Chapter 58: Bomber Blues

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[Phoenix's POV]

I reached New Wave in an instant, well, an instant to me. Though I didn't immediately start the fight off with a 'DYNAMIC ENTRY' no matter how much I wanted too. Sure it'd probably kill a clone due to me running at mach speed, but the chance of it detonate wasn't one I was going to take. So, instead of jumping into the fight, which hadn't exactly started yet, I ran around the area, taking in the situation. (Clones taking the high ground, well, as high a ground they can take considering Lady Photon can fucking fly. Some of them haven't started moving yet, but that'll probably change soon. Photon Mom is fine for now, though if the main fuck ports up and leaves a clone to kamikaze her then she'll be fucked... Speaking of the Main Fuck it looks like he's going from building to building, probably about to... Yup, another clone, and now he's right in front of Manpower and Brandish.) Shooting towards the aforementioned Heroes, I appeared in front of them and wrapped my tail around Manpower's, while reluctantly picking up Brandish in my arms, no idea why the bitch was on the ground since she could fly. I still managed to take a moment to mentally snicker at the short yelp of Surprise that came from them, then shot forward again to take them out of the fuck's immediate blast area.

It was just in time too since a clone shot the spot we were just at, a cluster bomb going off as the area exploded. That wasn't the only one though, another one of those glass bombs following right after it, which meant it was to ske-fucking-daddle. "And away we go." Uncaring about how the sudden acceleration would disorient my cargo, I shot forwards again, getting the fuck outta there.

Another explosion and a second of running towards another destination later, and I was free to deposit my cargo on the ground to take in the destruction. As what we were assuming was the usual, the surrounding 100 feet were fucking turned to glass, glass that was actively being blown apart via the cluster bomb still exploding. "Huh..." Looking at it, I had a Curious thought. "Did... Did they take out some of themselves out?" Because from what I was seeing, the initial answer seemed to be yes.

"! Uhhh... I think they did... Huh. ! My eyes flickered to the window with Stheno on it, a clear look of Stupefied Confusion on her face as she apparently used a drone to look over the area. "! Down to 2 clones... And... Wait, where's Oni Lee? !"

Ah... "Well that's not a terrifying question." And it was, because not knowing where the teleporting and clone making suicide bomber was sounded like the set up to having a bad time. My tail thrashed at that, my body tensing as my eyes roamed the area in front of me. Fucker was somewhere, I just needed to fi...- My HUD pinged, an explosion of light went off in the background as Lady Photon blasted a clone into oblivion, the main body lighting up in a red outline as he appeared a few dozen or so feet away from the Heroine.

Seeing him made my already enhanced thoughts speed up, time coming to a crawl as I registered where he was. (I'm too far away, and on land. I can't reach her in time to get her out of the blast zone for when the fucker makes another clone. She won't be able to evade either... I can't make it as XLR8, but I don't have too.) Time resumed it's normal course as I came to a conclusion on what to do. A clawed hand reached up and tapped the dial, a flash of green going on as I changed into Jetray, idly taking note of the small flicker of Annoyance from my Mate as I shot forwards.

My ears picked up a small boom going on behind me, not loud enough to signify breaking the sound barrier, but around there in the grand scheme of things. That aside I tore through the air, talons flexing before I griped Lady Photon's costume and continued flying. Again I was right on time since another explosion went off, the sound traveling for a moment before it stopped, then started again. (What the fuck?)

Now that I was out of range I was able to turn to see... I blinked, the sight of a clone exploding in a show of gore before suddenly 'Glitching' and reappearing, only for it to once again explode in a shower of gore, Confusing me. There was a spike of Concern from my Other Half, but I easily reassured her I was fine, moving onto taking in the situation in front of me as a sea of insects made their way to Bakuda. (She'll be handled, but I have to deal with this.) Which was not as simple as it was earlier.

I hadn't seen the Grey Boy bombs before, because Worm didn't have a TV show, which was a fucking shame, but I could piece together the description of the effects and what was literally right in front of me. "Grey Boy... She did it..."

