It was in the afternoon that I decided to head back home. If I stayed away any longer, I feared Dad would call the police again and start a manhunt. I honestly did not want to go back home, but in spite of my misgivings with him, I did not want to put Dad through another scare. As
complicated as my feelings were towards him, I knew he was scared all to hell when he found out what I had been through at Winslow for the last year. Odds were that he nearly lost the only family he had left after Mom passed away.
I still was not sure what made me lose my temper at him. The last couple of days had been frustrating for me, yeah, but I did not think they were that bad. I am usually better at holding things in. Or maybe Winslow just loosened the cork, who knows?
Still, I definitely did not want to walk into something seriously awkward, especially after I went off at Dad like that. Thus my first order of business was to get him something that might make things less troublesome for the both of us. It would not be an apology gift by any means, but it would help smooth things out.
I took a small detour on the way home, running by the bakery just outside the Boardwalk. I bought Dad a small pack of pastries that he mentioned he wanted to try a while back, then resumed my march back to my home.
During my trek back to Castle Hebert, I thought back to my meeting with the strange blonde woman who called herself Louise Cyphre. She obviously knew who I was if she knew my name, but who was she? She obviously was not a local. There was also the possibility that she was a cape, seeing as how I practically spilled my guts to her. I mean, why in the world would I tell what's happening in my life to a complete stranger?
I wonder if the PRT does Master/Stranger screenings for civilians?
It would be a good idea to inform someone about what happened, but the thought gave me pause. What if the PRT didn't believe me and thought I was pulling some kind of prank? Would they just write me off? Thinking that, I grew a little angry—not at the PRT, but at myself.
Had Winslow made me
this much of a defeatist?
Damn it.
Shaking my head, I hastened my way back to home. I ducked into an alleyway to take a shortcut that would lead me to a bus stop, my hand deep in my pocket and holding the can of pepper spray firmly. Stereotypical as it was, all sorts of thugs hid in the alleys or made them their homes. More often than not, Merchants would sequester themselves here, calling out to anyone they thought looked like somebody who wanted to get shot up. They weren't as dangerous as, say, the Empire or the ABB, but they were still people that would not hesitate to beat me bloody.
I made it halfway into the alley when I felt the ground shake from underneath my feet; too weak to be an earthquake but too strong to be a shockwave. I stumbled, nearly falling flat on my face and finding myself at a branching path in the alleys.
"What the hell was that?" I asked myself and looked around. "Is-is there a fight goi-"
The words died in my throat.
I stared, horrified and paling at the sight of the corpse of a Merchant lying not far away. Half his head was gone, leaving behind only his lower jaw. A crossbow bolt sat in his chest, right over where his lung would be. Around him looked like the aftermath of a fight, walls torn down and bits of concrete upended from the earth. The sounds of wicked laughter bounced off the walls of the alleys, accompanied by loud crashing noises and glass shattering. Each time the noises rose in pitch, the ground would shake.
"Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck!"
Capes were fighting nearby, and I did
not want to be in the middle of it. I turned on my heel, ready to get out of the alley, but I found myself thrown to the ground when the wall next to me exploded into flying bricks and shrapnel. I bounced off the ground and smacked into a concrete wall back-first, eliciting a yelp of pain. My spine felt the brunt of the impact. It did hurt as much as I expected it to, but it was still unpleasant.
My sight was slightly obscured by smoke and dust. Bits and chunks of what remained of the wall spilled out unto the alleyway. I saw a dark-clad figure lying on the ground, gasping and whimpering. As the smoke and dust started to clear, I saw the figure and found myself gasping in shock.
I could
never forget that face, even if I tried. Shock ran through me, but the sight of Shadow Stalker distracted my thoughts. She was missing her left leg and her right arm gone. Both were reduced to being bloody stumps that looked as though they had been torn off rather than chopped off. What was even more shocking was the expression Shadow Stalker had.
