III. Doing It Right

Unlike on Earth Bet, powers hadn't been around for long here. While both heroes and villains had formed teams, the government sponsored teams were few and far between.

This situation suited me. While I had enjoyed my time with the Wards, the government teams had to push through more red tape than I was comfortable with. I assumed that it would be the same here.

The disadvantage of having so many independent teams was the difficulty in getting in contact with them. Plus, you had to hope that you could get along with the members if you did make contact. As soon as my powers had been returned, I had started looking up which hero teams were active in New York, and, out of them, who I could be friendly with.

Most parahumans trigger in their teens, so I had the advantage that most of the teams would likely have members around my age.

The most famous team in town were The Guardians. They had made a few high profile takedowns early on, but, from what I read, fame had gone to their heads. They tended to think of themselves as superior and looked down on other teams. That wasn't what I was looking for. Just because the other teams didn't have the reputation didn't mean they were no good, so I looked for a smaller team.

Besides, I didn't think The Guardians would be too interested in someone with bug control anyway. Even I admit that it sounds pretty rubbish.

In fact, that was probably going to be a problem for any team I looked at joining. If your power doesn't sound useful, people naturally assume that it isn't. I was going to have to build some rep around town, just like I had been attempting on the night I first met the Undersiders. I could only hope that I ended up on the side of good this time. I didn't want to be feared, except by criminals.

Jenny had flatly refused when I suggested she could be a hero too. I didn't even suggest using her manipulation power, that would put her in danger, but even just knowing what powers I would be up against would be a huge advantage. There was a site here similar to Parahumans Online, but it was nowhere near as detailed yet. I simply couldn't get all of the information I needed.

Upon discovering that my powers had returned, Dad had known he couldn't stop me from doing this. He had simply told me to be careful, and not to take on anyone out of my league. I had barely stopped myself laughing in his face after that comment. I had beaten Mannequin with these powers; there were very few people 'out of my league'.

I had already gathered spiders and started on my costume. Something less edgy this time; I wanted it to be obvious that I was a hero. I had decided on a mainly white design, with the image of a ladybird on the front; nice and non-threatening.

As for a name, I thought I should just stick with Weaver. Very few people here had made the connection between Skitter, Weaver and Khepri, so the name wasn't well known. I could make a new start, and nobody would be any the wiser as to my past.

My next three days were spent learning the lie of the land, something a lot easier to do when you can 'see' for two blocks.

I also learned the gang situation. Most of the crime in Manhattan was run by the Overlords, who seemed to be the New York equivalent of Empire 88. Their leader was White Frost, who had ice powers, but it was strongly suspected that his wife, Lady Crusher, actually called the shots.

They had risen to the top easily because they were the first gang to have parahuman members, and now they were cementing their position by being able to recruit more. As a hero, I considered it my job to run them out of town.

So when I spotted (in swarm sense) one of their members beating someone up a block away, I decided to start making an impression. I didn't have my costume ready, but as I said, I was a block away. There would be nothing to connect me to Weaver if I formed a swarm clone and sent it in. So I did.

The man was so engrossed in the beating he was giving that he didn't even notice my swarm clone forming. I decided to get his attention using swarm-speak.

"Excuse me?"

He looked around startled, before seeing the clone. "Get out of here, f***bag." Clearly he hadn't looked very hard at it.

"I don't think so."

"Tough guy, huh? You asked for... What the?" It seemed his brain had finally registered what he was looking at.

"I'm Weaver. Crime in this city ends. Starting today; starting with you."

I disassembled the swarm clone, and rebuilt it between him and his victim.

"You have two options," I swarm-spoke from behind him, and he spun, nearly falling over in the process. "One: You leave this man alone, pass a message to your bosses that I intend to take them down, and you never commit a crime in this city again. Two: You refuse my first offer, and I send in the swarm. It ends with you stung multiple times, tied up, and with the police called. Your choice."

