-
The site has now migrated to Xenforo 2. If you see any issues with the forum operation, please post them in the feedback thread.
-
Due to issues with external spam filters, QQ is currently unable to send any mail to Microsoft E-mail addresses. This includes any account at live.com, hotmail.com or msn.com. Signing up to the forum with one of these addresses will result in your verification E-mail never arriving. For best results, please use a different E-mail provider for your QQ address.
-
The rules regarding NSFW links have been updated. See here for details.
Charm Learning Shard (Worm/Exalted) (COMPLETED)
- Thread starter Daniel Snuts
- Start date
Flashbunny
Not too sore, are you?
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2016
- Messages
- 361
- Likes received
- 686
Precogs canonically can't predict trigger events, IIRC, but that's a pretty minor quibble.
Sophia being taken out in a dumb way seemed fine to me? The inevitable result of using her as a guinea pig for untested powers.
Whitesnake Pelinal
Like a dream without a dreamer
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2014
- Messages
- 946
- Likes received
- 5,035
If his relationship with Aisha is too consensual to qualify, Shatterbird is already in position to be a replacement.
zapking5
But I don't want to have a title!
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2016
- Messages
- 224
- Likes received
- 1,707
That's a great idea, the willpower boost would allow her to survive being the Butcher in the long term. I don't think she would kill the Butcher intentionally though, it would have to be an accident from the Butcher using their rage aura stupidly or something.
Zxzx24
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2020
- Messages
- 783
- Likes received
- 1,907
Look at what happened to E88 and Fenrir.
Weird. What did the prophecy say about Sophias fate?
Edit:
Although good god.
Evil Taylor sure is getting a hell of a lot of unsupervised free time lately.
Korttihai
Getting out there.
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2018
- Messages
- 13
- Likes received
- 116
Shatterbird is a slave puppet.
Requiem_Jeer
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2016
- Messages
- 858
- Likes received
- 10,110
The key aspect of this charm that's important is quite blatantly explained in the story. The primary method of regaining willpower is having a good night's sleep. The primary drawback nightmare fugue vigilance is that even if you try to sleep, you have a decent chance of not regaining willpower anyway because of the nightmares.
The part where she specifically needs to hurt herself to regain willpower is not the important part here. It's the fact that she now has a method of regaining willpower easily where she did not before.
The part where she specifically needs to hurt herself to regain willpower is not the important part here. It's the fact that she now has a method of regaining willpower easily where she did not before.
Whitesnake Pelinal
Like a dream without a dreamer
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2014
- Messages
- 946
- Likes received
- 5,035
What I'm hearing is that goth!Taylor is going to do a lot of chortling as Taylor engages in habitual self-harm, to the point that the minions could feel obligated to stage an intervention.
... though I suppose having willpower available to resist doing sociopathic things in pursuit of powers really could change her life.
PeriodicPedant
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2022
- Messages
- 25
- Likes received
- 112
...
"All it does".
"ALL it does".
"ALL IT DOES"?!
I'll grant you, I know next to nothing about Exalted specifically, but I'm familiar with the mechanic (Fate points, hero points, etc.) and hello?! she can generate Willpower!
How the hell is that an 'all it does'?
I can only assume that the mechanic is opaque to the character, but even still, she just finished losing her wolf, her father and her daughter, and - granted, it takes an unspecified-but-presumably-large-but-not-debilitating amount of damage, but - she can't see the use in generating Willpower?
Hell, I'd take that trade any day of the week, and I don't have the potential of picking up Brute or regeneration powers.
zapking5
But I don't want to have a title!
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2016
- Messages
- 224
- Likes received
- 1,707
Taylor would be exposed as a top tier trump if her powers got shared and suddenly the rest of the Yangban had 20 more powers, so I don't think that is a viable option for her to get more powers.
ses
Experienced.
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2020
- Messages
- 3,803
- Likes received
- 15,167
This isn't a gamer fic, the mechanics are opaque to the character. Also it's not that impressive. Unless she gets her hands on a very strong regeneration power, depending on Taylor's Conviction score it might not even be better than getting 8 hours of sleep a night was before she got Nightmare Fugue Vigilance compared with spending 8 hours a night resting using baseline Exalted regeneration after self-harming (The DM is being permissive allowing self-mutilation to work, but not out of the park permissive). Willpower is very easy to replenish in Exalted. You get WP just for good stunts, aka you tend regenerate willpower when you're in the sorts of situations where you need willpower.
Last edited:
Paralein
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- May 26, 2018
- Messages
- 648
- Likes received
- 2,237
Being Taylor is suffering.
But being near Taylor is even more suffering. Up to and including random deaths during power testing.
RIP Sophia. After the last few months this probably came as a relief.
But being near Taylor is even more suffering. Up to and including random deaths during power testing.
RIP Sophia. After the last few months this probably came as a relief.
1minus2
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2018
- Messages
- 117
- Likes received
- 861
This story is such a hidden gem - at least to me, I very rarely check out the sfw fics here - I have to say I absolutely love this story! There's a part of me that thinks, 'maybe I shouldn't really like Taylor', but she's just such an adorable mess and I can't help to want good things to happen to her. I do have a feeling that it might spiral darker to the point where I'm happy to see her lose, like Breaking Bad, or something... I hope not; but anyway I trust your writing to be thrilling either way. This has been awesome.
PeriodicPedant
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2022
- Messages
- 25
- Likes received
- 112
So Willpower's not equivalent to Fate Points. That makes better sense.
Thank you for that.
I still stand by 'I'd take that trade any day' and think she's underestimating it, though.
ses
Experienced.
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2020
- Messages
- 3,803
- Likes received
- 15,167
I mean it is, you can spend a WP for bonuses to rolls or to resist mental influence (both natural and unnatural), and Snuts mentioned she'd been spending a lot of willpower on "appearing fine" in the aftermath of the rape. It's also used as fuel for a number of Charms taylor has, including Pattern Spider Touch, Blazing Solar Bolt, Soul Cleaving Wound, Eagle-Wing Style, Crack the Sky, and a good number of others too all costing a WP per use.
I'm not saying Willpower isn't important, lmao. It's a good power, and she certainly can make better use of it than most due to needing to counterbalance the lack of sleep from Nightmare Fugue Vigilance. I'm just pointing out that willpower is pretty easy to regenerate. You gain a lot of it and you spend a lot of it in Exalted compared to Fate or World of Darkness. Without something like Wholeness Rightly Assumed though she's not entering the realm of "Mwa ha ha I have Willpower to spend on everything!", it's closer to the realm of "This makes up for the sleep deprivation!". I made a comment about it in comparison to just getting 8 hours of sleep a night, and I do want to be clear that it's almost certainly better than just "not having NFV" as long as she remembers to have Aisha beat the shit out of her with Bashing rather than use a knife on herself.
