Chapter 24: Someone call for a Slayer?

Grimmideals - Ah, you're right. I'll be fixing that soon.

WindbornesWord - That'll be fixed.

After the whole situation happened, we went back home. Dragon tried to question me with my whole knowledge and shit, but after my mind was used in a fucked up game of tug of war, I waved her off and went to crash in bed. Thankfully, Taylor joined me, so that made it better.

Still, it was hell. I could feel Glory Girl's aura trying to force emotions into our Bond, and not working, but it was the conflict between Master Effects that made my mind feel like it was being put in a wood chipper. Taylor's control over me in Big Chill was basically 75/25, I held the majority, but with Victoria's aura, I could feel it go down to somewhere in the 60's. That was sort of vague, but I'd need Brainstorm to figure it out for me.

Anyway, when I woke up later, I felt better, and was able to ignore the low thrum of a headache in the background. I'd gotten used to them since Bonding with Taylor, so they weren't really an issue anymore.

I was Surprised though to wake up alone, then Annoyed that I conked out in the outfit I'd been wearing. (Well this is fucking fantastic.) Huffing, I got up, and started making my way out of the bedroom. The sound of music playing let me know she was up and here instead of up and not here, so that was good. I was a bit out of the door when I got into range for my Other Half's thoughts. Now that's just stupid...

Surprise pulsed from her, and I felt her turn a mental eye to me. |Hey, you okay?|

Walking into the living room, I saw my Other Half lounging on the couch, one of my shirts on and a pair of short shorts that showed off all of her legs. Taking in the sight for a second, I nodded the next, and made my way over. "Mhm, good as I can be to be honest." My girlfriend nodded, and pat down a spot next to her. I was already going to go there, so it was kind of unneeded. Whatever. I smiled at that, and eventually got there, sitting down besides her. Though, now that I was here, I noticed she was scrolling through PHO.

Interested, I was about to ask about it, but she activated the projection feature, showing the thread she was currently looking at.

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Topic: E88 take huge loss!

In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay

Bagrat (Veteran Member)(The Guy in the Know)

Posted on March 5, 2011:

I'm sure everyone saw Khepri spring into action today, but I doubt everyone knows why. There's a video of what went down here, [Link], the first few seconds had to be edited out, but I'll explain it.

Earlier today, the E88 seemed ready to make a move on Parian. The Rogue had apparently finished one of her shows, something that involved monkeys and a giraffe, when three E88 Capes confronted her.

Hookwolf, Storm Tiger, and Cricket.

Now, if that sounds like overkill, then you're right.

Thankfully, Dauntless was in the area. He, along with Glory Girl, came to Parian's aid.

This is where things take a twist though, seeing as Victor and Rune were also nearby. So there was the situation, a 3 vs 5 with the advantage to the Villains.

The first move went to Hookwolf, who used the distraction of Victor and Rune showing up to his advantage, only to be punched by Glory Girl.

Now, here's where things take ANOTHER twist.

Everyone else evacuated, seeing the E88 Capes and Heroes/Rogue getting ready to fight, people naturally ran away. Well, everyone but one guy who seemed to not be paying attention to everything. A guy who just so happened to be in the way of Ordinance Hookwolf.

The two of them crashed, and everyone pauses, wondering if some poor bystander was just killed...

Only for it to turn out to be Anubis/Sun Wukong in his civilian identity!

From there, The Changer engages Hookwolf, starting out with throwing one of the 'Pulse Grenades' used for take downs, only for the murder blender to avoid it and keep going.

Anubis jumped into the air, then turned into a massive dinosaur like creature! Though he didn't stay in that form for long, opting to change into a form he called 'Lodestar', a Magnekinetic, and treated Hookwolf like a toy as he slammed him around.

After he was done, he changed back into himself, then threw another grenade at Hookwolf, knocking him out of the fight.

While that was going on, the rest of the fights were playing out, Glory Girl vs Rune, Dauntless vs Storm Tiger, Parian vs Victor, when Cricket managed to get behind and strike Parian. It was only thanks to some interference by the Wards on scene, Vista and the new transfer Flechette from New York, that the Rogue wasn't taken hostage.

This is where things changed again, Anubis suddenly laughed, and transformed again. But instead of staying as 'Lodestar', he transformed again into the form of 'Big Chill', the Mothman, and flew into the air.

At the same time, Khepri gathered a veritable army of insects, and demonstrated a new ability by gaining wings and flying. The Changer and The Master ended the fight, resulting in the capture of of 5 E88 Capes, taking out 1/3rd of their roster in one go.

That said, let's discuss.