That whisper broke me out of my thoughts, my eyes trailing down to see Lady Photon. The woman looked fuckin gobsmacked, and going by how tense she was, probably feeling mortal Terror now that she was confronted with one of the genuine 'Fates worse then death.' Mentally humming at that, I poked her with my tail, getting her to flinch, then seemingly remember that she was currently being carried. "Can I let you go now ooor?"

Photon Mom shook herself out of her stupor, nodding at me when she was done. "Yeah... Yeah, I'll be fine."

I raised a brow at that, looking at her, then the Grey Boy bomb, then her again. "You sure about that?"

Another nod was her response, "Yeah, I'll just need to keep moving as much as I can." Well, she wasn't wrong. As long as she wasn't staying in one spot she could probably out fly an explosion.

With her answer I gave her a nod of my own, then let go. Lady Photon easily started flying under her own Power, and we turned to look at the area below us. As far as I could tell, Brandish and Flashbang were preparing to deal with a clone, though seeing as they weren't in immediate danger I turned away, looking for the original. (Where the fuck did he go?) I didn't know, and that was bad. Frowning, I kept looking over the area. "Any idea where the walking bomb went?"

From the corner of my eye I could see Lady Photon frown. "No." Great. Before I could articulate my sarcasm a small beep went off in Lady Photon's sear, getting both of our attentions. Sharing a look for a moment, the Heroine put her fingers to her ear, despite it being unnecessary. "Movement coming from the north? W...-" Before she could finish her sentence an explosion went off... And it wasn't beneath us.

Our heads snapped towards the source... Which was in the North? (Must've tripped one of the bombs. Idiots.)

A black and gold blur shot through the air, a sense of Urgent Determination coming from my Mate as she flew... As well as a literal tidal wave of bugs following after her. |Bakuda's making a run for it. I'll deal with her.| Ah, that made sense.

I sent over Confirmation at that, trusting she could do it, while turning back to the now un-exploding ground below me. Brandish and Flashbang were now hesitantly entering the area, the glow of Brand-A-Bitch's Power bright enough for me to see it as high as I was, with Flashbang by her side and seeming as ready as one could be in this situation. Seeing all that I frowned, still unsure about how to deal with Oni Lee.

I had options, one specifically that while I could use, the downsides would be fucking horrible. Hades, which was Ult Lodestar, could make me fully manipulate any and all metal in a 50m radius, which would be perfect since Oni Lee was basically a cyborg right now...

The problem there was I would not only be stuck as him for the full duration of my timer, because for some goddamn reason Biot-Savartian's lost their goddamn pincer hands when they evolved, which already made it a fucking hassle to go Ultimate in the first place, but I would lose my emotions too... Which I just didn't want to do.

I'd gotten used to feeling, to having more emotional range then just a default sense of Amusement and Boredom, to actually being whole...

I didn't want to lose that, especially because I'd be hit with the equivalent of all stages of grief and every negative emotion after I timed out. Then there was the fact I'd be exposing my Ultimate limiter too, which was one of the big secrets that needed to stay secret. Not even factoring in how Taylor would take the whole thing, which was nearly as poorly as I would. That was why I didn't just go Hades and deal with it all before the fucker attacked the New Wave group. I wouldn't use him, not unless Taylor's life was in danger.

If that made me a fucked up person, then I would reference my Sociopathic Tendencies and tell em to fuck off. I wasn't giving up my emotions for random fucking people who I couldn't give a shit about... So of course Lady Photon shot downwards as I though that, glowing as she readied a fuck off cannon with her Power. (Lady Photon is going to have to be the only exception.) I growled a little at that, idly Annoyed that there was one good person among the New Wave adults.

My Mate's Concerned Curiosity ebbed over to me moments before her voice did. |I have no idea what you're thinking, but them emotional whirlpool I'm getting isn't filling me with confidence.|

Huffing at that, I mentally rolled my eyes at her. [Hades.] That was all I had to say for her to know what exactly I was thinking about.

