A Skittering Heart

by stewart92

Taylor's trigger was interrupted by a very different source of power. With Keyblade in hand, Taylor must open the way.

23. Chapter 22

Chapter 17: From The Lost

Thanks to Major and Knolden for the hard work!

Taylor felt like her mind had taken on an oddly childish thought process.

She wanted to catch up to Glory Girl, so she stopped thinking about the other girl flying, the distance already between them, and just about anything else really. There was only the need to move, to catch. Taylor put one foot down and ran, instinctively knowing what she wanted, and without really noticing how, found herself running in the other girls shadow.

It was this, of all the things she had done so far since Ifrit had joined with her, that jarred Taylor out of the simplistic mindset.

Lung was just ahead and Taylor wanted to put him down, and along with that desire, the same feeling of doing filled her. A supreme confidence that bubbled and overshadowed her normal emotions, consuming her fear, leaving no room for doubt.

Disturbed, Taylor tried to think of Lung's claws crushing her, the burning heat of his flames, the draconic teeth snapping at her. She remembered the pain, the terror she had felt… but it was distant, like she'd seen on those things on TV instead of experiencing them, feeling them for herself. It all felt surreal and had no real effect on her. No, it did have some effect...

It made Taylor's heart beat with joy as she speed up even more, eagerness filling her every step. Her blood was boiling, singing. She was going to fight and it was going to be be glorious!

Taylor felt a grin stretch her lips and a sense panic flooded her mind at the sheer strangeness of her behavior.

'Calm down… we are one now. You have my warrior's spirit, fear and doubt are but tiny whispers that cannot reach you right now.'

Taylor personally thought fear was a healthy survival instinct, but she couldn't honestly say that this new mind set was bad. There was something almost addictive about her new confidence. She… enjoyed feeling like she could take on the whole world.

Feeling her grin turning feral and her blood singing Taylor faced her draconic foe.

She watched as Glory Girl smashed into Lung, pushing the dragon back as his claws was turned away, once again failing to penetrate the blonde girl's shield.

Lung tried digging his feet and tail into the ruins and rubble, desperate to redirect his momentum, to go after Glory Girl, to attack her, to get her. But the heroine pushed back and he stumbled, claws ripping loose from concrete and brick, but still snapping and clawing at the girl battering him back with punch after punch. As Glory Girl charged in again Lung lashed out once more, this time on target. At her angle of attack Glory Girl could not see the incoming claws, Lung was going to hit her but...

Taylor didn't give him the chance.

Her new Keyblade smashed hard into Lung's thick wrist with a wet cracking sound and Lung's arm was forced to the ground, barely missing Glory Girl as her shield flickered a brilliant gold after her latest punch.

Howling with rage, Lung lunged at Taylor, his monstrous jaws snapping as the dragon tried to eat her alive.

Taylor back flipped to avoid Lung. As she landed on her feet, she watched as Glory Girl rammed into Lungs side, shoulder checking him in a shower of gleaming scales, the metallic armor shattering under the force of Glory Girls shielded shoulder.

Taylor felt her head jerk to the side as she ducked beneath one of the flying scales, though it still felt like it clipped her or…

Oh.

Right. Her horn. She had one now. That and her Keyblade...

Slumbering Rage, she was sure that was what it was its name. Just like with Melody of the Lost, there was a piece that just clicked inside her head as she held it.

Still, no time for caution here. This was Lung and the longer this battle lasted the better for him. So Solidly planting her feet for some stability she threw the Keyblade at him again the blade spewing a jet of flames behind it.

Slumbering Rage slammed into Lung, piercing his shoulder and ruining his attempts at slashing Glory Girl. In a burst of flame Taylor found herself once more atop the dragon, hands wrapped around the Keyblade. Wrenching it free in a spray of hot blood, Taylor let herself fall backwards, taking her off Lung's shoulder and down under his chin. A jet of flames roared forth from the dragon's head on the keyblade, propelling her into a spin which whirled the keyblade upwards to crash into Lung's throat.

As Lung gagged she seized the advantage, kicking off a flailing hand to slash at Lung's neck again, too close for the dragon to bring his jaws to bear. As she struck, Taylor felt the horns on the front of her Keyblade catch on something and she tugged on it, dragging herself forward. Flipping herself around behind Lung, Taylor planted one foot on Lungs neck and managed to hook her other foot around a spur protruding from where Lungs wings sprouted from his back.

Gripping Slumbering Rage with both hands and planting her feet on his back, Taylor pulled and tore the keyblade free of Lungs neck with a rending sound and a spray of blood. Lung clawed at her without success as she continued the motion into a backflip, as Glory Girl hit him again sending Lung sprawling to the ground.

Panting Taylor chanced a glance at the Keyblade, noting how the magma seemed to pulse in its rocky cracks in tune with her own racing heart and the dragons red scales gleamed cruelly amidst the blood splattered on its surface.

'I've never been connected so closely to a key. Such power, such potential, it is... terrifying.' Ifrit murmured, more to himself than to Taylor. Taylor swallowed, the dragon was a little off-putting, it seemed almost cruel. With her bond to Ifrit, Taylor thought, if anything, that the demon would be on the Keyblade, his grinning emblem and horns upon her blade, not Lung.

'Bonds of the heart are not always the ones you desire. It is not only loved ones, but our enemies too, who leave their mark upon us. And this 'Lung', has left his mark upon you.' Ifrit whispered.

Taylor felt her grin fade. Scowling now, she pointed her Keyblade at Lung once more, this time aiming for his legs as the dragon regained his footing, bellowing as Glory Girl circled In the air above him, as those burning eyes turning to look at Taylor.

"Freeze!" She commanded...

and nothing happened.

Glory Girl floated back out of Lung's reach and stared, as did Lung for a few embarrassed seconds, heads tilting slowly as if confused.

'Wrong element.' Ifrit said bluntly and Taylor winced at the feeling of incredulity coming from him.

"Uh… never mind." Taylor said loudly as she drew her her arm back and then whipped it forward, the Keyblade rocketing from her grip towards Lung's body again. Lung braced himself, claws up to try and catch Slumbering Rage instead of letting it hit him again. As his claws tried to close around it the Keyblade exploded in a burst of flames, sending Lung back onto his heels as he was pushed down the street. Glory Girl flew after him and Taylor beat her to Lung by willing herself to the Keyblade.

It was an odd reversal on the normal Keyblade summon that Ifrit had shown her. Ifrit, it seemed, was good at reversing magical ideas. Still, now instead of working against her, that skill of his was working for her and gave her access to this new power.

In an instant Taylor's world was consumed in fire and, for a moment, she felt weightless. Then she felt something solid under her grasp, her fingers curling around familiar warm metal. With a firm hand she gripped the handle and found herself face to face with Lung, having teleported across the space between them to the Keyblade.

Lung's eyes turn downwards to focus on her, still showing surprise at her sudden appearance, as if he couldn't quite comprehend this new ability of hers. Taylor could understand him really, she too was only just coming to the realization that she could teleport.

Having walked everywhere her whole life, the idle dreams of wishing she could move anywhere instantly, when she was not playing Alexandria that is, had not prepared Taylor for the ability to actually do it.

Still, Lung was a second slower than her to react to her ambush and she landed on his hand, instead of said hand cutting through her.

Letting the hand carry her, Taylor felt a familiar feral grin stretch her lips as she leapt at the apex of Lung's swipe, her own strength carrying her up in an arc over the dragon and, as she swung her blade, it ended up clocking him in the back of the head.

Lung was almost at full monster, but her Keyblade evidently didn't care as it easily pierced his defenses, sending Lung stumbling forwards, his scales smashed and his skull dented inwards.

Taylor landed and winced as Lung made a gurgling, retching sound. Putting Lung down wasn't the problem, the idea that she didn't know her own strength was making her nervous, almost to the point of feeling ill. The idea she could accidentally kill someone, even if that someone was Lung… No, best not to think about that.

Shaking her head to clear it, Taylor tried to assess how they could beat Lung, because even if help was coming, well, it clearly wasn't arriving fast enough. So, if she avoided swinging when Glory Girl was going in, they could do hit and run tactics, keeping Lung off his game until either she and Ifrit thought of something or the calvary arrived.

The was a wet popping noise that made Taylor flinch and Lung's regrowing brain popped his skull back into shape. Glory girl seeing that he wasn't going down to a brain injury, rushed in and grabbed Lung by the wings, he roared and jumped.

This took Taylor and Glory Girl by surprise. Glory Girl was pulled along with him, her force field ineffective since she was the one holding on. Lung got a fair distance up before he began to fall, his secondary wings, little more than moveable spurs at present, kept smacking into Glory Girl, serving as a distraction to distract the heroine from the fact that she should have let go and flown away.

It worked in his favor as Lung fell, back first with Glory Girl under him, towards the ruined concrete. The heroine stubbornly refusing to let go, her faith in her shield absolute and just too stubborn and angry to give up.

Taylor began to rush forward, but Lung's body slammed into the concrete with Glory Girl underneath him. There was a few seconds where nothing happened, then Lung sank lower, wriggling as Taylor ran. Suddenly Glory Girl yelled out, screaming in rage and pain.

Then Taylor was next to Lung's head, the Keyblade already swinging like a golf club, smashing into Lung's head yet again knocking the dragon up and away, tumbling down the road. Looking back at the newest crater in the road, revealed Glory Girl with a scratched and dirt covered costume, a single deep puncture wound in her shoulder oozing blood from where one of Lung's spines must have got at her.

Taylor pointed the Keyblade at her and focused.

Help, heal, protect.

Again nothing happened, no magic, no cure. Taylor gnashed her teeth in anger and reworked her thoughts.

Ifrit wasn't a spirit of compassion or protection, he was a creature of battle so...

Taylor focused again, closing her eye in concentration, ignoring the warmth that sugred within her empty socket. As her thoughts took form she pointed the Keyblade at Glory Girl who was struggling to her feet.

Inspire, restore to fighting peak, unstoppable.

Taylor felt the words and ideas they embodied flow through her, each one touching something she could never quite describe other than as her true self, her heart.

Opening her eye as the magic left her, Taylor smiled in relief as the green sparks of a cure spell flew out showering Glory Girl, and to Taylor's surprise so did a second spell, a glowing golden burst.

As the green sparks healed her bleeding shoulder, a shimmering blue wall appeared in front of her, before it flashed a brilliant gold and settled around the blonde girl.

Glory Girl looked at her shoulder and then at Taylor.

"You're a healer, a ranged one? Holy shit, Keynote, put the bag of powers down!" Glory Girl said with a huge grin, speaking faster than she spoke before and floated up, a soft aura of gold coating her now, though Glory Girl herself didn't seem to notice it.

"Something like that, are you okay?" Taylor asked and spied Lung cracking his neck as he stood. Glory Girl smiled and it was, to Taylor's surprise, a fairly savage grin.

"A lot better." Was all the heroine said before she shot off towards Lung.

Lung spotted her coming and rushed at her, bellowing into the night.

Lung smashed head first into her and unlike before, Glory Girl's shield didn't flicker, it flared and held.

Glory Girl pulled her arm back and let loose off a volley of blows at ridiculous speeds.

In fact, all of Glory Girl's actions seem to be operating at a much higher speed than normal. Taylor, not wanting to be left out, rushed to help.

'Do not cast another spell like that, or our bond won't last much longer. A Mighty Guard is nothing to sneer at.' Ifrit warned.

Taylor wondered what exactly was a 'mighty guard', but looking at Glory Girl tanking a full on headbutt from Lung and responding in kind with one of her own, made her think she should ask Mog about it when all this was over.

Lung, finally seeming to realize that Ifrit was no longer a problem, ignited the air. Glory Girl's shield flashed but the golden aura held, and she backed off, unsure of how much damage she could take.

Taylor felt like the other girl was now in the same boat as she was, their powers were amazing but unreliable.

