A different kind of whale (Worm/FGO-based Gamer) Chapter 12

2-1 [Party Invite]

January 13th

[You are aware that simply utilising a certain aspect of Violet Caster’s skill set will not be enough to actually shift the card towards specialising in it.] Da’at eventually, after a few days of downtime, decided to pipe up.

“Well, I assume that eventually I’d get better at it the hard way, same as anyone else, but I’m guessing you have a better method?” Outis replied as he leaned back from his calligraphy desk with a quiet groan, massaging his wrist more for the sake of psychosomatics than anything else. Even E Rank Endurance was more than enough to not get cramps. He’d already restocked all the talismans he’d used during the concert, on top of spending a day and change just jumping around the wilderness and painting for its own sake, so today he was actually doing something a bit more productive than shitposting on PHO by trying to make more complex bindrunes. It was a fun puzzle, getting the required patterns to interlock together and play nice.

[You are correct in your assumptions. The first is doable, if time consuming. Very time consuming. You may have the grounding across all disciplines but perfecting them would take you the sort of time it would actually take, with correction for availability of necessary materials, talent and instruction.] Da’at conceded with a start. [Of course, you’ve a cheat code with Chromatic Cards, which can be improved like any other Servant Card. By grabbing necessary ingredients, in necessary amounts, and making a smoothie to down.]

“Legally distinct cultivation weee.” Outis deadpanned, before breaking into snickers as he started tucking away his supplies– and chucking the failed talisman in a metal brick of a bin that happily ate it with a muffled explosion. No sense not recycling the magic bang bang juice he packed into these things. “I assume I’m going to need those Crystallizations of Skill you mentioned on my first day.”

[Crystallisation and Quantum Pieces for the most basic improvement to the Skills, Quintessence once you decide the direction you wish to take this particular Violet Caster. Embers and Monuments to allocate into Parameters.]

“Hmm… well, I have two of them, so probably make a proper blastercaster and a dedicated crafter.” He could make more, sure, but opportunity cost. Just a divide between an artillery division on legs and what this world would call a Tinker on crack should be good enough. Dragon Core, High Speed Divine Words, then Galvanism or some flavour of Mystic Eyes… yes, that’d be a real nightmare to deal with. Although good luck managing to roll the right Servants to engrave all of those.

[If you desire a specific Skill, it is possible to ‘create’ a Trial.] Da’at supplied in response to Outis’ unspoken dreams. [The creation of a Trial is a ritual which burns QP, Skill Gems, Quintessence and a Chromatic Card. Some Trial Instances favour a very specific combination of Class and Materials, while others are more thematically oriented.]

[I suppose it is yet another incentive for you to roll the gacha and burn the results. Curious.]

“Intriguing.” Outis said in his best snooty debate club voice as Violet Caster sloughed off of him. “Issue is, a lot of Servants are better to put on the field than just burning them to nick a single Skill from ‘em and a free Chromatic.”

Look no further than one of the queens that’d popped up. Fantastic synergies all around… now, if only she didn’t have such a difficult personality. Made him leery of so much as manifesting her to ask for permission to Install her, nevermind have her work for him properly.

This was from the man who let Moriarty loose on the city knowing exactly the sort of man he was. It was just… Moriarty was entirely happy with this arrangement and had zero reason to stab him in the back. This girl would do so without a second thought if she felt slighted or threatened.

[Weighting the cost and benefit of employing a Servant can be tricky for a Master without universal compatibility.] Da’at agreed. [Even if Servants can tutor you in their Skills at a faster pace than self-study and bypass the limitations of biology through Install Quests, the problem of personality clash remains. On the other hand, it means you won’t need to burn the ones you like for the useful Skills you might want for yourself.]

“That’s something at least.” Outis sighed as he picked up his jacket and strolled out of his Workshop. “I’ll do some grinding later. Right now, I think I’ve been sitting on a moral snag for long enough.”

Even if, out of context, it was darkly hilarious for him to go to Elizabeth Bathory to figure out the ethics of a situation.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Welcome back from your foray into the dangers of artistic passions, Master.” Moriarty greeted Outis dryly in Csejte’s great hall. “As you can see, Young Miss made her own foray into matters of passion in your absence.” He added, indicating Elizabeth lounging on her throne with a young, Middle-Eastern looking woman in a simple, black dress busy being a thoroughly gay puddle on her lap. Said girl was also collared, if without signs of leash anywhere on Elizabeth’s person.

