Convincing both Tate and Tana to test out what they called new toys? Possibly the easiest thing ever done. Finding a large enough, secluded, and abandoned place to test them in? That was a bit more difficult, but accomplished in less than a day. The address was sent, and while he awaited their arrival Gio began to set the place up how he wanted. Different obstacles to overcome and things to hit. He’d seen what Tana had done to Freight Train’s face, so he was sure with the equipment she could do far more damage. He’d have to make adjustments accordingly to be sure they remained nonlethal.
Once they arrived, Gio couldn’t help it. Even as he stood there in his Sentinel gear he had to take a moment to fully admire his work. They both had jumped down from the rafters of the factory, easily landing on the main floor. That told him they could still move easily and freely, exactly what he’d wanted for both of them. Tana gave a demonstration that she could easily cartwheel, clearly not able to contain her enthusiasm. She would probably like the equipment he’d made for her the most. So, he offered up the first trial to her.
Almost as soon as she saw the gauntlets and realized what they were, she nearly jumped up and down in place. Sliding her hands into and gripping the bar inside of them, she laughed maniacally as they adjusted to fit snugly on her wrist and forearm. Gio explained how she went about activating them, even when she wasn’t charged up to use her powers. Both of the gauntlets lit up and began to faintly glow red, just like her powers. She didn’t hesitate, raising a fist and spinning herself entirely around to slam it into a piece of abandoned factory equipment. The force she hit it with was enough to cause the thick metal to cave inwards onto itself, making it move about seven inches across the floor from where it had originally been sitting. It wasn’t bolted down, but it was definitely too heavy to move by any natural means.
She pulled her fist back and looked at it, grinning from ear to ear at the carnage she knew she’d be able to cause now. Gio showed her how to make them collapse so she could hook them to the utility belt that he’d added to their suits, allowing the gauntlets to be easily accessible should she ever need them. They could be used to block hits as well, since he made them out of graphene. It made them hard to damage and also gave her immediate access to turn her skin into the strong material, as well.
The next thing he showed off was a new weapon for Tate. A bo staff that could come apart to be used as two separate pieces. It, much like Tana’s gauntlets, could both be used to channel his powers into or put out a similar amount of force that he could exert with a single blow. It glowed blue whenever he activated it, lighting up in his hands and — unexpectedly, it nearly exploded. Tate dropped it quickly, causing Gio to run over to him and make sure he was okay. His hands weren’t harmed, but rather glowing blue. It seemed as if he’d overloaded the bo staff just by touching it, which Gio found unusual.
Weren’t their powers supposed to be absorption? Tate clearly hadn’t absorbed any energy, but rather outputted it. This was a completely new discovery, and one that eventually Tate began to admit wasn’t as new to him. Some months prior he’d accidentally let out a surge without having absorbed anything. No electrical current, no other power output, nothing that should have caused a shockwave. Was it possible that they were capable of not only absorbing energy, but making their own? If that was the case, maybe they shouldn’t have a near limitless source to draw from strapped to their backs.
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Keeping that in mind, Gio decided that Tate should try and test his limits. His injuries were physically almost entirely healed. Just a sliver of a pink line was left on his chest. How healed was he internally? No one could know for sure, especially since the stubborn man refused to return to the hospital or see any doctor.
They began by seeing how much energy he could absorb. Small amounts, just testing to make sure he could handle it. Whenever he hit the same piece of equipment that Tana had before with his bare fist and caused the floor under to fracture outwards, it was clear he still had his strength. He could still easily direct certain parts of his skin to turn into any material, allowing it to move all over his body even if it was the size of a quarter or smaller. If that wasn’t too draining on him then turning all of his skin wouldn’t be an issue.
He could still shoot energy projectiles using only his fists, or his mouth — which was Tana’s own personal talent. Freight Train had witnessed that face on, literally. Kicks weren’t out of the question either, as Gio watched a nearly perfect crescent shaped energy projectile slam into a wall from Tate’s leg. His stamina hadn’t been affected too badly, nor had his durability since he could still take a hit from his sister. Everything seemed to be looking fine, but the bo staff would need to be revisited and adjusted.
Just when everyone was starting to feel confident with all the new gear and Tate’s healing process, they heard someone begin to clap. It was slow and echoed off the nearly empty factory building’s walls. The sound almost seemed to be coming from every direction, until out from the shadows emerged the winged-exo-suit wearing fiend himself. He didn’t have his mask on, having all the other lights on his suit covered or turned off.
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“Very impressive! I’m really glad to see that you-” Walter didn’t even get to finish his sentence before Tana had slammed a gauntlet covered fist into him. He barely got his own armored arms up to block the hit. Skidding backwards from the force of the attack, but somehow managing to stay on his feet, he dodged the next hit and ignited the thrusters on his suit. Flying upwards and hovering just over the three. He frowned as he looked down at them all.
