The inside of the locker was dark.
The sickly sweet stench of half-fermented blood and filth...
The sickly sweet stench of half-fermented blood and filth...
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Sometimes I am a sadistic bastard. [Worm/PMMM Crossover]
- Thread starter Vindictus
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Vindictus
Experienced.
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The inside of the locker was dark.
The sickly sweet stench of half-fermented blood and filth was thick, choking her as surely as a fist of iron clenching her throat would be.
The sounds of other children had long since faded, and Taylor couldn't help but wonder how long she had been trapped here. It felt like hours, days since she had been jammed inside her locker and left to rot. How did nobody notice she was gone? Why didn't any of the other students tell one of the staff, or a janitor?
She had panicked, at first- Clawing at the inside of the door, begging and pleading for help which never came. Now she just sat, clutching at her torn and bloody fingertips, and prayed that someone would come to save her. A hero, a villian- Anyone, anything to help her.
And then there was light.
It took her a moment to begin adjusting to it, and to realize it wasn't from the door opening. Instead, it was radiating from something floating in the shadows above her. She couldn't make out what, exactly, it was...
[Such a pity, that someone with as much potential as you is trapped here like this.]
Potential? Taylor choked back a laughing sob. She could have all the potential in the world, and it would make no difference trapped in here.
[If you want to escape, I can help you.]
Escape- How? Now that she could see better, the thing's fluffy tail and ears, adorned with hoops of brass and ruby, did not give the impression of incredible power.
[I am Kyubey, the Mystic Messenger. I can grant you one wish, and in exchange transform you into a Magical Girl who fights against those who prey upon humanity.]
Magic? Magic wasn't real. She must be going insane. And yet... Right now, even the idea of going insane sounded better then staying trapped in here for one more moment.
"I wish," She began, voice rough and hoarse from her earlier sobbing, "I wish I could escape-!"
[Congratulations. Your wish has exceeded the bounds of Entropy~!
The locker around her seemed to fade away, and the rest of the world with it. Instead, she was floating freely in a realm of twisting and writhing streams of mist. A point in the distance shone brightly, calling to her- Taylor drifted towards it, floating through the aethyr around her.
In a flash, she returned to the real world. She was on the street, in front of her house- The porch light was on, a shining beacon in the night. One foot in front of the other, she stumbled and tripped her way to the door.
Danny was waiting inside.
The sickly sweet stench of half-fermented blood and filth was thick, choking her as surely as a fist of iron clenching her throat would be.
The sounds of other children had long since faded, and Taylor couldn't help but wonder how long she had been trapped here. It felt like hours, days since she had been jammed inside her locker and left to rot. How did nobody notice she was gone? Why didn't any of the other students tell one of the staff, or a janitor?
She had panicked, at first- Clawing at the inside of the door, begging and pleading for help which never came. Now she just sat, clutching at her torn and bloody fingertips, and prayed that someone would come to save her. A hero, a villian- Anyone, anything to help her.
And then there was light.
It took her a moment to begin adjusting to it, and to realize it wasn't from the door opening. Instead, it was radiating from something floating in the shadows above her. She couldn't make out what, exactly, it was...
[Such a pity, that someone with as much potential as you is trapped here like this.]
Potential? Taylor choked back a laughing sob. She could have all the potential in the world, and it would make no difference trapped in here.
[If you want to escape, I can help you.]
Escape- How? Now that she could see better, the thing's fluffy tail and ears, adorned with hoops of brass and ruby, did not give the impression of incredible power.
[I am Kyubey, the Mystic Messenger. I can grant you one wish, and in exchange transform you into a Magical Girl who fights against those who prey upon humanity.]
Magic? Magic wasn't real. She must be going insane. And yet... Right now, even the idea of going insane sounded better then staying trapped in here for one more moment.
"I wish," She began, voice rough and hoarse from her earlier sobbing, "I wish I could escape-!"
[Congratulations. Your wish has exceeded the bounds of Entropy~!
The locker around her seemed to fade away, and the rest of the world with it. Instead, she was floating freely in a realm of twisting and writhing streams of mist. A point in the distance shone brightly, calling to her- Taylor drifted towards it, floating through the aethyr around her.
