Taylor swung her legs back and forth, more than a bit bored.

She'd gone to school Wednesday going forward, to keep from gaining any more suspicion. Apparently, Sophia hadn't been in school Tuesday - which Taylor only heard because she hadn't been in Wednesday or Thursday either. She was back on Friday, though, and she'd been avoiding Taylor like the plague. It was a bit nice to have the shoe on the other foot for once, but unless she got Sophia in her line-of-sight, she couldn't get a handle on what she was thinking. Still, the PRT hadn't come calling all week, at school or home, so Taylor figured she was in the clear. She was enjoying the crisp Friday evening weather. She'd already gotten her bit of tinkering done for today, and now it was time to do a proper patrol for the first time. Find some crimes in progress, stop them cuz she was classy, and rob them cuz she was still a villain.

But there was nothing going on! She was perched up on a crane at some old abandoned construction site in the docks, so she could see for a good ways in every direction, but there was nothing! If you asked online (or asked any parent in the city), Brockton Bay was a hive of scum and villainy, with crime lurking around every corner if you made the mistake of wandering too far after dark. But she'd been out here for hours, it was almost midnight, and the most she'd seen was loitering! There was a handful of groups where people were all loitering together, but whenever she listened in, they were just talking about normal shit. She couldn't just go down and beat up people who were hanging out on a street corner.

[Success!]

"-and now she's getting on my case, like it's somehow my fault Melissa got a job where we always-"

"-blue, but Midwestern blue."

"-the children, just shoot. You see one of 'em-"

Taylor sat up. That last one certainly sounded like a crime was happening. She looked around for the source and found her culprit: a bunch of scary-looking men, probably armed, with...ah there was a cape with them. He didn't look too familiar...wait no right, that's Skidmark! She hadn't known his name prior to using the forum, but apparently there was a third gang in town? Well, fourth if Coil counted. He had minions, so he probably counted. But yeah, apparently the Archer's Bridge Merchants were...around? There wasn't much to them, though; they were less a proper gang and more just vultures picking at whatever scraps none of the other gangs wanted. It's possible that if something catastrophic happened and the city found itself without utilities for months on end for some reason, they could leverage their Profession/Hobo +40 checks into being a real gang with territory and influence, but for now they were just a small gang of weak losers.

Skidmark was pacing back and forth. His filthy hands were running through his equally-filthy hair in a fruitless attempt to calm his nerves, and bloodshot eyes swung wildly from one man to the next. "Think they can stiff me? Lil puke's ball's ain't even dropped and the cum-gargler's got the nerve to talk trash! Think they're invincible cuz they bought a strap, I'm strapped too motherfucker. Stiff me, I make you a stiff, don't give a rat's ass if you're still in diapers."

[Sense Motive. Success!]

Taylor didn't need her power to tell her the man was clearly high as a kite and psyching himself up to murder children, but it helped to have confirmation. She stood, stretched, then leaped out into the darkness. She soared over and down, and landed between all the gangbangers with barely a whisper. Surprise round, bitches! Taylor drew her sword and waved it around threateningly.

[DC 9 Intimidate vs Dazzling Display. 2+46=48. Success! Unchained triggered - all targets Cowering for [B]3[/B] rounds, and Panicked for 3 rounds after.]

Apparently even for the cape, these guys weren't particularly tough, or masters of making good decisions. Every single one of them was now frozen in place. Taylor sheathed her rapier and pulled out a pile of zipties. She could improvise wrist/ankle cuffs for someone in just three seconds, which was quite handy. She couldn't imagine being a normal person and having to take who knows how long tying these guys up as best she can only for them to slip out anyway. But they wouldn't be slipping out of these. Right?

[Escape Artist. Success!]

Right!

