designs!" My sense of dread returned as fabric once again flowed around me.
Another hour had passed by the time Parian had finished showing me her designs, two of which had been interesting on paper, but would be terribly inconvenient in an actual fight. I had to actually demonstrate a few of my abilities for Parian to show her why gloves weren't an option as my Shotgun simply shredded them. The less said about the coattails the better.
In the end she had thrown her papers in frustration and offered my same outfit, but made from Tinkertech cloth that she special ordered. Knife proof, low caliber bullet resistant and impact absorbing. Best of all, it didn't break the budget Dad had given me for a proper Cape outfit. She said the first would be ready to pick up on the twenty-second.
I wished Parian luck on her date which left her sputtering and me cackling, as I exited her shop and made my way to the boardwalk. It may have been February and still cold out but I was suddenly in the mood for ice cream, and lots of it. A glance at my phone showed a message from Dad once again thanking me for lunch to which I shot off a quick reply and stowed my phone. Arcadia still had almost two hours till it let out for the day so I had some time to kill before I could resume pestering Amy.
I had to admit to myself that the sudden ice cream mood was likely the result of seeing Parian get a date while I didn't have one. Well, technically Amy and I were going to be training later tonight, and she was sleeping in the room right next to mine now. A room I was being allowed to sleep in at least, Genkai said I had learned all I could from the snake pits.
That or she kicked me out so Castiel could start using it, sometimes it was hard to tell with her.
Ice cream acquired, a simple chocolate sundae with brownie crumbs sprinkled on top, I made my way along the Boardwalk content to take the scenic route back to Arcadia. I was almost to the edge of the Docks when a familiar blip of Spirit Energy had me stop cold. She was close, too damn close. Then she was gone again.
I tossed my almost finished ice cream aside and, to the surprise of the few people out and about, took off at a sprint and jumped straight up onto the closest rooftop. In the distance I could just barely see her, jumping along rooftops, ghosting to shadowy mist to cover the distance with each hop. A touch of Spirit Energy to my eyes showed me that she was in plain clothes, just a jacket and jeans. She was right there.
I felt myself flinch at the thought of confronting her again but I pushed that lingering hesitation down. That wasn't me anymore, I'd already punched her in the face, there was no reason for me to get cold feet now. She couldn't hurt me, her words meant less than nothing.
She didn't have any allies to guard her this time, nor was I exhausted and reeling from that damned trash monster. I felt the air whip around my face as I jumped from rooftop to rooftop.
There was nothing to stop me this time. The two years of torment she inflicted upon me could finally be repaid. All the pain, all the suffering, not just my own but that of everyone she had ever hurt. Hell, my motherfucking death could be avenged. I couldn't help the vicious grin that overtook my face.
Finally, I could take Sophia Hess down.
Author's Notes:
The hunt is on! Will Sophia evade capture or will our Heroine finally get her hands on her killer? Find out next week in Spirit Detective Taylor!
I'm doubling back down on getting Arc 5 typed up before this arc concludes, so expect delays to Fistful while I take care of this. Even if it is my more popular work, this remains my primary story.
I saw Amy off at Arcadia just in time for her to be fashionably late to her first afternoon class. Meanwhile, I had an appointment at the Dollhouse just off the Boardwalk. Parian had agreed to see me in person for some measurements and preliminary designs that she had come up with. I wasn't looking forward to having my measurements taken and had made every effort to make sure Vicky wasn't present, hence doing this while school was in session.
I zipped up my jacket as a chill sea breeze swept over the city, the dampness of it being the worst part. I could have warmed myself by burning even more Spirit Energy than I already was thanks to the Spirit Cuffs, but it felt wasteful when I could just endure it instead. It wasn't like I was going to get frostbite, and if I did, well, Amy would probably slap me before she fixed it. With her armored gauntlet no doubt.
Note to self: Don't give Amy a reason to slap you.