In a flash, she returned to the real world. She was on the street, in front of her house- The porch light was on, a shining beacon in the night. One foot in front of the other, she stumbled and tripped her way to the door.
Danny was waiting inside.
Jack Trade
Chasing the Green Fairy.
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This is gonna be interesting to say the least I can hardly wait to see what happens next.
Vindictus
Experienced.
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"Taylor? What are you wearing? Is that blood on you-?"
She fell, crashing to the floor like a puppet with cut strings. She was just... So tired. Physically and mentally numb, she lay still as her father fussed over her, before the world faded to black.
When she woke up, it was to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling- Brilliantly bright white tiles creating an appearance of purity. But all she could feel around her was sickness and misery, and between that dichtonomy and the light, she felt a headache forming.
Sitting up in the bed, she examined her surroundings. She was sitting in a simple hospital room, with little in the way of furnishings. Her clothes were nowhere to be seen, but on the bedside table rested her wallet, and a brilliantly blue gem set inside a small pendant of silver. She reached out, her hand brushing against the jewel for a moment- Where had it come from?
[That is your Soul Gem- The physical representation of the contract formed between you and I.]
Taylor turned quickly, ignoring the sudden pulse of pain/pressure in her skull as she looked towards the window. Laying on the sill was the fluffy, catlike creature from before- It's brass jewelry jangling slightly as it rose from it's lounging to jump onto the foot of her bed.
"You- You're real?" Taylor's mind flashed back to the inside of the locker. She had thought she had suffered a temporary bout of insanity- But here was the creature, once again. 'Unless,' Her traitorous mind supplied, 'You are just still insane. Wouldn't that be lovely? What would your father think?'
She shook her head for a moment, to try to deny that wicked thought. Fortunately, the little white creature chose that moment to begin talking again.
[I apologise for not going into more detail about our contract earlier, but you left before I could continue.]
"That's... That's fine," Taylor stammered. More detail? 'I can grant you one wish, and in exchange transform you into a Magical Girl who fights against those who prey on Humanity' seemed to be very broad, in retrospect- And now that she thought about it, it implied something other then simple villians were going out of their way to take advantage of people- Of the human race as a whole, in fact.
[Indeed. As is obvious, I myself am not human- And there are others, like and unlike myself, spread across the entire universe. I have given you power which allows to fight against beings that are by their very nature enemies of humanity.]
The Messenger- Kyubey, it had called itself? Walked up to the bedside table and placed a single paw upon the pendant there.
[This is your Soul Gem. It is the source of your magic power. I suggest you take good care of it, and keep it safely on your person at all times. As you use your power, the jewel will grow dark. This can be counteracted by the use of Grief Seeds- The counterpart to a soul gem, held by a Witch. Using a Grief Seed allows you to clean your soul gem, and restore your abilities.] Kyuubey looked up, brilliant red eyes looking straight into your own. [I would suggest that you don't let your Soul Gem become fully blackened. If you do, then you will almost certainly die.]
Taylor shivered slightly at that ominous thought. "Right. Black is bad, got it. So, uh, what's a Witch?" The image of a green-skinned old hag popped into her mind for a moment before she quickly banished it. Kyubey merely tilted it's head.
[A Witch is a being that feeds upon the death and despair of sentient life. They place a mark upon mortals, and use it to drag their prey into depression and lure them into their labyrinths to die. Once they are fattened upon the energy this provides, they begin to spawn 'Familiars', which grow to become new witches when they kill enough people. Of course, until they have enough energy of their own they remain linked to the Witch that spawned them- And as such, killing that Witch will kill all of it's Familiars as well.]
Beings that fed upon the energies of death and despair? This sounded like the prompt to a bad horror story. "And the Heroes don't do anything about them?" Taylor asked, somewhat disbelieving. She had seen footage of Endbringer attacks- And as terrible as these things seemed, they were almost certainly nowhere near as bad as an Endbringer was.
