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Man's best Friend.
Best thing about this is that She genuinely just cares for the animals and they have such wonderful characters of their own.
The Ramblings Of A Mat Man: AKA The Obligatory Snippets Thread
- Thread starter Mat92
- Start date
Man's best Friend.
Best thing about this is that She genuinely just cares for the animals and they have such wonderful characters of their own.
Expect The Unexpected: Worm/CardCaptor Sakura
Look upon my works ye geeky and despair.
Quick little update, the next chapter of Hero of the Bay is mostly completed just need to refine the climax a little bit. Hopefully that should be up sometime tomorrow evening. Once that's done I'm returning to Wildcat and Bad Moon Rising for a spell with maybe some Winslow 9 thrown in for a bit of good clean fun.
In case any of you all don't remember I am following up on this snippet. Now let's enjoy the glory that is pre growth spurt TayTay.
Taylor rested her head again the cold glass of the passenger seat window and watched the familiar streets and buildings of her neighborhood pass her by as she listened to the rain fall. Over in the driver's seat she could see her dad start to say something once or twice but he was never able to find the words and eventually he turned on the radio, so that the sounds of classic rock hits could dispel the silence. Taylor closed her eyes and allowed the rest of trip to just pass her by.
"Taylor, Taylor." A familiar voice and a shaking hand pulled Taylor out of her reverie. "We're here kiddo."
Taylor stared blankly into space for a moment before snapping back to herself.
"Right, sorry. Let's go Dad."
She babbled as she struggled with her seatbelt for a moment until finally with a fierce growl, she was able to free herself from her confines. Before she could open her door the heavy hand of paternal concern fell upon her shoulder.
"Are you sure you're up for this." Danny's voice was filled with gentle concern. "If you think it's going to be too much I could."
"It's fine." Taylor cut him off. "I want to help, really." To prove her words Taylor nodded emphatically and fixed Danny with the fiercest glare ever wielded by a twelve year old.
Danny gave Taylor a gentle smile before reaching past her and opening her door for her.
"Alright, little owl." Danny said fondly as he quickly mussed up her hair. "Just remember if you get." He paused for a moment. "Bored, you just let me know and I'll take you home and handle whatever's left myself."
"Fine, Dad."
Taylor rolled her eyes before jumping out of the truck and with that father and daughter made their way side by side into the hallowed halls of academia that was Brockton Bay College. Danny smirked to himself as he reminded himself to think Annette for that word of the day calendar… Before quickly hiding the immediate melancholy that came over him from Taylor. Luckily Taylor was distracted by adjusting some of the cardboard boxes she was carrying and continued on none the wiser. Danny shook his head quickly and started to walk a little faster. Best to get this done as soon as possible.
As soon as they were inside, they were flagged down by a matronly looking woman at the front desk. With a shrug Danny headed towards her and after a moment Taylor scurried after him.
"I'm so sorry for how sudden this is, Danny." The woman was saying as Taylor caught up to Danny. "I tried to tell Dean Lockwood it could wait but there's this guest lecturer coming in a week and he absolutely needs his old office and well… Annette's was the only."
"It's fine Dana." Danny cut in with a pained smile. "This had to be done sooner or later so might as well get it done. How's this going to work exactly? Is someone going to be there to tell us what belongs to the school?"
"I've already cleared out anything that belongs to the university, all that's left is Annette's collection."
"Got it." Danny nodded firmly. "Come on Taylor, let's get a move on."
Without waiting for an answer Danny turned and began to walk down the hall towards his wife's, what used to be his wife's office. Taylor headed after him but was stopped by a kind voice.
"How are you doing dear?"
Dana had left the desk and was looking down at Taylor with a gentle smile. Memories began to rush through Taylor's mind, those nights where the old pipes in the house aligned just right and she could hear her dad crying himself to sleep, mornings where she'd wake herself up early to make breakfast for the two of them just to try to make things a bit easier on him, those afternoons when it all got too much and she'd rush over to Emma's to cry on her shoulder. All these memories and more ran through Taylor's mind before she gave the biggest, brightest smile she could muster.
"I'm doing fine Mrs. Mulder." Taylor chirped. "Thanks for asking though."
"Glad to hear it." Dana replied but despite her words the concerned look was still in her eyes. "Still your mom was really special to a lot of us and if you ever need to talk or."
"I get it!" Taylor snapped before taking a deep calming breath. "I mean, thank you I really appreciate that."
There was an awkward silence before Taylor pointed a finger in the direction Danny had gone.
"I should really get going."
Without waiting for a response Taylor gave an awkward wave and turned and ran off.
For the first hour or so father and daughter worked in silence, gathering up the various books Annette had accumulated over the years and storing them away. The results of a lifetime's passion reduced to eventual attic filler. It was a surprisingly grim task but as Danny took a weathered paperback off of a shelf and glanced at the cover, he let out a loud and deep belly laugh, something which hadn't been heard in quite a while.
"Taylor, come and take a look at this." He called out and after a moment Taylor's dusty face peeked out of the door to the back room.
"What's up?"
Taylor asked as she entered and as if in answer Danny gently tossed the paperback, he'd been holding to her. After a few near fumbles Taylor managed to clutch the book to her chest before lifting it to her face to inspect the cover.
"Frankenstein, the Taylor edition?" She read off before looking at Danny in confusion.
"You don't remember?" Danny asked through his chortles and Taylor just shook her head. "I suppose you were pretty young, when you were about three or four you decided you were bored with all your typical bedtime stories and wanted something grown up. "Your mom grabbed Frankenstein off the shelf, I think she figured you'd be bored and that would be the end of it, but you loved it. At least until you got to the ending."
"What was the problem with the ending?" Taylor asked.
"You thought it was too mean to the creature." Danny answered with a small smile playing on his lips. "You were in a state about it for days until finally your mom went out and bought a cheap copy of the book at the mall. That night you two fixed the ending."
Taylor began to flip through the pages of the book while Danny watched her fondly.
"I think I remember." Taylor said softly.
"Good." Danny said. "Now, I vote this goes in the keep box. What do you say?"
"Keep." Taylor nodded firmly.
After this the time flew by in a flash and as each of them worked to clear out their respective rooms the conversation flowed in a way it hadn't for months. Stories were exchanged, memories experienced and laughter shared as the gulf that had grown ever since a loving family of three became a troubled family of two began to shrink.
"I'm almost done here." Taylor called out. "Just one last shelf in here."
"That's great kiddo." Danny yelled back. "Once you're done with that, I'll need your help clearing out the desk." There was the sound of thumping drawers and Taylor could hear Danny mutter to himself. "Who needs all this paper? She had a computer."
"Sure thing."
Taylor agreed as she reached out and pulled the most eye-catching book off the shelf. It looked to be an old journal of some kind, bound in red leather and on the front was an engraving of some sort of winged lion on the front and an ornate lock. Taylor ran her fingers over the cover as she read it to herself.
"Book of the Clow." Taylor murmured to herself. "Never heard of this one before."
Acting on a whim Taylor started to try to undo the lock and see what was inside.
"Taylor." Danny said loudly as he stepped into the room and with a surprised yelp Taylor dropped the book to the floor. She turned around and with her cheeks puffed out angrily did her best to make sure he knew her indignation.
"Sorry, kiddo I didn't mean to startle you." Danny said with a contrite expression. "I just wanted to ask if you were wanting lunch? It's getting to be that time."
A loud growl emanating from Taylor's stomach made her answer clear.
"So, that's a yes." Danny snarked. "Fugly Bob's sound good?"
"Yup." Taylor beamed as the promise of greasy food appeased her wrath. "Double cheeseburger with the works and a chocolate shake please."
"Got it." Danny nodded seriously. "Chicken Caesar Salad and a bottle of water. Understood."
Without waiting for a response Danny left the room and after a moment Taylor raced after him.
"Daaaaadddddddddddddd."
Despite her best efforts and superior negotiating skills Taylor was unable to get a firm yes on whether or not her dad would get her the delicious slab of meat and grease that she desperately craved.
"He better get my burger." She muttered to herself as she dropped to her knees and began looking for the book she'd dropped. "Now where are you, you little, ahaha."
Stretching out her arm Taylor was able to just barely grab the book from underneath the shelf where it fell. As she stood up the front cover fell open. With a shrug Taylor began to idly flip through the pages but the book was blank. Instead, the centre of the pages were hollowed out and stored inside the book was a deck of large cards. Unbidden the memory of the time Emma and her had their fortunes read by some lady on the docks jumped to the front of Taylor's mind. That deck of cards the lady had used (carrot cards or something) looked kind of similar.
Always a curious girl by nature Taylor drew the top card from the deck and contemplated it for the moment. There was a clocked figure on it and underneath a name.
"The Shadow."
As soon as those two words escaped Taylor's lips a brilliant golden light began to emanate from the book, just as Taylor dropped the tome in shock an unearthly wind began to blow through the tiny room causing shelves to fall to the ground with a clatter and all the cards in the book flew away and disappeared. Some went through the windows in the room but others just faded through the walls disappearing to who knows where. In her confusion Taylor could only stare blankly at the devastation around her and the second glow coming from the book went unnoticed by her. However, an unknown voice did not
"Jeez, Clow what'd you haveta go and wake me up for." A boyish voice said from somewhere beside Taylor. "I was having the greatest dream, there was a mountain of cake and –"
The voice trailed off and as Taylor turned her head towards it she found herself face to face with a strange being that was looking at her with just as much confusion as Taylor felt. It looked like a living plushie, it was small with yellow fur and a face that evoked a cartoon bear or maybe a lion cub. On its back were two pure white and fairly fairy like wings. He was in two words or less absolutely adorable.
"You're not Clow Reed." The creature sounded confused.
"WHAT ARE YOU!!!!??" Taylor sounded terrified.
"Of course, of course. Where are my manners?" The creature laughed confidently as he flew up to Taylor's face and gave a slightly cheeky bow. "I am Kerberos, the guardian of the Clow Cards and you are?"
Taylor stared blankly at the now named Kerberos and after a moment the manners that her mother and father had worked so hard to engrain into her kicked in.
"Nice to meet you." Taylor said hesitantly. "My name is Taylor Hebert."
"Good to meet ya, Taylor." Kerberos gave her a grin. "Sorry, I can't get back to work but I really should get back to guarding the clow cards."
Slowly, Kerberos turned to look at the book and the hole where a deck of cards used to be. His eyes grew wide and in a burst of energy he started frantically flying around the room.
"Clow Cards, Clow Cards! Where are the Clow Cards." He rambled as he flew around the room. "Taylor, have you seen the Clow Cards. Oh man, oh man, oh man Reed is going to kill me."
"The Clow Cards, the deck of cards that were in that book and the one in your hand." Kerberos trailed off as he looked at Taylor in awe. "Taylor." He said slowly as he flew towards her. "Did you unlock the book."
"Maybe." Taylor said hesitantly. "I mean I dropped it and when I picked it up it was open and I read this cad and then everything went whoosh." Taylor looked down awkwardly. "It probably just fell open by accident."
"No way." Kerberos said firmly. "That seal was created by Clow Reed himself, only an exceptionally powerful sorcerer could open it." He closed his eyes and nodded seriously to himself. "It's decided. You Taylor Hebert are going to be my Cardcaptor."
"Your … Cardcaptor." Taylor repeated in confusion.
"That's right. The Clow Cards are exceptionally powerful magic, it's way too dangerous to let them run around doing anything they want and since you let them out. It's going to be your job to get them back."
"I can't get them back." Taylor yelped. "I'm just a kid, we need to tell the heroes about this. Miss Militia, Armsmaster, I don't know Mouse Protector or Legend or somebody."
"I don't know who any of those people are." Kerberos said blankly as he flew up and settled on Taylor's shoulder to pat her reassuringly on the cheek. "Trust me on this, I've been the guardian of the Clow Cards for hundreds of years. I've got a good feeling about you."
"I'm serious, I can't do… Wait a second if you're the guardian of these things why didn't you stop me!?" Taylor accused and stared judgementally as Kerberos looked anywhere but at her.
"Well, you know guarding is hard work and sometimes, occasionally, I needed to catch some shut eye."
"You were napping." Taylor hissed but before anything else could be said Danny's voice called out.
"Taylor, come on I got your heart attack on a bun."
Recognizing a chance to make his escape Kerberos quickly flew into Taylor's backpack to hide.
"Remember, no one can know about me." He whispered.
"Fine, but we're talking about this later." Taylor hissed before walking out of the room trying to figure out how to explain the mess she'd apparently made.
Later that night, long after her dad was asleep in his room Taylor and her new roommate finally had a chance to talk.
"Okay, you can turn around Kero." Taylor said as she put her arm through the last sleep of her sleep shirt.
"Finally." Kero huffed as he turned around. "Honestly, I don't know why you humans are so modest and wait a sec. The name is Kerberos!"
"But Kerberos is all RARRR, y'know." Taylor giggled. "And you're so cute, Kero definitely fits better."
"I am too RARRRR." Kero muttered to himself. "Once I get my true body back, then you'll see."
"What do you mean your true body?" Taylor asked as she took a seat on her bed.
"The Clow Cards and I are both formed from the same magic and because of that we're bound together." Kero explained as he settled down across from Taylor on her bed. "With the Clow Cards loose I'm stuck like this but once you capture them, I should be back to my normal awesome self."
"Wait, so you're stuck like this because of me?" Taylor tried her best to hide the guilt in her voice.
"Hey, don't think of it like that." Kero said gently. "The book was going to be opened sooner or later and the cards were going to get loose. You and me are going to get them back no problem."
"I still think we should tell someone about this. I mean the Protectorate could help."
"No way." Kero cut in firmly. "The cards are way too powerful to risk letting them be in the hands of anyone but the rightful wielder and that's you."
"Why me?"
"You found the book, you set the cards free. You were chosen for this Taylor. Just have some faith in yourself and you'll be amazing."
"Thanks, Kero." Taylor said softly.
"Hey, I call them like I see them." Kero laughed and then after a moment he suddenly looked downcast. "I'm stuck with Kero aren't I?"
"Yup." Taylor giggled. "So, hypothetically if I agreed to do this, how would we find the Clow Cards?"
"Hypothetically, we wouldn't have to find them." Kero answered. "The cards ain't exactly what you'd call subtle. If they're active we'll know about it."
"But what if they're in like New York or something. How would we get to them?" Taylor asked.
"They're still connected to the book." Kero explained. "They can't go too far from it before their magic starts to weaken. They'll be sticking around the city. So, all we got to do is stay sharp and remember to expect the unexpected."
Taylor was about to explain exactly how those last three words made absolutely no sense when the house was rocked by powerful guests of wind. Kero flew over to Taylor's window and upon looking out of it he let out a low whistle.
"Case in point." He stated firmly. "Taylor, get over here, you'll want to see this."
Taylor stalked over to the window and as soon as she looked outside, she gasped in amazement. The winds were being caused by a giant blue bird flying through the sky, with every beat of its mighty wings there would be devastating winds roaring through the streets.
"That's the Fly card." Kero turned to Taylor with a smile. "Ready to go to work, Cardcaptor?"
Taylor gulped down her fear and nodded firmly.
"Alright!" Kero cheered as he flew over to the book and removed the key from the lock and handed it over to Taylor.
"This is the key of clow and it's how you're going to seal the cards." Kero intoned solemnly. "Now repeat after me."
A mystic wind began to surround Taylor and beneath her feet a mystical circle was formed and as Kero noticed this he wore a proud smile. He knew he'd chosen someone worthy to be the next master of the Clow Cards.
In one last flash of light the key had revealed its true form, a pink staff topped with a bird's head.
"Okay." Taylor said in an oddly confident voice as she twirled the staff around her. "Let's do it."
Taylor panted heavily as she ran through the streets with Kero flying beside her. Despite her bookworm tendencies Taylor was a fairly active girl, but that usually took the form of hanging out with Emma and playing some sort of game or going for wanderings through the woods on the outskirts of town, not desperately chasing down a magic card. Making a mental note to freak out over the fact that she'd really just thought that later, Taylor tried to ignore the stich in her side and kept running after it. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the area was beginning to look more and more familiar.
