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Wormverse ideas, recs, and fic discussion thread 1

A short and sweet snip. Time loops are a blast.
--


Timelooping Tinker


Bakuda stared at Lung in disbelief. He wanted to kill her, his only ally in the Birdcage, just to make the other villains see what a scary nutjob he was.

Crazy bastard. But she'd make him pay for underestimating her.

Bakuda flicked her arm, and an arrangement of bedsprings and twisted scrap metal dropped from her sleeve into her open hand. "I'll punch a hole in the outside of the cell if you come any closer. Air flows out of the room, door seals shut, we both suffocate."

"You are not fast enough."

"Wanna bet?"

He did.


----------


Bakuda felt the brush of cool air on her skin. A cacophany of sound swelled around her. Footsteps, voices, rustling of papers. The sounds of a college classroom going out of session.

She was alive?

She opened her eyes. In front of her was a corkboard with a single sheet of paper pinned in the center. The score listings for her quantum physics course at Cornell. The final exam.

That final exam.

Oh fucking hell no.

She wasn't alive. She was dead. And this was hell.

"Oooh, look at this. 'Grace the Ace' got fifth place on the final. That gives her, what, a B minus for the semester?"

"Heh. Guess ten hours of studying a day isn't a substitute for talent."

"I know! Seriously! I told miss high school valedictorian, it takes more than hard work to make it in the big leagues. You need at least a glimmer of actual intelligence-."

Bakuda spun a hundred and eighty degrees and decked 'Ginny the Genuis' in the face. The pudgy pissant squawked and tumbled to the ground, a trickle of blood leaking from one nostril.

The bustle of students gave way to a deathly silence.

Bakuda glared at the other students, daring them to make a move. She didn't understand how she was alive, how she was back at Cornell during her trigger event, or how she had apparently, improbably, gone back in time. But she did understand one thing.

She was Bakuda. The greatest bomb expert in the world. And if this was hell, she was going to show the devil the true meaning of fucking hellfire.

Bakuda turned to her old rival, still sprawled on the floor in shock.

"Run, little girl." she hissed. "You have no idea how lucky you are that I have bigger fish to fry."

She licked her lips. "And incinerate. And disintegrate. And implode. And warp into twisted parodies of nature. And overload their nervous systems with ultimate agony and lock them that way forever, preserved in a endless, frozen moment of time. Ahahahahahaha!"

Bakuda turned on her heel and stalked out of the physics department, making her way to engineering. Had to whip up a few HE and stun grenades, so she could hold off security while she turned the high energy synchrotron into something useful.

As she walked, she noticed that she had a thin strip of white tickertape paper clutched in her left hand. She untangled the papers from her fingers and smoothed out the wrinkles. There was a message, printed in plain black and white lettering.

PATHETIC. GANKED BY LUNG LIKE A CHUMP. TRY HARDER THIS TIME.

A message from her future self?

The epiphany set her mind on fire, and sent her thoughts into overdrive. That was the only explanation. Her very existence, here and now, was proof of Lipschitz's multiple-worlds theory. One of her alternate future selves must have made a device that triggered on her past self's death and transplanted her mind into a new body in the endless sea of nearly identical alternate worlds.

Truly amazing. A supreme masterwork of a device. And what did her supergenius future self do with her real ultimate power?

Send her condescending motivational messages filled with snarky bullshit.

PATHETIC. GANKED BY LUNG LIKE A CHUMP. TRY HARDER THIS TIME.

Bakuda gritted her teeth. Well you know what? Fuck that, and fuck her. No one mocked her and got away with it. Not even herself. She'd show that bitch who was boss.

...

Lung inspected the small metal capsule. "These will allow my soldiers to defeat the Empire brutes? Hookwolf, Fenja, and Menja?"

Bakuda grinned behind her gas mask. "Yeah, like this!"

She leaped out the window and jammed her thumb on the detonator. The building turned into a pillar of flame, molten fragments of brick and mortar pouring into the street, a miniature flow of lava.

She backed off a safe distance and lay on the sidewalk, watching the fireworks, laughing and laughing and laughing.

"Take that you traitor motherfucker! Not so tough after all! You made Leviathan your bitch and I made you mine. Guess what? That makes me the queen bitch of Brockton Bay from now on!"

Wait. There was movement in the blast zone. A massive metal clad monster rose from the lava, wreathed in living flame. It caught sight of Bakuda and roared in triumph.

Well, fuck.


-----------


AMAZING. GANKED BY LUNG IN THREE HOURS INSTEAD OF THREE MONTHS. YOUR STUNNING IMPROVEMENT IN EFFICIENCY IS TRULY THE HALLMARK OF A GENIUS.

Bakuda crushed the tickertape in her hand.

...

Lung inspected the small metal capsule. "My soldiers can use these to-"

Bakuda grinned behind her gas mask. "Yeah, like this!"

She leaped out the window and jammed her thumb on the detonator. The building pulsed, its shape warping and squirming and expanding. Within seconds the transformation was complete. The building was now a twisted nest of millions of inch-wide, tube-like tunnels, interlinking in elaborate, sanity-defying violations of geometry that would make MC Escher weep.

Bakuda jumped up and down and clapped her hands with glee.

"Take that you brainless brute! Do you even comprehend what I've done to you? Reshaped you into a five hundred foot long tapeworm, paralyzed and trapped in an infinite maze till you starve to death! Ahahahahaha!"

Bakuda laughed and laughed and laughed. She was a genius, and Vista's power was awesome. The month she spent taking readings of the girl's power were well worth it. She'd have to buy her a beer. Oh, wait, shit, Vista was underage. What did the tyke drink for fun, anyway? Orange juice? Kool aid? She hadn't really paid attention during her stakeouts-

There was movement in the blast zone. Segments of the tubes melted and a sinuous, flame-wreathed shape rose into view. The five hundred foot long, inch wide dragon caught sight of Bakuda and gave a squeaky, high-pitched roar of triumph.

Well, fuck.


----------


OH MY FUCKING GOD. SELF-INFLICTED DEATH BY TAPEWORM LUNG. YOU'RE SO INCOMPETENT IT'S ACTUALLY KIND OF AWESOME.

Bakuda crushed the tickertape in her hand. This meant war.

...

Lung inspected the small metal capsule. "My soldiers can-"

Bakuda scowled. "Die, motherfucker, die!"

The air around her shimmered. A protective effect, a shield bubble just large enough to cover her body.

Then the world turned gray.

Five minutes later, the dust began to settle. The dust. Three full city blocks around her had been transmuted into a mass of fine, gray dust. The buildings, the cars, the people. Everything.

Bakuda disengaged her shield bubble and surveyed the results of her handiwork. Then she grinned. She whooped, she cried, and laughed and laughed and laughed.

"Yes! Hell yes!" shouted Bakuda. "That's what you get, you son of a bitch! I fucking killed you! You're dead! You're gone! You're dust! Ahahahahahahahaha!"

A man in a blue bodysuit appeared at her side in a blur of motion. One of the local capes. What was his name? Velocity?

"Impressive." said the man. "You did this?"

"Yes! It's a transmutation effect that mimics exposure to ultrasharp nanomechanical blades. Tears apart matter, molecules, everything. Just the basic effect took me a month of secret readings of Armsmaster's tech. Now, normally that would have a limited area effect, just a few inches wide, but I found a way to use the dust expansion from each transmutation as a power source for the next, set them up in a daisy chain. Pretty cool, eh?"

"Very cool." said the man with a smile. "I have a question, though."

"Of course! Go ahead, shoot, ask me anything."

"MurdererWhoGotArrestedAndBirdcagedBecauseSheStayedToGloatSaysWhat?"

"What?" she said.

And then she was encased in a ball of containment foam.

Well, fuck.


----------


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. DO I EVEN NEED TO SAY ANYTHING? NO, I DON'T. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...IDIOT.

Bakuda crushed the tickertape in her hand.

She had failed again. Failed again. Caught up in her moment of greatest triumph, she had failed in the most stupid, idiotic, pathetic possible way. Her future self was right. She was an idiot, such an idiot-

Bakuda's mind snapped.

No. No. That hadn't been her. That was her past self who failed. Idiot, gloating like a moron and getting foamed like a fool. A disgrace to the name Bakuda. She deserved everything she got.

Her current self? She was better. Stronger. Smarter. Smart enough to learn from the mistakes of others. She was sure as hell not going to make that idiotic mistake ever again.

That did it. She swore on her pride as a tinker. She was going to kill Lung, and travel the world stealing tech from all the best tinkers, and make her own Device, and transplant herself into her future self's world, and knock that stuck-up bitch flat on her ass.

And then she was going to use her Device to troll the shit out of her idiotic past selves, for being such pathetic disgraces to the name Bakuda.

Bakuda grinned. Her path would be long and hard, but her victory was inevitable. She was a fucking genius, and she had infinite tries.

How hard could it be?

--
Author's note: Bakuda makes a surprisingly good Karkat.
 
Last edited:
Thinker6 said:
A short and sweet snip. Time loops are a blast.
--


Timelooping Tinker


Bakuda stared at Lung in disbelief. He wanted to kill her, his only ally in the Birdcage, just to make the other villains see what a scary nutjob he was.

Crazy bastard. But she'd make him pay for underestimating her.

Bakuda flicked her arm, and an arrangement of bedsprings and twisted scrap metal dropped from her sleeve into her open hand. "I'll punch a hole in the outside of the cell if you come any closer. Air flows out of the room, door seals shut, we both suffocate."

"You are not fast enough."

"Wanna bet?"

He did.


----------


Bakuda felt the brush of cool air on her skin. A cacophany of sound swelled around her. Footsteps, voices, rustling of papers. The sounds of a college classroom going out of session.

She was alive?

She opened her eyes. In front of her was a corkboard with a single sheet of paper pinned in the center. The score listings for her quantum physics course at Cornell. The final exam.

That final exam.

Oh fucking hell no.

