Present Day…
Ever saw something that is very uncanny?
Like as if something so familiar yet so different. As if it's the same thing yet in a totally different form. Akin to a skinwalker taking the shape of a human in horror movies. You know they're not human yet they look so human.
It's horrifying.
That's what the trio is currently experiencing as they watched their target eat in her lonesome.
Taylor Hebert.
After treating her broken fingers and fractured hand (Piggot will surely kill her for this), Sophia decided to back off for the entire day and observed from afar.
For now.
The hidden heroine doesn't know how or what just happened this morning but her instincts are screaming at her. The same instincts that saved her from that fateful day.
Since then, she followed those same instincts like a code.
Right now, they're telling her to back off and observe her prey. Look and see what changed and adapt to it.
Unfortunately, the rest of the trio doesn't share the same thoughts as Sophia. Of course they can't let this morning slide. They have to avenge Sophia and make Taylor pay for it.
It failed miserably.
First attempt came from Madison who decided to trip Taylor in the middle of the hallway.
Here's a question.
How do you stop a bulldozer?
The answer is you don't and Madison found out too late as she placed her foot forward to trip the target of their ire.
What she didn't expect is for Taylor to literally bulldoze her way through her foot, kicking the foot in dismissal and sending the small blonde to the floor with a twisted foot. The poor girl hasn't stopped sobbing in pain since then as the nurse bandages the injured foot.
Second attempt came from Emma after seeing an opportunity for revenge after seeing Taylor enter the girl's bathroom. It went poorly of course which cost her of her nose and dry clothes when she tried to pour dirty water in the stall Taylor was in. Unfortunately for her, Taylor's instincts screamed at her before she could do her business. Acting on pure self-preservation, Taylor kicked the bathroom stall open from the inside, not noticing that the door slammed and drived Emma on the opposite side.
Emma then slid down on the floor with a groan, wet and with a bleeding nose.
So here they are in various states of injuries, observing their target and finally noticing the subtle yet so jarring differences.
"Guys? What just happened?" Madison sobbed. Her foot is killing her.
As much as they want to report Taylor and get her in trouble, they are on the back foot today as they had no alibis. Like how their injuries happened because they instigated first.
And there's their reputation.
From the very beginning, they were an untouchable trio. The Trifecta and most famous girls in the school. That means no gang members can nab them or worse because of the amount of heat and attention it will get from the police. Worse case scenario is that the PRT comes in too because of the gangs affiliation to capes. Of course, no gang members want to bring trouble to their respective gangs.
But today, that reputation is damaged by Taylor's resistance (if it can be called that), their number one victim and resident punching bag. The biggest loser in school fighting back against (again, it wasn't even a fight) the trio.
That means the trio's position in the school hierarchy is in peril.
They have to act.
Meanwhile, Taylor wondered why her ham sandwich was missing its ham, never noticing a pair of bunny ears underneath her table.
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Before the present day…
Taylor woke up.
Yawning and stretching, the girl had a goodnight's sleep despite having a very weird dream, nightmare or was it a lucid dream?
Taylor shrugged. Whatever it was, it did wonders on her mood. Yesterday's events are basically forgotten and kicked off her life.
Possibly.
Reaching for her glasses, Taylor finally noticed something different today.
She can see her glasses sitting comfortably on her drawer at her bedside.
Normally without her glasses, everything is a little blurry. Like wading through water half ready. It's something she was plagued with since birth and the reason why she wore glasses.
That's why her parents call her little owl because her glasses make her look like one.
Yet right now, she can see as clear as day. No more blurry images or wavering images. She can see things clearly. Everything is clear to her.
How?
She pondered and pondered more, fiddling on her now useless glasses. Until finally, she remembered that Panacea visited her once in her coma. Maybe she cured her poor eyesight too after healing her from the infections.
That must be it.
Getting off her bed, she began her morning routine. She already knows her Dad isn't at home this early morning, he already missed a lot of workdays in the docks because of her and he can't afford more.
She's all alone now.
It's fine though. She's used to it.
Wearing a pair of baggy pants and a random hoody, a warm get up for the cold morning, she went down for breakfast and she's quite famished.
Later…
She might have eaten a lot today.
Even after finishing her cereal, she still feels hungry, like her body is begging for more nutrition. Of course her hunger won her over after her stomach continued to grumble even more. She then found herself scarfing down a full meal of eggs, bacon and some loaf bread with some mayo.
A fulfilling meal early in the morning.
And then what?
Taylor's at lost what to do.
Due to the incident, she's excused for a few weeks for now. Now home alone, she has nothing to do. No phone means no internet. Heck, the only entertainment in her home is the tv which just prattle about capes.
Capes.
That's an idea.
Later…
With one last poster down in the trash and her memorabilia stashed, Taylor nodded in satisfaction at her room which is practically stripped down from top to bottom for any cape related items.
