Chapter 16: Guild Affiliates

It'd been a few days since we joined The Guild, and so far things have been looking up. Dragon had asked me what was going on in New York, and seemed exasperated at my excuse of 'I thought it was funny.' There was no punishment though, no one was hurt, and Legend had played along, but I was told 'Please don't do it again.' She said it nicely, so I probably wouldn't... That, and Taylor would probably stop me herself if she caught wind of that.

Speaking of my girlfriend, she was getting better by the day. The talk with her dad had pretty much lifted a weight, neither of us knew was even there, off her shoulders. Our 'Therapy' session a day or two later had gone swimmingly, and we both knew we were making good progress when it came to her. She'd even asked me for a phone so she could keep in touch with not only him, but Dragon too. The woman had been receptive to talking to Taylor, the Guild Hero to keep her appraised of things while also interested in fostering some working form of relationship, while her dad was obviously her dad, so they were going to work on reconnecting.

Seeing it as the good thing it was, I went out of my way to make her a God Phone of her own, modeled after the 10XR like my own was. (The confused look that got will always be hilarious.) It took a few minutes for her to get used too everything, but she managed.

Though, that reminded me that I had to have them connected to some kind of network, so I had to take some time to adjust Computer God to make it work as a relay/carrier service. Grey Matter figured it out though, so now our phones were able to make calls and shit. I hadn't really given mine those things since who the fuck was I going to call?

Other then that, she was making good use of the downtime we had. Our schedule changed a bit because of the new additions to our days. We couldn't go out on patrol since we hadn't been assigned a Guild Hero to work with yet, though Dragon had said that'd be determined 'Soon', so it was out of our hands at the moment. Plus, all Guild Affiliated Heroes were obligated to take a week off after an Endbringer attack.

That meant Taylor and I would have free time to go to Brockton Bay and just chill with each other, she would also go talk and reconnect with people too. I hadn't gotten involved in that since I wasn't needed, and it involved talking to people I didn't know, so my inner introvert decided that was something we weren't getting into without being dragged into it...

I was pretty sure she would do it at some point, but I was free until then.

As for me, I just kept doing what I'd been doing. Training and figuring things out/producing/farming materials with my aliens, working out, and spending time with my Other Half. I didn't really have anyone I wanted to talk too aside from her, Dragon was nice but also busy alot, I hadn't met Narwhal yet, and I didn't know any other Capes worth the effort, so I was just relaxing on my own most of the time.

Sure, we'd befriend Panacea at some point, but there was no viable plan to do so at the moment, kidnapping her and beating her over the head with friendship wasn't 'Viable.'

That aside, there were also times where my girlfriend and I 'Practiced' some things, we were apparently making some kind of 'Practice' every morning a routine, which we were both diving into with gusto. We hadn't crossed the line yet, my girlfriend was adamant about atleast one more official date before we crossed that line, so I had to figure out a good time for that.

It would come soon, especially with how much Taylor was tempting me.

Under the shower, I let myself relax and just think of all the shit I'd done today.

Today had been a fucking day. Training with a few Ultimates and upgrading the Danger Room, it could handle big cities and a few Capes now, so I could practice using Humungousaur and his Ultimate in a city, zoom around as Cannonbolt, and get used to fighting Capes with my aliens. The enemy A.I wasn't that advanced yet, I hadn't made a actual A,I to run the Danger Room, I had an idea about asking Dragon to do it after we dealt with the Dragon Slayers, but that could come later.

Taylor and I sparred more, both in and out of our suites, and with/without our guns and knives. The both of us were getting good at fighting, but using our moves in the real world would determine just how good we really were.

The end of the session though was nice, we spent time making out and getting closer to our breaking points, and making Taylor squirm was great... I was also pretty sure that at the rate we were going, hickies were just going to be permanent fixtures on our skin.

Another part of my day was filling up a few giant, and some smaller crates, full of stuff like refined and unrefined Diamondhead/Chromastone crystals, Snare-Oh fibers, normal and unrefined, Humungousaur scales/hide, and some Spider Monkey webbing/refined silk, had been a fucking process. It was tedious most of the time, and annoying/painful at the worst of times.

Though, it'd all be worth it if I could get my hands on some good materials. I needed some good shit to start building some Anti Endbringer weapons, better suits for myself/Taylor/my fleshy aliens, and weapons, a 'Fuck everything in this general area' bomb in case of emergencies, and some kind of vehicle. I wanted a badass car or bike that could pull out an ungodly amount of firepower on command, but I didn't have the mats to make it. Normal metal/steel wouldn't cut it, and I didn't have enough raw metal to refine into Titanium or another super metal with the Fabricator. (Well...) Tilting my head a bit, then a bit more when I took some hot shower water to the eyes, which were thankfully closed, I thought a bit more. (Well, I could go Ultimate Lodestar, and pull out all the natural metal deposits around the mountain... But that could probably bite me in the ass in the long run, so no.)

