Disclaimer- I don't own Worm. Nor am I making any profit from this story.
A/N: After a couple of reviews I decided to rewrite this after trimming down some of Taylor's powers and making what I thought were some better choices in order to fit Taylor better. I actually like it.
February 15th, 2011
Taylor Hebert stared at nothing as she sat on a park bench in the pouring rain. Ordinarily you'd expect her to be soaked to a bone but the rain just seemed to slide off of her a few millimeters from her body. It had been a month since Taylor had been pulled out of her locker at Winslow. Taylor's hands curled into fists as anger burned in her gut. The bitches had gotten away with it but Taylor had not returned to Winslow. She refused to go back. There was stubbornness and then there was stupidity.
Instead Taylor used money she had received in the settlement from her mother's death and hired a lawyer. Taylor refused to return to a school that turned a blind eye on what those bitches did to her. Taylor was suing the school and the school district. She had plans to finish her education at home and on her own time.
Taylor knew she wasn't stupid but with all the harassment from her bullies her grades didn't reflect that. Hell, she was fluent in four languages other than English by the time she was twelve and had learned three since. Her father had tried to argue with her about throwing her money away. In her anger Taylor had snapped at him that at least she was going to accomplish something. Danny's stricken face had forced Taylor out of the house and into the rain in shame. She loved her father but he hadn't been much of a dad since her mom had died. Part of Taylor resented him for falling apart and making Taylor pick up the pieces while she was also suffering.
Taylor's thoughts turned back to earlier that month...
February 7th, 2011
Taylor had taken time off from her studies to go shopping downtown. Her dad had offered to take her but she had wanted to be alone. First things first Taylor had decided to do some shopping in her favorite art shop. Taylor was just been putting some notepads and some specialty pencils she had purchased into her bag when there was a loud commotion outside. With the natural instincts of a Brocktonite Taylor had hurriedly ducked down low before she quickly closed her bag, clenching it tight against her. Taylor shuffled over a nearby window to look out and see what was going on. Taylor's mouth tightened in a scowl. Lung and Hookwolf were fighting one another outside.
What the hell? She wondered. How is this my luck?
Already Taylor could hear screams echoing around the area. Steeling her courage Taylor did her best to sneak outside without anyone seeing her. She knew that being in a building did not offer the surety of protection especially with the two who were fighting. Both were known for their collateral damage. As she made her way outside Taylor froze. Around the area several people were burnt, some beyond recognition. Others were missing body parts or had been turned into pretty much meaty chunks. Taylor gagged before she puked on the ground. It was worse than anything she had ever seen. Many people were screaming in fear or pain.
Taylor saw a little girl fall to the ground with a scream as she tripped. Determination filled Taylor and she dove for the child. Grabbing her Taylor rolled them away from Lung's flames. Taylor nearly screamed as she twisted her ankle. Taylor turned to look around her just as Lung roared before loosing fire at Hookwolf who had stopped in front of them. Hookwolf laughed before rolling away leaving the fire to come straight at Taylor and the girl.
Taylor threw her body forward with a scream, arms out, trying to block as much of the child as she could. Taylor's mind blanked except for the desire to survive, to not be hurt, to protect the little girl behind her. Taylor thought about her father at home and how much it would pain him to lose her too. Taylor blacked out briefly before the heat hit her first before the flames enveloped her and to seem to flow around her and the little girl. Taylor gaped at the blue field surrounding her and the child. She could sense that the field was connected to her. She had powers! Out of the corner of her eye Taylor could see Lung and Hookwolf picking themselves off the ground and start looking around.
"Run!" Taylor urged the little girl. Luckily her ankle seemed to have healed as well. Taylor picked the little girl up and tossed her to an adult who was waving her arms. By the face she was obviously the girl's mother.
"You!" Lung bellowed, turning towards Taylor.
Taylor panicked and pulled her hoody tighter against her baklava before she took off running. Faster and faster she ran before she kicked off a stone bench sending her soaring into the air.
Can't let them see me. Don't let them see me. Taylor thought in panic. At her thoughts Taylor sensed another field surrounding her, turning people's attention away from her. Higher and higher Taylor rose before she stopped, floating far above the city.
"I'm flying." Taylor realized before she started falling. Taylor screamed, curling into a ball. Luckily she bounced when she hit the ground. It basically felt like falling on a mattress. Taylor slammed into a wall before bouncing off and sliding to a stop. Taylor gingerly sat up. Surprisingly nothing hurt but Taylor thought she might be in shock.
Taylor shook her head to clear it.
"What the hell?" Taylor muttered as she looked herself over. She was completely unhurt. There wasn't even a scratch or dirt on her clothing!
Her father had of course freaked out when Taylor got home and told him what happened while she was still shocked. Taylor was lucky that she might had the sense left out her the part about her becoming a Parahuman. Her father would have freaked out more and likely have tried to force her into the Wards program. Taylor had no desire to put up with more teenagers, especially those with powers. She really didn't need the drama in her life.
Taylor didn't want to die nor did she want to be inducted into a gang. Unfortunately she really didn't want to join the PRT either. With all the shit she had gone through her trust in authority was at an all time low. Plus they were part of the government and she didn't really trust the government all that much. Taylor had been raised with a healthy distrust of the government by her parents. It had more been her mom but her dad had some trust issues as well with all the trouble the city government had given him over the years with the Union.
