Wyvern - Worm AU fanfic

[Portec]

Okay, I'll bite. How exactly do you expect him to escalate? Try to tackle the Dragon that just melted his halberd? Try to shoot the thing that can breathe melting point fire? Remote control his motorcycle to crash through the wall and try to kamikaze the living flamethrower/plasma torch/hydrogen bomb? Run away screaming for backup?

Admittedly, the last one would make a certain amount of sense, but his uniform is blue, not brown so....

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Armsmasters only has a handfull of option.

1. Intimitade Taylor: Look undisturbed and demand her to yield. Ideally while listing all the felocities she might have done.
2. Attack Taylor: Even with his main weapon gone he could have X other minor gadgets on him that could be something as mudane as pepper spray to range as far as tinkertech gadgets. In canon he got his weapon teleportet back to him after the raid on the celebration. It stand to reason that he might 'magic' up just that and get a replacement weapon teleportet to him.
   And even without he is a very skilled hand to hand fighter in POWERARMOR that allow him to throw it down with low to mid tier brutes.
   
3. Disengage Combat: Tactical sound to retreat and get out of the range of an unknown parahuman.
4. Call Support: He knows of 2 or 3 members of New Wave beeing there at the moment. That is a lot of firepower even if not under his comand.

Remember: Not all are that likely based upon the characterization of his charater.
Most likely a combination of the above. Like getting a bit more room to evade possible attacks while staying colse enough to attack while pinging HQ to sent reinforcments while telling Taylor to surrender while activating tinker bullshit to get a replacement weapon.
I see it as out of character for him to call New Wave for help because of his pride and more likely to 'ask' them to stay out of it and in the worst case ignoring what they are saying to defuse the situation.

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

This is roughly how I'd rewrite the scene:


Omake: The Hand That Feeds


"You're Taylor Hebert," he announced, surprise in his voice.

"I … yes, I am," I admitted.

"You blew up your locker at Winslow, damaged other lockers extensively, and set the school on fire."



"I, uh, mmMMmFFF"

Mrs. Pelham threw her hand over my mouth before I could continue, and began barking out orders. "Vicky, call your mom and tell her to come over here ASAP. Taylor, do not say another wo-"

I couldn't hear the rest. My blood pounded in my ears. This time, I felt the change coming on. No, no, no, no -

Arms lengthened into wings, and membranes grew between my fingers and my arms. My t-shirt was gone, torn to shreds. My jeans – I was going through them at a phenomenal rate, just today – tore and split away from my growing tail, my changing legs. In just a few seconds, in my draconic form, I crouched before Armsmaster, wings spread in an unconscious threat display. I tasted something like copper or pork in my mouth and quickly swallowed before opening wide. I couldn't roar, or perhaps I had not yet figured out how, but I was making a pretty loud noise anyway.

He reached behind his back, there were several rapid click-click noises, and his halberd was in his hands. It was perhaps the most versatile weapon in Brockton Bay. Everyone knew that it could cut through steel like soft butter. And he was threatening me with it.

"Stand down!" he shouted. "I will use all necessary force if -"

Flame roiled in my gullet, my head dipped low, and I spat fire. Not the explosive fireball that had opened the locker for me, but a tight, controlled burst. Blue-white at the core, blue around the edges; it illuminated the room with actinic brightness. Armsmaster ducked away, but it wasn't aimed at him. When he next looked at his halberd, the head was simply gone, with just a drooping blob of metal at the tip. Behind him, a line of globs of molten metal sizzled on the lawn.

Stepping back carefully, the sound of Mrs. Pelham's voice returned. "- the VICTIM of a TRIGGER EVENT!" She finished shouting, gesticulating wildly and spraying blood everywhere from the stump of her left wrist. Wait, what?


End of Part Four




(Yeah, Taylor accidentally bit off and swallowed Sarah's hand. Vicky will have to go pick up Amy too.)

 

[landcollector]

Stepping back carefully, the sound of Mrs. Pelham's voice returned. "- the VICTIM of a TRIGGER EVENT!" She finished shouting, gesticulating wildly and spraying blood everywhere from the stump of her left wrist. Wait, what?

Click to shrink...

Mrs. Pelham would be too busy screaming in agony to say this.

