＊＊＊
"Good to finally be back in good old Brockton Bay, huh?" Vicky said cheerfully as she floated backwards in front of Amy, trusting her to tell her if she'd fly into something, dressed in her Glory Girl outfit, tiara and all.
Amy snorted softly, the scarf of her Panacea outfit covering her lower face as she ambled along down the street in no particular hurry. "Would be better if my ears weren't still ringing from all the yelling from Carol about how New Wave had suffered in popularity polls due to my reveal."
The White House ceremony had thankfully been much briefer than the French one had been. Which then had led into a thankfully fairly brief press conference. Say what you want about Washington, but they knew how to throw a press conference. Unfortunately, the entire set of questions had all basically been about New Wave and why they had refused to speak out on her properly, hiding away and refusing questions, making no comments other than a minor PHO comment on the subject from Brandish. Were they ashamed of her? And more in that vein. Carol hadn't stopped bitching since.
Only thing returning finally to Brockton Bay had changed - was that now she could get yelled at in her own home instead of in Washington.
Vicky smiled, but it was a sad wistful one, as she floated along, "Yeah… I get why we're doing this, I do, Ames… But it's gonna be hard, you know?"
Amy reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. Thankful for her sister's support, even if some of it had been artificially pushed along by her over the last few years. "We're still family, we can still see them all, you can still go see Carol whenever you want, hell nothing says you have to move out."
Vicky shook her head, not letting go of her hand, a melancholy feeling wafting from her as she bowed her head slightly, "No… I'll come with you, that's how it's gonna be, I'm not abandoning my sister, Ames." She said, raising her head with clear fire in her sparkling blue eyes. A small grin flashed into being as she winked, trying to discard the melancholy mood they were both in, "Besides you probably wouldn't last a day without me."
Amy raised an eyebrow sardonically, "You sure it's not the other way around? Do you actually know how to wash your uniform? Let alone your regular clothes?" Not even gonna mention your 'skills' in the kitchen, so I'm feeding you too from here on out… Wouldn't last a day without you, my ass! She thought.
Vicky winced, letting go of her hand to point at her, "Alright, point. But I can learn, and how hard can it be? Mom does it all the time."
"Turning right," Amy warned, Vicky immediately turned, floating ahead of her as they turned down another street, civilians staring as they walked/floated by. "And that's cute." She scoffed, "You thought Carol was doing all that laundry, it was me you doofus."
"Wow… I feel really bad that I didn't know that." Vicky admitted with a faint blush, looking back at her with obvious chagrin, "Hey, if I get too self absorbed you are allowed to kick me back down to earth you know?"
"If I kicked you I'd just break my toe." Amy deadpanned, getting an answering roll of the eyes from her sister. "It should be the next apartment building." She'd looked it up already on the way back home. Her plans that had been percolating for months now came to the forefront as she realized she couldn't stand to wait a minute longer under the thumb of Carol Dallon.
Her plans didn't really have her pulling the trigger this early, but like she'd been feeling for the past week, she just couldn't stand spending anymore time being used as a PR prop and denigrated for it, she was worth a hell of a lot more then Carol thought, and she'd fucking prove it.
"You sure she's gonna listen, you know, villain and all that." Vicky said skeptically. She shadow boxed quickly, floating a few inches off the ground, going so far as making the sound effects to it, "Pow, pow, smash!" Succeeding in getting a snort of amusement from Amy which brought a blinding grin onto Vicky's face.
Amy would have never even been able to suggest this all to the original Glory Girl. But she'd worked on her for a few years now. And Vicky wasn't quite as black and white anymore. And of course she was completely willing to follow Amy's lead, which she definitely needed for this.
"She'll listen, and she'll go along with it too, because it's the best amongst a bunch of bad decisions, and it brings her a degree of safety she won't find anywhere else." Amy said decisively. Unsaid was the idea that in the worst case, if she got her hands on her for any reason, she could make her see reason. Not something she wanted to rely on, as everytime she did it increased the risk she'd be found out as a Master.
She and Vicky had pretty much spent the entire flight home huddled up and discussing strategy. Well… After Amy had returned her to her original… State, without any questions from her about anything. And after she'd begged for forgiveness for not thinking of Vicky or her feelings before she dropped the news on live TV, which not to her surprise, Vicky reacted to it all by cheerfully accepting it, hugging the stuffing out of her after. It kind of made Amy wonder if Carol had been full of shit after all and had been trying to emotionally blackmail her.
They'd hammered it all out, and now, after spending the night at home, and a couple phone calls from Amy to start setting things up. They were ready.
Brockton Bay wouldn't be ready for them…
A few minutes later found them knocking on the door to one of the apartments. Vicky floating silently behind Amy. Knowing that she was mostly with her to reinforce the point, and to get them both the hell out of there if it went south. Which it shouldn't.
The door opened and a fairly mousy looking older brunette woman peered out at them with a worried expression on her face, "...Can I help you?" She asked softly.
Amy lowered her scarf, smiling politely, "Hello, Kayden, I think it's best we come in for this discussion, to preface it, I promise that nothing said today will be told to anyone else let alone the PRT, we will leave and never come back if you chose that after our discussion, we are not here to arrest you or cause trouble for your civilian persona."
"Take a breath, Ames." Vicky joked quietly behind her, Amy used one hand to give her the finger behind her. Took her 2 seconds to break the let me do all the talking rule. She thought with some exasperation.
Kayden Anders, to some known as the cape Purity, slowly stopped back, leaving the door open, a conflicted expression on her face, "I'll hold you to all of that." She said quietly, waving them forward, "I'd ask that you please keep your voices down, my daughter is asleep." She continued, some steel appearing in her voice, "If I feel you are a threat to her…"
Amy held both hands up, shaking her head, "We will not be a threat, and like I said we won't share anything with anyone about today, I'll even throw in a check up for your daughter if you're comfortable with it." She offered.
Kayden seemed to mull that over, before she sighed, "We'll see." Is all she said as she walked away into her apartment, Amy and Vicky following slowly.
Kayden being a interior decorator showcased itself well in her apartment, it was tastefully done and looked modern without going futuristic or tacky. Kayden led them to the small living area, waving to a small couch; she notably didn't sit down, nor offer them drinks.
