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Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandoms:
Worm - FandomRanma 1/2Full Metal PanicMahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha | Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Character:
Taylor Hebert | Skitter | Weaver
Additional Tags:
Post-White CollarCovert Affairs - FreeformBurn Notice - Freeform
Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of Akane Takamichi Next Work →
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Published:2021-07-19Updated:2022-12-19Words:153,551Chapters:11/?Comments:26Kudos:77Bookmarks:39Hits:9,052
A CYOA goes to Worm, or, I Think My name is No No
Rajvik_Wolfboy
Chapter 3: Chapter 2
Chapter Text
**Vista**
I both hated when my mother either had the early shift or the overnight shift at the hospital and I didn't, (or couldn't arrange) a late shift for myself. When we both had late shifts I would simply sleep over in the Wards dorm and either bring a spare set of clothes or wear the ones I kept there for just such an occasion. This time though, because of the first day back at school on top of the holiday weekend, we hadn't had any patrols for me to hide behind, which meant waking up at oh-my-God thirty and getting dressed so that I could ride to the PRT building and wait to go to school. There was of course an upside to this in that I could get in a couple of uninterrupted, (and uncommented) hours of cartoons while eating something sugary without being griped at for it being unhealthy.
**Akane**
I woke to the sound of my phone alarm screaming "Dive, Dive, Dive," with a diving klaxon blasting out as well. I never knew when it was going to be hard for me to wake up, so I had found this alarm sound and so far, it had worked. Shutting off the alarm I rolled out of bed and looked at the time, my body was still getting used to the Eastern Time Zone and part of me wanted to skip the workout I had in favor of more sleep. Preferably at least until the NHK Nightly News came on. I chuckled at the thought and then left the room, grabbing the domino mask from the bedside table as I walked out.
Exiting the room, I headed toward the lounge area where I was surprised to find a blonde-haired girl sitting on the couch and flipping channels. She was wrapped in a blanket and when I was standing behind her I could see that she was sitting there in the near dark with a soup bowl of cereal in her lap. A couple hours to kill, mind numbing cartoons, and a bowl of sugar infused chocolatey goodness. I smiled, "Ah, the guilty pleasures are always the best, aren't they?" I asked wondering where she got the cereal. She probably had her own stash as the only cereal I had found in the kitchenette had been an unopened box of Wheaties that was probably almost as old as I was being that it had a teenage Mouse Protector on the box.
"They certainly are," the girl said with a smile to match my own, and then she froze in place as if Clockblocker had tagged her.
**Taylor**
I woke up to the combination of a scream, a crash, and the blaring of an alarm causing me to literally roll out of my bed. I then had to fight my way out of the comforter that someone, (probably Akane, bless her) had covered me up with, before finally making it out of my room, down the hallway and into the lounge area where I found Akane sitting on the floor covered in liquid and broken crockery, and a blonde haired tween standing next to the door as a small flood of PRT agents and Miss Militia came storming in. immediately my hands went up as there were foam sprayers pointed everywhere while the blonde latched onto Miss Militia and asked, "Who are these people and why are they here?"
Akane was giving me a sheepish look from under her wet head, kind of like one of the twins from that Harry Potter movie series of the last few years and as the troopers fanned out Miss Militia aske the blond girl, "What the hell happened here?"
**
"So what's the story?" Missy asked after Akane left to get cleaned up and Miss Militia went to get the three of us breakfast from the cafeteria. It had taken about five minutes to get everything calmed down once the older cape had arrived, and another ten after that to get the mess of broken soup bowl and spilled milk and cereal cleaned up. I lifted an eyebrow at her and her question, so she specified. "Why are you here?"
"My power currently overwhelms me with sensory overload," I answered. "I'm working my way up in exposure so that I can acclimatize to all the input."
It was her turn to have a questioning look in her face, so I elaborated, "Akane is a power manipulator who helping me by adjusting my power's setting."
"Whoah," Missy said going wide eyed, "So what is your power?"
"Arthropod master with a breaker secondary similar to Shadow Stalker's," I grimaced at Sophia's cape name but either Missy didn't notice or she chose to ignore it in favor of trying to parse what I had said.
