Chapter Four: Divine Justice

~~~~ATotD~~~~

Before Taylor headed off to the library, she went on her usual early morning run. Just as it had every day since her transformation, the run had been pretty much effortless. At some point she was going to have to figure out a way to see just how fast she could actually run, because she had a pretty good idea that it was a lot faster than she was currently going.

After her shower, Taylor decided to work with her staff a bit. Her dad was already off to work, although he was only going to put in a half day, so she had the house to herself until around two. Still, swinging around a six foot plus staff indoors wasn't a good idea even if she was pretty sure she wouldn't actually hit anything. Instead, she decided to head out to the back yard. It was fenced in and none of their neighbors had a view inside as their house was one of the few two story homes on the block.

Heading out, Taylor stepped through the snow and headed toward the back of the yard. It had snowed two days ago and about a foot or so had fallen. No one other than her had been out here since then and the path she took was over virgin snow.

It was interesting how differently she walked over snow versus before. For one thing, she didn't seem to sink in nearly as deeply as she once had, even though she knew she wasn't actually any lighter. She'd checked with the scale. For another, her balance was so good that she almost glided across the surface the snow rather than walking. Even the cold around her was surprisingly refreshing.

Taylor sat under the big tree at the back on ground that was almost clear of snow, allowing her senses to push outward from her. She grimaced at the sounds of sex that were emanating from a couple of houses, but the remainder were fairly boring, mostly filled with the sounds of early morning cartoons playing on televisions and sleep. Near her, Marco was awake and moving around, probably busy with the large handful of nuts in a bowl she'd left him in the tree a couple of days ago.

Pulling back her awareness to just her and what she carried, Taylor tried to discern anything she could about the staff in her hands. The wood, if that was what it actually was, was smooth and almost warm to the touch. It felt really pleasant under her fingertips, and Taylor realized that she couldn't really feel any kind of grain to the material. Even the smoothest wood in the house that had been liberally coated with stain and varnish had a discernible texture to it now, the grain of the wood as obvious to her touch as it was to others' sight.

But Umrahnuha did not. He was far slicker and smoother than glass, yet still felt utterly secure in her grip. It was almost as if he felt tacky. Huh.

The lower section of the staff, which appeared to be some kind of silvery metal, was equally as smooth as the staff's shaft. The metal was as cool to the touch as Taylor remembered, and just as disturbing. She couldn't quite put a finger on exactly what she felt, but that weird sense of duality was still present. It was as if there was another consciousness just beyond her reach, whether another facet of her own or Umrahnuha's, she had no idea.

Taylor released her hold on the metal with a feeling of relief and began to study the staff's other end. The creature that decorated the top of the staff was fantastical, whether a demon or some kind of monster, she had no idea. Examining it as closely as possible, Taylor saw details that had escaped her notice before.

The creature's skin was composed of thousands of tiny scales, ranging in size to no wider than a human hair, to just under a millimeter in width. The detail was fantastic, as was the artistry. Taylor thought that while she might be able to recreate the effect with a steady enough hand, if for no other reason than she could actually see it clearly. She doubted anyone else could without the aid of magnification of some kind.

She studied the beast further. Its face was long and narrow, ending in a snout rather than an ordinary jaw. The snout flattened out over its length, with wide set nostrils near the end at the top. It looked almost crocodilean in a way. The ears were mere holes in the head, set midway back along its head. The eyes...

The eyes were very strange, and not just because of the crystal that made them up. Set wide in the creature's face, they would give a very wide range of vision of it were alive. Most disturbing, there was a sense of awareness emanating from them.

Tentatively poking one of them, Taylor didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed when there was no reaction. Not that she'd expected the thing to suddenly blink, but she wouldn't have been shocked to get another burst of emotion from it, similar to those she'd received that first day.

Instead, there was nothing except, perhaps, a sense of waiting.

Taylor's gaze traveled from the creature to what it held in its mouth. The crystal was just as it had first appeared, seemingly completely transparent, but somehow becoming occluded the closer she got the stone's center. Waving her fingers behind it, she caught her breath because she could see them as though viewing them through oddly thick glass.

Yet nothing else was visible through the crystal. Taylor even tried to look at a branch from the tree through the crystal, but its image simply faded once it passed beyond just the edge of the material.

Shaking her head at the staff, Taylor said in an admonishing tone, "You are a lot of trouble."

"Taylor, is that you?"

She froze, suddenly aware that someone was out in the backyard next door. Taylor had been concentrating so intently on the staff in her hands that she hadn't even heard the back door open. So much for heightened senses, she thought in chagrin. Realizing that she needed to say something, she blurted out, "Yes, Mr Khaled, It's me."

Mr Khaled spoke again, his voice sounding just the slightest bit rheumy to Taylor's sensitive ears, "Can you come around to the gate? I want to ask you something."

"Sure thing."

Getting to her feet, Taylor briefly considered dropping her staff, but decided to test whether or not it was only her dad who couldn't see it. If Mr Khaled commented on it, she'd tell him it was just something she'd made for an SCA group.

She opened the gate that led to the side yard where the driveway was, and immediately saw the source of the earlier voice. Tahib Khaled was a short, skinny man inches shorter than herself. He was probably in his eighties based on the sheer number of wrinkles on his face and the whiteness of his hair. Despite that, he was still surprising spry, although he did occasionally need help doing things around his yard, something that her dad usually took care of. In exchange, he often baked for them, ranging from dinner rolls to strange, ethnic breads and desserts that Taylor had never seen in the grocery store.

He was originally from somewhere in the Middle East, although he seldom talked about his home, merely saying it had been lost a long time ago. He'd lived here in the United States long enough that he only had the merest hint of an accent, although Taylor had never been able to figure out what exactly it reminded her of.

Showing no evidence that he saw her staff, he greeted her, "Good morning, Taylor. You are looking lovely today. I hope that this day finds you well."

Taylor grinned, suddenly happy to the see the older man. Mr Khaled was a good neighbor and she'd always liked him growing up. "I'm good, Mr Khaled. How are you?"

For a moment, his face wore a comedic frown, which almost immediately dissolved into a sunny smile. "I'm as good as an old man can be. I was wondering if I might ask a favor of your father."

She nodded. "Sure. What can we do for you?"

"Well... I could use the front sidewalk shoveled if young Daniel wouldn't mind. I'd do it, but it gets a little harder every year."

Taylor offered, "I can do that for you."

Mr Khaled looked surprised, then immediately demurred, "I cannot ask a young lady to do such a thing. Perhaps your father..."

"I can do it, Mr Khaled. Even if I am a girl."

Giving her a speculative glance, he smiled and said, "Well then, I suppose that I might just have to make your favorite if you were to do such a thing for me."

Taylor's mouth watered as she asked, "Really? Baklava?"

"Of course. It is easy to make if you know how. And I have all of the ingredients. I'll bring some over tonight."

"Deal."

Taylor stuck out her hand and shook Mr Khaled's. Then she ran back into her back yard and then into the house, leaning Umrahnuha against the wall and grabbing a snow shovel from the mud room. A moment later, she was busy shoveling snow.

It was a lot easier than it had been when she was younger. Taylor used to help her dad shovel their walk, although that had more meant her tossing the occasional shovelful of snow, while mostly playing in it. That had been yet another thing that had changed with her mother's death.

It didn't take more than an half an hour to shovel Mr Khaled's front walk. Taylor was careful not to shovel too fast or show too much strength. Instead she worked steadily until she was done. Afterward, she headed toward her neighbor's back door and shoveled the area there, as well as making a path both to the garage where his car was parked and over to their own back door.

Briefly, she considered doing the same thing for her own house, but decided to wait and see if her dad wanted to do it together. It would be yet another way to reconnect with him, something that she wouldn't mind a bit.

Taylor briefly considered taking another shower, but deciding that since she really hadn't broken a sweat, there was no point. She did head indoors to change clothes before heading off to the library as what she was wearing was a little damp.

