Brockton Bay Predator: Chapter 2.
Thinking back on the conversation she had with Panacea upon waking up in the hospital, Taylor took stock of the changes she has recognized during the last week of recuperating at home. There were both physical changes she could finally control with a good degree of certainty as well as mental changes and additional memories she had retained once the meditation brought them into clarity.
"Alright Mr Hebert, why don't you go get yourself a cup of coffee and see about the paperwork required for Taylor's release from the hospital. I will take this time to explain to Taylor about the injuries she has received and the required treatment and after care she needed,"
Once Taylor's father left the room, Panacea turned to Taylor.
"So miss Hebert, can I call you Taylor? First of your injuries. We found several deep lacerations and cuts upon different parts of your body, closely resembling either the result of bladed weapons or large claws of some animal. Also there were a number of places where there was evidence of extensive chemical burns where as yet unidentified but extremely powerful acidic compounds were eating their way into your body. In all, the combination of these wounds could have required amputation of your left leg and right arm as the most severely affected. Luckily, the treatment and emergency care you received was sufficient to halt most of the damage. Beyond these severe injuries, there were a number of lesser injuries such as scrapes and bruises consistent with what one might receive struggling to avoid being stuffed in a small confined space such as a locker and then trying to escape said space. The biggest problem with these minor injuries was that they allowed contact with the mess that was left in your locker, resulting in sepsis of the blood and failing internal organs such as your kidney's. We managed to heal all injuries and prevent further damage allowing you to make a full recovery in the next few days with proper rest and a couple good meals.
One thing I must inform you of at this time is that during the healing process I detected changes in your brain consistent with those of people that triggered as a cape. I assume that your trigger event took place while you were locked in the locker you were found in. I can not tell you what your power will be or how it expresses itself, but during the healing of your wounds we did find traces of foreign DNA from as yet unknown species. As no matching DNA was found in the locker or in any other locations that could explain it's presence, this might indicate a possible changer power. I suggest that once you get home you might want to try meditation in a safe place or keep a dream journal as this may help you find out more about whatever power you have. I do recommend that you take extreme care whenever you might test assumptions or practice any power to do so in a safe location and avoid exposure to others to prevent detection or causing problems. If you feel it necessary there are arrangements that can be made with the Protectorate and PRT to assist with testing your power.
As in accordance with what are known as the unwritten rules as well as doctor / patient confidentiality, I have not informed anyone that you have triggered as a cape. If you believe that other people need to be informed, such as your father, it will be your choice and responsibility. I can recommend to take a close look at PHO for more information regarding the unwritten rules as well as contact information of the PRT and Protectorate and New Wave should you need this for any reason."
Once Taylor's father returned with the filled out paperwork allowing Taylor to be released from the hospital, Taylor was taken home to recover and rest up before her return to Winslow high school the next week. A time she used well to explore and experiment with her powers at any given chance. Her dreams the following nights had shown her she now possessed the full memories of a Yautya Arbitrator, including several hunts for the prized xenomorphs as well as many cases of hunting badbloods. She also remembered her death fighting a released xenomorph queen with the wounds closely matching the ones Panacea had helped her heal from. Taylor also found she had both a changer ability to assume the Yautya body from her memories and a summoning power that provided her with access to the transport ship and full equipment of the Arbitrator from her memories.
As she would be going back to Winslow for the next 2 weeks while the paperwork to transfer to Acadia was being processed, Taylor prepared for the confrontations with the Trio that were sure to be unavoidable. Having learned from her searches on PHO for the rules mentioned by Panacea, it had fast become clear that her best course of actions would be to hold back use of her powers as much as possible and only in such ways as to could be reliably explained as coincidence or believable physical abilities for someone her age to avoid standing out to much and be identified as a cape. Still, it would not do to leave everything to luck so she would be taking at least one measure in case of worst possible outcome taking place. So leaving for school the first morning after her prolonged absence, the only outward signs one could have spotted if one knew her well were a slightly more pronounced sagging of her backpack (as if containing a heavier object than a pen case and calculator), a small bump covered by her hoodie at the small of her back where her belt would be and her being ready to react to any sudden movement if one could read her body language well enough.
While the trip to school and her morning classes had passed without incident, that situation would not last as the trio took the chance to mess with her during the break between classes, planning to push her around a bit and generally mess with her in what time they had available. As such, the trio cornered her at the top of the stairs planning to trip her up because accidents can happen right?
"Just great, there is at least one of the bitches waiting for me in the stairwell, and one coming up behind me. Looks like they are hoping to trip me at the stairs and see me take a tumble down the flight of stairs. With Emma and possibly Madison as a distraction and trip hazard with Sophia coming up behind for helping me trip by accidentally bumping in to me. Let's see how this goes down, shall we."
"Hey Mads, do you smell something? O, It's just little Tay Tay. How are things at home Taylor? Still crying for your mother at night? Or are you playing with daddy?"
As Emma engaged Taylor in conversation with these references dragged up from past conversations and insinuations about her fathers possible conduct at home and in relation to herself, Madison leaned back against the wall at the top of the stairs leaving one foot extended forward a bit while Sophia started her approach. Before Taylor could react (at least without possibly exposing her vastly improved physical abilities), she felt Sophia bumping in to her in passing with enough force to make her stumble and step forward to keep her balance. This would have been the moment where she would have tripped over Madison's extended foot and consequently taken a tumble down the stairs.
However, having seen the setup for what it was and having made some subtle preparations by increasing her body mass and muscle density using her changer power for this, the outcome was a little different than the Trio had expected.
