It had been a couple of days since I had first gone out to the Boat Graveyard to test my powers.
And during those days, I've mostly been working on a better costume for myself. After all, I couldn't officially debut as Machina if my costume was just a jacket and an Armsmaster mask…
No, my costume would need to at least look somewhat professional if I wanted to be taken seriously as a hero.
So, I had gone out a couple of times throughout the few days and gathered the supplies that I needed for my first actual costume.
On the first day, I had gone back to the Boat Graveyard only to find it littered with people who were investigating it. Surprisingly, they didn't pay much attention to me… or the other people who were also gathering things.
So, I managed to find myself a simple motorcycle helmet with a slight crack in the visor from a small landfill and took it home… after thoroughly cleaning it out, and painting it a cobalt blue with some art supplies that I had left over from… years ago, I had a pretty decent helmet for my heroic career.
Then, I decided that it was lacking something, so I decided to paint an 'M' for 'Machina' in a darker blue on the sides of the helmet.
It still had a crack in the mask, but that wasn't too annoying to deal with, at least. And this was just my first costume, once I had enough money I was hoping to commission an actual costume from… whoever made costumes. At least it'd protect me when I'm on Rush's bike form.
The next day, I went to a couple of thrift stores, to grab different articles of clothing… and after several hours of shopping, I had what I needed.
Firstly, I'd gotten a light blue denim jacket that was in surprisingly good condition, with the sleeves practically in tatters… so it was more like a denim vest by the time I shifted my arms into their Arm Cannon forms, but it still looked good.
Half remembering a couple of embroidery lessons that I learned from Emma's mom when we were kids, I stitched another 'M' into the back of the denim vest, using some navy blue thread that I managed to get from another thrift store.
I had also managed to get a nice dark blue shirt that I would wear underneath the jacket, and a pair of ripped denim pants, which honestly fit pretty well with the vest. The only rips were at the knees, but it still looked pretty good.
Then there was the pair of gloves that I had gotten, I think they were motorcycle gloves, at least that's what the nice old lady running the small thrift store a couple blocks over told me. But I wasn't a hundred percent sure about that. They were rather thick gloves, colored a dark blue with white highlights, and used velcro to strap them onto my hands without slipping.
I'd also gotten a pair of black elbow and knee pads for fairly cheap, as they were older models. So that was pretty good.
And finally, there were the shoes that I managed to find that perfectly fit my size. They were a simple pair of dark blue sneakers… a little bit worn, but still in good condition. And pretty cheap at only $15 for the pair.
All in all, my costume was… well, it looked like something that a punk would wear. But it looked pretty good for a first costume if I'd say so myself.
With my costume complete… well, it seemed like it was the perfect time to go on my first actual patrol.
So, I grabbed my bag and carefully placed my costume inside, before looking at Rush who has been hiding in my room for the past few days. Away from where Dad could find it.
"Hey there, buddy," I said, as I walked over to the robotic dog, gently rubbing its head.
"Hi Taylor, what do you want?" Rush asked happily, as it leaned into my touch, its metallic tail wagging happily.
"We're going to go out on our first patrol now… I need you to transform into something small and inconspicuous" I said, causing Rush to give me a happy grin, as it stepped backwards.
"Alright! I've got the perfect form in mind!" Rush said happily, as it began to transform… its body shifting and changing rather quickly.
Eventually, it transformed into the form of a small bright red flip phone, with a pair of doggish ears and a small tail sticking out of the bottom.
"How does this look? It's small, mobile, and easily portable!" Rush asked cheerfully, as it lay on the floor.
"N-no," I said, as I just stared at the phone, memories of Mom flashing back to the forefront of my mind…
"Alright, now I really need to hang up now. Okay?" Mom said, smiling slightly as the person on the other end responded. Then a loud crash…
"No… not a phone, no phones. Ever!" I said as I looked at Rush, a tear falling from my eye, as I remembered that traumatic experience… mom… she died nearly instantly, from what we were told.
"You're crying. Are you okay, Taylor?" Rush asked as transformed back into its dog form and ran over to me, a look of concern on its face, as it rested one of its paws on my knee.
