2.10

2.10

I made it to the mall in time, though my speed was -mainly- in order to avoid having a knife embedded somewhere it shouldn't be, and I wanted to get away before Sophia noticed the lights Shard attached to her, I'd probably be blamed for the damn things.

Sophia really needs to get herself under control, I'm a -little- worried about her sudden armaments, but she's smart enough to keep her antics subtle enough that the PRT won't ship her off to juvie.

So here I am, floating in the air over the parking lot of the mall, I've got my flight spell going in the back of my mind so it doesn't need a battery orb, but I built up a new Filter Shield using a battery orb since my ring broke. I'm going to need a way to build a setting to disable it on my next try so I can eat. The nice thing about the battery is it glows, so I'll stand out.

I saw a couple of people pass by, a few even took pictures and Shard dragged me down so she could get better pictures. I think she doesn't like that I'm the one everyone knows - She's trying to get her name out there. I'm not telling her anything about autographs for a while or this nonsense would get ridiculous.

While Shard was dragging me all over the parking lot I was focused on my brainwave reading spell, it still needed a -lot- of adjustments, and having tested it on Sophia I'm pretty sure it's going to take a very long time to get it tuned for each individual person I build one for. Luckily I only have a few people in mind for right now, mom, dad, Taylor and Impact. Though I do have to go out and find Noelle sometime to get her an upgrade... and see about helping out her core. Something in the back of my head just -screams- 'something's very wrong!' when I see those eroded cores...

Hrm... I'm being dragged but it's by the back of my collar. Shard doesn't do that so Victoria must be here. I look over my shoulder to see Victoria, "Hey, sorry, Shard was keen on introducing herself to... well, -everyone-."

Victoria laughs, "I figured that one out. You're not exactly the type of person to introduce yourself to strangers."

I blink, "You know me so well. So, what's for dinner?"

She rolls her eyes, "Straight to business huh? I'm thinking that Italian place down the street."

I nod... yep, -now- what am I supposed to talk about?... All I've got are my spells but there's no common ground there. Villains? I don't read PHO enough, I have no idea who she's had to deal with recently... wait, most of these guys don't deal with villains every other day, they typically deal with thugs. Oh hey, I've been thinking long enough we're at the group, I guess I missed the conversation window. Works for me.

I wave over my shoulder since I'm being dragged backwards, "Hey guys, name's Will, I do party tricks and catching bad guys."

Dean is there, I can tell because he's laughing, "I think we know who you are. Hey Will."

Victoria raises an eyebrow but she -does- have a smirk, "No party tricks or you'll end up like Dennis did at lunch." She waits for a minute but any of the others don't say anything. I look over my shoulder to realize the 'others' consist of 'Panacea'.

Once Victoria releases me and I reorient myself I look around before saying, "So... Is Carlos meeting us there? Reserving a table or something?"

Victoria furrows her eyebrows a bit and says, "No, it's just us, why?"

I shrug, "Eh... no reason I guess, I just... Isn't this going to be awkward then? I mean, I'm pretty sure you two are dating," I point out Dean and Victoria, "but if-" I interrupt myself and send an apologetic glance at Panacea, "Sorry, never caught your name," then I continue what I was saying, "Panacea's boyfriend isn't here won't he misunderstand?"

Panacea turns red and chokes, Dean is torn between choking and laughing and Victoria isn't holding back at all, she's cracking up.

Panacea recovers first and in an indignant voice yells out, "I'm not dating Carlos!"

Victoria finally manages to recover but still sounds breathless, "Oh you poor thing." and pats me on the shoulder... me? Panacea's the embarrassed one. Victoria continues, "First of all, Amy doesn't like Carlos, secondly she said -you- were 'interesting'."

... Is Victoria trying to play matchmaker? Oh and Shard is trying to talk to Pan-... Amy. Ugh, too many names to remember. I point out, "So has Armsmaster, but I'm pretty sure -he- isn't itching for a date." Which spurs another good laugh from Dean mainly.

Amy is mumbling something - since I already had the spell I tweaked a barebones communication spell similar to what I used at lunch with Dennis and tossed a quick one up to catch the end of what she was saying, "-ower didn't work on him..." Huh. I'd guess that's 'something something something, my power didn't work on him'. What's Pan-... Amy's power?... Healing. Healing requires manipulation and interaction with cells. That -should- require something similar to my infusion, which would be blocked by my Astral Shield... which I pretty much always keep up now just in case. I dispel the communication spell, the thing's useless outside of my aura anyway - and at that range I can just talk.