~~~~ATotD~~~~

The library turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable. Taylor decided to sit down at one of the computers they provided and do some costume and cape research before looking for books. She picked one whose screen was facing a wall so that no one could see the things she was looking at. It was unlikely that anyone would really notice or even care that she was looking at cape stuff, but better to be safe than sorry.

There was a bit of awkwardness as Taylor found she was reading almost as fast as she could scroll down the page using the mouse. So taking notes was a bit of a pain, even though she quickly found she could write almost as fast as she could read.

Then she shifted the mouse over to her left hand and used the fingers there to scroll while she wrote with her right hand. Taylor found herself literally grinning as she was able to take notes as fast as she was reading, her finger constantly moving the scroll wheel in one smooth motion.

At first, Taylor took notes on almost everything she read, but once she figured out that she was remembering pretty much everything that she read, stopped. From that point on, she started to only write down special comments on various looks for costumes, as well as how it might be achieved with the resources she had at hand.

It didn't take Taylor long to figure out that she wanted nothing to do with a skin tight costume as she stared at an image of Laserdream of New Wave, caught when she was doing some kind of event at the mall. Even if she didn't have skinny arms and legs accompanied by a less than skinny midsection, she didn't think she'd be comfortable going out and engaging in combat with her entire shape outlined by skin tight fabric. No, that was pretty much completely out.

What she did like were the more loose and flowing costumes that some heroes wore, almost robe-like in how they looked. At the same time, she wondered how would you armor such a costume?

Then like a light bulb being turned on in her head, Taylor knew exactly how she could accomplish both. What she needed was a padded undersuit with armored inserts covered by a looser over robe. Maybe a cowl as well, she decided, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. With some kind of simple domino mask that she could attach to her cowl to keep it from sliding down when she was moving fast. That would also keep her hair covered, making it harder to identify her.

Steel-toed boots, weighted gloves, and some kind of belt to hold things would complete her costume, Taylor decided. After all, she was going to mostly be a hand to hand combatant, her lightning bolt simply too powerful to use on all but a handful of opponents.

She would also need a weapon, although she was wondering if maybe she should just use her staff. Umrahnuha seemed like it might work, being just over six feet long, but she knew literally nothing about fighting with a staff. Of course, the same went for any other weapon she might pick up. Maybe she could find a book on staff fighting that would help get her started.

Another advantage of using Umrahnuha was that it was now confirmed that no one other than Taylor herself could see the staff. Mr Khaled had proved that. So she would be using a weapon no one else could see or react to. Pretty sweet.

Of course, she was no closer to figuring out what part it had played in her transformation, but it was far too much of a stretch to just be a coincidence that it appeared just as she changed. Taylor wasn't sure if that was a point in its favor or not.

Taylor logged out of the library computer. It was now time to find some books on various combat techniques she might use. It didn't take long to find a variety of books on the different martial arts disciplines ranging from Jujitsu to Karate to Judo. Taylor made sure that each book she picked up had solid descriptions of the moves contained within as well as good drawings or photos. In the end, she added more books on Aikido and something called Krav Maga.

Then she went looking for a book on staff fighting. She found two different ones that seemed good, but decided on the one with the better drawings of the various techniques.

Taylor almost called it a day, but decided to at least glance through a section of books showing other activities she might find useful. In the end, she picked up a book on something called parkour, which seemed to be about moving through an urban landscape, as well as another couple on weight training and Tai Chi.

She used her backpack to haul her stash home, and headed up to her room to read them. It took surprisingly little time to read all six books, so Taylor went ahead and read them again. Then she went and put them back into her backpack to go find a place that she could try to practice the moves she'd read about.

Taylor already had a place in mind before she set off at a medium jog, her staff held in place across her back using her backpack's straps. About fifteen blocks north of her house was one of those commercial buildings that were meant to hold anywhere from five to ten businesses, depending upon the square footage each took up. What was commonly called a strip mall. Steel framed with stucco outsides, the building had the advantage of its entire glass front having been boarded up with plywood, likely to keep vagrants out. So she wouldn't be seen practicing her skills.

Of course that meant it was possible it would keep her out, but Taylor thought she had a way around it.

Walking to the back of the building, she spotted the ladder leading up to the roof. It didn't start until almost ten feet off the ground, again as a security measure, but she figured she could jump that high. After a quick look and listen around, Taylor jumped up and grabbed the ladder's bottom rung. She quickly pulled herself up and headed up ladder, then eased over the top edge onto the roof. She quietly moved around to the far side and found what she'd been looking for, a rooftop access hatch leading inside.

It was way too inconvenient an entrance to interest a vagrant, but it suited her just fine. Unfortunately, it was locked with a small padlock. Deciding that she could use a test of her strength, Taylor grabbed the padlock in one hand while bracing the other on the hatch. Then she pulled as hard as she could.

The padlock held for a moment, then the hinge it was attached to abruptly gave way. Putting it back in place a moment, Taylor decided that was even better as she could arrange it to appear to still be locked to anyone just glancing at it.

Opening the hatch, Taylor was greeted by the musty odors inside. She already knew she was going to be smuggling a broom and dustpan in here at some point, but until then, she'd have to live with it. Looking down, she immediately noticed the steel frame beneath her, then the twelve foot drop to the floor from there.

She wasn't worried about the drop onto the concrete as that wasn't nearly far enough to injure her, but she wasn't sure that she could jump that high up in order to leave afterward. Sticking her head farther in, Taylor craned it around to look at the wall that was just a couple of foot away from the hatch. There were metal cross braces leading up to the roof, spaced about four feet apart, which was perfect. She should easily be able to climb those then shift onto the steel frame.

Lowering herself, pack, staff, and all through the hatch, Taylor kept half an eye out for spiders and bugs. Fortunately, she didn't spot anything, not too big of a surprise since it was probably in the low thirties outside at that moment and not much warmer inside. She knelt onto the steel frame, taking another look at the cross braces to make sure they really were climbable. They were.

She then lightly jumped off the frame, her feet hitting the concrete floor with less sound than a cat's. Interesting. Taylor had tried to land quietly, but she'd had few expectations other than she didn't make enough noise to wake the dead. Maybe landing so softly was some function of her sense of balance. Regardless, she was down now.

Looking around, Taylor was surprised to find that instead of a series of rooms, the interior of the building was a single long room with nothing dividing it. It was immediately apparent what the situation was.

The strip mall had never been built out past the exterior as no one had ever leased any of the building's spaces for their businesses. Because of this, they'd never spent any money on the interior. So the building was one huge empty space about eighty feet deep and nearly five hundred long. It was the perfect spot for the training Taylor had planned as she would not need to worry about being seen, while having more than enough room to practice nearly any move.

It was now time to try some of the things that she had read about. Taylor leaned Umrahnuha against the wall and set her backpack upon the concrete floor, but didn't open it. She could easily recall the words and diagrams describing the movements from each book and didn't need that knowledge refreshed.

Taylor started at the beginning of the first book about karate. She assumed the stance that the book recommended, then adjusted it slightly so that she was perfectly balanced, something that she seemed to possess a fundamental understanding of. Then she threw herself into a series of falls. After all, falling without injury was a fundamental basic of each of these fields of combat.

The key to falling was to allow the momentum of the fall to be bled off using angular motion, that is, spinning. It was so evident to Taylor now that she wondered how she hadn't already known this before. It also became apparent to her that she could use similar moves to reduce the force of blows struck against her, as their power would be reduced by her moving or spinning away from them.

From there, Taylor shifted to fast runs followed by equally fast falls. Then she climbed up onto the highest cross brace on the inside of the building she could, and threw herself off of it. The result surprised her enough that she did it again. Then once more.