"Shadow Stalker isn't going to like that," she said absently while deep in thought. "She's kinda possessive about her entire schtick." Suddenly she pulled out a smartphone and tapped on it for a second before exclaiming, "Holy shit, you control bugs?"
"As well as spiders, crabs and probably a whole bunch of other things," I said with a smile, she smiled in return and started to laugh only to groan after a couple of moments. "What was that for?" I asked.
"The laughter was because of the conniptions you are going to give the PR department," she answered. "The groan was because of how bad they are going to try and nerf your powers in the name of being family friendly and politically correct."
"What in the name of all that is unholy does being family friendly have to do with stopping crime," Akane asked coming out of the back in fresh clothes. "I mean granted it's not just about going out and smacking heads until people start to behave, but still?"
Missy shrugged at the question about the same time a buzzer sounded and all three of us turned our attention to the door. "That's probably Miss Militia," she said putting on a domino mask and handing me one as well. Akane had already grabbed a fresh one when she had gotten dressed.
A couple of minutes later Miss Militia entered the room pushing a meal cart with three covered trays and a pair of large pitchers that she brought over and sat on the coffee table between us. "Breakfast is served, you girls try not to make a mess," she said arching an eyebrow at Missy, "and Vista, remember you have a bus to catch, don't be late for it."
The three of us chorused, "Yes Ma'am" to her and descended on the platters pulling back the lids to show the bevy of breakfast food that she had brought us. Pancakes and scrambled eggs, sausages, both patty and link, bacon along with toast and a collection of jelly and syrup packets. In fact, we were so intent on our food that we never noticed her leave the room.
**
Emily Piggot smiled as she watched the two girls spar through the security cameras in the gym. Akane had spent two hours teaching Taylor the basics and going through moves of her family's style of martial arts, and then they had spent the last hour working on her confidence by sparring.
"She's a good teacher," Miss Militia said as she watched as well.
"She ought to be," Emily said with a slight snicker. "She has been helping her grandfather teach their family's style since she was ten."
"Do you think she would be willing to teach the other Wards?" Miss Militia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Probably," Emily answered and then looked at her computer when it dinged at her. "And apparently we're going to need all the help we can get on that front." She continued with a sigh.
"Is the Youth Guard already causing problems?" Hannah asked shifting to look over her boss's shoulder.
Piggot shook her head, "No," she groaned, "they are thankfully still distracted by yelling at Shadow Stalker's probation officer and that idiot Blackwell. This comes from Public Relations."
Hannah groaned and said some words in a language that while Emily couldn't understand them, she was sure she agreed with them. "What is Glenn's problem now, and why isn't he busy trying to spin the Shadow Stalker situation into a smaller problem."
"Because there is nothing more he can do about Sophia, and Taylor's insects are causing him an apoplectic fit," Piggot answered with a snarl turning the monitor so the cape could see more easily. "The damn fool wants to turn her into a media darling like Vista."
"You know how much Missy hates that role," Miss Militia said stifling a groan. A second later she chuckled though, "I bet Glen would shit himself if he heard what Akane, Taylor and Missy came up with over breakfast this morning, they were practically cackling like Saturday morning villains over it."
Emily quirked an eyebrow, "Do I really want to know?" she asked. Miss Militia nodded with a smug and knowing smile, "Then fill me in, we may have to unleash them on him." Minutes later she was cackling herself.
**Taylor**
I grimaced at the price on the blouse and put it back on the rack. "Not into the whole shop-o-rama thing are you?" a voice asked behind me. Turning I found a frizzy haired brunette just a year or so older than me walking up and practically hiding in the rack.
"Not really," I answered eyeballing her for a moment. "I usually shop at the Goodwill because of issues, but I need some better clothes since I'm transferring to Arcadia next week."
She looked up from the blouse that I had just put back on the rack to eyeball me back, "School started yesterday," she said, "why are you transferring in a week late?"
There was an incident at my old school yesterday that put me in the hospital," I answered. "I was told at one point that I would never have to set foot in those halls again." The girl's eyes went wide and mentally I swore. She must have seen the video of Akane pulling me out of the locker, but before I could say anything Akane called from a little way away.
"Hey Taylor, look who I found," she said dragging a blonde down the aisle towards me.
