The first hurdle I faced in going home was figuring out where I was. Fortunately, I knew the general layout of the city pretty well for a ten-year old (actually, I probably knew the layout better than several adults). I just needed to get an idea of where I was. My search was set to the backdrop of periodic explosions.
I knew that the building I had exited was a warehouse and that almost all of the warehouses in the Bay were near the coast, which meant I was most likely near the Docks. I just needed to figure out which direction that was. Since I knew where several other major landmarks I picked a direction and began walking. I stuck to the main roads, trying to be as visible as possible. After running full-speed for a bit I decided to sit and rest as I was growing tired from my previous run. It also gave me a chance to more closely examine some of the changes I had undergone.
The first thing that became apparent was that, in addition to being surprisingly thing, my hands and arms were covered in some kind of…black exoskeleton. I decided to prod at it. As soon as my hand came into focus I realized that I had half-inch claws. A quick test on the side-walk left a gouge in the cement. Getting back on track I ran my hands along the rest of my body. I found that the exoskeleton seemingly covered my entire body, with a few exceptions around the joints so that my movements were unimpeded.
During this time that same whip-blade came into my field of view. As I concentrated on it, it began moving further into my field of view. The blade portion was large. It looked much larger than the largest kitchen knife I had ever seen. A foot long, maybe. As I had noted earlier, it was connected to a spine-like structure. I tentatively reached out to touch it and found that it was stiff. I thought about flexing it and the spine curled. Like the rest of me, it seemed to be coated by a sturdy exoskeleton with a series of exposed joints. I ran my hand along the structure and found that it went straight to my tail bone. I guess I had a tail, now. Also, I noted, the exoskeleton I had must have had a good sense of touch, because I could feel the various ridges and contours of my new 'skin' very well.
Continuing my investigation I found that my face was covered in a helmet-like structure. What I found weirdest was that I couldn't feel any eyes. I could see my hands as they moved directly over where my eyes should have been, but I only felt smooth exoskeleton. Continuing my search I found that my legs were, as expected, covered in the same exoskeleton. I also had claws tipping my toes. There were some other things I noted that were very, very strange.
My legs were much longer than they should have been. I would have to try and measure my height at some point. I also noted that I had a set of ridges on my stomach, just below where I thought my ribcage ended. I also noted that I had two slight lumps hinting at breasts, but there was nothing visible. Also seemingly absent were my…bits. My thoughts were interrupted by an explosion and I could feel it. It was a big one and it couldn't have been far away. I got up and started moving quickly again, trying to find my way.
I couldn't help but feel a growing sense of dread. Not only was I a naked ten-year old girl wandering around one of the seedier parts of the city (and I found myself thankful for the relatively warm weather), but the atmosphere around me seemed increasingly bleak. Every few minutes there was another explosion. I could hear various sirens going off in the background. Police, EMTs, fire trucks. They were all being deployed. On top of all of this I had been turned into some kind of bug-monster. I don't know how long I was walking. It felt like a long time, though my fear likely made it seem longer than it was, but eventually I crested a hill and was able to see loading dock lights straight ahead. I had found the Docks and now I knew where I was. But, rather than remedy my unease, it caused my trepidation to grow.
I had a relatively open field of view and could see a large portion of the city. There were fires everywhere. I could still hear explosions going off on occasion and I realized why. Someone was bombing my home. Fear gripped my heart and I started sprinting toward home. Someone was attacking Brockton Bay and I had no idea if it had reached my home. My parents.
Lamp posts and buildings blurred past me as I ran. Occasionally, I stopped to read a street sign or check for a landmark to make sure I was still on the right track. I began panting and my lungs and legs began to burn as they were starved for oxygen. Eventually, I had to stop at a street corner and catch my breath. Idly I noted that I had covered a lot of ground by now. I was half-way to my house. Whatever had happened to me it had made me fast.