(Showing page 1 of 30)

▶ Judge(Moderator)

Replied on March 5th 2011:

Due to the unintentional unmasking of Anubis/Sun Wukong, all videos/photos of the event are encouraged to edit out/blur the individual for his own privacy. Anyone who posts un-editied videos/photos will be given a month long ban, and run the risk of pissing off The Changer that fought off The Simurgh...

So don't do it. Just don't.

▶ Togogo

Replied on March 5th 2011:

... Wut? No, seriously, what did I just see?

▶ HuckleNBuckle

Replied on March 5th 2011:

... So he can turn into a dinosaur the size of Leviathan? Yeah, sounds about right.

▶ Brocktonite03

Replied on March 5th 2011:

This entire thing is something that could only happen here. I mean, really, where else are you going to find Nazis ganging up on a Cape, only for said Cape to get back up, only for the Nazis to ALSO get back up, and the situation somehow involving The strongest Changer in the world? I'm telling you, only in Brockton Bay.

▶ FFlash

Replied on March 5th 2011:

... Is... Is that supposed to be a good thing?

▶ Cav

Replied on March 5th 2011:

Is anyone going to mention the fact we know what Anubis looks like now?

▶ LaDIdDo

Replied on March 5th 2011:

? You want to provoke THAT?! Do you not SEE the end of the days in bug form?! The fucking massive DINOSAUR MAN?!

▶ Cav

Replied on March 5th 2011:

I mean... No? But we still know what he looks like now.

▶ Nosferatu

Replied on March 5th 2011:

'We?' Who the hell is 'We?'

▶ Navi

Replied on March 5th 2011:

Anyone that was there, and anyone that has pics or vids of the whole thing. There's probably a camera or 3 that have him on video too somewhere.

(Showing page 30 of 30)

▶ Xxx_Void_Cowboy_xxX(Temp banned)

Replied March 5th 2011:

I'm just saying, it'd make sense if Sun Wukong injected his DNA into Khepri. That's got to be the only way she can sort of transform now too! She's probably carrying his genetically modified kid or something!

- Moderator Comment -

And there goes the ban. Tin_Mother.

▶ Vista(Verified Cape)(Wards ENE)

Replied March 5th 2011:

... Or, might be hard to wrap your head around this, he made a weaker version of his own Tech for her.

▶ KllIjoy

Replied March 5th 2011:

Ayy, Vista's here! And weren't you there? What'd ya see?

▶ Nod

Replied March 5th 2011:

... Void says some weird and stupid shit, but that's gotta take the cake.

▶ Ganon

Replied March 5th 2011:

No, I think his 'Canberra was replaced with a Steampunk city', and 'Agni was a combination of Capes fusing into one entity' thing was dumber. And hearing about what went down from someone that was there would be cool. *Wink wink nudge nudge* Pls spill.

I snorted. That was hilariously retarded, and I loved it. Looking at my girlfriend, I motioned for her phone, and with a Curious hum, she handed it to me. "Try not to get me banned."

That made me roll my eyes. I knew what I was doing.

▶ Khepri(Verified Cape)(Pantheon)(The Guild)

Replied March 5th 2011:

Using my girlfriend's phone for this, but I love how stupid that is.

Btw, if anyone tries to bother me when I'm out relaxing, I'll pin a Darwin Award onto your hospital bed.

Or tombstone.

Either or really.

My girlfriend deadpanned at me, and I grinned. "What? Anyone dumb enough to start shit deserves it." She didn't say anything, but the Agreement coming from her was enough to let me know what she thought about that.

While that happened, her phone started ringing. We blinked, then paused as we noticed it was Dragon. I slowly started moving the phone towards my girlfriend, it was her phone after a...- "Apapap! You're holding it, you pick it up."

We stared at each other for a bit... Then I tossed the phone onto her lap. Taylor stared at me, Annoyance flickering from her, then she let out a long drawn out breath. "You're a child." I grinned at her. Huffing, she picked her phone up, and answered the call. "Hi Tess."

"Hello Taylor... Phoenix." The pause wasn't a good sign. "I think we need to talk." This time it was Taylor's turn to throw her phone at me. Nopenopenope, I know that tone. Tactical retreat!

I gaped as my Other Half vaulted over the couch, and started running away. "What the fuck? WHAT HAPPENED TO FOREVER AND ALWAYS!?"

"'And' is there for a reason!" That made no fucking sense!

Dragon cleared her throat, and I made a note to pay my girlfriend back with unholy vengeance.

The talk wasn't that bad.

