Kitsu POV
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I don't like this.
'Maureen, she's the Merchants cryomancer? I can't, I know her story, I know her pain. She's just an orphan, one who got the shittiest hand in life. She suffers from a mental illness that causes her to hear voices, she's just here by mistake, right? This is a coincidence, right' I think with sorrow.
"H-how do you know m-my name, the one the w-whispers c-call out." she says in a small, fearful voice.
"I-" I pause, Maureen, or Permafrost as she calls herself, is unstable but can be reasoned with, kinda. "I met your friend Static."
"Static's here?" She says in a quiet yet hopeful tone. She takes a step forward before going wide eyed and stepping back. "NO! Y-you're trying to trick me! I don't know you! Where's Uncle Skid!? Where's Mister Train!? Where's Mama!?"
'Shit! She's having an episode; her eyes are dilated and darting wildly and she's shaking slightly, and, Sweating?
'Why is she sweating?'
Before I can think of anything she lets out a banshees scream and wind and snow hit me with enough force that if I were someone else it would barrel me over. Ice creeping from walls as frost forms. I get stuck as my foot rapidly freezes over. I break it out and run back around corner I came from. I need to be careful here.
"That was blue ice." I say to myself. "Why can she form blue ice? The only thing worse is dry ice." in terms of pain it causes. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide, and is far, far colder than any other form of ice that I know of. And it BURNS!
If she could create blue ice, then I may genuinely be in trouble. I wish I had Static's number. He would know how to deal with her. I'm not good at this!
Looking back over the corner, she's gone. Stepping back into the hall I walk slowly into the hallway, careful not to slip. I don't know how I'm going to beat her. I could rush forward and knock her out, but I don't want to risk hurting her. She just, I can't, my conscience won't allow it.
Reaching the turn in the Hall, I can go left or right. Looking right I get blasted from behind and frozen solid. My vision going white and distorted. Breaking out I turn around to see her turn another corner. I can't keep doing this, I need to think of something but everything I think of will either kill or seriously maim her! I'm running out of energy, I have maybe two or three good hits in me. Sending a decoy out to the corner it immediately gets blasted and shatters. Sending another to make sure she isn't still there; my plan is to wear her out and hope she comes out of her episode. Reaching the decoy and turning I see she froze the entire hallway into a wall of ice. I sigh and punch the wall. It just cracks. My saving grace here is that she is like Todoroki, she can expel ice from herself, but can't control it after its left her. But I can't absorb energy from ice, it will just make it harder. Unless she physically throws her
And I can't stick a knife in an outlet. The hospital is on a backup generator and I don't know if a surge will shut it off killing hundreds of patients. Not to mention I've effectively lost her!
I don't know what to do, I've never had to chase a natural counter to me, with almost no energy!
As I think this, I hear a clattering to my left. Turning to the sound, I see Permafrost throwing her hands up to blast that freezing air at me. Dashing back to where I came, I narrowly avoid being frozen again. I need to get out of here! I can't even absorb the heat I produce because the cold air is freezing everything! Get backup, as much as I'd never admit it aloud, the PRT are needed here more than me. Turning again, I run back down the hall. I reach Skidmark, and see the drugs gone!
'Is it possible Permafrost was the distraction? No, Skidmark is here, they would've taken him, where are the drugs then?' I don't have time Permafrost is chasing me and I'm almost tapped out!
*Fwoosh*
I heard it before I felt it. A freezing blast of air, stronger than before. I freeze over almost instantly, breaking out one more time, I duck into the busted drug cabinet, watching Skidmark freeze and ice over slowly sent I literal chill up my spine. He'll die in minutes, and I have no way of saving him. After all the running, and breaking out of ice. I'm out, I have no energy left.
'What did I do wrong? Did I not prepare enough energy? Should I have not fought the ones chasing me? Should I have left this to the PRT?' I'm slowly freezing with a frost so cold it burns as I think this, and everything goes dark.
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Victoria "Glory Girl" Dallon POV
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After getting a random call, and then a text explaining the call, she rushed over to Medhal as fast as she could only to see that Amy was safe and the PRT were cleaning everything up.
"Kitsu didn't explain anything?" Amy asks.
"Nope, the text just said, 'Amy in dngr, Merchants atk Medhal. Bring me a soda' So I dropped what I was doing and flew over." I didn't get a soda for obvious reasons. "The only reason I bothered reading it was because of how few people know my number."
"What are you talking about? You have like thirty friends." Amy retorts.
"Yeah, almost no one." I agree.
"It's more than me." She mutters.
"And who's fault is that? C'mon just let me set you up! Elizabeth is really cute!" I say. Despite knowing her preference now I'm still having no luck in getting her to date.
"Can you call Kitsu?" She asks ignoring my remark, but I see a little bit of a blush. 'I'll get you yet Ames.'
"Why? She's probably off stealing all the food from the breakroom or something." 'The little brat.'
"Can you just call? I asked her save the hospital and I'm worried, there's been no word from her, it's been half an hour." Amy pleads.
"Fine, you know I can't say no to you Ames, why do you play with my emotions so." I tease.
"My god you and Kitsu need to learn how to chill." Amy sighs.
"Never compare me to that brat again." I say seriously. I am nothing like that attention seeking mongrel.
Pulling out my phone I call the number Kitsu texted me from. Only for voice mail to hit.
"HI! This is Kitsu! If you know me, leave a message, if you don't know me, leave a message, if you found this number by accident because you were just mashing buttons on your phone out of boredom, go ahead and leave a message."
"Of course, her voice mail would be something annoying." I mutter.
"I thought it was funny." Ames says with a smile.
"Anyway, she's not answering. When do you get off tonight?" I ask.
"Vicky. Please." Amy says looking me dead in the eyes.
"FINE! I'll go find the munchkin." Seriously, if I didn't know better, I'd think Ames was a Master and not a Bio-Tinker.
I encounter Aegis who is dragging a one-armed bloodied and battered man onto a gurney.
"Holly crap Gis, you really demolished this guy. Are you gonna get in trouble for this?" The PRT is real big on public image, so wrecking a guy this badly would definitely dock someone's pay.
"Yeah, normally, but I ain't the one to do this, Kitsu was." He says calmly.
"So you're telling me Kitsu just beat the fuck out of a cripple?" I ask excitedly.
"Actually, this is porcupine, and from what we can tell, she ripped his arm of, then beat him with it, then sealed the wound shut." He explains.
"Holy shit that's metal. No way is mom gonna like this." Again, bad for PR.
"You sound a little too happy about that." He points out to me.
"Because I am, that little homewrecker has been bumming it at our house for the better part of two weeks and has been nothing but a nuisance." I vent out. She really is destroying my home life, and apparently, I'm the only one who cares.
"Well, what are you looking for?" Aegis asks.
"Kitsu, of all people." I say with a roll of my eyes.
"Oh, just follow the sound of merchants with broken legs. Armsmaster and Battery are also looking for her, the level of force she used on this guy is excessive. and we want answers as to what went down here." He points out.
"Kay thanks bye." I fly down the hall.
'Man, there are more than a few Merchants thrown to the side.' Though they aren't all from Kitsus' rampage, the dopey smiles and needles told her that.
