Worm: The Rise of Skitter Chapter 3 (original chapter Chapter 112)
Before Tattletale could continue with the game, SeerKing spoke up again.
Before you carry on, I must inform you that from this point on, you will be presented with choices in the game as to what Taylor would do in certain situations.
"Choices?" Glory Girl blinked. "I thought that this game was telling Skitter's actual life after she Triggered?"
It can and will…so long as Tattletale selects the correct decision. Keep in mind that this is a game; while games that follow only a single storyline can and do exist, this particular one is loaded with different reactions to the different choices that Taylor can and did make. The reason why I made Tattletale take the controller is because she was Taylor's closest friend as an Undersider, as well as a powerful Thinker in close proximity to her for quite some time. If anyone among you can successfully guess Taylor's choices in this game, it is her.
The Thinker actually blushed slightly before getting herself under control.
"So, you saying that means that Tats is gonna face one soon?" Imp asked, having finally calmed Bitch down.
Precisely.
"What kind of choices?" Foil asked.
It varies. Some are minor, while others are life and death, for her and for others, while others can alter the course of the Golden Morning to a greater or lesser degree. I'll be giving Tattletale the system after the original timeline is played out, so you'll be able to go through it with her then, if you wish.
"Let's continue on, shall we?" Tattletale suggested. "I think the game's getting impatient."
Indeed, the text onscreen was flashing black and white in an impatient tempo. Once everyone settled down (the occasional dirty look at Shadow Stalker aside), Tattletale pressed 'X' to continue.
The scene transitioned to an abandoned warehouse. The place was full of broken and disused equipment, boxes and the like. Taylor's voice spoke up again, pain in it.
After a week in hospital, during most of which I was almost catatonic, I was let out. The school paid for my medical treatment, but we weren't able to sue them or The Trio because no witnesses came forward…big surprise there. People didn't like Sophia; they were scared of her.
I thought about what to do with my power. The Protectorate Wards was something I considered…
{Vital Choice!}
[Choose the Path that Taylor Walks Down!]
1) …but decided against it. [_] –
2) …and decided to try it. [_]
3) …decided to build my reputation as an Independent Hero first. [_]
"Fucking conspiracy of silence." Tattletale muttered as the first paragraph was spoken. Then, when the choices appeared on the screen, she just stared. "…the hell?!"
"She…actually considered joining the Wards at first…?" Vista said slowly, as if hearing them would make more sense to her. "OK, wow."
"She obviously chose not to even attempt it." Brandish mused. "I can guess why, although hearing her reasoning would be preferable."
"Agreed." Dragon nodded.
Shrugging, Lisa went to the one that she knew Taylor had gone for almost instantly.
1) …but decided against it. [X] –
2) …and decided to try it. [_]
3) …decided to build my reputation as an Independent Hero first. [_]
…but decided against it. I just felt that the notion of escaping the stresses of highschool by flinging myself into a mess of teenage drama, adult oversight and schedules was self-defeating. I had enough teen drama at Winslow as it was; I did not need any more of it.
Plus, my ability to trust authority figures and organized institutions had been basically destroyed over the period before my powers had been awakened. I wasn't going to give up what little independence and control I had left for anything.
"As I suspected." Brandish sighed. "A typical Master in personality; the craving for some measure of control and independence. Not entirely without reason though. Very good reasons in her case."
"Indeed." Dragon agreed. "Given what she went through, I'm surprised she trusted anyone at all."
"Taylor was stronger than a lot of people gave her credit for being." Tattletale remarked airily, throwing a pointed look at Shadow Stalker, who scowled.
"And what the fuck part of Hebert was strong before she fucking Triggered?"
Her mental strength, Hess.
"Haah?" the crossbow-user sneered. "How the fuck is mental strength that isn't telekinesis strong?"
"I'll field this one." Dragon said before SeerKing could. "She was mentally strong, Hess, in that no matter what, she kept moving forward, despite going through some things that should have broken her, repeatedly."
