New Year's Escapade (Part 3) by MaLAguA

Almost certainly not Caroline's idea of a good bonding experience, but like it or not, Sophie and Vic are in this together. At least she's listening to someone who survived the school of hard knocks with a fairly good grade. And old habits die hard for Vic. Perhaps Sophie will ask questions once they're back home about what Vic was thinking.

Props to Caroline for promoting discretion, and good thing Vic was quick on the uptake. Hopefully that mental link won't be needed for much, but I fear that it may be a lifesaver, the way the night seems to be going. There's the saying about don't shit where you sleep, and I wonder if certain members of the Syndicte hierarchy ignored that lesson.

Sophie trying to get Vic to watch Monster High. Might be a useful pop culture reference if he ends up becoming Victoria. At least Sophie is opening up about her isolation. There's a reason Caroline tried to back away from the business.

And is Sophie actually second guessing herself about what Dereck told her? It's not fun living in a world filled with shades of grey, but it's something Sophie is going to have to learn. Probably just sooner than her mom would like. Even if Vic hasn't taken the Telepathic ethics class, he seems to be doing a good job of following the guidelines.

Caroline coming home to an empty house. At least she was able to unwind what happened and didn't panic too much. Sophie forgetting her phone - Good and bad, but there's a reason she's suppose to have it.

And Vic turned his phone off. Logical reasoning, but it's not going to ease Caroline's nerves. I suspect Coel is keeping an eye on the recruiting part of the event, so Vic's latent telepathic link might come in handy. Though Sophie is going to have questions about why and how he joined the chat.

Vic giving Sophie a subtle nudge to weigh the pros and cons of the courses of action. He may not realize it, but he's trying to teach her leadership skills.

Could Vic and Sophie have bluffed their way past security? Possible, but unlikely. Finding a different path would have had a better chance of success, but would also have lead Sophie to asking why Vic knew how to pick locks. Plainly stating their reason may have been the best path forward, but I don't like the fanboy/fangirl reactions to the claim. Too easy for things to go sideways.

Alternate path it is. I think I can see why the fanboys are being queued - they don't have the common sense required to function on a team. Knowing the lay of the land? Good. Cutting it close? Unfortunately, you've failed that part of the mission. Let's see how well things can be salvaged.

And everything goes to heck in a handbasket. Hopefully Vic's distraction buys Sophie enough time. I'm not certain how well her meeting is going to go, considering her father probably isn't expecting her.

Decent get-away, though Vic is probably going to need more water (does his power work on snow?). I wonder if the gentleman with the sage advice might also happen to be a mutant.

Cole for the save on Sophie's side of things. Probably going to be a bit strained if Cole has to meet Megaton. Sadly, might also break the veil.
Good job on the redirect.
And the Syndicate crew is (essentially) running as backup, even if Vic doesn't know it yet. Talk about a seriously grey situation. Won't do Vic any favors with the penny pincher in upper management though.

And Sophie crashing the interview went about as well as could be expected. At least she was able to talk around the chaos involved in getting there. Megaton tried to put up a good front on the gift, but he and his daughter just don't know each other, thanks to his focus on the business. Perhaps this will be the nudge that will get his head out of his ass?

Vic tried for deescalation, but the sidekick wanabes didn't take the offer. And now Vic gets to be the monster they think he is. Not his desire, but it's not like he hasn't trained for these sorts of brawls. Though he's going to be feeling the changes in the morning. Two of the three were certainly sidekick fodder, but I suspect the Ninja probably has an MID. And Coel caught up with Vic, even if Vic's going to be embarrassed at needing the save.

Caroline was pissed, rightly so. Nothing like a case of reading the riot act. Sounds like she may have provided the save rather than Coel. Will this force Megaton to rethink his life choices? Probably not, but who knows. Sophie's going to need some time to process what happened.

Vic and his spirit having a heart to heart. They needed to reach an understanding, and I suspect Vic may be out for longer than expected to allow this to happen. Seems like Vic managed to pick up a fairly major spirit, which is going to make powers retest quite interesting. Hopefully he'll learn about the sundering in a hypothetical finger wiggler class. And I think we know why dark and evil was trying to claim her. At least Vic is the reasonable sort. And perhaps they'll find less brute-force ways to communicate on a regular basis.

And Vic has his own version of the Imp's talisman. He may not have a well yet, but I feel like it's only going to be a matter of time. At least the bulk of M3 will know exactly what Vic's going through when he tells them what's next.

