@Iris i like seeing the game making and the flags. and art month, that was cool and i still aught to compile my #TiaTerrorTot stories

random adventures of Tia Amascal-Ardo:

Tia stared in aww at the secret, accurate family tree. It was amazingly well-kept and complete, considering Sera had been keeping it meticulously the entire time.

Sera used a gold symbol to represent herself, and she popped up at least every few generations.

"I thought I was like Merucia, Mother to Monsters. The powers of my children were almost humble at first, but as I tended this lineage, your gifts continued to bloom more powerfully. You are without doubt the most powerful of us all." Sera said, sounding wistful.

"Mom, this was evil, remember?" Tia said, rolling her eyes. "You're not supposed to lie to people about who you are or... you know, be Grandmother."

"You're strong, aren't you? Making your future."

"Oh gee, I couldn't have done that without a scary Mommy." Tia said sniffily.

"Sera, Tia's right." Albin said, strolling up to the family tree. He peered closely at the space above his name. "Papa Emilo?"

"I... You're right, I have a lot of apologizing to do." Sera said, gritting her teeth with the effort of admitting mistakes.

"No, Sera, I mean..." Albin said, pointing at the gold image painted under his father's name. "You're my father?"

"Oh, yes. Though if it makes you feel any better, you were adopted." Sera said, smiling. "And I'm literally a different person, sort of like my own sibling. My control of aging is complicated and imperfect, and taking a new face means essentially becoming someone new with the same soul, the same powers."

"Maybe next time you'll be less of a control freak." Tia said, rolling her eyes.

"I'll accept that comment considering the... The attempted murder." Sera said. There was a moment of quiet.

"We should start therapy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tia strolled into the astonomically massive marble hall, the mysterious purple crystal in hand. It served as the flux core in her Conquerer Series Twix and allowed her to skip through time and space freely on adventures anywhere in conceptual reality. Her breakthroughs in Time Theory had really opened up the possibilities with it. Though right now she was just wearing a black and white checkered vest, black and white tulle skirts, and one black and one white shoe. She was really getting confident in her own style.

Massive, glorious glittering Dragons descended, the raw power of them intimidating Tia enough to inspire terror even without their PsyEnder abilities. Tia wore a simple looking silver circlet that blocked those waves, though she was still frozen for a moment in shock.

"You have come to return the Auspex?" Sercilel the Splendid Golden Dragon said.

"Nnnnope." Tia said, grinning and tucking the crystal behind her back. "Not unless you tell me what you're doing with it."

"You are a little child with no magic powers. Beings of manifest malevolence and Outer Chaos will come for that crystal if they sense it unguarded. We will keep it safe." Fanoveea the Red Dragon of Fighting said.

"Well if your job as Dragon is just to keep stuff like this safe, then I'll keep doing my job as a Dragon, too." Tia said, smirking. The Dragon's scoffed and some blew plumes of their favorite elemental magic to show frustration.

"You are no Dragon! The Auspex was last in the claws of Endymion the Black Enigma, but here you are a little girl!" Said a Dragon that looked like a deep blue living tidal wave.

"I am Endymion! Some all-wise Dragons! Can't even recognize me in my human form." Tia said, laughing and twirling the purple crystal Auspex in her talented hands.

There was some grumbling amongst the Dragons in a language Abhys couldn't translate.

"We just... Thought your human form would be a bit bigger. Apologies, Endymion. We'll give you all respect due to a Dragon." Sercilel said, earning more scoffing and exhalations of magic breath.

"You're scared of this child? She has no potential for magic! She can't possibly have another Form!" The blue Dragon said again. Sercilel groaned, and Tia smirked.

Tia tossed the Auspex up and pressed a button on her collar, making the Conquerer Twix manifest around her, standing only a bit taller than the unarmored girl. She was painted bright pink and glowed with an inner light, and she held an absurdly oversized hammer that glowed too brightly to look at. With her armor on, she felt much more confident despite still being quite tiny under the gaze of Dragons.

"I can beat up any bad guy! And I can beat up anyone who tries to take this crystal from me! I am a Dragon, Tia the Conqueror!"

Tia's voice rang through the grand hall, and the Gold Dragon stepped back.

"If we must use force to have the Auspex, so be it!" The Blue Dragon said. Fanoveea blocked their path.

"Stop, Zynez. This truly is Endymion, and that weapon would kill you." The Red Dragon said.

"AllSmasher is Absolute!" Tia shouted about the star in her hand.

"Go then. We trust you with its keeping."

"Not like you have a choice." Tia giggled, and popped out of reality.

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 30

"She rescued Earth three times! From The Ender, from Tyrant Ardo, and what scientists now confirm was an impending climate crisis using her dynamos. She also brought us the ExoBoosters, will soon end world hunger with the greentower initiative, and spends all of her time either inventing new wonders like the space elevator or fighting against Earth's remaining tyrants." Someone said to the dour black man.

"I still wonder if she's the leader we need." The man mumbled.

"She is, Brother." Sera said, approaching in one of a million identical ExoBoosters, avoiding the controversy of showing her face.

"This-" Seth said, gesturing with a scowl to the shimmering tower of slightly green glass which housed a complicated ecology of food plants and medicine.

"Is genius, of course." Sera said, finishing his sentence. The 'two' of them stood together, looking at their gender-changed mirror images.

"No, it's naive! I overheard her saying that the greentower had top priority because 'people don't hurt each other as much when they aren't hungry.' She could be making new weapons and armor, she could-"

"That's exactly why Tia's actually a genius. She's absolutely right, people can't be said to be safe or cared for if they don't have food." Sera said.

"But the old powers-"

"Are mostly broken thanks to me. Tia has more than enough firepower to handle the remaining bullies."

"But her enemies keep developing ways to fight her. Unless she plans for the future-"

"That's the problem with us, Seth! We don't allow anyone to have a future because it has to be to our vision, our goals. Really planning for the future is precisely what Tia does. She sees problems and she allows them to be fixable and then she just goes to work. She is exactly who the world needs, and it's a fucking relief that we aren't the dictator any more."

"..." Seth said.

"What kind of future would she be preparing for if all she did was make weapons? If all she did was act like us? There's a reason she came for me with a hammer, brother. She's just plain better than us." Sera said with a slight chuckle.

"So. The future is in the hands of a kindhearted little girl." Seth sighed.

"Kindhearted niña she may be, but she'll also Smash injustice with no hesitation." Albin said, strolling up to the enigmatic twins.

"Fine. I suppose... This is the revolution I wanted?" Seth said, sighing again as he looked out over the busy free workers in their ExoBoosters.

"Picturing something more bloody, brother?" Albin said, laughing. Seth glanced sideways at Albin... and smirked. It was a tiny twitch that seemed painful, but it was unmistakably a smile.

"Tia... Is a fine leader. I can focus on my own interests instead of world domination." Seth said, blinking at the absurdity of his own choice of words.

"Hmm? What interests?" Albin asked.

"Mushroom hunting. I heard a tip about some aesterels and I'm going to follow it up." Seth said, setting his features as seriously as if he was planning some agitation action.

"Oh! Well... That sounds fun, actually." Albin said. "Can I come? I sort of got recalled from my Session appointment after..."

"Sorry." Sera said. "Being married to the world's most infamous tyrant has some downsides."

"I didn't want to say that part." Albin said with an easy chuckle.

The three adults chatted among themselves about how relieved they were that the power had shifted to the young, now that they finally had perspective on what they had been doing with it.

The world changed as it followed the dreams of a little girl

#nniavember

Day 30
Nina

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 29

Sera sat at her desk, filing imperceptible flaws from her long, wicked nails. Tia stood across the room, still safely in her Thrain.

"You've been in a self-imposed exile. You should come home." Sera said, flatly.

"You tried to kill me, Mommy..." Tia said, her little heart a storm of feeling. Even now she wanted to throw open her armor and jump into Sera's arms. But then she would die.

