Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.
Bread by Priapus, Beans, Mike God of Lore,
Guild of Gamers: The Card Master
Chapter 11: Piggot
– Charles 'Charlie' Barnes (Corvo) –
Sending my answer to Contessa, I nod to myself. I don't want full credit, obviously. I'm a Ward, they wouldn't send me there in person anyway but Contessa assures me that it is easy enough to ensure I get partial credit for making the operation possible.
The public won't know the exact details, because Rebecca Costa-Brown has already classified my power reports, but they know I can summon monsters and empower people. All they will know is that the Ward Corvo empowered the heroes who actually did the deed themselves.
It's a win for me and a win for the PRT, who get to say 'once we got the ability to do so, we took down all these major threats within a week'. It's good for them to look competent for a change, since they get a lot of shit for 'maintaining the status quo' when the status quo is fucking shit.
As far as the local heroes know, this was set up when Alexandria visited us. I've been warned that Armsmaster's ego isn't going to be thrilled that a Ward who hasn't even been announced yet is going to skyrocket past him in fame but it is what it is. On the bright side, Contessa says the Director has some serious issues with Nilbog and the fact that my power allowed him to be 'killed' should give me a lot of leeway. In true Illuminati fashion, she's just hidden the capes she mastered for the final battle.
Whatever that is.
But first, time to become a theme park owner I guess. Snapping a picture of each of the ride cards, I send them to Glenn and the group chat. Despite the late hour, the group chat begins to go wild as my phone vibrates again and again. I put it on silent, spotting Emma starting to stir.
Time for movie night, with my slightly insane sister. She's apologetic over falling asleep but I prove I am her twin by lying my ass off and claiming that she's just emotionally exhausted. Rewinding the movie to where she fell asleep, I feel her cuddle against me as it begins to play.
It's… not bad. She's surprisingly funny when she's not being a bitch.
– Emily Piggot –
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♦ Topic: PRT Announcement: Nilbog, Fallen, Ash Beast and Heartbreaker
In: Boards ► Official Announcements
Chief Director R. Costa-Brown (Original Poster) (Verified PRT Agent)
Posted On Jan 16th 2011:
This is an official PRT announcement, covering what was discussed in the press conference held on the morning of the 16th of January.
Over the past few days, the PRT has engaged in multiple high-level classified operations to deal with several major threats. These operations have since been concluded with all objectives achieved and no PRT losses.
As of the 15th of January, Nikos Vasil, better known as Heartbreaker, has been imprisoned in the Birdcage after being forced to release his victims, including his hidden plants that were set to cause catastrophic trouble in the event of his capture or death. He was then subsequently murdered by the Faerie Queen after he attempted to master her.
Jamie Rinke, better known as Nilbog, has been slain by a PRT strike team and Ellisberg is currently being purged of his surviving monsters.
Ash Beast has been dealt with after the government of Egypt requested aid in deterring his path toward Luxor. He has since been imprisoned in a custom made prison to prevent any further wandering.
Finally, Christine and Elijah Mathers, better known as Mama Mathers and Valefor of the Mathers Clan branch of the Fallen, have been defeated, leading to the defeat of the Mathers Branch and opening up the capabilities to deal with the other branches far more easily. Both have also been placed into custom prisons where they will not be able to master any inmates or guards, managed by Dragon remotely.
These operations were only possible due to the powers of a newly triggered Ward, Corvo of the Wards ENE branch situated in Brockton Bay. While he did not attend the operations in person, for obvious reasons, his ability to empower other heroes and PRT troopers as well as summon creatures of his own allowed the PRT to counter the various issues that were previously preventing us from dealing with these threats.
For further details, watch the press conference. [ConferenceLink]
(Showing page 1 of 475)
►Bruce Lao
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
On one hand, are we sure Costa-Brown isn't a robot?
On the other... holy fucking shit the PRT actually did its job?!
►Lasersmile
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
'Yes, we dealt with four major threats in one week. Watch the press conference for more details.'
As a fairly hot girl living in Canada, all hail Corvo! What the fuck is his power that he can enable a group that has the fucking Triumvirate to do this in one week?
