Chapter 4

Taylor felt like a deer caught in a headlight as she stood there frozen, her gaze locked with the man inside the car. She could see the flash of recognition in their eyes, the way they widened for a moment before hardening as they clenched the wheel of their car. She wanted to run, she needed to run, yet her feet were rooted to the ground.

Just as things were about to turn for the worse, Mew turned tail and grabbed her. One moment she was standing on the pavement, the next thing she knew she found herself screaming as she dropped down on her bed.

Bolting up, she looked around, heart pounding at the close encounter. Somehow, she was back in her room. "Fuck! That was close," Mew cursed out as he plopped down on the bed. "Just give me a second. I really should have practiced that," He groaned out as he grabbed his head, shaking it as he stood up.

"I-! We? We're back home!?" She blurted out, reeling from the sudden change in location. "Wait, you used Teleport?" She then asked as she remembered what her partner was. Mew was a mythical psychic pokemon, of course he could use teleport… along with all the Technical Machine Moves known for pokemon.

"Your welcome," He replied, waving her off as he floated around, his tail whipping around as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Damn it, you're already getting tailed. Got any ideas on who those guys are? I got a pretty good mental image of them if you need it."

"Huh?" She asked before blinking as the image of the driver came to her mind. Even with his baklava, she could see that the man had no hair. Along with the gothic theme of his tattoos and his pale skin, it was clear which gang had a bead on her. "The Empire's after me…" She whispered in horror as she sank to her knees and clutched head.

Of all the gangs that could have gone after her, it was the one gang which had the most eyes and capes in the city. "This is bad… this is very bad," She muttered to herself as she rocked in place, wracking her mind on what to do. "They're really after me!"

"Wait, hold up," Mew zipped towards her face and grabbed her by the cheeks, "Calm down, it's not the end of the world."

"They know who I am because of y-!" She blurted out, pushing him away as she got up holding back her tongue from finishing that word. They already knew she was a Tinker, Mew wasn't at fault here.

Looking over to her partner, she felt her heart drop at how he flinched at her words. Breathing in deeply, she sighed out as she leaned against the wall to her room, "I… I'm sorry, it's just-! Damn it!" This was already spiraling out of her control. She was just starting out but her identity was already known to one of the gangs. "The Empire's just bad news, Mew. Just trust me on this one."

Mew nodded as he replied, "I can only imagine." His face scrunched as he frowned before he asked her, "Wait, is this guy a skinhead with a Swastika?" She could see the look of disbelief in her partner's eyes.

"Neo-Nazis and Murderers," She nodded. Of the three major gangs in the city, they might've just been the worst. While the Azn Bad Boys were more akin to a mob and the Merchants poisoned the city, they didn't sugar coat what they were: Villains. The Empire on the other hand? They saw themselves as saviors, "Protectors of the white race or whatever crap they spew out," she hissed out.

"Fuck, yeah, this is bad," He muttered, "I knew they were horrible but it's a whole other story seeing them."

"And they're now after my head," She replied. Pacing around the room, she wondered. How long have they known about her? Days? Weeks? The very day she got her power? It wasn't hard to imagine that they have eyes everywhere but how did they know? "How!?"

"They've been definitely checking out all the supply stores," Mew mused out as he floated about, "It wouldn't be hard to have people monitor them and see if anyone makes weird or sudden purchases. You've been buying from Mr. Walter's shop for months right?" He then asked.

She winced at the implication. "Yes… I hadn't bought anything there until I had this knowledge shoved in my head…" She whispered as she groaned. She'd been waving a flag, a big red flag, telling everyone that she's a Tinker all this time, hadn't she? "It's not just the Empire…"

Frowning, Mew's eyes then glowed. "Mr. Walter isn't an Empire Goon," he told her. "He's quite clean, actually, though he has been bothered by the Merchants several times."

"Stop reading people's minds!" She scolded him before wincing, "Sorry, it's just… it feels wrong having someone root through your mind like that."

"Ok," Mew nodded as he rubbed the back of his head, "I might have been a bit trigger happy there. I'll try to keep the mind stuff to a minimum or unless you're in danger. All bets are off if someone touches even a hair on your head," he told her with a threatening look of promise in his face.

Taylor nodded as her mind wandered back to the problem at hand. Nodding, Mew then said, "So, people may or may not know that you're already a cape and have been eyeing you," She nodded, before he continued, "We know that the Empire knows, so the question is… what else do we do know?"

