Sugon's Snippets and One-Shots

[Sugon]

Please, critique.

---

Tech Mistress​

With a hammer in hand, I repeatedly hit the metal plate, hammering it in the right places, making the metal cover the almost round part of the device, which was the size of my head, and ignored the fingers for a moment.



When I was finished with the hand, I picked a few rings, carefully holding them so that I don't hurt myself with the bolts I melted into them, I let the digits go through them as I pushed the rings into where human knuckles would be, making the bolts enter with no difficulty.



The rings were too loose though, so I brought my plier and clammed it onto one of the rings. It click-clacked as I fastened the ring. I repeated the process with the other rings.



When I made sure they were properly stuck, I jumped off my stool and went to the electromagnetic microwave, where I was microwaving parts of the exterior for the fingers for.., reasons. My power told me to do that.



I put on my rubber gloves and turned off the microwave, enjoying the little 'ping' sound as it opened. I lifted the plate and went back to my bench, standing this time instead of sitting as I put the exterior on the digits.



When I was finished, I took a step back to enjoy the beauty of my gauntlet properly.



God, it was an ugly thing.



I puffed my chest in pride, before scolding myself. I wasn't done yet. I haven't painted over it yet. It looked like it was picked from the trash with its rust and dents. It was still bigger than my head, so I went to both ends of my bench to remove the brakes from the wheels and wheeled it to the other room in the storage where I put my more peculiar tinker tools.



I stopped by the five feet tall minimizing machine. It looked like the device where the villain would strap the young hero on the table, monologuing about his goal to take over the world, while the laser got closer and closer to the hero. It had a screen on it.



Except there were no straps or table, just a platform with red and white circles getting smaller and smaller the nearer the center they are. I lifted the gauntlet with a heave, exhaling to lift the 50 pounds device before slowly putting it on the ground.



I hurried outside of the surface to the screen on the machine and crunched in the necessary numbers. Because I didn't have time to give it proper maintenance this week, I gave one prayer for good luck and pulled down the liver.



I held my breath as the machine charged the energy before shooting it like a laser. Please work, please work, please work, I begged as I saw the gauntlet decrease in size till it was around the size of my hand.



When the machine finished shooting the laser, I waited for a few seconds, waiting for the inevitable explosion to happen.



Nothing.



"Yes!" I whisper shouted, not wanting the world to notice my happiness and slap me down. I ran to the hand and tried to lift it, almost falling on my back. The bench stopped me from falling on my back on the ground.



Right, same mass but denser, of course, it would weigh the same, I thought, cursing myself for my lapse of judgment.



I went to the white mannequin with the same length and proportions as me, with a small block on its lower back, before putting the gauntlet on its hand. I connected the gloves to the big computer in the room and activated the glove.



The gauntlet lit with blue light, before a translucent blue-tinted shield that covered the body tightly shone before disappearing. I saw on the computer screen the numbers change as I heard the glove crunch, the self-repairing system fixing the gauntlet.



I sighed. Instead of showing how to build a proper mechanical gauntlet from the beginning, my power thought it was better to let me build a half-working piece of tech and let the self-repairing system fix the rest.



Why? Because my power is a bitch like that.



It's still better than nothing though. I went to one of the walls where one of my late grandpa's rifles that my dad let me borrow hung. I pressed a button under it, causing the room's barrier to glow before stuttering and turning invisible.



Now all and any vibrations will stay in this room.



Making sure that head protectors were on my ears, I picked up the rifle and then walked back to the computer.



Breathing properly, I removed the safety before aiming the rifle at the model. When I got the bullseye in my sight, I shot.



The barrier around the head glowed before the bulled bounced off.



I glanced at the screen, looking at the health bar. Barely a scratch.



I shot a second time.



Then a third.



Then three more times in rapid succession.



I turned back to the screen and clicked my tongue. It lost 13% of its battery. The barrier is good at defending against one hit, no matter the strength, but its battery quickly drains against rapid strikes.



Well, that teaches me not to use the nearest cape as inspiration. Dang it, I swore. I spent a day stalk-, following Glory Girl to see her power in action.



And my combat battery has only a third of the energy stored up that my lab computer has. Sensing my dissatisfaction, my power sent me blueprints on how to optimize the barrier before I shook my head.



It would only make my shield last a minute longer and that was not worth the effort of a whole week to rebuild the battery, and that was only the battery itself. I would need to change the way my wires are built to be able to connect the battery to my gauntlet.



