Four days later and I was in my slightly upgraded costume, walking toward the downtown PRT building. Turns out the Wards were hosted there, instead of at the Protectorate base on the oil rig. Kinda odd, but I guess that made it easier for them to get to it every day without standing out.

It was a pretty nice day today, the snow was melting really fast. Lots of water running in the gutters, making little channels in the slushy snow. Icicles dripping all over the place. Most of it would be gone by March, save for the huge mountains piled up in parking-lot corners.

I get some stares as I walk, but that's to be expected. It's daytime, just an hour after school normally lets out, and I'm fully covered up in what could almost be motorcycle gear, but is a little too costume-ish. I try to walk with confidence. They don't know who I am, I'm a cape, I have power, I can do this!

In addition to the tough but worn leather jacket, thick military boots and sleek teardrop helmet, I have some of the thickest jeans I could find in the men's isle of a discount store. All the better to help with my disguise now that I'm going to be showing myself in the daylight. I have crudely spray painted some wings on the back, as feathered as I could get them, to make it seem like angel wings. That's about as clear of a signal I can do for 'Good Guy Here', as is possible. I also added a little halo around the top of my helmet, in case the subtlety of the wings is lost on anyone.

Scattered under my over-sized clothing is an assortment of thin, armored but flexible guards. Mostly the kind you wear for rollerblading or biking. Knee-pads, elbow, and some arm and shin guards too. I even added some padding to the shoulders of the jacket, although that is more to pretend to be a boy than for safety.

I'm kinda glad that I have a good power for getting around, as it means that I never have to worry about leading someone to my house. It won't matter if anyone tries to follow me back home after this meeting, I can lose them easy unless they are really determined about it and have some speedster on my tail. Maybe that's a bit paranoid, but better safe than sorry!

I glance up at the PRT building up ahead. It's a fair sized steel and glass structure. Reflective windows mirror the bright blue of the sky overhead, helping send beams of sun down to lance the snow.

I need to cross the street to go in. It's about time for the appointment I set up and I don't want to be late. I had made sure that it would be after school so they think I'm still a student, but traffic is jammed from the start of rush-hour and the nearest crossing has a large pool of water under it. Occasionally ripples and splashes are sent up from the cars crossing it.

I'd teleport across but I'm still trying to keep my powers, my existence, a secret from the general public. I want a good solid game plan before I finally let loose, and I still have tons of notes to make, things to test, and exercise to do. At least I know that the PRT won't release info about me to the public until I start to actually do something.

I'll just have to walk around to the farther crossing, I won't be early, but just on time is fine.

When I finally get there, the revolving doors give me easy access. I see various employees in suits hurrying in and out of the building, talking in groups. A team of four PRT officers are on standby, each stationed at a different area of the lobby, outfitted in the best equipment money could buy. All have chain mesh and kevlar vests, helmets that cover their faces, and firearms.

The equipment differed a bit, as two of them had grenade launchers hanging from straps on their shoulders with bandoliers of grenades. The other two had what appeared at first glance to be flame throwers but were probably foam guns. Were they to pull the triggers, they would eject a thick, frothing spray of foam, enough to contain all but the strongest and fastest villains.

In an amusing contrast to this, there is also a gift shop that is thick with kids (who probably came from Arcadia to be here so fast), sporting a selection of action figures, posters, video games and clothing. Four-foot tall pictures of the various Protectorate and Wards team members were placed at regular intervals around the lobby, each backed by bright colors.

There was a cheery guy waiting patiently by the front desk, smiling handsomely at anybody who happened to glance his way. I figured he would be the guy to ask about my appointment. Some kind of receptionist for sure.

I walk up, letting out the breath that I've been holding since I walked in, and ask in a low voice, "I'm here for a tour of the Wards? 4 pm? I'm supposed to tell you I left a message?"

The man blinks, nods at me and says in a surprisingly thin and reedy voice, "Ah yes, 4 pm right on the dot. Right this way sir!"

He leads the way to a small, nicely appointed waiting room, and gestures to a seat. "Your guide will be here shorty."

