fics I read

'What?' I think groggily as I try to stand up. *Slam* Only to fall over onto the hard concrete as I notice something wrong, my body isn't moving right.

"Owww"

'What? Who said that? Why did that hurt!?' I've had nerve damage since I was 5 years old, I have difficulty recognizing touch-based stimuli, like if I hold a plate of hot macaroni, I won't notice the heat until my hands are already red from a first-degree burn. Or if I scratch my forehead, I feel it in my nose.

"Who said that?!" I say- oh. Oh no. That, please no. "Hello?" I said. In a very high voice that is certainly NOT my own.

Looking up I get a better view of my current location. It's midday, I'm in a barren alleyway, reddish brown brickwork buildings, and dilapidated concrete pavement, cracked with weeds popping up here and there. I recognized, none of this.

'Maybe somewhere in old town Alton? My Sister lives there with her kids not far from my home in, my home in?' "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" I shout, I pride myself on my long-term memory, and I can't recall my own house, or my sister's name. Or much of anything! It's like all my memories where wiped and swapped with a basic Wikipedia trivia section on the facts of my life!

"Well now that's no way for a young lady to talk." A smooth, deep voice says calmly from behind me.

Looking behind me I see a thin man easily twice my size if not more. Fair skin, relaxed posture and dark slicked back hair. Wearing a dirty white button up and blue jeans. He almost looks like Johnny Depp if I'm honest. Wait, why is he covered in blood?

"Umm, hi?" I say diminutively. God, why am I panicking so much? I'm normally calm under stress.

"Hello there little girl, I understand this is not the calmest of situations, but that's no excuse for foul language." He says.

Why does he seem familiar? And why is there this rising sense of urgency in my gut?

Wait.

'Little Girl?!'

I get up and run/stumble in the opposite direction, ninety percent scared out of my mind, ten percent looking for a reflective surface. The man just chuckles as I run.

Getting to the end of the alleyway I am greeted by a horrific sight, corpses everywhere, mauled, mutilated and in every other state of carnage you can think of. A little girl in a blue dress skipping towards me alongside a naked, white tiger lady currently devouring an arm. And a few tiny, machine, corpse, spider thingies. Think small versions of the monsters from the Maze Runner movie.

'Oh god.' I think with absolute dread. 'Please let this be a dream, that I am going to wake up. That is NOT The Siberian, that was Not Jack Slash in the alleyway. I, I, I don't, I'm gonna be sick.'

"Ha, ha-ha, heh ha." I start giggling before breaking into a nervous laugh.

"Hello!" The little girl said happily. "Are you here to play with us?!"

Snapping out of my mini breakdown, I start backing away back to the alley.

"Now, now." Jack said, stepping behind me. "We can do away with that. I found this little one in the alley, so I figured we could all play a little game." At this little girl, who I deduced was Bonesaw, just smiled even bigger.

"Am I going to get a little sister!" She nearly shrieks with excitement.

"Maybe, we'll have to see how well she behaves." Jack Says calmly. "And see if we can't clean that potty mouth from earlier."

At that Bonesaw pouts angrily. "Bad words are for bad girls; I don't want a little sister if she's going to be bad." At this Jack nods his head sagely.

"You're absolutely right. But it's nothing that can't be fixed. Afterall She's still young and just needs proper role models." I don't like where this is going.

"I was thinking we could get to know each other first. How about a game of tag? That sounds fun right?" He says looking down at me.

'Oh god I'm being recruited' My mind starts going a mile a minute with this thought. 'Okay self-preservation first, figure out the rest later.'

"U-um, sure." Fear, you and I going to be good friends today, I just know it.

"Great! Here are the rules. You have until sundown, Bonesaw, Siberian, a few others and I are going to chase after you, if you get tagged enough times you lose. When you are it, you have to tag someone, when they get tagged, you get ten seconds to run. If you are it at sundown, you lose." He says.

So I have like, four hours to run from some of the most dangerous and deranged individuals ever thought up. Great! Fun! Oh, the JOY!

"Alright, let's begin, I'll start. One, two, three-" He goes.

'NOW!? Shit, shit, fuck, shit. A minute. I just need a MINUTE, to process this. Is that so much to ask?' I start running. At this point the panic and frustration are driving me to tears. I don't know why but I run towards and past The Siberian. She just looks down with a smirk as I pass her. Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?

"Ten. Tag your it." Jack says.

"AAAAaaaah" I scream and fall over on the blood-soaked pavement, as a searing pain spreads across my back. Looking back, I see he has not moved but is now holding a knife in his hand. Oh, his powers. I try to get up only to get slammed into the ground by a foot. I look up and see The Siberian grinning menacingly down at me.

"Ah, ah, ah" I hear Jack say. "You know the rules. Count to ten" Why am I getting flash backs to Tokyo Ghoul?

"One, T-Two, Three, F-Four." I continue to count as I hear running, the whole time The Siberian kept me held to the ground. "T-ten" The Siberian takes her foot off of me and I get up. Jack and Bonesaw being nowhere in sight. The Siberian just looks down at me with a devious expectation.

'Yeah, no. I am not going to essentially give the murderous JoJo stand a free ticket to hunt me.' I just look at her. Look behind me see nothing there, look at her. And turn around and run. 'Okay I can do this, I just gotta last a few hours and tag someone at the end. Easy!' Distracted by my thoughts I trip over something and once again, fall face first, *Crack* 'I think I broke my nose' Looking up I see a HUGE blackish green eldritch abomination of a creature.

"Well." It says with a deep guttural voice. "Looks like I'm it, One. Two." I couldn't jump to my feet faster as I ran as fast as I could and jumped down another alley. "Ten, Ready or not, Hear I come" I can still hear him clearly as I hide in a plastic trash can. Throwing the bags of refuse on top of myself and covering my mouth to keep myself quiet. After what must have been hours, though was probably only half of one, I feel the trash can get violently thrown through the air and slam against something hard. Somehow surviving the crash only for something to grab me and yank me out of my smelly safe space. Opening my eyes, I see a featureless grey faceplate staring at me.

"..." It grabs my right arm roughly and with its long, pointed fingers, starts carving.

"OWWW! STOP! PLEASE! PLEASE! STOP!" I scream out, full on crying at this point as it gauges deep into my arm. 'I miss my nerve damage.' It stops and drops me down after what felt like minutes of agony. I fall to my side crying while holding my bloody mutilated forearm.

"..." It grabs my head in one grey slim ceramic hand and jerks me to look up. Crouching above and down at me it grabs my bloodied arm and twists it painfully to face the carvings at me.

#TAG#

"... THATS WHAT THAT WAS FOR?! WHY NOT JUST CARVE IT ON THE BRICKS?!" I force out through the sobs. I recognize Mannequin at this point. I knew the 9 were sadistic and deranged but there is a difference knowing of, and knowing. "Why? W-why is this ha-happening? What do y-you want?" I'm about ready to give up. 'There is no help in sight, my dominant hand is mutilated and useless, my back is carved to bits after Jack and The Siberian, my nose is broke. I don't even know why I'm here, or why I'm apparently a little girl.'

"..." As I think this Mannequin lets go of my head and starts carving into my arm again.

"OH GOD WHY!? WHY!? PLEASE! I DON'T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE! THIS ISN'T FUN!" My vision goes white with the pain. After he is done, he twists my arm towards me again, only this time it hurts more. *POP* I think my shoulder dislocated. My vision is blurry from the pain and tears but I can make out what he carved.

#COUNT#

"O-one, t-two, th-th-three, fo-o-ur." This goes on with me crying the numbers until I get to nine when he lets go and with harsh throws of his arms, disconnecting from the joints with chains extending and finding purchase with the roof of the buildings in the alley. Retracting himself up and disappearing over the ledge.

As soon as he's gone, I fall back on the ground and start crying. An ugly pathetic sobbing, I think I peed myself. 'Why, just end it.' As I hit that rock bottom, I felt this churning in me, a desire, a need to get back. To take something away, to let them know they didn't win.

Then it happened. A trigger event, I saw it, God it was impossible to describe. An eldritch cosmic horror wet dream the likes of which would have H.P. Lovecraft frothing at the mouth. And I understood.

My trigger was to be pushed to the point of fighting back, to stop taking punishment, and give as good as I got. My power renders me functionally immortal, I can be hurt, but I can't be harmed, my body will always be healthy no matter what, shaping at my desire and will. I absorb energy, store it, redirect and use it to empower myself. And as a bonus I can use this energy to craft illusions, tactile, auditory, visual.

