Capítulo 614: 53
Date
2011 February 11th - Friday - Earth Bet Time
Taylor went to bed tired but happy, with a slight undercurrent of anger. Mostly at herself, but a small part of her was also angry at Vicky. She was looking forward to spending time in the virtual space, just going to town on monsters.
The fact the girl figured out her secret was rather shameful and scary.
How many other people figured it out?
She would need to take her training up a notch to make sure she would be able to protect her dad.
Though now that both Vicky and Amy knew about her, she could ask them for advice about how to blend in better and how to prevent other people from figuring it out.
Maybe she could practice in the virtual world?
But for now, sleep awaited her.
As usual, she appeared in a vast grassy expanse, with gentle wind and a perfectly calibrated temperature. She went through her usual warm-up, making sure everything was working perfectly before doing anything else.
She was doing one of her routine yoga exercises, which involved some contortions, when she was disturbed by a call of surprise.
"Wow! Look at that Amy! I don't think I could do that!"
"Pity. I'm sure Dean would appreciate it."
She slowly unwound herself. Then she stood up and slowly turned around just to come face to face with Vicky and Amy, both in their usual clothing, grinning at her. More like Vicky grinning, and Amy staring somewhat amused at her. But she could see a slight smile on the usually dour girl's face.
"Amy, Vicky. How nice to meet you here," she said while inwardly cursing Admin again.
"Hell yeah!" answered Vicky, still grinning. "You didn't say you also had this kind of power! Also, that thing you were doing looked awesome! Can you do it in real life?"
Taylor collected herself before answering the excited blonde. "Not for long, but yes, I can do it. And you also didn't say you had this kind of power, so you don't have a right to complain."
Vicky nodded, a slight blush dusting her cheeks. "That's true, sorry about the accusation!" She leaned closer to her, and her blush deepened. "Can you teach me that?"
She blinked in surprise while Amy scowled behind her sister. "Sure, I can teach the basics to both of you. It's great exercise."
"Yes!" exclaimed Vicky, pumping her fist. "Thank you so much, Taylor!"
"No problem," she replied, a little taken aback by her enthusiasm. "The more important question is why you guys are here?"
The three young women looked at each other, but before any of them could speak up, a more masculine voice cut in.
"That would be, because of us."
Taylor grimaced at hearing her power's voice, but still turned around to look at the annoying slime.
She really needed to figure out a way to be able to punch him in the face.
The other two stepped next to her, and now they stood in a line across from the avatars of their powers, who also stood next to each other. Or levitated in case of Admin.
Next to him stood a glass woman, bouncing up and down on her heels, looking suspiciously a lot like Vicky and next to her stood another woman, dressed in shades of green, covered in moss and other greenery, her straight hair covering one of her eyes.
"Hello, everyone!" spoke up the glass construct. She enthusiastically waved at them while sporting a massive grin. "I'm Fragile One, but you can call me Franky! Hello Host! How are you? Are you having fun?"
Taylor heard Amy sigh and gave a small wave back at the exuberant avatar.
Vicky wasn't so restrained. "Hey, Franky! I'm fine!" she replied with her own waving.
Before Fragile One could continue her usual chatter, the green girl spoke up in a monotone voice. "Greetings meatbags."
"Hello?" said Taylor, a little worriedly. The dour avatar was rather disconcerting.
"This is Shaper," motioned Admin towards the talking greenery. "And I'm Admin. As you suspect, we are the avatars of your powers. Before any questions, let me explain a few things. First, this won't happen every time you go to sleep. Second, you will have a virtual interface where you could request (or deny) a meeting in this virtual world."
Hearing that, both Taylor, Amy, and even Shaper let out a relieved sigh.
Admin gave a cheeky smile before continuing. "So, questions?"
There went her relaxing night of punching things…
Date
2011 February 12th - Saturday - Earth Bet Time
Danny came home around four in the morning to find a devastated living room and three deeply sleeping girls in his house.
He teared up a little, remembering when Taylor was little and spent several sleepovers with Emma. Hopefully, her new friends would help her mend the wound in her heart and move on.
He contemplated cleaning up for a brief time, but in the end, he left it for future Danny. It was, after all, Saturday, and he had nowhere to go, so he could sleep in and clean up.
Or have the girls clean up.
Giving it a quick thought, he decided that sounded much more comfortable, so he left the battlefield alone, and as quietly as he could, he shambled up to his room.
Who knew poker could tire a person so much?
Taylor woke up the same way she did nowadays: deeply rested and energized for the day. She could even hear her father, verified by her power, puttering around the kitchen. She saw him preparing pancakes again and couldn't help but smile.
A few months ago it would have been a miracle if he even said good morning to her, and here they were, having breakfast together.
As much as she hated what happened in the Locker and with the school, she couldn't help to be a little thankful. Only a little, because she couldn't really stand enclosed spaces or getting dirty without freaking out a little.
She threw off her blanket and made her way to the bathroom while sending a clone to wake up the sisters. Pity she couldn't conjure water…
Danny watched as the three girls came down in their pajamas and smiled at them. Vicky's and Amy's hair was in disarray, and their faces were still slightly droopy. In contrast to them, Taylor was sporting a supernaturally perfect hairdo and was almost bouncing around.
It seemed her constant exercising in the morning made her a somewhat morning person.
