Kitsu POV
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I don't like this.
'Maureen, she's the Merchants cryomancer? I can't, I know her story, I know her pain. She's just an orphan, one who got the shittiest hand in life. She suffers from a mental illness that causes her to hear voices, she's just here by mistake, right? This is a coincidence, right' I think with sorrow.
"H-how do you know m-my name, the one the w-whispers c-call out." she says in a small, fearful voice.
"I-" I pause, Maureen, or Permafrost as she calls herself, is unstable but can be reasoned with, kinda. "I met your friend Static."
"Static's here?" She says in a quiet yet hopeful tone. She takes a step forward before going wide eyed and stepping back. "NO! Y-you're trying to trick me! I don't know you! Where's Uncle Skid!? Where's Mister Train!? Where's Mama!?"
'Shit! She's having an episode; her eyes are dilated and darting wildly and she's shaking slightly, and, Sweating?
'Why is she sweating?'
Before I can think of anything she lets out a banshees scream and wind and snow hit me with enough force that if I were someone else it would barrel me over. Ice creeping from walls as frost forms. I get stuck as my foot rapidly freezes over. I break it out and run back around corner I came from. I need to be careful here.
"That was blue ice." I say to myself. "Why can she form blue ice? The only thing worse is dry ice." in terms of pain it causes. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide, and is far, far colder than any other form of ice that I know of. And it BURNS!
If she could create blue ice, then I may genuinely be in trouble. I wish I had Static's number. He would know how to deal with her. I'm not good at this!
Looking back over the corner, she's gone. Stepping back into the hall I walk slowly into the hallway, careful not to slip. I don't know how I'm going to beat her. I could rush forward and knock her out, but I don't want to risk hurting her. She just, I can't, my conscience won't allow it.
Reaching the turn in the Hall, I can go left or right. Looking right I get blasted from behind and frozen solid. My vision going white and distorted. Breaking out I turn around to see her turn another corner. I can't keep doing this, I need to think of something but everything I think of will either kill or seriously maim her! I'm running out of energy, I have maybe two or three good hits in me. Sending a decoy out to the corner it immediately gets blasted and shatters. Sending another to make sure she isn't still there; my plan is to wear her out and hope she comes out of her episode. Reaching the decoy and turning I see she froze the entire hallway into a wall of ice. I sigh and punch the wall. It just cracks. My saving grace here is that she is like Todoroki, she can expel ice from herself, but can't control it after its left her. But I can't absorb energy from ice, it will just make it harder. Unless she physically throws her
And I can't stick a knife in an outlet. The hospital is on a backup generator and I don't know if a surge will shut it off killing hundreds of patients. Not to mention I've effectively lost her!
I don't know what to do, I've never had to chase a natural counter to me, with almost no energy!
As I think this, I hear a clattering to my left. Turning to the sound, I see Permafrost throwing her hands up to blast that freezing air at me. Dashing back to where I came, I narrowly avoid being frozen again. I need to get out of here! I can't even absorb the heat I produce because the cold air is freezing everything! Get backup, as much as I'd never admit it aloud, the PRT are needed here more than me. Turning again, I run back down the hall. I reach Skidmark, and see the drugs gone!
'Is it possible Permafrost was the distraction? No, Skidmark is here, they would've taken him, where are the drugs then?' I don't have time Permafrost is chasing me and I'm almost tapped out!
*Fwoosh*
I heard it before I felt it. A freezing blast of air, stronger than before. I freeze over almost instantly, breaking out one more time, I duck into the busted drug cabinet, watching Skidmark freeze and ice over slowly sent I literal chill up my spine. He'll die in minutes, and I have no way of saving him. After all the running, and breaking out of ice. I'm out, I have no energy left.
'What did I do wrong? Did I not prepare enough energy? Should I have not fought the ones chasing me? Should I have left this to the PRT?' I'm slowly freezing with a frost so cold it burns as I think this, and everything goes dark.