As he walks back out to the lobby, I look around for entertainment but can't see a single newspaper or even a magazine. The seats are fairly plush and comfortable, the art bland, and I hope I don't have to wait here long since there is nothing to do or read. But not more than half a minute later, in walks Miss Militia. Wow, I was not expecting one of the Protectorate member's to come show me around. Figured I'd get a flunky at most.

She's the type to stand out in almost any crowd, just has this kind of energy around her. She directs what is probably a smile at me, although all I can see is the corners of her eyes crinkling up.

She's wearing a modified military uniform, tight enough to accentuate her curves. She's sporting her usual scarf wrapped around her lower face, with an American flag embroidered on it, and a similar sash around her waist. Her trademark weapon is only a dagger at her side right now, in a simple sheath.

"Hello, I'm Miss Militia and I'll be your guide today."

I get back up to my feet, and nod at her. "Uh, hi. Wow, I didn't think you would be the one showing me around. I didn't think I would get more than maybe a PRT officer... So what's next?" I ask hesitantly.

"Well first we just have to go through a brief security screening to make sure you don't have anything dangerous on you. It is non-invasive and I promise it can't tell us who you are, only if you have weapons on you. Incidentally, it would be best to declare that sort of thing now before we go on. This includes biological and explosive weapons, as well as mundane weapons."

"Nope, nothing like that. Normally I'd have a small knife on me, but I figured it wouldn't be cool to bring it here."

She nods, opens the door that is opposite the one I came in by, and leisurely leads me down a corridor that is very white, and very long. At the end are two more PRT officers. They nod at Miss Militia and one crisply salutes her. "Report is all clear Ma'am. No identifiable hazards."

Oh. I get it, the entire passageway probably had sensors and stuff all behind it, disguised as a really boring hallway. Smart. I could have just ported past, but that would get me foamed and raise alarms. Good thing I'm not a bad-guy. Trying to sneak into this place would be a bad idea.

Miss Militia leads me to a very impressive looking elevator. Interlocking sections of metal unfold and slide apart as we approach, then close behind us. The ride is so smooth that it is nearly impossible to tell that the elevator is moving.

"We are about to visit the Wards main headquarters. This tends to be where they hang out when on duty or on call. Each Ward has quarters here for when they need to sleep after a busy night and can't take the time to go home. Debriefing after missions happens here, along with getting new ones."

She explains as we walk down a long featureless steel corridor. I'm guessing there are more sensors scanning us, seems like a sensible thing to do.

We arrive at a security terminal, and she leans forward to let it scan her eyes. There is a pause after she straightens up again where nothing happens. Not exactly what I was expecting... is it broken?

As if she can sense my confusion, she mentions, "We are just waiting a bit to give them time to get masks on, in case any of them forgot that today was the meeting with you. The red light will turn green when we are good to go."

Ah, I hadn't even noticed the red light as being significant before, just thought it was a power on type indicator.

I notice that Miss Militia seems to be immune to fidgeting as we wait, but her weapon occasionally flashes from one type of weapon to another. Perhaps this is her version of a bored tap of a finger? The little light goes green suddenly, steel doors click, then whisk open with a barely audible whirr. She ushers me inside, her weapon having settled into a rifle of some kind slung across her back.

The room was roughly dome-shaped, but there were sections of wall that looked like they were able to be dismantled and rearranged along various tracks in the floor and ceiling. A series of computers and large monitors were networked at one side of the room, surrounded by over a half-dozen chairs, most filled with Wards. One of the monitors was displaying a big flashing red 0:00, while others were showing camera images of key locations in the city.

All of the Wards were looking at me in obvious curiosity as Miss Militia introduced us. (Not that they needed any introductions, but I suppose it was only polite.)

"Aegis is the current leader, next oldest is Clockblocker, then Gallant." They all nod at me or wave as their names are mentioned.

"Then we have Shadow Stalker, Kid Win, whom you have already met, and Vista." The only one who fails to react is the mysterious Shadow Stalker.

