Trump Card (Worm AU) [Complete]

[alethiophile]

This is fun. I guess we're still pre-canon-start in terms of timeline, which always makes me double-take a little remembering how long canon Taylor took about buildup.

The silent Thinker conversations were fun, as expected. The shipper in me now wants Taylor to figure out how Lisa can get around the anti-sex effects, probably just in passing. Then Lisa jumps on her and starts making out. I guess I can hold out hope of there being an NSFW omake or two....

And while the bullshit Tinker gear is one thing, I now kind of want to see Taylor vs. Lung just from bare metal. Dual rage dragons! Extra points if Taylor turns into Firefly!Lung instead.

 

[doomlord9]

"Nah," L33t grinned, pulling his helmet off. "I only expected you to want to kidnap her back to the base, is all.

Click to shrink...

And put her in some sort of sex dungeon, maybe convert her bedroom into one?

 

[pepperjack]

The silent Thinker conversations were fun, as expected. The shipper in me now wants Taylor to figure out how Lisa can get around the anti-sex effects, probably just in passing. Then Lisa jumps on her and starts making out. I

Click to shrink...

Yessssssss

Taylor and Lisa show up to the next joint meeting holding hands. Everyone who knows what's good for them pretends not to notice. By the end of the meeting, the pair of them have had twelve deep conversations, made out in three different ways, and for one memorable fifteen-second stretch while everyone else was distracted by the arrival of the appetizers, blown each other's minds - all with their palms and fingertips.


Edit: Oops, kinda forgot which board this was on. Is hand-holding allowed on SFW? I could delete the post...

 

[alethiophile]

SFW rules exclude anything in detail* regarding either sex or gore. Can't really see anything there as being 'in detail'. Even if it is (*shudder*) in a Worm thread.

 

[Asheram]

*grumble* *grumble* Stupid Lisa and stupid Brian starting to mess up my Multiplayer Ship.
Then again, The Little Queen does deserve a harem after the whole multiverse conspiring against her.

 

[Dr. Mercurious]

Lung fight huh? *sarcasm* There's no way this can possibly go wrong *sarcasm*

Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that Regent is looking for payback on Hax? Why do I think this partnership between the Undersiers and Pwnage isn't going to last? If Lisa never wanted to be a supervillain why is she staying around with these guys? And most importantly, what is the fucking deal with Trump? (Okay, I don't expect anyone to be able to answer that but god damnit I had to ask someone.)

 

[Asheram]

Lung fight huh? *sarcasm* There's no way this can possibly go wrong *sarcasm*

Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that Regent is looking for payback on Hax? Why do I think this partnership between the Undersiers and Pwnage isn't going to last? If Lisa never wanted to be a supervillain why is she staying around with these guys? And most importantly, what is the fucking deal with Trump? (Okay, I don't expect anyone to be able to answer that but god damnit I had to ask someone.)

Click to shrink...

Regent: I doubt that regent will do anything further, he put her in a bad spot, she embarrassed him slightly. Water under the bridge..
Partnership: If there's anything that will cause issue with the partnership, it's outside influences. Brian keeps track of his crew and TattleHax will see if any issues come up.
Lisa: Lisa was a small-time criminal after escaping her parents who wanted to use her as a source of income rather than a child. After Coil put a gun to her head she started to work for the Undersiders and now she's in too deep.
Trump: Trump powers are a bit bullshit but remember that Taylor is close to Eidolon level Trump (perhaps even higher due to her shard coming with an user manual) which makes her quadruple bullshit.

 

[Dr. Mercurious]

Trump: Trump powers are a bit bullshit but remember that Taylor is close to Eidolon level Trump (perhaps even higher due to her shard coming with an user manual) which makes her quadruple bullshit.

Click to shrink...

....aaaaand that's why I should be more clear. I meant DONALD Trump. Heh.

 

[Fishyface]

Poor Oni Lee. He gets beaten up in every fic I've read.

 

[Ack]

Poor Oni Lee. He gets beaten up in every fic I've read.

Click to shrink...

The trouble with Oni Lee is that he's a binary problem; if you don't beat him, hard, he'll cut your throat or blow you the fuck up. There is no middle ground.

 

[Fishyface]

The trouble with Oni Lee is that he's a binary problem; if you don't beat him, hard, he'll cut your throat or blow you the fuck up. There is no middle ground.

Click to shrink...

He could just leave the Bay though. He might not be the revenge type. Lung was pretty sure he wouldn't break him out in canon.

 

[Ack]

He could just leave the Bay though. He might not be the revenge type. Lung was pretty sure he wouldn't break him out in canon.

Click to shrink...

That's because he doesn't have the initiative to actually set up and pull off a plan that doesn't involve "teleport and blow things up".

 

[Fishyface]

That's because he doesn't have the initiative to actually set up and pull off a plan that doesn't involve "teleport and blow things up".

Click to shrink...

He didn't even try to blow up things.

 

[alethiophile]

Yeah, Oni Lee has this tendency because 1. due to his power and the tactics he uses, any fight with him is pretty much always on a lethal basis, and 2. due to his power's side effect, there isn't actually much you can do with him as a character, and so authors have no incentive to work around 1.

