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Burgeoning Bladesmith Ch. 5 (Unedited)
🕑 Added 2024-06-13 23:32:52 +0000 UTCBurgeoning Bladesmith
By: Bubbajack
Editors/Co-Authors: IcySnowSage, First Hassan
Special Consultant: Heliosion
Special thanks go out to my Super Donors: Alexander Murry, Bobby Glass, Jareth Norris, Lucas White, NeroSolas. Extra Special thanks go out to Lucas White for becoming a Supreme Tier Donor. My heartfelt thanks go out to all my other Patrons as well.
Ch.1-5: Crucible
The night air was brisk as Greg walked the streets of Brockton Bay. only the rhythmic clack of his cane on the pavement could be heard as he searched for evil afoot. ‘Evil afoot?’ Greg thought to himself. ‘I’ve been reading too many of my dad’s old Pre-cape comic books.’ So thinking, he gave his head a shake to clear it of any intrusive thoughts before focusing on the task at hand. Actually looking for trouble for once in his life. Highly doubting he’d find anything like that on the Boardwalk itself, he cut down an alleyway, and listened.
Listening wasn’t a hard skill to pick up, but mastering it? That took a little effort. You had to block out everything else around you and focus on specific sounds. In this particular case, Greg was listening for the sounds of rushing feet, breaking glass, yelling, cries for help, things of that nature.
Hearing something shuffling further down the alleyway, and he honed in on it. ‘Too loud to be a rat, too big to be anything small, it's not growling in warning so it's not a stray dog… could be either homeless or a Merchant trying to get high. I’m gonna check it out.’ he decided.
Walking on catspaws, Greg continued into the alleyway keeping his eyes peeled for anything dangerous. He didn’t see anything, but he heard something, definitely a person trying to hide near the dumpster underneath some cardboard.
He walked right past it, pretending he didn’t notice the person trying to hide before he turned just as easily and using the butt of his cane, swatted the cardboard off the hiding figure. To his surprise, it was a woman, older, possibly nineteen with brunette hair and a red visor covering her eyes. Her costume was yellow and red in color and it was covered in blood because she had three long gashes going from her left shoulder to her right hip. “Young lady, what happened to you?”
“Hahah… Pissed off the… wrong people… thought you were… one of them. Names Farseer, you're the new Rogue right?”
“New Cape, not a Rogue.” Greg replied not thinking his dual identity would be blown so easily.
Farseer just grinned at him with bloodied teeth. “If you want… people to believe that in the future… don’t carry the cane in both disguises.”
“Fair enough.” He hadn’t thought of that. “Do you need me to take you to Brockton General?”
The Cape shook her head, “No, too obvious. The Empire would expect me to head there.”
Greg blinked and sighed, “Why does the Empire want you dead?”
“Well, it's more like Stormtiger as far as I know but yeah. He’s a bit miffed that I sold the location of some of the dog fighting rings Hookwolf entrusted him with to a dog lover.”
“Information broker?” Greg asked, picking her up in his arms in a bridal carry.
“Something like that,” Farseer replied, slipping her bloodied hands around his neck. “I find things that people need found. Could be other people, information, or what have you. But I’m also really good at doing the opposite. I can make a person place or thing undetectable if I put my mind to it.”
“Tinker?” Greg asked, heading back to the Dollhouse.
“With a little bit of Thinker thrown in for guud measure,” Farseer replied, slurring her words a bit.
Slapping her face a bit Greg said, “Hey now, stay awake stay with me, Farseer!”
Rushing back to the Dollhouse he found the others seemingly following in his wake. “Make a hole and Parian, get the first aid kit, will you?”
“Of course.”
“What happened to her?” Taylor, who was wearing her now completed costume asked.
“Well… Skitter,” He said making up a name on the spot, “She ran afoul of Stormtiger. Actually, you could help out a lot right now. Summon up as many spiders as you can. We need stitches and spider silk could be really useful right now.”
“On it,” Taylor replied not knowing how she felt about the Skitter moniker but it was better than nothing at the moment. In a matter of seconds, dozens of spiders were crawling up the wounded cape “I’ve got an even better idea actually. Do you trust me?”
“Of course, but I’m not the one you need to worry about,” Looking at Farseer, he asked, “Are you good?”
