Read the author's note at the end of the chapter if ya want to know about future updates! I went a little bit more lewd with this chapter... yabai.

Disclaimer: I don't own Worm!

Chapter 1:

The Real Story

Taylor Hebert{Gauntlet}

[Taylor Hebert] [Level: 7]

[Hp: 4500/4500]{HpR: 42/m} [Mp: 3,400]{MpR: 24/m}

[Stats]

Str: 42

Vit: 45

Int: 34

Wis: 24

Luc: ?

Bio: Taylor Herbert has been depressed since she lost her mom. Her best friend turned on her after ?, and used her personal information to harass her. She was shoved into a locker a few weeks ago, before waking up from a coma, now with the power of The Gamer. Today is her hopeful debut as an independent hero.

Capes, good capes, had some defining feature to them. Glory Girl's aura and strength, Panacea's healing, Vista's spacial warping. Mine would have to be gauntlets.

They were good gauntlets.

"Hey dad, I'm heading out for my job!" I called out, putting on my shoes.

"Okay hun, just remember to call!"

My hands gripped the laces tighter, and I went quiet.

Dad stepped out from the kitchen, looking pained. "Taylor…"

"It's fine dad." I quickly shouldered my backpack.

"Taylor-"

I was out the door before I could hear what he said.

I took a shuddering breath, shaking away the negative thoughts.

Before ducking into a nearby alley.

"Inventory: Equip Gauntlet."

I was suddenly covered in my costume. My black hooded half cloak and white metal plating, gauntlet gloves with hyperactive repulsors fitted to my hands.

"Assistant by day, hero by… day." I finished awkwardly.

It was hard juggling everything in between my upcoming hero career, but I did.

There weren't many Independent Heroes in Brockton. Most of them upped to New York, where people were more forgiving, in a way.

A rouge dies fast in the Bay, and on the rare occasion they don't, one would sink or swim.

But that also made it a perfect breeding ground for capes that swam. Parian, Canary... Toybox. All great examples for those doing well for themselves making a profit, a change, all from using their powers without picking sides.

Brockton could use more swimmers.

And I was going to make that happen.

[Mechanics lv. 76]

-[Hyper Mechanical Comprehension lv. 13]

[Engineering lv 120]

For the past couple of weeks I had been taking advantage of an old half done construction site in one of the many abandoned areas of town. Built an effing fortress by breaking off material I didn't need, and using it to make a compact, structured… small warehouse.

A highly advanced super warehouse, but a small warehouse nonetheless. The front of the warehouse had painted in big bold white letters Gauntlet's Warehouse.

And it's the best fucking idea I've ever had.

See, what really crippled Brockton Bay was the lack of foundation. The system ate up Tinkers and Thinkers like they were going out of style. Toybox was for Tinkers, my plan-it's for everybody.

I wanted new capes to have someone to rely on. I wanted all capes to have someone to rely on. Imagine triggering, still traumatized by what happened to make you trigger, want to get out there and make a difference-but have nothing to your name.

Then you stumble across my warehouse, and I fix you up something to get you started!

Of course there had to be rules. An early version of my gauntlets would be mass produced in stock, for any cape to buy, all set to stun. My tailor ability was pretty decent now, so custom made items and gadgets were a go. I had a right to choose who I did business with, and thanks to The Gamer I could [Observe] anyone who thought they could trick me.

Humming happily I painted the hours I was open neatly against the wall of the warehouse, grinning stupidly to myself. Everything was locked up tighter than… something that was locked up tight. The metal has been specially reinforced, and the inside looked pretty darn professional. The hours I worked as Miss Militia's assistant were flexible, meaning weekends were open for 10 hours, and every night at midnight till 8 AM I was available.

If someone wanted to schedule an appointment they could do so at my website.

That sounded half thought out on paper, but I literally had an intelligence higher than human capacity. I could run the numbers perfectly. Not to mention I was an executive assistant(at 15, somehow), so I knew how to schedule.

I took a deep breath to quell my nerves.

Today was the day I came out publicly. I knew the moment I hit the camera in the daylight I was going to attract attention. Rogues get chewed up and spit out quickly, as I mentioned.

That didn't mean my little warehouse would gain customers right away, I knew that. And if I let any negative thoughts get to me-then this could spiral out of hand.

But this is my start, and I liked what I saw.

...

There was more to hero-ing than just stopping the bad guys.

The burning roof of a burning building searing into my reminded me of that.

-75 HP!

I hissed, but still cradled the baby in my arms gently, sprinting through a cracked window. The top half of the building caved after me, but I got through, shielding the little one from the debris, landing hard from the second story.

