Author notes:

Sooo this is what happened to the Rewrite of 'Being Scaly' or rather what I wrote after the original rewrite was lost when my last computer broke from a Window 10 update... it may still be on the PC but alas I cant do anything when my PC wont pass the loading screen despite my protest and various cursing.

I started writing this before moving onto a personal writing project, it was a day or few effort because I think I was sowing crops at the time leaving me little room to sit down and write. I'm a farmer just for the record, use to be a child care educator till work suddenly stopped giving me shifts to work so bla. *shrugs*

Sorry to those people who really wanted to see this story pull through, I'm horrible at writing long series based stories but I do try to make an effort if my mind is really fixed on the goal. The Indominus effect proves I can write a heck load of material, just ye either issues come up... oddly I go through a lot of computers :( so many stories lost..

1st January 2011
10:23PM

When Gregory Jones went into his store today, he was expecting a nice peaceful evening running late into the night. His shift would be filled with the occasional customer rummaging across the aisle, there would be the small rush in the afternoon as people returning from their respected jobs to tend groceries for dinner that night. All in all Gregory's day was winding down to be a peaceful Sunday afternoon, thankfully devoid of any major complications outside of a few dodgy customer's snooping around products.

It was just before closing time that Gregory was met with an unexpected surprise, a surprise that took the terrifying. Predatory form of a giant dinosaur like creature strolling through the front door of his store and directly towards the stacked shelves of boxed and canned produce.

To be more accurate, it was likely more polite to call the creature a Teenage, dinosaur girl? He wasn't quite sure what it was pacing up and down his wares with the sinister clatter of clawed feet on the cool tiled floor.

The creature was horrifically humanoid in nature, but carried with it distinct characteristics of the Velociraptor's in that Jurassic Park movie from the 1990's. The creature bore large 3 clawed feet, a long whip like tail that kept knocking stuff off the shelves and a murderous reptilian set of jaws bristling with short pointed fangs.

The only thing stopping Gregory from screaming in terror was the fact that the dinosaur… girl. Was wearing a blue hoodie with a hole in the back and a funny awkwardly fitted black skirt that covered the creature's lower remedies.

The hole in the hoodie was confusing, as Gregory swore he could see 3 bone like plates arranged like the ventilation grill of an air conditioner, covering some kind of glowing cavity inside the dinosaurs back. What the purpose of the vent was Gregory had no bloody clue but he swore he could see heat ripple from the damn thing and occasionally he caught a whiff of a burning stench.

The dinosaur girl continued to sweep across the shelves, occasionally pausing to exam something of interest before moving to a different region of the store.
Gregory couldn't help but notice the products nestled between the dinosaurs chest, and wonder just what the hell the world was coming too.

If he had to guess what was happening, than he would have to assume the dinosaur was a new Parahuman making an appearance within the city. With Brockton Bay being home to the highest quantity of Parahumans or 'Capes' as the media called them, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if someone else developed shape shifting abilities sooner or later.

They already had some crazy fire breathing Asia guy who turned into a fucken dragon when he was angry. Then there was the guy with the neo-Nazi bastard who could turn into a spiky monstrous form that vaguely resembles a wolf or something, why not add a dinosaur to the mixture?

Sighing to himself, Gregory massaged his temple in a vain effort to relax himself and focus on the matter at hand. Once upon a time the world was just a normal place, nowadays the world was filled with super powered freaks and fucken demonic beast that destroyed cities just on a whim. Why couldn't life just be simple?

"Ummm excuse me?" hissed a whispering voice that made Gregory cry out in fright and nearly fall flat on his ass.

Composing himself hastily, the young store hand turned his gaze firmly upon the 7 foot tall dinosaur towering above him on the other side of the counter, its arms laden with a mixture of food products.

"Errr I give these to you… right?" asked the dinosaur hesitantly, its voice barely a whisper as it placed the store items beside the cash register.

"Then I give you this?" the dinosaur rummaged about inside the pocket of her hoodie, pulling out a few green bills and placing them on the table.

Gregory blinked in bewilderment, eyes dancing between the dinosaur and the groceries in front of him with hesitation.
Was this Cape deliberately messing with him or something, maybe it was a young kid who never been shopping before… Yes that made sense it was a kid.

