Keep Calm and Respawn

A Worm Fanfiction

By: Konsaki

11 Mar

The polished metal flashed in the evening light, the knife edge slicing through the air with nary a sound. Well, other than my grunts of effort and heavy breathing, that is.

Sweat dripped off my arm as I sliced through another string of slices and stabs. I blocked a strike from my imaginary opponent and slid inside his guard to stab him in the thigh. Twirling around, I used my left hand to push his arm to the side, his downward stab missing me as I flipped my knife into a backward grip and stabbed his kidney. I held that pose as the dust at my feet blew away with the slight breeze.

Letting out a tired breath, I stabbed myself in the heart. My next breath, I was clean and dry.

Sheathing my knife into the hidden sheath beneath my t-shirt, I stretched out. Sure, I didn't need to since my muscles weren't sore anymore but it still felt good as I reached for the sky.

Walking back over to where my backpack lay, I picked up the open book and started reading again. The MCMAP Instruction book was dry as hell but it included plenty of pictures and diagrams at least. Considering I was cheaper than hiring an instructor, it was totally worth the ten dollars I spent at the military surplus store on South Carolina St.

Sure, most of the knife techniques were designed to kill or maim your opponent but I didn't have to worry about that with someone like Alabaster. If I had to fight some normal person, I'll just use my baton instead of my knife.

Looking at my phone, I grimaced at the time. Shit, it was later than I expected. Dad's probably at the house wondering where I am.

Slipping my arms through the straps of my backpack, I felt the weight settle on my back and shoulders. I grunted as I shifted it to a better position. School books were freaking heavy… but that was the entire point.

Stepping out of the alley, I took a deep breath, looking towards the north. It was a couple miles of travel and it wasn't going to get any shorter.

Let's get this over with.

Walking a few steps to gain momentum, I set off at a ground eating jog, pacing myself for the long haul.

The knife was staying in its sheath for this one.

o0O0o

13 Mar – Night

Okay, here we go!

I step out of the alley, the broken streetlight above me leaving the area in near pitch black shadows. I wait for a vehicle to pass, it's head lights momentarily illuminating the area before returning to darkness. One foot in front of the other, I tread calmly across the asphalt and into the alley opposite to where I started.

A red light glows above a doorway, the only light in the narrow access between the buildings. I reach out and pull it open, slipping through with nary a sound except the heels of my boots softly tapping on concrete and the whispers of my coat in the air.

I'm thankful that my eyes are already adjusted to the darkness, the lights inside the small warehouse turned off. Well, except for the two dim overhead lamps casting a baleful pallor over the rows of shelves stacked up to the ceiling. The only other light source radiated out from an upstairs office.

I took a wild guess that the office was where I needed to go. Looking around in the near darkness, I saw no movement and heard the sounds of silence.

Shrugging, I moved over to the nearby stairs to gain access to the catwalk running along the exterior of the upstairs offices. I tread lightly but the hard soles of my boots caused a low but sharp echoing tap with each step. Still, I reached the top with no signs anyone noticed or cared of my presence.

Huh, maybe I could actually pull this off.

More echoing taps as I walked down the catwalk, the metal grating spaced about an inch apart allowing me to look down into the darkness below.

My mind instinct was telling me to crouch down as I got closer to the lit window but I stayed upright, walking at a sedate steady pace. The only thing I could do was walk softly but I couldn't sneak.

Passing in front of the dusty window, I saw three men inside, all ABB. There were two at a small table counting money with a nearby moneybox and a third kicking back smoking something in the back corner.

Reaching the door, I twisted the knob and pushed it in. Walking in like I owned the place, I stepped up to the table, ignoring the confused blinking of the two men sitting there. With gloved hands, I closed the moneybox, picked it up and started walking back out of the office.

"The fuck?!"

God damn it! I was almost out the door!

A bullet tore through my side and I forced a reset, running out the door and jumping over the railing. I broke my left leg on the landing but it was fixed a moment later.

"Motherfucker! Jayce turn on the lights, Lee get down there and find her!" A man's voice directed from above me before a pistol fired, the bullet hitting a wooden crate near my head.

I slipped through a gap in the crates and boxes, putting them between me and the ABB goon with the gun.

"You can't hide forever!" The lead goon yelled out as the sound of clanging metal echoed out from someone quickly going down the stairs.'

Okay, come on, girl. No direct fighting allowed. What're you going to do?

I looked around me before coming up with a quick plan. Sneaking down the aisle, I set the lockbox out in the open before extending my baton and slipping into another gap.

I'd just settled into my hiding spot when the warehouse lights came to life with a loud clunk. It wasn't blinding illumination, though, but a slow glow that grew stronger by the second. They were maybe halfway to full brightness when another ABB goon called out nearby. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

Did he really think I'd reveal myself like a little kid? Instead, I waited quietly, forcing my breath to be calm and even.

"Do you see him?" The leader called out, voice echoing off the shelves.

"Not yet." The closer voice called back before the footsteps paused. "Found the cashbox."

"Bring it back up here! We lose that and Lung'll have our asses!"

I started to tense up, readying for action. Easing and tightening my grip on the baton in my right hand, I waited until I saw the goon reach down to snag the bait.

