1.11
I drifted through the halls of Brockton Bay General. Walking through the walls made me uncomfortable. It was just too alien to get used to, so I kept to the mundane routes. Finding ghosts was a little like playing hot-and-cold. At a fork in the hallway, I'd walk one way and see how the signal changed. If it got stronger, I kept going.
It wasn't the etheric song that had signaled Skidmark. This signal was more like having someone talk to you from across the house. I had a vague idea of where they were, but it wasn't strong enough to pull me along like Skidmark's had. I could have found him with my eyes closed.
The hospital was quiet, as hospitals went. There were always nurses and doctors around, but it still held the calm that early mornings brought. I got a laugh out of walking around as a ghost. Hospitals were supposed to be big and scary, and now there was an actual ghost in BB General. Well, not an actual ghost, but close enough.
The song grew stronger as I searched. I'd only gotten a few hours of sleep, but the closer I got, the faster I moved. I wanted to find the ghost. I was excited to find them. It was an odd thing to get excited about, but I was.
Part of it was novelty. I was using my superpowers. Also, I was a little lonely. I'd made a friend with Allfather, but Skidmark was pretty dickish. A new ghost would be someone to talk to. If nothing else, it'd be one more person who could see me, but maybe if I was lucky, they'd be a friend too.
That… that was kind of sad. I was so lonely that I was literally running to find a new ghost because they would pay attention to me.
I ran through a maze of bland hospital hallways until I reached a set of double doors. A sign above the doors read 'Operating Room' in big letters. The song was loud enough to hear clearly now. The same inhumanly beautiful melody that reminded me of whale song.
I half-expected to walk in on a bunch of surgeons elbow-deep in a patient, but the OR was empty. Most of the lights were off, and the operating table sat halfway in shadow. The song led me to the table like a magnet to iron. This time I was ready for the pulse; the wave of my power released, filling the room with its gentle current.
Smoke and shadow gathered, forming a vaguely human shape. I took a step back and watched. After a few seconds, the smoke sharpened, taking on depth and detail. As the last bit of shaping took place, color and texture spread across its surface like ink blots.
A man stood before me. He reminded me of a scarecrow; tall and lanky, with a mop of straw blond hair. I guessed that he was maybe 10 years older than I was. There was an oddness about him that I only put together after a moment. He was in street clothes. Not a costume. He'd either died out of uniform, or he hadn't had one.
"What… where am I?" The ghost said. He brushed a hand through his hair, looking at me in confusion.
"Nice to meet you." I said. "I'm-"
My power pulsed again. Another wave swept through the room, and I felt something awaken. What was-
The song! The song hadn't faded when I manifested the man. There was another ghost in here!
Once more, smoke and shadow drifted from nowhere; coalescing and shifting until a third person stood in the room with me.
The ghost was a girl, wearing a hooded cape over a white dress shirt and a blue miniskirt. Her costume looked homemade, with lots of frills and ribbons added in odd places. She had on a domino mask, but it did little to conceal her face, and I thought she might be around my age. Her hair was in a cute pixie style, peeking out from under her hood. She looked Asian, or of Asian descent; possibly Japanese if I was going to guess. Not an uncommon sight in Brockton Bay.
She stared at me, and I at her. Then slowly, she looked down at her hands. There were spots of blood on her white gloves. Her fingers twitched, and she looked at them in disbelief. Before I could say or do anything else, the girl burst into tears, pulling her gloves off and throwing them away.
"Hey- What's going on here!?" The man said. The girl curled up against the operating table, still sobbing uncontrollably.
"I- fuck, hold on!" I told the man. Shit. What to do?
Allfather pulsed, and I called him forth. He appeared behind me, his hands on my shoulders.
"I'll talk to the man. You handle the girl." He said.
"Maybe you should…" I hesitated. I didn't want to deal with the girl. The way she was crying reminded me too much of me. It brought back ugly memories of Emma.
On the other hand… the girl appeared to be Asian, and Allfather had reacted to the last Asians he'd met by committing a hate crime.
"You take the guy." I said.
Allfather nodded and took the ghost aside. I crouched down beside the girl. She was still crying; huge tears seeping out from under her mask and soaking into her shirt.
"Hey. Are you uh- okay?" I said.
She gave no sign that she'd heard me. Her face was getting blotchy. I wondered if that was what I looked like when I cried. Had I looked that way when I was in the-
I banished that thought. I didn't need to think about the- about that place any more.
