Worm/Ward/The extended Parahumans universe & All associated trademarks are property of John C. McCrae aka Wildbow.
I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.
I am making no money from this.
Chapter 03: Jumpscare
Some people managed to sleep after an utter disaster and then wake up the next morning under the optimistic assumption that it had all been a nightmare, the dreadful and inevitable realisation that it had not which came shortly after waking being a fair price to pay for the temporary reprieve and chance start afresh.
Taylor Hebert was not one of those people.
She remembered everything that had happened with sickening clarity and she had not slept at all.
Instead she had returned home in the early hours of the morning, limping and staggering painfully through the streets until she managed to reach her home and drop, carefully through the unlocked basement window. Finding some small amount of solace in the fact that the house had been dark and silent and that her father had left the couch and gone to bed seemingly on the assumption that Taylor had already so, which meant that she had not been forced to try produce an explanation whilst her mind was still reeling she had made the way up the stairs and into the bathroom.
Checking her injuries in a mirror revealed that she was a mess of bruises, grazes and thankfully minor burns, her back was already discoloured and promised to turn an ugly yellow with purple and green splotches from her shoulder to her bottom rib before it healed; though fortunately as time passed she had found it less painful to move. Oni-Lee had failed to slash or stab her, his knife having ripped her leather jacket and scored a faint notch into her body armour without ever piercing her skin however his blows had left their mark, Taylor's right ankle was swollen in a which promised discomfort and a slight limp for days whilst the bruising around her right eye was faint enough that the frame of her glasses could be used to hide the worst of it.
She had hoped that painkillers would make her drowsy enough to drift to sleep, something that might even be worth the risks associated with sleeping whilst suffering from a concussion though that had not been the case. Instead Taylor had laid on her chest in the dark, entire body alternating between terrified trembling and being racked by sobs that she muffled with her pillow as she spent the last few hours of darkness trying to work out how exactly things had gone so terribly wrong and fighting the temptation to use her powers so that she would have at least have some warning when the PRT inevitably kicked off the front door of the house and stormed inside to douse her in containment foam.
They had failed to arrive by the time her fathers' alarm clock began beeping, the sound almost causing her to leap out of bed with a panicked yell.
It seemed that Danny Hebert had an earlier than usual start at the docks, either to cover for someone or because of union matters which required his presence. To Taylor his departure was a small gift, it meant that he did not have to face him yet and that he would not see her injuries or her state of utter mental ruin.
Her own alarm had sounded some time after and Taylor had dragged herself out of bed whilst giving serious consideration to simply avoiding school for the day and feigning illness, something she only decided against as a whispering, paranoid part of her mind suggested that it would be dangerous to do anything out of the ordinary today as the authorities would surely be looking for a teenaged girl of her height and build.
A shower had helped her force her thoughts into some semblance of order, soothing aching muscles and clearing away the dust and ash that she realised were as much Oni-Lee's remains as his blood had been. A coffee had helped a little more, though nowhere near enough to keep the tiredness from making her bloodshot and drooping eyes itch and burn every time she tried to concentrate.
Finally she found herself back at school, back at Winslow with its' familiar graffiti and loneliness where she was forced to confront the simple fact that she had failed. She had sought to escape this place and now her only alternatives were unimaginably worse.
Classes had been a lost cause from the offset, it had been impossible to concentrate when every whisper in the hallways seemed to be directed at her and every hushed conversation between teenagers gathered around a cellphone feeling like a threat as the words 'Cape', 'PHO' and 'Dead' were inevitably uttered, especially between Asian youths whose red and green laces and the bandannas tucked into their pants' back pockets or worn as headbands marked them out as members of ABB; possibly even as members of the crowd Taylor had attacked. She had spent the entirety of first period trying to keep herself from shaking, eyes darting frantically from the clock to the window as if she still expected the PRT to come for her at any moment and when they failed to do so she found herself eyeing her teachers suspiciously; wondering which of them would be the first to make a concerned call to the authorities or, worse still misinterpret her limp, stiffness and bruises entirely and pull her off to one side so that they could ask well-meaning, probing questions about her home life and how her father was treating her.
Instead the first teacher to address her directly for anything other than the register was Mr Gladly, whose input proved to be predictably useless.
"Oh I'm sorry if this is boring you Miss Hebert, perhaps you feel that the B Minus on your last paper means you've learned all that you need to from me. Has the student become the teacher Miss Hebert, would you like to come up here and teach the remainder of the class?" he had caught her yawning and, with the mentality of the popular kid that Taylor was certain he had once been he had assumed that the world revolved around himself and his lesson which naturally meant that her yawn had been a deliberate and calculated insult. She was halfway to stammering out an apology when she realised that it would do no good. Emma and her friends were sat together and positioned close enough to the teachers' desk that they could include Mr Gladly in their conversations whenever he moved away from the whiteboard; in his efforts to maintain his position as the 'Cool' teacher, adored by his students Gladly had effectively chosen a side in the campaign the other girls were waging against her.
"Don't worry about her Mr G, she was busy last night" Emma interjected in a stage whisper, Taylor's breath catching in her throat until the redhead added "I heard there was a party around Archer's Bridge"
Emma's comment and the implication behind it, that Taylor was strung out after spending a night being pumped full of drugs and other things set a wave of laugher through the class. A more naive or hopeful person might have expected the teacher to intervene and put a stop to such an open and obvious insult, if only to maintain some order in their classroom however Mr Gladly happily let the moment continue on until the noise died down naturally; long enough for Emma to turn in her seat and give Taylor a mockingly sweet smile.
"As I was saying, the effect of Watchdog's formation on several independent Hero groups was-" he was interrupted once again, this time by the sound of the bell signalling the end of the period and the start of lunch. The shrill ringing quickly lost beneath the sound of students thrusting their books into their bags and chairs scraping as they made for the door, other teachers might have ordered to wait with a predictable line about how the bell did not dismiss them, the teacher did but he simply allowed them to leave. Taylor lingered by her desk, hoisting her book-bag over one shoulder to keep it from pressing against too much of her her back and at the same time not wanting to have her injuries jostled in the press of bodies and as such was the last to leave the classroom with neither she nor her teacher deigning to speak or make eye contact with one another.