I facepalmed at my friend's actions and shook my head. "Akane, you can't just drag random people up to…" I trailed off as I notice that the blonde she was dragging was floating an inch or so off the floor. "Oh hell," I muttered.
"Hey Amy, I see you found Akane's friend." Glory Girl said smiling.
"Yeah," the brunette said, "I didn't recognize her at first, but I do now."
"Recognize me?" I asked, "why would you recognize me, oh hell." It was then that it struck me, this was Amy and Victoria Dallon, the second generation of New Wave. "Thank you by the way," I said looking at Amy who was looking back at me with a questioning look. "I'm guessing they called you in to heal me after the locker." She blushed and ducked her head a little bit while muttering something I couldn't make out. "Still, thank you."
"You're welcome," she said a little more clearly. "So why are you looking for new clothes?"
"We'll be starting at Arcadia on Monday," I answered, "my usual clothes are not nice enough for that, let alone going in to take the tests tomorrow. What are you two doing here, I figured you would be at school right now."
"Today is one of our half-days for quote, unquote work study," Vicky answered. "Technically this is a patrol of the boardwalk."
"Which is just an excuse for Vicky to get an early look at what everyone has on the shelves before school lets out," Amy snarked.
"Oh, like you don't like to look and see what new books and movies have come out each week before everyone else." Vicky returned, and I watched as the two sisters verbally spar as we walked out of the boardwalk store and toward a Brockton Bay landmark. "Have you two eaten lunch yet?"
"No," Akane answered, "and we really should before we go anywhere else." I nodded at that feeling a bit hungry myself.
"Well then," Vicky said, "let's get some Fugly's and then we'll see if we can't catch a ride up to Weymouth Mall and get some real shopping done."
"You don't think we'll find anything here on the boardwalk?" I heard myself ask.
"Not anything that you would want to wear to school for very long," Vicky answered. "It's almost all tourist crap, with the exception of Parian's shop."
"And she would be so far out of my budget that it isn't funny." I answered and saw two of the other three nod.
"Who is Parian?" Akane asked.
"Cloth cape," Vicky answered waving at the hostess as we walked in. The hostess waved back and guided us to a booth towards the end of a particular section.
Amy lifted an eyebrow and then expanded on her sister's quick answer, "She's a rogue who has the ability to animate cloth and control other light objects related to cloth. She uses this ability to do puppet shows for children on the boardwalk and make clothing. It is really high-end custom stuff, and the cost is insane, but it's worth it when you get one, especially her cape costumes."
Akane and I both nodded, and then we ordered our drinks before resuming the conversation. "So, clothing suggestions?" Akane asked the pair, Amy groaned and covered her face while Vicky smiled.
**
After a lively discussion over clothing styles, of which I had no real clue and apparently Akane was a bit of a tomboy in that she preferred pants or slacks and a simple shirt instead of dresses, a decision was made to hit Weymouth Mall and get some "normal girl clothes" with Vicky and Amy's help where fashion was concerned. A double order of chili-cheese fries had been shared by the four of us and as we waited on our burgers Amy asked, "So what classes are you thinking about taking?"
"I don't know what I'll qualify for yet," I answered, "Akane and I don't take our placement tests until tomorrow at the earliest, but the computer science track looks interesting."
"I'm looking hard at the history track myself," Akane said with a shrug, "I can already do some advance level mathematics in my head, as well as tutor in that and a few advanced physical sciences, so I'm looking more toward the humanities so that I don't burn out on the hard science side."
"Can't say anything about the computer science track," Vicky said as the waitress refilled our drinks and set our burgers in front of us. "That said, AP History is interesting, or if nothing else, amusing."
"Interesting how," Akane asked lifting an eyebrow in a decidedly Nimoy fashion.
"The teacher is working on his doctorate," Amy supplied apparently also having the class. "Mister Wolfe tends to assign reading for about the first half of the class, and then once we reach the halfway point asks if there are any questions over the material. It has led to some very interesting discussions in class."
"I bet," I responded, "it's definitely not something that you could do at Winslow, you would have a riot on your hands before the first class was half over."
Amy and Vicky both winced and the latter asked, "Is Winslow really that bad?"
"Let me put it this way," I said with a sigh, "From the beginning of this school year up until just before Christmas break we had an actual security guard. Don't know why they didn't have one last year, but they got this guy somewhere and he would ride the minority kids unmercifully."