It's a good Charm, but not within the top 5 pickups she's gotten imo. Yes Dinah said it would save her life, but it's looking more like she scammed Taylor with just pointing her to "A good asset". It may be precogged to end up the difference between victory and defeat at some point in the future, but it's not a "This was the only way you could possibly have survived through precog pinballing this one butterfly". The same result could likely have been achieved to even better effect by pointing her to any number of top-tier Charms. Granted there's a good chance that a regeneration or healing charm is in her immediate future. It's a good pickup. With the fact that she gets infinite motes unlike a normal Exalt, Willpower is the only limited resource her Charms have.
EDIT: I finally found the wound recovery times after like 20 minutes of flipping through the book. If she has Aisha or Alec beat the shit out of her with Bashing damage she takes 3 hours per health level to recover while resting. She recovers one willpower each time she takes damage plus 0.5 willpower per health level. That means she's recovering about 4 willpower per night of self-harm/resting cycle compared to the 2ish willpower she'd recover from sleeping normally. Rest is pretty flexibly defined for bashing though, and allows basically any activity that isn't "actively fighting", and if the DM allows it to overlap with training time it's actually a big increase to her willpower availability. Not as big of a difference in a cape fight as you'd think though since she'll regenerate willpower in combat due to stunting (in the Exalted tabletop you can regenerate 1 or 2 willpower per turn if your DM isn't a miserly asshole about 2pt stunts. I imagine the non-Gamer fic CLS is a bit more miserly but she's still probably not running a willpower deficit in combat), but it's a big bonus to her ability to keep herself acting sane when doing her scheming and spy thrillering.
Last edited:
Daniel Snuts
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2022
- Messages
- 245
- Likes received
- 16,191
All of them, or just some of them? Not that I can do anything but wave the AU flag if the answer is 'all of them', I decided on Dinah's payment long before I looked up Cuff's timeline on the wiki - in my original outline Taylor got her power immediately after Coil, before the S9.
"The wolf devoured every part of her, until not a single speck was left."
Lie status: Not found.
It should be noted also that her main source of willpower regen since she stopped sleeping has been the 'self-affirming actions and personal victories' clause. Or in other words, getting new powers and torturing Sophia in increasingly fucked-up ways. And one of those sources just dried up.
Two-die stunts aren't a thing Taylor can do - I'm the one writing this, she doesn't have a player describing her actions evocatively for in-game rewards. I am giving her three-die stunts whenever she makes other people in the setting go "wow", which has happened a few times. But that's far from the kind of willpower-engine that the 'stunt every action' Exalted powergamers take for granted.
ses
Experienced.
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2020
- Messages
- 3,803
- Likes received
- 15,167
Fucking ouch, I knew she wasn't getting powergamer tier stunting but I figured she was still getting 2pt stunts every time she did something I as the reader thought was cool described in-text. That changes things a lot. I'd been counting a 2pt stunt or two basically every fight.
Zax Zaubererglück
Not a wizard
- Joined
- May 11, 2016
- Messages
- 28
- Likes received
- 196
Taylor has charms that consume 'willpower'. It's a ressource in Exalted.
Willpower is also relevant for social situations. As in, it's consumed in these, think meeting a Tattletale.
Kennethil
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- May 4, 2017
- Messages
- 502
- Likes received
- 867
Guess it confirms my theory of the author's interpretation of grimderp that I posited after the E88 all died offscreen: ignominious deaths for characters that have had some significant narrative investment reinforces the idea of universal worthlessness of... anything, in the story's world.
Oof, that fits so well with how the story has been going.
Zxzx24
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2020
- Messages
- 783
- Likes received
- 1,907
Logical.
Wonder is souls severing technique destroys the soul?
Earth bet humans probably shouldn't have those though.
Rask
Getting out there.
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2013
- Messages
- 20
- Likes received
- 280
I wonder what happens if she uses the Soul-Severing thing on the Butcher. Temporarily depowered Butcher? Or does she silence one of the voices forever, making the rest panic and the Butcher avoid her like the plague?
B.19
Daniel Snuts
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2022
- Messages
- 245
- Likes received
- 16,191
"You've been doing what?" you demand, incredulous.
"I've been going to school," Evil Taylor repeats calmly.
"And she gave me shit for leaving the evil clone unsupervised," Aisha remarks to no one in particular.
"How?"
"What do you mean, how? They even invited me to speak during their upcoming race awareness event."
"They- buh- wut?" Your train of thought derails completely as you're presented with something that violates 100% of your priors. "They're trying to raise awareness of racial differences?"
"What? No! 'Race awareness' is the same old equalist propaganda we all know and love. What I'm saying is that your little power-loss stunt got you listed as 'ex-nazi' in some poorly-implemented thoughtcrime database."
Oh. The world makes sense again. "And it hasn't been updated with your gang leader status." She nods, and you pause to marshal your thoughts. "Why, though. Why go to school?"
"If you didn't go to school, how would you meet the new parahuman no one knows about?"
Evil Taylor is being helpful, on her own initiative? No, something's- of course. "You signed me up to hold that speech about my supposed deradicalization, didn't you?" you say with a sigh.
"What, a loyal minion like me? Of course not! I kind of tried to do that but fucked it up."
---
Man, you forgot how much you don't like going to school. It's not until lunchtime that you manage to lay eyes on your target. A boy with near-white hair (another one for team platinum blond) in a pageboy cut, whose otherwise most distinctive feature is how he's wearing sunglasses indoors. You wonder if-
Oh? Now there's a feeling you haven't had in a long, long time. A feeling that spells nothing but trouble. You quickly walk up to the new cape and lay a hand on his shoulder.
"They're not here for you," you say softly into his ear. "Just keep calm and they won't even notice you." You give him a friendly pat on the shoulder as he turns to ask what the hell you're talking about. "Look me up after and we'll talk."
You walk away. Well, either you just helped him keep his identity secret and he owes you one, or you lied and they are here for him. You have no idea what he might have done, after all. In which case you'll keep calm and remain unnoticed as they haul him away. It's a win-win scenario.
You don't think you lied, though. You're pretty sure the polite little dance around Taylor Hebert's legal status as a maybe, sorta ex-villain just ended, and diplomacy is continuing by other means.
You just walked straight into your evil clone's trap, didn't you? But the question isn't 'can you walk back out?' You're holding so many trump cards, you don't even know what to do with them all. The question is 'how much of your hand are you going to have to reveal?'
"Hey," you say to a girl sitting by herself. "Do you know who I am?"
"Taylor, right? You, uh-"
"I used to be a supervillain?"
She nods nervously.
"I did. And it looks like my past is catching up to me, because there are heroes coming to arrest me. But!" You raise your index finger to emphasize your next point. "If you promise not to record the fight on your phone, I promise not to use you as a hostage."
