"I'm Taylor." I took another lick of my ice cream. I paid money for this, and I wasn't about to waste, even if I could potentially get close to one of Brockton Bay's most famous, or infamous depending on who you asked, capes. Victoria Dallon keeps her smile on. Is she naturally friendly? Or is it an outward act to make herself look better in the public eye? I took the hand she extended with the one that wasn't holding my ice cream, our skin making direct contact.

There were rumors that her brute strength came from a forcefield. Are those rumors wrong, or can she turn it off at will? More information will be needed to form a kill plan should Glory Girl stand in my way.

I shook the thoughts from my mind internally and continued eating my ice cream.

"It's nice to meet you. Now I'm sure you're probably wondering, why is this stranger talking to me so early in the morning?" Victoria started letting go of hand after a small squeeze. Something about me caught her interest. She's supposed to be in school, but decided to skip by coming to the Boardwalk. I gave my ice cream a side glance and quickly glanced around.

I'm the only one eating ice cream this early.

"You seem fun! I have never seen anyone eat ice cream for breakfast." Victoria started rambling. She thinks I'm being 'quirky' and finds me interesting. Well thank you for telling me that brain, it wasn't totally obvious at all.

"I didn't have anything else to do since my school blew up." I replied dryly, almost done with my delicious breakfast as I took a bite of the cone.

"Ah shit. You go to Winslow? That's like the worst school in the entire state. I heard that if hell was made physically it would be-" Victoria paused in the middle of her sentence realizing who she was talking to after I took a loud bite from my cone, finishing it.

"You're not wrong though." I muttered. Victoria seemed to have heard it, and nodded her head slowly.

"Hey, want to hangout? Since you aren't doing anything." Why is she at the Boardwalk during school hours? Is she investigating me? Did the PRT flag me as a person of interest and send her to investigate me? No, they would have sent one of the Wards or even a member of the Protectorate. Victoria Dallon isn't a subtle person.

"Uh sure, but shouldn't you be at school?" I rubbed the wrist of my hand that was holding the ice cream cone. If I remember right, Alan Barnes worked at the same firm that Carol Dallon does. Is Victoria one of Emma's friends? Emma rarely brings the topic up at school, only showing off a photo or two taken at the law firm's holiday parties.

"Perhaps, but my grades are good enough that I can miss one day of school." Victoria responded immediately, as if anticipating the question. She stood up slowly and stretched, her jeans doing nothing to hide the form of her muscles.

She's in great shape from training. The way she stands show's she has knowledge of multiple forms of martial arts. In a straight up fight, I stand no chance of winning without any form of support. Befriending Glory Girl could help advance my plans with her connections to the Wards and New Wave.

I stood up and nodded. I couldn't be too obvious.

"Sure. What do you want to do?" I asked hesitantly. Victoria simply flashed me a wide grin, showing off her pearly white teeth. I wished I looked like that-

Uh oh. This wasn't going to be fun, for me that is.

Victoria Dallon is much smarter than she appears to be.

Grabbing me by my hand, Victoria practically dragged me towards the arcade. A few people gave us weird looks. What's wrong? Surprised to see Glory Girl dragging an ugly girl to play games at an arcade?

I would have reacted the same way if I was in their shoes. She let go of me at the entrance. Drying my sweaty hand with the sleeves of my hoodie, I sighed.

"Oh shoot, I didn't bring any change with me." I patted my pockets. I barely had a twenty dollar bill back home.

"Eh, don't worry about that my new friend, for I have come prepared!" Victoria reached into her leather jacket's pocket and pulled out a bag full of quarters and other coins. Some of the coins are covered in water, the light reflecting from the moisture.

"You picked those out of the wishing well didn't you." My eyes widened slightly. My hands weren't sweating earlier. She didn't try her hands after grabbing the coins. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Uhhh, not in the state of New York it isn't." Victoria defended herself as we started walking in, only a few occupants playing at various machines inside.

"We're not in New York." I smirked, which caused her to laugh. That wasn't funny.

"I like you Taylor. I can tell that we're going to be the best of friends." She placed a wet hand on my shoulder, my hoodie absorbing the moisture.

She really needs to wash her hands.

"Now let's go play some foosball. I can't wait to kick your ass!" Victoria formed a lazy grin and floated deeper into the arcade. I looked at the wet spot in the shape of a hand on my shoulder.

I really need a new hoodie.

A/N

I LIVE. Well, if you follow my other stories you would know that I'm always alive. It's been a while since I've updated Chimaera. I ran out of inspiration, so I went ahead and ordered the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy.

That should help give me some ideas. How did I handle Vicky's character? Hopefully she's an improvement over her version in the original Chimera.

Likes, watches, favorites, follows, kudos and comments help inspire me to write more often! (Im crossposting on multiple sites)