15

Brave 3.4

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage."

-A Hero's Shade

-Dock workshop, April 2, 2011, 10:00a.m.-

I really need to learn to sleep, I swear this is the third or fourth time this week I've fainted. The smells hit me like a truck, sweet, soft, woodsy, and the scent of oil as well. My hand still has a death like grip on the hilt of the master sword, I slowly let go of it, the blood returns to my limbs as Belle rushes towards me.

"I suddenly find myself understanding Aunt Taylor." Belle began saying, my stomach grumbled in response and I blushed with some embarrassment, "Marie, no mother, why do you do this?"

I open my mouth, and close it. There's no good answer, I can tell her that I'm the only one who can, but why should I do it? Why should I risk myself? Because there's no choice? No, I know there's always a choice… So there's only one answer I can give her.

"Belle, you know that there's no good answer. I could point out to the fact that only I have this shard, only I can mess around with what it gives me. But that doesn't establish a good why." I tell her, she frowns but motions me to continue, "Ultimately I believe that there are two main reasons for me to put my life on the line. The first one is that this is my power. And I have a responsibility to myself and others to use it to the best of my capability. At first I'll gladly admit to only doing it because I thought that Taylor could use the help in being a heroine, but now? There's more than a couple of people I want to keep alive so I'll take the burden." I can feel the sword pulsating from my slackened grip, it's as if it approves. I smile softly at it, or her in this case, Fi… I can feel Belle's eyes wander to the master sword, is she jealous?

"In addition I do it because I want to live. This world is dying Belle, you know this. If it's not the endbringers it's the damn shards, and the entities. I want a world where I can sleep without worry, wake and whine without care; a world full of bad movies and silly people. And to make sure my family lives." I said after a few seconds, "And that includes you. You are my kid Belle, and I'll repeat it until you burn it into your mind, I ain't letting you bury me until I'm old and gray, so don't worry about me." I add while looking her in the eyes. I can see a flash of light behind them before she pulls me into a hug.

Note to self, explain to robot daughter that despite me being capable of healing, I bruise easily. Fuck I'll feel that later tonight…

Wait, today is April 2nd…

"Fuck! I need to head home, eat breakfast, steal a car and drive!" I swore out loud as I picked up the master sword from the bed. Grabbing a stone from the nearby bench and some raw materials that are nearby, I use alchemy to essentially take a bath, change clothes and make a small box out of wood. I really hope she likes the musical guardian.

"Why do you need to steal a car?" Belle asks me as I enter the pod to get back home. She sits next to me before it lifts off.

"Emily doesn't know I'm a cape, so I need to drive there and I'm not sure Danny is home." I reply letting her take control of the foldspace travel. The void extends for a single instant before dropping us in the workshop back home. I almost jumped out of the pod and ran to my room to grab the egg.

"He isn't, but we can take the bus." Belle replied running after me,

"We? Belle, you're silver. We haven't found a way to simulate skin as well so that would just out you." I replied after placing the master sword in a hidden nook in my room, I started looking for the egg, tossing away several clothes into the floor as I tore through the closet.

"I'll be in one of the ladybugs, by the way she's currently alone with the houseguest. Her father left around an hour ago after singing happy birthday to her." Belle told me with a small smirk on her face. 

"Oh well, thank you for telling me that. Anything I should know?"

"Nothing important, though the PHO project is going swimmingly. Soon you'll have Saint's location." Belle mentioned extending her hand towards me, I saw as the metal flowed outwards into a tiny ladybug. Flowmetal is hilariously useful.

"Perfect. As soon as you find him, tell me, I'll need your help to make sure Ascalon isn't deployed." I muttered, placing the egg in the box, the tiny silver ladybug crawled on my arm and placed itself right behind my neck. I was fortunate enough to catch a bus after waiting for half an hour at the nearby stop and it was nearly midday when I arrived near Emily's home. The walk there was rather quiet, nothing out of the ordinary, I arrived and knocked on the door. A few seconds later a tall girl emerged. Time seemed to slow down as I began to observe her.