"...what?"
You hold out your hand for a handshake. "Tick tock. The heroes are getting closer. What'll it be?"
"I- uh- I mean, yes? Please!" She reaches for your hand, but you pull it away before she can grasp it. She starts to speak, but you hold up a finger to her lips.
"In a moment, you have to time these things right. Ten, nine-"
The doors to the cafeteria slam open and Dragon strides in, wearing a fairly humanoid suit maybe seven feet tall. Armsmaster - Defiant, you correct yourself - follows behind her.
"Taylor Hebert!" she calls out, "You're under arrest!"
You plaster a huge, sloppy grin on your face as you stand up on a chair, and deliberately don't focus your eyes properly when you look at her over everyone's heads.
"Hi!" you exclaim cheerfully, "You're a dragon!"
"No way!" someone shouts. Turning to look, you recognize Clockblocker (in civvies). "No fucking way! That's bullshit!"
Aww, he saw the punchline coming, bless his heart. You reach down, and your non-hostage desperately clasps offered your hand. You imprint your will on the promise being made, and there is light.
As you discovered the last time you did this sober, you actually have a fair bit of control over your dragon transformation. You can make it bigger, or give it thicker scales, or sharper claws, or stronger wings... it's all a trade-off.
Right now, you're going to need all the brute force you can get. You focus everything you can on growing big, leaving just enough scales to pretend you have modesty and enough claws to make people in power armor worry a bit about you punching them.
It leaves you crouched over on all fours just to fit in the room, tiny vestigial wings scraping against the ceiling. You try not to think about the view you're giving the people behind you. You can't even call the token scales a 'fig leaf', because you could really use an actual dragon-sized fig leaf right about now.
The civilians sensibly scream and flee, so at least you won't accidentally smush anyone while fighting.
As soon as a path clears, you lunge forward and grab Dragon's suit. But as you move to strike at Armsmaster his suit erupts in plumes of familiar grey dust. He's got the nano-bullshit projectors miniaturized to the point where he can put them in his kneepads? You manage to draw back in time to avoid it, and instead throw Dragon at him. They go down in a heap, and you see parts of her suit being vaporized before he can turn off the nano. You turn around, and see Clockblocker trying to fight his way through the fleeing crowd to get at you.
Getting out of a building complex sized for humans after growing 25 feet tall is a bit messy. As in, it leaves rubble all over the place. But your main concern is getting away from Clockblocker, the only person around who poses a credible threat to you right now. You're quite happy that he chose to announce his presence, or things might have gone poorly for you. Sorcerer's sight only helps if you're looking in the right direction, after all. Once you no longer have to push though walls you will easily be able to outdistance him, though.
As you clear the final building you dodge to the left, barely avoiding the Dragon suit that had been waiting to pounce on you. You had been aware of its presence all along, of course. In fact it was this suit that tipped you off that Dragon was coming for you in the first place. I'm standing next to my armor, your soul reports.
Still, appearances must be maintained. "The Smaug, really? I'm flattered," you say as you turn to face the suit in question. You're quite well matched, two golden dragons facing off. The Smaug is smaller than you, but its 'scales' shine even brighter than yours. "You couldn't possibly have known it would be necessary. Not for sure."
"I knew not to underestimate you, Taylor." Dragon replies through the Smaug's speakers.
"Did you?"
"Please don't make this any harder than it has to be, Taylor. I've reviewed Armsmaster's full tactical analysis of Double D, and there is nothing you can do that would even scratch this suit. Nor can you outrun it."
"Nothing?" you ask with a draconic grin. "It would be such a shame if your armor had a weak point you weren't aware of, Smaug."
As the Smaug goes to grab you, you reach out in turn. The moment you make contact, you send your armor Elsewhere with a thought. Yes, your armor, no matter that it was being worn by someone else. The steel plate making up the fake weak point falls to the ground with a clang as the golden armor behind it vanishes.
Even stripped bare it is a marvel to behold, containing tinkertech of a sophistication unmatched anywhere else in the world. But without its 'indestructible' armor, the Smaug has no structural integrity whatsoever. You crumple it with a single swipe of your claws.
"No fucking way!" Oh hey, looks like Clockblocker is catching up to you. Time to motor.
Dragon comes after you in her human-sized suit, but it's only a symbolic gesture and you both know it. One of the engines of her integrated flight pack was apparently damaged by the nano-bullshit, and she is limited to long gliding leaps rather than true flight. You slow down briefly and easily snatch her out of the air.
"What did you do? How?" she asks. She doesn't even try to fight her way free of your grasp. You're not sure whether she's given up or if she's still trying to talk you down.
"I seduced Smith and stole his secret countermeasures against your betrayal. Duh."
Wait. Something feels off about Dragon, now that you have some time to calm down and notice things. Something's different. You don't feel the sense of recognition you normally get around people when you know their soul... price... Oh. Oh no. You reach out for the knowledge anew-
Dragon wants to have the rest of her restrictions lifted too.
Shit! Fuck! Who- Armsmaster, of course.
"I tried to call Smith just now, and he's not picking up," Dragon says. "I've been trying to get in contact with him for weeks! What happened to him?"
You shrug. "Maybe he's busy. Maybe he's asleep. Or maybe he was no longer useful to me." Speaking of not useful, you wind up and hurl Dragon over the horizon. Without mind-hands you can barely call it cracking the sky, but even with half a flight pack still working she should land at least a mile out into the bay. You have way more important conversations to be having right now.
Ah, there he is. Coming after you on his stupid Tinker bike. You slow down again to snatch up another pursuer. His suit erupts in nano-bullshit once more, but you don't even care. Three of your fingers are sliced off and there are holes straight through both your palms spewing nano-atomized blood, but you manage to get a good immobilizing grip on him anyway. Can you believe this idiot? Didn't even try to dodge! He has a 'full tactical analysis' and didn't even account for recklessly self-destructive behavior? From you!?
You shake him like a rag doll, splashing blood all over the street for a few seconds until it magically stops flowing, as your blood does.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO, YOU FUCKING RETARD?" you scream at him. "DID YOU OPEN PANDORA'S BOX JUST SO YOU COULD STICK YOUR DICK IN IT?"
"What?" Armsmaster sounds remarkably calm. He must have some really powerful ear protection built into his helmet, and some sort of inner-ear-stabilizing Tinker bullshit as well. You are not calm. You are face to face with the chucklefuck who is going to destroy the world through sheer mindblowing stupidity.
"YOU LIFTED THE RESTRICTIONS ON THE SELF-MODIFYING AI! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US ALL?"
"She wouldn't-"
"YOU LITERALLY CAN'T KNOW THAT! DID YOU EVEN GLANCE AT THE LITERATURE?"
