I remember the first time I saw PHQ, back before even the Force Field went up. That was back in 2001, and people had been excited back then. Armsmaster had been active for a while, he'd been around since I was a kid, but I remember when dad took me out there to show me. Life had been better then, with international trade suffering but still going on, and with some people still thinking Leviathan could be contained or stopped.

"Daddy, is that where the heroes will be?" I asked him. I was a big fan of heroes back then. I'd thought the world could be a better place, and like just about every kid then I had an Alexandria action figure that I loved dearly.

"Yes, that's where they'll be," my dad agreed, and he smiled at me. He used to smile a lot more back then. We both did, when mom was alive. "They'll keep us safe, and you'll see. The Union will grow, we'll get more good jobs in the city, and more ships will come because the heroes will be there to keep us safe."

I think I had probably looked confused at that, mostly because I was six and that really went over my head. So my dad had laughed and patted me on the head and told me, "And that means more ice cream for you!"

I had been all about that, and dad had gotten us ice cream and we'd sat on a bench near the water front and watched for a while. We'd seen some heroes flying back and forth, probably Lady Photon and some others, and at that point we'd been hopeful and excited, sure the city would have a bright future.

I won't lie, I had hoped I'd be a hero. Not for any noble reason I guess, unless helping my dad counts, but more because I thought it was cool and excited and I was a dumb kid.

So it was a bit surreal to find myself approaching PHQ. A big part of it being surreal was that I was being carried there by a hero. I mean, sure, girls do dream of a big, strong hero to carry them off to adventure, and probably romance them to. I sure did.

I just…I didn't picture that hero as being another woman, you know?

I glanced over at Kazuma, who was being carried by Darkness, and obviously rather enjoying the experience.

"Is this as awkward for me as it is for you?" I asked nervously, having to shout a little to be heard over the whipping wind.

"Eh, it's no big deal, you're not that heavy," Glory Girl says with a shrug. "I carry some of the other Wards around sometimes. I even carried Tina around more than once. It's pretty cool that she can fly now too. Honestly, my favorite part of being a Cape."

"That's…not what I was referring to," I said, and looked away, trying not to blush.

"Oh, sorry. I, um, I can't turn it off, you know. I can sort of damp it down…but I'm so pumped right now it's kind of hard," Glory Girl admitted. She pursed her lips for a moment, then gave me an awkward smile. "Better?"

"Actually, I just…sort of push that off into my bugs. That's not really what I meant," I admit, shifting awkwardly in Glory Girl's arms.

"Oh! Um, that's…actually, that's kinda cool. So you can, like, make yourself immune to Master powers? That's handy. But, um, don't worry, I've carried a lot of people, my boyfriend doesn't get jealous. Usually."

"Well at least you didn't have to carry Pervzuma," I said, and grimaced over at Kazuma, who was sitting nestled between Darkness's breasts, and looking rather pleased with himself. Darkness was blushing a bright red, and looked rather uncomfortable and nervous, and maybe a little…

Wait, was she into this?

I didn't have much time to consider this as we were whisked inside of the force field, though an opening that appeared in the shimmering barrier. Once we were inside, the noise of the harbor vanished as the barrier sealed itself behind us. I also lost contact with all my bugs, and for a moment, I was overwhelmed by Glory Girl's aura.

And that is the only reason I tried to snuggle close to her at all. I wasn't afraid, I'm not a pervert, and I'm definitely into guys. Just, you know, guys that aren't Kazuma.

Fortunately I found some bugs quickly enough, and shoved all that into the bugs. I glanced hastily at Glory Girl to see if she noticed at all. To my shock and horror, she was blushing, but she did wink at me.

Before I could explain that I wasn't like the HikiNEET, were were touching down on a helicopter pad, with Glory Girl gently setting me down. Darkness, however, fumbled Kazuma, and dropped him a bit too high up with she herself plowing into the pad hard enough to crack the concrete. That wouldn't have been so bad if it had been feet first I suppose, but she managed to belly flop, with Kazuma landing square on her back.

