Hello there! You may be an older reader. If so,I know I have made you wait so very long. My life has been a mess as of lately, but that is no excuse. I hope you can forgive me. You may also be a new reader. If so, welcome, and thank you for reading so far! Regardless, welcome to this new chapter! As a side note, some of youc may have noticed this isn't my only that the other (non-oneshot) things I've been writing aren't dead, simply stuck in development limbo until I stop fluctuating between writer's block and writer's ball (AKA: from no idea at all to too many ideas to do anything conclusive with). I know it's been... (*checks) Jesus, three years already since the last update? Okay I will try and get something done soon. But no matter, that's not the point. I had quite a few ideas recently, including a Coil who would never have fallen into villainy (let me tell you this messes a lot, requires some further thinking). They all may or may not become their own thing. That aside,well...Free free to criticise, be it typoes, writing style, formatting issues (especially those, seems to break my nice things and I don't...Always notice afterwards), errors in characterisation or timeline incoherences, it will be always be appreciated. As usual, I do not own Worm,Wildbow does. Praise be unto him and all that good stuff. And now...Chapter time. I hope you will enjoy.

Harmonics 2.5: Time is (not) standing still

Feb,5th

"...Do you see what I mean? I need some practice, getting a better lay of the land. I need to get how your empowered fight. My partner needs to build some also needs to finish preparing some gear and getting rid of reflexes that might get her hurt or worse. I cannot deem either of us quite yet ready to join a premade combat cell. And I need to work on the matter of 'cape law' so I do not blunder and cause issues to my allies."

"Deep analysis. I don't agree with all of it, but it was quite astute."

"And quite verbose, coming from one of your age bracket. Director, I believe some leniency might be advisable."

"A month is too much. Brockton Bay is slowly dying, we need any help we can get. 2 weeks, and we can fast-track you in in case of emergency.

"Three, and I will gladly patrol with your wards regularly. And you keep an eye on your bad egg. If something similar to the Incident-"

Mia's voice spiked with anger and disgust, her grip on my wrist tightening slightly.

"Ever occurs, expect the two of us to bail faster than you can say 'out of there'."

That had been the agreement we came upon. After all, as she said, once is a coincidence, but only once. I was still bitter about letting it go, but...One shot, that's what we gave them.

"Believe us, considering how close we came to catastrophe, and how incredibly unaccepatable Hess' actions were, some eyes were opened. Securities are being set, and our guilty parties are either in the process of being fired or being kept under very watchful eyes. Anyhow, three weeks is...Acceptable."

The word seemed to burn her tongue.

Feb 6th

"...And that is the base stance for lightning mantis. Anything of note?"

"Well, your knee's slightly bent, and you're facing fully forward instead of being sideways to me which would minimize the zone where I might hit you...More of an offensive style?"

"Yes. The knee might be because this was originally meant to be used in conjunction with a sword, but I do not think you are quite ready for weaponry. At least not something that can so easily kill someone."

"Can you show me the moves, like you did before?"

"Of course."

Fluid movements. Punch. Jab. Spin kick. Axe kick. Elbow. I had some issues following her moves but I could tell...

"I like it, it's straight to the point. Do you...Think you can teach me to do that?"

She hesitated,for a second. It wasn't quite obvious, but I was still somehow able to spot it.

"It is...Not my favored style.A tad too aggressive for me. And I must confess, it is a difficult choice for a beginner, without the framework other styles provide. You are going to have issues. Nonetheless, I suppose this is your definite pick?"

I nodded.I knew she was somewhat disappointed. She had clearly hoped to teach me one of her favorites. The problem was was all of her favored choices were highly defensive fighting styles based on blocking, dodging and incapacitations. And of course she would pick those. She didn't actually want to hurt people,just stop them. Unless she was pissed off. Then, she switched to some kind of terrifying street brawl.I had seen that happen once,and honestly,in my defense or not? That had been *disturbing*.

Feb 7th

"Boop. Really now, you need to stop closing your eyes when punching. Yes, you are about to hurt someone but that is a huge weak spot and it might cause you severe harm. Anyhow, let us halt for today. Iwant you to about a movie before I go?"

"...Sure."

