Conduit Escalation Chapter 2

Disclaimer, I don't own inFAMOUS Second Son or Worm! Starting back up with an alternate POV!

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"Fuck!" I screamed, my knees hitting hard against the pavement. I scrambled to get up, even as I heard the strange chitter and whoosh signaling the parahuman behind me.

I didn't come to Brockton Bay to get fucked up by some wannabe hero! Fuck, this is not what I was thinking would happen today!

I was from New York. Broke. Had a boy in Brockton, said he'd hook me up with a good gig, run bets at a dog fighting ring, shady shit but shady shit I'd rather do than run a fucking desk job.

And it was good money. For the last 7 fucking months I got to go from ring to ring, let those vicious little fuckers go at each other, place a few bets myself, life was gold.

Yeah sure, hail Nazi shit or whatever, like I gave a single crap about that. As long as I was getting paid I could deal with the few pieces of shits that took that stuff literally.

I had a good few looks at Hookwolf myself a couple nights ago, motherfucker was crazy. Nah unlike these Brocktonites I knew when not to dip my toes too deep. Fuck that.

They could all get butt fucked by Kaiser.

Every now and then though I had to do some gang shit. Nothing to serious, hang out with Trevor, watch him beat the shit out of some poor fucking woman. Maybe do some tax collection.

Today was the later though. Both, I should say.

And maybe I should have seen it coming, being in the better parts of this shit hole, but up until red hot embers splattered all over one of these skinhead's fucking faces, I had no idea how far up shit creek I was.

All that bullshit about 'gut instinct' turned out to be a fucking lie cause this bitch took down 3 armed gangbanbers in a few seconds and I never saw it coming.

A steel grip closed in around my hood, yanking me back as I tried to launch myself forward. I felt myself choke on my own spit as I was sent flying back onto the pavement.

I got a good look at her then, making sure to really commit her features to memory, in case someone came to me lookin' ta trade info for cash.

She had a light gray hoodie on her, not doing much to hide her thin frame.

She was wearing a medical mask, something you could get from a dollar store. Gorgeous brown hair and green eyes.

Even as I tried to focus on her face my eyes kept being drawn to her legs. The girl had thin tight black spats on, sports gear. Fuck, those legs man… you could tell she was a runner.

Those legs with that hair meant at least I got a show before getting laid the fuck out.

It was obvious now that this was all just piss poor luck. We were caught kicking the shit out of a black woman and this bitch came jogging by.

Nothing premeditated about it, not like you see in the movies, where criminals were stalked for hours to build up an avenue to attack. Just a wrong time wrong place, but reversed.

Her hand lit up with smoke, and she threw it in my face! The heavy smell of woodsmoke burned my nostrils while I hacked and coughed on the floor.

She just stood over me angrily, clenching and unclenching her fists.

………

Taylor Hebert

"F-fuck-cough-f-fuck you bitch!"

I sneered hatefully, snarling as I launched myself forward, straddling him as I took a fist of shirt with one hand, really debating on whether or not I should get some of my anger out by-by punching him.

The woman in the alley was broken. Her legs were twisted in a way that almost had me throw up. And her face was beaten black and blue.

A-and people just… walked around it! No one saw what was happening and decided to do something, fuck!

I flew into a rage. Luckily I had the forethought to put on my disposable mask before going in.

I wanted to hurt him so badly. Who knew how many other people he's beaten the shit out of, f-for nothing other than to satisfy his sick worldview.

"You won't get away with this! You think the Empire is just gonna take this lying down?!"

My eyes narrowed as I clenched my fist tighter but…. I felt my anger drain away. He wasn't worth it.

I wouldn't just be another bully, I was better than that. No, he'd go to jail, and-

I froze, ridged, as I… felt something stiffen under me.

I stared down at him, eyes wide.

He didn't seem to know what to say either, and we sat there on the floor for a few seconds, too stunned to say anything.

Then he gripped my hips and-

My fist rocked across his jaw and he was out cold.

I slowly got up, face burning.

I tried to put it out of my mind but… uh, yeah.

"Never again." I swore.

Note to self, never never straddle enemies to punch them.

I-I'll just kick em across the street the next time I'm in that situation. Yeah.

My eyes were drawn back to the woman by the alley wall, rushing over to her now that the fighting was done.

