Hebert Disassembly Services Chapter 17: The First Day

<<<Designation: T/Taylor Hebert/Absolute>>>

One of the things Taylor had come to cherish most was having dinner with her Dad like they used to. Though lately they had Cyn joining, but not bringing her usual antics with her. It was a pleasant dinner where they all talked about their day. 

Taylor cooked mainly, and while she mostly stuck with her Mom’s recipes, she eventually branched out to other things, having nanofabs she could easily create any missing kitchen utensil. Though she never tried to tweak her Mom’s recipes.

They were perfect in her mind, and she wouldn’t ruin the nostalgia just for the sake of experimentation.

“So, how was your first day with the Wards in New York?” Her Dad asked curiously.

“Well…” Taylor started.

{{{Flashback}}}

After being introduced to the team, Taylor decided to familiarize herself with the ‘Villain Gallery’ of New York, as well as asking Jouster to introduce her to procedures, as compared to the Bay, Wards ENE and NYC were probably night and day procedure-wise.

Which in turn led to her answering questions about the Bay. Was it really as bad as they say online? Did the Wards there really have to fight? And so on, it also made Taylor realize that her experiences so far weren’t the norm; they were the exception.

Keeping one metaphorical eye on the procedure book, the other looked at Jouster thoughtfully, “All those are true,” She admitted, “Vista had to fight off Hookwolf.” Though she didn’t share that Missy wore the scar she got from it as a mark of pride.

“Man, that sounds insane,” Taylor just nodded, “I’m just kinda surprised that the Protectorate hasn’t done anything,” He admitted.

Taylor just nodded, “The fact is, there just aren’t enough Heroes.” She said, “And while PRT agents are trained to handle parahuman encounters, when you have an escalating Rage Dragon, there’s only so much a regular human can factually do.”

“One that beat the entire Protectorate there, when they had more members than they have now,” Flechette noted, flipping through files, “It gives uncomfortable reminders of the Boston situation, where the Protectorate relies on the villains to keep other villains in check.”

Taylor nodded, having looked over the briefing of Lung’s encounter… and tried to avoid staring at Flechette too much.

Jouster shook his head. "Ridiculous,” He said, “Hey Hornet, look at this nonsense. A damn horde of nazis.”

Hornet, as it turned out, was a black Jewish woman. She made very tasty honey cookies. Taylor very pointedly didn’t ask where the honey had come from…

“Are you fucking serious!?” Hornet exclaimed, “And don’t you ‘language’ me! Goddamn Nazis in America! God, World War 2 vets have to be rolling in their graves.”

“I Offered To. Deal With Them. But Piggot Said. No. Annoyed Expression.” Cyn said as she lay sprawled out on the floor, “Killing Slash Traumatizing. Nazis Should Be A Passtime. Annoyed Grumble.”

“Could be worse,” Shelter started, leaning over the table, “They’ve decided to concentrate their stupid all in one place and once robo satan over there kills an Endbringer… well, pretty sure no one will complain about the hammer being brought down on them.”

“Robo Satan. I. Have Not Heard That. In A Long Time. Playback. Uzi_Not This Time.MP3.” Cyn said nostalgically as a video played in her visor of Uzi using the Solver accidentally in Doll’s bathroom.

“... Hey Cyn,” Taylor started, “Why can I go out in sunlight where the others can’t?”

“Uzi Is Administrator And Patched. It Out. Because She. Has No Taste In Dramatics.” Cyn answered, “Granted I Could. Override Her Authority. Easily. But Decided. Not To.”

“Well, I’ll send her some thanks,” Taylor replied, “Cause if she hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be able to fight any Endbringer ever.”

“Giggles. But I Enjoyed The Dramatic Symbolism.” Cyn said with a pout.

The NYC Wards just listened and stared.

[hr][/hr]

Then came the time for training and experimentation. Training for the other Wards, it had to be said. Taylor herself had the entire uploaded combat data of every Murder Drone Cyn had ever made alongside Doll’s.

That said, Taylor joined only because she didn’t want to alienate herself from them. Accidentally sending a message that she was better than them, even if it was factually true from a physical standpoint, would be bad. And experience-wise, well, Brockton Bay didn’t count due to just how different it was from every other Ward’s experience.

Though learning how other Ward branches trained would provide interesting data for her to go over and compare. Possibly leading her to better streamlining the ENE Ward Training when she was finally let off the leash, and she deals with the gangs once and for all.

Prideful? Perhaps, but it wasn’t arrogance if she could back it up. She was literally a walking, talking WMD on an existential scale. What was a Rage Dragon in the face of the Void?

Still, the team was broken up into two groups. She and Flechette, since they worked with the team the least, would be on the ‘attacking’ side while Shelter, Hornet, and Jouster were on defence. Logically, it made sense, two of the three needed training in how to protect against attackers while she and Flechette ‘needed’ training on how to assault a fortified position.

Since the position was being fortified by a tinker, they had some time to talk before going in.

