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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

Worm and Ward are productions written and owned by John C. "Wildbow" McCrae.

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Chapter 0: Placidity

Five minutes left for class to end.

There wasn't much to do in that little time span but offer some partial attention to the newest lecture about World Issues. Mr. Gladly was happily giving some tales related to personal experience and knowledge about the importance of the Capes. My fingers twitched, twirling the small black pen that was by now hovering over the doodled paper.

Having already taken all notes necessary from the real part of the lesson, there was no reason to keep writing down the silly tales coming from the teacher. Mr. Gladly wasn't terrible, in fact he was one of the most 'normal' teachers that this school had among its staff.

The real issue was… personal. And subjective.

While many would find the individual lovely with his charismatic ways and his cultural baggage accumulated from years of studying parahumans, I couldn't help but see him on a different light, one characterized by what could've been his previous attitude towards the world.

Beyond the friendly exterior of "Mr. G", I could feel like he strutted fairly cocky despite his amicable tones. Terribly so considering how he would always end up rallying a small group of students to flaunt around his own knowledge and his contacts. In most cases, the large majority of this group was formed by people that I really didn't feel strongly about.

Twenty minutes to twelve; just five minutes left before class was over.

It's been a while since I had envisioned him as one of those 'popular guys' back during his youth, yet I hadn't truly tried to verify his this claim was correct or not. Would it be correct to inquire about his past? Perhaps even gaining a little ounce of respect towards the teacher. Maybe he had some good-willed seriousness that he was just keeping for himself and those he trusted… or maybe he was just an outright jerk that was decent in keeping a facade born from niceties.

In the end, I really didn't care much about this very case… but I did end up glancing around my shoulders while starting to place my notebook back to my schoolbag and I noticed an unpleasant stare on me. Madison Clements was sitting two rows on the left and two seats back from my chair. A smirk was plastered on her lips, a mischievous undertone that did nothing to reassure my current nervousness over the uneasy possibilities that would rouse from that devious display.

I looked back to my desk as I was done settling the notebook in an attempt to clear my mind. Stare at the wearied wood while tapping softly at it seemed to work wonders from how relaxed by breathing was. The thoughts born from that silent interaction slowly turned my mind cold as I realized that today wasn't going to be a nice day for me.

"I think it's about time I wrap up," Mr. Gladly said with a slightly dismayed tone, drawing some saddened reactions from the students listening to him. "Sorry, guys, but there is some homework for the weekend. I want you all to provide your own thoughts about Capes and the impact they have on our society. On Monday there will be a test which will see you divided in groups to express your own input over the subject. The winner will receive some treats from the vending machine, I will personally pay."

Some cheering ensued, but it wasn't as well-spread as the teacher had seemed hopeful about. And I was confused by his own perplexity over the matter. While this little reward system would've done magic to gain the attention from some elementary school kids, the same couldn't be attained with people of my age. While the school was nice and well-furbished with proper equipment and decent food by the cafeteria… the vending machines didn't offer much to find those a good 'reward'.

But while I was keen to merely sigh at this little announcement, I spotted someone making their way towards me. Emma Barnes had a pretty smile on her face as she passed by my desk, pausing just a moment to lower her gaze on me. She gave a blink.

"Wanna partner up?"

I snorted, shaking my head in visible amusement as the beautiful redhead took a seat by her chair… beside me. Emma was one of the few students that strayed from the stereotypical system of cliques within high school. Curvy, very gorgeous, but most of it all… affectionate.

It was unusual for someone of her 'standing' to be showing such a friendly mannerism around 'someone like me'. It was odd, but maybe not that much considering that we had been friends for a long time. Childhood friends at that.

From kindergarten up to now, we had been always quite close to another. It was still common tradition to visit each other at our households during the weekends, but nowadays we spent this free time either making up for some issues with school-related projects or even doing some early homework sessions.

It was nice to know that I wasn't truly alone in that complicated place, but I was also wary of the double-edged nature of Emma's natural beauty. While she had more than once refused to join the Duo in their little group of popular girls, her standing was still regarded as one of the most sought among fellow male students.

Which would see it as a good reason to single me out whenever possible. To be notice by the pretty girl. The redhead was well-aware of this situation. She had lashed out at any aggressor more than once, her words cutting deeply in their amusement. It was a relieving spectacle for sure, but one that would also prelude to some retaliation over the humiliation.