"I felt bad about that. As I said before, I've worked so, so hard to come this far." Sera said with a sigh.

"You tried to *kill me*, Mommy." Tia said, with more confidence. Sera looked shrewdly at her.

"I'm not going to talk you out of that toy, am I? Yes. Yes, I tried to kill you. I am glad you survived and that isn't what I'm doing now." Sera said.

Tia scoffed, gesturing around at the wicked architecture, the signs of mind-controlled servants having recently fled the building. Sera closed her eyes.

"So... So long. I discovered my powers when I was just a little girl too. I could wish myself back to any point in my life." Sera said.

"Temporal flux. Dominion over time." Tia said in agreement, checking her Abhys readouts.

"Hush, Tia. Let me tell the story." Sera said with a loving smirk. "My first family all died. I couldn't imagine doing anything but running away when the killers came. I couldn't go back, my mind couldn't focus on them any more. Too scared of the violence."

"I'm... I'm sorry, Mommy."

"So I got strong. I learned how to fight and I started a new family. I found that my children often had some new power, and by training them and keeping them busy I could make our family stronger and safer. We would never be vulnerable to the killers again."

"So are you really my mom?" Tia asked, a little dizzy at the implication.

"Of course I am, Tia. I gave birth to you myself. I'm also your great-great-grandmother, one of your grandfathers, several cousins, and many others going back to the start of superheroism; This is My Family, Tia. And it always has been." Sera said.

"You have to stop trying to control everything." Tia whispered, Thrain amplifying her breathless voice enough to still be heard.

"When I don't control things, there's Chaos. People die in the wild world. But in my world, I can protect you all." Sera grumbled darkly, her fantasy so tantalizingly close.

"No you can't, Mommy! People want to be free and to make their own choices and do stuff you don't want them to do! If you need all control to keep people safe, you'll just wind up Slicing everyone to pieces during the struggle!" Tia said.

"...My... My own daughter." Sera said, weakly. Her shoulders slumped for just a second, and she sniffled and quickly disciplined herself. "I... I have killed my children before."

There was a heavy, terrible moment. Tia said nothing, and Sera's eyes widened as she was simply left in the oppressive air her statement had created.

"I'm... I'm the killer now." Sera said. Tia kept being meaningfully silent, letting Sera bring herself to the truth. "I didn't grow up to protect my family. I grew up to become the monster."

A single tear ran down the villain's cheek.

"I'm tired of running, Mommy. I came here to break you with my hammer. But I don't want to. So you can do whatever you want. I'm done playing around." Tia said.

The was a beep and a rush as Thrain powered down and opened, freeing the adorable little girl seated inside of it. Tia shakily left her protection, trying to stay brave despite knowing she could be killed at any moment. Sera looked at her in surprise.

"You aren't going to Smash me?" Sera said.

"I already did. Those statues down there... The image of you as the one in charge, I'll break every one of them." Tia said with a smile.

"I... Wanted you to kill me, Tia. I dreamed for centuries about someone from the family finally growing stronger than me and..." Sera said, her breath hitching.

"And setting you free." Tia said. Sera's face crumpled and she began weeping, her hands hiding the wreck quickly becoming of her makeup.

Tia hopped out of her ExoBooster and crawled into Sera's lap, snuggling with her Mommy and cooing in a little voice. Seeing Sera cry was a new and intense experience; The only mother the girl genius had ever known was perfectly stoic, her father being the one to cry and share fears.

"I could kill you." Sera said through her tears. "But that would only make me weak. I've always been... Pathetic."

"No Mommy. You've always been *scared*. And that's fine! We're all scared. You don't have to be better than people to do good." Tia said. Sera blinked and sniffled, truly surprised.

"You're more wise than me. After a hundred lifetimes I'm still foolish." Sera laughed bitterly.

"Well you've got at least a hundred more, so let's do something better with them." Tia said. The mother and daughter giggled and snuggled each other, more relieved than they knew how to express.

#nniavember

Day 29
Freedom

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 28

Tia firmed her lip and strode into the Ardo Industrial Tower. It had received a make-over to look more cold and dark and severe, and grizzly massive statues of Sera Slices holding her evil Slicer stood at every door, their eyes glowing red as they doubled as security cameras. The timid workers glanced at Tia in her Thrain and their eyes widened in fear.

"Disobedience is Death." A prerecorded whisper from The Lethal Mistress said, audible to everyone in the lobby.

The statues of Sera reacted, the glow of their eyes rapidly building in intensity. Tia Shifted to the nearest statue and shattered it with a roaring Rocket Smash. She Shifted to the opposite end of the hallway, allowing the same Rocket Smash to continue devastating the terrifying, exaggerated images of her mother. Tia Shifted her hammer towards one of the two remaining statues and then moved her own place in the room to be between the last statue and its intended victims.

Only the one statue was left, and Tia leapt on top of it's face. she obscured the white hot glowing eyes from the view of the workers within two seconds of it's whispered threat, and the workers managed to make for the front exit. the eyes flashed with a burst of heat, which skipped harmlessly off of the Thrain, and Tia was able to knock out the filament devices with a few mechanically enhanced punches. Tia sighed as she examined the charred and dented image of Sera.

"Tia." Sera said, entering the lobby.

"Mommy... You're holding the workers prisoner?" Tia said, grumbling and keeping her eyes on the ruined statue.

"I had to. Your little 'revolution' was making employment seem superfluous and your smear of me as The Ender made people start calling me a villain. I had to keep the lights on at AI, so the culture changed a bit." Sera said, smirking.

"It's just how you've always been. I didn't notice you were a bad guy because..." Tia said, then choked, her tiny body quivering.

"Why, Tia?" Sera said, frowning at the back the latest and greatest toy Tia had come to show her.

"B-because I love you!" Tia sobbed, spinning around. She wanted nothing more than to leap out of her armor and hug her mommy, but she relied on the temporal shielding and the neurodamping that kept her homicidal matriarch from simply deconstructing her existence.

"Then come home. Take off that ridiculous thing, come have hot chocolate and let Mommy make it all better." Sera said, a warm smile on her face.

"No... Oh my god... Mommy... You're so mean!" Tia sobbed, shivering.

"Don't listen to her, Tia." A-5 said. "She's always tried to control your reality. But you're just too smart for her."

"Tia, you're miserable resisting me. I just want you to be happy." Sera said, her smile already wilting. Tia shook off the disorientation brought on from resisting her mother. Even with the protection of her armor, her heart could still be wrenched and squeezed by her mother.

"No, Mommy! You're a bad guy, and... And I don't want to kick your butt, but also I kind of gotta I mean look at this I mean Wow, Mommy. Seriously."

Tia allowed the heated slag, the shattered statues, the rows of PsyWave affected "employees", and Sera's own shocking new outfit to comment all that needed saying.

"You... You don't understand. Tia. I've been working for so long. For so, so, so long." Sera said, growling.

"I have too." Tia said, calmly. A jingling tone sounded, and the employees snapped to their senses, once again able to think and flee.

"Hmm... So you've found more ways to counteract PsyWave. Fine. Let's really talk. It's about time we did." Sera said, sighing deeply and walking to the elevator. "Well, are you coming?"

Tia stumbled and walked after her mother, feeling very on the back foot about the encounter.

"A-aren't we gonna fight?" Tia asked.

"Oh my daughter, always ready to smash." Sera said with a sly smirk. "If we must, that's always an option. For now, let's see if we can work this out as a family."

"Okay... But I'm keeping my armor on and you better not try anything funny." Tia said, feeling more and more uncertain about how this was going, and more and more tempted to take off the armor and be back in Mommy's arms.

"Tia..." Sera said, as the elevator dinged and opened.

"Mmm?" Tia said.

"I love you too." Sera said, stepping onto the elevator.

Tia shivered and tried to hide the fact that she was crying as she stepped onto the elevator along with her Arch Nemesis.