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Victoria "Glory Girl" Dallon POV
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After getting a random call, and then a text explaining the call, she rushed over to Medhal as fast as she could only to see that Amy was safe and the PRT were cleaning everything up.
"Kitsu didn't explain anything?" Amy asks.
"No, the text just said, '-Amy in dngr, Merchants atk Medhal. Bring me a soda' So I dropped what I was doing and flew over." I didn't get a soda for obvious reasons. "The only reason I bothered reading it was because of how few people know my number."
"What are you talking about? You have like thirty friends." Amy retorts.
"Yeah, almost no one."
"It's more than me."
"And who's fault is that? C'mon just let me set you up! Elizabeth is really cute!" I say. Despite knowing her preference now I'm still having no luck in getting her to date.
"Can you call Kitsu?" She asks ignoring my remark, but I see a little bit of a blush. 'I'll get you yet Ames.'
"Why? She's probably off stealing all the food from the breakroom or something." 'The little brat.'
"Can you just call? I asked her save the hospital and I'm worried, there's been no word from her, it's been half an hour." Amy pleads.
"Fine, you know I can't say no to you Ames, why do you play with my emotions so."
"My god you and Kitsu need to learn how to chill." Amy sighs.
"Never compare me to that brat again." I say seriously. I am nothing like that attention seeking mongrel.
Pulling out my phone I call the number Kitsu texted me from. Only for voice mail to hit.
"HI! This is Kitsu! If you know me, leave a message, if you don't know me, leave a message, if you found this number by accident because you were just mashing buttons on your phone out of boredom, go ahead and leave a message."
"Of course, her voice mail would be something annoying."
"I thought it was funny." Ames says with a smile.
"Anyway, she's not answering. When do you get off tonight?"
"Vicky. Please." Amy says looking me dead in the eyes.
"FINE! I'll go find the munchkin." Seriously, if I didn't know better, I'd think Ames was Master and not a Bio-Tinker.
I encounter Aegis who is dragging a one-armed bloodied and battered man onto a gurney.
"Holly crap Gis, you really demolished this guy. Are you gonna get in trouble for this?" The PRT is real big on public image, so wrecking a guy this badly would definitely dock someone's pay.
"Yeah, normally, but I ain't the one to do this, Kitsu was." He says calmly.
"So you're telling me Kitsu just beat the fuck out of a cripple?"
"Actually, this is porcupine, and from what we can tell, she ripped his arm of, then beat him with it, then sealed the wound shut."
"Holy shit that's metal. No way is mom gonna like this." Again, bad for PR.
"You sound a little too happy about that." He pointed out to me.
"Because I am, that little homewrecker has been bumming it at our house for the better part of two weeks and has been nothing but a nuisance." I vent out. She really is destroying my home life, and apparently, I'm the only one who cares.
"Well, what are you looking for?"
"Kitsu, of all people." I say with a roll of my eyes.
"Oh, just follow the sound of merchants with broken legs. Armsmaster and Battery are also looking for her, the level of force she used on this guy is excessive. and we want answers as to what went down here."
"Kay thanks bye." I fly down the hall.
'Man, there are more than a few Merchants thrown to the side.' Though they aren't all from Kitsus' rampage, the dopey smiles and needles told her that.
Going down several halls, I get to an area frosted over. Travelling deeper I see Battery and Armsmaster huddled around a drug counter. With Armsmaster looking up at me.
Coming to a stop before them I hover in front "Hey, Armsy, Bats, what's up?"
Armsmaster turns to me. "Glory Girl. We have, unfortunate news. Skidmark is dead, so we can't interrogate him, and the unknown Parahuman who froze the building, along with Scarecrow, have escaped."
"Okay, what's the bad news? Bad guys escape all the time, and Skidmark being dead can only be a good thing, right?"
Battery doesn't look at me. "Skidmark, froze to death, and, so too did Kitsu."
That, didn't make any sense, Kitsu was, by her own admission, immortal in the truest sense.
"Where is she?" I ask.