My heart twisted as I took a look at her injuries, propping her up on the side of the wall.

"Hey, can you here me?"

She moaned, looking to be trying to stay awake.

I grit my teeth, looking around for someone's phone. Finding one I quickly dialed 911.

"Hello? This is 911 what's your emergency?" A young woman on the line answered.

I spoke up, trying not to stutter.

"Yes I came across a woman beaten up in an alley! She looks really bad, and her legs are definitely broken. Could you please send someone?" I rattled off the address.

I could hear a scuffle on the other end, before she responded. "The police are on their way. Is there any sign of who did this?"

"Yes, a couple of gang members are lying down on the floor. A few of them have what looks like sulfur or something around their heads. No sign of any parahumans."

A short pause. "Alright. Stay where you are. If the gang members wake up, please try to get somewhere safe with the victim."

I doubt they'd be waking up for a few hours at least. The… the pervert probably longer.

"Ok, I understand."

I got up, pacing around, stewing in thought.

You think the Empire is just gonna take this lying down?!

"Fuck the Empire." I decided, growling. These people were slowly killing the city! You can't turn around a corner without being afraid of being mugged!

I paused, turning back to the wall.

And I had an idea.

I went over to the edge of the alley, getting my bag and reaching in to grab a spray can.

I hesitated, looking between the red and blue one, before deciding blue would look better and popped the cap.

I made a shield. That was the image I wanted; safety. Protection. A little blue kite shield with a circle around it. It felt right.

I decided then and there that the next time this happened, I'd do the same thing.

My own little spite against the gangs.

I sighed, sliding up next to the woman until I heard the sirens.

Then I let myself disappear through one of the vents.

……

I sighed, letting the door behind me slowly click shut. Even though I felt a bit guilty, I had still done a good thing right?

I knew I'd have to tell dad, and that he'd be disappointed and frustrated. It wasn't the first time in the last few weeks I've seen something and… decided to butt in.

Getting the transfer was a slow work in progress, but… I think he was making it happen. It motivated me enough to get caught up on school work, getting ready for the test to get into Arcadia.

We… spent some time together, or rather, we tried. It was hard and things were still awkward between us, not helped by me constantly jumping into trouble.

I knew he was this close to banning me from my jogs, just out of fear of me getting in trouble. And the only reason he hadn't already was because he knew how restless I felt!

It was hard. The desire to use my power was strong, and the need to help people burned at me.

I could ignore it, but when someone was in front of me… well, I just couldn't turn a blind eye.

My only outlet was throwing up my art around the abandoned parts of town. And covering up some bad graffiti on the better parts of the town.

The only time I could was when I was out on my jogs, hence why I carried around spray cans.

Dad was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper, but seemed to have heard me come in. He seemed to be looking better the last few weeks.

"Hey kiddo."

"Hey dad."

He paused, setting his newspaper down before turning to me with a frown.

I winced. My guilt was probably written all over my face and colored my voice. Dad told me I sounded just like mom when she was trying to hide something.

"Taylor." He said flatly. "Did something happen while you were out?"

Another wince. "Well… I may have… you know…" I muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

He sighed, looking tired. "How many?"

"Four. No, five."

"Taylor-"

"They broke this poor woman's legs! It was horrible! I couldn't have not done anything!"

"You shouldn't be the one having to step in!"

"Well no one else was! And… and I could! I can't-I can't just turn around when I could do something." I felt my eyes start to burn. "I just can't."

"Taylor." He sounded pained. "Honey, people are talking. I'm worried. Eventually you'll find trouble you can't handle."

There was a big part of me that said let them come. Another part of me, a quieter part, was afraid.

I hadn't even explored my powers. If I kept attracting attention then eventually something worse than gangers would come for me.

Still.

"If people need help I can't turn away." I said firmly. "I have these powers… it wouldn't be right to leave someone to be hurt if I have the power to stop it. It's my responsibility."

"Just… be careful sweetheart." Dad sighed, ruffling my hair affectionately. "Just because you are stronger than a thug doesn't mean you can't get hurt. I'm worried about people way more ruthless."

"I'm not actively looking for danger." I reassured. "But when I see someone in trouble my feet just kinda move on their own."

"You're a good person Owl. But good people tend to get eaten up in this world."

