Sooo, this is a time travel fic! Persona time travel, Sending her back into the past.

It's basically a plot where everybody knows future events, and everybody works for a better future.

Disclaimer: I don't own Worm or Persona 5.

Chapter 1: A New Beginning?

"This is truly an unjust game… your chances of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you , there may yet be a possibility open to you."

Possibility…?

The dead silence of the wasteland held no answer to my question.

Blood dripped down from the stub of my arm, bones weary. The buzzing in my mind hurting-thumming. Demanding cruel intentions. No one around me to grasp the will of.

No one around me to hurt.

"Are you simply going to die?" A dark, malicious voice asked. My shard? No, no thumming. No pain. Just regret.

My mouth mumbles out blubs. Broken speech and incoherent words. Mind broken. Body broken. Countless lives taken, all to put out a bright darkness that threatened to swallow entire realities whole.

I had to get away. Away from people. The shard… my mind. I'd threaten everything I stood up for. I'd become the monster I made myself into to fight my enemy.

"Were your actions… a mistake then?"

Weren't they…?

My glassy eyes flickered, the only hand I had, bloodied, trembled in the dirt.

Lisa.

Brian.

Charlotte.

Ashia

Amy. Even.

Dad.

Everything… this is how I die? Broken by the world I saved, dead to the people I cared enough to sacrifice myself for?

No…

"Yes…"

"No!" I snarled.

Clawing at the dirt, struggling to get up. The all consuming buzz of the shard being overridden by my own substantial will. The blood loss cloudy, darkening my vision. Body to weak to get up. To stand.

"No…" I scraped my nails on the rock, blood dripping down my fingers as I clawed at the ground.

"Very well… vow to me." The voice hissed.

"RGH!" I choked, a different pain splitting my skull.

"I am thou, thou art I…"

I writhed on the ground.

"Thou who had been betrayed performed sacrifice! Seeker of vengeance! Maiden of distress!" I screamed in bloodrenching pain. "Show the will to overcome thy tribulations. Thou art thou burdened by thine reality itself!"

And the last thing I remember was the feeling of ripping and clawing at my own face.

Before pain and darkness.

......

Taylor Hebert(Khepri)

My mind was clear.

I woke up with a sharp inhale, staying as quiet as I could, as a reflex.

My body was weak. A numb feeling I knew as pain medication was clouding my nerves, making it hard to identify sensation.

But I had two hands. Arms. My arm was back.

How?

Panacea? No, we weren't exactly on friendly terms. The world and I weren't exactly on friendly terms.

So why…

Bugs. I couldn't sense my bugs. Panic started pumping adrenaline through my blood. I felt my brain functions quicken, burning through the drugs in my system.

And I opened my eyes.

Oh. Hospital, this was a hospital smell. My vision wasn't blurry, eyesight previously driven sightless, by my previous madness. But now I could see the white tiles on the ceiling? Did Amy cure my affliction and heal my arm back? Perhaps because she afflicted me in the first place?

Some sort of guilt for turning me into an incomprehensible monster with all controlling mind control?

The last I remember was contempt and disgust from her.

But my bugs…

My power was gone.

It stung like a loss, but more like losing an abusive partner. Something that meant to bring you up only bringing you down, while spiraling into delusions that you were dependent on the relationship.

And at the end of it only the feeling of pained relief.

I grunted softly, sitting up. Something was off. I felt shorter… weaker. My arms were less defined and the abs I was working with were gone.

While I never paid too much attention to my body the lack of definition was noticeable, as was the open and inviting room I woke up in. After what I pulled off… not a lot of people would openly show this level of hospitality. Hell I was sure I wouldn't have even been in a hospital.

So what happened?

The door creaked open and my eyes darted to the person walking in. A nurse. A faintly familiar nurse.

She smiled at me, at my wide eyed stare. "Ms Hebert. It's good to see you awake, you've been in a coma for a few days and we weren't sure…" Her smile faltered. "Do you remember what happened?"

My brows furrowed. What happened? "I'm… not sure." This sounded oddly familiar. My head tilted to the side, thinking. "What happened?"

She checked her clipboard, now frowning. "There was a terrible accident, and you were trapped in a locker filled with toxic waste. For most of the day, before the janitor managed to unlock your locker."

The locker. Oh.

Time travel? Why though? Who...?

I had a lot of questions. But if I really was back in the past, especially at this part of my life…

"Thank you." I said quietly, trying my best to gather my thoughts.

...

I didn't know where to go. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't Taylor anymore, the mental scars played on my mind, making me almost numb.

