BEFORE AAAAAAANYTHING, read this AN, seriously.

Now, I have never ever read the novel. So for those of you who have read War Dog/subsequent stories, By Tooth and Claw, Hana Nanashi and a few more of my stories, that isn't actually a surprise, I do this sort of thing quite often as it turns out. But the point is that all of my information is coming from stories I have read, as well as anything I can dredge up on the wiki. So if I say something totally and utterly out of line with canon, you can hit me with a reply or just leave a review pointing it out.

Secondly, this, as you can probably tell by the synopsis, is not a happy story. This is a much harsher story than the original locker incident, and what follows is why I'm saying this now. What occurs is not canonical. I understand that the way Parahumans work is that the Corona Pollentia and the Gemma is what allows the parahuman to use their power. But, as will become quickly apparent, well, you'll see why I'm warning you about it. I also understand certain dates and have changed them to suit my own needs, as is my prerogative as a fanfiction writer.

But, thirdly, this story will earn an M-rating quickly, of that I warn you immediately. This is...well, the term I've kinda decided on is one of my brutal-fics, using my fucked up mind here instead if fucking over the characters in other stories.

Finally, this is an OP protagonist story. Taylor will be powerful, of that there can be no denying.

Chapter 1

Taylor stepped into the locker room, walking up to her own locker as her nose wrinkled and she rolled her eyes.

It was an hour past the end of the last day of school, and she could already tell something nasty had been left in her locker. Probably the latest attempt by the trio to aggravate her. They were probably amused at the thought of her spending ages shovelling out whatever horrid mess had been poured inside, leaving her to walk home later at night, probably pissing off the janitor something fierce. Steadying herself for the stench that would be rolling out, she twisted the lock and opened it, her hand rising to her mouth unconsciously in disgust.

There were bloodied and soiled tampons in there, as well as rotting food, used diapers, q-tips, dozens if not hundreds of toenail clippings, raw meat, what looked and smelled like faecal matter, and, peering closer, she could even see broken glass and sharp metal points mixed into the disgusting cocktail that had been sloughed across all of the surfaces of her locker.

The most revolting part was that she could see that the mess was already home to maggots, flies buzzing around as well as a few disgusting and obviously added things like a centipede that had frozen on its way up the other side of the wall. Even as she was utterly disgusted by the destruction of her locker, she had to admit it was impressive they'd gotten so much disgusting material to stuff in there.

Her distraction at her analysis of her wrecked locker meant she didn't notice as someone appeared behind her, hands suddenly and firmly shoving at her back, sending her facefirst, screaming in surprise, right into the locker. The force that she was pushed with meant that her face smashed hard into the opposite side of the wall, and she retched immediately as some of the fetid material went into her mouth, nose and even eyes.

She then felt something slam hard into her back, pushing her forwards and into the disgusting wall of biohazardous waste, which now had her vomit on it. This time she was able to shut her eyes and mouth, but still opened her mouth to retch as a noseful of the disgusting gunk went up her nose, which just made everything so much worse. The locker door pressed against her back and she felt as well as heard as the lock was spun, sealing her inside while cruel laughter met her ears, laughter she recognized.

Immediately she felt panic setting in on her thoughts. She couldn't see, she couldn't raise her arms in the tiny locker, and she definitely couldn't turn around to see the face of the bitch had pushed her into this...this cesspool of hell. She knew it was Sophia, she was the most physically violent and wouldn't hesitate to make her suffering worse. She didn't dare open her mouth again, not if that revolting gunk could possibly get into her mouth again.

It was then that she felt something crawling up her leg. She froze as it scuttled up her side, her fear rendering her unable to move as it kept climbing up her body. She felt whatever it was stop, and then there was pain. It was a pinprick of pain, like a tick or a flea or a...a fly. Immediately she screamed, trying to move, to do something, but the locker was just too small for her to manoeuvre. Whatever had hurt her had accidentally picked the right location to do it without letting her crush it, and though she knew logically that she wouldn't be able to feel it even if it was laying eggs, that didn't stop her mind from making her feel like her arm was being swelled up by eggs.

Another burst of laughter she could hear, and she felt her stomach drop as she heard it moving away, footsteps leaving the room. A light-switch snapped, the faint light that she could barely see fading to nothing, leaving her in pure darkness. The other two bitches had been stalling her, harassing her through the hall and even getting a few of the other students to delay her. As such, it was way later than it should have been. The janitors worked from the top floor down, and...her locker was on the top floor. But, surely the smell should have tipped them off. Why did they not investigate her locker then?

Of course, the answer was not something she wanted to contemplate, so instead, she banged her arms against the door as hard as she could, ignoring with considerable difficulty the disgusting squelch as they pushed against the back wall then the locker door. Shifting her weight slightly, she was unable to stop herself screaming as she felt more things on her legs, her shifting having been enough for her trouser legs to move.

As they did so, she felt more things now slipping under her shirt, then they were everywhere. They were on her eyelids, and in her ears, up her nose and down her throat even with her closed mouth. They were under her clothes, crawling across her body, her only reprieve from the crawling hell being her undergarments, they were well-fitted enough to avoid them from touching just a few small places.