"I know where it's heading." Taylor realized. "Come on Kero, I know a shortcut."
Without missing a beat Taylor turned on her heel and began to run through the nearest alleyway.
"Wait, what Taylor where are we going?" Kero asked as he flew beside her with frankly infuriating ease.
"It's headed towards my friend Emma's house. This will get us there faster. Now hurry."
Taylor gasped out as she got her second wind and ran as hard as she could. Taylor and Kero dashed through the alleyways as quickly as they could and out of the corner of their eye's they could see the Fly card overhead and they were steadily getting closer. Finally, Taylor clambered over once last fence and they were finally in the same place as the Fly card.
"Alright, Taylor all we've got is the Shadow card." Kero rattled off. "It won't be able to reach high enough to nab that bird so we need to get on one of these rooftops."
"I think I've got an idea." Taylor said as she pulled out the card and tossed it in the air. "SHADOW CARD, RELEASE!!" She yelled out as touched the front of the card with the beak of her staff.
In front of her a shadow grew. At first glance it seemed to be her own but the light of the street lights had caused her own shadow to form behind and so the shadow in front shifted shape, growing larger and pulling away from her until finally it rose from the ground and the Shadow Card loomed before its new mistress. Just like the card that was its true form it was a large hooded figure that if not for the lack of a scythe could pass for the grim reaper. Strangely despite its foreboding appearance Taylor found herself feeling comforted by the sight of it.
"Shadow, can you get me onto that roof?"
Taylor asked as she pointed toward a house she picked at random. The hooded figure inclined its head, spread its for lack of a better word arms wide and encompassed Taylor. In front of Kero's eyes the Shadow then vanished and reappeared on the designated roof.
"Didn't offer to give the guardian a ride." Kero muttered to himself as he flew to meet Taylor. "I see how it is."
As he arrived at the rooftop, he saw Taylor quickly give herself a shake.
"Okay that was weird." Kero heard Taylor mutter to herself before she straightened her shoulders and pointed her staff at the Fly Card.
"Shadow, bind the Fly Card and bring it down to earth." Taylor ordered and after what was either a deep nod or a slight bow the Shadow Card did just that.
It spread itself wide and engulfed the Fly Card wrapping itself around and around its body. Tying the wings down to the body, making sure the tail feathers couldn't move and finally covering the feathered fiend's eye and with a modicum of effort bringing it down to earth.
"Okay, Taylor just like I told you." Kero cheered. "You just need to seal the card.
"Right." Taylor said as she turned to face the now helpless Fly Card.
"Return to the form you were meant to be in!!!" Taylor called out as she raised her staff and brought it downwards, only stopping the motion when the staff met an invisible resistance. A rectangle of light about the size of a Clow Card began to form in front of the staff.
"FLY CARD!!!!"
The rectangle of light condensed into a card and the now captured Fly Card drifted gently into Taylor's waiting hand.
"So, how's your first official capture feel?" Kero asked as he flew up to Taylor and beamed at her.
"It feels great, Kero." Taylor answered before reaching out and pulling Kero into a hug. "Thanks for believing in me."
"No problem, kid." Kero said as he wriggled his way out of her grip. "Now time for the fun stuff. The Fly Card is yours now. What do you say we test it out?"
Taylor's eyes darted from Kero's expectant face, to the Fly Card in her hand and finally to the full moon up above her. A brilliant smile came across her face and the next morning the residents of neighborhood swore that throughout the night they could hear the sounds of a little girl laughing joyfully.
If anyone had bothered to ask Taylor or Kero their opinions on the matter both would have said that the next morning came far too soon. Alas however the gods don't care about the plights of guardian beasts nor young Cardcaptors and so after a quiet breakfast with her dad and convincing Kero that if he wanted to go to school with her, he'd have to stay in the bag and be quiet. Taylor walked into her homeroom at Captain Weston Junior High and promptly sagged into her seat and put her head down on her desk. Taylor did not move until a body thumped itself down into the seat next to hers and a familiar voice sang out to her.
"Taylor, you need to see this." Taylor lifted her head from the desk and turned to face Emma with a tired smile on her face.
"Hey Em, what do you got for me?"
"So, I couldn't sleep last night and I was goofing around with that camcorder Dad got me for my birthday." Emma explained as she pulled said camcorder out of her bag. "And you'll never believe what I saw."
Without waiting for a response Emma hit play and Taylor watched in horror as the last few moments of her fight with the Fly Card from last night played in front of her. She held back a whimper as she realized that her Armsmaster sweatpants and old Alexandria t-shirt had been caught on film. Then the worst thing happened, the Taylor on screen summoned the Fly Card and as soon as the wings formed on the back of her staff she took of soaring through the night. Darting her and there, diving and swirling and twirling and just clearly having the time of her life and then Emma paused the video on a freeze frame of Taylor's clearly visible face wearing the most beatific smile.
"Pretty neat right?"
Quick little update, the next chapter of Hero of the Bay is mostly completed just need to refine the climax a little bit. Hopefully that should be up sometime tomorrow evening. Once that's done I'm returning to Wildcat and Bad Moon Rising for a spell with maybe some Winslow 9 thrown in for a bit of good clean fun.
In case any of you all don't remember I am following up on this snippet. Now let's enjoy the glory that is pre growth spurt TayTay.
Taylor rested her head again the cold glass of the passenger seat window and watched the familiar streets and buildings of her neighborhood pass her by as she listened to the rain fall. Over in the driver's seat she could see her dad start to say something once or twice but he was never able to find the words and eventually he turned on the radio, so that the sounds of classic rock hits could dispel the silence. Taylor closed her eyes and allowed the rest of trip to just pass her by.
"Taylor, Taylor." A familiar voice and a shaking hand pulled Taylor out of her reverie. "We're here kiddo."
Taylor stared blankly into space for a moment before snapping back to herself.
"Right, sorry. Let's go Dad."
She babbled as she struggled with her seatbelt for a moment until finally with a fierce growl, she was able to free herself from her confines. Before she could open her door the heavy hand of paternal concern fell upon her shoulder.
"Are you sure you're up for this." Danny's voice was filled with gentle concern. "If you think it's going to be too much I could."
"It's fine." Taylor cut him off. "I want to help, really." To prove her words Taylor nodded emphatically and fixed Danny with the fiercest glare ever wielded by a twelve year old.
Danny gave Taylor a gentle smile before reaching past her and opening her door for her.
"Alright, little owl." Danny said fondly as he quickly mussed up her hair. "Just remember if you get." He paused for a moment. "Bored, you just let me know and I'll take you home and handle whatever's left myself."
"Fine, Dad."
Taylor rolled her eyes before jumping out of the truck and with that father and daughter made their way side by side into the hallowed halls of academia that was Brockton Bay College. Danny smirked to himself as he reminded himself to think Annette for that word of the day calendar… Before quickly hiding the immediate melancholy that came over him from Taylor. Luckily Taylor was distracted by adjusting some of the cardboard boxes she was carrying and continued on none the wiser. Danny shook his head quickly and started to walk a little faster. Best to get this done as soon as possible.
As soon as they were inside, they were flagged down by a matronly looking woman at the front desk. With a shrug Danny headed towards her and after a moment Taylor scurried after him.
"I'm so sorry for how sudden this is, Danny." The woman was saying as Taylor caught up to Danny. "I tried to tell Dean Lockwood it could wait but there's this guest lecturer coming in a week and he absolutely needs his old office and well… Annette's was the only."
"It's fine Dana." Danny cut in with a pained smile. "This had to be done sooner or later so might as well get it done. How's this going to work exactly? Is someone going to be there to tell us what belongs to the school?"
"I've already cleared out anything that belongs to the university, all that's left is Annette's collection."
"Got it." Danny nodded firmly. "Come on Taylor, let's get a move on."
Without waiting for an answer Danny turned and began to walk down the hall towards his wife's, what used to be his wife's office. Taylor headed after him but was stopped by a kind voice.
"How are you doing dear?"
Dana had left the desk and was looking down at Taylor with a gentle smile. Memories began to rush through Taylor's mind, those nights where the old pipes in the house aligned just right and she could hear her dad crying himself to sleep, mornings where she'd wake herself up early to make breakfast for the two of them just to try to make things a bit easier on him, those afternoons when it all got too much and she'd rush over to Emma's to cry on her shoulder. All these memories and more ran through Taylor's mind before she gave the biggest, brightest smile she could muster.
"I'm doing fine Mrs. Mulder." Taylor chirped. "Thanks for asking though."
"Glad to hear it." Dana replied but despite her words the concerned look was still in her eyes. "Still your mom was really special to a lot of us and if you ever need to talk or."
"I get it!" Taylor snapped before taking a deep calming breath. "I mean, thank you I really appreciate that."
There was an awkward silence before Taylor pointed a finger in the direction Danny had gone.
"I should really get going."
Without waiting for a response Taylor gave an awkward wave and turned and ran off.
For the first hour or so father and daughter worked in silence, gathering up the various books Annette had accumulated over the years and storing them away. The results of a lifetime's passion reduced to eventual attic filler. It was a surprisingly grim task but as Danny took a weathered paperback off of a shelf and glanced at the cover, he let out a loud and deep belly laugh, something which hadn't been heard in quite a while.
"Taylor, come and take a look at this." He called out and after a moment Taylor's dusty face peeked out of the door to the back room.
"What's up?"
Taylor asked as she entered and as if in answer Danny gently tossed the paperback, he'd been holding to her. After a few near fumbles Taylor managed to clutch the book to her chest before lifting it to her face to inspect the cover.
"Frankenstein, the Taylor edition?" She read off before looking at Danny in confusion.
"You don't remember?" Danny asked through his chortles and Taylor just shook her head. "I suppose you were pretty young, when you were about three or four you decided you were bored with all your typical bedtime stories and wanted something grown up. "Your mom grabbed Frankenstein off the shelf, I think she figured you'd be bored and that would be the end of it, but you loved it. At least until you got to the ending."
"What was the problem with the ending?" Taylor asked.
"You thought it was too mean to the creature." Danny answered with a small smile playing on his lips. "You were in a state about it for days until finally your mom went out and bought a cheap copy of the book at the mall. That night you two fixed the ending."
Taylor began to flip through the pages of the book while Danny watched her fondly.
"I think I remember." Taylor said softly.
"Good." Danny said. "Now, I vote this goes in the keep box. What do you say?"
"Keep." Taylor nodded firmly.
After this the time flew by in a flash and as each of them worked to clear out their respective rooms the conversation flowed in a way it hadn't for months. Stories were exchanged, memories experienced and laughter shared as the gulf that had grown ever since a loving family of three became a troubled family of two began to shrink.
"I'm almost done here." Taylor called out. "Just one last shelf in here."
"That's great kiddo." Danny yelled back. "Once you're done with that, I'll need your help clearing out the desk." There was the sound of thumping drawers and Taylor could hear Danny mutter to himself. "Who needs all this paper? She had a computer."
"Sure thing."
Taylor agreed as she reached out and pulled the most eye-catching book off the shelf. It looked to be an old journal of some kind, bound in red leather and on the front was an engraving of some sort of winged lion on the front and an ornate lock. Taylor ran her fingers over the cover as she read it to herself.
"Book of the Clow." Taylor murmured to herself. "Never heard of this one before."
Acting on a whim Taylor started to try to undo the lock and see what was inside.
"Taylor." Danny said loudly as he stepped into the room and with a surprised yelp Taylor dropped the book to the floor. She turned around and with her cheeks puffed out angrily did her best to make sure he knew her indignation.
"Sorry, kiddo I didn't mean to startle you." Danny said with a contrite expression. "I just wanted to ask if you were wanting lunch? It's getting to be that time."
A loud growl emanating from Taylor's stomach made her answer clear.
"So, that's a yes." Danny snarked. "Fugly Bob's sound good?"
"Yup." Taylor beamed as the promise of greasy food appeased her wrath. "Double cheeseburger with the works and a chocolate shake please."
"Got it." Danny nodded seriously. "Chicken Caesar Salad and a bottle of water. Understood."
Without waiting for a response Danny left the room and after a moment Taylor raced after him.
"Daaaaadddddddddddddd."
Despite her best efforts and superior negotiating skills Taylor was unable to get a firm yes on whether or not her dad would get her the delicious slab of meat and grease that she desperately craved.
"He better get my burger." She muttered to herself as she dropped to her knees and began looking for the book she'd dropped. "Now where are you, you little, ahaha."
Stretching out her arm Taylor was able to just barely grab the book from underneath the shelf where it fell. As she stood up the front cover fell open. With a shrug Taylor began to idly flip through the pages but the book was blank. Instead, the centre of the pages were hollowed out and stored inside the book was a deck of large cards. Unbidden the memory of the time Emma and her had their fortunes read by some lady on the docks jumped to the front of Taylor's mind. That deck of cards the lady had used (carrot cards or something) looked kind of similar.
Always a curious girl by nature Taylor drew the top card from the deck and contemplated it for the moment. There was a clocked figure on it and underneath a name.
"The Shadow."
As soon as those two words escaped Taylor's lips a brilliant golden light began to emanate from the book, just as Taylor dropped the tome in shock an unearthly wind began to blow through the tiny room causing shelves to fall to the ground with a clatter and all the cards in the book flew away and disappeared. Some went through the windows in the room but others just faded through the walls disappearing to who knows where. In her confusion Taylor could only stare blankly at the devastation around her and the second glow coming from the book went unnoticed by her. However, an unknown voice did not
"Jeez, Clow what'd you haveta go and wake me up for." A boyish voice said from somewhere beside Taylor. "I was having the greatest dream, there was a mountain of cake and –"
The voice trailed off and as Taylor turned her head towards it she found herself face to face with a strange being that was looking at her with just as much confusion as Taylor felt. It looked like a living plushie, it was small with yellow fur and a face that evoked a cartoon bear or maybe a lion cub. On its back were two pure white and fairly fairy like wings. He was in two words or less absolutely adorable.
"You're not Clow Reed." The creature sounded confused.
"WHAT ARE YOU!!!!??" Taylor sounded terrified.
"Of course, of course. Where are my manners?" The creature laughed confidently as he flew up to Taylor's face and gave a slightly cheeky bow. "I am Kerberos, the guardian of the Clow Cards and you are?"
Taylor stared blankly at the now named Kerberos and after a moment the manners that her mother and father had worked so hard to engrain into her kicked in.
"Nice to meet you." Taylor said hesitantly. "My name is Taylor Hebert."
"Good to meet ya, Taylor." Kerberos gave her a grin. "Sorry, I can't get back to work but I really should get back to guarding the clow cards."
Slowly, Kerberos turned to look at the book and the hole where a deck of cards used to be. His eyes grew wide and in a burst of energy he started frantically flying around the room.
"Clow Cards, Clow Cards! Where are the Clow Cards." He rambled as he flew around the room. "Taylor, have you seen the Clow Cards. Oh man, oh man, oh man Reed is going to kill me."
"The Clow Cards, the deck of cards that were in that book and the one in your hand." Kerberos trailed off as he looked at Taylor in awe. "Taylor." He said slowly as he flew towards her. "Did you unlock the book."
"Maybe." Taylor said hesitantly. "I mean I dropped it and when I picked it up it was open and I read this cad and then everything went whoosh." Taylor looked down awkwardly. "It probably just fell open by accident."
"No way." Kerberos said firmly. "That seal was created by Clow Reed himself, only an exceptionally powerful sorcerer could open it." He closed his eyes and nodded seriously to himself. "It's decided. You Taylor Hebert are going to be my Cardcaptor."
"Your … Cardcaptor." Taylor repeated in confusion.
"That's right. The Clow Cards are exceptionally powerful magic, it's way too dangerous to let them run around doing anything they want and since you let them out. It's going to be your job to get them back."
"I can't get them back." Taylor yelped. "I'm just a kid, we need to tell the heroes about this. Miss Militia, Armsmaster, I don't know Mouse Protector or Legend or somebody."
"I don't know who any of those people are." Kerberos said blankly as he flew up and settled on Taylor's shoulder to pat her reassuringly on the cheek. "Trust me on this, I've been the guardian of the Clow Cards for hundreds of years. I've got a good feeling about you."
