Interlude: Miss Militia
Miss Militia stepped out of the Parahuman Response Team van and walked towards the scene before her. The entire school was burnt to the ground, nothing was left standing, not even shingles. Everything was a blanket of fine fine ash. That alone would have been enough to bring their attention, natural fires left remains. This one didn't, save for the outlying facilities like the Physical Education gym and a few bathrooms leading out to the track field.
Such are trigger events for parahumans. Unpredictable in their scale, just like their powers. The dark skinned woman saw the fire crews struggling to put out the flames from various trucks. They were reportedly very hard to put out, requiring hoses on single areas almost for minutes at a time.
It was lucky the school had no buildings immediately next to it. An island surrounded by streets. If the flames had gotten to some of the homes or offices nearby…
She saw a fireman approach her.
"Miss Militia?" He asked. He seemed to be in his fourties. Old, rugged, and experienced. No doubt the Fire Captain.
He held out his hand, she took it, offering a firm shake that he returned. "I heard this was due to a trigger event. Where is the new parahuman?" She asked, eyes panning over the remains of the school.
"Over here by the ambulance. No one was hurt in the event, thank god. Everyone evacuated. Considering this," the captain gestured to the ruined Winslow High. "It's a friggin' miracle."
'The world can use all the miracles it can get,' she thought. "Is she okay?"
"Don't know." He shook his head. "Girl seems fine but she was the epicenter. When my men found her, she was and still is as far as I know, catatonic. So I can't say if she really is alright outside of the fact that she wasn't burnt."
"No smoke inhalation either?"
"Either the girl held her breath or she's immune to that." He answered. Then pointed behind him. "One more thing. We found some...things next to her. Its what made us call you guys ASAP."
"After I speak to her, may I see these, things?" She asked, curious at what he was referring to. She remembered the firemen calling them after seeing some, unresponsive monster or what have you. She thought they would be dealing with a Case 53 at first.
They approached the ambulance and Miss Militia got a good look at this new parahuman. With a blanket wrapped around her, she was fifteen years of age. Long black-brown curls that reached her back. She saw the glasses on a nearby tray and figured they were hers as well. Her eyes were empty, hollow as she held onto the blanket, oblivious to the sounds going on around her.
Miss Militia's eyes softened. Those eyes reminded her of her days back in her youth, back in that jungle…
She approached slowly, right infront of her to make sure the girl wasn't startled or surprised. She leaned down, smiling through her scarf. "Hi there." She spoke up, approaching the young girl and sitting next to her. The girl said nothing, simply stayed staring at something only she could see. Slowly, she reached out, placing her hand on the young girls' knee. She flinched and Miss Militia believed she may have made a mistake but the girl soon responded, bringing her eyes up.
They widened at the sight of her.
"You're Miss Militia…" She whispered in awe.
She smiled. It was always a little flattering to see that young women admired her. "My reputation precedes me. Yes, I am Miss Militia. What's your name?"
The girl was silent, as if apprehensive. "Don't worry." Miss Militia rubbed the girls knee where her hand rested. "You're not in any trouble I promise."
"T-Taylor...Taylor Hebert."
"Well Taylor, can I ask you a question?"
Taylor was silent, but nodded.
"Do you know what happened to start the fire?"
She hesitated.
"I promise." She assured. "No matter what you say you won't be in trouble But I need you to tell me the truth now hun."
Another nod.
"Was it because of...something that happened to you?
She didn't answer, but the tears that gathered in her eyes was answer enough.
"I see." Miss Militia took note. "Feel free to say yes or no, but how did that event happen?"
Silence, and Taylor only held the blanket tighter around her body. Yeah, she isn't going to answer that one.
"Alright, we don't-"
"If I say yes...will the ones responsible for...for this, get in trouble? Will something happen to them?"
Miss Militia perked up. "You're saying that...someone did this to you? Someone attacked you?"
…
"Taylor?"