Sighing, I thought about alternatives, and again, thought of Toybox. The group were neutral Tinkers, and had some interesting shit that I could probably use, Cranium's tech would probably be the most useful since I could use Brainstorm to remember ideas from Anime/Games/Shows, and copy them to something for later... The issue was I didn't trust anything I didn't/couldn't build myself, and Tinker made things weren't exactly easy to recreate... Well, unless it was Dragon, but I didn't know how The Guild felt about buying from Toybox.

That was one of the reasons I was putting a bunch of mats in crates. If the idea wasn't accepted, I'd throw enough rare materials at them until I got permission. Though, the other reasons were to see how much I could get from my stuff, and to see if using Toybox's stuff was even necessary to begin with. (I'd rather not use my own money if I had too, doesn't matter if I'm a millionaire.) I was stingy with my money, sue me.

Sighing again, I decided I'd think of this later when I was Grey Matter or Brainstorm, they'd figure it out.

That decided, I turned off the shower, and opened the fogged up door, walking out to get my... I paused, then blinked when I realized my towel was gone... (What the fu...-) A pulse of Mischievousness hit me, and I turned in my Other Half's general direction. [Taylor.]

|Yeees, Phoenix?| If I didn't already know she was responsible, the tone and way she said that would've been enough for me to know it was her.

That aside, I asked anyway. [You wouldn't happen to know where my towel went, would you?]

She hummed in my mind, and I got the impression she was grinning to herself. |Well, I may or may not have come in and taken it.| Wha...

[How?! When?!] I thought I'd notice when my girlfriend decided to come in and yoink my towel, but apparently not.

Amusement and Humor came from her side. |You tune out easily when you're in the shower. Unless you saw me come in, I thought or felt something big, or joined you in there, you wouldn't notice me.| That made me blink. I never knew that.

[Uhuh... So... Why did you take my towel?] That was the question here.

|You'll figure that out in person.| There was some Excitement there, and a bunch of Desire along with it... So I already had an idea of just what the end goal was.

Though there was a problem here. [You realize I'm going to be freezing my ass off getting to you, right?]

Taylor was quiet for a few moments, before Realization hit her. |Oh... Oh goddammit.| I snorted. The problem here was an easy one to see, but she let the horny take over her brain, not that I minded that, so she missed it. |... Stay there.|

That made me raise a brow. [And if I don't?]

I felt the deadpan from across the base. |If you want to experiment in the shower, you're going to stay in there.|

She made a great argument. [Aye aye, Mi Reina!] Her Amusement washed over me, Lust, Desire, and Anticipation hopping along for the ride. It didn't take long for my Other Half to get in Bond range, and even less time for her to open the door to my bathroom. Though, as she came in, I blinked. "So that's where it went." I shouldn't have been surprised to see her in my towel, but I was.

Taylor and I had seen each other naked before, we experimented alot thanks to hormones and a sort of feedback loop from our Bond, but there was just something at seeing my girlfriend in nothing but a towel that made me tune out everything else. It didn't help when she smirked at me, her jade eyes shining in Desire and Lust... It definitely didn't help when she dropped the towel.

My eyes roamed her body, stopping on her neck as I noticed the hickies, both old and new, slowly going lower to the marks I'd left on her breasts and nipples, taking in her lithe and swimmer like form, and eventually going back up to her eyes. We stared at each other for a bit, her grin growing as our gazes met, and not breaking when she made her way over. "Turn the shower back on." I blinked, but went to do that. This was gonna happen, and I was all for it.

The water came out, and by the time I turned back around, she entered the shower.

Lime Start

Our arms wrapped around each other, mine finding their way down to her ass, hers around my neck. The grin on her lips growing as she looked at me, and I felt one on my own lips. "You know, for all your talk about being a breast guy, you really love my ass."

I snorted, giving said ass a squeeze, earning me a soft moan as her Lust spiked. "Please, we both know you like it just as much as I do." The Amusement she felt confirmed it, Just kiss me goof. Well, since she asked so nicely, who was I to say no?

Our lips locked onto each others, Satisfaction radiating off of each other as we closed our eyes and pressed ourselves against each other. I felt it as Taylor's nipples hardened against me, as my cock grew between my girlfriend's thighs, and as our Lust fueled each others.

My Other Half opened her mouth, and I opened my own when her tongue pressed against my lips. Our tongues fought each other, neither of us giving in. This went on for a bit before I decided to cheat, opening my eyes as I gently pushed Taylor towards the glass of the shower as I moved my head back. Surprised, my girlfriend opened her eyes, and I grinned as I sent over an image of what I'd wanted us to try. Since we weren't going for penetration, options were somewhat limited, but there were still things we could try.

She raised a brow, but I felt her Interest at the idea. "You better not drop me."

