2.4
NexusTheDark
The Silent Watcher
That is not dead, which can eternal lie.
And with strange eons, even death may die.
And with strange eons, even death may die.
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Acolyte
2.4
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Taylor was experiencing a rather odd sensation, one which she was becoming increasingly familiar with thanks to the events of the past few days; she was actually happy.
That's not to say that she had never been happy before or had never felt joy for an instant in her life; everyone, no matter how miserable, had one small glimmer of joy in their life. Currently though, her definition of happiness had shifted from 'getting through the day without too much suffering' to 'being alive' thanks to her little blessing.
One of the facets for her newfound joy was sitting across from her at a table; Shadow Stalker, still in full costume, as was Taylor - well, if a ripped and bloody hoodie and pants could be called a costume - as they both sat in Fugly Bob's. Thankfully Taylor managed to avoid The Challenger this time.
"...and then there's school," Taylor sighed. She had been recounting a few select little things from her life; mostly about how prior to now it had consisted of suffering in as large an amount as possible that didn't involve parahumans or Endbringers.
"Trouble there too? Can't be as bad as running into Hookwolf on your first night."
"Hookwolf just wanted to kill me," Taylor smiled grimly. "what I deal with at Winslow is like having my soul ripped out, crushed and then set on fire. On a daily basis." Maybe a little heavy on the hyperbole there; it didn't happen every day...
All things considered though, things were starting to look up; she actually had a friend for one, who seemed to like her...admittedly it was based in part on her ability to fly into homicidal, psychotic rages which tapped into a power from beyond this reality. Still, there were worse reasons for friendships out there.
"Huh….so is there a reason for that? You not great with classes or are the teachers assholes?"
Taylor took in a sharp breath. "There are assholes yes, just not the teachers. Most of the time." And let it back out again as a long sigh. "This is probably going to sound insane."
Shadow Stalker made a dismissive little snort. "I phase through walls and one of my teammates warps space; insanity goes out the fucking window when you're a parahuman."
Taylor shrugged; it was a fair enough point. "There's these three girls…"
---
Taylor stared into the raging fire that had once been her high school.
Shadow Stalker had vanished into her shadowy form the moment Taylor had explained things, leaving the girl confused...up until the screaming had started. Then it had been an easy matter to follow the fleeing people to the school, which was partially consumed in a blazing inferno. Only a few of the outlying sections of the building still remained untouched by the fire, which was steadily encroaching upon them. The school wasn't exactly up to code after all, being an older building and filled with easily flammable materials. Taylor was dimly aware of a sudden explosion in the conflagration, likely the science lab's storerooms going up.
Dimly aware, only because there was something far more interesting dominating her attention; Shadow Stalker, standing before a still untouched wall, looking up at three figures who were pinned there by crossbow bolts in each arm and leg.
The dark-clad parahuman was standing below the impaled figures, looking up at them. As Taylor approached, she turned and stared back from behind the eyeholes in that pitch black mask she was still wearing.
"Do you like it?"
It took Taylor a few moments to realise that it was Shadow Stalker speaking. Her voice was...wrong. Distorted and twisted, like it was being spoken through water. It was unpleasant to listen to and yet beguiling, in a way that seemed unsettlingly familiar. As Taylor's gaze shifted, moving past Shadow Stalker and to those three people stuck to the wall behind her, it didn't take her long to recognise them all; Madison, Emma and Sophia.
Seeing the three, broken, bloodied and in the obvious grips of a mix of shock and bladder-relieving fear stirred something inside Taylor; disgust, shock and on a deeper, much darker level, a twisted sense of joy at seeing such a thing inflicted upon those who had once tormented her. Morality railed against darker impulses for a few brief, precious moments, before Taylor took another step.
"Shadow Stalker...I know why you did this but it's not right. You can't just destroy my school, you can't hunt people down like-"
"Like they did to you?" Shadow Stalker cut in, drawing closer, circling Taylor slowly. "You told me they followed you. Into restrooms, to torment with words and actions, in the halls...and with the locker." The masked face pressed closer. "Hookwolf hunted you too and you dealt with him, what's stopping you here?"