Battery just points behind the desk. Flying over and taking a look, I see Skidmark frozen to the ground in a thick layer of ice. And curled up in a ball with a scared look is Kitsu, frozen inside the cabinet.
'Oh, she's not dead, just out of commission, wait, Armsmaster should know this. I get Battery not knowing, but Armsmaster is the one who read Deans texts.'
Flying over the counter, and over Skidmarks dead body reaching out I rip Kitsu out of the cabinet, and slam her against the wall to break the Ice off her. She's still pale. But not the in the pale blue frozen sense. She just looks anemic.
'And I cracked the wall, oops.'
Battery is shouting behind me. "Glory! Stop! What is wrong with you?!"
Once I've fully broken all the ice off of her I hold her, she may be an annoying little attention whore, but I wasn't about to let a child die if I could help it. 'Or, not die in Kitsus case, God I hope she was telling the truth otherwise I am going to need soooo much therapy.'
"Why would you do that? She's dead! Is your-" I cut her off.
"She can't die, she can only be put down, not out." I say.
"What are you talking about?"
"Ask Armsmaster, he knows, he was probably just hoping to take the credit for capturing the Endstopper before she gets citizenship and her past crimes are deemed null and void due to her age." is it right? No. Do I care? Not particularly.
Battery whips around to face Armsmaster. "You knew she wasn't dead?! Why didn't you say anything?!"
"It is one thing to be told someone is immortal and an entirely different thing to come across said person with zero biological functions operating, yet not suffer cellular degeneration." he intones.
"What?/Huh?" Me and Battery say aloud.
"I needed to see it to believe it." He repeats with a sigh. "That and the information was, and still is, unconfirmed. We don't know if she will wake up, and my suits sensors are all saying she is dead."
"Powers are bullshit, we all know that, I'm taking her to Ames." Not even bothering to hear them out, I rush back over to the E.R. with Kitsu in arms. Dodging Aegis, who gave me a wave, and Merchant goons being handcuffed and taken out. Except the one with broken legs, they were being carted to the E.R.
Making my way to Amy who is conveniently between patients. I rush in front of her.
"Vicky, what is it, is that Kitsu?! What hap-."
"She can't die, don't know the full details. Can you heal her?" I shove the frozen girl to her.
"I can try" Placing her hand on Kitsu she goes wide eyed.
A few seconds pass and this is getting creepy.
"Ames, Amy? Amy!"
"Huh, what? Oh! Right, she's, fine, against every known law of biology, she's fine, just unconscious. All the moisture in her body is frozen, I can't believe I'm saying this but you just need to let her thaw out."
"What, like a steak?"
"Sure, if that's how you wanna see it." She says with a roll of her eyes. "Did you know she can see in the dark? Her eyes dilate and contract to extreme measures, she currently has a subset of blood running through her brain made of sugars and proteins a specialized ethanol to keep her brain from dying fully, and she is passively absorbing all the heat around her to thaw out quicker, and pass energy to the rest of her body and revive herself automatically. And her muscle fibers are modified to handle and transfer extreme levels of heat and shock. The way her myocytes act as hyper shock absorbers and insulators-"
"Ames if you're about to geek out over some unique biology, at least say it in a way I can understand,"
With a sigh she just sets Kitsu on a gurney. "Her body is built to survive just about anything, she won't die. End of story. Doesn't mean she can't be put down." After a pause she continues. "But still, her biology is interesting, maybe more so than Aegis, his body can be damaged, hers can't, well not in any lasting way from what I can see."
"Cool! Did you know she tore a guys arm off?" I ask trying to move on from her biology, knowing that I wasn't acting crazy and flying around with a frozen corpse was a relief.
"Really? Why didn't he show up here? I got just about eight guys with broken knees."
"Eleven!" A random nurse pushing an empty gurney by shouts
"Eleven, I'd like to think I'd remember a missing arm." She says moving on to another room with patients, or rather Merchants, in them.