I have to fight for real to draw better inspirations for my power.



I gulped.



Not of fear of fighting, but of fear of how my dad might react.



I have already caped once, my stun gun was strong enough to knock out grown men. I even managed to stop an assault on a gay couple. But when I went back home at dawn, my dad was there, sitting on the sofa, with his eyes closed, looking to the world like the calmest man in the universe.



He quickly showed how foolish that thought was. I came out clean then and told him about my powers. Then he continued berating me before forcing me to explain how the stun gun worked.



I still cringe at the shoddy design of it, if I have missed him twice or thrice, or if the nazi managed to take it from my hand, I would have been a goner.



So now my dad acts as my agent, pushing me towards a certain kind of tech or vetoing some of my more risky ideas.



I sighed with a small quirk on my lip, glad that my dad and I are on better terms now, now that we are, dare I say, a team.



I looked up at the clock and something heavy fell into my stomach.



It was 10 PM. I was here since eight AM!



I rushed to the computer, my fingers snapping at the key. I let the glove take 10% of the energy from the computer. I ran to the model and took my glove. I nearly fell but I managed to put the gauntlet on my hand, hugging tightly but not too tight, and the barrier that glowed helped with carrying the weight of my glove.



Making sure my feet were on the ground, I power walked to my stationary teleporter. This time I didn't feel the need to pray for luck because I always properly maintain it, before even my other tech.



I put my palm on the screen. With a light that slowly went up then down, it read my hand before giving me access to the map I downloaded in it. It had three highlighted points in it, one point in the same place where my lab was and the one where my house was.



I still haven't used my third one. It changes places every day.



"Teleport me to Point: The Hebert Residence," I ordered the computer, closing my eyes as the surface beneath beamed with light strong enough to hurt the eye.

 

[Sugon]

Block With Your Head​

Crouching behind the dumpster, I barely breathed as I spied on the three nazi capes, who stood atop the platform. Crusader, with Alabaster and Rune behind him, held a speech for the gathering of skinheads.

I was too far away to hear what he said, but from the barely contained glee, I judged it was nothing good. The trio jumped off the platform, making the crowd split like water when they walked.

"Rune, bring in the animals!" Crusader shouted. From the roofs of the buildings near them, cages filled with people flew to stand in front of Crusader. The people looked more like skeletons with skin than humans. Many of them held unnatural purple coloring on various parts of their body. Most of them were dark skinned or asian, but there were some white people.

I didn't have time to contemplate more because hay and torches followed the cages.

No, my blood chilled. There's no way they would do that.

A torch landed on Crusader's stretched out hand. "Only those who'll burn this filth will have the honor of joining the Empire!"

He is, I thought, the coldness leaving and was replaced with hot fury. I willed my gauntlets to form around my hands. My feet instinctively moved to make it easier to fall into a stance.

If I walked before with my normal gait, shoulders hunched and eyes down on the ground, I now walked like I owned this street. I sauntered, head held high up. They were slow to notice my arrival, but gradually the number of those who noticed grew enough to tell the three capes something was amiss.

The smarter ones stepped back when they saw my mask. The stupider ones pulled phones out of their pockets.

Crusader turned and froze when he saw me, but quickly resumed speaking like it didn't happen, "A new cape," he said, "what brings you here, good fellow?"

Grunting, I took a moment to hold my anger at bay, "I heard this was where filth was gathering."

For a tense second, no one said anything, then Crusader chuckled, "Then you've come to the right place." He turned to Rune and nodded at me. She nodded back, "Before we give you a torch, would you be so kind and give us your name?"

"Bruiser," I said, picking up the pace towards them, "and I won't be needing a torch to beat down this filth."

Ghosts flowed out of him, mimicking his stance with the shield in front of him and spear on top.

At full speed and arms crossed, his ghosts bounced off me like a tennis ball off a racket when they touched me. Before he could shake off his shock, I was on him.

I jumped before punching him in the jaw. As he fell, I snapped my other hand and caught his arm. I struck his stomach, spit flew from his mouth. Bent and hands on his gut, I interlocked my fingers and hit his head like a hammer.

My automatic barrier flickered as a giant rock hit it. I snapped my attention to Rune, who stood stock still under my glare. I took a step towards her but rolled back when a knife entered my vision.

It glanced at my mask. "Rune, take Crusader and run away!" Rune ran towards the unconscious Crusader.

