Companion Quest: A Projection Quest with Victoria Dallon: Toothpaste Dragons Rise Up (2024)

Saturday, March 5th, 2011.
Dallon Residence, Brockton Bay.

"Hey, Filo, time to get up."

"Filo? I know you can hear me."

"Ugh. How come my power's such a deep sleeper?"

Your eyes drift open as you feel Victoria shaking you, staring down with a raised eyebrow. "Geez, you're harder to wake up than Amy is," she grumbles, standing back as you sit up. "Come on. All that Tinker stuff you said I'd get is in my head, and I want to go make something," Victoria orders, opening a portal.

You grumble, reaching up to try and pat down your blue hair as best as you can as you follow her through the arcane sigil. As you emerge from the portal, you've donned the Divine Dragon's armor, with Libération strapped to your hip. The sunrise casts long shadows across the beach, and Victoria takes a moment to bask in the light.

"So. Two goals for today," Victoria begins, smacking her fist into her palm. "With all of these designs in my head, I want to make a sword. Not because I necessarily need one, but… I have the training. I'd like to have one anyway," Victoria says, nodding. "Step two, I want to try to finish manifesting Emblem Tiki and her Bracelet. We're… close, I can feel it."

You yawn, covering your mouth before you give a thumbs up. "Sounds good to me," you murmur, not questioning where she's going to get parts for the sword. There's scrap metal everywhere around you.

So, while you wish you were still asleep, you watch as Victoria casually kneels down on a slab of melted steel, flaring bright as she sinks into the molten metal. At first, you can't tell what she's doing beyond using her hands to shift metal around underneath her. Then, she starts taking handfuls of metal and compressing them, squeezing them until they're formed into ingot-like lumps.

By drawing water from the ocean, she's able to cool the metal down enough that it won't stick to the other pieces. You can almost feel the moment her crafting becomes Tinkering, Shard power gently transforming the pieces in ways that her actions shouldn't be causing.

Victoria lines each ingot up and begins forcing them together, using her thumb to smudge away the edge of each piece like it's just clay. Curiously, she even grabs some handfuls of sand and starts melting them into the blade's center and crossguard. Once it's looking more like a blade than a bunch of metal, she forms a claw and gently carves out hollows in the blade, lifting the severed pieces out to use later in her work.

The spare pieces are formed into more of the crossguard as well as a full tang. She stuffs this onto the end of the sword- because it certainly looks like a sword now- and keeps molding them, forming a crescent crossguard with blades on the outside that flow into the actual sword's edges.

After a bit of thinking, Victoria forms a quick portal, steps through, then emerges with a rod torn from one of the other ships, presumably. She melts this rod down and uses it to reinforce the hilt and crossguard, forming a dark grey to oppose the silvery blade and blue-grey in its center.

Once Victoria is done working, she lifts up what you recognize as a brave sword. It's forged in a way that almost accelerates the wielder's swings, letting them attack more when they begin a bout of combat. In the hands of an expert swordsman, the brave sword could start and end fights before the opponent even realized they had been cut down.

In the hands of a dragon like Victoria, when she swung the blade at a nearby ship's hull, she blurred. In the span of seconds, she leaves three gashes where her new blade parts steel. Victoria holds the blade out, inspecting its balance, feeling the way it sits in her hand before she sheaths it in her belt, a loop forming out of her scales to keep it secure.

The grin Victoria has on her face is blinding. With one hand on her hip and the other on her sword's pommel, she really does look ready to fight an army.

You smile, warmth pulsing in your chest as you stand up and form a physical Bracelet of the Ancestor in your hand. "I think you're ready," you muse, holding the band out to her. "Typically, it takes the power of a Fell or Divine Dragon to call an Emblem forth. Fell Dragons use incantations, which will bind the Emblem to their will and suppress the Emblem's personality. Divine Dragons, pray to the Emblem, asking for it's aid and cooperation. With your connection to me and status as a dragon yourself, you can call out the Emblem's incantation without surprising the Emblem theirself."

Victoria holds the gold-and-jade band reverently, turning it over before gently slipping it onto her left wrist. "So… what's the incantation then?" she asks, looking up at you.

