Trump Card (Worm AU) [Complete]

[doomlord9]

...now I kind of want to see a fic where Dinah jumps at the chance to shot up with drugs and allowed a permanent 'vacation' from her extremely stressful life, so she runs off and finds Coil early and begs him to 'kidnap' her.

Click to shrink...

I think that's part of Goblin Queen. Taylor messes everything up with Essence use and once they get around to collecting Dinah she bitches them out for being late and not giving her the relief from her headaches her predictions promised her.

There's also the idea I had where Dinah's requests for 'candy' was for literal candy. In the scene where Coil reveals her to the Undersiders she was being injected with a placebo saline solution so Coil could keep his reputation from being tanked due to being blackmailed into compliance by a 9 year old who used her precog abilities to get access the most candy possible.

Too bad for him she decided guilting Skitter and her parents would become an even better source since she knew Lisa would bankrupt him eventually.

 

[Snake/Eater]

the lyrics for me had a good quadruple meaning with that chapter with seeing how Alexandra and Taylor are not that different with how they do business,then Taylor refreshing her memories to know to the Truth why her life is a mess..some people can't handle the truth.Alexandra's leaving Taylor's place afraid of her and then the prt's strew up by Taylor to Coil's attention...

Are you satisfied?
There's nowhere to go

what song would have gone with that last scene in your opinion.

 

[CptTagon]

Reading the QQ/SV/SB comments, I think I figured out why Taylor can use powers so much more effectively then their original owners. She doesn't have the appropriate shard nudging her away from doing too much with the power. She just has whatever restrictions Scion imposed on her singular shard, not whatever mental blocks he put on all the others. Not sure how this plays into Eden shards like Alexandria, though.

 

[inverted_helix]

Reading the QQ/SV/SB comments, I think I figured out why Taylor can use powers so much more effectively then their original owners. She doesn't have the appropriate shard nudging her away from doing too much with the power. She just has whatever restrictions Scion imposed on her singular shard, not whatever mental blocks he put on all the others. Not sure how this plays into Eden shards like Alexandria, though.

Click to shrink...

It's more that her shard downloads the recordings of the other shard on how its current owner has used it to Taylor, and then Taylor's own mind is able to make its own ideas on top of that.

It's effectively the idea of 2 heads are better than one. It's all of the original owner's ideas, plus her own ideas.

 

[Student of Zelretch]

Now I want to see her Eidolon into Eden's Relativity or shaper, Adaptive regeneration and Sting...

 

[Sadbunny]

With all the TT/Dinah speculations I wonder how Taylor's power interact with thinker headaches, do they go away when she drops the power she is copying or not?

 

[Ack]

Trump Card

PHO Interlude 2


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♦Topic: Shadow Stalker hurt?
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay ► Cape Doings ► Wards

CapeFollower (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)
Posted on January 10, 2011:

Is it just me, or has our favourite urban-vigilante-turned-Ward not been around these last few days? Normally, she's very active, especially over the weekend, but recently ... nada.

(Showing Page 1 of 3)

Kilimanjaro
Replied on January 10, 2011:
Huh. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her around either. Usually you see her doing solo patrols, or out and about with another Ward or Protectorate member.

FreddieK (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 10, 2011:
Maybe she's just taking time off?

XxVoid_CowboyxX (Temp-banned) (Muted)
Replied on January 10, 2011:
DELETED BY MODERATOR

TinMother (Moderator) (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 10, 2011:
Posting information that can lead to the discovery of the identity of a cape is prohibited. Have a ban and a mute while you think about that.

Bagrat (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 10, 2011:
Wow, okay.
So something's obviously happened.
I'd heard that her career before she joined the Wards was not entirely free of potential problems. Maybe something from back then came back to bite her?

BrickFrog
Replied on January 11, 2011:
maybe one of her old enemies caught up with her?

FreddieK (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Wasn't she chasing the Undersiders for a bit there?

Kilimanjaro
Replied on January 11, 2011:
The who?

EraserHead (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 11, 2011:
No, that's an Earth Aleph band.

Bagrat (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Guys, it's obvious that something's happening that we don't know about, and throwing up speculation might step on the wrong toes, so how about just posting facts.
​

End of Page. 1, 2, 3

(Showing Page 2 of 3)

Jumper
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Could it have something to do with the sightings of Alexandria we had on Saturday night? Flying to and from the PRT building?

BrickFrog
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Wait, Alexandria was here? In Brockton Bay?
Now it all makes sense.
Oh wait, no it doesn't.
More info pls?

MinionNumber21 (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on January 11, 2011:
I can say this much. Alexandria was at the PRT building on that night. She went up to the roof and had a chat with Shadow Stalker. What they chatted about, is not something I am prepared to speculate about. But the rumor is that Shadow Stalker is considering retiring from the Wards.

BrickFrog
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Ooooh, mysterious rooftop chats!
Maybe the big A heard she was thinking of quitting and dropped by to talk her out of it?

Kilimanjaro
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Maybe she dropped by to make sure Shadow Stalker handed back her secret Wards decoder ring.

Lancer (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Or maybe she was there on other business altogether, and just happened to want to have a quiet word with Shadow Stalker for some other reason. She's Alexandria. Whatever she's doing, she has a good reason for it.

MissMilitia (Verified Cape) (Protectorate ENE)
Replied on January 11, 2011:
After much consideration, Shadow Stalker has decided that she will be retiring from the Wards for civilian life. We support her in her decision, and hope that she will be happy there.

Bagrat (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 11, 2011:
... well, damn.
Shadow Stalker leaving the Wards? That'll leave them a bit short handed, won't it?

BrickFrog
Replied on January 11, 2011:
maybe she kicked someone's ass a little too hard, and she's being eased out before the shit hits the fan.

DeadManWalking
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Maybe she's being Mastered, and it's not her doing it at all.
​

End of Page. 1, 2, 3

(Showing Page 3 of 3)

Lancer (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Or maybe she's actually just retiring.
You know? Like people do sometimes.
Could be she's decided to go back to being an independent.

Kilimanjaro
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Bagrat raises an excellent point. Who are they gonna bring in to replace her?

DeadManWalking
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Who said they had to bring anyone in to replace her?

FreddieK (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 11, 2011:
You live in Brockton Bay, and you have to ask that?

Tapdancer
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Maybe New York or Boston will lend us one of theirs.

BrickFrog
Replied on January 11, 2011:
That should be fun.

Bagrat (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 11, 2011:
Well, we're just going to have to wait and see.
​

End of Page. 1, 2, 3

<><>​

Taylor shut the computer down and pushed her chair back. Thank you, Alexandria.


End of Interlude

Part 12

 

[evildice]

Path to Taylor Owes Us One And She Knows It: complete.

 

[Cyclone]

Path to Taylor Owes Us One And She Knows It: complete.

Click to shrink...

More like "path to mending fences with the bullshit tier Trump so she doesn't hate our guts."

 

[Ack]

Trump Card

Part Twelve: The Perfect Alibi


I woke up on Monday morning with the urge to skip school strong in my mind. Part of it was due to the fact that I really, truly, desperately wanted to get to Über and L33t's base so that I could finish building the projects I had running. The other part was that, even without Sophia there, Emma and Madison were still quite able to make my life a misery, if they should put their minds to it.

I thought it over while I was out on my morning jog; having picked up athletic skills from Über, it only made sense to maintain them, and I was pleasantly surprised by how far and fast I could run now. Friday night had been a real eye-opener for me; parkour was no longer a thing that people did on Youtube. It was something that had saved my bacon, personally.

When it came down to it, what did I really have to fear from Emma and Madison? They couldn't shut me in the locker again. They couldn't out me as a cape without facing PRT retribution. I didn't think they would get physical with me, not without Sophia there to initiate it and back them up. And whatever verbal abuse they threw at me, I could take.

And if they really wanted to go that step farther, to escalate, to take my stuff and destroy it again, I could deal. I could escalate harder than they ever could.

I'm not scared of them any more.

Holy shit, I'm not scared of them.

The realisation lightened my steps and gave me a burst of energy; before I quite knew it, I was on the home stretch. I sprinted down the street, crossed the road, and hurdled the fence without slowing down.

Dad looked up as I entered the back door, panting and sweating, but grinning widely.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted me. "You're looking happy."

"Just some stuff I've figured out," I told him.

He nodded. "That's good, then. Breakfast'll be ready in a moment."

I inhaled the cooking smells, and suddenly felt ravenous; my stomach growled sharply. "Smells great, Dad," I told him, quite honestly. Leaning up, I kissed him on the cheek. "'Scuse, gotta take a shower. All sweaty."

