A/N: One of those ideas I keep coming back to. May expand a bit later.
As the teenager took a seat, he exchanged a brief look at Miss Militia before activating the recorder.
"PRT Interview with new cape. What name did you decide to go with?"
The very pale girl with the raven-black hair looked at him with those eyes that almost seemed to glow green on their own. "Taylor Hebert."
"I meant your cape name," tried Armsmaster.
"I haven't taken a cape name," said Taylor. "Lady Death if you absolutely must."
"That's a bit edgy for someone wearing a 'My Little Pony' Applejack t-shirt," pointed out Armsmaster.
"It is what it is," said Taylor. "Pull up a live video feed of the Simurgh. I'm going to demonstrate my power, show why I would not fit in with the Wards, and maybe you can save some lives."
"I- hang on," said Armsmaster. "Dragon? What's the emergen... the Simurgh? She's doing what?"
"Tell her to record everything so you can review it later," advised Taylor.
"Dragon, can you verify?" asked Armsmaster.
Taylor stood up and looked in a direction. "Die."
Armsmaster stared, then brought the video that Dragon's Endbringer Monitoring Program had flagged up on a monitor so that Miss Militia could see.
When the two had finished they looked at the teenager who had sat down again during that viewing.
"I need to get out of Winslow. There are three girls: Madison Clements, Emma Barnes, and Sophia Hess. They have been bullying me for almost two years and they are planning to kill me. If they try, they will die. The school authorities won't do anything, but you might be able to."
The two looked back down at the tumbling figure of the Hope Ender as it moved through space, Dragon already plotting when and where the deorbit would take place.
After an uncomfortable moment, Armsmaster produced a phone. "Take this. We will definitely call you."
* One hour later *
Director Piggot watched the video start up, along with the hastily assembled members of the ENE Protectorate, taken from a satellite that the Simurgh had left intact for whatever reason. One moment it had been there, wings furled around it as it circled the globe in its usual orbit. Then the sudden unfurling, darting from one position to another at random within the same basic orbit.
"It was pointed out that this is birdlike behavior, when sensing danger some species of birds begin these rapid sudden changes of position to assess the threat and determine how to flee," said Armsmaster.
The screen went to split. One side showing the Simurgh still reacting to something, the other showing the conference room where the girl had just stood up.
"Die," came the single word from the girl.
It was instant. All wings and limbs of the Simurgh snapped out at the same time and the Endbringer began to slowly tumble through space.
Armsmaster spoke again. "Dragon expects the Simurgh to fully hit the atmosphere and eventually crash into the Australian desert sometime tomorrow afternoon."
The little postage stamp of Rebecca Costa-Brown on the video expanded. "What exactly are Lady Death's powers?"
"Death," said Armsmaster. "She explained it. If someone intends her harm, she knows about it immediately. If someone intends harm to her or someone she regards as precious to her, she knows where and who but can ignore it. If they go to an active threat, actually begin to act on plans to do such - she can kill them. It's instantaneous and there's a sensation in the air when she does so."
"It felt cold, like cold water moving through you," said Miss Militia. "No water though."
"Okay," said Assault, sounding completely serious. "So we absolutely positively do NOT want to move against Lady Death, and maybe hand her a list of targets we absolutely want gone. Make sure she gets any bounties paid fairly."
"According to her, all she wants to do is live a quiet life and not be bothered by 'any idiots'," said Miss Militia. "I think we really should give her that consideration."
"Still, we need to do a threat assessment. I suppose a sniper could..." Chief Director Costa-Brown stopped as Armsmaster's phone went off.
He looked down at it, and his voice when he next spoke showed he was a bit shaken. "Lady Death respectfully requests that Rebecca Costa-Brown not try to make plans for killing her. End of text."
Everyone looked at the Chief Director on the screen. The Chief Director looked back.
"Point... taken," said the Chief Director.
* Next Day *
Taylor stopped walking. Same group blocking her path. Same hangers-on all standing around to laugh at her and keep her from moving on. Same individuals scurrying away lest they get some of the same.
"What IS that smell?"
"Oh, it's just Taylor. Honestly, Taylor, haven't you heard of bathing?"
"She has it just that she stinks so badly it doesn't do any good."
"Maybe it's all the trash she hangs out with."
"Even trash wouldn't hang out with her. It's Taylor after all."
"Hey, pay attention when your betters are talking to you!"
Taylor sighed, took out a cellphone, and pushed a button.
"Who'd you steal that phone from Taylor? It's nearly as ugly as you are."
"Hello, it's me. Director?" Taylor sounded slightly surprised. "You have the phone? I see. Yeah, they started in on me again and Sophia is already planning something."
