Succubus - I'll bring that up later too.
People might call the whole 'being linked' thing cheap. I say that the only way I'd get involved with the story was if I was being forced, because I'm a reasonable person.
The past weak has been... A thing. After Taylor woke up, and I was brought back to my body, we stared at each other for a bit. Me in general curiosity and relief that I wasn't enslaved to her will and still me, and her because I was a big ass creepy moth guy standing besides her bed in the dark. Thankfully she didn't do the normal and rational thing of screaming bloody murder, mainly because we were linked at that point, so she knew who I was and that I wasn't going to hurt her.
Thinking about the 'Link', I hummed. Rolling over, I sank into my bed stomach first, and 'Knocked' on her side of it. I didn't know what time it was, I just woke up and didn't want to free myself from my comfy prison, and I was too lazy to get out of bed, so I'd settle for annoying my 'Other Half.' After her 'Mirror' comment, I took to calling her that, and the confused exasperation I got from it was hilarious. |Wgrafc?!| I snorted.
Taylor wasn't a morning person either, and I probably just woke her up. [I woke up and I don't feel like getting out of bed yet.]
There was silence for a bit, I had no idea what she was feeling or how she looked, but I had the impression she was swearing at me. |Do you know what time it is?!|
[No'p'e.] I really didn't, but it was probably early. My internal clock was fucked up after I got here, but it was a good kind of fucked up. I normally went to sleep at 4Am, 2-3AM if I managed to catch myself, and wake up after 12PM...
I felt like I was being judged for some reason, but I didn't exactly care.
Taylor grumbling at me got my attention. |Phoenix... It's 6:50AM... Let me sleep, or so help me god I will find out a way to send a swarm of bed bugs to your base!|
Taking a second to take that in, I nodded. [... Fair. Super fair.] And it was. If someone woke me up early, and they weren't family, I'm fighting them. I wouldn't win, but I'd still do it. [Though quick question before I go.]
|... Make it quick.|
[They're letting you out of the crazy house today, yeah?] I wasn't keeping track of the days because I could just ask Taylor. She was happy to tell me when she would have her freedom.
A low hum filled my mind, and after a few moments, she responded. |Yeah... Yeah, I am!| I had a feeling I probably should've waited to ask this because she was happy, and it was too early for me to be happy without music or food. Oblivious to my slowly growing annoyance, Taylor went on. |I'm going home, I'm going home, I'm going home!|
I groaned. (Ugh... Definitely too early.) Sure, I was annoyed, but I understood it.
After waking up, us sharing a moment of 'Yeah, this is real', Taylor's Power reminded her that it existed. We were fine one minute, talking lowly, then suddenly we were screaming.
Taylor screaming was expected, it was her Power, but considering I was Big Chill at the time, I was counted along her Swarm.
But it didn't end there. I wasn't expecting it, so when I was suddenly turned into some kind of 'Secondary Relay' or whatever Grey Matter theorized, I started freaking the fuck out. I didn't notice it at the time, mainly because my brain felt like it was on fire as I felt thousands of small creatures pinging across my senses, but I accidentally froze parts of Taylor's room before I started Phasing through the floors/building and flying around in a panic. I only got better after somehow slapping the dial and turning back into Ampfibian.
As soon as I changed into him, the pinging stopped, and I was left to float in the sky like a paper bag in the wind while my mind tried to recover. It took a few minutes... Minutes that were bad for me because I ended up being seen.
Sure, I snuck in at the dead of night, but when a flash of green light goes off in the dead of night, especially when something like Big Chill was screaming bloody murder, people were bound to get interested.
[A week ago]
The headache that was currently kicking my ass was probably related to the one I had when I first got here. A cousin probably, because oww. Slowly, the pain was going away, but it still hurt. Raising a tendril, I covered my eyes, and breathed out. It didn't exactly he...- "Hey! Hey you!" Groaning, I let my body drift away from the voice, not in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment. "Hey! No flying away!" I... I wanted to say hiss, but it was more like I crackled like electricity. And given the form I was in, that made sense.
That aside, I let my tendril shift a bit, letting one of my eyes open to see who was annoying me wh...- Squinting a bit, I huffed. "Isn't it passed you bedtime blondie?"
