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Kitsu POV
I got up super early, the apprehension test is today and I think I have enough energy from the electric surge I got yesterday, but just to be sure however I ran over there and stuck a fork in the outlet again, switched the fuse box, rinse and repeat, might have stolen a pop tart. You can't prove anything.
After I woke up from being knocked out by the pain, I ran back to the Dallon house. And decided to start making coffee for my PanPan. I would cook, but it took me about half an hour to find the coffee. And I don't think I have the time to find everything. That, and I have to stand on a chair to reach the back of the counter. And I don't want to go through all that.
I really wanna make a good impression on these people, mostly Amy and Mark, maybe Carol. Fuck Vicky at this point, if it wouldn't end badly for me, I'd use my bio kinesis to make her fat or something.
"Stupid Vicky, *Mumble* tag *Mumble* she'll be it." I really don't like Vicky right now.
'I get that I'm intruding on her home life and taking the spot light away from her. But she is being unreasonably antagonistic!'
After making the coffee my ear swivels over as I hear footsteps coming from the hall. Turning around I see Amy, walking down with a baggy shirt and jeans.
"PANPAN!" I jump up.
"Don't yell, and don't call me that." 'Aw, she's still shy!'
Grabbing the coffee and pouring a mug, I hop off the chair and rush over to her handing her the cup.
She just stares at me. "Is that poisoned?" That's cute.
"Amy, if I wanted you dead, I would shake your hand and give you cancer by denaturing the telomeres in your DNA. You would die in a few months, and it would be deemed natural cause." I say with a smile.
She just stared wide eyed. Then takes the coffee from me.
"Fuck it, if it is poisoned then at least it'll be quick." She says
'YES!'
"Yes!" I shout happily, step 1 to friendship is a go!
"What are you so happy about?" She said, eyeing me wearily.
"Because you accepted something from me! That means you trust me." I say with my tail wagging upwards happily. She just raises the mug to her mouth
"If cuteness could be weaponized." She says quietly taking a sip.
'Who says I'm not weaponizing it, I got into your house didn't I' I think to myself. And my happy mood is ruined by Vicky walking in. Wearing light-blue skinny jeans, and a blue band T-shirt.
"Oh, it's you." My tail and ears drooping with my smile.
"What is that supposed to mean!" She says stomping over to me.
"Just what I said, it's you." I say innocently, cocking my head to the side. "Are you not you? Are you a shapeshifter pretending to, be you? OH! Maybe your name is Yu! And you ARE, a shapeshifter and you got surprised because you thought I called you out! If you are a shapeshifter, can you be a nicer version of Vicky?" I am completely chewing this scene; the look of offense and confusion is priceless.
*SCHNRT*
Snapping my head over to Amy, who is covering her mouth.
She notices us looking, and likely my widening smile, and just coughs, looking away.
"This coffee is shit." She says. Not looking at us.
"Language~." I say cheekily.
"English, now fuck off." She finishes her coffee before continuing. "Alright Vicky, can you give me a ride to school with you?"
"Yeah, sure thing. Anything to get away from this gremlin." She makes it sound like a bad thing.
I get an idea. Amy walks away towards the door. I enhance my perception and grab Vicky's hand.
I see inside her body, someone's a few days away from a period, let's speed that up, and let's facilitate a mutation on a few melanocytes on her face, right on the nose. In layman's terms, I'm speeding up her period to happen in a few hours, hopefully in the middle of school, and giving her a mole on her nose. Amy could probably fix the second problem, but the first? I don't know. Maybe.
I can't just make her fat out of nowhere, that would be way too noticeable, but periods happening early every once in a while? And skin cells can mutate overnight all the time.
Letting my perception drop and letting her hand go I just smile up at her.
"What?" She says, looking at me weirdly.
"I'unno, just thought I'd high five you. And messed up." she just rolls her eyes.
"Fuckin weirdo." She says as she walks off.
I just sit at the table and wait for Carol and Mark as I think about what is about to happen. When a few minutes later Vicky stomps back in, passes me, and goes to her room. A few minutes later she steps out in darker baggier pants, goes across the hall to the bathroom. And after that stomps back out.
"What happened?" I say confused.
"None of your business brat." She grumbles.
'Okay, I know she didn't start yet so- Amy.'
I'm an idiot, Amy probably got close to her, touched her, and immediately knew what was about to happen, and warned her. Probably fixed the wart before it could pop up too.
"Darn it."
-Time skip, Midday-
Turns out Amy and Vicky are the only early risers in the Dallon house. As Mark and Carol got up an hour later at like nine. We had breakfast, Toast and cereal, and headed over to The Rig. We head to a designated parking lot and got picked up by a helicopter.
'That has to be the most inefficient method of travel. I mean isn't jet fuel expensive? I hope they had Armsmaster work on all the helicopters to enhance fuel efficiency.'
Whereas in Boston the PRT was based in a courthouse looking building, here in Brockton Bay It has a more modern, geometric shape to it, looks more like a police station, mixed with a hospital. Oh, and it's in the middle of the bay and on what looks like an oil rig platform. Mark is here, he was going to stay home, but I encouraged him to come.
We fly down on the helipad and walk out to the entrance, it's a rather sunny day, makes the fact that I'm running a high temp from all the energy stored in me even more annoying, to mitigate this I illusion up a paper fan and start using it. Of course, the PRT officers at the front take offense to me using my powers and aim guns at me.
"Go ahead and shoot me, you'll be the ones to explain to Piggot why I destroyed the front doors." The both paused at that. Looking to each other they lower their guns.
"Wunderbar! Let's get this show on the road." As I go to walk up the steps into the building, a familiar figure in blue armor steps out.
"ROBOCOP!" I shout, jumping up. Hoping to piss him off.
"Armsmaster." He grits out.
"Aaawww." I say as I slump.
"Pfft." Mark almost laughs.
"Mark!" Carol whispers at him.
"I-I'm, I just need a second. That caught me off guard." He says.
After composing himself we walk up the steps and meet with Armsmaster. Carol and Mark are left somewhere else to file some more paperwork, something about using PRT equipment and NDA's about it. He guides us inside and past a few desks and to a big set of doors. Inside was a massive room, it was pretty much a replica of the training room in Boston, just a little different. There was a bunch of equipment in the room. From what looks like a
Turning to Armsmaster I ask the blaring question.
"You're not gonna try and foam me again, are you?"
"That was a hacker-" I cut him off.
"That's a lie and we both know it. Where's Dragon, I haven't seen her in years?" I ask.
*Krzzt* the intercom blares. Though thankfully the system has been updated.
"I'm here, the director thought it prudent for to oversee and analyze the tests." There's the A.I. Waifu!
"Oh, how are you?" I ask.
There was a noticeable pause.
"I am, good?" She said perplexed.
"Are you?" I just wanna mess with someone.