Just a huge, murderous looking, black scaled, half a ton dinosaur kid… buying groceries.

Gregory made a mental note to ask for a pay raise the next morning.

"Yes you're doing it right, just give me a moment and I'll scan these" muttered Gregory hastily, his hands darting forward to grab a carton of eggs and scan the bar code.

The dinosaur watched Gregory go about his work, head tilted in a curious manner while its tail gently twitched back and forth with anticipation.
A gentle sound of rushing air could be heard in the stillness of the store, accompanied by an overwhelming heat radiating from the dinosaur like the flames of a fire.

Gregory swore he saw tendrils of smoke stream from the dinosaur's jaws, like the fumes of a putrid cigarette.

'Great a fire breathing dinosaur? Why me?' thought the store hand to himself as he shuffled the last of the dinosaurs groceries into a plastic bag, before handing the items over to dinosaur claws.

"That's $37 and 40 Cents ma'am" informed Gregory as he glanced at the cash register briefly then back at the dinosaur.

"Err how much is that?" asked the dinosaur as she poked about the small pile of money on the counter.

From a swift glance, Gregory could tell raptor girl didn't have enough money to pay for all of this.

Which brought up the problem, of how he was going to tell her that?

"Your new to this cape business I take it, haven't seen you around" remarked Gregory as he poked cautiously at the dinosaur money, counting the bills.

"Cape? Umm what?" hissed the dinosaur in confusion.

"You know like Glory girl, Alexandria and all those other super heroes" remarked Gregory not noticing the reptile's bewilderment.

"You came up with a name yet?" continued Gregory before the dinosaur could speak, glancing up to see said dinosaur had taken a few steps back looking a little overwhelmed.

Gregory mentally bitch slapped himself for running his mouth, this was likely just a kid who was too young for all that dangerous super hero businesses.

"M…My name is Taylor…I think?" whispered the now named Parahuman in the room, but the simple implications of those words made Gregory freeze in fright.

What did she mean but that, you don't just forget your own name like that and it sure wasn't some Cape name. There was nothing heroic of terrifying about it just a simple common name, meaning….. Did this kid have amnesia or something, or was it something far worse?

A clatter of boots and the click of firearms being loaded shattered the silence, causing both Taylor and Gregory to swivel about to face the entrance of the store where a trio of ragged looking men stood with guns in hand.

The putrid stench sweeping from their forms instantly identified the trio as Merchants, a gang of low life thieves and drug addicts who competed with rival organisations across the city and constantly caused trouble for the common folk such as Gregory.

Known for their smell, foul language and incredible ability to do stupid shit with their chemically induced hallucinations, Merchants were possible the worst and poorly organised group of low lives in the history of this city, sadly they were possibly the most heavily armed gang in the city as well…

Spewing a string of vile language that would make a grown man cringe, the trio of merchant's shuffled forwards weapons drawn.

"Cunt fuckers don't move or well blast ya!" bellowed the lead figure, a bolding man with dirty skin and missing front teeth armed with some kind of military looking shotgun.

Gregory flinched as the croaky cry filled his store, his hands flying into the air to indicate he was unarmed and willing to cooperate. While Taylor just blinked with a deadpan look in her eyes as she regarded the three Merchants without an ounce of fear.

"Wha ze fuc is that!" suddenly screamed one of the Merchants as they noticed the dinosaur in the room, swivelling his pistol about to aim at the Taylor's chest.

"Bloody big lizard?" remarked the third member of the Merchants, his face hidden behind a scarf while he held an assault rifle in hand.

Taylor just blinked at them, glancing between the Merchants than back at Gregory.

"errr Hi?" hissed Taylor, her voice not quite holding its friendly tone she was using beforehand.

A Merchant jumped away, his fire arm discharging as he tripped over a stack of canned dog food beside the door.

His companions, delusional and not quite seeing the world clearly though their drugged up nervous system, let loose with a barrage of gunfire in all directions. Riddling the store with bullet holes destroying hundreds of dollars' worth of products in the process and causing poor Gregory to dive under the counter for protection.