"I'm… I'm fine" I said with a small wavering smile, as I wiped the tear away, sniffling slightly as I looked back to Rush, "Do you have another form that would work?"
"I think so! What do you think about this?" Rush asked as it transformed into a different form… it was a small bright red box with a small pair of dog ears and a tail, along with what looked like a cassette tape inside of it, "This is my Rush Walkman Form!"
Looking at it, it didn't look too bad… and it even seemed to come with a strap that could be put onto my hip.
"Yeah, yeah that looks good… you're a good boy, Rush," I said, gently picking the transformed robot dog up, and latching it onto my hip.
Rush's small tail wagged happily at that, as I slowly but surely left the house. Dad was out working again, so there wouldn't be any questions about where I was going, at least.
The two of us made our way to a nearby alleyway, thankfully there wasn't anyone there… so I had Rush transform back into his dog form and keep watch while I changed into my Machina outfit.
It was a bit loose in some areas, but I'm pretty sure I could fill the outfit out with some training in the future. I also made sure to take the flesh off of my arms, leaving a pair of metallic blue limbs in their place.
With that, I placed the discarded flesh into the nearest trash can and walked out of the alleyway. A slight strut to my step.
Once we got to the road, I had Rush transform into his Rush Bike form and hopped on. This was the first time I'd actually gotten on the dog's motorcycle form… but it felt pretty comfortable.
And even though I didn't know how to drive a bike, I took solace in the fact that I wouldn't have to. Rush was in control, after all.
The two of us quickly rode through the streets of Brockton Bay, as I felt the wind pushing against my body ever so slightly due to the sheer speed of Rush's bike form.
Idly, I noticed people on the sidewalk recording or taking pictures of the two of us, as we drove in our search for crime.
We continued to drive, as I somewhat awkwardly waved to small children who were walking with their parents. The smiles on their faces were just amazing to see.
"Machina," Rush said to me, as he turned the corner, "I'm picking up gunshots a couple of blocks away. Should we go and check on it?"
"...Yes," I said after a moment, gunshots usually meant something bad after all. And even though I was somewhat scared of getting shot? I don't think I'd feel all that heroic if I just ignored it.
"Affirmative. Let's go!" Rush said happily, as the bike picked up in speed, practically blazing through the streets until we came across the source of the gunshots.
There was a standoff between a pair of police officers, who were hidden behind their police car, and a small group of men and women wearing trashy clothes and firing at the cops, looking at them it seemed that they were in the middle of robbing a convenience store.
"Get the fuck outta here you sons of bitches!" One of the men shouted out as he fired another shot, hitting one of the police officers in the shoulder, the force of the bullet sending him to the floor in pain.
"Officer down! I repeat, Officer down! Merchants are hostile!" The other officer said into his radio, before returning fire at the Merchants, clipping one of them in the side.
…The Merchants, I vaguely knew what that gang was. If I remember correctly, they were a bunch of drug addicts and drug pushers who had no respect for anything or anyone. Even selling drugs to children. At least that's what I'd heard from the news.
Rush came to a stop behind the police cruiser, as I got off of the bike and shifted my arms into their Arm Cannon forms, before firing a small blast toward the closest gang member, hitting him in the torso and sending him flying backwards through the shop's windows.
The officer turned around, eyes wide as he looked at me with a small amount of fear.
"Y-you're with them, aren't you!" The cop said, as he quickly grabbed his radio and spoke into it, "I've got a Parahuman who seems to be a member of the Archer's Bridge Merchants!"
"What the? No, I'm not!" I said almost instantly, before having to dodge out of the way when one of the Merchants fired at me.
My heart was thumping in my chest, as adrenaline coursed throughout my entire body… and I hid behind the bike-like form of Rush while the Merchants fired at me.
"...Ignore that, I seem to have been mistaken," The officer said into the radio after a moment, "The unknown Parahuman is also under fire from the Merchants"
Several more bullets fired into the frame of Rush's bike form, but thankfully it didn't seem to harm my… partner, as it stayed in front of me, protecting me from the Merchants' gunfire.