►XxVoid_CowboyxX (Banned)
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
@Lasersmile
tits or gtfo
►tin_mother (Moderator)
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
Really, Void?
Your last ban just expired.
►Lasersmile
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
You know what Void, you're so right.
I should send tit pics to Corvo. Not now, he's a Ward and therefore underage, but the second he graduates I'll get right on that.
►White Fairy (Veteran Member)
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
I wonder how they dealt with Ash Beast? I had heard he was wandering towards Egypt but the only real counter we had before now was 'get out of the way'. Not really an option if he was heading directly for a major city.
I'd never even heard of the two Fallen Capes, but if they had some super masters it'd make sense why it was so risky to directly attack the hillbilly Endbringer worshipers.
►MountainMan
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
As a proud Hillbilly, we don't claim those weird bastards.
Everyone in my area knows to avoid certain parts of the Appalachian trials because the crazy cultists were out there. Now we just have to fear the regular terrors of the mountains.
►GstringGirl
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
Corvo must be really powerful to do all this so quickly!
Do you think his healing food cured the master effects?
►Poit
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
I'm sorry, his healing what now?
►Valkyr (Wiki Warrior)
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
lol Poit, not been paying attention?
Yeah, Corvo summoned a giant sci-fi looking burger stand that creates infinite food that can heal basically anything. Like Panacea, but it's a greasy burger and a vanilla shake.
Brockton Bay is kinda weird atm. Good weird, don't get me wrong.
Also, watched the press conference and having the Chief Director be your official announcement is a first for a Ward. Normally they have funny little conferences in the local area to announce a new Ward, not Costa-Brown going on national television and going 'we have a new Ward, he just let us take care of half a dozen major threats. No further questions.'
►Feychick
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
Corvo best boi
Well, Banehound best boi but Corvo is second
[BanehoundSelfie]
►Nondeceptive
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
wtf is that thing?
why are its eyes following me?
►Feychick
Replied On Jan 16th 2011:
He's Banehound. He likes head scritches and eating villains :)
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 473, 474, 475
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Staring at the announcement for a few moments longer, Emily had to consider what the fuck she was feeling. She really didn't like the capes under her control doing things without her being aware, but she did know that there was some heavy attention from her superiors.
For once, she couldn't bring herself to give a damn that one of her capes, a Ward no less, had taken part in some operation without her knowing it had even happened. She was a former trooper, she knew the importance of operational security, but she would have appreciated knowing that Corvo had been conscripted for something even if she didn't get the details. Costa-Brown, being Costa-Brown, was utterly unapologetic and made it clear that it would almost certainly happen again.
But Nilbog was dead, Ellisberg being purged of every trace of his abominations. For that, she couldn't really bring herself to give a singular shit about Costa-Brown using the chain of command to blind her.
Her personal nightmare, her greatest enemy, erased in a week because some Ward triggered with a bullshit power. Yes, she still didn't love capes but this once, she could forgive Corvo, if only because he was a mostly reasonable teenage boy. As reasonable as any teenage boy was, anyway.
Looking down at the burger in front of her, she hesitated before she lifted it. It was still hot and fresh, despite having been retrieved last night, and she bit down on it. It tasted far better than a burger that looked so greasy had any right to, and she felt her body begin to react.
She knew the eggheads and her doctors would be pissed that she did this without bothering to tell them, but she wasn't letting them prod and poke at her like some lab experiment. It damaged her pride enough to go through with it, and she gasped at the strange sensations inside her body.
In for a penny, as she continued eating until the entire burger was gone, washing it down with a soda despite the distraction of her body shifting. Maybe this wasn't the best idea as she hunched over. She'd seen the reports on the healing, and even her doctor had recommended that she use it (as she couldn't use her excuse of not wanting to be indebted to Brandish that she used for Panacea).
And yet, there was no pain. Merely a weird sensation of her flesh shifting and her organs regrowing. If this was how she died, she was going to be pissed.
But it seemed fate still had work for her to do as the sensation ended and she rose, gasping to herself as she looked down. She felt… incredibly light, and her breathing was far more even than it had been in years.
Hmm. Much of her weight was gone, in fact she looked a lot like she had when she had still been in active duty. Her muscles were far softer after years of desk work but she could actually see her feet. Well, almost. Were her breasts always this big? Powers were so weird, why make her gut smaller but keep the weight on her chest?
