With Friends Like These, 3-2

Well, here it is. The rough draft of the next chapter to With Friends Like These.

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“Well, are you gonna let me in?” Lisa repeated, shrugging to gesture to the sacks in her hands. “My arms are getting a little tired here.”

“Oh, sure, of course!” Taylor stepped out of the way to allow Lisa in. “We already had breakfast a while ago but-”

“That’s fine! I had a little something on the way over.” Lisa brushed by her before Taylor closed the door.

“How did you-?”

“Find you?” Lisa finished her sentence for her. “Phone book.” She walked into the kitchen, and Taylor followed. “There was only a single Hebert, so it was an easy guess. I knew I was at the right house when the taxi stopped at the driveway.” She dropped the sacks on the dining table, before spinning around to face her. “Also, you should really fix the first step, I nearly fell on my face coming onto the porch.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“No worries Taylor. So, how are they?”

“Th- they?”

“Your friends, silly,” Lisa gestured to her shoulders and Simmie, who was now floating beside her.

Taylor had briefly forgotten about Benny and Levi. “Oh. Oh! They’re great!” She reached up to scratch each of them on their heads. “They’ve been keeping me on my toes. And they’ve been helping with chores too.”

“I don’t suppose that has anything to do with Benny there being covered in house paint?”

Before Taylor could answer, her dad interrupted, having been briefly forgotten. “So, Taylor,” he asked, “Who is this?”

“Rawr!” Snack Lady! Benny declared.

“Oh, dad, umm, this is Lisa,” Taylor stepped aside, gesturing to the other girl. “I met her the other day. She was being harassed by the security guards at the Boardwalk and, umm…”

Lisa turned to meet her dad, grinning as she did. “Taylor’s minions got them off my back. You should have seen the look on their faces when they got a bunch of mini-Endbringers to their face.”

Pants, Levi reminisced.

“Right. So, Taylor,” Her dad crossed his arms and looked at her with a lidded stare, “When were you going to mention her? And she knows about your Friends here too.”

“I… forgot to,” Taylor said. “It kinda slipped my mind, with everything that’s happened.”

Her dad just shrugged. “Well, she seems nice Taylor, and the kids here seem to approve of her too. Am I going to get any more surprises today?”

Taylor began to speak but Lisa cut her off with a grin. “Taylor fought two gangs at once and won.”

“Rawr!” Snack Man! Benny reminisced.

“She already told me about that.”

“Oh, well, then maybe?”

“Maybe?”

“Well Mr. Hebert, your daughter here has three little troublemakers at her beck and call. Every day is probably going to be a surprise with them around.”

Danny chuckled. “Isn’t that the truth.”

“Anyways,” Lisa said, spinning back to the bags on the table. “I brought gifts of incense, frankincense and myrrh.”

Taylor blinked. “What?”

“For you and your Friends,” Lisa explained. “Or should I say my new Endbringer Overlords and their teenage accomplice?”

“W-w-what?” Taylor sputtered.

“I brought shacks and things they’ll like.” Lisa reached into the sack, digging around in the contents inside “Simmie, I have a very special treat for you.”

Simmie was all but drooling as she floated over, watching and waiting in anticipation. Sweets? She chirped.

“Behold!” Lisa held aloft a large bulky bag of-

Gummy worms, Taylor recognized it. A giant bag of gummy worms. Simmie all but pounced at the prooffered treat, scooping it up into her wings. With a swipe of her wing tip the bag was opened, and a single gummy worm floated out and into her mouth. She settled down into a chair to daintily nibble on her newfound treat, all but oblivious to the world.

“And for you Levi, I have something too.” From one of the other sacks, Lisa pulled out not one but two six-packs of glass bottles, the contents clinking against each other as she placed them on the table before her Friend.

Drinks? Levi asked, his head cocked to the side.

“Yes, sodas in fact. Variety packs of gourmet soda, all for you,” she grinned.

Levi looked from Lisa to the bottles before him, his head bobbing in approval. Drinks! He declared, before leaping off of Taylor’s shoulder and onto the table. One of the bottles floated out of its cardboard case and onto the dining room table, its cap popping off and letting the contents flow out into a fizzy sphere that hovered in the air just above the table. Levi scampered over to the sphere, sticking his head into the floating bubble and sipping on the soda. Delicious, was Levi’s statement.

“And last but not least,” Lisa reached back into the sack, “Something for Benny.” She pulled out a tube of jumbo-sized novelty jawbreakers, each almost half the size of Benny. “Something tells me that you might like these.”

