Chapter 226 : Spider's weaving

And thus began an impromptu fashion show. When Scareowl finally came out, Sarah hadn't expected him to be already wearing his new suit - or

And thus began an impromptu fashion show.

When Scareowl finally came out, Sarah hadn't expected him to be already wearing his new suit - or a prototype of it, as Arachnanny quickly clarified. Still, it looked fully finished. And, while a part of her that she tried to ignore and felt somewhat guilty about was a little sad to see his ridiculous puffed-up feathers look go, she could fully appreciate how heroic he looked now.

Rather than go with flashy colors and designs, Scareowl had stayed true to his brown hues, playing into it even. He wore what appeared to be leather armor, a sleeveless torso that fully covered his naturally beige front, with straps for small items and already a few simple iron spikes attached, ready to be dropped on threats that warranted lethality. The top's back continued and flared out into more straps, not ones to hold things this time but rather ribbons of leather that could flop onto and protect his tail feathers without restricting them.

His new pants were closer to shorts, tight but stopping at the knees, making way for proper shin guards made of thicker material. Though maybe they should be called bracers, since his talons were dextrous enough to count as an extra pair of hands? Regardless, there were the most armored parts of him, which made sense since he really shouldn't get into melee outside of the occasional swoop down. There were even small metal gauntlets for his talons, and from what she could see, she had a feeling he could flex them to extrude the bladed tips. All of this made Sarah very curious to know how Archnanny had managed to make something that covered him so much without disrupting his plumage.

Finishing the outfit was his head covering, something between a regular hood and a proper falconry one, with holes for his eyes, obviously. The leather mask stopped shortly before his beak, though that particular part was still protected by a pair of dull metal coverings connected to the leather, free to move to avoid restricting him, and Sarah could even see the thin straps the real beak slipped into to keep them in place when he opened his mouth to speak.

"So? What do you think?"

While his beak made emoting a little harder, she could still see his smile as he turned around, giving everyone a good look at his new suit. He clearly was proud of it, and she couldn't fault him one bit. Though Maledicta was the first to speak.

"You look like one of those rogues from fantasy games, with none of the epic stuff."

Sarah was ready to rebuke and correct her, but stopped when Maledicta continued.

"None of those useless flashy gadgets or scarves or whatever. Always hated them. You're here to do your job, not look cool standing still in the wind."

While none of them would be bold enough to confront her on it, they could all realize this was her way of saying she liked it. And frankly, better let her be weird and use double negatives than get mad when she was being nice, even if in a roundabout way. Though Sarah couldn't deny she was very tempted to. Just because they worked better now didn't mean she forgave the other girl for her past behavior.

Scareowl chose to stay, to be there for the others like they were for him. And so did each of the following trainees when their turn came.

Glicer went for a cutesy look, with pink as a primary color and red and orange as accents, matching her hair, currently tied into big twintails, and eyes respectively. She had something similar to the trainee bodysuit on beneath everything, but her costume above it had a skirt, poofy shoulders, and more ribbons than Sarah was willing to even try counting. The crew had been horrified that the outfit found a way to fit in even more pockets and hidden spots for glitter, including the fact that the small-heeled pink shoes could pop out wheels for her to skate on and a secret compartment to leave a trail of sparkly terror behind her. The fact that it all combined with her fire powers to great effect was only the cherry on the explosive cake.

At least she'd been deterred from getting a jetpack. For now.

Maledicta was... Well, not exactly what Sarah expected. Yes, she went for the usual drow fashion choice, using dark colors and sharp angles, but where Sarah and her friends had been predicting an elegant dress fit for the evil queen of a fairy tale, she instead chose armor. Spiky armor. The spikes weren't merely there for appearances, though. They could see that they were small enough not to get in the way of movement and mostly in areas that'd easily and likely be grabbed, such as the forearms. The metal suit was made to protect her and punish anyone who'd get too close. Which, giving it some more thought, made sense. The drow's weakness was that she was a sitting duck in a fight, closer to artillery than a fighter. This suit would make sure she'd buy time from anyone who slipped in through her allies.

