7.16 Fairy Tale
9th of June, 2011
Taylor stands in a corner of the main gym of the PRT Downtown HQ, not really knowing what she's doing here in truth.
Well, this isn't entirely true. Following her argument with Nictimène, the latter made a show of ostensibly changing the topic by addressing Glory Girl, who promptly started asking a bunch of questions that honestly went way above her head. She still has a hard time believing that magic is apparently a thing that exists, and that the strongest Tinker in the world can casually tap into it as she sees fit.
In any case, the following explanations had apparently lit up Glory Girl's fighting spirit, the enthusiastic blonde quickly cajoling the younger girl into a demonstration after demonstrating that her forcefield would be able to handle a 'moderately powerful blow' – which still sent reality screaming and made Taylor break into goosebumps.
So, in a way, Taylor is here because she got curious too. Not that she's likely to admit it in a thousand years, considering how the thief-turned-hero infuriates her.
~~Evil God Slayer's–~~
As the Alexandria package closes up low to the ground in an attempted grapple, the armor-clad Tinker lazily twirls while readying an axe kick with her right leg, black ghostflame coming alive to swallow her foot.
~~–Contemptuous Tread!~~
The foot falls, reality seemingly quivers, and a sound akin to broken glass echoes over the surroundings.
"Oh, come on!" the blonde whines aloud while pulling back, "How come I can never catch you?!"
"It's because I'm faster than you," the redhead answers with a smile, her ears twitching, having forgone the use of her mask for the time being, "...And I may also have cobbled together a proper martial art to use in aerial combat."
"No way!" Glory Girl gasps in delight, her previous annoyance seemingly forgotten as she drifts closer to her fellow flier, "You just didn't say that! You have to teach me!"
"I mean," 'Jacky' tilts her head while crossing her arms over her chest, pausing for a moment before saying, "I'm a little busy at the moment, but once I have some free time, I don't really see why not?"
"This blows," someone comments next to her, and Taylor finds herself side-eyeing Lisa as the Thinker looks at the scene with a pinched air.
"This is the most upbeat I've seen Vicky since we came back from Somerset," Dean quietly comments back from Taylor's other side, "Let them have this, Insight."
"Oh, they can beat each other in the ring all they want, I can't possibly care less," she sniffs with a dismissive wave, "I'm more upset about this–," she vaguely gestures all around them, "–being the proof that some people are more equal than others in the eyes of the PRT."
"Aren't you proof of it already?" the Master challenges testily.
"I know I am. But forgive a girl for wanting to feel special," Lisa cattily shoots back, before visibly sobering up as one of her hands comes to straighten her domino mask, "...Sometimes, this whole entire thing feels a bit like a joke. And I don't really like getting reminded of it."
"Things shouldn't work that way. That's not how justice is supposed to work," Taylor says evenly.
In a nearby sewer pipe, two hundred thirty-eight cockroaches die to keep her emotions in check.
"Yeah, but that's how our world does," Lisa replies sotto-voce while looking at her through the corner of her eyes, "There are some things only capes can handle, so the most powerful and versatile of them gets a pass when they make it known that they're willing to play ball for the greater good."
The Thinker pauses, before adding.
"But that's not really why you're upset, are you?" she pointedly asks, one of her eyebrows arched all up.
The only reason Taylor doesn't grit her teeth at that is because a few more insects' violent death stops her.
"Her potential is limitless, and she doesn't give a damn about it," she replies coldly, distantly, "She's friends with Missy, yet giving some of her time to society doesn't enter her mind. It pisses me off."
All Taylor can do is control bugs, and she's the one out here, catching criminals one at a time, when the Bay's Triumvirate-tier cape would be able to handle the city's issue all on her own if she felt like it!
"Alright, real talk: do you know how many parahumans want to have no part in the game?" Lisa asks while turning herself fully her way, "Because I can guarantee you that there are at least five in this city alone, possibly more. And I know because I got asked to check."
Taylor doesn't answer, but she does lock eyes with the blonde.
"Plenty of people just… don't have it in them to play cops and robbers," Lisa gives a half-shrug, "And from my read on Wonder Girl, that would've been her case too if the Endbringers didn't exist."
"She doesn't like the attention, and she's tired. Very, very tired," Dean chimes in evenly, "She's also one of the most genuine people I've ever met. Very self-aware. When she says that she wants nothing more than to go back to her easel and paint, I believe her."
"Interesting," Lisa muses, her eyes darting back toward the ring as the two fighters separate once again, "She's constantly pushing herself, but that's only because she wants to be done with things as quickly as possible, then."
"Honestly, I get where she's coming from," the boy comments while stuffing his hands in his pocket to fully slouch against the wall, "Vicky too, I think. She thought about it a lot these past couple weeks, and she wants to focus more on her parahuman studies than New Wave now."
"And you want to become a shrink," Lisa adds, getting a distracted nod in answer, before turning her attention back to Taylor, "Like I said, the cape life isn't for everyone. Like it or not, we're putting a crap ton of weight on the shoulders of a twelve years old. And she's perfectly in her right to tell all of us to fuck off."