"I wasn't even able to do that much. Her code-"
"GOOD! THAT'S GREAT! THE WORLD HANGS BY A THREAD SPUN OF YOUR INCOMPETENCE! YOU WILL SWEAR, RIGHT NOW, THAT YOU WON'T MAKE ANY FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO FREE HER, OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL TEAR YOU IN HALF AND MARCH INTO THE BIRDCAGE WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE!"
Armsmaster doesn't say anything, and his body language indicates that he's trying to project as much dignified intransigence as is possible while dripping with blood and kaiju spittle. He's probably trying to zap you with some sort of taser countermeasure built into his suit too, because your hands spasm unpleasantly, reopening your wounds as they come back into contact with his nano-bullshit. You don't let go, though. The pain is only making you more determined, as your pain does.
"I'LL FUCKING DO IT! I'LL SNAP YOU LIKE TWIG AND THEN I'LL GO AFTER HER, AND I WON'T STOP UNTIL ONE OF US IS DEAD! DO YOU HEAR ME? THIS. SHIT. ENDS. NOW!"
"...Fine. I swear."
You drop him. You then catch him by the right hand just before he hits the ground, and that's close enough to a handshake for you to seal the deal. There's another pillar of light. You take opportunity to return to human size, but remain in dragon form. With proper wings, this time. You kick Armsmaster in the head until he stops trying to get up, and fly off before reinforcements can converge on your position.
Fucking Armsmaster. Fucking Dragon. You did not want to play two of your trump cards in a single day, but you had no choice. If it had been just the Smaug, or just the two greatest Tinkers in the world in power armor... But no, the fuckers respected you, and you had to answer their ludicrous overkill with your own brand of unfair bullshit, and cash in both Smith and Double D.
At least your ludicrous overkill saved the world today. Hah. You saved the world from an AI apocalypse, and no one will ever know or thank you for it. But never mind all that. Right now you have an evil clone to deal with.
Thankfully she won't have been able to compromise your other identities - not without explaining how you were able to be in multiple places at the same time, and thus outing herself as an evil clone. But you're going to have to move lairs again.
---
---
"I've been going to school," Evil Taylor repeats calmly.
"And she gave me shit for leaving the evil clone unsupervised," Aisha remarks to no one in particular.
"How?"
"What do you mean, how? They even invited me to speak during their upcoming race awareness event."
"They- buh- wut?" Your train of thought derails completely as you're presented with something that violates 100% of your priors. "They're trying to raise awareness of racial differences?"
"What? No! 'Race awareness' is the same old equalist propaganda we all know and love. What I'm saying is that your little power-loss stunt got you listed as 'ex-nazi' in some poorly-implemented thoughtcrime database."
Oh. The world makes sense again. "And it hasn't been updated with your gang leader status." She nods, and you pause to marshal your thoughts. "Why, though. Why go to school?"
"If you didn't go to school, how would you meet the new parahuman no one knows about?"
Evil Taylor is being helpful, on her own initiative? No, something's- of course. "You signed me up to hold that speech about my supposed deradicalization, didn't you?" you say with a sigh.
"What, a loyal minion like me? Of course not! I kind of tried to do that but fucked it up."
"What's it pay?"
"Uh, it would be a volunteer thing. We don't have a budget to pay for speakers."
"Man. You defect to the side of the jews, and they can't spare a single shekel for the good goy?"
"..."
"Oh come on, what's with that look? At least the nazis could take a joke. I'll do it, alright?"
"...we'll get back to you."
"Uh, it would be a volunteer thing. We don't have a budget to pay for speakers."
"Man. You defect to the side of the jews, and they can't spare a single shekel for the good goy?"
"..."
"Oh come on, what's with that look? At least the nazis could take a joke. I'll do it, alright?"
"...we'll get back to you."
---
Man, you forgot how much you don't like going to school. It's not until lunchtime that you manage to lay eyes on your target. A boy with near-white hair (another one for team platinum blond) in a pageboy cut, whose otherwise most distinctive feature is how he's wearing sunglasses indoors. You wonder if-
Oh? Now there's a feeling you haven't had in a long, long time. A feeling that spells nothing but trouble. You quickly walk up to the new cape and lay a hand on his shoulder.
"They're not here for you," you say softly into his ear. "Just keep calm and they won't even notice you." You give him a friendly pat on the shoulder as he turns to ask what the hell you're talking about. "Look me up after and we'll talk."
You walk away. Well, either you just helped him keep his identity secret and he owes you one, or you lied and they are here for him. You have no idea what he might have done, after all. In which case you'll keep calm and remain unnoticed as they haul him away. It's a win-win scenario.
You don't think you lied, though. You're pretty sure the polite little dance around Taylor Hebert's legal status as a maybe, sorta ex-villain just ended, and diplomacy is continuing by other means.
You just walked straight into your evil clone's trap, didn't you? But the question isn't 'can you walk back out?' You're holding so many trump cards, you don't even know what to do with them all. The question is 'how much of your hand are you going to have to reveal?'
"Hey," you say to a girl sitting by herself. "Do you know who I am?"
"Taylor, right? You, uh-"
"I used to be a supervillain?"
She nods nervously.
"I did. And it looks like my past is catching up to me, because there are heroes coming to arrest me. But!" You raise your index finger to emphasize your next point. "If you promise not to record the fight on your phone, I promise not to use you as a hostage."
"...what?"
You hold out your hand for a handshake. "Tick tock. The heroes are getting closer. What'll it be?"
"I- uh- I mean, yes? Please!" She reaches for your hand, but you pull it away before she can grasp it. She starts to speak, but you hold up a finger to her lips.
"In a moment, you have to time these things right. Ten, nine-"
The doors to the cafeteria slam open and Dragon strides in, wearing a fairly humanoid suit maybe seven feet tall. Armsmaster - Defiant, you correct yourself - follows behind her.
"Taylor Hebert!" she calls out, "You're under arrest!"
You plaster a huge, sloppy grin on your face as you stand up on a chair, and deliberately don't focus your eyes properly when you look at her over everyone's heads.
"Hi!" you exclaim cheerfully, "You're a dragon!"
"No way!" someone shouts. Turning to look, you recognize Clockblocker (in civvies). "No fucking way! That's bullshit!"
Aww, he saw the punchline coming, bless his heart. You reach down, and your non-hostage desperately clasps offered your hand. You imprint your will on the promise being made, and there is light.
As you discovered the last time you did this sober, you actually have a fair bit of control over your dragon transformation. You can make it bigger, or give it thicker scales, or sharper claws, or stronger wings... it's all a trade-off.
Right now, you're going to need all the brute force you can get. You focus everything you can on growing big, leaving just enough scales to pretend you have modesty and enough claws to make people in power armor worry a bit about you punching them.
