Prodigal Daughter [Worm Alt-Taylor AU]

[Ack]

So clearly, then, the question becomes how far Taylor can spread her null field, and whether Tt actually has to hug her to stay inside it for an hour or two.

Click to shrink...

Far enough for it to be useful, not so far that it's a story breaker.

No.

 

[Jake]

Well, Ack, you've finally done the one thing I thought impossible and made me feel genuine pity for Sophia.

 

[NoFunposter]

Is it just me or does her power pretty much make her a slasher movie villain.
Minor brute, prediction and getting into the target's head which probably results in them make bad decisions like splitting up, makes others powerless to stop her...

It's like her shard looked at horror movie tropes and decided it wanted in on that.

 

[magic9mushroom]

On TT's power, unless Taylor intentionally envelops her in the Null Field she will be completely unaffected by it.

It's the same reason her power works perfectly on Endbringers while everything else is nullified. Her power only targets her memories and rapidly analyzes them. This means that everything is filtered through her senses and memories, given a step removed for her shard not to trigger any blocks because it is not targeting a forbidden source, only the impression of a forbidden source filtered through the very few senses(for a Shard) that she is able to perceive them by.

Mantallum would be the same way, he shuts down Thinker powers within his AoE, but unless Lisa's brain get within that field her power will run unimpeded because it's not looking anywhere but her own brain directly.

Click to shrink...

There are actually two plausible explanations for how Tattletale's power works in the back-end:

1) Power deduces things from what's in Lisa's head (basically a phone line to an otherwise-naïve Sherlock Holmes).
2) Power is simply feeding Lisa information about things, but is rationing it according to what she already knows (basically casting Legend Lore).

I lean toward #2 because of this scene in her interlude:

How would he pick a four digit number?

Confident and military trained; goes out of his way to keep numbers random. Looks early thirties; born late 70's. Tendency to go with higher number to start. 8 or 9, mid-range number like four, five or six, then high, low, no repeating numbers. Dressing in darker jacket, pants, trimmed beard, conservative; number will be even-even-odd-odd or odd-odd-even-even.

"Something else," she murmured to herself, as the flow of information began to slow. If it slowed enough, it meant that there weren't enough points of reference to generate new data, it could even mean her power would start supplying information based on speculation or falsehoods. She chanced a look at the cashier, but the girl was studiously ignoring her, for the time being.

She looked back to the man. Shoes were nothing special. No logos or brand names on anything he wore, that she could see… but he was using his left hand on the touchscreen of his phone.

Southpaw; tendency to go for numbers on left side of keypad, eight, then four, seven, then one or three. One. 8471.

Click to shrink...

Some of those deductions flat-out make no sense - particularly the last one, since someone thinking up random numbers isn't thinking in keypad terms and their handedness therefore shouldn't be relevant. It feels pretty much like she's just inserting coins until the toy pops out, rather than an actual deductive chain.

(I'll note that we do have other examples of powers functioning like this; Moord Nag is the most obvious example, while Leet and Purity are less clear.)

 

[macdjord]

Well, Ack, you've finally done the one thing I thought impossible and made me feel genuine pity for Sophia.

Click to shrink...

That's nothing. He once made me feel respect for Principle Blackwell.

 

[Ack]

Prodigal Daughter


Part Four: Twisted Sisters


[A/N: this chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]


I lounged on the porch of the big cabin, eating a chocolate bar and drinking a can of soda. The chair I was sitting in was leaned back against the wall, making me wish there was a rail or something I could put my feet up on. But there wasn't, so I just had to make do with crossing them at the ankle and admiring the coloured splashes on my sneakers. When the novelty of that wore off, I raised my eyes and watched as my father strolled up to the cabin.

Even before I got my powers, I would've been able to tell he was pissed. Now, it was even more obvious, no matter how much he tried to hide it. I took a bite of my chocolate bar, and another drink of soda.

I knew perfectly well that soda was bad for me. But there'd been a whole fridge full of the stuff, with a glass front. When Shatterbird did her little trick, that left all the soda gradually warming up. I was just doing my bit to make sure not all of it went to waste. It didn't help that there'd been more than a few glass bottles in the fridge, which meant there was a minor ocean of soda on the floor in there, with a whole lot of bottle caps floating forlornly in it. Thus, the coloured splashes on my sneakers.

Jack Slash stopped in front of me and put his hands on his hips in a pose which he probably thought was intimidating. "And what do you have to say for yourself?"

