I hope I meshed this together well enough, Nemesis from a year ago needed to drink a lot less and pay more attention to grammar because holy hell I'm giving myself a headache with my own writing. Anyway, enjoy!

Taylor briefly reflected on the fact that sometimes one finds that they have to ask a simple question to quantify their life's goals and aspirations, all while acknowledging where said thoughts on said aspirations would go. 'Why am I here,' 'why am marrying this person I do not love,' 'Why am I holding up my families legacy when I care nothing for it?'.

You know, those sort of soul crushing questions that you really don't want an answer to but feel a burning need to ask them regardless of the fact you knew better than to do so.

Up till today she had never suffered under any of that, but, but that was before she was doing her damnedest to not get burned into cinders and eaten alive by a fuck mothering dragon whilst yelling to herself in a rather justified panic.

"WHY THE HELL DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA!?"

A rather pertinent question really, one she should have asked herself before she had thrown a overfilled solid steel dumpster at the apparently immortal dragon man now glaring at her in incandescent rage.

Her thoughts were racing now as she tried to not have a panic attack, they mostly entailed thus:

I really wish I could blame myself for this but the talking heads on the news never once said, 'Hey watch out for that Lung guy, the Dragon of Kyushu only gets more dragony when you piss him off.' I mean really, 'Grows in strength as a fight escalates,' doesn't really convey the severity of the situation here people! 'Becomes a literal fucking DRAGON,' that would have been something good to know before now. Seriously thought all those pics were photoshopped and his PR guys just built it up from there...

Snapping out of her adrenaline fueled mental ramblings Taylor tapped her head against the overpass column she was hiding behind, and in a brief moment of Revan encouraged insanity couldn't help sassing a bit as she leaned out and yelled at the partially transformed parahuman, "A stupid lizard says 'what' as an SUV hits it in the back of the head from behind!?"

The seething in rage demi-god marching towards her position paused and muttered out, "What?" just as a Kia slammed into him from behind and exploded in a shower of sparks, cinders, and smoke.

"About right," Taylor muttered under her breath as she side stepped a bit of smoldering debris landing beside her.

This entire fight had left her on the back foot from the beginning, she had hoped to more or less head shot Lung at the start with her dumpster cheap shot, it hadn't worked. Apparently he really was the memetic OP badass that the message boards gushed over and then some, proving without a doubt that it was not PR work that proved his legend, and she had now pissed him off to epic proportions.

On that note while getting hit on the back of the head with a dumpster had annoyed him, apparently getting hit in the back of the head with a car infuriated him, as Lung demonstrated by showing off his pyrokinesis on the surrounding area giving Taylor a flash sunburn in the process.

Awesome.

She then ran kicking off the support column, all while muttering the sacred mantra of "FUCK! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fu-"

"I WILL FUCKING MURDER YOU! I WILL CONSUME YOUR FLESH! BURN YOUR BONES! FAMILY A THOUSAND GENERATIONS SEPARATED WILL FEEL YOUR AGONY FOR ETERNITY!"

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

Then she came to a dead stop as she realized a rusted out train engine was in her way, she turned around at the currently seven meter long dragon that was now beginning to sprout wings from its back jumped into the intersection she had just come from, flames spraying from its jagged maw as it took a halting step forward. The asphalt melted beneath his burning feet, the long inert tar catching fire as he plodded forward, the world around becoming an inferno as he glared at her with murderous intent.

Taylor froze in terror, glanced over her shoulder and noticed the potential of the train behind her, took another look at Lung, and then she grinned.

The super villain known as Tattletale would readily admit nothing tonight had gone as it should have, Bitch was being...well a bitch, Grue had nearly had a panic attack when he found out Lung was personally hunting them down for their heist on one of his casinos and Regent was acting like his typical sociopathic self.

All that being said, they had been hunted down and cornered, then someone had attacked the hunting party.

Even with her power she couldn't really keep track of what was going on, it was too chaotic, moving far too quickly, and despite how invested they all were in the whole not dying to the ABB thing, info was spotty at best.

Of course her call to Coil was of no help, the rat bastard had simply told her to play it by ear and not die. That mother fucker, she couldn't even say she was surprised, par for the course really.

So when she turned the corner and saw a stick thin figure raising one arm and dropping it as a mangled train engine slammed into a crippled, groaning dragon while their other hand was shooting out bolts of violet lightning, well...Tattletale would readily admit a bit of surprise.

Rachel stopped her dogs and Lisa quickly slid off of Angelica while taking in a calming breath as she slowly walked up next to the figure. Lisa eyed them a few moments observing the fact that it was a she, and she was crying, all while muttering, "Just stay down," over and over again as lightning strike after lighting strike slammed into Lung's body.

All while still pummeling him with the mangled train, of course.

Extending a hand Tattletale gripped the girls shoulder, breaking her focus as the train fell to the ground and the lightning faded away, Tattletale then smiled gently as she muttered, "I think he's had enough."

The girl was wild eyed, but responsive enough to reply with, "I should run...right? Running from dragons... That's a good idea...right?"