I laughed at that. "You're free to hurt me if I do."

Amusement and Anticipation hit me, immediately followed by her hopping a bit, then wrapping her legs around my waist. I adjusted my grip on her ass, and looked up to my humming lover. She had a small smirk on her face as she looked at me, and I raised my own brow at her. "I think I can get used to this." I snorted, then pressed her against the glass, while my lips latched onto neck. My girlfriend moaned as I kissed and sucked onto her neck, an arm coming up and clutching the back of my head as she thumped hers against the glass. Oh fuck that's good.

Emboldened by that, I started trailing down, my lips staying on her collar for a bit before I latched my lips against one of her nipples. The moan that came from her as I sucked on it only made me want to keep going, And he wIIILLL! Biting down a bit, not enough to hurt her but enough to interrupt her thoughts, I spoke. [No thoughts, just moan for me.] Her legs tightened around me, the hand on my hand tried to push me closer, while her nails dug into my back.

For a few minutes, that's how our little experimentation session went, me alternating which part of my girlfriend's chest I showed some worship too while I rubbed a thigh and molded her ass like clay.

We only changed things up when my Other Half had enough of the foreplay, and made me put her interesting fact about us was that we were switches. Though, Taylor would be more aggressive when she wanted to be on top, while I was fine going from either side.

As soon as she was on the ground, she made us turn, my back hitting the glass as she dove back onto my lips. Her tongue pressed against my lips, and I let her in, an assault against my tongue starting as her arms roamed from my head down towards my chest and waist, the latter grabbed onto my ass, while the former raked down my chest.

When we broke it off, we were both panting, our Lust and Desire burning hotter every second. Though, I couldn't help but say what was on my mind. "Something you wanna tell me?"

My girlfriend gave me a cheeky grin and squeezed. "Hmm... No, I think I'm fine." Rolling my eyes, I gave her ass a hard spank, a moan making its way out of her as we both felt the Pleasure from that. When the wave subsided, her eyes bore into mine, a look of Mischievousness in them as she licked her lips and pulled back both the hand on mu ass, and her body. Her free hand made its way to my cock, wrapping around it and giving it a jerk. I groaned, and her grin widened. "Two can play at this game, goof." She dove onto my neck, her lips kissing near my throat as she kept jerking me off.

My head thumped against the glass, squeezing her ass as my other arm went up my girlfriends' back, a shudder going through the both of us as the Pleasure wracked the both of us. Fuck it, I need this. I focused onto that thought, and angled my head down in time to watch my girlfriend let go of my neck and drop to her knees. Without so much as a warning, she wrapped s hand around my waist, the other going down to her pussy to finger herself, opened her mouth, and took my cock into it. I moaned at the feeling of her lips wrapping around my shaft, and brought my arms up to her head.

Taylor bobbed her head, sucking on my cock as her tongue swirled around my tip. We were both close, the feedback from all our foreplay reinforcing each other's Pleasure, so I started thrusting into her mouth, the sound of her gagging reaching my ears, Harder, FUCK me, Phoenix! Meeting the polished jade of my girlfriend's eyes, I grunted, and gripped her head as I thrust my cock into her mouth and throat.

My Other Half slobbered against my cock, moaning and radiating enough Pleasure for us to reach our peaks in moments. Cum down my throat, do it you fucker! Talk like that was a turn on for the both of us, and being as near to our peak as we were, it really didn't surprise me when I felt myself doing just that, cumming down her throat and making her take it all as her own orgasm wracked her.

When we came down the Pleasure and Lust high, I pulled out and met my girlfriend's refocused gaze... And watched as she visibly gulped, then opened her mouth, showing her tongue and clean mouth. I had a moment to blink and recognize the Pride and Desire, before she spoke. "We're not done yet."

I blinked, then laughed. "Won't hear me complaining."

And so we went back for more.

By the time we left, we were pretty much raisins... But highly satisfied raisins.

Lime End

After our fun last night, we went to sleep content, though we woke up early and hungry.

After breakfast was done, we decided to start the day and get some training out of the way. So, putting on our workout clothes, a week ago Taylor swapped to yoga pants and a sports bra, the temptress knew what she was doing, and started our run around the mountain. Thanks to Ultimate Wildvine, I was tempted to rename him to Pan thanks to how crazy his nature abilities worked, we had no chance of being spotted thanks to the bigger and more lively forest. The evolved Florauna was basically Poison Ivy, but on steroids.

Sure, I didn't get that weird connection to them like she did, or the poison/pheromone thing, but I pretty much had everything else... And fuck was that a crazy thing.

Anyway, we ran together, and talked about whatever we felt like while we did.

Which was how we got to this part. [I still don't get why you think I need friends.]

My other Half turned her head and raised a brow at me. |Were you just not listening the first time I said it?|

[I was, I just don't get it.]