She wasn't alive. She was dead. And this was hell.

"Oooh, look at this. 'Grace the Ace' got fifth place on the final. That gives her, what, a B minus for the semester?"

"Heh. Guess ten hours of studying a day isn't a substitute for talent."

"I know! Seriously! I told miss high school valedictorian, it takes more than hard work to make it in the big leagues. You need at least a glimmer of actual intelligence-."

Bakuda spun a hundred and eighty degrees and decked 'Ginny the Genuis' in the face. The pudgy pissant squawked and tumbled to the ground, a trickle of blood leaking from one nostril.

The bustle of students gave way to a deathly silence.

Bakuda glared at the other students, daring them to make a move. She didn't understand how she was alive, how she was back at Cornell during her trigger event, or how she had apparently, improbably, gone back in time. But she did understand one thing.

She was Bakuda. The greatest bomb expert in the world. And if this was hell, she was going to show the devil the true meaning of fucking hellfire.

Bakuda turned to her old rival, still sprawled on the floor in shock.

"Run, little girl." she hissed. "You have no idea how lucky you are that I have bigger fish to fry."

She licked her lips. "And incinerate. And disintegrate. And implode. And warp into twisted parodies of nature. And overload their nervous systems with ultimate agony and lock them that way forever, preserved in a endless, frozen moment of time. Ahahahahahaha!"

Bakuda turned on her heel and stalked out of the physics department, making her way to engineering. Had to whip up a few HE and stun grenades, so she could hold off security while she turned the high energy synchrotron into something useful.

As she walked, she noticed that she had a thin strip of white tickertape paper clutched in her left hand. She untangled the papers from her fingers and smoothed out the wrinkles. There was a message, printed in plain black and white lettering.

PATHETIC. GANKED BY LUNG LIKE A CHUMP. TRY HARDER THIS TIME.

A message from her future self?

The epiphany set her mind on fire, and sent her thoughts into overdrive. That was the only explanation. Her very existence, here and now, was proof of Lipschitz's multiple-worlds theory. One of her alternate future selves must have made a device that triggered on her past self's death and transplanted her mind into a new body in the endless sea of nearly identical alternate worlds.

Truly amazing. A supreme masterwork of a device. And what did her supergenius future self do with her real ultimate power?

Send her condescending motivational messages filled with snarky bullshit.

PATHETIC. GANKED BY LUNG LIKE A CHUMP. TRY HARDER THIS TIME.

Bakuda gritted her teeth. Well you know what? Fuck that, and fuck her. No one mocked her and got away with it. Not even herself. She'd show that bitch who was boss.

...

Lung inspected the small metal capsule. "These will allow my soldiers to defeat the Empire brutes? Hookwolf, Fenja, and Menja?"

Bakuda grinned behind her gas mask. "Yeah, like this!"

She leaped out the window and jammed her thumb on the detonator. The building turned into a pillar of flame, molten fragments of brick and mortar pouring into the street, a miniature flow of lava.

She backed off a safe distance and lay on the sidewalk, watching the fireworks, laughing and laughing and laughing.

"Take that you traitor motherfucker! Not so tough after all! You made Leviathan your bitch and I made you mine. Guess what? That makes me the queen bitch of Brockton Bay from now on!"

Wait. There was movement in the blast zone. A massive metal clad monster rose from the lava, wreathed in living flame. It caught sight of Bakuda and roared in triumph.

Well, fuck.


-----------


AMAZING. GANKED BY LUNG IN THREE HOURS INSTEAD OF THREE MONTHS. YOUR STUNNING IMPROVEMENT IN EFFICIENCY IS TRULY THE HALLMARK OF A GENIUS.

Bakuda crushed the tickertape in her hand.

...

Lung inspected the small metal capsule. "My soldiers can use these to-"

Bakuda grinned behind her gas mask. "Yeah, like this!"

She leaped out the window and jammed her thumb on the detonator. The building pulsed, its shape warping and squirming and expanding. Within seconds the transformation was complete. The building was now a twisted nest of millions of inch-wide, tube-like tunnels, interlinking in elaborate, sanity-defying violations of geometry that would make MC Escher weep.

Bakuda jumped up and down and clapped her hands with glee.

"Take that you brainless brute! Do you even comprehend what I've done to you? Reshaped you into a five hundred foot long tapeworm, paralyzed and trapped in an infinite maze till you starve to death! Ahahahahaha!"

Bakuda laughed and laughed and laughed. She was a genius, and Vista's power was awesome. The month she spent taking readings of the girl's power were well worth it. She'd have to buy her a beer. Oh, wait, shit, Vista was underage. What did the tyke drink for fun, anyway? Orange juice? Kool aid? She hadn't really paid attention during her stakeouts-

There was movement in the blast zone. Segments of the tubes melted and a sinuous, flame-wreathed shape rose into view. The five hundred foot long, inch wide dragon caught sight of Bakuda and gave a squeaky, high-pitched roar of triumph.

Well, fuck.


----------


OH MY FUCKING GOD. SELF-INFLICTED DEATH BY TAPEWORM LUNG. YOU'RE SO INCOMPETENT IT'S ACTUALLY KIND OF AWESOME.

Bakuda crushed the tickertape in her hand. This meant war.

...

Lung inspected the small metal capsule. "My soldiers can-"

Bakuda scowled. "Die, motherfucker, die!"

The air around her shimmered. A protective effect, a shield bubble just large enough to cover her body.

Then the world turned gray.

Five minutes later, the dust began to settle. The dust. Three full city blocks around her had been transmuted into a mass of fine, gray dust. The buildings, the cars, the people. Everything.

Bakuda disengaged her shield bubble and surveyed the results of her handiwork. Then she grinned. She whooped, she cried, and laughed and laughed and laughed.

"Yes! Hell yes!" shouted Bakuda. "That's what you get, you son of a bitch! I fucking killed you! You're dead! You're gone! You're dust! Ahahahahahahahaha!"

A man in a blue bodysuit appeared at her side in a blur of motion. One of the local capes. What was his name? Velocity?

"Impressive." said the man. "You did this?"

"Yes! It's a transmutation effect that mimics exposure to ultrasharp nanomechanical blades. Tears apart matter, molecules, everything. Just the basic effect took me a month of secret readings of Armsmaster's tech. Now, normally that would have a limited area effect, just a few inches wide, but I found a way to use the dust expansion from each transmutation as a power source for the next, set them up in a daisy chain. Pretty cool, eh?"

"Very cool." said the man with a smile. "I have a question, though."

"Of course! Go ahead, shoot, ask me anything."

"MurdererWhoGotArrestedAndBirdcagedBecauseSheStayedToGloatSaysWhat?"

"What?" she said.

And then she was encased in a ball of containment foam.

Well, fuck.


----------


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. DO I EVEN NEED TO SAY ANYTHING? NO, I DON'T. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...IDIOT.

Bakuda crushed the tickertape in her hand.

She had failed again. Failed again. Caught up in her moment of greatest triumph, she had failed in the most stupid, idiotic, pathetic possible way. Her future self was right. She was an idiot, such an idiot-

Bakuda's mind snapped.

No. No. That hadn't been her. That was her past self who failed. Idiot, gloating like a moron and getting foamed like a fool. A disgrace to the name Bakuda. She deserved everything she got.

Her current self? She was better. Stronger. Smarter. Smart enough to learn from the mistakes of others. She was sure as hell not going to make that idiotic mistake ever again.

That did it. She swore on her pride as a tinker. She was going to kill Lung, and travel the world stealing tech from all the best tinkers, and make her own Device, and transplant herself into her future self's world, and knock that stuck-up bitch flat on her ass.

And then she was going to use her Device to troll the shit out of her idiotic past selves, for being such pathetic disgraces to the name Bakuda.

Bakuda grinned. Her path would be long and hard, but her victory was inevitable. She was a fucking genius, and she had infinite tries.

How hard could it be?

--
Author's note: Bakuda makes a surprisingly good Karkat.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Oh God, my sides.
 
Thinker6 said:
That did it. She swore on her pride as a tinker. She was going to kill Lung, and travel the world stealing tech from all the best tinkers, and make her own Device, and transplant herself into her future self's world, and knock that stuck-up bitch flat on her ass.

And then she was going to use her Device to troll the shit out of her idiotic past selves, for being such pathetic disgraces to the name Bakuda.

Bakuda grinned. Her path would be long and hard, but her victory was inevitable. She was a fucking genius, and she had infinite tries.

How hard could it be?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

And thus, the loop became stable.
 
The trio strolled through the bank towards the innermost vault and store rooms. Though calling it a 'trio' was not quite accurate.

One of the monsters was lithe, walking on all fours with a boney whiplike tail. Its claws released a blue liquid that sizzled as it came into contact with the open air. The other monster stood upright, reaching nearly fifteen feet at its head crest. It had a stubby tail and two massive arms with a pair of smaller, more dexterous arms sprouting beneath them. Both of the beasts had bioluminescent patterns that raced along theirs limbs.

Behind them stood a woman in what looked like a suit of purple muscle. The fleshy material clung to her like a bodysuit, simultaneously showing her figure while being unpleasant to look at. The photoreceptors covering her eyes looked like a pair of glowing glass panes.

The suit not only read her nervous system perfectly and augmented her strength; it acted like a biological radio tower. As long as she was wearing it, or at least wearing the spinal nodes, she could easily communicate and command her creations through the mind-hive they possessed. With a mental command, Thresh trotted forwards to the metal hinges and began to dig into them with acidic talons. Maw dug its own massive claws into the frame of the door.

Slowly but surely the pair of monsters melted the heavy vault door right out of its supports. The vault door finally fell off its hinges revealing…

A figure in a suit of power armor and a small group of masked henchmen in the middle of dumping valuables and jewels into a number of duffel bags. They were all staring at the fallen metal door. Behind them, there was a hole in the floor with a man sticking his head out.