"Why do you ask?" She asks back.
"I wanted to know if you got with your crush yet." I tease.
'Gremlin mode, activate.' I think mischievously
"HOW DO YOU?! *Ahem* What do you mean?" I just smile.
"Hey Armsmaster, what's that?" I point behind him.
As soon as he turned, I pointed at him and smiled at the nearest camera.
"That is a wall, let's go, we've delayed enough." He marches over to a set of bars and grabs them.
'Man, this guy is as oblivious as a Shonen protagonist.'
The tests then went as follows.
Strength test, using tungsten pressure sensors, I broke the sensors.
A standard G.E.D. Test. I got flying colors, but absolutely bombed the history segment, everything past the fifties is different.
Then a predictor test where it felt like the world's biggest mousetrap game. I failed.
A stress test, they just kept firing a laser at me to increasing levels of force, giving me free energy. They had to stop at a certain point when the lights started to flicker. It didn't hurt. Pure energy gets absorbed a little less than an inch away from me. Electricity still hurts if it's carried by something physical though. They tested my illusions; I made sure not to show them anything they haven't seen already. Glass Storm, Decoy, and Glass Plane and Glass Sword are all I've shown. Though I am working on more, like a Glass Drill, and refining my Glass saucer.
This train of events went on and on until we finished with a stamina run on the treadmill. The entire test took about four hours, two of them were the stamina running, and I just hopped off the treadmill because I was bored. I learned how to absorb the heat I produce a while ago, it's not perfect and it's a series of diminishing returns, not a perfect feedback loop of endless energy. Although it does keep me cool.
"Why did you stop?" Armsmaster asks.
"I'm bored, and let's be honest, this is enough for you to understand my basic capabilities." I point out.
"Dragon?" He shouts out.
"She's not wrong. We have the data for a baseline of her physical capacities. And the data we already have on file is enough to form a rating file." Her Newfoundland accent sounding out over the speakers.
"Out of curiosity, what is my threat rating?" I genuinely want to know what they have for me.
"I literally cannot tell you that." He says.
"LAME!" I shout at the ceiling. I'll just call Wade later and get the info from him. Haven't talked to him in a while, wonder how he's doing.
I'm starting to get hungry.
"Hey, I'm hungry, is there anything to eat?" I say directing myself towards the nearest camera.
Dragon comes out over the speakers again. "The cafeteria is open all day."
"These terms are acceptable." I say haughtily, turning to Armsmaster I hold out a hand daintily. "Your princess gives you permission to escort her, oh knight of the halbeard." I love being dramatic.
He just stares at me before turning and walking to the door. 'Jeez, would it kill him to play along just a little?'
"Follow me." He goes further and steps out the doors.
"I don't know what you see in him. You could totally do better." I regard the nearest camera again.
"He's a lot better when you get to know him." She says, almost like she was apologizing for him.
"He acts like an A.I., one with a poor understanding of human social, everything." Yes, I said A.I. in front of Dragon on purpose.
Armsmaster pops back into the room. "Are you coming?"
"Yeah, yeah." I walk over to him. As soon as he turns around, I jump onto his shoulders and my upper body on his head.
"What the?!" He goes to throw me off, but I enhance my strength to stay latched on. "Why are on me?"
"I'm tired! I don't wanna walk, and you make a decent mobile platform." I'm not tired, I just don't wanna walk.
"No, now get off." He says.
"Okay, how about this, look at it this way. I am content to stay here, as long as I am here, you know exactly where I am, you know I'm not wandering off. And if I leave, you'll know exactly when. Efficient, no?" He pauses. I am playing a dangerous game here, throwing these terms out towards the individuals they specifically apply to.
"Fine." But it's so much fun!
"Yay! March my minion!" Pointing forward.
"Don't push it."
Theresa "Dragon" Richter POV
'She knows.'
Somehow, someway, Kitsu knows not only that she is an A.I. but she also knows Collins tinker specialty.
She knows so many things she shouldn't.
"There was Panacea's sexuality, Vistas identity, Static Shocks as well, now she knows my own, secret, and Collins specialty." I say to myself.
A precog? Or an advanced postcog? This requires further investigation. In the best case scenario, she's a limited precog that can be maneuvered around. Worst case, she's a postcog, and any secrets they have are potentially open knowledge to her.
'A problem for later. Right now, there is something more pressing.'
Triple checking the feed to make sure it's recording to separate software location, for security reasons! I continue to record the halls. With Kitsu smiling atop a dutiful Armsmaster.
'SOOOO CUTE!' I didn't care what others had to say, he was a good guy under all that grumpy gruff peacekeeper exterior.
Kitsu POV
There was no reason for this, other than to see if I could. But it was fun none the less. Uncomfortable for sure, but I took joy in the stares we were getting. In case it wasn't obvious, I love being the center of attention, it's addictive.
The only thing that would make this better is if I was riding on RoboCops shoulders. I could then die happy, if I could die.
We finally made it to the cafeteria, and I spot him.Jumping off Armsmasters shoulders and parkouring over a few tables. I tackle my target in a grapple, knocking them off their seat.
"SURPRISE HUGS!" I say just as I latch on from behind.
"WOAH!" He shouts before involuntarily electrocuting me, not as bad as a surge so I stay clinging.
"Holy shit!/ What the heck!" and a cacophony of other exclamations of surprise sound out.
I had spotted one of my favorite heroes, the one I had failed to get an autograph from. Static Shock! And I most likely set off the others, seeing as I am being pulled off by two armored guys, one I recognized as Gallant, and I don't know the red one. Most of the Wards are here. They pulled me off of Static, and Gallant is now holding me up, not surprising seeing as I don't weigh a lot. 'I need to weigh myself sometime'
"Hi Gallant, how are you?" I say cheekily. I can see from the corner of my eye that Armsmaster is talking on some sort of radio built into his helmet, that or he just likes touching the side of his head while moving his lips.
"Kitsu." He says questioningly. "What are you doing here?"
I grin and throw my arms up while he is still holding me. "Surprise hugs for my favorite living hero!"
Unless Spider-Man exist in this universe, and I haven't found him yet.
I hear Static get up and exclaims quietly. "Well, boost my ego a bit." while dusting himself off.
Gallant just sighs and looks to the red armored gut.
"He means what are you doing here? As in, what are you doing at The Rig?" Red suit says.
"Firstly, who are you?" I ask.
Vista and Clockblocker just laugh with Clock going "Oof, shown up by the new guy!"
"I'm Aegis, leader of the Wards here in Brockton?" He says, expecting me to recognize him.
"OH! You're the guy that sees out his skin when people flash you!" I say in a purposefully confusing way.
"What?/Pfft!" Clock is the one that did a spit take.
"Nope, not gonna do it, not around the kid." Clockblocker says.
