Bad Ending [digimon Apocalyptic Rogue-Lite

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Worm CYOA, Kitsu 1 [NSFW]

86 — 109 minutes

A/N Duality

Alt title: The Tale of The Red and Blue Oni

I wrote this chapter with an injured hand

I was told to rest... but only I decide when I'm done.

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melone17009: It really is, and it's even sadder when you realize Melody learned she wasn't Kitsu, and then had to listen to the woman she came to view and call her mother, discuss how to get

rid of her.

FreakShowMilotic: It's like having everyone you know and love suddenly hate or fear you, for no reason other than the fact that you exist.

Guest: So Kitsu is not

truly mixed with a fox, she's mixed with random assortments of canid and felid DNA that was contaminating her wounds when she triggered. She just happens to look like a fox, and fully embraces the image. Her favorite fox is the Fennec Fox.

RadChaos897: Melody didn't turn herself in on a whim, she watched as everyone she loved regarded her with hate, fear and disgust and it broke her. Granted she didn't help the situation with how she was acting out. But remember, she's mentally Kitsu, she did what Kitsu would do in an existential crisis. Do whatever the fuck she felt like with any regard for the consequences to distract herself. Except with people she

liked being there, that became harder to do. She was 100% going to kill Shadow Stalker, until she noticed the look of horror on Missy's face. In the end, she just lost the will to do anything and fell into a depression as the situation was shoved in her face, so she said fuck it.

Jaime is pregnant, no way in hell would Piggot let her near the superpowered biokinetic.

Melody is as ageless as Kitsu, and she isn't as invincible. And she doesn't have Kitsu Dynakinesis. But her biokinesis makes Amy look like your standard EMT.

And Melody is a straight up chimera. A more physically imposing version of Kitsu more geared for direct combat and battlefield manipulation. Noelle needed a field commander, and Melody was made to fit that role.

Grimnosh: Get out of my head.

Guest:...

Random Dude: And I love you too, Random Dude!

Deus-Ex-Machina: Here is the update!

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-Date, Time-

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

(Text)

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-Tuesday, October 19th, 2010, Early Morning-

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Kitsu POV

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"My head." I groan in pain, placing a hand to my head as I feel a presence other than [Conduit] pushing on my mind. "Ugh."

One moment I was infecting Noelle with a rapid degenerative cell disorder that caused her body to overproduce vitamin A. Forcing her skin and muscles to strip off her bones like over cooked pulled pork. The next, everything starts to go dark as she collapses.

'Must have collapsed on top of me.' I think to myself as I stand up on shaky legs, stumbling a bit off balanced from the weight in my body and the headache I'm forced to endure. 'Kill them, they're trying to hurt your mother.'

"Argh!" I place another hand to my forehead in pain. "Shut up." I hiss and shake my head.

That is not [Conduit] and it is certainly not me. And it's nothing else I recognize of the top of my head. Not that I can really think given-

Kill

... That.

I look, trying to focus my ears, but finding my body not willing to listen. And thus rendering me unable to focus on any sound. Making me have to rely on my eyes to look around. Not really something I'm used to.

Kill Kill

'Shut up!' I roar back in my mind. 'Seriously, do you know any other words?'

Kill Protect Mother

'Well, ask and ye shall receive, I guess.' I nearly scoff at myself, taking a deep breath and inhaling the ripe, coppery scent of all the fresh blood. But nothing else... and once again, I can't seem to focus on any scents. Leaving me in the dark to most of my senses.

Opening my eyes, I look up and my heart drops. Seeing me standing so close to Vicky. But that's not me, me is here. She is not me! Vicky is near a not-me!

'Shit, I got cloned!' I grit my teeth in panic and rush forward. Pushing through despite the weight I feel dragging me down.

Kill

First thing's first. I need to get rid of the controller. If Noelle has my DNA then it doesn't matter how I kill the clone. More will just pop up like a lethal game of Whack-A-Fox.

No, Fox Hunt?

Kill

'Okay!' I answer back, though I'm almost certain the line of communication is one way. 'You want someone to die!? How about the mastermind!?'

Should've specified! Oh well, sucks to be whatever telepathic clone tried mind controlling me.

"No!" Noelle gets up and backpedals away from my clone, though I don't have time to contemplate it. "No please not-"

She doesn't get any more words out as I drive my hand through her head. My biokinesis automatically connecting to her system for some reason. Which is odd, seeing as my powers aren't automatic like that. Regardless, I brush it off and let her corpse fall. Dropping with a wet splash into the human soup pooling around out feet.

"What the fuck!?" Vicky freaks out and flies back from the mess, deftly avoiding getting more blood on her outfit. Not that it's worth anything, that pretty white dress is practically a biohazard at this point.

'I'm sorry, Noelle.' I lament the loss of the poor girl as her lifeless corpse lays there, undignified in a mess of blood and guts. 'I wanted to save you, but you're too dangerous. Maybe if I got to you sooner.'

Just going to quietly ignore the fact that I... a hundred percent had the chance.

Oh hey! The voice is gone.

"Ah~... That's better. Nice and silent." I let out a sigh, closing my eyes and opening them after a deep breath, facing Vicky and my clone. "After all, you should know how I hate being told what to do."

Don't know why I said that, not like she heard the voice in my head. Or maybe she did. Actually, come to thing of it. Where did that voice come from? Does my clone have a stronger version of my Love Me power?

"... Fuck." My clone utters out. Before angrily stomping her foot in the bloody soup. "I just fixed that!"

"Hmm?" I look her dead in the eyes, then down to the corpse of the clone maker. 'She would be loyal to Noelle, but what does she mean by, fix?' "Well I didn't like it." I shrug, deciding not to dwell on it as I kick the body out of the way. Flicking my hand and cleaning it of the blood coating it.

"Kitsu." Vicky says in a low tone, shifting her gaze between me and the clone.

"Not now, Victory Gal." I say and suddenly notice a chill run across my body. Looking down, I keep myself from showing my embarrassment as I realize I'm flashing the two. 'Oh well, it's just Vicky.' "Oh! Didn't mean to put on a show."

'No, wait, why am I naked?' I think as I improvise a solution to my modesty dilemma. Reaching into the soup of flesh and gore with my biokinesis, I figure it couldn't hurt to make a little leather and cloth. So long as it's organic-

'Too much, too much, TOO MUCH!' I start to panic as my biokinesis reaches out and drags in way more than I wanted. Feeding me biomass en mass.

In the midst of getting my powers under control. I notice that... I'm not me. My physiology is wrong. My spine isn't supposed to be shaped like that, my tail isn't that long, where are all the fur follicles I have to keep turning off in the morning!?

'No... no that...' It all clicks together as I finish my clothes. 'I'm... not her.'

I'm the clone.

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-Tuesday, October 19th, 2010, 4am, Evac Site-

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Kitsu POV

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I stand here silently as the newly named Melody gets taken away. Secured with seven different types of restraints around her neck, wrists, and ankles. Not that any seem to really bother her as she's put into the back of the car along with Armsmaster and Triumph to keep an eye on her. Not that I think they could do anything, but it's better than nothing I suppose.

Feeling a hand on my back, I look up to see my Mom. A stern look on her face as always as she nudges me to move. Guiding me away to a quieter spot to discuss what just happened.

"About... Melody... do you have any idea on how to actually take care of her?" Mom asks me quietly, leading me away from the wider commotion.

"Cookies and milk?" I suggest and giver a shrug when she glares at my sarcastic answer. "How should I know?"

"..." She returns me a flat stare. "... Come on. Can you at least say what her powers are?"

"Hmm... so you know how Amy can do just about anything with organic matter?" I prompt. "And how I can as well, I just suck at it compared to her."

"Basically, go on." She nods.

"She doesn't suck." I tell her.

"So we basically have-"

"And she's better than Amy." I continue.

"... Does she-" Mom starts.

"And she regenerates." I tell her. "You can cut her head off or you could sneeze on her for all it'll be worth."

Mom waits a few seconds. Opens her mouth, then closes it to test me Speaking when she's sure I won't interrupt her.

"... you got all this from your thinker power?" She asks.

"I got all that from fighting her." I explain. "She's... a bit of a blind spot for me."

"You can identify nearly anyone of note and their powers, how is she the exception?" Mom asks.

"Because I am my own blind spot." I tell her before admitting the uncomfortable truth. "She's... she's not a clone, not the way the others are."

She seems to take that... about as well as one would expect. Eyes widening slightly as she looks off to the side in thought for a bit.

"Explain." Mom demands, looking back to me.

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Miss Militia POV

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"For one, she killed Noelle, the girl creating the clones." Kitsu explains. "All of the clones are supposed to be unquestioningly loyal to their creator, and harbor a deep hatred for the loved ones of their original."

"How do you know she doesn't hate us?" Brandish asks.

"You're still alive?" She suggests. "Anyway, it's, mentally, Melody is me."

'I knew there was something off about the clone.' I think to myself as I tap my earpiece, sending the recording to Director Piggot.

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-Sometime later, Random Rooftop where Firebreather left Crystal-

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Kitsu POV

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"Here she is." Firebreather says, having guided me to Crystal's body. Left on a roof in the middle of the city.

Dead on the rooftop, her glossy eyes stare hauntingly towards the sky. Unmoving and certainly unseeing.

"... I told you, she's gone." Firebreather says somberly as he walks across the roof and leans against the ledge.

I go ahead and touch her face anyway. Seeing if there's anything I can do.

She's cool to the touch. Not cold, but cool enough that it's started damaging her brain and internal structures. I... I can bring her back, but I'm not sure I can just casually raise her from the dead without people asking questions. Not like with Gully's death to blood loss and how it was just a matter of saying she was merely unconscious. To say nothing of how intensive it is. It should be easier than bringing Rachel back. I mean, her cells had undergone apoptosis from literally being put on ice. Crystal's just been dead about an hour. And a quick glance tells me it was spinal trauma. Easily fixed.

"How many people know?" I ask Fire in a low, conspiratorial whisper.

"Know what?" Firebreather asks in return.

"How many know she's dead?" I look up at him.