Going down several halls, I get to an area frosted over. Travelling deeper I see Battery and Armsmaster huddled around a drug counter. With Armsmaster looking up at me.
Coming to a stop before them I hover in front. "Hey, Armsy, Bats, what's up?"
Armsmaster turns to me. "Glory Girl. We have, unfortunate news. Skidmark is dead, so we can't interrogate him, and the unknown Parahuman who froze the building, along with Scarecrow, have escaped."
"Okay, what's the bad news? Bad guys escape all the time, and Skidmark being dead can only be a good thing, right?" I ask with a shrug.
Battery doesn't look at me. "Skidmark, froze to death, and, so too did Kitsu."
That, didn't make any sense, Kitsu was, by her own admission, immortal in the truest sense.
"Where is she?" I ask.
Battery just points behind the desk. Flying over and taking a look, I see Skidmark frozen to the ground in a thick layer of ice. And curled up in a ball with a scared look is Kitsu, frozen inside the cabinet.
'Oh, she's not dead, just out of commission, wait, Armsmaster should know this. I get Battery not knowing, but Armsmaster is the one who read Deans texts.'
Flying over the counter, and over Skidmarks dead body reaching out I rip Kitsu out of the cabinet, and slam her against the wall to break the Ice off her. She's still pale. But not the in the pale blue frozen sense. She just looks anemic.
'And I cracked the wall, oops.'
Battery is shouting behind me. "Gloryl Girl! Stop! What is wrong with you?!"
Once I've fully broken all the ice off of her I hold her, she may be an annoying little attention whore, but I wasn't about to let a child die if I could help it. 'Or, not die in Kitsus case, God I hope she was telling the truth otherwise I am going to need soooo much therapy.'
"Why would you do that? She's dead! Is your-" I cut her off.
"She can't die, she can only be put down, not out." I say.
"What are you talking about?" She asks.
"Ask Armsmaster, he knows, he was probably just hoping to take the credit for capturing the Endstopper before she gets citizenship and her past crimes are deemed null and void due to her age." is it right? No. Do I care? Not particularly. This guy read my texts. Fuck him.
Battery whips around to face Armsmaster. "You knew she wasn't dead?! Why didn't you say anything?!"
"It is one thing to be told someone is immortal and an entirely different thing to come across said person with zero biological functions operating, yet not suffer cellular degeneration." he intones.
"What?/Huh?" Me and Battery say aloud.
"I needed to see it to believe it." He repeats with a sigh. "That and the information was, and still is, unconfirmed. We don't know if she will wake up, and my suits sensors are all saying she is dead."
"Powers are bullshit, we all know that, I'm taking her to Ames." Not even bothering to hear them out, I rush back over to the E.R. with Kitsu in arms. Dodging Aegis, who gave me a wave, and Merchant goons being handcuffed and taken out. Except the one with broken legs, they were being carted to the E.R.
Making my way to Amy who is conveniently between patients. I rush in front of her.
"Vicky, what is it, is that Kitsu?! What hap-."
"She can't die, don't know the full details. Can you heal her?" I shove the frozen girl to her.
"I can try" Placing her hand on Kitsu she goes wide eyed.
A few seconds pass and this is getting creepy.
"Ames, Amy? Amy!" I yell.
"Huh, what? Oh! Right, she's, fine, against every known law of biology, she's fine, just unconscious. All the moisture in her body is frozen, I can't believe I'm saying this but you just need to let her thaw out." Amy goes off.
"What, like a steak?" I ask.
"Sure, if that's how you wanna see it." She says with a roll of her eyes. "Did you know she can see in the dark? Her eyes dilate and contract to extreme measures, she currently has a subset of blood running through her brain made of sugars and proteins a specialized ethanol to keep her brain from dying fully, and she is passively absorbing all the heat around her to thaw out quicker, and pass energy to the rest of her body and revive herself automatically. And her muscle fibers are modified to handle and transfer extreme levels of heat and shock. The way her myocytes act as hyper shock absorbers and insulators-"
"Ames if you're about to geek out over some unique biology, at least say it in a way I can understand." I cut her off.
With a sigh she just sets Kitsu on a gurney. "Her body is built to survive just about anything, she won't die. End of story. Doesn't mean she can't be put down." After a pause she continues. "But still, her biology is interesting, maybe more so than Aegis, his body can be damaged, hers can't, well not in any lasting way from what I can see."
"Cool! Did you know she tore a guys arm off?" I ask trying to move on from her biology, knowing that I wasn't acting crazy and flying around with a frozen corpse was a relief.
"Really? Why didn't he show up here? I got just about eight guys with broken knees." Amy asks.
"Eleven!" A random nurse pushing an empty gurney by shouts
"Eleven, I'd like to think I'd remember a missing arm." She says moving on to another room with patients, or rather Merchants, in them.
"Kitsu used her power to manipulate biology to seal his wound in a way that left him perfectly fine and able to be carted away in a police car." Going to the only conscious mook in the room. "You're not seriously going around healing all these junkyard junkies, are you? You know they're just gonna be on the street causing trouble within the day, right?"
"I took an oath Vicky." Amy said tiredly.
"There has to be limits to that." I point out.
"Oh there are, I don't have to heal anyone who starts cussing me out because I can take that as a refusal to accept my care. Dumbasses can't keep their mouths shut, it's almost like some of them enjoy being denied medical service. Watch." We come up to the Merchant with heavily stained jeans, and in a blue tattered shirt. With two broken legs, fully bent backwards.
'And I thought I had trouble holding back, this looks almost intentional.' I think in regards to Kitsu's use of excessive force.
As the guy on the gurney writhes in the pain of having his legs bending backwards. Amy walks up to the guy and tentatively grabs his shoulder.
"Eugh, God, he's so hopped up I'm surprised I'm not getting a contact high. Hey, dumbass, do I have your permission to heal you?" She asks.
"Can, can you?" He asks hopefully.
"No, I asked because I want to give you false hope and watch you squirm." She snarks back with the sarcasm that has become synonymous with her.
"Fuck off, snarky bitch." He spits out in a pained voice.
"Okay, I'll take that as your refusal to accept cape healing." She lets go and starts walking away.
"What? No! No, I accept please!" But we had already left the room. And started moving to the next.
"Wasn't that a bit, evil?" I ask
"His legs weren't broken at the knee, they were dislocated, he just needs them set back into place and a cast for a few weeks and he'll be fine, might have some ligament damage, and a torn ACL, but I doubt he planned on being a marathon runner soooo, no harm no foul." She says with a shrug.
"Oh, my, God Ames you are so evil!" I say with a laugh. She does this sometimes, fucks with the Gangbangers who come in, goads them into refusing her healing. Then walks off to let them suffer, so long as it's something that won't kill them if left untreated that is.
"I wonder what Dean is doing? Wasn't he on duty today?" I ask absentmindedly.
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Meanwhile
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In an alleyway we see an unconscious Gallant, drool pooling out the broken part of his helmet.
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POV Returned
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"Your boy toy is probably just on patrol somewhere else." Amy says.
"Yeah, he was probably just too far away to be called over here." I say.