“I am not apologising for whom I bring to my home.” The Countess shot back almost instantly. Her hands were conspicuously absent from Outis’ view.

“Good taste. And good morning.” He said without missing a single beat as he seated himself on his usual spot with no regard whatsoever for the noises to his left, quietly ignoring how Da’at tagged the bundle of melted chocolate as [Caster: Parian]. Honestly, he’d offer Liz a high five, but she was busy. At least now he knew for sure what the little idol that could had been doing that Moriarty told him to spend the night in the Workshop tower. “Should I update the ‘field registry, or would you rather play the dragon whisking away the fair maiden every time?”

There was, obviously, an unspoken ‘is this a one night stand I should delete the memories of once you’re done?’ but Outis knew better than to ruin the mood like that. He had intended for this place to be something of a secret base, but at the end of the day it was Elizabeth’s home and so she had final say. Besides, once he started manifesting more of the Servants he’d gotten from that 10-pull, they wouldn’t be relying so much on secrecy anymore.

Miyazaki, watch over him as he built a poison lake to make you proud.

“Sabah has already worked with us in the lead-up to the concert and decided she liked it enough to extend the partnership.” Elizabeth replied, blissfully nuzzling Parian’s cheek with her own to a great effect on the poor cape. Those were, for sure, very incoherent noises.

“Was there something you needed, Master, or have you simply decided to socialise a bit more?” Moriarty took over the conversation with the same dryly light tone he used previously. “As you can see, Young Miss is still deep into her relapse into, as youngsters these days say, dommy lesbian phase.”

“A bit of that and wanting to sound something out with Elizabeth, but I know better than to intrude and it isn’t like it is urgent.” Outis chuckled, idly filling his plate with some of the food arrayed on the table. Wraith servants were the best, “How go your evil schemes?”

It was fun to be able to say that with a straight face and have it fly under the radar. Even if he doubted Sabah could process language right now either way.

“Well enough, Master, well enough.” Moriarty chuckled. “Anything more would be spoilers, I’m afraid, and I’ve heard young people like to keep surprises surprising. It is adorable seeing  young Tattletale trying and failing to be Sherlock with me.” He added with a wistful sigh.

[If you desire the intellectual stimulation only a proper nemesis can provide, I’m sure with your presence here, it will be sooner, rather than later, that Master manages to summon Holmes.] Da’at decided to throw its own two QP in. [The presence of certain Servants can skew the results of further summonings. Either by being with you at the summoning or having them Installed when summoning. Certain locations should also suffice but between your seeming aversion to travel and how this continent specifically was chosen as an insertion point, the available pool of candidates is… limited.]

“Yeah, there aren’t many American Servants. Edison, Tesla, Geronimo, Bunyan, Billy the Kid and a couple others.” Outis grunted, making a small mental note to check some maps later. He already had a couple nuclear options in his deck, but a roadtrip may be in order just in case.

“Don’t be too hasty on my account. A game just isn’t fun for him if we’re both starting on equal footing.” Moriarty waved the information off. “A detective needs a proper crime and crime empire in place to tackle. And setting it from the ground up is its own fun. Now, this thing you wanted to talk about with Young Miss… anything I can help you with on that front, or should I look into seeing if we can start adult entertainment distribution for additional funding?”

Outis managed to keep his chortle from snapping Sabah and Liz out of it, but it was a close thing. “Somewhat, yeah. I wanted Elizabeth’s viewpoint as nobility for it, but you did do a tour of duty in Chaldea so I’m sure you can provide some advice on prickly royals.”

“Ah, that little issue.” Moriarty nodded with an understanding nod. “You are very much unlike our previous Master so it would be a bigger issue for you…”

Whatever else Moriarty might’ve wanted to say was interrupted by Outis’ phone buzzing. A quick check revealed a completely unknown number. Which, considering Challenger had his number, didn’t mean that much.

Surprisingly, she had yet to call him whether to shoot the shit or arrange another sparring session. Either way, a quick charisma boosting transformation and Outis was answering the call with an apologetic smile thrown Moriarty’s way, “Ayo, Epopeia speaking.”

“Hope I'm not interrupting anything important.” Glory Girl’s voice answered her. “But I do need to meet with you for a talk, preferably sooner than later. Got any location you prefer?”

[Potential Quest: Newer Wave.]

[Potential Rewards: Glory Girl Bond, Panacea Bond, ???, ???, ???]

