"It's cool dude, you do you. I told you I wouldn't because he is full of like an ounce of black widow and brown recluse venom. Kind of already drugged, well, poisoned. But he regenerates, so maybe it's cool."

Armsmaster blinked, not that the merchant, well, he assumed merchant, she? Possibly a she, or a young male, was unusual in this area, however they had a lot of the mannerisms of younger people who were 'baked' he believed the term was. Standard operating procedure still applied. He deployed the needle from his halberd.

"Cool, I'll just go then dude."

"Wait! Who gets the credit for Lung?" Armsmaster winced at the red capitalized text, bolded, and flashing appearing in his HUD. Yes, yes, he could have said that better.

The potential cape shrugged "Any money on him?"

Armsmaster frowned "As a Protectorate hero I don't collect bounties."

"Huh. Well, I'm not one of those. He is bound to have pissed somebody off enough to put money on him though, thanks for that" The person shrugged "I got video. So, you do you dude. I should be able to get the money with the video. Kind of meant in his wallet though."

"What!" Colin asked in a dangerous tone. The person fled. He turned to Lung laying in the road. He prepared to inject him with the sedative. He was interrupted by a feminine giggle in his helmet. "Dragon?"

"Look at you rear view camera Colin. Your 'suspected merchant person' is rolling the ABB gangbangers up the street."

Colin looked then spun around "Stop! In the name of the law." Dragon was laughing in his helmet now.

The suspected new merchant cape never stopped moving "Sure Dredd."

Colin growled and started moving up the street as rapidly as he could in this armor. A fairly good running pace. No where near fast as a young person, not in armor. In the dark clothes the person vanished nearly instantly. Even from his sensors.

You do you

Brian, Grue of the Undersiders, looked at one of the other gang members, another parahuman, Lisa, or Tattletale "What the fuck did we just watch? Did a homeless person just solo Lung by accident?"

Lisa rubbed her temples as she collapsed on the couch in the mezzanine converted to a loft in the factory they used as a base. "Not by accident."

Alec, Regent, who had been uncharacteristically quiet since they came on the girl, he thought it was a girl, beating Lung, a semiconscious Lung, like a drum. Literally, like those Japanese chicks who did the shows with the huge drums. With big drum stick things that didn't seem near as padded as they looked. Not from the dents they made in Lungs head, the pavement, that car. Barked a laugh "Yeah, not by accident. Maybe a panic though."

Rachel, Bitch, nodded "Scared the dogs, all that screaming."

"Lisa?" Grue asked.

"I don't know Brian. She came from nowhere. She is, hell, I have no idea." She looked at Rachel. Her power was sort of mumbling to itself.

You do you

Taylor worked on the video, getting it posted on PHO with questions about the bounty on Lung and all the gangers anyway. The smart phone wasn't hers. Well, it hadn't started life as hers, but who doesn't lock their phone? Apparently, Jermaine Johnson. That's what the name on the phone said but that guy had been white? Well the one she got it off of when she swarmed that drug house.

Taylor blinked as the replies came in on PHO in a steady stream "That didn't take long. These dudes don't sleep much." She answered questions on PHO as she waited on the bus. This late the bus, busses? Took a long time to run the expanded routes with limited service. They didn't run at all in the area she had encountered Armsmaster in. She had had to walk a couple miles back to more civilized territory. A few of the PHO denizens had good advice. Tin Mother, that was a cool user name, even verified her, whatever that meant.

She sniped at a couple of doubters 'Whatever, you do you dude.' Tin Mother backed her up again. Taylor kept on answering questions as she caught the bus up town. He cavalry following overhead and gaining strength with every building they passed where she could feel widows, wasp, and recluses. Not that it hadn't already been a good night collecting. That's what she had been doing when she ran across Lung and his dudes. Not that she knew it was Lung at first. Widows were territorial and solitary. You had to look a bit. Of course to a human their territories were small.

She was bound to be able to find a stash in Empire territory to empty. One Merchant, one ABB and one empire stash a day was the plan after all. She had done the merchants after school, got home for dinner, gone out collecting and Lung had been a dick, his bangers had had rolls of cash though, so it was cool. Way more than limited out on them. Three hundred thirty bucks to stay below the banks reporting limits. Meh, she could just hide the money. Like she did a few other over days. Even after shopping, clothes and food, other stuff too.

She blinked, she needed to police those stashes up. Well if she hit a short day. So far, she had hit enough bangers to exceed her limits easy, every day. Hey! 'So, if I get the reward, bank it, and show them the paper work do I have to pay taxes?' she typed and hit send.