Saturday, December 31th - 6:37 pm
Downtown Portland

Vic, please keep Sophie safe no matter what even if it is from her father. This quest of Sophie's, I hope there isn't a twist of supervillains something up. Vic, keep that hope up, you are going to need all the hope you can get. An alleyway, listen to Vic on this Sophie, don't go rushing ahead without him. Ack! Vic is right, that is an obvious set-up if I ever saw one, don't go down the alley!

Vic has the right idea. Crap! Sophie notices someone following them from the alley, please let Vic be able to handle them. Followed by a group of thugs, this is a bad situation. Scream if they catch up to them, a little screaming within blocks of a superhero convention, what are the odds at least one of the heroes doesn't have some form of superhearing. Run across the street right as the light turns red, a big risk, so glad it worked out.

Calling the police would result in a big delay. She would probably miss her father at the convention and her mother finding out what happened. Eep. Special, good. Sophie is learning not to use slurs about Vic or those with GSD. Code as they walk. Vic tells Sophie about his powers. Perfect. She watches Avatar: The Last Airbender. Aww. He shows her his touch telepathy by linking with Sophie.

<I can say anything without needing to say it. Oh, can I ask you to give me the answers to a test?> Sophie sounded curious, making sounds within the channel just to hear an echo–or rather to imagine an echo.

<Don’t think your mom would approve of that.>

<Lala la lala, lala la lala!> Sophie mentally hummed. Given the malleability of the mental voice, it was much easier for her to replicate the My Little Pony theme song. She broke into giggles at the end.

This is so cute, I wish Vic's interactions with Sophie would have been like this from the start. Vic tells about the changes, how even Whateley can't stop the changes and Sophie says she is sorry to hear that. Eww, never snail-based transformations, those freak me out.

<Maybe it’ll be something like ‘Monster High,’> Sophie said.

You will enjoy watching it with Sophie, Vic. Sophie has never gone to a zoo, or aquarium, or even seen a movie with her dad, he needs to step up as a father. Whateley takes a lot of your attention, not just the classes, but the drama, the danger, and a lot of other things.

<Dad tells me that he’ll send me to that school to learn superheroing,> Sophie said. Vic picked up on the neutrality in her mental tone, a faint whisper that seemed to spell out the lack of interest.

<Well… superheroing isn’t all we learn.>

Hhm, it seems Sophie when she manifests probably won't want to go into the hero business. Just a student, perfect answer, Vic, because despite the Syndicate stuff or what you did while on the streets you are not a villain.

At least all these things are being told to Sophie now in a way that Dereck can't use them later on to try and twist her against Vic again. One of Vic's biggest regrets is breaking Gwen's arm, and how their relationship fell apart, I hope they can keep mending it. Oh boy, Sophie is about to say something important to Vic, but they are in sight of the hotel. Now to find a way backstage to Sophie's father, with all the heroes around it won't be easy.

Saturday, December 31th - 6:55 pm
Kythe Residence

Caroline is back, and things are about to get more complicated for Vic and Sophie. A week off with Sophie and Vic, I hope they both aren't grounded the whole time. Back in her home and no answer from Vic or Sophie, Caroline is going to get worried now. Oh no, panic and thinking someone took the kids, this is bad. Is it revenge by Laureate, a villain like Voidgrip, or his employer? Oh, good, an app for the security system around the house.

Video of what happened, how Sophie left, Vic found she was gone, a piece of paper the only clue, and now Caroline wonders if Sophie went to the 'Heroes United' event.

“She is so grounded after this,” she grumbled as she dialed for her daughter’s phone.

I saw this coming, only hope it won't be for the rest of the vacation. Great, Sophie left her phone behind after Caroline just gave it to her recently. Dials Vic's phone number in the hopes he found Sophie, I hope Vic can explain things fast.

Saturday, December 31th - 7:01 pm (a couple of minutes earlier)
Blackbell hotel - Heroes United Convention

Ack! Vic's phone is down to the last of its charge, he shuts it down in case they need to make an emergency call. Sophie only realized she left her phone at home when she got to the bus stop, ack. No wonder Sophie made this trip, poor kid. Same route to the bus stop on the way back, Vic says they will be careful, why do I get the feeling Caroline will either have to show up to save them or patch them up when she finds them?

One was to be a tryout for prospective superheroes and vigilantes willing to work for the organizing agencies when they would open branches within some of the cities this tour would be visiting. As such, Vic could spot one or two people around the place bragging about the equipment they bought, be it armor or a weapon they carried.

This convention has 'Bad Guy Target' painted all over it.

The other side of the event was meant for the fanbase. A large convention centered and focused around heroes of the agencies that had teamed up to oversee the project.

One slip-up and those fans become hostages for some psycho out to make a name for themself.