It was while I was catching my breath that I ran into trouble. Or, more accurately, trouble ran into me. I heard several people run out of a nearby alley. I turned to see a group of ABB, all of them more disciplined. As soon as they caught sight of me, though, I could see fear cross their faces. The probable recruits quickly started backing away and looked about ready to run. The apparent leader of the group started shouting something at them. I had no idea what because I didn't even know what language it was, but it seemed to get them to stand their ground and take aim at me.
As soon as I saw the guns rise I began running again and I sprinted around the corner to keep some cover between me and them. I had just gotten the building between us when I heard the first gunshots. I kept running until I found an alley to duck into myself. I had no idea if they would actually pursue me, but I thought it was best not to stick around to find out. As I ran through the trash-filled alley, I soon ran into a chain link fence.
There was no way that I was going to go back the way I had come in case the ABB members were chasing me, so I leaped and grabbed onto the fence, intending to climb my way over. Much to my surprise, I found that my jump almost let me clear the nearly seven-foot fence in one go. In the back of my mind I had also noted that I was almost as tall as the fence. With very little effort I was over the fence and on the other side, sprinting back toward the street. I continued sprinting home. I had to find Mom. I had to find Dad. I had to call Emma.
I encountered several more squads of the ABB on my way home all on edge and all armed. I was forced to make a detour every time I ran into one if I didn't want a bunch of holes in me. Every detour meant I had to take a moment to regain my bearings. The delays were only making me grow antsier and more worried. The explosions continued as well, each one serving to punctuate my growing anxiety.
At one point I had a particularly close call. It was yet another group that was composed of seemingly new recruits, but all of them were spattered with blood. They had already been involved in something brutal. I ducked around another corner, but one of them was a very quick shot or very lucky, and the bullet caught me in my arm.
When I reached another alley to hide in as I hissed an inhuman hiss due to pain. As I inspected the wound I realized that my blood had become a dark green. As it dripped to the ground I could hear a faint sizzling. Looking down I saw the blood burning several holes being burned into the ground. However, even though I had been hit almost directly in the middle of my arm the wound didn't seem very deep and I couldn't see a bullet.
There wasn't much that I could do about that right now, though, so I tried to put the pain out of my mind and focus on figuring out how to avoid the gang-bangers. After looking around for a moment I saw a fire escape and I had an idea. The ladder had been retracted, but that wouldn't be a problem. I leapt and grabbed onto the fire escape and quickly clambered up. I didn't bother stopping at each landing and simply used my newfound height and athleticism to rapidly ascend the side of the apartment complex. When I heard another explosion I took another look around and once again saw the devastation left by the bombs.
Most of them left behind flaming ruins, but there were several that had left…odd traces. There were areas covered in ice. Others were physically warped into impossible shapes. Some looked like they had simply collapsed in on themselves. I felt my heart plummet into my stomach as I surveyed the damage to the city. I stepped a few feet away from the edge and then I got myself a running start and leapt across to the next rooftop. I soared across the narrow alley and, when I landed, I stumbled into a roll. I got up and continued running.
The next building was too tall to jump to quite reach the roof, but there was another fire escape I could latch onto. As I reached the ledge I took another mighty leap and soared across another alley. I impacted the fire escape with a loud clang, but I quickly got a hold of it and climbed the short distance to the roof. Then I encountered yet another problem and came to a stop. The ledge led straight to a street. I didn't want to have to climb back up from the ground floor, but I doubted I could make that jump even with my enhanced body. I needed a way to make it shorter.
When a street lamp caught my eye I had an idea. I continued my sprint and leapt and landed on top of the lamp. It swayed a bit from my weight, but it held. As it tilted forward I leapt again and latched onto the lamp across the street. I scrambled to the top of that lamp and leapt to the next building. Now I had an entire city block where I could just building jump.
Technically this new method of travel was slower than if I had just been running along the ground, but it did keep me out of the sight of the apparent swarm of ABB members in the city right now, which made it a better (and safer) route over all.
