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Taylor Hebert Just Wants A Quiet Life (Worm Altpower)
- Thread starter Jsyrin
- Start date
Jsyrin
Ponderer of Orbs
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2016
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It's not over til I say it's over. Muahaha.
4.2
Jsyrin
Ponderer of Orbs
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2016
- Messages
- 286
- Likes received
- 13,795
Heeyyy, it's been a while, ain't it? Boy isn't college just a bitch.
Here, a gift from me to you.
A gift called:
4.2
There are certain things, I mused, which would never surprise me. Criminals being criminals, my girlfriend being the light of my life, Lisa being insufferably smug and her legs always being tantalizingly slender and pretty (though sadly off limits), and heroes being incredibly flighty and nervous around the villain who was essentially given carte blanche to murder the fuck out of every single S-class threat nearby without any hesitation.
Honestly, that last point was only there to segue into a more important issue.
Namely that the Slaughterhouse Nine had decided to visit my city. Destroy my windows.
Nearly slice my girlfriend's throat with glass.
Naturally, Shatterbird died first.
It was simple really. Use my enhanced senses through Skitter's form to rapidly track down and eliminate the very brightly dressed woman via concentrated mass of angry beetle tank to and through the back of her skull, pulping through and detonating with enough force to vaporize her entirely and turn her outfit into a rather lovely cooling puddle of colored glass on the ground.
After making sure that Elizabeth was safe, I felt my temper flare when I realized that, though she had avoided fatal wounds, she had taken a few slices that would require medical attention. Also, she had bumped her head when I tackled her right before everything with silica in it exploded, knocking her out.
I left her with Lisa and the rest of the former Undersiders (now known online as "The Queen's Pawns", "The Pussy Patrol (and one dog)", or simply "Them"), safe in the knowledge that they could most likely keep her more or less safe, if not by fighting then by running away.
As much as I hated to say it my not-minions were rather good at eluding people when they wanted to be.
I shook the thought from my mind as I slipped on my mask and stalked outside, forgoing my usual costume in favor of just my regular clothing.
There was no time to waste when turning the Slaughterhouse Nine into the Slaughtered Nine.
…
I had to think of something catchier than that first.
~~~~~~
Deadhouse Nine?
No.
Slaughterhouse Gone?
Closer.
Ah.
Slaughterhouse None.
Perfect.
I came up with a suitably catchy one liner in deference to Elizabeth's predilection towards them (despite how she only whispered them to avoid being heard), and continued my hunt.
It had taken hours to progress this far, throwing out name after name as I stalked the city, using low level, barely there explosions from Skitter to cauterize the wounds of the living and to cremate the bodies of the dead. Mannequin had attacked me earlier.
I swiftly taught him the error of his assumptions that he would be able to detach his silly chain arms before my disintegration charge could reach his main body.
Really, what was he thinking, coming after me when my power all but completely countered his nigh impenetrable shell of white ceramic.
It certainly didn't help him in the end.
But at least I got a nice, if morbid trophy out of it, same with Shatterbird, in part.
Both times, it was their headpieces- literally Mannequin's hollowed out ceramic head blown off of its neck, and Shatterbird's glass-like helmet, also blown off her head (and heavily damaged) when I directed Skitter to tunnel into her skull and explode her body.
Granted, the new trophies were cumbersome, but Shatterbird's helmet fit surprisingly well on my head even if I left it tilted at an odd angle so that my vision wouldn't be obscured, and the hollowed ceramic of Mannequin's former head still had enough wires in it to form a serviceable strap.
It came as absolutely no surprise when Crawler came barreling down the street, and all I really needed to do to end him was step aside and tag one of his many monstrous legs.
I also had to walk over and pick up the sole claw I left intact, but I just shoved it in my Mannequin basket-skull thing and carried it as such.
That was when my luck took a turn for the worse.
I suppose it had to, given that it was the Slaughterhouse Nine.
It was, of course, none other than the Siberian herself.
"Oh shit," I muttered to myself as I turned tail and ran, just barely capable of outpacing the woman behind me. I looked around the area while I dodged her blows, taking scrapes and nicks through my clothing that cut through my flesh with zero resistance and made me stumble. There! Over by one of the buildings that Crawler smashed through!
A white van.
Cover.
Behind me, the Siberian vanished and appeared- dodge! I slid to the left, just barely avoiding the Siberian's claws as I blasted Skitter ahead of me and used it to blow open a hole in the van door and-
The Siberian winked out of existence.
What?
Inside the van, I saw… a man.
A kind of filthy looking old-ish man with still red hot shrapnel embedded in his eyes and throat.
Oops.
I… supposed that meant that the Siberian was a projection? The timing was almost too coincidental for it not to be, but just in case it was a trick, I destroyed the man's corpse save for the head and moved on, re-collecting my trophies as I searched out the rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine, now… five? I believe?
No- I remembered reading a small blurb in a newspaper a week ago, the Slaughterhouse was currently at eight, now down to four.
How convenient.
"Queen!" I heard a voice call out from behind me. A man approached on a motorcycle, armored and sleek.
"Armsmaster," I responded coolly. "Don't you have more pressing matters to attend to than bothering me while I hunt down the rest of the Nine?"
"Rest? What do you- Oh." Armsmaster stared uncomfortably down at my bucket of trophies. "I see you've managed to take out Mannequin, Crawler, and Shatterbird. Be careful though, the Siberian was last seen heading this way."
"I know. I believe I killed her as well," I responded, "though I am not entirely sure."
"How so?"
"There was a van. I was going to use it as a momentary cover but there was already an occupant when I imploded the door. The occupant died and immediately the Siberian disappeared."
"So the Siberian was most likely a projection. Do you still have the body?" he asked, starting to look slightly green from what little I could see of his face.
I shook my head, "I destroyed the body except for the head. I left it inside the van over there."
As I pointed at the van, I began walking away, calling over my shoulder, "Get back to worrying about the people. By the end of today, the Slaughterhouse Nine will be dead."
~~~~~~
As it had turned out, I was wrong. By the time I had finally managed to corner Jack Slash and kill him, it was actually about three in the morning. I didn't know how he managed to keep evading both me and Skitter, but eventually I had managed to tag him with a lucky shot to one of his legs and he died with a strange sort of dignity that only the truly monstrous could have- a complete lack of fear as he died, along with the knowledge that he'd truly been beaten this time.
Burnscar was actually rather easy to draw out, given that she tried to immolate me as she jumped out of the flames of one of Skitter's explosions while I tried to off Jack, but as she leapt for me I merely grabbed her face and tossed her away, leaving her to explode like all the others.
Bonesaw was tricky, but died about an hour after I managed to kill Jack. Well, I say died, but perhaps it was more along the lines of "forcefully decapitated while still somehow remaining alive". I didn't particularly want to know how it worked, but the gist of it was that she was more or less safe as I had used several metal skewers and used my transferring charges to detonate everything dangerous packed away in her skull, and she was now pending rehabilitation in the Undersiders base.
I had dumped her in a bucket and left her unable to escape given that I had detonated her apparently prehensile spinal cord.