She definitely had some Asian parents, and while not as tall as Taylor she still towered over me. She looked down at me and asked,

"Hello, how can I help you?" That was a New York accent, body was athletic and she answered the door without any actual worry. Which means she's sure of her chances against anyone. That can mean many things, the most likely one is that she's trained or at least is a proficient fighter. But given that this world is a shithole, she could be a cape.

" I really hope I'm wrong in my assumption. But just in case… " I think even as I say,

"Hi, I'm here to give Emily a birthday present. I'm Marie Flynt, and you must be the new tenant she mentioned." I hold the simple wooden box in front of her, with my most sincere smile. She blinks, somewhat surprised by my earnestness, moving her body she points at the living room and says,

"Yeah, my name's Lily. If you want you can come in, take a seat in the living room and I'll have Emily come down." I smile even as I mentally scream,

" Fuck! I think that might be Foil… No wait, it's Flechette at the moment. "

"Huh, another Lily. Though the one in our class has a different accent." I mentioned entering the house, soft pastel blues and yellows decorate the walls and the wooden floor gives it a comfortable atmosphere. The living room itself houses several sofas and a rather large television, I think it's probably around 50 inches in size but I could be wrong. The walls have several pictures, an older man with graying hair and a somewhat younger woman whose hair was almost white but still held enough color to say it was a light yellow. Between both of them a baby sleeps, photos of Emily playing with a drum set, with a guitar, with a bass. 

"You have a good ear, I thought I hid it better than that. But yeah, I'm from New York, Queens if you want to get specific." She mentioned as I sat down on the sofa, it was rather soft and I began to slowly sink in. "You're the second person to actually notice, do you play instruments?" She asks, making small talk, my only weakness…

"Emily is teaching me guitar and I teach her to play the violin." I reply almost immediately, she nods and says.

"Oh, that's neat. I'll go get her, do you want something to drink?" Her body language tells me she's more relaxed than she was before and her tone doesn't carry anything resembling a lie, 

"No, but thank you for offering." I responded, my stomach complained for a brief moment and she left. Placing the box next to me on the sofa I continue looking at the photographs, loads of Emily and her dad, very few of her mom, those that are there end when she's around 5 years old… Oh fuck, I should've guessed. I hear footsteps rushing down the stairs, her hair is a mess and she's basically wearing one big shirt and shorts when I see her,

"Marie!" Emily said, tackling me back into the sofa. I could feel a blush blooming on my face as she stared at me from her position on top of me. She smirked, and I said,

"Hey, Emily. Happy birthday! It's in the box, I hope you like it." She looks at the box and picks it up,

"Marie, this is a wooden chest, not a box." There's some awe in her voice, her hands gently probing around it as if memorizing the patterns on it, "Where'd you get this? Is that an egg?" She asks me,

"Well Taylor and Danny helped me find it and it's not an egg. It's a music box, in the shape of an egg. Just place your thumb on the blue crystal and it should play." I lie, and see that her eyes narrow before pressing the eye. A soft jingle plays, here eyes widen and her hands tremble slightly, a small smile spreads across her face and she asks,

"Oh… wow. What song is this?" Oh… I didn't expect that question,

"Dunno, sounded cool and thought you'd like it." I partially lie to her face again,

"Hmmm…" She said before poking my nose with her finger, "Okay, if you say so. Since you're already here, wanna go up to my room? I feel like playing with Benedict."

"Benedict?" Why call Eggy Benedict?

"Yeah, he's an egg. Therefore Benedict. Not calling him scrambles or poached. And I'm not calling him Omelet." She replied after giggling at my confused face. Channeling as much sarcasm as my voice could handle I said,

"I bow to your mastery over naming conventions, Queen Emily." She stares at me for a solid minute before getting off of me and stating with the haughtiest tone I've ever heard from her,

"As well as you should Lady Marie, I am the wisest queen in all of Brockton Bay." To her credit she didn't laugh immediately, and neither did I, however I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lily looking at us stifling her own laughter. 

"So, what are we doing? Playing or watching a movie?" I asked Emily who had sat opposite of me with the tiny guardian on her lap.

"Sure! I have some movies we can watch here… Oh wait, Lily! Can you grab some popcorn from the store?" Emily basically shouted at the older girl who nodded before saying,

"Sure, you can pay me later for it."

