AN. Soon two more new chapters will be uploaded after those ones so be patient.
Not owning still anything at all in this fic.
Chapter 4: The Fall of Shadow Stalker
"Hello?"
Sitting in the hallway outside of her room in the hospital, where he delivered the girl. He thinks of all the new powers he obtained in addition to his old ones from the experiments, before he got his freedom. He was thinking back to the fight where he only wanted to electrocute that crossbow from the girl but instead electrocuted the whole hallway. Which showed that his control of his abilities where shot to hell because his right hand was giving of sparks of electricity every other moment, which he tried to control because he didn't want to injure or kill innocent people in the hospital.
Shocked out of his thinking he looked up. A tall man was standing before him, thin glasses on his nose and his hands were shaking slightly but he kept his cool.
"Are you the person who brought my daughter to the hospital?"
Looking him in the eyes he slowly nods. The facial structure and half of the posture of his body was like the girl he saved. Standing up, he took a step to the side and unblocked the way to the room of his handler, while the man was thinking.
"The doctors told me that she was in shock and a few of her wound got infected. What really happened to Taylor?"
When the man was talking, his voice changed, and again he was feeling that electrical current in his hand acting up while the man talked.
"Taylor has been locked in her locker with unsavoury materials. I had no time to properly look because someone chose to interrupt me."
He answered
"Taylor got hurt, but she will be okay. She was not that long in there to get permanent problems with her wounds."
The man begins to speak
"Taylor. If you didn't have found her, how long …"
"I don't know."
The man looked straight ahead
"Damn."
Going to the bed of his daughter, he thought about something and looked to the other male.
"I am thankful that you freed her. If I can do anything for you …"
"This was not a coincident that I have been there for her. I will not leave her side, also we will see each other frequently now, me and you. I promise you that I will not hurt her, but other people told me that she is not going to stay idle for long."
"What are you talking about?"
"Are you familiar with the term Handler?"
"Like something from handling machinery?"
"No. Simply said, I am her assassin and companion. She and I have a bond which was forced and through it I will give her strength that she can use."
"And here I thought you are a cape. You are talking more like a projection of my daughter. Did her power call you?"
His voice falters keeping his eyes on Taylor
"Did she trigger? That Assault guy from earlier told me about the term cape, but I never heard the term trigger in this context." Looking to the second male, the male answers
"You can think like that, but it is more like a partnership. There are no things I wouldn't to for her after all of this."
The man thinks and sighs
"You did what you had to do."
Giving a hand to the Assassin
"Danny Hebert and you are?"
He accepts the hand in the same gesture
"Travis"
Receiving the other male's handshake, he shows a little smile, which Danny returns even greater.
"Thank you. Are you staying here, and will you talk to Taylor?"
He shakes his head
"I will stay in the hallway and wait. There are things I want to think about before I will talk with Taylor, and I think it's you who should talk first to her."
Taylor woke up under the harsh lights of the hospital lightbulbs, her memories sliding into place. The Locker, that Doctor and again the pair of blue eyes behind sunglasses.
Sitting up Taylor found herself in a big hug, which was of her father. Danny smiled at her.
"Taylor?"
In the moment she was disoriented, but she gave a hug back to her father which closed all the distance of the last two years. "How long was I unconscious?"
Danny got out of the hug an begins "You were eight hours unconscious, what the doctors told me. I came her one hour ago after the PRT called me." "PRT?" she asked, "What have they told you?"
The smile vanishing from Danny and changing into a grimace. He chooses to change position and gave Taylor her glasses. "The people at Winslow didn't even call me. The call about that you are missing, was from an PRT Agent. He told me that you were involved in a parahuman incident and that they would handle it. He was surprised that nobody called me, and that makes me wonder why." She was surprised that the PRT acted that fast, choosing to continue she says
"They couldn't have much information so why?"
"What?" She looked at her furious Dad. "Taylor, I know what happened with the locker. What do you mean, is there more?" After that she shrunk into herself and wanted to take back her words and disappear. Looking at her father and touching his she says, "Dad I am so sorry."
"Taylor what happened was not your …." "No, not my fault. But Dad, I didn't want to bother you with what happened after what happened to Mom. I know that what happened was bad…"
He interrupts her while his face softens and hugs Taylor again. "I know that I wasn't there after what happened to Annete, but you all that I have left. If something happens, please talk to me."
He hugged her harder "I talked to your companion, that Travis guy behind the door. I heard what it takes to trigger. And if someone should be sorry it would be me and not you."
She hugs him back and continues "I don't want to go into details here, but we are going to talk later." She chooses to look under the cover and what she saw shocked her
"Shouldn't I have been more hurt?" Danny got to her side
"Taylor, I call him back her if you want. You don't have …."
Both stopped when they heard a sound from the doors that someone is in pain. Taylor froze with a certain feeling, she didn't hear this before, but she heard
"Look after Travis for me, will you?" The she took off hastily from the bed and got to the door.
He was sitting on a chair next to her hospital room. He heard from behind the door how the man – Danny Herbert, talked to his daughter. Taylor Hebert, his handler now.
What did he feel about the situation he was in. The feelings only partially changed about that bitch, who he worked before. But after thinking things through, he now has a new chance at life.
Also, now someone needed his help, which is why he felt better. If this was his second chance, why not safe this fucked up world his is in now. After he got some information about this world from the television in the hospital, it didn't look pretty.
"Why is it always me" He thought, when the AI alerted him to an incoming attack which allowed him to move a fraction of a second before it hit him in the heart.
"Not again, you bitch."
Now Sophia was sure that he had some Thinker ability, while she was cursing him and trying to hit him with her knives, that fucking bastard. Damn, this could have been an easy task. But like always it had to go to hell fer her. He was an easy target moments ago, where he was either sleeping or wasn't concentrating in front of Heberts room.