"... Vicky... Amy, I think Miss Militia might know." He says with a shrug; staring at the ground in thought as he tries to recall who all he told. "I... I'm not sure. I wasn't, I haven't been paying attention all that much in the last hour. I haven't told Sarah yet, not sure how I'm going to do that."

"You're going to admit you're an idiot who jumped to conclusions." I tell him firmly.

I can bring her back, she's not too far gone. It'll be difficult, and I might get a few things wrong. But so long as I get her brain up and running on all cylinders, get her up just enough to be alive, Amy can do the rest. Hell, if not for the glossy eyes and lack of a heartbeat, she's in perfect condition.

Going to have to replace those lenses though, too dry.

"Excuse me?" He scoffs angrily, pushing off the ledge and marching towards us. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, that you are going to act like the big himbo dummy everyone thinks you are as I heal Crystal." I tell him sweetly.

"Heal, heal death?" He growls, moving into the angsty anger phase of the grieving process.

'Wonder what happens to that whole process when it get cuts halfway through?' I quietly wonder in the back of my mind. While my main thought is— 'Shut the hell up and take the hint, lizard boy!'

"Your body temp is much higher than everyone else's." I keep trying to lead the idiot on. "It's easy for you to mistake-"

"She doesn't have a pulse!" He roars, baring his teeth as his chest glows. Flames licking the sides of mouth as he flares up in anger. "Stop trying to make this seem like it is what it isn't!"

I squint hard at him as he starts breathing heavier. "... is what it is... isn't what... What is that even supposed to mean?"

He pauses, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Kitsu... I know you have your own way of dealing with things." He says, opening his eyes and giving me the saddest, kicked puppy look ever. Calming himself down and losing the glow. "But this isn't the time. Just... I don't... please, please stop. I'm not sure I can handle much more." He says solemnly; looking off to the side as he can't seem to meet my eye.

"... Wow, Crystal likes'em dum." I sigh and begin reviving her. "Fire, if you tell anyone what you're about to see. I'm going to deny it and then make up some career ruining rumors about you."

"What are you-"

"And trust me when I say it'll be some heinous crap." I keep rambling on as I start fixing her. "I mean documentary level crap that'll-"

"Guh!" Crystal interrupts me as she gasps for air.

Well, it's more accurate to say that it's Crystal's body. She's still like, four fifths deader than disco. And three fifths, no, I'm not making that joke.

"Crap, I didn't mean to fix that part yet." I say as her brainstem freaks out, reading the lack of responses from her brain as signs of oxygen depravation.

It's not wrong, but I don't need it freaking out like this! It's distracting.

"Crystal!" Firebreather kneels down and tries to cradle her.

"Back off." I shove him back, unintentionally putting more force into the I mean putting enough force into the shove to push him all the way back against the ledge fifteen feet away.

"Ack!" He coughs out a bit of blood. Probably some left over from the fighting earlier. Definitely not my fault.

It takes him all of two minutes as Firebreather recovers from his coughing fit. Though once he does, he just starts another back and forth. Getting angrier and angrier as I refuse to answer him until I just ignore him. And eventually, I manage to get Crystal functioning as a normal human being!

Well... as normal as someone like her can get at least.

"Puh!" She gasps, eyes shooting wide open before snapping shut as the freshly remade and inexperienced lenses get their first taste of light.

Lucky it wasn't daytime! That'd suck!

"Wow, there really are no consequences to anything for me." I let out a little chuckle as I feel the existential dread of nihilism start to wash over me as I recall how bullshit some of my powers are at making various facts of reality meaningless in the face of my whims. "... Repressing that!" I say and stand up, patting off my shorts and thighs.

"What do you-" Crystal groggily asks, struggling to sit up.

"Oh he was just flirting with me while you were unconscious." I gesture to Firebreather, explaining the situation to my cousin. "Said some real creepy stuff. I'm almost flattered, honestly. But still, no one should be talking about what kind of lingerie they'd like to see a thirteen year old wear." I say. And while they both stare at me in confusion, I walk over to the ledge and give them a two fingered salute. "Deuces!" I say and let myself fall over.

I'll let the idiot deal with that misunderstanding. See what happens when you act dumb around me while I'm tired.

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Finally, bed sweet bed. Where I can now rest my weary head, now that the beast is dead. And tomorrow I'll awake to a breakfast and be fed. I ran out of words to rhyme with bed. That being said-

"Kitsu!" Mom calls my name just as I lay head down to rest.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH! COME ON!" I cry out as a I roll over and off my bed. Pausing briefly as I fall over onto my face with a thunk. "... Ow."

I give it a few moments. Hopefully it's nothing too important and she'll just let me sleep. That way I can-

She's coming up the stairs. Darn, and the floor was getting so comfy.

She at least has the courtesy to knock before entering, so that's considerate at least. If only she had a bit more courtesy to let me sleep. Contrary to popular belief, foxes are not nocturnal. And neither am I!

Unless there's a tournament in CoD. Then it's rock on, all night long like ACDC. Healthy? No. But I'm immortal and incapable of being harmed, so suck it normies.

"Kitsu." Mom says as she opens my door without waiting for me to answer. "We need to talk."

"I mean, do we need to?" I say, though it's muffled by the floor and sounds more like. "Ai men, doh we eet oo?"

"Get up." She says and nudges the side of my head with her foot. "This is serious."

"Whaaaaaaat?" I groan and roll over. "Why, why must you torture me." I switch to my best Smeagle voice, reaching up at her and making grabby hands. "Iz likes youz wants me's to suffers!"

"We need to talk about everything that happened." Mom says. "And no, it cannot wait."

"Ugh." I groan and slowly get to my feet. Careful to avoid crunching the base of my tail against the floor as I sit up.

Turning around, I lean forward and raise my tail, resting it on my bed. Giving me room to plant my bum against the side. Leaning lazily against the lovely, sacred home of sweet unconsciousness I yearn for.

... I get extra when stressed.

"Okay, what's up?" I tiredly ask through half lidded eyes, crossing my arms under my chest as I resist a yawn.

"Have you seen Pinky or Gully?" Mom asks seriously.

"No." I let out the yawn. "Saw Gully's clone, so that's... well it's certainly not good news."

They're probably dead. And while I am a bit sad about that, I didn't really know them that long. Maybe I'm desensitized to death, or maybe I'm just messed up. But I can't help but see the situation for what it is.

"That's not funny." Mom glowers at me.

"I'm not joking." I tell her. "The only way a clone is made, is if Noelle had access to the original's DNA. And if the original isn't around, it's safe to say Noelle ate them."

"Fuck." Mom hisses; covering her mouth as she turns away and slowly paces back and forth in front of me. "... That's... damn it."

"If their bodies are found, I can probably bring them back so long as their brains are intact." I offer. "But considering how I collapsed Noelle and they weren't inside her." I don't say the rest out of consideration for Mom's current state. No need to spell it out.

"Is that what happened with Crystal?" Mom asks in a low tone.

"What are you talking about?" I ask innocently, finding a random spot on my wall to be very interesting. "Crystal didn't die."

I think it's a bit off color. My room's walls are French Rose, but that spot looks more Hot Pink.

"Kitsu." She mutters in a low tone, like someone might hear us despite the only people in the house being me and her. "Did you bring Crystal back from the dead?"

"... No?" I hazard to say, playing dumb for all my worth and current energy. "She was always not dead."

"Damnit, Kitsu!" Mom groans and runs a hand through her hair, pacing away towards my door.

"Wow! Didn't know you hated Crystal that much." I say with a yawn. "If it means that much, I can always undo it. Not that hard, really."

"That's not the point." She hisses, turning around and marching back towards me. "What am I supposed to tell Sarah? Firebreather is already freaking out over the whole thing and Crystal is confused as hell. What are we going to do if it gets out that you can raise the dead?"

"Just tell everyone that Firebreather's an idiot who can't tell a corpse from a coma patient." I shrug. "Not like it's a hard sell."

"Kitsu, if it gets out that you can revive the dead, we'll have hell to pay." Mom reminds me. "Not just from the religious communities, but every schizophrenic conspiracy theorist and grieving widow and orphan will come out of the god damned wood works. To say nothing of the what the government will do."

"Heh." I snicker at the implications at the mention of hell.

You'd think Piggot or Cauldron would be coming out and trying something with that information. But I guess for all of their faults and incompetency, even they know the dangers of that info getting out.

"This isn't funny." Mom glares. "I'm glad you saved Crystal, but you need to be more careful."

"My hero mother telling me not to save people." I cover my mouth and feign a gasp.

"Not..." Mom takes a deep breath and shakes her head. "Lord give me patience."

"Isn't it lord give me strength?" I tilt my head in question.

"If I pray for strength I'm likely to use it to strangle someone." She practically growls.

"So that's where Vicky gets it from." I say, recalling the few times she's threatened to strangle me. Okay it was one time after I superglued the caps of her nail polish shut.

In my defense, she did bust into my room mid stream.

"I... I'm ignoring that for your sake." Mom says and pulls out her phone. "Because there are even more pressing issues we need to talk about, like this." Mom says as she hands it to me with a video pulled up.

"Hey that's me!" I say happily as the video plays.

"Momma I'm so sorry~ I've been awful naughty~" My voice just barely comes through over the sound of the carnage I unleash on the horde of clones.

"... Just... why?" She asks tiredly. "You know we have an image to maintain. And slaughtering clones with a smile on your face does nothing to help our cause."

"Because you left me unsupervised under a full moon~" I sing out and give a little twirl.

"Kitsu that's not-" She pauses to look out the window. "It's not even a full moon!"

"Since when has the lunar cycle ever been needed to account for me being me?" I cheekily ask; tilting my head and smiling.

"Kitsu!" She shouts.

"Reporting for duty!" I stand straight; stomping my foot and give her a salute.

"Take this seriously, little lady." Mom practically growls.

"I'm trying, and failing." I tell her and bow at the waist. "And for that, I apologize."

"..." Mom takes a deep breath. "Kitsu... you have five seconds, to take this seriously. Or so help me god, your PC is going in the firepit."

'Can we roast marshmallows over it!?' I just barely stop myself from saying.

"I just wanna sleep." I whine and tiredly slouch. Ears and tail drooping. "Why doesn't anyone want that for me?"