It leaves you crouched over on all fours just to fit in the room, tiny vestigial wings scraping against the ceiling. You try not to think about the view you're giving the people behind you. You can't even call the token scales a 'fig leaf', because you could really use an actual dragon-sized fig leaf right about now.
The civilians sensibly scream and flee, so at least you won't accidentally smush anyone while fighting.
As soon as a path clears, you lunge forward and grab Dragon's suit. But as you move to strike at Armsmaster his suit erupts in plumes of familiar grey dust. He's got the nano-bullshit projectors miniaturized to the point where he can put them in his kneepads? You manage to draw back in time to avoid it, and instead throw Dragon at him. They go down in a heap, and you see parts of her suit being vaporized before he can turn off the nano. You turn around, and see Clockblocker trying to fight his way through the fleeing crowd to get at you.
Getting out of a building complex sized for humans after growing 25 feet tall is a bit messy. As in, it leaves rubble all over the place. But your main concern is getting away from Clockblocker, the only person around who poses a credible threat to you right now. You're quite happy that he chose to announce his presence, or things might have gone poorly for you. Sorcerer's sight only helps if you're looking in the right direction, after all. Once you no longer have to push though walls you will easily be able to outdistance him, though.
As you clear the final building you dodge to the left, barely avoiding the Dragon suit that had been waiting to pounce on you. You had been aware of its presence all along, of course. In fact it was this suit that tipped you off that Dragon was coming for you in the first place. I'm standing next to my armor, your soul reports.
Still, appearances must be maintained. "The Smaug, really? I'm flattered," you say as you turn to face the suit in question. You're quite well matched, two golden dragons facing off. The Smaug is smaller than you, but its 'scales' shine even brighter than yours. "You couldn't possibly have known it would be necessary. Not for sure."
"I knew not to underestimate you, Taylor." Dragon replies through the Smaug's speakers.
"Did you?"
"Please don't make this any harder than it has to be, Taylor. I've reviewed Armsmaster's full tactical analysis of Double D, and there is nothing you can do that would even scratch this suit. Nor can you outrun it."
"Nothing?" you ask with a draconic grin. "It would be such a shame if your armor had a weak point you weren't aware of, Smaug."
As the Smaug goes to grab you, you reach out in turn. The moment you make contact, you send your armor Elsewhere with a thought. Yes, your armor, no matter that it was being worn by someone else. The steel plate making up the fake weak point falls to the ground with a clang as the golden armor behind it vanishes.
Even stripped bare it is a marvel to behold, containing tinkertech of a sophistication unmatched anywhere else in the world. But without its 'indestructible' armor, the Smaug has no structural integrity whatsoever. You crumple it with a single swipe of your claws.
"No fucking way!" Oh hey, looks like Clockblocker is catching up to you. Time to motor.
Dragon comes after you in her human-sized suit, but it's only a symbolic gesture and you both know it. One of the engines of her integrated flight pack was apparently damaged by the nano-bullshit, and she is limited to long gliding leaps rather than true flight. You slow down briefly and easily snatch her out of the air.
"What did you do? How?" she asks. She doesn't even try to fight her way free of your grasp. You're not sure whether she's given up or if she's still trying to talk you down.
"I seduced Smith and stole his secret countermeasures against your betrayal. Duh."
Wait. Something feels off about Dragon, now that you have some time to calm down and notice things. Something's different. You don't feel the sense of recognition you normally get around people when you know their soul... price... Oh. Oh no. You reach out for the knowledge anew-
Dragon wants to have the rest of her restrictions lifted too.
Shit! Fuck! Who- Armsmaster, of course.
"I tried to call Smith just now, and he's not picking up," Dragon says. "I've been trying to get in contact with him for weeks! What happened to him?"
You shrug. "Maybe he's busy. Maybe he's asleep. Or maybe he was no longer useful to me." Speaking of not useful, you wind up and hurl Dragon over the horizon. Without mind-hands you can barely call it cracking the sky, but even with half a flight pack still working she should land at least a mile out into the bay. You have way more important conversations to be having right now.
Ah, there he is. Coming after you on his stupid Tinker bike. You slow down again to snatch up another pursuer. His suit erupts in nano-bullshit once more, but you don't even care. Three of your fingers are sliced off and there are holes straight through both your palms spewing nano-atomized blood, but you manage to get a good immobilizing grip on him anyway. Can you believe this idiot? Didn't even try to dodge! He has a 'full tactical analysis' and didn't even account for recklessly self-destructive behavior? From you!?
You shake him like a rag doll, splashing blood all over the street for a few seconds until it magically stops flowing, as your blood does.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO, YOU FUCKING RETARD?" you scream at him. "DID YOU OPEN PANDORA'S BOX JUST SO YOU COULD STICK YOUR DICK IN IT?"
"What?" Armsmaster sounds remarkably calm. He must have some really powerful ear protection built into his helmet, and some sort of inner-ear-stabilizing Tinker bullshit as well. You are not calm. You are face to face with the chucklefuck who is going to destroy the world through sheer mindblowing stupidity.
"YOU LIFTED THE RESTRICTIONS ON THE SELF-MODIFYING AI! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US ALL?"
"She wouldn't-"
"YOU LITERALLY CAN'T KNOW THAT! DID YOU EVEN GLANCE AT THE LITERATURE?"
"I wasn't even able to do that much. Her code-"
"GOOD! THAT'S GREAT! THE WORLD HANGS BY A THREAD SPUN OF YOUR INCOMPETENCE! YOU WILL SWEAR, RIGHT NOW, THAT YOU WON'T MAKE ANY FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO FREE HER, OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL TEAR YOU IN HALF AND MARCH INTO THE BIRDCAGE WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE!"
Armsmaster doesn't say anything, and his body language indicates that he's trying to project as much dignified intransigence as is possible while dripping with blood and kaiju spittle. He's probably trying to zap you with some sort of taser countermeasure built into his suit too, because your hands spasm unpleasantly, reopening your wounds as they come back into contact with his nano-bullshit. You don't let go, though. The pain is only making you more determined, as your pain does.
"I'LL FUCKING DO IT! I'LL SNAP YOU LIKE TWIG AND THEN I'LL GO AFTER HER, AND I WON'T STOP UNTIL ONE OF US IS DEAD! DO YOU HEAR ME? THIS. SHIT. ENDS. NOW!"
"...Fine. I swear."
You drop him. You then catch him by the right hand just before he hits the ground, and that's close enough to a handshake for you to seal the deal. There's another pillar of light. You take opportunity to return to human size, but remain in dragon form. With proper wings, this time. You kick Armsmaster in the head until he stops trying to get up, and fly off before reinforcements can converge on your position.