“Want to test that sword thing now or later?” Flechette asked, legs crossed as she sat on the table and seriously showing off her figure.

“... Why am I like this?” Taylor asked herself internally, “Am I just into girls who can just kill me?”

“Sure,” Taylor said out loud as she swapped her hand with a blade, “So you just have to touch me?” She asked, barely managing to keep her voice from quivering.

Mechanical control for the win!

“Yep,” She replied, reaching over and touching her… hand sword and making her sensors go completely insane. “Well… it works. Try moving your arm? And hope it doesn’t cut through yourself, I guess?”

It, thankfully, didn’t, but the sword also felt completely and totally weightless and without inertia, which was its own weird… thing.

“Cyn! Stop singing Can You Feel The Love Tonight!?” Taylor demanded to the echoing giggles, “Okay. Well, here goes! We’ll test the gun and beam emitter another time,” She added before she ran to the fortification and slashed through it.

Honestly, she had to playback her strike because for a second she thought she missed entirely, and wouldn’t that have been embarrassing.

But she hadn’t; the sword was just that good at going through solid metal and concrete thanks to her power. It didn’t last much longer than the single slice, but the effects were obvious: a perfectly smooth cut on the atomic level.

“Holy shit…” Training exercise momentarily forgotten, she just looked at the smooth cut, “I swear I thought I missed at first… your power is something else…”

“If it runs out while going through something else,” Flecette started, “It fuses perfectly in. I have to be very careful to only inject sedatives or pin people to walls without killing them. Thankfully, my power comes with that too.”

Taylor nodded her head as her core heated up, “Oh god, I have a crush…” She realized, “And I wouldn’t mind getting pinned by her…”

Cyn laughed, hard, into her head.

“Wanna deal with the rest of the wall for me?” Flechette asked, “I can shoot through it, but I don’t want to actually kill anyone. The rule we usually go with is that anytime I hit someone in my usual range it’s a ‘kill’, so I don’t need to actually use my power. Or sharpened bolts.” The cape held up her crossbow for emphasis.

“Uh, yeah sure…” She wasn’t sure what led her to asking what she’d ask but she blamed Cyn, “You wanna get… like some lunch or something after training?”

[Oh My Solver.]
[I Did Not Expect This.]
[Joking Aside. I Am. Proud Of You.]
[Proud Smile.]

“Oh, uh, sure,” Flechette started, “Hey, do your wings count as a weapon too? Might be able to use that to clear the whole wall at once for us.”

Her wings sprouted, and she looked at them, “Well, Cyn tells me they can become razor sharp so why not?” She was doing this just out of curiosity, and not because she wanted Flechette to play with her wings!

Taylor discovered two things immediately.

The first was that Flechette’s power worked on her wings, which was very good. The second was that her wings were ticklish, which was… a surprise.

She was very glad she could control her first reflex, at least, Flechette wouldn’t have appreciated being smacked in the face with them even if she was immune to her own power.

The wall, however, wasn’t immune and was swept away in a single motion.

All in all, the training proved to be rather enlightening, and amusing when the Team Jokester just called Taylor an absolute natural at assault.

[hr][/hr]

She didn’t know if it was a simple change or if someone arranged it, but Taylor (now Absolute) and Flechette were out patrolling. Absolute flew slowly while Flechette parkoured and used a grappling shot from her weapon, combined with her power to cross when buildings sizes were simply too much or they were too far apart.

Honestly, Absolute considered joining her. She could parkour just as well, but flying… it’d always been a dream for her. She always wanted to fly, and now that she could, she wasn’t sure if she could bring herself to not fly if she had an excuse.

“It always this quiet?” Taylor asked, wings as silent as an owl’s. “Not hearing many gunshots.”

“Yeah, between having Legend living here and most villains being more white collar, there aren't many shootouts,” Her crush said, “Not to say it doesn’t happen, sometimes tempers flare and egos get bruised and a villain will have to do something to show they’re still the boss. Honestly, it’s kind of boring. Most of the trouble I deal with is from March.”

“Who?” Absolute asked, “They’re the… person that triggered alongside you, aren’t they?”

“Yep.” Fletchette confirmed, only slightly uncomfortable, “I won’t go into details, but… yeah. She’s obsessed with me. PRT calls it the Kiss/Kill mechanic. Says it’s pretty common in group triggers.”

“The only person kissing you is me-” Absolute had to strangle the rest of the sentence in the crib, but it was far too late to save her embarrassment, “Uh… can we forget I said that?”

Flechette just snorted, no doubt thinking she was joking (and she wasn’t). “Sure, but yeah, people with a Kiss/Kill mechanic either want to kill or well kiss the other. And honestly, I’m not sure what March’s deal with me even is.”

“Note to self, find March, shove them into the deepest prison cell possible,” She thought to herself… “Wait, I am being fucking retarded.”

“Flechette,” She started aloud, “I have a very large crush on you. You are extremely pretty and it has caused me to act very, painfully, incredibly stupid. Or at least feel like I have been.”