I was still in high spirits as I trotted up the stairs; it was looking to be a good day.

<><>​

I don't often sing in the shower, but I did that morning. As I dried myself, I made a mental note to use Über's power to acquire the ability to actually sing well. The thought made me chuckle; I was still grinning about it when I came downstairs, doubled back through the front hall, and joined Dad in the kitchen.

"So, what was it that you worked out on your run?" he asked me as we sat down for our meal.

I slid my fork under some egg. "Oh, that I don't need to worry about Emma and Madison any more. Sophia's gone for good, and without her, they're a lot less likely to bother me."

He frowned. "I can't guarantee that they'll leave you totally alone," he pointed out. "If it was all her, then Emma and Madison wouldn't have taken to it so thoroughly. So watch your back, and if anything happens, please consider telling a teacher."

I shook my head. "Popular kids win out over unpopular ones. We both know that, Dad. I'll just keep my head down. It'll be okay."

He frowned. "If I know Alan Barnes, he'll have prepped Emma to watch for you using cape powers, so she can report you."

"Good luck to her, then," I responded with a grin. "I don't get powers unless there's another cape nearby."

He nodded understandingly. "So, do you think you'll have much trouble catching up after your week off?"

"I shouldn't think so," I assured him. "But I'm gonna insist on being assigned another locker. I don't care how much they scrub that one out, I'm not going near it again."

"Good," he told me. "If they give you any trouble, tell them to call me."

I gave him a smile. "Thanks, Dad," I told him. "I appreciate that." I glanced at the wall clock. "Whoops, gotta run."

"Me too," he agreed. "Give me a hand to clear the table?"

I grinned. "Sure thing."

Moving quickly, we got the table cleared and the plates into the sink to soak, then I dashed out of the house. I leaped from the top step of the front porch, landing three or four yards down the front path. The turn on to the pavement slowed me a little, then I gained speed once more, once I had a straight run.

Running, even with my pack full of books, was easier now; I couldn't keep up the pace that I maintained on my morning run, but it was definitely faster than I could have managed before. I covered the two blocks to the bus stop in good time; good enough that I had a few minutes to sit and catch my breath before the bus arrived.

<><>​

I had fully intended to do as I had told Dad, to keep my head down once I got to school. No need to make myself a target, after all. All I had to do was get through the day; after today, everything would be different.

But when I walked in through the front doors of Winslow, I found myself striding along, head high. I was no longer unsure, uncertain, a victim. I had taken on Aegis and won. I was not the same person who had gone into the locker. I was something more.

I noted in passing that my locker didn't have a smell coming from it; they had obviously exerted themselves to ensure that the incident was forgotten as soon as possible. But, as I had told Dad, I turned my steps toward the principal's office.

There was no way in hell I would use that locker, ever again.

<><>​

Carrie Blackwell looked up at the sharp rapping on her office door. She frowned a little; surely it was too early in the day for students to be getting sent to her for punishment?

"Come in," she called.

The door opened, and a tall, lanky figure stepped through. It took her a moment to recognise the girl, so complete was the change in posture. No longer shuffling along with her head down, she looked Carrie in the eye as she fronted up to the desk. Alert, aware, even challenging.

"Can I help you, Miss Hebert?" Blackwell enquired sharply.

The girl nodded curtly. "Yes, you can, ma'am," she replied. Her tone was a little sharp, a little hard, to be actually polite, although the words were all there. "I'd like to have another locker assigned to me, please."

Blackwell blinked, a little taken aback. "A new locker?" she repeated. "Your old one is perfectly serviceable. It has been cleaned and disinfected -"

The girl was shaking her head. "No, ma'am. That locker will never be serviceable to me, ever again. I would like a new one. Now."

Blackwell shook her head in turn. "I can't just issue a new locker on demand -"

The Hebert girl leaned forward over her desk, resting her weight on her knuckles. "Sure you can," she replied evenly. "Or I can request that you call my father over the matter. He has a friend who works in TV. How fast do you think this would make the news, and how bad would it make the school look?" She paused. "Alternatively, you can just give me a new locker. Please."

Carrie Blackwell saw the resolve, the determination, in Taylor Hebert's eyes. There was no give in the girl now, no backing down. She would carry out the threat. And there was no way Blackwell wanted Winslow's name being dragged through the muck for a second time in two weeks.

She compressed her lips. "Very well," she muttered. "I'll call the janitor."

Taylor Hebert smiled sunnily. "Thank you."

<><>​

I had the janitor set the new combination on my locker, then I stashed my books inside. Without Sophia – Shadow Stalker – to defeat the lock by the simple expedient of going into her shadow form, they should be reasonably safe there.

Of course, this would not bring back the things that she had stolen from my locker in the past – my mother's flute, for one, or my backpack that one time – but they should be secure for the moment.

I finished stacking the books the way I liked them – new books all, given that the old ones would have had to be burned after the incident – and pulled out the ones I would need for first period. By this time, both Principal Blackwell and the janitor had gone, headed back to their respective duties. But when I turned around, I wasn't alone.

Emma, flanked by Madison, stared coldly at me. Half a dozen other girls backed them up; I knew the type, the ones who wanted to be part of the popular group, but couldn't quite make it on their own. The rest of the hallway was relatively deserted; everyone else had gotten their books and gone elsewhere.

It had been nearly a year and a half since Emma had inexplicably turned on me, forsaking my friendship for that of Sophia Hess. It was much less inexplicable to me now; I had used my access to Alexandria's Thinker capabilities last night to good effect. I had Sophia's motivations, and Emma's as well, pretty well figured out, presuming a shared, traumatic experience while I'd been at summer camp. Madison was a different story; she was just a follower.

All of this meant that there was a balance of power, and a certain dynamic in their little trio. Quite a lot of their energy went toward bullying me, and Sophia, specifically, had aimed her efforts toward keeping me off balance, on the back foot. Not giving me a chance to muster a response. But now Sophia was no longer a part of the equation, unbalancing the other two, and that had to be worrying Emma and Madison, especially after the events of Monday last. On the other hand, I was very much balanced. Centred, even.

I smiled.

Emma blinked. It was so obvious; she had been waiting for me to turn around, to notice her and her cronies, to step back, to be so obviously cornered. To show fear.

I wasn't about to give her the pleasure.

Without looking, I put my book in my bag, closed the locker door, and spun the combination lock. Rattled the door to ensure that it was locked. Slung my bag over my shoulder. There were two ways this was going to go; she would back off and leave me alone, or she would push hard, working to re-establish her dominance over me, even with Sophia gone.

"Let me past, Emma," I told her firmly.

Several of the girls snickered. Emma looked me up and down, and audibly sniffed. "Wow, Hebert. I'm surprised you even came back. But maybe you should have showered a little more. I can still smell you."

So, pushing it is, then. I ignored the content of her words. They couldn't hurt me any more. "Emma, last warning. Let me past, or I will go through you. Try to stop me, and someone just might get hurt."

"What are you saying, Hebert?" she asked clearly. "Are you saying you might have powers? Are you a cape, Hebert? You know it's illegal to use powers on normals."

I rolled my eyes. "No, you moron," I snapped. "I mean, I'll kick the shit out of you if you get in my way."

I stepped forward; predictably, she brought up her hand to stop me. I let it contact my chest, then grabbed it, took hold of the little finger, twisted. Brought her to her knees, her eyes opening wide.

Another girl tried to grab my shoulder; without looking, I straight-armed her in the chest. She went backward, lost her balance, and sat down hard.

Madison tried to grab my wrist, to make me let go of Emma's finger. I took hold of her wrist with my free hand, and twisted. She went to her knees as well, face turning white.

Five girls faced me. I looked back at them, grim-faced. "First one moves on me, I'll stop being gentle," I told them. "I will hurt someone. Anyone want a broken bone? Come right ahead."

They didn't move. I took a step forward, adjusting my grip so that I didn't break Emma's finger. "Now, step aside."

I wasn't sure what they saw in my face, or heard in my voice, but they stepped aside. It appeared that the 'talking to guys' skills I had picked up from Über's powers also worked when talking to bullies; good to know.

"Good," I told them, and let Emma and Madison go. Walking between the girls, I headed off down the corridor.

"Hebert!" yelled Emma, from behind me. "This isn't over!"

I stopped, and turned around. "You'd better hope it is," I told her bluntly. Turning on my heel, I kept on going.

<><>​

I got in trouble, of course.

Emma Barnes had grown up with a lawyer for a father. From him, she had absorbed a certain attitude of entitlement. What she wanted, she got; as the younger daughter, her whims were indulged more often than not. And so, even when she had been my best friend, she had found it very hard to take when she was denied a thing she wanted very much.

