Skittering Void[Worm/Kingdom Hearts] - Chapter 2
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To say that Emily Piggot was pissed would be an understatement, as she heard Dragon finish talking.
"And this is all for now?" She asked the world's premiere, Tinker.
"Yes, Ma'am." Dragon answered back.
"Thank you, Dragon, for bringing this to my attention. And if you find out anything more, call me. Immediately, you are dismissed."
"I will Director," Said the Tinker, and her screen cut to black.
This is a mess. Emily thought as she pressed the intercom button. "Miss Militia, please report to my office as soon as possible." She would have both her and Armsmaster but, he was still on the Rig, and she needed to get a hold of this situation fast before it escalated.
XXX
Hannah could only groan into her phone, as her friend made another bad joke.
"Come now, double M, that was a good one." Her friend chuckled.
"No, no, it wasn't Minny. So what is your reason for calling me?" Hannah asked her friend.
"No reason, really. I just wanted to talk, to my bestie." Minny answered her. But, she could tell something was wrong.
"You know, you don't have to lie to me, Mouse. Please tell me what's wrong?" Hannah's voice was filled with concern for her friend.
"I was at another nine aftermaths."
"Oh, Mouse."
"It was really bad this time. Worse than a normal one. There was this little girl," Oh god thought, Hannah. "She couldn't have been older than nine and what they did to her. OH GOD, I can't even describe it. She was in so much pain, so I put her out of her misery." She could hear her friend crying now.
"Minny, I'm so sorry you, had to." She about to further comfort her friend but, was stopped by Minny yelling.
"DON'T! Don't be sorry, M. She is in a better place now, so don't be sorry for what I had to do." Her friend told her.
"Minny, you know, you don't have to keep doing this. To keep hunting them, hunting him," Hannah told her friend.
"I know M, I know. You keep telling me that but, I have to. I have to do this for her, for my baby girl. She deserves to be avenged for what happened, to her. Jack Slash needs to die for his Sin." Hannah could hear Minny's rage and hate over the phone.
"I know Minny, you keep telling me that but, remember that I always have your back."
"I know that M and thanks for listening to a cheese, like me."
Hannah could only smile as her friend's tone went back to what it usually was.
"I happy to do so, Minny. Now I need to back to." Hannah was cut off as the Director's voice came out of the intercom.
"Miss Militia, please report to my office as soon as possible." Came the order.
Hannah sighed and turned her attention back to the phone. "I guess you heard that?"
Hannah could hear Minny laughing before answering, "I sure did, good thing I don't have to deal with that anymore. Back to work double M and talk to you later."
"Yeah, Talk to you later, Minny." Hannah ended the call and put her bandanna back on and left her office to hear what the Director wanted to talk, to her about.
It took about five minutes for Hannah to arrive at the Director's door. She gave it a quick knock and waited for a response.
"Come in," Came the sound of the Director's voice, not even a second later.
Hannah opened the door and entered the office and closed the door behind her. Hannah gave the office a quick look and saw that it still looked the same as it always did. Minimalistic and clean.
Hannah turned her eyes back to the Director. "You wanted to see me, Director."
"Yes, I did. Please take a seat." Hannah took out one of the chairs from the table and sat down. "Miss Militia, about fifteen minutes ago, I received a report from Dragon about a situation regarding our Ward Shadow Stalker." Hannah's eyes widened slightly. "Apparently, Shadow Stalker's civilian name came up on a police report."
Hannah's eyes widened even further. "What did she do?"
Piggot just sighed and turned her computer screen around to face the Cape. "Read this."
Hannah just nodded and read was in front of her forever, engraining it into her mind.
As she read the report, Emily could see Miss Militia's face change from concern, to disbelief and finally rage.
Hannah was almost seething with rage as finished with the report.
"Director, if a smidgen of this is true, Shadow Stalker has-." Hannah was cut off by the Director.
"Severely broken her probation. What's even worse, is that this bullying campaign has been long going, even before she joined the Wards in October." Piggot rubbed her head in frustration.