I couldn't resist. Straightening out in the chair, I clenched my stomach muscles and let out the loudest belch I could manage. His jaw muscles twitched slightly and he breathed in deeply through his nostrils. I got the impression he wasn't used to having to control his temper like this. If he looked at it the right way, I was doing him a favour. This was good practice, after all.

Finally, he cleared his throat. I pretended to look attentive. The rest of the Nine had gathered in a group behind him, and I found it a little more interesting to look at their powers than pay too much attention to him.

Jack's knife power showed up as a laser-straight yellow line that led out from the knife he held in his hand. I wasn't sure what his other power was supposed to do, but it took the form of soft white fluffy clouds drifting outward from him. They strengthened when he talked, but even then they hit my grey bubble and just dissolved. Interspersed with them were blue marble-sized balls that spread outward from him in all directions. When they hit the others, they returned to him with bits of odd colour in them. The ones that came for me also dissolved when they hit the bubble. I wasn't sure what the clouds or the marbles were about, or if he even knew he was making them.

I couldn't really see Bonesaw's power, except for odd flickers of green around her scalpel as she worked on some of the ... well, I would've called them 'survivors', but they'd been captured so survival wasn't exactly guaranteed. Tinkers, I supposed, didn't show up well to my power.

I'd already seen Hatchet Face's power, with the dirty-grey field and the red lines through his body. He had a bulky bandage over the stump of his arm, and he kept a careful eye on me. Like with my father, I gathered that I'd given him a new experience. It was a pity that neither of them seemed to appreciate it.

Burnscar's power manifested as a flickering orange-yellow field that surrounded her hands. It didn't look particularly urgent, so I figured it was where she could project her fire if she felt like it, not where she intended to do it. Which was a good thing, because that area included the cabin where I was sitting. Shatterbird just had a spreading field that went a long way out, with a purple-red tinge, which I figured was her glass-control field. She had a bandage on her throat and glass was floating around her again, so I guessed Bonesaw had fixed her throat. Good for her. Maybe she'd learn from her new experience, too.

Crawler was just a big dark bulk in the night, glowing mainly red with a kind of yellow-orange cloud around each of his mouths. I wasn't quite sure what that was about, and I didn't really care. Mannequin didn't seem to glow at all, but that was probably because he was a Tinker who wasn't doing any Tinkering. And the Siberian had a weird negative glow, just a red outline around her body, with a wispy blue-white cord running off through the trees. It was pretty but like with Crawler, it didn't affect me, so I didn't care about that either.

"Well, it seems we have good news," he said brightly, trying a different tack. "You've already triggered with powers. That means Bonesaw won't have to try to make you trigger." The white clouds were piling out of his mouth and crowding around me. I watched with mild interest as they fizzled out of existence at the border of my grey bubble. More blue marbles manifested and suffered the same fate. "So, you qualify for full membership in the Nine. Given the special circumstances, we can even waive the initiation requirements. What do you say?"

I tilted back the can and drained the last of the soda, then tossed the can over my shoulder through the window into the cabin. Distantly, I heard the splash as it hit the lake of soda. Letting my chair fall forward so the front legs clunked on to the wooden porch, I stood up and stretched. I'd taken the opportunity to splash water over my face when I got the soda, to get rid of the feeling of hardening blood clinging to my skin.

"No," I mused. "I really don't think so. It's been interesting meeting you, but I'm not really interested in being a …" I paused, trying to think of the exact word I needed.

"Murderhobo?" he filled in, with a smile that didn't reach as far as his eyes. I got the impression he was less amused than he was letting on. "It's a funny word, but I'm going to have to ask you not to use it any more." More white clouds billowed out at me, but not a one of them came close to my face.

"I wasn't actually going to say that," I said. "I was thinking more like 'roving serial killer'." Tilting my head, I tried to give him the same sort of smile that Bonesaw used. "Come to think of it, 'murderhobo' does kinda fit, after all."

As I said the words, I saw the line of his blade blurring up toward me, even as it remained in place. I let the iron bar slide out of my sleeve as I kept track of where he intended to cut me. Nowhere lethal, but I would've gotten some nasty scarring out of it, and of course it would've been a humbling lesson that I wasn't anywhere near as good as I thought.

