Chapter One: Boiling Point
If I could just get Emma to stop staring at me, I'd honestly have been a lot more fine with how things had been improving lately. Nobody had talked about it while I was around, but there was something different about how Emma treated me. I had my theories- if that voice I heard was really her when I was stuck. But nothing I could prove. Only Madison and Sophia continued to bother me, if in much smaller ways. It'd made me paranoid for months. But now I was just wary. They probably thought I was beneath them now.
Even if I wasn't looking at her directly, I knew where she was so long as I paid attention. I could feel around me all the different spaces where I could and couldn't use my power with my portals, their positions shifting to make sure I missed nothing. Keeping my portals close to make the details clearer, it irritated me that, for whatever reason, I could just pick Emma out of a crowd like this, even as I went to grab the last of my things out of my locker.
As the stream of people all moves through, it's the sudden movement of one person nearby that immediately raises my hackles. Even if I know it's going to happen, the slam of a locker behind me makes me flinch, fumbling with my bag before placing it over my shoulders with a scowl.
"Grow a spine, Taylor. It's only a locker." The voice of Sophia says from behind me, her tone insufferably smug. Ever since she found out I hated loud noises, she'd decided she loved them.
Ignoring her, and trying to not make this any worse, I instead stare down at the floor as I go to move around her. Sophia shifts as if to get in my way, but I take an extra step to the side before she can bridge the distance- another student used as my impromptu barricade. From there, I quickly make my escape, ignoring a part of me that just wanted to brush against her and switch the target of my power. Instead, I hunch myself lower, hoping the crowd makes it harder to see me.
Taking the first bus home leaves me enough time to see what Madison was up to. The connection between us was something that had horrified me- it still did, to a degree. But it was something that I hadn't stopped. Everything Madison saw and felt was something I now too did. I was a passenger in her body that she wasn't aware of. And if I spent the effort, I'd gain more and more control over her.
No matter how awful she was, I couldn't justify to myself doing that to her. I was frustrated and paranoid enough to use it and find out what she was planning. But I hadn't thought it would be so close of a bond. Switching it to someone else wasn't something I could justify either, so I was stuck like this.
It had helped avoid some plots between Sophia and Madison, so there were some silver linings. Most of the time I tried my hardest to disassociate myself away from... that.
Now certain that Madison hadn't anything of interest, I ignore her once more with a grimace. I spend the rest of the ride back in boredom, moving and creating palm-sized hexagonal portals to fill out the space around me. I leave them unconnected to each other, focusing on their tactile sense as I practiced. Being able to move these through walls was something I knew was going to be useful for when I ended up becoming a hero.
Them being impossible to see? It made it all the better.
I just wish it didn't feel like I was running away every time I was using them. It made me think of being trapped, stuck, with nowhere to go. I hated it.
They didn't even cover all that much space when I used them all, filling out enough to fit maybe three or four of me. Although even then, sometimes at random times, it would just work better. Frustrating was one way to put it, but I'd taken notes on anything I figured out. At least the range of where I could make them was a lot further, being three or so blocks.
Stopping not too far from my house, I leave the bus to walk the rest of the way. The closer I get home, the more my tension leaves my body. Even with things being better than they were before, it was still a relief to be home.
Taking off my shoes as I step inside, I head to my room to leave my things, only taking my notebook with me. Heading through the kitchen, I reach my intended destination. The basement was the same as I'd left it, untouched at first glance. To me, it was just as well lit as it was outside, making it easy to navigate my way. A few steps to the side leads me towards the workbench left by the house's previous owner, but my target is to the side of it. I reach into a space which at first seemed empty, but I instead feel the familiar form of my bag as I lift it up. Out of the darkness, it's a lot easier to spot. Changing it to blend in had been easy compared to some of the other things I'd done.
Upending the bag's contents on the bench reveals my current projects. Various sets of clothes, of different sizes and coloration line up in front of me. Shuffling through, I come across my focus of today, a hoodie. Grabbing it, I focus as I hold it, envisioning it to better fit something to blend in with darkness. The change is an slow progress, something that at least is more bearable by the fact I can see and feel it happen even if it takes hours.
Sometimes, I felt tempted to wear multiple sets of clothing at school, just to speed up the process. But, the thought of being caught, and even being stuck in the Wards, was way worse than taking the extra time. It's not like I didn't get bored during the night, anyway.
Forlorn, I stare at my owl onesie as I wait. Its form was way thicker than it had been, and much more menacing too. Compared to how it was, it was unrecognizable. It was something I was working on when my power worked with me. There were times I felt like my power could do so much more.
