**
Two hours later the four of us were standing in a gymnasium sized laboratory with various stations that were obviously meant to test different factors of powers. “Don’t worry T,” I said to Taylor as she eyeballed the equipment. I’m going through this the same as you since I haven’t been tested yet either.
She shifted her gaze to me from behind the domino mask she was wearing. “What do you mean you haven’t been tested?”
I shrugged as her father and Agent Washington stepped into an observation room so that the techs that were about to enter couldn’t leak who the new cape was by recognizing a family member. “I’ve been a cape for less than a month and literally just got here from Tokyo Saturday evening. Sunday was my aunt and I getting settled into her new apartment since she’d been living alone before now, and then today I went to school. I was supposed to be doing this tonight anyway, you’re just a not-so-happy coincidence. Taylor nodded, and we watched the techs come in and take their places at the machines.
After a moment one of the techs came forward to us and smiled, “Ladies,” he said, a slight accent tilting his English. “I am Doctor Stein, if you would follow me we can get started.” We both nodded and followed him toward the first machine as he continued to speak. “Do either of you have any ideas as to what your power sets entail?”
“I am a power manipulator,” I answered plainly as I looked at his name tag, “My power lets me adjust someone else’s abilities, either down to zero shutting them down, or up to fifteen, giving them fifty percent greater power than they normally would have for a defined period of time.”
“Můj Bůh v nebi” the doctor replied and then shaking his head asked, “What are your known limitations?”
“The boost only lasts about half an hour, but the drain lasts up to twelve hours,” I answered. “So far I don’t know if the strength of the cape’s powers effects those time limits or not.” The doctor nodded and then turned to Taylor.
“I have no knowledge of what my powers are other than the hint that there is a buzzing in the back of my head,” she answered. “A has been suppressing my powers probably since my trigger this morning.”
Doctor Stein nodded to this and then returned his gaze to me, “Miss A, if you would please stop suppressing Miss T’s powers, we can get started.”
I nodded to him and turned to Taylor, “Slowly alright,” I said taking her hand, “part of the reason I’ve been suppressing them is I don’t want you overwhelmed by them, I know I was the first time I touched a cape. With your’s buzzing in your head, I imagine its not touch based.” Taylor nodded, and in my mind, I started turning a dial. Starting at zero I slowly took it to one, then to two, and at three she staggered backwards putting her hands to her head.
“So many,” she said clenching her eyes shut while gripping her temples. “So many little…” she trailed off and we watched as insects poured out of the walls in a shadow state before becoming normal and forming an artificial whirlwind around her.
**
Two hours later I was finished with my testing and the pillar of insects that had formed around Taylor was finally starting to disperse. “T?” I asked getting her attention as the insects went smoke like and vanished into the floor.
“Shut me back down please.” She begged in a small voice. I nodded before touching a finger to her forehead and mentally turning the knob back to zero. “Thank you, she almost sobbed. There were just so many senses and minds, I couldn’t make sense of any of it, I couldn’t differentiate between myself and the insects. Was that my full power?”
I shook my head, “That was your power at about a third your normal strength. I imagine your range, sensory depth and fine control will increase with the power level.” I didn’t add that what she might be able to control might increase in complexity as her power increased as well. It wasn’t likely, but it was possible.
“Everyone but the girls and the people in the observation booth out of the room, now!” Aunt Emily’s voice barked even before the double doors to the testing area hit the walls. The response was as one would expect, a flurry of running feet as the techs cleared the room and the Director of the PRT East-Northeast branch walked over to the two of us. As the techs left Doctor Stein, whose full name I had found out was Franklin Nicholai Stein, closed the doors locking them behind the group. Once that happened, the observation booth door opened, and Daniel Hebert ran over and hugged his daughter tightly.
“Mister Hebert, miss Hebert, you have my sincere apologies for what has happened,” Aunt Emily said as Taylor’s dad eased up on his hug. “The documentation you recorded young lady is going to be the final nail in that whole group’s coffin. The fact that you thought to document your interactions with Principal Blackwell as well meant that we were able to arrange for the BBPD to get a search warrant for both her electronic correspondence and her bank accounts. I can’t go into what has been found so far, but suffice it to say, all of them will be going to prison for one thing or another.”
Taylor smiled a bit at that, vengeance might be a dish best served cold, but justice should be hot, fresh and free flowing, I thought.
“Now,” Aunt Emily said continuing. “I don’t know if Agent Washington has floated the idea of you joining the Wards yet or not,” she looked at the mentioned agent who waggled a hand back and forth in a “sorta” gesture, “but we would love to have you and help you gain control of your powers which is what the Wards program is there for.”