Then she addresses the Wards, "This is a new prospective member, currently no cape name. You guys will be helping us test out his powers in a half-hour, after the meet and greet. I do hope you read the briefing Kid Win gave us? I am here mostly in a supervisory capacity, but I'll leave the rest up to you guys."

Then she steps back and out of the way, leaving me all alone and staring six other capes in the face. I gulp deeply out of sudden nerves.

Gallant immediately lives up to his name, "Hey, lets not just all stare at the new guy. Come on over, take a seat. I promise we don't bite."

I quickly move to do so, at least it will put me in the semi-circle's arc, instead of being the focus of it.

"So..." Asks Clockblocker, "Teleporter huh?"

"Yeah, wanna see?" I offer as I stare briefly at the moving clock imagery on his costume. I think he took his theme a bit too far, but it sure is distracting so maybe it's useful for him.

"Of course! Plus if we see it, we can maybe help you test stuff out better later-on right?" Vista replies with a visible grin. She seems like a bouncy, cheerful kid.

I oblige and make a quick port in front of me, a second self standing up and doing a sort of 'ta-dah' hand gesture. This time I let my sitting self linger for a few seconds before melting it. Then I sit back down in the just vacated chair.

"Woah, hey, you said you teleported, but there were two of you for a bit there!" Kid Win exclaims. "You didn't do that last time!" I can't help but chuckle at how gobsmacked he sounds.

"Yeah, like I told you, I've been busy testing and figuring stuff out. Turns out I can leave a sort of 'afterimage' behind. It doesn't last long though."

I'm kind of proud of this little bit of misdirection. It's true enough, but it makes it seem as if I ported forwards and it's only a temporary illusion or clone left behind. Both are actually the real me, but it's safer if people think that only one is real. I figure I'll let them in on the secret if I decide to join up, along with my real gender and identity.

"Well, Kid Win said you were having trouble coming up with a cape name, how about Afterimage?" Aegis suggests with a casual shrug, showing off his impressive muscles.

"I actually was seriously thinking about it, but then some cape in the UK took it, literally a day before I met Kid Win. Talk about heartbreaking." I groan playfully.

"Ooch, that does suck." Vista wrinkles up her nose in sympathy.

"Oh boo-hoo, who cares what name message boy picks? He might not even get to keep it in the end." Shadow Stalker finally stopped lounging around looking disinterested long enough to direct this caustic remark at me, wow. What kind of bug crawled up her ass and died?

Aegis tries to calm her down with a low, soothing tone. "Hey, it's not his fault that the higher ups decided that you needed a bit of a more 'family friendly re-branding'."

"In a week she's getting re-branded as 'Myst Shadow'." Clockblocker gleefully whispers to me in a fake and loud whisper from behind his hand. "She was really insistent on keeping the 'Shadow' part, but they wanted to ditch the Stalker bit, said it sent the 'wrong message'. Needless to say, she is getting a whole new, less scary costume to go with it and is not pleased."

Shadow Stalker (soon to be Myst Shadow), just crosses her arms and sulks, ignoring this gossip. I can almost feel the anger radiating off her. I'm sure Gallant (who is supposed to be able to read emotions off of nearby people), can probably taste it, it's so thick.

"Sooo..." Vista nervously tries to change the subject. "Do you want to know anything about the Wards program? They said you were only considering joining?"

"Yeah, I want to keep my options open for now. I already know the basics of it, I did my research. The Wards program has lots of benefits, but also lots of problems." I shrug and leave it at that.

They probably don't want me to get into how the Protectorate seems sometimes more concerned about image, and less about stopping villains... Especially after that little bit of anger at 're-branding' from Shadow Stalker.

"Ok, we can talk about that later then, maybe after we've shown you how cool our power testing facility is?" Gallant offers with a smile. It's pretty much the only part of his face that can be seen, but at least its a nice smile. I wonder briefly if he practices it in a mirror.

"What other stuff can you do? Any current limits so far? Just so we don't duplicate anything you have already tested..." He trails off expectantly.

