Bloodmoon 7.1

Taylor unlocked her stake driver from the implanted docking joint and pulled her jeans down over the metal attachment. Setting the heavy prosthesis aside, she unstoppered a vial of the blue elixir and downed it in one swallow.

The Brockton General morgue wasn't always deserted. Even with Panacea on call, there were still new residents rolled in regularly. Luckily, this was the precise situation that the blue elixir was designed for.

Taylor opened the door from the Labyrinth and wheeled herself into the morgue. The technician filing paperwork at the desk in the corner didn't notice.

Her mind felt a bit foggy from the anesthetic, but it was tolerable. The effects would wear off by the time she got up to the main floors, anyway.

The staff walking through the hallways in the basement didn't notice anything amiss with the extremely forgettable girl in the wheelchair. Just another patient. The fact that living patients didn't usually visit this floor was irrelevant.

Taylor rolled herself out of the elevator and smiled at the familiar figure in red and white robes standing by the vending machines.

"So… come here often?" Taylor said. It was an extremely stupid line, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Her brain was still a bit pleasantly foggy from the anesthetic.

"Jesus!" Amy jumped and focused on her. The elixir was kind of funny sometimes. Amy may have technically been able to see her before, but at the same time only just noticed that she was there. "Don't do that. Also, how the fuck did you do that?"

"I made an elixir that gives me a weak Stranger effect and makes people ignore me. It also numbs my mind. It should wear off in a couple minutes," Taylor said.

Amy blinked at her and then rolled her eyes dramatically.

"As if you weren't already creepy enough. I'm not even going to ask," Amy said. "Did you finish your oversized monster of a sword?"

"Oh yeah, I can't wait to introduce Hookwolf to it," Taylor grinned.

"Of course," Amy said dryly. "Just try not to make too much work for me. I hate it when they try to guilt me into healing Nazis."

"I'll do my best." Mainly because she didn't leave any survivors if she could help it. "In the meantime, want to grab some dinner? I'm getting a bit sick of fast food."

"You know, eventually someone is going to actually ask what you're doing here," Amy said as they headed to the main hospital cafeteria. It had a number of different options and the food was surprisingly good. "And why you're distracting their miracle healer."

Taylor smirked up at her.

"It's worth it. As much fun as talking on the roof is, it's nice to change it up. Besides, I like distracting you," Taylor said.

Amy scowled at her.

"Well, when Carol gets on my case for associating with a patient or something, I'm going to give her your phone number and let you deal with her bullshit," Amy said.

"I don't answer spam calls," Taylor laughed. Amy just frowned harder and Taylor softened. Amy was probably actually worried about this. "I'm kidding. I can handle Brandish. Her disapproval is irrelevant, and she isn't a threat. Besides, you said she already hates you."

Amy sighed as they sat down with their food. The private bubble that separated them from the real world was back in force. Even here, in the half-filled hospital cafeteria, it was like nothing else really mattered.

"It doesn't mean I'm looking forward to this inevitable shitshow. She's very concerned with team image and whatever. There's a reason I got Vicky to cover for us. If Carol finds out that I have a mysterious friend who doesn't actually exist on paper, shit will hit the fan," Amy said.

Now it was Taylor's turn to frown. She hadn't considered that.

Lisa probably knew how to make a fake person out of thin air. Taylor might even be able to convince her to help out without getting Coil involved.

"I'll work on it. The whole point of this thing," Taylor gestured to the wheelchair. "Is to make it possible to see people without everyone realizing who I am. I guess I should solidify a fake identity, otherwise things will fall apart quickly. That would kind of defeat the purpose."

Amy's expression was unreadable.

"You're going to… try to make 'Anne' real?" Amy said.

Taylor shrugged.

"I don't see why not. It would make it easier to spend time with you, and Victoria already knows me like this, so…" Taylor trailed off.

Amy just stared at her for a long moment.

"Why? Why do you go to so much trouble to come here?" Amy finally asked flatly. Taylor could tell that she was suppressing some kind of reaction, but she didn't know what.

Taylor decided that honesty would be the best policy. What did she have to lose? If Amy was going to run away, she probably would have done so already. Amy also went out of her way to see her. She liked looking at her and hanging out at the Workshop with her.

"I like you. I enjoy spending time with you. The idea of not being able to see you every day is… intolerable. When I used to worry that you would turn me over to the PRT, it wasn't because of the legal consequences. It was because it would mean you didn't want to talk to me anymore," Taylor said.