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-Thursday, October 21st, 10am, The Rig-

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Melody POV

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Drip, drip, drip, drip

'Multitrillion dollar government complex.' I think bitterly as I stare at the faucet. 'Can't make a bathroom without a leaky sink.'

My eyes drift up, away from the irritating chrome pipe until they meet those of the girl in the mirror. Staring at her bright violet orbs, I turn my head to the left... then turn it to the right. Staring at the reflection in the mirror, noting the minute differences, as well as the more glaringly obvious ones. I smile, taking a finger and hook it on my upper lip. Lifting up the soft flesh, I inspect my teeth.

They're so much sharper than I remember. Sure my canines were always pointier than the next gal, but in a more cute kind of way. But now my premolars are pointier as well.

'Stop that!' I snap at myself, removing my finger as I glare at the girl in the mirror. 'They never were anything. They've always been that way, you've always been this way. Sooner you accept that, the sooner you get over yourself.'

I know enough to recognize that. But even so, as I stare at the uncanny image in the mirror, I can't help but reminisce. And I start to redden my hair a bit, going from platinum blonde to a more golden strawberry blonde, receding my horns into my skull and changing the color of my eyes from violet to teal. And with a bit more effort, I manage to make a pair of fox ears pop out the top of my head.

'Keets! Hurry up!' I can practically hear Vicky shout as I stare back at myself. Picturing an angry and inpatient sister on the other side of the door-

"STOP IT!" I roar in anger and put my fist through the glass. Shattering the mirror; breaking the reflection as shards of the reflective material imbed themselves in my skin.

I stare down at the sink, drops of blood drip onto the shattered mirror fragments. Staining the porcelain red, brown and orange. Blood, my blood, just another thing that tells me I'm not who I am. That I'm not me, not her. She doesn't bleed, no matter what, yet I do.

Pulling my fist away from the shattered glass, I let out a shaky breath and flex my fingers. Watching as my healing factor pushes the broken fragments from my flesh to mend itself. And in less than ten seconds, it's like nothing ever happened.

Looking up into the mirror, I watch the newly made kaleidoscope as the girl in the mirror changes. Ears receding back into her head as black horns grow from the back of the skull, crowning her head. Teal eyes returning to their violent hue as the reflection silently cries.

"Stop it." I look back down into the sink, away from the pitiful sight. "This isn't you. Whoever you are, you aren't some pathetic little girl who cries in the bathroom."

Looking back up at the mirror, and quietly wonder why they'd give me access to something like this. I mean, glass is easily turned into a weapon.

'Then again.' I think to myself as the head of my arrow pointed tail slinks in front of me. With a silent command, I feel the skin shift and harden into dermal denticles. Replacing the enamel coating with a denser iron infused organic makeup. Making it shine black as it becomes a large limpet tooth. 'I suppose it doesn't really make a difference what they give me access to.'

It was so easy to do. So easy to change, like breathing. I just know how to do certain things.

I try to use my illusion, to pull on my connection to energy. But it isn't there. I can't feel anything on that front. And when I search for a source of energy, all I find is a mess in my Corona Gemma. I don't know what it means, and I can't seem to contact [Conduit] to figure it out either.

[Conduit, one of the few ever present constants in my life. No longer there. Gone... like everything else.

'You never had anything.' I remind myself. 'Nothing is gone, because you didn't have anything to lose.'

I have nothing. I have to keep telling myself that I don't have anything, that these memories are fake and that they aren't mine.

"I love you, kiddo." I hear Dad's voice echo as small droplets of water mix with the blood in the sink.

Drip, drip, drip, drip

At least the faucet stopped leaking.

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-Few hours later, research lab-

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"Your regeneration is... honestly absurd." Head Researcher Jamez notes as they continually try burning through the flesh of my hand with a laser. "... Honestly fascinating."

But the more they damage me, the faster I regenerate. It really is absurd and quite the novelty. It's like my body is capable of automatically determining the severity of the damage and how much effort it's worth putting in to fix.

"It seems the release of stress hormones in your body triggers local autonomic regeneration." He says, telling me what I already figured out. "Even if consciously unaware of any damage, the body sees to restoring you to a predetermined state much like the baseline subject."

Oh, it's worth mentioning that they have me gassed up, so I'm not all here for this. Something about testing if awareness or stress has an effect or something. Sounds messed up, and it is. But it's fine, I consented to this whole thing. I'm aware that they're looking for ways to control or get of me, I just can't find it in me to care all that much since I have nothing better to do. And I'm fairly certain they can't kill me. Because even I haven't figured a way to do so yet.

Besides, the gas is kinda nice. Makes my head loopy and helps pass the time. Heck, by the time I come to, I'm already in my room again.

"..." I smack my lips a bit, feeling a peculiar sensation run across my tongue. "...Why do I taste strawberries?"

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-Saturday, October 23rd, 5pm, Scarecrow's lab, East Slums-

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Joseph "Scarecrow" Crane POV

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"Fuck." I collapse down into my chair and rip my gloves off, tossing them on my desk. Letting them breath in the cool autumn air a bit before pulling my mask off. Letting it hang in my hand as it goes limp with exhaustion.

I run my free hand over my face. Groaning as I feel the weight of everything I've been dealing with get transferred onto the chair I'm in. Surprised the shitty piece of furniture hasn't cracked under the weight.

I'm practically down to a skeleton crew. I have three capes under my name and one of them is a psychopathic serial killer I can barely keep under control. The cars that Mechanic made are starting to fail without his maintenance, not to mention how most of his garage's have been getting raided by the PRT. And with the PRT's newest hero Overdrive on the streets, my boys are losing the one tactical advantage we had. Aside from numbers that is, and even that is dwindling as the attacks keep coming.

"Ugh... I fucked up." I groan.

I know Overdrive is Steve, The Mechanic. Overdrive's debut and the timing it had with the raids on the garage sites, not to mention the hero's preference for muscle cars.

I don't regret trying to put Steve out of commission. His alcoholism and recklessness were drawing too much heat. By the time he got arrested, having drunkenly drove into a police station, I knew he was becoming more than he was worth. But then I discover that he turned himself in. At that point it wasn't even a question, he was a liability and a loose end. I only regret my impatience in putting him down, I should have waited until we got back and slipped some trazadone in his beer.

'Your father never let his anger get the best of him.' I feel a wave of anger wash over me. 'You'll never make him proud, much less avenge him at this rate.'

It's not like I'm not trying! But even my attempts to defame Manpower only had middling results. What with all that happened in the following days, the former leader of the Brockton Bay Brigade's folly quickly became old news.

Now we have The Empire, in their desperate struggle to keep control, lashing out at the edges of my western territories. Made even worse by how the monster's wrecked my territory the most. And then there's the ABB, who've have been ruthless in their pushes at my southern borders. Along with Ginabog and Bakuda getting into explosive dick measuring contests along Winslow and the Industrial district to the further west.

"Should rename the ABB to the Kamikaze Crew." I mutter to myself.

I should be planning, making up new schemes to regain control or get back at the old guard of Brockton Bay Brigade. But... I'm just so fucking wiped. Dealing with everything has left me so tired... I just need a day. A day is all I ask.

"So this is what's become of the infamous, master of fear." I hear a man say from the door.

'I guess a day is too much to fucking ask for!' I snap around, turning to face the dead man who just barged into my office lab.

One hand on my revolver as I loosen the straps on my mask with the other hand. Getting ready to slide it on in a second in case I need a more... caustic solution.

"Wow, and I thought I was holding up well for my age." The curly brown haired, middle aged man chuckles. "You've barely aged a day, in fact I'd say you look even... younger?"

"You have ten seconds to explain yourself." I tell him, holding the gun up as he tilts his head in confusion.

The gun doesn't seem to phase him at all. So either he's insane, on drugs, or has a power that makes him confident the gun won't do anything. And judging by the focus in his eyes, and the steadiness of posture, he's not high. So insane, or powerful. Knowing my luck, it' probably both.

"... You're not Johnathan." He suddenly says, making my breath hitch.

Johnathan was my father's name. You'd think that'd offer me some comfort. But my father had a lot of enemies.

"Who are you?" I demand to know and cock the hammer back.

"... Little Joey?" He squints, and my heart nearly stops, finally recognizing the voice. "Is that you? My, I've been gone a long time."

'Only three people ever called me that.' I think, recalling the trio of individuals.

"... Mr. Lavere?" I whisper, almost not believing my own words.

"Mr. Lavere, feels weird hearing that from you after so long." He smiles warmly. "You always were such a polite child."

.

.

"Sorry, but whiskey is all I have on me." I tell him as I pour us some shots. "Most of my alcohol goes to my tinkering."

"Never thought I'd see the day you were running your own gang." He says, easily accepting the glass I offered. "You were always so mild mannered."

'He's too trusting.' I almost scoff. 'What if I poisoned the glass?'

"Life has its ways of forcing us to adapt." I sigh and sit down with him at my cleared off work table. "Times change, either we change too, or time leaves us behind."

"I'm realizing that more and more." He nods, idly turning the glass of brown in his hand. "it's not just the big things either, I mean, phones are so much smaller and do so much more now. To say nothing of the TV's I've seen on sale... gas prices are still outrageous. So that's comforting."

That one gets a chuckle out of me.

"Oh trust me, if running a gang has taught me anything, it's that overhead costs are no joke." I scoff and sip my shot.

"Most gangs leave the main overhead to the gang members." He tells me. "One of the benefits of running them."

"Most gangs fail to maintain control without a plethora of capes or at least a few powerhouses." I tell him. "I have a fifth of Brockton under my boot and with only three capes to my name."

"Another thing, just the sheer amount of capes in Brockton is staggering." He continues. "It was no surprise to find the Empire had taken a strong hold of Brockton after I was locked up. Even less of a surprise to see them collapsing as they have been." He rants off before taking a breath and quietly adding. "The AZN Bad Boyz, that was a bit of a surprise."

"Why's that?" I ask.

"Just never expected them." He shrugs. "And to say nothing of the sheer scale of some of these newer capes. I mean, turning into dragons, punching Endbringers, freezing the bay."

I carefully keep quiet about that last one. If he heard about Permafrost then he no doubt knows it was during a Merchant attack. But whether or not he knows I essentially killed her, well it's better I not leave any breadcrumbs.

