Accelerando

Lung was dead but the buildings on the docks still burnt. I stared at the ruin of what had been my dad's office, obliterated by one of the attacks that I had thrown. I was afraid to dig through the rubble for fear of what I would find.

"Monster," I heard someone say.

I woke again with a choked-off scream. My eyes found the clock immediately. Six-thirty in the morning.

At least I got more sleep this time, I thought as I laid there, letting my breathing calm. I felt drained and hollow, the urge to pull the covers back over my head and shut out the world almost overpowering.

I fought it off, pushing them back instead and sitting up. The events from the evening before played back through my head and I shuddered.

Had I been that upset from dreaming of the locker? I hadn't even thought of it in some time. Did the helplessness I felt over not knowing how to find my dad bring that to mind? Or even make me imagine them saying those things to me?

I drew my knees to my chest, trying to make sense of my thoughts.

The sound of someone moving around in the hall prompted me to look up and frown. Hadn't I cut off sound when I had collapsed into bed? I ran the last few minutes through my memory from before I had passed out.

Finally, I shook my head. I couldn't remember conclusively whether I had or not. I took a deep breath and pushed the thought aside. Then I wrinkled my nose.

Shower. I needed one.

The flow of hot water helped me feel more like myself though the various jets positioned around the shower made me blink. Some of them were placed oddly…

I flushed under the spray as I realized what they could be used for. Did they really design showers like that? My hair fanned out as I switched off the water, putting away thoughts of weird tinkertech showers.

The kitchen was silent as I went downstairs, whoever had been moving around nowhere in evidence. I turned toward the window and immediately winced at the bright light of the sunrise.

My forehead creased as I squinted. Why was I being bothered by the sunlight? I hadn't felt any pain from something like that since I got my powers.

As quickly as the thought entered my head, I felt my field adjust. Like a switch had been thrown, the stinging faded.

There was something… I frowned as I tried to determine what had just happened. Was I suppressing my power when I slept? Was my emotional state affecting them? Too stressed or too relaxed?

I dismissed the latter. The hot shower had been relaxing, but wasn't that relaxed. No, this was something else.

"Oh, hey, Taylor," Phillipe said, coming into the kitchen from the hall. I nodded and stepped to the refrigerator, still thinking on what had happened.

"So, are you okay?" he asked as I took out orange juice. "You were freaking out last night …"

"I guess," I answer, pouring a glass as something occurred to me. "Is Shawna okay?"

He waved a hand. "Not as bad as it looked. I bandaged her up. Shouldn't even leave a mark."

"I am so sorry-"

His knuckles rapped my forehead. "It was an accident. Worrying over your dad has you not knowing what's left or right. It happens."

"I suppose so." I opened my mouth to say something else, then closed it, stepping back to look at him. "What are you wearing?"

Phillipe grinned and flexed, the shirt stretching across his chest. "About to go for a run. Build up my endurance."

"A run?" I asked. "Doesn't your power…?"

"It helps, sure," he shrugged. "But I have to get moving before it really kicks in. The faster I can go before that, the better."

"Makes sense," I gave him another look, shaking my head at the tiny shorts he had on. "Want some company?"

Phillipe blinked. "Sure, if you're up for it."

"Let me change clothes," I said, indicating my robe. "This isn't really going for a run wear."

"Well, I suppose you could," he joked. "But I don't think it would stay belted long." He headed for the door.

"I'll be outside waiting," I heard over my shoulder as I went to my room.

I made it back down quickly and locked the door before we set out.

Twenty minutes in and I could feel Phillipe glaring at me.

"What?"

"You're totally cheating," he grumbled. "You don't even look winded."

"Can't help it. There's a passive aspect to my powers that adjusts and counters anything that is a detriment to my physically. Deficiencies in oxygen, the amount of kinetic energy applied to impacts made by my extremities … " I kept explaining and after a moment, saw him staring at me.

"Okay, seriously, what?" I asked.

"I only understood like a third of that, maybe," he said. "So, lack of air, and no injuries from your feet hitting the ground?"

"All accounted for," I confirmed with a sigh. "I can turn it off, but that requires active effort on my part to keep it that way. Easier to just edit things as I need, to be honest." I slowed for a moment, making adjustments to the variables of my power so that it was set the way I wanted.

"There," I said as I quickened my pace to catch up. "Now I'm not cheating, as you put it." Phillipe grinned and sped up and I focused on trying to keep up with him.

"How," I gasped out as I tried to catch my breath, "do you do this everyday?"

Phillipe patted my head. "I've been doing this for months, chica."