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-Timeskip later that day-
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Kitsu POV
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Waking up freezing, with pounding headache, and a burning in my chest I roll over and hack up a bit of water out and the burning recedes. Hanging half off the left side of whatever I'm on I look around and notice I'm on a bed in a hospital room. And I see that I coughed up into a waste bucket.
'Convenient, oh wait, there's a hand attached to the bin.' Looking up I see Victoria with a look suggesting she stepped in dog shit. After that I just slump back down over side of the bed.
"Did we win?" I slurred out, feeling hungover.
"That's it?" Hear from the right of the bed. "That's all you have to say?"
'Oh, Carol's here, that's lovely.' "Hi Carol. Is Mark here?"
"No, he's not, don't change the subject. You took off, breaking government property in the process, attacked a PRT team, rushed into a hostile situation with zero preparation, and on top of all that I get to explain to the PRT why you ripped a man's arm off!" She interrogates.
"Wouldn't be the first time." I say without looking up. I'm tired, freezing to death is a slow and scary process. I effectively died and there was nothing I could do. I was constantly running out of energy the entire time just keeping myself warm, and when she was targeting me, I wasted even more breaking free of the ice coffin she kept putting me in.
"Which part?" She says seriously.
"All of it. I busted out of the PRT in Boston about five years ago, fought three different PRT Cape teams since then, and I've ripped off a couple of guys arms. It's my go to for creeps and pedos, well actually my go to is murder but I'm not allowed to do that anymore. Can I sleep?" I ask.
"You've been asleep for the last three or four hours, you're good." I hear a new voice coming from the doorway.
Throwing an arm up without looking up I shout. "PanPan! I got nothin, how's it going?"
"It takes you literally being dead for several hours to calm you down? Good to know." Said Vicky.
"Who saved me by the way? And someone tell Static Shock I found Maureen." I say.
"Victoria saved you and I don't know who either of those are." Carol said.
Looking up at Vicky, who had set the waste bin down. I slump again.
"Thank you, Vicky." I say.
…
There's a noticeable silence in the room, it would be awkwardly so if not for the buzz of the hospital going on in the background.
"What? What'd I say?" I ask looking up.
"I thought you and Vicky hated each other." Amy said.
"I can't speak for Vicky, but I don't hate her, I just enjoy picking on her. That and I don't like her much, but I don't hate her." I explain.
…
Again with the silence?
"Can we go home? I wanna go to bed, my bed." I say.
"Answer a few questions first." Carol says.
With a sigh I just raise a thumbs up. I keep my eyes closed as honestly, I'm too out of it to really focus on anything I would see, so I don't bother trying.
"Okay, first, why did you take off?" Carol asks.
"Gotta call from Wade, thinker tinker friend, said the hospital where PanPan works was under attack." I answer.
"Don't call me that." Amy chimes in from the doorway.
"Okay, why did you fight a PRT team on the way?" She asks.
"They attacked me first. I was defending myself." I answer again.
"They didn't mention that." Carol says under her breath. "Why did you break Gallants armor? Even if you were defending yourself that was excessive"
"He's a pervert that's why." I say indignantly.
"He is not! He is the sweetest and most kind gentleman I've ever known!" Vicky says.
"Wow, it's almost like you're in love with him. I thought you were dating a guy named Dean?" I glare up at her.
She glares for half a second before her eyes widen and realization hits her, she then looks to the wall, refusing to meet my eye. Satisfied I'd proved something I slump back down.
What exactly did I prove? I'unno.
"Just ask him about our fight later and you'll get your answer." I say.
"I will, now then, next question." Carols says before Vicky can get anything out.
"This is starting to feel like an interrogation." I say.
"Because it is." 'Oh' "Why did you kidnap Vista?"
"I thought she could help out at the hospital." I say quietly before raising my voice and shaking a fist in the air. "But I was wrong! She tis doth but a coward!" I put my fist down and roll back onto the bed proper.
"Okay, don't kidnap people again. why did you rip a man's arm off?" She asks.
"Which one?" I ask, turning my head to the right, facing Carol.
"Excuse me?" Carol asks with a hard to read voice.
"Which one? Porcupine, or Trainwreck? Because I feel bad about breaking Trainwrecks prosthetic, it felt like kicking a cripple out of a wheelchair." Amy snorted at that, looking over I see a smirk on her face.
"Okay, I'm talking about Porcupine." Carol clarifies.
"Oh yeah, I also beat him with said arm because he said he was going to 'Enjoy a cutie like me'." I said that last bit in an imitation of his smokers voice.
"Holy shit that's hardcore." Vicky said.
"Language!" I point at her.
"English, fuck off." She said.
"Vicky, knock it off." Carol said.
"Yeah Vicky, it's only cute when PanPan does it." I point out.
"Don't call me that." PanPan being the cute tsundere that she is!
"Kitsu?" Carol again.
"Yes?" me.
"Knock it off or no TV." Carol.
"Okay." I say finally.
A few seconds of silence pass before Carol continues.
"Good, now final question. What happened? You were frozen solid in layers of blue ice and every biometric reading said you were dead." She asks.
"Oh, I found Skidmark, beat him up, and then when he told me about the ice cape, I went to go find her." I say and take a breath. "I found her not far away, she goes by Permafrost, Static Shock is looking for her, he's trying to bring her home. She, uh, had an episode and attacked me when I was convincing her to surrender." I say that last bit sheepishly.
"Can you give any details on her?" She asks.
"Real name is Maureen, don't know her last name, she is a very powerful cryokinetic, she's from Dakota city and is the reason Static Shock is here. She's sick in the head and ran away from child protective services, don't know how she found her way from the Midwest to the Northeast but, she's here now. Why are all the most powerful capes so unstable?" I ramble off.
Carol just stares at me and raises an eyebrow.
"What?" No response. "What?" I say a little louder.
"Nothing, let's go, I managed to get your criminal record expunged by the way." Carol finally says.
"I have a record? Don't I need to be arrested for that?" I ask.
"No, you just have to be formally charged, and you were, of fourteen confirmed cases of breaking and entering, eighteen cases of excessive force used in self-defense, thirty-two cases of petty theft, three cases of grand theft, two cases of trespassing on government property, five cases of vandalism, and one case of grand theft auto!" She says exasperated.
'Wow, I genuinely never kept track of all the shit I did, huh, wait when did I? OH! Right, that was a fun Friday. Though I know for a fact that I stole WAY more, and broke into a lot more than fourteen houses, surprised none of the murders were found. eh they were mostly pedophiles and rapists; I doubt many cops look too hard into their cases'
"Uh, I'm sorry?" I say with an awkward smile. "In my defense the theft and break-ins were mostly for food and shelter. Where is Mark? I gotta tell him the good news!" At this Carol starts rubbing her eyes.
"And what, pray tell, is that Kitsu?" She asks.
"I got Amy to agree to a night of UNO!" I cheer.
"I only agreed to a single game!"
"Can't hear you, too busy being happy." I say and sit up. I turn to Victoria. "Vicky?"
"What?" She asks, folding her arms and leaning against the wall.
I just hold up my arms and perk my ears. "Carry me?"
…
"Cute. No." She says.
"Aw." I pout and droop my ears.
'Wait a second, I don't feel a burning anger towards Vicky right now, ever since I first met her I-
!