The bullies weren't going away, especially with how 'tame' some of their pranks were. No violence, no punches and kicks. They were well-aware of the strict rules about any violent escalations. So they limited their actions to 'simple' harassment. It wasn't terrible, but I wasn't certainly going to call the situation idyllic.

With the lesson coming to an end, Emma and I proceeded to make our way with the rest of the classroom back to the cafeteria. Once more, I pondered over why would a school allow an hour to be divested in that pause. Sure, lunch was an important meal for students, but a full hour was just a wasteful mismanagement of the school's schedule.

Still, the redhead was glad to have that much of free time to invest in some conversation. She was the starter of any discussion, with her chatty nature making it somewhat entertaining to imagine what kind of topic she would use to begin the usual round of talks.

We were alone by the small table in the cafeteria. Most of the students had formed larger group and left none to wander alone out of their usual circles.

"Have you considered changing your hairstyle?"

The question had been the catalyst, yet it wasn't as unique as I had hoped for it to be. But there wasn't much to do over the lack of various subjects that we could find common ground about.

"Why?" I inquired back, sounding fairly interested over this specific query.

"Your hair is getting long again." Her eyes trailed at my dark hair, almost tempted to reach out for some of the locks. "And I can see that it's fairly messy. You should pay a little more attention to your appearance."

I blinked. Confusion stirred with surprise at that comment. It wasn't the first time Emma had offered some advice over making steps in changing my current appearance. She had already suggested alternatives over the use of glasses, but I had been quick to remind her that my green eyes weren't just receptive about contact lens.

She offered me to go with her to the mall for a quick shopping spree, to which I was forced to refuse out of uneasiness over going through the lengthy process of getting some new clothes. While I knew that her concern over this matter was legitimate, I didn't see much of a problem over the fact I was wearing a dark-brown hoodie and a pair of black pants.

The concerns were mostly tied to the fact that my overall fashion style screamed about 'Nerd', or 'target' for the simple minds of some of the bullies. I didn't reject this thought, but I preferred to be comfy than to be 'trendy'.

Yet the real problem behind this little interest of her to see me take steps in 'updating myself' was correlated to another topic which I wasn't keen to discuss with anyone. Emma was a nice friend, but one that failed to hide the fact that she wanted to see me finally scoring a 'success' with some girl.

She was supportive for any initial situations that would see me drawn to a girl from school. It was rare nowadays considering that most weren't willing to come close to me but-

She still tried. Which proved how much of a friend she was by then offering some movie nights or other activities to soften the 'blow'. I wasn't distraught by any of these experience, just demoralized bit by bit the more this situation persisted. The redhead offered as much support as she could afford to, without making any drastic actions that I would deem unpleasant.

But my predicament was the opposite of Emma's own issue. She had ranks of guys trying to gain her attention, but none had yet to genuinely try to know her better. They all cared for Emma the model, than Emma the gorgeous lady with a good heart and mind too.

It was maddening how forward and annoying some would get, and there had been plenty of occasions where I had to move and help her out of some unpleasant situations. She was happy when I would offer support, but she was also good at hide her relative sadness with the lack of proper 'boyfriend materials'.

"Maybe I can help you with that," Emma suggested with a giddy look, "I've been following some instructions videos that explained how to properly cut hair and, I promise I will not make any messes."

I cracked a small smile. "It would be impressive if you managed to make a mess bigger than the current one."

Her lips twitched in clear amusement, but comfortable silence ensued shortly after as we both started to pick up our respective lunches. While the girl was happily humming while staring at her lettuce with some tomato slices, I frowned at the brown bag that I had been left to take earlier that morning.

Emma noticed, her blue eyes narrowing at the mysterious bag. A question was more than a must now.

"Your father?"

I merely nodded at it. I knew too well the difference between the food prepared by mom and those prepared by dad. While one would spend more than a couple of minutes to make a substantial meal, the latter would just make sandwiches.

Despite the fact the sandwiches were delicious, I preferred mom's cuisine from dad. Danny Hebert was a simple man with many things to worry about because of his work. Annette Hebert was an English Teacher to one of the colleges around Brockton Bay, but she still managed to find harmony between this burden and her skills in the kitchen.

But just as I took out the medium-sized sandwich out of the brown bag, I noticed a shadow looming by my side. I glanced slowly, my eyes taking a guarded shine as I noticed whom had come to our table.

