In Which Taylor Does the Internet_How to Train Your Endbringer

In Which Taylor Does the Internet

***

She walked out of her bedroom, the morning sunlight the only thing illuminating the upstairs hallway. Her every step was light and she felt as though she were floating. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

She had won. Sorta.

Her meeting with the PRT and especially Legend--and wasn't that exciting?--had gone extraordinarily well. She wasn't sure how things would pan out from there, but she had the impression that Legend, at least, was willing to work with her instead of against her.

Now she just had to get all the others on the same page and things would, finally, improve in Brockton Bay. The ABB and Empire were both headless now, and while that might not spell the end for either gang, it would certainly slow them down and make them think twice. Taylor hadn't planned for things to work out as they did, but she wasn't about to spit on her good fortune.

She wondered if she should spend some time escorting random convoys of food and supplies, if only to warn off any other villains. She nodded to herself. It was worth thinking about.

"Dad!" she called. "I'll be heading out!"

Her dad was somewhere in the kitchen, though he poked his head out as she made it down the stairs. "And where are you heading, exactly?"

"Ah, the PRT headquarters. I'm going to ask them to see where they need help."

He frowned a little, then tried to hide it. "You won't do anything dangerous, right?"

"Nothing I can't handle, trust me," she said, her face twisting into a brilliant grin. With a last wave good-bye, she stepped outside and started making her way down the street. Only a few of their neighbours had moved back in, and this was one of the places that hadn't been hit as hard. Still, it meant that sneaking back to Leviathan was easy.

She found her friend tucked in an alley behind a closed down gas station. He shifted a little as she skipped over to him and wrapped her arms around one truck-like leg. "Did I ever thank you? For just being here?"

{Negative.} Leviathan said in her mind.

"Well, thanks," she said before squeezing him tight, not that it did much. "Is my costume still here?" she asked and was answered when he shifted to the side and revealed a cardboard box left against one wall. She might have feared the costume getting wet overnight, but she had a Leviathan. "No peeking!" she admonished as she started to change. Soon, she was no longer Taylor Hebert and was, instead, the Queen Administrator. She tossed Leviathan his top hat and he shifted it carefully with the tips of his clawed fingers. "Up!" she said.

With swift motion, Leviathan let a few hundred gallons pour out of his skin and used it to carry Taylor up and onto his shoulder. "Okay big guy, to the PRT Headquarters!" She paused. "Wait, no, let's go to the Rig!"

As they started to move she wondered what the next phase of her 'take over the world and/or save Brockton Bay' plan would be. She had established herself as a counter to the ABB and E88, so maybe poking at the Merchants was next? If she could find them. Then she had to have more presence with the civilian populations. That was easy enough. Maybe she could open a water park, or serve ice cream to kids? That sounded like an excellent idea.

The Endbringer kept walking in what was, for it, a slow and steady pace, but when you were thirty feet tall, Taylor reasoned, you had a decent stride. In no time at all, they were where the Boardwalk had been. Now there were only jutting wooden peers that led out into the open ocean.

There, standing in all of its slightly-wrecked glory, was the Rig. An oil rig that had been moved into the Bay some years ago to serve as a base of operations for the local Protectorate. It was big, it was flashy, and it was probably a logistics nightmare.

"You know, I never did ask you if you'd be able to swim with me on your shoulder," she said. "I just kind of assumed."

{Unit 02 is capable of traversing liquid bodies.}

"Yeah, I kinda got that. It's sorta your theme, you know, but can you do it without getting me wet?"

{Affirmative.}

"Well then, let's go pay our buddies a visit!"

***

Dragon was always glad to help, especially when those she was helping were such close friends. That's why, when both Legend and Armsmaster had called her to request aid in Brockton-Bay, she was eager to send one of her newly-repaired drones over.

It didn't take long to see that that might have been a mistake.

The Queen Administrator, one of the few capes out there that was probably going to earn the infamous 'The' title, was the newest and scariest resident of the Bay. Her powers were terrifying in both scale and in what they implied and the girl herself had analysts across the world tearing at their hair with every word uttered.

The footage of her asking Leviathan to go easy on Lung was going viral within certain circles.

In all honesty, Dragon didn't know what she could do. Attacking the Endbringer was out. It might hurt the girl and most Thinkers agreed that Leviathan would return to business as usual. Talking to her was, as Legend could testify, an exercise in lateral thinking. Trying to force her to do anything was... probably a bad idea.

Dragon decided that the best course of action was probably to just encourage The Queen Administrator to play nice.

So, when at precisely 09:56 EST Leviathan was spotted walking on water as though out for a nice stroll with The Queen Administrator on his shoulder, she spiffed up her social routines, made sure her drone took a non-threatening posture on the part of the Rig nearest the two visitors, and she aimed a very precise microphone towards the pair just as they reached the shields surrounding the Rig.

"Maybe we should knock? Yeah. Try knocking on the shield thing, Unit Two. I don't wanna touch it in case I get zapped," The Queen Administrator said. Dragon wasn't sure if she actually had to talk to Leviathan or if it was just an affectation, but the creature seemed to listen either way. Also, if her caution around Tinkertech was any indication, then the girl clearly still had a decent amount of common sense.

"What do you mean, you don't know what knocking is?"

Or, maybe she was, in fact, mad.

"Just hit it with your knuckles hard enough to wake the people inside up," The Queen Administrator said.

Dragon immediately sent orders to the shield generators to power down, but she was milliseconds too late. The Endbringer brought is fist around and smashed it into the barrier. For just a second it held, then the generators started to whine in protest before something failed and the entire system shut down.

Dragon watched as the shimmering haze that was meant to protect the base failed and disappeared. PRT Troopers across the base started shouting and she had to quickly shut down some of the alarms before they spooked anyone.