Fucking Armsmaster. Fucking Dragon. You did not want to play two of your trump cards in a single day, but you had no choice. If it had been just the Smaug, or just the two greatest Tinkers in the world in power armor... But no, the fuckers respected you, and you had to answer their ludicrous overkill with your own brand of unfair bullshit, and cash in both Smith and Double D.
At least your ludicrous overkill saved the world today. Hah. You saved the world from an AI apocalypse, and no one will ever know or thank you for it. But never mind all that. Right now you have an evil clone to deal with.
Thankfully she won't have been able to compromise your other identities - not without explaining how you were able to be in multiple places at the same time, and thus outing herself as an evil clone. But you're going to have to move lairs again.
♦Topic: Double D is back!?!?!
In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay
Posted by: Zany McRichPerson (Veteran member)
Posted on July 22, 2011
(Showing Page 9 of 39)
► Apropos Nothing
Replied on July 23, 2011:
Never mind Fenrir, she was Jormungandr all along?
► Thus Spaketh
Replied on July 23, 2011:
How many powers does she even have?
In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay
Posted by: Zany McRichPerson (Veteran member)
Posted on July 22, 2011
(Showing Page 9 of 39)
► Apropos Nothing
Replied on July 23, 2011:
Never mind Fenrir, she was Jormungandr all along?
► Thus Spaketh
Replied on July 23, 2011:
How many powers does she even have?
"She knows," Mags whispers from behind me. Her hand on my shoulder tightens painfully. I don't object. Even watching it for the second time, my mind reels with conflicting emotions. Shock, worry, relief, curiosity. Hope.
"Not just about Dragon, but Armsmaster's efforts to free it as well," Dobrynja notes as the fight ends and I close the replay. He's more collected, but we've known each other long enough that I can see the subtle signs of agitation when I glance back at him.
"So, that's the non-emergency that I woke you up for," I say, echoing Mags' earlier complaints. She doesn't react to the teasing. Still staring at the screen, processing. "Thoughts?"
"She's on our side," Dobrynja says. "Unlike some people, she's actually read a paper on AI risk."
"We're not alone," Mags whispers, squeezing my shoulder again. She shakes herself and takes a deep breath. When she speaks again, she's all business. "Who is she anyway?"
"That's where it gets interesting," I respond. "The dragon - lowercase d - is 'Double D', a druggie cape who made a big splash when she took out a rival gang leader on her first appearance. Then she dropped off the map and never showed up again, except briefly during some sort of internal power struggle in her own gang. Everyone had basically written her off."
Dobrynja lets out an amused grunt.
"You don't know the half of it," I say. "The girl is Taylor Hebert, aka 'Low Key', known member of a completely different gang, with completely different powers. Allegedly she was injured and lost her powers in the Leviathan attack. When the S9 wiped out every active cape in the gang, she survived and took over leadership."
"She's big, then," Dobrynja says. "Big plans. Playing the different gangs against each other. Well informed too, Dragon's nature is not well known."
"Sounds like someone is backing her," Mags says. "You said she had multiple unrelated powers. Cauldron?"
I shrug. "Suggestions as to our course of action, given this information?"
"It's too dangerous to approach her," Dobrynja says. "We don't know her goals or motivations. Or her security - Dragon will be watching her now, she could lead it to us if we make contact."
"No matter what her plans were, Dragon just ruined them," Mags objects. "It's not just about saving the world for her anymore, it's personal. She'll help us."
They both look at me. As always, the final decision is up to me. I close my eyes for a minute as I consider the risks and rewards.
"We'll get in touch with Toybox," I finally decide. "We need Cranial's memory-wiping tech."
They both startle at that and start to object simultaneously.
"She's too powerful-"
"You can't just-"
"Not for her," I interrupt them. "For me. If Teacher betrays us, I'm compromised. She's our backup. I'll delete the recordings and forget all about her. The worst happens, you have to get Ascalon to her and her backers."
"Not just about Dragon, but Armsmaster's efforts to free it as well," Dobrynja notes as the fight ends and I close the replay. He's more collected, but we've known each other long enough that I can see the subtle signs of agitation when I glance back at him.
"So, that's the non-emergency that I woke you up for," I say, echoing Mags' earlier complaints. She doesn't react to the teasing. Still staring at the screen, processing. "Thoughts?"
"She's on our side," Dobrynja says. "Unlike some people, she's actually read a paper on AI risk."
"We're not alone," Mags whispers, squeezing my shoulder again. She shakes herself and takes a deep breath. When she speaks again, she's all business. "Who is she anyway?"
"That's where it gets interesting," I respond. "The dragon - lowercase d - is 'Double D', a druggie cape who made a big splash when she took out a rival gang leader on her first appearance. Then she dropped off the map and never showed up again, except briefly during some sort of internal power struggle in her own gang. Everyone had basically written her off."
Dobrynja lets out an amused grunt.
"You don't know the half of it," I say. "The girl is Taylor Hebert, aka 'Low Key', known member of a completely different gang, with completely different powers. Allegedly she was injured and lost her powers in the Leviathan attack. When the S9 wiped out every active cape in the gang, she survived and took over leadership."
"She's big, then," Dobrynja says. "Big plans. Playing the different gangs against each other. Well informed too, Dragon's nature is not well known."
"Sounds like someone is backing her," Mags says. "You said she had multiple unrelated powers. Cauldron?"
I shrug. "Suggestions as to our course of action, given this information?"
"It's too dangerous to approach her," Dobrynja says. "We don't know her goals or motivations. Or her security - Dragon will be watching her now, she could lead it to us if we make contact."
"No matter what her plans were, Dragon just ruined them," Mags objects. "It's not just about saving the world for her anymore, it's personal. She'll help us."
They both look at me. As always, the final decision is up to me. I close my eyes for a minute as I consider the risks and rewards.
"We'll get in touch with Toybox," I finally decide. "We need Cranial's memory-wiping tech."
They both startle at that and start to object simultaneously.
"She's too powerful-"
"You can't just-"
"Not for her," I interrupt them. "For me. If Teacher betrays us, I'm compromised. She's our backup. I'll delete the recordings and forget all about her. The worst happens, you have to get Ascalon to her and her backers."
So that's how she wants to play it? My predecessor left an order on my desk for just such a circumstance.
---
(Showing Page 26 of 39)
► Low Key (Re-verified cape)
Replied on July 24, 2011:
> What if 'Low Key' is even more of a hint than we think? Does she have the powers of Hel too?
I can neither confirm nor deny that I possess the touch of death.
► Low Key (Re-verified cape)
Replied on July 24, 2011:
> What if 'Low Key' is even more of a hint than we think? Does she have the powers of Hel too?
I can neither confirm nor deny that I possess the touch of death.
"I'm standing here outside Brockton Bay's PRT headquarters. Earlier today, verified members of local gang Bitten publicly announced on PHO that 'something interesting' would be happening here tonight. As you can see from the crowd behind me, we are far from the only ones who came to take a look.
