Accelerando – 2.3
March 2nd, 2011
Glory Girl's car was a little two door red BMW convertible. It looked new and expensive. "I'll let the two of you fight it out for shotgun."
"That's OK. I'll just sit in the back." I said.
Panacea pulled her robe off as soon as we got to the car. She was wearing blue jeans and a simple t-shirt underneath. She grabbed a hoodie from the seat of the car and slipped it on. Without her costume on, Panacea, or Amy now, was indistinguishable from any other regular teenager. Glory Girl kept her costume on.
"Uhh, Glory Girl, where are we going?" I asked as Glory Girl started the car and began to maneuver it out of the garage.
"The Boardwalk, but call me Vicky. We can browse around a bit, and ooh, get some ice cream!" Vicky said.
"Is it really alright to go out there while we're in costume?" I asked. I felt a bit self-conscious going out in public wearing my costume, despite how awesome Parian's work was. At least Vicky would be wearing hers too.
"Sure it is," she replied, as the car suddenly accelerated sharply. I let out a small squeak. This girl drove like a lunatic! "I go out in costume all the time. Well, I get recognized with or without the costume, so it's just something you get used to."
Amy turned around and gave me a small apologetic smile. I sighed and accepted my fate. Vicky and Amy chatted a bit while she drove, and I mostly sat quietly in the back of her car.
The Boardwalk was one of the nicer parts of town, and usually my favorite place to go jogging in the mornings. Small independent (and expensive) coffee shops and restaurants dotted the boardwalk, along with various boutique shops that sold expensive clothing. Parian's storefront, The Dollhouse, was also on the Boardwalk, though it was rarely open to the public. Tourists still liked to visit the front of the store though and take pictures of the extravagant clothes on display. I liked jogging at the Boardwalk, but considering how expensive everything was there, it wasn't really my scene to hang out at. Well to be fair, I didn't have any friends, so it's not like I had a scene anywhere else.
It was still early enough in the day that the Boardwalk wasn't too crowded, but the three of us attracted plenty of attention from the people that were there when we walked in. I noticed a few people pulling cell phones out to take a few pictures, but thankfully nobody approached us.
"Now, first stop, Lola's Atelier!" Vicky announced, as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
A look of terror washed over Amy's face. "I need to stop by that bookstore!" She squeaked out, and before we could respond she was gone.
Vicky pouted at her sister's retreating figure, and I noticed that her grip on my arm tightened ever so slightly as she pulled me into the clothing store. Why did I feel like Amy had just betrayed me somehow?
"Have you been here before?" Vicky asked me as she pulled us inside.
I shook my head.
"It's one of the few actually affordable clothing boutiques on the Boardwalk. Some of the places around here are crazy expensive! Parian's shop is almost never open to the public you know, it's all private viewings." She sighed. "I still haven't been able to make it to one of her public open showings."
I paused for a second. "She invited me to visit her shop sometime soon. I can ask her to let you come along if you really wanted to go." Hopefully Parian wouldn't mind.
Vicky squealed as she engulfed me in a tight hug. "Oh my god, that would be so awesome!"
I felt a wave of euphoria and happiness wash over me as Vicky hugged me. What was that? Was that Glory Girl's aura? The pain in my ribs quickly snapped me out of my daze. Ughh, I think the structural integrity of my ribcage was just compromised. I heard a few camera shutters in the background. Oh god, I could see the PHO gossip threads already.
I gently tried to pry Vicky off of me. I could only hope that the final version of my costume offered better protection against crushing forces. We continued to browse the shop for a bit, with Vicky stopping now and then to grab something.
"So, you have any questions about the cape scene here in Brockton Bay? Did anyone explain the unwritten rules to you?" Vicky asked.
"Ah, yeah. I've been talking to Insight." I replied.
"Yeah Insight seems alright. I know he's given mom a few tips before." Vicky said. "Brockton Bay actually has a lot of rogues and heroes. Let's see, there's Insight, Parian, Arachne, Mistblade, Gli-"
"Arachne?" I asked.
"Yeah, controls spiders. Very reclusive so I'm not surprised you haven't heard of her. She's not really involved in the cape scene, but from what I hear she uses her power to produce the super expensive silk that Parian uses." Vicky explained.
Hmm, I guess that's why Insight hasn't mentioned her to me. She did say she wouldn't share information about any cape trying to stay under the radar.
"Mom's pretty paranoid about PR, so we don't really hang out with the other independents in town that much, but it's still important to know the landscape." Vicky said.
"Ah, what about me?" I asked.
She chuckled. "You're a healer that's going to volunteer at the hospitals. Nobody's going to have a problem with that. You even dress like us, sorta!"
Hmm, I'm pretty sure the outfit was designed to borrow goodwill from New Wave, but I definitely didn't want to say that out loud.
"Anyways, Mom's kinda right though." Vicky continued. "Insight's alright, but you want be careful who you associate with, or it can be bad for your rep. Faultline's Crew seems harmless enough and they throw awesome parties, but they've got a pretty big list of crimes to their name. They're just really careful about not rocking any boats too hard. I don't buy Purity's whole redemption act either."
"Ah, really? Insight seemed to really vouch for her." I said, with a frown. Purity was one of the scariest capes in town based on pure firepower. On the East Coast, only Legend in New York had stronger blasting powers. Well, Hero too in the DC metro area if you count the weapons he made. I slept better at night knowing that Purity was a hero now.
"Please, Purity totally paid him for that PR campaign. Is Insight still claiming that he's innocent of the astroturfing that got him temp-banned a few months ago?"
"Umm, yeah I think so." I said. Apparently Insight had created a bunch of fake user accounts on PHO to talk up Purity when she announced she was leaving the Empire to become an independent hero. I think Insight was more upset that she got caught than anything else. The moderators on PHO were apparently more competent than she gave them credit for. From what Insight had told me, the Protectorate's official stance was that Purity was still a criminal that should be apprehended, but unofficially our local Protectorate were backing off of her for now. She was more beneficial to them right now on the streets fighting the ABB and the Merchants than sitting in a jail cell. Also she could vaporize almost any of our heroes in a single blast. That probably factored in as well.
"What about Overwatch? Have you heard anything about him?" I asked.
"Not really. Seen him post a few messages in the Brockton Bay section. Heard a few rumors. Why, did he contact you?"
I nodded.
Vicky turned towards me with a serious expression on her face. "Nightingale, let me give you some important advice."
"Umm, OK?"
"Don't trust strange men that want to talk to you on the internet." She said.
I groaned. "I know! I wasn't going to meet him or anything, I was just curious what his deal is."
She chuckled. "I don't know, but personally I'd stay away. He seems sketchy."
We continued to browse for a bit. Vicky had a fairly large stack of clothes she was carrying now. My wardrobe back at Winslow mostly consisted of loose jeans and baggy hoodies. I didn't want to go back to being the person I was at Winslow when I started school at Arcadia, someone who was always trying to hide herself. I wanted to be proud of who I am.
The prices at the store weren't as bad as I feared. They were a bit more expensive than what I usually paid for clothes, but I could actually afford a couple of the cheaper items with the last of my saved up money. I was going to be a hero. I save lives and fight crime. I'm obviously not scared of wearing fashionable clothing. If I keep telling myself that, hopefully I'll start to believe it. I ended up picking out a couple pairs of colorful leggings, partially because they were among the cheapest items I saw.
"C'mon!" Vicky said as she dragged me towards the changing room. "Here, go try these on!"
Vicky shoved a pair of clothing items into my arms. What the… that entire stack isn't for me, is it? "I… I think I'm OK with what I picked out."
She fixed a steely gaze at me. "I can literally bench-press a metric ton and fly at close to the speed of sound. Trust me when I say that you are not leaving this place without trying on some of these clothes."
I gulped and stepped into the changing room, pulling the screen closed behind me. I examined the items that Vicky had handed me: it was a halter top and a miniskirt shorter than anything I owned.
I yanked open the screen and tossed the pair of items at Vicky. "I'm not wearing these!" I hissed at her. "They're way too revealing!"
"Okay okay, sheesh. Here try this on then." She said, while handing me a dark colored dress.