Granted, I had to explain how it was possible for me to get involved in a Cape fight literally minutes after hanging up. It was after confirming that I was fine, she'd seen a report about the interaction between Glory Girl and us, apparently Vista and Flechette had seen me freaking the fuck out, and hearing my scream, so I had to spend some time reassuring her that I was okay and not dying.

It was weird. I'd gotten used to not being bothered or having to deal with family, but now here I was, having my adopted Aunt worry about me. It was strange, but I felt like I could get used to it.

After that, we talked about shit, mainly what I knew and didn't know, and worked with it. I'd gone Brainstorm at some point, my Other Half coming back to join the discussion between Dragon and I, and we came up with ideas depending on certain situations.

Granted, we didn't talk about everything, I had no idea if Dragon would be free to say 'Cauldron', or anything else that'd get the Illuminati's attention, so she wasn't clued into that whole thing. We WANTED to clue her in, having an unchained A.I on our side had been paying dividends, but there was the risk of those fuckers doing something against her, so until we'd built her backup server, she was going to be left in the dark. We'd fill her in eventually, but it'd take a bit.

That aside, the three of us talked for a while, until eventually my Aunt decided everything was fine, though she did 'Scold' me about my post. Though her version of it was kind of tame, but I chalked it up to her being Canadian.

With the talk done, my girlfriend and I relaxed, watching movies and watching/replying to shit on PHO. I had to use my own account for my shit posting though, but that was fine.

Though, thanks to using the crab, I remembered to do something.

Anubis - After tomorrow, we're having a little chat.

All_Seeing_Eye - ... Can I say no?

Anubis - We both know the answer to that.

All_Seeing_Eye - ... Goddammit.

Waking up, I opened an eye, Annoyed that I was awake, and even more Annoyed that I was hungry. Some of the Annoyance bled away after my Other Half burrowed into me, a nice way to whack the negative emotions away.

Though now that I was awake, I recognized what we were supposed to be doing today. (Well, hopefully it won't take too long.) I was all for turning Goblins into corpses and shit, but I was looking forward to being lazy after the mind fuck I'd gone through yesterday. I might not be feeling it anymore, but it was still a whole fucking thing that I'd rather not have to deal with or laze away and forget about.

I would've thought about it some more, but I felt my Other Half's mind stirring, and looked at her. Jade eyes cracked open, and met my gaze. Like everyday, we shared a grin, a morning kiss, which we would then complain about morning breath, and started our days with a feeling of Contentment.

After we went through our morning routines, we made our way to the Lab. For me, I was making more ammo, Taylor was making more grenades, and Dragon was taking in what we were bringing. "One Pulse Sniper, Pulse Hand Cannon, Pulse Shotgun, Pulse Rifle, and 12 Pulse Grenades, and a Thermal Knife. I have everything, Taylor?" My other Half nodded, clipping an extra pair of nades onto her waist, and adjusting the hold of her weapons.

On the outside, she was carrying her Sentinel and Hawkmoon, on her back and waist, the upgraded knife firmly in its sheath, with four grenades clipped onto her belt. She carried her Peacekeeper and Quicksilver Storm in her inventory, along with the rest of her grenades. It irked me that it was full with just that, but we'd improve the inventory soon.

My Aunt turned to me, right after I finished making the last of my ammo. "Meanwhile, you'll be carrying one Sniper Rifle, Assault Rifle, Handgun, pair of Pulse Shotguns, Thermal Knife, and only 2 Pulse Grenades in favor of carrying 4 ammo crates." I hummed in Agreement. My shotguns were in my inventory, as was my Longbow, but I could bring them out whenever I wanted. I would've also carried a crate of rounds if I could get away with it, but our inventories were limited, so I settled for 4 smaller ammo boxes. It reminded me of the boxes from Warzone, all carrying a dozen full mags in the event I ran out.

Granted, I could just go alien when I do, make a structure or construct as Diamondhead, and use my Builder to make me some more ammo, but that could get tedious. |You'd still do it though.|

I mentally rolled my eyes. [Never said I wouldn't.] She hummed at that, Acceptance coming from her. "Anyway," Putting the last box into my inventory, I stepped away from the Fabricator, and stood by my girlfriend's side as we looked at Dragon. "We've got a few hours till we have to get there, right?"

My Aunt hummed, then created a time table in front of us. "The rotation starts at 12PM, and finishes at around 1PM. You have an hour and a half to get there, but considering some of your forms, as well as your teleportation technology, that gives you an ample amount of time to relax or do something else."

Nodding, I retracted my suit, and looked at the women with me. "Movie?" Curiosity came from my girlfriend, she'd been entranced by the idea of Spiderman, Bug themed Hero, no shit, I mentally snorted.