I did not know how long it took her to decide to go to Principal Blackwell about me. Nor did I know whether it was her decision or Blackwell's to call Mr Barnes about the matter. But I do know that I had not quite finished first period – Computers, with Mrs Knott, which I was quite enjoying – when the call came for me to report to the office.

Mrs Knott eyed me worriedly as I pushed my books back into my bag and stood up. She was my favourite teacher, just as Computers was my favourite class.

"Is everything all right, Taylor?" she asked me as I came up to the front of the classroom.

I shrugged. "Probably in trouble," I told her. "Not sure how much. Thanks for filling me in on what you did last week."

"That's all right," she responded. "You'd better go now; no sense in being late and getting in more trouble."

I gave her a grin as I left; if what I suspected was going on, I couldn't get in much more trouble.

<><>​

I entered Principal Blackwell's office, to see Emma, her father, Madison, her father, and the six girls all waiting for me. I ignored them and looked at Blackwell. "You called for me, ma'am?"

She nodded sharply. "Did you assault Emma Barnes and Madison Clements this morning?"

I raised my eyebrows in mock surprise. "Is that what they say? Is that why they're here?"

"You know what you did!" shouted Emma, then her father shushed her.

"Miss Hebert," he began, but I overrode him.

"Where's my father?" I demanded of Blackwell.

"What?" she asked.

"My father," I repeated. "You had the time to call in Mr Barnes and Mr Clements, but you didn't have the time to call in my father? Why is that, exactly? Do I not rate a parent as well?"

"He's not in his office, and we don't have a mobile number for him -" she began.

"He doesn't use a mobile," I interrupted her. "So you had me pulled out of class for this. I've got classes to catch up on, Principal Blackwell. Do I need to remind you of the reason I missed those classes?"

"That's got nothing to do with this situation -" she began.

"The hell it doesn't," I snapped. "It's got everything to do with this situation.My father isn't here? Fine. I go back to classes, or you send away Mr Barnes and Mr Clements."

"You can't - " she began.

I began to lose my temper, just a little bit. "Do you know what happened, when you and Carl left me at my locker? I had eight girls come at me. Those eight. They say I assaulted them? I say I defended myself. How is eight on one fair in any situation, ever?"

"They say they were just walking past -" began Blackwell.

"And just happened to stop me from walking away from my locker," I finished acidly. "Last Monday? That was proof positive that I'm being bullied here at school. Sophia was the ringleader, and she's been pulled out of school because of it."

"You can't know that -" Emma protested.

I grinned at her, showing my teeth. "Believe it." I turned back to Blackwell. "Sophia was bullying me. You know it, and I know it. You also know who her closest friends were." I tilted my head toward Emma and Madison. "I'm not going to point fingers, but surely you can add two and two."

"Wait a minute," Mr Barnes spoke up. "You can't just accuse -"

I turned to him. "Sir, I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I'm the one who's being accused, here. And I still don't see my father. So I'm going back to class."

"If you walk out that door, Miss Hebert," snapped Principal Blackwell, "consider yourself suspended."

I shrugged my backpack on to my shoulders. "If I'm not going to get a fair hearing, I don't see why I should stay." I opened the door.

"Last warning," Blackwell told me.

I looked over my shoulder. "I'll be in tomorrow, with my father."

I walked out the door.

<><>​

I was still seething slightly as I walked along the corridor, on the way out of the school. There was no way that I could have won, there. The deck had been stacked; Blackwell had decided – or chosen to believe – that I was at fault, before I ever walked into the room.

Not that I'd done much for my cause earlier, I belatedly realised. Railroading her into getting me a new locker before this incident occurred had simply set her against me at a really bad time.

Thinking it over, I also realised that I had underestimated Emma and Madison. They may not have planned for it, specifically, but once I had retaliated, they had used that against me. If I had stayed to argue my case, I would have had ten people arguing against me, and one biased judge; I wasn't foolish enough to believe that reasoned statements could sway Blackwell, not when Mr Barnes had his courtroom tricks to play on Emma's behalf.

The bell went for end of period; moments later, the hallways were full of kids, going from one class to another. I kept walking, but I paid attention to my power; I was vaguely curious about whether there were any more parahumans at Winslow.

None had presented themselves by the time I got to my locker, which also meant that Director Piggot probably hadn't sent any Wards over to Winslow to keep an eye on me. Not that I thought she would, not at such short notice. Later on, I suspected, she might. Of course, if she did that, I would know that she was having me watched, and she knew that. She might send someone unpowered; a PRT employee. Maybe a substitute teacher or something. I'll have to keep an eye out.

She wouldn't do anything blatant, of course; Alexandria's visit had ensured that. I wouldn't be harassed or followed; any school surveillance would be more for my benefit than otherwise, I suspected. Neither Piggot nor Alexandria wanted me to have any more motive to go villain.

I walked out through the doors, down the steps, and across the parking lot to the bus stop. At the forefront of my brain, I was deciding where I wanted to go; home, the library, somewhere else. But deep down, I already knew.

I had work to do.

<><>​

Über looked up as I pushed the door open, and entered the building that he and L33t optimistically called their 'base'.

"Hey, Hax," he called out, barely puffing as he performed a flawless round on the Dance Dance Revolution machine they had installed on one wall. "Thought you had school?"

"'Had' is the operative word," I replied. "Had to explain to a couple of people why they didn't put their hands on me, and now I'm suspended."

"Damn," he replied. "Sucks."

I shrugged. "Gives me more time to kick on with you guys, get my shit sorted." My power noted L33t's presence, and I put my light-spot on to him. "So is he still geeking out over the stuff we boosted?"

Über rolled his eyes as he stepped off the machine. "Hasn't stopped. Last I saw, he was trying to decide what he wanted to build next. But hey, I wanted to talk to you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah. When you joined this team, it was on the understanding that you'd participate in our video blog posts. So far, we've done one robbery, and that was on the down-low. We did well by that, really well, but we need to keep putting our name out there. So we need to do something, soon, and you need to participate. So are you ready to do that?"

"That's why I'm here, now," I told him with a grin. "I've got three things to finish up, and then I'll be ready."

"Only three?" he joked. "L33t's usually got half a dozen things on the go."

"Oh, there's more than just three inventions," I assured him. "But I'm making three things."

"So what are they?" he asked, obviously more than a little curious.

My grin widened. "You'll see. It'll knock your socks off."

He shook his head ruefully. "It's easy to see you're just borrowing his power. I've never met a Tinker before who doesn't like to talk about what he's making."

I shrugged. "I guess if I'm not obsessing over it twenty-four hours a day, it makes a difference." I nodded to him. "And by the way, in case I didn't say it before, parkour rocks."

He nodded, a grin of his own spreading across his face. "I know, right?"

We shared a high-five, then he returned to playing his video games. I stashed my lunch in the fridge, then headed into the area we had designated as 'my' work room. I'd done some work here over the weekend, getting my projects up and running, but they were still mostly unfinished. I decided to get the first one done.

<><>​

As I had told Über, I had to build machines to finish the project. One was a device to produce a flexible bio-plastic, designed to mimic human flesh and skin, based on the DNA sample that was fed into it. The outer layer would even grow a layer of what looked like fine hair and mimic dead skin cells, as well as fingernails and toenails where needed.

The other device would take a human hair and then replicate it ad infinitum, cutting off lengths roughly the same as the original sample.

After an hour or so of work, I had both the skin maker and the hair replicator up and running, so I could turn my attention to the main part of the project. Some of the more specialised devices that I had liberated from North Side went into it; if I hadn't had them, I would have had to build them. And while I could undoubtedly do just that – I could already figure out how to make those same devices at two-thirds the size and twice the efficiency – that would just be more time before completion. It made sense to acquire what I could, make what I couldn't.

In any case, some of the devices needed to be applied in more than one place, which was why I had picked up spares. I wouldn't have been able to do that; although I could build things that L33t couldn't, I was still unable to build two of the same device at the same time. While swapping out his power for someone else's meant that my limits were reset, an extant device still prevented another from being made. Which was why I was building a self-destruct into everything that I invented; I didn't want someone preventing me from building a spare tool, just by locking the original away from me.

<><>​

The work went well; I completed the basic work on the project, then started applying the external detail. It looked and felt really odd, even creepy. But the end result would be worth it.

Every detail had to be absolutely perfect; I had brought a mirror in, and did a lot of checking, but it seemed to look about right. Even the mole in the small of my back was correct, even though I could think of no circumstances where someone might be able to check on that. Certain details I'm going to gloss over altogether; let's just say 'anatomically correct' and leave it at that.