"What the-"

That's all the goon got out before I shot out and smacked him in the forehead with the baton. He collapsed like a sack of rice, letting out a groan of pain as his pistol clattered to the floor. Quickly dropping my baton, I ignored the concerned yells from nearby to zip tie the goon's hands and arms together, effectively hog tying him.

Glancing at his dropped weapon, I shrugged to myself. Four booming gunshots echoed through the building as the bullets passed through my brain. I tossed the gun a second later and picked up both the baton and cashbox.

"What the fuck's going on down there?! Lee?! Answer me!"

I sprinted down the aisle, turning the corner at an intersection and ran towards the other side of the building from the offices. Finding another gap, I slid in and hid once more.

Two pairs of footsteps converged on where I ambushed Lee. Okay, I knew where they were now. Peeking out, I glanced around the aisle I was in. Spotting a gap around twelve feet up, I burned a charge to leap up to it.

It wasn't completely silent, my boots clunking dully on the wooden shelf but I could look down on either aisle now.

"It came from over there." Guess that's Jayce, cause it didn't sound like the leader.

"He can't take us both." The lead goon said, the two men starting to patrol once more.

Once they came into view, I frowned. They were actually being somewhat smart about this, staying around ten or so feet apart from each other. There's no way for me to take them both out at the same time and if I took out one, the other would see me.

They turned into the aisle to my left, warily looking around but not up. Okay, go after the first guy and risk the second shooting his buddy or drop the second and risk the first breaking off to escape? Decisions, decisions…

Well, it's show time.

Leaping down, I landed boots first into goon number two, our bodies collapsing into a messy heap on the ground. The goon looked out of it once I detangled myself from him but I jerked my head to the right.

The last ABB dude was running for his life to the exit I entered through, his gun clattering to the floor with his flight.

Shit! I pushed off, burning a charge to try and close the distance in time.

He reached the door, slamming it open before rocketing back towards me. He landed in a heap, curling into a ball to clutch his stomach with a groan.

At the door, Glory Girl lowered her leg from where she'd kicked the goon and smugly crossed her arms.

"Don't say it."

"I told you it wouldn't work." She replied with a smirk on her rosy lips.

I sighed in defeat. "I told you not to say it."

"And now I get to choose~!" She sang with a grin, swaying her hips with a little dance.

"Damn it… I hate that place." I complained, checking over goon number three, then restraining him.

"It's not my fault you made that bet." The blonde hero countered with a smile, stepping over the restrained goon when I set out to restrain the one I jumped on earlier.

"Hey, I was only joking around until you decided to put stakes on it." I responded back, quickly using the zip ties in my hand. "Besides, I was almost out of here before they reacted."

"Horseshoes and hand grenades, girl. Horseshoes and hand grenades." Glory Girl teased, picking up the cash box from where it fell on the floor. Popping it open, she pulled out a fold of tens and tossed it to me before hiding another fold for herself in the usual spot.

It was a quick process to call the PRT and inform them of the warehouse location.

Then we headed off to… Fugly Bob's.

God, I could already feel my arteries clogging and we'd only just ordered our food at the front counter. It's like the air was lined with oil and grease.

Heading off to the private room we met the Wards in before, I waved towards a little girl waving at us from a booth.

"How often do you eat this junk?" I asked Vikki as I closed the door behind us.

The blonde just shrugged as she sat in a chair, crossing her legs. "Once or twice a week."

"How the hell do you look like… that then?" I complained, gesturing towards her with a wave of my hand before plopping down into a chair.

"Superpowers, duh." Vikki answered, playfully sticking her tongue out at me.

"No, seriously, how?" I pushed, leaning forward with elbows on the table.

"My powers." She replied once more, waving a hand over her body. "Since I can't turn them off, I'm constantly burning calories to power it. At least, that's what the PRT eggheads think." She just shrugged. "It's not like I'm not active, though. I still run and play sports but only for fun now."

Oh, yeah. There was that law or something that kept capes from participating in school sports or tournaments.

Wait a second. That means Winslow was letting Shadow Stalker compete on the track team.

You know what, it doesn't matter anymore. I hadn't seen Sophia since that day. Really, it's like she dropped off the face of the planet, though I did hear a few students commenting on her absence. Overall, it seemed only the track team and the rest of the Trio cared.

And ever since they lost their muscle, Emma and Madison had quieted down quite a bit. I mean, Emma was still the 'popular girl' and Madison was still the 'cute girl' but they'd left me alone and that suited me just fine.

There was a knock at the door and a server came in with our food and drink. Half pound burger with bacon and Swiss and a side of chili cheese fries for Vikki; grilled chicken and fries for me.

Once the door closed, I flipped my hood back and pulled down my mask to take a drink of soda.

"So what's the special occasion?"

I quirked an eyebrow towards Vikki. "What?"

"You know… you usually pull your hood down to hide your face." She answered, popping a cheese covered fry into her mouth.

I just shrugged, swallowing my bite of chicken. "No one's going to see and I trust you. I mean, we're friends, right?"