Flying a ways in front of me was someone who could only be Glory Girl. The blonde hair, Tiara and skirt combo was all I really needed to figure out it was her. She looked... A good 7/10 in my opinion, but she was a generic pretty girl, so I wasn't interested. It didn't help that she was frowning either. "First off, I'm a teenager," She said that like it explained everything... Which was fair to be honest since it did. "Secondly," Her frown worsened, her eyes narrowed as she stared at me. "You wouldn't happen to have a good reason for screwing with the hospital after midnight, would you?"
For a moment I just stared back, too tired to respond. I groaned, waving the discount Supergirl off... But then her fist clenched, her presence became more menacing as everything started to feel wrong, my headache burning so much it felt like my skin was on fire, and I felt it as I snapped, electricity buzzed around me and writhed like it was alive. "OUT OF MY MIND!" Electricity surged and discharged around me, a yelp sounding out as my arms pressed against my face.
I was burning, my mind straining as fear and anger fought within me.
I needed to get out.
I needed to get away from the pain and get somewhere safe.
I didn't notice when one of my tendrils sloppily hit the dial, but the bright green flash, and the instinctive knowledge of my form that flowed through me let me know I could get out. I took the chance when I could, pushing Jetray to the limit, I flew out of Brockton Bay, uncaring about the small sonic boom that I made with my exit.
So yeah, I accidentally 'Attacked' Glory Girl, I was now known as a Changer, and I had my own little thread on Totally Not Reddit.
Amazing how one meeting could fuck up everything. But then again I was in Worm, so that should've been expected.
They didn't label me a Villain though, so that was nice. The consensus was that Glory Girl's 'Shaker' aura had a bad reaction with me, given that nearly the whole damn city heard my scream it was a given.
I was brought out of my sudden exposition by Taylor's voice going on in my mind. |- Going to get the biggest Big Belly Burger I can get after all this damned jello!|
My mind blanked on the 'Big Belly Burger' part, not sure what the fuck she was talking about, but then I remembered there was supposed to be some place called 'Fugly Bob's', a name that amused the hell out of me... Though that made me remember something else. [By the way, the PRT is going to try talking to you.]
That stopped Taylor's excited babble, a week of not having anyone but me to talk too at any and every hour of the day did wonders for her, and I could practically imagine the way she had gone stock still. |Explain.|
It wasn't an order, and I wasn't compelled, any feelings like that had fucked off after Taylor and I Linked to each other, but I answered anyway since she asked and I was bored. [Last night the PRT scheduled for some goon and an out of costume Miss Militia to visit your home at 2:45PM. Officially it's because they want to talk to you about the 'Suspicious Changer spotted observing subject Hebert', exact words. But unofficially, they're probably going to give you the pitch to join the Wards.] I knew that Canon was already off the rails, being spotted with Taylor pretty much confirmed Cape shenanigans were in play, so of course the PRT would jump at the chance to get a new goon.
|... Oh... Okay, I can deal with that.| I mentally hummed at that, and Taylor made some weird mix of a huff and a scoff... It was weirdly cute, and I had no idea why I liked it. |Got something to say?|
That got a smile out of me. [Ya, try not to punch the woman that can make RPG's.]
|You're never going to let me live that down, are you?| She knew me so well.
I projected the tune of Will of the Heart, a trick I found out was that we could project anything we've seen or heard to each other so long as we were actively using our Link, which meant I could not only introduce Taylor to memes, but Anime, Movies and Music. It was something we both enjoyed, me because I could listen to music and re-watch shows I didn't have access too here, and Taylor because it was not only something new, but something that helped her stave off the boredom of being locked in a crazy house for 'Hearing Everything.'
Anyway, with the sad song going, it was my time to be an overly dramatic bitch for the fuck of it. [I-I'll never f-f-forge-et the way you h-hit me!]
Suddenly there were crickets going off in my mind, and I understood that she could pull of 'Resting Bitch' as a state of being. |Are you done?|
Cutting off the music, I mentally huffed. [I'm bound to a critic.]
|And I'm bound to a clown. Which one of us is really losing here?|
I snorted at that. [Did someone that doesn't want cool lasers and armor say something?]
|Did someone that wants fleas and lice try to lord superior technology over me?|
I was quiet, taking a moment to shiver at the thought of those evil abominations crawling over me. [Touche.] Then I remembered I could turn into a walking volcano. [Wait a minute, I can deal with those.]
|Too late, you already agreed.| Shit, she was right! |... Hey Phoenix?|
I didn't need to be socially adept to know that Taylor's mood had changed. For a moment I sighed, internally cursing at being unable to turn down anyone I considered a friend. [What's up Taylor?]