The woman, flanked by her pair of monsters, tilted her head at him. The man stared back without hesitation even as his subordinates rapidly picked up their weapons and leveled their sights on the new arrivals.

For several tense moments no one moved.

The woman with the beasts spoke first. "Arclight. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet one of Brockton Bay's infamous but…"

The suit's glowing lights blinked several times. The woman wondered what the suit was telling him. "I'd say the same but I don't think I know you. As you said, I've been in the Bay a long time and I've never seen you or your... friends. Care to give a name?"

"Lusus."

"Lusus… I do remember that name. You parted ways with your old group not too long ago. I wonder why?" Arclight questioned.

"A difference of opinion, really. We keep in touch." Lusus shrugged lightly. Her departure from her old friend was not something she wanted to dwell on. "Now that introductions are over, perhaps you can be a proper gentlemen hand over my future accessories."

"No, I think you're mistaken. This-" The armored man gestured at the duffel bags and bins around him. "-is ours." There was a flash of red in the villain's helmet and the man went very still. Then he cursed. "Mother fuck. Listen, we have two options now and-"

Lusus cut him off. Her voice was mocking. "I agree. There is two ways: You can hand everything over or I sick Maw and Thresh on you. Then I take it anyways. Option two is more fun bu-"

Arclight's foot slammed into the floor, the heavy metal clanging loudly as trails of electricity shot outwards from the impact. "Do not interrupt me."

Maw and Thresh took a step and growled threateningly. In return Arclight's followers primed their weapons. The tinkertech weapons whirred ominously to life and the inside of their barrels started to glow.

Arclight turned to his subordinate in the hole. "Alex?"

Arclight's subordinate in the hole shook his head. "It'll take another fifteen minutes. I can cause a partial collapse, but Manpower would plow through pretty easy."

Arclight smashed his foot into the floor again in anger. A moment later he continued speaking, as if he hadn't just been cracked the floor in a small tantrum. His voice returned to being mostly calm. "As I was saying. Two options." He gestured with one hand at the entire group and spoke rapidly. "We fight over the jewels and we all die in a shocking multiple murder death chain. My guards kill you. Your beasts kill my men. I kill your beasts as they kill my men. Then the heroes come in and kill or arrest me. Or we team up and fight off Manpower and all his friends who are now on their way because you tripped the pressure alarm in the vault door."

For a moment there was silence as Lusus and his own subordinates just stared at him.

"Boss?" One of the soldiers asked. He was a large man with beefy arms.

"Yes?" Arclight answered, though his helmeted head didn't turn.

"I just wanted to say… you are the most depressing asshole I have ever met." The man threw his rifle over his shoulder and began to walk past Lusus, his mind apparently made up even without the villainess' agreement.

"You- you are… are you actually serious? Teaming up against heroes? After we almost attack each other?"

"You're new aren't you, sweetie? Teaming up to stay out of jail isn't exactly complicated." Another of Arclight's muscle laughed. Lusus was surprised to hear a woman's voice under the heavy gear. The figure the woman made was almost identical to the others: tall and heavily muscled.

"I ran with Lustrum until a short while ago." Lusus defended. She sent silent orders to Maw and Thresh to move towards the front of the bank.

Arclight moved forward and walked in step with her. "Perhaps, but she is a very different kind of cape. A political one. We're the classic bank robbers. And since you left Lustrum to be here… I'm guessing you are too?"

Lusus stared at Arclight's power armor for a long moment. "I suppose so. She's getting too… radical. Extreme. I agree in changing the system-" Arclight's female soldier snorted a laugh at that. "-but I'm not going to hurt random people on the street to do it."

"Good on you." The massive man said. "Too many of these new guys are popping up who think Scarface is the best way to be a villain."

Lusus raised a brow at the henchman. Though it couldn't be seen through her suit, the man seemed to understand her curiosity.

"Some asshole named Marky showed up not too long ago." His female partner elbowed him in the gut as he set up his tinkertech weapon on a tripod. "Or something like that. Talks smooth but he's a fucking monster from what we can tell. Baskins went to check him out, see how Marky worked before deciding to join up or not. Then he disappeared." The man drew a line across his throat.

As the man finished speaking, Arclight turned to Lusus and spoke. "One of my sensors just tripped. We have only a few minutes before Manpower and Various arrive. I want you and your pets to be in the vault at first."

Lusus hesitated. "…Why not have me out front? My aberrants hit much harder than your subordinates. No offense." She offered half-heartedly.

"Because Manpower probably has no idea that you're even here." Arclight laughed softly.

Lusus hummed in concentration before stepping towards him. She had always been good at thinking outside the box, but she wasn't sure this would work. "I have an idea."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Behind the pair of villains and the group of henchmen and monsters, the front section of the bank collapsed. The heroes had been forced into the safety of the vault when Thresh's acid finally corroded enough of the building's support columns. The heroes were now trapped in half-collapsed building as the triumphant villains stood in the street looking at their handiwork.

The woman turned and looked at the masked man. Even behind the damaged helmet, she could tell he was meeting her eyes.

"Wooh! That was fucking great! Good job, team! Pint's for everybody!" The large man shouted. His comrades joined their friend, as they set down the duffel bags they had managed to haul away. Though dirty, bruised and a little bloody, they had managed to win.

To them, that was the most important. To their leader…

Arclight and Lusus looked at each other.

Then down to the bags of jewels and valuables.

Back up to each other.

Down at the bags.

Back to the other.

They spoke at the same time. "Fifty-fifty?" "Forty-Sixty?"

Lusus put her hands on her hips in disbelief. "After what we just pulled off, you want to get greedy? Typical man."

Arclight pointed a finger at her. "We are using this money for a good cause and you are the one who tripped the alarm in the first place."

The two villains continued to argue over how the money would be split even as the group left the scene. Arclight's men simply sighed at their leader's stubbornness while Maw and Thresh patiently waited for their master.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

"And that's how we first met." Danny summed up.

Taylor stared blankly back. In her defense, it was all she could really do. The large, blue colored arms that were wrapped around her were just a little difficult to get out of.

Sitting next to her was her mother. Except it wasn't. But it was.

Her mother's body had died in the car accident. Her mind hadn't. Annette's current body was as close to human as she could design. She was still eight feet tall and built like an Olympian with bony ridges and armor plates covering her knees and elbows… but her face was human. Her face was Annette's.

She hadn't stopped hugging Taylor since she had walked into the house for the first time in almost two years.

Taylor struggled for words. Even learning that her parents were villains, even learning that both had ties to the underworld and had for years, her mother's survival was the biggest thing on her mind. One question stood out. She had to ask. "Why- why didn't you tell me she'd be back?" Her voice broke a little and Annette hugged her daughter even tighter.

The large woman spoke. "Because he didn't know, owl. My lab moved to stand-by but my last aberrant continued to grow in its tank. It took months to finish growing without me there. I made modifications to myself to better control the mind-hive, but even I didn't know I'd become a part of it. Neither of us had any idea my consciousness would transfer like it did."

Danny nodded regretfully. "I went to check on her lab one day and saw what I thought was one of her creations crawling of its tank. We did a lot of talking, some arguing, about what was going to happen."

Taylor looked at her father in confusion.

He continued. "Your mother can't go back to living a normal life. She didn't think she should come home if she was in a body like this. She didn't know how you'd take it. Annette can't create something too human. This-" He gestured at the tall, blue-scaled body of Annette. "-is as close to her old self as she will likely ever look."

Annette took over the explanation. "I wasn't sure how we could be a family again if I was like this. I can't exactly go outside and people will probably figure something is wrong is you suddenly get over my death. And there is still a risk of you or Danny saying something in public and slipping up."

"Not to mention the fact that you are still legally dead." Danny let loose a sigh of resignation as he slid a hand back across his hair. "Even if we do kidnap Panacea and make her change you…"

Annette hummed and nodded. "It's something to consider for the future."

Taylor felt a little lightheaded at that. Her parents were talking about kidnapping Panacea. She needed to sit down.

Oh. Wait. She was sitting down. Well.

Taylor nodded numbly.

"Now, Taylor. I know this is a lot to take in-"

"No dad, really?" Taylor asked sarcastically.

"-but we haven't been the only ones keeping secrets. And we have the defense of saying you were too young to know. That you wouldn't understand or you might say something and slip up with our secret identities. I'm very curious as to your defense."

Taylor went very still and eyed the doorframe to see if she could make an escape.

Annette looked at Danny in confusion. "You didn't mention this. What are you talking about?"

"I had guessed for a little while. I only had confirmation late last night." Danny answered as he turned on the TV and pressed the 'play' button. The recording was from the morning news that had played earlier in the morning.

"-clean up continues following the battle last night between the Wards, the vigilante hero Shadow Stalker, and the currently unnamed creature."

The broadcast cut to a grainy cell phone video. Some of the Wards were hiding behind an overturned minivan while Vista was warping flames away from them. The camera view moved towards what looked to be a bipedal dinosaur-gorilla hybrid. The saurian was nearly twenty feet tall with thick, powerful limbs and a barbed tail. A pair of glowing red eyes was set within a dome-like, armored head. Its neck and torso glowed from within as it alternated between breathing fire at the nearby Wards and throwing dumpster bins, traffic lights, and automobiles at Shadow Stalker.

"Shadow Stalker? She's that rookie isn't she?" Annette thought out loud.

"You've been… unconscious for a good amount of time. She's gotten more well known. A little vicious for a hero, but the public likes the idea that she's taking the fight to the gangs." Danny said.

Taylor grimaced silently. She might wind up having to explain just what Sophia- Shadow Stalker- had been doing and the chain of events that led to the… scuffle.

Because really, that's all it was. Just a scuffle.

Taylor winced as she saw the footage of herself rip a manhole cover out of the street and throw it like a Frisbee at the Wards. The teen heroes scattered from the minivan as the heavy piece of metal bisected the car.

…Right. Just a scuffle.

