Chương 2742: 3.1
I didn't like lying to dad, even half truths weren't desirable. I wanted to tell him everything, tell him that I was a Cape, that I was a Hero, that I could be an official Ward. I wanted him to know everything so that he could be proud of me, the only thing that held me back was that I was afraid that he'd be worried, that any mention of me fighting would have me locked away safely in my room.
Which in hindsight was why I was trying to get stronger, so that he wouldn't have to worry about me. It was slow progress but it was still progress.
Then Tattletale showed up and prodded me. The idea that the Undersiders knowing where I lived, knowing where dad was made me afraid again. Afraid that they would hurt him or take him away from me. If I told dad that a bunch of villains knew where we lived we could move away, hide and be safe.
But I knew that wouldn't work.
Dad was a proud man, the Dock Workers Association should've been dismantled by now. A combination of not just gang pressure but lack of economy in the area pounding away at it's survival. Yet dad was too stubborn to let it die like that, he always persevered. I was afraid that if I told him about the Undersiders that he wouldn't care, that he'd stay and inevitably get hurt by opposing them directly. I could already imagine him facing down one of the giant dogs with just a bat trying to protect me, he would be torn apart.
Even if I could convince him to leave where would we go?
We didn't have enough money to move and doing so would probably bankrupt us.
There had to be another option.
The Undersiders were bad guys but they showed me their faces, I could turn things around on them if I had to. I didn't know their names but I could find out… somehow.
They did assure me that they wouldn't blackmail me, that they would leave dad alone since they were just thieves but I'd be a stupid hero if I believed the words of a villain.
Maybe if I just avoided them they would leave dad alone.
It was a terrible plan I knew, it depended on me never running into them again, to let them go free if I ever saw them committing a crime, it depended on their good will.
I needed to put them all away, if they were in jail then they wouldn't be able to do any damage. Even that plan was flawed, they could still escape for example, everything about their powers excelled in that sort of thing. If only one of them got away then they could carry out their revenge on dad no matter how many other members were arrested.
During my talk with dad my speech skill increased, enough so that I could look to the stars again.
I finally noticed that lying was what made my speech skill increase and me stronger with it. I grinned bitterly at the fact that I could literally be powered with lies.
While I still felt Elated from my power it was tinged with more guilt.
I had to get stronger.
I looked to the stars and I found a shard that let me hit harder with one handed weapons and another then let me hit harder with two handed weapons.
The arbitrary nature of my powers never fazed me anymore. That said I decided that it was too specific. I needed an overall power boost, smithing was the answer.
If I wasn't wrong then it would be a boost to not just my offensive power but also my defensive abilities as well.
Now that I had the funds, provided by the Undersiders themselves I could make armor to protect myself and weapons to fight with. So I picked the appropriate shard that would increase my smithing power hoping that it was the right choice.
There was another route I could take. I didn't have to convince dad to leave Brockton Bay, I didn't need to take out all the Undersiders in one shot either.
I could go to the real Heroes.
They would protect their own, if the Undersiders went after dad they wouldn't just have me getting mad at them, they'd have every other Hero backing me up to take them down! It was the kind of deterrent that would turn off any Villain.
With other Heroes helping to protect me I could convince dad that I was safe. I wanted to get stronger to prove myself and now that I had the money and skills I had no excuse.
First things first, I had to lay low. While I didn't trust the Undersiders I trusted that they wouldn't move against me if I didn't piss them off.
Next I had to get an anvil and a bunch of leather strips. With the amount of cash I had it shouldn't be too difficult. Hopefully scrap metal could be turned into iron bars. If not I could always order some online and plenty of arts and craft stores sold leather of all kinds.
Worst case scenario I could use my anvil to make leather armor.
An anvil to make leather armor. I was not surprised.
I'd have to lay low to reduce the chances of running into the Undersiders though, I couldn't sneak out at night to fight crime yet but I could go out to a hardware store to buy an anvil. I could hide it in my Inventory to ensure no odd questions would be asked as well.
I began to wonder if I could hide an entire workshop in my bag?
I had to test this.
I looked over to my bed, one of the larger things in my room and grabbed it concentrating on my power to envelop it. I frowned as nothing happened. Maybe because it was larger than what I usually stored away?
I concentrated harder, grunting as I put more effort into pulling at my bed frame, leaning backwards with my feet now under the bed itself.
Then something budged.
At first I grinned at the progress, then I realised it wasn't my power that moved, it was my bed as it suddenly scraped along the floor gaining momentum forcing me to lose my footing and fall on my back with a squawk.
I got back up of course and pushed the bed back into it's original position.
So operation workshop in a bag was a no go.
"Taylor? Are you okay?" Dad asked, no doubt worried about my fall.
"I'm fine, just getting ready for bed!" It was kinda true and so I went to sleep.
The next day I got up early as usual to make breakfast. Extra sweet rolls for both dad and myself. After yesterday I figured I deserved it, I'd take some to school to make it bearable.
Heading off I found that I was in a better mood than what I was yesterday. While the threat of the Undersiders still plagued me I had a plan in mind to deal with them or at least protect dad against them.
The rest of the school day was normal for me.