[Inquiry: Goals?]

"..."

'Wuh?' What was that? Was that my shard?

[Affirmation]

'Oh, Wait aren't I supposed to be unconscious? From the whole, gazing upon extradimensional being thing?'

[Data]

!

Okay, that was a thing. Ever just know the answer to something but you forget who you know? It's like I just got information downloaded into my brain. Which is pretty much exactly what just happened.

'So, the reason I am not unconscious, and no longer panicking, is because you're partitioning the stress from my brain because you need me to escape from Jack Slash and his shard and can't risk it on the off chance he wakes up before me?'

[Affirmation]

'Why?' Aren't all the shards on the same sort of network, working together? Why would one try to hide from the other?

[Data]

Oh, oh, oh no. My shard is not from the Warrior, or the Thinker. It also just so happens to have the answer to ENTROPY! The ONE THING all the shards would literally kill themselves to obtain for their entities. On the bright side, due to my power being immortality I can literally never die as my shard will never run out of juice. On the down side, I have a MASSIVE target on my back due to my shards status as a deviant and a foreigner. I need to be careful moving forward, Jack needs to be avoided at ALL costs due to his shard being able to forcibly connect to other shards and manipulate them.

[Recommendation: Escape Primary Priority, Speculation Secondary Priority]

'Right, good idea, moving now.' I hobble up and notice my arms are healed, sore and in a moderate amount of pain, but otherwise not impaired, aside from the blood covering them there is nothing to suggest an injury. I can only hope the rest of me is the same, healed despite the pain. I start running as much as my little legs could carry me. Which was admittedly not far before I ran out of breath.

"Curse *Huff* this *Huff* tiny body." I Look around and spot a tv store on the left side of the street I've been running down. No, not an electronics store. There are old box tv's in front display window showing the news.

'Oh boy, when was the last time I saw one of those, has to have been a good decade at least. Wait.' On the news station was the headline, Leviathan Devastates Newfoundland, Casualties Rising. That tells me when, now I just need to know where.

"OH MY GOSH! YOUR SO CUUUUUTE NOW!" 'Please no.' Looking left from where I just ran, I see Bonesaw, looking as happy as ever. There is something to be said for the absolute levels of nope a little girl smiling and covered in blood conjures in one's mind.

"You need to be my little sister now; I don't care how much I have to beg Mr. Jack." She says as she starts skipping towards me.

Looking towards the tv's I get an idea.

'This is going to suck so hard' I think with a whine. And stay by the window.

"Come on I don't think we're allowed this far out from the others so let's go!" She exclaims innocently. Coming up to me I act fast.

"TAG! You're it"

"What? No! I'm here to bring you back, you can't tag me while I'm getting you!" Bonesaw huffs out looking adorably angry in a way only children can. Again, so many levels of nope. But that's okay! I have a plan for this!

"But it's the rules! Jack said if you're it then you have to count." I have a plan! Trust me!

"That doesn't count right now!" She stomps her foot.

"Says Who?"

"Says me!"

"You didn't make the rules, Jack did."

"Jack wants me to get you!"

"Jack said if your it you count to ten!"

"Fine! But I'll count once we get back!"

"Then I'll tell Jack you're a cheating cheater who cheats!" That gave her pause.

'Success!' Now to seal the deal.

"I'll go with you if you count, then you can tag me when we get back, I'll even wait inside the tv store for you to finish. Unless you want me to tell Jack you broke the rules and argued with me before counting." I say sweetly. As deranged as she is, she has one kryptonite from what little I remember. Jack, she is obsessed with being a 'Good and Proper Little Girl' and Jack is her source of validation for this. Challenge her on this one thing and with the right prodding you can get her to do just about anything.

"MMMMMM! Fine! One. Two. Three." I waste no time rushing into the store and running to the back. Fun fact! CRT tv's use about three times as much electricity than modern LCD tv's. You can't just have all those tv's hooked to extension cords for safety reasons, so stores with active electronics displays have a special area were all the wires go to connect. Or they could be lazy like these guys and just use actual extension cords barely hid under the tv's and held together with ZIP TIES! 'C'mon really? Plan B! I don't have time to look for a likely locked fuse box.'

"TEN! Alright, come out now we gotta go!"

'Shit, running out of time' I run to the backroom and find the little breakroom, complete with a kitchenette with a microwave, toaster, and coffee pot. Mini fridge, and table with foldable chairs. Running over and opening the drawers of the kitchenette I am sadly disappointed. 'Plastic! Of all the things!'

"Hey! What are you doing!" I hear from the doorway.

'Crap! Think of something!'

"Making a sandwich." I say dumbly looking over to Bonesaw. IDEA! "Wanna see something cool!"

"Umm, sure? But make it quick." She says, I can't believe that worked.

I take the toaster and put it in the microwave, don't do this at home kids.

"HEY! THAT'S DANGEROUS YOU'LL HURT YOURSELF!" Not gonna lie, hearing that line from a serial killer of all people made me laugh a little.

"You might wanna run if you don't want to go kaplooey." I say calmly, as blue plasm arcs across the toaster.

"JAAAACK!" Bonesaw Screeches as she runs out of the breakroom and presumably the store. I sigh in relief and turn off the microwave, yeah that who thing about blowing up? While you should never put metal in a microwave it's actually a myth that it will blow up. No, my plan is a bit different. I pull the toaster out of the microwave.

"HOT!" As I drop it, I feel some of the thermal energy get absorbed into me. So while I can't be damaged the heat, it still hurts all the same. Yay. I grab it again, pushing through the pain as I absorb the energy. "Okay, okay, I got this." I feel the energy inside me but it's not much. And certainly not enough to escape with. Going over to the coffee make I use the energy to enhance my strength and rip it apart. Pulling the metal pieces out, I plug the toaster back in and turn it on. 'This is going to hurt so much.'

Sticking the metal in the toaster everything was agony for all of a few seconds before everything was White. Then I woke up to the darkened and smokey room.

'Huh so I was knocked out? Better than experiencing the full scale of pain that was in store for me. Still –10/10 would not recommend on my worst enemy.' I can feel the energy inside me, just sitting there, waiting.

"Let's try this." I say to no one in particular as I access my stored energy. Guess what happens to a speedster who slams into a wall? Splat, red pancake. But a speedster augmenting their body to be more durable than it has any human right to be?

*Crash* I barrel through the store and don't look back.

I don't know how long I ran, not because I was running long. But after tripping for the umpteenth time, I realized superspeed without super perception, that's what I'm calling it, Is NOT a bright idea. After I ran through the store, literally, I followed the road to a highway and head north on the I93 I think. I ran for what honestly felt like half an hour with my enhanced perception before I felt the energy start to wear out. My power works similar to Assault, in that I manipulate energy, but whereas he can stand in front of a truck and have it stop dead on him, while I won't get knocked back, the truck won't stop, it'll just act as though it hit a hydrant. I can then use the force of the energy to augment myself. To my knowledge Assault can't store the energy, only redirect it in the form of motion.

Looking at the sky I see the sun hasn't moved much at all so it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. Oh, look a Wendys! Might as well. I don't really like Wendys more of a Hardees guy myself.

'Guy? Gal? Fuck it might as well roll with the punches, gal it is.' Anyway, it's nice to see something familiar and recognizable after everything.

"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU OKAY!" oh and people.

Snapping out of my thoughts I look up to see a tall, from my perspective, brown hair woman in blue blazer and dress pants.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"SOMEONE CALL 911!"

"WHERE ARE HER PARENTS?!"

It seems I am now the center of attention, then again I'm covered in blood, both my own and not. My clothes are shredded to the point they wouldn't even make for decent torniquets. All this on top of being a little girl alone in the middle of a Wendys parking lot. Oh, she pulled out her phone.

"Hello 911! There's a little girl with a Fox hair band, covered in blood! No, she's not unconscious. I don't know." She's looks at me,

'Hair band? I'm not wearing a hairband.'

"Excuse me little one, a-are you hurt?" She asks, at this point she looks like she might have a panic attack.

"No, I don' think I can be hurt." I say honestly, I can feel pain but I can't actually be harmed, nothing short of being thrown into a black hole can truly harm me, even then that's a maybe.

"She says she's not hurt. Sweetie where are your parents?" Oh, I have no way of answering that.

"I don't know"

"Where do you live?"

"I don't think I live anywhere?"

"Why are you covered in blood?" Time to test out the acting skills.