 

[zaiaku]

Taylor was panicking, Armsmaster, for the first time in most fics I've read, was in the right to try and bring Taylor in for questioning as she is a suspect for the destruction of her own locker, but he went and put his foot in his mouth AGAIN and said in a a way that was misinterpreted. Also note that Taylor did NOT aim for Armsmaster but rather his halberd in a power play move, basically almost completely disarming the tinker.

 

[Estella]

Who?

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Did we miss Ack saying Lung isn't here in this timeline. Also with no mention of Bakuda in the explosives tinker conversation I think there is no ABB in this AU.

 

[Hangwind]

snip

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No...that is actively worse.

 

[Alagon]

Personally I liked the initial version well enough, and the rewrite was fine as well.
Honestly there seems to be a lot of overreaction over an initial confrontation scene.
Write whichever way you want Ack, it's good enough to keep me entertained.

 

[Orion Scimatarii]

I prefer it the way Ack has it now.

If anyone here wants something different, go write a different fic for us to read, then listen to us bitch about it.

See how you like it.

 

[thefluffyone]

Mrs. Pelham would be too busy screaming in agony to say this.

Click to shrink...

I dunno man...Like Zaeed says...

Spoiler

 

[OverReactionGuy]

Damn it I thought the complaining was over with. Enough already, Ack already said stop it. Jeeze. >.>

This is roughly how I'd rewrite the scene:



"You're Taylor Hebert," he announced, surprise in his voice.

"I … yes, I am," I admitted.

"You blew up your locker at Winslow, damaged other lockers extensively, and set the school on fire."



"I, uh, mmMMmFFF"

Mrs. Pelham threw her hand over my mouth before I could continue, and began barking out orders. "Vicky, call your mom and tell her to come over here ASAP. Taylor, do not say another wo-"

I couldn't hear the rest. My blood pounded in my ears. This time, I felt the change coming on. No, no, no, no -

Arms lengthened into wings, and membranes grew between my fingers and my arms. My t-shirt was gone, torn to shreds. My jeans – I was going through them at a phenomenal rate, just today – tore and split away from my growing tail, my changing legs. In just a few seconds, in my draconic form, I crouched before Armsmaster, wings spread in an unconscious threat display. I tasted something like copper or pork in my mouth and quickly swallowed before opening wide. I couldn't roar, or perhaps I had not yet figured out how, but I was making a pretty loud noise anyway.

He reached behind his back, there were several rapid click-click noises, and his halberd was in his hands. It was perhaps the most versatile weapon in Brockton Bay. Everyone knew that it could cut through steel like soft butter. And he was threatening me with it.

"Stand down!" he shouted. "I will use all necessary force if -"

Flame roiled in my gullet, my head dipped low, and I spat fire. Not the explosive fireball that had opened the locker for me, but a tight, controlled burst. Blue-white at the core, blue around the edges; it illuminated the room with actinic brightness. Armsmaster ducked away, but it wasn't aimed at him. When he next looked at his halberd, the head was simply gone, with just a drooping blob of metal at the tip. Behind him, a line of globs of molten metal sizzled on the lawn.

Stepping back carefully, the sound of Mrs. Pelham's voice returned. "- the VICTIM of a TRIGGER EVENT!" She finished shouting, gesticulating wildly and spraying blood everywhere from the stump of her left wrist. Wait, what?


End of Part Four




(Yeah, Taylor accidentally bit off and swallowed Sarah's hand. Vicky will have to go pick up Amy too.)

Click to shrink...

That would have just made the situation worse honestly. Taylor just attacked and swallowed a fellow hero's hand from, and then disarmed his weapon from his point of view. Plus that brings forth needless drama/trauma in this. Taylor would feel sick at eating Photon Mom's hand and would probably break down, panic, or generally cause things to go from bad to worse.

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

That would have just made the situation worse honestly. Taylor just attacked and swallowed a fellow hero's hand from, and then disarmed his weapon from his point of view. Plus that brings forth needless drama/trauma in this. Taylor would feel sick at eating Photon Mom's hand and would probably break down, panic, or generally cause things to go from bad to worse.

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The hand was over her human mouth. When Taylor transformed, it was already inside her dragon mouth. As Ack said in the QQ thread,

Taylor tends to act largely on instinct when she first changes, but she can regain control as well.