And then came the eighth and by far the most troublesome of them all. Which really just meant that she was hard to find. As a Master, I decided not to get close, but instead remotely piloted Skitter until I found her and put a hole in the back of her head, then immolated her entire body just to make sure.
By the time Skitter had killed Cherish (or at least, that's what Alec had called her), it was five in the morning and all I wanted to do was sleep.
And so I did, cuddling Elizabeth in my arms while Bonesaw (or Riley as she also answered to) hung in an elaborate bucket trap downstairs, where Lisa had rigged it so that any attempt to escape said bucket would result in it filling with motor oil and then being lit on fire.
Needless to say, it was a quiet night, even with the breeze rustling the plastic bags we had to tape all over the broken windows.
Here, a gift from me to you.
A gift called:
4.2
There are certain things, I mused, which would never surprise me. Criminals being criminals, my girlfriend being the light of my life, Lisa being insufferably smug and her legs always being tantalizingly slender and pretty (though sadly off limits), and heroes being incredibly flighty and nervous around the villain who was essentially given carte blanche to murder the fuck out of every single S-class threat nearby without any hesitation.
Honestly, that last point was only there to segue into a more important issue.
Namely that the Slaughterhouse Nine had decided to visit my city. Destroy my windows.
Nearly slice my girlfriend's throat with glass.
Naturally, Shatterbird died first.
It was simple really. Use my enhanced senses through Skitter's form to rapidly track down and eliminate the very brightly dressed woman via concentrated mass of angry beetle tank to and through the back of her skull, pulping through and detonating with enough force to vaporize her entirely and turn her outfit into a rather lovely cooling puddle of colored glass on the ground.
After making sure that Elizabeth was safe, I felt my temper flare when I realized that, though she had avoided fatal wounds, she had taken a few slices that would require medical attention. Also, she had bumped her head when I tackled her right before everything with silica in it exploded, knocking her out.
I left her with Lisa and the rest of the former Undersiders (now known online as "The Queen's Pawns", "The Pussy Patrol (and one dog)", or simply "Them"), safe in the knowledge that they could most likely keep her more or less safe, if not by fighting then by running away.
As much as I hated to say it my not-minions were rather good at eluding people when they wanted to be.
I shook the thought from my mind as I slipped on my mask and stalked outside, forgoing my usual costume in favor of just my regular clothing.
There was no time to waste when turning the Slaughterhouse Nine into the Slaughtered Nine.
…
I had to think of something catchier than that first.
~~~~~~
Deadhouse Nine?
No.
Slaughterhouse Gone?
Closer.
Ah.
Slaughterhouse None.
Perfect.
I came up with a suitably catchy one liner in deference to Elizabeth's predilection towards them (despite how she only whispered them to avoid being heard), and continued my hunt.
It had taken hours to progress this far, throwing out name after name as I stalked the city, using low level, barely there explosions from Skitter to cauterize the wounds of the living and to cremate the bodies of the dead. Mannequin had attacked me earlier.
I swiftly taught him the error of his assumptions that he would be able to detach his silly chain arms before my disintegration charge could reach his main body.
Really, what was he thinking, coming after me when my power all but completely countered his nigh impenetrable shell of white ceramic.
It certainly didn't help him in the end.
But at least I got a nice, if morbid trophy out of it, same with Shatterbird, in part.
Both times, it was their headpieces- literally Mannequin's hollowed out ceramic head blown off of its neck, and Shatterbird's glass-like helmet, also blown off her head (and heavily damaged) when I directed Skitter to tunnel into her skull and explode her body.
Granted, the new trophies were cumbersome, but Shatterbird's helmet fit surprisingly well on my head even if I left it tilted at an odd angle so that my vision wouldn't be obscured, and the hollowed ceramic of Mannequin's former head still had enough wires in it to form a serviceable strap.
It came as absolutely no surprise when Crawler came barreling down the street, and all I really needed to do to end him was step aside and tag one of his many monstrous legs.
I also had to walk over and pick up the sole claw I left intact, but I just shoved it in my Mannequin basket-skull thing and carried it as such.
That was when my luck took a turn for the worse.
I suppose it had to, given that it was the Slaughterhouse Nine.
It was, of course, none other than the Siberian herself.
"Oh shit," I muttered to myself as I turned tail and ran, just barely capable of outpacing the woman behind me. I looked around the area while I dodged her blows, taking scrapes and nicks through my clothing that cut through my flesh with zero resistance and made me stumble. There! Over by one of the buildings that Crawler smashed through!
A white van.
Cover.
Behind me, the Siberian vanished and appeared- dodge! I slid to the left, just barely avoiding the Siberian's claws as I blasted Skitter ahead of me and used it to blow open a hole in the van door and-
The Siberian winked out of existence.
What?
Inside the van, I saw… a man.
A kind of filthy looking old-ish man with still red hot shrapnel embedded in his eyes and throat.
Oops.
I… supposed that meant that the Siberian was a projection? The timing was almost too coincidental for it not to be, but just in case it was a trick, I destroyed the man's corpse save for the head and moved on, re-collecting my trophies as I searched out the rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine, now… five? I believe?
No- I remembered reading a small blurb in a newspaper a week ago, the Slaughterhouse was currently at eight, now down to four.
How convenient.
"Queen!" I heard a voice call out from behind me. A man approached on a motorcycle, armored and sleek.
"Armsmaster," I responded coolly. "Don't you have more pressing matters to attend to than bothering me while I hunt down the rest of the Nine?"
"Rest? What do you- Oh." Armsmaster stared uncomfortably down at my bucket of trophies. "I see you've managed to take out Mannequin, Crawler, and Shatterbird. Be careful though, the Siberian was last seen heading this way."
"I know. I believe I killed her as well," I responded, "though I am not entirely sure."
"How so?"
"There was a van. I was going to use it as a momentary cover but there was already an occupant when I imploded the door. The occupant died and immediately the Siberian disappeared."
"So the Siberian was most likely a projection. Do you still have the body?" he asked, starting to look slightly green from what little I could see of his face.
I shook my head, "I destroyed the body except for the head. I left it inside the van over there."
As I pointed at the van, I began walking away, calling over my shoulder, "Get back to worrying about the people. By the end of today, the Slaughterhouse Nine will be dead."
~~~~~~
As it had turned out, I was wrong. By the time I had finally managed to corner Jack Slash and kill him, it was actually about three in the morning. I didn't know how he managed to keep evading both me and Skitter, but eventually I had managed to tag him with a lucky shot to one of his legs and he died with a strange sort of dignity that only the truly monstrous could have- a complete lack of fear as he died, along with the knowledge that he'd truly been beaten this time.
Burnscar was actually rather easy to draw out, given that she tried to immolate me as she jumped out of the flames of one of Skitter's explosions while I tried to off Jack, but as she leapt for me I merely grabbed her face and tossed her away, leaving her to explode like all the others.
Bonesaw was tricky, but died about an hour after I managed to kill Jack. Well, I say died, but perhaps it was more along the lines of "forcefully decapitated while still somehow remaining alive". I didn't particularly want to know how it worked, but the gist of it was that she was more or less safe as I had used several metal skewers and used my transferring charges to detonate everything dangerous packed away in her skull, and she was now pending rehabilitation in the Undersiders base.
