Brockton Bay General Hospital.
Two Days After The Locker Incident.
"Beep, beep, beep, beep."
The gentle rhythm of a heart monitor continuously repeating and the subtle smell of a sterilised environment generally associated with hospitals was what greeted Taylor Hebert upon her return to the land of the living. She groggily opened her eyes and saw plain white walls and ceiling that possessed a subtle smell of sterilising chemicals, which meant she awakened in a stereotypical hospital room.
"I'm still alive?" Taylor was thoroughly confused as she slowly sat up from the hospital bed and quickly surveyed her surroundings. This was definitely not the metallic insides of her locker that she had been forcefully stuffed into by her relentless bully Sophia Hess. Meaning that someone must've pulled her out of the locker while her bullies weren't watching and called an ambulance so that Taylor could get the medical help necessary to treat the injures that she had suffered during her stay in the biohazard filled locker.
"Well, this place is better than the locker." Taylor felt pure relief that she was finally free from the insect filled nightmare that had once been her school locker. Although the relief that Taylor felt quickly turned into confusion as she suddenly noticed that she felt good. I mean, really good, like the teenager could run a hundred marathons without any problems and still have plenty of energy to keep going which didn't make sense. Taylor didn't have a good grasp of time whilst trapped, yet she must've been inside the toxic locker for at least two days meaning that she should be a weak, sickly mess, or worse, a rotting corpse.
Taylor collapsed on the hospital bed. "At least Sophia and the rest of the Trio can't do anything worse than the locker." She released a sad chuckle while trying and failing to imagine the infamous Trio coming up with anything that might be able to top this little 'prank' they schemed up. The sole daughter of the Hebert family was going to descend deeper into her depressive thoughts yet stopped from doing so when she saw something large moving underneath her bedsheets, causing her to tilt her head in confused curiosity.
"Hum, I wonder what that could be?" She cautiously lifted the bedsheets and barely managed to contain the scream of surprise and disbelief that wanted to escape her lips when she saw a massive fluffy pure white wolf tail that was easy twice the length of Taylor's own height. To add more shock to the situation, the tail was connected to Taylor at the base of her tail bone, meaning that it was a part of her body. "What the hell! That wasn't there before?!" Taylor mentally wailed in fear whilst her newly discovered tail twitched wildly in response to its owner's current emotional state.
"Okay, Taylor, just calm down; it's just a tail; it's not as if anything else was changed, right?" She took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, only to freeze when the last thing she said registered itself within her mind. Without giving it a moments' thought, the young teenager hopped out of the hospital bed and raced into the nearest bathroom, which was across the hallway of this section of the general hospital.
Upon entering the bathroom, Taylor made a beeline for the medium-sized mirror located above the sink. "This….this can't be right." She stared with disbelief at her reflection. However, a beautiful girl gazed back instead of seeing her usual plain raven hair and tall stick-like figure. The figure inside the mirror possessed long flowing white hair, complete with a set of wolf ears coming out at the top go her skull which matched the colour of her new tail. She also had strange red tattoos covering her face, two tiger-like strips on each cheek, and a sun symbol located on the centre of her forehead. Taylor noticed that the breathtaking beauty had golden honey-rich eyes with slitted pupils, and when she opened her mouth, a set of sharp wolf fangs were seen protruding from her upper gums.
Taylor stepped away from the mirror as she quickly realised that the beautiful girl in the mirror was actually her own reflection. "This can't be happening; this can't be happening!" Taylor felt like she was having a panic attack, as her mind tried to accept that the young beautiful wolflike woman staring back at her within the mirror was indeed herself. Taylor was scared and confused as she was pretty damn sure that she didn't look anything like this when she'd been stuffed into the locker by her tormenters.
Taylor suddenly froze as her mind slowly but surely put the pieces of the puzzle together, her new wolf ears folded backwards while her eyes grow wider as the answer to her sudden wolf/human hybridization became crystal clear.
