There's good reasons why this took a month, I swear. I just need to find them first. Once again, big thanks to everyone who had helped me to make this possible. Special thanks to Samarkand, you glorious bastard!


I woke up to the sound of muffled shouting downstairs.

After a few fruitless minutes of groaning and pressing my face into the pillow, it became evident that the shouting wasn't going to stop any time soon. Grumpily, I climbed out of bed, stopping to do a quick mental once-over of myself.

Creating something to take care of my radiation poisoning wasn't difficult. There were spare chemical supplies from Eve's creation and Dad's medicine's cabinet supplemented what I lacked. It wasn't a permanent solution, instead only suppressing damage to my body until I can find the time to address it.

Satisfied that my body was not falling apart, I exited my room and walked downstairs for a healthy start to the day. Only to find Dad in the kitchen, using the 'I'm disappointed in you, young lady' pose that parents loved to pull whenever they caught their kids' hands in the cookie jar on a very sheepish and guilty looking Eve.

"Good morning Dad." I called to him, coincidentally distracting him from my poor construct. "What's the commotion?"

Dad sighed and turned to me, rubbing his nose all the way.

"Well, two things. First, your Eve found my beer pack and ate all of them. Not drank, she ate them, bottles and all. Then, she snuck up on me while I was frying bacons and helped herself to the pan. As in, she inhaled the bacon from the pan, the oil, and, well…" He gestured helplessly toward a frying pan with a large, jagged tear on the side. "...the pan."

I nodded and turned toward Eve, giving her my best stern and disappointed look, pulling mostly from my memory of Mom and Dad.

"Really now, young lady? That was very, very rude." I chided as Eve squeaked meekly and tried to make herself as small as possible.

The newborn construct squeaked and whimpered meekly as she tried to make herself as small as possible. It was equally disturbing and adorable how much she resembled a scolded puppy. I swore, her ears drooped and everything.

"You're not going to do that again, clear?"

Eve nodded rapidly, her long hair swinging up and down wildly. I gave her a pat on the head. Again, very disturbing animalistic behavior, also very adorable.

I turned back to Dad, who was giving me the oddest look, for some reason.

"You're spoiling her." He said weakly, vacantly.

"Well, it's nothing too big. You shouldn't be drinking anyway, and I can grab a sandwich outside. I'm thinking of taking her out, teaching her how humans work and everything." I responded, noticing Eve perking up and grinning at the mention of going out, her previous mood forgotten. Mentally, I reminded myself to make her a set of dentures before anything. Her rows of razor sharp, bone shredding teeth looked really cute in my opinion, but it could also make others feel uncomfortable, for some reason.

Dad's flat stare did not abate in the slightest. It took maybe a second or two before he answered.

"Right! You should teach your bio-engineered parahuman how normal people work. Of course!" He said slowly, as if he had trouble wrapping his head around the sentence or something. "Well, I can't give you a ride today, got some big talks over at the DWU, sorry hun."

"It's nothing, dad." I shook my head. "It's Monday, after all. I'll be fine. I got Eve!" I answered and waved goodbye as Dad walked out of the kitchen. Suddenly, I felt my jaw distended without my input as a massive yawn left my mouth. Excellent timing, all thing considered, Dad would tease me to death over it. Rubbing my eyes in vain, I made for our cabinet and started rumaging through the contents. "Dad! We got any coffee? I hadn't got much sleep last night."

"Hmm? No kiddo, sorry. I drank the last" Dad's voice came from the hall. After a second, he continued. "Check my room, dear. I think I got a box left there."

I frowned. Why would dad keep coffee in his room? Still, it's not like I lose anything by checking anyway. With a shrug, I left the kitchen and gestured for Eve to follow me to his room. The door wasn't locked, but the sight of the door stopped me.

God. When was the last time I saw the inside of his room?

Pushing those thoughts aside, I entered.

His room was rather messy, to be honest. It was functional, but it was obvious that not a lot of effort went into keeping it nice. The air smell a little stale. Not surprising, Dad spent all his time at home inside his room, looking through Union papers. When he's not on the TV, that is.