She barely made it a dozen steps into the corridor before she was accosted.
"Hey Sad Sack" Sophia Hess's voice hissed in her ear, suddenly materialising behind her as if from nowhere. The slightly shorter but far more athletic and physically stronger girl seizing the free strap of Taylor's book bag and using it to drag her backwards, in the same motion kicking at at her ankles and tearing a yell of pain from her as the blow connected with her previous injuries. As Taylor was dragged off balance Sophia pivoted, using the momentum to swing her victim around and sending her crashing head-first into a wall on the opposite side of the corridor and crumpling pitifully to the ground.
Adjusting her glasses, but also using an available shadow to see through in an instinctive use of her power Taylor saw that Sophia had already jogged away and caught up with Emma and Madison; the trio no doubt already having a story agreed upon about how Taylor had walked into her and tripped over her own feet. Taylor also saw that the corridor was not empty, but that nobody was bothering to help her up and something in that realisation shook her to her core and broke some last lingering shred of hope that she had been unaware that she was still holding onto.
The truth was so simple.
Nobody was going to help her up, none of her teachers were going to ask about her bruises or question why Taylor was even more visibly distressed than was usual, no concerned member of staff was going to make a call to the authorities about a student fitting the rough description of a wanted Cape acting suspiciously and it was all for the same reason that nobody with any authority had done anything to stop any of her previous problems.
It was because nobody cared.
"Mads, move over" Sophia plowed into Madison's shoulder with far more force than the petite brunette had been prepared for. The move both pushed Madison away from Emma so that Sophia could sit between them and take her customary place beside the redhead and also caused Madison to choke on her apple juice and nearly spill it onto her lunch.
As she twirled the unappealing noodles of her own lunch around her fork Sophia decided to use a little more force next time.
"Oh my God be careful Mads" Emma laughed, with just enough of an edge to the laughter for it to not be entirely playful "I can't have you walking next to me with food stains all over your shirt, you'd look like Greg Veder or one of the weird kids who play those nerdy card games and I am not doing that kind of community outreach for rescue humans"
Sophia swallowed thickly in order to keep from choking as she laughed at that, Emma was delightfully vicious when she was on form and she seemed to be very much on form with her insults today.
"Rescue humans, nice" she chuckled, committing the phrase to memory so that she could annoy her fellow Wards with it whenever they next bleated about helping in the community or prioritising victims over tackling the cities' problems at their source and going on he offensive.
"What. Ever" Mads bit the words out with enough force to show that she too was no longer being entirely playful, something that causing Sophia to pay the waifish girl a little more attention as she was genuinely curious to see if she might begin to grow a spine and defend herself for once. Instead the intensity of Sophia's stare seemed to buckle something in her and Madison looked away after a moment, dramatically blowing stray hair away from her eyes and clearly looking for a way to extricate herself from the situation or change the subject.
Emma showed mercy on her.
"Have you guys heard about the party tonight?"
"No" Sophia answered honestly. She had never been especially popular amongst her peers, her emotions having gotten the better of her frequently enough to end several friendships even before her Trigger event and as such she was rarely invited directly, instead her infrequent appearances at social events were limited to accompanying Emma. It had apparently been said behind her back that one in three Winslow students wouldn't talk to her because of her race but three out of three wouldn't talk to her because she was a mean bitch.
Emma had started rumours about the parents of the person who had said that and the reason for their parents' divorce; which Sophia had greatly appreciated.
"Whose party?" Madison asked, confirming that she had no knowledge of the gathering either.
"Chad Miller, from the football team. Apparently his parents are away for a few days visiting family in Boston and the house is empty"
"And he throws a party in the middle of the week?" Sophia questioned "What a dumbass"
"Chad….As in the Senior?" Madison asked, eyes seeming to light up at the prospect "Were we invited?"
"I mean not yet but his brother Billy, the freshman….I heard he thinks you're cute" Emma managed to perfectly measure the amount of disbelief she poured into the singsong tone she used to leave Madison questioning if anything had been meant by it "You should totally go talk to Billy and get him to invite you so you can invite us, he's over there"
She gave Madison a 'shooing' gesture and directed her in the general direction of the Freshman student in question; yet before Madison could disappear in order to both use someone else's affections for her own gain and also to be used in turn a fresh distraction came in the form of Sophia's phone vibrating loudly as she received a text, Madison choosing to linger as Sophia fished the device from her pocket.
"Ooh, who's Carlos? Someone you're dating? Talking to? What school does he go to-"
"Madison I promise you the next time you read my texts over my shoulder like that you won't be able to open both eyes for a month when I'm done with you" the unadulterated venom in Sophia's voice more than made up for the fact that she had kept her voice lowered and Madison's reaction was immediate; she hurried away from the table with a stammered and only partially coherent apology leaving an unimpressed Emma staring at Sophia in her wake.
"That wasn't cool" the redhead pouted "Seriously, if she's going to talk to the hot seniors' below average little brother for us then she needs to actually be able to talk….Although maybe a nervous loser will think the shaking and tripping over her words like that is cute, who knows?"
"I don't like her Ems, you know that" Sophia muttered "You traded one useless piece of baggage for another one with her"
"I am going to choose to ignore that" Emma waved a fork in Sophia's general direction, deciding that any comparison between Madison and Taylor was more unkind that even she was willing to tolerate before relaxing with a huff "Seriously what's wrong….And who is Carlos, you haven't mentioned any guys to me?"
"Work thing. Technically my….I guess supervisor" Sophia smirked at the choice of words and the painfully mundane description of her masked life "I had to give him my phone number so he can reach me as part of my….Y'know"
"Yeah" Emma nodded, understanding that her probationary status and everything surrounding it was still a sore topic for Sophia.