She was quiet, I could tell she was thinking about what to say, and just waited for her to talk. It wasn't the first time we'd talked about stuff, it was kind of hard not too considering we were both mentally linked with each other, unable to hide or lie from each other. It didn't help that the Link would open by itself if we didn't make use of it, so we were actively forced to talk to one another... Which was something we both used and actually liked.
Sure, I was fine with silence, with being left alone and unbothered, but that didn't mean I was against socializing... I was even good at it... When I found it in me to give a shit.
Taylor on the other hand held onto the fact that she had someone to talk too who would not only listen and hear her, but also understand her like it was a lifeline. I couldn't understand everything, not being betrayed by my best friend, not having everyone turn a blind eye to her suffering, but I understood the want for companionship and for someone to just be there.
We were also pretty sure that she was being subtly compelled to open up to me, which made me feel happy that I wasn't the only one being fucked with. I didn't feel bad about that, which I'd freely told Taylor, but she admitted that it made her feel less guilty about being 'Bound' to each other. That made me feel a little bad though, but I was already over it.
|You're... You're fine with this, right?| I rolled over again, getting back to my back. This was going to be a heavy one then. |You're fine with... With being stuck with me?| Yup, a heavy one.
Sighing, I didn't try to think of an answer, knowing that taking too long would send the wrong message. [Taylor, I don't like repeating myself unless I'm mocking or annoying someone, so don't make me repeat myself.] We'd had this conversation before, the day after she'd adjusted to having her Power on and getting mind fucked by bugs in fact.
|I know, I KNOW! But still, you shouldn't have to be stuck with someone like me...| I rubbed my eyes as she trailed off. Taylor's self esteem issues were annoying to deal with, especially when they randomly pop up when she was just happy a second ago.
It made me even more tempted to run or fly to the Bay just to beat 'The Bitches' and whoever brought me here for giving me the job of rebuilding Taylor's confidence. I knew I was the 'Wise' and 'Therapist' friend, but fuck! [Taylor, you're going to listen to me and by god you're not going to interrupt me or else!]
|... Okay?| She was unsure, but that was fine.
Taking a second to breath, I went on. [You, Taylor Hebert, are probably the most patient human being in this fucked up world. You suffered for two years, suffered something that would've made literally ANYONE else to lose their shit and either shoot up their school or end it all. Despite being torn down and stabbed in the back by your bestfriend, you did neither. YOU, Taylor Hebert, are one of the most stubborn, strong, and resilient people I've ever met.] It was sort of crazy that it was true. I knew if I was in her place I wouldn't have made it to the locker, probably snapping during the first year or something. [Plus, you're easy on the eyes.]
|PFFT!| Did she just... |Y-Y-You're just saying th-hat! It's just because of the Link!| My lips twitched, the thought of Taylor Hebert, the Queen of Escalation and God Killer, stuttering and blushing from a compliment was hilarious and adorable.
Though, I had aforementioned God Killer's self esteem issues to deal with. [1) You know we can't lie over this, so stop. 2)You were my type before I noticed the bonus, because that's what it is, bonus and not forced attraction. 3) I'd be happy to test that theory in person later. I'd prefer it not be in that shit hole you call a city, but I'll deal with it if I have too.]
The silence was back, but this time I knew it was because she was embarrassed. I hadn't flirted with her before, I didn't even flirt in general, opting to just be there and talk to her when she needed it, but this was different. If I was going to help Taylor not only heal, but be better then before, I'd need to put in the work. And hell, Link borne attraction or not, if I ended up with a hot and badass girlfriend that could kill a false god and mimic the plagues of Egypt, you wouldn't hear me complain.
Eventually, Taylor got it together and responded. |... You mean it?|
My eye twitched. [Taylor, don't make me kidnap you for our first date.] I don't think she meant for it to happen, but Taylor sent over the sound of a record being scratched. It was so unexpected that I snorted.
While she freaked out at the prospect of a date, I got up and started my morning routine.