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“FUCK YOU!” Tana shouted, picking up the nearest thing that wasn’t bolted down and launching it at Walter. It nearly hit him, and would have easily taken off one the wings of his exo-suit as it went crashing through a window in the roof of the factory. “You have no right! Do you hear me?! NONE!” It took Tate catching Tana’s arm and pulling her back to make her stop from grabbing something else to throw at their father. She ripped her mask off her head to reveal that she was crying. Red in the face, tears streaming down her cheeks, and still neither Gio nor Tate had ever seen her so angry.
“Tate could have died because of you.” The calmness in her voice as she struggled to hold back more tears said it all. Whatever bit of hope she’d had for Walter was gone. Crushed into dust and blown away the moment her older brother hit the ground and didn’t get back up that night. She had probably never truly hated a single person in her entire life, until then. Her resentment was more pain filled than it was angry. With Walter still out of her reach, she almost fell to her knees. The only thing holding her up was Tate. “Do you understand that?! What kind of father… what kind of man would ever… just… why?”
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As her voice fell she grew heavier, slowly being lowered down to the ground by her arm as she couldn’t control her sobbing. Tate was, surprisingly, the calmest one. His expression was unreadable, face practically void of all emotion as he made sure Tana was okay. Walter looked absolutely devastated. He was grief stricken as his face twisted and he clearly attempted to hold back tears while looking at his daughter that had crumpled to the floor.
Continuing to hover above them, probably for his own safety, Walter brought his hands up and rubbed roughly over his face. He didn’t know what to say, but the exasperated laugh that came from him wasn’t expected. Tears rolled down his own cheeks once he revealed his face again, and shortly after he landed back down on the ground in front of the three vigilantes.
“I-.. I don’t ever expect forgiveness. Not for anything that I’ve ever done. Least of all from you, Tate.” Walter wiped his own eyes. The smile he gave was anything but happy. It was filled with pain as he attempted to explain himself. “I don’t even expect you all to believe me, but I never meant for any of you kids to get hurt. I had a year to sit and think about… about everything. What happened on your nineteenth birthday.”
Still, Tate remained silent and completely unreadable. He watched Walter carefully, never once taking his eyes off him. “Once I realized that Giovanni was Sentinel, I knew I couldn’t let her go through with her plan — but, but then she… she just-”
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It all happened so quickly that not even Gio saw it coming. One second Tate was completely still, and the next he’d taken one step forward and hit Walter in the stomach with an energy projectile that could rival the one he’d sent into Carrie that day in her apartment. Walter was sent soaring already, but before he could make contact with the wall several feet behind him Tate had taken off and launched another blast of blue at him. Faintly glowing blue over his entire body, he slowed his stride and began to walk towards the impact zone of where Walter hit the wall. Never before had Gio nor Tana seen Tate like this.
His fists had blue energy swirling around them and spiking out farther the closer he got to Walter. Clearly the next punch was going to be meant to take off his head, and as Tate slowly got closer he obviously wasn’t planning on stopping. Lying in the rubble the impact from his body had created, Walter looked up at his son to reveal he was bleeding from a head wound the last blast had left. His eyes went wide as Tate raised his fist again, closing them tightly to prepare for what was coming next.
However, the next blast never came. Giovanni had gone sprinting, sliding in between Tate and his father with his arms out. Facing the person that he probably cared about the most in the entire world. His eyes couldn’t be seen, but his mouth wore a harsh frown. Tate finally showed emotion for the first time since Walter revealed himself to have been watching them train. He gritted his teeth, furrowed his brows, and glared hard at the man that dared stand between him and his father. “Move, Giovanni.”
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“No!” There was his typical morals, rearing their head and refusing to allow anyone to get killed. “I won’t let you do this, Tate!” He glanced back at Walter himself, watching as the man began to try and stagger to his feet. “I don’t like him much right now myself, but he did save me. He could have just let me be crushed to death, but he didn’t. I believe him.”
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That absolutely struck a nerve, as shown by the blue surrounding Tate lighting up brighter and becoming more intense. Even his eyes flickered brighter, burning a cobalt blue and staring daggers into a man he’d thought could understand. Would understand, even. “He’s the reason Isaiah’s in a coma and Myla’s gone. Or did you forget that, Giovanni?”
Now, Tate had a point. Walter was, to some degree, to blame for what had occurred at the dojo and loft. Gio knew it, but it didn’t change his stance. Though it did make him lower his arms back down to his sides and ball his hands into fists. It still didn’t mean that anyone had to die because of it.
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“I didn’t forget, Tate.” Gio took in a deep breath, closing his eyes for only a moment to try and center himself. When that didn’t work, he quickly turned around and punched Walter in the face, nearly knocking the man back down to the ground again. “And I won’t forget.” He spoke lowly, leaning closer to Walter as he said it. Standing back up straight afterwards and turning around again.
“He’s here for a reason. If it were to kill us he’s had plenty of chances so far, but we’re still alive. I think we need to hear him out.” Gio took a step towards Tate and attempted to pat his shoulder, but quickly had his hand shrugged off. At least the glowing blue had calmed down and was beginning to fully cease. “I’m not asking you to forgive him.”