That had been ou first real sparring session and wow, I felt like my bruises had bruises. I had given it my all, and she gave me pointers as things went. I get it's better than just practicing moves on the air or a static target but damn why did getting better have to hurt so much!

Feb, 10th

Today was odd, if predictable. Returning to Winslow was a thing that happened, much to my chagrin. What didn't happen, however, was getting picked on. Sophia was silent, Madison looked confused. And Emma...Well. The first time one of her (former I guess?) hanger-ons tried to hurt me, she was the one to yell at her. Mia didn't have the time to react. Boom, zero to screaming in .4 seconds. Everyone seemed perplexed. And Emma's losing followers fast. Apparently fighting against bullies isn't as popular as being one, who'd have guessed? And my new friend's staring at her all the time. Waiting for her to show her colors, she said.

Feb 12th

Lately, i've been trying to run in different places. And it's odd. The docks are cleaner, these days. Less trash around. Fewer people roaming, too. And there are some posters here and there with phone numbers. Most of them are obvious. The BBPD, 911, that sort of things. The last one's simply listed "in case of emergency". In Borckton Bay, considering what kind of 'emergency' tends to happens, I thought I had an idea of what that number was. But it's not the PRT. Nor anything Protectorate-related. From the format, it's not a government-sponsored line at all.

Feb 15th

Today, the strange status quo that seemed to have started when I returned to Winslow is still holding. People sometimes stare at me, or at Mia, but they never say anything. Neither good nor bad. We're just...Ignored. It's actually pretty comfortable, really. It almost feels like Winslow high is...Normal. Oh, it's still an absolute garbage dump. Since it's a small high school destined to blue collar families, it makes sense. Little money, few voters. So nobody cares. This means a shoestring budget and smaller effectives. So we end up with overworked teachers, an uncaring staff, and a place that looks more like a derelict than a place of learning. Hell, the docks are cleaner these days. There would be so much to be reduce crime. To give people a future. (And those often overlapped,it's pretty obvious.)

The first class of the day was history. We talked about the industrial revolution. Nobody bugged me. I even dared to participate a bit. The teacher, Mr Ericsson...Smiled. Mr. Ericsson...He's not the worst of the teachers. When I was bullied, he was one of the few to have seemingly working eyes, though in the end it only meant that people found other hunting grounds. Otherall, he's a stern man, rarely emoting. On the other hand, the comments he leaves on copies say much. Maybe he's just shy? Anyhow, I had mentioned the steam engine and the fact that many things snowballed from there.

Next class is computer class, with Mrs Knott. This one had always been bully-free. Today's work is writing down a program thatcounts variables. C is a simple language but the grammar is a major pain. Still, I'm done in a bit over ten minutes. Mia finished some time before me. I see her checking PHO. Meanwhile, I'm reading cape news. Not much to say. Uber and Leet did a Bomberman-themed stunt, thankfully without hurting anyone. The E88 broke into a jewelery, took the money and killed the owner. They were Pakistanese. People held a protest that was broken by the PRT. 'Unlawful occupation of the streets', they said. Quickly swept under the rug.

The third class in the morning is chemistry, right before lunch. The topic is acid-base 's pretty interesting, though I get lost at times. Some of it is issues that came from the bullying. my notes were often stolen or just rendered unusable. I've been picking up lately. Some of it is lack of sleep, I wake up from dreams of closed boxes, it's hard to sleep again. Mia is kicking back and relaxing. I'd say she's not following, except the teacher thinks so too. She called her to the board three times. After three complete and correct answers, she stopped...Though the first time, she erased everything as fast she could. I couldn't see much, but what I'd seen wasn't wrong so much as completely different. Another system of representation altogether. One last time, the teacher chucked a piece of chack aiming near her,as she was resting her head in her arms. She caught it between two fingers and returned to her previous position. The class shared a chuckle at that.

At lunchtime, things get strange. Mia dragged me to the cafeteria. On the way, we met a familiar figure. A circle of people, jeering someone. I don't know anyone except the victim, a certain redhead. Murmurs of 'bimbo', 'vapid', 'zero soul', 'coward','queen bitch', diverse accusations including how she became a model or how she got to befriend Sophia. Funny things. I feel ambivalent. On one hand, there iss pity. No one deserves that sort of treatment. On the other, it's Emma Barnes. While she seems to have changed, I just know managing to forgive her will take time. Right now, I'm not sure of how to react. Unlike a certain someone.