Then, the biting started.

She lost track of all time in the locker.

She heard nothing. There were no sounds aside from the odd creak. But the pain, the pain was constant. She could feel them. Under her skin, inside of her body. She had tried calling for help repeatedly in the early stages, when she still held out hope that someone would help her. They wouldn't possibly leave her there. That hope shifted to her father. There was no way he would possibly leave her there.

If she was of more sound mind she would have realized that the three bitches had cleaned out her locker beforehand, and that included her emergency phone. Her father distrusted cellphones, but she still had a cheap phone she could use if the school or she was near to an Azn Bad Boys, Empire 88 or Merchants fight, just to re-assure him that she was okay. That meant that one of them could easily send him a text saying she'd made a friend and was staying over at theirs, and would be back sometime the next day before switching the phone off.

Of course, she wasn't in a sound mind after several hours of pain, of pure revulsion, and of terror. She had her shoes on, so she hadn't stepped directly into any of the contents on the base of the locker, but at one point something had bitten her arm more forcefully and she jerked, which caused her to stab herself on something in the side of the locker. What it was she had no idea, but it was sharp and long, and her first thought went to a syringe.

Taylor had no idea if she had depressed it when she jerked, but her arm did feel weird. Then again, her entire fucking body felt weird. The smell was like caustic gasses forcing their way into her nose, and despite keeping her lips sealed shut, she could taste the disgusting gunk plastering her face. She couldn't open her eyes for fear of something crawling onto it and doing anything to her.

She shuddered as she felt something crawl in her ear, the action sparking more pain in her body as she agitated the things that were all over her. Her stomach also hurt, and she wasn't sure if that was because of thirst, hunger, or the intruders that had gone through her nose. She would have done anything to have gone into her own personal hell with her arms raised, at least then she could protect her nose and ears.

As she thought that, she felt another of the horrid spawn crawling on her face, and she silently begged to whoever or whatever could possibly be listening to save her, even opening her mouth and ignoring the disgusting taste as she babbled incoherently about being saved, to no avail. The presumed-maggot kept on its path, crawling into her nose and sparking more gagging from her as she clamped her mouth shut, then feeling a small weight drop inside of her throat.

Despite being utterly disgusted by it, she did the only thing she could think of doing as it was too far back for her to catch with her tongue. She swallowed repeatedly, shuddering in disgust as she ingested the grub. The only alternative was to not, which would mean it had a very fair chance of falling into her lungs. She did not want to start hacking up a lung in her current situation. Even as terrified as she was, she knew coughing would make it so much worse.

Eventually, even with the pain of everything that was happening to her, the fact she'd been awake and standing all day without being physically able to bend her knees caught up to her. Her eyes were perpetually shut anyway. With bugs crawling across her flesh and stopping occasionally to prick her body and deposit their eggs, Taylor found herself losing the fight to exhaustion. Several times she had to stop herself yawning.

Finally, blissfully, sleep stopped her torment, for a while at least.

She awoke to the feeling of something, no, several somethings all wriggling in her ears.

That wasn't right, they weren't just in her ears. She could feel the disgusting things that had been sunk into her skin. They weren't her imagination, whatever things were in here hadn't just hurt her, they had actually laid fucking maggot eggs in her. Taylor let out a keening whine as she felt their tiny mouths begin biting at her, though she was already dehydrated, hungry and exhausted. Her attempts at banging on the door faded as her mind made a slow realization.

Nobody was coming to save her. She was going to be left in this locker for all winter. Her dad hadn't shown up, and she knew it had to be long enough for him to get worried about her. None of the teachers nor the janitor had bothered to do anything about the locker. Emma probably leaned on them using her dearest daddy to make them leave it alone.

That realization led her to another, sharper thought. The three...they really wanted to kill her. This went beyond wanting to torment her. Needles, broken glass, and biohazardous waste. And the ones who knew it was happening, they were just letting it go. She was...she was trapped in here, with maggots eating her, and the world's most disgusting concoction of every kind of disgusting matter that could be found was smeared all over her...and nobody cared.

Slumping as much as she was able to in the locker, she felt herself giving up. Winter Break had started, and it would be 2 weeks until anybody came back to the school. Even if the stuff inside of the locker didn't kill her, dehydration would make sure she was long dead by the time anyone found her. And honestly, she just felt...tired. She tried to be strong, tried to summon up the will to resist, but the efforts of the three bitches had worn her down, even if all she really showed was an implacable wall against their attempts. She could feel herself shutting down. Her body was just not able to handle the trauma, physical and psychological.

With a final attempt to keep herself from switching off completely, she opened her eyes, her mind flaring with the desire to escape from the locker, escape from the school, from Brockton Bay and the three bitches and the teachers and her father and everyone who should have just been...normal. Nicer to her. She felt a wave of anger flooding through her at her horrible situation, as well as sadness, regret, running the full gamut of emotions.