Once I finished that onesie, it would make me seem a lot more dangerous than I was.
Getting it to blend in was easy, making me seem like I had a different body type when wearing it? Frustrating. But I knew it was possible. I was almost finished; it just required one more day of me using my full power.
So instead, I just sat here and waited as I got all my backup clothes ready. I'd used a couple of beanies I'd cut holes into that I used to cover my head. I'd taken the lenses from prescribed sunglasses and had to glue them into the hole where the eyes were to make it easier. And my power took care of the appearance. They made it almost impossible to see my eyes, and it's not as if the darkness of the lens bothered me anymore.
For the last few weeks, I was getting myself familiar with the more dangerous areas of town. My powers made it perfect for sneaking around and spying on people, but it made it very awkward when I didn't have any way to call the cops. Not like I could capture a criminal, anyway.
My only talent seemed to be disappearing into the shadows. Admitting it made me upset, but all I could muster was a sigh in the face of reality.
Once I finished my outfit, there wasn't much left to prepare. I couldn't wait for any more random sparks of knowledge or something else to just fall into my lap. Either I did it soon, or not at all.
After I finished it, I was going to be a hero.
Sunday was when it had all came together. I'd spent the time in exercising and to myself, making sure I had everything ready. Reading anything I could collect on capes had become a more recent hobby of mine, but had been invaluable. Sometimes I'd get hints or ideas after reading them, so I kept it up. But waking up today, knowing I was going to improve my gear. After that, it was simple, like it had all clicked together.
Staring at myself in the mirror, with the costume on at night, was like seeing a different person. Muscular, curvy, taller. It was all things that I just wasn't. Nobody would mistake me in this for plain, boring Taylor. Instead, I'd be...
Well, I wasn't sure.
Names were something I'd struggled with. I had a few suggestions written. Just some variations of 'owl.' Considering how my power was only good for spying, me being seen wasn't something that would happen all that often.
There was nothing on my connection with Madison, meaning she was asleep. A sigh of relief leaves me as I slump. Slapping my cheeks through my beanie, I psyche myself back up before activating another one of my powers. It would have felt unfair being a Grab-bag if my powers didn't feel so minor.
Reaching to the makeshift belt I'd ended up making, I take out my notepad and pen to write, leaving the word 'Grab-bag' with a question mark on it. I'd look into that later, whatever it was.
Covering myself in my shadows, I locked enough of my portals together to create a doorway large enough for me to move through it. Above, on a nearby roof over a block away, I did the same, before linking them together with a thought. My shadows were only a tinting of the area surrounding me, like a light, wispy fog that followed me. Even when connected like this, I couldn't tell the difference by looking at where the portals were supposed to be.
Whether locked in place and linked, or moving around me, these portals might as well be invisible.
From here, chaining my teleportation was a simple matter. My destination wasn't so much near my neighborhood but further out, towards the docks. Thankfully, this wasn't my first trip down this way. A lot of the scare factor had disappeared at this point.
Moving through into the poorer parts of town had nothing that immediately brought my attention. There were the expected drunks, whores and gang members, but I didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved they weren't up to anything. My lips curl in particular to the thugs. But instead of focusing on them, I headed further in search of someone else I could catch.
It became painfully obvious after a while that while it might as well be a bright sunny day for me in the dark, tonight was oddly quiet. There were a lot fewer members of the ABB around than there should have been, making me wary. It was about an hour of pointless searching before I had found anything as a clue.
There were giant quadrupedal half lizards, half tiger things jumping across the rooftops.
"What the fuck?" I whispered to myself.
With a thought, I step forward and come multiple blocks closer. These creatures had people riding them as they moved along. I watched them for a few minutes, debating with myself if I should get closer before I saw them jump downwards to the street. I swear I felt them landing from here.
Those things were bigger than my dad's car and meeting them sounded like an awful idea. I still headed that way, anyway.
Another step had me skip several building and land on the last rooftop they had been on. A loud bang had me fall backwards and land on my ass, the air leaving my lungs. Heart racing and eyes wide, it takes a few seconds to pull myself up as I hear the loud bang of gunshots. I flinch at each sound, only realizing after that they were going from below me and not right near me.
They weren't shooting at me. I could move.
Crouching low, I clench my shaking hands in frustration as I slowly hobble my way closer to the edge. Shouts and yells of various people echo down the street, angry voices filling the air. Looking downwards shows some sort of fight between gangsters in red and green, and a couple of people in costumes like me.