"That… I… the worst part about being stuck in a cell at the PHQ would be… that you couldn't see me?" Amy floundered, her expression twisting strangely.

"Sort of," Taylor replied. That didn't quite fit, but she wasn't sure how to explain. "There isn't a prison on earth that can hold me, so it's really just that you wouldn't want my company anymore. If you ever told me to leave you alone, for real, I would."

"I won't," Amy said automatically. Her face went weirdly red as she said it. It took a moment before the other part of Taylor's statement registered and Amy raised her eyebrows dramatically. "Wait, you think you could escape the Birdcage?"

Taylor smiled. It wasn't necessarily a nice expression, but she couldn't help it.

So many others had tried, but she would be the one to succeed, if it ever became necessary.

"No," Taylor said. "I know I can escape the Birdcage. I will never be chained, ever again."

Amy's expression was pretty funny.

In the silence while Amy recovered, Taylor's enhanced perception caught the low words emanating from a television on the other side of the room.

"-Kaiser, leader of the illegal parahuman organization known as the Empire Eighty Eight, has submitted the following recording to every major broadcasting station…"

"One moment, please, Amy," Taylor said.

Amy blinked again and stood up automatically as Taylor rolled herself over to the row of TV's on one wall of the cafeteria.

"-be advised that the subject matter may not be suitable for impressionable audiences…"

Taylor was tertiarily aware of Amy following her, but the majority of her focus was on the news report.

The metal mask of Kaiser filled the screen.

"I have a message for Hunter, the PRT, and the good people of Brockton Bay."

What the hell was Kaiser doing?

"To the people of this great city: those in which you have placed your trust are lying to you. They are covering up the truth of recent events in order to protect themselves and their pet murderer.

An uncontrolled parahuman calling themselves Hunter killed fifty-two people, and faces no consequences for their actions. The PRT capitulates with this unrepentant killer because they only target those that the establishment has deemed expendable. You must ask yourself if this is the type of administration you are willing to trust with your safety.

Fifty-two people were butchered for being considered enemies of the Hunter. How long will it be before you or your family are allowed to appear on that list?

Frigid ice crystalized in Taylor's chest. How dare this Nazi virus lecture her about the societal impact of her actions?

We at the Empire Eighty Eight will not stand for this injustice. If the authorities will not do what they have pledged, then we have no choice but to take action ourselves.

To the PRT and the Protectorate: do not interfere with our affirmative action. You allowed this travesty to come to pass. Standing in the way of righteous justice would only prove your willingness to turn a blind eye to the blatant murder in your city. Do not interfere.

And finally, I speak directly to Hunter: Tonight, at midnight, the Empire will give you the opportunity you have denied your victims. We will stand and face you as an honest enemy. At midnight, we will march on your Hospital, and you will come out from behind your cowardly barricades and defend what little of your honor remains. We are willing to stand behind our cause and our might. Are you?

Kaiser paused.

"If you do not, fifty-two more people will die, at random. One for every life you have stolen. If you are so adamant that everyone should live as equals, then it is only fair that they should die as equals.

Tonight, at midnight, Hunter. Do not be late."

…

Amy's hands and feet felt unnaturally cold as she listened to the broadcast.

Taylor's face looked like she was carved from stone, her scars standing out stark against pale skin.

Fuck.

Ice-water trickled down Amy's spine. When Taylor spoke, her voice was frozen and furious.

"I need to go," Taylor said.

Amy's heart rate spiked.

"You can't-" Amy hissed involuntarily, but Taylor was already wheeling herself away.

No, no, no, no…

Amy dashed after her, struggling to catch up despite Taylor's mode of transport.

"Taylor, don't fall for it, that's exactly what he wants," Amy whispered.

"I don't care," Taylor growled.

Shit.

They made it to the main lobby and Amy stopped talking to avoid drawing too much attention.

Instead of wheeling herself to the elevator, Taylor made her way to the front desk. Amy trailed behind in confusion.

"I need paper, a pen, and an envelope, please," Taylor said to the perplexed attendant.

Amy was also flummoxed, but Taylor grabbed the paper and wrote a short message in angry, deliberate strokes.

"Come on," Taylor said lowly. Amy followed along to the elevator, and two turns later they were in the Labyrinth. Luckily, the morgue was deserted now.

