[Weaver- Taylor Hebert]
"Tell me what shit you Nazi fucks are planning and I will not rot your limbs off." She said through her swarm. That was a surprisingly effective way to scare the scum into submission.
"W-we will not s-submit, Bug Bitch!" One of the several Nazi, most of whom had frozen in fear, had the fucking audacity to try and spit at me. I would have complimented his bravery if he wasn't a criminal scum littering the streets of her city.
Her response? More than a dozen bees simultaneously biting different spots in his left arm.
"Aaaaaa!!" The scream of agony was music to her ears. The venom wouldn't even cripple him for more than a few days but the sheer pain from the bites would be more than enough to put down some experienced capes.
"You bitch!" Brrrrrt One of the others had now gotten over his shock and did the intelligent thing- firing a bullet at her directly. If she was still the same girl from a week ago, that might as well have worked.
Unfortunately for the Nazis, Raikiri(yes, her teammate was an otaku) had already enhanced most of her bugs to be Brute 2. Alone that wouldn't be a big thing but hundreds of bugs? Yeah, she would be surprised if an actual Tinkertech grenade got past her swarm.
"Hueh?" The shock of her not dying like she should led the remaining gangbangers to be distracted. She used that opportunity to have her swarm sting them a bit roughly -they should have given the information when she asked politely.
"Aaaah" "Oh my god!" "Not my legs! Please not my legs." "Mommy!" "Jesus fuck"...
It took some time but the screams finally wore off.
"Now, will you all tell us what's going on? Or should we continue?" She said, deliberately using 'us' to make the sentence sound more intimidating and creepier- Intimidation 101. Weaver learnt that from Raikiri when she was trying to teach Epiales to use her 'nightmare' form the best.
"No no! I-I'll tell everything I know. J-just please don't do this anymore." For a second, she felt pity for the young sobbing recruit thinking that he might have been recruited forcefully.
"Some of the older members are attacking a hospital to leverage PRT into releasing some of the Empire capes." And just like that any pity she felt, vanished. Her hands clenched into fists as soon as she processed the sentence. Fucking Nazis. The only reason she even bothered to show up instead of remotely dealing with this shit was the idiots talking about some 'plan' in code language.
"Tell me everything." She didn't have to fake the rage in her voice. Attacking a hospital was low even for scum like them. Then again, their cape leadership was totally dismantled. That might have been the thing that prompted shit like this. Her swarm buzzed in agitation as she pushed her rage into them. Focus Taylor! Focus!
Shit shit shit! Why the fuck did the attack have to be going on at this moment? Fuck.
Even using her swarm as a flying platform, she wasn't fast enough. Taylor had informed Raikiri of the development but the new cape(a victim of the ongoing Neo-nazi riots) was on the base and that was pretty far from the hospital that was being attacked. The older woman had told her to stay safe with the panicked tone that Taylor had started associating with her. Epiales was currently in school and she wasn't combat ready anyways.
In situations like this, Taylor cursed the fact that she wasn't affiliated with New Wave. It would be so fucking easy if one of their flyers could help.
Taylor pushed all her anxiety and fear into her bugs as she tried to focus on anything but the current situation. Oh right- why not think about her new team members? Raikiri was an asian woman who lost her husband and daughter to one of the laser rifles Coil had provided the remnants of Empire with. The Tinkertech rifles were few in number but they were enough to do significant damage.
She triggered with the power to absorb/blast electricity and a minor Trump power that let her turn anyone/anything into a minor brute.
Taylor had stumbled into the woman charring several Empire scum a few days back. Suffice to say, Raik- …Asuka's reaction to her was less than friendly. After several dozen burnt bugs, Asuka finally collapsed from shock and exhaustion. Taylor brought the woman into her temporary base and tended to her.
After waking up, Asuka had decided that she would help Weaver purge the criminal scum from the streets of Broctkon Bay so that no one had to suffer like her. The woman held strong despite the clusterfuck that her life had become.
Taylor couldn't help but respect the woman that had suffered under injustice just like she had. In a way, Asuka reminded her a little of her own mother- stubborn, righteous and motherly. Now only if that woman stopped smothering her and Epiales.
Of course, Epiales was another can of worms. Unlike Raikiri, Weaver hadn't met the other cape by accident. Instead, it was Epiales who sought Weaver out. It was reckless but she really had no ground to speak on, considering her own debut.
Epiales was apparently a pretty big fan of hers. In fact, Epiales listened to her every command as if it were word of god. It was frankly more than a bit disturbing. Still, she couldn't fault the girl for that. Still, a part of Taylor couldn't help but think she had met the girl before. Wher-
Fucking finally. The hospital's here. Now, where should she enter from? Wait, is that an open window? Thank god for the conveniently open windows!
