-/ Chapter 4: The Bright Light /-
Monday came too soon. I had spent the majority of the night rifling through documents that I had found in my lair. The Heroic Five's tinker had been thorough in documenting everything, especially her tinker stuff. Using the documentation as a guide I think I could actually operate some of the stuff relatively safely and I actually considered using one of the fives motorcycles to get around town. But why ride around on second hand tinker stuff when you could travel in style of your own design? As such it shouldn't be surprising that I had finalized the design features of what would be my new Atlas and already started enlarging a beetle that would become the titanic bug. I had a mild migraine, more an annoyance than anything, and was operating on only a few hours of restless, nightmare-filled sleep. I ate a large breakfast, had coffee instead of tea, and jogged to school instead of trying to stay awake on the bus ride to Winslow.
I robotically went through the assignment in first period and before heading online to check Parahumans Online. As it turns out there were no less than fifteen forum threads that had something to do with my activities the last few days. There were the usual demands for more information by those not on the inside, a few posters that were either at the scene of an event or heard about it as part of the PRT or BBPD that had access to the reports of the events relaying what was known. Others focused on Skitter.
There was a lot of speculation on the extent of my powers. That wasn't all too surprising; I had been using extremely large swarms. But my use of swarm decoys and utilizing swarm screens to mask my movement had the boards speculating that I'd soon be getting a changer rating due to my apparent ability to covert my own body into a small swarm of bugs. This was rather interestingly 'supported' by video of the theatrics I made use of during the raids. If I didn't know better I'd believe it, whether it was my making use of swarm screens to mask my movements or a swarm decoy exploding and moving from point to point it looked convincing.
Watching the videos of my raids floating over the net also made it clear that the spectacle had worked, people focused on the massive formations of bugs or on the seeming inhuman nature of my cape persona. So convincing was the act that there was a thread that in no uncertain terms stated that I was likely a case fifty three citing that my unusual powers (there was a total of two other capes that had bug centric powers) and the apparent potency of those powers as common traits of other case fifty threes. Another poster speculated that I would likely be headhunted by Faultline's Crew.
This brought me to my next observation… I noticed that more than a few of the videos focused on my victims during and after attacks by my swarm. It looked as horrifying as it was undoubtedly to experience. If the comments were any indication the three words used to describe me would be creepy, terrifying, and villainous. That last one annoyed me. Thankfully I wasn't the only one who believed I was a hero. Vigilant and a minority of posters argued that I at least shouldn't be classified as a villain until I did something truly villainous. My powers and style made me seem villainous but I could easily be an example of an antihero or a good person with bad powers. I wondered what I could do to improve my image. I didn't want the average person on the street to scare themselves shitless if I showed up in costume, or even worse cause a massive outbreak of entomophobia.
I was struggling to stay awake when I deposited myself in my seat for History class. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily depending on how you looked at it, Mr. Michealson's blatant enthusiasm for teaching history and history in general was infectious in a way that Glady could only dream of. The older man stormed back and forth from one side of the class while muttering to himself and making wild gestures that if he'd been encountered on the street would have led to one assuming insanity.
He scribbled on the board as the last of the class settled in just after the tardy bell rang, "As I'm sure you all know, or maybe you don't -I can never keep track of which- The Wards East North East team's biannual visit was moved up for this semester. Instead of being in April, it's today."
There were murmurs among the class as his words sunk in. I nodded dumbly before it hit me what he had said. The Wards were coming here. My mind raced for reasons until it recalled Director Piggot telling Skitter that fact yesterday during our phone conversation. The Wards and PRT were actually here to draw out confirmation on the bullying I had been subjected to.
"As such I thought it'd be a good time to refresh everyone's memory on recent Cape history, especially as it pertains to Brockton Bay's local scene," Michelson continued his voice taking on that quality that signaled a subject that was really near and dear to the man's heart. It had become obvious over the last month that the only thing more interesting to Michelson then cape history was capes themselves. He had three different Protectorate 'V-formation' posters adorning the class' walls each from a different era.
"As you know from last week's lesson, unless you slept through all of them -Mr. Rivers I'm looking at you- The fifties and sixties are collectively known as the dark era as villains across the world were consistently victorious in their varied schemes. Those that donned the mask for truth justice and all that jazz found themselves increasingly cut off from one another and on the wrong side of popular opinion and by extension local law enforcers thanks to the adoption of the more brutal vigilantism of the era that was recently romanticized in literature and comics of the nineties," Michelson recapped his voice taking on peculiar qualities as he animated his words with exaggerated body language. I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if you told me he had for a long time worn a full face mask and heavy armor, the way he emoted wasn't uncommon for capes who tried to make themselves expressive through such costumes.
"This era came to an end with the arrival of the Triumvirate and the establishment of the Protectorate," he paused and game a nostalgic smile before continuing, "While they were not alone in their efforts Legend, Hero, Alexandria, and Eidolon did irrevocably change the landscape of … well everything. Across the Americas heroes were able to unite under a single banner to combat greater threats from villains and enjoy the support of the government for the first time. In time similar organizations would appear on other continents and countries and for the first time in far, far too many years villains feared the changing tide and were universally on the back foot."
"I'm sure you're more interested however in the Wards, the junior branch of the protectorate filled with your powered peers who choose to fight the good fight. The Wards were established in …"
I was woken by the bell nearly forty five minutes later. Someone slapped me in the back of the head as they passed to leave the room. I shook the cobwebs from my mind as I heard Michelson walk over. When I made my eyes meet his he smiled and handed me a small packet of paper, "Today's notes, the pages covered in the textbook for further reading, and an assignment for falling asleep in class."
I nodded taking the packet and stuffing it in my bag. Michelson gave you a choice, if you fell asleep in his class you either did an assignment or took a tardy. Since accumulating enough tardies could make you fail the class and the grades from the assignments could help offset bad test scores almost everyone took the assignments. I knew at least one of the jocks often feigned sleeping just to get the assignments, they weren't particularly hard. That sort of consideration was why I liked my History teacher. The world needs more Mr. Michelsons, "I'm really sorry. I had …got hit with the insomnia bug last night."
"No problem. After all I doubt you'd want to fall asleep during the Ward's meet and greet," he replied in understanding and I found myself nodding in agreement. I didn't want to be half asleep when they showed up.
In Mr. Glady's World Issues class there was orange juice in my usual seat and the empty bottle left lying under it. I sighed, not because of the prank itself, but because it represented that I wasn't sure how much my previous life's memories could be relied on for as a road map to what will happen. This was almost three months too soon. I sat in another seat hearing snickers from were Madison sat.
