Worm: The Rise of Skitter Chapter 1

Somewhere

Somewhen

"What the fuck!" Lisa yelped. One moment, she had been about to log on to her computer in a vain attempt to convince people that her friend, Taylor Hebert, better known as Khepri these days, was a hero, and the next, she was landing on the ground here…wherever 'here' was.

'Here' was a white room about the size of a goddamn cathedral and it was eye-searing white. What was more concerning was that her Thinker powers couldn't get anything from it aside from throwing up a large question mark.

"What the shit?!" a familiar voice yelped nearby. Lisa looked around and saw Imp, Aisha LaBorne, sitting up and rubbing her abused posterior.

"Imp?" Lisa said in surprise.

"What the…Tattletale?" the black girl blinked in surprise. "What the hell's going on?"

"Wish I knew; I arrived here first, then you seconds after me." The Thinker replied.

"Who the hell grabbed me?!" another familiar voice snarled as their figure appeared in the white space.

"Bitch?!" Imp and Lisa chorused in shock.

Bitch, otherwise known as Rachael Lindt, narrowed her eyes at the other two girls. "Were you two the ones who grabbed me?!"

"Nope. We were grabbed too." Tattletale shook her head. "Where were you? Gimel?"

Bitch gave a grunt of assent.

Over the next few minutes, various people were 'teleported' in, people that they all knew; Panacea, Glory Girl, Laserdream, Brandish, Defiant/Armsmaster, Dragon, Vista, Foil, Parian and Shadow Stalker.

The tension between Glory Girl, Brandish and Panacea was almost tangible, the same applying to the former Wards and Vista, who had stayed loyal. One commonality was that all of their powers were negated completely. Brandish couldn't create her light constructs, Glory Girl's Aura was not active and even Defiant and Dragon's Tinker abilities were gone.

"So who the hell grabbed us?" Victoria Dallon snapped, eying the 'sister' who had essentially turned her into a vegetable.

"No clue." Tattletale shrugged. "Probably some fresh Trigger who wants to show off…you're listening, right?"

Ah, Tattletale. Your need to show off is quite amusing.

Everyone looked around at the sudden voice.

"Who is there?! Show yourself!" Brandish demanded, looking around angrily.

Brandish, in case it had escaped your notice, you are in no position to demand anything of me. You, like everyone else here, are completely disempowered while in this location, and I have disabled Dragon's on-board weaponry, as well as 'Defiant' and his weaponry, and activated several strength governors that restrict her body to the strength of an average woman.

"He has." Dragon confirmed with a glower.

"Well since you took the opportunity to capture all of us, might I ask exactly what it is you intend to do with us?" Tattletale asked with a sigh. She only just realised that she was wearing her supervillain costume, as was Imp, Parian, Bitch and Foil.

Observe the side of the room to your left, Tattletale.

Turning to look, everyone blinked as a large screen appeared out of the floor, followed by several sofas and chairs. Immediately in front of the screen was a square box and controller, with another seat in front of it.

"You aren't serious." Vista scoffed in disbelief. "You brought us here to play a game?!"

Not just any game, Vista. A game about the life of someone who you all know…someone who gave all she was to defeat an enemy that no one could have defeated otherwise.

"Taylor? This game is about Taylor?" Tattletale asked in shock.

"Why would we want to know what Hebert did?" Shadow Stalker sneered. She was then hit by a watermelon dropping on her head, making her curse loudly.

That's enough out of you, the one who tortured Taylor Hebert into Triggering in the first place. And for future reference, either use her civilian name or call her Skitter. Neither Weaver nor Khepri were things she wanted to be, so respect who she was at her best, if you please.

Tattletale, take the seat in front of the console. None of you can leave until this game is played, escape is impossible and no one can find you here. Play along and you may discover information that you need.

"We can't just keep calling you 'The Disembodied Voice' all the time." Lisa said, not moving. "A name first, then I'll play along."

Very well. I am the one who sees all, SeerKing. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, one and all.

"SeerKing, huh?" the disempowered Thinker raised an eyebrow. "OK then. I guess I'll play along, for now, but we will find a way to break out. And if this is going to insult Taylor any more than she has been already by everyone and their grandmother…!"

