章 612: 51
Date
2011 February 11th - Friday - Earth Bet Time
Taylor woke up feeling refreshed, ready for her day. Though she was a little bit disappointed because while her dad made her stay home, it didn't free her from online school.
She went out for her usual run, then did some stretching and yoga exercises, and spent half an hour just meditating.
While Taylor wasn't a great fan of it, she had to agree that it allowed her to process things much better, and she even noticed that her control over her emotions was even getting better.
Only after a month of work, it was nice to see some results.
Watching her father coming home from therapist appointments gave her some sense of where she should be, though obviously, an actual therapist would have been better.
Still, as long as she actively worked towards getting better, she would be safe, and when she had the opportunity she would seek out, as her father called them, the world's strongest therapist.
She was coming out of the shower, enjoying the upgraded facilities, and marveling at how her hair was already pristine and perfectly set when she heard her father laugh out loud.
She smiled to herself, happy to see the joy returning to their world and house.
She walked down the stairs after getting ready for the day; she saw her father was at the kitchen table, deep into the morning's newspaper.
"Morning, Dad!" she greeted him while she went to get herself some cereal. "What was so funny?"
Danny looked up from the newspaper. Gave her a loving smile, but she could see that his eyes were alight with humor.
"Morning, Taylor! I was just reading the news…" he answered while smirking at her.
She turned back from the refrigerator, one hand holding the milk, the other on her hip. "And what was so funny about it?"
"They finally got around to talk about what happened on Saturday in more detail," Danny answered, even more amused.
"Really? That's weird…"
"Well, a lot of unusual things happened at the same time, then the Grey Boy bubbles, and the arguments about medi-gel. They didn't really have time to go into detail about your fight," he explained while laying the newspaper down on the table, showing her.
"For example, several organizations in the US are lobbying for banning medi-gel as a tinker made medicine…"
"What? But we proved that there was nothing tinker tech about it. I mean it was created by a Tinker, but according to Tess, the scientists understand everything about it." she exclaimed angrily.
Danny's smile turned a little sadder. "It's not about that, Taylor. Your medicine could invalidate a lot of services that make a lot of money to a lot of people…"
"Oh, that… now that makes sense," she answered less angrily. She then sat down with her bowl of cereal of solidified sugar and chocolate chunks. "It doesn't really matter much. According to Tess, the CUI is definitely using it, and several European countries are integrating it into their forces. The Guild has been obviously using it since the beginning, and the PRT at least here in the Bay is building a facility to manufacture it."
"They could still make your life harder…" said Danny with worry in his voice.
"Then I will release something even more impressive. Maybe a tinker healing device that heals everything on the push of the button?" she answered with a wicked smirk. "Tess is making sure that they understand this. So this is probably just for appearances."
"Devious! You learned well, dear daughter." said her father with a laugh.
She took a few bites of her, what some may charitably call food, before talking again. "What else?"
"The local news talked about Dragon's facility and the other ones she is in the process of building," he answered while pointing to the article. "I even got some requests for interviews…" He added while shaking his head.
"Oh, yeah! Almost forgot about it! How is it going?"
"Didn't Tess keep you up to date?"
She shrugged in embarrassment. "We mostly talk about tinker tech or playing games."
Danny scowled hearing that. "Taylor. Weaver Industries will belong to you, so you need to take this seriously."
"I know that, Dad. I'm studying for that, but for now, it's just construction…"
"Hmm. We will see about that." was her father's only answer and Taylor could sense (without her power) that he wasn't exactly happy with her.
"Anything else?" she asked, hoping to salvage the mood
"There is one other interesting in it." said her father, his voice instantly changing to a more be more light-hearted. "They wrote a small article about the new parahuman who saved Panacea."
She sensed a trap, but her curiosity was aroused. "Really? That's awesome! What did they say?"
"Well, they praised Magnet Girl…" he started to speak but interrupted by Taylor choking on her breakfast.
"What did they call me?" asked Taylor after she swallowed and cleaned her face.
"Magnet Girl." answered her father, with a laugh in his voice and an enormous smile on his face.
Her cursing was joined by Danny laughing himself silly.
Date
2011 February 11th - Friday - Earth Bet Time
"Everybody ready?" came through the radio as Assault was checking on his equipment.
He activated his communication device, then answered Armsmaster. "Assault here, ready as I will ever be."
"Dauntless, ready."
"Miss Militia, ready."
"Triumph, ready."
"Velocity, ready."
"Alpha team, ready."
"Bravo team, ready."
"Bag team, ready."
"HQ, ready."
"Dragon, ready."