Images of Sophie's Dad and Uncle, it is like their team wants to make a 'Justice League' situation with teams all around the country under their copyrighted team name. Alcoholic drinks at an event like this, are they trying to cause a drunken super brawl? Aww, Sophie is afraid her dad won't be here and this is all a mistake she made.

Sophie looked up at Vic, and then down at the small package in her coat’s pocket. Insecurity was reflected in her eyes.

“Now… if you want us to go back, we can do that.” Vic paused. “I don’t want to force the choice on you to carry on with something you don’t want anymore. But you have to decide as to whether we continue or not. I’ll be fine either way.”

Vic sure knows how to treat kids to get them to cooperate, treat them like they can make decisions of their own instead of shielding them all the time. Yay! There is a Sophie we know. Good thing Sophie knows the room number her dad is in, I don't want to think of the nightmare of finding him without it.

No official team in Portland, you can thank the Syndicate for that. Darn, guards in the way of the door to the hotel. A single guard, but yikes, he might be a mutant or some other type of super if they have only one guard there. Good grief, the applicants are acting like rowdy college kids and not potential heroes with the insults at their competition. 7 of them are in the way, there has to be another entrance to get into the hotel besides this.

They were entertained in their own conversation and bragging, passing a couple of bottles of booze around, sometimes showing off their holdouts and testing them just to add to the ruckus.

Ugh, my first assessment was right, they are like rowdy college kids. Sophie is right, as a hero you should dress in a costume that doesn't scare little kids or at least be able to comfort them, even Batman knows this.

This bunch are morons, Vic says he isn't participating and they call him a cutter. The guard won't let them through, it looks like Vic might have to register to get them inside. Sign-ups closed for the day, Vic goes with the truth and the idiots start cussing and saying Sophie can't be Gigaton's daughter. The idiots think she died in the accident years ago, great, I bet Gigaton didn't even correct the press about that.

These sick Fs talking about Caroline as if being hot was the only good thing about her. Oh boy, talking about Caroline that way has gotten Vic pissed, and tell the moron to mind his own business. Threatens a teen with a nightstick, that is just a drunk thug. The security guard reminds them no fighting is allowed there or he will kick them from the hotel. Oh boy, Vic has an idea of another way, please let it not be dangerous.

“Tsk…” the guard growled at the candidates. “You guys are applying to be heroes. You’re not taking this seriously.”

“Relax, dude. We’re Gigaton’s fans!” The guy scoffed. “There’s no way he’s going to turn us down.”

If you mention some teen boy and a little girl showed up saying she was his daughter and you taunted them about it being a lie he will throw you out himself and get you blacklisted from the hero community.

An evacuation map in the case of an emergency, to be precise, but still a map nonetheless.

Stopping before it, his finger traced down their current location over to the hotel and, as he’d come to hope, it revealed other paths into the hotel area, past the glass doors. The nearest one came around through a long supply closet. As long as there was a door and no security, it should be just as easy.

Evacuation maps are so handy for finding a way inside a building that is often overlooked. Sophie is angry at those goons and wants to see her dad to prove them wrong.

Saturday, December 31th - 7:24 pm
Blackbell Hotel

Act like you're supposed to be there, best advice for infiltrating a place. Made it without being seen and not Vic gets to show Sophie his power by picking a locked door. Crap, get through the door only to be spotted by the redsuited drunk with the nightstick. Sophie is in the storage closet while Vic has to deal with this asshole. Attack Vic with a nightstick, wannabe ninja coming too while Vic uses the mental link to tell Sophie to stay in the storage closet for now as he tries to lure them away.

The closet opens from the inside, and Sophie knows the way to get to the room her father is in from there. Vic is on the run as he barges into the hotel kitchen keeping ahead of the vigilante. Vic tells Sophie he will be okay and see her in 10 minutes, I hope Gigaton doesn't get angry at Vic. 4 creeps trying to catch up to Vic, acting like they are heroes as they plan to beat up a teen.

The man in the red costume acts as if he is the leader, after this incident all of them will be kicked out of the hotel. Skinny guy in street clothes with an expensive-looking slingshot, all these vigilantes need to learn appropriate force when dealing with potential perps. The guy in a blue scuba suit with hard plastic gauntlets, now that is just embarrassing. The ninja is the biggest threat, Vic needs help and fast.

A puddle of water made by Vic trips up the ninja, Vic makes it to the door out of the room and narrowly avoids being hit by silver pellets. Vic forces the door shut and brute forces the locking mechanism to keep it shut, I hope those idiots don't just bash through the door.

“That’s a mutant? I knew this city would have problems like this if they’re making hero tryouts,” muttered a woman to her husband or boyfriend.