The first thing that caught my eyes was a big carton box on his bed, with a sign that said "For Taylor". Confused, I walked over and looked inside. It was filled with electronics, batteries, and microchips. On top of the stash was a piece of paper.

"Hi kiddo." It read. "Let me just get straight to it: I want you to have a phone. I know, I know. I've had problems with phones ever since your mother. I still do, if I must be honest. However, if my daughter's going out there punching nazi, I want to be able to keep in touch with her, clear?

I think fathers are supposed to splash out a little on their daughters' phones so I've spent last night looking through the internet. They said tinkers like to design their own equipments, and I just happen to have some old phones in my room. There's also some broken remotes and even a pair of walkies talkies. I just think you'd want to make your own phone. I left some money at the bottom in case there's something missing.

Just keep it subtle, ok? Go easy on the death ray."

Old phones parts? I recognized some brand new hardwares in here. Top of the lines. How did he…?

Did he went out last night and got them for me? The night before that?

I blinked, suddenly feeling a burn in my eyes and nose as my vision blurred. Amongst the storm of emotions that rose within me as I read the note, I felt rage.

Did Dad think he could just drop something like this on me and dodge out before I could confront him on it? Hell no!

"Eve!" I shouted. "Fetch Dad!"

It was like a switch was flipped in my construct's mind. She suddenly perked up and let out an inhuman howl before leaping through the (thankfully open) window down onto the street below.

"Don't hurt anyone unless I say so!" I called after her before rushing downstair and hopping on my bike.

As I left the house, I could see Eve sprinting away in the distance. She was on all four, her movements an odd combination of canine and human that somehow worked. I paddled furiously after her trail, silently thanking the fact that it was still too early for any potential witnesses. I needed to work on my subtleties.

It took me a few minutes before she slowed down noticeably. I was afraid she had lost scent of him before she suddenly coiled and pounced, her form sailing through the air and came down on a very familiar looking car. In a blink, she gripped onto the tail and heaved, effortlessly lifting the drive wheels off the ground. What momentum the car did have, she must have killed it the moment she took hold.

I jumped off the bike and rushed for the driver door. I pulled it open, noting with slight annoyance that Dad's didn't lock the door, and jumped into his arms.

"Wha? Taylor?" He asked dumbly. Maybe I should have give him some time to process this, but time was of the essence.

"Thanks Dad." I whispered, still holding onto him. "I love you too."

"Uhh...It's nothing?" He answered, looking a little shell shocked.

It might have been a tad excessive, yes.

I giggled, and gave him one last squeeze before letting go.

"Don't do that in the future. If you're going to do something nice for me, I want you to be there so I can properly express my gratitude, clear?" I said with the best lecturing tone I could muster.

"Yes, ma'-Taylor?" Dad sounded really confused for some reason. It's probably Eve lifting his car. I waved at the girl, signalling for her to drop the wheels back down on the room.

"Have a great day at work, Dad. I love you."

"Uh...you too?" He said. I grinned and waved him farewell. He waved back, closed the door, and drove off.

Still smiling over my most effective family bonding tactic, I turned to Eve.

"Well, what do you say we go into the city and have a good time today?" I asked, and she chirped happily.

It was a good day.


"Thanks for your purchases. Have a nice day!" The cashier said, her face set into an ironclad visage of serene cheerfulness. Still, I could spot the cracks in the facade. Occasionally, she would glance over my shoulder, her lip twitched into an upward curl in a fashion that might not be entirely professional.

Behind me, Eve was prancing in circles, happily showing her new headgear off to the world. It was a fairly modest looking top hat with a brass band wrapped around it. Nothing unusual unless you count the seven foot-long feathers attached to it, each one a different shade of the rainbow as well as the fist-sized piece of crystal glass decorating the front. Apparently, it got a suction cup on the inside or something, because Eve somehow got it to sit at a jaunty angle.

A nice hat, if you ask me...

Yesss!

...but a little too flamboyant, not really for me.

Noooooo!

Ignoring the inane chatterings in my head (I was getting good at that), I grabbed my purchases from the woman behind the counter and withdrew from them a large, faded jacket with high collar. I'd forced my construct into wearing a medical face mask until now, mostly because I know people can find her double rows of steel shredding teeth to be disturbing. Personally, I didn't agree. I thought they were adorable, but I guess a hero should be considerate of others.