As she ran forward Taylor saw the fire as it once more blanketed the street, but she didn't slow down. She wanted to, she needed to, her flesh would crack, scorch, she'd burn but… She could feel Ifrit, his confidence and assurance, his glee as he whispered in her ears, urging her into the flames.

She remembered his words from before, when they had come together.

'Do not fear the flames. Embrace them!'

Taking a deep breath Taylor continued forward, Keyblade slung over her shoulder as she charged.

Then she entered the flames.

At first she felt nothing, there was no pain, no scorching heat, she couldn't feel her own skin burn or begin to crack. It was… pleasant really, like being in a warm bath more than anything.

Then a feeling of hunger stabbed at her. An ache she hadn't even been aware off began to fill her mind. She was ravenous, a hunger unlike anything she'd ever felt before. And as she made Lung fall, a second ankle breaking beneath the fury of the Keyblade, she gritted her teeth to stave of the pain. She snarled, partly in confusion at her hunger and partly in rage as Lung began to heal once more.

Then a voice pierced the fog Taylor hadn't even realized had consumed her thoughts.

'Drink!' Ifrit commanded in her head. Taylor took a deep breath and the fire around her twisted, following her inhalation. The flames washed over her, into her, flowing down her throat as she gulped. It was hot, really hot… but it didn't burn. No, it was warm, invigorating, hot.

Okay, so drinking fire was hot. Go figure.

But it wasn't just hot. No, it was like if someone took the richest cups of coffee, changed the flavor to milkshake, dumped energy tablets onto the ice cream like sprinkles and injected it all straight into Taylor's heart.

The fire coursed through her body, her heart, her mind. Every bit of her was suddenly alive in new ways, the tiny exhaustion at the back of mind, where Ifrit sat, vanished as the beast roared with delight.

As the Lung regained his feet Taylor slammed her fist into his chest, the fire in her veins practically signing in delight. The dragon's chest was armored in scales and each scale was layered on top of another, layer after layer of metal protecting the vulnerable flesh but when Taylor's fist impacted this wall of armoured muscle, there was a deafening crack as Taylor destroyed the top layer of scales, those beneath left cracked and broken. The blow sent the beast back, his claws missing her head as he swiped at her, drawing blood from her cheek and lip instead.

She knew that should have scared her, that she should be afraid. Lung had nearly decapitated her after all. But the fear was as fleeting as the pain, barely lasting a moment before the heat rushed in to take it's place, healing her skin and washing away the fear. Lung made his fire blink out, darkening the street, leaving it illuminated only by the malevolent light of their eyes and the spotlights of helicopters circling above.

Taylor hoped they were PRT helicopters, because getting a snapshot of Lung for the evening news, was not worth risking their lives over.

Flicking her eye back to Lung as a squelching sound announced Lung's skin splitting as he grew bigger, stronger and faster with more scales pressing up from underneath. The sound was just another reminder that this fight could never truly been in Taylor's favor if it continued. Even if the reinforcements arrived eventually Lung would grow strong enough to beat them all. He had at Kyushu after all.

Despite the darkness Glory Girl flew at Lung, her shield glowing golden, giving her a new sense of confidence as she tackled the dragon of Brockton even as he snarled and swiped at her, nearly invisible in the dark.

As Glory Girl reared back for another punch, Lung managed to grab her, but the dragon had trouble getting enough leverage to try to puncture the shield, his claws skittering over the surface of the Mighty Guards shielding and unable to grip and squeeze together like when he crushed Taylor earlier. Glory Girl just kept wailing on him, shattered scales creating a constant tinkle as they rained down to the ground along with the thunderous crack of each blow.

Taylor felt herself snort with amusement. The bigger Lung grew, the easier it was to dodge him in close combat. If you could negate his pyromancy anyway.

And Lung wasn't going to feed Taylor his flames willingly.

But as Glory Girl hit him enough to topple him back, Taylor threw her Keyblade and teleported behind Lung, gripping the Keyblade in mid flight.

With a grunt, Taylor swung the rocket propelled Keyblade around, the fire emitting from the hilt hitting her in the face, but the flames only felt like a fresh breeze to her, and she redirected its flight path directly into Lung's back, sending him hurling towards Glory Girl's extended arm.

Lung was closed lined, his head snapping back sickeningly on his long neck in a blast of light and Glory Girl's golden aura faded away. She blinked and looked down at herself, suddenly looking tired.

"Fuck." Glory Girl swore and flew straight up as Lung below her let loose a torrent of flames to chase her away. Taylor jumped, almost crashing into Glory Girl outside a three story window, and placed her own body directly in the way of the cone of flames, the force of the fire suspending her temporarily in the air.

Taylor opened her mouth and drank.

The fire was abruptly cut off and she fell into the waiting claws of Lung, an eager expression shining in his four eyes.

The thrill of combat, the heart pumping feeling of death brushing past your ear with a laugh, the feeling that there was someone, finally, willing to fight, that at any moment either of them could die.

Taylor saw all of this in Lung's inhuman eyes, and she felt exactly the same.

She knew the idea of it should have frightened her, knocked some sense into her mind, that she was dancing with death, but instead it drove her to throw the Keyblade straight down, past the waiting daggers of Lung's hand and almost into his face, before Lung moved his head in a way that would be neck breaking for a human.

It didn't matter to Taylor. With a flash she reappeared almost parallel to Lung's shoulder, her fist already moving as she lashed out at Lung's eye.

The eye popped under her blow and Lung screamed.

She rolled back then, darting away as Lung began to swipe in every direction, his pain over riding his sense of the battlefield.

Wait, battlefield?

Taylor shook her head slightly, this new bond to Ifrit was going to have to be discussed when everything calmed down.

Glory Girl floated down next to her.

"Hey, Key? Don't suppose you got another power booster in you? I could take him when I was like that." Glory Girl said with hope, and then she bit her lip as Taylor shook her head.

"I don't think I can. I'm not sure how long we can stall, he's not getting any weaker. Where is everyone? I thought you said they were on their way?" Taylor asked, and they both looked to see Lung pull out his ruined eye.

"Ugh, that is disgusting." Glory Girl said, a hand over her mouth.

Taylor would have agreed as she watched Lung's empty eye socket was quickly filling back in, his hunched form rippling as he grew larger. Because it was disgusting but she was kind of jealous. Her eye couldn't grow back. Not with her powers anyway.

"I don't know, New Wave won't rush in here too quickly, it's too close to the Protectorates boundaries and that of the Wards. Plus, having that many heroes in one place is bad, not that many of us can do jack against Lung and it just encourages the other Villains to act up. I heard Purity from E88 could drive him off when he hasn't built up too much steam, but I don't think even she could do anything now, I mean the guy has fucking two sets of eyes and mouth that opens like the Predator." She pointed out, having to shout slightly to be heard over Lung's snarls, wincing as she pulled out a crushed cell phone.

Taylor gripped the Keyblade. Ideas filled her head, but nothing suited her needs. Ifrit chose this moment to speak up.

'Perhaps...' Ifirt began to speak, but stopped as he thought about his words, trying to decide how to phrase it, he wasn't sure of the right words upon such a barren world.

Lung stood then, his eye regrown and all four glaring at her. Then Taylor noticed the blades, made of the same material Lung's claws, giant spikes that now ran up the sides of the dragon's arms.

'Perhaps?' Taylor urged him quickly as Lung stretched his new weapons out, cracking his bones as they realigned, the blades flexing in and out as his face twisted in an expression that might possibly have been a smile.

Glory Girl rocketed past her, the heroine's fist outstretched.

'Lung is regenerating, a noted aspect among dragons, you must negate his advantage.'

Sure, Taylor could do that, she reasoned, just… negate Lung. Easy.

Like hell it was!

Glory Girl smashed into Lung's face which snapped back, but with a chest deep snarl, began to force Glory Girl's fist back, an almost lazy swipe with his arm made her shield falter, making the girl in white back off.

'And how do I do that exactly?' Taylor snapped back after drawing a blank, she didn't know any spell that could halt regeneration.

Ifrit's reply was amused, if a bit exasperated.

'Magic. You use magic.'

'Just magic, is rather unhelpful. Any particular spell?' Taylor asked as Lung rushed her, batting Glory Girl aside in his rush to get at her.

Thinking quickly Taylor dropped her Keyblade and jumped, soaring a good 12 feet into the sky. When Lung leapt up after her, she reappeared in a flash of flames back at the Keyblade on the ground making the dragon fly past over her head, buying her a few more precious seconds to think.

'You've been using magic with instinctual feelings, and now you want directions?' He asked with a laugh and became silent.

Ifrit was better, now that he had his 'humanity' back, but he was still an asshole Taylor decided.

Lung had already turned around and was closing in on her again when Glory Girl crashed into him with a scream of rage on her lips. Taylor pointed the Keyblade at Lung, knowing that Glory Girl would only have a few seconds before she would have to bail.

Taylor took a deep breath and imagined pouring the singing fire in her veins down her arms, into her hands, letting it soak into the Keyblade.

Lung was… growing and he was healing non-stop.

Taylor wanted to stop that, to stop his powers, stop his regeneration, More though, she wanted more. She wanted him to grow weak at the same time, to wither away and rot. Taylor wanted it badly.

Stop abilities, weaken, fire.

She could feel the magic fighting back, rebelling as she forced it against its nature. Fire burned and purified, fire cleansed. Taylor didn't need that though, she didn't want a fire that cleansed. She wanted, needed a fire that would corrupt, a fire that would hurt, weaken, infect. A fire that would make a person helpless.

Then she remembered...

Flames swirled around her legs and her feet began to char and her calves blacken…

She remembered the pain, the agony, the horror. The pain of her feet burning, skin bubbling and the blood boiling in her veins. The agony of her flesh charring, skin cracking, blood hissing as it oozed between the cracks. The horror of her father wounded and dying in her arms.

She remembered the terrible might of the fire and its ability to destroy, to blacken and corrode. The fire that corrupted life.

Glory Girl's Shield flickered and she tried to back away, Lung snatched her by the leg and threw her at the road, hard. Taylor heart almost dropped into her stomach before Glory Girl's shield snapped back on just before she hit the ground, blinking out instantly again.

Her leg ran red where Lung's claws had cut into her. With an effort, Glory Girl stood and gave Taylor one thumb up, floating up off the ground to avoid putting a strain on her injury.

Lung swooped down like a scale covered angel of death and aimed himself right at Glory Girl, the New Wave cape looking like she had trouble focusing, unable to fly out of the way.

Lung flapped harder, wings pummelling the air, eager for the kill, one quick swipe and then he would burn her. Eradicate this nuisance and return to the real fight. Taylor was sure of it.

It's what she might have done if she was facing a similar foe. Lung wasn't stupid, he knew that Glory Girl was going to keep tanking his deadly hits and that had to stop.

Even as fire began to swirl at the end of the Keyblade, collecting in the dragon's mouth, even with its sickly feel, Taylor was about stop the spell, to waste the energy, let it evaporate to do something to save Glory Girl when a woman dashed in front of her and became a ball of light.

Carol Dallon, Brandish, Glory Girl's mother, bounced Lung's initial attack off her ball form, in return the blow sent Brandish flying back. The older cape dropped out of the ball in mid flight though, returning to her human form and letting the extra weight slow her down.

The was a crack and rush of air that made Taylor jump and Lung's eye popped again and he brought a hand up to shield his face, snarling and slashing randomly with his free hand. Taylor looked about for the source of the crack, she knew something had just flown past her, faster than her eye could see as another crack rang out and a hole appeared in Lung's arm in spurt of blood. She recognized it this time, understood what it had been.

A bullet.

Taylor turned then, looking carefully through the darkness only to see a woman in army fatigues break cover and jog towards her, a truly massive rifle slung over her shoulder.

The gun would have been a dead give away to her identity by itself, but the American flag wrapped around her lower face only cemented the fact.

Miss Militia of the Protectorate and Brandish of New Wave had finally come to help. Glory Girl floated nearby, her smile of relief matched only by the slight sheepish look in her eye as Brandish jogged over to join Miss Militia.