It was easy to walk through walls into the hospital with her Stranger abilities. She even dematerialized the bolt of her crossbow to shoot the bastard in the heart. A one shot kill and she would have gotten her reputation in Brockton Bay back.
But nope, he dodged the bolt a second time. The bolt instead of hitting his heart missed him entyerly. She was thankful that he didn't use his electrical Shaker abilities, but instead he moved too fast, that she couldn't hit him. This would have fucked her up.
She tried to shoot him again with an explosive bolt, which forced him to stop it with his tinkertech weapon, that helped him to free that bitch Hebert at Winslow. After that she choose knives to fight in close combat. She tried to hit him with the knives gain. She demilitarised the knives and moved them through the weapon and hit him in the arm, which forced him to drop the weapon.
He cursed for a moment. Even if the AI choose to warn him again about the attack, it didn't help much because he couldn't fight her here seriously.
The problem where the bitches power. This force him to change the place of the fight. Well, he dodged the first shot, and his first move would be like at Winslow again and use his Beam Katana to tranquilize her with the help of Eden the AI. Which would allow him to neutralize her without electrocuting all in the hospital, but it seems that she has combat skills.
She dodged him gain and shot another bolt at him, knowing that he would block it. But this bolt exploded, which allowed her to take out her knives. The she attacked again with the knives, but he was shocked that instead of hitting the sword the knives phased through it and which allowed her to him in the right arm.
This forced him to drop his weapon and to dodge a second knife. Making him rethink the option of using his electricity ability and kill practically anyone in the hospital with his ability to stop her powers. The problem was that her speed allowed to dodge his attacks. If he could get his katana back, he could use the original plan and knock her out with the tranquilizer.
He didn't want to kill her, because he wasn't in his world with those sick Assassins, so he needs to tone down his murder instincts. Because would lose eventually.
Taylor jumped from her bed (when was she that fast?) and got out in the hospital corridor. For a moment she though Sophia found her - as she recognized that swearing. But somehow Shadow Stalker was holding Travis to the wall, crossbow laying on the floor, with her pair of knives.
In this fight Travis looked bad and was also losing, as some of his moves were looking clumsy. He was unarmed, and was holding his slightly wounded right arm, and was being on the defensive. Walking forward – Taylor or rather foot touched something. Looking down, she saw a weapon. Was this not the weapon he used to free her from that locker?
Her arm moving forward and taking his sword, when she heard the voice of the AI Eden which was transmitting a technique to knock someone out when they were not worthy to kill. Without thinking she took her own fighting stance and activated the electric blade, where she could feel the electricity. Then she attacked, but she clearly missed Shadow Stalker. The black coated person looked back at her and began to talk
"What the fuck Hebert? Go back or will also add you to my list" This allowed Taylor to identify the supposed Ward.
(Focus now) Travis helped her, that meant she would also help him,
The mist was closing on her, but suddenly she got more info's and memories, this sparked more electricity. Sophia suddenly rematerialized as the blade cancelled her powers this time for real. She was trying to escape but the blade blocked her Stranger powers. She would stop her.
Sophia tried to kill her helper and now even her. She tried to escape in her madness but not this, today she would be stopped. Taylor jumped and finally hit her which knocked her finally out.
The next moment everything was silent. Only the still active blade and some paper that flowed around her after she generated the wind with her jump.
"How and what…" Someone coughs slightly behind her "Taylor look at me"
She sees how Travis is taking out the bolt in his arm, when suddenly some strange gold/silver link begins to form between them. She sees some sparks that connect them, which after a moment vanished completely. Was that part of her Master power? The light finally vanished, and Travis finally put his arm down and asks, "Is everything okay with you?"
"Is everything okay with me? God Travis you were wounded, that bolt…" cursing Taylor looked at the wound to get a full picture of it, but there was hardly any blood. Which meant he had Brute powers.
"This is a thing for a later conversation." He talks "But better somewhere else." Looking behind Taylor in silence at the unconsciousness girl.
Sophia Hess, Heroine of the PRT. What the fuck? she thought.
Suddenly she hears the screaming of the doctors and nurses here. Which stopped when a red clad person came from behind the people. There stood Velocity stunned looking at the unconscious form of Shadow Stalker.
"Damn" looking at Taylor he asks, "How did you do this?" Taylor looking furious asked back
"You really ask me that now. I should ask you why the person, who tormented and bullied me tried to kill the person who helped me, is in the wards?"
Velocity interrupts her "Well look, I can't give you answers, for that you need to talk to the director." Looking at Sophia, he continues "I need to take her to a cell, which means I need you to come for a debrief downtown at the PRT later."
Taylor wanted to continue when suddenly a hand on her shoulder stops her and turns her around to look at the person which was Travis. After that Travis begins to talk "So they are the law-enforcement responsible for all things cape related, right?"
When Taylor nods, he continues "I think we all need to calm down, I'm new in this dimension and need to think. We also did nothing wrong stopping the girl, and I don't know why the girl wanted to kill me."
Looking at Velocity again "I talked to one of your colleagues, I think his name was Assault. He talked about the fact that all new heroes go downtown to the PRT to do a power test. We will come later, and I will talk to your director." Which prompted Velocity to smile.
"But the power testing will be done as one unit, because it helped me control my weapons and powers." Velocity grimaces "I know this will be not a standard power testing of Master powers…."
"And I think that there won't be any, because my daughter got attacked from one of your wards."
Taylor looking behind at her father and seeing him with a totally evil smile
"I will not allow Taylor to go to the PRT without some legal representation after this, and also she needs some clothes too." Taylor looked down and sees that she doesn't wear any clothes but instead a hospital gown. But the biggest problem is that there are too many cameras and phones here. Damn