The problem though? The medical mask didn't go with her! She needed lab coats and goggles, as well as either a bald head or those medicine head-things. Even then, Eve was still too feral and animalistic to pull off that look! She needed… I didn't know, not that.

Heavy iron collar, at least an inch thick, with padlock. Topless with fur loincloth, or nude. Tribal body paints.

Yes! That!

A few second later, the rest of my brain caught up, and my face turned into a tomato.

No! Not that!

Before the decidedly perverts living in my head could make anymore helpful suggestion, I shoved them all aside and returned to the real world. Well, I know that the medical mask was a bust, and the jacket could conceal her lower face pretty effectively. Specific aesthetics had to wait for now, and loyal pet was definitely not an option.

"Although…" My traitorous mind started musing out loud. "The collar did sound-No. Whose adolescent slave-girl fantasy are we indulging, anyway?"

Yours, apparently.

And, like all trains of thoughts that involved the wisdom of the voices, this one was quickly shut down.

Eve accepted the new article of clothing graciously and quickly discarded her mask, no doubt feeling stuffy from wearing for so long. It wasn't really intentional, but her clothes did go together on some level. She got a Victorian feel to her, like some kind of overly flamboyant bandit you would meet in 18th century Europe.

Uh, which 18th century Europe was that again? Nevermind.

"Well, that's everything." I said to Eve as we exited the fashion boutique. "You want to go home?"

My answer came in the form of Eve skipping off in pursuit of a hotdog cart. Right, so much for that. Chuckling to myself at the odd looks she attracted, I followed close behind, keeping a close eye on her.

Not that I thought that was necessary. Eve was extremely well-behaved today. Sure, she bit a lamppost, sniffed a few people, and occasionally jumped around on all four, but all in all, she was a good girl. I guess that mean she deserved some fun.

I took Eve Downtown first, showing her the high-rises of the medical and electronics corporations that had moved in after the death of Brockton Bay's shipping. Then, I took her to the Boardwalk and let her see the nice side of the city; the attractions, restaurants, mails, and other pretty things that really didn't do anything in my opinion.

Much to my amusement. Eve was, well, adorably hyperactive was the right word, I believe. I mean, I knew that she was literally nuclear-powered, but there was something so nice about my little bouncing bundle of joy and innocence, jumping from one thing that caught her eyes to the next; the only splotch of color in a grey world.

That thought made me frowned. I had never notice it until now, but it was right there, staring at me: Brockton Bay was grey. Some sections of of the city hid it better than others. Still, an air of depression, of hopelessness, encompassed the city. Like a worm gnawing on an old apple.

It made me think. And when I think, the ghosts came.

Hyu see it, yah? De zity is dyin' I turned to look at the speaker, and almost tripped over myself. He looked like a deranged Merlin, with long beard that went past his chest and a head of puffy brown hair. His clothes even bore similarities to a wizard's garbs, if you substitute the skirt for pants.

I nodded, but made no response. I would fix this. I knew I could.

Ah! But do hyu know de zolution? Iz more den de gankz, see? Dey iz symptoms. Puz on infected voundz.

Then what do I need to do?

De zity need a ziztem! To prevent infection, hyu must close de vounds... vell, hyu ken alzo replace ze limb vith better alternatives, vut zat iz gettink ahead of hyuself.

Close the wound, huh?

Yah! Diz...PRT...they haf failed dere duty. They could not fight ze zymptoms, let alone ze causez. Vut hyu? hyu ken do beeter!

Could...could I? What could I do? What must I do? I couldn't just...take over the city and run things my way, could I?

Could I?

No, I could not. The city was dying, some parts of its were just more aware of this than others. It was wrapped up in grey, ready for the funeral. I knew I couldn't fix Brockton Bay, and yet…

Sometime, it's better to melt a broken blade down and forge a new one. Sometime, it's better to let someone die, so that I may bring them back; stronger, better.