Except that I was. The blade swung in my direction, the bright yellow track scoring a path across the wood behind me with the sound of splinters springing free. Almost casually, I raised the bar to intercept the beam just as it would've crossed over my arm, then moved it to match the path of the damaging effect and contain it. Flakes of rust chipped away from the metal as Jack frowned with incredulity, looking down at the blade in his hand and then at my unmarked clothes and skin.

"So, it appears my daughter thinks she's smart," he said, addressing the assembled Nine behind him. "Let's see how good she really is." There was a spark of anger in his eye now.

Again, I saw his intent ahead of time. This time, he was going to swipe the cutting beam back and forth across my body faster than he thought I could react. But I acted first, locking the grey bubble on to the white one and pushing outward. It was a lot easier than when I'd been inside Hatchet Face's aura, and I was protected from head to toe before his attack ever reached me.

Still, the expression on his face was almost funny when I waved the iron bar back and forth randomly in front of me. He redoubled his efforts, watching the position of the bar and moving the knife to avoid it. His expression of confusion and irritation only intensified as my clothing remained whole and my skin failed to split. Of course, he couldn't see how his yellow knife-beam ended at my grey bubble, but I could. All he knew was that his normally infallible attack wasn't living up to expectations.

"Seriously?" I asked. "Is that all you got?" I was pretty sure I didn't really need the bubble. If I was right about the red energy weave, and I was pretty sure I had it nailed down, his knife beam would've done zip-all to me, but I didn't really feel like letting him wreck my clothes.

He ceased his attack on me, about five seconds before I would've smacked him on the wrist for being a dick. Of course, I was going to use the iron bar. Nothing says 'you fucked up' more vividly than a broken wrist.

Well, maybe two broken wrists.

I had to wonder if he'd pulled this shit on the other members, and why they let him get away with it if he did. Maybe the white clouds or the blue marbles had something to do with it. Some kind of Master effect? But they didn't seem like they were being puppeted.

Expressions chased one another over his face; confusion, irritation, resignation. Finally, he grunted and slid the knife up into his sleeve again. "You're a very annoying girl," he muttered peevishly. "I suppose I should have expected this. You're my child, after all."

"Well, you're not exactly father of the year, either," I retorted. "Or the month, for that matter." I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, my first real chance to get my head together, and you've got to stick your nose in with some twisted idea of father-daughter bonding. Not even Dad pulled that shit on me. I'm not joining the Nine. I'm going back to Brockton Bay."

He smirked, giving me advance warning of what he was going to say next. "Well, I can't force you to join. But you're going to have to make your own way back. We're not a taxi service."

"I could take her there," offered Crawler. "Your kid's pretty cool, Jack. I never seen anyone surprise the fuck out of Hatchet like that before. Or you."

My father turned, a look of real anger on his face. "No!" he snapped. "You're not taking her to Brockton Bay, or anywhere else. If she's not joining the Nine, she's on her own."

I could've sworn Crawler recoiled with a hurt look on his monstrous face. His reaction was a lot milder than I'd expected, given that he probably would've stomped anyone else to death, or eaten them, or both. But as the white clouds from my father surrounded him, he accepted the abuse without a murmur. I had to wonder about Master effects again.

"It's okay, Crawler," I assured him. "I appreciate it. And I'll figure something out. Even if my father is being a total douchenozzle about all this."

Jack turned angrily toward me and opened his mouth. I gave him the finger. He stepped toward me and grabbed me by the shoulder. "You don't talk to me like—"

I hit him under the breastbone with the heel of my hand, knocking him off his feet. He sprawled on the ground about two yards away from the porch, a look of astonishment on his face.

"New rule," I said mildly. "If you aren't gonna be giving me a lift, you don't get to tell me how to talk." I wasn't overly worried about getting back to Brockton Bay; my exploration of the cabin had located a landline phone. But he didn't need to know about that. Mainly because he'd probably cut the line if he got the chance.

"Whatever," he grunted, climbing to his feet. "Just stay out of our way. Everyone, collect what supplies you can find. As soon as you're done, we're moving out." He dusted himself off and shot me a glare. "If you haven't changed your mind by the time we go, we're leaving you behind."

It struck me that he wasn't used to having people defy him. The more it happened, the more pissed he got. For my part, I didn't give a shit about what people thought of me. The more people tried to tell me what to do, the more inclined I was to tell them to fuck off.