-5 HP!

My legs burned, and my fingers were singed, still I softly handed the crying mother her baby.

"There you go." The woman pulled me into a hug, sobbing. "Woah, okay." I patted her gently on her back. "Hey, it's alright. Your baby's fine."

She slowly let go of me and I focused.

Turning towards the burning building I pressed a button to the inside of my gauntlets and accessed the water pumps I put in.

High pressured water shot out of both gauntlets to help the other firefighters extinguish the flames.

With my help the flames were extinguished in the hour. By then all my wounds were healed.

A gruff firefighter grunted in my direction. "Thanks for the help."

I grinned happily. "No problemo. That was a lot more intense than I thought it'd be." I admitted.

"You handled it well. New cape?"

"Yeah."

"Name?"

I waved my gauntlets at him. "Gauntlet."

He snorted, amused. "Simpler it is, harder it is to forget." He agreed. "New capes pop out the woodwork, try not to kill yourself to early on."

I gave him a cheerful salute. "Will do!"

This pattern repeated for a couple days. I stopped a mugging here or there, Tinkered more with my gauntlet gloves, and finally over breakfast my masked face showed up in the news.

"Sources say a new hero, Gauntlet, has been patrolling the streets lately. The PTR aren't claiming the hero, nor is any other hero organisation. But local firefighter Jonah Starks has some nice things to say."

A clip rolled of a familiar face. The same gruff looking firefighter back from my first public appearance.

"... it was nice, you know? Lota capes don't stay to help, but she did. Flipped a switch and started helpn' calm the flames."

The TV switched back to the news reporter. "Multiple sightings have concluded her main power set being as a Tinker, with minor Brute regeneration."

"Another new hero." Dad grunted, eating his cereal. "They seem to be popping up more these days."

"Yeah." I agreed. "How's work with The Docks going?"

Dad perked up. Ever since I purified the water practicing with my more destructive power [Earth Shaker], business had really gone up. It meant dad had to pull more all nighters, but he seemed a lot more happy.

"James got this new deal set up with this company. It'll send new work our way, hopefully."

I beamed at him. "That's great! What's the company?"

"The Dollhouse."

I froze.

"Dad."

"Taylor." He said pleadingly. "I sent Parian some of your sketches-she really liked them!"

"Dad!" I wined, hiding my face.

"I've seen the clothes you make, don't lie. That same letter you've been chickening out on sending."

I gasped. "Don't tell me you sent that letter?!"

"I did."

I gave a choked cry, wailing dramatically into my cereal.

After my [Tailor] skill hit 20 sketching and designing clothes became a serious hobby. I bought all these different kinds of fabric and cloth, pouring hours into making a dress. Parian became my role model.

Which is why I wrote and rewrote a letter 7 times, telling her I was her biggest fan and that I loved her work, along with experimental designs and ideas.

I sighed heavily, glancing at my current [Tailor] skill level.

[Tailor lv. 142]

After it got so high my work turned Tinker good. As in, too good to be shown to other people, else they'd find out I was secretly a cape.

But my dad seemed really happy for me, and honestly I felt really happy too, being noticed by such an amazing fashion designer. Since my dad had already set something up it's not like I could ignore it, and I can't exactly turn down the offer to show my work off to the famous Parian…

I suddenly shot up squealing excitedly. "Parian is interested in my work!"

Dad laughed happily. "What's with the sudden change of heart?"

"I'm just so excited, but also really nervous." I jumped up and down worriedly. "I think I'm going to throw up."

"Okay, well first of all don't throw up. Come on, sit back down and we'll talk about the meeting."

So what dad planned out was to make me part of the Dock Works Association, as a plan to revitalize the Boat Graveyard.

Pretty heavy stuff.

I'd also work for Parian as she gets me started as an up becoming fashion designer. She was that impressed with my work, which was awesome.

Between the two things maybe I could make Brockton Bay a little better.

Along with a plan.

...

"Hi, welcome to Gauntlet's Warehouse, what could I help you with today?" I ask cheerfully.

A young hooded teen kept her hand on the scarf that covered her mouth, messy brown hair spilling from her hood.

[Helen Macro]

[Lv: 6]

"A-ah. I heard that you, um. H-help recent triggers?" She mumbled.

I nodded, grinning happily, not that she could see it through my mask. "Certainly. Could I ask what your power is?"

"I, um, I'm kind of a Breaker? B-but, also um, make electricity that makes me faster? S-sorry, I-"

"No no, it's fine." I reassure. "So a… Mover/Breaker?"

"Yes! Exactly!" I could see her face and ears redden. "Sorry."