Quite correct, Dragon. You, Sophia Hess, continually mistake physical force and action for the sole indication of strength. That isn't entirely wrong, but it isn't the only kind of strength. Indeed, nor is it often the best kind of strength. When given the choice between basic physical fighting ability and the strength to keep getting up, no matter how many times you are knocked down, I would personally choose the latter, nine times out of ten.
"How is constantly taking abuse without fighting back any kind of strength?!" the black girl jeered. "You can't change anything that way!"
She didn't need to change anything, in regards to you at least…all Taylor had to do was endure you and your minions' abuse until you all graduated. Then she could retake her courses, get a job and move on with her life, leaving your infantile actions behind in the past where they belonged. Rather than fight you, Hess, Taylor would have simply dropped out of school and studied to take her GED at home.
In other words, you were like a storm that she had to endure. Irritating in the present, but one that would eventually pass her by if she had enough patience.
Shadow Stalker growled angrily at the idea of being seen as something someone like Hebert could just brush off like a fly or something!
Tattletale just rolled her eyes at the obvious thoughts from the Breaker that she didn't need her power to read. Stalker was as easy to read as a child's book to someone used to reading people like she was.
Onscreen, Taylor walked into the warehouse and started walking into the middle of the warehouse, where a space had been cleared.
I started training to become a hero; exercising, researching, testing and honing my powers, not to mention throwing a costume together. My power was very wide-ranged…
{Tutorial 2: Swarm Sense}
Hold the lower right trigger (R2) to activate Taylor's {Swarm Sense} Mode!
Tattletale did so.
Immediately, the screen went grey, radiating out from Taylor. The camera panned out, leaving the warehouse until the grey area covered what looked like…
"Two blocks…" Defiant breathed. "Even before she practiced, she had that kind of range…!"
Once the 'Swarm Sense' field was up, hundreds of blue pinpricks of light appeared within the radius of it, followed by a rising number of in the top right-hand corner of the screen that eventually stopped at 3487.
"Gross…! I can't believe that there were so many bugs near her." Glory Girl shuddered.
{Swarm Sense (1)}
Taylor's Swarm Sense is literally her ability to feel any and all arthropods within her range, which will increase with practice. The number in the top right hand corner indicates the total number of creatures under her control. Press the triangle button in order to see a detailed rundown of exactly what she has at her command!
"Do we have to?" Parian muttered. She had no problem with bugs in the abstract, but Skitter's swarm sometimes gave her chills down her spine when she thought about it.
Arthropods Within Swarm Sense:
Black Widows: 172
Cockroaches: 1567
Flies: 309
Brown Recluses: 159
Moths: 57
Butterflies: 35
Mosquitos: 460
House spiders: 457
Assorted Beetles: 271
"…cockroaches need to die." Foil said after recoiling and blanching at seeing the number of bugs that there were near Taylor.
All the other girls (excluding Bitch) nodded in agreement.
My range varied between two and two and a half blocks if I really stressed it. As to how many insects and the like I could control though…I don't think I actually had any limits. The more insects I had under my command, the more I could think and plan, meaning the more insects I could command…it was a loop.
I also got a general sense of what any given insect could do; their species-unique traits, their physical abilities…quite a bit, actually. Best of all, I remembered all of it…although, come to think of it, I was always connected to at least some part of a swarm, so maybe that's why?
Onscreen, Lisa was directed through another seven stages of the Tutorial, involving commanding Taylor's swarm, in both absurdly small detail and with a massed swarm, as well as both together, as well as experimenting with which type of spider web to use to make her costume. The final part of the tutorial was using her insects to fully build her costume out of spider silk.
"SeerKing, are the capabilities displayed here accurate?" Dragon asked abruptly as onscreen, Taylor looked the completed costume, the initial iteration of the outfit of Skitter the Villain.
To within a more than accurate degree that would have a supercomputer whirring in envy.
"Then Skitter could in fact force spiders to spin web until they couldn't anymore?" Defiant asked.
"Yes." Tattletale answered with a shrug.
