Little Birds of Brockton Bay

I don't drink, so when I woke up in an alleyway with a pounding head and no idea where I was, I was understandably very confused. Then, a teenage superhero landed on my head while trying to escape from an oversized rage dragon and I figured out I'd been ROBed. I wasn't expecting to start a flock of little birds though...

...I'm bored and feel like doing a Sekirei story. Theres really no other reason I'm doing this. Its technically not a full on crossover since I'll be replacing some Sekirei, their based in the US, the Sekirei plan isn't a thing and Minaka probably got squished by Leviathan or is locked up in the loony bin. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

"Theres something wrong with this picture," I thought as I stared up at the starry sky above me.

I was still half asleep, so it took me a moment to register just was was off.

"Wait, what happened to my ceiling?" I muttered.

Then, I sat bolt upright, looking around wildly as what I'd just said sank in. I wasn't in my bedroom, instead I was in a rather grimy alleyway, sitting on a pile of stinking binbags.

"Um...O...K?" I said slowly, "Where am I and how the fuck did I get here?"

I lifted my hand to scratch my beard, only to find my fingers touching bare skin. I blinked and quickly rubbed my cheeks, only to find a small amount of patchy fuzz.

"What the hell?" I muttered, more than a little put out.

I liked my beard damn it! I looked down and my frown deepened as I realized that I seemed to be a little smaller than I remembered. I was never a big guy, but now I looked even thinner and smaller than I had been the day before. Whats more, my clothes (which I thankfully had on since I normally slept in my undies) were a simple pair of jeans and t-shirt I recognized as being from my wardrobe. From about seven years ago. Even if I hadn't grown that much, it still should have been been a little tight.

"What the actual fuck is going on?" I muttered as I scrambled out of the pile of rubbish and made my way to the edge of the alley.

As I did, I walked past a patch of graffiti. Now, that normally wouldn't be enough to make me stop, but for some reason, the defacement made me pause and take a second look. It was a green and red chinese style dragon coiled up and spitting a fireball that formed the letters ABB. I stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out why that was so important. Then, it clicked and I went white.

"Oh fuck!"

I ran for the entrance of the alley and looked out. Across the street from me, the warehouse that had been stood there had collapsed, giving me an excellent view of the city across the massive bay, the large tanker sunk in the entrance and the floating, glowing rig in the very middle of the water. I took a moment to gape, before I pulled my head back and slumped against the wall.

"Shiiiiiit," I breathed, "Thats not good."

So, to take stock, I'm apparently in Worm, may have been de-aged and am likely in the most dangerous part of the city at night. This...won't end well. Fucking ROBs.

I stayed where I was for a moment, before pushing off the wall and starting down the alley away from the bay. I couldn't stay here all night, not unless I wanted to get stumbled on by a Merchant. I'd rather not be another statistic thanks.

I made my way through the maze of dark streets, thinking hard while doing my best to keep an eye out for trouble. I...had no idea what to do now. As far as I could tell, I didn't have any powers, my pockets were empty, not that any money from my pockets would be any use in America anyway, and my knowledge of Worm was spotty at best. I mean, I knew the basics and had a rough idea of the events at the start and the endgame, but it was nowhere near enough to pass as a Precog. If I tried, I'd be fingered as a fake and tossed out on my ear in moments. Or thrown in the loony bin.

The only other thing I could think to try was to get the Cauldrons attention, but that was a...HORRIBLE idea. I couldn't pay for a Vial and I can't help but think that they'd be more likely to put a bullet in me than deal with me. Plus, I did NOT like the idea of being in dept with that bunch of psychos…

BOOM!

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden explosion and looked up, just in time to see a huge pillar of fire erupt from the warehouse across the street and a dark shape falling towards me…

CRASH!

"Owww, that hurt," I groaned as I sat up, rubbing my head.

Then I opened my eyes and found myself face to face with a shocked looking Taylor Hebert. How do I know she looked shocked when she wears a full face mask? Because her mask and costume had been burnt and torn rather badly, to the point where only one eye was covered and most of her face was clearly visible.

Then a sound from above made me look up again, before I was forced to jump up with Taylor in my arms as a very pissed off Lung landed where we had been sitting with a loud crash.

