Chapter 7

Armsmaster carefully walked forward.

The PRT had gotten several emergency phone calls from people living in the area saying that there were multiple explosions happening and a potential gang fight occurring. Colin had been on patrol nearby and had heard the noises as well. He had been enroute to investigate when Console had informed him on what was being reported. When Colin had arrived on site a few minutes later he discovered that the callers had not be exaggerating for hysterical effect. He had found evidence of incendiary explosions, flash freezes, spatial distortions, and even several areas of stopped time. Considering the proximity to known ABB hangouts and the fact that the Asian gang had recently recruited a Tinker, Armsmaster had a pretty good idea who was responsible for this though he wondered who they were fighting.

Colin had already radioed the PRT to tell them to dispatch a squad or two of troopers. This whole area would have to be cordoned off until he could do a complete sweep. The last thing they needed was some unexploded ordnance going off because a civilian decided to poke it with a stick.

Still, the detailed sweep would have to wait. Right now Armsmaster was just checking to see if any gang members were still in the area and had to be detained or if anyone needed medical attention. Standard first responder stuff. The worst part was seeing the remains of people caught in the various blasts. Colin didn't want to think of what their last moments had been like.

The auditory sensors in his helmet informed Colin of small noise coming from one of the containers several doors down and began streaming relevant data to his visor display.

Sounds like sobbing, pitch and frequency indicate it's likely a female teenager, Colin thought as he read the information. Probably a victim of the attack but it could be a trap.

Colin tightened his grip on his halberd as he inched his way towards the sound. He could tell the source of the noise was coming from a open storage room where the roll-up door had already been raised.

Once he got close enough Colin readied his weapon and then leapt in front of the open door and had to immediately bite back a curse. Colin had been to Endbringer fights, he had come across Merchants so strung out on drugs that they had neglected hygiene to the point of being walking biohazards, he had seen pictures of some of the Slaughterhouse Nine's victims, but the person before him had clearly been caught in the blast from a spatial distortion.

How is she still alive? Colin wondered.

The person before him was laying limply up against the wall, limbs splayed out, her chin resting on her chest as she cried to herself.

She looked at though she had fallen into a taffy pulling machine. Her legs were so elongated that Colin wasn't sure the muscles were strong enough to support her own weight. She would probably be over ten feet tall if she was able to stand up. But it wasn't just that the girl had been...expanded lengthwise, for lack of a better term. Her right arm been split down the middle all the way to her elbow as if the space between the bones had been stretched to the point where the tissue could no longer hold together, though it appeared to be healing. Her torso was pinched in the middle, as if she had been wearing a corset that was tied far too tightly, along with the corresponding skinny locations on her arms suggesting that that area had been shrunk horizontally. Colin could even make out a pulsating blob underneath the skin on her neck-

Wait, that looks like it's beating. Is that her heart?

Colin cleared his throat to get the girl's attention. He didn't want to startle her, not with the condition she was in.

She managed to stop crying long enough to lift her head so that if fell back against the wall she was propped up against. One of her eyes took up a full third of her face and her mouth looked like it had been moved somewhat off center.

The girl let out a sound that almost sounded like a laugh. "Armsmaster, why is it you're always the one to show up after I fight the ABB?"

Even if Colin's software hadn't already identified the voice and displayed the girl's name across his HUD he would have recognized her given how often he seemed to be running into her lately.

"Ms. Hebert," Colin said, neutrally. "Is it safe here? Anyone still around?"

"Just us," she said while looking up at the ceiling. "Bakuda wanted to stick around and see how long it took me to die, for science, but said it was more important that she catch up to the Undersiders. Took the ABB goons with her."

Armsmater relaxed his guarded stance and took a step forward to kneel down. "Alright, in that case is there anything I can do for you? You don't look like you should be moved."

"Call Panacea, I suppose, and hope she can fix me."

Colin was a bit surprised at her tone of voice. She didn't sound like she was pleading and wanting immediate medical attention, she didn't sound hysterical either, she sounded almost resigned. Like she didn't expect it to work.

Maybe she doesn't expect to live long enough for Panacea to arrive?

"I'll call New Wave immediately and tell them you need Panacea, but I need to sweep the area to ensure it's safe. Shout if you need anything and I'll come right back."