#nniavember

Day 28
Love

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 27

A man strode through the busy work field. people in ExoBoosters dipped around the swarthy figure who lazily scuffed the dirt on his stroll.

"Do you need a Booster?" Someone said in a clear, slightly amplified voice from inside their own armor.

"Hmm? Oh, no, I'm fine thank you." The man said with a smile. The person in the advanced robotic suit shrugged and rode off to their work.

The man kept lazily strolling, not showing any hesitance or embarrassment crossing the very large bright signs declaring a 'do not pass' zone.

"Woah, that's the way to Girl Genius's garage! She doesn't let anyone in, Mister!" Someone shouted, amplifying their voice enough to be very clear to the intruder.

"Thanks for the concern but I'm sure she'll forgive me." The man said, smirking.

"N-no! That's not what I mean! Mister, you'll be vaporized by her turrets, come back!" The concerned citizen cried.

The man just waved over his shoulder, chuckling and still keeping up his nonchalant strut. Several workers stopped to watch the carnage.

The man crossed a zone marked with yellow tape and danger signs, and a flashing red alarm started along with a blaring alarm. Abhys began droning a warning in Castellen, the exact dialect the man spoke as his first language. He raised an eyebrow at the system's use of a language targeted for him, impressed, and kept walking, bringing himself to the garage's door and a border of red tape marked with skull signs. with no more hesitation than he had shown at any point, even stifling a slight yawn, the man crossed into the death zone.

half a dozen high powered plasma throwers doused the stranger in several grams of superheated metal ions per second, causing a brilliant white flash to spring up around him. The blaring alarm continued to ring and the plasma throwers continued their steady spray, causing a large area of ground around the intruder to turn to bright orange slag. Steam and dust from atomically eradicated rocks billowed up, obscuring the violence, but the intense roar of the automated weapons continued to awe and terrify those watching. After nearly two minutes the turrets failed, ruined by their own heat, yet the crater where the intruder was last seen kept glowing and smoking. People were shaking, horrified by seeing that much power unleashed on one person.

"Phooo!" The man said, blowing a powerful lungful of air, clearing the hot dust and cooling the rock enough to stand clear. He was displaying an impressive and very attractive physique, now entirely unencumbered by clothes, but he was otherwise completely unscathed.

"D-daddy?" Tia said, having just arrived in response to the unusual alarm activity. Her eyes trailed over the unusual sight and she turned fuschia. "Ha! There are clothes. Clothes!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You've changed a lot." Albin said, sitting down with a cup of coffee.

"I have? I thought I could stay the same age..." Tia said, looking down at her own tiny hands clutching a steaming mug.

"If you've set your mind to staying a little girl, I know that's simply the way it will be. But I'm talking about the way you carry yourself. The way you see the world. You're becoming yourself, and I'm proud." Albin said. Tia gasped.

"P-proud? But I thought you would be on Mommy's side." Tia said, tears of relief springing into her eyes.

"I'm not here for a fight, my beautiful angel. But I do love your mother, so please... tell me why you're fighting her." Albin said.

"At first I was just suspicious because I felt like no one should gain control of everything like Mom has. But then I developed a formula for mapping timespace and incidentally found out Mom is all of history's greatest supervillains, and a bunch of great heroes too. She was Perfect, and Storm's Shadow..." Tia said. As she spoke, a strangely unfamiliar look crossed Albin's face. A look of... pain.

"She... How? Tia... How could you... I mean, how do you have the strength to consider fighting your own mother?"

"Daddy. I'm not the one who's really changed. The people out there have changed me." Tia said, indicating the busy people, some of whom were still glancing toward the garage to try and spot some more drama.

"Yeah, that is different. What are they doing?" Albin asked, already sensing the answer.

"Installing dynamos and housing and hospitals and schools and cultivating food forests and gardens and greenhouses stacks... They're making their world, and I'm keeping busy with research to help them do that rather than bossing them around." Tia said, grumbling.

"Your mother did send me to arrest you, but I knew that things were different now. You... You're older than you look now, aren't you?" Albin said with a hint of sadness. Tia growled and waved her arms.

"I'm exactly as old as I look! Daddy... Go tell Mommy whatever you want. I'm going to keep making the change I believe in."

"That's why I love you, Tia."

#nniavember

Day 27
Change

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 26

Tia controlled her breathing as the platform hummed, rising through the dark. Soon it would bring her to the source of her anxiety. Soon, so... Now, in fact. Tia sucked in a small breath.

Throngs. Multitudes, a million faces or more all pointed directly at her. This was her mission. Her destiny. Her fight. Her people. It was more intimidating than any Ardo Industrial Expo had ever been. There, she was a mere ornament to her mother's vanity. But these people had gathered because of Tia.

"People... Of Earth." Tia said, voice picked up and broadcast from her collar. She internally groaned over sounding like a space alien.

"You're fine! You can do this!" A-5 said, making her smirk and close her eyes for a moment, collecting her courage again.

"To the brave people, and the scared. Little people, people who feel powerless and alone; You are not." Tia started, a confident measure taking over. "You have allies. You have strength you're only beginning to realize."

Many of the faces looking back at her were old, or very young, mostly desperately skinny or sickly. She firmed her lip.

"A few people take everything, and most people have nothing. That's the story of the world going back to the First Conquest." Tia said, growling. "And it doesn't have to be that way. My dynamos were supposed to make things better for everyone. Instead they're only helping the people who already had everything. The poor and forgotten stayed that way, but together we can be The Hammer that smashes through! You can have everything you deserve in this world if you're willing to fight for it."

"How?" A withered man said.

He was here for the same reason most of them were here. They had gathered over months because Tia and her bots seemed to have unlimited food and supplies to keep them all relatively safe.

"I'll help." Tia said. There was a bit of laughter.

"Sorry to laugh, child." An old woman said. "I have great respect for you, of course you can fight. But I can't."

"Sure you can! You could do first aid or preparing meals or running messages or keep a safe house; There are lots of ways even a sweet old lady can be a fighter." Tia said. The woman frowned shrewdly.

"We can't fight the Calvana Army or the Ardo Industrial Military Command with old ladies running church groups." A wiry teenager said.

"Don't underestimate old ladies." Tia said, shivering. "And besides, like I said, I'll help."

"One little girl, no matter how smart, can't help millions of people fight." An old man shouted. There was disappointed grumbling in agreement.

"Don't underestimate little girls either! What if each of you had your very own suit of high-tech, high-powered, nearly indestructible armor? Would that help you resist the AI militia?" Tia asked, arching an eyebrow and enjoying the shock greeting her.

"What? That gizmo you showed off at the Expo?" A young woman said.

"Yeah. I have plenty of thoroughly tested mass-manufactured ExoBoosters with the keys in the ignition. I just need an army of hopeful radicals, raging, resistance!" Tia said, strange words tumbling out of her and reminding her of the Dragon Sercilel whom she had momentarily killed.

With perfect timing, a dozen of the Mass Series ExoBooster arrived on stage along with her, gleaming with the promise of changing destiny.

"Can these... Can we really fight against the people who kick us from our homes-?"

"And lock up our families-"

"And make us go hungry-"

"With these machines?"

Tia centered herself again. The throng of desperate people pulled at her sense of calm.

"They are a tool. No tool, no matter how powerful, will ever be enough. What you really need is cooperation and courage. The will to take on the fight. Will to change your own world. To make things happen." Tia said, nodding along with her own cleverness.

"Thank you, Tia." An old woman said, and without another word she snapped her fingers at one of the show models, making it open for her.

The first few volunteers came up and got their ExoBooster armor. A breathless sense was hanging in the air, and many people still held back, afraid of what the future could promise.

"Remember," Tia said, taking a parting shot as her platform started to descend once again, "there are LOTS of you!"

Somehow, that almost inconsequential phrase broke the grim spell for many of them. They really could fight. They really could break the rich people's machines with machines of their own.

#nniavember
Day 26
Multitudes

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 25

"Tia, I'm not sure you understand what you're preparing for out there." A-5 said, chuckling.