What was such a surprise was that she knew exactly how she was oriented in space and how to land. She could have landed on her feet every single time, but had chosen not to. Instead, she'd hit the ground on her shoulder and side, all the while moving in such as way as to bleed off the energy of the impact. Doing a back flip was just as easy, her orientation again evident. It was the same when Taylor did a series of side flips, similar to the ones she'd done in her basement.

Coming to a halt after the last one, she took stock of what she'd learned. Falling wasn't an issue, her understanding and control of her body's orientation more than human. It was pretty interesting to someone who had never been in the least a sports person that she could probably do real gymnastics now, like the girls on TV.

Taylor decided to move on to striking as she didn't have unlimited time to work on all of this and she wanted to do at least a little bit of everything. Initially she focused upon the simplest strikes designed to hit something several inches past the object of the blow. The increase in the intended distance of the blow allowed all of the force to be transmitted to the intended target. Again, it made sense to her once she'd attempted the motions a few dozen times. It was something she could do, although she couldn't really gauge the force of her blows until she had something to hit. That mean bringing boards down here at some point in the future.

Over the next four hours, Taylor attempted every single movement from the various martial arts books she'd read several times. Some made more sense than others, especially those that seemed designed to redirect the momentum and movement of others. Some made a bit less, such as some of the kicks which left you far too exposed. Those felt more showy than effective, although the force behind some of them was frightening. Plus she was probably fast enough to get away with them against at least a normal person.

In the end, it was a combination of Krav Maga and Aikido that seemed the most attractive to Taylor. She liked the simple, but incredibly effective brutality of the former, while the joint locks and submission holds of the latter also appealed to her. It didn't hurt that most people believed Aikido to be a gentle form of martial arts, which was only true if you didn't take the movements just a little further to their logical conclusion and destroy the joint you had locked in place.

But Aikido could also be used for just submission without unduly injuring the person you were using it on, not something to be taken for granted as she didn't know what circumstances might arise in the future requiring her to do exactly that.

Of course, this didn't prevent her from also incorporating some of the strikes, kicks, and other blows from the remaining disciplines. After all, many of them were just too useful not to add to her repertoire. When she was done, Taylor felt like she had at least a working knowledge of fighting techniques to draw upon. She was also aware that she could benefit quite a bit from having someone actually demonstrate to her some of the moves she'd learned, as a few of them didn't feel quite right. It made her think of the old axiom, you can't learn everything from a book.

Staring off into the distance, Taylor considered everything that she had just practiced, both what had worked and what hadn't. She didn't try to fool herself into thinking that she would be able to effectively use this to defeat a stronger or more skilled opponent. But most of the things she'd internalized would work against an ordinary person, likely even several.

Taylor stretched a bit once she was done with the martial arts, although she didn't really feel particularly stiff. If anything, her flexibility was phenomenal, something she confirmed by dropping into splits, her legs straight out to the side from her body. That definitely wasn't something she would have been able to do before all of this happened.

Easily rising to her feet without the use of her hands, Taylor began to do some of the movements that she'd seen in the book about Tai Chi. The movements, controlled and graceful, appealed to her quite a bit. She could see why it had grown increasingly popular as a way of maintaining fitness. The movements themselves seemed very compatible to her own innate sense of balance.

But enough was enough. It was time to practice some of the staff fighting she'd studied.

Taking Umrahnuha into her hands, Taylor assumed a stance not that dissimilar to her martial arts one. Then she tentatively began practicing the movements she'd read about.

Half an hour later found her moving with far more assurance than what she'd started with. Umrahnuha now whistled through the air with each movement of her wrists and arms, moving so fast that the ends were a blur.

Arm and leg strikes were done just... so. Another move would knock the air from someone. This one would trip them. Another smashed a joint beyond its ability to support someone's weight. It wasn't long before her respect for staff fight grew exponentially as she learned just how devastating it could be even against an armed opponent.

She could definitely do a lot of damage with Umrahnuha. The blows she swung should easily break bones or worse. As it was, she'd likely have to avoid hitting anyone in the head as it might easily kill them.

Taylor's only concern was just how durable Umrahnuha was. While it didn't appear easily scratched, would she break it the first time she used it to block a blow from a baseball bat or a tire iron? Or hit someone more durable than an ordinary human with it? She listened intently, but if Umrahnuha knew the answers to her questions, he wasn't saying.

Briefly wondering if she'd imagined the staff talking to her on that morning nearly three weeks ago when she'd found it, Taylor walked over to the south end of the building. There was one test she could do to see just how tough the staff was. Taking a deep breath, she raised the staff, crystal end down, and slammed it as hard and fast as she could into the concrete below it.

The force of the blow rang through the building as the concrete shattered, chips flying off in all directions. Flipping the staff in her hands over, Taylor studied the demon head and crystal. Both appeared completely unmarred by the collision with the concrete floor. There was also a sense of smug satisfaction from the staff in her hands, the first emotion she'd sensed from it since that day weeks ago.

Her eyes moving from the staff to the floor at her feet, Taylor started. Had she actually hit it hard enough to shatter the concrete in a circle nearly ten feet across? There were even more cracks radiating several feet further than that. Carefully considering the situation, she concluded that the answer was no. It was far more likely that there was some fundamental flaw in the concrete slab that had been poured when the building was being constructed. After all, she simply wasn't that strong.

Still, the lack of damage to Umrahnuha meant she could hit hard enough to take down at least lower level brutes without worrying that her weapon was going to break.

It was time to move on and try the last couple of skills she was interested in. But after looking around, she didn't see any place that she could really practice parkour, as the room was far too level for the movements and strategies employed therein. No, Taylor decided, she would need to find another place to practice that skill. And weightlifting would require apparatus that she simply didn't have. Time to pack up and look a little further afield.

She made her way out of the building, easily making the wall climb and descent afterward, then headed off to find a better location for parkour. She headed in the general direction of Trainyard and soon her surroundings grew a little more varied and suitable for the movements. At the same time, the area wasn't the best, a fact that was brought home to Taylor when her sensitive hearing registered a series of scuffling sounds paralleling her own from less than a block over.

Coming to an intersection, Taylor decided to avoid a confrontation and headed directly away from the sounds, only to hear them begin again behind her. Glancing back, she saw four men, or boys rather, following her, none of whom could be over the age of seventeen. She picked up the pace, but so did her followers. That's when she ducked into an alley.

It didn't appear that she would be able to avoid a confrontation after all, so Taylor decided to just get it over with. She pulled up her hoodie, then tightened the string enough that it hid most of her face.

As she waited, Taylor was surprised at just how calm she felt. In her hands, Umrahnuha seemed to almost hum with anticipation, making her wonder if violence was somehow the key to communicating with it. But she didn't have long to think about it as sounds of running feet coming closer filled her ears.

The first person to turn the corner was a boy about her own age, and perhaps three inches taller. She dealt with him by tripping him with her staff, then kicking him in the side of the head as he fell, pulling the blow somewhat to make sure she didn't seriously hurt him. By the time she'd finished dealing with him, two of the other boys were upon her.

Having had some warning of a scuffle going on, they were at least somewhat more prepared than the first boy. Both of these boys were taller and more husky than the first boy, and maybe a year or two older than Taylor. They stared at the boy on the ground, then at her, and began to spread out to circle her.

The one with the dark hair and pale skin said, "You really shouldn't have done that, bitch."

So they knew she was a girl, Taylor thought. And from their race, and a hand drawn tat visible on the arm of the one moving behind her, members of Empire 88. Or at least wannabe's.

That one, his hair a light brown and his eyes blue, said, "Yeah, we didn't mean you any harm. Just making sure that you were the right sort. Now we're going to have to give you a beat down regardless. Don't worry, though, we're not rapists."

Was that really supposed to reassure her, Taylor wondered? The boys might not be rapists, but they were going to hurt her. She tensed, preparing to move, when the last boy came thundering in.