By the time Colin had returned to Taylor's location her power had begun kicking into effect and she was seemingly more active. It did make Colin wonder how closely he had missed the fight with Bakuda if her power still hadn't healed her all the way. He recalled that it had been pretty fast acting in the fight with Lung.

Her legs, while still long, had bulked up to support their increased size. Her right arm was technically healed in that the wound had closed, though the split hadn't fused back together. Her head was growing, seemingly to match the disproportionate eyeball, and her neck was thickening to hold the extra weight.

Taylor also wasn't as emotional as she had been when Colin first found her. He assumed it was because she wasn't in as much pain now. Colin knelt down in front of Taylor, unsure of what to do for her so he decided to use the time constructively.

"I got in contact with Brandish, Glory Girl is bringing Panacea. She should be here shortly. Can you give me a summary of what happened?"

Taylor sighed and stared blankly at a spot on the wall straight ahead. Just as the silence was stretching on long enough that Colin was about to speak up she finally answered.

"I was skipping school. Didn't want to deal with the bullying. Not after Panacea's bombshell." Taylor turned to look Colin square in the face. "You know how we thought my power was some kind of adaptation to threats? Turns out it has started adapting to Panacea's power. She isn't sure how many more times she'll be able to turn me back to normal. And considering how every single time I get in a fight I...well…"

She gestured at herself with her three hands.

"I mean look at me!"

"So you were skipping school…" Colin said, trying to steer the conversation back on track. While he felt terrible for her, he was not about to try comforting a teenage girl whose body was mutating every time she got hurt. Especially one he had seen naked several days prior, that seemed like a scenario hand picked by God specifically to get Colin to put his foot in his mouth.

"I was on top of the apartment building across the street when the explosions started. I went down to investigate and found the Undersiders fleeing from Bakuda." Taylor shifted how she was sitting as her torso expanded slightly. "They may be criminals but they were wounded so I stayed to keep Bakuda busy so they could run."

"That was...noble of you." Colin decided against saying what he was really thinking, which was that it had been stupid, dangerous, and wasteful.

"So she shot me with a bomb that made everything go all wibbly wobbly. Bakuda was pretty surprised I survived."

"Your power kept you alive long enough to be an oddity to slow her down," Colin said.

Taylor chuckled. "Yeah, she might have caught up to the Undersiders if it wasn't for me...she didn't catch up with them, did she?"

"I didn't find their bodies or any additional signs of fighting beyond this area so it appears they got away."

"That's good," Taylor said, closing her eyes. "That's good."

Colin was going to speak up but decided against it after noticing Taylor's breathing had changed, indicating she had fallen asleep. The poor girl was exhausted. He decided to let her rest until Panacea arrived.


"So?" Taylor asked. "Can you fix me?"

Panacea, sitting on the ground next to Taylor, holding her hand, didn't immediately answer.

Colin was standing off to the side, next to Glory Girl, who was trying (and failing) not to stare too much. Colin didn't blame her. If this had been his first time meeting her he would have assumed Taylor was a Case 53.

At least she's stopped changing.

"I...maybe," Panacea finally said.

"Maybe?" Colin, Glory Girl, and Taylor all asked at the same time.

Panacea gave a frustrated glance back at Colin and Glory Girl before turning back to Taylor. "There are unchangeable parts of your DNA. At the moment they aren't in the majority but they are more numerous than last time so I can't do the same swapping trick as last time. I could theoretically get your body to just ignore the unchangeable parts by making the other parts of your DNA...shout louder, I guess would be a good analogy. The problem is this: a good chunk of everyone's DNA is just junk data. Leftover information from our ancestors and whatnot. Some of that stuff is junk for a reason, like ancient diseases and non-human DNA. Now, on a normal person I could make that stuff harmless but if I make that DNA out yell the DNA you're currently using your power could react pretty badly before I have the chance to do that. Then again, it might not do anything at all. You got a stronger sense of smell at the bank because of Grue's darkness. That seems like a flimsy pretext of a threat but it's taken this long to adapt to me? Your power seems to be a little finicky in what it reacts to."

"So….?" Taylor asked in a hopeful manner.

"Um, right sorry. Got a little rambly there." Panacea paused to compose herself. "Okay, so there is a thing I can try that might work...or it might make things even worse. Won't know which it is until I make the attempt."