I had dumped her in a bucket and left her unable to escape given that I had detonated her apparently prehensile spinal cord.
And then came the eighth and by far the most troublesome of them all. Which really just meant that she was hard to find. As a Master, I decided not to get close, but instead remotely piloted Skitter until I found her and put a hole in the back of her head, then immolated her entire body just to make sure.
By the time Skitter had killed Cherish (or at least, that's what Alec had called her), it was five in the morning and all I wanted to do was sleep.
And so I did, cuddling Elizabeth in my arms while Bonesaw (or Riley as she also answered to) hung in an elaborate bucket trap downstairs, where Lisa had rigged it so that any attempt to escape said bucket would result in it filling with motor oil and then being lit on fire.
Needless to say, it was a quiet night, even with the breeze rustling the plastic bags we had to tape all over the broken windows.
4.3
Jsyrin
Ponderer of Orbs
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2016
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4.2
"What!? No! No no never no no!" I emphatically stated.
"I will not be making a speech and they can't make me!"
Lisa groaned and pinched her forehead, "Taylor, look, as much as you hate the public eye, you literally went out in broad daylight and completely destroyed the Slaughterhouse Nine in less than a day. That draws attention, especially since you were seen by multiple people while you were stomping around."
I sighed and sat down carefully. While Elizabeth had made remarkable progress in sweeping up the mess of glass, she hadn't gotten everything and likely we would all be picking glass out of the loft for weeks.
"But I hate making speeches…" I murmured petulantly. I really did, always had, always will. Just the thought of being on a stage, all eyes on me… it made me shudder in a way that was far too disturbing for comfort.
"Too bad, Queenie, you gotta otherwise people are gonna be pounding down your door for questions. And you know that the media hounds will totally do it anyway… and also you'd probably ruin some of the good will you've gained by murdering reporters no matter how much they deserve it."
"... The answer is no, will always be no, has always been no, and no matter how hard you try, you won't get me on any kind of stage for any kind of speech!" I protested vehemently. It wasn't like I would have to avoid her and her attempts long. The event that the PRT and Protectorate wanted me to speak at was only a few days away and if I just managed to hold on long enough, I'd definitely be able to avoid even going.
Though maybe I actually would stand in the crowd. I might as well take Elizabeth somewhere nice for once, right? And with the entire city's windows destroyed, the event was going to take place on the Rig, which meant that yes, it would definitely be a nice venue.
"By the way, Beth is also dead set on getting you on the stage. She even recruited/kidnapped Parian to commission a suitable dress for you."
…
Goddammit all to hell.
~~~~~~
"I just want you to know that I hate you for this," I muttered hatefully as I adjusted my dress. As much as I hated the event and all it stood for, I had to admit that Parian did an amazing job. It matched my mask perfectly in color and design, a given since it was based on my costume. Still, it wasn't my style, though I supposed that I could wear it for special occasions- maybe I could get a modified version for a we- no, it's far too early to be thinking of that, Taylor, get your head together.
Next to me, Elizabeth and Lisa hid their snickers behind their masks, shoulders shaking ever so slightly. I watched the crowd out of some boredom, mostly the rich and important making up the masses. I spotted Dad near the front, slightly out of place in his ill-fitting suit, but seeing him there filled me with a bit of quiet resolve.
As the assorted Protectorate and PRT members finished their speeches, I took my cue and rose to the podium, taking a deep breath to steady myself as I began.
"Good evening everyone, though I suppose it could be better."
A few strained chuckles from the crowd. Not a bad start, probably.
"I won't pretend that what I did a few days ago was out of some heroic inclination or anything, though I suppose some of you might disagree on that. I didn't kill the Slaughterhouse Nine to make the world a better place, to avenge the people who all died from their rampages, or even to protect the city," I shook my head for emphasis and continued.
"No, I killed them for a bit of a selfish reason, actually. When I first realized that the Nine were here, it was right when all the windows of my lair exploded. I was fine enough, and so were all of my teammates. But personally, I was insulted. How dare these psychotic hobos come into my town and almost kill the people I cared about?"
My voice trembled with restrained fury as I remembered, my fists putting hairline fractures into the wood of the podium.
"But I digress. While I ended the Slaughterhouse Nine almost solely to protect me and mine, I won't deny that with them gone the world is a better place. And honestly, while I didn't really want to come here tonight at first, I am honored to be here nonetheless. Thank you, people of Brockton Bay, for having me here tonight."
I stepped back, let the light applause wash over me, collected the ceremonial check for the Slaughterhouse's combined bounty, and sat back down, already bored to tears.
"That was awful," Elizabeth murmured beside me. "Like, really, really awful."
I resolved to never take Elizabeth to these kinds of events ever again.
~~~~~~
"Riley."
"Yeeeesss~?" Bonesaw's head chirped from her bucket.
"If I promise to get Panacea to build you a new body, do you promise to behave and not act as you did before?"
She looked thoughtful. Personally, I figured that she would accept given what Lisa had told me about her mental state- some sort of obsessive need to be a "good girl" warped by Jack Slash's words, as I recall.
If all went well, rehabilitation would most likely not be out of the question.
"Okay~!" she smiled widely and her neck stump wiggled.
"Good. When you get your new body, Lisa will lay down the rules for you. I won't expect you to break any of them, but if you do then I will disintegrate you. Understand?" I raised a hand for emphasis, lightly twitching my fingers to get the point across.
"Yes!" she responded immediately, a bit of fear in her eyes. Good, she still had a fear of death.
Part of me wondered if this was at all a moral thing to do to what was by all counts an eleven year old girl, but then I remembered that said girl was also a nationally wanted serial killer the likes of which had never been seen before and that part of my mind swiftly retracted its arguments.
Now…
How to get Panacea to the lair, convince her to build a body, and make her keep quiet about all of this…?
"What!? No! No no never no no!" I emphatically stated.
"I will not be making a speech and they can't make me!"
Lisa groaned and pinched her forehead, "Taylor, look, as much as you hate the public eye, you literally went out in broad daylight and completely destroyed the Slaughterhouse Nine in less than a day. That draws attention, especially since you were seen by multiple people while you were stomping around."
I sighed and sat down carefully. While Elizabeth had made remarkable progress in sweeping up the mess of glass, she hadn't gotten everything and likely we would all be picking glass out of the loft for weeks.
"But I hate making speeches…" I murmured petulantly. I really did, always had, always will. Just the thought of being on a stage, all eyes on me… it made me shudder in a way that was far too disturbing for comfort.
"Too bad, Queenie, you gotta otherwise people are gonna be pounding down your door for questions. And you know that the media hounds will totally do it anyway… and also you'd probably ruin some of the good will you've gained by murdering reporters no matter how much they deserve it."
"... The answer is no, will always be no, has always been no, and no matter how hard you try, you won't get me on any kind of stage for any kind of speech!" I protested vehemently. It wasn't like I would have to avoid her and her attempts long. The event that the PRT and Protectorate wanted me to speak at was only a few days away and if I just managed to hold on long enough, I'd definitely be able to avoid even going.