“Guess that’s why you didn’t contact me on PHO. As for location…” Outis side-eyed the pile of gay on the throne. While it would be hilarious, probably best not to invite Glory here… but she could chat with Moriarty at literal thought speed, so checking in if it would help along any of his plans cost her nothing.

‘It will not damage any of them, at the very least.’ Moriarty sent back, apparently deciding to keep on being cryptic.

Very tempting, but Outis didn’t quite feel like fielding the legion of awkward questions the hero would have in regards to a helpfully haunted castle. “It’s a little busy at home right now, how’s a picnic in the woods sound?”

“Closer or further away from Trainyard? Because there’s a bit of woods around and my aura is, unfortunately, not particularly long ranged.”

“You know that pond about two kilometres northwest of the Trainyard?” The Master of Cards asked, wedging the phone between her face and her shoulder as she scribbled some orders for the ghostly staff on a piece of paper.

“We really checking off all the boxes for cheap, C-tier horror flick, eh?” Glory Girl snorted.

“Just you wait to see my idea of a haunted house.” Outis snorted because she was incorregible, idly handing off the list of instructions.

“Can’t wait.” The parahuman drawled. “Alright, I think I can hit the place in… about an hour if I want to be inconspicuous? That fine with you, or do you need a little bit more time?”

A bit of mouthing at the ghosts and a thumbs up and she replied, “Should be good. I’ll even show off Rider to you while I’m at it, should be a hit if you do get me that invite to the family dinner.”

“Do I have good news for you, then. See you in an hour, then.” Glory Girl snorted before unceremoniously ending the call.

“Have fun on your date, Master. I will try to make sure Young Miss will be in a state to have that talk with you by the time you come back.” Moriarty commented flippantly.

“If this is what just two Servants get up to, I can barely imagine how it got into that mosh pit of a ship.” Outis chuckled, tucking away the phone. Right, time to take a bath and off she was.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Y’know, if I wasn’t straight as fuck, I would suspect you’re coming onto me.” Glory Girl (Victoria, possibly, seeing as she was in civvies, meaning a pair of worn out jeans and rather muted green jacket) commented as she gave her full attention to Outis’ ride.

Similarly to Berserker, Yellow Rider didn’t come with any weapons included. Unlike Berserker, it compensated by providing a majestic, clearly well bred horse. Naturally, the massive, muscular thing was also yellow. Platinum blonde fur, glossy golden mane and tail, eyes like chunks of amber.

There was a rock in Victoria’s hand, and given she was crouching by the edge of the pond they agreed upon, it was clear how she was passing her time until Outis’ arrival. If not for the fact they were pretty much all alone in the forest in the middle of winter, she could be mistaken for a perfectly normal teenager.

“Hah, yup! As is, you get to tell me how your family would react if I roll up like this to a family dinner.” Outis laughed, hopping off her ride in one smooth motion, taking a second to remove her kettle helmet and hang it by a hook on the saddle, letting her mustard yellow hair poof out. The scarf was pulled loose around her pale yellow gambeson, leaving her face exposed, eyes the same colour as her hair crinkling. “So?”

“Thank god, it’s just a weird habit of yours and not your power compelling you to hide your face.” Victoria snarked as she stood up and approached. “Might want to look into some half mask for the upper portion of the face. New Wave might be all about accountability and no secret identities, but it’s not like we’d expect you to trust us on the first meeting to just show your face off. He bites?” She added, indicating the horse standing patiently by them.

“Yeah, I figured. Still, it’d be weird to be the only one with a mask at a dinner, maybe a hat tweaked to toss some maaaagic~ shadows over my face?” Outis pondered with an entirely mandatory wiggle of her fingers, before patting her new friend on the flank, “And nah, you’re fine, Nearl’s pretty smart.”

“Nice of you to bring up dinner manners. It’s what I wanted to talk about, actually.” Victoria nodded as she gave the horse another pat. “Sit down and let me explain?”

As if on cue, the horse reached its head into a saddle bag, pulling out a blanket it draped on the ground with a calculated flick. Then sat in a picture perfect loaf on the side before either of the girls had a chance to.

“Pretty smart, alright.” Victoria observed the entire thing with a complete deadpan. “Fucking grab bags, how do you work?”

“Magic and the collective unconscious.” Outis replied with the exact same deadpan before deflating with a chortle as she plopped her ass on the blanket, grabbing an honest to god wicker basket off of the saddle. “Salami sandwich?”