Oh no, you don't! I raced to him. I was tackled to the ground. Alabaster straddled me and held my arms with his legs. He brought down his knife. It nicked my mask as I jerked my head to the side.

I threw him off my chest by pushing myself from the ground and rolled to the side. I glanced behind me. Rune just touched Crusader and was lifting him up.

Alabaster stood before spitting, "You better run bitch, reinforcement will come."

"Not before I take you three down."

He barked a laugh, "How the hell are you going to do that? I'm immortal, I don't fear death."

My answer was to charge my gauntlet, pulling my arm back and aiming at Alabaster. One moment I was a few feet away from him, the next his mouth crunched on my fist.

He rolled uncontrollably on the ground with blood running from his mouth. He stood up in an explosion of light, looking like he wasn't missing a jaw just a second ago. Throughout the rolling, he managed to hold on to the knife.

He smirked at me and played with his knife. "Time is ticking, soon the other capes will be here." The sound of sirens followed his statement. And his face fell.

My face split in half, "Do you nazis make it a habit to confuse the targets of your statements?"

Alabaster growled before he rushed at me. With long strides and hands in front of my face, I met his charge. He swiped inwards toward my head. I ducked, then jumped to the side after he slashed down.

He changed his grip on the knife, pointing it outwards and swung it toward my liver. I answered by lashing out my left hand and catching his limb. I then put my right under it and clinched his arm between my arm and body.

He responded by throwing a punch. I headed his hand, cracking his wrist. With my free hand, I punched his shoulder, then his upper arm and then his elbow. The cracking sound made me wince.

When his knife clattered on the ground, I whipped my hand and held his head. I gazed behind me and snarled when I saw that the platform had covered a distance.

With Alabaster's head in my gauntlet and long stomps, I followed after the teenage nazi supervillain. The heat in my face condensed the sweat on my face and fog came out of my breathing mask.

I was shortening the distance between us. The sound of my feet hitting the street made Rune turn her head. She squeaked when she saw me. And I was getting closer and closer by the second.

She looked at what I assumed Crusader's body before she glanced at me. The platform sped up and rose. "You fucking don't." I spun, Alabaster's feet sliced through the air, before I threw him.

Like a homing missile, Alabaster flew and hit Rune's head. The platform crashed down. I continued my dash until the dust made it impossible to see them. I waved through it and walked.

Rune groaned before I saw her. She was on her back, blood blotching her green robe to a dark green color, almost brown. Dang, that could've killed her. When she saw me, she whimpered and started crawling back.

She was speaking but the pumping blood in my ears made it hard to discern what. Not that I cared either way. I walked toward her and held her leg, to stay away from her hand, and said "I'll crush your foot to powder if you try anything, understand?"

She peeped, making me giggle as I dragged her body to where Alabaster was. She really sounded like a baby bird there. Light came out of Alabaster's body. He groaned and stood on his four. I caught his head in a grip before he stood upright.

Feeling the exhaustion creeping into my body, I walked with the two bodies to where Crusader lay face down. I sat on his back, facing the sound of sirens. I clenched my fists around Alabaster's head and Rune's foot.

I ignored Rune's sobs, you would expect a villain to have better control of their feelings and not cry after they lost, even if it was to a newbie hero. I made my gauntlets stand upright, so they carried their own weight.

I made sure my grip was tight but not crushing and then lifted my hands out of the gauntlets and enjoyed the breeze that caressed them.

When I looked up, I almost jumped and waved my arms. Instead, I laid my elbows on my knees and waited for the PRT vans to stop in front of me. When they did, PRT agents flowed out and encircled me.

I looked around confused. Why would they aim their grenade launchers at me? We're on the same side.

My confusion took a back seat when Assult and Battery jumped out of one of the vans. I barely contained my glee at seeing superheroes in real life. Sure, they were no Armsmaster, but they were the iconic duo of Brockton Bay.

Battery held a loudspeaker in her hand before she put it in front of her face and said, "Unkown Parahuman! State your name and your intention toward the three capes you've downed."

I didn't know if it was the exhaustion or not, but instead of answering, I put my hands on my knees and stood while I groaned. I gestured toward the three beaten capes and said, "These three were about to burn people in cages and as you can see I disagreed with that. They disagreed with my disagreement so I disagreed violently."

I was sure there was something I was forgetting. Right! "By the way, Rune and Crusader require medical attention and Alabaster requires a pair of handcuffs," I looked at the gauntlet that held his head, "and probably some air too," I whispered.