“Rawr!” Snacks! Benny followed his sibling and hopped off Taylor’s shoulder, faceplanting the table in the process. He hopped up and plodded over to the treat, grasping one of the jawbreakers in his hands. Taylor got the impression that his eye was glittering in anticipation of nibbling on the giant candy. Or at least he attempted to, as the jawbreaker was almost comically large compared to Benny’s head and mouth. Her Friend’s teeth simply scraped along the surface, although it didn’t stop him from trying to take a bite nevertheless, making cute growls all the while.

“Well, I think that’ll keep them all busy for a little while.” Lisa turned, now face to face with both Taylor and her dad. “So, we should probably talk about things.”

“Like what?”

“Last night is a good place to start, going by what’s on PHO.”

“Oh.” Taylor wondered how much the other girl knew. “I… guess I can say, if you really want to know.”

“Oh, trust me, I do,” Lisa grinned. “How about we all talk in the living room?”

“Uh, sure. Dad?”

Danny simply shrugged, leading the way. “I get the feeling we’re going to want to be sitting for some of this conversation.”

“Yeah,” Taylor plopped down onto the couch, in the space that Simmie previously occupied. It was still warm from where she had draped herself across it. Her dad sat down in his chair, while Lisa plopped down on the opposite end of their couch. “So, anyways,” Lisa began, tell me everything.”

“You mean last night?” Taylor asked.

“Yes. I know you took on two of the gangs at once and came out on top, and I’m pretty sure you scuffled with Armsmaster and Miss Militia. But beyond that? Not a lot. You probably already told your dad everything, but I’d like to know about what happened.”

“Dad?”

Danny shrugged. “Taylor, you seem to trust this Lisa. And as far as I can tell, your Friends seem to trust her too.” He glanced towards the dining room, where Taylor’s Friends were devouring their treats. Or in the case of benny, attempting to. “Although that’s not a hard thing to get from them, to be honest.”

“I have nothing but the best intentions for your Daughter and her new minions,” Lisa said with a smile. “In a way, I guess you can say I am groveling before my new Endbringer Overlady.”

“I- I don’t want to be the overlady of anything,” Taylor said, doing her best to sink into the couch. 

She started at the beginning, telling Lisa about the events of the evening before. She started with discovering Lung in the warehouse, how he seemed to be trying to recruit someone into the gang. How Benny had started everything by pouncing on Lung’s dinner. The interruption by the Empire, and how almost all of them had been soundly defeated by her Friends, save Hookwolf who had fled the scene.

Then how Sophia, Shadow Stalker, had appeared, and Taylor realized that the Ward had been one of the girls she’d been bullied in school by. How she had made Benny nibble on her hair, only for the Protectorate Capes to arrive moments later and see Benny gnawing on one of their Wards. Finally, she told Lisa about how Simmie had teleported them all away, back into her home’s living room and to the surprise of her father.

“I didn’t mean for things to happen like that,” Taylor finished. “I’m trying to do good, trying to be a hero.”

Lisa chuckled. “Something tells me the PRT and Protectorate won’t see things that way.”

“I… I didn’t mean to fight them. It was a misunderstanding.”

And I believe you Taylor,” Lisa told her. I can see you’re a good person. And believe me, I’m good at judging people.” She spoke those last few words with that vulpine grin Taylor had started to associate the girl with. “Well, despite everything that’s happened, we’ll have a little bit of time to figure out how to approach this from our end. I mean, how to convince the PRT that the big bad Tiamat isn’t actually all that big and bad.”

“Who?” Taylor asked.

“Oh, no computer, right,” Lisa said. “Well, aside from that crazy tablet you have. Tiamat’s what the PRT are calling you for the moment. It’s one of the names they reserve for Endbringers, in case any more show up. Honestly, I think it’s kind of fitting for you, ‘mother of monsters’ and what the name implies,” she said with a grin.

“Tiamat…” Taylor let the name trail off She recognized the name immediately It had been a while since she had read up about ancient mythology, but she instantly recognized the deity that once carried the name.

“I kind of like it Taylor,” her dad told her. “It sounds dignified.”

Taylor didn’t share her dad’s opinion. “I- I’m not a monster.”

“Not in the slightest, but you’re literally the mother figure to three cute terrors currently eating snacks on your kitchen.”

“Mother figure?”