Though maybe I actually would stand in the crowd. I might as well take Elizabeth somewhere nice for once, right? And with the entire city's windows destroyed, the event was going to take place on the Rig, which meant that yes, it would definitely be a nice venue.
"By the way, Beth is also dead set on getting you on the stage. She even recruited/kidnapped Parian to commission a suitable dress for you."
…
Goddammit all to hell.
~~~~~~
"I just want you to know that I hate you for this," I muttered hatefully as I adjusted my dress. As much as I hated the event and all it stood for, I had to admit that Parian did an amazing job. It matched my mask perfectly in color and design, a given since it was based on my costume. Still, it wasn't my style, though I supposed that I could wear it for special occasions- maybe I could get a modified version for a we- no, it's far too early to be thinking of that, Taylor, get your head together.
Next to me, Elizabeth and Lisa hid their snickers behind their masks, shoulders shaking ever so slightly. I watched the crowd out of some boredom, mostly the rich and important making up the masses. I spotted Dad near the front, slightly out of place in his ill-fitting suit, but seeing him there filled me with a bit of quiet resolve.
As the assorted Protectorate and PRT members finished their speeches, I took my cue and rose to the podium, taking a deep breath to steady myself as I began.
"Good evening everyone, though I suppose it could be better."
A few strained chuckles from the crowd. Not a bad start, probably.
"I won't pretend that what I did a few days ago was out of some heroic inclination or anything, though I suppose some of you might disagree on that. I didn't kill the Slaughterhouse Nine to make the world a better place, to avenge the people who all died from their rampages, or even to protect the city," I shook my head for emphasis and continued.
"No, I killed them for a bit of a selfish reason, actually. When I first realized that the Nine were here, it was right when all the windows of my lair exploded. I was fine enough, and so were all of my teammates. But personally, I was insulted. How dare these psychotic hobos come into my town and almost kill the people I cared about?"
My voice trembled with restrained fury as I remembered, my fists putting hairline fractures into the wood of the podium.
"But I digress. While I ended the Slaughterhouse Nine almost solely to protect me and mine, I won't deny that with them gone the world is a better place. And honestly, while I didn't really want to come here tonight at first, I am honored to be here nonetheless. Thank you, people of Brockton Bay, for having me here tonight."
I stepped back, let the light applause wash over me, collected the ceremonial check for the Slaughterhouse's combined bounty, and sat back down, already bored to tears.
"That was awful," Elizabeth murmured beside me. "Like, really, really awful."
I resolved to never take Elizabeth to these kinds of events ever again.
~~~~~~
"Riley."
"Yeeeesss~?" Bonesaw's head chirped from her bucket.
"If I promise to get Panacea to build you a new body, do you promise to behave and not act as you did before?"
She looked thoughtful. Personally, I figured that she would accept given what Lisa had told me about her mental state- some sort of obsessive need to be a "good girl" warped by Jack Slash's words, as I recall.
If all went well, rehabilitation would most likely not be out of the question.
"Okay~!" she smiled widely and her neck stump wiggled.
"Good. When you get your new body, Lisa will lay down the rules for you. I won't expect you to break any of them, but if you do then I will disintegrate you. Understand?" I raised a hand for emphasis, lightly twitching my fingers to get the point across.
"Yes!" she responded immediately, a bit of fear in her eyes. Good, she still had a fear of death.
Part of me wondered if this was at all a moral thing to do to what was by all counts an eleven year old girl, but then I remembered that said girl was also a nationally wanted serial killer the likes of which had never been seen before and that part of my mind swiftly retracted its arguments.
Now…
How to get Panacea to the lair, convince her to build a body, and make her keep quiet about all of this…?
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2013
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Hah. Well, that will certainly be a conversation.
4.4
Jsyrin
Ponderer of Orbs
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2016
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Ehhhhh.... you'd think with the free time that I have with summer vacation I'd write faster but nooooooo... all I want to do is sleep, eat, and veg out.
Oh, and I guess go to my intern job every other day but whatever.
Here ya go.
4.4
"You want me to what."
"I want you to follow me to my lair and create a new body for a child named Riley so I can rehabilitate her behavior into more or less that of a hero."
"I specifically heard you say Bonesaw the first time around."
"Yes, well Riley is her real name and the fact remains that she is indeed a child in need of a new body. And rehabilitation."
She looked distinctly unamused. Granted, the both of us were nigh mirrors of each other in pose and expression- hips cocked, frowning, arms crossed, standing there in, coincidentally enough, Queen T-shirts.
I couldn't fault her for good taste.
Still, this was going nowhere fast. I had to do something.
"I am prepared to offer you quite a large sum of money for this job." Money always worked, right? At least, it had so far.
She just quirked an eyebrow.
"I don't do healing for money, and no amount you offer will make me give Bonesaw a new body."
"If you do not do it, I am fully prepared to go to Boston and get Blasto to do it for me."
"... Fine then. Let a villain do a villainous thing."
That did not go as expected.
Plan B it is.
"Very well. Aisha?"
"Wait wha-" she went down almost immediately, spasming slightly from the force of the stun gun that Aisha used, but otherwise fine. Probably. Without another word, I picked her up and settled her into the passenger seat of the van I had "borrowed" for this trip- I suspected that Rachel would not quite be very happy that I took one of her moving vans without permission- and drove back to the lair.
I wasn't happy about having to kidnap her, but perhaps Lisa would procure better results.
~~~~~~
"Lisa. Get her to agree to building a body for Riley. Try not to break her." I called out as I entered and dumped Panacea's still unconscious body on the couch. Thankfully, the glass had been cleared out of the apartment entirely in the time I was gone, and we had suitable replacement windows in the form of saran wrap taped over the windows.
Lisa grumbled from where she sat at the kitchen table and fumbled her laptop closed. "Really, Tay? Really? I gave you a speech and you resort to tasing and kidnapping her?"
"I am not nearly smug enough to repeat what you wrote down in an appropriately satisfactory manner," I replied smoothly as I slipped past her and gave Elizabeth a peck on the cheek. She giggled and returned the favor, and I smiled.
As much as life kept throwing strange curves at me, I felt rather content. Though thinking back on it, perhaps I would have had a simpler life if I had just chosen to take the bullying as it was rather than striking back.
Oh well.
That opportunity is well and gone, and I am far more satisfied with how I am now. Highly public at the moment, yes, but also rich, influential, and with a wonderful girlfriend and a skilled group of acquaintances to aid me in tasks that may require more than my already formidable powers.
I listened in for a moment on what Lisa was doing with Panacea and blinked. I hadn't known about Panacea's attraction to her older sister. Though granted, I also hadn't known about her being the biological child of Marquis, which had also been revealed during the course of their conversation.
Yikes.
I shook my head and went back to showering affection on my lovely girlfriend and waited for Lisa to finish being a smug bitch to Panacea.
Any moment now.
After a few minutes, I gave Elizabeth a final kiss on the forehead and let her go back to reading her book. Something felt off.
As I exited the kitchen and entered the living room, I knew exactly why.
"Lisa, did I not tell you specifically to not break her?" I asked irritably, crossing my arms. If she had actually gone and torn Panacea down, I might actually have to go to Blasto. And wouldn't that be terrible.