"This is a bad situation, ma'am."
"Don't I know it, if this ever became public, it would be a catastrophe. Can you imagine the headlines 'Ward almost bullies girl to death, while PRT does nothing.'" Piggot grimaced as others appeared in her head.
Hannah resumed the conversation. "There is also the matter of Taylor Hebert herself. Due to what happened to her, there is a good chance that she Triggerd."
"I take it into consideration. Now we get this affair under control. Is Shadow Stalker on duty today?" She asked
"No, she is not on duty today," Hannah answered, very displeased about the situation.
"Damn, now this is the plan, Miss Militia. You're going to inform Armsmaster of the situation and retrieve Shadow Stalker from her home and bring her to holding cell. While I'm going to be contacting BBPD and have them transfer the case to use since this involves a Parahuman. Is that understood, Miss Militia."
Hannah gave a sigh of submission and responded. "Yes, ma'am understood."
"Now get," Piggot was silenced as her office phone rang. "Yes, what is it?" she answered the phone.
"Ma'am, a Maria Hess is calling, and she says she wants to speak with about something regarding her daughter." Oh this is just perfect
"Patch her through." There was a moment of silence before Piggot spoke up again. "Hello, Mrs. Hess." Was the only thing she managed to say before the woman on the other roared at her.
"What the hell did my daughter do!"
"Mrs. Hess, please calm down and tell me what happened," Piggot said calmly.
"I tell you what happened. A pair of police officers and asked for my daughter, and of course, like the good citizen that I am, I obliged them. I called for my daughter, and she came to the door, and not even a second later, they slapped a pair cuffs on her saying she was under arrest for attempted Involuntary Manslaughter of some girl named Herbert or something like that. Of course, she did her shadow thing and ran through the wall. Now tell me WHAT DID MY DAUGHTER DO!" The angry mother roared.
Piggot couldn't help but, pinch her nose. "Mrs. Hess, your daughter has apparently been partaking in a severe bullying campaign against one of her fellow students and apparently a few days ago went too far, and the consequences of such action is now catching up to, and by running away she seems to have confirmed the truth," Emily told the woman, in a way that sounded like a child being scolded. She only heard an undignified yell before the call went dead.
Emily turned her attention back to the Cape that was in her office. "The mission has been changed slightly. As you probably heard, Shadow Stalker has made a run for it. So, you are to her capture and bring her in for interrogation, understood."
Miss Militia just nodded in response. "Of course, ma'am, I understand."
Emily noticed that her voice sounded a bit too happy, as the Cape left her office.
"Hopefully, this can't get any worse." She muttered. As she went back to work but, half an hour later her phone rang once again.
"Hello?" she muttered, sounding as tired as she felt.
"Director, it's Dragon, and I have an update regarding the situation, and you won't like this." As Dragon went on, explain what had happened. Emily silently wondered if she could get Panacea to fix her kidney, cause she was to sober for this shit.
"Thank you for the update Dragon." She ended the call and hoped nothing else came up. But, her wish was not granted as Skype popped up on her computer screen with the words. Chief Director Costa-Brown Calling. Without hesitation, she pressed the answer button.
And the face of the Chief Director appeared on the screen.
"Piggot, could you explain to me this Shadow Stalker situation?"
Yeah, she was to sober and also to old for this shit.
Xxx
To say that Thomas Calvert was happy would be an understatement. As he read the police report that Dragon had just delivered to his dear 'friend' and 'rival.'
He was thrilled that the deal he had going with the Dragonslayers was paying off so well. It had been a straightforward deal, he helped them not get caught, and they gave him all the information that Dragon had. Especially the kind of goldmines he was reading right now.
The partnership had also come with surprising information. Like learning that Dragon was actually an AI, had been an unexpected surprise but, that he learned to use to test Saint's limits. A number of realities where he had him push the button had been joyful to experience.
However, with the report that was on the screen. His plan to become the Director would accelerate so fast if he played his cards right, he would become the Director at the end of the month.