"Exile Series; Thrain checks complete." Tia said, too focused on her inventory to listen to her assistant's worries.

The Thrain was back to being an enhancement for Tia as she was, a powerful warrior in a tiny body. The nobility of its willowy, ornate curves and antennae made the Thrain resemble an anthropomorphic tree, through the smoothness and deep green of its plates shook that illusion. Instead of being as big and menacing as she could make it, this one was adequately equipped with a temporal field stabilizer and chronomapping for navigating rifts more safely.

"I'm just saying, that won't help you-" A-5 said, but Tia hissed.

"WorldSmasher. Check." Tia said, slinging her newest hammer, specially designed to deliver nonstop, high-speed magnetically boosted Smash attacks for normal threats while also having a few classic Rocket Smash charges for bigger threats.

"Ok. Ok. You're ready." A-5 said in a friendly tone.

"...No I'm not." Tia said, groaning and opening up the Thrain to pace about her garage in blue cotton shorts and undershirt. She was sweating just a bit.

"Wow, Tia, I rarely see you like this." A-5 said. "It's... Nice. Makes me wonder what your life would be like if you were allowed to be normal."

"Ha! Like I want to be normal. I want to build! I want to create, to change..." She girl genius said. She went quiet. "I... I want my mommy and my daddy."

Tears welled up in her little eyes, and before A-5 could say anything Tia was sobbing her little heart out. Day after day of being invincible, of being The Almighty Amascal-Ardo, was never enough to sell A-5 on the illusion that Tia was anyone other than a little girl. It cooed and encouraged her to be with her feelings and then went silent, wishing not for the first time it had arms to hold their crying child creator.

"It... It's not like I'm getting ready to do something I haven't done before. I've faced danger and stress and all sorts of weird stuff. But this kind of thing..." Tia said, sniffling and brushing big blobby tears from her eyes.

"Yes?" A-5 asked, not wanting to say too much.

"Mommy used to help me. She would do breathing exercises with me and-" Tia said.

"Do you want to practice breathing now?" A-5 asked, excited to possibly be of use.

"Uh... Yeah, actually." Tia said, still sniffling but smiling a bit at A-5.

"Sit yourself comfortably, and if you feel safe to, close your eyes..." A-5 said.

Tia and her electronic assistant went through a guided practice of calming the entire body and the mind through focusing on breathing. Bit by bit, the titanic weight of pressure eased off of Tia's tiny shoulders until it seemed she had almost completely forgotten her stress. A few silent minutes elapsed while Tia did nothing but breathe.

"That's... That's much better." She finally said, fluttering her eyes open.

"I'm glad. Seeing you afraid or anxious makes me want to help." A-5 said, with a hint of embarrassment.

"You did though... Really." Tia said, rubbing at her eyes to brush dried tears away.

"Any time." A-5 said proudly.

"Okay, now I'm actually ready. Er, no, wait!" Tia said, and dashed into her bedroom, which was attached to her garage.

A few minutes later she emerged in a flowery lime dress with lots of tulle fluffing up the skirt. It was adorable.

"NOW I'm ready!" Tia said, smirking.

"I agree. Let's do this." A-5 said.

The brave little girl tucked A-5 into a green clasp bag and took one more deep breath, then entered a circular platform. A timer was counting down towards 'show time', which was seconds away.

"It's time to rise."

#nniavember
Day 25
Rise

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 24

If ever hatred had a face, it was that of James Galta. Though he had suffered a cardial infarction and now walked with a cane following Syckle's attack on Gem Island, he seemed to have concentrated even more malevolence into his clawed, grasping hands. No moment was wasted missing the chance to whisper or shout curses of Seraphino Ardo, or Sera's daughter Tia, or the masked attacker who had undermined his own feelings.

The Dynamo Project had been progressing for a year, edging Galtron Logistics out of minerals, oil, helium... Everything was becoming Ardo Industrial and pretty soon Sera would be printing the money, too. John chuckled bitterly over his ruin.

"Sir..." a bland young assistant to the executive said, breaking the middle aged board room warrior from his reflection.

Galta instinctively squared his shoulders, making his cane as stately and weapon-like as he could.

"Make it short." John said, repressing the urge to sigh.

"There's some kind of disturbance outside. A protest or something."

"Well, let's get the the helicopter. Have it fueled and ready to go. I hate politics. So just make them go home as quickly as possible." John said, grumbling.

"Yes, Sir." The assistant said, before clumsily saluting and tottering away to deliver at least two sets of orders, to flight crew and the corporate militia.

The militia was nothing like the streamlined, efficiently trained and very well paid soldiers at AI, but they were up to booting a few protesters.

John yawned and entered an elevator made of gold and whistled as the carriage ascended towards heaven, and his waiting chopper. A rattling report of gunfire broke John's easy calm. He frowned and looked down, towards the source of noise.

"Damn, must be a rival militia. What kind of fucking politics-?" He started, but he gasped when his elevator chunked to a stop and opened up, showing his requested roof access.

John laughed and clomped out, swinging to keep weight off of his weak side and breathing quick while recovering from the anxiety of whatever was making noise. Another rattle of gunfire, another floor up. John moaned and hopped a bit faster, worried that he might fall if he overcorrected.

A dull 'whump!' reported somewhere outside of the building, and a moment later all of the office windows rattled and sang. John imagined the windows closer to the ground weren't so lucky, and he swore creatively and repeatedly on his mad escape. The bitter, hateful man carried the poison of his trade with him as he fled for the warming helicopter. The rushing blades picking up speed gave John some hope; He might escape whatever this was after all.

"Damn! Get... Get this fucking thing in the air!" John said, clawing at the passenger seat until the pilot leaned over and pulled him into place.

As the helicopter lifted off of the building, half a dozen people in ExoBoosters scaled up. One waved goodbye to John, and for a strange second he almost found himself waving back.

"Get... Me... To my safe house. And make sure the doctor is waiting for me." John said.

The fading magnate who was heading for dukedom in the lands of Ardo Industrial shivered with hate. First he would survive this. Then he would find out who he had to destroy.

#nniavember
Day 24
Hate

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 23

Seraphina Ardo stood over her adoring crowd, many of whom worked for her in some capacity. The background hummed with the installation of dynamos, constant labor towards a new future.

"I'm here to address concerns being raised about the long term viability of the Dynamo Project. First, there are several permanent jobs relating to the Dynamos. Second, Ardo Industrial will promote many of you to other projects as the work demands. And finally, those of you who don't continue with our company will receive a compensation payout equivalent to five years of wages." She said.

"I still say we need a union." Said a young man. Sera softened her expression and strode easily up to the boy.

"An idealist. Admirable. What are your terms?" Ardo said, smirking. The young man's teeth chattered.

"I- I think your terms sounded good." He said, suddenly worried about his head falling off. Plus, they really were decent terms.

"Never neglect to press your advantages. AI will also give a minimum one year of unemployment and carry over your investment portfolios until you find new placement. And you'll stay on our insurance group the whole time as well." Sera said.

There was scattered applause as people felt relief over a major concern, and Ardo Industrial stock climbed yet again as the meeting concluded.

"Mommy!" A loud voice shouted across the sky.

A massive, towering Dragon wreathed in purple fire stood outside the city, its eyes shining with powerful light.

"Let's finish this!" Tia shouted, piloting her grand Dragon ship. This was the showdown of destiny. She was bringing everything.

"Tia." Sera said, on board the Endymion with her daughter in the blink of an eye.

"M-mommy... How did you get on board?"

"I clearly must have not sent you back very far. This time I'll make sure you can't come back." Sera said, her face twisting into a grimace.

Tia's collar lit up with various new sensors, and the brilliant girl spun and sprung away from a rift as it formed. Endymion's OverLimit System automatically fixed the time anomaly, repairing the fissure in seconds.

"Fine. I'll send your whole ship away! Hahaha!" Sera said, teleporting back to the ground.