“Might as well.” Victoria accepted the offered food as she sat down. “Comfy thing, considering the time of year. Anyway.” The blonde added after taking a bite. “Still, your hypothetical question hit the issue I wanted to talk about head on. The family wants to meet you. The whole team.”

“Gee, I wonder why. It isn’t like the street level Brute that’s been hanging around Amy turned out to be Mini Myrddin.” Mustard girl snorted as she reclined. Really, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Panacea was New Wave’s golden egg goose. Of course they’d want to get Outis’ measure.

“You being a Myrddin Two, the Myrddening and taking down Hookwolf is more relevant for why they want to meet you than being Myrddin’s long lost sister and Ames’ friend.'' Victoria shook her head ruefully.

“Hah, guess I’ve been hanging out with James a bit too much.” Gotta dial the cynicism back a little… even if she didn’t doubt it was a factor. Leaving a powerful unknown near someone so important was a stupid move.

“Well, mom cares,” The heroine grimaced a little, “Probably not from the correct source…” Shaking her head, she continued. “It’s more… New Wave is supposed to be about accountability, yeah? An alternative to the big, government sponsored push, a movement of citizen defence and responsibility. Was supposed to be.” 

“Then the 88 decided to be their lovely selves.” Outis sighed. She may not have done a huge amount of research, but after befriending Amy it’d been common sense to look up New Wave. Started as Brockton Brigade, vigilantes. Took down Marquis’ gang. Decided to use their five minutes in the limelight to take their masks off and become a political movement.

Then an Empire goon spotted Fleur in civvies in the middle of a mall and shot her dead to earn some street cred. Stark reminder to all parahumans that most of them weren’t bulletproof and everyone around them sure wasn’t either.

Something stank there, honestly. Not how Fleur had died, that could happen to anyone in this city, no. It was how… disconnected from the realities of gang warfare established parahumans seemed to be. They were active combatants in a city where pogroms were semi-common, yet there was this veneer of pageantry to the whole thing. Like they were just celebrities putting on a show while the people on the street, low end parahuman, ganger, policeman and trooper alike just got fed to the meatgrinder.

It made her very glad to have set Moriarty loose.

“Yeah. Aunt Sarah tries, it’s mostly her organising our official patrol routes, reaching out to any new independents, but aunt Fleur’s death just… took the wind out of their sails.” Victoria admitted. “And the Empire is a great target to focus everyone on! Theoretically. But then, it hits people that the nazis have been here since… ‘87? Probably earlier, to be honest, just no one noticed before powers.”

“Punching nazis sounds like a good pastime until you realise they have the greatest power concentration in the city bar none, which beyond the obvious means they can get away with flouting the rules of engagement so long as they don’t provoke the Protectorate into calling down the hammer.” The mustard blonde grunted. She’d realised this literally within the first hour of setting foot in the city.

“Hookwolf is Birdcage bound. Third time.” Victoria shook her head. “This city effectively is the Empire's, and the rest of the country doesn’t care. The Marche used to be, somehow, a counterbalance, but then mom and the rest took them down. So… that little depressing history lesson behind us, d’you see why aunt Sarah wants to meet? You took down Hookwolf. Your friend took down Cricket. And the two of you, somehow, inspired Kanabo to get involved in a serious parahuman punch-up. If she gets you on board.., or at least cooperating officially…” She drifted away, her tone… actually not quite hopeful. With the way she looked away from Outis, there was clearly a personal agenda at play that didn’t quite align with reigniting Lady Photon’s dream.

“And of course, with me and Liz in the Empire’s crosshairs, she is perfectly positioned to sweeten the pot by offering to have New Wave close ranks around us so we don’t end another statistic.” The Master of Guf mused, fixing her unnatural eyes on Victoria’s. She may not be able to consciously read a person, point at a little twitch of their face and say what they were thinking. But it didn’t take one of the social sharks she hung around with to sniff out this much blood in the water.

“That’s her plan.” Victoria agreed slowly, stretching the silence for a moment before sighing. “OK, look, there’s a reason I executed big sis privileges to raid Ames’ phone for your number and then went through the hoops to not use mine to meet. Aunt Sarah is probably gonna contact you soon about the dinner, but I wanted to… work things out with you, beforehand. Things which miiiight not go well with the whole ‘join the New Wave’ thing.”