Taylor wanted to take this all in and adjust, but the fire at the end of the Keyblade was beginning to drain her of all the energy she had taken from Lung's flames.

The ideas she wanted swirled around deep in her mind.

Weaken, infect, cease.

The burning agony as flesh blackens and chars, your blood boiling in your veins...

The words, the ideas, the sickness flowed into the spinning fireball at the front of the Keyblade, the orange flames, already blackened, took on a green and purple purple tint.

The fireball made Taylor wary, but also… excited? Excited.

Taylor blamed Ifrit.

Unable to hold it back the sheer pressure building behind the fireball was only growing, she pointed at Lung and set it loose.

The growing feeling of pressure suddenly vanished as the dark ball of fire exploded away from the tip of the Keyblade, the recoil sending Taylor clear off her feet, flying backwards.

Even her new physical strength wasn't enough to keep her grounded. A pair of arms wrapped around her as Glory Girl grabbed her, absorbing her momentum. The sudden loss of energy and equally sudden flight left Taylor reeling and even as her world was spinning, Taylor saw the dark fire flying almost lazily towards Lung.

The dragon flapped flapped his wings and floated away from the magic, sensing something was off and dodging for once. However, as the ball passed him, it slowed to a stop before it reversed its course to follow him. Lung snarled and landed. Picking up a loose bit of road, he hurled it at the spell, which split into three smaller balls upon impact.

The smaller fires spun onwards lazily and then collected back together, reforming the original fireball, which was beginning to pick up speed. Glory Girl slowly put her down next to the Miss Militia and Brandish. Both of them looked at Taylor.

"Victoria, we are going to have some very unpleasant words when we get home." Brandish said, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Miss Militia nodded at Taylor.

"It's good to meet you, Armsmaster spoke highly of you. I apologise for the late appearance." Miss Militia said.

Her voice was softer than Taylor expected, but she thought it suited the woman in camo well.

"Better late than never." Taylor said, trying not to sound ungrateful.

Finally losing his patience with the game of cat and mouse he'd been forced into Lung lowered his head and charged the fire, annoyed at the black flames which trailed after him like a persistent puppy.

There was an odd sound then,of imploding air as Lung hit the fire face first, his direction of impact angled to continue onwards towards Taylor and the others. But when the fire washed over him, his charge slowed, then stopped altogether. The heroes all stared at Lung, unsure of what he was about to do, when Lung bent over and vomited. The stomach acid of the dragon promptly beginning to melt the road below with a hiss, releasing steam like vapors.

That's when his body began to glow green, a sickly green that pulsed in time with a unheard heartbeat, shining from between his scales. Lung staggered back and clutched at his chest, hacking and spitting, an odd choking noise escaping his twisted throat.

Lung claws cut slightly into his own chest as he gripped tighter, blood flowing down his scales in wet rivulets, black against the reflected green of his scales as his body continued to pulse.

His breathing became rapid and he stretched out his wings, roaring as pain warped his already twisted features.

"He's not healing." Miss Militia said to the group causing Taylor to jump at her sudden words and she could see that the older hero was right.

The puncture holes where Lung was gripping his chest weren't healing over like normal, even when he'd pulled his hand away to stare at the blood coating his claws with some sort of morbid fascination. Putting his hand aside the dragon took a step forward and fell to one knee, the pulsing green light growing faster as Lung's breathing grew ragged.

"I think I made him sick." Taylor admitted. She tried to walk forward then and she felt her own legs shake, threatening to follow Lung onto bending a knee with how tired she felt.

That spell, whatever it was, had drained her far more than Mighty Guard had.

"Is it contagious?" Brandish snapped the question at her.

Taylor blinked, swaying as she felt a little woozy before the question registered. Taylor turned her head and eyed the older cape, this woman was Glory Girl's mother, but the difference in personality was like night and day.

Glory Girl was upbeat and charismatic, even in the short time Taylor had known her Glory Girl had made her presence felt. Glory Girl used her personality to make others pay attention, to become the center of it.

Brandish wielded her personality like a weapon.

Aggressively.

"No, it's a poison, single target, more like an acid that a virus. It'll fade fast." Taylor said and took a deep breath, steadying herself. Then she stood up straight, refusing to avert her eye from Brandish who narrowed her own eyes in response.

"I'll hold you to that." Brandish said.

Then Miss Militia stepped between them.

"Brandish, if you're done, I'd like to put Lung down now, before any lives are lost." Miss Militia said smoothly.

Brandish crossed her arms, defensively and looked away, sniffing. Taylor noticed that she was more on guard, emotionally and physically with Miss Militia than her daughter Glory Girl.

Was there history between the two women? Or was Brandish just not use to having a woman, besides Lady Photon, of equal rank on the field with her?

The boundaries that separated the Protectorates, the Wards and New Waves patrol areas helped avoid toes being stepped on, authorities being challenged and orders being mixed up or going to the wrong unit. A chain of command worked best when it was a chain, orders flowing down from the top link. And now there were two top links.

Still, Lung was clearly enough of a threat to ignore normal protocol, but Taylor guessed that neither of capes knew how to proceed exactly.

'The woman with the large gun is correct, you must act quickly. There is enough power left in our fraying bond to unleash maybe one more attack. So we'd best use the most powerful we can, else I fear all will have been for naught.' Ifrit said and hesitated, the feeling of uncertainty flowing from him. Taylor saw Glory Girl fly forwards, trying to strike Lung while he was unstable, still retching up his toxic stomach acid.

'But?' Taylor pushed at Ifrit's feelings, trying to grasp what was holding him back.

A she watched, waiting for a reply, Taylor saw Glory Girl score a direct hit and Lung's face snapped to the left. He hadn't even tried to defend himself.

Then Glory Girl was rocketing away to safety as Miss Militia opened fire with the rifle which was back in her hands, the older cape crouched, the weapon braced against her shoulder and the barrel supported by a broken piece of masonry.

The weapon jumped again and again, bullets flying unerringly at Lung's chest and head despite the dark conditions.

The woman in army garb had a scary amount of control over where her bullets landed. Taylor thought casually spraying guns would cause wide arcs of bullets, or at least a few misses, but Miss Militia hit her mark each and every time. Lung gagged a few more times, the sickly green pulsing stronger as bloody pock marks appeared on his body.

Suddenly a big fireball shot forward at Miss Militia, a desperate move by Lung, the poison making his body weaker than he had been all battle.

Brandish stood her ground and fashioned a large shield in front of her, unlike her nephew, Shielder who he could conjure up shields around an area and generally have more flexibility, and uniformity to them from what Taylor recalled... This shield was held by one hand, like all of Brandish's weapons. It reminded Taylor of medieval knight's shield, but with every edge serrated or pointed.

It was a shield in same way the Keyblade was a key.

The fireball splashed over the orange-yellow shield and died out, Brandish's shield proving to be more than a match for Lung's weakened flame.

Taylor itched to race out there and break Lung, press the advantage of his weakened state, but held back, the feeling of worry from Ifrit rippling through her.

'This attack is the very essence of me, the most powerful spell I can offer you… But you are already so very drained. If you fail to pull this off correctly, or revert back to your human form mid attack, the results would be catastrophic. You would die.' Ifrit admitted and Taylor frowned to herself.

'So we get more energy? Will that be enough? What''s wrong with just beating the crap out of Lung now? He isn't healing!' Taylor thought with excitement.

Ifrit scoffed.

'He may not healing for now. The spell you cast, Dark Firaga, was powerful, but was extremely half done. It will fade shortly and then Lung will be well again. He will not stay still nor fall for the same trick twice. This window of opportunity is our only chance.' Ifrit paused then and Taylor waited as the Esper seemed to come to a decision.

Taylor felt her lips quirk as the uneasy feeling left her and she once more surged with Ifrit's confidence.

'So we put him down hard, now!' Ifrit roared and Taylor flinched at the volume.

"Keynote, are you okay?" Miss Militia asked as the older hero crouched down next to Taylor.

Taylor nodded, unsure when she'd even sat down and thought hard. She needed to finish Lung now, but to do so and not die in the attempt she need more energy. On that front her options were seemingly limited, her only source of flames was Lung or perhaps blowing up a car and there weren't many of them left. Neither option was very helpful.

Taylor was not having Destruction of private property willingly added to her record, the rest she could blame on Lung, but setting a car on fire in front of Miss Militia was not going to give a good impression.

"Yeah, I need fire." Taylor said, turning her head to see what other options might be available. Maybe one of the others could help her?

Brandish snorted and ran forward as Glory Girl easily floated to the side, dodging a flailing swipe from Lung who was finally back on both feet, though swaying like he was on the deck of a ship. Reaching Lung, Brandish made a sword of light and swiped it through the dragon's side, carving out a chunk of flesh, in a spray of blood before quickly backtracking and transforming the weapon into a large club, her surprise telling Taylor that she didn't expect Lung's scales to be so fragile.

"Fire? Are you a pryokinetic?" Miss Militia asked as her gun turned into a pistol, her posture shifting at the sudden lost of weight.

"No, not exactly. I… I eat flames to get stronger, a lot stronger." Taylor admitted.

Miss Militia stared at her, her eyes kept clear of any hair by the helmet she wore. Suddenly the pistol morphed again with a luminous green glow.

When it settled down, Miss Militia held a long silver gun, a nozzle pointing firmly at ground with a tube leading to a tank on Miss Militia's back. Pointing the barrel away, she hesitated for a moment before letting loose a torrent of flames at the empty street before her, the worry of arming Lung with another weapon made the hesitant expression on her face understandable to Taylor, as unleashing flames near him was just asking for Lung to take control of them. However, the fact she had created the fire despite the danger made Taylor's respect for the woman jump up a few notches, the Protectorate cape just trusted her, seeing something in Taylor that she decided put faith in.

Taylor reached for it and when her hand neared, the flames changed their course, flowing against the forces propelling them and into her outstretched hand. Cupping the flames, Taylor lifted them to her face and drank.

It tasted to Taylor like one long day, a day of settled resolution and self control. Compared to Lung's wild flame, it was almost startlingly rigid.

The fire was… interesting. Taylor dipped her whole arm in and felt her body beginning to perk up. Taylor turned to Miss Militia and nodded.

"You ready to get me all hot?" Taylor asked, her voice becoming giddy as she felt her energy returning. She jumped from foot to foot, grinning and feeling excited at the thought of working with Miss Militia.

Miss Militia pointed the gun down slightly, a single eyebrow raised in surprise as she looked at Taylor jumping amidst the flames as they flowed into her. Then she winced as Lung threw Brandish in her ball form across the street.

Redirecting her gaze to Taylor Miss Militia tilted her head.

"Excuse me?" The older hero asked in disbelief.

Taylor slowed then, and stopped her jumping as Ifrit laughed in her head, his feeling of excitement no longer hiding his intent of mischief. Taylor thought about her words, paused and shook her head. Ifrit would suffer for this, he'd suffer dearly.

"Ignore that, kinda pumped up on energy. I need you to keep firing at me, I think I can put Lung down hard enough that he won't get up. Well, for a while at least. Glory Girl said there was backup coming?" Taylor asked, forcing herself to stand still. Miss Militia nodded as she took aim.

"Dragon is coming. ETA 12 minutes." Miss Milita said after glancing at her wrist.

Dragon? The Dragon? Was all Taylor thought before Miss Militia fired her flame-thrower, first to the side of Taylor before slowly sweeping the spray of fire closer to her. The roaring of the flames blocked all other sounds from Taylor's mind, the sudden feeling of being swallowed by a sea of fire overtook her senses, her mind, her very sense of self.

'The flame is pure, but do not lose yourself to the inferno. There is work to be done'

Taylor snapped her eye open, finding herself looking skywards with her mouth open, flames billowing about her and rushing down her throat in a seemingly endless torrent. Looking back down she and raised her arms, moving them in a ceasing motion, and the flames abruptly cut off, the final trickle slipping between Taylor's lips.

