Room and Ward 1.4
After my visit to Fae, the rest of my day was slow by comparison. I had more paperwork to fill out, and when I wasn't doing that, I was taking emergency first aid classes. Wards were required to have knowledge in basic first aid, along with a full education of police and emergency services protocols. We weren't expected to fight, but if the adults were dragged into a brawl with a super villain, we would be put on civilian evacuation duty, and the number of different scenarios that fell under that were truly staggering.
By the end of the day, my brain felt like it was on fire and I happily fell into bed and went to sleep. I had no nightmares that night, but that was hardly a surprise; they were sporadic and random. There was no pattern to them, and there were times when a perfectly good dream would suddenly shift into a nightmare without warning, or vice versa.
On Wednesday morning, I was very reluctant to get out of bed. Good sleep was a rare commodity, and my bed was
so soft and warm. But my sense of responsibility (and alarm clock) pulled me out of bed and I roused for the day.
After I thoroughly cleaned out the cafeteria again, I realized that I didn't actually know where I was supposed to go next. I had more first aid lessons in the afternoon, but until then I actually had free time leading up to them. That wasn't something I expected so soon, and it threw me for a loop. I could study for my lessons of course, but there was only so many hours you could spend going over basic first aid before it became monotonous; besides, I had a good memory, that stuff was easy to learn and remember.
Power testing was out too. After I'd been disarmed, the techs had postponed any testing until they fixed the pull machine. Apparently the sudden release from my distraction had caused some minor damage and they wanted to make sure it was fixed before letting me at it or any other equipment. So that was out, and left me at a total loss for what to do with myself.
Thankfully, as I left the ruins of the cafeteria behind me, I was intercepted by Weld at the entrance. "Ah, there you are, just the girl I was looking for."
"There's still food in the cafeteria, I promise I didn't eat all of it," I said quickly. The dirty looks the cafeteria staff were starting to give me every time I showed up was enough to tell me that I might need to tone it down a little.
Weld blinked, "Uh, oh. No, this isn't about that actually. I was going to see if you wanted to join us in the gym."
Now it was my turn to blink: I knew about the local gym. It dominated the second floor of the building, and I had walked by it on my way to the communal shower. I hadn't actually had a reason to go
to the gym yet though; I'd been busy, and if yesterday's power testing was any indication, basic gym equipment wasn't going to make me any stronger or physically fit.
He's inviting you to hang out. Don't throw it away, you idiot! I thought.
Out loud I said, "Um, yeah. Sure. I can do… gym things."
Nailed it.
He smiled, "Great. You wanna meet us there, or…?"
"Oh, no, I'm… I'm good. I can head up now." Not like I had anything better to do, and I wasn't very heavily dressed either. Oh sure, outside Boston was slowly turning into a frozen hellscape, but inside the PRT was a bastion of warmth. Though, like the cold, heat didn't bother me that much; I wasn't even sure if I
could sweat.
With no excuses to put it off, I followed Weld up to the gym in relative silence, fidgeting the entire way. This time, I knew I was overreacting. At Winslow, I had very quickly learned that silence meant someone was plotting something. If everyone was chatting, then the attention was off of me, but if everyone went silent, it meant that a prank of some kind was on its way. I knew that all the way in Boston, in the PRT building, that I was being silly, but old habits die hard.
The nervous edge didn't leave until we walked into the gym and I saw some of the other Wards. The triplets were there, along with Hunch; no sign of Kelvin or Glacia. There was a fifth teen, a lean pale-skinned guy with dark hair and dark eyes. He was all ripcord muscle and had claimed one of the treadmills. If I had to guess, he was the elusive final member of the Wards, Link.
I had been doing a little more research on my teammates since arriving at the PRT. Best guess with Link, was that he could bind two points together. No one knew what the prerequisite was for that ability, but rumor had it that the bindingss were unbreakable. If you wanted to go anywhere, you were dragging whatever you were bound to with you. I imagined that if he had to physically touch someone to use it, he was a pretty situational player in the Wards; if he wasn't, he'd probably be one of the first people targeted in a fight. Neither option would be very good.
If he noticed or cared about our arrival, it didn't show through his focus on running. The triplets, however, were on us within seconds. "Hey Taylor, how're your arms!?" Nicholas said, big grin on his face. Even though they were identical triplets, I could tell them apart by their hair styles. Nicholas had long wild hair, Alfonso had average length hair with both sides shaved down, and Carlos had short spiked hair.