Amy sat down, Vicky plopping down next to her, her sister more tense, ready to move at a moment's notice. Which wasn't helping as Kayden held herself similarly, no doubt because of that. Amy put a hand on Vicky's leg, "We're not here for a fight, calm down, she won't attack us."
Kayden raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms, looking dangerous even in just sweatpants and a tank top. "You seem pretty sure about that?" She asked, with pursed lips. "Not scared of the big evil Nazi?"
Amy just gave her an unimpressed look, "Are you trying to start something? God, you're just as bad as Vicky." She bulldozed forward ignoring the twin offended looks, even though they were hilarious. "I know you're not really a Nazi anymore, just as I know you've been trying to be a Hero recently, to create a better world for Aster."
Kayden stared at her, seemingly at a loss, "This is not how I imagined whatever this is, would go." She muttered, slowly sitting down across from them, not relaxing, but not as on edge either, "How do you know that? No offense… But New Wave isn't exactly… Active."
"I'm active." Vicky muttered mulishly, Amy slapped her leg and gave her a look that said shush, only in much worse language than that.
"We're not actually here as members of New Wave… Just as you're trying to reinvent yourself, so are we…" Amy said, hesitating only slightly before dropping the bomb, "We're leaving New Wave."
Kayden looked towards Vicky, some disbelief shining through her pretty well done poker face. "You expect me to believe that?" She scoffed, shaking her head.
Amy waved a hand dismissively, "It will be made official by tomorrow or the day after at the latest, so it won't be hard for you to confirm. We're leaving because New Wave isn't making a difference, they're not making things better. Neither is the PRT."
Kayden laughed suddenly, quietly due to her daughter, but the derision in it was still made loud and clear, "You're here to recruit me!?" She chuckled, "Now I've heard everything. I've been at this for a decade, and you? Some tiny, baby faced, little brats - think you can come and pick me up, just like that?"
Amy tapped Vicky on the leg, just in time to get her to close her mouth with a snap, before she said something unwise. She turned to look at Kayden, radiating nonchalance. "Yes, just like that." She met her eyes unflinchingly, "That's a decade as a villain, you forget. And there's a reason you aren't gaining traction as a Hero. Because the public and the PRT will never let you forget your past as it is right now."
"And I suppose you have all the answers, god you're just like him…" She muttered, a frown on her face, her brown eyes going distant for a moment.
Did she just compare me to Kaiser? What a fucking cunt… Amy thought, but didn't let it show on her face, "I do have the answers yes." She said easily, "I am Panacea." She ignored the rolled eyes she got, staring at Kayden with seriousness shining through her body language, "No, actually listen." She snapped sharply. "I just healed even the dead during an Endbringer fight. If I asked the PRT for the favor of allowing Purity to join an independent hero team, they'd make it happen, once you're on the team the PR machine can go to work in cleaning up your image, much easier when you're on a team with the paragons of all that's good and apple pie, like myself and Glory Girl!"
Kayden seemed lost for words for a moment, just processing, before she shook her head, a bitter frown appearing on her face, "Kaiser knows who I am, he won't let me join, going independent, sure, he's probably hovering in the background hoping I'll come back even now, but joining a Hero team, he'd definitely use my civilian identity against me." She smiled sharply, "Like you two somehow have…"
Amy felt excitement racing through her, the fact Kayden already even spoke up on the possibility of joining was a good sign, "No he won't," She said with surety in her voice, "Because we'll make it clear to him that if he or the Empire goes after you in your civilian identity we release his." She explained. "We aren't the PRT, if he plays dirty, we'll reciprocate." Max Anders would not sacrifice Medhall for Purity. Not in a million years.
"I'm not giving you the Empire's cape identities." Kayden said harshly, a tenseness to her frame appearing that had Vicky stiffening at Amy's side.
"I'm not asking you to, I know who Kaiser is." Amy said calmly, quickly giving Vicky a reassuring smile, "You won't get retaliation from the Empire with us, the PRT will let you be, you'll be allowed to be a Hero, and you'd be working with a team, so you could actually clean up the gangs properly."
Purity could actually fight Lung, so her addition to the team would be a game changer.
"There's a lot more going into a team than just kicking ass." Kayden said dismissively, but she looked to be wavering. "Assuming you're not lying about knowing about Kaiser." She added with some doubt.
Amy grinned, leaning forward slightly in her seat, going for the kill, "We already have one other member as well, Strider. And he pulls in a bundle in transportation jobs across the world." Her grin grew sharper as she continued her pitch, "And how many billionaires do you think there are that want a cure for their cancer? A bigger penis? To look slightly younger? Money for the team is the least of our worries. And of course it also means you have access to my healing as well. For both you and Aster."
They'd be a rogue/hero team really. Doing some paid work and also doing the hero gig around Brockton Bay. Her own abilities alone would be sought after at a heavy price point. People spent millions on plastic surgery for something she could do in thirty seconds. She'd already used Strider as a go-between to contact a few billionaires to sound them out about the capital to set the team up.
Her having saved Striders life so many times was a good cover for why he'd join up, especially as the rogue aspect of the team would allow him to continue on as usual. As long as he was available for Endbringer fights and contract work with the PRT, they wouldn't care.
Kayden was openly gaping at her now, the thoughts about what had been revealed obviously racing through her head, "You've… Put a lot of thought into this…" She said after a minute, in which her brain had rebooted from the information she'd just had dumped on her. "What about my past? You really want to tar the team with a Nazi?" She asked skeptically.
Amy smirked with full out satisfaction, "Well obviously you were mastered by Gesellschaft for the past decade, on loan to the Empire, it's why you suddenly broke free and tried to be a hero, the Master died and released you. The last little bit of you trying to be better will fit the narrative perfectly, and since it's me saying it, people will believe it. There won't be a PR issue, because people will love your story." No one will care what the Nazis have to say about it, if they even bother trying to spoil the narrative.
"Holy shit, Ames." Vicky blurted out, "You didn't tell me all that, that's genius!"
Amy flashed her the victory sign, grinning with exhilaration, she was on the home stretch she could feel it. She turned to Kayden again, "If you join us with all that, even if Kaiser should reveal you at some point, you'll be a Hero by then, you get to keep Aster, no matter what. As you are now, should Kaiser or anyone hacking him, let your identity loose, the government would take her, because you'd still be classified as a supervillain."
