Little Stories of 2007 by Domoviye

Gambler Anderson Ranch, Montana
Shortly before noon
July 3rd, 2007

Hazel Anderson working on her father's ranch herding cattle alongside the ranch hand, Anthony. 14, Hazel, 40 cows would be too much for an adult on their own. Ah, already getting things ready for a 4th of July celebration. She cleaned out adults playing poker, just what powers does she have, or is that all just skill?

She named her white gelding Artax, a nice Neverending Story fan. Crap! A firework went off and spooked the cattle with Hazal and Artax right in their path. Thrown off by Artax and in the path of the cattle, she is hit by grass, dirt, and stones while hooves graze her. Yet when it is all over she just has some bruises and ruined clothes, whoa. Anthony is concerned for her, her dad comes up in a 4x4 and is surprised to find her okay.

Hazel is unable to focus, still shocked to have survived and not be in heaven with her mother now. Sarah, her 24-year-old sister hugged her, and Brad, one of her two brothers hugged them both.

“I'm sorry. The fireworks just went off. It shouldn't have, it wasn't even hooked up. I'm so so sorry.”

So, a freak accident, or is something more going on? Growing pain from her bruises might be from more than just your bruises. Steps on a ball bearing and ends up with a broken ankle, what the hell kind of luck is this?

At least Sarah got you a little cleaned up on the way to the hospital. X-ray technician from another town, oof. Playing poker since she was 7, taught by ranch hands, taught more card games, and even how to cheat, no wonder she is so good. 4 aces to a full house, she is good.

Janet Smith, that poor woman to suffer so many mischarges for them to not even make it to seventeen weeks except her sixth pregnancy now. A daughter and nothing seems wrong, luck was on her side today.

And Hazel lost a hand of cards to the worst hand possible, more than a fair trade.

Seventy-two-year-old Samantha Carter walks with a cane, it snaps, and her new hip breaks.

And Hazel wins with a royal flush. So a type of probability manipulator but she has no control if she is the one with good or bad luck it seems.

Ed and Karen were in dire straights, house foreclosed on, her injured in a car accident. He is planning something desperate just to keep his wife and son from the worst. A scratch ticket with enough to pay off a good portion of the house and most of the other bills, now they deserved the good luck.

Hazel lost to her sister's flush, yup, if someone in the same general area gets good luck Hazel has bad luck, and vice versa.

Crap, all that happens to an ambulance taking a patient having a heart attack to the hospital, at least I hope her partner and the patient weren't hurt when they crashed into the memorial tree.

Wait, that last bit was good luck for them after the brakes went out and bad luck for Hazel as she folds. How much worse could it have been for those in the ambulance and the hospital entrance?

A microwave explodes while a nurse is heating soup, good grief. And Hazel gets a good hand, if she knew what she was doing subconsciously I wonder how Hazel would react.

Mr. Teasdale, the patient in the ambulance, has no signs of a heart attack.

Dr. Lee looks over all the reports from around the hospital, a poor girl pregnant despite being a virgin, and Dr. Lee does the reasonable thing for her staff and patients, but calls the MCO.

Billings, Montana

Rough Rider has a buddy who tapped into the MCO and got the call instead. All those things it could be at the hospital, I hope he figures out it is Hazel before things get any more chaotic. Cool, a manifestor who can manifest a disguise and a horse that can fly.

2 hours have passed and Dr. Lee says there is an emergency and has a wheelchair so they can leave. The truck isn't starting up, Hazel is in pain again, Sarah can't X-ray Hazel as she works at a vet and it would break a lot of laws, darn, a lot of bad luck right now. Okay, good and bad things outside the hospital now, they need Rough Rider to get there fast. Battery is completely dead and Dad goes into the hospital with the sign crashing to the ground right after he enters.

Oh, great. With information about what happened to Hazel, Dr. Lee has figured out Hazel is the mutant and goes to call the MCO again, please don't let those creeps get to Hazel.

Knocking Hazel out to stop all the chaos her luck mangling is doing, is a good idea if it works.

"Yes. You can watch the entire time. I don't care if she's a mutant, all I care about is the safety of this hospital and everyone inside of it, including Hazel,” Dr. Lee said.