Finally, I fitted the control unit to the back of my neck, and sent the mental impulse to wake it up.

I/she awoke.

It was a really weird feeling; I was seeing and hearing through my eyes and ears, and also through my double's, who was leaning on a stand I had thrown together. I exerted my concentration, my control.

I/she stepped forward off the stand. My/her body worked well; flexible, smooth, no hesitation or jerkiness. Reaching up, I/she touched my/her finger to the tip of my/her nose. "Coordination good," I/she noted.

I/she smiled.

I smiled as well.

I practised for a little while, making sure that I could do one thing while my double did another. I hadn't gone for a full AI; while possible, that would have been hard to put together in the available volume. Instead, I had cheated. Motor control was supplied by the brain I had put together for it. Personality and memories, on the other hand, were supplied over the control link; the longer I stayed connected, the more impressions it picked up from me, and the more it became like me. Best, if it needed to make a decision in real time, it could use the link to pull hints on what to do from my memories, without any conscious control required.

Once I was satisfied with my double, I had her put clothes on – I had brought spares – and then I opened the work room door.

<><>​

L33t lounged back, chewing on a sandwich. "So how long she been in there?" he asked.

"Six, seven hours," Über replied. "Once she gets going, she's like you. Doesn't want to let go."

L33t nodded. "It's a Tinker thing," he agreed. "She say what she's making?"

"Nope." Über shook his head and finished off his protein shake. "Wouldn't say a word about it."

"Yeah, well, that's not a Tinker thing," L33t informed him.

"Hey, I said that too," Über noted.

And then the workroom door opened. They both looked over; Hax strolled out, looking rather pleased with herself. "Guys," she greeted them, heading over to the fridge and pulling out her lunch.

Über went to greet her, but L33t tapped him on the shoulder, and pointed at the open door to the work room. Hax was emerging from the room, again. But this one was wearing different clothes, and moved a little more hesitantly. She looked around, as if seeing the room for the first time.

"Holy shit," Über marvelled. "You built a body double."

Hax grinned as she pulled out a chair and sat next to the other two; the double was wandering around the room, examining things carefully. "Yup. What do you think?" She opened the bag lunch and pulled out the fruit juice.

L33t got up and walked over to the double. He examined her; she looked back at him with a certain amount of curiosity. "Hello," she greeted him, in a curiously childlike tone.

He walked all the way around her, examining her closely. "I can't see any physical flaws," he concluded, "but she's going to need to be socialised before she can pass for you in company."

"Actually, that's not going to be a problem," Hax told him, shaking up the juice bottle.

"Why not?" asked Über curiously.

Hax grinned. "Because I'm the double."

Both men turned to stare at her, then at the 'double', still standing in front of L33t. The latter nodded cheerfully. "Yup," she confirmed. "Changed clothes with her, to see if you guys would pick up on it."

The double, still seated, tossed the juice to her; Hax caught it, twisted the top off, and took a long swallow. While she was still doing so, the double went on. "So yeah, you think I'll pass for the original?"

"Holy shit," muttered Über.

"Holy fucking hell," L33t paraphrased.

<><>​

I stopped drinking from the juice bottle, and grinned at them both. "I'm gonna take that as a yes."

"Fucking hell, yes," Über praised me. He looked closely at the double. "That's insane. I still can't tell the difference, and you're both in the same room."

I shrugged modestly, and wandered over to retrieve my bag lunch. "Wouldn't be much point, otherwise."

"So what do we call her?" asked L33t.

Opening my pita wrap, I looked at him. "I'm going with 'Alibi'."


End of Part Twelve

Part Thirteen

 

[alethiophile]

Heh heh.

I always love Tinker!Taylor, just because she has such lovely ability to abuse things. Not disappointing here.

 

[esotericist]

... pffahahaha.

That's beautiful.

 

[Chojomeka]

Ah and Winslow/Blackwell continue to be a useless hive of scum and villainy.....seriously though you'd think Blackwell would learn at some point that no Winslow will never be another Arcadia no matter what you allow.

 

[Zege]

That is fantastic, a double provides so many opportunities for shenanigans. The mind-link bit gives me this entertaining image of the pair being perfectly coordinated, doing things like Alibi tossing a tool to Taylor over her shoulder, and Taylor catching it without even looking.

Bet they could do a hell of a dance routine with Uber's power.

 

[Xilph]

I'm pretty sure that's confirmation L33t has some kind of mad science specialty in there, he can build basically anything once except for self-destruct devices which can be put in anything and everything.

Amusing though, the humor makes it one of your better stories in my opinion but then again I do prefer comedy.

 

[Adyen]

Holy shit. She can reset her limit by changing to another power.

That's so Hax.

 

[Ack]

That is fantastic, a double provides so many opportunities for shenanigans. The mind-link bit gives me this entertaining image of the pair being perfectly coordinated, doing things like Alibi tossing a tool to Taylor over her shoulder, and Taylor catching it without even looking.

Bet they could do a hell of a dance routine with Uber's power.

Click to shrink...

Four player video games ahoy!

 

[moontheir4]

"I'm going with 'Alibi'."

Click to shrink...

Pffahahaha. *ahem* Nicely done.

I had wondered if the limits on Leet's catalog would reset when she dropped his power. Nice to see it confirmed.

 

[esotericist]

I'm pretty sure that's confirmation L33t has some kind of mad science specialty in there, he can build basically anything once except for self-destruct devices which can be put in anything and everything.

Click to shrink...

Self-destruct devices don't require tinkertech, so that's something that could probably be mass produced via Uber skills, or a L33t-tech machine that churns out non-tinkertech explosive components.

 

[Sheaman3773]

Nice chapter.

The confrontation in principal's office went more or less as expected, I suppose, though it seems like she shouldn't have as much reason to be on the bully's side with Sophia pretty irrevocably gone. Lawyer dad still has weight, but I'd think it would be enough to pull in Taylor's dad and have it appear proper while the Heberts are still seriously outnumbered. But eh, Winslow's gonna Winslow.

Popular kids win out over unpopular ones. We both know that, Dad.

Click to shrink...

In my experience, it is often that the studious students win out over the slackers.

Which is still bad for Taylor, given how the bullies have sabotaged her schoolwork, but still. Winslow again, I guess.

swapping out his power for someone else's meant that my limits were reset

Click to shrink...

I was going to yell "Hax!" but someone beat me to it

While swapping out his power for someone else's meant that my limits were reset, an extant device still prevented another from being made. Which was why I was building a self-destruct into everything that I invented; I didn't want someone preventing me from building a spare tool, just by locking the original away from me.

Click to shrink...

Interesting expression of the power, keeping it from going crazy but still super-exploitable. Nicely done.

 

[Ack]

Trump Card

Part Thirteen: Preparation


Danny sat up on the sofa as the key rattled in the back door lock. Checking his watch, he frowned; it was late for Taylor to come in, and on a school night too. And the message he had found on the phone from Principal Blackwell …

With a sigh, he stood up from the sofa. As the back door opened, he walked through into the kitchen. Taylor saw him as she stepped inside; she didn't seem overly concerned.

"Hi, Dad." She closed the door and locked it, then dropped the key on the table. "I'll put that back in the morning."

"Taylor," he began. "Principal Blackwell rang me today, and left a very disturbing message on the machine."

"Of course she did," Taylor replied, opening the fridge. "Can I use some of the ham? I haven't had anything since lunchtime."

He found her lack of concern … worrying. "Taylor, this is serious," he persisted. "She told me that you were suspended due to your behaviour. That you acted in a totally disrespectful manner, and then stormed out of the school when she tried to discipline you."

She closed the fridge door and turned to face him. "Yeah, I know it's serious. You want to know what really happened?"

He nodded. "Of course I do."

She took a deep breath. "Emma and the others tried to bully me. I fought back. I didn't hurt anyone, not really, but they went to Principal Blackwell. She decided that this was grounds to call Mr Barnes and Mr Clements in on it, and they were going to face me, eleven on one." Her tone became very dry. "Of course, they couldn't reach you in time."

Danny felt anger building inside of him. "And so you left … ?"

She shrugged. "If I stayed, they would have thrown their accusations at me, and I wouldn't have been able to face all of them down at once. She wouldn't make Mr Barnes and Mr Clements leave, and you weren't there, so I left. She threatened me with suspension if I just walked out, but I figured it was the better option than stay and fight a losing battle."

"Christ," Danny ground out. "The woman's gone too far."