As for my Aunt, she blinked. "What kind?" Now that was a good question...

Thinking for a bit, I grinned when I had an idea. "Iron Man. You're gonna love it." My Aunt looked a little confused, while my girlfriend was a mix of Amused Exasperation. We'd started watching Marvel movies and shows, knocking out Thor, Black Panther, and starting Daredevil. We hadn't watched Spiderman or The Incredible Hulk yet, that was going to be for our next movie date, but we'd get there soon. That aside, the blind fighter had Intrigued my Other Half, and she was looking forward to watching more of it.

For good reason too, Daredevil was awesome. |The show, or the character?|

[Both.] She nodded in Agreement. "Anyway, to greatness we go!"

My girlfriend let out a low scoff, while Dragon just followed after us, confused but still interested.

So, I might've made a minor miscalculation. "Phoenix, you're not from Bet, are you?"

Rewinding a bit, we watched Iron Man, and like I thought, Dragon loved it. She might not have liked Tony, that'd hopefully change as we watched the rest of the movies, but she loved the concept of multiple suits that were better then the last. That might've been because she was doing it already, but I think she had an idea or two after watching the movie.

Taylor also loved the movie, but she wasn't asking me highly dangerous questions. |It's not exactly dangerous per se, just really really surprising.| She had a point, but it was just a little nerve wracking .

Looking at my Aunt's somewhat squinted gaze, I decided to ask something. "Why do you think that?" I wasn't denying it, and we all understood that.

Dragon hummed, the drone she was using, we didn't have a Projector in the livingroom for obvious reasons, gently bobbing in the air. "Well before, when I was ordered to spy on the two of you," She told us about that, making Taylor's already low opinion of the PRT reach bedrock. "I found that you didn't exactly exist here. All records of your existence appeared 3 months ago, and despite being VERY well done, it's not entirely possible for an A.I of my caliber to be fooled." I felt the both of us pulse in Amusement as my Aunt nonchalantly boasted about being OP. "The final nail though is that Marvel does not exist here." Ah... I knew that, it was the reason I wanted entertainment like those movies in the first place...

But I forgot. (Well shit.) Amusement pulsed from my girlfriend, but I ignored it in favor of looking at my Aunt. Despite the slightly narrowed eyes, I could tell she was very interested in this. "So, I'm not denying it," There was no point really considering she knew. "But we've gotta go in like, a few minutes."

The artificial woman blinked, her eyes flickering for a moment before she frowned. "Unfortunately, you're right," I wasn't sure if I should feel offended by that or not. She sighed, rubbing her eyes for a bit, then turned back to look at me. "We're going to talk about this when you get home though." It still somewhat Surprised me that she was fine with calling our base 'Home', but I liked hearing it come from her. Crazy how easily I latched onto an A.I as a familial figure.

I shrugged. "That works."

She's really taking to the Aunt role. I idly looked at my girlfriend at that thought, the Melancholy and Longing coming from her easily let me know there was more to that train of thought. She met my look, then looked away. |Not... Not now.| I mentally hummed, then turned back to my Aunt.

Tess had seen the little byplay, not much escaped the eyes of an A.I like her, but she never asked us about it, which we both appreciated. "See you in a bit?"

The earlier look vanished, and she gave the both of us a warm smile. "Stay safe, and do your best. That's all I, or anyone can ask of you, okay?" Taylor and I pulsed with Warmth, her a bit more then me, but it was still there.

I kinda liked it.

With that done, Taylor and I made our way out of the mountain, the door closing behind us as snow crunched under our feet. Getting used to the weather in Alaska had been an easy thing, I loved the snow and cold, I was a December baby after all, Wait, really?! I blinked.

Turning to my girlfriend, who was giving me a wide eyed and Surprised look, I couldn't help it. "Did that never come up?" By the way her brow twitched, I was going to say no. "Well... Now you know?"

She closed her eyes, then let out a long sigh. "We'll talk about that later." I nodded, and activated my suit.

Following my action, she clad herself in her gear, and I moved a hand to the Ultimatrix. "Fly or run?"

Taylor was about to respond with 'Fly', I knew she was, but she paused, Contemplation coming from her as she stared at the Ultimatrix. Biting her lip under her mask, she gave me a hesitant nod. "Run." Ah, it appeared 'Later' was now.