And when he did his plan to control the city completely as Director Calvert and Coil would be feasible within a year. And he would also sadly have to terminate his contract with the Dragonslayers, for Dragon was too useful to be killed and one should never trust a person who had been touched by Teacher.
Coil pressed the mail button and send an assignment to Saint, for him to publish the report all over the internet and send it to every news outlet, along with every dirty deed done by Shadow Stalker and a half an hour later it was out, and Coil could only smile.
Xxx
Emma could stare blankly at her bedroom wall as her thoughts went a thousand miles an hour.
She really didn't understand what happened. She had come home and had seen her dad and Danny sitting in the living and talking, talking about what she, Sophia, and Madison had done to Taylor.
It had happened really fast, so fast that she really couldn't remember what had happened but, apparently, she had told them what she did to Taylor but, she didn't remember doing that. She felt really confused, and for some reason, she also felt a bit guilty about what she did to Taylor.
That confused Emma, even more, why would she guilty over what she did to a pathetic weakling like Taylor, who couldn't even find the courage to stop being a victim. Emma thought venomously.
Oh, that's because you aren't. That's me feeling guilty. It just leaks over a little bit, and also Taylor isn't pathetic you are. A voice said from out nowhere.
"Who's there?" Emma asked out loud, as her eyes scanned the room.
Oh, you can actually hear me now. That's good, it means I'm making progress. The voice seemed to be full of mirth.
"Who are you?" Emma asked quietly.
I'm your subconscious, we don't talk a lot. The voice went quiet for a bit before it spoke up again. Nah, I'm just kidding, I'm Emma.
"No, no, your not, I am."
No. The mirth in the voice was gone and had been filled with cold anger. No, you are not; you are [Surviver/Traitor], and I hate you but, don't worry your pretty little mind. It will be gone soon. It will be going to the same place I was. Not yet, you still have to pay for the crimes you committed against Taylor. So, see you soon [Surviver/Traitor].
The voice went quiet, and Emma was alone once again. She was about to call for the voice but, was stopped as her door opened, and two female cops stepped inside.
"Emma Barnes. You are under arrest for attempted Involuntary manslaughter of one Taylor Hebert."
Without her notice, a single tear rolled down Emma's face.
Xxx
Madison was quiet as she sat in the back of the police car, her hands in cuffs. And she wondered how where it all went wrong.
Xxx
Sophia was furious as she ran across the rooftops of Brockton Bay to get her destination that was Brockton Bay General.
To make a certain little snitch change her tune.
You pay for this humiliation Hebert. Sophia thought in anger. As she cursed the girl who had made her run away from home like a coward.
Now she overjoyed to have the starches she had hidden all over the city. And the one she had stopped at had the one with an extra crossbow and costume.
Sophia had just made a jump but, was surprised as the distance between the two rooftops changed from three meters to thirty.
Damn, you, Vista. Sophia cursed as she fell in between the two buildings. She managed to land almost perfectly but, couldn't do anything further before being hit by an electro-shock that knocked her out.
Xxx
Taylor couldn't all most believe it as she sat in the courtroom, that was going through her case.
Heck, she couldn't almost believe the last two and a half weeks. She had expected this to take a lot longer. But, no. It had been fast, chaotic, but, fast.
Taylor thought, no knew it was just due to public uproar her little trip into her filthy locker had caused. For apparently somebody had found and leaked the report the police had made along with other things, to the internet and various news stations. The police, along with the PRT, were still trying to figure out how that had happened.
As the court proceeded, Taylor felt incredibly bored. She didn't really feel emotionally invested in her surroundings. Sure, it was nice to have justice for her previous self but, the Taylor right now didn't really care for it.
Deciding to do something a bit more productive, she turned her attention to some of the people in the courtroom.
Her eyes first settled on Alan Barnes. That had been an utter surprise to Taylor, she had expected him to defend his daughter, to deny everything that she had done. But, no, he had decided to be a mature and reasonable adult and go against his daughter, to do what was the best for her. And that had increased, Taylor's respect for the man to go against Emma like that.