Taylor breathed in deeply, taking in the suddenly cold air. She held it for a moment and then exhaled, the sight of smoke curling from her mouth made her smile.

The fiery veins on her cloak were now glowing brightly.

"Keynote, are you okay?" Miss Militia asked seriously and Taylor inhaled again then nodded. When she spoke, her voice came out very deep, almost a growl.

"Yes, Patriotic Warrior, I need time, stall the beast, I must focus my power." Taylor said, the words in her head not matching the words coming out her mouth at all.

'Ifrit/me?' Taylor asked and at the same time Ifrit spoke to Taylor, the lines between Ifrit and Taylor becoming blurred.

She was a demon of the cosmos, a hero of Brockton, a warrior of the espers, she was Taylor, but she was also Ifrit.

Keynote took a deep breath and pushed the chaos of meshing identities aside. It was unimportant right now. Ifrit, Taylor… The task did not change, regardless of who she was. They both had a single goal and that was enough to keep her going for now. The blending of their beings made the next task easier in fact, as there was no need to explain what one half of her already knew how to do.

Confidence surged through Taylor along with the knowledge of how to unleash their single most destructive attack. Taylor felt her lips curl into a wicked smile as along wisps of smoke leaked from her lips, the name of the attack pounding inside her head.

Hellfire.

An attack that burned the very fabric of creation.

Not that they would be able to pull it off at anywhere near it's full potential, but for a mere lizard like Lung, it would be more than enough.

"Keynote, can you confirm that you are stable?" Miss Militia asked as she raised a small device in her hands, pointing it at Keynote.

Frowning Taylor tried to puzzle out why when she recognized the small yellow and black weapon.

A taser.

Keynote eyed it and nodded, she supposed the sudden difference in personality and voice was enough to warrant such caution.

When mind mages are common enough to need a law to govern them, then it is best to be cautious.

"I can confirm, and I apologize for startling you. I need time, can you and the woman with the stick in her person, fend Lung off? He won't be down for long." Keynote asked and Miss Militia lowered the taser and paused.

"Brandish doesn't have a stick... Ah, I see. Can you let me in on your plan, I can better assist you if I know what you intend to do." She asked as a rifle appeared in her hand, the green glow catching Taylor's eye.

"I intend to release a single pillar of intense heat, to strike and burn Lung greatly before he can heal. If he is badly damaged before my effect wears off, then we will have time to contain him." Taylor said with a grin and Miss Militia paused, her eyes staring at Lung, who was now standing up without too much trouble.

"I see, before I go, if Lung comes after you, defend yourself with everything you have. Survive. Armsmaster believes you are a hero, even if not officially, and I would like to think so too. At the end of the day, I would rather have you alive than Lung defeated. Please be careful, however, the world is watching." Miss Militia said and moved off, hunkering down again to start firing at Lung. The bullet's zinging off his scales before they vanished, or punching through in sprays of blood when they hit a joint.

Looking away Taylor breathed in and out, focusing. Then she stabbed the Keyblade into the ground, the handle pointing straight up. Holding out her hands, Taylor held them over the Keyblade like an old man trying to keep warm over an open fire.

Taylor's inexperience and Ifrit's instinctual feel, the two sets of ideologies clashed together, mixed and aligned, forming an odd mix of trust and confidence in herself. As she concentrated, Taylor could feel the heat surge and energy burn, the magic inside her rushing towards her hands. It felt like almost like what she had done when she cast dark firaga, that same knowledge and emotion, the power filled with her desire. This time though, as she focused, the magic built between her palms instead of the Keyblade's tip. More, this wasn't magic which corrupts, it wasn't built on pain and suffering. This magic was their will, Taylor's fury and Ifrit's rage made manifest.

As she let the emotion pour out of her hands a tiny ember flickered to life. It was so small, so fragile, and it threatened to die as quickly as it lived. But she would not let it and each second poured more of herself into that spark. With every breath more of her being entered the flame, the orange ember beginning to flicker wildly as it grew.

This would take some time.

Taylor was a human and Ifrit was an Esper. The method of their union was mostly unexplored territory and the effect it had on their magic completely unknown. What would have taken Ifrit moments alone, would possibly take minutes together, time they didn't have… But there was no other choice. Because what Ifrit could pass to Taylor was limited by her human view of the world around her. Just as what Taylor could show Ifrit was limited by his nature as a being of primordial energy.

Where Taylor saw people and life, Ifrit saw the flames of the soul.

Where Ifrit saw magic and energy, Taylor saw light and substance.

Such fundamental difference in thoughts was enough to keep the two beings minds separated, and yet they were still similar enough for them to grasp what was needed.

Taylor saw that two more capes had joined the fight, the costumes told her they were from New Wave, Laserdream and Lady Photon she thought.

Miss Militia waved Lady Photon down as Glory Girl crashed into Lung, his scales barely glowing green anymore.

She wouldn't have enough time to charge at this rate. Teeth gritted in concentration, Taylor tried to force her magic to flow faster, she had to, she needed to do something, to stop Lung for good.

That's when Lady Photon placed a force field behind Miss Militia, whose hand glowed green as the light exploded outwards creating a gatling gun on wheels.

Taylor almost dropped her primal flame when she saw this, mouth opening in shock. Miss Militia could make weapons that big?!

As Taylor stared the older hero took a hold of the weapon's handles and squeezed the trigger. With a screeching whine the gun span up before it began rocking backwards, spitting hot lead. As Miss Militia kept firing constantly the whole weapon slid backwards, jerking about when it was halted by meeting Lady Photon's shield.

In the meantime, Lung who had been about to smack a ball shaped Brandish was suddenly rocked back as his entire body was riddled with bullets, scales breaking and pinging off beneath the fusillade. Brandish was also hit, but seem to flow with the bullets instead of being injured and bounced away.

The type of ammo was hard to see, but they to seemed to flatten against Lung, instead of piercing through. Some type of soft head maybe? Or maybe lead instead of steel?

Still, the sheer amount of bullet casings flying out of the rotating canon was astounding, dozens of brass casings smacked against the force field, raining back down on Miss Militia whose ammo box finally ran dry.

But instead of reloading the gun, which would have taken time, she simply made the whole weapon blink and in an instant it was fully reloaded exactly where it had stood.

Taylor knew that 'having any weapon' was kinda underwhelming in the larger scheme of powers when you were a kid, but seeing it in action personally made her want to be extra polite to the woman. Because it wasn't until you realised that 'any weapon' apparently included non-man portable ones, that you realized how truly scary that power really was, like gatling guns, for instance.

Then, when Lung started walking forward into the bullet storm, Miss Militia changed her weapon into something that looked far more dangerous.

This war machine was also on wheels, but where the rotating gatling gun had been there was now a long cannon that looked like it had been taken off a tank. It was painted in desert camo, so amongst the grey hues of the urban jungle, it was an eye sore.

Miss Militia aimed the barrel at Lung, who glowed green for one last time, then she fired.

Taylor watched, her eyes feeling like they saw everything in slow motion as a shell the size of a foot ball flew from the muzzle of the cannon and approached Lung, whose hands were already rising, as if to catch it.

There was a moment when the shell hit Lung's hand and it began to flatten itself against his palm, then it exploded.

Both of Lung's hands were blown up and blown to pieces at that. Lung stumbled back as he stared at the stumps where his armoured claws had been seconds previously.

Then Glory Girl smashed a fist into his face, his head jerked down as Laserdream's rays scoured him across his back, making the dragon stumble forward as scales clattered into the street, more beams of light taking off a wing.

Looking back between her hands Taylor felt the flame cupped in her palms suddenly focus. The flame stopped flickering, stopped wavering and it stopped growing. Taylor frowned as she stared at the spark, she had been hoping for a bigger charge. But if this was all she had, then it would have to do.

Bone was already beginning to jut out from Lung's stumps, growing into hands once more.

Her time was up.

"Move!" She shouted and Miss Militia looked over at her and then nodded.

Pulling back, she nodded at Lady Photon who flew up and over to tap Glory Girl on the shoulder, pointing towards them and drawing her attention to Taylor.

Laserdream swooped down and grabbed Brandish firmly under her arms, flying off with her aunt, who looked bewildered at the sudden movement.

Glory Girl flew down, close to Taylor.

"Give him hell!" Glory Girl yelled as she flew past before accelerating up and away.

Taylor smiled glancing after her, the phrasing, unintentional as it was, amused her.

Hell indeed.

Lung looked around, the sudden lack of opponents throwing him of his game. His gaze swept over Taylor and he roared, his hands growing veins and flesh around bare bones, armoured scales already growing in like spines. He ran at her, intending to rip her apart with his teeth, or crush her beneath his feet.

Taylor didn't move, not giving any hint that she was worried.

Lung leapt the last few feet, aiming to land on her with his mass, to crush her like a bug.

But as Lung began to descend, the dragon almost upon her, Taylor slapped her hands together with the primal fire in between them. From her grinning lips a word slipped, smoke leaking out around her.

"Hellfire."

Then area around both Keynote and Lung exploded. The air was superheated instantly, the ground around the Keyblade blackened and crumbled, concrete breaking apart while asphalt bubbled and burst into flames. In an almost perfect circle, the air ignited and exploded upwards, a column of heat and howling flames reaching for the heavens.

Even Lung with all his weight was carried along with the updraft, his exposed flesh blackening. Lung cooked as he floated further up, metal scales melting, and ripping off flesh that first burnt then began to blacken and char. Lung screamed, a piercing shriek at being unable to escape the hellish prison he found himself locked in. The feeling of anger, heat, excitement and her bond with Ifrit poured from Taylor into the Keyblade, the weapon somehow becoming the eye of the firestorm.

Taylor stood, her mind hers once more, and looked up at the twisting form of Lung, expecting to feel proud or happy at her success, but as she just stood there, her own body untouched by the attack…

She just felt tired.

She was tired. Tired of this. The thrill of smacking Lung around gone, replaced by an echo that wasn't quite hers.

War without…

'War without purpose, a battle without meaning, bloodshed without an answer. I detest such acts. This is no longer about testing himself, or proving anything. Lung is enslaved by the fight, unable to walk away from a battle that he no longer understands, trapped by a war he cannot see.' Ifrit said quietly in the back of her mind. Taylor watched as the fire shriveled Lung's wings. His cries of fury and pain drowned in the torrent.

'I… kind of feel sorry for him, when you put it like that.' Taylor thought and Ifrit growled.

'Don't. He does not fight his chains. His eyes have been covered in blood for so long he can no longer think another way to live, but the blood was put there by his own hands. Don't pity him, learn from him. If you ever give in, if you ever fall… you are looking at yourself, in one form or another. A beast enslaved to its emotions, its instincts and its desires. A detestable existence.' Ifrit murmured as his voice went quiet.

The fire around her began to dim before it completely vanished and Lung's charred body landed with a crash in front of Taylor. Looking at his burnt black and silver body, Taylor dimly noted he was now nearly as big as some of the boats that lay decaying along the beach.

Most of his scales were surprisingly still there, although they had lost their shape, melted into a singular shell which hardened as Lung began to cool, scorch marks visible as black streaks across the otherwise silvery metal.

Looking at him Taylor saw Lung's face was the most untouched part of him, and she realized he must have faced away from the flames as best he could. A single eye was all that stood out to her and it was looking at her. It moved slowly around in the socket before it blinked once.

Then his entire body began to bubble, the melted shell of his old armour cracking and breaking, new flesh pouring from tiny fissures.

Taylor tried to move, but suddenly found herself on one knee, not releasing until now that she was having trouble breathing as she felt her chest tighten, only now realizing how light headed she felt.

Lung pushed one hand under him, the metal shell cracking away to reveal the burnt flesh beneath which in turn began to peel away, healthy skin and fresh scales taking it's place.

It… It hadn't been enough. Hellfire hadn't been enough, not even close.

Lung pushed up with another hand before his elbow buckled under him, dropping him back to the ground.