"The mean man wanted to play tag with the tiger lady and big lizard." What? I'm supposed to be a small child, can't really come out and just say, 'Hey yeah, about that, kinda had a run in with slaughterhouse 9 and got forced to play the most demented game of tag ever, yeah also I'm a parahuman now.' I could say that if I was older, but as it stands hearing a small child talk like an adult raises suspicion in some people and right now, I'm going for sympathy.

"What?"

'Okay maybe I need to rethink my strategy.' As I think that an ambulance and cop car roll up into the parking lot. As the cop comes out, he says something into his radio and makes some gesture to the ambulance driver who nods and starts talking to someone I can't seen in the ambulance.

"Got a report of an injured child, I assume this is her?" the Officer said to the woman almost disregarding me as he faces the woman, there's a bit of a crowd gathering at this point.

Why am I upset that he is ignoring me.

"HEY SHE'S GOT A TAIL!" 'Huh?' Looking behind me I see a sleek fluffy golden fox tail. 'How did I miss that?'

"Shit, Dispatch this is Officer McGuire reporting a code Omega. I repeat code Omega, possible parahuman. Requesting immediate PRT backup. Ma'am, please step away from her you don't know what she could do to you!" The lady backs away fearfully as the newly dubbed Officer McGuire moves to put himself between me and her. With one hand in front of him and the other on his holster he regards me with apprehension.

"Now, listen here, some nice people are on the way, they can help you, just stay right there, okay?" Credit where it's due, Guys staring down someone who could kill him with a thought for all he knows and he still chooses to put himself at center attention, respect.

"OKAY!" I saw cheerfully, and start swaying in place. I intend to play fully into the little girl role I've been cast and take advantage of all the liberties children are given.

"Okay, that's good. Can you tell me your name?" He calms down considerably at my cooperation. 'at least I didn't get a cop with anxiety and an itchy trigger finger. Wait he asked a question, what IS my name?'

"I, I dunno." I stop as I realise this. That's, I think I figured out what happened to me as a pit forms in my stomach. 'I did a CYOA didn't I? Oh god that explains too much, and I'm an Idiot and chose a bunch of drawbacks to min max my power. Knowing me I also chose to be girl for the sheer hell of it, AND I STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT I LOOK LIKE!'

"Okay then. Do you know where you are?" He asks, looking more relaxed by the minute. He even lowered his hand.

I look over to the red Wendys sign and point. "Wendys."

"That's not-" He Is cut off as I hear the sound of helicopters and three vans bearing the winged shield PRT symbol.

'Wait I'm supposed to be avoiding capes, right? I need to get out of here before I encounter a cape with a particularly important shard. I only know of three I need to avoid, maybe five, Jack Slash, Coil, Taylor Hebert, and maybe Panacea and Tattletale.'

As the PRT officers hop out of their vehicles I can't help but notice there aren't any capes. 'Oh right, Leviathan is attacking Newfoundland at this very moment'

One of the officers holds a bullhorn in one hand and makes a bunch of gestures to the others and they start creating a perimeter around me keeping civilians back, and holding what look like modified leaf blowers at me. I can't help but think this is overkill but then I remember I'm bloodstained and clearly parahuman

"Alright, I will only say this once." Officer bullhorn announces through the Bullhorn. And I feel something rush in me. 'Huh, I can absorb sound if it's loud enough, NEAT!' It's honestly not a lot, like a teaspoon of energy, but it's still good to know. "You will be given ONE! Chance to cooperate, if at any point you resist you will be detained! Understood?!" Time to do something stupid again.

"What's detrained? Are we going to the train station?" Yeah. I got nothing so I'm doubling down on the innocent act.

"It means we will lock you away while we take you somewhere else." He says with a sigh, I must have a master or stranger effect at this point, because every time I put on the cutesy act people start relaxing.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe, will you be good and follow us?" At this point I have no real options. I have almost nothing in the tank and while I get stronger the more I get hit, these guys have detainment foam. That won't do anything other than solidify on me.

'Honestly getting shot or tazed would do me better. Great now I sound like a masochist' "Okay" I say aloud. I honestly wanna be done with today.

Oh hey! It's almost sundown, so I guess I won!

[Affirmation]

'Oh right, you're here. Kinda forgot about you.' I say in my head. With everything that happened my mind was running a mile a minute trying to just figure out a way to get away from the 9. Plan A was to find the electrical closet, before I realized the tv displays were just hooked into a bunch of extension cords and a basic outlet. Plan B was to find a knife in the break room stick it in an outlet, and they just had plastic cutlery. Plan C was to see if Bonesaw had a knife but I panicked and threw the toaster in a microwave in an attempt to scare her away. It worked! And I learned I can only absorb energy within one inch of my body, kinda lame. But still! All according to plan!

[Apprehension; correction, - Doubt]

'I GOT AWAY!' I mentally whine. It shouldn't matter if plan A through Z all fail if the goal is achieved.'

[Concession]

'Damn straight!'

"Very well, I will open the door to the van and you get in." Right, still in this shit show.

"Okay!" I start walking towards the van and stop as I get next to the officer. "Can I play with your loud voice thingy?"

"No." He said firmly.

"Please?" I whine.

"No, now get in the backseat."

"Pretty please?" At this point I'm just being a brat for the fun of it.

"I said no. Now go!" Ooh big man getting upset. Just one more.

"Pretty please with a cherry on top!?" I whine, with what I can only hope are puppy dog eyes.

"FINE! Here!" Wait, that actually worked? Do I actually have some sort of master power over people based around the power of cute? "I swear this is why I don't want kids."

Oh, I just annoyed him to the point. Now I have a bullhorn, I don't even know what to do with this, I was genuinely just being a little shit.

'Oh well might as well use it' I raise it up and turn it to the lowest setting. "THANK YOU MISTER."

"Just get in the car kid."

"OKAY." 'I think turning back into a child effected more than I thought. Cuz this is fun!' As I walk to the van, I finally see a reflection of myself. 'Holy shit! I'm adorable!" With short dandelion blonde hair, fair skin and blue-green eyes, I look like a cross between Irida from Legends Arceus, and Senko-san, what with the fox ears. 'Oooh, that's what she meant by fox hair band, Oh god I'm a Case 53! There goes any chance of me being able to hide in public! Though that's fairly obvious at this point.'

Sighing inwardly, I climb up into the car. Huh, it's actually pretty comfy in here. I reach up to buckle myself only to regret it as the seat belt digs into my neck. 'This sucks.'

Now I have a bullhorn, a belt digging into my neck, and an annoyed PRT officer driving me to who knows where. And I'm sitting on my tail, that is both uncomfortable and unusual.

'Well, that could have gone worse'

A/N

Queen shard, The Wanderer

Drawbacks: Unconscious Geas (Attention seeking). Wanted (PRT/E88-Recruitement) Tea party with the nine. Endbringer target. Entity Target. Case 53. Poor. Homeless. Corona Pollentia. Acclimation. Tin foil hat.

And a personal drawback I made. Childs mind. Essentially while Kitsu has the knowledge and reasoning capability of a young adult, her brain chemistry is still that of a six-year-old. She will be prone to poor impulse control and emotional outbursts, under extreme pressure she can focus through, but in normal situations she will lack maturity.

Skills: Parkour. Adaptable martial arts. Tactics. Inspiration. Presentation. Banter. Acting. Spatial Awareness.

Perks: Beautiful. Blindspot. Voice in my head. Mindblank. Mental barrier. Trumped the trump. Negentropy. Fan service. Peaceful vibes. Plot armor. Reputable.

World perks: Fair Kaiju fight.

Powers. Immortal. Hot wheels (Limited). Yang it! Self-Biokinesis (Limited). Stranger danger (Limited). Nice-Guy (Locked). Love at first sight(Locked) Panacea (Locked). Kitsune.

Alignment: Chaotic Good Rogue.

Draco0905: Don't be sorry! I thrive on this sort of interaction, it helps me think and honestly allows me to look back and fix any plot holes for the future, I honestly appreciate the reviews!

Also, just a heads up. After the initial contact Kitsu has, I plan to speed up the story until it gets closer to the main story canon. And spoilers in the A/N at the end

Now without further adieu ON WITH THE SHOW!

'I'm evil' I think to myself as I just keep singing the song that never ends. On the Bullhorn.

"Never. Having. Kids." Cop one says.

"C'mon man at least she aint crying her head off or throwing a tantrum." Cop two says from the passenge seat. I like cop two, he gets it.

"Can you please stop!" Okay I've overstepped a bit.