My Veil improved a bit but I held it back not wanting to have people mistake me for a Stranger Cape by using it too much. As usual there were more insults, bullying and overall abuse. None of it really affected me today.
I wasn't sure if it was because I was getting used to it or if it was because they weren't being as intense as usual. One of the more noticeable events of the day was when an errant football knocked a sweet roll out of my hand. I almost unmasked myself there trying to snatch it away into my Inventory before stopping myself. The following laughter didn't make it any better.
Farewell sweet roll, your sacrifice will be remembered.
Emma, Madison and Sophia used the same recycled routine against me and while I told myself I no longer cared it was still difficult to hold myself back from crying or violence.
Maybe both.
Another side effect of becoming a Ward I realized would that I'd be able to change schools and go to Arcadia. That would show them, for all their popularity they would still be stuck in the shithole that was Winslow.
That at least made me feel better about my earlier plan.
Eventually school ended and I was free to go. Dad wouldn't be home for awhile and if I was out a bit late I was sure he wouldn't mind. I'd just tell him that I was at the library if he asked.
Which now that I thought about it was a very tempting thing to do. All those books, all those pages of power just waiting for me to tap into.
I realised I was giggling to myself, I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
I could go mad with power later.
For now I had to get to the hardware stores. Some of them wouldn't close until much later tonight but I wanted to at least get home before dad did. Another thought however stopped me. Buying an Anvil would be very suspicious, especially if I pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills.
"Hey that Taylor girl just got an Anvil!" Someone would say one day. Next week they would see Vim in action!
"Hey that Vim girl has armor! Armor that looks like it was made with an anvil, an anvil that they sell at hardware stores, like the hardware store that Taylor went inside to buy an Anvil! TAYLOR IS VIM!" They would announce.
Ridiculous.
Still, I wanted to avoid the suspicion. The question was how? I could get it delivered but that would risk dad finding the package before I could hide it and the employees would know that I got it. I could use my power and creep in under my Veil, grab the anvil and pay for it invisibly.
Wait, powers, I was a hero. I slammed my head against a conveniently placed tree.
I could just go in with my costume and buy the anvil! I absently grabbed a mushroom growing at the base of said tree.
"Hey that Vim girl just got an Anvil!" Someone would say one day. Next week they would see Vim in action!
"Hey that Vim girl has armor! Armor that looks like it was made with an anvil, an anvil that they sell at hardware stores, like the hardware store that Vim went inside to buy an Anvil! I HAVE NO IDEA WHO VIM'S SECRET IDENTITY IS!" They would announce.
I grinned, my plan was practically foolproof. Walking into a alleyway I used my Inventory to turn myself from boring old Taylor into awesome Vim in a blink of an eye. As I walked to the hardware store I looked down at myself.
"Damn, I love my powers." I whispered.
Entering I approached one of the staff members which I identified by their bright orange safety vest uniforms.
"Hey, excuse me." I told them getting their attention. The young guy, his name tag said 'Josh' backed away from me, surprised by my sudden appearance. "Can you show me where the anvils are?"
He slowly nodded before pointing at an aisle. He was clearly nervous and for a moment I hadn't realized why. While making my way over to the anvil I once again slammed my head against another solid object. It was a conveniently placed shelf this time.
I turned back to the fleeing form of Josh.
"I'M NOT A BAD GUY I SWEAR!" The black clothes didn't really scream hero. Only a few Capes could pull it off and still look heroic.
Shadow Stalker and Alexandria for example were cool.
Shaking my head I found the box I was looking for and approached the register, this one was manned by a short girl named 'Stacy'.
"Hello Miss, welcome to Hammer Barn for all your hardware needs, how can I help you nail your next project?" While I was glad that I didn't intimidate her, another part of me took offense to her calm tone and corny line.
"I uh, just want to buy this." I placed the anvil on the table which she dutifully scanned. Paying for my purchase I also took a receipt just in case anyone in law enforcement stopped me. I didn't want an officer to arrest me because they thought I was stealing an anvil.
Now that I thought about it I could just put it in my inventory. Shrugging the box disappeared revealing my Parahuman nature to the crowd.
As I left I began to wonder on the nature of my weapons. I could get a sword but that was on the lethal side of things. A mace wouldn't be much better with my strength considering what a normal baseball bat had done last time. I supposed I could stick to punching people.
As for ranged options?
I flexed my hand as flames engulfed it, I frowned, probably still lethal. A few gasps and nervous looks in the crowd alerted me that I was in a public area. Feeling sheepish I put away my power as if it was just another item that I could hold.
"Sorry." I whispered before running off in embarrassment. I really had to focus more, my mind kept running off onto different tangents.
I could get a crossbow I supposed. Do something like Shadow Stalker.
Maybe a bow, I found that my smithing allowed me to make arrows but not the actual bow itself, at least not with my level with power.
Having arbitrary powers was annoying.
I still had quite a lot of money left over, I could probably buy some leather strips from the arts and crafts store and then after that maybe I could buy a bow from the sporting goods place, that is if they were all still open.
I checked the time. About four in the afternoon, if what I remembered of closing times was correct I still had an hour to spare. With that I continued my super powered shopping spree sponsored by the Undersiders, a bit ironic I suppose.
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