I giggled. "It's no big deal. Now, did you want a custom order, or maybe…?"

"Um…" She looked lost.

I hummed, getting up and bending down to dig around through a box. "I'm guessing you shift into electricity?"

"Uh-yeah."

I could feel eyes stray to my butt, and blushed heavily, quickly standing up. I wasn't used to being ogled, but I have noticed my body getting fuller…

"Um, here." I placed the device on the desk. Is it strange I liked it? Having her look at me? God-did I like girls?!

"What does it do?"

I blinked. "Oh, sorry. See, it's a kind of projecting force field. It'll stop incoming projectiles and Brute punches, to a certain degree. As long as you have it on your person."

"Not that I'm saying no, but why, um, would I need this? I can shift."

"Yes but when you shift back is when your enemies would come at you, you know." I lean on the counter. "The PRT loves capturing rouge Shifters by blasting them with that foam of theirs. It's a widely used tactic for catching capes just starting out as Shifters."

"Oh, gosh."

"Yeah." I agreed, tinkering with something under the counter. "Brockton Bay has the most turnouts on triggers, this side of first world countries. It's why I built this place, and make tools for people starting out, like you."

"Thanks." She gushed. I hummed, sliding her the thing I was messing with. "What's this?"

"I'm guessing you absorb electricity?"

"Yeah? It's um, part of my subclass Brute rating. Makes me stronger the more I absorb."

"That's common among Shifters really. The little box I handed to you is self rechargeable and discharges major electric fields stimulating that power function."

"Huh?"

"You uh, press the button in the middle and it discharges tons electricity into you. That'll help in a pinch."

"Sweet!" She made to grab it, but I snatched it away at the last second. Helen blinked. "Or, not…?"

"The first item was free, but this'll cost ya."

"Oh, I don't-I don't really have much-"

"Not money."

"Oh." Her face burned. "I've never-but I guess… if I have to-"

"What?" I eeped. "No, not-that." I stressed. "Sorry, bad phrasing. I meant, you'll owe me one. Nothing serious or anything. Maybe… watch the store if something came up? I need help with a project? What do you say?"

I could see the frown in her eyes. "But, I'm guessing you don't give this offer to anyone. Why me?"

Why indeed? Was it the determination in her eyes? The will to be a hero I was seeing? Not everyone came through here desiring to help people.

Some just wanted an edge to survive.

Or maybe it was the fact that I may have had a slight girl crush on her? I mean who wouldn't be flattered by the first person to take an interest in you romantically? I mean-*cough* hypothetically. It was totally the heroics thing.

I hummed, pretending to think on it. "If I had to say… you interest me. I can see you going far, getting strong. Think of it as a… long term investment. You come back with money for better stuff, and I'll see what I can do." I handed her the small box, hand touching hers.

"Alright then I'll be going." She blushed. "Thank you again, for everything."

I smiled back warmly. "Take care."

Helen left my warehouse.

Another happy customer.

...

Sabah{Parian}

It was only a little while ago I got that fan mail.

I adjusted myself deeper into the couch, dressed up into my costume, ready for the meeting with Taylor.

The young upcoming fashion designer with a taste for being my fangirl. We've never actually talked, most of our transactions going through her dad who had control of the Docks. All signs pointed to her being a shy everyday teenager with a passion for my kind of art.

And I liked that. Not many people take an interest. Especially in Brockton Bay.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Ah-come in." I called out.

The door opened-

Oh.

I mean-I always expected her to be young, but not…

This beautiful.

Her dark hair was long and amazing, different from my own shorter bland dark hair and eyes that I hid under my porcelain mask and golden curls. Her eyes were the most expressive green I ever saw, and in them shone an intelligence that I found alluring.

Her curves-

I chastised myself. She looked young. I had no right staring at her like that.

"Um, hi." She waved, blushing.

I smiled back, even if she couldn't see it. "Hi. You must be Taylor?"

"Yeah."

"Heard you were a fan." I said playfully.

Taylor laughed nervously. "Then I guess you read my letter." She sat down.

"That and I've seen your sketches. You're a very good artist." And I wasn't just saying that. It seemed she had a real passion for dress design.

She blushed harder. "Thanks."

Cue awkward silence.

None of us were really talkers.

I cleared my throat, gathering my thoughts. "So, your dad said you'll represent The Docks, and work for me. Is that okay with you?"

"Is it okay with me?" She breathed, awe baying beautifully in her eyes. "Oh it is more than okay with me. Working for you is a dream Parian."

Heat went to my cheeks hearing the fan worship, and I grinned happily. It felt nice to be so appreciated.