"Taylor, stop for a second, please," Amy gasped out. "What are you thinking?"

Taylor locked her brutal prosthesis into place with a solid snap and stood. Amy always forgot how tall she was, and right now her spine was straight as steel.

"Kaiser may think he's accomplished something with this stunt, but I was already planning to hunt him. Now, I know where he and the rest of the Empire will be, and it will make it all the easier to end them once and for all," Taylor said coldly.

A heavy rock formed in Amy's stomach at her words.

"You can't… Taylor, there's no point in dying for nothing! He's a fucking bastard, he'd kill those people anyway! Shit like that doesn't matter to him, you.."

Taylor's stare pinned her in place, black eyes piercing in the dim light of the lantern.

"Amy," Taylor said steadily. "Can I trust you?"

Her heart pounded in her chest, echoed in her ears.

"Yes."

Amy may not be looking forward to her house of cards collapsing, but she knew which way it would fall. She couldn't live with anything less.

Taylor held up the envelope.

"If I give you this, do you promise not to open it unless I die?" Taylor asked seriously.

No.

No, no, no…

Taylor was not allowed to do this. She couldn't throw her life away, couldn't leave Amy alone in a gray world again.

How dare she threaten to take her color from her?

She can't do this to me.

It wasn't fair.

Taylor wasn't allowed to show up out of nowhere and send her life into brilliant disarray just to die because Kaiser was an asshole.

Amy wouldn't go back to the endless drudgery.

What had Taylor called it? Intolerable?

That described this feeling nicely. Intolerable. Unbearable.

The thought was enough to light a fire in her chest. It was easier to be pissed the fuck off than it was to be pathetic.

She'd had enough of being pathetic, anyway.

She couldn't give in to her feelings for Victoria. It simply wasn't an option. Her sister would never return her twisted affections, and forcing her would be an unforgivable travesty.

With Taylor, it was different. Taylor cared about her. Taylor liked her. The only reason Amy couldn't be with her was because it would mean throwing away everything else, but what the fuck did that even matter, by comparison?

Victoria would probably forgive her, someday. Maybe. Everyone else could go fucking die for all she cared.

"You can't die," Amy hissed, stalking forward in the dark until she was looking up at Taylor from inches away, heat rolling off Taylor's long body in waves. "You aren't allowed to do that to me. You can't just run off and ruin everything-"

"I have to try," Taylor said. "You don't understand-"

"I don't give a fuck. I don't fucking care what Kaiser says, I don't fucking care if he kills…" Amy cut herself off and bit her lip hard enough to send a burning lance through her skin.

It was true, though. In that moment, Amy knew she would rather that fifty innocent people died instead of Taylor. A hundred. A thousand. She didn't fucking care.

Maybe she was never meant to be a hero.

It isn't fucking fair.

What did her useless rules matter, if she was forced to return to the gray drudgery and hopeless fog?

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

I can't go back.

She wouldn't.

Amy's furious glare bore into Taylor's crystalized onyx.

"Take what you want. And make no apologies."

She wouldn't lose the only decent part of her shitty fucking life because she was too afraid to reach out at take it.

"You aren't allowed to leave me," Amy spat venomously. "I won't let you."

Part of her knew that it was terribly, horribly wrong. That she should ask for permission. That they should talk about this, together. That she was probably fucking everything up, forever, in so many different ways.

"Do it, coward."

But Amy just didn't fucking care right now. Taylor was going to go kill herself, and then she would be alone.

Intolerable.

Reaching up and winding her fingers through Taylor's midnight curls was just as amazing as she had imagined, soft and warm against her cold skin. With a rough tug, Amy pulled Taylor down to her level as she rose onto her toes to close the gap between them.

The explosion of stars blinded her as it always did when she touched Taylor, but this time her eyes were already closed.

Amy kissed her hard, slamming their lips together angrily as the spiraling galaxy of fire and sensation thundered around her. She'd never kissed anyone before; she had no idea what she was doing, and it didn't fucking matter.

Nothing mattered, if Taylor left her all alone in the fog.

Taylor gasped in surprise and froze for a split second before kissing her back, lips moving together in a furious fervor. Amy felt one of Taylor's long arms wind around her lower back and crush her against Taylor's thin body with iron strength. Fire raced through her and her lips burned under Taylor's kiss as she felt Taylor's own obsessive need pouring into her.

She wants me, too.