Kayden looked taken aback, "But I've been a Hero for a little while now already." She protested weakly.
Amy shook her head, "The government isn't going to care, not unless we go by my plan, and my team." And it would be her team… No one would be holding anything over her again.
Kayden closed her eyes, Amy and Vicky say quietly and let her work it through. Finally she opened her eyes again, determination shining through. "If, and I'm saying if, here… If I do this… What would it look like exactly?" She asked.
Amy grinned toothily, she had her.
＊＊＊
Purity was onboard, which had Amy practically floating on clouds as they left her apartment. She and Vicky split up, her sister moving on for her own minor list of tasks.
For what Amy needed to do now she didn't want her sister around. She had her rogue/hero team, it was time to get started on her villain team. She'd use her gang to control the crime in the city, cleaning up the worst of the excesses - while her hero team would do better than the PRT, hopefully eclipsing them to the point they'd eventually just take over policing the city from them. She'd have the best of both worlds, with best of all - no Carol Dallon or Emily Piggot style person barking orders at her.
Her actions would make a lot of people very unhappy, but it's not like she could really make Brockton Bay worse. As it was the gangs had free rein of the entire population except for the small slices actually protected by the PRT.
Purity wasn't ideal by any means, no matter what she excused to herself, she was at minimum a racist. Although how much of that would fall away if she spent a few years away from Kaiser and co, she would see. But she wanted to do better, and had a very useful powerset. So Amy would give her that chance, because the world needed people like Purity not fucking it up more than it was. And if she let canon go on, that's just what she'd end up doing.
Even if Coil ended up hers and didn't release the Empires civilian identities, Kaiser would reel Purity back in at some point, their relationship was plenty toxic, but the guy was persuasive and Purity was obviously a bit of a idiot, thinking she could just leave a gang and be a hero automatically, not even rebranding.
She walked into a small slice of Merchant territory - if it could even be called that - without fear. It was early in the day for one - so the worst kinds of people of the gang were far from active. She'd also made it a habit of 'helping' the homeless population with free healing. And since a lot of homeless people were actually part of the Merchants - they didn't ever mess with her as Panacea, no matter where she went. She needed a fresh body. Someone who wouldn't be missed, and who better than someone homeless?
Their sacrifice would save Brockton Bay in the end, and Amy didn't really feel all that horrible about what she was doing, the people here had already given up on life, she'd be their salvation, and their sacrifices in helping her experiment with her powers before this, and a body today - would save the rest of them and give them a life worth living again.
As she went, she stopped by every slumped body against derelict buildings, the people laying on benches, gathering around trash heaps - offering to heal them of their ailments. Notably not curing their drug or alcohol addictions, these people didn't want to come clean. And as Brockton Bay was currently, there wasn't much point in doing it when they'd jump straight back into addiction anyway to escape from their situation.
Being seen and healing these people was a great cover for what she was going to do. Because obviously people disappeared all the time - and absolutely no one would think Panacea was behind it, she was walking around healing people, such a sweetheart. Once she'd spent two hours on helping out, while scoping out the area, she ducked into an alley while she wasn't in sight of any of the locals. She quickly divested herself of her Panacea uniform, hiding it behind a dumpster, hopefully it wouldn't be discovered. She'd been wearing ragged jeans and a worn down hoodie under her robes, she quickly put her hair in a ponytail while she kept the scarf covering the lower half of her face. No one would automatically think of Panacea or Amy Dallon if they saw her now.
She carefully entered the dilapidated former restaurant. Just by paying attention as she walked around and healed these people, she'd found out that an older homeless woman made it her home, and regularly chased away the rest, having kept her sanctuary for years, no one trying any longer due to her earlier viciousness. She wouldn't be missed, and no one would know for days if not weeks that she was gone.
As she thought, and had planned for. She found the woman passed out in the kitchens, seemingly a pile of dirty rags, reeking of filth and meth abuse - the woman herself only noticed as a human because of a wrinkled pale hand sticking out of the pile of filth she wore. Amy crouched down, grimacing at the worse than normal filth as she gingerly placed a finger against her pale hand.
Her mind expanded with information, all of it bad, the woman would not have lived for much longer, her organs were on their last legs, heavy drug use, lack of nutrition and several ongoing untreated infections running their course. She was also riddled with STD's which made Amy wrinkle her nose in disgust, who'd touch her as she was? People were that desperate? She started at the brain. Placing her into a coma so she wouldn't wake up and disrupt her. Cleaning out the addiction in her system, then the infection and illnesses. She set the bacteria on her skin to dissolve the filth as she undressed the woman.
Once she had the nude and somewhat healthy, if malnourished and skinny woman sat in front of her. She grabbed her phone, sending a text with the location. Then she waited.
A few minutes later Strider appeared with a crack in the restaurant, striding into the kitchen moments later, carrying half a lamb over his shoulder.
"Put it on the counter there, and help me get her up on the table." She ordered, skipping right past any pleasantries. She wasn't comfortable spending a long time in this territory while up to something that would get her a kill order if found out.
Strider dumped the biomass she'd need on one of the kitchen counters, and took a hold of the woman under her arms as Amy lifted her by the legs, both of them succeeding in lifting her up onto the prep table. Amy breathed out her nose, huffing slightly, god the stench in here was horrible, "Thank you, Strider, please stick around and keep an eye on the place, warn me if someone comes by."
"Sure thing, let me know if you need anything else, boss lady." He answered casually, before he tipped his cap at her, and exited the kitchen.
Amy shook her head with some amusement, she'd ordered him to not call her mistress or act subservient when she talked with him on the phone last night, setting today up, as that was just asking for trouble - and instead he'd started being overly casual, while still doing anything she asked without missing a step.
She clapped her hands together, "Right, let's see what I can do." She murmured, a flash of excitement going through her as she began to shape. One hand on the lamb using its biomass as she changed the homeless woman, fixing her malnutrition, her weak bones, improving her at the cellular level, at the same time shaping her flesh, until she looked down at a copy of herself, looking peacefully asleep.