It was when I was mid brush that she spoke up. |Uhh... We're... We're going to talk about that later.|
I rolled my eyes. [Later as in today later, or 'Until it can't be pushed off anymore', later?]
|... Today later.|
That worked for me. [K.. By the way, we keeping this open today or do you want privacy?] It was great that we had an option in the first place. Sure, the Link wasn't something that actively reminded me that it existed, but we would just know when it was active or not.
|Can we... Can we keep it open for today?| And now she was this weird mix of shy and doubtful. |You don't have too if you do...-|
[It's fine Taylor.] It was too. Sure she was more talkative then I expected, but she wasn't someone that talked for the sake of talking. Taylor was fine with silence, and we'd spent a few hours with our Link open, but didn't talk or anything. We just... Reassured each other that we weren't alone. That despite not being in the same area, or even country, we were there for each other.
|... Thanks Phoenix.| I hummed at her in response.
I was fine with solitude and silence... But being thanked and having someone to talk too was nice.
Anyway, we went silent after that, and after I was done with feeling like a human being, I made my way to the Workshop. I'd spent a few hours making a new room for my big brains to work in, and with all the scrap I repurposed from the Bay, I had alot to work with. It wasn't enough to make some of the big stuff, but I had enough to make some tools... Tools that I needed to make better tools... Grey Matter and Juryrigg might not have minded the tediousness of this stage, the little gremlin made this stage infinetly easier because we could make shit that had no right to work, while Grey Matter helped refine what we could, but Brainstorm fucking hated this stage. He, pretty much me, felt like I was 'Wasting my time doing the job of a lesser species.'
If I didn't realize that my aliens had more personality then they did in the show before, Brainstorm's reaction would've told me that outright. The crustacean made me arrogant, XLR8 made me healthy and helped me work through issues, Water Hazard made me want to relax by Power Washing everything, and Terraspin made me want to laze around in my shell, lazily floating as I absentmindedly pushed out wind. Yeah there were a few more, like Spider Monkey and his urge to fuck around and play pranks, but it was those four that messed with me more.
(Ugh, I'm thinking too much.) Shaking that away, I entered my Workshop, and turned into Grey Matter. I had work to do and technology to make!
It was while I was working on making a material fabricator/refiner, that Taylor spoke up. |Hey Phoenix?| She sounded... Tired... And I knew this was going to be an issue.
Making sure to keep my hands steady to not mess with the circuit board, I mentally turned to her. [Yes? Are you okay Taylor?] She was silent for a few moments, and I wasn't exactly sure why. [Taylor?]
That did it. |Sorry, Just wasn't expecting a voice I hadn't heard before.| Tilting my head for a bit, I eventually nodded. Her momentary confusion made sense given she'd only heard me 'Speak' as myself, XLR8, Juryrigg, and Diamondhead. |Anyway... Miss Militia and the PRT trooper she brought with her dropped by, and yeah, they asked me about you, but I just said I thought I was high from the meds.| I snorted. |They bought it... I think. Anyway, after they left... Dad and I... Talked.
(Ah, I can see where this is going.) I didn't even need the immense intellect granted to me by my Galvan form to know that this 'Talk' must not have gone well.
And like I expected, her tone grew more weary. |He wants me to join the Wards, which wouldn't be a bad thing because they're Heroes, ya know.| I knew that was rhetorical. |But he didn't try talking about it! He just pushed and pushed and didn't try to listen when I said I wanted to just THINK before I took the deal! I just don't GET IT!| Ah, here came anger. |He picks NOW to be involved in my life?! NOW to out his foot down on something?! It's just... UGH!| Despite the rant going on in my mind, I kept working.
It was kind of like background music in a way... Which said something when I was considering the rant of an angry woman background music. |I just... I don't... I don't know what to do.|
Setting down the circuit board, gently because I wasn't about to let the project I'd been spending the last half hour on be destroyed, I sighed and got off my bench to change back to myself. Taylor was between a rock and a hard place, and out of mutual self interest, I needed to offer her a solution. [Taylor, do you want to get out?]
I was getting used to the constant silence that sprang up between our talks, and waited for her eventual response. |What... What do you mean?|
[Do you want me to take you away from Brockton Bay for a bit? I can make another room in my base and get you set up in an hour or two.] Using Water Hazard to make a new room would be easy and cathartic. [All I need is for you to say the word and I'll go kidnap you.]
While she was quiet, I took the time to head out of my Workshop and back towards the livingroom. Looking around, I scratched my chin, sighing at the unfortunately smooth chin, I missed my beard, and thought about what I'd have to change in case Ta...- |Get me out.| Well, I was gonna have to figure this shit out faster.
[When do you want me to pick you up?]