"Suits me," I said, and stepped off the porch and walked past him, ignoring the tension in his posture. Bonesaw's eyes widened as I approached her, but I tucked the iron bar back up my sleeve and gestured at her latest creation. "Need a hand?"

<><>​

"Just hold your finger there for a moment, please?" Riley waited until I was applying the correct pressure, then tied off the stitches. The subject of her 'surgery' twitched and tried to mumble something, but she jabbed it with a probe until it shut up. "Thanks. So what's it like living in Brockton Bay all the time? What's your other dad like? Do you go to school? Have you killed anyone there yet?"

I had to smile, at least slightly. Once Bonesaw—Riley Grace, as she informed me after we'd been chatting for a while—was sure I was serious about not going with them, she'd opened right up. For a notorious mass-murderer, she was quite the chatterbox. And she asked the weirdest questions. I figured spending the last four years as a murderhobo had led to an unusual worldview.

"Well, it's Brockton Bay," I said. "We've got gangs, we've got capes, we've got people. I guess it's worse than some places, better than others." I raised my eyebrows in her direction. "You've traveled more than me, so you'd know better about that sort of thing. Dad's well … Dad. He's okay as a dad. Goes to work, remembers my birthday, stuff like that."

I took a drink of the soda I had sitting beside me. Riley had asked the Siberian to fetch us drinks. She'd picked bottled water, because she said good girls didn't drink soda. I hadn't argued. Whatever a 'good girl' was, I was pretty sure I didn't fit the definition. "Yeah, I go to school. I'll be going to high school in a couple of months. Winslow. They say it's pretty shitty, but that sort of thing doesn't bother me. And I haven't killed anyone yet. Waiting for the right time and place and person, you know? I want to to be someone special. Not just a random nobody."

"Yeah, I get that," she sighed. "I didn't get to really have a special first kill. I think he was a cop who tried to shoot Mr Jack, then he tried to shoot me, then the Siberian caught him. She broke all his fingers and arms and legs, and gave him to me to play with. I was so nervous, I forgot to ask him his name. And then he was dead, and it was over. I used his brain in my first spider, but that one didn't last very long."

I heard a snort, and turned around. Shatterbird was standing nearby with a weird expression on her face. "What?" I asked.

Normally I could figure out why people acted oddly around me, but I had no idea what was going on in her head right then. Slowly, she shook her head, still with that expression on her face, and walked off.

Riley and I looked at each other, then at the Siberian, who was face-palming. "Do you have any idea what that was about?" I asked.

"None whatsoever," she said, and sighed. "I just don't get adults, sometimes."

I put my hand on her shoulder. Observation had taught me people found that sort of thing comforting. "Don't worry. I bet you've had plenty of cool kills since then."

"Well, I've definitely killed a lot of people," she agreed, cheering right up. "It's kind of what we do, in the Nine. I've tried to make it mean something, you know? Otherwise I'd be just some common murderer and like Mr Jack says, we're not common murderers. We're uncommon murderers."

"I can definitely see that." We admired her handiwork as it tried to shamble around. It was still getting used to its odd limb placement, but it would probably work things out in the end. "Actually, there was something I was meaning to ask you. A favour, really."

"Silly Taylor," she said with a smile. "We're practically sisters, and you're letting me stay as Mr Jack's favourite. What's a favour between sisters?"

I guessed when she put things like that, it made sense. "Well, I was wondering if you could show me how you smile like that. All creepy, I mean. I'm not good with doing smiles, but I'd like to learn how to do that one."

"Oh, sure," she said immediately. "Oooh, I could also do other things to make you seem creepy, if you want." Her face lit up at the idea.

I was definitely interested. "What did you have in mind?"

She gave me that creepy smile again. I leaned in to listen.

<><>​

"How you doing there?" she asked, leaning in close to my open mouth, her hands busy with her surgery tools.

I couldn't speak, mainly because I had two different things sticking down my throat, and my jaw was dislocated. Riley had shown me how to do that, after injecting the inside of my mouth with a muscle relaxant. So instead, I gave a thumb's up.

Off to the side, the Siberian watched us both intently, barely moving a muscle. I had to approve of her as a mother-figure. With her around, Riley didn't have to worry about anyone trying to hurt her.

"Good, good," she murmured. "I'm just dilating your throat so I can get at your larynx … that's good. You're an amazing patient."

I didn't try to respond. The itching from the corners of my mouth had nearly stopped, for which I was grateful. It had been a pain to cut them back an inch on either side, like Riley had suggested. She'd started cutting on the inside of my cheeks, but hit a point where her scalpel simply wouldn't part the flesh.