I sighed and accepted it. It looked closer to something that I'd wear. I undid the belt and pulled the dress part of my costume off of me, but decided to leave the body stocking I wore underneath on. I stared at myself briefly in the mirror. I don't know how some of the heroines in town, mainly Battery and Laserdream, felt comfortable wearing just a bodysuit in public. Then again, they actually had the figure to pull it off. I sighed again.
"Wow, you have pretty hair."
I shrieked and turned around. Vicky's head was poking through the screen. I grabbed at the dress and tried to use it to hide my body.
"You know you're fully clothed, right?" She said. "You're literally not showing a single inch of skin from the neck down."
"What are you doing? Get out!" I hissed at her.
"Whoa, you're turning really red."
I threw a clothes hanger at her face.
"Alright, alright, I'm leaving!" Vicky said. "C'mon, hurry up though. We have a lot to get through."
I groaned as I tried to will my heart to stop pounding so hard. I understood why Amy had run off like that before, though I was still miffed that she used me as a sacrifice to make her escape. I changed into the dress that Vicky had handed me. It looked weird with the white bodysuit on underneath. Darn. I stepped out so Vicky could take a look.
"Why didn't you take the bodysuit off? Nevermind, let's see… hmm, I think we should go with brighter colors. It'll suit your skin tone better." She said, while shoving me back into the changing room with another outfit to try on.
This process repeated itself until I wanted to pull my hair out. Vicky must've made me try on twenty or so outfits before she was satisfied. We ultimately settled on a rose colored knee length dress with white polka dots, and a long teal tunic top that Vicky insisted would go great with the leggings I picked out. I didn't know much about fashion, so I was willing to take her word for it. The whole thing reminded me of when Emma used to drag me shopping back when we were in middle school. Emma was always good at getting me out of my shell. Vicky was… popular, pretty, and rich, just like Emma was when she was my friend. Unlike Emma, Vicky wasn't a heinous bitch, but would she turn on me too one day? I sighed as I tried to shove those unpleasant thoughts out of my head. That wasn't fair to her. Vicky had been nothing but nice to me so far.
I had to wait around afterwards while Vicky then tried on about a dozen outfits. She kept constantly asking me for my opinion. I wasn't too helpful. Pretty much anything Vicky tried on looked amazing on her. I had a feeling she was just happy to hear compliments though. Eventually she settled on a few items and we headed to the register.
"Can I give you some real advice?" Vicky asked, in a surprisingly serious tone. I nodded. "You have to find some balance in your life. Don't let healing consume you. Amy… after my sister triggered, it was like something changed inside her. She stopped enjoying a lot of the things she did before, and she stopped hanging out with a lot of her friends from middle school. She's always be stressed about healing, even when she wasn't at the hospital. Anyways, part of the reason I dragged you out here was I wanted to ask if you would spend some of your hospital time while Amy's there also. I think it'd be good for the two of you not to be there alone."
Wow, that took a serious turn. Vicky was a really caring sister. "Sure, that sounds good." I replied. "I'll do whatever I can to help."
I thought about what my thinker power had told me about Amy earlier in the day. If it was true, then Amy was in a pretty bad place. Was I arrogant enough to think I could actually help her when her own sister couldn't? I don't know. If I was really honest with myself, I probably wasn't in a great place mentally either. My powers had given me a new sense of purpose though, while Amy seems to have exhausted hers.
Vicky smiled at me. "Also, I think it'd be a good idea for us to team up and go on patrol sometime. I can show you around town, let you know where all the hotspots are and places to avoid."
"I'd like that. Thanks."
"Awesome. I used to do a lot of patrolling with Crystal, um, I mean Laserdream, but she's been totally ditching me ever since she started college this year." Vicky sighed. "She says she's been too busy with classes and enjoying the college life. Trust me, it's a lot more fun patrolling when you don't have to do it alone."
"Ah, um, do you do a lot of patrolling with the Wards?" I asked.
"Huh? Oh, well… no, not really." She said with an abashed look. I waited for her to continue. "They're technically not allowed to go on patrols with me anymore. Gallant invites me along sometimes anyways, but they'd get in trouble if the Director finds out."
"I think I get it. They're so concerned with their PR and image that they're afraid you'll outshine them, right?" I said. Typical government shortsightedness. Power level wise, I don't think any of the Wards could really match Glory Girl. It probably rankled the local PRT that arguably the three most popular teenaged capes in Brockton Bay, Glory Girl, Panacea, and Laserdream, were all independent. That was no surprise though. They were all unmasked, had strong powers, and especially in the case of Glory Girl and Laserdream, incredibly beautiful.
Vicky paused for a second. "Umm, I don't think that's it. The last time I patrolled with the Wards before the banhammer, there was… a bit of property damage."
I stared at her. She actually blushed.
"It totally wasn't my fault! Those criminals shouldn't have tried to flee. It was their fault that the store got wrecked. But umm, yeah, the owners of the store ended up suing the PRT over it. Couldn't sue the criminals, they were indigent, and capes are protected by the Parahuman Samaritan Act, so the PRT ended up footing the bill for it." Vicky grinned sheepishly at me. "But hey, better them than me."
I chuckled a bit at that. Sure a bit of property damage was unfortunate, but fighting crime wasn't easy. We paid for our clothes and went outside to meet up with Amy, who happened to be sitting on a bench near our shop and was reading a book with her hoodie up. It was amazing that the simple hoodie she had on was enough for her to not attract attention from the denizens on the Boardwalk.
"Hey Ames, did you get anything good?" Vicky said to her sister in greeting.
Amy smiled at us and held up what she was reading.
I felt a pang of pain when I saw what she was reading. Sense and Sensibility. Mom was always buying me books to read before she passed, but only stuff she deemed worthy for the daughter of an English professor. On my 12th birthday, the last one we celebrated together, she bought me the complete collection of Jane Austen novels. We were supposed to read through all of them together, in chronological order. Mom died halfway through Mansfield Park.
Vicky pulled Amy up from the bench and wrapped her arms around our shoulders. "Ice cream time!" She exclaimed. "My treat today, girls."
I smiled as I tried to push the painful memories away. Being around kids my own age, just hanging out… it was something that I had sorely missed. As we started walking, I felt the familiar blossoming within me that signified a new power was available.
* * *
Spoiler: Taylor's Current Abilities
Spoiler: ANLast edited: Apr 12, 2016575ShadowghostApr 12, 2016View discussionThreadmarks Accelerando - 2.4View contentShadowghostApr 18, 2016#362Accelerando – 2.4
March 4th 2011
"Say Taylor… do you want a car?" Dad asked me.
I stared at him slack-jawed. Did he just offer to buy me a car? I slowly put my forkful of eggs back onto my plate. "What?"
Things had still been a bit awkward since our big fight the other day. Neither of us had talked about it since, and we were going with the time-honored strategy of pretending it had never happened. Dad offering to buy me a car out of the blue was pretty surprising.
"Well you're turning sixteen soon. I'd thought you'd want your own car." He said. "I'd feel better knowing you weren't spending so much time waiting at bus stops alone."
I thought for a second. Did I want a car? I mean, I'm a teenager, I think I'm supposed to say yes. I don't have a social life though, so I guess I never really wanted one. I also didn't think it would be a real possibility considering our modest lifestyle. "I guess so? How much money are we getting anyways?"
"Well, the total amount is about five hundred thousand dollars." He said, causing me to gasp. "But after our lawyer's contingency fee, it'll be closer to three hundred thousand dollars. Still, that's more than enough to finish off your college fund and to get you some things before you start school at Arcadia."
Three hundred thousand dollars! That was definitely more than I was expecting. Dad never said anything, but I had suspected things had been tough for us financially ever since Mom passed way. Mom was a tenured English professor at Brockton Bay University, and she probably made more money than him. "Oh Dad. You should spend it on yourself, or put it towards your retirement fund or something. You don't need to worry about me."
Dad smiled a bit sadly at me. "It's my job, kiddo. Besides you deserve everything I can give you. You're a good kid."
I felt tears brim my eyes at that. It was pathetic, to get so emotional from just having a real conversation with my dad, but it felt like it had been so long since we were able to really talk. "In that case," I said with a grin, "I'll take a convertible. Something with heated seats." It was pretty nice riding in Glory Girl's car, even if she drove like a lunatic.
Dad snorted. "Alright then. We'll talk about getting you a car more when it gets closer to your birthday. In the meantime, I think we should get cell phones."
