There was remarkably little editing needed to merge these chapters which in retrospect makes sense really. My favorite focus for this one from the get go was Taylor and Lisa being adorkable with each other so it stands to reason that I had put more effort into their interactions than the action scenes. Regardless, enjoy! I have more editing to do. Weee….
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Taylor realized she had more or less been stuck in a feedback loop when the butch girl who had previously been wearing a cheap plastic dog mask spoke to her asking why exactly she had hit Lung with a train. Her response had seemed to satisfy her and they sat in silence for a few moments before the girl she had recognized as the one who tried to calm her earlier reappeared and sat next to Taylor smiling slightly.
"Here, this'll help calm your nerves," she said as she pulled the pillow from Taylor's arms and handed her a cup of hot cocoa. Pulling the mug up to her nose she took in a deep breath of the wafting steam before sipping it and oddly enough, it did calm her down a bit.
Not because of the drink itself, but the memories attached to it, cold winter days spent wrapped in blankets as mom brought hot drinks to herself and Emma as they watched cartoons, dad pulling her into the garage and pouring a bit of his thermos' steaming coffee in an old chipped cup as he fiddled with some motor while failing to explain how it worked much to her amusement. Curling up with a cup of tea to read a book when the rain was pounding at the windows while she listened to Evanescence on her radio ...heh... simpler times...
Even the memory of Emma didn't derail the pleasant thoughts, despite how much she despised the girl and wished her nothing but eternal suffering now... at one time she had d-
The girl sitting beside her broke her train of thought as she placed her hand on Taylor's knee and whispered, "Hey you ok?"
Taylor took another sip from the scalding hot drink before nodding slightly, "I think? I mean... Look what happened tonight I hadn't actually planned on happening, my mental shields slipped in my sleep, I relived my Trigger, and well...I needed to walk it off."
The boy on the couch then chirped out, "And ended up in a fight with Lung."
Taylor winced and nodded at that, "Yeah... Thought I could cheap shot him with a dumpster to the head when I overheard him talking about killing some kids but obviously that didn't work out."
"Obviously," the boy drawled while poking his head up from the other side of the couch, "I'm Regent by the way, that's Tattletale, and the dude who just walked back into the kitchen is Grue. Girl that just left is Bitch but PHO insists on calling her Hellhound to stay PG which she just finds annoying but whatever."
Taylor then realized that she was the only unmasked person on premise and swallowed her next sip of cocoa tightly before biting the bullet and replying with the name she had derived from her long deceased benefactor.
"I'm Revenant, but my civilian name is...Taylor."
It was a gamble that they would follow the Cape unwritten rules, but a gamble well made as Tattletale smiled and pulled her mask off as she said, "I'm Lisa and it's a pleasure to meet you Taylor!"
Taylor really hoped she wasn't blushing when she realized how pretty the blonde girl still gripping her knee was, the freckles across her nose were especially cute.
Thankfully she was distracted by the boy who pulled his mask off as he turned away from his video game, "Alec, pleasure to meet you Taylor."
He was...very pretty, that is the only way she could describe him.
That's when Grue walked back into the room mask-less and Taylor had to look up rather more than normal to meet his face as he tilted his own steaming mug towards her in a friendly gesture.
He had mocha colored skin, kind eyes, and a brilliant white smile, "Brian, and also a pleasure."
She knew her cheeks were burning at this point, aside from the butch girl who was handsome in her own way everyone on this team was beautiful.
Feelings of inadequacy were now up to 9000...
There was silence for a time as Brian took a seat, and eventually Lisa spoke up, "So we kind of owe you one you know?"
Taylor blinked at that, "How so?"
Brian coughed into his fist then sighed as he explained, "Well as it turns out-"
Alec then spoke up over him with obvious humor in his voice, "-That we were the kids Lung intended to kill tonight because we robbed one of his casinos, which he would have managed to do if not for you because he's fucking Lung. Though, that didn't seem to slow you down all that much Revenant, or Taylor... or hey is it cool if I call you Taven when we're just chilling out?"
Taylor blinked a few times, shook a few moments which caused looks of obvious concern from Brian and Lisa, and then she broke out laughing.
