Blaze a New Path

Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.

Right, before we begin, I would like to start by giving a warning. I have been plotting a great deal about this story and actually have a decent plotline beyond 'Taylor gets Star Rail friends'. As a result, we are now swerving harshly into AU territory, even more than normal so if you don't like that, heres your warning. Please keep that in mind before you point out that something isn't canon. Oh, and before I forget, I've made some edits to the previous chapter to fit in with what I have planned. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

As Taylor ran through the streets after her mysterious quarry, she thanked her lucky stars that she'd started running every morning, otherwise she would have already lost the mysterious woman. As it was, it seemed like she was just one step behind her quarry, only just managing to keep up as she led Taylor and March on a weaving path through the Downtown area. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough to keep up and eventually lost the woman in the maze of alleys. Taylor skidded to a stop in the middle of a crossroads, looking around wildly, but there was no sign of the woman. She scowled and muttered something rude under her breath.

"What the hell Taylor?" gasped March as she ran up beside her friend and bent over, gasping for breath, "What was that all about?"

Taylor sighed softly.

"Sorry March, I just…saw someone I need to talk to," said Taylor.

March eyed Taylor.

"It must have been someone really important to make you run out like that," said March.

"Yeah…," said Taylor, "Come on, lets…"

She was cut off by the sound of a gunshot and a scream. Both girls jumped and turned towards the source. Both sounds were fairly common in Brockton Bay, but they were still the sort of sound that caught attention. Before Taylor could stop her, March took off in the direction of the sound.

"March, wait!" shouted Taylor as she scrambled after her friend.

Investigating screams and gunshots in Brockton Bay was not a good idea after all and, while Taylor had no doubt that March could take care of herself if the stories she'd told were anything to go by, it was still a bad idea to get mixed up in whatever that was.

Taylor caught up to March as she stopped at the corner and peered around it. Taylor joined her friend and swallowed when she saw what was going on.

From the look of it, Pairan the local Rogue had been putting on one of her puppet shows to advertise one of the shops on the street which, as usual, had attracted quite the crowd. Unfortunately, it had also attracted some far less pleasant attention.

The doll masked girl was facing down both Victor and Alabaster of the Empire, backed up by a dozen goons armed with assorted weapons. It was pretty clear that the meeting was anything but pleasant based on Pairans tense posture and the way the crowd was cowering away from the Empire goons.

It was pretty obvious what was going on. With the Proctorates recent acquisition of Game Master and the massive force multiplier that was his power and the rumours of Lung having recruited a Tinker, the Empire likely wanted to shore up their own forces to maintain their lead and, while Pairan wasn't exactly known for her combat prowers, every little helped and her cloth constructs could be quite intimidating and strong based on some of her past shows.

"Oh, thats not good," muttered Taylor, pulling back around the corner, "Come on March, we should go. I don't want to get pulled into that."

She turned to go, but paused when she realised that March was still watching the stand off.

"March?"

March stepped back and turned to Taylor, a serious look on her face.

"We can't leave her," she said, "We need to help."

Taylor stared at March, uncomprehending.

"Those guys are from the Empire, right?" asked March, "Are you seriously alright with leaving them to do what they want to Pairan and those people?"

Taylor flinched.

"I…we can call the Protectorate," she tried.

"And how long will it take them to get here?" asked March.

Taylor flinched again and looked down, an awful feeling welling up in her gut. She knew how it felt to have people stand by and do nothing, but this wasn't some bitchy schoolgirls, this was one of the most powerful gangs in the Bay and two capes to boot! What could she do against that?

Suddenly, her spiralling thoughts were cut off as March hugged her.

"Sorry Taylor, that wasn't fair," she said, "You're not a fighter, I shouldn't expect you to be ready for a fight like that."

The pink haired girl stepped back and smiled at Taylor.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this," she said as her bow appeared in her hand.

"W-wait, you're not gonna fight on your own, are you?" asked Taylor.

She had no doubt that March could handle the goons, but Alabaster and Victor too? That was a bit much. True, they weren't as dangerous as most of the Empires roster, but still a bit much for one girl and her ice. She needed backup, but there wasn't anything Taylor could do to help…

"I can't just leave that girl to face down that many enemies on her own," said March, glancing back at Taylor and smiling, "Besides, I'm not on my own."

Taylor frowned, but before she could ask what March meant, she got her answer as a faint breeze and the smell of roasting coffee washed over her. Taylor glanced back as Dan Heng stepped out of a glowing door that had appeared out of thin air.

"You ready to help Dan Heng?" asked March.

