Robert Meta
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Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter 112
🕑 Added 2025-07-29 14:24:26 +0000 UTC"Arc… this is incredible," Glory Girl said, floating a few feet above the wooden pathway she was following, eyeing the small glowing bottles that hung from the trees. "It's like mystical forest meets magical lodge… with an elvish twist."
I gave her an odd look for the surprisingly accurate description, only for the young hero to put her hands on her hips and pout. It was cute, but it clashed a bit with her white and gold outfit.
"What, a girl can't read a few books?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Fair enough, I suppose," I said, holding up my hands in surrender. "How about a quick tour then. After that, we can start talking more seriously."
My three guests agreed, while Crow made her way to our gathering area, dropping down into one of the wooden woven seats. The tour didn't take too long, we had business to attend to after all, but it started with my bedroom, moved on to the spare bedrooms, before showing them around the orchard and growing gardens. By then, Kali had joined Crow at our gathering area and created a small spread of food, most of which was from her orchard.
I had no idea where she got the cheeses and honey, however.
I should probably check she hasn't been stealing food from passing hikers or something…
As we approached, Kali bowed slightly to our guests.
"This here is Kali, one of my most powerful and proudest creations," I explained with a smile. "She is sort of a permanent nebulous construct that is bound to my home and a large chunk of the surrounding forest. When I said I had someone working with our protection, making them stronger, that's her. Kali, this is Glory Girl, Weaver, and Lady Photon."
"Greeting, Guest-Weaver, Guest-Glory Girl, and Guest-Lady Photon. Welcome to Kali's domain," she said, her modified golem body seamlessly smiling. "Kali thanks you greatly for fighting alongside and supporting Father-Arcanum and Friend-Crow."
"I… It is nice to meet you, Kali," Lady Photon responded, her public appearance training kicking in as she smiled. "It is an honor to fight alongside Arcanum, he has made so much change possible."
"Please, take some food and sit. Father-Arcanum wished to discuss several things with you," Kali explained. "Kali has no wish to delay him."
"It's okay, Kali, you're one of the things I wanted to introduce them to," I assured her, patting her shoulder. "How are the dogs doing?"
"The pack is slowly healing, both from physical wounds and deeper ones," The Genius Loci assured me. "Kali believes they are beginning to trust they are safe. If Kali might…"
"You want to go back to focusing on them?"
"I am worried they may hurt each other without my presence," she admitted. "The pack has much healing to do."
"Unless our guests have any questions?" I asked, looking over the three women, who all shook their heads in unison. "Then go ahead. Let me know if there are any issues."
"I will, Father-Arcanum."
With a nod, she stepped back from me, sharing another small bow before leaving the gathering area. She walked around a tree, disappearing as she stepped out of sight, something she had been doing frequently to move around her domain quickly.
"That was… she certainly has a presence," Lady Photon admitted, taking a moment to digest the meeting. "Is she really tied to your base? Isn't that… inhumane?"
"It's… not that simple," I responded with a wince. "Like the guardians, whose existence is tied to protecting and guarding places and people, hers is tied to this place and the forest. She isn't human, so she doesn't function under the same rules, wants, or needs. I wanted to introduce you to her in case you ever need to come here when I'm not around. She controls the various protections I have on this place, so you'll need to talk to her to get in."
That seemed to mollify the woman, at least partially, as she nodded and dropped the subject.
"Thank you for allowing us to come here at all," Lady Photon said after a moment. "Not many Tinkers are willing to invite people in, even allies."
"Well, it's probably because I'm not a full tinker, I just have some tinker abilities," I pointed out with a smirk. "Though I can imagine why you would think that."
"Wait, you're really not a tinker?" Glory Girl asked, sounding surprised, and when I shook my head, even more unhappy. "Dangit! I owe Amy twenty bucks."
"Sorry, though, to be fair, I was very clear when I first introduced my powers," I pointed out. "It's not my fault you assumed I was lying."
"We aren't the only ones," She pointed out. "I'm pretty sure most people who are watching you with any sort of interest assume you are some sort of strange-themed tinker."
"Hmm… I assumed some would assume, but all?" I asked, humming, when she nodded. "That's good, I could probably use that to my advantage… somehow."
As we talked, we settled into our chairs, with Glory Girl happily taking some fruit and cheese, while Weaver and Lady Photon both only accepted glasses of water. Once we had all sat and finished discussing my powers, I turned the subject back to one of the reasons I had brought them to my base, introducing Alya to Weaver.