Her anger did nothing though, and as her eyes shut and her body failed from the last expenditure of energy, she felt her lips curl up ever so slightly. She could, at least, see her mother again, wherever she was. She could apologize for being a distraction and causing her death. She could apologize for not being as good a daughter to her father as she could have been.

And, as her body faltered and she lost consciousness, the shard residing within her reacted to the imminent death of its carrier. But it was too late, even for a trigger event, to save her. So it did the next best thing it could to save her. It grasped at the tendril of life that still existed, tying that thread of pure existence to existence itself. In doing so, it would bind her to the infinite dimensions that existed. It would not be what was intended for her, but perhaps this was better.

After all, this was not her powers directly that were being changed, even if those were also not what Taylor Hebert was originally meant to receive, this was simply...saving her life.

Awareness?

Necessary.

Reason?

Life.

Purpose?

Safety.

Emotion?

Muted.

Power?

Potential.

Danger?

Arguable.

Expand?

Possibilities.

...Experiment?

Correction.

Expand?

...

Expand?

...Recompense.

When Taylor first gained awareness, it was...not quite what she was expecting.

Admittedly, she didn't expect white mist and her mother beckoning her from across the veil of life and death, but...well, her awareness, because she was not in a body any longer, was looking at the world itself. It was like she was on the moon, or on one of the satellites that they were taught about in school, which drifted uselessly through space, destroyed by the Simurgh.

But, this wasn't right. She was...the locker. She was in the locker, and then...she tried to get out, and then she...died, presumably. That thought should have brought on something, some kind of emotion. But...even when she thought about Sophia pushing her into the locker, she didn't really feel angry at her. Sure, the underlying loathing of the worst of the three bitches was there, but she no longer had to fight her wish to just send a message to Empire Eighty-Eight about her and let them do the heavy lifting.

Maybe death did that to a human mind? Maybe everybody who ever lived was watching the world like she was. It was definitely possible, since she was now experiencing it. A twang of...curiosity hit her, as she wondered about whether she could move around how, and to her surprise, she could, it was as easy as wanting to be elsewhere and somehow it was made so.

Jumping around a little, she then wondered exactly how precise it was. She decided to herself that she wanted to go to the locker-room that she had been in, and in an instant, she was there, looking over the lockers. Despite knowing it was a bad idea in the back of her mind, she willed herself to move in front of the locker that she was inside of, the correct one being easy to pick out to her.

Her vision moved to accommodate her, and she was then staring at the locker. From the outside it was obvious something was wrong, there was a pool of liquid, possibly her own urine, on the floor. Despite knowing that her body was in that locker, she was honestly confused about her lack of real emotion. Surely she should be feeling something, anything significant. But aside from an underlying level of sadness, she wasn't...angry, or hurt, or any other emotion she knew that she should have been feeling.

She was about to send herself away from the locker, up into the sky, but stopped. She could feel...something, she just hadn't noticed it before. It was subtle. It was numerous. And it was...mostly coming from the locker. Against her better judgment, she shifted her vision towards the locker, getting closer as she focused on the new feeling she could detect.

Pulling on it, she then felt surprise well up over her as she felt the presence of thousands of...things. From what she had experienced, she knew they were maggots, flies, and other critters that were in the locker. But the fact she could detect them all was entirely new. If she could have done that before, of whatever she was now capable of had happened before she died then maybe she'd still be alive.

Drawing on that feeling, she mentally called out to the maggots, and felt a thrill run through her when they all stopped moving. The rest kept on as they were, a few maggots disappearing from her senses as they were eaten by other things inside the locker. She cast her gaze around the locker room, then mentally smacked herself and instead felt around for anything medium-sized or larger, eventually sensing a wolf spider that was digging out space in its little nest in the overgrown grounds of the school.

Focusing entirely on the wolf spider, she commanded it to stop digging as she shifted her vision to it, no feelings of revulsion or fear despite being centimetres from a fairly sizable spider. With another command, it began climbing out of its nest and started scuttling towards the school building. There were no other big spiders or anything she was able to feel nearby for the task she had in mind, so the wolf spider would have to do.

It reached the wall, then started climbing, going right up to the roof. From there, it found the air conditioning unit and slipped inside, avoiding the slow-moving blades as it worked its way through, her vision following it, endlessly intrigued by the spider as it scuttled along, focusing so much upon it that she looked through its eyes, all eight of them, which was endlessly amazing.

Eventually it reached the vent that led to the locker room, to which she ended up having to turn it around and spend a minute finding a vent that didn't have a grate over it. She then had it go along the floor, slipping into the locker room. When it reached the locker, she had it climb up to the lock and use a leg to turn the dial to her combination. She halted it as it clicked the lock open, steadying herself before having the spider press a leg down on the handle, opening the locker and letting...well, letting her body fall out.

She was glad she no longer had any sense of smell as a wall of flies swarmed out. Slightly annoyed, she grasped control of them all, having them land atop the main body of lockers and wait there until she told them to move, while she returned her focus to her body. As she focused on herself, she could also sense all the life that was still within her own body.