Madison Clemens was a late bloomer. Someone that had just enough adorableness within her petite frame that just made her stray away from the standard stereotypical appearance one would imagine on a popular girl. But what many could consider like a cute doll-like complex, I just found it to be a childish frame that just matched with her pettiness.

"Emma, bug," The girl greeted tightly, her saccharine-filled tone driving a sour and bitter emotion in my stomach. "Can I take a seat here?"

The redhead frowned annoyingly at the little insult directed at me. She glanced to my face, perhaps hoping to find it a good reason to retaliate to the fellow popular girl. I was placid. Having been subjected to this kind of insults for so long now, I really didn't care. Which in turn translated in a calm expression settled on my face while I took the first bite out of my lunch.

"No."

Emma's refusal was met with a sigh. It sounded chiding. It gained a scowl on the redhead's face. But still, the petite girl didn't seem to care, nor listen to the answer as she still took one of the free chairs for herself. Silence ensued, this time turning unpleasant as the tension within the table just increased with this petty action.

I was still calm about the matter, but not because I thought that Madison had good intentions over this unexpected activity. I knew that the malicious intent was still there. But what motivated the petite girl to pursue such an aggressive and antagonistic mannerism toward me was the very girl she was defying.

Emma had rejected the friendship offer by Madison. And so the brunette failed in her early plan to form a trio together with her and Sophia Hess, another one of the popular girls in Winslow High School. The reason behind this fail was correlated to the fact that mere instances before she had asked her this offer, I had been belittled and insulted by the late bloomer.

The redhead had disliked that very detail a lot. Enough to spurn a glacial rejection over the 'friendly manners' of the brunette. But instead of seeing the issue rooted on her foul personality, Madison easily saw the problem in me. I was the sole obstacle for her to erect a 'formidable group'.

Sophia, which had merely followed the brunette around for the sake of seeing what kind of person Emma was, ended up annoyed by my presence too. Just not by Madison's own reasons. In the dark-haired girl's mind, I was the essence of everything that was weak. And Sophia seemingly has a big hatred for weak people.

And while Madison continued to silently and smugly stare at us, having nothing do except to look at us with odd patience within her eyes., I felt a couple of shadows hover above me.

I tensed up, swiftly trying to turn around and call out the culprit. But it was too late. I felt two of the guys push their hands on my back. My face was forcibly slammed on the texture of the table, with the bug containing what was left of my sandwich getting crushed by my chest.

"Now," Madison called out with a gleeful tone, and before Emma had the chance to intervene, I felt a large quantity of liquid fall onto my body.

It was cold, it was unpleasant as it seeped in my clothes and I could feel a sickly-sweet smell coming from the unknown mixture that was now drenching my entire body. It was a mix of various soda drinks. I could smell some cranberry juice, some grape too and- Soon, it reached my face and my eyes. My sight burning, intensifying my struggles through that deplorable humiliation.

There were cheers, there were gasps of surprise and shock. But soon the entire cafeteria went silent as numerous teachers rushed to the cause of the commotion. The bullies scrambled quickly, dropping unceremoniously on the group the big tray that had been used to move around the liquid over my head.

I couldn't see, with Emma trying to help by offering me her handkerchief to clean my eyes but the sensation wasn't just subsiding. Before I had the chance of properly shriek at the painful experience, to explode in the most inglorious of ways against my attackers, I felt a hand reach out and pat my back.

"Ms. Barnes," A feminine voice whispered tensely, I could recognize it being Mrs. Knott. "You should probably help Mr. Hebert back to the infirmary. It seems like a serious issue. Go now."

Her last words were filled with worry, but the redhead seemed to spring in action as she carefully helped me stand up and move through the cafeteria, my sight still blinded by the burning liquid.

I felt nervous, I felt furious but… most of it all.

This all sounded so familiar for some reason.

AN

To perfectly describe the big picture: Some big mistakes were made.

Quick notice: I don't think I will fix a proper updating schedule for this story. Writing this chapter took me a while as I decided to try and replicate the style used in the original Web Serial. And yes, this is a pseudo-AU where Taylor is a guy, Emma is still his best friend, and Annette Hebert is still alive.

Now you will ask: "What is really going on?" And the only thing I can say is Taylor (aka Khepris) might have done a little deal with the Devil.