[Suffice to say that the source of witches has not been on this world long,] Kyuubey replied. [In addition, the paradigm of your world's Heroes is one unsuited to hunting these creatures. A Witch cannot be captured and imprisoned, cannot be rehabilitated- To stop a witch, it must be killed.]
And on that ominous note, Kyubey left. Taylor sat in bed, staring at the window. This was terrible. And yet... It was also a chance for her. Ever since she had been a child, she had dreamed of being a hero- Of saving people from the troubles that plagued the world. Now, she had something to fight against- Something that only she could fight against.
Reaching out, she grabbed the pendant- Her Soul Gem- And gazed into it's brilliant, blue depths. At the very center, a small wisp of darkness twirled slowly- Almost unnoticable. A fraction of a percent of the jewel, overall.
After a few moments of gazing, she slipped the simple chain it was hung on over her neck and fell back asleep.
She fell, crashing to the floor like a puppet with cut strings. She was just... So tired. Physically and mentally numb, she lay still as her father fussed over her, before the world faded to black.
When she woke up, it was to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling- Brilliantly bright white tiles creating an appearance of purity. But all she could feel around her was sickness and misery, and between that dichtonomy and the light, she felt a headache forming.
Sitting up in the bed, she examined her surroundings. She was sitting in a simple hospital room, with little in the way of furnishings. Her clothes were nowhere to be seen, but on the bedside table rested her wallet, and a brilliantly blue gem set inside a small pendant of silver. She reached out, her hand brushing against the jewel for a moment- Where had it come from?
[That is your Soul Gem- The physical representation of the contract formed between you and I.]
Taylor turned quickly, ignoring the sudden pulse of pain/pressure in her skull as she looked towards the window. Laying on the sill was the fluffy, catlike creature from before- It's brass jewelry jangling slightly as it rose from it's lounging to jump onto the foot of her bed.
"You- You're real?" Taylor's mind flashed back to the inside of the locker. She had thought she had suffered a temporary bout of insanity- But here was the creature, once again. 'Unless,' Her traitorous mind supplied, 'You are just still insane. Wouldn't that be lovely? What would your father think?'
She shook her head for a moment, to try to deny that wicked thought. Fortunately, the little white creature chose that moment to begin talking again.
[I apologise for not going into more detail about our contract earlier, but you left before I could continue.]
"That's... That's fine," Taylor stammered. More detail? 'I can grant you one wish, and in exchange transform you into a Magical Girl who fights against those who prey on Humanity' seemed to be very broad, in retrospect- And now that she thought about it, it implied something other then simple villians were going out of their way to take advantage of people- Of the human race as a whole, in fact.
[Indeed. As is obvious, I myself am not human- And there are others, like and unlike myself, spread across the entire universe. I have given you power which allows to fight against beings that are by their very nature enemies of humanity.]
The Messenger- Kyubey, it had called itself? Walked up to the bedside table and placed a single paw upon the pendant there.
[This is your Soul Gem. It is the source of your magic power. I suggest you take good care of it, and keep it safely on your person at all times. As you use your power, the jewel will grow dark. This can be counteracted by the use of Grief Seeds- The counterpart to a soul gem, held by a Witch. Using a Grief Seed allows you to clean your soul gem, and restore your abilities.] Kyuubey looked up, brilliant red eyes looking straight into your own. [I would suggest that you don't let your Soul Gem become fully blackened. If you do, then you will almost certainly die.]
Taylor shivered slightly at that ominous thought. "Right. Black is bad, got it. So, uh, what's a Witch?" The image of a green-skinned old hag popped into her mind for a moment before she quickly banished it. Kyubey merely tilted it's head.
[A Witch is a being that feeds upon the death and despair of sentient life. They place a mark upon mortals, and use it to drag their prey into depression and lure them into their labyrinths to die. Once they are fattened upon the energy this provides, they begin to spawn 'Familiars', which grow to become new witches when they kill enough people. Of course, until they have enough energy of their own they remain linked to the Witch that spawned them- And as such, killing that Witch will kill all of it's Familiars as well.]