After class I was crowded into a corner and the cadre of girls went about making their insults about me to each other as if I wasn't there. I noted that unlike last time, or for that matter any time before, I could tell Sophia wasn't really into it. As the girls started contradicting one another I wondered if this change was because she was having a hard time fitting me neatly into her binary predator or prey mentality. After all, I wouldn't defend myself against school bullies but I could and had attacked a super villain when he took me hostage. What would she think if she knew what kind of loaded gun I had with just the bugs in the school? I shook my head clearing the line of thought which was misread by Emma.
"What's wrong Taylor?" she asked in mock sincerity, "Going to lose it again? Or maybe you're going to cry yourself to sleep for a week straight."
The memory…memories, came to mind in a flash and just as quickly I walled off the memory and compartmentalized the hurt that surfaced. I was made of sterner stuff then I had been last time. So I arced an eyebrow and spoke a bit louder than normal, just enough to draw attention, "Really, Emma? Bringing up my Mom's death now? Turning something I confided in you about back when we were friends; I wonder what THAT looks like to your new friends. What does it say about the secrets they have told you in confidence?"
"What?" Emma's voice was as surprised as her face. She expected a much different result. She was completely off balanced; there was only one thing to do in this situation. Go for the kill.
"Haven't you realized yet? Nothing you do or say really bothers me. You're nothing but an inconvenience. I don't avoid you because I'm scared of you, I avoid you because it's easier then dealing with your ridiculous antics," I stated evenly before shouldering past her. She growled the beginning of a rebuttal but it died in her throat when she saw Mr. Glady standing just outside his classroom door. The situation was too much for him to ignore, now he was duty bound to do something. I didn't spare him a glance as I walked off to eat my lunch in peace secure in the knowledge that I had recorded the entire thing. Most of the earlier events were things that the faculty could deny being aware of because of where and when they took place, this one however wasn't.
I let my facade slip after I found a nice secluded spot in the gym's bleachers to eat. The gym, little more than an indoor basketball court than anything, was perfect; it was big and wide open so I could spot the bullies well in advance if they came looking for me. And yet it was the last place the terrible trio would come looking for me. Taylor had no reason to be here. As such I was safe enough to let myself feel for a moment; I shrugged off the mental armor that I had built around myself and let the hurt in. I cried. I thought I'd be ready for Emma's gut punch this time but I hadn't figured on my subconscious drawing on the memories of both lives. I had barely held back the flood gates then, now? I let myself feel.
Just after I pulled myself back together the principal came over the intercom instructing all students to gather in the gym for the Wards' meet and greet. It didn't take long for the gym to fill up, definitely less time than it did for the damnable pep rallies. Thanks to the bugs in the school I knew that the Wards had been on school grounds for almost twenty minutes before having largely arrived by way of a PRT van with Miss Militia acting as a chaperon. Sophia had waited to slip away from her friends during the migration towards the gym.
On a whim I had made a swarm clone on the roof of the building across the street from the school and gave it a few tens of thousands bugs to act as a small swarm. Skitter was after all supposed to be aware of this even if Taylor wasn't. It also established a reason why there'd be more than average bug activity in the school as I used them to watch the spectacle that was the Wards' entrance. Aegis and Kid Win flew in the latter using his hoverboard while Vista, Gallant, and Clockblocker zipped in at unusual speed as the youngest of the group distorted space and finally Shadow Stalker fell through the ceiling in her shadow form. The flaring of Sophia's cloak made the entrance look more graceful than it was.
The Wards spoke intermittently about a variety of things that was usually covered at these sorts of events. At about the last fifteen minutes they opened things up into a question and answer session. Someone posed the question of how the Wards got their powers. Clockblocker delivered a little gem, "Why, so you can go have a lab accident hoping to get powers?"
As usual when he spoke his audience laughed I could see a few of the Wards snicker at the comment. I almost missed it when I heard Miss Militia's voice though my swarm, "Skitter what are you going here?"
It took me a moment to realize where she was, she had gotten herself within thirty feet of my swarm clone. I had it turn towards the cape and address her, "Watching. Mostly waiting."
"Waiting for what?" The flag wearing hero asked as her hand moved to the sheath for her power's weapon.
"To tell Taylor goodbye," I made an effort of getting the swarm to sound sad at the prospect. I had been practicing particularly at adding emotion to my swarm voice. It wasn't exactly easy to do as I had to figure out how a person's voice changed to convey an particular emotion and try to mimic that change using hundreds of sounds that made up the whole.
"Are you leaving?" She asked confused. I wasn't surprised that Piggot hadn't bothered to inform the Protectorate member of Skitter's intention of cutting ties with Taylor.
"No. I'm just going to stop associating with her. I don't want her to get caught up in the cape scene; especially with me looking to make enemies out of the gangs of the city," I elaborated as I dropped back into the swarm's emotionless drone as if Skitter was trying to reassert a callous, clinical detachment. I wanted the villains to fear Skitter, to see me as a supernatural threat, but I also wanted the heroes to know me as a human being. Combine that with a want to be considered a hero by the public at large and I was juggling a lot when it came to interacting as Skitter; even more so since I still didn't have the interpersonal skills to really flourish.
Miss Militia nodded in understanding. I wondered what she thought of the idea of a cape distancing themselves from humanity generally or specifically for the safety of others,"Shouldn't you be in school?"
"I'm home schooled," I lied trying to divorce Taylor and Skitter further and help explain how Skitter was present, "Helps out when I'm investigating something like Shadow Stalker's misconduct. I assume Piggot is still going through the evidence."
"Her and a few others. I don't know how you did it but Piggot has been keeping fairly to herself to keep the Wards from knowing how angry she is."
"You'd be too if you read the journals alone. It's vicious what's been done to her. A part of me is glad that she doesn't seem to have the ability to trigger; I couldn't imagine having to take that kind of abuse for so long without lashing out with my powers. Just watching the events of the past few weeks unfold made me annoyed and angry at myself because I couldn't help her more directly."
"You couldn't?"
"Look at me. If I was to intervene more directly the school would assume it came under attack by a bug controlling villain. And my attacking and humiliating those kids would ruin any headway I've made in promoting a positive public image of myself. The most I could do was offer a shoulder to cry on and reassurances that things would get better. I hope the PRT doesn't make a liar of me. The girl has suffered enough," As odd as it was, I didn't really have any difficulty divorcing Skitter and Taylor. Well I had no problem as Skitter talking about Taylor as is she was another person entirely; doing the reverse was a bit harder. What did that say about me? Was I becoming the mask? Or maybe some other metaphor described what was happening to me better, I didn't know.