"That's a very small degree of bio-manipulation, I think." Foil said, catching on to where the two were going.
"It isn't." The blond Thinker refuted with a shake of her head. "Taylor had absolute command over any and all insects within her swarm, including things they couldn't instinctively control themselves. She could make them walk into fire despite their normal survival instincts normally dictating they flee from the heat, for example. All she did in the case of the spiders was removing the limiter that prevented their spinnerets running dry for good. No bio-manipulation necessary."
"She's right." Panacea said shortly. Being the resident bio-manipulator, her word carried quite a bit of weight. "Even if it was bio-manipulation, it wouldn't rate a single point on the PRT Threat Rating Scale."
That shut everyone up and they returned to watching the screen, which showed a still picture of Taylor walking through Winslow's corridors, in the middle of Sophia tripping her up with a sneer on her face.
Despite what had happened to me, it was back to business as usual at Winslow. Same old shit, just on different days. A part of me wanted, so badly, to use my powers on them, to get the smallest bit of revenge…
{Vital Choice!}
[Choose the Path that Taylor Walks Down!]
1) …and did small stuff a couple of times. [_] –
2) …and used everything I had against them. [_]
3) …but refused to do anything. [_]
"She did the first one, right?" Glory Girl asked knowingly. "I would've done that."
"Victoria!" Brandish scolded her.
"Mom, she was being practically tortured!"
"She didn't." Tattletale shook her head sadly before moving the cursor down and selecting the correct response.
1) …and did small stuff a couple of times. [_]
2) …and used everything I had against them. [_]
3) …but refused to do anything. [X] –
Quite a few people blinked in a mix between shock and disbelief.
"She…didn't attack them?" Parian asked in surprise. "Like, at all?"
"Nope." Tattletale said with a sigh. "You'll see."
…but refused to do anything, subtle or overt. Subtle things, like sneaking bugs into their food or giving them lice, or overt things, like having them being ambushed by a swarm, would be easy to trace back to the girl who had practically been swarmed with bugs very recently. Not to mention the fact that if I, let's say, gave them crabs, they'd take their anger and irritation out on me.
Not to mention the fact I was very angry with all of them. If I started…I didn't trust myself to stop.
There was silence from the room, before Brandish shook her head slowly.
"I don't know if I can call that admirable, stubborn or mature." She said slowly "As Victoria showed, any normal teenager wouldn't hesitate to get revenge if offered the opportunity, even if it was something petty. Skitter…Taylor…rose above it, for reasons both moral and practical."
"Call it a mix of all three." Dragon said as she looked pityingly at the downtrodden image of Taylor Hebert onscreen. "She was far more merciful than anyone could have imagined. With even her initial control over insects, she could have slaughtered the student and teacher population of Winslow within a few minutes if she had time to set up Black Widows and Brown Recluses to drop on everyone at the same time."
"Not to mention using other bugs as distractions and herding swarms. Such as flying insects like flies, wasps and hornets." Defiant added.
Back on the screen, a short video of Taylor eating her lunch in a girl's bathroom stall was interrupted by The Trio forcing the door closed and then pouring various cups of juice onto her, making her sopping wet, ruining her lunch and coming very close to crying.
"That is just….why go so fucking far on one person?!" Parian shook her head in disgust.
"Because Stalker's scum." Foil grasped her girlfriend's hand tightly.
Squeezing back, the former-Rogue shook her head. "I mean, why only Taylor? Surely she wasn't the only person those bitches were bullying. Did they go this far with all of them? If not, why focus on Taylor so much?"
Emma Barnes was likely a driving force in that regard. Something happened to her that was Trigger-worthy but she didn't Trigger; instead, she suffered a mental breakdown and latched onto Sophia, the one who stepped in to save her, as a coping mechanism. Anyone who was familiar with Master/Stranger Protocols would have called it as soon as Taylor described the differences between Emma the last time Taylor saw her and Emma when Taylor came back from Summer Camp. Adopting Sophia's Predator/Prey attitude, Emma likely wanted to bully Taylor as a way to prove her strength.