"I'm serious, I can't do… Wait a second if you're the guardian of these things why didn't you stop me!?" Taylor accused and stared judgementally as Kerberos looked anywhere but at her.
"Well, you know guarding is hard work and sometimes, occasionally, I needed to catch some shut eye."
"You were napping." Taylor hissed but before anything else could be said Danny's voice called out.
"Taylor, come on I got your heart attack on a bun."
Recognizing a chance to make his escape Kerberos quickly flew into Taylor's backpack to hide.
"Remember, no one can know about me." He whispered.
"Fine, but we're talking about this later." Taylor hissed before walking out of the room trying to figure out how to explain the mess she'd apparently made.
Later that night, long after her dad was asleep in his room Taylor and her new roommate finally had a chance to talk.
"Okay, you can turn around Kero." Taylor said as she put her arm through the last sleep of her sleep shirt.
"Finally." Kero huffed as he turned around. "Honestly, I don't know why you humans are so modest and wait a sec. The name is Kerberos!"
"But Kerberos is all RARRR, y'know." Taylor giggled. "And you're so cute, Kero definitely fits better."
"I am too RARRRR." Kero muttered to himself. "Once I get my true body back, then you'll see."
"What do you mean your true body?" Taylor asked as she took a seat on her bed.
"The Clow Cards and I are both formed from the same magic and because of that we're bound together." Kero explained as he settled down across from Taylor on her bed. "With the Clow Cards loose I'm stuck like this but once you capture them, I should be back to my normal awesome self."
"Wait, so you're stuck like this because of me?" Taylor tried her best to hide the guilt in her voice.
"Hey, don't think of it like that." Kero said gently. "The book was going to be opened sooner or later and the cards were going to get loose. You and me are going to get them back no problem."
"I still think we should tell someone about this. I mean the Protectorate could help."
"No way." Kero cut in firmly. "The cards are way too powerful to risk letting them be in the hands of anyone but the rightful wielder and that's you."
"Why me?"
"You found the book, you set the cards free. You were chosen for this Taylor. Just have some faith in yourself and you'll be amazing."
"Thanks, Kero." Taylor said softly.
"Hey, I call them like I see them." Kero laughed and then after a moment he suddenly looked downcast. "I'm stuck with Kero aren't I?"
"Yup." Taylor giggled. "So, hypothetically if I agreed to do this, how would we find the Clow Cards?"
"Hypothetically, we wouldn't have to find them." Kero answered. "The cards ain't exactly what you'd call subtle. If they're active we'll know about it."
"But what if they're in like New York or something. How would we get to them?" Taylor asked.
"They're still connected to the book." Kero explained. "They can't go too far from it before their magic starts to weaken. They'll be sticking around the city. So, all we got to do is stay sharp and remember to expect the unexpected."
Taylor was about to explain exactly how those last three words made absolutely no sense when the house was rocked by powerful guests of wind. Kero flew over to Taylor's window and upon looking out of it he let out a low whistle.
"Case in point." He stated firmly. "Taylor, get over here, you'll want to see this."
Taylor stalked over to the window and as soon as she looked outside, she gasped in amazement. The winds were being caused by a giant blue bird flying through the sky, with every beat of its mighty wings there would be devastating winds roaring through the streets.
"That's the Fly card." Kero turned to Taylor with a smile. "Ready to go to work, Cardcaptor?"
Taylor gulped down her fear and nodded firmly.
"Alright!" Kero cheered as he flew over to the book and removed the key from the lock and handed it over to Taylor.
"This is the key of clow and it's how you're going to seal the cards." Kero intoned solemnly. "Now repeat after me."
"Key which hides the power of the dark/Key which hides the power of the dark
Reveal your true form before me/ Reveal your true form before me"
"I, Taylor Hebert, command you under our contract/I, Taylor Hebert, command you under our contract
RELEASE/RELEASE!"
"Okay." Taylor said in an oddly confident voice as she twirled the staff around her. "Let's do it."
Taylor panted heavily as she ran through the streets with Kero flying beside her. Despite her bookworm tendencies Taylor was a fairly active girl, but that usually took the form of hanging out with Emma and playing some sort of game or going for wanderings through the woods on the outskirts of town, not desperately chasing down a magic card. Making a mental note to freak out over the fact that she'd really just thought that later, Taylor tried to ignore the stich in her side and kept running after it. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the area was beginning to look more and more familiar.
"I know where it's heading." Taylor realized. "Come on Kero, I know a shortcut."
Without missing a beat Taylor turned on her heel and began to run through the nearest alleyway.
"Wait, what Taylor where are we going?" Kero asked as he flew beside her with frankly infuriating ease.
"It's headed towards my friend Emma's house. This will get us there faster. Now hurry."
Taylor gasped out as she got her second wind and ran as hard as she could. Taylor and Kero dashed through the alleyways as quickly as they could and out of the corner of their eye's they could see the Fly card overhead and they were steadily getting closer. Finally, Taylor clambered over once last fence and they were finally in the same place as the Fly card.
"Alright, Taylor all we've got is the Shadow card." Kero rattled off. "It won't be able to reach high enough to nab that bird so we need to get on one of these rooftops."
"I think I've got an idea." Taylor said as she pulled out the card and tossed it in the air. "SHADOW CARD, RELEASE!!" She yelled out as touched the front of the card with the beak of her staff.
In front of her a shadow grew. At first glance it seemed to be her own but the light of the street lights had caused her own shadow to form behind and so the shadow in front shifted shape, growing larger and pulling away from her until finally it rose from the ground and the Shadow Card loomed before its new mistress. Just like the card that was its true form it was a large hooded figure that if not for the lack of a scythe could pass for the grim reaper. Strangely despite its foreboding appearance Taylor found herself feeling comforted by the sight of it.
"Shadow, can you get me onto that roof?"
Taylor asked as she pointed toward a house she picked at random. The hooded figure inclined its head, spread its for lack of a better word arms wide and encompassed Taylor. In front of Kero's eyes the Shadow then vanished and reappeared on the designated roof.
"Didn't offer to give the guardian a ride." Kero muttered to himself as he flew to meet Taylor. "I see how it is."
As he arrived at the rooftop, he saw Taylor quickly give herself a shake.
"Okay that was weird." Kero heard Taylor mutter to herself before she straightened her shoulders and pointed her staff at the Fly Card.
"Shadow, bind the Fly Card and bring it down to earth." Taylor ordered and after what was either a deep nod or a slight bow the Shadow Card did just that.
It spread itself wide and engulfed the Fly Card wrapping itself around and around its body. Tying the wings down to the body, making sure the tail feathers couldn't move and finally covering the feathered fiend's eye and with a modicum of effort bringing it down to earth.
"Okay, Taylor just like I told you." Kero cheered. "You just need to seal the card.
"Right." Taylor said as she turned to face the now helpless Fly Card.
"Return to the form you were meant to be in!!!" Taylor called out as she raised her staff and brought it downwards, only stopping the motion when the staff met an invisible resistance. A rectangle of light about the size of a Clow Card began to form in front of the staff.
"FLY CARD!!!!"
The rectangle of light condensed into a card and the now captured Fly Card drifted gently into Taylor's waiting hand.
"So, how's your first official capture feel?" Kero asked as he flew up to Taylor and beamed at her.
"It feels great, Kero." Taylor answered before reaching out and pulling Kero into a hug. "Thanks for believing in me."
"No problem, kid." Kero said as he wriggled his way out of her grip. "Now time for the fun stuff. The Fly Card is yours now. What do you say we test it out?"
Taylor's eyes darted from Kero's expectant face, to the Fly Card in her hand and finally to the full moon up above her. A brilliant smile came across her face and the next morning the residents of neighborhood swore that throughout the night they could hear the sounds of a little girl laughing joyfully.
If anyone had bothered to ask Taylor or Kero their opinions on the matter both would have said that the next morning came far too soon. Alas however the gods don't care about the plights of guardian beasts nor young Cardcaptors and so after a quiet breakfast with her dad and convincing Kero that if he wanted to go to school with her, he'd have to stay in the bag and be quiet. Taylor walked into her homeroom at Captain Weston Junior High and promptly sagged into her seat and put her head down on her desk. Taylor did not move until a body thumped itself down into the seat next to hers and a familiar voice sang out to her.
"Taylor, you need to see this." Taylor lifted her head from the desk and turned to face Emma with a tired smile on her face.
"Hey Em, what do you got for me?"
"So, I couldn't sleep last night and I was goofing around with that camcorder Dad got me for my birthday." Emma explained as she pulled said camcorder out of her bag. "And you'll never believe what I saw."
Without waiting for a response Emma hit play and Taylor watched in horror as the last few moments of her fight with the Fly Card from last night played in front of her. She held back a whimper as she realized that her Armsmaster sweatpants and old Alexandria t-shirt had been caught on film. Then the worst thing happened, the Taylor on screen summoned the Fly Card and as soon as the wings formed on the back of her staff she took of soaring through the night. Darting her and there, diving and swirling and twirling and just clearly having the time of her life and then Emma paused the video on a freeze frame of Taylor's clearly visible face wearing the most beatific smile.
"Pretty neat right?"
Taylor’s adventures in higher education: Worm/Tiny Toon Adventures overview
Rewriting hero for the third time and taking a quick break to share a burst of madness caused by exhaustion and possibly heatstroke.
We need days below 35 degrees Celsius my brain is melting
In the locker Taylor's mind shifts from the social aspects of what's going on, her feelings of betrayal, of loneliness fade away and she is left with only the burning desperate desire to be able to move to be able to go anywhere to be completely free.
Instead of bug control Taylor triggers with the power to create and administer portals which materialize in the form of round holes she pops in and out of.
In her panic Taylor forces herself awake before Q.A fully completes the triggering process and activates her powers.
The limiters on her powers weren't fully in place and so she wasn't limited to earth bet.
Taylor ends up in a world a little more… looney.
Taylor collapses In exhaustion and Q.A realizes that it's been cut off from the network, not really knowing what else to do it follows its programming and completes the trigger including the limiters. For the time being they're stuck here.
Enter Buster and Babs Bunny (no relation), they discover Taylor on the acme looniversity school grounds and drag her inside to the nurses office.
Once Taylor wakes up she's greeted by bugs, daffy and porky after a short conversation it's quickly realized that Taylor aint from around here and where she's from doesn't have the looney tunes.
They give Taylor the cliff notes version of what's going on they're all cartoon characters and this is a school for wanna be cartoon stars.
Taylor freaks out and activates her powers she appears in Professor Coyote's class on wild takes.
She suddenly appears in front of plucky who gives a wild take that would make Tex Avery proud.
Panic and shenanigans ensue and at the end of an approximately 22 minute episode the end result is that Taylor will attend acme loo as both a straight man being from a slightly more normal world and a source of visual gags with her portals. In exchange they'll set her up with a place to live while she's there and the various mad scientist characters in the looney tunes library will work on figuring out a way to get her home.
Instead of bug control Taylor triggers with the power to create and administer portals which materialize in the form of round holes she pops in and out of.
In her panic Taylor forces herself awake before Q.A fully completes the triggering process and activates her powers.
The limiters on her powers weren't fully in place and so she wasn't limited to earth bet.
Taylor ends up in a world a little more… looney.
Taylor collapses In exhaustion and Q.A realizes that it's been cut off from the network, not really knowing what else to do it follows its programming and completes the trigger including the limiters. For the time being they're stuck here.
Enter Buster and Babs Bunny (no relation), they discover Taylor on the acme looniversity school grounds and drag her inside to the nurses office.
Once Taylor wakes up she's greeted by bugs, daffy and porky after a short conversation it's quickly realized that Taylor aint from around here and where she's from doesn't have the looney tunes.
They give Taylor the cliff notes version of what's going on they're all cartoon characters and this is a school for wanna be cartoon stars.
Taylor freaks out and activates her powers she appears in Professor Coyote's class on wild takes.
She suddenly appears in front of plucky who gives a wild take that would make Tex Avery proud.
Panic and shenanigans ensue and at the end of an approximately 22 minute episode the end result is that Taylor will attend acme loo as both a straight man being from a slightly more normal world and a source of visual gags with her portals. In exchange they'll set her up with a place to live while she's there and the various mad scientist characters in the looney tunes library will work on figuring out a way to get her home.
We need days below 35 degrees Celsius my brain is melting
Taylor toon theme song
"They're tiny, they're toony,
made Her a little loony,
and in this ficy
they're invading SV&B!
She's a comic, dispenser,
[BLEEPS] up all the censors!
From Tiny Toon Adventures
Got a dose of comedy
Here at Acme Acres
It was a world apart
Alone apart from home
She's now a work of cartoon art!
The canon rejected
Now expect the unexpected
Cause Worm is so bleak
Now's the time to freak
At Acme Looniversity
She earned her toon degree
When QA laughed Brockton cracked
Best thing since 1983
They're Tiny They're Toony
Now Taylor's a little loony
Even if she's the straight man
in world turned to fun!
And now the song is done."
made Her a little loony,
and in this ficy
they're invading SV&B!
She's a comic, dispenser,
[BLEEPS] up all the censors!
From Tiny Toon Adventures
Got a dose of comedy
Here at Acme Acres
It was a world apart
Alone apart from home
She's now a work of cartoon art!
The canon rejected
Now expect the unexpected
Cause Worm is so bleak
Now's the time to freak
At Acme Looniversity
She earned her toon degree
When QA laughed Brockton cracked
Best thing since 1983
They're Tiny They're Toony
Now Taylor's a little loony
Even if she's the straight man
in world turned to fun!
And now the song is done."
if and when I break and actually do this you are getting an official coauthors credit for this because it is that beautiful
Meet the Folks: A boy Trouble? Story
I'm in the process of getting Wildcat up and running again and as a bit of a palate cleanser for myself I figured it was time for more Romcom shenanigans with our favourite funky gal pals and so fueled by Mountain Dew Volt and a desperate desire to feel something that resembles joy here we are.
In a small courtyard outside of Arcadia High School Vicky Dallon was enjoying one of those rare days where everything was just right. The sun was shining, the birds were singing (granted in Brockton Bay the song was scream metal but the principle held) she had a good book in one hand and the other was playing with her Taylor's silky smooth hair. From where she lay in her lap Taylor let out an appreciative hum before frowning to herself and making a quick note in the margins of her book before continuing to read.
"What do you do to get your hair like this?" Vicky marvelled. "It's fantastic."
"Shampoo and conditioner every day." Taylor answered absentmindedly still fully immersed in whatever she was reading. "Do it until Dad yells at me to stop wasting water."
"Okay, but what kind of shampoo and conditioner?"
"I dunno." Taylor shrugged slightly. "Whatever we can get on sale. Me and Dad can't exactly afford for me to be picky."
"God, you're lucky you're cute." Vicky laughed.
"If you say so." Taylor muttered as her cheeks flushed. "So, what are you reading?" She asked in a not at all obvious attempt to change the subject.
"A new paper from Dr. Richards on the correlation between manifested powers in parahumans and observed personality traits." Vicky answered cheerfully. "How bout you babe?"
"New translation of Journey to the West." Taylor frowned to herself as she made another note in the margin. "Not a particularly good translation at that and don't call me babe."
"Alright honey bun." Vicky crooned.
In a huff Taylor pulled herself up from the cushion she'd made of Vicky's lap and twisted around to jab a finger in her face.
"Do. Not." She gritted out.
"Fine, fine." Vicky murmured as she pushed Taylor's hand aside and leaned in closer. "I'll find a cutesy name you like."
"No way."
Taylor rebutted before meeting Vicky in the middle and with that kiss any further words and the world around them fell away. As the two young women were wrapped up in each other and their still fresh romance unbeknownst to them in a bush nearby there was a glint of glass and a subtle flash.
In a cushy corner office in what passed for the swanky part of town in Brockton Bay, Carol Dallon the woman known as Brandish leaned back in her chair and luxuriated in a job well done. The last case had been grueling, long hours, late nights, more than a few fights with her husband and a number of concerns about how distant she was with her family that were carefully filed away and ignored. Still all that was done now and as she checked the time (3:00 p.m) she decided that she'd earned the right to clock out early.