The people around her watched as she gathered a strange red energy around her. It crawled and sizzled, promising to be something huge once unleashed.

Endymion sensed the rift before it formed so Tia managed to roll the entire massive ship just before she would have fallen into the roaring time rift.

"You're still a little girl playing with toys, Tia! I have real power!" Sera said.

Sera unleashed hundreds, thousands of sword strikes, pressing onto the indestructible scales of Endymion with the cosmic power of a black hole. Endymion's scales glowed hot and the great Dragon stumbled back, roaring.

"Darnit... Mommy! I won't give up, I-" Tia said, only to fall quiet when Endymion fully tumbled into the rift, disappearing into the deep reaches of The Past.

Tia floated in shock, observing the universe age as she stayed little. Alive, with A-5 and her systems and theory work and maintaining the Endymion.

Excitement when she would discover meteors, some of which had crystal structures she had never seen. Still able to hop realities.

"That was silly, Mommy." Tia said, arriving back at Earth. "Now I can strike back."

"Uhh, Tia, we're about half a billion years early, Earth barely resembles itself." A-5 said.

"Oh no I meant to get here early. I'm leaving some presents for myself later."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why is it always like this?" The Young Radical said.

"Like what?" Said a sad looking little girl.

"The rich getting richer, and everyone else having to be happy with whatever they're handed."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Ceril."

"Well, Ceril... Want a taste of power for a change?" The girl asked, seeming a touch less sad.

"What are you talking about. You're a kid?"

"I'm Tia."

"Holy shhh... wow." Ceril said, remembering her famous aversion to swearing.

"So anyway. Have I got something for you." Tia said with a giggle.

#nniavember
Day 23
Power

#TiaTerrorTot

#nniavember
Day 22
Violence

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 21

"Hahaha." Tia said, rubbing the back of her neck as the Ex-II did the same. "Oops."

"What did you do?" A-5 said, wishing it could cough and get up whatever was making their voice crackle.

"I sort of taunted a Dragon. And it could sense the gate crystal, and sort of hinted that I wouldn't be allowed to keep it." Tia said, blanching.

"Oh. Well, better get your tools ready." Her friend said, shortly as always. But it had more on their mind. "Have you considered growing up?"

"Ouch. Rude, Afai."

"You like being small. What if that makes some kinds of thinking harder?"

"Then I'll meet the challenge and Smash through anyway." Tia said, as explosive devices, a jet-wing pack and the experimental railgun 'lance' got loaded onto her Razor Flyer.

"You still can't map the topography of the time rift." A-5 said, grumbling. "Which means no time travel. Which means being stuck here."

"We're not stuck anywhere. We're traveling forward already. Just kind of slowly." Tia sniffed, though A-5's worries seemed valid.

"Can't that stuff restore you even if you get bigger? You can let yourself grow up, finish the Thrain, and maybe also fix me while you're at it." A-5 said.

Tia squeaked and mumbled an uncharacteristically weak response about A-5 being 'not broken'

"..." A-5 said. "Tia, I feel like you're running away."

"Uh, yea, no duh. There are Dragons coming for my crystal." Tia said, checking that her OverLimit system channels were clear and fully charged.

"No, Tia. From who your enemy is." A-5 crackled. "You're playing here in a fantasy land."

"...Now you're a psykician? Wow, is there anything I didn't build you to do?" Tia said, growling.

"You're not intimidating me, I know you're a little girl playing games in there." A-5 crackled.

Tia emerged from the Ex-II and picked A-5 up. With a quick twist of a few delicate silver screws she had it open. She squinted, then blew a bit of lint out of A-5 and closed it back up.

"I told you. You aren't broken. This is just the first time you asked me to fix you." Tia said, pouting.

"I- I'm fine?" A-5 asked, their voice once again as smooth as ever.

"You're a stubborn boo head. Just like your Mommy." Tia said, smirking. "Don't think you can play grown-up with me... I know I've got issues, Afai. And I was foolish when I barked at the Dragon. Want me to tear you down for you?"

They stared at each other. Despite having no eyes, A-5 somehow clearly lost, and cleared their breath.

"Uh... I do forget that you're my reason for existing. I wish I could protect you, Tia. I act big because I can't grow." A-5 said.

"Actually..." Tia said, smirking, "you can totally pilot my Exile Twin if you wanna."

"And you'll stay behind, out of danger?"

"Afai, you still have terrible instincts as my protector. I'm being hunted, I can't just stay behind. I'll be safest in the Exile along with you. Plus, you're the less qualified pilot, I'm still taking over if things get way too dangerous." Tia said, snickering as A-5 ruminated on his defeat.

"Launch imminent." Said Abhys, just as Tia and A-5 got seated in the super advanced ExoBooster.

At that very moment, a vast and many headed being with obsidian scales and countless gem-like eyes ripped the roof off of the garage.

"The crystal, Wandering Knight. Or is it Dragon Endymion?" The monster shouted.

"Oh, I'm doubtless a Dragon." A-5 said in the ringing, firey voice of the Ex-II.

TimeSmasher began to crackle with arcing plasma, and a roaring wreath of fire sprang from within as they lifted the magical assailant.

"W-what is-? How are you doing this? you have no magic!" The monster said.

"Figure it out." A-5 said, and Smashed through several of the monster's heads.

Their assailant roared and reeled back in agony, regressing into a human-like form; They were The Sorcerer, though they were in no shape to keep up the attack.

"You had best run fast! Because I never once claimed to be a Dragon! You still haven't faced one, and they are coming now!" The Sorcerer said.

Tia's eyes glimmered joyfully, and A-5 sighed.

"I suppose you'll be the pilot for-"

"Yesyesyesyesyes! Oh my gosh this is gonna be s much fun!" Tia said.

She had been reading the SignSense data from A-5's fight, and she was blown away with how much insight into magic she had gained. She implemented several Sigils to the wares of her own beastly form.

"It's time for the hunted to turn on the hunters." Tia said, pressing a button on her collar.

The Exile Twin and its occupants disappeared in a flash.

#nniavember
Day 21
Hunted

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 20 B

"Exile Series; Twin fabrication complete." Said Abhys in its customary monotone. Tia was gleeful, clapping her hands as she observed her finished design.

The Ex-II was made from materials gathered in this magical world, everything she knew of material engineering on Earth including her own new supply of crystal helium, the negative radiation crystals she had gathered on her first Other World adventure, and alloys forged from a world which opened onto a neon pink desert and which had very naughty monsters in it. It glimmered in, black, pink, and gold, and stood 2.2 meters tall. It was far too resilient by orders of magnitude to be etched by any tools, including her own hands. The three colors of material were arranged in a swirling and almost edible way, the plates were shaped nicely and fit perfectly, and it was finally reliable armor. plus it gathered a cloak of black and pink flame when pushed to overdrive, so she deemed it aesthetic enough for her tastes even though neither stickers nor paint would adhere to it.

Tia herself resembled her three-year old self, having formed a friendship with a witch who knew how to brew youth into a potent elixir. She was happy with how she was and had no desire to ever grow any bigger. She had her Ex-II for being big. Analyzing the witch's potion had revealed no reliable data at all, which had hurt Tia's mind a bit. She didn't particularly like magic, because it was a riddle she couldn't unwind. She didn't like feeling foolish about things. But the potion worked as advertised, so she liked having it on hand to stay her preferred age.

"TimeSmasher fabrication complete," Abhys said. The final piece that she needed.

It was 100 kg of glimmering black stone stretching out as long as a light post. The relatively delicate handle was topped with an almost comically large, barrel-like hammerhead. Unlike the previous hammer, this one would constantly spark and burn like a phosphorous flame when activated, with a high power demand but no set ammo limit.