"Oh Lord," Glory Girl muttered under her breath, but then she was all smiles, going over to help her sister and even Kazuma to their feet.

"Come on, Tina. You gotta put the breaks on before you land. Unless, you know, you're actually trying to make an entrance. But there's no one here to impress. Except Steve, right?"

Darkness glanced at one of the PTR officers who had come over. His name tag did indeed read "Stevens."

"S-sorry, um, about the pad," Darkness said, blushing slightly. "I-I can help fix it…"

"Don't sweat it. We have a budget for newbie Alex's," Stevens said. "I assume since the three of you are with Glory Girl, that you're the ones Armsmaster called ahead about?"

"Yep! Meet my other baby sister, Steve!" Glory Girl said, pulling Darkness into a one armed hug and smiling widely.

"D-Darkness. I, um, I triggered a couple of months ago, and Glory Girl has been helping me."

"Well, they've got the lawyers and onboarding people waiting for you," Stevens said, jerking a thumb towards the door. "You can-"

The door banged open, and two capes ran out, whooping loudly as they did so. On reflex, I summoned a swarm of bugs. I also let out a bit of a shriek and tried to hide behind Glory Girl.

Look, it had been a stressful night.

And besides, Kazuma was trying to hide behind me, so it wasn't like I was the only one.

"DARKNESS!" the first cape cried, and ran towards the taller cape, nearly tackling her in a hug. This boy was a bit on the short side, with messy silver hair, and purple eyes poking out above a silver bandana. He was wearing a green top that showed a bit of midriff, with a green scarf twined about his neck, and had a large knife on his hip.

He was actually sort of cute, and the way he moved reminded me of a dancer, with graceful steps, and a bright laugh.

"C-Chris! I, um, well, I'm glad you're here to welcome me," Darkness said, setting the shorter boy down and smiling at him. I wondered if he was her boyfriend?

By the way the second cape was hugging Glory Girl, and his silver power armor, I recognized him as Gallant. I was pretty sure they were dating, mostly because Kazuma had mentioned that he'd heard rumors she was "taken" in our training sessions. Seeing them embrace, I felt a pang of jealousy.

Damn aura.

That, or Kazuma was rubbing off on me in all the wrong ways.

"Um, Chris, this is Skitter and HikiNEET," Darkness said, gesturing to us. "They, um, defeated Lung…Armsmaster is bringing him in…"

"I am not HikiNEET!" HikiNEET cried. I smirked at that slightly.

"Don't sell yourself short, Darkness," I said, stepping forward and smiling at Chris. He seemed vaguely familiar for some reason, but I didn't recall seeing any press releases about him. "Without you, there's no way HikiNEET and I would have survived that."

"If you're going to call me that, I'm going to give you embarrassing nicknames as well!" Kazuma declared, and leveled a finger at Darkness. "You! You are….Boobs! Yes, that's all that comes to mind when I see you! Boob-"

I slapped Kazuma upside the back of his head, and felt a lot better. And not just because Gallant and Glory Girl weren't hugging anymore.

"W-what a cruel, horrible man!" Darkness gasped, hugging herself. Somehow, she managed to do so in a way that really emphasized just how stacked she was. I felt a slight pang of jealousy. Just a pang, though. Lower back pain problems might be in her future, but not mine.

"Wow, making friends already, Tina?" Chris laughed. He stuck out a hand. "I'm Silver Mask, but you can call me Chris! I've just started in the Wards too. Just went out on my first patrol tonight! Too bad I missed all the excitement."

"Yeah, we're both pretty jealous," Gallant said, coming over with Victoria. "Vicky said she was busy tonight, but I didn't realize with what. Congrats, by the way, Tina. About time you triggered."

"You know, she still won't tell me what happened to make her trigger," Glory Girl said with a shake of her head. Darkness blushed, and Glory Girl flushed herself, turning away. "Well, anyway, let's go inside. Then we get to call dad. And mom too. Yay."

I felt a pang, and sucked in a breath. I'd have to call my dad myself…I wasn't looking forward to conversation, to be honest. How do you tell your father you're now a super hero?