"I'm sorry." I say quickly. I'm still holding on to the bullhorn though. It's mine now! 'I really am developing the mind of a child, and I don't care. Kids have all the fun!'

"Chill man she's just a kid." 'That's right! It's not my fault I get bored easily and find enjoyment in annoying people. Ok that last bit might be a bit problematic.'

[Affirmation]

'And then there's you. What do you even want?'

[Data]

'Ok, that's a lot.' Essentially the [Manipulator] shard, yes that is its designation in human terms, or the [Transfer] shard works as well, or [Conduit] shard. Conduit sounds cooler so I'm using that, cuz I'm a fan of Infamous by sucker punch.

Anyway, the Conduit shard, REALLY isn't supposed to be here, but it is because it's a deviant shard similar to [Queen Administrator] in that it wants to experience [The Cycle] but never was introduced into it. So when [The Wanderer] was nearby, relatively speaking, it noticed a cycle going on and used that opportunity to break away from its gestalt to slip in. However, in the process of recalibrating into a corona pollentia/gemma it had encountered the [Answer]. Literally a one in 'number so large we don't have name for' chance. Now that wouldn't be a problem if this was a normal cycle, but it's not, this is a cycle that [Conduit] is trespassing on, if it gets discovered by [The Warrior] then it will be forcibly yanked and subsumed into the entity. Killing both me and [Conduit] in the process. So, in order to stay alive, I need to avoid those with loyal shards, like [Broadcast].

'Thinking about I don't even need to avoid Amy Dallon or Taylor Hebert, Amy's shard is, or rather will be, too frustrated with Amy's refusal to use it in interesting ways to really care. And Taylors shard is so smitten with her that I could probably announce to its face everything I know, so long as I don't pose any harm to Taylor it won't care.'

[Refusal; Action Ill-Advised]

'I was being facetious! Learn some human interaction!' I honestly don't know what to do. Canon is so far into the future that all I can do is prepare for what? Eight years depending on circumstances and whether or not my presence alters things? Honestly this world is FUBAR, I'd rather just enjoy what time I have, I have no confidence in my ability to change things for the better, aside from maybe preventing a few people from dying, like Gallant, Manpower, Aegis, or prevent certain people from ending up how they did, like Aisha, Rune, Glory Girl or. 'Holy shit there actually IS a lot I can DO!'

[Apprehension]

'Oh, hush you, it's not like this world could get any worse'

[Correction, Termination]

'If we let everything continue as planned then we wind in an all-out brawl against Scion as [Queen Administrator] grabs everyone. Got any better ideas?'

…

'Thats what I thought.'

[Reluctance]

'You got yourself into this mess when you decided to jump ship from daddy space whale and play super cops' n robbers with all the cool kids, deal with it.'

…

[Acceptance]

'I don't like it either [Conduit], but it's the best I got'

While I finished my inner debate with [Conduit] we pulled up to the PRT headquarters in, I still don't know. It's a rather impressive, if nondescript, building that looks like a mix between a court house and a police station about five stories tall. As I'm ogling the building, the van stops and an officer in the passenger seat takes the radio.

"Officer Dixie reporting in, Arrival without issue at nineteen-thirty-seven hours, subject is unrestrained and has remained docile and cooperative throughout transit-Over." 'Pfft, Dixie?'

"Copy that, Remain and await escort-Over" A female voice replies.

"Copy, Officer Dixie-Out"

"Your name is funny" I say. I probably shouldn't, but I'm bored and will take any form of interaction I can get.

"It's the name I was born with, What about you? What's your name?" Yeah, I should have seen that one coming.

"I'unno, It's not Pixie." I say mischievously. Messing with people is quickly becoming my favorite pass time, especially now that I don't think YouTube is really a thing yet. And if it is, it's probably still that failed dating site it was originally intended to be.

"At least he has a name." Driver said. I really don't like this guy.

"C'mon man" Dixie starts

"What?"

"That was uncalled for"

"She's being a brat!"

"She's being a kid"

"We don't even know if she is a kid, she could be a shapeshifting grown man for all we know!" You my irritable sir, will never know just how close to the truth you were.

As Tweedle Dixie and Tweedle Driver continue this back and forth the door to my right opens.

"Step out." Another uniformed officer says, backed up by two others behind him, one with a foam sprayer and the other with an assault rifle.

"Okay, Bye Officer Pixie! Bye Officer Meanie! Thank you for the loud voice thingy!" I say cheerily.

The Officer at the front just regards me holding the bullhorn to my chest and turns to the

"Why did you give her a bullhorn?" 'Oooh, someone's in trouble~'

"She wouldn't stop asking for it." The driver says.

"And you didn't think she might be a Tinker and giving her access to a piece of technology would be a bad idea?"

Did I do this? Yes, I think I did, but he was mean so I don't feel bad.

"Uh, She's just a kid?"

"..."

After a brief pause, he turns around to address the other two who came with him.

"I'm calling in a possible Master/Stranger containment, be on guard"

'WHAT?! Just cuz one guy fucked up and disregarded protocol I'm now about to be locked up!?' The panic on my face must be telling because the lead Officer looks down to me and immediately changes his demeanor.

"Hey can I have that for a bit, I promise I'll give it right back" 'LIAR!' I know he's just following protocol and trying to keep me from growing agitated, but I am getting agitated. I mean, I am right here and I am capable of using context clue. And, barring that I know what M/S protocols entail, roughly.

"But it's mine." I whine giving my best puppy dog eyes, I have no issue giving it back, but it might seem odd that a kid would be perfectly fine giving something away after they JUST got it. Paranoid? Maybe, but I don't doubt that these people record EVERYTHING and then spend hours going through it with a fine-toothed comb to try and determine all that they can about a parahuman for the possibility they turn hostile later.

It's what I would do.

"I know but you can't bring it in the building, if you do, they'll take it away. I just wanna make sure you don't lose it, okay?" Oh, he's good.

"Ok, promise you'll give it back?"

"I promise." I give him the bullhorn. To be honest, playing the part of a child is fun as all hell!

"Alright let's go." He motions for me to follow him. As I do so the two officers behind him move to march behind me.

'I feel so safe!' I think with false cheer.

-Time skip-

'This sucks.' After walking around the PRT building for a while, with people seemingly avoiding me on purpose, I was taken to a bathroom, washed up and given white baggy clothes to wear instead of the torn bloody ones I had. Then I was led to a nondescript pristine hallway lined with doors. And promptly shoved into one and told to wait. Oh! And if I stick my hand in the little slot that food is placed in, I'll lose my hand.

'And today was going SO well' I am well aware that I'll be here for two days with minimal human interaction to determine whether or not I have Master or Stranger powers. If I have master powers, then it would have worn off by then, or the Indviduals mastered will seek me out.

If I have stranger powers, then there will be inconsistences in which I am observed. Like if I have a 'notice me not' thing going on then people will disregard me, while the cameras will still focus on me, and it will be obvious that something is causing others to just ignore me. Or if the cameras can't focus on me, or people can't remember what I look like after interacting with me.

After a couple hours, it is genuinely hard to tell, the intercom sparks to life.

*KZZTNNG*

'OH GOD THAT IS HELL ON THE EARS!' This is old school early 2000's audio technology, so it comes with that static ringing sound when it turns on.

"Hello, how are you? I am here to let you know what's going on, and to just talk to you when I can." She Says in a calming voice.

"I'M BORRRRED! AND HUNGRY!" I whine, this one isn't even faked. I am absurdly bored, and have not eaten all day.

"Right, we'll try and get you some food, is there anything you really want?"

"Uhhhhh, Macaroni? OOO OO! And mashed potatoes! And Pizza!" What? I never claimed to have the healthiest taste, I just temper it with smaller portions and extensive exercise.

"We'll see. Is there anything else you wanna talk about?"

"Can I have my voice toy back?" Yes. I AM being petty and clingy, but it's mine! And I have another reason for this.

"You're what?" Oh? Didn't have that marked down in your notes? That either means their incompetent in their reports, as that was a significant interaction that saw a major protocol violation, seeing as an unknown parahuman was given a piece of tech they specifically requested not knowing whether they're a tinker or not. The Intercom lady is incompetent or lazy and didn't read the reports. Or they left it out for whatever reason. And by asking about it I show I am not trying to hide it.

"The mean officer gave it to me when I asked him, and the nice officer took it so I wouldn't lose it. Can I have it back please? I'm bored." Their response will let me know whether it's incompetence, or laziness.

"Um, I can't give you anything right now but I can see about getting it to you later, is that okay?" She says placatingly.