"Right then." Taylor wouldn't so much as work for me as she would with me. I could make dresses in seconds, but having another designer on the team would be a tremendous help. Especially when the deadlines come in. We'd be working closely together.

Which brings up another topic.

"As the poster girl for the Dock Works Association, how would you feel about modeling for me?"

She looked more than surprised. "Modeling? Me?"

"Yes."

Taylor looked flustered. "No no-I'm not nearly as pretty enough-"

"You're beautiful Taylor." I cut in. "More than beautiful actually."

She openly gaped at me.

Slowly turning red.

"So what do you say?"

Just clothes designs weren't cutting it anymore. I had no way to really get them out there, you know, besides being parahuman.

But a beautiful young girl being on my sales?

There's a reason people have runways.

"Um…"

"You don't have to if you don't want to." I reeled back, sounding sheepish. "It's not part of your contract, so…"

"I… want to." She fumbled, turning an even darker shade of red. "If you say I would be good at it, then…"

"Great!" I beamed, trying to keep the easy atmosphere. Taylor seemed majorly shy, and more than a little insecure…

But modeling would definitely boost her confidence. She'll see.

"Oh!" Her eyes lit up. "Um, I just remembered."

"Hm?"

"I'm a parahuman."

...

Taylor Hebert{Gauntlet}

This was my master plan.

Step one was outing that I was a Trigger. Because I was. My Corona Pollentia was a small fined point nearly undetectable to normal X-rays. There have been similar cases before, where the debate of whether it makes a parahuman stronger was up in the air.

Goodness knows I was a strong as fuck parahuman. A double trigger.

[Tailor] was the skill I was going to pass off as my power to everyone. A inhuman ability in weaving clothes, who the heck would target a cape like that?

Parian was simultaneously thrilled and shocked. So was dad, which was okay. I told both of them I wouldn't hide. I wouldn't need to hide. When it comes to any usefulness [Tailor] was not some combat superpower, it was a fashion designers wet dream.

It'd be my cover. I would hide my cape powers with the power I'd publicize making it like, virtually impossible to pin Gauntlet's powers on me.

Which… sounded less crazy in my head.

Okay, so maybe it was crazy. I don't know what I'm thinking. I didn't know how I was going to do this.

Still…

[Chr: 24]

A violent blush lit my face.

Parian called me beautiful. I… it was such a shock, and then after she did, this [Chr] stat unlocked. The Guide said normal human beauty was convoluted and relied on my definition of [Charisma], and apparently the max a human could have was 30.

I didn't know how I felt about having a 24. Emma always told me I was a plain faced loser, and Sophia used to laugh at my 'beanpole' figure.

But since then I had been growing into my body. Filling out. Instead of skinny I was lean. And based on my own human values I was high up there.

And I didn't know how I felt about that.

What I did know, was that I wasn't going to be putting any points in that. That felt wrong.

But it did feel nice being called pretty.

And the modeling. Oh god how was I going to do modeling?

Emma wanted to model.

I paused.

Before a vindictive grin made it's way on my face.

Suddenly, I felt a whole lot better about doing it.

...

Charlotte

I… there was something different about Taylor.

I gazed at her from far away, sometimes up close, lately.

Everyone and the teachers knew the trio bullied Taylor.

Extensively.

For some reason the three just… wanted to make her life absolutely miserable.

And they did.

Maybe it was because they had a history before highschool? What I could dig up was that Emma was her friend once.

I had to admit to being curious.

Maybe it was bad, feeling a sense of morbid curiosity as to why they did it, but never having the guts to actually talk to Taylor.

But that's how I knew there was something different.

She held herself up better, ignored the trio, went along in a way I'd never seen before from her.

If only I had the guts to actually talk to her-

Green eyes pierced mine.

She peered at me, getting in close.

To close! "U-um!"

Taylor frowned curiously. "You sure stare at me a lot."

My face flushed red, embarrassed at being caught. "Sorry I-" I took a deep breath. "Hi. I'm Charlotte."

"I know who you are, we're in most classes together, and apparently you know who I am…" Everything about her was relaxed, as if we've talked a million times.

"Right…" I paused, scrambling to hold a conversation. "Look, I didn't mean any harm-"

"Well, you certainly didn't do any good either. You saw me get pushed into that locker." She said like she was talking about the weather.

Tears burned at my eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Sophia threatened me, and I-"

"It's fine. No one else helped anyway."

Right.

She was put in a coma.

All because I couldn't speak up.

"I'm-"

"You don't need to keep saying you're sorry for it." Taylor crossed her arms, cutting me off "If I was mad do you think we'd be having this conversation… stalker?"