"Weaver, wait! There's a hostage…" She ignored whatever the officer said. She wouldn't wait for the deed to be done to reach on the spot. She wouldn't be like PRT. Weaver fought for justice and none could stop justice.
"My, my. It looks like the Empire thugs still haven't learnt their lesson. And firing at Panacea like that? Looks like I'll have to be extra rough with you." Yeah, she was pissed. Panacea was one of the very few 'heroes' she actually respected. The mousy girl was one of those very few who made an effort to make this dying city better. For these scum to fire at her? Unforgivable.
It took her less than 2 seconds to attack all the gangbangers. She didn't give them any time to respond with guns. Taylor was not happy and she didn't intend to leave the stupid fucks happy.
It took surprisingly little effort to subdue the criminal scum. Of course, she injected more than required amounts of venom into the bloodstream the asshole who fired the gun.
Some of the civilians collapsed in sheer relief. She was pretty sure she saw a few people kiss their neighbours in happiness.
"Yay!" "Thanks, bug girl." "You saved us all."...
While she didn't do this for the fame, it was nice to hear things like this.
Now, onto the most stressful part of the job. She approached Panacea who was still looking rather shocked.
"Um…Hi." Way to go, Taylor. Way to go. What kind of social skill is that? It's like she haven't talked properly to anyone in years. Oh right, she hadn't. Fuck.
"Nice to meet you too. So you gonna be mute or say something?" Panacea snarked back at her.
"Is that how you treat someone who saved your ass?" Oh shit. Why did she have to turn on my hostile meter upto 11?
"Uh… sorry. It's the stress acting up. I am normally not like that." Panacea said awkwardly.
"Yeah. I understand that. Forgive me as well. I don't have a great track record with people my age. So my snark meter got dialed up to 11." There's no shame in admitting your mistakes. Unlike certain people and agencies, she owned up to her mistakes however 'small' they might be. She saw Panacea's shoulders relax at that.
"What are you, twelve? Who even says 'snark meter'?" She was able to perceive the humorous intent in Panacea's tone.
"15 actually. Forgive me, Ms. 'White mage'. I forgot to tell you my age. What would like to hear next? My confession?" It's been a while since she was able to freely talk like this. It's so freeing to say her opinion so damn easily.
"Eh. Call me Amy. Also, you'll have to buy me a coffee first." Ok so I need- wait what? DoesnotCompute. Taylor.exe crashed. A blush lit up on Taylor's face. She was never more thankful to her mask than she was at the moment.
Taylor saw Panacea bluescreen as her words caught up to her. A cute blush could be seen on the freckled heroine's face as well.She didn't fault the heroine for that. Fortune favours the bold, Taylor. Fortune favours the bold.
"I didn't mean it that-"
"6:00 P.M Thursday Starbucks Downtown." Shit. Did she have to say that so mechanically?
"You sure?" The healer asked equal parts skeptic and dumbfounded.
"Well it's a date. Not date-date but date as in date between friends. I mean I admire you and kind of want to-"
"Shh. I understand. 6:00 P.M?" Pana- Any said understandingly. Taylor could see the same loneliness and need for companionship in Panacea as she saw in her herself everyday. Taylor didn't want to admit it but she was lonely and Panacea was someone she could surprisingly relate to. She could understand the need to be a hero and the pain of being hounded by Prophet.
"Yeah." She nodded uneasily. Honestly, she hadn't planned any of this. It just happened. Yeah, she liked Panacea but not in that way. Their talk just spiralled down.
"Uhhmmm." It didn't even take her a moment to call her swarm and position herself in front of Panacea. She pointed her swarm towards the- Glory Girl? What's she doing here?
"Vicky? When did you get here?" Amy asked her sister demurely. For some reason, she felt a sting in her chest.
"Since you two started flirting." The blonde flying brick said with way too much smugness.
"Wait Vicky! It's not like you-" Amy's panic-filled declaration was cut short as the Collateral damage Barbie started humming something scandalous.
"Amy and Weaver, sitting under a tree. K-I-S-S-I…" Was the blonde always this annoying? Suddenly, she could understand the reason why Prophet called the girl a 'blonde bimbo'. Still, she felt a smile creep up on her face. Saving the white mage of the Bay and maybe making a new friend wasn't that bad. Not bad at all.
A/N: I feel like I could have done better. For some reason, the talk between Taylor and Amy always devolved into shit. I am not used to Taylor and Amy meeting under 'normal' circumstances. I just hope this doesn't feel too bad.
Anyways, next one is going to be a PHO chapter. I'll make up for this chapter with the next one.
Goodbye and stay tuned for the next chapter.