As another pair of explosions went out, one from Lady Photon blasting something beneath me, the other coming from the north, my girlfriend responded. |... Ah.| That was all she sent, and I knew why. She knew about how much I Hated that form, as well as how much her own experience in Shunting all of her emotions into the Swarm fucked the both of us up, so I knew she got it. Another explosion sounded out, a white phosphorus bomb exploding and spreading out beneath me.

I huffed, Annoyed but still focusing on the interruption beneath me. (The fire won't spread too far considering everything around it is fucking glass, but I'll still need to deal with it.) That thought I reached out and tapped the dial, turning into "Heatblast!" Immediately gravity decided to reclaim me, but that was fine. Firing up my feet, I flipped myself down, igniting both of them as I started blasting towards the earth like a comet. [I'll deal with Oni Lee soon, probably going to go Big Chill so heads up for the sudden power boost, then we fuck up Bakuda, get Amy and Scylla, then fuck off.] Thinking about those Ults never put me in a good mood, so when Other Half sent over her own Confirmation I Happily dropped that train of thought and put my mind to the task ahead of me.

Shooting passed Lady Photon and the Grey Boy bomb, I willed the flames erupting from my feet to shape themselves into Valstrax's wings. I didn't have as much finesse as my Other Half did when she was in her Pele form, Heatblast excelled in firepower while she excelled in control and shaping, but I could still do it. That, coupled with my already fast acceleration, meant I was about to hit the ground soon. Knowing that I pulled cocked a fist back, igniting my body as I pulled the fire still spreading fires towards me. "Blast Furnace!"

The area I impacted exploded, a massive pillar of flames erupting like a volcano. Now, one might think I was being a fucking retard for doing this when there were friendlies around me, but to them I'd say I knew where they were prior to hitting the ground like the fist of God, and knew they would be out of range from the flames. Though a part of me was Annoyed that they were in range at all, the plan for them to back off being ignored apparently, probably because Shards wanting Data or some shit. My righteous grievances aside, the pillar of fire would stop Oni Lee from just teleporting right next to me and killing me since getting too close would turn the fucker to ash faster then I could blink, especially since the pillar was expanding since I was using the surrounding flames from the phosphorus bomb to fuel it.

Speaking of flames, the ones from the bomb helped expand the pillar enough for me to stand up, re-orientating myself as I did. (Alright, no idea where the fuck is, but that doesn't matter. As soon as the flames are fully absorbed I'll go Big Chill and sink into the ground. Taylor will have enough range to see everything, so as soon as she gets a look at the fuck I'll pull a Mirio and 'POWER!' the bitch into an icy grave.) It sounded solid to me. Big Chill would be able to instantly freeze Oni Lee into an ice sculpture if I played it right, though the fact that there'd probably be clones to deal with was an Annoying one...

I also wasn't too sure about my plan, but short of making a black hole or going Ultimate, which I would probably do if I had the chance, I had nothing else. (Maybe I should just shoot the fuck and be done with it. I can just hit em in the heart, he ain't got shit there.) Despite how much I wanted to do that a part of my mind reminded me that the bastard could probably Martyrdom the area with all of his bombs if I did that, ruling it out.

Huffing at that, because I knew how much this was going to fucking suck if I couldn't/didn't go Ultimate, I turned my mental focus back onto the pillar of flame I was standing in, counting down how long it'd take for the fires fueling it to be fully absorbed. (5 seconds.) That was enough I guessed. [Going Big Chill.] My Other Half mentally nodded at that, and I raised my hand, tapping the dial. The familiar flash of green went off, my wings instinctively covered my body, and my senses expanded as my Mate's presence grew in my mind. "Big Chill." The freezing mist I breathed out evaporated instantly, I was still inside a pillar of fire after all, one that would disperse soon since I wasn't controlling it anymore, though that was fine.

