Ravensdagger_How_to_Train_Your_Endbringer

The Great Picnic Panic — Part One

The Great Picnic Panic — Part One May 30th, 2011 was one of the turning points in human history, through few people knew it at the time. The event that was later called the Great Picnic Panic started quite simply when a then new heroine, Queen Administrator, decided to host a picnic only a day after the Slaughterhouse Nine, infamous parahuman criminals, attacked Brockton Bay. The group's goal was, ostensibly, to recruit that very same heroine.Things truly started going wrong around noon, though the inception of these historical events can be traced back to earlier in the day.-Excerpt from: Parahumans; how the Super Changed History

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May 30th, 2011.Morning of the Great Picnic PanicTaylor's yawn was wide enough that it had her jaw aching and her spine tingling. She had woken up to the sun shining through her window and the birds singing outside. After stretching and rolling out of bed, she stood up and started looking for clean clothes, only to pause when her attention drifted to the window.There was a face there, a very large-but not fat-face that was entirely white as though carved out of marble. "Unit Three?" she said, squinting at the figure.[Amused. Affirmative.]"So, you're still around?" she said as she walked away from the window and started looking for pants.[Affirmative. Agreement incomplete.]"Agreement... oh, our trade from last night. Yeah, okay. You did carry out your end. So, is your primary directive the same as Unit Twos was?" The jeans she found were a little ratty, but it was either that or nothing.[Annoyance. Affirmative.]She pulled on a simple t-shirt. It wasn't worth finding something nicer since it'd be hidden by her costume anyway. "Cool, so, same rules apply. Don't hurt me, and try to stop others from hurting me. Listen to what I say, unless doing that would end up hurting me, and try to keep yourself safe."[Joy. New Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Directives Accepted! Previous Primary Directive Overwritten.]Taylor smiled as she made her way downstairs and started looking for her sneakers. She'd made another friend! With Cass yesterday, and Leviathan before that, she now had three whole friends. This was the best week ever.She stepped outside into a sunny Monday morning. School was starting up today, but she figured that she could make an exception, what with Unit Three joining her for the first time. Yup, that was as good a reason as any to avoid school.The Simurgh was nowhere to be seen, but Taylor didn't mind that so much. Instead she walked towards the gas station where Leviathan was hiding and stepped into the alley. "Heya big guy! How are you?"{Unit-02 is combat ready.} Leviathan said. He moved out of the deeper shadows of the alley and stood a little closer. Was it her imagination or was he standing taller?"Good to hear! So, we've got a few things that need doing today," she said as she reached the box that hid her costume. With practiced motions she slid on her tassled robes and slid on a domino mask under her hood.{Priorities?}"Well, first we need to find a civilian identity for Unit Three. Then we need to find her some clothes, because she's naked and that's just inappropriate. Oh, and this afternoon we have that picnic to make up for yesterday's mess. Maybe we could invite a few more people over? And we need to go see Cass at the hospital too. Probably do that before the picnic."A shadow fell across the alleyway as The Simurgh lowered herself down to stand by Leviathan. This close together it really highlighted how much smaller Unit Three was than Leviathan. She wasn't small. No fifteen-foot tall woman covered in wings could be called small, but she wasn't half as tall as Unit Two.[Indignant. No clothing. Feathers.]Taylor shook her head. "You can't just use feathers. You need to wear something."[Discrepancy. Unit-02 Clothingless.] The Simurgh pointed out.{Negative. Unit-02 has acquired clothing.} He bowed his head a little, displaying the top hat that sat on his head at a jaunty angle. {Acquired 'Fancy Top Hat' as part of Disguise Protocols instated by Host-Queen_Administrator.}"Right, plus you look like a girl. You can't just go around topless."[Indignant. Unit-03 is 'perky.'] The Simurgh crossed her arms under her chest and puffed her chest and wings out.Taylor stared, then looked down at her own assets. "B-be that as it may," she said past a furious blush. "You still need to wear something. Plus it'll be fun."Unit Three seemed to think on that for a moment, then she nodded. [Accepting. Will Acquire clothes.]Taylor beamed up at her new friend. "Cool! If you really don't like it after trying some, then I guess it wouldn't matter too much. It would just make things way less awkward if you were, uh, not naked."With a deep breath to recentre herself, Taylor looked out of the alley and towards the rest of her city. She paused three steps later. "Uh, You don't happen to know anything about fashion, do you?"

