So. How does a person with nigh infinite access to knowledge of classics, philosophy and the proper methods of social interaction do at a modern high school? Rather badly. After all, these methods only worked in hierarchies, or with people who were logical and rational. The modern teenager is rarely such a creature, and given my access to vast first-hand accounts of history, teenagers had rarely been. Something something hormones.
Of course, the Temple would countermand that. There were a few ways, all of them complex and not necessarily legal. Of course, the legal ways were the ones she and the Hierophant wanted to use.
Apart from that, she was currently bottom of the school hierarchy, and her theses were often stolen and presented as somebody else's work. Her new powers only helped a little in computers, cutting down her previous time by about 5 minutes, but that was 5 minutes more she could check on the progress of her various projects, reading journals and checking news releases to see if all was in order.
Eventually a morbid curiousity drove her to check the local news for her actions of the previous night. Given that it was her tenth such attack in the last two months, she had expected something. Apparently though, the PRT was keeping things under wraps, and the only mentions she could find were a few scattered forum posts on PHO.
Two voices, one the overly sweet and clear tones of the Queen, the other of the Nobleman exclaimed "That will not stand." Taylor didn't ponder too long. It really wouldn't stand. A bigger strike might be necessary, a larger show. The Hierophant's powers weren't accessible to her in the day but... Ah. The Nobleman. He could even imitate the Queen's style closely enough to be mistaken for a teammate. Excellent.
Now, where could she make a lot of noise and advance her projects? She pulled up a map of the Bay, and began planning. School was hell. And when it ended, and she entered the bank in the guise of a normal customer, some other villains crashed her party just before she could get started, and she found herself in a hostage situation, in the dark. Stars blossomed in her dress.
The Wards were assembled outside the Bank, with Glory Girl on the roof, going over plans of attack when the first of Bitch's dogs came hurtling through the window, stars blazing along its flank. It crashed into the ground before snarling as it got up again. The lack of sound from within was eerie, and it meant that the Wards would be going in worse than blind but since it seemed that a fight had already broken out.
Glory Girl smashed through the window, charging in, forcing the decision. Aegis swore under his breath as he went hurtling in after her to find a scene of chaos. Shadows and darkness were cut away by blazing stars as the Undersiders fought off the Parahuman that he and Shadow Stalker had run into a few nights back.
Her projections were skinning Hellhound's dogs, carving the creatures up with swords that they hadn't had during the last raid. The cape herself floated above the battlefield, standing on one of her star projections while the others streaked about, burning through Grue's darkness and hounding him and his team. Meanwhile, the civilians were utterly terrified of the unfolding chaos.
A shaft of sunlight hit the unnamed cape and her appearance vanished. Aegis was vaguely aware of Shadow Stalker saying something before everything became pain and light. When he came to, the Undersiders were tied up in the center of the bank and the other cape was gone. Still, her visage was practically burned into his mind. Never had he felt such pain... And he really wanted to get even.
Then he looked around, and horror dawned upon his soul.
I was curled up in a foetal position in the middle of one of the abandoned boats in the Boat Graveyard, a monument to dreams more broken than my own.
My bank heist had turned into an unmitigated disaster. Not only had I failed to secure the funds I needed, but I had removed a gang of villains who might otherwise have served as a useful distraction. Nevermind having to use the Hierophant's powers with a bunch of normal people nearby. The burns alone... The memory had had me retching for a few minutes after I had arrived here
And, in a moment of panic, I had used the most dangerous aspect of his powers. I shivered in the cold that had seeped into my bones. His usual sage advice was gone. He was rightly furious, and stonily silent. His displeasure would last, I knew. I could still use his powers myself, but without being able to fully assume the persona it would be nothing more than a shadow.
The Queen was as empty as usual, but echoes of her laughter tickled the edge of my senses, and the Nobleman had taken an almost perverse joy in the event. The fourth was just cold and silent.
My final fuck-up, of course, was a combination of Aegis and Shadow Stalker. Both had seen my face, and Shadow Stalker had even said my name! They would surround my father's house, maybe even arrest him. My identity would be public, and I would be hated. A grudging comment from the Hierophant revealed the resulting damage to the Temple Project.
It was salvageable. Barely, and it would take additional years to do it. But it was salvageable. I shuddered as I slowly began to unwind. Exhaustion covered me. My dreams were filled with erupting red blisters and the smell of frying meat, the screams of children and the ground breaking away beneath me. And all the while, my father watched me like a statue.