 

[Fishyface]

Still I wish he wouldn't be quickly defeated in every story I've ever read. Maybe I can pay someone to fix that with fanart?

 

[Xilph]

Still I wish he wouldn't be quickly defeated in every story I've ever read. Maybe I can pay someone to fix that with fanart?

Click to shrink...

Read Inebriated Quest, we cured the crazy part of his power right near the start which eventually has led to them being a major character and ally. He's actually one of the most reasonable and sane characters in the story.

 

[doomlord9]

Read Inebriated Quest, we cured the crazy part of his power right near the start which eventually has led to them being a major character and ally. He's actually one of the most reasonable and sane characters in the story.

Click to shrink...

And the best part is that we did it shonen style, by literally punching the problem in the face until it wasn't a problem any more. With the 'problem' in this case being his powers.

I'm REALLY hoping that we meet Lisa eventually and when she damn near has an aneurysm just from seeing us for a few seconds we fix her problems in the same way, by punching her powers until they stop yelling so loud in her head.

 

[Fishyface]

And the best part is that we did it shonen style, by literally punching the problem in the face until it wasn't a problem any more. With the 'problem' in this case being his powers.

I'm REALLY hoping that we meet Lisa eventually and when she damn near has an aneurysm just from seeing us for a few seconds we fix her problems in the same way, by punching her powers until they stop yelling so loud in her head.

Click to shrink...

That was a nice quest.
I hope he doesn't lose too badly in this story though. He always dies or gets arrested.

 

[Ack]

Trump Card

Part Twenty-One: Preparing to Poke the Dragon



Thursday Evening, January 27, 2011

"So, what's your idea on who we do this robbery as?" asked Über lazily.

I put down the controller and stretched. "How about Halo? The game, I mean, not the cape."

L33t snorted. "Doubt I'd even play a video game about the cape." He turned to face me. "So you're looking to try out that Master Chief holocloak, huh?"

"Well, it was the first one I programmed in," I pointed out. "So yeah, I'm thinking we bust in yelling something about 'Covenant scum' and how we're 'seizing important assets for the UNSC' and rob the crap out of them."

"Hah, love it," Über grinned. "So L33t and me, we get armour too, right? Dibs on Jerome."

"Okay, fine, that makes me Douglas," responded L33t. He tilted his head, peering at me. "Kinda surprised you're not angling for the role of Cortana."

"Okay, yeah, no," I told him flatly. "I'd have to pull the teleport plate off my armour. And I'm not willing to go there."

"No, wait," Über cut in. "Couldn't you do what they do in the game, and holographically project her? Control her like you do Alibi?"

" … huh." With the light-spot on L33t, that sparked ideas unfolding behind my eyes. "You know, I think I could." I shook my head, bringing myself back to reality. "But first, we've definitely got to look into armouring the two of you up, because I really don't think the guards in that casino are gonna be unarmed."

"I might have something that we can repurpose for the idea," L33t ventured. "Have to go and see how many pieces it's in, first."

"I can give you a hand, if you want," I offered. "Über, how's that research coming along?"

"Just about complete. I've got details on their security system, their guard rotation, and entrances and exits on the building. Once we compare notes with the Undersiders, we should be all set."

"Excellent," I told him, then sniffed. "L33t, I'll be right with you to see about the armour, but I have to check on dinner first."

L33t sniffed as well. "What is that, anyway? It doesn't smell like your usual."

"Nope." I grinned at him as I stood up. "I'm branching out. That's Chicken Makhani. It's Indian. I hope you like it."

He looked dubious. "I think I prefer your pasta. And I don't much like Indian food. Curry gives me heartburn."

"That," I told him seriously, "is because one, you haven't tasted this yet, and two, takeout Indian bears the same resemblance to what's in the oven as instant noodles does to my pasta bolognese. And three, not all Indian food has curry in it." There was actually chilli powder and cayenne pepper in the recipe, but I'd gone easy on it.

Über sniffed as well. "It smells kinda good, actually. I'll give it a shot."

L33t sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine, I'll try it too. But only because your other cooking's so damn good."

I beamed at them. "Thanks, guys. This is the first time I've tried making this. I hope it turns out okay."

Leaving the looks of consternation to spread across their faces - what have we agreed to? - I headed over to the stove.

<><>​

"Okay, so we've got this and this and this," I noted, pulling out bits and pieces of half-assembled equipment. "You could throw together a pretty kickass set of power armour with these."

"I did, but it took a hit, the first time I used it," L33t explained morosely. "When I tried to repair it, it blew half a dozen relays, dislocated my shoulder, and shut down. Über had to use a crowbar to get me out of it. I've had it in pieces, trying to figure out how to get it working again, but so far I've had no luck." He shot a beseeching look at me. "You couldn't, you know, fix it up for me, could you?"

"Hm." I looked it over. "Sorry, it looks a bit like how I made my armour. If I rebuilt it, it would probably malfunction just as badly. If not worse."

"Crap." His face fell, and I felt as though I'd just kicked his puppy. "I guess I've gotten used to you using my powers in all sorts of awesome ways."