It brought haunting thoughts, about things I wanted to fix, to do right. What could I do? What was I supposed to do?

No.

I gritted my teeth, reeling myself in.

I wouldn't break. Not now. So what if I didn't have my powers? I made due with bug control. I toppled empires, killed the strongest capes on earth, defeated Zion. Dark. Too dark. I didn't want to think about any of that.

I brought my knees closer to my head, closing my eyes and cried.

It felt good, to be human again. The world was so fucked up, and I had no idea how to go about fixing it.

"The darkness overwhelms you Mistress." A harsh deep voice hissed in my ear.

I didn't let myself react, besides a slight flinch. I had seen too much to be intimidated by a voice hissing words to me.

"Remember not to lose yourself, dear sacrifice." Was the low whisper. "You've been given the Wings of Rebellion to forge a second path, one that will not be tampered with. For you to succeed you must open your heart. Remember, remember. The forging of bonds will make you stronger."

Stronger?

"Yes." It hissed. "It'll loosen the darkened plight that has so graspened your world, the shadows of your heart will drive them away. And love will gift your powers to others, Joker."

Joker? And what powers-

"Ms Hebert?"

My head jolted up, and I quickly went to wipe the tears from my eyes.

Miss Militia.

I swallowed, calming myself down. I could question the voice in my head later, right now I just needed to get through this.

...

It seemed things were already going sideways-no. No negative thinking. Focus.

"Miss Militia." My voice sounded a bit hoarse from crying, but I tried to stay polite. "Sorry, you didn't come in at the best time."

She looked different from when I last saw her. But then again, we had all changed a few years down the road. Mostly for the worse, but I wouldn't dwell on that right now.

"Hi Taylor." She said softly, sitting down in a chair. "How are you feeling?"

"Um…" I thought about it. Should I lie?

A little voice in the back of my head said no. And to be fair lying never ended well the first time.

"Different."

She seemed interested, although it was hard to tell with her mask on, and without the emotional detachment my bugs had offered me time and time again.

"Different how?"

I shifted, feeling uncomfortable.

She sighed, and I could tell she was contemplating what to say. "Taylor, when you were admitted into the hospital, you had very serious wounds, and very serious infections running through your blood. Do you know how long it took to heal from that? You were put in a coma."

I thought about it. "A week?" I felt for the familiar scars that ran along my arms, where I hit and screamed for people to help me. The metal of the locker left small scars, physical ones, that stayed with me over the years.

I paused. My skin was unmarred.

"Two days."

I looked up at her, eyes wide. That… that wasn't right…

"I…"

"The hospital… put drugs in your system to help with the infections. The stuff in your locker? Counted as toxic waste. A PRT doctor believes the only reason it took you this long to wake up, was because your healing factor was burning out the drugs."

Healing factor.

My blood ran cold.

"I triggered." I swallowed, tears coming to my eyes.

So I did have powers. Why couldn't I feel the parasite in my head then? Was it due to my circumstances? Was it the voice in my head? What was going on?

"I'm sorry." I could tell she meant it, which was just the slightest bit comforting. "I need to know. You feel different?"

I gathered myself, putting my questions to the back of my mind. Right now I needed to focus on being truthful to Miss Militia. "I can feel my arm. I couldn't, before. I… I don't need my glasses." I realized, ghosting a touch against my face. "And…"

Should I? Yes. If my previous life has taught me anything, it was that I can't be trusted keeping power.

"I can see." Tears gathered in my eyes.

She inclined her head, thoughtful. "See what?"

"Everything." I sobbed out, letting myself go. "The future… it's so horrible."

...

Hannah(Miss Militia)

The future… it's so horrible.

My fists clenched, looking at the soft and broken girl on the other side of the one way mirror, sitting quietly in her chair.

Most of the Protectorate heroes standing next to each other, on edge.

I was snapped out of my thoughts, seeing director Emily Piggot step up, gaze settling over the poor 15 year old girl.

"Is this her?"

Assault stopped his quiet bickering with his wife Battery, to respond. "Yes ma'am." He said, oddly serious. That in itself was disconcerting. "Taylor Hebert, 15 years old. Powers regeneration… and supposed foreseeing. Precognition. Future sight."

Piggot's face twisted into a scowl. "Apparently whatever she's seen isn't something nice, or so I'm told. Miss Militia, you've been in contact with her when she made those claims. What's your opinion."

I shook my head. "She wasn't faking it." I don't think that amount of open grief and pain could have been faked. "Are you going to go in and see her now?"

Piggot's eyes narrowed. "I have a list of questions prepared, Alexandria is on standby. If she's not lying…"

I didn't miss the implications. Something like this felt world breaking.