Inside the assembly had ended and everyone was released to their next classes. The Wards, we were told, would be coming around to random classes for the rest of the day. Kid Win and Shadow Stalker I noticed had also departed the latter walking right through a wall while the former hovered over the crowd. I had waited to leave until the majority of the tangle of students had already left.
It wasn't hard for them to subtly pull me aside; Vista was extremely efficient at quick minor alterations to the locale. As such when I clattered down the bleachers stairs I went exactly where they wanted me to. I looked around somewhat confused by Vista's spatial warping. My bugs gave me a sense of my positioning but the disorientation was a little too much like when I was teleported by Trickster for my liking. I was now on the ground floor of the gym close to the door to the away team's locker room. Closing my eyes I shook my head to help reorient myself.
"Hi Taylor," Aegis said brightly. How had he? He was leaning against the nearby wall like he had been there the entire time. Given that Vista had manipulated my path I bet she had given him a shortcut here while I was disoriented. Thanks to the fly on her head part of my mind was able to note how Madison had turned at the mention of my name. I briefly wondered what she'd think about the fact that a cape, especially one with a body like Aegis', knew me by name.
"Hey yourself. What's up with this? That was Vista's power, right?"
"Yeah. I asked her to do it," he paused and looked me up and down in a…appraising manner almost like he did before sparring. Really since you couldn't see his eyes the only indication of the action was a very subtle nod but I had long gotten use to reading body language to fill in the blanks left by not being able to see someone's face. I knew he did it habitually while trying to come up with a correct approach to a situation. Apparently he thought the best approach was to be direct, "We know about the bullying."
"I thought Skitter was going to hand the stuff to the Director to avoid your team altogether," I said instead of the more incriminating 'I know I was there' I had initially thought.
"I was with Piggot when she met Skitter to pick up the evidence."
"Oh," I made myself deflate at that. The face I showed as Taylor at Peerless wasn't burdened by the bullying. She was a star pupil and dedicated to understanding what she was learning. So I had to act like Aegis' knowing this aspect of my life was demeaning in its own way. It wasn't that difficult.
"I'm not weak," I muttered without even realizing it. The realization my mouth had run away from me made me blush as I clamped my mouth shut before I said something damming.
"You've broken my arm during sparring. I know you aren't weak Taylor," Aegis replied making me blush all that much more. Said incident had been an accident, damn it. Krav Maga's brutality had slipped into my sparing with the hero and I had delivered a full on palm strike to a fully extended arm's elbow. I had been mortified when the arm bent the wrong way, more so when he had just brushed it off and readjusted his arm as if nothing untoward had happened. I could practically feel his smile, "Being bullied doesn't make you weak. Just look at me. How do you think I triggered?"
My head snapped up so quick I was skirting on getting whiplash. My wide eyes met his through his helmet, "Shit did he put two and two together and realize I was Skitter? I didn't know. Man, life's not fair you get super powers for being bullied and I just have a psychotic episode."
He laughed it off and admitted, "I won the preverbal lottery. But think about it, my powers make me able to take even greater punishment so I'm even more of an 'acceptable target' for bullies of the world."
"Uh? Blessed with suck?"
"Oh yeah," he said, "Just imagine knowing you could let these guys beat on you all day but the moment you take a swing things go horribly wrong. I mean, when we spar in class I'm always holding back and the padded suit is designed to greatly reduce the amount of force transferred from me to my opponent. If a normal person wore it you'd swear their hits felt like a feather being used."
"So I'd end up giggling? Madly?"
"You get what I mean."
"I do."
I decided to go back to the previous topic as I checked around quickly with my bugs to ensure none was in earshot, "So is Sophia going to get what's coming to her?"
"Piggot wants to have her head on a pike. She's pretty much embodied everything our Director hates in capes, and she's done it on the PRT's coin and under our noses. So yeah, she'll see justice."
I let out a sigh of relief. Hearing it from Piggot had been nice but Aegis' explanation made me feel a lot better than hers had, especially since it was meant to be reassuring to me, "So what about the others?"
"The PRT needs to have at least one other person come forth about the events that's been going on here."
"My little medical stay wasn't enough verification," I asked a whole different kind of heat rushing to my face, "How about the goddamn video? I've been wearing these spyglasses for so long I forgot how much less my normal frames weigh."
"Taylor, that's one event. Civil lawyers could argue that it was an isolated incident," Aegis said in the practiced clam of someone use to dealing with instable elements. I definitely felt unstable as my power blurred the edges of my vision and I had to countermand orders my subconscious had given. I shook my head. It was still going to happen; the girls would get away with it. Sophia wasn't but the others would and would likely redouble their efforts to make up for Sophia not being there. Especially if they knew I was the reason why it happened.
I remembered almost at once I had options here. Others did know about the bullying I went through it was just a question of getting them to come forward about what they knew, "I told Felix about it. And she saw the aftermath of Friday's juice shower."
"Felix? From Peerless?" Aegis asked he sounded a little surprise as the implied friendship I had with the rogue, "And do I want to know about the 'juice shower' bit?"
"Yes, 'Felix from Peerless' and you may want to know about the juice shower but I'm not sharing details. How about asking others that we caught in the videos," I asked and I got hit so hard with realization that I felt like Aegis had slapped me at full tilt, "Mr. Glady. Today. I've got a recording in my glasses from today that shows him easily within earshot of some of the latest round of bullying. And if he's not willing to admit what happened I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure he gets what's coming to him."
"What?"
"I don't trust the damn faculty here because they have been turning a blind eye to everything. I've suffered the trio's attacks for over a year, you don't think any of them noticed? They've been ignoring it." If Aegis knew what I was capable of he'd be more worried still it looked like the message had been sent. I was ready to go Carrie in a way I'd never had been during either of my lives. Part of it was because the bullying was still getting to me even if I told myself otherwise, the other part was because I was so damn close to seeing justice and now it was going to be taken away from me. I couldn't help but think that my constant mind self from the previous life, the whole 'nothing good can ever happen to me,' had been correct all along. I had been striving for a more positive mind set in this life because I felt like I could orchestrate a better life for myself but all of it was crumbling down.
"Get Mr. Glady and have Kid Win meet me outside the teacher's lounge; he'll likely have the stuff on him to play the video directly from my glasses. I want to see this fucker try to deny what happened."
"You're Taylor?" Kid Win asked a few minutes later. I could barely see his eyes through the red lens of his goggles but it was enough for me to be able to track them as he tried to give me a quick once over. I returned the favor; this was my first time getting a chance to see him in this life. His equipment looked…different. The goggles, laser pistols, and hoverboard were there but the breastplate, bracers and greaves looked different than any variant I'd ever seen…they looked extremely segmented like a jigsaw puzzle of metal. Maybe the armor could fold up for ease of storage.