"You'll know it," you promise. "Just call for Emblem Tiki, and she'll come to you."

Victoria blinks, then nods. She lifts her arm, staring down at the Bracelet of the Ancestor, and takes a deep breath. Her voice is soft at first before it rises into a passionate shout.

"Dream well, Emblem of Dragons!"

The Bracelet of the Ancestor flashes a brilliant blue, divine light swirling around Victoria before it begins to gather in front of her, forming into a vague silhouette before a familiar figure materializes from azure flames. A childlike girl with green hair and pointed ears. She's wearing purple robes, a large red bow tied around her waist, a gold tiara shaped like a dragon in flight and bearing a ruby, and a large spherical stone hanging from her neck.

Emblem Tiki floats in the air and lets out a huge yawn, stretching her arms above her before blearily blinking awake. "Mar-Mar?" she begins, glancing around before fixing her lavender eyes on Victoria. "Wait, you're the girl from my dreams!" Tiki realizes, leaning forward to plant her hands on Victoria's shoulders.

Victoria beams, then nods. "That's right. I remember picking apples with you… my name is Victoria, but while I'm in costume like this, I'm called Prominence. I'm also a dragon!"

"I'm a dragon as well!" Tiki nods, clapping her hands together as she glides back a foot or so. "I'm Emblem Tiki, of the Divine Dragon tribe! Thank you for waking me up, I've been asleep for a very long time."

Victoria glances to you, and Emblem Tiki turns around, eyes widening when she sees you. "Alear! Oh, I remember you! Though you're… a little different, right?"

You smile, a sense of deja vu sweeping over you. "Good catch. I'm named Filo, and I'm just Emulating Alear. Sort of like how you're an echo of Tiki. I still remember her times fighting by your side, Emblem Tiki."

Tiki giggles, then turns back to face Victoria. "Well, whether or not that's Alear, Emblem Alear, or Filo, if she vouches for you then I think I can trust you to have the essence of a hero, is that right?" Tiki asks, clasping her hand behind her back as she inspects Victoria.

"Exactly," Victoria says with a firm nod. "I'm a hero, and I've already taken down some pretty notorious villains. I'd love to have your help going forward!"

"Then my help you shall have," Tiki says with a warm smile. "Let's do what we can to make the world a better place, Prominence!"

With that, she flickers away, leaving Victoria to close her eyes and feel the newfound presence in the Bracelet of the Ancestor. "I can still feel her," she muses, looking over to you. "She feels like the wind blowing through the trees. A breath of fresh air."

You chuckle. "Being paired with an Emblem is a truly unique feeling. Each Emblem you wear will feel different, whether or not they're called out to fight. As your bond with Emblem Tiki grows, her own knowledge and experience will bleed into you, granting you strength and power unique to her."

Victoria's eyes widen. "So… I'll be getting even stronger while bound with Tiki?"

"Anybody that uses an Emblem with pure intent will find themselves forever changed for the better," you say, placing a hand over your heart. "You and your allies."

She ponders that, then gives a resolute nod. "Then I'd better get started on that team idea," Victoria muses.

===<>===​

Saturday, March 5th, 2011.
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay.

Victoria looks far more nervous this visit to the PRT than the last, thanks to the little notice they'd given her when she called about the bounty. Apparently Director Piggot wanted a one-on-one meeting with Prominence during which time they'd get the bounty paid out.

You weren't told how big the payout for the bounty will be, but considering it's the Simurgh, you wouldn't be surprised if it was big enough to turn any purchase Victoria made inconsequential.

After another silly question to the receptionist, an officer guides her through the hallways of the PRT HQ, up an elevator, and to a lone office door belonging to one Director Emily Piggot.

When you enter, you're taken aback. You had been imagining Director Piggot as some kind of commander, somebody that would lead the PRT into a battle. The likes of Jade and Saphir. Instead, the Director is an obese woman with bags under her eyes, a constant frown, and a blonde bob. Still, there's hints of that soldier as you meet her gaze.