'Was I under her aura's effect this whole time! Was that why I felt so antagonistic towards her? Oh well.' I think and roll out the bed, sliding off the side on my belly so as to not hurt my tail. Feet touching the ground I realize my lack of foot ware. Looking down I see the lack of my clothes, in their place a hospital gown.
"Where are my clothes!" I shout.
'Those are custom made! By Parian! Who can say they have casual 'only' clothes made for you by a Cape!'
"They had so much blood on them, they were thrown in the incinerator." Amy said.
"Oh, right, What about the money in my pockets?" I ask.
"The four hundred something in stained bills? Yeah no, those were turned over to the authorities to examine for counterfeit, and failing that, burn them I hope." I'm informed.
"Oh, can I have my phone back?" I ask.
"Catch."
turning to Carol just in time to get smacked in the face with my pink smart phone.
"D'oww"
At least I got some energy back!
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BONUS
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Mark 'Flashbang' Dallon POV
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Being left to fill out and read the rest of the paper work was rather expected, as was being the one to carry the rest of it home. Not all of it could be completed in a few days, some of this would take a week just to read through. Though it was mostly just the same as back when we signed the papers to become Amy's guardian, less actually, considering we weren't fully adopting Kitsu.
However, it turned out that Kitsu had a bit more to her than they initially thought. The reason Carol was able to get Kitsu exonerated of her past criminal offenses were threefold, one that she wouldn't allow Kitsu to repeat said offenses, two was Carol's many connections and their reputations, and three was that they agree to finance the fines for her crimes, a not so small amount, but with all the merchandise New Wave puts out, they could clear it in a year or two.
And Kitsu's age.
That was the expected part, the unexpected part came about when after Carol left to go get Kitsu, they need her signature for the some of these anyway. The accounts lady came back with more papers. Turns out that after the Behemoth incident on the west coast nearly three years ago, the PRT preemptively had most of the process for Kitsu to become a Ward completed. That included having a bank account for her set up. And with her destruction of Eagleton, she got the reward money forwarded to her account, a reward of which's size was intended for a small army to profit from.
Here's the rather, daunting part, with Kitsu not being old enough to accept anything monetary from the government, it fell to her guardians to manage the money until she turned eighteen.
I'm not stupid, once she turned eighteen the PRT would freeze her accounts and probably use her criminal record to take her bank funds as 'restitution fees' unless she joined the PRT. Well with her new guardians now being a couple named Carol and Mark Dallon.
Yeah.
"Well, at least we won't have to worry about financing those fines, or the kid's college."
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A/N I took inspiration from the Arctic Woolly Bear Caterpillar to explain how Kitsu could survive full body freezing outside of, she just did, I personally prefer a pseudo-scientific explanations over -it just is- explanations. Like ReplyReport Reactions:jlk, LordVile, Kayriel and 216 othersNewb to the gameMar 12, 2024NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Worm CYOA, Kitsu 12 New View contentMar 14, 2024Add bookmark#90Newb to the gameNot too sore, are you?Let the show begin.
-Date, Time-
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
[Shard]
*Sounds/actions*
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-April 1st 2010 5:00 am-
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Kitsu POV
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The time has come.
Long story short, I got my new clothes, turns out I had a bank account, neat. Apparently, I got off Scott free with a lot of things due to my age, accomplishments 'Behemoth', and Carol. Say what you will but she is a damn good lawyer. And my bank account was because a few higher ups were really sure they'd be able to convince me to be a Ward.
I'm probably still gonna raid drug labs for no other reason than it's fun, and it's good PR, I'm an official member of New Wave now, and I need to think about image. So I used my new funds to get an entire wardrobe, rather than just three of the same outfit that I wear an entire week. That being said my hero costume is still my Irida outfit, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Moving on, after a week of paper work, it's not done, it'll still take a month or two to process, I'm now the foster child, ward, whatever legal responsibility of the Dallons. And Carol has been drilling me on basic laws and rules I'm not allowed to break, which is all of them. other than that I go to Arcadia today! I tried testing out, only to fail the modern history, world issues, and English portion so badly they deemed school necessary, and apparently my emotional development was deemed "underdeveloped" and that interaction with others of my age range in a safe and controlled environment will be good for me.
So, I'm taking what classes I can until school lets out in two months. I'm not expected to take any tests, just do homework and study. Then I'll be doing summer school and tutoring, after that I'll go back in August as a proper freshman. Personally, I just think Carol is doing her best to keep me out of the house.
'It's almost like she doesn't trust me.' I think, grabbing the plastic wrap out of one of kitchen drawers, being careful to be quiet. It's April Fools Day, and I intend to capitalize on this! Reaching the bathroom, I lift up the toilette lid and wrap the plastic around the bowl. Giggling to myself I run out of the bathroom and put the clear wrap back where it goes. Going under the sink I grab a plastic bucket and fill it with water, hefting it back to my room I close the door slightly, and using platforms of illusory glass I set the bucket up on top of the door. Hopping down I run back to my bed and slink under the covers giggling.
'This is going to be so much fun!' Now, I wait.
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-Timeskip 6:00 AM-
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"KITSU!"
"Wuh?" I think as I wake up.
*Slam*
"DID YOU-!" Vicky, wearing only a loose black crop top and pink pajama pants, bursts into my room yelling.
*Splash*
Only to get a bucket dropped on her head, the bucket hit her head, then fell over and spilled the water over the hardwood floor. Getting her feet wet and nothing else.
'Oh, I fell asleep.' I think grimly. "In my defense, it's April Fool's Day."
She just stares at me, seething in a silent fury, Aura at full power.
"April Fools?" I say in a small voice, slowly sinking into covers around me, as though they would protect me from Vicky. The whole time never taking my eyes off her.
After a few seconds, Vicky lets go of a breath. Reels in her Aura. And looks at me with a smile.
'That somehow scares me more.'
"Okay Kitsu, I'll give you that one, next one's on me though." She says with calmly.
"What?" I ask.
"Have a nice first day at school~" She says and closes my door quietly.
…
"I'm in danger."
.
.
After having mopped up the mess, not easy for someone of my stature, I got dressed and went to go eat breakfast with Vicky and Amy. Carol and Mark tend not to wake up until around eight, by which point we'll have left, Carol trusts Vicky to make sure I go to school.
Carol is working with Sarah, her sister and leader of New Wave, to schedule a time where she can teach me flying maneuvers with her and the other flyers of New Wave. I was supposed to meet them a few days ago, but something personal came up on their end and it was decided I'd just meet Eric and Crystal at Arcadia. Eric just started high school this year, and Crystal was graduating in June.
I can't wear my Irida outfit 24/7 anymore, because that's my "hero" outfit. So, I called up Parian, offered her a thousand per outfit, and got a full wardrobe. And in keeping with my theme, I'm wearing a version of Korina's outfit from Pokémon X&Y, just without the helmet and roller blades, instead wearing red and white sneakers. And a hole in the skort for my tail, naturally. Mark tried to get me on board with a skin tight suit to match the rest of New Wave, barring Victoria, but I refused.
Amy is wearing a baggy grey t-shirt and loose denim jeans, her wavy brown hair loose draped down her back. Vicky wearing a blue short-sleeve band shirt, and skinny jeans. Her blonde hair tied in a pony tail. The best way to describe Vicky would be "Teen spirit" while Amy is best described as, "I would watch the world burn and not care."