Her phone started buzzing continuously again. She sighed. She read one of the comments. Number Man, sounds like a gang member. An address, not mine, for pick up. Is this even legal? She watched the storm across the internet.

You do you.

Tattletale watched the comments on PHO. "This girl isn't going to last the night."

Rachel shrugged "Bugs will fuck you up. She decides to roll you you give up your money." The other three Undersiders turned their head to her. She shrugged "Seen her around."

Lisa blinked "For how long, a month? What the fuck Rachel?"

"She doesn't fuck with us." Rachel shrugged.

Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose "Insect master. Plague of bugs, mostly lethal. Has complete control. At least a half mile in any direction."

Rachel nodded "Was going to talk to her about the fights. She goes after Nazi's, ABB, Merchants, muggers and shit. Drug dealers when she see's em. Pretty much all of that at the fights. Plus, money. She likes money."

Brian shook his head "How is she not dead?"

Lisa snorted "Half a mile range, in all directions. By the time you got close enough she could give you a lethal dose of venom. Half a dozen of those black widows she has is enou-, really? Oh, wasp carrying them around. She hasn't found any hornets yet, real hornets. She wants the giant ones from Japan. Oh, my fucking god. She has them on order."

Regent stood up "OK, I'm out. Alaska is nice I heard."

Rachel snorted "Pussy. Don't piss her off and she won't kill you. Oh, and give her your money if she wants it. She likes dogs. Plays with mine. Helps when she comes around. Likes people too. If you can get her attention. Fleas and ticks got no chance. She feeds them to her girls."

Her teammates stared at her. She went back to brushing the dogs. People were weird. Bugs weren't weird. Bugs wasn't either. She did her shit, quietly. Rachel got up and took the dogs to her room while the others freaked out some more. Like there was anything they could do about Bugs.

You do you

Dragon was giggling in the monitor, well one monitor, while showing Colin and Hannah PHO in the other monitor. Hanna blinked "How long has she been triggered? Has no one told her anything? We have to find her. Someone will kill her."

Dragon laughed "I'm talking to her. She doesn't think much of the unwritten rules and every law I tell her about she finds all the holes in it. She has been triggered a while it seems, a month, maybe two. She already knows how to get around the bank reporting requirements."

"January seventeenth, an envenomed casualty was brought into Brockton General. A Merchant." Armsmaster was looking at police blotters. "Another the next day, eleven the day after, then suspected ABB and Empire. A total of four hundred. Over the last month and a half.

"There has been a thirty-two percent drop in 'street level' crime." Colin, Armsmaster sounded impressed.

Hanna, Miss Militia, was scandalized "How has she lived this long?"

Dragon shook her head in the monitor she was on "It's bizarre, look." She rolled the security and traffic camera footage she had been perusing. They watched as the same girl in terrible clothes wandered down a street to be accosted by two men. Then the black cloud descended. The men panicked and the girl leaned against the building watching them flail at the insects. Suddenly the men looked at her and then knelt with their hands on their heads. After emptying their pockets. The girl took their money and used one of their phones. Dragon cut in the 911 call "Uh yeah, two dudes tried to rob me. They're at" Dragon had synched the call nearly perfectly and they all watched the girl walk until she could see the street signs on the corner "Ocean and Meeks. Better bring an ambulance. They got about thirty minutes."

The 911 operator paused "Thirty minutes for what ma'am?"

"Until the black widow venom kills them. Later." She hung up and tossed the phone as the men shouted in the background.

The scene changed to a group of men. The result was the same in the end. Down to the call.

Colin nodded "We will have to interview her victims. Why wouldn't they attack her?"

Hanna snorted "And who would get the spiders off of them then?"

Dragon glared at Colin "Victims? That was clearly defense of self. She walks right past any groups who don't bother her."

Colin nodded slowly. While typing madly "Assault of all types down significant percentages."

Dragon pulled open a web page, one of the empires pages "The empire rank and file have apparently decided to avoid her. They are attempting to track 420, their name for her."

Hanna frowned "She is a drug user?"

Dragon shook her head "Apparently her attitude, and her catch phrase being 'you do you' got her the tag. No reports of drug use, at least when they encountered her. She is apparently a bit disassociated from the way they describe her. In a daze, 'baked' is a phrase they used, 'tweaking' is another. They have a rudimentary tracking system going to warn members where she is. No corroboration obviously. She would have to be a mover to be in all of these places at once, Maybe a Strider level teleporter.

"Of course, that could be them reporting any thin, Caucasian, brunette, girl wearing glasses, in a hoody as 420. Some of these pictures are definitely not her, that's obvious despite the rather inadequate cameras, probably in cheap cell phones, that they were taken with.