Spreading my wings, I flipped the mental switch to turn myself intangible, sinking into the ground. As that happened I noted that the sky was darkening a little, which distracted me for a moment. Re-orientating myself and looking up, the ground may have melted a bit but it was still glass, led to me seeing the apocalyptic amount of insects rushing towards the north. I took a moment to stare at them all, Curious about why my Mate seemed to think calling every insect in a 6, nearly 7 mile radius was necessary. As if knowing my thoughts, she most likely did since the wall we had up whenever we Muted our thoughts was weakened whenever I was Big Chill. |Not playing any games with the bitch that blew up my city.| Ah, that made sense.

Setting that aside for now I focused on Oni Lee, sinking a bit more until I was at the bottom of the glass, it apparently went 25 feet down before being stone again, and started gliding around. 'Flying' through the ground like this was a strange experience, one that I couldn't really describe in words that'd make sense, but it was kinda nice. Though I couldn't forget why I was doing this in the first place. [Eyes on the borg?]

Not even a beat after I said that a feed took over the left side of my vision. I wasn't sure what kind of bug it was from, and I didn't entirely care either, but it showed Oni Lee setting up more clones, 4 of which already being in play. (He's somewhat far, but I can get there fast enough.) A laser from up high blasted another clone out of this mortal coil, while a pair of golden buzz saws bisected another one. (Well, atleast I'm not dealing with this alone.) That was a good thing atleast.

While I flew towards the cyborg bomber I kept track of what my Mate was doing... And I couldn't help but be Fascinated as she hovered in the sky, aiming down the sight of her Sentinel as she aimed at Bakuda. Flying and sniping was something we'd been working on, well she was working on since I was usually testing or training myself with one of my fliers. Taylor though wanted to get the hang of shooting in the air, which she had made good progress in when it came to using her Sagawhen form, which is what we called her Necrofriggian Hybrid form, and could reliably hit 7/10 shots as she flew and shot.

She still got caught up when it came to rising or dropping for a shot, but she'd get it eventually.

That aside I watched as she lined up a shot, zoning in on Bakuda, who was being walled in by a massive cube of insects, while also being absolutely covered in them. The Mad Bomber, who I noted seemed to be mechanically swatting the insects away, something that brought up another red flag in my mind, was pretty much fucked. As my Mate fired at Bakuda, I came up on Oni Lee... Only for the fuck to teleport towards Flashbang, who had already jumped away the moment he saw Oni Lee coming towards him and Brandish, and left a clone above me. I could feel my unoccupied eye twitch in Annoyance at that, but I decided to just leave it be when Brandish impaled the clone with a javelin she threw. (Ugh, why does she have to be good at this?)

I felt the flicker of Amusement from my Mate, who had Bakuda on the ground and pulled out her Hawkmoon... Shooting Bakuda... Then doing it again..? |Pretty sure there's a rule about double tapping.|

I mentally and physically blinked at that. [That's for zombies.] She just shrugged, not deigning to reply to that. [Anyway.] Putting that whole moment aside, I kept flying through the ground, shooting towards Oni L...- Another port, and a clone being ashed from a laser courtesy of Lady Photon later, and I decided to change my mind. (You know what, fuck it. He's going to keep teleporting all over the place, so I'll just get this over with now.) Shooting out of the ground, and returning to a solid state as I climbed upwards into the sky, I let out a huff as I raised a hand to the dial.

Without a second thought I twisted the Ultimatrix, power flooding my body as my form changed. From the feed my Mate shared with me I could see my new form, see the striking resemblance to Vergil's SDT,(DMC) but more insectoid instead of demonic, like Beru.(Solo Leveling) I didn't have horns, instead I had a 'Helmet' that grew out of the same place as my last forms' 'Hood', the helmet looking similar to Legiana's Alpha helmet, just with more dark blue and black then the aforementioned helmet.