I hope we can believe that and that the MCO isn't coming here now to take Hazel away. Gas to knock Hazel out, but Dad has his pistol if they try anything funny.

Good grief, more chaos happened before they stopped it, at least I hope they stopped it by making her sleep. Rough Rider shows up, but the MCO shows up right after him, not good. Agent Naylor, double crud.

"We're just here to investigate and see what's going on. Then we'll talk with the father to find a good solution to the problem.”

"Glad to hear it. I'll go with you.”

Good, RR doesn't trust them. Agent Eagle, why do I have a bad feeling about both of them? The Billing's MCO agents tried to kill a girl, only stopped by Running Wolf, these scum need to be brought to justice. Test in Billings, I don't like that idea.

Rough Rider stepped forward. “I might be able to help a little with that. I had a friend that was a probability mangler, I know some of the exercises he used to keep things under control. And in September she can go to Whateley. I'll even sponsor her myself.”

Yay! I love superheroes who stand up to the MCO and help out young mutants.

Anderson Ranch, Montana
July 4th, 2007

Ouch, no poker games as they set off her power badly.

Keeping the hands nice, not too good, not too bad, seemed to keep her luck mangling to something reasonable.

Good, a way to regulate the extremely powerful luck mangling she has. And she has plans for the future, wanting to be a hero.

Stable Master Whateley
August 20th, 2007

Rachel Peters is there for a faculty meeting, but she doesn't fit in the room or at the table. A centaur, cool.

She cared for the horses and horse-like animals, some of which belonged to the school, and the ones that the students and teachers owned. She also taught riding, veterinary care, as well as fighting and shooting from horseback, while occasionally helping hoofed students with proper foot care.

That is awesome. Niche classes, shoot, you know how many girls alone would love to learn horse riding. The sole member of the Equestrian and Veterinary Department.

Mrs. Shugendo doing a presentation. Rachel sent Bloodwolf to Doyle with a special holdout for messing with her horses, dang. Two student workers and Smile was one of them due to her animal therapy and worked with a rescue horse. I like Rachel already.

7' tall and 5' long, oof, no has to have housing with custom doorways, doesn't she. Aww, not able to work with many students. Advisor to Gambler due to her history on a horse and cattle ranch, good reason, being around horses will help keep her calm and focused. Smile and Gambler working the stable and the idiots from last year let Tansy's horse, Tango get hurt, a very good reason to limit their interactions with animals. Swedish meatballs and garlic mashed potatoes, darn it, now I'm hungry.

Whateley Stables

Rachel ran alongside Arion, one of the seven horses that Whateley actually owned, and the only stalion.

Aww, why not more stallions?

A former student had genetically engineered him in her last year at Whateley, giving him increased endurance, intelligence and health, and gave him to the school as a gift.

Okay, that explains the no more stallions and also only experienced riders for Arion. Oh, that is also why no other stallions, already have plans for Arion with two of the mares at Whateley.

Eep, thought of that way by Arion, awkward doesn't begin to cover it. Wait, spirit, does that mean Rachel has her centaur body due to Spirit Mismatch Syndrome? Goliath, an enormous draft horse, but a gelding and up there in years. Chester, a gelding belonging to Ife Miller, he better be treated right by his owner. Shoot, your ability to do that with horses is something I bet a lot of ranch hands wish they had.

Freckles the Pony sounds adorable. An apartment attached to the stables and her workspace, so this is where she lives, impressive design. Wait, an office space she needs to clean, paint the white walls other colors, ready for a new arrival. Is someone coming to stay with her or is she pregnant?

Ms. Shungendo shows up and mentions not having wine for that long, she is pregnant! Aww, on the longer side due to her GSD, treatment she had IVF.

“A friend of mine, Trevor, donated the sperm. We agreed he'd be an enthusiastic uncle if it all worked out.”

Ouch, that small of a dating pool for her. 32 going on 33, huh, from her description earlier and the image used I would have guessed late 20s at most. She could be giving birth to a toddler, eep. List to Michi, don't push yourself when you don't have to, a healthy mother and baby are important here.