Taylor's smile with tinged with sadness. "I have two right hands and am taller than Lung was when I fought him. Hard to think of how this could get worse. Go right ahead and try your thing, I trust you."

Colin wasn't sure he agreed with Taylor's statement. He could think of plenty of ways this could get worse but before he could voice that opinion Amy had already announced she was starting.

With as unsure as Panacea is about the results, we should really have done this in a controlled environment, Colin thought to himself.

But none of the girls here were technically under his command and if they wanted to do it here he couldn't really stop them.

So Colin stood there and watched as Panacea attempted to use her powers to alter Taylor's DNA and make the girl look normal again.

Wait a second...how is she able to change the girl's DNA? That's not healing. Now that I think about it, what specifically did she do on the previous occasions?

Colin's thoughts were put on hold Taylor's body began visibly changing. Her legs started shrinking and her head began reshaping itself.

Good, looks like it's working.

But then something went wrong. Taylor stiffened up and a look of distress came across her face. Her arms began thickening rapidly while tiny polyps began appearing across the skin.

"Shit, no! I got this, I got this!" Panacea said frantically.

Taylor's legs and head stopping shrinking while the growth of her arms started to slow. But as her arms finally stopped growing her legs began altering, it was particularly noticeable in the joints which seemed to be changing their orientation.

"Ames-" Glory Girl began to say.

"Don't distract me!"

Glory Girl looked at Armsmaster with a distressed expression on her face. Colin could only frown and shrug his shoulders. He didn't want to interrupt Panacea in the middle of her power usage but if things kept going downhill he might have to, for everyone's sake.

Taylor's legs stopped changing, presumably as that was where Panacea was focusing on, only for the Brute to open her mouth and a foot-long tongue unrolled itself and lazily waved itself in front of the healer.

"I know, I know, getting to that!"

Colin watched as the tongue started to shrivel up only to notice that polyps had begun growing again, at an even faster and more numerous rate.

This is not going well.

Colin tried to interject, "Panacea-"

"I can do this!" she shrieked.

It was then Taylor's skin began growing what appeared to be armored plates around the polyps and Colin decided he had to intervene.

Striding forward, he grabbed Panacea by the shoulder and yanked her back, breaking her contact with Taylor.

"Glory Girl, please subdue Panacea before she does anymore harm," Armsmaster said as he examined her patient. He could hear the two sisters arguing but he tuned it out. Taylor was continuing to mutate right before his eyes...as well as right before her eyes. The polyps had finished growing and had turned out to be eyestalks.

How on Earth was the information for eyestalks hidden in her DNA? Or did they form because of her power? What could they be a response to?

"Ms. Hebert?" What do I even say to her now? "How do you feel?"

She let out a mirthless chuckle. With her now expanded torso it sounded more like thunder rumbling than a laugh.

"I can feel the bones in my hips rearranging. I can feel the air on my suddenly new eyeballs. I can feel my skin thickening up. I feel-"

"I-I get the picture. It was a stupid question, my apologies."

"Your apologies?" Taylor growled out. "What do you have to apologize for. It's not like I'm a freak of nature because of you."

"HEY!" Glory Girl shouted angrily. "Don't be mad at my sister. She was just trying to help and she warned you this might happen. You agreed to it."

This is bad, things are escalating too quickly. Colin could feel the effects of Glory Girl's aura ratcheting up and he did not want it affecting the already emotional Taylor. "Please refrain from making the situation worse while I am talking to Ms. Hebert."

Glory Girl huffed but didn't say anything else so Colin turned his attention back to Taylor.

"I realize you're upset but I need you to calm down. I don't want to have to restrain anybody."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Taylor bellowed as she stood up. "Look at me! I'm a monster!"

"Ms. Hebert…" Colin subtly primed the containment foam sprayer in his halberd. He really didn't want this to turn into a fight. While he was confident he could subdue Taylor without either person getting seriously hurt, he was less confident of the outcome if Glory Girl decided to involve herself.

"It's easy for you to be calm! You've got a great power. Meanwhile, I'm stuck with one that can outwit a healer that supposed to be world famous!"

"I said leave my sister out of this, it's not her fault!"

Colin only had time to think, Damn it Glory Girl, as he felt her aura flare up again. He could see from the expression on her face that Taylor felt it too.

"And stop doing that to me!" Taylor shrieked as she lunged forward.