Amy wasn't with me this time so I didn't need to hold anything back as I traversed the city. Looking up at the nearby rooftops a grin came to my lips as I flared my power and leapt into the air, landing on top of the two story building with a roll and breaking into a full sprint towards the Dollhouse. I was finding the trip oddly relaxing. The ease at which I leapt over alleys, and in one case vaulting a four lane road to land on a shorter building across it, felt right and natural. The freedom of the run made me wonder how it felt to fly like Vicky could. It was a pity that active flight was so power intensive, it would probably be months, if not years, before I could manage it at my current rate of improvement. Thankfully, the near meditative state I fell into as I ran was enough to purge most of the anger I felt over the Empire revelations, a reckoning would be coming, but not today.
As I approached the shop a particularly mean spirited thought popped into my head and I decided to indulge it. With a flying leap and an acrobatic twist I managed a perfect three point landing on the sidewalk just outside the shop, to the instant protest of my knee. Fortunately the concrete seemed to take the worst of it, rather than my bones but it still hurt enough to remind me to reinforce myself with Spirit Energy if I ever plan to replicate that particular feat.
As I straightened up and turned towards the shop, it was then that I noticed the twelve foot tall neon green gorilla pulling off a flawless sign spinner routine. The sign was for the Dollhouse and, now that I was looking, I could see a few lines of thread running back inside through the closed door. I whistled softly at the clever usage of power on display.
The bell jingled as I carefully pushed the door open and stepped inside. Greeting me were several display mannequins all wearing elaborate dresses that would likely put a sizable dent in the settlement fund if I were to buy even one of them. A quick glance at one of the price tags more than confirmed my suspicions.
"I can never bring Vicky here." I muttered as I made my way towards the two sources of Spirit Energy further inside the shop.
I could hear the two people talking as I approached, one voice I recognized as Parian from our phone conversations, but the other girl's voice was vaguely familiar in a way I couldn't place. It could have been the hint of a New York accent throwing me off, but I couldn't be sure. All I did know was that they were a Parahuman based on their Spirit Energy.
Parian was leaning forward on the counter while talking to the unfamiliar Cape. The girl wore a purple bodysuit with white pointed panels that were likely armor across the costume. She had a tinted visor that I couldn't see through yet left the bottom half of her face exposed. What grabbed my attention however, aside from how form fitting her body suit was and how in shape she appeared to be, was the massive Arbalest hanging from a strap on her back, with three foot long ammunition as well as several oversized throwing darts strapped to her legs.
"Esprit, you're early!" Parian exclaimed, snapping me out of the trance I had been in.
I quickly glanced around, trying to find anything to distract myself from my prior thoughts, when I saw the wall clock and smirked. "I understand that time can fly, but I'm actually five minutes late. Care to introduce me to the girl that had you so thoroughly distracted?"
The purple clad cape snorted and turned to face me, that sense of familiarity hit me once again but not in a way I could work off of. "The name's Flechette, I transferred in from New York recently and I'm trying to get to know some of the local independents."
"You seem to be finding plenty of success on that front." I said, eyeing Parian. It was too bad she was wearing a full doll mask to hide her emotions. Half the fun of teasing someone was seeing their reactions. Flechette however just grinned.
"Careful now, you wouldn't want the Dallons to get jealous." Parian said.
"Vicky was quite jealous of my appointment here, she hates missing a shopping trip after all." Considering the prices on display, it had been the right decision to schedule this during school hours. "Amy however was thankful that I didn't attempt to drag her here." I had actually needed to threaten to drag her along if she attempted to worm her way out of going in for the rest of the school day.
"Wait, I thought that was just a forum joke, are you actually dating both of them?" Flechette asked with considerable enthusiasm.
"Just a forum rumor that some people like to tease me with." I gave Parian a pointed look then sighed. "It doesn't help that Vicky finds the whole thing hilarious and enjoys fanning the flames."
"Well, I certainly find it hilarious." Flechette said. "I'll be sure to get in on my share of the teasing if the opportunity should arise."
"Why is everyone so amused by my imaginary love life?" I asked both of them. "I'm being serious here, I don't fucking get it! Like at all, I'm not dating either of them!"
"Tell that to Panacea." Parian deadpanned and I turned my harshest glare upon her.
"Who do you think told me?"
Both Parian and Flechette winced at that. Fucking serves the both of them right for making assumptions. Not that I would ever even hint at the reasons behind that decision, but I didn't like people running away with their assumptions either.
"Ouch, that had to sting." Flechette said. "Still, you seem to have made some friends out of it, so it can't be all that bad."