"Thank you!" Emily shouted as Lily left, once the door closed she said, "Right so what do you want to watch? I have some Aleph imports as well as some old ass movies."

"Aleph?" I asked since those are rare in Bet.

"Yup, did you know their version of star wars didn't have Sean Connery…" She replied as she began telling me more about the movies. The hours flew on by as we talked and watched a movie. Or two… We definitely didn't talk over most of it. Or engaged in popcorn based warfare. Any video evidence of said events is fabricated.

-Hebert Household, basement workshop, 6:00 pm-

"So what's this about an endbringer?" Taylor asked me as I entered the workshop. She had several bundles of spider silk in her hands, and was seemingly picking up more before placing them on the work table opposite of my own.

"Wow, not even a hello." I snark back at her, though admittedly I shouldn't, given the possible urgency, but I'm currently a teenager so snark and sarcasm is 80% of my tone. "But I suppose that this does count as more important. A while back a villain group called the travelers appeared. Their leader is an idiot whose sole purpose is to be a good domino piece for the Simurgh and his girlfriend is a broken trigger. For her sake I'll only call her Noelle, her power is very simple, she takes a cape, eats them and produces clones of them without little things such as morals. You can imagine why that's a problem. At the moment they're hiding under Accord, but I know Coil wants them here." Taylor frowns for a minute, I can see her mind working to an answer, she grimaced before saying,

"Shit, that means that our best bet for taking her out if she rampages is long range, which means the Lasgun. Or Belle." I simply nod and say,

"Yup, speaking of her, did she help you come to a decision on the spice? I do need an answer on it soon, Taylor." I didn't want to pressure her, but the sooner she's free from prescience the better it is for her. Now that I think about it I should also start on making Danny's shield, if only for her sake of mind. 

"What's the mask for?" Taylor asks, pulling me out of my thoughts and changing the topic. I frown as I walk towards the mask, my fingers touch it and I can feel something, like a humm or a buzzing of power just beneath the surface of it. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I shake my head before saying,

"An emergency, I hope to never need it but if we have to face an endbringer, it'll give us a chance. And stop dodging the question Tay." She glares at me for a second before sighing and replying,

"I'll do it, but I won't take the spice beyond the first time." Ah so that's her worry? I do somewhat understand it but spice addiction has its perks, but I'll respect her decision. Smiling I ask her,

"Good. Now, anything you want me to change while I'm at it? Better vision? Bigger bust? Knowledge of how to speak Sumerian? Because enhanced strength and mental speed is inevitable, I'm basically giving you the peak of a human body." Taylor blinks, her mouth opens and closes, staring dumbfoundedly at me she asks,

"You can do that?" I want to tell her: well yes, biotinkering is 90% bullshit, 10% science. But I have a feeling that she wouldn't take it as well as I would hope, so instead I nod and reply,

"Yes, since all I'm doing is drawing out specific memories and traits that are already in your blood. But if you're asking about the boobs, it'll take a while since I don't want to arouse suspicion. Maybe like a year and you'll be a high B cup or C." I don't add the fact that I'm also modifying her genes so as to make her prescience proof, nor how I'll improve her body in general, she already knows about that. She looks like she wants to say yes, but closes her mouth and furrows her brow in thought. Breathing deeply she says,

"I… uhm… Okay, can you make it so that I don't need glasses but can still use them? And as far as the other stuff goes, can you give me some time?"

"Sure! Let me call Belle to bring the pod here and afterwards we head to the lab… I mean workshop." I cheerfully reply while grabbing the feathers and pouch full of deku nuts from the table. I'll finish making the roc cape while waiting for the procedure to be done. Maybe I'll have enough time to make a bunny hood as well… Fuck I'm going to have to redesign my costume.

"It's more of a multi-complex at this point. Did you know those mushrooms are the size of vans now?" Taylor says snapping me out of my thoughts, I nod and say,

"Yup, the stone manufacturing is going just as planned. Hopefully I'll be able to give the director a nice Christmas present." Once everything is in the slate I start heading upstairs to grab the master sword, I'll have to see if Belle is willing to help me train with it. Taylor looks at me with a somewhat confused look and asks,

"And what would that be?" I stare at her dead in the eyes as before saying,

"Ellisburg cleansed and Coil's head on a stick. Also don't touch the boomerang, I haven't tested it." To her credit she's getting used to my more macabre suggestions, she still looked worried about me.