A soft smile formed on Vikki's face. "Yeah… I guess we are."

o0O0o

Mar 18 – Late Evening

"So, you just so happened to be patrolling the same area I'm patrolling." I stood there unconvinced, arms crossed as I looked at Clockblocker and Vista.

"Complete coincidence!" The time stopping hero swore with a hand over his heart. "In no way were we told to try and smooth things over with you due to an ex-teammate who will not be named. Nope, that totally didn't happen."

Glancing to his left, I tried not to smile at Vista palming her face with both hands. "Shut up, idiot!"

"And they didn't tell you to join me if you happened to find me." I stated, the edges of my lips rebelling with an upward quirk.

Clockblocker looked aghast. "Of course not! That would be heinous manipulation! And they certainly didn't tell us to keep such a plan quiet."

I just shook my head, smile breaking out under my mask as Vista elbowed her partner in the side. "Sure, fine. Being alone gets boring anyways."

"Hey, before we go…" Vista started before worrying her bottom lip. "I can't talk for the others but I'm sorry about Shadow Stalker. She picked on me too but… it only got bad outside the tower when I had to patrol with her."

I just sighed and leaned up against the street light behind me. It wasn't late enough into the evening for it to be on but I could see some switching on down the street. "It's not your fault. It's not any of you guys' faults. Whoever's in charge of the Wards should have known though."

Clockblocker rubbed the back of his neck. "Aegis tried to… I don't know, rehabilitate her or something. He was always trying to get her involved. It just didn't do anything but bring the mood down. You know?"

Vista moved closer and whispered up to me with a hand to her face. "Don't tell anyone but I heard that Shadow Stalker's handler was caught faking records to keep her out of trouble."

"Huh…" I uttered, not sure how to take that information. On one hand, they had full evidence that Shadow Stalker was breaking the rules but, on the other, that means the PRT has corrupt people working in it.

"Yeah, pretty much after you left, Armsmaster did his tinker lie detector thing on Shadow Stalker before throwing her into a cell." Clockblocker said with a shrug. "Can't say I miss her."

"But since they're down a Ward now, they want to get me to join." I mused, pushing off to walk down the street.

"Look, you do your thing. If that means becoming a Ward, cool. If you want to stay independent, go for it." Clockblocker replied, walking beside me with Vista on the other side of him. "Hell, if you want to just come on over to the tower to play some videogames, you're welcome! If anyone gives you any trouble, tell them I invited you."

"Yeah, me too!" Vista eagerly added with a nod.

I smiled at that. I might take them up on the offer but… the PRT's and Wards' image was already tarnished for me. Sure the individual Wards sounded like great people but the program itself had flaws.

Plus, the more I thought about it, the less I liked the fact that I'd have someone telling me what to do.

Shaking my head to remove those thoughts I glanced around to see where we were.

"We're going into an alley?" Vista seemed confused but followed me in.

"Yeah, we just entered E88 territory." I confirmed, patting my pockets to ensure I had all my gear.

"Well, it's your patrol so lead on, Kimosabi!" Clock stated, stretching out his arms.

It was about thirty five minutes of wandering through the alleys in E88 territory before our first spot of action happened.

Of course, coming face to face with Alabaster leading a crew of skinheads isn't usually what you expect to happen.

We stared at each other for a moment before called out across the distance. "One knife each, first to ten?"

"What are you doing?!" Vista hissed at me.

"Do not interfere." Alabaster commanded the skinheads while flipping out one of his switchblade.

"Look, just let me handle this. Okay?" I said back to the two PRT heroes.

"I should really call this in." Clockblocker said, phone already in his hand.

"No, just let me do my thing. You guys stay back and watch." I replied before pulling out my own knife.

Walking out, I met Alabaster under a working lamp hanging on a line strung across the alley. "First to ten points wins. Any hit that would disable or kill someone normal is a point."

"Interesting… You think have a chance to defeat me." The pale skinned man mused, fingering the point of his blade.

"Hey, I've been practicing really hard." I defended myself, fishing a penny out of my pocket.

"We shall see, my dear. We shall see." He smiled his freaky slasher smile at me.

I tossed the penny into the air and fell into a defensive stance I'd practiced from the Marine training book. The air was silent for a second, then the sound of copper hitting concrete rang out.

Rush in, dodge, poke and miss. Slide back out of range. Slide in, twist around his stab. Jab him in the thigh and twist.

"How interesting…" He drawled in his rich baritone voice as he looked at the new hole in his grey pants. He then looked up towards me and his slasher smile disappeared.

Crap.

Dodge! Block, poke. Respawn. Duck, dive, twist! Slash and Stab! Block… it was a feint! Respawn. Jab, jab, slash! Lean back, thrust low, twist, stab high. Slide left. Respawn. Parry, Block, twist. Stab! Back, back, back! Get in and stab. Respawn.

"And so it ends." Alabaster drawled, putting away his knife with an utterly blank face.

I blinked and rolled the last few minutes in my head. Huh, I lost. Not super horribly, only by five points but I still lost.

I sighed as I sheathed my blade. "Nice fight."

"It was… adequate."

We then turned and walked back towards our respective teams.

"Come on, let's go." I told the two wards, moving back out of E88 territory.