"Hey! Have a little faith in me!" Lisa said indignantly as she patted Panacea on the back. "I wasn't breaking her, I was giving her some much needed therapy."
"Uh huh."
"I was!"
"No no, she did…" Panacea spoke up, wiping her tears off. "I just… I just needed to get some emotion out."
"See?"
I did indeed see.
"So… about that proposition, then?" I asked. "I did promise Riley a new body, and I'd rather not leave her in that bucket long enough that she finds some way to escape and wreak havoc.
"Yeah… about that, boss?" Lisa winced and pointed behind me.
"..."
I turned slowly and…
There she was. On the ground.
A gleefully bouncing head covered in motor oil and with raw nerves literally pouring out of the stump of her neck to serve as tentacles.
".... Fucking Tinkers," I muttered as I glared down at Riley. "I suppose that given the fact that you came upstairs instead of escaping into the sewers, you actually intend to honor your promise?"
"Yup!" Riley all but sang, curls shifting in time with her tentacles as she crawled towards a now far more horrified and disgusted Panacea. "Hi there! I'm Riley! But most people call me Bonesaw! Will you be my big sister?"
Panacea stopped and stared, first at me, then at her. I shrugged, not having expected this either.
"She was planning on picking you as her recruit before her body got exploded and the rest of the Nine got slaughtered," Lisa called out from where she was hiding behind one of the armchairs.
"...."
That explained it quite well, actually.
"Look, I'm just here to build you a new body. I don't think I really need more sisters at the moment," Panacea finally responded, speaking somewhat slowly to seem less confrontational.
"Awww!" Riley pouted and wiggled her nerve tentacles. "Oh well, can't win them all. So about my new body- I had a few ideas that would really make things better!"
"No." I cut in, picking Riley up by the hair. "You get a standard human body and you will not modify it unless given explicit approval for each specific modification that you intend to make."
"Fiiiiinnneee…."
"Panacea, if you would?" I gestured to the bathroom, which we had already filled with several thawing packages of various meats- enough to be equivalent to the weight of a twelve year old child, more or less.
"Eugh… right… at least I don't have to make the brain too," she muttered as she entered. I tossed Riley's head in after and shut the door. Hopefully they'd be done before the bathroom started smelling.
Oh, and I guess go to my intern job every other day but whatever.
Here ya go.
4.4
"You want me to what."
"I want you to follow me to my lair and create a new body for a child named Riley so I can rehabilitate her behavior into more or less that of a hero."
"I specifically heard you say Bonesaw the first time around."
"Yes, well Riley is her real name and the fact remains that she is indeed a child in need of a new body. And rehabilitation."
She looked distinctly unamused. Granted, the both of us were nigh mirrors of each other in pose and expression- hips cocked, frowning, arms crossed, standing there in, coincidentally enough, Queen T-shirts.
I couldn't fault her for good taste.
Still, this was going nowhere fast. I had to do something.
"I am prepared to offer you quite a large sum of money for this job." Money always worked, right? At least, it had so far.
She just quirked an eyebrow.
"I don't do healing for money, and no amount you offer will make me give Bonesaw a new body."
"If you do not do it, I am fully prepared to go to Boston and get Blasto to do it for me."
"... Fine then. Let a villain do a villainous thing."
That did not go as expected.
Plan B it is.
"Very well. Aisha?"
"Wait wha-" she went down almost immediately, spasming slightly from the force of the stun gun that Aisha used, but otherwise fine. Probably. Without another word, I picked her up and settled her into the passenger seat of the van I had "borrowed" for this trip- I suspected that Rachel would not quite be very happy that I took one of her moving vans without permission- and drove back to the lair.
I wasn't happy about having to kidnap her, but perhaps Lisa would procure better results.
~~~~~~
"Lisa. Get her to agree to building a body for Riley. Try not to break her." I called out as I entered and dumped Panacea's still unconscious body on the couch. Thankfully, the glass had been cleared out of the apartment entirely in the time I was gone, and we had suitable replacement windows in the form of saran wrap taped over the windows.
Lisa grumbled from where she sat at the kitchen table and fumbled her laptop closed. "Really, Tay? Really? I gave you a speech and you resort to tasing and kidnapping her?"
"I am not nearly smug enough to repeat what you wrote down in an appropriately satisfactory manner," I replied smoothly as I slipped past her and gave Elizabeth a peck on the cheek. She giggled and returned the favor, and I smiled.
As much as life kept throwing strange curves at me, I felt rather content. Though thinking back on it, perhaps I would have had a simpler life if I had just chosen to take the bullying as it was rather than striking back.
Oh well.
That opportunity is well and gone, and I am far more satisfied with how I am now. Highly public at the moment, yes, but also rich, influential, and with a wonderful girlfriend and a skilled group of acquaintances to aid me in tasks that may require more than my already formidable powers.
I listened in for a moment on what Lisa was doing with Panacea and blinked. I hadn't known about Panacea's attraction to her older sister. Though granted, I also hadn't known about her being the biological child of Marquis, which had also been revealed during the course of their conversation.
Yikes.
I shook my head and went back to showering affection on my lovely girlfriend and waited for Lisa to finish being a smug bitch to Panacea.
Any moment now.
After a few minutes, I gave Elizabeth a final kiss on the forehead and let her go back to reading her book. Something felt off.
As I exited the kitchen and entered the living room, I knew exactly why.
"Lisa, did I not tell you specifically to not break her?" I asked irritably, crossing my arms. If she had actually gone and torn Panacea down, I might actually have to go to Blasto. And wouldn't that be terrible.
"Hey! Have a little faith in me!" Lisa said indignantly as she patted Panacea on the back. "I wasn't breaking her, I was giving her some much needed therapy."
"Uh huh."
"I was!"
"No no, she did…" Panacea spoke up, wiping her tears off. "I just… I just needed to get some emotion out."
"See?"
I did indeed see.
"So… about that proposition, then?" I asked. "I did promise Riley a new body, and I'd rather not leave her in that bucket long enough that she finds some way to escape and wreak havoc.
"Yeah… about that, boss?" Lisa winced and pointed behind me.
"..."
I turned slowly and…
There she was. On the ground.
A gleefully bouncing head covered in motor oil and with raw nerves literally pouring out of the stump of her neck to serve as tentacles.
".... Fucking Tinkers," I muttered as I glared down at Riley. "I suppose that given the fact that you came upstairs instead of escaping into the sewers, you actually intend to honor your promise?"
"Yup!" Riley all but sang, curls shifting in time with her tentacles as she crawled towards a now far more horrified and disgusted Panacea. "Hi there! I'm Riley! But most people call me Bonesaw! Will you be my big sister?"
Panacea stopped and stared, first at me, then at her. I shrugged, not having expected this either.
"She was planning on picking you as her recruit before her body got exploded and the rest of the Nine got slaughtered," Lisa called out from where she was hiding behind one of the armchairs.
"...."
That explained it quite well, actually.
"Look, I'm just here to build you a new body. I don't think I really need more sisters at the moment," Panacea finally responded, speaking somewhat slowly to seem less confrontational.