Right, time to get down to business, "Ok, so I think I have a mass limit, no more than 120lb, or thereabouts. It includes my costume too. So realistically its more like 110lb. I only have to touch it to be able to take it with me, and I can leave up to 3 afterimages at once, if I teleport fast enough. I can choose not to leave them behind too. They aren't good for much yet, but they do carry out actions that I was about to do, or want them to do, for the few seconds until they melt into ash."

I shrug at them, and shift nervously on my chair. All this attention is starting to creep me out a bit, no doubt leftover hangups from school, when the only attention I got was the bad kind.

"Oh and so far, everything is just line of sight only. It's one reason why I'll be happy to test things with you, to see if there are ways of extending my range. I know its kinda short range compared to some teleporters who can go anywhere they have been before, so I'm hoping I can extend it with some tinker-tech."

"Oh, I can probably help you test that!" Kid Win replies with a bit of excitement.

"I'm also kinda curious about momentum and injurys, and plan to test that here too since I'm sure you have stuff I can use safely. Otherwise I would have had to try some tricky and dangerous experiments alone. I figure better to do it when I have people who can stop me from getting hurt too badly if it goes wrong. But no other powers that I know of."

As I finish my summary I see that most of them are serious, paying attention to me.

Vista is biting her bottom lip as she thinks about what I have said and is clearly trying to come up with something new to test. Clockblocker is scratching his head, but he was nodding along as I explained so he probably just has no ideas that I haven't already covered.

Kid Win is hard to read since he has a full face helmet, but sounded excited a second ago. Gallant seems to have had an idea since his body posture seems eager and slightly more energetic than before the summary. Shadow Stalker hasn't moved except to shake her head and sigh. She seems like a real downer, an instigator of the kind of drama I was hoping to avoid.

After a few seconds where no-one speaks up, Gallant clears his throat and offers up his suggestion, "My idea is, what happens if we, aka Clockblocker, time-freeze an afterimage? It probably won't tell us much, but it could prove interesting. Power interactions are always neat to explore."

"Oooh, lets try it! We don't even have to go down to the exercise room for this one!" Clockblocker at least seems enthusiastic about the idea, and from what I know of his power, it can't possibly hurt me. The wiki on him says that he can basically freeze people in time for a few minutes, and nothing can affect them until they unfreeze again.

"Ok," I nod, "lets try it."

Unfortunately Shadow Stalker sees fit to interrupt just as I'm about to do it. "Really? What's the Frikking point? Messenger boy is useless! He can't move people around, he looks like a beanpole so he can't fight worth a damn. All he can do is teleport into the waiting arms of an enemy and die. Horribly. Probably the most useless teleporter I've ever heard of. All he'd be good for is delivering packages."

She snorts with derision, "Heh, Messenger... That's all you are. Maybe you should give up this notion of fighting villains and go home, get a job with FedEx."

I wish that she could see my glare right now, but I'm not going to show her my face just to make my displeasure known. Instead I ignore her and cascade out my full array of selves, finding with surprise that I am almost able to make a fifth. I'm closer than I've ever gotten before. Maybe anger or adrenaline helps? I had been trying meditation and calmness, but perhaps I needed the opposite...

I focus on the experiment and create my selves to be all near Clockblocker, save for the last one created whom they all think is the real me. He is surprised, still looking at Shadow Stalker in what looks like shock at the outburst, but reaches out and touches one of my selves. It disappears from my awareness as it freezes into place, but I don't feel as if I could replace it, it's still somehow there.

I take the time to now focus on Shadow Stalker, in the last second before I have to start forcibly dissolving my oldest selves. (I'm keeping the exact duration a secret for now.) I want to know why she is being so hostile since I don't want to have a hero as an enemy, and I really don't think my powers are that bad. I rapidly come to a startling conclusion. But... That can't be right?! There's no way that... Sophia?

The tone, the voice, the body posture, the same meanness of spirit.

Sophia.