It seemed that whenever my mind went off on these tangents, my legs would go on autopilot and took me to whatever the felt like they in the moment. I sighed, forcibly wrenching myself back to reality and tried to see if I could recognize where I was, It would be horribly embarrassing if I managed to get lost when I was supposed to be the guide.

I was on a waterfront, some kind of old harbour that got repurposed into yet another tourist trap. I knew this place, not from personal experience, but made sure Dad filled me in on that well enough, whether I wanted or not: The old terminal, which meant…

True enough, no more than a hundred feet from me, where a tourist group had gathered, was the old ferry. An ancient husk of rusted and rotting metal, she sat in the bay, bobbing gently in the water. I was amazed that she could even float at all after so long.

The ferry, it was once the pride of Brockton Bay as a whole and the Dockworkers in particular, Dad had always said. It was vital for commute within the city, and provided work for thousands. Now, after it had become clear that the city could no longer keep it going, it got retired to the terminal, reduced to a curiosity for tourists.

I didn't know what they were striving for with the ferry's image, but when I looked upon her now, I saw a sad, decaying corpse of an old whale, beached and rotting, put on display to draw pocket change, like a circus' freak show.

I looked around me, paying close attention to the look upon the tourists' faces. There was no look of awe or inspiration, only idle curiosity, and pity.

Pity. That was the appropriate response. The ferry was a beautiful thing once, a paragon of naval transportation of its time, a vital transit link. Now, it's a monument to false fame and prosperity long gone, a desperate plea for tourists to come and throw away their money. Nothing more than a beggar dressed up in pretty clothes. There was nothing to be proud of this old thing.

Now, give me enough time, and I could restore it to its former glory, but what's the point? It was so long gone that repairing it would be excessively difficult. Instead, I could melt it down, take it apart and build something infinitely greater. Bigger, faster, tougher, more laser...

"Voices, are you trying to tell me something?" I whispered, keeping it low enough that no one should put me in the nice, padded room any time soon. I didn't receive any answer, only the sound of smug laughter echoing in my skull.

"Whatever you're planning, I'm not going to break and remake Brockton Bay in my image. I'm a hero, and I'm going to be a good, rule-abiding girl, like Eve. RIght, Eve?" I asked, confident that my creation would back me up.

Silence.

Where the fuck was Eve?

I looked, closed my eyes, opened them, and looked again. Nothing changed.

Eve was gone.

Well, I guess I did kind of ask for it.

Luckily enough, following her tracks wasn't very difficult, probably because she was a hyperactive girl wearing a top hat with rainbow-colored feathers. It was where the tourists had pointed me toward that greatly worried me: Eve was seen heading into the old Docks, the ugly side of the city, where couples of corpses turn up every day and gunshots were a part of the background noises.

My search slowed down when I entered the dock proper, mostly because the amount of people willing to answer questions as opposed to doing something they would most certainly regret in the morning started to rapidly approach zero.

It took me maybe half an hour before I stumbled upon my first clue: Eve's top hat, hanging off the arm of an old, abandoned forklift, one of the many that littered this old industrial wasteland.

That's...bad. Eve loved her hat. Why would she part with it? I walked over and picked it up, inspecting the headgear. There were signs of damage, the most obvious was a circular hole, like something caused by a bullet.

That's really bad.

This fruitless search was really getting onto my nerves. My construct had ran off and probably gotten herself into some kind of danger, and this part of town was being really, really uncooperative in assisting me with my search.

And then, it occurred to me that it would be easier to search for her if I just remove all geological features from this area...

At that very second, a nearby crane gave a hideous creak and crumbled in on itself. A split moment later, a white-clad form shot out from resulting wreckage and screamed something incoherent before rocketing back toward the earth.

I decided to take that as proof that God did not wish to draw the ire of Taylor Hebert and decided to give me a pointer and moved on.

Following Eve's trail wasn't that hard once I knew where to look, especially when the trail in question involved grown men dressed in Christmas-y, red and green colors lying broken on the ground, moaning incessantly. It probably had something to do with the fact that each of them sported dislocated joints on all of their limbs.

I would have taken a few seconds to admire the brutal mercy, but I had other things on my mind.