"Wait a minute." He looked at me queryingly, and opened his mouth to speak; I waved my hand to forestall him. "I wonder if this would work."

"If what would work?" he asked.

"Let me see ..." I looked over the items, then pulled out everything else that seemed to fit in the same concept. Then I grabbed tools and started disassembling them.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "I asked you to fix it, not pull it apart."

"Bear with me," I mumbled, chipping at a line of solder until it split.

"Do you want me to help? Two of us would get it done quicker," he offered.

I waved him away. "Just stand right there," I advised him. "Once I've finished, you can start."

"Start what?" he demanded.

"Putting it back together."

"But I told you, it doesn't work," he insisted.

"If I put it together, would it work?"

"Well, yeah," he admitted.

"So stop telling yourself how many ways it'll fail, and start telling yourself how many ways it can work." I went back to dismantling his old project.

He apparently took me at my word, because he sat down, shut up and watched me work, occasionally handing me tools as I needed them. It went a lot faster than assembly would have done, because nothing needed to be carefully aligned; all I had to be careful of was not losing the smaller components.

Finally, the job finished, I laid down the tools and dusted my hands off.

"Done," I informed him. "You're up." As I spoke, I took the light-spot off of him and placed it on Über, out in the living area.

"What, now?" He looked somewhat taken aback. "I thought you were going to do more than just take it apart."

"Nope." I glanced at the clock on the wall. "But actually, let's take a break. It's time for dinner."

That dubious look came back. "I can just keep working -"

"Uh-uh." I pointed at the workshop door. "Dinner awaits."

"This is that Indian food, chicken whatsitsname, right? I'm not so sure about spicy food."

I gave him my best level stare. "Seriously? It's called Chicken Makhani, or butter chicken, and since when have I given you food that you didn't like?"

"I guess you've got a point," he conceded. Standing up from his seat at the workbench, he looked over the pieces of the thoroughly disassembled powersuit one more time. "You'll help me with this, after?"

"Sure. Now come on."

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He followed me from the workshop.

<><>​

"Mmmmph!"

I looked politely at L33t. "Sorry, what was that?"

He finished chewing, swallowed, and immediately stabbed another piece of chicken with his fork. "Holy crap, this is good!"

I had to grin. "Not too spicy, I hope?"

Either the expression or the tone should have clued him in that he was being teased, but he shook his head anyway. "God, no. This is perfect. I've had Indian food before, but … "

"But it was takeout because guys and gamers, right?"

"Right." Über nodded, already halfway through his own plate of food. "This is nothing like that."

"I believe I may have said something of the sort, yes?" It was actually really good, but I'd had Über's power to assist me there, so I tried not to feel smug about it.

Well, not too smug.

"God, yes." Über nudged L33t. "Dude, you need to apologise to her."

"You weren't so sure about it either!"

"I didn't put up such a fuss about it!"

"Boys, boys!" Moments like this were why I thought of them as 'the boys', even though they were both older than me by a few years. "It's okay, I got it. You weren't sure about it. I can understand that. What I want to know is, tomorrow night, what would you like? This again, one of my pasta dishes, or should I branch out again? I've got an idea for something in Thai."

They sat, frozen, obviously trying to make up their minds. Über looked at L33t. "Dude?"

L33t shrugged. "Don't look at me. I don't know!"

"Well, pick something!"

"Uh … well, I'm not too fond of Thai food -"

Über elbowed him. "That's what you said about Indian food, you dweeb!"

"Good point. Really good point." L33t looked at me. "Can you surprise us?"

"Surprise it is." I looked at Über. "In the meantime, you okay with washing up? He's got a powersuit to put together, and I want to work on something of my own."

"Wait, what now?" asked L33t. "You said you'd help me put it together."

"Sorry, no." I shook my head. "I've already got a powersuit. I can't help you. Any more than I already have, that is."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He frowned. "It won't work, not if I try to build it again."

"To quote Yoda, so sure of that are you?" I got up and headed for my work room. "Let me know how it turns out."

<><>​

Some time later, I heard a knock on the workroom door; it boomed, hollow and low. I ignored it, carefully fitting a component into place. A few seconds later, another came. I made sure that the component was seated correctly, then screwed it into place; another knock resounded on the door.

Standing up, I looked at the clocks on the wall; the one that showed workroom time told me that I'd been at it for nearly eleven hours. I leaned back, pressing the kinks out of my spine. As I pulled the drop-sheet over the device I was working on, yet another knock sounded. I knew it was L33t; the light-spot was on him, while Über was playing some game on the console. Perfectly, if I knew him.

Heading over to the door, I set the tau-field back down to nominal, then unlocked the door. L33t was indeed standing there; for a moment, I thought that he might have accidentally gotten hold of a live wire; his hair was all standing on end, and he was jittering like someone who's been chugging double-strength espresso. Or maybe the tau-field had reversed its effects on me; he seemed to be vibrating slightly, as if time were moving faster than normal for him.

"Yeah, what's up?"

For an answer, he grabbed my by the upper arms and danced me around in a circle. "It works!" he gabbled. "You did it! It works it works it works! I rebuilt it and put it through a stress test, and it works!"

