I knew I was grinning like a loon, and Brian was probably giving me a weird look, but I couldn't help it. It was all I could do to keep myself from giggling manically. It was finally happening, we were taking down Coil, and I only wish I was on the other team to witness his defeat in person. Still, I could always make sure to taunt him in prison. I turned back to look back at our new minions.
Direct eye contact. Instinctively defiant. Problems with authority. Expects to be harassed over power. Believes lie about mind reading, holding back his full power. Point of pride to not use full power.
I licked my lips, the kid with a burn scar over his eye had potential. Hopefully whatever he was holding back wouldn't matter. I didn't exactly have time to work on him. I glanced at the next wannabee hero.
Eyes focused on the base, eyes watery. Highly empathetic, likely imagining Dinah's circumstances. Clenching fists. Performance anxiety. Worried power won't be strong enough. Worried he'll freeze under pressure.
"This is going to go great!" I said, enthusiastically. "There's no way Coil can be expecting an attack by the Undersiders, let alone six additional parahumans. This will be a cakewalk." I wasn't even lying! I figured there was a fifty-fifty chance that the Travelers wouldn't fight, and even if they did our team alone had them outnumbered. With pretty powerful abilities too. Mass ice generation, durability, and super strength. I glanced at the final member of our group.
Refusal to meet your eyes. Faint blush. Was checking out your posterior earlier. Unattractive and knows it. Doubts that anyone will ever desire him. Alleviates guilt for checking you out by convincing self that nothing will come of it.
I resisted rolling my eyes. Yes, I'm hot, but that's all useless information. Is he ready to fight?
Hands held loosely near bags on belt. Power requires item in bags to activate. Power has limited usage or drawback. Hands loose. Not tense. Confident in his own power, confident in his allies power. Hasn't understood a thing you've said so far.
Well that was inconvenient. Yeah, he was from Japan but if he couldn't understand me at all I was a lot less happy about having him on my team. Sure, I still thought we were going to win, or else I wouldn't be doing this, but there is always complications when it comes to cape fights. And the Travelers were extremely powerful. But oh well! We were doing this regardless so it was better he was a little too confident then full of false bravado. And speaking of bravado it was a shame that I had to get rid of the explosion kid. Cocky enough to go after Leviathan, and skilled enough to not instantly die. Brave too. He didn't panic at all at being covered by Taylor's bugs.
But no. The kid was too aggressive, too headstrong, and too independent. He would have seen through our little scheme to recruit these kids to attack Coil, and sure, some of the other kids did anyways. But he would have called us out on it, and tried to hijack our plan. Or would have attacked on his own, dragging as many of his friends away from us as possible. So it was better to provoke him early and have Taylor smack him down. It got him out of the way, asserted our authority, and let Taylor get a little catharsis in taking down a bully. And if Boom Boy lost some respect from his classmates, then good. He'd find it more difficult to convince his classmates to disobey our orders in the future.
Of course, we still needed to win. I shook my head, focusing on the present. The first door was easy, but an important test. If Coil knew we were coming, he would have changed the code. As is, my code opened the door easily, opening the hatch and revealing a ladder to climb down. An alarm blared as we climbed down.
"Alright Rock Man, you're up," I said, slapping the red head on the back. "Just armor up and we'll cover you. If we're lucky, no one will be at this door yet. If not, Ice Boy here will freeze them after they shoot at you."
""I-I'm not su-"
"You'll be fine. We aren't coming in through the main entrance, and most of the guards should be rushing to stop Skitter and her team. And even if there are guards outside that door, their bullets shouldn't penetrate your power," I said, crossing my fingers mentally. The door open and shots were immediately fired. Luckily my prediction was correct. The bullets bounced off the red head's rock hard skin, and with him acting as a shield we were able to swiftly take down the mercenary guarding the door.
"What are you doing?" I asked, as the Ice Boy knelt beside the frozen guard, holding out a hand over the guard.
"Thawing him so he doesn't get hypothermia. Why?" He asked.