"Yes. Miss Militia and my principal are already inside," I explained motioning to the door to the teacher's lounge. I pulled my glasses off my face letting the world go blurry beyond five feet and popped off the covers for the mini USB ports on the legs of my glasses. As I raised them towards him I said, "Just tell me you have a cable that fits this."
"That I do," Kid said without really looking at the port. He turned his left bracer and panels on the inside retracted to reveal a keypad. He punched in a code and a moment later a flash of light signaled the teleportation of a three foot long coil of cable. My previous guess about his armor being designed to fold up seemed silly when he could just teleport the parts in.
He fitted the plug into my glasses and then finally met my eyes, "Is this thing plug-and-play?"
"Yeah. But audio and video are recorded separately. It can be a hassle to match up if I turned one leg on before the other."
"Sounds like it. Shouldn't be too hard to do though," he said as he plugged the other end into a port of his bracer. I could see lights inside his goggles as the displays came alive and showed him the contents that were automatically uploading to his systems. He repeated the process with the other leg and a few key taps and such later and he announced, "Matched it up. I'm sure Aegis will be happy to hear about this?"
"Why?"
"Because you made him a bit worried. At least now he'll understand it wasn't his fault."
"It was never his fault," I admitted, "He just…I almost lost it. I'm so sick of all this shit."
"I can understand that. Um… do you know?"
"That SH and SS is the same person? Yes."
The tinker tilted his head in a near exact copy of so many other cape that wore more concealing attire as he ferreted out my meaning, "S..ah. Good."
"Not really it just made things more frustrating. Knowing the why the school wasn't doing anything didn't help. And so we don't misunderstand Skitter never actually told me. I put it together myself after she appeared to help me," I explained. The last part was my covering my bases; after all I didn't want the heroes thinking Skitter was the type to casually break the unwritten rules.
"Really? How?"
"I know EB too well and MC's personality doesn't suit any of them well enough to match, SH on the other hand fit SS far too well."
"You know one of your bullies 'too well?' That sounds weird."
"She was my best and only friend until high school." I arced a brow, "You'd know that if you'd watch the video."
"I only synced it up based on the girls I could see in it talking. Once that was done I stopped it. It felt wrong just listening to that much. What about all of them?"
"Minor annoyances that go along with it to keep their status among the three primaries," I explained, "I don't even care if they get in trouble. Without the three goading them they're a nonissue."
"Well I guess you knowing will make this next conversation easier."
"I'm guessing that if circumstances were different the faculty would be warning me not to out her at threat of expulsion at least."
"You think they'd do that?"
"Are you kidding? They've all but bent me over for her. I had no avenue of retaliation until Skitter showed up. And even then it's because I'm circumventing them when I should be going through or to them."
Aegis and Mr. Glady showed up at about that time. Glady looked…confused. I couldn't say I didn't like that but I had to remember that he was technically an asset here. He was the leverage I could use to break the whole thing open. The lot of us entered the lounge at the same time. It didn't take long for everyone to get seated. Instead of letting the faculty or anyone else for that matter start things off I took charge, "Mr. you remember my desk being vandalized today before class?"
"I do," he said confusion still evident in the tone. I couldn't blame him it would look stupid to me if someone pulled me out of my free period to ask about something so trivial. Especially given the company in the room, you didn't go to the wards about that sort of thing.
"And after class, do you remember seeing me in the hallway? Surrounded by girls? Being taunted?"
"I…" He paused.
"You were present before Emma said and I quote, 'What's wrong? Going to lose it again? Or maybe you're going to cry yourself to sleep for a week straight.' I outright stated afterward that she was referring to my mother's death," I could see Aegis out the corner of my eye as I watched Glady; the superhero clenched his fists tightly. The teacher wasn't answering the question so I added in a low hush that one used when making threats of death and worse, "Answer the question. Or are you too worried about protecting Shadow Stalker?"
I could practically feel the lightning bolt that crashed through everyone except Kid Win. I hadn't after all mentioned my knowledge to either of the other heroes in the lounge, much less the failure that was my principal. I didn't give them the chance to recover I turned toward the tinker whom had materialized a laptop from whatever hammerspace he stored everything in. At a nod he turned the computer around as the video began playing. The encounter was just as I remembered it and while I had not noticed at the time Glady had been at the doorway to his class for almost the entirety of it. I had to wonder why he'd even bother if he wasn't going to do anything about it.
"I did see that."
"And you didn't stop it because Shadow Stalker, Sophia, was involved," I turned away from him fixing Miss Militia's eyes with my own, "There's your second instance; confirmation of an ongoing bullying campaign. I think now would be a good time to tell them why you're all really here."
Miss Militia didn't seem to realize that I had been using my bugs to observe her and the principal's interactions. It had been little more than the cape staring, likely glaring, at the other woman. Instead she simply started speaking, "Another cape, Skitter, came to us at the end of last week with a mountain of incident reports concerning not just Shadow Stalker's actions while in costume but of the continual bullying campaign she participated in here against Ms. Hebert. Among the evidence that the cape submitted was nearly a month's worth of video recordings like this one from a surveillance device Taylor had been asked to wear, and a year and a half more of journal entries painstakingly recording said campaign.
"To say I'm appalled at what has been going on here would be an understatement and in this regard the Director agrees. When we told you of Ms. Hess it was so that you could facilitate quick escapes when she was called in, to be lenient when she fell asleep in class after a late night patrol, or provide a lighter homework load; things that would alleviate the pressures of living a double life. It was not so you could turn a blind eye to her less desirable activities. The wards are after all still children that need discipline from time to time," Miss Militia paused for effect and no doubt to take a breath. Her accent, I never was able to place it, was strong but it didn't make her any less charismatic or understandable, "I could understand it better if you passed the buck to us to discipline her but the fact you didn't even do so much as inform us of these events speaks of criminal negligence on your part. Keeping silent about this has only abled her to continue unabated. Now is the time to stop. I strongly recommend that you inform the members of the faculty to come forward about any and all of these events they had knowledge of. The Director is looking for an excuse to put anyone even remotely responsible in front the proverbial firing squad and with the video recordings she'll have that excuse."
After that the principal had simply nodded and the meeting abruptly ended. Once the faculty members had left the room I let out a long sigh. Relief was flooding my veins; in my past life I had essentially never really resolved this problem. It just got to the point that I couldn't devote anytime to solving it because bigger things were always popping up. That raw relief was evident in my voice as I spoke, "I can't believe things are actually happening. It's going to end."
"This is going to be handled quietly. The fact that this sort of thing happened with a Ward doesn't do the PRT's image any good. Even more so if it was known just how bad it got and what it took to make any sort of progress. I hope that's okay."
