Brockton Bay. Home to some of the greatest pieces of scum and villainy on the entire planet of Earth Bet, but also some of the greatest heroes as well, and those who simply fall in somewhere in between. In the world of Earth Bet there exists individuals with special powers, officially known as Parahumans, but more commonly known as Capes by the local populace. These powers varies from Parahuman to Parahuman. Some of them are relatively generic, like enhanced strength, while some are more unique.
One example of these more unique Parahumans is the eighteen year old female Parahuman by the name of Harleen "Harley" Belladonna Potter. Also known by her Cape-name as Shriek. The reason she's considered unique is not only because the physical changes caused by her Trigger. Which included a pair of asymmetrical horns on the sides of her head, just above her ears, with the right horn being slightly longer than the left one, having her toe- and fingernails turned into semi-retractable claws and a strong pair of retractable draconian wings. But the reason why her Cape-name is Shriek is because of her ability to generate highly destructive sound waves, capable of causing a massive amount of damage, by screaming (or shrieking).
An example of a still unique but more subtle Parahuman is the eighteen year old Entomopath known as Skitter, or as she is known by her real name, Taylor Hebert. The sad thing about Parahumans in general is that their powers awakens on the worst day of their lives. And some of them don't agree that getting superpowers out of it is worth it. Fortunately for both Harleen and Taylor, after learning that the two of them Triggered under very similar circumstances, they found comfort in each other. Officially becoming girlfriends after a full year of shenanigans and a few dates.
Speaking of the two of them… they can be currently found in an apartment that they live together in… in the same bed… naked and rather sweaty from the look of things. Unfortunately, just as the two of them were about to go to sleep, the alarm clock started ringing, causing one of them to promptly smack the damn thing off the nightstand it was standing on, sending it flying across the room and into a wall, resulting in the destruction of the alarm clock, which made that one the third one that has been destroyed this week.
As the two lovebirds reluctantly started to get out of bed and therefore dressed, both of them sent each other not-so-subtle glances at each other's naked bodies. One of the two had a more unique appearance than her girlfriend, sporting an asymmetrical pair of black horns on the sides of her head, just above her ears, along with a slightly more buxom figure than her girlfriend. The other one had a relatively more normal, more human, appearance.
"Was it really necessary to smash the alarm clock again Harley? That's the third one this week." Stated the relatively normal-looking one as she and her girlfriend were getting dressed.
"No. But it did piss me off by preventing us from getting any rest after last night. And don't you dare say that you didn't enjoy it, cause I know for sure that I did. Ehh… a little help please?" Said the one now known as "Harley", before asking her girlfriend for help with her bra.
"Sure. I know that we mostly did this as a way to relieve stress for today's test but damn. I didn't think we'd managed to do an all-nighter." Stated Taylor while helping her girlfriend with her bra.
"Would you have preferred that we blew up one of the ABB's drug stashes again? Don't deny it, you love it when I'm the one touching you. Especially on that spot…" Stated "Harley" in a slightly perverted tone, before being interrupted by having a shirt thrown in the face, courtesy of her blushing girlfriend.
"That might be true, but it is your fault that I now have a series of scars that says H + T inside of a heart on my lower back!"
"Hey! You had your revenge by doing the same thing to me on my shoulder! Using mosquitoes I might add! That spot is still itching every now and then!"
"Sadomasochist."
"Says you! I can still see a few healing scratches on your upper back!"
"Let's just get breakfast ready, ya loudmouth gekko."
"Whatever you say… bug spray."
About an hour later, the two Parahumans were on their way to high school, Arcadia, while playfully bickering with each other. Harley was currently wearing an open black leather jacket with a dark gray t-shirt with a large red biohazard symbol on the front of the shirt, placed around her stomach with the phrase WREAK HAVOC, printed on the part of the shirt that was unintentionally written across her chest. Both her T-shirt and jacket has two near invisible slits in the back near the shoulder blades, just in case Harley needs (or simply just feel like it) to spread out her retractable wings. Her pants was a pair of jeans with a few gashes, caused because of the claws on her feet. And it was because of said claws that she chose to wear sandals instead of normal shoes.
Taylor on the other hand was wearing an unzipped hoodie, making the shirt she had underneath it visible. Said shirt was humorously a piece of merchandise, showcasing a piece of artwork made by an apparent fan with a picture of herself, in costume, performing a leap from one rooftop to another. The shirt was a few sizes too large, making it almost seem like some sort of dress. Unlike her girlfriend, Taylor wore a pair of sweatpants and regular shoes.
Harley was the one of the two whose Cape-name was known, since the physical changes caused by her Trigger made it practically impossible for her to have a civilian identity, which was why she didn't bother wearing a mask, due to her horns and claws made it pretty much pointless. Despite being a known Cape, some of the students were still dumb enough to either mess with her or attempt to make Taylor, who almost nobody knew was the Cape known as Skitter (the only exception being Harley, for obvious reasons), to break up with Harley. Those idiots were on the receiving end of either a verbal (and sometimes physical) beatdown, courtesy of Harley, or being swarmed and sometimes practically maimed by a swarm of angry hornets the following day.
The two of them got along quite well with the other students and fellow Parahumans at Arcadia. Especially the other Capes that were also attending Arcadia. It was a very pleasant experience for Taylor since it helped raising her sense of confidence. The two of them were particularly grateful that they shared most of their subjects and were in the same class, since Harleen would probably have accidentally destroyed at least parts of the school, by screaming in frustration, which would have only made things worse once her fuse finally burned out. Hence why the staff made sure to have both her and her girlfriend together as much as possible in order to at least try to prevent Harleen from throwing a very loud and destructive fit. Don't believe it? Just ask Taylor what destroyed Winslow when they were younger. Fortunately or unfortunately (depends on the perspective) only one person was injured in the complete destruction of that hellhole, a Sophia Hess got both of her legs completely shattered and a permanent case of tinnitus, due to being on the receiving end of a temper tantrum, courtesy of none other than Harleen. Nobody has suspiciously neither seen nor heard anything from the rather violent Cape known as Shadow Stalker ever since then.
About the time when lunch rolled around, the two lovebirds could be found sitting at a table along with some of the other Parahumans in the school. Amongst the small group of friends and acquaintances, that had become known as The X-Crew to the other students (due to the majority of them being known or at least assumed Capes), were Victoria and her younger sister Amy Dallon, also known as Glory Girl and Panacea respectively, along with a few others that Harleen hadn't bothered to try and remember. They were mostly just chatting about everything and anything really. How well they thought they scored on the test earlier, what new rookie-Cape had accidentally destroyed some piece of historical architecture, how their civilian lives were going, what they were anticipating for the year. Over all, just being a small group of teenage friends, who just happened to have superpowers.
Nothing special really happened for the rest of the day, until after school. Just as the four mentioned members of The X-Crew were less than three meters away from the schools entrance/exit, a glowing red vortex suddenly appeared underneath them, with Harleen at the center of it, causing her to lose her balance and unintentionally causing the other three to lose their own balance. Which caused all four of them to be swallowed by the vortex and transported to wherever the vortex may take them.