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Taylor just did what came naturally. The way I wrote it was an accident, played for humor.

As for Sarah, she's been a hero for nearly twenty years. I'm sure she's felt worse. Besides, Amy can fix it no problem.

 

[Tisaku]

Damn it I thought the complaining was over with. Enough already, Ack already said stop it. Jeeze. >.>



That would have just made the situation worse honestly. Taylor just attacked and swallowed a fellow hero's hand from, and then disarmed his weapon from his point of view. Plus that brings forth needless drama/trauma in this. Taylor would feel sick at eating Photon Mom's hand and would probably break down, panic, or generally cause things to go from bad to worse.

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Yes, and when the backup that Armsmaster inevitably called arrives they find Armsy on his knees mourning over a few bits of melted metal, a dragon thing trying to hack up it's stomach, and an unhanded Photon Mom telling the dragon that it is only a flesh wound and Amy can fix it right up. Leading to the single largest WTF moment in PRT history.

 

[OverReactionGuy]

Taylor just did what came naturally. The way I wrote it was an accident, played for humor.

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Accidental using limbs generally isn't great humor. Unless the person that lost the limb is a zombie or has stupidly fast regeneration. Especially since the context of the scene doesn't scream humor to me. Not to mention you underestimate the amount of pain Sarah would be in and the amount of blood she would loose before Amy even can get home to heal her.

Not to mention your still underestimating the trauma and panic said scene would cause Taylor. Who accidentally ate a human's hand, a human that has been trying to help her, and is not a god damn cannibal.

Yes, and when the backup that Armsmaster inevitably called arrives they find Armsy on his knees mourning over a few bits of melted metal, a dragon thing trying to hack up it's stomach, and an unhanded Photon Mom telling the dragon that it is only a flesh wound and Amy can fix it right up. Leading to the single largest WTF moment in PRT history.

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Yeah, that would be funny.

 

[Mandabar]

Omake: The Hand That FeedsI tasted something like copper or pork in my mouth and quickly swallowed before opening wide. I couldn't roar, or perhaps I had not yet figured out how, but I was making a pretty loud noise anyway.

And he was threatening me with it.


Stepping back carefully, the sound of Mrs. Pelham's voice returned. "- the VICTIM of a TRIGGER EVENT!" She finished shouting, gesticulating wildly and spraying blood everywhere from the stump of her left wrist. Wait, what?


(Yeah, Taylor accidentally bit off and swallowed Sarah's hand. Vicky will have to go pick up Amy too.)

Click to shrink...

Oh wow. Damnnnn. Interesting rewriting I admit. Nice Omake!

That would have just made the situation worse honestly. Taylor just attacked and swallowed a fellow hero's hand from, and then disarmed his weapon from his point of view. Plus that brings forth needless drama/trauma in this. Taylor would feel sick at eating Photon Mom's hand and would probably break down, panic, or generally cause things to go from bad to worse.

Click to shrink...

And very true. Funny in an Omake, but horrifying to everyone else, Taylor most of all. cannibalism of someone who has helped and accepted you is not something you get over easily if at all.

Did we miss Ack saying Lung isn't here in this timeline. Also with no mention of Bakuda in the explosives tinker conversation I think there is no ABB in this AU.

Click to shrink...

There really hasn't been much time for world building in this AU yet for us to even know what has or hasn't changed. I'm assuming everything is different until proven wrong.

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

Accidental using limbs generally isn't great humor. Unless the person that lost the limb is a zombie or has stupidly fast regeneration. Especially since the context of the scene doesn't scream humor to me. Not to mention you underestimate the amount of pain Sarah would be in and the amount of blood she would loose before Amy even can get home to heal her.

Not to mention your still underestimating the trauma and panic said scene would cause Taylor. Who accidentally ate a human's hand, a human that has been trying to help her, and is not a god damn cannibal.

Click to shrink...

For the purposes of the omake, just assume that Sarah sealed the stump with a forcefield shortly after she stopped yelling at Armsmaster. Taylor can brood about the accidental eating of human flesh later. It's not like she was in her right mind when it happened.

Or something. I dunno. The original parts after Sarah's initial interrupt weren't entirely serious and I was kinda in a rush to post. (Still am, actually.)