"What happened to flying and super strength being all that was needed?" He mutters.

"You're starting to sound like an old man." I deflect his attention away from the topic.

"I feel more like a stranger in a strange land." He chuckles. "Everything is so different, yet oddly the same. Some places are the same, but run by different people. Some people are the same, but in different places."

"Just don't go off starting any sex cults." I scoff.

Seriously, that novel was a drug trip towards the end. Makes sense that it was written in the sixties.

"Oh you've actually read the book?" He asks. "Yeah... that book definitely didn't age well in some parts."

"Eh, I listened to the audiobook." I shrug.

"... What's an audiobook?" He asks.

"Okay I know for a fact that those were a thing during your time." I give the older man a pointed stare.

He just shrugs and shakes his head. Sighing, I briefly explain the concept to him, to which he said it sounds like reading for people who don't want to read. I told him it was for people with so much on their plates that they don't have time to sit down and read.

We agreed to disagree. And awkwardly settled into an uneasy silence.

"So... what happened to John... your father?" Mr. Lavere eventually asks.

"... New Wave happened." I say after downing another shot.

"Didn't know they were out for blood." He says cryptically. "Though some of them..."

"Not like that." I explain. "After you were put away, they went public with their identities. Started a whole movement based around public identities and accountability. Soon the press went into a frenzy uncovering the identities of every hero, villain, and vigilante." I say bitterly. "My father... he was one of those unlucky enough to get targeted."

"... So John, your father..."

"I walked in on him with a bottle of pills in one hand, and a note on the desk." I recount that dark day. "With his identity revealed, his doctorate was revoked and he was terminated from his job. Couldn't find another, no matter how much he tried. Add that with everything else, and the state was taking steps to take me away."

I stop talking as the memories start to come back. Leaving a bitter taste in my mouth that I can't quite place. I just know I don't like it.

"... Never figured him to... to be the type to... I'm so sorry." Mr. Lavere offers me his condolences. "... I... I know... no. I don't know how hard that must've been. No child deserves that, you certainly didn't."

"I don't need your pity." I tell him and down the rest of my shot. "Ah! It's been eight years, I've had time to accept it."

"Still, I haven't." He says solemnly, staring down into his drink. "I always figured that out of all of us, John would be most likely to get out of this life the cleanest. He was always so smart, so prepared... damn it." He leans back and rubs a hand over his face.

"He did." I let out a sarcastic laugh. "It was a year after you got locked up. He had gone straight, was working for some start up pharmaceuticals company."

"Yeah, that checks out." Mr. Lavere nods, then pauses. "Wait, you were ten when I got locked up. Are you even old enough to drink?"

"I'm twenty, but who cares?" I say and pour another shot of whiskey.

"... John would kill me to see me let you drink." Mr. Lavere gives a sad chuckle; shaking his head. "Damn... I'm getting sentimental in my old age. Never would have thought this is how things would have turned out."

He seems to have said that more to himself than to me. And I figure it's more personal than he's willing to divulge. So I leave it be.

"No one ever does." I sigh. "So, you're out." I look over to the former ruler of Brockton Bay. "How'd that happen?"

"Would you believe me if I said good behavior?" He jokes.

"Maybe in six more shots." I scoff. "So I'm guessing the Birdcage is empty?"

"Seems it's not just your old man's face you inherited." He grumbles, shaking his head. "What tipped you off?"

"I'll take that as a yes." I let out a sigh as I think about just how that's going to complicate things in the future. "As if things weren't complicated enough."

"Heh, that's life. If it's not one thing, it's another." He nods along with me. "But that's why we have friends to share the burdens it throws at us."

"... And there it is." I let out the breath I'd been holding in.

"Joey, you've done well so far." He turns his chair towards me. "But it's clear you're struggling."

"... And?" I scoff at the washed up villain. "You think you can do better? Time's have changed, there's more than a rag tag team of six teens with barely serviceable abilities and half a brain cell between them to contend with. And even then..." I let the rest go unsaid.

"Brockton Bay was my city, Joseph. And it will be again." He says, a hand firmly on my shoulder. "You can have your place, by my side, just as your father did. Keep your own slice of hell to rule without watching your back, waiting for the inevitable blade. You don't have to live in squalor like this. You can make your father proud and-"

"I did not live in the trainyard, on the run from my father's enemies for three years." I cut him off. "Build my reputation up and seize control of the merchants, turn the slums from a boulevard of drug dens to a system of half decent neighborhoods and functioning communities, just for you to come in and give me that half assed sales pitch." I turn a glare on my father's former boss. "I'll let you leave, out of respect for the friendship you and my father held. But don't think I don't know you turned yourself in, your surrender kickstarted the events that killed my father. I don't hold you as culpable in his demise as New Wave, but don't think for a second that I won't ruin you like I'll ruin them if you stand in my way."

We stare at each other for a long while. My hardened glare wearing down his softer, contemplating gaze. Eventually, he breaks, turning his gaze away in defeat.

"We could've left it there. But you had to keep talking." He sighs, then looks back up with a steely gaze. "But I can't have you targeting New Wave."

Before I can react, I gasp as a sharp burning pain spreads throughout my gut. Looking down, I see a white bone imbedded in my side. Leading from its target to where it originates in The Marquis' hand.

"I-I gave you a chance." I look up and grit out. "You ungrateful relic."

"I could say the same to you, kid." He says and stands up, pulling his hand back with a thick squelch. Revealing the bone to have been more than long enough to run me through and pierce my aorta, judging by the position and angle at least. "And I mean that, but I'm not willing to take chances with what I've already sacrificed so much to protect."

'What on earth is he protecting?' I think to myself. 'No, wrong thing to focus on!'

"It seems we have something we agree on then." I cough up some blood.

'It's spilling into my stomach.' I realize. 'Damn, he really means for that to kill me.'

"Fortunately, I like to consider myself prepared." I say and pull my hand back, revealing a small canister of gas that hisses as it releases a purple miasma. "I'd run if I were you." I give him what is no doubt a bloody smile. "Start now, and you might make it long enough to reach a clinic."

"You wouldn't risk yourself to-" He starts to say, before I cough up some more blood. "Shit!"

He takes off out the door. No doubt confusing the men I have stationed around the warehouse, assuming they're even alive still. I don't think he killed them to get in here. But I also didn't think he'd stab me.

"H-heh." I chuckle, holding a hand to my bloody wound and applying as much pressure as I can manage. "Can't believe that worked."

It was a muscle relaxer. Meant to target the heart. He'll think there's something wrong as he gets tired, but I just bought myself a few minutes as my pulse slows.

"Methylene, where's the damn methylene?" I huff out as I let myself fall into a tinker's fugue. Hoping that I come up with something to help me before I die as my vision starts to fail me.

"Always finish what you start, old man." I rasp out and inject myself with the serum I just made, and everything goes dark as I fall over.

.

.

-Meanwhile, The Rig-

.

.

Melody POV

.

"That's her? The resemblance is uncanny." I feel one of the researchers ask from behind the glass of the observation deck.

Yes, feel the sound they're making. I modified the bones and bottoms of my feet to be sensitive to infrasound. Much like an elephants'. Took me a while to learn how to use it right, but it's not like I had anything better to do in my spare time.

"Yeah, if I didn't know any better then I'd think this was another one of her pranks." Another researcher mutters.

I don't think they know I can sense what they're saying. But then again, why would they? Who would ever assume I'm hearing with my feet.

"I heard about that, were they really as bad as everyone says?" The first one asks.

"That's right, you transferred in from Boston after that was settled." The second one says absently. "I'll show you the missive the Director sent out, that'll give you an idea of how bad it was."

"Can you two save the chatting for lunch?" Another man turns to them and asks.

I recall that missive. It was when I...

It was when Kitsu and the Dallons were staying here at the Rig. Just after Stormfront destroyed my... the Dallon's house. Kitsu caused a lot of problems out of sheer boredom. Trapped on the Rig, day in and day out with little to do. It was no wonder she started making her own entertainment.

"How come she hasn't done anything?" The first one speaks up again.

"What do you mean?" The second asks in return.

"Well, this is her clone, right? If so then why hasn't she started acting out?" They clarify.

Good question. And the answer is that I... I just don't have it in me. I'm bored, but not so bored that I'm about to start problems. Besides, not like there's anything around here to interest me. Or even anyone to really mess with.

Missy? I'd rather not, not with how she looked at me last time we saw each other. Lyra? Would she even recognize me? Dennis is an option, but that feels awkward given the history he has with Kitsu. Dean feels weird too.

I know too many people here, sneaking out and interacting with them as I am. It'd feel... it feel wrong. I'm not Kitsu, and everything I know about everyone is from Kitsu. And they all hate that.

'I hate this.' I think to myself as I hug my knees to my chest, wrapping my tail around me. 'Why couldn't I have just been made without her memories, why do I have to love people who hate for me for my existence?'

I can never have a normal relationship with them. Not as I am. They'll never accept me, both for what I am, and what I did.

This feeling of loss, it's worse than if they had died. Because at least then I wouldn't be... at least they... I don't even know!

I can't be bothered to think anymore. So I flood my brain with melatonin and knock myself out.

"Hold on, what's happening!?" The third researcher freaks out as I fall over.

At least in my dreams, I can pretend I'm me without any shame or remorse.

.

.

-Sunday, October 24th, 2010, 11am, Boardwalk-

.

.

Kitsu POV

.

"I am bored~" I hum out. "So I am up to no good~ Walking through the town~"

No school, no streams scheduled, don't feel like making a surprise stream, Vicky has a date, Amy is... somewhere. And the big events never happen when you want them to. So I made an executive decision. Left a note on the counter and took my fluffy tail to the town!

Missy's been too busy with her job and studies to hang out with me. And despite how social I am, I actually lack a lot of friends. I suppose it's mostly because it's hard to find someone to relate to me.

"Speaking of relations." I squint my eyes as I spot some bright green and red through the crowd.

Oh yeah, I'm illusion'd to keep people from recognizing me. Otherwise being out and about gets annoying. But that doesn't matter now.

"Hey, Vista!" I wave to her as I catch my girlfriend on patrol with Aegis. Because even with a fifth of the city under quarantine and partially destroyed, you still need people out and about making the PRT look good.

