Interlude – 3.z (Panacea)
"C'mon Amy! Pleaaaase!" Victoria begged, while giving her sister her most potent pout and doe-eyed look.
"Victoria, no. I told you I don't want to do this anymore."
"Amy, yes!"
"Ugh, Crystal doesn't need me to do this." Amy muttered.
Victoria's eyes narrowed as she glared at her sister. "What the hell Amy? I can't believe you would say that!"
"Shit, I'm sorry." Amy sighed. "I didn't mean that. Look, I'll do it OK?"
Victoria squealed in happiness and launched herself at her sister, engulfing Amy in a tight hug. "Thank you! You're awesome."
Amy gave a small squeak as she settled into the embrace. Reluctantly, she broke apart from the hug and placed her hand on her sister's wrist.
"Are you sure you want me to do this?" Amy implored again. "You're at a perfectly healthy body fat percentage right now."
"Yeah, sis." Victoria replied. "But I can lose a few percentage points and still be perfectly healthy."
Amy sighed in defeat. "Alright, what do you want me to do with it. Boost your musculature?"
"Nah, make me taller!" Victoria replied happily.
"You're plenty tall already."
"Yeah, but I want to be model tall." Victoria said. "And I want to be a good chunk taller than Crystal. Plus it'll give me an excuse to buy new clothes."
Amy resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Victoria's petty competitiveness. Amy understood Victoria's insecurities regarding her older cousin. Crystal was over a year older and an early bloomer, and she got her powers at a young age as well. The fear and pressure of falling behind and getting excluded had played a large part towards Victoria's trigger event. She briefly wondered if Victoria ate the way she did on purpose just to get Amy to accelerate her vertical growth.
Amy sighed and turned her attention towards her connection to her sister. Every cell, every muscle, every firing neuron blossomed into detail within her mind. If she was honest with herself, she didn't mind doing this for her sister that much. It was the most intimate thing she would ever experience with Victoria. Amy reached for the pockets of fat cells and dissolved them, slowly converting the raw biomass and energy into physical growth. Almost imperceptibly, Victoria grew almost an inch taller as her body became slightly more toned and slender.
"There." Amy said. "Make sure you drink plenty of fluids and get a good meal. Really, you should start eating healthier and actually exercising."
"Hey! I get plenty of exercise." Victoria responded sullenly. "And you're never taking away my cheese fries."
"You know that you're not actually burning any calories when you're flying, right? You should walk more instead of floating everywhere, and maybe do some real exercises."
Victoria pouted. "What's the point of lifting weights when I can bench press cars with my power? It's not like I can stop using my powers."
Amy sighed again. "Just… try something."
Victoria wrapped her sister up in a tight hug. "Sure thing, Ames. Thanks!"
Amy relaxed into the embrace as she nuzzled her sister. She really didn't mind giving Victoria these tune ups after all.
"Hey everyone! I found the new girl." Victoria's familiar voice sang out as she dragged a skinny brunette along with her. The girl had a wild, deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face as her eyes darted around, as if seeking out escape routes.
"The poor girl looks terrified of you, Vicky. You didn't drag her here against her will, did you?" Amy asked.
"Don't be silly," Vicky said. "Taylor and I are going to be great friends, I can tell already. Introductions! This is my sister Amy of course, and here we have Veronica, Jenny, and Helen."
Amy put the novel she was reading down and took this opportunity to really examine the girl. She was pretty enough with her long lustrous curls, large green eyes, and waifish figure, Amy begrudgingly admitted, but she was pretty plain compared to her Victoria. She looked about a year or two younger than the Dallon sisters, and she was tall for her age, standing at just a few inches shorter than Victoria. Which still meant that she was several inches taller than Amy.
Amy narrowed her eyes. The new girl better not be after her Victoria. Amy definitely did not like the lingering looks the new girl kept sending Victoria's direction as the group chatted away. But then again, who wouldn't fall in love with Victoria. Victoria was so wonderful. Why had Victoria suddenly taken an interest in an underclassmen though?
Wait a second, the height and build was about right, the voice sounded familiar, and the new girl had the same wide lips. Holy crap, Amy thought. Taylor is Nightingale! Of course Vicky would want to be friends with the civilian persona of her new cape BFF. And how she was able to transfer in to Arcadia so late in the school year. Arcadia had a long wait list, and new transfers were rare and was usually accompanied with the introduction of a new Ward. It seemed to fit in Amy's mind.