I gaped at him. I was now starting to suspect he was under some kind of master power. "A-are you sure? You want us to get cell phones?"
He sighed. "No. I don't want to get them, but I think we should. You're going to be off volunteering at hospitals and starting school soon, and Arcadia is a longer commute than Winslow was. It's dangerous for you to be out there alone without a way for us to contact each other."
I already had two cell phones for my cape persona, but getting one for Taylor Hebert made sense too. It was going to be a hassle juggling all three though. "Sure Dad, why don't we go shopping together this weekend? Maybe we could grab a burger at Fugly Bob's or something?"
Dad smiled happily at my suggestion. "Sure Taylor, that sounds wonderful."
Dad left for work soon after, leaving me free to start my morning run. Once I start school at Arcadia, I'd have to start waking up much earlier if I wanted to keep running in the morning. I was not looking forward to that.
I went to my room to change into workout clothes, but first it was time to practice with my newest power. I spent the past day at the library looking up videos, interviews, and pictures specifically in preparation for this. I called upon the power, and a gleaming, six foot tall illusion of Armsmaster sprung into existence in my bedroom. I already had a minor illusion power, but this new one was much better. The illusion was near perfect as far as I could tell, and would even generate realistic sounds and smells! I could think of so many uses for this power. The hours spent memorizing the finer details of the local heroes and villains in the library were well worth it.
"Halt, criminal scum!" I had the illusion shout. Hmm, sounds pretty accurate too. "You face the might of Legsmaster!"
This was a fun power. What else could I make it do?
"Now you face the power of Dancemaster!" The illusion shouted, before busting out into a rather awkward attempt at twerking. I giggled uncontrollably at how incredibly ridiculous illusionary Armsmaster looked. I could probably make a lot of money just selling videos of this. Not that I would want to humiliate him like that. Armsmaster is a hero after all.
I made an illusion of Emma next, just so I could slap it. My hand disappointingly went straight through the image without any resistance. I changed the illusion next so that it set Emma on fire. Amazingly, I could feel it give off heat, but not enough to cause even a mild burn.
I pulled out my PRT smartphone to check my schedule before I left for my run. Just a few months ago, I didn't have a life at all outside of school. Now I was so busy I needed my smartphone's calendar app just to keep track of everything. I had a meeting with Calle later in the day, Parian had asked me to come to her shop the following week, and Vicky had asked me to keep one of the following weekends free so she could introduce me to the rest of New Wave. I still had my advance self-defense classes, I was teaching myself how to play the lute, and now I was adding volunteer hours at the local hospitals on top of everything.
I resisted the urge to check PHO while I had my phone out. The PRT had put out a small press release to announce my debut, and there were already some pictures of me up on PHO already from my trip to the Boardwalk with Glory Girl and Panacea. I was steadfastly ignoring the comments about the pictures of Glory Girl hugging me. With that bit of power testing out of the way, I was ready to start my day.
* * *
"Meet your first patient, Nightingale." Calle said, as he handed me a file.
I opened the folder and gasped. "Is that…"
"Yep, the famous actor Timothy Jane. He was just diagnosed with testicular cancer last month. It's still in the localized stage, so he has a 99% survival rate with conventional medical treatment. Unfortunately for him, that involves chemotherapy, surgery, and a permanent loss of fertility, so he's going to pay you $150,000 to skip all that."
I skimmed through the file. I wasn't exactly a fan of Timothy Jane, but it wasn't everyday that you met a movie star. His last movie was about him trying to be a father while homeless. It was one of those cheesy family movies that I found cringe inducing, but Dad actually teared up during it, which was embarrassing.
"I don't think I need to reiterate how important discretion is here, right?" Calle asked, right before we headed into the meeting room where Jane was waiting for us. "That's part of what he's paying for too."
"No, I can be professional. Don't worry." I said. I wonder if it would be unprofessional to ask Timothy Jane for an autograph. Dad would get a kick out of it at least.
Just a few minutes work, and I'd make more money than most families in Brockton Bay did in a whole year. The whole reason I sought Quinn Calle out in the first place was to help Dad out with money and the hospital bills. With the lawsuit and settlement finally over with, that wasn't really a short term concern anymore.
I didn't care about money too much, but I wasn't naïve enough to think that it didn't matter. Being almost completely alone in the last few months had given me time to think. Nobody gave a shit about you in this town unless you had money or power. What happened at Winslow was proof enough of that. The trio was allowed to get away with torturing me and making my life miserable for over a year without any repercussions. When I became a big enough problem for them, they just threw money at us to go away. There wasn't going to be any punishment for Sophia or Emma or Madison. There was no justice for me. Just a stack of money to shut up and stop causing problems for them.
Now, I had both money and power. I wasn't interested in buying things for myself, but I could use the money to really help my city. Just healing people wasn't enough. For every person I healed, there were countless people that I couldn't save. With my power and enough money, I could really make a difference in my city.
The supervillains in Brockton Bay were a problem, but they were just as much a symptom of the larger decay of the city. The gangs were able to recruit new members so easily by preying on the desperation and helplessness of the general public. With the loss of much of Brockton Bay's shipping industry, the higher ups in the PRT and Protectorate didn't think my city was worth a larger Protectorate or PRT presence. Even if Legend or Hero flew in for one afternoon and took out a gang, another one would just spring up after they left. While I certainly didn't have anything against our local heroes, it was frustrating to see little to no progress being made against the gangs year after year. Besides, for all the good and the bad that parahumans did, they weren't exactly known for job creation.
It wasn't like there weren't plenty of wealthy people in Brockton Bay. It just seemed like they were content to sit in their ivory towers while the rest of us toiled away. One just had to look at a map of Brockton Bay to see the proof of that. The bankers and lawyers lived in the fancy high rises downtown or in the lush mansions by Captain Hill, where the Wards and Protectorate often made patrols and crime was rare. The dock workers and blue collar workers lived in the North side of town where Merchants roamed and police response times were in the double digits. The rich kids all went to Arcadia or one of the private schools, while Winslow was a rundown hellhole where the walls were covered in gang graffiti. So yeah, I was going to make a few bucks off some rich people who probably wouldn't even miss it. I was confident I was going to spend it better than them at least.
With the money I was going to make with Calle, I could make a real difference. I could invest in small businesses in Brockton Bay that were struggling. I could give to charities that help the needy and the poor. I could even help Dad out by hiring the dock workers directly to… well I don't know what they do exactly, but I had Calle and Insight to help me figure things out.
Oops, Calle was trying to get my attention now. I must have spaced out turning my internal monologue.
"You ready, Miss Nightingale?" He asked.
I nodded sheepishly and followed him into the meeting room where he introduced me to Timothy Jane. He was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses indoors. I guess it wasn't just capes that needed disguises. I was shocked at how… normal he looked. He was just another human being. I probably wouldn't have recognized him if I saw him on the street.
The actual healing part was over with quickly. We exchanged a quiet greeting, and I healed him with my power. He then offered me an autograph, which I felt like it would be rude to turn down. I think I'll give it to Dad as a gift. All together, we were done in less than five minutes, and Jane was off to meet his personal doctors to confirm that it worked.
"That… was underwhelming." I said to Calle. "It was over with so quickly."
Calle laughed softly. "Yep, you should consider yourself lucky. Very few people can earn so much while working for such small amounts of time."
It certainly didn't seem fair, but I wasn't complaining.
"I assume this is your first real job?" Calle asked me, to which I nodded in reply. "I should have more clients for you next week, but for now, it's time to celebrate your entry into the work force. C'mon, I made reservations at the best steakhouse in town. My treat."
"Oh? How about you let me treat you. I just came into some money, after all." I said.
"Actually, you're still broke." Calle said with a grin. "What you earned today after subtracting my share and the deposit for your costume that I fronted, still doesn't quite cover your outstanding balance with Parian."
I stared at Calle in shock. "My costume costs more than a hundred thousand dollars?"
"Hey, we agreed to get you something top of the line, with no expense spared." Calle said with a chuckle. "Don't worry, you'll still be stupidly rich within a few weeks. Just let me pay for you today, alright?"
I sighed and nodded dumbly along. I wonder how Dad will respond if I tell him I spent six figures on an outfit.
* * *
March 9th, 2011
Insight: Nightingale, I need to call in a favor. You're at Brockton Bay General Hospital tonight, right?