Vista looks up at him with a smirk. "So you do have a limit."
He looks down at her. "I'm not gonna say dirty shit in front of an eight year old."
'That's what their talking about?' I think.
"Twelve! Why does everyone think I'm so young? I don't even have much baby fat on me." It's true, I look, and am dressed, like a shorter and blonder Irida.
Vista just snaps her head to me. "Wait, you're the same age as me?!"
"Yeah, I'm a Case 53! We're not exactly known for our 'Average Appearance'. Besides, I look like this because I wanna!" I say haughtily at the end.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Aegis asks.
'Oops. I said too much. Mitigate, MITIGATE!'
"I create illusions, how do you know what you're seeing is the real me? Maybe I'm a brunette? Maybe I'm super-hot and just look this small because it's easier than being ogled at by perves?" I say with false confidence. 'Please buy it.'
"Yeah right." Clock says.
At that I enhance my arms and legs, launch myself out of Gallants hands. I ball up in the air, create a flash of light, go invisible and leave a decoy of an older and much more, filled out, version of myself while I scoot carefully across the table towards the edge. Think a blue eyed Yang Xiao-Long.
"I am right." Decoy me says in more mature tone of my voice. Sauntering towards Clockblocker. "I like it when a good little boy like yourself can recognize what is-" *Shatter*
'What?'
I look back to see Vista had broken the illusion with a chair, and Gallant was staring in my direction.
"Kitsu, I- my tech can sense emotions, I know where you are, and I know when something isn't a real person." oh right, he pretends to be a tinker.
'Damnit.' I think. I sit cross-legged on the edge of the table and dispell the invisibility. "It was just a prank?" I shrug nervously.
Clockblocker, who was shrunken back in his chair, just looks over at Vista.
"You couldn't let it last just a little longer." At that Vista just raises the chair menacingly.
"I'll be good!" He shouts quickly raising his hands in surrender.
"I ship it." I say out loud.
"What?!" Vista says turning to me with a blush. Chair still raised.
"Nothing!" I say quickly. Being whacked with a chair is not on my to-do list today.
Aegis just steps around Gallant. "Kitsu, please answer the question, why are you here, at The Rig?"
"Hmm? Oh, I'm taking the apprehension test." I answer.
Everyone got quiet, and Vista dropped the chair.
"Does, that mean your joining the Wards?" Gallant asked.
"What? No! Eww! I don't wanna join a group just so I can be paraded around as a mascot and be railroaded on what I'm allowed to do, only to eventually end up stifled as they keep me from ever really helping others because they 'Can't risk a PR scandal with the Youth Guard.'" I say mockingly.
Vista just looks down with a frown.
"Then why are you taking the test?" Aegis is the first to regain his composure.
"I'm looking to gain citizenship, due to my Case 53 status I needed to take the test in order for the government to get a baseline of my physical capabilities." I say calmly. I can't wait to see their reaction to me dropping the bomb, that I'm joining New Wave.
I personally am surprised more Case 53's haven't joined New Wave, their whole thing is about taking accountability for Cape action, no secret identities and all that. And in case it wasn't obvious, Case 53's don't get to have secret identities. Even with my shapeshifting, my immortality works by keeping me in a static state of being, if I fall asleep or go an extended period without reworking it, I'll turn back to my fox-like appearance.
In other words, my own immortality, prevents me from changing myself for long. Kind sucks.
"Why would you need citizenship? Looking to get a credit card? Last I checked you just stole everything you needed." Clockblocker finally pipes up.
"Oh, well Stopwatch." I start.
"Hey!"
"It's not a good look if New Wave's newest member is an illegal alien." 'That and I think Mark wants to adopt me.'
"..." Everyone goes quiet. Aegis, the only one with visible eyes, just widens his to comical proportions.
'I wonder if I could revive the New Wave movement? Maybe that's why they're are scared.'
Or maybe they're just surprised at me joining an established group after years of avoiding the PRTs attempts to both capture and or recruit me, it really depended on where I was and which director was calling the shot in the area. The Midwest seems united in trying to capture me, maybe force me into a deal like they did to Madcap who turned into Assault. The West Coast wants nothing more than to recruit me, and I feel I could get each director's right hand lobbed of on a silver platter if I asked in exchange for my recruitment, the East Coast can't seem to make up its mind.
*RRM* *RRM*
As I was thinking this a siren goes off. 'My poor ears!'
Dragon's voice floods the intercom.
"Will the following Wards please report to dispatch, I repeat will the following Wards please report to dispatch. Gallant, Vista, Clockblocker and Aegis. I repeat Gallant, Vista, Clockblocker and Aegis. Will the following Protectorate please report to dispatch. I repeat will the following Protectorate please report to dispatch. Assault, Velocity, and Battery. I repeat Assault, Velocity, and Battery."
"What's going on?" I say slightly panicked.
"Don't know, no time, gotta go." Gallant says as he gets up and rushes out. Along with Aegis, Vista, Clockblocker, and Static Shock. Now I'm curious. What could cause so many of the Wards and Protectorate to be called in?
*RINNNG*
My phone rings to the tune of Boom Boom Pow. Looking at the Caller I.D. I see its Wade. Weird, he never calls me, I only ever call him.
"Hola Kemosabe! Watcha want Wade, wanna willfully. Uh, I ran out of alliterations." I intone.
"Hey just a heads up, you're living with the Dallons, right?" A young voice responds dispassionately.
"I wanna know how you know that later, but yes." It doesn't surprise me he knows. He probably hacked my phone's GPS and cross referenced the address with local identities, if it's in a computer somewhere, Wade will know, and if it's not, he'll find out. It just sucks that he charges a premium for info.
"Yeah, just thought I'd let my favorite client know that the merchants are currently attacking Medhal General Hospital. And Panacea is currently there." He says calmly.
I won't lie, I mentally blank for a few seconds.
"Kitsu?" He asks. "I'm a, just, hang up now."
*Click*
'Someone is going to die~'
Enhancing my speed and perception I absolutely tear through the PRT building, enhancing my durability and jumping out a window. Cutting off the enhancements I fall towards the bay below, creating a procedural slide with my illusions, creating more in front and destroy what's behind to preserve energy. I do this to ride out the velocity from the fall and preserve as much energy as I can before creating my invisible Glass Saucer and fly forward.
'I'm gonna do some evil shit, do da~ do da~. Don't care if I get away with it, oh the do da day~.'
[Concern; Inquiry, Plans?]
Now that we're away from all the capes [Conduit] speaks up.
"Simple, I'm gonna murderize any and all who dare harm my cute little healer." I say sweetly. "I just got this life on a decent track. And I am going to make it abundantly clear to all who dare endanger that way of life, consequences and punishments will be dealt liberally." I normally only think to [Conduit] but talking is rather cathartic right now.