Things were (relatively) uneventful after that, though the explosions hadn't become any less frequent. As I passed through Empire Eighty-Eight I also began hearing gunshots. The ABB were engaged in a massive series of firefights with the Empire. Had Lung just grown tired of the status-quo and decided to simply take over?
I decided to ignore the gang activity for now. I was getting close to home and I was growing impatient as my fear and anxiousness grew. I knew I wouldn't be in Empire territory for long since I was just cutting through the edge of it. After a few minutes I was leaving the gunfights behind and continued on. At this rate I couldn't be more than ten minutes from home. Rooftop after rooftop and block after block I ran, jumped, and climbed. Before long I finally found the street my house was on.
I leapt onto the next lamppost and slid down. When I set foot on the ground I began sprinting north toward home. Barely two minutes later, due to apparently a greatly enhanced run speed, I was home. The lights were off. There was no evidence of any activity, but there were no cars in the driveway, something I found worrying.
When I tried the door I found it was locked. I wasn't really surprised, but I still let out an almost reptilian hiss in annoyance. I began feeling around underneath the stone lining the walkway leading up to the door and I quickly found the spare key. I unlocked the front door and immediately turned on the light. "MOM!? DAD!?" I called out in my now raspy, hissing voice. "Where are you!?"
Receiving no reply I began a systematic search of the first floor, calling to my parents the entire time. I checked the dining room, only to find all of the lights were off. Not here. I could tell that the kitchen light was off as well. They weren't on the first floor.
I ran up the stairs and immediately ran to my parents' bedroom and turned on the light. There was no one there. There was no sign that either of them had been there since they got up. Before I left I took a moment to grab one of Mom's dresses from her closet. I knew that my clothes wouldn't fit me at this point, so I didn't bother checking. I just wanted to have something covering me. What I immediately found strange was that I only found Mom's clothes in their closet. I hastily threw on the first dress I laid my hand on. Despite my mother being rather tall for a woman, her dress was short on me, with the hem stopping just below my knees. In panic (and just to be sure), I checked the rest of the upstairs. Every room was empty, though when I got to my room, things became stranger.
Most of my stuff was gone. The bed frame was still there and a few blankets, but all of my posters of the Protectorate and my stuffed animals – few though they were – were also missing. There was a new, smaller desk in the same corner that mine used to occupy. I filed that away in the back of my mind, though. I had to. I already had too much going on in my mind, I didn't need to add another. Whatever it meant, it was obvious that my parents weren't on the second floor. That only left the basement.
I rushed back downstairs and into the basement. I turned the light on and began searching. Our basement wasn't especially large. Really, it was more of a storage space than anything else, which meant that it didn't take long for me to see that there was no sign of my parents. But, what I did see just made this whole situation stranger.
In one corner was a pile of boxes. However, a few of them were open and I could see Dad's stuff sticking out of it. I walked over and began going through the boxes. Each and every one of them was full of Dad's things. And they weren't just minor knick-knacks that he may have cleared off a shelf to make more room. Mostly, they were full of his clothes, though there didn't seem to be anything wrong with any of them.
What was most concerning, though, was a poster of Scion's Witnesses, Dad's favorite band. More importantly, it had been signed by the band. Mom had gotten it for him for his birthday last year. It was only a few months before my last memory of waiting for Emma in the park. The very first thing he had done was to have it framed and he hung it up in the front room. In my panic I had missed it earlier, but it was staring me in the face right now. As I went through the other boxes, though, I began to find some of my missing stuff, such as my clothes and the few stuffed animals I had.
I took a deep breath and tried to think rationally. My parents had taught me that panicking didn't solve anything. Acting out of panic would, if anything, just make things worse every time. I was missing a lot of information. My parents should be able to fill in a lot of it; I just had to get into contact with them. As I thought about things I began to imagine that they could both just be working late, not an unheard of prospect.