Taylor was an avid "Cape Geek" and knew everything that was publicly available about Trigger Events. Most often they were the worst day of a Parahumans life. Even though hers wasn't that bad Taylor could relate. Taylor was honestly surprised she hadn't Triggered when the bitches locked her inside her locker.
Hell certainly described that day. Taylor snarled mentally.
In some ways Taylor was lucky as she knew what her powers were, of which she had three. Her main power, and the strongest was a field that emitted from her body that protected her. It was one power but had several smaller powers attached to it. One of the best was that it made Taylor practically invulnerable to harm as far as she could tell. It repelled away anything that would harm her, including stopping the powers of others working on her including Master powers. Taylor thought of it as a Repelling Field as it repelled things from her.
The field extended to anything Taylor was touching, wearing or holding and could repel just about anything. It could repel physical attacks, energy, radiation, extreme temperatures, liquids, air, light and even gravity. It even allowed Taylor to absorb kinetic energy which she could use to enhance her hits or kicks. With her field Taylor could fly, breathe underwater and leap tall buildings in a single bound! Well, four story buildings at least. Taylor could extend the field around her to protect other people. Taylor could even project fields around others that would repel attacks but not allow those inside to fly.
One of the weirdest effects of the field that surrounded Taylor was it's passive Healing ability. It constantly healed Taylor and could heal those she chose to let enter her field. While fiddling with it Taylor had discovered that she could increase the power of the healing but it left her drained and give her a headache if she did it for too long. So far Taylor had only used the ability to heal some wounded animals but had also discovered that it could work on plants as well. A poor neglected Aloe Vera plant in their kitchen had gone from brown and wilting to vibrant and green.
While testing her powers Taylor had quickly discovered that while her repelling field didn't increase her strength when it came to lifting things it did enhance the power of her hits and kicks as she had dented steel on one of the ships in the ship graveyard, and it hadn't been a rusted ship either. She also discovered that when she hit something with the field or something hit it/her she could absorb energy from it and use it add more power to her hits and kicks.
Taylor's actual second power was Intangibility which allowed Taylor to, well, turn intangible, including anything she was touching or carrying. Combined with flight Taylor could walk or fly through solid objects/people as if they weren't there but she didn't sink into the ground unless she wanted to, being able to just walk as if she were normal. Taylor's third power allowed her to layer another field around her to deflect attention away from her. It was like an SEP field that made others ignore her as long as she concentrated on maintaining the effect. If she lost focus or did something out of the ordinary like attack someone the effect would end. Taylor had tested it by playing with the neighbors dog, making it forget she was there before releasing it.
Refel grinned as she glided through the air, a few inches above the ground. Refel had tuned the field to allow the cool breeze through but had it block any possible contaminates or harmful substances. Taylor's face was covered by a half mask while she wore a camo green shirt, dark cargo pants and a black pocketed best she had ordered online from an army surplus supply store along with a few odds and ends.
Taylor had waited three agonizing weeks to go out and patrol. She had spent that time gathering some items she wanted to have on hand, refining her control over the various aspects of her power and conducting research. Taylor carefully researched everything she could about the other Parahumans in Brockton Bay along with the gangs, the Wards and the PRT. She had also researched the relevant laws for an Independent Hero. Taylor had no desire to be arrested or press ganged into the Wards or the PRT. Taylor had read about such happening before online. While she didn't know if they were actually true Taylor wasn't taking any chances. She quite liked her freedom, thank you very much. She had also spent the time thinking over her cape name. Taylor had finally settled on Refel. She figured if she didn't like it she could always change it later.
Refel's brow rose as she saw several men breaking into an electronics store. With a quick thought Refel extended her SEP field around her as she continued forward, gliding about six inches above the ground so to not make any noise or disturb anything on the ground. One of the thugs was walking towards a parked car across the street with a metal baseball bat. Refel watched him aim his bat at the car's windshield. Refel thrust out her hand and formed a repelling field around the car. The thug cried out in surprise as his bat bounced off the field and back into his face. There was a nasty crunch as his nose broke and he stumbled backwards, falling to the ground on his ass.
"Argh! My fucking nothe!" He yelled.
Refel canceled her SEP field, revealing herself floating in the air, hands on either sound of her waist.
"Now boys I don't think any of that is yours or that you lost your keys." Refel said, even her voice disguised, while wagging a finger at them.
"Cape!" One of the guys yelled. "Run!"
Refel's eyes narrowed as she focused on him as he started following his own advise. With a small smirk Refel formed another field in front of him causing the guy to bounce off it comically and fall to the ground. Another rushed her, carrying a metal baton which she dodged before shoving him back to hit the field, bounce off it and land on the other guy who was recovering. Refel narrowed her eyes at the last guy before she flew at him. The guy screamed and turned to run. A short field appeared in front of his legs, sending him flipping forward as it repelled his legs. Refel quickly formed a larger field around them and dismissed the others. Turning her attention to thug sobbing about his broken nose Refel quickly enveloped him with her field since she couldn't pick him physically and flew him over to the other, quickly shoving him inside.
Heart pounding in excitement and, maybe even a little fear Refel pulled out her burner phone and dialed the police to report her first successful mission against crime.