It was a freaking marvelous idea actually; Tattletale took her hand and pulled her along, "Couldn't agree more, now come on you can explain it all to me back home."

The girl, obviously in shock just nodded in return, "Ok..."

Ignored by almost all Lung groaned underneath the weight of the train engine that was very nearly wrapped around him as sirens grew louder in the distance, Tattletale quickly guided the mystery girl along with her while Regent turned towards the near comatose dragon for a moment.

He stared at the most over powered, violent, territorial, out and out murderous villain in the entire bay with a level of intensity that would unsettle most, and then poked him with his scepter setting off the taser within.

The dragon snarled at the shock, and Regent snickered to himself as he turned away, "Well, that's off the bucket list." Twirling his scepter and letting it fly up into the air he caught it nimbly as he chased after his teammates.

Getting the girl with the ability to lift a train with nothing more than a thought, then decided to use said train to beat a perpetually escalating nigh immortal dragon into the ground while electrocuting him, away from the scene of the crime was easier than Tattletale thought it would be. As it turned out shock turned regularly rational people into something far more pliable, and rather than focusing on self-interest for once Tattletale used that sense of shock to get the mystery girl the hell out of Dodge.

"Why wouldn't he just stay down, I don't understand...I can't even..." the girl muttered to herself.

"Shshshsh just follow me and we'll get you home safely."

It was at that point Regent caught up with them and he seemed far too smug for his own good, Grue seemed to sense this as well and a moment later he spoke up in an exasperated tone.

"What did you do this time?"

Regent just shrugged, twirled his scepter, and while his face was covered by his mask it was obvious he was grinning, "I poked the dragon."

It was Bitch of all people who let out a sigh quickly followed with, "Ok fine, fuck it, whatever you tempted fate and managed to walk away, get on the dogs and let's get the fuck out of here before someone from the Protectorate or the Wards shows up."

"They're already on the way, so good plan," Tattletale muttered as she helped the still near catatonic girl up on Brutus' back. Said mystery girl gave the mutated dog a once over glance then just shrugged as she settled herself in for the ride.

"Great," Regent drawled out, "As if Lung hadn't been enough for one night."

New girl sat up straight and glanced about in panic as she screeched out, "That fucking dragon is still after me!?"

Shooting Regent a glare that he pointedly ignored Tattletale ran a hand down the girl's thigh while calmly muttering, "No no dear, we're running away now, like you suggested before."

The girl nodded jerkily at that while muttering to herself, "Running away from immortal dragons is good... No more immortal dragons... far too many..."

"Shit," Regent muttered to Grue, "I think she's seriously triggered man."

Grue turned and met his teammate's gaze evenly as he drawled out, "Dude, she just fought Lung and managed to walk away without a scratch."

They stared at each other for a few moments before Regent shrugged and glanced away, "Yeah ok...by the by I may have fulfilled a life goal and hit said dragon in the balls with my taser before I caught up with you guys, just saying."

Grue froze a moment before yelling out, "Wait, WHAT?! GODDAMNIT ALEC!"

Regent had an obvious air of smugness about him as he shrugged while drawling out, "No regrets."

Tattletale shook her head slowly as she let out an exasperated sigh, "Bitch, get us the hell out of here, please."

With that, Bitch whistled and her trio of mutated hounds of hell took off carrying their passengers away from the closely approaching long arm of the law.

It took damn near an hour but they managed to slip past the Protectorate cordon, and soon found themselves back at their base of operations. The new girl was unfortunately still muttering to herself as Lisa led her inside the warehouse and up the stairs to the loft that housed their home, clearly still coming to terms with her near brush with fiery dragon induced death.

Leading New Girl to sit on the couch Tattletale placed a pillow in her lap that the girl immediately latched onto while muttering something about assassin droids, orbital defense platform based turbolasers and glassing protocols...whatever those were. Shaking her head Tattletale headed towards the communal kitchenette and was soon making up a mug of hot chocolate for their guest when both Brian and Alec stepped up behind her.

"Lisa..."

She let out a very tired sigh before she turned around to meet Grue and Regent's unimpressed visages.

"Yes?"

"Explain," Brian stated flatly.

"Explain what?" She shot back tersely as she went back to preparing the hot chocolate.

"You're being oddly accommodating to the smiter of dragons," Alec stated lightly, "In fact you're acting incredibly out of character to the point where I'm wondering if some son of a bitch with a power like mine has gotten their hands on you..."

Tattletale froze at that as Grue walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Lisa...talk to me..."

It took her a few moments to reply, moments she used to finish preparing the hot chocolate, then she turned and met her teammate's gaze evenly, "I can't read her Brian."

Alec blinked rapidly at that as Brian cocked his head to the side, "What?"

Lisa couldn't help it, she smiled brightly as she replied, "She's the first person I've met since I Triggered, that I know absolutely nothing about and no matter how hard I try I get nothing from her. She is a complete and utter cipher to me."

With that she walked past her teammates leaving the pair in silence. Eventually Alec snorted, snatched his scepter up from the corner he had tossed it in, and walked away while stating, "3k says they hook up within the month. Side bets on when they bang of course."