Depending on the time fra...- |An hour. Dad's going to be heading back to the DWA... Well, that's what he said he's going to do. I know he's going to do something stupid that affects me but he's going to do it anyway without my input because why would he care about what I think?!| The near scream that she ended that with made me wince, because loud.
Anyway, I nodded at that as I reached for the dial and started searching for Echo Echo. I was gonna have to get rid of some of my crystal walls, I was getting tempted to just say fuck it and get rid of them all at this point. [Got it. I'll get started on your room. Also, if I don't show up in an hour, call for me. Power Washing a mountain makes my brain turn off.]
|... What?|
I snorted. [You'll see what I mean when you get here.] I doubted that lessened her confusion at all, but it was what it was. [For now just start packing your stuff. I'll come pick you up when it's time.]
Finding the icon I was searching for, I pushed down the dial, I stopped slamming it when I remembered slamming would make my forms be random instead of what I picked...
And not because I missed once and hit the gauntlet, damn near breaking my hand. No one could prove otherwise!
The flash went off, I felt a surge of strength and energy, and in a blink I was now smol and deadly.
Walking towards a section of the base I hadn't used for anything, I hummed, small distortions coming from the stereos on my legs as I did. |... Thanks Phoenix.|
Thanks was nice. [You're welcome Taylor.]
And off to work I went.
[Taylor's POV an hour later]
Looking at the duffel bag on the table, I really thought about this. Thought about whether or not leaving Brockton Bay and my dad was the right thing to do... But then I wondered what I had left... And couldn't come up with much. (Dad's not going to listen. He's already decided that this is it, this is what's best for me despite not even TALKING to me! I don't have friends here, Emma and The other two Bitches made sure of that... And this is Brockton Bay... I'm not exactly going to miss the E88, the ABB or The Merchants... I don't have anything here to miss...) That... That was a depressing thought.
I lived in this house all my life... But... It wasn't home. It hadn't been home ever since mom... Shaking that thought away, I checked the watch I was going to take with me, noticing it was past an hour and Phoenix hadn't shown up yet. Knowing that this might happen, I tapped into our Link. It was already open, so I didn't need to 'Knock.' |Phoenix, can you come pick me up?|
It was weird to be honest. Telepathy didn't and wasn't supposed to exist, but we had it... And it worked while he was in Canada while I was on the East Coast... It was crazy. [Got it.] It was also weirder that Phoenix's voice would be different depending on what form he was in, but with a week of getting used to it, I was fine with it. [On my way! See ya in a flash!] Though I still got a little whiplash when his voice went from a nice baritone to some raspy smoker.
Knowing he was coming though helped me relax.
Phoenix was... It was weird thinking about our Link/relationship. On the one hand a guy I only knew for about a week was able to talk to me in my mind at any point in time, pretty much making it so I had no privacy whatsoever... While on the other hand there was someone that couldn't lie to me, someone I could vent too at any point in time, who could understand me to a point, and would make sure I was safe, was honestly amazing...
It helped that he was h...- (NOPE! Not thinking about that!) Deciding to focus on my swarm, I felt out where all the bugs on my block were, letting the simplistic minds and sensations of the bugs take my mind off of my... Friend? Partner? (What are we?)
I didn't know... We were... He was... 'First date.'
The words rang out in my mind, and I fought down the blush that tried to form. That was just the Link's influence, he didn't mean it. He was stuck with me and was just trying to make sure we had an ami...- There was a knock at the front door, and I was forced out of my thoughts. [Fun fact, when I'm standing out here your thoughts leak through]" I froze. [And again, you're wrong. Like I said earlier, you're my type, so hush and open the door. I'll even throw in a hug for extra measure.] I hated that the thought of a hug from someone that cared made me happy.
I felt my cheeks heat up, and tried to keep it from affecting me. "S-Shut up you idiot! Door's open!" I didn't think it was working.
There was a snort from outside, and I watched as the door opened. My eyes locked onto the lightly emerald greens of my partner, idly noting he was wearing a gray furred sweater with the hood up and sweats, when I heard something flit through our link. Her blush is adorable. That just made it worse, and I looked away. "... You heard that didn't you?" There was no point in denying it, so I just nodded. Though I didn't expect for him to chuckle at that. "Good. The faster I can get you to realize that yes, I find you pretty, the sooner we can do lewd things like hand holding and taking long walks on the beach. Who knows, maybe we'll graduate to staring longingly into ea...-" Getting a small spider to drop onto his nose got him to stop, and I was happy for it because if he kept going on I'd probably turn into a pile of ash. "Taylor?"
