Turn 77: Checking In And Going Out

--- Maya ---

“So… care to tell me what was up with you yesterday?”

“Hmm? Whatever do you mean?” Ying asked curiously.

“That whole thing where you just got up and left when I mentioned my family being at the police station when it was invaded by Creeps.” She explained. “I mean I hadn’t even gotten to the part where my little brother was almost eaten by one.”

(Oh, shit! It just hit me, Seamus was almost eaten by a Creep.) She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as the world spun a bit.

(Our baby!) Her maternal instincts screamed for her youngest sibling.

(He’s alive. Don’t panic!) Her inner reason tried to calm her.

(Izzy… didn’t say she was almost attacked to?!)

“Maya. Maya. Maya!”

She blinked as Ying shook her and she realized how shallow her breathing had gotten for a minute.

“Breathe Maya. In and out. Slow and steady.” Ying told her, her own breathing slow.

After a moment, with Ying’s assistance, she was able to force herself to calm down.

“Better?” Her best friend asked with no small amount of concern.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Sorry, it just… it just really hit me… that Seamus and Izzy…”

“I understand.” Ying grimaced. “Knowing someone you care about is in danger is… unpleasant.”

“Yeah…” She agreed.

Ying looked around for a moment before sighing. “I have a friend. Their mother is an officer. They were both going to one of those police stations for a Halloween Party, they even set up a haunted house while there.”

“Were they at the station the other night?” She frowned, understanding where Ying was going with this.

“They’re both fine.” Ying assured her. “They didn’t run into anything resembling a threat to them. Not like with what your family went through.”

“That’s good.” She nodded, because while she didn’t know Ying’s friend, she knew whoever they were was important enough to the other teen that she ran off to check on at the first hint of danger… (unlike us who she ran away from.)

(Shut up.) She told her inner insecurities.

(We were right in front of her, but her friend was not. So of course she was more immediately concerned with the unknown quantity.) Her inner logic dismissed.

(Still sounds like someone is more important than us…)

Ying let out a sigh, drawing her attention back to (my friend). “You said Seamus made it out of everything alright?”

She ran a hand through her hair before nodding. “Yeah. This guy -a mask or something I guess- ended up saving him before he could get hurt.”

“That’s good.” Ying nodded back sympathetically. “I’m sure he was quite terrified by the whole ordeal.”

“Yeah, uh, that’s actually the weird part.” She couldn’t help but frown as she thought back to her younger siblings’ reactions. “Seamus is like completely okay, no nightmares or nothing and the same with Izzy, despite both of them watching this guy rip the Creep’s throat out with his fucking teeth.”

Ying blinked. “That’s… huh…”

“I know, right?” She agreed, glad someone else thought it was strange. “I mean, Seamus and Izzy were right next to this guy covered in blood and they’re both convinced he’d never hurt them or some shit.”

“Hmm…” Ying frowned before gaining a smirk. “Yes, now that I think about it, I don’t think he’d ever hurt them either.”

“You know, I know you’re trying to mess with me, and it’s not funny.” She glared.

“No, it’s true. I cannot picture a single world where he’d ever do anything to hurt them.” Ying continued, her face growing more amused. “Absolutely nothing.”

“Again, not funny.” She told Ying as she started to walk away from the other girl.

“Oh, I think this whole thing is quite amusing when you look at it correctly.” Ying smiled, following after.

“And how exactly am I supposed to look at it?” She asked dryly.

“From my perspective.”

Scene Consequences

-Grown a bit closer to Ying

---

Creeping down the stairs she found Tommy strumming on his guitar.

“Hey, uh, Tommy?” She called down.

“Sí, hermanita?” Tommy asked without looking up as his fingers moved along the instrument.

“Uh, I was wondering if you could give me a lift somewhere?” She answered.

“Sure.” Her brother shrugged as he set his guitar on its stand. “Where do you need a lift to?”

“You remember the hospital Vi told you about?” She half grimaced, still not entirely sure how her brother was handling the whole M.A.D. thing.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“The one where you’re committing crimes against both nature and mankind, and will probably kick off the apocalypse?” Tommy checked, his grin only just reassuring her that he was joking rather than anything else.

“Uh, yeah… that one.” She nodded.

“No problema.” Tommy nodded back as he stretched after sitting in his seat for however long he’d been practicing. “So how’re you planning on taking over the world tonight?”

“Uh, I’m not?” She frowned. (If anything I’m planning on saving it.)

(Wait, I thought we agreed that world domination was our back up plan?)

(Only if the people in charge are too stupid to run it.)

(Okay, cool so we’re getting on that, what, next week then?)

“It pains me that you don’t know what I was referencing there.” Tommy sighed, ruffling her hair as he passed her by.

“Oh.” (That was joke.) “I’m uh, I’m guessing if you’re making jokes then you’re uh, you’re okay with the whole… Deviant thing?”

“Eh, it was a trip.” Tommy admitted. “But I’m rolling with it for now. After all, you’re the same old Maya you’ve always been regardless of what Deviant stuff you get up to.”

“Thanks.” She smiled, before Tommy laughed at something. “What?”

“Oh, sorry. Had a funny thought.” Her hermano waved her off.

“And what was the funny thought?” She pressed.

“Eh, you wouldn’t find it funny.” Tommy warned her as he held the front door open for her.

“Come on, try me.”

“I just imagined you as a Mask.” Tommy told her.

“A Mask?” She repeated, her heart briefly stopping as she wondered if he’d figured her out before she frowned as she realized what he was saying. “Wait, why would that be funny?”