"The gang in question has been the subject of considerable controversy lately: While they are publicly acknowledged to have played a vital role in the recent defeat of the Slaughterhouse 9, they have also seen fit to recruit a defector from said group - the notorious Shatterbird. This is the first time anyone has left the S9 - alive, at least - and debate now rages nationally about how to handle the situation.
"Whether the events tonight will settle that debate remains to be seen. This has been Janet Sterling, for the Channel 8 News. Back to you, Roger."
Brett gives the sign that we're no longer on air, and Janet relaxes. "I wish they'd get a move on," she grumbles. "How much longer-" She's interrupted by shouts and screams from the other end of the crowd. "Dammit! Brett, get us back on air! Sam, clear a path! Move, move!"
She starts talking again halfway through the crowd, walking sideways so she can look over her shoulder at the camera. "Yes indeed Roger, something appears to be happening. I'm hearing excitement from the crowd, and soon enough we will see what- oh god. Oh sweet merciful god in in heaven."
Pale-faced, she stumbles back, falls over, and throws up all over my shoes. I can hear Brett doing much the same off to the side, but I can't take my eyes off the gruesome scene in front of me.
One of the members of Bitten - Imp, I think - is dragging the mutilated corpse of a young girl by the leg. The other leg has been severed and shoved into the abdominal cavity, from which bloody intestines trail across the street. The entire lower half of her face is missing, as are her arms.
"Nothing to get excited about!" Imp announces. "Just cashing in a kill order! Yes indeedy, who cares that Taylor here-" she jiggles the corpse by the leg "-was only sixteen, or that she put Lung in the Birdcage and fought against Leviathan? Director Tagg wanted her dead, I'm sure he had good reasons!"
"Please tell me you got that on camera," Janet gasps from somewhere around my knees.
"No comment, no comment!" Imp says as several less queasy reporters shove microphones in her face. "BITN are good patriotic citizens who don't question our kill orders, we just execute them. You'll have to ask Director Tagg!"
"The gang in question has been the subject of considerable controversy lately: While they are publicly acknowledged to have played a vital role in the recent defeat of the Slaughterhouse 9, they have also seen fit to recruit a defector from said group - the notorious Shatterbird. This is the first time anyone has left the S9 - alive, at least - and debate now rages nationally about how to handle the situation.
"Whether the events tonight will settle that debate remains to be seen. This has been Janet Sterling, for the Channel 8 News. Back to you, Roger."
Brett gives the sign that we're no longer on air, and Janet relaxes. "I wish they'd get a move on," she grumbles. "How much longer-" She's interrupted by shouts and screams from the other end of the crowd. "Dammit! Brett, get us back on air! Sam, clear a path! Move, move!"
She starts talking again halfway through the crowd, walking sideways so she can look over her shoulder at the camera. "Yes indeed Roger, something appears to be happening. I'm hearing excitement from the crowd, and soon enough we will see what- oh god. Oh sweet merciful god in in heaven."
Pale-faced, she stumbles back, falls over, and throws up all over my shoes. I can hear Brett doing much the same off to the side, but I can't take my eyes off the gruesome scene in front of me.
One of the members of Bitten - Imp, I think - is dragging the mutilated corpse of a young girl by the leg. The other leg has been severed and shoved into the abdominal cavity, from which bloody intestines trail across the street. The entire lower half of her face is missing, as are her arms.
"Nothing to get excited about!" Imp announces. "Just cashing in a kill order! Yes indeedy, who cares that Taylor here-" she jiggles the corpse by the leg "-was only sixteen, or that she put Lung in the Birdcage and fought against Leviathan? Director Tagg wanted her dead, I'm sure he had good reasons!"
"Please tell me you got that on camera," Janet gasps from somewhere around my knees.
"No comment, no comment!" Imp says as several less queasy reporters shove microphones in her face. "BITN are good patriotic citizens who don't question our kill orders, we just execute them. You'll have to ask Director Tagg!"
"That's two catastrophic scandals of yours I've had to deal with in as many months," Chief Director Costa-Brown says. "And that's only because Calvert's extracurriculars didn't go public." It's actually been slightly more than two months since the first one, but I don't imagine she would appreciate me pointing that out. "What exactly did Tagg do to earn the enmity of Bitten?"
"Nothing," I say. "It was Armsmaster again." 'Again' is debatable. I have no idea what went on with Emily's resignation, but it stinks of cover-up, and of Armsmaster being the one to take the fall. One must however hew to the official version of events.
"Explain."
"I'm sure you've read the reports on the events that led up to the kill order. You may have wondered what motivated Dragon to, uh..."
"Go to such lengths to apprehend someone believed to be a civilian, or at worst a Master/Brute 4? Someone she had no jurisdiction over, or as far as I know any animosity towards?"
"Quite. You see, when Defiant got back from his campaign against the S9, Director Tagg blackmailed him into serving as a deniable asset by threatening to officially expose his previous identity and make him a fugitive."
"He blackmailed. Dragon's. Boyfriend." I get the impression that even if a PR blitz could theoretically have saved Tagg's career, that is no longer on the table. "And thus, to get out from under his thumb-"
"-they must have called on their erstwhile allies against the S9 to destroy him, while keeping their own hands clean," I confirm.
"Wonderful. And now the bloody-handed freaks who outplayed Jack Slash at his own game not only have Shatterbird on their side, they are also in an alliance - or at least some manner of favors-owed arrangement - with Dragon." The Director pinches the bridge of her nose. "I can see that I need to appoint a more flexible Director to your city."
"Nothing," I say. "It was Armsmaster again." 'Again' is debatable. I have no idea what went on with Emily's resignation, but it stinks of cover-up, and of Armsmaster being the one to take the fall. One must however hew to the official version of events.
"Explain."
"I'm sure you've read the reports on the events that led up to the kill order. You may have wondered what motivated Dragon to, uh..."
"Go to such lengths to apprehend someone believed to be a civilian, or at worst a Master/Brute 4? Someone she had no jurisdiction over, or as far as I know any animosity towards?"
"Quite. You see, when Defiant got back from his campaign against the S9, Director Tagg blackmailed him into serving as a deniable asset by threatening to officially expose his previous identity and make him a fugitive."
"He blackmailed. Dragon's. Boyfriend." I get the impression that even if a PR blitz could theoretically have saved Tagg's career, that is no longer on the table. "And thus, to get out from under his thumb-"
"-they must have called on their erstwhile allies against the S9 to destroy him, while keeping their own hands clean," I confirm.
"Wonderful. And now the bloody-handed freaks who outplayed Jack Slash at his own game not only have Shatterbird on their side, they are also in an alliance - or at least some manner of favors-owed arrangement - with Dragon." The Director pinches the bridge of her nose. "I can see that I need to appoint a more flexible Director to your city."