Taylor tried to back away, to turn and run but her body refused to listen, too tired to care. She was exhausted, both in body and mind. Her knees gave out then and she landed hard her head bouncing slightly. Her thoughts sluggish, the pain, not fully reaching her. Her brain seemingly wrapped in cotton wool.

'This is… it. I am depleted. I can stay only a little longer, but I'll be here to the end, if it comes down to it… You will feel nothing, I promise. It was a damn good fight and you weren't that bad at all, Keyblade Master.' Ifrit said lightly, casually and Taylor felt the urge to laugh.

'I can't believe we lost, I thought… I thought that somehow I'd pull through, in the end. Guess the joke's on me. I… feel tired. Is this the really it? Is this the end?' She asked as Lung got to his knees, the dragon's entire body rippling as he shrugged of damage that Taylor was sure would have at least keep him busy, kept him down.

But he was too far gone. Lung the man had been devoured by the beast within and become the monster before her.

Lung had gone beyond healing, beyond mere regeneration. He had reached damage negation.

'At this rate, yes, you will. I am not alive in the same sense, I will just return home after a while. The perks of being a creature of chaotic energy.' Ifrit mused, trying to distract her as bullets began to bounce off Lung.

Miss Militia was taking pot shots, maybe hoping to distract him from Taylor's limp body. Glory Girl might have flown in, tried for a daring rescue if her mother hadn't restrained her, or maybe Laserdream. But the area was still boiling with heat, the very air rippling and beginning to make Taylor feel nauseous. Or was that just how tired she was? Taylor felt an odd smile quirk her lips as a nearby street light began to bend and sink in on itself, metal wilting beneath the heat. Perhaps none would dare to get close? Ironic how her own immunity would now cost Taylor her life.

Thinking back to how carefully he took to setting Sabah on fire in front of her, Taylor doubted Lung would miss a chance to demonstrate the consequences of fighting him to such a big audience of capes.

As she watched, Lung floundered on the ground. His body writing as he shed the remnants of the shell which had held him. Glaring at her as more of his eyes were revealed, free from their prison. Then a deep rumbling sound filled the whole seeming, to echo and bounce back off the buildings, the boiling air twisting back and forth with the sound.

Taylor looked at Lung, looked at the dragon as he struggled free, healing all the while. Even if he was hurt, he was laughing, laughing at her as she lay there, helpless before him. He had won he knew it. So he was laughing, gloating, because despite how hard she tried…

He'd won. He'd won and… and he… he would...

He would kill her. She was… She was going to die. Here amidst these broken ruins of her the street where she and Sabah spent their days, she would… die.

'I don't want to die.' Taylor admitted, the words surprising her even as she thought them.

Taylor wasn't suicidal. At least, she'd never thought herself to be. She'd never planned to kill herself, never had the desire to end her own life, to leave her father alone.

'Living each day as a task rather than an experience, you express no desire to die, but yet you reject the idea of living all the same. You hang there in the balance of waking up, surviving, and then sleeping only to endure it all again. I am but a guest here and yet even I can see the cracks in your reasoning.' Ifrit pointed out to her.

Taylor saw Lung stand with a wobble and one of his wings spread wide, tattered and barely healed, the other still a regrowing stump while two more spurs twitched upon his back. Rearing up to the sky the dragon roared, bellowing his triumph. Then as he settled back down, he just looked at her, smirking despite his twisted mouth. Lung was gloating, just letting her stew in her powerlessness. The proof that he was strong, stronger than her. Savouring his triumph. Making sure she knew, knew that it was inevitable, that he had won, that she would die.

'I would never kill myself!' Taylor argued, choosing to fight the only battle she could now, the one inside her head.

'Yet, you challenged Lung. A man feared even by your own warriors? Actions speak louder than words. What do yours say?' The demon said hotly in return.

Taylor winced, cringing as if she had been struck.

'I was… I had to save people. Lung might have killed them. He'd have killed Sabah!' Taylor grasped at the excuses she'd told herself. They'd seemed like good ones at the time.

'Lung would had faded away if his might went unchallenged. Bored, annoyed, he'd have slunk back into the darkness if you had you only hid, run into the shadows yourself. I can hear your thoughts on the dragon, he is known, he is feared, he is dreaded! And yet, you kept meeting him again and again. The fight an excuse, the people convenient, your 'justice' a hangman's rope in disguise. You could not make the final choice, would not, so you threw yourself against a man who would make it for you. I had hoped that once we bonded you would reflect more on this, but instead you threw yourself into me and hid your feelings in the flames. But you cannot run now. Self destruction is all you have left.' Ifrit said, sounding tired, as if Taylor's being was hard to look at.

She wasn't though, she… she hadn't! She didn't want to die, she didn't.

Lung stretched his entire body, cracking what shell still clung to him away, freeing himself finally from the remains of Taylor's attack. Behind him his one wing flared and flexed, metal shards raining off it. He closed his eyes as the bullets travelled up his body, mouth opening in another triumphant roar, bellowing his victory at the watching heroes. He was beyond them all now.

'I don't want to die!' Taylor repeated and felt her lips quivering, tears pricking at her eye despite the heat. Then Taylor thought of her life before the Keyblade…

Day after day of the same dull life, weeks that would never end. Every dawn had been the herald of another day she had to endure, another day where she'd never smile, another day of being sad, another day of being ignored, belittled, and spat on. She had gotten used to that. Taylor was sure she was coping with it, she never broke, she never cried and she didn't ever let it bother her. Even when it did.

School, the isolation, the quiet home, and the distant father… When the only person to talk to was herself, when the only voice she heard was her own. Taylor was sure she was coping, surviving, enduring, but thinking of how her life had changed after the Keyblade appeared…

Taylor feared those grey days and that empty life. She was terrified that one way or another, she would lose the Keyblade and with it, her connection to Sabah, Mog and Boco, the Wards, magic… She'd lose it all and the loneliness would return. She'd return to being nothing, go back to her quiet, grey, empty world. Return to her life where every day was a trial instead of joy.

She was afraid.

She was afraid that she would wake up one day and find no Key to answer her call.

Taylor thought about why she fought Lung. The one thing that jumped out from the weak reasoning was… because she had to. If she didn't fight the villain, then what good was she? It didn't really matter what would happen to her, the thought never crossed her mind. Just fight and fight and fight and fight.

What was she worth if she didn't fight?

It had never crossed Taylor's mind that she might die, because… Because it didn't seem important. Because she wasn't important.

If she didn't fight she had no worth.

Because, in the grand scheme of it all, Taylor Hebert was nothing, barely a cog in the machine. She wasn't important enough for anyone to help, the teachers, the principal, or even the Police. She'd been discarded and stepped on, overlooked and ignored, forgotten by the system. What did she matter compared to Sophia, Emma and Madison? Three girls who got whatever they wanted and enjoyed stepping on her on their way to the top. Who laughed and kicked her down whenever she tried to climb. She wasn't important enough to be friends with Emma anymore.

Why else had Emma betrayed her and spent every day there after making sure Taylor knew just how small, weak, and pathetic she was? Why else had the teachers ignored her cries for help, let her be cut down, giving her only deaf ears and blind eyes? Why else had the Police thrown her assault in the 'too hard' basket, had told her justice wasn't for her? Taylor wasn't important, not at all, not to anyone or anything.

But… But Keynote was important, people paid attention to Keynote. So if Keynote could do one good thing, if Keynote could beat the invincible Lung, defeat the villain no one else had... If Keynote could just do that one good deed…

Then the last two years of her life would have meant something. All the suffering, all the pain and dirt she'd had to swallow… It would have meant something more than being an unimportant friendless loser.

But at the same time, deep behind that wall of need, there was now something else, something that was growing everyday, something that was filling her heart. A light that pushed away those dark days.

A flash of a red pom-pom, the sight of yellow feathers, the ghost of a grin from a hospital bed, almost seeing her, and most of all an honest smile set in tan skin, a smile of happiness at seeing her, at seeing Taylor. The feeling of smiling because… because she was happy, not because it would make others happy. The feeling for the first time in years that she was alive!

Taylor had found a home in her friends and now that she was so close to the end, she rebelled against it, the idea of losing them. She'd finally found color in her grey world, a light that had pierced a darkness she hadn't even realized was blinding until it was no longer there… And now she was going to lose it all?

'I will not die here.' Taylor said with great care and felt her body twitch in response at last.

Ifrit paused and then he spoke, sounding cautious but pleased.

'You mean that, for once, you truly mean it. This is good, a step away from the edge. Hope is dangerous, an emotion that can break even the strongest heart. But hope can also be the greatest treasure, a bastion that can weather any storm, a light that can pierce even the blackest darkness. Can you hear it?' He asked Taylor, whose mind snapped back to reality.

Lung had heard it too, the deep rumbling roar of a powerful engine was approaching.

As she listened, Taylor thought it sounded more like a plane than a car.

Taylor struggled to her feet, every inch a battle to be won. If this was it, if this was the end of Taylor Hebert, then she didn't want to die lying down, just taking it. Those days were over. She wanted to show the world one last thing, that she wanted to live, that this was not her end.

Lung eyes looked down at her, and Taylor stared back, her one eye glaring.

What was he thinking? What thoughts could run through the mind of a man that the world feared?

Pride? Rage? Contentment?

What would Lung think of at the end of the day? Would he forget about Taylor? Another notch on his belt? Another slain hero to his name? Would he think about her at the start of the next fight? Would he even remember her name?

Did he already think she was unimportant now that she appeared defeated?

Taylor felt a burst of pain come from her hand as she gripped the Keyblade tightly. Her sore body damaged beyond belief, her magic spent, body drained of any energy she might have left.

But… something filled her, let her stand. She struggled to her feet as Lung watched, that strange feeling filling her, making her stand tall, to hold her keyblade proudly before her. Something made Taylor Hebert stare into Lung's eyes, all four of them, to look into the face of death and feel no fear.

Something made her think that she was a lot more damn important than Lung was making her out to be.

It felt a lot like… hope.

Sucking in the boiling air, feeling the heat slide down her throat… With everything she had, Taylor screamed at him. The bellow that came out was partly her voice, partly not, Ifrit lending his voice to hers. With flickers of movement catching her eye, she spotted the red color on sleeves of her cloak begin to pull back, flowing down her coat to pool at her feet.

The red and orange touched the feeling of hope shining brightly within her and came alive, falling off her to leave her white coat behind.

Taylor's head became lighter as the horns melted and flowed down like water on a raincoat, the bronze of her flesh following as well, returning her skin to her normal pale tone.

Lung stared down at the large circle of swirling red, glowing with a deep inner light.

The Slumbering Rage in her hands began to vibrate intensely, and with a flourish she touched the keyblade to the portal of crimson, Ifrit's face grinning up at her.

The Slumbering Rage stopped shaking and simply melted out of her hand into the swirl of magic.

Then a giant claw ripped its way out of the ground and Ifrit reappeared, but unlike the Ifrit she saw before, his new form had nothing human in it. He truly looked like a demon that had crawled straight out of hell.

His body was darker than any night Taylor could compare it to, the only thing stopping Ifrit from becoming one with the darkness was the endless lines of magma glowing under every claw and between every spike on his body. It was armoured and scaled, deadly instead of beautiful, a monster in the truest sense.

Ifrit was thin around the waist, but had a bulky torso attached to which were two massive draconic arms whose claws he was using to pull himself out of the ground. As he emerged atop twin digitigrade legs a long wicked tail whipped out behind him, barbed and bladed. His once human face was now closer to Lung's, long and bestial, eyes burning wickedly in their sockets. His horn was longer than Taylor's body, the broken stump on the other side of his head still looking vicious. Craning her head back Taylor felt her mouth drop open as the demon towered above her, towered above even Lung, almost seeming to reach the sky as he reared up arms spread wide.

This was Ifrit? Her Ifrit? The amused chuckle that answered her sounded so guttural that it made some part of Taylor go still, frozen before a predator.

