Worm | |
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Gestation 1.6 | |
Date posted | 28 June 2011 |
Link | Gestation 1.6 |
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Gestation 1.6 is the sixth and last non-interlude chapter of Gestation. Bug girl meets Armsmaster and they talk about the possible repercussions of a new hero taking down Lung, among other things. So Armsy takes the credit and Taylor heads home.
Plot[]
With Lung defeated and incapacitated, and knowing that a hero was arriving on scene, a physically and mentally exhausted Taylor remains at the site where Lung was fought, perched on a rooftop at a safe distance from the street Lung laid in. Her decision to stay is motivated by a desire to not have another individual (especially a hero) mistake her as a villain during her debut as a cape.
Arriving in a souped of motorcycle, the hero is revealed to be Armsmaster, a member of the Protectorate. The Protectorate is world's largest organization of superheroes, their domain spanning the United States and Canada (and will possibly have a presence in Mexico some time in the future), and with teams of heroes stationed in multiple cities that have recognized cape populations. Armsmaster in particular has a bright resume within the organization. Operating from a floating, forcefield-shrouded island headquarters (which is visible from the Boardwalk), Armsmaster leads the local Protectorate team (officially "The Protectorate East-North-East"), is among the United States's top superheroes, and is also a core member of the Protectorate's top heroes usually deployed to respond to major threats and catastrophes. He also has a significant media presence, appearing in magazines, TV interviews, and even having action figures of himself. Laying eyes on Armsmaster, Taylor notes the clear distinctions between him and a person just simply wearing a costume. His form being clad in dark blue armor with silver highlights, a helmet that only exposed the lower half of his face, and his trademark halberd.
Using a grappling hook built into the Halberd, Armsmaster reaches the roof that Taylor's on. He asks if she was going to attack him. She replies that she's actually a good guy, but is then hurt when he remarks that she doesn't look like one. She defends that it was unintentional, and after determining that she was telling the truth (through means unknown to her and she refrained from asking about in order to avoid arousing suspicion), Armsmaster begins to converse with Taylor more earnestly. He offhandedly welcomes Taylor into the cape scene, and is even amused when she mentions having trouble finding a good name as a bug-themed cape, recalling that he had arrived early enough in the cape scene to not be facing down a shortage of good names.
When informed of the level of danger Taylor had faced when fighting Lung, Armsmaster suggests that she joins the Wards, a subdivision of the Protectorate comprised of young capes under the age of eighteen. Additionally, Brockton Bay even had its own Wards team ("The Wards East-North-East"). Taylor had considered applying, but had decided against it, motivated by wanting to avoid dealing with potential teenage drama and adult oversight, and soured by her experiences from the ongoing plight of her high school career.
Changing subjects, and after being told by Armsmaster that he had used tranquilizers on Lung to keep him under, Taylor apprises the hero with a generalized synopsis of the fight. Armsmaster asks Taylor if the teenage supervillains that he was coming, and at her confirmation, he shares information on what the authorities had on them. Though proving to be highly elusive, the group is capable of fighting off the local heroes directly. The few, occasional fights that took place between the team and the authorities had usually ended with the former either winning or escaping relatively unscathed. Armsmaster also adds that information on the group is limited, with Grue and Hellhound (Bitch) having been working on their own before getting recruited through unknown means, and Tattletale somehow being able to reliably detect or track any movements made by the authorities.
It surprises Taylor somewhat that a top hero like Armsmaster admits to being less than perfectly on top of things but says nothing of it. She reveals to Armsmaster that the four villains they didn't seem as hardcore as he made them out to be, recalling that they all appeared to be slightly panicked at the idea of facing Lung, casually joking around during the fight, and noticing Grue making fun of Regent. Taylor also tells Armsmaster that they had assumed she was a villain aiding them. When asked by Armsmaster if she could have fought them, Taylor denies it, reminding him of the lacking information on the four villains and believing that Bitch could probably beat her by herself. At that detail, Armsmaster states that her being mistaken for a villain was likely a good thing, and urges her to consider that turn of event as such.
Armsmaster then brings up the topic of who should take credit for beating Lung. He expresses his concerns, that if Taylor were to take credit for taking him down, she should expect to face retaliation from Bakuda and Oni Lee. When Taylor says that she is unaware of Bakuda, Armsmaster tells her that Bakuda was the perpetrator of a drawn out terrorist campaign against Cornell University and is a Tinker recently recruited by Lung. He also tells Taylor that most Tinkers (aside from being known for having a grasp on sciences that allow them to build advanced technologies years ahead of their time) tend to have a specialty or trick that allows them to be good at constructing more specific types of devices or machinery, and that Bakuda's is bombs.
As Taylor fully grasps the full weight of that alarming detail, Armsmaster presents her with two options:
- Join the Wards - Which will provide Taylor with any support and protection necessary in the event of an altercation.
- Don't Take Credit - Where Taylor must keep quiet about her involvement in the fight.
Taylor didn't really feel prepared to make such a decision, as the mental and physical exhaustion from the night were taking its toll, and were compounded by the fact that it was probably 1-2am and her sleep schedule had been greatly disrupted. Still maintaining her stance in not wanting to join the Wards and not wanting Oni Lee and Bakuda after her, while also recognizing the likeliness of Armsmaster wanting to take credit for capturing Lung and being offended if he doesn't, Taylor chooses the second option.
Elated at this, Armsmaster tells Taylor that she might one day look back and realize she made a good choice, as he turns to leave the roof, he asks her to call PHQ whenever she needs help, which Taylor takes to perceiving as an indirect way of saying that he owes her. She then sets out to return home, hearing Armsmaster drive off with Lung as she made her way down the building, and retrieving a change of clothes she had hidden away along the way. Danny often sleeps earlier than Taylor did and deeply as well, a fact that allowed Taylor to have the kind of night she had with her father being none the wiser.
Reflecting on first night out as a cape, Taylor concedes that "it could have gone worse," an assurance that she turns to using as a distraction from the fact that the next day was another school day.
Major Events[]
- Taylor meets with Armsmaster, and the Protectorate now is made aware of her.
- Background on the Protectorate is provided.
- Background on the team comprising Grue, Tattletale, Bitch, and Regent is provided.
- Background on the Tinker classification is provided.
- Background on the ABB's newest cape, Bakuda, is provided.
- Armsmaster takes credit for Lung's capture.
Characters[]
Heroes | Villains | Civilians | |
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Trivia[]
- Author's note: At this point in the story, I hadn't settled on a name for Taylor's costumed identity (and, as it happens, I didn't come to a decision until the interlude of arc 3). This is a case of real life writing the plot, and her comments to Armsmaster echo my own thoughts on the subject.[1]
- Names that were considered included Bug and Myriad.
- It is revealed that Taylor had once been in the embarrassing possession of Armsmaster underpants. A distinguishing feature of the garment was having Armsmaster's emblem at the "front" (most certainly the crotch).
- The device Armsmaster talks about using to pin Lung to the sidewalk is the same device he uses in the Battle at the Gallery.[2]
References[]
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Chapters | 1.1 • 1.2 • 1.3 • 1.4 • 1.5 • 1.6 • 1.x |
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Battles and Events | Taylor vs Lung |