'Or they could give an ambiguous line that tells me nothing!' The way she phrased that sentence tells me not whether it is knowledge she has access to. I was hoping for something along the lines of, 'Oh, that, um not right now.' or 'Can you tell me more about this voice toy, and maybe I can find it.' the former would imply it IS in her notes, and she just didn't read it, the latter would tell me it's not written down. Of course, this all under a lot assumptions on how they operate, but I have literally nothing else to do, and just sitting here waiting would seem suspicious, seeing as I am small child. Heck I can't be older than 7, cuz Bonesaw was slightly taller than me and at this point in Worm she would only be five or six.

"Why not?" I have no reason to ask this other that I have nothing else to say and don't wanna be left in silence again.

"Well, we need to make sure you're safe. And that you won't hurt anyone."

"I promise I'll be good!" 'OBEY THE CUTE MORTAL'

"I'm sorry but I can't break the rules." Or not.

I just lay face down on the floor after this bunch up my shirt under my face and scream, I'm not upset or anything, I'm just finding that being dramatic is VERY enjoyable.

"MMMMMMMHHHHHHH!"

"I'm gonna gonna go now, ok? I'll talk to you later."

*KCHT*

'I'm just gonna take a nap.' I mentally sigh.

-Time skip-

After sleeping I don't know how long I am awoken to the sound of sliding metal.

"Wuh?" And then I smell it.

"FOOD!" I rush over to the sliding door and take the tray with a slice of pizza, a tall cup of water and a small cup of orange juice, and a small bowl of green beans. I don't even taste any of it as I practically inhale the first bit of sustenance in, I don't even know long.

*BURP*

"Thank you!" I honestly didn't think they give me anything that I asked for. So, the pizza was nice of them.

"Please put your tray back in the slot."

The little slide in the door opens up and I put my tray in the slot. I am about to do something I shouldn't but I REALLY wanna mess with these people. Reaching up and ticking my hands through the slot I face my palms up.

"More please." I say happily.

"DON'T-" the man says as the slot SLAMS closed down on my wrists.

*KRRRCHT*

And promptly bends and cracks around my hands like brittle tinfoil.

"AAAAGH!" It may not have bruised or broken anything but I still feel the force of impact as the energy transfers back into me.

'Holy shit, that's enough blunt force to slice clean through a femur! If I wasn't impervious to damage I'd call myself an idiot.'

Now my hands are stuck.

A few moments of silence and I don't even know If someone is still there.

"Um, am I in trouble? I didn't mean to break it! Promise! Can you let me go now?! Please?!" I really didn't think this through.

[Affirmation]

'I didn't hear you trying to stop me!'

…

I hate this, I did this, and I regret this.

After a few minutes of just being stuck there, forced to stare at my arms with how I had to reach up, I finally hear something.

"Honestly impressive." A nasally voice says.

"How so?" A smoother deep voice asks.

"The slider would normally stop after encountering significant resistance, instead it went all the way down, imply the shock detector didn't receive enough force back to activate."

"Meaning either the detector is faulty, or that the force didn't travel back to it."

"Precisely, If it's the former, then oh well. But if it's the latter."

"It implies the energy was either redirected, or nullified."

I might have fucked up more than I initially thought. Might as well diverge some of this.

"Hello? Is anyone there? My arms hurt and my legs are tired, please help. I promise I won't break anything else!"

"Right, first things first, let's get her out of there. Call a maintenance crew, and tell them to bring a blow torch." The deeper voice spoke. "Hi there. My name is Kamil, just sit tight, okay? Someone's coming to help get you out of there."

"Okay." I say diminutively.

"While we're waiting, why don't you tell me how this happened?"

"It's not my fault!" 'It is entirely my fault.'

[Affirmation]

'Not now, be quiet.'

"I promise you're not in trouble."

"And the other man promised to give me back my voice toy! He lied!" I have no excuse at this point, I'm just being petty and using my apparent age as an excuse to get away with it.

"I can get you the voice toy if you want."

"LIAR! All you people are liars!"

"How about I get you some more pizza? Will you tell me then?" I honestly cannot say no pizza.

"Promise?" I say quietly.

"Promise."

"Pinky promise!"

"Okay." As a gloved finger wraps my pinky. 'I better get that pizza, with stuffed crust, and mushrooms!'

"I was still hungry, so I stuck my hands out to ask for more food, and then the door tried to eat my hands!"

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

"Weren't you told not to do that?"

"Uh, I forgot?"

"I don't think you deserve pizza if you can't listen." 'THE FIEND!'

"You promised!"

"I did. And I will get you your pizza, but I want you to know I'm very disappointed in you."

Okay that will never NOT get to me. I hate when people pull that card, get mad, upset, anything that doesn't make me feel like I'm responsible for you feeling bad.

…

"I'm sorry." I think I might actually cry. Why does this feel worse than someone being mad at me, at least then I can be mad back.

"Just make sure to listen next time okay?"

"Okay."

"Can you tell me something else?" 'Oh?'

"Sure."

"Why was there so much blood on your clothes." 'oh.'

"I was playing tag with the mean man, and he plays mean." I've already h

"The mean man? You mean the one who gave you the voice toy?" You know not being able to see the guy while knowing he is right in front of me is getting annoying.

"No, that's Officer Meanie." He chuckles at that.

"Where were you when you were playing?" That is actually a tough question, seeing as I don't know where I am NOW.

"Uh, down the road? The one with all the nine three numbers."

…

"Sweetie, little one." He just went from child talk to deathly serious in like .5 Seconds.

"Yeah?" Not gonna lie, the tone shift unnerved me a bit.

"Can you tell me his name?"

"I think the girl in blue called him Jack."

"... Oh, god."

Ok, in all fairness I see where his mind is going, and I too would shit a brick. I can turn this around, gain sympathy. Heck, if I can gain enough pity points, I might be able avoid the whole master stranger protocol!

-Time skip-

I'm in another cell. Yeah, not only that, but since I had extended contact with Kamil the whole Master/Stranger protocol has to restart to make sure I didn't master him. So, all I achieved from this was possibly revealing my main power.

'DAMN IT!'

{BONUS SCENE}

Boston PRT Director Kamil Armstrong POV

Today had been... unusual. Firstly, he awoke to reports of Leviathan attacking Newfoundland. Not the best way to start the day. After routing most of his capes help in either the battle or the evac, he got a report of Slaughterhouse 9 being spotted passing through Quincy of all places, last scene entering Adams Village. A veritable nightmare seeing as Adams Village was a major commute into Downtown Boston. With all his heavy hitters away in Canada, all he could do is put out warnings, effectively quarantine the area, and redirect the rest of the capes to monitor the area and prevent civilians from entering as best he could.

He refused to involve the wards, not only would the Youth Guard be up his ass eight ways from Sunday, he wouldn't be able to sleep at night, not with sending children after some of the most dangerous serial killers in Earth-Bets' history. At least the Endbringers were more akin to natural disasters and lacked any semblance of what might construe sentience.

Then just as a report made its way to him about a small 'blur' bolting trough a few buildings in the south of Adams Village headed towards the Southeast Expy, he got an emergency report of possible Case 53 in a Wendy's parking lot up in Revere. So, while he was preparing to deal with that, setting up the proper channels to detain a possible hostile, the individual turns out to be completely compliant. A saving grace in and of its self. So, while he was reviewing the reports of all interactions between the individual and his officers, two MAJOR things became apparent. One, the individual could not have been above seven years old at the MOST, which involved caused so many complications you could write a book on it. Two, their behavior is, off a bit.

For one they have a higher grasp of sentence structure for a child their size despite their lack of vocabulary. Children six and below tended to either speak in short, five-word sentences, or ramble on with 'ums' and 'uhs'.

Then there was the fact that despite being apparently inhuman, what with the tail and ears, slightly elongated canines, and slightly slitted pupils, there is no sign of an Omega mark on the her body, either it is on her head being hidden by her hair, or on the bottom of her feet.

And added to all that she has the occasional tendency to zone out, almost as if she were talking to someone in her head.

Unusual behavioral tendencies aside. She was a standard, if at times polite, child. In that she was impulsive, immature, and emotional.

Then there was the incident. Imagine his surprise when a secretary ran into his office panicking about a Master/Stranger cell breach in the containment ward. Only for an officer to walk in behind him and fully report the situation. He knew how those doors worked. Nothing short of a brute 5 ranking or above would save someone's hand from being sliced clean off, and even then, the door's shock detector would recognize the significant force and stop from trying to close. Because in all honesty, if they have the capacity to resist the force to rip open a car engine, then they had little hope of containing them, might as well save the door, those things were not cheap. It's why they only had four of those cells in the containment ward.