Humming, I pressed down the dial, transforming. "Water Hazard!" Fond Exasperation pulsed from her, but I set it aside to tap the dial. "XLR8!" My visor opened, and I turned to my girlfriend, an appreciative hum coming from me as I noticed her posture change to better handle her tail. The fibers of her suit changed a bit, the soles of her feet being exposed to help her run, as the upper half of her feet were reinforced to shield her talons. Like her feet, the fibers around her fingers shifted to reinforce her claws, and the ones on her back expanded to coat her tail, and ending with a wicked scythe like shape.

My girlfriend Relaxed, her emotions leveling out as she processed thoughts and feelings faster then before. Shaking her head, she got into a runners stance, and I grinned. Closing my visor, I got into position, and after a few seconds, and on some unseen signal, we ran.

Tuning out the world around us, we let the wind and cold whip around us as became blurs to the naked eye. A sense of Calmness suffused us as we gave into the freedom of running at ridiculous speeds supplied us with, and let our thoughts flow. |It hurts.| Running by her side, I had to make a minor effort to slow myself down so she could keep up, I could see the Sadness from her frame as she admitted that. |I'm reconnecting with my Dad, we're taking it slowly and a step at a time, but we ARE reconnecting. And it's... Nice, to do so, but...| Longing radiated from her, but I countered it by sending over Warmth and Love. The Longing ebbed away, but was still there. |... I just... It makes me sad to know I won't be able to do anything like that with Mom.| We turned into the next state, and I lowly hummed.

Though she wasn't done. |Seeing and hearing Tess interacting and talking to us like that... It makes me remember when Mom would do that. It's just... The way she SAYS stuff, she has the 'Mom' tone, and it just...| I saw her shake her head, Sorrow and Longing surging from her, and I sighed.

There wasn't much I could really say here, family wasn't my expertise, but I still had to say something to this. [Do you WANT to see Dragon in a familial way?]

My Other Half's tail spasmed at that, a trace of Uncertainty coming from her. |I... I... Don't know. I like Tess, she's a wonderful woman, and I... I don't want to go all the way and say I fully trust her, but she's getting there. Maybe in a weak, maybe a month... But soon, I'll feel ready to start REALLY trusting her.| We both understood the significance of that, so I nodded. |But... I don't want to... To replace, my Mom. I don't think I can do it.|

[Then don't.] My mind ran faster then my consciousness it seemed. Though after that was said, I recognized what else would work here. [Your Mother is your Mother. Nothing can change that. But, that doesn't mean you have to replace her or forget her in favor of another.] Bleed over from Grey Matter and Brainstorm was boosted by the mental speed of XLR8, so I was smart as fuck as XLR8. [Your Mother lives in your heart, she always will, so don't be afraid to make more space for others.]

My Other Half was silent at that, but her emotions said it all. Surprise, Appreciation, Contemplation, and Melancholy. |... I see.| That was all she said, but I knew she was going to be thinking time to think about it.

It was a good thing we were running across a continent, at our speed we'd get to Ellisburg in around 7-10 minutes, so she had enough time to think about it.

While my Other Half was thinking about that, I thought about Ellisburg. We had a plan, a good plan really, and one I liked. Since we didn't need to worry about collateral damage, Ellisburg had been fucked for a decade, I was going to go for Cabrakan, and tear the city a new asshole, Ugh, By slamming an earthquake into it. The evolved Talpeadan kept the former stages ability to direct earthquakes and fissures, so I'd be able to keep it contained to Ellisburg... Well, I was pretty sure I could, but practicing how to direct an earthquake isn't exactly an exact science.

Though, the evolved Talpeadan was a creature of perfected instincts/senses, so I'd probably instinctively know how much force was enough for my purposes. (If it's not, then eh, we can still handle it.)

That aside, my mind ran through what we knew, and what was speculated.

We had plans for Tweedle, Dee and Dum, variations too if one or more of the trio were dead. Ideally, Dee was dead, and I could run up on Tweedle and scream in his ears.

Or around him.

Or tear through him with claws and fangs.

Or electrocute it from inside out.

I didn't like Tweedle, the fucker sounded like the lemon guy from Adventure Time, sounded stupid as fuck, and it didn't help that I had options when it came to murder. Though, that statement Amused the hell out of me.

Exasperation pulsed from my Other Half, and I looked out of the corner of my visor as she shook her head. [What?]

Taylor mentally huffed at me. |I'm, trying to come to terms with an emotional conundrum. Can you think about all the ways to kill something, later?| I blinked. 'Later' was highly misleading and a foregone impossibility as a Kineceleran. |... Maybe we should've flown after all.|

I snorted. "Too late. Now you must deal with the consequences of your own choices."