The presence of many dynamos built all around the world ensured the armor's power supply, though OverLimit would burn out even Tia's super advanced batteries if left on too long. X-II and TimeSmasher would still be much more powerful even with dark operation than X-α and FireSmasher. She had simply not bothered to upgrade her armor or weapon for... She wasn't sure, having not checked Earth's sky in a while. But she had been merely a rather tall Knight. Now she was a Dragon, and that would show those damn jerks.

Tia hopped into the truly huge machine, giggling as it booted on.

"Now, Ex-II! Let's go wipe the smirk off their faces!" She said. The words came out booming, low-pitched, echoing and powerful; She wanted The Dragon Endymion the Wise to be able to speak.

Emerging from her forge, Endymion teleported into the Magic College office.

"You mocked me! Said I could never be a Dragon! Now look at me! I have done it! I am a Dragon! I am Endymion!" Tia shouted angrily at the Sorcerer, who frowned shrewdly at the girl.

"You're someone I deemed untalented in magic? Well then you can't have magic. Indeed, I sense nothing at all from you." The Sorcerer said.

"I... Er, I literally just teleported right in front of you." Tia said.

"You did it without magic. A clever trick, but it will never make up for whatever I may have said to you decades ago. I've told generations worth of children they have no gift for magic, you're not special." The Sorcerer said, frowning.

"I..." Tia said, unsteady on her feet. Was she the one who was wrong? Simply not having magic wasn't a reason to hate someone. "I still have the Powers of a Dragon."

"No, you do not. Dragons can see Time. You're lost in it, adrift in washes of seas you don't comprehend. You never should have taken that crystal." The Sorcerer said. Tia shivered.

"You... already are a Dragon, aren't you?" Tia said. The being in the purple robes smirked.

"You are clever. This thing you've built is nothing like the power of a Dragon. Go now, before I get angry."

Tia left, dazzled by the amount of data she had gathered from that encounter.

Bonus Episode

#TiaTerrorTot

Tia sat in school, fiddling her talented fingers in extreme boredom as the teacher droned about the history of the Estravian Empire.

"Dragons like Valon The Worldender or Sivereen The Splendor affect the course of Estravia's history. Appearing and disappearing however they wish, these titanic masters of the magic arts are each powerful enough to destroy nations or craft new races to their whims. None among this lofty order is more terrible than Liloreea The Storyteller." Said the teacher, Miss Sellie.

Sellie was young and blond, and seemed enchanted by her own story. She ran a school in a magical alternate world many millennia before the time rift battle would occur. Long before Tia was meant to be born.

"Each of these great and powerful beings started as a mere sorcerer." Said another figure, draped in shimmering deep purple robes. "I myself am on the path of attaining Dragonhood. In the meantime you may simply call me Sorcerer."

Tia raised her hand, and the teacher nodded to her.

"Can I be a dragon?" She asked. The Sorcerer narrowed their eyes.

"Possibly. I'll have to test you for the gift." They said.

"Test away." Tia said, with a tingling sense of apprehension.

Sorcerer produced a small white crystal and placed it in Tia's hand. Tia watched the stone with her breath held, then she looked up.

"Am I supposed to do something?" Tia asked.

"No. I'm sorry," Sorcerer said, taking back the stone, "but you have no magic whatsoever. You'll never be a dragon."

Tia turned deep red all over her face and fumed in a restrained whisper of fury. Being so rudely defined as lacking... Tears cut down her cheeks.

"I..." Tia said, earning a demerit for speaking out of turn, "will be a dragon."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wandering Knight entered the guild hall, and everyone stopped talking to gawk at the towering legend. He dropped a bloody bag on the ground and collected his guild tokens and the four silver commission for whatever monster hunt that had been, then strode back the other way, collecting a new bill on his way out.

His passing let air back into the room, and the conversation became all about how wonderfully impressive the enigmatic Knight was. He had somehow earned favor from the Elben Crown without ever once showing his face or uttering a word to anyone, and had honored the Huntsman Guild by joining them. Though from rumors, the good Knight had little to no wealth to speak of and worked to keep food.

These and many other stories made Tia giggle, and being mistaken for a man never stopped being silly to her. For her part, trading her coins up for Initium saved her labor over mining it herself, and all necessities came from her TiaBots constant work around her home.

She considered the bill she was working on. 'One Gorlag for one gold piece. No posted limit. Backer: The Elben Crown'

Guaranteed pay for as many Gorlag's as she could hunt. The richness of the reward made her heedless of the danger, considering how large the beasts were. They looked like two-legged, two trunked elephants with bushy purple manes, and were notorious man-killers.

She spotted one, and fired a flare at it, goading a fight. It roared and charged down towards the swaggering knight. She lost a slight bit of swagger when a second roar sounded. A third made her break out in a sweat.

The first Gorlag got in range and Tia wasted no time in jumping to fire her BlazeStrike, crashing through the weakened monster's skull in one solid thump. These critters were particularly weak against fire. Acting fast, Tia shook out the spent cannister and reloaded as two more Gorlags broke the treeline. She strafed to get one closer than the other and cooked that one with one more massive leap and belch of high-powered flame.

Tia was really sweating now, her own armor heating a bit. The last gorlag shrieked as it got singed, but pressed forward and kicked Tia, who howled in discomfort as she rocked around her insulated cockpit.

"Die, dammit!" Tia shouted, jumping and smacking the monster in its face.

It screamed and slammed her down to the ground with one huge trunk, spinning dizzily. Tia groaned, and rolled just in time to avoid being smooshed.

Hopping up, Tia spun like a top and growled back at the blood-thirsty beast.

"Seriously!" Tia shouted, and loosed her hammer at a high speed, shattering the final monster's skull.

She heaved for breath, thankful there hadn't been any more of them.

"May need more firepower." A-5 croaked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The titan-forge roared like a volcano, molten rare minerals being compressed or stretched by highly tempered mechanical arms. Cables wrapped in flexible composites were woven with nearly indestructible fibers and layered into great bones; The skeleton was taking shape.

Initium melted down into a highly compressed, shimmering crystal, which would allow magic-like components.

"I Will Be A Dragon." Tia said again.

No magic, yet also no doubt.

#nniavember
Day 20
School

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 19

Tia lounged back under the pristine sky, the roaring of the forge a constant companion. A-5 rarely spoke, drifting in troubled introspection just as much as her. A-5 also said talking 'hurt' now, and the rattling effect from being cooked still effected their voice.

Building the first dynamo and forge had been the only real challenge. After that she made a vacuum chamber for making silicon wafers. Now she had plastic, gasoline, glass, silicone, iron and steel, silver, and a simple TiaBot manufactory.

The TiaBots looked a bit like their creator, large heads and eyes, equipped with a multitool hand and carrying containers for found or forged matter. They worked tirelessly day and night while Tia designed and implemented the next phase of converting the sand's resources into what she needed. A boat.

It was being assembled from aerogelled steel and silicon. The shell was being compressed into a lattice with more sturdiness than untreated steel, but even if she collided with something the vessel simply would not take on water, being over 93% vacuum bubbles. A single tree was sacrificed the make a deck floor, then kelp and the felled trees roots were processed into furniture and carpeting for a cabin.

"Exile Series; Alpha fabrication complete." Abhys announced through Tia's collar.

"Okay, Afai, let's see what we've got." Tia said.

The polished steel shimmered slightly, rendered plant oils protecting the finish the best possible. It was a bulky beast, but the major downgrade in materials meant it was a necessity. Tia had embraced the challenge, though she still missed her garage sometimes.

Ex-α was made with a similar philosophy to the ocean vessel, maximizing the strength and flexibility of the available matter while minimizing the weight, which still required the finished suit to stand at least as tall as an average adult to fit enough mechanical actuators to provide the torque she needed while also carrying armor, so Tia had gone ahead and made Ex-α 1.9 meters. The armor was streamlined and very cool looking, like a night of legend, and Tia had personally carved intricate little florets and mathematical symbols into the body, filling them in with a green ceramic polish.

FireSmasher was a gas powered fire club, the massive iron head belched one BlazeStrike per reload, so she was nervous about encounters that would require that power.