"It is. I'm relieved that there's an end in sight that doesn't involve Shadow Stalker shooting me with a crossbow," I said before adding nearly under my breath, "I've already stared that particular event in the eye before, I don't want a repeat."
"What?!" Aegis almost shouted in surprise. Kid Win gapped but Miss Militia only shook her head.
"Skitter told us about that. Grue took you hostage when Shadow Stalker went after him on one of her solo patrols."
"Oh," Aegis said the meeting with my other persona likely coming to his mind, "I …I guess it just didn't click at the time. That's…"
"Insane because she was going to shoot anyway. I watched the video a few times; she started pulling the trigger's before I gave any indication of trying to escape. Considering where Grue was hit, I'm pretty sure I would have been impaled."
"Fucking psycho," Kid muttered under his breath. No one reprimanded him for the comment, why when you agreed?
The quite that followed was only interrupted by Vista walking into the lounge with a sigh. She looked around from behind her green visor and asked, "Did someone die?"
"No. Actually quite the opposite," I said, "I'm having a rather good day. We're just dealing with a dark tangent. Right?"
"Yeah. No use getting glum right?" Kid Win asked forcing himself out of whatever place his mind had wandered. He gave me a winning smile.
"You're right," Aegis said, "Did the bell ring yet?"
"About another ten minutes," I replied absently. I was busy making 'Skitter' and her swarm move around. Making a swarm form walk convincingly was …difficult but I was getting better at it. I had to make sure to do things like that in case the PRT had someone watching it.
"Is Shadow Stalker going to join us next period?" Vista asked. I could tell she was trying to skirt around the issue of my being in the room but I couldn't for the life of me come up with a way I could have heard that that didn't make my brow rise in suspicion.
I decided to remove the problem, "Sophia has study hall next block. So I'd imagine she'd be able to don her costume without much trouble."
"You?" Vista asked surprised. I smiled at the way her voice pitched, it was …cute? She seemed to take a moment to reevaluate everything looking to the others for confirmation. When she got a nod from Miss Militia she ventured, "Are you one of Sophia's friends?"
I snorted almost at the same time the Ward's resident tinker did, "No. I'm an acquaintance that was able to put things together. She doesn't know I know and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't particularly like her. She's got a…abrasive attitude."
"That she does," Aegis agreed.
Shortly after that Kid Win and Aegis went out into the school and Vista got a drink and fiddled with her phone. Before another silence could fall Miss Militia said, "We're fast tracking you to Arcadia, Taylor."
"Oh…good. I wasn't expecting that until after …everything was resolved," I stumbled in response. Attending school at Arcadia free of bullies and a reputation as the loser that was stuffed in a locker seemed like a far off dream. Like all dreams however it was stained by memories of my past life. The two times I had been in that school in my previous life had not been particularly good memories.
"Well it'll probably be a week or so before we get the paper work for your guardian to sign," the flag wearing cape stated, "I don't want to sound insensitive but do you think what we're doing will be enough for Skitter?"
"Why don't you ask her directly?" I asked motioning towards a small collection of bugs I had moved into the lounge earlier, "She must be listening in or cockroaches suddenly took up synchronized moving."
Vista made a surprised 'eep' when she saw the indicated bugs. The Protectorate member on the other hand took it in stride and directly addressed the group of bugs, "Are you satisfied with our progress?"
I for my part had the bugs rearrange themselves on the wall to spell out a simple 'yes,' I would have used the swarm voice instead but there wasn't enough variety in the small group. At about the same time Vista leaned towards me and asked in a whisper, "Doesn't that creep you out?"
"You get used to it. Try holding a conversation with a group of bugs where there's not much more than enough to form seven letters. It's surprising how much it results in reverting to yes or no questions," I explained drawing a giggle from the girl.
I went back to class shortly after the period ended. Despite the Wards being in the school my last class, Art, had managed to be just as uneventful as ever, even if Vista had sort of followed me to the class and totally derailed it for most of the period. Mrs. Peterson, the teacher, got the heroine to pose as our model for a few sketches. To most of the class' disgust one of the guys mumbled something about most models being nude. Vista reacted to the crude comment by using her power to tip his stool back and childishly stick her tongue at him. The action earned her a good many giggles and chuckles.
On the way home, which I jogged, I made the swarm follow after me keeping to the rooftops for a few blocks before I sent it into an alley and dispersed it. Running was not something I could make a swarm form do so I had it dissolve after a few steps to fly after me. Hopefully if any of the PRT was watching it they'd assume it was that power the boards were assigning me and not gleam the fact that they had been watching just a swarm of bugs for however long they would have been.
When I got home Dad was waiting for me. I had called him after Aegis and I talked in the gym and told him that the bullying was finally getting addressed. I had to assure him that they hadn't done anything serious but rather it had become impossible for the school to ignore anymore. As was when he swept me up in a hug that spoke of how there for me he was I nearly wept right there. We parted and sat down at the table. Dad lead things with, "Tell me everything."
"That would take too long. Short version I met a cape my third day back to school. The new bug cape, Skitter? Her. She was tracking something when she noticed me getting bullied by the terrible trio. After school she cornered me in an alley. After I pepper sprayed her she actually offered to help me deal with the problem. Not with force either, with evidence. She gave me these," I said removing my glasses so he could see them close up. He looked the glasses over and I explained, "The legs have tiny cameras and mics in them. So I was able to record what was happening to me."
"Oh," Dad said realizing where this was going, "And you collected enough to bring to the principal."
"Skitter brought it to the PRT, to the Director herself. Skitter had followed a cape to Winslow, Dad. She believed that leaving bullies like the girls to do what they did to me could result in a bullied kid triggering and going Carrie on the school. She specifically said that things like the locker incident were exactly the sort of things that could make someone trigger."
"Oh Taylor," his eyes watered at my words and by the time he had ferreted out their meaning he wrapped me in another embrace. We stayed like that for almost a minute and I could admit that despite the fact that neither of us were really huggers it felt right.
When we broke he asked, "So the Wards showing up at your school today?"
"Was in part to see how I was doing. They wanted to make sure I hadn't triggered. The other and more important part was that they gave the school an ultimatum. Letting them know just what sort of divine wrath the PRT's director wanted to rain down on their heads for their complicity in this. I expect there will be a lot less resistance from them as things move forward," I answered before adding, "Which reminds me Miss Militia wanted me to give you her number so she can set us up with and I quote, 'proper legal assistance.' I think she wanted to just talk a little too so that she could get an idea of what my home life is like or something."