By the way she was crying, it probably was. A dark thought voiced itself, and I had to shake my head, steeling myself for the possible things I'd hear.

Director Piggot went in, putting a list on the cool metal desk. Taylor's eyes looked up, locking on Emily's, the look in her eye being recollection.

The thin 15 year old had pale skin. Willowy and with big eyes. Brown hair, very well taken care of. And the haunted look of someone who had seen combat.

Director Emily Piggot was short, but with steely grey eyes that were hard to meet. The both of us got along, in the sense we had a similar resolve to see and uphold the law. Short blonde hair, and unhealthy, due to the injuries she sustained in Ellisburg.

"Taylor Hebert?"

She nodded mutely, eyes dancing across the director, lingering at a place on her body. Eyes unfocused.

The girl blinked, going back into focus.

"Um, yes, that's me."

Director Piggot caught the glances as well, and looked like she wanted to say something, but refrained.

"You're claiming to have the power to see into the future yes?"

Taylor nodded minutely. "That's a list of questions?"

Director Piggot nodded. She looked at the list.

"Do any of these futuristic visions include the names of people? Like Protectorate heroes?"

Taylor nodded. "Yes."

Some of my friends and fellow heroes reacted to that, but I chose to stand and listen closely.

"Protectorate identities?"

"Yes."

Piggot sighed, wearly. "Those were the first two mandatory questions I needed to ask. You need to sign these papers. Non Disclosure agreement." She handed Taylor the papers.

Taylor blinked, looking over the paperwork with a pause, before signing her name.a

"Now I can ask the real questions. Like why the hell you were looking at my side."

Taylor seemed to curl in on herself a bit, answering back quietly. "I-you get stabbed. Sort of. By a villain called Circus. He-they? Threw a knife at you, and you were forced to resign."

Armsmaster stilled. "Truth." He muttered under his breath, likely using his lie detector.

Director Piggot sucked in a breath. "When?"

"Not for a while." Taylor muttered. "A year or two off from now."

"Why?" Her voice grew angrier.

"I…" Taylor was having trouble voicing her thoughts. "A gang took over the city. You were to be used as a hostage, but because of your health conditions…" Taylor bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

"No." Piggot's eyes narrowed. "We'll get into that later. Those were personal questions, I apologize." She didn't sound sorry. "I need a detailed list of all the next Endbringer attacks. When. Where. Now."

Taylor quietly nodded, grabbing the pen and paper handed to her, and started writing down.

Meanwhile director Piggot got up abruptly, leaving the room.

I moved to talk to her, but she leveled a glare at me.

"I need to be on a call with the Triumvirate 5 minutes ago." She snapped. "I'm going to my office. Don't talk to her. Don't let the Wards near her. The last thing I need is her mentally scarring one of them by talking about their death."

I flinched at the thought, moving to give out a quick yes ma'am.

I just hoped Taylor would be alright.

It looked like the poor girl had been through enough.

...

Rebecca Costa-Brown(Alexandria)

I felt a cold chill run through me.

As soon as director Piggot made the call, I instantly called up Contessa.

All Paths to Victory had been blurred. Twisted. Her power could no longer function to see future events. She seemed even more adamant about me meeting this powerful new Thinker than the director of the ENE branch.

Director Piggot stressed the future events were dire, and that only funneled my distress.

It could only mean Cauldron failed.

I stopped, glancing at who I saw at the entrance of the PRT building.

"Legend." I greeted.

"Alexandria." He teased. "Late to the party. Eidolon already went inside."

I heaved a sigh, exasperated. "Not everyone can move at the speed of light you know."

He snickered, ever immature. "Sure sure. Come on, let's get inside. Goodness knows Eidolon gets grumpy if we keep him waiting."

Knowing that was true, I quickly followed him inside, meeting a few familiar faces by one of the PRT detainment rooms.

"Miss Militia." I greeted.

"Alexandria, ma'am."

I smirked. "None of that. I remember when you were just a young Ward. No need to be so formal."

I could see embarrassment play on her face, even with her mask on.

"It's good to see some familiar faces. A shame Mouse Protector isn't here…" Legend lamented.

Armsmaster cringed, and Miss Militia flinched.

"Yes…" Miss Militia said flatly. "Such a shame."

I shook my head, amused.

Mouse Protector had a penchant for being over the top, and more than slightly obnoxious, but it was endearing in it's own way.

After spending years fighting together, I guess that personality just became a headache for the two heroes.