Taylor didn't move as bullets pinged against her hide, the hot copper plated projectiles shattering against her black scales like they were made of glass.
She didn't move as her clothing was riddled with holes, nor did she even flinch when a bullet shattered against her snout, cracking scales in the process and causing a little blood to weep between the scales.

Waiting until, the gang members were out of bullets. Taylor let her amber eyes narrow dangerously and her clawed fingers to flex with anticipation.
Then without warning, Taylor pounced forward faster than a speeding car to crash into the Merchant leader, knocking the man to the floor and sinking her fangs into his soft delicate throat.

The other men screamed in terror as the dinosaur all but decapitated their leader with a single bite, before pouncing upon the pair of them and ripping them apart with her bare claws coating the floor in a layer of sickening gore and shattered organs.

The screaming didn't last long, and Taylor's jaws tore ferociously into the Merchants flesh gulping down great chunks of bone and tissue without hesitation.

From behind the bullet riddled counter, Gregory peered over the surface eyes wide in silent horror as he watched the raptor girl devour the would be thieves without hesitation, without remorse like a wild untamed beast.

'That could have been me!' thought Gregory morbidly, mind racing with the thought that the mangled piece of meat in the doorway could have been him just minutes ago.

The black raptor paused in her feast, jawline trickling with crimson and her clothing stained with human life fluid.
For a moment those cold murderous eyes snapped upon him, Gregory felt his heart freeze inside his very chest as those amber orbs stared into his soul… Until softening slightly until they started to transform into human like eyes, displaying a mirage of bewilderment as Taylor slowly moved away from the mangled mess at her feet.

Stomping away from the horror like scene coating the doorway, Taylor returned to her spot opposite the cash register like nothing at all happened.

"Ssssoooo how much was it again?" whispered Taylor in a cute, childish voice as she poked at her money with a gore coated claw.

Gregory stared up at the blood dripping predator looming over him, eyes taking in every scale, every gleaming fang that decorated Taylors jaws.

"I um ahhh Just take it and leave" sputtered Gregory as she shoved the grocery bags towards Taylor, catching the raptor girl off guard.

"But I haven't pay for it?" the dinosaur almost pouted sounding distressed, claws drawn to her chest and eyes droopy.

'Seriously kid you just fucken ate three people I don't think I could stop you taking anything you want' is what Gregory wanted to bellow at her.

Instead, Gregory gave a defeated sigh. Shoved Taylors money into the cash register then pointed at the door, muttering all the while "have a good night" as politely as he could muster.

Taylor smiled, or Gregory hoped it was a smile. Why did dinosaurs had to have so many damn teeth?

Hooking her claws around the carry straps of the grocery bags, Taylor gently balanced her supplies between both hands and strolled towards the exit. Pausing briefly to look down at the slaughter she left in the doorway, she blinked a few times staring at a severed arm resting on the can of dog food.

"I think some of your dog food got spilt" she remarked just barely audible from the doorway.

Gregory felt a reply hover on the tip of his tongue, he swallowed smothering his words and just making a grunt of acknowledgement towards the raptor girl instead.

Taylor shrugged her shoulders then used her tail to push her hood over her head like she was trying to hide her face before strolling out the door. Her tail snapping up the severed arm as she left.

Gregory waited several long agonizing seconds, before grabbing the nearest phone and dialling 911.

Meanwhile, walking along at brisk pace with a nervous twitch of her tail. Taylor slowly snaked her way through the shadows of the night, her form twisting and darting about at a moment's notice to avoid crowds of people and the enticing scent of fresh blood they carried with them. Blood that sung like music to Taylor's body urging her to leap forth and devour every ounce of blood, bone and flesh she could find.

But something inside the reptilian girl held her back, a small whispering in the back of her mind that screamed and begged with all its might to restrain the murderous craving's wracking Taylor's form.

She knew she just ate, she knew her body had consumed nearly half her own body weight in human flesh yet her gut did not bulge of swell with the intake of matter. Instead she felt a great emptiness inside her belly, a hollow void of nothingness that made the hunger nearly unbearable with each passing step.

The food in her shopping bags was oddly enticing but she needed to save it until she got home, home where… She needed to do something important?