The mere mention of that caused Taylor to wince slightly. Even counting that it had gifted her with her newfound powers - as well as a few voices in her head - the locker was still not a memory she enjoyed recalling. "That was different, they don't have powers like us. We're supposed to be the good guys and good guys don't attack people like this…"
A little push and Taylor was looking up at the girls on the wall. The memory of the locker drawing up more of them: numerous class projects and homework assignments; ruined or stolen and thrown in the trash. Her mother's flute, one of the few things she had to remember her by; lost and then ruined. There wasn't any proof it had been them...beyond their laughter, their barbed words and insinuations in every interaction she'd had with them after discovering each item in turn.
"And if the one's we attack are evil~?" Shadow Stalker whispered into Taylor's ear.
Taylor looked up to Emma, to the girl who had been her friend; who had stabbed her in the back and in the heart. The person who seemed to be responsible for her life being one of pain for two years and the hatred that had been brewing up deep inside herself.
The hefty, comforting weight of her bat was there in her hand, still readied from when she had come to confront Shadow Stalker. Right now, another much better use for it was forming in her mind.
More whispers worked their way into her ears as Shadow Stalker continued. "You're right; they don't have powers...you do. You can find the evils you see and fight them. We can fix them. All it takes the drive to act and fix what's broken."
Taylor looked up at Emma, her face slowly shifting from one of frustration and anger...to a pleasant, smiling grin.
Followed by laughter as she drove her bat, crackling with energy, into Emma's skull, bathing her in a sudden explosion of crimson fluid and viscera.
---
In the waking world the ball of wrapped sheets that was Taylor groaned, tossing and turning in her slumber, blankets coiled around her body to block out the cold January air. She had slipped in via the back door last night, sneaking her way in to avoid her father - he hadn't come home thankfully, apparently something must have kept him at work.
After the night's activities, she had stuffed her new purchases in the closet, along with the bloody, torn hoodie and the box containing her new trophy. After that and a fresh pair of PJ's, she'd let her sore, aching body collapse into bed as her injuries caught up with her at last, dispelling her glamours as she passed into slumber.
Her alarm hadn't even gone off by the time she dragged herself to her feet, unable to get back to sleep but not recalling what she had been dreaming about...something involving Shadow Stalker and a lunch date?
'Oh my, dreaming of dates are we~? Why was I not invited into such a delicious delusion?'
'We doubt/disbelieve/query/question why any would desire/seek/wish/want such a thing...'
Taylor was in full agreement with Tzeentch there, letting Slaanesh into her dreams was a thing she greatly hoped wouldn't ever happen. Though knowing her luck it would come to pass eventually, probably during an uncomfortable dream at that. A wave of sensations washed over her and Taylor could sense that the Prince of Pleasures was smiling to him/herself.
'Ahhh why rush things along lass, you've barely even met this girl. Take things slow...no need to make changes so quick.'
Despite the fact that she had witnessed him as a fetid monstrous mound of putrid flesh, Taylor was starting to warm slowly to Nurgle. True, hearing his voice in her head was like having something slick and greasy dragged over her flesh but his advice was usually the sanest she could find. She was entirely aware of the irony that voices in her head could be qualified as 'sane'.
'Enough of this driveling! Your fleshly desires matter little in the face of the glories yet to be found!'
Khorne on the other hand was just always loud. All the time.
He did have a point though, there was still a lot to be done. As of last night she had gone from an unknown to someone who had made a bit of an impact on the local scene…not exactly what she had envisioned for a first night out on the town testing her new abilities. She had gone fishing for thugs and wound up nearly getting torn in half by Hookwolf...both figuratively and literally. Her hands traced over the flesh of her stomach, not a mark on them from the blades that had sunk themselves in her body just a few hours ago.
Now that the adrenaline and the high of victory had burned out, it left an odd sensation in the pit of her stomach; the knowledge that she had almost come to a rather unfortunate end where it not for her newest little blessing.
'Ahhh no need ter thank me there lass, just a lil reward for striking a blow against a long-standing little group...making them less sure of their certainty...'