 

[Skychan]

This is roughly how I'd rewrite the scene:


Omake: The Hand That Feeds


"You're Taylor Hebert," he announced, surprise in his voice.

"I … yes, I am," I admitted.

"You blew up your locker at Winslow, damaged other lockers extensively, and set the school on fire."



"I, uh, mmMMmFFF"

Mrs. Pelham threw her hand over my mouth before I could continue, and began barking out orders. "Vicky, call your mom and tell her to come over here ASAP. Taylor, do not say another wo-"

I couldn't hear the rest. My blood pounded in my ears. This time, I felt the change coming on. No, no, no, no -

Arms lengthened into wings, and membranes grew between my fingers and my arms. My t-shirt was gone, torn to shreds. My jeans – I was going through them at a phenomenal rate, just today – tore and split away from my growing tail, my changing legs. In just a few seconds, in my draconic form, I crouched before Armsmaster, wings spread in an unconscious threat display. I tasted something like copper or pork in my mouth and quickly swallowed before opening wide. I couldn't roar, or perhaps I had not yet figured out how, but I was making a pretty loud noise anyway.

He reached behind his back, there were several rapid click-click noises, and his halberd was in his hands. It was perhaps the most versatile weapon in Brockton Bay. Everyone knew that it could cut through steel like soft butter. And he was threatening me with it.

"Stand down!" he shouted. "I will use all necessary force if -"

Flame roiled in my gullet, my head dipped low, and I spat fire. Not the explosive fireball that had opened the locker for me, but a tight, controlled burst. Blue-white at the core, blue around the edges; it illuminated the room with actinic brightness. Armsmaster ducked away, but it wasn't aimed at him. When he next looked at his halberd, the head was simply gone, with just a drooping blob of metal at the tip. Behind him, a line of globs of molten metal sizzled on the lawn.

Stepping back carefully, the sound of Mrs. Pelham's voice returned. "- the VICTIM of a TRIGGER EVENT!" She finished shouting, gesticulating wildly and spraying blood everywhere from the stump of her left wrist. Wait, what?


End of Part Four




(Yeah, Taylor accidentally bit off and swallowed Sarah's hand. Vicky will have to go pick up Amy too.)

Click to shrink...

Okay, you get points for a funny difference in a scene, but seriously, why should she react that quickly to stop Taylor?

1. She doesn't know what Taylor will say.
2. Taylor doesn't stop to think about what to say simply starts blurting it out.
3. How long does it take to follow the chain of logic from,"Armsmaster is asking about an explosion, to , he thinks it was a bomb attack, to, he already knows her name, to, he's investigating a bombing, to Taylor is just a kid, to, she will probably say something incriminating, to, Armsmaster will interupt her, to, this will lead to him taking her in, to, she will feel threatened, to, I had better stop her from speaking.
4. Yes, that is a lot of thinking to do in the time between the gist of Armsmaster's question, to someone else, and before that someone else starts to answer.

 

[BeYawn'd]

"Anyone else has a Christmas dinner – Hebert has a Christmas puke."

"She just has to look in the mirror."

"I hear that when she goes for a walk in the park, all the perverts button up their raincoats and go home."

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I feel like an asshole for laughing at these insults. Damn you and your creativity Ack.

 

[Iny]

Okay, you get points for a funny difference in a scene, but seriously, why should she react that quickly to stop Taylor?

[...]

3. How long does it take to follow the chain of logic from,"Armsmaster is asking about an explosion, to , he thinks it was a bomb attack, to, he already knows her name, to, he's investigating a bombing, to Taylor is just a kid, to, she will probably say something incriminating, to, Armsmaster will interupt her, to, this will lead to him taking her in, to, she will feel threatened, to, I had better stop her from speaking.
4. Yes, that is a lot of thinking to do in the time between the gist of Armsmaster's question, to someone else, and before that someone else starts to answer.

Click to shrink...

She already knows Taylor is a suspect and the suspected crime is a bombing; Danny just talked about this. She knows Taylor technically committed this crime; Taylor just talked about this. Armsmaster just asked whether Taylor did it, and Taylor is about to respond.