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Sabah's life had taken a turn for the surreal the day Queen Administrator had visited her. First, the PRT had spent hours drilling her over her admittedly long conversations with the young parahuman. They had only really stopped when she started refusing to answer their questions. It was rather obvious that they didn't know what to do about the teen who controlled Leviathan and she could sympathise. That sympathy lasted until they started weedling her for details about Queen Administrator's appearance under the costume.The week that followed was one of the strangest in her career as a designer and tailor. First came those curious about the place where The Queen Administrator had bought her now infamous costume, then the investors started poking around.It helped, she realised, that Queen Administrator was often found on PHO wasting time and answering inane questions. One of the most common questions asked to a new cape was about their costume, and Queen Administrator was liberal in her praise of Parian and her little shop near the Boardwalk.So, like any halfway decent businessperson, Sabah jumped on the opportunity. She went online and auctioned off the rest of her stock. In no time at all she had more money than she knew what to do with and a list of orders longer than she was tall. Things were finally looking up.Sabah smiled as she moved another bolt of cloth over to a sewing machine while another length of cloth flew across her workshop, unfolding all the while two wrap around an evening dress she was creating.She had hired a young woman to help her keep an eye on the shop floor. It helped that hers was one of the only stores to reopen so soon. That was going to change though, the Great Brockton Bay Tsunami had scared some people off, but it couldn't be denied that the entire city was quite a bit cleaner.Things were still uncertain at home. Folks didn't know what to do now that the bigger gangs were mostly gone. There was hope that things would only get better from there, but then there was the Queen Administrator with her pet Endbringer. How many wanted to stake their future on the back of a single, somewhat unstable teenager?Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.She sighed as she added the finishing touches to the dress. A pretty black thing with an open back, ordered by someone on PHO. The measurements were obviously too big for a normal person, but she wasn't going to ask questions. The client's money was real enough, so she couldn't complain.Just as she was about to box the dress, her new employee slipped into the workshop. "Um, Miss Parian. Sorry to bother you, but, uh, Leviathan." The girl swallowed. She was holding onto a couple of hats that were supposed to be on display out front, a fedora and a bowler hat. "I mean, Leviathan's standing out front."Parian nodded once, then walked towards the front door. She tried to glide, to walk in such a way that her dress hid the way her legs wobbled. She paused as she entered the shop front. She could see the scaly grey skin of Leviathan standing just outside her shop through the front windows. More concerning was the girl standing in the middle of the shop while twirling from side to side to let the tassels of her costume wrap around her legs."Hello, Queen Administrator."The young cape's attention snapped around to Sabah and she grinned wide. "Parian!""How are you doing?" she replied, falling back to old courtesies while her mind rushed. The Endbringer-controlling cape didn't seem to be in a bad mood. And she seemed to like her costume, she'd even said as much online. Did she want something new? She could do that."I'm alright. Very busy, but things are pretty good. I'm extra happy that your shop's open. Especially since most other stores are closed today because of those Slaughterhouse people."Parian swallowed hard. "Yes, I heard they were in town. I, I could have stayed at home, but honestly, if they come for me it's better that I be here where I'm never really unarmed and closer to the Protectorate."Queen Administrator nodded. "Yeah, I hear ya. That Jack guy talked to me yesterday." Parian's heart skipped a beat at that. "He was kinda nice, but kinda rude, you know? Then that naked one, the Siberian attacked me. Oh, and the one with all the glass, Shatterbird. Also, Squealer and Skidmark.""But you're okay?" she asked."Oh? Yeah, I'm fine. They're, uh, sorta all dead though... but it's not my fault!" she added hastily while moving her arms as if to deny it all. "Skidmark and Squealer attacked me first, and Unit Two just defended me. The other two were taken out by the Simurgh. Speaking of, could you help me find her some clothes?"The Simurgh lowered herself down in front of her shop and waved.Parian fainted.