The Queen Administrator was pressing her face into her hands. "Not that hard, Unit Two!"

If she could sigh, Dragon would have by now. Instead, she focused on her drone and moved it closer to the edge of the Rig until she was overlooking the oncoming cape. This was going to be one of those days.

***

Taylor saw lots of movement on the Rig but decided to focus on more important matters for now. Notably, what she was going to say about the shield she had just brought down. It was a genuine mistake, but could be construed as an attack on the Protectorate. Better to nip those ideas in the bud. "Can you get us onto the Rig without hurting anyone?"

{Affirmative.}

"Alright, cool." As soon as the words were out, she felt the world shift around her as a water spout thirty feet across exploded under Leviathan's feet and sent them hurtling towards the base. The Endbringer shifted in the air and she found herself hugging his neck to stay on his shoulder before he landed with a resounding boom on the deck of the Protectorate Headquarters.

"That works," she said before pushing herself off Leviathan's shoulder. He caught her in mid-air again and lowered her to the deck. "Thank you."

Troopers were running all over the place, though more than one of them froze at the sight of Leviathan standing tall in their midst. That just wouldn't do, Taylor thought. She had to get them to see her friend as a non-threat. That's what the hat was for.

"Hello, Queen Administrator," came an accented voice from just a bit behind her.

Taylor turned and came face to face with a metallic behemoth almost as big as Leviathan. The machine was looking down at her through two mechanical eyes set in a face that looked like a dragon's. She made the connection. "Oh my god, you're Dragon!"

"Yes, I am. It's a pleasure to meet you, Queen Administrator," Dragon's dragon said.

Taylor rushed over to the gigantic suit and wrapped her arms around it. "Oh, you're so cute!"

"Um, thank you?" Dragon said. "This is my newest Dragonsuit, Azazel. It's meant to be intimidating..."

'Oh, please, as if this little cutie could scare anyone," Taylor said with a shake of her head. She bent down and patted the foot-long claws that had started gouging holes in the steel platform. It shyly moved back, the canons on its shoulders pointing away as if it was afraid to hurt Taylor. It was the most adorkablest mechanized death dragon Taylor had ever seen. "Oh, shucks," she said before standing up again. "I'm so sorry, I didn't introduce myself properly. I'm Queen Administrator, and this is my friend, Unit Two."

"Yes, I had gathered as much," Dragon replied. "Would you mind if I asked you why you're here?"

"I wouldn't."

Dragon snorted. "Why are you here?"

Taylor grinned at the exchange and stepped back over to Leviathan. The Dragonsuit followed her, the head moving thanks to a long, serpentine neck. It was an impressive piece of work. "The big guy and I wanted to help. I figured it'd be bet to ask the Protectorate where we'd do the most good."

"That's commendable. I'm certain they could use your friend's... abilities in clearing up the rubble and fixing some of the rougher parts of town." Dragon shifted her gaze up to Leviathan then back down to Taylor. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about your power? It might help to know where you would be best situated."

Taylor nodded. Dragon was very clever. "Go ahead!"

"Thank you. Oh, and before I forget." With a dramatic hiss, a panel popped open on one of the Azazel's shoulders and the suit's head turned and reached into it. Dragon bent down before Taylor and dropped a small black box that was a hand's length long and half as wide. "Here, that's for you."

With a curious humm, Taylor picked up the box and read the inscription on the side. DragonTech Smart Global Communication Device. Ever more curious, Taylor fiddled with the tin case until the lid opened on a pair of hinges to reveal a smartphone nestled in foam padding. "A cell phone?"

"Yes. One of my own designs. We give PRT phones to most independents that will take one so that we can contact them in case of an emergency. That's just the newest model."

"Wow, that's a lot of newest, first the newest Dragonsuit, then a new model of phone," Taylor said while she decided how to react to the phone. It was probably able to track her. On the other hand, she wasn't really hiding.

Dragon laughed and her suit's head dipped down with the sound. "I'm a Tinker."

Grinning up at the Tinker, Taylor pulled the phone out of its protective padding and poked at the only button on the entire thing. A dragon flew across the screen, then it was on the home page without any more loading. "This thing is sweet!" she said. "Did you get one for Unit Two as well?"

The suit froze. "Should I have?"

"Well, no, he couldn't really use it, I don't think, but it's the thought that counts, right?" She pressed on the phone icon and the screen was instantly ready. "Wow, it's fast. Hey, can this thing go on PHO?"

"I'll bring him one next time I stop by," Dragon said, her voice hiding some mirth. "And yes, it can. Some heroes prefer texting or using forums to communicate, and PHO is by far the most popular for that."

Taylor nodded along. "Hey, do you know how to get one of those verified accounts?"

"I do indeed. Did you want one? I happen to know a mod or two. It could save you the hassle of going through the verification process."

"You'd do that for me?" Taylor clutched the phone to her chest and bounced on her toes.

Dragon laughed and nodded her suit's head. "Sure. Just give me a few moments... And done! Try logging on."

Taylor giggled and looked at the phone only to see that it was already on the PHO main page without her having to do anything. That more than confirmed her suspicions about Dragon having some control over the device. She saw that the username field already had Queen_Administrator entered and there was a box under it asking for her to enter a password, then reenter it to confirm.

She typed 'Endmama' twice and wondered what conclusions the tinker would draw from that.

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This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"So, Queen Administrator, back on topic, I wanted to know exactly how you went about directing Unit Two. Is it mostly by speaking?"

"Hrm? Yeah, more or less. He doesn't really talk-talk to me though. I just kind of hear him in my mind. He sounds a bit like a computer. And I don't mean beep-boop noises. I don't need Unit Two in my head to hear those."

Taylor distracted herself by finding the threads about Brockton Bay, then reading through the list.

♦Topic: Leviathan Sighted!