“Yep, that’s the impression I get.”

“I…” Taylor wanted to say something, anything, but she didn’t know what. “How do you even know that?”

“About you being the team mom?” she grinned.

“No, not that,” Taylor said. “My cape name.”

Oh, the name the PRT gave you? It’s in the press release about the events last night. It was posted over on PHO...”

________________________________________

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♦ Topic: New Cape In Brockton Bay

In: Boards ► Brockton Bay

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

Posted On Feb 6th 2011:

So, in case you haven’t heard yet, there’s yet another Cape in Brockton Bay, per the PRT press release you can find here. And boy oh boy did they pick a way to debut. Right out of the gate they’re making waves.

According to the PRT release, An unnamed Cape, tentatively identified as Tiamat per the release, appears to have intervened in a battle between the Empire Eighty-Eight and the Azn Bad Boys, or the ABB to you non-natives of the Bay. She managed to not only take down freaking Lung and Oni Lee, but apparently an unnamed Tinker that the PRT identified as none other than the Cornell Bomber, who’s been at large for weeks now. On top of this, she also managed to take out both Rune and Crusader, as well as send none other than Hookwolf packing with his tail literally between his legs.

She is tentatively described as a Tinker with a potential secondary Master rating, due largely to what they revealed in the press release about her powers. Apparently, Tiamat took on all Capes present with, and I quote, ‘Endbringer facsimiles’ as the PRT described it. Basically, miniature Tinkertech abominations that emulate both the appearance and some of the powers that the Endbringers use. Replicas or not, Tiamat’s creations managed to do quite a number on a city block, as evidenced by pics you can find here. The PRT still have the whole area cordoned off as they sift through the rubble. The bomb quad showed up too, because hey, what better way to spice things up in the BB than with a bomb tinker, amirite?

Apparently, by the time both Armsmaster and Miss Militia, two of the resident members of the Protectorate ENE finally showed up, she had everything in the bag. Five villains stacked in a pile waiting for pickup, and the only thing missing was the bow and wrapping paper. Unfortunately, the press release basically ends there, with a statement that the PRT were assuming Tiamat as an Independent Cape. Which is honestly weird, since this release is awfully light on some details but heavy on others.

Honestly, I’m not sure what to think of this one. You guys know me as PHO’s Cape Geek. THE Cape Geek that other would-be cape geeks go to for advice. But usually when the PRT announces something like this, like I said, it’s heavy on details. Here, it’s almost like they’re keeping a whole lot of info hush-hush, but considering how Tiamat seems to play ball, I kinda don’t blame them. Anyways, yeah, that’s all I got at the moment. Anyone else got any info or thoughts?

(Showing page 1 of 41)

►noble31

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

Endbringers!? Her power is Endbringers!?

No wonder they aren't talking about it, they don't want to start a panic.

►Love_-_-

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

I saw the fires from downtown. Oh man, I hate living here some days. I mean, I love it most days, but I hate it others. Now we have villains that can summon pet Endbringers. Or copies of them or something.

F*ck this sh*t, I’m out.

►Bruce Lao

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

I'm morbidly curious as to how close to the real deals these facsimiles are. Are they 1:1 in terms of power or are they all flash and no bang? If it's the latter, whew. But if it's the former, God help us all.

►TUDATE

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

Well, goodbye BB, I’m shipping my ass up to Boston. Been thinking of leaving for a while. Figures it takes Endbringers to get me to leave. Funny enough, I left NYC years back after the Behemoth paid a visit. Funny how this crap works out.

►Clockblocker (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

Well, figured I’d chime in. Stuck at PRT HQ along with the rest of the Wards right now because of this. But please please please don’t poke Tiamat, she took on the best of two gangs and won. She sent Hookwolf running. You try and poke her, and she’ll poke right back. Maybe one of the official PRT agents will chime in here in a bit, but yeah. Pleeease don't try and fight her if you see her. That goes for everyone.

►White Fairy (Veteran Member)

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

Godspeed Brockton Bay, we hardly knew ye.

@Clockblocker: I have family in Brockton Bay, should they be worried?

►Posh_Brit

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

I was in London when Ziz hit it. Barely got out of it with my brains unscrambled. And here I was about to move to Brockton, since Medhall there hired me on.

I guess I’ve got to tend my resignation before starting my first day. Blooming lot of wankers down there.

►QwertyD

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

Endbringers copies.