Beside me, Weld covered his face with his hands and sighed, while Alfonso raised a hand ready to cuff his brother upside the head. I beat them both to it. "Eh, they're okay. I've been feeling a little more handy since the accident."
Please laugh…
The boy snorted and grinned triumphantly at her brothers, "See? I told you she had a sense of humor!"
"You hand someone a pun like that, anyone could make a joke off it." Carlos noted quietly.
His brothers paid him no mind, too busy arguing with themselves again. I took this as my cue to slowly edge around them back to Weld. "Are they always like this?" I whispered.
"Constantly. Without end." he groaned.
He took a deep breath and straightened up with a smile on his face, "They'll be at it for a while."
I glanced at the squabbling siblings (by now Carlos had been dragged in again) and nodded sagely. "I'll keep my distance."
Then I bit the bullet and asked the obvious question. "So… what do I do here? This all looks like pretty standard gym equipment, and with my powers they're not really going to be much of a challenge."
Also, I had no idea how to actually do a workout. Gyms weren't exactly common in Brockton Bay, and even if they were, we couldn't have afforded a membership with only dad's salary. The best I could've hoped for back home was daily runs, and that at best would have upped my cardio and stripped some of the fat off my old body. Now, I wasn't even sure if my body had any fat to burn.
"Oh, no, I wasn't bringing you here for a workout." Weld explained. "Glacia and Kelvin are on patrol today, and I know you're not scheduled for any classes until one. So I figured I'd give you a crash course on self defense."
I cocked my head to the side. "Wait, you mean that's not standard with the rest of the training?"
Hunch let out a bitter laugh, "Hah! Fuck no, the Youth Guard has the Protectorate by the balls; nevermind that we have powers that let some of us throw cars around, make ice golems, or heal from any injury. No no, somehow knowing how to protect ourselves is just too much for them to handle."
Weld shot Hunch a look that the boy ignored, then sighed and looked at me, "Crude as he is, Hunch is right. Legally, the Protectorate can't make us take self defense courses; it requires guardian permission. The Youth Guard has gotten the entire process buried under so much paperwork that it can take weeks to get someone certified for classes under the best circumstances."
A grin spread over his face, "But, they can't do anything about us taking classes on our own. So I took it upon myself to start training in different martial arts and then offer those lessons to everyone else here, since not everyone can afford private instruction."
"And now you're offering it to me." I finished.
He shrugged, "More or less. I've found that the stronger a cape is, the better it is for them to learn a martial art of some kind. They're all about self control and discipline, which are very important when you have the strength to knock someone's head off with a single punch."
I thought back to yesterday, and nodded my agreement. "Okay, that makes sense. So, how are we going to do this?"
He jerked a thumb behind him, "There's an attached dojo, private rooms. PRT agents practice in there, it's good for what we need. I figured we'd get you started on the basics today and see how you do. I can figure out a lesson plan with my teacher once I've got a feel for how you hold yourself."
The 'dojo' was nearly as large as the gym itself, which was already pretty large. It was lined wall to wall with training mats, with only a few exposed bits of floor for foot traffic. One section of wall was lined with training dummies and punching bags, and the rest of the room was dedicated to training mats. Weld led me over to the dummies, stopping only to take his shoes off at the edge of the mat, and I did the same.
He put his hands on his hips and smiled at me, "Alright, so before we get started; do you have any fighting experience?"
"None." I answered immediately. "Unless you count being bullied as experience."
His smile faltered, and I saw a flash of sympathy in his eyes. "Right. Well then, this might actually be easier. Teaching someone to fight when they have their own ideas on it is a lot harder than teaching someone with no idea. So, before we get down to brass tacks, I want you to throw a few punches at this dummy. Just really wail on it; I'll tell you when to stop."
I looked at said dummy, which was actually at about my height; he had probably adjusted it before coming down to get me. I wondered how many giants came through the Protectorate that required adjustable training dummies for people over seven feet tall. That seemed like a rare condition, but here-
Focus Taylor!
I raised my fists like a boxer, and threw a few quick and awkward jabs at the dummy. Even though I had no idea what I was doing, or maybe because of it, I hit the dummy hard enough to nearly knock it over after the third hit. Frankly, I was surprised; if I could pull over ten tons, that dummy must've been nailed to the floor for me to not send it flying.