She took a deep breath, stretching her fingers out. The moment of truth. She created a clone. The phantasm appeared in the kitchen, hovering above the comatose woman. There was no need to speak, she was her, they both knew exactly what was going on. With flesh hands, Amy touched her copy, wiping her brain free of any memories or thoughts, in effect killing the woman while leaving the body alive. With a ghostly hand, her clone touched the body, suffusing it with her power, trying to incorporate herself within the body down to the cellular structure. One ghostly hand gently touched Amy's head, reading her body, her brain, as they molded the comatose body's brain pattern to match. Sweat was dripping down Amy's nose as she stared with concentration at the woman with her face. She could see the phantasm of her clone melding with it the more complete the brain became, until suddenly she was alone in the kitchen with the comatose woman again.
When she'd tested her phantasm clone, she'd found that it didn't disappear at all unless she dismissed it, apart from it being touched and dissipated of course, but with a body that touch issue would be mitigated. So in theory, her clone should be able to work independently for as long as Amy wanted without suddenly poofing away. Now she'd only tested it for a little over a day, but she felt that it was true, and she trusted her powers that much at least.
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She took a shuddering breath, wiping sweat off her brow with a shaking hand. That had been intense. Now had it worked? She wondered. She attempted to create a clone again. And she failed. She pushed down on the roar of triumph that threatened to erupt from her. She still needed to check, even as her whole body practically vibrated in excitement. She laid a hand on clone Amy, reading her body, her brain. It all seemed to be right, with a touch she woke her up from her coma.
She blinked, wow, that's a trip. As she looked at herself with her own eyes. She could feel the other Amy in her head, in the back of her mind, could hear the echoing thought from the other her, that this was trippy.
"That's going to take some getting used to…" Clone Amy said, sliding her naked legs over the edge of the table, sitting up facing Amy, "I can feel your thoughts, my thoughts?"
Amy agreed, it was good, because it meant her clone wouldn't be gaining its own personality and end up an evil twin or something, but it felt really weird. Like she was in two places at once, but like, the other part of her felt more distant, a thought in the back of her head unless she concentrated on it.
She didn't worry as clone Amy put a hand on her cheek, she could feel the thought as she thought it. Clone Amy worked through her body, strengthening her muscles and her body, not going so far as giving her a brute rating, but more like an Olympic athlete.
"God this is weird." Amy muttered, her clone agreeing with a silent nod, before she laid back down on the table, already knowing exactly what they were thinking.
After all, they were a biotinker. There was absolutely no need for her villain persona to look like her. That was just begging for her to be discovered. She'd made the homeless woman into a replica of herself thinking it would be easier to take over the body if it was a copy of hers. She probably wouldn't even have believed it could be done, if it wasn't for the note from Contessa.
Clone Amy got knocked out briefly again, as Amy used up the rest of the lamb. Changing her, giving her an extra few inches in height, wider hips, more of a heart shaped face, plumper lips, a more classical nose, a greater bust, she wanted her to appear as an adult woman, further setting her apart from the teenage hero Panacea. With the villain name already chosen, she pushed out a new set of hair for her clone, bright red, her eyebrows appearing at the same time as her clone grew out a full head of hair that flowed down her back, a tweak of her vocal cords would ensure her voice was more of a smoky, husky one.
Of course since this Amy didn't have family and heroes up her ass at all times of the day, there was no need to hide any body modification, so she also strengthened her body, giving her a brute rating with how much she changed, her muscles, bones and even her skin, all of it changed to optimal performance. Add a touch of regeneration, skin bacteria that mimicked a powerful sedative - making touching her skin a bad idea for any would be heroes, jacking up her immune system, making all her organs supercharged and performing at far above a regular human's levels, while strengthening the outer layer of the organs to brute level.
She'd be a very hard cookie to put down. She felt very pleased with her work. Her body practically singing with how happy her power was at what she was doing. With the conflict about to come for both her bodies. Her shard was probably orgasming right now, if an alien shard of a biological supercomputer could even do such a thing.
With another touch she woke her clone up. All the lamb used up to create her masterpiece. She couldn't help but let her eyes rove over her body. She was an absolute knockout, her clone smirking at her as they both realized she was technically checking herself out. And that this whole two body thing opened up some… Possibilities. No, bad mind, stop.
Ivy chuckled, running a hand through her thick luscious red hair, "We better get going, we have a lot to do, at least you do. We weren't sure whether I would work or not after all."
Amy silently agreed, Ivy working out was a hopeful part of the plan she'd wanted to move on before her actions once again put her in the spotlight, her taking advantage of her distasteful fame to create her own team - something that hadn't even been part of her plan until Contessa had interfered in her life with the delivery of Prism. Ivy wasn't really part of the work she needed to get done before tomorrow, but now that she was - it would accelerate Amy's plans immensely. She'd never planned on continuing on as a Hero, but now she could do both, so that fame that annoyed her so much could be put to good use. And in the background use her Hero team to set the stage for her villain to rise to the top. Until they could both come fully in the open.
The other her would get to get infamous instead of famous, something that sounded a lot more fun than pointless press conferences. No reported chased down a villain for interviews. Well... no sane ones.
"You realize we didn't think to bring any clothes, I would be fairly noticeable as I am." Ivy said dryly, looking down at herself, Amy's eyes followed hers, fixating on the perfect breasts that were jiggling slightly, her own lips quirked in amusement as she knew she was doing that on purpose.
Amy opened her phone, sending a text to Strider, she could have called him in, but there was no reason to flash the guy. Ivy laughed delightedly as she and Amy shared the same thoughts. Strider wasn't going for clothes, he was bringing plants.
Poison Ivy the biotinker villain didn't need clothes for a uniform after all, she could wear plants, strengthening the biomass further than any kevlar or armor could provide. Really fit the theme as well.
And as she didn't even have a civilian identity, she could work as a villain 24/7, giving her an advantage. Especially as she was pretty sure her clone didn't actually need sleep. Any issues with the body due to lack of sleep could be fixed easily enough by Amy, who could call Strider to expand her healing across the city and do it, or to have him surreptitiously teleport her to Ivy and do it in person.
Both of them felt very smug as they sat there, their plans progressing perfectly.
