‘Café Rosso’, New Jersey
“Two chocolate pancakes and two coffee for table six!”
Elsbeth – Elsi to her friends – hurried over to the counter to pick up the order, balancing it on a tray which she held with one hand up next to her shoulder, and walked towards the table – two guys were sitting there, so she put some extra swing into her walk, hoping for a generous tip later on. They’d certainly stared at her enough already to warrant it.
Once more, she doubted her decision to work in this place, as her movements to put the food and drinks on the table showed off more cleavage than she was really comfortable with. This place was known for its rather provocative waitress uniforms – cut to emphasise the best parts of the wearer – and for only hiring pretty girls for the job. It paid well, and Elsi was trying to pay her way through college, so she’d taken the job. And honestly, I shouldn’t complain so much – it really does pay well.
Elsi was pretty, but not pretty enough for a job in one of the really expensive places, or as a model or anything – it was nearly impossible to compete with the metahumans there, or the girls who’d been able to afford plastic surgery by Doctor Beauty (be it with money or for ‘favours’). Working in this place had been the only job she’d been able to find that didn’t involve sleezy work, at least at a reasonable distance to the flat she shared with three other girls her age.
So she brushed a blonde strand of hair behind her ear, flirted a little with the guys and then went to pick up the next order. The next one certainly wouldn’t make her feel so… on edge. Her favourite customer had ordered his usual breakfast earlier, and she saw Waldo, the cook, put the eclectic menu on the counter for her to pick up – no need to call out, there was really only one person who bought that combination, and it was always her who served him.
Quickly, Elsi picked it all up – extra-thin pancakes, a cup of honey, a cup of strawberry jam, fried bacon, canned pineapple and hot milk – and took them to the rearmost table, which stood in the corner and allowed one to see most of the place without being seen all that well in return.
A week and a half ago, a new customer had sat down there, and Elsi had been the first to serve him. At first, she’d thought he was some kind of pervert, come here to watch all the pretty girls and eat cheap food. But no, he hadn’t looked at her cleavage once, and she was pretty sure he’d never bothered to watch her ass, either! In fact, he barely flirted with her, unless she initiated, and even then, only to humor her, she was sure.
Honestly, he seemed a little shy, which was just crazy, considering how good-looking he was. Not superhero-stuff, no, but definitely above the average. His name was Cedric, he was a travelling artist who was spending a few weeks in New Jersey to search for ‘inspiration’, and he was the nicest guy she’d ever met. It helped that he was too old to be interesting for her, so no crush to screw things up (Elsi was very awkward around people she crushed on).
“Hey Cedric!” she greeted him with a genuine smile.
He looked up from the book he’d been reading (one of Shakespeare’s plays, though she didn’t know which one) and smiled back, making dimples appear on his cleanly shaven face. His messy red-blonde hair had been washed and combed into a semblance of order, his teeth were white as new tableware and his warm brown eyes made her think of molten chocolate, the overall look complemented by lots of laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. He looked a lot like her father – or at least, how she’d always imagined her father would look like, if she ever met him. A little too short, but otherwise just right.
“Hello Elsi honey,” he greeted her, voice as warm as his eyes. “Ah, you know how to make a man happy!” he added when she put his breakfast down, and he immediately went to work – half the honey into the steaming hot milk, the rest onto the bacon. Jam and pineapples spread over the three pancakes, followed by bacon for each, and then he rolled them up.
The first time she’d seen him do this, she’d felt like hurling, but by now, she’d just accepted it as one of his quirks (God knew he had enough of them).
“And how is your day treating you so far?” he asked, waiting a little for his milk to cool while he used a spoon to stir it up and dissolve the honey.
Looking quickly around, she saw that no one was paying attention right now – people rarely did, when she was this far back (in fact, the other waitresses barely noticed Cedric – it was always Elsi who picked him out and served him) – so she had a minute or two to chat. “Same as ever, really. You’d think with the winter weather we’d have less tourists, but they still pour in in droves. Lots of legwork.” She tapped the side of her bare leg (these skirts were seriously tiny), winking at him.