At the sight of the ABB, both fear and disdain fill me. Ever since I'd last seen them in a group like this, I'd hated gangsters, but there was a special place in my heart that just would forever dislike this group in particular.
Those were likely some real heroes down there fighting them then. Though it was weird I didn't recognize them at all. Two guys and girls all huddled near each other behind cover as three giant dogs wreaked havoc among the gang members. One guy was in all black, the other appearing as if he had just stepped out from a renaissance faire. Another girl was in a skintight outfit, with the odd person out being a girl in basically no costume. She'd done the bare minimum and put on a plastic mask in the shape of a dog.
All of them, if I were to guess, were probably around my age, although I couldn't tell with what the taller guy was wearing. Maybe one Protectorate member with a couple of Wards? That seemed really dangerous.
The area surrounding the guy in all black with the skull mask, who internally I'd started calling Skull, was a different shade compared to the rest of the area. It was like my own wispy darkness following me, so I could only assume it was something similar.
Occasionally, I'd watch as the white masked boy would lean outwards and one gangster would twitch or flinch as they tried to deal with these giant creatures. It had been only seconds, but the ABB was already losing, some even beginning to flee. My joy is short-lived as a metal blu flies by, narrowly missing the white masked boy below.
Appearing on a rooftop across from me, I saw someone I instantly recognized. The red mask with green stripes on the side and black bodysuit gave it away. It was Oni Lee. He crouched just as I was as he stared down. His head turned towards another rooftop and more of him appeared.
I guess that solved the question of if he teleports or makes copies.
The first Oni Lee I saw took aim with a knife towards the capes, making me panic. I move half my portals in the way, just above where the capes were -inside of what I hoped was shadow, and put the exit a couple of blocks down so the knife would land straight into the ground. The switch is instant, and the knife instead ends up in the middle of nowhere. A small part of me notes how his throw was poor, lopsided, as if he was desperate.
I couldn't just watch. Help, I needed to help.
Turning to keep the second Oni Lee in my sight, I watch in horror as more copies had appeared on the balcony. They all reared back to throw their knives, and I did the same trick in making their knives disappear. I didn't dare breathe as I laid still in the night, hoping they wouldn't spot me.
A roar of pure rage in the distance drew all of our attention, as I saw a giant that was halfway between a man and a dragon, covered in silver scales and with molten eyes. It runs toward those giant creatures, despite being barely comparable to even one of them in size. It would have been almost comical if I didn't recognize that ornate metal mask. As he lit himself on fire, it only drove the point home.
Lung was here.
I watched as a more distant Oni Lee I'd lost track of made his way back towards the conflict. Was he running away before? Some of the older clones disintegrated, even as Oni Lee kept making more.
He was going to be a massive problem.
Flashes of fire came from Lungs direction, and the growls that sounded disturbingly like dogs from those creatures followed in the same direction. The gunfire at this point had mostly stopped. I created a singular, small portal with a glance next to the capes and linked it right next to me just to hear what they might say. Instead, some of that darkness from their position seeps through onto my side. Any sound I hoped to hear never happened, instead there was a dead silence on the other end.
Giving up on that front and closing the portal, my next focus was on Oni Lee. I could take stock and see all of them, which made it easier for me, but there wasn't all that much I could do to him. Narrowing my eyes, I make another portal right next to my hand and connect it next to the foot of what I thought was an Oni Lee clone. If I could just get a better idea of what he was up to...
He was an awful person, so it's not that bad to use this power on him.
It's not that bad. I told myself again.
Reaching out through the portal, I brush my hand against their shoe to make a connection. Nothing catches. As fast as I reached forward, I snatch my hand back and close the portal. I stare at my hand in confusion for a moment before nodding my head.
The clones weren't going to work then.
My gaze searched for where the real Oni Lee was. Most of the ones on the rooftops with me had disappeared at this point. Down below was where most of the clones were swarming as they rushed towards the capes in a mad dash. A quick count said about half a dozen.
I layered my portals across the floor even as the capes who were fighting back were moving their cover. The darkness surrounding them changed shape, billowing outwards and increasing the distance it covered, even as they moved further away from where Lung was.
I make my portals just large enough for a foot to fall through, and then I link them back to being right near where Lung was. Hopefully, his fire would make the clones go away, because if I did this, as long as they were still stuck in my portals, I wouldn't be able to close them.
Flicking the connection on, I watched as in rapid succession as the clones all took one step and fell mid-sprint. With a crunch they fell forwards and slammed their heads into each other, the ground and everything in front of them. On the other end, various legs appeared out of thin air surrounding Lung. Some legs kicking him to my internal glee.
