Bright Star Mall was in pure chaos when Taylor arrived.
People were screaming and running away, but more than that, a lot of them were wounded. Everywhere Taylor could see, there were shards of glass falling everywhere and barely any intact windows or screens.
A lot of people were bleeding, and injuries were only relatively few as they were probably due to the shimmering red force-fields hovering above the crowd.
Some distance away, on the main floor of the mall, Taylor spotted Crystal and Victoria, and along with them, the adult members of New Wave. Lady Photon, Manpower, Brandish and Flashbang. They weren't wearing their costumes but were instead all dressed in civilian clothes - meaning Taylor could only recognize them by the light grenades, lasers, and energy swords flashing around - though that didn't seem to be slowing the heroes down.
Their opponent was a cape dressed in black and white, with long, startlingly white hair and white/black face paint covering her face.
Taylor recognized her after a moment. Silver Banshee, leader of the gang known as the Chorus. She had the ability to manipulate sound, using it in several ways to create sonic blasts and even to fly, which could make her beyond lethal to deal with it.
She didn't know much about the villains as a whole. Silver Banshee was really the only one who made the news, and it was usually about her fighting other gangs or robbing jewelry stores.
She was currently flying above the ground, being engaged by Lady Photon, the two of them flying around each other and hurling blasts, while Flashbang seemed to be serving as fire support from the ground, trying to hit Silver Banshee whenever he saw an opening.
He was flinging light spheres like they were going out of style, ricocheting them off of walls or even each other in mid-air explosions. Lady Photon didn't seem to be putting up a lot of pressure, in comparison, only doing short bursts of lasers. Was she trying to not blow up the mall?
Victoria, Manpower and Brandish seemed to be trying to conduct a controlled evacuation as best as possible, but they were having trouble due to the sheer amount of people scrambling away. Crystal was hovering near them, beads of sweat dripping down her face,
Why wasn't Crystal also helping her mother with fire support? As a flier, she'd be better suited to it than her uncle. Crowd control was important, but it didn't seem like there was anything they were in danger of at the very moment.
The answer came to Taylor an instant later as Silver Banshee opened her mouth and screamed.
The sound was uncomfortable even for Taylor, making her stagger, and the members of New Wave were clearly struggling to stay standing, protected only by Crystal and Lady Photon's force-fields. Only Glory Girl seemed relatively unaffected, which wasn't that surprising. She was invulnerable, after all.
But not even she could do anything as the sound wave exploded across the area, more glass shattered, and even stone and metal cracked.
The world slowed to a crawl as Taylor watched the pieces of rubble rain down towards the crowd and Crystal's force fields. Purple ones appeared above those, a backwards glance by Lady Photon as Flashbang took up the attack
Glory Girl and Manpower pressed themselves above and over the closest civilians to shield them with their bodies, while Brandish summoned two flat shields of light in both her hands, raising them up as high as she could.
None of them looked confident.
The Speed of Mercury, a part of her whispered.
She'd already been using it on some level, to take in the situation, but now it seemed to deepen, as if the world was suddenly in slow motion. The rubble was falling inch by inch, and the people seemed to be barely moving, even though Taylor objectively knew they were running.
People wouldn't get away in time. And given the apparent exhaustion on Crystal's face, and how distracted Lady Photon appeared, Taylor didn't know how well her force-fields would hold up.
There was only one thing to do.
Taylor moved. Faster than she ever thought possible, she grabbed every member of the crowd she could, depositing them outside.
A part of her distantly noted that moving at the speed she was at should have hurt the people, but another voice in her mind, a stronger one, said they'd be fine.
And they were. As she evacuated the mall one by one, grabbing tourists, shoppers, employees and security guards, they all seemed fine. A little disoriented and some of them vomiting, but nothing like what they would have gone through if the laws of physics were to be believed.
Magic is amazing, Taylor thought distantly, barely even able to believe she was doing this.
Somehow, even as the world moved in slow motion, Taylor knew exactly how long it had taken her to evacuate the entire mall.