Amy's eyes narrowed as she seethed internally. Taylor had already outed herself to Victoria? That girl moves fast. Amy sighed again and turned her attention back to her novel, when she saw something out of the corner of her eyes.
Dean Stansfield, Victoria's boyfriend and the bane of Amy's existence. He was making his way over to the table with that stupid smile on his face when Amy decided to channel all her resentment and level her fiercest glare at him. She simply could not deal with him today. Dean faltered midstep, and abruptly turned away and started walking in a different direction. A wise decision, Amy thought smugly. If only that worked every day.
"Well you look like you're in pretty good shape. Do you play any sports?" Helen asked Taylor.
Of course Victoria's new friend would be tall, skinny, and athletic. Amy had seen herself described online as 'short and frumpy' before, much to her chagrin. Between her heavy course-load at Arcadia and all the time she spent volunteering at hospitals, it wasn't like she had a lot of time to exercise and stay in shape. If the new girl was Nightingale, how the hell did she find the time to exercise so much? Amy sighed and glanced at her cheeseburger guiltily. Maybe she should start eating healthier.
"Uhh, not really. I like to run, and I have some experience with gymnastics." Taylor replied.
Amy briefly pondered what Taylor would look like in a leotard. She's certainly flat enough to be a gymnast, Amy thought, smirking internally. Amy decided to ignore the rest of the group and started reading her book again. Victoria nudged her a bit under the able, and shot her a disapproving look. Amy sighed. It wasn't like she hated socializing, but it was all just so tiring sometimes. She ignored her sister and turned her attention back to the book she was reading.
A few minutes later, a burst of laughter from the table brought Amy's attention out of her novel. Taylor was blushing deeply, and Victoria's arms were wrapped around her. Amy missed what the joke was about, maybe something about ghosts? All she knew was that she didn't like what she was seeing. She narrowed her eyes at Taylor. She would be keeping an eye on the new girl.
"Hey Amy, check this out! Veronica just sent it to me." Victoria was giggling as she handed Amy her cellphone as they approached the front entrance to Arcadia high.
Amy picked up the phone and started the video. "Is that…?"
"Yup, that's Taylor!" Victoria said with a laugh.
Amy watched in fascination as her schoolmate brawled with the pretty redhead in a sloppy and rather embarrassing manner.
So Taylor was a lesbian. Amy knew it! The video was definitely enough confirmation for her. But now she was reconsidering whether she actually was Nightingale. After all, the fight looked like just a regular brawl between untrained school girls. Amy didn't think she could do that much better, but Victoria had said that Nightingale could handle herself in a fight. Taylor's display here was just… embarrassing.
"Ooh, there she is!" Vicky said, pointing to the skinny brunette who was walking towards the school. "I'm going to go say hi. You want to come?"
"Nah, I have to get to class," Amy replied. "I'll see you at lunch!"
As Amy went about her morning, it was obvious that the hot topic on everyone's lips was Taylor and her fight at the mall with her ex-girlfriend. She felt a little bad for Taylor, since they were sort of friends, and had volunteered at the hospital together many times – assuming Taylor was Nightingale. She was thinking of just confronting her and asking her if she was, but speculating on hidden identities tended to be frowned upon. Plus she was annoyed that Taylor had told Victoria her secret identity and not her.
Based on what she saw in the video, it looked like Taylor was hardly an expert at fighting, yet Victoria was still spending so much time with her these days and going out on patrols together. Maybe she could accompany Victoria on one of her patrols? The prospect of spending more time with her sister was nice, but it went against almost everything she had already established. Her power could certainly be used offensively, and she often explored those possibilities in her mind when she was in a particularly dark place. Still, she was too afraid to actually put those thoughts into practice.
By the time lunch rolled around, Amy's mood was foul. Her sister and her friends were sitting outside, ostensibly because the weather was nice. Amy suspected the real reason was that the girls just wanted to play with their cellphones way from Arcadia's cellphone jammers.
"Did you see the video?" Veronica asked as soon as Amy sat down.