I don't even

►XxVoid_CowboyxX (Banned)

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

You know, the PRT said she was a girl. I wonder if she’s cute and [DELETED]

[Banned for 3 days. Reason: You’ve been warned about posting explicit content in the past.]

►Acree

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

So it would seem pretenders have arisen in the city of Brockton Bay. How dare she challenges our lords and saviors in their absence. Fear not, our new gods shall return from wherever they went and smite this foul [DELETED]

[BANNED Reason: Profanity, previously perm-banned user]

►Chilldrizzle (Veteran Member)

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

And I was about to ask what the Fallen would think of this Tiamat. Guess we now know. Not to mention every other villain group on the east coast. Hell, the world at this point.

Isn't Tiamat one of the names the PRT reserve for S-Class threats? A big oh shit if that's true.

►Deimos

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

So, anyone want to speculate as to what her powers are? Besides creating Endbringer copies that is? Or do you still need time to freak out.

►Sanford

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

I still need time to freak out.

The release said she's Tinker 5, Master 2. A Tinker 5 took out Lung of all people. Just, what?

►Haaank (Verified Cape)

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

Good thing I live and work in Nevada. I know some crazy guys and even they don't want to tangle with someone like this.

►BadSamurai (Kyushu Survivor)

Replied On Feb 6th 2011:

West of the Docks here. I guess it’s time to leave like that dude further up is.

I thought the Bay would be safe after what happened in japan. I guess I was wrong.

End of Page.   1, 2, 3, 4 ... 39, 40, 41

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________________________________________

Taylor’s head fell to the surface of the dining room table. “Oh god, why me?” she muttered.

“Honestly, it’s not bad for a first night out,” Lisa spoke. “It could have gone a lot worse.”

“I’ve pissed off the Empire.”

Well, yeah, there’s that.”

“I’ve pissed off the ABB.”

“Technically, there isn’t an ABB anymore to piss off.”

“I’ve pissed of the Heroes.”

“Ehh...”

“They gave me an Endbringer name.”

“It’s not too bad,” Lisa tried to encourage her, “You could have been named Chubster or Clockblocker.”

“B- But Tiamat,” Taylor spat, “That’s what they would call an Endbringer.”

“Well, considering the circumstances…”

Taylor lifted her head up to look at Lisa. “Is there anyone I haven’t pissed of?”

“Me?” Lisa answered.

“You don’t count.”

“The Merchants?”

Her head fell back to the table. “My life is over.”

“Far from it,” Lisa said. “If anything, taking down this many big-named Capes at once basically earned you a whole lot of cred. A complete unknown, single-handedly taking out Lung and sending Hookwolf packing? Most Capes are going to want to steer clear of you. Even the PRT will be careful in their dealings with you from here on out.”

“The gangs?”

“One doesn’t exist anymore, and the other’s going to second guess so much as trying to recruit you.”

“I…” she trailed off. “I just wanted to get them something to eat. And then… all of that happened. The pier, then that mugging, and- oh.”

“What’s ‘oh?’”

Taylor’s head pivoted to her Dad. “Dad, you… didn’t already hear about the Ferry wharf, did you? The one by the Boardwalk?”

Her dad blinked. “What about the Ferry?”

Lisa looked to Taylor, and Taylor glanced right back. “Oh. Uhh, you’re going to want to stay sitting then.”

----====----

Her Dad, understandably, had been furious. It had taken a lot of consolation from both her and Lisa to keep her dad from flying off the rails, too keep him sitting in his chair in the living room and to not call and yell up a storm at anyone who would pick up the phone.

They had only been partly successful.

“Nuclear waste!? Really!?” Danny shouted. “They dumped it in the wharf? By the boardwalk!?”

“Look on the bright side Mr. Hebert, we have a way to clean it up.”

“Wh- How are we going to clean up something like that!?”

Lisa grinned. “Benny is capable of eating literally anything, including stereotypical barrels of toxic waste. Isn’t that right Taylor?”

“Y-yes,” she answered. “How did you know though?”

“Oh, well,” Lisa trailed off. “Let’s just say I have my ways.”

A cape! Simmie chirped. At some point she had floated into the living room, still nibbling on gummy worms. The giant bag floated behind her, never more than an arm’s reach away.

“Wait, what?” Taylor asked.

Cape! Simmie chirped again.

Lisa spun to look at Simmie, before looking back to Taylor.

“Problem, Lisa?” Danny asked her.

