A Bad Choice

When I filled out a CYOA out of boredom, I never expected a ROB to take that as an invitation and drop me in it. Oh god, I really should have picked something that made me harder to kill! To make matters worse, I wasn't just dropped in, oh no, now I have the god damn Nazi's chasing me for my powers!

And we're back! Nothing to say here, other than enjoy!

Chapter 7

I was just putting the finishing touches to my new base by fixing a few leaks, watched by a rather large, shaggy wolfhound that had been sniffing around the area when I arrived and settled in to watch me for some odd reason, chewing on the chew toy I'd conjured to keep it occupied. I didn't mind its presence, although I wasn't entirely sure why it was sniffing around the Docks alone considering it looked well cared for.

What was I saying? Oh, right. I was just carving the last of the Runes into the Runestone that would be powering the Wards and was about to lower it into the deep pit I'd dug in the floor when my phone went off. I pulled it out and floated it next to my ear held in a bit of paper.

"Yello," I said.

"Um, hi, this is Avatar, right?" said a nervous sounding female voice.

"Speaking."

"Um, I'm the girl from the other night, with the bugs?"

"Still not got a name eh?" I asked with a slight smirk, "So, did you need something?"

"I...need some advice," she said, "And since your the only Cape I know how to get in contact with, I was hoping..."

"Say no more, I got it," I said, mind already at work, "Tell you what, I'm meeting some friends later on for a little training session that could benefit you as well. If you want, you can tag along and get advice from people who've been at this gig for way longer than me."

Both Taylor and Amy were in dire need of friends who understood them and this was an excellent way to go about it. Plus, for some reason, I loved that paring, so I'd take the chance to potentially play matchmaker if it turned out Taylor swung that way.

"I'm not sure thats…"

"Oh, don't worry, it'll be fine," I said, "Trust me, you like them and I'm pretty sure you'll make friends. If not, you still get some good advice and contacts in the Cape scene that could be handy later."

"I...alright," said Taylor, not sounding entirely sure about it.

Good god, I really needed to sort out that confidence problem.

"Great, I'll text you the location and time," I said, "Costume is optional."

"Um, alright," said Taylor, "See you then I guess."

She hung up and I sighed as I returned my phone to my pocket.

"That girl really needs to get out more," I said to the dog, "Hopefully meeting Vicky and Amy will help...why am I talking to a dog?"

The dog just panted and thumped his tail on the ground.

Amy wasn't really sure what she should be feeling right now. The day before she'd been so utterly exhausted that she'd gone right through exhaustion and out the other side which, combined with the energy surge from whatever it was Avatar had given her, had resulted in her head being more than a little fuzzy. She was grateful to the other Healer of course and knew that she needed the rest, but she could have done without falling asleep in her cereal she'd had when she got home. Still, other than nearly drowning, it had been one of the most restful nights she'd had in a while. The 'potions' he'd given her on the other hand were something of a sticking point. She wasn't stupid enough to let Carol find them, but she also wasn't sure if she should be taking them. After all, she'd met the Water user twice and that wasn't really enough to trust someone enough to happily drink anything they gave you. Technically, it wasn't enough to meet them in abandoned warehouses either, but she had some questions she wanted to ask him.

While he was healing her, Amy had got a good look at his biology and had quickly realized that something was very wrong. He didn't have a Corona pollentia. Not only that, but he had been lying when he's mentioned his Tinker friend. What that meant, she had no idea, but she intended to find out.

Plus, whatever he'd done had got rid of the endless guilty feeling she'd had for Vicky. Oh, she still found the girl to be ridiculously attractive, but the longing to be closer was gone and the affection she felt towards the blonde was now more sisterly than creepy stalker, so she had to thank him about that as well.

"Are you sure this is the place?" asked Victoria as she set her sister down on the cracked pavement outside of a warehouse in the docks.

The place was in surprisingly good condition and still bore the remains of a sign declaring that it belonged to Greengrass Enterprises, a shipping company that had gone under after the Tanker had been sank in the bay after being forced to pay out vast settlements due to being the ones who owned said tanker.