Amy looks up from her coffee to me. "Plastic wrap on the toilet was you?"
"Yeah." I admit.
"Good one, Vicky pissed all over the floor and on her socks before she noticed.
"Pfft!" I almost do a spit-take.
"AMY!" Vicky yells with a blush.
"Yeah, what's up?" She says nonplussed.
"Can you not?" She asks.
Amy, for her part just stares at Victoria before taking another sip of coffee.
"No, I think I will." She finally says.
"I love this family." I say out loud. "Oh, Vicky, can I hitch a ride on you with Amy?"
"Can't you just run there?" Vicky says.
"You know how my power works; I heard you eavesdropping. My ears aren't just for show." I move my ears around to emphasize this. "Though I wouldn't blame you if you thought otherwise, they do make me look cuter."
"Oh, do you, need me to punch you, or something?" she says sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, am I missing something? Because it sounds to me like the little girl runs on masochism." Amy says, looking like she's trying to solve a puzzle.
"12-year-old girl!" I correct.
"Still very much little, and you didn't correct the masochism part." She says with a smirk.
'I going to do what I do best.' "Thats because I don't know what that is, and I won't say no in case it is something awesome." I say with a touch of haughtiness.
"It's when-" Amy starts.
"NOOO we don't need to be teaching her about those things right now, or ever for that matter." Vicky says with a blush. Either Amy didn't fall for my bluff, or genuinely had no shame in this. Could be a bit of both really.
"Basically, everything I do, I do because I use energy, but I can't generate enough of my own energy to do all the crazy stuff I normally do, so I absorb it in the form of heat, kinetic force, electricity, and the like. That being said, why not just fly me?" I say directing the question towards Vicky.
"Because I'll already be carrying Amy, so two people is a bit much, unless I'm fireman carrying you two, which I won't." She says simply.
"Fine, just punch me." I say jumping off the chair and walking around the table.
I'm a little disturbed at how quickly she was willing to just hop up and repeatedly gut punch me.
Her hits just stopping dead on me, as though she just stopped moving. It's still uncomfortable, like getting a bruise, only for to heal and come back on the next hit.
"This is actually fun!" She said with a smile and keeps hitting me, only this time much harder.
"Okay, that's enough!" I say backing away. I have plenty energy, more than when I electrocuted myself twice, though I never really get a lot of energy from that compared to absorbing hits.
"What? I thought you needed energy." She asks.
"Yeah, but I don't like how much enjoyment you're taking in wailing on me!" I say defensively. "And besides I have enough energy to last me the day." 'And then some.'
I would just go to the Delgatto house a few blocks down, but they returned home the same day as the hospital was hit, and the police are still investigating the place. I didn't do anything they can prove. I didn't eat all their Poptarts and I didn't break that window!
"I just like not having to hold back, it's not my fault you're the only thing that doesn't just break."
Vicky sits back down, while I just stand there and regain my bearing. Unless I have the adrenaline of a fight, or the time to nap, absorbing energy is a bit jarring. Imagine having an empty stomach, and then you have thanksgiving, you need a second to decompress.
Vicky and Amy, just stare at me as I stand there.
"You good? I didn't hit you too hard did I?" Vicky asks.
"Huh? No, I'm good, just need a second." I say.
"So, what, you gonna run now?" Amy says.
'Oh that's right, Amy never saw me fly with my Glass Saucer.'
Putting my hands on my hips and tilting my head up with my best smug smile.
"I do not concern myself with such, pedestrian modes of transport anymore." I say and twirl to look and point at her. "For you see. I-"
"I'll be waiting outside." Vicky says getting up and putting her bowl of cereal in the sink.
"Have broken from my mortal chains! Behold!" I do the 'praise the sun' pose and rise up on an iridescent Glass Saucer, and make lights shine from the ceiling.
…
Peeking to see her reaction I watch as she just sets her coffee mug in the sink and walk towards the door, a bored look on her face.
"Powers are bullshit." She says.
.
.
-Timeskip 8:15 AM-
.
.
Flying here on the saucer I managed to beat Vicky here. I'm supposed to wait for someone to show me around, but I already have a map of the school on my phone along with my schedule, curtesy of Wade.
Luckily Arcadia is a vocational school, so I get out after lunch at twelve thirty and get to just run around the city, seeing as my career vocation is professional hero. Though I can't help but feel I'm forgetting something.
I wanna mess with people, always have and always will. So for my first class of world history, I turn invisible, sneak in before the teacher, and wait. This is my homeroom for the next few months, it's a clean, white linoleum floored room with maps and atlas's all over the walls, along with framed news clippings here and there of major world events dating back as far as the nineteen twenties. I see a newspaper clipping of Legend coming out as gay to the public a few decades ago, and a clipping of Hero's death. There is a board in the back with news headlines from papers detailing Endbringer attacks. And even a Newspaper headline of me! It's titled. The Endbringer, Stopped? With a smaller headline under reading. Mysterious child fends off Behemoth and forces a retreat. The picture of me is a little blurry, likely due to me having been forced to cover myself in lights, Behemoth had destroyed my clothes at the time. But you can still make out the detail of my blonde ears and tail. The desks are individuals with full back chairs attached, making them unusable by me due to my tail. This is discriminatory!
I try and see if they have a news clipping of me destroying Eagleton. But before I can really look, kids start pouring in. They all look like they should be about my age. What really took my notice however are two key individuals, one pale redhead wearing jeans, black sneakers, and a loose green t-shirt that says 'Kiss me, I'm Irish', the other half head shorter and much darker with dreadlocks, in baggy jeans and yellow shirt with orange sleeves. Dennis, and Vergil.
'No way! I share a homeroom with Clockblocker and Static Shock!' I think with excitement. well, this is Arcadia, I was bound to run into the Wards eventually.
After noticing them I walk over to the teachers' desk and sit on the edge facing the students. I notice that Vergil was eyeing my direction the whole time, almost as if he could see me.
'Oh! That's right, he can sense electromagnetic auras. Between him, Vistas' ability to detect that my decoys are illusions, and Gallant being able to sense me with him being an empath. My invisibility trick is looking less and less impressive.' I think sourly, it took me seven months to figure this trick out without leaving light distortions damnit!
"Hey, uh, you good man? You seem to be spacing out." Dennis says to Vergil. They settle into seats next to the door, with Vergil closest and Dennis in the seat next to him.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm just hungry ya know! I'm so hungry I could eat a case of donuts, like fifty three of them. But I can't seem to see any at all." he says and slightly nods his head to my direction.
'That was the lamest attempt at double speak I've ever seen.' I think blandly.
Dennis, for all his glory, just cocks an eyebrow. "Didn't you eat on the way here? How could you be so hungry?"
'You're kidding me!' I have to cover my mouth to keep from laughing at Dennis' expense. My shoulders shaking, I almost lose focus and drop the illusion.
Vergil just glances at me, and slaps a hand to his face.
"Never mind man, just, never mind." Vergil gives up.
"What?" He says looking confused.
I almost fall over off the desk at his confuse tone. I'm shaking in barely restrained laughter!