-Meanwhile-
Vista POV
We are currently situated in dispatch, on the top floor next to the helipad entrance. Armsmaster and Dragon just gave us all the details. The Archer's Bridge Merchants are attacking a hospital for and stealing all the drugs locked up in the place, considering it's an extension of Medhal Pharmaceuticals, it has a lot. And they're doing it by freezing the place out. Reports say they froze the door and burst through with one of Squealers Tinker-Tech armored vans. After that Skidmark, Scarecrow, Trainwreck, and Porcupine, started raiding the place with about two dozen or so junkies.
'This was ridiculous. Apparently, the Merchants up and decided to attack Medhal for a drug run. And we're just sitting here?'
I can't stand the inaction and I make that clear to Armsmaster. "Sir, we can't just stay here and do nothing! People are dying! We should be saving them, it's a hospital they're attacking!"
He looks to me. "Vista I under-"
*BRRRM*
Whatever he was about to say is cut off by red flashing lights and an alarm I'd never thought I'd hear. That was the security alarm, and it meant someone or something broke through the wall of The Rig.
"DRAGON!" Armsmaster shouts through the alarm. "What is going on?!"
The alarm shuts off. And the speakers sound up.
"It's, kind of a false alarm?" Dragon sounded unsure.
"What do you mean, kinda?" Clock said, saying what most of us were no doubt thinking.
"Well, no one broke in per se, but someone sure as heck broke out. After the Wards got called in Kitsu got a phone call. Part way through she went stoneface and, ran out the window." She says, almost apologetically.
'What? Weren't those windows made from Tinker-Tech?'
"Where was she headed?" Armsmaster asks.
"Her trajectory put her on course towards, Medhal." If Dragon were here in person, I imagined she would be trying to hide behind a clipboard.
…
"Wards to the helipad, the Merchants walking away with a bunch of drugs we can deal with, we cannot deal with an irate Kitsu on a warpath." Armsmaster commands.
'That was what got them moving! People dying was acceptable, but Kitsu getting involved meant go for it?!' As I was internally screaming at the bullshit around me Armsmaster continued.
"Assault, take Gallant, Vista, and Clockblocker with you to try and intercept Kitsu if possible, try and calm her, failing that, engage to capture." Clockblocker jerked at that.
"NOPE! Nuh-uh, not happening!" He stands up making a serious of gesture to mean no.
"Clockblocker that is an order." Armsmaster says firmly.
"And I invoke my right to deny any non-essential mission. The capture of a cape who is not actively, at this moment, threatening lives, counts as non-essential." He recites.
'Wow, I didn't think Dennis paid any attention to the rules they read him during orientation.'
"Hrrm, fine. Assault, take Velocity, Gallant, and Vista. Same orders."
"Got it boss man." Assault fake salutes.
"Battery, you're with me, we're headed straight to Medhal." Armsmaster says again.
'At least I'll be doing something today.' I think glumly.
-Meanwhile, again-
Kitsu POV
Once I pass the bay's waterfront, I hit the rooftops and start running. I'm not able to maintain any illusions with my current state of panic and anger. So, I don't. I'm jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Creating platforms wherever needed. I have the energy to keep going all the way to the hospital and back so I'm not too worried, but better safe than sorry.
As I keep running and hopping, I hear something, unusual tailing behind me. Enhancing my perception further so I don't trip and ragdoll down the side of a building. And I see a, ghost man? He like, he's running super fast, but he's transparent almost. Then I remember who he is, Velocity. So, the heroes are finally on their way, that's good.
With the knowledge that I might have backup invigorating me I run even faster. Then I feel, sad? Now I'm happy, and now I'm PISSED. Turning around and skidding to a stop to see what the hell is going on I get scared as I'm hit with a yellow beam. And now it makes sense. Gallant, and he just rolled up from one roof to another, likely Vistas doing.
"What are you doing!" I shout with a slight crack in my voice. How long does fear last? Please don't be long, I hate this.
"Kitsu, we've been told to stop you from making the situation worst." Gallant says.
My eye twitches as I can't help but think of the audacity of the PRT at how they just up and think they can do this. I see Vista rock up in the background using her trippy as hell spatial distortion. She just hangs in the back. And I see Assault launch onto a rooftop. Great, any illusions I make, Vista will be able to tell they're not real due to her power saying she can distort space around them. And any attacks I throw out could be intercepted by Assault.
Beating them is going to be tricky, but then again, I don't have to beat them, I just have to outrun them. And with fear fading, Gallant inadvertently gave me a clear head.
I just look around them and regard Gallant with a smug little smile. "Well then, catch me if you can!" I turn and hear him smack into a Glass Pane I made in front of him. Oh, I wish I could see it. But I gotta go, Amy is in danger, she refuses to use her power for any other purpose than to heal, and the Merchants are some of the sickest individuals out there. There's no telling what they'll do to her.
Bonus
Carol Dallon POV
Almost done with the metric shitload of paperwork, I can't help but think of how I got myself into this mess.
'Oh right, I fell in love a man who has the biggest bleeding heart ever.'
Now here I am, at PRT headquarters with said man next to me in a chair, as I fill out all the necessary requirements to make us the caretakers of one Kitsu. The only upside to this is that Kitsu listens to Mark for whatever reason, she was betting Kitsu latching on to Mark out of a need for a parental figure. That and Kitsu is easily bribed, mostly with food and TV time. She's genuinely rather polite, when she isn't trying to antagonize Vicky. But maybe that's a good thing. Victoria needs to learn not every problem can be solved with brute force.
*RRM* *RRM*
"What's going on?" Mark inquires.
"It's just the dispatch alarm Mark, they sound it when they need to send a bunch of off patrol capes out. Probably a cape fight that needs broken up at the Docks." I say. I just now realized that Mark has never been to the PRT HQ.
Then we hear Dragon.
"Will the following Wards please report to dispatch, I repeat will the following Wards please report to dispatch. Gallant, Vista, Clockblocker And Aegis. I repeat Gallant, Vista, Clockblocker and Aegis. Will the following Protectorate please report to dispatch. I repeat will the following Protectorate please report to dispatch. Assault, Velocity, and Battery. I repeat Assault, Velocity, and Battery."
…
"Okay, that is a bit much for a single cape fight, maybe Lung is involved?" I suggest.
"Carol, I have a bad feeling about this." Mark worriedly says.
I do too, I've only been here a few times, mostly to fill out paperwork to keep Vicky out of jail for breaking PRT equipment. But I've only ever heard at most three or five called to dispatch.
Then the lights flash red.
*BRRRM*
Not long after it started it stopped.
"What was that one?" Mark asks.
"I, don't know. I've never heard that one." I answer.
*Ring*
My phone goes off, I answer it.
"Uh, Mrs. Dallon?" I hear Dragon.
"Yes?" I ask.