“Really Maya? You get your butt kicked by Izzy -a middle schooler- like three times a week.” Tommy pointed out. “You in a fight? You’d be better off throwing one of your little minions out while shouting ‘minion’ I choose you.”

(Oh, there’s an idea.)

(Don’t encourage his ass!)

“That’s not fair, Izzy is like a black belt or something.” She tried to defend herself.

Tommy gave her a look. “She’s still a middle schooler who can kick your ass, hermanita.”

“Well, she could probably kick your ass too!” She reminded him.

Instead of taking offense, Tommy merely nodded. “Probably.”

All she could do was glare at her older brother as they climbed into the car.

“Hey, you’re still an M.A.D. and that’s pretty cool.” Tommy assured her. “Just don’t become a Mask or else everyone will end up kicking your butt.”

“Probably.” She (lied, filthy filthy lies) through grit teeth, when what she really wanted to say was, (You punk ass motherfucker I’m going to kick your ass, bitch!)

Scene Consequences

-Grown a bit closer to Tommy.

---

Once Tommy dropped her off and she was alone in her lab, she contemplated gathering her gear to try going out for a patrol, part of her feeling… antsy after what happened at the trainyard as well as her brother’s comments on her not being a Mask. Something underlined by Deckers words a few days prior. (I’ll show them who’s a real Mask!)

(Yes, use the spite. Be a hero to spite them!)

(I feel like spite is not the best motivation.)

(Maybe not but it’s the fun one!)

Unfortunately, while getting her gear together she came to a bit of an unfortunate revelation in that with her slowly growing armory of gear she was going have trouble hauling everything between the different points around town. At least without either gathering far more attention than she wanted at this point in time, or asking for a ride from one of her sure to be curious siblings.

This led her to the acknowledgement of the fact that she needed to do something to deal with her transportation issues.

Which is why she went out and bought a relatively cheap bike from a sporting goods store before riding it back to the hospital. A feat that would’ve winded her and left her useless for the rest of the day if not for all of the physical activity she’d been putting herself through the last few months.

(The training wheels helped too.)

(It is… ill omen that we still need those to ride a bike still…) Her inner reason dreaded.

“Well we won’t need them if we take our bike off the ground.” She argued, taking various bits and pieces and wielding them onto her bike. “I mean, we can easily set the bike to keep balance for us once we take it off the ground.”

Her survival instincts let out a resigned sigh. (Fine. Just… leave the wheels -both sets- on in case we run out of power for the gravity engine.)

“Yeah, probably a good idea to leave those until we figure out a better battery for this thing. Apparently, the Grav Engine is going to just eat power to keep the bike and everything on it a float.” She was having a bit of trouble figuring out what she was doing wrong with that equation.

(You forgot the grav program only negates half of an object’s mass and can only contain about a hundred kilos.) Her inner Madness helpfully explained.

She blinked. “Uh, what’s that in American again?”

(Roughly, two hundred and twenty point four six pounds.)

“Ah.” She nodded, looking over the bike she’d outfitted with a number of compartments and a small gravity engine that was apparently nowhere near the actual strength necessary to give her a true hover bike. “This feels like a distinct rip off now.”

(Hmm, I suppose we could automate the chain and wheels a bit to make it a cheap motorbike since the hover component is shot at the moment.) Her inner reason tried to suggest.

“I know…” She groaned as she got back to work on a whole other problem. “But I wanted a hover bike not a motor bike…”

Scene Consequences

-Maya now has the Tech Bike Mk.1. Allowing her to pursue enemies in vehicles and travel around town as a Mask without hitching a ride from anyone.

--Bike’s current weight limit does not allow for power armor but does allow for all of Maya’s other gear.

--Bike can be upgraded in number of ways. (Including flight. (Eventually…))

---

“Well… I feel lame…” She sighed, riding around the warehouse district on her bike.

(Ah, ah, our Tech Bike.) Her inner passion corrected her.

“It’s not… it’s not really a tech bike yet.” She reminded herself. “I mean I thought we were going to be riding around on a kick ass bike but this is… this is embarrassing.”

(Are you sure it’s the bike and not the onlookers?) Her inner logic asked, shifting her attention to someone pointing a phone at her. (We never were one for the spotlight.)

“That’s not…” She ran a hand through her hair before bringing her bike to a stop and looking at her COMP. “Look, let's just check the radar. There’s got to be something going on around here.”

Unfortunately for her attempt at distraction there weren’t any crimes in progress.

“Oh, come on!” She groaned. “I thought this was supposed to be one of the rougher neighborhoods or something? Where are all the criminals?”

(Mmm… Left and up.)

“What?” She frowned.

(Look left and up.)

She blinked before doing as her inner Madness suggested and spotting someone leaping off of a rooftop before using a construct of some kind to pull themselves to the next rooftop.

“Yes, that’s what I’m looking for.” She grinned upon spotting the Deviant.

(Ah, ah, before we jump the gun, are we sure that person is a criminal?) Her inner reason cut in before she could do something she’d regret.

“Uh, no but… they’re running across the rooftops. They clearly have to be up to something!” She tried to argue.

(Or they might not be.) Her inner logic pointed out. (So you have to decide how you want to handle this.)

(Shoot them!)

(...)

(...)

(What?)

(We could do that… or we could let them go since they don’t seem to be doing anything wrong. Or if you’re really paranoid we could follow them and see what they’re up to.)

She bit her lip for a moment, thinking it through before starting her bike up