"Awww!" Riley pouted and wiggled her nerve tentacles. "Oh well, can't win them all. So about my new body- I had a few ideas that would really make things better!"
"No." I cut in, picking Riley up by the hair. "You get a standard human body and you will not modify it unless given explicit approval for each specific modification that you intend to make."
"Fiiiiinnneee…."
"Panacea, if you would?" I gestured to the bathroom, which we had already filled with several thawing packages of various meats- enough to be equivalent to the weight of a twelve year old child, more or less.
"Eugh… right… at least I don't have to make the brain too," she muttered as she entered. I tossed Riley's head in after and shut the door. Hopefully they'd be done before the bathroom started smelling.
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That is weirdly hilarious.
4.5
Jsyrin
Ponderer of Orbs
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Hey, it's late but it's here. Damn, summer just kills my motivation to write.
4.5
A few hours prior, about nine in the morning
There's something special about watching a young girl skipping around, full of life and with no worries.
When that girl is Bonesaw, that something special tended to manifest as abject terror, or barring that, sheer annoyance.
"Riley, what exactly are you doing…?" I asked, pinching my brow.
Riley stopped and looked at me, "Skipping in circles around the living room, duh."
".... Why?"
"Bored. No one lets me Tinker unless I really beg for it and none of Alec's games will be playable until the power comes back on whenever so…"
"I see…"
I shook my head. I could understand where she was coming from, really, but skipping in circles around the living room out of sheer boredom? With Panacea changing her appearance, Riley was basically free to go outside if she could find someone to chaperone her and she chose to stay inside, skip in circles, and basically just be a nuisance to everyone actually doing something useful?
"So, big sis, what are we gonna do today?"
Riley's voice cut me out of my introspection and- wait, what?
".... Did you just say…?"
"Yup! Why wouldn't I? I mean I kinda look like your little sister now, don't I?" Riley smiled and I had to admit, with the absolutely plain brown hair and brown eyes, she really did bear a passing resemblance to me. Half sisters, some might assume.
".... Fine." I sighed. "And today, I suppose, I will allow you to Tinker. But the same warning goes-"
"I knoooooow!" Riley interrupted me with one of her quickly becoming infamous whines. "I promise I'll be a good girl!"
"And good girls keep their promises," I muttered under my breath, repeating what Riley had said to me the other day. I unlocked the door leading down to the space below, now fitted with a few materials so that Riley could actually Tinker.
In retrospect, that was probably what got us into this mess in the first place.
~~~~~~
Present, which is to say, about one in the afternoon
"Riley?"
"Y-yeah big sis…?"
"Explain to me how you managed to set nearly the entire Loft on fire, thus losing us access to more or less my entire lair until such a time that repairs are completed?"
"W-well… I um… was trying to figure out a way to make your explosions… um…. More powerful?"
".... And so you ended up burning the entire place down."
"It was an accident!" Riley stomped her foot childishly and crossed her arms. "My new arms are too shaky and unstable for the kind of precision work I used to do!"
"You have only had your new arms for approximately two days."
"And I haven't even been allowed to make them more precise because everyone's scared of what I might do with them!" A petulant huff made me roll my eyes.
"Clearly, we should have been more afraid of the accidents that would have occurred," I deadpanned. "How did you even make something that flammable anyway? Your specialty is biological systems, is it not?"
"Well yeah, but plenty of biological components are plenty flammable if you mix them right. Kind of like those beetles down in South America!"
"Bombardier Beetles are native to all continents," I muttered mostly to myself. "What were you even attempting to build with those chemicals?"
"Weeeelll… I was going to ask if I could… um… cut your arms open and add in some glands and stuff so you could spray kind of like um…" She tapped her chin for a moment. "I guess the best way to describe it is like…. Stabilized nitroglycerin? Cuz like… it only explodes when you want it to. Or uh… it should have."
"... Riley."
"Yeah?"
"No more explosives."
"Aww…"
~~~~~~
".... We leave to go get groceries… and you've somehow managed to burn down the entire building," Elizabeth's stare cut through the layer of impassivity I had built up and left me clearing my throat awkwardly.
"In my defense, big sis let me Tinker!" Riley spoke up from the side.
"..."
"..."
I shifted uncomfortably under the weight of my girlfriend's stare, but said nothing. There was nothing to say.
"... We will need to find other lodgings," I murmured after a while. "... I do not think my father's house has enough room for all of us."
"Well, I'm certainly not leaving you two unsupervised ever again," Elizabeth huffed. "Lisa, you can go do your own thing."
Lisa sighed. "Well. At least I still have my apartment… I'm definitely not letting the others stay there, though."
"Didn't Coil have a secret base?" I muttered. "Whatever became of that?"
"Oh yeah… completely forgot about that," Lisa shrugged, then smirked. "Eeeexcept I didn't."
I deadpanned. "... Then why were we living in the Loft again?"
"...." Lisa paused. ".... In my defense, a lot of things happened all at once so I forgot to ask if you wanted to move everything to the secret base."
".... I will inform my father of our new living arrangements."
~~~~~~
"So… you let Bonesaw of all people Tinker and you didn't see the problem with that?" Dad's look set off an unpleasant feeling within, a sort of mix of shame and embarrassment.
"In my defense, I didn't think she'd be able to do that with the few materials she had lying around."
"You left bleach and rat poison and a whole bunch of stuff under the kitchen sink! It's super easy to make explosives with that stuff even if you're not a Tinker!" Riley cut in, souring my mood even more.
"... Well, at least no one died."
I nodded idly. "As it is, I wanted to ask if you'd like to, well, move into the base with us. It'd be safer and since it is where it is, it's closer to the Docks as well. Less traffic. Probably still a few usable vehicles."
".... Taylor are you trying to bribe me into moving in with you just so you don't have to commute back and forth between home and work?"
I froze up and coughed. "... No…?"
"...."
An odd moment of silence passed, then laughter filled the house.
For a while, I forgot that I was a near psychopathic cape on a murder spree of S-class criminal capes, that my little sister was a nationally wanted murder-child, and that the entire city was still without power and a little bit flooded in some places.
For a while, it was just us, a single father of one and an adopted little sister, laughing at the absurdity of our situation.
It was nice.
Maybe when all is said and done, I'd have more moments like this?
4.5
A few hours prior, about nine in the morning
There's something special about watching a young girl skipping around, full of life and with no worries.
When that girl is Bonesaw, that something special tended to manifest as abject terror, or barring that, sheer annoyance.
"Riley, what exactly are you doing…?" I asked, pinching my brow.
Riley stopped and looked at me, "Skipping in circles around the living room, duh."
".... Why?"
"Bored. No one lets me Tinker unless I really beg for it and none of Alec's games will be playable until the power comes back on whenever so…"
"I see…"
I shook my head. I could understand where she was coming from, really, but skipping in circles around the living room out of sheer boredom? With Panacea changing her appearance, Riley was basically free to go outside if she could find someone to chaperone her and she chose to stay inside, skip in circles, and basically just be a nuisance to everyone actually doing something useful?
"So, big sis, what are we gonna do today?"
Riley's voice cut me out of my introspection and- wait, what?
".... Did you just say…?"