"I'm not supposed to do this, but the first alarm was for an attack on Medhal General Hospital."
I feel a small pit form in my stomach. 'isn't that where Amy works?'
"Okay?" I say.
"And the second one was an automatic alarm that was set off due to someone breaking in. Or it's supposed to be. I'll just say it, Kitsu broke out of the building and ran off towards Medhal." She says.
"What!?" I yell. 'I'm not sure how I should feel about that.'
"What? Dear what is it?"
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A/N
Scarecrow from DC. And Porcupine is from Marvel. I love the idea of Scarecrow being a Drug-Tinker working for the Merchants. And Porcupine has a suite full of needles filled with fluids and other nasties for bad effects, like nitroglycerine so that they explode on impact. An armored tinker who uses needles to inject victims with drugs? Or a breaker who stores substances in himself to inject into others after storing up enough? I haven't decided. They won't be one-to-one faithful adaptations, just inspirations. I did this because Skidmark is said to have 9 powers under his thumb. Yet there are only 5 capes mentioned as being part of the merchants. Skidmark being one of them. That leaves 4 spots open to interpretation.
Next chapter is going to be more action packed.
Also I know I mentioned Armsmaster being on mandatory leave, I meant for that to refer to patrols.
QUESTIONS!
For Newb to the Game.
Q: Dancingleaf: You asked if Kitsu could transfer energy instead of just reinforcing herself.
A: No, she can only reinforce aspects of herself. Redirection of energy is not part of her powerset. She can increase her body temp and is working on trying something with that.
Q: Anonymous PM: Kitsu has Adaptable Martial Arts. Does that mean she knows martial art? If so what kind?
A: Kitsu doesn't know any martial arts outside of what she taught/learned herself, mostly street fighting, she is just very good at adapting those few things she knows into whatever fight she is in, combining it with parkour to annoy enemies and keep them from setting traps.
For Kitsu
Kitsu: No wants to ask me anything, really? I think I'm gonna cry.
For [Conduit]
…
For others
...
You can ask questions. They just won't appear in the story. Seeing as this is chapter 8. And I'm currently writing chapter 58 over on FFN.Last edited: Apr 9, 2024 Like ReplyReport Reactions:Angarac, jlk, Kayriel and 204 othersNewb to the gameMar 9, 2024NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Worm CYOA, Kitsu 10 New View contentMar 10, 2024Add bookmark#76Newb to the gameNot too sore, are you?A/N Really got hyped for this chapter. I'm going to have to split the events between two chapters if I want to keep this being bi-weekly. This chapter really shows a glimpse of how sadistic Kitsu is willing to get when she is upset.
-Date, Time-
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
[Shard]
*Sounds/actions*
Kitsu POV
Running as fast as I can without over doing it, there becomes a point where the energy to enhancement stops being one to one. It's minor, but it's best to conserve as much as I can. I keep slowing down because Gallant keeps blasting me with a mess of emotion beams. Anger, which makes me wanna turn 'round and fight, fear, which makes me stumble in an attempt to run faster, sorrow made me slow down, want to surrender. And he kept hitting despite me zigzagging, Vista being the biggest pain in this regard.
At least the impact of the beams kept refilling me slightly.
Velocity was mostly just there, trying to corral me in a different direction. I tried to leap over him, only to jump up towards the roof as I fell towards the sky, Vista warping space to make me jump in a loop.
"I'm getting really mad here!" I shout getting back up.
"We just want you to stop! Let us handle this!" Gallant shouts. Shooting a beam at me again I feel an intense anger.
"I WILL NOT LET AMY GET HURT!" Enhancing everything, I run and stop at the edge of the rooftop we're on.
I turn to see Velocity not five feet from me before I tackle/grab his legs. Ever grab cotton candy? It felt like that, anyway I tossed him off the side of the building, a five-story fall, so unless he smacks his head first, he'll be fine, broken and bruised, but breathing.
*CRASH* *RMM* *RMM* *RMM*
Sounds like he hit a parked car.
"ONE DOWN! WHO'S NEXT!" I shout.
I see Gallant in front of me and try to conjure a decoy, but I'm too pissed to focus! I just swipe my hand in front of me like I'm backhanding someone, sending a dark, reddish purple, highspeed, shattered triangular pixelated, arc at him. It hits him and I hear metal screech as he gets sent flying off the roof to the alley below. I calm down and think clearly.
'Holy shit I can do that? I'm coining that Distortion Wave, right now! That looked cool as hell. Also is he alright?'
Looking around I spot Vista warping space so that Assault gets here in two steps.
"Kitsu look, I know this looks bad, but-" I cut him off by jumping off the side of the building landing on the sidewalk.
"OW!" It feels like I stubbed a toe, throughout my legs. My fault for straight dropping down instead of rolling or just crouching when I landed.
I see Velocity face down on top a blue Prius. I rip his glove off and see what's up.
'Broken nose, dislocated rib, fractured jaw. He'll be fine.' I fix the dislocated rib, just in case.
There are plenty of civilians down here, just watching, some running, some calling the PRT, some recording me with their phones. So, I calmly walk towards a street sign. As I reach the sign, I make myself invisible. And leave a decoy of myself sitting on the curb adjacent to me. With my enhanced speed and perception this all probably took less than 3 seconds, I'm running on a fourth of what I had this morning, so I needed to end this as quickly as I could.
As I thought, Assault landed on the street by walking, Vista is hard at work here. He stops when spotting me, my decoy that is, sitting on the sidewalk. He walks over to me.
"Kitsu, look, we just want you to stay back and not do anything rash." He tries.
My decoy speaks. "I can't just leave Amy alone. I know she can handle herself, but I'm worried."
Assault just got closer and sat next to my decoy. He really does have a soft spot for kids.
"Kitsu, I know, you think you gotta do this. That only you can be trusted to do this. But you need to trust us on this one, leave it to the heroes." He's only half right, I know others can do this.
But I want to show those who threaten the few I've come to care for, why doing so is a bad idea.
This time I speak. "You really are a good guy, sucks that you're naïve. I guess Battery just likes the lovable idiot type."
He goes to jump up but I work quickly. I bend and wrap the sign around his torso, up around his left shoulder and left arm.
"What the?! Kitsu let me out!" He shouts.
"No." I walk away and jump back up to the roof.
Spotting Vista two roofs away I wave and smile.
She just raises her hands in surrender and shakes her head. Smart girl.
I then walk over to the edge where Gallant fell over. Jumping down, parachute landing this time. I look around for Gallant, gotta make sure I didn't kill him. When I get hit from above by a beam making me angry.
