Taylor's POV

Waking up changed ever since she Triggered, it was never in stages anymore. Now when Taylor woke up she was always fully cognizant and could start the day in minutes...

But just because she could didn't mean she wanted too...

Especially after yesterday.

Slowly opening her eyes, Taylor forced herself to take in the room, ignoring the whisper that tried to invade her mind.

The room itself wasn't where she'd gone to sleep last night, she was pretty sure she didn't even sleep, more cried herself into unconsciousness really, so taking it in did actually help distract her. The room itself wasn't anything special, she was on a simple bed that had a nightstand next to her, brown colored walls and a balcony on her left, a kitchenette in front of her, a room to the right which seemed to be a bathroom, and an entryway nearby. She was basically in a small hotel room, and what she was getting from her bugs confirmed that she was in a hotel... Which... Was ok? (But, how did I get here?)

She remembered asking, pleading, The Guild for help, and a Dragon Drone coming to her minutes after... But the next bits of her memories were of her just crying her heart out after...

After her Dad practically abandoned/betrayed/renounced her.

Taylor slammed her eyes closed at that, a sense of loss coursing through her that just made her want to curl up into a ball and start crying again. (No, don't think about it. Just don't.) She knew if she thought about it she'd give in to her desire to breakdown again.

She knew that...

But it was just so hard not too.

Everything had gone so wrong, and she wasn't sure it could ever be made right.


Taylor's POV - Yesterday

As per protocol, or as close to it as they wanted too, Winslow let them out 15 minutes after the whole fight between the Dragonslayers and The Guild members in the Bay ended. She was pretty sure they were supposed to wait until it had been 30 minutes, but she didn't exactly care about that at the moment. She was out of Winslow and on her way home... (Well, if it can really be called 'home' anymore.) Now that she was thinking about applying to The Guild's mentorship program, she had been thinking about alot of things. It helped that it would take her a while to get back to her house considering she was walking there.

Yes, she was walking back on foot in Brockton Bay because busses were sort of delayed when a trio of murderous psychopaths piloting giant mechs blew up streets, and something of an Endbringer set the sky, and part of the city, on fire.

The walk was good for her though, it let her think. Even though there was chaos in the area around her, she knew no one was going to be stupid enough to stick their head out for a bit, not until nightfall or the next day when the fires were put out, the numbers came out, and everyone was sure they wouldn't have an Endbringer looking at them like they tasted good with ketchup.

Despite the current state of the city there were still a few shady people around, Merchants too high to care about the whole thing, the idiots that saw an opportunity to act out while everyone else was distracted by the chaos, or people that were just messed up in the head. (Not that I can exactly talk...) She banished that train of thought and focused on what she was going to do when she got home.

Since it was a Monday she was sure her Dad wouldn't be home until later, but with the incident earlier she hoped, because as much as she wanted to think otherwise she wasn't sure, that her Dad would come home to check in on her...

She tried to ignore the feelings that thought brought up, but she wasn't exactly successful.

If/when he showed up she would need a good argument about why she would be joining The Guild instead of the PRT, without unmasking Sophia since that was a can of worm she still hadn't fully processed and didn't want to get into due to the amount of trouble it would bring, and get him to agree. And since she had time to think she was going to do just that. (The big issue is going to be convincing him to leave Brockton Bay.) She knew her Father would instantly reject any thoughts or plans regarding leaving Brockton, his job/friends/life were all practically ingrained in the bay, and her Mother was buried here... That alone made her want to stay, so her Father would naturally refuse on principle alone...

But when it came to reasons as to why they should leave... Well, there were practically too many to count.

The Merchants, despite being the weakest gang in the city, were probably the most problematic due to how their presence affected the city. Because of them drug trafficking. overdosing, addictions, forced or not, petty crimes, and a whole host of other issues were up because of them, including hospitalizations from their mooks or Capes lashing out in a drug fueled episode.

Then there were the ABB, who committed sexual slavery, abductions, racketeering, murder and rape... (Though with Lung gone they should fall apart if the PRT just looked at them.) And with what Psychemon/Geo Greymon had just done they would have the perfect time to strike now that the gangs were trying to squirrel themselves away.

And then there was the E88... The literal Neo-Nazi group. She didn't even have to think about what they got up too, they were Nazis, that should've said enough. And to her, it did.

But her Dad was a Brocktonite through and through and would need more then the argument that living in a city with Neo-Nazis, sexual slavers, and cracked out meth heads with super powers was a bad idea.

And so she thought.

It would take her a while to get home, and that time wasn't going to go to waste.


6 hours later

Six hours.

It took six hours for her Father to come back home after the incident with The Guild and the Dragonslayers... And Taylor wasn't sure if there was a single word to describe just how...

Crushing that was.

She'd had her arguments planned out, knew what she was going to use to try to get her point across...

But as the time marched on, she found herself thinking about those plans less. Thinking about her arguments less... Instead she found herself doubting her Father more and more. (Does he even care?)

The house phone hadn't rang at all, he hadn't checked to see if she was home. (He can't be that busy, right? He could spare a few minutes to call home, right?)