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Taylor leaned over the fallen fashionista cape. She'd managed to move her closer to the counter at the back of the room and pushed her up so that she was sitting against it instead of just being flopped on the ground. Beyond that, though, Taylor was kind of stumped. "Parian? Hello? It's okay, Parian, you can, uh, unfaint now."The cape groaned then flinched back from Taylor who immediately backed up. She stared around the shop, her doll-face looking everywhere before snapping back to Taylor. "Did I?""Yup.""Oh my. I'm sorry. I don't suppose you could help me up?" she said.Taylor smiled at her as she stood up straight and extended a hand to the doll cape. It wasn't hard to lift her to her feet. "I'm sorry, I guess I went a bit too fast with all the revelations as stuff, huh?""A bit, yes," Parian said and her little accent made that sound like the greatest of crimes. "Did you really just ask me to make a dress for the Simurgh?"Taylor laughed awkwardly and dragged her attention away from the cape. "Heh, yeah?""I..." Parian looked as though she very much wanted to pinch her brow. "Queen Administrator, you have been a huge boon to my business. But that was you, a human, a scary one, but one that has, so far, been viewed in a rather positive light. Do you have any idea what would happen if the Simurgh was seen wearing one of my signature dresses?""Um, it would be bad?" Taylor guessed."Yes, yes it would."Taylor resisted the urge to pout. "Well, shucks, okay. Um, would it still be bad if I just asked you for advice, then?"[Dismissive. Unnecessary.]Taylor frowned and spun to look out the window. "What'd you mean, unnecessary? The advice?" Parian didn't push or ask why she the Endbringer-controlling girl was talking to no one in particular. She rather liked living.[Affirmative.]She crossed her arms and walked a little closer to the window, the Simurgh just stared "So, you think you know better than Parian?" Taylor said to the window, confusing the cape behind her.The Simurgh dropped from above and floated to a stop an inch off the ground. Her face turned Taylor's way, ignoring Parian who scrambled back at the sight of her. [Smug.] With a gesture, the Endbringer did something and a girl screamed from within the workshop.Taylor twisted around in time to see the door to Parian's workspace open and something black flutter out. Then the door closed with a decisive 'snip.' When she turned back around it was to find the Simurgh now wearing a black cocktail dress made of a dozen layers of silky cloth layered over each other. An equally black fedora sat on her head, raked back to let the Endbringer see clearly."Um," Parian said. "Did she just... steal one of my dresses?"Taylor huffed. "Hey, you can't do that!"[Negative. Paid for.]"What do you mean you paid for it?" Then Taylor looked at the cut of the dress and the way it fit her rather larger than average frame. "Did you order that?"The Simurgh shook her head. Then her lips quirked up in a mischievous smile and she raised her wings around her as if to make herself larger. Sunlight reflected off her wings, casting her skin in a million rainbow hues. [Preen. Coincidence!]Taylor shook her head. "Bullpoop," she said. Then she noticed that both the Simurgh and Leviathan were looking right past her. Turning, Taylor found a tall-ish redhead talking with Parian in a low whisper. She looked familiar, but before she could take a good look the girl noticed that she was the focus of the Endbringer's attention, 'eeped', and ran off back to the workshop."I'm really sorry, Parian. Uhm, how much was that dress?" Taylor cringed. Dresses that pretty were expensive, and she still owed Parian for her own costume. And Leviathan's hat. And the Simurgh's hat."It was a special order, from PHO. An account called The Winged One, paid for it in full just... this... morning," Parian said while eyeing the winged Endbringer.Taylor turned to stare really hard at her newest friend.[Coincidence!]

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Parian leaned back against her shop's counter. Her costume felt ten times heavier, as if she couldn't stand straight anymore. That had been, without any doubt, perhaps the second scariest thing that had ever happened to her.She'd received the order for that dress before Leviathan attacked Brockton Bay. Before Queen Administrator supposedly triggered. And it fit the Simurgh perfectly.Swallowing hard, Parian vowed that she was going to start drinking. Her new shop assistant stepped out of the back room. "Is she gone?" she whispered."She's gone, you can come out now, Emma. There's nothing to fear."