Ice melting unnaturally fast. Hand is emitting heat, note of resignation in voice. Expecting you to comment on power usage, expecting criticism on not using heat earlier. Heat can be emitted as fire,at the same power or greater than ice creation.
"Those mercenaries are pretty badass. I'd rather he lose a few toes to frostbite then shoot us in the back because we were too gentle with him," I said.
"Is that so?" he said, doubtfully.
"It is. Plus we don't have time to reheat every guard you take down. Every second we linger is a second for Coil's guards or the Traveler's to realize we're here and attack us," I said, firmly. He hesitated again, but nodded.
Thinks its villainous to leave the man to suffer. Remembered that you are a villain. Recognizes that you are correct. Doesn't know what the correct option is. Knows that hesitating is the wrong option. Will follow your lead for now.
Good enough. I couldn't expect them to agree with everything I said one hundred percent anyways. Next up was the barracks proper. It shouldn't be too full, and thankfully we wouldn't have to actually go in there. A quick word to Ice Boy, and the door to the barracks was sealed behind a couple of feet of ice.
"Okay, next up is a security check point. There should be at least one Traveler on guard here. If we are unlucky, all of them will be here. More likely than not, there will be one or two, but the others will be on their way soon. And that means you're up Grue," I said.
"Right," he said, pitching his voice low to speak in an intimidating rumble.
Talking in a low rumble out of habit. Unsure about new allies, instinctively playing into persona as Grue to compensate.
I already knew that! Stupid Power wasting valuable brainpower on Grue's issues! And unlike my stupid power, Grue's power simply worked, spewing darkness on command. I pushed down the jealously and glanced meaningfully at the Ice Boy. He nodded and stepped forward, freezing the room ahead of us.
"Get back!" Grue suddenly shouted, grabbing Ice Boy by the back of his shirt and shoving him to the side. Almost immediately after they took cover, Coil's mercenaries began firing, bullets shooting out of the darkness and bouncing off the walls around them.
Blind firing in a pattern. Grue's darkness disorientates, multiple bullets are deflecting off of walls. Most force is lost upon initial deflection, odds of effective damage negligible. After reloading, mercenaries will resort to a grenade instead.
"We've got Sundancer in there! Her heat is melting the ice faster than it can form," Grue shouted, glancing into the room.
"Sundancer..." I bit my lip, thinking fast. "Rock boy, you're up! You can handle the bullets just fine, so get in there and take them out so we can advance!"
"Whoa, hold on a minute lady! First off, the name's Red Riot. Secondly, Sundancer is the chick who can create an actual sun right? Having tough skin won't do anything against that!" he protested.
"Sundancer hates fighting and hurting people. If you charge at her, she'll instinctively turn her power off," I quickly explain. "If you don't hurry those mercs are going to switch from bullets to grenades," I said when I saw him hesitate. He frowned, but armored up before charging into the darkness, bullets bouncing off his skin. Grue canceled his darkness and Sundancer yelped in surprise, her sun vanishing as Red Riot crushed the barrel of a gun beneath his hand. He yanked on the gun, pulling the mercenary closer as the gun was strapped to his chest. Without hesitation, Red Riot clobbered the mercenary before spinning and throwing him into the other mercenary. But before he could hit Sundancer she disappeared, a new mercenary in her place, who immediately hit Red Riot with a taser, sending him to the floor, his limbs flailing as the electricity bypassed his rocky skin.
"Shit Trickster is here! Grue! Muscles! Get in there, quick!" I shouted, my mind racing. Grue began spewing darkness, as the fat lipped kid beside me ate a sugar cube? Suddenly his muscles bulged and he shot forward like a rocket, taking out the mercenary with one punch. Grabbing Red Riot, Muscles quickly retreated back to the group.
Hyper strength granted by consumption of item. Greater amounts of glucose, greater the power boost. Only consumed sugar when needed. Sugar cubes common, easily stored, and cheap. Delay not due to limited number of usable goods. Likely secondary drawback to power. Sugar relates to sugar crash. Usage of power may lead to mental and physical exhaustion after power wears off.