-Docks Workshop, April 03, 2011. 01:00a.m.-

It took most of the night to finish the adjustments on Taylor's body. Part of me was still wary of the mental aspects but until she woke up I wouldn't know for sure if she would be fine. The spice trance revealed that she disappeared from my vision, thus only leaving Danny and Emily for people that are close to me, as affected by prescience. Stretching my arms I looked at the finished Roc Cape and Bunny hood. While I managed to change the coloring to a deep blue, it was still…

"Cute." I muttered. Belle chuckled as she served herself what I could only describe as a smoothie made out of several peppers. Unflinchingly she looked at me in the eyes as she drank the foul concoction. 

" Is she trying to establish dominance? " I thought even as I shook my head and put on my new costume. Rather than gray or black I chose a deep blue color scheme for the tunic, pants and boots. My gauntlets were dark brown and with several alchemical circles inside so as to allow me to quickly deploy specific types without the need to clap. I kept my collapsible staff, a few knives and the master sword around my body, the sheikah slate contained a gale boomerang, the fire rod, a hook shot and the fierce Deity Mask and a few bottles of red potion. The thin domino mask covered the top part of my face while my mouth had its own separate mask. 

Changing my clothes took around a minute since I couldn't just alchemically create them and I found them somewhat snug in size. Putting on the bunny hood and the roc cape I decided to test out my jumping, in an instant I was almost at the ceiling, my hand actually touched it before I fell. I landed and rolled and began laughing. It worked perfectly now came the hard part, practicing with the master sword.

I drew the sword and did a few practice swings, several of my ancestors wielded longswords at least once, their experience flowed through me and while it didn't translate 1-1, due to my size and relative strength; it was better than starting from scratch. Slowly I could feel something connect to me, it was like a single drop of water running up my arm, each swing just made it go faster, calmer, smoother. 

1, 2, 3, 4, step, 1, backstep, 3, jump to the side…

(Excellent form Master.)

Chimes sang inside my head, I didn't slow down my moves instead I sped up drawing from the well of power that my modifications had given me. I could see everything standing almost still while I swung my blade. Then I stopped and time resumed normally, the ground where I had been standing showed light damage, small cracks where I stomped and light gashes where the blade struck. 

" So what should I call you? " I asked the sword,

(Master, you know my name. I am Fi, the spirit that dwells within this blade. I am here to aid you in your quest to protect this world.) She replied in the depths of my mind. I heard Belle move out of her seat and approach me, turning around to meet her. I saw that she was focused on the sword.

" Can she sense it? The spirit? If so, then what have I created? " 

"Marie, can I request that you spar with me?" Belle asked, her body was calm and composed, but her eyes never moved from my blade.

"Sure, grab your halberd and we'll begin." I replied, stepping back a bit. I turned my head to see Taylor's still form in the tub, by all accounts one more hour and she would awaken. I looked at Belle, who had changed into her costume and now wielded Armsmaster halberd like it weighed nothing. In a second she charged at me, her halberd high and almost gleaming, I smirked and stepped to the side letting her halberd fall next to me harmlessly.

"How long do you wish for this to go for?" I asked, raising my guard as Belle swung at me with an overhead strike. The blades clashed and sparks flew as I deflected the incoming attack.

"30 minutes, then we can discuss the blueprints for my upgrade." Belle replied as she recovered from the deflected blow and jumped back out of my immediate range.

(Suggestion, there's a 99.9% chance that closing the distance between us and the enemy combatant and maintaining a constant assault will result in victory.) Fi said while I closed the distance.

" Two things, Fi. I know and this is a spar. But thank you. " I replied back while dodging the thrust at the last moment and landing a kick on Belle. I could feel my bones crack and heal as her metal skin deflected my blow with ease. A horizontal swipe forced me to back away in order to avoid taking damage.