"Wait. Did that seriously just happen?" Vista asked, trotting to catch up but glancing behind us.

"Yeah, that was really freaky." Clockblocker pitched in, disquieted.

I just smirked under my mask. "You get used to it."

o0O0o

20 Mar – Noon

"I wish I could say 'I can't believe you did that' but…" Vikki sardonically stated, walking beside me with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me! You're like the Suicide Queen or something!" Vikki replied with a shake of her head. "I know I'm reckless but you're like a step or two higher on the crazy chain."

"Hey, he's good baseline! I mean, I've been working hard and it shows!" I complained, crossing my arms.

"You challenged Alabaster to a knife fight." The blonde to my left dryly replied, as if that was justification.

"Whatever… How did you hear about it anyways?" I asked with a furrowed brow. "It was only Clock and Vista with me."

"My boyfriend told me." Vikki confidently answered with a grin.

"You're going out with Clockblocker?!" I ask with incredulity as I stepped away from the blonde.

"What?! No! Ew!" Her face twisted into disgust. "Don't say things like that!"

I couldn't help it, I burst out with laughter at her reaction.

"Ew! It's not funny, Taylor!" She complained, jerking her head away from me.

"Sorry but the look on your face!" I somehow got out through gasps of breath as I calmed down.

"No, Dean told me." Vikki steered back to the topic with a roll of her eyes.

"So, how did Dean know? Is he friends with the Wards, too?" I asked in confusion.

"You could say that." Vikki cryptically replied before glancing around. Leaning in, she hid a whisper by cupping her hands to my ear. "Dean is Gallant."

I blinked in surprise and jerked back. "Really?"

Vikky nodded with a bright smile. "Really!"

Huh. Thinking about it, Vikki has always been really friendly with Gallant whenever I've seen them together.

"That's cool, I guess." I said, still lost in thought.

"You guess?!" Vikki parroted before wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "Girl, we have got to find you a boyfriend so you 'know'."

Oh, thanks, Vikki. I can feel my face going nuclear now. Awesome.

"Just think about it! We could go on double dates and everything!" Vikki continued to tease me.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! Dean is awesome!" I yelled out, pushing out from her grasp to see her smirking in victory.

That's about the point we reached Brockton General Hospital and went inside. The main reception was pretty orderly, people entering or leaving as they will. Some people were conversing with the information desk while another group was trying to console a crying woman.

Vikki led me past all this, heading towards the Emergency area. We went down a couple hallways, Vikki having to show her identification a couple times, before we reached a nurses' station.

"Can I help you?" An overweight man in green scrubs asked after setting down a file.

"Yeah, I'm looking for my sister, Amy Dallon. You know, Panacea." Vikki answered, holding out her ID card once more.

The man, Jerry, looked at it before glancing towards a something behind the counter. "She's… currently assisting Dr Green at the moment. Let me page him."

I stood silently, holding my left arm, as Jerry's voice came over the intercom for Dr Green. The phone behind the desk rang a minute later, the nurse relaying Vikki's presence and situation. It's interesting to see people nodding while on the phone. You know, like the person on the other side can see them.

"Okay, your sister is on her way." Jerry said before returning to whatever he was doing.

"What's up?" I asked, seeing the look on Vikki's face.

The blonde just sighed, brushing some hair out of her face. "It's just… Ames likes to help out here at the hospital but she just… loses herself in it."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm… you know how you can lose track of time watching TV?"

I was more likely to do so with a good book but yeah. I nodded and gestured for my friend to go on.

"Well, Ames just loses herself in healing people."

"That's not a bad thing." I hedged, still not understanding the mild frustration showing on Vikki's face.

"She's been here since four o'clock yesterday."

I blinked at that before it really registered in my mind. That was around twenty hours of just healing people…

"Does she not need sleep?" There were people with that power. Maybe Amy had that with her healing ability.

"Yeah, she does." Vikki answered. "She just sometimes gets into a mood where she works until she collapses."

What do you say to that? I couldn't really think of anything but platitudes so decided to let silence fall over our conversation.

After a little longer of a wait, Vikki pushed off the wall. "Ames!"

"Vikki, what do you need?"

Woah… Vikki wasn't kidding. Her sister looked like she was barely standing on her feet, her eyes looking tired and drooping closed before widening once again. Even her Panacea costume looked worn and rumpled.

"Ames, come on. You need something to eat and then some sleep." The blonde said with concern, moving over to wrap an arm around her sister.

Amy sluggishly pushed the arm away, not quite stumbling but obviously not completely steady. "No, Vikki. There's still more I have to do."

"Ames," Vikki spoke softly, reaching out to hold the brown haired girl's shoulders, "there's always going to be more, but you can't keep doing this. You need to take care of yourself."

We pushed up against the wall as a nurse rushed by, a cart rattling before her till she turned into a room further up the hall.

"I need to go." Amy tried to free herself from her sister's grip.

"No, you need to get some food and rest!" Vikki argued, pulling Amy away as another nurse rushed into the same room. I saw Vikki look towards me for help.

"You should listen to your sister, Amy. She's just worried about you." I spoke up, moving towards the two sisters.