He looked around himself, took a look at the PRT agents standing ready to fight a small war. Which wasn't really a wrong thing, because they were here to assault Coil's base, and according to Dragon's intel it was full of mercenaries armed with tinker-tech guns.
He was part of the Breach Team and was tasked to break through a wall and lead the team with him to establish a beachhead for the assault.
He couldn't wait.
Finally, some proper action, and some actual results.
He had already planned what kind of cut of meat he will grill as a celebration. Thank god Sherry liked steak as much as he did. Truly a match made in heaven.
"Breach in 60…"
Right, enough fantasizing. He needed to take this seriously.
Colin strode through the facility, not slowing down for anything. Thanks to his weapon, no door stood to hinder him enough, and the weapons of the mercenaries were not enough to even scorch the new armor he developed with Dragon, or rather Tess.
He absentmindedly tasered another enemy, then wondered why it was so silent around him.
He looked around and was surprised when he saw all the enemy combatants were down in the room.
He sighed, then chastised himself for not paying proper attention. Apparently, Tess was more distracting than he thought. Though not in a bad way.
So with a small smile on his face, he started to report and start detaining the enemies on the ground.
"This is Armsmaster. Room B7 is clear. 7 enemy combatants, alive but down."
"Copy that, Armsmaster." came the answer from the HQ. "Please proceed to D zone. Bravo Team requires backup."
"Understood," he answered instantly and started heading for the mentioned place. "What about the others?"
"Too narrow for them to take care of the enemy without causing structural damage or harming ours. They are evacuating evidence and guarding it."
"Roger."
He arrived to see one of the agents down with a wound received from a laser slightly bleeding. He said nothing, just kneeled next to the man, took out the medi-gel spray he created from his tool belt, and sprayed the wound with it.
He was happy to see the foam immediately start to swell up on the wound, and the man was already in less pain. He nodded to him, stood up, and walked purposefully towards the action.
By the time he arrived, only a few mercenaries were firing upon the PRT troopers in the cover.
Without breaking his stride, he spoke to his allies. "Captain, cover me." And with that, he sped up, heading directly for the mercenary.
The man had only a second to realize what was happening before the agents began to rain hell down of them, and he was face-to-face with Colin.
Colin used his halberd to hit the man in the stomach, and then continuing the movement, he used his weapon to disarm the man (thankfully he managed to avoid taking his hand off because PR always nagged him about it), and while the mercenary processed this he dropped a ConFoam grenade and immediately headed for the next one.
The man was no fool, so he immediately (properly from cover) shot at him, and he could somehow feel the lasers impacting his armor, exactly at the center of his body. He had to give them credit; they were properly trained. Sadly, his armor was enhanced with a material that he and Tess developed, and was resistant to this paltry amount of firepower.
According to their calculations, it even could stand up to Purity's beams for a little while.
So he simply ignored the shots and simply threw a grenade at the man, then tasered the other one with his halberd.
Fighting these people was so much a waste of his time…
Date
2011 February 11th - Friday - Earth Bet Time
He listened to the sound of fighting despondently and sighed to himself.
There was nowhere to run, and he had no more cards to play.
So he sat in his office in his cleanest suit and waiting for the PRT and Protectorate to reach him. Because while he may be going down, he still had his dignity.
As he listened, the sounds quieted down, and he was left alone with his thoughts. He contemplated setting up a bomb for when people breached the door, but in the end, his need to live won.
If he got captured, there was some chance to get free. He had, after all, made sure to make preparations for it just in case.
He took a deep breath and walked from his sofa to behind his desk and took a seat.
The door shook a little when somebody attempted to force it to open, but it was one of the most reinforced doors in the facility.
There was some yelling, a brief silence, then the motor of the door woke up and began to open the door.
Oh, yeah. Dragon, he almost forgot that bitch.
In strode Armsmaster, holding himself arrogantly, flanked with agents pointing their weapons in his direction.
"Coil, you are under arrest for…" he began to recite, but he ignored him. He ignored as more people rushed in to handcuff him and he even ignored it when they frog-marched him to a waiting reinforced truck.
He lost this battle, but the war was not over. And he was prepared to win. And he still had his dead man's switches that he sat up independently of his base. He couldn't help but look forward to the faces the people would make.
And of course, he was looking forward to avenging himself on Dragon and Serenity. Nobody fucked him over and got away with it.
Date
2011 February 11th - Friday - Earth Bet Time
Lisa took another look at the screens in front of her, then typed down the data she got from her powers. Thankfully, her power, when not directed at Dragon, was working properly. It even seemed to hurt less to overuse it.