As the gaze of the dark-haired boy in front of her involuntarily moved sideways, Taylor moved, driving her staff into his chest with vicious force. The boy went backwards with a loud "Whoof!" while she spun to engage her last two opponents.

Her newest opponent didn't waste a second and immediately threw himself forward to grapple with her. Taylor immediately understood why he'd been the last to arrive as the boy had to be at least six four and two hundred and fifty pounds, all of it muscle. He tried to grab her around the neck and seemed puzzled when his hands hit something invisible halfway there, she having blocked him with her staff.

In the meantime, Taylor did a front kick from her reading, striking him directly in the solar plexus. Enormously muscled or not, it wasn't something the boy could just take without being affected and he folded. Then Taylor tapped him almost gently on the side of the head with her staff and he was out.

The last boy stared at her in fear and said, "Fucking cape." So he'd noticed that she knocked out his friends without really touching them.

He pulled something out of his pocket which turned out to be a switchblade knife. A push of the button and he was brandishing a four inch blade at her. Taylor eyed it warily, then moved forward. But at her first step forward, the boy turned around and ran, the knife still clutched in his hand.

Huh. She hadn't expected that to happen. Taylor guessed that he'd decided discretion was the better part of valor. Turning a triumphant eye upon her vanquished foes, she felt her heart sink.

The boy who she'd hit with her staff directly in the chest was pale and cold, his breathing a wheezing sound in the stillness. Wondering if he was about to die, Taylor quickly knelt at his side. She unzipped his jacket, then grabbed his shirt and yanked it open, sending buttons flying.

She needed to heal him. She placed her hand on the boy's chest, feeling the surprising softness of his skin, with its firmer, underlying musculature. Beneath that, though, something felt broken. Focusing on that feeling inside of her head, Taylor willed the boy to be healed. And he was, broken bones and damaged tissues becoming whole instantly.

The boy's eyes shot open and he breathed in so deeply it was almost comical. His color now mostly normal, he scrambled back from her on his heels and elbows until his back hit the wall behind him. Glancing down at the feeling of cold air on his skin, he clutch his shirt together with one trembling hand.

He groaned, "What the fuck did you do to me?"

The boy's voice was full of fear and panic, so Taylor waited a moment to answer. Finally, in a calm voice, she said, "I healed you. I was afraid that you were going to die."

"You healed me?" It wasn't quite a question, but neither was it a statement. It had uncertainty and a fair amount of doubt, but his eyes told a different story. His eyes said that he knew exactly what she'd done and it scared the living shit out of him.

"Yes."

The boy shivered at her one word answer. Then he glanced down at his chest, then back up at her. "What was wrong with me?"

"I hit you too hard."

"Jesus Christ."

Taylor got to her feet and checked the other boys. They both appeared to be all right, if currently unconscious. Pulling her hoodie just a little tighter, she started to leave.

"You're just going to leave? What about Gary and Stu?"

"They'll live."

"Bitch."

Taylor heard the muttered word and turned around one final time. She poured passion and conviction into her voice as she spoke to him. "You followed someone with the intent to hurt them if they didn't meet your standard of racial purity. Whatever fate you receive was justified. Being a Nazi is a bad thing. Hating others because of the color of their skin is a bad thing. You can do better than that. Be a better person."

Then she headed off at a fast run, turning it into a sprint once she turned the corner. Taylor thought she was hitting highway speeds before she slowed down once she started hearing cars again. Then she headed home, deciding to work on her remaining skills another day.

~~~~ATotD~~~~

Jeremy sat there in the filth of the alley, his brain almost afire from what had happened. He didn't have any idea what happened to Terry, but figured he must have run off, since his body wasn't one of those laying around him. Staggering to his feet, he walked over to check on Gary and Stu.

Both seemed fine, but were completely out of it, making him wonder just who the hell they'd run into. He was damn sure it wasn't one of the Protectorate or Wards as he had a pretty good idea of what they looked like in costume. And that wasn't a skinny girl wearing warm up bottoms and a tightly drawn hoodie.

Jeremy hadn't seen the girl's features, but he had caught a glimpse of her eyes. Just thinking about them made his breath catch. What the fuck was wrong with him, he wondered? Had the girl done something to him while healing him? Altered his thinking somehow?

Because right at that moment, Jeremy wasn't thinking about the importance of the message from Empire 88. Rather, he was thinking about someone who had apparently taken him down so hard it had nearly killed him, then turned around and healed him.

She'd likely done the first because she hadn't like being chased, but why had she bothered with the second? Was he even worth wasting something her healing on? Because Jeremy could tell that he was completely healed. His most recent injuries were gone, as was every bruise from a clash with teenage members of the ABB a week ago completely gone, as well as older, more persistent aches and pains he'd gotten at home.

Jeremy almost took off, but decided that he didn't want the rep of a deserter. No, he'd stay around and get his buddies back to their homes. Then he'd ease his way back out of the group. Maybe. If they let him.

No, he decided abruptly, he'd do it whatever it took. Remember the dark brown eyes that almost seemed to glitter with some kind of inner light, he needed to do it. He owed her that.

~~~~ATotD~~~~

"So what have you been up to today?"

His daughter glanced over Danny as she slowly chewed her hamburger. Swallowing, she announced, "Nothing much. Just went to the public library earlier, then studied this afternoon. Oh, and I shoveled Mr Khaled's walk for him."

Surprised, Danny looked over at her. "Really? I usually do that."

"Yeah, but you were working, so I took care of it. We need to shovel ours, though."

Teasing gently, Danny said, "I'm surprised that you didn't go ahead and shovel it while you were at it."

The comment didn't get the smile he expected. Instead, Taylor looked serious as she said, "I thought that you and I might do it tomorrow. Together. If that's okay?"

Feeling a sudden tightness in his chest, Danny nodded. His voice was surprisingly unaffected as he said, "That would be fine. With both of us working on it, we can knock it out in no time."

Taylor looked surprised. "Both of us? I figured that you would do the shoveling and I'd make the hot chocolate."

That had always been Annette's job. Danny felt just the slightest burning sensation in his eyes as he considered his daughter's words. Voice not quite as even, he said, "Sure thing, kiddo. You make the hot chocolate, and I'll shovel the snow."

Taylor ordered, "And help me make a snowman afterward."

Agreeably, Danny said, "And help you make a snowman afterward."

The two of them shared a look that communicated much more than the words they'd exchanged had. A few minutes later, Danny heard a knock on the back door. Sending an inquiring look Taylor's way, he waited to see if she had any idea who it might be.

"It's Mr Khaled with baklava. Sweet."

Taylor scrambled to her feet and headed over to answer the door, coming back a moment later with their neighbor in tow.

Danny rose and shook the older man's hand. "It's good to see you, Tahib."

Tahib Khaled, his other hand holding a paper bag, waved genially. "Daniel. How are you doing?"

"Fine, fine. What's this I hear about baklava?"

Tahib sent a quizzical glance his daughter's way, then shrugged. "Taylor, here, did me a huge favor by shoveling not only my front walks, but around my back door and a path over to yours. She even salted them afterward. So I made her favorite."

Danny sent the other man a knowing look. "For that, you should have gotten her to shovel your entire yard."

The two of them shared a grin as Taylor's love for the sweet, sticky dessert was well known. Tahib smiled. "I couldn't do that. I did put a few fresh baked hamburger buns in there though, when I smelled something good cooking over here."

Taylor quickly asked, "Would you like a hamburger, Mr Khaled? We have extras."

"Well, now, I suppose I could be persuaded to sit down and eat a bite," Tahib said, handing the bag to Taylor before taking seat across from Danny.

Danny watched, bemused, as his daughter scrambled off at near light speed once again to fetch Tahib a plate. Apparently all that running was paying off with an improved energy level. She returned a moment later with not just that, but utensils and a glass of ice tea. She quickly set another place in front of their guest and returned to her own seat.