Pausing in her stride, Taylor wracked her memories trying to remember why she was down the street shopping for food so late at night. There was a reason for her venturing out into the city, there was a reason she left the safety of her little home to interact with the very creatures her body insisted were food, food that needed to be devoured with great gusto.

Yet no matter how hard she tried to remember, Taylor couldn't place her claws on the particular memory leaving her at a loss of words. That was until a startled scream split the air as someone noticed Taylor and took off like a bullet into the night, it took every ounce of Taylor's self-restraint not to pursue the fleeing human and hunt them down like a tiger stalking its prey.

She needed to get home, there was something important she needed to do at home.

The vents across Taylor's back flexed outwards briefly, the large protective plates parting to allow a vacuum of air to be inhaled into the raptor girl's body and fuel her muscles with much needed oxygen.

Shuddering slightly at the sudden feeling of relief rushing through her veins, Taylor resumed her casually trot through the under light of the cities street life. Unaware that despite her meagre efforts to remain hidden from view, she was being stalked from the shadows by a different more human predator in a cloak and hockey mask.

Taylor continued her trot, moving away from the small common or condemned stores towards a region north of the city. Towards the old and rotting skeletons of Brockton Bay Dock yard. A place that once upon a time served the function of housing Brockton Bays commercial centre for shipping and storage, back when fleets of fishing boats brought in fresh hauls of marine life and giant cargo ships transported resources all over the world.

Nowadays the region was put to little use, mostly housing the poor and homeless of the city's population who had no homes or shelter for the night.

In Taylor's case, she was lucky to have procured a small abandoned building all to herself. Sadly it was abandoned due to her act of eating all the other residents when she moved in, something she was feeling rather guilty about as she dashed through the shadows in her desire to return home. In fact Taylor was so keen to get home, she didn't notice a figure darting about on the rooftop above.

She was only noticed the stranger's presences once they sent a crossbow bolt whistling through the air, right past Taylor's head and screeching straight into the end of the alleyway. The bolt struck the ground and proceeded to exploded into foaming wall of slowly hardening material, expanding and contracting until a mound of the rock hard substance obscured Taylor's path trapping her in the alleyway.

"Huh?" voiced Taylor in confusion, her claws sparking as she came to a sliding halt just a few feet away from the foam barricade.

A soft clatter of boots striking pavement caused the dinosaur girl to turn her head, a single amber eye glancing over her shoulder to examine the new figure standing in the dark eerie alleyway.

The figure was small, barely taller standing taller than Taylor's lower chest. They were garbed in a dark camouflaged cape that concealed their body from sight, a sinister blackened hockey mask decorated the figures face. Obscuring there identify from the world and leaving a pair of angry eyes glaring through the eye slots.

There was a smell about the figure that instantly put Taylor on edge. A faint odour that made the spike like quills lining Taylor's head to bristle in alarm, spiking outwards in a menacing like manner to protect her head and neck from any potential harm. The smell also made Taylor's instincts do a backflip inside her skull, replaced were the urges to hunt and devour flesh, now taking place of those old urges was sense of hesitation and caution.

"Hello?" uttered the dinosaur girl as she spun about to face the masked figure, her muscles tense and ready to spring into action at a moment notice.

The masked figure didn't move, just continued to glare at Taylor was a spiteful gaze that just screamed hate and loathing. Taylor wasn't sure how to respond, usually she just ate people if they made her feel threatened or uncomfortable. It was a habit she tried avoid as of late, she couldn't remember why she was avoiding eating her problems but it was something she was trying.

"ummmm" hummed Taylor with a slight coo leaving her lips, her expression faltering into a look of confusion as the figure continued to just stare at her in a menacing manner.

Taylor awkwardly placed her groceries against the nearby wall, freeing her hands and placing her precious food items out of harm's way in case violence broke out in the near future. It was when Taylor wasn't paying her full attention to the figure that they spoke, their voice gruff but feminie in nature making the dinosaur girl snap her head around in surprise.

Surprise for she knew that voice.

"Where is Emma" were the words the figure spoke.

"Sophia?" hissed Taylor as the name sprung to her mind, a name that came with it a sensation of dread and foreboding.