"So, before we begin, I should say that we have one more introduction to do. Alya, if you would?"
The wind picked up for a moment, and in a swirl, Alya appeared, standing behind me with her hand on my shoulder. Lady Photon and Glory Girl both smiled at the elemental, as both of them had already met her, but Weaver jerked and leaned back in her seat. For a moment, I could hear the forest around us come alive with bugs, but they quickly calmed down.
"Weaver, when I mentioned having someone already on overwatch, I was referring to Alya here," I explained. "Alya is a Case 53, with some mental changes due to her transformation. She has bound herself to me as part of her powers, in order to retain more of her humanity. She had some elemental controls around wind and weather, and can… well, basically do the same thing you can, but with air rather than bugs. At least in terms of surveillance and overwatch."
"I see… does that mean you're not interested in me joining your team?" The young woman asked, the nervousness in her voice escalating.
"No, we would be happy to have you join us," I assured her with a smile. "As I said, Alya is tied to me, meaning her area of effect is centered around me. She cannot work independently, nor can she guide others. On top of that, she can't be everywhere at once. She can split her focus to a degree, but there are limitations."
"Really?" Weaver asked, tilting her head in confusion. "I… don't think I have that problem."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Are you saying you don't have a problem splitting your attention? To what degree?"
"Whatever degree I want?" she asked, sounding a little confused.
"Weaver, are you saying you can split your attention between every bug you control?" Lady Photon asked. "And, as you said before, you control all of the bugs in a multiple block radius?"
"I… huh, okay, I'm starting to understand why that might be a lot," She said, pausing for a moment to consider the words. "But it's always been that way, at least after I was released from the… from the hospital."
"That's kind of mind-boggling, actually. And it's definitely something we should investigate further," I pointed out, still kind of shocked. "We should set some time to practice and experiment with everyone's powers, see if there are any unexpected synergies."
"I mean… I'm all for hanging out… but didn't we already clean Brockton Bay out?" Glory Girl asked. "Seems like a good time to take a break. Nobody would be dumb enough to come challenge us right after we cleared the board, right? I mean, Coil is here, but most signs still point to him being small time."
"Unfortunately, even if Coil does turn out to actually be a small problem, which I don't necessarily believe, our success is just as likely to attract new challengers as it is to scare off cowards," I responded, shaking my head. "We need to prepare to take down threats trying to worm their way into an area they see as free real estate. The Teeth, Accord, the Elite, and several other groups could see this as an opportunity. I'm particularly worried about the Teeth. They don't exactly have a reputation for smart choices."
Lady Photon nodded in agreement, clearly thinking in the same vein as me. Glory Girl and Weaver both seemed shocked, the latter through her body language. Glory Girl let out a gulp, nodding her head quickly.
"Right… so extra training sounds nice!" Glory Girl said, earning a few chuckles at her complete turnaround.
We continued to talk for a while, discussing what would happen next, as well as what our new patrols would look like. I revealed that, for at least a little while, I would be focusing on my next project. Crow would be patrolling with New Wave and now Weaver, as well as our golems, but I needed more time to work on my Anti-Endbringer stuff. All three of my guests readily agreed that it was fine, and I assured them I would help if needed, and still work with occasional patrols.
We also agreed that our primary goal, besides stabilizing the progress we made apprehending the Empire's capes and a solid chunk of their militant forces, should be tracking down Coil. That meant broad and sweeping patrols with Weaver and Alya, so they could both investigate every nook and cranny of the city. As we began exploring specific patrol patterns, I realized we had gotten a bit ahead of ourselves, and I spoke up.
"I'm sorry, but I think we need to take a step back," I said with a frown. "This meeting was partly to discuss all of this, but I wanted to specifically discuss Weaver's membership."
I could see the young woman shrink slightly into herself, but after a moment, I was happy to see her shake it off and sit back up straight."
"Weaver, I would be glad to have you on our team. I'm sure that you would quickly become a valuable member," I assured the teenager. "But before you can properly join us, there are a few things we need to discuss. For one, I cannot in good conscience bring you on the team if your guardians do not know you are with us."
I could see Lady Photon wince at my statement, but not deny it, while Glory Girl rolled her eyes. Weaver, on the other hand, locked up, her whole body tensing. I couldn't see her face, but I could imagine the same blank look she had during our time at the PRT. Alya squeezed my shoulder, and I knew she could feel the various bugs around the camp reacting to her emotional distress.