＊＊＊
Amy left as soon as Strider dropped off a whole crate of plants, seeds and biomatter for them, her bringing it into the kitchen so as to not give Strider an eyeful of Ivy. She gave Ivy a last giggling message of don't do anything I wouldn't do - which left a lot of possibilities, considering the things they'd done with their power, then she left.
Ivy stood in the middle of the kitchen, naked, hands caressing the plant matter she'd placed around her, she stretched her powers, a sexy set of heeled boots growing around her feet up to right below her knees, patterned like vines climbing up her legs, her power strengthening the plants until it would almost take an anti-material rifle to punch through.
She continued on, her power crafting a pair of shorts out of a similar style to her boots, the material softer and more clingy, sticking tight to her body, the material actually still alive, since she couldn't work the same with dead matter. A green dress growing slowly around her, going down to mid thigh, the dress open in the middle of her torso, leaving her stomach up to her neck bare in a trail, her breasts just barely covered by the clinging plant dress showcasing some spectacular cleavage, a large blooming rose dropped into the middle of her valley hanging from a vine necklace around her neck, some red accents flowing down the sides of her dress, flowers blooming with thorns poking out, her shoulders left bare, a crown of thorns and thistles growing in place on her head, her hair twisted up artfully amongst it, the rest falling behind her, vines flowing down her back with it, studded with thorns, anyone grabbing her hair would get a dose of sedatives for the effort. Lastly a decorated wooden masquerade mask grew into place on her face, leaving her mouth and jaw bare, her forest green eyes clearly visible through the eye holes.
She couldn't feel sexy as Amy, she never had. Maybe she could once she got away from all the bullshit from Carol weighing her down. But this… She felt badass and sexy, a femme fatale, and she knew she'd be a smash hit on PHO. If they didn't outright censor any pictures of her.
Good thing about being a brute is that your costume could basically leave your torso bare and you were still protected - it wasn't quite chainmail bikini levels, but if she wanted she could have gone that route.
Now that the aesthetics and costume defense were invented and done with, she moved on to her offense. She created bangles on her wrists, with seed pockets that would allow her to create whatever she wanted to use for offense. She'd be able to keep hundreds of seeds by her hands in this manner. She also added thigh bands under her dress with backup pouches of seeds, as well as a dark green belt around her waist with several plants hanging off, attached to the belt.
With her powers she could make the seeds into anything really, although she'd stick with the plant and nature theme. No need in making the heroes think she was as versatile of a biotinker as she actually was. Although she'd have to be careful not to grow whole forests at a time or she'd be equated to something like the lost garden.
It would be a tightrope to walk, to be dangerous but not so dangerous she'd get a response she couldn't handle. Once she had backup and a whole gang behind her, then she could go the Lung route - where no one really dared to do too much to go against you.
There was no such thing as overkill in having enough ammunition, and although she had a brute rating she didn't want to count on that unless in a pinch. So there was an overabundance of seeds and plant matter on her, but better than running out and having to resort to fisticuffs.
She stretched out her hand sensually, instantly catapulting a seed forward, growing it into a monstrous tentacle like vine that slammed through the kitchen wall, smashing it easily, the vine following her will seamlessly. Oh, this will work very well indeed. She thought giddily. She still needed to touch it to initiate the process, but that was a minor consideration, considering she could continuously create more and more if someone cut away her creations.
Being a biokinetic was just so cool, no wonder original Amy had been so pent up and broken, to limit herself to healing when she had all these possibilities.
Knowing the smashing of the wall would have alerted someone that something was going on, she concentrated, growing several flowers, tweaking them to have incendiary glands, than she strolled out, letting a conflagration brew behind her, she didn't want any possible investigation finding Amy's prints or anything in a building a supervillain emerged from.
She stepped into the sunlight, smirking with pure delight, finally allowed to do exactly what she'd wanted since she entered this world. Let loose and have fun!
She winked at the gaping gangbanger who held his phone up, filming her, the homeless people around having much more sense, all already legging it away.
"Are you from the Merchants, darling?" She cooed, swaying her hips as she sauntered forward.
The filthy gangbanger worked his jaw but couldn't seem to find the words, still filming her, whether for his boss or for a later post to PHO, it all worked the same for Ivy.
She grew another vine, a thin, thorny and sinousy thing, letting it wrap around her arm before it shot forward to grab and lift the banger by the throat, his hands immediately going up to try and pry it loose, cutting his fingers as he tried to break free, his eyes panicky as his phone fell to the ground, cracking the screen.
"Tell your boss…" She practically purred out, a taunting smirk blooming onto her face, "That his territory belongs to Poison Ivy, now!"
She giggled as he wet himself, the Archer's Bridge Merchants would be first.
She was coming for them.
＊＊＊
Later that night.
The living room was arranged like they already knew what was about to happen. Both the Pelhams and the Dallons arranged around the Dallon living room, all sitting on one side of the room, leaving Amy and Vicky standing in front of them like naughty children.
Amy had not told Carol or Aunt Sarah why she needed to speak with them all. Why exactly all of New Wave needed to be present and involved. With Vicky backing her up, even Carol had begrudgingly backed down eventually and allowed it. No doubt thinking they were about to beg to not be grounded for both of their 'mistakes' that could have impugned New Waves reputation.
"Well, why exactly did you call for this, Amy?" Carol asked, sitting together with Mark in the center of the group, hands folded in her lap. "We all have important things to do." She continued, leaving unsaid, but heard anyways, the implication - unlike you.
The amount of times Amy had needed something and been told that as a lawyer, Carol had important things to deal with, and that Amy needed to take care of things herself were infinite. She'd never tried to be a mom to her, she still had all these memories of trying to earn her love though, weighing down on her. Even if she'd stopped when she'd taken over. She still had the memories. Of trying over and over again...
"Well, I suppose I'll just come out and say it." Amy said, grabbing Vicky's hand, her sister for once not looking cheerful, understanding the gravitas of the moment, "We're leaving New Wave."
Simple and blunt. Leaving no room for misinterpreting.
"The hell you are!" Carol predictably exploded, rising up from her seated position, eyes hard, "You are under my roof and my rules and you're not going anywhere, did Piggot put you up to this? You're not joining the wards!" She said the word with marked distaste. Looking ready to call the PRT director up right then and there.