"Obviously I can't tell you who he is, don't even ask me….But having 'Carlos from work' in my contacts doesn't raise any suspicions with anyone. We don't really talk even when we're at work so it's weird that's texting now especially when he should be-shit!" Sophia cut herself off and hissed the curse out as she scanned the message quickly.
"What's up?"
"I can't make that party tonight" she grumbled "Looks like I'm getting called in for an extra shift pretty much straight after school"
"Did someone call out?" Emma asked, genuinely curious about the lives of Heroes in general even if her friend had assured her several times that her fellow Wards were a collective waste of space.
"No, looks like it's a meeting for everyone….Still at least if it's everyone it's less likely that I'm in some shit" Sophia muttered, grinning darkly at the last few words.
"Oh!" Emma gasped "It might be about that new cape?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, I think there's a new cape….I haven't been on PHO or anything yet but a couple of the Asian Kids….You know which ones, were muttering and it sounded important. I mean they changed language when they saw me so maybe?"
"And this is why you're brilliant Ems" Sophia beamed brightly, something which caused the usually unflappable girl beside her to blush slightly in a way which both of them chose not to comment on "Just let me know which kids and I'll pay 'em a visit soon, I'll find out a hell of a lot more that way then I will be sitting around in meetings"
"Sure, I don't know all their names but I'll point them out" Emma nodded happily, freezing briefly as something caught her eye "But in the meantime, look who just walked in"
Sophia could already guess what she would see but turned her head and followed Emma's gaze anyway to spot Taylor Hebert, bruised and limping even before Sophia had thrown her across the corridor a short while ago. The lanky and bespectacled had either forgotten to pack a lunch for herself today, had no food in the fridge at home or had simply felt brave enough to try and venture into the cafeteria for lunch; the latter option was quickly dismissed as extremely improbable as Sophia watched her and saw the exact moment that Taylor caught sight of herself and Emma staring at her like lions stalking a wounded gazelle.
The taller girl turned and disappeared into the crowd without eating.
"She's not even worth chasing after today. The 'work' thing just killed my enthusiasm y'know?" Sophia sighed; she had honestly been ambivalent about the idea of a party at best but being called into the PRT headquarters where she would achieve nothing of any real value whilst also being surrounded by the other Wards was simply draining.
To make up for it Sophia reached over to Madison's lunch tray and helped herself to a handful of the other girls' fries.
Classes had ended a short while ago and yet Taylor did not want to go immediately home.
Despite her earlier epiphany that she, in her everyday life as Taylor Hebert was so utterly insignificant that her plight would always go unnoticed now matter how she asked for help simply because her presence or lack thereof simply did not matter to those around her the same could not be said for her masked persona, such as it was. She had never even chosen a name for herself and now there seemed to be little point in doing so as her hopes of becoming a hero lay in ruins after only a single attempt; even now there was a lingering, sickening fear that when she returned home she would find either her house surrounded by PRT officers led by members of the Protectorate or those same heroes inside her house trying to convince her Danny Hebert to give his wayward, murdering and clearly unhinged daughter up to the authorities.
Provided that her father was even home.
One of the other reasons that Taylor had been less eager to leave the campus was that there was very likely nothing to be waiting for her at home except for the slim chance of finally sleeping, an empty house with no friends she could visit or talk to, no hobbies to absorb herself in and fill the time and now even the planning and preparations as she built towards revealing herself as a Cape had been cruelly snatched away from her. The primary reason however was the one which much of her life and decisions had become based around over the last two years.
Namely avoiding her tormentors.
She had already been accosted physically once today and in conjunction with her injuries from the night before was an aching and brittle mess, flinching at sudden movements only to be left wincing as her own reactions sent twinges of pain through her body; the idea of suffering further as she tried to wade through the crowds of students all trying to be the first to reach the main doors of Winslow was a decidedly unappealing one. That the track team were meeting after school to train seemed to offer some hope of a respite, Sophia Hess would be preoccupied and with the most physically intimidating member of the trio absent Taylor doubted that either Emma or Madison would try anything violent; there was even a chance that the two of them would choose to watch the track team and offer Sophia encouragement so that she could avoid them completely.
It was the most optimistic though Taylor had allowed herself to entertain all day and it was dashed within seconds of her stepping outside.
"Oh hey there Hebert!" Taylor had limped and slunk out of the schools' main entrance after watching the last stragglers exit the building, only those with detentions, extracurriculars' or who had wanted to speak to a teacher for some reason behind her. Casting her eyes around however had revealed a small group of students Taylor did not recognise, a few boys who seemed to be younger than herself and a smattering of older students whose varsity jackets identified them as members of the football team, with none other than Emma Barnes and Madison Clements in their midst where the redhead was painfully obvious in her efforts to catch and hold the attention of one of the older boys.
Taylor simply turned and trudged away, preparing to take a longer route home just so that she wouldn't have to walk passed the group.
"Wow, she's so rude and mean" Madison gasped in stage whisper, every word loud and calculated "It's no wonder nobody likes her enough to help her up when she trips over her own feet"
"It's honestly sad, really sad" Emma chimed in, eager to capitalise on the opportunity Madison had set up for her "I mean look at her….I can't imagine having a frog-mouth that stupidly wide and like, not a single thing to smile about in my life"
Sucking in a wavering breath Taylor picked up her pace, walking as briskly away from the group as her injured ankle would allow with the laughter of the crowd Emma and Madison were performing for ringing in her ears. She hated to admit it even to herself but that particular insult had hurt, the worst part of being bullied by her former best friend was that Emma knew exactly what would affect her.
Hearing movement behind her but not wanting to turn around in case doing so was taken as a challenge Taylor found herself using her power despite herself, as easily as moving a limb and just as instinctive with all of her fears of what might go wrong slipping away as her consciousness pushed outwards. Peering through the shadows cast by Winslow itself she saw one of the football team throw something in her general direction and managed to avoid it by feigning staggering on her pained ankle, hearing something soft but hefty land with a wet splat close behind her.