Even her face, which Sarah thought would be the focus of attention, was covered by a dark metal mask, the visor of her helmet. Yes, the piece of armor had a crown shaped into it, but again, the focus was put on making sure it was spiky to deter strikes from above rather than look elegant. Not that it looked bad, but this was clearly a bizarre case of function over form where the form was so distinct and eye-catching you'd think it was the priority. And yet, under Arachnanny's hands, the suit managed to mix both perfectly, perfectly fitting the villainous aesthetic their teammate enjoyed so much.

And, well, they had expected Maledicta's ego to be more important than practicality. This was a welcome surprise, even if wrapped in a threatening package of metal and death.

That wasn't to say there was no fabric to her outfit. A black veil starting from her crown flowed down to below her shoulders, mimicking what her hair would do if it weren't hidden beneath the metal. Similarly, she had a black capelet, kept in place with her pauldrons. The cloth was short enough not to get in the way, of course. And finally, a long battle skirt, predictably black. Though giving it a second look, countless purple fine embroideries were all over the fabric, just too dark to see unless the light hit it the right way or the observer looked long enough.

After basking in their looks, Maledicta lifted the mask, revealing that she had a second cloth mask beneath. This one didn't cover everything, if anything it'd be more accurate to call it a blindfold with holes for the eyes, defeating the purpose of it, but it was nice to know the drow had thought of something to hide her identity when she needed to breathe some air. That, or Arachnanny thought of it for her. Either way, good to know she would be able to eat and drink when on break around civilians. 

"This beats that useless white uniform."

"Whoa, you look great, Mal! But, uh, why the knight look? It's not like you have a sword."

Maledicta's response to Glicer's question was to let blood flow from her wrist into her hand to solidify into a long, jagged blade, looking more like a rib torn and broken out of a torso and still covered in viscera rather than any proper weapon.

"Oh. Cool!"

"I figured I could use something to deal with small fries not worth my magic mastery."

"Yeah, a wizard beating you in melee isn't a great look. But you! You rock the evil final boss look!"

Sarah had a feeling that Maledicta putting her mask back on at that remark was her way to hide her pleased smile. It probably didn't look menacing enough for her taste.

Next on the list was Kopper Kid. His suit was much simpler than the others, using a base orange bodysuit with some angled arrow patterns with bulky plates of copper over important parts, including those likely to be involved in a fight, like his shoulders, boots, and gloves that would be more accurately called gauntlets. It was a classic style for Heroes who relied on brute strength first and foremost, but it was popular for a reason. Really, the only outstanding thing about his costume was the legionnaire-like helmet he wore, with a new orange domino mask beneath, and that had apparently been the spider Heroin's idea, to make him stand out. 

All that being said, Scareowl did point out a problem as Glicer poked at her boyfriend during his presentation.

"Madam, with all due respect, isn't copper a weak material?"

"Oh, yes, dear. But don't worry, in truth, these are made of bronze. I just modified the color to give it a pinker hue to match his name. Theming is quite important, after all. It's why I recommended you either play into the scarecrow theme by having more stitches in your suit or the general fear aspect with some bone parts. But ultimately, the choice is always yours."

The elderly drider then chuckled softly as she gestured at the blushing Kopper and the giggling Glicer with one of her legs.

"Besides, I think he's quite happy with having his sweetheart's color scheme in his suit, like she has his."

Scareowl followed her gaze and couldn't fight back a smile on his beak.

"Yes, I see it. And I'm sure people will make the mistake of underestimating it in the future."

"Precisely. Though rest assured, this is merely temporary. Since he does not have any real power over copper, his final suit will have the best and most resilient alloys we can manage, only modified to look like copper. Bronze is what I settled on for now since it is already so close."

"Speaking of, may I ask how you worked so fast when it came to metal? When it comes to Glicer and me, I understand how you did it, it's leather and fabric, but... Well, Maledicta's suit is not one If expected to be finished within the day, let alone less than an hour."