Atlanta Bailey Town, North Bimini, Bahamas
After School
May 30th, 2007

A fan of Sailor Moon, she has good taste. And Johnny Cake, you are making me more hungry. Galy Rolle, and ouch, no wonder her cousin is recording the episodes for her, that sucks that the series isn't available in the Bahamas. Wants to be a superhero and has powers, but no idea of what the power is, no internet, ack. So about 35-37 mph, and strong enough to crush coral into powder like that, sounds like a PK super 4 or about. And Exemplar as well, nice power combo to have.

No mutant superheroes in her country, and mutant scientists and wizards work for corporations and the government, not sure what I think about that. Not wanting to work at a resort, to do more with her powers, Galy, you need some advice before taking such a big step.

200 meters, Bailey Town is small. Nassau, Galy, don't do it. There might be a darker, more sinister reason why there aren't any superheroes in your country and you might stumble into it with this kind of thinking and plan. Less than 400k people in the whole country, and not a lot of crime to stop, yikes, she needs to go someplace where her spirit can be nurtured.

The Lusca was a legend, a giant octopus in some stories, a shark with octopus tentacles in others.

How is something that is just a legend attacking a tourist boat? Ouch, rubbery hide and tentacle make for Galy bouncing off the thing. Why did the thing's skin turn red when it started to move after Galy? Yikes, avoiding tentacles that size and 4 of them, Galy has the abilities and just needs training and experience.

Crap, it is going after Bailey Town. Going for the eye with a knife-hand as she dives at the Lusca, Galy is swatted by a tentacle and crashed onto the beach. And coming flying back out in a panic straight up through a house. Galy, your powers are stronger than you realize, you did survive that. A mast from a small sailing boat for a spear, she goes low and dives under the water to avoid the tentacles. After a while, she gets close to the body and drives the mast into Lusca's underside.

Dam it! Caught by a tentacle and being squeezed hard, Galy is in big trouble. She fights back, pushing to break free and it is working as Lusca begins to lose its grip on her. Free, she insults Lusca and goads it into following her as she keeps ahead of the tentacles, leading it away from the island.

Off The Coast of Florida
Nighttime

Galy is in rough shape, tired, no idea where is or how long she has been flying. Lusca is still following her and she turns back to the darkness of the ocean to keep it from any land when a glowing figure appears before her. Thinks Galy is leading the monster to Florida, Galy says what happens in a few words and the lady blasts a tentacle with lightning. The woman takes Galy in her arms and says she is taking her to a hospital, surprised she hasn't burnt out yet.

"Don't worry about that, my teammates are dealing with it. You've done your part, now it's time to rest and let the Miami Crusaders finish the job.”

And yet Galy still wishes to lead the monster away, she has the true heart of a hero.

Nassau, Bahamas
July 10th, 2007

First Bahamian superhero and at the head of the Independence Parade, high honors for the heroic young girl. Nice costume, PR company hired by the government, good to have on your side. Thank you for shutting down a straight copy of Sailor Moon, the copyright lawyers can be scarier than a sea monster. Being a celebrity superhero isn't easy, Galy.

Making people happy and feeling safe, yes, that is what a true superhero does. Ooo, she is going to Whateley after the summer is over, I wonder how she will react to the unique environment and cliques there.

Fun stories, one and all. I just hope Gambler doesn't cross paths with any other luck manglers. And you better have a big baby shower for Stable Master in a future story.

Hazel Anderson working on her father's ranch herding cattle alongside the ranch hand, Anthony. 14, Hazel, 40 cows would be too much for an adult on their own. Ah, already getting things ready for a 4th of July celebration. She cleaned out adults playing poker, just what powers does she have, or is that all just skill?

Having never even set foot on a ranch, I did a bit of research, and one person handling even a few hundred cattle is possible. Not easy, but possible. But Hazel does have a bit of an inflated ego, because in a few areas, she really is just that skilled. Particularly when it comes to poker and dealing with horses.

She named her white gelding Artax, a nice Neverending Story fan.

I thought it was a good name. And apparently it's a common name for horses.

So, a freak accident, or is something more going on? Growing pain from her bruises might be from more than just your bruises. Steps on a ball bearing and ends up with a broken ankle, what the hell kind of luck is this?

