Abnormal Norman 26: Web of Development
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Be Norman
Burgerphile eatery with Gilda
 
>You sit with Gilda to eat your delicious lunch.
>A deluxe burger, filled with onions, pickles and lettuce.
>It's meat, oozing with grease.
>Onions grilled to perfection.
>Surely a feast for a superhero like yo-
 
>"NORMAN!" yelled Gilda
"Sorry, I was in the moment."
>"Heh, you treat that burger as if it were a woman."
"Alright, alright. Enough with the embarrassment. Let's talk business."
>*CAW*
>An eagle soared outside the restaurant, circling around a lamp post before landing on top of it.
"Gilda?"
>"Hmm? Oh, right."
>She takes out the list and a folder from her bag.
 
"What's this?"
>"They have two hideouts. You attack one and backup will immediately arrive. You're going to need help."
"Yeah...about that..."
>"Let me guess, you don't want to bother the green girl, and the underwear guy is too inexperienced?"
"Pretty much."
>"Heh. Did you know Nolan once thought that the underwear guy was more dangerous than you?"
"Really? Haha."
>"Nolan's a genius, but he's not cut out for this life."
"And you're more qualified?"
>"I've been born into this life. My old friend tried to save me from it, but I ended up in juvies, and before you know it, I'm back on the streets, working from one gang to another."
"And you landed on Nolan's crew?"
>Gilda takes her soda and drinks it all in one gulp. You see regret in her eyes.
>"Hey, it has a decent pay. Way better than being an egghead in high-school."
>She tries to talk against her own beliefs.
 
>"So what about you? How'd you end up becoming some gimp of justice?"
"Long story. Brad, or as you know him 'Commander Underwear', talked me into this after...gaining my powers."
>"How did you gain your powers?"
"Listen Gilda, you're a nice girl and all, but working with the enemy just doesn't cut it for me to tell you my past."
>"Alright, alright. Don't get so melodramatic over this."
"You seem to be having a good time."
>"Hey, it's been long since I've eaten with someone in a restaurant."
>Gilda realizes what she just said and blushes for a moment.
>"N-not that I enjoyed eating with you or anything...d-dweeb!"
>She's so cute when she's flustered. Reminds me of Rainbro.
 
>*CAW*
>There goes that eagle again.
>...wait a minute...don't crows make 'caw' noises?
>You look at Gilda. She holds her burger with fists of rage. She noticed it too.
>The eagle spreads it's left wing to reveal a grenade wrapped under its wing.
>It takes the grenade with its claws and throws it at the restaurant!
 
>"GET DOWN!"
 
[[*EXPLOSION SOUNDS AND SHIT*]]
 
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
 
>The eagle swoops down the restaurant despite the smoke.
"Gilda, what ha-   WHOA!!"
>Gilda takes a single knife from her boot and spreads it into five.
>She throws them in the smoke.
>She manages to hit the eagle, but it doesn't stop him.
>The eagle swoops down to Gilda as it transforms into a human in monk's robes.
 
>"HA-HA!"said the eagle woman in an accent.
"Who the hell?"
>"Thy name is Amaranthine *, filthy casual, and I have come for your girlfriend's blood!"
>[spoiler]According to the mlp wikia. -Dan[/spoiler]
>"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" yelled Gilda.
>Gilda unsheathes another knife from her sleeve and swipes it on Amaranthine.
>Her fast arm manages to cut Amaranthine's chest. She retalliates by punching Gilda on the left side of her face.
>Gilda spins in recoil, and backflips to  the cashier's desk and brings out a fan of knives from both her sleeves.
 
>At this rate, she really looks like some ninja bird.
 
>Gilda throws the knife in an attempt to confuse Amaranthine.
>Amaranthine dodges all of them, but to his loss, Gilda had jumped off the desk, rolled over to him and gave him a swift kick to the stomach.
>"OOOFFF!!" Amaranthine cried out.
 
>Amaranthine's body flies towards the wall. You took it as a chance to change into your costume.
 
>"Heh, you haven't changed one bit, you two-faced bitch!"
>*knife-from-sheathe-noise* Your face will change in the next second!"
>"Fat chance!"
>Gilda throws more knives at her, but she uses the table near her as a shield.
>Amaranthine takes a test tube filled with unknown liquid and pours it down on her body.
>"HUUURGGHHAAAA!"
>The woman instantly grows wings on her back
>Her nails sharpen, along with her teeth.
>She is now a mutated freak of nature.
>"COME AT ME, GILDA!" she screams like an eagle.
 