Yet it remained standing even as I pounded on it for a solid minute. At exactly sixty seconds, Weld called out, "Time!"
I stopped and let my arms drop to my sides while looking at him expectantly. His expression wasn't what I'd call disappointed, more unsurprised. He rubbed his chin, looking me up and down, then nodded as he came to some sort of decision.
"Well, you definitely weren't kidding when you said you've never been in a fight before." he started.
I bit my lip, resisting the urge to reply with sarcasm, and let him continue. "But, you're not hopeless. You have a sense of what you should be doing; not a lot of people, for example, know not to throw a punch with their thumb on the outside of their fist. So you've got a good instincts."
I looked at my hands in surprise, "Wait, people do that?"
"The ones with broken thumbs do, anyway." Weld said, and added, "That said, your footwork needs improvement - I can see you're trying to go into a boxer's stance, but you should be doing it like this," he said, which he then proceeded to demonstrate.
And so it went.
Weld obviously wasn't some sort of kung fu master, but he knew his stuff. He was quick to show me proper fighting forms, how to hold myself when preparing for a fight, and where to position my feet. The punches he taught me were simple jabs, close to what I had done at first; in fact, it surprised both of us how easily I took to them. After watching Weld, and then imitating him with a few practice swings, it didn't take long for them to become nearly mirror images of his own.
It wasn't limited to punches either. Kicks also came to me just as easily, along with blocks and soon enough we were moving on to more advanced (but simple) techniques. Most were focused around disarming or disabling my opponent as quickly as possible. By the time I'd run through several grapples, an hour had passed and we'd gathered a bit of an audience. Not just Hunch and the triplets, but a few off duty PRT officers, and Link.
Weld paused after I finished reducing a sandbag to a pulpy mess with a few well placed punches, looking me over with an appraising expression. I stepped away from the sandbag and bit my lip nervously.
"Too much?"
Weld smirked, "Well, yeah. But that's not what has me curious."
He looked over his shoulder, "Hey Hunch? Do we know if Taylor was ever tested for a thinker rating?"
"She was, but that was back in Brockton Bay. You're thinking what I'm thinking, aren't you?"
Weld nodded and looked back at me, "You seem to have hit the metaphorical jackpot, Taylor. A brute and thinker is a rare combo; if I had to guess, you have a weaker version of Uber's imitation ability. Anything you see someone else do, you can imitate and store with perfect precision."
I tried to wrinkle my nose in disgust at the comparison, before remembering that I no longer had one, and settled for folding my arms instead. "Thanks, I… think?"
Uber was part of a villainous duo that posted videos of their antics online. Uber and Leet they called themselves; most of their crimes came off more as mean spirited game show pranks than actual crimes, and most people regarded them as a joke. The last year or two they'd made Brockton Bay their home, but they had a habit of hopping around cities every once in a while; usually after pissing off the local gangs. A comparison to them wasn't exactly what one would call flattering.
"This will make things a lot easier if it's true." Weld explained. "Have your first aid courses been as easy for you as this?"
I rubbed my chin, thinking back to how quickly I grew bored during those lessons. Not because the subject matter was boring, but because of how obvious it had seemed to me and how quickly I picked it up. I had chalked it up to the instructors being very clear in their lessons, but that might just have been optimistic thinking on my part. I didn't like the idea of my mind being affected by my powers. I already had a severe compulsion to eat unlawful amounts of food. Another ability that changed the way I thought and operated made my skin crawl, even if it was to my benefit. How much of me could I really consider me, if my powers were slowly chipping away at my personality?
I shoved
that line of thought away as quickly as I could. It was way too early in the day for an identity crisis.
"So does that mean I can learn kung fu in a day?" I asked.
Several of the officers laughed, and Weld cracked a smile, "No. There's a lot more to understanding martial arts than knowing techniques. It's… well its complicated; for your sake, all you need to know is these basic moves and you'll already be in the upper percentage of every criminal in this city."
A part of me wilted at that; it was, well, kind of exciting going through this training with him. My entire body felt tense and on edge, eager and ready to move to the next lesson. I was actually surprised by how quickly I took to it, but that
had to be related to my powers. Of course, that wasn't exactly a bad thing in this case, I hadn't felt excited about much in a long time and it was a nice feeling. So I was understandably disappointed that we were going to keep the lessons simple.
But, Weld was the veteran Ward, he knew what he was doing. It wasn't like asking him to teach me more was appropriate, right?