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The Great Picnic Panic — Part Two

The Great Picnic Panic — Part TwoMay 30th, 2011.Morning of the Great Picnic Panic "Okay, so first thing's first," Taylor said as she walked in front of her friends like one of those people in front of a walking band. She contemplated getting one of those twirly sticks, but she'd probably just fudge it up.Behind her, the Simurgh floated along a few feet in the air, looking around her as though unused to being on ground level. Leviathan came in the rear of their little procession, making surprisingly little noise as he dipped under electrical wires and around streetlamps. "What we need," Taylor continued. "Are things to set up a picnic. Last time was alright, but it was only two people... sorry Levi, I mean three people, but only two of them were eating. We'll probably have quite a few important people coming over, and we'll need to take care of them."{Affirmative.}[Affirmative.]"Yeah. This time we'll have even more guests. So what do you guys think we'll need to make this the awesomest picnic ever?"{Unit-02 suggests large quantities of liquids.}"O-kay," Taylor said. "Uh, I think you meant something to drink, right? Yeah, we'll need drinks. But not alcohol because most of us are too young for that. So, uh, yeah, drinks, that's good."The Simurgh pressed a hand to her face. [Exasperation.]"Well, if you know so much more about it what would you suggest?" Taylor asked. She waited at an intersection to cross, but the car that had moments ago seemed as if it was going to cut her off stopped, the driver within staring at her friends with wide eyes. She took that as a sign that she could go.[Suggestion. Invite additional organic acquaintances. Invite inorganic acquaintance, 'Dragon.' Acquire edible foodstuffs.]"Oh, Dragon! You're right. And yeah, we need food. Uh, I don't know if I have enough at home to feed everyone though." Taylor kept walking. She felt like skipping actually, but there were so many people looking at her that it might have been a little embarrassing.[Suggestion. Acquire foodstuffs via direct purchase.]Taylor winced. "I, uh, don't really have much money.{Unit-02 suggests taking foodstuffs by force. Genocide protocols ready.}"What? Just kill everyone in a supermarket and run? You know, they might trace that back to us," she pointed out. There was a man walking nearby who jumped out of her way and almost fainted when what she said registered.{Unit-02 capable of Terminating Organics while making it look like Natural Causes. Instant Dehydration is a Natural Cause of Termination Amongst Organics.}"Hmm, no, better not. Thanks for the, uh, idea though," she said. "We want people to be less afraid. Unless they're our enemies, in which case more afraid would probably be better, I suppose."[Smug. Have Currency.]"What?" Taylor stopped mid-step and turned to face the Simurgh. "Where? When did you get it? For that matter, where are you hiding it?"[Correction. Currency not in vicinity. Targets of Termination yesterday subjects of Bounty. Suggestion. Collect Bounty Owned.]Taylor cast her mind back to yesterday and the fights they'd sorta been in. The Simurgh had killed that Siberian person by making her pop. And she had sung Shatterbird to death. The Slaughterhouse Nine were rather infamous and she trusted the Simurgh when she said that they had bounties. She shrugged. "Sounds as good as any idea I had."

