AN: This is the first of two new stories today.

Premise: Scion decides to leave after an unspecified event which occurs shortly after/before/during the S9 Arc of canon. Taylor has already acquired Charlotte as a minion. With Scion's departure, all capes are depowered. The PRT/Government begins to aggressively round up Villains and prosecute them for everything under the sun. Charlotte saw the writing on the wall and convinced Taylor to leave just in time to avoid being caught up in everything. The two are forced to go on the run to avoid the law cracking down on Warlord Taylor.

Taylor and Charlotte's Great Escape

I glared at the fuel gauge willing, with my considerable power, for it to rise. In stark defiance to my might, the indicator stayed steady on the E. The light even turned on, as if to mock me.

"Gas station is under a mile ahead," Charlotte said. She folded her map and stared out the window.

"Can't stop."

"Then are we walking? Because the next town is 40 miles."

I did not growl. But I may have hissed a little. "Stupid fucking northeast. I thought we lived in the urban states. What happened to there being cities every 10 miles?"

"We do live in an urban state, Taylor," Charlotte said. I didn't have to turn to see her stupid smirk. "If we were in the Midwest, the next town would be one hundred miles. Or more…I think there's a few places in Texas where the next town is like two or three hundred miles distant."

"We should go to Texas."

"Still gonna need gas for that, Taylor."

I scowled, flipping on the blinker as the station rolled into sight. "Get your mace and your stun gun ready."

"Not everyone is looking for you," she sighed.

I was still proud that she got both self-defense tools palmed as we stopped at the pump. I took a breath to center myself, grabbed the prepaid card and got out to fill the tank. One look at the pump was all I needed to know we were going to have problems here.

ALL TRANSACTIONS MUST BE COMPLETED INSIDE THE OFFICE.

THIS PRECAUTION IS TO ENSURE THAT ALL OUTSTANDING

FUGITIVES ARE PROPERLY REPORTED TO THE AUTHORITIES.

WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

I glared at the sign, my scowl deepening and my hand closing on the baton strapped to my thigh. Glancing at Charlotte, I inclined my head towards the shop and stalked forward. We would not be brought in by some two bit security guard at a fucking gas station. If the entirety of Brockton Bay Police Department, the PRT, plus whoever the fuck those pyscho sheriff's were in the last town couldn't do it, no way was this asshole going to get the satisfaction.

Her hand closed on my arm and I jerked to a stop. "You stay with the car; I'll go take care of it." Charlotte let go of my arm, brushing her hand over my shoulder and walked past me before I could protest.

She was right of course. Very few people knew her face, whereas I was the one with my mug plastered over all of the major news stations on half the East Coast.

And yet…I was the one who knew how to fight. I was the one with the baton. I was the one okay with hurting anyone who threatened us. It should have been me going inside.

Fucking Emily Piggot. Fucking PRT. Fucking government. Fucking heroes. None of them ever did a damn thing to actually help people at all and then the instant that the threat of powered reprisal went away, it was open season. Those of us who hadn't played the game or dealt with their bullshit, we were all up for grabs, because that was just the way things worked.

Heaven forbid you try to call out the hypocrisy. Heaven forbid you try to do good as a 'villain'. Heaven forbid you try to help people outside of their strictly defined rules. No, you get treated worse than Jack Slash himself.

Fucking heroes! I kicked the tire and tasted blood in my mouth from where I had bitten through my cheek. Forcing myself to relax, I took several deep breaths.

I would show them all. Come after me? Come after my people? Come after my friends to draw me out?!

I'd show them who they were messing with. They wanted me to be the Big Bad Villain? They thought I was scary when I could control insects?

I would show them what a Villain really looked like. I would show them what I could really do. Now that they had taken my friends and hurt my people and driven me into a corner…now they would learn what it meant to be afraid of Taylor Fucking Hebert.

I wasn't Skitter anymore, I was more than just the bug girl now. And they would learn. And they would be sorry.

All I needed to do first was get Charlotte and myself somewhere safe so that we could rebuild and regroup. And then I could get everyone back and I would grind this whole goddamn country into the ground under my heel.

Two muffled shouts rang out from the store. I was running before I was even consciously aware that I had started moving. The baton was in my hand as I crashed through the doors, my eyes taking in the scene in moments as the glass parted.

Charlotte was crouched down by the side of the counter, her arms over head. The cashier was advancing on her, one hand holding a gun vaguely pointed in her direction, the other wiping at his eyes with a scowl on his face and snot running down his nose. There was a single camera in the corner pointed towards us, but there was no light indicating it was on. The idiot cashier hadn't even thought to place Charlotte between me and him, and worse, he was turning towards me.

As soon as the gun's sight line cleared my friend, I smashed my baton down on his arm. The cashier cried out, crumpling to the floor, the gun flying from his hand. I grabbed it midair, shifting my baton to my off hand, then racked the slide to make sure there was a round in the chamber and that the safety was off. Finally, I stepped to Charlotte's side and held the weapon on the enemy.

"Are you okay?"

"Just a small bruise," she replied, standing and shuffling behind me. "He said I looked pretty and that if I helped him out he wouldn't report us…"

"I see." My eyes narrowed and I glanced around the store again. The cashier was still crying and cradling his broken arm. "No one else here?"

"No."

"Turn the pump on, take the cash, wipe the tapes if there are any and wait in the car."

"Taylor…"

I shifted so that I could keep the cashier in my sight as I talked to her. "Charlotte, how many people do you think he's done this to before? We can't be the first pretty teenage villains to drive out this way. We wouldn't have been the last either."

She shut her eyes, bit her lip, and nodded once. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I'm not," I replied, just as softly.

As Charlotte finished up in the store and hurried out to the car, I knelt down in front of the cashier. He finally looked up at me, the fear in his eyes centered me and cemented my decision. "Do you know who I am?"

"Taylor Hebert, America's Most Wanted, Number 6."

"Six now? I'm moving up. Well, just so we're clear, I would've been happy to just get gas and be on my way. You escalated this by hurting my friend. You've shown me that you've done this before and will just keep doing it again."

"No, no, I swear I just wanted to -"

"I'm glad that I get to find out who I am thanks to this whole fucked up situation," I said, cutting him off. He cringed back, whimpering. "The government wanted to make an example of me. They wanted to make me a figurehead. They miscalculated. Now they are going to get exactly what they were most afraid of. They are going to get me."

"What are you planning to do?" he whispered.

I smiled, it was not a pleasant expression and he backed away further until his back was against the nearest food rack. Potato chips and candy bars clattered down to the floor all around him. "Me, oh, well, currently I'm just monologuing long enough for my girlfriend to finish filling the gas tank. I think it's been long enough now don't you?"

He jerked his head, the stupid fool.

In one smooth motion, I lifted the weapon, took aim, and pulled the trigger. "Thanks for the gun."

AN: I have a Pa tr eon and Ko-fi now! If you want to support my efforts and see some work-in-progress chapters a bit earlier as well as have a say in what I focus on please feel free to take a look. Both are under my other pseudonym 'Slider'. More descriptive links are in my profile.