Taylor groaned. "You're insufferable." I laughed at that, Amusement freely flowing from me. |Still... The advice is good... Thank you, Mi Corazon.|

My laughter died down, and I smiled underneath my visor. [You're welcome Mi Reina.]

Our run turned peaceful after that. And we just ran, taking in each other's presence as the wind whipped around our forms, and the world passed us by. It... Was ni...- '~And on and on we'll go, through the wastelands through the highways, 'til my shadow turns to sun rays...~' Despite our visor and mask covering us, we shared a look, then both decided to just not mention it, and let the music play.

Our Future Selves had good taste in music, they were us after all.

[Taylor's POV]

Coming up on the PRT base at Ellisburg, I started slowing down. Unlike my boyfriend, I couldn't stop on a dime, so I had to manually start going slower. Thankfully, I paced it right, and came to a stop a good few feet away from the base. Hearing an Amused hum coming from my left, I gave my boyfriend a side eye. "Not all of us can be Kineceleran's."

He shrugged. "Sounds like a you problem." My eye twitched. [Besides,] He tapped the dial, turning back into himself, while I went from my Hybrid form to base Human. [That's not exactly true. Going Ultimate would've solved that issue.]

He had a point, though as we walked ahead and past the PRT troopers by the entrance, I had an easy counterpoint. |Using Savitar wouldn't have given me time to properly think though.| His hum turned Understanding at that, then he nodded.

As we made our way to the designated meeting area, I thought about what we talked about. The first time I'd turned into a Kineceleran was when I'd finally got it when he said XLR8 made it impossible to put things off till later. My thoughts were so... Clear, and went at a speed that I could hardly understand how I went through my life thinking at the 'Mediocre pace that all inferior hominids are cursed with.' Brainstorm had a way with words, Goddamn right he does, and I had to concede that it was crazy how easy it was to think.

The conversation about how I felt about Tess had been...

Necessary.

It hurt a while, but 'A while' was subjective as a Kineceleran, Amusement pulsed from my boyfriend at that. [That was my train of thought.] I huffed, he was right, we stepped up to an automatic door and walked into a room... I blinked, and felt the Surprise coming from the both of us. Oh god, I'm back in college. I would've snorted if I wasn't taking in the room and podium. We were basically in a seminar hall, and it made me question why we were meeting HERE of all places.

Shaking the sight aside, I noticed there were around 13 other Capes here, one of which made me laser focus onto him. Clad in his blue power armor, the perpetual frown on his face somewhat covered by the beard he was sporting, and working on his goddamn halberd was Armsmaster... I could feel my teeth grit against each other as I worked my jaw. Tess hadn't told us he'd be here, so either she didn't know, which I doubted, or she didn't know that I hated the man...

And given the fact I hadn't told her, that latter one sounded more likely... Calm Understanding flowed through me, and I took the opportunity to glance to my side, and see my Other Half's head turned to me. [Want me to atomize him? I can totally do it.] My lips twitched. Despite none of his forms being capable of it, [NRG.] Ah...

Ignoring the fact my boyfriend was ready to sic a nuclear bomb on Armsmaster, I got myself under control, and mentally nodded at him. |Thanks.| I could tell he grinned under his mask at that, and turned back to the meeting area.

Aside from Armsmaster, I didn't recognize any of the other Capes, but that was fine. All we needed was each other. [Ahem, 'We need friends.'] I shot him a look at that, Annoyed at having my own words thrown back at me, No shit? I reigned in the urge to respond at that, and just decided to make my way to an empty spot a few rows away from Armsmaster.

My Other Half followed after me, Smug Amusement radiating off of him as he did. |You're insufferable.|

[And you looove me for it.] I resisted another urge, knowing that he could and would use my response against me. Sitting down, and rolling my eyes when my boyfriend folded his arms and dropped his head onto them, I idly noted we were getting alot of appraising looks, but didn't pay them too much mind.

Instead, I was trying to think about my train of thought before we came into this room.

Understanding my feelings for Tess was something that HAD to happen. I wasn't going to replace Mom, I couldn't do it, and I wouldn't do it. It had been so easy to slot her into that role though though. We talked about things I knew my Mom and I would talk about if she were still alive, speak to me in a tone that reminded me of her, and treated me as capable and actual person instead of a child. Tess respected and cared for us...

Which was why I'd been struggling with how to see her.

The treatment from her had been different then how Aunt Lacey treated me, but similar enough to how Aunt Zoe and Mom treated me that I could recognize it. I wasn't even sure if she fully recognized it, which added onto the conflict I was dealing with. She would HAVE to know about how her treatment was received by Phoenix, his blatant admittance of calling her 'Auntie' would be enough for even an idiot to get it. Wha? I ignored the Confused mental murmur.