The three of them began to eat again, making small talk. Danny couldn't remember the last time he'd had Tahib over for dinner. Again, it had to be when his wife was alive. It turned out that it was nice to talk about adult things with another person, although the occasional interjections by his daughter were surprisingly insightful.

~~~~ATotD~~~~

"Okay, Dad, now we just need some coal for eyes." Taylor sent a questioning look her dad's way as she spoke, only to end up being disappointed by him shaking his head.

"Sorry, Taylor, but we're fresh out of coal. Maybe use a couple of rocks?"

Taylor grumbled, "Fine. But we're not winning any awards with a snowman with rocks for eyes."

Still, she couldn't help the grin that pulled the corners of her mouth up as she watched her dad put a couple of rocks in place. Then that grin turned to a frown as Taylor realized just how tired her dad looked.

Thinking about it, it had taken him longer than usual to shovel their walks. Certainly a lot longer than it had taken her the day before to do the same for Mr Khaled's. Wondering if her dad was feeling okay, Taylor decided to just be direct.

"Dad, you okay? You look a little tired."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Danny smiled at her reassuringly. "Maybe just a little. But I'm fine. Really."

He wasn't nearly as convincing as he probably wanted to be. Taylor chewed her lip. She could heal him, but there was no way he wouldn't feel that. Unless, that is, she somehow distracted him. Then, she had an idea. An evil genius idea.

It took only a moment to set up. Taylor fetched her dad a fresh cup of hot chocolate. Then while he was busy blowing on it to cool it enough to take a drink, she moved in behind him. Taking the snow shovel, she carefully slid it into the snow until it was completely full.

Then as quickly as she possibly could, she pulled back the collar of her dad's coat and dumped the entire load of snow down the back of his shirt and coat. Even as he began howling and dancing around, trying to pull out his shirt from his pants and dump the icy cold substance back onto the ground, Taylor tackled him to the ground, sending them both rolling through the snow.

During the resulting melee of arms and legs twisting together, she pressed her both of her hands to Danny's neck and poured healing into him. Something seriously wrong faded under the deluge of healing, making her heart beat that much faster. Determined not to give way to her feelings of relief by crying, she continued to wrestle with her dad, the prickly feeling in her eyes fading after a moment.

A few minutes later found Danny pushing her face into the snow repeatedly while rubbing more snow onto the back of her neck. He demanded, "Now repeat after me. I will not pour snow down my dad's shirt."

Spitting out snow that wasn't nearly as fresh as it had been when first laid down, Taylor muttered, "I will pour snow down my dad's shirt."

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be?"

Danny preceded to start stuffing snow down the back of Taylor's shirt, making her shout in return. "I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Help! Help! It's too cold!"

At that, the two of the collapsed into the snow, laughing helplessly. Finally, Danny got up with surprising ease and reached down a hand and pulled up Taylor up in turn. He grumbled, "You don't show the proper respect for your old man." Unfortunately, the grin he wore spoiled his little speech.

Taylor's own grin was cheeky. "Well, you can't say that you're feeling tired now, can you?"

Looking surprised, Danny said, "I... huh. Actually, I feel pretty damn good right now. Race you inside! First one in is master of the castle!"

Taking off before the words were completely out of his mouth, Danny beat Taylor inside by a couple of seconds. Something which he didn't let her forget about the rest of the day. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to mind, even when he declared that as the winner, it was her turn to cook dinner. Lasagna it was, she thought, sending him a fond look.

~~~~ATotD~~~~

Danny felt incredibly tired as he yawned for yet the fourth time. Shaking his head to try to force himself awake, he finally gave up. Getting to his feet, he said, "Taylor, I'm off to bed."

Sitting there wrapped in a warm blanket, she helpfully pointed out, "It's only eight o'clock."

"I know, but I think the shoveling today, or maybe it was building the snowman, pretty much tuckered me out. I'll see you at breakfast. Be careful on your run tomorrow and don't stay up too late."

"I won't. Good night."

Leaning down, Danny gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head as he murmured, "Night, kiddo."

His legs felt surprisingly heavy as he made his way up the stairs. Still, he completed his usual nightly routine, brushing his teeth and washing his face. However, as soon as his head hit his pillow, Danny was out like a light.

He awoke the next morning feeling pretty good. Aches and pains that he usually felt on a cold morning like this one were absent. He had to take a really quick shower as he was running late. Somehow, he'd managed to sleep ten hours last night.

Still, Danny had breakfast waiting for his daughter when she came bounding down the stairs, face glowing from a combination of her morning run and the shower afterward. "Pancakes? Excellent!"

"Yep. Pancakes with Mrs Butterworths."

They sat down in companionable silence for a few minutes. Danny ate half a dozen of the big pancakes himself, surprised at how hungry he was. Although when he looked up, Taylor had somehow managed to pretty much match him.

"Dad, where are your glasses?"

"What?" Danny actually reached up and touched the bridge of his nose before he realized he wasn't wearing his glasses. Yet he could still see perfectly. Okay, that wasn't weird. Or frightening.

Realizing that Taylor was still staring at him, Danny hedged, "I'll grab them in a bit. You'd better hurry up or you'll miss the bus."

"Crap!"

Taylor was scrambling to her feet after taking one last gulp of milk while he called after her, "Language!"

His only answer was a laugh left floating in the air. Danny couldn't help the smile on his face as he heard the sheer joy in his daughter's voice.

At work that morning, Danny had an extra step to his walk. He still hadn't figured out the mystery of his glasses. At first, he thought that maybe he'd hit head and done something to his eyes, but a few minutes on the computer surfing the net showed that to be an utter fallacy. However, that same research did indicate that brain tumors and the like could have profound effects, although they were seldom so beneficial, even on the surface.

In the end, Danny made an appointment with his doctor to have a complete check up. Better to be safe than sorry. Because if there was one thing he'd learned was that things like this, things that appeared to benefit you, always came with a cost. He just hoped the price wasn't a reduction in his time upon this earth when he'd only recently began really living again.

Plus there was Taylor to think of. While he had good life insurance from the Dockworkers Union, and Kurt and Lacey had already agreed to take care of her if something ever happened to him, he would hate for her to lose another parent. So he needed to do whatever it took to prevent that from happening.