She nodded again and the superhero's eyes hardened. She remembered her youth as a childhood. Being forced to serve those warlords out of fear was just the same. Only worse. But her trigger event, compared to Taylor's, looks miniscule.
"Taylor, listen to me." Taylor didn't look up. "Look at me." Miss Militia put a hand on her shoulder and the girl looked up.
"I promise you, whoever did this. They will suffer the consequences…" The superheroine said, her voice hard.
"R-Really?" She asked, her voice soft, but hopeful. The dark skinned woman put a hand on Taylor's and squeezed.
"I promise." The two stared into each other's eyes, and Taylor nodded. Miss Militia smiled under her American flag scarf.
"Do you have any family?"
"Yeah, my dad. We...he doesn't like cell phones. But I know his work phone."
"That would be very helpful." And Taylor gave her his number and she wrote it down in her notebook. Pocketing it, Miss Militia stood up. "I'll be right back, ok? I just need to check on something and I'll come right back." Seeing Taylor nod, the superheroine walked off, ordering a PRT officer to call Taylor's father. She found the fire captain.
"Show me these things." The captain nodded and gestured her to follow. They walked around the flaming debris and tinders, people still working on putting out the flames.
"We're getting close." The fireman stepped around a charred I beam. Nothing remained of the concrete and the slab of steel was little more than melted down slag, Miss Militia followed and as they moved over a rise of ash her eyes went wide and a gasp came forth.
Before her, a locker was blackened and charred and right next to them were cold grey ash gray...statues...of a sort. Twisted limbs in a mockery of hands that were too spindly, too long fingered and too wrong to be a depiction of human limbs. Like some creature attempting to mimic the real thing.
They were a corpse grey, as if made solely from ash. Multiple long and gangly arms covered the upper torso, She could see a head...but no face...as if the face had been ripped off, what hair there was was black and wiry like thick metal wire. She could even hear a light whine and…
Whispers?
The first thing that came to her mind was the Simurgh, but she put down those thoughts in an instant. These statues looked nothing like the Simurgh And the endbringer had already attacked recently, she would not be back so soon...she couldn't be.
At least she hoped not...
She didn't start hearing them until she approached them, which means the whispers can only be heard when in close proximity.
"What do you think?" Asked the fire captain. "One of the braver boys tried to take an axe to the thing but he barely even cracked it. No one else wants to go anywhere near it and frankly, I don't blame em.
She only half listened. Her thoughts more on the rammifications of what she was seeing in terms of Cape proficiency. IIf Taylor's trigger resulted in the fire, and along with the creation of these statues, that could make her a Blaster or a Master or both. Albeit the latter on a low things seemed completely imobile now, and might not even be sentient. Miss Militia's eyes were hard.
"Does Taylor know how these came about?"
"We asked her, she never responded." Miss Militia's eyes set on the locker. The epicenter of the fire and it was still more or less intact. The outside was black with fire damage but the inside was still green with cheap paint. She approached and opened the ruined door a little further and knelt down.
She saw ash sitting at the base. Disturbed from when they'd pulled Taylor out no doubt. Miss Militia's eyes trailed down, to the ash covered floor before the metal container. Where several somethings had fallen out as Taylor had been rescued.. She held it up and her eyes narrowed.
Bloodied tampons.
Had the people who attacked Taylor thrown her in there with these? Stuffed her in a locker with these things? She placed her hand over the ash, rummaging through what rested inside and pushing away what was right infront.
Four...six...nine...She didn't need to keep counting at that point. She clenched her teeth, breathed out of her nose hard, and the fire captain seemed to have noticed the rise in anger the superheroine was feeling.
"...Miss Militia?" The dark skinned woman tossed the tampon back into the locker and turned.
"It's nothing." She walked over to the statues, touching them. They felt like ash, but stronger, almost like sandpaper and did not budge beneath her fingertips.
Cold, grey, lifeless. They did not react or seem to recognize her presence.
