Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

[TanaNari]

*Headdesk* Well, on the plus side I just wrote half a chapter. On the minus side, it's a half chapter that I'm not sure I'm going to use today or tomorrow and I have to write a different (at least partial) chapter before I know for certain. So... yeah... this one's going to be late, if at all today.

 

[Snake/Eater]

*Headdesk* Well, on the plus side I just wrote half a chapter. On the minus side, it's a half chapter that I'm not sure I'm going to use today or tomorrow and I have to write a different (at least partial) chapter before I know for certain. So... yeah... this one's going to be late, if at all today.

Click to shrink...

you can take a break to relax and get a clearer prospective of your chapter.there is that option.

 

[powerofvoid]

your thinking too small,Panacea needs to build a orbital elevator

Click to shrink...

I haz made a thread: http://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/panacea-engineering-worm.1191/

 

[TanaNari]

you can take a break to relax and get a clearer prospective of your chapter.there is that option.

Click to shrink...

That's not the problem. Problem is I have two chapters that cross through each other as far as timelines go. Perspective/Etc. And I need to get a good look at both of them before I decide how they work together.

 

[dasstan]

That's not the problem. Problem is I have two chapters that cross through each other as far as timelines go. Perspective/Etc. And I need to get a good look at both of them before I decide how they work together.

Click to shrink...

Curses! I don't know how we're going to cope with the delay while you write the next chapter.

But, yeah. The fact that you do twice daily updates on the fic really makes a slight delay basically immaterial. You do you, boo.

 

[Daunmi]

So... yeah... this one's going to be late, if at all today.

Click to shrink...

A/N- The next chapter is partially written. And it makes me giggle.

Click to shrink...

Jinxed yourself, didn't you.

The US congress will not allow a foreign nation to legally annex any land on Protectorate soil

Click to shrink...

I'm going to assume that if the Protectorate tried to claim any soil as its own, the US government would have something to say about that as well

 

[Slayer Anderson]

That's not the problem. Problem is I have two chapters that cross through each other as far as timelines go. Perspective/Etc. And I need to get a good look at both of them before I decide how they work together.

Click to shrink...

Obligatory:

 

[edale]

The Empire State Building is nothing compared to building even a single mile of underground plumbing systems. Plus the sewers.

Click to shrink...

Erm... plumbing and sewers.... Didn't Yggdrasil already do that for BB as well as a few other cities?

"Yeah, that sounds about right," I admitted. "Things do sorta take a different context when we're talking the end of not just this world, but millions of others. Trillions of people." I squeezed my eyes shut, letting the little bit of tears I still had left out. "I don't want to be that person, Taylor. I don't want to be someone who can kill millions to save billions. I get that we can't save everyone, I get that we'll have to make choices to save some people instead of others. I don't like that, but I can blame it on the monsters we're fighting. But... what we did to Brockton Bay crossed the line. It wasn't necessary. It was us proving a point."

Click to shrink...

I suddenly am seriously wishing for a Fate/Stay Night / Worm crossover. Not a "Taylor triggers with UBW" fic, but a straight-up post-UBW route Emiya Shiro transported to Earth-Aleph fic. And then he meets up with and joins Cauldron. Cauldron knows he's not a parahuman, but everyone else thinks he is.

Either Zelretch-did-it, or Cauldron grabs Shiro while collecting specimens for their formula testing. Personally, I like the idea of Cauldron grabbing Shiro when he's injured after one of his battles, then before they give him the formula, he heals enough (thanks to Avalon) to fight back, even helping some of the other grabbed people escape, before being subdued...Which is when Cauldron has a talk with Shiro, and Shiro finds out about Scion, and the danger he represents. (Type-Entity? heh)

Then after Shiro agrees to work with Cauldron, he starts his new work...in Brockton Bay... and oh look, some young bug controlling cape's about to get killed by an enflamed Dragon!

Cauldron's already proven it can keep it's darkest side hidden from even the people higher-up in their organization (read: Legend)...though Shiro WOULD find out eventually. His stance on saving people, and his Understanding of just what that means would really come into play here.

As a side-note, Taylor triggers with UBW could easily work as a Miss Militia bud. Tracing for initial trigger, then fully manifesting UBW after a second trigger.

So... Any takers for an author? Heh.

for this chapter i'm posting Sigur Rós's "Number 1 aka Vaka"it's music video won a mtv award,it matches the mood of this chapter...... god i'm evil.warning you might trigger with super powers....