I frowned as I read the message. How did Insight know I was at the hospital? I typed out a quick reply in the affirmative.
Insight: Don't worry about how I know you're there. I need you to heal someone there for me. Room 320, B. Laborn. Thank you.
It was going to mess with the queue for tonight, but I did owe Insight a certain number of heals. Hopefully nobody minds the slight detour I'll have to take.
After some initial confusion, the hospital had integrated me into their queue fairly quickly, and we already had a system in place. I could fully heal only a fraction of the total amount of patients that Panacea did in any given night due to the limitations in my power, and the fact that I had two different major healing abilities (which I named 'Cure Wounds' and 'Cure Diseases') each with their own number of uses complicated things further. They mostly used me to heal the brain diseases and injury cases that Panacea couldn't heal, and occasionally for emergency traumas.
When I needed to rest, the hospital administrators would just plop me into either the ER or one of the children's wards so I could use my healing song. It wasn't nearly as effective as my other healing abilities or what Panacea could do, but most people who listened to my songs at least felt slightly better afterwards. Someone had already uploaded a video of me singing to sick children online, and my PR rating was through the roof.
Apparently the announcement of my existence and the knowledge that I could heal brain conditions had already caused an uptick of medical tourism to Brockton Bay, so the queues were longer than ever now. I don't think Panacea appreciated the last part, but I'm sure the local government is thrilled.
I stopped outside the room Insight directed me to and took a look at the chart for a Brian Laborn. My curiosity was definitely piqued. Who was this person? One of Insight's friends? Her boyfriend? Or maybe Insight was actually a he, and this was him! Flipping through his charts, I saw that he had second and third degree burns over large parts of his body. Ouch, that looked incredibly painful.
I walked into the room and spotted who I assumed was Brian lying unconscious on the hospital bed. Large parts of his body were covered in bandages, and there was a morphine drip and various other monitors attached to his body. A familiar figure sat in a chair next to Brian.
"Aisha?" I blurted out.
She started at the sudden intrusion in their room, and her eyes immediately narrowed as she sized me up. "Wha- How do you know my name?" She asked.
Shit. Think fast Taylor. "Umm, it was in the patient's file. Are you Aisha Laborn, the patient's sister?"
She nodded slowly. I couldn't tell if she bought my story or not. "Are you… are you here to help my brother?"
I nodded. "What happened here, Aisha? How did your brother get hurt?"
She hesitated for a few seconds. "Lung went on a rampage last night near where he lives. My bro was just caught in the crossfire. Just the wrong place, wrong time."
I frowned at that explanation. The news and PHO had both reported that there was a gang violence involving Lung last night, but the news had said that no civilians were injured. Just looking at Brian made it clear that he couldn't have been in either the Empire or the ABB though, and even with the burns, his face looked too healthy to be a Merchant. Most likely his story simply fell through the cracks.
I pulled on my Cure Wounds ability and started pouring healing energy into Brian. A green glow enveloped him as my power started taking effect. Brian's breathing hitched a little, and he sighed a bit as my healing went to work. It was working, but when the glow faded I could tell that he was still pretty injured. I reused my power again until I was satisfied that his burns were healed.
"Is he going to be OK?" Aisha asked nervously.
I smiled at her. "I think he'll be fine. Go get the on-call Doctor to check on his wounds after I leave." I turned towards the door and started to leave.
"Hey!" Aisha called out to me. I turned to see she was smiling cheekily now. "Thanks for this. That's two I owe you now."
I groaned. "Just… don't tell anybody about the other night, OK?"
"Sure sure. Your new clothes look way better than what you were wearing the other day, bee tee dubs. You want to stick around until my bro wakes up? I'm sure he'd like to thank you."
"Nah, that's alright." I responded. "Other patients to see, lives to save, you know."
I made my way back to the lobby where I had ditched the hospital administrator that was assigned to me. I think her name was Megan or something.
"Where were you?" Megan asked.
"Sorry, had to go take a phone call," I responded. "And um, I healed someone on the third floor."
She sighed deeply. "Please let me know next time you're going off queue."
I nodded along and followed Megan as she started leading me to patients. Panacea had already started her shift, and I'd probably see her during our breaks and after our shift ends. I knew Panacea worked almost every night, but I wasn't sure how much time I wanted to devote to healing yet. I was already itching to go out on patrol again, but I had promised Dad and myself that I'd wait at least until I had my full costume ready. Still, knowing how long the parahuman healing queues were at the hospitals was a lot of pressure.
The rest of my shift passed uneventfully, and after about two hours I was done for the night. I met up with Panacea, and I saw that Vicky was already waiting in costume to pick up her sister as we went outside.
"Hey girls, have fun tonight?" Vicky asked.
Amy simply grunted in response. She looked worn out and tired.
I shrugged. "Yeah, it was OK. I met someone who was burned by Lung last night. You guys hear anything about that?"
Amy frowned and shook her head. "No, the PRT usually sends out an alert when there are civilian casualties from cape fights."
"The gangs have been antsy lately." Vicky chimed in. "Seems like there's been more skirmishes than usual between their mooks."
That wasn't good. The last thing Brockton Bay needed was another gang war. Things between the ABB and the Empire 88 had been stable lately. Neither gang tried very hard to expand and take more territory. The Empire outnumbered the ABB by a fair bit, but Lung was capable of ending any fight by himself. The result was an uneasy détente between the two big powers. Nobody wanted to piss Lung off and ramp him up for a fight. The property damage he was capable of made Glory Girl look tame in comparison.
Vicky grinned at me. "Anyways, are we still on for Friday?"
"Sure, as long as you can get away from school then." I replied.
Amy sighed in frustration. "Really, Vicky? You're going to ditch school to go look at clothes?"
"Hey!" Vicky exclaimed. "It's Parian's shop! Her stuff is amazing, and we get to go see a private showing. Besides, I'm only missing the last class of the day. Totally not a big deal. "
Amy shot me a dirty look, as if to say that it was my fault that I was leading her sister to truancy. I could only smile sheepishly at her. I could admit I was partially at fault, but Vicky was a big girl. She could make her own decisions.
We exchanged goodbyes, and I watched Vicky pick up Amy from behind by hooking her arms underneath Amy's arms and fly off into the night. I started walking a block away towards where Dad was waiting for me. I could only hope that Parian would have my costume ready when I went to go see her.
* * *
Spoiler: Taylor's Current Abilities
Spoiler: ANLast edited: Apr 18, 2016597ShadowghostApr 18, 2016View discussionThreadmarks Accelerando - 2.5View contentShadowghostApr 30, 2016#425Accelerando – 2.5
March 11th, 2011
My costume was finally ready. Parian had graciously allowed Vicky to tag along, so I was just waiting for her to come pick me up a few blocks away from my house so we could head over together.
A white blur fell from the sky and landed directly in front of me. Vicky was here in all her glory. I clamped down hard on the brief surge of wonder and euphoria that I always felt whenever I first entered her aura range.
"I thought you were going to drive." I said.
"Pshh, do you know how expensive gas is right now?" Vicky said. "Anyways, this is much faster… also it'd be a lot harder to sneak out of school with my car."
Before I could respond, she scooped me up in a bridal carry. I squeaked at the indignity of it.
"Can't you carry me so-" I started to say, right before Vicky rocketed upwards at an uncomfortably fast pace. I stifled a scream at the sudden acceleration, and clutched onto her tightly.
Flying while being carried by a person roughly my own size was terrifying. Being placed in such a precarious position while I had no control was discomforting, to say the least. I tried to control my pounding heart as I rationalized that Vicky probably had enough experience with this that she wouldn't let me plummet to my death. After a few seconds I was able to look around a bit and enjoy the view from the air. Brockton Bay actually looked pretty spectacular from up high. The glittering ocean bay that we were heading towards looked postcard perfect, and the tall gleaming skyscrapers downtown were a pleasing sight as well. From up high, even the poorer neighborhoods in the northern side of town looked less run-down from up high. The only real eyesore was the rusting derelicts in the Boat Graveyard that I could see in the distance.
Vicky had a huge grin on her face as she looked at me. I simply glared at her and refused to dignify her antics with a response.
"How does it feel fly on Vicky Air?" She asked.
"It's pretty cool. Just don't drop me."