Crystal and Erik both looked upset, but sank back into their seats, both cowed slightly by Carol's explosion, leaving it to her to handle it. Uncle Neil and Aunt Sarah looked blindsided, the giant of a man blinking dumbly as he sat back in his seat, while Aunt Sarah stood up and grasped Carol's arm, "Calm down, Carol, we can discuss this like adults." She sent Amy and Vicky a sharp look, "And receive an explanation, because this feels out of left field. If you were unhappy with the team we could have talked about it…"
Crystal snorted, drawing eyes, she waved her hands like, don't mind me, but at her mom's hard look, she relented, "Okay, so you say that mom, but how exactly would that discussion have gone?" Her eyes flickered to Carol quickly, but her mom definitely caught the look.
Carol pushed Sarah's arm away, "Fine, we'll listen to their explanation." She said bitingly, eyes zooming in on Amy's, "We know it's you, not Vicky behind this, so talk, Amy." She said sarcastically, her lips turned down in a disgusted frown.
Amy was really thankful that she could live through Ivy at the same time as she did this, it really helped her get through the uncomfortable conversation, feeling Ivy sneak around Merchant territory (what little could be called that), randomly hitting different operations and pulling back after doing some damage, testing her abilities out and trying to draw Skidmark out was cathartic. She focused on her family ahead of her, splaying her hands out in front of her, releasing Vicky's hand, "Whatever you think about it, we're deathly serious, we're leaving, New Wave hasn't done anything for the citizens of Brockton Bay for years, we're not joining the wards either, we'll create our own team, and actually help people."
"It's not only Amy, I'm 100 percent behind her." Vicky piped in seriously, grabbing Amy's hand again, confirming that they were both united.
Before Carol could respond, Aunt Sarah placed her hand on her arm again, and spoke first, sounding concerned, "Amy… Vicky… This is really not a good idea, the PRT is one thing, I wouldn't like it." Carol snorted loudly, Aunt Sarah continuing on as if she hadn't been interrupted, "But I could understand it, your own team… You're too young, too vulnerable, girls, this is a bad idea!" She stressed, sounding worried.
Uncle Neil, spoke up, backing up his wife, gaze intent, "She's not wrong girls, the gangs don't come after us because we're a large established team, you two wouldn't have that…" He hesitated, "Two young girls, alone, without backup… Things happen."
Amy and Vicky both sent him disgusted looks, how was that any different then both of them already operating without backup from New Wave, most of them retired from active heroing. Amy thought, but didn't voice, the attempt at unbalancing them was disgusting, and she'd thought better of Uncle Neil.
"You two can stop, Sarah, Neil, it doesn't matter, because Mark and I won't let them leave." Carol said harshly, Mark nodding jerkidly almost on cue when Carol glared at him. "This is all ridiculous, a silly act of rebellion on Amy's part because she got a little press lately."
Oh, you fucking bitch…
"Ouch." Erik muttered, barely dodging the slap from Crystal, both Carol and Sarah glared at him and he tried to crawl into the sofa cushions and make himself unseen. Amy was surprised he'd even dared to make noise, he was the youngest of the family and Carol together with Photon mom, wasn't a trivial combination to interfere with.
Amy shook her head, not really surprised with the response she got, although she'd hoped for better, she'd pretty much called it on how this conversation would go. "You can think that if you want, I'm not surprised by any of it, you always think the worst of me."
Carol scoffed, "I treat you exactly as you deserve to be treated, Amy."
"Carol…" Aunt Sarah said, shaking her head, a worried frown on her face. "You don't mean that." But it came out weakly, Sarah trailing off in silence. No one else speaking up.
Amy felt Vicky pressing up beside her as her blood rushed to her head, no matter how she tried to ignore Carol's uncaring attitude towards her, it still managed to keep hurting when she did. She took a deep breath, she needed to stay calm, not burn all bridges, the rest of them were still family. "Okay, you got me, Carol. Say honestly, that I am your daughter, that you love me, want me, and that you want me to stay on the team… And I'll stay."
"Carol!" Aunt Sarah hissed in anger after nothing was said in the first thirty seconds. Carol gritting her teeth together in anger, refusing to open her mouth. Refusing to say even one part of what Amy had requested.
Uncle Neil shook his head, stopping Crystal from speaking up again as she looked angry on Amy's behalf. He didn't speak up for Amy, but at least he didn't speak against her again either.
God, the men in this family were absolute pussies!
"You can't, can you?" Amy said, a hitch in her throat, "What have I ever done to make you hate me so much? To push me so hard to sacrifice everything? To refuse to care for me, to always hold me at arms length?" She knew why of course, but she wanted to hear Carol say it.
To blame it on Marquis being her father. To admit it's all because of something that stupid!
"Mom… Please!" Vicky begged, tears in her eyes, her expression heartbroken as Carol refused to speak. "Just tell her! She's my sister!"
Carol pressed her lips together, shaking her head, eventually speaking up, looking towards Vicky, completely ignoring Amy's questions. "Vicky, end this foolishness, you're New Wave, you've always been happy to be part of the movement, to be a hero with accountability."
"I can still be a hero…" Vicky said, wiping her eyes with one hand, the other holding onto Amy's like a vice grip, almost to the point of pain. "With my sister. Acknowledge her mom, she's standing right here! Talk to her!" She implored, her voice breaking.
Carol looked conflicted briefly, staring at Vicky's teary face, but then she looked at Amy and her expression smoothed over, "No. This has gone on long enough. You live under my roof. You are both remaining on the team, you are both grounded!" She snapped out, Aunt Sarah sighing next to her, but refusing to gainsay her sister.
"If necessary, we won't be living under your roof anymore then." Amy said quietly. The quiet words were loud in the suddenly quiet room.
Absolute silence ruled the living room, complete shock all you could see on most of its occupants' faces. Mark, surprisingly, broke the silence, a quiet, "What?" Coming out from between his lips.
Amy stood tall, refusing to be cowed, Vicky sniffling next to her, god this is making me feel like a tool, she thought. She'd dragged Vicky along after all, but she was selfish. She wanted to keep her sister. "You heard us. We are leaving, we are creating our own independent team, and if you don't want us around… We will find somewhere else to live."
"I'm seventeen, Amy's sixteen, we can do it…" Vicky said quietly, still sniffling, "Don't make us, mom?" She begged, "Just say it!"