“Booking the place with a convention… bad idea,” someone else said.

“Kid, you better run,” a more sympathetic older man said in low tones, pointing back towards the side of the room.

Out of the frying pan and into the fryer, the security guard from the front was called in, Vic had better book it. Vic has plans to escape and hide out until Sophie calls him over the mental link again, but the idiots break down the kitchen doors and are in pursuit again.

Saturday, December 31th - 7:28 pm
Blackbell hotel - Hallway

Crap, Sophie had been running, afraid she is going to end up 'breaking' like she had before. Just doors away, and one of the vigilantes has found Sophie, she tries to outrun him only to trip. Sounds of thuds and grunts, a voice she recognizes, Uncle Cole to the rescue!

One of the nicest and coolest people she knew, and a mutant, just like Mom.

Cole will never let children be hurt if he can help it.

Aww, Cole got rid of the bad man, but where is he? Did Cole scare him off or do something else to the guy?

Cole picked up on that and shook his head dismissively. “Don’t worry, he’s just sleeping.”

That guy might not even have seen Cole before being knocked out. Aww, Sophie tells Cole about Vic being here and asks him to go help Vic. Why is room 109's door slightly ajar and a conversation going on, who is Sophie's dad talking to?

Stealing the list of candidates for the Heroes United program had been surprisingly easy, but tracking down two kids in a convention of zealous fanatics felt like the more difficult task. Fortunately, he’d had an idea of where they were going, and he stepped in at the right time to intercept Sophie’s pursuer.

Ah, so Caroline called Cole about the kids and he knew to look for them. Caroline on her way to the hotel from her car, Cole informs her about running into Sophie and how he let her go to be with her dad. Caroline doesn't like that,

“Vic is supposedly still in danger from your ex’s fans and I can’t bring Sophie along with me for that. Leaving her in the hands of a well-known hero was the better choice.”

“I… suppose that’s right,” Caroline conceded.

Sometimes you have to go with the better choice even if it isn't something you like.

All these idiots are baselines, neighborhood vigilante, or sidekick programs, ouch. Seems Vic has made it into an alley, Cole is on the way and has Lars keeping an eye on the situation with his drone. The Syndicate are pros to do all this during a hero convention. Heh, Cole gets them to keep quiet about this incident for the official report, we don't need more eyes on Vic or use this as an excuse to mess with Lifeward or her Syndicate projects.

Sophie stands outside the door to room 109, butterflies in her stomach as she is nervous to go in and see her dad. Okay, whoever this 'potential hero' is that is talking to Gigaton sounds like a thug. 3 people on the panel interviewing this guy and Sophie comes in to bring it screeching to a halt.

“What are you doing here?” asked one of the assistants standing by the back. He grabbed Sophie’s arm before the girl could answer. “This is a private meeting.”

“Stop.” Gigaton’s voice carried a certain gravitas that was impossible to ignore. And it got the assistant to freeze on the spot. “Remove your hand from my daughter.”

I pity that assistant right now, he had no way of knowing who Sophie was.

Aww, he does care about her and even says to take a break so he can chat with Sophie. Boy, he is being stern and this guy is told they will call him for the sidekick program. Sophie, you sweet little girl, if Cole saved you then your mother already knows you are here. Ugh, talk about Caroline like that in front of Sophie, I see why she doesn't want Sophie around her father.

“No! No!” Sophie quickly chimed in. “Mom takes care of me just fine. She’s the best, really! I snuck out of home and made my way here just to see you. I followed the pamphlet you left at home!”

“I-I… I didn’t leave it so you would travel here on your own. That was dangerous, Sophie,” Dad admonished. “How did you make it here?”

Oh boy, that is a whole tale on its own. Sophie called Vic a friend!

Boy, Sophie sure knows how to word things to keep secrets from her dad. A tie and he thinks Caroline bought it for Sophie to give to her dad.

“I bought it with my allowance.”

“Oh…Then I love it,” Dad quickly corrected, pulling Sophie in for the warmest hug he could muster.

Diplomatic, he really doesn't want to upset Sophie. He put too much time into hero work and not enough into making his marriage work, imo.

Saturday, December 31th - 7:36 pm
Blackbell Hotel - Outside

Less than 15 minutes, yet these creeps are still chasing Vic. Persistent bunch of drunk idiots, aren't they. Out into the hotel driveway, heads towards an alley, and something hits his leg that combined with the snow leads to a fall and slide for Vic. The guy with a slingshot needs to be arrested, they are acting as if they have legal authority to assault him.