"Thats what the note says," said Amy as she walked up to the door and shoved it open with a loud squeal.

The two sisters stepped inside and looked around, their jaws dropping as they took in their surroundings. It looked like someone had taken the inside of a stately home, added a complicated looking chemistry lab with a lot of bubbling cauldrons that were giving off some very odd coloured smoke and sparks and then stuck the result inside a rundown wearhouse. The concrete floor was covered in thick rugs with various patterns and colours, all of which looked like you could sleep on them perfectly happily, while a brick fireplace was improbably against one wall with a few chairs and a coffee table around it. There were a few other sitting areas around the room, complete with bookshelves full of leather bound tomes, as well as what looked like a sparing area with articulated dummies, an area with a lot of comfortable mats that looked like it was used for yoga or something similar and what looked like a steamer trunk stood upright against one wall. The entire room was lit by an eclectic mix of fires from the cauldron and fireplace, lamps on tables and a lot of candles that were floating, unsuspended, above the girls heads, somehow not dripping wax everywhere.

"What is this stuff?" asked Vicky as she floated over to the lab and started examining the bubbling cauldrons.

The liquids inside ranged from what looked like perfectly normal water, other than the fact it was spitting purple sparks, what looked like slowly bubbling mud, a purple substance that was rippling and giving of faint steam that seemed to shape itself into abstract animal shapes as it rose and a cauldron full of liquid gold with drops jumping across the surface like goldfish. Curious, Vicky went to stick her fingers in the gold one.

"I would highly recommend that you don't do that," said a familiar voice, making both sisters jump and spin around to see Avatar emerging from the trunk.

The male Hero was wearing the bottoms of his costume, a white shirt and his mask, revealing that his hair was bright blonde. His hair was damp and he had a towel draped around his shoulders.

"What is this stuff?" asked Vicky.

"Well, that potion is half finished Felix Felicis, better known as Liquid Luck," said Avatar as he walked over, "In its current state, its a very powerful acid, so I wouldn't recommend you get any on you."

To demonstrate, he dipped a spoon in the fluid and Vicky's eyes went wide as it was dissolved with an angry hiss. She gulped.

"Um, thanks," she said weakly.

"Welcome," said Avatar.

"That stuff wouldn't happen to be like the stuff you gave me, would it?" asked Amy as she looked over at the blonde from where she'd been examining a number of rather decorative sticks that were displayed on the mantelpiece for...reasons.

Avatar glanced over at her and smiled.

"Oh, so you noticed that?" he asked.

Amy just fixed him with a Look. He didn't seem bothered, in fact, he just looked amused.

"Why'd you do it?" she asked.

"Do what?" asked Vicky, who was looking between the two in confusion.

"Tell me those medicines he gave me came from someone else."

Avatar sighed as he walked over to a large armchair and dropped into it.

"Amy, you know how rare Healers are," he said, "Powers are built for conflict, so any power that can heal does so as a side benefit. That makes them valuable enough that people would literally KILL for them. Or just try and kill the user so someone else can't get their hands on them. I'm pretty sure that at some point soon I'll be given an 'offer I can't refuse' by the Empire and possibly even the ABB if Lung decides getting a Healer is worth ignoring the fact I'm white. If people knew I was a Tinker as well...the result would be messy."

He grinned and summoned a ball of fire to his palm.

"Of course, any attempt to get me on their side will backfire horribly, but it would likely result in a lot of collateral damage and I'm not immune to a sniper bullet to the skull if they decide to just off me."

That certainly made a lot of sense to Amy. Shortly after she'd Triggered and first started her career as a Healer, there had been an incident when a would-be supervillain had attempted to kidnap her. It...had not ended well for him and he'd ended up with every limb broken, a concussion, all of his teeth knocked out and a lot of nasty burns in unpleasant places by the time New Wave was done with him and handed him over to the PRT. He'd been shipped off to the Birdcage, only to end up being tortured to death after he did something to annoy both Marquis and Glaistig Uaine. Quite how he'd managed that was anyone guess, but Amy certainly wasn't about to shed a tear over the bastards death.