"Kitsu used her power to manipulate biology to seal his wound in a way that left him perfectly fine and able to be carted away in a police car." Going to the only conscious mook in the room. "You're not seriously going around healing all these junkyard junkies, are you? You know they're just gonna be on the street causing trouble within the day, right?"
"I took an oath Vicky." Amy said tiredly.
"There has to be limits to that."
"Oh there are, I don't have to heal anyone who starts cussing me out because I can take that as a refusal to accept my care. Dumbasses can't keep their mouths shut, it's almost like some of them enjoy being denied medical service. Watch." We come up to the Merchant with heavily stained jeans, and in a blue tattered shirt. With two broken legs, fully bent backwards.
'And I thought I had trouble holding back, this looks almost intentional.' I think in regards to Kitsu's use of excessive force.
As the guy on the gurney writhes in the pain of having his legs bending backwards. Amy walks up to the guy and tentatively grabs his shoulder.
"Eugh, God, he's so hopped up I'm surprised I'm not getting a contact high. Hey, dumbass, do I have your permission to heal you?"
"Can, can you?" He asks hopefully.
"No, I asked because I want to give you false hope and watch you squirm." She snaps back with the sarcasm that has become synonymous with her.
"Fuck off, snarky bitch." He spits out in a pained voice.
"Okay, I'll take that as your refusal to accept cape healing." She lets go and starts walking away.
"What? No! No, I accept please!" But we had already left the room. And started moving to the next.
"Wasn't that a bit, evil?" I ask
"His legs weren't broken at the knee, they were dislocated, he just needs them set back into place and a cast for a few weeks and he'll be fine, might have some ligament damage, and a torn ACL, but I doubt he planned on being a marathon runner soooo, no harm no foul." She says with a shrug.
"Oh, my, God Ames you are so evil!" I say with a laugh. She does this sometimes, fucks with the Gangbangers who come in, goads them into refusing her healing. Then walks off to let them suffer, so long as it's something that won't kill them if left untreated that is.
"I wonder what Dean is doing? Wasn't he on duty today?" I ask absentmindedly.
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Meanwhile
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In an alleyway we see an unconscious Gallant, drool pooling out the broken part of his helmet.
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POV Returned
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"Your boy toy is probably just on patrol somewhere else." Amy says.
"Yeah, he was probably just too far away to be called over here." I say.
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-Timeskip later that day-
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Kitsu POV
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Waking up freezing, with pounding headache, and a burning in my chest I roll over and hack up a bit of water out and the burning recedes. Hanging half off the left side of whatever I'm on I look around and notice I'm on a bed in a hospital room. And I see that I coughed up into a waste bucket.
'Convenient, oh wait, there's a hand attached to the bin.' Looking up I see Victoria with a look suggesting she stepped in dog shit. After that I just slump back down over side of the bed.
"Did we win?" I slurred out, feeling hungover.
"That's it?" Hear from the right of the bed. "That's all you have to say?"
'Oh, Carol's here, that's lovely.' "Hi Carol. Is Mark here?"
"No, he's not, don't change the subject. You took off, breaking government property in the process, attacked a PRT team, rushed into a hostile situation with zero preparation, and on top of all that I get to explain to the PRT why you ripped a man's arm off!"
"Wouldn't be the first time." I say without looking up. I'm tired, freezing to death is a slow and scary process. I effectively died and there was nothing I could do. I was constantly running out of energy the entire time just keeping myself warm, and when she was targeting me, I wasted even more breaking free of the ice coffin she kept putting me in
"Which part?" She says seriously.
"All of it. I busted out of the PRT in Boston about five years ago, fought three different PRT Cape teams since then, and I've ripped off a couple of guys arms. It's my go to for creeps and pedos, well actually my go to is murder but I'm not allowed to do that anymore. Can I sleep?"
"You've been asleep for the last three or four hours, you're good." I hear a new voice coming from the doorway.
Throwing an arm up without looking up I shout. "PanPan! I got nothin, how's it going?"
"It takes you literally being dead for several hours to calm you down? Good to know." Said Vicky.
