Instead of marching right back to the hospital as she wanted, her father convinced her to visit homeless shelters first for two reasons. One was that it had a lot of sick people who pretty much had zero access to medicine as opposed to those who were lucky enough to be properly hospitalized; most homeless people just sort of got sick and died out in the streets. They needed help – a lot of it. Of course, her goal wasn't to heal every single one of them, which brought them up to the second reason. She needed to really test Sukuna's healing – or, more importantly, she needed to test if he'd actually keep his word. Homeless Shelters had no security cameras and a lot less potential witnesses, which meant the only way people would know about her existence would be through word of mouth. She'd been lucky in the ICU when she healed her father; the only potential witnesses there were all too injured to notice anything – not to mention the fact that Doctor Halsey was the only one who was even remotely aware of her. If she went around in a hospital, healing people left and right, then she'd attract plenty of attention – both the good and the bad kind of attention. She didn't need that kind of heat over her head just yet.

Fortunately for Taylor, there was a homeless shelter not too far away from where they lived, a mere ten blocks away, actually, a twenty-minute walk that reminded Taylor of her abysmal physical fitness. If she was going to thrive in this heroism thing, then she was gonna have to make the effort of physically pushing herself. Jogging and calisthenics should do the trick well enough. She didn't need to become the strongest girl in Brockton Bay; she just needed to be able to run for long periods without her heart beating out of her chest each time she did.

Her costume drew a bunch of looks from passersby, with some even taking pictures, but Taylor paid them no mind. After all, there were plenty of civilians walking around in costumes just for the heck of it. A lot of people stared, but most didn't mind her at all. Still, it felt weird. She would've preferred if her dead walked with her, but that was too much of a risk. Instead, he walked on the opposite side of the street, essentially tailing her. He stopped every so often, just to appear normal, just to make it seem like the two of them weren't walking towards the same direction. It was necessary, they both agreed, to ensure that their identities were kept separate, but her father had been unrelenting in his decision to accompany her today, even taking the day off.

Taylor donned her costume about halfway to the shelter, in a public bathroom.

Luckily, there weren't too many people in this part of Brockton Bay. Or, at the very least, the ones here didn't really care all that much for a lanky teenager walking around in a gaudy costume.

The homeless shelter was a decrepit place that looked as though it hadn't been cleaned once in the last ten years – and it probably wasn't. There was a musky and moldy smell in the air. Her dad stood on the street across her, wearing all-black, like a character from a spy film. Still, he was doing a pretty good job of remaining inconspicuous – I think. A few of the homeless turned to me and their eyes widened as she approached. There were around ten of them just standing around outside. Her dad would wait close by, just in case of trouble, but that was unlikely.

The homeless shuffled and stiffened in discomfort.

It was now or never.

"I'm a healing cape." She said, immediately catching their attention. Healing capes were rare and one who'd willingly venture out here was even more so. Though, Taylor did recall Panacea occasionally doing community outreach stuff. But, once again, she was only one person and couldn't be in all places at one time. Taylor was here now. "Is there anyone here who needs immediate medical attention? Don't worry, I'm doing this for free. So round up whoever is sick."

"On it!" Three people rushed inside. Taylor just had to raise a brow at that one; they moved fast. She'd been expecting an argument of some kind, but she was wrong. But, then again, free healing sounded like a dream come true and it probably was for a few of them. Taylor was also willing to bet that every person in the Homeless Shelter was nursing some kind of injury or minor disease, maybe a limp they've been ignoring or an infection they weren't even aware of. She'd love to heal all of them.

Unfortunately, she had to be careful about the limit she and Sukuna agreed on. Forty people. Unless she altered the Binding Vow, then she had to be a bit picky as to who she healed. In this case, it was better to choose those who were very sick or seriously injured.

"Who're you?" One of the remaining homeless asked her.

Taylor had nearly spent the rest of her evening trying to figure out the best name for herself, a name that'd crystallize everything she stood for. And, also, to lead people away from even thinking about the possibility that she was at all involved in Winslow. Just a healer. A healer can't cut up buildings to rubble and dice people into little cubes. Just a healer. No need for anyone to be suspicious. Taylor smiled underneath her mask. "I'm Asclepios."

"What? The hell kinda name is that?"

Taylor gulped and chuckled. "Oh, it's Greek. Asclepios is the Greek God of Medicine."

Before the woman could comment further, the men who ran in earlier came walking back out, each of them supporting one other person. She noticed immediately that all three of them were missing at least one appendage, the stumps haphazardly covered in bandages – red and wet and smelling of infection. Taylor's face twisted. The smell was revolting. But she was here to heal and that's exactly what she planned on doing. She pointed at the side walk. "Lay them down, over there."

The homeless guys did as instructed and laid the injured down on the sidewalk, in front of her. Taylor's eyes narrowed. One man, two women. The man was missing his whole left arm. Both women were missing a foot, each. They were also covered in cuts that healed terribly, oozing pus and other foul-smelling liquids. Yep, these guys definitely needed immediate treatment. So, she bent down and laid her hands on the first one. This one.