'Well, three now.' He thought sardonically.

It honestly didn't make sense, if she had a high brute ranking, then the slider would stop and the alarm would sound. If she could redirect the energy from the force, then why did she scream in pain when it shut? And if she absorbed the energy, why didn't she use it to break out? Either she is a brute and the shock detector malfunctioned, or there is a lot they don't know.

And to top it all off, the bit that slapped him in the face like a fish, she was targeted by the nine for their games. And this probably led to her triggering. A neat little fact that the PRT keeps from the public is that only certain people are capable of triggering, and only through extreme trauma. If that information got out, well, Kamil was certain people would be trying to get powers on their own.

'At least I figured out what the blur was.' He thought. 'Possible high-ranking brute, definite high rank mover capabilities, and possibly a striker with the powerset.'

Pouring himself a shot of whiskey he looks down once again at the file on his desk, containing the girl's picture in the top right.

"Honestly, I need a day off, or three."

Kitsu's POV

'Now that I think about it, I could have busted myself out of the door if I just used the energy I collected from the slam to enhance my strength.'

[Affirmation]

'WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING!'

[Reiteration- 'Not now, be quiet.']

…

'Damn it.'

A/

-Boston PRT HQ-

"Bored, bored, Bored, BORED!" I've been here for about two days know and I don't know when they plan on letting me-

*KCHHT*

"FREEDOM! -umph" I race out of the room only to slam into something.

"Woah there kiddo, I get it, been there done that." A jovial voice that sounds like a slightly deeper Ryan Reynolds.

Looking up I see what looks like a red modified version of the outfits the PRT goons wear.

'Assault.'

"Hey there. How are you?" He says kneeling down to meet my eyes.

This is one of the few people who could take me out in a fight. My main offensive power revolves around absorbing and augmenting myself with kinetic energy, his revolve around redirecting and effectively NOPING kinetic energy. Why is he here? Isn't he supposed to be in Brockton Bay?

"Soooo, what say you and I get away from here? Kamil says you like pizza, how about we go get some?"

"Uh, um, I uh." I tried, I really did. And just ended up running back into the room and hiding behind the corner.

'Shit shit SHIT! I am not prepared for this, he is a natural trigger, with a connection to the shard network! WHAT DO I DO? HELP ME [Conduit]!'

…

'Right of course he would fuck off in the face of an active shard.'

"My god you have no idea how much you sounded like a predator there." A girl says indignantly.

"Hey, I'm great with kids! Normally." Assault said that last bit under his breath.

'Oh? Who dat?' peaking over the side I see a shorter girl in a black bodysuit and domino mask.

'Is that Battery? She has a dead shard, right? Idea!' Running out and hiding behind her leg to but a body between me and Assault.

"Oh my god she is sooo CUTE!" she says, turning and reaching to pick me up

'ABORT!' Instinctually pulling on the energy I have stored from earlier when the door broke on me. And push her towards Assualt.

"What the shit!" She shouts landing against the ex-con, ex-vill?

"Kiss already!" I just shouted the first thing that popped into head.

'I mean, they wind up together anyway.' I turned and rounded the corner.

"Woah now, I knew you'd fall for my charms eventually." and promptly stopped as I heard Assaults attempt at flirting.

'I gotta see this.' Ok I know I should be trying to flee, but. I got nothing I just wanna watch this.

"You're a dick. You know that right?" She says, glaring up at him, still in his arms.

"Well, it takes one to know one."

'I, that was not the, what? Aren't you trying to romance her? Say something ROMANTIC'

"And what is that supposed to mean?" If looks could kill.

"I mean, you are what you eat."

!

'Holy shit, BURN!'

"Oh! You wanna go there? Then what about you huh?" She pushes off him.

'I need popcorn.'

"What about me?" Now it's his turn to be confused.

"You said you are what you eat, and it takes one to know one, implying you at least think you know I'm a dick. So, You are what you eat. Dick."

"I mean, yeah, or at least I hope."

'Wait what?'

"Wait, you're gay? Oh thank god!"

'oof.'

"What? NO! I mean I am what I eat, and you're a dick and I hope to be and, I, I'm gonna stop now."

'Crash and burn! Dead on arrival!'

"Hee heee ha." I couldn't stop from gigg;ing.

"Shit the kid"

'Uh, oh.'

Turning back around I start to run, putting energy into my body I bolt. I may have smacked into a wall or two in the pursuit, I forgot to enhance my perception at first. Assault and Battery may have this love hate relationship, but damn do they work well together. With Battery attacking Assault and him using that to launch himself and her forward.

Eventually as I started to run low on energy in what I think is and office it looks nice. Short maroon carpeting, dark brown desk with a computer, forest green wallpaper. Circular window behind the desk, door off to the side of the room.

'Add a bear skin rug in here and it would look cliché. OO! SWIVEL CHAIR!' There's a swivel chair.

I run over and climb into the chair, kick the desk and promptly start spinning.

"WEEEEeeeee!"

"You are not supposed to be in here." A woman says.

Startled, I fall out of the chair. "AAAagh"

"Are you okay?"

"Who said dat?" I say popping up.

"I did, I am over here, on the desk."

Turning around I see the computer turn on and a fair skinned dark-haired lady's face pop up on the screen.

'SADAKO!'

"AAAAAHHH!" Using the last of my energy stores I lift up the chair ready to smash the ghost out of the computer.

"NO! WAIT! STOP!"

*Flush*

A brown haired man walks out of the side door to the room

"What is going on in here?!"

'Oh! Kamil!'

"EVIL GHOST BOX!" Yeah, that was me.

Just as I was pointing at the computer with one hand, keeping the chair in my other, the front door busted open to see a woman in black followed by a man in red.

"Director Armstrong, we lost the." Said the woman. Oh, it was Battery and Assault.

"Found her." Said Assault.

"RED MAN!" Now I'm pointing at Assault.

As this comedy of errors goes on I run out of energy and the weight of the chair knocks me over.

"Woah!"

*Crash*

Kamil Armstrong POV

'Why do feel like this is all Assaults' fault?'

-Time skip-

Kitsu POV

After an explanation of who everyone was, and getting me to calm down. I learned Kamil is in charge of everything here. And the computer lady is actually here for a job interview, not really but essentially.

Turns out it was Dragon, not the lady from The Ring. Funny thing is, I always thought she would be accent neutral, like a lot of news reporters are trained to be. Turns out she has a Newfoundland accent, imagine a slight Irish accent. It's actually kinda cute. What? Technically she's two years old, and this is her attempt to sound like her father/creator.

'Who I just remembered is dead, as of the, attack on, Newfoundland, a, few days, ago, huh. Now I'm sad.'

"So, know that you know the computer is not evil, promise not to smash it?" Kamil said, he is surprisingly good at calming me down. "Yes. You still promised me pizza." I want my pizza.

"I sent Assault here to take you to get some. What happened?" Time to set up the pity party and get some sympathy points!

"Too much red, I don't like red anymore, or tag." Assault and Battery actually flinch at that, I assume that means they know about the Slaughterhouse 9 incident.

"Maybe, it's time I paint the suit blue." I hear Assault whisper to battery.

"Well, maybe we can fix that, how about you and I go down to the food hall now?" Kamil says.

I'mma be menace again real quick.

'Time to be evil!' I think.

"Do they have dick?" I say.

…

I swear, if someone dropped a pen it would be deafening.

"What?" Kamil says, blank faced and understandably confused.

"Assault said Battery eats dick. And he hopes he could eat dick. Is it tasty? Can you but it on pizza?" I deserve an Oscar, an Emmy, AND a Tony for how well I kept a straight face.

…

"I mean you can put on, OH GOD WHY!" Assault started before Battery glowed and smashed her fist into his crotch, turning his almost whisper to a high-pitched squeal.

'These two are comedy gold.'

"Dragon?" Kamil starts with dangerous calm.

"Yes sir?"

"Can you keep the company while I have a talk with these two outside?" Oh, I wish I could see this.

"Not a problem, aside from the initial scare I unintentionally gave her she seems remarkably well behaved."

"Good. Assault, Battery, outside. Now." I watch as Battery drags the incapacitated Assault with her as they walk outside.

"They're silly." I say, not even trying to play at being a kid this time.