Amy's look turned harsh. "Who are you?"

"Her name's Taylor and she's a friend of mine." Vikki said in my favor.

"So you're bringing your friends here to force me?" Amy accused, narrowing her tired eyes.

"No, I just bumped into Vikki and followed her." I lied, hoping the tired Dallon girl didn't call me on it. "But Vikki has reason to be worried. You look like you could use some sleep."

When Amy looked like she'd argue more, Vikki preempted her. "Look, just come get some food and if you still want to help out, you can just come back." She indicated the nurses and doctors moving from room to room. "They can handle things while you get some food, right?"

Amy just let out a sigh. "Fine. But I'm coming back after I eat."

Vikki smiled at that, like she'd won the argument and everything that followed would go her way.

We wound up at a nearby sandwich shop, sitting at a booth with the two sisters on one side and me on the other. Amy had changed out of her Panacea costume and wore a simple forest green blouse and black skirt. She was slowly eating her chicken salad sandwich while Vikki and I had a tuna melt for each of us.

It was interesting to watch but I guess now that she had a chance to sit down and relax, the brunette Dallon sister just slowly… shut down.

Vikki and I shared a small smile between us as Amy rested with her head on her sister's shoulder. The closed eyes and even breathing made it completely obvious that she was fast asleep.

Vikki just sighed. "It's about time. You mind helping me with her?"

"Sure."

Getting Amy back to the Dallon home was a small adventure in itself. We called a cab and I had to help Vikki maneuver her sister in and out of it. Eventually, though, Vikki was carrying Amy bridal style into their home and putting her to bed.

Coming back down the stairs, she ran a hand through her slightly frazzled hair. "Hey, thanks for the help."

"No problem." I looked up the staircase. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah." She replied, heading over to the fridge and pulling a couple sodas out. "She just does this sometime. I wish I knew why."

I accepted the can and opened it to take a sip. "You two do seem… different." I realised what I was about to say at the last second and tried to not eat my foot.

Vikki just let out a dark chuckle. "Oh, she's adopted but it's not a secret. I still love her like she was my sister by birth."

I sat down at the kitchen table with her, feeling the cool can between my hands. "Maybe she's thinking about her parents. You know, her biological parents."

"Maybe." Vikki hedged before shaking her head sadly. "I don't know. I mean, all I know is that Mom and Dad knew them but they won't talk about them and… maybe Amy knows but she was pretty messed up when she started living with us."

I didn't know what to say to that. What could I say?

o0O0o

28 Mar - Morning

Okay, onto the home stretch… literally. I can literally see home coming closer and closer as my feet eat up concrete.

"Morning, Taylor!"

I wave to the neighbor. I'm too focused on managing my breath for more.

I finally reach the driveway and slow to a walk. Reaching into the bed of the truck, I pull out a water bottle and start drinking as I continue walking circles around the parked vehicle.

After the fifth walk around, I take a deep breath and head into the house.

"Dad, I'm home!"

"Welcome back, Taylor." Dad calls back from the kitchen. The smell of cooking bacon fills the house and makes my stomach grumble.

"Hmm, that smells amazing." I sniff the air, wandering towards the kitchen.

"Whoa. Hold it there, kiddo." Dad gives me a stern look even as he pokes at the pan. "You look like you just ran a marathon, so stay out till you clean up."

"I did run a marathon!" I proudly exclaimed with a wide smile. "Well, a quarter marathon."

"Really? That's impressive! How long is that? Four, five miles?"

"Six and a half!" I declare, planting my hands on my hips proudly.

"Nice!" Dad cheered for me, placing the cooked bacon on a plate and then placing it in the oven. "Have plans to join the track team? You might have a chance at a scholarship."

I shake my head, the wet sweaty ponytail slapping my neck. Ugh… I really need to take a shower. "Can't because of my powers."

"Oh…" Dad grimaced slightly. "That's too bad."

"Hey, I'm going to go take a shower. I'll be back down in a bit."

"Okay. I'll wait off on finishing breakfast for fifteen minutes." Dad offered up, pulling the pan off the gas fire.

"Love you, daddy!" I cutely say, playing like I was about to hug him.

"You, shower, now!" He quickly responded with a laugh.

Snagging some clean clothes, I headed into the bathroom to clean up. Peeling off the sweat soaked running clothes, I took a second to look in the mirror.

Damn, all that hard work is paying off!

Flexing my right arm, I see definite muscle. You know, not like I'm super butch 'Olga break you' levels of muscle mass but sharp defined muscles. I was still lacking in the bust and hip department though. I let out a sigh as I knew there was little I could do for that but at least my tummy was tight.

Peeling off my underwear, I hopped under the stream of steamy water.

It felt like nirvana!

Long story short, I got cleaned up and came downstairs just as Dad was placing the plates on the table. I finished wrapping my hair up in the towel with a twist and sat down looking at the tasty food.

"Feeling better, kiddo?" Dad asked as he sat down himself.

"So much better!" I agreed, spreading some butter on the toast. "Thanks for breakfast, Dad!" I punctuated that statement by biting into the slice of toast.

"So, what are your plans for today?"