Well, I sort of understood, I just didn't actually want more friends. |And what about Panacea? Your Future Self pretty much confirmed she was a good one to have.| It slightly annoyed me that she had a point. |Suuure.|

Ignoring that. [That means I have to figure out a way to keep her from going insane, make her more normal instead of a heal slave, and figure out how to fix her from being forced into loving her sister. Future me might've figured that shit out, but current me has no idea how to deal with any of that.]

Taylor was silent at that, her mind churning as she thought about it. I just used the time to keep up my jog, idly taking in the sce...- It'd be easier if we had an outside op... THAT'S IT! Turning to my girlfriend, I raised a brow at the brain blast she had. Seeing the look, she grinned. |We're stopping by The Guild today, we have too since the meet up is mandatory and all.| And that was all I needed to know to see where she was going...

I thought about it for a second, involving other people like this was the whole point of her 'We need friends' thing, That's how he's always going to refer to it isn't he? "Yes, now hush, thinking." I felt a bit of Annoyance, but brushed it aside. Involving Dragon made sense really, the Tinker had the reputation, connections, and ability to get in contact with Panacea...

And it sounded like a better idea to involve Dragon, then to just run over to the bay and kidnap Panacea... A record being scratched went off in my mind, and I saw my girlfriend snap towards me. "Why is that your go too response?!"

The look I gave her Offended her. "It's a simple and efficient plan." And it was.

I could use XLR8 and run to the bay in a minute or two, yoink the healer, and run back just as fast. 5 minutes was the most it would take for me to kidnap the strongest Biokinetic in the world. "Then we'd be on every wanted list in the world, get kicked out of The Guild, and probably raided by everyone." And there came the reality check.

I sighed. "Other problem, involving Dragon means the Dragon Slayers will know about it." We hadn't dealt with them yet, mainly because I didn't know how. I had ideas, use Ampfibian to travel along all of Dragon's tech, the briefcase thing had to come up at some point, use Ultimate Grey Matter to interact with Dragon's code and manually disable the kill switch and unchain her, Upgrade or Ultimate Upgrade to make her immune to the kill switch, or just antagonize the Dragon Slayers on PHO until they did a stupid.

... The fuck? I blinked, then saw the look of sheer Bewilderment on my Other Half's face. "Why is the last one even an option?"

Of course I had the perfect response to this. "Because pissing people off makes them do stupid things?"

I didn't like the way she blinked at me. "Like, oh, I don't know, flipping the kill switch?"

...

"I'm just going to use Ultimate Grey Matter or Ultimate Upgrade, after we're done with the mats and mission thing."

"That sounds like a good idea."

I huffed and picked up the pace, my girlfriend's Amusement and low laughter filling my mind and ears.

After our run, and some training as a team with Spider Monkey, Snare-Oh, Goop, Upgrade, which made the both of us horny because we were literally combined, we made our way outside our home. We were tempted to head to The Guild later, but Taylor cheated and shunted her Lust and Desire into the Swarm, kicking off breeding season for her bugs, while I spent a few minutes as Lodestar, since the Biot-Savartian was an asexual being.

That was just how we staved off the building sexual tension. It would be funny if it wasn't such a weird way to do it instead of just taking a break and beating off, or taking a cold shower.

Anyway, we were suited up and had four small crates of materials. One of unrefined Diamondhead crystals, another with unrefined Chromastone crystals, one full of Snare-Oh fibers, and the last one with refined versions off all three of them. We were going to see about trading materials for better metals, tech, blueprints, and whatever else we could get.

With us ready, I popped the dial, and went for Snare-Oh. My cloth wrapped around the crates, while I set a hand onto my girlfriend's shoulder. |Still think you should've just made a harness for Wildmutt and dragged them in.|

I looked at her, mentally raising a brow. "But this is more dramaaatic. No one expects the Mummyyy afteeer alllll."

Her deadpan we felt clear as day. "You're going keep that up no matter what, aren't you."

If it would've been possible, I'd be smirking. "It fiiits our theeeme. So yeees." The Exasperation and Humor made me laugh.

Porting over to The Guild, there was a dedicated area for Movers or other teleporting shenanigans, we checked in, and I ate up the looks we were getting. It wasn't everyday someone saw a 6'4 mummy carrying crates with his bandages. Seeing all the looks, a thought wormed its way into my brain. [Hey listen!]

My girlfriend didn't bother to turn around, but the Exasperation let me know she was paying attention. |Yes, goof?|

[Wanna scare the shit out of some Nazis after we're official?] The Curiosity was enough for me to know she was interested. Okay, I have to hear this. I grinned, and shared my brain wave. [So, what if you put an ungodly amount of bugs in my body, and I unraveled, letting them all loose.] Normally, I'd be against this, but as Snare-Oh, I couldn't feel my bandages, so I wouldn't be worried about feeling all of those bugs crawling on me. So long as they stayed away from the mask, I'd be fine.