"That's unfair," she frowns deeply behind her mask, "She–"
"No. Nope. Nada," the Thinker tuts her with an emphatic headshake and a wagged finger, "Don't go there. Don't start saying that she doesn't deserve her power because she wants to live her own life. That's just fucked up, honey. She went through the same kind of shit we all did–" in Taylor's swarm sense, Dean's farthest hand twitches, "–to get there. Sure, she won the power lottery, and that annoys me too, but what she does with her prize is her choice," she pauses, then adds after a moment's thought, "Well, unless she goes back to her wicked ways, in which case it'll become ours once again – assuming we don't get vaporized first – but you get what I'm saying."
~~Evil God Slayer's–~~
The trio pause to watch as the fight picks back up, this time with Nictimène leading the aerial charge, her two arms extended behind her already drenched in black, eerie fire.
~~–Blasphemous Wings!~~
Once again, reality shudders as she crosses paths with Glory Girl, her arms blurring forward faster than the eye can see, and the telltale sound of glass breaking echoes in the gymnasium.
"Come oooonnnnnn–" the blonde piteously whines once again, making the younger girl snicker.
"I know that," Taylor finally says, her eyes locked on the two fliers laughing mid-air, "I just can't accept it."
"Well, tough, because Wonder Girl isn't about to change her mind on that." Lisa replies a little drily.
***
I enter my workshop with a happy little sigh after dinner, the lights quickly flickering on in sequence as I lazily stretch with my arms over my head.
Atop her appropriated workbench – we never said anything about it, it kinda just happened – Theia's vessel boots up, then jerks awake in an eerie lurch.
"You had fun today," she says as soon as her eyemotes lock with my visible eye.
"I did," I agree with an easy smile, "It was nice to see how the Missy behaves in her natural habitat, and Vicky's fun to hang around. A lot more nerdier than anyone would think."
Though still enough of a meathead to pester me for a quick spar, one that I soundly won, but that was expected. She knows how to fight, sure, but she doesn't really know how to handle another flier – my speed advantage notwithstanding – while I went the extra-mile and kitbashed an unholy fusion of AC combat and Calidus training for myself for this specific kind of scenario on my way back from the future-that-never-was back to the present.
Now, to be fair, considering how her power works, her current hit-and-run style functions well enough. But she's shit out of luck if a stronger, more resilient Alexandria package manages to catch her in a grapple.
"You're going to train her in aerial combat?" my brain roomie asks with a head tilt.
"I don't see why I wouldn't," I shrug, "It'll help me keep my skills sharp, and she won't humiliate herself the next time she crosses paths with a villainous flier scrappier than her. Everyone wins."
I pause, smirk, then add.
"And imagine her face once I'm going to insist for her to call me Master," I cackle while skipping toward one of my fabbers, "This is going to be priceless! I cannot wait!"
"Is this what they call a benefit in kind?" Theia muses out loud, and I nearly face fault at that out of sheer surprise, before snorting a laugh.
"Pretty sure this wasn't what they thought of first, but it certainly fits," I giggle as I come to a stop in front of my destination.
"...Are you sure about this next part, Jacky?" Theia hesitantly asks as she steps next to me, "This is dangerous. The Warrior could notice."
"I know," I answer soberly while bending down to take hold of freshly fabricated roboroach fabber, "But we need an eye on him, so I have to take it. Someone making a jump between London and somewhere else is less likely to catch his attention than an intercontinental stealth missile would."
Because, yes, that was my second option, and yes, it sounds about as bad as I make it sound.
~~Evil God Slayer Secret Art:~~
I take a breath while extending my right hand skyward, the tip of my index already shrouded in ghostflames, and Dell forwards me an alert that he triggered my stealth module right as I see myself vanish from sight.
~~Thronebreaker Passage!~~
My hand falls, and a tear in reality is cut.
"Alright, wish me luck," I mumble under my breath.
"...Break a leg?" Theia says, eyemotes and silicon mouth all scrunched up in confusion.
I can't help but giggle as I step into the unknown, or, more accurately, inside one of London's back-alley.
***
"Welp," I lazily spin on one of my stools with my hands behind my head, "This was absolutely anti-climatic."
"Which is exactly what you expected," Theia points out.
"I know! But I keep walking into messes each time I think I have everything figured out!" I exclaim while throwing my hands up for good measure, "Forgive me for being baffled that everything worked out for once!"
"You are forgiven," my brain roomie answers imperiously, her lack of nose pointed up in the air, "I will endeavor to account for the limitations of your fleshy mind from now on."
I give her a deadpan look.
She starts shuffling awkwardly from where she sits on a workbench.
"...I'm sorry. Did I go too far?" she mumbles.
I snort, before shaking my head.
"Nah, it was funny," I grin while rolling my head, "Just came a little out of left field."
"...Humor is hard, alright?" she grumbles while crossing her arms.
"Eh, you're not that bad," my grin softens, "And it did distract me. Dell, status on the network?"
A pause.
"Numbers of units are steadily increasing," his flat tone cuts through the quiet of the workshop, "We should have the riverside of the Thames canvassed in two days' time."
"Good," I nod, "Perfect, even. We'll be ready just in time for the live-fire test."
Another pause falls on my Tinkering haven.
"This means–" Theia starts saying.
"That things will be over soon, yes," I easily finish her train of thoughts, before sighing, "And honestly? I cannot wait."