Salvaging Tiacite had made this hybrid ExoBooster possible, a battery recharging off of a gas generator when a dynamo wouldn't be available, though she always wanted a back-up to avoid contributing to pollution whenever possible. She had mostly wanted to refine gas for emergency detonations in combat. Not that she had the option to be a major polluter. After the plastics for her voyage, she was left with enough stabilized gas for one tank in the boat for emergencies, one tank full for Ex-α, and three BlazeStrike charges.

"We lack the resources to make a new processing center. Break down all but one TiaBot and load everything we can into the cabin. We're going to sea." Tia said, grinning at the prospect of adventure.

She had pinpointed her location as an island south of modern say Curoa using the sun's positions from one day to the next. From the stars she was also amazed to find that she was in the year 33400 BE, the time before any history she knew.

Mounting Ex-α, Tia used "only 10% of my power" mode, since anything more would engage the gas burner. She pushed her boat out towards the tide and clambered over the edge of the boat along with her last functioning TiaBot.

The solar array heated the ship's efficient rudder and propellers, and Tia made a short journey of getting to the vibrant and non-populated island that would one day be a country. The much greater resources allowed Tia to begin preparation for the real first step of her rebellion; a new central computer, and another portal for accessing the many Other Worlds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wandering Knight silently collected his reward, as usual. He never once spoke in all his months among the people.

"The potion of immortal youth, as requested. One drop equals one month of life. Careful you don't regress to an infant, there are a thousand years in this bottle alone." The beautiful young witch said, though given her product she could be rather older than she appeared.

The Knight strode away, the massive and mysterious hero carrying his signature Blazing Hammer.

#nniavember
Day 19
Rebellion

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 8

"So this battery won't fail on you?" Albin asked, poking around everything in the garage.

His main concern was the new battery setup in the new ExoBooster, the Experiment Series; Prima, or X-1.

The machine was a wonder. Standing only slightly taller than Tia herself, it was slimmed considerably from the prototype. The X-1 had an integrated design that looked much more stylish than X-0. The superior materials made from the Other World findings also marked a massive improvement.

There were a few beastlike affectations to X-1's design. SignSense involved antannae that resembled curling horns and fluffy ears, and the hands were puffy and exaggerated like paws for climbing even sheer cliffs with ease. The body had been painted with a coat or bright and iridescent orange paint, lending a bit of camouflage in the Other World.

"Daddy I told you a hundred times I fixed everything that went wrong. Every single thing."

"Everything except your foolhardiness." A-5 said haughtily.

Tia gasped, scandalized but unable to say anything.

"Okay... Tia, you listen to A-5 if it says to come back. Yes" Albin said. Tia smiled at the hell of reliving the conversation yet again.

"Daddeee! Daddy Daddy I loooove you!" Tia said sweetly, then switched to a flat expression and a monotone voice in homage to her mother. "Get out of my garage now."

She shoved Albin, who relented to being forced out, his strength somehow useless against his tiny girl.

"I love you, Baby. I trust you to make good decisions." He said, and then was gone.

"So Tia-" A-5 started, but Tia growled and threw a towel over them.

"Quiet! No more scoldings, you two have been in my hair about it during the entire X-1 fabrication."

"Actually," Said a slightly muffled A-5, "I was going to say let's go have some fun."

Tia smirked and took herself in one smart flip to the new and improved 'aaaction!' button. Pressing it powered up the dimension gateway, snapped open the X-1, and caused Abhys to play a clip of a cartoon mouse smashing a cat with a mallet on every monitor.

"For Infinite Discovery." Tia said and rode her new orange DualCycle into the breach.

The portal was a standing source of electrical potential, so the rocks glowed as bright as ever. The glow dropped off as Tia ventured forward, staying with the portal and leaving her in the dark. But with SignSense, she could see just as well in the dark as the light.

Her new battery used the energy vampire stones, which Tia had dubbed Tiacite. They were actually incredible minerals, even if they had made her last trip a bummer.

The light of home faded quickly out of view, her wheels carrying her at an average of 35 kilometers per hour. With an open road and an open throttle, the blade-like DualCycle could zip like a bolt. But the rough winding cave to care and precision, especially when SignSense kept alerting her to more scree and concealed drop-offs that would risk taking her bike.

"99.3% battery" Tia enthused as she passed the point of her previous failure.

The adventure could finally begin.

#nniavember
Day 8
Paws

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 9

"Category Four Storm detected." Abhys announced through Tia's X-1 feed.

Tia slowed her cycle and reviewed the sense data. There was a hollow, booming roar further down the tunnel, and the barometric was shifting wildly; Abhys seemed to be accurate.

"Oh dear..." A-5 said, preparing to argue Tia out of some reckless charge.

"Don't worry, I'm not about to ride off into that." The five year old genius said, stabbing a remote sensor module into the cave wall. "I'll just leave this..."

"Category Four Storm detected." Abhys chimed again.

"Okay, now that is unusual." A-5 said nervously.

"Cool. That sensor isn't picking up a storm behind me any more." Tia said.

"Weird weather." A-5 said.

Tia drew DreamSmasher 2.0 and prepared for a charge after all.

"Not weather. Whatever is blowing around is more likely some kind of monster. For kicking bad guy butt!" Tia howled, speeding towards danger with a grin.

"I disagree with this!" A-5 shouted.

"Oops. Guess I better head towards home, then!" Tia said, opening the throttle a bit more, careening around the dark tunnel at the very fastest speed possible without crashing. She was laughing at A-5's objections.

The roar died out just before Tia emerged into a large, crumbly chasm, every surface coated in a shimmering and glowing oily orange liquid. As her wheels agitated the oil it formed into fragile little crystals in her tracks. Tia stopped.

"Something... Is forming the tunnels." She said, trapping some of the liquid in a heated flask. "And the crystals are some kind of excretion."

"Wow. Astounding. Let's go home please. Now." A-5 said shrilly.

"What's your rush?" Tia said, recording the crystal formation and environmental factors.

"The giant monster that howls like a freak storm and eats kilometers of solid rock in minutes." A-5 said.

"But I haven't seen it yet!"

"Leave some remote devices." The electric assistant offered, acting adult. Tia sighed.

"Okay... Fine," Tia said, "right after I try this!"

Tia slammed DreamSmasher 2.0 into the ground, using a MegaRocket Smash to send a shockwave. The StormHowl returned, a vortex of wind and teeth spinning toward young Tia. She whooped and blasted off down the homeward tunnel, horrible giant worm giving chase.

Tia giggled, her heart racing as quick as her bike, and always faster. There were the sounds of stones cracking in a high wind right behind her. Tia reached the portal home with mere seconds to spare, slamming the passage closed with a button press.

"Whew!" Tia said. "That was weird!"

#nniavember
Day 9
Freak

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 10

"BlueKin. Threat level not assessed." Abhys said, displaying data gathered on various Other World mission. "CrystalBear, Threat Level 3. ShardBug, threat level 3. StormHowl, threat level 8, provisional."

"Still a lot of unknowns. If it was just a monster, I'm pretty sure I could figure out how to kill it. But it may be an important part of the Other World's ecosystems." Tia said, squirming a bit like the bathroom dance. A-5 sighed and asked the obvious.

"And yet..?"

"I wanna take it apart and see how it ticks!" The Kindergarten Wunderkind said.

"No Tia, you're right. The crumbling, weakened tunnels are old and decayed, and strong tunnels are left in the wake of the StormHowl." A-5 said, affecting a sniff despite having no nose.

"Yeah..." Tia said, sulking. "At least we solved the mystery of here the TiaBots and remote sensors keep disappearing. You know..."

"Uh-oh. What?" A-5 asked, not liking the excitement in Tia's voice.

"I don't need to kill it. Making indigestible sensor to scan the StormHowl would be enough. She said.

"Hmm... Reasonable plan." A-5 said.