Taylor always did think of you as her friend, Tattletale and it is nice to see that she was not mistaken in that judgement. Have no fear; this will simply show the truth, pure and unadulterated. Nothing more, nothing less.

Scoffing slightly, Tattletale walked over to the console, with everyone else trailing after her.

"I'm not certain that this is a wise course of action." Defiant demurred.

"Unless you have any awe-inspiring ideas about what else to do, Dumbass, I can't see as to what choice we have." Imp sneered at him. "We're powerless, disarmed and in the lair of this SeerKing guy. He could fuck us up if he wanted to and we'd be able to do jack all to stop him."

"Going along with what our kidnapper demands is a bit stupid though." Vista frowned.

"As much as it pains me to admit, Tattletale and Imp are right." Dragon admitted. "We're completely helpless here. The sooner that we get this 'game' over and done with, the sooner we can, perhaps, return to our lives."

"Why grab me though?" Victoria mused. "I mean, it's not like I really get along with most people here."

She glared at Panacea and Tattletale as if to leave no doubts about who she was talking about.

"It ain't like we like you either, Collateral Damage Barbie." Imp snarked.

Break it up you two. And Glory Girl, what happened to you was an unfortunate incident, but one that you triggered by ignoring what Panacea said. She specifically warned you, begged you even, to stay away from her and not to touch her. The pressure from an unimaginable amount of stress and the Shaper Shard were close to overwhelming her, but she was able to hold them off so long as temptation wasn't at hand. You were simply the straw that broke the camel's back and you were at Ground Zero. No one is to blame…well, I personally blame your mother for not loving her as much as she could have, Lady Photon for and the rest of New Wave for not noticing something was amiss and a bit on you for believing that she was immune to your aura.

As to why I chose you…well, I decided that seeing things from another perspective was what you needed.

Stunned into silence, Glory Girl walked over to sulk on a chair. Brandish, Laserdream and even Panacea were also stunned. Tattletale, however, simply shrugged and sat at the seat SeerKing had indicated she take.

"So now what?" the Thinker asked.

There's a switch on the console. Simply press it and the console'll turn on. Then just sit back and play the game. It's linear, just so you know, so there isn't any option for you to do anything that Taylor herself didn't do, but the mechanics have been altered to allow for something different than a Visual Novel experience.

"A what?"

Sorry, a genre from a different Earth. One where there were no Endbringers or Parahuman powers. Or any way for Zion to go there, at all.

Shrugging, Lisa pressed the only button on the console, making lines on it light up and shine in the shape of an insect.

On the screen above them, a familiar mask appeared; that of Skitter, of Khepri. The camera panned out to show that she was lying on her back, on dusty ground. One of her arms was gone and her costume was covered in blood, dirt and gore. Then she woke up.

"Haah…haaah…" the figure of Khepri panted, the noises coming from the speakers showing that her throat was rough, and dry. Slowly, painfully, the Enslaver of Earth Bet staggered to her knees, and then froze at the sound of a gun being cocked. Looking up, she saw a figure in a white dress shirt and suit pants sitting on a rock, one leg crossed over the other. Held in one hand was a weapon…a revolver. A fedora sat on her head at a jaunty angle. Her mouth was moving, saying something.

"Who the…?" Foil frowned.

"Contessa!" Tattletale snarled. Then words appeared on the screen.

{Press the central pad to allow Khepri to decipher what is being said to her.}

Frowning, Lisa picked up the controller and eyed it. It had four buttons on either side of it, and one large button in the center, which was the one she was being told to press, so she did so.

The noises that the woman behind her was saying became understandable somehow.

"You knew it would come to this." Contessa said. "You don't remember me, but if you don't look too hard, you'll be able to tap into vague recollections of who and what I am. You should know I have you in checkmate. There are no loopholes, no tricks, no ways out."

"Bitch."

Images appeared on the screen, vague flashes of facing this woman before and failing. Nothing concrete, but a vague idea given that Khepri, here and now, was outclassed.