"The one of Taylor fighting at the mall?" Amy asked. "Yeah, Victoria showed it to me."
"Her ex-girlfriend is such a bitch! I can't believe she dated her." Helen exclaimed. "Taylor is so private. She never told us she was dating someone. Her girlfriend looks cute."
"Ehh, Taylor says that the short one isn't her girlfriend," Victoria chimed in, "so she's still single."
Amy felt a stab of irritation upon hearing those words.
"Ooh, there she is!" Jenny whispered as Taylor approached the table, causing the girls to burst into giggles.
"Hey, knock if off!" Victoria glared at the other girls, shutting them up. "If you don't behave, I'm going to punt your asses into the bay."
Amy's irritation level rose another notch as she watched her sister defend another girl like that. She turned her attention to her lunch instead. She packed a salad from home today, since she had been trying to eat healthier ever since little Miss Anorexia joined their lunch group. As Amy speared a piece of lettuce with her fork, she couldn't help but think that salads suck.
"Ugh, you need to eat some real food instead of that rabbit feed you eat." Victoria said. As usual, she had completely ignored Amy's pleas to eat healthier and had bought two large slices of peperoni pizza and a large soda from the cafeteria.
Amy perked up upon hearing her sister's words, but was dismayed when she realized that she was talking to Taylor. Amy speared another piece of lettuce angrily.
"This is healthy and full of nutrients," Taylor replied. "It's an arugula and seitan wrap."
What kind of a fifteen year old eats arugula and seitan? "Hmph, I've been trying to get her to eat healthier for a while now with no success." Amy muttered grumpily. Victoria shot her a look of betrayal, which Amy steadfastly ignored. Amy stared at her pitiful looking salad, which she admittedly didn't put much effort into preparing. Fuck this, she was going to grab a cheeseburger from the cafeteria.
"Taylor," Victoria said, "I worry sometimes that a strong gust of wind will blow you away, and I'd have to find a new pottery buddy."
We get it, Amy thought angrily, she's thin. Amy's salad was starting to look particularly shredded as she stabbed into her bowl repeatedly with her fork.
Taylor looked up from her lunch at Victoria. "I have no idea how you stay so thin while eating like that," she muttered.
"What can I say," Victoria answered smugly, "a good metabolism and vigorously beating up criminals keeps me in shape."
Amy snorted and rolled her eyes. Yeah, Victoria's metabolism was super hard at work when she begged Amy to dissolve the fat on her thighs. She tuned out the rest of the table as she absentmindedly stabbed at her salad.
"Hey girls, how's it going?" A male voice called out.
Amy resisted the urge to shudder and clenched her fork tightly as her least favorite person in the world walked over to their table.
"Hi Dean!" The girls greeted him, as a few of them burst out into more giggling.
Amy rolled her eyes. So what if Dean was handsome, rich, and smart. To Amy, he was definitely still a grade-A douchebag. At least he didn't sit with them most days during lunch, which was a small consolation.
"Can I talk with you for a minute, Victoria?" Dean asked.
"Sure, I'll be back later girls." Victoria said, getting up to leave with Dean.
Amy sighed deeply. No reason to stick around any longer. Might as well get that cheeseburger now.
"So… what's new with you, Amy?" Taylor asked.
"Umm… not much." Amy replied. She wasn't really in the mood to do this whole awkward mumbling around each other thing that she and Taylor did every now and then.
"Are you going to the-"
"Sorry, I have to grab some books from the library. I'll talk to you later." Amy said, standing up and gathering her belongings. By books, she meant cheeseburger, but Taylor didn't need to know that.
As she walked towards the cafeteria, she passed by Victoria and Dean who were standing alone near a secluded spot, deep in conversation.
"-before ten-ish. I'm meeting Nightingale that night for a patrol." Victoria said.
"What, again?" Dean asked with a frown. "I hardly see you outside of school these days!"
"Don't blame me!" Victoria hissed in a quiet whisper. "You go on way more patrols with the Wards, and you never let me tag along anymore!"
"You know wh-"
The sounds of the couple arguing faded as Amy walked out of range. Heh, trouble in paradise huh? Amy thought with a smirk. This day was getting better already.
"You're home early," Amy said to her sister as Victoria hovered into her room.