"You suck," I announced as I swatted at his hand.

"If it makes you feel better to think that," he replied. "I would suggest you go take a shower. It'll help the ache. Also, you're starting to stink."

"Way to flatter," I scowled at him.

"Honesty works best," he retorted. "Anyway, you did good. Kept up with me for most of the way."

"Whatever," I made a rude gesture while grinning at him. He grinned back and I stretched.

"Okay, I'm going to enjoy my high-tech shower again since I, as you say, stink."

"That good?" he blinked. "The one I'm using is pretty normal."

"Oh, completely," I replied, bending down to untie my shoes. "It has jets everywhere, even some that are …" My mouth closed with a click and I felt my face heat up with something that had nothing to do with exercise.

Phillipe didn't appear to notice. "Even some that are …?"

"Nothing!" I said quickly, embarrassed over what I had almost said. "I'm going now."

"Okay …" he trailed off and I heard him muttering to himself as I went to the shower again.

When I came back down again, Dinah, Lily, and Shawna were up and about.

I winced as I saw the bandage around Shawna's arm. Unbidden, the words that had assailed me in my nightmares resurfaced. Monster.

"I am so so sorry, Shawna," I stammered. "I didn't mean to-"

She placed a finger over my lips. "I'm fine, don't beat yourself up over it. Anyway, on the scale of things, at least you hit harder than Phillipe. He's a wimp."

"Hey!"

"The point is," Lily said, stepping in to head off conversation. "You're entitled to a bit of stress. Just don't freak out and hide from us again, alright?"

I tried to form words, but failed as Dinah walked over and hugged me.

"So," I finally managed. "Breakfast?"

"You," Shawna said, pointing imperiously, "sit. Stressed girl needs to relax."

She rounded on Phillipe. "You, however, stink. Go get a shower."

I acquiesced, heading toward the table and taking a seat. Phillipe muttered uncharitably and departed up the stairs, grumbling the whole way.

"How did things go at the PRT with Kayden?" I asked as we sat around the table, the dishes empty of breakfast.

"They're providing security for her and her family," Lily told me. "Colin wanted you to come by as soon as you can so that they can sort out some details or another. Also said he had something for you."

"Any idea what?" I asked, blinking. Something for me?

She shook her head. "None, sorry."

"Ooh, ooh, I know!" Shawna said. "He's going to confess his secret love to you."

"First," I snorted. "He's like twice my age, so no, no matter how nice a smile he has."

"Maybe we're looking in the wrong place for secret crushes," Lily said with a sly grin. "Is Taylor in love?" She drew out the last word, drawling deliberately to make it sound almost obscene.

My eyes rolled. "Me and Colin? That's as likely as me becoming a telekinetic mime and seducing Amy Dallon."

I looked at them as they were staring at me. "What?"

"A telekinetic mime," Phillipe began.

"Seducing Amy Dallon?" Shawna asked.

"Sometimes, your head is a weird place, Taylor," Lily finished.

"One hundred percent chance that you are a weirdo," Dinah deadpanned.

"Fine, fine," I said, standing and heading toward the window. "Gang up on me, will you? I know it was funny, at least." I affected an air of depression and pressed my forehead to the window. Behind me, I heard laughter as they began moving around, cleaning up the table.

My field pinged as I stood there. I frowned. What was that?

The field spread out from where I had contact with the glass. Each individual particle that made up the structure was felt and its motion observed. My eyes widened slightly.

There.

Threaded through the composition of the glass was an element foreign to it. A frequency that vibrated along the structure, modulated in such a way that it would…

A crack ran down the surface of the window. I spun away, alarmed. My eyes scanned the room as I drew breath. Phillipe, Shawna, and Lily were cleaning off the table. Dinah, in her seat, was holding a glass close to her, preparing to tip it up and drink.

"Away from glass!" I shouted, lunging toward Dinah.

Every window and piece of glass in the room exploded as I crashed into the girl, stretching my field out to try and deflect any pieces even as they spun in the air, glistening and catching the light. Dinah and I tumbled to the floor and I heard her release a pained cry. Around us, I heard the others cry out, fear and panic clear.

Then, abruptly, the cacophony of shattered glass stopped. I heard pieces falling to the ground with a distinct tinkle, but nothing more than that.

"Are you alright, Dinah?" I asked, rising and looking her over. I felt something warm on my hands and froze, then looked down.

"I'm… hah… okay," she said, making pained sounds. There, on her side, was a piece of glass and a slowly growing red stain on her clothing.

