January 15th, 2011 - Saturday
Morning

Taylor decided to keep her head down after her encounter with Crusader and Alabaster, not wanting the risk of a surprise attack on her warehouse. She decided to go shopping with her spoils from the other encounters (sadly, the cape fight hadn't left her with a chance to loot.) Her first priority was some new clothes - having just the ones on her back made keeping clean a problem, and her shirt, sweater and jacket all had matching holes torn into them during last night's events. She'd have to go clothes shopping... and maybe buy at least a pillow and blanket, as the minor Brute power she had when not boosted by anger wasn't nearly enough to make sleeping on a bare floor comfortable. On her way out, she noticed a black widow spider hiding in one of the corners. A swift kick put an end to it, and she added bug spray to her mental shopping list.

The market hadn't been as crowded yet as it would be later in the day, so Taylor had little difficulty picking up her purchases. On her way out, she passed a newspaper stand. Looking at it revealed no papers or magazines displaying her face on the front page, which she counted as a win. Maybe if she kept out of the papers long enough, she wouldn't have to be nervous about passersby recognizing her - that only happened a couple of times a few days after the Winslow event hit the news, but anything making her life easier was welcome at this point.

Walking out of the market just as the real rush of shoppers was making its way in, she felt a minor spike of anger from across the street. She looked over to see a tall, muscular white man eyeing her warily. She did her best not to look like she was looking at him, letting her eyes slide past him towards other people in the street, but as she started moving again, she felt him cross to her side of the street and start following at a distance. Taylor kept moving straight at an even pace, not turning towards the warehouse while he could see her. She was surprised by his behaviour - she'd have expected a civilian to call the PRT and get clear. It made no sense, unless... not a civilian? He could fit in just fine with the Empire, at least.

The fact the man apparently wasn't calling anyone on his phone and simply following her from just far enough to not lose track further supported her guess. Must be trying to follow me back to my hideout, then. Not gonna happen. She'd have just ran and left him in the dust, but that would draw attention she really didn't want. So instead she slowed her pace a bit when approaching a stoplight, and crossed the street just as the green light went on - and at the distance he was following, the man couldn't get to her side before the light turned red without running. Allowing herself a smile, Taylor slipped away.

After a few hours' wandering to make sure she didn't pick up a new tail, Taylor returned to her warehouse. As she settled in to eat, she saw a gigantic spider perched on top of a table, not even trying to hide. It was shaped like a black widow, but several times bigger, and the hourglass marking on it was a bright golden yellow. As she stared at it, her mind bouncing between "Kill this thing!" and "That is NOT a normal spider!", she heard a buzzing coming from near the window. A cloud of insects flowed in, and started buzzing. It took a second for Taylor to realize they were mimicking speech.

"Hello, Eris. Or would you prefer Taylor? Or Miss Hebert?" they chittered, the sound making Taylor's skin crawl. The discomfort quickly took second place to realizing whoever was controlling them knew exactly who she was. Were they going to try to coerce her by threatening her father? Realizing the bugs were waiting for an answer, Taylor took a deep breath.

"...Eris. Who are you and what do you want?" she answered after a moment's hesitation, deciding this clearly counted as cape business and acutely aware of how the bug spray was both out of reach and likely woefully insufficient.

"Call me Webweaver. I'm here to give you a friendly warning." The swarm did not sound friendly at all.

"And what kind of warning would that be?" Taylor answered, already hearing the "We have your father" in her head and trying to figure out how to reach the window without running through the thick of the swarm.

"The Empire knows about this warehouse. Unless you think you can take Hookwolf, Cricket and Stormtiger, you'd be best off getting out of there."

Taylor froze, a brief moment of relief about Dad not being threatened quickly replaced by trepidation. She was about to take the warning and and grab her things, when suspicion learned after far too many pranks at Winslow reasserted itself.

"And how do I know that you're telling the truth? You could just be trying to lure me out into the open. In fact, why would you want to help me?"

"If I meant you harm, I could just sneak my bugs into the place in your sleep. You only noticed the widow this morning because I let you. As for my reasons for helping... let's say I'm looking for local talent. All I ask for in return for helping - this time - is one civil conversation. Do decide quickly - they'll be here in five minutes. Two, if they give up on the quiet approach."

So this was a recruitment attempt. Taylor felt almost relieved to know Webweaver's motive - or at least, what they claimed it to be.

"Let's say I believe you. How do you intend to help me? I don't think a few bugs will do much good against those three."

"Follow the fireflies. My associate will distract them, you just need to get out of there."

Taylor briefly considered the possibility of Webweaver's "associate" shooting her in the back, but as she was checking her bag for any visible dangerous bugs she felt three angry presences approach the front door of the warehouse, one breaking off to the side to head towards the open window. Any doubt to their identities was cleared up by the ear-splitting grinding of metal on metal, and Hookwolf came through the front door in all his razor-sharp glory. Behind him was a woman with a cage mask. As Taylor ducked back into the room, she heard a monotone "There she is!" before realizing that jumping out a window in front of an aerokinetic was not necessarily a bright idea. The cloud of bugs lit up in a handful of fireflies, arranged in a "3." Then a "2."

Stormtiger's anger spiked as he moved forward, then turned backwards. Taylor jumped out on the "1" and hit the ground, turning to look. He was fighting a man in what looked like a blue version of military fatigues, face hidden behind a gas mask, gloves and boots black with glowing lines along the edges. He had what appeared to be a shotgun in his hands, and a pull of the trigger caused Stormtiger to double over as if kicked in the stomach. The fireflies buzzing around her head prompted Taylor to turn from the scene and run with them, following the glowing signs.

The bugs led her through a twisting path that didn't pass any people, even if there would be few people to pass in these parts of the Docks in the afternoon, until one warehouse's door was highlighted in fireflies. After a quick look around, she went inside, finding a woman standing seemingly alone, wearing what had to be the most ostentatious outfit she'd ever seen on a cape. Boots, stockings, shirt, jacket, gloves - all fitting as if they were woven onto her, and all made of what seemed to be silk in varying shades of gold. She was wearing a matching helmet, small enough in size that Taylor safely assumed the woman kept her hair short under it. Not an inch of skin was visible.

"Hello, Eris. Let's have a chat, shall we?"