The girl’s shoulders sagged, as Taylor connected two and two together. And four equaled Lisa being a…

“Well, damn. I’m surprised it took this long. I was planning to tell you when the time was right.”

“Taylor?” Her dad asked, “What’s going on?”

“Simmie just told me something dad. Lisa, you’re a Cape?”

The girl huffed. “Yeah.”

“Oh, that’s kinda cool,” Taylor said. “You’re the first cape I’ve ever personally met then.”

And got sweets, Simmie helpfully chirped. She floated onto the couch, and to Lisa’s momentary alarm, right into the girl’s lap. Taylor gave the girl credit, as she handled the situation much better than she did her first meeting.

“I really wish I could hear them talk,” Lisa said, resting her hands at her sides on the couch. “I- well, my power is filling in the blanks, but even then it’s guesswork.”

“Lisa, can I ask what your power is exactly?” Danny asked, rubbing his forehead. “Because I can’t help but find it a tad suspicious that my daughter just so happened to run into a cape out of the blue.”

“Well, it’s nothing special like your daughter’s. I didn’t win the superpower lottery like she did,” Lisa said. “My power basically just turns me into a super detective. Think Sherlock Holmes on uppers and you’re in the right area. It connects dots for me, helps me figure things out.” She sighed, before continuing. “Taylor got me out of a bit of a jam the other day, and all I want to do is thank her and her friends, and help her however I can. Trust me, she’s already helped me in more ways than one.”

“Oh, alright,” Taylor said. “Is your power how you knew what snacks to get my Friends?”

“Yeah, about that. I, well, it’s hard to explain. I can’t really ‘look’ at them with my power. “You’re the same way actually Taylor, my power kind of draws a blank with you too.”

“Go on,” Taylor told her.

“You power, for starters. I literally can’t figure it out. I think it’s some sort of Master power with a secondary Thinker effect that allows you to, well, not control per se, but... I guess interact with them?”

Taylor crossed her arms, nodding. “Yeah. It’s like there are these connections, tethers to each of them. It took me almost a month to figure out they were there. Before I found them, all I could really sense from my Friends was feelings, emotions. In turn, they could sense mine too. But after I found those tethers, I could feel them a lot more clearly. I could hear them as they spoke to me. I also figured out that I could sort of push or pull on those tethers, and I could change their sizes accordingly. And their strength too, come to think of it.”

“Lisa said nothing for a brief moment. “Bullshit, such bullshit,” she muttered. “Honestly, you could almost get away with telling people you have an absolutely overpowered Master ability, if it wasn’t for the little fact that the Endbringers vanished basically the exact minute that you, well…”

“Triggered,” Taylor finished with a grimace. “You didn’t finish explaining your own power before we got sidetracked.”

“Well like I said earlier, it’s hard to explain. A lot of Thinkers though have had trouble with the Endbringers though. Very few Thinker powers seem to work in regards to them. For me, using my power on them, your friends rather, has always been a little headache inducing, and I always got incomprehensible answers.” Lisa shifted uneasily, as she found herself being blanketed by Simmie’s wings. Almost reluctantly, Lisa began to stroke one of them, much to Simmie’s warbling approval. “Take Simmie here. My power is telling me that her feathers are somehow simultaneously soft and fluffy and sharper than any knife edge on earth. It’s also telling me her skin and flesh is both soft and pliable, while having densities ranging from that of uranium to neutron star matter, depending on how deep you poke her. My best guess is that she isn’t Manton limited, and can instinctively use her telekinesis on herself to a ridiculous degree.”

Taylor blinked. “Really?”

“Yeah. crazy answers like that,” Lisa stated. “You’re only a little better, and my power keeps giving me weird and contradictory answers when I point it at you I know you had bacon and eggs for breakfast from the dishes in the sink, but my power is torn between that and a half dozen other things. However, my power helps me with building models of sorts. Maybe a little cheaty, but it’s working so far. For example, I know Benny doesn’t care for beverages, while Levi is the opposite. He doesn’t care for solid food, and fruit sherbet is the most solid treat he seems to like.”

“Which is how you knew which things to get them?” Danny said.

“Yeah. As for Simmie here, she really likes sweet things, as you can see.” She gestured to Simmie, having finished her gummy worm and picked another from the bag. Sweet drinks too, like juice or soda. Anyways, I sort of made models of them in my head, although they’re kind of inaccurate.”

“How inaccurate?” Danny asked.