It was a short-lived victory as avoiding the projectile, some unidentified foodstuff only encouraged Emma and Madison to continue their verbal assault.
"Wow ungrateful as well as rude!" Madison called after her, playing up her shocked and wounded expression as though she were the victim and leaning into her supposed cuteness as she often did.
"I know right? How much of a bitch do you have to be to ignore free food when we all saw you avoiding the cafeteria because you haven't got any money; you should come back her and say thank you!" Emma sneered whilst following after Taylor at a pace that would quickly see her close the distance between them and causing Taylor to speed up until she stumbled slightly, a weakness that was quickly exploited.
"Oh wow, I think she's actually drunk; bring some of the bathtub potato vodka with you today?" Madison giggled over-dramatically as she followed Emma and referenced the joke the redhead girl had made the day before, hinting at just how much she hung onto her every word in a bid for approval and validation.
"So sad, following in Danny's footsteps" Emma snorted, inadvertently pushing Madison to take the joke further.
"Maybe it's her Mom's footsteps….Or her tire-tracks, I mean are we certain she didn't cause that wreck?"
Taylor saw red, then she saw darkness.
Heroics were dead to her along with any other hopes and dreams she might have had, she was already a murderer who would likely soon be hunted down by the Protectorate or even the ABB themselves if Lung ever found at that she had killed his second in command and that sense of hopelessness, combined with her earlier revelation that she would never be helped by anyone struck at her last raw and fraying nerve. It felt like something in her and shattered and at the same time something had been unlocked.
Her power was close at hand and comforting as she reached out with her senses once again, waiting until Madison was only a step or two behind Emma and using her powers carefully and with precision. Madison was already standing in Emma's shadow, almost poetically when the shadow began to rise up from the ground so slightly and subtly that neither girl and none of the onlookers truly saw it. Taylor used her ability to paralyse sparingly, only enough to cost Madison her balance as all sensation vanished below her right ankle.
Sensation returned before her balance or control did meaning that when Madison stumbled over the curb and her entire foot twisted painfully in the wrong direction she felt it fully.
And both Emma and Taylor heard the crack.
There was a moment of shocked delay before screams and crying filled the air, followed by a flurry of frenzied movement and people shouting over one another to call for help and asking what had happened until someone finally had the presence of mind to call for an ambulance and someone else ran towards the school to find a teacher who might be able to do something.
In the confusion Taylor was forgotten entirely as she had expected to be and had simply continued walking with a burst of breathless, nervous energy and giddy disbelief at what she had done before finally coming a halt several streets away coated in a sheen of cold sweat and shaking slightly as the pain of pushing her injured ankle mingled with a rush of emotions.
That regret was not amongst them scared her.
"What the hell is wrong with me" she whispered to herself, finding a wall to rest and lean against as she fought the urge to retch and instead tried to process the fact that she had just knowingly, willingly and deliberately used a Parahuman power to assault somebody and possibly break their ankle.
Taylor found it disconcertingly easy to swallow her fear and disgust and rationalise her actions with the same epiphany that had come to her in the hallway after being thrown to the ground.
She didn't matter.
Nobody was going to help her, that was so patently obvious that her powers had taken a form which literally allowed her to help herself and her life, bleak and miserable as it had become was all but forfeit in the wake of Oni-Lee's death. The only real questions left for Taylor to answer were whether the satisfaction that had come with finally striking back at her tormentors was worth the extra disappointment from her father when he found out about she had done and whether or not she wanted to use the limited time and freedom she had left to take a measure of justice for herself.
Looking back in the general direction of Winslow she decided that she did.
Heroes were supposed to fight for justice and protect people, so she would be her own Hero.
Sophia Hess felt as though she was simply more, in every way that mattered when she donned her mask and costume to become Shadow Stalker.
Though that feeling had been diluted to an agonising extent by the efforts of the Protectorate and her fellow Wars to curtail her actions and methods. As such she leaned against the wall of the Wards headquarters, situated beneath the PRT's base of operations at the bottom of the figurative totem pole with a slouch and a deliberate lack of respect or deference whilst her supposed peers straightened themselves out and tried to look suitably impressive for whichever member of the Protectorate would soon be arriving to join them. Sophia supposed that the other Wards actually believed the party line and thought that their 'public visibility' and non-lethal handling of threats were valuable and that they were helping Brockton Bay, rather than just helping the PRT with its' merch sales.
As far as Sophia was concerned they were just props and tools.
That's why they were kept in the basement when they weren't being used.
Stood around the room at various degrees of attention were Aegis, or Carlos as he insisted on being called when unmasked whose lack of confidence in his own leadership role made him insufferable to Sophia, second guessing himself and unwilling to listen to her advice whilst at the same time desperate to be liked; though he was at least an improvement on Triumph's brand of office politics.
Dean, Gallant was someone Sophia distrusted on instinct simply because of the nature of his powers even if he was yet to do anything to actually earn that distrust. He was in fact the very model of a gentleman whenever he was not locking lips with Victoria Dallon with all the skill and enthusiasm of a Mastiff eating wet food; though that sheer insistence on being a morally upright member of the team and voice of reason only made Sophia more suspicious.
Vista, who seemed eager shed her given name of Missy at every opportunity was someone Sophia was almost willing to offer a measure of respect to. The girl had raw power, experience and drive; she could easily become a force to be reckoned with simply by simply properly applying herself, growing a few more inches and learning to stop blushing and tripping over her own feet every time Dean looked at her or God forbid spoke to her.
Chris and Dennis or Kid Win and Clockblocker were, in Sophia's mind a pair of clowns. The former was a lacklustre Tinker who was coasting by on a few early successes and the fact that a hoverboard and flashy laser pistols were easy to merchandise, with very little to offer in an actual fight. The most positive thing that she could say about the latter was that Emma might find him amusing, though even that brought a scowl to her face and left her silently vowing that the two redheads would never be allowed to meet under any circumstances.
There was also Browbeat, the new guy. Sophia hadn't even bothered to learn his real name yet.