"Oh god, no," I gasped, trying to stop the blood without hurting her more. My power. I could do something, couldn't I? I started to adjust the flow of blood, then stopped, shaking. No. I didn't know enough about how blood flowed to do that. It could hurt her more.

"Shit, shit, shit," I swore. "Phillipe!"

"What- oh hello," he said, appearing at my side.

"Get her to the hospital," I ordered, my eyes on that rapidly spreading stain.

"Taylor, this-" he began.

"Do it!" I snapped. "You can go faster than any of us and I don't think we can treat this here!" I couldn't pull the glass out, that would just make it worse. What could I do?

"Taylor," Lily said, crouching beside me, her face pale. "The glass shattering… this is probably the work of Shatterbird."

"I don't give a damn if it's the fucking Simurgh!" I snarled. "She's hurt and I can't fix this! Get her to the hospital!"

"Um, guys?" Shawna asked, tearing off a strip of shirt and wrapping it around Phillipe's arm. "I'm scouting the area with my powers. All this glass makes it easy… There's a woman approaching. And she has glass all around her, moving."

Her expression looked ill. "I think it is the Shatterbird. And she's coming this way."

Fury consumed me.

"Phillipe," I said, my voice echoing strangely in my ears. "Get Dinah to the hospital. Lily, Shawna, cover him out the back, then get moving too."

"What are you going to do?" Lily demanded, staring at me. "You can't seri-"

I started toward the front door. "I'm going to give you a distraction."

"Taylor, this is one of the Slaughterhouse Nine!" she protested. "I don't think this is a good idea!"

"I don't care!" I shouted. "She controls glass, right? You'll be targets and I don't want you guys hurt, so just fucking do it already!"

"Come on," Phillipe said, crouching to lift Dinah carefully. "Shawna, give me a path. Lily, get your weapons."

"How are you going to distract her?" Shawna asked as they began moving.

"I'm going to kill her," I said, turning to look at the three of them for a moment before starting forward to the front. "That should distract her."

I forced my breathing to even out and walked confidently out the door, ignoring the glass that shifted around me.

The street that the new house sat on was a fairly busy one; even at early hours, there were cars going up and down it. Now, the cars sat at varying angles, windows and mirrors shattered. People were in every one I passed, some unconscious, some screaming.

I paid them little mind as my eyes settled on the woman hanging in the air above the street. She soared in lazy circles like a vulture, maybe twenty feet off the ground, with her long, dark hair flapping in the wind. Jagged shards of stained glass clung to her body like scales and trailed through the air around her in a cloud shaped eerily like bat wings. She looked like something out of a bad horror flick, like some kind of demented cross between a circus performer and a vampire, but even in the grip of my rage I still felt a little chill at the sight.

"Taylor Hebert," she purred. "I've been wanting to meet you."

I didn't reply, instead looking around at the cars and the broken glass strewn everywhere. I felt a spike of outrage at the carnage, adding fuel to the already-roaring fire, but shoved it aside. I'd make sure this bitch regretted this before long, but I'd need a clear head to do it. I glanced around to search for weapons. The glass was shifting around idly, as if being directed by something unseen. I placed a foot on one piece, pinning it down as my powers traced what she was doing.

"You know of me, I'm sure," she was saying as I turned my attention back to her. "And I've come with an offer."

"Why do this?" I asked, my voice coming out in a soft, dangerous hiss.

"This?" She gestured and I saw the glass shift. In a car somewhere, I heard someone scream. Had she moved the glass that was embedded in them? "Announcing myself. Letting the cattle know to cower before me. Before us."

"Us?" I repeated faintly, tracking how her power affected the glass beneath my foot. What was this stupid bitch babbling about?

"Of course," she went on. "Our power makes us different, better. Why shouldn't we exercise it? You understand this, I am certain."

"Oh, go fuck yourself," I said, still only half-listening. Manipulation of the particles within the glass itself was how she made them move. Silicakinetic?

"You have power," she stubbornly continued. "You've wielded it. Was it not exhilarating to hold such preeminence over the cattle? To know that your hand turns the wheel of their fate?"

I raised my head to look at her as the last detail of what she was doing was unraveled. Whatever she was babbling about, I was no longer interested in listening. I had enough figured out now.

The stained glass of her wings abruptly shifted their shapes, forming multiple small bears that swarmed at her. She shrieked, startled and fell from the sky.

I stalked across the road toward where she had fallen, ignoring everything else.

She was trying to regain her feet when I found her, her ankle bent at an odd angle. The pieces of glass that I had taken for the bears were back in place as her wings. Had she used them to break her fall?