My train of thought was interrupted by, surprisingly, Hunch. The precog had waddled his way up to both of us, a big grin plastered on his face. "Hey, Weld. I was talking to the triplets, and we struck on a neat idea. How about you and the new girl go one on one? Hm?"
Weld stared at Hunch like he'd grown a second head, "Really? She's been here for all of three days and you're already trying to set up another brawl?"
From the sidelines, one of the officers coughed and handed a twenty to his friend sitting next to him. Hunch continued grinning, "Oh come on dude, just one round. First one to pin the other for five seconds wins. She has super regeneration and you're made of metal. She's the only Ward that could give you a challenge."
Weld shook his head, "Don't be ridiculous. This is about making sure she can handle herself on the street, Hunch, don't-"
"That sounds like fun!" the words were out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying. They were the truth though; a chance to test what I learned sounded great and I was more than ready to jump into the ring, so to speak. It totally wasn't just so I could have an excuse for Weld to grab me with his big strong arms or anything.
The boys paused, and looked at me. Hunch's grin somehow got wider, and Weld looked perplexed, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah; you say there's more to this than just knowing techniques, right? Well practicing on an opponent that can fight back will probably help."
Plus, it sounds fun I thought to myself.
Hunch pointed at me, "See? She's into it! Come on man, just a little fun."
Weld's lips tightened into a line, his eyes flicked from me, to Hunch, the triplets and then back again. He sighed and rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright. One round, first to pin the other for five seconds wins. That's it though, okay?"
"Works for me!" I chirped.
We moved to one of the many training mats, the crowd moving from their seats to stand around us. I had a very brief flashback to the many fights back at Winslow. No one ever intervened in fights, even if they were unprovoked, but they were more than happy to watch. I shuddered and shoved down the memory; this wasn't Winslow, this wasn't a someone beating up someone weaker than them. This was a friendly sparring session between teammates, that's all.
I let my excitement fill me instead, this building tension that filled my body from head to toe. It was hard not to bounce in anticipation; instead, I tried to stay as loose as possible, like Weld had instructed.
The iron lad stood directly across from me, and slid comfortably into a combat stance and I mirrored him. We had to look pretty ridiculous honestly; two giants, one made of metal and the other pink goop, striking kung fu poses. My life really was utterly ridiculous now, and I felt okay with that.
Hunch waddled between us to the edge of the mat and held out his good hand. One of the triplets deposited a flag (where did they get that from!?) in it, and he raised it over head, "Alright, quick rules! No dirty hits; that means no eye gouging, no ear or hair pulling, and no crotch shots. Fight goes until someone pins someone to the floor for five seconds. Are you guys ready?"
"Yup." Weld said.
I grinned; every muscle in my body, if I had any, coiled tight like a spring ready for release, "Ready!"
"Fight!"
He dropped the flag, and I sprung forward. I punched at Weld as quick as I could, my fists a blur of motion. He stepped back and started blocking my blows, eyes widening in surprise at how aggressive I was being; I wanted to win, and I knew he had more experience than I did. The sooner I could catch him off guard, the better.
My blows rebounded off his iron arms with solid slaps of flesh against steel. I didn't want to hurt Weld, even if he was tough enough to handle it, so I was holding back some of my strength. I feinted a jab with my left fist, then swung a kick out to sweep his feet out from under him.
Weld caught my leg with one hand, grunting from the effort, and struck with his free hand. I caught the blow on my arm, and grabbed him by the shirt, heaving as I did. I don't know what that shirt was made of, but it held against his weight even as I pulled him over my head. This wasn't a technique he'd taught me, I just saw an opening and took it.
He hit the ground hard enough to shake it, and I tried to pin him before he could get back up. His reflexes were good, and he rolled aside and to his feet before I could grab him. I shot up like a rocket, smacking into him with my shoulder hard enough to send him stumbling back.
I didn't see his fist lash out, but I sure felt it. My entire world went black, and I staggered away from him while everyone else shouted in surprise.
"I'm okay!" is what I tried to say. It came out as 'Mph mpay!"
I reached up to my face and realized what issue was; Weld had caved it in on itself. That was quick to fix, I put my hands on either side of my head and squeezed until I felt a solid pop, and my vision sprang back into view.
"Okay, that's new." I grasped, rubbing my nonexistent nose.
"Oh god, I'm sorry - " Weld started.