I tried a few more times to talk to the girl, but she kept crying. Just watching her made me uncomfortable. Finally, I stretched out a hand and absorbed her. Her essence joined the rest of the shards in my power. She felt raw; unrefined. Was it because I hadn't made a deal with her? It felt… wrong to just hold onto her, but maybe she'd calm down with a little time.
I straightened up and turned to Allfather. He was standing with the first ghost, waiting for me.
"What was that about?" Allfather asked.
I shrugged. "Who's this?"
Allfather nudged the ghost forward. "Michael Paulson. Also known as 'Tybalt.'"
The ghost- Tybalt gave me a lopsided grin. "I- I didn't use that name a lot. I wasn't a superhero or anything." He ran his hand through his hair again. "My powers are pretty lame, so I didn't ever fight crime. Just call me Michael."
"What are your powers, Michael?" I said. It was stupid, but my first thought was 'please let him have come-back-to-life powers.' Hell, I'd settle for 'power to let people talk to ghosts.'
"I can make mammals understand me. I mostly just talked to dogs and cats."
Damn.
Michael looked between me and Allfather. "He- uh, Allfather? He said that I'm a ghost, and you're here to grant wishes or something?"
I made a see-sawing motion with my hand. "Think of it more like a deal. You have something you want, and I help you get it."
"So could you- could I come back to life for real?"
Allfather twitched like an electric shock had just gone through him.
"I…" Both ghosts watched me intently. "I don't know. It might be possible, but I wouldn't count on it."
Personally, I had the feeling that dead was dead, and that was it. I'd never heard of any parahuman powers granting a true resurrection from death, and as bullshit as my powers seemed to be, I doubted they were that bullshit.
"I'd pick a different wish, Michael, because I have no idea how I'd help you do that."
Michael sagged. "Oh." He stared at the ground before looking back to me. "What do people usually wish for?"
"I asked Empress to help me take revenge." Allfather said. He walked to my side, facing Michael.
Empress? I was pretty sure I'd made it clear that I didn't want to use that name, but-
Allfather glanced at me. "Think of your father." He whispered.
Oh. Right. I still needed a secret identity. Even if I was basically untouchable, if people knew I was connected to Dad, they might go after him. I needed him safe. Allfather had played up like I was an Empire cape when we talked to Panacea. That was the kind of disconnect I needed. Nobody would connect shy loner Taylor Hebert with the mysterious supervillain Empress. If nothing else, I could use the identity until I thought of something better.
Also, I didn't like making myself vulnerable to a strange ghost. Could I afford to bare myself to someone who might hurt me? I had too many bad memories of Emma. I'd been more open with her than anyone. We'd been as close as sisters.
On the other hand, Michael was a ghost. One of my ghosts. I had control over him. Even if he wanted to blab my identity there was nothing stopping me from withdrawing him. Being open with him; being vulnerable was hard, but if I couldn't trust my ghosts, who could I trust?
I took a deep breath. He was my ghost. I was in control.
"Michael, I'm Taylor, it's nice to meet you. We're using Empress as my cape name right now." I gestured at Allfather. "This is Allfather. He's... my friend. I'm helping him with his deal."
Allfather rested his hand on my shoulder, giving me a reassuring squeeze.
"Think of this like a second chance, Michael." Allfather said. "You've got another shot at life. What do you want to do?"
The expression of polite bewilderment that Michael had worn so far faded, and he looked pensive. "I want… I want to see where I worked."
I blinked at him. That was a weird wish.
"I worked in an animal shelter." Michael said, seeming to read my expression. "I helped start it. It was my passion, my…" He motioned vaguely, searching for the words.
"Your life's work." Allfather supplied.
"Yes!" Michael said excitedly. "That's right. It was the one good thing- the one real thing I accomplished with my life!"
He looked exhilarated by the topic, coming alive in ways he hadn't before.
"I- oh man. We spent years getting it set up. All the work I put in with Meredith and Eliza. And the day it opened…" Michael stared into space, lost in his memories. After a few moments, he seemed to come back to himself.
"Best day of my life. Bar none." He trailed off, remembering again. When he spoke, his voice was suddenly sober. "I had a full year with them before I… The neighborhood wasn't good, and someone broke in to raid our medical supplies. I was there alone and I tried to stop them, but well…"
Michael smiled sadly. "I don't remember making to the hospital."
"That was 2006." He met my eyes; his were still far-off, cloudy with memory. "Allfather said it's been five years since then… Taylor- Empress, for my wish, I want to go see my old animal shelter."
I tried to give him my best smile. He seemed like a good guy. A little spacey, but still nice. The way he'd talked about his shelter reminded me of how Dad sometimes spoke about the ferry. They both had these ambitious dreams, but when they talked about them, they made you believe it too. They made you hope for the future through the sheer earnest goodwill of what they wanted.