'As you wish'

And so, she healed them. Just like that. One by one. Sukuna's power restored their lost limbs and mended their skin within seconds. Taylor looked on as entire portions of people regrew out of bloody stumps, seemingly out of nothing. Her eyes widened The whole thing only took her about ten seconds, honestly. Even the very small crowd around her stood flabbergasted by what they witnessed. Sukuna's healing power was amazing. It might even be good enough to put Panacea's to shame. Because there honestly should not have been enough mass in that man's body for him to regenerate a whole arm – bones and all. And yet, he did. All it took was a simple touch and, suddenly, a new arm grew right out of the stump. The same was true for the women who'd lost their legs.

Taylor stood up and watched as the previously-injured people pushed themselves off the ground without any help from their friends. They turned to her, tears in their eyes. But it was the man who spoke first. "Thank you! Thought I'd just roll up and die..."

And the two homeless women followed shortly afterwards. One of them fell to her knees, crying. "Thank you! I thought I'd never walk again. Things were looking... very, until you came along. Thank you... hero."

"The pleasure's all mine. And the name's Asclepios, just so you know." Taylor nodded and smiled beneath her mask. It felt good to say that. It made her feel like she'd made a difference – probably not a lot, but a limb was a limb. Most importantly, however, it made her feel heroic.

Still, she had to wonder. "Who did this to you?"

"Before we came here," One of the women recounted. Her eyes were haunted and she shuddered violently as she spoke. "We used to walk around the city. Made the mistake of getting into ABB territory. They caught us and beat us, called us barbarians and freaks. And that mask-wearing devil, Oni Lee, made us choose which limb he'd slice off – a warning to others, he said. So, Marky, over there, lost his arm. Mina and I didn't even get a chance to speak before he slices off both our legs. We crawled all the way here."

"I'm sorry for what happened. I hope you stay away from ABB territory from now on." Taylor's eyes narrowed. She was a healer. Combat was beyond her and unleashing the monster within to deal with Oni Lee, to avenge these people, did not sound like a good idea. In fact, it sounded like a terrible idea. So, no, she wasn't going to do that. She wasn't even sure why she was asking these things. It's not like there was anything she could do to deal with someone like Oni Lee, who was said to be one of the deadliest capes in Brockton Bay.

"Is there anyone else, in there, who might need some healing?" Taylor finished, sighing. A part of her wanted to venture out and do as the heroes did, go on patrols and such. But, how was she supposed to do that when she couldn't even jog fifty meters without panting? Someday, perhaps, when she'd gained some level of physical fitness, Taylor would go out and patrol.

In the end, no one else needed her help. And so, Taylor removed her costume the first chance she got and walked straight home, her heart pumping and beating so powerfully it felt as though she'd just fall over and die at any moment. Was that excitement? She wasn't sure. But she knew that she was happy. There were even tears in her eyes and she'd never noticed. She closed the door behind her, leaned against the nearest wall, and sunk to the floor. She then raised her fists to the air. "YES!"

"YES! YES! YES! YES!" There was feeling inside her that she could not quite put into words. It felt tingly. It felt good. It felt warm. Amazing! When she opened her eyes, Taylor could've sworn she saw a flicker of something bluish appearing over her hands, which disappeared almost immediately.

Taylor blinked... what was that?

Her father walked in about a moment later, smiling. He glanced down and sat beside her, chuckling. "Good work, kiddo. One tiny step at a time. How does it feel?"

Taylor sat up, grinning as she leaned into her father's shoulder. "It feels amazing, dad!"

"Well," Her dad said. "I'm glad you feel that way, Taylor. Those people... did you see the look on their faces when you healed them? They looked like they just won the lottery. And you saved them, Taylor. Those kinds of injuries... they're not kind to people, especially to people like them, down in the dumps, down on their luck. You helped them, Taylor. And that makes you a hero. Didn't even have to kick butt to do it."

"Thanks dad," Taylor said, smiling.

"But, what did we learn today?" Her father suddenly asked.

Taylor paused for a moment and looked back. "I'm gonna have to come up with a better way of donning my costume. It'll be too easy for someone to spot me walking into a bathroom and see Asclepios walking out. I have no idea how to do that, though."

Her dad nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that, too. But, that'll be a challenge for another day. Do you wanna go back out, Taylor?"

"No," Taylor shook her head. She couldn't, no matter how much she wanted to. "The costume changing thing is too much of a problem to ignore right now. I'm gonna have to brainstorm a bunch of ideas, dad, before I even think about going out again."

Her dad nodded. "A car would be ideal for kind of thing, but even that could be traced back to us if we slip up just once."

There was a pretty good reason why most capes only ever came out at night. And it was probably this. Fewer witnesses and fewer people who were willing to follow them home. But most capes weren't healers. And now... she didn't know what to do. She was happy that she helped, but now the reality of it bore down her shoulders. What if someone followed her next time? One way or another, that scenario would end with Sukuna unleashed. Still, Taylor wasn't about to let something like this slow her down. She was a hero. She knew that now. And she wasn't going to stop. Every problem had a solution and she just needed to find it. "We'll find a way, dad. I'm not going to stop helping people."

AN: Chapter 8 is out on (Pat)reon! Mister blenderman is finally out and about.