I'm almost insulted that they didn't think to call me for that.

Discarding my illusion, much to the shock of everyone around me. I begin to race over while waving my hand high above my head.

"Oh." Missy looks over to me and I hear her heart slow down a few beats when I get closer.

Which is... odd, given that it's normally the other way around.

"Weird." I mutter to myself and zoom over to the duo. "Hey, what's with the cold shoulder?" I ask and lean forward, peering up under her visor as my tail wags. That usually gets her heart thumping. "Not happy to see your adorable girlfriend?"

"Kitsu, I'm on patrol right now." Missy says curtly and looks away from me.

"And I'm an average citizen." I counter, clasping my hands over my chest. "I'm a defenseless, unsupervised teen girl, all on my lonesome in the dangerous streets of Brockton Bay. Whatever shall I do if some big brute tries to mug me or worse?"

"..." She crosses her arms and turns her head, staring down at me.

"... Won't a cute, blonde, green color themed hero escort me safely as I go about my day?" I bat my eyes, trying to get some sort of reaction. "And make sure I'm safe, secure, and protected?"

This usually works.

"Not now." Missy says sternly. "We can talk later."

"But I'm not free later." I whine and grab her arm, gently shaking it. "Come on~ talk to me."

"I can step away if you want some-" Carlos, being an absolute bro, starts to offer.

"No, we still have to check in at Pearl's Crossing." Missy dismisses, turning away from me and pulling her arm from my grasp.

'This isn't right.' Red alarms start blaring in my head as I start to panic.

"H-hey, is something wrong?" I say, feeling that something is way off. "Vista?"

"Not now." She nearly growls at me. "I'm on the job."

"Is it something I said?" I ask, fixating on what the issue could be.

"We can talk later." Missy says.

"Can you at least tell me what it's about?" I practically beg. "Vista please, don't ignore me!" She starts walking away, and I follow. "H-hey! That's not fair! Come on! I don't ghost you like this."

"Fine!" Missy snaps. "You want to do this now? Then let's do this."

"Woah, what is-" I start to say before a rooftop suddenly bends and warps in front of me. And Missy suddenly grabs my wrist, dragging me onto the roof before warping space back to normal. Putting us several blocks and stories away from the boardwalk. "Hey, this is a bit much for-"

"Shut up!" She turns around on me and yells, making me flinch and fold my ears back at her sudden, harsh tone. "Just... stop talking!"

I go to open my mouth and ask what's wrong. But some part of me manages to think better of it. And so I keep my mouth shut, waiting for her to compose herself as I glimpse what little of her face I can see under her helm grow red.

"Do you know what it's like?" She asks with barely restrained exasperation. "Dating you?"

"... I-I'd like to say it's awesome?" I offer with a weak smile. "B-but I'm guessing that's not-"

"It's a rollercoaster!" She yells, fists balled up at her sides. "And not a fun one! It's a damned emotional rollercoaster without any seatbelts or brakes. One moment you're sweet and considerate and the next it's like I'm a set piece to your life!"

"I-I don't understand." I choke out through my growing anxiety. "You know I love being with you and-"

"You don't respect me!" She stomps her foot. "You make decisions for me and against my wishes!"

"M-Missy, look, I get that I haven't exactly-"

"No!" She yells, pointing an angry finger at me. "You don't get to just bat your eyes, put on a cute pout and talk your way out of this!"

"So you think I'm cute~" I say before kicking myself for the horrible comment. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean that! I use humor to deal with stress."

"Do you?" She sneers, crossing her arms. "Then your life must be more stressful than I could ever imagine."

"What, I don't-" I fail to find the words.

"Because you never take anything seriously!" She shouts. "You invade my privacy, you speak for me when I can do so myself, you're constantly forcing me out of situations against my will. And because you're the only one who treats me like something close to my own person and not a mascot or obligation, I just keep letting you get away with it!"

"W-well, if you wanted to invade my privacy-" I let out a weak chuckle.

"That's not the point!" Her voice cracks. "You have absolutely zero respect for my boundaries!"

"I just want to protect and take care of you!" I defend.

"That's not what I want!" She shouts back. "... And if you can't see that... then you're not what I want either."

"H-hey, you don't mean that." I stutter, reaching out for my girlfriend. Only for her to shrug and turn her back on me. "Why, this, you could've said... Missy this can't be..."

My words fail me as my throat grows tight. Strangled by the overwhelming emotions of the situation.

"... I'm scared, you know that?" She mutters.

"What?" I scoff out in disbelief.

"I've been putting off this conversation for a while." She takes a breath; explaining what she means. "I've been meaning to talk to you about this, but I never did. Because I was scared of what you'd do."

"Missy, you don't think I'd-" I start to say.

"That's what I thought." She turns on me and removes her visor, looking me directly in the eye. "I kept excusing it because I always thought, oh she'd never do anything to ME... but then you did." She says softly, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "You snuck up on me, and knocked me out in the middle of a crisis situation."

"I was just-" I try to get a word in, but I can't seem to find my voice over hers.

"It doesn't matter what you were doing!" She yells back at me. "It wasn't your place to do it!"

"... I-I'm sorry." I utter out the only thing I can think to say.

"If you were sorry, you wouldn't need me being mad to say it." She says and puts her visor back on. Turning around, she steps over the roof's ledge onto the building twelve blocks away. In the blink of an eye, the distance snaps back. Leaving me here... alone.

"... So uh, can I get a ride down?" Carlos asks nervously. "... I-I'll just climb. It's fine."

.

.

-Monday, October 25th, 4pm, The Rig-

.

.

Melody POV

.

"Did you hear?" One of scientists recording my strength measurements asks.

"Hear what?" The second asks in return.

Why they need four scientists for a series of standard stress tests? I couldn't tell you-

... My head itches. Now it's gone. Must've been the wind.

"Apparently Kitsu and Vista broke up." The first scientist answers.

"Why on earth, would I care about two teenager's relationship?" I suddenly take a deep interest in their conversation.

"Well, it's literally-" I listen in on the middle aged woman's excuses for filling her loneliness by focusing on the lives of others.

'Missy broke up with Kitsu?' I think to myself, suddenly growing angry as I think about how that idiot could've fumbled the ball with Missy. 'I hope she's as miserable as I am upset at her.'

How the hell do you screw up so much and so badly, that the girl who confessed to you, breaks up with you. And I know it's Missy who broke up with Kitsu. Kitsu's self esteem when it comes to her looks is damn near rock bottom. She's cute, sure, but in the way a little sister or a puppy is cute. She correctly thinks the only people who'd ever be interested in her romantically are pedos and furries.

'Should've cherished her more.' I think bitterly towards the girl who has everything I want, and is somehow fucking it up.

'You don't deserve it.' I think to myself, picturing Kitsu in my head. 'You were handed everything, and worked for nothing. Even when it came to keeping what you have, you always did the bare minimum. You were always wanted, you don't know what it's like to not be wanted. To know that no one wants you because of what you are.'

"Could you separate your arm from yourself?" The head researcher asks over the intercom.

I turn my eyes over to him and give a flat stare as I let my left arm slowly die at the joint. Separating with a wet squelch as it detaches at the ligaments. The appendage drops to the floor, before moving itself around at my command and flipping off the observation deck.

"Excellent. Next I'd like you to try-" And thusly, life goes on.

.

.

-Tuesday, October 26th, 4pm, Secret Location under the Commercial District-

.

.

Ivan "Ebon" Evans POV

.

"This is all sorts of sketch." Talon says from behind me as we wait in a beige walled room, centered with two red leather couches and a dark coffee table between them.

"I mean, so long as he pays us." I can picture Shiv shrugging.

"Try an be profession you two." I glare back at my two idiots. "If nothing else, don't forget, we're in his house. No telling what kind of toys he's got."

"Rather pragmatic of you." I turn back around to see the man of the hour as he walks out of a door on the back wall. "A seat?" He says, gesturing to the couch.

"You first." I tell him, to which he actually obliges with a nod and sits down on the couch opposing me.

"Alright then, Mr. Coil, you got our attentions." I tell the figure cloaked in a skintight black suit across from me, here in his underground bunker as I take a seat after him.

"Yes, picking up from what we've discussed before." He says, crossing one leg over the other and clasping his hands together. "In your short tenure here in this little corner of hell we call home, you've seemed to have managed to run afoul of Brockton's most notorious cape. Rather bad luck I'd say."

"I thought that was Lung?" Talon brings up a good point. "Far as I've seen, all the runt really does is go to school and record herself playing video games."

"I mean, she's a tricky little brat." Shiv says, leaning on the back of the couch as he spins his butterfly knife. "But I wouldn't call her the most notorious."

"We've been out of the loop a few months." I add in. "But I don't see how that's enough time to change the status quo so drastically."

Coil nods empathetically. Humming as he contemplates his next words.

"Allow me to put it this way, Lung fears Kitsu." He says like it's the most casual thing ever. "He's not likely to ever admit it, but if Kitsu ever turned her sights on the dragon, he'd flee the town."

"Bullshit." I call his bluff. "Lung fought an Endbringer on even ground."

"And Kitsu singlehandedly drove one back." He counters. "While she's most famous for her illusions and the cutesy act she puts on, she's also a dynakinetic and nearly invulnerable to all forms of harm that she doesn't expressly allow to occur to herself."

"Why the hell would she let herself get hurt?" Talon asks.

"Maybe she likes it?" Shiv suggests.

"Bruh, she's like, ten." Talon scoffs. "Don't be raro."

"Not being gross." Shiv defends. And then keeps running his mouth. "But if that's where you're going then ten is when I started-"

"Could you two not?" I sigh, looking back to the pair of idiots. "... thank you."

"A rather... charming group you associate with." Coil comments.

"Yeah, we're full of charm, it's why you sought us out." I glare, daring the man to say something else.

"...To enlighten you three, she does it to lower her opponents guard and sometimes even toy with them." Coil wisely continues on. "By letting an attack hit and pretend it causes her more pain than it actually does. She does derive some form of masochistic pleasure from it, but not in that way. Though electricity seems to cause her genuine pain. Other than that, she absorbs most forms of kinetic energy used against her and uses it to power her abilities."