"AH ILL OOO!" roared the rage Dragon.

"MEEP!" I yelped and scarpered.

The part of my mind not busy panicking noted that I shouldn't be able to run as fast as I was unencumbered, let alone with a girl in my arms. Taylor was a lightweight, but so was I. I might be skinny, but I was also an inactive geek with very little in the way of muscle. Guess whatever dropped me here gave me a boost, so that was nice. Not enough to fight, but more than enough to flee like a coward.

Then again, I was running away from a very angry Rage Dragon, so I'm not sure if thats cowardice or just being smart.

What was less smart was the fact I was still carrying Taylor. Not that I thought that I should have left her to die or something, but unlike me, she did actually have powers and had taken Lung down in Canon, so she should have been fine. Then again, she didn't get smacked off the roof or her costume destroyed in canon, so maybe not.

I glanced down at the girl in my arms...and nearly tripped as I saw the expression on her face. Considering we were being chased by one of the scariest Capes in the Bay and she was basically unmasked to a complete stranger, I had expected fear or worry at the very least. Instead, she looked...well, aroused. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes hooded, she was breathing rather heavily and practically radiating heat. The fuck?

A moment later, Taylors eyes widened and she started squirming.

"Whoa, hold still!" I hissed, "Unless you want to...GHU!"

I stumbled as Taylor elbowed me in the gut, making me loosen my grip enough that she could squirm loose and start backing away.

"Y-you...what are you doing to me?" she demanded, although her voice was rather breathy and she seemed to be having trouble standing.

"I'm not doing anything," I wheezed, "Other than saving your ass from Lung that is."

Taylor shook her head as she wavered on her feet.

"Y-you must be doing s-something," she said, "My body feels...so hot...I…"

Without thinking, I jumped forwards as her legs collapsed, catching her in my arms.

"Whoa, are you alright?" I asked, "Are you sick?"

I didn't think she was since, as I previously mentioned, she seemed more aroused than ill. Plus, this reaction was pinging something in my memory, like I knew what was causing it. Why that I was I don't know though.

Taylor squirmed weakly for a moment, before she looked up, met my eyes and relaxed.

"I...don't wanna be Mastered…" she slurred as her eyes clouded over.

Then, before I could react, she lent up and kissed me.

What happened next wasn't even close to being at the top of what I expected to happen after getting beamed into the Worm-verse. The moment Taylors lips touched mine, I felt something warm surge through me and into her, before the alley was lit up by a brilliant rainbow coloured light. Taylor broke the kiss as her back arched and, with a moan that I did NOT expected to come out of her mouth, a pair of massive, butterfly-like wings erupted from her back with a very familiar crest between them. A crest that consisted of a wagtail, four magatama and a yin-yang symbol.

Ahhh, wut?

Unfortunately, the revelation that Taylor was somehow a Sekirei (seriously WHAT?!) would have to wait because the light from the Winging had attracted Lungs attention. The Dragon came crashing around the corner, spotted us, and erupted into even more powerful flames as he started sprinting towards us on all fours.

"BURN!" he roared.

Before I could react, Taylor moved.

"By the Swarm of my Contract, my Ashikabi's fears will be devoured," she said and pointed at Lung, "Beelzebub."

Instantly, the darkness around us became alive as a humungus swarm of bugs appeared from nowhere and descended on Lung like a biblical plague. He roared in fury and released a blast of fire that did dick all to the swarm. However, it did allow me to get a glimpse of the insects and I realized that they definitely weren't natural ones. Not when they were scarabs the size of my hand. It didn't take long for Lungs roars of rage to become ones of pain and panic as boiling blood began to flow and the massive bugs began to burrow under his scales. He flailed, swinging his arms in an attempt to get the insects off him, but it did nothing but make him lose his balance and fall into the swarm. Within seconds, he was covered and his screams were cut off as the bugs started crawling down his throat.

I swallowed. This was...this wasn't right. Lung was scum, but he didn't deserve to be eaten alive like something out of the Mummy.

"Hey, thats enough," I said, putting a hand on Taylors shoulder.