I winced as a headache began in the middle of my forehead. That was good information to know, but I hated how limited my power was.
"Ice Boy, quick! Freeze everything! Sundancer needs a little time to form another sun," Grue barked. Ice Boy didn't hesitate, running forward and absolutely filling the hallway ahead of us with ice, completely encasing Sundancer in ice and half covering Trickster and a group of five mercenaries, one of which was still getting to his feet when he was basically covered in ice.
Focused on Sundancer over mercenaries. Mercenaries are still capable of fighting. Trickster-
My power was cut off as Trickster acted, swapping Sundancer with Ice Boy, leaving him in the middle of armed mercenaries who quickly put their guns to his head. But before he could swap Sundancer back, Grue's darkness finally engulfed the rest of us, and there was a second of silence as everyone caught their breath. I heard Grue secured Sundancer, roughly pulling the frozen women in front of himself, and I caught his wrist.
"Grue, can you get me a grenade?" I asked, barely able to hear myself speak. But I knew he could. And sure enough within a few moments, a rough cylinder shape was pressed into my hands. I took a deep breath, thinking back on everything I knew about Trickster and braced myself for the headache I knew was coming.
Trickster's swaps targets of similar mass if he can see both objects. He needs to see the majority of the object in order to swap it. He is reckless, desperate, and willing to kill. He is the most ruthless of the Travelers, and would sacrifice any of them for his goal. Rest of the Travelers would betray him if he sacrificed them. He is aware of this. Will only sacrifice a Traveler if it will guarantee his goal's success. Won't allow any mercenaries to shoot out of fear of hitting Sundancer.
I closed my eyes as my head felt like it was splitting open, and after a few moments the sharp pain subsided to a dull throb. I took a deep breath, and moved forward slightly, just enough for my head to emerge from Grue's darkness.
"It looks like we've got a bit of a standoff here," I said, plastering my trademarked smirk on my face. Regrent poked his head out as well, his usual expression of vague amusement on his face.
"Not really Tattletale. You've got Sundancer, sure. But don't even pretend that you are going to hurt her. The Undersiders don't have it in them to harm a prisoner," he said, his own smirk on his face.
"Uhh, excuse me? Do you remember what Skitter did to Lung?" Regrent asked, mock disbelief in his voice.
"That was her. And she's not here," Trickster replied.
"You know what Trickster? You're right. I don't have it in me to hurt Sundancer. She's just someone who's in too deep and has poor choice of friends. But I'm fully willing to do this," I said, pulling the pin from the grenade. I immediately shoved my finger in place, preventing it from counting down.
"Are you an idiot? If you try and throw that, I'll just teleport it straight back to you!" Trickster shouted.
Real panic in voice. Is trying to come up with a solution. Twitches in leg muscles indicate attempted retreat. Has no plan, and is trying to buy time. Thought reminded him that reinforcements should be on the way. Planning to delay until he can change positions with a newcomer and save himself that way.
"No you won't. You can only exchange things you can see. So if you want to replace this grenade with one of your allies' go right ahead," I said, triumphantly.
"You wouldn't dare. You aren't going to kill your friend here," Trickster said, his eyes narrowing.
"He'll be fine. He can encase himself in ice in a millisecond if I throw it," I said.
"Then they'll shoot-" a blast of sound interrupted Trickster as one of the mercenaries switched to shoot at me instead. Luckily for me, Regrent was on the ball, his power causing the man's arm to spasm, bullets bouncing wildly around the narrow hallway between us and Trickster's group. I instinctively fell back into Grue's darkness, starting to hyperventilate. It took me a moment to gather myself, but I pushed past my fear, poking my head out of the darkness again.
"-I don't care if your fucking girlfriend gets killed, I care about making it out alive!" the mercenary argued with Trickster.
"Well good fucking job! Now we've lost our hostage, and we're sitting ducks!" Trickster yelled back, gesturing to a frozen pillar in the middle of them.
Sudden gunfire distracted other mercenaries. Training kept them from shooting by accident. Ice Boy noticed distraction, took advantage, and froze himself as suggested. Ice is thick and compact. He can't breath. He is freezing. He cannot hear or see. Will free himself soon. Will hold on as long as possible.