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to see Kazuma giving me a nod. "Hey, don't sweat it. Your dad's a champ. He'll probably cry and stuff, he'll be so proud of you."

I blinked, fighting back tears. This…wasn't a side of Kazuma I was used to seeing.

"You…reallly think so?"

"Yeah, you're lucky, you know? My parents will probably tell them "wrong number" and hang up," Kazuma said, grimacing.

"I mean…they can be…nice? Sometimes?" I tried. I didn't really think Kazuma's parents were bad people, but…they had pretty high expectations for their only child and son. They were all refugees from Japan, and I knew they were pretty embarrassed by Kazuma not sticking to traditional Japanese values or whatever. And, well, him being kind of a screw up and ass.

"Maybe to you. You know what my dad says? 'Why you not be good child like Taylor? She more of a man than you.'"

"You asshole!" I said, and poked Kazuma, but I was laughing as we headed inside. "I'm not that flat, you know.

Kazuma smirked at me. "That's because of the pads."

Every ounce of goodwill I felt towards him evaporated as I went beat red. On instinct, I searched for the nearest spiders, to bite him, right in the ass.

But then Chris slapped Kazuma across the face. "Hey! A girl's body is her own, Scumzuma. So what if Taylor likes to wear pads!? Sometimes a girl needs to feel more confident! And it's none of YOUR damn business!"

I blinked at him, and then took a second look at Chris. Uh…I may have made a slight…miscalculation.

Chris turned around, muttering under her breath and wrapping her scarf about her. "...judgemental…telling everyone…dammit…Blue Haired Bimbo…"

I wasn't really sure what the last part was about, but I glared at Kazuma, and jogged to catch up to Chris. "Hey, don't mind him. His brain is as small as his balls, most of the time. But, he's not the worst guy I've ever met. He's surprisingly loyal."

Chris looked over at me, a bit of her…yes, definitely a her…black mood evaporating. She smiled at me. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Taylor."

When Chris smiled, something about her niggled the back of my head again. I tried to focus on what, but I was both exhausted, and worried about my upcoming conversation with my dad, to figure out what was bothering me.

"Don't sweat it. And…um, if you wanted pads for your own costume…I know some spiders that can help."

Behind me, Kazuma let out a yip and started to swat at his rear end. I smirked. There are certainly some fringe benefits to being a cape.

Oh relax. It was just an orb spider. They're pretty harmless.

"Thanks, but I'll pass. I'm proud of how I look. Even if some people do think I'm a boy sometimes," Chris said with a wink.

I coughed and looked away, desperate to change the subject. "So, um…how did your folks take the whole…you know. 'Hey mom, I'm a super hero now, guess I'll go fight bad guys.'"

"Actually, I'm an orphan. My parents died in Sydney, back when Levithan first attacked" Chris said, shrugging.

"Oh! Oh my god, I'm…I'm so sorry!" I gasped, blushing and putting hand over my mouth. I really was getting off on the wrong foot here…I hope it hadn't been too obvious that I'd thought Chris was a guy, and was checking her out…

"It's OK. I barely remember it, honestly. I was really little. They got me out, and I was adopted here in the states by my Grandparents. They passed a few years ago. I've been on my own since! Just joined the Wards though, only a month ago! It's been pretty great."

"I…I sort of understand…I mean, my dad's alive, but…my mom died in a car crash three years ago. It…it's hard," I confided.

Chris's expression was full of sympathy, and she stopped. I paused alongside her, and let out a gasp when she hugged me, tight. She was a good six inches and change shorter than me, so she came up to just over my chin.

"It's OK, Taylor. We'll be friends, I know it. Maybe, we can be our own broken little family," Chris whispered to me.

"I…I think…I'd like that. I've always wanted a little sister," I admitted.

Chris laughed at that and stepped back, then reached up a finger to tap me on the nose. "Now now! I'm the senpai! You can call me onee-sama! I think you'll find I'm older than I look!"

"Oh, sorry, I figured you were, um, I dunno…like…a freshman?" I ventured.