"Prominence. Filo. You've been keeping busy," Director Piggot drawls, leaning onto her desk. "There never seems to be a day without some new report concerning you. In fact, I just read about some concerning flashes of light coming from the Boat Graveyard. I assume that was your doing?"

Prominence straightens her back in her seat and nods. "That's right. I was testing some new aspects of my power."

Piggot huffs. "Could I assume these tests aren't endangering anybody in the city?"

"None at all, Director. Filo realized she could grant a Tinker aspect to my powers, so I spent some time putting a sword together. And then I unlocked another power shortly after that," Victoria recalls, lifting a finger up.

For a few seconds, Piggot just stares at Victoria. "You have a Tinker power now as well?"

"Yeah. Nothing too complex, I'm not going to be rivaling Armsmaster any time soon, but I can make potions and equipment now," Victoria says, reaching to her side to pull her brave sword from a portal. Piggot tenses at the action, then relaxes when Vicky puts it back through and closes the portal. "I probably should have warned you I was going to do that."

"You should have. It's only the fact that a sword is hardly the most dangerous thing in this room keeping me from accusing you, Prominence," Piggot says, eyes narrowing. "I've made my feelings about you clear already. I'm worried. I know you have some kind of power that lets you avoid turning people into charred corpses, or paste, but I also heard what you did to Alabaster."

Victoria at least looks sheepish, recalling how she dismantled the Empire cape before capturing him. "As much as I'd like to forget it, you're also the one responsible for the events at Koshigaya. For the Simurgh's current location," Piggot says, leaning back. "Regardless of whether that was a replicable feat or not, it puts you above every other Parahuman. That means the Chief Director herself wants me to play nice with you."

The mention of Chief Director Costa-Brown makes Victoria's eyes widen, smiling wide under her mask.

"Despite being ordered to keep an open willingness to work with you, I'm still the Director of the East-North-East Protectorate. It is my responsibility to keep this city from getting worse, and that means I'm the one that finalizes any choices this branch makes," Piggot explains, waving a hand at her desk. "That means whatever you do will fall on my head."

"So you're asking me to play nice because any mistake I make will reflect poorly on you?" Victoria asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm asking because any mistake you make might end with dead bodies and leveled buildings," Piggot growls. "My job is to protect this city, and prevent it's decay. To be frank, we've been losing that battle for quite some time. You've raised the city's bar by taking out the Empire's capes, and I expect you will keep that bar raised. All I want from you in return is to communicate with us."

"You're the ones that didn't reach out to me when transporting villains to the Birdcage," Victoria retorts, tilting her head. "If you had told me what was going on, I could have been present the whole time through. Maybe the sight of a dragon would have made Coil think twice about his little ambush."

Director Piggot stares, then slowly takes a deep breath. "Prominence. You haven't given us any way to contact you. We're aware of your account on Parahumans Online, but we are not going to give you immensely sensitive information though somebody else's servers."

Victoria blinks. And then she blushes. You giggle from your own seat as you watch her pinch the bridge of her nose. "Oh my god, I'm an idiot. Of course you didn't call me, you don't have my phone number. Ugh, I don't even have a phone for Prominence," Victoria grumbles, glaring at the ceiling.

"And because of this mistake, Lung is free and will likely do his best to retake whatever territory his time imprisoned cost him," Piggot says, making eye contact with Victoria when she relaxes. "Perhaps you wouldn't have stopped the ambush. Perhaps Lung would have gone free regardless. But the fact of the matter is that my men and Prominence were unable to prevent one prisoner from being freed."

The Director sighs, then scratches at her brow. "Get yourself a phone, Prominence. The Chief Director will love to know we have you on our contacts list."

The room is silent for a moment, Director Piggot's steely eyes glancing between you and Victoria. You watch as Victoria works a thought over in her head before she voices it. "I know you turned down Panacea's offer to heal you, Director," Victoria begins, making Piggot frown. "But I'd like to let you know that I'm willing to heal you as well. I could turn your body back to it's prime."

"No," Piggot says flatly.

"Is it genetic? Or do you just not care for healing?" Victoria asks, frowning.