I grinned. Good job Ice Boy. Now to finish this up.
"Alright you fuckers. Now I'm going to give you one last chance. Drop your weapons, put your hands on your head and surrender! I don't want to kill you, but make another move and I won't think twice!" I called, not bothering to hide the triumph in my voice.
"How about you take a breath, calm down, and stop before doing something you'll regret?" a deep male voice said, as the figure walked into sight. It was Ballistic. Fuck. The villain calmly rested a hand against Ice Boy's frozen cocoon. "Now I'm sure I don't have to explain what would happen to your friend if I activated my power right now?" he asked, calmly.
Power Manton limited. Cocoon would be propelled only. Would drag person inside along with it. Sudden acceleration and deceleration would be lethal, no matter which direction cocoon is launched in.
"And if you throw that grenade, well. All Trickster has to do is pop it into my hand," Ballistic said, chuckling as he grabbed a grenade from a mercenary, "and I'll send it flying down the hallway behind us." I quickly pulled my hand back, hiding it in Grue's darkness. I didn't need to give up our advantage that easily.
"If you try that, Regrent will make you drop it before you can use your power on it," I said, Regrent giving the Traveler's a smug little wave.
"I guess it'll come down to whose reflexes are faster," Ballistic said, idly tapping on the ice cocoon.
"Or we can be smart about this and talk this out," I said.
"Oh yes, because talking with a Thinker is such a good idea," Trickster said, sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Because murdering each other pointlessly is so much better," I shot back.
"Ooooh," Regrent added. Thanks Regrent. Glad to have you here.
"So what are suggesting?" Ballistic asked.
"That you back off, we collect Dinah, and we leave this base to you," I said, glancing at the icy cocoon. I didn't have much time, but I couldn't rush either. If they thought they had the edge then there was no chance they'd take the deal.
"Not a chance in hell. We've got a contract with Coil and we aren't going back on it just because things are a little dicey," a mercenary said.
Doesn't care about Coil. Reputation important for career. Failure can be excused. Treachery cannot.
"Like Trickster said, Skitter isn't here. Where do you think she is?" I asked, rhetorically. "And she's got the kid who threw Leviathan half way across the city with a single punch. And he's got what, Genesis, backing him up? They'll have him dead or in custody in no time."
"Then we'll rescue him. We've made a deal, and we intend to uphold it," Trickster said, his voice tight.
Tense. Desperate. Coil promised him a solution to problem. Willing to do anything to succeed. Thinks Coil is his last chance at success. Ballistic isn't reacting, has already given up on Trickster's goal. Knows what it is, wants Trickster to succeed, doesn't expect he will.
"Why? Coil won't uphold his side of the bargain you know," I said. "Even if he could help you with whatever you're trying to do, he'd never actually do it and give up all of his leverage."
"You don't know that!" Trickster snarled.
"Phh, of course I do. I've been working for Coil longer than all of you," I said, dismissively. "And I've got proof to boot. Grue wanted something that was easy to do, and Coil certainly had the resources to get it done. And he didn't, despite Grue and the rest of the Undersiders being pretty successful."
"Wait, what?! What the fuck are you talking about Tattletale?" Grue demanded, suddenly revealing himself from the darkness. Everyone tensed up and I had to resist slapping him in exasperation. The absolute idiot is wasting time and putting himself, and all of us, at risk.
Mercenaries contemplating shooting Grue to remove darkness. Trickster contemplating trading Grue for a mercenary. Ballistic worried violence is imminent, doubts Sundancer will survive if anything happens. Cares deeply about Sundancer, close friends. Will kill everyone here if she dies.
"Calm down," I said, loudly. I looked over at Grue, "dude are you really that surprised? Coil has a private army, a gigantic villain lair, and literally kidnapped the mayor's niece without consequence. He could have bribed people to rubberstamp the approval within days. And before you get upset about me not telling you, I wasn't exactly eager to end up as Dinah's roommate if you get my meaning."