Then just as she was reaching for her intercom to give her secretary the good news that they'd both have the afternoon off an alert sounded on her computer. Once her daughters had entered the superhero life Carol had set up an alert for any stories about Vicky that may show up in either the news or PHO, it was important for a mother to keep track of what her child was up to after all (children she reminded herself, she'd set one up for Amy as well it was just that she was so much… quieter than Vicky). With a concerned frown Carol clicked on the prompt and waited for the PHO page to load.
'Glory Girl and Golden Boy are done.'
The title of the page blared and as she quickly scanned over the text she frowned as she learned that Vicky had broken up with Dean. As she continued to scroll down, she combed through her memory trying to recall if she'd known about this. There was that afternoon a few weeks ago when Vicky had been upset about something but Mark had spoken to her and within a few days she was back to her cheerful self. Carol hadn't thought much of it at the time but perhaps she should have followed up on it a bit more.
Finally, she reached the centerpiece of the post and her eyes widened as she looked at a photo of her baby girl making out with some dark-haired hussy she reached out and picked up her phone. Dialing a number that she'd long ago memorized she held the receiver to her ear and waited for an answer, all the while her eyes never strayed from the picture on her screen.
"Yello." A cheerful familiar voice answered and despite herself Carol felt her lips raise in a small smile. He'd always had that effect on her.
"Hey Mark." Carol said quickly. "Have you been on PHO today?"
"No?" Mark half asked. "I felt like cleaning up the place and have been working at that all day. I just sat down for a bit of lunch actually." She heard him chewing and rolled her eyes. "What's up?" He asked in between bites.
"Just pull it up and search Vicky." Carol instructed. "I want your take on something."
"Alrighty." Mark groaned and she could hear him muttering to himself as he opened up his laptop and made his way to the page. "You want me to look at the one bout her and Dean breaking up?"
"You knew about that?" Carol gasped before pulling herself away from that distraction. "Yes, that's the one. There's a picture in there I want you to see."
After a few moments she heard a small aha from the other end of the line and then a few clicks and the distant whir of a printer.
"Mark, what are you doing?" She asked in a chillingly calm tone.
"What, it's cute." Mark said with beatific innocence. "I can never get the two of them to stay long enough for a picture and now I can get something for the album."
"You knew about this?"
"About her and Taylor? Yeah, they've been dating for a couple weeks now." There was a heavy pause. "Did you seriously not know about our daughter having a girlfriend?"
Carol ignored that completely irrelevant question and focused on the more important matter at hand.
"What's her last name?"
"Hebert." Mark answered slowly. "You aren't going to freak about this are you sugarbear?"
Carol hung up and opened up a new window on her computer, all thoughts of an early quitting time having fallen away.
Back at home Mark listened to the dial tone for a few minutes and uttered a single word.
"Shit."
Vicky was humming to herself as she walked into her home expecting nothing more than to spend a quiet evening with her at the moment functioning family after a blissful time flying through the sky with the best girl in town in her arms. This started to seem unlikely however as Amy ran up to her in a panic.
"You've gotta go." Amy panted. "Mom's –"
"VICKY! GET IN HERE!" Carol's voice roared from the kitchen.
"Like that." Amy finished lamely before patting Vicky on the shoulders quickly. "Good luck." Without another word Amy ran up the stairs and seconds later Vicky could hear the sound of a door slamming and the faint refrain of bring me to life.
"So much for sisterly solidarity." Vicky muttered as she walked towards the kitchen and put on her best smile. "What's up guys?"
"Sit down." Carol ordered and Vicky obeyed.
"To start off you aren't in any trouble." Mark said gently as he placed a calming hand on Carol's shoulder and after a moment the lines of her body softened. "We just want to talk as a family and figure out what we're going to do about something." He suddenly frowned. "Where's Amy?"
"Room."
"Any change of getting her?"
As if in answer they could suddenly hear a female singer passionately lamenting how painful her life was from the vicinity of Amy's domain.
"Probably not."
"Be that as it may." Carol barreled on. "I understand that you've started seeing someone Victoria."
"Yeah, Taylor she's great." A goofy smile came over Vicky's face. "We went to this little tea house after school and Taylor must've snuck out somewhere cause she'd gotten me these chocolates that went perfectly with my."
"That's very nice sweetie." Mark cut in. "But we actually need to talk about this."
Without another word he pulled out his phone and handed it over to his daughter. The story was already pulled up. Vicky didn't say a word but there was the sound of a text being sent.
"What did you?"
"I can never get Taylor to let me take her picture." Vicky replied. "That's going to be the new background on my phone. I need to show her off to people right."
"Right." Carol drawled out. "So, I assume you're going to be continuing the relationship. Even with it being public"
"I mean it's not like we were really hiding it. Pretty much everyone at school knows." Carol failed to hide her flinch at those words and Mark didn't bother to try to hide his smirk.
"Alright then." Carol nodded decisively. "In that case I want to meet her and her family. "We'll be having them over for dinner this Friday night."
"I can ask." Carol's eyes narrowed. "I'll let them know"
The march of time continued at its unrelenting pace and in what seemed like a blink of the eye Taylor founder herself standing at the door of the Casa de Dallon feeling completely and totally prepared for this. Although as Danny watched his daughter staring at her reflection in the door knob and trying frantically to fix her hair, he had his own interpretation of events.
"Taylor, you look fine." Danny pulled out his best comforting dad voice as he gently pulled Taylor away and quickly looked her up and down taking in the nice blouse and jeans (a bit tighter than he'd prefer but such was the way of teenagers) that she'd selected specifically for this night. "Better than fine actually."
"Thanks Dad." Taylor gave him her bravest smile. "I'm just a bit nervous, what if they don't like me or what if."
"You've already met her dad and you get along with him, right?" Taylor nodded. "And you and Amy are friends already, right?" Taylor nodded once more. "So, it's just the mom you've got to worry about and even if for some ungodly reason she doesn't like you, she'll be outvoted."
"Thanks dad."
"No problem. You feeling better?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Good, then please ring the doorbell. There's been a guy staring at us through the living room window for the past five minutes."
Danny turned and gave a quick smile and a wave at the rather large gentleman trying to hide behind the drapes. Taylor rang the doorbell and the two of them waited. Within seconds the door opened and said large gentleman was filling up the entranceway.
"Taylor." Mark Dallon was positively beaming as he looked down at her. "It's wonderful to see you again. Thank you so much for taking the time for us."
"No problem, Mr. Dallon, I've been looking forward to it."
"So have we." He quickly turned away from Taylor and offered a hand to Danny. "And you must be Daniel Hebert, right?"
"Just Danny's fine." As the two shook hands Mark took notice of the ring on Danny's left hand. "Good to meet you, Mark." Danny finished.
"Pleasure's all mine." Mark said as he stepped aside and gestured for the two of them to come in. "Is your wife running late?" He asked as the two Hebert's stepped inside and for just a moment the cheer faded from Danny and he seemed to sag before coming back to himself.
"No, no she's not." Danny fiddled with the ring for a second. "I'm a widower actually, just kept wearing the ring because…" He trailed off.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend." Mark's voice was contrite as he looked between the two of them.
"It's fine. You couldn't have known." Danny clapped his hands quickly and tried to change the subject. "So, dinner?"
"Yes, dinner. Just this way." Mark grabbed onto the conversational life preserver with both hands. "Vicky and Amy are just setting the table. I didn't know what everyone liked so it's pretty simple tonight. Just chicken, mashed potatoes and corn I hope that's all right with everyone."
"That sounds great, Mark." Taylor replied as they arrived at the door to the kitchen.
"One last thing." Mark said quickly as he bent over slightly to look Taylor in the eye. "Call her Mrs. Dallon, she'll like that." With those final words of advice, he gave her a surprisingly boyish grin and a friendly wink.
The dinner had gone well so far and as Mark cleared her plate Taylor reached out under the table and took Vicky's hand in hers and allowed herself to hope things would turn out well.
"So, Taylor." Mrs. Dallon's voice was casual but her eyes were sharp as she stared down Taylor. "I mentioned your name to a colleague of mine and heard some rather interesting things."
"Oh no." Vicky and Amy muttered in unison as they suddenly put their face in their hands. At the sink Mark winced and busied himself rinsing the dishes. He'd learned a long time ago that sometimes it was best to let Carol just get it out of her system.
"Yeah, what kind of things Mrs. Dallon?" Taylor's eyes darted around the room nervously.
"Just some rather interesting extracurricular's that you're involved in." Next to Taylor Danny's eyes narrowed.
"What are you driving at?" Daniel's voice was not exactly sharp but someone had definitely spent a few hours whittling it to a point.
"Why what she was doing last weekend of course." Carol replied. "I'm curious how did you feel about your daughter being arrested?"
"You were arrested?" Vicky burst out incredulously as she turned to face Taylor.
"I was in and out the same day." Taylor waved her off. "That hardly counts."
Danny and Carol both ignored the side conversation as they stared each other down.
"My wife and I always raised Taylor to stand by her convictions." Danny stated evenly. "I'm proud to have a daughter who is so civic minded."
"Civic minded?"
"It was a protest." Taylor answered the unasked question. "At the downtown PRT building. We were there to demand more accountability and better transparency. They took exception to that"
"A protest you say." In a moment all combativeness left Carol's body as she leaned in closer. "What got you interested in something like that?" Across the table Taylor leaned in as well and an excited spark came into her eyes.
"Everyone should be paying attention to what the PRT are up to." Taylor's voice was picking up speed as she began gesticulating wildly. Vicky was looking at her fondly as she casually dodged waving arms. "If you dig just a little bit there are countless examples of the PRT shuffling heroes around instead of ever taking disciplinary action."
"Bastion." Carol noted.
"Oh man he's just the tip of the iceberg." Taylor nodded frantically. "But that's not even the biggest thing, did you know that in their charter they slipped in language that makes them completely exempt from the Freedom of Information Act."
"Yes, to protect secret identities. It's appalling." Carol agreed. "When we discovered that it was actually one of the major factors that led to us deciding to unmask. Are there any other protests being planned? I'd love to come out and show my support."
"I'd need to check but I might be able to get you in touch with the woman who's been running everything." Taylor looked away awkwardly. "She's been around a while and she's a little slow to trust-"
"The man." Carol gave Taylor a surprisingly friendly smile. "I completely understand. Take this." She slid a card over to Taylor. "Just pass that along to her and let her know I'd love to help in whatever way I can. Showing up, acting as a defence attorney. Whatever."
"I'll do that."
Mark moved slowly and silently over to Victoria and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"I think this one's a keeper." He looked fondly at Taylor and Carol eagerly talking about the ethical atrocity that is government funded superheroics in this day and age. "Otherwise, you might end up disowned."
Next time in this little slice of madness just Dudes being Bros as Mark and Danny star in Guy's night
In a small courtyard outside of Arcadia High School Vicky Dallon was enjoying one of those rare days where everything was just right. The sun was shining, the birds were singing (granted in Brockton Bay the song was scream metal but the principle held) she had a good book in one hand and the other was playing with her Taylor's silky smooth hair. From where she lay in her lap Taylor let out an appreciative hum before frowning to herself and making a quick note in the margins of her book before continuing to read.
"What do you do to get your hair like this?" Vicky marvelled. "It's fantastic."
"Shampoo and conditioner every day." Taylor answered absentmindedly still fully immersed in whatever she was reading. "Do it until Dad yells at me to stop wasting water."
"Okay, but what kind of shampoo and conditioner?"
"I dunno." Taylor shrugged slightly. "Whatever we can get on sale. Me and Dad can't exactly afford for me to be picky."
"God, you're lucky you're cute." Vicky laughed.
"If you say so." Taylor muttered as her cheeks flushed. "So, what are you reading?" She asked in a not at all obvious attempt to change the subject.
"A new paper from Dr. Richards on the correlation between manifested powers in parahumans and observed personality traits." Vicky answered cheerfully. "How bout you babe?"
"New translation of Journey to the West." Taylor frowned to herself as she made another note in the margin. "Not a particularly good translation at that and don't call me babe."
"Alright honey bun." Vicky crooned.
In a huff Taylor pulled herself up from the cushion she'd made of Vicky's lap and twisted around to jab a finger in her face.
"Do. Not." She gritted out.
"Fine, fine." Vicky murmured as she pushed Taylor's hand aside and leaned in closer. "I'll find a cutesy name you like."
"No way."
Taylor rebutted before meeting Vicky in the middle and with that kiss any further words and the world around them fell away. As the two young women were wrapped up in each other and their still fresh romance unbeknownst to them in a bush nearby there was a glint of glass and a subtle flash.
In a cushy corner office in what passed for the swanky part of town in Brockton Bay, Carol Dallon the woman known as Brandish leaned back in her chair and luxuriated in a job well done. The last case had been grueling, long hours, late nights, more than a few fights with her husband and a number of concerns about how distant she was with her family that were carefully filed away and ignored. Still all that was done now and as she checked the time (3:00 p.m) she decided that she'd earned the right to clock out early.
Then just as she was reaching for her intercom to give her secretary the good news that they'd both have the afternoon off an alert sounded on her computer. Once her daughters had entered the superhero life Carol had set up an alert for any stories about Vicky that may show up in either the news or PHO, it was important for a mother to keep track of what her child was up to after all (children she reminded herself, she'd set one up for Amy as well it was just that she was so much… quieter than Vicky). With a concerned frown Carol clicked on the prompt and waited for the PHO page to load.
'Glory Girl and Golden Boy are done.'
The title of the page blared and as she quickly scanned over the text she frowned as she learned that Vicky had broken up with Dean. As she continued to scroll down, she combed through her memory trying to recall if she'd known about this. There was that afternoon a few weeks ago when Vicky had been upset about something but Mark had spoken to her and within a few days she was back to her cheerful self. Carol hadn't thought much of it at the time but perhaps she should have followed up on it a bit more.
Finally, she reached the centerpiece of the post and her eyes widened as she looked at a photo of her baby girl making out with some dark-haired hussy she reached out and picked up her phone. Dialing a number that she'd long ago memorized she held the receiver to her ear and waited for an answer, all the while her eyes never strayed from the picture on her screen.
"Yello." A cheerful familiar voice answered and despite herself Carol felt her lips raise in a small smile. He'd always had that effect on her.
"Hey Mark." Carol said quickly. "Have you been on PHO today?"
"No?" Mark half asked. "I felt like cleaning up the place and have been working at that all day. I just sat down for a bit of lunch actually." She heard him chewing and rolled her eyes. "What's up?" He asked in between bites.
"Just pull it up and search Vicky." Carol instructed. "I want your take on something."
"Alrighty." Mark groaned and she could hear him muttering to himself as he opened up his laptop and made his way to the page. "You want me to look at the one bout her and Dean breaking up?"
"You knew about that?" Carol gasped before pulling herself away from that distraction. "Yes, that's the one. There's a picture in there I want you to see."
After a few moments she heard a small aha from the other end of the line and then a few clicks and the distant whir of a printer.
"Mark, what are you doing?" She asked in a chillingly calm tone.
"What, it's cute." Mark said with beatific innocence. "I can never get the two of them to stay long enough for a picture and now I can get something for the album."
"You knew about this?"
"About her and Taylor? Yeah, they've been dating for a couple weeks now." There was a heavy pause. "Did you seriously not know about our daughter having a girlfriend?"
Carol ignored that completely irrelevant question and focused on the more important matter at hand.
"What's her last name?"
"Hebert." Mark answered slowly. "You aren't going to freak about this are you sugarbear?"
Carol hung up and opened up a new window on her computer, all thoughts of an early quitting time having fallen away.
Back at home Mark listened to the dial tone for a few minutes and uttered a single word.
"Shit."
Vicky was humming to herself as she walked into her home expecting nothing more than to spend a quiet evening with her at the moment functioning family after a blissful time flying through the sky with the best girl in town in her arms. This started to seem unlikely however as Amy ran up to her in a panic.
"You've gotta go." Amy panted. "Mom's –"
"VICKY! GET IN HERE!" Carol's voice roared from the kitchen.