"Good morning, everyone. I made pancakes!" he stated with a smile.
"Morning, Dad!" said Taylor, then came over to give him a quick one-armed hug.
"Morning, Mr. Hebert!" exclaimed Vicky, slightly returning to her energetic personality, while Amy simply mumbled the same thing.
He waited until they all took a seat and placed a cup of coffee in front of Amy, recognizing the need for caffeine immediately.
The girl mumbled a thank you but otherwise was unresponsive. He just smiled good-naturedly and turned back to Taylor, who was piling pancakes high on her plate. If she also hadn't created a machine that could create picture-perfect pancakes on the push of a button, then he would have had spent hours in the kitchen just to make enough for her. Instead, all he had to do was mix the ingredients together and pour it into the machine, set it to make pancakes, and then enjoy the bounty.
He didn't really like how Taylor gained her powers, but when the results were so convenient and delicious, he couldn't help but be a little thankful for them.
"So, how was the night? Based on the evidence left behind, it went well," said Danny, while sipping from his cup.
"It was great, dad!" answered Taylor with a smile, but then she grimaced. "And they know I'm a parahuman."
His first instinct was to panic and run, but the more rational part of his brain suppressed that. Obviously, Taylor wasn't worried, more like annoyed they figured out, like when he did it. He glanced at the sisters, and they were good-naturedly smiling at him and his daughter.
Plus, they were from New Wave, so it wasn't like they could use her daughter's identity for any nefarious purposes.
He took a deep breath, held it in for a second, and exhaled. "I see. Let me guess, the hair?"
Taylor looked at him in disbelief for several seconds while Vicky and Amy were snickering to themselves.
"Harrumph," she finally said with the most imperious look she could pull off.
"Did you just say harrumph?" asked Amy in wonder.
He couldn't help but break out in laughter. Vicky did at the same time, and soon after Amy and Taylor were laughing with them.
Date
2011 February 14th - Monday - Earth Bet Time
Max looked over the city he was close to ruling and couldn't help but chuckle. The last few days were rather energetic, but the results were excellent. Apparently, Lung, the subhuman beast, decided against expanding his territory so the Empire had moved into the territory left behind by the Merchants and Coil.
Hearing the capture of that irritating man was balm to his soul. The only way it could have been better if he had died, but he could live with not hearing from the man for the rest of his life. And if his moles in the PRT were right, then Piggot was making sure of that.
Couldn't have happened to a more deserving person.
The only problems were when they moved too close to the docks and Dragon. Anytime that happened, a silently watching drone confronted his people with Dragon's logo on it. If they tried to force the issue, and he made sure to send a few who were easy to trigger there to test the waters, then they were almost instantly captured by the drones.
He didn't really mind. The territory they captured was enough for some time. After all, they had to consolidate their presence, organize people and remove the undesirable trash if possible.
So much work, and so little thanks…
Still, that didn't mean he couldn't have fun. He planned a nice evening with the twins, seeing as it was the 14th and he was looking forward to it.
Unfortunately, thinking about that brought forward memories of Kayden and her little rebellion. He didn't really mind that she no longer wanted to be with him. After all, there were plenty of willing women, but the fact that she took several parahumans with her galled him.
Spending a few moments thinking, he decided in honor of the date he would give her a small gift. Smiling evilly, he reached for his phone, then dialed a number.
He patiently waited for the other person to pick up while still surveying the city.
"Yes?" came from the other side.
"It's time. Send the people to her," he said simply.
"Yes, Sir." was the only response, then they hung up.
He looked at the phone mirthfully for a few seconds, wondering how Kayden would react to the official request for visitation with his daughter. Little Aster deserved a daddy…
He went to pour himself a drink while waiting for the reaction.
He was almost finished with his drink when his phone rang again. Taking a look, he was worried because it was not from Kayden. He picked it up with enough force to crack the case a little.
"Report!" he barked into the phone.
"Sir. She is gone."
"What?"
"The apartment is empty; nobody has been here for the last few days."
"That bitch. She is running. Find them!" he yelled at the other man.
"Yes, Sir!"
He hung up and threw the phone away. It seemed he had to postpone his plans for the night; he had a hunt to get ready for.
Date
2011 February 14th - Monday - Earth Bet Time
He took a sip of his sake and looked out the window. Sunset was always his favorite. It signaled the end of the day and the beginning of the night. The night where he lived and thrived.
And now it signaled not just the end of the day but an end of an era.
He watched as the Empire took territory after territory, refusing to move, making his underlings question him. Of course, after he dealt with the first one, the rest decided to remain silent.
The worms…
When he explained to them the simple facts, that a gang war with Dragon next to them was rather inadvisable, immediately several of them again questioned his bravery and strength, so he had to show them his powers.
But he could see in their eyes. They thought he was afraid; they thought he has given up. More than likely several of them would leave his services for another or maybe try to strike out on their own.
He didn't care.
He was pretty sure as soon as the PRT and Dragon realized they were not with him, they would pounce.
No, he had no need to fight an unwinnable battle.
There was something in the air.
Serenity with his medi-gel, the time bubbles, and in the city the Merchants and Coil. They were no mere coincidences. Somebody planned those, though he didn't know who or why, but it was obvious that was not the end of it.
And with the Endbringer attack so close, he decided that for once, he would just sit back and watch.
Estado de energía semanal
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