“Like we give a fuck what your reason was! You broke the law. You tried to go into a restricted area and now we get to teach you the consequences of your stupidity.”

Nothing more than a thug in a cheap costume. A steel pellet to the hand, the blue scuba guy goes for a kick to the side but misses and falls.

Another pellet from the guy with the military slingshot struck his stomach, dangerously close where he’d been stabbed the previous week.

All of them are nothing but thugs looking for an excuse to inflict harm on others. These creeps disgust me, they blame Vic for 'starting it' even though all of the damage to the hotel was done by them.

Calling him a monster for scales on his cheek, these guys are the true monsters here. Crap, the way this guy talks has Vic think he will be nothing but an outcast due to his changes. Dang, Vic's training shows, and these wannabe vigilantes don't know what they are doing. Cole's lesson on 'position zero' lets Vic take down the Blue Scuba guy with relative ease. Crap! The Ninja guy shows up and Vic barely blocks a punch to the face and avoids a 2nd blow. A blow to the stomach, they are treating him like a hardened criminal!

A blow to the chest and side has Vic on the ground, please show up soon, Cole. Red and Blue just beating up Vic while all he can do is try to defend himself now, a bunch of thugs and cowards.

“How do you like it?! This is for making this needlessly harder for us!”

“You little fucker, really made us look dumb before the other people in the hotel! And you dare to talk back at us!?” the man in red snarled in fury, even as the man with the slingshot appeared to be telling them something.

You made yourselves look dumb, you bunch of thugs! They spot the drone, a spotlight shines down from it, and someone has arrived. Vic is saved but is losing consciousness so can't tell who it is.

Saturday, December 31th - 7:52 pm
Blackbell hotel

Something about a group of wannabe vigilantes and a kid playing tag on the premises and thrashing every space they went through.

I hope those vigilantes all get arrested for the destruction of private property and aggravated assault on a minor. Caroline is here and she is dragging out Red and Blue in restraints with a look of anger on her face. The 3 remaining candidates recognize her as Safety and wonder if she is out of retirement.

Oh boy, Caroline will not be stopped by a security guard in going up to see the heroes running this event. Smart move, guard. Blue begs to be let go, that enchantment of strength sure is handy.

Whu… what?” as he regained consciousness. His immediate reaction was to try to get up, but with his body being pulled by Caroline’s strong grip, he could barely roll over. “Who the fuck are you?” he asked her.

“You attacked us?!” he added when Caroline didn’t give him an answer.

“Let us go, you bitch. We were dispensing justice!”

“Justice…” Caroline grumbled, a hiss stuck in her voice.

“Miss… I’m…” the man in blue managed.

“Save it!” Caroline growled.

Idiot, I would be quiet if I were you and wished to get out of this with all my body parts still attached.

Yes, George, there are a lot of low-level criminals in this city including muggers and worse. Caroline is recognized as being in the room and George wonders why she broke in like this. Red sure loves to lie about what happened, and tries to paint anyone who takes him down as crazy.

“I know I can sometimes call her crazy as a joke… but I still won’t allow you to disrespect my ex-wife,” George said in an amusing tone that got some chuckles from the others present.

Red is digging himself in deeper with each word out of his mouth. So Caroline saved Vic, no wonder she is pissed after seeing them attack him 4 on 1 and so brutally. Red even says he is a fan of Safety, someone muzzle this moron!

Ouch, has to use Safety to keep her new identity and what she really does for work a secret.

“Is this the example you’ve been setting since I left? Are these the kind of people you’ve been catering to?”

“I don’t understand.” George sounded as confused as Caroline had imagined.

Time to show George what his hateful rhetoric has inspired in others. Caroline had to make up a story about an attendee showing off his drone and lent her a copy of the video.

Caroline lays out what they did to Vic, Sophie almost sees the video and Caroline hides it from her. Red tries to lie.

“We had a good reason! The boy was a mutant breaking the law. We caught him in the act and then proceeded to attack and destroy the place.”

Lying sack of scum. Good, the security guard tells what really happened and reports from the staff about what these morons did to the hotel. Justified! That was excessive force to an extreme degree.

“We had to teach him a lesson. It’s what you would have us do, right? Teach people about the consequences of breaking the law, right?” The man in red was starting to spiral. “We knew he was up to no good when he showed up to try to cheat his way in. Bringing in some little girl to make up an excuse. Get this. Poor girl looked like such a twerp being used but I found it all the more insulting that she would try to play along, pretending to be your dead daughter. I mean, how lowly is that. If we’d only caught her…”

This scum needs to be locked up for the good of everyone.