Taking a deep breath, the heroine steeled herself. “Look, the thing is, my family is a… shitshow. Mom and Ames might think they are being subtle about it around me but I’m not as stupid as Glory Girl makes it look. Normally, I wouldn’t do this…” She waved her hand around the pond, making a half-circle from herself to Outis. “But Ames clearly likes you. Is more relaxed around you.” She let out a rather grim chuckle. “I’ve been trying to ease things for her for a long time, y’know, but she has always been a damn introvert about it. Then you come in and in two weeks manage to make her feel better than I did for years. So… if you happen to accept that invitation from aunt Sarah… don’t pretend to not notice things. Go all in on standing up for Ames, kay?”

It was a good thing she was Yellow Rider right now, because this smile on Berserker’s face would’ve been horrifying. “You got my word. And more than that, it is about time I put my cards on the table.”

___________________________________________________________________________

“Should I go around renaming the place to ‘Casa de lesbiana’, Miss Outis?” Moriarty asked once Outis returned, Victoria in tow. Elizabeth and Sabah were no longer present in the great hall, at least. The superheroine was currently busy being in something of a muted shock, simply staring at her surroundings.

[The name wouldn’t work anyway, unless you have something to tell us, or plan on moving out.]

“I’m straight.” Victoria managed to snap out of her stupor. “Sorry, you’re?”

“James Adler.” Moriarty introduced himself smoothly. “The adult supervision for Miss Outis and Miss Bathory. Miss Parian now as well, I suppose.” He added with a wry smile.

“Huh. Good for them.” Victoria, apparently, was still rebooting from being taken to literal mediaeval castle having been sprung on the outskirts of the city. Or she simply didn’t particularly care about relationship drama of people she was barely acquainted with. “Okay, okay… That makes the next step easier, I suppose.”

“I may not be a social mastermind, but you were just short of pulling out the airport glowsticks.” Outis chuckled as she let Yellow Rider slough off her as she took her usual seat. That little extra gesture of trust cost her nothing at this point. 

“I may not be stupid, but I’m not exactly a deep planner either.” Victoria defended herself. “Still, an actual fucking castle. Alright, alright. So, if you can manage, you have a relatively safe place to stash Ames at so she doesn’t just permanently haunt the hospital. Would it be alright if I crashed for a few days as well? Mom probably won’t take kindly to me not leaping to closing the ranks.”

“I will touch base with Elizabeth when she isn’t busy, but I doubt she’d refuse.” Mostly because on the topic being brought up telepathically, the little lizard had just mumbled about ‘girls… good’.

“Bases covered, that's a relief.” Victoria exhaled sharply before deflating. “I guess now we just… hang out?”

“Truly flawless planning.” Moriarty commented dryly, causing the blonde to stick her tongue at him.

“I’ve accomplished all I wanted and I’m already here, with you guys, so might as well. Unless you have something private to do?”

“Didn’t really have any plans today aside from some power discussion.” Outis waved off. Well, okay, she had thought of maybe going to a Promenade later in the day or manifesting a new Servant, but Victoria had enough revelations for now. 

“I don’t think I am up for anything involving higher thought. A bit too jittery from all this secrecy and relief and also whatever the hell your power is.” Victoria shook her head with a sigh, before taking full advantage of being a guest and collapsing on top of the thankfully empty table.

[I am cheating as hard as possible, thank you.]

“Beyond the visually gayest thing since Legend’s debut.”

[Curious, isn’t it?]

[Glory Girl’s Bond Level raised to 3, by the way.]

Nice. Couldn’t wait to send her a party invite and watch her brain segfault again. “Have you seen my PHO pfp yet? Actually, yeah, lemme get the laptop. I have some pirated movies.”

“Awesome. Shame I didn’t know about… all of this or I would’ve brought popcorn.”

___________________________________________________________________________

“Master, if I may offer a suggestion?” Moriarty proverbially pulled Outis aside once Victoria left the castle so it was just the two of them (and the ever present Wraith servants) in the hall.

“Shoot.” The black haired man replied without missing a beat. His female form was nice for curling up on a couch, but he preferred not having to crane up his neck to chat with the Professor.

“Would you be terribly interested in founding an independent hero team?”

There was something faintly hysterical in having started out intending to be a mercenary, moving on to setting James motherfucking Moriarty loose to make a crime syndicate, only for them to end up building a hero team. Not that Outis thought for a single moment that the mastermind wasn’t angling to tap all three markets in one fell swoop. “With you handling things behind the scenes? I wouldn’t be giving anything up aside from the mild inroads with the ABB, and not even that if we focus on more problematic elements.”