"Nope, I don't thing she'd would want that on the first date."
>"WHAT THE?"
>"Oh my god, Noir-Man!" cried out a cashier of the restaurant.
 
>You appear behind Amaranthine, in your costume, taunting her with terrible jokes.
"Come on, is thanksgiving this early?"
>"BAH, I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Amaranthine yells
>She throws a table at Gilda as a distraction.
>"ARGH!"
>She flies out of the restaurant after realizing she was outnumbered and outpowered.
"Oh no you don't!"
>Using your heightened agility, you wall climbed up the wrecked restaurant and jumped on to the flying abomination.
 
>"BAH! GET AWAY FROM ME. THIS IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN!"
"Wrecking America's favorite food joint as an eagle? That makes you an official traitor to a freedom loving country!"
 
>"AWAY WITH YOU!"
>Amaranthine swerves left and right, trying to break free of your grasp.
>You use your enhanced strength to punch a bone on his wing.
>"AHAHHHHH! MY SPINE!"
>hmm, looks like his mutation spreads out his  skeletal system.
>She flies upward as you grab on to her arm. She claws your elbow in the process.
"ACH! JEEZ, NAILCUTTER! EVER HEARD OF THAT?"
>She tries to claw you again, but you managed to grab that hand, lift yourself up to deliver a uppercut to her jaw!
>"OOMPH!!"
>You take the other wing and used it as a steering wheel.
>"LET GO! I CAN'T HANDLE THE EXTRA WEIGHT!"
>You steer her to the direction of the police precinct.
>"NO! NOOOOO!"
>The mutant creature falls in midair as you stand on her back like a skateboard.
"NEXT STOP, THREE BARS CITY!"
>Wow, I'm getting good at this joking shtick. I might as well rip off Spider-Man while I'm at it.
 
>"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH"
>...
>Oh right, I'm falling from fifty feet.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
 
*CRASH*
 
>You and Amaranthine crashed through the roof.
>Amaranthine survived but is unconscious. You on the otherhand are just fazed.
>"H-hey! It's the vigilante! Noir-Man!" yelled a police officer
 
"Sup guys, I brought you a terrorist!"
>"QUICKLY! ARREST THOSE TWO!"
"Oh come on, I do you guys a solid and this is how you treat me?"
>You've annoyed them long enough. You jump from the hole you made and ran away, jumping from building to building.
>"CATCH HIM!"
>I swear this is way easier in GTA IV.
 
15 minutes later
Building roof near Burgerphile
>Aww shit. The police are here, and my clothes are in there.
>Dammit, I should have thought this through.
>Alright, maybe if I sneak in, no one wo-
 
>"Hey hero, you lookin for something?"
>You turn around to see Gilda, holding your clothes in a roll.
"Gilda! Oh thank Faust."
>She throws the clothes at you.
>"Be more careful next time. I can't risk you leading them to Nolan.
>You put on your clothes, storing your mask and gloves away.
"You know, I like you better than my other partner already."
>"Enough with the flattery, dweeb. I'm here to help you, not fight crime with you."
"And honestly, you two almost sound the same when it comes to this topic."
>"Whatever."
 
After storing your gloves and mask away, you put on your beanie while you ask her more questions.
 
"So...who was that girl?"
>"She's, from the first gang on the list. Viri Scientia.
"They're all like that?"
>"Like I said, they're crazy, but capable. They have access to highly volatile chemicals and chemists. Rumor has it they've been teaming up with some top scientist named Cherry Jubilee."
"Don't know her."
>"Of course you don't. She studies in foreign specimens. Alien-like specifically."
"Like the meteors that came crashing down here weeks ago?"
>"Maybe. I never paid much attention to that.
>She must be the overlord of that scientist I interrogated a few days ago.
"Anyways, back to the original topic. So these 'Viri Scientia' can transform themselves into animals?"
>"No, well not all of them. They use those tubes of chemicals.
"These?"
>You show her the tubes you got from Amaranthine before you escaped.
>She nods her head.
>"Based on all the fights Nolan's gang has against them, they're countering almost all attempts against them. They bring 10 tubes filled with chemicals. Eight of them are toxic so the enemy would think twice before using one of them"
"Wow, they trained themselves to survive Russian roulette, huh?"
>"Exactly. Those cultist bastards have trained themselves to select the right tube without looking."
 