I fished out the card the cape had nearly forgotten to hand me and handed it over. I wasn't surprised that her card featured a Captain America shield atop a spread of various firearms. It looked right for her.
When I went to bed that night the only thought that was present was "Dad's there for me." I slept peacefully for the first time since I triggered.
-/ Interlude 4: The Wards
Dean Stansfield walked into the Ward's common room still largely in his silver and gunmetal costume he wore as Gallant. He let himself feel his compatriots' emotions with his power; Carlos was conflicted and apprehensive about something, Chris was agitated a struggling to juggle both whatever was on his mind and the contraption he was currently working on, and Dennis was bemused but the emotion was lined with concern. The only one who wasn't ridding negative emotions was Missy though the cheery crush of emotions that usually boiled out of her was over shadowed by some curiosity.
If it was one thing Gallant hated it was people keeping big secretes from one another and if the swirl of emotions he'd sensed since they left the school was any indication these secrets were starting to erode the team. Since the target of a lion's share of negative emotions had left to 'get some air' there was no better time to confront the issue. Dean demanded, "Alright out with it"
"Out with what?" Chris asked trying and failing to play innocent. The tinker was horrible at lying especially when he was preoccupied with one of his projects. At the moment that's exactly what he was, preoccupied with the components of what Dean was now pretty sure was supposed to be a boot. If it was one thing he had to get used to it was the fact that their tinker seemed to be almost habitually messy; there were about a dozen or so half-finished devices and their components spread across Chris' workshop, room, and the Wards' commons room. Dean preferred to keep things orderly though he'd never complain about it to Chris when the guy maintained his power suit in the place of its original inventor.
"Everyone is tippy toeing around. What's going on?"
Dennis had been scribbling down notes about …something. When he looked up surprise was written on his face, "Wait who's doing what?"
"Everyone is skirting around some elephant in the room and I was getting a sense that there was an added hostile element directed to Sophia. Since she's not here spill it. I don't like being kept in the dark," Dean elaborated.
No one said anything for a long while until Missy, in her green costume came over from the kitchenette and plopped down with much fanfare on the couch. While punching the straw into the little box of juice in her hands she asked, "Is this about Taylor knowing about Stalker?"
"Who?" Dean asked not for the first time feeling like he needed to just hang out with the rest of the Wards outside of 'work.' He didn't know even a quarter of their friends despite the fact that all the guys went to the same school.
"Taylor Hebert, the girl I talked to in the gym." Carlos said as he placed the helmet he wore as Aegis on the table, "And that's only the tip of what I'm holding back. I'd have to get permission from Piggot to share; same with Chris."
"And you?"
"Me? I'm not. Okay fine, its stuff Chris and I know from before. But we can't say; you know that," Dennis admitted. The two Wards had been upfront about their previous existence for the sake of making sure Aegis would trust them when either mentioned something they couldn't possibly have known. Dean wasn't exactly too keen on the idea but their past life knowledge had already saved their hides more than once so he was inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt when it came to what they would and wouldn't share.
"Fine. Let's call the Director and get permission for Missy and me to be sworn in on …whatever it is."
"Wait if it's heavy enough that the Director's burying it I'm not getting involved," the youngest member of the team asserted as she pulled on her visor, "You just tell me if it's really bad or not later, 'kay? Besides we're not supposed to let Stalker patrol solo so I'll play sitter."
"Alright."
"Thanks Missy," Aegis said.
The green clad heroine stepped into the elevator and gave a curt wave. Once she had been gone for a few moments the director's extension was dialed. They were left on the line for a few uneasy minutes as everyone in the room glanced at each other. Well except for Chris who took the opportunity to calibrate his pistol while reading the notes that Dennis had previously written.
"Wards, what's this about?" The Director's voice came over the line, she sounded a bit perturbed about something. Then again Piggot usually sounded like someone had just killed her cat so she still sounded like she had been having a better then usual day.
"We're having problems with the secrets our group is keeping from one another," Dean said not bothering to beat round the bush, he had learned a more than a year ago that their director valued directness.
"Not to make this worse but…which ones?" The woman asked. The question wasn't that surprising there was a lot that Chris and Dennis had to keep close to their vest after they recalled something. Gallant knew, for example, that in their past lives he had died sometime this year, the information had made him reevaluate his position in life and he recognized that he had indeed changed because of it. The impact their information could have was staggering, He and Victoria hadn't fought in over a month a new record for them that he intended to try his hardest to stretch till at least the end of the year. If he survived that span he had a plan on what to do next; one involving a ring.
"The case you're reviewing and something from the past lives information," Carlos said. He might not know what secret Chris and Dennis were keeping but even without Dennis confirming it he could guess it involved their shared past lives it was after all the only time the Director talked to both of them about something and kept the entire thing quiet.
"Involving Skitter?" Piggot asked.
"What-"
"Yeah," Chris said immediately cutting his leader's question off before it could start, "Pretty much everything I got involved in during the past week."
"That's fine. So is it just you needing the info, Dean? I'm assuming the girls are out on patrol."
"Yes. Missy's keeping Sophia company; though she expects me to tell her how bad of a secret is being kept."
"Understood. I know you're good at keeping things quiet and I think we could benefit from some cross-communication on the subject. I didn't realize the strain these secrets were putting on the team."
"It's understandable ma'am. And thank you."
"You might wish you hadn't," Emily stated just before ending the call.
"Who's starting," Carlos asked he was a little off his game, he expected the secrets that were being kept from him had to do with Shadow Stalker in some way, once it had been mentioned he had been sure she was the root of the problem. He had definitely been walking on eggshells due to the ongoing investigation.
"Chris, since he's in on both these secrets," Dennis said.
"What? Oh come on. Damn it. Fine," The tinker grumbled, "Alright first off Skitter is pretty much the center of all this. What Dennis and I are keeping is she was in our previous life. Piggy asked me about her on Wednesday… I think? Anyway the thing is in our past life she was a villain. You think she's a bit creepy with those bug swarms, well she's fucking scary. We Wards fought her more than a few times and I still have nightmares about her bugs swarming us."
"But that's not even the meat of it," Dennis said stepping into the conversation, "She became leader of the Undersiders and they basically took over the Bay. On two different occasions she took out Lung herself. Hell, she was instrumental in taking down the Slaughterhouse Nine. Yeah I said that. If you think that's reason enough to tippytoe around her you haven't heard the worse; she killed Alexandria."
"How do you-"
"I don't remember. Neither does Chris," the clown of group answered before the question could be fully formed.
"But she wasn't all bad; in fact she eventually joined the Wards," Chris interjected, "By the time she did the public was on her side when it came to drawing lines in the sand. Consider that for a moment. The weird thing is she's months early. We both don't recall her showing up until like April at the earliest."