The fire went out as Avatar closed his fist. Amy narrowed her eyes.

"So, your a Tinker/Shaker/Blaster?" she asked.

Avatars grin widened slightly.

"Nope, not in the slightest," he said, "I'm actually closer to a Thinker."

"Wait, how does that work?" asked Vicky, now looking really confused.

"Simple," said Avatar, "My powers aren't powers, their skills. If I wanted to, I could teach another person how to use the same skills."

"Actually, your 'powers' aren't powers at all," said Amy, "You're Not a Parahuman."

Vicky, who was about to say something, paused and shot her sister a disbelieving look.

"What do you mean?" she asked, "I mean, he obviously has powers!"

"But he doesn't have a Corona pollentia," said Amy, "I can't touch brains, but I can see them and Avatar completely lacks any indication that he can Trigger at all, let alone that he has powers."

She turned back to Avatar, who was now beaming for some reason.

"So, what are you?" she asked.

His massive grin widened as he flicked his wrist and a length of carved wood the shape of a lightning bolt appeared in his hand.

"I'm a Wizard," he said.

Vicky snorted.

"Yeah right, pull the…WHOA!"

The blonde let out a yelp as Avatar waved his apparent wand and a nearby dining chair table turned into a panther that immediately pounced on the girl and started licking her face. Amy went wided eyed as she gaped at the big cat that was making a complete mess of Vicky's hair and makeup, before turned her attention back on Avatar, who was sipping from a teacup he definitely didn't have a moment ago while a teaset hung in mid air beside him.

"Want a cup?" asked Avatar, his grin not fading.

"I…"

Before Amy could say anything, there was a knock at the door and Avatar waved his wand at it, making it open, revealing a Cape she didn't recognize in a gray bodysuit with armoured panels made of what looked like insect shells and a rather intimidating looking mask with large, yellow lenses that let her hair fall down her back.

"Come on in Bug!" called Avatar, "You're just in time…"

"HEY, GET THIS THING OFF ME!" yelled Vicky as she finally managed to shove the big cat off her, although it was clear that the amorous feline wasn't about to let up anytime soon.

"Oh, sorry," said Avatar, although the grin made it clear that he was anything but.

He waved his wand in Vicky's general direction and the panther turned back into a chair. The now bedraggled Brute slowly got to her feet, glowering at Avatar as her aura flared. Surprisingly, Avatar didn't seem to react to it, other than grin even wider. Amy was starting to think that he did actually have a power that allowed him to stretch his face further than should be possible because that grin was getting dangerously close to something out of a cartoon. Then, he twirled the wand around his fingers and another three armchairs appeared out of thin air, one red and white with a caduceus on the back, one white and gold with Glory Girls tiara symbol on the back and the last one black with a white spider web pattern.

"Huh, I'm getting better," he muttered, "Anyway, have a seat ladies."

Amy slowly did as she was told, prodding the chair a few times as if to make sure it was actually there, while her sister just floated and glared and the newcomer looked around in confusion and no small amount of awe, visible even through her costume. Whether that was due to the fact she was stood in an impossibly plush wearhouse or because two members of New Wave were also present was up for debate.

"Bug, quite floating and come in," said Avatar, pointing at the black seat, "No ones gonna bite and your letting the heat out."

The girl, Bug apparently, ducked her head in a way that Amy interpreted as embarrassed and shut the door as she slowly made her way deeper into the room.

"Whos the new girl?" asked Glory Girl.

"Someone so new she doesn't have a name yet," said Avatar, "Of course, shes also good enough that she took down Lung on her first night, so theres that."

Both Dallon girls eyes went wide.

"She beat LUNG!?" spluttered Vicky, "How?! Whats her power?"

"Arthropod control," said Avatar, "In other words, bugs. Apparently, even Lung can't keep fighting with enough Black Widow venom to drop an elephant in his system."