“But all I do is control insects?” Taylor said in a small voice.
I smiled, “T, you sense through those insects, you can control their littlest function, maybe you wouldn’t be out on the front line punching someone like Hookwolf or Lung in the face, but standing back and flooding them with bugs until they cant move, wrapping them up in spider silk, being able to track them at your range which we still haven’t found out what that is yet. And as for punching people in the face, I can teach you that, heck I intend to anyway.” My smile was going a bit manic at the thought of Taylor and I working together.
“I would really feel better about you doing things this way Taylor,” her father said. “I think I know you well enough that I can say that you are not going to simply sit back and do nothing with this power once you have a handle on it and I don’t want you out there unsupported and alone, not with who this city has produced for villains.”
Taylor looked at the adults in the room and then at me causing me to shrug, “In or out T, I’ve got your back, and I’ll help you get used to your powers as well, but I would rather we be able to work together completely instead of during scheduling holes.”
After standing there a moment Taylor nodded, “Alright then,” she said, “Let’s do this.”
**Taylor**
By nine that evening I was beat, and after a long relaxing shower it was all I could do not to simply collapse into the bed that had come with the issued room in the Ward’s dorm area. Dad had run home for more clothes for me and Director Piggot had made arrangements so that I could access some of what would be my Ward’s paycheck immediately so that I could get clothes better than the Good Will stuff that I had been wearing. Dinner with her and Akane had been nice if a bit tense, and I found out that the Director had her own issues just like anyone else. Still, it had been nice, and I had been able to work on my range and control the entire time simply by having it at a level that didn’t overwhelm me.
Laying down on the bed in the pajamas that Dad had brought I stretched while lying face first in the cheap thin pillow that was on my bed. They had asked after the power testing if I wanted to stay here near Akane as a safety precaution and I had said yes, because the last thing I wanted to have happen was for either of our powers deciding to go poof and something bad happen. “So how do you feel?” I heard Akane ask and I turned to see her standing in the doorway wearing an oversized AC/DC concert T-shirt, I groaned in response.
“Yeah, I understand,” she said coming in and sitting down on the edge of my bed. “Tomorrow we’ll get you to the point that you feel safe going home at your normal range and then we’ll start working on your skills.” As she spoke she started running her fist up and down my spine causing me to want to arch my back into it like a cat getting its back stroked.
Turning my head to the side so that I could speak unmuffled by the pillow I replied, “As long as my head doesn’t feel like a piece of pounded meat Wednesday night it’s all good.” She chuckled at that and I wanted to ask why, but I could feel sleep beckoning. The slow circles she had switched to rubbing on the small of my back was easing me towards slumber, “Whaso funny?” I asked muzzily.
“Well,” she answered, “your head won’t feel like pounded meat, but tomorrow your muscles will probably end the day more like overcooked pasta instead.”
“Das fine,” I mumbled as I drifted off, and then there was nothing but oblivion.
**
Once Taylor drifted off I covered her with the comforter that lay folded on the footlocker at the foot of the bed before shutting off the light and leaving the room, closing the door behind me. Taylor had filled us in over dinner on the things that had been going on in her life over the last few years, including the nearly two years of bullshit that those three little bitches had put her through. “She’s a better person than I am Aunt Emily,” I said as I found my aunt sitting quietly at the Ward’s kitchenette counter. “If it had been me I would have long since beat the hell out of at least one of them.
She chuckled mirthlessly at that, “You’re very much like your father in that Akane,” she said after a moment. “He was never one to suffer fools or bullies and I suppose that is one of the reasons he joined the Corps as opposed to the PRT like I did.” I nodded at that, he had written letters to me before I was even born and had sent them along with the ones that he had sent to mom. His stories of growing up, his time in Somalia, all of it was because he felt he could change things. “That said,” Aunt Emily said pulling my attention out of the depression spiral that I had started down, “You are also your own person Akane, and I expect you to chart your own path, though I figure you to be a bit more law abiding than your father was at your age.”
I chuckled at that, dark thoughts banished for the moment. “I make no promises Aunt Em,” I replied. “My friends, my team, you know I’m going to be there for them no matter what I have to do right?”
She smiled, “I expect nothing less than that,” she said getting off the barstool that she had been sitting on. “Goodnight Akane, I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night Aunt Em,” I said as she slid from her seat and exited the Ward’s area and I turned to go to my own room. Today had been one of those days that didn’t go according to plan, but maybe that had been for the best. Spirits only knew what screwed up fate had been averted by me showing up when I did.