"I'm guessing his attitude toward the minority kids got him fired," Amy half asked, I just shrugged in response.
"An attitude like that, he was probably an Empire member," Vicky sneered before taking a monster bite from her burger.
I chuckled and shook my head as I swallowed my own bite of burger, "No," I said turning my head to face Vicky directly. "He was definitely not an Empire member." The other three gazed at me with questioning looks so I relented. "Mister Ruckus was an old black man, but I swear, barring his skin tone he would have gladly stood shoulder to shoulder with Hookwolf and Kaiser. As it was, if one of them had encountered him they would have probably died of shock when he abased himself to them."
While I told them about Ruckus it was as if you could hear the mental record scratch, "What the actual fuck," Vicky asked.
**
Director Piggot glared at the assembled capes around the table as she walked into the conference room. "I want everyone to keep their mouths shut and their comments to themselves until after I'm done explaining the situation." She said in a flat, no-nonsense tone. Stopping to stand at one end of the table she glared at the combined group of heroes for a moment before, when she was sure that she had their undivided attention, continued. "Yesterday morning a young woman entered Winslow High School and was subsequently assaulted, and then shoved into a locker full of bio-hazardous material. This was the culmination of an eighteen-month bullying campaign where the bullies systematically isolated, and humiliated their target, even to the point of turning the school administration against her."
The adults all knew what had happened already and kept a blank poker face to the ranting of the director. Vista had been excluded from the meeting because of school and because of her meeting Akane and Taylor that morning, but the other Wards stared at the director seemingly in shock. "The only reason the situation did not get any worse was because a new student stepped in, knocked out one of the bullies and called emergency services while making arrangements to get the victim out. Now, do you have any questions so far?"
Browbeat, their newest probationary Ward raised his hand and Emily nodded to him. "With all due respect ma'am," he said. "What does this have to do with us?"
Browbeat blanched as Emily smiled before she spoke. "Because it was Shadow Stalker that was the main bully, Dragon, please show the film." The teens and adults spent the next half hour watching as the events of the previous day unfolded. When it was over Emily looked at their shocked, and in a couple of cases decidedly green faces, and spoke again. "Now," she said, "I want to know everything that you know about Shadow Stalker, her attitude, what she did, and even things that she said that in light of this could have new meaning."
Another half-hour passed while the teens told stories of Sophia's attitude issues, her actions that Triumph admitted having sat on because he figured it was just her having to get used to working with a team, and Aegis offering up his leadership as a sacrificial goat over the situation. "Carlos," she said to the teen as the rest of them stared in shock, "It is good that you are willing to take responsibility for this, but in all honesty the failure happened above your paygrade." The boy relaxed at that and she smiled, knowing he took his responsibility seriously made her just the tiniest bit more accepting of him. "Honestly, the only upside to this whole fiasco is that the girl and her father are not holding this against us for our failures. On the other hand, if she saw half the crap that is coming out of Glenn's office she might honestly think that we were insane instead of incompetent."
"We've all had our own run-ins with public relations Director," Armsmaster said calmly. "What are the girl's powers?"
"Her primary power is a master class," Piggot sighed. "Arthropods as near as we can figure, we are giving her an initial rating of seven in that field." The table nodded almost as one at that though a few of the Wards pulled out their phones, probably to search out what an Arthropod was. "Secondary is a breaker four, thinker three, the thinker possibly to increase along with the master and the breaker is basically a copy of Shadow Stalker's, but with the ability for the insects to also use it. She can also sense through her minions out to her range which is currently at a two-block radius. If some of the ideas that were discussed in the lab earlier pan out, then she'll also receive a tinker and a stranger rating as well."
"Five classifications in one person," Kid Win said, his voice showing the awe he felt.
"Yeah, it's kinda out there," Aegis answered, "definitely something special."
"What's an arthropod?" Clockblocker asked, obviously having left his phone behind in the Wards area.
"Insects, arachnids and some species of crab," Dragon answered the same time that Assault asked, "how is public relations being a problem?"
"She's to dangerous," Aegis answered deep in thought, "and at the same time, not family friendly enough for them to spin as a hero. What is PR's answer for this director?"