Colin brought his halberd up and unleashed the spray of foam. It began expanding almost immediately until Taylor was completely covered and stuck to the ground.

"I'm sorry I had to do that Ms. Hebert," Colin said before turning around to look at the Dallon sisters. "And Glory Girl, I believe I told to stop making the situation worse and instead you went and provoked her, both with your words and your aura. You can be sure I'll be talking with the Director about this."

"Hey, we don't work for you. We didn't have to come out here!"

"You're right, you didn't. But you did, that means you need to follow my commands-"

"Bullshit! I'm not gonna stand around while someone we helped at your request badmouths my sister!"

"If you can't control yourself around emotional victims of a Tinker attack than I'll be recommending to your mother that you not go out at all until Bakuda is arrested."

"You wouldn't!"

Colin was vaguely aware, in the back of his head, that arguing with a teenager was not an effective use of his time. But damn if it doesn't feel cathartic. Especially since Glory Girl still hadn't gotten control of her aura.

"Um, guys?" Panacea said timidly.

"What!?" Colin and Glory Girl both shouted simultaneously before realizing what they had just done and cringed.

"I admit I'm not as familiar with crime fighting and stuff as you two, but is that supposed to be happening?" Panacea asked as she pointed behind them.

Colin turned and saw a sight that he had seen many times before, but normally under drastically different circumstances. The containment foam, which was designed to hold all but the highest rated Brutes and Breakers, was melting as if the reagent had been applied.

"No, her power must be breaking her out," Colin answered.

"So what? I can still kick her butt."

"Victoria…"

"Glory Girl!"

But before either Panacea or Colin could say any more the containment foam had dissolved enough for Taylor to come bursting out, a snarl on her now unrecognizable face. Her jaw had altered so that it looked oversized for her head, like it wouldn't close properly, and it was now overflowing with green saliva that sizzled as droplets hit the ground.

"Just try and kick my ass, Barbie Girl!"

"Everyone stand down!" Colin shouted.

But it was too late. Emotions were running high for everyone and Taylor was too obvious a 'threat' to pass up. Glory Girl launched herself into the air and collided with Taylor in a football-like tackle, carrying them both through the wall behind them.

"Panacea, stay here!" Colin ordered as he ran forward.

When he caught up the two heroines Glory Girl had Taylor pinned to the ground and was repeatedly punching her in the face.

"Just. Stay down. And. I'll stop. Hitting you," Glory Girl said between punches.

"GLORY GIRL! Stop this instant!" Colin shouted with as much force as he could muster.

Glory Girl glanced up from her foe to look at Armsmaster, which he realized was a mistake as Taylor used it as an opportunity to wrap her massive left hand around Glory Girl's neck and roll the two of them over.

"Damn it. VOORHEES! Stop this instant!" Colin shouted.

Luckily, Taylor didn't start punching Glory Girl. She seemed content to keep her pinned so Colin allowed himself to relax, slightly.

"Alright, let's all calm down and step back. Voorhees, please release Glory Girl."

"Why? So the bitch can attack me again?"

"Who you calling a bitch, bitch?" Glory Girl said as she struggled.

"You're both angry, you both want to vent. I get it. However, you've both hit the other one so why don't we call it even and break it off?"

The two girls looked at each other, neither seemed willing to be the first to say anything.

The decision was taken away from them, however, when the saliva that had been overflowing from Taylor's mouth and dripping down onto Glory Girl started doing something. It had actually been dripping since Taylor had flipped the pair over but for some reason it was only at this moment that the acid started to affect her.

Glory Girl's voice started out annoyed but it quickly gained intensity and volume until she was screaming. "Hey, ow ow ow oW OW OW!"

Glory Girl thrashed around and grabbed at her chest while Taylor released her hold and backed off.

"Vicky!"

These people! Colin moaned to himself as Panacea ran forward. I realize Glory Girl is injured but I told Panacea to stay put. This is like herding cats and-damn it!

Voorhees had turned tail and run. Colin was now unsure whether he should pursue her or stay with the Dallon sisters.

I don't want her to think I'm trying to chase her down but in her current emotional state she really shouldn't be alone. If I take off after her Glory Girl might follow once she's healed and decide to restart the fight...

After weighing his options, Colin made his decision. I'll remain here until one of the adults from New Wave shows up. I know where Voorhees lives, she'll turn up there eventually and we can talk this whole thing out.