Eventually, though, they stopped, so I quickly stood back up and fired back, several blasts shooting out from my Arm Cannons and hitting near the Merchants.
"Agh! You fucking cunt! You hit me in the tit!" One of the Merchants screamed out, before she fired back, the bullet grazing my shoulder.
"Fuck!" I hissed in pain, as I shifted my right arm back to normal, as I touched my slightly bleeding left shoulder.
"Machina, are you alright?" Rush asked as it quickly drove over to me, a look of concern on its face.
"I'm fine Rush… thank you," I said with a small smile hidden underneath my helmet after a moment before I pat it on the head.
"Good. Good…" Rush said happily, before turning back to the remaining quartet of Merchant gangsters.
Then, Rush did something I had no idea it could do, as it opened its mouth, the robotic dog practically unhinged its jaw as it… fired a small red beam of pure energy.
It hit the Merchant who shot me in the torso and sent her down to the floor, unconscious.
"Good boy!" I said with a slight grin, as the other three Merchants panicked and tried to fire at Rush, though it didn't even do so much as dent his armor.
While they were distracted, I quickly shifted my arm back to its Arm Cannon form, and fired a few more blasts, and took them out… with a small amount of collateral damage, as the convenience store's window had been broken, and there were a few blast markings on the brick walls.
But other than that, I think it was a pretty good job for my first actual fight… even if it wasn't against any Capes.
The police officers looked fairly relieved, as they quickly went over and handcuffed the gang members, even if the one who was shot was doing it quite a bit more slowly than his partner.
It was only then that another two police cars arrived, sirens blaring… just in time to get to the tail-end of the fight.
Once they saw that everything was fine, they silenced their sirens and one of the police officers walked over to me, while the rest helped the two officers in handcuffing the criminals.
"You've done a good thing here, lad… those punks have been a thorn in our side for a while. So, uh… what's your name?" The officer asked, he was a fairly unassuming man with a thick brown mustache and small beady eyes.
"Oh, uh I'm Machina!" I said with a slight stutter. Not all that used to actually talking in my Cape Persona.
"Nice to see a new Hero around, Machina. I'd shake your hand, but you don't have any, haha!" The police officer said with a laugh as if what he said was actually funny… I awkwardly laughed alongside him.
"Ha… yeah, uh if you do want to shake my hand, I can change it back if you want?" I offered, as I shifted my right Arm Cannon back to its regular metallic form.
"Well then, let me be the first to shake your hand, the name's Jeff Jefferson," The officer said with a small grin, as he shook my metallic hand, and winced slightly, "Oh! Quite a grip there"
I went to apologize, but he just laughed it off, shaking his hand slightly, as if to wave the pain away.
"So anyway, do you want to stay around for the PRT to get here? Or just head on off?" Officer Jefferson asked after a moment, "I won't blame you if you just leave. Most independents do on their first day out"
"I'll uh- I'll just go…" I said after a moment, getting a nod from the police officer before I hopped back onto Rush and drove off.
…That was a pretty solid debut, at least if I'd say so myself.
After that, I got some lunch at a hotdog stand and ate it while Rush drove me to the source of another crime.
The rest of the day, I drove around, looking for more crimes, and managed to stop a couple of muggings, and an attempted carjacking.
But surprisingly enough, there wasn't a lot of crime going on today. Or at least, not crime that I could find so easily.
So eventually, I found another alleyway and had Rush stand guard as I changed back into my normal outfit, reforming the flesh on my arms as I then had Rush return to its Walkman form and walked back home.
Today was a pretty good day, all things considered. So, I quickly got inside of the house through an open window and went to bed.
As I collapsed into the bed though, I heard the sound of the front door getting unlocked, and Dad walking into the house.
Thankfully I got home just in time, as he walked to my room and creaked the door open… only to find me 'sleeping' in bed.
I drifted off to sleep, listening to the sound of Dad walking through the house and making himself a cup of coffee.
____
Alright, so with this… Taylor has officially debuted as Machina.
This is basically what the interludes were leading up to, the debut.
And surprisingly enough, the debut fight was… normal? Who is this and what have I done with Taylor?
Also, thoughts on Taylor's Costume?