Farseer blinked but nodded. “Never seen someone do that before, but it's this or I bleed to death. Go ahead, Skitter.”
“Okay,” Taylor took a breath, ‘I can do this,’ She told herself, ‘I can do this,’ she proceeded to stitch the girls wounds close using the spiders themselves. It took only a minute at most due to the sheer number of spiders she had under her command, and by the time Parian came back with the fist aid kit, she had finished putting the final stitches on Farseer.
“Oh wow, we’ve got our very own discount Panacea.” The fashionista noted as she looked at Taylor’s handiwork. “Nice stitching too.”
“Thanks… is she gonna be okay?” Taylor asked, looking at Farseer who was breathing heavily and looking rather pale.
Placing two fingers on her neck, Greg felt her pulse going stronger than earlier, “She should be fine. You closed the wounds, Skitter. Should I call Panacea and have her look her over? Just in case?”
“I’ll call her, I think Amy would love an excuse to get out of the hospital early.” Parian said as she dialed Brockton’s healer.
(...)
“What the fuck happened to her?!” Were the first words out of Amy’s mouth once she walked through the door.
“She ran afoul of Stormtiger,” Greg said by way of reply as Brockton’s premiere healer put her hand on the cape’s shoulder and rapidly healed her wounds. Noting the stitches, she commented, “Good job sewing her up before I got here, Skitter.”
“How did you-?”
“Group chat,” Amy replied, cutting the other girl off, “Don’t worry, your secret's safe with me.”
Nodding Taylor said, “Right, thanks.”
Absentmindedly nodding, Panacea turned to her patient and said, “Farseer, you've got a clean bill of health. I don’t usually do house calls, but, well I guess you could say the Dollhouse has me on retainer.”
“Good thing too or I’d be a goner.” Farseer replied as she grimaced down at her costume. “Damn Stormtiger! These costumes aren’t cheap! They don’t grow on trees, damn it!”
Clearing her throat, Parian said,” I might be able to help you out there. I mean, it's kinda my thing… if you want that is?”
“Really? That’d be great and all, but I already feel like I owe you guys for the save,” Farseer admitted feeling burdened by their kindness.
Placing a hand on her shoulder, Greg said, “Don’t feel like that, I helped you because you needed it, that’s all. If you want to pay it forward by helping us out at some point in the future, great! But don’t feel obligated to do so.” He then motioned for her to follow Parian with his head, “Follow Par, she’ll fix you up right.”
“And just where are you going, oh hero of mine?” Farseer asked worriedly as he headed for the door.
Tapping his helmet, his entire appearance changed. Gone was the metal helmet and red robe and in its place was gleaming white samurai armor. The helmet possessed several golden spikes three running perpendicular to each other on either side and a red face mask. “I’m heading back out there,” He replied easily, his voice warped and distorted as if he were speaking into a modulator. “I’ve already helped one person tonight, I see no reason to stop. Wish me luck.” He said before he headed out into the dark.
Never hearing Farseer mutter a “Good luck” to his back.
“C’mon hun, let’s go get you fixed up.” Parian said, taking her by the hand and leading her away to the dressing rooms.
“Looks like Greg bagged another one,” Amy couldn’t help but comment. “I swear he’s a Master 0 and doesn’t even know it.”
Taylor, who'd put some bugs on Greg before he went out again to keep tabs on him was quick to reply, “Can you blame her if that’s the case? He did save her life after all.”
The healer shrugged in response, “I guess not, stranger things have happened after all. As long as it doesn’t end up causing Greg any undue stress, it's not my problem.”
“You take your role as his doctor very seriously, don’t you?” Taylor noted bemused.
Amy shook her head, “No, I take his role as my best if not only friend seriously,”
Taylor’s heart went out to the other girl, yet she couldn’t help but exclaim, “No other friends? But… you're the Panacea?! I would think people would practically be tripping over themselves to get to know you? Sorry, I didn’t mean-”
“Those types of people are fans, not friends Taylor… and trust me, fame isn’t all it's cracked up to be.” Amy sighed, “I guess it's true what they say, If you have two friends in your lifetime, you’re lucky. If you have one good friend, you’re more than lucky.”