By the time Taylor was done, they were coming out of it and trying to flee, but unfortunately they were too well bound to do more than wiggle away in fear like the worms they were. She gave each of them a tap with the end of her sword (-4 to deal nonlethal? Easy peasy!) to knock them out until the cops cape. She vaguely recalled something about how knocking people unconscious was quite dangerous for their health, both physical and psychological, but maybe that was for being knocked unconscious instead of Unconscious? If not...eh, whatever, it's not like they mattered that much. She went about searching their pockets for anything valuable. Guns, ammo, money...eh, she could skip the drugs, no real interest there. By the end, she had a few hundred bucks, maybe an ounce of gunpowder if she cracked all the bullets open, and a few pounds of good metal she could repurpose into something more useful than another gun.

[Perception. Success!]

Taylor smirked to herself. Yes, she'd noticed her stalker tonight. Whether just words, or with an exchange of weapons, she'd finally get a proper confrontation. She stood and turned in one graceful motion. "Good evening, Shadow Stalker. You're looking positively tenebrous! How can I be of assistance?" She tipped her hat to the ex-vigilante.

Sophia stood there in her costume, but it was still her. She'd always be Sophia to Taylor. Every bit of her body language sang to Taylor, carrying a frenetic melody of tension. A tight coil of metal, ready to spring into action at any moment. "I don't recognize you," she said after several moments. "New around here?"

"In a manner of speaking. I certainly feel like a new person," Taylor chuckled. "But I'm hurt you don't recognize me! It was such a brief meeting, but I would've hoped our chance encounter Monday would've left an impression. Don't tell me I'm that forgettable, darling, my heart couldn't take it!"

Sophia's stance shifted, and Taylor's grin grew fractionally. "So that was you. What did you do to Hebert?"

"What did I do? Why, I set her free, of course! But, I'm surprised you care. After all, you're the one that caged her, yes?"

"You don't get to judge me," Sophia snapped. "Sometimes I need a bit of stress relief, and pulling a few little pranks helps ease the tension. It's not like I was trying to kill her."

"No, of course not, just trying to make her suffer," Taylor retorted, smile fixed in place. "If you killed her, you'd need to find a new stress toy to slowly squeeze the life from." She started to circle Sophia, but the girl wouldn't leave her back to Taylor. That's fine, she could hide in the shadows if she needed to - not that she'd need to, BAB and AC beat combat experience nineteen times out of twenty here. "But then it seems I've inconvenienced you. You'll just have to find a new punching bag, because Taylor isn't going to be one for you anymore."

"You think I'm just gonna walk away from this? After what you've done?"

Taylor snorted. Was Sophia really still miffed that she'd tricked Emma and Madison? It wasn't even that bad a use of her Disguise powers, it's not like she'd snuck into the Rig or something. "Is that what this is about? A couple little schoolgirls? Please. You're here because you're feeling guilty for your part in what happened. And you're going to walk away because at the end of the day that's who you are." Taylor took a step closer, and Sophia went to shadow and backed away. "You only pick fights you can win, and run behind an adult's legs to hide when the going gets tough. You're not gonna say anything about me because what I've done pales in comparison to your little stress relief program," she said mockingly.

Sophia lunged for her. Taylor stepped back into the shadow of the building.

[Stealth. Success!]

Sophia's clumsy charge missed her, of course. The silly girl gave a soft scream of rage as she swung her head back and forth, trying to see where Taylor had gone, all while her missing nemesis stood right in front of her. Taylor let loose her best evil chuckle-

[Intimidate. Success!]

-and the big bad predator was Cowering before her.

Taylor stepped close. "Be sure to call these guys in for me, would you? It's still quite cold out, and it'd be a shame if they died and you were the last one to see them."

[Intimidate. Success!]

She bent her knees and leaped once more, landing on top of the 30 ft building with the greatest of ease. She ran across the rooftops in leaps and bounds, feeling more relaxed than she had been since Christmas. After several seconds, she just barely heard Sophia go fleeing in the opposite direction. She would call it in - there's no way she'd dare disobey after a check that high!

As Taylor practically flew away from the site of her first cape fight (she should create some kind of item to let her really fly! that'd be awesome!), she couldn't help but wonder to herself if she was missing something important. Eh, she was pretty smart now, if it wasn't throwing up real alarms in her brain then it was probably nothing to be worried about.