Before she could loudly complain about her time being wasted and demand to know why they had all been summoned to the headquarters an answer was provided, the elevator door hissing open and a single figure striding out into view with heavy, metallic footsteps.
"Armsmaster" Carlos straightened up, an act which many of the Wards followed whilst the leader himself looked at the armoured Hero before him with sudden concern and surprise "Are you okay?"
Not all of Armsmaster's costume was in place, his right arm was entirely unprotected and was instead bandaged and bound in a sling whilst several cuts and bruises littered the parts of him that were visible.
"Nothing that can't be fixed whenever Panacea's schedule allows for it. Similarly nothing that will hinder this meeting, in fact given the subject I'd argue that it's worthwhile for you to see me in this condition so that you understand the severity of the situation which is why I am the one speaking with you rather than Deputy Director Renick" that elicited a reaction, even Sophia cocking her head and paying more attention though her mask kept her curious expression hidden and she took care to keep her body language unchained; still leaning casually against a wall whilst the other Wards gathered closer and shared nervous glances amongst one another. That Armsmaster had chosen to attend a meeting whilst injured was unsurprising given the Heroes' insistence on efficiency at all times, however his injuries being part of the purpose of the meeting changed things.
"As some of you may know" he began with a look that was clearly directed at Sophia herself "The Undersiders and ABB had a small skirmish in the early hours of the morning. The Undersiders robbed the Ruby Dreams casino and ABB members, including Lung and Oni-Lee gathered to give chase and retaliate"
"I heard something about a fight at school. Obviously nobody was gonna come out and say they were part of it" Sophia shrugged, finally stepping away from the wall and towards the rest of the Wards and giving them withering glares to answer the questioning, likely suspicious looks they were shooting her. Likely they had all assumed Sophia had been present the moment Armsmaster had looked in her direction; Armsmaster himself had used the brief interruption to produce a tablet and being pressing its' screen as he continued.
"We received word of what was, at the time believed to be a fight between Oni-Lee and Grue of the Undersiders" Sophia's breath caught in her chest, she had been trying to hunt down the black-clad criminals for some time and did want her efforts to be undermined
"Upon arrival it became apparent that was not the case. Oni-Lee was present, the Cape they were engaging with was an unknown"
"New Hero?" Chris asked with a tone that was far too hopeful and optimistic for any denizen of the Bay, much less one of its' masked protectors. The look on Armsmaster's face was answer enough, though the Hero continued to explain.
"This new Cape has the ability to ability to, in layman's terms bring shadows to life and create minions which act with an unknown degree of independence. Further to that these shadows have the ability to cause paralysis and disable the powers of any Parahuman they make contact with-"
"Damn, that really would be useful on our side" Carlos muttered "Like Dennis but dialed up to eleven….No offence"
"Some taken"
"Indeed. Unfortunately that is not a possibility at present" Armsmaster said bluntly "Over the course of the ensuing fight the Cape paralysed Oni-Lee and killed him with one of his own grenades before threatening me with one of Oni-Lee's knives and using her power on me to escape….The images on this tablet are classified, they have also been heavily censored to shield from the worst of the aftermath but I think it's important that you know the dangers"
"Holy fuck!" Vista gasped, hand flying to her mouth as she leaned around her older peers to peer at the carnage with grim fascination; her ears turning an interesting shade of pink as several pairs of eyes turned towards her.
"Yeah….That's bad" Dean nodded as he took a cursory glance before stepping backwards, likely to distance himself from the revulsion that radiated out from the rest of the Wards rather than his own squeamishness.
Sophia studied the image of the tall Cape in all black, noting the simple nature of the costume and piecing together several titbits from what had been said all whilst being far less bothered by the pixelated blood and gore than her peers, taking it in for a moment before finally speaking up.
"She's definitely new. Recent trigger, no experience"
"Is that your uh, professional opinion?" Dennis sneered, the redhead treating her to air-quotes and a grimace at the thought of Sophia's former vigilante career.
"Yes" she answered bluntly "The fact she stole a weapon means she didn't bring one of her own. Against Lung and Oni-Lee? You don't live long enough to get experience if you make mistakes like that….Shame though, I honestly hope that she sticks around and decides to wise up. She's got some potential and there's gotta be someone out there sweeping the trash off the streets now you've got me selling Nerf crossbows to goth kids and future school shooters"
She really hated the toy version of her crossbow that had recently gone on sale, however a single look between Armsmaster and Aegis was enough to convince her that she had said far too much.
"Official threat ratings are still being decided, however this Villain is being classed primarily as a Master and a Trump, with Stranger and Shaker sub-classifications, the latter being primarily due to the potential area of effect she has. An official statement to warn the public of her existence will he released in the next day or two" Armsmaster paused for long enough to give Sophia a meaningful glower
"Until we have more information this Villain is also being placed on the list of Capes that Wards are expressly forbidden from engaging if encountered on patrol, the same as Hookwolf, Lung or the late Oni-Lee. Procedure is to ensure the safety of civilians and form a perimeter if possible, fall back if challenged" the glower in Sophia's direction lingered, as if he expected her to slip the leash that the Protectorate had on her and seek out this apparently like-minded woman at the first opportunity "Further to that Ward patrols and activity will be limited and restructured in the short term for your safety"
"You're expecting ABB to retaliate?" Carlos asked, the prospect clearly unnerving him though he quickly used the opportunity to his advantage and stepped up the task of leadership by turning to face Sophia "Shadow Stalker, you're being reassigned to console duty for the next week"
"Fuck off" she half-snorted her reply, only for her jaw to drop and something cold to being clawing its' way out from her gut at the realisation that Aegis was serious "You can't be serious? This is bullshit!"
"Aegis is free to assign duties to his team as he sees fit, within reason" Armsmaster interjected "I believe that this is within reason. Console duty for a week unless you want to file an official grievance with Director Piggot"
Sophia had no illusions about how that would go and simply huffed wordlessly, anything she said would likely see her punishment extended to two weeks.