My heart pounded in my ears, I thought I could taste blood in my mouth, and yet despite that, I grinned at him, "Weld, shut up, we're fighting."
"Ooooh!" the triplets crowed, and the crowd snickered.
Weld blinked in surprise, before the message sunk in. He nodded, and we resumed. This time, the aggression wasn't so one sided. Weld gave as good as he got, now that he really understood that an errant punch wouldn't hurt me. The fight very rapidly changed from a 'who can pin who' battle into a 'who breaks first' all out brawl.
Weld hammered his fist into my stomach, I grabbed him by the head and smashed my forehead against his hard enough to send us both reeling backwards. My grin widened, I steadied myself, and delivered a haymaker that sent him spinning across the mat. He barely regained his faculties in time to block another punch from me.
By now I could see that I was much faster than Weld. He could hit like a truck, and so far aside from stunning him I hadn't really hurt him. But he was slow, and had to weather my attacks while I could dance circles around him. Of course, that durability of his was something to worry about. He could tank blows that definitely would've sent a normal person flying, and could counterattack at his leisure.
Even as I hammered him with punches, he made no move to dodge them; he was content to keep his arms raised and to weather the storm. When I tried mixing it up and going for another kick to his side, he absorbed the blow and pinned my leg to his side with one arm, and grabbed my by the throat with the other.
"Sorry Taylor," He apologized as he hoisted me overhead and slammed me into the mat so hard that the entire room shuddered. Officers and the Wards scattered away from the impact zone and stars flashed in my eyes. My ear's rang and the world spun around me, but I definitely wasn't hurt.
Slowly, as the ringing stopped, I could hear Hunch's voice.
"...Two...Three…"
Weld had turned his back on me to check on the officers; big mistake, our little sparring session wasn't over.
I lunged to my feet, a liquid movement that I had no right pulling off as gracefully as I did, and wrapped both my arms around his waist. Weld yelped in surprise, as I heaved again, and suplexed his iron ass. The training mat only barely absorbed the sound of several hundred pounds of metal hitting the ground, and once more the room shook.
And then the entire floor collapsed beneath us and we crashed into the cafeteria below in a shower of concrete dust and plaster. I hit the ground first and was quickly pinned by Weld, who's bulk literally flattened my lower body to the floor while more debris poured on us from above. When the dust finally settled, there was a large hole in the ceiling above, and we were both drenched in dust.
We both started hacking up dust, and overhead I could hear our audience's shocked reactions. I craned my neck up at the hole and saw Hunch looking through it with a wide eyed expression.
"Well shit." he said. "I didn't see that coming."
Despite myself, I started laughing, if only at the ridiculousness of the situation. "Oh my god that was fun. Weld, can I ask you something?"
He groaned and his head lolled loosely to the side, "Yeah?"
"I'd like to meet your teacher, when we can. You said there's more to martial arts than just techniques, right? Well… I think I want to learn more."
Weld looked at me, and a tired smile spread over his face, "I'll look into it. Right now though, we've got more pressing issues to worry about."
Right. We were in so much trouble.
-M-
"Absolutely irresponsible! I would expect this kind of behavior from Hunch or the Triplets, but I expected better of you Weld!" Bastion, the leader of the Protectorate, had been giving Weld and I a very thorough dressing down for the damage we caused. Turns out, for any real power testing, the PRT had its own facilities for that. The gym and the dojo were primarily meant for agents without powers, or capes that didn't have brute ratings like Weld and I.
Whoops.
Agents had quickly arrived to clean up and cordon off our little crash zone, and we'd been corralled off to the side until Bastion and Director Armstrong made their appearances. So far the director hadn't said a word, but he didn't need to; there was a firm look of disapproval on his face even while Bastion verbally eviscerated us.
Speaking of, the leader of the Protectorate had a bit of a temper. He was a decently tall man (nowhere near as tall as Weld and I, but still), and covered head to toe in plated armor. His face was hidden behind a helmet with a single glowing blue visor, and similar glowing bits around his joints. I was reminded of the Ward Gallant in Brockton Bay, only Bastion looked more like a walking fortress and less like a modern knight in shining armor. I idly wondered if he was wearing powered armor, while slowly tuning out his rant.
Honestly, I was very familiar with this. I had been yelled at by the staff at Winslow for daring to speak out against the Trio, and being unfairly accused of being a troublemaker was par for the course. Though it was a little new actually being guilty of what I was being accused of for once, so there was that.