Spoiler

Click to shrink...

Firstly, Congratulations... You've finally posted a song that actually fits the chapter.

Secondly, You've slipped up past day or two on spoiler-tagging the vids. Please resume doing so. Thanks.

 

[TanaNari]

Erm... plumbing and sewers.... Didn't Yggdrasil already do that for BB as well as a few other cities?

Click to shrink...

Nope.

It patched the damage to a single city's sewer mains. It didn't handle the smaller pipes. And it sure as hell didn't do the water supply plumbing at all. Except in the tree house. Which supplied water extracted from the sewers. Which was why Lisa wouldn't use the water there.

Also: part of the whole "We're Empresses now!" means not exercising their powers on American soil any more than absolutely needed (re: Class S Threats). The embassy itself being something of an exception because, well, laws are weird when it comes to those. The part where Taylor was no longer monitoring Brockton Bay was kind of a hint in that regard.

 

[Snake/Eater]

Firstly, Congratulations... You've finally posted a song that actually fits the chapter.

Secondly, You've slipped up past day or two on spoiler-tagging the vids. Please resume doing so. Thanks.

Click to shrink...

You can't keep everybody happy,but thanks anyway if you have any thoughts of what songs really should have been used I'm happy to hear it.

 

[TanaNari]

Amelia, Ch 275- Beth


"Anima, need you to go south," Eki radiod in. "Sveta just called in. She wants to help the rescue efforts. Victoria's with her. She has the power to see living things through walls, so she'll be able to speed things up a lot for you."


"Okay," I answered back. I still wasn't sure about how I felt about Crystal as a leader. She was good at caring for us and worrying about how we felt, but she sucked at the whole 'command' part of beng a commander. She could have simply told me to go meet up with Sveta and Victoria, and I'd have accepted it. Instead she had to explain why she was giving the order. Oh well, it's way better than being treated like I'm nothing more than a disposable storm trooper or something. "Hey, GL, we're meeting up with Sveta and Victoria."


"Awesome," the man responded, and the ground shimmered nearby as he concentrated into an area. 'He' might be a misleading concept, though, since the Case 53 didn't have a body of his own. But his personality was definitely on the male side of things. He pulled together a body of iron and dust, creating the armored humanoid form that he tended to use when not infused with the environment.


When we found Sveta, she was carrying another girl in a cobbled together rope harness. Once we got close, I realized the carried girl was missing both her legs and an arm. She seemed conscious, and was talking to Sveta, holding her one good arm around my teammate's neck.


"Lookin' good, blondie," Genius Loci spoke up first. "Did you lose some weight?" Holy shit! What an asshole!


"A few pounds, here or there," the girl responded. This close, I could see her resemblence to Eki. This was clearly Victoria. Well, I guess since the two of them know each other it makes the joke okay. "I did it for you, by the way."


"Really?" he imitated a laugh. "You didn't need to go changing for me. I love you just the way you are."


"I know, but this way you actually stand a chance of lasting more than ten seconds in a fight with me," she retorted.


"Ouch," he muttered. "I don't even have a nervous system and I felt that one."


"I win yet again. Now, let's get to work saving people," Victoria replied cheerfully. "I'm gonna have to let you do the work for another hour or two. Getting hurt in the combat mode is a pain in the ass, so it'll be a while before I'm back on my feet. So to speak." Oh god her sense of humor is as bad as the rest of these idiots. Sveta offered an attempt at a polite laugh, but she didn't think the joke was that funny, either.


"So," Victoria continued as we started walking through the ruins of her home city. "We never got to meet, since you joined up after I had to transfer. Are you enjoying yourself on the team? Is Crystal doing a good job?"


"Uh..." I hesitated a little. "I kinda signed up to keep the Protectorate off my ass. And the Elite. Apparently they don't appreciate that I don't do this whole hero and villain bullshit. I just want to enjoy my life, that's all. Getting into fights all the time isn't something I consider fun."


She shrugged, which was slightly disturbing for her lack of an arm. "Yeah, I know a lot of people like that," she agreed. "Clotho's one of them. How's she doing, by the way? I haven't had a chance to talk to her a lot."