“S.E. Hinton,” Taylor quipped, “That phrase is attributed to the novelist S.E Hinton… Sorry, mom before she passed was an English Lit teacher at the local college. So I know things like these.”
Amy nodded, “So you like books then?”
Taylor nodded eagerly, “Yeah, it helps me remember her.”
“Got any you can recommend?” Amy asked, one of the few ways Carol would leave her alone at home was if she buried her head in a book. She called it, ‘At least doing something productive’ but she wasn’t going to complain.
“Sure… um have you ever read Frank Hebert’s Dune?”
Amy felt her friend counter might’ve just gone up by one.
(...)
Greg was once again prowling the streets of Brockton Bay. On the lookout for any ne'er-do-wells ‘Seriously Greg, stop quoting your dad’s old comic books,’ He told himself. He was now deep downtown in Empire territory and had yet to see the iconic color of red and black doing anything illicit. ‘Then again, the Empire usually does White collar crime, ironically enough.’ Greg mused to himself. Yes the Empire, despite being racist were savvy racists. Outside of their dog and pit fighting rings, a lot of their crimes came in the form of protection rackets, gambling halls, ponzi schemes, and the like. As much as Greg hated to admit it, and he did, Downtown was one of the safer places to be as long as you had the right complexion.
“Leave me the fuck alone, you walking jars of mayonnaise!”
‘But if you don’t,’ Greg thought as he headed towards the indignant shout.
Deciding the quickest route would be a straight line, Greg scaled a nearby fire escape and took to the rooftops, leaping across the gaps between a couple buildings before looking upon the scene going on below.
At least four low level thugs in the E88 had a young girl surrounded. Her dark skin tone told him the reason why. Not wasting any more time, Greg unsheathed the katana he had at his side and jumped off the building, his sword raised over his head.
“What the hell do you think you're doing? Coming onto our turf huh? You think you can get away with dis’respecting the Empire like that?” Goon number one said as he pulled his gun, holding it sideways, clearly going for the killshot.
“You know you're not even holding that thing properly, right?” The young girl they were trying to intimidate replied, sounding more annoyed at their stupidity than anything.
“What the fuck would a monkey know about guns?” Goon Two asked.
“Can you even spell the word monkey? You look a little too inbred for it,” The girl shot back, “Also I know that holding the gun sideways is a good way to get hot brass flying into your hand, chest, and or crotch.”
“You know, I think she’s right?” Goon Three noted, only to get slapped by Goon Four.
“Whose side are you on, man?”
“I took a gun safety class and the instructor said holding the gun sideways was a bad idea.” Goon Three replied.
The other three Goons looked at Goon Three funny. “You took a gun safety class?”
Goon three just shrugged, “Well yeah, guns are dangerous weapons and should be treated as such right?”
The three just looked at each other before shouting out, “NERD!”
“Yes, let’s just ostracize the smart, sensible one? He’s probably the only one with a brain between the four of you,” The girl muttered under her breath.
“Oi, shut up!” Goon one yelled at her, just as he was about to pistol whip her, a shadow fell over his body, “What the fuc-” He didn’t get to finish as he looked up just in time to receive a katana blade right between the eyes.
Then a samurai in white armor landed heavily on his still warm corpse and rolled to his feet, pulling his sword free as he did so, and, in one sweeping motion sliced off Goon two’s dominant arm, before pivoting and quite literally disarming Goon four. Goon three stood there in shock, too stunned to even go for his gun.
Cold hard eyes flicked to the gangbanger, “You, leave, now if you want to live.”
Needing no further prompting the Goon ran, tripping over his own two feet at times.
Flicking crimson droplets off his sword, the samurai resheathed it in one smooth motion before turning to her, his once pristine armor now stained with drops of crimson and asked kindly, “Are you alright?”
In response, Aisha Leborne fainted dead on the spot.
“Damn it,” Greg swore, “She could’ve at least told me where she lived before doing that,” sighing he hefted her onto his back, in a fireman's carry all while thinking, ‘No rest for the weary,’
(...)
Slowly Aisha’s eyes blinked open. And then she realized she was being carried by someone. She tensed, only to notice neither her hands nor feet were bound.
“Are you awake back there?” her savior, the samurai from earlier asked. His voice sounded both warped and monotone at the same time.