Beings that fed upon the energies of death and despair? This sounded like the prompt to a bad horror story. "And the Heroes don't do anything about them?" Taylor asked, somewhat disbelieving. She had seen footage of Endbringer attacks- And as terrible as these things seemed, they were almost certainly nowhere near as bad as an Endbringer was.
[Suffice to say that the source of witches has not been on this world long,] Kyuubey replied. [In addition, the paradigm of your world's Heroes is one unsuited to hunting these creatures. A Witch cannot be captured and imprisoned, cannot be rehabilitated- To stop a witch, it must be killed.]
And on that ominous note, Kyubey left. Taylor sat in bed, staring at the window. This was terrible. And yet... It was also a chance for her. Ever since she had been a child, she had dreamed of being a hero- Of saving people from the troubles that plagued the world. Now, she had something to fight against- Something that only she could fight against.
Reaching out, she grabbed the pendant- Her Soul Gem- And gazed into it's brilliant, blue depths. At the very center, a small wisp of darkness twirled slowly- Almost unnoticable. A fraction of a percent of the jewel, overall.
After a few moments of gazing, she slipped the simple chain it was hung on over her neck and fell back asleep.
Vindictus
Experienced.
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- Feb 19, 2013
- Messages
- 3,845
"... Seems to be in alright shape. The blood was degraded almost past identifiability, but none of it seemed to be her own."
Taylor was suddenly wide awake. She kept as still as possible, trying to listen in to the conversation going on around her-
"My daughter is not a dangerous person," Danny. Her father had come to visit her in the hospital? "If she had anything to do with the other people who have gone missing, I'll eat my damned hat!"
There was a momentary pause. "Regardless, she was only one of several disappearances in the last few days- And the only one to return, afterwards. The police will want to speak to her, to learn what happened to her- See if they can find out what happened to the other children." Police? Other disappearances? Taylor was confused for a moment, before it hit her.
Witches. Kyubey had said that the 'Source of Witches' only came to Earth recently- And that it was a threat that humanity was ill-prepared to face. These missing persons- missing children- were likely taken by this new threat.
... And if Kyubey was telling the truth, and it was Witches that had taken the children? They were almost certainly dead already. She groaned, lowly and miserably- She couldn't tell this to the police. They'd never believe her, just write her off as insane.
"She's awake, I see. Well, I'll give you a few moments for your belated reunion." The Doctor ducked out of the room, and Danny grabbed his daughter in a crushing hug.
"... D-Dad, can't breathe-" He released her as quickly as he grabbed her, setting her back on her bed gently.
"What happened, Taylor? You were gone for two days!"
How could she respond? She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want to tell him the full truth either- Taylor didn't think she could bear it if her own father thought she had gone crazy.
... Somewhere in the middle then. She wouldn't lie- She would just misdirect, and let people come to their own conclusions. "... At school. They locked me inside my locker." It still hurt, thinking of what Emma had done- Sophia and Madison, not so much. She had never known them. They had never been her friend.
"Who locked you in your locker?" Danny was serious- She'd only seen him like this a few times before. She didn't want to tell him all of what happened... But maybe if she did tell him everything about how the incident began, he wouldn't question how it ended? No, that wouldn't work.
"It was- The bullies. At school." She would hold off on naming them for as long as possible. It wasn't like she'd get anything, even if she did call the three out for what they did- Emma's dad was a lawyer. He'd be able to get them out of any trouble they were in, and after that things would just escalate.
... Taylor wasn't sure how things could escalate beyond where they already were, and that thought scared her.
It was at that moment that someone knocked at the door. As Danny and Taylor turned their heads, the Doctor from earlier poked his own head in.
"I'm sorry to intrude, but the police are here now- And they'd like to have a word with miss Taylor, if at all possible?"
Taylor was suddenly wide awake. She kept as still as possible, trying to listen in to the conversation going on around her-
"My daughter is not a dangerous person," Danny. Her father had come to visit her in the hospital? "If she had anything to do with the other people who have gone missing, I'll eat my damned hat!"
There was a momentary pause. "Regardless, she was only one of several disappearances in the last few days- And the only one to return, afterwards. The police will want to speak to her, to learn what happened to her- See if they can find out what happened to the other children." Police? Other disappearances? Taylor was confused for a moment, before it hit her.