"Speculation continues that this is one of Lusus' creations, possibly signaling her return after nearly two years of silence from her and Arclight. Other parahuman analysts point out this creature does not follow the design patterns of the villainess' monsters. We'll keep you posted on any new information, whether this is a creation of Lusus or yet another new villain."

"Oh won't they be surprised when they learn it's both." Annette had quickly grasped what her husband implied. She watched the broadcast with a wide smile.

Danny stared at his daughter as seriously as he could. On the inside he was very proud of Taylor; she had fought off nearly every cape in her age group. But he was also upset at her recklessness. Annette simply smiled brightly as she watched the news broadcast.

Taylor's defense was masterful. "…you don't know that was me."

Annette squealed as the footage showed the twenty foot tall lizard pick up a car and throw it at Shadow Stalker. The vigilante turned intangible moments before impact. The vehicle passed through her harmlessly only to smash into a storefront.

Taylor had only a moment before her mother spun around and picked her up at waist, catching Taylor in a bear hug. She twirled around in circles happily.

Taylor grimaced and let herself transform slightly. Even in the 'small' humanoid body, her mother's strength was ridiculous. She felt something creak before her bone structure changed and the pressure eased. Once the pain stopped she managed to figure out what her mother was saying.

"-we can all go out and it'll finally be a real family event! Oh, it'll be so much fun! It'll be even better than that time we teamed up with Lustrum." Her mother stopped spinning. Taylor was dizzy enough that she didn't notice. "And I can finally show that bitch Brandish who really has the better daughter."

Taylor didn't really know how to respond to that. Instead she vowed to learn as much as she could about just what the hell her parents had actually been doing on their 'nights out' when she was younger. She also didn't want her mom to know-

Danny cleared his throat meaningfully and pointed Annette back to the TV.

She turned her head just in time to see the lizard beast charge towards Shadow Stalker only for Glory Girl to fly into its path. The image on the screen blurred in an explosion of fire as the two met.

Annette released the tight hug and held out Taylor in front of, holding the girl up from the armpits. With her considerable height, Annette was holding Taylor over a foot off the ground. "Tell me you won."

Taylor took a small moment to marvel at the situation. Her parents were villains. Her mother wasn't dead, and that was the really important part of this morning. Finally, according to the news she was a villain.

And her mother was encouraging her.

Taylor looked at her at her mother and hesitantly answered. "It… it was a draw. Sorry."

Annette returned to hugging her daughter. Taylor tried to return it but breathing was getting difficult again. "Oh don't worry, little owl. You'll do better once we're all out there and we've taught you the ropes."

Despite her reservations -and her ribs currently being crushed- Taylor smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Title: The Family Business

AN: A snippet that has sat unfinished for a very long time. I like the idea of Danny and Annette being former villains who fell for each other Mr. and Mrs. Smith style. That being said, I still don't quite like how this turned out. I cut corners and didn't do the fight scene I wanted with Annette and Danny. It just wasn't flowing right. Too much hassle for a single snippet and I gave up.

My rough idea for this was that Annette left Lustrum but wasn't entirely sure of her new course, so she comes off as inexperienced and unsure at the beginning. Danny and the dockworkers had been operating in the Bay for quite a while without being beaten down by the rapidly rising Empire 88 and Allfather. In the years that followed, Annette became more experienced in villainy and the pair worked with and against each other on and off. They eventually became full time partners, much to the public's dismay, but inexplicably pulled back their activities following 1995. No one is sure why.

For a visual of the monsters involved in this snippet, I pictured Taylor's monster form as Goliath from Evolve (the game). Annette's Maw and Thresh are slightly altered forms of Otachi and Trespasser from Pacific Rim.

I did have a different take on this but couldn't manage it. It was a DC fusion where Annette was Lustrum and Danny was Deathstroke. Danny and Taylor would have fought without knowing who the other was and when Danny learned it was his daughter he was fighting... well. The ending line was: "I'm glad you're here, Taylor. I really am. Welcome to the Light".

If anyone wants to take a shot at that.
 
AN: One-Shot. It's primarily a vehicle for the idea, so the narrative is a bit... non-existent. I was actually going to ask about the idea's feasibility before I realized I could make a weird little short story out of it, so... here we are.


Aliens amongst us


So here I am, in dingy little diner waiting for a cupcake. It's been a year since I was born here, and I figure, I should mark the occasion somehow. Who knows whether I'd live to see the next?

Who knows whether anybody will.

The waitress comes with my cake, extra frosted. I return her pitying little smile with a strained one of my own. Apparently only a few kind of people ask for a cupcake and a candle.

Still, pity is better than nothin', isn't it? And much better than being labeled crazy, not that she had any probable cause for that diagnosis.

Unlike you.

But really, it's okay. I honestly don't care very much about it now. I wager we don't got long – hell, I don't know how we got so far. I mean, they're up there, you know. And I don't know what they're waiting for.

Who's up there? Ah, well, we called them Entities. The one we killed – or thought we killed – was Eden; the other one was Scion.

Well, that's what we here called 'em. People in Africa and China? They probably had different names. Especially, China. Man, if you think that country's weird now…

Anyway, so, she gives me cake and I eat and I leave. It's that time of the year, so I pay a little visit to my folks. Not that they're really my folks, really. Without Scion landin' here, and without capes, those two didn't even meet! Can you believe that? I wasn't even born here! Instead, she goes and has a pimply little shit with some lawyer in New York, and he's even more of a bastard than he was. Not as rich, though. I guess, with a much better economy and everything, it's harder to get by on your dad's money than in my world.

Yeah, so, I give them a looksee, and it's kinda boring you know. Pointless. I know it might be the last time and all, but they aren't my mum and dad, just like you aren't the friend I used to know.

Yeah… I knew you. Sorry, darlin', but honestly, I just need a familiar face. Sort of. But hey, on the plus side, even in an alien's fantasy world, your mum and dad fall in love. That's got to mean, something, no?

That's right. Rolling with the punches, as always. Glad you kept that trait. You want me to loosen the ropes a bit? I really don't mind, as long as you promise not to try anything. Man, you have no idea how glad I am you don't have bees here.

Yeah, I know you have no idea what I mean. It's okay. Honestly, it took me ages to figure it out, too.

One moment, we were just doin' our thing, you know, fighting the good fight and everything. Then just, boom, and I'm standing here – no, I mean not here, literally, but on this planet. Well, on this version of this planet.

Hey! It's not smart to mock somebody you has you captive. You don't know what I—

Okay, you're right, I mean, I did say you were a friend, so I'm not going to actually do anything.

But still! It's like the principle of the thing, you know? You don't talk in the theatre. You don't mock your kidnapper.

Bees, what! They're here! Holy— wait, I don't see any. Are you trying to trick me or something?

Oh, you want to know more about that. Okay. Well, it's yeah: you controlled bees. Bugs, really. It was kinda your superpower. Were pretty famous for it, too. Even though we grew up in the same place, and I pretty much got my trigger event while you were busy becoming an evil overlord, we met long after you got famous. You were a pretty good commander, though. Best I ever had. Though it took us a while to hit it off – issues from your past, really. My powers reminded you too much of somebody you… used to know.

Oh! No, I wasn't like that. You were just my commander. Friend too, yeah, obviously, but not more. I'm strictly dickly, though I did wonder about you… No? Hmm, okay. Anyway, where were we?

Scion? Ah, he's like an avatar of an alien. Or, at least, that's what we thought he was. Turned out, not so much.

And I've lost you.

Okay, you know, I've been stupid about this. Lemme just show it to you – for some reason, my power works fine here. Tell me if you need something, or want to go somewhere. Nothing too out there, mind you, or I'll never be able to bring it to the real world.

You'll know what I mean in a second.

Wait, what? A burger, really? Jeez, I'm like a bloody genie in a lamp here, and you're asking for a burger!

Okay, fine. Gimme a second… ah, here you go, a burger, rare. Just like you like 'em.

No, I haven't been stalkin' you! Told you, I was a friend. In an alien's imaginary dreamscape, maybe, but a friend. Just ask for something harder. You want to go somewhere? Paris, maybe? Or somewhere in Africa? I know this real cool place in Egypt that we went to after an Endbringer fight, for R&R.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm throwing around these words… just bear with me, okay? You'll understand it all at the end.

Honestly, this city is getting a bit boring so… there you go. Egypt is such a nice place—

Holy fuck, not so loud! Jesus. I told you… I have powers. Well, just one power really, and that's kinda what got me in this mess.

You see, I can create two versions of reality: in one, what I call the wish-ality, I can think up of pretty much anything and I'd get it. The hard part comes when I try to bring it back to the real reality. If it's too weird or out there, that doesn't usually happen. But if it's like a burger, a trip to Egypt, that's, well, usually does.

I know? It's awesome, right? Best power ever.

What?

Yeah, I've already tried that. Even that. Yes, that too… jeez. I'm not an ameatur, you know. Had this power for a while. Anyway.

Look, you believe me, right? Sort of? I just want to tell you about it while it matters. I've tried before, but then I didn't know what I know now, so it didn't make sense to disrupt your life like this.

Anyway, so in my other reality I can pretty much wish for anything, right? So I made a stupid wish after a few of us got hurt by Scion. Yeah, even you. And then I saw this world, where you were just walking around, all happy-like, with all arms and legs attached and I, I didn't even think more about it before trying to make that wish-ality become real.

Well, it did.

At first, I thought I was in an alt-universe, Earth trifecta, or something.

Yeah, we have multiple earths, like Beta, Alpha. I know! It's so weird, I have no idea why they didn't call them one or two, instead of stupid Latin words. Anyway, so I thought I was in earth trifecta or something, 'cause there was no Scion, no capes, no nothing. But you were alright, so were a few other people. Though, it took me a while to figure out that most of them hadn't even been born.

Still better than what had happened to them in my reality, though.

So, I went with the punches. Tried to use my power to get back, but that was a no-show, for some reason. Pretty irritating, really. I was able to use it to get papers and money, so... still bloody awesome.