That aside, the talk did help, as did the processing speed that came with my Hybrid form.

I'd had enough time to think about it, and had to admit, he had a point. No surprise there. I rolled my eyes at him, he'd only had good points like that when he was one of his smarter aliens, 'Scuse you? Again, I ignored that.

Mom was Mom, nothing was going to change that.

But that didn't mean I couldn't see Tess as Mom-adjacent. Baffled Surprise pulsed from my boyfriend, and I saw him turn his head to me. [What the hell does 'Mom-adjacent' even mean?]

Mentally shrugging, I responded. |Like a Mom, but not to the point of being called Mom.| I received the 'Confused woman thinking about math' gif, and scoffed. Women are strange.

I was fully prepared to respond to that, but then someone sat in our row, we were at to top since it was convenient, a few seats down, and something neither of us were expecting happened. A familiar beep sounded out, and then a synthetic voice. "Genetic anomaly detected. Commence scan?" Everyone in earshot, which was basically everyone in the room, turned to the source, our eyes landing on the orange glow of the Ultimatrix on my Other Half's wrist.

There was silence for a bit, then my boyfriend opened his mouth. "Ah, forgot about that."

I used an unholy amount of self restraint to keep myself from face palming, because th...- "Did that... Mean me?" Blinking, we both turned to the voice, and noticed the woman that took a seat near us. Even though she was sitting down, she towered over us, her earthen brown skin looking like dry dirt. Her hair was set into braids, and I idly wondered how she washed them given they were long enough to reach the ground. Her outfit stumped me though, a pink suspender and shorts, pink shoes, and a shovel... She also wasn't wearing a mask...

Shaking the Surprise aside, I heard my partner hum, Interest and Annoyance pulsing from him. The first was understandable, but the second? [If it works, I'm going to be bothered by every Case 53 in the fucking world.] Ah... Understanding that, I couldn't help but wonder if it was a bad thing. [Well... Eh. I could fix them up then fuck off, but that's still interacting with people, and I'd rather not.]

Rolling my eyes at that, I decided to talk to the girl looking at us in sheer confusion. "Without a doubt, yes." There was no way we could deny it, so admitting to it was the best course of action. The woman, or girl, I had no idea which, looked between my partner and I, her eyes and face showing confusion and a bit of hope? (Well... Being THE Changer could end up with unbelievable expectations being put onto my boyfriend.)

The Cape bit her lip, looking at the orange glow of the Ultimatrix. Though, before she could ask or say anything, my Other Half spoke up. "Later. We got shit to deal with today." I didn't like how dismissive that sounded, but we both knew he was right. The Goblin King needed to be our priority.

Didn't mean we weren't going to work on his people skills later. [Hello pot.] I mentally scoffed at that.

The woman looked disappointed, which made me a little Sad. Though before I could comfort her, and wasn't that a Surprise, the Ultimatrix stopped glowing, and someone else walked in. The attention went to them, and eventually the briefing started.

Hearing what we did, I had to admit, this seemed like it'd be easy.

There were an estimated 700 Goblin deaths, but it could very well have been more due to the fact most of the creatures built their homes underground. No update on the Royal Guards, but that was fine.

Being told to take the western side of the city though, made me a little Annoyed. Cinder and Ella were said to be in this direction, and the former would be able to cut down on my Swarm by setting them on fire. Sure, I could probably just drown her in bugs and have them eat through her internal organs, though I'd probably lose alot of bugs from that. [Would it matter? You've got like, thousands of em.]

I hummed at that. |I mean, it wouldn't matter, it'd still be annoying though.| He Understood that, and nodded. It was still a little weird that I didn't hear a subconscious follow up, we decided for this we'd keep our thoughts 'Muted' so we didn't get distracted, but we'd handle it.

We were in the western security point, double checking my gear, while he sat cross legged on the ground. We both knew they were perfect, but it was something to do while I waited and gathered my Swarm. The signal hadn't come in to move yet, so we were both just waiting. [By the way,] I hummed. [Want me to go Big Chill now, or when we're ready to go?] Pausing, I felt how big my Swarm was, counting up to 129,000 insects... And decided I could use some more. My boyfriend nodded, the fibers that hid the Ultimatrix writing away as he popped the dial.

Getting up, and attracting the attention of our partners, the woman from earlier and fucking Armsmaster, he pressed down on the dial. The flash went off, and I felt the potential of my Kineceleran Hybrid form just waiting for me to use it. "XLR8!" Rolling my eyes, that would always be childish to me, I watched him tap the dial again, and allowed myself to assume my Necrofriggian Hybrid form. Spreading my wings alongside my boyfriend "Big Chill!"