"The Vista treatment," Emily answered and almost the entire table groaned.
"You have got to be kidding me," Kid Win grumbled, "this cape is joining us willingly, and PR wants to neuter her to uselessness?" She's a combat multiplier, once she gets used to her powers, she'll be almost unstoppable."
"The Wards were not meant to be a combat formation Chris," Miss Militia said trying to calm the situation.
"They were also not meant to be used in a city like Brockton Bay," Gallant replied calmly. "In fact, the problem with this city is that the PRT and Protectorate have exactly two options if everything were to go to Hades tomorrow. Either you could field the Wards as a combat unit and possibly beat down the gangs as they showed themselves, or us and the entirety of the Protectorate could cover the withdrawal of all the civilians not involved in the gangs, leaving the city a warzone until such time as the forces could be brought to bear to retake it."
"And either way my head would be on someone's wall," Emily responded keeping Miss Militia from arguing the point. "Either the Chief-Director would have it for losing the city, or the Youth Guard would have it for using children as soldiers." At that point Emily Piggot hung her head in thought causing Miss Militia to speak up.
"Director," the patriotic themed cape said, "You're not thinking of going with the girl's idea from this morning, are you?"
"I'm seriously considering it," Piggot muttered, "I'm going to have to get her father's thoughts on it though, and preferably his permission."
**
Lung groaned as he picked his head up off of his desk and wiped the sleep from his eyes. "Miranda is going to be pissed," he muttered to no one, "and Nemuri isn't going to be happy either." He had promised the both of them that he would not sleep in his office anymore unless it was absolutely necessary, and that even then he would let them know when that was going to happen. Still though he thought with a smile, It will be good to let them know that they are not alone in the world anymore. Looking at the big screen that he usually used to either watch the casino floor or his shows, (mostly his shows), the image of a familiar face, eerily similar to one he had last seen decades before and had thought easily a decade dead with his home island, stared back with a familiar rage bringing back the memories of his youth.
Years Earlier
"He's your son Shiro," Kenta heard his mother say to the strange man whose home they stood in front of. "You need to take responsibility for him." Kenta didn't know who the man was, all he knew was that his mother had brought him here when she had found out that Uncle Jiro had gotten him to run errands for the club. Behind the man stood a woman who was probably the man's wife, and a girl of maybe four years. They stood on one side of the doorway of the home that his mother had brought them to, while Kenta and his mother stood outside, and the man stood in the doorway itself.
"Bǎihé," the man sighed and then took another look at Kenta. He was big for his age of seven years, that was why Uncle had sent him to carry the messages, and now the strange man was eying him like he was measuring his mettle. "You are sure he's mine?" the man asked finally.
Kenta saw his mother seem to deflate in relief, "Yes Shiro," she said in a voice a little louder than a whisper. "He is definitely yours, there was no one else at the time that would dare to suffer your rage had they used me in such ways."
The man reached out and took his mother by the shoulder before pulling her into an embrace. "The two of you need to come inside then," he said stepping back and waving them inside. "Why now though?"
"Because Jiro put him to work and I won't have my son sucked down into that morass if I can avoid it." Kenta winced at the sound of his mother's voice. There was an edge to it there that he had never heard before, and he doubted he ever would want to hear directed at him.
The man simply nodded to that statement as if it was a simple fact and turned to the woman and child that had already been in the house. "Mami, Hitomi, this is Bǎihé and Kenta," he said. "Apparently Kenta is my son, and by bringing him here, Bǎihé will need a new place to stay as well since my old boss will take this as a betrayal."
"No, I won't," Kenta's mother said earning a raised eyebrow from both the man and his wife. "I have already arranged to go back to China. I couldn't keep your son from you though, and I didn't trust him with Jiro."
"Will your path be safe with Jiro against you like this?" the man asked, concern tingeing his voice.
Kenta's mother smirked and knowing smile, "Jiro doesn't know all the smugglers out there," she said. "I have a train I must catch though to make my boat. Take care of him Shiro, and Kenta," his mother turned to him and dropped down to look him in the face. "Listen to these people, they are your family, and your father will care for you and teach you as a father should." Kenta nodded, and his mother ruffled his hair before kissing him on the cheek. Standing she looked at the other adults, "Hopefully one day I will be able to return and see him, until then," his mother stopped and the man, his father continued.