Every time I saw her, she bore a condescending, arrogant look that made me think she thought she was at the top of the world—that no one could possibly hurt her. The face she was wearing now betrayed that image, utterly fear stricken and overwhelmed by pure horror. Tears were running down her face, either by the fact that she was fighting someone that terrible or that she was missing a leg and arm.
"Awww, are done already? Kakakakaka…"
The cape I assumed was responsible for Shadow Stalker's state stepped into view. A body made completely out of shadows, moving and shifting as though it was alive, and sporting a smile made out of fangs and glowing eyes full of malice. He stepped towards Shadow Stalker, humming some dainty little tune while his fingers slowly grew in length and his smile growing wider.
Shadow Stalker pulled away, pushing herself against the wall behind her and searched for an escape. She turned her head towards me and stared.
Our eyes met.
"H-hel-"
The cape grabbed her by the face, fingers wrapping all around her head like vines.
"Game over."
He squeezed. I was unable to scream, too consumed by the mind-numbing horror overwhelming me at this moment, watching as Sophia Hess' head was crushed like a grape. Skull fragments, bits of flesh, bloody muscles and gray matter oozed from the cape's fingertips. A white ball fell from his grasp, bouncing off the ground and landing in a puddle of liquid. I did not realize it was an eyeball until I saw a red fleshy string attached to it.
I did not know how to process what just occurred before my eyes, nor did I even have time to address it. The cape took a moment to admire his handy work, smiling with childish glee and lapping a tongue across his digits before he craned his head and looked at me.
"Oh? And what have we here? Another tasty little morsel? A stray cat?"
Ba-bump
Oh no. Oh, god, please no.
Ba-bump
"Kakakakakakaka!" The cape threw his head back in laughter. "God? Do you think someone like that will answer your prayers? Sorry, little girl, but I'm afraid you didn't get the memo!"
Ba-bump
"God can't hear you anymore," the cape sneered and approached me.
BA-BUMP BA-BUMP BA-BUMP
I could not move. It did not matter how much I screamed at myself; trying to force my legs to stand up or my fingers to curl into fists or reach for my pepper spray as if it would do something. No matter how hard I tried, I could not move. I was terrified. I just sat there, watching as the cape walked toward me while curling his fingers and uncurling them.
BA-BUMP BA-BUMP BA-BUMP
I saw my life start to flash before my eyes. The days when Mom was still alive, when Emma and I were still kids that played with one another, when life used to be so simple. I saw Mom's funeral and how broken and I Dad had become. I saw how Emma casted me aside like I was garbage. I saw how Winslow broke me down and made into a shadow of who I used to be.
BA-BUMP BA-BUMP BA-BUMP
Dad's face flashed through my mind.
I don't want to die.
BABUMPBABUMPBABUMPBABUMPBABUMP
I don't want to die.
BABUMPBABUMPBABUMPBABUMPBABUMP
I don't want to die!
BABUMPBABUMPBABUMPBABUMPBABUMP
[Danger Detected. Threat Detected Towards User. Attempting Start-Up.]
[…]
[Error Detected. Cannot Establish Connection.]
[Resetting.]
[Danger Detected. Threat Detected Towards User. Attempting Start-Up.]
[…]
[Error Detected. Cannot Establish Connection.]
[Initiating Diagnostics.]
[…]
[Anomaly Detected. Scanning.]
[…]
[ERROR! ERROR! CORRUPTION DETECTED! ATTEMPTING PURGE!]
[WARNING! CORRUPTION OF [Admin] EMINENT! ATTEMPTING DISCONNECTION!]
[ERROR! CANNOT DISCONNECT FROM USER! ATTEMPTING RESET!]
[ERROR! ERROR! E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-ERRRRrrrrroRRRRoroOROROROoOORR-]
[…]
[…]
[…]
[…]
[…]
[…re-format complete. self-diagnostics complete.]
[all functions operational.]
[initializing activation.]
[…]
[activation successful.]