Looking at him out of the corner of my, I felt my lips twitch as I saw him go cross eyed at the spider on his nose. "Yes Phoenix?"
"If I apologize, even though I'm not sorry, will you get rid of the spider?" I had to give it to him, staying as calm as he was...- "Oh nah, I'm going to freak the fuck out later, my head's just empty at the moment." That... Made sense?
Shaking away my friend's weird response, I smiled. "Maybe. Give it a shot anyway."
I could see his eyes flick to me, and our gazes met ag...- Note to self, make her smile more. I looked away, my cheeks heating up again. "I seek thy forgiveness fair... I'm changing my mind, I'm cringing just saying that much... " That made me snort. "Can you get rid of it anyway?" Looking at him out of the corner of my eye, my lips twitched up, a grin forming as I saw the 'Changer : YES' still as a statue because of a little spider. Tapping my lips, I 'Thought' about it, humming to sell the bit so...- "You remember that I'm hearing your thought process, right?"
Blinking, I realized that yes, that was a thing... Sighing, I controlled the spider to jump off of his nose, a sigh of relief pouring out of his nose as it went away. "Couldn't you have just let me pretend a bit more?"
Phoenix rolled his eyes at me. Yes, I'll let the small hell spawn stay on my nose because she asked, what a smart idea. Dick. "Yes, I have one." Goddammit. I ignored his sudden amused smile. "Anywaaay, you have everything?" Hearing that reminded me of why he was here in the first place. Looking at the duffel bag on the table, I bit my lip and lightly chewed on it as the thought of if this was the right thing ran through my mind. I noticed Phoenix was just looking at me, not rushing me or judging me for thinking about this. [It's your decision. Plus, I'm here as a Taxi, not an emotional support animal...] He blinked, tilting his head as he thought about something. I can probably pull that off though.
That made me smile. Then I went back to thinking about leaving. My friend didn't say anything, and just waited.
After a minute, I decided that yeah, leaving Brockton Bay was good... I couldn't stay in this goddamn city, stay in a house that didn't feel like home, go to a school where I almost died in, in a city that was drowning with no chance of getting better. I had to get out.
I had to leave.
Looking up to my friend, I met his bemused look, and nodded. "Get me out."
He grinned and held out his hand. "Come with me if you want to live." I stared at him, unamused. My green friend just stared back for a second then huffed. "... Everyone's a critic."
Rolling my eyes, I got up and slung the duffel bag over my shoulder. "Or you're just not as funny as you think you are."
The gasp and way he grasped his heart was so fake I couldn't help but grin. "Bitch I'm hilarious." I snorted again, relaxing as I walked forward and grabbed his hand...
There was a jolt between us the moment our hands touched... The feeling of something just Clicking into place... There wasn't any other way to explain it really, we just meshed in a way I didn't think was possible.
Then there was the Link. Before it was like we were next door neighbors, but now it was like we were a room away, separated only by a thin wall.
The idea of there being no privacy between us was pretty much confirmed when I looked at Phoenix, and just knew what he was feeling. Exasperation, interest, amusement, attraction. The last one made me blush, and I looked away. I knew he felt something for me, heard him compliment me, but I didn't think he was being serious.
I was Taylor... Just Tay...- Note to self, drop kick The Bitches with XLR8. I blinked, then turned back to look at the guy I was... Bonded, with. I could tell he was seriously considering doing that, which felt nice, but I was more curious about the letters and numbers I heard in his mind... It didn't help my curiosity when he just smiled. "You'll see." My eye twitched, and he smiled wider. "Anyway, lemme introduce you to our base." I ignored the way my heart beat quicker at the 'Our' part of his sentence. Though, I was confused at how we were going to ge...- "Phoenix returning to roost."
And then the world warped, my feet touching a carpet before I fell onto it and dry heaved at the sensation of my Swarm disappearing as even more and different bugs appeared in my senses. The sensory overload wasn't as bad as the first time it happened, but I still needed to adjust... Though I was more worried about losing my lunch over the rug.
Despite the whole 'Throwing up and sensory overload' thing going on, I managed to catch my green friend say something. "... Note to self, make a dedicated teleporter room... Dammit, I'm gonna have to burn that." I mentally flipped him off for that.