"What works?" I asked, frowning and pulling my arms free. Then memory kicked in. "Oh, the power suit?"

"Yes, of course the power suit!" he retorted. "What did you think I meant?"

"I wasn't sure," I admitted. "I've been busy." I need to get back to my project. Just a little bit more to do ...

"Busy enough to forget something you did an hour and a half ago?" he asked.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Huh. It's only been that long, hasn't it?"

"What do you mean, it's only been that long?" L33t peered at me. "What've you had that time dilation field set to?"

"I'm not sure," Über put in from over on the sofa, "but she's been out four times for snacks, and twice to go to the bathroom."

"Christ, we only finished dinner an hour ago." L33t stared at me. "What've you got it set to?"

"Uh, ten to one," I confessed. Uh oh, busted …

"So while I've been working my ass off for an hour, you've gotten ten hours' work done? Holy shit." He looked more closely at me. "And I think you should get some sleep. Ten hours plus the day we've already had means more than twenty-four hours awake."

"I feel fine," I protested. Besides, I need to do just a little more work …

"That's because two of those snacks included coffee," Über pointed out. The rat. To add insult to injury, about two seconds after he spoke, the speakers proclaimed, "Headshot!"

"Okay, as your teammate and a fellow Tinker, I'm gonna tell you this," L33t informed me. "Tinkers sometimes get fixated on a project, and they sacrifice food and sleep to get it done. Trouble is, the quality of the work suffers. Dramatically."

"Sometimes explosively," Über provided, blowing up something on-screen for emphasis.

"So yeah, it's better sometimes to take a few extra days. And in your case, some sleep. About twelve hours. Got it?"

"But I'm good," I insisted. "I'm really making progress."

Über put down the controller and came over to where L33t was lecturing me. "He's right, you know. I've seen him get caught in that groove, and it's a real bastard to break him out of it." He lifted his chin. "Tap my powers."

"Why?" Why are they delaying me like this?

"Humour me. Tap my powers."

I did as he said, and it was the weirdest sensation. Up until that point, I'd been talking to the boys, but the undercurrent of thought in my brain was get back to the project. Get back to the project. As far as I'd known, my head was clear, when in fact it had been anything but.

The project still had a while to go, especially as there was a component it needed, a component that I simply didn't have yet, and couldn't make or synthesise. But I'd been obsessing over finishing it anyway, willing to work till I dropped.

But when I shifted the light-spot from L33t to Über, that all cleared away. The project was still there, but it wasn't the be-all and end-all of my existence, not like it had been when I was using L33t's powers.

"Holy shit," I muttered. "I've heard of this happening to Tinkers, but … holy shit."

"Yeah, so now you gonna get some sleep?" asked L33t dryly.

Meekly, I nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. Didn't realise I was in that deep."

"Tinkers rarely do," Über pointed out. "Even L33t."

"Hey!"

"Well, it's true," Über pointed out.

"Thanks," I told L33t. "I'll have a shower and go to bed. I appreciate you pulling me up like that."

"Hey, I appreciate you doing whatever the hell it was you did. What did you do, anyway?"

I shrugged. "Well, if I take apart something that I've built, then reset my use of your powers, I can rebuild it. You can't reset your powers. But I figured that maybe if I take something apart that you built, using your powers to do it, it might just fool your powers into thinking that you'd never built it in the first place. And I guess I was right."

Über frowned. "Making his powers think something? Powers are something we use. They don't have a, a life. Thoughts."

"To me, they do," I told him. "They talk to me, tell me what they can do. Ever since I met L33t, his power's been begging me to make use of it."

"Which you have." Über nodded. "In spades."

"Yup." I yawned. "Geez, I think I really need that shower and bed. Anyway, glad it worked."

"Oh, hell yeah." L33t's grin was sheer happiness. "Holy shit. This is so awesome."

I ducked back into my workroom to grab my bathrobe; as I did so, I glanced at the bulky machine under the drop-sheet. Just for a moment, I flicked the light-spot on to L33t. The draw was there, the urge to complete it, but it was nowhere near as strong as it had been a minute ago. I had reset the connection, and that level of intensity would take a while to build up again. In the meantime …

I flicked the light-spot back to Über, and went to take my shower.

<><>​

Friday Afternoon, January 28, 2011

I leaned back on the bench, eyes closed, enjoying the ocean breeze. The afternoon sun was warm on the back of my neck, and it was nice to relax for once, with nothing to worry about, nothing to concentrate on. Even Alibi was relaxing, riding the bus, on the way to the boys' base. She could cook the Thai dish as well as I could, and I'd get to spend the evening with Dad …

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

I'd spotted her coming, of course. My power had detected her before she even got close to the bench, and I'd put the light-spot on to her. Taking up her powers was like opening my eyes all over again. Now I could listen to the sounds around me, and have a really good idea what caused them.

"Not in the slightest." I opened my eyes and gave the blonde-haired supervillain a smile. "Feel free."

