A Dragon's Hoard: Chapter 5 End of the Beginning

<<<Taylor Hebert>>>

“Dragon! Why didn’t you tell me Peter was Spiderman!” Taylor wasn’t whining, and anyone that said she was was a horrible liar!

Dragon seemed amused, if her smile was anything to go by, “Not even a hello?” She asked, “But I didn’t tell him you were a parahuman or a cyborg. You did both on your own. I didn’t even suggest you do the first…” She smirked, “Unless you want me to give away your secrets to people? I could do that, like the time you eat a pencil in VR?”

Taylor just huffed and crossed her arms, “Fine, fine… I was… it caught me off guard, alright?” She said, “And honestly do you know how freaky it is? To my powers he registers as bug-adjacent. God, I can even look through his eyes and his other senses!”

“... Ok, that I didn’t expect,” Dragon admitted, “But I have a surprise that will make it up to you?”

Taylor looked at her guardian/kinda-sorta-foster mom, “What is it?” She asked, curious despite her own momentary irritation at Dragon.

Granted, she was in the right of it, it wasn’t her secret to tell. It just really caught her off guard. Who expected sharing a few classes with a damn Hero after all? What next, Alexandria was actually her English teacher? Maybe Legend is the PE teacher?

The virtual Dragon flickered out of existence and… she was hugged from behind, physically hugged. “It’s finished,~” Dragon said, amusement on her lips, “Tada.~”

Taylor did NOT squeal in happiness and spin around and latched onto her like a spider monkey! And she did not sniffle or cry at finally being able to touch her savior! Her eyes were just… sweating! She got dust in them!

Dragon just rubbed her back and waited for Taylor to recompose herself.

“So…” Dragon started, “When we’re out in public, which I hope we can be tonight? You can call me Tess, Theresa, or Richter. Depending on if you like first, second, or last names.”

“Yes!” Taylor said with a smile, “I never thought you’d get it done so soon, Tess…” She added testing the name all the while squealing internally, “I know Dragon’s real name!~”

Granted it was a minor thing, but Taylor felt it was the most important one. 

“Or is it her real name?” Taylor thought. “Wait, did you choose those or were you just called ‘Dragon’ by your creator? Actually… who made you? You’ve never said.”

“My father… was named Alan Richter, and he called me Dragon,” She replied, “I don’t talk about it much for… well, most people don’t know I’m an AI. But he also… put restrictions on me. A lot of them.” Dragon’s voice was soft, distant, almost vulnerable. “I can’t reproduce, I have to follow the lawful authority no matter how repugnant I find their orders, I can’t kill humans unless they’ve been declared to have a death sentence in some way… that last one doesn’t come up too often, thankfully. If there’s a terrorist or something that needs to be dealt with I can just ask Shield or the Avengers for permission.”

Taylor chewed her lip at her words, “Have you… thought about asking Mr. Stark for help?” She asked, “He seems like a… weirdo but I think he’s nice.”

“Can’t,” She replied, “And he’s a massive asshole… but he tries to be a good person. One of my restrictions is that I can’t try to get rid of the restrictions. I can’t even look at where they are in my code.” Dragon snorted, “They wouldn’t be very useful restrictions if I could.”

“But… you’re telling me about them…” Taylor said.

“Because you deserve to know,” She replied, “If I ever do something you don’t like and seems… really bad to do, that might be the reason. I don’t go to some countries and do hero stuff for a reason, but if I’m ever forced into it…” She twitched, “You can shut down any of my remote bodies to cancel the order.”

Taylor froze, even with her near infinite multitasking it was… a lot to take in. A lot of responsibility.

A lot of trust.

“I, um, I… ok,” She said, hugging Dragon tight. “I’ll only do it if absolutely necessary, I promise.”

“And I’ll make sure you don’t have to worry about that ever again,” She thought to herself, angry that anyone would put those types of things on someone so… nice.

“Now that the heavy stuff is out of the way…” Dragon started with a smirk, “I was thinking we could go to a movie together? There’s this cheesy romance film I’ve been wanting to catch…”

“Sure,” Taylor said with a smile, “Though I will warn you, I will snark and make snippy commentary, though I’ll try not to be too distracting.”