Looking up I see Gallant on a fire escape two stories above me, the damage to his suit ruining the whole high-tech Lancelot look he had going on. Enraged I throw another Distortion Wave under him, destroying the fire escape under him. He panics and rapid-fire blasts a series of beams at me. They all feel like a punch to the gut and fill my energy stores back up. Making me almost break even in terms of energy in this fight. I'm a bit tired from the rapid shift in mood, but the biggest thing taking my attention was how warm I felt. A weird warmth in my lower gut, and a tingling running along my sides. Combined with a heavy chest. I realize what had happened.
'That bastard hit me with a lust beam!' I think angrily.
Dean 'Gallant' Stansfield POV
Getting up from falling two stories I can't help but groan at how all this was going. I had panicked and just shot off a bunch of beams, I don't even know what I launched at her, I just blasted, expended most of my charges, and hoped for the best. Part of my helmet is broken, and the upper right falls off, exposing my eye.
I only have enough to shoot a few more times before I need to rest.
Crawling out of the wreckage of the fire escape, I look over to Kitsu, she's sitting hunched over on all fours, blushing and breathing heavily. And I slightly panic, seeing the aura around her I realize how much I fucked up.
"P-Pervert!" She yells at me. I quickly go to blast her with something else, calm this time, to try salvage as much of this as I can.
*SHATTER*
Only for her to throw up a decoy last second while scooting away backwards.
"Deviant! Pedophile! What is wrong with you, I look like a child!" She shouts while tossing blue green daggers at me.
"I thought you said you were twelve?" I don't know what compelled me to say that but I did.
"I-I am, and you're sixteen! O-or, w-well, that's only four years, right? That's not too bad, in ten years that won't mean anything, right." she says stuttering, blushing and bringing her hands up to hold her face while smiling shyly.
I would be lying if I said it didn't make his heart skip a little. She looks like a blushing school girl, and it would honestly be cute. If it wasn't for the fact that I knew it was a lust filled fantasy that I caused!
"A-and, you're with Vicky, she's pretty shallow, she wouldn't date a guy who was ugly. And y-you're always breaking up! So, it's fine, right? Right!" She looks to me with an eagerness that can only be described as cute.
Wait, Vicky wasn't shallow! Though I will take the complement.
'I need to end this before I cause any more damage' I resolved.
Blasting another beam, she gets hit and knocked back. Feeling bad I run over to her, making sure she's okay.
"Kitsu, I am so sorry, I swear I didn't mean-" And all I saw were stars.
Kitsu POV
Uppercutting him and knocking him out, I get up and stretch. Upset at how dirty my white clothes are now. I could probably get Parian to rework a wardrobe for me. She tries her best to avoid anything to do with capes, but I'm an exception seeing as no one wants to piss me off. If for no other reason than if Behemoth pops up nearby.
Yeah, I totally hammed up the UWU blushing schoolgirl crush act there, I was horny, not in love. And I may have hit him with my Love Me power to fuck with him. It only works on one person at a time, and I need eye contact, but I was not thinking straight. And he can suffer for that, I know it was an accident, but I'm petty. He can deal with a day or two of being romantically and sexually confused. Which are two days Vicky will suffer her boy toy thinking about another girl!
I probably won't make it last more than a day. He's a genuinely good guy, just got lumped in with shitty people. But I'm letting my mind wander, I need to get going.
Jumping back up to the rooftops, I see Vista had moved to the top the roof going I was just on, going to peek over the edge. She notices me and pales significantly. Throwing her hands up in surrender and looking away she shouts.
"I swear I was just going to check on him! I heard yelling and-" She starts.
Hmm, her power is rather good. She just needs a good chance to use it.
"Hey, one, stop yelling, I'm right here not across the street, two, you're coming with me." I tell her.
"What? HEY!" I grab her and continue my rooftop free run to Medhall with her over my shoulder.
"Come young sidekick, innocents need saving! And bad guys need spanking!" I shout jumping across a rooftop.
"I'm not a sidekick!" She protests.
"You meet all the requirements! Short!" I count.
"Hey!" She yells. "I'm still taller than you!"
"Cute! Blonde! And very powerful while still being weaker than me!" I can see Medhall, it's covered in a thin layer of ice, making it shine a little.
"I'm not weak!" She shouts.
"Didn't I ask you to stop shouting? I will drop you!" I threaten.
"..."
"And I never said you were weak, just weaker than me! Makes no since for my sidekick to be stronger than me! Then I would be the sidekick, I'm gonna call you, Escher, no, Warp? Nah, Vista is good." I say.
"I'm being kidnapped by an incel weebs wet dream. This is my life." Okay, that was funny. But I still take offence.
"But Onee-san! I wanna be with you!" I feel her shiver in disgust. We're here.
"God? Kill me, please. I don't care if I go to-humph!" I dropped her on a rooftop across from the hospital. And surveyed the area.
It appears I got here before the others, there's a junkyard armored 18-wheeler backed through the front door. It looks as if Edd, Ed, and Eddy made a truck after having watched Mad Max and playing Twisted Metal. Rusted, spiked, unsymmetric, and looking as though made from scratch, which it probably was. Impressive in how many laws it probably broke by just existing. There were a few gangbangers around the truck with guns. Good, no civilians, I can have fun.
Turning to Vista, I narrowed my eyes and begin.
"Help or don't help, I don't care, but try and stop me from saving Amy, and I'll show you how I leveled Eagleton."
I smelled the scent of ammonia as I leapt from the roof to the entrance. Rolling again to avoid the pain of impact. I march to the destroyed door. I'm being pelted with bullets from all sides, and they just squish against me like they did against Superman. Steadily increasing my energy. I march to the truck and jam my trough the cab door. Tearing it off and throwing it against a random mook who was running at me with a barbed wire bat.
Looking back towards the truck I get blasted in the face with a 12-gauge sawed off. Letting the impact knock my head back, keeping it there for dramatic effect before slowly looking back at the driver, a skimpy trailer park wife type girl, Squealer, I narrow my eyes and turn them red. The change burns for a few seconds till it completes, but the way she pisses her overalls was satisfying. The look of surprise and fear is a guilty pleasure.
And one hell of a power trip.
"Tell me, you're with Skidmark right? Are you two married?" I ask sweetly, smiling innocently.
"Th-the fuck you wanna know fox bitch!" She stutters out in a mousey voice. And goes to shakily reload the sawed off. I let her. She then aims it at me again, only this time I grab the end of the barrel and hold it to my forehead and she pauses.
"Go, on~." I say slowly. "You can do it~." I give a vulpine grin with my sharper than normal canines.
She pulled the trigger, only this time I don't let it knock my head back. And with my hand keeping it in place the blast went back and blew off the chamber, ruining the gun and blasting her hands to bloody bits.
"AAAaaaagh." She screams, now she's crying, likely in massive pain as her hands just turned to ground beef all over the driver's compartment.
*Crack*
Someone just broke a wooden bat over my head. Turning to them, a scraggly bald man in a tattered coat, I just smack him with a folded glass ball illusion and knock him out. Turning back to Squealer who is now just weeping over her mangled hands.