She got out her notebook and began writing down the observations she has seen. The statues. The abundance of ash. The fires needing extra water. Even the color of the flames are different. Miss Militia added an extra note at the bottom of the page, thinking back to that locker and tampons. She drew a star for emphasis.
Make them pay.
She pocketed her note and turned to walk out of the debris. "I've seen what I need to see." The captain nodded. "Carry on captain."
The man nodded, gripping the front of his fire helmet with two fingers. "Ma'am."
She began walking back towards the ambulance and still saw Taylor sitting there. She perked up as she saw Miss Militia approach.
She smiled at the girl, as reasuring as she could mannage with a scarf covering up half her face. "Taylor. Are you up to coming with me to the PRT headquarters? I'll have a man contact your father on the way." She promised.
She seemed to shrink into herself. "What if he's already on his way? We don't...we don't use cellphones so-"
"I can leave someone here to wait for him, or we can wait for him if you like. But its better if we head to PRT headquarters as soon as we can." She smiled a bit. Taylor nodded a little.
"Thank you...And...will this be the time?"
"The time?"
"That you ask me to join the Wards." Taylor looked up at her, and Miss Militia shook her head.
"Hun, it' doesn't really work like that." The superheroine sat down next to Taylor once again. "See, the Protectorate doesn't see a Parahuman trigger and say 'Hey, you're coming with us to be a hero!'. It doesn't work that way." She saw the young girl's eyes rise up.
"Really?"
"Yep. There are plenty of rogues living in the country. They're parahumans, but don't want to fight. Their lives have already been altered drastically due to what trigger event they have had. Having the government swoop right in to conscript them to fight crime would be more negative than positive. We'd drive more people to becoming villains that way."
Taylor remained silent, but she seemed to understand then and there. "It's all voluntary then."
"In a way yes. The salary you get is good, and the resources you have to work with to hone your abilities and powers are some of the most advanced in the whole world.." Miss Militia looked down at Taylor. "Why do you ask?"
"Well...I-"
"Taylor!" The sound of a male voice made Taylor perk up and she bolted to her feet and saw a man running towards her. Miss Militia stood up.
"Dad!" She was almost tackled by the hug he was giving. The dark skinned woman looked over the man observing him. Mr. Hebert was tall, skinny, dark-haired-but-slightly balding now the center of his hairline making a valiant effort to stay clinging to his scalp as its left and right sides kept on receding. His glasses were thick and horn rimmed.. Like father like daughter. They were whispering to each other and Miss Militia noticed Taylor's shoulders shuddering. She was weeping. The superheroine remained quiet, allowing the two a moment.
"Mr. Hebert?" She raised her hand a little and Mr. Hebert noticed her.
"Is that-"
"Yeah dad, it's Miss Militia." Taylor answered for her. Mr. Hebert looked at his daughter and then back to Miss Militia.
"Wow...first time I've ever met a superhero in person." He walked forward, shaking Miss Militia's hand. "What happened? I heard on the news the school was on fire, I came right away."
"As you can see she's alright which is the most important thing Mr. Hebert. There was no smoke inhalation as far as we can tell but..."
"But what?" He asked the note of trepidation returning to his voice.
"Do you know what a Trigger event is ?"
(X)
Protectorate HQ
Danny followed Miss Militia out of the van and into the headquarters of the heroes of Brockton Bay. They had stopped to drop off Taylor at home to let her get some sleep One of the PRT agents was parked outside of his home to keep an eye on things there. It had been the only way to convince him on leaving his daughter alone after the long day. Danny insisted on it, and Miss Militia complied. She knew exactly what she was going through after all.
She turned back, seeing the bi-spectacled man wipe his brow of sweat. "I can't believe my daughter is a parahuman…"
Miss Militia remained silent as they entered the building, walking it's hallways. Navigating through the halls she was glad that Armsmaster was out on Patrol and Piggot was busy with a conference with other PRT directors. She really didn't think either of them would be a help. More likely than not they'd just scare the already shaken man.