I couldn't help but feel bad for Weld though; he had offered to help prepare me for my hero career, and I had thrown him through the floor and got him in trouble with his superiors. He didn't deserve that; unfortunately, Bastion wasn't leaving us much room to talk.
"-An absolutely inexcusable danger to every member of the PRT in the building! Again, what were you-"
"That's quite enough, Bastion." Armstrong interrupted.
The hero paused and looked back at the director. He took a long, deep breath, let out a sigh, and collected himself. "Yes, of course. I think I've made my point."
"You have indeed." Armstrong agreed and looked at both of us. "These two understand how reckless their actions were. That said, we cannot blame them entirely; after all, we still don't know the full extent of Miss Hebert's abilities, accidents are bound to happen."
He fixed me with a firm look, "With that said, I will ask that you refrain from any more training until we have properly gauged your abilities, if only for the safety of the people in my building."
I bit my lip and ducked my head, "Yessir. Sorry sir."
Armstrong sighed and rubbed his chin, "Of course, this would normally bring up the question of what to do with you two. Accident or no, you did cause considerable damage. I think… a week as Fae's lab assistant's might suffice."
Oh god no!
The grin was palpable in Bastion's voice as he spoke, "I think that's a wonderful idea Director; I'll make sure she's briefed on it."
I flashed back to the endless hours of conversation I'd be subjected to, all the techno babble and tangentially related conversations. I exchanged a look of horror with Weld, who somehow had managed to turn a shade paler.
Armstrong couldn't suppress his smile, "Yes, that and cleaning up the mess you made. I think those are fitting punishments."
We both looked at the large pile of debris sitting in the Weld and Taylor sized crater in the floor, and winced. There was no arguing our way out of that. A pair of agents came up to us with dustpans and brooms, and handed them to us.
"I'd suggest getting to work," Armstrong added, "After all, the lunch rush starts in about two hours, and I'd hate to explain why the cafeteria is closed for the day."
My stomach rumbled and I couldn't help but pout.
You made your bed Taylor, now it was time to lie in it.
I moved to start cleaning, when Armstrong added, "Oh, and Miss Hebert?"
I looked back at him. He wore a kinder expression on his face now, though there was a hint of a grin at the edge of his lips. "I figured you ought to know; Glenn has finished your prototype costume. If you want, I can send it to your room so you can try it on and let him know what you think."
A giddy sense of excitement and dread filled me. On the one hand, it was my costume! My official uniform as a cape! On the other hand, it was my costume designed by
Glenn Chambers. If it was anything like how he dressed, I shuddered to imagine the monstrosity awaiting me.
I forced a smile, "If it's no trouble, I'd appreciate it, Director."
He nodded, "I'll have it done. Now good luck to you Miss Hebert." we both looked up at the hole, as another piece of debris finally broke free and shattered against the ground.
"You're definitely going to need it.
-M-
I don't want to talk about how long it took to clean up our mess. Lets just say I needed a long shower afterwards and I still wasn't sure I'd gotten all the dust and grime out from under my nails. I had a body that apparently could self clean itself, and I still felt dirty. It sucked, I was grumpy about it, moving on.
As promised, my costume was waiting for me in my room, neatly packed away in a white cardboard box with a note attached to it. I read it first, and it said:
'Taylor,
I've included a rough prototype of your costume. It is, of course, subject to change based on your feedback and the feedback of your team. It will take some time to design another though, so if you don't like it, you'll need to come up with something different for your official reveal come this Friday.
Sincerely,
G. Chambers.'
That didn't fill me with confidence. I looked up from the note at the box, and sighed. No point in putting it off, might as well take a look at it. I opened it up and quickly changed, before stepping in front of the mirror and looking at myself.
It was obvious that Glenn had taken some inspiration from my 'first' costume. I still had those baggy white pants, but the bagginess had been toned down significantly and they fit my body much better now. I wasn't a huge fan of the top, which was mostly just a glorified tank top with some extra padding to give it an armored look. At the very least, it covered my entire torso and only stopped at my shoulders. At the shoulders, I was able to properly attach a purple cape that fell to my knees, instead of just tying it in a knot around my throat and calling it a day. To complete the ensemble, were a pair of golden bands lined with a black edge on either side that clicked onto my wrists and were surprisingly comfortable
I did a few circles, looking at myself from every angle, and the gears clicked.
"Oh goddamn it, he really is making me look like a fucking genie!"