"Like that." Amy finished lamely before patting Vicky on the shoulders quickly. "Good luck." Without another word Amy ran up the stairs and seconds later Vicky could hear the sound of a door slamming and the faint refrain of bring me to life.
"So much for sisterly solidarity." Vicky muttered as she walked towards the kitchen and put on her best smile. "What's up guys?"
"Sit down." Carol ordered and Vicky obeyed.
"To start off you aren't in any trouble." Mark said gently as he placed a calming hand on Carol's shoulder and after a moment the lines of her body softened. "We just want to talk as a family and figure out what we're going to do about something." He suddenly frowned. "Where's Amy?"
"Room."
"Any change of getting her?"
As if in answer they could suddenly hear a female singer passionately lamenting how painful her life was from the vicinity of Amy's domain.
"Probably not."
"Be that as it may." Carol barreled on. "I understand that you've started seeing someone Victoria."
"Yeah, Taylor she's great." A goofy smile came over Vicky's face. "We went to this little tea house after school and Taylor must've snuck out somewhere cause she'd gotten me these chocolates that went perfectly with my."
"That's very nice sweetie." Mark cut in. "But we actually need to talk about this."
Without another word he pulled out his phone and handed it over to his daughter. The story was already pulled up. Vicky didn't say a word but there was the sound of a text being sent.
"What did you?"
"I can never get Taylor to let me take her picture." Vicky replied. "That's going to be the new background on my phone. I need to show her off to people right."
"Right." Carol drawled out. "So, I assume you're going to be continuing the relationship. Even with it being public"
"I mean it's not like we were really hiding it. Pretty much everyone at school knows." Carol failed to hide her flinch at those words and Mark didn't bother to try to hide his smirk.
"Alright then." Carol nodded decisively. "In that case I want to meet her and her family. "We'll be having them over for dinner this Friday night."
"I can ask." Carol's eyes narrowed. "I'll let them know"
The march of time continued at its unrelenting pace and in what seemed like a blink of the eye Taylor founder herself standing at the door of the Casa de Dallon feeling completely and totally prepared for this. Although as Danny watched his daughter staring at her reflection in the door knob and trying frantically to fix her hair, he had his own interpretation of events.
"Taylor, you look fine." Danny pulled out his best comforting dad voice as he gently pulled Taylor away and quickly looked her up and down taking in the nice blouse and jeans (a bit tighter than he'd prefer but such was the way of teenagers) that she'd selected specifically for this night. "Better than fine actually."
"Thanks Dad." Taylor gave him her bravest smile. "I'm just a bit nervous, what if they don't like me or what if."
"You've already met her dad and you get along with him, right?" Taylor nodded. "And you and Amy are friends already, right?" Taylor nodded once more. "So, it's just the mom you've got to worry about and even if for some ungodly reason she doesn't like you, she'll be outvoted."
"Thanks dad."
"No problem. You feeling better?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Good, then please ring the doorbell. There's been a guy staring at us through the living room window for the past five minutes."
Danny turned and gave a quick smile and a wave at the rather large gentleman trying to hide behind the drapes. Taylor rang the doorbell and the two of them waited. Within seconds the door opened and said large gentleman was filling up the entranceway.
"Taylor." Mark Dallon was positively beaming as he looked down at her. "It's wonderful to see you again. Thank you so much for taking the time for us."
"No problem, Mr. Dallon, I've been looking forward to it."
"So have we." He quickly turned away from Taylor and offered a hand to Danny. "And you must be Daniel Hebert, right?"
"Just Danny's fine." As the two shook hands Mark took notice of the ring on Danny's left hand. "Good to meet you, Mark." Danny finished.
"Pleasure's all mine." Mark said as he stepped aside and gestured for the two of them to come in. "Is your wife running late?" He asked as the two Hebert's stepped inside and for just a moment the cheer faded from Danny and he seemed to sag before coming back to himself.
"No, no she's not." Danny fiddled with the ring for a second. "I'm a widower actually, just kept wearing the ring because…" He trailed off.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend." Mark's voice was contrite as he looked between the two of them.
"It's fine. You couldn't have known." Danny clapped his hands quickly and tried to change the subject. "So, dinner?"
"Yes, dinner. Just this way." Mark grabbed onto the conversational life preserver with both hands. "Vicky and Amy are just setting the table. I didn't know what everyone liked so it's pretty simple tonight. Just chicken, mashed potatoes and corn I hope that's all right with everyone."
"That sounds great, Mark." Taylor replied as they arrived at the door to the kitchen.
"One last thing." Mark said quickly as he bent over slightly to look Taylor in the eye. "Call her Mrs. Dallon, she'll like that." With those final words of advice, he gave her a surprisingly boyish grin and a friendly wink.
The dinner had gone well so far and as Mark cleared her plate Taylor reached out under the table and took Vicky's hand in hers and allowed herself to hope things would turn out well.
"So, Taylor." Mrs. Dallon's voice was casual but her eyes were sharp as she stared down Taylor. "I mentioned your name to a colleague of mine and heard some rather interesting things."
"Oh no." Vicky and Amy muttered in unison as they suddenly put their face in their hands. At the sink Mark winced and busied himself rinsing the dishes. He'd learned a long time ago that sometimes it was best to let Carol just get it out of her system.
"Yeah, what kind of things Mrs. Dallon?" Taylor's eyes darted around the room nervously.
"Just some rather interesting extracurricular's that you're involved in." Next to Taylor Danny's eyes narrowed.
"What are you driving at?" Daniel's voice was not exactly sharp but someone had definitely spent a few hours whittling it to a point.
"Why what she was doing last weekend of course." Carol replied. "I'm curious how did you feel about your daughter being arrested?"
"You were arrested?" Vicky burst out incredulously as she turned to face Taylor.
"I was in and out the same day." Taylor waved her off. "That hardly counts."
Danny and Carol both ignored the side conversation as they stared each other down.
"My wife and I always raised Taylor to stand by her convictions." Danny stated evenly. "I'm proud to have a daughter who is so civic minded."
"Civic minded?"
"It was a protest." Taylor answered the unasked question. "At the downtown PRT building. We were there to demand more accountability and better transparency. They took exception to that"
"A protest you say." In a moment all combativeness left Carol's body as she leaned in closer. "What got you interested in something like that?" Across the table Taylor leaned in as well and an excited spark came into her eyes.
"Everyone should be paying attention to what the PRT are up to." Taylor's voice was picking up speed as she began gesticulating wildly. Vicky was looking at her fondly as she casually dodged waving arms. "If you dig just a little bit there are countless examples of the PRT shuffling heroes around instead of ever taking disciplinary action."
"Bastion." Carol noted.
"Oh man he's just the tip of the iceberg." Taylor nodded frantically. "But that's not even the biggest thing, did you know that in their charter they slipped in language that makes them completely exempt from the Freedom of Information Act."
"Yes, to protect secret identities. It's appalling." Carol agreed. "When we discovered that it was actually one of the major factors that led to us deciding to unmask. Are there any other protests being planned? I'd love to come out and show my support."
"I'd need to check but I might be able to get you in touch with the woman who's been running everything." Taylor looked away awkwardly. "She's been around a while and she's a little slow to trust-"
"The man." Carol gave Taylor a surprisingly friendly smile. "I completely understand. Take this." She slid a card over to Taylor. "Just pass that along to her and let her know I'd love to help in whatever way I can. Showing up, acting as a defence attorney. Whatever."
"I'll do that."
Mark moved slowly and silently over to Victoria and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"I think this one's a keeper." He looked fondly at Taylor and Carol eagerly talking about the ethical atrocity that is government funded superheroics in this day and age. "Otherwise, you might end up disowned."
Next time in this little slice of madness just Dudes being Bros as Mark and Danny star in Guy's night
- Location
- Europe
Oh gods, Carol never stood a chance of disliking Tay^^
this way pretty funny, i love the backrow silently giggling to each other and observing this unexpected understanding.
this way pretty funny, i love the backrow silently giggling to each other and observing this unexpected understanding.
As soon as Taylor mentions the smoothie incident carols gonna insist Vicky start ring shopping
- Location
- Best England - United Kingdom
I need to finally sit down and watch Babylon five. I'm a shame to nerds everywhere
The Fox So Cunning And Free: Worm/Zorro
It was a bit of a busy week but I managed to finally make something happen with this prompt. This is kind of like the first chapter of Wildcat more of a teaser than anything else.
When daggers are pointed at innocent hearts,
as muskets are ready to fire.
When tyrants ride high and govern with fear
and the forces of evil conspire.
From Out Of The Night A Hero Must Rise
With courage that even a mask won't disguise
They turn to ... The One Called Zorro!!!!!
Will grumbled to himself as he climbed up the stairs in the mildly dilapidated building that was serving as the Empire 88's bank for this month. Tax season as he'd oh so cleverly dubbed it in his own mind had come once again and he'd been forced to spend the whole night going through the docks and making sure the inferiors had paid up. He paused for a moment to flex his left hand and contemplate some of the blood that had stained his knuckles, you'd have thought the darkies would have learned by now that trying to refuse only made things worse.
"You alright there?" A voice from behind pulled him from his reverie and he shook his head briefly to bring himself back to the here and now and answered as he walked the last few steps towards the office where the money would be stored.
"Yeah, I'm fine Bill. Just jacked up my hand at the last stop."
"They ain't good for much but they got hard heads." Bill laughed. "Whattya say after we drop off the loot we go back and school him in some respect."
"Sounds good, I've got a bat out in the car that should do the trick." Will pushed open the door and called out. "Hey, Joey we got –"
He trailed off as he was greeted with an unexpected sight instead of being greeted by the handsome Aryan features and closely shaven head of his fellow soldier, instead, he was met by a woman clad all in black with a mask covering the top of her face and one of those sombrero things the wetbacks wore on her head. The eyes were covered by white lenses but still they seemed to narrow in surprise for a moment before a surprisingly charming smile came to the face of the masked woman.
"Ah, that must be the last deposit. Wonderful." There was a slight Spanish accent tinging her words. "Gracias, amigo. You can just leave it there." She gestured to a table that was near him and then made shooing motions with her hands. "Good evening."
With the exception of those who were being groomed for leadership the Empire 88 did not encourage independence in its members, no the rank and file were made up of those who though they never admit it longed to be led and Will and Bill were no exception to this. So, almost without thinking they started to do as the woman directed before coming to their senses.
"Wait a minute! Where's Jack?" Will demanded as he whirled around.
As if in answer there was a rumbling from the storage closet across the room and the sound of muffled curses.
"He has been." The masked meddler paused for a moment as she searched for the proper word. "Tied up for the moment." Her own cleverness brought a cheeky grin to her face and she stood up from the desk and began to walk towards them.
"And who are you?" Bill demanded as he drew pistol he'd kept tucked into the back of his jeans and levelled it at her. "Don't move!" He demanded and the woman put up her hands amicably.
"Really, I'm wearing a mask and you're asking me my name?" The woman tsked. "Poor manners, Senor truly. No, I don't think I shall give you my name however." Quick as a fox the woman drew the whip at her side and disarmed him of his pistol. It flew through the air and was caught by her to immediately be turned towards the two thugs.
"You may call me Zorro." The now named Zorro laughed "Toss the money over here. Do it quickly." Slowly Will tossed the stack of bills he'd been carrying and watched bitterly as they landed at her feet. "Wonderful, my thanks gentlemen. You two have been most accommodating."
"You really think you can get away with robbing the Empire?" Will demanded.
"Si."
Zorro stated simply as she knelt down to pick up her prize never looking away from the two of them. Just as she'd collected the money, she noticed the two exemplary examples of the dignity and class of the white man standing before her look at each other out of the corner of their eyes and exchange a small nod. Suddenly Will charged at her.
"We have an optimist here." Zorro laughed as Will came upon her.
As she fell backwards Zorro grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him down with her. As the two were tumbling Zorro raised her legs and planted her feet firmly on his chest and pushed. The momentum caused by his charge and the power from Zorro's kick sent him flying into the air and then crashing to earth a few feet away where he lay dazed and confused. Zorro allowed her momentum to carry through and came back to her feet none the worse for wear. A quick follow up punch to the goon knocked him out cold. As she turned away from her fallen adversary, she was delighted by the sight that she was met with. Across the room the second thug had drawn a large knife.
"That is quite the impressive blade." Zorro noted. "Allow me to show you mine." From the opposite side of where she stored her whip, she drew a rapier. The pistol she'd taken off of him earlier fell to the ground and she took up a ready stance "Now, shall we begin?"
With an inarticulate yell he charged at her slashing out wildly. Zorro side stepped him with casual ease and laughed.
"You are quick on your feet." She acknowledged as he turned around and tried once more to cut her. His swing was easily countered. "But your strikes are slow." He tried to lunge forward and stab her but with a deft move the strike was parried and the knife knocked from his hand. "And clumsy." Zorro gestured to his knife with her sword. "Pick it up." He didn't move and she repeated the gesture more forcefully. "Pick it up!" Slowly, hesitantly he reached down and picked it up. Zorro waited patiently for him to retrieve his weapon.
"Good, now are you ready?" Zorro asked. Not knowing what else to do Bill nodded and Zorro went on the offensive.
"You must be swift." Zorro instructed as she lunged forward and Bill stumbled backwards barely managing to evade the tip of her sword. "Precise." A single slash went across his chest and he could feel blood began to flow from it. "Controlled." A diagonal cut joined its brother. "And above all else you must be intelligent."
A third horizontal slash joined the previous two but Bill didn't care about that because in the chaos of the fight he'd ended up next to the pistol the masked bitch had so foolishly dropped earlier on. Throwing caution to the wind he took his eyes from Zorro and darted to grab it. As soon as he had it in his hand, he turned to put a bullet in the slut's head and was momentarily confused when he saw a black leather boot coming towards his face at high speed.
"But of course, intelligence may be too much to ask."
Zorro laughed to herself as she watched him fall unconscious to the floor. Moving purposefully, she picked up the money from the floor and went back to the desk she'd been at when all of this had started. Pausing to store the bills in a bag that had sat unnoticed in the shadow cast by the mahogany behemoth she began to rifle through the drawers.
"Come on, come on." She muttered to herself. "There must be some kind of record, or way to track who, ahaha."
The middle drawer had a hidden compartment and as Zorro removed it a stack of spread sheets was revealed to her. A quick flip through the papers confirmed that they were exactly what was needed and just in time as Zorro could hear a clamour coming from the hall. With casual ease she stood up from the desk and collected the bag filled with ill-gotten gains just as a half dozen burly men barrelled through the door.
"I'm sorry but I really must be leaving." Zorro said as she took of her hat and gave a sweeping bow to the assembled horde. "Another time perhaps."
Before anyone could react, she turned and ran at full tilt towards the largest window and barrelled through it. After a beat the mob ran towards the window and watched as her whip wrapped around the nearest light pole slowing her fall and allowing her to swing towards the ground. A few of the gang members drew pistols and began to fire on her but between the dark of the night and the billowing of her cape obscuring her body no bullets connected.
"That's enough! I said that's enough." One of them who was larger than the others and thus obviously the one in charge roared. "Stop shooting you idiots! We don't want to bring the cops done on us, on top of everything else." Reluctantly the gang members lowered their weapons. "Now does anyone know who that was?"
"Not sure Harry." One of them said as he knelt next to Bill's unconscious body. "But I'm pretty sure it starts with a Z."
"What do you mean?" Harry demanded as he marched over to them.
"Take a look."
There carved into the chest of the unconscious man was a large ragged Z.
"Kaiser's not gonna like this."
"Uhh, it gets worse." One of them said hesitantly. "She took all the money we collected for this month."
"Shit, who did we have looking after the take?"
"Joey."
"Well, least I can pin it on him."
Any further conversation was cut off by the roar of a motorcycle from outside and the ever closer sounds of police sirens.
John McCulley had been the parish priest for Our Lady Santa Maria church in Brockton Bay for some twenty years now and despite the struggles of preaching the gospel of a loving in a city that could be charitably described as declining, it was still a rewarding life. One that he was proud to lead although he mused as he looked up from the sermon he was preparing, to see an alert on his phone it would be nice if the members of his flock would restrict their penance to business hours. Still duty called and he got up from his chair, purposefully ignored the crack in his knees and left his office for the confessional. As soon as he was seated, he opened the screen to let the penitent know he was present.