It was a worried, but determined man who headed off to the doctor that afternoon.

~~~~ATotD~~~~

Taylor got up when the bell rang and walked up to Mrs Knott's desk.

"Yes, Taylor? Is there something I can do for you?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for having my back last week. With Madison."

The big woman's face turned flush. Her smile widened a bit and she said, "You're very welcome, Taylor. I'm glad I could help."

"Mrs Knott, did you do something different with your hair? It looks really nice today."

"Well... um... that is, I had a perm put in it this weekend."

So that was why her teacher's hair had a curl to it that it had been missing before. Studying the face of the woman who stood before her, Taylor decided to speak her mind. "You know, you should look at changing your wardrobe a little. You would look good in a blouse and skirt, rather than those shirts and pants you wear."

The woman suddenly looked nervous, and Taylor wondered if maybe she'd developed an interest in one of the other teachers. Her voice was a bit uncertain as she said, "Well, I don't know about all that. I'm pretty happy with how I look."

"There's nothing wrong with fixing up a bit so that you can feel more feminine," Taylor assured her. She gestured back at herself. "I know a little about wanting to be invisible. I'm trying to do better."

Both women considered Taylor's own outfit of more fitted jeans, sneakers, and a long sleeved t-shirt in a soft blue. It was far and away from her usual outfit of baggy jeans and a hoodie. She'd tailored these jeans over the weekend to fit her a lot better than her others and dug the t-shirt out of the back of her closet. Taylor was feeling a bit less self-conscious of her midsection as the effects of three weeks of running and other exercise were starting to have their effects.

It might take months before her pudge was completely gone, but the effort was definitely worth it.

Mrs Knott nodded her head. "I did notice that you're wearing brighter colors the last few days. And you look... thinner."

"I've taken up jogging in the mornings. It's really getting me into shape quickly."

"That's really wonderful, Taylor. I'm so glad things are going well for you. Now, I do have another class to teach and I'm sure you should be getting to your next one."

"You're right. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Taylor."

Taylor headed out of class, but not on to her next one. She'd decided to drop Spanish and give herself an open period to work on other things. With her new learning ability, it didn't make sense to take every class if she didn't need them, plus this was one that she had an extra textbook for, even if it was a bit stained with grape juice. That had been a result of Emma pouring a bottle of it into her open backpack last fall. She could use it to study the language on her own and just take a test for it at the end of the year.

Since she had a free period, Taylor had decided to spend it in the school library. There were a couple of things she wanted to look up and do a little research on. Things that she hadn't been able to get to in Mrs Knott's class. So she headed that way.

She jumped a bit when the late bell rang, but she wasn't late for anything, so she just kept going. She'd gotten increasingly good at parsing the information that her senses were sending her way and was able to filter out most of the junk, although she did learn that Amanda and Violet were planning to overthrow Madison as head bitches of the sophomore class of Winslow High.

Rolling her eyes, Taylor decided that she'd probably never understand the desire to be popular no matter the cost. It likely stemmed from some deep-seated insecurity in the person desiring that status. Or maybe those people were just assholes. In the end, it didn't really matter to her.

Turning the corner to head upstairs, Taylor abruptly paused, her attention drawn by the sounds of crying going on ahead of her. Moving in that direction instead, she soon arrived at the same boy's bathroom as last time. She hesitated just a moment, then pushed the door open.

At the sound of the door opening, the boy's sobs abruptly ceased, although her sensitive hearing still detected the catch in his breathing as he held them in. Taylor called out, "Hello, is anyone in here?"

There was a moment of silence, then a shocked voice called out, "Hey! You're a girl! You are not supposed to be in here! This is the boy's bathroom!"

In a far quieter tone, Taylor agreed, "I know. But I heard you crying and I just wanted to check on you."

"I was not crying! Get out of here!"

She wasn't dissuaded. Taylor couldn't even count the number of times she would have been glad of anyone to talk to during the height of the bullying from Emma and her cronies. Her pain at the betrayal and the relentless emotional attacks had rivaled that she'd felt when her mother died. It had almost broken, only sheer stubbornness keeping her going. It wasn't something she could leave another person alone to deal with.

"Look, why don't you come out there? I'm not going to leave until I see that you're all right."

"Mother fucker!"

The boy slammed the stall door open and stormed out, his tears exchanged for fury. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why won't you leave me alone?"

"Maybe because I know a bit about how hard the people in this school can be on others. Want to talk about it?"

Taylor stared at the face of a boy about her own age, his features clearly Asian in ancestry, although she couldn't have said what country he hailed from for sure. Maybe Korea? She didn't really recognize him, although she thought she might have seen him around.

He was probably three or four inches shorter than her, especially since she was dealing with a recent growth spurt, and probably weighed less, his arms, legs, and torso very thin. He had black hair cut into a simple haircut, not to short, not too long, and his features were pretty ordinary. His only distinguishing feature, really, was the black eye he sported on the left side. That looked recent and painful.

The boy in turn was studying her as intently as Taylor studied him. His dark eyes were intelligent, and frankly assessing as he looked her up and down. Finally, he muttered, "You're that girl who almost got stuck in your locker with all of those tampons."

Not exactly the ice breaker she'd been looking for, but Taylor decided to just take it and run with it. "Key word being almost. Emma and Sophia got expelled for it. What's your name? I'm Taylor."

The boy took a shaky breath. His voice was low as he said, "Seon."

Taylor held out a hand to shake. She kept it up even while Seon ignored it. Finally, though, her expectation wore upon him and he gave it a brief shake before dropping it. "Nice to meet you, Seon. Want to tell me why you in here instead of in class?"

"I don't have regular classes. I'm on advanced path."

Taylor's brows rose at that. It wasn't usual for many advanced placement types to go to school at Winslow as Arcadia was such a better school. Usually, the only ones that stayed and went to Winslow were those that lived nearby and didn't want to have to deal with a bus ride across town twice a day. It wasn't something that she would have chosen, but to each his own, she supposed.

"Still, you're in here rather than the library or somewhere else you can study."

Instead of answering, Seon shuffled over the sink and turned on the tap. He splashed his face, then dried it with a couple of paper towels, before carefully disposing of them in the waste basket. Finally, looking more composed, he turned back towards Taylor.

"Look..."

"Taylor."

"Look, Taylor, I don't want to talk about this. It's none of your business."

Putting as much conviction in her voice as she could, Taylor stepped closer to Seon. "Look, Seon, you're absolutely right. It is none of my business. But if I can help you, I will."

"Why the fuck would you do that? You're a fucking idiot."

Taylor refused to allow herself to get angry. Seon was scared and lashing out. In some ways, she saw parts of herself in him. "Maybe I am. But you're twice the idiot for refusing someone's help when they offer it."

"Jesus Christ, you're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Probably not. I'm pretty stubborn. Or so people tell me."

~~~~ATotD~~~~

Seon stared at the crazy white girl who wouldn't leave him alone. He knew who she was, of course, even before she introduced herself. Taylor Hebert.

She'd been the victim of that nasty group of girls led by Emma Barnes, that hot redhead in his year. Not that he would have touched her with a ten foot pole after the shit she pulled that he'd witnessed, but he'd jerked off to thoughts about her more than once. Her and that girl, Sophia, that is. He was a guy after all.

But the girl was too damn mean to actually want to spend time around her. Her entire entourage was. He'd seen them do mean shit to too many people. Not to him, fortunately, but then they probably thought he was a member of the ABB or some shit. Racist bitches.

But if Emma and her toadies bullied a lot of people, they seemed to have a special hard on for Taylor Hebert. They'd picked and picked and picked at the girl until Seon was surprised she still came to school. She'd become a nonentity to the point that she faded into the background and still they picked on her. He'd only heard second hand about the worst stuff, but it had been fairly heinous. Destroying her mom's flute or something had been one of the worse ones, something that you had to know the background of to realize just how bad it was. Supposedly, she was dead or something.

A week ago, on the first day back from Christmas break, all kinds of shit had gone down. Seon hadn't witnessed any of it, but he'd heard rumors that something was going to happen. Something bad.

Somehow, he doubted that Emma Barnes had expected for her and her closest friend to get expelled over it. But they'd been caught red-handed. Trying to push Hebert into her locker right in front of the principal. Talk about bad luck.

And apparently that bad luck was contagious. She was here in front of him because she had heard him crying. Despite the truth in those words, he'd never be able to admit something like that and live it down.

However, there was something about the annoying girl that made Seon wonder if maybe he could trust her. He wasn't even sure why he felt that way. It wasn't remotely logical, more of a feeling rather. Taking a deep breath, he told a half truth.

"I'm having problems in school."

The look she sent him was shrewd. "Not with your actual schoolwork though, right?"

Fuck! Seon sent Taylor a threatening look, but all it accomplished was for her to roll her eyes in exasperation. He had no idea how the girl in front of him had ever been bullied for a year and a half.

"No."

There was a coaxing note in the girl's voice as she asked, "Why don't you tell me about it and maybe I can help you?"

Help him? Against the ABB? Seon saw no way a white girl like Taylor Hebert could help him. But he was so tired of holding everything in. It felt like it was slowly killing him. One of the reasons he'd been in here in the the first place.

"Fuck. Fine. Look, Nam Park and Zhang Wei are the two main ABB recruiters here at Winslow. They want me to join. They're not taking no for an answer."