"Hn," Grue grunted, crossing his arms and allowing the shadows to billow up around him once more.
"Besides why do you even need Coil anyways?" I asked.
"That's none of you business," Trickster said, scowling.
Secretive about goal. If goal was known, Travelers would be targeted. Minimal guilt or fear on Ballistic's face. Goal itself isn't negative, but involves something dangerous and a threat to the public.
I ignored my power, pushing through my building headache. "Ballistic? I'd rather this didn't end in tears and bloodshed, so work with me please," I said, looking away from Trickster.
"Mm," Ballistic hummed, and after glancing at Trickster, began to speak, "well there is the obvious in providing us with money, housing, and the like. Then he is providing help with a certain project of ours. Stuff that he can only get access to due to his connections. And finally safety from anyone who might be holding a grudge from any of our past...trips."
Travelers have frequently caused damage. Unofficial bounty-
I cut my power off. It was already hurting too much, and I didn't care about their past. I just needed them to stand down.
"What I'm hearing is that you don't need him anymore. Let me finish," I added, when Trickster opened his mouth. "The money, the base, all of Coil's resources? You can keep those. We are only after the girl. Safety? Again, you've got the base. You've got his money. Keep hiring the mercenaries if you need more protection. And finally Coil's connections aren't worth squat now that Brockton Bay is in quarantine."
"And what of after the quarantine lifts? Then we'll need his connections, and we won't have any way to get them," Trickster asked, angrily.
"Then you'll have to build your own and will be better off for doing so because A; Coil was never going to help you, not to the point of fixing your mystery problem anyways, and B; We've already got Coil. Or will soon. We've stalemated your strongest members, and meanwhile our strongest members have only had to deal with Genesis. Who will be quickly overwhelmed because whatever form she takes won't be a match for all of them. And even if you managed to beat one of our teams, we still have reinforcements waiting outside and we've already sent a team back to the PRT HQ in case we fail despite all of that," I said, meeting Trickster's glare and seeing his eyes waver.
Knows you are right. Desperate to achieve goal. Trace amounts of guilt on Ballistic's face. Goal is related the Travelers. Goal is helping a Traveler. Goal is a secret. Goal does not involve a public member of the Travelers. Secret member of Travelers is sick/hurt. Either highly infectious or otherwise dangerous. Trickster's desperation implies strong feelings towards secret member. Trickster has looked at you and other females. Trickster is heterosexual. Secret member is Trickster's girlfriend.
I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my head. "All you are going to accomplish here is maybe getting yourself and a bunch of other people killed. And is that what she would want?"
"And how would you know what she wants?" Trickster snarled. Ballistic raised a hand between Trickster and I.
"Either Coil told her or her power did. Either way, she's right. And don't forget, she's got Sundancer hostage. Noelle would be pissed if she heard that one of us got hurt trying to help her," Ballistic said. Trickster spun and glared at him. "Oh don't give me that look," Ballistic said, impatiently. "You know I'm right, and fuck Coil anyways. It isn't like we have a particular reason to be loyal to him besides what he can offer us. And if he can't offer us anything, than I'd rather ditch the man who is willing to drug a little girl and use her like-"Ballistic was interrupted by the icy pillar suddenly thawing and Ice Boy taking a deep breath, as he shivered uncontrollably.
"This changes nothing," I said, quickly, seeing a flash of triumphant cross Trickster's face.
"Right. So how do you want to do this?" Ballistic asked.
"You let Ice Boy over there come over here and he'll freeze the grenade shut. Then we'll walk Sundancer over to you, and she can thaw out the ice. Then we walk down the hall together, you split off into your rooms and we'll carry on to Dinah's room," I said. And to my surprise that's exactly what happened. Oh, there was a moment of tension where the mercenaries clearly considered breaking the deal and attacking us, but Ballistic made it clear that he'd side with us, and deciding that they didn't like the idea of fighting over half a dozen of capes in close range, they peacefully retreated. From there it was only a quick walk over to Dinah's cell where I punched in the key code that I saw Coil use last.