Vicky chuckled at that. "Please. I've done this tons of times, and I've only dropped a person once."
What. I hoped she was joking. "That's not funny."
"You'll be fine. And think of the entrance we'll make at the Boardwalk!"
I groaned. Just what I needed. I was beginning to think Vicky was doing this to me on purpose.
"Did you know that people are shipping us on PHO? Apparently there's a photo of the two of us in a tender embrace floating around." Vicky said, as she giggled. "Get this, our ship name is Glory Nights! Doesn't that sound like a cheesy porno?"
"Ugh, that's an awful name. It's just people on the internet being stupid. It'll die down soon enough." I replied confidently.
"Well, I may have also made some suggestive comments about you online." She added.
I couldn't stop myself from blushing at that. "Y-you idiot! Why would you do something like that?"
"Just for funsies. Relax, your virtue is safe for now. I have a boyfriend." Vicky said.
I sighed. I shouldn't let stuff like that bother me. They were just strangers on the internet, and as far as I knew, Dad didn't browse PHO, so I didn't have to worry about him reading rumors about me.
"C'mon," she whined. "Our social media mentions are through the roof right now. You should be happy."
"I don't care about that!" I responded.
"Well you should. Being an independent hero isn't easy you know. It's a real grind. You need the public's support if you want to do this long term. It's why New Wave does all those promotional community events. You should join us the next time we do one."
Maybe Vicky had a point, but I just wasn't interested in PR. It was one of the major hang-ups I had about joining the Wards. Besides, I was already getting plenty of positive PR by just being a healer. Still, I guess it wouldn't hurt to be seen out there in public with New Wave, giving back to the community. "I guess it couldn't hurt." I said. "Let me know next time you want me to come to one."
"Awesome!" Vicky replied. "I still need to introduce you to my cousins and the rest of New Wave."
"How's Amy doing?" I asked. My plan for befriending her wasn't really going too well. Even when we were at the hospital together, we were often in different wings or floors.
"She's doing OK. She's happy that there's another healer in town helping out at the hospitals." Vicky replied.
I was a bit skeptical of that. I don't think I've seen Amy happy ever. Then again, that's probably how people thought of me when I was still at Winslow.
We flew towards the Bay, and I even started to enjoy the feeling of the wind flowing past us. It was still scary, but once the initial shock wore off it was really thrilling. Even though I wasn't flying under my own power, it was as wonderful as I had always imagined it would be. I felt a stab of jealousy at Vicky. I didn't resent her or anything like that, but she really seemed to have it all. Stunning good looks, an incredibly strong power set, popularity, both her parents… it was kind of amazing that she was as nice as she was actually. I didn't know what happened with Emma that turned her against me, and so far my only working theory was that popularity and growing boobs had somehow turned her into a mega-bitch.
It was still early enough in the day that the Boardwalk wasn't too overcrowded when we landed, but there was a small crowd gathering in front of Parian's store. I remembered seeing some flyers about a small event she was hosting after our meeting. Besides just making clothes, Parian also made public appearances, usually entertaining kids with her animated dolls and stuffed animals. I wasn't sure if she did it for money or just for the positive PR, but the pictures of little kids riding her unicorns were a big hit on PHO.
I noted with dismay that a few of the denizens had their cell phones out and were snapping pictures of us as we landed in front of Parian's Dollhouse. They'll be circulating on PHO before we even left here.
We knocked on the front door, and after a few seconds Parian showed up to let us in. She was wearing a different colored dress from the last time I saw her, but her mask and blonde curls were still the same. I guess being a fashion designer would make her more inclined to change it up more often.
"Hi girls," Parian greeted us. "Welcome to my Dollhouse."
"Hey Parian," I replied. "Thanks for having us over. I didn't expect you to finish my costume so quickly."
Parian giggled a little in response. "You were lucky that I had all the materials on hand already. Plus, you'd be surprised how fast one can sew when you can telekinetically control needles and fabric."
Parian's Dollhouse was interesting. It wasn't really a store, as it was almost never open to the public. It was more like a hybrid between a workshop and a showroom. A large table dominated the center of the space, with different spools of fabrics and various tools resting on top. A number of mannequins lined the sides of the space, showcasing various outfits. Expensive looking dresses adorned some of them, and I noted with more interest that there were even a few mannequins dressed in cape costumes.
"Wow, this place is awesome, look at all these clothes!" Vicky exclaimed giddily.
Personally I didn't see what the big deal was. Sure they were pretty, but they were just clothes. I'd take a nice high powered taser over a shiny dress any day.
Vicky stopped in front of a mannequin near the center of Parian's space. A gold sleeveless dress hung from the mannequin.
"Lovely, isn't it?" Parian asked. "It's made from the silk of Golden Orb-Weaver spiders. The color is completely natural. It's truly one of a kind."
"It's amazing," Vicky murmured. "How much are you selling this for?"
Parian chuckled a bit at Vicky's question. "That one is sold already. It was custom made for a celebrity in California for some red carpet event. A lot of my customers are from out of state actually. This particular dress went for $30,000."
$30,000 for a dress? That was more than the annual salary of many of the Brockton Bay residents who lived on the north side of town. I wanted to ask her if the dress was bulletproof, but I kept my mouth shut.
Vicky gulped audibly at the number, before turning to me. "Hey sugar momma, you want to buy me a dress?"
I paused for a second. "No."
Vicky pouted at me adorably, but I wasn't swayed.
Parian moved towards a bundle of clothing on her table. "Anyways, I have your finished costume here, Nightingale."
I walked over and gingerly picked up the bundle.
"This is one of my finest works," Parian told me. "Like I said before, the undersuit is made of multiple layers of black widow spider-silk. It's extremely tough and durable. The dress is made primarily of Nomex and Kevlar, with an additional inner lining of black widow spider-silk. I've sewn in hidden armored inserts at various parts, which you should be familiar with by now. We're using a new kind of ballistic impact gel for the armored inserts. Much lighter than ceramic or steel plates, and it does a great job at dispersing kinetic energy. A fair bit more expensive of course, but well worth it in my opinion."
"Ooh, how fancy," Vicky said. "You non-brutes are so squishy."
"That sounds awesome," I said. "Is it bulletproof?"
"Well it should stop most small arms fire, but I'd really recommend you try not to get shot in the first place." Parian said, in a very matter of fact tone.
"Ehh, I've been shot a few times," Vicky said. "It tickles."
"Go on, try it on!" Parian said, pushing me towards a changing room at the rear end of her workshop.
The new costume looked similar to the prototype I was wearing, except the materials were noticeably different. The spider-silk body stocking felt much finer and luxurious than the spandex one I had been wearing. The dress itself was much coarser and rougher than the plain fabric one I had before. Sections of it, especially around the forearm and chest areas were also a lot stiffer. I poked at the armored inserts a bit. It was actually a little bit soft and squishy. Could this thing really stop a bullet? I was paying a ton of money for it, and I could only hope that Parian's work was as good as advertised. I changed out of my current outfit and quickly changed into the new costume. The new dress was noticeably heavier than my previous one. Despite the stiffened sections of the dress, it didn't appear that flexibility was compromised too much. I did a few quick stretches and bends, and didn't really notice any loss in my range of motion.
I took a deep breath and stepped outside the changing room.
"How does it feel?" Parian asked.
"Good, it doesn't even feel like I'm wearing armor." I replied.
"I know! That's the best part about my costumes."
"It does look really good," Vicky said. "Want me to hit you a few times to test out the armor?"
I didn't know how hard Vicky could punch, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was considerably harder than a gunshot. "No thanks."
"You can contact me if you need alterations or repairs to the outfit," Parian said. "Also, there are some important things you need to know about properly keeping the costume clean."
"Ah, that shouldn't be a problem," I replied. "I have prestidigitation!"
Parian stared at me for a second. "Presti-what now?"
Right, what I said just now probably sounded incredibly stupid. "Umm, one of my powers lets me clean objects instantly and safely."
Vicky snorted at that. "You have a laundry power?"
"Shut up, it's really useful." I said.
"Just saying… Myrddin gets ice beams and fireballs, and you get to do laundry quickly. You're not exactly pushing the cause forward for women everywhere."
Hmph. That does it. I'm going to use prestidigitation to paint a 'kick me' sign on her back as soon as she looks away.