"The persons she has defended herself against advise leaving the 'crazy doper bitch' alone, stridently, unless you want your 'shit ripped'. Apparently, they mean their money and their bodies.

Anecdotally she apparently has complete control of the spiders and the…well, that's interesting, wasp she uses to deliver them."

Hanna and Colin blinked. Colin sighed "The Director is going to hit the ceiling."

Hanna nodded "Though I can't see her wanting to recruit this one. Spiders!" She shuddered.

You do you

Emily Piggot, the director of the PRT ENE looked at Armsmaster, then Miss Militia, then over the senior staff shifting in their seats and snorted. "So, one scrawny white girl has all of you sweating buckets." She paused and shuddered "Me too. So, let's leave 420 alone, be nice to her if you encounter her. Do not pitch her the Wards. Not until I get a thousand cases of Raid in here. Or we develop intelligence she is in more danger than she is now. Christ, what's next?"

The G5 JAG cleared her throat "The police and prosecutor seem happy with her taking the cash from the people she fights; she doesn't take the drugs or weapons. They are calling the cash her fifteen percent."

Emily snorted "She is more effective than the police and us at curbing street crime. Of course, they are happy for her to wander around causing arachnophobia in the gang bangers and idiots." Emily drummed her fingers. "Someone needs to talk to her about the unwritten rules and the law though." Battery face palmed "Assault, scared of spiders?"

Assault shrugged "Don't have to be, I have no intention of trying to mug or assault her. What I hear is she minds her own business."

Emily nodded "Rolling Gangbangers. Next order of business, Lung." The meeting picked up pace.

You do You

Taylor walked out of the alley and turned right then froze looking at the Blond hovering in front of her "Uh, hey."

Glory Girl, Victoria Dallon looked at the cloud leaving the alley and blinked "Wasp carrying spiders? 420!" Taylor blinked "I saw the video that got posted of you taking down Lung and confusing Armsmaster! Good job! Oh man, my sister is pissed at you though." Taylor blinked again "Spider bites, she says all she does anymore is fix spider bites."

Taylor finally got her thoughts in order "Glory Girl, Panacea is your sister. Why, the antivenom is like twenty seven bucks, most hospitals carry it, it's made in Jersey. Mostly the bites would just make them hurt really bad anyway, unless they are hard headed and I have to bite them a bunch. Some of the younger guys try to tough it out. I don't use the recluses much, just keep them for capes. Plus, most of the swarm is for that too. I would leave people alone, but guys are stupid. Especially in groups."

"I know right? So, she doesn't have to heal them?"

Taylor shrugged "Google says the anti-venom works in like thirty minutes. 420?"

"Oh, it's what they call you, since you tell people you do you all the time."

Taylor huffed "Taylor. Who am I to tell idiots what to do?"

"Vicky. So why are you out here, shouldn't you be in school?"

"Pot meet kettle. Naw, homeschool, since I, triggered, I guess they call it. Dad is suing the shit out of everyone. Plus, he wants me to run a pest control company twenty-three hours a week, did you know that's all you can work if you are underage? Anyway, he knew I had powers before I did. I was unconscious in the hospital and apparently all the bugs in the place had to come to me."

"Oh wow! I should have known, Amy talked about the bug thing." Vicky blushed "Oh man, sorry about what happened. Mom got up in arms too. She's a lawyer. Someone ought to do something about Winslow."

Taylor shrugged "Should have. Looks like dad is going to take enough money the State will have to take over the schools. Well, besides Arcadia. It's a charter school or something. Immaculata is private, sort of, Catholic so not them either. That's before the lawyer Dad got me gets started on them. She is suing everybody over everything, including the bullies."

"She should!"

Taylor sighed "I'm just done with it, you know?"

Vicky nodded "Them do them."

Taylor rolled her eyes "Is that even English? And hey, shouldn't you be in school too?"

Vicky smirked "PE and Study hall. Not much sense in me doing PE and they let me skate on study hall to patrol as long as I keep my grades up. So, want to beat up some bangers?"

Taylor blinked "Uh, no? Won't have much choice though. Somebody will be an idiot. I was just looking around collecting some more of the girls."

Vicky wrinkled her nose "Where do you get them?" Her curiosity overwhelmed her.

You do you

Amy looked at the girl riding her sister piggy back and raised a brow "Amy, Taylor, Panacea, 420." Vicky said as she landed and the girl hopped down.

Amy drew in a breath "You! Stop envenoming idiots!"

Vicky waved her down "Anti venom is cheap, all the hospitals carry it, it's made in Jersey, and it works in thirty minutes, just let them hurt a while Ames."