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But he might as well have been, from the look that Tate gave him. It was like a shot through his heart, seeing that expression. Anger, betrayal, and disappointment all mixed together. The same one he’d seen before, when they went their separate ways and didn’t speak again for years. It was a gut punch, watching as Tate turned on his heel and walked back over to Tana. Leaving Gio still standing there, protecting Walter. He didn’t know what to do, so he just continued to stand there. Waiting for… something. Worrying about his relationship with Tate couldn’t be at the forefront of his mind at that moment, no matter how badly he wished it could be.
In a blink, again, Walter stepped out from behind Gio to stand beside him and suddenly he was slammed backwards into the wall again. This time there was no blue glow, no energy projectile, and both Tana and Tate were still directly in front of Giovanni. He hardly turned his head fast enough to see the nunchaku that cracked him right in the center of his forehead. Vision going blurry for a moment after, he didn’t stand a chance as the seven shuriken all struck him center mass. It almost felt like he’d been shot as the shuriken protruded out of his vest, none getting past the plating. Though what really saved him as an eighth shuriken came flying towards him, going straight for his throat, was a whip wrapping around the wrist and forearm of the assailant wielding it.
Walter had emerged from the attack he’d taken the brunt of, his mask on and his whip igniting with electricity as he yanked the strange woman away from Gio by her captured arm. Finally having a chance to look around, blinking a few times to make his vision less blurry, revealed that there weren’t just two attackers. Four more sprung from the shadows, one getting ready to throw their rope dart right at the back of Tate’s head. Not even thinking, Gio pulled two of the shuriken from his kevlar and threw them. They were just mere inches from Tate’s head, nearly catching his ear as they both hit the person in the shoulder and upper arm. It caused them to miss their attack, and also alerted Tate and Tana to the people behind them.
Right as Walter thought he had the upper hand on the woman he’d captured, she grabbed his whip and yanked him around. He slammed into Gio and they both went tumbling, but she turned her attention away from them and towards Tana and Tate. Snatching one the shurikens out of Gio’s vest and making a run at them. The person that had attacked Walter first stood up, going after the two on the ground right as Gio pulled out the rest of the shurikens from his torso. Neither the attacker nor Giovanni had time to react to the next events.
A blinding blue light came from where Tate and Tana had been standing. An intense energy surge that brought a shockwave with it, blasting everything back, which flooded over every inch of the factory. It slammed into bodies with such immense force that it was a wonder they didn't disintegrate. The scream that Tate let out with it could hardly be heard over the rushing and static sound that came with the surge. One massive projectile, hitting every person in its way.
Tana brought up a shield around herself, but it was quickly cracked and shattered. Sending her backwards, as well. Walter reached over and wrapped his arms around Gio, the wings of his exo-suit also wrapping around him and shielding him from the brunt of the blast. If Walter survived it would only be due to the armor he wore and his mask, both protecting his limbs and vital organs decently well. All the windows that were still intact blew out as the energy hit them, even the ones on the roof. Shattered glass blasted outwards before falling back inside from the roof, raining down over everything and sparkling like glitter in the moonlight.
After the initial blast was over, and everyone had successfully been pushed into the nearest thing that their bodies wouldn’t go through, Tate was the only one left standing and breathing heavily. Swaying as he tried to stay upright on unsteady legs, it didn’t take long before he collapsed. Hitting the ground hard, but still conscious, he pushed himself up and tried to get back to his feet as he watched all the unknown attackers get back up themselves and scatter. Tana wasn’t far behind them, sending off her own blast after them and just missing one as they escaped out of a door. She’d soaked up so much of Tate’s energy that it was a wonder she hadn’t become overloaded herself, but letting off the massive projectile she had seemed to have helped.
Finally, emerging last, Walter unwrapped himself from Gio. Revealing that, somehow, both of them were completely fine from it with Leviathan’s wings taking the worst beating. One was broken, with wires hanging out and the metal frame twisted, but that was the biggest extent of the damage. That could easily be fixed. Gio was the next to rush to Tate’s side, dropping down beside him and making sure he was okay. This time his hand wasn’t shrugged off or knocked away.
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“Who the fuck were those people?” Tate spoke up, asking the only odd person in the room the glaring question they all had. It certainly seemed as if his father was involved with worse people than Warmonger, now. Walter, picking a shuriken up from the floor that had survived the Conduit shockwave, held it up to examine it better.
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“I believe you kids just met your cousin. That Korean investor I mentioned?” Walter slung the shuriken off to the side, clearly angered. “Or you at least met his minions… The Silent.” Well, that certainly complicated things.
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A greedy man that would kill to get what he wants, even his own children. A military trained woman with a raging hatred for all supers. Now, ninjas? Not only ninjas, but ninjas whose leader was related to the Crawfords? Things were only just beginning to heat up for our hero squad.
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