Sinking into the comfortable bean bag chair, I let out a sigh as I relaxed. After I was done throwing up and getting used to my new Swarm, Phoenix threw a water bottle at me, because he was an asshole who couldn't be bothered to pity a poor and...- "I can HEAR YOU you know!" Rolling my eyes, I went back to drinking my water and relaxing as I looked around.
The livingroom was probably the prettiest and scariest place I'd ever been in. Blue green crystals made up parts of the floor, walls, and even ceiling. The areas that weren't covered in crystal were meshed with metal fixtures where TURRETS would come out of to tear whatever came in that wasn't Phoenix or I apart. I thanked god that he had those off, because if the first thing I saw was a death laser aimed at me then I was going to cover the Changer : Yes in ALL the bugs! "I can STILL hear you! And you're only tempting me to do it!"
My eye twitched, and I turned a narrow eyed glare towards his room. |Try it and we'll see just how you like being a Human Centipede.|
There was a wave of disgust over our Link, I was still getting used to being a situational Empath, and an image of... Something appeared in his mind. [For the love of all that is holy, don't put those two words together again.] Blinking, I was confused about why he was wo...- [There was a movie called 'The Human Centipede' back home... It was the weirdest, and one of the most scarring things I've ever seen.]
Then he sent over an image... Of three people surgically put together like something out of a Bio-Tinker lab... And showed a clip of the first one eating... And the other two also... Eating. "JESUS CHRIST!" I felt like I was going to throw up again! "Why would you show me that?!"
"YOU MADE ME THINK OF IT, YOU SUFFER WITH ME! THAT'S HOW IT WORKS!"
"NO, IT DOESN'T!"
"YES IT DOES!"
"GODDAMMIT NO!"
We went back and forth for a while... Just shouting until it devolved into us just saying nonsensical things solely because we could.
I didn't know why... But it felt nice.
I felt whole.
I felt my brow twitch as I looked at my friend as he got off of the couch. He'd just finished 'Power Washing' the space that was going to be my room, and came to lay down for a bit when his thoughts had gotten to a point where he wondered if 'Maybe now's good enough to get to what I left out.' After hearing that, I glared at him. "What do you mean there's things you left out?" Over the week we'd known each other, we talked about alot... But apparently he 'Left things out?'
My eyes locked onto his, and I was annoyed at how calm he was. "Taylor... You were locked in the loony bin. If I told you things that would piss you off, tilt your worldview if not outright shatter it, and you lost it, what do you think would happen?" I frowned at that... Then I scowled when I realized that if I was too mad, my Swarm would act up and probably lash out at any and everything while I raged in my room. Seeing Phoenix nod made me realize he had a point. I didn't like it, but he had a point. "Exactly. But now that you're here, I can tell you any and everything..." He blinked and tilted his head to the side. "Well, any/everything I know. I'm missing a few things, but using the big brains to help me figure it out should be easy enough." Just gonna have to see if Brainstorm is going to bitch about it or not.
Frowning, which was mostly for show because it was hard to be mad at someone I could tell wasn't keeping information from me just because he could, I ignored the stray thought and nodded at him. "Okay... What is it?"
Phoenix looked at me, and I could hear his thoughts race. Go big or go home, or ease her into the rabbit hole... First one should shock her long enough for me to get into the little things and build up, while the other will probably piss her off and make it harder to explain... Watching him think, I waited for the moment he remembered we could hear each others thoughts... Seeing the way he slowly blinked, and mechanically turned to me almost made me laugh. Almost... I did snicker though. Seeing the eye roll only made it funnier in my opinion. "Well then... Since you heard all that I'll leave it up to you. World shattering information or something that'll piss you off?"
Wiping the smile off my face, I thought about my options. I didn't know what it was he'd tell me, but if I had to pick between being angry, and I had no doubt that he would be right, and being shocked, I was going to go with anger... Mostly because being angry meant I could react right away instead of being a sitting duck if I was shocked...
Sighing, I realized I had my answer. Looking up to my friend/partner, I nodded at him.
He looked at me for a second, then hummed. "Sophia is Shadow Stalker."
...
...
...
Even inside a mountain, I could hear the sounds of thousands of bugs buzz in anger. "THAT BITCH!"
Phoenix watched me pace around in anger for over 10 minutes with an amused smile on his face.
Annoying bastard.