Blessedly, Lóng ran things like one of the more upstanding yakuza. Prostitution, yes. Gambling, yes. Drugs, yes. But the ABB didn’t neglect aboveboard businesses nor did they stoop to human trafficking or actually dangerous drugs. Unlike the Merchants who seemed to be in an eternal competition of how many xylazines and netazines they could cut into their product. Or the E88, who were all for designer drugs that gave emergency dispatch fucking palpitations trying to figure out what it was this time.

Moriarty hummed and hewed for a moment before clicking his tongue. “Sometimes, having an accepting Master feels strange. I suppose I’ll call young Tattletale sooner, rather than later.” The man sighed before giving Outis a smile. “We won’t be losing connection to the ABB regardless.” The man chuckled. “I will begin workshopping a name. Hopefully, by the time the Empire crumbles, we will have something catchier than The Other Brockton Bay Brigade or Newer Wave.”

[I am not apologising for the naming schema of the quests.]

“You have a schema instead of pulling cheap pop culture references when you bother at all?”

“Oratorio.” Outis chimed up without missing a beat, before quickly amending, “Don’t ask me what it means, my brain will just randomly spit out fitting names without context.” 

“Italian works to distinguish ourselves well. I will work on full thematics for the project. In the meantime, Miss Kanabo wished to arrange for an interview, so if you would be a dear and fetch us our first official recruit?”

“Hah! Keeping our ABB relations, alright.” Normally he’d think it may just be Kanabo wanting to distance herself from the yakuza-triad-geondal potpourri, but with Moriarty’s comment? Looked like Lóng was making a play. To be expected of the man able to build a pan-Asian gang without it turning into a slice of the Balkans even a decade after.

A quick one-two and Epopeia was in her business blues and ready to go.

___________________________________________________________________________

The meeting with Kanabo was arranged for the evening, at Captain’s Hill, where the local baseball team, Brockton Batters, had their pitch. Also facilities for Little League and hobbyists, with a next door restaurant. The parahuman apparently rented one of the indoor batting cages for the meeting.

She was already inside by the time Master of Guf arrived, wearing a black jacket with blue flame patterns on the arms and chest and black pants, with blue gloves on. Kanabo’s signature, black baseball bat was propped against the bench she was sitting on just outside the cage.

“Care to stretch up while we talk?” The oni-themed parahuman asked, inclining her head towards the inside of the cage.

“Sure. Mind if I swap to red? Haven’t batted since I was a little puke in PE class, so I’d rather not bruise if I fumble.” Indigo Assassin said with a bob of her head, her hoodie around her shoulders. There were two bats leaning against the cage door, so the implication was pretty clear.

“Sure, don’t see why not.” Kanabo shrugged as she grabbed her bat and opened the cage. “Red oni and blue oni, what a pair we make, eh? You’ve got a proper blue colour too, or is forcing Hookwolf to retreat solo gonna be my initiation rite?”

Outis was so glad she had grabbed Lancer for her third slot before heading out. Light flashed and cloth squirmed, leaving her in a kettle helmet and a dark blue gambeson, a boar spear propped on her shoulder, “I got a whole rainbow in here, even if none are quite as exciting as the little witch that could. Tinkers ‘re like that.”

With that and a wink of a deep blue eye, she let Blue Lancer slough off as fast as it’d come, replaced by Berserker.

“‘Course you are blue too.” Kanabo shook her head as she went about setting up the pitcher. “Wanna go first, or should I?”

“Go ahead, seeing how you do it will help not embarrass myself.” Outis chuffed, bobbing her head and gesturing for the oni to go ahead while she limbered up a bit.

“Y’know, my grandpa was a boxer.” Kanabo opened up as she took position, holding her bat with practised ease. “Probably did some stuff on the side too, in addition, but he was a boxer first, punching people for a living.” The machine spat the first ball, somewhat fast, and Kanabo swung. “Probably something illegal. You know how I figure that out?” Another ball, the same effortless grunt. “He liked to say that life ain’t like a ring. The loser is the one who can’t tough it out ‘till he succeeds. Hard man, my gran. Would be disappointed in me, if he saw me after my trigger. Dad’s similar, but the way he sees it, if you didn’t choose it, you’ll never find conviction to hold on till the end.” She swatted another ball with a chuckle. “Not exactly the kind of outlook you get when you are clear, hmmm?”

