Within the Apple 16A

Chapter 16

The Rig, PRT ENE HQ

“Sirs, Ma’am, we have… airborne contacts inbound?”

Emily Piggot turned and glared at the trooper, decidedly unhappy with the questioning tone in his report.

“You don’t sound particularly certain of yourself, Trooper,” She growled.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am, it’s just… you should see this.”

She exchanged a glance with Armsmaster, who appeared mildly curious in his own somewhat subdued way.

“Fine,” She said, getting up as she heard the whine of his armor servos respond as he did the same.

They made their way to the Rig’s operations center, where the feeds from all the early warning systems ultimately ended up.

“What’s the issue,” Emily demanded.

“On the main screen, Ma’am. Picked them up a couple minutes ago when they separated from the clutter of the city.”

She turned her attention to the screen and couldn’t quite help her jaw dropping for a moment before she just felt a tension headache coming on.

“Parahumans, I swear…” She ground out, rubbing her temples. “Someone let Legend know that his appointment appears to be arriving.”

“Yes Ma’am!”

Armsmaster stared at the screen, unmoving for a long moment, “I would estimate that must be Magus’ Apprentice.”

“You think?” Emily snapped sarcasticly.

Magus was easily recognizable on the screen, his normal armor and lack of a mask made it child’s play to identify him, of course. His… companion… however was something else entirely.

Dressed like a stereotypical witch, with a wide brimmed and tall pointed hat, flowing robes in black lined with green and silver, and riding a damned broom!...Emily just… couldn’t.

“Fascinating,” Armsmaster admitted after a moment. “Magus’ tech is…”

He shook his head, sighing, “If I hadn’t seen him make his communications repeater, I honestly would not believe it to be tech at all. It’s more like Dauntless’ empowerments than anything else.”

“Is it just me, or is his apprentice also not wearing a mask?” Emily asked hesitantly.

“So it would appear,” Armsmaster admitted slowly.

“Regardless,” Emily got herself back together, becoming all business once more. “Prepare to receive our… guests.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

*****

Xander smiled as he spotted the flash of lights from the helipad, and gestured to Taylor as she guided the broom alongside him, looking at less unsteady than she had when they started… though that didn’t mean much, he had to admit, considering just how terrified she’d started out as.

“Head for the helipad,” He told her.

“A… alright.” Taylor said shakily.

“Nice and easy, just like we practiced.” He said, amused by it all.

“You can stop laughing at me anytime, you know.”

“I know, and I will, as soon as I stop finding it funny.”

She shot him a death glare, but the motion of her head translated to the broom and she had to struggle to stop the wobbling that kicked off, all the while Xander just kept laughing.

“You’re a horrible teacher,” She growled as she steadied out.

“Hey, you just learned to recover from a rhythmic vibration pretty well,” Xander shrugged as he slowed and started to descend to the pad.

“That’s not teaching!” She snapped at him, “That’s just laughing at me while I figure it out for myself!”

“Tell someone how do something a thousand times, chances are they’ll forget it, show them a dozen times and they’ll probably be ok at it,” Xander said as his boots touched down, “but let them do it once, in earnest, and they’ll never forget it.”

Taylor practically snarled at him as she struggled to dismount the broom he’d provided her, one of a few he’d made up mostly to show the kids at Xavier’s a Quidditch Match, managing to slip and almost fall on her ass as she did. She recovered at the last second, though, and held onto the broom to steady herself while she pat down her rumpled robes amid hiding glares at him.

He ignored those, instead greeting the PRT troopers who were there to greet him.

“Sir,” The lead trooper said, his tone strained from behind the visored helmet he wore, “Ma’am. You’re expected, I’ll show you to the conference room.”

“Perfect, thank you,” Xander chuckled. “Come along, Apprentice, stop playing with your broomstick in public, it’s not polite.”

Taylor, who’d been struggling with how to carry the bulky flying device nodded along before she froze, expression turning incandescent as his wording filtered in. In an instant she’d snatched the broom up in both hands, lifting it over her head and brought it down right at Xander’s own.

“Protego,” He said, lifting one hand, without turning around.

Taylor’s scream of rage as the broom bounced off was the final straw for the troopers, who all, to a man… and woman… had to grab rails as they tried valiantly to stifle their laughter as they watched it all.

*****

Legend wiped the sleep from his eyes as he made his way to the conference room, wishing that he’d had more time to nap but glad to be getting to the reason for his visit as quickly as possible.

He found Armsmaster, Miss Militia, and Director Piggot waiting for him as he entered.

“Magus isn’t here yet?” He asked, looking around.

“No, he and his… Apprentice, apparently, just landed on the helipad,” Emily told him sourly.

Legend blinked, he’d not expected the young man to bring along his apprentice, but he didn’t see why that would bother Emily as much as she appeared to be. He glanced over at Miss Militia, “Am I missing something?”

Miss Militia sighed, “They flew in…”

“Right… I mean, of course, we knew he could fly.”

“His apprentice flew in on a broom, dressed like a witch.”

Legend just stared at her for a long moment before his mind caught up to him and he closed his jaw, sighing.

“Of course. Why was I even surprised?”

“I’m sure I have no idea,” Emily said, sighing herself, “but they should be here momentarily.”

True to her word, a Trooper appeared within the minute, with the pair in question following along. Legend found himself staring at the trooper for a moment, reading something just a little off in the man’s body language, but unable to place it through all the armor and tactical gear.

He shrugged it off, stepping forward and extending his hand, “It’s good to meet you again, Magus.”

“And you, Legend,” Magus said, shaking it, “This is Apprentice.”

Legend shifted his gaze to the young girl in the witches costume, without a mask he noted with some concern.

“A pleasure to meet you as well… um, do you have a name yet?” He asked uncertainly.

“She is Apprentice, until she’s skilled enough to make her own costume,” Magus said firmly. “She can choose her own cape name then.”

Ah,Legend thought he saw what was going on. The irate glares the young lady was shooting at Magus seemingly confirmed it. She didn’t pick the costume, and doesn’t seem to appreciate it. I bet she works extra hard at whatever skills she needs to make a proper one.

It was a tactic he’d heard discussed, but never seen among Capes, because most Parahuman’s didn’t have normal learning curves which made any sort of formal training pointless.

“Well, the ensemble looks fetching you, Apprentice,” Legend smiled.

It actually did, once you got passed the humor of the stereotypical look. The robes were gleaming black with silver and green highlights, and an coat of arms he didn’t recognize on the breast. The hat was humorously oversized, he supposed, but it seemed to almost have a life of its own and along with her flowing hair, framed the young lady’s face quite neatly.

Her face…

Legend blinked, something bothering him for a moment before he shrugged it off as unimportant. There were things to be done.

“I had hoped to speak with you in private,” He confided.

“Of course,” Magus nodded, “I was thinking that perhaps Apprentice might get a tour, maybe meet some of the wards if they’re available?”

Legend nodded to Miss Militia, who stepped forward.

“I believe that can be arranged.”

“Excellent,” Magus smiled. “She’s not ready for field world yet, but it’s always good to get a feel for the people who are doing the work you’re about to get into. Apprentice, are you alright to go with Miss Militia?”

The young lady nodded, “Of course.”

“Let’s go, then,” Miss Militia told her. “Vista is on site at the moment, though I’m not certain of the other Wards. We’ll check the roster on the way.”

They vanished out of the conference room, leaving the four remaining to watch after them for a moment before Magus settled into a chair and leaned back comfortably.

“Shall we get down to it, then?” He asked with a cheeky grin.

Legend sighed, but nodded.

“Let’s.”

*****