She put her hand on his arm. "Dad, we can deal with this. What we've got to do is work out a strategy that doesn't end in a big legal battle. Because if we go at them head to head, Mr Barnes will pull out the big guns to protect Emma. You know it, and I know it."

His anger faded slightly as he looked at her, the calm demeanour, the collected posture. "You've been thinking about this."

She nodded. "All day. Ever since I left school." Turning back to the fridge, she opened it again, pulling out bread and butter and the packet of ham. "Now, all they can really get me on is leaving the school grounds without permission. That's barely a blip on the radar; I know of kids who haven't attended three days in five." She began to butter a slice of bread.

"And the assault charges?"

She didn't look up, intent on her task. "No bruises, except maybe the girl who ended up on her ass. I didn't break Emma's finger, or Madison's wrist. Madison might have a mark on her wrist, but I doubt it. No doctor will find anything wrong with either one of them."

Danny blinked. She was so casually discussing the aftermath of a fight against superior odds, from which she had emerged victorious. Taylor really has changed. "So you have a strategy in mind?"

This time, she looked up and grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

<><>​

I put down the soldering iron, clicked the goggles to clear view, and checked my work by eye. The outer carapace looked good; I got up and walked around it. Clicking the rim of the goggles again activated the magnification function – they had taken barely half an hour to put together, while I was taking a break from the main project – and I examined the joins minutely. Another click gave me thermal sensing; the carapace was cooling nicely, with no stress fracturing.

"Excellent." I stretched; my back popped oddly. This gave me the clue as to how long I had been working in the same posture; I stretched again, more extravagantly, and more vertebrae clicked.

I had brought a cheap alarm clock in to my work room, and now I checked it. "Wow, that late?"

I had known it wasn't early; Alibi had already gotten home, had her discussion with Dad, eaten a sandwich and gone up to bed. I just hadn't realised it was that late.

Just as I usually did, Alibi had had a shower before going to bed, which I'd used as an opportunity to ensure that nothing needed adjusting on the chassis. But everything seemed to be working well; externally, she was identical to me to several decimal places.

Alibi didn't need to sleep, of course, but she could enter a shutdown mode which mimicked it fairly well. The sandwich she'd eaten would be converted to energy using a basic simulacrum of the human digestive system; she could also eat garbage or drink gasoline for energy, although the former would generate excess methane, and the latter would give her a very distinctive smell for quite some time afterward. Her internal systems had been optimised for normal, processed foods; that sandwich, reduced to its most basic molecules, could supply her with energy for several days if necessary.

I was pleased, although not totally surprised, that Dad had been fooled by her. After the dry run with Über and L33t, I had been confident that she could pass as me with reasonable certainty. And so it had happened; Alibi had talked with Dad, following the prompts I was giving her, while I continued working on my second major project.

I did feel a bit bad about pulling the wool over Dad's eyes like this, but I figured it was necessary; if he didn't know about Alibi, he couldn't accidentally give the secret away. And, for all intents and purposes, it was me in the driver's seat. I just had Alibi's brain handling all the routine stuff while I did the actual thinking.

"Maybe I'd better get some sleep after all," I told myself. The basic chassis of the second project was complete. I knew what I needed to do next on it, but that would go well into the morning, and would require my full attention. And while Tinkers were (in)famous for working long hours to finish their projects, it wasn't as though I couldn't take my time on this.

After all, I didn't have to worry any more about splitting my time between work and school.

<><>​

Principal Blackwell's intercom beeped. She pressed the button. "Yes?"

"Taylor Hebert is here with her father to see you, ma'am."

"What?"

"Taylor Hebert, ma'am. She's here to see you. Her father is with her."

"Oh, uh, I'm busy. Tell them to make an appointment."

She heard her secretary begin to say just that, until a masculine voice intruded. "It's about Sophia Hess."

Sophia Hess. Shadow Stalker. The only member of the Wards to attend Winslow High. If Taylor's father knew something about her, then …

She pressed the intercom button again. "Show them in."

The door opened, and Taylor entered, followed by her father. Carrie Blackwell tried to remember his name, but only managed to recall that it started with the letter D. They took seats without being invited; Taylor had her backpack over her shoulder.

Principal Blackwell checked that the door was closed and the intercom switched off before speaking; even then, she kept her voice low. "What do you know about Sophia Hess?"

"That she's Shadow Stalker, and that she and her friends bullied me for over a year without any of you doing a single damn thing about it," Taylor told her, in an equally low, but rather intense, tone of voice.

"We didn't know -" began Blackwell.

"Then you're the most incompetent staff that I've ever seen at any school, ever," snapped Hebert. As he spoke, Taylor opened her bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers.

"You will not speak to me in that fashion," Carrie began, but was interrupted by Taylor slapping the thick sheaf down in front of her. "What's this?" she asked.

"A documentation of the last four months," Taylor informed her. "Day by fucking day. Read that and tell me that you didn't see or hear of a single one of those incidents."

Blackwell looked at it, then up at the two expectant faces. "I – you want me to read that now? It's rather thick - "

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" Danny – that was his name, Danny – agreed, leaning forward over the desk. "That's because there's a lot of it. A lot of incidents that happened to Taylor at this school."

"Incidents which I documented," Taylor continued. "Which will be verified by the police."

Carrie Blackwell blinked. "The police? How will they verify it?"

Taylor grinned, or at least showed her teeth. "You may recall the incident on Monday. You will have been warned by the PRT to tell no-one about it."

"I signed a non-disclosure agreement," the principal confirmed.

Danny nodded. "Well, Alexandria paid us a visit just the other night. She informed us that Sophia will be going into custody and being prosecuted for her crimes against Taylor. They will be going through her phone, and finding out whatever else she has done. And I imagine that they will be passing on evidence of any other crimes, say, ones which Emma and Madison assisted in, to the police to deal with."

Taylor tapped on the stack of paper. "And what do you want to bet that they'll find texts that match the incidents, down to the date, in this list?"

Carrie was barely listening. "You're trying to tell me that Alexandria paid you a visit?"

Taylor nodded. "This is one of the things you don't tell anyone, but yeah. She apologised for the way the PRT has been treating me, and promised that they'd leave me alone."

The way she spoke convinced Blackwell most of all. There was no swagger, no boasting, no embellishment. She just stated it, straight out. And from what she'd heard of the actual fight, of the powers that Taylor had exhibited … she wasn't entirely ready to dismiss the story out of hand.

"Now, I could take this list straight to the media," Danny suggested quietly, "but do you really want that?"

He didn't have to explain how badly that could go for her, once the news got hold of that list. Interviews of students and teachers, all of them anxious for their five minutes of fame.

"The staff wouldn't talk," she protested weakly, knowing even as she said it how wrong she was.

Danny snorted. "Talk? They'll be competing to see who can be first to throw you under the bus. You're the one who knew about it and condoned it; they all could see what was happening, and were powerless to stop it because of orders from above, and so on, and so forth. You go, one of them gets the top spot. Want to take bets on who it'll be?"

Blackwell slumped back into her chair. They had her over a barrel, well and truly. "What is it that you want?" she asked; it was almost a whisper.

"Revoke the suspension," Taylor stated flatly. "I didn't assault those girls, and you know it. I just want to go to school."

"But the assault complaint is down in the record now," Blackwell protested.

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Fine. Give me detention for a couple of days. I won't attend, but you can say I did."

Carrie grimaced. "You're undermining my authority here -" she began, but Danny was shaking his head.

"We haven't even started," he warned her. "Give Taylor her detention. And from here on in, she gets the same treatment everyone else does. Or I start looking at the list."

Blackwell thought of protesting that everyone in the school was treated equally, but decided not to. For one thing, it would be a blatant lie, and she knew it. So too, she figured, did Taylor.

Besides, the price she was having to pay was amazingly light; to allow Taylor Hebert to attend school? It wasn't even blackmail, not really.

Which did raise an ugly possibility. "If you try to blackmail me -" she began.

Danny shook his head. "Didn't even cross our minds," he assured her. "Doing this the legal way is much easier. Just let Taylor go to school, and make sure she isn't harassed, and we're good."

Make sure she isn't harassed. The phrase hung in the air. Blackwell finally felt the jaws of the trap closing on her. If the thickness of that list was anything to go by, Taylor had been harassed every single day she had been at Winslow. Every. Day.

If that list was not to go to the media, and the inability of the school to prevent the bullying of one teenage girl was not to come to light, then she would actually have to make an effort to ensure that every teacher specifically watched out for Taylor's well-being.

Again, father and daughter were observing her expectantly. She stared back at them, feeling that she was slowly sinking into a bog, with no bottom in sight.