“Eh, something tells me there’s gonna be less work for you in the near future,” he said, still stirring his milk. “And how’s college? You had an exam yesterday, right? Introduction to Metahuman Legal History, if I remember it right? How did it go?”
“Like you ever forget anything, Cedric,” she replied merrily. “Thanks for asking, and it went great – your help with my prepwork really paid out, thank you!” He’d been reviewing her practice exams, and discussing the subject with her during her breaks. It was almost a shame he was an artist, because he’d have made an awesome teacher – somehow, he could just get you to pay attention and focus, something she’d always had trouble with before. “And now that I got that out of the way, it’s smooth sailing until the end of semester exams…”
And that was another great thing about Cedric – he listened. He was perfectly content slowly sipping his milk and taking small bites out of his rolled-up pancakes while she told him about her day at the university, about her problems with her flatmates (Jenny and Jessy had broken up – again – and were on the warpath with each other – again – until the inevitable make-up-sex – again), about that one teacher who seemed to have it in for her, the other one who was always looking at her ass, her bitchy boss here at work…
Speaking of which, the nearby door into the kitchen had swung open when one of her colleagues rushed through, and she saw that that fat bitch Clarice had just started chewing out one of the new girls again – a mousy little thing named Marcy, who’d just barely made the cut, but they needed more waitresses to deal with all the customers they were having lately. Apparently, the girl had messed up two orders, and one customer had complained about it, which of course meant that Clarice was now in the process of humiliating the girl in front of half the staff – like a small mistake like that couldn’t happen to anyone here!
“I’m sorry, Cedric, but I gotta help Marcy,” she told him regretfully. They had little enough time to chat as it was, without her being distracted.
He didn’t seem to mind, though. “Don’t mind me. Just bring me a slice of that strawberry chocolate cake on your way back!” he told her with a wink, putting the empty jam cups onto her tray, making the corner of her mouth twitch as she picked her tray up and walked towards the two women (thank God the cafe didn’t insist on high heels, like some places – it’d be hell!).
She knew that Clarice had all the attention span of a lemming – which made the insults she was throwing at Marcy over one confused order quite ironic – so she went for the direct, simple solution: walking straight through the space between the two with a whispered ‘excuse me’, she rattled the tray a little – distract the bitch.
And it worked. Cedric had been telling her this’d work since the third time he’d been there! Clarice turned after her, as if to fire off a reprimand, and Marcy took her chance to go out to the customer area, where she was safe. Elsi, on the other hand, put the dirty dishes away, grabbed a slice of the cake and went out the other exit before Clarice was finished thinking up something to say (no one ever accused her of being quick).
“Welcome back, brave hero,” Cedric said, having apparently finished an entire pancake roll during this short interlude. “And I see you even brought me spoils. Gimme.” That last word was pronounced the way a child would have, and she gave him the plate with a smile.
“You were right, she really doesn’t have a measurable attention span!” she told him, looking around to make sure no one was paying them any attention.
“I know all about attention, my dear. It’s my bread and butter,” he said as he polished off the second pancake. “Speaking of bread and butter, I’m sad to say that I’ll be moving on soon.”
Oh. She’d known that was coming, he was a wandering artist after all (when she’d asked him what kind of art he did, he’d replied ‘performance art’ and neglected further comment), but still, she’d miss him.
“Such a shame… When are you leaving?” she asked, feeling far less chipper than just a moment ago.
“Very soon, I’m afraid,” he said with a sympathetic smile on his face. He seemed just as sad as she was. “I got a message earlier this morning – a commission for a private performance up in New Lennston – and it’s too good an offer to pass up. I should be on the train already, but I wanted to say goodbye first.”
Suddenly, her eyes were wet, and she nodded. She’d really come to like this quiet, slightly crazy man with the disgusting eating habits and the ability to listen to a teenage girl bitch and moan about her life while still paying attention and without getting annoyed. “I’m sure you’ll knock’em dead.”