"Until then he is family," the man said, "and the Takamachi family stands as one." The other woman and the girl nodded at this statement causing his mother to smile before bowing and leaving. Once his mother was gone his Father turned to him and running another eye over him grunted, "Very well then, Kenta," he pointed at the older woman. "This is my wife Mami," the woman bowed politely, and Kenta returned it properly, "And this is our daughter Hitomi."
The girl walked over and without warning hugged him tightly around his chest, "Yay, I now have an onisan," the girl bubbled happily, "Aiko-chan will be so jealous." Kenta could only smile as he wrapped his arms around his new sister.
**Ten Years Later**
"You do this," Hitomi said from off to one side while Kenta went through the family forms against the training dummy. "and Pops is going to go ballistic. He might kick you out of the house for it."
"He was my best friend," Kenta grunted out between strikes, "and Jiro just killed him like you would kill a rabid dog that got close to the little children." Kenta lashed out with another series of blows, shattering some of the wooden poles that were the strike points on the dummy, "Besides, I'm not going to down there to join one of the gangs, just to exact payment for Toji's death.
Hitomi shook her head and let fly with the throwing knife that had been flipping between the fingers of her hand. "It won't matter Kenta," she said pulling another from up her sleeve. "It won't be a sanctioned action, and thus he is going to blow his top."
"Who is going to blow their top," their father's voice said entering the dojo causing both teens to jump to stop what they were doing to spin to face their father. "And why," the elder man continued, "would this person blowing their top matter?"
Kenta and Hitomi locked eyes for a moment and Hitomi's silent, slight shrug told Kenta she had no idea how long the old man had been listening. "Well you blowing your top is very significant father," Kenta answered honestly.
The elder man smiled wryly and nodded, "Indeed it would be my son," Shiro said. "But why would I blow my top, have either of you done something that would anger me?"
"Not that I know of father," Hitomi said sliding her throwing knife back into its arm sheathe. "But some news that has recently come to Kenta has the potential of rousing your anger should it be acted upon."
Their father grunted in thought, and then spoke. "You seek to take the Yakuza's bounty on Jiro then," was all he said.
"Not for the money, nor for the Yakuza's sake," Kenta replied, "Toji was a friend back then, and he leaves behind both a sister and a wife."
"A wife," his father said, "at your age?"
Kenta shook his head, "He was a year older than me, and his wife is American born. They met when she came to Japan to look into her heritage." His father lifted an eyebrow in question, "I don't know if they were married yet, but I do know they were expecting a little girl soon."
His father looked away for a moment, obviously in thought, "You would take the life of one you looked upon once as family, and then what, give the woman and her child the money, hoping they could go back to her parents in America?"
"Is there a better way for justice to be served father?" Kenta asked. "If so, then please, for the sake of all the spirits tell me so I may act and bring peace to the soul of one I still think of as a brother."
His father sighed, "Give me three days my son," his father said softly as he turned toward the family shrine at the other end of the dojo. "In three days, I will either have an answer, or else I will give you my blessings."
"Thank you, father," Kenta said bowing.
"Don't thank me yet boy," the old man said with almost a snarl, "you may find that my way is to leave it be and let others handle it. Vengeance is not something we practice here, nor do we seek death for the sake of our own hearts." The two teens bowed, and their father closed the shoji that separated the dojo from the shrine area.
"I don't think you are going to get what you want Kenta," Hitomi said as she walked to the target board and retrieved her throwing knife.
"And yet I have a good feeling about this," Kenta countered smiling as he withdrew the boards from the strike training dummy and replaced them by sliding in new ones. "He will find a way to see Jiro dead, and then maybe my mother can return to see me." Hitomi only sighed before she left the dojo.
**Three days later**
"Walk out that door and you will never be welcome here again," Shiro's voice was as cold and sharp as the steel that made his blades. "Your mother wanted me to keep you out of that life, and I have done all I could over the years to do just that. That your friend died is a tragedy, but killing Jiro won't bring him back, and it won't bring peace to his wife and daughter. Nor will it protect them."
"And so another death goes unavenged father?" Kenta's voice was just as cold as their father's. "I cannot continue to do nothing, and Jiro's death solves so many people's problems."