“Aye. It takes something more than sports to get there.” Red Berserker grunted, “Civvies can afford to back out. They don’t get in the sort of situations where if you keep worrying about getting hurt, you’ll end up dead instead. Or rather, they do, but they can get away with just running or ducking under cover.”

“This whole cape business is kinda like that. Getting powers is kinda like agreeing to step into a ring, for most. There's an assumption you’re in for a reason.” The next pitch, Kanabo instead catched the ball easily, with barely a grunt. “The ring is your life, now. So how do you lose in the cape business?” She shook her head. “I s’ppose I kept the lowest possible stakes ‘cause I didn’t have an answer. Nothin’ to really spur me on. Here, your turn.”

“And it gets worse, because while the high flyers are living it up like pro wrestling celebrities?” The Berserker said as she rolled her shoulders and got into position, punctuating her question with the satisfying slap of wood on leather, “Everyone else is brawling down in the alleys and pits, away from the cameras. Only show up as numbers on the newspaper if that.” She caught the next in a bunt, before swinging fast as she could as the machine got a wild hair up its ass. “Cape, cop, trooper, ganger, civvie, this fuckin’ meatgrinder of a city doesn’t give a shit who it chews up unless they got the influence to shake it up. So you need to be out of everyone’s notice, be so individually powerful nobody dares touch you and yours, or get enough allies to make it work anyways.”

“Don’t need to tell me that. Might not be a born Brocktonite, but I lived most of my life here. The Empire has been an unassailable fact of life for me. New Wave looked like they might’ve been what Protectorate clearly isn’t. Abandoning the rest of the city for Lóng… wasn’t much of a choice.” The oni sighed, shaking her head, “Honestly, if not for your two for two against Hook, I would still be waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“It’ll be three for three sooner rather than later, from what I hear of the bastard’s track record.” Outis grunted as she batted another ball with a satisfying thunk, before hearing the machine ding and taking that as her cue to swap out. “I’d even be looking forward to it if he wasn’t determined to mulch as many bystanders as he can every time he rolls out.”

“Part of me wants to say ‘go for it’.” Kanabo snorted as she intercepted the next ball with a seemingly careless, one handed swing. “Another part wants to say ‘dibs’. Kinda terrifying, honestly. But… the rush I had on that beach was intoxicating. I want to feel that rush again. But I’ve lived my whole life seeing one cape after another throw themselves at Hook, at Skidmark, at other Empire capes just because they had a halfway decent power and… well, they ain’t here.”

“I feel you. It’s like ribeye after you’ve been living on starvation rations, but you’re afraid it is the sort of high that’ll kill you sure as meth by chasing it.” The Master of Cards said with a nod, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, “Now. I can’t promise you safety. I can’t say you won’t get hurt. I can’t say things won’t go wrong. What I can promise is security.”

“You get hurt? Violet Caster can heal up to broken bones and poof away any toxin or pathogen, without prep. You get in over your head? I have more friends than just Liz and James, trust me when I say we can deploy backup fast. You aren’t ready to go toe to toe with the heavy hitters? We train and gear you up.” Outis outlined, red eyes catching the light as she worked herself into a rhythm, “You will get the battles you want and to come home afterwards, that I can promise.”

Kanabo snorted as she shook her head. “You really got the whole operation figured out, huh? Benefits package honestly better than PRT’s. So, what’s the catch? The fine print?”

“That if we start succeeding, actually making a difference? People notice.” Alaya’s representative grunted, thumbs on her pockets, “Not just in little old Brockton, either. Don’t need to be a Thinker to know many powerful people will be none too pleased about the status quo changing, much less for the better.”

Earth Bet seemed bound and determined to make an example of anyone trying to pull it out of the muck. It had gotten to the point she had left research purely in Moriarty’s hands because it was just too depressing to take in the laundry list of atrocities.

Fucking bird bitch.

“...Y’know? I expected bigger shit than ‘you’re a celebrity now’.” The oni chuckled with a shake of her head, “Fuck it, I’m in.” Kanabo stepped in between the pitching machine and Outis, extending her hand. “Kuze Katsumi, at your service, boss. Wanna crank up the heat, or is it gonna be just smack and chill until our allotted time runs the course?” 

Outis grinned, quietly ignoring Da’at’s bond up chime as they shook. “Full send it, about time I put Red Berserker’s reflexes through their paces.” 

“Ballin’.”