As I regain my composure the teacher finally walks in, a tall, thin man with short brown hair, wearing square glasses and a tucked in red flannel button up, bag slung over one shoulder. Looking down to the desk I'm on I see it belongs to a Mr. Callies. Looking back over I see him place his bag at the side of the desk and go to the whiteboard, standing center of the board he clasps his hands in front of him, with a pensive look he regards the class.
"Right class, it seems that she isn't here yet, so that gives me time to give you all a heads up." He speaks with a slight British accent. "We have new student coming in today, who is unusual. I'll not beat around the bush so to speak, she is a Case 53. Please raise your hand if you don't know what that means."
A good quarter of the class raise their hands, with a few giving the so-so gesture.
The teacher claps his hands again before putting them to his sides and turning to the board.
"Less than I expected, more than I had hoped." he says under his breath. He reaches for a marker and starts writing on the board, I don't pay attention to what, instead finding my focus on the class, with Vergil still glancing in my direction now and again.
"A case 53 is a unique Parahuman whose powers have, for reasons still unknown, warped their bodies into more inhuman forms. I don't want to hear any insensitive comments or rude questions, okay?" The teacher continues.
A few At that point I slide off of the desk, making sure I don't make any noise and stand in front of the teacher as he turns around, I drop my invisibility and just stare up at him.
"Got it!" I say raising my hand.
"Oh! Sweet bajeebus!" He says dropping his marker and putting a hand to his heart. He's rather tall, I only come up to his belt.
There're a few shouts of excitement from the class behind me. Turning to the class, I see everyone wide eyed and few slack jawed, predictably there are like three people on their phones texting, no, they're taking pictures of me. I'm rather enjoying the attention!
'Right, the faraday cage keeps kids from using their phones, as well as other things.
I see Dennis in the front row head in his hands, with Vergil just looking at him shaking his own head.
'Guess he figured it out.'
"Hi! I'm Kitsu!" I say with a smile, ears perked up and tail swishing excitedly.
'Funny, last time I said that I was stabbing a guy in the balls.'
The teacher behind me swallows the lump in his throat and continues.
"Right, Kitsu? Do that again and you'll be sent to the principles' office. I don't mind if you wanna show off a bit, but no powers on school grounds, okay?" The teacher says.
"Okay!" I say turning to face him.
"Now why don't you take a seat?" He says, gesturing to one of the four empty seats.
"Can't." I state, twisting in place like Neptunia does.
He raises an eyebrow. "Why not?"
In response to his question, I swing my tail to the front of myself and hold it.
"I can't really sit in full back chairs; I'll sit on my tail." I explain.
"Oh, right, uh Daniel, Adam, can you grab a desk from Mr. Midgley's art room? He has extra" The teacher asks two students.
"Sure/Yeah I guess." Two boys, one with short brown hair, and another taller boy, with shoulder length dark brown hair, both get up and head out.
"Right then," Callies continues. "Um, well class has already been properly derailed, so how about this. Class, you all get a free session until Adam and Daniel return. During this how about we ask Kitsu some questions if that's all right with her."
I make a show of pretending to be scared. Folding my ears to my head, and holding my tail to my chest even tighter.
"All this attention on me?" I say with a worried look.
"If that's not-"
"I'd love to!" I say dropping the act.
…
"I already have one class clown; I don't need another." He says seriously.
"Le Gasp! Tis not so my good sir! For I am not but a clown! I am thee whole CIRCUS!" I say dramatically. Flourishing an imaginary cape with one hand placed daintily on my chest. This got a few chuckles.
"Oh my gosh! She is sooo adorable!" I hear one girl squeal.
'Praise me more mortals! Lavish me with your worship!'
"Why don't you guys laugh at me like that?" Dennis says.
"Because your jokes suck!" One kid says.
'Oh I can't resist!' I know Dennis has a minor fear of me since he learned that I kinda sorta killed him.
'Really he killed himself on accident with his own power, I was just the tool he used!'
So I'm gonna either make his day, or ruin his life. Metaphorically speaking. But it can wait till launch. Away from a teacher. Nothing, malicious of course.
"You tell jokes?" I ask.
His attention now purely on me, I notice him somehow get a little paler.
"Uh, I'unno if I'd call it, uh." He stutters.
"Bro, you cool?" Some blonde guy said.
"What me? I'm always cool, I am the coolest guy here, I'm so cool my skin is frosty." He bluffs.
"Really? My skin heats up the more I hold my powers in. Does that mean you have powers that freeze you?" I ask innocently and walk up to him, reaching out and feeling hand.
Dennis, ironically, froze at the contact. A look of barely restrained fear on his pale face.
"Nope, not cold, you are certifiably not cool."
…
"Burn!" A kid in the back says.
The teacher then makes a show of clearing his throat. "Right then, as much as I'm sure we all enjoy tormenting Dennis, Kitsu would you please leave him alone? He's clearly uncomfortable."
At least the teacher is attentive, point one for this school as compared to the average school in America!
"Alright." I say with a shrug and walk back to front of the class. "Any questions?"
I see a few hands raise up and pick the blonde girl in the front row, she looked like she could be one of Vickys friends. With how she's
"You!" I say pointing to her.
"Are you really a part of New Wave now?" She asks.
"How do you know that?" I may be official, but I have yet to make my official debut!
"Vicky told me, I guess that confirms it." She says with a smile.
So the reason she looks like one of Vickys friends, is because she is one of Vickys friends. Also what I've learned here is that Vicky cannot keep a secret.
'Little gossip monger.' I think sourly. We may not be at each other's throats anymore, but that doesn't mean we like each other.
After what happened at Medhal, with me going to save Amy, Vicky started putting in a concerted effort to try and treat me like a person rather than a nuisance, in exchange I stopped all the targeted antagonism and cut off my master power I had on Dean earlier than I planned. Oh yeah, Dean and Vicky broke up after Vicky found out Dean tried to stop me from reaching the hospital. And speaking of, Permafrost got a kill order put on her, she was apparently responsible for over four hundred people dying in the attack, and this wasn't the first time she killed in mass. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, She's a mentally ill orphan, on the other she's an unstable mass murderer. I was so caught up in the surprise and awe at seeing her there, that I forgot she was the enemy. By the time I remembered, it was too late.
'The only consolation I have is that all the deaths happened before I got there. And that my failure cost no more lives, other than Skidmark, but fuck him.'
"Any other questions?" I say, snapping myself out of that depressive line of thought.
A few other kids raised their hands, and I picked a boy in the back.
"Aren't you a little young to be here?" He says.
"Yes, but out of curiosity, how old do you think I am?" I ask.
"like, nine?" He shrugs.
"I'm twelve." I say seriously.
As I say that the two boys from earlier stumble into the class room with a desk chair that has an open back.
"Well I guess that's the end of that. Adam, Daniel, if you could just but it down over there?" He says pointing to where an empty seat is. Sensing an opportunity to show off I raise my hand.
"I'll help!" Running over to the empty seat next to Dennis I lift it up and run it out room and throw it into the hall with a clatter. Running back in, I steal the chair from two boys and set it down where the other chair was. Sitting down and letting my tail swish behind me I see I knocked over the brown haired boy in my rush.
"Sorry!" I shout over to him.
