31
Jsyrin
Ponderer of Orbs
- Joined
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Chapter 31
Fortunately for Brian's nerves, the people on the other side of the door weren't Uber and Leet, whom Lisa had kindly informed him were still paralyzed in the middle of the Boardwalk and posed in hilarious positions that made it look like they were ballroom dancing.
Unfortunately for Brian's life expectancy, the people on the other side of the door were Protectorate heroes, several PRT Troopers, and also a motherfucking Dragon suit.
".... Please don't tell me we're under arrest," Brian asked almost rhetorically, leaning against the door frame and trying very hard to not slam his face into it. "I've been having a really long night."
"So it seems," Armsmaster deadpanned, almost visibly rolling his eyes behind his visor and leveling a stern, but not aggressive scowl at Brian before continuing. "But no, you are not under arrest. The Rahkshi informed us that Toa would like us all to be here for ease of discussion later tonight."
"..." Brian just stared at the hero, who stared back calmly without so much as a blink- not that Brian could really tell considering the man's visor and helmet. In lieu of keeping up a staring contest with a man whose eyes he couldn't see, he instead looked over the entire entourage of people and vehicles scattered around the area.
Four Protectorate heroes- Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Assault, and Battery. The PRT Director and Deputy Director- Emily Piggot and Alexander Renick. At least fifteen troopers, all with confoam sprayers that they had thankfully kept holstered on their backs. The entire lineup of the Wards- Aegis, Clockblocker, Kid Win, Gallant, and Vista. And not to mention a MOTHERFUCKING DRAGON SUIT.
Brian sighed again and rubbed his forehead, trying to process just what kind of tomfuckery he was in the center of now that apparently Toa had taken out his old boss as well as all the criminals in the entire city save for the Undersiders, the ex-Nazis in his living room, the two losers paralyzed in the middle of the Boardwalk, and a handful of other low level crooks who mostly just used their powers for shits n' giggles and didn't have so much as a news presence outside of a couple threads on PHO and also Lisa's nigh omniscient watchful eye on all things Brockton Bay and Parahuman.
And now New Wave was here.
Great.
"Okay, I can accept that you're all gonna be here for the next few hours, but there's no way we can fit everyone in the flat. Hell, there's barely enough room for my team as it is," Brian grumbled, trying to sound authoritative but ultimately failing miserably without his darkness or his helmet helping to make his voice more spooky.
Not for the first time in the last twelve hours or so, he wished he were back at home with Aisha instead of out in the streets and-
"Hey! Let me go dammit!"
"Aisha?" Brian blinked slowly as another Rahkshi walked up with Aisha in its arms, the blue and green mechanical being dumping his little sister at his feet before teleporting away as if had never been there at all. "... Aisha, what are you doing here?"
"I dunno! That fuckin' scary-ass robot just grabbed me and dragged me over here!" Aisha huffed, crossing her arms and skittering behind him with a quiet yelp of surprise as she realized just how many law enforcement agents were scattered around the area. "... Brian, are you getting arrested?"
"... No I am not getting arrested."
"Are ya sure? There's a lot of PRT around here."
".... We're just waiting on Toa to show up. For… whatever reason she might have."
Brian rubbed his forehead again, sighing deeply for the Nth time in the last few minutes and wishing that Toa would get here faster so he wouldn't have to sit here and face the crushing anxiety that came with looking out a window and seeing nearly twenty heroes gathered around the Undersiders' home base.
What the hell was Toa even doing that was taking so long anyway?
>*<
"I think… I think I finally did it!" Taylor breathed heavily as she pulled up her welding goggles and set her tools aside, gently blowing on the newly created mask in her hands and helping it cool down. The newly made mask was… nonstandard, by most measures.
It was a Kanohi Rau, the mask of Translation, smooth and sleek and, despite normal Kanohi Rau looking rather squat and rubbery despite their protodermis construction, had a sheen not unlike ultra-fine snake scales across its strangely shaped surface.
From what Taylor could tell, the thing actually looked kinda like it wasn't made for Matoran at all- definitely most of them wouldn't be able to wear it since it was so elongated and its eye holes were in strange locations. But it was functional all the same. A Great Rau, one fit for a Toa- or so she hoped.
There wasn't much she could do to test the mask at the moment since she didn't really have anything worth translating and she was psychic all the same, but, well… it almost audibly thrummed with power, and even though it wasn't quite set to a user yet (given its still highly reflective, near chrome silver sheen) it felt like the kind of mask that could make a good Toa great.