Something within Amy shattered and she gave up on the last of her delusions in the face of this irrepressible adoration and frenzied madness.

The impossible storm of sparks danced in her biosenses, and it was entirely too easy to grab ahold of it in her power and twist-

As her lips slid over Taylor's and their kiss deepened, Amy gave in and changed her.

Taylor's body responded to her touch with involuntary enthusiasm and she gasped into her lips.

The stars rearranged themselves under her power.

Amy broke apart and remade the compounds within Taylor's bones, taking the already empowered nature of her otherworldly cells and weaving it into new and wondrous patterns. She formed an intricate lattice of carbon and calcium and something other that was unknowable, even to her. The new material rippled and multiplied until Taylor's skeleton was harder and stronger than tempered steel.

It wasn't enough. She needed more.

Amy's power raced down Taylor's nerves like wildfire, rewiring the shining network and strengthening her muscles into braided chords of hyper-dense iron. She threaded the indestructible matrix through the linings of Taylor's organs and changed the structure of her ribcage to close the unacceptable gaps. She wove Taylor's spinal column together so it couldn't be broken and wrapped her trachea and arteries in a web of flexible carbon nanotubes.

She could feel her power singing, finally unrestrained and triumphant as she gave into the mad urges even while she continued to drive her lips into Taylor's with reckless abandon.

Give me more.

Taylor's eyes were restructured and improved, her cells multiplying as the range of her vision expanded. Her cochlea was perfected and her nerves adjusted to allow her to hear everything without being overwhelmed by the sensation. Her ability to smell and taste and touch were augmented exponentially as her nerves were reformed and revised.

An insane memory crossed Amy's mind, but she decided not to actually give Taylor claws. If only because Taylor would probably shred her body to ribbons with the way her long fingers were currently running up Amy's back and pulling her hair to weld their lips together harder and-

Amy groaned into Taylor's mouth and bit down hard on her indestructible bottom lip as she reached into her and wrapped her heart in a cage of steel. No one was allowed to kill Taylor. No one was allowed to take Taylor away from her.

Least of all Taylor herself.

They finally separated and rapid, gasping breaths washed over her flushed face.

Amy opened her eyes and glared into Taylor's awed expression.

There would be a reckoning for this. For the atrocities she had committed. For finally taking what she wanted. There had to be.

Amy didn't care.

She pulled herself against Taylor again, rising up into her arms to whisper in her ear.

"Kill them all, and come back to me," Amy hissed. "Or I'll dig you up and bring you back so I can kill you again myself."

Taylor just stared at her in shock for a long moment before her smile spread wide and feral.

"I think I can manage that," Taylor laughed. "Since you asked so fucking nicely."

Then Taylor kissed her again, and Amy got lost in the perfect hurricane of stars and lips and Taylor's tongue forced its way into her mouth and-

Taylor pulled back and stood tall, her steel fingers twisting into Amy's hair and pulling her head back sharply to meet her eyes.

Jagged obsidian drilled through her and her mind went strangely blank as Taylor held her tightly.

"I'll always find my way back to you," Taylor said confidently, pressing the crumpled envelope into Amy's chest.

She took it automatically.

Somehow, Amy believed her, even though it was impossible.

But, maybe the Birdcage really couldn't hold her.

Maybe death can't, either.

Taylor reached behind her with one long arm and opened the door.

"Go. They'll be wondering where you went, and I have work to do," Taylor said.

Amy nodded numbly and stepped into the real world once again.

She looked back at Taylor, framed in the doorway as she pulled on her coat.

"Please don't die," Amy whispered. The sound slipped out far more broken and pleading than she intended.

Taylor put on her stupid hat.

"Death can have me when it earns me," Taylor said. For a moment, her cruel smile turned soft. "And in the meantime, I'll dream of you."

And then the door disappeared, and she was gone.

…

The Labyrinth sped past at frightening speeds as Taylor ran.

Whatever Amy had done to her, it was fucking awesome.

She could see everything as if it were broad daylight. She could hear her footsteps echoing in the hallways, building a map of the infinite rooms around her in her mind's eye.

In the distance, she could smell the burning candles of her Workshop.

Amy kissed me.

Taylor's smile was unapologetically joyous as she ran.

Amy wanted her.

Taylor hadn't even considered anything like that. Hadn't believed it was possible. After Emma, after the locker, and then the bloodstained path this new life had taken her on, she had completely put aside any futile desire for romantic companionship.