Anyway, I got an apartment, checked out the folks, most of my friends. Met you last year, you know, after that promotion of yours. Well, by met I mean I spilled a bit of my drink on you while I was spying on you, so…

Moving on! I know, I'm getting to the point of all this.

So, I really got nowhere with getting back to my reality until I got thinker powers through a second trigger my powers gave me. Took me a couple of months to learn how to use it properly – no, powers don't come with an instruction manual, actually.

So, yeah, took me a couple of months, and then a few weeks after that to fully understand what's going on. Now, that I do, Taylor, this shit is way, way above my paygrade.

But not yours. I'm untying you now, okay. Please don't attack me until I've explained it.

You okay? Okay, good. So, well…

Sorry, just gimme a second to get it in order. It's pretty fucked up.

So, yeah. There are aliens amongst us, up there, I mean. Somewhere. At least two of 'em. They got shit loads of powers. People said its advanced science and yada yada, but honestly, it's like fucking magic. I mean, look at what I do, yeah?

Anyway, so aliens. Two. Loads of powers. One of them is precognition. We had a girl like that, too. She could see the future – all of them – and tell you the percentage chance that you would kick the ever loving shit out of some villain.

Well, since the aliens gave her that power, they do that too. Only, on a bigger scale. So they come across this planet of ours, and do this precog thing, and like, record all the futures in which they've distributed all these weird powers amongst us. They record the shit people do, all the fights, the killings, the disasters. And then, they feed on that – they grow on those experiences of realities we've never actually had, and actions we've never actually done. But, we could have done them, and since we could have, and 'cause they have a precog power and the ability to record what they see with it, for their needs we have.

So, all those things we did in those simulated realities – killing Eden, figuring out what Scion was – all that fucked up shit we went though, it all mean nothing. It's all just… an alien's dream.

After that dream ends, after they've had their fill of our futures, it's kind of obvious what they'll do.

They've done it a thousand times before.

I figured it out yesterday. I don't think I've been sober since.

I don't know what to do, Taylor. This sort of thing – it's the kind of stuff you always dealt with. The big picture stuff.

I need you to help me with this.

I don't know how much time we have.
 
Biskoff said:
The trio strolled through the bank towards the innermost vault and store rooms. Though calling it a 'trio' was not quite accurate.

One of the monsters was lithe, walking on all fours with a boney whiplike tail. Its claws released a blue liquid that sizzled as it came into contact with the open air. The other monster stood upright, reaching nearly fifteen feet at its head crest. It had a stubby tail and two massive arms with a pair of smaller, more dexterous arms sprouting beneath them. Both of the beasts had bioluminescent patterns that raced along theirs limbs.

Behind them stood a woman in what looked like a suit of purple muscle. The fleshy material clung to her like a bodysuit, simultaneously showing her figure while being unpleasant to look at. The photoreceptors covering her eyes looked like a pair of glowing glass panes.

The suit not only read her nervous system perfectly and augmented her strength; it acted like a biological radio tower. As long as she was wearing it, or at least wearing the spinal nodes, she could easily communicate and command her creations through the mind-hive they possessed. With a mental command, Thresh trotted forwards to the metal hinges and began to dig into them with acidic talons. Maw dug its own massive claws into the frame of the door.

Slowly but surely the pair of monsters melted the heavy vault door right out of its supports. The vault door finally fell off its hinges revealing…

A figure in a suit of power armor and a small group of masked henchmen in the middle of dumping valuables and jewels into a number of duffel bags. They were all staring at the fallen metal door. Behind them, there was a hole in the floor with a man sticking his head out.

The woman, flanked by her pair of monsters, tilted her head at him. The man stared back without hesitation even as his subordinates rapidly picked up their weapons and leveled their sights on the new arrivals.

For several tense moments no one moved.

The woman with the beasts spoke first. "Arclight. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet one of Brockton Bay's infamous but…"

The suit's glowing lights blinked several times. The woman wondered what the suit was telling him. "I'd say the same but I don't think I know you. As you said, I've been in the Bay a long time and I've never seen you or your... friends. Care to give a name?"

"Lusus."

"Lusus… I do remember that name. You parted ways with your old group not too long ago. I wonder why?" Arclight questioned.

"A difference of opinion, really. We keep in touch." Lusus shrugged lightly. Her departure from her old friend was not something she wanted to dwell on. "Now that introductions are over, perhaps you can be a proper gentlemen hand over my future accessories."

"No, I think you're mistaken. This-" The armored man gestured at the duffel bags and bins around him. "-is ours." There was a flash of red in the villain's helmet and the man went very still. Then he cursed. "Mother fuck. Listen, we have two options now and-"

Lusus cut him off. Her voice was mocking. "I agree. There is two ways: You can hand everything over or I sick Maw and Thresh on you. Then I take it anyways. Option two is more fun bu-"

Arclight's foot slammed into the floor, the heavy metal clanging loudly as trails of electricity shot outwards from the impact. "Do not interrupt me."

Maw and Thresh took a step and growled threateningly. In return Arclight's followers primed their weapons. The tinkertech weapons whirred ominously to life and the inside of their barrels started to glow.

Arclight turned to his subordinate in the hole. "Alex?"

Arclight's subordinate in the hole shook his head. "It'll take another fifteen minutes. I can cause a partial collapse, but Manpower would plow through pretty easy."

Arclight smashed his foot into the floor again in anger. A moment later he continued speaking, as if he hadn't just been cracked the floor in a small tantrum. His voice returned to being mostly calm. "As I was saying. Two options." He gestured with one hand at the entire group and spoke rapidly. "We fight over the jewels and we all die in a shocking multiple murder death chain. My guards kill you. Your beasts kill my men. I kill your beasts as they kill my men. Then the heroes come in and kill or arrest me. Or we team up and fight off Manpower and all his friends who are now on their way because you tripped the pressure alarm in the vault door."

For a moment there was silence as Lusus and his own subordinates just stared at him.

"Boss?" One of the soldiers asked. He was a large man with beefy arms.

"Yes?" Arclight answered, though his helmeted head didn't turn.

"I just wanted to say… you are the most depressing asshole I have ever met." The man threw his rifle over his shoulder and began to walk past Lusus, his mind apparently made up even without the villainess' agreement.

"You- you are… are you actually serious? Teaming up against heroes? After we almost attack each other?"

"You're new aren't you, sweetie? Teaming up to stay out of jail isn't exactly complicated." Another of Arclight's muscle laughed. Lusus was surprised to hear a woman's voice under the heavy gear. The figure the woman made was almost identical to the others: tall and heavily muscled.

"I ran with Lustrum until a short while ago." Lusus defended. She sent silent orders to Maw and Thresh to move towards the front of the bank.

Arclight moved forward and walked in step with her. "Perhaps, but she is a very different kind of cape. A political one. We're the classic bank robbers. And since you left Lustrum to be here… I'm guessing you are too?"

Lusus stared at Arclight's power armor for a long moment. "I suppose so. She's getting too… radical. Extreme. I agree in changing the system-" Arclight's female soldier snorted a laugh at that. "-but I'm not going to hurt random people on the street to do it."

"Good on you." The massive man said. "Too many of these new guys are popping up who think Scarface is the best way to be a villain."

Lusus raised a brow at the henchman. Though it couldn't be seen through her suit, the man seemed to understand her curiosity.

"Some asshole named Marky showed up not too long ago." His female partner elbowed him in the gut as he set up his tinkertech weapon on a tripod. "Or something like that. Talks smooth but he's a fucking monster from what we can tell. Baskins went to check him out, see how Marky worked before deciding to join up or not. Then he disappeared." The man drew a line across his throat.

As the man finished speaking, Arclight turned to Lusus and spoke. "One of my sensors just tripped. We have only a few minutes before Manpower and Various arrive. I want you and your pets to be in the vault at first."

Lusus hesitated. "…Why not have me out front? My aberrants hit much harder than your subordinates. No offense." She offered half-heartedly.

"Because Manpower probably has no idea that you're even here." Arclight laughed softly.

Lusus hummed in concentration before stepping towards him. She had always been good at thinking outside the box, but she wasn't sure this would work. "I have an idea."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Behind the pair of villains and the group of henchmen and monsters, the front section of the bank collapsed. The heroes had been forced into the safety of the vault when Thresh's acid finally corroded enough of the building's support columns. The heroes were now trapped in half-collapsed building as the triumphant villains stood in the street looking at their handiwork.

The woman turned and looked at the masked man. Even behind the damaged helmet, she could tell he was meeting her eyes.

"Wooh! That was fucking great! Good job, team! Pint's for everybody!" The large man shouted. His comrades joined their friend, as they set down the duffel bags they had managed to haul away. Though dirty, bruised and a little bloody, they had managed to win.

To them, that was the most important. To their leader…

Arclight and Lusus looked at each other.

Then down to the bags of jewels and valuables.

Back up to each other.

Down at the bags.

Back to the other.

They spoke at the same time. "Fifty-fifty?" "Forty-Sixty?"

Lusus put her hands on her hips in disbelief. "After what we just pulled off, you want to get greedy? Typical man."

Arclight pointed a finger at her. "We are using this money for a good cause and you are the one who tripped the alarm in the first place."

The two villains continued to argue over how the money would be split even as the group left the scene. Arclight's men simply sighed at their leader's stubbornness while Maw and Thresh patiently waited for their master.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

"And that's how we first met." Danny summed up.

Taylor stared blankly back. In her defense, it was all she could really do. The large, blue colored arms that were wrapped around her were just a little difficult to get out of.

Sitting next to her was her mother. Except it wasn't. But it was.

Her mother's body had died in the car accident. Her mind hadn't. Annette's current body was as close to human as she could design. She was still eight feet tall and built like an Olympian with bony ridges and armor plates covering her knees and elbows… but her face was human. Her face was Annette's.

She hadn't stopped hugging Taylor since she had walked into the house for the first time in almost two years.