No response. I looked at her and saw that her eyes were strangely glazed. That can't be good. I grabbed both shoulders and shook her.

"Hey, can you hear me?" I said, "Thats enough! If you keep going, you'll kill him! TAYLOR!"

At the sound of her name, Taylor snapped out of whatever trance she was in. She blinked as her eyes cleared. She blinked a couple of times, before her gaze focused on my face and she went red.

"EEP!"

She shoved me in the chest and I went flying back into the wall behind me. Right, Sekirei all have superhuman strength. Still, on the up side, now that she wasn't under whatever trance her Winging had put her in, the swarm had vanished, leaving Lung whimpering in a pool of his own blood and looking very worse for wear.

"Y-y-you…" stuttered Taylor, still bright red and pointing at me, "W-what did you do to me?! A-are you a M-master? H-how do you k-know my n-name?! O-oh g-god, t-that was m-my…"

She let out a high pitched whine and sank to the ground, steam billowing from her head she was blushing so hard. Literally. Did this world work on Anime logic or something?

I hesitated a little, not entirely sure what to say. What could I say? It was rather obvious that she had no idea what was going on and, to be fair, neither did I. Was she actually a Sekirei or did I have some extremely weird Master/Trump power that allowed me to turn anyone I kissed into a Sekirei? Not impossible, but a tad unlikely. That said, how the hell was I supposed to convince Taylor of that? I mean, from her point of view it made sense. I appear out of nowhere and save her neck and the next thing she knows shes burning up and full of a desire to kiss me? It certainly sounds like some Heartbreaker shit. God I wish there was someone around who could help with this…

"Well, I wasn't expecting to find this on patrol tonight."

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of the voice and spun around to see a figure clad in black stood over Lung, poking him with a toe.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The person looked up, revealing a slightly unkempt looking Japanese man with brown hair in jeans, a white vest and a jacket with fur around the collar.

"Hnn, I'm just a curious bystander," said the man, "I have to say, I'm impressed. Not many Sekirei are strong enough to go toe to toe with someone like Lung so soon after being Winged."

I blinked, suppressing the urge to gape instead. Welp, there goes the idea that I was some kind of Trump.

"Sekirei?" I asked, "Whats…"

"Hey Seo, you know we're being watched, right?" shouted someone from the roof.

I jumped and looked up to see two identical girls with black hair in what looked like S&M outfits were stood, apparently keeping watch.

"Aww, don't worry about it," said Seo, "Their not close enough to hear us. Besides, someone needs to fill these two in."

Huh...I thought he looked familiar. Oh god, I really hope I wasn't about to find out I was part of the Sekirei Plan or something. That...would not end well.

Seo left Lung alone and approached, his gaze slipping from me to Taylor. At the sight of her, Seo paused, his eyes widening slightly.

"Wait...Taylor, is that you?" he asked.

Taylor looked up, her visible eye widening slightly.

"M-mr Kaoru? W-what are you doing here?" she stuttered.

Seo's expression shifted into a thoughtful one.

"Well...this makes things...awkward," he said, "Does your Dad know your out here?"

Taylor swallowed and shook her head. Her eyes darted to me, before she went red again and hid her face.

"I see," said Seo, "Well, I won't tell Danny you picked a fight with Lung, although he will find out you've been sneaking out."

He sighed.

"Anyway, I need you two to come with me," he said.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Can I ask why?" I asked.

Despite his looks, attitude and the presence of the Lightning Twins, I wasn't willing to risk going with someone who, for all I knew, could work for Coil or something. Seo smiled slightly.

"Because I'm terrible at explaining things and you two need someone to fill you in on your...relationship," he said, "Plus, judging from Taylor's costume, she'll need some new clothes."

I hesitated for a moment, before sighing. Its not like I could do much else, was it? I had nowhere to go. I turned to Taylor, who was looking between the two of us with an unreadable expression.

"Well, I could do with some answers," I said, "What do you say?"

I offered my hand to the apparent Sekirei. Taylor eyed it for a moment, before she hesitantly took it and let me pull her to her feet. She quickly took a couple of steps away, but kept stealing glances at me as we followed Seo and his Sekirei through the docks and her cheeks remained pink the entire time.

