"Hullo there, Starburst!" The domino masked blonde girl in a generic orange jumpsuit greeted her just as the Ward turned around the corner. Starburst blinked in surprise at the girl who was flanked on both sides by PRT Troopers, waving at her as they waited near the entrance to the PRT HQ garage. Starburst had been asked by Armsmaster to come to the Rig to take a look at Noelle (technically it'll be the second time Starburst laid eyes on Noelle, having helped to telekinetically move the large, misshapened cape from the bowels of Coil's base onto a PRT Transport.), but he requested that she ride with a PRT Transport that's heading there with a few other invitees from PRT HQ instead of her usual method of just flying over straight there.
"Um... Hi," Starburst tentatively returned to the vaguely familiar girl. Had she seen her somewhere before? A glance at the stoic-faced and silent Troopers standing guard over the girl turned up no clues. "Who are you?" she queried.
The girl smirked, in a way that strangely reminded Starburst of a mischievous fox. "Oh, that's right. We'd never met face-to-face before." The girl held out her hands for a handshake, still shackled together. "I'm Tattletale, formerly of the Undersiders."
Starburst hesitated, but after a quick glance at the Trooper's non-reaction, shook the offered hand. Wait? The same Undersiders that robbed the Bank?
"Just to clear the air, the Bank job was more the Boss's idea, not ours." Tattletale suddenly started breezily. "The Boss was Coil, and he was secretly bankrolling the Undersiders, and ordered us to do the bank job. Or else."
Starburst just blinked at the statement. Why was she being so chipper and friendly to Starburst despite her role in bringing them in?
Tattletale smirked. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm kinda bummed we got caught. Still, you took down that bastard Coil at the same day, which is good for me. No more Damascus Sword hanging over my head." She paused. "Or, to be exact, a loaded gun pointed between my eyes. Coil recruited me into villainy at gunpoint, you see." she finished with a grateful look in her eyes while still smirking.
Starburst mentally hummed to herself. A part of her felt some pity for the teenage villain, another part was angry that Coil had press-ganged her into it, a different part twitched in the mangling of the phrase, and an another different part latched on to a part of her previous words. Formerly? Tattletale doesn't care for other Undersiders?
"Well, The Undersiders are being disbanded." Tattletale said, cutting off Starburst before she can say anything. "I care, but I'm not too worried about them. What the PRT is arranging for them now will probably benefit them in the long run. Bitch, or as the PRT labels her, Hellhound; gets the mental help she needs, The PRT helps out Grue and Regent with their family issues, my biological parents can't touch me, and the three of us in return be model Probationary Wards, albeit maybe in different cities. Win, win."
Probationary Ward? Starburst's mind flashed back to Sophia.
Tattletale paused, a flash of puzzlement went across her face before fading. "Oh, don't worry. The PRT revised and tighten down on the rules for that. Tighter observation, stricter curfew, that sort of thing."
One part of Starburst was wondering how Tattletale kept pre-empting her questions, another part was a tad creeped out by the accuracy and another was annoyed by the hint of arrogance in Tattletale's tone. How does she do it?
Tattletale smiled in that vulpine way again. "Oh, don't you know? I'm psychic." she teased.
As Starburst glared at the restrained teenage villain, she could feel one of her eyebrows moved on its own accord, propelled towards her hairline by sheer skepticism.
Tattletale blinked in surprise and surprisingly quailed back. "Okay, okay." she placatingly said. "My power is more of a 'super Sherlock Holmes'. "she clarified, watching Starburst carefully. "I was going off the context of my words and reading your body language for your reactions."
Starburst felt a part of her settled down, while a different part was a bit intrigued. Super deduction?
Tattletale was looking at Starburst, like she was a mystery to be unraveled. "Speaking of body language, I got to know." she started. "Why is yours so odd? It's like you got several-"
"You!" A sudden indignant cry interrupted them. Starburst turned her head and saw both Glory Girl and Panacea had just arrived.
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There were probably much more awkward moments in Starburst's life, but she's having difficulty remembering any that it'll top the trip from the PRT HQ to the Rig while riding in the PRT van with Tattletale, Glory Girl and Panacea.
Glory Girl and Panacea were seated next to Starburst and glaring angrily at Tattletale. Tattletale sat across from her between the two PRT Trooper escorts, ignoring the duo from New Wave and staring at Starburst with a mix of morbid fascination and unbound curiosity , occasionally muttering quietly to herself odd statements with 'Another one?' and 'How many she got in her head?'. Starburst, in the mean time, was trying to not let the awkwardness in the van get to her, absentmindedly fidgeting to keep her nerves calm. The two Troopers looking all too amused at the overall scene didn't help at all.
Starburst had almost burst out of the doors running when they had arrived at the Rig's garage.
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"Dinah?" Starburst blurted out in surprise as the troupe reached the observation window looking into Noelle's cell. The preteen was decked out in a tan rainslicker/trenchcoat ensemble and sporting a wide brimmed fedora. Dinah's smiling face turned towards Starburst, revealing the stylish sunglasses serving as her 'mask'.
"It's Forecast." the preteen corrected Starburst, while waving at the incoming group, her PRT Trooper escort glancing at them.
"Forecast?" Starburst repeated blinking, and carefully not looking through the window. The sight of Noelle the first time had... discomforted Starburst to a surprising degree. She had never seen something or someone in such a state of... disharmony before.
Forecast pouted like the twelve year old she's supposed to be. "They didn't like my first name idea."
"Hm..." Tattletale hummed as she stepped forward and looked through the window at a placid Noelle, while paging through the report binder provided to her. "So, this is our patient." Panacea moved towards the window as well, followed by Glory Girl, who was protectively hovering over her adopted sister and throwing dirty looks at Tattletale.
"Yes", Miss Militia admitted as she walked up to the group. "We're hoping to cure her. Or at least, make her condition more manageable. To that end, we're trying an avenue by pooling together your Thinker powers; Starburst's Radar, Tattletale deductions, Forecast predictions and Panacea's biological sensing ability and see if you all can come up with something."
Starburst hummed and activated her Radar, glancing at Forecast, Panacea and Tattletale. "Just the four of us? I'm not sure how we can divine a solution..." she said doubtfully.
Miss Militia smiled. "Well, perhaps we're leaning on your Trump ability as well, Starburst." She paused and turned her head towards a nearby corner. "And we're getting some experienced help as well."
Starburst blinked and looked at Miss Militia in slight surprise, before turning her head towards that same corner; just as Armsmaster and someone else walked around it.
It was a powerfully built woman, with a confident gait and inspiring stature, dressed in a black bodysuit. Said bodysuit had the iconic emblem of a stylized lighthouse tower on it.
Alexandria. Alexandria of the Triumvirate. The Alexandria Package. The idol of cape crazy pre teen girls everywhere. Right there in person.
Starburst would later deny that she had squeed out loud like a fangirl.