"Yup! Why wouldn't I? I mean I kinda look like your little sister now, don't I?" Riley smiled and I had to admit, with the absolutely plain brown hair and brown eyes, she really did bear a passing resemblance to me. Half sisters, some might assume.
".... Fine." I sighed. "And today, I suppose, I will allow you to Tinker. But the same warning goes-"
"I knoooooow!" Riley interrupted me with one of her quickly becoming infamous whines. "I promise I'll be a good girl!"
"And good girls keep their promises," I muttered under my breath, repeating what Riley had said to me the other day. I unlocked the door leading down to the space below, now fitted with a few materials so that Riley could actually Tinker.
In retrospect, that was probably what got us into this mess in the first place.
~~~~~~
Present, which is to say, about one in the afternoon
"Riley?"
"Y-yeah big sis…?"
"Explain to me how you managed to set nearly the entire Loft on fire, thus losing us access to more or less my entire lair until such a time that repairs are completed?"
"W-well… I um… was trying to figure out a way to make your explosions… um…. More powerful?"
".... And so you ended up burning the entire place down."
"It was an accident!" Riley stomped her foot childishly and crossed her arms. "My new arms are too shaky and unstable for the kind of precision work I used to do!"
"You have only had your new arms for approximately two days."
"And I haven't even been allowed to make them more precise because everyone's scared of what I might do with them!" A petulant huff made me roll my eyes.
"Clearly, we should have been more afraid of the accidents that would have occurred," I deadpanned. "How did you even make something that flammable anyway? Your specialty is biological systems, is it not?"
"Well yeah, but plenty of biological components are plenty flammable if you mix them right. Kind of like those beetles down in South America!"
"Bombardier Beetles are native to all continents," I muttered mostly to myself. "What were you even attempting to build with those chemicals?"
"Weeeelll… I was going to ask if I could… um… cut your arms open and add in some glands and stuff so you could spray kind of like um…" She tapped her chin for a moment. "I guess the best way to describe it is like…. Stabilized nitroglycerin? Cuz like… it only explodes when you want it to. Or uh… it should have."
"... Riley."
"Yeah?"
"No more explosives."
"Aww…"
~~~~~~
".... We leave to go get groceries… and you've somehow managed to burn down the entire building," Elizabeth's stare cut through the layer of impassivity I had built up and left me clearing my throat awkwardly.
"In my defense, big sis let me Tinker!" Riley spoke up from the side.
"..."
"..."
I shifted uncomfortably under the weight of my girlfriend's stare, but said nothing. There was nothing to say.
"... We will need to find other lodgings," I murmured after a while. "... I do not think my father's house has enough room for all of us."
"Well, I'm certainly not leaving you two unsupervised ever again," Elizabeth huffed. "Lisa, you can go do your own thing."
Lisa sighed. "Well. At least I still have my apartment… I'm definitely not letting the others stay there, though."
"Didn't Coil have a secret base?" I muttered. "Whatever became of that?"
"Oh yeah… completely forgot about that," Lisa shrugged, then smirked. "Eeeexcept I didn't."
I deadpanned. "... Then why were we living in the Loft again?"
"...." Lisa paused. ".... In my defense, a lot of things happened all at once so I forgot to ask if you wanted to move everything to the secret base."
".... I will inform my father of our new living arrangements."
~~~~~~
"So… you let Bonesaw of all people Tinker and you didn't see the problem with that?" Dad's look set off an unpleasant feeling within, a sort of mix of shame and embarrassment.
"In my defense, I didn't think she'd be able to do that with the few materials she had lying around."
"You left bleach and rat poison and a whole bunch of stuff under the kitchen sink! It's super easy to make explosives with that stuff even if you're not a Tinker!" Riley cut in, souring my mood even more.
"... Well, at least no one died."
I nodded idly. "As it is, I wanted to ask if you'd like to, well, move into the base with us. It'd be safer and since it is where it is, it's closer to the Docks as well. Less traffic. Probably still a few usable vehicles."
".... Taylor are you trying to bribe me into moving in with you just so you don't have to commute back and forth between home and work?"
I froze up and coughed. "... No…?"
"...."
An odd moment of silence passed, then laughter filled the house.
For a while, I forgot that I was a near psychopathic cape on a murder spree of S-class criminal capes, that my little sister was a nationally wanted murder-child, and that the entire city was still without power and a little bit flooded in some places.
For a while, it was just us, a single father of one and an adopted little sister, laughing at the absurdity of our situation.
It was nice.
Maybe when all is said and done, I'd have more moments like this?
Malcanthet
Shy Adorable Arachne
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Yes, yes she does.
4.6
Jsyrin
Ponderer of Orbs
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2016
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Fuck it. It's late but I don't give a shit.
4.6
9:00 am
"So."
"So."
I stared across at the woman in the fedora sitting across from me with no small amount of trepidation. As much as I was confident I could kill her since she wasn't any more durable than a human, I still knew that this woman could easily kill me should she wish it.
"You… want me to… kill Scion. Who is the source of all powers."
"Yes."
"Because he- it- is actually just farming data for some reason and plans to just destroy the planet and all versions of it when he's done. And the end of the world comes within some fifteen years."
"Correct."
"...." I blinked a few times. "... How am I supposed to do this?"
"Your power, of course. Your Passenger is incredibly powerful as it is. Combined with some other powers, it should be enough to kill Scion."
"And the Endbringers?"
"That is entirely simple."
"How so?"
"The exact same way you killed Leviathan. But safer."
Safer. What part of killing an Endbringer is in anyway safe?
"You would have access to a portal network capable of accessing almost any location on any earth across infinite earths."
".... Okay, that is immensely useful."
"Indeed."
"If I'm going to join your shady conspiracy, I want my entire organization to be in on this."
"Done."
"... So do we shake hands on this?"
"If you want."
We shook hands.
It was odd. The entire thing was odd.
~~~~~~
9:45 am
"- and that is why we suddenly have a hell of a lot more funding in our accounts," I finished. "Any questions?"
"How are you sure you can trust these people?" Brian asked in the back, crossing his arms over his chest. I had asked everyone to come in costume for our first ever actual team meeting. And somehow Bitch was actually wearing a proper costume.
Miracles.
"Honestly? I do not. But if it stops the end of the world and kills all the Endbringers with it along with as many S-class threats as we can get, then that has got to be a good thing, right?"
"There's definitely more behind this organization, isn't there."
"Almost a certainty. But as it is, I figure that as long as we stay on the above-board part of the organization we will not have to deal with much, if any, repercussions for when the organization inevitably comes shattering down."
"Tempting fate, big sis."
I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Be that as it may, we can reasonably assume that should we, and by that I mean I for the most part, perform as expected and to necessary standards, we'll be able to avert the end of the world and gain some kind of profit along the way."
"Well, I'm in," Alec called out from the back. Typical really, he'd probably do anything as long as it involved money and his continued existence.
The rest of them looked a bit less convinced, but no further objections occurred.
"That out of the way, who wants brunch? The Denny's on Third street reopened today," I clapped my hands and stood, already making a beeline towards the door.