Taylor struggled for words. Even learning that her parents were villains, even learning that both had ties to the underworld and had for years, her mother's survival was the biggest thing on her mind. One question stood out. She had to ask. "Why- why didn't you tell me she'd be back?" Her voice broke a little and Annette hugged her daughter even tighter.

The large woman spoke. "Because he didn't know, owl. My lab moved to stand-by but my last aberrant continued to grow in its tank. It took months to finish growing without me there. I made modifications to myself to better control the mind-hive, but even I didn't know I'd become a part of it. Neither of us had any idea my consciousness would transfer like it did."

Danny nodded regretfully. "I went to check on her lab one day and saw what I thought was one of her creations crawling of its tank. We did a lot of talking, some arguing, about what was going to happen."

Taylor looked at her father in confusion.

He continued. "Your mother can't go back to living a normal life. She didn't think she should come home if she was in a body like this. She didn't know how you'd take it. Annette can't create something too human. This-" He gestured at the tall, blue-scaled body of Annette. "-is as close to her old self as she will likely ever look."

Annette took over the explanation. "I wasn't sure how we could be a family again if I was like this. I can't exactly go outside and people will probably figure something is wrong is you suddenly get over my death. And there is still a risk of you or Danny saying something in public and slipping up."

"Not to mention the fact that you are still legally dead." Danny let loose a sigh of resignation as he slid a hand back across his hair. "Even if we do kidnap Panacea and make her change you…"

Annette hummed and nodded. "It's something to consider for the future."

Taylor felt a little lightheaded at that. Her parents were talking about kidnapping Panacea. She needed to sit down.

Oh. Wait. She was sitting down. Well.

Taylor nodded numbly.

"Now, Taylor. I know this is a lot to take in-"

"No dad, really?" Taylor asked sarcastically.

"-but we haven't been the only ones keeping secrets. And we have the defense of saying you were too young to know. That you wouldn't understand or you might say something and slip up with our secret identities. I'm very curious as to your defense."

Taylor went very still and eyed the doorframe to see if she could make an escape.

Annette looked at Danny in confusion. "You didn't mention this. What are you talking about?"

"I had guessed for a little while. I only had confirmation late last night." Danny answered as he turned on the TV and pressed the 'play' button. The recording was from the morning news that had played earlier in the morning.

"-clean up continues following the battle last night between the Wards, the vigilante hero Shadow Stalker, and the currently unnamed creature."

The broadcast cut to a grainy cell phone video. Some of the Wards were hiding behind an overturned minivan while Vista was warping flames away from them. The camera view moved towards what looked to be a bipedal dinosaur-gorilla hybrid. The saurian was nearly twenty feet tall with thick, powerful limbs and a barbed tail. A pair of glowing red eyes was set within a dome-like, armored head. Its neck and torso glowed from within as it alternated between breathing fire at the nearby Wards and throwing dumpster bins, traffic lights, and automobiles at Shadow Stalker.

"Shadow Stalker? She's that rookie isn't she?" Annette thought out loud.

"You've been… unconscious for a good amount of time. She's gotten more well known. A little vicious for a hero, but the public likes the idea that she's taking the fight to the gangs." Danny said.

Taylor grimaced silently. She might wind up having to explain just what Sophia- Shadow Stalker- had been doing and the chain of events that led to the… scuffle.

Because really, that's all it was. Just a scuffle.

Taylor winced as she saw the footage of herself rip a manhole cover out of the street and throw it like a Frisbee at the Wards. The teen heroes scattered from the minivan as the heavy piece of metal bisected the car.

…Right. Just a scuffle.

"Speculation continues that this is one of Lusus' creations, possibly signaling her return after nearly two years of silence from her and Arclight. Other parahuman analysts point out this creature does not follow the design patterns of the villainess' monsters. We'll keep you posted on any new information, whether this is a creation of Lusus or yet another new villain."

"Oh won't they be surprised when they learn it's both." Annette had quickly grasped what her husband implied. She watched the broadcast with a wide smile.

Danny stared at his daughter as seriously as he could. On the inside he was very proud of Taylor; she had fought off nearly every cape in her age group. But he was also upset at her recklessness. Annette simply smiled brightly as she watched the news broadcast.

Taylor's defense was masterful. "…you don't know that was me."

Annette squealed as the footage showed the twenty foot tall lizard pick up a car and throw it at Shadow Stalker. The vigilante turned intangible moments before impact. The vehicle passed through her harmlessly only to smash into a storefront.

Taylor had only a moment before her mother spun around and picked her up at waist, catching Taylor in a bear hug. She twirled around in circles happily.

Taylor grimaced and let herself transform slightly. Even in the 'small' humanoid body, her mother's strength was ridiculous. She felt something creak before her bone structure changed and the pressure eased. Once the pain stopped she managed to figure out what her mother was saying.

"-we can all go out and it'll finally be a real family event! Oh, it'll be so much fun! It'll be even better than that time we teamed up with Lustrum." Her mother stopped spinning. Taylor was dizzy enough that she didn't notice. "And I can finally show that bitch Brandish who really has the better daughter."

Taylor didn't really know how to respond to that. Instead she vowed to learn as much as she could about just what the hell her parents had actually been doing on their 'nights out' when she was younger. She also didn't want her mom to know-

Danny cleared his throat meaningfully and pointed Annette back to the TV.

She turned her head just in time to see the lizard beast charge towards Shadow Stalker only for Glory Girl to fly into its path. The image on the screen blurred in an explosion of fire as the two met.

Annette released the tight hug and held out Taylor in front of, holding the girl up from the armpits. With her considerable height, Annette was holding Taylor over a foot off the ground. "Tell me you won."

Taylor took a small moment to marvel at the situation. Her parents were villains. Her mother wasn't dead, and that was the really important part of this morning. Finally, according to the news she was a villain.

And her mother was encouraging her.

Taylor looked at her at her mother and hesitantly answered. "It… it was a draw. Sorry."

Annette returned to hugging her daughter. Taylor tried to return it but breathing was getting difficult again. "Oh don't worry, little owl. You'll do better once we're all out there and we've taught you the ropes."

Despite her reservations -and her ribs currently being crushed- Taylor smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Title: The Family Business

AN: A snippet that has sat unfinished for a very long time. I like the idea of Danny and Annette being former villains who fell for each other Mr. and Mrs. Smith style. That being said, I still don't quite like how this turned out. I cut corners and didn't do the fight scene I wanted with Annette and Danny. It just wasn't flowing right. Too much hassle for a single snippet and I gave up.

My rough idea for this was that Annette left Lustrum but wasn't entirely sure of her new course, so she comes off as inexperienced and unsure at the beginning. Danny and the dockworkers had been operating in the Bay for quite a while without being beaten down by the rapidly rising Empire 88 and Allfather. In the years that followed, Annette became more experienced in villainy and the pair worked with and against each other on and off. They eventually became full time partners, much to the public's dismay, but inexplicably pulled back their activities following 1995. No one is sure why.

For a visual of the monsters involved in this snippet, I pictured Taylor's monster form as Goliath from Evolve (the game). Annette's Maw and Thresh are slightly altered forms of Otachi and Trespasser from Pacific Rim.

I did have a different take on this but couldn't manage it. It was a DC fusion where Annette was Lustrum and Danny was Deathstroke. Danny and Taylor would have fought without knowing who the other was and when Danny learned it was his daughter he was fighting... well. The ending line was: "I'm glad you're here, Taylor. I really am. Welcome to the Light".

If anyone wants to take a shot at that.
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This, I love this.

Annette's personality is fantastically energetic and entertaining. Taylor's absolutely confused stance is great. And I'm assuming Danny's powers are something along the lines of [Infamous]'s electric control, or something.

And please make another, kidnap Panacea, and let her see the villains are more of a family than the heroes!
 
A Few Questions:
1. When was Tattletale 'recruited' by Coil?
2. When did the Undersiders start?
3. When did Regent arrive in Brockton Bay?
4. What do you think would be a suitable name for an E88!Tattletale
 
1.1, 1.2, 1.3

Kingdom​


Phylum 1.3


The transport van was just ahead of me. I was standing between two buildings, waiting for the van to get closer so that I could interrupt it. This was the one that contained Sophia – that contained Shadow Stalker. That much I knew. The file had mentioned that there was the possibility of a Protectorate hero being present, due to security risks. Or maybe just because of the possibility of her running.


That wouldn't happen.


I didn't have back up. Coil had called me again a few nights before the transport was due to take place and offered, but I'd turned him down. I didn't need to be in his debt any more than I already was. Hopefully I wouldn't need them – but I should be prepared for anyone who was already there. If they called in backup I would be in trouble, but the plan was to be gone before that happened.


I said plan – I still didn't know exactly what I was going to do. The notion of coming face-to-face with Taylor's... killer, filled me with both dread and fury.


I let out a heavy breath. It sounded strangely distorted through the bio-ventilator. I readied myself; the van was approaching. I took several short breaths as it approached, then blinked twice. As the sound of the engine got louder, I charged forward.


I hit the front of the van side on, sending it swerving to the side, off the street. The bumper crumpled, as I slammed into it, and it screeched to a halt. I backed off as one of the two PRT members tried to confront me, but I backhanded the him away as he tried to foam me. The other on was trapped beneath the dented door of the van, but he yelled for me to stop and tried to foam me.


It was easy enough to avoid the spray and sting him with the knockout jab. He struggled beneath the dented door for a little longer, then slumped. I crept round to the back, as the sound of yelling and banging got louder. Shadow Stalker.


I slowly placed my gauntleted hands on the handles, then yanked the whole set of double doors off their hinges. I had the brief moment to see a smirking Sophia, before a blurring figure slammed into me and sent me flying.


I tumbled heels over head and landed on my back. Fortunately, taking the durability hormone and treating the armor with it appeared to have worked – I was unharmed, apart from the hit on the head.