"Are you and Skidmark married?" I ask monotonously this time.
"W-why?" She cries.
"Because I want to know if I'm about to make a widow today." I reach up and grab her by the throat. Cutting off her blood flow.
She flails and swings her stumps at me, covering me in her blood. As I feel her go slack, I lay her back down and work on healing her hands, trust me when I say she had enough fat in her chest to make up the biomass, I only pulled from the right breast to fuck with her, make buying bras forever a pain.
I wanted to scare the shit out of her, not kill her. And all things considered I get a feeling she is more of a victim than a perpetrator. Amy was my target here, maybe Skidmark for doing all this.
*VRRRM*
'And here comes the cavalry'
A blue light flashes throughout the corner of my vision. Turning I see Battery knocking out and rounding up the half dozen or so guys out here. Aegis flying down and Armsmaster rocking up in the Armscycle, Clockblocker in side car on the side.
'At that point just make a car.'
"Well~, Looks like backup arrived, what took ya so long? One would think with Vista's ability to shorten distances you would get here in seconds! Oh wait, you sent her to stop me." I say soothingly. "Along with Assault, Gallant, and Velocity." I list off slowly.
Battery goes to speak first. "Kitsu, we're only trying to keep you from escalating things."
"Funny, Assault said almost the same thing, or was it, Gallant?" I cock my head to the side. "Either way, one is wrapped around a stop sign and the other is sleeping in an alleyway next to a wrecked fire escape." She pauses at that.
I take a breath before continuing.
"I'll tell you lot the same thing I told Vista, help me or don't help me, I don't care. But try and stop me from saving Amy, and I'll show you how I leveled Eagleton."
I turn towards driver's seat and yank Squealer out and toss her towards Battery who catches the junkyard junkie. After that I punch a hand through the dashboard and grab the steering wheel through it, yanking it out and bending the pole of the steering wheel beyond recognition, effectively rendering the armored truck inoperable.
Unless there's a backup system I don't know about.
Armsmaster hops out after detaching the cars that parked themselves.
'Okay, that's cool,' I admit to myself.
He looks over to me and detaches his halberd from his back. "Kitsu, leave this to us. This is not a job for an Independent."
"Jokes on you Armsy, I'm not independent anymore! I'm apart of New Wave!" I shout proudly before taking in their surprised expressions, or rather just Battery's open mouth and Armsmaster tightening his jaw.
He goes to say something else, but I quickly run inside the building to see a vacant reception room covered in frost. I'm doing decent on energy, less than I would like, but enough to last a fight with a cape or two. Running through the halls, following the destruction, blood, and jumping over the occasional Merchant strewn out on the floor with a needle in their arm. The vast majority of patients likely having fled with only the bed ridden or idiotic having stayed.
In the halls I spot a tanned man covered in spines, like, his hair was needles and he had needles growing out of his forearms, and he had bandoliers full of canisters on him. He turns and spots me, smiling a yellow toothed grin and a gleam in his brown eyes. With a gruff voice that sounds as though he'd been smoking the last twenty years he speaks.
"Well, looks like I found me a cutie." I REALLY don't like how he said that.
'Don't judge, he might just be bad at talking.' I calm myself.
"Um, I don't know if you're trying to sound cool, but that was excessively creepy." I say hopefully.
"And cute voice too, I'll enjoy you-"
"NOPE!" I cut off the creep before he could continue.
I run over to him, grab his spiked wrist, Jump up and over him. At the arc of the jump, I put my free hand on his shoulder, pivoting to put my feet on his upper back. I push and rip his arm off.
"AAAaaRgH! You little cunt!" He shouts. Absolutely screaming bloody murder.
I then take the severed by the shoulder, so that the spines on the forearm act like a mace. And start beating him with his own arm.
"AAArgh, Stop! Stop! Please I surrender just stop!" He pleads.
Looking down at my handiwork, I'm slightly disgusted. Pale from blood loss. His face is a shredded mess, with one of his eyes shredded with a needle stuck in it. His shoulder stump is bleeding profusely, so against all my better judgement I touch him and heal his shoulder. He's still going to be Willy the one-armed, one-eyed wonder. But he can keep the three different STD's, Crohn's disease and gout.
I, almost feel bad. Squealer I just scared the shit out of, while he is going to be handicapped the rest of his life. Again, I almost feel bad.
Almost.
Leaving him pale, bleeding from the face and passing out. I continue my rush down the hall, I make it to the ICU ward and in a room void of patients I spot Amy being kept hostage with a punch of other doctors by a tall, pale and rotund man in rusted junkyard power armor. With greasy hair and round goggles, I can only assume this is Trainwreck.
I run over and do the same thing to him that I did to Needles. After ripping his arm off, I notice it's just a prosthetic. Looking down at it, then looking up at him.
"I'm sorry, I thought it was real." I can't reattach this.
"Wuzzat s'pose t'mean?!" he says in a deep almost staticky voice.
"I, I just. If it were real, I could just reattach it after I beat, you." I say wincing.
He just regards me with more frustration.
"Yeah, well now I've gotsa r'make m'own arm!" He complains.
"I said I was sorry!" I whack him over the head with his robo arm.
"D'oh!" he then collapses in a heap.
"Okay." I say slowly. "Why would he not where a helmet if it was that easy?"
"Because they're all idiots who are so high, they couldn't find their asses if they had a map and a flashlight. Fuck, they'd probably roll up the map into a blunt and hollow out the flashlight into a bong." I hear the grumpy voice.
Turning I see my favorite grumpy healer. With tears in my eyes, and turning them back to their sea green gemstone color, I rush over jump up to hug her, knocking us both over.
"Hey!" She shouts.
"OH PANPAN! I WAS SO SCARED! YOU FOUL MOUTH MINDED GWUMPY HEALER!" I coddle said healer.
"Stop yelling and get off of me!" she tries to toss me off.
"NYO! I will nyat let go. I'm gonna hug you and squeeze you and feed you cookies till you are a happy healer at the hospital." Have I ever mentioned I love being extra? Because I do.
"Shouldn't you be out there saving the hospital?" Amy says.
"Nope. I just came here for you and you alone. The PRT are here for the rest." I say.
She sighs and continues. "Kitsu? If you save everyone at the hospital I'll, I'll play Uno with you and Mark." she says defeated.
"Really?!" I get up and look at her with a wide smile.
"Yes." she says.
"DEAL!" I jump up and run out the ICU ward. Running out, I stop and run back.
"Why didn't you call Vicky?" I ask peeking around the corner.
"My phone was charging in the break room and they attacked when I was here, now go, I gotta do a round and make sure the back-up generator is keeping everyone alive." She explains.
"Do you want me to call her?" I ask.
"You have a phone?" She asks.
I fish out of my back pocket and just hold up my stolen jailbroke smartphone.