"And you must be the person who brings about that death?" his father asked. "When was it appointed that you, Takamachi Kenta, were the executioner, the final arbiter of justice for the spirits of the dead?"
"Never," Kenta answered. "And yet there he sits, the people he can reach cowed and fearful of him, or else on the run and hiding. No more father, I can let it stand no more."
"Then go, willful child," his father said in a growl, "but never return to this home or this dojo, you are no longer welcome here." Kenta nodded and stomped out of the dojo, grabbing a bag of clothes that he had put aside in anticipation of the trip. He never heard his father's final words of, "Spirits protect you my child," as he left.
**
Lung picked up the phone from his desk and punched the auto-dial. Two rings later a young woman's voice answered. "No Miranda I'm fine," he said gently. "I found out something yesterday and there was a bit too much celebrating it after work." He listened to the young woman on the other end of the phone, mostly nodding to himself. "That's fine thank you, now please, put her on." The voice on the other end changed to that of a small child and Lung smiled. "Hello sweetie how was your day?" he asked. After listening to the child chatter away on the other end for a few minutes, mostly spent nodding to himself as he was berated, he said, "I know sweetie, I'm sorry, I'll try not to let it happen again alright?" The response made him smile. "Alright, I have to get back to work, but maybe soon I'll have a surprise for you." The chatter on the other end made him smile, "Well I can't tell you silly," he answered, "then it wouldn't be a surprise. I love you." He finished and after the voice on the other end answered him, he hung up the phone. Pushing the intercom button, he spoke his assistant, "Souta, I need you to get me some contact information for the Takamachi girl."
"Right away Lung-sama" the person on the other end of the intercom replied causing Lung to sit back and relax a bit. Soon niece, he thought, soon you will have more family than you ever thought you might.
**
**Taylor**
Visiting the mall accompanied by Glory Girl and Panacea had been eye opening in a way. Vicky was definitely the queen bee type of social butterfly while Amy either seemed to prefer to be the tag along or had just become so used to the role that it wasn't funny. On the other hand, she was always the one to call her sister down for letting go with her aura or flying indoors. Frankly it reminded me of Emma and myself back in the good old days. Akane, bless her, was thankfully all business and didn't let Vicky get to out of hand when picking out clothes. That said, as we waited for the door to the Wards area to open for us, we still had to juggle half a dozen clothing bags, plus a grocery bag each.
"Are you ready for this?" Akane asked me as she settled the domino mask over her eyes.
"I guess," I answered as I settled my own. "What about you?"
Akane smirked, "Honey, I was born ready." Her answer didn't surprise me, Akane had a confidence that I could only wish for. Maybe I could get there with time now that I didn't have the trio ruining everything I did, but then again I had always been a bit of a wallflower even before Emma turned on me.
No I thought, This is the time for new beginnings, a time to become a new me. With that thought in mind I squared my shoulders and stood tall, I would master my powers and become the best hero the bay had ever seen. It was that or die trying.
**Akane**
I watched Taylor square her shoulders while pulling herself out of the slight slump that I had become accustomed to seeing in her, That's right girlfriend, I thought, show the world you're not some little rag doll to be tossed around. You're the one with the badass power set that everyone is going to underestimate. I knew I didn't need to fall, or let Taylor fall into Shadow Stalker's mindset and become a bully, but I doubted that it would be the way Taylor would go. She had been the victim, and something in me said that she would be the first one to pull a bully up short once she had the confidence to do so.
The door to the Wards area seemed to open almost immediately at that point, so we strutted in as if we owned the place. Missy turned to look at us from the kitchen island and smiled. No, not Missy, Vista now that she was in costume, her visor hiding the upper half of her face. "A, T, you're back." She said rushing over and helping us with our bags.
"Yeah," I answered. "I'm going to be here pretty much daily, and T is supposed to meet her dad here later. So where is everyone?"
"Gallant is out on patrol with Aegis and Browbeat right now." She answered, "That just leaves me here on Console duty with these two jokers for the time being since Shadow Stalker is back in Juvie."
"Hi, I'm Clockblocker," one of the two boys sitting on the couch said with a wave, "and this is my good friend Kid Win." Vista snickered slightly at that causing me to raise an eyebrow in question.