"Where is SHE!" shouted Sophia in anger, her arms drawing a pair of crossbows from beneath her cloak.

Taylor barely had the chance to throw an arm over her face to shield her eyes before a pair of crossbow bolts slapped against her forearm, the shafts stabbing shallowing into her metallic like scales and locking the projectiles in place. Then the crossbow bolts suddenly arced with electricity, sending painful bolts of energy coursing through her muscles. That was until the electricity ran down her metallic scales and into the ground, where it dissipated harmlessly into the concrete leaving Taylor with a numb appendage in its wake.

Shaking her arm to try gain some feeling in her limb, Taylor narrowed her eyes as she stared down the alley way at her attacker.

Sophia was gone, in her place was a mist of shadows racing down the alleyway straight towards her. Taylor took a step back, the vents across her back flaring open to inhale oxygen and fuelling her muscles with energy.

Taylor could feel the heat of her core increase, felt tongues of burning plasma tickle the back of her throat just begging to be released. Snapping her jaws wide, Taylor unleashed a torrent of blue flames laced with plasma towards Sophia in a great wall that consumed the entire alleyway. Night briefly became day as the blinding flash of fire tore through the air engulfing everything in its path and all but vaporising it from existence.

Everything except a blur of shadows that darted right through the wall of death to stab something inside Taylor's chest.

At first Taylor only felt an uncomfortable tickling sensation in her chest, then suddenly the knife became physical once more. Flesh and bone tore itself apart as the metallic blade forced organic matter aside, leaving the knife buried up to its hilt inside Taylor torso and sending pain coursing through her body.

Taylor felt her core increase in power, felt her scales start to tingle as fire all but danced across her hide incinerating her clothing in the process. The knife inside her chest began to glow brightly, until slowly it lost form and dribbled out of her body to splat harmlessly against the ground in a pool of molten metal.

Hissing angrily, Taylor turned her eyes to the Sophia's shadow form as it darted upwards along a fire escape above her.

A pair of plates on the back of Taylor's neck snapped open, sparks cracked between her fangs as oxygen was drawn into the vents on Taylor's back like a great vacuum consuming air. A sphere formed in Taylor's maw, glittering particles seemed to slowly draw into the sphere until suddenly Taylor released her attack in a blinding beam of light.

Charged particle energy lashed outwards like a cannon shell, sheering through the metallic structure of the fire escape like a hot knife through butter. Metal and brick alike were vaporised from existence as the beam carved through the building, slowly zeroing in on Sophia as she made a wild dash for the rooftops and out of Taylor's line of fire.

Taylor didn't relent, not until her particle beam had all but bisected the building before her and the fire escape was eradicated from existence. Once she was satisfied Sophia was good as gone, she let the beam dissipate into the air. The plates on her neck and back slowly lowered themselves to their original positions.

The flames licking her scales slowly died away, the heat from her core dimmed to a moderate level until the concrete beneath Taylor's feet no longer cracked and groan in protest.

Once Taylor was positive she wouldn't cause anything else to spontaneously ignite, she gingerly retrieved her shopping from its safe place away from the minor skirmish and proceeded to use the opening she carved through the building to escape the alleyway.

The encounter had left Taylor feeling on edge, reminding her that she wasn't the only predator who walked the night of this city.

Taking the time to carve a weaving path through the city to hopefully distract or lose any other pursuers. Taylor eventually strolled down a street of rotting and outdated buildings marked with an assortment of graffiti. It was almost like the artists had tried to hide the rotting wood and cracked bricks beneath a layer of slander, street artwork and racist slurs. It almost worked to a degree in taking ones eye away from the fact that each building looked like it would collapse at any moment, or away from the fact that many smelly and dishevelled looking humans stalked the street.

A few were even clustered around burning barrels for warmth and huddled together to offer dull conversation in the miserable darkness of the night.

Barely anybody batted an eye as Taylor walked past, nobody dared make eye contact with the tall reptilian teenager as she walked along at a brisk pace towards her home in the distance. Her home wasn't the nicest of buildings, it was a funny brick building that possible use to be an apartment building once upon a time.