"Yeah, there's that." I said, forcing down Amy's issues and focusing on the positives that the recent weeks had brought with them. "Still, best to not be too open about things in this city. It may have been fine in New York with Legend at your back, but here in the Bay we have Nazis that would sooner sell you for breeding stock than let you live."
"That seems unusually harsh." Parian said.
"Speaking from experience on this one." I said with an edge to my voice. "The Bay is a shitshow between Kaiser's white power brigade, Lung's sex and drug dens, oh right, the Merchants are gone so that's a bonus for the moment until someone else moves into their turf. Probably the Teeth, knowing our luck."
"I was hoping to take a shot at the Empire." Flechette said. "Part of why I chose to come here, Nazis are a blight that stains our world."
"Get in line." I said none too kindly. "I owe them for what they tried to pull."
Flechette chuckled, and once again I was hit by the familiarity of that laugh. "Sounds like I picked the right time to transfer in. Pity I won't get a shot at Rune since she got sniped."
It took everything I had to not react to that. "Well, you're certainly the right kind of crazy for the Bay, that's for damn sure." I said with a forced grin, as I held out my hand for her and glanced at Parian. "Something tells me you'll enjoy your time here."
Her own smirk answered me. "Fingers crossed. Parian, I'm sure I'll see you around."
She passed a folded sheet of paper to Parian and had she not been wearing a visor, I would have put money on her winking as she did. The whole scene sent my gay heart aflutter. Flechette then sashayed ever so achingly slowly towards the door. Parian and I were enthralled by the display until the door jingled and she made her exit.
Several moments passed before I could find any words. "Well, you can consider me jealous. I assume she gave you her contact info?"
Parian snapped out of her stunned state and opened the note, and just stared at it. I had to poke her to reboot whatever had bluescreened within her. "This is a personal number as well as a restaurant address and time." Then her head snapped to face me. "Wait, why the hell are you jealous? You've got both Dallon sisters."
"Again with that shit? I told you, no matter what PHO says I'm not dating either of them. Vicky is criminally straight and Amy is capital c Complicated."
"Complicated." Parian said flatly. "I've seen the pictures from your date last month, I've seen the footage from some of your Arcadia visits. How isn't that dating?"
"Like I said, complicated. Can we just drop my lack of a love life and focus on business or would you rather I give a verbal essay on how amazing Flechette's ass is?"
Parian choked and began to cough. I considered that a victory. "Okay, fine. To business then. Let's get your measurements taken care of, then we can go over some of the designs I came up with."
She led me into a small back room filled with measuring tapes, fabric, and a wall line with an assortment of sewing machines. Then she embarrassed me in return by having me strip down, thankfully only to my sports bra and athletic shorts that I had taken to wearing under my usual sweats and jacket. The less said about the incident that inspired that, the better.
Tape flew around me in a complicated dance, wrapping tightly just long enough for Parian to make a note on a clipboard before they reset and wrapped anew. I forced down my anxiety over being constricted, being confined, and resisted the instinct to flare my Spirit Energy to free myself. Once again, I cursed the trio for breaking me as they had.
Thankfully, Parian was all business as she took her measurements and compared various fabrics which in some bizarre twist of fate, actually stung a bit. I couldn't help but admit that Vicky's efforts to build my self confidence seemed to be working, pity I didn't know how to handle actually having an ego to bruise.
The final strings pulled away and Parian nodded. "Better than I had expected given the clothes you tend to wear."
"Please, I'm a twig, no need to sugar coat things." I said without thinking. There was that voice again, the trio's words echoing back in my head even though they couldn't do anything to me, not anymore.
"Taylor, have you actually looked at yourself in a mirror lately?" Parian asked. "Hell, your legs have me almost willing to risk jail time, so show some confidence in yourself."
If I could actually see myself in the mirror I had no doubt that I would have turned crimson at the praise. I was also laughing, because dammit that had caught me off guard. When I recovered enough to open my eyes, I was surprised to find a full length mirror had been moved in front of me and I was stunned into silence.
"See? Just try to say something negative about your figure, I dare you."
Immediately I wanted to make a comment, but had to cut myself off because it simply wasn't true anymore. Whatever it had been, between my resurrection, Genkai's training or Amy's enhancements… Note to self, ask if she tweaked my boobs to be bigger because I had them now. I actually looked attractive.