It didn't take long to arrive at our apparent destination, located in the north of the Docks close to the Boardwalk and stood out due to being a Japanese style two floored house. There was a sign on the fence outside which, as you can probably imagine, proclaimed it to be the Izumo Inn. It took all I had not to facepalm.

Seo led the way up to the door and knocked.

"Um, shouldn't we come back tomorrow?" asked Taylor.

"Nah, Miya won't mind," said Seo.

At that moment, the door opened to reveal the woman in question in a sleeping Yukata and a murderous look as she brandished a ladal.

"Do you have any idea what time it is Seo?!" she snarled, although thankfully the Demon Mask didn't make an appearance, "This had better be good!"

Seo grinned as if he wasn't being menaced by a giant spoon.

"You could say that," he said, "A new birds gained her wings."

Miya blinked, before her eyes shifted from Seo to me and Taylor, who had shifted closer to me apparently without noticing. She glanced between us, before sighing and lowering her makeshift weapon. Not that I didn't think for a moment she couldn't beat every Cape in the city with it if it came to that.

"Alright, come in," she said, stepping aside and letting us enter the building.

Ten minutes later, we were sat around the table in the dining room with hot cups of tea in front of us and Miya (who had introduced herself as Miya Asama), now dressed in her traditional outfit from the Anime, across from us. She'd also taken one look at Taylors tattered costume, tutted and dragged the girl with her to change, leading to the blushing bug user being sat beside me and looking adorable in a butterfly patterned Yukata. Why? No idea, but I'm not arguing with the scariest woman in the city.

"First things first," said Miya after taking a sip of tea, "My name is Miya Asama, the landlady of this Inn, among...other things."

"Taylor Hebert," muttered Taylor.

"Lucas Smith," I said.

"Excellent," said Miya, "Now, onto the explanations. I assume that you know that your adopted Taylor?"

Taylor looked up in surprise, but nodded.

"I...yes, but how did you know that?" she asked.

"Because your a Sekirei," said Miya, "Let me tell you a story…"

Taylor and I listened, more than a little wide eyed, as Miya filled us both in on the past of the Sekirei here on Earth Bet. Apparently, Minaka never found the Ship, but instead something else had resulted in the ship waking Miya much earlier up instead. Due to the reasons she neglected to go into, she had decided to move the Iwafune ship containing her Flock to America before releasing the Sekirei inside. While the first Nine were born with their powers intact to act as protectors to the rest, the other 99 were modified by Miya so that they were born as Human with their powers sealed until they found their Ashikabi. Then, they were each left at orphanages around the US and Canada where, being naturally adorable children, they were almost universally snapped up for adoption. After that, the Single Digits mostly went their separate ways to find their own Ashikabi and to keep an eye out for the other Baby Birds for when they spread their wings.

Once she was done, Taylor and I sat in silence for a moment, before a question came to me.

"Wait, but if her powers were sealed, how come Taylor was out as a Cape tonight?" I asked.

"The seal was designed in such a way so it would loosen slightly in the event of a potentially life threatening situation," said Miya, "As a result, its possible for a sealed Sekirei to access a small portion of their full potential in a dire situation."

"So basically, while Sekirei can't Trigger like a Human can, they can go through something similar," said Seo, "Other than Taylor, there are two other unWinged Sekirei in the city who have access to their powers."

"Considering the state of the world, that seems smart," I said.

"Indeed," said Miya, before she glanced at the clock, "I think that will do for now. You know the basics and its late."

Taylor followed her gaze and paled.

"O-oh god, is that the time?" she gasped, "I should go…"

"Nowhere young lady," said Miya, "Powers or not, it is far too late to go gallivanting around the city. Don't worry, I'll let your Father know your here."

"Wait, you know my Dad?" asked Taylor, looking rather surprised.

"Lets just say that your Mother and I used to work together," said Miya with a slightly sad smile, "Besides, you two really need to have a talk."

Taylor shot a glance at me, blushed again and looking away again. That was going to get old quickly. Miya got to her feet and indicated for us to follow her. She led the way upstairs and stopped in front of a room.