And then Amy kissed her, and threw all her assumptions into disarray.

Taylor wanted to scream with incredulous excitement. It was so much better than she had ever imagined.

That might have been the nerve enhancements, but still. Everything felt amazing, right now.

To anyone else, the changes that Amy wrought might have been a violation, but Taylor just couldn't bring herself to care. She trusted Amy. If Amy thought she was better this way, then she was probably right. She certainly wouldn't have said no if Amy had bothered to ask.

Plus, the new strength singing in her bones was phenomenal. Every step was an explosion of force and motion, throwing her through the endless hallways.

Taylor arrived back at her Workshop in record time.

Still, she needed to focus on the task at hand. It took herculean effort, but Taylor pushed the memory of kissing Amy to the back of her mind.

What time is it?

Her watch said 7:18.

Five hours to prepare. What could she get done in time?

Her eyes fell on Purity's blood vial.

Definitely that.

But she needed something to deal with the army of unpowered soldiers. She remembered how inefficient it was to kill normal people with her Kirkhammer.

Her repeating pistol could hit twice, but she would need to use her powerful shots on larger targets.

Taylor dug through her scrap metal and lit the forge.

Sometimes, a sea of flame is just what the doctor ordered.

…

Taylor stood from her forge when howls once again echoed in her Hospital.

Rachel was here?

Taylor had decided not to call her. No need to risk getting her or her dogs killed in the coming chaos. It was different than a hunt through the city.

Making her way to the entrance, Taylor looked up, and…

Holy shit. That's a big dog.

Rachel sat astride a massive monstrosity, even by her standards. Instead of the size of a large van, it was the size of a double-decker bus, easily twenty feet tall at the shoulder and twice as long. Its armor looked much more sleek, interlocking plates and spikes symmetrical and lethal. Three bladed tails flared behind its hulking form even as it stood still and obedient.

Behind their leader, the other two dogs remained their previous size, only ten feet tall.

Taylor didn't see any sign of the PRT surveillance team. Unsurprising. Despite Kaiser's words to slander the heroes, the Protectorate had no reason to defend her from the Empire.

Bitch stared down at her in silence for a moment.

"Heard the Empire is coming for you," Rachel said. Her voice was as gruff as ever. "You gonna fight 'em?"

Taylor pulled her eyes away from the huge beast.

"Yes," Taylor said. "They won't live to see the morning."

Rachel nodded.

"Good. You want help?" Bitch asked.

Taylor eyed her carefully.

"I can't promise to keep your dogs safe, not against so many. And we'll have to kill them," Taylor said.

"Don't care," Bitch grunted.

"Are you sure? It will make things harder for you and the Undersiders, with the PRT," Taylor raised her eyebrows.

"Words," Rachel scoffed derisively. "I don't fuckin' care."

Well, then.

Taylor wasn't going to say no to some guard dogs.

"Alright," Taylor said. "Do you want to stay out here with the dogs, then? Howl if the Empire shows early?"

Rachel nodded again. At her command, the beast that Taylor assumed was Brutus leapt for the roof of the hospital, sitting on one of the lower terraces like the world's most terrifying gargoyle.

Taylor smiled. It was good to have backup.

She turned and began making her way back to the Workshop.

She had a flamesprayer to finish and a vial to imbibe before the hunt could begin.

…

Taylor once again stood in the ruined atrium that she had dubbed her test chamber. It was still a broken mess from the hurricane she had unleashed last time, but that was fine. It was in for excitement again tonight. Possibly even more so.

Something about Purity's vial sung with potential. Taylor could feel the full moon hanging low in the sky.

The moon may look full for several nights in a row, but it was only truly full for a brief moment at the height of its celestial flight. Tonight was the night of her transcendence, when she would be reborn anew if she died.

The silver isle called to her, the choir of its ethereal presence singing in her enhanced ears and in her veins.

It's time.

The Empire thought they would win if they forced her into a direct confrontation.

They were so, so very wrong, and they picked the exact wrong night to challenge her.

In the light of the full moon, Taylor could feel her power thundering beneath her skin in a raging storm of silver fury.

She slammed the vial home and screamed.

Seek Pale Blood to transcend the hunt.

Taylor's mind expanded ever further as the stars shone down from the heavens and from within her mind.