"Practice, dear. Practice. And optimal anatomy. I may not be at my peak anymore, but I can still make silk as strong as steel. My body is strong enough to work with metal with ease. Some venom to make it malleable even when cold, and voilà. Of course, this only goes for these prototypes. The final versions with the best materials won't be ready for at least a week or two, maybe more if any of the active Heroes have urgent need of my services. Add to that the time the others need to add in their gizmos, and you might be stuck with these prototypes for a month. But don't worry, being temporary isn't an excuse for shoddy work. These are better than your trainee suits, trust me."

And then, it was Sarah's turn. The workshop's interior was... Well, it looked like someone had turned a retirement home into a forge and seamstress atelier combo. Frankly, there were so many things Sarah couldn't focus on any one of them beyond the floral patterns on the wallpaper. 

As soon as the door closed behind them, the drider walked up to her and started measuring her.

"So. I take it you're Doug's niece, then."

Sarah blanked. That was supposed to be secret information. Not even Serpent or any of the other big-name Heroes knew.

"Pardon me?"

"Ah, sorry, dear. It's the cheeks and the ankles. Even the elbows. You have the same bones, even if yours are a little smaller. I know the old boy doesn't have any children of his own, so the next best thing is you being his niece. Don't worry, it'll stay between us. It's just hard to hide these things from me. I learned to have an eye for small details like these. Even in my glory days, I wasn't as much of a meathead as people think. Spiders are born with incredible skills, such that some mundane species can even throw webs at flying targets."

"I... I see... So what you're saying is, you know which Hero is related to whom, because you can notice the smallest resemblance?"

"Precisely. Now, tell me, what did you have in mind?"

"Ah, well, I have light powers. So I thought maybe a white simple suit with some yellow highlights? Maybe a small cape? Nothing too long, I don't want it to get in the way. Oh, and maybe a full upper face mask, without covering the hair?"

"Hm... I see... Yes, it could work... If you want, I could make a wig. I find many Heroes prefer it, since it helps keep their identities secret. A blonde wig would work with your powers, and you'd be free to be ginger off work."

"No, no need for a wig. I prefer staying natural."

"Good for you. Say, you mentioned yellow highlights. Why yellow? Why not gold? Maybe a rainbow? It would play nicely into the color spectrum of light."

"Well, gold feels a little narcissistic, like I think I'm more important than I really am. And... I guess the rainbow could work? It just feels maybe a little too joyful. Like, I want to be a beacon of hope for people, a light they can run to when they need it, but I'm afraid they might not take me seriously if I'm too colorful."

"Ah, now I have something. A beacon of hope. You kids know you can switch aliases, yes?"

"Uhm, yeah? Scareowl used to want to be called Stolos. As a reference to-"

"Ah, Stolas. The demonic owl of astronomy. A good lad, that one. Helped me make that galactic cape for Miss Malice a few years back. One of the best demon lords out there, his brand of chaos is enlightenment. I figure having a Hero named after a demon was deemed a bad idea, though. Nice as he is, he's still someone used to dealing with souls. But what I wanted to talk about is you. Firefly is a fine name, don't get me wrong, but I feel you could do better. Something closer to what you wish to be."

"Why? You have a suggestion?"

"A firefly is a lovely creature, and it gives a wonderful spectacle. If you told me your wish was to amaze people, to make them smile, and protect that joy, then it would work fine. But you want to be more. A beacon. A lighthouse. Safety, power. You need the sun."

"I'm not sure a sun-related name is a good idea with Sunburn around."

"Oh, I know, I know, not the sun itself. What it represents. What it brings."

Before Sarah knew it, Arachnanny was already weaving a cape. The top of it was golden, before it transitioned to yellow and then... Orange? Then there were pinks and... 

Oh.

"Tell me, dear. When people are lost in the dark. What would you think of being the one who brings the dawn?"