"Er-hem."

Sudden silence. Stares all focus on one single point. Us. Wonderful.

"Today is beautiful, do you not agree? Why not enjoy it? Elsewhere?"

"Er...What?"

"Really? Must I make myself clear? Shoo. Scram. Stop this right now, it is disgraceful."

"The hell you talkin' about? We're defending your buddy here."

"No you're not. You just found someone vulnerable to hit on. That is such a waste, I am sure you can be much better than vultures."

"What kind of shitty friend are you? She bullied Taylor, now we bully her. Karma, turnabout's fair play, and all that shit. Thought you'd be happy really."

Mia facepalmed and gritted her teeth. I got thoughtful. So...They were just sucking to her. New top dog's here, better be in her good grace. It's sort of pathetic, really.

"You thought I would..."

"Well yeeeeah..."

An uneasy silence.

"Y'know. Hitting on the weak's cowardice. Hitting on the innocent's evil. But you know, she's a bitch. Acceptable targets."

"Fascinating. That is the best justification you can find? Well, it is not working. "Acceptable targets" are a myth for those who want to hit someone while feeling justified. Except violence is never just."

A silence. They all look like they got slapped across the face.

"Get. The hell. Out of my sight."

The jerks scram. She pats softly on the victim's back.

"Come on, you too,shoo!"

Her voice is surprisingly nice. I know she's still wary of my ex-friend. And honestly, I feel like I should've expected this. It takes some softness to see the person behind the guilty. I've been hardened for a while now. However, people can change...

The rest of the day is uneventful, but I had enough to think of for a week.

Feb 20th

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be. I'm not nearly as good as you when it comes to direct combat, but my powers should make due. And honestly? Training isn't enough anymore. I want to do something."

"Alright. Then follow the streets and get to work, young padawan. I will keep an eye for you from the rooftops."

...

Thirty minutes of patrolling is all it took to find crime in the zone of the docks. I grabbed any bug I found on the way. My scouts smelled unusual odors. Few individuals, reeking by themselves and smelling of something else. More scouts and I identify some kind of shady deal, probably drugs. My decision's taken.

The swarm falls on the street like a curtain, obscuring everything. I feel the dealers, most likely Merchants, pull out some weapons. One has a knife, one has a gun, one has a simple piece of pipe. There's a scream of 'Cape!'. I sneak behind the girl with the gun, punch in on the back of the skull. She shrieks before fainting. Shit. I feel the other two coming to me blindly. Their skin crawl with bugs. I feel the pipe coming for my face and dodge left. My knee meets his genitals. As fighting Lung taught me, genital punishent solves eveything. The man collapses with a painful moan...Maybe I was a little bit too rough.

The last one's a man too, small and dirty all over. He's frighteningly thin, shivering, his clothes shredded and tattered. His eyes scream despair. He charges straight at me with an enraged shout.

He slashes maniacally. I move back just in time. My kick misses his chin. He scrapes my bodysuit near the ribs. The knife doesn't make it through, but it hurts like hell.

We keep trading blows for nearly a minute. He's scarily good. And I realize. This is the power of despair and a life of struggle. This guy probably knows more about danger than I ever did, and often the only thing that tells me enough to avoid getting it is the vision from my swarm. His life was shit, and he probably never deserved this. In the end, I feel almost sad as I finally manage to take him down. I breathe and recuperate, tying the dealers' wrists and ankles with zip ties. I had bought those some time earlier knowing I would sooner or later go out. I breathe and rest.

For a good thirty seconds that is. Then, someone comes in screaming, dressed in ratty blue clothes. Dark skin, not all of his teeth, wears a cape, an air of absolute arrogance...Skidmark has entered the scene. Shit. I'm in a street crowded with stuff he could throw at me with his power. Double shit.

All right. He's supposed to be an idiot so...I get running.

"That's right! Flee! Flee from the MERCHANTS, YA SHITSTAIN!"