“Y-Yeah, I am, thanks for the assist… where are we going?” She asked after a moment.
The person carrying her hummed, “That’s a good question, you keeled over before telling me where you live so, I’ve been heading towards the park. I figured I could just keep an eye on you there till you woke up, let you rest on a bench or something.”
“You know that people go to the park at night to fuck, right?” Aisha told him bluntly.
Greg stopped, “I did not know that, no…”
“My hero, the Cherry Boy.” Aisha drawled.
Greg turned his head to glare at her with one eye, “Hey, is that anyway to thank someone who saved you from getting shot?”
“Probably not, but the fact you didn’t know the park was a hookup spot after dark means you must be a virgin.” Aisha replied.
“You look kinda young… So how exactly do you know all this?” Greg inquired, almost fearing the answer.
In response, the girl hugged him tighter and replied, “My home life isn’t great, so I’ve learned to make myself scarce at night. I go for walks. I learned all kinds of things. It’s just tonight I bumped into the wrong people. Most folk after the sun goes down don’t give you a second glance.”
“I see… well you're safe with me.”
“Thanks Cherry Boy… What’s your name anyway?”
Greg huffed, “I wear a mask for a reason, you know.”
Aisha rolled her eyes, “I meant your cape name dumbass.”
“Ah, well… huh.” He replied.
“Don’t tell me you came out here all suited up and didn’t think of a name?!” Aisha couldn’t help but laugh.
Greg sighed, “Okay, I won’t tell you. But I do just so happen to be taking suggestions at the moment.”
The girl on his back hummed in thought for a moment before asking, “Hmm, What’s japanese for gangster cutter?”
“Properly? The term for gangster would be Akuto, which can also translate to villain roughneck, or rogue. Informally? The term for gangster would be Yakuza. And the term for cutter would be Giri.” Greg informed his rescuee.
“Akutogiri sounds cool,” Aisha agreed, “Better than Cherry Boy at least.” she couldn’t help but tease.
“Thanks, but the question is, now what do I do with you? Can’t take you home, doesn’t sound safe. Do you have anyone else you can stay with?”
Aisha paused for a moment before nodding, “Yeah my older bro. He’s a bit of a mother hen but he means well.”
“Think you can find the way to his house from here?” the newly minted Akutogiri asked as they stopped on fifth and main.
Aisha nodded, “Yeah his place is near the Docks.”
“Cool, off we go then,” Greg said as he swung left.
After a moment’s silence the girl spoke again, “Aisha,”
“Gesundheit?” he replied with uncertainty.
“No, that’s my name, idiot. Aisha Leborne.”
Her savior laughed a bit in embarrassment before he said, “Oh, well nice to meet you, Aisha.”
“Yeah you too, hang a right up here,” She told him, as they skirted the Docks looking for her brother's place.
(...)
While Greg was in the midst of helping a girl, things were currently tense at Ryozanpaku. The Masters, all sans Renka and Shigure who weren’t present at the moment, were trembling underneath Miu’s impressive Dou ki. In front of each of them was a meager bowl of rice, a scrawny burnt fish, and the dregs of miso soup. After training, drinking, or working all day, to come home to this was truly heart wrenching.
“Would one of you august masters like to explain to me why Greg-kun has been paying ten-thousand dollars a month for lessons?” Her smile was chillingly cold and fit for a yuki-onna of legend.
“What the hel-heck is Miu talking about?” Saiga, Miu’s father demanded, not wanting to swear around his grandchild. He liked Greg. The boy was like the second or third son he never got to have, Kenichi notwithstanding, so hearing this infuriated him.
It seems the Ki of two martial artists, one of them a Grandmaster in their own right, was too much for them and one of them finally cracked, “Well, this place isn’t going to keep itself afloat you know!” Kensei Ma said after a moment. “People just aren’t willing to come to us for help thanks to the ABB. Even though we aren’t affiliated with them, people just don’t care.”
“So you make Greg foot the bill? How is that fair?!” Miu shouted.
“Someone has to,” Akisame replied, “And it's not like Greg can’t afford it. The property taxes alone here cost five hundred dollars a month.”