"I triggered inside the locker," sadness filled her heart at the knowledge that her tormentors had successfully caused the worst day of her life, which triggered her transformation into the gorgeous woman that she was now. "On the bright side, Emma and her friends can no longer say I'm ugly anymore." Taylor smiled uneasily as she tried to find the silver in this horrible situation that she found herself in. However, at the thought of people seeing her new wolfish form, a sense of dread began to build up within her stomach.
She paced around the bathroom much like a caged animal would. "People must've already seen me. I'm in a hospital surrounded by doctors, medical staff, and patients; how could anyone not have seen how much I've changed since coming out of the locker!" Taylor felt her breath quicken at the thought of people seeing her new form, of gang members coming to the hospital to try recruiting her against her will or hunting her father as a means of revenge for refusing to join. Each new scenario conjured within Taylor's mind, her breathing grows more and more frantic.
A soft knock suddenly came from the only way into the bathroom. "Um, Miss Hebert, is everything alright in there?" A voice belonging to one of the hospital's nurses coming from the other side of the bathroom door, which thankfully snapped Taylor out of her panicking. "Yes, I'll be out in just a second!" Taylor quickly replied to the nurse while adjusting her hospital gown so that it fits more comfortably on her new frame. She noticed whilst adjusting the gown that the rest of her body possessed the same red tattoos that marked her face, and much to her embarrassment, Taylor could also tell that she was much curvier and filled out than she had been before her trigger event.
"Oh great, now I'll have to go shopping for some new clothes because there's zero chance that my old clothes will fit me now." Taylor grimaced at the thought of looking for new clothes and spending a lot of money to get them. Thanks to the Boat Graveyard blocking off the city from the sea and the gangs constantly fighting each other, the Dockworkers Union was barely making any money at the best of times. Thus her family could ill afford to spend the money necessary to replace her entire wardrobe.
"I can think about new clothes later as I've got much bigger concerns to deal with at the moment." Taylor placed the thoughts related to clothes at the back of her mind and opened the bathroom door. However, once her golden eyes landed on the nurse standing a few feet in front of her, Taylor's muscles locked up as the life of 39-year-old Jane Smith played itself like a movie within her mind. From a happy, carefree childhood to stressful days at college. With each scene that played out before the wolf girl, a strange sense of pride and parental love for the woman blossomed within Taylor's heart, which was beyond weird as Jane Smith was twenty-four years her senior and had two kids who were starting high school in a few months. Yet sadly, no husband, as the man died two years ago when the E88 and ABB had an intense battle over some territory which ended in the deaths of over thirty innocent people; Jane's husband was among the casualties.
"Miss Hebert, are you sure you're okay?" Jane was a short and rather plump woman whose chocolate eyes gazed at the wolf girl with concern. The woman's kindness didn't surprise Taylor since she saw Jane's entire life literally play out within her head like a home movie. Thanks to that knowledge, she knew Jane was a kind and gentle soul who loved to help those in need, which was why the plump woman trained so hard to become a nurse, as it was a noble occupation that helps the people of Brockton Bay stay alive and healthy.
"She can't see the real me." Relief and a twinge of sadness filled Taylor's heart upon realising that Jane couldn't see her true wolfish form. Although the youngest of the Hebert clan only figured it out when the last pieces of Jane's life finished playing out, the previous memory Taylor witnessed was of Jane watching as she walked out the bathroom appearing just as she had before the locker incident. "Hum, is it some kind of stranger effect that's preventing Jane from seeing the real me?" Silently pondered the white-haired wolf girl whilst her wolfish ears, without her even noticing, perked forwards in slight curiosity.
"Something to ponder on at a later date, for now, I'd better answer before my silence begins to worry Jane."
Taylor smiled softly at nurse Jane. "I'm fine, just a little bit sleepy and groggy after waking up a few moments ago." She gave her words more believability by stretching outwards and letting out a loud yawn.