Reaching out, she took hold of all the eggs, all the larva and bugs that had infested her, and had them extricate themselves from her body. When they were all gone, she was left with the startling realization that she could still sense her body. But that wasn't possibly right, she wasn't alive any more. She had died, there was no two ways about it. But there was no denying the fact that she could feel her body still.

Well, not feel as in she could feel the grotesque larvae holes that were visible across her body or the ground against her bodies back, but it still felt almost like she was...well, one of the bugs she had been controlling. But then, bugs wasn't right. She had been controlling a wolf spider after all, much larger than a fly or maggot. Touching her body using the same power she had used to control the wolf spider and the other things, she was a little disappointed when it responded to none of her commands to get up, to move or even to twitch.

But...she'd regret it endlessly if it turned out that she was still alive in some form. Maybe it'd fuck her soul up or something, but...well, maybe she wasn't actually Taylor. Maybe she was just her memories and a facsimile of Taylor. The missing emotions fit. But no, Taylor was dead, so she had to be, didn't she? Deciding she could wait for handling moral conundrums later, she focused on the Dockworkers Association offices, more specifically the one she knew her father worked in, appearing there in an instant, to see an empty office.

Curious, she popped outside and focused on the sun, noting that it was definitely early enough in the day that her father should have been working. She teleported again, this time for home, only to see that it too was empty. She investigated a little to make sure, and saw that the car was not there, now were her father's keys or wallet in the bowl. That meant he had to be somewhere else obviously, but where?

Idly, while she tried to figure out where her father could be, she noted that she could feel even more things buzzing on the edge of her perception. Going back to her locker, she set all the flies that ad been in the room to fly through the vents in the same way her wolf spider had done so, then once outside they were to disperse across the entire town. As she made to then tell them to go back to normal, she froze.

No, they were the perfect scout swarm. Nobody paid attention to flies after all. She set them all to go out in groups and spread out as much as they could, making sure nobody noticed an odd increase in the number of flies suddenly appearing. She then pulled upon her power to look through their eyes, surprised by the dichotomy of going from one fixed perspective to literally thousands of perspectives, except each one was entirely alien to what she was used to.

She still had her own perspective, which was looking at where the flies had flown out through the vents and into the open air, but she was also able to focus on the others...it was difficult to describe, like the world's best multitasking. Maybe having no biological brain meant she wasn't limited as such. Or maybe whatever freaky powers she had just made it easier. As her flies spread out, she pondered her plan. It basically consisted of finding someone who looked like she could trust them to go to Winslow High and discover her body. The spark of life was still unmistakable, and she owed it to, well herself, to at least try.

And, as if the Universe itself was helping her, she saw none other than Panacea, who was travelling with Glory Girl, presumably on a patrol. Using the vision of her flies she focused on their position and sent herself there. Then she was faced with her next problem, of how to communicate with them. They obviously couldn't see her, if the fact they just walked through her was any indication.

So, rather than come up with some kind of fancy way to do it, she pulled on all of the flies in the area, a surprisingly numerous quantity, and pooled them together. Her gathering of flies didn't go un-noticed for long, Glory Girl immediately shifting into a combat stance. Slightly worried, Taylor quickly started shifting her flies, slowly forming them into the word 'help'. "Help? Help who?"

She shifted her flies again, stating 'Winslow' then 'gravely injured' and finished with 'possibly dead' after a few moments. That seemed to spark the two, since Glory Girl raised a hand to her earpiece. "Glory Girl to control, unknown contact reported wielding flies for communication, informing myself and Panacea of someone who is at Winslow High either gravely injured or possibly dead, requesting permission to assist, over."

She didn't hear the response, but when Glory Girl nodded towards her flies and grabbed Panacea, taking off towards the direction of the school, she figured it was likely that they got an affirmative response. Preempting them she sent herself above the school, grasping all the flies in the vicinity and forming them around the window to the locker room. After a minute they arrived, spotting her conglomeration of flies quickly and directing themselves to the window.

Taylor wasn't quite expecting Glory Girl to break straight through the window, quickly forcing the maggots to pile together and protect her body from all of the glass and shrapnel generated by the impact. She heard one exclaim quietly as the pair laid eyes on the mass of maggots, though she quickly shifted them off to the side to see her body, laying on the ground with her body completely covered in the contents of the locker. "Oh god...I need...I can't without..." Panacea said quietly, stumbling over her words at the sheer mutilated state of her body.

Recognizing what Panacea needed, Glory Girl stepped up. "Panacea needs consent from the patient or any capable family member, otherwise she could have an Incredibles-style suicide lawsuit on her hands." Feeling a tick of irritation, she formed her maggots into letters on the floor. 'I am as close as can physically be possible to Taylor Hebert. The only alternative would be her father, who I don't doubt would give his permission if able, she is the last remnant of family in his life and will likely die without her.'

Writing that out, Taylor honestly wasn't as sure of herself as she should have been. Her flies still hadn't seen her father, and he wasn't at home or work, so she had no idea where he was. Maybe he really did care as much as she said, or maybe he knew and was ashamed of himself. Whatever the case was, Panacea seemed to accept her words, kneeling down beside her body and placing her hands on her arm.

