[Taylor Hebert[3rd March]

"Hey Taylor. Check this out! I am sure you'll love it." She sighed for the billionth time in two weeks. Somehow Madison, the mousy demon, had gotten the idea that she needed to atone for her sins by being a friend to her.

Of course, she didn't forgive the bitch just due to a bit of kindness. She was way more distrustful and paranoid for this(though this said a lot more about her than about Madison). Still, Taylor supposed that she could tolerate the former bully's presence.

"Taylor. Look at this dress. It will look cute on you."

Yeah, she was one of the people responsible for her predicaments but she was also the one who had done the least damage. Compared to Emma who psychologically tortured her even using her dead mother as a weapon and Sophia(the villainous bitch) who wasn't shy about the physical punishments she dished, Madison was downright nice.

That didn't mean she forgave the mousy little girl- she wasn't that empathetic. But it did mean that she tolerated her presence- also, her animosity towards the short girl was becoming non-existent. It was hard to hate someone who was trying their best to make up for their behaviour and fulfill her every demand(rare as they were). Madison was trying her best. Maybe she could give the girl a chance?

"Taylor!" The girl tried grabbing Taylor's shoulders to get her out of her inner reverie. This unsurprisingly backfired as she recoiled from the touch and glared at the mousy annoyance.

"Sorry. You weren't listening and…I- F-forget it. I'll not do it again, okay? Sorry." The frightened girl whimpered. She had to withhold a sigh for the trillionth time. This behaviour made it hard to get truly mad at the girl. Yes, she was at the center of the bullying campaign against her but the girl was trying her hardest to make up for it. Even a blind man could see her desperation to atone.

Taylor didn't consider herself a saint but she wasn't cruel enough to ignore someone like the current Madison forever.

"What do you want, Madison? Show me whatever you want to, quickly." Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't be snappish. The girl wanted her forgiveness? She'll have to earn it.

"Of course! Look here. This dress here will complement your gorgeous hair. Just put some make-up here and…" As the short girl droned on, Taylor had to constantly remind herself that this was the same girl who belittled her appearance not a few weeks ago. Oh, how people change. Still, a small part of her couldn't help but feel happy. Was this what having friends was like?

[Evening]

"And done!" Her silent cheer echoed in the basement of her house, none here to listen. Why would there be anyone? Dad- no Danny, he lost the right to be called Dad ages ago, was busy with the Dockworkers as usual. The neglectful bastard was too busy being depressed to even talk with her- not that it was any news.

She took a deep sigh to calm down.

'Not now, Taylor. Don't let your stupid neglectful progenitor foul your good mood,' She thought to herself. Yeah, it wasn't the time to become depressed. She didn't want to end up like her idiot father.

Instead, she checked her freshly finished suit. It was a bit too edgy for her tastes but she wasn't a professional designer and she had invested too much time into it to back down. Eh. She could always change it later. Still, her suit was by all means a very practical one. Spiders were cute and useful little things. She wondered why everyone was afraid of them. Now, bugs were fucking annoying. If she could, she would banish a few species of them to oblivion.

Visions of them crawling on her skin as she shouted for- 'Not now Taylor. Not now.' She didn't have time for panic attacks. How would she become a hero if she balked at the sight of some bugs? That's why she had been practicing with them- her training increased a lot in intensity ever since the news about Sophia got to her ears. She couldn't help but want to show the city what a True fucking Hero was.

It certainly wasn't those corrupt assholes who only cared about power. Otherwise why would Sophia be allowed to continue as a fucking Ward despite her awful behavior? She didn't believe for a second that PRT didn't know about Sophia's behaviour in Winslow. Even if they didn't, it would have been clear after Prophet's announcement.

So the only thing that made sense was that the hero -the word tasted like ash- was too useful to be fucked over. While she could certainly agree with them from a pragmatic standpoint- the Bay was a hellhole and the PRT needed every help they could- she still counted this as a minus point.

Armsmaster and Miss Militia still held a special place in her heart but she was not going to work with Protectorate for the foreseeable future. In a way she was thankful to Prophet. They helped her uncover Sophia's identity, were the spark that killed off S9 one of the most heinous groups of people out there and most certainly for the Alexandria situation.

While she respected Alexandria -even more now that her dedication to justice came to Taylor's attention- and admired her, she knew that hoodwinking the entire world was a crime. Even though it was done with good intentions, it was still a huge crime.

It wasn't that she had a problem with that- she was contemplating a life of crime as an 'independent hero' anyways. No, what she was thankful for was the sweep for traitors, moles and corrupt officers. The operation was already proving beneficial for the whole country.

Enough introspection. Now, it was time for action. Brockton Bay here cometh Weaver(Thank PHO I thought of a name. Never thought I would be thankful to the internet).

[An hour later]

She wouldn't have left to wander the streets of the Bay in the evening if her bastard progenitor was even a bit attentive to her. Thankfully -she couldn't believe she was thinking this- he wasn't.

As she wandered the streets of Brockton, she came across a few muggings, drug deals and two attempted murders. Oh God, was this so fucking common? She thought that the statistics were exaggerated. The actual situation was even worse. No wonder people prefered to stay away from her city. It was a hellhole.

Of course, she promptly knocked out the criminals using her insects -her range was one of the only good things about her shitty power- and reported them anonymously to the police. This way she didn't have to deal with the witnesses screaming villain (she wasn't blind to the fact that her aesthetic was questionable to say the least).

Huh? What's going on? Wait, that's the Empire. She counted Stormtiger, Othala, Victor, Cricket and Kreig. Are they attacking a PRT Van? In open daylight? (Well it was evening but she wasn't pedantic)

Fuck. And it was her first night too. Truly her luck was rotten.

They don't seem to have seen her. Their focus was on the vehicle. Hmm. That could work. Well, everyone celebrated the death of Jack Slash and his group of murderhobos, even the Human Activist groups. She supposed Neo-Nazis weren't exception to that rule?

She wasn't sure she could commit that final step yet but maiming them was fine, wasn't it? Mom wouldn't be proud of her but she was a disgrace anyways. Well, she did used to complain about 'Cock sucking inbred asshole Neo-Nazis' back in the day. On second thought, her mother would absolutely encourage her.

After a long while, she genuinely smiled- it wasn't a pretty one. In the far future, her closest friends and confidants would call this her Slasher smile.

'Let the hunt begin.'