The plump nurse quietly hummed in thought while gently rubbing her chin and giving Taylor's gown-covered body a swift once over. "That's quite normal, especially after what you've been through." Calmly informs Smith whilst unknowingly staring into Taylor's new golden eyes. "Being stuffed into a biohazard filled locker for a few days must've been absolutely awful for you." Taylor felt a warm smile worm its way onto her lips without consent. With her new ability to witness the lives of others, which was gifted from her trigger event in the locker, Taylor knew Jane was 100% sincere in her worry for the health and safety of the now wolfish teenager.
"It was indeed a horrible experience." Quickly agreed, Taylor whilst shivering as the memories of the toxic, bug-infested locker returned to the forefront of her mind. Just the mere memories of the foul stench of rotting waste and blood were enough to make the wolf girl want to throw up whatever was currently within her stomach. "However, I'm just glad to be alive." She sincerely informed the nurse while slowly returning to her temporary room within the hospital. Jane followed quietly behind Taylor, ready to offer assistance to the recently empowered teenager if necessary.
The patient, nurse duo, entered the hospital room. "By the way, do you know where my dad is at the moment?" Taylor politely inquired, although she already knew the answer thanks to watching Jane's memories. Strangely enough, she couldn't view new memories like the one detailing the conversation they had a few seconds ago outside the hallway, causing Taylor to silently theorise that her unique ability could allow her to witness a person's memories only once. A massive relief because Taylor would rather not rewatch a person's memories over and over again. That would've been a nasty problem to deal with. Taylor didn't need such a headache in her life, not with the Trio hiding in the shadows like some unseen predator just waiting for the right time to strike.
"Yes," Jane answered with a bright smile while helping the wolfish teenager back into the hospital bed; she also fluffed the pillow until it was nice and soft. "Unfortunately, your father, a good man if I do say so myself, was called away because there was some kind of emergency with the Dockworkers Union." When Taylor settled into the hospital bed, the plump nurse grabbed a nearby glass of water resting on a table which Taylor hadn't noticed when she was racing into the nearest bathroom to get a look at herself in the mirror. "Although I haven't the foggiest idea what it was about, it must've been important since he hasn't left your side since you've come here, not even to take a bath or change clothes." The she-wolf smiled softly upon hearing that her father never left her side; it was precisely the kind of thing he'd do because although they've hit a rough patch since her mother died a few years ago, they still loved each other immensely. After this near-death experience, Taylor planned to talk to dad about everything that has happened with the bullying at school and Emma. Near-death had a funny way of changing a person's priorities, and this incident made the wolf girl realise that she needed to fix the family bonds with her father before it was far too late to do anything about it.
"I see; well, if it's an emergency, then it can't be helped," Taylor replied while taking the glass of water that Jane had silently offered. "However, do you know when he'll be coming back from the docks?" Again Taylor already knew the answer, yet for the sake of appearances and the desire to not be outed as a Parahuman, she'd ask the questions anyway since nothing screamed cape when you suddenly know things that you shouldn't. It would make people start thinking that she was a Thinker. From what Taylor could vaguely recall about Thinkers after doing some rather lazy research on capes during the weekends, getting mistaken for a Thinker was generally bad for your future health and life expectancy.
"Of course, dear, he said that he'd be back within a few hours, maybe a little less if the situation at the docks is resolved quickly." Jane happily told the wolf girl, and after Taylor finished the whole glass of water, the nurse gently took the empty glass away and placed it back onto the nearby table. "Now I really hate to leave you, especially after you've just woken up, but I'm afraid I have other patients to visit, so I must be off." Jane softly patted Taylor's hand, a warm, reassuring smile upon her plump lips. "But if you require anything, anything at all, hit this call button here on the wall, and I'll be here as fast as I can to help with whatever it is you need assistance with." The kind nurse explained whilst pointing to the call button built into the wall next to Taylor's bed.