"…that is so fucked up that it makes sense." Tattletale shook her head. She'd never actually met Emma Barnes, but what SeerKing said did stand to reason, given what she did know about Taylor's former best friend.
Three months passed and my ability to endure the Trio's attacks grew thinner and thinner before one day, April the 10th, juice was poured over me in the bathroom while I ate lunch. Then my bag was stolen and stuffed into a trash can. It also had my journal of heroics in it, so this was a wakeup call for me. I bought a new one for twelve bucks and rewrote my notes in code to prevent people from reading them.
It also made me lose what patience that I had. I decided to go out that night and start my career as a hero.
The screen went black, before more bugs swept over it leaving a banner saying 'Chapter End' in the middle before another wave swept over the, replacing them with a larger banner.
Episode 2: Bug Girl vs. Rage Dragon
"Wait…" Glory Girl said slowly. "She fought LUNG?!"
"Yup." Tattletale drawled smugly. "It'll also introduce…oh, at least three other people currently here, I'd say."
She threw a significant look at Defiant, who tensed up at this.
An image of Taylor in her bedroom, putting her costume on, appeared onscreen. The black-and-grey spider silk costume, with armoured panels went on, followed by Taylor picking up her mask and looking it in the eyes for a moment before she turned it in her hands and slid it onto her head. The camera then switched to looking her straight in the face as she raised her head.
"That's intense." Imp laughed. "Damn, Tay's pretty serious."
"It was her first night out." Tattletale pointed out. "You took to the Cape lifestyle with flair, Imp, so it may not occur to you that to other people, masking up for the first time is a big deal."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's get on and see Mr. Rage Dragon get his rear kicked." Imp replied with a shrug.
Transitioning to the next scene, Taylor in her costume stood at the end of her street. In the top left hand corner was what looked like a standard mini-map with the four directions indicated on it, as well as an objective marker pointing in one direction. There was also an objectives banner in the top right.
{Objective: Head towards the Docks area and gather a large swarm of insects as you go.}
"I still have a hard time believing that Skitter beat Lung of all people." Vista shook her head.
"She killed Alexandria. Lung isn't too much of a stretch by comparison." Tattletale pointed out. "Besides…she didn't finish him alone."
Onscreen, the not-yet-Skitter started running down back alleys, gather bugs as she went, the fliers picking up the slower ones and following. A counter beneath the mini-map steadily went up as she moved across Brockton Bay.
"Did she really think she'd need such a large swarm?" Panacea frowned.
"Her entire shtick was 'massed waves of expendable troops' Panacea." Tattletale replied dryly. "She was gathering more than enough for when her swarm got damaged. Good thing too."
As Taylor entered the Docks area of Brockton Bay, gang tags became more prevalent, as did the dilapidated and abandoned look of the buildings. Broken glass in the windows, an air of neglect and abandonment over what had once been a prosperous and bustling area of the city. Now a bleak and moldering remnant of a past long gone.
"How is she not running into gangbangers right now?" Glory Girl asked with a frown. "The Docks were usually covered with them at that time of night."
"The area Taylor's in at the moment is purely ABB and they were, mostly, securing their assets after the Ruby Dreams Casino was knocked over." Tattletale said casually. "That and Taylor had the best worst luck (or is that worst good luck?) in history when it comes to things like this; avoid a heap of low-level scrubs, get a Rage Dragon to the face."
Bitch snorted at that, with Imp snickering along. Even Parian and Foil let out a giggle at Tattletale's words.
"Also, she was looking for people breaking the law." The Thinker added in as an afterthought. "She told me that she saw probable-hookers, gang members and druggies on her way through the Docks, but none that were actually breaking the law when she saw them."
It was as Taylor drew close to a corner that a blue dome of energy appeared, with the picture of a familiar metallic dragon above the letters 'ABB'. Tattletale steered Taylor into it and then pressed 'X' when prompted to
{Boss Area!}
You have entered a boss area!