The gasp she heard was a bit of a surprise, her hands jerking back in shock. "She's...we need to get her to the hospital immediately." Glory Girl accepted those words and the tone they were delivered in immediately, picking her body up in a bridal carry, waiting just long enough for Panacea to grab onto her back before turning and blasting out of the hole she'd made, heading straight for the hospital. Shifting her vision to track along then, she could see that Panacea had carefully shifted herself to keep a hand on her, and her eyes were closed and strained with focus.

Despite the situation, Taylor was honestly curious to see what would happen. She was detached from her body, yet Panacea reacted as she expected, that her body was still alive in some form. Maybe her theory was right, that she was like an offshoot from who Taylor Hebert actually was, she had the memories and whatnot, but she wasn't biologically Taylor any more. Or maybe when she was healed it'd be revealed that her power was just the ability to detach from herself and control bugs...that actually sounded really powerful, since she could just go to bed then direct swarms of mosquitos to kill villains or something...and wow that was a lot darker than her normal...self.

Taylor supposed that her reduced emotions meant she was seeing things more black-and-white, and while she thought it'd be really powerful to kill villains, she also didn't really feel much of a pushback from her emotions and her belief that killing wasn't the right thing to do as she knew should have affected her. She obviously still possessed some kind of moral compass, just knowing it should be affecting her told her that it was a bad thing to do, which seemed like reasonable rules to operate by for the time being.

As soon as Glory Girl landed, Panacea was listing off orders to Glory Girl as they entered the hospital, calling for things like a feeding tube, a biohazard containment room, an extra bed, and a variety of other things. Following idly behind the pair, she watched the hospital practically freeze as Glory Girl stormed through carrying her fucked-up body, making her look like she'd had a nasty run-in with an insect-user or ten, then been kept prisoner and used as a nesting ground.

The smell was obvious as those in the hospital wrinkled their noses, several of whom who hadn't seen her yet asking what the hell the stench was. Glory Girl laid her down on a gurney and began getting those present to either help or get out of the way, roting off what Panacea told her as the girl was now busy focusing on her.

They quickly had her put into a biohazard room while Panacea's orders were followed to the letter. A bed was brought into the room, and a feeding tube inserted into her body and connected to her stomach. There was also a bunch of other random medical paraphernalia she didn't really have as much interest in, watching as Panacea worked on her. It was honestly fascinating to watch her fighting so hard to save her.

Her body was cleaned of the disgusting mess that had been made of it by the contents of the locker before she ever touched the bed or had the tube inserted, and she felt her admiration for Glory Girl and Panacea ratchet up several notches. They had bore the horrid stench remarkably, once the seriousness of the situation came into full effect and they had seen her body. Her clothes had been thoroughly ruined in the time she had spent in there and she was changed into a hospital gown. Watching someone else take her out of clothes, wash her, then put her in a hospital gown was quite possibly the most bizarre thing she'd ever had to see.

Not that she'd had to see it at all. She could have chosen to not look, but, well, it was her body, it was something she felt naturally protective of. If she could actually be brought back, even if it was a consciousness that wasn't her directly, she'd be happy about that. Plus, with her new abilities, maybe she could protect her own body. That would be interesting. Maybe she would even be able to become something on her own. 'Guardian Angel'...no, a bit too pretentious. Maybe 'Esgal', it was Sindarin for veil, or screen, a protective cover against danger was what she would be after all.

That was, if Panacea was able to bring her body back from whatever brink it had reached. Already she could see that some of the pockmarks of the larvae burrowing into her skin were being worked on, probably stopping myiasis from re-occuring if there were any other eggs present. She was pretty sure there were none, she'd pulled away all the larvae that were on or inside of her, but the eggs that were present she had no real ability to control. She could feel the growing life within and could order it, but it wasn't able to do anything.

But it was also increasingly obvious that Panacea was already fatiguing. Deciding to test herself, she reached within her own body, sensing the innumerable bacteria and viruses that were using her body as a host and that Panacea was trying to fight. So far, she had only really used bugs, but, well, she was busy when she encountered Glory Girl and Panacea and so hadn't yet tried to see if she could control humans, but she was now going way down the other end.

Reaching for all of the things that did not belong within her body, she grasped them iron-fistedly, commanding them all to remain idle and do absolutely nothing. No duplication, no movement aside from how her body pushed them around, they were not to move or act in any way. Almost immediately she could see a spark of confusion flash across Panacea's face, though she capitalized on the sudden ease with which she was eliminating the infections, knocking out swathes of them using her power.

Taylor went over her own body with a fine-toothed comb, making sure that nothing was hiding from her power. But, confident that she'd caught all the bacteria that Panacea had detected, which was enough to get her a biohazard room, Taylor simply watched and waited as Panacea worked on her body, slowly closing up the deepest and most dangerous larvae holes, which were the most numerous injury she had.

As she suspected, and Panacea confirmed with a quiet mutter, the thing she had jabbed her arm with was some kind of drug, though a low quantity, not enough to do much. Panacea seemed to note the fact that it was just one and probably an isolated incident, since her body had no evidence of drug usage, something she didn't doubt the healer would have detected if it were present.