I could agree to this without any of the reservations I had about helping Allfather or Skidmark.
"Deal."
We shook hands. I had the brief sensation of his warm palm on mine before he faded, wisping away to nothing as my power absorbed him. His presence joined Skidmark and the girl-ghost's inside my well. Michael's crystal was sunny, radiating soft waves of understanding and kindness. I felt better just having him.
(condition set)
I turned to Allfather; still standing dutifully at my side.
"You think we can knock this out on the way?" I said.
Allfather offered me his hand.
"Lead on, Empress."
SPEAKSPEAKSPEAKSPEAKSPEAK
Manifesting Michael for the first time was draining, but I noticed that it was becoming less and less so each time I did it. Allfather's first manifestation had almost killed me, but Michael's only left me weak and shaky. Was my limit growing, or was I somehow becoming more efficient at it? It felt like the former; I wasn't sure how I would get more efficient at someone that was pretty much automatic.
I was still too unsteady to walk, so I ended up being carried by Allfather. Michael ran alongside, having trouble keeping up with Allfather's Brute speed. After a few blocks of Michael falling behind, I recalled him. I resummoned him every couple blocks to get directions. Even though the animal shelter had been built after Allfather's time, he still had a keen knowledge of the city's layout, and didn't need much of Michael's help finding the place.
It was getting close to morning, and having Allfather out in public made me anxious. He was pretty conspicuous, and he'd mentioned having a run-in with the Protectorate after I passed out with Skidmark. Panacea was in New Wave, but I'd put money on her contacting the Protectorate about our meeting in the hospital. That was… good, sort of.
It would add legitimacy to my cover story. We'd approached Panacea as Empire capes. I wanted that deception to go forward. We would be interested in Dad because he was white, not because he was my Dad. But still… the Nazi supervillain thing… How far was I willing to go to keep Dad safe?
"We're here." Allfather said, cutting into my thoughts.
He set me down, supporting me in case I was still wobbly.
I could see at once that the shelter was in a bad neighborhood. It was a sprawling one-story building, sitting between two abandoned factories, across from a row of rundown houses. There was a collage of gang tags on the front wall, and one of the windows had the spiderweb crack of a bullet hole in it.
The sign above the door read 'Noah's Bark.' In smaller letters under the name: 'A home for all our four-legged friends.'
The overall effect was not reassuring. Would Michael really want to see his shelter when it was this beat up? But as I stood thinking, Michael's shard pulsed wildly, and I called him forth.
"Michael, I'm sorry you have to see it like this." I said. He wasn't looking at me, just staring at the shelter. He must have been too horrified for words.
After a few long, awkward moments, he spoke.
"What are you sorry for? It's- God, it's still open!" He glanced back at me, his eyes wide.
"It's kind of…" I trailed off, unsure of how to describe the shelter politely.
"Taylor," Michael said. "What do I care how it looks? It's here."
Without waiting another second, he raced across the street to peer in the front door.
"They don't open for 5 hours!" Michael called back to us. He fished around in his pocket before triumphantly withdrawing a ring of keys.
"Still got em! I'm gonna go in the back." And then he was off again, running around the side of Noah's Bark like he'd just seen the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Allfather and I watched him go.
"What's the plan for you?" I asked Allfather.
A car passed and Allfather stepped into the shadows. He waited until it was out of sight before he answered.
"I'm going to make contact with the Empire and see who's still around that will support me." He rubbed thoughtfully at his helmet's chin. "You don't know a cape named 'Krieg' do you? He's an old friend of mine."
I searched my memories for what I knew about the Empire. Not a lot. I'd have to remedy that quickly. Going among them unaware would be incredibly stupid. As for Krieg…
"He's not a tall guy in a big coat with a skull mask, is he?" I asked. All the Empire capes tended to blend together in my head as a vague gestalt of pasty skin and swastikas.
Fortunately, Allfather nodded excitedly.
"That's him. If we're lucky, he still lives in the same house. We'll go see him and see about planning my duel with Kaiser."
I stared at him. "A duel?"
"How else would I challenge my son for leadership of the Empire 88?" He sounded honestly confused.
"I figured we'd just- I don't know. I could walk in through the wall and you could stab him or something."
Allfather actually laughed. "Taylor, we have to do this in public. The entire Empire needs to know the details of his betrayal. They'd never acknowledge me as the rightful leader if we murdered him like thieves in the night."