No no no nononononono... That is part of my old life. That's a school problem. I don't have school anymore, so it should no longer be a problem! How did she manage to somehow beat me here?! No, I'm thinking irrationally, emotionally, I need the calm of the wave, of the balance. I quickly cascade again, only three selves now since the fourth is still time locked.

Clarity.

I can see Gallant starting to get upset, worried, in the second that has passed since I figured it out. The others are just staring at me in confusion as it looks like I'm just teleporting randomly now. No doubt Gallant has picked up on my spike in emotions.

Crap. I'm trapped. I can't just leave. There are no windows, and I'm deep underground.

Trapped.

Panic.

Ok, so Sophia is Shadow Stalker. A cape. Somehow the PRT is too incompetent to notice that a Ward is bullying other students, to the point of helping shove one in a locker... I shudder involuntarily with all my selves. That locker... No, focus!

Focus.

Maybe the PRT knows about it, but decided that they have to keep their pet hero happy, sacrifice one or two normal kids on the altar of 'it's just a prank' or 'there is no evidence'?

Fuck!

No wonder nobody at school ever paid attention. The office assistance shredding my complaints. Teachers like Mr. Gladly ignoring the comments made in their hearing. The principal saying that they could only help pay medical bills but there is was no evidence pointing to any perpetrators, despite plenty of kids being there and seeing it happen. It was at the very least assault and attempted murder, or at least manslaughter. I had looked it up later. Only my new powers kept me from dying.

The school knew, or at least enough of them knew, that she was a Ward. So they hid her crimes, made sure I couldn't get anywhere with my complaints.

Anger.

Cascading out again to extend the time I have to think about this, while not giving away how long my selves last, because fuck giving her any more information about me. I can't join the Wards. Not now.

It was a possibility before, but I'd rather die first now that I know. I want to die. To curl up in a ball and give up.

No, I have to endure, to survive.

If she wasn't here, I would have eventually given in to the lure of teamwork and tinker-tech, but the PRT is clearly too corrupt. I don't even hate Sophia as much as Emma. Emma is the one who truly betrayed me, Sophia is just a bully. But this is too far.

Determination.

I stop teleporting around and give them my undivided attention just as Gallant finishes asking me, "Uh, dude, whats wrong? You ok?"

"What is wrong is that I figured out who she is," I point right at Shadow Stalker, "and as such, I cannot believe that you would accept a bully and an accessory to assault and attempted murder."

They all look very taken aback at this statement, neither confirming nor disproving my suspicions that they knew about her 'activities'. It's hard to get a read on them with only one self, but I don't want to do anything threatening now that I'm claiming to know a secret identity.

This is a dangerous, dangerous game I'm playing. This is only confirmed as Miss Militia who had been silent up till now steps up behind me and asks in a quietly but absolutely scary way, "Explain."

"I know who Shadow Stalker is. As much as I am tempted, I won't tell anyone. Even I know that you don't go around exposing secret identities without consequences. But I cannot even think about joining a team that has her on it."

I force the words out, my voice growing hoarse as I hold back tears.

"She has spent the past year and a half bullying this girl called Taylor at school mercilessly, along with two other girls. It culminated in Taylor being shoved in a locker, one filled with used tampons, pads, and other assorted filth."

I practically spit that last word, briefly losing control of my attempts at blocking out my emotions.

"Taylor almost died. She would have died if I had not let her out of the locker when no-one was looking. After I realized that no-one else was going to. That is one of the reasons why I want to be a hero, to stop people like her. I can't be on the same team as her. Either the PRT knows about this and does not care, or it's too incompetent to know what its Wards get up to. Either way, I do not want to be a part of this organization."

I take a deep breath in and get a hold of myself, trying to not break down as I turn to Miss Militia and tell her, "I want to leave now, so please let me out."

I had focused on describing things as if I was not the victim, as just another bystander. It's the only way I could think of to distance myself from the pain and emotions, enough to hopefully not have a complete meltdown in front of them. Although that wouldn't help much against the emotion sensor. It seems to be working so far, distancing myself from the nausea welling up inside me.