Alec just grinned at her as he nodded and turned back to his video game, "I'll take that as a yes, you play Halo?"
Taylor finished her drink, placed it on the table, wiped a tear from her eye and replied with, "Yes I play Halo, and if you take my sniper rifle I will pistol whip you like a pimp who didn't get paid."
There was a moment of silence, then Alec chirped out, "Well you're sassy as fuck, can we keep her?"
As amusing as Taylor found this situation she shakily took to her feet and let out a tired sigh, "I need to head home, my dad will...probably freak out and call the police if I'm not there when he wakes up."
She hadn't even taken a step forward before Lisa jumped up and grabbed her hand, "We'll drive you home, won't we Brian?"
Brian paused, exchanged an amused glance with Alec, and then nodded, "Yeah, we can do that."
The drive back to her house was quiet, Taylor was trying to process the fact that she had taken on Lung and walked away victorious, and that she had managed to make friends who seemingly respected her.
It was all rather heady really, so when Brian pulled the car up before her house as the sun began to rise Taylor sedately stepped out onto the asphalt and took a deep breath of the chilled morning air.
Sighing she turned towards Lisa and offered her a tired smile, "Well, guess this is it then?"
"Guess so," Lisa said as she shifted her foot about slightly before continuing on, "I don't suppose I could have your number so we can keep in touch, make sure none of those ABB idiots tracked you down?"
Taylor grimaced at that, "My dad...doesn't do cell phones, mom died because...she crashed when she was on the phone with me and well..."
Lisa did not let that stop her though, "Ok how about we meet at the boardwalk at noon in front of Starchilds to iron out everything that happened tonight on at least a few hours of sleep?"
Taylor gave her a deadpan look before drawling out, "I cannot afford a fifteen dollar cup of coffee."
Lisa grinned in return, "You don't have to, treats on me!"
Taylor deliberated that a few moments, go to school surrounded by people she despised and had to literally restrain herself from murdering on a near minute to minute basis, or blow that off and go have coffee with the cute girl who knew her secret identity.
Was there even any question at this point?
"Okay... Yeah that's fine, I wanted to discuss the ins and outs of being a super villain regardless."
Lisa practically glowed as she pulled Taylor into a hug, "It's a date then! See you at noon!"
With that Lisa hopped back into the car, waved as Brian shot her a jaunty salute, and they pulled away from her home as Taylor walked towards the front door and paused midstep.
She lifted her arm, sniffed it, then blanched as she resumed her march forward, "Gonna have to burn these clothes...smells like someone tried to charbroil fish and forgot about it after adding the garlic..."
Miles away, despite the shear amount of broken bones, devastated nerve endings, and borderline illegal sedatives that his healing factor was currently dealing with, the super villain known as Lung snarled in annoyance.
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Lisa lurked in wait as she did her best to not observe anything, and as always her willpower to remain complacent failed her as she found out exactly how many drinks the coaster in front of her had held, how many times it had been reused to cut costs, and most distressingly the shear amount of semen that had been left on it.
"Fucking hell," she muttered as she pushed the offending object away, cradling her drink protectively while meeting the gaze of a blonde woman in passing.
White supremacist. Ignores the fact that her dad is Hispanic. Looks Caucasian enough to pull it off. Supports the E88 on a regular basis and has espoused her beliefs on ethnic purity on multiple occasions.
"Bitch," Tattletale muttered as she glanced at an Asian kid and her powers once again kicked in.
Scared. Hates being part of a gang. Terrified for his little sisters. Knows that if he doesn't deliver the heroin in his bag the boss will put little Mei on the street. Mei loves art. Painting and charcoal penciling are her passions. Her favorite colour is blue. Her comfort stuffed animal is a rag doll made by her mother last year, before she was killed in a random gang shooting. She loves cats, and is scared of dogs. If the heroin doesn't get delivered she'll be forced into prostitution in retribution.
Mei is nine years old.
Lisa took the back seat as Tattletale stood up and walked up to the frantic eyed boy and pulled his head down so her mouth was practically touching his ear, "Go out the south exit and turn right and keep going till you dead end, take the door to your left you'll find a stairwell to East 55th, and then you're golden. If Mei ever ends up working the streets, I'll be coming for you."