"Unfortunately, this is the only room I currently have available," she said, "However, I suspect that you'll want to talk before you turn in. However…"

She turned and smiled at us, making the two of us recoil as a purple aura appeared around her.

"I will not accept any hanky panky under my roof," she said sweetly, "Am I understood?"

The Oni Mask appeared behind her and I swear I heard something chanting in backwards latin.

"G-got it!" I yelped, to scared out of my wits to be embarrassed at the implication.

The aura and mask vanished as Miya's smile became slightly less demonic and more motherly housewife without changing in the slightest.

"Good, in that case, sleep well," she said and headed off downstairs.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Holy fuck, that was scary," I said.

"I guess…" muttered Taylor, although she was as pale as me.

She shot a look at me, blushed again and looked away. I sighed and opened the door, noting that it was a rather nicely furnished room, set up for two people to live comfortably. I glanced around the room, before taking Taylors hand (ignoring her increased blush and yelp of surprise) and dragging her into the room. I shoved her down onto the window seat and grabbed one of the desk chairs before sitting down in front of her.

"Right, we need to talk," I said as Taylor played with the belt of her robe and refused to meet my eyes.

"About what?" she muttered.

I let out a low growl. This was going to be a MASSIVE pain in the rear.

"About the whole Ashikabi and Sekirei thing," I said.

"What about it?" asked Taylor.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

"Damn it Taylor, now is not the time for being obtuse!" I said, "You heard what Miya said downstairs! Whether we like it or not, the two of us are bound together."

Taylor scowled.
"I know what she said, but its a little hard to believe," she snapped, "I mean, an Alien? Really? For all I know, you could be some creepy Master like Heartbreaker!"

"If that was the case, why would I bother with this?" I asked, "I mean, if I was Heartbreaker 2.0, you'd already be so drugged up on my power, you wouldn't be questioning anything! And why such an unbelievable story? If I, or anyone else for that matter, wanted to convince you of something, a believable story is much more likely to work."

"Yeah, but that could be exactly why the story is so unbelievable," said Taylor.

I groaned and rubbed my eyes. I was right, this is a pain.

"What about Seo?" I asked, "I gather that you know him?"

Taylor huffed and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, he works with my Dad," she said, "What about him?"

I mentally filed that tidbit away. It'd be interesting to find out just what type of group the DWA is in this world at some point, but for now I'd leave it be.

"He seems to be aware of all this and I'm pretty sure that those twins of his are Sekirei as well," I said, "Can you think of any reason why he'd let anything bad happen to you if he really is friends with your Dad?"

"You could have Mastered him to," muttered Taylor, although I could tell her heart wasn't really in it.

I sighed.

"Do you actually believe that?" I asked.

Taylor was silent for a moment, staring down at her hands, before she took a deep breath and met my eyes.

"No, I don't," she said, "I don't know how, but I feel like I know you."

She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow.

"Its weird, I don't know your name, but I trust you completely. I...I think I can even feel your emotions. Worry...exasperation...fear?"

She opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Why are you scared?" she asked.

I shifted slightly as I felt the extremely strange sensation of Taylors emotions seeping across the bond, made all the more odd by the fact that she herself was confused about the emotions she was feeling. Sekirei are creatures of emotion, especially when it comes to their Ashikabi, and its very clear that it takes hardly any time at all for them to become attached, or even fall in love, with said Ashikabi, especially if they react and bond willingly with them. Taylor was apparently no different and, considering that Heartbreaker was a thing, its obvious why it was playing merry hell with her emotions.

Said emotions were a mix of attraction, worry about the aforementioned fear I was feeling left over from finding myself in Worm, and her own fear over possibly being Mastered and the sense she now had of my emotions. Fuck me, this is confusing.

I groaned and lent forwards, resting my head in my hands. How in the actual hell was I supposed to approach this? This wasn't a Taylor who fell for me after I save her neck, or simply became friends with me because of the aforementioned neck saving, she was irreversibly bound to me. Considering I still hadn't got my head around the fact I was in some weird combination of Worm and Sekirei, I wasn't exactly in the best place myself. Could I really get away with telling Taylor that just hours ago I was in a world where she was a fictional character?