Eventually she'd politely asked the Siberian to do the job, which the silent tiger-striped woman had achieved using the nail on her pinky finger. It'd only taken a second and it hurt a bit, but the numbing agent Riley had already injected kicked in, and it was all good again. She said that with the treatment she'd given them, they were going to be healed over properly by the time I got back home.

It was the weirdest feeling, lying on my back with my head hanging off the edge of the porch while Riley did surgery way down at the back of my throat. This was so the blood wouldn't run down into my lungs, of course. My sinuses were going to be full of the stuff, but that was something I'd have to deal with later.

Normally, she would've gone into my larynx from the outside, but none of her cutting tools even scratched my skin, and when the Siberian ripped someone's throat out it tended to be irreversible. But apparently I was still squishy and cuttable on the inside, so she was going with keyhole surgery. I was fine with her doing it this way. Being able to change my voice from really high-pitched to normal to really low-pitched at will was gonna let me be so damn creepy.

"It'll only be a few minutes, and we'll be done," she said happily, but I wasn't paying attention any more. Because behind Riley, my upside-down view of the area in front of the cabin now included Jack Slash, my douchenozzle father.

"Wrong. She was done five minutes ago," he said, bringing his hand from behind his back to reveal my machete. I'd wondered where that had gotten to. "Daughter or no, she's too much of a danger—"

Oh, for fuck's sake. I just got comfortable. It wasn't even as though he could hurt me … or could he? He'd only tried with a knife before. The yellow cutting line for the machete looked positively vicious. I had my grey field compressed as hard as I could so I didn't cut off Riley's power, which meant that only my red weave was protecting me.

The iron bar was in my hand. It was an awkward angle, but I flipped it up and threw it more or less backward at him, as hard as I could. I didn't even expect to hit him, just make him duck long enough for me to get my grey field up and running again. There was a solid meaty chunk, followed by an equally solid thud, then Jack disappeared from my view.

Rolling on to my side, jaw still dislocated and surgery tools still protruding from my mouth, I propped myself up on to my elbow and looked at what I'd done. Jack Slash lay on his back, the machete beside his hand. Four inches of the foot-long iron bar protruded from his left eyesocket. The Siberian crouched beside him and touched the iron bar, then pulled her hand away again. Then she turned her head and looked at Riley questioningly.

I met Riley's eyes, then we both stared at Jack again.

Whoops.


End of Part Four

Part Five

 

[Starfox5]

That's a lot of money coming in, Taylor! Of course you were not an accomplice - you killed your own father, for great justice! Too bad you couldn't save the other kids, but you only triggered at the end.

Or, you just got your own gang!

Either way, you're moving up in life! And you got a sister now, to take care of.

 

[DuskAtDawn]

A sister who's currently performing surgery on her throat, whose father figure Taylor just killed. After Riley threatened her just for Taylor possibly taking up his time instead of her, and only warmed up to her after Taylor made it clear that wouldn't happen.

Yeah. Oops.

 

[steamrick]

So Riley hadn't gotten around to armoring his eye sockets yet?

Whoops indeed.

 

[NoFunposter]

Well, her first kill certainly was special.

 

[Ack]

So Riley hadn't gotten around to armoring his eye sockets yet?

Whoops indeed.

Click to shrink...

The outer skull was armoured, but the bit behind the eye wasn't.

 

[Loveschach]

but I didn't really feel like letting him wreck my clothes.

Click to shrink...

What a damn shame. Excellent chapter, shame that sockets on everything from people to tanks are so difficult to armor though.

 

[Gaemnomut]

This is getting better by the second XD

Taylor 'blocking' Jack's attack by awkwardly waving the pipe around was hilarious, but the ending was pure gold. There goes that first kill.

 

[Saltade]

The outer skull was armoured, but the bit behind the eye wasn't.

Click to shrink...

Did the bar penetrate his brain? Because there is bone behind the eye, so if that was enhanced, he's probably blind in one eye and unconscious.

Also even if he's "dead", Bonesaw can probably bring him back to life.

 

[Ack]

Did the bar penetrate his brain? Because there is bone behind the eye, so if that was enhanced, he's probably blind in one eye and unconscious.

Also even if he's "dead", Bonesaw can probably bring him back to life.

Click to shrink...