"Why?" She asked, her voice now almost hollow.
"For one thing, to avoid it complicating the situation when something goes wrong," I explained. "Imagine your guardians acting on information that you give them to cover for your hero work. Or causing issues when you should be focused on other things. In this team, we do not ignore the lessons of Hanlon, Occam, and especially Murphy."
"And if I refuse?" She asked, tilting her head in a way that tickled something primal in me, a sliver of fear slicing up my spine that I had to physically clamp down on.
"Weaver, is there a reason you don't want to tell your parents?" Lady Photon asked gently.
Something about her tone managed to cut through the frankly concerning behavior Taylor was exhibiting. She leaned back, suddenly seeming a lot less confident.
"I… I don't trust him to react well," she admitted. "I'm worried he will panic and do something I won't like. Like force me to join the Wards, or ban me from ever leaving the house. There... He has a history of not taking bad situations well."
"Would it help if Lady Photon and I were there to support you?" I asked. "I believe both our reputations would be enough to assuage some of his fears, right?"
"You… you would do that?"
"Of course, I wasn't joking when I said I thought you would make a great addition to our team, even if our 'team' is kind of a nebulous joint effort with New Wave," I assured her. "If helping you explain the situation to your guardians helps the situation, I am more than for it. Of course, it would involve unmasking to us."
"That's fine," She said simply. "I don't mind."
"Well, why don't you take some time to think about it and prepare?" I suggested. "This is a big step, and you should be certain of it before you make the jump."
She nodded, pulling her hand away from her mask. For a while, we continued to talk, diving back into what would happen next, as well as what our new patrols would look like. I was tempted to bring up Weaver diverting her emotions to her swarm, but after careful consideration, I realized it might be better to wait until she revealed her identity. It would be easier to explain how I knew, and hopefully, it would help her realize how much it might be affecting her.
Beyond that, I spoke with Weaver about the type of equipment she would like. After a bit of discussion, she admitted she would like to fly, and, barring that, she would like something that made getting around easier. She was a master, which meant she should stay out of any direct fights, and a mover ability would make that much easier. I agreed to see what I could do, but warned her that flight might be a tough nut to crack at my current level. I would try, in no small part because I would also very much like to fly as well, but I had a feeling it was beyond me with my current skills.
After taking a blood sample from Weaver, I teleported the trio back to the city before getting to work on my projects. I needed a few days alone, leaving Crow and the guardians to pick up my slack for not participating in patrols, though I would still need to go into the city and heal.
My first project, which took the rest of the day, was to produce twelve golems and four more guardians. Thankfully, my investment of magical mass production came in clutch, making what would have been a full day or more project into something manageable in just half that time. Sure, I had to modify some of my rituals to incorporate the ideas, but that was light work compared to the time I would have normally spent.
By the time the sun was setting, I had completed the golems and was well on my way to making the four guardians. Both Smokey and Piper were on hand to smooth out any issues and guide the guardians away to meet their peers, taking their golems with them. The guardians were eager to get to work, something I really appreciated.
The following day, Saturday, after completing my morning tasks, I brought Crow to a meeting point, where Weaver and a few members of New Wave were going to go on patrol. I wished them luck before heading back to the forest. It was time to crack down on my plans for the demo equipment for my Endbringer Army.
Comments
Miguel Garcia
This is pretty random, but did the two New Wave Golems with name tags survive Zis?
Robert Meta
Thank you!
Miguel Garcia
I hope Panacea starts tinkering soon. If she can make items/alter bodies to cover areas Arcanum can’t because of magic item limits that could synergize really well. Like, I wonder if she can enhance the geomantic ritual by making the human tougher prior to the application? And didn’t she figure out how to expand Taylor’s area of influence in canon? Or is that fanon?
Miguel Garcia
I’m still a fan of giving Taylor a stranger power, but mover is also a solid ability and is less likely to be useless against an Endbringer. It also opens up the possibility of making her an escort for Panacea when she needs to play roving medic. (Since she also got a mild mover item with her low end brute shield). A plus for that is that Weaver can watch her entire area for wounded AND guide Panacea around obstacles/enemies.
Mr Mouse
"Taylor, is there a reason you don't want to tell your parents?" LADY Photon asked gently. If I'm reading right, this should be Weaver, no? Either way, TFTC