Having seen all of Dad's stuff in the basement I felt more panic over his whereabouts, so I decided I would try calling the Union building first. I faintly heard a door close upstairs and I started heading upstairs to check it out. As I began running up the stairs I heard several loud thumps moving toward the basement stairs. I hadn't been subtle or stealthy about my ascent so I wasn't surprised that the intruder was already watching the stairs by the time I came into view. What did surprise me though was what I saw.
As I got near the top of the stairs I saw a teenage girl jump into view. She was wearing a black helmet with a blue visor. She had auburn hair flowing out from underneath. Her upper arms and chest were protected by blue armor plates with black fabric beneath it. She similarly had blue armor plates covering a black fabric over her legs. To finish the outfit, she had black boots as well as a blue utility belt. She certainly dressed like a cape and, if she was in her teens, then there was a good chance that she was a Ward. I really didn't want to tangle with a parahuman, so I stopped just before I reached the top.
"What are you doing in my house?" I asked in that strange hissing voice I now had. Even if she was a Ward, what was she doing here? I hadn't made any kind of call to 911 and there shouldn't have been anyone else in the house to do so.
"I should be the one asking you what you're doing here," the unknown girl replied. There was something in her voice that seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite figure out what.
"I live here. But you still haven't answered me. What are you doing in my home!?" I demanded. My fear and panic were turning into anger and it was creeping into my voice. My city was being attacked, I just wanted to find my parents, and now a Ward was questioning me about being in own home. This was BS!
The cape must have taken that for a threat because she took a step back and put a hand to her helmet near where her ear would be. "Console I think I'm going to need backup. I have an unknown Case 53 at 577 East Baker Street. She appears agitated and possibly confused."
"I'm NOT confused!" I insisted. My tail lashed against the stairs almost by itself as though it was adding more emphasis to my statement. "My name is Taylor Hebert and this is where I live!"
The Ward's posture stiffened. "If you're who you claim to be," she said with an edge in her voice, "Then if you just wait some people will be here to escort you to the PRT Headquarters where we can verify-"
"No!" I shouted. My tail whipped against the basement drywall and caved in a long chunk of the wall. "I just got out of a tank and then explosions were going off everywhere and I just want to see my mom and dad!" I yelled with a sob in my voice. "And you still haven't told me why you're here!"
The Ward remained silent for a moment. I couldn't tell what she might be thinking since her entire face was covered by a reflective visor. Finally she spoke. "I'm making sure that this area is evacuated. As you can tell, it's not safe-"
She was interrupted when someone else ran through the open door. The Ward turned to see who it was. "Oh fuck," she swore.
"Mom!" I shouted with joy and relief, though my voice was tainted by an undertone of an ear-piercing shriek. I moved to push past the Ward in my house when she jumped and used the molding of the door as leverage to pin me against the wall. When my mother saw me move toward her I could hear her gasp in fear.
"Annette, go get Arianna!" she shouted at my mother. I saw Mom run up the stairs to the second floor.
I shoved the Ward aside and ran to the first floor. As I tried to make my way to the second-floor stairs, the Ward shoved me toward the door. She was out of my line of sight, so I was unprepared and went tumbling to the ground.
As I picked myself up from the ground the Ward pointed at me and spoke. "Stay put! You're going to wait there, quietly, until help arrives."
Once again, there was that familiar something in her voice again. I just quietly hissed at her and tried to go around her again. She jumped backward a few times, with each jump being more energetic, and then she jumped off of the stair railing and launched herself at me like a missile. Once again I was knocked toward the door.
I picked myself up once more. There was no way this person, seemingly a Ward, was here officially. She knew my mother and apparently someone else in this house. "What are you doing here? And don't tell me it has anything to do with your job, this is personal."
"I told you, I'm here to make sure that the people in this house remain safe," she replied. She was constantly bouncing from one foot to the other, never stopping her motion.
"How do you know my mom!?" I demanded as I took a step closer.
I saw her cock her hips and put her hand on her left hip and finally I realized who this was. "About time you showed up, Clockblocker." I had just managed to open my mouth when everything went black.