“That’s her! That’s the brat. We got your accomplice good. Hopefully he’ll never try-” The man in red couldn’t utter another word as George grabbed him by the lapel and lifted up into the air with just one hand.

“You will not ever talk to my daughter like that,” George snarled between gritted teeth. “You were even going to attack her? Attacking a fucking child? What is wrong with you?!”

You are lucky George won't kill you, that would be too easy and too quick.

“I asked for heroes to join my ranks and you come here acting like a common thug? Ganging on children? Against the boy that managed to ferry my daughter safely to my arms to deliver me a present?!” George roared as the man in red tried to pry himself out of the hero’s steel grasp.

George reacts like this and Red has the gall to say that, he has less sense than a cockroach! Yes, condemn these assholes, and change the kind of message you tell to the public, it was those messages that inspired these kinds of hateful morons. Oh, good, the police are on their way to deal with the morons, I hope they get long sentences. Pause the recruitment until you come up with better standards, how about better messages to the public that won't inspire more idiots like this.

Very bruised, unconscious, but breathing, and more changes on the way from all the injuries.

“It’s complicated. I don’t want to tie you down, but I don’t want to be your enemy.”

I wish he would realize his family is more important than his work. Ouch, done enough as it is, think about that George, and the way your messages affect people. A healing treatment once they get home, I wonder how much Vic will have changed by the time he is back at Whateley. Cole is watching Vic, Caroline was closer, but still couldn't make it to Vic in time to prevent the horrible beating.

???
???

A jolt runs through Vic's body and he is greeted by a cloudy sky with an obscured sun, his body sinking into the ground like a soft mattress. He is in his dreamscape again and his spirit wishes to chat, or that is what I'm guessing. A dull ache generalized through his body, at least Vic knows he is alive. With an ocean and a beach, this is an interesting dreamscape.

Vic asks his spirit if she is there.

“Surviving a stab wound just to get beaten to death by men dressed up in colorful costumes. It would’ve felt like a slap to the face to see you die like that after almost ceasing to exist.”

Vic, you need to call the adults in your life and not try to keep things secret so much. It almost got you killed again. Vic, you can't be separated from a spirit like that, the trauma could kill you.

“Do you think about breaking away? To rip me away like that time, Victor Rivera?” The spirit’s tone grew stern. It now emanated from the shimmer in the world, as the outline of a figure appeared. Two arms… two legs and… a tail?

“I think about it. It wasn’t painless to me either,” Vic noted as the figure grew clearer. She stood larger than he’d imagined. “Wait, how do you know my name?”

I hope Vic can remember more details of his spirit after he becomes conscious again.

A little over 2 meters tall, whoa.

as a large, amazonian figure that stood taller than a normal human, the body rippling with muscles that matched the physique of a brick. She took a step closer, lowering her body like a beast on the prowl just so Vic could get a look at the shark-like dorsal fin that stretched between the garments of her skintight cloth, and a long tail that stretched behind to end in a vertical fin.

Is this how she looks or just how she sees herself? Sharp teeth, with the green scales I didn't expect a humanoid shark lady. She is goading Vic on into a fight, he kills her and the changes might stop, or she kills him and takes over.

“I can’t call you a monster… Not after you saved me back then.”

“Even if you’re becoming something like me?”

“I don’t like it… I don’t want it,” Vic reasoned. “But I suppose there are worse things.”

He isn't wrong, just look at any number of GSD cases over the years.

“I… I don’t have a choice! But I won’t be a freak. I’ll just be a different me.”

About time Vic realized that.

Just wanted an honest answer, she certainly is an unusual spirit.

It was a woman that stood in the middle of the sand. Her garments were like nothing that Vic had seen before. They had a bit of seafaring, Caribbean style, but also both tribal and regal air about. A smooth silk-like fabric draped itself over her shoulder and waist, with wires weaved to grant a unique shape to the garment. Metal adorned her outfit, either in the form of plates attached in key places like armor, or as asymmetric bangles, vambraces and greaves that added a bit of flair. The most impressive part was how the steel seemed to shimmer and assume the colors of the rainbow under the imaginary sun.

But the most important part was the woman before Vic, the spirit, her presented appearance. He knew that she wasn’t human, but he was still surprised by it.

Her skin was of an odd coloration, with white appearing to be the more prevalent one with dark blue and black mottled markings that stretched themselves down her arms and back, matching the dress’ greenish hue.

So this is her true appearance, boy, she sure knew how to test Vic to get an honest answer. Reminds Vic of a Koi fish, interesting.

“I’m sorry I scared you like that, but I needed to know if you were among the ones that would talk or persecute me for looking different.”

Boy, she really wanted an answer that badly.