"Fine." She forced the word out. "You have a deal."

Danny smiled widely; the expression looked genuine. "Great."

Taylor got to her feet, and slipped the sheaf of papers back into her bag. She looked Blackwell in the eye. "Why couldn't you have done this a year ago?"

Before the principal could formulate a reply, she had opened the door to the outer office, and was gone.

Danny paused, and looked over his shoulder as he followed his daughter. "Just make sure. No harassment. None." His voice was flat and hard.

The door closed behind him. Blackwell turned to her intercom and pressed the buttons that gave her access to the school PA system.

"This is Principal Blackwell speaking. All year ten teaching staff will report immediately, repeat immediately, to my office."

Switching off the microphone, she took a deep breath, and then another. This was not going to be fun.

<><>​

I grinned as I finished calibrating the Manton field generator. That had been kinda fun, even at second hand. Controlling Alibi was becoming less and less strange to me; to be honest, I rather got a kick out of it. It was like I could think on two different wavelengths or more at once, and Alibi got one of those wavelengths and I was already on another. I didn't switch between one and the other; I didn't even juggle them. I just … used them both. At the same time. It was seriously awesome.

As Alibi said her goodbyes to Dad, I started in on the holocloak device. It was an important aspect to the project, and I wanted to make sure it worked the way I wanted it to.

Über knocked on the doorframe, then stuck his head into my workroom. "Hey, Hax," he greeted me. "You're up early. Or did you not go to sleep?"

I glanced over my shoulder at him. "I acquired some meditation techniques using your power, and spent some time doing that," I explained. "Also, I did get some sleep." The camp bed in the corner wasn't the most comfortable, but it had the advantage of being close to my work.

"Christ, from the stuff you've gotten done, not much sleep," he commented. "Can I come in?"

I nodded. "Sure. I needed to take a break anyway. One more thing to do, and then I can finish off my last project."

He strolled on into the room, and observed my second project.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked rhetorically.

I answered him anyway. "Sure. It's a Tinker thing."

He frowned. "But it's not very thematic. It's very … generic. You won't be able to use it on most of our jobs."

I grinned. "I thought of that."

I didn't elaborate; after a moment, he raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to tell me what you're doing, are you?"

My grin widened, and I shook my head.

He sighed. "If your powers weren't so goddamn hax, I'd be so pissed off at you right now. Anyway, L33t was going to get something to eat. What would you like?"

Automatically, I reached for my purse. "Not sure how much money I've got -"

Chuckling, he waved me off. "No need. That heist the other night, if we sell even ten percent of what we got, just the generic stuff, we're gonna have dollars to spare. You earned your keep that night, keeping Aegis and Vista off our backs. Plus, getting into the vault. And getting us out of there."

"Sure," I told him. Grabbing my notepad and turning to a blank page, I started writing. "Gonna need a few things. We're lacking stuff around here, so we may as well make this a shopping trip."

When I handed him the page, he blinked at it. "Holy crap, is your order on here at all?"

I rolled my eyes, and took the page back. Turning it over, I scribbled my fast-food order. "Seriously, we need to pay more attention to nutrition. Bring me ingredients and I'll cook. Or you can. Because you can't tell me that you don't know how to cook."

Über shrugged. "Two guys. What can I say?"

I rolled my eyes again. If I was going to be working with these guys, there were going to be some changes around here.

<><>​

Blackwell looked at all the teachers assembled in her office.

"What's this about?" asked Gladly. "I've got a lesson plan -"

"Shut up," she told him harshly, then addressed the group. "Who here knows the girl called Taylor Hebert?"

Mrs Knott cleared her throat. "I know her. She's in my home room class."

The rest of them stared at Carrie; she stared back. "Taylor Hebert. Tall, long curly brown hair, glasses." She held up a photo. "This girl, for crying out loud."

Gladly also stepped forward. "Yeah, I remember her now."

A few more teachers stepped forward; the rest hung back. Blackwell eyed the latter. "Are you absolutely certain that you don't teach any classes that she's in?"

A murmur of voices assured her that no, they didn't know her. Her lips tightened. "Fine. What I'm about to tell you stays in this office. You tell no-one. No-one at all. Not any students, not any teachers, not any parents. Is that perfectly understood?"

The teachers looked at one another, then at her. "Uh, why not?" asked Gladly.

Blackwell gritted her teeth. "Because I told you," she snapped. "Okay, now, it's really simple. You know her face now. If you see her being harassed in any way, you stop it. Stop it dead. You don't let anyone tease her, bully her, push her around, call her names, anything. At all. Full stop."

She took a deep breath and spoke slowly, carefully. "It doesn't matter who the other person is. Who their father is, or their mother. If they are harassing Taylor Hebert in any way, then you pull them up as hard as you need to." She met their eyes, one at a time. "If I find that you've been falling down on the job, then you won't have your job here for much longer." She paused. "Is there anyone here who does not understand what I've just told you?"

That idiot Gladly raised his hand slightly. "I, uh, understand," he told her hastily. "But what I don't get is why? What's so special about her?"

Blackwell eyed him sourly. "She's a student at Winslow. She's being bullied. Do not allow this. Do you need a better reason?"

"But -" he began, then she cut him off.

"Mr Gladly," she growled, holding thumb and forefinger very close together, "I am this close to reviewing your employment here, and finding a replacement who can follow directives. Do not push me."

"I, uh, yes, ma'am," he stammered, face turning red.

"Good," she told him shortly. "Now all of you, get out of my office."

When the door closed behind the last of them, she slumped back into her chair. Oh god, I hope that's enough.

<><>​

L33t complained loudly as he staggered into the base, carrying the laden shopping bags. "These are killing my hands. Couldn't someone have come along to help?"

"You said you wanted to go on your own, bro," Über reminded him. "I did show you her list before you went."

L33t turned to me. "Well, fuck. What's with all this shit, anyway? Gonna use it for chemical Tinker work? Because I don't think my powers work that way."

I snorted. "Nope. But I figure that Über's power could give me the skills to make bombs from this stuff anyway." I looked from one to the other. "No, we need to do some cleaning around here."

L33t frowned. "We keep it clean!"

"Clean-ish," I corrected him. "You'll see the difference. That's why I got you to get cleaning products. Plus, a new shower curtain. The old one has so much mould on it that I don't even like to touch it. Also, that lock? It's for the bathroom door. That one's kind of important."

"We're not going to burst in on you when you're in the shower," protested Über.

I shook my head. "No, but it's my privacy, you know? We're going to need a separate trash can in the bathroom, too."

"What for?" demanded L33t. "Isn't the one we've already got good enough for you?"

I smiled, very slightly. "Ask me again in a month's time."

Über got it first. He grabbed L33t's shoulder. "Dude. Do not argue." L33t opened his mouth anyway; Über leaned close and whispered in his ear.

L33t stared at me with a horrified look on his face. "What, you - ?"

I nodded, once. "Yes. Do I get my trash can?"

Über spoke for him. "You get your trash can."

I smiled again. "Thank you. And just to prove that having me here isn't going to be all pushy demands and dreaded feminine secrets, tonight I'll make you both my mother's famous lasagne dish. And hell, I'll even game with you, if you want."

L33t's eyes lit up. "You play video games too?"

My smile grew to a grin. "Nope, but by tonight I will be." I pointed at the supplies he had bought. "Breakfast first. Then we need to do some stuff around here."

<><>​

Things got a little domestic after that. I cleaned the stove and started making the lasagne, while Über installed the lock on the bathroom door, and L33t (not without some grumbling) started cleaning around the place. Once the lasagne was in, I went into the bathroom; Über had replaced the curtain, and the lock was in place.

"Excellent," I told him, and set about cleaning the shower cubicle. It obviously hadn't been scrubbed in some time, and I was tempted to Tinker up something to do just that, but doing it the hard way was kind of soothing. In the meantime, I tapped into Über's power, and learned how to play video games.

By the time I had the cubicle sparkling, the cleaning outside had been done, and the pair were settling down to some quality video gaming. I checked on the lasagne, which was doing well, then wandered over to watch them.

"Grab a controller and join in," Über invited, waving at an empty stretch of sofa. "We need a sniper."

"In a bit," I excused myself. "I really need to get the project done."

"You can do that later," he told me. "Right now, we're gaming."

"Sooner I finish it, sooner I can get out there and strut my stuff as Hax," I reminded him.

"Half an hour," L33t urged. "I'm not in there Tinkering. You don't have to either."

I grinned and plumped down on the sofa. "Right," I agreed, grabbing the controller. "Which screen's mine?"