'So Shiv is borderline useless against her.' I mentally contemplate. 'He'll need to take a supporting role in any fights. But you ain't gotta beat someone down to beat them.'

"Has heightened senses and can mold her biology to give herself extra senses." Coil explains. "Not to mention she can manipulate light."

'So I'm fucked.' I keep trying to form a plan of attack for dealing with the runt.

"And is strong enough to casually rip a man's arm off, and beat him to death with it." He finishes up. "As well as fast enough to keep up with Velocity. And no, I'm not done, but I feel I've made my point."

'Above our paygrade, got it.' I realize I've bitten off more than my team can chew.

"So we're in over our heads, good to know." I say and stand up. "If that's the case, we'll cut our losses and head back to Dakota City. We've got a bigger score to settle there anyway. One that's accrued more interest, you understand."

"Are you sure that's wise?" The masked man asks. "Kitsu is known to hold grudges, and is known to skirt around the law and even outright break it to settle her debts."

So the brat's petty. Still, I'm no fool, I can smell ulterior motives and this man reeks like he hasn't washed that tacky suit in years.

"She's got roots here in the bay, what's to say she'll follow us?" Talon asks.

"Perhaps I should enlighten you a bit more." He says and snaps his fingers. Prompting a man in a tux to come out the door he came through, and hand him a laptop.

"Ooh~ fancy." Shiv comments. "How do I get me one?"

"Money." Coil answers and pulls up a feed on the laptop.

It's the brat's PHO account. And the post pulled up features her posing with the hero, Static.

Totally gonna get that autograph today! The caption reads.

"You see, Kitsu is a rather large fan of your old nemesis." Coil tells us.

"Then why's she got beef with the blue boy?" Talon asks. "If she goes goo goo for the kid, why's he out for her blood?"

"Girl's got a point." I follow up, gesturing to the orange feathered case behind me. "From what we saw, the only thing Static wanted was to put her in cuffs."

"This was taken before Kitsu murdered Permafrost." Coil answers.

That makes my heart go cold. No pun intended.

I know of the girl, had a run in a bit back. I'm no saint, but I ain't a heartless bastard and that girl never deserved the shit she went through. Hell, I'd ave taken her in if I thought the crew could help her.

But she needed professional help. It's one of the few things me and the hero agreed on. Peacefully, that is.

But the fact that this brat killed her? I know there's some extenuating shit Coil ain't tell'n me. But that's a cold comfort in the face of how this twerp barely out of diapers is a killer.

If we head home and get back to our usual shit, who's to say she won't follow just to make it up to her crush by stomping us out? Worst case, I know, but I ain't one to risk my people like that.

"... Shit." Shiv mutters for us all.

"Aight, you proved your point." I sit back down. "But that still leaves us with one issue."

"And that would be?" He tilts his head.

"You ain't got no powers." I point out. "How am I s'posed to trust you with my back when I'm doin all the heavy lift'n?"

"A calculated deception told to the wider public at large." The man says cryptically. "Let me ask you this, why would I let a man such as yourself, along with your crew, to see me alone. If I wasn't confident I could protect myself?"

"Maybe yer bat shit?" Shiv shrugs and chuckles.

"... I won't disagree. In this line of work you need to have some level of... instability to get ahead." He says in a measured tone. "But allow me to correct your assumptions of my person." He says and writes down something on a piece of paper, places it face down, then slides it across. "Bear with me here, when I say, flip the paper over." He then pulls out a coin. "Heads, or tails?"

"..." I look back to Talon and Shiv. Talon rolls her eyes and Shiv just shrugs. Looking back to the masked man, I decide to go along with it. "Heads."

Ting

The coin lands back in his hand, and he reveals it to be tails.

"Again." He says.

"Heads." I say.

Second verse, same as the first. The coin flies up and lands on tails.

"Again." He says.

"Tails." I tell him.

Ting

Shink!

"Hahahaha!" Shiv chuckles, having stepped forward and slashed the coin in half midair with his plasma blade. "Sorry boss, I got bored."

"What's a coin trick supposed to prove, eh?" Talon walks up and stands beside the couch I'm seated at. "You wanna waste our time, the least you could do is pay us."

Unfazed, he gestures to the paper in front of me. "Now please flip it over and read."

"Get ready." I say under my breath as I grab the slip and hold it up.

First flip, Ebon chooses heads.

Second flip, Ebon chooses heads.

Third flip, Ebon chooses tails, Shiv gets impatient and cuts the coin mid flip. Talon grows assertive. Talon asks-

"Eh yo, what's it say?" Talon asks.

Ebon reads further before realizing it's now telling the present tense and he'll say-

"You tell the future." I say, tossing the paper down towards Talon. "... Damn. Well that explains a bit at least. Like how you found us."

Talon reaches for the paper, but struggles to pick it up from the table with her mutated hands. I go to pick it up for her, but Shiv beats me to it and reaches across the coffee table to pick it up for her.

"Not quite." He says. "While I forgive you for confusing my abilities as such, the truth is much more aggrandizing."

"Then enlighten me." I lean back in the couch. "What's your power, if not future sight?"

"First, if you'll look at the fallen halves of the coin." He gestures to the table. "You may get a better idea. For you see, I don't predict the future."

I do so. Looking at the table, and notice how both sides of the coin are facing heads up.

"I direct it." He finishes.

My mind races with the implications and possibilities of such a power. Working for someone who can literally make sure a situation goes right? I'd be a fool not to take advantage of that.

"Alright, you got me." I chuff. "So, how's this partnership gonna work?"

"Wait! First!" Shiv interrupts and looks to Coil with a serious expression. "What're the results of the next Super Bowl?"

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-Wednesday, October 27th, 8am, Dallon House-

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Kitsu POV

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"You need to go to school." Mom says as she throws open the blinds to my room. "I'm not paying for your school fees just so you can laze around and play hooky."

Jokes on her, I already covered my window in blackout film. So all it does is brighten the room a little bit.

"I don't remember saying you could put film over your windows." She says with an accusatory glare towards me.

"You pay for my school fees?" I mumble, avoiding that subject as I turn over in my bed and throw the blanket back over my head. "Thought public schools were free."

"Arcadia is a vocational school." Mom says and taps her foot impatiently. "Now get up. You've sulked in this room long enough."

"Those are paid for by the state as well." I mutter.

I know my stuff.

"That's not the point." She says and throws the blanket off of me once more. "The point is that you're not going to sit in here and stew all day every day like you've been doing."

"Dad gets to do it when he forgets his meds." I grumble as I grab my pillow and press it over the back of my head, muffling the noise and burying my face in my bedsheet.

"Are you asking to be grounded?" Mom says with a sarcastic laugh. "Because you can be. Go on, keep it up."

"Would it let me stay in bed?" I call her bluff.

"No, it'd involve helping Mark with his chores and then making you help out at the homeless shelters and food kitchens." She counters. "But more than that, it'd involve you getting up and going to school. So you might as well do that before I make you do the rest as well."

"... That seems like more effort than it's worth." I say.

"It's effort I'm willing to put in if it gets you up and out of this room." She says and nabs my pillow, pulling it away from me and tossing it at my closet door.

"..." I don't say anything in response, not having a comeback and not bothering to think of one. I just reach a hand out, and use my illusions to lift my blanket back up and over me. Dispelling it and letting the soft fabric fall, covering my world in sweet darkness.

"... Fucking hell." Mom sighs in exasperation before grabbing my blanket and leaving the room with it.

"Hey!" I call out, getting to my hands and knees and reaching out. "That's my only blanket!"

"I'm mailing it to your school!" She shouts back as she stomps down the stairs.

...

'Damnit.' I let out a sigh and slump back down on my stomach, not having the energy to get up. Instead, I just eavesdrop on my parents as they talk about me in the living room.

"I'm guessing she's still not up?" Dad says.

"What tipped you off?" Mom jeers as I hear her toss my blanket at the couch. "I don't know what to do. I let her sit on her feelings for a few days and now she just won't move. I haven't even seen her eat in the last three days."

Aww! She does care, in her own, tiger mom kind of way. The big softie.

Why can't she ever show that kind of concern when in front of me? She's always the tough parent.

"She just had her first breakup." Dad reminds her. "She's depressed, she's going to be in a slump for a while."

...

"She can be in a slump, at school." Mom says with a bitter tone. "Being sad isn't a reason to be unproductive. And letting her do nothing but think on it and wallow in her feelings is doing her no favors."

Wow, she just said that to her chronically depressed husband?

"... Yes, Mark, I'm fully aware of who I'm talking to." She says after a brief pause.

'Ouch. That was colder than Maureen's corpse.' I snicker to myself, but my amusement is short lived. 'And I just made myself sadder.'

Dad sighs and says. "... I'll go talk to her."

"You do that, I'll find a ride to work on my own." Mom passive aggressively mocks.

"I can talk to the kid, or drive you to work." Dad offers her the ultimatum. "Which is it?"

"I'll just call Sarah." Mom sighs and walks towards the front door in a huff.

Am I causing marital issues? Damn... now I kinda feel bad. I mean, not that bad since things have been tense all around ever since Noelle happened. Plus, Mom and Dad usually fight like that often enough as is when there aren't greater issues. I just normally do something to break up the fighting. Usually something that gets them to argue over what I did.

...

"... I miss Kratos." I sigh.

.

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Mark "Flashbang" Dallon POV

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I let out a sigh as I lean on Kitsu's doorframe. Spotting the golden blonde haired girl face down on her bed in nothing but an oversized white T-Shirt that reaches her knees.

I would have knocked on her door, if not for the fact that it was left open. And I know she can tell I'm here.

"Hey." I call out and give the doorframe a quick knock with my knuckle.

"...rm." Is her muted response.

"She lives." I say with an airy tone as I push off the frame.

Walking across the floor, stepping over discarded clothes and stuffed animals. Sighing, I ignore the click in my knees as I sit down on the edge of her bed. My back right to her.

"... old." She mutters into her sheet.

"Yeah, I know." I groan and turn my neck, letting it pop a few times and getting rid of the stiffness. Having gotten that out of the way, I let the silence sit for a bit. Looking back at the girl behind me.

Sighing, I shake my head and turn my gaze to the floor.