Now the structure was falling apart with part of the roof missing on the top floor and nearly all the windows covered in wooden sheets to repel the weather. Garbage was piled high around the base of the building with a little pathway left open to allow people accesses to the building… that was until Taylor came along and claimed the place as her own just a few weeks ago, or was it months ago?

Taylor paused as she went to start climbing the stairs, her mind racing for a brief second as she gathered her bearings and once more discovered a gap in her memory that left her bewildered beyond belief.

Shaking her head, Taylor walked up the stairs to the third floor of the 6 story building and proceeded down the hallway towards the room she'd acquired as her new lair. It was the only room with a door number on it, the number 13. There was marks around the number that indicated there should be more numbers on the door but Taylor dismissed it, the task of remembering what a number was had taken her half a day to accomplish in the first place. A few random numbers could remain a mystery to her a little longer.

Before opening the door to her room, Taylor cast a sidelong glance down the hallway at the various blood stains and pieces of human body parts decorating interior. Her keen inhuman like eyes allowing her to see into the pitch blackness, taking in every bone and maggoty fly buzzing around the place as they feasted upon her leftover meals.

"I need to clean this place up… maybe tomorrow?" she whispered softly to herself, before pushing the door to her room open and stepping inside.

Where she almost instantly froze in place.

Taylor blinked twice, then slowly walked forward silently closing the door and placing her groceries on a nearby table.

With a graceful silence, Taylor slipped across the room on all four limbs. Her nose sniffing the air while her tail lashed about anxiously as she drew closer to a bundle of pillows and blankets resting on the floor.

Or rather resting on a floor covered in half a dozen mattresses stolen from the other rooms including their bed sheets and other accessories. Taylor instantly recognized the assembling of bedding supplies as her nest, the place where she slept the last few nights in mock comfort.

What really confused her was the immobile form lying in the centre of Taylor's nest, to be specific. The form of a young pale skinned 16 year old girl with dark blond hair and a cluster of freckles decorating her nose. She also smelt like blood and sweat, which drew Taylor's interest as her instincts pushed her towards the enticing scent.

Pulling the bed sheets covering the girl away, Taylor was met with the unexpected surprise of bandages being wrapped around the girl's chest. Bandages stained with the scent of blood.

To be Continued …

Part 2

3rd January 2011

7:35AM

Handling the book between her claws with great care, Taylor carefully pushed the large dirt stained cover of an adventure novel onto the shelf of an old and decaying book case resting against the wall of the room.

With a few delicate prods of her clawed fingers, Taylor managed to position the book perfectly upon the shelf. Letting it stack in line with the various other additions of the adventure series in order of first to last, it was a simple task in itself and one that Taylor had managed to navigate over the past few hours.

Beaming proudly at her work, Taylor turned to the other books stack on a nearby table and picked up a series of tomes with faded writing barely visible upon their surface.

Slowly, the large reptilian teenager moved herself towards a series of awkwardly positioned book shelves in the centre of the room, the shelves themselves being devoid of any literature in nature leaven them barrel and hideous to the naked eye.

For Taylor the sight was an eye sore, one she sought to correct at once as she cheerfully began slipping various editions of old text amongst the shelves in a specific order. Soon in no time at all, one of the book shelves was laden with dirty covers. Adding a mixture of life into the rather dull and dusty room, where the only source of light was the cracks in an bordered up window frame.

The Library was a rather poor excuse of a library, with a network of old shelving and cabinets lining the room in isle. The shelves held rather poor excuses of books. Literary anything Taylor could find was added to the shelves no matter the title of condition of the book, to her every page of written literature was a possible clue to her past. Every word a possible trigger to release unreachable memories, memories of her past she couldn't reach on her own no matter how hard she clawed at her own mind .

Taylor had discovered the use of books when she discovered a comic book in one of the apartment rooms, the comic was old and torn but the images depicted a super hero dressed in black armour with a fluttering cape behind them.

Alexandria, one of the most famous super heroes in the country and childhood idol of Taylor's past. She remembered snippets of talking to her mother about how cool the super hero was and how she wanted to be just like her when she grew up, the memories were bitter sweet, making the poor reptilian teenager burst into tears when she looked at herself in a mirror the very next day.