"Good evening padre." The voice of a young woman spoke.
"Good evening and may you find comfort in the lord's house. Now what brings you here?"
"Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been." There was a pause. "Four months since my last confession."
"Quite a long time." McCulley noted evenly. "What brings you back now?"
"A question Father, is it wrong to steal that which has been stolen in order to ensure that it is returned?"
"That is a rather thorny topic." He contemplated the question and finally gave the answer that was in his heart. "I believe that the Lord placed us on this earth in order to pursue justice, to serve the ideals of good, so no in and of itself I wouldn't consider that to be wrong."
"I see." Through the screen he could hear the sound of the confessor shifting around and something being placed upon the floor. "In that case father earlier this evening approximately thirty thousand dollars was stolen from the Empire 88, the results of collection monies form some thirty families and businesses many of whom are in your congregation. I intend to see it returned"
"Oh my." Father McCulley said faintly. "And how would you do this?"
"Why with your help Padre." Somehow despite the fact that he couldn't see her face he knew that she was grinning. "In this confessional I'll leave the money and a record of whom it was taken from. I would like you to distribute it to its rightful owners."
"That's quite a lot of trust you're placing in me."
"Perhaps I'm sentimental but I believe I can trust a man of the cloth. Especially one who has been threatened for protecting… Undesirables." A silence fell between the two for a moment and when the woman spoke next her voice was embarrassed. "Although I will be checking to ensure the money ends up where it belongs. I'm sure you understand."
"I do."
"Then you'll."
"I'll make sure this money returns to where it belongs. You are forgiven child. Go forth and sin no more."
"Gracias Padre."
Father McCulley waited in the confessional for the sound of the opposite door opening, he listened for the sound of feet crossing the floor and for the doors of the church to open and shut. Then he counted out a minute before leaving his own confessional and opening the door to the other one. Inside was a black leather bag which when opened was filled with bills of varying denominations and seated on the bench were two pieces of paper. One was a record of names and amounts which he placed in his pocket for later and the other was a note which read.
Miles away in a hidden cave the black figures bike came to a stop and she stepped off to be met by a rather striking man. Judging by his face he could be anywhere between fifty or seventy but it was still handsome and had a thick mane of silver hair. Keen and intelligent brown eyes looked over the figure of Zorro as a small smile played on his lips.
"And how was Zorro's first ride?"
Zorro removed her mask before answering.
"It all went exactly according to plan Granddad." Taylor Hebert answered as the accent she'd been using throughout the night faded away.
THIS BOLD RENEGADE CARVES A Z WITH HER BLADE
A Z WHICH STANDS FOR ZORRO
This was fun for me ^_^
When daggers are pointed at innocent hearts,
as muskets are ready to fire.
When tyrants ride high and govern with fear
and the forces of evil conspire.
From Out Of The Night A Hero Must Rise
With courage that even a mask won't disguise
They turn to ... The One Called Zorro!!!!!
Will grumbled to himself as he climbed up the stairs in the mildly dilapidated building that was serving as the Empire 88's bank for this month. Tax season as he'd oh so cleverly dubbed it in his own mind had come once again and he'd been forced to spend the whole night going through the docks and making sure the inferiors had paid up. He paused for a moment to flex his left hand and contemplate some of the blood that had stained his knuckles, you'd have thought the darkies would have learned by now that trying to refuse only made things worse.
"You alright there?" A voice from behind pulled him from his reverie and he shook his head briefly to bring himself back to the here and now and answered as he walked the last few steps towards the office where the money would be stored.
"Yeah, I'm fine Bill. Just jacked up my hand at the last stop."
"They ain't good for much but they got hard heads." Bill laughed. "Whattya say after we drop off the loot we go back and school him in some respect."
"Sounds good, I've got a bat out in the car that should do the trick." Will pushed open the door and called out. "Hey, Joey we got –"
He trailed off as he was greeted with an unexpected sight instead of being greeted by the handsome Aryan features and closely shaven head of his fellow soldier, instead, he was met by a woman clad all in black with a mask covering the top of her face and one of those sombrero things the wetbacks wore on her head. The eyes were covered by white lenses but still they seemed to narrow in surprise for a moment before a surprisingly charming smile came to the face of the masked woman.
"Ah, that must be the last deposit. Wonderful." There was a slight Spanish accent tinging her words. "Gracias, amigo. You can just leave it there." She gestured to a table that was near him and then made shooing motions with her hands. "Good evening."
With the exception of those who were being groomed for leadership the Empire 88 did not encourage independence in its members, no the rank and file were made up of those who though they never admit it longed to be led and Will and Bill were no exception to this. So, almost without thinking they started to do as the woman directed before coming to their senses.
"Wait a minute! Where's Jack?" Will demanded as he whirled around.
As if in answer there was a rumbling from the storage closet across the room and the sound of muffled curses.
"He has been." The masked meddler paused for a moment as she searched for the proper word. "Tied up for the moment." Her own cleverness brought a cheeky grin to her face and she stood up from the desk and began to walk towards them.
"And who are you?" Bill demanded as he drew pistol he'd kept tucked into the back of his jeans and levelled it at her. "Don't move!" He demanded and the woman put up her hands amicably.
"Really, I'm wearing a mask and you're asking me my name?" The woman tsked. "Poor manners, Senor truly. No, I don't think I shall give you my name however." Quick as a fox the woman drew the whip at her side and disarmed him of his pistol. It flew through the air and was caught by her to immediately be turned towards the two thugs.
"You may call me Zorro." The now named Zorro laughed "Toss the money over here. Do it quickly." Slowly Will tossed the stack of bills he'd been carrying and watched bitterly as they landed at her feet. "Wonderful, my thanks gentlemen. You two have been most accommodating."
"You really think you can get away with robbing the Empire?" Will demanded.
"Si."
Zorro stated simply as she knelt down to pick up her prize never looking away from the two of them. Just as she'd collected the money, she noticed the two exemplary examples of the dignity and class of the white man standing before her look at each other out of the corner of their eyes and exchange a small nod. Suddenly Will charged at her.
"We have an optimist here." Zorro laughed as Will came upon her.
As she fell backwards Zorro grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him down with her. As the two were tumbling Zorro raised her legs and planted her feet firmly on his chest and pushed. The momentum caused by his charge and the power from Zorro's kick sent him flying into the air and then crashing to earth a few feet away where he lay dazed and confused. Zorro allowed her momentum to carry through and came back to her feet none the worse for wear. A quick follow up punch to the goon knocked him out cold. As she turned away from her fallen adversary, she was delighted by the sight that she was met with. Across the room the second thug had drawn a large knife.
"That is quite the impressive blade." Zorro noted. "Allow me to show you mine." From the opposite side of where she stored her whip, she drew a rapier. The pistol she'd taken off of him earlier fell to the ground and she took up a ready stance "Now, shall we begin?"
With an inarticulate yell he charged at her slashing out wildly. Zorro side stepped him with casual ease and laughed.
"You are quick on your feet." She acknowledged as he turned around and tried once more to cut her. His swing was easily countered. "But your strikes are slow." He tried to lunge forward and stab her but with a deft move the strike was parried and the knife knocked from his hand. "And clumsy." Zorro gestured to his knife with her sword. "Pick it up." He didn't move and she repeated the gesture more forcefully. "Pick it up!" Slowly, hesitantly he reached down and picked it up. Zorro waited patiently for him to retrieve his weapon.
"Good, now are you ready?" Zorro asked. Not knowing what else to do Bill nodded and Zorro went on the offensive.
"You must be swift." Zorro instructed as she lunged forward and Bill stumbled backwards barely managing to evade the tip of her sword. "Precise." A single slash went across his chest and he could feel blood began to flow from it. "Controlled." A diagonal cut joined its brother. "And above all else you must be intelligent."
A third horizontal slash joined the previous two but Bill didn't care about that because in the chaos of the fight he'd ended up next to the pistol the masked bitch had so foolishly dropped earlier on. Throwing caution to the wind he took his eyes from Zorro and darted to grab it. As soon as he had it in his hand, he turned to put a bullet in the slut's head and was momentarily confused when he saw a black leather boot coming towards his face at high speed.
"But of course, intelligence may be too much to ask."
Zorro laughed to herself as she watched him fall unconscious to the floor. Moving purposefully, she picked up the money from the floor and went back to the desk she'd been at when all of this had started. Pausing to store the bills in a bag that had sat unnoticed in the shadow cast by the mahogany behemoth she began to rifle through the drawers.
"Come on, come on." She muttered to herself. "There must be some kind of record, or way to track who, ahaha."
The middle drawer had a hidden compartment and as Zorro removed it a stack of spread sheets was revealed to her. A quick flip through the papers confirmed that they were exactly what was needed and just in time as Zorro could hear a clamour coming from the hall. With casual ease she stood up from the desk and collected the bag filled with ill-gotten gains just as a half dozen burly men barrelled through the door.
"I'm sorry but I really must be leaving." Zorro said as she took of her hat and gave a sweeping bow to the assembled horde. "Another time perhaps."
Before anyone could react, she turned and ran at full tilt towards the largest window and barrelled through it. After a beat the mob ran towards the window and watched as her whip wrapped around the nearest light pole slowing her fall and allowing her to swing towards the ground. A few of the gang members drew pistols and began to fire on her but between the dark of the night and the billowing of her cape obscuring her body no bullets connected.
"That's enough! I said that's enough." One of them who was larger than the others and thus obviously the one in charge roared. "Stop shooting you idiots! We don't want to bring the cops done on us, on top of everything else." Reluctantly the gang members lowered their weapons. "Now does anyone know who that was?"
"Not sure Harry." One of them said as he knelt next to Bill's unconscious body. "But I'm pretty sure it starts with a Z."
"What do you mean?" Harry demanded as he marched over to them.
"Take a look."
There carved into the chest of the unconscious man was a large ragged Z.
"Kaiser's not gonna like this."
"Uhh, it gets worse." One of them said hesitantly. "She took all the money we collected for this month."
"Shit, who did we have looking after the take?"
"Joey."
"Well, least I can pin it on him."
Any further conversation was cut off by the roar of a motorcycle from outside and the ever closer sounds of police sirens.
ZZZ
John McCulley had been the parish priest for Our Lady Santa Maria church in Brockton Bay for some twenty years now and despite the struggles of preaching the gospel of a loving in a city that could be charitably described as declining, it was still a rewarding life. One that he was proud to lead although he mused as he looked up from the sermon he was preparing, to see an alert on his phone it would be nice if the members of his flock would restrict their penance to business hours. Still duty called and he got up from his chair, purposefully ignored the crack in his knees and left his office for the confessional. As soon as he was seated, he opened the screen to let the penitent know he was present.
"Good evening padre." The voice of a young woman spoke.
"Good evening and may you find comfort in the lord's house. Now what brings you here?"
"Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been." There was a pause. "Four months since my last confession."
"Quite a long time." McCulley noted evenly. "What brings you back now?"
"A question Father, is it wrong to steal that which has been stolen in order to ensure that it is returned?"
"That is a rather thorny topic." He contemplated the question and finally gave the answer that was in his heart. "I believe that the Lord placed us on this earth in order to pursue justice, to serve the ideals of good, so no in and of itself I wouldn't consider that to be wrong."
"I see." Through the screen he could hear the sound of the confessor shifting around and something being placed upon the floor. "In that case father earlier this evening approximately thirty thousand dollars was stolen from the Empire 88, the results of collection monies form some thirty families and businesses many of whom are in your congregation. I intend to see it returned"
"Oh my." Father McCulley said faintly. "And how would you do this?"
"Why with your help Padre." Somehow despite the fact that he couldn't see her face he knew that she was grinning. "In this confessional I'll leave the money and a record of whom it was taken from. I would like you to distribute it to its rightful owners."
"That's quite a lot of trust you're placing in me."
"Perhaps I'm sentimental but I believe I can trust a man of the cloth. Especially one who has been threatened for protecting… Undesirables." A silence fell between the two for a moment and when the woman spoke next her voice was embarrassed. "Although I will be checking to ensure the money ends up where it belongs. I'm sure you understand."
"I do."
"Then you'll."
"I'll make sure this money returns to where it belongs. You are forgiven child. Go forth and sin no more."
"Gracias Padre."
Father McCulley waited in the confessional for the sound of the opposite door opening, he listened for the sound of feet crossing the floor and for the doors of the church to open and shut. Then he counted out a minute before leaving his own confessional and opening the door to the other one. Inside was a black leather bag which when opened was filled with bills of varying denominations and seated on the bench were two pieces of paper. One was a record of names and amounts which he placed in his pocket for later and the other was a note which read.
'Father McCulley
'For too long have the good people of this city been forced to pay tribute to cruel men. It is time that things change, time that someone stands and fights for those who can't. Justice will come for those who have waited for it. Bringing protection for the innocent and judgement to the wicked.
This is the pledge of Zorro.'
Having read the letter Father McCulley ran outside to try and catch a glimpse of this strange benefactor and as if she had been waiting for him, he saw a figure all in black astride a motorcycle. He couldn't the identify the make or model of the bike which was driving away from his church at speed. He didn't call out to her or make any sound but as if in response to his presence the rider pulled the bike up onto the back wheel and raised her hat as if in farewell before speeding away. Driving off into the night under the light of a full moon.'For too long have the good people of this city been forced to pay tribute to cruel men. It is time that things change, time that someone stands and fights for those who can't. Justice will come for those who have waited for it. Bringing protection for the innocent and judgement to the wicked.
This is the pledge of Zorro.'
ZZZ
Miles away in a hidden cave the black figures bike came to a stop and she stepped off to be met by a rather striking man. Judging by his face he could be anywhere between fifty or seventy but it was still handsome and had a thick mane of silver hair. Keen and intelligent brown eyes looked over the figure of Zorro as a small smile played on his lips.
"And how was Zorro's first ride?"
Zorro removed her mask before answering.
"It all went exactly according to plan Granddad." Taylor Hebert answered as the accent she'd been using throughout the night faded away.
THIS BOLD RENEGADE CARVES A Z WITH HER BLADE
A Z WHICH STANDS FOR ZORRO
This was fun for me ^_^
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Hexcalibur
Not So Ordinary Sword
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- It
Lisa has been likened to a fox in various fics. I can't get the image of a meeting between Lisa and this Taylor/Zorro where Lisa is wearing bunny slippers and onesie out of my head.
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Zorro: I am sorry I cannot stay to entertain you longer senorita. But rest assured these funds shall go where they are needed (Turns away from Lisa who is staring wide eyed and makes her way to the window). Before I forget may I just say you look adorable (leaps out into the night)
Lisa charges over and leans out the window: ALL OF MY HATE!
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Overview: Muse Of The Bay Alt Powe
So bit of a slow writing week, long story short my department at work got shut down and I got transferred somewhere new and am training, Slightly brain fried most nights, but an actual chapter of something will be up in the next couple days so idea time (this is largely me subtly hoping someone would be willing to help me write the songs)
As said volunteers for help would be appreciated so if anyone for whatever reason anyone wants this to happen put your hand up in the chat
While Q.A was connected with Danny she kept a bit of an eye out on what was going on in the outside and during a date with Annette Queen Administrator discovered something AMAZING... Musicals.
Annette always had a weakness for them and shared her love with Taylor.
Flash forward to the locker and Taylor is on the verge of passing out and triggering all the while lamenting to herself that she doesn't understand why people are doing this and Q.A gets a wonderful, terrible idea.
Instead of the original bug idea Taylor gets a human master power.
She can compel people around her to break into song.
She can't compel what people say in the song she just gets them to reveal what's there. Taylor can nudge and prompt where she wants things to go but she can't command. For example she couldn't make Piggot suddenly love and trust parahumans but she could get her to express her trauma and be honest about it.
Her power first manifests when she accidentally uses it on Danny and the two sing a duet about the distance between them and their desire to be a family again.