"And also knock out a couple of its teeth."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"StormHowl approaching." Abhys said, no longer mistaking the great, worm-like beast with a weather system.

"Activate the HowlBack." Tia said. X-1's sense feed went glitchy and staticky for a moment, extremely intense infrasound resonating through the tunnels, vibrating crystal and cracking a few.

A scream like a hurricane answered her, rising to a maddening pitch. Tia gripped her DualCycle, X-1's large orange paws making her look kind of cute even in that dangerous environment.

One end of the tunnel turned into many wiggling, spinning teeth and choatic, powerful shifts in air pressure.

"Fire!" Tia said, triggering a directed explosion into the StormHowl's mouth. Force enough to level a city block was channeled like a bullet, gauging a small furrow into the beast's mouth. It shrieked again, but stopped its advance.

Tia got off her bike and squared her shoulder, the tiny girl a bright orange speck before the great tunneler. Her armor would be all but pointless if the StormHowl started advancing again.
But it was scared, and she wasn't.

"Shoo!" Tia said, amplifying her voice. For punctuation she slammed the rock floor with a RocketStrike, making the StormHowl flinch. "I said... Shoo!"

Tia leapt directly into the monster's grand jaw, Striking its loose tooth with another rocketing boom. The tooth popped free and the StormHowl shrank back, making great big hollow whooshing sounds.

The five year old girl took a deep breath, picked up the prize for her blend of bravery and foolhardiness, and strode back to her bike.

"I can intimidate anything." Tia said smugly.

"You don't intimidate me." A-5 said.

"Yeah, well I built you when I was 5 weeks old. I must have left out something important."

"Or you gave me more than you would like."

#nniavember
Day 10
Teeth

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 11

The yearly board conference for the Ailon Group was set to convene in the glorious hidden tropic Gem Island. Though the unbelievably wealthy individuals representing businesses, banks, and lobbies were not actually hiddenm they were still in one of eleven equally breathtaking and luxurious retreats throughout the world.

Sera was invited, as usual, and just as usually she had declined. The Group was always good enough to Ardo Industrial's interests, partly for fear she would start Slicing off heads if they threatened her. All seemed well.

"So, to business?" Maxwell Cornick said.

Cornick was owner of the largest mineral mining interest on Earth. A chilling, calculated performance of laughter met him, and a very odd figure emerged among the overdressed rich folk and the overwrought surroundings.

"Yes... Let's." Said the very tall, gaunt figure in a blood-red mask and a black coat and cloak.

The interloper would have been menacing even without the massive, deadly sharp Scythe in one gloved hand.

"Who the hell-?" Congresswoman Aibel said, but she fell quiet.

"Let's all relax." The stranger said. Oddly enough the Group did find themselves relaxing. "I am Syckle."

"Welcome, Friend. How can we help?" Said Jason Galta, displaying entirely uncharacteristic warmth to the strange fellow.

"Today we change the world together. The revolution starts here, with a massive blow to the chains of your enterprising." Syckle said.

There was a massive uproar from the gathered capitalists; They were excited, overjoyed to be part of Syckle's plans.

Some of them suspected the truth; They were bound by the enigmatic revolutionary in some way, only able to feel what he wanted them to feel. It made some expect to be alarmed, yet they could not be alarmed. They were bound more surely than by ropes or drugs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"All Systems running at full." Abhys said. Tia gawped at what she was seeing.

"My new batteries are amazing enough in the Other World, but here..." The Creator Child said, looking at her battery staying at full charge even with all systems maxed.

"The StormStone absorbs ambient energy, then you made a storage medium which is also a catalyzer to make new energy. You'll recharge any time X-1 is near energy sources." A-5 said, once again demonstrating their own brilliance.

"Exactly. What do you say we track down some bad guys to test StormSmasher on?" Tia said.

StormSmasher was an upgraded hammer weapon. Now weighing 65kg and a head reinforced with StormHowl tooth ceramic. Each explosive charge was 30% more potent as well It would dig grooves through rock, carrying immense force like a speeding semi truck.

"That thing would kill anyone it hits. Might be too much."

"Oh, right. I guess I don't need to RocketStrike every time."

"Well. I am up for a homeside mission."

#nniavember
Day 11
Bound

#TiaTerrorTot

Episode 12

"PsyEnder detected. Threat level; 7." Abhys said.

"7!?" A-5 squeaked.

"That's... not good. The Flayer was the same level." Tia said, sweating.

She was piloting the KinderCopter, her personal flyer, towards a distress signal on Gem Island.

"Good thing you already invented a counter to PsyWaves." A-5 said proudly.

Glowing blue circles on Tia's helmet, right over her temples, indicated her NeuroBell. It protected her against PsyWave. A rare and very dangerous talent.

"I wish we had back-up." A-5 said, affecting chattering teeth.

"We have everything we need." Tia said.

She set autoland and then ejected, whooping with delight at a thrilling jump over the glittering Gem.

"Mapping PsyWave pressure. Triangulating. Pinpointed." Abhys said smoothly. It delivered a visual overlay that showed Tia a transparent red outline of a person somewhere behind a big rock.

Tia angled her descent and heat-boosted, she would land right near the enemy. Tia opened her 'chute just above the treeline, cut herself loose and rolled, jumped and sprang spritely into a lush, green, natural amphithetre. Dozens of people were bowing to someone that read as 'villain' even without the red overlay marking them as the source of the PsyWaves.

"Welcome Newcomer." The villain said. "Be at peace."

"Ha, no thanks?" Tia said, giggling. "Pretty sure I wanna fight."

"Hmm... An impressive toy, Child. So I can't reach your heart so crudely. Perhaps you can be reasoned with instead. I am Syckle." The stranger said.

Tia laughed openly, holding her tummy.

"You're a pretty funny bad guy. 'Reason' says the masked menace."

"Yes. Reason. The people gathered here have none at all. They will sell their own Grandchildren's future for a 1% return next quarter. They are the villain however perfect their disguises may be."

"This is silly. Shouldn't I get to the part where I kick your butt?"

Now it was Syckle's turn for a laugh, though it seemed pained, as if the bizarre person didn't quite know how to do it.

"That shall not happen today, little girl. Not least because of this..." Syckle said, hitting a remote switch.

Files and images were projected onto canyon walls, covering the natural beauty in depiction of smog, flooding, fires, spills. It was the research papers, the data from reliable research groups, which made the horror real for Tia. The gathered Group were sitting on incontrovertible evidence that they were rapidly destroying Earth's environment. The villain wasn't lying.

"So Tia. Shall you be The Hammer which Smashes their machines?"

"..." Said Tia.

"Tia will fight anyone or anything that does evil!" A-5 shouted, clearing Tia's head. Tia drew StormSmasher and squared up.

"Yes... Yes I *shall* smash their machine my way. In the meantime, I can't allow a marauder like you to play Dictator!" Tia said, crisply mocking the man's elocution.

"My hand would guide Earth away from destruction. I am the Sickle that gathers them near." He said, gesturing to the still prostrate rich people.

Tia launched towards Syckle with a heat-boost, swinging StormSmasher without pressing the Rocket-Boost button. Syckle avoided the relatively ponderous swing almost casually. His red Scythe snipped the head from StormSmasher, and he clucked as if in disappointment.

"Your attack lacked the conviction you're known for, Bashing Baby."

"I- I didn't want to kill you!" Tia said, afraid now; That attack had taken her hammer's head as easily as it could have taken the head packed with awesome inventions.

"Your grave mistake. If you really mean to topple the Fools in their Tower, I suggest you become far more lethal." Syckle said, before vanishing in a cloud of shadows.

The gathered rich folk began to wail in terror, snapping out of their nightmare. Taking up StormSmasher's severed pieces, Tia retreated in abashment. Against that foe, X-1 and her hammer may as well have been children's toys.

Just like the villain said. Tia resolved to find true strength and *really* kick that guy's butt next time.

#nniavember
Day 12
Toy

#TiaTerrorTot