Amy was finishing up her homework as she watched television in her sister's room, which she often did when Victoria was out on patrol. She thought about asking for a TV for her own room, but she didn't like setting herself up for disappointment. For their sixteenth birthdays, Victoria had gotten a new BMW, and Amy had only received a DVD box set of Grey's Anatomy.
"Yup, we caught the guy that beat up Andrea!" Victoria exclaimed cheerfully. "It was just some Empire wanna-be thug. He's in police custody now."
"Congratulations." Amy replied. Nightingale had healed Andrea during their last volunteer session at the hospital, and the pair of them had decided to track down her assailant together. Apparently Nightingale's limited use healing abilities differentiated between diseases and physical wounds. Amy actually felt jealous of the other healer's limitations. Nightingale would show up at the hospital, heal a few patients, maybe sing a few songs, and then take a break. For Amy, the healing grind was nonstop. On any given night, she would heal double or even triple the amount of patients that Nightingale would. If only she had thought to fake some kind of similar limitation when she first started healing. It was too late now, of course.
"Yup, we totally kicked his ass." Victoria recounted, as she stepped towards her closet to change out of her Glory Girl outfit. "Nightingale tried to do the superhero landing right in front of him, but it was obvious she noobed it up and banged her knees. Gotta work on those landings so you don't hurt yourself if you're not a brute."
Amy had to refrain herself from peeking at her sister as Victoria pulled her dress off. "Mmmhmm," Amy replied, barely paying attention to her sister's words.
"And then the idiot tried to run. They always try to run! I mean, two flyers here who could easily outspeed any regular human, and the dummy thinks he can get away by running down an alleyway. Superior race, my ass!"
Amy chuckled at her sister's story. "Two superheroes against one regular thug? Sounds like a piece of cake."
"Yeah," Victoria replied, "and we totally got him to spill the beans on what the Empire was up to. Apparently there's a bounty on the ABB tinker's head. Nightingale has a lightsaber now, apparently, and she scared the crap out of the thug waving that thing around. I sooo want one of those, but she was cagey about how much she paid for it. I bet it was expensive as balls."
"What, like a real lightsaber from the movies?" Amy asked.
"Nah, she called it a hard light baton. But it looks like a lightsaber. Anything good on?" Victoria asked, as she plopped down on her bed next to Amy, now clothed in her pajamas.
Victoria chuckled. "The news? Really? Why don't you just get it on the internet like everyone else."
"Believe it or not, it's still a good source to get local information." Amy replied. "I bet this is way more informative than whatever's going on in your Snapchat and Instagram feed."
"Heh, I highly doubt that." Victoria said as she started playing with her phone, completely ignoring the television set in her room.
Good evening Brockton Bay, I'm Jeff McAvoy, and you're watching the Channel 10 WJAR evening news. Our top story tonight is a tale of shocking corruption and abuse of power at our very own PRT and Wards branch. As citizens of Brockton Bay, we rely on our heroes, the PRT, the Wards, and the Protectorate, to protect us from harm. But what happens when one of these heroes becomes our tormentor?
"Holy shit," Amy muttered. "Vicky! Check this out!"
The two sisters began watching the news broadcast with rapt attention, though after a few minutes Victoria began furiously tapping away at her phone.
"What are you doing?" Amy asked.
"You have to go to the internet to get the full story." Victoria answered.
A few more minutes passed as they watched the news report detail the list of documents and evidence that they had uncovered.
"The Ward they're talking about is Shadow Stalker." Victoria said, her eyes still glued to her phone.
Amy snorted in response. "No surprise there. I always thought she was a bitch."
"And… holy shit!" Victoria gasped. "The girl they bullied is Taylor!"
"What? As in the Taylor that goes to our school and sits with us at lunch?" Amy asked.
"Yeah, Taylor Hebert." Victoria said. She leapt off her bed and hovered towards her closet.
"What are you doing?" Amy asked, as Victoria pulled a hoodie on over her pajamas.
"I'm going to swing by Taylor's place and check up on her," Victoria responded.
"What? Now?" Amy asked incredulously. "It's late! And you just got home!"
"I'll be back in a bit. Don't wait up for me." Victoria flashed her sister a smile, and then she was gone, leaving Amy alone and fuming.