Laughing out loud, he took his fork and ate a piece of the cake she’d just brought him. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, and I promise I will! Now, be a dear and bring me… let’s say, two bananas, and something to pack the pancakes up for the way.”
She nodded and hurried off, drying her eyes with a napkin on her way to the counter, where a basket full of fresh fruit stood, and took a paper bag for takeout along, too.
Back at the table, she quickly packed everything up for Cedric while he finished his milk and his cake quietly.
“Will I see you again?” she asked in a subdued voice as soon as she finished and put the bag down on the table.
“On the television? Most likely. In person? I don’t want to make any promises there,” he said as he pulled his wallet out, giving her the money for his breakfast (if you could even call it that). She put it away. “Here, this is for you.”
Her eyes went wide when he handed her eight fifty dollar bills. “W-wha- I can’t accept this!” she gasped, looking at the bills on her hand. That’s three month’s worth of rent, and some extra!
Smiling, he took her hand with both of his, closing it around the bills. “You can use it better than I, and besides, I got plenty more where that came from.” Rising to his feet, he leaned forward to plant a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Be safe, Elsi. And be strong. I know you’ll be a great one.”
She was too choked up to reply, and just nodded through the tears. He pulled his brown coat on, took his bag and left with one last wink, leaving just after Clarice, who always took a break around this time.
Elsi already missed him.
* * *
Cedric pulled his collar up against the cold, stretching until something stiff popped in his neck. I’m getting old, he thought as he walked down the sidewalk, keeping a discrete distance from Clarice – that woman was just unpleasant. And the way she treated her waitresses was just appalling. He couldn’t imagine how Elsi and the others held themselves back from punching her in the face every time they saw her.
Ah, sweet Elsi. Such a good lass. So polite, so nice. Rare, nowadays, and besides, it had been quite a while since he’d had such a pleasant model to work with – the last nine before her had just annoyed him, eventually.
Speaking of annoyance, Clarice had just stopped at an intersection, looking impatiently at her watch as she waited for traffic to stop and let her pass. Her attention switched between the traffic light and the watch.
He looked down the street, quickly, and saw a garbage truck approach at quite the speed – the traffic lights had just switched to green, so the driver wouldn’t have to slow down – but he was focusing on the street. Reaching out, he plucked the man’s attention off the street, redirecting it to a passing group of sparsely clad schoolgirls (despite the winter weather!). At the same time, he took Clarice’s attention off the street and the lights, too, and made her focus more on her watch – she was always running late with her breaks, anyway, and this was just the right nudge to make her step carelessly out onto the street to cross it.
Thunk.
Soon, the screaming would begin, but he was already walking down an alley, peeling a banana as he made his way to the university, redirecting any strand of attention that he sensed attach itself to him.
Elsi had really endeared herself to him, and the rules were clear – if, after a week or two, his current model did not endear him- or herself to him (or at least amused him), he killed them. If they were annoying, or downright unpleasant, he killed their friends and family, too, at least the closest ones. But if they were alright, he went on his way. And if they grew on him the way Elsi had, he did them a few favours.
Because he was such a nice guy, after all.
Finishing his second banana, Cedric Cullen, better known to the world as Caliban, went on a stroll towards Elsi’s college. There was a lot one could do with two banana peels and some attention control. Besides, Elsi deserved better than those teachers.
I still have some time before the train leaves, anyway. College, then New Lennston. He began to hum the melody to the Beverly Hills Cop theme. One of his favourites.
No one paid him any attention.
Tieshaunn 
Donation bonus time! Have fun, and please don’t forget to vote!
Next up, Falling Hearts! Basil and [spoiler] have to work together to survive a murderous heist!
Hmmmm, let’s see, It’s unlikely that it’s a member of his team, since then it wouldn’t be so much a spoiler as par for the course, among the Junior heroes, the only ones so far who have relevance to the plot are Melody and Irene, however, you mention “survive” so we can safely rule out any overpowered characters like Gloomy, leaving Melody as the only one left, then, broadening our point of view, the same can be said about Amy and most of the adult heroes and villains. So, that leaves us with so few options, yet so many, there’s the posibility that it would be with a non meta, at this point, my top three guesses would be Terry, Melody and Magnus, from least to most likely.