"Access Denied," the machine chirped back. "You have ten seconds to input the correct code."
"Shit!" I cursed. I looked at the code panel.
Freshly cleaned, erasing all evidence that Tattletale could use. Coilprepared for possible treachery from Undersiders. Front door access worked. Coil is paranoid about losing Dinah. Door is reinforced steel. Undersiders could not break through door. Temporarily locked, time locked exceeds an hour.
"Fuck!" I cursed, staggering as the migraine overwhelmed me. Brian caught me, and I was vaguely aware of him talking to the others, but I was too distracted by my failure, and what would happen next. Taylor wouldn't accept failing to save Dinah, and the Traveler's would get antsy if we tried to bring Coil down here to interrogate him. Not that I'd be in good enough condition to do so at this point. He knew how my powers worked, and he'd be able to stonewall me long enough-
CLANG!
A loud ringing noise snapped me out of my thoughts, and made my headache that much worse. The fat lipped muscle boy had stepped up and had slammed his fist into the door denting it. He looked at the size of the dent for a second.
"Sōdesu, korenara dekimasu," he said to himself, clenching his fist and eating another sugar cube. He took a deep breath and exhaled, steam coming out of his nostrils. Eyes widening, I quickly clamped my hands over my ears, seeing what was about to happen.
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG! SCREEEEEEEECH!
Sure enough the muscly man punched the door again and again, denting it more and more until finally his fist punched straight through. Gripping the hole in the door with both hands he tore the entire thing from the wall, flinging it down the way we came where it landed with one final clang.
"Alright, good job!" I cheered. We proceeded into Dinah's cell which was very...sterile. Blank white walls, that were padded. A toilet, a simple white floor. A one person bed, with a single blanket on it. And that was it. No toys, no pictures, not even a book to read. It was the equivalent to a closet. Someplace secure to put a tool, and retrieve it when needed. I couldn't help but shudder as I looked around. It was all too easy to imagine living in a place like this, slowly going mad with boredom, and slowly beginning to look forward to Coil's visits, just for the chance to do something.
"Who are you people? Are you here to rescue me?" Dinah asked, glancing between us all, her eyes alert. I breathed a small sigh of relief. I had been worried that we'd be dragging a girl drugged to the gills out of here. It wouldn't have been a problem, but Dinah being able to walk made this so much easier.
"The Undersiders, and some foreign heroes. Now come on, lets get going before more trouble shows up," Grue said, gruffly.
"Ninety-seven point eight percent chance that you give me to the PRT," Dinah said, quietly. She immediately relaxed. "Thank goodness. Thank you," she added, looking at each of us gratefully. Icy Boy looked at the girl with a puzzled expression on his face and I had to reign my power in. I'm sure whatever conflict he was having was fascinating, but I wasn't going to worsen my migraine by pushing things further. We left the base and returned outside to see Bitch waiting for us.
"Bitch? What are you doing here? Did something go wrong?" Grue asked, stepping forward.
"Some sort of sonic shit, messed with my dogs through my power," Bitch spat. "Skitter sent me outside."
"Shit. We better get in there and help her," Grue said.
"Hey Dinah! What are the odds that Skitter needs our help?" Regrent asked, suddenly.
"Um, eighteen point two percent chance," Dinah replied, automatically.
"What are the odds she returns in the next five, no better make that ten minutes?" I ask, catching on to what Regrent was thinking.
"Seventy-six point seven percent. Ugh, not so many questions please," Dinah said, swaying a little. I looked at her carefully noticing how pale she had gotten after only a few questions. Well, there was no way of knowing how many questions Coil had made her answer today.
"Okay, well it looks like Skitter is already done, and we're just waiting on her to get back. Hopefully no one will mess with her on the way out. Let's just wait for her," I suggested. No one disagreed and we idly waited, with Red Riot petting some of Bitch's dogs as she kept a careful eye on him. As we waited I noticed Dinah getting progressively more nervous.
"Ugh, I really didn't want to do this," I muttered to myself. I took a deep breath, and gently rubbed my temples as I prepared for the massive headache that awaited me. "What's up Dinah? You're looking a little pale there," I said, casually, moving towards the kid, my power fully in gear.