"Water? If you speak, I'll understand."

{Press 'X' to reply.}

Automatically, Tattletale pressed the button.

"Yes." Khepri rasped out, her voice not actually saying the words. Instead an almost unintelligible cacophony of sounds emerged.

"I…did that to her…!" Panacea sounded horrified.

With a negligent toss, Contessa threw a thermos of water to the ground in front of Khepri.

{Press the Square button to let Khepri drink.}

Grabbing the flask, Khepri pushed her mask up to drink greedily at Lisa's button press.

"What you are, you know you can't be allowed to carry on. You don't quite remember, but you've dealt with some who were like you. The Echidna, the Faerie Queen. You saw the Ash Beast."

Flashes of each person the woman spoke of flashed across the screen.

"Hearing the two… first two names makes me feel… shadows of feelings." The masked figure said haltingly, as if was a struggle to speak, at Lisa's prompting.

"I imagine so," she said. "We walked very similar roads. We've done ugly things for a greater good."

"Do not even fucking go there, you bitch." Tattletale growled.

After a couple of false starts, Khepri spoke again. "You still do ug-ly things. I saw you with T-teacher. You work with him now. As before, still do now."

"Well that explains a lot." Dragon muttered.

"I'm not so sure." Contessa said. "There's less of a mission, now. I have no cause anymore, and I hope that means I don't lose sight of the little things."

She added, after a moment, "I'm thinking I'll try to do some things without any help, in the future."

Khepri just looked down at her knees and breathed.

"I keep on asking myself the same questions over and over again," the Cauldron Thinker said. "Maybe you can answer. Was it worth it? Would you do it all over again? Knowing what you know now? Knowing that you end up here, at gunpoint?"

The crowd of Earth-Bet Parahumans leaned forwards in anticipation as Lisa pressed the correct button to let them hear her friend's reply.

"I… know I'm supposed to say yes," Khepri forced out. "But no. Some-somewhere along way, it became no."

"Just about everyone comes to this crossroad," Contessa said. "Some get seventy years, some only get fifteen. Enough time to grow, to take stock of who you are. Enough time to do things you'll regret when you run out of time."

"Don't- don't regret it. Was- had to. Saved lives. But I would do different, given a chance."

"Oh, Taylor." Lisa almost cried at that. It was so, so, so, so much like her. Always trying to be a goddamned hero.

"Is she for freaking real?!" Glory Girl shook her head in disbelief.

"That's Taylor for ya." Imp shook her head.

Onscreen, Contessa actually smiled and nodded. "It's always about the people, isn't it?"

Khepri choked out an accusation at her conversation partner. "Protect some, pay less attention to others."

The smile became sadder. "Can't bet on the wrong horse."

"Giving too much power to wrong people." Khepri forcefully corrected her. "To bullies. With powers, bullies without."

The Thinker actually looked surprised at Khepri's words. "I don't see that applying to Scion."

"Doesn't." Khepri answered.

"He doesn't factor? He isn't a consideration, at the end?"

"Fighting him… always more about us than about him. Not a consideration." the Slayer of the Golden Man informed her.

"And the person who played the biggest role in stopping him doesn't give him a second thought." Contessa said, her expression complicated and a note of emotion in her voice. Her hand holding the revolver was white-knuckled with how tightly she was holding it.

The conversation continued, with the Cauldron Cape informing her about the Fairy Queen and the role that Khepri played in her getting amnesty…and inspiring Glaistig Uaine to do something 'honest'.

Then the last question came.

"Were you honest enough to inspire that? It's… probably the most important question I'm going to ask you tonight." Contessa said. "I think you have the capacity to answer. You're more lucid than you were."

"Talking…talking helps." Khepri admitted.

"That's part of why I'm asking, Taylor Hebert. Weaver, Skitter, Khepri, I'm thinking you're not totally gone. Glaistig Uaine told you to hold on to an anchor. The other ones, the little ones? They might have gotten you through the events, given you the strength from moment to moment. But you had something bigger. Something more fundamental, which was there before the battle even began. Were you really a monster in the end? A warlord, an alien administrator? A vicious killer with a cruel streak, mutilating your enemies and secretly enjoying it? A bully, if you forgive me for using that word?"

