A.N. General disclaimer for all things copyright. I do not own the characters, setting, or lore utilized in the creation of this piece. My work is inspired by the creative thought of the original authors

She could dodge bullets.

Maybe.

She might be able to dodge bullets.

The realization came one day at school. She was in class, doing her best to ignore the snickering and hushed-but-not-quite-hidden whispers about her. They had always been there, preying on her insecurities, ridiculing her for her body and other superficial things. The words tore into her over the years, slowly crushed the resolve to endure into a paste that they had used to smear over the inside of her locker.

She had died because of them. She would never let that go.

The words, the ridicule, seemed so much less now after her awakening. She had a greater purpose to fulfill, something so much more to live for than to prove these stuck up bitches wrong. No, in the end it really didn't matter what they thought. They were monsters who fed off of the pain and terror of a 15 year old girl.

They were also murderers, or associated with the crime. They were killers who walked free, who never faced justice. As a hero, was that enough for her to act? Should she act, given the extent she could hurt someone?

Would she even care to stop if she did?

She tended to those thoughts, graphic ideas of revenge and unchained aggression, as she left the class, the mean words a far memory. It would be so easy, so simple. She had the strength that nobody would be able to stop her. None of them had powers, she was sure. Sophia was an athlete, sure, so that might be an issue, but nothing to troubling. They couldn't hurt her even if they tried. Nobody could, really.

She had already died once. What more was that?

As Taylor was walking out she turned to each in turn, gauging her thoughts against reality. Sophia had already left, headed to the track meet scheduled today no doubt. Emma, her former best friend, stood with her cronies, likely coming up with new ways to make her left harder. Honestly, she had held out the hope that they would stop after the monstrous event they had put her through, that some form of human decency and good would win out and they would realize how terrible they had been.

That hope had died the very next day when Emma had 'spilled' juice all over her.

She sighed. It didn't matter anymore. They had thrown their worst at her and it hadn't stuck. She couldn't bring herself to care what anyone, even the corrupt teachers, thought of her after that.

She turned to face the last of the Trio, Madison, only to find a straw pointed in her direction.

An instant later a spitball was blown out.

It was odd how her body reacted to dangerous situations now. Her heartbeat sped up, going from normal to pounding within an eye blink, and her senses sharpened. She could hear the small whispers of Emma's group, the talk having turned to the latest fashion. The sounds of lockers, several meters down the hall, clinking and clanging were vibrant to her enhanced hearing. Her eyes, sharpening to such an intensity, could track the motion of the spit ball, a small orb of pasty white, as it flew across the room.

The oddest part was how time seemed to slow, how everything went from normal to several degrees off so fast. People moved slower, walking as if through water with hair suspended in the action of turning a head only for it to fall moments later.

It was weird, strange, and, more to the point, only happened when she was in danger.

The spit ball continued to fly, crossing over empty desks and passing through the arms of a boy getting his bag.

She could dodge it. She could feel it. It would be easy. Just a simple step to the side, a short hop. Her body felt so alive, so capable, that she could barely contain herself.

Barely.

Can't out herself now, can she?

The spit ball hit, splattering against her sweater, and everything snapped back into place.

She locked eyes with Madison, the latter giving a sneer in her direction.

She didn't stick around to listen to how Emma would spin this, talk about how she was a waste of space and other horrible things.

'Barely' had been too close.