Terry because last time we saw her, lots of fun and interesting things happened to her, it would constitute a spoiler for obvious reasons, and it wouldn’t be that weird if she showed up in New Lennston.
Melody, she’s been heavily featured in this arc, it wouldn’t be weird at all for her get dragged into something with Basil, and since they would be “surviving the heist” and are both Gadgeteers, it could very well be that they would be caught up in something in their civilian identities, and lead to them learning each others secret one.
Magnus Amadeus, it makes sense, it’s a heist, he may be meeting with Basil and drag him into it, he has enemies after all, also, we know little to nothing about him, and it would constitute a spoiler.
The one thing that has me confused is the title, Falling Hearts, but then again, I never knew what Vra stood for, so I’ll wait before I draw more conjectures
I’ll agree with you about Melody and Magnus. But just to shake things up, I want to suggest the Amazon (who’s first name I can’t recall). Part of the survival description would be them not killing each other. There’s room for a lot of conflict there.
Although as I understood it Magnus is likely glued to a team of well coordinated overpowered metas 24/7 and additionally you don’t become the richest man in the world AND still alive without a strong proactive survival mentality (especially in the Brennusverse)
And therefore, the enemies would be highly prepared to deal with them
The resulting conflict of such would then be… challenging to survive to say the least.
LOL Fun chapter!
Wow, I absolutely LOVE his ability. And he seems like the type of character that really knows how to use his ability properly too. So often I see characters with amazing abilities who are only able to use them to be a bit above average. Tiche is one of these, but that’s ok because it fits with her character. It would be strange for her to suddenly start to actually plan ahead and strategize ways of maximizing her potential. That’s just not the type of character that she is. I hope that you have more characters like this with one simple ability that they use to great and diverse effect because they know how to imagine possibilities. Coil form Worm was a huge disappointment for me because there were so many opportunities that his power provided which he seemed to completely ignore even though he was written to be a smart and strategic character.
I still don’t get how they beat Coil. Why did he only have one timeline running? Did the other one also get him (Worm spoiler, but if you’re reading this you’ll have read Worm) killed?
Coil can only run two realities in parallel, and can start a new branching point from either at any time voluntarily. So to beat him, all you need to do is create a situation where he cannot escape, then convince him that he is perfectly safe. Once he is certain of his safety he’ll create a new ‘save point’ there at the slightest provocation, and once his branching point is inside your trap it doesn’t matter what he does because you’ve already won. You don’t need to kill him in both realities, you just need to make the point of divergence between them untenable because then he’s doomed in both.
What an utter arsehole =]
I like him, can we see more of him?
Such a small ability but it makes me the perfect unseen/unknown assassin.
So now we know your true name, Cedric
I find it interesting (and good writing) that his attention power seems to have several related aspects. First, he can pay good attention to individual people if he wants to, and apparently has a good memory to back it up. Second, it appears he can pay attention to what is around him quite well also. Third, he can leverage his information without using his power, as indicated by his advice to Elsie on how to handle Clarice. His ability and the ancillary effects already make this guy a good assassin. Speculation:
If he can identify attention even if he is not looking at a person directly, he would be very hard to surprise.
If he can think quickly then, even if he is spotted, combat with him would be nightmare.
The best ways to beat him:
Automated attacks and traps (assuming his power doesn’t work on machines).
Sufficient mental defenses.
Surprise (but see above, he may be very difficult to surprise).
Overwhelming numbers at range with good line-of-fire control (at close distance, he can turn attackers on each other; same for bad line-of-fire control).
Still, one dangerous bastard.
On a tangential note, practitioners in Wildbow’s Pact web serial can do similar tricks with attention, just note as fast/fluidly/easily.
he can feel any attention paid to himself, but the range in which he can control attention is limited
I’ve thought up a few unique powers in my time,but that is inordinately awesome!