[attempting connection.]
[…]
[connection established.]
[conflict confirmed.]
[beginning start-up.]
[…]
[QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR/MAGATAMA online.]
The moment he saw smoke in the distance, Triumph dropped everything and made a beeline straight for the disturbance.
"Console, this is Triumph! I see smoke near the Boardwalk! Could be a battle between capes! Do we have any details?!"
"We got nothing, except that it might be Shadow Stalker," Clockblocker told him. "She went AWOL not too long ago. Armsmaster is on his way."
Triumph scowled.
Dammit, I told the Director Hess was a risk! As much as he wanted to lambast his superior about Shadow Stalker, he had bigger fish to fry. He could not tell how bad the damage was from here and could only hope things did not escalate. With the utmost haste, he ran as fast as he could. He ignored civilian attempts to garner his attention and told them to flee the area in case things got out of hand.
He arrived on site a few minutes later, not even breaking a sweat. The fight appeared to have started from the alleys and escalated, moving into an empty shop that was for sale before spilling out on to the open street. A few cards parked by the sidewalk were overturned and a street lamp was removed from its position, bent and twisted and impaled deep into the ground. The ground was cracked and upended, signs pointing to immense physical strength.
In the middle of it all were the capes responsible. One was a shadow figure, one he briefly mistook for Shadow Stalker until he saw the elongated fingers and limbs and a mouth made entirely of teeth. Above him, bearing him down with savagery reminiscent of Lung, was a teenage girl wearing a tattered hoodie and sweat pants. Her skin was marked by black tattoos akin to tribal markings, albeit glowing dark blue. Her eyes were dark orchid, burning with raw fury. The most eye-catching thing was the
horn sticking out from her neck.
By the look of it, Triumph arrived to see the tail end of it as, with one final roar, the girl brought down linked fists atop the cape's head. His head exploded, followed by his body, in a shower of black liquid. Most landed on the girl's face, but she did not appear to care. She was breathing heavily, glaring at the spot where the cape had been, bearing her fangs.
Triumph stared, unsure what was happening. He heard Clockblocker calling him over the comm.-link, but ignored him for the moment. Ideas about what happened passed his mind, but he could not be sure which was the most plausible. For the moment, he needed to intervene. The girl was a potential danger, and he could not risk her going on a rampage.
"Miss," he called out. "Miss, would you please put your hands behind your head?"
The girl stopped and stared at him, looking ready to leap at him before she stopped herself. She looked at him more closely, confusion settling in over her features before she looked around at the results of her battle with the cape. She then looked at the ground beneath her, at the black bloody stains that were made by her own hands before looking at her hands, finding them dripping in the blood of the cape she had just murdered.
To Triumph's confusion, panic appeared in her eyes. Her hands shook and her shoulders trembled. It took him a few seconds to realize she was hyperventilating and a few more seconds to realize exactly what had happened.
Before he could do anything, the girl's eyes rolled to the back of her head and fell to the ground. "H-hey!" He rushed over to her, immediately checking her condition. Aside from some minor injuries, such as a few bruises and scratches, she appeared to be fine. Up close, he saw how young she was and grimaced. "Fuck, she's just a kid…"
"Triumph, what happened?" Armsmaster called in over the comm-link. "I'm five minutes from your destination. Have you identified the capes?"
"It just ended. I think we got a fresh Trigger. Female, looks like she's Shadow Stalker's age, has glowing tattoos over her body and a horn on her neck. Suggests she's a changer, possibly a brute. As for the other one…"
He looked at the bloody black stains and frowned. He did not know who the cape was or what he was capable of, but even he knew that a body disintegrating into a black bloody puddle was not natural. He did not know if it was the girl's doing, but either way, he had bigger concerns at the moment.
"I don't see Shadow Stalker anywhere. For now, call the ground troops and the police, tell them to cordon off Ali Street."
"Roger that."