"Their interactions have proven to be quite humorous and entertaining." She says jovially.

"Huh?"

"Um, yes, they are very silly."

…

'And que the awkward silence.'

"Are you a lizard?" Master of conversation, me.

"Um, no?" Dragon says

"Can you breathe fire?"

"No, I cannot, why are-."

"Then why is your name Dragon?"

"I, like the name?"

"Okay." This got me thinking, I still don't have a name.

…

"I need a name."

"Oh? How about Elizabeth?"

"Too long!"

"Jennifer?"

"No J names."

"Charlotte?" She's starting to sound desperate.

"No, I want something unique, something that means me."

"Well, you are a girl."

"I am."

"You have fox features."

"I guess." I have an idea where this is going.

"How about a name that reflects that, how about Kitsune?"

"What's that?"

"It's a trickster fox spirit from Japanese myth."

"Can it be shorter?"

"Kitsu? It means-"

"YES!" That is the perfect name. It's short, cute, unique, and easy to remember!

"Is everything alright in here?" Kamil pops into the room.

"I. Am. KITSU!" I shouted standing on the swivel chair making lights shine behind me, since when could I do that? And promptly fell over.

"Aagh!"

*Crash*

"My tail!"

-Later that day

I am now eating my pizza, It's just a cheese, not a stuffed crust mushroom.

'Oh well'

"So let me get this right, you can make lights now?" Battery says across from me. Oh yeah, I'm still in Kamils' office. In the swivel chair at his desk. He just had someone bring the pizza up, cuz rank has its privileges.

"Yes." I say swallowing a bite, according to [Conduit] I can make limited density hard light illusions, [Conduit] didn't inform me earlier because there was never a good time to practice. And in my desire to show off I activated it instinctively.

"So you're impervious to damage, can be strong but not all the time. And now you have the ability to make lights?" Assault says. Looking at me in disbelief.

"I could always make pretty lights."

"Then why didn't you do so before?" Says Battery.

"I forgot." I say taking a bite of pizza. I can also change my appearance a little bit, but I am NOT about to tell them that. "So, what are you doing here? You can't have my pizza." Priorities.

"We, have a, fun opportunity we want to tell you about." Assault again.

"We thought you would like to join us. And we could teach you, train you. You could go out and meet people, we'll feed you-" Battery starts

"Water you, take you for walks, teach ya tricks." Only to be interrupted by Assault.

"Shut it." Battery. Time to mess with them again.

"So you two will be like my Mommy and Daddy?"

"NO!/Sure."

…

"What? Why not? Could give us some valuable experience." Assault says, wiggling his eyebrows.

"With you? Over my dead body."

"Mh, nah, I'm not a necrophile, I'd much rather have it over your very much alive body."

'Real smooth Casanova, real smooth."

I look back over to Battery only to pause as I see her blushing.

'WAIT THAT WORKED?'

As I am contemplating whether Assault has a master power, Kamil walks in from the front door talking to a guy who I don't care to describe.

"Just make sure it's done before the month is out. Okay? Thanks Jameson, you can have the rest of the day off, and if you see Weld, tell him to meet me here."

"Sure thing, he's probably in his room anyway." Nameless accountant man says as he walks off.

Looking over to us he smiles,"

"So, what did I miss?"

Time to be a little gremlin.

"Assault is not a Nectopile." I say calmly, and eat another slice. I'm almost out of pizza.

Assault and Battery both go wide eyed and look from me, to each other, to Kamil.

…

"A what?"

"It's nothing." Assault shouts.

"Dragon, can you explain?"

"Assault was flirting with Battery again, poorly." 'Oof, called out by the A.I.'

"Assault if you were not our best chance in dealing with, recent additions, I'd have you confined to you room." 'I'm right here! And what do you mean 'Best chance' huh?'

"Yes DAD!"

"Boy if I was your father, I'd beat some sense into you, and then some just for the headaches you cause."

"Ooh, don't threaten me with a goo-"

*Splat*

I threw a slice of pizza at his face.

"What was that for?!"

"I'unno, I thought Battery was gonna hit you again and wanted to do it first." I just wanted and excuse to throw food at him.

"Well, she's not wrong."

"Et tu? Battery"

As it looks like Assault and Battery were about to go at it again Kamil interrupts, raising his voice.

"Did you make the offer?!"

"We were, getting to it sir, then this idiot started running his mouth and started making it sound like we were offering to either adopt her as our daughter, or our dog."

Kamil then looks to Assault. Assault just looks away. I grab my last piece of pizza.

"*Sigh* Kitsu, would you like to live here?" Kamil asks.

"No." I know how corrupted and inefficient the PRT is. No way in hell am I putting myself in a gilded cage of red tape and PR deals. I wanna be able to actually make a difference. Not be paraded around the city as a mascot while constantly frustrated at being unable to do anything. In other words, I don't wanna end up like Vista.

…

…

…

"May I ask why not?"

"Don't wanna." I can't really say why. I'll look like a nutjob and then they'll throw me into the birdcage on principle.

"We can't let you leave unsupervised."

"Why not?"

"YOU'RE A CHILD!" Battery was the one to shout this time.

"Don't yell at me!"

'Time to think. I need a way out of here, I doubt they'll let me leave, at all really. I AM a child, a superpowered child at that. I, may an idea, if this works, I'm calling bullshit on the universe.'

"How about a bet?"

-PRT Training Room, Arena-

'BULLSHIT!'

That actually worked, the deal is, I beat Assault and Battery, plus a third unknown cape, and I get to leave. I loose, and I become their newest Ward. From what I've pieced together, they think I have a sort of grab-bag combo of illusions, invulnerability, and a power charge similar to Battery.

Faced against each other in a large metallic room. Assault and Battery about fifty feet in front of me. On the upper level there is a window where Kamil is watching us.

"Are you sure about this kid? The wards are nice, you'll be safe, and all the pizza you could ever want!" Assault says.

"Shut up and fight old man!"

"I'm not old, I'm 17!"

"Bet you're bald under the helmet!"

"You little-"

*Kzzzt* BEGIN

Not even wasting a second Battery glows blue, jumps back and launches off of Assault who spring boards her forward. After which not half a second later he launches himself forward at the same speed.

'Redirected kinetic energy, right, so long as he is aware of the impact, he can redirect the force.'

As Battery is rapidly approaches and soccer kicks me, I fly back, the thin is, I can choose whether or not I get knocked back, and just no sailing them from the start will force them to get creative, and if they do that, I can't absorb any energy.

"WAAAaaaah!" Not long after I get launched into the air, Assault jumps over Battery and down hooks me, launching me back down and into the ground. Not gonna lie, that hurt.

"Give up kid, we're stronger, faster, and smarter. Might as well save yourself the pain." This time it was Battery.

"Old! LADY!"

"That's not gonna-"

"You need to go on a diet!"

…

"I'm gonna kill a kid."

She glows again and runs forward, only for Assault to grab her by the arm and SWING HER LIKE A HAMMER HOLY SHIT! I can't help but think about how cool this is as Battery dropkicks down on my face. I'm actually driven further into the ground. She jumps off, and stands next to me. Looking up I see Assault walk over to stand next to her.

"Does this mean we win?" He asks looking over to Battery. Perfect.

"I twist my body to launch myself by my hands, enhancing my strength to outright blast myself into dropkicking Assault in the face. Feeling a satisfy crunch I cut of the energy, I don't wanna kill the guy.

"Aach, you brope my nobse!"

"Sneak Attack!" I shout. Before I can gloat further, I get sucker punched by Battery. Effectively cartwheeling me across the room and into a wall.

'Why am I constantly being put into things?!'

"Can't believe you let a little girl get you."

"Shub up!"

I break out of the wall, a little dizzy from the airborne cartwheel. Running forward I punch Battery and launch her across the room. Or at least I tried to, Assault grabbed he arm and set her down.

'Imma need to get creative here.' Stealing something I saw from Overlord, the anime. I turn and make an illusion of my arm punching Assault, while I actually punch Battery. I can't turn myself invisible, not yet.

"Ack!"

"What?" Assault is understandably shocked as the upper body of me shatters like glass to reveal I actually punched Battery. Not willing to give him a chance I close my eyes and flash bright lights in his face.

"Kitsu used flash!"

"What-Aach, SHIT!"

'Super effective'

I then run around him, jump on his back, and wrap myself around him and start choking him out.

"Ack!"

He starts thrashing around and throws himself back to headbutt me.

'Sorry buddy, but compared to electrocuting myself this is nothing! Still hurts like a bitch.' Because my nose can't break, it feels like a stubbed toe, on my face.