Maybe it was uncharacteristic of me to be so enthusiastic about going to something so simple as a Denny's, but I really wanted to get there before the crowd grew too immense.
~~~~~~
Brunch had not gone well. For a given definition, of course. In the grand scheme of things, it was not terrible, but all the same, we had needed to wait almost two hours before we could get a seat, and even then the service was terrible. It ended up being moreso lunch than brunch since by the time we left it was already two in the afternoon.
But, on the other hand, it was the best breakfast I'd had in weeks.
No matter what anyone says, I firmly maintained that a cup of tea and a granola bar was nowhere near a proper breakfast.
When we got back to base, though, the morning fun was over and we had immediately gone to work.
Yes, work.
The nine of us were doing a bit of unauthorized revitalization in the city, after all. Lisa handled finances and workflow, while the rest of us put boots on the ground and coordinated with construction and supply companies. Thankfully, since I had killed Leviathan rather early into the fight, most of the damage was just near the shoreline and the worst that Shatterbird did to the city was just ruin everyone's windows and shut down a lot of electronics. Granted, those electronics were extremely important in some cases, but that was why Lisa was coordinating.
Even on extremely limited avenues of communications, she was extraordinarily good at getting people to do what she wanted.
The day wore on quickly, and as the sun set, I considered the orange sky from one of the skyscrapers- the Medhall building, to be exact.
"You know, dinner is almost here," Elizabeth spoke from behind me, floating on a custom made sheet of metal. "Don't you wanna eat back at base instead of go hungry brooding like that Aleph comic hero- what was his name, Batman?"
"Hush, Elizabeth," I huffed and rolled my eyes as I watched the sun set. "I was just watching the sunset. It's… quite nice."
"As I live and breathe, did you just use contractions without pretending to be a normal person?" Elizabeth teased as she sat down next to me and all but shoved a plastic wrapped sandwich into my hands from the confines of her oh so unflattering robe.
"Shush. Why did you give me a sandwich? I thought dinner was almost here?"
"Yeah, well, a BLT is probably healthier than whatever disgusting takeout Alec decided to order this time around."
I snickered, "Just because the one time he ordered Mexican you were trapped on a toilet for six hours doesn't mean his taste is consistently garbage, Elizabeth."
"Yeah, but it's Alec."
"... Point taken."
4.6
9:00 am
"So."
"So."
I stared across at the woman in the fedora sitting across from me with no small amount of trepidation. As much as I was confident I could kill her since she wasn't any more durable than a human, I still knew that this woman could easily kill me should she wish it.
"You… want me to… kill Scion. Who is the source of all powers."
"Yes."
"Because he- it- is actually just farming data for some reason and plans to just destroy the planet and all versions of it when he's done. And the end of the world comes within some fifteen years."
"Correct."
"...." I blinked a few times. "... How am I supposed to do this?"
"Your power, of course. Your Passenger is incredibly powerful as it is. Combined with some other powers, it should be enough to kill Scion."
"And the Endbringers?"
"That is entirely simple."
"How so?"
"The exact same way you killed Leviathan. But safer."
Safer. What part of killing an Endbringer is in anyway safe?
"You would have access to a portal network capable of accessing almost any location on any earth across infinite earths."
".... Okay, that is immensely useful."
"Indeed."
"If I'm going to join your shady conspiracy, I want my entire organization to be in on this."
"Done."
"... So do we shake hands on this?"
"If you want."
We shook hands.
It was odd. The entire thing was odd.
~~~~~~
9:45 am
"- and that is why we suddenly have a hell of a lot more funding in our accounts," I finished. "Any questions?"
"How are you sure you can trust these people?" Brian asked in the back, crossing his arms over his chest. I had asked everyone to come in costume for our first ever actual team meeting. And somehow Bitch was actually wearing a proper costume.
Miracles.
"Honestly? I do not. But if it stops the end of the world and kills all the Endbringers with it along with as many S-class threats as we can get, then that has got to be a good thing, right?"
"There's definitely more behind this organization, isn't there."
"Almost a certainty. But as it is, I figure that as long as we stay on the above-board part of the organization we will not have to deal with much, if any, repercussions for when the organization inevitably comes shattering down."
"Tempting fate, big sis."
I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Be that as it may, we can reasonably assume that should we, and by that I mean I for the most part, perform as expected and to necessary standards, we'll be able to avert the end of the world and gain some kind of profit along the way."
"Well, I'm in," Alec called out from the back. Typical really, he'd probably do anything as long as it involved money and his continued existence.
The rest of them looked a bit less convinced, but no further objections occurred.
"That out of the way, who wants brunch? The Denny's on Third street reopened today," I clapped my hands and stood, already making a beeline towards the door.
Maybe it was uncharacteristic of me to be so enthusiastic about going to something so simple as a Denny's, but I really wanted to get there before the crowd grew too immense.
~~~~~~
Brunch had not gone well. For a given definition, of course. In the grand scheme of things, it was not terrible, but all the same, we had needed to wait almost two hours before we could get a seat, and even then the service was terrible. It ended up being moreso lunch than brunch since by the time we left it was already two in the afternoon.
But, on the other hand, it was the best breakfast I'd had in weeks.
No matter what anyone says, I firmly maintained that a cup of tea and a granola bar was nowhere near a proper breakfast.
When we got back to base, though, the morning fun was over and we had immediately gone to work.
Yes, work.
The nine of us were doing a bit of unauthorized revitalization in the city, after all. Lisa handled finances and workflow, while the rest of us put boots on the ground and coordinated with construction and supply companies. Thankfully, since I had killed Leviathan rather early into the fight, most of the damage was just near the shoreline and the worst that Shatterbird did to the city was just ruin everyone's windows and shut down a lot of electronics. Granted, those electronics were extremely important in some cases, but that was why Lisa was coordinating.
Even on extremely limited avenues of communications, she was extraordinarily good at getting people to do what she wanted.
The day wore on quickly, and as the sun set, I considered the orange sky from one of the skyscrapers- the Medhall building, to be exact.
"You know, dinner is almost here," Elizabeth spoke from behind me, floating on a custom made sheet of metal. "Don't you wanna eat back at base instead of go hungry brooding like that Aleph comic hero- what was his name, Batman?"
"Hush, Elizabeth," I huffed and rolled my eyes as I watched the sun set. "I was just watching the sunset. It's… quite nice."
"As I live and breathe, did you just use contractions without pretending to be a normal person?" Elizabeth teased as she sat down next to me and all but shoved a plastic wrapped sandwich into my hands from the confines of her oh so unflattering robe.
"Shush. Why did you give me a sandwich? I thought dinner was almost here?"
"Yeah, well, a BLT is probably healthier than whatever disgusting takeout Alec decided to order this time around."
I snickered, "Just because the one time he ordered Mexican you were trapped on a toilet for six hours doesn't mean his taste is consistently garbage, Elizabeth."
"Yeah, but it's Alec."
"... Point taken."
Akuma-Heika
The Devil Exists Within
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- Nov 7, 2016
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I read "And then there were None" at least in tone. Good mystery novel if you like the genre.It's so much fun to watch a remorseless curbstomp of the Nine.
I believe I called it "Slaughterhouse Zero" in one of my fics