Alright, so I've been tricked into a double date with someone who doesn't want to be on a date, based entirely off an offhand comment about my power. Ditching them would be rude and Shard would be upset, she's the social one. Ignoring them and just going through the motions would be insulting and I'd have to be here -anyway-, besides, I feel kinda bad for Amy. Her sister is... a little overwhelming - particularly for someone that seems as meek as Amy. Alright, engage social reserves and hope they last through dinner. It's like warp drive, only for social interaction.

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, then throw on a -mostly- sincere smile, then float over to Amy and conjure a small orb into my left hand and put out my right arm for Amy to grab, "Join me for dinner?" Then I whisper under my breath, "Just go along with it."

Amy gives me an odd look, and Victoria is wearing a grin like she just succeeded in -whatever- she was trying to do, Dean just looks like he's going along with it. Amy finally nods and slips her arm through mine, "Sure"

I hand Amy the small two-inch diameter orb and start building up a sturdy bracing system for her that will hold her weight fairly evenly without interfering with movement too much. As she takes the orb and feels the very slight pressure of the constructs she looks at me curiously. I just smirk and say, "push it up a bit." and I start up a flight spell using the bracing system, and focus my senses on the 'control orb' so I can control the flight spell in regards to the orb. When she lifts the orb slightly I have us slowly rise into the air until she brings the orb back to its default location. and we stop. She's smiling and giggling a bit, but I call back to Victoria and Dean who are watching the scenario, "Race you to the diner!" then I turn to Amy, "You're the pilot, let's go!"

Amy blinks owlishly for a moment then grins and pushes the orb forward, slowly at first, she's a -very- careful person, probably has to do with the whole healing thing. After a few seconds getting a feel for it, and I hear Dean yelp as Victoria picks him up, Amy -shoves- the 'control orb' straight forward -hard-. So I crank up the juice and we climb to the point of -rocketing- forward. She screams at first at the sudden acceleration and yanks back on the orb - I make us slow and start going backwards, wouldn't want to squish her from inertia. Victoria is about to pass us and Amy, now feeling safer at the whole thing, pushes the orb forward again and we climb to a rocketing pace as she's laughing - I have a small windshield in front of us. Eventually Amy gets the guts to go a little higher and raises the orb until we're over the one-story buildings and she's smiling brightly... Until we pass the restaurant. and she curses under her breath and turns the orb to figure out how to turn around - I was messing with her, when she pushed it left I just 'strafed' us left, she had to -twist- the orb to make us turn.

By the time we landed in front of the building we were aiming for, Amy was out of her shell a bit, and even I was laughing some. At least Amy was taking this fairly well. I'm wondering if that means Victoria pulls things like this on her often. Once we land I disperse the 'control orb' with a *pop* and lower Amy down gently. It takes her a second to get her legs back under her, like when you just get off a ship. After a few moments she turns back to me and says, "That ball wasn't actually doing anything was it?"

I wince, "Busted. I was taking orders from what you did with it."

She nods, "I could tell, sometimes there was a delay, I think you were just messing with me."

I shrug, "Hey, you got to fly, no complaints."

Amy just raises an eyebrow and points to a smirking Victoria. I respond, "Okay, well you got to fly without being -carried- and you were basically in full control."

She just smirks and nods, "Fine, I'll admit, it was fun." Which leaves Victoria almost squealing.

Dean seems to have gone in to get a table for us but there was a bit of a line. Victoria explained, "He'll come out to let us know when they have a free spot for us." Then she turns to Amy, who has Shard on her shoulder, "So, I told you you'd have some fun!" and smirks at her sister.

Amy just rolls her eyes, then seems to consider for a moment before she builds up the courage to ask timidly, "Will... Why doesn't my power work on you?" Victoria opens her eyes a little wider, oh she didn't know that huh?

I shrug, "I'm a robot." Both of them just stare at me in shock and disbelief. Before Victoria starts pestering me, I grin, "I lied, I've got a shield."

Amy tilts her head curiously, "What do you mean a shield?"