I drag him along until I find the spot I want,juking whenever he tries something. And things he does try, from tripping me, to throwing things, to trying to smash my face in. But we get there. A dead end, nothing cluttering it. Little space, so he can't just charge me to death. Good. I slip by him as he tries to crash into me, then block the path. The swarm gathers.

"Aight, ya got me cornered. Smart bitch.."

And then, he explodes into laughter and yells.

"HEY, SQUEALER!"

A monster truck from a car designer's nightmare crashes through the road. It's a patchwork of steel in different states of rust, that shouldn't hold up let alone pass through walls like butter. But it does. Fucking Tinkers. Someone's behind the van though, someone amorphous...The ground lights up stupidly bright and i feel something massive coming. More by luck than instinct, I scramble back andfeel the air rushing through. He threw Mush. Skidmark fucking threw Mush at me.I almost died. Oh god. Also, I feel Paladin coming ding, stomping Mush from above, whole clearly feels it through his trash armor. He lays limp, the layer of trash loses its coherence and stuff clatters all around him. Lights you, you asshole.

My partner dashes in front on me, lightning dancing between her fingers.

"Face me."

"Face us", I add as my rather large swarm masses around us.

"That's the little shit who's been stealing territory from us. Fuck, of course when I've got the lightweight ride. Time to go, Skids, we'll come back with the HA and see what she's got to say to my big toys."

"Well shit. Later scrubs."

Skidmark climbs into the tinker monstruosity, without even bothering about his subordinate, and the two just ran away. Paladin makes a quick call to the PRT and then grabs me, carry me to a park that should be closed. Except the door had been busted for years, and no one cared enough replace it. She sits me on a bench.

"Are you okay?"

"...Yeah. I got scared, but I'm fine."

"I'm sorry your first real fight got so bad. Do you still want to do this?"

Do I? Yeah, things got scary. And past me is an absolute idiot. Skidmark is terrifying. But taking down those drug dealers? Fighting someone who did so much wrong to my city? Scary as it was, it felt right. This was what I wanted to do.

"Yes. This is my path. I wish to become a hero."

"No. No you do not."

All of a sudden, she's angry. What? She jumps at me. I get running. What the hell is going on?

...

Right.

Left.

Pass the door, close the fence.

There's someone running after me like a i'm running. I've been running for the last five minutes through alleys. She's slowly gaining on me.

Right. No, wait. Not right. That's a dead end. Left leads to the Broadwalk...Too Obvious. There! An alley!

I feel wheezy. Come on.

Right.

Left.

Step right, feint left, keep going straight.

It's not fair. Independants usually live about six months. I won't even get that. It's not fair!

She follows. All right. I twist, and turn, and charge. I throw all my bugs in a cloud around her. She can't see, and they're packed so densely the swarm cushions the sounds somewhat. I pass through and run.

And there we are, running. Was it all a lie? Was she just someone who wanted to break my dreams,show me I was just some kind of lowlife? No, I was missing something. Something, but what?

As Paladin's fist comes for me, I block with my forearm. That's odd, I did the same while we were training, but it hurt way more back then, which means she's softballing on me. Except she has no reason to...oh.

Oh.

I come to a halt, hands in my pockets. Relaxed. One rule my friend/instructor/whatever told me. Know your enemy. When you know how they fight, and why, the battle is already half-won.

I throw a sudden, sloppy punch. She sidesteps almost lazily, then dashes out as a wave of pretty much everything I could find rushes out of the ground. Various flying nasties. I chain with all I have. Arms. Legs. Elbows. A headbutt, in a style admittedly completely ripped off from her. She pushes me to the end of what I can endure, I start to feel myself breathe, and finally she...Bops me lightly with the handle of her sword.

"And...Dead. Could you guess the purpose of this?"

"A test? Physical maybe?"

"In part. And a check of how you'd react in the face of adversity. Considering your first night out, you considered fighting Lung reasonable, that's leaps and bounds in common sense. Which is surprisingly rare around these parts...Great use of your swarm for obfuscation. Decent in combat..."

I felt myself blush.

"I wasn't gonna cover you in bees!"

"Much appreciated. You showed good tactical acumen and use of the terrain. You tagged me, yes?"