It practically looked spartan at the moment and looked so sad how small and minimal she was without her cape items.
Still, she's resolved to trash and stash away her stuff.
Anything that makes her remember has to go.
After stuffing her stuff in the basement and logging the trash outside, she's lost again.
What to do?
Taylor wondered as she sat on the living room couch.
She pondered and pondered more until she fell asleep.
And she dreamed of Knights and Goblins.
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[Welcome to the Trial of the Enduring]
Taylor once again woke up in a massive field, grass tickling her clothes and soft caress of the wind.
Her hand traveled to her side, finding her trusty sword once again. A sense of safety washed over her.
As long as she has it, she's safe even how many times dies.
Standing up, she began to warily look around for threats and rabbits.
You never know if there's a sneaky rabbit lurking around the tall grass waiting to rip your throat open.
Never again.
Fortunately, she found neither of the two, especially the latter. Instead, she saw what looked like a medieval fort from a distance.
Better than rabbits.
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Present Day: Evening…
As the day progressed, the trio became a solo as Emma and Madison went home to avoid suspicion and wrath of their respective parents for being late at a school night.
Sophia can only smirk at herself for being an exception. Being a Ward, it's pretty common for her to be late due to her patrols. It also helps that Ward patrols are in a rotating system to maximize exposure of their individual Wards. To be frank, it looked like they're just parading around their prized purebred dogs or something.
Not Sophia though.
She's a bonafide badass heroine. She's not gonna patrol and walk around the city with a little girl (Missy) to bond as the only female Wards. No, she's gonna do something much more important.
Like spying a potential villain.
In her shadow form, Sophia silently followed Taylor. She made sure to avoid the open, moving on the rooftops and out of sight of many as she stalked the unaware teen. In her Shadow form, Sophia is pretty much invisible in the dying daylights with only the telltale hint of dark inky smoke made of sand flying about. It was perfect for stalking and hiding from her prey.
And it will continue that way.
The entire affair was rather dull. Taylor just walked home, rode a bus, and continued to walk until she arrived in a neighborhood.
Her home address probably, Sophia noted for future use.
Arriving at a random house, Taylor entered. Sophia didn't follow. As much as she wants to enter undiscovered and continue her info gathering, she's not that stupid to risk it. Just one wrong spark can literally short her power out and with how the house looks like, she ain't confident enough to enter it.
Seriously, Herbert's home is a dump.
It's one of those old and withered wooden homes. Homely and cozy with their atmosphere but this one is clearly not taken good care of.
If Sophia had a mouth right now, she would scoff at how much a slob the house is. Clearly, it's suitable for a loser like Herbert.
Out of sight, Sophia began to peek through the windows of the house. Fortunately, the neighborhood activity is low enough and the night falling in is working under her favor to continue unimpeded.
And so the next two hours, Sophia watched in absolute boredom as Herbert just did her chores. Cleaning, cooking, and eating her dinner (which reminds her that she hasn't had one herself) before going up to sleep.
Nothing.
Sophia wanted to claw her fucking scalp open and enter the fucking room to slap the bitch awake. Herbert did absolutely nothing for her to use to suspect her of being a cape.
The trio already theorized that Herbert probably triggered and gained powers. It's the only plausible answer because it's definitely impossible for Herbert to one-up Sophia in a physical combat (not like they fought in the first place), who is trained by ArmMaster and a local Ward.
It's just impossible.
Yet here she is watching the girl that smashed her head to a locker and disabled her this morning snoring in her bed.
Sophia wanted to scream so bad.
You know what? She'll just find the nearest Nazi and stab them. Yep, that would lift up her mood after this nonsense.
She left afterwards with a foul mood and itch for Nazi blood.
If Sophia just waited patiently, she would have seen a pure white rabbit hop on Taylor's sleeping form before taking its place on the sleeping teen's chest.
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(Trial of the Enduring)
Taylor looked in awe at the massive and ancient structure in front of her. What looked like a fortress from afar turned out to be an entire castle itself. Towering walls stood between her and the castle. Looming towers can be seen in the distance and on the walls, looking down on her as she slowly approaches the massive infrastructure.
Never did she have thought of ever visiting one but it looked like one of her childhood dreams would be fulfilled today.
Who doesn't want to visit a castle someday?
"Who goes there?!" Suddenly, a shout stopped her in her tracks.
People?
Taylor wondered before her eyes tracked movement on the walls.
Knights. Fully armored knights.
"I won't ask again, who goes there?!" The Knights asked, leveling their musket rifles at her.
Taylor immediately raised her hand in surrender.
Welp, this is a development.
Emma the Rabbit agreed too as the fluffy bunny raised its own front limbs in surrender before it could be blown to bits, unbeknownst to the teen it is following behind.
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