And it seemed as if those legs inside Lungs' inferno caught fire. As I watched, though, they didn't all immediately turn to dust as I had hoped. Only those who had hit their head on the ground hard enough seemed to have disappeared. Instead, they writhed in pain for a few seconds. Even the capes down below who could see this sight faltered at this scene.
To my disgust, Lung merely tugged on and carved his way through the legs of the clones. The air surrounding him being a flying mess of limbs before it turned to dust. Desperately, I struggle down the urge to throw up.
Once my portal no longer felt blocked, I closed them even as I had to stare back down at the ground and not look at what was going on. "What the fuck." I whispered to myself, unable to come up with anything different to say.
More clones had been created by the time I had looked back up, some of which were on ledges and roofs, before jumping downwards into the haze. Quickly, I move some of my portals in the way and link them to each other. Instead of landing properly, some of those collide in midair and fall to the side in a dazed heap. Skull's face ends up taking on some of the other clones, leaning out of the way of a wild, probing slash of a knife and promptly flattening them to the ground with a punch. He systematically switches between targets, as they don't seem to know where he is. Occasionally, one will stumble or make an involuntary mistake to be brought down just as easily.
Seeing the skintight girl pull out a gun leaves me confused and horrified. Just the sight of a gun now made me anxious. But when she fired it, I heard nothing. All I saw were the heads of the different clones turn into a red haze. "It's just clones." I whisper to myself, calming myself down, if only slightly. "Don't think about it. It's just clones."
Maybe the girl was like Miss Militia or something. Heroes can have guns. Right?
With it out of mind as much as I could, I scan the area, watching as more clones keep appearing. Once I stopped him, I'd figure it out from there. It was a struggle to figure out where he was at first, but it didn't seem as if his teleport was traveling too far.
I set a linked portal right next to him and go to tag him quickly through it. Even before I put my hand through, he disappears. Scowling, I try a couple of more times, with each being a failure. The capes below seem fine, but the fight with the dogs is going much more poorly. Lung now towered over them all, his fire quickly becoming a problem as things nearby caught fire. He suffered from chunks being torn out of him, and even had been brought down to his knees. It was his healing factor that was no joke. Even now I could see as it was rapidly filling back in the parts he had lost, growing bigger and meaner, too.
It was now or never.
I focus back in on Oni Lee, but instead of targeting where he was, I aimed for where he was looking. Haphazardly, I placed markers in different spots, and hoped I was lucky enough.
There was a heart stopping moment when he reappeared, and I realized he was right next to one before I linked them. Punching down into the ground where I had my portal next to me, my fist reappears next to Oni Lee, and subsequently I end up punching the side of his ankle.
Before I can cheer, the connection between us disorients me for a moment as I lose what I had with Madison and instead see through Oni Lee. There're parts and ways he moves that are so foreign to me I'm left reeling at the sensation. Instead of putting weight to it, I bury the deep sense of discomfort at being in the body of someone else. That was a later Taylor's problem.
It helped that he felt so numb emotionally. I wasn't sure why he was in this fight when he seemed to care so little for it.
Both my fist and his ankle hurting was annoying, but I quickly pulled back before he could see what hit him. Instead of looking down, I watched through his eyes as he stared at an alleyway and left a copy in his wake once more. Oddly enough, I could also see through the clone left behind, but not any of the others that were already made. The new clone stopped and checked the area around where he was hit and then checked himself.
Now, using someone else's eyes, I could see how dark it actually was. The strange area that was surrounding the other capes was actually a billowing darkness that acted almost like smoke, a deeper dark amid the night. Where Oni Lee was making more clones seemed to be the brighter areas that he could see. The more he made, the more I could see through. But it slowly built a pressure in my head that I was sure was on its way to being a headache.
As fast as I could, I tried exerting control over the muscles in my new bond with the original, trying to see if I could get his knee to twitch and get him to trip or something. The best results I get is more of a uncomfortable sensation as he ignores it and creates even more clones. Tears gather in my eyes as my head throbs.
I am fervently glad that there was a layer of disconnect with those I was bonded to. I experience a wave of ever-increasing sensation as the new clones are beaten down or even killed in some cases, giving me a first-hand experience of death.
The worst part was how apathetic they were to their own ends. Thinking and feeling copies that existed and were gone the next.
I shudder. This was awful.