"I'm good." He grunts out getting up. I notice Adam doesn't help him.
They get back to their seats and sit. The teacher, Mr. Midgley, grabs a text book, flips to a page and begins.
"Alright class, barring any further disturbances." He says looking at me, then at Dennis. "I believe we start chapter nine today. Please turn to page three hundred and twelve. Kitsu, where is your book?"
"... Oops?" I say shrinking into myself, trying to make myself look smaller. 'I knew I was forgetting something! I left my book bag at the house!'
"Seeing as how this is your first day I'll overlook it, next time you'll be given a check, three checks and you get sent to the office, okay?" He tells me.
"Yes." I say. "I'll just share with Dennis!" Before the teacher can say anything I scoot my desk over to be right next to his.
"Dennis, is that alright with you?"
"Uh, sure, I don't mind." Dennis said unsurely.
"Right, I can't see any problem arising from two clowns pairing up." Mr. Midgley says under his breath. "Without further delay let's start."
.
.
History was actually interesting, I kept speeding my perception up because I got so invested in the book, Dennis had to keep stopping, which made him visibly nervous. Aside from that I learned that when Legend came out of the closet, he did it at an anti-pride rally. Rocked up, pretended to be there and speak up against homosexuals, only to march up to the podium and silence everyone with his coming out. When PR stations tried to mitigate and cover that up, he told them "Accept me, and others like me, or don't accept my help." Baller, mad respect, I want his autograph for that alone.
'I still haven't gotten Statics autograph! And I can't just ask him now, unwritten rules and all that.' I realize.
After that, class let out at about quarter till ten. My next class was English, which sucked. No one of note, a teacher who sounded like the therapist from South Park, and maintained a flat face to any antics I tried. That let out at quarter past eleven, nothing to note, and that disappoints me.
The next class was Biology, I took that one of my own accord, I'm paying extra close attention to marine biology. Leviathan is going to attack some time next year, I think, I forgot when exactly, just that it does so sometime in May. I'm trying to learn how to use my self-biokinesis to give myself gills, I may not be killable, but if I drown, I'll pass out, and Scion will show up, and I can't risk being that close to him. He could sense that Eidolon was using his wife's dead shard, he could absolutely sense me in the area. So, my options are to either make myself scarce, and let everything play out roughly as did in canon. Or, beat leviathan, step one, keep Lung and maybe Bakuda out of the birdcage, and failing that steal a nuke or two from Bakuda to use. Step two? I haven't thought that far, if I can integrate gills into myself, even temporarily, it will allow me to one v one Leviathan. I absorb force, the only Endbringer who I would not fight, ever, would be the Simurgh. Tohu and Bohu? Maybe. Khonsu? Tricky. Leviathan? Possible. Behemoth, If I didn't know how the Endbringers worked, I would have killed him.
Anyway, in biology I was reminded of something, or rather [Conduit] transferred [Data] to me. There were no wards in Biology, and no parahumans in near me enough that [Conduit] felt safe enough to talk to me. He told me this in response to what happened at the hospital. But I can combust apparently. Not fully, I can essentially enhance my temperature in a controlled manner, fast enough to cause heat bursts. Nothing on the level of level of Bakugo, yet. I'd need to practice for that.
Lunch rolled around, and I found my target of the day. The cafeteria had PIZZA! My day is made.
After that I looked for the key group. at their own table, I spied the Wards, plus New Wave Jr. And a tagalong or two. Vicky is sitting next Dean, guess they're back together. Seeing an empty seat next Dennis, I get a devious idea, turning invisible and sneaking near them. Vicky's friend, that I never bothered to learn the name of, is talking avidly.
"I don't get it, I would love to have a little sister as cute as that." She says.
"Okay Ellie, I get that, but what you don't understand is that she doesn't, turn, OFF! She's like a Disney villain! She just doesn't calm down. The only times she's calm, is when she's asleep or watching that British chef yell at people on TV." Vicky says exasperated.
'Oh, they're talking about me.'
"Who are you? Oh! You mean Gordon Ramsay?" Ellie says.
"You know him?" Vicky asks.
"Yeah, he's a famous chef on Earth-Aleph. It just sounds to me like she has good taste. Maybe if you watch a bit, you'll like it." She says with a shit eating grin.
As I walk around the table, making careful steps to avoid being seen by Vergil, only to notice Dean eyeing me. At first he looks a little confused, then realization dawns on him.
"Hey, uh, maybe it isn't such a good idea to talk about someone behind their back?" He says, turning to Vicky.
"Why would, Dean I love you, but I need to vent." She says, and turning back to her friend, Ellie, she points at her in accusation. "And she is NOT my sister."
Carlos, who is next to Ellie, pipes up. "Honestly, you two look like you could be related, more so than you and Amy at least."
Amy, who is sat on the other side of Vicky, just flips him the bird while continuing to eat a sandwich.
I sit next to Dennis on the end of the table and just listen in. Vergil is next to him on his left, and Amy is across from me. I don't see Kid Win, Shielder, or Laserdream anywhere.
Dean still looking at me every now and then, gets a look that I can't read.
"Hey Vergil, you have better eyes than me, can you tell me if it looks like it's going to rain?" Dean asks, nodding his head towards the window.
'Oh, that clever son of a bitch!' I think in surprise.
Vergil, currently drinking a coke, leans forward and looks out the window, which is to my right, ergo, he looks in my direction. I wave, knowing he can see my outline. Eyes widening, he chokes on his drink.
"Hey are you okay?" Dennis asks. Slapping Vergil on the back.
"Yeah, yeah, uh, maybe we should change the subject? I mean, just because we don't see her, doesn't mean she can't hear us." Vergil says.
As he says that, I get hit by something. "Ow!"
With my concentration broken and my illusion shattering, everyone looks at me. Looking up from rubbing the side of my head, I see Amy with a smug look on her face. She flicked a spoon at me!
Dennis almost falls out of his chair in surprise. Vergil just shakes his head. And the rest, just look surprised, but not overly concerned.
"Why?" I whine out towards Amy.
"Because I'm not an idiot." She says and stares at Dennis.
"How was I supposed to know there was an invisible child next to me?" He says settling back down, and avoiding looking my way.
"Because man, she did this stuff earlier in home room." Vergil says.
"You all suck! You ruined my dynamic entry!" I say, and angrily take a bite of my cold pizza.
"Where is your lunch? Didn't you have one from home?" Vicky asks, probably in an attempt to change the subject.
"I forgot my bag in my room." I grumble.
"Oh, damnit." She says that last bit under her breath.
'Shelving that for later.'
"Anyway, I have an announcement!" I proclaim, standing on the bench, pointing to the sky.
"Oh yeah, and what's that?" Vicky says with a hint of condensation.
I just hop down and grab Dennis's arm, nuzzling him I say. "Mine."
…
The silence and tension could be sliced with a brick, it was so palpable.
Eventually, Vicky speaks up again.
"I'm scared to ask, but, what do you mean?" She asks.
"You get a Dean; I get a Dennis" I say happily. Just continuing to nuzzle the frozen Ward.
"Kitsu, what are doing?" Amy asks.
"Getting a boyfriend. Is this not how it's done?" I ask.
"Not traditionally, no." Dennis says.