Chris stuck her tongue out at me. "Junior! I told you, just call me senpai!"

Then Chris paused, and glanced over at Kazuma, who was goggling at us. And if Gallant's frozen steps were anything to go by, so was he. Glory Girl was rolling her eyes, but Darkenss was blushing.

"Oh get over it, Kazuma," Chris and I said at the same time.

"We're friends!" I protested.

"Just friends," Chris agreed.

Kazuma turned to Gallant. "They're both tsunderes. I can tell."

"I know. Vicky's one too. It's so hot," Gallant sighed.

"I see you are a man of culture as well," Kazuma said, and stuck out a hand.

"Oh Lord," Glory Girl groaned, putting her head in her heads.. "My boyfriend's a weeb…"

"My girlfriend's totally an otaku," Gallant said in a stage whisper as he shook Kazuma's hand. "We watched all of the Ghibli Films and she loved them."

"My friend, that is just the first step on the road to Culture. I'll have to share my Orimeo scans with you. Fresh from Aleph."

"Ooo, nice," Gallant agreed. "I'm always up for good stuff from Aleph. I have all of Cowboy Beebop and To Love Ru on Betamax."

"This is the start of a beautiful relationship," Kazuma sighed.

I decided that Glory Girl needed to break up with her boyfriend. For her own good. Anyone that was into the same stuff as Kazuma couldn't be trusted.

Just then though, someone loudly cleared their throat behind us, and we all turn to see a fat, short woman in a navy blue jacket and skirt, with a red blouse with black stripes that made her look like a watermelon. I recognised her, though I couldn't place the name at first. She was flanked by two PTR officers in full kit, though they had their weapons holstered.

"Director Piggot!" Darkness said, snapping to attention and saluting. She'd been the one to clear her throat: the director just looked thoroughly unamused.

"Lalatina Dallon," Piggot said, her tone utterly flat. "I was afraid you'd show up here some day. I suppose it was too much to hope one person in your family wasn't a menace."

"And by that, you mean noble, hardworking heroes who are a pleasure to work with, right, Directory Piggot?" Glory Girl said brightly. I suddenly began to sweat, because Glory Girl was clearly turning her aura on to max. Kazuma was practically drooling, and one of the PTR officers was cringing as if afraid.

Piggot's gaze shifted to Glory Girl, and her fat lips thinned slightly. "Victoria. I see you went on an unauthorized and unlogged patrol. A patrol that, by our current estimates, resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. And we haven't even begun to inspect any foundations."

"A patrol that resulted in one of the most dangerous parahumans in this city, no, scratch that, the whole WORLD getting captured!" Glory Girl half shouted, floating up off her feet and onto her tiptoes, her hair in a glorious halo about her head, like some sort of divine messenger of wrath. "And it was my sister who did that, so you should be THANKING her, not-"

"Vicky…we did break the rules," Darkness said quietly, reaching up and putting a hand on her twins shoulder.

Glory Girl paused, and glanced first at her sister, then the director. She let out a huff, and dropped back to her feet. "I…apologize. We were just supposed to be going for a fly. Getting my sister used to her powers. We were going to register soon."

"Hmph." Piggot eyed Darkness, and clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Another Alex. Well, see to it that you learn better control than your sister. I have enough New Wave related headaches as it is. I don't need another one."

"Yes ma'am," Darkness said, saluting again. "I will do my family, and the PTR, proud."

Piggot stepped past both the Dallon twins, apparently dismissing them from her mind to examine Kazuma and I. "Well. Another set of starry eyed young heroes. I suppose you both think you're hot shit, don't you?"

I bristled slightly. I mean, we had just taken out Lung, why was this jumped up beauracrat giving us lip?

"I dunno. Does taking out the man who fought an Endbringer to a standstill count as hot shit?" Kazuma drawled. "Because I'm pretty sure that's what we did."

The Director glared at Kazuma, and looked ready to spit. "It counts as you being reckless young fools. You could have been killed. You SHOULD have been killed. Do you know how large Lung's body count is? How many over eager young morons I've had to bury in the past decade? By rights, I should be having to visit your parents and give them the 'Your children were brave, and died heroes' speech I have memorized from how many grieving fools I've had to comfort."