When they still didn't move and kept their launchers at me, I said, "Don't worry, I'm a hero." While it didn't wash away all of the tension, Battery nodded. One of the agents shouted something and nurses jumped off the vans at the back.

Battery nodded toward Assault, who then sauntered to me with a grin. "So, miss new cape,"

"Bruiser."

"So Bruiser," he said unperturbed, "what do you do exactly?"

Feeling the link to my gauntlet, I tugged on it. The moment they appeared on me, I said, "I punch good."

"That's it?"

"I punch really good," I clarified.

"Ah, I see," he said, crossing his arms and nodding sagely. "You're some kind of brute?"

I shook my head, "No, but my gauntlets are really heavy and offer some protection."

"A breaker, then?" he said before shaking his head, "It doesn't matter anyway, just me being curious." He cleared his throat, "I'm supposed to interview you about the fight, is that ok?

I thought about it and couldn't think of a reason to reject it. I nodded.

"Cool, I'm also recording this conversation, are you fine with that?" I nodded again, "Alright, tell me what happened before and during the fight."

I started explaining how I was patrolling, looking for random crimes to stop when I noticed a big gathering of skinheads and intervened in their burning. Then I told him how the fight went.

He chuckled at the part where I threw Alabaster at Rune and stopped me there. "And let me guess, you walked through the dust and captured both Rune and Alabaster before pulling them to where Crusader was, ahh, resting, right?"

I nodded, happy at how efficient this was. I wish my class was this efficient. "Yes, though I think you should check if that if Rune isn't suffering from a brain injury. I hear those can make people aggressive, we don't need an even more violent nazi."

Assault snorted, "You're right about that at least." He looked back at the vans, making me do the same. Most agents were now back in their vans, "Well, Bruiser. Good job on tonight's haul. You should work on being less aggressive though, not everybody has Alabastar's durability."

I nodded in understanding. I heard his neck crack multiple times as I chased Rune. Anyone else and they would be dead. "I know."

He pulled a card with the PRT logo on and presented it to me, "Here are my personal and business phone numbers, contact me if you ever need reinforcement or just want to talk." He turned his head again when he heard the engines start, "I really need to go now, bye Bruiser. I hope to meet you again in better circumstances."

"Same." I watched as Assault went in one of the vans before walking back home.

What a nice guy. I unsummoned my gauntlets and thought about the fight. I beat three capes, I thought happily.

Wait.

I beat three fucking capes by myself. Holy shit, how? I replayed the fight in my mind. I was more confident and determined than I have ever been. Is this what wearing a mask does? No wonder heroes spoke of putting on the mask as if you became a whole different person.

I sighed. I will have to go back to old Taylor now. I moaned in annoyance.

 

[Sugon]

So Taylor's costume is just the clothes Vi wore and this mask.

 

[Sugon]

The Skittering Shield​

I groaned when my eyes blearily opened. My bugs skittered on stonewalls. Smooth and erect walls! My muscles ached as I lifted myself up. I turned my head around, peering through the lenses of my costume.

I did not recognize this place.

I was in a hall furnished with huge purple curtains with a symbol on them. The symbol contained a cane in the middle of a deformed circle or triangle, I wasn't sure. Something in between at least, and there were five spikes on top. The spike in the middle was the longest and the other spikes got smaller the more on the side they were.

That was what I picked through my bugs while I was staring at the figures in robes who were kneeling. Their faces were rapidly paling as they stared at me.

I was about to open my mouth when a green light hit me in the eyes and interrupted me. I snapped to the three men who were lying on the ground and groaning.

I shoved down the pang of sympathy and focused on gathering bugs to my location. My bugs buzzed in the room making the priests, cultists? look around in panic.

"Where am I?" I said.

"Sh-sh-shield Hero, you'r-," I lifted my palm, stopping him.

"What did you call me?"

The one that answered turned to his colleagues, trying to find some support. When none of them looked back at him, he turned back to me.

I narrowed my eyes. They're either confident I was not a threat or they were not as cohesive as they should be.

He swallowed, "You're the Shield Hero," he said. With the bugs I placed on him, I felt the tremors I didn't see. "And the three behind are your fellow Heroes." He gestured to the people behind me.

I didn't need to use my bugs' senses to notice their bodies shaking as they stared at me. When I snapped my head at them, they jumped and crawled away. I took a deep breath and glanced through my insects. I was in a castle. People were wearing medieval armor. Either this was the most committed prank in history or I was caught up in a cape accident.