Brian didn't reply immediately, but before his teammate walked out of the room he shot out, "Your mind is something I want no part of, is sex the only thing you think about? That aside, I give it two months, 5k."

"Yes, and bets on," Alec stated as he slammed the door behind him as Brian shook his head ruefully.

Cocking her head to the side Bitch stared at the new girl as she hugged her Tattletale supplied pillow close to her chest while perched upon her own personal favorite couch as the girl did her level best to ignore the world around her. Said new girl went on muttering about mass accelerator cannons, glassing protocols, coordinated overlapping turbolaser orbital bombardment, 'immortal fucking dragons', and 'nuke it out from orbit, that's the ticket, only way to be sure'.

After a few minutes of scowling at the new girl Bitch felt herself slip into a state of mind she tried her best to avoid at all costs.

She got introspective.

Bith fucking hated being introspective.

Introspection meant you had to acknowledge emotion, which meant you had to try and understand how other people thought which was just...

Ugh...fuck emotions... There was a reason she got along with dogs better than humans even before she was Triggered.

Dogs were easy to understand and relate to, there was a defined pecking order, the alpha led, the beta delegated, obedience was rewarded with loyalty, everyone knew their part and in turn the pack did whatever the hell they were told to do.

The new girl though...she broke the mold because even Bitch could tell while she was powerful, she was broken.

She was a lonely Alpha; she had no pack, she had no one to rely on, and she didn't seem to understand her own power which even to someone as emotionally stunted as Bitch, was kind of terrifying considering how she had worked over Lung.

So that's how she ended up finding herself surrounded by her dogs facing off against the new girl, speaking up to question her much to her own surprise, "Why a train?"

Really, why a fucking train?

The new girl snapped her head up to meet her gaze evenly, rapidly blinked a few moments, then replied with a hint of confusion, "What?"

Bitch shrugged as she fell on the couch behind her and let her head fall back on the rest, "Why did you hit Lung with a train of all things?"

New girl blinked at her a moment then shrugged as she let out a tired sigh while loosening her grip on the pillow her arms were still wrapped around.

"It was there, I had already hit him with a dumpster, a Kia, and lightning formed from the metaphysical manifestation of my hatred and fear of existence itself. It hadn't stopped him. I was scared, and I didn't want to die. I was running for my life, and then I found a train engine, so I did my best to beat him to death with it."

Bitch stared at her a moment, then nodded, "Fair enough." She could respect a combat pragmatist, even if only a little.

That's when Lisa reentered the room still dressed as Tattletale with a cup of hot cocoa in hand. She sat next to the new girl and quickly placed the steaming mug in the girl's hands. Lisa was whispering to the girl and soon placed a hand on her knee which had Bitch's eyebrows rise ever so slightly as she blinked in surprise.

Glancing up she met Alec's gaze as he leaned against the kitchens door frame, and even though he was still dressed as Regent she could tell he was amused. He placed a finger over his mask where his mouth would be then quickly walked along the perimeter of the room and plopped down on the couch. A few moments later the TV turned on and the Xbox booted up.

Rolling her eyes Bitch stood and whistled for her dogs to follow her outside, they needed the exercise, always did after shaking off a transformation, poor things. Deciding that her doggies deserved some fresh cutlets tomorrow Bitch headed for the door while mentally tossing about which local butcher would ask fewer questions when she emailed out an order for thirty pounds of raw beef and why she needed it as soon as possible.

Fuck did she hate dealing with humans, dogs would have understood immediately, to eat it of course, why over complicate things?

Whatever.

Ignoring Alec, Lisa, and the new girl Bitch was about to head outside when she noticed Brian leaning against the wall observing everyone, she snarled a bit as he reached out and touched her shoulder, but he ignored that as he met her gaze evenly.

"Heading out Rachel?"

"Obviously."

"Well...be safe."

Bitch glanced down at her dogs, and back at Brian, and then snorted in annoyance as she shook off his hand while he kicked off the wall walking away from her with a shake of his head.

"Right..."

Bitch opened the door, glanced back at Lisa and the new girl, and then asked, "Odds?"

Pausing mid step Brian turned back to her and replied with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Regent is one month and 3k, I'm two months and 5k."

Bitch scoffed at that as she turned back towards the door, "Newbies an introvert, Tat has no idea what she's doing or how to deal with her. No sooner than three months, 8k."

Brian rolled his eyes and muttered, "Pessimists," as Bitch led her dogs out to the landing and slammed the door behind her, but she couldn't help the corners of her lips turning up slightly, amused despite herself.

She may be taciturn, cruel, and too focus minded on her dogs for her own good, but even she could get behind hazing their group's resident know it all for personal amusement.

It was the little things in life that got you through it after all, and in the end they were all pack even if she would never admit it to them.

They would probably get clingy then...which would be annoying...

Resting her hand on Judas' head she scratched behind his ears and let out a rare smile as he panted happily and his tail wagged; pack or not, dogs would always make more sense to her, and Rachel was ok with that.