My eyes slid to director Piggot, who walked out of the holding room. I caught a glimpse of the new parahuman, which was enough for my photographic memory to get a full picture.

Tall, willowy. Startling green eyes and wavy brown hair.

It sent a nervous thrill through me. If she knew the future then she had to know what we did wrong. How we could fix this. Maybe a chance at stopping Scion, or whatever it called itself, once and for all.

"Keeping her in a holding room? Is she a prisoner Piggot?"

Emily scowled at me. "She might as well be, for everything she knows. Imagine what would happen if word got out there was a parahuman with the power to see the future, and in that future the whole world was on fire."

I could imagine.

Triumph shuffled, looking nervous and stressed. "It's not that bad, is it?"

Piggot sagged, the weight on her shoulders finally getting to her. "Millions of parahumans dead. Millions of people dead. I talked privately with Taylor. The cause…. It's not something you could imagine."

Eidolon and I shared a glance, a silent word at the tip of our tongue.

Scion.

Director Piggot turned her glare to me. "You need to talk to her. We can't afford to let her go villain. So far she's been cooperative but who knows how long that'll last. Or what other powers she has."

Miss Militia protested. "She's just a girl director. One that's been severely bullied and broken. Pressuring her-"

"We're not, pressuring her Miss Militia." Director Piggot sounded tired. "Quite the opposite right now. On the slightest chance Taylor feels mistreated by the PRT or the Protectorate and decides to go to villainy, this is just a precaution. I just need her to be more open about future information as quickly as possible. Having one of the best and biggest heroes talk to her, a female role model talk to her about joining the Wards…"

She let the implication hang in the air and I sighed. "Don't worry, I'll try to be careful with her. I'm sure everyone here knows the eggshells we need to walk on around freshly triggered parahumans."

Before anyone could say anything else I walked into the room.

"Taylor Hebert?"

The girl's eyes went wide, with both shock and recognition. "Alexandria!" She squeaked. "I, you're here!"

I smiled at the surprise in her voice, happy at the thought of a fan.

"I heard you had been through a lot." I expressed. "Triggering, coming back from a coma. Seeing a terrible future. That's… not something I'd wish on anyone. How are you feeling?"

"Numb." She admitted. "I've seen so many people die. The Endbringers kill more heroes, SlaughterHouse Nine kill more heroes. People snap. More people die. And I see these people who I never thought would commit crimes commit acts so twisted it was like I didn't even know them."

A pointed look so brief I thought I imagined it, before I went back in my memory, and realized that no, I didn't.

I see.

"Like who?"

She squirmed, frowning. "All sorts of people. The ones who you didn't think would ever, those were the ones that hurt the most. Betrayal. Circumstance. A lot of them, most of them for more power."

I tried my best to ignore the stabbing guilt of that gut wrenching statement. Instead I tried to focus on where I wanted this conversation to lead. Who really was behind the desolate future.

"I know this is hard, and I'm sorry Taylor… but you told director Piggot something, about who was really behind this terrible future."

She smiled ruefully. "It was… Jack Slash. He got trapped in one of those Grey Boy bubbles, and did something to Scion. Whatever happened…" She gave a shaky sigh. "Scion went insane. Killed so many people. Millions, before the world was finally able to kill him. Heroes. Villians. The event was called Golden Morning."

I sat down, trying not to tremble at the knowledge just given to me.

Taylor could obviously see the future, but didn't know or understand exactly why things happened.

For the best. If she knew, then her sanity probably wouldn't have survived.

As it was…

"You're so strong. Knowing the things you do, and still having the will to talk about it. If you ever need anything, just ask." The question gnawed at me. "I have to ask. Golden Morning… do I…?"

Do I make it?

Taylor wilted, shaking her head.

I swallowed heavily.

"I see."

She gasped suddenly, eyes lighting up, brighter than I had ever previously seen from her. "Wait! No, that's not possible anymore. You live!" Taylor smiled brilliantly, beaming at the thought.

I could not describe the open relief that I felt. "Oh thank god."

Taylor giggled like a 15 year old teenager, before faltering. "Just um, stay away from bugs. And, remember while you're Indestructible, you still need to breathe, and cutting off oxygen would…" She winced.

I cringed heavily at the mental picture, my Thinker rating doing a good job putting horrific images in my head of various potential deaths. "I'll do that, thank you."

Already I felt better about this. If this teen already prevented my death in the near foreseeable future, then this 'Path of Victory' was already infinitely better.

"So then Taylor. Have you ever thought about joining the Wards?"

Hoped you liked it, thought a different take on everything would be cool. Keep being awesome everybody!

I'll be updating a lot the next few days!