Witches. Kyubey had said that the 'Source of Witches' only came to Earth recently- And that it was a threat that humanity was ill-prepared to face. These missing persons- missing children- were likely taken by this new threat.
... And if Kyubey was telling the truth, and it was Witches that had taken the children? They were almost certainly dead already. She groaned, lowly and miserably- She couldn't tell this to the police. They'd never believe her, just write her off as insane.
"She's awake, I see. Well, I'll give you a few moments for your belated reunion." The Doctor ducked out of the room, and Danny grabbed his daughter in a crushing hug.
"... D-Dad, can't breathe-" He released her as quickly as he grabbed her, setting her back on her bed gently.
"What happened, Taylor? You were gone for two days!"
How could she respond? She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want to tell him the full truth either- Taylor didn't think she could bear it if her own father thought she had gone crazy.
... Somewhere in the middle then. She wouldn't lie- She would just misdirect, and let people come to their own conclusions. "... At school. They locked me inside my locker." It still hurt, thinking of what Emma had done- Sophia and Madison, not so much. She had never known them. They had never been her friend.
"Who locked you in your locker?" Danny was serious- She'd only seen him like this a few times before. She didn't want to tell him all of what happened... But maybe if she did tell him everything about how the incident began, he wouldn't question how it ended? No, that wouldn't work.
"It was- The bullies. At school." She would hold off on naming them for as long as possible. It wasn't like she'd get anything, even if she did call the three out for what they did- Emma's dad was a lawyer. He'd be able to get them out of any trouble they were in, and after that things would just escalate.
... Taylor wasn't sure how things could escalate beyond where they already were, and that thought scared her.
It was at that moment that someone knocked at the door. As Danny and Taylor turned their heads, the Doctor from earlier poked his own head in.
"I'm sorry to intrude, but the police are here now- And they'd like to have a word with miss Taylor, if at all possible?"
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Robotninja
Connoisseur.
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- Mar 30, 2013
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I doubt that the Incubators or Entities get along at all. Like at all.
Vindictus
Experienced.
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- Feb 19, 2013
- Messages
- 3,845
[size=18pt]Interlude 01
Inspecter Kurtis was not a happy person at the best of times- And this was hardly a good moment for him.
Missing Persons reports had been flooding in for the past day and a half. The Brockton Bay police force wasn't the best funded, or the largest- Most of the real crime-fighting was done by the local heroes, given the disproportionate number of Parahuman criminals in the local area. Still, for something like this they had been called up in force, and the entire city had been thoroughly combed.
Surprisingly, even the local 'Villians' had been helpful in the search for the most part- It seemed that they weren't spared from the disappearances, or at least not completely. Even given this, nothing had been turned up until late last night, when one of the missing persons turned up suddenly.
He paged through the information they knew already. The missing person, Taylor Herbert, was a quiet and unassuming young girl. Not exactly pretty, but hardly ugly- A gangly young girl, almost coltish in appearance. Reported missing Friday, at a quarter 'till eight. At One-Thirteen Sunday morning, her father called 911 and reported that she'd "Just shown up" and was covered in blood.
He shut the folder as it's subject walked into the room. It was just an unused hospital room, but he'd managed to wrangle up a card table and a few folding chairs and pushed the single bed off to the wall. It wasn't a proper setting for questioning the girl, but he'd been working nearly twelve hours straight now and he didn't especially care.
"So you're Taylor, then?" He stood up, and extended a hand for her to shake. After an awkward pause where she just stared at him, she reached out and gingerly touched hands. A quick shake, and he let her hand go even as he jestured for her to sit down. It was then that he noticed the lanky figure in the doorway- After a moment, he felt like slapping his forehead. Of course her Father would be here.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Inspector Kurtis, and I've just got a few questions for you both..."
The lanky man moved into the room and sat next to his daughter. "I'd just like to make this perfectly clear- My daughter hasn't done anything wrong."