“Greg has practically been paying for this entire household for three years and for what? Nothing!” Miu asked with fury burning in her eyes. She then looked at her grandfather in utter disappointment. “I would’ve expected this from the others, but for you to do this as well grandfather?” She shook her head, “Grandmother and Mother would be ashamed of you if they could see you now.”
The Superman of the Martial Arts world staggered to the side as if he’d been physically struck. “Miu… I… You don’t understand, the world has seemingly moved on without us. It doesn’t want martial artists anymore, it wants Heroes. Capes. Actual super men,” He looked down ashamed even as he admitted, “We’re all just relics of the past.”
Miu quickly retorted, “You say that Grandfather, and yet even before Greg got his powers, he was going out there and using what you taught him to help people wasn’t he? So you're wrong, the world still has a place, a need for us. We may not be able to fight the strongest of capes but relics? We’re far from it.” She glared around the table as she said, “I hope you're ready, because things are going to be tight around here for a good long while. Until we pay Greg back every last red cent we owe him,” She motioned to the food on the table, “This is what you can expect for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
Saiga then interrupted, saying, “You can put yourself and the others through this all you like Miu but I’m not going to let Shizuha suffer if I can do something about it,” He then glared at the masters adding, “If you needed money you could’ve just asked me, you know? I work freelance for the CIA for God’s sake.”
Miu sighed in relief, “Thank you papa, I’m a bit relieved knowing Shizuha is going to be properly fed.” She then sat down at the table, “I suggest you eat up, we all have a long day tomorrow.”
Grimacing, the masters did as she suggested. Karma, as they say, is a bitch.
(...)
“Is this the place? You sure?” Greg asked Aisha as the duo stopped in front of a ramshackle tin roof ranch house just off the Docks. It wasn’t the best looking place, and it looked like it could use a fresh coat of paint, but then again, who was Greg to judge?
“Yeah this is it, I followed my bro here once, he thinks I don’t know about this place. But… Anyway, go knock and then let me do the talking.” Aisha told him.
“Can you walk yet? It’d be a little odd if I showed up carrying you on my back wouldn’t it?” Greg replied, turning and giving the girl the side eye.
Aisha gave him a playful grin, “I mean yeah, I could walk the whole time,”
“Then why didn’t you?”
The girl in his arms smiled impishly, “Cause how often am I gonna get to enjoy being carried around like this?” In response, Greg dropped her on her butt. “I deserved that… but it was worth it.” Aisha said, getting up. “Now remember, let me do the talking.
“You can talk, it’s getting you to stop, that's the trick.”
She stuck her tongue out at him in response before going to the door and rooting around in a half dead potted plant for the house key before unlocking the front door for the both of them.
The front door led into a living room kitchenette hybrid with a hallway leading further in, leather furniture was sitting around the living area, a wall mounted tv took up the space of one area, and the kitchenette itself looked like it had brand new appliances. Greg could also hear the voices of people arguing in one of the rooms further back.
“-doing here Tats?” An older male, presumably Aisha’s brother asked. His tone implied he wasn’t happy to see whoever ‘Tats’ was in his house.
“Brian, you need to stop running away every time something gets tough.” This voice, female replied.
“I don’t-” Brian began only to be cut off.
“Yes you do, this is me, remember? You keep this place not just so you can have a place for Aisha but so you can have a place to run to if things with us get too difficult. Just like how you have us to run to when things with your family get too difficult. That’s your shitty ass coping mechanism, Brian, you run away when things get too tough for you and you need to stop.”
A sigh was heard from Brian before he said, “You know, I really really, hate it when you do that?”
“What can I say, it's a gift.” Tats replied her jovial, almost mocking tone made it clear she wasn’t sorry at all.
It was at this point that Greg gave Aisha a gentle nudge with his elbow to hurry things along lest either of them hear something they weren’t supposed to. In response, Aisha slammed the front door shut and called out, “Brian, you here?!”
“Aisha?!” A boy of dark complexion his hair done in cornrows poked his head out of one of the rooms in the back. “How in the hell did you-” He shook his head, “Never mind that, what are you doing here this late at night?” He came out into the room wearing roadleathers, and was followed by a blonde girl in a purple and black bodysuit with an eye in the middle. “And who is this guy?”
Greg looked back and forth between the two for a moment before saying, “Ah.”
“Ah shit…” The blonde swore.