Parian cleared her throat. "Well, it does sound pretty useful. Powers shouldn't all be about fighting. Still, I'll give you some instructions on how to properly launder it just in case you need it. Anyways, I'm hosting a show outside my storefront in a little bit. It's mostly for younger kids, but you guys are welcome to stick around and check it out!"
"Sure, why not." Vicky said. "I already ditched school, so I don't have much else going on now."
"I'll stick around too." I added.
Parian smiled at us. "Great, in that case help me carry some boxes."
We grabbed the boxes, which were really light, and headed outside with Parian. A small crowd was already starting to gather outside. Mostly families with small children, but I saw a couple of older kids and a few teenagers milling around as well. Vicky smiled easily and waved to the crowd as they began taking pictures of us. I'd been in the public eye for a little over the week now, and I was nowhere near as comfortable as Vicky was with crowds and photographers. I mostly just hovered behind Parian a little, though she didn't do a very good job of hiding me as she was about half a foot shorter than I was.
"Welcome everyone," Parian called out to the crowd. "Thank you all for coming today! We're joined today by two of Brockton Bay's heroines, Glory Girl and Nightingale!"
Vicky beamed at the crowd as she soaked up their adulation. I waved awkwardly and resisted the urge to run away. The crowd settled down a bit and Parian started her performance. From one of the boxes we carried out, fabric unspooled and took the shape of a pink unicorn. Huh, I always thought they were stuffed animals, but apparently they were hollow. The kids in the crowd coo'd with delight as an assortment of inflatable animals came to life.
Vicky and I were probably a bit too old to really enjoy the show, but it was cool watching Parian flex her power. She was able to effortlessly control several of the dolls at once, and she was really good with the kids. The little buggers were soon screaming with joy as they played with the dolls. The unicorn was a big hit among the little girls, and they were all clamoring for a turn to ride it. I was tempted to ask Parian if I could ride her unicorn, but it seemed like it'd be wrong to take a turn from the little kids. One of my cell phones buzzed with the telltale sign of a new message but I ignored. After a few seconds, it buzzed again and again. What could that possibly be? I was just about to pull me phone out to check when a hush suddenly fell over the crowd.
"Very amusing." A deep, rumbling voice called out slowly from the audience. A murmur shot through the crowd as people desperately moved out of the way to reveal a large man wearing a metal mask shaped like a Chinese dragonhead. "For your next trick, I would like you to summon the bug bitch."
Shit. Lung was here.
* * *
Spoiler: Taylor's Current Abilities
Spoiler: ANLast edited: May 2, 2016615ShadowghostApr 30, 2016View discussionThreadmarks Accelerando - 2.6View contentShadowghostMay 13, 2016#504Accelerando – 2.6
March 11th, 2011
People were screaming. There was a mad dash as most of the crowd struggled to get away from Lung. Some idiots were actually staying behind and had their cell phones out, either to take pictures or record videos. Hopefully some of them had enough sense to at least call the PRT.
Lung was a pretty heavy hitter. I didn't know exactly how strong he was, but he has been able to fend off the E88 and the Protectorate for years now, despite the ABB being heavily outnumbered by their enemies. According to what I had read online, Lung grew stronger the longer he fights, and that he grows faster in response to bigger threats, with seemingly no upper limit. There were rumors that if he kept fighting, he would eventually grow wings and the ability to fly, and transform into an actual dragon. That seemed ridiculous though, so I didn't put much stock on the last part. He was however a confirmed pyrokinetic, and could create flames hot enough to melt steel.
Lung slowly advanced towards us. Vicky's lips were pursed in anger, and her normally pretty features were formed into a fierce scowl. I felt an unnatural wave of terror and anger wash over me, and I noticed that Lung was actually growing as he walked towards us. He was already well over six feet tall and his skin was taking a silvery sheen. "Vicky!" I hissed at her. "Control your aura. You're ramping him up."
Lung was crazy. This was the Boardwalk! The Protectorate wasn't going to let him go on a rampage here. This wasn't the Docks neighborhood where only poor people lived. The Boardwalk was vital to the city economically. I took a quick look around. The enforcers that usually mill about on the Boardwalk were nowhere to be seen. Figured they'd turn tail and run as soon as an actual threat showed up. I called on my thinker power and tried to read Lung. Apathetic towards us. Expected Parian to be here alone. Doesn't think we can put up a decent fight, except for maybe Glory Girl. Doesn't actually care that much about Parian, but needs to send a message since they haven't been able to track Arachne down.
"We need to run," I whispered to Glory Girl and Parian. "Fighting him here is a bad idea."
Lung chuckled. "If you attempt to flee, I will be most upset, and I may need to find other targets to take my anger on." Crap, he heard that? He had super senses on top of everything else?
I felt fury course through me at Lung's statement. He was going to attack the civilians here if we ran? Or did he just mean property damage? I wasn't willing to take the chance that he was bluffing, but staying to fight seemed like suicide.
Parian stepped forward a little so that the three of us were near each other and turned to face Lung. Her body was shaking a little, but her voice was firm. "Arachne isn't here. I don't know what your problem with her is, but I want no part of it. Everyone knows I'm neutral."
"Are you not her partner?" Lung asked. "She has wronged me."
"W-What?" Parian sputtered. "No! I've bought supplies from her before, but that's it. I don't know who she is!"
I chose that moment to step forward. "You don't have to do this," I argued. "None of us know where or who she is. There's nothing for you to gain here. The Protectorate are probably already on their way. We don't have to fight." Vicky scoffed at the last part, but I ignored her.
Lung paused and stared at me for a second, before turning his head back towards Parian.
"I am not an unreasonable man. I will collect what I am owed," Lung rumbled out. "If not from her, then from you."
Parian paused for a beat. "How much does she owe you."
"Half a million dollars should suffice."
Parian scoffed at the number. "I don't have that kind of money!"
I did have that much money, but did I actually want to pay him off? Everything about it screamed wrong to me. He was a bully, and I certainly didn't get into the healing business so that I could directly fund one of the worst gangs in town.
How could I stop him though? I could try putting him to sleep, but I really didn't think that my sleep power would be effective against someone with such a high brute rating.
Lung's eyes shifted towards Parian's store. His intent was clear. He was going to burn the place down to punish Arachne. A part of me thought that we should just let him, if that was all he was after. It was just a store, and it could always be rebuilt. Still, I didn't know if Glory Girl and Parian would be willing to stand aside and let him do this. Hell, I didn't even know if I was willing to.
Time to take stock of what I had. A can of pepper spray. A collapsible baton. A small switchblade. A small stun gun. Some zip ties. None of those seemed particularly helpful right now. I was slightly regretting not buying that high powered crossbow now. Parian had never fought before as far as I knew, and her inflatable dolls didn't look like they could put up much of a fight. No, our best shot was for Glory Girl to take him down before he could get too amped up, but we needed a plan. We outnumbered Lung, and he didn't come here prepared to fight all three of us.
"Vicky," I whispered to her. "We nee-"
Before I could finish my sentence, Glory Girl rocketed towards Lung in a white blur. Lung's reaction time was faster than I expected considering his size, and he just managed to sidestep out of the way while simultaneously swinging an arm out at her. I heard the sharp sound of a loud crack as his arm impacted with Vicky. The collision snapped his arm back unnaturally, clearly breaking his arm bones in several places, but he managed to deflect Vicky's flight path into an angle that sent her slamming through several thankfully deserted vendor stalls that lined the side of the Boardwalk. Oh god. Lung was going to absolutely wreck the Boardwalk. I could only hope that Vicky's invulnerability would protect her from the rough tumble.
Lung snarled in anger and turned towards Parian and me. His broken arm dangled limply at his side, but he raised his other arm and sent a gout of flame at us. Before I could react, Parian's unicorns leapt forward and unfolded into flat pieces of cloth that intercepted the flame. Amazingly, the flimsy looking piece of fabric was able to hold the flame back without instantly burning into a crisp. Perhaps I'd underestimated Parian.
Taking advantage of the brief respite, I hurriedly pulled out my PRT phone and activated the emergency beacon on it. There was no way that the PRT didn't already know Lung was here, but it couldn't hurt.
When the flames died down, I noticed that Lung had grown another half foot or so. Furthermore, his once broken arm now looked perfectly fine again. I groaned at the sight. His regeneration speed must be insane, and completely unfair to fight against. He flexed his newly healed arm a bit, and I could hear the joints pop even from the distance we were standing at.