"Point to you, that would've broken a human's arm. And probably their ribs." Belle said calmly, the halberd's head was aimed at the floor, the blade touched the floor and I heard a screech as she dashed towards me, sparks flew and she swung. I jumped backwards, hit the wall and kicked it in order to charge at my death robot. She responded with a thrust that met the master sword with equal force. The bones in my arm complained as I felt the momentum catch up, the butt of her halberd swung at me, too fast for me to dodge properly. The flat of the sword met that steel and my ears rang like someone had taken a church bell and slammed my head against it.

(Opponent is analyzing your patterns, you need to surprise her. Master, may I suggest going faster?)

I nodded and focused, all my enhanced strength in one moment, time slowed down, my clothes caught fire, the blade caught fire, I swung with all my strength. Belle's eyes looked surprised as I sliced through the halberd's head in one swing. The Goron tunic kept me from burning up, I still rolled around to put out the fire.

"Mom… How did you do that?" She asked, even as she approached me with a face full of worry.

"By being a cheat. My body is that of a homunculus, even without the modifications that Leto and later the Bene Gesserit did to the human genome, it's still a force multiplier. Unfortunately that's something I can't use constantly." I replied with a big grin on my face. Standing up and approaching her, I put my hand on her head and said, "Don't worry, I promised you that I wouldn't die. And I keep my promises."

"Fair enough, now get up. We still have 20 more minutes to go." She replied with a smile that was scarily reminiscent of Taylor's when she was angry.

Fuck… She hits hard.

By the time Taylor woke up both Belle and I had stopped fighting and were looking over blueprints for her newer body. While her current one was very useful, it lacked the sheer offensive potential she wanted. So we decided on using a dual core system, using a Holtzman engine and an Ancient Core as energy sources she would be able to naturally use a shield as well as make guardian weapons and shields. The only problem was…

"We have to remake the body from the ground up." I said scratching my head in light frustration.

"And I can't keep my current size and shape. So I would need an identity outside of Harlequin." Belle pointed out. And it was true, even if I went with the smallest possible engine and the smallest possible core her current body, which was based off of my own, was just too small. Even if we used the most compact possible synthetic muscles, used every bit of space and refused to add anything beyond flowmetal as a skin, I would need to add 5 inches at least in height.

"Yup. Plus we need to find a way to make synthetic skin so you can come out with us whenever we aren't on patrol." I said biting the pencil in my hand, the area beneath the eraser was almost already entirely composed of bite marks. Part of me wondered if this was more due to who I was vs who Marie was…

"... What?" Belle asked in confusion. I twisted my head around to look at her and deadpanned,

"Belle, did you really think I wouldn't try to give you a more civilian body? I think I've told you this before, but you are not a weapon."

"M-Marie, I…" Belle began saying as I heard Taylor move. She was slowly removing the mask off of her face and began slowly rising from the tub. Belle grabbed a towel and some clothes as she made her way to Taylor. My cousin thanked her and changed clothes as I turned my back to finish the blueprints. It took a few minutes but she made her way next to me, sat down on the chair and asked,

"Why is everything so slow?"

"Because you aren't accustomed to how your brain processes things. Welcome back to the land of the living Taylor, all that's needed is for you to take the spice and everything will adjust itself." I replied calmly, I grab the spice tube and offer it to her,

"And there's no other way?" She fears the spice, that's good. Healthy respect for magical drugs is useful.

"Nope, unfortunately there is no choice if you want to be free of those shackles in your mind." I said, my voice as emotionless as possible.

"Fine." She says pouting, I hand her the spice, pure and unfiltered melange. Her hand trembles slightly when grasping the vial and in one movement she chugs it down, "How long until it kicks in?" She asks as blue begins to stain her eyes.

"Not long, I'll hold your hand if you want." I reply as she slowly loses consciousness. She doesn't say anything, but her hand grasps mine as she fades into a trance.

I feel warmth spreading through my chest as the trance takes her, her body twitches, the swarm buzzes all around the workshop. Rising slowly in volume as Belle grabs a sheikah slate and begins to take aim at the center of the swarm. Then silence. Taylor's heart stops beating for an instant….

I scream, the pain is too much. Everything needs to burn, that Golden bastard needs to die, I need to kill him and his entire species. NO MORE ENTITIES! 