With my pre-installed skills, it didn't take long for me to set up my account in the system, and then we started play. I found I liked being a sniper, using an electronic gun to shoot electronic enemies in the head before they even saw me. Über and L33t were into it too, praising each other – and me – for particularly awesome kills.

It was fun.

<><>​

Mr Gladly had glanced at me/her when he entered the World Affairs classroom, and every now and again he glanced again, as if he was not quite sure if he wanted me/her there. I/she was fairly sure what the topic of conversation had been when Blackwell had called the grade ten teachers in to her office. It just remained to be seen if her instructions had been stringent enough.

He had put us together in groups; I/she had Sparky and Greg, as well as Kaia, one of Madison's friends. "What I want you to do today," he told us, "is to take a single cape and determine the impact he or she has had on the world since getting powers. Now, Scion is out, but the Triumvirate are fair game. However, I don't want everyone talking about just them. So each group has to pick two capes; if you clash with someone else, you have to go with your secondary."

Sparky already seemed to be asleep; Greg was enthusiastic, but I/she wasn't wild about his choices. Kaia ignored the whole process, choosing to talk instead to Madison, who was in the next group over. In the end, I/she allowed Greg to choose Lung as our primary, but insisted on Dragon as a secondary; as a Tinker (at the moment) I/she had a certain interest in her career.

Of course, Kaia objected to our choices as soon as we presented them to her. "Why didn't you ask me?" she demanded. "You should have asked me."

"You were talking," I/she reminded her. "We did ask you. You ignored us."

She raised her hand. "Mr G," she complained. "My group won't listen to what I say. Can I join Madison's group?"

Mr Gladly looked over at us. "Kaia was talking to Madison," I/she told him. "We chose Lung and Dragon. Are either of those taken?"

"No!" Kaia insisted. "I didn't get to choose! What if I wanted someone else?"

Her raised voice had gotten attention across the classroom; everyone had turned to look. Mr Gladly looked at me/her, then at Kaia. "Ms Hendricks, your group has made a choice. You should have participated," he informed her curtly. "And no, you can't join Madison's group."

"But, Mr G -"

"I said no," he retorted, then looked at us. "Lung has already been taken, but Dragon is free."

"But we were going to take Dragon!" shouted Madison from her group. "It's not fair! We chose her first!"

Again, Mr Gladly glanced at me/her; he seemed to grimace. Looking back at Madison, he shook his head. "They asked me before you did. They get Dragon. What's your secondary?"

"Legend," she told him sulkily.

"Taken, sorry," he informed her. "Pick another couple of capes."

"But we picked Dragon first," she whined. "Why do they get to pick first?"

"You have thirty seconds to pick, or I send you to Principal Blackwell's office for being obstructive in class," he told her sternly.

Her mouth dropped open, and she stared at him. "Mr G -"

"Twenty-five seconds."

I/she stopped paying attention, and turned to Greg and Kaia. Both seemed to be watching the drama; Greg avidly, Kaia with a certain amount of shock. Never had Mr Gladly brought the boom down on Madison so thoroughly.

"Guys?" I/she murmured. "Dragon. Ideas on what she's done to change the world?"

In the end, I/she wrote most of the joint project my/herself; Kaia spent the remainder of the class commiserating with Madison about being stuck with Miss Militia, and Greg's 'information' about Dragon seemed to be mainly half-baked theories about her powers, capabilities and general situation. Stuff which, I/she had no doubt, he had trawled off some of the more dubious threads in the PHO boards. Seriously, Dragon an AI? Who did he think he was kidding?

When we stood up and read out our presentations, Madison gave me/her dirty looks all the way through. With Greg's dubious assistance, I/she had managed to put together something reasonably complete; Madison and her group had assembled a list of supervillains whom Miss Militia had shot. She had wanted Dragon, that was for sure. Unfortunately for her, Mr Gladly had upheld my/her choice over Madison's.

I/she didn't relax, but there was a faint smile on my/her face when the bell rang for lunch. It appeared that Blackwell was holding up her end of the bargain. So far, anyway.

<><>​

Video gaming over, I checked on the lasagne again – it was fine, but I turned it down a little, so it could spend all afternoon baking properly – and went back to my work-room. I'd kept the light-spot on Über during the game session, so that I could properly hone my skills, but now I put it back on L33t. I 'saw' the spot moving toward the bathroom; a moment later, he hurried back over toward where I had last seen Über.

"Dude," I heard him faintly say, "I never knew the shower cubicle was that colour."

Grinning, I got back to work.

<><>​

Danny looked up when Taylor strolled in through the front door and into the living room.

"You're back kind of early," he noted.

"School's out," she reminded him.

He cleared his throat. "But your … uh … after school job?" he insinuated delicately.

She grinned. "Oh, I've got that taken care of."

He blinked. "Taken care of, as in … ?"

"As in, taken care of," she repeated. "Not to be worried about."

"Oh," he replied dubiously. "If you're sure."

"Sure I'm sure," she told him with a grin. "So, what's for dinner?"

"Lasagne," he told her, and wondered why she started giggling.

<><>​

"Holy crap, this is awesome!"

I tasted the lasagne; it was about the best I'd ever managed. Between Mom's recipe and Über's power to pick up cooking skills, I had nailed it exactly. However, L33t's startled exclamation still caused both myself and Über to grin at him.

"It is pretty good," Über commented. "Can we have this again, sometime?"

I nodded. "Sure," I agreed. "It's not that hard to make. I can give you the recipe, if you want."

Something seemed to occur to L33t. "Dude," he accused Über. "You can cook, or at least you can learn how to cook. Why don't you ever cook like this?"

Über shrugged. "I, uh, never felt like it?"

I stuck my fork through another slice of lasagne. "I have other recipes, too. Spaghetti carbonara, for instance."

L33t looked at me pleadingly. "Is it as good as this?"

It was my turn to shrug. "Dad seems to like it."

Über grinned and elbowed him. "And you complained about carrying the ingredients back."

L33t studied the forkful that he'd been just about to put in his mouth. "This came from what I bought today?"

I nodded. "Sure. I can show you how too, if you want?"

He blinked. "Uh, no, I'm good. But I'm never complaining about shopping ever again. This is awesome."

Über smirked. "And you were bitching so hard about having a pushy girl on the team."

L33t waved another forkful of lasagne; the previous one had gone the way of all food. "A pushy girl – meh. A pushy girl who games and cooks? I'm good with that."

For some reason, Über and I found that hilarious.

<><>​

"So, the PRT is interested in Taylor Hebert, but is not actively surveilling her," Coil mused. "Of course, hitting the house would be too obvious. Likewise, the school."

He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin. The various possibilities turned over in his mind.

There was a note in the file indicating suspicion that she had linked up with one of the lesser-known criminal gangs; the main suspicion was toward Über and L33t. But she wasn't with them now, and nor had she been there over the last twenty-four hours. It was possible, even probable, that she had decided to sheer away from the life of a supervillain, especially after the close call with the PRT.

All the better for me, he decided. When she disappears, they'll think she tried to join up with another villain gang, and it went bad.

That she would disappear, he had no doubt. What Coil wanted, Coil got. Whatever it took to get it.

<><>​

With a sigh of relief, I snapped the cover shut on my third project, and hit the self-test button. It hummed, and LEDs flickered on and off. Moments later, it shut itself down again; one green LED shone brightly, to show that the self-test had been successful.

I clicked the goggles back to ordinary vision, and stretched. My back popped again, and I felt my neck crack. Glancing at the clock, I blinked. Where did the time go?

Immediately, an idea flitted into my head for a device that compressed time in an area, so I could get hours of work (or sleep) done in minutes. It was intriguing, but I didn't have the time, or equipment, to build it right at that moment. So I jotted down a note to myself before I could forget about it.

Leaning out the workroom door, I noted that Über was playing a solo game. L33t, I gathered from the location of the light-spot, was in his workshop, no doubt Tinkering.

"Hey," I called to Über. "I've finished. Want me to demonstrate?"

He looked up. "Sure. Just let me save this level and get L33t."

"Okay," I replied. "I'll put it on while I'm waiting."

Putting it on was relatively easy; I had bracelets attached to my wrists and ankles, with RFID chips in them. Another resided in the goggles I was still wearing. I backed up to the suit, clicked the lens frame, and spoke the activation phrase.

Which, as it happened, was "Armsmaster is a dick."

The armour responded, opening like a flower. It flowed forward, clamping around my wrists and ankles. One by one, it lifted my feet, and formed around them. I felt it wrapping itself around my body, folding around my head. It was like being hugged, all over, by something that really, really liked me. A lot.