Using her own ability on her body, she was able to feel the void in her body when one of her kidneys disappeared entirely, then a short while later her body had energy directed into growing a kidney in its place. This happened with her other kidney, then several other organs. Panacea even cannibalized her appendix, spleen and gallbladder and used that to...wow, she literally grew her a second heart, then carefully shifted the connections to the new heart before dismantling the old heart and using that energy to recreate her gallbladder and spleen, though because of some physics law she didn't know the name of, just by changing the form of the mass, it burned energy, leaving her with less than she started with.

Panacea had obviously decided replacing her heart was far too critical to worry over temporarily using a few non-essential organs, then replacing them when she could. She proved this by using the incoming energy from the next fluid meal to reconstruct her appendix, including all the non-harmful bacteria contained within, the exact same micro-biome as had been there before it was removed.

She spent the entire day watching Panacea work to save her, admiring the girl as she sat beside her bed for hours working on her. Night rolled around, and with it, a new surprise. "Where is she?" Taylor heard the voice of her father, Panacea's head turning slightly before she re-focused on her task. Blipping outside of the room, she looked down the corridor and saw her father talking with a nurse as they approached the room, the pain on his face as her injuries and the state at which she was brought in was told to him.

Watching his hands curl into fists, she contented herself with knowing that he at least knew what had happened to her, re-entering the room and settling to watch Panacea work, though at this point she was mostly stable. She could tell, all of her organs were operating correctly, the only stuff left inside of her was fully functional or meant to be there, it was now just down to fixing the pockmarks the larvae had dug into her skin.

She could see the moment her father reached the large window looking into the room, his face going blank as he fell to his knees at the sight of her form. Panacea had done good work, but she was still visibly ruined, scars adorning her face, her arms, legs and pretty much every spot of exposed flesh. Scar tissue was better than leaving open wounds, and not worth the effort of turning into regular tissue, not yet at least. Panacea had bigger fish to fry than making sure she looked normal again.

Whilst she watched Panacea work, she also spent her time messing with the insects that were around. There were none in the room obviously, it was a biohazard room for a reason and an errant fly could spread whatever she had like wildfire. But she found that, well, insects wasn't quite right. It wasn't just them, it was...well, everything. Dogs, cats, bunny rabbits, foxes, lizards and snakes, everything she was able to reach out to, she could feel, she could control them. The main reason she hadn't before noticed was because her focus was on bugs, owing to how her situation had come about, and she hadn't really been thinking outside of the box.

But, one thing she was leery of trying was in controlling a human. She could feel them when she tried, walking around, sitting down, eating, sleeping, and other activities that if she had a face and proper emotions she probably would have blushed at. But controlling a human was...different, at least in her own perspective. Controlling animals and bugs and things sounded fine to her, but for some reason, controlling a human was just something she didn't want to consider.

She knew she could do it, and when she felt for them they didn't feel much different to the animals she was able to control, and yet, she still felt like it was breaking a taboo. A ridiculous notion, and if it came down to it, she wouldn't hesitate to control a human if it meant she could save their life or the lives of others. Maybe she could even control villains. It'd be perfect, commanding a villain to just barely miss their shots or their punches or just slightly mis-using whatever ability they have to make them less effective.

But then, she thought about it, her detached state letting her see almost instantly that she was thinking about things in the wrong way. Those like Kaiser and Lung, sure, she wouldn't hesitate, but what about those who were like her? The ones who tried to rely on the system, tried to stay out of trouble and held out hope that the system would catch those who were breaking the rules?

She had plenty of evidence of what the three bitches were doing, and every time she tried to make someone look at it and take it seriously, it ended up shoved under the carpet. Definitely the work of Emma Barnes, her father was powerful enough that she could lean on the school without even trying, making them bend over backwards for her, at the cost of who?

Her. She and the other students who didn't help them in their campaign of hatred, the ones who they targetted. And suddenly, it made sense. Sure, you had the real villains, then you had the villains who were that because society didn't let them be anything but villains. If it weren't for her strength, she would have gotten Sophia killed a long time ago by E88, and if that action ever came to light, she'd be in juvie before she could blink. If she earned powers, and wasn't currently detached and floating above herself watching Panacea work, she knew she wouldn't have gone to the wards or to New Wave trying to join them.

They were the system, or part of it at least. The system catered to those who sat on top, and let them put their boot on the heads of those beneath them, forcing them, like she was forced into the locker, down into the dirt, into being villains. It was a wonder nobody living had noticed and took action. Except, that wasn't true...was it? There were 'villains' who didn't actually go after random people, they just went after specific targets. They were the ones who recognized things for how they were and wanted to do something about it.

Not to say she supported murdering people just because they were higher up and got better treatment, but she could see their perspective. Society labelled them as villains, simply because they were unwilling to take the crap doled out by those above. Of course, that worked both ways, just as there were villains who were just trying to solve the problem, there were those in the system who probably saw the same thing and were utterly helpless to stop it. She didn't know who they were, but she knew it was likely that they existed.