**
Two hours later the four of us were standing in a gymnasium sized laboratory with various stations that were obviously meant to test different factors of powers. “Don’t worry T,” I said to Taylor as she eyeballed the equipment. I’m going through this the same as you since I haven’t been tested yet either.
She shifted her gaze to me from behind the domino mask she was wearing. “What do you mean you haven’t been tested?”
I shrugged as her father and Agent Washington stepped into an observation room so that the techs that were about to enter couldn’t leak who the new cape was by recognizing a family member. “I’ve been a cape for less than a month and literally just got here from Tokyo Saturday evening. Sunday was my aunt and I getting settled into her new apartment since she’d been living alone before now, and then today I went to school. I was supposed to be doing this tonight anyway, you’re just a not-so-happy coincidence. Taylor nodded, and we watched the techs come in and take their places at the machines.
After a moment one of the techs came forward to us and smiled, “Ladies,” he said, a slight accent tilting his English. “I am Doctor Stein, if you would follow me we can get started.” We both nodded and followed him toward the first machine as he continued to speak. “Do either of you have any ideas as to what your power sets entail?”
“I am a power manipulator,” I answered plainly as I looked at his name tag, “My power lets me adjust someone else’s abilities, either down to zero shutting them down, or up to fifteen, giving them fifty percent greater power than they normally would have for a defined period of time.”
“Můj Bůh v nebi” the doctor replied and then shaking his head asked, “What are your known limitations?”
“The boost only lasts about half an hour, but the drain lasts up to twelve hours,” I answered. “So far I don’t know if the strength of the cape’s powers effects those time limits or not.” The doctor nodded and then turned to Taylor.
“I have no knowledge of what my powers are other than the hint that there is a buzzing in the back of my head,” she answered. “A has been suppressing my powers probably since my trigger this morning.”
Doctor Stein nodded to this and then returned his gaze to me, “Miss A, if you would please stop suppressing Miss T’s powers, we can get started.”
I nodded to him and turned to Taylor, “Slowly alright,” I said taking her hand, “part of the reason I’ve been suppressing them is I don’t want you overwhelmed by them, I know I was the first time I touched a cape. With your’s buzzing in your head, I imagine its not touch based.” Taylor nodded, and in my mind, I started turning a dial. Starting at zero I slowly took it to one, then to two, and at three she staggered backwards putting her hands to her head.
“So many,” she said clenching her eyes shut while gripping her temples. “So many little…” she trailed off and we watched as insects poured out of the walls in a shadow state before becoming normal and forming an artificial whirlwind around her.
**
Two hours later I was finished with my testing and the pillar of insects that had formed around Taylor was finally starting to disperse. “T?” I asked getting her attention as the insects went smoke like and vanished into the floor.
“Shut me back down please.” She begged in a small voice. I nodded before touching a finger to her forehead and mentally turning the knob back to zero. “Thank you, she almost sobbed. There were just so many senses and minds, I couldn’t make sense of any of it, I couldn’t differentiate between myself and the insects. Was that my full power?”
I shook my head, “That was your power at about a third your normal strength. I imagine your range, sensory depth and fine control will increase with the power level.” I didn’t add that what she might be able to control might increase in complexity as her power increased as well. It wasn’t likely, but it was possible.
“Everyone but the girls and the people in the observation booth out of the room, now!” Aunt Emily’s voice barked even before the double doors to the testing area hit the walls. The response was as one would expect, a flurry of running feet as the techs cleared the room and the Director of the PRT East-Northeast branch walked over to the two of us. As the techs left Doctor Stein, whose full name I had found out was Franklin Nicholai Stein, closed the doors locking them behind the group. Once that happened, the observation booth door opened, and Daniel Hebert ran over and hugged his daughter tightly.
“Mister Hebert, miss Hebert, you have my sincere apologies for what has happened,” Aunt Emily said as Taylor’s dad eased up on his hug. “The documentation you recorded young lady is going to be the final nail in that whole group’s coffin. The fact that you thought to document your interactions with Principal Blackwell as well meant that we were able to arrange for the BBPD to get a search warrant for both her electronic correspondence and her bank accounts. I can’t go into what has been found so far, but suffice it to say, all of them will be going to prison for one thing or another.”
Taylor smiled a bit at that, vengeance might be a dish best served cold, but justice should be hot, fresh and free flowing, I thought.
“Now,” Aunt Emily said continuing. “I don’t know if Agent Washington has floated the idea of you joining the Wards yet or not,” she looked at the mentioned agent who waggled a hand back and forth in a “sorta” gesture, “but we would love to have you and help you gain control of your powers which is what the Wards program is there for.”
“But all I do is control insects?” Taylor said in a small voice.