Two minutes. Just two minutes to move everyone outside, away from the battle.
After the last person was over, Taylor flew back in and stopped right next to Victoria.
Abruptly, the world snapped back to normal speed, and Victoria startled as she realized Taylor was there.
"Captain?" She exclaimed. "What-"
She trailed off as she realized the mall was now completely empty except for the capes.
The other members of the New Wave team looked just as shocked, and even Silver Banshee paused.
A chill went down Taylor's spine as the leader of Chorus looked right at her with inhuman eyes, white orbs against black sclera.
She's different.
Somehow, Taylor knew that Banshee wasn't a parahuman. Her abilities were magic. Taylor couldn't have said how she knew, she just did.
And Banshee knew it too, her eyes narrowing as they landed on Taylor.
But if Taylor had hoped that both of them being powered by magic would give Banshee more than a moment's pause, that hope fell through as Banshee opened her mouth again.
Taylor dashed ahead, trying desperately to re-summon the ability to see the world in slow motion, to be as fast as the speed of thought, but it didn't come. The power was there, Taylor could feel it, but it was as if it was just out of reach. She had grasped it long enough to save the civilians, but now it had slipped away again. She was still superhumanly fast, but the perception had slipped away.
Another scream erupted from Banshee's throat, but it was somehow more controlled, more focused, directly on Taylor herself.
"BEGONE, INTERLOPER!"
And this time there was pain.
Taylor buckled against the sonic blast, raising her arms to protect herself but being pushed back anyway. The sound rattled her to her very bones, and she could hear them cracking.
Taylor had never been in a fight before she had powers, and with these powers, she had been immune to attacks from what she had dealt with during her Hookwolf beatdown.
This was different than what she could have imagined. It was like feeling the heat of a thrashing fireplace hit her in the face, but it was every part of her, every single bit of her body dealing with a sensation she had never could have dreamed of before.
Pain. Hurt. Fear.
Had this been Taylor, she would have floundered.
But The Captain refused to yield. She wasn't so weak! She gritted her teeth, taking a single step forward against the sonic blast…only for it to abruptly end as a barrage of blasts rocketed straight for Silver Banshee, forcing her to let up on the scream and dodge.
New Wave was on the offensive once again, moving like a well-oiled machine as they hemmed the villain in with forcefields, lasers, grenades, and even the elongated spear of Brandish jabbing her way.
Taylor hardly had time to move in to assist before Glory Girl descended from above, overlooked due to the barrage, her fist crashing straight into Banshee's face.
The blow was strong, a dull meaty-sound echoing in the building.
Amazingly, even as the blow threw Banshee back several feet, it didn't seem to knock her out or even stop her from flying.
If anything, it only seemed to enrage her further.
"You dare?" She shrieked in a ghostly, unearthly voice, her words conjuring another wave of sound, but Taylor dashed in to intercept it this time. It wasn't as focused and powerful as the blast from before, only making her stagger.
Before Banshee could attack again, she was tackled by Manpower from behind. The older hero might not be able to fly, but he could clearly jump, and he and Banshee crashed back into the ground.
Even as they did, Manpower didn't let up, delivering a superhumanly strong jab straight into Banshee's throat, making the villain choke and splutter as Manpower moved back from her.
Before Banshee could recover, she was bombarded with blasts from Lady Photon, Laserdream and Flashbang, blasting her halfway across the ground floor of the mall.
When the smoke cleared, Silver Banshee was out cold on the ground, unconscious.
"So you're the Captain, yes? Or so my daughter and niece tell me."
Lady Photon stared at her, several inches shorter than Taylor herself, but imposing nevertheless. Piercing blue eyes raked over Taylor, her expression sombre.
"Uh, yeah," Taylor said a little lamely. The PRT and other emergency services had finally arrived at the scene, and Silver Banshee was being put away in a van, Armsmaster himself on guard for the sedated villain.
Lady Photon's expression stayed serious for a moment before she smiled. It was a warm, kind expression and some of the tension left Taylor's frame at the sight of it.