She then snapped back to reality as she realized that her body just twitched. It was small, the curling of a finger, but she had definitely moved, and Taylor, or at least herself, hadn't done anything. Moving closer, she examined her own face, trying to figure out whether or not she was actually a split consciousness, when she felt a feeling like being drawn towards herself. Moving her vision back, she kept her distance, leery of the feeling. Her body was still being healed, there was time for experimenting later.

Though, it seemed Panacea was done, closing up the final pockmarks left on her body then slumping back in her chair, her eyes shut and her face just utterly exhausted. She'd have to do something nice for the girl, she had spent...a very long time sat in that chair only stopping to have some food and drink and one restroom visit, all to heal her. Curious, she investigated her own body, noting that she had brain functionality considering her heart was beating on its own, and her lungs were breathing on their own.

Panacea took a few scant moments to herself before reaching over to touch her arm again, an oddly frustrated look coming over her face. It was at that time that her father, outfitted in full biohazard gear, stepped into the airlock, then from there into the room. He walked up to the end of her bed, grasping the metal frame as he bit his lip. "How is she?" He asked softly.

"Medically speaking...she should be fine. I healed all her injuries and got rid of the bacteria in her body. But...something isn't adding up. Spontaneously while healing all the harmful bacteria in her body just...just stopped. But the kicker is that her Corona Pollentia and Gemma weren't active, if anything I'd say they were dead matter. I know it's breaking protocol to tell you anything about her potential as a parahuman, but...she is quite possibly the most unique medical case I've ever had." Panacea admitted openly, her hand still clasped around hers.

Her father shifted to the other side of the bed, kneeling down to look at her face. His hand raised and he placed it on her own, his eyes staring at her closed eyelids. "Will she wake up?" Panacea was the one to bite her lip, her grasp on her hand shifting a little as she shut her eyes. Her father was a patient man, but even she could see he was a wellspring of anger underneath, just looking for a target. "Will she?"

Panacea made a noise. "I...don't know. Her brain is still sending electrical signals to her body to keep operating normally, but none of the other functions are operating." Her father raised an eyebrow at the healer. "It's like...like the body is healed but the mind is elsewhere..." She trailed off, looking thoughtful. "Has your daughter ever displayed any sort of power over flies?"

Her father scoffed at the notion, shaking his head. "Then...I don't know. We only learned of her situation when a swarm of flies formed words telling us where she was, then at the location more flies displayed the window to the room she was in. But...as I said, her Corona Pollentia and Gemma still aren't active, and when I touch them, it's like they're dead."

While they spoke, Taylor was doing her own theorizing. She obviously had powers, but that still didn't explain her current situation. She had that drawing feeling, so perhaps as Panacea had mentioned, her body was just waiting for her to inhabit it again. Or...maybe...she could reach out to it. Her body was a lot stronger to her senses than Panacea or her father, so maybe she could touch it and use it like she used the insects.

Curious, she focused upon the hand that was holding Panacea's, willing it to close ever so slightly. She felt a spark of amusement when Panacea's eyes widened and she snapped her focus towards her head. "She just..." She muttered quietly. "Her brain isn't even active properly, but...I felt her hand close slightly." Taylor repeated the action slightly more firmly, prompting the girl's jaw to drop. "That isn't possible. Her brain isn't sending signals to her arm to close, and yet, it's doing so anyway...maybe body puppe-"

As she spoke, Panacea cut herself off, clamping her spare hand over her mouth, and for good reason. Body puppeteering sounded far too much like what Bonesaw or Nilbog did, and would see her comatose body thrown into the birdcage faster than anybody could say 'danger'. No, instead, she focused on her own brain, willing it to start waking up, to act as Taylor would, to be Taylor for her.

She wanted to stay detached, and was afraid that rejoining her body would mean she'd be trapped. Maybe she would still have her powers, maybe she would be able to freely detach herself again, but it was just maybe. She could already feel her brain responding to her command, electrical signals being sent as it, for lack of a better word, 'booted up'. "She's waking up." Panacea said softly, her hand still holding her own.

Taylor watched as an observer as her body woke up, pulling out of the comatose state it was in, her eyes cracking open ever so slightly. What she didn't expect was for them to focus on her, rather than the other two in the room, especially the one holding her hand. "Taylor Hebert?" Her body turned to look at Panacea, her eyes not quite focused. "What...were you looking at?" Her body smiled as she turned her gaze back towards her, her head sinking back into the pillows on the bed.

"At my guardian."

The next few hours passed in a bit of a panic.

Taylor...that was going to get confusing...Body-Taylor had identified that she was there above them. Though it'd probably bring up questions, she decided she'd just let her answer what Panacea was asking, under an oath of secrecy that she would have no qualms covering the girl in spiders if she broke. Body-Taylor told them that her guardian had broken away from her when she died, and yet, when she came back, her guardian was now just hovering above her, watching them.