Or maybe she was going crazy from the heat of her newly made Kanohi forge.
Hopefully the former, instead of the latter, especially since she wasn't subject to the same kind of biological quirks that'd induce heat stroke.
Ahem.
Anyway.
Taylor grinned as she admired the construction of the Rau again, rubbing the three bumps over each eyebrow ridge (those had been such a pain to forge), running her finger along the tapered, extended back surface of the mask, checking the protodermis joints that would allow the wearer to actually speak while using the mask and would let said mask flex as if it were their face to ensure that nothing was amiss or out of alignment.
Perfect perfect perfect. Perfect all around.
And of course, that was when Sulehrahk decided to bust open the door to her workshop, screeching something about how the inferior meatbags that looked like tall gooey matoran had all been gathered as the Mother unit wished.
"Gah!" Taylor shrieked as she all but tripped over her own two feet in mid step, flailing about before she managed to level a glare at the pink Rahkshi. "Sulehrahk! Don't just bust in here like that! It's dangerous in here! You could have gotten hurt!"
For her part, Sulehrahk seemed about as contrite as an eight foot tall murder machine could, dipping her head and whirring quietly, murmuring a quick apology in Matoran.
"It's okay- well, I mean, it wouldn't have been okay if you got hurt but it's good that you didn't. Anyway, what do you mean everyone's gathered? I didn't ask for anyone to gather?" Taylor blinked at Sulehrahk in confusion, wondering what her pseudo-daughter was talking about. Something in the back of her mind pulsed in satisfaction, though, which seemed… worrying, considering the presence that had taken up residence there.
And then she realized she'd dropped the mask she had worked so hard on.
Right as it landed in the pool of energized protodermis with an audible splash.
Right as a tendril of the same substance lashed out and forcefully ejected Sulerahk's Kraata from her armor and dragged the armor into the pool.
Right as the pool itself began to glow with blue and gold light and the presence in her mind vanished as another tendril of energized protodermis made contact with the back of her neck.
Taylor blinked as something inside the pool began to move, while Gorast watched through her eyes.
"... Oh no."
"Oh no."
"OH YES~!"
Fortunately for Brian's nerves, the people on the other side of the door weren't Uber and Leet, whom Lisa had kindly informed him were still paralyzed in the middle of the Boardwalk and posed in hilarious positions that made it look like they were ballroom dancing.
Unfortunately for Brian's life expectancy, the people on the other side of the door were Protectorate heroes, several PRT Troopers, and also a motherfucking Dragon suit.
".... Please don't tell me we're under arrest," Brian asked almost rhetorically, leaning against the door frame and trying very hard to not slam his face into it. "I've been having a really long night."
"So it seems," Armsmaster deadpanned, almost visibly rolling his eyes behind his visor and leveling a stern, but not aggressive scowl at Brian before continuing. "But no, you are not under arrest. The Rahkshi informed us that Toa would like us all to be here for ease of discussion later tonight."
"..." Brian just stared at the hero, who stared back calmly without so much as a blink- not that Brian could really tell considering the man's visor and helmet. In lieu of keeping up a staring contest with a man whose eyes he couldn't see, he instead looked over the entire entourage of people and vehicles scattered around the area.
Four Protectorate heroes- Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Assault, and Battery. The PRT Director and Deputy Director- Emily Piggot and Alexander Renick. At least fifteen troopers, all with confoam sprayers that they had thankfully kept holstered on their backs. The entire lineup of the Wards- Aegis, Clockblocker, Kid Win, Gallant, and Vista. And not to mention a MOTHERFUCKING DRAGON SUIT.
Brian sighed again and rubbed his forehead, trying to process just what kind of tomfuckery he was in the center of now that apparently Toa had taken out his old boss as well as all the criminals in the entire city save for the Undersiders, the ex-Nazis in his living room, the two losers paralyzed in the middle of the Boardwalk, and a handful of other low level crooks who mostly just used their powers for shits n' giggles and didn't have so much as a news presence outside of a couple threads on PHO and also Lisa's nigh omniscient watchful eye on all things Brockton Bay and Parahuman.
And now New Wave was here.
Great.