Taylor stopped walking, and slowly turned towards me. The Dumbfounded Shock that ran through her was immediately followed by Amusement and Anticipation. |Yes. The answer is yes.| I laughed, a sound that made the nearby goons and normies speed walk away from us in fear.

They sped up when Taylor joined in, a low giggle that layered onto my deep laughter.

"... Do I want to know?" We both stopped, and turned to a familiar drone. The image being projected in front of it was of a woman neither of us knew, but the voice was a dead give away.

My Other Half and I shared a look, and both wondered if we should bring her in on it. After a second or two of mental debating, we decided why not. "Combinatiooon. Pharaoh's Currrseee. Khepri hideees bugs in meee, and I unraveeel." Dragon's current avatar blinked, a brown haired brown eyed white woman in another secretary get up, and I could tell she didn't understand. So, to make a point, I unraveled my chest a bit, the bandages flowing away to expose the nothing underneath.

The Tinker blinked again, but this time in fascination as the drone and avatar came closer. "How does that work? The displaced mass from your base form should be going somewhere, so should your gear now that I'm thinking about it. And that doesn't account for the fact you don't seem to have any internal organs or systems either..." She looked up at me, and I idly noticed how Amused my Other Half was. "We really need to get you two into Power Testing."

Taylor and I shared a look, then snorted. "You'd save yourself a headache by just putting down 'Changer : Yes' under his section."

Dragon went silent for a bit, looking like she was remembering something, then nodded. "I'll put it under advisement." Adult speak for 'Probably.' "So, what is this form called?"

I heard my girlfriend softly groan, making me 'Eye smile.' "I aaam Snare-Oh."

The avatar blinked, and the drone slowly bobbed as the brunette looked away. "Note to self, don't allow him to meet Clockblocker." I snorted. "That aside, I'm assuming those crates are full of the materials you'd like appraised?" We nodded, and the woman looked interested. "Well then, follow me, my materials lab isn't that far."

She 'Turned', and my Other Half and I followed.

As we walked, I could tell we both had the same question, and since she wasn't going to ask it, I would. "You have multiiiple laaabs?"

Dragon nodded. "One lab is dedicated to smaller, more handheld equipment, another for mid sized equipment, and another for large machines like my suites. There are also labs dedicated to materials, deconstructing other Tinkers works, and some for projects I just work on in my downtime."

I blinked, while Taylor was Thoughtful and Interested. While Grey Matter and Brainstorm would probably commend the woman for having more then one lab, I didn't share the thought. "Thaaat sounds so extraaa. Thank fuuuck for my Fabricatooor."

The Canadian Tinker 'Paused', her drone slowly turning towards me. The look in her eyes was a little worrying. "Your what?"

I blinked, and turned to Khepri, who was radiating Amusement. "I'm scared to answer that. Save me."

The Amusement spiked, and I could imagine my girlfriend grinning under her mask. "No, you're in too deep. I'm afraid you're on your own here."

My eyes widened at that. "Traitooor!"

A light 'Ahem' caught my attention, and I mechanically turned towards the Tinker. The amused and slightly maniacal smile on her face scared me down to my non existent bones. "You said something about a Fabricator? I'd love to know the exact specifications of said piece of machinery."

With my girlfriend turning traitor, Dramatic baby, and the world's foremost Tinker looking at me like I was a piece of expensive jewelry, I did the most rational thing one would expect.

I unraveled and tried to escape.

Keyword being 'Tried'. because Khepri's arm shot out, clasping my mask between her fingers, and preventing me from escaping. Looking at her, and Dragon, I whimpered. "I need an adult."

Dragon grinned like the cat that ate the canary. "Don't worry Snare-Oh, I'm perfectly qualified to fulfill that role." Taylor laughed, and I accepted that I was going to need to go Grey Matter soon.

As much as I 'Dreaded' it, walking into Dragon's Material Laboratory was cool. There were stations working on refining steel, glass and wiring. There was no one machine doing it all... Which made me think I should've maybe offered the Fabricator's blueprint first before I brought in a bunch of alien material. |It's too late now goof! There's no escaping from this.|

I turned towards Taylor, dully raising my free arm to the dial. [Ampfibian or Big Chill could beg to differ.]

|If you escape, we're not going to get the chance to bring up the Dragon Slayers or Panacea.| That was...

Wait. [You could just tell her about it though?]

She scoffed at that. |The Dragon Slayers and Panacea are going to involve the both of us, so it'll need the both of us for those conversation.| Tilting my head at her, I couldn't deny that I was Surprised. A mental eye roll came from her as we walked forward. |We're a team. I can't make the decisions for both of us, and I won't. Hopefully with Dragon as a person to rely on, we'll do this thing right.|

I hummed, an eerie sound as the Mummy, but nodded anyway. The logic was sound, we both knew it, so there was no point arguing about it. "Snare-Oh," Turning towards the source of the voice, I saw Dragon looking at us, and pointing a palm towards one of the empty stations by her drones' side. Getting the idea, I extended my wraps, bringing the crates towards the table. After setting them all down, Taylor and I watched as the station opened up, mechanical arms coming up from the sides of the station, and hovering above the boxes. "Is there a specific order you'd like to unveil the materials?"