Finding her office she sat down behind her desk "Have a seat." She gestured to the chair, and Danny sat down.
"So, I bet you are wondering. What could have lead to Taylor triggering." Miss Militia asked rhetorically. Danny nodded.
"Yes. I heard that trigger events are tied in with trauma and bad experiences. My wife passed away two years ago, but she didn't trigger then."
"Its very rare for a trigger event to be brought on by a loved one passing away. It must be something more harsher. Direct. Cruel even." The superheroine pointed out.
"Something happened to my daughter." Danny whispered. "Did she tell you how she triggered?"
"No, but I was able to find out how after a few phone calls." Miss Militia stared at Danny right in the eye. "Mr. Hebert, did you know your daughter has been the target of bullying?"
Danny's face immediately told her he hadn't. "Wha-No. Wait, that means...it all…" He blinked, one hand rising to cover his mouth as his eyes lowered to look at the table in shock, and then he looked like he had an epiphany. "It all makes sense...her lowered GPA. Her mood. Her-" He brought his clenched fists to his eyes. "How can I have been so blind! God fucking damnit!"
"Mr. Hebert." Miss Militia said sternly. "Calm down."
"Who did this? Who hurt my daughter?" He demanded, his eyes alight with fury and anger as he stood up and pointing a finger at the superheroine. "I swear when I get names I'll-"
"Mr. Hebert." Miss Militia's eyes were as sharp as blades, and her tone was too. "Sit. Down." Danny was breathing hard before he sat down, hand covering his face.
"I'm sorry Miss Militia." His anger was fading, spent. "This is all-"
"I understand Danny." The dark skinned woman sat back. "I understand your anger and frustration. To be honest, I know what your daughter has gone through. All capes will...triggers are not pleasant memories for any of us."
Danny remained silent, nodding. "I'm sorry…"
"It's nothing, it happened a long time ago." Miss Militia commented. "Now, your daughter hasn't given me names yet, but I promise you. I will find the ones responsible and bring them to answer for it." She looked directly into his eyes and Danny calmed down, breathing in and out.
"Okay. Now, when I see Taylor again, I will ask her on who bullied her and why if I can get your permission."
"Yes of course." Danny was curt, waving it. "By all means."
"Make sure she's ready for me to ask her about it Mr. Hebert. I'd rather not upset her if I can avoid it."
"Alright."
"Now then." Miss Militia nodded and wrote in her note. "I brought you here not just to ask for your permission to interview Taylor." She reached into her desk and brought out a file and several papers. Danny took the papers and began to look through them and his eyes went up.
"You want Taylor to join the Wards." He surmised.
"We are not forcing you nor your daughter Mr. Hebert," Miss Militia replied. "This all voluntary. It's up to you and your daughter if she would like to join the Wards." Danny read through the words and fine print, sometimes taking the time to look up at the superheroine.
"It says all Wards must be in school during their tenure and graduate. With Winslow gone-"
"Rest assured, if she is in the Wards, Taylor would be able to get an immediate transfer to Arcadia waiting list would be bypassed." Danny perked up.
"She's always wanted to go there over these past few years. But with things as they are..." He cut himself off, feeling a bit shamed. "C-Can I at least take this home with me and think it over with Taylor? I think it's been...a long day for the both of us."
"Of course." Miss Militia stood up, offering him an envelope to put the application in. "Take as long as you need." She opened the door and walked with him. "I'll have someone drive you to your car by Winslow."
"Thank you. Really." He said as he walked out towards a car parked close by. The woman still walked with him.
"Of course. You take it easy and ask Taylor on this. When you make your decision," she gave him a card from her chest pocket. "Call this number." He took it and placed it in his wallet, nodding.
He looked it over, pocketing the card before extending his hand, a grateful smile on his lips. "You got it." He closed the door and marched out.