"I understand," Taylor nodded while a playfully smile etched its way onto her lips. "Now, please go and save those patients lives, Miss Super Nurse." She ordered in a playful tone which got Jane to throw her head back and release a laugh full of joy and happiness, two emotions that Taylor was sad to say had been absent in her life ever since Emma decided for some unknown reason to start bullying her at school. The destruction of her mother's flute had been a strike to the heart that Taylor was doubtful that she'd ever fully recover from. However, what really surprised the wolf girl at the moment was her newfound playfulness and surge of positive emotions that were filling her soul so fast that it was beyond her ability to contain properly. Usually, Taylor was considered an antisocial person, which made making new friends hard for her and was the main reason Emma's betrayal had hurt so much during high school. Yet miraculously, her fears of trying to make new friends or just interacting with people, in general, was gone and replaced with a new powerful urge to play and make people laugh and be truly happy like she'd just done for Jane Smith.
"Well, I'd better be off then," Jane said while smiling warmly at Taylor after finally calming down from her laughing fit. "After all, can't be a super nurse by just standing around here all day now, can I?" The plump woman joyfully asked the wolf girl, whose tail was swishing excitingly underneath the bedsheets. Not that Jane noticed the massive tail or anything else that was strange as Taylor's powers made sure the nurse saw everything within the room as normal.
"No, I suppose you couldn't." Taylor playfully responded while flashing a wolfish grin at the nurse whilst her fluffy white tail wagged back and forth underneath the sheets. Grateful that her strange ability that kept her new form hidden was also working on her tail. Suppose Taylor hadn't seen Jane's memories. In that case, she'd have thought that the nurse was just pretending that the tail wasn't there to help the wolfish Hebert from panicking and trying to escape the hospital to avoid the gangs' yet she knew that Jane was genuinely ignorant of her new appearance and large tail. "Well, I guess I shall be seeing you at a later time then?" Taylor asked though having a great understanding of Jane's personality; she knew that the nurse would make another appearance during the next couple of hours once she's done checking up on the other patients.
"Oh, most definitely." The nurse reassured Taylor while gently petting her on the head, which caused the wolfish teenager to summon up all of her willpower to stop herself from releasing a joyful whine from the back of her throat since Jane placed her hand in-between Taylor's sensitive wolf ears. "Have a pleasant day, Taylor." Jane removed her hand, and Taylor was beyond tempted to demand that she but it back and continue scratching behind her wolf ears, yet thankfully Taylor held back from doing so and just quietly watched as Jane Smith walked out of the room and leaving Taylor alone with her thoughts.
Taylor relaxed into the comfy hospital bed and gave a tired sigh. "Well, at least this day can't get any weirder than it already has." The wolf girl should've known better than to tempt fate at this point because within a few seconds of getting comfortable on the bed, the she-wolf heard Jane's voice echo throughout the hallway, and the words she heard caused Taylor to bolt upright and her wolf ears to perk up in alertness.
"My word, just how on earth did all these flowers and fresh grass get into the hospital's flooring?!"
"Grass and flowers in the flooring?" Taylor gulped nervously as she robotically looked down the side of her bed so that she could see the floor and what Taylor saw confirmed her worst fears on what she'd find there. Springing out between the sterilised tiles were patches of heathy, bright green grass, and a wide variety of flowers blooming in all manners of diverse shapes, styles, and colours. They were breathtakingly beautiful, yet that didn't take away from the fact that they had come from her, and unlike her new appearance, others could actually see them.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Taylor's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as she stared at the flowers, which was understandable as she almost had a panic attack from believing that people might see her true form. Only to calm down when she figured out that she possessed some kind of Stranger ability that seemingly prevented anyone from witnessing her new form. Just as the wolfish teenager was about to relax, she finds out that plant life comes into existence whenever she steps onto the floor. Yet weirdly enough, the Stranger effect, which prevented everyone from seeing her tattoos and new wolfish appearance, doesn't seem to work on the flowers or the grass, which in Taylor's humble option was complete bullshit! "I mean, come on! My powers protect me from being truly seen as a cape, which is a godsend, but it's gonna be so embarrassing if plants are going to be the reason that gets me outed as a Parahuman and not some battle between; the city's criminals and me."