"Who saved me by the way? And someone tell Static Shock I found Maureen."
"Victoria saved you and I don't know who either of those are." Carol said.
Looking up at Vicky, who had set the waste bin down. I slump again.
"Thank you, Vicky." I say.
…
There's a noticeable silence in the room, it would be awkwardly so if not for the buzz of the hospital going on in the background.
"What? What'd I say?" looking up.
"I thought you and Vicky hated each other." Amy said.
"I can't speak for Vicky, but I don't hate her, I just enjoy picking on her. That and I don't like her much, but I don't hate her."
…
Again with the silence?
"Can we go home? I wanna go to bed, my bed." I say.
"Answer a few questions first." Carol said.
With a sigh I just raise a thumbs up. I keep my eyes closed as honestly, I'm too out of it to really focus on anything I would see, so I don't bother trying.
"Okay, first, why did you take off?" Carol asks.
"Gotta call from Wade, thinker tinker friend, said the hospital where PanPan works was under attack."
"Don't call me that." Amy chimes in from the doorway.
"Okay, why did you fight a PRT team on the way?"
"They attacked me first. I was defending myself."
"They didn't mention that." Carol says under her breath. "Why did you break Gallants armor? Even if you were defending yourself that was excessive"
"He's a pervert that's why." I say indignantly.
"He is not! He is the sweetest and most kind gentleman I've ever known!" Vicky says.
"Wow, it's almost like you're in love with him. I thought you were dating a guy named Dean?" I glare up at her.
She glares for half a second before her eyes widen and realization hits her, she then looks to the wall, refusing to meet my eye. Satisfied I'd proved something I slump back down.
What exactly did I prove? I'unno.
"Just ask him about our fight later and you'll get your answer." I say.
"I will, now then, next question." Carols says before Vicky can get anything out.
"This is starting to feel like an interrogation." I say.
"Because it is." 'Oh' "Why did you kidnap Vista?"
"I thought she could help out at the hospital." I say quietly before raising my voice and shaking a fist in the air. "But I was wrong! She tis doth but a coward!" I put my fist down and roll back onto the bed proper.
"Okay, don't kidnap people again. why did you rip a man's arm off?"
"Which one?" I ask, turning my head to the right, facing Carol.
"What?" Carol said with a hard to read voice.
"Which one? Porcupine, or Trainwreck? Because I feel bad about breaking Trainwrecks prosthetic, it felt like kicking a cripple out of a wheelchair." Amy snorted at that, looking over I see a smirk on her face.
"Okay, I'm talking about Porcupine."
"Oh yeah, I also beat him with said arm because he said he was going to 'Enjoy a cutie like me'." I said that last bit in an imitation of his smokers voice.
"Holy shit that's hardcore." Vicky said.
"Language!" I point at her.
"English, fuck off." She said.
"Vicky knock it off." Carol said.
"Yeah Vicky, it's only cute when PanPan does it," I point out.
"Don't call me that." PanPan being the cute tsundere that she is!
"Kitsu?" Carol again.
"Yes?" me.
"Knock it off or no TV." Carol.
"Okay." I say finally.
A few seconds of silence pass before Carol continues.
"Good, now final question. What happened? You were frozen solid in layers of blue ice and every biometric reading said you were dead."
"Oh, I found Skidmark, beat him up, and then when he told me about the ice cape, I went to go find her." I say and take a breath. "I found her not far away, she goes by Permafrost, Static Shock is looking for her, he's trying to bring her home. She, uh, had an episode and attacked me when I was convincing her to surrender." I say that last bit sheepishly.
"Can you give any details on her?"
"Real name is Maureen, don't know her last name, she is a very powerful cryokinetic, she's from Dakota city and is the reason Static Shock is here. She's sick in the head and ran away from child protective services, don't know how she found her way from the Midwest to the Northeast but, she's here now. Why are all the most powerful capes so unstable?" I ramble off.
Carol just stares at me and raises an eyebrow.