When it came to rest, fully enclosing my body, a good forty seconds had passed. I had ideas for speeding the process up, but I didn't want to endanger myself in the process; getting a sprained wrist or a broken ankle was all too possible if I ignored safeguards. I had seen that Earth Aleph movie about the fictional superhero called Iron Man. Armour pieces flying into place? I shuddered. That could go very bad, very quickly.

With the armour in place, it made the connection with my goggles, and the HUD lit up. With pupil movements, I cued up a full diagnostic; this scrolled past at a speed just slow enough for me to speed-read it (Über again). Everything seemed to be in order, save a few minor glitches, which I could easily deal with later.

As I took my first few experimental steps in the armour, Über and L33t appeared at the doorway to my workroom.

"Holy shit," L33t exclaimed. "You fucking built power armour. I am officially jealous."

Über frowned. "I still say it looks generic. And are you taller?"

I nodded. "Lifts in the boots." They both looked a little startled; the voice which they heard had been adjusted to be a little lower and more musical. More adult, even.

"I heard that," Über noted. "Make it harder to pinpoint who you really are."

I grinned, but with my face covered (save for the goggles) he of course could not see me. "As the old saying goes, you ain't seen nothin' yet."

Again I accessed the HUD. "Now, I know this is a limited selection, but I'm sure we can come up with more," I commented as I made my choice. Nothing happened at first, then a gridwork appeared over the armour. Following that, the gridwork filled in, and colour was added. Then texture, and highlights.

L33t's jaw dropped, followed by Über's.

"Holy shit," L33t marvelled. "Master Chief armour. Holy shit."

"How are you doing that?" Über wanted to know.

"Holocloak, duh," L33t informed him. "What else can you do?"

I cycled through a couple more variations of Halo armour, then on to other types.

"Like I said," I told them as I went back to the Master Chief armour, "I don't have many types yet. But I can add more."

"God damn," Über told me sincerely. "I am impressed."

I cleared my throat. "Not done yet."

"Yeah?" asked L33t.

"Yeah," I confirmed. Turning, I headed for the worktable where I had left the third project. Moving in the armour became easier and easier the more I did it; after all, I had programmed it to adjust to my movements. Pretty soon, I wouldn't even notice that I was wearing it.

Hefting the oversized rifle, I went back to Über and L33t. "I wanted to use the holocloak to change the look of this too," I told them, "but not even my hax powers let me bend the rules like that. So I went with a physical cheat." Linking the rifle into my HUD, I activated its change mode; panels moved and shifted, components slid around, and the rifle reshaped in my hands. In moments, it had emulated several of the bulkier hand-held weapons in popular video games.

"So does it fire different shots when it changes shape?" Über wanted to know.

"Uh, no," I confessed. "It only does one thing."

"What's that?" L33t wanted to know.

"It stuns things," I told him.

There was a moment of silence, as they looked at the rifle – big enough to be a reasonable match for me in size and weight, were I out of the armour – and then back at me.

"Just stun?" asked L33t. "At that size?"

Implicit in his statement was the meaning that if he built a longarm that big, it would do one hell of a lot more than 'stun' its target. And to be honest, he was right; it did look dangerous enough to blow a hole through a skyscraper.

I shook my head. "You don't get it. This gun is built to stun anyone."

Über stared at me. "Anyone?"

I nodded. "Any. One. Point this, fire it. If it hits, it will stun them. First micro-second of the beam is actually a carrier wave; it analyses how much effect the beam is having, and sends a message back to the gun, which then ramps it up to the necessary intensity. But even if an unintended target gets hit by accident, the most that will happen is they spend an hour or so in dreamland. One hundred per cent nonlethal."

Über blinked. "Robots? People in power armour?"

I'd thought about that. "Non-damaging EMP."

"Alexandria?"

I shrugged. "Maybe ten seconds."

L33t was looking slightly stunned himself. I figured he was retro-engineering it in his head.

"An Endbringer?" asked Über.

"Maybe about one second," I hazarded. "But I'd need to connect up an extension cord. To a nuclear reactor. And the gun would explode."

L33t shook his head. "Yeah, no," he agreed. "But anything short of an Endbringer … wow."

Über grinned, and slapped me on the back. "We," he declared, "are gonna fuckin' rock."


End of Part Thirteen

Part Fourteen

 

[alethiophile]

"Maybe about one second," I hazarded. "But I'd need to connect up an extension cord. To a nuclear reactor. And the gun would explode."

Click to shrink...

This made me giggle.

 

[Beyogi]

fucking rock indeed.

This made me giggle.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, but then it's not really a problem. Size up the gun to a cannon, get rid of the silly transforming thing and build a plasma reactor. Suddenly stunned endbringer.

 

[Chojomeka]

This made me giggle.

Click to shrink...

You know what made me giggle? This

In the end, I/she wrote most of the joint project my/herself; Kaia spent the remainder of the class commiserating with Madison about being stuck with Miss Militia, and Greg's 'information' about Dragon seemed to be mainly half-baked theories about her powers, capabilities and general situation. Stuff which, I/she had no doubt, he had trawled off some of the more dubious threads in the PHO boards. Seriously, Dragon an AI? Who did he think he was kidding?

Click to shrink...

Oh just imagine when she finds out.

 

[Adyen]

That she would disappear, he had no doubt. What Coil wanted, Coil got. Whatever it took to get it.

Click to shrink...

This is what made me giggle. Especially when he catches Alibi.

 

[Ack]

fucking rock indeed.

Yeah, but then it's not really a problem. Size up the gun to a cannon, get rid of the silly transforming thing and build a plasma reactor. Suddenly stunned endbringer.

Click to shrink...

Except Behemoth, who goes "yum". And Ziz, who puts something in the way, then builds one of her own. Or Leviathan, who anticipates it, comes up behind you, and takes it off you.

 

[Ack]

A little crack omake for shits and giggles, crossposted from SB:


Three Shards Walk into A Bar ...

All was quiet in the Shard Bar. The Ward and Protectorate shards were on one side of the room, making faces at the ABB and E88 shards on the other. The Merchant shards were sitting in the corner, quietly getting stoned. The Coil shard sat at the bar, sipping its drink, covertly watching everyone.

And then the Hax shard walked in, with the Uber shard on one arm, and the L33t shard on the other.

"Holy shit," muttered the Aegis shard. "That's Hax! Did I tell you about the beatdown I got from her? She really knows how to use my powers!"

"Hell yes," the Vista shard agreed enthusiastically. "She used your powers to beat me up, after using my powers to sneak up on me! That's seriously hardcore!"

"Hey," called out the Shadow Stalker shard, "don't forget about me. I'm the one who triggered her, after all. And got beat down with my own powers, before all you jerks."

"Shut up, you're in jail," the Clockblocker shard retorted, getting off its stool.

"Hey, where you going?" asked the Kid Win shard.

"I want to get her autograph, and maybe some tips on using my powers, like she gave you, and Miss Militia," the Clockblocker shard replied.

The Kid Win shard rolled its eyes. "She's never been the same since. Every time we mention Hax around her, she just smiles dreamily and murmurs something about 'asymmetric dual wielding'."

The trio approached the bar. "So, what would you like to drink?" asked the Uber shard. "It's on me."

"No, no," the L33t shard insisted. "It's on me. I'm good for it. A rockin' body double, a set of power armour, and a one-size-fits-all stun rifle. I haven't had so much fun since forever."

The Hax shard leaned on the bar with its elbows and grinned. "I'll just have water for the moment," it decided. "After all, I want to meet everyone here tonight."

"But you will be coming home with us?" begged the Uber shard.

"Please?" added the L33t shard.

The Hax shard smiled. "Of course. But you don't mind if I see other shards occasionally, do you?"

"Of course not," the Uber shard declared.

"It's too much fun to watch," the L33t shard agreed.

In a dim corner of the bar, the Jack Slash shard nursed its drink and watched the byplay.

Meh, it thought. I can take her.

 

[alethiophile]

...Taylor vs. Jack Slash would be something to see.

Not quite as bad as Taylor vs. Contessa. But still pretty bad.

 

[thelegendarysupernerd]

I just found this, and it is a work of great beauty. Ack you magnificent bastard. Damn you write good stuff. I've just come off a four day binge reading all your works, and can I say... Damn.

 

[Ack]

I just found this, and it is a work of great beauty. Ack you magnificent bastard. Damn you write good stuff. I've just come off a four day binge reading all your works, and can I say... Damn.

Click to shrink...

Thank you for the kind words.

Don't forget to vote.

Feel free to vote if you want.