The bar is a foot long.

Only four inches are protruding.

His eye socket is not eight inches deep.

And yes, yes she can.

 

[Starfox5]

And yes, yes she can.

Click to shrink...

"This Spiderbot will last longer!"

 

[Akuma-Heika]

A sister who's currently performing surgery on her throat, whose father figure Taylor just killed. After Riley threatened her just for Taylor possibly taking up his time instead of her, and only warmed up to her after Taylor made it clear that wouldn't happen.

Yeah. Oops.

Click to shrink...

I have seen one or two fanfics, where Riley still hated Jack subconsciously, so when he was killed and she disarmed /countered, she joined the good guys. One was a fic on this site I believe (that one was the most expressive of this concept, since Riley actually stopped trying to help Jack midfight). What was that fic? Hereditary maybe?


Edit:

Crossposted from SB:

Click to shrink...

Three sources:
Broadcast (bud)
Queen Administrator (ping)
Power Stomp! [my totally-not-made-up name for Hatchet Face's shard] (ping)
Sorry for the late question, but how did her Shard ping off QA?

 

[aguy]

I met Riley's eyes, then we both stared at Jack again.

Whoops.

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure whether to hope he's dead or alive...

 

[Ack]

I have seen one or two fanfics, where Riley still hated Jack subconsciously, so when he was killed and she disarmed /countered, she joined the good guys. One was a fic on this site I believe (that one was the most expressive of this concept, since Riley actually stopped trying to help Jack midfight). What was that fic? Hereditary maybe?


Edit:

Three sources:
Broadcast (bud)
Queen Administrator (ping)
Power Stomp! [my totally-not-made-up name for Hatchet Face's shard] (ping)
Sorry for the late question, but how did her Shard ping off QA?

Click to shrink...

Broadcast cheats
(Danny has an inactive QA).

Alternatively:

• Minor Brute: (Brute) PS! Shard - Gives Taylor the physical conditioning of a Peak Human.
• Power Visualize: (Trump/Thinker) Broadcast Shard - Taylor can see areas that are affected/about to be affected by powers. While she cannot automatically identify every parahuman on sight, she can identify those who's powers are always active (ie Tattletale and Hatchet Face) and anyone under long-term Master effects (ie Heartbreaker's or Teacher's victims). These effects are represented as colored area's/patterns.
• Power Nullification: (Trump/Shaker) PS! and Broadcast Shard - Taylor possesses a Power Nullification field that can vary in size that she must consciously direct outwards from herself in order to affect parahumans around her. Any actively or passively powered parahuman limbs/forcefields/items (ie Hatchet Faces' arm, Glory Girl's force field, or something empowered by Flechette) are depowered when entering the field. Once a parahuman's Corona Pollentia enters the field, said parahuman's power stops completely. Even without actively expanding said field, Taylor is still protected from mental Mastering. Field does not affect Taylor's powers.
• Silver Tongue: (Thinker) Broadcast Shard - Taylor has the (currently) unconscious ability to say the exact right thing at the exactly the right time in exactly the right way to get people to do what she wants most of the time. While some might classify it as a Master ability, there is no active or passive powers that is affecting the target(s). Works best on an individual basis or with a small (2-5) group. (Note: This power works much in the same way that Coil's power puppets his body though his "choice". Taylor tries to think of the best way to get someone to do what she wants and it just "comes to her" in a natural feeling way. She won't notice her power unless it's forced to repeatedly be used in a short amount of time or a social based Thinker notices).
• Enhanced Intuition: (Thinker) Broadcast Shard - Allows Taylor to "read" the actions of anyone around her the moment before the act. In parahumans, this means she knows what their powers will do and what areas they are going to affect. Must actually be aware of the person to be able to "read" them unless they are a parahuman directing their power at them; in which case, she will be unconsciously aware that someone is targeting her.

 

[Doru]

I have seen one or two fanfics, where Riley still hated Jack subconsciously, so when he was killed and she disarmed /countered, she joined the good guys. One was a fic on this site I believe (that one was the most expressive of this concept, since Riley actually stopped trying to help Jack midfight). What was that fic? Hereditary maybe?


Edit:

Three sources:
Broadcast (bud)
Queen Administrator (ping)
Power Stomp! [my totally-not-made-up name for Hatchet Face's shard] (ping)
Sorry for the late question, but how did her Shard ping off QA?

Click to shrink...