I dissolved the clone, moving all of the insects into the large black cloud that was now hovering over the alley. The thug looked up. I didn't get a good enough vision translation to see his reaction, but he wisely chose option one. He ran.

I watched him until he left my range. I had no doubts that he would tell his bosses what had happened; they would want to know about any new player in town. As for the not committing a crime again? I doubted it. Probably not in the next couple of days, but he would do it again, and I would not be so forgiving next time.

Over the next three days, I made sure to stop at least one crime on my morning run. It was surprisingly easy to find crimes when you could see so far around. The day after my run in with the Overlords thug, I had stopped a convenience store robbery; the day after that, a car thief.

The previous day I had broken up a drug deal. That had been the first time I had to use option two. The buyer was clearly too high to make a sensible choice and started throwing things at the swarm. He didn't even notice the webs being tied around his legs.

By this point, a pattern had been detected. HVO (Heroes and Villains Online) now had a profile on me, although not very detailed; they didn't even have my name. Word had gotten around about my intimidation tactics, and the state of the addict from the day before left no doubt that I would follow through if necessary. They weren't sure if I was a hero or a villain, but they were leaning towards hero, given that I had called the police in to deal with the restrained addict and the drugs I had made the dealer leave behind.

There was even speculation that the swarm clones were my real body, which I found a pretty laughable idea, and not a great image for a hero. I needed to do something about that.

Parahumans Online had had a feature allowing capes to be confirmed as members by another, trusted, member. There was a similar feature on HVO, but it required one of the site admins to meet in person (or, at least, meet in a way that leaves no doubt as to who you are). Fortunately, one of them lived in New York. I sent her a message stating that I was Weaver (aka unknown insect hero) and would like to have it confirmed.

I was pleased when she immediately agreed to a meeting in Central Park the next morning. It was definitely good to get my secret identity working before the university year started.

I hadn't spent much time having fun over the past few days, so Jenny decided it would be a good idea to drag me out to a bar. There was a small place, just down the street from where we were living, which appeared to be popular with the locals.

I sat there, feeling completely out of place. I hadn't socialised much at school due to the bullying. I hadn't socialised much after quitting school because I was a powerful supervillain. I hadn't socialised much since coming here, because my history made me feel out of place. In a way, everyone here owed me their life, and it was not a comfortable feeling to know that everyone you met was alive because of you.

I was contemplating sneaking away while Jenny wasn't listening, when I was pulled out of my thoughts by a voice.

"Not comfortable in a crowd, huh?"

I looked round with a start. A guy was standing there, the definition of 'tall, dark and handsome'. He made me feel sad. There was a certain resemblance to Grue.

I had no idea if Grue had survived. I hoped he had, but I had no memory of using darkness powers in the final battle. I had collected everyone, and that everyone hadn't included Grue.

I suddenly realised I still had to answer his question.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked.

"You keep looking longingly at the door," he said. "So, yes, it is that obvious. I'm John."

"Taylor."

"Nice to meet you, Taylor. So what exactly are you doing in a place you clearly don't want to be?"

"My flatmate practically dragged me in here. She's one of the few friends I have left, so I didn't want to turn her against me by leaving early. Not that I wasn't still considering it."

He laughed. "I know how that feels. All of my friends are on the other side of the country."

"At least you still have the possibility of contacting them," I countered. "I don't even have that."

"Really? Why not?"

It was at this point that my brain caught up with my mouth, and I realised I had said too much. I had to try and cover my error. "I'd rather not talk about it."

John shrugged. "That bad? I can respect that."

"Thanks," I said.

"So, Taylor, can I buy you a drink?"

My mind froze. Was this hot guy actually flirting with me? "Er... Sure," I finally managed. "Just a lemonade, please."

We spent the next half hour talking. John was studying physics at the same university as me, one year above me. He had quite a strong interest in parahumans, and the fact that many powers seemed to break the current laws of physics into pieces. I was going to have to be careful around him.

He finished up by asking me to a movie, which I accepted immediately. It was fair to say that I was very interested.