I scrambled to my feet. The hero that had been with Sophia in the back of the van was Battery. I was unclear on what her power specifically was – she was labelled as some form of Brute on ParaHumans Online, but judging by the blur when she moved there was a Mover aspect to it as well.


I stood in a ready stance, facing her. She was standing stock still, watching me warily. Sophia had stepped out the back of the van, and was now standing slightly to the side, trying to get the handcuffs off. I wasn't sure why she hadn't changed into her Breaker form, but I wasn't going to question it if it helped me.


My eyes flicked back to Battery just in time to see her come thundering forward. Stumbling back in surprise, a let off a gout of flame that caught her head on, wrenching a scream from her lips, and sending her to the ground. Her costume appeared to be largely fireproof, but there were exposed areas of skin that were burnt raw.


I walked over to her still body, flicking out a knockout stinger and reaching over to inject her – but she lashed out, apparently having feigned the injury. She hit me in the shoulder, but it was nowhere near as damaging as it had been when she had first hit me. I was barely moved by the hit, and grabbed her hand to inject her just above the wrist. She continued to struggle for longer than the PRT officer had, but I held her down until she fell unconscious.


I turned to the van. Sophia was gone. I didn't see any sign of her handcuffs, but if she had managed to get away in her Breaker form then I couldn't do anything.


I set off running, seeing if I could find the girl.


I couldn't exactly track her – although I could've easily implemented some form of tracking system, even if I just imitated a dog's. Blood hound would be best, I mused-


No. I couldn't be distracted. I focused. Logically, there had to be a reason for her not to take her Breaker form, and the Protectorate would have had some way to account for it. So there must have been some way of preventing her escape – the handcuffs?


I hadn't seen any. There was a possibility that she was still on the streets – I immediately regretted not including enhanced senses in the armour.


I kept running, peering down alleyways. I didn't know whether I was even seeing anyone there, what with how dark it was. But if I could-


I turned a street corner to see the worst possible situation.


There were four members of the Protectorate there – Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Dauntless, and Assault.


I froze. This wasn't good. Behind them, a smirking Sophia stood, slightly to the left of Armsmaster, her insufferable sneer directed at me. I said nothing as Armsmaster stepped forward.


"Identify yourself!" He proclaimed, his voice a little too loud to be comfortable. He had his signature halberd held loosely in his right hand, ready to bring to bear. Miss Militia stood to his right, some kind of assault rifle held in her hands. To his left, Dauntless, spear and shield already up and ready to attack. Assault stood with his arms crossed, staring directly at me.


My mind raced. Battery must have put out the call when the van was hit. The Protectorate members before me were the ones who arrived- in response to the attack? But why so many?


I frowned. None of this made sense. They wouldn't send four Protectorate members for an attack on a transport van, surely?


"I said, identify yourself!" Armsmaster said again.


Well... I hadn't thought much about this, but... "You can call me Kingdom." I said, my terse voice distorted by the ventilator into a vastly more threatening tone than I could manage on my own.


Armsmaster responded. "Kingdom, then. You have attacked a Protectorate member, and two PRT officers. If you come quietly you may be offered leniency."


Judging by the way that Assault shifted his shoulders and looked to the side, that decision wasn't popular among them.


For a moment I honestly considered it. Considering just telling them everything, telling them that Sophia had killed my daughter – surely that would mean something. I came so close to doing so that I nearly opened my mouth, but then-


A six-legged, four-winged scaly monstrosity set down next to me. It looked over with a reptilian face, a blue light burning beneath its skin, and snorted ash. I frowned inside my armour, and then it deepened when a man in a black costume, red mask and top hat stepped off its back. He nodded to me.


"Looked like you could use a hand there, Kingdom." The man in the top hat said, emphasizing Kingdom a little too much. "We decided to lend one."


I didn't recognise them. There were four in total, including the six-legged dragon-thing and the cape in the top hat. There was a woman in a black bodysuit, emblazoned with red suns, and another man in bulky armour and a square mask. Evidently, the Protectorate members recognised them, because they tensed up and raised their weapons slightly.


"The Travellers." Armsmaster said tensely. "Added another member to you ranks, Trickster?"


"More of a temporary thing, really." The so-named Trickster said. "Thought Kingdom here could use our help."


There was a stand-off as the Travellers and me faced off against the Protectorate members. Eventually, Trickster laughed and sauntered closer. "Come on, Armsmaster. You're outnumbered and out-gunned." He nodded at Miss Militia, and the man in the bulky armour snorted. "Just give us Shadow Stalker and we'll be out of your hair."


Trickster nodded to me. I nodded back hesitantly.


Armsmaster didn't like that. "Shadow Stalker is a hero of the Protectorate. What makes you think we'd give her up to villains." Miss Militia glanced – almost nervously – at Armsmaster's back.


"Is that what we're calling heroes now?" I asked testingly. "Unapologetic murderers?"


Sophia tensed, ducking slightly behind Dauntless, and Armsmaster tightened his grip on his halberd. "What are you-"


I cut him off. I could already tell that he would be attempting to cover it up, even though I clearly already knew everything. "Shadow Stalker, real name Sophia Hess." I said, a ote of anger creeping into my voice – the ventilator made it sound harsh and dangerous. "Two months ago she and her two friends murdered a young girl named Taylor Hebert. Madison Clements and Emma Barnes were scapegoats, set up as the only killers – with the PRT covering up the fact that she was the main instigator of the attack."


I was venting slightly. Armsmaster tried to speak up, but I overrode him. "And yet the PRT do nothing to punish her – merely transferring her to another city so that she's someone else's problem." I stepped forward, noticing that Trickster was looking at me almost nervously. "So why don't you hand her over, and we'll give her the punishment she deserves."


Armsmaster is silent for a few moments, then says, "Shadow Stalker, come here." Miss Militia jerked almost comically in surprise. When Shadow Stalker did nothing, he repeated it. "I said, come here!"


Trembling, Sophia walked forward, and into view. "Y-you're not actually gonna... A-are you?" She said, coming slowly. I watched intently. As she got close, Armsmaster brought his halberd to bear. I frowned, tensing.


"Request backup immediately!" He yelled into some kind of comm, then struck her handcuffs from her wrists and shoved her away. "Run!"


I was instantly running forward, even as the Protectorate sprang into action. Assault leapt toward me, his right cross aimed right at my face even as he somehow remained in the air far longer than possible. I brought my right hand up to block it, but he brushed it aside without looking and gave me a hard punch to the face, hitting harder than possible.


I was knocked back, but didn't fall. Instead, I raised my right hand delivered a caustic spray to his exposed lower face. Roaring in anger, he stumbled back, and I heard Trickster yell, "Kingdom! Here ya go!"


I barely had moment to turn around and asked what he meant when I was suddenly somewhere else, down the street. In the distance, I saw Dauntless run face first into a motorbike that had appeared out of nowhere, but I was focused on the immediate. Running straight towards me was Sophia.


Upon seeing me ahead, she didn't slow down. Her eyes widened slightly, but she lowered herself further into a runner's stance and, if anything, increased her speed. I lowered myself into a defensive stance, preparing a spray of flames as I had done with Battery.


But when Sophia got close, she took on her Breaker state, becoming shadow and passing right through my gout of flame. And through me.


She passed through my body, re-materialized, and kept running. I spun and pounded after her, charging as fast as I could. I let off another gout of flame, hoping to catch her unawares, but she must have heard the release of the gas and became shadow once more.


I nearly snarled inside my armour. This wasn't working – she was faster than me, and she was getting away. I kept silent, however, and kept running – only to slow and stop as a six-legged dragon knocked her off her feet. She got up and turned to shadow, trying to pass through, but the street suddenly blazed into luminosity, as a miniature sun burst into existence. I saw her hesitate, not wanting to risk being unable to pass through the sun.


She stopped and fell to her knees, hands raised above her head. Her jaw was set, and her eyes blazed with fury, but she was beaten.


Trickster stepped in beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder, and nodded. The man in the bulky armour was further to the left.


I stepped forward and jabbed her with the knockout injection. She swayed momentarily, then collapsed bonelessly.


I seized her in a bridal carry and laid her out on the back of the six-legged dragon, not particularly gently. I was so close. There was a pressure building up in my stomach, some kind of sick longing, mixed with anticipation. It scared me a little, because it came a little too close to the anger I was used to feeling.


The other Travellers got on the back of the six-legged dragon as it prepared to take flight. There's no way it's doing that on just wingbeats, I mused. The aerodynamics are impossible. Heat vents of some kind?


"Would you like to be carried with us?" Trickster asked, peering down at me from the back of the dragon. Hesitantly, I shook my head.


"I think that might just overburden you. I'll walk, I think." I saw him exchange glances with the two other members. "As long as I can trust you, that is."


Trickster nodded once. I couldn't tell if he was smiling, but he seemed reassured. "We'll see you back at the base, then. Just follow the dragon. And quickly. Reinforcements will be arriving any second now."


I nodded, and the dragon took off. Interesting, I thought as I watched it fly away. Muscular torsion to grant extreme strength, with helium vents. Terribly impractical in the longterm, but I suppose they might not have to worry about that.


I broke into a jog, following the vague smudge in the night sky.


-/--//--/-


When I arrived, there were various soldiers waiting to meet me. The dragon touched down next to me, and began to break down. A parahuman power itself, then, not a tinker product of some kind. The Travellers were invited one way, whilst two soldiers indicated that I should follow them.


They lead me through a series of winding passages, going down underground, until I was face to face with an office of some sort. The soldiers stopped there, and took positions either side of the door. Haltingly, I raised a hand to knock, then paused as the door opened automatically.


I walked in. There was a man in a skintight black bodysuit sitting at the desk, but otherwise the room was quite bare. He nodded to me, and stood as I approached. We shook hands, and I took a seat in a nondescript black chair.


"To business, then," the man I assumed must be Coil said. "You have Shadow Stalker. I am perfectly willing to hold her here for a few days, at least until you can sort out your living situations."