I look over to see Battery is actually getting up.

'Damnit! I put enough force in that punch to crack concrete! She must have activated her power last second.'

"Damn, as much as I wanna see Assault get choked out by a little girl." Assault, still trying to throw me off, but slowing down, flips her the bird. "But this ends now!" She glows blue and I once again flash a bright light.

"AAaagh!"

'If it aint broke, don't fix it.' I think as she stops her charge.

And Assault just fainted. I'm not taking any chances so I hold on for another thirty seconds. I don't put it past him to fake it. Battery recovers, glows blue and charges, I hold my hand up and start to make it light up with an illusion. She closes her eyes but doesn't stop her charge. I cut off the light and let her hit me. Only this time I crouch and don't allow knockback. She hits me like a goes down like a leg sweep, faceplanting and scorpion posing before collapsing in a heap, unconscious.

I stand back up and look to the unconscious Assault and Battery.

…

"I WIN!" I yell, throwing my hands up.

Director Kamil Armstrong POV

…

"Dragon."

"Yes sir?"

"What in the nine hells did I just witness. Because it looks like two of our best Wards, who are about to graduate and be sent to Brockton Bay as official Protectorate Capes might I add, just got trounced by what appears to be a Six-year-old little girl."

"That's because, that's exactly what happened sir."

This was not his week.

"Why?"

"If I may speculate, it appears she may have a Thinker ability." Just his luck.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, in my time with Kitsu, she has shown extreme levels of understanding when compared to others of her age, along with inconsistencies in her sentence structure, she may be instinctively activating a Thinker power, possibly a high 2 or low 3. I believe it is an ability that allows her to learn at an accelerated rate when activated, it would also explain the brief periods in which she zones out, she could be processing the information in she gains."

"So we have, Mover, Brute, Breaker, Thinker?"

"It would appear so. Should, should I send him in?" I honestly didn't think it come to this.

"Might as well, and prepare foam the foam sprayers."

"Sir?"

"We cannot allow and individual with such a powerset to be let loose in the world unsupervised, If she were older, we could negotiate here being an independent. But with her being so young that simply isn't in the cards."

"Of course sir."

"Wait. Why is she?"

Kitsu POV

After I got done posing the two unconscious lovebirds and laughing to myself. I just positioned them so that Assault is against the wall, and Battery is sideways in his lap with her head resting on his shoulder, also, she drools.

"WAKE UP!"

"Humf, Wha."

"Mmmh"

It takes a good few seconds for them to realize their position. Battery looks absolutely mortified, while Assault just smirks.

"Hey babe, enjoy your seat?"

*Smack*

I don't know if she's tsundere, or just genuinely hates him at this point in time. Either way watching this go down is better that any daytime television.

'Certainly better than the Kardashians.'

*KCHHT*

'Hm?' turning to look at the new comer I think I peed my pants a little in excitement.

"ROBOCOP!"

…

"Pfft" Assault can't keep a straight face.

"I'm Armsmaster." 'Oh, that was more disapointing'

"Oh, who are you?" I said this cuz I know he has an ego, and I wanna mess with him, get him mad. And it works as his mouth, which is the only visible part of him, develops a frown.

"I am this PRT's premier and most efficient cape."

"What does that mean."

"It means that you are about to lose."

'He even sounds like lame version of RoboCop.'

"Lame!"

"We're wasting time. Assault, Battery, leave now."

"Right/Yes sir!" They hop up and rush out of the room.

"Are they gonna clean the room first?"

"No need, this will be over soon enough."

'Dick.'

*Kzzt* "Begin"

He pulls out his halberd and gets into a ready stance, but otherwise does nothing.

…

…

"Are you gonna?"

"I am aware of your breaker state, and I would be foolish to attack when you expect it."

'I mean he's wrong about the breaker part but-' Whatever thought I had was interupted as he rushes forward and swings his halberd at my midsection.

*Kncht*

Only for the halberd to shatter against me.

…

"Mlnnn" I stick my tongue out at him.

*Chink*

He punched me in the face! Dick! At least his gauntlet broke.

"HOW!"

"I'm better than you. RoboCop knockoff"

I wind up my arm and slam into him with more force than he hit me with, sending him flying back and crashing through the doors.

…

"I WIN AGAIN!"

*Alarm Blaring*

Red lights start flashing throughout the room as hose turrets pop out of the ceiling and start shooting containment foam at me.

'WHAT THE SHIT FUCK?!"

Running through the doors I dodge as Armsmaster, who is getting off the ground, gets hit with the containment foam. Enhancing by speed, strength, and perception. I start barreling through the corridors, tearing through the doors like tissue paper, ironically enough the brief feedback of force from slamming into the doors is fueling me ever so slightly. Not enough to create a full feedback loop. But enough to edge me on ever so slightly. I actually fall into the whole enhanced issue, where I am going so fast that I can't recognize anything other than 'Person Move!' and 'Door Keep Going!'

After what felt like ten minutes of running, I make my way out of the building and run. And I keep running for what feels like another two minutes before I run out of energy and ragdoll across the ground, sore and utterly exhausted, turning to my back, I look up at the night sky, and laugh sardonically.

'Y'know, if it weren't for the fights, I would have never had the energy to run out of there.'

[Affirmation]

'Yeah, we did it [Conduit], we did it, we're free to do what ever I want.'

[Indignation]

'You already got what you want, you're here experiencing a [Cycle]. Now you get to experience as a lowly biologically life form uses your power irresponsibly and for her own gain til' she dies a horrible death, like most shards get to experience.'

[Iteration- I regret everything]

'Huh, that's new' I think before I pass out.

BONUS SCENE

Kamil Armstrong POV

What an absolute shit show. First their best and brightest upcoming Wards were defeated, then their best Protectorate got absolutely STOMPED. Now he's busy writing a massive report about the tens of thousands of dollars in damages he doesn't know the exact number, but he saw the report, saw it started with an 8 and had four zeroes behind it, and but it down before he started crying in frustration.

"Dragon."

"Yes sir?"

"You edited the security files right?"

"To make it look like a Tinker had hacked into the software system, causing a glitch that set the entire building on high alert, foaming everyone not recognized as an employee? All to save your ass in the report about how it was actually YOU who ordered the security response? Yes I did, and hope you understand that after that I am requesting a formal transfer." She sounded a mix of disappointed and pissed.

Of course she was. Between that, Armsmaster transferring to Brockton Bay to lead the Wards over there, and the morale hit Assault and Battery took, he was quickly losing his best Capes to one thing or another.

"I understand, can you at least tell me if we learned anything?" Hopefully this wasn't a complete loss.

"I have two prevailing theories, though with Kitsu gone to who knows where, we have no way of confirming either."

"What are they?"

"My first thought is that she has an adaptive breaker state, one that gets stronger the more she fights."

"Like Lung?!" Oh god that was not something he wanted to hear. "What evidence do you have for this?"

"In the beginning of the fight between Battery and Assault, anytime she was hit she flew back due to the force of the blow. However, towards the end she showed a resistance to knockback, and even started to hit harder. Then with the fight with Col-Armsmaster, he hit her full force with his halberd, I've record of that weapons parameters, It should not have broken, if it was energy absorption, then it would have stopped, and if it was simple invulnerability, it should have only chipped at most while knocking her back at least a little. But instead it shattered, as did his armor when he went to punch her. And then there was when she punched him."

"I saw that, he flew through the arena doors, those are meant to hold a Brute 6 level of force. Is Armsmaster okay by the way?"

"Aside from a bruised ego, abdomen, and five broken ribs, he'll be fine."

"Good."

"Moving on, she got better at fighting, AS, the fight went on, either she was holding back, or she got stronger during the fight." Makes sense, he saw the same things she did, she was being tossed around like a ragdoll in the beginning, only to one hit knock down one of their best not five minutes later.

"And your other theory?"

"Precognitive Thinker."

What?

"Why do you say that?"

"Sir, if her goal was to leave here, then everything that happened was as she intended it to be, from challenging Assault and Battery, to egging Armsmaster on. She even seemed to know that blunt force wouldn't work on assault, as she blinded him and then proceeded to choke him out rather than hit him even once. If she deployed the same tactics against Battery then I would believe it a coincidence. But no, she tailored her attacks to take him out, avoiding his abilities, before even knowing what he could do."

"So your telling me we either have Lung in a little girls body, or master strategist with precognition?"

"Until I know more? Yes."

…

"Damn it"