"Legally, you are not old enough, if you leave this house I will simply declare you as a runaway and the law will bring you back." Carol said smugly, "You think you could make ultimatums to me? Go to your rooms, I will deal with your punishments in the morning." She finished, with absolute dismissal in her tone, already turning to Aunt Sarah.
"And you'd take that hit to New Wave's reputation? Having people ask why exactly Panacea and Glory Girl ran away from home? Instead of wanting to help people more and become more active with our own team? Quite a different perspective, PR wise." Amy said, refusing to drop it, refusing to not push until the very end, lay it all out on the table, so that Carol couldn't say she didn't realize it, when they left.
Aunt Sarah looked sad as she answered, "You're tearing the team apart, Amy, don't make it a PR problem, we're beyond that."
Amy felt like she'd been stabbed, Aunt Sarah never really stopped Carol, but she usually didn't join her either, "I'm breaking the team? But years of putting me down and making me get anxiety disorders on top of my anxiety disorders without a word said about it, and now that I want to leave, it's a team problem?"
"You're just proving Ames right, why isn't anyone listening to us!" Vicky said with disbelief, staring from face to face, finding either no support or people not willing to take a stand.
"We can take a PR hit. You're not leaving." Carol said finally, "You can't see it, Vicky, but I am doing what's best. For all of us."
"Except Ames isn't part of all of us, is she, mom?" Vicky answered back venomously, "I can't believe I didn't see it, that I thought Amy was exaggerating. God, you don't even care do you?"
"That's enough, Vicky." Mark said tiredly, "Do as your mom says."
"We're leaving. Call the cops if you want. But you won't like the consequences." Amy warned, taking a step away, Vicky made to follow her, one last disappointed look at her parents.
"You think you can threaten me?" Carol said, offended, "Do not take another step, Amy, or maybe I will contact the PRT and say Panacea has somehow mastered my daughter."
"Carol, no!" Aunt Sarah said at the same time as Crystal and Erik both gasped out loud, Uncle Neil not stopping them, his own disapproval clear on his face.
Amy smiled, a sad, half smile, half turned towards her so called family, "Your only daughter, heard loud and clear, Carol." She said quietly. "I have one better for you." She mimed taking a phone call with one hand, "Hey, Alexandria? Yeah, my mom won't let me help with the next Endbringer fight, she wants me arrested for leaving my house with my seventeen year old sister, can you deal with her. You can? Thanks, see you when the Simurgh comes to town."
"Somehow I think the Simurgh is going to be more important than you being pissed, mom." Vicky said sadly, shaking her head, her aura spreading a feeling of depression around. "Ames is important, now, you can't just roll straight over what she's saying anymore."
Carol growled, her fists clenched, "If you think you can blackmail me, you're mistaken, Amy." She snapped, refusing to answer her daughter, a vein throbbing in her forehead as she continued to face opposition.
Amy giggled, trying to hide it behind her hand, but eventually she just let her laughter free, getting weird looks from everyone except Vicky. If the laughter was slightly unhinged, well this was a kind of unhinged conversation.
"Sorry, sorry, it's just so funny. Hearing you try and say that you being butthurt over two almost adult heroes moving out, is more important than the PRT's battles against the Endbringers." Amy's smile turned sharp as steel, "Let me lay it out so we're all clear, since you don't acknowledge me as your daughter anyway - as you made clear today!" Her eyes panned around the room, "Which I noticed didn't even really surprise anyone here, but no matter, here's the facts. I will leave with Vicky today. We'll be registering with the PRT as an independent team. We'll be moving out and seeking emancipation. Should you put a single roadblock in the way, I will refuse to use my power. Full stop. No more. And when the next Endbringer murders a million people. The whole world will look at you!" Her smile was cold enough to chill the air in the room, as she let loose fully, holding nothing back. "This will be posted online in that case, New Wave will be done. Your career will be done. You'll have to move into witness protection or get plastic surgery to be able to walk down the street!"
Carol didn't reply, just stared murder at Amy as Aunt Sarah whispered into her ear, looking sick to her stomach.
Finally Carol pushed Sarah away, snapping at Amy and Vicky, "Fine! Leave! Don't come crawling back when you get in over your heads." She turned away and refused to even look at them.
Amy and Vicky both waited a moment, Amy could see the moment of disbelief in her sister when she realized absolutely no one was willing to step up and apologize or wish them luck, or even give them a hug goodbye. Although Crystal at least was looking at them apologetically, even if she didn't dare move against her mom and aunt. It was more than the rest of them.
"For whatever it's worth, this isn't a move against New Wave, not really, we just believe we can do better, that we deserve to be treated better, or at least that I should be treated like an actual family member. We wish you the best." Amy said, before she walked away, Vicky followed her, crying softly.
That had gone both worse and better than she had imagined. She had expected more support from the other members of the family, but it appeared Crystal and Erik didn't dare move against their parents, and Uncle Neil and Aunt Sarah weren't willing to go against Carol.
Lady Photon being the team leader was a joke, not when Brandish could walk all over her like that.
"I guess we need to find a place to live." Amy said, trying to sound optimistic but failing utterly, "It will be okay, they'll come around." She said, hugging Vicky. The two of them standing on the front step of the Dallon house. "We'll be okay." She murmured into her ear, feeling the sadness of her aura permeate everything around them. "You and me against the world, we'll show them!"
"We'll save Brockton Bay."
＊＊＊
As the sun set over Brockton Bay, Poison Ivy sat on a roof not too far away from the docks, letting her legs hang off the edge waving them lazily in the air.
The Archer's Bridge Merchants was a bit of a joke really, while they technically had territory to take, it wasn't the same as the other gangs, where as the ABB held much of the docks on the eastside and the Empire held much of the southside with inroads into the center where Coil was, the Archer's Bridge Merchants were a mass of chaos - befitting an organization run by drug addicts.
The Merchants had buildings and hang outs all over the place, in the cracks between other territories, around junkyards and other shit holes, the absolutely most derelict buildings usually. The kind where the homeless would gather. Sure some of the south east areas as well as some of the north east had a bit of a Merchant presence, but they couldn't be said to own the north or south east by any merit. They weren't organized enough for that.
She'd have to change that.