The charade was for the benefit of any passers-by, of course. We'd arranged to meet on the Boardwalk; given that Lisa already knew my secret identity, she felt comfortable in extending hers to me. Or rather, she'd figured that I would feel more comfortable knowing hers, as I worked out as soon as I tapped into her powers.

"So how are you anyway, Lisa?" I asked, knowing the answer to the question before I finished asking it.

"Fine," she replied, with that grin on her face. "You?"

"Pretty good," I agreed, trying to keep the answering grin off of my face. I didn't want this to seem like we were 'together', but it was good to see her. Or maybe, it was just good to tap back into her powers.

"Trust me, it gets wearing after a while," she assured me. I've had my powers for years. It's no fun, some of the things I've seen.

"Nice in short doses, though," I pointed out. And I can turn them off when I feel like it.

"I suppose it must be." Smartass. "So, how did it turn out on your end?"

Yup. "We managed to make some pretty good progress." I picked up the binder at my side – the classic school-project accessory – and passed it over. She had a similar one, which she handed over in return.

I skimmed her material with a combination of speed-reading gained from Über's powers, and her own power picking out salient details. She was fast; I was faster. When I finished, I closed the binder, still tucking away the last of the facts using mnemonic techniques – thank you again, Über – and turned to her. "I think it's doable."

"Definitely doable." Her eyes were a little wide, however. You read it that fast? Christ.

"I was thinking you guys could infiltrate to start with, and mark out an area for us to teleport into. That takes care of getting us in."

"Yeah, they don't really have a lower age limit, so long as you've got cash," she agreed. "And they don't exactly card people at the door, either."

"But the security cameras could be a problem," I noted. "Don't want your faces showing up right when something suspicious happens."

"You've already got a way around that though, don't you?" She grinned at me.

"Strangely enough, I do," I agreed. "I'll give you an EMP grenade to toss. Make sure your phone is turned off first, or it'll be a paperweight afterward. It won't do more than spike building systems, but it'll put 'em offline for about five minutes."

"We'll have physical security to deal with by then," she warned me. "One way or another, we're gonna have to get access to the vault, as well as keeping security off our backs. Not to mention Lung, if he shows. And how about Oni Lee?"

"Pretty sure I can lock him down," I assured her. "As for Lung … well, if I have to engage Lung, that'll be the sign for everyone else to get the hell out. Because things are going to get broken. By which I mean the building."

"You really think you can fight him."

"I really hope I don't have to."

"Amen to that."

We fell silent then, looking out over the ocean. It really was very relaxing.

<><>​

Dad pulled up where I had arranged to meet him, and I climbed in. The binder I had gotten from Lisa was safely tucked away in my backpack, away from prying eyes.

"Hi, Dad."

"Hey, Taylor. Good day?"

"Productive." I grinned at him. "So, how do you feel like Indian tonight?"

"What, takeaway?" He frowned. "I thought you didn't like takeaway."

"Not takeaway," I explained. "Cooking. I know this great butter chicken recipe."

He raised an eyebrow. "Been learning how to cook in your spare time?"

"In a manner of speaking, yeah." I pulled my backpack on to my lap and hugged it. "So, I have a hypothetical question for you."

"Which means that you want to ask a question that would normally get you in trouble, but you want to ask it in such a way that it won't get you in trouble."

I nodded. "Essentially, yeah. So, can I ask the question?"

"Go ahead."

"You told me awhile ago that if I hypothetically stole money, you wouldn't feel good taking it, because it's stolen. Right?"

"Right." He nodded emphatically. "I can't control what you do, but I won't accept anything that's been stolen."

"Okay. What if, hypothetically, the money was stolen from bad guys? People who'd stolen it themselves? Or taken it from people in other ways that weren't legal?"

"Wait, wait. Taylor, are you saying you're stealing from criminals these days?"

"I'm saying that hypothetically, it might happen. What would your feeling be about accepting money that was stolen from bad guys?"

He frowned. "How much money are we talking, hypothetically?"

I shrugged. "Fifty to a hundred thousand, maybe?"

His head whipped around so fast to stare at me that the steering wheel jerked as well. There was the blare of a horn, and he got the car straightened up before slowing down and pulling off the road.

"Taylor." His voice was quiet, controlled. "That's a lot of money."

"Yeah, Dad, I know." Well, duh.

"No, you don't understand. That's a lot of money. The Dockworkers don't have ties to organised crime – god knows it's been an uphill battle to keep it that way – but we hear enough to know how that sort of thing goes. If any criminal syndicate, any supervillain, lost that much money, heads would roll. And I don't mean figuratively."

"We've got it handled, Dad. Really." I tried to inject a reassuring note into my voice.

"You're still not getting it. When you started talking about this, I thought you were talking about knocking over a drug house or something, stealing the cash. A few thousand here or there, the big names aren't going to worry about that. But fifty to a hundred thousand? That's going to sting someone, really badly. And they'll want to hurt someone back."

I took a deep breath. "Dad. I got into this in the first place because I needed to be able to use my powers safely. And I wanted to get together some money in case we ever decided that we really did want to sue Mr Barnes for what Emma did to me. But I don't like stealing from banks and stuff."

"Even though you have stolen." His voice wasn't quite accusatory.