As Muse Taylor acts partly as an investigator using her powers to elicit confessions and revelations and also as essentially a relationship counsellor for the trauma babies known as Superheroes.
At one point she acts as a wingwoman for Dragon and Armsmaster
Annette always had a weakness for them and shared her love with Taylor.
Flash forward to the locker and Taylor is on the verge of passing out and triggering all the while lamenting to herself that she doesn't understand why people are doing this and Q.A gets a wonderful, terrible idea.
Instead of the original bug idea Taylor gets a human master power.
She can compel people around her to break into song.
She can't compel what people say in the song she just gets them to reveal what's there. Taylor can nudge and prompt where she wants things to go but she can't command. For example she couldn't make Piggot suddenly love and trust parahumans but she could get her to express her trauma and be honest about it.
Her power first manifests when she accidentally uses it on Danny and the two sing a duet about the distance between them and their desire to be a family again.
As Muse Taylor acts partly as an investigator using her powers to elicit confessions and revelations and also as essentially a relationship counsellor for the trauma babies known as Superheroes.
At one point she acts as a wingwoman for Dragon and Armsmaster
As said volunteers for help would be appreciated so if anyone for whatever reason anyone wants this to happen put your hand up in the chat
So taylor would basically become a disney princess? Will her powers be to master people around her to sing and dance as if worm was set in a universe created by Disney?
Just one question, who would be princess tay-tay's prince(ss) charming?
My money's on her having a gaylor harem.
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Basically yeah, she can basically suddenly turn it into a broadway musical and in the course of that cause people to reveal things about themselves (Emma needing to push Taylor down to feel strong for example)
Poor tay-tay. Her life will become high school musical: Escalation edition.
Here's my guess for tay-tay's love interest(s):
Lisa, Amy, vicky, rune, Rachel
Taylor and Carol get into a rap battle about healthy family dynamics (testing one two, testing three is this thing on are you testing me) and those two start swooning
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Sounds a lot like Presenting: Sullivan!
I liked that one, but it was quite short, it was a pure PHO fic, and the author didn't give us the actual songs.
- Location
- Best England - United Kingdom
Now Hear me out Worm the Bollywood edition!
Mmmm... Dallon Sandwich with a side of...
Smugbug good choices sir/madam.
This is never going to get written because I'm going to keep checking out "reference materials"
The Fox So Cunning And Free: Chapter 2
I had hoped to get something connected to Halloween out but the muses and real life did not cooperate. Even this isn't entirely what I wanted it to be I was originally going to have Taylor's backstory shown in full here but it just didn't seem to flow right.
Alejandro de la Vega was a man used to keeping himself in control, over the course of many years and many adventures he had mastered the ability of never allowing himself to appear anything other than calm and collected. Still when he saw his granddaughter dismount her motorcycle and turn to him with a wild grin on her face, he couldn't keep his body from sagging in relief nor stop a delighted smile from coming to his lips.
"And how was Zorro's first ride?" He asked hoping that the worry that had consumed him over the last few hours had been concealed. It was hard enough to play the part of the bold caballero without knowing there were people at home worrying for you.
"It all went exactly according to plan Granddad."
Taylor beamed as she removed the hat and mask that had concealed her face and allowed her natural accent to take hold. As soon as she was within arms-reach, Alejandro removed the hat and mask from her hands and exchanged them for a pair of glasses which she quickly put on.
"Good." Alejandro responded as he went behind Taylor and began to help her remove the cape. "Did the lenses in your mask work properly?"
"Yup, stayed in place perfectly and I had the eyes of a hawk the whole time." Taylor paused for a moment and tilted her head in contemplation. "Or the eyes of a fox I suppose. Do foxes have good eyesight?"
"I know one fox that had better keep her eyes sharp." Alejandro rebutted as he stepped away from her. "Did you run into any trouble?"
"I got in a fight with a couple of goons." Taylor answered as she removed her whip and sword in order to place them in storage. "They weren't any trouble so I embarrassed them a little bit and then made my getaway when their back up showed up." Taylor placed her weapons down and turned to look at her grandfather and mentor with pride in her eyes. "Got away with the money clean."
"Good that's going to do more harm to the Empire than if you had just gotten in a fight with some of their muscle." Alejandro noted. "Did you leave the money with Father McCulley?" Taylor nodded. "Good we can follow up on that in a day or two, now get changed it's been a late night best you get some sleep."
"Fine, fine."
"And be quiet when you go upstairs, your father is sleeping."
Moments later Taylor emerged from the alcove set aside for wardrobe changes and began to follow her grandfather up the incline deeper into the cave.
"You know in all the excitement I never asked what even is this place?"
"Back in prohibition rum runners used these caves to store and transport their wares." Alejandro explained. "Since than various ne'er-do-wells have made use of them." He turned and gave Taylor a roguish wink. When I had the house built it was easy enough to pass off a passageway to them as an escape route in case of villains or the like."
"But if these are on the plans then couldn't people figure out about."
"It's possible but most of the great and good have similar escape routes built into their homes and I paid the discretionary fees. It's not perfect but I hired people I've worked with before and so long as you are careful not to be followed… Well, it's the best we can do."
Just as Alejandro was finishing speaking, they arrived at a seeming dead end, moving silently Taylor came up next to him and looked through the well-hidden peephole to survey the scene. After a moment she pulled away.
"Coast is clear."
Without another word Taylor pressed firmly on two specific pieces of brickwork and pushed. With a slight grunt of exertion, the wall began to move and the two emerged into the rather spacious living room of their new home. As the hidden door closed behind them Taylor stretched and let out a long yawn.
"You've had a long night." Alejandro said fondly as he ruffled Taylor's hair quickly. "Go to bed, we'll have much to do tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, that sou-" Taylor's reply was cut off by yet another yawn. "Sounds good, tomorrow we can-"
"What we do tomorrow can wait for tomorrow. Go. Sleep." Alejandro instructed firmly as he pointed towards the stairs.
"Yeah, yeah."
The answer to her unasked question came in the form of a scent gently wafting its way through the house, Taylor's nose twitched as the scent of bacon made itself known to her. This scent was followed closely by the scents of brewing tea and scrambled eggs.
"Fine, fine, you win."
Taylor grumped to herself as she rolled out from under her blankets and headed for the kitchen idly wondering to herself what the special occasion was and down in the kitchen someone else was wondering the same thing.
Alejandro sat comfortably at the kitchen island and observed his son in law happily frying bacon and cooking eggs at the stove. Once more he looked over the perfectly laid out table, took a sip of the perfectly brewed coffee he held in his hand and pondered the situation he found himself in.
"Danny." He began hesitantly. "You're going to quite a lot of trouble this morning."
"It's no trouble at all." Danny said quickly as he turned over the bacon. "I have to make breakfast for myself, no reason I can't make any for you and Taylor."
"From what Annette told me your typical breakfast was a piece of toast that you ate in the truck."
At the stove Danny let out a long sigh and turned to look Alejandro in the eye for the first time since he'd joined him in the kitchen. He ran a hand over his jaw and made a few aborted attempts to respond before finally letting out the truth.
"You remember what things were right last year, why Taylor went up to stay with you?"
"Son."
"Let me finish." Danny cut him off with a raised hand and a pleading look. "I didn't handle things well when Annette… well you know but here we are new house, new day, new chance and I just want to start things off right." He let out a slightly bitter laugh. "Don't want you to regret picking up my slack."
Before anything else could be said Danny turned back to the stove and began to survey the eggs intently before beginning to load up three plates with eggs, bacon and fried potatoes. Without a word Alejandro got up from his seat and took a plate from Danny.
"For the record." Alejandro stated firmly as he made sure he was looking Danny in the eye. "I didn't pick up your slack. When you and Annette married you became my son, the De la Vega family looks after each other. Having Taylor in California with me, moving down here to be with you both. It's all been a pleasure, an absolute pleasure. Never doubt that."
"Everything okay here?" Taylor's voice cut in and moving as one both men turned to see her standing in the entranceway to the kitchen with a brow arched.
"Everything's fine Taylor." Alejandro answered cheerfully. "Your father was just instructing me on his secret to the perfect scrambled eggs."
"Grab a seat." Danny instructed as he placed two plates down. "Time to eat."
Without another word the family of three proceeded to do just that and for a time they just enjoyed being with each other and took pleasure in a simple meal well made. The domestic bliss was cut short by the ringing of a phone. Danny grumbled to himself as he got up to answer it and as soon as his back was turned his last piece of bacon was stolen by his oh so beloved daughter.
"I was under the impression everything was handled."
Danny's voice was tense, whatever the phone call was about it was clearly not information Danny was happy to hear. Grandfather and granddaughter exchanged a look and both inched themselves closer to Danny hoping to pick up what was being said on the other side of the phone without being too obvious about it.
"Fine, fine. Can you email me it or fax it over to me?" The answer caused Danny to grind his teeth. "Of course, you can't. I'll be in when I can, just have those papers ready for me to sign."
Without waiting for a reply Danny hung up the phone with perhaps just a tad more force than was strictly necessary.
"What's that about Dad?"
"That was Winslow." Danny said making a great effort to keep his voice calm. "Apparently there's some forms I need to sign to confirm your enrollment but they didn't want to bother me with them because they were sure a spot at Arcadia or Immaculata would open up and they didn't want to waste my time with unnecessary paperwork."
"I'm guessing a sport didn't open up?" Alejandro replied.
"No, we're at the top of the waiting list apparently." Danny shrugged as he leaned back against the counter. "I just need to figure out how I'm going to find time to get down there I'm swamped today."
"Why don't I handle the school?" Alejandro volunteered. "Taylor was going to show me around town anyways, so there's no reason we can't drop by the school right sweetheart?"
"Go to school on the last day of summer vacation. Sounds great." Taylor snarked.
"Then its settled." Alejandro thumped the table as he made his declaration. "Daniel will go and bring home the bacon and Taylor and I shall do battle with the forces of bureaucracy."
He'd joined the clergy all those years ago ultimately out of a simple desire to help people and while yes there was certainly satisfaction and meaning to be found in resolving matters of the spirit, he'd be a liar if he said he didn't love the satisfaction of helping in a more practical sense. He was pulled from his musings by a knock at the door of his office.
"Come in."
The door opened to reveal the tired face of Frank Vallejo, owner of the Vallejo hardware store.
"Frank it's wonderful to see you." Father McCulley beamed as he waved the man in. "Please, please take a seat."
"Thank you." Frank nodded as he sat down. "Not to be rude Father but can we make this quick? Yesterday was, well I can't afford to miss much business if you catch my meaning."
"Of course, of course I won't keep you long." The smiling priest reached into his desk and pulled out an envelope which he immediately handed over. "A benefactor came by the church last night and well suffice to say I believe this is yours."
"I don't understand, I haven't lost any-" Frank's voice trailed off as he opened the envelope. "This must be nearly two grand. I don't understand."
"One thousand, eight hundred and fifty-even dollars to be exact." Father McCulley said evenly. "Which coincidentally I believe will match the losses you'd planned to report as shrinkage this month." A mischievous grin came across his lips. "Funny how things work out sometimes isn't it?"
"Yeah, funny." Frank nodded. "I don't suppose you can tell me who this benefactor was."
"For the time being I believe they would prefer to remain anonymous but I have a feeling we'll be hearing from them again."
"I know this was kind of sprung on you today." He began hesitantly as he placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder. "If you'd prefer you can just wait in the car while I take care of this."
Taylor shook her head, weakly at first and then once more with a firmer resolve.
"No, it's fine." She insisted. "I was shot at last night. This is nothing."
Without another word she quickly got out of the car and marched over to the entrance. After a moment Alejandro followed after her.
"That's my girl."
As soon as the two entered the school they were met with the sight of graffitied walls, broken windows and a pervading sense of neglect. As if the universe itself had decided that the halls of Winslow High School weren't something worthy of attention.
"They cleaned up the place." Taylor noted as she looked around briefly. "Come on Granddad, the office should be down here."
As they drew closer to the administrative offices, they both noticed that the floors grew cleaner, the graffiti became less offensive and while there was still broken glass on the floor in places, the windows themselves had actually been replaced. By the time they walked in the door and Alejandro gave the middle-aged receptionist his most charming grin the school looked downright passable.
"Good morning miss." Alejandro said smoothly as the two of them walked up to the desk. "My granddaughter is going to be attending starting Monday and I believe there's some paperwork that needs to be filled out."
"Oh yes of course." The receptionist replied as she placed a stack of papers next to Alejandro. "It's just these few forms."
"I see." Alejandro quickly took note of her name plate. "Alison, I wonder if I could trouble you for a small favor?" The slight Spanish accent that always tinged his voice intensified and Taylor began to wonder if she should be somewhere else.
"That depends on what it is." The receptionist giggled like a woman half her age.
"Nothing strenuous I assure you. I just wondered if you might print off Taylor's schedule so that she can get herself familiar with the school. No sense in her just standing around bored."
"Of course, I'd be happy to." Alison simpered as she quickly handed off a piece of paper to Taylor who reluctantly took it.
"Great I'll just go wander while you two… yeah."
Taylor muttered as she quickly left the room. As soon as the door closed behind her Alejandro leaned in close and his voice grew serious.
"There is one more thing. I wonder if I might have a word with principal Blackwell."
So distracted by her mutterings and thoughts of righteous vengeance against her own flesh and blood Taylor hadn't been giving as much attention to what was in front of her as she otherwise might have and was now playing the price for her error. She'd collided with some kind of hard substance and was now falling back to collide with the hard and most likely dirty ground. Strangely however there was no sudden sharp pain, no sharp exhale of air as she collided with the ground, instead there was a gentle pressure on her wrists and a force pulling her forwards.
"I'm so sorry, I should have been paying attention to where I was going. Are you alright?"
The friendly voice brought Taylor back to reality and she quickly took stock of the young man who up till now had been known as the wall. He was tall and broad with a friendly grin and a gentle voice. To make matters worse for Taylor, the muscles that were clearly showing underneath his tight t-shirt were clearly not just for show as he easily pulled her up right again.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Taylor answered quickly as she extricated herself from his grasp. "No harm done."
"Great." Somehow the boy's smile grew even bigger and brighter. "Anyways I'm Carlos." He offered her his hand.
"Taylor." She replied simply as she accepted the handshake.
"Great to meet another volunteer." He beamed. "I figure we can start at the main entrance and get that taken care of."
"Wait hold up." Taylor held her hands up. "Volunteer? What are you talking about?"
"The, the clean-up." Carlos stuttered. "The school clean up, that's why you're here right?"
An awkward silence grew between the two of them as Taylor slowly shook her head no.
"Sorry, I'm just starting here Monday." Taylor's voice was sheepish as she tried to fight back the sense of guilt his hangdog expression was trying to create in her. "Never even heard about a clean-up."
"Oh, sorry for trying to conscript you then." Carlos rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I guess I got a little excited when someone actually showed up. Anyways I'd better go get started."
Carlos quickly grabbed a heavy bucket of soapy water and a stack of rags and sponges that had been sitting on the floor unnoticed during their conversation and began to head off on his merry way leaving Taylor alone.
A few seconds passed and Taylor noted something interesting about what he'd said, a few seconds more passed and she began to feel guilty. After a few more seconds where she tried to convince herself that it wasn't her problem, she jogged after Carlos and caught up to him in seconds.
"Quick question."
"Shoot." Carlos replied as he kept on walking.
"How many people are going to show up today?"
"Oh, plenty of people." Carlos laughed. "There's me of course and myself and I… Between you and me though I is lazy as hell, he might as well not even be here."
"So, it's just you." Taylor noted as she caught a sponge that was beginning to slip from Carlos's grip.
"Yeah, just me."
"And how long have you been planning this whole thing?"
"Bout a month."
"So, you've been setting this up for a month and no one bothered to show up. No friends, no nobody."
"Yes, that about sums it up." Carlos's voice was beginning to sound agitated. "Are you going somewhere with this or just rubbing it in?"
"No, no." Taylor said quickly. "Nothing like that I'm just wondering if no one cares about what you're doing, why bother?"
"Well it's like the man said unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not."
"Did you just quote Doctor Seuss?" Taylor chuckled as the two continued making their way to the entrance.