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Timothy was doing well. Oh, sure, that little kerfuffle last week had been... terrifying, but when it ended he had gotten a pat on the back from Legend-Legend!-and someone must have dropped a good word in somewhere because now he wasn't an intern anymore but a full-time employee of the ENE branch of the PRT.It felt really good to finally be moving up in the world. It was this indescribable feeling of accomplishment that made him want more.That's why he'd agreed to take a shift at the reception desk on Monday morning. It was the quietest time of the week, so it was perfect for him to gain a bit of experience on the job.He was just zoning out, thinking of Jenifer the girl who was usually taking care of reception, when the doors at the far end of the lobby opened. He sat straighter, blinking back to full alertness when he recognized the cape stepping in.Queen Administrator in all of her tasseled glory paused at the door. Timothy plastered an almost-genuine smile on and nodded at the girl. He didn't like her, per-se, but she hadn't caused too much trouble beyond that fiasco with the tsunami the other day and she'd been playing nice ever since.That, and there were about a half dozen Troopers stationed all over the room.He was also introduced to the Button. Turrets and other nasty traps were hidden in the ceiling and walls. He could summon with a press of the Button.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.So, her pet Endbringer was probably waiting outside while its master came in for something. He'd help her along, be as polite and as nice as possible, and soon enough he'd get a nice raise out of it. And if she did something weird or dangerous, he'd press the Button.The floor to ceiling window next to the doors began to vibrate, the screws all around it spinning so fast that they smoked before the entire window popped out of the wall with a little 'plok' sound and floated off to one side. The Simurgh flew in, wearing a dress and a fedora.He pressed the Button.Nothing happened."Oh, hey, you're the same reception person as last time! Well, I guess you do work here and all," Queen Administrator said as she flounced over.He didn't even know girls could actually flounce outside of novels. But here she was, smile visible in the shadows cast by her hood. The Simurgh floated up and behind her, taking advantage of the high ceiling in the lobby area. The Endbringer smiled.One of the troopers fainted.Timothy wanted to faint too. "How, how can I help you," he squeaked."Oh, right. Um, I'm here to collect a bounty. Well, actually, she's the one who's here to collect, but you guys can't hear her speaking in the back of your heads like I can and I don't think she can sing her request to you without the whole explodey brain thing, so yeah, I'm here to collect a bounty on behalf of the Simurgh." Queen Administrator's smile was a little sheepish, as if she knew that she had rambled a bit and was kind of embarrassed about it.It was almost cute. Like a little girl that was trying to act like an adult. The Simurgh's smile grew into a smirk and any thought of that sort died a horrible death. 'O-okay!" he said.There was a protocol for this sort of thing, he knew. A few clicks later while Queen Administrator bounced on the balls of her feet, and he found it. It was pretty simple. Make sure the claim was verified, then make the cape wait as long as possible, try to subtly encourage them to join up, then, if that failed, ask for banking information so that the money could be transferred over within the next thirty business days."Wh-which bounties, exactly?" he asked Queen Administrator. Maybe he's just focused on her he could pretend that the Simurgh wasn't right there. He really, really hoped that one of the troopers had called this one in."Uh, right. Silly me, I forgot that bit." She laughed and he joined in though for the life of him he didn't know why. "The Siberian and Shatterbird. Oh, and Hatchet Face. And Skidmark and Squealer if they had bounties."Timothy parsed that for a few seconds. "F-from the Slaughterhouse Nine?" he asked.He had the impression that under the hood, Queen Administrator had just blinked. "Are there any other capes with the same name?""N-no, no, uh, let me just... yeah." He bent back over his console and brought up the relevant files. It was his turn to blink. That was a lot of zeroes. In fact, all the Slaughterhouse bounties were pretty hefty. None of them had been confirmed dead but, well, he wasn't going to argue that Queen Administrator didn't have the firepower to pull it off."Um, no bounty on Skidmark and Squealer, I'm afraid. Um, that means that killing them was, uh, illegal." With a quick bit of reading he discovered, much to his dismay, that he now had to inform Queen Administrator that she could, technically, be placed under arrest once she collected the bounty and left the vicinity of the headquarters.Queen Administrator stiffened at that. "I didn't do it," she said way too quickly for anyone to believe her.He decided not to argue when the Simurgh nodded behind her. "I-I yes. Okay. Um." He looked at the instructions. The next part of the protocol was basically to stall until a recruiter came down to talk to the cape. He decided to skip that bit. "Do you have your banking information with you?""Oh, cheese and crackers. I didn't think of that." She looked up and over her shoulder at the Simurgh. "Do you have one?" The Simurgh didn't move in any noticeable way, but that seemed enough for Queen Administrator who turned back around. "She doesn't. Can we take it in cash?"There were no protocols for that. Also, the sum he was looking at was in the millions and he doubted there was that much laying around. "Um.""Okay, so, how about you just give me what you have on hand, and we'll come back later for the rest? Like, in a few days or something? It's mostly to buy sandwiches and stuff for a picnic."Timothy closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath through his mouth and out his nose. "I've got a few twenties on me," he finally said.

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