There was a momentary flash of fury on the girl's face that almost had Seon taking a step back. It disappeared almost as fast as it had appeared, but there was still a note of iron in her voice as she said, "I thought that the ABB didn't force anyone to join."

Seon shrugged. "It used to be that way. I don't know why it's changed, but it is. Nam keeps upping the ante. Last week he hit me. Now, he's threatening my family. Says that unless I want my sister ending up as a whore, I'd better man up. She's only thirteen. Goddamn it!"

He slammed his fist against the stall door, welcoming the pain of skinned knuckles as the door bounced back into the stall making a loud noise. Holding his injured hand in his other, Seon slid down to sit on the floor, for once not caring about the germs that were probably all over it.

He whispered, "I don't know what to do."

Taylor sat down next to him. She reached over and squeezed his shoulder firmly, almost making him wince at the strength in her fingers. Meeting his gaze squarely, she said, "I'm not sure either. But I'll help you. We'll figure it out."

After sitting for a few minutes, she suggested, ″Why not go to the PRT and ask for their help?″

Stupid girl, Seon thought. Like that would work. Then he sighed at the patient expression on Taylor's face, and explained, ″The last time someone in the Korean community went to the PRT for help, they were told that all they could do was go and talk to the people that were threatening them. Until there was clear evidence of a crime, that was it. Not that it mattered to the Parks, they were murdered the next day. All four of them.″

Seon watched anger and understanding compete for space upon the girl's face. Then it slowly smoothed out until only determination was left. Squeezing his shoulder one more time, she got to her feet. Then she held out a hand to him.

Slowly, Seon reached out and took Taylor's hand.

~~~~ATotD~~~~

Taylor walked home from the bus stop, her head full of thoughts of Seon's quandary. His situation was dire, as he'd been given an ultimatum: join the ABB by the weekend, or they'd be forcibly recruiting his sister for something far worse.

She didn't have a solution for what was happening to the boy, but then again, she didn't understand why it was happening either. Winslow had been a recruiting ground for both the ABB and Empire 88 for years, but neither group had ever really forced anyone else to join. Joining had been strongly encouraged, especially on the part of the ABB, but they'd never really threatened anyone to force them to join. After all, if everyone was a member of the ABB, who would be left to make money off of as they primarily preyed upon Asian families and businesses?

The answer was no one. So Taylor imagined that they had an all encompassing reason for doing what they were doing. It was likely in response to Empire 88 in some way, as the two gangs basically split the city between them, with the Merchants receiving the dregs that no one else wanted.

She didn't doubt for a moment that the two boys would carry out their threat against Seon's little sister. Too much was at stake for them not to. Certainly, his parents believed it, and were putting even more pressure on him to join in order to try to preserve their family as best they could.

Seon had said that if they could afford it, they'd move to another city, one without a gang presence, but currently, they simply didn't have the money, nor could they borrow it. The only solution any of them had been able to come up with was for their son, despite his intelligence and prospects for the future, to become a low level thug.

It was a terrible fate, and it filled her with a terrible anger. Things like this should not happen. Not in America. Not simply because someone else was too strong to be stopped, so they were allowed to circumvent both the law and justice, making victims of everyone around them.

Worse, the PRT would not help protect people like the Li's, needing probably cause and actual crimes to have occurred before they would act. This, when they should have already shut down the ABB, forced them to leave the city and putting those who wouldn't, in prison or in the ground. Taylor suspected that it had more to do with who they'd be opposing, than just the law that kept them from acting.

After all, it was only because of the Parahuman known as Lung that the ABB even existed in Brockton Bay. He'd not only brought them to the city, but he was the sole reason they weren't overwhelmed by the other gangs. Without him, even the Merchants would be able to take down the ABB.

Lung was simply a monster who masqueraded as a man. He was a cape who had fought an Endbringer single-handedly, and had done the same against several Protectorate teams, growing in power and fury throughout the fight until he simply overwhelmed them.

It had been said that the only way to beat Lung was to take him down early, before he managed to ramp up to the point he could not be beaten.

Taylor only saw two successful paths that her attempt to save Seon and his family could go down. She could kill Lung, breaking the ABB and throwing the entire city in disorder. Or, she could give Seon and his family enough money to allow them to leave Brockton Bay. Neither were particularly easy outcomes to accomplish.

Killing Lung, or somehow making sure he went to prison, was something that felt like the more impossible of the two solutions. Not only was he incredibly dangerous in and of himself, but he had Parahuman back up in the form of Oni Lee, a sociopathic killer who could teleport place to place, while leaving copies behind who could engage in suicide attacks.

Oni Lee was probably responsible for nearly as many deaths as Lung was. If he wasn't quite, it was likely a close thing.

Getting enough money to the Li's for them to move out of Brockton Bay was also problematic, if less so than defeating Lung. While Taylor, herself, didn't have any money to give Seon, she might be able to steal it from the gangs. But that would also be supremely dangerous, as the one area where none of the gangs messed around, not even the Merchants, was when it came to their bread and butter.

Any large amounts of cash would be closely guarded by armed gang members, likely with Parahuman support. Even considering it was probably just a little crazy, but Taylor just didn't see another way.

She silently ticked off the various gangs in the city and how dangerous stealing from them might be. Empire 88 was just out. Not only because of just how strong their presence was, the numbers of their regular foot soldiers the greatest of all the gangs, but also because of how many capes they could field. With nearly as many capes as the Protectorate and Wards together, they could afford to have two to three villainous capes guarding any sites with large amounts of cash on hand.

It was the opposite with the ABB and the Merchants, the only other two gangs which were likely to have large amounts of cash somewhere. The ABB only had two capes, and if they were two of the scariest in the city, still, they could only be in two places at once.

The Merchants had three capes, which meant they were still spread thin. Plus, as bad as Skidmark's reputation was on the PHO site, he couldn't be all that bad or he'd never have managed to build up as large of a gang of criminals as he had.

In the end, despite how dangerous Lung was, Taylor was leaning towards robbing the ABB. It felt poetic to do something like this, forcing them to finance the flight of one of their own recruit's families.

Now all she had to do was figure out a costume, go out and find their money, then steal it.

~~~~ATotD~~~~

Taylor had had grand plans for her costume, an armored undersuit with flowing robes over it, plus a cowl and everything. She now didn't have time for any of that. So instead, she set out to sew a simple costume out of a pair of old jeans, a pair of thin gloves, a couple of worn hoodies, and an old pair of hiking boots which dated from her last time at summer camp, back when she and Emma were still friends.

It took her several hours, but in the end Taylor had a serviceable costume, if not exactly elegant. She'd tailored the old blue jeans so they fit her body a lot better. The two hoodies had become one, stitched together so that the holes one had was covered by the other. She made some loops on the back for Umrahnuha to pass through so that she could carry him across her back.

Taylor had also made herself a halfway decent mask out of the extra material from the hoodies, stiffening it with some cardboard. It ended up being a bit bigger than the original domino mask she'd planned, but that would just keep her features more hidden. She'd even added little buttons to each side of her mask, which allowed her to securely fasten her hoodie to it so that the material there wouldn't accidentally slide down if she was fighting. Between the hood and her mask, a majority of her head was covered.

The last thing that Taylor had done was to embroider one of the runes from Umrahnuha onto the front of her costume right in the middle of her chest. The rune, which looked like spiral with a weird squiggle in the middle of it, meant Destiny. She just hoped it wasn't her destiny to end up getting shot and knifed by a gang.

Taylor took a moment to make sure that her window didn't make any unusual sounds because she'd decided to not wait a moment longer than necessary. She was going out tonight to look for the ABB. To find their money. And to steal it.