That ended up inspiring plenty of other questions, since Panacea had checked, then double and triple-checked to make sure she wasn't insane, meaning the only other possibility, since her Corona Pollentia and Gemma were still basically dead matter, was that Body-Taylor was telling the truth. "So, this guardian of yours, they are watching us right now?" Body-Taylor nodded, a smile on her lips as she stared up at her. "And, who are they?"

That brought a frown to Body-Taylor's lips. "Well, they are my guardian. I guess the real term would be my mind but that's not quite right either...Guardian is Taylor, and I am...Body-Taylor? That doesn't sound right either. Guardian-Taylor was who I was before the locker, or at least partially, and now she doesn't want to be Body-Taylor any more, she wants to be free, not confined within her body. So, she made me. Or rather, she willed me into existence."

Body-Taylor glanced at Panacea, her lips curling down further. "You don't understand it, do you?" Panacea had to, after a moment, shake her head. "I am...new, but not new. I know what Guardian-Taylor knows, but she is Taylor, I am not Taylor, or at least not the original Taylor. She is currently floating above us watching us all, but she could join back into her body if she wished. Rather than do that, she decided to use her power to make her body behave 'normally'. Since she doesn't want to be within the body, her powers had to decide upon an alternative, which was...well, me."

Panacea glanced at her father, who she could see was not happy about what was going on. "So, Taylor...'Guardian-Taylor', the original, experienced a trigger inside of the locker, and split from her own body?" Body-Taylor made a humming noise, eventually nodding. "And then she was the one to direct us to you...her body?" Another nod. "And now she's detached from herself and doesn't want to reconnect with her own body?" Another nod. "Can she hear us?"

"She has been following us since you found me." That made Panacea shiver slightly as she looked up, her eyes passing right over her. "She won't hurt you, not unless you threaten me. She doesn't need me, not really, but she would hurt you badly if you did anything to me. I am her body, and to hurt or kill or destroy me would make her very, very cross."

"I understand." Panacea said quietly, sending another glance up at the ceiling before refocusing on Body-Taylor. "Does Guardian-Taylor mind if I tell her father more about the circumstances of how we found his daughter?" Body-Taylor glanced up at her, prompting her to bite her lip, startling her with the realization that she now had an astral body, but eventually shrugging and saying she didn't mind. This was relayed to Panacea, who then started describing the exact circumstances. While she did so, Taylor focused more on her own body.

She seemed to be absolutely fine, her toes wriggled when she asked Body-Taylor to do so, the same with her fingers, her eyelids and eyebrows moved and so did her ears, everything was working, but her body was being controlled by an accidentally-created version of herself, one that seemed to see her as a guardian. That was the moment she heard the creak of metal, her father having clenched his hand and slightly bent the metal frame that was in his grasp as Panacea told him of the list of problems she'd come in with.

Without even needing to direct her, Body-Taylor reached her other hand to put it on top of his, locking her eyes onto his. "I'm not...the original Taylor, but I'm still Taylor. I know you probably want her back in her body, but, well, with what I've already said you'd probably never quite be able to trust whether it was me or the original, so all I can say is that I, and she, are sorry for putting this on your shoulders on top of everything else." Her dad dropped his gaze, making Body-Taylor frown.

Both she and Body-Taylor were surprised when he reached out and pulled her into a hug. "I can't...lose you too." He then released Body-Taylor and looked up at the ceiling, his eyes eventually picking a spot to focus on. "All I care about is that you're safe and happy...if you feel safer and happier as you are now, what kind of father would I be if I rejected that?" Gnawing on her lip, Taylor debated what to do. She really didn't want to go back into her own body, she was terrified of being trapped. But she also didn't want to stay ethereal and unable to touch anything forever, and a biohazard hospital room where the only two other occupants were sworn to secrecy was probably the best place to try it.

Body-Taylor seemed to pick up on her distress, though she didn't know what she was distressed about. Cementing her resolve, Taylor moved her perspective towards her, surprising the girl. "Guardian-Taylor, are you sure? We both don't know what will happen." Her resolve affirmed, she responded by letting herself drift closer. With a feeling like being sucked into a drain almost, she felt sheets, and a mattress, and pillows. Opening her eyes, she looked up at the ceiling. She sat up, turning her focus inwardly and breathing a sigh of relief when she felt that she was still able to move herself, as well as feeling curious at the presence she could feel in her head.

"It's just me!" A smile tugged on her lips as she realized that Body-Taylor was still there, waiting to take over when she left her body. Turning her attention to her father, she reached out and pulled him into a hug, burying her face in his neck. After releasing him from the hug, she turned and, with a glint in her eyes and a smirk on her lips, she suddenly reached out and pulled Panacea into a hug as well, making the girl squeak. Quietly, she whispered to her, the girl not struggling as she returned the hug.

"Thank you."

So...that was awful.

Honestly, this is probably the weirdest pilot chapter I've ever written. It went up, down, left, right, side to side then did a backflip at the end and fell into a sewer grate. But hey, maybe people liked it? I don't know.

Please, leave a review telling me how good/bad/fucking awful this pilot was, I'd love to hear your perspective on it.