Overprotective? Or is he trying to hide something... Kurtis didn't let his suspicions so much as touch his face. "Of course not, sir. This is mostly just a formality. Of course, if you do have any information on the string of disappearances, then I'd appreciate if you'd share it now."
Was that a flicker of guilt he saw in the girl's eyes before she schooled her expression? Or was his over-tired mind playing tricks on him?
"To begin, I'd really like to know where you were the last few days," Kurtis directed at Taylor. "As I mentioned before, we've had a few disappearances- And, well, you're the first person to un-dissappear from them." Stupid wording, he thought. Damnit. I need some coffee.
There was definately some emotion behind Taylor's eyes now. "I was... Trapped in my locker. At school," She clarified unnecessarily. Kurtis' eyes narrowed. Her locker? He'd heard of that, but he assumed it was some sort of cartoon bully thing. Stupid, His mind hissed at him, You of all people should know how horrible humans really are. With what you've seen, does this really surprise you?
"Your locker. Huh." He deliberately shook his head, slowly. "Well, I doubt that your situation is linked to the other cases- Unless, of course, we have a new supervillian who specializes in giving nerds wedgies." His attempt at lightening the mood was met with silence. Coughing into his hand slightly, he continued- "Still. Just for the record, do you know who it was that did it? Did you get a good look at them?
"Um, I-" The girl was nervous. She was trying to hide it, and she did a good job of schooling her face to not give her emotion away, but she was an amateur to his big-league. She knew the perpetrator.
Perhaps he couldn't help the other dissappearances today, but he'd be damned if he was going to go home with nothing done today. "You know, I can understand if you think speaking out will just bring more trouble. But this is serious- If you hadn't gotten out of that locker, then you could have died in there." Kurtis leaned in close, locking eyes with Taylor- "This isn't some childish game. Whoever did this tried to kill you, and if you don't help us we can't do much to stop them from trying again."
Emotions warred behind the girl's eyes, and at the corners of her lips. After a few moments she bowed her head in resignation and spoke three names.
"Sophia Hess, Madison Clements, and... Emma Barnes." The first two names were loud and clear, but the third was whispered almost bitterly. The father's back straightened, and he looked at the girl with some alarm. There's some history with the third, Kurtis thought- But that wasn't terribly important. He'd gotten the names, now he just had to get the evidence.
He finished jotting the last of his notes down, then stood abruptly. The girl and her father stood a moment later, as he tucked his folder and notepad away beneath his arm. Kurtis extended his hand once again, and this time it was taken- By the father.
"Thank you both for your time," Kurtis stated calmly. "With any luck, the next time you hear from us it will be good news, sir-"
"Please," The lanky man replied with a somewhat forced smile, "Call me Danny, or Mr Herbert if you have to be formal. I'm no 'Sir'."
"Alright. Danny, Taylor- I hope the rest of your weekend is less stressful than this."
____________________
By the time he reached the school, the rest of the crime-scene team was already there. Quick response time today, Kurtis thought, But then again everyone's on high alert right now.
It didn't take him long to reach the scene of the crime- He just had to follow the screeching sound of iron ripping through iron. When he got there, one of the Scene-Geeks gave him a glare.
"Locked in, huh?" Tony snarked. "Well, it's certainly locked good. If I didn't know any better, I'd wonder how the girl got out without, you know, opening or breaking the damned thing."
Perhaps the universe had an ironic sense of humor, because it was right then that the lock finally gave in to the grinder taken to it's post. The door swung ajar, revealing piles of blood-stained and vile smelling garbage.
"Yeah," Kurtis stated with a completely straight face. "That's a good question." His eyes trailed along a series of long, thin trails of blood along the inside of the locker door. It wasn't the worst crimescene he'd had a look at- It didn't even quite make the top ten.
It was still damned horrifying.
A quick slap to Tony's shoulder broke the younger man out of his shocked staring at the locker's filthy innards. "If I didn't know better," Kurtis drawled slightly, mockingly, "I'd say this is the part where you do your forensic science and figure out just what the hell happened here." One of the other officers moved in and snapped a quick picture of the contents. "Me, I think we just got all the evidence we need for this case."