He took another step towards us, but stopped as a large piece of what looked like a vendor's stall was flung at him from the side. He easily smashed through the wooden barrage, but a Vicky-shaped projectile slammed into him right after. The pair of them tumbled down the boardwalk for fifty feet or so, leaving large cracks and dents along the wooden Boardwalk floor in their wake.
"Shit! What should we do?" Parian asked me in a panicked tone.
A question I didn't have a good answer to. I pulled out my cell phone. "There's no way the PRT doesn't know about this already. We just have to hold out a little bit."
Parian nodded grimly and started inflating another doll from one of the boxes near us. Unlike the friendly looking and relatively small dolls that she had used to entertain the kids, this one was starting to take on the appearance of a large gorilla.
I didn't have the contact info for anybody else in New Wave, so I sent a quick text message to Panacea asking her to send the rest of her superpowered family out here. I frowned as I saw the messages I missed a few minutes ago.
Insight: Lung heading twd Boardwalk! R u still over there?
Insight: I'll try to round up some backup. Most of Protectorate out of town.
Great, just what we needed. Did Lung know the Protectorate wouldn't be around today? I could only hope that Panacea could get the message out to New Wave. I looked up just in time to see Glory Girl get flung into a nearby storefront of a coffee shop by Lung. I winced at the sound of glass and wood shattering as she flew through the store. She was invulnerable, so I could only hope that she would be unhurt. Freaking brutes. It seemed like they were incapable of fighting it out in a civilized fashion, and were intent on doing as much damage to the Boardwalk as possible.
Then Lung turned towards us. He was at least eight feet tall now, and his clothes were mostly shredded, revealing silvery skin that had started transforming into metallic scales. Time was running out. Glory Girl was already struggling with Lung, and he was only getting bigger.
With a bestial roar he covered half the distance between us in a powerful leap and started running towards us. I felt panic surge through me. He was fast! I don't think we could outrun him even if we wanted to. As he neared us, I let loose the energy I was gathering and sent a blast of thunderous force towards him. The concussive force washed over him without a noticeable effect, but the extraordinarily loud thunder made Lung scream in pain as he clasped his ears.
I felt a sadistic sense of satisfaction at his pain. Super hearing, meet point blank thunder. I didn't want to hurt anybody, and I almost felt a little guilty at the glee I felt. Lung was a bad person though, and capes like him were a big reason why Brockton Bay was so desolate now. I refused to feel bad for defending myself against him.
While Lung was momentarily distracted by his burst ear drums, Parian's Gorilla, now roughly eight foot tall, bounded past me and slammed into Lung with the force of a freight train. The impact knocked Lung flat onto his back. The giant ape raised its comically oversized fists and slammed it down on Lung so hard that I could feel the force of the blow reverberating through the floorboards of the Boardwalk.
The doll raised its fists and slammed them down once, twice, and then thrice. On the third blow, the wooden floorboards beneath them caved in and the two tumbled down together into the shallow ocean waters below. I stared at shock at the display of power Parian just showed. I had definitely underestimated her. How could an inflatable doll made of such thin fabric possibly be so strong?
"Holy shit, what I'd miss?" Glory Girl hovered over toward us. She looked unharmed, but really disheveled compared to her usual immaculate appearance. There were bits and pieces of glass and wood stuck in her hair, and her dress had a number of small rips on it.
"Damn, I lost control over the doll." Parian muttered as we stared at the new hole in the boardwalk in shock. "You think there's any chance he'll just leave?"
As if to answer her question, we heard a loud monstrous roar emanating from beneath us. I tumbled backwards as Lung leapt up through the opening. He looked pissed, and bigger than ever. He was at least ten foot tall now, and I could see metallic spikes jutting out of his spine. He barely looked human anymore.
"Shit, run!" I yelled and sprinted away from Lung, grabbing Parian's arm on my way. At the same time, I pulled on my illusion power and flooded the area behind us with a black, opaque thundercloud complete with the occasional rumble of thunder and flash of lightning. I didn't know if it would do anything. Lung had enhanced senses, so he may be able to see right through my illusions. Still, I hoped that it would cause him to hesitate for at least a few seconds. I had been nearly useless so far. Even Parian, who I had dismissed as the cute fashionista, had done significantly more damage to Lung than I could. Given how he looked now, I had the sinking feeling that he was beyond our capabilities to take down. He couldn't fly yet, so I was confident Glory Girl was safe enough at the moment.
"This way!" Parian squeaked out and pulled me towards her shop.
We tore through the entrance, and Parian immediately began animating some of the loose fabric that was inside. A bolt of fabric ripped a box down from a high shelf, and Parian pulled out what looked like the shell of another giant gorilla ape doll. Before she could inflate it, a good portion of the front of her workshop came tumbling down with a large crashing sound as Lung smashed through. I dove to the side as Lung let loose a stream of flame at us, and miraculously was able to avoid getting burnt to a crisp. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Parian was able to shield herself as well with the fabric surrounding her. The ambient temperature inside the workshop rose drastically as several pieces of cloth and furniture within the store caught fire.
Before Lung could unleash another blast of flame, Glory Girl slammed into him from behind with a bone crunching force. The two of them tore straight past me and through Parian's work shop and out the back via a new Lung-sized hole in the wall.
Glory Girl tried to take off into the air again, but one of Lung's large clawed hands shot out and grabbed her around the ankle before she could get away. He swung her down and slammed her onto the ground with a sickening force that would've knocked any regular human out of commission. Glory Girl kicked out at Lung and tried to break his grip on her leg. I heard a sharp crack, and then Glory Girl let out a scream of pain. It looked like Lung had just broken her leg.
What the hell? Lung had broken through her invulnerability somehow. I had to help her. I pulled out my small switchblade and threw it at Lung's head. The small blade clanged harmlessly off his metallic scales, but it drew his attention towards me. As he turned towards me, I used my telekinetic hand to float a canister of pepper spray towards his face and unleashed it directly into his eyes.
Lung bellowed out in pain and rage, and flung Glory Girl directly at me. I tried to dive out of the way, but we collided in a heap of limbs that sent the two of us tumbling backwards into Parian's now burning workshop. The next thing I knew, someone was shaking me gently.
"Hey, are you OK?" Glory Girl asked.
"Ughh…" I moaned. Pain wracked my body, and each breathe I took in sent new waves of pain coursing through my torso. I was fairly confident that I had more than a few broken ribs. I pulled on my healing power and sighed in relief as breathing became pain-free again.
"Hey, could I get some of that as well?" Glory Girl asked. I took a good luck at her. She was hovering a few inches off the ground. Her dress was ripped in several places, and her white cape had been ripped off at some point during her tussle with Lung. One of her legs was bent unnaturally near the ankle and starting to swell. I reached out and poured healing energy into Glory Girl. The swelling around her ankle receded rapidly. Glory Girl sighed in relief as her leg reset itself. "Thanks, you should take this time to get away. I'll hold him off until the Protectorate gets here."
Glory Girl took off before I had a chance to respond, causing me to frown. Run away while others were still fighting? It was the smart thing to do. God, what would Dad think once he saw the news. Lung could kill me so easily. I was way out of my league here, but backing down and running away just felt unacceptable to me.
No. I steeled my resolve. I didn't know if it was stubbornness driving me, or if I was just sick of being beaten down by bullies, but I refused to back down. Hopefully Dad wouldn't kill me for doing something so stupid. I staggered to my feet, and felt something wonderful rush through me. I felt power within me like nothing I'd ever felt before. Hundreds of motes of power lit up within me. Vastly more new powers that I had never seen or felt before were available for me to pluck out. I would've loved to parse through all of them, but time was a factor here. Parian and Glory Girl needed my help. I chose my first new power, a blaster ability that I hoped would penetrate his defenses.
I staggered out through the hole in Parian's workshop, and took notice of the fight that was still ongoing about fifty feet from me. Parian was standing behind two of her dolls, a large Gorilla and a cute looking T-Rex, while they were engaged with Lung. At the same time, Glory Girl was swinging what looked like a street lamp at Lung. She looked reluctant to get too close to Lung after what happened earlier. It was hard to tell how big Lung was now, as he was slightly hunched over and his limbs looked grotesquely thick and muscular for the size of his body. Additionally, he looked like his face grown a reptilian-looking snout. He barely looked human anymore.