Once in a boss area, you cannot leave until all enemy combatants are defeated.
{Corner Cover}
When standing next to a corner, press 'X' to flatten Taylor to the wall and look around it. Press the circle button to disengage from the wall.
After Taylor flattened herself to the wall, she peered around the corner to see a group of Asian men wearing the green and red colours of the ABB gathering around a shop, about half a block away, with a large man stepping out of it. Six feet high, bare-chested and displaying a lot of dragon-oriented tattoos, he wore a metal dragon-mask over his face.
Lung. At the time, I had based all of my research on what was available on Parahumans Online, or PHO as everyone called it. All I knew about him from that was that he had entered the Bay, kicked the living shit out of the Protectorate and then formed the ABB. The powers that I knew about were his ability to transform, his ability to get stronger the longer a fight went on and his pyrokinesis. Other than that, I was just glad that I saw no sign of his flunky, Oni Lee.
"She's treating Lung like an ordinary Cape villain." Brandish shook her head in disbelief.
"Given what happens next, she would have fought him even if she's known every detail of what he could do." Tattletale said with a superior look on her face.
Onscreen, Taylor detached herself from the wall and ghosted up the fire escape into the roof of a nearby building, very carefully moving around the gravel-lined rooftop via the lip at the edge of the roof, until she could listen in on the speech that Lung was apparently giving to his subordinates.
"…the children, just shoot. Doesn't matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?" Lung said just as one gang member lit a cigarette, the light from his lighter's flame reflecting off of guns carried by the dozen or so ABB members standing and listening to their boss' speech.
'They want to kill kids?!' Taylor thought. 'What should I do…?'
{Story Choice!}
A Story Choice is even more important than a Vital Choice, influencing Brockton Bay as a whole rather than just Taylor and her civilian life. Choose carefully!
Select the path that Taylor should take.
1) I need to get out of here! [_] –
2) I don't have a phone, so I should go and try to find a phone to call the PRT and the Protectorate. [_]
3) There's no choice…I have to attack! [_]
"And here's where her being stubborn about using cell phones is coming back to bite her." Glory Girl groaned.
"The chances of her running into Lung, of all people, on her first night should have been pretty low." Dragon noted. "I can see why she intervened though…I can't believe Lung actually wanted to kill children."
"Guy who fought Leviathan or not, that would have gotten him a Kill Order, no mistakes." Vista agreed.
Shadow Stalker scoffed. "At least Hebert had the balls to try and fight."
Everyone ignored her.
"So she decided to fight…because Lung would have gone off and killed kids -kids that she didn't know- if she didn't do something." Foil said in mixed disbelief and respect. Her opinion of Taylor, of Skitter, had been mostly that of her as a Warlord and a villain. This…this was more like something a hero from a comic book would have done.
Thanks to Shadow Stalker and the other members of the Trio, Taylor had very little regard for her own life at that point. A lot of the drive to be a hero that she had was to prove to herself and to others that she wasn't worthless or useless. Ironic really, considering that even at her most villainous, she was more heroic than a lot of Protectorate heroes.
More glares were sent at Stalker, to the point where she shifted uncomfortably. "Fuck you all!"
"Make the choice, Tattletale." Parian said as she sat straighter in her seat.
1) I need to get out of here! [_]
2) I don't have a phone, so I should go and try to find a phone to call the PRT and the Protectorate. [_]
3) There's no choice…I have to attack! [X] –
"Let's go…Taylor." Tattletale whispered.
OK, so here's chapter 3 of this ficlet. Some people have complained that this type of fic is overdone in Worm. If it is, it's news to me. If anyone DOES know of a fic that shows the story of Worm, to the characters of Worm, by all means, tell me in the reviews.
The next chapter will be the last I will write of this ficlet sequence, because I have other ideas trying to break into my head and I need to get them down to get rid of them. Also, this is taking a while because, if anybody's ever played a JRPG before, you will know that the introduction and tutorial sections are generally speaking longer than other games.