== Sapphire Skin ==

Arc 1 – Changes

Chapter 1 – Suiting Up

I dropped to my knees on the floor of my room, my breath heavy and sweat clinging to my skin. I gripped my right arm as it throbbed in discomfort; it felt numb, from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers. As I tried to steady my heart rate, I turned my gaze down to my hand. A drop of sweat fell from where it collected at the tip of my nose, crashing on the slick black metal that now enveloped my forearm, as well as the rest of my appendage.

"Okay, I think we're ready," I said to the empty room. At least, that's what I know it'd look like to anyone else. But as the armor of my right arm started to retreat back into my skin, a voice spoke up that confirmed what I already knew: I wasn't alone, not really.

—Hebert, you do not currently operate a maximum capacity. Recommended tactic: go on standby and replenish stamina levels before attempting to don full body armor.—

I say "voice", but it's not actually audible. To me, it 'sounds' like the memory of someone talking would sound in your head, just with a stern and calculating tone. And while I can hear its words inside my head, and it might make sense to respond with my own thoughts, doing so out loud seems more… needed, to show the separation between me and this, thing.

"Right," I replied —again, seemingly to myself— while standing and moving to my bed to sit as I took deep, steadying breaths.

But really, it's not like I had to worry about anyone overhearing me and thinking I was crazy. Dad wasn't home; he would be working late at the Dock Workers Association tonight. He'd been doing that a lot recently, ever since the hospital.

The hospital. For better or worse, it had all started there hadn't it? All of… this. I guess the Locker had actually been the start of everything, if I wanted to be literal, but it's not like I was actually conscious for it. I took a long, deep breath to calm myself as the parts I did remember, the parts I'd rather forget, came to the forefront of my mind. The coldness of the locker walls, the darkness that came with being shoved in face first, the disgusting feeling of the… filth that was stuffed in there with me. The feeling of it squishing up against my skin as the bugs started to crawl all over-

—Hebert! You are only wasting time with your wandering thoughts. Focus on your preparations.—

I gasped sharply in surprise, and then quickly snorted in mild annoyance at the jarring interruption. I stood and exited my room, my tiredness faded, and what was left of it, forgotten.

"We aren't going to be late are we?" I asked as I made my way down the creaking steps.

—Our current timetable is acceptable. You have sufficient time to consume your nutrients before our mission is set to begin.—

"Perfect. Once I'm done eating, we'll go." I said as I arrived in the kitchen. I heated up and ate some leftovers Dad had left me. Nothing fancy, but it was better than the hospital food.

The hospital. I thought again as I ate. I remember waking up there, and after both recalling and being informed of what had happened to me by both the doctors and my dad, they were getting ready to send me on my way with a miraculous clean bill of health.

That was when the voice in my head and I had our first meeting, if you can even call it that. It was soon after I had woken up, and I was finally alone. The doctors had moved on to other patients, I'd finally convinced Dad to go back to work, and I was ready to get some sleep. It had chosen that moment to start talking to me. Now, considering everything I'd just been through, I think the freak out that followed was completely understandable. At first, I'd demanded to know who was there; and when he replied that he was 'a part of me' and 'speaking in my head', well, it certainly didn't calm me down, that's for sure.

When I had demanded proof that he was what he said he was, proof that I hadn't just finally snapped and gone off the deep end, my back had begun to itch. Like, itch uncomfortably so; which wasn't weird initially, that is, until it started to hurt. Really hurt. Hurt so bad I tried to stop myself from screaming, though I didn't succeed in the end. The last thing I remember before passing out from the pain was seeing the armor begin to appear over my chest and arms.

Luckily, the nurses who'd heard my screams and came to check on me didn't see my armor. Apparently it had retracted just in time to avoid being seen, and when I woke up again, I had to pass it off as a nightmare. Good news was, I'd convinced them, bad news was, I'd convinced them. While they didn't have any reason to believe it'd been anything other than a night terror, they'd also decided to keep me at the hospital a little longer. If they had any suspicions that they thought there was anything… more, going on with me, they didn't mention it, or do anything that suggested otherwise.

I also had to convince Dad to go back to work all over again once he'd heard about the little scare I'd given the staff. It was nice to know he cared, but between being checked on almost twice as much by the hospital staff and Dad's reignited unwillingness to leave my side, I'd had no other opportunities to actually converse with the voice in my head, and find out more about the armor that came with it. I didn't bring it up with any of them because, well, they'd think I was crazy. Hell, I thought I was crazy. At least at first.

It wasn't until about a week later, after I'd left the hospital, and Dad had started staying late at work, that I had the opportunity to learn more about just what the hell had happened to me.

I'd told the voice to show itself again, and just like before, it had started with my back beginning to itch. This time though, I didn't scream, or pass out. That doesn't mean it was comfortable, at all. But when the sensation faded, I felt something on my back. I'd scrambled to the mirror in my bathroom and found what I could only describe as a metal beetle, larger than the size of my hand and colored a deep sapphire, fused to my spine, right between my shoulder blades. It's six legs and two pincers seemed to both pierce and meld with my skin at the same time.

I exhaled slowly, eyes closed, as I leaned back in my chair after finishing my meal, and felt the Scarab make contact with the wooden backrest of my seat. That's what I'd decided to call it, the 'Scarab', given the machine's likeness to an actual beetle. It also seemed weird to keep referring to its voice, which I guess was actually an A.I, as 'the voice inside my head'. Again, giving it a name helped with the separation, even if it was a part of my power.