I sigh a little as I think of a way to explain it, "Alright... if you want to move a rock, you have to reach over, pick it up, and move it. I have something that makes it so when you try to reach over, it stops you.... hrm.... " I look up to Victoria, "Hey Victoria-"

Victoria interrupts me, "Vicky. No one calls me 'Victoria'"

I nod, "Erm, right, 'Vicky', could you crank up your aura for a second? I'm doing a demo." And she does, wow, she can put a lot more force behind that than I thought. Amy looks -very- uncomfortable all of a sudden. Well, we'll fix that. I make a 'flat' Astral Shield in front of her and expand it over her so it pushes only Vicky's emotion aura away and splits itself to take in Amy. A few moments later and Amy is -staring- at me, mouth agape. She turns and looks at Vicky for a long moment, then back at me and blinks slowly.

Vicky raises an eyebrow, "Is it working?"

I nod, "Yep, I think the fact that it's working shorted out her brain though."

Amy glares at me, "I'm not shorted!"

I blink for a moment, "Oh, right, shouldn't be mean to the date." Amy sputters as I turn to Vicky and deadpan, "She's just basking in awe at the marvelousness of my 'talent'."

Vicky just grins, "Oh, she's 'basking' in your 'talents' do tell!" yes she's teasing Amy. If the blush means anything, it's working.

Around that moment Dean comes out. Vicky hadn't turned off her aura and Dean is looking intently at Amy with a bit of confusion for a long moment before he speaks up, "Um, we've got a table, and Vicky... you should turn that off before we go inside." The aura dies down, though now that I'm more sensitive I -do- notice there's a trace of it up all the time.

We go into the restaurant and take our seats, Dean and I got the outside so we're seated next to our 'dates'. I order something boring, spaghetti and a coke, Shard orders a dessert for some reason... when the waiter looks around for confirmation I nod, I really spoil her too much. I don't really pay attention to what everyone else orders though.

Dean whispers something to Vicky, who then smiles and speaks up, "So you're a tinker right? Could you make a bunch of those shields? If they can stop master effects that would be a huge help, I'm sure you'd make millions."

I roll my eyes, "No and No. I'm here to eat dinner because you went behind my back and invited -Shard-, I'm not here to divulge all of my secrets." I turn to Amy, "Sorry, I'll try to be a better date." Amy just nods in understanding. I half expected her to glare at Vicky, but she doesn't even get any heat in her gaze, just sneaks the occasional look. Hrm. Maybe I'm just not a very good date. Then again my 'socialization reserves' are running low anyway.

Alright... I need to either come up with a topic, or create something fun to do because I just completely shut down the 'what are your powers' topic... And I'd better do it fast. I'm getting a little bored and annoyed, which must be showing on my face based on the looks I'm getting from Dean.

I get a small respite from Vicky, "You know Will, mom wants to talk to your family. You'd be a great fit for New Wave, a family of capes without masks fits with what we stand for."

Okay, the respite wasn't a great one. This needs another shutdown but maybe I can be gentle?... "Eh, I have my own team and my parents aren't really behind that whole 'save everyone' ideal."

She shrugs and says, "But with you revealed like this you're going to come to -some- trouble sooner or later and you'll need someone to have your back legally. Some mugger could complain you broke his shoulder and you'd be in a heap of trouble."

I almost chuckle at the thought of it. 'This guy stopped Lung, saved lots of people and crippled coil's organization. Let's throw him in jail!' Then again, people as a whole aren't known for making the best decisions. Individuals are pretty good about it, right up until you have a small mob. "Eh, in theory the PRT has my back, but really I trust them about as far-... I would say about as far as I could throw Lung, but it turns out that's pretty far. I'll just say I don't trust them much, they've tried a couple of underhanded things. Thing is, that means I don't trust New Wave much either. I don't mean any offense, but if you can't trust the 'official' heroes, then why would you trust 'semi-official' heroes?"

Vicky narrows her eyes and Dean actually seems a little offended. Amy doesn't seem to care. I hope I haven't hit -too- much of a sore spot. I guess I should clarify. I shrug, "If you can't trust the law then who can you trust?" Doesn't seem to have helped... Oh well.

Dean speaks up, "So, why do you want to be a hero, you... don't exactly act the part."