"Pretty good," I replied, carefully climbing a bit of rubble created where the road splintered and folded upward a few feet. I could have used the antigrav in the suit Pantheon provided, but that gave me motion sickness, so I avoided it as much as I could. "She's come along to help with my plays a couple times. Says a lot of good things about you, actually." I tactfuly neglected to mention the times I caught her checking out my rear. Nothing would come of it anyway. Even if she didn't have a girlfriend, I wasn't into girls to begin with.


"That's good," she agreed. "Has everyone been treating Sveta right? Or do I have to smash some faces?"


"You don't have to worry about me," Sveta insisted. "I'm fine. Cr- Eki doesn't make me do anything too scary."


Crystal coddles her like an adopted little sister, I supplied silently. "Sveta's a big help. Not that we really need it. Crystal came up with a scheme. Let a rumor get out that you only left because LA was too boring for you, and you'd be back when there were more criminals. Turns out you're a great crime deterrent."


"Man, I bet Alexandria was pissed when that happened," she laughed. "Told you it'd be fine. Sorry it's boring, but I know you rock the house when you get the chance."


"I kinda like it boring," Sveta replied, sounding a little bashful. I'd have to find out how the two of them knew each other, because their personalities couldn't be any more different.


"Alright, looks like we got some survivors. Six people in there," She pointed at a mini mall a bit over a block away. "One woman has a broken leg, the others are scrapes and bruises, nothing five minutes in a pod won't fix."


"That's good," I replied. That's pretty detailed information at such a range, I noted with surprise.


"Can you summon up a couple unicorns to take them back to the teams?" she asked. Oh god damn it.


"I'll need to include someone who can lead the animals," I sighed. By this point, we'd gotten close to the building. It was in good shape all considered. Just the glass doors had shattered.


"You should probably go in and get them, too," she suggested. "There are a couple kids, and I wouldn't want to make them cry. Maybe after I regrow a limb or two."


"Yeah, I can do that," I agreed. I really hate doing this. A form shimmered, and a dozen knights in beautiful and ornate sky blue colored plate mail appeared, along with a dozen winged horses. All looked more like well drawn cartoons than actual animals or people. Also included were pixies for each of us. This spread was more than we needed right now, but there would be more who needed help in the future, and I really didn't want to have to explain everything more than once.


"You have need of us, our Queen?" one of the knights asked, his voice deep and calm.


"Yes," I answered, feeling my face turn red, and ever so glad my armor hid it. This is humiliating. "There was a disaster, and people are hurt. We're seeking the injured and bringing them to the healers."


"We understand," the knight bowed with a elegance that would have been completely impossible in real armor. "Truly your mercy is legendary." Hate my power. Hate it hate it hate it. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to hide my utter mortification.


"These are my allies," that's as close as I could come to calling someone an equal or a friend that their mental programming could comprehend. Things rarely went well when I tried to get them to respond outside that program. They were never violent, but often humiliating. "You will follow their instructions as if my own during this mission. They..." I cringed internally. "Have powerful magic, trust them to use it."


What I hated most, perhaps, was they never remembered, and could not learn. I had to give this, or a similar, speech every time I used a summon that could be considered intelligent. The animal summons were a bit different. But at least at this range I could give, if not instructions, then at least assumptions, automtically. The shrinks still had a debate as to whether or not my powers were responding to my will telepathically, or simply reading body language on a really subtle level, but either way they took their positions without needing me to give actual commands to each of them. A couple pixies flitted over to Sveta, and another to GL. Those two had dealt with my power enough to know the drill.


One of the knights approached Victoria. "M'lady, you seem to be injured," he started. "I avail my services and my steed if you have need of them. That way your companion need not trouble herself."


"Uh, no, I'm fine," Vicky stuttered a little. Wow, she's actually speechless. "Thanks for the offer, but we really don't need any help. There are others who've been injured, worry about them."


"As you wish, m'lady," the knight nodded, then took up a position beside Sveta. Meanwhile, the pixies that went to those two had decided their project would be to clean Victoria's tangled hair. Unlike the knights, they didn't bother with the whole 'respect personal boundaries' thing.


I left the rest of the group behind while my knight and four of the animals followed me into the mall. The people were easy enough to find. "I'm Anima," I announced. "I'm with Pantheon. We're here to help."


"Is it gone?" one of the men asked.


"The Endbringer? Yes," I informed him. "We... it's dead, now. I'm afraid I don't know all the details, I'm not in charge. I'm part of the search party to find survivors and get them medical attention. Or at least somewhere warm."


One of the children stood there staring at the horse.