"I don't need to explain why I wish to leave my body as it is, Prominence. Unless you have something else to say, our meeting is finished. I believe they'll have transferred the bounty to your account by now," Piggot drawls, motioning towards the door. "If I could give a suggestion, use that money to execute whatever ideas for a team you have."

Victoria nods, then stands, giving a bow of her head towards the Director. As she leaves the room, you stand and give a curtsey before turning immaterial and following behind your Host.

===<>===​

Saturday, March 5th, 2011.
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay.

You and Victoria step out of a portal and into her kitchen, where the girl immediately gets to work digging through the fridge for food. While she does that, you appear next to the table in your casual clothes, pulling a chair back to take a seat.

Victoria's eyes are still wide, her mouth still agape. Alear's no stranger to wealth, considering she was worshiped as a god and led an army formed from four nations, but Victoria's family wasn't exactly upper class. Apparently being heroes didn't pay well.

Putting an Endbringer out of commission, however… "One hundred million dollars." Victoria mutters as she pulls ingredients out and starts making a sandwich. "One million is more than my family makes in a year. I have one hundred times that," she repeats, shaking her head. "What the hell do I even do with that?"

"Save it," you chide, smiling. "The Director had a good point when she said to use it for your future team. You could pay your allies, purchase property for some kind of headquarters, buy materials for crafting projects."

Victoria shakes her head. "I need to come up with a name or something for my team. I know Taylor's interested, but… Who else am I going to invite? Dean's a Ward, Amy's Panacea…" She sighs. "Hic Svnt Dracones asked to be on the team," she mutters.

Once her sandwich was done, Victoria brought it on a plate to the table, taking a seat across from you. Shortly after, Victoria's father walks in, clearly having just woken up. He stops for a moment when he sees you looking at him, then walks into the kitchen to start making what would be his breakfast. "You're in costume," Mark notes, talking over his shoulder.

"We just got back from a meeting with Director Piggot," you explain, since Victoria is busy chewing. "She wanted to meet Prominence face to face."

Mark pauses, then glances back at you with a thoughtful hum. "What did she have to say?"

Victoria swallows a bite of sandwich. "She let us know that apparently the Chief Director ordered her to 'play nice' with me. She… also reminded me that I don't have a phone to use for Prominence," Victoria adds, wincing.

"Hmm. You're going to save up for one, then?" Mark asks, getting started on making himself some coffee.

Victoria snorts, then laughs somewhat hysterically. "I uhh… Don't think I'll be saving up for anything any time soon, Dad," she says, pressing her fingers to her temples.

He pauses, then turns to face the two of you. "How come? What happened?"

"I collected a bounty for what Filo did to the Simurgh," Victoria says flatly. Mark's eyes widen, likely trying to guess how much such a bounty would be worth. "As of this morning, I'm one hundred million dollars richer."

Mark is dead silent. "One hundred million," he repeats softly. "You- How- What are you going to use it for?" he asks with a croak in his voice.

Victoria purses her lips for a moment before she turns to face Mark. "I'm going to use it on my team. While it's not formed and is only really an idea right now, I'm going to pay my teammates and buy property that we can call our own base."

Mark swallows, then sighs, nodding. "So you're really not going to join New Wave, then," he says resignedly.

"No," Victoria murmurs. "I'll be able to work better with my own team. I've never been a part of New Wave, and I won't start now. I don't want to be a celebrity."

"We're not-" Mark begins, but he sees the dark look on Victoria's face and drops it. He turns back to face the sink, hanging his head. "I'm sorry we won't have you on the team, Victoria, but… I'm proud of you for thinking ahead like this."

Without another word, without finishing making breakfast or coffee, Mark walks out of the kitchen and back to his bedroom.

Victoria is spending more time thinking about her future team. It might be good to discuss how exactly you want to structure the team, where you would want to find a base, whether you would be more like the Guild and their independent capes under one banner, or New Wave, with a unified team that keeps together. Of course, this is also a good time to start considering what you'd even call this hypothetical team.

You have 6 total actions, with 5 Free Time slots, 4 of which can be training, and 1 Social Link slot. Please list your choices individually, as the top 3 Free Time actions and the top Social Link action will be picked.

A/N: We're so back, girlies! I've got my muse fired up again, it seems.