And speaking of her former friend. Taylor turned her eyes towards the read-head, who was sitting on the opposite side of the courtroom along with her other tormentors.
All three of them had just been on the stand to answer the jury's questions about their crimes. It had been funny to see how they had answered.
Madison had been the funniest, she had spilled everything like a waterfall before they even began questioning her. And everything, she meant goddamn everything. Madison had told them of events, Even Taylor had forgotten had happened. And that had taken about twenty minutes to do before she stopped talking. And changed her out with Emma.
Emma, Emma had her worried, Taylor had wholly expected her to yell and deny everything. But, she didn't, she was quiet and subdued, just giving yes and no answers to the questions. Before she was sent back down and replaced with Sophia.
Oh Sophia, or should I call you Shadow Stalker? Taylor thought as she looked at the former hero. That revelation had taken her by complete surprise when her dad had told her about it. That had been the other piece of information, that had been released alongside her, report. She had heard that, that had caused some significant problems for the PRT and that the local Director could possibly be replaced. At least that was the news had said.
When Sophia had been on the stand, she had either denied she had done it or used her own twisted logic. To make it sound like she did it for her sake. That little Taylor, was now better off because of her, that Taylor should thank her. God, she wanted to strangle Sophia for that one.
Taylor moved her from the trio to the last relevant person in the courtroom, her dad. Taylor didn't really know what to make of her dad right now. For since she had come from the hospital, he had seemingly changed overnight. But, she decided he had changed for the better. He wasn't a depressed wreck and now spent as much time with her as possible, and the two of them had done things, they hadn't done since her mom had died. Though if it continued like this, she would definitely like this version of her father than the old one.
Taylor's attention was brought back to reality as she heard the jury give their sentence.
Maddison had sentenced with six months in Juvie along with 500 hours of community service and a hefty fine for damage done to her. Taylor had agreed with punishment. It wasn't too severe as Madison had only been a hanger-on, and she had tattled on the others.
Both Emma and Sophia got Juvie until they were eighteen, with a mandatory therapist by the name of Yamada, they also had to pay a fine.
Blackwell had also been judged but, in absence, since the woman had seemingly disappeared from thin air, and nobody could find. Taylor hoped she had killed herself and was swimming in the bay.
After that, the Judge deemed the trial closed, and they left the courtroom 400 thousand dollars richer. Taylor considered it a Thursday well spent.
Xxx
Taylor had woken up early that Friday morning and made breakfast for her and her dad. After that her dad left for work, She bade her father goodbye and left for her room. Taylor walked up the stairs and entered her room and closed the door.
Taylor stood in the center of her room and couldn't help but, smile as physical Darkness surged around her. It clung and condensed onto her body, forming into Vanitas' outfit along with the helmet.
Nodding to herself in approval, she lifted her hand up, and Darkness surged once again, and a Corridor of Darkness opened up before Taylor, and she entered it, the portal closing behind her.
As she walked through the Darkness. Taylor's mind began to wonder, going over the things she had discovered about the Corridors. One of the first had been that she couldn't use the Corridors to leave her World and enter the Lanes Between. She even tried to use her Keyblade to leave and got no results. It was a thing that both pissed Taylor off and terrified her.
Cause there was something able to separate her World from the greater Light and Dark. But, Taylor was convinced that just because she couldn't leave, it didn't mean that something couldn't enter.
But, thankfully, her World was one of those that allowed access to Alternate Dimensions of itself. Taylor stopped walking and opened a Corridor once more and exited to Earth she been using to train on. She exited the portal and stepped onto a field that had been the victim of her training. The field looked like it had gone through World War 2.
Thankfully the Earth, Taylor had chosen, didn't have any sapient life on it. So no one would ever discover the devastation she made, which would surely have enraged Green Peace to no end. Still the Earth she was currently on better compared to some of the others she had seen before she had come across this one.