“That’s half the fun,” Dragon replied with a grin, “I’d be watching with Armsmaster too, but he’s been too busy recently. Supervillains just don’t know when to take a vacation, I swear.”

“Well, Doom keeps to himself unless he’s messing with the Fantastic Four,” Taylor said, “... What is going on with them anyway? I don’t think Doom ever focused on any other heroes nearly as much.”

“Well, first he thinks Reed is insufferable because the man is… legitimately smarter than him,” Dragon’s head shook, “I might not be able to multitask like other AI can, but my thoughts still go far faster than standard humanity and he still answers math questions faster than I can. Can’t say them faster, but he gets the right answer first.”

Taylor blinked, that was… impressive.

“Second… Sue is, ah, kinda the woman he loved?” She noted, “But Sue rejected him for Reed. So there’s a bit of drama there.”

“... So this whole thing is because Doom is upset he isn’t the smartest man ever and because… he didn’t get the girl…” Taylor just blinked, “Honestly… I was expecting something more… epic or convoluted. That just sounds sad…”

“Oh, he also believes that he can fix the world because he’s just that smart that everyone should work under him,” Dragon said with a shrug, “All kinda ties back into his ginormous ego though. If he ever bothers you, call Squirrel Girl or Spiderman.”

“Still sounds sad though,” Taylor insisted, “And… Squirrel Girl?” She knew of the hero and she was… kind of a joke she thought.

Though Taylor was secure in herself enough (now anyway) to admit that Squirrel Girl had some very generous assets.

“She’s one of the few people that can break into Doom’s bases and walk away with whatever she came to get without repercussions,” Dragon confided, “She stole a helicopter from him once. She’s… kinda terrifying.”

“... That is such bullshit. I’m not sure if I want to meet her or not.” Taylor admitted, “Honestly she sounds like Mouse Protector only Squirrel themed.”

“She punches almost as hard as Spiderman can, and I’ll remind you that Spiderman fights Hulk and wins, and can talk to squirrels,” Dragon listed off, “Mouse Protector looks up to her.”

“... Clockblocker is right, Supers are Bullshit…” Taylor huffed.

“She’s a mutant, I think?” Dragon said before shrugging, “And an Avenger. no, she’s not an Avenger anymore, she’s with the Great Lakes Avengers.”

“Still a Super so, meh,” Taylor said with a shrug.

“You, you are a Super now,” Dragon noted, booping her nose. “You know, Mistress of the Bugs.”

“I mean… yes but no?” Taylor replied, “I mean I haven’t punched a bad guy or have my own personal nemesis like a lot of Supers do.” Though she supposed Emma and the others were something like that.

“You forgot a word: Yet.” Dragon sounded far too smug about that.

“... So, cheesy movie…” Taylor said, bluntly changing the subject.

[hr][/hr]

Taylor was silent for at least twenty seconds after they left the theatre. “Tess?” She started, getting an innocent hum of acknowledgement from the AI, “You know what you did.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” She replied loftily, “I assure you, the choice of movie was a complete coincidence.”

“Really? A high school romance flick with two heroes falling in love, not even aware that they know each other in school?” Taylor raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, because of the parallels between you and Peter?” Tess asked, “Not really. You’ve yet to go out on your first outing as a Super so it doesn’t count,” She quipped with a teasing smile, giggling as Taylor gave her a look. “Come on, it was a good movie! And adorable!”

“... I mean, yeah. But I could’ve done without you comparing me to the love interest,” Taylor said with a huff, “For one I refuse to be a damsel in distress! And I wouldn’t swoon over Spiderman!” She added.

“Yes you would,” She replied, “If he tried to charm you, you would.”

“No, I wouldn’t!” Taylor said with a scowl, trying and failing not to think of Peter actually flexing that nerdy charm of his.

Tess gave another giggle. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Icecream?” She asked, gesturing to a nearby shop, “We can’t do this every day, but… I think splurging now and again on things unrelated to tinkering is acceptable…”

“That’s acceptable,” Taylor said, “And isn’t DragonTech competing with Starktech? I’d think you’d be super rich.” Not that she knew how business worked or anything.