Her fellow cape stumbled in surprise. “I… Alright, first I want to say that feels very good on the ego,” She started, “Second… maybe when we get to know each other a bit more, I’ll take you up on that kiss offer.”

Absolute just scratched her head awkwardly. “I can live with that,” She said, feeling rather happy with herself, “Uh, just wondering… but what exactly does March’s costume look like?”

“White rabbit mask, Napoleonic officer’s uniform,” She replied, “Why?”

“... She wouldn’t happen to have a rapier as well, would she?” Absolute asked, “Because someone fitting that description is on the roof of that apartment building and she’s glaring at me.”

“Fuck,” Flechette started, turning and firing a bolt at the girl; something she dodged with ease. “Stay back from her; her weapon has the same effect my power does.”

“Huh, that’s interesting…” Absolute said, “But uh… I can just try?” She added curiously as her hands swapped out with a pair of swords.

“What are you thinking?” Flechette asked, leaping to another building.

“I’m curious to see if her power is exactly like yours, and worst comes to worst, I’ll just regenerate and be hungrier than normal,” Absolute said, which was something.

Seeing as since she transformed she seemed to be constantly hungry…

[That Is Due To Being A Solver Drone.]

“Don’t kill her,” Flechette started, “You’d get in a lot of-Move!” She jumped again as the ground beneath Absolute exploded, exotic energies tearing at her form.

“Wasn’t even consider-” Absolute disappeared in a cloud of dust as the energies retreated, “That… tingled…” Another detonation cut off her words once more.

There was a flash of caustic yellow in the dust cloud only for Absolute to appear behind March, “That was rude, you know,” Absolute said, like the villain hadn’t tried to maim her, “And I was just saying I wouldn’t kill you.”

“Truthfully, I wanted to see if you were as tough as the video and praises of you implied!” March replied, turning towards her, “If I were trying to kill you, I’d have done something very different!”

Absolute just nodded. “Fair enough,” She said, “And personally? I don’t think you could.”

“Is that a challenge!?” She then asked, reaching for her rapier.

“A statement of fact,” Absolute said, “But I admit I’ve been wanting to test my ability to recover, the PRT gets squeamish about the oddest things, really.”

“Then we can test here and now, no?” March asked, a beaming smile audible as she drew her blade.

“If you wouldn’t mind, honestly, I was considering picking a fight with Hookwolf or Lung to find out,” She said as she held her own arms out, “How about we start small and work our way up?”

“Which hand is your dominant?” March asked, “Might as well be fair about this!”

“Yes,” Absolute said with a chuckle.

“Ah, lovely!” She replied, swinging once; her blade easily passing through Absolute’s left arm and sending a lance of pain through her. “A bit bloodier than I expected, I’ll admit!” She said, leaning back to dodge another bolt from Flechette. “Not now, I’ll get to you in a bit, dear!”

Her eyes blinked as she looked at her severed arm, blackish-red spurting from it like a hose, “Huh… tis but a flesh wound!” She retorted as she swung her other sword hand, which March caught on her own blade.

“Monty Python fan?” March asked with a smile.

“My other half loves the movies,” Absolute said, “That and Princess Bride.”

Then March sliced through Absolute’s blade and raised hers to her neck, “You said something about my being unable to kill you?”

Absolute just smiled, “To quote my other half?” She glitched and disappeared, “Jumpscare.” As she felt two talons grasp her shoulders, the blades barely biting into her skin but easily shredded through whatever protection her costume offered.

“Do you know how expensive that was!?” She asked, outraged, “Very! Truly, I thought we were having a pleasant conversation, and this is how I’m treated!?”

“Ah, sorry. I’m still getting used to how sharp these things are,” Absolute said, “Let me just…” A glyph appeared in her visor, and March started as the damage reversed itself, “Better?”

“Much!” She replied, “Now, please let me down, for I have done nothing to you you didn’t ask for! Post action or otherwise!”

“Please don’t?” Flechette requested, “She is a villain. And a psychopath.”

 
“... Does she turn into a murderblender and run through crowds of people while chasing people that piss her off?” Absolute asked.

“No, but she does stalk me, blow people up, and has a very casual attitude towards murder,” Flechette replied, “And tries to be ‘theatrical’ about it.”

“Hey!” March started, “I resemble that remark!”

“... I feel so out of my depth…” Absolute said, “I think Brockton Bay has left me jaded regarding villains…”

“Really, I was just wanting to help dear Absolute discover the limits of her durability and regeneration, I should be pai-” Flechette interrupted her, jabbing her with a tranquilizer bolt. “Rude,” March managed to get out before unconsciousness took her.

Absolute just held her limply, “... So, want to take her in and get something to eat?” She asked, “I’m… I think I’m done for today. I thought being from the Bay would inure me against weird shit…”

“Let's,” Flechette replied, snorting, “You want to call in that we captured March?”

Absolute nodded, “Already have…”