"That looks painful," I remarked. Shatterbird stiffened at the sound of my voice and shards of glass immediately ripped through the air at me.

"That doesn't work," I said, halting them. The shards trembled in the air, inching forward and I frowned. It looked like my earlier read on her power's frequency wasn't quite as precise as I needed. A simple gesture propelled her into the side of a car with enough force to imprint her torso in the metal.

"How are you doing this?" she demanded.

"You don't know?" I asked. "Wouldn't it make sense to know what you were facing before you went after someone? That's what an intelligent person would do, right?"

I took a step forward. "But you clearly aren't an intelligent person."

More glass rose up, forming a wall in the space between us. I could see her trying to gain her feet, using the car for leverage. The wall shattered into sparkling powder as I approached

The glass around her that had served as her wings and armor shot toward me

"This again?" I asked. I understood exactly what she was doing to control the glass now and the pieces stopped in midair roughly a foot from me. I stared at them for a moment, then formed them into orbiting rings around me.

"How?" she demanded again and I could see fear in her eyes.

"You aren't doing anything I can't," I snarled. "And I'm better at it than you are."

"A while back," I said, moving forward again, "I met a little girl who was being chased by a very bad man. He wanted her, for her power, or because he was a pedophile. Some reason or another, but his reasons why don't matter. He killed her parents. Chased her to exhaustion and it was only because I was there that he didn't get her."

"He eventually blew up my house while I was in it to get rid of me," I continued. I took a step forward and her arm bent too far, snapping with a painful sound. "It didn't work."

"You're a f-freak," Shatterbird gasped, dragging herself along with one arm. "S-stay away from me!"

"Now, my friends are taking her to the hospital. Because she got hurt by you!" The last word ended in a shriek as I gave vent to my temper.

The glass all around us rose up and I heard her scream as every piece converged where she lay. I didn't stop until every piece of glass that I had control of was embedded in her body.

I moved to stand over her. One eye was open, staring at me and her lips were moving.

"Still alive?" I asked, leaning down with one hand extended. A piece of glass moved out of her shoulder, tearing the wound open further. "Let me see what I can do about that."

Armsmaster arrived ten minutes later and found me standing over what was left of her. He stepped off his motorcycle and approached warily.

"Taylor?"

I looked up from my survey of what had been Shatterbird, then back. "Dinah got hurt."

"I got word," he nodded. "There's others on their way to help with clean up. It's like this all over the city, though."

I looked around at the cars. "People who are hurt?"

A frown appeared and he stepped forward. "Are you alright?"

I stepped back. "Don't."

"Are you alright?" he repeated, sounding worried.

"I killed her," I said. "All these people around who I could have helped and all I thought was, she hurt Dinah. So I killed her instead."

Armsmaster was suddenly in front of me, gently placing his hands on my shoulders. "Listen to me, Taylor. She was one of the Slaughterhouse Nine. They all have kill orders. You helped them by killing her She's been known to torture people by making the glass tear open wounds until she rips them apart."

My eyes met his visor. "I think she was begging me to stop."

"Damnit," he muttered. "Listen, you can't feel bad about this. She would have done worse to you if she were able."

"I don't," the words made him draw back.

"You don't what?" he asked.

"I don't feel bad about what I did to her," I said, a half-hysterical laugh bubbling up. "She was begging me to stop and I don't feel bad about it. I wanted to hurt her more."

His hands dropped my shoulders. "What are you saying?"

"The Nine," I said. "They're here in Brockton Bay?"

Armsmaster nodded curtly. "It appears so."

"They're here for me," I finished.

He hesitated. "I don't know. It is a possibility."

"She said she had been wanting to meet me," I told him, looking at what I had done to her. "I don't think this is what she had in mind."

"Listen," Armsmaster said. "I want to get you, Dinah, and your friend Lisa out of here."

"Out of here?" I asked.

"Out of Brockton Bay," he explained. "If they're here for you, then I want you gone."

"Why?" I blinked, stung. "I'm not afraid of them."

"Then you're stupid," he said bluntly, his jaw set in a scowl. "Members of the Nine have fought the triumvirate. Siberian, for one, has walked away without a scratch. Jack escapes despite our best efforts to create situations he cannot get away from. Crawler gets stronger, more resistant from the damage you do to him. And that's just those three."

"Bonesaw, Burnscar, Mannequin," I murmured, recalling the lists I had seen online once. "And Hatchet-face."

"Mannequin, Alan Gramme, is dead," he said. "We don't know who the replacement is, if anyone. They were down two before that."

