Chapter 1
Taylor's POV
"Alright, I can do this. I can do this." I told myself, trying to calm down my palpitating heart.
Today's my first day as a cape and debut.
"Remember. No fighting."
"I know, I know." I whispered back to my power, "Only healing."
My powers is... Weird to say.
It's sentient and capable of talking to me. Too many times I found myself thinking if I'm mastered (Mind controlled) but my power always reassured me I wasn't.
Even though she can hijack my body if needed.
"I will only take control if you're in danger, Taylor. Your well-being is my priority."
"...Thanks, Rota."
"It's my pleasure, Inheritor."
Still don't know why she insisted on calling her that.
Back to where I am right now, I'm in an alleyway not far from Brockton Bay General Hospital.
The Hospital where Panacea works, greatest Healer in the world.
And I'm about to meet her.
"Here goes nothing." I breathed before pulling out a phone but it's more like a tinkertech phone with its futuristic features (current technology level is set in the 2000s).
"Install: Rota." Touch the screen, activating its functions and letting my power take over.
Electrifying power filled my veins in an instant as my transformation began. My dark curly locks turned golden, my body became curvier and most importantly,
My boobs got bigger.
Take that Emma!
Baggy clothes are then replaced by a white dress with orange tassel in the front. Two belts fasten on my hip, crisscrossing over my waist carrying two important things.
My small bag filled with tinkertech medicines and my Gun.
A Gun that fires pure electricity. It's basically a souped up Taser.
As a final piece to my transformation, a nun's habit dropped on my head.
I am beautiful.
I felt strong.
Powerful.
Confident.
But it still didn't stop my nervousness.
"Okay, let's go. I just hope this doesn't backfire." I said to myself but more on Rota.
"We shall not debase ourselves by wearing masks, Taylor. I am a Valkyrie and so are you right now, but my duty is not to fight in petty children's games."
"Our goal is to heal and alleviate the pain and agony of the people, no matter how small the act."
I can't deny her that her words aren't true.
The Heroes, Villains, and the PRT are all liars.
Everything is just a huge game to them.
Back then, before all the changes and still innocent, I looked up to the Heroes. Every little girl's dream is to be like Alexandria, powerful and invincible to everything.
Then Rota came and I hated her for showing me the truth.
Rota...
She saw a lot in her lifetime, being more than a thousand years old and all. She participated in wars as a healer, in a scale too big for me to comprehend but Rota can share her experience with me.
And that's how I found the truth.
Why?
Why did the PRT let the Merchants, a bunch of drug addicts grow and fester in the city. They only had Skidmark, Mush and Squealer.
Armsmaster can simply destroy Squealer's monster cars, being a better tinker and having more materials to work on.
Skidmark is too drugged most of the time.
And Mush is just a giant garbage monster, something the entire Protectorate can handle or better yet, throw a Clockblocker at it with his Time Freeze power.
One touch and it's over.
Yet the PRT didn't do such a thing, too afraid of a gang war.
What's to be afraid of.
The Empire 88 is a fake Nazi gang. If they were real Nazis, each and every single one of them would be assassinated or arrested for being international spies after Gesellschaft (A public Neo-Nazi group in Europe). If the E88 are really connected to the European Nazis then they are all national risks.
The only reason the government hasn't hunted their sorry hides down is because of PRT stonewalling them, she's sure of it.
Fuck the PRT.
"Language." Rota said in my mind while walking towards the hospital.
"Sorry." I muttered, not really sorry.
PRT has failed me more than one time.
Then there's the ABB with Lung.
Lung is completely harmless. Yes, he is a gang leader of all Asian gangs and the strongest cape in the city. His gang also practices human trafficking, prostitution and kidnapping for said prostitution.
And then what?
Lung is like a dragon that he is, content in his gold mountain and position as the strongest.
He has no ambition or drive.
He is also one of the easiest capes to take out. What's the use of a power that makes you powerful as the fight goes on when the fight is already over before it started.
Too bad the PRT is too dumb and loves to preserve their image as the only light in this dark world.
A false truth.
They all have the necessary solutions to fix the problem yet no actions.
They have the Triumvirate, the three most powerful heroes in the world.
Eidolon
Alexandria
And Legend
Is it too much of a hassle for them to come down from their respective cities to clean up the trash in Brockton Bay, it would be good PR for them.
Except they don't.
Something is amiss and I trust Rota's instincts.
Never trust the PRT.
Finally, I arrived at the hospital's main entrance. I nodded at the security guards dumbly looking at me with a slack jaw and one of them even had a boner.
Okay, I know I'm beautiful but seriously?
"Uhm... Can I bring this with me, for my security." I gestured to my gun holster snapping the guard to his stupor.
The older guard spoke to me first, "Rogue?" I nodded to his question, "It's fine then but a rookie here will escort you so you won't do anything stupid." He elbowed the younger guard, the one with a raging boner, breaking him out of his trance.
"Business?" The older guard continued.
"I want to meet Panacea, I'm a Healer." I said to him honestly.