Hell, leave those first two sentences aside; it's not unreasonable for that last point to be the only thing Carol, an experienced lawyer, needs to know for her deeply-engrained "my client would like to invoke her right to shut the fuck up before she incriminates herself or commits perjury" reflex to kick in. No ridulous complex train of deductions need apply.

 

[McPoopin]

I will not be satisfied with this scene until it has Danny pulling out a pair of swords and riding Tay-lor-viing into battle against Armsmaster's Halbicopter. Really, what was Ack thinking when he left that out?

 

[kokuenDG]

God damn, reading through the bitching was very enlightening, I must say.

But it was a fun chapter despite what came of it. Hopefully we get another update soon to resolve this cliffhanger, but I figure that Ack is probs gonna take a break on this one for a bit.

 

[Mandabar]

Hell, leave those first two sentences aside; it's not unreasonable for that last point to be the only thing Carol, an experienced lawyer, needs to know for her deeply-engrained "my client would like to invoke her right to shut the fuck up before she incriminates herself or commits perjury" reflex to kick in. No ridulous complex train of deductions need apply.

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One issue here. This is not Carol. It's Sarah. The 'not a lawyer' sister.

People on premises:

• Sarah Pelham - Lady Photon
• Mark Dallon - Flashbang
• Vicky Dallon - Glory Girl
• Taylor Hebert - Wyvern/Lung/DragonFireDeath?
• Danny Hebert - Union Administrator Man!
• Colin Wallis - Armsmaster

Note Amy (Panacea) and Carol (Brandish) both not being here. As well as Crystal Pelham(Laserdream) and her brother Eric Pelham(Shielder) not as well. Likely because this is the Dallon household and the other Dallons are off doing stuff elsewhere. Like work and saving lives while slowly going into a grief spiral. The Pelham cousins are off doing what a Pelham cousin does. Whatever that is.

They aren't Spider-Man.

 

[Shane_357]

Seriously? You guys are bitching like this? Just... So disrespectful. Ack is writing this and sharing it with us in his own time and not one of you has the right to bitch at him about it; you made a complaint, he gave a response and it should have been ended there. Please refrain from pissing him off so much that he stops writing it completely? There are wome of us who are actually enjoying this fic.

 

[Iny]

One issue here. This is not Carol. It's Sarah. The 'not a lawyer' sister.

People on premises:

• Sarah Pelham
• Mr Dallon
• Vicky Dallon
• Taylor Hebert
• Danny Hebert
• Colin - Armsmaster

Note Amy and Carol both not being here. As well as Crystal and her brother Shielder (can't remember his civilian name atm).

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Oh! Whoops! Man, all these New Wave capes.

I still think "if the cop asks you if you committed a crime, and you kind of did, and the reply in your throat isn't 'lawyer', don't say it" wouldn't be an implausibly complex thing for her to think in the omake's circumstances.

EDIT:

Seriously? You guys are bitching like this? Just... So disrespectful. Ack is writing this and sharing it with us in his own time and not one of you has the right to bitch at him about it; you made a complaint, he gave a response and it should have been ended there. Please refrain from pissing him off so much that he stops writing it completely? There are wome of us who are actually enjoying this fic.

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Just to clarify: Y'all know I'm disagreeing with a specific complaint someone made about a piece of an omake, right? I thought even the pre-edit version of this chapter was perfectly fine and very enjoyable.

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

I still think "if the cop asks you if you committed a crime, and you kind of did, and the reply in your throat isn't 'lawyer', don't say it" wouldn't be an implausibly complex thing for her to think in the omake's circumstances.

Click to shrink...

It's one of the most basic principles of being a defense attorney. Carol works for a firm, not the DA's office, so she would know this by heart. Putting aside the fact that independent heroing is a very law-heavy profession, it's not unreasonable that Sarah would have learned it by simple osmosis.

I mean, people who live with others (and aren't surnamed Hebert) generally talk about what happened at school/work when they get home.

 

[Mandabar]

I admit that she might know some of these things as well, but they don't live together actually. The Pelhams and Dallons have separate homes. The only reason Sarah is here right now, is because she followed Vicky to her house after meeting them in midair when she saw them playing with each other midair and thought it was an attack on Vicky. Boy run on sentences.

Anyways, I'm not going to discuss further. Minds are set, and they won't change.