"Unless there's anything else that requires my attention?" Armsmaster asked, clearly stating his intention to leave.
"What are we calling her?" Dennis asked suddenly "The new Villain, she's gotta have a name and it doesn't sound like she gave you one….So we get to pick?"
"I can assure you that nobody on the marketing or public relations team has asked for your input" Armsmaster's answer, delivered entirely deadpan reduced the Wards to howling laughter at Clockblocker's expense which even Sophia herself was not immune to. Before the senior Hero could leave however Vista called out a suggestion.
"What about 'Magpie'?" seeing eyes on her left her blushing once again but she pressed on "You said she took one of Oni-Lee's knives, she's got a mask with a beak, wears black and steals stuff….Magpie"
"Not a bad suggestion" Sophia was sure that Armsmaster actually smiled, if only by a fraction "However The Magpie was the name of a Villain who was sentenced to the Birdcage several years ago. He was a self-style gentleman thief who was apprehended by myself, Miss Militia and Mouse Protector shortly after I joined the Wards"
"The idea of you and Mouse Protector working together is just wrong on several levels" Dennis noted, clearly trying and failing to even the score after being embarrassed "What about 'Shrike' as in 'The Butcher bird' or just 'Shrike the Butcher-bird'?"
"Do you say the whole thing like 'A Pimp named Slick-Back'?" Sophia muttered under her breath, with Carlos either being the only one to hear her or the only one who understood the reference as the fact his mask was removed allowed her to see his quickly hidden smirk.
"Too long" Armsmaster answered "Besides, the idea is not to make a new Villain who is wanted for murder sound cool or aspirational"
"Yeah but we don't want 'em to sound lame either….Otherwise we look even lamer when they kick our asses" Dennis countered, clearly refusing to give up.
"I was gonna go with Sleep Paralysis Demon, since that's what her powers sound like" Dean noted, "But I'm guessing that's too long?"
"What about Shadow Demon?" Carlos offered.
"Pretty sure there's a 'Shadow Demon Coalition' out there already….But I think they just make Drum and Bass music" Sophia countered, leaving her team leader blinking in confusion as he seemed to rack his brains before finally realising that Sophia might be right; though he had clearly not expected her to know that.
"Huh" he murmured "We learn something new about you every day"
"Please, we all know Stalker searched for 'Shadow' everything online before picking her name" Dennis laughed, Sophia remaining deliberately silent as to keep him from finding out how true that was "What about 'Nightmare', short and sweet?"
"Taken" Armsmaster answered, clearly having grown invested in the discussion despite the stoicism he tried to maintain at all times.
"Nightmare fuel?"
"Taken"
"Abyss?"
"Taken and also doesn't fit her powers well enough"
"I've got one, what about Invidiak?" Chris finally chimed in, his contribution earning him a collection of nonplussed stares which left him quickly trying to explain it "It's from an uh….Game that I play with some friends, over at the same place Panacea does her wargaming stuff and-Anyway, an Invidiak is a kind of shadow demon so it's basically like having Carlos's idea but less obvious"
"An interesting idea" Armsmaster noted "I'll run it by legal, make sure that the company who own the game won't sue us. Good work"
As Armsmaster left Sophia turned her attention to Chris, a predatory smile on her face as she realised that Kid Win had inadvertently exposed a whole new angle of attack for her.
"Huh, we learn something new about you every day" she parroted Carlos's words "Mainly that you're a total dweeb….Seriously, you don't get enough LARPing while you're here? You've gotta go and pretend to an Elf or some shit as well?"
"Clearly not" he beamed happily "That's why I'm gonna head over to the game store and enjoy being a nerd in my free time whilst you're stuck riding the console"
"Prick" Sophia replied succinctly.
"Yeah but he's got you there though" Carlos's made to pat Sophia's shoulder only for a quick burst of her power to leave her standing behind him whilst he staggered forwards before turning to raise his hands as if in surrender.
"Don't touch me" she warned
"Easy….It's been fun hearing you get in on the banter to be honest, I think this might be the most you've taken part in a discussion since you joined" he continued before giving her a grin "But you are still on console duty, Browbeat and I are heading on patrol around the Boardwalk"
Sophia blinked and looked over at Browbeat and realised that she had genuinely forgotten that he was here, the newest Ward was much less impressive when he wasn't using his power.
"Whatever" she muttered darkly as she skulked towards he console "It's not like I wanted to go to that party anyway"
As far as Emma Barnes was concerned Madison Clements was a good friend, not her best friend or closest confidant by any means.
For example she was close enough Madison to stay with her whilst the seniors from the football team had first called an ambulance, then upon realising how long it would take and how much it would cost had simply done the decent thing and carried the small and slight brunette to one of their cars and taken her to the hospital themselves. Emma was a good enough friend to make sure that Madison knew that she would do anything she could to help her, such as calling her own father and asking if there was anything that he could do or if he knew of any lawyers who might be able to help with Madison's medical costs and with finding something to sue Winslow High School for. Emma had been a good enough friend to call Madison's parents to let them know that their daughter was in the emergency room at Bayside Hospital after her clumsiness had caused her to trip after her own feet and to promise Madison that she would call her when she made it home safely.
Emma was not such a good friend that would stay in the hospital with Madison all evening.
Not when there was a house party to attend.
Instead the redhead was in her bedroom, hair and makeup unfinished and wearing comfortable sweats whilst regarding several clothing selections that could be combined to into various possible outfits. At the same time she danced half-heartedly to song from Bad Canary's latest album, though the music had been kept quiet enough for her to maintain a conversation with Madison over the phone which had been placed on loudspeaker.
"I wish you could've stayed Ems" her friends' voice crackled through phones' speaker with enough distortion that Emma could pretend not to hear the forlorn edge that Madison herself was trying to hide beneath a sense of false cheer.
"Yeah but your folks are gonna be there right?"