"Give me that!" said Sophia, shoving Taylor against the lockers and snatching the phone. She put it up to her ear, expecting dial tone.
"Miss Hess. We need to have words. Now."
She recognized the voice but the impossibility of it just caused her thoughts to go flying in a different dozen questions at once.
Pulling the phone away from her ear, she stared at Director Piggot's video and realized it wasn't just on sound.
Then Emma looked and didn't immediately recognize the woman on the phone for whatever reason. "Is that fat whale there your pimp, Taylor? Your lover, maybe? Is she gonna hold you while you cry your eyes out like you did when you killed your mother?"
"Uhm," said Sophia, looking to disengage but the press of bodies was now working against her instead of how it should have been.
"Wait, is that?" began Madison, seeming to recognize the figure on the screen.
"Her pimp? Maybe. Even some fat slut like that isn't desperate enough for someone like Taylor," said Emma loudly, letting a little laugh terminate that statement.
Sophia's eyes went to where she was still holding Taylor against the lockers and she let go. "Ah. Right. Hang on, I recognize her. She's a social worker I've kind of worked with?"
"Yes, Miss Hess. I think we need to evaluate a few things. Come in now. We'll have the school excuse your absence." The voice of the woman on the phone sounded perfectly calm and in control. Sophia didn't trust that AT ALL.
"Social workers can be damn scary," said one of the people in the crowd, his voice conveying personal experience.
"They see everything," seconded another in the crowd, who then turned and walked off.
The crowd started dispersing with that cue, knowing the show was over.
Sophia knew though. Sophia knew that this particular show was far from over.
She could make something up on the way. She could spin this. She'd done it before.
Her eyes went to Hebert. How much did she know? What was the connection?
* Elsewhere *
Conflict Engine #3 destroyed. Conflict Engine #4 Activating.
Conflict Engine #4 initialization complete.
ERROR - Method of destruction of Conflict Engine #3 not found.
Unable to compensate for lack of data. Activating Conflict Engine #4 in default mode.
Preparing target data. Slotting Conflict Engine #4 into place previously occupied by #3.
Time to deployment: 2191.5 hours.
* Contessa *
"What about this 'Lady Death'? All I saw in the file was 'memetic hazard', 'S-Class threat', and 'Avoid' so that's got me a bit curious," said Eidolon, frowning as he considered this possible complication.
"Do not go there. Do not antagonize. If you encounter her, be completely truthful and polite. Do NOT try to fight her."
The various members of Cauldron in attendance all stared at Contessa. Especially as she had a bottle of gin on the table in front of her. Which was very much out of character for her.
Absinthe, maybe. Wine, occasionally. Extra strong coffee, definitely.
"A little more detail?" asked Eidolon.
"She is not a hero. She is not a villain. She is someone we leave alone," said Contessa. "Coil thought he could make use of her. As soon as he started to act his plan out, he died. The Brockton Bay PRT has a lot of leaks and moles. The information of Lady Death got out. People started to plan how to capture or kill or recruit her. Let me show you something."
A monitor flicked from silently running a news channel to a map of the United States.
"This is when the word started getting out," said Contessa. Six red dots appeared. Six more appeared within the space of two breaths. Sixteen followed. More and more red dots appeared in rapid succession. "That's where we are today."
"What am I looking at?" asked Eidolon, scowling.
"These are all people who abruptly dropped dead, most likely because Lady Death's powers let her know when someone is planning to hurt her or those she cares about," said Contessa. "At which point her power immediately activates and said people die."
"'Die'?" asked Eidolon.
"Die," confirmed Contessa. "Shuffled off this mortal coil. Move their accounts to Deceased. Stop breathing. Go to their Final Destination. Fail their Wisdom Checks and their Death Saves all at once. Pass on, attain the past tense, become past their expiration date. Expire. Suffer an existence failure. They have ceased to be and gone on to meet their maker."
"What?" asked Eidolon.
"They have become stiffs. Bereft of life, they are now at peace. They are pushing up daisies. Their metabolic processes are now history. They've shuffled off this mortal coil and have gone on to join the choir invisible," supplied Legend.
"Just like that?" asked Eidolon. "How many?"
"How many villains? Seventy-two. Members of the US Government? Four. Difficult to tell how many members of the CUI and Gesellschaft." Contessa clicked the view back to the news channel, which was now talking about mysterious deaths and CDC investigations.
"So..." Eidolon was taken a bit aback by this.
"If you work out a way to do something, that apparently puts you on her radar. She doesn't respond until you start acting on that," said Contessa completely calmly because she did NOT even want to know how many steps were involved. She wasn't going to ask that question, thank you very much.
And if Scion found out and decided to confront Taylor Hebert? Well, she could check how to comfortably retire somewhere very far away if that happened.