The joys of being a probability warper.

Playing poker since she was 7, taught by ranch hands, taught more card games, and even how to cheat, no wonder she is so good. 4 aces to a full house, she is good.

Janet Smith, that poor woman to suffer so many mischarges for them to not even make it to seventeen weeks except her sixth pregnancy now. A daughter and nothing seems wrong, luck was on her side today.

And Hazel lost a hand of cards to the worst hand possible, more than a fair trade.

Seventy-two-year-old Samantha Carter walks with a cane, it snaps, and her new hip breaks.

Hazel is loosely based around a character idea I had for a probabity warper who had to use dice, coins and cards to keep her powers from overwhelming her. She could actually see the odds of things happening, and was always at risk of being overwhelmed by the knowledge.
I changed it to be a bit more friendly, and Gambler can use cards and things to provide good or bad luck.
In this case, everytime she got a good hand, something good would happen. So 4 aces, made the Smith's find out they were having a healthy pregnancy. Losing a hand, a cane snapped and a hip broke.
As she gains control of it, Hazel is going to be very dangerous, provided she can cheat when dealing out her cards.

Dr. Lee looks over all the reports from around the hospital, a poor girl pregnant despite being a virgin, and Dr. Lee does the reasonable thing for her staff and patients, but calls the MCO.

For a regular person, calling the MCO in this case is pretty reasonable. They deal with weird things regularly, and are a bit easier to contact then most superheroes.

Rough Rider has a buddy who tapped into the MCO and got the call instead. All those things it could be at the hospital, I hope he figures out it is Hazel before things get any more chaotic. Cool, a manifestor who can manifest a disguise and a horse that can fly.

The buddy was only listening in to the phone call. So the MCO and Rough Rider got the info at about the same time.
I wasn't sure what power to give Rough Rider, but I knew I wanted a cowboy theme. Having him manifest a shell and a flying horse was too cool to not use.

Knocking Hazel out to stop all the chaos her luck mangling is doing, is a good idea if it works.

"Yes. You can watch the entire time. I don't care if she's a mutant, all I care about is the safety of this hospital and everyone inside of it, including Hazel,” Dr. Lee said.

I hope we can believe that and that the MCO isn't coming here now to take Hazel away. Gas to knock Hazel out, but Dad has his pistol if they try anything funny.

I was wondering one day what could be done to stop a probability mangler that couldn't control their powers, without killing them. Knocking them out seemed like a reasonable solution. Having a protective father there to keep things on the straight and narrow was a last minute decision.

Agent Eagle, why do I have a bad feeling about both of them? The Billing's MCO agents tried to kill a girl, only stopped by Running Wolf, these scum need to be brought to justice. Test in Billings, I don't like that idea.

Rough Rider stepped forward. “I might be able to help a little with that. I had a friend that was a probability mangler, I know some of the exercises he used to keep things under control. And in September she can go to Whateley. I'll even sponsor her myself.”

Yay! I love superheroes who stand up to the MCO and help out young mutants.

Amethyst and I had both already shown the Montana MCO as not being very nice. Running Wolf showed up in Amethyst's story Short Tales, which occurred a month before this story is set. So I needed to at least mention it.
Having Rough Rider not being openly hostile to the MCO, but ensuring they played everything straight and let them know he was going to pay special attention to things felt like the right way to go.

Ouch, no poker games as they set off her power badly.

Keeping the hands nice, not too good, not too bad, seemed to keep her luck mangling to something reasonable.

Good, a way to regulate the extremely powerful luck mangling she has. And she has plans for the future, wanting to be a hero.

I realized a few weeks ago that no one is really doing anything with the Future Superheroes of America in Gen1. I don't plan on making Gambler a main POV character outside of some vignettes and maybe a few scenes, but I felt the FSA needed to get some representation. Gambler fit perfectly in the niche, she'll be an interesting side character for Smile, and can show up occasionally in stories with Tink and Interest/Wakanda.

Stable Master
Rachel Peters is there for a faculty meeting, but she doesn't fit in the room or at the table. A centaur, cool.

She cared for the horses and horse-like animals, some of which belonged to the school, and the ones that the students and teachers owned. She also taught riding, veterinary care, as well as fighting and shooting from horseback, while occasionally helping hoofed students with proper foot care.