"Well, I figured I'd call Vikki to see if she wants to do anything. If not, I'll see if the Wards want to hang out and play videogames or something. I still need to beat Vista at Dance Dance Revolution."

Dad put his mug of coffee down without drinking any. I put the bacon I was about to bite into back to the plate once I noticed how sad he looked.

"Dad… You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just… I feel like we're drifting away some." Dad replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

I scrunched my brow at that, trying to parse it in my head. "What do you mean?"

Dad just let out a sigh. "Maybe it's just seeing you growing up and this is just one of those things parents go through. I just notice you going out more than you used to. You're… you're changing and becoming your own woman." He smiled sadly. "Your mother would be so proud of how strong and mature you've become just this year alone."

I looked down to the plate of partially eaten breakfast unsure what to say.

"How about you spend the day with your dear old dad today instead?"

I didn't really have anything else planned and spending time with Dad was fun, too. "Sure. What do you want to do?"

"Well, remember the observatory they opened up last year?"

Yeah, it was a big collaboration between two tinkers to make a more efficient telescope up in the mountains to the west. It was an hour or so drive to get to, though. "Yeah. Something happening there?"

"Well, they've got a big show they've developed in their planetarium and they're advertising that you can even use a new simulator they built. I think it'll be fun to check it out."

"Sure, I'll get changed after I finish eating."

The shorts and t-shirt I was wearing was definitely not clothes for late winter mountains.

o0O0o

14 Apr - Late Evening

Things were starting to turn routine when it came to patrols. I know boring is good but there's only so many times you can patrol downtown with the Wards or hunt down low level goons for the ABB or E88. Hell, even knocking over a Merchant base was becoming passe.

Still, I was doing something to help the city by being a thorn in the side of the gangs. It might not be much but it's more than what the PRT and New Wave are doing as a whole… at least I like to think so.

The PRT, once I stepped back to look at them, wanted to keep the status quo. Sure, they'd rather put the bad guys behind bars but they didn't want to risk a gang war to do so. They were there to protect the common man and did the best they could but just taking the 'safe route' was letting the gangs continue to grow like a cancer.

New Wave was just a family of parahumans… well, two families now but connected by blood relations. Even though they had just as many capes as the Brockton Bay PRT, they had less overall protection if villains ambushed them for revenge. Considering that had happened in the past, it seemed the adults of New Wave were wary to kick the ant's nest again with so many underaged heros waiting to be targeted.

Then there was me, one of the few independent heroes in Brockton Bay. I didn't answer to anyone but I also had no support other than what friends I could make. I didn't have the PRT completely behind me like the Wards did but didn't have the PRT directing my life either. Dad was just a normal person but the fact that no one knew my civilian identity was the greatest protection he had. Hell, that was the only protection we had.

So, since I was the only hero that actually did something in the city to fight back against the gangs, I was back out into ABB controlled territory looking for something to happen.

Ever hear about the saying 'be careful what you wish for, you might just get it'? Yeah, I should have payed more attention to that. So, because I couldn't be content with boring, I now had fucking dragon chasing after me.

Yes, dragon. As in giant fire breathing lizard type of dragon only this one was named Lung. As in Lung, leader of the ABB gang and able to fight an Endbringer to standstill… by himself.

Okay, maybe I should take a step back and explain how things got to this point.

I was actually trying something new this time; you know, to keep things interesting. Instead of sticking to the alleyways I was trying my hand at roof hopping.

Yes, I know my first experiments failed horribly but I'm much more physically fit. I can actually make it from building to building now. Not all the time but I can tell which one's I need to use a charge on instead of falling to my death.

Anyways, I was up on the roofs when I saw a gout of flame flare up from an alley a block away. A cloud of shadows leaped up after, coming towards me, blocking my direct view of the next gout of flame.

I found out later that the cloud of darkness was caused by a petty villain named Grue who lead the small time villain team the Undersiders.

Basically, the Undersiders tried to run me over with a dragon, who is Lung.

Don't think any of them expected me to have some charges stored up, you know, so I could leap across streets and stuff.

The wave of darkness washed over me, leaving me deaf and blind before passing as the Undersiders flowed around me. I found out later they were all riding Bitch's dogs.

Anyways, once I could see again, I found myself facing a partially transformed Lung barreling down on me.

If you had to know what I was thinking at the time, it was basically, 'Fuck it. What's he going to do? Kill me?'

So, what'd I do? I punched him in the face… hard. So hard that he crashed into the edge of the building he just jumped off of and fell down into the alley between.

"Holy shit!" I glanced back to see the shadows gone, leaving awestruck teens astride three monstrous dogs. Later on, I realised that it was Regent who had yelled out in surprise but I had other things to worry about at the moment.

"Get out of here! I'll hold him off!" I cried back to them.

"Are you insane?!" The guy dressed in all black with a skull helmet exclaimed. "You're going to die!"

"Yeah, that sorta happens." I cheekily replied, turning back in time to experience the roof quaking under Lung's landing.

His dragon form was more complete now, his face a more elongated snout with a muscled tail swinging behind him and big webbed wings flaring out from his back. I have to wonder why he resembled a more western dragon instead of an eastern one.