Taylor summoned her Keyblade and prepared for a few hours of training. First, she worked on her spells work, trying to remaster those, Vanitas had learned. The second part of her training was the physical one. She did that using the greatest gift that Vanitas had given her, even more so than the Keyblade.
The use of the Unversed.
And with her, they seemed to be greater than ever. Taylor didn't feel pain from destroying them like Vanitas did. And had even greater control over them, Taylor could see through their eyes and directly control their movements. She had used that with great effect to spy on the gangs. Taylor had found a few safe houses that belonged to the various gangs and planned to hit them when she would go out next weekend. She had gained greater control of their forms, and so she could make them in almost any shape.
So she spent the next four hours training, before going home for lunch and left again to train before her dad came back. There they spent the evening together watching movies. Which ironically enough were Disney movies. She still had trouble associating the Mouse on-screen with the real thing, cause he was way too badass in real life.
Xxx
Danny woke up early that Saturday morning. In the hope that he could make breakfast before his daughter did.
He put on clothes to see, that he had indeed gotten up before his daughter. So he began making breakfast, not even a few minutes he heard, his daughter walk into the kitchen. "Good morning Taylor," Danny said. As he began boiling eggs.
"Good morning, dad, you're up early," She answered back.
"Yeah, I wanted to make breakfast today."
"So, are you going to go, to work today?" Taylor asked, asked hin with a smile he hadn't seen in a long time.
"No, I don't have work today, dear. But, we are going to meet up with Alan later, too, receive our money, and after that, we are going to go out and buy anything you want." Danny chirped, as he took the bacon off the pan."
Taylor looked at her dad in shock. "Da-dad, you don't have to."
"Yes, I do, Taylor." He said sternly, "I have neglected you and not been a good parent for you, so you are going to allow me to spoil you."
Taylor knew she lost the argument. "Fine," she relented.
"That's good, now can you deck the table and watch the eggs? While I empty the mailbox." Danny saw Taylor nod her head, and he nodded back.
Danny left the kitchen and walked down the stairs to the front door, where the mailbox was. He opened it and took out the mail, closing the box, and walked back upstairs. As he walked back up, Danny had found the newspaper and gave it a quick look over.
Taylor's story was still a big thing, for since their case had gone so well, a lot more kids had come forth about being bullied. Which he could only smile at. Other news was that the PRT was trying out a new policy. To have Co-directors in charge of the local branch to keep each other in check and stop corruption. With his beloved city as a testbed, with a man by the name of Thomas Calvert as co-director to the old one.
As Danny came to the top of the stairs, his entire body froze as heard a loud slam, as well, as the sound porcelain being broken.
Danny's body unfroze, and he called out for his daughter's name. "Taylor!" he yelled out but, he didn't get any answer. He, ripped open the door that separated him from his daughter. With such force that one of it hinges gave away. But, Danny didn't care, he just rushed into the kitchen where he stopped and choked on air. As he saw his daughter's prone body lying on the floor. Broken plates and glass surrounding her body. He went over to her body and immediately checked for a pulse.
Danny sighed in relief as he felt Taylor's pulse against his fingers and her breath against his chin.
Danny picked her up and tried to shake her awake. "Common kiddo, this isn't funny. Please wake up." He sobbed but, Taylor didn't wake up.
Danny lifted her up once again and carried her into the living room and laid her body down on the sofa.
"Lay still would you dear," Danny muttered, as he went over to the phone and called 911.
"Hello, what is your emergency," Danny heard the uncaring tone on the other end.
"My name is Danny Hebert, and my daughter just collapsed, and she isn't waking up.
"Sir, is she breathing."
"Her pulse is beating, and her breathing is fine but, what she isn't is conscious," Danny growled in slight anger.
"Sir, we have tracked your call and is sending an Ambulance to your location; please wait." And the line went dead.
Danny put the phone back down and went to his daughter's side, Where he stood until the paramedics came. Where he was when they left for the hospital. Where he was when they put her in a bed. And there he stayed until she woke up.
Xxx
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