I look up to him and give my best puppy dog eyes.
"What's wrong? Am I not cute enough?" I say in a hurt tone.
"What? No! That's not-"
"I'm not? I can change! I can be whatever you want!" I say making a scene.
"Not the-" He tries to get out, face as red as his hair.
"Why won't you love me!" I say, commanding tears to well up.
Vicky caught on to my little ploy and is just on her phone, recording us with a smile on her face.
"I can change you if you want! Do you wanna be taller? I can make you blonde. Give you a soul." I tell the ginger with a grin.
"I, you, you're fu-messing with me aren't you." He said more as a statement than a question.
"Yep!" I beam. Still holding his arm.
'Time for step two.'
I make a show of freezing in place, ignoring everyone else.
"Hey, uh, Dennis?" I question the ginger.
"What's up, got more jokes at my expense?" He says in good humor.
"Maybe later. This may sound rude, but does your family have a history of cancer?"
The table goes dead quiet. Dean getting wide eyed, Ellie and girl 2 stare in confusion. The rest of the Wards have varying degrees of awkward looks.
I ask because I'm trying to segue into healing his dad. Dennis doesn't have cancer, he didn't really inherit any cancerous genes from what I can see, other than a higher disposition and risk of skin cancer and leukemia. But from what I'm seeing in his DNA, it's mostly benign, like, he'll get it in his fifties, roughly, and it'll kill itself off. It's one of the kinds that burns out fast.
"Uh, why do you ask?" He says nervously.
"Because you have blood cancer." I say.
Again silence. Until girl 2 speaks up.
"Oh, my god. You're dying?!" She says in a strained whisper.
"I can fix it." I say. And just light up his nervous system, nothing painful.
"WOAH, God." He says with a jolt.
"You okay?" Carlos finally speaks.
Dennis just looks shell shocked, before he finally looks over. "Yeah, yeah, yeah no, I'm good, just, felt like pop rocks went off, in my bones." He then gets a serious look on his face and turns to me.
"Yeah, I'm not as good as PanPan-" I start.
"Fuck off, stop calling me that." Amy says.
"But I can still manipulate biology in the ways she can, maybe more considering I don't hold myself to an arbitrary code that does nothing but hold me back." I finish.
"I will so have words with you later." Amy says, pointing a fork at me.
"Kitsu, can I ask a favor? I'll do anything, hell I'll even go out with you! Just please hear me out!" Dennis says, practically begging.
"I feel I should be insulted with how you said you would 'even go out with you'. But I'm curious, so you may continue. Speak peasant and regal your queen with your burdens so she may judge you." I say, with my head tilted up and my arms crossed.
"It's my dad. He's the one with cancer, can you cure him?"
"Why didn't you ask Amy?" I ask with a head tilt.
"She, has rules when it comes to requests." He says awkwardly.
I just level a look at Amy, cocking an eyebrow.
"It's not fair to the people on waiting lists. There could be a guy paralyzed, with stage four cancer, and he died because I chose to help a friend with their cousins' self-esteem by giving them bigger tits." Amy says.
"That sounds oddly specific." Ellie said.
There's a bit of an awkward silence as everyone takes that in.
"Okay I'll do it, where is ginger senior?" I ask.
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BONUS
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Director Emily Pigott POV
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"You're certain this is accurate?" I ask Armsmaster.
"The information has been parsed through and verified to be untampered. Kitsu, when she encountered Static Shock, Vista, and Gallant, called them by name. Except with Gallant, she intoned to know about his relationship with Glory Girl. Also going back to her first encounter with capes, Assault and Battery, she told them to 'Kiss already' before shoving Battery into Assault. This happened four years before they would marry, at the time she had no memories. We have reason, with current findings, to believe that Kitsu is a limited precog." He pauses to hear my input. When I said nothing, he continued.
"At first we believed her to be a full postcog, but the history test we had her take debunked that theory, at least partially." That got my attention.
"What do you mean, partially?" I say, raising an eyebrow.
"While she failed the last eighty or so years of history, her results would have been perfect, if this were Earth-Aleph." He explains.
"What?" That made no sense.
"The answers she gave, they're all events that happened on Earth-Aleph, she gave a history report for a separate earth. There is no other way I can put it." He says further.
That needed further investigation. But there was no point in dwelling on it further right now.
"And the other part?" I ask.
"Yes, with the verification that she cannot die, and that her strength is not constant, all gathered from the hospital incident, it has been deemed she is a Brute/Breaker twelve, possible higher." He says.
"Another twelve? Let us just hope this one is more sane than Labyrinth. Though, given her antics and track record, that is highly suspect." I say. "The last thing we need is someone with the possibility of surviving a nuke, to lose touch with reality and view the world around them as a toy."
"Agreed, though I have my suspicions. It may be a passive Thinker power, she may not even be aware she is using it, though that is purely speculation." Armsmaster says before taking a breath. "The final piece of information is a bit more, problematic. With Skidmark dead, Squealer, Porcupine, and Trainwreck in custody. The ABB and E88 have decided that now is the perfect time to make grabs at the little territory the Merchants had. And worse yet, they've been crossing each other in their attempts. We may be looking at a full blown gang war with Capes getting involved. That, and the worst part is it's a three-way, the Merchants have a new leader." Armsmaster reports
"Do we know who it is?" Already knowing the answer.
"No, we suspect it is either Scarecrow, or Mush. Though we only suspect Mush, because we have no confirmation that it is Scarecrow." He says.
"Great." I sardonically. A gangwar between all three gangs in the city? Never thought I'd see the day when I had to admit it, but Skidmark was better left alive. "Did we learn why Kitsu decided to rip off Porcupines' arm, and blind him?"
"Apparently, he had made insinuations that he would rape her, and she acted on that. And it is in line with various investigations and reports made on the man, all we need is for forensics to finish the DNA analysis and confirm whether or not he is the serial pedophile that's been stalking the trainyard and slums near them." Armsmaster informs me.
"This is going to be a long year, I can feel it." I say with a sigh.
"I don't disagree. I've made countermeasures in case she ever decides to return to old habits. If you want to hear them." He offers.
"Later, I need to finish filing this report and it won't get done any faster by me just sitting here, you may take your leave." I tell him.
"Ma'am."
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A/N: Carol is 100% pulling strings to keep Kitsu out of her house for as long as possible.
Also, I know Leviathan attacks may 15th, but Kitsu would not remember that for five whole years. As well as a bunch of other things, only generic dates, names, and prominent details.
I've got a lot coming up so my twice a week posting is going to be demoted to once a week, maybe less. Sorry.
No questions? Again? Okay, here's another fun fact, if Kitsu were a canon character, I'd imagine she would most likely end up with Faultline's crew. Probably be best friends with Labyrinth and Gregor, and would likely enjoy picking on Newter. She would likely be the most blood thirsty of the group though, and would enjoy getting high off of Newter. It's Worm, it'd be dark somehow.
Another fun fact is that if Kitsu did allow herself to age, she would be 4'10'' (147.32 cm) not including the ears which add half a foot, and would look something like a blonde Neo from RWBY with blonde stripes of fur growing on her upper arms and a stripe symmetrically on each cheek. Yes, she is just naturally short.