Don't Let me Stay
Some 24 hours earlier
A lone figure stalked the night, the cities latest hero on her first patrol.
Not that, Taylor thought to herself, insect control powers were anything too impressive.
Especially not when one of the two big gang leaders had the power to control metal and the other could turn into a dragon.
At least she had managed to make a costume that, with a little luck, would be able to hold up against bullets or knives.
And her power let her detect disturbances from a distance, she considered, turning her head in the direction of a group of monstrous animals and riders charging through the night.
There weren't a whole lot of legitimate reasons for people to be out and about at night, still less for people in a hurry, and Taylor was sure she'd have known about any heroes with animal projections or whatever they were in the city.
"Did you hear about the new Ward," her friend was asking as they stepped into her home, Taylor giving a brief wave to her mum in the kitchen. "She's even younger than us!"
"A space manipulator, right? That power must be so awesome! You could make it so someone trying to attack you can never close the distance while bam!" She mimed throwing a punch. "You hit them while they can't respond!"
Taylor shook her head, focusing on the present.
So, a bunch of probable villains heading… that way.
She started moving to intercept, gathering a swarm as she moved.
Insects may not be particularly strong, but quantity had a quality all its own.
She felt another disturbance at the edge of her range, and felt herself start to grin.
Clearly these criminals were already being chased by the heroes.
An image sparked in her head, of her standing with the villains at her feet when the heroes, maybe even Armsmaster, arrived, and getting congratulated for her success on her first night out.
She redoubled her efforts, keen on making a good impression.
A thought came to her, and she set the spiders she had in place to start weaving a web in front of the animals.
And then the group made a sudden turn, heading straight for her.
Taylor abandoned the web, calling the insects back to her, and planted her feet firmly, ready to take them on.
And then three lizard-dogs burst out of the alleyway.
The lead creature had a girl in a cheap dog mask on its back, the middle had two riders, one dressed in some kind of 'renfaire' costume and the other a girl in a skintight purple outfit, while the final creature had a figure in black, with a skull helmet, leaking a cloud of darkness behind them.
"Halt," Taylor started, only for the purple girl to shout over her.
"Lungs chasing us! Get out of here!"
Taylor let her attention focus on the insects around the other disturbance, and her heart fell as time seemed to stand still.
Insect senses weren't up to identifying exactly what was going on back there, but it definitely fit Lung chasing them rather than any hero, and that recontextualised things.
Whether this group were criminals or not didn't matter, not when it was Lung after them.
There were rumours around Lung and his gang, about people, including some independent heroes, disappearing, only to turn up dead or in one of his gangs brothels if at all.
The group contained two girls, and Taylor couldn't help but imagine what their fate could be.
Her resolve hardened.
That wasn't about to happen on her watch.
Even if, as she could admit in the privacy of her head, one of the main reasons behind heading out to be a hero was to prove her tormentors wrong about her, even if they would never know, she wasn't about to leave anyone to the mercy of one of the cities villains.
With a thought she set the spiders nearby, those unable to reach the ambush in time, to weave a new web in the cloud of darkness, where Lung would be unable to spot it.
It might not be enough to stop him, but unless she was unlucky it would slow him down.
Add to that the venomous insects she started to gather in the alleyway, and Lung should be in for a world of hurt.
Her plan in place, the world seemed to speed up once more.
"Call in the heroes," she called to the riders as they passed. "I'll hold him off."
"Don't try it," purple girl shouted back. "This is Lung! Get out of here!"
Taylor put her half year of practice ignoring what someone was saying at her to work, and focused on preparing for Lung.
She had something of a dilemma about some of the spiders.
Black Widows may be venomous, but they also provided the strongest thread for the web.
If it was anyone but Lung, there wouldn't be a decision to make.
Black Widows had been known to kill, but Lung had a degree of regeneration.
And, frankly, she didn't care too much if he lived or not.
The web would only serve as a distraction, a minor delay, Taylor decided, so what point was there in reinforcing the web with Black Widow silk instead of assigning what few lurked under her control to the venom corp.
The others were still fleeing, and Taylor spared a thought, hoping that they would indeed call for backup.
But that was about all she had time for before Lung and his followers hit the webbing.
There was a brief period before the insects started biting, Taylor wanting to be sure to save the strongest for Lung.
But by that point the web was already starting to catch alight.
On the brighter side a number of the ABB goons were fleeing the biting insects, or caught in the web.
And then the web gave way, letting Lung burst through and wrapping up those of his men it had already caught.
And then Lung burst from the smoke, and it was just the two of them, face to face.
Taylor felt her heart skip a beat as the beast Lung was currently transformed into glared down at her.
"'ove," he growled. "Ou' of 'e way."
Taylor was slinking through the school corridor, pressing against the wall to keep herself as safe as possible from the trio.
And then Sophia barged into her, sending her bag and its contents flying.
"Stay out of my way, Hebert," she snarled, while Taylor scrambled to gather up her things.
Only to find that the assignment handed out in the previous lesson was already missing…
Taylor held herself upright, and glared back at Lung.
"No," she defied him, gathering her swarm once again.
His response was to spit a ball of fire at her.
Taylor threw aside, ordering her swarm to bite.
The shot missed her, but Lung was already charging her.
Taylor felt herself freeze for a moment, before scrabbling for the can of pepper spray her father had given her when she started running.
And then Lung collided with her, and the can went flying.
Taylor went still, staring at Lungs faces inches from her own.
Her insects weren't doing anything to him, and her only other weapon was out of reach.
What could she do?
For the entire break she'd been in dread of how the trio were going to celebrate their return to Winslow.
And then, once she stepped foot inside the school, the feeling intensified.
There was a palpable sensation in the air, that something was coming, hanging over her like the Sword of Damocles waiting to fall.
When she arrived at her locker, it all became clear.
Her memories skipped over opening the door, being pushed and locked inside.
What she could recall was waking up in the hospital, being told that they had found her in the corridor, in such a condition that even Winslow wasn't able to turn a blind eye.
It took time for her to realise that she hadn't been driven insane, but had gained powers over insects.
And then, by the time she was released and able to return to Winslow, it was as though nothing had happened.
The locker had been torn out and replaced, sure, but beyond that nothing was different.
Winslow had been forced to acknowledge the need to send her to hospital, but it changed nothing.
Instead Taylor set about to turn her powers towards becoming a hero, in a desperate attempt to change things, to make a difference.
But…
Was that really possible?
Did she ever have a real chance to change anything?
Taylor gazed up at Lungs face, inches from her own, and saw the glow of flames forming within his mouth, and saw no way out.
The glow intensified.
And everything went black.
AN: Due to issues with getting the site to actually notice that the chapter had been uploaded, this chapter may have some differences with the Spacebattles version. In such cases, consider the Spacebattles version the definitive version.