"Okay, okay. I get it all. One last thing though."
>"What?"
"Why did they attack us? We weren't carrying cargo, and she sure as hell didn't know who I was!"
>Gilda walked around, toying with her knives.
>"They wanted to make an example out of the Saint's well known body guard..."
>Gilda throws one knife at the ground.
>"They just underestimated me."
 
>...
>That was badass...
 
>Gilda taps on her PDA. Probably to check on her schedule.
>"Alright Norman. Now that we've settled the gang's modus operanda, I'll brief you on the job you'll be doing tommorow."
"What job?"
>"Tommorow, you'll be riding a van with one of our crew members. You're in charge with me on overseeing a cargo transfer."
"WHAT? Gilda, I'm not joining you on a drug trade!"
>"Sorry, mate but Nolan paid Brad 10,000 dollars cash, remember?"
"Gilda, I'm a superhero!"
>"Take your autism somewhere else. Besides, this isn't a drug trade. We'll be transfering precious inventory from this city to the next. According to our men, the Viri Scientia will strike again tommorow."
"Goddammit."
>From hero to drug guardian, all after a day of making a deal with Nolan.
>"Besides, Norman. You'd be a step closer in beating those guys. Of course, if you don't die that is."
>...
>Just. This. Once.
 
 
 
2 hours later
 
Be Twilight
Fluttershy's House
 
>Hitting the books on this world's astronomy.
 
>"Twilight! You have to come see this!"
 
>You close your book to go to the living room.
>The television shows a short newscast of a nearby Burgerphile joint destroyed thanks to a mutant terrorist.
>>Newscaster: AND NOW HERE ARE SOME CIVILLIANS WHO ARE WILLING TO COMMENT ON THESE RECENT EVeNTS!
>>Citizen 1: YOU SEE? THIS IS WHY SUPER-HEROES ARE EVIL. THEY HATE OUR BELOVED NATIONAL FOOD! NOT ONLY IS THAT 'HERO'  A MISOGYNISTIC PIG, HE ALSO HATES AMERICA!
>Yelled a strangely familiar woman *
>[spoiler]See Issue # 11. -Dan[/spoiler]
>>Citizen 2: THESE COSTUMED FREAKS ARE A MENACE TO SOCIETY, OUR RESTAURANTS AND OUR BELOVED COUNTRY!
>Yelled Norman's dad.
>>Citizen 3: THOSE EAGLE SUBHUMANS ARE GOING ON THE LIST!
>Yelled a familiar angry man who wears a black 'JERK' t-shirt
 
"Sigh"
 
>"Norman's doing a good job out there, t-though right?"
>Your feelings for this are mixed. Norman's your friend but you don't want him to get hurt.
>"S-so how are your studies, Twilight?"
"Pretty easy. Thankfully you have more than enough books for me to study on."
>"You're welcome to take any book, Twilight."
"Argh, I just wish I had my magic horn with me, or maybe some sort of-"
>*knock knock*
>"Oh, w-who can that be?"
>Fluttershy opens the door. It's Norman.
"Hey Norman! Just saw your work at the news. Pretty messy!"
>"Yeah, I get that alot.
"Look, Norman, I don't have any info yet. I'm trying to understand the basics first."
>"I..can see that. You've read all ten books of 700 page astronomy guides."
"That's right, Norman! Five more chapters and I would have already mastered the universe!"
>"Fluttershy, why do you even have 15 chapters of astronomy?"
>"A-angel Bunny once saw Toy Story 2 on my tv and she wanted to study astronomy after that, so I bought her those. She got bored after reading the cover."
>"...uhh"
>"I'm glad though that Twilight has found use for them."
>"Sure..."
 
>Norman then takes two test tubes out of his pockets.
>Norman stood there, thinking.
>"Err, anyway, here's some test tubes I got from our eagle friend."
"What did these contain?"
>"No idea. Gilda told me they're outworldly chemicals that one of Nolan's rival gangs used to transform into animals."
"Whoa, really? What happens if I made Spike drink them?"
>"Well, you don't drink it. You pour it on you, and you transform into an animal or some freak of nature. Another thing is that Gilda believes the elements they used are of the same ones of the meteors that kept on crashing down in the city."
"Wait, are you saying that these things..."
>"Are directly connected to the artifacts. I guess your job's been made easier now, huh?"
"I don't know, but the more resources I have, the better I could work on this. Wish there were more than tiny drops left in these tubes."
>"I'll try to find you some more."
 