The dark haired young man sighed and nodded.

"I am," he said, summoning his spear, "Lets go deal with this mess."

"You wait here Taylor," said March, "Don't worry, this won't take long."

Taylor stared after the two Nameless as they rounded the corner, then slowly shuffled forward and peaked around the corner. March and Dan Heng approached the crowd, drawing attention from the bystanders and thugs, one of whom tapped Alabaster on the shoulder and pointed to the approaching newcomers. The pure white Nazi looked over and looked the two up and down, his lips curling slightly at Dan Hengs vaguely Asiatic features. He stepped away from where he and Victor had been looming over Pairan and planted himself in front of the two Nameless.

"Thats close enough," he said, "This is an important meeting and we don't need any interruptions."

"Looks more like an intimidation attempt to me," said Dan Heng, resting his spear across his shoulder.

Alabaster scowled and drew a very large gun from under his white jacket.

"Fine, lets do this the fun way!" said Alabaster, "Die Chink."

He pulled the trigger, only for the bullet to ping off a small crystal of pink tinted ice. Dan Heng reacted instantly and surged forwards. Before Alabaster could react, the Vidyadhara swept him off his feet and stabbed Alabaster through the back with his spear, pinning the immortal Nazi to the road. At the same time, March drew back on her bow and fired off three arrows that pinned Alabaster through his jacket and between the legs, creating rapidly spreading ice that trapped him in place.

"I suggest you all leave," said Dan Heng as he stepped away from the cursing Alabaster, pulling out his spear leaving him frozen to the floor, "I have no interest in stoking conflict here."

The normal thugs looked at each other nervously, then over at Victor, who had an unreadable expression on his face. He stepped away from Pairan, who immediately retreated behind her massive, stuffed rabbit, and moved in front of his men.

"I don't believe I know you two," he said, "Are you…new in town?"

"You could say that," said Dan Heng.

"I see," said Victor, "In that case, let me give you a piece of advice. Making an enemy of the Empire is an incredibly bad idea, especially for one of your…persuasion."

A faint sneer crossed the skill thiefs face.

"However, since we were basically done here anyway, I'll be generous," he continued, "Let Alabaster up and we'll call all this a misunderstanding and go our separate ways."

"I think not," said Dan Heng, "He attempted to kill me, so I'll be handing him over to the authorities."

Victor's eyes narrowed behind his mask as his hands moved to the knife and gun at his hips.

"That will not be happening," he said, "I highly suggest that you take my warning and leave. After all, its not just you who are in danger."

He gestured to the bystanders and his men raised their weapons, only for one of them to have his knife shattered by one of March's arrows.

"It appears we are at an impasse," said Dan Heng, "I do not wish to fight you, but nor can I allow this fool's attack to go unpunished."

"Or you threatening the doll girl either!" piped up March.

Victors eyes narrowed and he drew his weapons.

"Fine, don't say I didn't warn you," he said, "This is what happens to those who oppose the Empire!"

He brought up his gun, only to be forced to hop back as Dan Heng darted forwards at incredible speed, the tip of Cloud Piercer leading the way.

Taylor watched from her hiding place with wide eyes as her friends fought the Empire. Dan Heng focused on Victor, demonstrating his incredible skill with both spear and unarmed fighting as he danced around the Skill Thief, keeping the Empire Cape on the defensive, although Victors many stolen skills meant that he could keep Dan Heng off him, even if he could actually attack.

Meanwhile, March focused on the thugs, keeping them hemmed in with accurate shots from her bow that prevented them from either helping Victor or attacking the bystanders. One tried to pull a gun, only to have it shattered and his hand frozen with a well placed arrow, taking him out of the fight for now.

It was incredible for Taylor to watch as her two friends handled the situation with such apparent ease, despite being outnumbered. A part of her wanted to help, but what could she even do? She was just a normal girl, power to summon superpowered friends aside, and she didn't even know how to do that. Its not like she could actually step in or anything. She didn't have anything like a weapon and there were rules when it came to living in Brockton Bay, chief among them being that you don't piss off the gangs, especially not for complete strangers or people who could look after themselves.

Then again, Dan Heng and March hadn't even hesitated to step in to help Pairan.

Taylor swallowed the guilt she felt rising in her chest and refocused on the fight. As she did, she saw that Alabaster was managing to work his way free of the ice by physically ripping himself free, leaving a fair amount of skin behind. Of course, he was back to pristine condition in moments, allowing him to make impressive progress. He'd already freed his knife arm and was making good headway on freeing his gun as well and neither of the Nameless had noticed.