"Wut?" Amy blinked at her sister. She looked at the slow smile and lidded eyes of 420. Then she shook her head.

Vicky grinned "Told you." She turned to Amy "Come on, we are going to go get her some decent clothes to match that face and body."

Amy looked at Taylor as her face twisted wryly and chuckled. Vicky had found another victim. She squawked as Vicky scooped her up and Taylor hopped on Vicky's back again.

You do you

Later Vicky smirked at Amy as she watched Taylor as she went to the changing booth out of the corner of her eye. "Told you. Both of you. Legs all the way to her neck, green eyes, that mouth curled up at the corners when she smiles like that. Yeah, all that."

"No boobs." Amy flushed a brilliant red. Vicky laughed raucously.

You do you

Later, at one of the local lobster shacks, locals didn't go to the joints on the boardwalk, well Fugly Bobs, a famous dive, guy Ferrari would love the joint, and had, his bet version anyway, if the weather wasn't good enough, or the lobster season was off. Vicky watched as she was left out of the conversation. Then what they were talking about dawned on her. "Wait! Lobsters live forever so all bugs can?" She looked at her lobster roll "Lobsters are bugs?" Amy and Taylor broke up laughing. Vicky pouted. Amy recovered "They can't live forever but they never stop growing or experience what we would call old age, they are strong, active, and fertile until they die."

"Horribly, while moulting. Big energy sink." Taylor shrugged "Circle of life dude."

Vicky huffed "The Lion King? Really? And 'dude'? I beg your pardon."

"You got it dude." Taylor smiled. Amy, watching, shook her head, first the wide green eyes when she told her idea about lobsters and her bugs and now the full-on smile with the white teeth and the sparkling green eyes.

Taylor sighed "Time is it? Hate to go, you dudes are cool, but I got a thing." Vicky arched a brow. Taylor shrugged "Promised I would help Bitch with some dogs."

Vicky frowned "A Bitch? Oh, Taylor no! She's a villain!"

Taylor shrugged "Bum rap I think. Maybe not though. But she is cool to me. Plus, the dogs need the help."

"I'll come with."

Amy nodded "Me too."

Taylor shrugged "Cool."

You do you

The three met with Bitch, AKA Hellhound. That worthy looked at Taylor who shrugged "They want to help."

Bitch looked at the two for a moment and pointed at Taylors tie died bandana, which she was wearing around her neck, and her own dollar store mask, a rottweilers face. Taylor nodded and took her pack off rummaging around in it for a while, then coming up with two more tie died bandanas. She handed those to Amy and Vicky and then rummaged some more coming up with one more. She zipped her pack up and put it back on her back. Rachel looked at her, then her dogs, then she sighed. Amy and Vicky put the bandanas on and stood waiting. Amy finally asked "Well?"

Taylor shrugged "Moving the swarm. Waiting on Rachels tail to work up her, yeah her, nerve."

Vicky rolled her eyes "Names?" Rachel grunted.

Taylor waved her down "Mask are part of a social contract. Capes wear them to let the normal folks know some serious shit is going to go down. When I am caping I wear one to hold up my end of the contract, then if someone fucks with me anyway, well, I can go all out. Aunt Lacey came up with that. She ran with Lustrum. So did my mom."

Amy blinked "So you are a second-generation cape?"

Taylor shook her head "Not that I know of. Plus, my trigger thing put me in the hospital. So, no?"

Lisa stepped out of a shadow "No, your mom wasn't a cape, neither is 'Aunt Lacey'" You could hear the quotation marks.

Rachel sighed; Taylor just handed Lisa a bandana. Lisa looked around at the others and opened her mouth. Rachel grabbed her arm and led off dragging her along. Taylor Amy and Vicky followed.

Vicky asked "So?"

Taylor shrugged "Rachel is in a gang. Lisa is kind of the planner for it. Thinker. Intuitive deduction from what Rachel says. Pretty high rated probably."

Amy groaned "The fucking Undersiders. Great. Carol will flip her shit."

Taylor waved her off "Put your mom on Rachels case. It smells anyway. Plus, you will be helping the dogs, and any bangers we fuck up."

Amy looked at her "Don't envenom them maybe?"

Taylor shrugged, it seemed her standard response, "They do what they are told and I won't. If I don't bite them a bunch they won't die anyway, it just hurts like a bitch. Five or six bites to kill them. More kill them quicker, none faster than about thirty minutes. They scream a lot though. Pisses the cops off. They have to go by the hospital and get the antivenom. Then the doctors want to keep them for observation, it's a thing, so I don't if I don't have to."

Vicky blinked "So you are a brute too then? I mean if it takes thirty minutes you have to fight?"