"She was not a bully, you fedora-wearing bitch tornado!" Tattletale growled. "She had a low tier power and made it capable of taking down those many times stronger than herself, and that makes her a bully?! Fuck. You!"

"She was ruthless. Look at what she did to Clockblocker during the Brockton Bay Central Bank Heist. Look at what she did to Triumph." Glory Girl pointed out.

"When someone possesses weak powers, the only choices you have are either to not to step onto the battlefield at all, or to use your power ruthlessly and without hesitation." Parian spoke up sadly. "I chose the former…and Taylor the latter. She didn't have the luxury of being all but invulnerable or firing beams or what have you; she had control of insects, arthropods. Without using what she had to the best of her capabilities, she wouldn't even be able to be a second-stringer on the Wards. As it is…well, look at what she accomplished. She was more heroic as a villain than most heroes in the Protectorate were. Especially the Cauldron capes."

"Or were you really a hero? Do the good intentions win out? Was it Glaistig Uaine's strength or yours, that held her back from saving Scion in those final moments?"

"Why…does it matter?" Khepri asked. The soft sound of footfalls could be heard as Contessa made her way around her.

"Because I think you have a chance to come back from this. Not much of a chance. Part of that rides on me. I could help you, or I could stop you from troubling anyone ever again. Part of that? It's up to you to win the fight, to take control and keep the administrator from claiming everything you have, leaving you a shell."

I can't reply. I don't deserve to, anyway.

The voice was Taylor's, soft, sad and resigned. Tattletale's voice caught in her throat as she realised exactly where this was going.

"It's OK. I got the answer, myself." Contessa said softly. The camera panned away from Khepri's view and to the kneeling figure of Khepri, as she looked up into the sky, at the stars that had appeared while the two women had conversed.

So many stars. The universe so vast.

We're s-so very small, in the end.

Then the camera moved out again until both Khepri and Contessa were visible…with the Wielder of the Path to Victory levelling her revolver at the back of Khepri's head.

The screen went black as first one, and then another, shot was fired.

"Fucking Contessa!" Tattletale growled as tears fell from her eyes.

"That…that was ruthless…" Panacea shook her head in dismay. She hadn't liked Taylor Hebert much, for her actions as both Skitter and Khepri, but to die like that was…

On the screen the darkness became a tide of insects that moved away, revealing a banner with five words on it.

Worm

The Rise of Skitter

(Please Press X to Continue)

Lisa put the controller down as a prompt asked her to press 'X' again to continue.

"So…that's how Khepri…no, Taylor Hebert died." Dragon sighed. "Poor girl. Presuming that this is in any way accurate, Contessa killed her in order to prevent her from becoming an S-Class Parahuman like Echidna or Ash Beast. Or even like a worse version of The Sleeper."

"She…did what she had to do, didn't she?" Vista asked with a pained look on her face. "If she hadn't controlled us, we would never have won against Scion. All Earths would have been destroyed."

"We don't know that." Stalker grumbled.

"With the inability to trust or cooperate with each other, each world's Parahumans would have had less than a percent's chance of defeating Scion." Defiant said in the silence following that, as people glared at Stalker. "With all of us, willing or not, under Skitter's control, she was able to use us to defeat Scion. She did, as SeerKing informed us, do what no one else could have done. All models Dragon and I have run agree with the facts."

I am sorry that you had to see that. It was unfortunately put in to stir up a sense of drama or some such nonsense.

"So, you didn't make this?" Tattletale looked up and frowned.

Not in the slightest. I am merely the Agent allowing you to see it. You should continue. It will only get harder before it becomes easier.

"Fine." The Thinker picked up the controller and pressed 'X' with her thumb.

So…surprise? Yeah, two updates in one day is a bit odd for me. Still, this is something that I've wanted to write for a while: a Game fic that basically follows the events of Worm and the various characters' reactions to it. This had a lot of text from Speck 30.7, but this'll be the only chapter that does that to a large degree. Depending on the reactions to this chapter, I may post another one at some point.