With my wings wrapped around me I looked like I was armored, 'Plated' ridges covering my body and made me look bigger then I actually was. My hands though were turned into serrated claws, perfect for tearing into something/one and leaving nasty wounds, wounds that would instantly freeze faster then the blink of an eye. My talons mimicked that, though they were always, even when I tried to reign it in, leaking freezing mist that froze the air beneath me since my wings didn't cover them to keep the mist in.

Speaking of said wings, I had six of them now, the first two pairs were twice my height, which was 5'6ft tall in this form, I was smaller and I Hated it, covering my upper half, and a bit of my waist, while the other pair were only 1.5xs my height and wrapped around my lower half like leggings. Letting out a breath, I idly watched as even more ice formed in front of me. "Nuckelavee." My new form taken stock of, I spread all six of my wings, the mist of pure frost billowing out as it was no longer contained, freezing everything within a 5ft radius of me. "Now, let's see him teleport away from this." Willing for them to fall, I flapped my wings, a flurry of pure white scales falling and being taken by the wind they searched out the nearest sources of warmth.

I watched as my scales spread out over the area, some uselessly falling to the ground where they became inert, some clumping together into slightly bigger masses, and the rest continuing their search. Said search didn't take long, and I grinned when they reached a clone, which was quickly turned into a neat little ice sculpture before it shattered and fell apart.

Nuckelavee was one of the forms I normally wouldn't use in a city, because the capacity for friendly fire was astronomical even without my scales, but the only ones around were acceptable losses. |Lady Photon isn't.|

I mentally rolled my eyes at that. [She's upwind, she'll be fine.] My scales were terrifying, yes, but a strong gust of wind kind of fucked with them.

My Mate mentally hummed at that, which made me notice she had stayed in her Hybrid form instead of going for the full transformation, Going full Sagawhen wouldn't really be helpful at the moment, and was dropping down to secure Bakuda. |And if you accidentally kill Brandish and or Flashbang?|

We both knew the answer to that. [Acceptable losses. They'll be missed but life will go on.] She snorted at that, I'd love to see how he justified that to the New Wave kids. I felt my mandible, because I had those in place of a mouth, twitch up at that. [It would be entertaining.] The raised mental brow she sent me made me huff a bit, some more ice joining the veritable dome I'd encased myself in just by passively releasing the frost.

Manipulating the ice in front of me, I encased my body in a makeshift armor, including my wings and talons, keeping the mist and my scales in as I flapped my wings and flew forwards. I was a tad bit slower in this form, but it didn't really matter considering I could turn everything in a 20m radius around me into a winter wonderland. (Wonder if that makes me better then Elsa?) The pulse of Confused Bafflement was noted but ignored as I flew towards my target.

They'd gotten close to the land bound pair, but much to my Disappointment they didn't latch onto them. They got the clones and main body though, the former turning into ice as they had all their heat siphoned from them and replaced by frost, breaking apart as they died, while the latter shared their fate but had yet to break apart. Given the fact there were no explosions I was pretty sure that the bombs were flash frozen and inert, so I didn't mind getting close to the new ice sculpture...

Didn't mean I got too close though, I kept the height advantage just in case something exploded and I'd need to fly out of its range. When nothing happened after a few moments of staring, I decided to see if anything would if something changed. So, raising a clawed hand towards the sculpture, I manipulated the ice shielding my body into a spear.

The Cryokinesis I gained in this form was far superior to Ymir's, who was more of an AoE/single target juggernaut, compared to Nuckelavee and its more precision based powers. Sure, I constantly leaked sub zero frost that froze the air around me, was able to push it to 20ms, and could control all that ice, but Ymir was fucking busted and was tantamount to a walking ice age, which was why I named him Ymir in the first place. |Sometimes I wonder how you get so distracted.| I mentally hummed at that, sending the ice spike forwards.