Ugh. Time to face the firing squad as she called her doctor. She needed a new outfit anyway.
– Later –
After a full day of being prodded and poked by doctors (resisting the urge to put her returned health to use by beating them), she sat in her office once again. She had a clean bill of health, and now all the time she wasted on medical bullshit could be used on exercise because she wanted her muscles back damn it.
At least now she could drink again. Renick had gotten her a bottle of whiskey, her old favourite, to celebrate her returned health. He also made it clear he'd have liked some warning that she was about to do something that stupid. He didn't word it like that, but she heard the subtext. He could be surprisingly snarky for someone so by the book.
Hearing the knock at her door, she called for her guest to enter as Charles slipped inside and took the seat she gestured to.
"You called for me, Director?" Charles asked, polite and reserved. He reminded her of Gallant the most out of the Wards, though Charles was less… motivated, and didn't buy into the hero scene nearly as much. Still, she appreciated his professionalism over Clockblocker's nonsense or Shadow Stalker's alpha bullshit.
He did momentarily pause, because while they hadn't met in person, he'd no doubt heard the Miss Piggy nickname the Wards didn't think she knew about. If he found her looks surprising, he was tactful enough to not mention it. Not tactful enough to not let his eyes glance at her breasts, but she'd forgive him for that, this once, for his enabling of Nilbog's death.
"I did. I won't bother discussing the operations you were a part of, behind my back," Emily started, seeing him stiffen slightly. "Instead, we have three matters to discuss. The… theme park, the matter you discussed with Miss Militia and an offer I have been… asked to pass along. I understand you have already summoned the Fortune Teller?"
"Yes, ma'am," Charles replied. "Miss Militia asked me to after I told her about it."
The fucking Fortune Teller. Charles had to be the most bullshit cape in existence because his power had lazily supplied him with a high-level precog that never got Thinker headaches and as far as anyone could tell, was incredibly accurate despite its fortunes being vaguely mystical. It was still far easier to work out what it was talking about than the typical Watchdog report.
Assault, being Assault, loved the damn thing and got advice three times a day. It warned him that his evening patrol would have him run into a metal wolf. It wasn't exactly hard to work out who it meant. Armsmaster got a warning that he'd overstuffed one of his halberds with features and it was unstable as a result and would fail. He was embarrassed to admit that it was right, but his analysis of the halberd proved that the robotic fortune teller booth was correct.
She had been told that the meat that was going to be served on Tuesday in the cafeteria had gone off, and would cause a rash of stomach-aches and food poisoning amongst PRT employees and some capes. Sure, it gave her the advice in vaguely mystical bullshit but it took her about two minutes to work out what the hell it was talking about.
"I already have requests from other branches for fortunes, and as far as anyone can tell, it has a 100% accuracy rate. This is not common for pre-cogs," Emily said plainly. She wasn't stupid, Charles was planning on waiting for his birthday to jump ship but while she'd have been willing to let that happen before hand, now she knew that Costa-Brown would lynch her if she let Corvo slip through their fingers. "As it is your power, I believe you should have some say in how it is used. Given that we already have people offering considerable amounts of money for a fortune, both other branches and independents, and the demand is only growing, the Fortune Teller is bound to make the PRT a fortune, pun not intended. Let me be plain, what percentage do you want?"
"Eh," Charles said after a moment, shrugging. "I'm not hurting for money, and the Fortune Teller is a set it and forget it kinda card. Once summoned, it doesn't take any power from me to maintain it. Half a percent, I guess."
She blinked momentarily at that, surprised by his answer. He was firmly upper-middle class, but his family were far from billionaires. She was ready to try and negotiate down from 'fuck you, it's my power give me all of it' and would have settled for 50%. Not happily, but it wasn't worth alienating him over it.
"You are aware that the type of numbers we are looking at are in the high millions, each year?" Emily asked, not wanting him to get offended later because he underestimated the cost. "I would suggest you take a larger cut, at least 5%."
"Like I said, I'm not hurting for money," Charles shrugged. "Actually, that's an idea. I'll take my 0.5% and have it put into some bank account for a rainy day. The 4.5% you suggested can go to charity or something. Glenn should love that."