I wished for the first, but I knew it was the second. I should've not let Lisa play with dimensions.

This wasn't my city. This wasn't even my time.

I stared at the cultists and contemplated. This might not have been an accident for them as it was for me. I walked down the small stairs, head held up high in a show of confidence I didn't feel at the moment.

When I was a foot away from him, his legs tensed. I snapped my hand at his chin, stopping his fall backward and held him in a steel grip. I forced his face to look at my mask before I leaned in.

"Did you bring us here?" I used my bugs to overlay my voice. My hand stopped him, but his face dipped down. Let's hope a nod here means the same thing it did in my culture.

"Send me back, I have unfinished business back at home," I requested.

He whispered something.

"I'm sorry?"

"W-we can't."

I took a deep breath, "What do you mean you can't?"

"This was a one way spell, my Lady," I noticed the change of honorific, but shoved the thought to the back of my mind.

I turned my attention to the other people in robes. They all broke eye contact and looked to the side or ground. This didn't tell me if he was honest or not.

I wish Lisa was here.

"Then how do I return?" I growled.

When he didn't answer, I turned my attention to him. The grip on his chin kept his mouth shut. I relaxed my hand and let him take gulps of air when I took a step back. "Well?" I said.

"You have to defeat the Waves, Lady Shield," he replied, "This is why the Cardinal Heroes are summoned," behind the fear, his voice picked up a tone of reverence and awe, "the Heroes with their Legendary Weapons are avatars of God sent to smite the monster hordes that attack everything fine and holy," I interrupted him for the second time with the same gesture.

"So you want me to fight this world's Endbringers for you?" I said with a flat tone.

"Endbringer, my lady?"

"Monsters that attack everything fine and holy," I repeated his line mockingly, before using my normal voice, "and I was dealing with a potential Endbringer back at home."

If I cared at the moment, I would have worried about how his face turned even whiter. At least he understood how much shit he was in with me.

"Excuse me?" My head turned to the source of the voice. It was a handsome man with a blond ponytail and casual streetwear. His slanted eyes showed his Asian heritage. Now that I looked at them, they all had Asian features, even if two of them had blond hair. The one that looked the youngest was the one who had the typical black hair most Asians had.

Done with my observation, I answered, "What do you want?"

"Maybe we should listen to what the man has to say before you decide to kill him?" His voice wavered at the end.

I tilted my head. Despite the demonstration I did, I wasn't going to kill the cultist. Not if I didn't have to. Not like I'm going to tell them that, I thought as I glanced at the cultist who stared at the man like he was his personal savior.

"They kidnapped us from our world," I told the man, "Why shouldn't I kill them all?"

He turned ashen, but he hunched his shoulder and pointed a spear? Where did he get that from? at me, "Are you not ashamed talking like that, threatening to kill people? What are you, some sort of villain?" I didn't answer that, "Besides, these people are our biggest hope of finding a way home."

He had a point.

Still, "If you ever point your weapon against me again, you'll regret it," I told the spear wielder, who immediately put the weapon down. Now that I have noticed it, the other two had weapons. The other blond had a bow and the raven haired kid had a sword. Were those three a team? They seemed to follow the same theme at least.

I turned to the man on the floor, "Well priest, the hero gave you a lifeline. You better pull it now."

He nodded so fast I was expecting him to pull a muscle, "We may lack the knowledge to send you back currently, but I'm sure we can find a spell to help you go back home once you beat the Waves!"

Spells? Were they some sort of Adepts wannabes?

I was wondering something though, "Why are you acting as if I am in a team with those three?" I pointed with my thumb at the three behind me. "And why are you calling me Shield? My cape name's Skitter."

"B-but you're the Shield Hero," his voice would be a shrill if he was a bit louder, "You have the Shield on you." He pointed to my right hand, making me look at the shield that I somehow missed.

"What is that?" I whispered.

"It's the-,"

"It was a rhetorical question," I told him.

After seeing the shield that I have never seen before on me, I focused back on the three guys and noted every detail. Their hands didn't have any callouses I could see, their postures were guarded, but not in a way that would let them jump into a fight but rather from it. The biggest thing though was that they were shaking.

Shaking like civilians.

"Is any one of you a tinker?" I asked.

They glanced at each other before the guy who answered before, said, "No..?"

"Are you capes?" I asked.

"What's a cape?" he answered, looking confused.

I inhaled before looking at the ceiling.

"Fuck."