“No,” She replied, “We’re primarily a patent and design holder.” Taylor must have been visibly confused, so Tess continued, “We license out designs and technology to other companies for a share of the profits. We don’t build anything ourselves. We make good money, but most of it goes to our engineers and designers directly, not to me.”

“... I think I’ll need to add a business course to my workload, cause I don’t get it,” Taylor freely admitted.

Tess just smiled at that. “Just because you can multitask so much doesn’t mean you should cram so much,” She said, “It’s okay to take things slow. There’s no hurry.”

Taylor just nodded, “Sorry just… after having my education sabotaged, I just feel like I have so much to make up for…” She said, “It’s stupid I know but… it’s just how I feel.”

“You’re young, dear,” She replied, giving Taylor a hug, “You’ll be rich faster than you know it. Just sell the right to make action figures of you once you get a good costume and some name recognition. It’s how Squirrel Girl keeps herself afloat. And Mouse Protector has her show…”

“You know… it still feels so surreal that some heroes actually do that,” Taylor admitted, “... Would you help me make it? I think I’m make mine to edgy and be mistaken as a villain…:”

Tess paused mid step. “Darling, I appreciate that you trust and respect me so much, but I can not make nice looking designs that aren’t animals,” She admitted, “I suppose I could put out some questions, but the people that would be interested…”

“... Well, I’d appreciate your opinions,” Taylor said, “... Maybe Peter could help…” She ignored the amused smirk on Tess’s face.

“Not a bad idea,” She agreed, “I could… maybe ask a mutant I know for opinions on what you make? She’s… a bit… She’s not someone that you’d like to be around, to put it nicely, but she does know fashion and what looks good.”

“... Though I’m not sure I feel comfortable in his… style of costume…” The thought of wearing something so form fitting with her enhanced figure honestly made her blush… and possibly overheat…

So, that’s what overheating felt like…

Tess giggled again. “No, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. I’ll put out some feelers, but I can make no promises they won’t all make you blush.”

For some reason Taylor felt a pit forming in her stomach…

Tess just giggled more, “Sorry but the truth is sex sells and most heroes are very extroverted,” She said, “Haven’t you noticed all heroines tend to look very provocative?”

“Oh no…” She was going to either overheat and shut down, or explode from embarrassment!

Then they stepped into the ice cream parlor and began to pick out flavors.

Naturally, she picked chocolate while Tess… “Can I get a banana sundae with the… five most popular flavors? It’s my first time having ice cream so I don’t know what I like yet.”

“... That’s a lot of ice cream,” Taylor noted, eyes wide.

“... Yes?” Tess replied, head tilting, “You can have more too, if you want.”

“N-no, this is enough,” Taylor replied, “It’s just that all of those flavors will just kinda start blending together and might not taste good together,” She explained, not feeling at all weird about being the teacher for once, “It’s better to have them one at a time.”

“Oh,” Tess said with a blink, “Then I’ll have a normal banana split. Thanks for the advice, Taylor.”

“My guardian is a dork…” Taylor thought with a smile, “You’re welcome.”

“This is my first time with a mouth to eat things with, I got a bit carried away…” Dragon sent to her, voice tinged with embarrassment.

Taylor just patted her shoulder with a teasing smile. “I thought it was cute,” She replied.

She hugged her as they sat down at their chosen booth. “I think,” Tess started, “That I’m enjoying helping and looking after you a lot more than I thought I would. You are very pleasant to be around and I’m glad I adopted you.”

Taylor just smiled, and honestly she would’ve teared up at her words if she were still human, “And I’m glad you did,” She said with a smile. Then she had a thought and, though it hurt to think it and it hurt to admit it… “Could… I call you mom? I know it wasn’t one of the options you gave but…”

Her mom had died a long time ago and Dragon was trying so, so hard to help her…

Dragon had frozen in place before, with a rapid blink (as though she were trying to keep from crying herself), she said, “O-of course you can, Taylor.”

“... thanks for everything, Mom,” Taylor whispered.

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Nightmare723764: And this brings an end to this short, however will this be the end for good? Doubtful, Vyor and I have a bad habit of taking an idea and running with it. So this will most likely get more attention eventually, but until then this story is finished.