"Hey, you overgrown lizard!" Okay, I had him looking at me now. "Go soak your head!"

Not all insult can be winners. Still, the blast of fire he blew at me was good enough to show I had his full attention.

Have I mentioned how uncomfortable it is to be burned alive, yet? I mean, it's not enough that you're being cooked on the outside but if you breath it in… completely over the line of 'warm and toasty' into charbroiled.

That one breath of fire killed me three and a half times.

Once it passed, I forced a reset, looking up into the great dragon of Okinawa.

"Ever hear of breath mints, asshole?!"

Okay, getting smashed into jelly was a new, if brief, experience. I popped back into being a couple yards to the left of his clawed paw.

I swear, I could see Lung look from me, back to his right paw and back to me.

I punched him in the face again. He fell down into the alley again.

"Hey, whoever you are!" A girl's voice broke the silence, though it was punctuated by a cough. Guess she took a hit or something. Maybe smoke inhalation.

"It's Respawn." I called over to their roof.

"Whatever it is, try to lead Lung back that way. There's an ABB warehouse." She tried to say more but broke down in more hacking coughs.

I had a split second to think about it. I had a pissed off dragon, a group of teens capes with one injured and a location of an ABB warehouse.

"You guys stay safe! I'm off to tweak the nose of a dragon!" I yelled before jumping down after Lung. Just so happened, I jumped down while he jumped up and I crushed myself on his face.

Once my body slid to a stop, I respawned and gathered my bearings.

I was looking at the Undersiders. The Undersiders were looking at me. Lung was looking at me 'through' the undersiders… Well, shit.

"Scatter!" Grue called out, causing Bitch's dogs to leap in three different directions.

A stream of darkness shot out to cover Lung's face for a moment, causing him to try and wipe it away like sand in his eye. Eventually Lung's body flared with fire, burning away the darkness and leaving me standing in front of a completely transformed and very pissed off Lung.

I broke out into a dead sprint, headed into the direction the purple girl, later known to be Tattletale, pointed the warehouse to be in. Leaping off the edge of the roof, I heard Lung scrambling behind me, a gout of flame enveloping my body for a split second, killing me once. The landing killed me a second time in just as many seconds.

I heard Lung crash to the ground behind me a second after I broke out into another dead sprint down the alley. Leaping over a pile of trash, I kicked off a dumpster to turn down an intersection. Behind me, it sounded like a monster was chasing me, trashing everything it could get it's claws on… and one was.

I eventually found a warehouse, figured any warehouse was a good warehouse and dove through a window.

Seems I was lucky. It was an ABB warehouse, as goons stared at me rolling out of the dive to quickly run further in between shelves stacked with crates of stuff. The dragon entered through the same window… and wall, a moment later.

Did I mention he's a fire breathing dragon?

Screams and fire alarms and panic for everybody!

Busting out the back exit, I stabbed myself quickly to regain my stamina. Left or right? Right!

I continued my flight as Lung burst out of the back wall, fire and smoke and screams following him… and me.

Glancing back, I saw him gaining on me. Looking forward, I figured I'd have to time it just right…

Hearing him gain ground on me by the second, I waited till the last moment and burned a charge to jump. Grabbing onto the edge of the roof, I looked down to see Lung crash into and through the wall below me. I actually laughed at the absurdity of it all.

Then the roof started to collapse.

Flipping myself over the edge, I started running. I swear, it was like one of those action movies, where the hero runs while the bridge conveniently collapses just behind him with just enough time to make a harrowing leap to the other side.

Taking out my knife, I stabbed myself fresh before turning around to look at the damage I had wrought.

So... that's two buildings on fire or destroyed and I've still got a pissed off dragon to deal with. Looking around quickly, I spotted one of the monster dogs on a nearby roof. Burning a charge, I leapt over and skidded to a stop in front of Grue.

"Okay, now what?!" I asked, glancing back at the growing flames and roars. "Know of any more warehouses?"

I didn't get a reply as a third person appeared on the roof and tossed something at my feet.

Dying via grenade! I'm setting all sorts of firsts tonight!

Explanation time: This is Oni Lee. He teleports, leaves clones and likes to blow things up. That about wraps him up in a nutshell.

"This getting fucking ridiculous!" I yelled out, seeing the monster dog Greu was riding leaping away with Oni Lee chasing him. A monstrous roar from behind reminded me I'd forgotten about the dragon.

Chomped by a dragon; check.

Okay, by this respawn I'd figured this is basically ABB territory. Any warehouse could pretty much be an ABB warehouse and if it wasn't they should have insurance.

I lept across the street using a boosted jump, hearing Lung catching up behind me. I was running low on charges and never really had many to begin with. Up ahead, I saw a skylight with light coming out of it. It looked big enough to be a warehouse… it'll do.

I crashed through the skylight in a shatter of glass, falling into the building below. The crash into the tables set up instead of shelves still caused a massive mess as things flew everywhere. Standing up, I shook my head clear of the dust and machine pieces that fell all over me.

"Who the fuck are you?!"

Blinking I turned to see a woman wearing a gas mask pick up a… some sort of gun and start pointing it in my direction.