No one she was familiar with showed up, she had expected Uncle Kurt and Aunt Lacey to show up, but then remembered they lived near some of the effected area, and realized that they'd most likely be busy with that, so she set those thoughts aside. (They have excuses, good ones that make sense.) She tried not to think that he didn't, she really did, but after four hours of not a single sign of her Father, she couldn't stop the thoughts from coming.

Did he just not care?

Did he even know school had been over for hours, leaving her alone and possibly nowhere he thought she'd be?

Was she not worth the effort to take a few minute or two breaks to call the house phone to check on her?

And as more of those thoughts raddled along in her mind, more and more did any plans she have get abandoned by the steadily building frustration and anger she was feeling. She couldn't even offload it all into her Swarm without her bugs erupting in a cacophony of sound loud enough to catch attention, and she couldn't risk it.

So she stewed in her anger and frustration, waiting to let it out on her uncaring Father.

Then when his truck entered her range she went downstairs, 'calmly' sat down on the couch, then just waited for him to park.

And after he parked, made his way towards their home, walked up the creaky step, put his key into the door and walked into the room, she spoke. "Dad, we need to talk." That should've been it. Should've been the thing that made him realize something was up...

But it didn't.

Instead of slowing down or looking at her he just let out a sigh and walked towards the kitchen. "Not now Taylor, I've had a long day." And that...

She just...

She'd been stewing in her anger for hours, the emotions building up higher and higher as time passed, and then to hear that? To be dismissed out of hand without her Dad even giving her a chance to talk?

That was it, and all the anger and frustration she'd been feeling boiled over, and she stopped caring about what could come from Shunted her emotions into the Swarm, a symphony of chittering and beating insectoid wings erupting over three blocks as she glared at her Father.

The next few minutes were a blur as she tore into her Father, all thoughts about being calm and giving a proper argument practically out of her mind as she aired out her grievances with him.

But of course she didn't get her temper from nowhere, her Father had his own fuse, and even if it had been long doused, it ignited over the course of the argument. Yet despite him firing back with his own accusations, she didn't care or just used them to fuel her own anger... Until he'd had enough and silenced her by slamming a fist against the table, practically glaring at her with a mix of annoyance, anger, and alot of frustration. It might've surprised her, but Taylor didn't feel any danger, her Swarm had long since gathered and were ready to surge if she felt she needed them. "That's enough! It's clear you have problems with me," She scoffed at that, problems were just underselling it. "So I'll just solve them right now." That made her blink, because what? "You don't see me as your Father? Then fine, I won't be. You don't want to be here? Then fine, you can go! You want to go out there doing God knows what with the people that caused the most damage the Docks," She twitched at the fact he specifically mentioned the Docks. "Has ever seen since the tanker took up the Bay? Then fine, you can go!"

She should've been shocked at that, should've felt hurt that he was saying this to her... But all she felt was even more anger. "FINE! It's not like anything will be different without you in my life!"

There was another minute or so of hem screaming at each other before Taylor stormed out of the house, leaving with nothing but the clothes on her back and anger in her head.

It'd take her a few minutes to cool off and recognize what had happened and what that meant. When she did she tried to keep herself from breaking down, and only managed to hold it off until after she sent out a plea for help and was taken in by Dragon.

But after that she couldn't stop it, and so she went to sleep crying over the loss of her last parent.


Returned

Taylor forced her thoughts away from what happened yesterday, instead getting up to start her day. She would have to face what happened eventually, but that didn't have to happen now. (Hopefully never if I have anything to say about it.) But she knew she'd never be that lucky.

Taylor let out a small sigh then got off the bed. She wasn't sure what would happen now, not sure what would be in her future, but she knew she would meet it when it came...

Because what else could she do now but look to the future and hope it was better then the past?


Alexandria's POV a few hours later

Chief Director Rebecca Costa-Brown was not having a good day. The fact they were now dealing with an entirely new species of creature with the potential to rival Endbringers was one thing, the possibility that more could appear was another, and the last nail in the coffin was that Thinker Powers were unable to fully analyze the Digital Monster without visual confirmation of its abilities. All together that would paint a rather bleak picture of their future, but then throw in the fact Dragon was not only free, but fully behind it in some surprise maternal role, and you had a massive issue for both The Protectorate, and Cauldron as a whole.

Which led her to where she was now, in her personal home office.

The meeting she'd called for earlier had resulted in nothing, Contessa couldn't Path the 'Psychemon' without video evidence of its capabilities, and considering it showed off two different 'Champion' forms, whatever she Pathed may not work if it just pulled out another one from nowhere. (But do we need to Path it?) The moment that thought crossed her mind she crushed it.

The Digital Monster's capabilities and potential were astronomical. She knew that, Cauldron knew that, the world knew that. But she couldn't allow herself to question their mission.

Couldn't allow herself to question whether or not their course was necessary with the intrusion of an entirely new world that may or may not deal with their problems.

She couldn't...

Because if it was, then what would have been the point of all the atrocities they'd committed?


My muse has kind of fucked off, so this might be the last ch for a bit. Probably my last bit of writing for a bit too, but that probably won't last long given my track record. Either way I'll be back eventually.