On one hand, I don't think telling her that she 'should' have ended up becoming a Villain and was basically single handedly responsible for saving the world was a good idea, on the other, even if I had not appeared, its doubtful that she would have done that in this world. Even if she hadn't met me, she would have found another person to be her Ashikabi at some point.

A pair of warm hands taking mine made me look up in surprise. Taylor had slipped off her seat and was now kneeling in front of me, looking up at my face with worry clear in her eyes.

"Please Lucas, talk to me," she said, "I...I don't know if I really believe all this Sekirei stuff, but seeing you like this hurts. You said it yourself, we need to talk to each other, so talk."

I stared into the girls eyes for a moment, before I sighed. Fuck it, I needed to talk to someone about this anyway, might as well be my Sekirei.

"Alright, but you might find it hard to believe," I said.

CLIFFHANGER HOOOOO! Eh, I got another chapter of this to come, so whatever.

I...probably didn't really need to do an insert for this, but whatever. I like the idea. Incidentally, Lucas has Triggered, he just hasn't noticed it and won't until he meets Armsy or Kid Win. Why? Well, thats because his power is a Trump type of a very specific style. Take a guess as to what it is and what that means for a certain agoraphobic Hero.

Lucas might seem to be a jumping the gun a bit when it comes to telling Taylor about being transplanted from another world, but as he mentioned, the very nature of the changes makes it VERY unlikely that the events of Canon Worm would actually go down and if anyone would believe him, its the person with a direct connection with his emotions.

Speaking of which, I have two other characters who I've turned into Sekirei who will end up Winging themselves to Lucas. You might be able to guess one, but the other is a tad unlikely. I also plan to Wing a Single Digit to him, but I'm not sure who to use. Other than Matsu and Mutsu (cus hes a dick and I have plans for him) I'm open to suggestions on that front.

Before we go, a quick Omake based on an idea I had that I won't use but was to funny not to type out.

OMAKE: Mouse Eared Crow

There were several things I was expecting when Miya informed me that Number 4 was coming by for dinner. The first thought was that we'd be lucky if the city was still standing by the end of it, but I quickly discarded it when I realized that Miya wouldn't have invited Karasuba if the two of them were prone to fighting. The second was that this was likely going to be a scary meal considering that, rivalry with Miya or no, Karasuba would still be fucking scary as hell.

Thats why, when I was called down to dinner by Miya, I was ready to be glanced at and dismissed by the misanthropic Sekirei.

"Alright, lets do this," I muttered as I walked downstairs.

As I reached the bottom, I paused as I spotted something strange hanging from the coat hooks by the door. I blinked and took a closer look. No, that would indeed be a sword and shield, both of which bore a rather familiar looking and very copyright infringing crest on the front in the case of the shield and as the pommel of the sword.

"Something wrong Lucas?" asked Miya as she paused in the hallway with a large tray of cheese.

"Isn't that Mouse Protectors sword and shield?" I asked, pointing at the weapons.

"They are indeed," said Miya, "Now hurry up before it gets cold."

I blinked. Why the hell was Mouse Protector here? I glanced at the weapons one more time, before shrugging and following the Landlady into the dining room. Maybe having the Hammy Hero present would make Karasuba less scary?

I shook it off and decided to get some answers later as I entered the dining room...and immediately froze as I was met with a sight I would never had expected in a million years. Homura, in her female form, trying to keep Mouse Protector at bay as she tried to cop a feel. That was par for the course for Mouse considering she seemed to take great pride in her many, many trips to the PR department for sensitivity training, but what I wasn't expecting was for the Hammy Hero to be without her helmet and very obviously Karasuba, albeit without the bags under her eyes and a massive grin instead of a sardonic smirk. Maybe dinner wouldn't be so bad after all…

Yeahhh, not doing that. I like the idea of Karasuba slaughtering her way through S-class threats way to much to reduce her to a gag character. I might have Mouse show up later though. I also have an idea involving her somehow getting Winged to Danny, but that ideas more of a possibility than anything.

Anyway, this is now done, so I'm going to sign out. Don't forget to leave a review!

EDIT: Fixed a minor timeline issue that meant that the oldest Sekirei couldn't be more than 16.