Taylor groaned, already imaging how embarrassing her outing would be if it were flowers that told everyone she was a cape. She could picture Emma and the rest of her tormentors pointing and laughing at her for getting found out by unknowingly making flowers appear from thin air. Hell, it could get even worse as the Trio could tauntingly say that not even the Protectorate, who had a well-earned reputation for accepting anyone with powers into their ranks, would want to recruit her. Because who'd want someone whose only noticeable ability was to make grass and flowers grow. Honestly, Taylor couldn't blame them for thinking that since they wouldn't be able to see her wolf features. However, that certainly wouldn't make their insults hurt any less.
"Wait a minute; if Jane thought of even a moment that I had created the grass and flowers, then she would've come running back here to ask if I could make them go away." Annoyance fading quickly, Taylor tilted her head to the right, fluffy wolf ears twitching in curiosity. "Perhaps my powers allow people to see the flowers but not understand that it was me that created them." If that was indeed the case, then she possessed the strangest power set in history. However, she'd need to wait until Jane returns so she could discreetly ask the nurse if she knew where the flowers or grass had come from before Taylor could say for sure that was how her powers were functioning as she theorised.
"Hum, just another thing to worry about today." Taylor softly grumbled to herself only to freeze a moment later when her fluffy tail suddenly whipped itself out of the bedsheets and proceeded to hang lazily in the air. Seeing the fluffy appendage caused a new wave of playfulness to burst into her heart. Without evening giving it a moment's thought, Taylor jumped into the air with a level of skill and grace, which would make even professional gymnasts green with envy. A rueful smile graced her lips as she tried relentlessly to capture her tail, utterly unaware of how she was effortlessly dancing through the air and soundlessly bouncing off the hospital walls leaving behind patches of healthy grass and beautiful flowers in her wake.
"Dad will be devastated when I tell him about Emma and her relentless bullying," the wolf girl rocketed through the air, hands outstretched outwards so she might grab her soft tail only to end up missing by a few centimeters. The failed attempt didn't deter Taylor as she subconsciously backflipped onto a nearby wall and proceeded to use it as a springboard to launch herself back into the air in hot pursuit of her elusive tail. "He'll be beyond furious at Emma and the school staff for their actions. Dad would even blame himself for not noticing anything wrong during these past few years, yet I know that we can get through this nightmare as a family and hopefully move on from Emma and Winslow." Taylor once again missed her tail. Although this time she silently landed on the floor, down on all fours like a wolf, her ears were perked up in a state of alert whilst her tail hanged in the air taunting the she-wolf with her ineffectiveness to capture it. "We'll rebuild our fractured bonds as father and daughter." Not letting her newest and possibly greatest foe have even a moments rest, she blasted back into the air, golden eyes shining with joy and warmth that Taylor hasn't felt since her mother's death. "Because together nothing can stop us from protecting each other and the ones we love."
Taylor gracefully landed on a hospital wall her razor sharp-clawed hands and feet, another change to her body that she hadn't noticed yet, digging themselves into the wall like a hot knife through butter. "But before I do any of those things." The tattooed girl's eyes shined with playfulness and determination. At the same time, she dutifully observed her nemeses float gently in the air, once again taunting her with its fluffiness muscles, tensing for another great leap; Taylor launched herself back into the air. At the same time, a yelp of happiness tore itself from her throat. The wolf girl swiped at the appendage only to growl playfully when she again failed to capture the elusive tail.
"I must first catch my tail!" And that was now Taylor Hebert started the first chapter of her brand new life, not fighting in some epic battle for Brockton Bay against Endbringers, monsters, criminals, or even gang leaders. And certainly not by having her mind clouded by thoughts of Emma, Winslow, or the other students who took joy in helping out the Trio with her tormentor, any possible ideas of how she would be a hero in the future. Instead, Taylor focused on the joy and happiness that she felt when it came to playing with her tail, and she'd keep playing until her father returned to the hospital in the next few hours. However, he was in for a rather shocking surprise when he next sees his daughter, that's for sure.