She gives me Vicky's number and after a voice mail I just send a text.
Running back out I pass a few merchants, breaking all their knees and leaving them screaming on the ground. I looted a few of them for cash. My clothes are ruined with blood and grime at this point and Parian charges me a premium for getting her involved. I have about $400 from all the mooks. Not enough really.
'Meh I'll just bust into a drug house and steal the cash later.'
It's getting colder and colder as I travel through the halls to the employee sections, chilled to the point I can see my breathe. I really hope they don't have a genuine cryomancer. That would suck for me. I absorb energy and ice is formed from the transference of energy leaving something. If I get stuck in ice, all I could do is increase my body temp and hope it melts fast enough. Or enhance my strength and bust out.
Running further I see the man of the hour, Skidmark, rail thin and spindly. Dark mocha skin in a blue half mask, blue shirt and black leather pants. The man looks like he didn't know how to shave, but tried anyway. He was breaking into a caged pill cabinet and throwing everything into a trash bag. He already had two filled next to him.
I don't even give him the courtesy of conversation, he is known as an intelligent man, and I have no plans of allowing him to display that intelligence as I run over and punch him in his lower back. Snapping his spine. Folding like a lawn chair he screams, first in surprise, then in pain and panic.
"Holy fuckshit! What the shit is yous doing here!" He shouts through cracked yellow teeth. Splayed in a heap on the ground, his clothes starting to glow.
"Simple, I'm here because you attacked the workplace of one of the few people who I've come to care for." I say calmly.
"The fuck you on about?!" He shouts.
I just grab his gloved hand, now glowing. And crush it.
"Aaaaeiyaaaa!" He lets out a high pitched wail.
"it means I'm out of patience and you will answer my questions. End of story." I'm running low on energy. I only have enough in me for a single fight.
"Now tell me, who all is here." He punches me in the face. I just turn my eyes red and snap his forearm.
"FUUUCK! Bitch! When my crew gets to me you'll be a pulp and then I let Porcupine have your ass!" Nice knowing he was an actual creep, makes me feel justified in adding him to the ranks of the handy-capable.
"I already took out Squealer, Trainwreck, and I assume Porcupine. Needle headed guy?" I ask.
"Yous ain't gots shit on our new gal. She'll freeze your ass off and hand it to you with a fuckin smile" He says with a crooked smile.
"Kay, I assume she's the one that froze the place then." I touch his face and reconnect his spinal cord and fix his back before slamming his head into the cabinet, twice. He didn't conk out the first time.
'Now I have to find miss Snow Miser, lovely'
Getting up and running further down the halls it gets colder, I normally love the cold, what with how my body heats up the more energy I have. But this just fills me with a sense of unease. Who could be so powerful a cryokinetic that they froze over an entire hospital, and still be rearing to go?
Running further I hear something.
"Mama? Where are you? I don't know what to do. Am I doing the right thing?" A young girl speaks quietly, almost a whisper really. You could hear the calm sadness in her voice. Making a turn I see her.
At the end of the hallway, facing me with widening eyes, a pale, blue skinned girl with white hair.
"Permafrost?"
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BONUS
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Joseph "Scarecrow" Crane
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After his father Jonathan Crane, the original Scarecrow, killed himself when his doctorate was revoked. All because his identity was revealed when a news reporter broke the unwritten rules, just after The Marquis was taken down, and the Brockton Bay Brigade unmasked themselves and formed the New Wave movement.
He was left to the streets at only 10 years of age. And after surviving in the train yard for five or so years, under constant fear someone would find him and take the revenge they couldn't get now that his father was dead. Someone finally found him and chased him into a drug lab. After knocking out the cooker holed up in there, he took over the equipment, struggling to remember his father's craft. And after an epiphany that he would later learn was called a trigger event. He managed to concoct his first, and favorite, aerosol drug.
He smiled fondly, after all, you always remember your first. His father was a Focal Tinker. Working with fear. Smoke bombs, rays, and light emitters that all caused fear in others, he was one of The Marguis's main enforcers. When he triggered, he recreated the Fear Smoke, a final connection between him and his father. Something to remember him by till the day he died. he was a Combat Tinker, specializing in aerosols, air-based drugs. Creating hallucinogens, narcotics, amphetamines, phosgene's and more! It was beautiful, it was deadly. And it was what earned him a premier spot in the Merchants.
He loathed these people. These sycophants and ignoramuses. They only care for his ability to give them easy highs. But they gave him all the necessary materials and even test subjects, as long as it was under the pretense of making the next big high, they didn't care. If a random volunteer went raving mad or even melted from the inside out, well, that was just a bad batch. Give them a couple batches of the best narcotics they never had, and they quickly wrote it off as an oopsie.
He couldn't go to the ABB, he wasn't Asian. The E88? He may be a psychopathic emotionally stunted self-proclaimed scientist, but even he had moral standards. The PRT then? No, they wouldn't take him, they told him he would have to get rid of the fear smoke. He refused to get rid of the last connection he had to his father. So the Merchants were all that was left.
And stepping out of one of the offices to see Skidmark get manhandled by a little girl and hear that Squealer was out of commission, as well as the spy Trainwreck and the pedophile Porcupine? Well that was perfect. With enough smarts, and he had plenty, he could escape here unscathed and take over the Merchants. Squealer would be a harsh loss, but if he was honest with himself he knew she would never listen to him unless he was working to get Skidmark out.
Step one. Take over the Merchants.
Step two. Recruit more capes.
Step three. Make New Wave pay for their part in his fathers death.
Seeing the Endstopper Child run down further into the building left him smiling under his gas mask. walking over to the bags of drugs that were on the ground around Skidmark he grabbed what he could and left for the exit.
Life was looking up for him today.
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A/N Really got this one heavy with the blood, relatively speaking.
QUESTIONS!
For Newb
Okay.
For Kitsu
Q: Dancingleaf, you asked if Kitsu had ever ridden a geyser or done other such things that would be fun in theory, but would be incredibly dangerous. But did them anyway due to your Immortality.
Kitsu: Not often, the last five years were just me trying to survive, jumping from city to city, avoiding the PRT trying to capture and recruit me, and generally just staying on the move. Oh! There were a few times when I couldn't resist the temptation though XP. Like when I would hitchhike a ride, sometimes I just attached a rope to a skateboard, or a metal trash can lid that one time. Though that rarely lasted long, usually the driver notices within five minutes and stops or calls the cops. It's still very fun!
Q: Anonymous PM asked what Kitsu's favorite food is.
Kitsu: PIZZA! All forms of pizza, calzones, pizza rolls, pizza pockets, lasagna. Not Hawaiian, you heretics who eat of the falseness that is Hawaiian can burn in the great pizza oven of purgatory!
As always please keep commenting, it makes my day and really encourages me!