Fuck. Selling a deception was one thing, but this was going to be big. Really big. For one, Allfather would have to explain how he came back to life, and then they'd all know about 'Empress.'
"How about this," Allfather said. "I can go see Krieg now while you wait for Michael. You could use the free time to talk to that Oriental ghost you found in the hospital."
That sounded like a pretty good idea. I nodded my assent. Allfather dashed down the block, leaving me with a stern warning not to summon Skidmark when I was alone.
Yeesh. His earnest, well-meaning racism was almost worse than his overt, frothing racism. I'd have to have a talk with him about that later.
As for the girl ghost... Her shard didn't feel like she was still upset, but I didn't think my ghosts were fully conscious when desummoned either. On the other hand, if she was still crying, I could just desummon her.
Manifesting the girl left me panting on the sidewalk; cold needling its way up my arms. It was like getting the aftermath of a long day all at once. But it was definitely getting easier. Doing two manifestations in succession would have been unthinkable a few days ago. My limits were growing.
"Are you alright?"
The girl was looking down at me, her eyes wide behind her domino mask. I made to pull myself to my feet and couldn't quite make it without the world spinning. Instead, I sat down on the cold sidewalk.
The girl stood awkwardly for a few moments before I motioned for her to sit down beside me. She knelt down, smoothing her skirt as she settled herself. The silence that followed was painful. As excited as I was to have another ghost, I still didn't know how to talk to them.
Finally, the girl turned to me. "That armored guy is kind of a jerk."
"Yup." I held out a hand. "Taylor."
Her bloodstained glove met my hand.
"Runechild."
SPEAKSPEAKSPEAKSPEAKSPEAK
I learned a lot of interesting things talking to Runechild. Most prominently was that I couldn't keep three ghosts out at once. I managed to talk to her for about a minute before the energy drain made me topple over onto the sidewalk.
It was almost an exponential increase in effort. One ghost was easy; I'd had Allfather out for hours before without any trouble. Having two out was tiring, but no more than walking briskly. I hadn't noticed a big strain when I kept Allfather and Skidmark out at the same time. But three? Three was like running a marathon with an anvil on my back. The drain was so bad my eyes were going cold before I managed to desummon Runechild.
I called Michael back as well. I had just enough power to safely keep Allfather out, and his mission was the most important.
And so, I ended up curled in the fetal position on the sidewalk in a bad neighborhood. It seemed like I did that a lot recently.
After a few boring, uncomfortable minutes lying on the ground, I risked resummoning Michael. He didn't look surprised to see me on the sidewalk; he'd probably seen it from within my power or something. I still wasn't sure how that worked.
"Taylor?" He said, crouching down beside me.
"I'm fine." I groaned. "How much more time do you need in the shelter?"
"Oh, I'm good to go." He said. "I talked to all the animals inside and they're being taken care of."
His expression darkened. "It'll be better if I don't see Eliza or Meredith. It'll just upset them."
I nodded. "It'd be like giving them false hope."
Michael smiled ruefully. "Yeah. So… what now? Is it like… Heaven or Hell or something?"
"We could start with you helping me up." I returned his smile.
I wasn't cold- I couldn't really feel mundane cold, but I'd had more than enough sidewalks for one lifetime. Michael reached out to help me. The instant his hand touched my shoulder, words echoed in my mind.
(contract fulfilled)
We both froze.
"What was-" Michael gasped. He didn't have time for any more words. Starting with the hand touching me, all the color began leeching out of him. It was like watching him manifest in reverse. First the color, then the details left him. Where they faded, his skin and clothes turned dark and insubstantial.
He pulled away, but the change continued even when he wasn't touching me. In less than a minute, he went fully dark. Michael stood above me, his hand still outstretched. He looked like he was made of shadow. Smoke and shadow, with little wisps trailing off him when he moved. The only spot of color left in him were his eyes. His regular eyes had been a gentle green, but now they glowed. They burned out from his tenebrous face, peering steadily into my own.
There was something… less about him now. It was like there was less humanity behind his eyes.
Should I resummon Allfather? What had happened to Michael?
"Are you- ahh!"
Reality hit me. It was like all the being and life that had left Michael came into me like a bombshell.
I felt.
I could feel my body- not as it was as a ghost, but as it had been. For an instant, my heart beat and the rush of blood filled my ears. I inhaled reflexively and knew instantly that what I'd been breathing as a ghost had been a lie. I'd breathed, but it had been only hollow action. This was the breath of life. I could taste the air; taste the city's scent- its flavor, its life. The smell of car exhaust and trash in the alleys and spilled alcohol in the street and good god it was amazing.