In both the moon's radiance and the soft light of the infinite stars, Taylor felt the whispers of something other. Something beyond the understanding of those who couldn't dream.

Taylor called to her cyclone and rose once again to hang in the empty space, untethered and free.

And from both the endless sky and inside herself, Taylor called to the stars.

Amy did say that I looked like stars, to her.

The thought made her smile despite the eldritch insight that tore through her mortal mind.

And in the throes of her rapture, starlight lit up the Hospital.

The storm of celestial fire abated as quickly as it arrived, but Taylor could feel it within her still, singing in the light of the full moon.

This time, she lowered herself gently to the ground.

It took a moment to realize that she didn't feel tired. The choir's song echoed in her bones and she was renewed.

Howls split the silence, and Taylor's smile gained a bloodthirsty edge.

It was time to hunt.

…

Taylor stood on the crumbling edge of the main hospital building, the scene before her bathed in the full moon's light. With her newly enhanced senses, nothing hid from her gaze.

On the terraced rooftops of her Hospital, Bitch and her beasts stood braced and ready for the coming slaughter. Low growls echoed in the night.

The army arrayed amid the broken cars and ruined buildings below was formidable.

Hundreds of men in combat armor, brandishing dangerous looking guns she couldn't begin to name. They crouched behind any available cover and leveled their weapons at her silhouette.

Fenja and Menja, the Valkyries, Kaiser's personal parahuman battering rams. At their full size, they were easily forty feet tall, dwarfing the low buildings across the broken street from her domain. Clad in traditional Nordic armor, one carried a massive sword that made Taylor's own look tiny by comparison, while the other wielded a long spear.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

On the roof of a building to her right, another armored cape who could only be Crusader stood with a small army of ghostly copies of himself. Those could get annoying if left unchecked.

Amongst the armored soldiers on the lawn, the ghostly form of Alabaster stood out starkly in the moonlight. Another immortal, come to play. She would show him why her own immortality was her most tightly kept secret. It was a curse as much as it was a blessing, and it wouldn't save him.

Finally, standing tall on the cracked pavement of the wide parking lot, the leadership of the Empire stood ready to fight their final battle, even if they didn't know it.

Krieg, in his black military uniform. Even now, the space around him warped strangely under his power. Just behind him stood a slight woman in a tight red bodysuit who could only be Othala.

Hookwolf leered up at her in his human form, shirtless again despite the cold. Their previous battles had been short and brutal, but he would not be leaving this one alive.

None of them would.

And in the center, clad in his fully enclosed armor of empowered steel, Kaiser raised his arms to her in challenge.

"Hunter!" He called up to her. She couldn't tell if he had a speaker hidden in his suit, or if he was just good at projecting his voice. She could hear the same unshakable confidence that had permeated his earlier broadcast. "Tonight, you will answer for your sins. Time and time again you have broken the rules, and now you will pay with your life. None will come to save a heretic."

Taylor let the beast within leak into her voice, the vibrations echoing through the night and scraping against the minds of the mortals below like nails on a chalkboard.

"I am not afraid of your judgement, Kaiser," Taylor spoke into the dark. "Your poisoned words have no worth here. Tonight, we speak only the language of violence, and death."

Kaiser looked like he wanted to reply, but Taylor didn't let him.

Instead, she held her arms wide and let the light of the silver isle flow through her bones and blood.

Our eyes are yet to open.

Her personal hurricane thundered around her as she rose into the air, silhouetted against the full moon, hanging low in the endless night. She could feel it whispering to her, both comforting and vengeful.

Taylor opened her eyes, and the choir sang with her.

The moon is bright, tonight.

The soldiers of the Empire open-fired, but the gunshots were drowned out by the otherworldly chorus that echoed in the dark. Hundreds and then thousands of bullets were whipped aside by the cyclone that held Taylor aloft, unable to reach her as she hung high above them.

A silver isle, in the endless dark.

Shining stars of ethereal light began to fall from the sky and spiral around her Hospital in a wide hurricane of eldritch power.

It calls to me, adrift and lost.

More and more otherworldly stars joined Taylor's storm until the tower of blazing light dwarfed even the buildings downtown, a spiraling galaxy that cast its silver light across the city.

A lullaby, to sleep, and dream of blood.

The stars of blood and death fell upon her enemies as Taylor called to the beyond. With the unhallowed scream of something profoundly other, she drew her holy blade and rocketed towards her prey.

…