With that Tattletale left the shocked young man behind her as she resumed her position at her table and sipped her overpriced coffee like nothing had happened.
It of course had to be a Tuesday.
Lisa fucking hated Tuesdays.
Glancing about the crowd she took casual stock of the cattle that ran through the overpriced coffee house doors.
Cheating on his wife.
Cheating on her husband, with his...sister... and his aunt...well that was interesting at least.
Embezzling from his friends to cover his gambling habit.
In the closet about his homosexuality while pushing forth anti-gay propaganda.
Likes drugging little boys below the age of ten and...
Lisa noted the man's appearance while discretely taking a photo and quickly tapped out a text that was going to be sent to the BBPD anonymously in a few hours.
Skived on his taxes.
Lied about the amount of butter she needed for her roasted pecans.
Stretched the truth on how much his brand new truck cost him. I-
Lisa froze as she focused in on the eye of the storm, the calm silence, the one person who didn't drown her in information she'd rather not know, and she soon found herself relaxing as she let out a pleased sigh.
Peace...that's what she felt as she observed the dark eyed girl that waved at her awkwardly.
Taylor walked up to Lisa and smiled warmly as she pulled a black lock of hair behind her ear while adjusting her glasses slightly, "Heyya, ummm...I'm here? Hi?"
Could she possibly be more adorkable?
"Hey!" She replied while smiling sheepishly, undoubtedly making things more uncomfortable considering neither of them knew how to react to the other.
Lisa surprised herself a bit by being somewhat excited about the ambiguity of it all, she had no idea what was going to happen, and that was just...
Amazing.
"Err...is it ok if I take a seat Lisa?"
Right!
"Ahem, yes perfectly acceptable Taylor."
Nodding the ravenette sat down and then began fidgeting almost immediately.
"I...should order something right?"
What? Oh!
"Yeah! Umm, lets order you a drink."
An awkward five minutes later they sat silently while Lisa gently pushed the coaster between them onto the floor, doing her damnedest not to focus on it in the process. Eventually Taylor sighed but Lisa decided to speak up first.
"So why super villain right off the bat? I mean you seem like a really sweet girl and for you to just dive into becoming the bad guy is kind of confusing.
FUCK! Way to put the cute nerd on the defensive Lisa!
Taylor for her part just sighed, took a sip of her coffee, and then shrugged.
"Escape, really. I'm sure your trigger was horrible-"
-You have no idea-
"-yet mine was...noteworthy I think... Basically every authority figure in my life failed me so...hilariously that a psychotic jock bitch tortured me mentally and physically for nearly two years before deciding to murder me in the most horrific manner she could think of... just for the laughs..."
What.
Seeming to grasp Lisa's expression Taylor shrugged, "Haven't eaten anything have you?" Lisa shook her head, Taylor nodded, "Prepare to be grossed out."
Ten minutes later Lisa was wondering if Regent and Bitch weren't up for a bit of freelance work and resolved to never be anywhere near a locker ever again.
"So yeah, anyway, being a villain is pretty much my only recourse at this point. I don't trust the authorities, Rogues last, what? Six months at best? So really my choices are limited to begin with, so I decided I have to go more mercenary than I am actually comfortable with. I want to survive though...soooo...here I am!"
"Here you are..." Lisa fumed a few moments then decided that the risk was worth the gain, "I read people, things, places, I focus on something long enough, a person blusters along enough, hell if I am just allowed to observe long enough, I learn everything about everything."
Lisa smiled, "Though I don't know anything about you other than what you told me."
Taylor blinked and tilted her head to the side, which made her look like a confused kitten and Lisa had to resist the urge to giggle as she replied with, "You...can read everything...but me?"
"Yup!" Lisa stated cheerfully.
"Huh..." Taylor said, and then shrugged once again as she shot Lisa a wan smile, "Well... allow me to blow away your world view. My power? I inherited the Conqueror Empress of the Galaxy's skill set and I've seriously had to put some limiters on it in the past few weeks to prevent myself going, well… Bat shit insane."
Lisa was silent for a few moments, then muttered out, "What?"