"So tell me how I'm supposed to make that sort of money without breaking the law, without stealing," I shot back defensively.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Your powers -"

"- can only be used in conjunction with other powers," I pointed out. "So I need to work with other capes, or fight capes with their own powers. Neither of which makes much in the way of money. At least in this way, I get to deprive bad guys of their ill-gotten gains. Good people don't get hurt."

"You might get hurt," he insisted. "I don't know who you're thinking of targeting, but no-one who has that much money stolen is going to take it lying down."

"They might know who did the deed, but they won't know where to find us," I argued. "The Undersiders are good at staying under the radar, and the boys tend to keep their heads down when not actually on a job. And I've got Alibi to prove that I was never there."

He scratched the back of his neck. "I wish you wouldn't do this. But I've getting the feeling that you're going to do it, no matter what I say."

"I'm kind of committed here, Dad. If I pull out, there goes most of our firepower. The others could try it without me, but it would probably go badly, and people I like would get hurt. Or killed. With me there, we've got a whole lot better chance at pulling it off successfully. And getting away with it."

"And if I said that I wouldn't take the money?"

I sighed. "Dad. That money could go a long way toward pinning Mr Barnes into a corner. Or, I dunno, helping fund reopening the ferry."

"That's not fair, Taylor. You know how long I've been working to make that happen."

"Yeah, Dad. You've been working from inside the system, and the system keeps jerking you around. Both of us, if you count Winslow as being part of 'the system'. What does it say to you when people like the Mayor and Mr Barnes can use the rules to keep getting what they want, at the expense of what you want? When breaking the law is the most efficient way of getting stuff done properly?"

His expression was troubled. "I'm going to have to think about this."

"But if there was a really big anonymous donation toward, say, the ferry, would you turn it down?"

"I said, I'm going to have to think about this."

His tone warned me not to push it any farther; I let the subject go.

<><>​

"So they got the information that we needed?"

Alibi nodded in answer to Über's question. "I've got it all, right here." Sitting at the terminal, she/I typed rapidly, the keys rattling as lines of data appeared on the screen.

"Holy crap, that's detailed," muttered L33t. "You sure it's all legit?"

"Tattletale believes it, and I looked it over with her power as well," she/I assured him. "It looks solid enough."

"Excellent," declared Über. "Now all we've got to do is hash out the plan itself."

L33t frowned. "Don't we need the Undersiders to do that?"

"Not really," she/I told him. "I got a good enough read on them during the meeting that I'm pretty sure what they can do, and what roles they'd be most comfortable with. We'll run the plan past them before we execute, of course, just in case there's any last-minute changes that need to be made. But given that the broad-strokes plan is 'rob the casino', and the Undersiders don't want the spotlight, this necessarily limits the number of ways we can actually pull it off."

She hadn't faltered in her typing all the time she was speaking; by now, the screen was mostly full of information.

"So I was thinking … "

<><>​

"Well, kiddo, that was delicious."

I grinned self-consciously. "Thanks, Dad." I had quite enjoyed it, myself.

He leaned back in his chair, almost but not quite patting his stomach. "You've always been able to cook, but this is new. Where did that come from, anyway?"

"I, uh … " I paused. "You probably don't want to hear this."

It didn't take him long to connect the dots. "The guy with the skills."

"Über, yeah," I confirmed. "I've been using his power to pick up all sorts of capabilities."

"One of which is really good cooking." He belched. "Sorry. Excuse me."

"That's okay. Yeah, that's one of them."

He frowned. "But you're not within range of him now, are you? Or is Alibi somehow transferring his power to you … ?"

"No and no," I explained. "But once I get a skill, if I practise it, I stay good at it. And if I keep tapping his power to give me a leg-up on that skill while I'm practising it, I can get really good."

"Huh. So you're a cook now." He eyed me. "Somehow I suspect that's not the only thing you've learned how to do."

"Uh, maybe?"

For a moment, I thought he was going to press me on specifics, then he sighed. "I really don't want to know, do I?"

"Uh, probably not, no," I agreed.

"Okay, fine, I'll leave it." He shook his head. "My daughter the supervillain. I still have no idea what to think about that."

"Hypothetical supervillain," I told him firmly. "If you don't know for a fact that I've committed any crimes, you can't be charged as an accessory."

"Well, supervillain or not, you're still my daughter," he replied. "And I'll support you, no matter what."

Getting up, I went around behind his chair and hugged him. "Thanks, Dad. I appreciate that."

"You're welcome, kiddo. Now, do you want to give me a hand clearing the table so we can wash up? That is, if hypothetical supervillains aren't above that sort of thing." Turning his head, he looked at me quizzically. "Do you do your own washing up, or do you have minions for that sort of thing?"

Chuckling, I shook my head. "Nope, no minions. Washing up gets done the same old way."

"Well, let's get to it."

"Sure thing, Dad."

<><>​

Saturday, January 29, 2011

I sat upstairs in my room, the binder open beside me. I didn't really need it, but it was good to know that my memory was on track. In Über and L33t's base, Alibi sat with the binder open on her lap. On the screen before me was an open IRC channel.