"Thank you for your help," She said sincerely. "If you hadn't been here to evacuate everyone…well, there would have been a lot more collateral damage before we took down Silver Banshee."
"It's no trouble," Taylor said, unable to stop her gaze from drifting over all the people who were being tended to by the paramedics, feeling a pang of guilt at just how many people were injured. "I just...I wish I had gotten here sooner."
"I know the feeling," Lady Photon nodded. "We all go through it. But you should remember it's not your fault. You came as soon as you could, and you saved lives."
I could have been here sooner if I'd already been transformed when the attack happened. Taylor thought, but she didn't voice it.
Lady Photon seemed to read her expression anyway. "Don't torture yourself over it," she advised, her voice firmer. "Believe me, this life is hard enough as it is. Feeling guilty for things out of your control won't make it easier."
Taylor huffed a laugh. "Fair. Thank you, Lady Photon."
"Please, call me Sarah," The older woman said with a smile.
Taylor blinked, startled by the offer…before she remembered that Lady Photon didn't know who she was. She thought Taylor was a grown-up. Younger than her, sure, but still a grown-up.
"Thank you, Sarah," Taylor said, the name feeling incredibly awkward in her mouth. Transformed or not, calling someone her mother's age by their first name just didn't seem right.
"That aside, are you sure you're alright?" Lady Photon asked, a hint of concern entering her tone as she looked Taylor up and done. "You took the brunt of Silver Banshee's attack. Have you had the paramedics look at you?"
"I'm fine," Taylor said. "I think I have some kind of accelerated healing, I'm feeling much better than I was even ten minutes ago." It was true Taylor's body still ached from the battle, the first time she had ever felt any kind of real pain in her transformed state, but it was already fading. She had a feeling she'd be just fine.
"You think?" Lady Photon said with a raised eyebrow.
Taylor shrugged helplessly, resisting the urge to squirm a little. "I'm still figuring out my powers."
Lady Photon's eyebrows furrowed in a way that reminded Taylor vaguely of her mother, and for a moment, she was afraid the woman would press the matter. She just sighed. "Well, if you're sure."
"I am," Taylor said as firmly as she could. She was fine, she didn't need to distract the paramedics from the people who needed their help.
"Hmm," Sarah hummed. "Actually, on the subject of your powers, my daughter tells me you've been having some trouble with your Blaster powers and could use some advice. I'd be happy to offer a few tips."
Taylor lit up at the idea. She had hesitated to use her lightning against Silver Banshee, afraid that she might accidentally kill the villain or cause massive collateral damage, but maybe Lady Photon could help.
"I'd love to," Taylor said eagerly.
The leader of New Wave rubbed her chin. "Well, it can't be today, I'm afraid, as I'm sure you understand, but…this weekend, perhaps? I'll think of a place we can meet and see how I can help you refine your powers."
Taylor beamed. "Thank you so much!"
"It's no trouble at all," Sarah assured her. "Your help might have saved some of our lives today. If nothing else, I don't think we could have beaten her without taking some serious injuries. Some advice on how to control your powers is the least I can do."
Taylor opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, she was interrupted.
"Captain!" Victoria appeared out of nowhere.
"Hey Glory Girl," Taylor greeted, offering the blonde a smile.
"Thanks for the help today," Victoria said cheerily. "You did great! That evacuation was amazing."
Taylor blushed at the praise. "Thanks, Victoria."
Lady Photon, however, arched an eyebrow at her neice. "Victoria, aren't you supposed to be calling your sister? I'm sure she's seen the news by now and is worried sick."
"Oh, I totally forgot." Victoria cringed. "Ames will be so worried! I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, Cap," She added swiftly and then flew off before Taylor could say anything.
Sarah huffed a laugh. "I apologize for my niece. She means well, she's just very energetic."
"It's fine," Taylor told her, once more feeling awkward at being treated as a peer by an adult, especially when it involved someone near her age. "I like her."
"That's good," Sarah said. "Now, about those lessons, I have a few ideas on where we could meet…"