"Um, yeah. I'm...not feeling that good," Dinah said, clutching her arm.
Knows she will be going into withdrawal. Her power lets her see the future. Can see herself in withdrawal, and feels the effects in the present.
Oof, that was a rough combo. It wasn't worth this headache though, and I'm sure there was more to learn.
"Yeah, well, once Skitter gets here we'll get you back to base and the Protectorate will take good care of you," I said. Her face went paler and she swayed as I said Taylor's name. "Okay, spill. I can see you using your power. What's going on?"
"Seventy-seven point nine percent chance that you'll stop me from talking to Taylor," Dinah blurted out, looking mortified. She groaned softly and rubbed her head. I'd feel sympathetic for her pain, but her words had sent my own mind spiraling as my power raced.
Involuntary response to question. Trained into her by Coil. Natural urge caused by power. Subject Taylor Hebert is a priority for Lisa Wilbourn. Taylor Hebert currently has no motive to abandon Lisa Wilbourn. Taylor Hebert currently has no enemies targeting her. Taylor Hebert currently has no goal to sacrifice herself for. Taylor Hebert is currently as safe as she will be. Therefore Lisa Wilbourn should have no reason to prevent Dinah from communicating with Taylor Hebert. High percent chance of Lisa Wilbourn's interference declares otherwise. Expression on Dinah's face implies guilt. Feels guilty for perceived negative result for Taylor Hebert. Taylor Hebert still has a self sacrificial attitude. Likely telling Taylor to sacrifice herself for a better future.
I gritted my teeth as my headache overwhelmed me. My vision went fuzzy and I every sound was a stab of agony in my skull. Which didn't help that people suddenly were shouting as nausea joined my pain, causing me to vomit all over the ground. I felt like a mess. A disgusting slug whose only existence was to suffer and writhe on the ground as someone poured salt on it. And I that was when I must have passed out. When I came to I was surrounded in Grue's darkness and in a classic recovery position. There was a fresh bottle of water sitting in front of me. Carefully I sit up and sip at the water, swishing it around in my mouth and spitting it on the ground. The darkness gradually faded as Grue slowly pulled his power back. I winced as the sunlight hit my eyes, and reeled as my brain protested the stimulation from the sunlight.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Taylor asked, speaking so quietly I could barely hear her. Now that I was free from Grue's smoke, I saw her sitting cross legged in front of me, ignoring the cold and hard asphalt beneath her, as she focused on me with the pure intensity that only she could display.
"Not great," I croaked. I tried not to look directly at Taylor. I wouldn't be able to resist checking with my power to see if Dinah talked to her, and if I did that I'm pretty sure I'd pass out entirely. "Can you take me home? To the loft?" I asked, clarifying myself quickly.
"Of course," Taylor said, without hesitation. She glanced back at Grue who nodded once.
"Take one of Bitch's dogs. We'll be by later," Grue said, gruffly.
Too focused on maintaining tough guy persona to show he cares.
I frowned, that hadn't hurt at all. Had I pushed myself so far I simply couldn't hurt myself anymore? I mean, things still suck, but it would be useful to know that I can't actually kill myself, or at least, knock myself unconscious, by overusing my power. I glance at Taylor and almost vomit as pain overwhelms me again. No, I guess I'm not that lucky. What was that before then?
"It's going to be okay," Taylor whispers to me as she carries me over to one of Bitch's dogs. Wait, when did she pick me up? I can't focus, I can't even open my eyes. I can feel myself fading fast as Taylor ties me to Bitch's dog and wraps her arms around me to hold me tight.
Taylor Hebert considers you a friend. Taylor Hebert will do anything for her friends.
There it is again. Why isn't that hurting me? And why isn't it telling me anything new? Oh. I'm such an idiot. That isn't my power. Those are simply memories of my power telling me things. I was disappointed, but glad to have solved the mystery. Satisfied, I sank into unconsciousness, confident that Taylor would bring me home safely.