"You little bitch!" Glory Girl's being a potty mouth wasn't one of them, but the fact that I arrived to find her chasing Eve through the dock, brandishing an eleven-foot pole was.

The dock, it was never in a great state to being with, but right now, it looked like a war just broke out. Dozen of bodies, all in that red and green, definitely gang now-that-I've-thought-about-it, color, lie broken on the ground. There was a pair of sedans and a van lied upturned, belching smoke. Most worryingly of all, a motor boat had somehow left its watery confine and found a new home atop a nearby roof, its propeller still spun wildly in the air..

Yeah, and my Eve was fighting Glory Girl. The Alexandria package looked like she had seen better days. Her dress was ripped and stained, there were cuts and bruises visible on her, and her signature crown was gone.

Did Eve do that to goddamn Glory Girl? I was not sure whether I should be proud or terrified. Both? Yeah, that. Both

Ducking behind a crumbling wall, I considered my options. As much as the thought of letting my creation duke it out with one of the biggest heroes in the city excited me, I didn't really think "mortal combat with Glory Girl" was a good debut for a hero. So, I had to put a stop to this somehow.

I peeked over the wall, silently assessing the situation. Somehow, miraculously enough, Eve's high collar jacket still provided adequate protection for her face, having remained relatively whole. I knew she would stand down at my words, but I don't want to out myself before I actually started on heroics. Or ever, really.

Behind me, something exploded, and Glory Girl started tossing around really, really fluent sailor speak. Right, no time to waste.

I took off my jacket and wrapped it around my face, followed by putting on a pair of welding goggles that I'd bought. That was the best I had. Now, time to stop this before these children do something they would regret.

"Hey!" I shouted, popping out from behind my cover just as Eve was bearing down on Glory Girl with the motorboat. My voice was apparently enough to force them to cease their fight and turned to look at me.

"You!" I shouted, pointing toward Eve and opened my mouth to issue a command before snapping it shut. I need to think carefully, and not call her by her name. "Pet, to me."

Pet? Pet!

Eeyup!

Pet.

Yep. Pet.

With titanic effort, I managed to not strangle myself then and there. Fortunately, or unfortunately, it depends, Eve understood and immediately disengaged from Glory Girl to crawl up to my feet and knelt there. Evidently, she noticed my ire and started making plaintive sounds at the back of her throat.

Luckily, the local heroine saved me from any further communication with the crazy voices by dropping out of the sky no more than five feet away from my face, her teeth gritted and her eyes blazing with fury.

"Pet? Really? You have five seconds to explain everything before I stomp you both flat." She glowered, and I could feel power practically radiating from her.

Actually, she was actually radiating...something, trying to bend me, trying to subjugate me. That's…

Ah leedle too fazt, iv hyu ask me. See, hyu gotta take dem out fer sem goot, konquerink, slauterink time 'fore hyu bust out ze hideous crimes againzt humanity.

Aye, but she is pretty, and quite bold, too. I like her. Maybe we-

And with that, I shut them all off and silently thanked my jacket for hiding my blush. At my side, Eve made little mewling sounds. Before I could discern any meaning, shot off toward the capsized van and tore off the doors. Its content spilled out, dozens of wooden crates that smashed open against the concrete.

Guns. The van was filled with guns. Not just any ordinary peashooter. It was packed to the brim with assault rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and even a couple of rocket launchers.

"Huh…" Glory Girl said eloquently, looking a little deflated, as Eve leapt off from the van and ran toward us, stopping at my feet and looked up to me expectantly.

"I think what she's trying to say is that she came across a gun trafficking deal and decided to do a little vigilante work. You should have scoped it out first before attacking my girl, miss." I said, chuckling at how New Wave's poster girl was fidgeting and glancing around, occasionally scratching her elbows and neck like a scolded child. Eve was practically radiating smugness.

"Ye..ah, uhm.. heh, no hard feelings?" The blonde offered with a hopeful look in her eyes that made it really, really hard to be angry. With a sigh, I gave a wordless nod and turned my attention back to my construct.