"Okay, I'll admit, I don't look terrible." I said, begrudgingly.
Parian nodded. "Good, now to make you look amazing with some of my wonderful designs!" My sense of dread returned as fabric once again flowed around me.
Another hour had passed by the time Parian had finished showing me her designs, two of which had been interesting on paper, but would be terribly inconvenient in an actual fight. I had to actually demonstrate a few of my abilities for Parian to show her why gloves weren't an option as my Shotgun simply shredded them. The less said about the coattails the better.
In the end she had thrown her papers in frustration and offered my same outfit, but made from Tinkertech cloth that she special ordered. Knife proof, low caliber bullet resistant and impact absorbing. Best of all, it didn't break the budget Dad had given me for a proper Cape outfit. She said the first would be ready to pick up on the twenty-second.
I wished Parian luck on her date which left her sputtering and me cackling, as I exited her shop and made my way to the boardwalk. It may have been February and still cold out but I was suddenly in the mood for ice cream, and lots of it. A glance at my phone showed a message from Dad once again thanking me for lunch to which I shot off a quick reply and stowed my phone. Arcadia still had almost two hours till it let out for the day so I had some time to kill before I could resume pestering Amy.
I had to admit to myself that the sudden ice cream mood was likely the result of seeing Parian get a date while I didn't have one. Well, technically Amy and I were going to be training later tonight, and she was sleeping in the room right next to mine now. A room I was being allowed to sleep in at least, Genkai said I had learned all I could from the snake pits.
That or she kicked me out so Castiel could start using it, sometimes it was hard to tell with her.
Ice cream acquired, a simple chocolate sundae with brownie crumbs sprinkled on top, I made my way along the Boardwalk content to take the scenic route back to Arcadia. I was almost to the edge of the Docks when a familiar blip of Spirit Energy had me stop cold. She was close, too damn close. Then she was gone again.
I tossed my almost finished ice cream aside and, to the surprise of the few people out and about, took off at a sprint and jumped straight up onto the closest rooftop. In the distance I could just barely see her, jumping along rooftops, ghosting to shadowy mist to cover the distance with each hop. A touch of Spirit Energy to my eyes showed me that she was in plain clothes, just a jacket and jeans. She was right there.
I felt myself flinch at the thought of confronting her again but I pushed that lingering hesitation down. That wasn't me anymore, I'd already punched her in the face, there was no reason for me to get cold feet now. She couldn't hurt me, her words meant less than nothing.
She didn't have any allies to guard her this time, nor was I exhausted and reeling from that damned trash monster. I felt the air whip around my face as I jumped from rooftop to rooftop.
There was nothing to stop me this time. The two years of torment she inflicted upon me could finally be repaid. All the pain, all the suffering, not just my own but that of everyone she had ever hurt. Hell, my motherfucking death could be avenged. I couldn't help the vicious grin that overtook my face.
Finally, I could take Sophia Hess down.
Author's Notes:
The hunt is on! Will Sophia evade capture or will our Heroine finally get her hands on her killer? Find out next week in Spirit Detective Taylor!
I'm doubling back down on getting Arc 5 typed up before this arc concludes, so expect delays to Fistful while I take care of this. Even if it is my more popular work, this remains my primary story.
For some reason, I get the feeling that it's a trap. Like either Sophia intentionally got seen by Taylor, either on her own initiative or on instruction of a certain Thinker that's already on Taylor's shitlist, or that's actually an illusion.
Raved Thrad
Your Friendly Neighborhood Curmudgeon
- Location
- The Other Side of the Screen
Makes you wonder if Taylor's seen Dragonball Z. Also, I know Yusuke later got upgrades to the Reigan, but I think it would be hilarious if Taylor managed to pull off a Masenkou or Kamehameha. Genkai would probably facepalm (or facepavement) so hard!
Yes, Taylor! Feel the hate! The Satsui no Hadou calls to you!
Taylor is gay for blondes with freckles so she becomes a villain by choice.
Recent chapters took a darker turn thanks to Coil and people weren't happy the cracky fluff went dark. Working on a plan to make sure it all works going forward.