"She's been attending Peerless since early January and I can tell from classes that' she's been a cape for a lot longer," Carlos said adding his own information to the mix, "If you need more than my word just look at the coming out party she threw herself. I'm leaning towards more than a year of experience beforehand. Well sort of."
"Sort of?" Dean asked.
"It has to do with the other thing. Skitter delivered a ton of evidence on Friday. It included lethal bolts Shadow Stalker fired in the past month including one that was pulled out of Grue. More than that and a large reason why our meet and greet at Winslow got pushed up a month as because the majority of the evidence was of a bullying campaign Sophia participated in that targeted a girl at Winslow. That's the Taylor Missy mentioned," Carlos paused and bit his lip, "I thought this was about Shadow Stalker. But if Skitter's the source of everything there's more to say. Taylor's been going to peerless for about the same amount of time as Skitter and the more I think about it the more I see connections. I mean that evidence, a lot of it was video from camera's in Taylor's glasses. She was also the one who collected the bolt that had been shot into Grue…by pulling it out of him."
"You think Taylor is Skitter?" Chris asked wishing not for the first time that he or Dennis had been able to recall the cape's civilian identity, "I mean it makes sense she gets powers, learns Stalker is Sophia and is why she's not getting help from the school. So she drops a pile of evidence on our laps telling us to clean up our mess. Oh damn."
"What?"
"If that's true she was practically threatening to go Carrie on the school," Chris said, "Remember what you told me she said?"
"Yeah I do. At least a part of her wanted a reason, an excuse, to just go to town on them. But I've been in that situation before. And I might not have known about the bullying before Skitter dropped a duffel bag full of evidence on us but I know the girl. If she hurts anyone it's going to be accidental," Carlos said with a certainty that brokered no argument.
"You sure?" Dennis asked anyway the expression on his face describing just how little he liked entertaining the idea of the scenario that had been suggested.
"I am," Carlos stated, "Besides, yes I've got ample reason to suspect that Skitter and Taylor are the same person but there's a lot of differences and reason to not. Skitter and Taylor may fight similarly, but Skitter is far more skilled and quicker to react I'd almost say that Skitter trained Taylor but that doesn't match up from what the girls have told us about their relationship. Further Skitter's grasp of her powers suggests lot more experience than someone who'd have freshly triggered and there was an event in the bullying campaign that could have definitely have been a trigger event.
"Then theirs other little things that don't match up. Taylor and Skitter don't talk the same, I'm not saying their voices are different; that's obvious, I'm talking about their wording. There are differences in mannerisms and stuff. That's not even counting the fact that Miss Militia had a conversation in person with Skitter while Taylor was in the school's gym with us."
"Or the way Taylor practically melted when she realized the bullying was going to end. I can't see the Skitter I remember doing that," Chris added.
"Okay. So we have suspicions that Taylor Hebert might be Skitter. I can see how it might have been troublesome with you Carlos. But the real thing that was gnawing at us was this investigation into Sophia. That's big. Way bigger," Dean said drawing the conversation to what he considered was the most important subject.
"It's not like we didn't expect it to happen someday. Sophia was always rebelling and playing antihero whenever our backs were turned," Dennis said.
"Yeah," Chris echoed.
"Any idea how long we're going to have to act like we don't know what's going on?" Dean asked. He might be able to keep a secret but that didn't mean he liked lying to someone day in and day out.
It was Carlos who responded, not surprising since he was actually in on the case on at least some level, "Not really but the way Piggot was I'd not be surprised if it was soon. She wants to move on this as soon as possible. We're just waiting for legal to get their ducks in a row."
"I just hope it's not long enough that she realizes we trust her even less than normal."
"We trusted her?" Dennis joked, "When?"
At about the same time half way across the city Vista finally caught up with Shadow stalker. The young heroine never cared for the fact that Shadow Stalker's PRT phone had a tracking chip in it but there was no denying its usefulness when the older girl when off reservation. Sophia was grouched at the edge of a roof overlooking an empty parking lock. Given the way the wind wasn't moving her cloak the probationary ward was in her shadow state.
Vista whisper hissed, "Shadow."
The black clad ward didn't respond verbally instead she put a hand palm down about a half foot of the roof. Vista dropped to her belly as silently as possible and crawled up to the cape. Upon reaching her the green clad heroine looked out over the lot and found about twenty gang members loitering around. The part that struck it as odd was the fact that the group was composed of E88 and ABB membership. Among the ABB was a long haired woman who looked to be made of metal wearing only the outer layer of a kimono. Jīn was one of Lung's lieutenants, according to the information Vista had to study Jin was despite having the potential not a fighter, she preferred to handle book keeping and other relatively mundane tasks for the gang. In fact beside a few instances of her getting caught in combat she didn't actually have an entry on her rap sheet that didn't include the word 'accessory.'
"This is non-negotiable. I don't care if the police are watching your normal routes you do not send your product through our territory," the metal cape said enunciating in perfect English.
"Listen you yellow bitch," one of the Empire's thugs, possibly the leader of the group started. His response was cut off by the racking of a shotgun by one of the ABB members.
Shadow Stalker made a motion towards her companion jingling her hand in front of the other Ward with pinky and thumb outstretched from her fist. Vista nodded pulling out her phone and dialing up base. The space warper wondered if her friends were done having their super-secret meeting yet.
"Control," Dennis said over the line.
"Me and Stalker are about to engage ABB and E88 goons in the empty lot of Cole Avenue. Jīn's onsite"
"Right. Word says to not target Jīn and you won't have to worry about her stepping in. It's 'Shadow Stalker and I' by the way.'"
"Yes Dad," Vista said. She wasn't sure why but Dennis was always correcting her grammar when he caught her. It was a little annoying but she knew he was just trying to help in some way. She turned towards her partner and whispered, "Did you get that?"
Sophia nodded as she replaced the concussive bolt she had loaded with the far more common and less expensive tranquilizer bolt. At about the same moment Dennis' voice reminded the pair, "Check in when you're done."
"Yes Dad," the Vista echoed while rolling her eyes. It wasn't that unusual for the Wards to be told not to engage particular capes. There were varying reasons, a cape might be too powerful, too violent, or had a power set that completely countered the wards. Others like Jīn didn't fight unless provoked and were even at times a source of information. Vista had met the metal woman before and had been specifically warned away from an area during a patrol. She later found out that Oni Lee had been in the previously mentioned area. The gesture probably saved her life. Jīn also had a reputation for being very powerful going for her. Last April she had been ordered by Lung to prove herself capable of standing beside him, she did so by finding Hookwolf and literally dismembering him. That was to the PRT's knowledge the only time she went looking for combat on any scale.