"No" Madison sighed "They've both got work tomorrow, they said they'll visit me on their lunch breaks if they can and that they'll come by after work but they can't really stay the night….So it's just me and the old bitchy nurses"
"That sucks" Emma noted glumly, genuinely feeling sorry for Madison no matter how much she tried to follow Sophia's example and see such feelings as a weakness "I don't even get why it should take this long for you to get healed….We live in the same city as Panacea and it's not like you're a gang-banger or a junkie or something; people like you should be at the top of her list"
Emma continued inspecting her possible outfits for the party, several seconds passing before she realised that Madison had stayed silent.
"Mads?"
"Panacea was here" her friend revealed "And remember when we met Glory Girl at that charity thing a while back?"
"Yeah when she was a bitch to us" Emma huffed indignantly "Getting uppity because we said that disabled girls' wheelchair took up three peoples' space. I don't get why she was so bothered, it's not like the-"
"Panacea knows about that" Emma froze, the idea of heroes remembering her name and face was something she might have enjoyed under normal circumstances but here the idea chilled her and left her frantically scrabbling for any influence and leverage at her disposal.
"So what?" she demanded "She can't hold that against you, it's against the Hippocratic oath or whatever! I'll have my Dad-"
"Yeah but she's not a doctor and her Mom's a lawyer too….Besides she didn't say anything to me" Madison sighed "She just took one look at me, gave me a dirty look and told the nurse that it wasn't a priority case; there were other jobs she needed to do first"
"Ugh. Such a bitch!" Emma exclaimed.
"Right?"
"But whatever" the redhead sighed, focusing on the task at hand "I'm gonna go to that party tonight and while I'm talking to Chad I'll pass his friend your number so he can talk to you….The one who carried you to his car, he was pretty cute right?"
This plan of action would also remove distractions and obstacles from between Emma and the object of her interest; putting Madison in a wing-woman role even in her absence.
"I mean he had some pretty bad pimples and his hairline was off-centre"
"Well if you'd rather talk to Chad's geeky little brother; he was definitely into you?"
"Eww, no!"
"Okay then" Emma laughed "Now help me out with my outfit. It is only a mid-week party so I'm not going all out, I don't wanna look desperate….So that rules out the little red dress. I have got those skinny jeans I picked up at the boardwalk, but I'm stuck between the black top and the pink one. You know which ones"
"Ooh, the pink one from that new place at the mall?" Madison almost squeaked, able to put the misery of a broken ankle aside for a moment "That one's so cute, you should definitely go with that. I was honestly get the same one"
"Thanks" Emma reached down onto her bed and casually cast the pink shirt aside, Madison leaned far too heavily on looking cute and acting immature and neither of those things were what she was trying to convey tonight; meaning that choosing the exact opposite as Madison was the safe option.
She might give her the pink shirt though, if only to make jokes about her inability to properly fill it.
"Hey Mads, I think I can hear my Mom calling me. I'll try and talk to you at the party, or tell Sophia to swing by the hospital after she's done with her thing" she lied, on all counts.
"Thanks, I appreciate it….Except maybe not the Sophie thing" that was a hint of hesitance to Madison's voice "I don't think she likes me as much as she likes you"
There something utterly devious hidden in that sentiment, Emma was sure of it and decided on the spot that she would put Madison in a position where she had to repeat what she had just said whilst Sophia was present at the earliest opportunity.
"Sure no problem" Emma answered tersely before hanging up faster than Madison could reply.
From there Emma's attention was turned back to her outfit, particularly which shoes, accessories and makeup would best accompany it. She was beginning to reach the deadline where she would have to leave if she wanted to arrive fashionably late and yet Madison's comment about Sophia had needled her in a way which was distracting. The remedy was to skip several songs and then turn the volume back up to a more suitable level as she found a breakup song that was amongst one of the most aggressive things in Bad Canary's entire discography and rumoured to have been written about her former manager; from there she began dancing with more energy and finding herself in the swing of things once again as she pushed Madison out of her mind in order to mentally prepare herself for a party.
She completely failed to notice when her shadow came to a halt behind her.
Nor did she notice when her shadow began to rise up from within itself, becoming a three dimensional image.
Emma noticed when the shadow lunged.
A shadowy hand, wreathed in wisps of smoky darkness reached around from behind her to clamp over her mouth whilst the shadows' other arm wrapped around her torso to pin her arms in place; a gesture that was entirely symbolic as Emma lost the ability to move. Every sensation was moved with a crushing pressure and a numb, terrifying coldness that she was entirely unable to articulate; she could breathe and nothing else. She felt as though she might faint or as though the only thing keeping her from vomiting was the fact that her body was no longer hers to command, all of that fear being dwarfed entirely when the shadowy mirror of her own face loomed close and leaned in to whisper in her ear; its' voice a distorted and warping thing which shifted pitch with every syllable and yet was not only perfectly intelligible but also somehow frighteningly familiar.
"Don't cry for help. Nobody cares"
Author's Notes:
Oh come on the chapter's called Jumpscare, I had to leave it on that cliffhanger.
Also yeah, all the chapters are gonna be named after horror/slasher movie tropes.
We also have the name 'Invidiak' actually being suggested/used….Because like in canon, Taylor didn't even think that far ahead.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
People with reliable sleep schedules have no idea how good they have it.
Felt like I had to start with a recap of how Taylor got home, which then ties into the state of her injuries and her current mental state.
You don't change your routine right after committing a crime unless you want the attention but at the same time that was definitely a harrowing experience; Winslow is already a source of trauma for Taylor and now she's walking around thinking she's either gonna get jumped by ABB in the halls or that the PRT are gonna swoop in.
Fuck Mr Gladly and every teacher like him, the ones who want to be liked so much that they throw the unpopular kids under the bus and suck up to the bullies to make their day easier; complete abdication of responsibility.
"You went to a party at Archer's Bridge" is just Brockton slang for "You're a crackhead".
Hate to say but the sad reality for most bullied kids, as someone who dealt with some shit at school is that the teachers absolutely know that it's happening, they know who's responsible but they either don't like the victim themselves or they've worked out that It's going to be more trouble than it's worth to help you. The answer is to beat the shit out of your bully, getting expelled is worth it.