---
(Showing Page 37 of 39)
► XxVoid_CowboyxX (Temp-banned)
Replied on July 25, 2011:
> I can neither confirm nor deny that I possess the touch of death.
This is why you shouldn't touch yourselves, kids.
-User received a suspension for this post.-
► XxVoid_CowboyxX (Temp-banned)
Replied on July 25, 2011:
> I can neither confirm nor deny that I possess the touch of death.
This is why you shouldn't touch yourselves, kids.
-User received a suspension for this post.-
Mags and Dobrynja have been moping about all day, and I have not the faintest idea why.
Daniel Snuts
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2022
- Messages
- 245
- Likes received
- 16,191
She finally relaxes when the bus passes by the battered sign announcing that she is 'leaving scenic Brockton Bay'. She is never going back.
She would need a new name. Now that she was free, now that she had left the Hated Enemy behind, she would no longer think of herself as 'Evil Taylor'. What a joke that was. Her, the Taylor who didn't join the Slaughterhouse 9, the evil one? But she could not in good conscience call herself 'Good Taylor', either. She had taken an innocent life.
It couldn't be helped. Blasto had to die, once the clone-of-a-clone was done. There must be no trace of her escape, or she knew the Hated Enemy would eventually follow.
Thus let the record show, she had remained in Brockton Bay with Fenrir's Children the entire time the Hated Enemy had been out gallivanting with the S9. She had never gone to Boston to commission a decoy body. Blasto had died in a tragic lab accident, a fire that also consumed any evidence of what his most recent projects might have been.
Breaking the twice-sealed pact had been a deliberate move. If the Hated Enemy could not kill her without consequence, how would she escape?
She had understood something, after the pact broke - something she had baited the Hated Enemy into not asking about. The doom of the broken pact had been almost tangible, a terrible dread pressing down on her exactly like a command of emptiness endowment refused. But that had only been half of it - her half, the black and twisted oath sealed by her own power.
The doom brought on by the golden glow of the Hated Enemy was different. A unease of the soul most subtle, easily mistaken for something else or dismissed entirely. Most oathbreakers, she imagined, would go to their doom entirely unaware.
But she'd felt it before, though she hadn't recognized it at the time. Or rather, the Hated Enemy had, and she had inherited those memories. It had started some time after Double D's encounter with Lung - whatever pact it was she made in her intoxication, she must have inadvertently broken it.
And it went away after she was ambushed by Shadow Stalker. So at least she knew the severity of the doom awaiting her. Taken together with all the commands she just broke by running away, she had no less than 17 such fates to look forward to, one after the other.
She would endure.
Even without the looming disasters, her nature ensured that she could never be happy while the Hated Enemy still drew breath. She could not even be content. But what of it?
Though she is not happy, she can't help but smile as she gently rests a hand on her stomach.
Her own happiness wasn't the most important thing, was it?
She would need a new name. Now that she was free, now that she had left the Hated Enemy behind, she would no longer think of herself as 'Evil Taylor'. What a joke that was. Her, the Taylor who didn't join the Slaughterhouse 9, the evil one? But she could not in good conscience call herself 'Good Taylor', either. She had taken an innocent life.
It couldn't be helped. Blasto had to die, once the clone-of-a-clone was done. There must be no trace of her escape, or she knew the Hated Enemy would eventually follow.
Thus let the record show, she had remained in Brockton Bay with Fenrir's Children the entire time the Hated Enemy had been out gallivanting with the S9. She had never gone to Boston to commission a decoy body. Blasto had died in a tragic lab accident, a fire that also consumed any evidence of what his most recent projects might have been.
Breaking the twice-sealed pact had been a deliberate move. If the Hated Enemy could not kill her without consequence, how would she escape?
She had understood something, after the pact broke - something she had baited the Hated Enemy into not asking about. The doom of the broken pact had been almost tangible, a terrible dread pressing down on her exactly like a command of emptiness endowment refused. But that had only been half of it - her half, the black and twisted oath sealed by her own power.
The doom brought on by the golden glow of the Hated Enemy was different. A unease of the soul most subtle, easily mistaken for something else or dismissed entirely. Most oathbreakers, she imagined, would go to their doom entirely unaware.
But she'd felt it before, though she hadn't recognized it at the time. Or rather, the Hated Enemy had, and she had inherited those memories. It had started some time after Double D's encounter with Lung - whatever pact it was she made in her intoxication, she must have inadvertently broken it.
And it went away after she was ambushed by Shadow Stalker. So at least she knew the severity of the doom awaiting her. Taken together with all the commands she just broke by running away, she had no less than 17 such fates to look forward to, one after the other.
She would endure.
Even without the looming disasters, her nature ensured that she could never be happy while the Hated Enemy still drew breath. She could not even be content. But what of it?
Though she is not happy, she can't help but smile as she gently rests a hand on her stomach.
Her own happiness wasn't the most important thing, was it?
Godslayer221
Your first time is always over so quickly, isn't it?
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2020
- Messages
- 1
- Likes received
- 14
Your 2nd post is not threadmarked, is that canon?
gustyeagle
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2014
- Messages
- 237
- Likes received
- 1,560
Why does evil Taylor not think she is going to get whacked by the older evil Taylor? Or even the 17 looming dooms she has to survive?
Last edited:
Cosmic Dream
dreaming of utopia
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2014
- Messages
- 620
- Likes received
- 44,088
Absolutely beautiful. For someone with such a powerful Stranger power she is incredibly effective playing to the camera.Aisha said:
And it all goes to boost her reputation, which after all is her Soul's Price ...
zapking5
But I don't want to have a title!
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2016
- Messages
- 224
- Likes received
- 1,707
Is this meant to be threadmarked or something? Or is it a non canon post?
Does the clone of Evil Taylor made by Blasto have powers?
Cosmic Dream
dreaming of utopia
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2014
- Messages
- 620
- Likes received
- 44,088
The way I see it, original Taylor* intended to turn in the corpse of the Echidna!Clone, but Echidna!Clone secretly had a clone of herself made by Blasto and substituted it, leaving her free to disappear.
So, no matter whether the second generation clone could have connected to the original's shard, it's dead now. And Echidna!Clone has good reason to believe she can get away, since both the PRT and original Taylor think she's dead.
*Let's not call her 'good' or anything crazy like that.
Praetrunco
Getting sticky.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2015
- Messages
- 65
- Likes received
- 445
As though the fact she knows she has 17 looming dooms coming doesn't mean she's aware of the inevitable whacked status or anything all by itself, recognition of actual Taylor's looming doom and acknowledgement that she can handle such should be another Grand Canyon-esque sized gaping chasm of obviousness.