“I guess… I’ve been a tad too worried about turning into something different.”

“In an advanced world of humans with powers. Of magic and technology, you would think that’s not the case.”

“Yeah… well, it’s different outside of Whateley. That place is more of an exception. Outside of that, in cities, finding someone that looks different from a normal human is just a cause of panic and concern. Stories about people being discriminated against and attacked.”

Whateley sometimes seems like its own little world away from the outside.

“I take it that you haven’t heard about my kind? No people from the sea in your history books? No advanced ancient creatures of multiple appearances?”

So not Atlantean, hhm.

“A member of a race that managed to escape the cataclysm long ago. Creatures that have long since mastered the form. Keepers of technology intermingled with magic. I’m a neotriton, an old race reborn.”

Whoa, didn't see that coming. Now that is a techno-magical city, so beautiful.

“My name is Nerealu Nih-Eidire.” She traced the sand with the butt of her weapon. “Stolen from the islands, beloved by the Abyss, sister to the champion of the ice, priestess of the tides and made steward-protectress. The rebellious ascended. I uncovered a plot that would have destroyed the world above and below. Yet… I guess I died…”

Such a beautiful name. Was the plot she uncovered the Sundering? Also, sister to the Champion of Ice, she doesn't mean Aegloswen who is hosted by Elle Astrid Ruud in Gen 1, does she?

Ouch, her people and their civilization no more. Vic, she isn't lying, a spirit like her can observe their host memories, but alter or destroy them. I hope she isn't observing when Vic is on a date with Tanya. Ner, a cute nickname. A good place to be alone with your thoughts. Yikes, being left in a state like that as she had to pull herself back together, that is a nightmare.

“Believe me, nothing would make me happier than to join the flow of souls to my next life, but I seem to be tethered to you…” Ner told him. “I don’t know enough of your so-called ‘avatar’ trait to presume that it’s not responsible, just as I don’t know if the details of my death had a role to play. Either way, here I am.”

It is like the staff at Whateley said, there is nothing they can do.

“Well, that’s a possibility. Either I’ll be within you until you expire, the bond between us loosens to the point I can be let go… or I am subsumed and merged with your conscious thoughts. Not sure which is worse.”

I hope it is option one or two if it comes to that. Boy, a spirit who can help their host like this, haven't seen one like that in a while.

A long-lost descendant, that would put an interesting twist on this whole thing. Oh, from what they describe I guess the plot she uncovered wasn't the Sundering since the continents are already separated.

“I mean, I know my kind heals about two to three times faster than humans, but what you seem to be going through is more than that… not to mention that you aren’t exactly my kind.” She made a pause where Vic expected her to add ‘yet’. But it never came, instead, her thoughts went elsewhere. “Hm. I have a theory. I do have a spell in my repertoire that bolsters my natural healing. Maybe it is working on you?”

Well that explains Vic's healing rate. Soon time for Vic to regain consciousness, I wonder when his next chat with Ner will be.

“Well, are you and I the same? As in, with what you’ve seen, think you’ll be the same as me?”

“I don’t think so,” Vic said, his hand caressing the back of his arm. Here, he looked human, with no markings and no scales. “The scales that I’ve been growing are green.”

Huh, not becoming a copy of Ner, does that mean Vic will remain male?

“I’ll be there for you, Vic.” Ner’s words echoed as their forms faded off. “It might not be long before you’ll hear my voice in the waking hours…”

Well, it is always nice to have a friend to chat with.

Sunday, January 1st - 9:51 am
Kythe Residence

Ouch, nothing like pain to remind you of being awake. Vic messed up pretty badly, but at least he is alive to learn from the experience. Vic, you did your best to keep Sophie safe after she sunk out.

“Oh, I think you did a decent job. At least you tried.” Caroline sighed as she moved about by the night stand, producing some vials and pouring them into a bowl. “I’m just lamenting how things turned out in the end. If she’d been open about it, I would’ve gladly driven her to the hotel–and if you’d actually told me about it while you were on your way, I could’ve gotten someone to look after the two of you. I normally pride myself in my foresight and yet I was blindsided by my own daughter’s decision.”

So many what-ifs, you just have to move on and learn from it.

Sophie says it is all her fault, poor girl is so worried about Vic. The phone ran out of charge shortly after they began, Vic, this is why you always keep your phone at 100% when not using it.

“I… I saw that she really wanted to see her dad and… well, I know what it’s like to miss a parent,” Vic noted, only to feel his arm relax a bit too much.

Plus it may have ended badly for Vic, but Sophie is no longer suspicious of him so I consider that a win.