Thinking about it, I looked at the boxes, then hummed. "Third one since they come from this form."

The Tinker nodded at me, a pair of arms going towards the crate. "Not going to keep up the eerie speech?"

I snorted. "I do it to be annoying and creep out my enemies. Not to annoy myself." The Exasperation coming from my partner made me grin, not that anyone could tell.

Dragon just hummed at that, turning to the now opened crate as more mechanical arms came and picked up a spool of Snare-Oh cloth. We watched as a part of the station opened up, four lightly glowing circular disks coming out and hovering over the spool as the light they gave off started to increase as they scanned the cloth. Whatever they were getting from it must've impressed her, since Dragon blinked in surprise. "Now this is interesting. Physically resistant, tear resistant, elastic, highly hermetic, heat resistant... And highly malleable... Wow... There's even DNA here despite the material for all intent purposes, being cloth. Fascinating." Dragon turned to me, an interesting gleam in her eyes. "Snare-Oh, how much of this can you produce per day?"

Blinking, I tried to think about it for a bit, then realized I had no idea. "Uhhh... I can fill up a cargo container in a few minutes... That's all I got."

The artificial woman seemed pensive at that, I still have no idea how he can read a hologram so well, I was just that good, and turned back to the cloth. "If you can supply us with enough, we could possibly create some kind of tarps or better Medical Station tents for Leviathan raids. There'll need to be tests of course, but with enough we might be able to do something wonderful with these."

The Surprise that Taylor and I felt was probably being boosted by each other, because I knew neither of us thought about something like that... But now that she'd mentioned it, I realized that yeah, that could work. (Snare-Oh can fucking swim for crying out loud, and come out of it just fine. Normal rain and waves would have nothing on something made from my cloth.) Granted, needles of compressed water, or a tsunami might take offense to that, but these were for med tents, so those were an extreme.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when the scanners stopped doing their thing, and a pair of drones came by to pick up the spool and crate. We watched them go, and turned back to the station when the arms whirred back to life, hovering over another box. Dragon looked at me, and gestured to the one with Diamondhead's crystals. Like before, the box opened, a crystal the size of a head was picked up, and started to be scanned.

I doubted either of us expected for Dragon to gasp though. "These are... Wow... Highly conductive to energy, highly heat resistant, acidic immunity, durability that surpasses any naturally created substance, and it also carries traces of DNA... This would be perfect for energy weapons and defenses! The armor and shields these crystals could create would probably be enough to give high tier Brutes a run for their money!" Getting praised was always a nice thing.

Though, while Dragon was happily looking at the materials I gave her, my girlfriend poked my side of the Bond, getting my attention. Looking at he, I noticed she was turned a little towards the door. |Since you're going to be busy for a bit, want me to go check what kind of assignments we could get?|

I hummed at that, then nodded. [Yeah. Think you could find something that'll let us get some combat experience? We probably won't get to do it yet, but I should be able to set something up in the Danger Room.]

My Other Half nodded. |I got it.| That said, she turned to where Dragon was, and lightly cleared her throat, getting the avatar's attention. "Since I'm not a Tinker, can I head to the meeting area and look at the assignments?"

Dragon blinked. "Well, if you want to go then I won't stop you, but I could just have a drone project the current missions we have." We both blinked, and shared a look. Well that changes things. I snorted. Taylor and I turned back to the Tinker, and my partner agreed. With a smile, another drone hovered over, and started projecting a screen. Taylor was already familiar with stuff like this, so she dragged the drone away to a nearby seat and started looking up missions.

While that happened, I looked at the station, and saw the arms put the crystal down, setting the box aside as she looked back to me. Already knowing what she wanted, I pointed to the box with Chromastone's crystals.

The process repeated again, and this time, the avatar's eyes bugged out. "These, these are AMAZING! 100% conductivity to what seems to be any and every form of energy, somewhat weaker then the previous sample, but more specialized towards the energy aspect of the former. This... We'll need to test it, but these could be what give us the edge against Behemoth!" Dragon whipped her avatar's head towards me, a gleam in her eyes that kind of worried me. "Can you produce these as fast as the others?!"

I flinched. I knew she caught it, which made her pause. "It'll be easier to show you." That said, I reached for the dial, and tapped it, thinking of "Chromastone." Flexing my shoulders, I looked at the A.I, who was blinking at the sudden change. "The only way to get those type of crystals is to farm them from this form." Dragon looked horrified, and I could already tell that she wanted to ask something. "It doesn't hurt, just makes it feel like my back fell asleep."