My hands scraped against the concrete of the sidewalk and I cried out at the sheer feeling. It hurt. I hadn't felt pain- not real pain since I died, and it was exquisite. Not just pain, but the texture, the cold of the sidewalk, the wind on my skin like a caress. All of it was new- something almost forgotten as a ghost.
I felt it all and I screamed. Screamed because I was alive and it was incredible and-
The sun went out.
I sat there on the sidewalk, tears rolling down my cheeks, and I was not alive. The waves of feeling that had struck me faded as quickly as they had come, leaving me empty and numb. I was suddenly very aware of how dead I felt as a ghost.
I barely noticed it when Michael picked me up. He didn't feel any different than before. It only reinforced that I was alone. That the only people who could touch me were my ghosts. I really needed a hug. I wanted more than anything for Dad to give me a hug, but he couldn't because-
Michael hugged me. I stared dumbly up at him.
"Michael?" I said. My voice was hoarse from screaming.
He didn't answer. Instead, he settled me in his arms, princess style.
That was… odd. What had brought that on?
My cheeks itched where my tears had fallen and-
Michael dried them with his sleeve.
What the fuck?
My despair was being replaced with confusion. What the hell had happened to Michael when we completed our deal? Why was he… whatever he was? On that note, what the hell had just happened to me? Had I just come back to life for a second?
Michael began walking briskly toward Allfather.
Wait. How did I know that? I could find Allfather through our connection, but Michael shouldn't be able to. Was he doing what I wanted?
I looked inwards, examining my power. The link I had to Allfather was there, but Michael's shard had changed. It was like it had… merged in some way. Become more me and less him.
I looked closer at his shard. I could sense him more clearly than ever before. He wasn't just a presence in my power now; he was part of my power!
Looking at his essence was almost as good as being alive. It was a work of art. Every infinitely beautiful, beautifully infinite facet of his crystal soul was open to me. The kind, gentle feeling that had radiated from him before was still there, but now it was directed at me. I could feel it; could know it now.
His shard was a part of me. We were one. I was more because of it. I could feel that change now that I'd remembered what life felt like. It was just barely- only the tiniest little sliver more, but I was more alive.
I willed him to stop and he stopped.
"Holy-" I said.
"Shit." Michael finished.
"I can come back." We said.
SPEAKSPEAKSPEAKSPEAKSPEAK
Original AN:
Sorry again for all the delays. This chapter ended up really long, but splitting into two didn't really work. The first chapter would have been the hospital scene, but it'd be a weak chapter because nothing much happens.
Tybalt/Michael had a fight scene planned where someone robs the shelter and he gets a second shot at saving it. Skidmark would have made a funny appearance involving his business knowledge, but I wanted to move things along so both of those got cut. I feel a little guilty about writing Tybalt in just to... ghost him? Whatever happened to him. Yeah, he was largely filler, but I'm trying to move the plot. Skidmark is definitely going to get the moment he didn't get here, because what I thought of was pretty funny.
Also, Runechild! One of Wildbow's earliest cape characters. She got upgraded to 'Magical Girl' after I couldn't think of anything interesting to do with her. Her conversation with Taylor got cut also, because goddamn this chapter has too much talking already. Her powers are going to be a little different than in canon, because I'm like 90% sure WB recycled her into Rune without realizing it. Think of her outfit as equals parts Sailor Moon and Sayaka from Madoka. Tragic entropy related backstory to come in future chapters.
Also also, Taylor finally fulfills a contract! A lot of you guessed it, but it's not very fun if I spoil my own story.
Tybalt- Thinker 2/Master 3: Has the ability to communicate with mammals. Doesn't assert any real control over them, but can usually get animals to do what he wants. Mostly used his powers to help the strays at his shelter. His lack of confidence in his ability lead him to never fight crime with it. His proudest moment was using his powers to track down one of the Empire's dog-fighting rings and notifying the PRT. He saved over 60 dogs that day.
Never figured out the real applications of his ability.
Updated AN: Runechild and Michael's inclusion into the story was almost entirely a whim. I wanted to round out Taylor's cast of ghosts, but I didn't take the time to think through their plots that well. Runechild's storyline, though one I enjoyed a lot, kind of takes over the story after this point, and I consider this where the story begins to spin out of my control.
It was at this point that I started hammering out the specifics of Taylor's power. In retrospect, it was something I should have done much earlier, and there are a number of continuity errors because of it. Her power became very complicated, and very unshardlike. I was still having trouble with her character, and it often created a lot of issues in making the way her power affected her feel organic. It rarely worked.