That is awesome. Niche classes, shoot, you know how many girls alone would love to learn horse riding. The sole member of the Equestrian and Veterinary Department.

Another situation where something has been mentioned in canon, but never really showed up, the Whateley Stables. There have also been some talk about how students with hooves get foot care.
While messing around with AI art, I managed to get a picture of a centaur. I thought it was interesting enough to use somehow. Then I realized that Smile would be perfect for working in the stables, and since no one has done more than mention them, I could have a free hand there.
So Stable Master was born.

Rachel sent Bloodwolf to Doyle with a special holdout for messing with her horses, dang.

Do NOT fuck with Stable Master's horses. If she catches you, you will regret it.

7' tall and 5' long, oof, no has to have housing with custom doorways, doesn't she. Aww, not able to work with many students. Advisor to Gambler due to her history on a horse and cattle ranch, good reason, being around horses will help keep her calm and focused. Smile and Gambler working the stable and the idiots from last year let Tansy's horse, Tango get hurt, a very good reason to limit their interactions with animals.

I needed a reason for her not to appear much in story. Being too large to comfortably fit in most buildings, teaching a very niche class, especially for first years, and preferring to be around horses, was a good reason for most people to not pay attention to the centaur wandering around the school.
And I made Stable Master to show up in Smile stories, while Smile isn't going to play a big role in the fall term, I have big plans for her in the Spring Term.
Also Tansy's horse was hurt by Murphy, when Murphy went all out to torment Tansy (I think Even Murphy's Law Has Loopholes Chapter 6). The two student workers didn't really have a chance at stopping it, but Stable Master was still pissed that they didn't manage it, while she was out on business.

Rachel ran alongside Arion, one of the seven horses that Whateley actually owned, and the only stalion.

Aww, why not more stallions?

A former student had genetically engineered him in her last year at Whateley, giving him increased endurance, intelligence and health, and gave him to the school as a gift.

Okay, that explains the no more stallions and also only experienced riders for Arion. Oh, that is also why no other stallions, already have plans for Arion with two of the mares at Whateley.

Stallions tend to not get along with other stallions or geldings if mares are around, they keep fighting for control and try to force out competitors for mating. And if you keep them with mares, the mares will end up pregnant, or they'll hurt the stallion when it tries to mate with them. So they're generally kept alone, close to other horses but not directly with them, or if they have the right temperament have a single buddy they like often a young stallion that isn't ready to mate yet.
They're also hard to control for most riders, which is why they're often gelded when young so they don't keep fighting the rider for dominance.

Eep, thought of that way by Arion, awkward doesn't begin to cover it. Wait, spirit, does that mean Rachel has her centaur body due to Spirit Mismatch Syndrome? Goliath, an enormous draft horse, but a gelding and up there in years. Chester, a gelding belonging to Ife Miller, he better be treated right by his owner. Shoot, your ability to do that with horses is something I bet a lot of ranch hands wish they had.

I thought that was a funny problem for her. Fortunately Stable Master knows how to handle it. And yeah she has an extreme case of Spirit Mismatch Syndrome. It makes dealing with people awkward, but she's great with horses and other hoofed animals.
And I can't wait for Ife Miller to show up in the next Interest/Wakanda story. She's going to be fun.

An apartment attached to the stables and her workspace, so this is where she lives, impressive design.

I tried to think what would be most comfortable for a centaur to live in. Glad you like it.

Ms. Shungendo shows up and mentions not having wine for that long, she is pregnant! Aww, on the longer side due to her GSD, treatment she had IVF.

“A friend of mine, Trevor, donated the sperm. We agreed he'd be an enthusiastic uncle if it all worked out.”

Ouch, that small of a dating pool for her. 32 going on 33, huh, from her description earlier and the image used I would have guessed late 20s at most. She could be giving birth to a toddler, eep. List to Michi, don't push yourself when you don't have to, a healthy mother and baby are important here.

This is going to be a nice minor B plot for Smile.