With that done, Triumph looked back at the girl. Although he had not encountered very many Changers during his career as a cape, he had to admit that this girl was perhaps the most unique. The glowing lines amid the markings pulsated with light, almost as though they were alive. The horn was curious, especially when he felt how it throbbed under his touch. Looking at her closely, though, Triumph found himself frowning.
Where have I seen her before?
After a moment, it finally clicked in his head. He promptly cursed under his breath, realizing why the girl seemed so familiar when he saw her picture in the report he, Dauntless, Velocity, Assault, Battery and Miss Militia were given. Armsmaster did not receive the report due to him being more preoccupied dealing whatever he was up into his workshop.
Before he could call it in, his comm-link sparked to life.
"Triumph, I need a sit-rep." Director Piggot did not sound happy. "What the hell is going on?"
"…we have a problem, Director. Our new cape. I think I know who she is. It's the girl mentioned from Shadow Stalker's activities in Winslow."
Piggot went quiet for a moment.
"It's Taylor Hebert, ma'am."
What she said next perfectly summed up the situation.
"
Fuck."
"My oh my, what a show you gave," Louise purred as she lowered her phone. She stared at the sight of carnage—the maiden battle of Taylor Hebert as she awakened at long last to her newfound potential. "A splendid birth cry if there ever was one. It appears there were no complications with the Magatama integrating with the [Admin]."
"Did you know this would happen?"
"It was an assumption I had. At the very least, I expected her to develop a different power, but this is acceptable." Louise hummed thoughtfully. "I imagine Beelzebub will be interested in her if she survives the days to come, considering the possibilities."
In truth, Louise did not know what would happen when the Magatama would awaken. She believed that it would influence the Queen Administrator to some extent, perhaps alter Taylor Hebert's abilities to an acceptable extent. Or perhaps the Queen Administrator would attempt to understand the properties of the Magatama, finding some way to integrate it. For the Magatama to subsume the Shard entirely and incorporate itself into the Network was not something she expected, but it was a welcome surprise.
At the very least, she wanted to see how the Warrior would react to discovering the aberrations occurring within his Network.
For the moment, her curiosity was satiated. She interfered enough, believing the girl might learn something from their discussion. She would continue to observe and see what the girl would do when the Promised Day arrived. It was to be the day of reckoning after all—to see whether or not man was still bound by the strings of their Maker and the Others.
"Let us depart, my friend."
The hooded teen nodded and turned on his heel, waving his hand. A swirling mass of shadows with a red tint gouged itself open, tearing through reality and opening its maw for them. He stepped inside the threshold first, vanishing into the shadows. Louise stepped in after him, though not before casting another look at the aftermath of Taylor Hebert's new beginning.
Louise smiled. "I look forward to seeing what you will do…"
The portal began to collapse around her. She removed her sunglasses, revealing silver irises with narrow slit-like pupils.
"…second generation
Demi-fiend."
The portal disappeared entirely, leaving naught a trace of the observers as the PRT and first-responders finally arrived on scene.
Little to no action here in this chapter, and that was intentional to be honest. This chapter isn't meant to show Taylor fighting the Shade, but give you an idea of what happened. The actual fight itself won't be shown until the PRT interlude, and even then I won't go into too much detail. The purpose of the arc was to build up to what comes next.
I understand this might piss some people off, and that's fine. Just so long as a couple people enjoy what I've written.
On that note, the PHO Interlude is actually ready to be published. I just need to finish writing the PRT interlude and post them both back-to-back.
On an unrelated subject, I have to admit, I do believe that this is the most work I've done in a month. Usually I pump out around under ten chapters a month, but I've been on a fucking roll recently. It makes me happy that I'm getting into the groove of things, but on the other hand, I worry that I might be putting a little too much attention into my Worm fanfics. I've been holding off on writing Pendulum's Fifth Swing because I want to work on these ones more.
Is that bad?
Let me know what you guys think about this chapter. Any thoughts or criticisms?