Her pulse suddenly accelerating, Taylor waited for the clock to reach midnight.

~~~~ATotD~~~~

Slipping out of her house was easier than she'd imagined. All she'd had to do was open her window, now carefully lubricated, and slide out while holding her staff, dropping to the ground. Looking back up at the window, Taylor could see that she should easily be able to make it back up there.

She set off at a fast run towards the general area of the Docks that the ABB considered their territory. Fortunately, one didn't grow up in Brockton Bay without knowing what areas to avoid so Taylor knew in general terms where to go. What she didn't know was the exact location she needed to find.

The entire time she ran, Taylor tried to stay in the shadows as much as possible. One good point for her somewhat crude costume was that it was dark, but not black, and faded into shadows. Something which was about to get tested as she saw a police cruiser heading towards her with all of its lights off.

Coming to a stop next to a tree, she quickly squatted down low and held perfectly still. The police car slowly came even with her, the sounds of its engine and radio clearly audible to her. For a second, Taylor thought it was going to stop, but it kept on going. She waited a few more seconds until it turned the corner, then sprinted as fast as she possibly could in the opposite direction.

It felt so good to cut loose and actually run, Taylor thought, exulting in the feeling of the blood pumping through her veins. She wasn't sure how fast she was going, but it had to be pushing highway speeds. Despite her speed, she was making hardly any noise, her footfalls curiously muffled as though she was barely touching the ground.

Arriving in an area where she thought that the ABB conducted business, Taylor extended her senses. The only problem was that the voices she heard weren't, for the most part, speaking English. Maybe she should have studied Chinese or Japanese instead of Spanish.

Regardless, Taylor was determined to have something to show for her time tonight, so she kept moving. She allowed her nostrils to sample the air as well, money having a certain smell to it that couldn't be duplicated by anything else. In the end, it took her about an hour to find the scent of a great deal of dirty money and begin following it to its source.

From the corner of a building one block over, Taylor studied the building from which the scent of money emanated. She knew she was in over her head. From the cascade of heartbeats coming from within, there were seventy-three people inside. Some probably weren't gang members, as she could smell women's hygiene products and deodorants, but at least twenty or so were, an acrid scent she thought must be gunpowder giving it away. Plus, she had no idea if either Lung or Oni Lee were inside.

There were other sounds coming from within, faint bells and noises like wheels spinning. It seemed odd for a possible drug factory, but she was far from an expert on such things. There was a ton of money present and that was what she was here for. Anything else was superfluous.

The building in question was a simple three story structure that looked like it might have once been a small factory. Faint odors of oil and other chemicals lingered around it, but their sources smelling like they were long gone. There were no windows on the ground floor, although there were a few on the upper floors, out of reach of most people. Although probably not out of reach for her, Taylor mused.

It would be stupid to try to go inside, especially since she was not only alone, but relatively unprepared for any opposition. Taylor hesitated, reluctant to retreat. Maybe she should just see if she could get up to the level of the windows and look inside? Surely that couldn't hurt anything?

She glided forward, crossing the street to her target, her senses completely alert to any stimuli. She already knew there were no lookouts that could see in this direction as her senses would have registered their presence. However, that didn't mean that there weren't other safeguards in place. There could be alarms and the like, as well as motions sensors.

Speak of the devil, Taylor thought. She carefully skirted an area that seemed filled with an odd humming sound, likely one of the aforementioned senors. Just ahead, she could hear a person's heart beating, which meant if she went much further in that direction, she'd be seen by a lookout. However, there was a fairly narrow gap, about four feet wide, between where the motion sensors ended and where the live coverage began.

Studied the area above her, Taylor looked for any way to climb up there. She saw something she could grip about ten feet off the ground, some kind of conduit running along the outside of the building. From there, she could swing herself a body's length higher up the wall and hook her feet around the lower brace of an exterior AC unit, counting on her balance to allow her to make it.

Her ascent went pretty much as planned. Taylor squatted down and jumped straight up, catching the conduit with both hands. It felt pretty sturdy in her grasp, so she moved on to the next step of her plan. Swinging her body first to the left, then to the right, she used the resulting momentum to bring her body around until she was almost doing a handstand on the conduit, her back now to the wall.

From there, she was able to hook a foot under the AC brace, then do a kind of sit up so that she could reach the AC brace with her hands. The only problem came when her foot started to slip out from where she'd wedged it. Reaching out as fast as possible, she managed to grab the brace with one hand, holding on for dear life.

She took a couple of slow breaths, forcing her to relax, then decided to move on. Testing the brace for sturdiness, Taylor almost slipped again when the damn thing wiggled slightly in her hands. It was not nearly as sturdy as the conduit, but it should still do.

Taylor was careful to move slowly as she clambered on top of the actual AC unit itself. It creaked slightly, but held, if just barely. Slowly standing up, she was able to lean over so that she could see through a window that was only mostly occluded with filth.

Her view was of a long hallway that appeared completely deserted. Taylor listened to see if anyone was present just out of sight, but didn't detect anyone. Slowly reaching out, she checked to see if the window was locked. It was.

Dammit! Taylor silently cursed several times. She could break the window, but it might be heard by the building's inhabitants. She then tried to see if there was another way she could get inside. The roof looked to be about ten feet over her head, but trying to jump up there meant kicking off the AC unit she was standing on, something she was almost certain it would not be able to withstand. Again, if the AC went tumbling down the side of the building to land on the sidewalk below, there was no way it would not be heard.

Looking for another way up, Taylor saw seams in the building's exterior, something that was likely intended to be decorative. But she might be able to use them to slowly climb up the rest of the way to the roof. Taking off her boots, she tied the laces together and hooked them around her neck.

Tracing the seams with her fingers, Taylor reached for the highest set she could reach without jumping, about a foot above her head. The seams ran horizontally, spaced about every four feet, and were about an inch deep and wide. Gripping the one over her head, she hooked her toes into the next one down, and took her weight off of the AC unit.

Climbing the wall turned out to be anticlimactic. Taylor expected it to be a lot harder than it turned out to be.. But she was very strong for her weight, making gripping the tiny ledges relatively easy. That coupled with her innate sense of balance, made climbing using the seams fairly easy. At least it felt less risky than the AC unit had been.

Clambering over the low wall that bordered the roof, Taylor rolled over onto her back. She already knew the roof was deserted, but quickly checked for cameras and the like. There was nothing that was visible to even her enhanced senses. She quickly put her boots back on, tying them tightly. Rising to her feet, she silently crept around the roof, looking for a way in.

There was another rooftop hatch, not that dissimilar to the one in her new training building. She looked for any kind of alarm system, but didn't see any wires or contacts. She checked to see if it was locked. It wasn't!

But the room beneath was occupied, something that Taylor could tell by the sound of the two heartbeats directly beneath her. The two men were talking, but she could also hear the sounds of something hard clicking together, making her think that they were playing some kind of game.

Pacing the rooftop, Taylor checked for any escape routes before she even considered going inside. Of course, the side of the building the the most obvious. She could go down that wall a lot faster than she went up it. Staring over the edge, she considered even just jumping down. It was about twenty-eight feet to the ground. A drop of that distance probably wouldn't injure her so long as she rolled as she hit.

Taylor looked around her, and another idea popped into her head. The next building over on the south side was only about thirty feet away. Okay, maybe it was just a bit further. But she was pretty certain she could jump it. As fast as she could run, leaping that distance should be easy. Plus it was lower than the one she was currently on.

The book she'd read on parkour had shown people doing exactly that. If they could do it, then she should be able to as well. So that was three routes down, two of them sufficiently different that she should be able to get away from anyone chasing her.

Taylor moved back to the roof hatch, then hesitated. She could no longer hear the clicking sounds. Listening carefully, there was only one heartbeat coming from beneath her. The other she'd heard was retreating further into the building. There was no time like right now to enter as she would only be dealing with one foe.

Taking a deep breath, Taylor silently raised the roof hatch and dropped inside.

~~~~ATotD~~~~