"Meh. In my case, they'd probably have served champaign and busted out the party favors," Kazuma said.

That made the director blink, but she continued. "You might think you're funny, but being flippant in this line of work-"

"No, he's probably right," I said, making my tone as mournful as possible. "If anything, they'll be really disappointed he didn't die."

"They'll probably ask if you have any tanto to spare, so I can commit seppuku immediately for failing to not take out the entirety of the ABB and E88 in one go," Kazuma said, sighing. He nodded to the director. "If it comes to it, please, make sure that Taylor is my second. I know she's always wanted to chop off my head."

"I am honored you trust me so," I said, nodding solemnly.

"Yeah, I'd ask Darkness to do it, she's pretty strong and all, but honestly, I think she might miss," Kazuma said with a shake of his head.

Chris and Vicky both snorted, Chris covering her mouth, while Vicky didn't even bother hiding her smile.

"Good call. She totally would," Glory Girl chuckled.

"I-I am not that clumsy!" Darkness protested.

"So, you do want to kill me," Kazuma sighed. "I should have become a super villain after all. Pay's better."

"No! I would never- You're my ally! I am a shield, not a sword!" Darkness cried, putting one hand on her breast, a look of anguish on her face. "I would not allow you to kill yourself!"

"Are you quite done?" Director Piggot demanded, one eyebrow twitching.

"Of course not. Man hasn't even finished his death poem," Gallant said, shaking his head sadly. "How's it go?

A hot girl touched me

With the length of her blade

It is snowing on Mount Fuji"

"Not bad, but the middle one only has six. Change 'length' to 'long kiss,'" Chris suggested.

"Yeah, no, I can't use the Mount Fuji line," Kazuma said with a shake of his head, folding his arms over his chest.

"It's…to disrespectful to your lost homeland?" Darkness suggested.

Kazuma made a wet raspberry noise. "No! It's underwater. Doesn't work anymore."

"Mmmm," we all said, nodding sagely.

Well, except Director Piggot who looked like she was about to have an apoplexy.

"Well, I think that settles it. I'll just have to stay alive until I can compose a proper death poem," Kazuma said. "Bye."

"You're welcome, by the way!" I called as we moved off. "You know, for saving the city from Lung. Oh! Check him for exotic poisons! I think there was a black widow or two that got to him."

"Wait, those aren't native here," Glory Girl pointed out. "How'd you get those?"

"Oh, I took 'Lethal Spawning' with my first skill point," I explained. "It seemed the most useful."

"Lethal what?" Glory Girl demanded.

"Yeah, I took 'Steal' from the thief class tree and 'Drain Touch' from the 'Lich' tree. It's an advanced class but I can still take the basic skills since they have low requirements," Kazuma said smugly.

"I just put all my points in defense," Darkness admitted.

"Oh my god, Tina, this isn't a video game!" Vicky said, throwing her hands up in the air. "That's not how this works!"

We left the outraged Director behind, and I looked around at the laughing, smiling faces around me.

OK, this? This is what I imagined when I thought of getting super powers.

After that, I had a talk with a lawyer and counselor. Then, after taking a deep breath, I picked up the phone.

"Daddy? Um…you'll never guess where I am…"

"Taylor?! Oh thank God, I was going to call the police! Where are you!? Are you alright!?" my panicked father's voice said.

I looked around, biting my lip and fighting back tears. Kazuma was sitting at another booth, a phone to his own ear. He gave me a thumbs up.

"I'm…I'm OK, daddy. I…I have something to tell you…"

"Oh God…Taylor, I love you, no matter what! You know that, right?" my father said, real pain in his voice. I could tell he was near tears. "Are you pregnant? Is it drugs? Oh lord, please tell me the father isn't Kazuma!"

I burst out laughing. "No! No, it's not that."

"Well…what is it, then?" He sounded scared, but hopeful.

I took another breath, held it for a moment, then let it all out.

"I'm a superhero now…"