I hear it start again, a spark within her, I feel the warmth. Her eyes open, stained blue like the sky and she hugs me. Her words fall from her mouth like a raging rapid, I only make out two words.

"Thank you." If she was repeating them ad nauseum my ears couldn't tell, but I understood why.

It's not every day you get to talk to a ghost.

Brave 3.4, end.

Interlude- SD

-ABB safe house, Brockton Bay, April 3, 2021-

Lung looked at the slowly growing stump that used to be his arm, it did not speed up nor slow down regardless of what he did. With enemies he couldn't escalate to his full dragonic form, but a small part of him told him that it wouldn't matter. This wound would heal, but only on its own time.

" Damned Fairy… Or perhaps witch is more appropriate? " He thought to himself as he looked outside, the bodies of the empire grunts that had thought him weak were finally turning to ash. Bakuda had proven herself in his eyes again, though, in his eyes, the bomber was a bit too obvious with her ambition to eventually take over. Sighing as he looked around the room, the red and whites of the wall merely reminded him of Kyushu, the desk that had a single laptop only reminded him of work and the mostly empty cabinet reminded him of his tolerance.

"Lung," Oni Lee said teleporting inside the room, "I have found the leak, he has been dealt with." His monotone voice took a slightly harder edge as he spoke of the traitor.

"Good. Who was paying him?" Lung asked, grabbing a bottle of sake and pouring Lee and himself a cup.

"Several parties. Yăngbăn was one of them, the elite another and finally Coil." Oni Lee said removing his mask so as to drink. 

Lung nodded and said, "Hmmm… Interesting, I wonder who that snake is playing for…"

"Pardon?" Oni Lee asked for clarification.

"Coil," Lung states in an eerily calm tone, "he fashions himself a mastermind, but he is too cowardly to be the main threat, he is a puppet at most."

"So you believe that he is innocent?"

"No. Out of all the parties, he is the most likely despite the Elite's deals with the empire. Lee, I am not the smartest man in the world, but even I can see what his goal is, the mutual destruction of the empire and the ABB." Lung said with a smirk, taking what was left of the bottle and drinking straight from it he spun and looked at the computer, a map of Brockton Bay was shown on the screen and after a few seconds, 

"I believe it is time for me to go shopping. The commercial district is a good spot, isn't it?" Lung said, smiling widely, Oni Lee's spine shivered even as he forced his voice into being steady,

"As you wish, my dragon."

"Tell Bakuda that I require her to indulge herself. Tell her I desire for her to truly shake the earth, I desire to see where the rats scurry."

"And I'm to look for the rats?" Oni Lee asked, his mask back in place.

"Correct." Lung replied with confidence, he grabbed his mask off of the wall,

"And if the witches appear?" Oni Lee asked, in his mind the PRT wouldn't be a problem, the empire wouldn't be a problem, but those two witches that had hurt Lung were trouble.

"The westerners have a saying that I've grown fond of: Suffer no witch to live." Lung declared fully confident in his plan.

-Calvert residence-

Thomas Calvert looked at the toilet bowl he had just spent the last 15 minutes puking in with dread. Being woken up because your other timeline had crashed violently was not something he would've thought would be a recurring element. However, now? It was becoming a daily occurrence, it was random, sometimes a day would pass and then a timeline would crash, and the worst part was that he felt each and every death. And they were getting worse.

"Fuck…" He muttered tiredly. His plan for the doll was shattered, not only had that Maeve girl somehow managed to get Cauldron involved but even Legend was covering for the girl now. He slowly made his way to his bed and took out a phone he had hidden in his desk, a simple text from his ''friend'' Accord appeared.

(The Elite have agreed, the bastard son will arrive in less than 12 hours. The travelers will arrive in 4 hours.)

"At least something is turning out well." He said to no one. Privately he lamented the sizable loss of fortune, but no amount of money was worth this constant pain. The addition of the travelers to his ranks as well was an unexpected boon, all he needed was a bait. His mind flashed to when his puppet escaped, 2 girls accompanied her. He smiled as he realized that he could acquire one easy enough. After all Thomas Calvert was a strike commander for a reason.

Interlude, Snake and Dragon, end.