It is likely that spending lots of time around Danny caused broadcast to form a link with QA that gave a direct line for pinging.

And I was just ninja'd by the author.

 

[Saltade]

The bar is a foot long.

Only four inches are protruding.

His eye socket is not eight inches deep.

Click to shrink...

How did Taylor throw it that hard? Does she have a Brute rating? Or does her "grey field" increase her strength as a side-effect so it's actually a breaker power?

 

[GiftofLove]

That's what Jack gets for trying to take his daughter's first time.

 

[Ack]

How did Taylor throw it that hard? Does she have a Brute rating? Or does her "grey field" increase her strength as a side-effect so it's actually a breaker power?

Click to shrink...

She literally does.

How do you think she chopped all the way through Hatchet Face's arm with one hit from the machete?

She got a Brute rating from her ping off of Hatchet Face's shard.

 

[GiftofLove]

She literally does.

How do you think she chopped all the way through Hatchet Face's arm with one hit from the machete?

She got a Brute rating from her ping off of Hatchet Face's shard.

Click to shrink...

Communication telling shit to get the hell out of the way, of course.

 

[Sidvious]

Dammit Taylor, you are really bad at this "pretend to be normal" thing. Killing your dad like that. Now your sister has to patch him up.

Enhanced Intuition: (Thinker) Broadcast Shard - Allows Taylor to "read" the actions of anyone around her the moment before the act. In parahumans, this means she knows what their powers will do and what areas they are going to affect. Must actually be aware of the person to be able to "read" them unless they are a parahuman directing their power at them; in which case, she will be unconsciously aware that someone is targeting her.

Click to shrink...

EDIT: So she's got jack's ability to "auto dodge" parahumans, but it works on normals if she's aware of them? What about a normal using tinker tech? Or can't she not see it like Bonesaw's power? Finally how does she stack up vs Mantellum?

 

[Saltade]

Communication telling shit to get the hell out of the way, of course.

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Ack This^^ I thought her power let her cut easier from the machete scene, not that she had a brute rating.

 

[edale]

Well, her first kill certainly was special.

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Just not in the way Taylor wanted.

Also, Ack, that was AWESOME!!!

 

[GladiusLucix]

Rolling on to my side, jaw still dislocated and surgery tools still protruding from my mouth, I propped myself up on to my elbow and looked at what I'd done. Jack Slash lay on his back, the machete beside his hand. Four inches of the foot-long iron bar protruded from his left eyesocket. The Siberian crouched beside him and touched the iron bar, then pulled her hand away again. Then she turned her head and looked at Riley questioningly.

I met Riley's eyes, then we both stared at Jack again.

Whoops.

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Has Butterfly started dimension hopping?

 

[Gaemnomut]

Just not in the way Taylor wanted.

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At least it's somewhat important. To others at least.

With Jack's influence gone, and Taylor's own new power of persuasion, I wonder if she could somehow "reform" the remaining nine. Difficult of course since they'll be hunted and won't have the protection of Jack's guided leadership, but if that weren't an issue it could perhaps work.

 

[Ack]

Dammit Taylor, you are really bad at this "pretend to be normal" thing. Killing your dad like that. Now your sister has to patch him up.




EDIT: So she's got jack's ability to "auto dodge" parahumans, but it works on normals if she's aware of them? What about a normal using tinker tech? Or can't she not see it like Bonesaw's power? Finally how does she stack up vs Mantellum?

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She can see where a power effect or an attack is likely to come at her. That lets her anticipate it and come up with a counter (such as not be there).

She'd stack up against Mantellum the same as she does against Hatchet Face. Her power works within the grey bubble she puts out, because it's got Broadcast attached, which says to Mantellum's power, "Dude. Be a sport. Back off, okay?"

Ack This^^ I thought her power let her cut easier from the machete scene, not that she had a brute rating.

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What did you think the red weave was all about?

Hatchet Face's grey field (his power dampener) pushed her red weave (Brute rating) back.
This worked, right up until she expanded her grey bubble with the assistance of Broadcast (white bubble).
Her bubble pushed back his grey field (Broadcast plus power damper trumps straight power damper) so that her Brute power could manifest, while damping his.
When she hit his arm with her machete, she was Brute rated and his arm wasn't.
This is also why when she sliced open her jeans leg with the clasp knife, she didn't cut her leg, even though she sliced through the cloth and the binding she had holding the machete in place.