"I don't think there's enough space to hold her where I'm living." I admitted. "It's already pretty cramped. I'm so limited in what I can do..."


A smile slid onto Coil's face. "Perhaps I can assist in this regard." He stood and walked round his desk, striding over to the door and opening it without pausing. I followed, and we strode past the guards, who moved to follow.


"You see, I have been anticipating your need for much more opportune workspace." He said without looking back at me. "I've set up a suitable area for you in which to work."


We walked on in silence for a little longer, before coming to a large set of grey double doors. Coil stepped forward to push them open, revealing a large expanse. There were desks and workbenches set up at various places around the perimeter of the room, shelves stacked with chemicals, and at the back, a miniature zoo, the whole wall covered in various animal cages, containing various quite exotic snakes, insects, fish, and a monkey, of all things.


Atop the workbenches were microscopes, scalpels, various saws and needles, and on one, an actual perspex, rectangular box which, at closer inspection, I saw contained a full set of organs. I nearly asked where he had gotten them, before thinking better of it.


"This is..." I gaped at the expense Coil must have gone to. There was almost everything I needed, here. It was perfect. "Incredible." I felt sure that if I had known what Coil's face looked like right now, I would have seen the smuggest smirk. I didn't even care – this was a godsend. There was even a table pushed up against one wall, that could be wheeled out into the centre for when I was operating on something.


"I take it that the facilities are to your liking?" I was right. The cultured voice was radiating smugness at almost irritable levels.


"I'll still need some of the objects from my previous lab." I said absently. "The chrysalis, most of all."


I turned back to Coil. He was nodding, and as I watched called a guard over to him and told him to organise a retinue to retrieve it. The guard nodded and went back to the doors of the lab, before disappearing round the corner.


"Is that all?" He asked. At my nod, he continued. "We can hash out the details of your use of this facility later, but for now... I believe the Travellers wished to speak to you?"


I blinked inside my suit. Why would they...? I couldn't think of a reason that they would want to speak to me, not in the slightest. Well, they had helped me out today, possibly even saved my life, so...


I nodded to Coil, and strode past him, out into the hallway, and paused. I realised that I didn't actually know where anything was – fortunately, Coil ordered one of the guards to escort me to where the Travellers were residing.


We traipsed through corridors and across walkways for a good ten minutes before we arrived at the room they were staying in, making me wonder just how extensive this base was. Did it extend under the whole of downtown?


My musings were cut off as the guard knocked on the door, nodded to me, and returned to his duties. The door swung open to reveal an unmasked Trickster on the other side. He practically grinned when he saw me, but his body language screamed nervousness.


"Kingdom!" He said, reaching out to shake my hand. "We didn't get properly introduced back there, did we? Well, I'm Trickster, this is Ballistic, Sundancer, and Genesis." He indicated the man in the bulky armour, the girl in the outfit emblazoned with red suns, and the girl in the wheelchair. That would be easy enough to fix, I mused absently.


"Well, uh, I'm Kingdom." I nodded to them, and the three of them exchanged pleasantries with me. Trickster broke in.


"In the briefing, Coil said that you were a Tinker focusing on biological systems, right?" He asked anxiously. I nodded hesitantly.


"I haven't found the specifics of my speciality, but something like that, yes."


Trickster let out a relieved sigh. "In that case... I've got something of a favour to ask."


The three others tensed, staring at Trickster intensely. Sundancer spoke up. "Do you think that he can-"


Trickster was already nodding, and Genesis was grinning wildly. Even Ballistic, who had been somewhat stoic, had a happy little smile stuck on his face.


"Uh..." I was somewhat bewildered at their response. "Well, you did save me back there, so I suppose I do owe you- do you need me to fix Genesis's legs, or something?"


Genesis's smile faded somewhat and she shook her head. "It's related to my power, so..."


I nodded, still confused. Trickster was stepping out of the room, guiding me after him before I could ask again.


"There's someone else we'd like you to take a look at, actually." He took a set of stairs, led us through several winding passageways, before we came to the door of the vault. Instead of opening it up, Trickster guided my eyes to a screen mounted on the side, that lit up as he tapped a button beneath it.


My eyes widened. "Well." I said. "That's..."


"Yeah." Trickster said, but I couldn't tear my eyes from the monstrous thing on the screen.


-/--//--/-
 
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The Wanderer

Section: Shadow Stalker​

'You stupid motherfuckers.'

Those were the first words that came to my mind as the man in the hooded grey coat rose to his feet from the park bench. The long wool coat he wore now dipped just below his knees, his moderate grey beard being the only part of his face visible. Standing at over 9 feet, the figure loomed over the two skinheads in the same manner he had been looming over the tome he had been reading before tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum decided to disturb him. An oppressive air s and I briefly wondered how the two idiots hadn't caught on to the fact that they were messing with someone way above their paygrade.

Like thunder, his deep voice reverbated through the dark park but despite, or perhaps because of, the deep tone I couldn't hear more than a rumble. The taller of the skinheads spat on the grey man's feet, but before the saliva even connected with the ground the hooded man slammed an overhead fist straight into his collarbone. The wannabe nazi dropped like a sack of potatoes as the man roundhoused the second one into a nearby tree.

Neither of the two men made any further movements as the large man picked up the book he had left on the park bench. His head then swung in my direction and my mind froze as the long grey beard that was now visible twitched with amusement. He let the looked at me from underneath the hood for a brief second before he whistled. The sound of thunder once more appeared, though this time it wasn't his voice, but a giant white horse with eight legs that thundered into the park out of nowhere. The bearded man took off and after a couple of seconds he disappeared into the same nothingness that the horse had come from.

'Holy fucking shit!'

I collapsed on the branch I had been sitting on and my heart finally started slowing down.



Section: Taylor Hebert​

A loud thump sounded and the world shook as something gigantic slammed into ground some ways behind me. I swivelled and attempted to spot what had made the noise but my efforts were hindered as my long brown hair blew into my glasses and almost completely blinded me. I heard more noises, this time a pained scream and the shrieking sound of metal giving way. After pawing ineffectually at my hair for a split second I managed to get a clear view of the street.

Hookwolf, lay unmoving on the street - it was fairly easy to recognise the large beast-like metal construct as the Empire 88 cape he was, but my mind scrambled for a reason for his appearance at the intersection between Lincoln and the 48th street. Stormtiger was there too, judging by the man currently levitating above the metal wreck.

Thunder sounded and I instinctively took cover behind a trash can. When I peered over the top of the foul-smelling container I spotted a man in a grey coat on an eight-legged white horse. Both the horse and the man looked to be about the same scale - about half again as large as any other man or horse respectively. I had a pretty good idea of who most capes in Brockton Bay were, but unless it was Uber and Leet sitting on one another's shoulders, this was a new parahuman.

At first I honestly thought it was another E88 cape with a valkyrie theme, but it was obviously all wrong as while I was attempting to figure out who the new bearded rider was, he was stabbing Stormtiger from afar using a spear and weaving around the air-based attacks that the nazi retaliated with. It took all of 5 seconds for Stormtiger to crash into the ground, blood dripping down from the multiple stab wounds he had received.

A realisation struck me as I rose from behind the green trash can made of plastic. He had stomped two Empire Eighty-Eight capes in broad daylight on, as far as I could tell, his first outing as a cape. That took either serious skills, a ridiculous power set or massive luck. In this case, it looked like two parts of the middle option and one part of the first one.

----

No plans, just itchy fingers needing to write. Whipped up in about half an hour, so still rough.
 
...Did Empire 88, founded by a dude who called himself All-Father, just piss of the actual, mythological All-Father?
I approve.
 
fineBalancer said:
Yeah, we have multiple earths, like Beta, Alpha. I know! It's so weird, I have no idea why they didn't call them one or two, instead of stupid Latin words. Anyway, so I thought I was in earth trifecta or something, 'cause there was no Scion, no capes, no nothing. But you were alright, so were a few other people. Though, it took me a while to figure out that most of them hadn't even been born.
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It's Bet and Aleph, which are the first two letters from the Hebrew alphabet, not Beta and Alpha, and they're not "stupid Latin words." Second, Alpha and Beta are still not "stupid Latin words," they the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, and "trifecta" isn't a part of it.

Not sure why they picked the Hebrew alphabet to name the various Earths. Maybe Judaism is really big on Earth Aleph?
 
Selias said:
It's Bet and Aleph, which are the first two letters from the Hebrew alphabet, not Beta and Alpha, and they're not "stupid Latin words." Second, Alpha and Beta are still not "stupid Latin words," they the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, and "trifecta" isn't a part of it.

Not sure why they picked the Hebrew alphabet to name the various Earths. Maybe Judaism is really big on Earth Aleph?
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Thanks. I'd misremembered Bet & Aleph.

The latin and the trifecta, however, was intentional. Though since trifecta doesn't rhyme with Bet or Aleph, it doesn't make sense to use it.
 
Selias said:
It's Bet and Aleph, which are the first two letters from the Hebrew alphabet, not Beta and Alpha, and they're not "stupid Latin words." Second, Alpha and Beta are still not "stupid Latin words," they the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, and "trifecta" isn't a part of it.
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I had thought that the Alpha/Beta and Latin thing were intentionally confused as a joke.

Selias said:
Not sure why they picked the Hebrew alphabet to name the various Earths. Maybe Judaism is really big on Earth Aleph?
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That doesn't follow. We use Alpha and Beta all over, without the Greek Pantheon being particularly popular.

No religion seems to be popular in Worm. It's a spiritually desolate world, and for pretty good reasons.

Presumably Wildbow just wanted to be slightly original in world names.

fineBalancer said:
Thanks. I'd misremembered Bet & Aleph.
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Alpha and Beta were derived from Aleph and Bet, with the letter-names undergoing the same sort of linguistic mutation that turned "Alephbet" into "Alphabet". So it's not unreasonable that they got conflated.
 
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