My Power. I stifled a laughing snort. It still was a little hard for me to believe. Me. I was a parahuman. Me! After all those years as a kid where I said I'd be just like Alexandria if I ever got powers, that I'd be just like her and all the other Heroes of the Protectorate, I actually had powers. Granted, they were nothing like what I'd expected, but few things in life truly were. Plus, who cares? I HAVE POWERS! I could be a hero!

I could be a hero. No, I would be a hero. It was the thought that I used to calm myself whenever I started to think about everything that had led up to this, and found myself getting angry. The same thought that got me training with the armor each day after the hospital stay. It was one of the very few thoughts that brought a smile, a rare occurrence even now, to my face.

—Hebert. It is almost time.—

Sighing calmly and opening my eyes, I stood up and put my dishes in the sink. Immediately after I returned to my room, I felt the Scarab begin to grow, felt the armor begin to emerge. I'd been practicing as often as my body allowed whenever I was home alone, and I'd slowly been getting used to the feeling of the armor enveloping my body.

But that doesn't mean it didn't still hurt like a bitch though.

I'd practiced with only smaller parts of the armor covering my body, and I had finally gotten to the point where I could envelop an entire limb with almost no pain. Now it was more like severe discomfort, followed by that pins and needles feeling I get when a part of my body falls asleep and I'm trying to wake it up. However, there most certainly was pain whenever I tried to don anything more than one limb, let alone the entire set of armor. I'd say I'd made some progress since first discovering it and beginning to practice, but traveling a single inch in a mile long journey could be considered making progress too.

It always started with my back, that now recognizable but undoubtedly irritating itch spreading like wildfire across my skin. Then, as the armor started to emerge, it changed to a feeling similar to how I think something trying to tear itself free from my skin, and doing it as painfully as possible, would feel.

I could feel the Scarab growing, the slick material it was made out of becoming big enough to cover my shoulder blades and reach the small of my back. Its pincers grew long and upward on either side behind my head, and the six legs grew out and circled around to the front of my body. The lower four legs curled around my sides, aligning themselves with my ribs. The upper two legs curved over my shoulders and down the non-existent curve of my chest. The rest of the armor followed almost simultaneously, laying itself across my skin until it consumed my body.

When the pain finally faded, I took my time getting up and moving to the mirror to give myself a final inspection.

I knew I was tall for a girl, and I hadn't exactly filled out that height yet. I was tall, but lanky. But with the armor, that changed. The armor's form gave me some slight curves where there used to be none. It also covered my arms and legs, stopping them from looking long and gangly. My arms now looked smooth and solid, while my legs looked elegant and strong.

With the metallic body suit covering every inch of my skin, the figure the full armor struck was quite feminine, even if it did cover my hair. I wanted to look into changing that in the future, but only after I got over the pain that came with the change, if I ever did.

The armor that covered my upper chest and the upper sides of my ribs was a darkish blue, along with the Scarab and it's appendages. My shoulders shared the color, along with the armor from my knees to the tips of my feet, making them look like metallic blue knee-high boots. The rest of the armor was a simple metallic black.

And then there was my face, or rather, my mask. The blue armor from my chest extended to my neck and the back of my head, stopping at my jaw and hair lines respectively, giving way to the armored canvas that covered my face.

It was all black, except for my eyes. They were outlined by the same blue that colored other parts of my armor, with a thick blue strokes going downward through each of them at a slight angle. The armor even covered my eyes themselves, my irises now shining with a vibrant orange-ish hue.

I had realized early on that while my armor had a feminine look to it and would protect my identity, it still looked fairly edgy. Nowhere near as heroic or colorful as the childhood daydreams about my costume were.

Then again, I don't think I'd ever go out in costume if the armor was pink and came with a sparkling cape.

I'd already considered that I might be confused as a villain on my first few nights out, before I had a chance to build up a reputation. So, it had taken a bit of research and planning, but to make sure nothing went wrong in showing that I was a hero, I'd chosen my first targets very carefully.

—It is time to go, Hebert.—

With one final look and a nod to myself in the mirror, I turned to the window. Silently opening the old frame, I stepped out onto the slant of the roof after a quick peek around. I felt my armor's pincers begin to extend, and two crystalline wings began to form. After I closed my window, I cast one final look around. When I was sure no one had spotted me, I leapt straight up, and let my new wings quickly and silently carry me into the skies over Brockton Bay.

-][-

A/N: Ok, so, a bit of backstory and set up here. I promise, the next snippet gets into Taylor's first night out, and I've already got a general plan mapped out.

Let me know what you think. Did I swear too much with Taylor? Were you able to get a good feel for what the armor looks like? Can you imagine what the Scarab sounds like in her head? Should I have not used the colored text for when the Scarab speaks? Any recommendations for me to indicate that the scarab is speaking, if you think the current way doesn't work?

Did I do a good job telling how they (Taylor and the Scarab) met and how she discovered what she can do? I originally had a very different scene planned, one that would take place when Taylor woke up in the hospital, so this was one of my bigger concerns. There is more backstory to come, some pieces that need to be filled in, but I gotta leave other things for Taylor to inner monologue about later.

Comments and feedback help. I know everyone says that, but to anyone who hasn't written a story before, you have no idea how much reviews and constructive criticism can help spur you on to write that next snippet.