The spike tore through the air, then pierced my target straight through the heart, where I knew wasn't hooked up too or covered by a bomb. For a moment, nothing happened, making the both of us Curious, but then the sculpture shattered, breaking apart like a mirror. With that handled, I looked around a bit, focusing more on my own sight instead of my Mate's, Being referred too as a 'Mate' is both strange and highly touching.

I blinked at that, mentally going over the fact I'd been doing that for a while now, then shrugged. It wasn't like I, or my instincts, were wrong after all. Affection pulsed from her at that, but it was set aside nearly as quickly as it came. |Unintentional flirting aside,| I snorted at that, idly removing the ice from myself as I wrapped my wings around me and floated down towards the shattered Cape. |That was anticlimactic.|

That just made me snort again. [Did you want me to go with my first plan? Maybe tell the fuck to 'Put em up for a good ol round ah fisticuffs?'] The mental deadpan was answer enough. [Yeah, didn't think so.]

My Mate rolled her eyes, a slightly disorienting sensation considering I was seeing out of one of those, Deal with it, but I could handle it despite the reply. |Anyway, Oni Lee's done, his remaining clones crumbled when he died, and I've got Bakuda. The northern team looks a little roughed up, but thankfully they didn't take a hit from a glass bomb or Grey Boy.|

Humming at that, and idly looking around to take in where the 'Acceptable losses' were, I knew Photon Mom, Still find it funny he unironically calls her that, was above me still, though she was coming closer, so I'd probably need to start talking to her.

Great.

[Taylor's POV]

Mentally snorting at my Other Half's Annoyance at the prospect of talking to people, I secured Bakuda, who wasn't really doing anything... Which seemed to be wildly out of character given what my Other Half knew of her. (And I can't deny that I'm mildly curious about why.) Granted, I was still pissed and wouldn't mind burying her alive so she could rot in the ground, but now that she was contained I could start Shunting that away to work on the question of what the fuck was going on with her.

[Or, hear me out here, we could just toss the bitch into Azkaban and just not.] My lips twitched at that, Amusement at him calling the Birdcage 'Azkaban.'

Still, I wasn't fully onboard with that. |While we could do that, I'd rather we find out what's different about this Bakuda compared to all the others you've read about.|

He grumbled at that, Annoyed Understanding coming from him as he thought about it. [I know you're not wrong, but I'm still on the 'Go home and chill' train.] I nodded at that, because I did want to go home and put this behind me, I just don't wanna be here, but there were still things to do.

Like getting Bakuda secured in a cell.

Retrieving the north team and getting their injuries healed.

Checking up on Dad and Aunt Zoe, they weren't in any of the blast zones, and I might've checked up on the former already, but it was just a precaution.

Going home and spending time with my boyfriend, Amy, and my Niece.

Probably have a talk about when he started seeing Melody as a Mother figure, and how strange it'd be since we'd technically be siblings by following the logical train of thought that came with that. [Sweet home Alabama.] I full body twitched at that, sending a mental glare at my Other Half for putting that image in my brain. [You were the one thinking about it.]

I Hated that he was right. Smug radiated from him, making me twitch again. |Just wait until we get home.| Fear. That helped me feel better. (Now we just have to get back, go over my checklist, then go home. God, today's been a long day.) Letting out a sigh, and ignoring the chilly mist that came with it, I called Johanna to me and put Bakuda on her. No way was I going to carry the bitch after all she did to my city. (Time to go then.)

[An hour later]

"Yeah, something's definitely wrong here." Obvious statement was obvious.

It'd been an hour since I'd detained Bakuda and he'd killed Oni Lee. During that time Dragon and the rest of her sisters used some drones to go in and tear her lab apart, finding the usual stuff one would find in a Tinker Lab. There'd also been some bombs, and schematics for some, in Erin's words, 'Real scary shit.' Though what was somewhat Worrying was the fact there seemed to be a few missing bombs. They'd most likely be found in a bit, but it was still something that was noted.