'I'm not cut out for this.' I think to myself. 'How the hell do I comfort a teen girl who just went through her first breakup?'

Well, I can do what I did when Vicky... oh. I didn't do anything when Vicky had her first breakup. And Amy's never really dated until recently, even then she's never really gone on any second dates.

'... Fuck it, sink or swim, Mark. Third one's the charm.' I tell myself. 'Can't make it worse now, can you?'

"You've been in here for a while." I start off.

"..." She doesn't even bother to respond to that one.

"Haven't gone out, haven't streamed, haven't eaten." I list off. "At this point I'm starting to think you're trying to become an inanimate object... or a vegetable."

"Would if I could." She mumbles.

"Yeah, you make a good potato." I joke. "Which ones the yellow kind? The small ones that come in a bag, they're usually next to the red ones."

"Potatoes are tubers." She mutters. "Not vegetables."

"They are?" I ask. "Didn't know they were cool like that."

"What?" She looks up, having finally moved her head away from being face down in her bed.

"You said they were tubular." I look back and smile. Holding in a laugh as she gives me the look all women are born knowing. The look they give that screams, are you dumb? So, I hold a fist up, pinky and pointer finger out. "Radical bruh."

I laugh as she puffs out her cheeks and slaps me on the back. Not appreciating my comedic genius for its truest worth.

"You know, that's the most active you've been in the last few days." I tell her as I calm down from my laughing fit.

"Yeah?" She mumbles as I see her pillow float up and move around her room, landing on her head behind me.

"... You really should try to get up and get back out there." I tell her. I wait for a response , but don't get one. "I know it's not easy, what happened."

"You never had anyone break up with you." She spits out bitterly.

"How do you know?" I scoff.

"Didn't you and mom start dating at sixteen?"

"And you're thirteen." I point out. "Your mother wasn't the first woman I dated."

"And the control freak with paranoia and trust issues is what you landed on?" She says, though I can tell she's just trying to get under my skin.

"Hey, I got a hot blonde to tie the knot with me." I boast. "And not only is she a super successful and wealthy lawyer, she's got banging bod that still drives me-"

"Ew!" Kitsu shouts and slaps me over the back of my head with her pillow. "Shut up! I live with her!"

"Yeah, and I sleep with her!" I laugh at her outburst. Looking back as she relentlessly assaults me with the cotton filled fabric. "What's your point?"

"AH!" She slaps me harder before suddenly relenting with a pout and plopping back down. Now using the deadly weapon of mass comfort to bury her own head from sight.

"... It's hard, it feels like you'll never find someone like her again." I say as I place a hand on her shoulder and gently rub. "But you're still young, you'll find someone new."

"She was the only person who ever liked me." Kitsu mutters.

"I like you." I say with mockingly hurt tone.

"Not like that." She grumbles, turning her head away. "She actually like liked me. You like me because you see me as a facsimile of the daughter you always wanted to raise."

"That's not true." I tell her, even if it hurts to know she thinks that. "I love you for the adorable little gremlin you are. Not for what role you play in my life."

It hurts even more to hear her say that because... there is some truth to it. And denying it feels like lying.

"You know that's not what I mean." She mumbles. "She was there, and she wanted me for me. And me being me drove her off."

Ouch, okay, that's not something I can really address.

"There'll be others." I tell her.

"No there won't." She grumbles. "No one else liked me the way she did."

"I'm pretty sure Ben would stab someone for the chance to-" I begin to suggest.

"Ben is a kid!" She shoots up and stares me down. "He's like three years younger than me!"

"Hey, you're the one being all mopey about being single!" I throw my hands up in my defense. "I'm just giving you options. Not my fault you keep adding conditions."

Not that I'm trying to get her to date anyone. But poking her buttons and getting her up is better than letting her waste away in here.

"Maybe in six years, I'll think about maybe going out with Ben." She huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. Sitting back on her heels as she turns her nose up in the air. "A child like him wouldn't know how to handle a woman like me."

"You're a child." I point out.

"Kindly go and excuse yourself." She huffs and places a hand on her chest. "I am a lady, thank you very much."

"I'm just saying, you're not as out of options as you seem to think." I gently explain. "And you're not as unattractive as you seem to believe."

"I don't think I'm ugly!" She gets up and whacks me with the pillow. "I'm adorable and I know it!"

"You know what I mean." I say softly.

That makes her pause and think quietly to herself. Slowly unfolding and refolding her legs. Sitting crisscross, she hugs the pillow and wraps her tail around the front. Ears splayed back as she buries the lower half of her face into the fabric.

Kitsu is... oddly lacking in self confidence when it comes to certain things. Namely her self image and how she believes people view her. I guess it'd be easier to say she's insecure about her appearance.

Despite her assertion that she is aging, I don't see any real difference in her as compared to when we first met. She's supposed to be thirteen and yet, take away her ears, she's a foot shorter than any girl her age that I've ever seen. And maybe it's just my age showing, but she looks like she should be given juice boxes and not walking to high school on her own. Doesn't help that she plays on her looks a lot to get away with certain things.

Even take away how she's cursed with youthful looks. There's the fact that she's a Case 53. It's no secret that society is not kind to them as a whole. Kitsu does get less of the discrimination aimed at her due to her mutations being more tame than others, and even giving her pretty privilege. But that comes with its own issues. One can only imagine the self image issues that come with always being on the receiving end of derogatory statements that she's no doubt heard.

"Kitsu, you are a smart, adorable, and beautiful young girl." I tell her, and though she tries to look like she's ignoring me, she's betrayed by the way her ears perk up when I say beautiful. "Missy breaking up with you, that was her choice. I'm not going to sit and speculate why that is-"

"She said I constantly disrespect her boundaries and never reflect on anything I do wrong." Kitsu answers, derailing my train of thought. "That I constantly do things I'm not supposed to and only apologize if I'm getting in trouble for it."

'... Shit. That's... how do I say she isn't wrong without making this worse?' I think to myself.

"And if she's not okay with that, then it's on her." I tell her. "But if it's something you want to change about yourself then that's a different story. And we can talk about that too if you want."

"... I just want Missy back." She shakily sighs, her voice telling me she's on the verge of tears.

It's jarring to see Kitsu like this. She isn't one to normally get sad or depressed over these kinds if things. Her default emotion when upset is usually anger, but I guess that doesn't really apply here.

"For as smart as you are, you're pretty dumb with certain things." I chuckle. "And I don't just mean the dumb things you think are funny."

"If you're trying to make me feel better." Kitsu's voice shakes a bit as she talks. "You're doing a pretty bad job at it."

"I know." I let out a sigh. "Unfortunately for you though, I'm the most qualified person for the job that you've got."

"... This place's mental health program sucks." She grumbles and buries her face deeper into the pillow.

Don't I know it.

"There's always going to be things in life that you can't control." I tell her. "This is just one of those things, Kitsu. I'm sorry to say it, but it needs to be said. No matter how much you may want it, what happened is done and over with. There's no use sitting and thinking on what you could've done." I decide I might as well get to the point. "No, you just have to look ahead and ask what you're going to do now. Are you going to get better, or sit in the past while everyone else moves on?"

"Get... better?" I hear her mutter.

"You can choose to stay in here, but you need to face the music eventually." I continue. "And the longer you wait, the harder it's going to be when you're eventually forced to."

"You're right." She says.

"I am." I say caught off guard; my tone somewhere between a question and a statement.

"I need to get out there and figure out what I need to do!" She suddenly shoots up.

"That's the spirit!" I turn back and smile at her. Surprised that I actually managed to get through to the depressed little fox.

"I just need to find a way to get Missy to forgive me and take me back!" She declares.

'Uh oh.' I feel my elation and sense of accomplishment turn itself on its head.

"That's not-"

"I got it!" She gets up and grabs my hand. Pulling on me and eventually pushing me out of her room. "No peeping toms! I need to get dressed and get to school, I'm going to get Missy to take me back and to do that I need to figure out exactly what she hates about me so I can fix it!"

"That is not-" I go to correct her on her very skewed line of thinking, but Kitsu slams the door behind me as soon as I'm past the bounds of her room. "... This... huh."

I mean, so long as she doesn't do anything illegal. Then it shouldn't be an issue, right? And besides, I got her to get up and get ready for school!

"... I am not qualified for this type of drama." I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh.

.

.

-Later that day, 6pm, The Rig-

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Melody POV

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Tic, Tic, Tic, Tic, Tic

'Did they have to put an analog clock in this room?' I glare at the timekeeping device on the wall. 'This has to be a form of psychological torture.'

Krsshh

The door opens and I put my cheery act back on. Ready to annoy and eavesdrop on the scientists again today. It's one of my favorite pastimes.

"Morning doctor!" I hop up off my bed with a smile. "Time for your daily get paid to molest the little girl time or— you're not Carl."

"No." Assault says as he walks into the room and closes the door behind him. "But now I have questions."

"Ugh, you and every other confused liberal." I scoff and lay back down on my bed.

"Not... sure how to take that. If I'm being completely honest." He mutters, inviting himself to take a chair and place it in front of me. Sitting backwards on it and resting his arms on the back.

"Take it up the butt." I shrug and begin morphing a bit of biomass into the shape of a thin triangle at the tip of my fingernail before modifying its chemical organic makeup.

Crunch

And start nomming on the Dorito flavored finger nail.

"What are you-" He starts to ask.

"I'm using biokinesis to recreate the organic chemical makeup of the food." I answer and break off a fresh Dorito nail, holding out the chip to the energy manipulator. "Want one?"

"... Isn't that... technically your flesh?" He points out.

"It's someone's flesh." I shrug and toss the chip into my mouth. "Not like there's much else to do."

At least not without getting foamed. Don't get me wrong, I could easily break out of here no problem. I just... don't really have a reason to. Not like there's anything for me to go to. Maybe if I catch word of a music festival, I'll check myself out of hotel PRT.

"Well, in that case I have the perfect solution-"

"I'm not being your mascot, you have M-Vista for that." I shoot him down.

"I wouldn't use the word mascot." He rolls his eyes.

I couldn't see his eyes. But I know he rolled them.