“Quite. Internal concussion, a broken rib, a fractured wrist. I worked through most of it.When I healed a cut you had on your ear, it twitched, were you always able to do that?”

Ears like Ner sooner rather than later, oh well. Painkilling spell, I wish we had those. Oh boy, Vic asks if Sophie had a sister, how one of the men said Gigaton's daughter was dead. A long story about why some think Sophie died years ago, eep.

Heh, Caroline thinks because Ner is a female spirit that means Vic will become female. Aww, Sophie is being a little sweetie to Vic now, wanting to help by bringing the food upstairs, smiling in relief upon seeing he is awake. Yeow! A cramping jolt in a leg, lucky it wasn't a Charlie horse. Buttered toast and sliced fruit, good meal when you don't want to strain the body.

George is busy so no aquarium today. Caroline is free, but Sophie still has to finish her homework and finally ask Vic for help with it. Caroline presents Vic with his Christmas present since he didn't get to enjoy the holiday. Hehe, sometimes the best magic items look mundane and simple. A necklace like Imp's to hide his GSD under an illusion, Vic needed something to make him feel normal. Sophie knows about Cosgroves, that magical shop must do a lot of business.

“The enchantment is optimized to work on you with little mana stored. Normally, it would feed off your own well, but since you still haven’t developed one yet, you can ask your friends or the faculty to help you recharge it.”

“This is the best!” Vic exclaimed as he finished his inspection.

An impressive piece of craftsmanship.

“How the workshop works is that they usually claim that this is the prototype on which they can iterate. So it can be tweaked, fixed or given a new shape if you want something more discreet.”

Boy, I see why they have such loyal customers. Aww, hug from Caroline and even Sophie. Hehe, Sophie, sneaky little girl trying to get out of grounding.

“You’re still grounded after sneaking out,” Caroline said, rousing a whimper from her daughter. “But you can start serving your sentence after a couple of weeks…”

“Oh…” Sophie pouted, looking up at her mom with pleading eyes.

“Provided you’re done with your schoolwork.”[/quoe] Delayed grounding so they can enjoy the vacation, yay.

A couple of crazy weeks, you are a Whateley student after all. Even outside of school trouble comes for you whether you look for it or not.

Regardless, he still didn’t like the changes that had and would be coming his way. But at least knowing the end result of the long process would ease his concerns just enough to make it manageable.

I'm so glad that happened and eased Vic's worries so much. And Vic, telling your friends will be easy, though you might want to avoid mentioning your spirit is female or Morgana might tease you about potentially joining the girl side of the group.

Hopefully, the rest of the school year would be more peaceful. Although with what he’d seen that felt just as unlikely.

A snowball has a better chance of survival in the interior of a volcano than that ever happening at Whateley. A week of normal peace and stability, I hope it is for all of their sakes.

A wonderful story with more details about Vic and his spirit than I hoped for. Seeing Caroline's legitimate workplace outside of Syndicate work was great.

Vic and his mindset about the changes he is going through sure changed over the story. From fear and reluctance to acceptance and realizing he will still be himself even if his body changes. Ner and the chat in the dreamscape, at least I think it was dreamspace, was something I wanted to see for a while. I was shocked at first, thinking she was some sort of humanoid shark, not realizing it was a test for Vic. Her true form has GSD, but a beauty I'm sure more than a few students wouldn't ignore. Whatever Vic's final form is, I hope Ner's help will allow him to develop his magic and water manipulation powers to be ready for any future threats.

Sophie is such a sweet little girl. If only Dereck's misguided ideas of what Vic is really like hadn't made her so suspicious of Vic until the big incident. I'm so happy she is finally being the sweet girl we know she is to Vic as well, even if it is a little out of guilty feelings. Now if Vic can just get Dereck to listen.

Laureate is a huge a**hole and I hope the rest of the Syndicate realizes it before he ends up driving away some of their best agents or gets superheroes who ignored them gunning for the Syndicate with his ideas.

The relationship between Caroline and George, I see why they got divorced. He has issues probably due to his Exemplar nature and the Galahad Syndrome they all have to one degree or another. I'm just glad they try not to argue in front of their kids and despite the arguments still remain cordial.

The quest of Sophie and Vic to get Sophie to her dad to give him her present. I knew things wouldn't be easy, but I never thought some violent thugs would target Vic like that simply for breaking into the hotel to get Sophie to her father. Nor why they think Sophie died. I hope we have the answer to the latter soon.

Cosgroves House curio shop, I hope we get to see more from it in the future. And more of Raffina, please let her visit Whateley and meet the Imp.

I can't wait to see what happens next with Vic and hope to see more of Caroline and Sophie in the future.