There were also some surgical tools, but that was obvious considering there were bombs in Oni Lee, and his clones, head. (Which is still fucked up now that I'm thinking about it with a somewhat level head.) Just because I'd managed to Shunt the majority of my Anger away, that didn't mean I thought I could sit down and watch a movie with Bakuda.

The Lab was stripped bare by now, which left us to deal with everything else.

Northern team was treated by Panacea, Weld was fine, Flechette had almost got her legs burned, and Triumph was fine enough though. (One of these things is not like the other.) I ignored that idle thought, one that sounded like my Other Half, though I was still Amused by it. They were going to be fine, and were fine, so it was all good.

No one else had been injured either, exhaustion and being a little cold from being near Big Chill or Nuckelavee didn't count, which left us with Bakuda...

Who wasn't really doing, or reacting to anything despite being restrained in a PRT holding cell, which was why my partner said that. Our Bakuda was essentially silent, robotic, and made no moves to get out of the restraints she was currently in... Which was basically out of character of her if every form of media he'd read about her had anything to say about this. (So what exactly is the difference between them?)

That was the big question here. "But how are we going to find out why she's like this?" A part of me wanted to leave this be and just go home, but I was too Curious for that.

My boyfriend grumbled by my side, lazily scratching his chin, he'd had his mask down since he 'Didn't want his hair to keep prickling his neck.' I could tell he was thinking about it, though since we were both keeping our thoughts Muted, I didn't know where exactly his train of thought was going. "Again, I'm still not on board the 'Find out why the megalomaniac isn't acting like a megalomaniac' train, and dunno if I wanna be on it."

Before I could say anything about that, Amy, with a sleeping Scylla wrapped around her waist, and a drone entered the room. They'd been scanning Bakuda to make sure there were no little surprises she'd hid away, and apparently just finished... Though going by the weird look on Amy's face, something was off. "So... I don't really know how to say this, because it makes no goddamn sense, so I'm just going to let Dragon say it." My boyfriend snorted at that, earning a deadpan glare from the brunette. "Anyway," She looked over to the drone. "Dragon?"

The drone beeped, then the familiar form of Dragon appeared, but still in her Hero outfit. "If this were in any other context I, and the rest of my sisters, would be fascinated... Now we're just confused." Well, that didn't sound good. "The simple explanation is that Bakuda is seemingly stuck in a fugue state." Phoenix and I blinked at that, Confusion pulsing from the both of us at that. Probably knowing about that, Dragon waited a few moments, then went back to explaining. "What's truly strange about this is the fact she's constantly Triggering, Micro Triggering, but still Triggering nonetheless."

(What? That's a thing?) Sensing my Confusion my Other Half sent me a bit he'd read from a fic, as well as a few excerpts he'd read as Brainstorm. (Huh... Never knew that.)

That aside, Dragon wasn't done. "We're unsure of how long this has been going on for, nor how to get Bakuda out of this state... Which presents a complication."

I paused at that, the phrasing causing a conclusion to immediately come to mind. "They're sending her to the Birdcage, right? Right?"

Unfortunately, Tess hesitated. "This is where things get complicated. Due to her continuous Triggering she's somewhat protected by the law." There it was.

I wanted to be Mad, and going by the scowl on Amy's face she seemed to be thinking about it too, I really did, but I couldn't. Part of me, despite not having dealt with anything similar in a good while, expected something like this to happen. I knew what law she meant, it was one that was even mentioned in the Unwritten Rules.(I've already changed shit, so why not add some more?)

'Any criminal action(s) performed by a Parahuman cannot be held against them within 12 hours of their Trigger Event.' It was a good law, and one that made sense considering Trigger Events were psychotic breaks. Though it'd been amended a while ago, changing from the 24 hours that it was before to the 12 hours that it was now.

Letting out a sigh, I turned back towards the cell Bakuda was being kept in. "So, what do we do?"

There was silence for a bit, none of us really knowing where to go from here... "Either let me kill her or let us go home." Welp, that was expected. "We caught her, she's with the PRT, she's not our problem now."

...

...

...