"I'm sure he will," Emily agreed with a snort. Glenn adored Corvo, despite the constantly mismatched theme of his power. The gothic horror cape giving up his share for the poor was bound to go down great. "Very well. We'll settle with that until you graduate from the Wards, when we can renegotiate. Now, allow me to be blunt. Do you believe we should keep this in house or allow other people to purchase access?"
She didn't want to give a teenager any control over this, but she was on a fine line of not letting him run wild but also making sure he stayed with the Protectorate when he graduated from the Wards. Miss Militia had noticed that Charles was already pissed that his father took the option out of his hands, so giving him those choices back was the best way to show that the PRT respected his autonomy.
"...letting people buy access feels like a disaster waiting to happen. Does Watchdog allow people to buy access?" Charles asked.
"On occasion, yes. Primarily PRT allies, but it isn't unheard of for them to do work with independants," Emily admitted.
"Maybe we could have whoever is handling Fortune Teller get a fortune for each potential client? We have access to a bullshit precog, right? Might as well use it," Charles shrugged.
True enough. They had discovered that you could ask the Fortune Teller questions to direct the kind of fortune you would get. As much as she wanted the funding, she also knew that Charles was right. She was sure that the gangs would try to sneak people in to get fortunes, and she didn't need Kaiser piggybacking off her new precog.
"Very well. Now, the theme park is already under construction and the PRT has hired Toybox, Big Rig specifically, to build the rest of the park and rides. You, along with the other Wards, will be there for the grand opening which is estimated to be in less than a month. Big Rig is very good at what he does, and the Fortune Teller believes construction will go smoothly," Emily continued.
"Not exactly what I expected when I became a Ward," Charles snorted.
"Not what anyone expected, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We are already in the process of recruiting, and using Fortune Teller to check if each employee has… other allegiances or loyalties. We've increased funding and the Chief Director is sending more PRT troopers to act as security, especially for the rides with… additional effects," Emily explained.
She did not love the idea that one of the rides granted flight for a day, but her request to keep it to the PRT was denied by Costa-Brown for reasons the Chief Director did not deign her worthy of knowing. The 'card' claimed that it only granted 'allied' targets flight, which so far worked on heroes, PRT troopers and employees, but unfortunately, it also worked on civilians.
One of the testers failed to gain flight and later investigation found that he was a mole for Coil.
Even still, she didn't love the idea of civilians flying around the city. Each rider was forced to sign a waiver, but she'd eat her shoe if this didn't end in disaster. At least they had healing food for the inevitable crashes.
For a few minutes, they discussed the theme park, because this was her life now apparently, before she moved onto the main point she had been putting off.
"Your deeds have gained you an immense amount of attention," Emily started, flattering him a little. "And one of our allies has requested access to you. The Guild wants to make an agreement for you to aid in their operations in the same way that you did with the PRT ones, supplying monsters and powers."
"They deal with international threats, right?" Corvo asked, frowning for a moment. "And they're PRT allies?"
"They do and they are. As you know, Dragon maintains much of the PRT's systems and some Protectorate members have dual-memberships," Emily explained. "They are requesting a similar situation, though in reverse. You would remain a member of the Protectorate, of course, but be given a Guild membership as well, with Dragon providing transport for you, or any of your summons, as needed. You would be kept out of danger, as you remain a Ward, but Narwhal is hoping to repeat the PRT's success by seeing if your skills can be used to neutralise several threats they have on their to-do list."
"What would you suggest?" Charles asked, frowning slightly as he furrowed his eyebrows in thought.
"It isn't a bad offer, and as I said, other Protectorate Heroes hold dual-memberships," Emily admitted after a moment. "This would be the first time for a Ward to do so, but you are far from a regular hero as your powers are a power multiplier. The Guild is far smaller than the PRT, and far choosier over who gets to join them. I suspect you'll get a second invite after you graduate, if you turn down this one. My honest appraisal? You have little to lose by accepting."