At the moment she was pushed and appeared to lose her balance, Taylor whipped out her hands as if to try and find support against the walls or stairway railing while at the same time placing her foot in front of her with a bit more force than would have been expected. This meant that one of her hands ended up hitting Emma in the face while her foot struck Madison's ankle with enough force cause it to be temporarily numbed and incapable of supporting Madison's weight and causing her to drop back against the wall. As Taylor allowed herself to fall forward down the first set of stairs, her other leg moved upwards and barely missed hitting Sophia's chin. Once at the landing down the first set of stairs, Taylor allowed herself to come to a halt in her tumble down and she rose slowly in order to give the impression of being dazed and a bit hurt by the fall. At this point her changer power undid the previous changes to her body while slowly allowing a hint of the mottled light and dark spots typical of a Yautya's skin to shine through in order to simulate developing bruises on exposed parts of her body. This also gave the trio the chance of making themselves scarce from the ambush site without noticing she was left pretty much unhurt due to her remembered training and the temporary changes she had made to her body.
During the last classes of the day, Taylor had the chance to see the results of the attempted ambush on the trio. Only Sophia appeared untouched while Taylor had seen Emma attempt to cover the bruises that were already appearing on her face. Upon entering Mr Gladly's class she had also seen Madison limping to her own seat. What Taylor did not know was that the only reason Sophia had no injuries from the ambush was because Sophia had managed on reflex to shift into her signature shadow-like state where Taylor's foot had passed through harmlessly without anyone noticing.
Having made it through the day with in all very little damage to herself or her possessions, Taylor was pretty sure she would be able to bear most of what the trio might attempt during her last day's at Winslow. Once classes were out, she made her way to the bus stop and her way home, already thinking of when and where her first patrol would be taking place.
At home, Taylor quickly did her homework and some small chores around the house while the dinner she was preparing for herself and her father cooked. Following diner and the discussion with her father about her day at Winslow, Taylor headed upstairs to her bedroom and started meditating until she was sure her father was firmly asleep. Once she was sure of that, Taylor silently opened her bedroom door and left the house through the back door. A few minutes later Taylor made her way into the sheltered back-garden of an abandoned house 2 streets away. Shielded from sight of anyone passing by in the street, Taylor allowed her changer power to run it's course fully ending up with the body of a 10 foot tall female Yautya. This was immediately followed by her equipping her armor and basic weapon set before activating the cloaking function of her armor.
After hiding her clothes in a safe place, Taylor headed out through the abandoned streets towards the nearest edge of the dock area before taking to the rooftops. As this was her first active patrol, Taylor made her way towards the more populated center of the city, angling toward the edges of the city's tourist and retail area's and the more residential area next to the docks. This, she hoped, would give her a decent chance of finding some criminal acts to put a halt to as both her view of being a hero and her memories of being a Yautya Arbitrator were driving her to do. At least, not in as lethal a fashion as Yautya culture would require.
Halfway through her patrol when she was only a few blocks away from the board walk area, Taylor heard what sounded like a car crashing into a store front in the next street over from her current position on the rooftop she was on. Deciding to check out this disturbance, it only took a few minutes using her inherited skills in moving through the urban jungle for Taylor to end up on the rooftop of a four story building with a store front at street level. A store front from an electronics shop currently being robbed by what seemed to be half a dozen shabbily dressed gangers, most likely merchants based on the colours displayed.
A quick look using her masks different vision modes showed the car used to ram the stores barrier was empty while the different goods from the store were swiftly being brought out to a van idling in the street a few meters away from the crashed car. Placing a quick call to the police using her mask's com system, Taylor quickly explained what she was witnessing before stepping of the rooftop still cloaked. Four stories and a couple of seconds later Taylor crashed onto the car roof like an invisible stack of bricks, instantly shattering the car's windows and caving in the roof down to the seats. The gangers next to the car found themselves thrown to the ground and covered in pieces of glass by the impact, while most of the others dropped whatever they were carrying. Only the apparent leader of the group standing next to the van being loaded had kept hold of his gun, which he quickly aimed at the barely visible figure crouching on top of the crushed car while shouting "Cape!" before opening fire. This saw him instantly being targeted and tangled up in a constricting net fired by Taylor as she rose from her crouched position on top of the crushed car. Taylor immediately followed up on this by getting him to crash into the car by yanking on the cable attached to the net with a light kick to the head after to make sure he was out cold before stepping of the car.
At this time, the remaining merchants were starting to get up of the ground as the shock of her arrival passed. Ignoring the hastily raised knives and other weapons the thugs were wielding, Taylor struck out with enough force and precision to knock out the 2 closest merchants, grabbing one of them and with a quick turning motion tossing her improvised projectile at the gangers on the other side of the car, bowling them over. Completing her turn and taking 2 steps toward the store brought Taylor in easy reach of the last ganger on her side of the car and a quick lunge and headbutt meant the largest of the merchants was out of the fight as well, This left only the 2 merchants on the other side of the car to deal with which took mere moments as they were just starting to recover from being hit by their fellow ganger.
Two minutes later, Taylor had rounded up al the merchants and tied them up in strong cable attached to the crushed car to make sure they wouldn't be getting away and leaving them an easy pick-up for the police. With the weapons gathered to the side and out of reach and her used net recovered, Taylor's first fight had gone well even though the fight part itself had only taken a little more than a minute and in all it had only taken about 5 minutes from informing the cops to getting everything ready for their arrival. As She could now clearly hear the sirens of the approaching police and could see the flashing lights approaching the street corner, Taylor turned away and started scaling the wall back up onto the roof. The camera's onboard the cop cars could only show a blurry figure quickly climbing the last bit of wall and vanishing into the night over the rooftops.
The only evidence left behind except for the statements later provided by the captured merchants was the crushed car, the strong cable and some fragmentary images recovered from the stores interior camera system as well as the images from the police camera's and the call made to 911. Not much to go on for the police and PRT or Protectorate hero's in determining what and who stopped the robbery at a later time.