Hax: So that's the plan. You good with that? Suggestions and criticisms welcome.

Tattletale: Damn. That'll work, all right. Don't know that it's exactly what I'd do, but it's close enough. One question: how did you know that Grue can fight?

Hax: The way he moves.

Tattletale: … so you've been watching him move, huh? < smirk >

Hax: Shush you.

Tattletale: Hahahaha. Yeah, good plan. Let's do this thing.

Hax: Just what I wanted to hear.

Tattletale: Excellent. See you when I see you.

Tt.

Tattletale has logged out.

Click to shrink...

I logged out myself, then carefully wiped the cache file. Then I shut the computer down and stood up. Taking a moment to stretch, I wandered out of my room and along the corridor to the stairs. Dad was in the living room, watching a sports show, although he didn't seem all that interested in it.

I cleared my throat. "So Dad, I was thinking."

He raised his eyes from the TV to me. "I've heard that can be dangerous."

"Oh, ha ha. Anyway, I was thinking that we could go out for dinner tonight. Maybe catch a movie."

Both his eyebrows went up. "Don't want to stay in and relax? Maybe sneak out later on to do su-uh, something else?"

I noted the carefully elided reference to 'supervillain stuff' and shook my head. "I'd just like to get out and about. Be in public and very visible if, I don't know, a certain villain decides to commit a crime and the PRT decides that I've got something to do with it. Which I won't, of course, because I will provably be elsewhere when the crime happens."

"So what, I'm your alibi now?" he asked, looking just a little irritated.

"No, Dad. Alibi is my alibi. It just looks more natural if we're out together. And you know, it's been ages since we ate out."

"It has." He looked over at me. "Tell me the truth. Is this 'going out' thing just an excuse to swap yourself out for Alibi, or do you really want to come out and spend time with your old dad?"

"God, the way you say that, it sounds like I've got a new dad waiting in the wings," I commented. "But no, I could change out anywhere. Hell, I could go out to sit on the back steps for five minutes, and disappear over the fence while Alibi comes inside. But I don't want to lie to you, and I would like to spend time with you as well."

"That's fair," he allowed. "Okay then. Dinner and a movie it is."

I smiled. "Awesome."

<><>​

"And what would the young lady like for a drink?"

Danny leaned back and relaxed as Taylor looked over the menu. Despite his knowledge of what she was about, it was still nice to come out and eat good food that neither one of then had had to cook – though he was going to have to get her to make that butter chicken again; that had been delicious – and just unwind and chat.

"I'll have a Coke, thanks," she decided. "No ice, though."

The waiter made a note on his pad and moved off.

Danny sat forward a little. "Any particular reason you don't want ice with your Coke?" he asked.

Taylor shook her head. "Not really. I never let it sit long enough that I need the ice to keep it cold."

"Huh." Danny considered that. "Well, that kind of makes sense, I guess." He looked at his daughter appraisingly. "I'm glad we're getting to know each other again. Since what happened with your Mom, I mean. I'm finding out things about you that I didn't know before, every day. It's … nice. I like it."

"Really?" She quirked a grin at him. "Even my, uh, extracurricular activities?"

"Well, I'm still coming to terms with that part, but yeah, I'd rather know than not know. You know?"

Slowly, she nodded. "I think I do. Thanks, Dad. For being so understanding."

He lowered his voice. "Just come home safe, kiddo. That's all I ask."

"Who, me?" She flashed him a bright smile. "I'm not going anywhere." She paused. "Except to the bathroom, of course. Watch my purse?"

"Sure thing, kiddo." He placed his hand on it and watched her walk away, push open the door to the ladies' bathrooms. She entered; the door swung shut behind her.

Moments later, she emerged once more, came back over, and sat down. "I'm back. Miss me?"

Sparing a smile for her joke, he glanced out the window. Just for an instant, he saw a tall skinny girl in a black hoodie climbing into a van; she glanced back once, then the van door slid shut behind her. The van pulled away from the curb, and he lost track of it almost immediately.

"Oh, good. The food's here. I'm famished."

He looked back around at Taylor's comment, as the waiter arrived at the table. Inhaling the delicious odours, he essayed a smile. "It smells great."

But his thoughts were with the girl in the van.

Come home safely. Please.

<><>​

"Where are they?"

Lisa glanced around at Brian's question. "They'll be here," she assured him. "We're early."

"I still think this is a mistake," Alec muttered. "We don't team up. Especially not with creepy capes like Hax."

"You're just pissed because she owned you so hard," Brian told him. "Which you asked for, by the way, so no whining."

"Fuck off, Brian."

"Quiet, you two," Lisa warned them. "We're not all that far away. If they have roving security -"

"They don't."

The voice came from behind them; they turned, fast. There, advancing from the darkness, were three armour-clad figures. Each of them had a nameplate attached to his armour; the one in front was called HAX.

"Holy fuckballs," muttered Alec. "Spartan armour. You're doing Halo."

"We're doing Halo," agreed the one with ÜBER on his nameplate. "Are you ready to do this?"

"Sure," agreed Brian. "But how do you know they don't have any roving security?"