"Oh please..." Shadow Stalker speaks up, voice dangerously low. "You don't honestly believe this nameless beanpole? It's clear that you must be one of my rejected suitors. You probably got all worked up over asking me out, only to get rejected. Heart broken, crushed, and stomped. Now you want to get revenge on me for turning you down for a date? Pathetic. How could you use poor Taylor's horrible attack against me like this? It's beyond pathetic." Her tone is wounded, but to me it just sounds mocking.

When I don't react to her, or try to defend myself from her lies, she gets even angrier for some reason.

"I am a great hero," She practically snarls, "much better than you ever will be, and you are just jealous. You just want to knock me down a peg. Well good luck with that. I'm a Ward. Without any proof of your baseless accusations, there is no way they will get rid of me. Plan failed, loser."

She turns and stalks away, leaving behind her teammates in various unreadable emotional states. Makes me briefly wish I had Gallant's powers. I look at Miss Militia again. I dully repeat, "I want to go now. Please let me out. I don't want to talk about this any more."

I'm trying to stay calm, rational, trying to feel the wave without actually cascading, but it's not working. As I see her hesitate, not moving toward the door, I cascade again, all selves letting out a strangled sounding, "Let me out!"

I'm starting to feel sick and claustrophobic. To think that I came in here, trusted them a bit, even told them about some of my power's limits. Trusting that the authorities would actually help me a bit, if only because it was in their best interests to do so. Big mistake apparently.

The walls partitioning the different areas of my life were crashing down, all because one of my bullies was a cape. A hero, I think with all the sarcasm I can muster. That circle of hell, one I thought I had left behind, that I had out-endured, that I had survived, it now was firmly re-established right around the Wards.

Gallant must have sensed something in my emotions, or that last cascade scared him into action, because he literally flew to the door, one hand raised up to stop Miss Milita from doing anything. It opens after a brief scan of his face, despite his eyes being covered by his helmet, and then he is moving down the hallway at a fast pace.

I resent him coming with me in the elevator, not giving me space, but it probably would not work if I wasn't accompanied by someone official. He presses a button and up we go. I'm determinedly ignoring him, trying to breath deeply and evenly, trying not to feel trapped in the small elevator.

The door opens, unfolding in its strange way. I don't see the previous boring security room, instead I see a few large offices up ahead, with glass partitions dividing them and big clear windows with a view of downtown. I breathe out, some tension bleeding out of my shoulders slightly. I'm out.

Gallant tells my left behind self, "I'm sorry." There is a long pause, "I thought this might be a faster way for you to leave than going through security again."

I nod at him, then that self dissolves into ash.

One minute and thirty-four seconds after I'm gone, the self time-locked in the Wards headquarters unfreezes and I almost lose it, but quickly manage to balance the wave out of reflex. I keep that self as still as possible, listening in, because it turns out that there is a bit of a heated discussion going on. I can only catch a few seconds before that self runs up against the time limit.

Since I don't want to be back in there again I let it dissolve, but not before hearing Vista midway through a sentence, "-absolutely disgusting, I can't believe-"

Kid Win cutting her off, "Much more believable than the idea that some random cape would lie for no reason."

"I refuse to patrol with her anymore." Clockblocker folding his arms angrily.

"Look," An exasperated Miss Militia interjects, "We have no proof. We only have one persons word. We cannot do a-"

And that's it, time up. I wonder what they did when my frozen self abruptly dissolved in the middle of the argument. It's clear they had forgotten about it. Probably for the best that they think it's just a mindless clone acting out the last few seconds of my intended actions.

I'm busy teleporting straight to the ship graveyard when this happens, where I can be sure that no-one will bother me. I need to be alone. I need space, lots of space.

Not even villains claim this area as territory, they only care about the warehouses and docks nearby. Although to be fair, not many would think about a big pile of half submerged boats and shipping containers as 'territory', due to the difficulties of getting out there to claim it in the first place.

The good news is that it looks like most of the Wards didn't know about their little bully problem. That makes me feel better about my judgement, as I had started to like them in the brief time I had spent with them. The bad news? I'm freaking pissed off, and there went my best chance at being a hero.