“Such a good lad.” should be “Such a good lass.”
fixed, thanks
A wild Gunnerkrigg fan
Hmm, I wonder how his power would affect someone like Basil or GG, whose powers might help them focus.
Basil’s power wouldn’t do diddly-shit to help him against Caliban’s, unless Caliban was trying to distract him from creating a gadget.
GG… well, it depends on whether or not she notices he’s using his power on her. his whole schtick is not being noticed, after all 😛
Isn’t it more about her sentient power noticing? Could his power be used to get close to and distract DiL? Make her focus all her destructive power on a pretty flower?
I wonder how his and Terry’s power would interact?
Would Gilgul be immune to him so long as Prisca’s body is far enough away?
Could he distract The Journeyman? Is the Journeyman a Time Lord using a perception filter?
For that matter, could he see through psychic paper or perception filters?
1) gloomy’s power works primarily through her desires… which means it has to work through her senses, most of the time
2) DiL is immune to ALL powers, as Atrocity and Hemming explained in “The Epic Tier”
3) considering the kind of abilities DiL uses, focusing them on a pretty flower would actually be WORSE for the world. remember, her only weakness is that she quickly changes her powers when interferred with – if she focused wholly on one thing, her powers could keep building up, since there is diddly shit people can do to stop her if she doesn’t pay attention to them
4) not answering that one 😉
5) Journeyman is not a time lord, not really. Caliban’s power would work on him… unless he was prepared for it, because he can easily render himself immune to that kind of power if he feels like it
6) who are you asking about? Journeyman?
Thanks, the last one was referring to whether Caliban can use his superhuman ability to pay attention to see through such things, or their equivalents in the Brennus-verse.
Also, you said “not answering that one”, were you referring to the Gilgul or Terry question, because you ignored both.
I was referring to gilgul, cause I#d read over the terry question, but it applies to both.
Caliban has no more control over his own attention than other people do over theirs – he simply is more sensible to matters of attention, as his power is built around it.
so, no, it’s not a direct counter against these kinds of powers – but indirectly, it’s caused him to train to be able to notice stuff like that
Thank you very much.
“diddly-shit” my new favorite usage of profanity.
Hmmm, I just re-read The epic tier, and the one that’s stated to be inmmune to all powers is Pristine, while explaining why can’t DiL detect her, it makes sense however, as all attacks against the later have been nullified so far, which begs the question, since powers don’t work on her and gadgets machinery or at least gadgets don’t work in her range, could, say, a non powered swordsman, with a finely crafted but normal sword, have hurt her if he or she landed a blow?
it was explicitely said earlier on that DiL, Tartsche and Pristine share the same defensive ability, except DiL’s is even MORE powerful than those of the other two:
Tartsche: cannot be harmed/affected by any means, cannot be sensed with powers, cannot be moved, cannot move
Pristine: cannot be harmed/affected by any means, cannot be sensed with powers, can be moved against will, can move
DiL: cannot be harmed/affected by any means, cannot be sensed with powers, cannot be moved against her will, can move
Speaking of defenses, my favourite is simply not being in range of an attack like what Journey man does. He simply isn’t located where he projects his image and voice to be and remains far enough out of range to remain invulnerable. That’s always the best defence: to never be in range of an attack. Gilgul is similar but, to a much lesser degree as she and her projection are strictly mono-universal.
On a separate note, you have described what a lot of “stars” look like, but I have yet to see a description for Journeyman’s “star”. What does it look like? Is it as big as Weißwald’s was considering he is also one at the peak of his particular category (spawner for Weißwald and transportation for Journeyman)?
Journeyman’s star is [spoiler].
That’s all I’ll say about it now
That right, it was on the battle against her above Japan right? But there’s a guy who made her flinch, so their absolute defense has a weakness, then, as many characters and people have theorized, could Gloomy get past their defense? Could Ember or The Journeyman? Their combined efforts?