Be Lyra
Your room
 
>Who the hell is Ben Reilly?
 
*Ding Dong*
"I'll get it, ma!"
>You run down the stairs to answer the door.
"Oh, Derpy!"
>"Hey, Lyra!"
"What's up?"
>"Well, Norman told me all about yesterday, and I thought I'd come to cheer you up some more."
"Derpy, please. You've given me enough comics for me to enjoy for the day."
>"I know. Norman had me help him find some of the older issues. I knew you'd like them."
"I deeply enjoyed them, despite the fact that I have no idea what some of them are saying."
>"Well, I'll explain it while we're playing these!"
"Whoa."
>Apparently, Derpy brought her console with her just so she'd play with me.
"Ah, Derpy. You didn't have to."
>"You could use some fun."
 
5 minutes later
>Derpy let me play in the training room first before we start to fight it out in this fighting game.
"So, Derpy. Be honest. Is there any other reason why you're here?"
>"Okay, I'll admit. It's like playing with a Hollywood star! I mean, you're a super he-"
"Shhh, my mom doesn't know about it."
>"S-sorry. I meant that you're just so awesome, and I felt as though I haven't fully repaid you for saving me from that convention."
 
>Honestly, you can't just remind her that you just saved her for Vinyl's necklace, which got stuck on her.
>The guilt overwhelms you for 5 seconds.
 
"It was no trouble."
>"So when are you and Norman going on another adventure again? I heard he stopped some eagle guy for destroying a Burgerphile joint."
"I think I'm retiring, Derpy. I can't handle the stress. Not since after Nolan..."
>"Made you blind?"
"How much has Norman told you?"
>"Alot, I guess. Mostly about last night, though."
"Hmm..."
>"Lyra...is there something about you and darkness?"
>Your finger twitches.
>"I mean, you don't have to tell me o-or anything. We can just play, like the original plan."
"Yeah, I think he's told you enough already."
>She then nods and redirects her attention to the television.
>You shake your head to forget the blindness, and the vision you had before you were captured.
>The one where Norman...and Brad...
>The gunman..
>[spoiler]bang...[/spoiler]
 
>*PLAYER ONE SELECT*
"I call dibs on Ironman!!"
 
Be Norman's Father
Police Precinct
 
>Watching the hole Noir-Man made.
>Bah, vigilantes. They're all crooks. He didn't even pay for the ceiling.
>One day, I'll write a good article about those do-gooders and give it to the tabloid for the world to see how-
>"Mumbling again, Mr. Normal?" your partner, Shining Armor said
"It's those menacing vigilantes! Why I outta give them a piece of my mind!"
>"Calm down. They're making our jobs easier."
"EASIER? We were at a drug bust, almost putting a tracker at those Saint's Row bastards, and those kids RUINED IT!"
>"Hey, they were just trying to help. Hell any citizen would have come in and tried to stop a drug trade."
"That was supposed to be the spotlight of my carreer, and those costumed freaks ruined it!"
>"You're never going to live this down, are you?"
 
>*BING BONG*
>>>>*Mr. Norman, please proceed to the chief's office.*
>"Whoa, the chief? Isn't she busy at this hour?"
"School's ended 1 hour ago."
 
>You march on upstairs to the chief's room. She's either going to give you a raise or a demotion, that's for sure.
>Those medling brats...
>You open the door to the chief's office.
>She sits behind the desk, looking at the wall behind her.
"Lieutenant Normal, reporting, SIR."
>She spins her chair to look at you. Her posture, superior and her legs crossed.
 
>There she is. Chief Celestia. Commander of the Canterlot Police district and Principal for the city's school.
 
>"Lietenant Normal, we have a new assignment for you."
>She hands you the files for your assignment.
"Saint's Bro?"
>This is your chance to redeem yourself!
>"Seeing as how you're eager to bring down the Saint's Bro, I need you to go undercover with a few of our squads. Our men tells us that they will be transporting Muffinphetamine to Cloudsdale."
"Are your men sure of this information?"
>"Positive as always."
 
"Groovy."
 
 
 
End of Chapter 26
 
Also, might as well leave this in hiatus [spoiler]for a week[/spoiler]