"Keyblade Master… I am reborn. I am the Burning Truth, the King of Flames. I. Am. IFRIT!" He roared at the sky, then lowered his arms and charged.

Lung seemed to snap out of his confusion but when the villain went to grab Ifrit, the demon slipped past his claws and slammed into Lung with all the power and speed of bullet train, his tail whipping side to side as he punched a hole completely through Lung. Gore and armored scales fell like rain as Lung screamed, stumbling back as Ifrit tore his arm free in another spray of blood.

Then, before Lung could even clutch at the hole in the dragon's chest Ifrit had circled around to the villain's back, demonic claws tearing the ground he stepped on apart. Then a devastating punch sent Lung crashing to the ground in a tangle of broken limbs, even as the night cooled, the scorching furnace Taylor had unleashed swallowed by the demon.

Then as Ifrit stood triumphant over Lung Taylor saw that in his large, dark claws, the demon held a flame, a brilliant crimson fire. With a laugh that howled through the streets, he began to fade, feet and tail first. Lung looked down and collapsed, his body bubbling madly, flesh, scales and blood churning chaotically, shrinking even as he writhed in agony.

Ifrit took the flame and swallowed it, seeming to enjoy the taste as he grinned, revealing a maw full of fangs.

'What did you do?' Taylor asked, a bit of a blur colouring her thoughts, too tired to really care but wanting to know all the same.

Ifrit hummed as he responded in her head.

'I have taken that which he values most, his fire, his lust for battle. Without that fire, that passion he cannot stand. Heh. Such powerful hope you have, Taylor Hebert, that even if it was for but a mere moment, I could become my true self, my primal self. I usually cannot stand using curses such as this, but my time was limited and you… I like you. If you were to die the moment my back was turned I would be most displeased. Live Taylor Hebert, live for your friends, but most of all… live for yourself.' And with that Ifrit was gone, fading away into nothing but a few glowing embers, dancing on the wind.

Taylor fell with nothing supporting her this time, no Keyblade to hold her up this time. Then just as she was about to hit the ground Glory Girl snatched her as gently as she could, before she could crack her head on the concrete.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, I got you big shot. You don't do anything by half, do you, Key?" Glory girl said as the blonde girl floated backwards with Taylor in her arms. Taylor felt her body relaxing even more as the fight was now behind her. It was no longer her responsibility. There was nothing more she could do.

There was a sound like pistons going off as a new voice called out.

A voice she knew.

"Is she okay?" Dragon asked as one her mechs came closer.

Through her blurry eyesight, Taylor saw that it was grey and yellow, with the head almost human shaped, besides the odd bird beak added on.

Was Dragon a Boco fan already? The fight had only been going on for… how long?

Taylor honestly couldn't remember.

"I think so, tired as hell, but my sister is waiting nearby, I think she'll tell me if she needs something urgently. You here for Lung?" Glory Girl asked, the writhing form on the ground twisted unnaturally to Taylor and the thought returned.

Lung wins long term. The longer you fought Lung the more you would lose.

"I am. Can you get Portunes to safety?" Dragons said, her calm voice coming from a speaker near the head of the mech suit.

"I think she's going with Keynote now. Good luck, Key here put a hole through him, burnt the hell out him lots of times and he still isn't staying down." The New Wave girl said.

Dragon chuckled.

"I plan to try a different tactic." She said as the mech suddenly began to shift its torso about, like a convertible lowering it's hood. The metal chest sliding apart to reveal a woman inside, was this Dragon? Her first public appearance? Taylor forced herself to pay attention to the face that was revealed.

It wasn't Dragon. In fact, it was the last person Taylor ever expected to see in real life.

Paige Mcabee, aka "Bad Canary" stared out, her face squinting as she adjusted to the sudden destruction that was before her. Taylor remembered following her case, before the news stations moved on to the newest thing. It had seemed really unfair to her, how Paige had been treated.

"D-Dragon? Is this… Is this it?" Her voice came out like a bad auto tune. A metal collar around her neck making the noise rather than her mouth. Dragon raised one metal thumb.

"It is. I apologise for the sound proof container, the uppers were on the edge about this as it was. Are you ready?" One of the world's most powerful Tinkers asked one of world's most powerful Masters.

"I… I think so. That's him there? That's Lung?" Paige asked, sounding completely terrified at the thought despite the synthesiser. Then she looked down at Taylor, and Taylor saw that her long blonde hair ended in several feathers, each one only adding to her character instead of standing out.

"Is she okay?" Canary asked Glory Girl, who was gaping at her.

"I need an autograph!" Was the response before Glory Girl shook her head.

"Wait, no, later. This is Keynote, she's been holding Lung back for you, dished out quite a beating too, so it's down to you to make sure her effort isn't completely wasted, got it?" Glory Girl said, her tone a complete reverse.

Canary stared down at Taylor, her eyes sad.

"You're so young…" She said more to herself than to Taylor, before the former rock star nodded.

"I'm ready." Paige said. Dragon didn't respond, but soft notes began to play out the speakers.

It wasn't happy, angry, or anything like Canary had sang before, like everyone, Taylor flocked to Youtube to check out clips of Bad Canary. This tune was… sad. Lung was standing, his chest still open all the way through, but the flesh was rapidly closing. Brandish charged at him, a spear in her hand. Glory Girl floated there, transfixed at Canary and Taylor was glad, she didn't want to miss this, the end of everything she had worked for.

The victory.

"Please, hear me, please, listen to me. My voice is here. Please don't ignore me." Canary sang as the collar around her neck blinked off.

The words that flowed out of the singers mouth were unlike anything Taylor had ever heard before. Sad and lonely, yet beautiful all the same. Enchanting like the sound of rain. The song flowed into her, around her and Taylor would swear she could almost see the song, ribbons of music which twisted around her and off into the night. Taylor was sure that even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to tear herself away from that voice. It was hypnotic, relaxing, and somewhere in the middle, melancholy.

"Dragon of blood, I see you. Can you see me? I am here in my cage of steel and despair, can you not see me?" Canary sang.

Taylor found herself...tearing up. The song… She sounded sad, so very, very sad. Heartbroken, like her dreams were tattered and fallen to ruin. As Canary kept singing, Taylor felt some of the song's influence ebb as the words focused around Lung, as Canary sang at Lung, the music made to tame a dragon's heart. Lung was facing her, his own face transfixed on the singing woman.

"I am a jailbird, singing my last song. I am a jailbird, with no wings for my pardon due, can you see me? Can you hear me? I am a jailbird, singing my last song to you." Canary's voice covered the street and Taylor had the odd feeling that she wasn't just trying to bring Lung under her spell, that this song, this sadness… It was genuine, a song of despair straight from the heart. Brandish shook her head, the song making her confused, but she nodded afterwards, looking pleased at the event for some reason.

"Dragon, you fight for so long, can you not see? Can you not hear? This jailbird who is singing to you? Be at peace for this jailbird will sing her last song to you in her cage of steel and loneliness." The song continued as Lung wobbled from an unseen hit, his body trembling as something began to affect him.

The song, or Ifrit's curse? Maybe both.

"Sleep under my lullaby, dragon of blood, sleep with my last song. Sleep tonight, this jailbird will sing you through the dark, this jailbird will sing until she sings no more and this jailbird shall sing her last." Canary sang, her eyes wet with tears. Taylor felt a her heart ache for the woman, this was the "dangerous master" who threatened millions?

This was a sad, lonely woman who was scared.

Taylor struggled to her feet, out of Glory Girl's grasp, wobbling towards the mech, Glory Girl hesitated before helping her to get closer, supporting Taylor with one arm wrapped under her shoulders.

Behind them, Lung was shrinking, his mouth reforming, his wings shrinking. Lung could fight an Endbringer, but in his own head, he was as weak as the rest of them.

When Taylor was close enough, she reached one hand up, and held it there. Canary didn't paused in song, but looked down, slowly grasping Taylor's hand with her own.

"I am so sorry. You don't deserve this." Taylor said with regret and Canary stuttered over a word, before carrying on, her eyes now crying freely, her lips shaking even as she sang. She looked around, eyes filled with despair at the world around her. Despair at her own inner thoughts or at Taylor's words, Taylor didn't know, all she knew was that Canary… That Paige needed someone there for her, so she squeezed the hand clutching her own.

Lung collapsed, the song now fully consuming him, his eyes fluttering shut, his claws shrinking, his size returning within human norm. Taylor wobbled before her own eye blinked closed, the cries of those around her a muted thing. Only Canary's voice reached her as the world faded away.

"This Jail bird will sing, until she sings no more."

"Come on! I thought you were going to 'show me'? Was that all talk?...there we go, now that's what I like to see! Stubborn as bull you are..."

School was surreal.

Taylor stared blankly at everything and everyone.

After everything that had happened, school was… was still a thing. The teachers were still here, the classes were the same, the students went on with their lives, and everything was normal.

Except… it wasn't.

Lung had been arrested and was being sent for immediate incarceration in the birdcage. Thank Scion for that.

Canary was now being hailed as a hero. The pacifist cape who sang for peace, her song only affecting Lung when she could have easily ensnared so many others, then allowing herself to be taken back into custody. Her lawyer, one Carol Dallon, was plastering the facts of Paige's assistance everywhere, her case once more ruling the media. Except this time it wasn't headlines like 'Dangerous Master affect Millions?' but 'The Tragedy of Paige McAbee' and 'A Song for Peace, Will the PRT Listen?'

Taylor had to admit, even with a being of the cosmos helping her in her own fight, Paige was just a more effective endgame, Canary's power was a trump card beyond anything Taylor could pull. Taylor was sure, that like her, anyone else who heard Canary's song had a very good nights sleep. And what was more, that those who heard? Their hearts had gone out to the woman trapped in her own despair, Taylor knew hers had.

Aside from Canary, the media had dubbed the whole Lung event 'The Red Dawn', the aftermath of which was still unknown. An entire street, most of one anyway, was destroyed. People woke up on the other side of town and found that what was a normal street yesterday was now a scorched ruin, a blackened mark upon the city.

The street was 34 Monroe Drive. It had now picked up a nickname overnight, something far less pretty.

The Scar.

Once Lung had been buried in containment foam, Dragon had deployed another Mech and pumped him full of a drug developed my Armsmaster. The halberd wielding cape had been tasked with transporting the defeated Mush to lock up, and to get help with some serious damage to his armor that was slowing him down. Apparently Mush had grown to a height of at least 25 feet before Armsmaster had managed to take him down.

The Merchant cape had discovered a rather odd effect to his powers, much to everyone's dismay.

As Mush grew bigger and bigger, the objects that his power started considering trash or debris began to grow in size. When Mush started out he could cobble together trash, dirt and even sand. As he accumulated mass however, he began picking up larger and larger objects, progressing from discarded coffee cups to old tires to objects as large as refrigerators.

Mush was able to send out his skin and flesh in different tiny ropelike tendrils that would snake through and around trash and loose parts. The skin thing was why he was classed as Changer first and not another class like Shaker. The veins would latch onto various things and pull them together, effectively building upon Mush's body.

The effect was eerily like the horror movie of Earth Aleph, 'The Thing', or so Miss Militia told her.

Then, when Mush was 25 feet tall, his powers let him consider even cars to be trash. The taller he grew, the faster he could grow.

Miss Militia told Taylor what exactly happened to delay the help from arriving to deal with Lung. She had woken up in the ambulance, Canary's effect still lingering on her, this combined with her own exhaustion made it hard for Taylor to stay awake, but she had to know what had happened. Miss Militia seemed to take the Protectorates absence at the beginning of the fight with Lung as a personal affront, so the older cape took great care to answer what questions she could for Taylor, perhaps in an attempt to make up for taking so long in getting here.

The scientists back at the PRT headquarters and at the Think Tank when they were contacted had apparently formed a rough theory that Mush would eventually have been able to absorb parts of buildings into his trash collection, literally tearing the city apart if he wasn't stopped.