I sigh and continue, "Look, heroes are great - the good ones. The ones that -really- want to be true -Heroes-. The thing is; I'm not one of those. In the end I'm just doing this stuff because I want to. No bigger picture, I just find it interesting and fun. Even when I was kidnapped I had some fun, who else can say 'I escaped my kidnapper, rescued a doctor and a crazy girl, then flew through town naked'?" I'm getting looks from all three of them, "What? The guy took my clothes so I put on some constructs."

Vicky seems to find it humorous, Dean seems to be trying to process the information and Amy's eyes are getting larger. Amy is the one that speaks up, "You! You're the 'blue man' that rescued Di-...!" and she covers her mouth, apparently she's not supposed to share that.

I nod, "Yeah, it was probably me. You ended up cleaning her up? Is she -really- crazy or was it just the drugs?"

Amy nods, "Yeah. I cleaned her up. That stuff was killing her, she kept saying some numbers but once I got all of that out of her system she calmed down and went to sleep."

I smile a bit, "Yep, that's her. Glad she got cleaned up." and just then the food came.

During dinner there wasn't much talking, and I discovered why Shard wanted dessert, she picked up spoonfuls of peach cobbler with ice cream and fed everyone. Sadly she's not very good at it so made a few messes - luckily we have Filter for easy cleanup. I got a question about that but I just ignored it, I already told them I'm not there to answer questions about my powers. I answered Amy's thing about my Astral Shield already.

After dinner I was considering hitting Amy with some [Sleep], I didn't want to deal with this anymore and it'd be a good excuse, but I'm pretty sure Dean can see things like that based on his previous reactions to my emotion manipulation. Dean whispers something to Vicky and she looks a little put out and annoyed when she looks at me then she says back to Dean just loud enough that I catch it, "He's fine, he can deal with hanging out a little longer."... I wanted to groan. Can't E88 or the Merchants attack or something? Murphy, you're never there when I need you!

Vicky brought up a couple of topics on pop culture, some fashion, TV shows, etc. -none- of us were interested in and I'm pretty sure she didn't notice at all.

I interrupt Vicky's constant barrage of... pop culture, "Hey, how about we call it a night, Shard's getting tired." Shard stares at me for a couple of seconds, then understands and -visibly- nods, then makes an -obviously- fake yawn. Partially because she doesn't have to breathe.

Vicky looks put out, "So you're ditching us."

Well if she's going to be like -that-, "That -was- the plan, yes." Dean snorts but he seems to have been expecting it, and again, Amy doesn't really care. I elbow her, "Come on, I'll let you fly home." She -does- smirk a little at that.

Vicky rolls her eyes and sighs, "Fiiine."

I nod and toss down some cash for the bill - something about even though I was invited out, they're girls. Well, obviously not Dean, but still. Once outside I created Amy's little flight orb and bracing construct. She seemed to -really- enjoy flying like this, she even asked if I could stop the windshield so she could feel the wind. I didn't see why not. We ended up taking the -very- long route. Halfway through though, Amy seemed to be building up the courage for something. Finally she asked, "Hey... I-, I know you're a tinker... Could I get one of those shields? I won't tell anyone and I'll make it up to you... Just... Please?"

I bite back a sigh... ugh, I can't really say no. Having the world's best healer owe me a favor at the cost of one hour is just too good to pass up... I breathe out, "Fine... but this is a complete secret, alright? People would ask if you suddenly had a ring, can you keep a toe ring on all the time? - I mean ALL the time. If you take it off without it being drained it'll explode."

She nods, "I saw what happened at lunch"

I point to the junkyard at the edge of town, I'm sure I can find something there to use. Amy uses the orb to turn us and guide us that way - though technically I'm still driving, no need to mess with the illusion of it.

Once we land I hand her my phone, "Call your parents or Vicky, say I'm taking you star-gazing or flying or something. I'll need about an hour to get this done, then we still have to get you home."... Am I just a pushover when it comes to cute girls?... Would I do this for Carlos?... I sigh... if he looked that desperate then I probably would, though I do admit, I'd be even more inclined to if he was a cute girl - no illusions there.

I grab a bit of engine and use Filter to pull out a small chunk of it just as I hear Amy hang up. I go back and hold up the small chunk, "Alright, take off a shoe, need to measure your toe." I could measure it without that but no need to reveal more than I have to.