Taylor nodded as she rifled through her closet. The Empire 88 had been in Brockton Bay since before she had been born, a long-standing force in the city that most people were starting to see as more of an institution than a gang, much like the ABB. Taking them down would complete two goals at once; bringing a change to the city and crushing a long-standing force. Plus the fighting and sensations therein might just appease both of her other patrons.
'What shall please me at this moment is your recovery of your trophy! I will have the first skull dedicated to me in this realm present, that I may let my power flow through it!'
Clearing a few bits of clothing away revealed the container, which popped open with a hermetically sealed hiss. Inside was the metal wolf's skull, forged of blades and hooks, melted together from the force and power from a blow of Taylor's new bat - which was also there in the closet, right next to the box, though looking at it gave Taylor an odd niggling sensation in the back of her mind - and gleaming in the light.
There was a few moments of silence, both in the room and inside Taylor's mind. 'Well?'
'Quiet! I am admiring this trophy...for while it is a simple one, it represents potential and future conquests and battles yet to come! Such things must be savoured.
Another few moments…
'You have absolutely no idea what to work it into, do you Khorney~?'
'Silence your tongue or lose it, slattern!'
'Oh my, such an interesting proposal...come then, rip it from my mouth with your savage fury~'
And with that, Taylor decided to just head downstairs and have some breakfast while the argument raged inside her head.
---
Descending the stairs she was greeted by the sounds of percolating coffee, which meant that her Dad was up and making himself breakfast. Taylor smiled, entering the kitchen to find him there, standing near the fridge and looking into it's barren insides. "Morning Dad."
Danny Hebert looked back over his shoulder, glasses glinting for a moment in the light as he did so. "Hey there kiddo...looking pretty rough there. Did you sleep alright?"
It began to dawn on Taylor that she hadn't needed to use the bathroom, so she hadn;t seen herself in the mirror yet. A quick look in the shiny brushed steel surface of the coffee pot revealed that her hair was a serpent's nest. The long black curls were everywhere, twisted at odd angles and sticking straight up in places.
"Wow…I thought I slept okay…" Taylor frowned. While she didn't put too much effort into her appearance, her hair was one of the things she took extra special care of. It was definitely odd, she felt surprisingly well rested despite the state her bed and hair had wound up in.
'Your slumber was inundated with dreams/phantasms/images/fantasies. It is most possible that some were not to your liking/enjoyment/agreement/preference.'
The sensations of Slaanesh and Khorne's argument had faded from a cacophony to a dim hissing on the edge of her perception, though if Taylor focussed she could pick up more than a few brand new curse words. 'Makes sense. Do you remember any of my dreams?'
'We had much more amusing/interesting/entertaining/distracting things to amuse ourselves with.'
'Aye lass. Lot of information ter gather you know. Whole new realm to explore.'
'Much time spent perusing/searching/scanning/absorbing the contents of this 'PHO' forum and encyclopaedia.'
With a mental shrug, Taylor turned her attention back to the outside world. "I probably just had a weird dream I can't remember. I'll fix it later."
Danny nodded, lifting up the coffee pot and pouring the thick, black substance that passed for coffee boiling inside into a cup. "If you're sure. You still having trouble at school?"
Well, there was a loaded question. On the one hand, now she had powers, so school had become less of a horrendous trial and more of an inconvenience. On the other hand, she couldn't just say that it was gone or Dad would ask questions. "It's about the same. I think I'm starting to," Taylor paused, thinking for a moment. "not get used to it. I think I'm just getting better at dealing with it."
Her father nodded, setting the cup down to cool down from boiling for a moment. "That's...good."
Awkward silence reigned for a few moments, before the sound of popping toast caused Danny to turn and head for the toaster. "I bet you my night was worse than yours though. The police had the road I usually take back from work cordoned off."
Taylor struggled to suppress the sudden grin that broke out on her face. "Oh? Why was that?"
"Apparently there was some sort of parahuman fight..."
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A/N: If the Lovecraft quote was too much for you all, allow me to instead quote DBZ Abridged. "I'M BACK, BITCHES!"
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