"As for you." I turned to Eve, my hands folded and eyes glaring."I appreciate your initiative, but I don't want to see you run off guns blazing on your own, or I'll stop ignoring leash law, clear?" I scolded. My construct shrank into herself and made little high-pitched squeaking sounds.

I rolled my eyes and pressed Eve's top hat back on her head. She immediately squealed and started fussing over it, having apparently already forgot the current situation.

Still grinning at her antics, I turned back toward the white-clad heroine and offered a hand toward her.

"So, uh… water under the bridge?" I asked, a little uncertain as to how to salvage this. Luckily, Glory Girl caught on to my attempt and took my outstretched hand with a smile.

"Sure! Just don't tell anyone about this, please? My mom and sister are going to give me hell over this," She pleaded hopefully.

Glory Girl just begged me to not tattle on her.

I nodded stupidly, still a little dazed and confused as to the chain of events that had lead to this. Glory Girl responded with a big grin. She looked like a kid who just got let off the hook for free, if you ask me.

"So, new capes, huh? Got any plan for the near future?" She asked. Suddenly, I was very, very conscious of her pin-up model figure. Soon, I realized that blood was rushing to my face and my mind was wandering again.

Make her hyu! Make her hyu! Firzt ledee ov ze zereglio!

Satyricus, show some restraint, at least.

Yah! ze leether vun! Vith ze studs!

Right, blaming that on the voices.

"No, not really." I answered, desperately hoping that she didn't have secret mind-reading powers. "I want to be a hero, but I'm also not sure on the how yet."

Glory Girl smiled and slapped me on the back. The force sent me stumbling. Judging from the shit eating grin on her face, it was intentional.

"Well, you've already done good, busting this deal. Let me give you some advices that everyone insisted on pounding into my head: Try to limit on the, well…" She shrugged and gestured at the gang members all around us. "That. People always give me a lot of flak for, ehem, 'excessive force'. The PRT doesn't like it."

"Right, thanks." I nodded, silently contemplating on that as I made several adjustments to future operations. No excessive force.

That didn't count mental trauma, right?

Glory Girl didn't give me any time to think on that. She was already in my face somehow, grin still wide.

"So, lemme ask something: pet?"

I squeaked and felt even more blood rushed to my face.

"Its…. it's complicated!" I managed to force out. There had to be a way to explain my current predicament, right?

"Uuh...huuhh…" The heroine squinted. She circled me, looking me up and down.. "I'm not going to ask right now, but if it turns out you're some kind of freaky, Heartbreaker knock-off, I'm going to make sure you feel it in the morning."

Oooh darlink! Sure hyu vill...

Well, at least somebody got a laugh out of this.

Luckily enough for everyone involved, the blonde heroine decided to drop the matter for the time being. The following period of peace and grace was a godsend for me. I really needed a timeout to get my emotions sorted before I started doing something the East Coast would regret.

Seriously! Glory Girl just compared me to Heartbreaker! How dare she? Heartbreaker was an unimaginative, uninspired hack. Give me his power and I would be well on my way to global d-Stop. Heroic thoughts, Taylor. Heroic thoughts.

"Hey, you want to do something fun?" Glory Girl, being the beautiful, knight in shining armor that she was, rescued me from my brain. "Backup won't be here for another thirty minutes at best. Let's do something fun!" She finished with a inappropriately hopeful look, I noticed Eve perking up and mirrored her expression perfectly.

It was a honest to god social invitation! One of the biggest heroes of Brockton Bay wanted to 'do something fun' with me! She wanted to have fun with me!

...Too easy. I have standards.

"We can interrogate the ring leader for details on the deal?" I blurted out lamely and immediately regretted the words that came out of my mouth. Right, let's bond over torture! Great fucking job.

What's wrong with torture?

Cultural thing, probably.

Ah!

Glory Girl, however, started cackling, of all things.

I liked her cackle. It sounded nice. I was a little jealous, to be honest. Maybe I could get her to show me?

"Oh, I like you already! C'mon, my sister compiled and forced me to memorize a list of acceptable field interrogation techniques that wouldn't land me in trouble. Let's make these scumbags regret their poor choices in life, shall we?"

And thus, me and Glory Girl bonded over torture.

It was great. We had a good day.