Explanation time: This is Bakuda. She likes bombs. She's a bitch.

That's when Lung stuck his head through the skylight and started breathing fire.

And now we're all caught up to the present. Have a nice trip through time? I know I didn't.

Scrambling over the broken table of tinker parts, I burst out the back door, hearing dragon roars and cursing behind me. Turning down the alley, I pulled out my phone and pressed send.

"PRT Hotline. What is the nature of your emergency?"

"Lung! Dragon! Fire! Help!" I'm actually proud I was able to get all that out between gasps for air. Flipping the phone closed and pocketing it again, I leapt to the roofs once more.

Of course Oni Lee was up there and of course he started chasing me too.

"Motherfucker!" I yelled, diving down into the alley as the roof exploded behind me. It was a hard landing but the respawn refilled my stamina again, allowing me to sprint once again.

I think I should really have started playing Benny Hill's Yakety Sax song a long time ago, cause that's how my life was going at the moment.

I sprinted out of the alley, across the street, into the next alley and turned the corner to stare down the very large gun Bakuda pointed at me. I dropped down into a slid as she pulled the trigger, whatever she fired flying just over my head. I heard a pop behind me, not really an explosion but I didn't care, it had missed me.

Sliding between her legs, I got my feet under me and kicked off up to another roof. Screw staying in a narrow alley with a woman shooting a grenade launcher at me! Sure, she might not be able to kill me but dying still hurt, damn it!

I jumped a couple more roofs before coming to a stop and catch my breath by stabbing myself. Looking out over the area, I saw multiple fires and destroyed buildings. Oni Lee had stopped following me and Bakuda was somewhere below doing who knows what with that grenade launcher of hers.

Oh, and off in the distance Lung was chasing around some mobile figures, one of whom can shoot out darkness.

God damn it…

It took me a minute to get back to the fight, just in time to see Lung trip over his own two… four feet and crash down into yet another alley.

Okay, I had stamina resets but I could still feel myself running out of steam. Guess I never had to push myself this hard before. Who knew a dragon and his gang could be so tough to battle?

"I called for help! They should be on the way!" I yelled out as I landed near Regent and Tattletale. The girl was looking a little pale and clutching her head.

"How much longer?" Regent called back, jerking his hand towards him. Lung's left back paw missed the edge of the roof and he fell back into the alley, tearing a chunk of the roof off with him. I'm guessing that took a lot of effort because Regent's silk clothes were drenched with sweat.

"Five, maybe ten minutes." I returned before pushing forward towards the fire lizard.

It's hard to explain what happened next really. I mean, I died a few times to either fire or lizard damage. I punched Lung a couple times. Grue tried to keep Lung blind as much as he could but it wasn't doing much anymore.

Eventually, though, I saw flashing lights reflecting off buildings a couple blocks over but they weren't moving closer.

Well, why not bring the dragon to the PRT?

"Hey, Lung! Your mama was a gecko and your daddy was a pilot light!"

Childish, I know but it got his attention on me again.

Another hair raising chase later and I landed right smack dab into the middle of a standoff between the PRT and Bakuda.

Fuck my life.

Okay, so a lot of things happened all at once.

Bakuda took my entrance as a signal to start shooting grenades off wildly. Just so happens that she's a tinker, so these grenades do crazy stupid shit like turn people to mold or distort the fabric of space and time. Most of them went wide of either me or the PRT. Some of them didn't.

I'd rather not think of the results.

What I do know is the one that landed near me was a concussion grenade of some sort. You know, a wave of force and all. This one was strong enough to send me flying. Like, over the head of Lung, who was diving towards Bakuda, and back towards where the Undersiders were.

I got the briefest glimpse of Miss Militia shooting towards Bakuda with a rifle of some sort before I lost sight of it all.

All I know is that explosions went off all over the city a split second later. Basically everywhere except ABB controlled territory.

Landing face first, I forced a reset and slowly got up, spitting out some dirt. In front of me, were the Undersiders still astride the giant monster dogs.

"Thanks for the help." Grue offered with a nod.

"No problem." I automatically replied before scratching my masked cheek.

Regent let out a weak laugh. "If this is 'No problem' I'd hate to see what actually troubles you, girl."

"Grue." Tattletale called out weakly, almost through clenched teeth.

"Yeah?"

Like a switch being flipped, my adrenaline wore off. At least I think so, cause the world went sideways before going black.

Last think I remember was Tattletale's voice ghosting in on the wind, "Take her with us."

Then I woke up in a bed.

o0O0o

End of Chapter 5

o0O0o

A/N

Edit notice: I tweaked the ending slightly after waking up: having Taylor pass out instead of agreeing to leave with Undersiders.

So, I spent around ten hours writing this, which is pretty damn good for me. I'm tired, but I'm traveling in the morning, so I'm gonna post this and maybe fix any typos later as small edits.

Cheb
Thanks for the review, friend. I've got ideas bouncing in my head for Crimson Hunter but this is what's working for me right now. I still plan on getting back to it but I think it'll have to wait till KCaR is done.

Edale
That would be a nice kicker but it'd interrupt the flow some. Thanks for the thought though!