The old guard blinked but allowed me through while the younger guard trailed behind me. I immediately beelined towards the receptionist, ignoring the curious looks of the patients and other people. The line in the reception parted immediately to let me through once they saw me and my outfit screaming cape. I went through them with a red face and muttered sorry for the inconvenience.
"I would like to meet Panacea." I told the receptionist once I'm in front of her, "I'm a Healing cape."
The receptionist blinked in surprise before getting the phone, one rapid fire of words and explanation later, she had me waiting in the with the patients.
It looks like Panacea is in her healing sessions apparently and cannot be disturbed.
So I waited while sitting on a bench with the rest while ignoring their curious glances.
"You're so pretty." A girl, a 7-years old toddler, said while in her mother's arms beside me.
"Thank you. You're pretty too with your dress." I smiled back at her, complimenting the kids Vista costume.
"I got boo-boo but I'm brave!" I can't help but smile at her. Cute kid.
"Sorry." Her mother said to me,
"No worries. Fever?" I asked her, curious.
She shook her head in reply, "Flu." I nodded in understanding.
"I think I can heal her." I blurted out, the words escaping my lips without thinking.
Gosh darn it, Taylor.
"Really?" The mother looked at me with what looked like hope.
"I can but I need Panacea's permission first and test my powers." I sighed, breaking her hope, "But if you don't mind, will your daughter be my first patient?" I asked her
"Are your powers safe?" The mother asked in concern upon the offer.
"My healing powers are just me holding on to a subject and praying. I tried it on a small bird once and it was successful. Haven't tried it on a human though so that's why I want to test it with Panacea's permission." I said to her, remembering the first time I used my powers.
On a small bird with a broken wing in the park after my hospitalization.
"Mommy, can a pretty lady make my boo-boo go away?" Her daughter asked suddenly.
"Alright..." She smiled at her daughter, relenting to my selfish request and to her daughter's puppy eyes.
"Is Inheritor here?" A loud female voice suddenly spoke in the waiting room. Inheritor is the cape name I decided on myself.
It was Panacea.
"Here!" I raised my hand, allowing the white robed healer to march on my location.
"You're unmasked? Do you even know the consequences of unmasking?" Panacea frowned.
I do know the consequences of unmasking and Panacea's family knows it intimately.
Her aunt got gunned down in her own home in their mistake.
"I know the consequences but I'm a Healer." I said to her,
"And the healer must always show their face to her patients that everything is fine because I'm here."
Panacea snorted.
"Show me. Pick a patient." She ordered.
I turned towards the mother beside me, "Can I?" The mother nodded as I opened my arms to receive the little girl.
Being a tall teenager for my age (Thanks for your genes, dad), the girl felt like a small plushie in my arms.
And so I work my magic. I closed my eyes and prayed. Not out loud but mentally.
To everyone in the waiting room, both Inheritor and the girl glowed in golden light. For them, the light was akin to a warm sun.
Comforting and Welcoming.
Akin to a mother's hug.
A lover embraces.
And so begins Taylor's life as Inheritor, the Savior.
A month ago...
Brockton Bay, a cesspit of a city filled with delusional heroes and villains playing a game of never ending cop and robbers.
Where the losers are the civilian bystanders.
A rotting city to its core.
But nevertheless, our tale doesn't start with the so-called heroes and villains of the story.
It starts in one of the few simple yet tormented souls in the city.
A small and broken soul yet still holding on hope.
Hope that will shine through the darkness of the city.
-Taylor's POV-
"Help! Somebody, please!" I cried out again in despair, losing count throughout ceaseless screams and banging on the locker room.
Why did she even trust Emma, her ex-best friend? I should've known something fishy was going on once I smelled the stench of rot and decay. Now here I am, surrounded by used tampons and other biological hazards from who knows where inside of my own locker. I should have run before Sophia managed to grab her and shoved her in the disgusting locker.
I already emptied her entire stomach since entering the tight confines of my locker.
My nails broke and fingers bled when I tried to escape but with no success, my locker was tightly locked from outside. How did they even know my code or lock?
I didn't linger too much as I began to fade. I'm losing consciousness.
Is this how I die, suffocating inside a locker filled to the brim with waste?
"Help..." I weakly begged to anyone, yet no one came. Not even the janitor.
I'm dying.
Thou shall not die today, Inheritor.
Huh?
–Brockton Bay General Hospital–
Next thing I know, I woke up in a hospital room. A lot of tubes running through my veins and an oxygen mask on my face.
I feel so weak.
Turning my head to the side, I found my father sleeping.
Tall yet thin frame draped over the small chair in the white hospital room. His glasses are skewed on his face. His balding dark haired hair was resting on his fist, awkwardly positioned.
He would surely feel that once he wakes up.
"Dad..." I called out to him yet he didn't wake up.
A few more attempts and he finally woke up.
"Taylor..." He said sleepily until he realized I'm awake, "Taylor!"
The following hug felt foreign to me. Since mom's death, he felt distant. I understand that he is grieving and distracting himself with work but...
It really feels strange now, yet warm.
"Little owl, are you alright? Does anything hurt? Should I call the doctors?!" He said in rapid fire, his concern plastered on his face.
Yet it feels so strange to me.
Have we really become too distant?