My face burned and I was hissing out denials. "Wha-I-I don't stalk you."

And then she smiled at me.

And I swallowed.

"I-"

"See you later stalker."

"I… yeah. See ya…"

I watched her walk off.

Wow.

...

Taylor Hebert{Gauntlet}

I grinned to myself, feeling giddy.

Wow, I felt super confident just then. Like, I was in control of that conversation.

And for a girl that had no control in her life, that felt amazing.

Power thrummed beneath my skin, itching to get out.

I coughed.

Well, I did have some control.

My eyes caught brown hair.

Speaking of control…

"Madison." I greeted.

"Uh… hey, Taylor."

She looked different. More on edge, kind of sad. In a depressed kind of way.

Which wasn't like her really. She loved soaking up attention. Being doted on because of her cutesy personality.

Which begged the question…

"You look kind of off… are you feeling okay?"

"Oh-me? Um, I'm fine." She wrung her wrists nervously, trying to plaster on a smile. "I-how are you?"

I hummed uninterestedly. "Could be-"

"I'm sorry!" She blurted out. "For-for everything. I-I should have never done those things, I'm not a very good person, and I-" She hiccuped. "I really wish I could have taken what happened a few weeks ago back!"

She was breathing erratically, and looked to be on the verge of a panic attack.

I grabbed her hand, leading her to an abandoned classroom. Some of them were so broken down the teachers just stopped using them anymore.

"Taylor I-"

"Just calm down Madison. You're having an anxiety attack." I soothed.

I waited for her to eventually quiet down, and she did, petering off in broken sniffles.

"Sorry I… don't know what came over me." She muttered.

"This looks like it's been building for several days." I commented.

She looked up at me curiously, innocently confused. "How would you know?"

I scoffed playfully. "You think this is my first breakdown? Don't you know?"

Hot shame and guilt washed over her. "Taylor…"

I poked her nose, trying to bat away the negative thoughts. "I wasn't talking about 'that'. No matter how bad it got the three of you never sent me into a nervous wreck. Just made me… tired."

I shook my head.

"No, my mom… after she died me and my dad were kind of a wreck, Emma would tell you. She was so bright, and awesome, and definitely won the best mom award. Sometimes I would think it was my fault and I'd…" My fists clenched as I lost myself in those thoughts…

[Gamer's Mind Activated!]

I gave a sound, coming back. "Well, I'll spare you the details, but it wasn't pretty."

"How do you do it?" She begged. "I… you're so confident now, and-you don't listen to Sophia-"

"I just… after the hospital I realized something you know? I let you push me into that locker. Those feelings, they weighed me down. Made me feel like I couldn't do anything. And I hated that. For the first few seconds I was a mess, and then it hit me."

I brushed my lips against her ear, making her squeak.

"I couldn't change how I was feeling, but I could change what I was doing." I hissed softly. "If I could take that control, why the hell should I listen to you?" My hands wandered and she flushed, stuttering.

"T-Taylor!"

"Sure I act indifferent, but I'm still so fucking pissed you know? You don't just get over someone almost killing you, on purpose, unless you have issues."

I pinned her against the wall, turmoil burning in my eyes.

"The trick is though, is to burn it off right."

My lips seared into her neck, and she clutched my back, gasping silently, eyes wide.

"I don't hate you you know."

I bit her.

"But your first mistake was coming to me about this."

I felt her up.

"The guilt, so heavy… you just broke. I knew you weren't on board with it, Madison. And I know you've been curious about girls for a while now… and I know you've been staring at me."

I hissed as she clung tighter to me, tears in her eyes.

"You did it anyway, and you still sought me out, that was brave of you." I growled. "But you should have confined in your parents-they'd probably be the only one's who'd care, if only because the topic regards me."

"You were either brave or stupid for trying to confine in me about almost killing me." I continued. "I was gonna hit you but I couldn't live with myself if I did. So this."

I…

Let her go.

She panted heavily, flushed. "You're…?"

I scoffed quietly. "I'm not about to force myself on you Madison, I just needed that… you did too, I think." Something in me knew she'd be shocked, and embarrassed-but people like us, we have a lot of pent up emotions, and-

"Bye Madison." I told her quietly while she stared dazed at the floor. "I hope I gave you good advice."

Before leaving for my job.

I hoped you liked the chapter!!! I'll be leaving soon, because of... circumstances, just for 3-4 months! Which is a long time. Sorry...I won't have my phone, or any internet, so I'm sorry if I don't respond to any messages.That being said I'm leaving in a few days... bye everyone!