It wasn't until Armsmaster had noticed something odd that they had managed to take Mush down.

The more stuff Mush absorbed into his body, the thinner he spread himself out, the less he was able to act and think as person. Making the expanding golem more and more sluggish as it grew. Armsmaster had chosen to take a risk and had jumped into the rubble, managing to inject Mush with the same tranquiliser that he had designed, the same one Dragon had administered to Lung, though he had used a far smaller dose.

Mush was still human after all, regardless of how much he stretched himself out.

The trash giant had collapsed as Armsmaster grabbed a mostly reformed Mush and pulled him to safety. Meaning he was hailed as the key to that battle, but this was quickly overshadowed by the recap and footage of the battle against Lung starting to circulate on the net.

While people hadn't gotten all of it, they had managed to record a fair chunk of her battle with Lung and…

The bell ringing for the end of class interrupted her thoughts. As her math class ended Taylor stood, gathering her things together as everyone collided together in their race for the door.

Taylor lingered, waiting for the crush of people to subside. She had chosen to come back today, only taking one day off to rest and recover, despite Sabah's complaints.

Any longer would have been suspicious, but the truth was, if Taylor had to admit it, that staying cooped up inside her old home was driving her mad. The empty house was bad enough, even with Sabah, Mog and Boco, moving in with her, but the simple idea that her father wasn't going to be home at the end of the day, made the place seem sad and dead in a way. A tomb of memories that she longed to escape.

Still, the real trouble was the world's reaction that night. Every TV station, every radio, every PHO board that she used to frequent, was buzzing. All about Lung, all about her. Even the talk shows were showing some of the 'highlights'. The idea made Taylor cringe, seeing herself plastered on TV was bad enough. But the thought that there was things people considered 'highlights' of that fight? It disgusted her.

Still, it was big and everyone was talking about it, about Lung and Canary...

And especially about her.

It had started off so objective too.

"New cape Keynote and Villain Lung in a fight."

"Lung attacks, Keynote defends!"

"How powerful is this girl?"

Then it went down hill, as more footage rose to the surface. Taylor knew that when Ifrit was first summoned and that with his final goodbye, that there would be some concerns, especially given the 'enthusiastic' announcement of his name and title…

But Taylor Hebert did not consort with Endbringers dammit!

The rabid mob that spontaneously formed on every media outlet churned with unrest.

"That thing looks like a monster. Can she even control it?"

"She put a hole right through Lung like nothing, I'd rather have her in jail than defending anyone."

"Do they allow the birdcage for first time offences? Given the magnitude of this case I feel they should."

"Who is even monitoring her? What if she snaps again and brings something worse next time?"

Taylor couldn't stand to listen to any of it. So startling Sabah who had been setting up her crafts in the dining room, she'd ran out, jumped over the creaky step and jogged to school. The quiet morning run being exactly what she needed.

It wasn't like she should have bothered about being nervous about returning to Winslow, half the student body hadn't turned up.

Taylor felt guilty about just running out, but she'd sent Sabah a text between classes saying she was bored and needed to get out of the house.

Sabah...

Sabah had been there when she had woken up in the ambulance still parked at the scene thankfully, and hugged her hard enough to make bones crack.

"I was watching. I am so damn proud of you and so damn scared." Sabah had whispered in her ear, everyone giving them room due to Boco.

The large bird had been warbling at the flashing cameras of the crowd that had formed while the dust settled, the media sweeping in. Boco had even done a little butt wiggle and then spun on his clawed feet, enjoying the attention.

But as the school day came to an end, Taylor wasn't sure this was a good idea either. Of all the people missing, Emma wasn't one of them.

Ignoring her Locker, she never used the damn thing anymore, giving up on it entirely as it still made her shiver with it's cold metal and uncaring lock. Taylor rushed out to the front of the building where Sabah said that Taylor would get picked up.

School hadn't been enough to distract her from thinking about all of this anyway, it only gave her more time to dwell on it all.

People were looking at her, at Keynote, with the same look that Canary had to endure.

A look that said, you're different, you're scary, you're alone.

Taylor hated it, hated the fact that she tried so damn hard the other night to help, and people were now judging her for it from the safety of their homes, calling her a monster because she tried to do what they couldn't.

Miss Militia had been right, the world was watching and it hadn't liked what it had seen.

Sabah must have been getting the same attention, her action of going from a demure shopkeeper to a punter of Lung and then a knight in shining armor, had caused her cellphone to start ringing non-stop before Sabah had just turned it off and pulled the battery out.

Taylor stood by the roadside and waited.

She was hoping Sabah's junker, if it had made it out alive of from the Red Dawn, would come coughing its way down the street.

"Why the rush? It's not like anyone is waiting for you." A voice and tone that Taylor knew all too well spoke up from behind her.

Slowly, Taylor turned and looked at girl who had spoken.

Emma stood there, alone this time, no hangers on crowding around to watch and titter. This was still an odd thing for Taylor to see up close. Emma looked odd, almost unarmed without her two cronies.

"Why the curiosity? It's not like anyone cares what you think anymore." Taylor retorted and Emma took a step back, startled by a single comment.

Taylor just couldn't muster the will to give a single crap about the redhead after everything with Lung and Ifrit, she really couldn't.

Emma's face turned inwards then, stilling, becoming a blank mask .

"I always wondered when you'd fight back. Guess your Dad was the push you needed." Emma said and Taylor's single eye glared at her.

"My Dad this, my Mom that, do you ever get new material? Or are you that weak without Sophia? Now that she's left you and all." Taylor said, her face bearing the ghost of a smile.

Sinking to Emma's level wasn't what she wanted to do, but standing there and taking it was no longer an option. Taylor's words made Emma reel back like she had been struck.

"She… She didn't leave me, things came up that you know nothing about. I don't need Sophia, like I didn't need you, I'm strong enough on my own." Emma spat with a snarl.

Taylor just looked at her, the slightly baggy eyes covered up by makeup, the once luscious hair now thoroughly less than perfect.

Emma was putting on a good show, but she was cracking.

"Clearly." Taylor said curtly.

Emma opened her mouth, but was interrupted when a car pulled up beside them, a rather expensive looking european import, a rarity due to Leviathan.

Both them took a step back, their stranger danger lessons still strong.

Ingrid Mars, co-owner of Dollhouse Fashion, stepped out of her expensive car.

"Taylor, there you are, come on, we're late. The photographer is going to blow a gasket, but he gets paid either way." Ingrid said, typing on her phone as she walked around the car.

Taylor's mind was blank as her two lives came crashing together with what felt like an earth shattering impact.

What was Ingrid thinking? As the co-owner, she knew Taylor's identity, she'd even met with Taylor out of costume, but with how well she managed to keep Sabah's identity secret, Taylor didn't think the woman would just… appear in public like this and out her.

Emma blinked at the woman, eyeing the expensive suit, which matched the expensive phone, which was now at her ear below her expensive designer hair style.

Emma saw money and then stared at Taylor.

"Um, Miss? Do you know my friend Taylor here?" Emma asked with a smile, her eyes never quite matching her tone.

"Right, right, I'll be there soon… Sorry, important client, Taylor? Met her before the Lung thing, terrible thing that, but we hired her on as one our teen models." Ingrid said casually, making both Emma and Taylor gape at her.

"You did what? You hired her? Does your manager know that you're wasting funds on an amatuer model?" Emma practically exploded.

Taylor's felt a little indignant at that and would have said so except her own voice was still somewhere far off in 'does not compute' land.

Ingrid looked down at Emma and something changed about the woman. Instead of an air head in a suit, there now stood a cold and calculating woman who looked deep into Emma's eyes and smirked.

"Ingrid Mars, Co-owner of the Dollhouse. I think I know what I'm doing little Miss." Ingrid said in a tone of cruel mirth.

Taylor was still struggling with processing the situation though, even as Emma flinched.

Taylor was… a model?

That wasn't right. Taylor wasn't a dainty model, Taylor was a warrior!

"I mean, what I meant was that, perhaps hiring Taylor here isn't the best choice, her figure is all wrong for a lot of clothes and her eye patch would distract people from the clothes, no?" Emma back pedaled.

Taylor turned her head to glare at Emma, her hand clenched. She knew she wasn't pretty but it still hurt to hear people say it. Well, at least Sabah thought she was… beautiful.

Shaking her head Taylor doubled down on her glare.

If Emma thought she wasn't good enough, then Taylor damn well thought she was the best model the Dollhouse could have hired!

"Fancy yourself a model in the making do you?" Ingrid asked, casually.

In response Emma stood straighter and pulled off that smirk.

That smirk she used when she left something nasty for Taylor on her seat, when she said something cruel and was just waiting for the reaction, or even when Sophia knocked her to the ground.

"I'm applying, I've been taking good care of myself and I know a little about the trade. Once school's over, I'm thinking of going professional, make it to the big times." Emma boasted, one eye on Taylor, watching her reaction to what Emma seemed sure was certain victory. Like it was inevitable that the redhead would be replacing Taylor.

"I wish you luck with that, and since you want to go big, I'll let you in on a secret. You have nothing going for you." Ingrid said in a conspiratorial whisper, her sweet smile belying her cruel words.

Emma snapped her full attention back to Ingrid, no longer trying to keep an eye on Taylor.

"Excuse me?" Emma asked hotly, face beginning to flush in anger.

Ingrid brushed her off as she walked back to the car, and rested her back against it as she looked at Emma.

"You're pretty, sure, your hair is nice, but any decent dye job can do that. Your figure is all wrong, too busty, too curvy. It's easier to give curves when needed than hide them when not. When I look at you, there is nothing there, nothing to… hold my attention. Nothing unique. Clothes make a person sweetie, but there's gotta be a person there in the first place. Taylor here just oozes the stuff. Individuality. She says nothing and you can see a million things on her face. It's not a skill you can teach, you either have it or you don't. And Taylor has it." Ingrid said, her gaze giving Emma's figure a onceover as the redhead just stood there and stared, eyes wide.

Snorting lightly Ingrid continued.

"The Dollhouse isn't your average clothes shop, nor do we have the same standards as others. We're cape made clothing. Unique, different. We need models that embody that. Taylor's body, her eyepatch, her personality, they are exactly what we are looking for. Taylor stands out, because she's more than pretty, she's interesting." Ingrid finished, giving the numb Emma a half smirk.

The redhead had nothing to answer with. Emma was just standing there frozen in shock.

Seeing that she'd get no reply Ingrid leaned forward, then turned and opened the passenger side door, ushering Taylor inside. As she sat down and the engine rumbled to life, Taylor looked back out the open window at Emma and could not help but smile brightly.

"See you later, Ems!" Taylor called out happily.

Emma's mouth fell opened, but the car started up the moment Taylor had one foot in car and the took off. Leaving Emma behind in the dust, alone.

"Sorry for the pick up, Sabah had a large order come in and she asked if I could come get you, just in time by the looks of it." Ingrid said, putting her phone in her handbag, the simple act reassuring Taylor more than the verbal evisceration of Emma the woman had delivered.

"Was anything of that stuff you said to her true?" Taylor asked as Ingrid drove them towards the city center.

"Mostly, the girl has a good chance at any model shop. A natural redhead with a healthy lifestyle might catch someone's eye, it's never a guarantee, but she has potential. Forget about her though, because if she's your friend, I'll eat this car. I know a bully when I see one. But I do have a friend downtown with a shop, I can ask them to look her up if you think she deserves it?" Ingrid said with a smile and Taylor felt herself think on it.

Emma… didn't deserve anything from Taylor, but at the same time, this petty grudge that seemed to follow them about…

When the tables were turned, Taylor wanted that break, that day where Emma would just sigh and move on, bored of it all. That day where Emma just shook her head and decided it wasn't the way she wanted things.

Leaving Emma in the dust felt good, too good. If it was anyone else it would have had Taylor wince and feel bad… Well, maybe not Sophia, Sophia could inhale her dust all day.