Making her equivalent of a sigh, Taylor began stacking some comic books on one of the book shelves. Her hands moving with a fine grace to prevent her enhance strength from shredding the delicate paper apart like a hot knife through butter.

(Snippets of stuff I wrote)

Inside a small timid grocery store on the outskirts of the Northern Dock district, a swarm of activity could be seen in the early hours of the morning as a cluster of heavily armed individuals went to work securing the area.

Men in sturdy body armour with full face, polarise visors stalked about with firearms in hand. Others brandishing large flame thrower like weaponry which were designed to unleash a stream of containment foam to incapacitate dangerous figures.

The armed men looked between a police force and military organization in nature, with an excessive amount of saluting between individuals and sharp barks of orders from officers as they organized a perimeter around the facility to allow specialist to work unhindered within the building. Despite this being the early hours of the morning, people were already starting to be drawn to the grocery store like moths to a flame.

Large armoured vehicles with the letter's PRT lingered about the area, indicating these armed and dangerous looking individuals were Brockton Bays 'Parahuman Response Team.' An organisation devoted to handling matter's associated with super powered human beings and the possible material they produced as a by-product of their own super powered abilities.

Today they were looking into a matter of the bloody kind, specifically three mutilated corpses in the entrance way of said grocery store where forensic specialist were at work collecting evidence and material for investigation.

(Chapter starts with Armsmaster investigating Taylor's killings, talks to Dragon and Miss Militia about past failing and his belief that this is happening because he screwed up. The end of the chapter covers Dinah introducing Charlotte to her family, Charlotte kind of accidently destroys the doorway to the house with her brute strength and is rather meek)

"Books!" exclaimed Taylor in delight, her clawed fingers wrapping around the outstretched book in Lisa hands like a child reaching for candy.

One moment Lisa was holding out a book, the next moment said book was being cuddled against Taylor's chest like a teddy bear. The sight was rather cute if not downright terrifying to a particular degree, even with her face roughly human like in this form,Taylor still looked monstrous in her overall appearance.

Still Lisa felt a warmth blossom in her chest as she watched an excited Taylor hop about in joy at receiving a new book to add to her small collection. It was odd for a fire breathing cape to want to own a library, it presented many challenges in self-control that Taylor would need to master well in advance as her collection continued to grow with each tome she added to her shelves. Maybe one day she'd gather enough books to satisfy her obsession, until then Lisa would help her scaly friend find the books she desired if it meant keeping her happy.

"Thank you Lisa!" cried Taylor suddenly lunging forward to envelope the smaller woman in a bone crushing hug.

Lisa world instantly rose a few degrees in temperature, the heat practically radiating from Taylor's body like a furnace through her metallic scales.

"Your… welcome" Lisa manage to gasp.

Taylor released her friend from the embrace, her eyes dancing on the old weather worn book in her hands before delicately placing the item inside her large carry back slung over her shoulder.

"I'm glad you like it, come on you said we needed to buy more groceries remember?" announced Lisa as she walked down the sidewalk, eyes dancing about the darkness in search of any onlooker's that may cause trouble.

Taylor seemed happy, whistling loudly to herself as she walked sounding almost like a canary. A canary that never ran out of breath, Lisa was a little envious of her companions strange respiratory system, she didn't need to breath just use her vacuum like lungs to funnel air through her body like a trickling stream.

Trying not to look at the gaping hole in the back of Taylor's shirt, Lisa focused instead on the matter currently facing her and her friend.

Taylor had killed a lot of people, a lot of innocent people who didn't deserve to die.
This placed the reptilian cape in the predicament that she would be hunted by the Protectorate and PRT like a wild animal until their either kill or capture her, and if her powers had analysed Taylor correctly then the reptilian cape would have no misgivings of slaughtering anyone who confronts her without hesitation.

The only good grace Lisa could see was Taylor wasn't exactly lucid when she killed those people, she was still confused and driven by her instincts to kill those people it wasn't a conscious decision Taylor made at a time… or so Lisa hoped, she would need to discuss this with Taylor on a later date.

"Soo Taylor…" began Lisa cautiously, mindful of the way Taylor perked up slightly as she spoke.

"Yes Lisa?" hissed the dinosaur cape in reply.