"You yellow lady," the thug corrected himself, "You want me going back to Kaiser and telling him the little wish she was him cape was the one who got in the way of the delivery."
"If that's what it takes to leave our territory, then yes." She responded evenly.
"You're not worried 'bout the boss?"
"Not really. We have an understanding he doesn't mess with me I don't give him a new hole to spew his racist bullshit through."
"You cunt!" the gangbanger exclaimed as he pulled a piece from his waistband and got it about halfway to chest level before he was gunned down by an AK wielding ABB thug. From there bullets flew and the collection of gang members dived for what little cover there was to be had in the abandoned but littered lot. One had even attempted to use Jīn's bullet proof body for cover; the wisdom of the action was debatable since he died shortly after because the girl was so much smaller then he was. The cape had been the only one who hadn't moved more then to look at her now tattered kimono.
Shadow stalker added her own fire to the mix targeting those wielding the more dangerous weapons. Vista in the meantime started warping the space between the two groups to make the bullets fired suddenly redirect in midflight and bury themselves into the dirt. She noted that the space that Jīn occupied was warped much slower indicating that the cape was still organic. She'd have to remember to put that in her report.
Apparently Jīn had noticed the lack of bullets impacting her and looked around it didn't take her long to discover Vista since her green costume stood out against the night. To Vista's surprise instead of alerting either group she simply turned and started walking…and promptly found herself moving in a circle despite walking in a straight line. She paused glanced around and then jumped up about seventy five feet creates an explosion of earth that swirled around in the distorted space. At the zenith of her jump she pitched herself forward and cleared the prison the Ward had created. Vista grumbled as the metal form landed waved casually and started walking off as if nothing happened.
By that point Shadow Stalker had run out of tranquilizer bolts and dropped into the lot to mix things up in melee. She showed no fear as she rushed gangbangers that out massed her by at least a hundred pounds. Of course there were good reason for her lack of fear, while Vista distorted space to cut off others from helping Sophia's target the cape utilized her power to avoid any reprisal from her prey.
There was no block, parry, evade, or counter in her fighting style, instead she just rained blows on her target phasing herself whenever her opponent would have otherwise landed an attack. She kept this rush up until the grown man fell to the ground and didn't get back up. Vista simply watched as the girl repeated the process to each that was still standing. She didn't even wait for Shadow Stalker to beat the second guy into oblivion before calling headquarters.
That night Carlos, while rummaging through the fridge at home for a late night snack, had an epiphany that made everything fit. How could Taylor Hebert be Skitter when the latter showed ample amount of experience in both the use of her powers and general fighting? How do you explain the combination of separate yet related powers she possessed between her bug control, bio manipulation and apparent mover power? Taylor Hebert was Skitter and this was not her first life.
-/ Author Notes:
In response to some of the reviews for last chapter: Curse you Spell Checker for leading me astray! ...That's what happens when I read a damn chapter eight times. I really should be betaing these chapters or something but I'm pretty much publishing them as soon as I feel it's done. Any rate, I feel like I've checked this chapter pretty well hopefully I don't have any cases of wrong word usages or other hilarious bits.
The Wards at Winslow was something that took about four rewrites to get right. One of the problems came with me writing the original draft while dealing with insomnia, hence Taylor using it as an excuse later. Another was deciding to include it during chapter three or waiting till after the chapter but I had a decent time skip dropping in before the next chapter. I also felt like I could have severed the chapter between the weekend events and… Huh I totally did. How about that. Will wonders never cease?
Like chapter three this one actually went on a great deal and saw some of its content tossed to the next chapter. About four thousand words this time. I have an extra eleven thousand words of random scenes that are also eventually going to appear…somewhere. .
I specifically expanded on Mr. Michelson's class –instead of Taylor barely making it to class before falling asleep- to elaborate on some of the differences on this world's history compared to Worm's after reading some of the comments. I didn't mention it there but the PRT is actually older than the Protectorate or Wards by a large margin originally spawned from police agencies, or rather a further specialized unit spawned from SWAT. At some point in the late 50s or early 60s the PRT separated and became its own entity.
You know where I really want some comments laid in? The Wards. Am I getting them right? If I'm not getting them right then am I at least making them entertaining? I admittedly need to go back and reread things like the Wards Interlude. It's …been a while.
Since I'm on the topic, Clockblocker and Kid Win are outfitted slightly differently than they were in worm. My description of the changes to Clockblocker's costume will come whenever Taylor gets within a few feet of him. And as I alluded to a few times (I think a few times), Taylor gaining a second power isn't unusual among second lifers. It's more common than it is not.
Both Chris and Dennis have a second power heavily related to their first. Chris' second power is basically the same as Armsmaster's tinker specialization, the similarity is to the point that they can actually co-op each other's designs and work collaboratively. For example, Armsmaster made Gallant's powersuit, but Kid Win maintains it. That said you won't see him pull out a nano-thorn weapon any time soon, if ever. He's still big on blasters. It's common for second lifers' new powers to take a form largely identical to those they were exposed to. In this Dennis differs from most, his second power is also time based but as far as I can think has no correlation to the powers of any other.
Jīn will appear again, her power is basically point blank Ferrokinesis. She uses it primarily to create a second skin of metal with some minor shaping going on to disguise herself. She has 'absolute' control over any metal that enters her powers range…which ends at 5 cm from her body. 'Body' in this instance includes her hair. My ratings for her is Brute 3/Shaker 2. Her show of dismembering Hookwolf had been a case of picking the biggest target that was extremely vulnerable to her powers and making the biggest spectacle she could of it. She by the way didn't kill him and he's pretty much the same as we remember him.
I should point out that I've not been in high school for a good long while (graduated in '04) and I went to a little backwater school (Louisiana's Patterson High fyi). Any rate Somewhere along the lines I got the impression that Winslow operates on a seven class block, versus the four class block I had in high school so it was even harder for me to recall little details about high school. Last time I had a seven class block was in middle school.
Worm established that Taylor has an advanced computer course for homeroom, Glady's World Issues class right before lunch, and Art some time afterwards. In a previous chapter I put Michelson's History Class as her second period and in this one I specified that Art was her last class. The last two classes are English for third and Math for fifth. I'll probably stick to a similar schedule when she makes her way to Arcadia.
On a side note: How did Taylor fit in a locker anyway? I seem to remember every locker I ever had was way too small to fit someone in one that wasn't like…eight? And Taylor is supposed to 'relatively' tall. I guess the problem I have is I've always seen 'double decker' lockers in schools. The only place I've seen otherwise was in video games. And my school's populations were tiny. My graduating class had like a hundred people. Not kidding.