"Is that why I had to regrow Lungs genitals the other day?" asked Panacea, "And I thought Armsmaster took him down?"

Vicky went a rather funny colour at that and looked like she didn't know if she should laugh or back away slowly. Avatar scowled.

"Damn glory hound did nothing but tranq Lung," he said, "Thats probably why his balls dropped off. Then he managed to convince the new girl that beating Lung would paint a target on her back when it would do the exact opposite. I've got video evidence if you want it."

"Um, I'm good," said Amy.

Vicky shook herself off and floated over to Bug, who shifted uncomfortably as the Alexandria package stopped in front of her.

"You know, even I'd baulk at facing down Lung," she said, "You got guts new girl. I like that."

She grinned and held out a hand.

"I'm Glory Girl, but you can call me Vicky when not in costume."

Bug looked a little stumped, but took the offered hand and was immediately subjected to the patented Collateral Damage Barby Shoulder Dislocating Handshake, before being dragged over to where the Amy and Avatar were sat.

"And this is my best sister Amy," continued Vicky, slinging an arm around said sisters shoulders.

"I'm your only sister," said Amy, jabbing Vicky in the side.

"Exactly."

"Well, this is going well," said Avatar, "Can I get in on the action?"

The three girls turned to the only male in the room as he reached up and took his mask off. For a brief moment, their eyes refused to properly register his face, before something seemed to click into place and the Dallons once again found themselves stunned.

"I'm Theo Anders," said Theo, "Wizard, Hero and generally decent guy."

Bug tilted her head on one side.

"Wizard?" she asked.

Ava...Theo just grinned and handed her a kitten that had been a throw pillow a moment ago.

"How come she gets a kitten and I got a panther?!" demanded Vicky as Bug stared at the adorable ball of fluff as if she expected it to explode.

"Because a kitten wouldn't have held your attention nearly as well," said Theo with a massive grin.

"I'm more interested about why you Unmasked to us," said Amy.

"Largely because I trust the three of you," said Theo, leaning his cheek on his fist, "Plus, even if you wanted to, you couldn't tell anyone my identity. Magics great like that."

He turned to Bug, who was sitting frozen in her seat with the kitten pawing at her hands.

"I don't expect you to Unmask right now Bug," he said, "But I do hope that you eventually trust us to do so."

The girl nodded slowly, still not looking entirely comfortable.

He clapped his hands, making all three girls jump.

"Anyway, I do believe we've procrastinated enough, why don't we get to the meat of why I invited you here?" he said.

"Right, you said something about teaching us something?" asked Amy.

Theo grinned and nodded.

"Yep, Occlumency," he said, "The art of defending your mind from attack. I'm not sure if it can protect from all Master powers, but it works on Glory Girls aura and it has other benefits, like improved recall, better emotional control and will probably also make using your powers easier."

He waved his wand and old fashioned school desks appeared in front of the three girls, complete with inkwells, feather quills that were so ostentatious they looked like they came from a peacock and rolls of parchment. A moment later, he grinned under their glares and the old fashioned stationary turned into more modern stuff. Vicky just ratched up the glare. Theo just ignored her.

Instead, he sat back and steepled his fingers, only a long, white beard away from looking like a wise old mentor figure.

"The most basic exercise in Occlumency is the art of clearing ones mind," he began, "However, that is a brute force method and won't work for everyone. In fact, it would take a special kind of mind indeed to pull that off. Instead, its better to start with meditation and build on it from there…"

Despite her annoyance at her neighbours antics, Vicky soon found herself engrossed in his explanation, even taking notes as her sister and new friend did the same. After all, Theo had said that this could help her gain control and, as impulsive as she was, she knew she desperately needed it.

For Taylor, the idea of learning something new never failed to get her giddy. The endless abuse at school had dampened it somewhat, but it couldn't extinguish her love of learning new things. The fact it sounded like it would help her improve on her power usage certainly helped. It was almost enough to make her forget why she came in the first place, although not entirely. A big part of her was worried about how the two Heroes in the room would take her question about possibly infiltrating the Undersiders, which certainly wasn't helping her concentration. She just hoped she could get some good advice from them and maybe an autograph while she was at it.