I smiled, “T, you sense through those insects, you can control their littlest function, maybe you wouldn’t be out on the front line punching someone like Hookwolf or Lung in the face, but standing back and flooding them with bugs until they cant move, wrapping them up in spider silk, being able to track them at your range which we still haven’t found out what that is yet. And as for punching people in the face, I can teach you that, heck I intend to anyway.” My smile was going a bit manic at the thought of Taylor and I working together.
“I would really feel better about you doing things this way Taylor,” her father said. “I think I know you well enough that I can say that you are not going to simply sit back and do nothing with this power once you have a handle on it and I don’t want you out there unsupported and alone, not with who this city has produced for villains.”
Taylor looked at the adults in the room and then at me causing me to shrug, “In or out T, I’ve got your back, and I’ll help you get used to your powers as well, but I would rather we be able to work together completely instead of during scheduling holes.”
After standing there a moment Taylor nodded, “Alright then,” she said, “Let’s do this.”
**Taylor**
By nine that evening I was beat, and after a long relaxing shower it was all I could do not to simply collapse into the bed that had come with the issued room in the Ward’s dorm area. Dad had run home for more clothes for me and Director Piggot had made arrangements so that I could access some of what would be my Ward’s paycheck immediately so that I could get clothes better than the Good Will stuff that I had been wearing. Dinner with her and Akane had been nice if a bit tense, and I found out that the Director had her own issues just like anyone else. Still, it had been nice, and I had been able to work on my range and control the entire time simply by having it at a level that didn’t overwhelm me.
Laying down on the bed in the pajamas that Dad had brought I stretched while lying face first in the cheap thin pillow that was on my bed. They had asked after the power testing if I wanted to stay here near Akane as a safety precaution and I had said yes, because the last thing I wanted to have happen was for either of our powers deciding to go poof and something bad happen. “So how do you feel?” I heard Akane ask and I turned to see her standing in the doorway wearing an oversized AC/DC concert T-shirt, I groaned in response.
“Yeah, I understand,” she said coming in and sitting down on the edge of my bed. “Tomorrow we’ll get you to the point that you feel safe going home at your normal range and then we’ll start working on your skills.” As she spoke she started running her fist up and down my spine causing me to want to arch my back into it like a cat getting its back stroked.
Turning my head to the side so that I could speak unmuffled by the pillow I replied, “As long as my head doesn’t feel like a piece of pounded meat Wednesday night it’s all good.” She chuckled at that and I wanted to ask why, but I could feel sleep beckoning. The slow circles she had switched to rubbing on the small of my back was easing me towards slumber, “Whaso funny?” I asked muzzily.
“Well,” she answered, “your head won’t feel like pounded meat, but tomorrow your muscles will probably end the day more like overcooked pasta instead.”
“Das fine,” I mumbled as I drifted off, and then there was nothing but oblivion.
**
Once Taylor drifted off I covered her with the comforter that lay folded on the footlocker at the foot of the bed before shutting off the light and leaving the room, closing the door behind me. Taylor had filled us in over dinner on the things that had been going on in her life over the last few years, including the nearly two years of bullshit that those three little bitches had put her through. “She’s a better person than I am Aunt Emily,” I said as I found my aunt sitting quietly at the Ward’s kitchenette counter. “If it had been me I would have long since beat the hell out of at least one of them.
She chuckled mirthlessly at that, “You’re very much like your father in that Akane,” she said after a moment. “He was never one to suffer fools or bullies and I suppose that is one of the reasons he joined the Corps as opposed to the PRT like I did.” I nodded at that, he had written letters to me before I was even born and had sent them along with the ones that he had sent to mom. His stories of growing up, his time in Somalia, all of it was because he felt he could change things. “That said,” Aunt Emily said pulling my attention out of the depression spiral that I had started down, “You are also your own person Akane, and I expect you to chart your own path, though I figure you to be a bit more law abiding than your father was at your age.”
I chuckled at that, dark thoughts banished for the moment. “I make no promises Aunt Em,” I replied. “My friends, my team, you know I’m going to be there for them no matter what I have to do right?”
She smiled, “I expect nothing less than that,” she said getting off the barstool that she had been sitting on. “Goodnight Akane, I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night Aunt Em,” I said as she slid from her seat and exited the Ward’s area and I turned to go to my own room. Today had been one of those days that didn’t go according to plan, but maybe that had been for the best. Spirits only knew what screwed up fate had been averted by me showing up when I did.
**
Wolf wins every fight but the one where he dies, fangs locked around the throat of his opponent.
Currently writing BROBd
Currently writing BROBd