"And Nazi's wouldn't use the word Genocide." I counter. "But let's call a spade a spade. The PRT wants to control me and failing that, get rid of me. Sending you in here as the nice cop isn't making that any less unclear."

"... Then you know they can't let you out." Assault says solemnly. "At best, you'll be stuck in this room... forever."

"I can break out at any time I want, Ethan." I counter and stomp a foot to the ground; transforming it to resemble something more draconic than human as I crack the tiles.

"So then why don't you?" He asks.

"..." I stare him down, or I try to. Hard to stare someone down when you're barely four feet.

Deciding I'm done with this conversation, I whip my tail around. Aiming the point for his neck, I stop just short of impaling his throat and let the threat hang there. Rather than take the hint, the idiot doesn't even flinch. Leading to a long moment where I just stare at my twisted reflection in his visor.

'That's not you.' I feel my mind scream at me, even as the horned girl blinks in tandem with me. 'That's who you're forced to be.'

I'm seconds away from smashing the visor, if for no other reason than to show I'm serious. When Assault reaches up and takes off his helmet. Now staring into his brown eyes, I... I just don't have it in me to really care anymore. letting my tail fall and looking away from him.

"Get out." I mutter, pulling my legs up and grabbing the edges of my covers and wrapping them around me.

"Come on, Melody." He says and kneels down in front of me. "You can stop being stubborn. I know you're-"

"Don't pretend you know me." I snarl, barring my sharpened teeth and turning my eyes red.

"I'm not, but I know someone a lot like you." He says. "And a long time ago, there was a point where I thought we could be friends."

"Why are you still here?" I ask, not caring for his attempts to butter me up. "Is creeping in little girls' rooms just something you're into now? I haven't seen Battery in a while, she finally divorce you?"

"I'd like to try and be your friend, Melody." Ethan offers, holding out a hand to me; ignoring my attempts to piss him off. "Just give me a chance to help you."

"... ptoo!" I spit on his hand.

"... That's not a no." He smirks, then wipes the hand on my blanket.

"EW!" I shout and kick him, to absolutely no effect. "Stop! That's my only blanket!"

.

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-Friday, October 29th, 7am, Boardwalk-

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"In the wake of the attack on the slums and the casualties suffered." Miss Militia tells the gathered crowd. "The PRT has decided to pledge its local reserve forces to aid in the cleanup. With plans to assist in any future reconstruction."

"What about the rising homeless population?" One reporter asks. "How are those displaced by this tragedy supposed to continue on?"

"Unfortunately I am unqualified to answer that." Miss Militia says. "The PRT has no involvement in the housing sector, such questions would be best directed to mayor Christener's administration. Next question?"

"What about the deaths of the capes involved in the fighting?" Another man asks. "Many capes, PRT and New Wave, haven't been seen since the incident."

"Many individuals yet to be found are those with enhanced physiology, so we maintain hope that they can be still be found. However, without any bodies, we cannot confirm or deny any cape casualties. Even more so considering the mover, Nightcrawler, was involved in the incident, we are holding out hope that he managed to flee with any missing persons." She continues. "Unfortunately, many clean up attempts have been hindered or halted. By opportunistic criminal entities seeking to take advantage of the chaos."

"Isn't Nightcrawler a villain with a criminal record?" Another reporter asks.

"Nightcrawler has a colorful past, yes." Militia nods. "However, he is more accurately described as a rogue. A hired mercenary, and he was operating freely to assist in the crisis. If he had any ill intent, he'd not have risked his life as he did. No further questions on the matter."

"What about the rumors claiming that many of the villains who were supposed to be locked up in the Birdcage being spotted around North America!?" A scrawny reporter asks. "Is there any truth to these rumors, and if so, what is the PRT in Brockton going to do about it?"

"The rumors are as of yet unconfirmed and a thorough investigation is underway to account for every villain sentenced to the Bauman Parahuman Containment Facility." Militia said, technically not lying. "As for what we intend to do should they be true? Brockton Bay has extended its cape program, and is actively recruiting. Now offering training and a three month salary advance for any capes interested in helping keep their city safe. Outside of recruitment and increasing patrols however, there is little that can be done for simple rumors."

The rest of the press conference went much the same. With Miss Militia answering the planted reporter's questions, and even a few of the normal ones. When finally it came time for the big reveal.

'Here's hoping for the best.' She thinks to herself. 'Because none of us are prepared for the worst.'

"And now, to wrap up this address, we'd like to officially debut our newest Ward!" Miss Militia announces to the crowd of reporters and attendees.

Before she could give her the cue and announce her name. The newest Ward had taken the initiative and beaten Miss Militia to the punch.

Strutting out onto the stage, was a short girl with black hair that reaches down to her shoulders. Dressed in a stylized blue and black dress with yellow accents. Black boots with yellow shin guards and dark blue leggings. A black cowl around her neck extending into two scarf ends that reach down to her knees and finally, a black domino mask around her green eyes to complete the look. Giving the crowd a twirl to show off the outfit and playfully lean on one foot as she reaches out, stretching her arm twice the length like it was made of rubber; she snatches Miss Militia's mic and snaps her arm back to normal length.

"You can call me Anansi!" She announces with a smile and strikes a pose. "I may be little, but I can do big things!"

"That is not the name you were given." Miss Militia whispers out the side of her mouth.

"Tell that to Clockblocker." She looked up and gave the older hero a smug look. "Besides, Miss Shape was dumb."

Assault came up with the name.

.

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-Meanwhile, Dallon House-

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Kitsu POV

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"..." I stare at the TV and watch as the camera zooms in on the girl's smiling face. And I watch her brown eyes briefly flash purple. "... That's it!" I stand up and start marching towards my room. "I'm coming out of retirement!"

No way in hell am I letting my knockoff get closer to Missy while she's available— I mean, emotionally vulnerable!

"Kitsu!" Mom shouts back. "You don't get to just come in and out of retirement at the drop of a hat!"

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Bonus

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Director Emily Piggot POV

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"The brainwave scans all register the same as the baseline subject." Head Reseacher Jamez says, going through the papers. "If not for the auditory and olfactory cortex being significantly less complex, being more comparable to a baseline human. On top of the occipital lobe being twice as dense in neuron activity, which is borderline absurd given the original's already heightened visual capacity."

He rambles off, and though I don't understand entirely. I know enough to get the gist. Her brain is the same, barring the differences that one would expect from the changes in physiology.

"What is your conclusion?" I ask the shorter black man.

"Honestly?" He lets out a sigh and tosses the document on my desk. "If there's some mental compulsion in her that compels her to act certain ways, I can't find it. All parts of her brain that influence personality are damn near the same as the baseline subject. Amygdala is deformed in the same way, Hypothalamus is actual more normal than the baseline subject, Hippocampus is identical, if a bit smaller. Though, her prefrontal cortex is showing reduced activity."

"And that means?"

"Compared to the other centers?" He prompts. "Could be a natural result of her altered physiology, or it's the early signs the she's developing chronic depression disorder."

'Depression is a dangerous thing in an S class cape.' I think to myself. 'Best case scenario, she wallows in despair and just remains idle. But she's still technically human, and if I know anything about people it's that they rarely ever commit to idleness.'

We could be lucky and end up with a completely self neutralized entity. But I don't believe in luck, only preparation and opportunity.

Speaking of, there's another issue on my desk. On every director's desk.

[Class 5 top secret]

[Birdcage inmate report: 28 inmates accounted. 759 missing]

[On Friday, September 4th at approximately 9pm, the birdcage's spatial perimeter sensors detected an anomaly. In attempts to handle the disturbance, all external security measures activated at once to distort space and rearrange nearby topography in order to hinder the attempted breach. At approximately 9:05 pm, 300 inmate collars went dark, at 9:06 pm, Dragon went to investigate the anomaly. Initial evidence pointed towards mass violence. At 9:08 pm, Dragon confirmed that all but 28 inmates were missing from the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center. All collars offline, all unaccounted for inmates are believed to have escaped with the assistance of Ivan "Ebon" Evans using his umbra-kinesis based portals in tandem with abilities used by Glaistig Uaine. Bypassing 98% of the Contaiment Center's security surveillance measures.]

"Tell me, Jamez, do we have a way of permanently neutralizing the subject?" I ask the head researcher.

As expected, he already had an answer for me.

"Maybe if we had a few nuclear warheads laying around." He scoffed. "As it stands, she endlessly regenerates from any damage she receives. And the more severe the damage, the faster she regenerates. Stab her, it heals in a minute. Cut her arm off, it grows back in thirty seconds."

"What about her brain?" I ask.

"High focus pinpoint laser to the back of her head when she wasn't looking." He says. "Suffered no neurological damage or mental impairment. Didn't even show signs of confusion."

So she's just shy of invulnerable. And a stone's throw from being as immortal as Kitsu.

"Hmm..."

"You have a plan?" He asks.

"That's none of your concern." I tell him. "You're dismissed."

She's going to become active at some point. The difference is whether or not we're prepared for her to find something to do. Rather than risk utter chaos on waiting to see what she'll do, I believe it's possible to make use of her by being proactive and giving her something to do. It'll be a gamble, but with the clone wave, thousands dead or missing, the Empire's power vacuum and having just barely avoiding another Boston Games. Not even counting the Slaughterhouse Nine's end. We are stretched dangerously thin and running on fumes.

The city budget is already triple its overall yearly income in the collateral clean up costs alone. That's not even accounting for the loss of life, infrastructure, or industry. We cannot handle another event. Brockton will collapse if preparations are not made.

Looking down at the subject's, at Melody's, case file. I can't help but lament how desperate I'm getting. That I'd actually consider what I'm about to do.

"Preparation... and opportunity." I tell myself.

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A/N

It was... honestly,

disturbingly easy to find out exactly what state Crystal's body would be in on an October night on the east coast after 1 to 2 hours.

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Carol's comment on it not being a full moon. Yes I googled what phase the moon was in on Tuesday October 19 2010.

October 22, 2010 is a full moon.

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Anansi— African/Caribbean spider trickster god.

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More comments! I want them all! Every one of them! Especially speculation, I love speculative comments.

Fuel me my NOOBIANS!

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Find me in my channel, newb's-grotto, on the discord.

Link to the discord: discord .gg/DarkWolfShiro