The trio are all terrible people and slipping into the their dynamic is surprisingly easy; which probably says something about me.
"Rescue human" is a top-tier insult though.
Yeah nobody invites Sophia anywhere, she's Emma's plus one.
Madison really is the next Taylor waiting to happen.
But also people who read your texts over your shoulders deserve a punch in the eye.
As antisocial as Sophia is I feel like at the very least the other Wards still have to be able to get hold of her; which means Dennis has prank called her once….And only once.
Okay so I'll mention it here; a lot of people write Emma and Sophia as being into each other to some degree, I've seen more than one person write Emma in a way where her hero-worship of Sophia turns into a one-sided crush….Given that they're both fifteen and living in a very intolerant city I'm choosing to write the story in a way where it's open to interpretation but there's gonna be nothing outright between them; as though they haven't really figured it out themselves yet.
Fuck Taylor's life is depressing, nothing to get up for, nothing to go home for….Relatable enough that I pissed myself off writing it.
And there's Emma working on that senior she was interested in whilst using Madison as a wing-woman/distraction for the younger brother.
She's doing the 'dodging by using shadows to see the attack coming' thing that she decided against doing before, because knowing that nobody cares means that there's nobody keeping track.
Callback to the joke from Chapter 01….But Mads just had to take it further, trying to make an Emma or Sophia level joke and pushed it way too far.
Breaking more ankles than the girl who fouled Victoria Dallon in a Basketball game.
The thing is once you've started with payback it's easy to find reasons to keep on going and Taylor is really the queen of rationalising the things she wanted to do anyway.
For example is she a "Villain" or is she simply "Her own hero, because nobody else is coming to save her".
I didn't realise that the Wards HQ was actually in the PRT's basement until I checked the Wiki, but once I saw that it lined up with Sophia's thoughts about the Wards perfectly.
The Wards are going to keep appearing so having Sophia's thoughts on them from the offset felt like a good idea, if only to establish a baseline for us to work from.
See what I mean about the 'Sophia and Emma but only if you squint" thing? Just the idea of introducing her to Dennis pisses her off.
Oh and Browbeat exists I guess will be a running gag.
Armsmaster hosting this meeting makes sense, he's the Protectorate leader and he actually fought Taylor and all the footage they have of her came from his helmet, having Piggot give the intel wouldn't add anything other than another character….Also yeah, Colin definitely comes to work when he's sick and injured.
Of course they all make insinuations about Sophia to her face.
So now the Wards know Taylor or at least her Cape persona exists and of course Sophia went and said some dumb shit like that and put her foot in her mouth.
Can you imagine her reaction to Nerf Shadow Stalker crossbows?
The whole "Naming Taylor" conversation was fun to write, yes the DnB crew 'Shadow Demon Coalition' does exist, Sophia absolutely googled 'Shadow' followed by every word she can think of and the Boondocks reference made me chuckle.
So she's gonna be named 'Invidiak' which is a Pathfinder thing (I don't actually play it, I was just looking for a suitable name for Taylor in this fic and that's one I came up with) and I now head Kid Win as a nerd who plays DnD….Which fits nicely with the "Panacea plays 40k" head-canon I already had thanks to other peoples' fics.
The longest conversation Sophia has been a part of with the Wards….Involved a murder, calling her team-mates names and getting put on console duty as punishment; absolutely zero social skills.
Of course Emma left her 'friend' at the hospital on her own.
Victoria absolutely vented to Amy about Emma and Madison being horrible to a disabled girl and Amy, who patches up near-dead Nazis for her sister will have no problem making a bully who Victoria disliked sit with a broken ankle for a day or two.
See Emma and Sophia think Mads has no backbone, but when she takes a shot it's a good one. She's managed to get right under Emma and Taylor's skin today without looking like she's trying.
But, much more importantly here's the moment we've all been waiting for….Taylor going full horror movie.
Was that last line too much, too cliché?
Thank you to Noreo, PillsPerkyHydra, Vi_The_Transbian, IRawr, Vahenra, ErbKaiser, Barbaric Bob, Veritas31, JanessaVR, Lamini, ImGonnaDie, Blaze1992, Okami23 and one unnamed guest for their reviews on the last chapter.
I don't think Faultline's crew would touch this version of Taylor, she's too casual about ignoring the unwritten rules.
Oni-Lee wasn't really explored much/at all in canon but if his clones take away more and more of him as he uses them then I feel like it makes sense for him to have at least some level of awareness through them.
Yeah the fight was supposed to be chaotic, honestly I feel like given the specific powers in play, the lack of coordination and the lack of experience on Taylor's part if it wasn't at least a little bit of a mess then it would be harder to sell.
I'm aware of Samurai Jack, I remember it being a thing I just never cared about it that much and didn't watch it...I didn't know Aku's full powerset but it's funny you should mention the size-changing shadows lol
Piggot isn't here, but the comment about her reaming Armsmaster over his choice made me think of a situation where she wouldn't...And now I headcanon Piggy as being deeply unsettled by the specific kind of Master who has 'Sort of human' minions; because they make her think of Nilbog.
The thing with Colin is a) I don't like Cops and Armsmaster is at his core not just a cop, but a self-serving and at least a little corrupt one willing to ignore the truce in a crisis to boost his own position, he is fundamentally exactly who Mannequin thought he was and I don't even think he changed that much when he became Defiant. b) The way Armsmaster reacts to canon Taylor and a version of Taylor who just took someone out with a grenade is gonna be different, the one that blew Oni-Lee up wasn't even the first one Taylor turned back on him so at that point it at least looks deliberate c) Remember that there were discussions about him being shipped out to another city and being effectively demoted (Which was part of what led to the whole ignore the truce thing) and being able to say "I bagged the new Cape murderer before they could go on a spree" is the sort of thing which would help him.
But if it's a "3/10" to you then you don't need to be here.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.