I wanted to tell dad he was wrong, but I wasn't sure what to say. Instead I told him I'd start on dinner after I took a shower, and wondered if I believed that cheesy saying that there was good in all people.

Maybe on some level I thought people could be redeemed, but that warred with the thought of ever forgiving people like Emma or Sophia for what they did to me.

In the end I decided that I shouldn't think about it.

It wasn't like they'd ever become good people anyway.

………..

Missy Baron(Vista)

"Console this is Vista, I've lost contact with Shadow Stalker."

There was a pause.

Before a heavy downtrodden sigh.

"What direction did she run off this time?"

"She went East off into Merchant territory." I said apologetically.

While I was pissed at her, and I'd probably get asked a few questions about her running off, again, Chris was the one who would have to try to convince her to come back.

Good luck to him.

My irritation melted to anger at the thought of how mean she was to Chris all the time, and how horrible of a person she was.

Now that I was a freshman in Arcadia, I was super thankful she went to that shithole Winslow.

If I had to listen to her bitchiness more than for 3 hours a day I'd kill someone.

And it was also pretty cool that I got to spend more time with Dean.

Just thinking about him had me blushing up a storm.

Him and Vicky just went on break, and I was feeling extra hopeful this time around. Sure he was 17 and I was 14, but a girl could dream!

I mean it's not that big of an age gap right? And they break up like every couple months!

Part of me really wanted him to be my boyfriend. Another part of me I couldn't suppress, thought it'd be super icky for a soon to be 18 year old male dating a 14 year old girl, and how much of a creep he'd have to be to consider it.

Alas such was the problem between raging hormones and rational thought.

I winced, trying to distract myself from those thoughts as I caught sight of a couple of gangbangers smoking crack at the edge of an alley.

Hopefully now that I'm working my way out of the cutesy girl persona PR will let me get a freakin' taser soon. I growled to myself, thinking about how difficult cape life was without one.

I didn't want to risk them going into a seizure or something when I started twisting reality.

Although on second thought a taser might not be the best solution to that either…

"Console are you there?"

No response.

I sighed irritability. "Kid Win do you copy?"

"I-yeah sorry Vista. What is it?"

"3 skinheads taking illegal substances, no sign of a dealer, could you call 911 for a pickup?"

He sighed. "Roger, you're free to engage."

Darn right.

I've been doing this since I was 9, if anyone thought I couldn't handle a few gangers then they were sorely mistaken.

Okay.

I focused a bit and the alley stretched between the three, separating them.

They never saw me coming. It was almost criminally easy.

I hefted them up, zip ties in hand, when I noticed graffiti on the wall.

"Kid Win I have something." I activated my communications device.

"What is it?" He seemed a bit upset. Sophia probably said something.

"More of those gang tags that have been popping up. The one with the blue shield and a circle. Taking a picture now." I whipped out my PRT issued phone and took a couple of pictures from different angles.

"What's with that? They've been popping up in random places all around town."

I preened a bit. This was why I liked Kid Win. He never really treated me like a child. Well, at least most of the time.

And the fact that he deferred to my experience often. He knew I had been in the game for years and usually asked for my opinion on things.

"Far as I can tell? Maybe some wannabe gang is trying to mark up as much of the city as they can to pretend they have territory. Or it's related to that parahuman Miss Militia talked to us about. Or maybe both."

Sightings of the new cape on the scene were scarce, but consistent.

Someone was either pulled into an alley or looking for a quicker way home, and got beaten up by some gang members.

And then a parahuman swoops in, beats the crap out of some AZN Bad Boys or the Empire and calls the police.

The timing was infrequent, fast, and had no general area it was happening in.

Which meant little to none information.

And eyewitness testimony wasn't exactly reliable. From what we could get they were tall black, asian, and white. And either a lean teenage boy or a grown woman.

The only concrete information was that their power could nonlethally knock a person unconscious with sulfur, and that they had some kind of Mover-Brute ability.

Either way, Miss Militia had us keeping our ears and eyes open.

A jolt went up my spine as I heard the screech of metal on rock and the quick heavy footsteps of something approaching me fast.

I turned around as quickly as I could. Looking up I only had a second to realize that the blur of metal limbs and hooks was on me as my eyes widened with fear.

...

And that's a wrap! Wow, it's been a while. Sorry for the wait, life happens. But I'm back now and yes I will hopefully get some more chapters up soon.