Medhall gleamed in the morning sun.
Taylor wanted nothing more than to tear it from its foundations and throw the entire thing into the bay, Nazis and all. But she knew most of the people inside it were innocents, just doing their jobs, blissfully unaware of what went on behind closed doors.
For all that the Empire boasted the largest amount of capes, they also had the least destructive potential. Unlike the Dragon of Kyushu and the teleporting suicide bomber, she could actually afford to make a show of it without risking portions of the city.
A glance at her phone showed that it had only been fifteen minutes since her grace period had ended, and already she had done so much.
Knocking on the glass pane made a satisfyingly loud sound. The way the Ceo of Medhall, Max Anders, jumped and spun to face her made Taylors smile widen even further. She waved cheerfully at him, taking a dark joy as she heard his heartrate spiked further.
She smiled at the shocked man, her clothing still stained red with the blood of his enemies. A quick flight through the bay could only do so much.
The pane in front of her began to warp and sag in its housing, molten glass dripped until a hole big enough for her to easily fit through formed. Floating across the threshold, she examined the room, taking in the fine wood paneling, hand painted art pieces, and the crystal wine rack in the corner.
Knowing where the funding came from to support the lavish luxuries just made her desire to throw the building into the bay even stronger. Suppressing her urges, she floated calmly past him and settled gracefully into the chair across his desk. Taking a particular delight in staining the expensive looking white furniture pink.
"You know, when I gave that ultimatum, I had at least expected you to be out in the streets patrolling with your gang or something. Not doing paper work."
"I don't know what-"
"Kaiser, please don't." She held a hand out to silence him. "Lets not pretend like you arent a cape, yeah? It will save us all a lot of time."
He snarled but remained sitting, "You can't do this, its against the rules." His voice was almost a hiss.
Taylor blinked in confusion, "Rules?"
He looked at her in disbelief, "Targeting another capes civilian identity is against the rules. Anyone who breaks it will forfeit their civilian lives."
Taylor pondered his words with a frown, before slowly nodding. "Oh, so its a sort of mutual destruction type deal. That does give context to some things. Thanks for the explanation."
Her smile returned, "But I'm not breaking any rules." He made to speak, but she continued over him. "I don't have a cape identity, so I don't need to follow them."
"Then they will target your family, friends, loved ones." He shot back quickly.
"Hmmm, you do make a compelling argument." She tilted her head, continuing in a speculative tone. "Who do you think they would go for first? My dead Mom? Or my dead Dad?"
Silence filled the room. He teeth clicked together audibly as he realized that there would be no way to stay her hand.
Kaiser made the first move. Blades exploded from every surface around Taylor, all intent on impaling her.
She didn't move a muscle, allowing the forest of blades to crash uselessly against her. The chair was ripped to shreds, but she didn't fall, adequately supported by the convenient metal blades that pressed snugly against her form.
"Well, that was rude." She slowly floated herself into an upright position, metal squealing or outright shattering against her flesh. She moved forwards, the sea of sharp spikes parting around her like cobwebs.
Kaiser swore, even more blades surged towards her as he tried to run around the desk, probably to get out of the room. Taylor placed one hand against the heavy mahogany desk, and with a deceivingly gentle push, sent it scraping across the polished wood floor like a hockey puck.
The desk slammed into Kaiser, taking him along for the ride, and pinning him painfully against the wall. Something snapped near his pelvis, he screamed.
With her quarry still stunned, she grabbed him by the lapels of his business suit and hoisted him across the desk, uncaring of his pained noises. She began to drag him to the window she'd come from.
Tiny blades bloomed from his clothing, quickly severing the bit she had in her hand. Before he could fall more than an inch, she already adjusted her grip so that she was holding him directly by the shoulders. Her vise-like grip made slipping away a far off dream.
"Now, now. None of that." She chided, "We're going for a ride, and I would hate for you to fall."
As they flew across the city, the squirming man offered money, resources, amusingly he'd even offered protection.
It wasn't long before they arrived at the familiar news station. The security guards remembered her from the day before and made no move to stop her besides calling it in on their radios. She carried the supervillain over her shoulder as she floated through the building.
Unfortunately, when they arrived in the news room, it appeared that they were on commercial break. A quick request from her and the Cameras were live once more.
"Hello, Brockton Bay, I have something to show you." She threw the still struggling man off her shoulder, catching him by the scruff of his neck so that he was on full display for the camera. "Some of you know him as Max Anders, CEO of the Medhall Corporation. But some of you may also recognize him as Kaiser, leader of the Empire Eighty-Eight."
Max went rigid in her arms, almost as if he was in shock. Had he truly not expected me to out him? She thought with some amusement.
"She's crazy, I don't know what she's- AHHH!" He screamed as Taylor gently flicked his shoulder, a tiny fracture formed.
"Calling people names isn't very nice. Now, show the viewers what you can do."
When he refused, she sighed. With her free hand she placed it firmly over his mouth and whispered in his ear. "If you don't, then I will have to get Theo. You don't want that, do you?" Taylor wouldn't hurt an innocent, at least not for something as petty as getting him to reveal his identity, but Kaiser didn't know that.
She could feel his muscles flex under her hand. Blades erupted from the floor, once more trying to impale her.
"Thank you for the demonstration, Kaiser." With the hand that was holding him by the back of his neck, she plunged her thumb into a particular spot, instantly severing the brain stem.
Her gaze never leaving the camera, even as she let the limp body slip unceremoniously from her still dripping red fingers. "It seems that people are under the mistaken impression that they can simply take off the mask and kick their feet up. As if not wearing a costume suddenly absolves them of their crimes." She shook her head, genuine anger twisting her face for a moment.
She continued coldly, her expression and tone back to an eerie calm. "Life is not a game where you can just call 'Time Out' whenever you feel like taking a break. Hide under the covers all you want, I will come regardless."
With her piece said, she disappeared with a familiar crack of air.