“What?” Brian asked.
“He knows who we are… or you at least” the blonde Tattletale, Greg realized, “No, strike that, he pegged both of us.”
“Fuck… Okay nobody freak out I’m sure we can come to an… understanding.” Grue, leader of the Undersiders said calmly.
“Wow… my brother the supervillain… so, when do I get to see the lair?” Aisha asked.
“Never… and who is this guy?” Grue asked, pointing at Greg.
“Oh him, he’s my guardian angel.” Aisha said super casually, causing Tattletale to scoff.
“Your what now?” Both Greg and Grue said at the same time before sharing a look.
Aisha just shrugged, “What? Well, you are? I mean, what else would you call someone who divebombs off a roof, impales an E88 thug in the head and makes sashimi out of two other dudes?”
Tattletale whistled. “Damn, she’s not exaggerating.” Tattletale said as she eyed the katana on the capes hip warrily.
“He disarmed them… literally.” The younger of the two Laborn siblings confirmed. “You might as well put that peashooter away, I betcha he can slice bullets.” she told Tattletale who had a gun trained on the unknown cape, though her hands were trembling slightly.
“Easy now,” Greg said, holding his hands out, “That gun goes off and someone could get hurt. Just lower it. You don’t even have to put it away. All I’m asking is that you just don’t point it at anyone.”
“Tats… Tattletale!” Grue said, getting her attention. “Lower the gun. You could accidently hit my sister.”
Tattletale grimaced, but did as told before complaining “We’re in a catch twenty-two situation here, Brian. He knows your identity, where you live, and your sister. Not to mention how badly this could come back to bite the rest of us.”
“I don’t particularly care. I was just safely seeing a girl home after she was accosted by some racist pricks.”
That threw everyone for a loop causing Tattletale to ask, “Umm aren’t you a Hero? Isn’t it your job to arrest us?”
“Part time Vigilante fulltime Rogue actually. And last I checked, you aren’t doing anything illegal… at the moment.” He stretched, feeling the vertebra in his spine crack, not at all worried about the gun being pointed at him, having become inoculated to it, thanks to his first meeting with Contessa most likely. Yet he still found it kinda hot.
“Me pointing a gun at you doesn’t count because you think it's a turn on, I take it?” Tattletale asked. She had found out weirder kinks about people. The fact he found women with guns sexy well… she couldn’t really blame him.
“Yeah, pretty much.” Greg confirmed, “Thinker?”
“Clever boy.” She purred.
“Okay hold on, back up,” Brian said standing in between Tattletale and Greg whom he pointed at,“You saved my sister from some Empire goons tonight and then walked her here? Is that about right?”
“Carried her here more like, after she fainted, correct?” Tattletale offered a coy smile on her lips while giving a knowing wink to Aisha, who looked away embarrassed.
“Shut up, Tattletale.” Brian said not looking at her. He then addressed his sister, “And you, what were you doing out at this time of night all by yourself?”
Aisha glared at her brother, “You really gotta ask? You know what mom gets up to at night, and I didn’t wanna be around for that. So I just go for walks. Long ones. Not all of us can just leave forever, or have superpowers and can make it on the streets Bri,”
Brain grimaced and looked away. “I know, Aisha I know, I’m doing the best I can,” Aisha scoffed, “I am doing the best I can to make a stable place for you to stay.”
Greg and Tattletale shared a look, it was clear both felt like they were intruding on a personal family moment. Locking eyes with her, Greg nodded towards the door. Getting the hint, Tattletale nodded, “We’ll be outside, you two can handle your shit in here. Try not to kill each other m’kay?”
“Right back atcha Tats, I owe him one so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to kill him.” Brian told the braintrust of the Undersiders.
“I honestly don’t know if I could even if I tried, Bri,” She replied honestly as she followed the unknown Cape outside.
(...)
“So,” Tattletale said, leaning on Brian’s front porch, “You're the new Tinker working with Parian huh?”
“Dude, how? I’m disguising myself and everything!”
“I’m a thinker hun, plus you made it kinda obvious when you said you were a full time Rogue and there’s only like four of those in town. Parian, Uber and Leet, sort of, and now you. And now the same day a new Tinker shows up a Vigilante shows up the same night? It’s kinda obvious.”