I couldn't help but smirk as I guided the three girls through the basics of Occlumency. This was going much better than I expected, largely because neither of the Dallon sisters had flown of the handle at Taylors admittedly villainous looking costume. Now all I had to do was to get Taylor to trust us enough to Unmask and I'd have the makings of some actual progress. Certainly more so than what Dobby had managed.

Speaking of the House Elf, I had just finished my explanation when I felt a slight tugging on the bond between the two of us that indicated that he had something to talk to me about in private. Fortunately, we were at a point where I could leave the girls to it.

"Well, that wraps up my explanation," I said, "The rest is up to you until you can bring up your innitual barriers. For now, try meditating and I'll see where you get when your done."

I got to my feet.

"While your doing that, I'll go get some refreshments. Believe me, this stuff is exhausting."

I grinned and waved.

"Have fun," I said and headed for the Trunk, ignoring the two fingers Vicky sent my way.

Inside the Trunk, I quickly locked the door.

"Dobby?"

CRACK!

The little elf immediately responded and I frowned when I saw the state he was in. His eyes were red and it looked like he'd been crying.

"Dobby, whats wrong?" I asked.

Dobby sniffed.

"Dobby is a bad elf!" he said, "Dobby is unable to get Miss Canary out. Dragon lady keeps stopping Dobby from revealing nasty Taggs secrets!"

"Ah, don't even think about it," I said as Dobby reached for a nearby frying pan, "You've done your best, theres no reason to punish yourself. That said, I wasn't expecting Dragon to be a problem. Then again, if she was ordered to ensure this went down, she wouldn't have a choice. Hmm…"

This...could be a problem. House Elves were capable of doing just about anything to complete their Masters orders, but even they couldn't do everything. Case in point, Kreacher was unable to destroy the Locket. Dobby had been making use of Elf Magic to try and expose Tagg and the truth of the Canary Case online, but it sounded like Dragon, who was better at computers in every way imaginable since she was one, was stymying him at every turn. The big problem was that I had no doubt at all that, if she wasn't shackled like she was, she'd be helping Dobby. Unfortunately, Magic didn't give me any way to undo said shackles. To do that, I'd need to be able to gain administrative access to Dragons code and that was…

Suddenly, my mind screeched to a halt as I went back over that thought. Maybe...would that work? If it did, it would kill two birds with one stone and even if it didn't, it removed a massive threat to Dragons safety and the rest of the world by extension. Frankly, I needed to do it, even if I couldn't use the plan to get Dragon off Dobbys back.

"Dobby, I have new orders for you," I said, getting the Elfs attention, "And I don't think you''ll have any trouble with it."

My grin turned demonic.

"Find Saint and bring me Ascalon!"

Ohhh boy, this won't end well. So, anyone want to guess how most of the HP cast is coming to Bet yet?

Oh and before I forget and get yelled at for it, the scene with the panther and kitten was inspired by a similar one from Harry Potter: Geth.

Hmm, I wonder why the dog was hanging around? Or even why little miss Fairy Queen got involved in tearing Amy's would-be Kidnapper apart?

Speaking of which, I don't think thats entirely unlikely to have happened. A Miracle Healer Triggers, even one closely associated with a known Hero Team and no idiot attempts to kidnap her? Yeah, a tad unlikely. Hell, if Coil had been around then, he probably would have made an attempt himself!

I admit, I'm not totally pleased with this chapter, but it does the job. Next time, more bonding for our budding group of friends, a glimpse at whats going on over in the PRT and possibly a clue as to how Taylor has magic. Its...not for the reason you might think.

On a completely unrelated note that I'm sure will have no bearing on the future at all, what Animagus forms do you think would most suit Amy and Taylor? And no, I don't think an insect form is particularly likely, regardless of her powers.

Anyway, I'm done, so its time to sign out. Don't forget to leave a review!