She paused as she considered her answer. What could she do? She was just a tinker, she hadn't even built up any tech for her to use. Heck, she only had Mew to her name. Yes, he was powerful, but he was a lone pokemon against the whole Rogues Gallery that was Brockton Bay's population of Villains.

She was a nobody, a lone tinker against hardened criminals. She had powers, yes, but she didn't have the resources to pull off a miracle. She's already used up what little she had in her melt down trying to create Mewtwo. She had nothing and they were going to come down on her hard.

"Are there any tips Tinkers give out to new Tinkers? All Tinkers have the same problem at the start, right?" Mew asked her, "There must be something in PHO."

Yes… all Tinkers had the same problem, Resources. Aside from a few Tinkers with shaker or trump-like abilities to solve it for them, all Tinkers had to start off from scratch. How they solved the problem was unique to each Tinker, but most Tinkers from the hero side of things solved theirs rather easily: Join the Protectorate and get placed under the Wards if they were her age or the Protectorate proper if they were adults.

"I can join the Wards…" She whispered with a grimace. "But is it worth it…"

She had heard some gripes from some Tinkers about regulations, and those were from the more family friendly powers. She was a Nilbog just waiting to explode in their eyes. She was going to get her powers under lock and key and her knowledge considered to be a taboo. Still, it was worth considering.

She was in danger, her father was in danger! What was her freedom and her needs for her family's survival? "Wait, my father!" She then spoke up as she remembered her father's meeting. He had a meeting with one Mr. Thomas Calvert, the owner of Fortress Construction. From what little she could remember, the main office was in Downtown… right near the heart of Empire Territory. "Oh god, he's still out there!"

Grabbing her companion, she then told him, "Mew, I need you to teleport me to Downtown now!" She held onto him tightly, getting to her knees as she begged him, "Please Mew, I need to get to my father now!"

"I can't Teleport there!" Mew blurted out. "I can't Teleport to any place I haven't been before," he told him and she felt her stomach drop. He then smiled as he added, "But I can take you there with the next best thing!"

Whirling around her, he then offered his back as he told her, "Climb aboard! We're flying there!"

She stared at him long and hard, looking at how comparatively tiny he was to her before she replied, "You can't be serious?" The look that he gave back to her, however, did not bode well. "Right?"

He was, in fact, serious about flying there. She only wished that she had changed into something other than a simple lab coat and gas mask as they flew through the cold morning sky. "Slow down!" She screamed out as she hung on for her dear life, her legs dangling beneath her while she held onto Mew. "Mew please!" She begged him.

"This is fucking amazing!" Mew laughed as he flew even faster. Despite all logic, the tiny Pokemon not only managed to lift her but also kept her aloft. She knew that so long as he willed it she would not fall, but that didn't stop her from seeing that they were hundreds of feet up in the air.

Gritting her teeth, she reminded herself that this was for her father. She needed to get to him before anyone else did or she would never forgive herself. "We're getting close, don't overshoot!" She shouted through the roaring wind.

"Got it!" Mew replied before she felt herself lurch as they paused in the air. "Oh for crying out loud, not now!" He shouted in frustration.

"Wait, why did you stop!" She asked him, pointing down at the large building just a few blocks down, "We're almost there!"

"You might want to look up ahead," He replied, pointing in front of them.

Tearing her eyes away from where her father was, she turned her attention ahead and what she saw made her stomach flip. "So, what's Dr. Frankenstein doing up here in the air?" An angry voice asked as she felt an intense wave of terror wash over her.

Floating just a few dozen feet ahead of them was a blonde, unmasked cape wearing a tiara upon her head. With her arms crossed across her chest and a frown on her face, Taylor felt the heroines ire upon her. Of all the heroines that she could meet today, she had to be the one that intercepted them, "Ummm… this is not what it looks like, Glory Girl?"

A/N:

She really has the shittiest luck. She's a bit panicky right now, but Taylor's handling this well. She just has to figure out how to deal with Glory Girl. Also, one more thing. The reason why Mew and Taylor got seen up high is because Mew's Notice Me Not field only extends so far. Also no, we're not going to for dex accuracy. Might go for a mix of it along with games... depends on the plot really.

Anyways, I'd like to thank vyor once more for making this possible. Hopefully, my punctuation's isn't causing him more headaches. Now if you want to support me or want to read some fic chapters in advance, consider dropping by either Pa treon or Ko-Fi. I couldn't have done this without the support.