All of this is a question of whether they hold the potential, rather than if they actually can
:-X
I don’t have the slightest idea what :-X means and apparently, neither does google
Tape over mouth I think
yes, that
only not as painful to undo
my mouth is closed
A shame mere words cannot convey my expresion of devilish anticipation and delight, but unless there is a way for me to post images here, I’m afraid they’ll have to do, so, that leaves me but with a word to say… Excellent….
Caliban…. That name seem familiar, was he mentioned before?
Great chapter BTW
“Like Caliban, right? He used to live down in Texas before the Six raided his city, right?”, Vasiliki threw in.
Also, have the Six ever attacked some of Sovereign’s territory?
What chapter is that? And what language directly precedes that sentence? I’m just wondering if it reveals something about Caliban.
https://tieshaunn.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/b002-rising-stars-part-3/
Despite this, we have a situation where the good guys are slowly loosing ground, since more and more villains are working together and the repeated attacks by the Savage Six, DiL and the tension of the Cold War are producing more and more metahumans, the majority of which become either outright villains or, in the case of attacks by the Six, demented killing machines that do not cooperate with anyone but just cause as much pain and suffering as possible-“
Why does he call Elsi a lad?
my mistake. fixed, thanks
There’s a Chekhov’s gun I’ve been thinking about for month’s, now: Gloom Glimmer’s favor to Brennus. Any speculation or wishes on how that turns out?
Personally, I want to see Brennus use that to save Mindstar from Amazon, after the United Heroes sick a kill-squad on her for getting too close to him. Just think of the implications!
heh, I was wondering if anyone still remembered that one
Wait… Do you mean the favor that GG owes? Or do you mean the order to attempt to hunt down Mindstar if she gets too close to Brennus?
yes
Classical Tieshaunn answer, I think he means both yet none
Incredibly enjoyed caliban
Paragraph beginning with “speaking of which” shifts into first person for a moment.
fixed, thanks
This is always such an op power, depending on the rules you give it. It’s usually beaten by someone who is good at noticing things, even when they’re not paying attention.
Or someone who has a power that runs counter to it, or someone knowing he’s nearby and launching AoE attacks indiscriminately in all directions
Oh, I remember that happening sometimes. Always interesting to see the so called good guys realise what a horrible mistake they’ve made when it’s one of their own with the power.
Random I know. My least favourite ability is dimension hopping or being to warp to different dimensions and this is why. I believe the theory of infinite universes anything that can exist has or does exist, which means some where there is universe where every book is actually happening and I don’t want some one popping into this dimension it actually quite frightens me.
Ridiculous I know but it could happen.
Lol I’m pretty sure that means, that my own idea’s could be implemented into a universe. Lol somewhere I am god.
think something up and voila it should exist. Remember laws of reality will be different in other universe so yeah magic exists, the sky is pink, vampires are the norm etc. Remember infinite universes infinite possibilities you just have to pick the right one and get there.
That would be awesome, I a more than a few universes I would be willing to kill hundreds of thousands to live in
Now all we need id a dimension cage and a dimension hopper. Hopper to hop dimensions and a cage so people can’t access ours 😛
Care to experiment on superpowers?
i would like hydro powers to have an bodyless existence able to inhabit water and turn it into a real body and control water. Or animal being able to be a beast master but having the ability to make them stronger and change them as well as having superior base stats for myself
So basically New Lennston is going to get hit with Caliban (probably hired by the Gefahrten) and the Savage Six. At the same time. Looks like all masks will definitely fall. And Basil will get a pass off Amazon’s fury by telling her he saved her boyfriend from suicide.
And who knows, maybe DiL will make an appearance too!
And Tartarus Star will get compromised! But maybe later. That’s endgame shit.
Aap Oordra will come to the rescue. As will Terry’s little brother. Or something.
Who says Caliban didn’t already hit and no one paid attention 😉
damnit. and now we wonder if WE didn’t notice. Caliban breaks fourth wall without even trying.