"With a fly. I'm wondering..."

"Yes?"

"What if I had failed to meet expectations?"

"I would have returned you to your father and explained the whole setup. I will not let anyone else die because of me."

I feel an eyebrow rise at the 'anyone else' but said nothing.

"Did you have to go at it so...Enthusiastically?"

She had felt disturbingly real when she was running after me. Grinning and trying to hurt me.

"You showed me how you could fight in our 're a fast learner, and your endurance is increasing rapidly. Your reaction time is getting. What I needed to know was what would happen when you considered yourself at risk. How well you react under pressure. Because one day you might fight Skidmark again, or Hookwolf, or someone else. Without prep time. Without someone to swoop in if things go bad. That's what 'protecting the innocents means'. It means dancing on a sharp edge, fearing the worse yet fighting for the best. You tasted that fear. twice, I suppose. Is this still what you want?"

I take a deep breath. Skidmark. Mush. Squealer. I ended up fighting them all. And it was scary. Terrifying, even. But while doing that, my heart dancing in my chest, I felt elated. Because no matter the risk, I was doing something, at that was good. Because, as selfish as it sounded, it meant I took all what *these three* had done to me, and turned it into something great. No matter how they tried to bring me down to their level, I stayed the better person. And she waited for my answer with bated breath, I realized...

"You were trying to scare me away?"

"...Maybe?"

Her answer is hushed and anxious.

I want to feel betrayed that she tried to push me away from my dream, and yet, I mostly feel confused. That makes little sense.

"Why? Why now? We've been working together for some time. I thought everything was fine! I thought you trusted me!"

"Skidmark happened. It's...Sometimes, I try to step things up too fast. I thought you would do great, then I stopped and thought. What...If I were wrong? Back then...You could have..."

I hug her. Can't help it, she just looks so miserable right there. In a way, that made sense. The wrong thing for the right reason.

"Wasn't your fault. Not one, not two, but three capes appearing all of a sudden, seemingly at random? The Merchants knowing what the hell goes on in their territory? Skidmark trying something he was never reported doing before? You couldn't have predicted that. No one outside of maybe a Thinker could."

"I'm sorry..."

Shit. Her hands are trembling. That meant she's guilt tripping even worse than I thought. I pat her shoulder softly. That usually helps when she feels bad.

"It's okay. But since I passed, what now?"

"I-We keep going. I'll try and step things up, but carefully. And I'd like to introduce you to a few people next."

[REDACTED's notebook]

Themes, Fraymotives and states of mind.

Music is life, and obversely. As some advanced civilizations, such as [REDACTED],[alien script] and [more garbled script] noted, the source code of our universe is partly made of sound. As such, it only makes sense that part of the core of every being similarly contains some of its own. Sound is an element of the 'Great UI', as some call it, though its most potent usage is mostly lost. Most sophont beings go further, their sound core becomes coherent. It reflects their true self as well as their current state of mind. As such, the melody will change as their life goes on. Similarly, they enter a certain state of mind when entering conflict. But in this case, music becomes special. In combat, most beings are unconsciously more open to their true self. As such they follow their own combat melody,which both reflects and is their fighting styles. It does not dictate as it does not need to, most people naturally try to follow their natural optimal rhythm. In a way, combat is like a rhythm game, to oversimplify things. Such is the Fraymotive, the representation of an individual's inner fighter.

Author's note:

I wanted to advance the timeline a bit faster than usual, so I decided to experiment a bit with the narrative. I hope it's okay, if it is I might use it again at some point. Above all, I hope you had a good time reading this, and wish you a nice day.

PageofNonsense

Author's note, the second:

Currently working on some extra characters to add to the cast. I already have some, but if any of you has an idea, feel free to pm me. All I require is a name, some minimal amount of backstory, and their powers (if they have any).

Author's note, the third: I'd like to thank the Dragonbard, whose comment pushed me to rewrite a good chunk of this chapter. Honestly? The previous version was lazy, in that they are absolutely correct.I had a core idea but not the guts to take the time to write the detailed dialogue, so I made past narrations. Some of it may feel sloppy still, i will probably return to this at some point (especially to fix the transition for the park scene, because right now, I have no idea of how to write that).