“I figured out that Simmie here wants to try some of Levi’s soda about five seconds ago, at the same moment I figured out she also likes drinks and beverages herself.”

“Ah,” Taylor said. “Don’t worry Simmie, I’ll get you some. Although if you ask Levi nicely, he might part with a bottle.”

Sweet stuff, Simmie warbled.

“This is really comfy, I’m envious.” Lisa said, mindful of the winged girl in her lap. “Speaking of, they’re basically children you know. In my mind I’m sort of going with the fact that they’re basically rambunctious preschoolers with superpowers. So far, they’re fitting that mold to a T.”

“Preschoolers? Yeah, that would make sense.” Danny stood up, stretching as he did. “You know Lisa, I don’t suppose you could Sherlock up a solution to something else?”

“Mr. Hebert?” Lisa asked. Before either her or Danny could say another word, a door a room away opened, and Armsmaster’s helmet and halberd tip floated into the living room, setting down on the coffee table. “Oh,” was all Lisa managed to say.

Prizes, Simmie chirped contentedly.

“Yeah,” Danny said, sitting back down. “Was going to get those. Thanks kiddo. Anyways, yeah. a way to return them to their owner without getting me or Taylor arrested in the process would be helpful.”

Lisa scrutinized the helmet and halberd, before looking down at Simmie nestled in her lap. “You Tinkered with it, didn’t you?”

A little, Simmie chirped in reply.

You made it better too?”

Simmie didn’t answer, bus she nestled further into Lisa’s lap.

Abruptly, the girl wrapped her arms around Taylor’s winged friend, hugging her and giggling as she did. “That blue humorless bastard is going to both hate and love you so much. And not only that, you stole his helmet too.”

“Well, technically Benny stole his helmet,” Taylor explained.

“He knocked a hole in the wall too, but that’s a different story.” Danny finished.

“Oh, right. Umm, well,” Lisa stammered, trying to find the words. “I’d say give them back, obviously. Maybe in a cardboard box, gift wrapped with a bow tie on top, with a handwritten note that says ‘I’m Sorry’ about a thousand times. Maybe you and Simmie here can offer favors to the PRT or Protectorate?”

“Favors?” danny asked. “Would that even work?”

“Maybe?” Lisa told her. “I’m almost positive that they know who you are.”

“Oh,” Taylor answered. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told Armsmaster that Sophia bullied me.”

“I think they probably knew who you were before that even. At the very least they suspected.” Lisa told her. “I know they paid a visit to Winslow yesterday, ostensibly to show off the Wards, but really Armsmaster was just there to look at their student records.”

“Oh, I must have missed them.”

“You skipped class?” Lisa asked. “Of course you did. Anyways, yeah. They had maybe a few dozen suspects, but now they have one. Also, Simmie?”

Yes? She chirped.

“You did disable the tracking devices in Armsmaster’s gear right?”

Yep! Simmie chirped.

Did you disable the secondary and tertiary trackers too?

Simmie blinked. She slowly looked up at Lisa, then back to Taylor. No, she warbled sadly.

Lisa looked at the two offending items on the coffee table. “Well, damn,” was all she had to say.

And then there was another knock at the front door, much heavier than Lisa’s had been.

“Are you expecting company?” Lisa asked.

“That’s my line,” Danny answered.

Taylor stood up, facing the door. “Benny, Levi.”

“Rawr!” Fight! Came their answer as they charged into the living room, Benny still clutching the oversized jawbreaker in his hands. Simmie likewise floated out of Lisa’s lap, nibbling dejectedly on another gummy worm as she floated over to Taylor.

“No fighting,” Taylor told them all. “Not unless they start something first, alright?” she walked over to the front door, taking an unsteady breath as she did. She regarded the handle for the briefest of moments, unsure of what exactly to expect. But she had her Friends with her, and that was all she needed to feel safe. Taylor opened the door, stepping back and letting it swing open.

Taylor had expected Armsmaster, helmetless and weaponless and frowning. She’d expected the rest of the Brockton Bay Cape roster behind him, and an army of PRT troopers behind them. Maybe some news helicopters, just to rub it in.

She didn’t expect the man standing- no, floating above her home’s front porch.

“Apologies if I’m interrupting something,” Legend, the leader of the Protectorate spoke before settling down on the welcome mat beneath his boots. “I was in the neighborhood, and a good friend of mine asked me to come say hello. She said you might be needing to talk to someone.”

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I just need to get this beta read, and it'll be good to go.