I raised my hand and unleashed twin beams of cackling purple energy at his lower extremities. The energy beams struck his legs, causing him to stagger and fall to his knees. It looked like it actually hurt him! I launched two more of my energy beams at him. Lung flung himself to the side and managed to avoid one of the beams, but the other clipped him on the arm. Lung let out a bestial roar and took a flying leap straight at me.
I jumped straight into the air and called upon the other new power I had chosen. Lung flew by harmlessly beneath me as I flew straight up and well over him. I almost laughed with giddiness. I was flying! I had dreamed of this moment ever since I was a little girl. Granted, in those daydreams I usually wasn't being attacked by a vicious dragon-looking monster. I didn't know why these new powers were available to me now, but they couldn't have come at a better time.
I took a quick glance around while I was momentarily safe in the air. The PRT had arrived a short while ago it appeared, and they were setting up barriers and a perimeter around where most of the fighting was taking place.
Lung flung a gout of flame at me, but at the distance I was at I was able to dive to the side to avoid it. Glory Girl took that opportunity to swoop in from behind and swung the street lamp she was holding like a giant baseball bat at Lung. The lamp bent back sharply at the force of the blow, and Lung was sent flying back towards the docks and into another store. At this point I was almost convinced that Glory Girl was actively trying to cause property damage. Seeing the two of them go at it up close shocked me with the sheer brutality of their actions. They were throwing around blows that would kill most ordinary people, hell even most capes, with ease. I don't care how good Parian's armor is, I definitely wouldn't survive a hit like the one Glory Girl had just unleashed on Lung.
Glory Girl dropped the now ruined street lamp and flew towards me. "You can fly! When did that happen?"
"Ten seconds ago. Where the hell is the Protectorate?" I asked.
Glory Girl shrugged. "The PRT are here, but they almost never engage capes without backup. It looks like the area is fully evacuated by now, so I think we should grab Parian and scram."
I paused for a moment to consider our options. I didn't want to run, but he simply regenerated too fast. Even with my new powers, I didn't think I could damage him faster than he was regenerating and growing. Before I could respond, Lung burst out of the rubble below and shot straight at us on top of a torrent of flame. We dived to opposite sides, and Lung's arm shot out and tried to grab me as he passed by. His large claw just barely missed my arm, but he managed to snag my cape. I felt a brief moment of terror as I felt him pull on me, but the cape detached and Lung started falling back towards the ground. I sighed in relief and made a mental note to thank Parian later for the detachable magnetic clasp.
I put some distance between us, and fired two more of my new energy beams at him. The purple beams struck him with a satisfying crackle, causing him to bellow in either rage or pain.
Lung raised his arm and flames started gathering around his hand as he prepared to fling more fire at me when he stopped abruptly. I barely was able to see him flinging himself to the side when the whole world turned white and I was suddenly blinded. I shot straight upwards in panic and gathered healing energy into my eyes.
I blinked rapidly, and after a few seconds, my vision returned to me and I tried to take stock in what happened. Lung was missing an arm and a good chunk of the shoulder it was attached to, and there was an impressively sized crater where he had been standing moments before. He launched an intense blast of flame from his remaining arm at a glowing figure that was almost too bright to look at directly. The cape dodged easily and let loose a helical blast of white light at Lung.
Purity was here. How did she manage to get here before anyone from the Protectorate did? I wondered briefly if she was the backup that Insight had mentioned. They probably had a decent relationship, especially since Purity had hired Insight to run PR for her.
Before I could resume attacking Lung, a bolt of lightning crackled out and hit the ground near where Lung was standing.
The Protectorate was finally here! Well… one of them at least. Dauntless had shown up, flying in from the Eastern bay. He looked every part like a Protectorate hero, with his gleaming Golden Grecian armor and his massive spear that was crackling with electricity. He wouldn't have looked out of place on the cover of a comic book. Armsmaster may have been our most famous hero, but a lot of Brocktonites viewed Dauntless the most favorably. Unlike a lot of the other heroes in town, Dauntless had always broadcasted the fact that he was born and raised in Brockton Bay in his interviews.
I could feel the tide finally turning. Lung was at a huge disadvantage here going against so many flying blasters. None of us had been able to put him down so far, but with the amount of power we had on our side now, I was confident we could finally take him down and bring an end to the ABB.
"Stand down Lung!" Dauntless yelled out at him. "You've done enough damage for one day. Back off!"
What? He was just going to let him go? Lung was here by himself. We finally had the chance to cripple the ABB! Glory Girl hovered uneasily next to me as we faced him down. Lung glared at the five of us. For a second, I was convinced that he was not going to back down, that his pride would not allow him to retreat here. The tension in the air was palpable. After a few seconds, Lung snorted and started walking away. He spit out some metal teeth and blood from his animalistic snout as he left.
"You're just going to let him go?" I asked Dauntless incredulously. This seemed… so wrong.
"It's not so easy taking that one down, and no offense, but I'm not about to try with only two minors, an ex-Nazi, and the Doll girl as my backup." Dauntless said. "There's been enough damage done to the Boardwalk for one day. Trust me, it would get a lot worse if we went all out against him here."
I could admit he had a point, but I was still miffed. I had heard Insight's whole spiel about 'Cops and Robbers' before, but this was ridiculous. Lung was a monster, and he deserved to be Birdcaged. I couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed in Dauntless and our local Protectorate.
"Is it true that he eventually grows wings and can fly?" I asked.
"Yup, trust me when I say you don't want him to get to that point. As hard as he is to deal with while he's on the ground, it gets much worse when he gains flight." Dauntless replied. "Stick around for a bit. The PRT are going to want to ask some questions here."
With that he descended to meet the rapidly approaching PRT officers who were now rushing onto the scene now that Lung had left.
Purity hovered over to greet me. The radiant glow surrounding her had died down quite a bit, and I could look in her direction without too much pain. She didn't wear a mask, but her hair and eyes glowed white with such intensity that I wasn't able to take in any details.
"Nightingale," She greeted me, extending out a hand. "We haven't been introduced yet."
I could feel Glory Girl glaring daggers at her. I wasn't sure how I felt about Purity. On one hand, she used to run with the Empire and had done some pretty bad stuff. No murders or anything like that as far as I knew, but she had willingly joined the Nazis. Still, she was trying to redeem herself, and I suppose people deserved second chances. I couldn't deny that she was doing good these days as an independent hero. Insight had vouched for her at least, and I somewhat trusted her.
I shook her hand. "Thanks for the assist. How did you get here so quickly?"
"A friend directed me here. Plus, I'm probably one of the fastest fliers in Brockton Bay." She replied, causing Glory Girl to snort a bit. I knew Vicky considered herself the fastest flier in town.
We hovered around awkwardly for a few seconds as we stared at each other. "Umm…" I started. "I'm not very happy that we just let Lung go like that."
"I'm not surprised that happened," Glory Girl said. "The Protectorate are all about minimizing damage and not rocking the status quo too hard."
"I'm not happy about it either, but if we did manage to take him in the rest of the ABB would go nuts on this town. They still have enough capes left to do a ton of damage, even without Lung." Purity added.
I sighed heavily. Was I too naïve in thinking I could actually make a difference? Even the Protectorate and the other established heroes didn't seem too invested in changing things for the better. I don't think going out at night and busting up a few gang members could really accomplish anything.
I flew down and landed gently besides Parian, who was staring at the smoldering wreck that used to be her workshop.
"Hey, are you OK?" I asked her.
Parian sighed sadly. "Yeah…. It's just a shop… it's just…"
I patted her shoulder gently. I was going for comforting, but I felt awkward doing it. "I get it, it was important to you."
"I can rebuild it." She said suddenly, conviction re-entering her voice.
I smiled. Maybe this day wasn't a total disaster after all. At least nobody had died or even gotten seriously hurt as far as I could tell. Sure, there was a lot of damage done to a pretty important part of Brockton Bay, but it could be rebuilt. Hopefully everyone had insurance, and I was already making a mental note to see Quinn later about contributing to the rebuilding process. Maybe Dad could even get some of the dockworkers hired for the inevitable reconstruction. Lung: job creator extraordinaire.
"I'll help you."