She didn't really like being strong-armed again, this time to work for the Guild, but at least their medical was better and there was less chance of her boss shooting her. And the offer of going free if she manages to keep her nose out of trouble for a while.
And she got properly paid, though she had to pay taxes, so that was a bummer. But Dragon told her that as a consolation prize, she would launder some of Coil's money to make it available to her when she would go free. Same for her friends.
At least she was sure she could trust Dragon's promises more than Coil's.
Currently, she was using her power to help the assault on Coil's base, providing extra information for the troops and making sure nobody triggered something they shouldn't have.
Alec was whisked away by Dragon to somewhere after a brief conversation with her, and Brian and his sister after a long conversation. According to Dragon, they would be settled somewhere and looked after as long as Brian joined the Protectorate.
Rachel was a harder nut to crack, but in the end, Lisa managed to convince the feral girl to listen to Dragon. From what she heard, the Guild would take her in and set her up with a dog shelter and mandatory therapy.
She weaseled out a promise from Dragon that she would allow her to keep in contact with the others because while they were put together as a team by Coil, she still somewhat cared for them and wanted to make sure they were alright. And that Dragon was keeping to her promise because she was nobody's fool.
Breaking out of her reminiscing, she glanced at a screen and sent a brief message to the team. No need to trip that hidden detonator…
Date
2011 February 11th - Friday - Earth Bet Time
Vicky zipped up her overnight bag, then picked it up and went to check on Amy.
She opened the door to her sister's room and watched as Amy finished packing.
Amy, without looking up, spoke up. "Carol still mad?"
"Yup!"
Amy just sighed, and as Vicky turned around, she followed her downstairs.
They were met by Carol in the foyer, who while not scowling was sporting a rather severe expression.
"Vicky, make sure Amy doesn't do something weird with her new powers!"
"Really, mom?" she asked exasperatedly. They went over the same argument when they asked permission to visit Taylor.
"Yes! Nobody knows much about second triggers, so who knows what effects it had on Amy!" replied her mother with both of her hands on her hips.
"But the PRT cleared her!" she rebuked her, slightly hovering, and getting angry.
"Hmm, I don't trust them!" answered her mother dismissively. "It's not like they know so much about this… So make sure to pay attention to Amy."
"I'm here, you know," said Amy, but she was ignored by both of them.
"Amy won't do anything with her new powers, I'm sure."
Carol just snorted. "I don't want to hear complaints about suddenly appearing forests or something similar."
"I'm still here."
"Why would she do that?"
"I don't know, it's new, so I don't know how much control she has over it!" replied Carol with a raised voice.
"You know what? I'm going to go wait outside for you, Vicky," said Amy, then left the house, while her sister and adoptive mother continued to argue ever louder.
Amy watched as Vicky stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her while leaning against the fence.
"Still the same song and dance?
Vicky took a second to calm down, took some calming breaths, and gave her a shaky smile.
"Yeah." Then she shook her head. "I still don't know what's her problem…"
Amy just shrugged. "I'm used to it."
"But you shouldn't have to be! You are family and it's horrible she is treating you like that!" rebuked Vicky.
Amy felt warmth spread inside her at the knowledge that Vicky was on her side, and she couldn't help but give her a thankful smile.
"Now, come on Ames, Taylor is waiting!" said Vicky, then with incredible speed picked Amy up by her armpits.
As Amy dangled high in the air carried by her sister, she vowed to figure out a way to fly somehow with her new powers because this was just way not cool.
They arrived at the Hebert home a few minutes later, at the same time as an older man opened the door.
He looked at them in surprise for a moment, then gave them a welcoming smile before turning his head back to the house. "Taylor, your friends are here!"
He then turned back to them. "Hello ladies, and welcome to our house, and have fun!"
Vicky, as the ever-friendly girl immediately replied to the man. "Hey, Mr. Hebert! Thanks, we will! But where are you going?"
Amy simply nodded at the man.
"I organized a poker night with some friends, so you guys could spend the night without adults. I know how teenagers are," he replied with a cheeky smile.
"Then have fun, Mr. Hebert!" said Vicky with a beaming smile.
"Thank you!" before he walked to his car, he yelled back a goodbye to his daughter, and as the sisters walked into the house, they could hear the car start and then drive away.
Taylor met them at the door, wearing comfortable clothing and a supernaturally perfect hairdo.
Amy wondered how many people noticed that because to her it seemed so obvious.
"Hey, thanks for coming!" said Taylor while smiling at them and closing the door behind them.
"Hey there, Magnet Girl!" exclaimed Vicky with the biggest possible smile on her face.
Amy just facepalmed.
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