"I happen to find it very inspiring. Thank you very much." Carlos sniffed haughtily.
"Fair enough." Taylor paused for a moment. "I don't know how long I can stay but I'll help out for as long as I can."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, seriously."
"Thank you, Taylor."
Pieces are slowly coming together in what will serve as the pueblo
Alejandro de la Vega was a man used to keeping himself in control, over the course of many years and many adventures he had mastered the ability of never allowing himself to appear anything other than calm and collected. Still when he saw his granddaughter dismount her motorcycle and turn to him with a wild grin on her face, he couldn't keep his body from sagging in relief nor stop a delighted smile from coming to his lips.
"And how was Zorro's first ride?" He asked hoping that the worry that had consumed him over the last few hours had been concealed. It was hard enough to play the part of the bold caballero without knowing there were people at home worrying for you.
"It all went exactly according to plan Granddad."
Taylor beamed as she removed the hat and mask that had concealed her face and allowed her natural accent to take hold. As soon as she was within arms-reach, Alejandro removed the hat and mask from her hands and exchanged them for a pair of glasses which she quickly put on.
"Good." Alejandro responded as he went behind Taylor and began to help her remove the cape. "Did the lenses in your mask work properly?"
"Yup, stayed in place perfectly and I had the eyes of a hawk the whole time." Taylor paused for a moment and tilted her head in contemplation. "Or the eyes of a fox I suppose. Do foxes have good eyesight?"
"I know one fox that had better keep her eyes sharp." Alejandro rebutted as he stepped away from her. "Did you run into any trouble?"
"I got in a fight with a couple of goons." Taylor answered as she removed her whip and sword in order to place them in storage. "They weren't any trouble so I embarrassed them a little bit and then made my getaway when their back up showed up." Taylor placed her weapons down and turned to look at her grandfather and mentor with pride in her eyes. "Got away with the money clean."
"Good that's going to do more harm to the Empire than if you had just gotten in a fight with some of their muscle." Alejandro noted. "Did you leave the money with Father McCulley?" Taylor nodded. "Good we can follow up on that in a day or two, now get changed it's been a late night best you get some sleep."
"Fine, fine."
"And be quiet when you go upstairs, your father is sleeping."
Moments later Taylor emerged from the alcove set aside for wardrobe changes and began to follow her grandfather up the incline deeper into the cave.
"You know in all the excitement I never asked what even is this place?"
"Back in prohibition rum runners used these caves to store and transport their wares." Alejandro explained. "Since than various ne'er-do-wells have made use of them." He turned and gave Taylor a roguish wink. When I had the house built it was easy enough to pass off a passageway to them as an escape route in case of villains or the like."
"But if these are on the plans then couldn't people figure out about."
"It's possible but most of the great and good have similar escape routes built into their homes and I paid the discretionary fees. It's not perfect but I hired people I've worked with before and so long as you are careful not to be followed… Well, it's the best we can do."
Just as Alejandro was finishing speaking, they arrived at a seeming dead end, moving silently Taylor came up next to him and looked through the well-hidden peephole to survey the scene. After a moment she pulled away.
"Coast is clear."
Without another word Taylor pressed firmly on two specific pieces of brickwork and pushed. With a slight grunt of exertion, the wall began to move and the two emerged into the rather spacious living room of their new home. As the hidden door closed behind them Taylor stretched and let out a long yawn.
"You've had a long night." Alejandro said fondly as he ruffled Taylor's hair quickly. "Go to bed, we'll have much to do tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, that sou-" Taylor's reply was cut off by yet another yawn. "Sounds good, tomorrow we can-"
"What we do tomorrow can wait for tomorrow. Go. Sleep." Alejandro instructed firmly as he pointed towards the stairs.
"Yeah, yeah."
ZZZ
Hours passed and eventually dawn broke in Brockton Bay, the bright light of the sun shone through the window onto the sleeping visage of Taylor Hebert and was promptly ignored. With a wordless grumble she shifted in her bed to bury her face in her pillow and continue pursuing her goal of sleeping till noon at the minimum. After all there was still a whole three days before school began again, she had no friends to see and her job had her working nights, what possible reason would she have to get up and leave the comfort of her haven?
The answer to her unasked question came in the form of a scent gently wafting its way through the house, Taylor's nose twitched as the scent of bacon made itself known to her. This scent was followed closely by the scents of brewing tea and scrambled eggs.
"Fine, fine, you win."
Taylor grumped to herself as she rolled out from under her blankets and headed for the kitchen idly wondering to herself what the special occasion was and down in the kitchen someone else was wondering the same thing.
Alejandro sat comfortably at the kitchen island and observed his son in law happily frying bacon and cooking eggs at the stove. Once more he looked over the perfectly laid out table, took a sip of the perfectly brewed coffee he held in his hand and pondered the situation he found himself in.
"Danny." He began hesitantly. "You're going to quite a lot of trouble this morning."
"It's no trouble at all." Danny said quickly as he turned over the bacon. "I have to make breakfast for myself, no reason I can't make any for you and Taylor."
"From what Annette told me your typical breakfast was a piece of toast that you ate in the truck."
At the stove Danny let out a long sigh and turned to look Alejandro in the eye for the first time since he'd joined him in the kitchen. He ran a hand over his jaw and made a few aborted attempts to respond before finally letting out the truth.
"You remember what things were right last year, why Taylor went up to stay with you?"
"Son."
"Let me finish." Danny cut him off with a raised hand and a pleading look. "I didn't handle things well when Annette… well you know but here we are new house, new day, new chance and I just want to start things off right." He let out a slightly bitter laugh. "Don't want you to regret picking up my slack."
Before anything else could be said Danny turned back to the stove and began to survey the eggs intently before beginning to load up three plates with eggs, bacon and fried potatoes. Without a word Alejandro got up from his seat and took a plate from Danny.
"For the record." Alejandro stated firmly as he made sure he was looking Danny in the eye. "I didn't pick up your slack. When you and Annette married you became my son, the De la Vega family looks after each other. Having Taylor in California with me, moving down here to be with you both. It's all been a pleasure, an absolute pleasure. Never doubt that."
"Everything okay here?" Taylor's voice cut in and moving as one both men turned to see her standing in the entranceway to the kitchen with a brow arched.
"Everything's fine Taylor." Alejandro answered cheerfully. "Your father was just instructing me on his secret to the perfect scrambled eggs."
"Grab a seat." Danny instructed as he placed two plates down. "Time to eat."
Without another word the family of three proceeded to do just that and for a time they just enjoyed being with each other and took pleasure in a simple meal well made. The domestic bliss was cut short by the ringing of a phone. Danny grumbled to himself as he got up to answer it and as soon as his back was turned his last piece of bacon was stolen by his oh so beloved daughter.
"I was under the impression everything was handled."
Danny's voice was tense, whatever the phone call was about it was clearly not information Danny was happy to hear. Grandfather and granddaughter exchanged a look and both inched themselves closer to Danny hoping to pick up what was being said on the other side of the phone without being too obvious about it.
"Fine, fine. Can you email me it or fax it over to me?" The answer caused Danny to grind his teeth. "Of course, you can't. I'll be in when I can, just have those papers ready for me to sign."
Without waiting for a reply Danny hung up the phone with perhaps just a tad more force than was strictly necessary.
"What's that about Dad?"
"That was Winslow." Danny said making a great effort to keep his voice calm. "Apparently there's some forms I need to sign to confirm your enrollment but they didn't want to bother me with them because they were sure a spot at Arcadia or Immaculata would open up and they didn't want to waste my time with unnecessary paperwork."
"I'm guessing a sport didn't open up?" Alejandro replied.
"No, we're at the top of the waiting list apparently." Danny shrugged as he leaned back against the counter. "I just need to figure out how I'm going to find time to get down there I'm swamped today."
"Why don't I handle the school?" Alejandro volunteered. "Taylor was going to show me around town anyways, so there's no reason we can't drop by the school right sweetheart?"
"Go to school on the last day of summer vacation. Sounds great." Taylor snarked.
"Then its settled." Alejandro thumped the table as he made his declaration. "Daniel will go and bring home the bacon and Taylor and I shall do battle with the forces of bureaucracy."
ZZZ
Within the walls of the church that had been his home for more years than he cared to remember some days Father John McCulley was eagerly awaiting his next meeting. Seated in his office the old man looked almost as giddy as a school boy as once more he opened his desk to check if the money was still there, that the events of last night had not been some strange dream.
He'd joined the clergy all those years ago ultimately out of a simple desire to help people and while yes there was certainly satisfaction and meaning to be found in resolving matters of the spirit, he'd be a liar if he said he didn't love the satisfaction of helping in a more practical sense. He was pulled from his musings by a knock at the door of his office.
"Come in."
The door opened to reveal the tired face of Frank Vallejo, owner of the Vallejo hardware store.
"Frank it's wonderful to see you." Father McCulley beamed as he waved the man in. "Please, please take a seat."
"Thank you." Frank nodded as he sat down. "Not to be rude Father but can we make this quick? Yesterday was, well I can't afford to miss much business if you catch my meaning."
"Of course, of course I won't keep you long." The smiling priest reached into his desk and pulled out an envelope which he immediately handed over. "A benefactor came by the church last night and well suffice to say I believe this is yours."
"I don't understand, I haven't lost any-" Frank's voice trailed off as he opened the envelope. "This must be nearly two grand. I don't understand."
"One thousand, eight hundred and fifty-even dollars to be exact." Father McCulley said evenly. "Which coincidentally I believe will match the losses you'd planned to report as shrinkage this month." A mischievous grin came across his lips. "Funny how things work out sometimes isn't it?"
"Yeah, funny." Frank nodded. "I don't suppose you can tell me who this benefactor was."
"For the time being I believe they would prefer to remain anonymous but I have a feeling we'll be hearing from them again."
ZZZ
Across town another meeting was scheduled to take place in a rather less virtuous environment. In the parking lot of Winslow High School Taylor and Alejandro sat in the parking lot and took a moment to prepare themselves. After a moment of silence Alejandro spoke.
"I know this was kind of sprung on you today." He began hesitantly as he placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder. "If you'd prefer you can just wait in the car while I take care of this."
Taylor shook her head, weakly at first and then once more with a firmer resolve.
"No, it's fine." She insisted. "I was shot at last night. This is nothing."
Without another word she quickly got out of the car and marched over to the entrance. After a moment Alejandro followed after her.
"That's my girl."
As soon as the two entered the school they were met with the sight of graffitied walls, broken windows and a pervading sense of neglect. As if the universe itself had decided that the halls of Winslow High School weren't something worthy of attention.
"They cleaned up the place." Taylor noted as she looked around briefly. "Come on Granddad, the office should be down here."
As they drew closer to the administrative offices, they both noticed that the floors grew cleaner, the graffiti became less offensive and while there was still broken glass on the floor in places, the windows themselves had actually been replaced. By the time they walked in the door and Alejandro gave the middle-aged receptionist his most charming grin the school looked downright passable.
"Good morning miss." Alejandro said smoothly as the two of them walked up to the desk. "My granddaughter is going to be attending starting Monday and I believe there's some paperwork that needs to be filled out."
"Oh yes of course." The receptionist replied as she placed a stack of papers next to Alejandro. "It's just these few forms."
"I see." Alejandro quickly took note of her name plate. "Alison, I wonder if I could trouble you for a small favor?" The slight Spanish accent that always tinged his voice intensified and Taylor began to wonder if she should be somewhere else.
"That depends on what it is." The receptionist giggled like a woman half her age.
"Nothing strenuous I assure you. I just wondered if you might print off Taylor's schedule so that she can get herself familiar with the school. No sense in her just standing around bored."
"Of course, I'd be happy to." Alison simpered as she quickly handed off a piece of paper to Taylor who reluctantly took it.
"Great I'll just go wander while you two… yeah."
Taylor muttered as she quickly left the room. As soon as the door closed behind her Alejandro leaned in close and his voice grew serious.
"There is one more thing. I wonder if I might have a word with principal Blackwell."
ZZZ
"No sense in her getting bored, don't think I don't know what you're up to old man." Taylor muttered to herself as she stalked through the halls. "Waste of time, not like anything ever changes in this oofff."
So distracted by her mutterings and thoughts of righteous vengeance against her own flesh and blood Taylor hadn't been giving as much attention to what was in front of her as she otherwise might have and was now playing the price for her error. She'd collided with some kind of hard substance and was now falling back to collide with the hard and most likely dirty ground. Strangely however there was no sudden sharp pain, no sharp exhale of air as she collided with the ground, instead there was a gentle pressure on her wrists and a force pulling her forwards.
"I'm so sorry, I should have been paying attention to where I was going. Are you alright?"
The friendly voice brought Taylor back to reality and she quickly took stock of the young man who up till now had been known as the wall. He was tall and broad with a friendly grin and a gentle voice. To make matters worse for Taylor, the muscles that were clearly showing underneath his tight t-shirt were clearly not just for show as he easily pulled her up right again.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Taylor answered quickly as she extricated herself from his grasp. "No harm done."
"Great." Somehow the boy's smile grew even bigger and brighter. "Anyways I'm Carlos." He offered her his hand.
"Taylor." She replied simply as she accepted the handshake.
"Great to meet another volunteer." He beamed. "I figure we can start at the main entrance and get that taken care of."
"Wait hold up." Taylor held her hands up. "Volunteer? What are you talking about?"
"The, the clean-up." Carlos stuttered. "The school clean up, that's why you're here right?"
An awkward silence grew between the two of them as Taylor slowly shook her head no.
"Sorry, I'm just starting here Monday." Taylor's voice was sheepish as she tried to fight back the sense of guilt his hangdog expression was trying to create in her. "Never even heard about a clean-up."
"Oh, sorry for trying to conscript you then." Carlos rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I guess I got a little excited when someone actually showed up. Anyways I'd better go get started."
Carlos quickly grabbed a heavy bucket of soapy water and a stack of rags and sponges that had been sitting on the floor unnoticed during their conversation and began to head off on his merry way leaving Taylor alone.
A few seconds passed and Taylor noted something interesting about what he'd said, a few seconds more passed and she began to feel guilty. After a few more seconds where she tried to convince herself that it wasn't her problem, she jogged after Carlos and caught up to him in seconds.
"Quick question."
"Shoot." Carlos replied as he kept on walking.
"How many people are going to show up today?"
"Oh, plenty of people." Carlos laughed. "There's me of course and myself and I… Between you and me though I is lazy as hell, he might as well not even be here."
"So, it's just you." Taylor noted as she caught a sponge that was beginning to slip from Carlos's grip.
"Yeah, just me."
"And how long have you been planning this whole thing?"
"Bout a month."
"So, you've been setting this up for a month and no one bothered to show up. No friends, no nobody."
"Yes, that about sums it up." Carlos's voice was beginning to sound agitated. "Are you going somewhere with this or just rubbing it in?"
"No, no." Taylor said quickly. "Nothing like that I'm just wondering if no one cares about what you're doing, why bother?"
"Well it's like the man said unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not."
"Did you just quote Doctor Seuss?" Taylor chuckled as the two continued making their way to the entrance.
"I happen to find it very inspiring. Thank you very much." Carlos sniffed haughtily.
"Fair enough." Taylor paused for a moment. "I don't know how long I can stay but I'll help out for as long as I can."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, seriously."
"Thank you, Taylor."
Pieces are slowly coming together in what will serve as the pueblo
Hexcalibur
Not So Ordinary Sword
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- It
He's not Carlos the Wards Aegis is he? Because I can't see a reason for him to clean up Winslow. Is he a student there?
Not really sure how long it'll be before I have a place to reveal this in story so spoilers ahead be aware
Yes, that's Aegis, without getting into too many details one of the butterfly effects of Taylor being gone for a year is emma and co targeted someone who was willing to take advantage of the fact they live in Nazi central. In the aftermath Sophia was transferred to Arcadia where she'd be safe… and Piggot can keep an eye on her. Downside is Winslow is where a fair amount of non cape muscle gets drawn from and it's useful to have someone there to keep an ear to the ground. Piggot asked for volunteers to be transferred there and Carlos agreed in exchange for certain perks