"Okay, I can accept that you're all gonna be here for the next few hours, but there's no way we can fit everyone in the flat. Hell, there's barely enough room for my team as it is," Brian grumbled, trying to sound authoritative but ultimately failing miserably without his darkness or his helmet helping to make his voice more spooky.
Not for the first time in the last twelve hours or so, he wished he were back at home with Aisha instead of out in the streets and-
"Hey! Let me go dammit!"
"Aisha?" Brian blinked slowly as another Rahkshi walked up with Aisha in its arms, the blue and green mechanical being dumping his little sister at his feet before teleporting away as if had never been there at all. "... Aisha, what are you doing here?"
"I dunno! That fuckin' scary-ass robot just grabbed me and dragged me over here!" Aisha huffed, crossing her arms and skittering behind him with a quiet yelp of surprise as she realized just how many law enforcement agents were scattered around the area. "... Brian, are you getting arrested?"
"... No I am not getting arrested."
"Are ya sure? There's a lot of PRT around here."
".... We're just waiting on Toa to show up. For… whatever reason she might have."
Brian rubbed his forehead again, sighing deeply for the Nth time in the last few minutes and wishing that Toa would get here faster so he wouldn't have to sit here and face the crushing anxiety that came with looking out a window and seeing nearly twenty heroes gathered around the Undersiders' home base.
What the hell was Toa even doing that was taking so long anyway?
>*<
"I think… I think I finally did it!" Taylor breathed heavily as she pulled up her welding goggles and set her tools aside, gently blowing on the newly created mask in her hands and helping it cool down. The newly made mask was… nonstandard, by most measures.
It was a Kanohi Rau, the mask of Translation, smooth and sleek and, despite normal Kanohi Rau looking rather squat and rubbery despite their protodermis construction, had a sheen not unlike ultra-fine snake scales across its strangely shaped surface.
From what Taylor could tell, the thing actually looked kinda like it wasn't made for Matoran at all- definitely most of them wouldn't be able to wear it since it was so elongated and its eye holes were in strange locations. But it was functional all the same. A Great Rau, one fit for a Toa- or so she hoped.
There wasn't much she could do to test the mask at the moment since she didn't really have anything worth translating and she was psychic all the same, but, well… it almost audibly thrummed with power, and even though it wasn't quite set to a user yet (given its still highly reflective, near chrome silver sheen) it felt like the kind of mask that could make a good Toa great.
Or maybe she was going crazy from the heat of her newly made Kanohi forge.
Hopefully the former, instead of the latter, especially since she wasn't subject to the same kind of biological quirks that'd induce heat stroke.
Ahem.
Anyway.
Taylor grinned as she admired the construction of the Rau again, rubbing the three bumps over each eyebrow ridge (those had been such a pain to forge), running her finger along the tapered, extended back surface of the mask, checking the protodermis joints that would allow the wearer to actually speak while using the mask and would let said mask flex as if it were their face to ensure that nothing was amiss or out of alignment.
Perfect perfect perfect. Perfect all around.
And of course, that was when Sulehrahk decided to bust open the door to her workshop, screeching something about how the inferior meatbags that looked like tall gooey matoran had all been gathered as the Mother unit wished.
"Gah!" Taylor shrieked as she all but tripped over her own two feet in mid step, flailing about before she managed to level a glare at the pink Rahkshi. "Sulehrahk! Don't just bust in here like that! It's dangerous in here! You could have gotten hurt!"
For her part, Sulehrahk seemed about as contrite as an eight foot tall murder machine could, dipping her head and whirring quietly, murmuring a quick apology in Matoran.
"It's okay- well, I mean, it wouldn't have been okay if you got hurt but it's good that you didn't. Anyway, what do you mean everyone's gathered? I didn't ask for anyone to gather?" Taylor blinked at Sulehrahk in confusion, wondering what her pseudo-daughter was talking about. Something in the back of her mind pulsed in satisfaction, though, which seemed… worrying, considering the presence that had taken up residence there.
And then she realized she'd dropped the mask she had worked so hard on.
Right as it landed in the pool of energized protodermis with an audible splash.
Right as a tendril of the same substance lashed out and forcefully ejected Sulerahk's Kraata from her armor and dragged the armor into the pool.
Right as the pool itself began to glow with blue and gold light and the presence in her mind vanished as another tendril of energized protodermis made contact with the back of her neck.
Taylor blinked as something inside the pool began to move, while Gorast watched through her eyes.
"... Oh no."
"Oh no."
"OH YES~!"
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