She wasn't going after them because they were worth much, she was going after them because everyone else ignored them. Which meant when she took over, she could do anything to them, and no one would know, because no one would bother having a spy in Skidmarks crew. If it weren't for their capes they wouldn't even be a gang at all. And that had only been Skidmark and Squealer. Mush was so new that most of the people she'd beat up tonight hadn't even heard about him. The PRT and the public certainly didn't know about him.
Still, a challenge like she had called out as an unknown cape - would get druggies like Skidmark pissed, so she waited. He'd come for her, he'd bring all the capes, of course. Because in the end he was a little rat who only knew how to scramble against the corners of a room, looking for crumbs. He'd fight nastily to survive, but it didn't make him anything but a rat.
She'd been out in the open for the last hour, just waiting. Making no attempt at hiding. She knew why the ABB and the Empire hadn't taken the north east or the southeast area bordering the docks fully, the ABB firmly holding most of the rest of the eastern dock areas. Not because of the Merchants. But because any expansion of that level would induce a full out gang war between the two real gangs - plus the area was filled with the shittiest, most run down buildings, so it was territory that would be costly to maintain for absolutely no monetary benefit. So the Empire 88 and the ABB skirmished at the borders sometime, but they didn't go full in for the unconquered areas. It would be their loss. Of course the center had Coil and the west and much of the north were PRT controlled areas, like the boardwalk just north of the center area Coil controlled, no one really touched either, it wasn't worth the hassle.
She heard the sound of a vehicle speeding, and she perked up. Was it finally…?
A junker of a car with a cannon sticking out of the front and two mounted machine gun emplacements up top - sped into the square in front of the building she was resting on top of. What could only be Skidmark poking out of the roof, hands on the machine guns, the man looked absolutely filthy and was swearing up a storm as he was pushed back and forth as what could only be Squealer spun the car around so the cannon faced her.
A mound of garbage flowed out of the backseat, slowly picking up more of the debris around them as Skidmark stood up, brushing his filthy shirt, stained yellow with actual crust along the edges, a mask covering the upper half of his face, doing nothing to hide the absolute crime against humanity that was his teeth. "Hope you have your puckered, juicy, asshole ready for me, cunt! I'm gonna fire everything right up that filthy fucking thing!" Skidmark called up, before he started laughing, like he'd said the funniest thing.
Ivy couldn't really see Squealer through the windshield; it was that filthy, but she definitely noticed when the cannon suddenly fired, demolishing the building she was sitting on. Unfortunately for her, Ivy was already jumping before that, seeds flowing down her arms, turning into vines that were spreading to the ground, giving her a slide to go down, as she landed in front of the dollar store tank, making a gesture with her right hand, sending the vines forward en masse, slamming into the front of the car and the windshield, crushing the cannon and drawing a shriek out of Squealer as she was dragged out of the broken windshield, getting cut up in the process.
She didn't know why she'd always been able to shape plants without additional biomass but she was thankful as it ensured she could pull this persona off, she only needed to touch a plant to shape it, then as long as it was within her vicinity she still had control over it up to a limit, she wasn't as fast when she wasn't touching the plant.
Ivy, had her vines hold Squealer up in front of her, dangling the vehicle tinker by the arms, like a flag in front of Skidmark and Mush. "I've got something of yours, I think." She called out, even as she kept creating vines, letting them sneak down behind her, tunneling under the ground.
"Mush, fucking do something, you cum guzzling cock goblin!" Skidmark shouted, his eyes having trouble seeing them, Ivy wondered how many drugs he was on at the moment. A moment later he seemed to figure out sight as he got ready to fire, lining them up with both guns, either not realizing, or not caring that Squealer was in the firing line. Nor using his powers. What a waste of a parahuman...
"What the fuck! Watch it!" Squealer, well… Squealed, struggling as the vines held her up, starting to simply scream in a high pitch as the machine guns started firing, hanging limply, in horror.
Ivy let the vines that had slammed into the car rise up, sliding together into a wall, enforcing the material with more seeds exploding into full on trees, further strengthening the wall, the machine gun fire not able to penetrate the material. Not that it made Skidmark stop firing, the completely out of it black man screaming as he fired continuously, apparently not noticing it wasn't doing anything.
Meanwhile, Ivy could have fought with Mush. But really. Why even bother to make all this into a fight, during the noise and spectacle of both machine guns unloading, the vines she'd sequestered underground had resurfaced, under Mush, spearing through the garbage, finding the body in the middle of it, and slamming him into the ground over and over again until the garbage all fell off, the cape completely out of it.
"You guys… Really can't be taken seriously, huh?" She said, giving Squealer a shake with her vines, the captive tinker whimpering, mumbling a bunch of nonsense to herself.
She had plans for Squealer and Mush. The vehicle tinker could be useful, healed up, not addicted anymore, and under her aegis with a new less ridiculous cape name and more resources to tinker with. Invisible cars were nice, but invisible buses or an actual plane would be much better. She'd see what she could motivate Squealer into doing once she was healthy. Although by necessity she'd have to twist her brain to showcase some loyalty, same with Mush.
The benefit of being transmigrated to another universe, is all the metaknowledge she had available. Not only from Worm, but from fanfiction. She'd read somewhere of Mush using sand as a giant sand golem instead of utilizing garbage with his power. And honestly, becoming the Sandman was an improvement. She already had ideas on how to always keep sand available for him too. Tinkers being bullshit as they are.
The machine guns finally clicked empty, so she parted her wall, not even allowing Skidmark to speak before she sent a vine forward, its tip sharp as steel, piercing him through the forehead, immediately killing him. Squealer came alive again as she started to scream in fear and panic.
She could have turned him into the PRT, but why bother. Killing the trash wouldn't get her kill order, and the Protectorate chasing her would happen whether she killed him or not. He was a bottom feeder. She did everyone a favor really.
Her vines collected Mush, dragging Squealer with her as she sauntered off, she needed to find a nice quiet place to do some improvements to her new minions. Luckily enough no one knew or cared enough about either of them to think it too weird that they simply hung on to a new boss with the loss of the old one. And any more competent behavior from them could simply be explained away with the fact they weren't high anymore.
Poison Ivy, the Queen of Brockton Bay sounded quite nice.
＊＊＊