She didn't want to say that. She wanted to say 'tell them to fuck off and find their own golden goose' but honesty was her best chance of keeping him after he was no longer legally required to stay as a Ward. She also wouldn't put it past Narwhal to go around her back and approach Alan Barnes with a promise for a better offer than the Wards could provide if he refused the offer that went through the official channels.
"Do I need to answer immediately?" Charles asked.
"No. There is no time limit on this offer, though if you intend to accept, I wouldn't leave it too long. Narwhal wants access to you, but she's not a woman who is used to being kept waiting," Emily replied bluntly.
"I'll think about it, then, but I've not even done my first patrol yet. Feels a little silly to jump into another organisation this early," Charles explained, getting a snort from her.
"Indeed. Speaking of, your patrols have been posted on the app. I believe you and Shadow Stalker are on the Boardwalk patrol this evening. The PR team has leaked that it will be your first official patrol and the hype from the national announcement ensures that a small army of civilians is waiting to see you. Fortune Teller doesn't anticipate any threats, but Miss Militia will be nearby in case of any issues. Stay on comms, but I doubt you'll see so much as a pickpocket with the sheer amount of attention," Emily replied with a frown. She understood the PR side of things, of course, but she wouldn't deny that this entire thing had become a dog and pony show.
"Understood, Director," Charles agreed, a frown crossing his face and a look of tiredness passing just as quickly before he hid it. "If that is all, I'd like to go and get changed. I need to get used to my outfit anyway."
"That will be all, dismissed," Emily agreed, watching him leave after giving her a respectful nod. He wasn't as eager as Vista or Aegis, but she could work with bored professionalism. As long as she found a way to keep him when Alan Barnes' signature no longer held any weight.
– Sophia Hess (Shadow Stalker) –
"Looking good, Corvo," Sophia praised, giving him a once over. His outfit did look damn good, way better than the childish shit half the Wards were forced into. She was just lucky she got her style sorted and publicly known before the PRT could stuff her into a pink tutu or some shit. "So, what monsters are we taking? Cause I know the PRT wants you to show off."
"Yeah, but we're the edgy duo. Banehound and Foul Watcher. Banehound is being partnered with you, for the most part," Corvo explained, as the massive wolf-dog with too many eyes prowled up to her. Badass. "Floodhound is with Assault for today, and they want to keep the ghosts to the tower for now. Gotta get the civvies used to the horror side with Bane and Foul first."
"Heh, makes sense," Sophia agreed. Vista hadn't shut up about being partnered with the dragon, the lucky bitch. Not to mention she hadn't taken her new dragon-styled costume off since she'd got the damn thing. Sophia would bet that she slept and showered in the fucking thing.
Despite her casual chatter, she couldn't deny that she was hiding her shock. Corvo hadn't been out once and he'd already stacked up a better record than she had. Fucking Nilbog? Ash Beast? Sure, he hadn't gone there himself but the PRT couldn't do shit a week ago and with Charlies' power, suddenly they can sweep up four big names in one go? Charlie was fucking busted.
"So, Emma says you're making her get therapy?" Sophia asked.
"Ha, yeah. She's fucking insane, but she wants a power deeply enough that she'll do damn near anything I say if there's a chance she gets a power at the end. Should have heard her trying to explain the alley and her survivor shit to Mom this morning," Charlie agreed. "It went about as well as you'd expect. Never wanted to be out of the house more, but the PRT is arranging some bigshot therapist to sort her out."
Fucking Emma. For someone so good at talking, you'd think she'd be better at keeping things to herself. Still… how much was that therapist gonna find out? If Emma was this unsubtle. Ah, fuck. This was gonna be a problem, wasn't it? Shit was going to come out, either way, and she needed to be ready for when it hit the fan.
"Sheesh," Sophia said, wincing. "Like I said, that alley fucked her up. Honestly thought you and her mom already knew."
"If Emma is good at one thing, it's avoiding dealing with things she finds difficult. Survivor, my ass," Charlie snorted.
"Heh. So, ready for your first patrol? Just a heads up, it's gonna fucking suck. Hope your autograph skills are good, because you're gonna need them," Sophia warned, bumping shoulders with him.
Yeah, Corvo was gonna be the next big thing and more importantly… he was gonna be the umbrella that could stop her from getting covered in shit when it all hit the fan.