"Don't worry, it's safe," I told him. "They're made from my power, you're safe to touch it."


He did so, stroking near its shoulder. "It's cold," he finally spoke.


And the fur's wrong, and the texture's wrong, and everything inside feels like pressing against a gel pack, not a living thing. I'd heard all these things a thousand times, so I didn't say anything. That and they weren't really cold, so much as they had no temperature at all. Perfectly nonconductive unless you hit them with enough power to break them.


"I shall lead you to hospice," my knight volunteered. I tried not to let them see how humiliated I was. I hate my power so much.


================


A/N- Being Anima is humiliation.

And the other chapter's already half done. But I'mma sleep and finish it later.

 

[Coruscant Knave]

PHO has a list of Victoria Facts, stickied in the Pantheon forum. The list is maintained and updated entirely by Victoria. Dragon thinks it is hilarious, and refuses to take it down.

 

[Daunmi]

She should think herself lucky they don't act the way I thought they'd act. But yeah, that kind of sucks for her. Maybe Riley could help?

 

[Peanuckle]

Poor girl probably triggered when her GM "rocks fall"-ed her character.

 

[tordg]

Wow, you really like that idea, don't you?

Click to shrink...

Having read nothing but omake all day, it is really hard to grok this chapter as canon. I'm still taking it as a sign that it is big progress at least until I can sleep on it.

your thinking too small,Panacea needs to build a orbital elevator

Click to shrink...

Just gonna note that I brought this up ages ago.

"I win yet again.

Click to shrink...

Woo, contract fulfilled! Getting Mom to file lawsuits has been getting tedious.

A/N- Being Anima is humiliation.

Click to shrink...

Sad thing is that if it weren't forced on her, I bet she'd find the flowery language to be a fun shtick.

 

[minuseven]

Oh man, that must have been some Gallant flashbacks for Victoria...

 

[edale]

You can't keep everybody happy,but thanks anyway if you have any thoughts of what songs really should have been used I'm happy to hear it.

Click to shrink...

Not for the chapter, but I got your theme song:

Spoiler: Snake/Eater's theme

Spoiler: alternate theme

"I shall lead you to hospice," my knight volunteered.

Click to shrink...

Too bad in modern times a hospice is where you go to die...

 

[Daunmi]

Too bad in modern times a hospice is where you go to die...

Click to shrink...

We don't know that they don't know that.

She's going to start the new S9!

... which, considering who she's working with, might be both the worst idea and shortest career in many years.

 

[dasstan]

Even if she didn't have a girlfriend, I wasn't into girls to begin with.

Click to shrink...

Not as big of an impediment as you might think, Beth.

I wonder if one of the more perceptive team members will key to her embarrassment and suggest a trip down brain machine lane to edit her subconscious. You know, just to make them look like real animals instead of cartoons.

 

[Fouredged]

Not as big of an impediment as you might think, Beth.

I wonder if one of the more perceptive team members will key to her embarrassment and suggest a trip down brain machine lane to edit her subconscious. You know, just to make them look like real animals instead of cartoons.

Click to shrink...

Next endbringer fight.

Beth
Soooo... retooled my subconscious after the last endbringer. I don't do unicorns and knights anymore. They just aren't that effective.

Amalia
Ok, what do you make now?

Beth
Giant robots. Giant robots with planet busting antimater lasers. Let's see how effective they are NOW!

 

[TanaNari]

I wonder if one of the more perceptive team members will key to her embarrassment and suggest a trip down brain machine lane to edit her subconscious. You know, just to make them look like real animals instead of cartoons.

Click to shrink...

Wouldn't work. They'd have to rewrite her Passenger. And if they could do that... there wouldn't be a lot of problems left to solve...

 

[Daunmi]

Beth
Giant robots. Giant robots with planet busting spiral lasers. Let's see how effective they are NOW!

Click to shrink...

FTFY

Wouldn't work. They'd have to rewrite her Passenger. And if they could do that... there wouldn't be a lot of problems left to solve...

Click to shrink...

Riley: "Ok Lily, we're going to need you to grab this and use your power on it and aim really carefully..."
Beth: I don't care if it kills me, totally worth it.

Hmm, Amelia might be capable of jostling the passenger's connection to the host so that it 'updates', though any potential downsides are pretty hard to overcome.

Edit: TanaNari, don't read my posts until I've finished typing them properly! Use your psychic powers to figure out when I'm finished.