"And why should I leave, again?" I asked, returning to the earlier question.

His demeanor was grim. "If they are here, Taylor, it's either to recruit you or kill you. Neither is an acceptable option."

"I wouldn't join them," I began.

"Listen!" he hissed. "They twist you around. Bonesaw was a little girl that Jack Slash turned into an utter monster. If you're here, he will find a way to get in your head and warp you. If that fails, he'll kill you."

My eyes moved around at the cars that were scattered around. "Not if I kill them first."

"Are you even listening to me?" he demanded. "If you're here, Taylor, we have to put people to protect you. That's people that won't be helping us deal with the Nine. You're powerful, but if you're their target, then you're not an asset. You're a burden."

Burden.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"I want you to go," he told me. "I'll arrange transport to get you, Dinah, Lisa, and your friends out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said flatly. "This is my home. I didn't get blown up, fight Leviathan, then Lung just to run away from a bunch of... of... worthless murderhobos!" I felt another hysterical laugh escape as I said that.

"Damnit, Taylor!" he growled. "This is crazy. You have no idea what sort of things they do!"

"I'm not leaving," I stated. "I have to go make sure Dinah's okay."

"You won't change your mind, will you?" he sighed.

"Wasting your breath," I replied, starting toward the house.

"Fine," he said. "Wait a moment." I stopped and glanced back, seeing that he was at his bike. He opened a compartment and took something out.

"I've been working on this for a while," he said. "A lot of it is based on the attack you used against Leviathan, with a few of my own contributions."

He held it out to me. "I want you to keep this with you. I know you have powers, but it always helps to have something in reserve." The object was a knife, in a black sheath. I drew it carefully, eyeing the blade. There didn't appear to be anything unusual about it, but the end was heavy. What little I knew of knives suggested it was weighted poorly for its size.

"It imitates the effects of your attacks, as I said," he explained. "It isn't as powerful, obviously, as what you used against Leviathan, but should still be able to do a lot of damage to someone. I can't test it, obviously, but it might even kill Siberian."

"You said you were studying my attacks," I said slowly. "What for?"

"That is amazingly powerful, Taylor," he replied. "If we can replicate it, then we'll have weapons we can use against the Endbringers if you're not available."

"Is that all?" I pressed, suddenly certain there was something he wasn't saying.

Armsmaster stared at me for a moment, then looked to my left. "I won't lie to you, Taylor. So, no, that isn't all."

I waited as he turned his face back to me. "I do not have your powers, or any powers beyond what I can build and train myself to do. If something happens to you, if you were to turn on us, I wanted to have a way prepared to stop you."

I took a step back at his words. "Stop me? You mean you were trying to find a way to kill me."

"If it were ever necessary," he admitted. "I don't believe it would be, but I believe in being prepared for everything."

I didn't say anything for a long moment, fighting the urge to yell. Finally, I looked at the knife, shoving it back into the sheath. "How does it work?"

"There's a switch near the crosspiece," he said. "I'm still working on the power supply, so it won't run for long."

"I press and stab it, then?" I asked.

"Correct," he said with a nod. "I keyed it to your biometrics, so it won't be anything more than a knife to anyone else."

"Okay," I adjusted my shorts and clipped it to them, then let my shirt fall to cover it.

"Where are you going?" he asked as I started back toward the house.

"Back in there and then to check on Dinah," I replied.

"I'll get some agents to stand guard," he began.

"I'll be fine," I said sharply. "I just want a few minutes alone and then I'll be on my way." I did not look at him, or the mess on the road as I kept moving forward.

"Taylor..."

"Just go away, Colin," I said, leaving him standing in the road.

The spot on the floor where Dinah had landed when I tackled her was stained rust-red with dried blood. I stood there, staring at it. Five minutes had turned into ten, then twenty. My thoughts raced, the words Colin had said about the knife warring with the ones about my being a burden. Intertwined were images of what I had done to Shatterbird.

I had killed Coil, but it wasn't something I had enjoyed. With her, I had.

I bent double until nothing remained in my stomach. After a moment, I fumbled for the towels and covered the mess as best I could. An adjustment did away with the mingled smell of blood and vomit.

Why was I still here? Dinah was hurt, possibly dying, and I was still standing here. Moping.

I took a deep breath and grabbed a bottle of water, rinsing my mouth out.

"Time to go," I said, nodding to myself. "No more of this."

The wall opposite me was ripped away with a terrific crash, revealing a huge, monstrous thing.

"Fight me!" it roared before charging forward.