I try constricting the muscles in his throat to see if I could knock him out that way. But all it does is make it hard to breathe and have him cough. Changing tactics, I aim for the eyes. He blinks his eyes rapidly, which seems to reduce his speed of making clones.
Finally.
I felt his anticipation and then the frustration as he goes to move again, only to have his blink mess with his timing. Realizing something was wrong, he moves erratically to get away.
I have to take a few seconds to steady myself as I sway a little on the ground, closing my eyes, hoping this splitting headache stops. If I stop him from being able to see, I'll stop getting the mother of all headaches!
To my hip, I reach for my can of pepper spray, an idea forming. Once I was ready, just before his anticipation of another jump, I make him blink. In the moment he closes his eyes. I connect a portal in front of his mask and spray, coating his mask and blocking his eyes. Once his eyes are covered in the spray, I switch my target to the muscles in his throat, making him cough and then inhale some of the spray.
His entire world becomes one of pain as he stumbles, struggling to stay upright. I have to desperately suppress my satisfaction at finally making something work, so I don't reveal my location. As more and more clones disappear, the pain in my head turns from splitting to just annoying.
Lee reaches for one of his knives as he struggles to stay upright. Frowning, I could only bemoan to myself. Why couldn't these gangbangers just stay down?
The creation of a portal behind Lee allowed me to get ready to strike, even if it felt stupid for what I was about to do. I punched the empty air, watching as my arm disappeared at the elbow, and connect with the back of Lee's head. His vision goes blurry, and everything goes white for a second as he lands flat on his face. I try not to wince at the crunch of the guy's nose. He was conscious, so he was probably going to be fine.
Just to be sure, I keep exercising my control to keep his eyes shut.
Peering back over the edge, my heart nearly leaps into my mouth as I see skull and skin tight girl down below staring in my direction. There is a brief stare off before the girl waves in my direction, her wide smile clear even from here. She turned to say something to her companion, and I watched as the outline of the surrounding shadow slowly faded.
Instead of waving back, I duck back behind my cover, heart racing. What was I supposed to even say? It's not as if the pepper spray would keep Lee down forever, so I needed someone else to arrest him.
Getting back on the edge, I link a portal next to them with the other one in front of me. "I, uh." I die a little inside at my stumbling words before straightening my back. "Just letting you know that Oni Lee is lying down on the street around the corner."
Almost all of them become wary at the sound of my voice, as muffled and distorted as it is through my armor and my 'mask'. The blonde girl instead maintains the grin she has.
"Well, that's new." A masculine voice says through the link. The tone of their voice is more amused than anything. "Do you do pizza deliveries as well?"
"Regent, not the time." Another voice comes through, this time much deeper. From the way Skull ends up moving his head to face the other guy, that probably meant that the skinnier boy was Regent. The shrug further sold it. "Thanks for the assist there. The name is Grue, the girl over there is Tattletale." He motions towards the girl in who had been grinning. "Regent was the smart ass." The person mentioned gives a bow. "And the last one is Bitch." Grues entire speech was in a rush, only taking a brief moment to double check the area. Checking over the cover, he has a front-row seat to what I had been seeing of the other battle.
Lung roars as buildings are hit hard enough that I feel it from here. I couldn't quite make out what was on the other side because of how many large things were moving, but there seemed to be someone attacking Lung from behind. He kept switching targets as if he wasn't sure on what to focus, and his healing was slowing to a crawl. Watching creatures the size of vans wrestle and be thrown about was both awe-inspiring and horrifying.
If before Lung was large, now he was monstrous. Those dagger-like scales, glowing red hot, now covered his entire body. Neck elongated enough that it could stretch and bend in ways that were alien. I swear while his body faces the other direction, his neck turns enough to stare in our direction. His face had become almost completely inhuman, with more teeth than I cared to count. His back had snapped off spear-like protrusions, which were leaking blood. There were slices and chunks taken out of his body that would have been crippling or worse to anyone else, but he simply ignored them in his rampage.
Even then, Lung was in the better condition compared to his three opponents. Covered in horrific burns, with claw marks that were fairly deep. They were noticeably much slower than when I first saw them scaling the roofs. If this went on for much longer, Lung would win.
"That's our cue," Tattletale says. "We should book it before we make everything worse with Lung over there." Despite her words, she didn't seem all that bothered. "Don't want to get caught up with whoever wins that."
The now named Bitch took that as her cue and whistled, one short whistle followed by two long ones. Immediately afterwards, I saw as those giant creatures backed away from Lung and then ran toward the whistle. Tattletales' attention stayed where I was, instead of where I placed my power. "Well, it was nice meeting you..." She pauses, taking me a second to realize she was asking for my name.