 

[The Shadowmind]

With the clone tech, they could make a clone with a slightly altered memory of the trigger event, which would alter how the power is expressed.
But it wouldn't be Beth, but 99% real/ 1% fake memories Beth. And the original would still be walking around as well.
So possible: Yes. Moral: Probably not.
So Pantheon wouldn't do it, but Cauldron totally would.
Does Cauldron have a copy of the cloning tech, and if they do, are they making copies of powerful capes with altered memories then using Slug to wipe their memories?

 

[Snake/Eater]

Hmm, Amelia might be capable of jostling the passenger's connection to the host so that it 'updates', though any potential downsides are pretty hard to overcome.

Click to shrink...

what your describing sounds like a computer patch,this would just proves my earlier post that Pantheon are now Cylons,if they can do that then they're a....bunch of Fraking toasters.

Does Cauldron have a copy of the cloning tech, and if they do, are they making copies of powerful capes with altered memories then using Slug to wipe their memories?

Click to shrink...

If they do.....then they can do every horribly evil idea i ever mentioned,like creating a clone cyborg army of Khepri!Butchers,living lobotomized powered clone armor,human/endbringer hybrids......oh oh god.to quote the 9th Doctor "RUN"

edit.

 

[Daunmi]

what your describing sounds like a computer patch

Click to shrink...

No, what I'm describing sounds like canon.

this just proves my earlier post that Pantheon are now Cylons

Click to shrink...

No it doesn't, and that sounds like a remarkably incorrect post.

Does Cauldron have a copy of the cloning tech

Click to shrink...

I don't believe Pantheon has given it out to anyone at all, other then as an offer of service to those who can benefit from it.

 

[TanaNari]

I don't believe Pantheon has given it out to anyone at all, other then as an offer of service to those who can benefit from it.

Click to shrink...

Dragon has the blueprints, at least.

And Cauldron has Saint. Also Contessa.

 

[dasstan]

Does Cauldron have a copy of the cloning tech, and if they do, are they making copies of powerful capes with altered memories then using Slug to wipe their memories?

Click to shrink...

I don't believe Pantheon has given it out to anyone at all, other then as an offer of service to those who can benefit from it.

Click to shrink...

It could really be argued either way. There was a week long period where they were outside of Taylia's anti-precog shadow, so Contessa totally could have gotten her well manicured paws on it.

edit: I really need to stop being imped by the author. YOU SAID SHE WAS DEAD, TANANARI! Leave Aisha's corpse alone.

 

[Sequal]

Wouldn't work. They'd have to rewrite her Passenger. And if they could do that... there wouldn't be a lot of problems left to solve...

Click to shrink...

I imagine that Riley would suggest a mind transfer into a non-matched clone and see if they could induce a re-trigger for both Science and Happiness, then not understanding the looks of horror the others are giving her.

 

[Snake/Eater]

It could really be argued either way. There was a week long period where they were outside of Taylia's anti-precog shadow, so Contessa totally could have gotten her well manicured paws on it.

Click to shrink...

then their were those times when Amelia or Taylor were dead,they could have blood samples of most of pantheon they can even have copies of the memories,Contessa could have done a path to Butcher and took a sample they missed.if you can think it Cauldron can do it all and bake some cookies while they're at it.

 

[The Shadowmind]

Does Cauldron have a Clone!Bonesaw making Clone!EndSlayers to be ready for when Zion!The Warrior, finally snaps.

Why would Cauldron have a clone of Riley?
When given access to the C!Vials, Riley was about to create a powerful tinker-trump(Emma)
Riley has the knowledge to make hybrid capes like Murder Rat.
PtV can create a list perfect list

So if the Final Battle happens and there are suddenly 100 copies of the more powerful capes suddenly being ported over by Doormaker portals, then the only that that pushes my SOD, is why didn't they use them sooner for the Endbringers.

How would Riley react to the Clone!Bonesaw, since the clone would be closer in morality to Bonesaw than Riley's current mindset, from working with Cauldron.

Are my ideas insane?

What are in the C!Vials that contain a "foreign agent" that Doctor Mother had, that never got used or was ever mentioned again?

What is Grue up to? If Rune was able to enter Avalon, would Shadow Stalker as well?

What is going on the post-Khonsu Birdcage?

I think both Amelia and Taylor would prefer white dresses instead of a dress and a tux or two tuxes for the wedding.