Fuck.

I'm starting to like this word. I never used to swear much, but it seems like life is conspiring to give me situations where it's the only word that is appropriate. I'm Fucked. Fuck them. Fuck her.

I teleport out to a big pile of tangled ships, rusted sides gaping open. Suddenly I'm on the deck of one of the nicer looking ones, one of the few that is actually rather level, and not wildly askew.

I finally let all this anger, this hate, bubble up and spew out in a scream. I shout it to the ocean. I curse the PRT, governments and authorities in general. I rail at the twists of fate that leads to a mortal enemy and villain being given a favored place at the heroes table. (Not in such elegant terms of course, there is rather a lot more swearing involved.)

I kick the rails of the ship with cascaded selves, reveling in the brief busts of pain, having no fear of actually breaking my foot. I throw a proper tantrum, out here in the middle of no-where. Where absolutely nobody can see or hear me.

Then I finally wind down and stop, my voice hoarse. Tears are running down my face, but are thankfully hidden by my helmet. I slump to the deck, spent, and feeling a bit better.

I hear a footstep behind me as someone steps up from the stairs leading below, and a man's voice calling out tentatively, in rich deep tones, "Uh, you alright there?"

Shit.


AN: I read today in a WoG post that Wildbow actually made up a list of characters in the first Endbringer fight, and then rolled randomly to see who would die to Leviathan. Neat huh? Apparently he even had a backup main character ready for if Taylor herself died.
I plan on keeping the Leviathan attack and the bombing chaos that leads up to it, solely because that also causes lots of other deliciously painful chaos like the S9 and such to visit town.
So I think that I'm going to emulate Wildbow, and Leviathan will also have random deaths generated for all the characters. So instead of the cannon list of deaths, it will be all new ones! (Because by then, Taylor's actions will have rippled out enough to make it so that some changes are in order.)

Anyways, got some good questions in the reviews, so I thought I'd answer them here so anyone else wondering the same thing can read it...

First off, Roanoak asked: If two Taylor clones tried to teleport together would their carry capacity be doubled?

Answer: I'm afraid not. Each self can split off another self in its line of sight, until there are too many selves and her limit is reached. But two of them doing it at the same time just makes two more, each carrying whatever it was carrying. Then in the end, only one gets to keep on being real.
This means that if two of them hold onto a heavy table and they both port another self, then both new ones don't have any part of a table, because it was too heavy for either one to have.
I had to decide upon this early on, since otherwise it opens up the possibility of both porting half of a person. Then once the other clone/selves melt into ash, so would half of the person, whichever half was being 'held' by the clone that melted away into ash. This is horrifying, and a very unintended use of her power.

Second question, Lendary had a rather long message, but to paraphrase, it was basically "OMG, Taylor can copy people? Broken power?!"

Answer: Nope! I can see why you are worried, but don't be. Don't forget, Oni Lee could also transport organic material, as Skitters bugs were able to be duplicated by him, and that is how she sensed where he was a few times in the original story. So I'm not totally twisting his power too much.
Plus, I made sure to give her a strict enough mass limit that she'll never be able to teleport anyone big. Very few people are lighter than her, and she'll never be able to get super massive unless she convinces some bio-tinker like Panacea to totally twist and warp her. Basically she can rescue small children, people with dwarfism, and pets.
Lastly, I haven't had her actually try to port with another person yet, but when she does, you will find out quickly why it won't mean an easy OP duplication of any other capes powers.
About the best case scenario? Eidolon could use one power to make himself smaller in mass to make this possible, or to increase her mass somehow. Then he needs to use his second power to deal with the side-effects of her duplication, since her brain is configured to be able to handle it, his is not. Leaving him one power to actually use, duplicated.
So he can be ported around by her, using one power up to 4-5 times, but each self gets cut off every 5 seconds, so no lingering effects are possible. Honestly, he could just get a mover power himself, maybe something to let him split into two, and then the third blasty power, and he'd be better off, not having to rely on someone else's reactions and sense of timing.