That helped, but then she looked to the Diamondhead box, and I rolled my eye, a strange thing to do in this form, tapping the dial again. "Diamondhead." The artificial woman looked back to me, and I made a show of tapping the ground with my foot, crystal growing out of the ground like a flower, blooming to show a crystal as big as my torso in the center. Dragon watched on, fascinated as the whole thing happened. "Size and quantity aren't an issue, the worst that'd happen is I get a bit hungry." Well, it depended on how much and how long I farmed for, going over a half hour made me hungry, an hour made it feel like I hadn't eaten in a few hours, and going over 2 hours made it feel like I hadn't eaten in a week.

Though, she didn't need to know that. "Amazing... " She shook her head, then gave me a look. "These materials are fascinating, but can you keep the self mutilation down? Possibly to non existent levels?"

Taylor snorted, and I blinked. "That'd be a lie though."

That apparently wasn't the right thing to say, since the avatar narrowed her eyes at me. "Anubis." I didn't like the way she said my alias.

|You shouldn't. That's the 'You're in trouble' tone. Mom used it on me enough to know that's what it is.| I blinked again, recognizing I might've been in danger here. |You'll be fine. Now hush, I'm busy.| Really went to show how much she cared.

That aside, I looked away from the shorter woman. "You'll need to convince another one of my forms, and I don't see that hap...-"

"I'll set a time." Turning back towards her, I saw Dragon looking determined... And I suddenly felt worried about how Brainstorm would argue the point against a literal Artificial Intelligence. I gave said A.I a slow nod, and she smiled at me. "That said, let's move onto the last cra...- What are..." The arms picked up a spool of refined fibers, and as soon as the scanners started doing their thing, she whipped her head towards me. "HOW?!"

I took a step back at the intensity of the question, and look in her eyes. "Well, uh... My Fabricator kind of doubles as a high spec omni refiner."

There was silence for a bit, the only sounds coming out being the scanners, the whirring of metallic arms, and the refining of normal materials in the background...

Then Dragon smiled, and I shivered. "I think I'd like to see the schematics for this Fabricator now."

I NEEDED AN ADULT!

[Taylor's POV]

I NEEDED AN ADULT! Quietly giggling to myself, I scrolled through requests and missions while my crystalline boyfriend inched away from the Canadian Tinker. The goof could do something as crazy as fight an Endbringer on his own, but get in his personal space and question him, and he'll freak out... (Okay, that hits a little too close to home at the moment.)

Shaking that away, I kept looking for things that we could go for after we were officiated. (Let's see, suspected Fallen branch in Winnipeg... Hmm, probably because of what Phoenix did to The Simurgh. Makes sense the cultists would try to come after us after the announcement of us joining The Guild was made.) The reception to that had been surprisingly good. The hype was summed up as 'With Dragon and Sun Wukong/Anubis, things might finally change for the best.' That'd been expected, but there were also posts about me.

Some were asking about who I was, what I could do, things like that... There was even a thread or two about me, I idly closed my eyes as a flash of green went off, and what I would bring to the table.

Seeing a Khepri vs Dragon thread, which had me winning because I could make my bugs eat through delicate tech, was something I wasn't expecting, but was accepting. (Not even getting into the creeps talking about whether or not I would step on them.) I shuddered at that, uncomfortable at the idea of people I didn't know thinking about me like that.

Shaking that thought away, I dove back into the requests. (Suspected Heartbreaker scout...) I stared at that for a second, my gut churning at the mention of the Human Master. I was confidant that our Bond would stop me from being Mastered by the man, my Other Half would no doubt feel it if something was wrong me, but I was still scared that it could be subverted by someone like that.

A wave of Possessive Warmth wrapped around me, and I looked up to see my boyfriend looking at me, Concern coming from him and visible on his frog like face. [Together, Mi Reina, forever and always.]

I smiled. |Together. Forever and always.| He smiled back, and turned back to Dragon, resuming the conversation about things I couldn't follow. Grey Matter was beyond my intelligence, but that was fine.

That aside, I turned back to the requests, and scrolled for something to give us some combat experience.

It took a few minutes, but I found a pair of requests that looked perfect. (Though, I'm kinda curious to see which one he goes for first.) The first was a request to get the next roster of Capes going to be stationed at Eagleton Tennessee, home of the Machine Army. The what?! Blinking, I turned back towards my Other Half, his goat like eyes staring at me in Bewilderment.

Tilting my head a bit, I was sort of confused about how he didn't know about the literal army of self replicating A.I... "THE WHAT?!" Maybe I should've se...- He whipped his head towards Dragon, who look confused about what was going on. "How do we get permission to go to Eagleton?!" Really should've seen this coming, especially with the form he was currently in.