Taylor froze, unsure of what to do. It was pretty clear that, once he was free, Alabaster would jump March from behind, either killing her outright, or taking her hostage to force Dan Heng to back off. Unfortunately, Taylor was too far away to get March's attention with the chaos of combat going on around her and, while she was certainly managing, the pink haired girl's focus was taken up with dealing with the goons. The only way she could stop this fight from going downhill quickly was to do something herself.

But…she couldn't. Right? Alabaster was, for the most part, an ordinary person, so even a fairly weak girl like Taylor could probably put him down for long enough for March to freeze him again if she took him by surprise, but the rules that her parents and experience in the Bay had driven into her that doing something like that was beyond stupid. On the other hand, if she didn't, she'd have to watch her first friend in years get hurt or even die. And besides, when had following the rules ever done her any good?

Taylor swallowed, her resolve hardening as her fingers unthinkingly closing around the handle of the bat that hadn't been there a moment ago. She felt a warmth well up in her chest, flowing through her body as her stance straightened and, for a brief moment, she was vaguely aware of another presence standing just beside her.

"Rules…are meant to be broken," she whispered, then took a deep breath and, before she could come to her senses, charged into the fray.

Alabaster had just managed to free his other arm from the ice and was about to charge the cryokinetic when, out of nowhere, a baseball bat slammed into his side with far more force than should have been possible, crushing his ribcage and sending him flying into a nearby dumpster. March jumped at the unexpected interrupt and glanced over, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of the dazed and newly retrapped Alabaster free of her ice and Taylor stood where he had been, bat in hand and panting as if she'd run a marathon. It didn't take a member of the Genius Society to figure out what had happened

"Thanks Taylor, I wasn't expecting him to get loose!" she called, then turned her attention back to the goons, "Right, I think this has been going on for long enough!"

She opened her hand and a larger than normal arrow appeared in it. She grinned as she knocked it to her bow.

"Hey Taylor, check out this awesome move!" she shouted and jumped, drawing her bow back and firing the arrow at the goons.

Taylor watched with wide eyes as the arrow seemed to explode, breaking apart into a large number of…rabbit ice sculptures? The gleaming ice dolls rained down among the E88 goons and exploded, coating the area in frost and trapping the lot of them in ice. At the same time, Dan Heng took advantage of Victor's distraction at the unusual attack and disarmed the skill thief, sweeping him off his feet and pinning Victor to the floor. A moment later, a motorcycle and a PRT van came careening around the corner, lights and sirens blaring.

As the PRT poured out of their van and took control of the area, Taylor felt all the tension drain out of her and she fell to her knees as her legs turned to jelly, her hands shaking so much that she couldn't keep hold of her bat. She was so shaken up by everything that she hardly even noticed that her hair had turned grey and was slowly bleeding back to its original colour.

Up on a nearby rooftop, a young girl with silver hair sat back from her floating screens, a strange look on her face.

"Huh, I guess that Kafka wasn't full of it after all," she said, "I guess the brat really is something interesting."

She smirked as she sat forwards and started typing at her floating screens.

"I can't wait to see where this is going. Heres hoping we won't get too distracted by other things in the future."

And done. I was going to do a bit more, but fuck it, this is as good a time as any to end it. I want to get this done before I go to bed anyway.

So yeah, I think its fairly obvious that the Stelleron Hunters have something planned for Taylor and fully intend to pull her strings. On the up side, they have significantly better plans for her and the rest of Bet than some of the other people lurking in the shadows.

I know that Taylor seems a lot more cowardly here, but there is a reason for that. Here, she has a power that she doesn't fully understand, is in a much better headspace thanks to spending 3 months hanging out with the people on the Astral Express and isn't in 'cape mode' as it were. Shes still thinking as a normal civilian. Thats going to change pretty fucking quick, dont worry.

I'm not…entirely sure I caught Dan Hengs personality properly here, but I think I managed in the end. The entire thing was going to devolve into violence anyway.

I know that saving Pairan is pretty common, but its a decent way to have them fight someone more dangerous than Uber and Leet and it does make a degree of sense that the Empire would want to shore themselves up since the other two main factions have recently boosted their forces.

Oh my, I think there might be more to Taylors power than just summoning friends! That should be fun.

Little glimpse into what Silver Wolf was doing while all this is going down. She was actually the one to lure Taylor and March to the shake down with some holograms of Kafka while Kafka was dealing with their snake problem. Fun fact, did you know that many of her voice lines lean pretty heavily on the 4th wall?

And with that, I'm going to leave this here. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!