Shit.
Owl themed, I got to remember the owl theme. "Nightowl." I made up on the spot, more confident sounding than I had any right to be. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but everything just felt better. It didn't stop the fact I felt ridiculous, though.
"See you around, Nightowl."
The large forms of the creatures stop in front of the capes, leaning down for them to climb up on top. I watch in silence for a few moments as dread slowly pools in my stomach. "You're not part of the Protectorate or a Ward, are you?" I said, briefly closing my eyes in resignation. All the warnings I'd been ignoring were coming back to haunt me.
Tattletale winked in my direction before they all sped off, her smug grin growing wider at my words. They leave me with a flaming Lung in the distance, a writhing ball of agony that was Lee, and a burning desire for the ground to swallow me whole. I cover my face in my hands and groan into them, holding back tears from how awful my first cape fight had been.
Were all cape fights like this? This was insane!
It takes a couple of seconds to collect myself before I stop shaking so much to watch Lung. His movement was sluggish now, but even then, he was a terrifying sight to behold. Well, over twice my height and packed with muscle and scale. Hoping to help whatever was fighting him, I move the portals once more, so they were just behind his feet, keeping them as large as possible. One set behind his left foot, and the other mid air behind his right facing upwards to the sky.
Lung stepping backwards into my portal hurt my eyes to watch, his foot sliding through as he fell backwards, only to collide with that same leg floating in midair on his other side. His own weight and momentum only helping to get him further stuck as his leg was bent in ways it really shouldn't be.
With my portals occupied, Lee was down and not sure what was happening. I was just… stuck here. There was no way I was just going to leave people behind. Not again.
Carefully, I stood up. I felt terribly exposed, even if I knew it was in the middle of the night and my shadow armor thing that I still hadn't named was covering me.
Instead of trying to escape the portals, Lung had taken his offending limb that was stuck, and callously mutilated himself. Now free, he dragged himself further away from me in the opposite direction to flail.
Who was he even fighting?
I take a deep breath, letting it out explosively. I'd just have to go look.
A doorway is made just large enough for me to go through, getting me outside of the fire far enough it wouldn't catch me. I would have to chain a second one quickly so I could be on the opposite side and see what Lung was blocking from view.
One step sends me only a few houses away from where the fight was. The first thing I felt was how blisteringly hot it was being so close to the fight. Just as quickly as I arrived, Lung whipped his head to stare at me with pure rage in his eyes. For a brief second, I freeze at his stare, until he whips one claw in my direction to throw fire my way.
Desperately, I turn towards a house further away and create another link. As I run through, the fire explodes behind me and I'm sent careening forwards. A roar of pain and and anger are all I can hear as I slam into the ground and skid, rolling off the side of the building. There is a brief vertigo as I get the falling sensation, and then I slam into the ground with a half second delay face first.
For a moment, a sea of white pain consumes my world before it comes into focus. Everything ached. Gingerly standing up, I'm shocked to find that it hurt only as bad as if I had fallen over. Staring upwards, I end the link of the portals up there and bring them back around me. The building was only a single story, so it probably wasn't that bad.
Dusting off myself, I ignore my wobbling knees and slowly make my way to the end of the alleyway to see what was happening. On the way, my shadow armor returns, making me falter.
Wait, when did that disappear?
I turn my head to look back at where I fell. It was probably the reason I'm getting away with just some bruises from falling. I gulp. Around the corner, a fight straight out of a fantasy book is happening. Lung, mutilated and furious, drags himself forwards to maul his lone adversary. Between now and when I saw him last, he'd lost another limb, this time being the arm that had tossed the fire at me. Where one of his eyes was, it had to be cut through and he had deep cuts all across his front.
In front of Lung stood a superhero, calmly and methodically maneuvering his way backwards without checking behind him. Perfectly, he moved his way between the strikes of Lung and struck even more wounds upon him using his halberd.
It was easy to see who this was- Armsmaster was fighting Lung.
End of Chapter One:
Funny how you return back to a fandom after a couple of years. Always wanted to write something for Worm but never got around to it. Events will keep spiralling further and further passed this point. A special thank you for those so long ago who helped with some of the powers with this fic, though, no idea if you'll remember considering the time haha. And thanks for anyone who takes the time to read this. I'll probably also do a different fic for an OC set in Canberra after the Simurghs victory as well, so look out for that if that's your cup of tea. Constructive criticism is of course also welcome.
Otherwise I wish you all the best.