"He used to say partner in that introduction," she replied smiling, "until one day when an older girl on the tour commented that it must be nice to have his boyfriend right there with him all the time." She snickered again, and the two boys went a little red in the face while Clockblocker scowled at her. "He turned as red as a tomato but couldn't do more than stammer at the comment." Taylor and I both smiled and shook our heads.
"It wouldn't have been so bad if the girl hadn't pulled her girlfriend close to her and stole a kiss," Kid Win commented softly, obviously focusing on whatever they were working on. I looked at Vista who only nodded, confirming what had been said.
"Well don't feel so bad CB," I said with a smile, "I'm sure someone out there will warm up to you someday." It seemed like a good idea to change the subject, so I asked them, "What are you working on?"
"Geometry," Kid Win answered, "I have discalculia and a distinct problem focusing on the classwork, so I have to study harder to keep my grades up."
"Ah, I'm the complete opposite," I answered walking over and looking at the book between the two boys. "Which one are you on?"
"Number twenty," Clockblocker replied. I nodded and after looking at the question turned around went back to the table.
"I just happened to pick up something of a mnemonic that will cover that one," I said reaching into one of the four bags I had set down. "Do you want it?"
"Absolutely," Clockblocker answered, "I don't have Kid's problems, but math is still not one of my strong suites."
"Alright," I said pulling the item out of the bag and holding it behind my back before walking back over.
The boys in my absence has moved their papers and books to the coffee table, making room for me between them on the couch, "Give it to me and we'll see if it's something we've tried with Kid before." I lifted and eyebrow at Kid Win and he nodded, so I shrugged and hit Clockblocker in the face with the cream pie.
**
Emily Piggot collapsed into her chair in shock at the assault her niece had just committed on her own future team mate. Behind her she could hear the stifled laughter of Assault and the cracks of Battery hitting him, trying to shut him up. "Dragon," Armsmaster said calmly, "could you please show us the problem in question?"
"Certainly Collin," the Canadian tinker replied making an inset view on the screen with a blow up of the math problem.
Almost immediately there was a pair of slaps that were not Battery followed by the thump of a body hitting the floor. Turning around to look at the assembled capes she found Assault convulsing on the floor, the act of suppressing the laughter having caused him to fall out of his seat while Miss Militia and Triumph had both smacked themselves in the face. Triumph over his mouth to contain his laughter while Miss Militia had facepalmed at the apparent joke. Collin lifted an eyebrow in a decidedly Nimoy fashion and deadpanned, "Well, she's not wrong, the answer is pie."
**
*Taylor*
Two things were happening, the first was that I couldn't believe that Akane had just hit one of the Wards in the face with a cream pie, and the second was that I couldn't seem to stop laughing about it. Looking over at Vista as Clockblocker swore vengeance with a very accurate mimic of Bugs Bunny saying, "You know of course, this means war." I could see her still laughing as well while Kid Win facepalmed and wrote the answer down.
"Do I at least get to know the true name of my opponent?" he finally asked.
"Only if I get to know yours good sir," Akane answered suppressing a snigger.
Pulling back the cowl of his costume to expose his entire head he answered, "Dennis Dynamite, and you are?"
"Akane Takamachi," Akane answered pulling off the domino mask before looking at me.
"Taylor Hebert," I said, pulling my domino mask off as well, "it is nice to meet all of you."
Vista kicked up her visor to on top of her head still chuckling, "I have to get back on the console, but then you two already know me."
Kid Win pulled his helmet off, "Chris Fairchild," he said, "and thank you, now I know I'll always remember that something is Pie." Akane only grinned and walked back to me at the island table.
"So now what?" Dennis asked as I grabbed a kitchen towel from where it hung next to the stove before throwing it at him. "Are you just going to leave me to clean up this mess?"
"No," Akane answered before grabbing a roll of paper towels out of her sack. "But I thought I should have the proper tools to clean up with as opposed to making more work with something that has to be washed." Dennis sighed and nodded before bringing the towel over to the table
"I'll just take this stuff back to our rooms and then go sit with Vista," I said eyeballing the situation. "We have tests tomorrow and Thursday, and then we have to meet with PR on Friday." Akane nodded and grabbing the garbage can, went to help clean up the mess from the pie.
**
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