Atlanta Bailey Town, North Bimini, Bahamas
A fan of Sailor Moon, she has good taste. And Johnny Cake, you are making me more hungry. Galy Rolle, and ouch, no wonder her cousin is recording the episodes for her, that sucks that the series isn't available in the Bahamas. Wants to be a superhero and has powers, but no idea of what the power is, no internet, ack. So about 35-37 mph, and strong enough to crush coral into powder like that, sounds like a PK super 4 or about. And Exemplar as well, nice power combo to have.

I forget the exact reason I came up with Atlanta, but I do know once I thought of her, I figured she'd be great for the FSA, and she could be an interesting character for Wakanda to deal with. Having another non-American hero, from a country most people don't think about was another draw.

No mutant superheroes in her country, and mutant scientists and wizards work for corporations and the government, not sure what I think about that. Not wanting to work at a resort, to do more with her powers, Galy, you need some advice before taking such a big step.

With only 400,000 people in 2020, I realized that while the Bahamas would have mutants, they probably wouldn't have many powerful ones. And with the low crime, mutants with superhero leanings would be even more limited. Most would probably move to the US, or work with a business or government, staying out of the public eye.
With family already in the US, Atlanta probably would have eventually moved there after becoming an adult, and tried to become a superhero.

200 meters, Bailey Town is small.

I looked at a bunch of pictures of the town, and it's pretty amazing how narrow the place is. Very pretty, but it's just a narrow strip. For someone from Canada where land is plentiful and small towns tend to sprawl, it was something else.

The Lusca was a legend, a giant octopus in some stories, a shark with octopus tentacles in others.

How is something that is just a legend attacking a tourist boat? Ouch, rubbery hide and tentacle make for Galy bouncing off the thing. Why did the thing's skin turn red when it started to move after Galy? Yikes, avoiding tentacles that size and 4 of them, Galy has the abilities and just needs training and experience.

I wanted to show she had the power and attitude to be a hero, but she has a lot to learn.
It was also time to show that the Whateley-verse has other threats than mutants. Some ancient things do live there and occasionally wake up.

Dam it! Caught by a tentacle and being squeezed hard, Galy is in big trouble. She fights back, pushing to break free and it is working as Lusca begins to lose its grip on her. Free, she insults Lusca and goads it into following her as she keeps ahead of the tentacles, leading it away from the island.

I didn't want her to kill the thing. This was a very powerful threat, fortunately it was also stupid. So she could lead it away, rather than see her town devastated. See sometimes I don't want to break my characters.

Galy is in rough shape, tired, no idea where is or how long she has been flying. Lusca is still following her and she turns back to the darkness of the ocean to keep it from any land when a glowing figure appears before her. Thinks Galy is leading the monster to Florida, Galy says what happens in a few words and the lady blasts a tentacle with lightning. The woman takes Galy in her arms and says she is taking her to a hospital, surprised she hasn't burnt out yet.

"Don't worry about that, my teammates are dealing with it. You've done your part, now it's time to rest and let the Miami Crusaders finish the job.”

And yet Galy still wishes to lead the monster away, she has the true heart of a hero.

She's got the right idea and the power. How well she'll do is up in the air.

Nassau, Bahamas
July 10th, 2007

First Bahamian superhero and at the head of the Independence Parade, high honors for the heroic young girl. Nice costume, PR company hired by the government, good to have on your side. Thank you for shutting down a straight copy of Sailor Moon, the copyright lawyers can be scarier than a sea monster. Being a celebrity superhero isn't easy, Galy.

Making people happy and feeling safe, yes, that is what a true superhero does. Ooo, she is going to Whateley after the summer is over, I wonder how she will react to the unique environment and cliques there.

I tried to think how a smart government of a country that heavily relies on tourism would react to a monster attack on tourists, and a young woman saving the day.
A full court press using her as a mascot for the Bahamas, and promoting her heroics seemed like the most obvious answer. It helps that she's pretty, enthusiastic and wants to be a hero. She's going to be an interesting character for Wakanda to deal with.

Fun stories, one and all. I just hope Gambler doesn't cross paths with any other luck manglers. And you better have a big baby shower for Stable Master in a future story.

Thank you very much.
Gambler and Jinx playing a game of cards could be interesting. And don't worry Stable Master and her baby will not be forgotten.