A few minutes later and I had a ring on her toe that was perfectly sized and smoothed. Next I go through what is becoming a common phrase, "Clear your mind. Focus on what you can feel, when you feel something new, invite it in." A somewhat short time later and I manage to push through the outer aura and get a glimpse of her core. Like Sophia's it has cavities, but it looks more like it was 'eaten' than just... filled with shadows. Again, nothing I can really do for it right now. I take my time to properly build up the personal Astral Shield and charge up the material of the ring, then let the whole thing bind.

Once I pull out of her aura I blink for a moment and check my phone for the time. About forty-five minutes, a mixture between this being overall much easier than Sophia's ring and that I'm probably getting better. "Alright, give it time to charge, as it blocks the effects it'll lose charge so spending all day around Vicky will drain it. It's one-way so you can use your power through it, it'll just split when you touch someone. That -also- means, if you poke Vicky you'll feel her aura."

She understands and nods, -I- however... have an idea. "Hey... Would you mind checking me over?"

She shrugs, "I -do- owe you now."

I smile, "If I can make what I'm thinking of work then you may only owe me for another couple of days." I take off my Astral Shield ring and set up a sturdy one-way Force Shield around us, "Um, cover your ears." She complies and I -throw- the ring as hard as I can. The moment it leaves my aura it -explodes- like a true concussive grenade... Amy is staring at it wide eyed, then looks down at the ring on her toe worriedly. I tap her shoulder to get her attention, "Completely safe as long as it's..." I look at her skin for a moment to judge her aura, "Within about a half inch of your skin. It's safe to take off if you can feel Vicky's aura - it means it's drained. But if you take it off it won't work anymore even if you put it back on." She nods, and seems to be calming down a little, "And don't worry, I can't set it off remotely or anything."

She rolls her eyes, "Yeah, like you'd plant a bomb on me just for giggles."

My smile turns bright, "Alright, now examine my body!" and I hold out my hand.

Amy rolls her eyes again at my silliness, and -I- fly us the hell out of there before someone checks out what's up with the explosion. I feel when her power surges through my body, and without the Astral Shield it's just flooding my system, unlike my aura which can't merge with another without a lot of effort. Amy -gasps- a moment after touching my hand, then -stares- at me... again. Seriously, she's doing that a lot. Huh, I can follow where she's looking, good that's part of the plan here. Why is she looking at my brain? I thought she didn't do brains? Well, she's not healing anything yet. "Let me guess. I'm impossible." I didn't expect her to -actually- nod. I blink at that. "Um, alright, clarify, -how- am I impossible? I was just being silly."

She blinks for a moment and I feel her focus leave my body though her aura remains infusing me. "You... You're not a parahuman. You don't have a Gemma"

I snort a laugh, "Yeah... I don't know what that means, but I don't think it really matters does it? For now, I'm going to cut myself, and I want you to heal it. Is that okay?" She blinks a few times wrapping her mind around how I don't seem to care, then nods. So I focus on -her- focus and what her power is doing, while trying to lock it in my mind so -I- can try it, while I make a razor sharp construct and slice the back of my forearm several times over. Her power is -somehow- forcing the cells to divide. I try to watch closer... Some sort of signal, also applying energy, a combination of force and electrical stimulation which creates a chemical stimulation. Applying the additional energy and -feeding- the cells exactly what it needs helps it do all of that faster, and she guides it all to the appropriate places. I think her power affects time slightly too as the cells are working much faster than I expect they're normally capable of. A few more sessions with her along with a -lot- of practice and I'll bet I will be able to -somewhat- mimic her power. Ugh, still way too many things on my plate.

I build up another Astral Shield, "Thanks Amy. I hope I wasn't too bad of a date. I know I can be a bit of a downer."

She shrugs, "It's fine, Vicky does this sort of thing once in a while, I'm used to it."

I nod and point to my head, "Remember, this stuff is a secret, even the Gemma thing, alright?"

She just shrugs, "Uh huh, like anyone would even believe me if I told them 'the guy that can fly and shoot lightning isn't a parahuman'."

I smirk, "Well, let's not give them any reason to. Now, Let's get you home so Vicky doesn't come out and try to strangle me for running off with her sister."

I dropped Amy off in the arms of a grinning Vicky about ten minutes later, then flew back to my apartment. I'll probably be ignoring ant men today in favor of figuring out more spells.