Hax lifted her gauntleted hand, and a dull-grey ball hummed out of the darkness and dropped into it. "Spy-eye. It's just checked all around. The guards are in place, nothing out of the ordinary."

"Fucking Tinkers." But Brian's tone was admiring. "Nice one."

"Which reminds me." Hax detached a flat black cylinder resembling a hockey puck from her belt. Stepping over to Lisa, she handed both items to her. "This one's an EMP mine. Press and hold the button on top for five seconds, and release. Five seconds after that, it'll short out everything within twenty yards. Make sure your phones are all the way off. And don't be touching it when it goes off, or you'll lose skin; the burst will melt its internal parts."

"Understood." Lisa studied it. It looked … innocuous.

"Soon as the burst has gone off, press the button on the spy-eye and let it go. It'll do the rest."

Lisa nodded to show that she understood; carefully, she stowed both items in her handbag.

"Okay," Hax went on. "We've all gone over the plan. We know what we've got to do. Anyone not a hundred percent sure?" She waited. If there had been any crickets around, they would have chirped. "Good. Let's do this thing."

Lisa took out her phone, and dialled Rachel's number. "We've met up. Going in now."

Rachel's voice was a grunt. "Okay."

Turning her phone off, Lisa dropped it into her pocket. "Okay, let's go."

<><>​

From the darkness, a good fifty yards from the run-down building hosting the Ruby Dreams casino, we watched the Undersiders approach the building. Grue, the tallest, was dressed preppy, Lisa was wearing a dress, and Regent had some semi-formal thing on. Guards stepped up to intercept them; Grue addressed them, and cash changed hands. A hand-held metal detector baton was waved over each of them; it whined at Lisa's bag.

"I thought you said you made those things non-metallic," Über muttered to me, his faceplate open.

"I did," I replied, just as quietly.

Then Lisa produced a tiny pistol; the guards mimed fear of it, then took it. She was handed a ticket in return. The baton was deployed once more; no more beeps or whines. I breathed again; the Undersiders were admitted to the building.

We waited. L33t had his faceplate open by now as well, as it was somewhat warm in the armour, despite it being January. Über's armour was actually just armour; it was only L33t and myself that had power armour. But Über also had his sword – altered by me to look like an energy sword – and a heavy energy rifle to back him up. L33t had his own weapons. I was going with my trusty stun rifle, set to resemble one of the bigger Halo weapons.

"Any moment now … " muttered Über.

As if he had timed it to perfection, at that moment, the lights went out on the building in front of us. A second or so later, the Cortana spy-eye started reporting in again; I could see where I was going to. Über and L33t had closed their faceplates; I took hold of their shoulders.

"Ready?" I asked over the radio link.

"Ready."

I triggered the command, and we teleported.



End of Part Twenty-One

Part Twenty-Two

 

[Starfox5]

Good one. Nice slice of life there, and a original revelation of L33t's power - Hax is hax even without pure power tricks.

 

[ViperhawkZ]

Can let L33t build things multiple times? So OP. I'm waiting hopefully for a Lung vs Lung-Taylor fight.

 

[Asheram]

And here we go!

 

[Asheram]

Can let L33t build things multiple times? So OP. I'm waiting hopefully for a Lung vs Lung-Taylor fight.

Click to shrink...

Didn't L33t have the Prototype shard or something? He can only build something once and unless he lets himself really go the shard will think him too boring and mess something up.
Edit: Herp-a-derp. Misread your question. Nevermind me.

 

[Ack]

Can let L33t build things multiple times? So OP. I'm waiting hopefully for a Lung vs Lung-Taylor fight.

Click to shrink...

With Taylor's help, he can now rebuild stuff that he built and was destroyed.

 

[ViperhawkZ]

With Taylor's help, he can now rebuild stuff that he built and was destroyed.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I got it. It was a... not a rhetorical question, but something I was saying to myself or whatever. Maybe I should have said "So she can let L33t build things multiple times?"

 

[Ack]

Yeah, I got it. It was a... not a rhetorical question, but something I was saying to myself or whatever. Maybe I should have said "So she can let L33t build things multiple times?"

Click to shrink...

Yes.

And yes, L33t is now rummaging around to find all the destroyed bits of everything he's had broken.

 

[tenchifew]

Love this story.
Looking very much forward to see the heist.

 

[Asheram]

Also, forget Brian, I'm shipping Taylor with both Über and L33t here. It's too good to pass up.

 

[Ack]

Also, forget Brian, I'm shipping Taylor with both Über and L33t here. It's too good to pass up.

Click to shrink...

Well, L33t basically had a Tinkergasm when he realised that he could rebuild anything she disassembled for him.

So give it a few years, and that threesome just might happen. (I'd have to move it over to the NSFW side, of course, but hey. Some sacrifices have to be made )

 

[Asheram]

Well, L33t basically had a Tinkergasm when he realised that he could rebuild anything she disassembled for him.

So give it a few years, and that threesome just might happen. (I'd have to move it over to the NSFW side, of course, but hey. Some sacrifices have to be made )

Click to shrink...

All for the glory of nookie.