“Shit…” Greg sighed, “I’m not good at this double identity thing.”
“Did you actually think it would be as easy as it was in the old pre-cape comics?” Seeing the look she was being given, Tattletale laughed, “Oh wow, you did didn’t you? Oh you sweet summer child.” She patted him semi-condescendingly on the cheek.
“Stop that,” He said, swatting her hand away. “Well, since this whole secret identity is a bust, can I at least offer you my services?”
Tattletale grinned vulpinely, “Tell you what, you offer us a discount, say sixty percent, and I’ll keep your secondary identity a secret. Deal?”
“Tattletale,” Greg began, “I know your leader's name and home address… you’ve got to do better than that.”
“Tch, you’ve got me there,” She stowed her gun in a holster she kept on her person and continued, “Well, how about this then? Aisha can work for you and Parian part time after school, and we pay you cash for commissions, clothing, armor, weapons and the like?”
“Sure I’m fine with that, I’d only be willing to pay her a quarter over minimum wage though and only for about four hours a day, and under the table at that.”
“You realize that’s “$15.25 an hour, right?” Tattletale informed him.
“Yes and?” He replied.
Lisa just grinned and shook her head, “You're too good for this sinful earth, Inari.”
“Please, when I’m dressed like this, call me Akutogiri, Tattletale,” He asked, offering her a hand, which she shook.
After a moment’s companionable silence in which the two could hear the faint echoes of the Laborn siblings shouting at each other coming through the walls, Greg glanced at Tattletale and asked, “Do you want to tell them or should I?”
“I think we should wait until they’ve shouted themself hoarse first. Far less likely they can yell at us then.” The Thinker replied easily as she leaned against the wall.
“Good idea Tattletale… also not it.” Akutogiri replied as he mirrored her posture from a few feet away.
“Damn, beat me to it.” She said with a snap of her fingers and lupine smile. “Ah well, better it comes from me anyway. Brian can be… temperamental at the best of times, but especially when Aisha’s safety is involved.”
That earned her an eyeroll, “You don’t say?”
“But yeah it’ll be a pleasure working with you, Akutogiri,”
“I’m sure the pleasure will be all mine, Tattletale.” He replied just as easily.
Now in her defense, Lisa tried, she really did try to keep it to herself but her power made it next to impossible. So she found herself saying, “By the way, you know your little impromptu rescue sparked a little crush in Aisha right?”
“It’s probably just puppy love. She’ll grow out of it. If she doesn’t, she’ll need to take a number, because other girls have already laid claim to my time and… well, my life is complicated.”
She stared at him for a moment, either his own power or something he created was interfering with her own ability but she was pretty sure he wasn’t joking right now. “Seriously?”
“Yes. It wasn’t even my idea but…” He shrugged, “As long as everyone’s happy, I guess?”
“Can I also take a number?” He stared at her incredulously, “What? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a date when your power tells you every dirty secret they have? Something you're wearing is scrambling it so… I mean like I said, I don’t have a whole lot of options. What I’m trying to say is that I’m game if you are?”
“Should’ve just kept my mouth shut,” Greg muttered to himself, causing the Thinker to laugh at his expense only to kiss his cheek, “You’ll learn to love me,” she whispered playfully in his ear.
‘How am I going to explain this to Par and the others?’ Greg thought to himself with mounting dread in his stomach. His first patrol did not end like he had hoped but no one died… That’s a good thing right? Right?!
(...)
Word Count: 5,650 Number of pages: 14 Date Completed: 5/27/2024
(...)
AN:
Hello everyone and welcome to Burgeoning Bladesmith Chapter 1-5. I’m glad to be able to bring this to you guys. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Poor Greg though, his rizz is just too strong! Lol poor guy. Anyway Another chapter in the bag. Till next time, here’s Snowy and the rest of the crew.
Snowy:
Hassan:
Antagonist:
LoamyCoffee: What a day for his first patrol! Have to agree his rizz is stronger than Hercules. Karma for the male Masters of Ryozanpaku is sweet.
Thanks again for reading! This has been an Inkblot Bro’s Production! Peace!
Comments
Jeffrey Jankoviak
So Greg has now met Aisha and (half of) the Undersiders. Looking forward to seeing where this goes next.