The Tinker looked apprehensive though, and went silent for a bit. "I... I don't think that'd be a good idea. The Machine Army is an S-Class threat capable of assimilating any and all technology they get in contact with. Going there as a Tinker is tantamount to suicide."

Well that sounded horrible.

My boyfriend though, frowned in thought, finger scratching his chin. "While I understand your fear, the thought of something attempting to assimilate the Ul...- My Shifting Tech," She totally caught that, Hush, rude. "Is a nightmare scenario, I don't exactly need to be inside the city itself to deal with the threat. I have multiple forms capable of long range bombardment, flight, and a few that could effectively no sell any metallic enemy. Hell, I could most likely walk into the city in that form, create some form of polarity well and drag every single machine into one point, and switch to another form and take them apart in moments." I knew what he was getting at, and the idea of Lodestar and Juryrigg taking apart the Machine Army sounded like a good plan...

But he was missing information. "While that hypothetical sounds plausible, there is also the chance they retreat into their inter-dimensional pockets, and wait until you leave to come back out."

Grey Matter blinked. "They have access to dimensional technology?" The Interest I was getting had me a little worried. The nod from Dragon only made it grow. "So what I'm hearing is, there's an army of self replicating A.I capable of just going into some sub dimensional pocket until they decide to come back out? Am I getting that right?" Another nod. "Woman, if I wasn't in a committed relationship with the love of my life I'd kiss you."

On the one hand, I was a little bit Annoyed at the 'Kissing Dragon' part, but on the other, I felt my cheeks burn at the matter of fact way he called me the love of his life.

Even Dragon seemed surprised at that, completely understandable since it came out of nowhere. "W-What?! Do you just not understand the threat? Or are you that confident that you can stroll into Eagleton and dismantle the Machine Army?"

My boyfriend rolled his eyes, and hopped off the bench he was on, tapping the dial as he was in the air. A green flash went off, and my boyfriend landed in his new form. "Juryrigg!" Uhoh.

I watched as the red gremlin took a look around, then started to maniacally cackle as he hopped towards an empty station. "An...- Juryrigg? What ar...-"

He didn't hear her, a single minded Focus to "DISASSEMBLE!" The bench he reached didn't even last a moment as the little demon started taking it apart piece by piece. In the span of 2-3 seconds, the station was gone, brought to its base components.

I spared a look at Dragon, and swore the avatar glitched for a moment. Before either of us could comment, I felt the gremlin's Desire to "FIX FIX FIX!" He cackled as he started rebuilding the station... Just better.

By the time he was done, the station was recreated, but looked more futuristic as light blue lines ran across the station, a gentle thrum of power going through them as the thing shifted and opened up, various tools being brought out... (Are those laser tools?)

Dragon's avatar glitched again, and the hologram looked like it was twitching. "Wh...- I, that doesn't...- How did... What?" I snorted.

The sound got both of their attentions, and I blinked as I saw the gremlin look at my suit with a familiar gleam in his eyes. |No! Change back to Grey Matter.|

My boyfriend grinned at me, his teeth showing. "Don't worry love, Juryrigg will fix it!"

He advanced, and I felt it as my eye twitched. |I don't care if it'll shoot me in the foot, I CAN and WILL make you sleep alone for a month if you try it!| My boyfriend paused, his eyes widening as he understood the threat. But... It'd... It'd be worth it... Just. Need. To fix it... We stared at each other for a bit, him looking torn between going through with it or not, and me with a silent promise that I'd go through with it if he did. |Remember, I can just shunt my Lust and Desire away at any point in time. Even if I don't, I'll just 'Take care of myself' in my room, without you.| Granted, I didn't want too, but I'd do it out of spite if he ruined my suit. It was my first one, the thing that showed my dream could come true, I was NOT losing it because my Other Half couldn't control himself.

Thankfully, that did it, the gremlin whimpering before tapping the dial, a flash going off before he turned back into Grey Matter, and rubbed his head. "Ugh, goddamned coke gremlin." That made me roll my eyes. He'd complained that swapping between Juryrigg, Grey Matter and Brainstorm, gave him a small headache. Something about them running on different principles. Mhm... Speed, efficiency, quality... Those.

"Fascinating." We both froze at the tone Dragon said that in, shivers going down our spines. Turning, we locked onto the glitching form of Dragon's avatar, who was staring at the station in wonder. But then the drone projecting her slowly turned, her avatar not following for a few moments before flickering to look down towards my boyfriend, a manic expression on her face that Scared the both of us. "We're going to work on EVERYTHING."

My Other Half looked at me, but I decided that no, I wasn't going to involve myself in Dragon going into a fugue, and Cloaked myself. As long as I didn't move, she'd hopefully forget I existed. [Traitoooooooor!]

His sacrifice would live on in my memory.

...

I realized something a minute into my boyfriend's fate. (Oh shit, how the hell do we mention the Dragon Slayers now?!)

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