"No... Thirsty..." I rasped, I just realized how dry lips are and.how badly I needed a drink.
"Alright, I'll get you some water and get the doctor." Dad told me, kissing me in the forehead before leaving.
That felt kind of nice.
Later…
"I don't know what to tell you, Mr. Hebert but your daughter is healthy as a cow. She just needs food and water to fill her empty stomach after 2 days of coma." The doctor told dad while checking his clipboard.
That... Didn't sound right?
"What? Doc, they found my daughter catatonic and surrounded with hazardous waste in her own locker. You should probably check for infections or other things my daughter might have caught." Dad told him, revealing what happened before I passed out.
I was found by the janitor (too late) by noon, which in that case, I was stuck in the locker for four hours.
I should be dead by infections and other diseases by now.
"Already ahead of you, Mr.Hebert. But all of our scans came with no signs of danger to your daughter. She is fine which is a miracle itself. We even had Panacea visit her for any abnormalities we didn't find or any sign of Parahuman interference to your daughter's help but she came clean." I perked up at the mention of Panacea.
Panacea is like the best healer in the entire world and she came to visit me.
And I MISSED IT?!
Wait? What's the last part?
"My daughter's a cape?" Dad asked but the doctor shook his head.
"Thankfully no, Panacea checked her Corona Pollentia, the part of the brain that controls Parahuman powers, but there's no abnormalities. Your daughter is just lucky she had a strong immune system." The doctor summarized.
She didn't feel lucky, thank you very much.
After some discussions about what to do and don't, I was immediately discharged from the hospital, which is rude but understandable when I heard about the on-going hang war between ABB and E88.
Typical Brockton Bay.
The ride home was awkward and the interrogation that followed upon arriving home was agonizing. Dad finally found out about my bullying situation. Of course he tried talking to uncle Allan, Emma's Dad. I dissuaded him.
It won't matter, Emma's Dad is a lawyer.
Then Dad decided to go to the Principal to get justice.
It turned out poorly.
"I'm sorry Mr. Hebert but without any evidence, there's nothing I can do." Principal Blackwell said nonchalantly, ignoring my father's seething.
"This happened under your own school! And where are the janitors? Why didn't they find Taylor until noon?!"
"I don't know." She replied coolly, " To be frank, I think this is just another incident made by your daughter. She has a repeated record of misconduct in classes after all and tardiness. Your daughter is also a failing student."
"Not by choice." I muttered.
Emma and hangers-on are to blame. Their mischief is always blamed on her. Her tardiness came from them ruining her assignments. Her clothes aren't also safe as they always find a way to ruin it. It's the reason why she started wearing baggy old jeans and jackets.
We left the School afterwards, with Dad unsatisfied and me being depressed.
Nothing new.
What did I even hope for?
"I'm sorry little owl, I ..." Words failed him as he drove us home.
"It's fine, Dad."
"No it's not fine! You almost died, Taylor!" He exclaimed, tightening his hold on the steering wheel.
"Hey! Eyes on the road!" I shouted at him. I didn't do the shit I went through just to die in your reckless driving, Dad!
The discussion cut-off from there. Dad fucked up big time.
It's how Mom died.
The ride home went quite right there till we arrived home. We ate in silence and said our quiet goodnights to one another that night.
-Taylor's dream cycle-
War.
All I see is war.
A titanic war across all worlds.
It's a war fought by God's and Calamities.
By Heroes and Villains unlike she had ever seen.
"Ugly isn't it."
I immediately turned around to see another person.
A beautiful blonde nun with a kind smile.
"Hello, Inheritor. We have much to discuss."
"Divine Makeover"
Chapter End.
So you guys must be curious as to why it is not Janus (Water Sniper with Ragnarok PTSD). Me too but I just saw this as more appropriate.
Appropriate in developing the Queen of Escalation.
KSR) Janus was replaced by [R] Rota, a thunder and Healer type Kamihime.
She is also a Valkyrie (something that would definitely clash against E88).
As to how her power works, it's basically Prisma Illya card install. But there is something I missed on my initial idea.
Kamihime were once human.
So I gave Taylor the Device, a powerful tinkertech made by Epimetheus, a Kamihime and a tinker from the Ragnarok era.
She made the Device, Taylor's secret phone, which is a powerful tinkertech. I'm talking about summoning Heroic Spirits (Yes, I mean Kamihime versions of the Fate Servants. Yes, they are in fact part of the Kamihime roster), absorbing magic, and most important of all.
Dimensional Travel.
But in this story, the Device is actually being used to slowly alter Taylor's biology everytime she installs Rota into a perfect host body to contain powerful Kamihime or best case scenario.
An Eidolon.
At my current roster and lore in the game, SSR Gaia is my strongest Kamihime by Lore alone by chucking planets during the Ragnarok Era.
Just imagine the Eidolons that tanked planets!
As for Heroic spirits, well I'll let my randomizer do that.
So this is Divine Makeover.
Updates for my other stories.
Due to a busy schedule and writer's block, my updating schedule is all over the place so don't expect much from me.
This one is an exception because this one came to my mind and I immediately wrote it before it turned into a fart.
Now, stay hydrated and hug your mother.
See ya in the next updates.