Still, Taylor didn't want this perverse pleasure at Emma's misfortune, not to a such life changing extent. A pimple? Great! Bag splits open, revealing candy bars? Tough luck. A once in the life time opportunity for an apprenticeship or learning the ropes for her dream job?

...

Taylor took a breath and drew the line. Where would it end? How far would they drag each other down, if it wasn't stopped?

"Can you call them? Her name is Emma Barnes, I think she's put her profile out, I think she said something like that to her friends once, and can you make sure she doesn't know it was because of me?" Taylor asked, feeling her conscience settle inside. Emma's life was her own, Taylor wanted no part in it, not anymore. If a few years down the road ever happened, and Emma bumped into her in the street and didn't sneer…

They would talk, discuss things like the adults they'd become, but... not now. Not when everything was too fresh, too raw.

A silence came over the car as Taylor felt a little pride in herself, the act of moving on by taking the high road making her feel as if a weight had been lifted from her chest.

"Consider it done, hun." Ingrid said with a small smile, pulling a pair of sunglasses out from the head board as they turned a corner.

Taylor nodded back and returned to her thoughts.

Mostly about Sabah and her ringing cellphone. Oh, that reminded Taylor...

"I'm sorry… about all the trouble." Taylor said breaking the silence. Ingrid shot her a curious look.

"The Lung thing? It'll blow over, hun, new capes push people's buttons all the time, you should have seen the amount of grief Sabah got when she chose to use her powers for an actual job career instead of throwing herself at crooks, I mean, what kind of future is that? Capes are people too and at the end of the day, everyone's gotta eat and Sabah… She just doesn't like hurting people, not that she won't if you piss her off, mind, just that… Well, she's a softie at heart, just like her dolls!" Ingrid gave a bark of laughter and looked at Taylor as a red light slowed them down.

"Like, there was this woman came into the shop and snapped her fingers, expecting Sabah to come running like a servant. Ha, that pissed Sabah right off, I think the lady came to get dressed up, She did not expect a furious dressing down on the matter of respect." Ingrid explained with a chuckle as they pulled up to the Dollhouse's back entrance. The security gate to the parking area that contained the cars of the employee's sliding open when Ingrid leaned out the window and punched in the security number.

The tall fence had another wooden privacy barrier behind it to prevent anyone from seeing people coming in or out of the building, which made it the perfect place to change into costume.

"I'll be heading right in, I have a new understudy and I left the poor hun managing my desk phone on his own. It's good experience and if he's really talented, he'll have found the whisky in the bottom drawer after Mrs. Leopold phones about her wedding dress." Ingrid gave another laugh and, with a wink, went inside, leaving Taylor alone to change.

Slipping into her costume, Taylor did up the zips. Undershirt, pants, gloves, coat and boots. Even if the soles of her boots were a little charred the costume had survived amazingly well, only a few cuts that Sabah had been able to fix with ease. Walking across the carpark as Taylor pulled the hood into place, she paused at the back door.

There would be people inside.

"No one is controlling her, I don't feel safe at all with her in town…"

"That thing she called must of been her real self, monsters hang with monsters, just look at the Slaughterhouse Nine!"

"The PRT need to just shut her down. She's out of control and a menace."

Taylor shook her head to clear it of the memories of the angry people on the news and took her hand off the knob, perhaps it was best that she didn't go inside, and be seen with Sabah.

The other girl's reputation and business would suffer if Taylor appeared too early. It was probably better if Taylor laid low for a few days. Better for Sabah.

But… Sabah sent Ingrid to pick her up, Sabah wanted her here, right?

She recalled Ifrit's words, the deep bass of his voice seeming still reverberating inside her heart.

'Live for your friends, but most of all, live for yourself.'

Running away wasn't living. For Sabah, for Ingrid and for herself, she would endure the looks, and if anyone said anything, then Taylor would deal with it.

Taylor wasn't weak anymore. Just as she reached for the knob again, Sabah opened it from the other side, in full costume.

"There you are!" She said warmly and pulled Taylor into a quick hug.

"Come one, you have to see this." The doll girl said brimming with excitement and pulled Taylor inside, through the dark employee-only hallway to the store front.

Inside the shop people were crammed into every available bit of space and Taylor saw one of the security guys outside with a rope across the door, preventing anyone else from entering the store, sales assistants rushed through what little space remained to fill orders, complete lists and hear the customers wants and needs. They were obviously over run, even with six of them on the floor. A flash of yellow and she spotted Boco to one side, preening at passing people indicating for them to pet him, no one refused him, the big eyes drawing many in.

A sign hung around his neck like a name tag, reading 'Boco: Mascot. Please pet me!'

Mog floated near the ceiling before he dived bomb into Sabah's arms.

"Kupo! This place is so busy, much better than being stuck inside, kupo, what's that?" Mog asked as someone flashed a sparkly dress in the light and he zoomed off to hover over the customer, making the woman smile awkwardly unsure of what to make of him. Then Mog started babbling away at her, his pom-pom bobbing, making the woman coo at him.

Taylor stared at the packed house and then at Sabah, who made her familiar smirking motion with her head tilted just so.

"We are the hottest thing in town right now. Kicking Lung about has meant that we've been like this all day. People just keep coming, clothes are flying off the shelves and we're already fully booked for the next six months on custom fittings. Ingrid is over the moon!" Sabah said with a laugh and a customer turned to see Keynote and Parian standing there and froze.

That in turn caused more people to look and one by one people stopped talking and the room went silent. Mog floated about, looking confused.

Taylor felt every pair of eyes trained on her, even more people were staring at her through the window from outside. Taylor swallowed and told herself to deal with it, they'd get bored of the new cape, eventually they'd ignore the monster summoner. They'd purchase their clothes and go home to say that they saw the scary Keynote.

An old woman shuffled forward and slapped Taylor on the back, her dentures visible.

"That was a hell of a thing you did last night lassy, if I was there, we would have sent that Lung punk packing together, but my arthritis is pretty bad, so you did a good job on your own, but give me a call next time, if you ever need a sidekick!" The woman said, who surely must have been at least 90 years old given the sheer number of wrinkles she had. The excitement in her voice was unmistakable though and Taylor couldn't help but laugh.

"You'll be the first person I call." Taylor said and the old woman nodded sagely, shuffling off. A man took her place. Young guy, college maybe, looked like he worked long nights and hard at that too. He held out his hand and Taylor shook it reflexively.

"I just want to say, thank you. I was there last night, when you took on Lung, never seen anything like it. Never. Thank you, damn proud to meet you. Glad you're on our side." He said and quickly vanished back into the crowd, Taylor swallowed hard. His words, lifting her confidence but when it became clear that everyone wanted to speak to her, she didn't know what to do about it.

Sabah raised one arm and spoke loudly.

"Please, good people of Brockton Bay, I know that you all want to speak to Keynote, but she has something to say first." Sabah said and Taylor whipped her head to look sharply at her.

Taylor did not have something to say! No, what? She didn't… What was she supposed to say?! She wasn't supposed to speak! Not in public.

But Sabah urged her forward, making her stand before Parian's work desk next to the main counter. Like a podium of sorts. The crowd of people went silent, everyone hanging on to what Taylor would say next.

"I… uh..." Taylor began and froze. Sabah stood next to her and bumped her shoulder lightly while Mog floated down to land on it, offering comfort. Taylor was surrounded by her friends and the fact made her breath in, and out, deep calming breaths, her panic fading.

'But most of all, live for yourself.'

"Hello, I am Keynote, partner and friend of Parian. I know that a lot of you might know me from the incident from a few days ago, with Lung." Taylor paused to put her thoughts into words, grasping for something she could use. Then she saw phones out, pointed her way. They were, recording her.

Great.

"What I did was stupid, challenging Lung caused a lot of damage, it might have even caused people to get hurt and for that I am sorry. I fought Lung because I thought it was the right thing to do, the only thing to do. Could I have done it differently? Yes, there were other choices, but at the time I only saw the one option. But... Now Lung is in custody and Paige Mcabee has proven that she is a good person, a hero even if the Court thinks otherwise. I couldn't have hoped for a better outcome, but the risk I took was not worth it, I gambled with all your lives by making Lung so powerful." Taylor stopped to gather herself, the praise she had received not sitting right with her, until she said her piece.

The crowd stared at her transfixed. Sabah shot her a look behind her mask, her hand resting on Taylor's back.

"I might have died and left you and the other heroes of this city alone to face Lung. I do not regret my actions in trying to stop Lung, but perhaps there was better ways I could have handled it. I can only hope that everyone here can forgive me. I want to be hero, I want to do good, but I cannot stand here and lie to you either. I promise I'll do better. Please, enjoy your shopping." Taylor finished with a final note and stood back, her heart beating faster in her chest.

The silence in the room was heavy and Taylor turned to leave, to go home. When the old woman from before called out into the silence.

"Lassy, you beat Lung. And damn right we'll enjoy our shoppin'!"

Then old woman started clapping furiously. Her bony hands going white with the force she was applying.

Every person the the room quickly followed the old womans example, applauding her, then some of the more energetic people whistled and cheered, the noise was deafening.

Taylor stared out at the sea of motion and faces. People cheering and whistling, some chanting her name.

She looked, looked hard for anyone, anyone at all, that wasn't clapping, that wasn't cheering.

Taylor couldn't see anyone. Not one person out there wasn't cheering her on.

Sabah leaned in and over the noise, speaking directly into Taylor's ear.

"Looks likes you're not just my hero anymore." Sabah said with a grin in her voice.

Taylor felt her ears goes pink, her smile so wide it hurt.

Ingrid watched the fanfare with a her own smile, standing in the employee hallway, her phone rang and the ring tone made her smile even harder.

With the swipe of her screen she answered coolly.

"Hello, Glenn." Ingrid said, her tone airy.

On the other side of the conversation, a whole city away in New York, Glenn Chambers paused before he spoke in a polite tone that felt forced.

"Ingrid!" He said, stretching out her name with warmth.

Ingrid rolled her eyes and ran a finger over a crate in the hallway.

"What can I do for you Glenn? You never call my little old lowly self anymore." Ingrid said with smile.

Glenn coughed once, possibly embarrassed.

"That isn't true, we spoke about new costumes and formal wear not that long ago." He defended.

Chuckling to herself, Ingrid pried the lid off the box as she responded.

"That was six months ago, you just send your little flunkies now. So cut the cute crap and tell me what you want you ponce?" Ingrid said, dropping her false cheer.

Glenn made a noise of agreement.

"Gladly, the PRT has an interest in marketing Keynote, once the drama settles, they'll offer you a 30% cut." He said curtly, dropping his own cheery tone.

Ingrid made a humming noise and her next words came out slowly, carefully.

"I think… not. It's been lovely Glenn, but really, go eat a dick." Ingrid retorted with a smirk.

Glenn's voice climbed a level in annoyance.

"Think about this Ingrid, this deal is good, we can market her properly, multiple forms, different weapons, the action figures alone would be a goldmine!" Glenn said, sounding rushed, exited at the prospect of marketing most likely.

Ingrid reached into the box and pulled out a white plush doll of Keynote.

"Sorry Glenn, but I'm collecting them all this time. Think of this as my revenge, that PRT job was supposed to be mine!" Ingrid spoke very quietly, struggling not to snarl.

Glenn made a disgusted sound.

"It might have been yours if you hadn't been late, we discuss this every time." Glenn shot back and Ingrid knew he was doing that head shake she'd once found adorable and now found repulsive.

"Maybe I would have been on time, if my ex-asshole of a boyfriend hadn't stolen my car to go to the interview himself!" Ingrid shouted and Glenn took a sharp breath.

"That car was ours, not just yours…" He said weakly.

Ingrid laughed and pulled out a red version of Keynote, the missing horn looking surprisingly accurate.

"Sorry Glenn, hun, I'm stealing the car for this one. See ya at the parties, I hope your Wards are still worth looking at, after Keynote goes public." Ingrid told Glenn with a smile and she hung up on his spluttering voice.

God bless Taylor.