"What?" No response. "What?" I say a little louder.
"Nothing, let's go home, I managed to get your criminal record expunged by the way."
"I have a record? Don't I need to be arrested for that?"
"No, you just have to be formally charged, and you were, of fourteen confirmed cases of breaking and entering, eighteen cases of excessive force used in self-defense, thirty-two cases of petty theft, three cases of grand theft, two cases of trespassing on government property, five cases of vandalism, and one case of grand theft auto!" She says exasperated.
'Wow, I genuinely never kept track of all the shit I did, huh, wait when did I? OH! Right, that was a fun Friday. Though I know for a fact that I stole WAY more, and broke into a lot more than fourteen houses, surprised none of the murders were found. eh they were mostly pedophiles and rapists; I doubt many cops look too hard into their cases'
"Uh, I'm sorry?" I say with an awkward smile. "In my defense the theft and break-ins were mostly for food and shelter. Where is Mark? I gotta tell him the good news!" At this Carol starts rubbing her eyes.
"And what, pray tell, is that Kitsu?" She asks.
"I got Amy to agree to a night of UNO!" I cheer.
"I only agreed to a single game!"
"Can't hear you, too busy being happy." I say and sit up. I turn to victoria. "Vicky?"
"What?" She asks, folding her arms and leaning against the wall.
I just hold up my arms and perk my ears. "Carry me?"
…
"Cute. No." She says.
"Aw." I pout and droop my ears.
'Wait a second, I don't feel a burning anger towards Vicky right now, ever since I first met her I-
!
'Was I under her aura's effect this whole time! Was that why I felt so antagonistic towards her? Oh well.' I think and roll out the bed, sliding off the side on my belly so as to not hurt my tail. Feet touching the ground I realize my lack of foot ware. Looking down I see the lack of my clothes, in their place a hospital gown.
"Where are clothes!" I shout.
'Those are custom made! By Parian! Who can say they have casual 'only' clothes made for you by a Cape!'
"They had so much blood on them, they were thrown in the incinerator." Amy said.
"Oh, right, What about the money in my pockets?"
"The four hundred something in stained bills? Yeah no, those were turned over to the authorities to examine for counterfeit, and failing that, burn them I hope."
"Oh, can I have my phone back?"
"Catch."
turning to Carol just in time to get smacked in the face with my pink smart phone.
"D'oww"
At least I got some energy back!
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BONUS
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Mark 'Flashbang' Dallon POV
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Being let to fill out and read the rest of the paper work was rather expected, as was being the one to carry the rest of it home. Not all of it could be completed in a few days, some of this would take a week just to read through. Though it was mostly just the same as back when they signed the papers to become Amys' guardian, less actually, considering they weren't fully adopting Kitsu.
However, it turned out that Kitsu had a bit more to her than they initially thought. The reasons Carol was able to get Kitsu exonerated of past criminal offenses were threefold, one that she wouldn't allow Kitsu to repeat said offenses, two was Carols many connections and their reputations, and three was that they agree to finance the fines for her crimes, a not so small amount, but with all the merchandise New Wave puts out, they could clear it in a year or two.
That was the expected part, the unexpected part came about when after Carol left to go get Kitsu, they need her signature for the some of these anyway. The accounts lady came back with more papers. Turns out that after the Behemoth incident on the west coast nearly three years ago, the PRT preemptively had most of the process for Kitsu to become a Ward, that included having a bank account for her set up. And with her destruction of Eagleton, she got the reward money forwarded to her account, a reward of which's size was intended for a small army to profit from.
Here's the rather, daunting part, with Kitsu not being old enough to accept anything monetary from the government, it fell to her guardians to manage the money until she turned eighteen.
He wasn't stupid, once she turned eighteen the PRT would freeze her accounts and probably use her criminal record to take her bank funds as 'restitution fees' unless she joined the PRT. Well with her new guardians now being a couple named Carol and Mark Dallon.
Yeah.
"Well, at least we won't have to worry about financing those fines, or the kid's college."
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