Taylor shrugged "Like Spiderman, but mine wasn't radioactive? That was the one good thing in the hazmat teams report on my locker."

Amy nodded "The only good thing. Winslow's student body needs to be checked for everything; place is a public health hazard just from the kids walking around in it. I cured you of all the infections."

Taylor gave her a one-armed shoulder hug. "Thanks for that by the way. Dad said you came by, like the third thing he said after I woke up. Did you uh, like, do anything?"

Amy shook her head "Besides cure literally all the infections? No. Why?"

Lisa replied from where Rachel was still towing her along "Because of the brute thing. It's getting better and better. Huh, that's not normal at all."

Amy reached up and grabbed the hand on her shoulder "Oh, wow, that's interesting. Yeah, muscles, bone, ligaments. Oh, nerves too. Much better than normal humans. I haven't seen this before."

Taylor nodded "Fixed my eyes too. Plus, I can hear your heart beats, and sort of see your heat signatures."

Rachel stopped and pointed down and across the street. Vicky shook her head "Downtown? Pretty bold."

Lisa nodded "It's like fight club the movie, the little office weenies come and bet or fight, or do both. Right until Hookwolf, Storm Tiger, Cricket, one of the real Nazi bangers, any of them show up. A walk on the wild side for all the Walter Middy's."

Taylor shrugged "Fine." She grinned at Vicky "They do them. Best way to crack this nut, that's you doing you."

You do you

Amy glared at Lisa when she finished briefing. Vicky was wide eyed. Rachel was, Rachel. Taylor turned her grin and lidded gaze on Amy "A bio tinker who doesn't need tinky stuff just bio stuff. Cool. So you really can make some bugs giants that live for a long time for me."

Amy huffed and crossed her arms "And until Tattletale started blabbering I had no idea how to make a knockout venom for your hornets or make your recluses into killing machines."

Taylor smiled wider "Insects not machines, but its cool. Recluses cause necrosis. Not like they weren't already dangerous. Deadly if enough bite you, horrible way to die. This is better." Amy face palmed.

Taylor took off her shoes and put her hands and foot on the building and then sort of skittered up the brick wall "So this works Lisa, how did you know?"

Vicky gaped, Amy shook her head "How it works is the question, are you like a gecko? I didn't feel anything different."

"Feel some more." Lisa smirked as Amy blushed.

Rachel rolled her eyes "Come on." She turned to the amped up dogs and pointed at the roll up door on the loading dock "Go." Taylor skittered up the wall, Vicky flew in behind the dogs who knocked the entire door, frame and all, into the building and Lisa pulled out a pistol and moved closer to Amy against the brick wall.

"Taylor's pretty hot." Lisa said loudly to be heard over the crashing, barking, and screaming going on in the building.

Amy glared at "Her you need to mind your own business if you don't want to figure out how to talk without a tongue."

They both watched as the dark cloud finished flying in the building and everything went quiet and still. Amy snorted "Come on." She led into the building.

You do you.

Inside all the people were kneeling with their hands on their heads with their eyes rolling trying to follow the spiders crawling on their faces. Except for five guys, one mauled by dogs, one mauled by Vicky and three locked in agonal arches, unable to even scream.

Rachel was working with the dogs, Vicky was watching over the crowd and Taylor was emptying their pockets.

Lisa looked at the people on the ground and sighed "That's Storm Tiger and Cricket. How did you even?" She pointed to two of the people locked in arches.

Taylor shrugged "They wanted to blab. Probably need to get to them soonish. Lots of bites. The other dude too. He was trying to prove something to Cricket I think. Let me get these taken care of and then look around." Amy had already strode off to work on the dogs. "Or you do you girl." Amy tossed her a huff over her shoulder, already having a hand apiece on two different dogs.

You do you

Grue looked at the sheepish Tattletale. Regent snorted "A hundred K apiece. Next dog ring I am in too yeah?"

Lisa sighed "It was a one off. They were using it as a counting house and getting the Middy's to launder their money."

Brian pinched the bridge of his nose "Well, it balanced our hit on Lungs casino?" He pushed at the pit bull that had decided Brian belonged to her. She climbed in his lap. He heaved a sigh. Rachel nodded.

You do you

Emily watched the video again. "So mover two, brute three, Master yes?"

Battery blinked "That's Panacea, Glory Girl, Tattletale and Hellhound!"

Assault shrugged "Girls night out?"

Armsmaster nodded "A one time event so far, not the genesis of a female gang."

Dragon scowled "Or the beginning of a all female heroic organization."

Emily heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Hannah chuckled "Missy is so jealous."