"I mean... He's not wrong." Goddammit Amy.

Dragon, who I trusted with, nodded along. "Bakuda will be sent to a maximum security penitentiary and kept under strict supervision. So even if we don't do anything else, she'll still be taken off the board." That was good...

But... I still wanted to know. Still wanted to find out why exactly our Bakuda was different... (But... Should I?) She was going to be put away, hopefully never to be seen again... So I didn't have to figure out what was going on...

I thought about the situation some more, tossing around the ideas of either going home and leaving this be, or going forwards and trying to figure out what was going on... (But if I do that I'd have to convince Phoenix to... To what?) I frowned at that, examining my train of thought as I idly listened to the background conversation going on. (I could convince him, there's no questioning it... But should I? Manipulating my boyfriend for this...) I didn't like the idea of it, especially because I knew what buttons to press to get him to agree. (And it's not like they're wrong either. Bakuda will be put away, so I don't need to do anything. Finding out why she's different doesn't really matter in the long run...) Frowning beneath my mask I eventually came to a decision, letting out a sigh as I did. (I can't.)

Manipulating him to agree would be the wrong thing to do. He wouldn't care, probably be Annoyed in the moment, but eventually stop caring and forget about it... Though I wouldn't, and I didn't want the eventual Guilt I'd get from doing it.

That decided, I turned back to the rest of the team, and was immediately engaged by my boyfriend. [Done with your internal monologue?]

I rolled my eyes at that. Of course he'd know what was going on and blatantly ask about it. |Yes. We're going home after I check in on my Dad and Aunt Zoe.| The amount of Satisfaction that came from him made my eye twitch. (When we get home...) The way he twitched made me smile.

Putting my Vindictiveness aside, while also ignoring the small surge of Fear that came from my boyfriend, I pulled out my phone. No one was really talking about anything important, and even if they were I wouldn't be missing anything considering I was able to pay attention to them, so it was fine.

Though when I brought my phone out I froze, a notification flashing on my HUD as my phone connected to my Suit.

'Subject: Danny Hebert - Out of range.'

...

...

...

(What?)

Originally I was gonna just have Bakuda suffer a bit, maybe break her legs and turn her into a pretzel, but then that review about Bakuda not just being a psychotic bitch appeared and I started to think. Now, something is obviously wrong here, and it won't take a genius to figure out what. The issue here is why, and what would happen if a certain organization found out?

That's for the future though.

Anyway, last one I got so back to waiting ye go.

Nuckelavee/Ultimate Big Chill - Due to the common practice of leaving their children to explore space and feed on the nearest stars on their own, fresh born Necrofriggians had began to be hunted and 'Collected' as children, unable to defend or protect themselves. Once captured the Necrofriggian children began being trained and eventually used as assassins by a few of the more warlike races. Their abilities had made them perfect for the roles, and when their training was complete they began utilizing their training.

Once the practice was shown to bear fruit more and more races would hunt down the children, eventually reaching the point where it wasn't just children.

So started the veritable arms race for Necrofriggian eggs, children, teens, and adults close to their breeding cycle. The result of said arms race led to the survivors being turned into unwilling weapons, developing their own natural armor, capable of defending themselves when they were hit out of their intangibility, natural weapons such as their claws and talons, as well as their scales and freezing mist.

Like I mentioned in the initial description, Nuckelavee is a mix of SDT Vergil and Beru from SL. Though he's also influenced by Gore Megala from MH, just instead of madness his scales drain all of their targets internal body heat before injecting them with the frost they carry, fully freezing their victims.

Ultimate Big Chill gains

Enhanced Durability(When wings are shielding himself)

Greater Cryokinesis

Passive/Active frost leakage

Complete invisibility(When intangible)

Heat seeking/absorbing scales

Ultimate Big Chill loses

Mass(He's smaller after all)

Durability(He's squishy under his wings)

Strength(He's an assassin, direct confrontation isn't exactly what he's built for)

Weaknesses

Electricity