When Dennis saw the two kids arguing, he hurried to intervene. But upon being sent away, he took it to be a spat between the girl who undoubtedly stayed, as was obvious by the tired look in her eyes, and the boy, who lacked that look, over said difference.
Somewhat mollified, he left, and hid nearby, just out of sight, eavesdropping... just in case...
He got worried over the girl's accusation of stalking, and claim of boyfriend, and just as he was about to move, hearing the boy's honest denial, he heard something that made him stop.
the idea that that girl, same age as him, who looked no different then others who stayed was the illusive Skitter, who, for all intents and purposes was the local kingpin, who showed herself a formidable opponent and whom the wards, or at least he, really didn't want to fight ever again. Who got into the PRT HQ and escaped.
From there the girl denied his accusations well enough that he couldn't sense any hint whether she was playing dumb, or just someone maybe similar to Skitter, and she was of the right size. The mention of bullying was worrying-particularly the notion of bullying escalating to the point where it could become a trigger event-and didn't it make an unpleasant feeling in his gut, the idea that Skitter was around because some kids took bullying too far... if it turned out to be true, and even if it didn't, he decided to look into the matter of bullying.
Her claim of capes hurting her father hit like a punch to the gut, reminding him of the failure at the stadium explosion, and the bitter fact that the Slaughterhouse 9 escaped, and those members that didn't, were killed by villains. That the Undersiders proved more helpful then the Wards.
Glad the encounter was resolved peacefully, he couldn't leave her unsupervised, while the accusations of the boy rang unchecked.
He saw her move as if trying to avoid someone, and at first thought she spotted him, only to later see her intercepted by another girl, this one dyed her hair blonde, and had the look typical of a popular girl on a social warpath, something much less common in Arcadia then his middle school,( that STILL made him think of the less pleasant times) and her friends coming to support her.
He couldn't see the expression on the Girl's face, but she looked like a cornered crook, about to draw a gun in desperation. and as he turned and looked around him, as his gut feeling told him, he noticed insects and spiders on the walls and roof, moving fast to her direction, bees were buzzing in the nearby trees in greater and greater amount, as the dyed blonde girl, the foolish ignorant girl continued to taunt who he was now almost certain was Skitter.
The guards who were there have yet to intervene, and he didn't know if it was better or worse that way.
Blondie kept insulting, and Dennis saw the girl tightening, as though barely holding herself, more and more insects could be seen nearby, and he feared that maybe Skitter will kill for the first time, descending even farther into the darkness which spawned the truly scary and merciless villains making everything even worse.
The comment about being there when Mannequin attacked the boardwalk confirmed that even if she was not Skitter, (what he now considered unlikely) she probably was at least a subordinate from her territory, a high ranking one that got personal attention.
The dismissive comment over the severity of that only showed him that those kids who weren't here couldn't really understand what happened, and that it wasn't over yet.
The comment about strength, about victims and those who stand for themselves was familiar, and hearing Sophia, he understood why.
The comment about the mother was a low blow, the secondary one about the father had him torn between wanting to call backup to an escalating situation, and waiting so he could learn more about Skitter. But he feared that moving now would make Skitter (who was named Taylor) make her move, and stop restraining herself from harming the girl, now identified as Emma. As much of a bitch as she made herself to be in this show, he didn't want her to suffer what Skitter could do, he had nightmares for weeks after her. He read what she did to Triumph.
As Emma, losing the verbal spar, got physical and was separated by the guard, who FINALLY took action.
They stayed in the principal's office for some time, Emma leaving first, escorted out by the guard. Then he got a massage to his Wards issued phone, just as Taylor got out, running towards the exit.
Not wanting to fight Skitter backed into a corner, after she had a bad day, with a school full of potential hostages, where she could decide that it wasn't worth t to hold back against Emma,, and send black widows to do what she did to Lung, he decided it would be better to lead her out, and called "over here, there is a back exit here. Hurry!"
She followed him as he led her out, using the secret backdoor used by ward students, ants and flies on their tail. "Over here, it's a shortcut. Now left."
As they saw the unmistakable suit of Dragon, and he pulled his phone to view the massage, he learned that Skitter was in Arcadia high and she was to be apprehended, ordered by the new director of the local protectorate.
He and Taylor, now confirmed Skitter said "shit" at the same time, and he barely caught her arm as she was about to leave.
"Wait, you owe me your escape, Skitter, no, don't deny, just take this phone, contact me as soon as you got time, we must talk as soon as possible-you owe me that much at least."
Hatching 1.1 Worm divergence
I won't update this fic on FFN until I get at least one review here! If you care for it ,show it!