With the both of us in our new forms, I felt every single bug in a 6 mile radius, and gave an order for them to gather.

While that happened, my Other Half decided to start flying around, lazily hanging around in the air as the end of the days began outside. Amusement came from him at that, and I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, seeing him slowly rolling in the air. [I love that you're starting to accept your role as pestilence.]

I scoffed at that. |Just because I can control millions of bugs, doesn't mean I can be a horseman of the apocalypse.| The image of me blotting out the sky, a sea of insects filling The Boardwalk as they covered buildings in chitin, yesterday filled my mind, and I felt my brow twitch. |Still not enough to be,| Then came a video he'd seen once of what looked like millions of locusts swarming the sky and earth... And I knew I could do that, and more... I huffed at his growing Amusement. |Shush you! Being right doesn't mean you're correct.|

He paused in the air, his eyes locking onto me. "... Is today 'Throw each others words in our faces' day or something? I KNOW I've used that on you before."

That got a shrug out of me. "Maybe. My point still stands."

My Other Half blew out a small stream of frost at me, but I used a wing to blow it away. "'Right and correct are synonymous with each other, so saying being right doesn't make you correct, makes no sense.' Your exact words if I'm remembering correctly."

Waving that off, I decided to keep throwing his own words at him. "'Ok, and?'"

Another breath of frost came from him, but the raking laughter was enough for anyone to tell he was Amused. "Pretty sure you threw something at me for that."

It didn't take long for me to remember if I did or not. "Mhm. You pretended the pillow was a murder weapon."

"Suffocation via pillow is a tried and true method of putting the opposition to rest." I snorted at both the speed of it, and the actual response.

Surprisingly, I wasn't the only one. Sharing a look, my boyfriend and I turned to the source, seeing the woman from earlier. Apparently her name was Gully. Like I suspected, she was a Case 53, a 'Monster Cape' who suddenly showed up somewhere without knowing a thing.

Gully blinked at our looks, and seemed to shrink into herself, making me frown. "Sorry." That just made it worse.

Shaking my head, I decided to reassure her. "You don't have to apologize." And she didn't, it was a good retort. "Feel free to point and laugh at the insufferable man, he can take it."

"I can really feel the love here." His droll tone Amused me.

Still, I rolled my eyes at that, and noticed the way her lips twitched, so I'd say it was working. "Thanks." Her eyes naturally drifted to my wings. "Do... Can you actually fly with those?"

I grinned under my mask, and decided to demonstrate by flapping them, lifting myself off the ground. Gully watched as I flew up, and hovered at eye level with her. "I don't know. Maybe."

Her demeanor softened, and she smiled. "That's cool," My boyfriend laughed, frost coming out like a mist that left small icicles that fell onto the ground. Seeing said icicles, Gully's eyes widened, and she realized the pun, groaning as she did. "Ugh... I didn't mean it like that!"

I chuckled at that, and gently floated back down, wrapping my wings around myself when I touched the floor. "It's fine. I've heard worse."

Suddenly, I felt my boyfriend's eyes on me. "Hmm?" I ignored the Suspicious hum, and was going to talk to Gully some more, but then the signal came, and I turned to look at my currently Mothman boyfriend. He nodded, touching down onto the ground as the gate to Ellisburg slowly began to open. [Got enough bugs?]

I mentally nodded. |2 million should be enough.|

He hummed, and took a step forwards. His hand touched the dial, and the flash of green went off, my radius dropping back to its base as I lost my wings. "Armodrillo!" I started walking forwards, Gully hesitantly following me as my boyfriend reached for the dial again. Gully, and Armsmaster, who had been closer to my partner then we were, froze. Knowing what was coming, I shifted back into my base form, and locked myself into it.

It was just in time for him to twist the dial, another flash going off as he went Ultimate. When it died down, the evolved Talpeadan lumbered in front of us, raising his muzzle to the air. "CABRAKAN!" The shout shook the ground a bit, but that was it. Well, that was it to me.

Gully was staring at him like she was seeing a demon, while Armsmaster was as stiff as the halberd he had stuck up his ass.

I was Amused at this, though I kept my eyes on my partner, who lumbered out of the gate, and into Ellisburg. His paws roamed across the ground, stopping a bit into the city proper. I felt his Anticipation, and watched as he raised an arm, morphing it into a jackhammer that instantly started pumping. "Cataclysm." His arm slammed into the earth, and for a moment, nothing happened.

Only a moment, because then the earth started to shake with the force of an earthquake.